Chasing the Fight Dragon

Back at it.

2012-04-14T14:57:00.001-07:00

Comp Team training today. Rough. Spent most of it trying not to puke on the mat. Diet has been strict all week and I can feel the cut. Gassed early and hard. Sticking with it. Two more tricky weeks and I'll adjust.

2012-01-30T08:49:00.000-08:00

I've been back on track for one week. Still have nagging injury issues - left wrist fx, right finger fx, and knee frequently feels stiff.

My weight is bad - 170 and not from lifting. This is a huge priority for me - competing or not, I feel fat and slow. I am going to 155.

Excellent on diet since 1/23/12. My daily goal is between under 1600.

Rolled at open mat on Saturday and did a little conditioning.

2012-01-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

Many weeks off...ribs, broke my left wrist and a finger on my right hand. I need to drop some pounds and get my conditioning back.

Diet yesterday was a 1.

Last night workout:
5 rounds of
10 plate swings. 25lbs in each hand
5 rings dips
15 jumping split lunges
5 pullups
I did 10 ab roll outs at the end.

2011-08-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Compete with your strengths, train with your weaknesses.

Training in BJJ requires the use of many different aspects of physical well being. I'm going to break them into 5 categories to make them more easily quantifiable. My list, in order of personal greatest to least ability is:
(1) Strength. This is force applied statically or with slow movements. Examples would be grip, ability to maintain posture against guard attacks, resisting the manipulation of your arm by kimura, etc.
(2) Power. Force applied explosively including moves like upas, hip escapes, sit outs, or breaking an opponents grip with a fast spin out.
(3) Endurance. Being able to train into the second or third hour greatly increases your time on the mat and can make the difference in a long round. I am also including your ability to recover between both rounds and training days.
4) Flexibility and agility. I believe these two go together; a deficiency in one will limit the other. BJJ rewards those who flow like water - quickly and smoothly.
(5) Technique. This is why we are here. This builds the bond between your training brothers and sisters. This separates us from simply being "fit".

However, if I were to make this list in the order that I beleive is most important it would be in the opposite progression.

Most important <<----->> Least important.

Technique - Flexibility and Agility - Endurance - Power - Strength.

I believe this to be true, yet when I consider extra training my mind goes immediately to pull-ups, ring dips, and cleans. Why? Because I've logged a lot of hours lifting weights I'm good at these and they are easier for me. But...I'm not getting beat because I'm too weak. There are times when my strength is not enough to overcome someone - but it's because I'm doing the move wrong, or I didn't set it up properly, or I'm in the wrong position, or I'm simply outsized.

Be proud of your strengths, but fix your weaknesses.

2011-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Back to open guard...

Several months ago I decided to never close my guard and my game went up. When I began to develop my half guard lock down game I slipped back into a closed guard mindset. Time to move on. Kevin told me to open it up and work on spider guard. Not my best position yet. I can hold it OK, but I can't complete the sweeps with any authority. Practice, practice, practice.

2011-04-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Tweaked my wrist. I have using 14 oz gloves on the bag and during kick boxing for about 2 years now - mainly because I can pull them off and on faster than MMA gloves when we are doing focus mitt drills. I hit the bag with bare knuckles the other day and my wrist folded. My wrist strength has suffered using the big pillows and I need to correct it. From now on, 14oz or 16oz for sparring only, 4oz MMA gloves for everything else.

2011-04-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

I'm excited about transitioning from straight up kick boxing to Muay Thai. The most difficult part so far is the transition from throwing a hand - mostly hooks - and not returning to my peek a boo guard. I spent a lot of time making sure that I didn't drop my hands or leave them hanging out, but I now I want to have a more open stance with the traditional Muay Thai hand position. The kicks seem to be coming easier, but I am staying low until I feel like I hitting them most of the time.

2011-04-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't work out very much this week and I wanted to run a few times but the timing was never right - really I was just lazy. I also ate way too much food. I really need to get focused this week. On Sunday I did ring dips and reverse rows, and then did 30 minutes on the heavy bag.

The Roberto Traven seminar is coming soon and I need to be ready.

2011-04-19T07:42:00.001-07:00

Monday morning: 125 push-ups, 20 pistol squats each leg, 62 inverted rows, and some short bag work.

Monday night was no gi. Mountain climbers, LBs, and then double leg shoot drills. I did some light bag work at the end.

2011-04-19T07:41:00.001-07:00

Sore on Sunday and took a rest.

2011-04-19T07:40:00.003-07:00

Spent several hours in the gym on Saturday. Keith has changed his schedule because of work, so I will be leading the kick boxing on Saturday mornings. Got in a good workout - basics only. Stcuk around for some progressions. I've gotten lazy and started closing my guards again. No closed guard for 1 month - need to open up my game.

2011-04-19T07:40:00.001-07:00

2011-04-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Got up and ran this morning - first time in over two years that I have run anywhere except on the mat. Mat running is really just part of the warm up, involves things like sprawls and side/backward movements, and is pretty short.

I was able to complete almost three miles - and the only reason I stopped is because of several hot spots on my feet. Definitely don't want blisters first day out. My pace was probably around 9 min miles with low effort.

So...does this mean that running is useful for my training or not? If my BJJ and kick boxing is enough to keep me fit enough to run 3 miles no problem then perhaps running by itself is superfluous. Regardless, I enjoyed it and will continue for now.

To be fair, Emily, http://www.momonthemat.com/, bullied me out of bed, otherwise I would slept in.

2011-04-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Garage workout:

50 push ups
25 pull ups
5 single leg squats - each leg
5 hanging knee to elbows - shoulders say no more.

50 push ups
25 pull ups
5 single leg squats - each leg

50 push ups
12 pull ups - shoulders dodgy
5 single leg squats - each leg

did some heavy bag work, mainly for core. Spinning back kicks were landing pretty well, but my flow is a little off.

2011-04-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last night was skills only. Kevin, Mike P, Christy, and me.

Drilled

baseball choke from top side and bottom guard.
Triangle from top mount - you don't need to have your ankle tucked under your knee.
quickie knee bar from top guard - tuck your feet.
s-mount from top mount.

Tonight I want to have a short bodyweight session and maybe get in a run. Diet is going well but I need to go to sleep a little earlier.

2011-03-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Another from 10th Planet - I like this one a lot. I'm a big fan of bottom half guard - mostly because I have a good lock down. However, I will stall there working for a Kimura if I don't stay aggressive. This isn't half guard but it's close enough that I think I could transition between the two with some practice.

2011-03-11T13:38:00.001-08:00

I want to practice this tonight! This escape is based on bottom side with the outside arm braced against the neck rather the under hook (definitely my preferred placement). They call it T-Rex at 10th Planet which seems like a cool way to remember it. Not sure if this will work too well with gi, but I'll try it both ways.

2011-03-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

Product Review: Piranha Gear Double Weave Grappling Uniform - White

Basics: I have had this gi for close to one year. It started out an additional BJJ gi to go into rotation, but it's become my easy favorite heavy weight gi.

Fit: I have an A2. I'm 5'8" tall and weigh 160. Pant size is 29" waist with 30" length, shirt size is 15 1/2" x 33". The A2 size is perfect for me. It comes long in the arms and legs, but I simply washed in hot water, and used the dryer sparingly until they length was correct. I no longer use the dryer or hot water and there has not been any shrinkage since. The gi fits snug (not tight). I really do not like: (1)swimming in my gi, (2)having my gi pulled over my head, or (3)being choked with the bottom of my own lapel. The snug fit helps with these things. I never have a problem moving my arms or legs. When closed, the lapel bottoms end up a couple of inches shy of the side slit - meaning the kimono sides do not overlap around past your hips. If you tend to be larger around the middle, you may want to order up a size. The collar is as wide as the Fuji, but thicker. The sleeve cuffs are the same width as the Fuji, but the pant cuffs are about 1/2" narrower.

Quality: When it arrived there were a couple of threads hanging around. These were not defects, just a leftover of the weaving process. I clipped them off and haven't thought about it since. This is a SUIT OF ARMOR. Multiple stitch lines everywhere, reinforced seams, overlapped fabric. The cuffs are folded back and have extra reinforcing fabric stitched in. I wash this gi after every roll and hang dry. It is in perfect shape after close to 100 rolls and washes.

Function: This gi is stiff when air dried. It is a little rough on your neck when you are warming up but softens as you sweat. It is very awkward for your opponent to grab and manipulate. Be prepared, the skirt is short - very short when compared to a cut like a Gracie-Barra. I like this and it works well with my game style. The collar is cotton (versus rubber) and so can take up to two days to dry in the air. Even so, there is no mildew smell or damage. No collar will make up for skipping drills, but this one is harder for my partners to manipulate because of its weight (making an excellent competition gi).

Look: Plain and white - I put my school patches where I want them.

Overall: The Piranha Gear Double Weave Grappling Uniform - White gets 5 out of 5 stars and I would definitely buy it again. There are no actual "cons", but know your preferences - this gi is heavy duty with trim fit and a short skirt.

2011-03-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

Took last night off. Still eating too much for dinner - and snacking afterwards. When I'm not actually body building I have a hard time sticking to a strict diet. I should drop 7 lbs and hang out at 158/160. I can very comfortably make weight and have my full six pack.

2011-03-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

Had a great roll last night. Stayed for both classes but skipped kick boxing and did BJJ both times because there was an even number for stand-up and Carlos wanted to work with anyone willing. I try not to pass up rolling with Carlos - he is my size but an extremely talented brown belt. It is very different rolling with a guy in my weight class versus my instructor, Mr. Kevin Synan. Kevin is a big, strong, guy and even though he never uses strength against me, I have trouble hitting moves because of the scale.

Frequently when I roll with higher belts I hit that moment of pause. This is the time when they stop for a second and are clearly telling me (without words) "hey, there's something completely obvious staring you right in the face and I'm going to let you go for it". The times I see what they are giving me feel great, the times I don't make me want to train more.

Emily, aka momonthemat.com, aka Mrs. Lemos, stayed for the first class but I didn't get to watch her. I have be careful when we work together because I tend to give too much advice. In reality, she does quite well on her own and gets most of her real advice from Christy Synan.

It is cool having a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu family. Frequently one us will say "put your kimono top for a second, I want to try something" and we have an impromptu session on the living room floor.

2011-03-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

Link from lifehack.org on how to take a compliment. You know, because I'm so awesome and all.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/how-to-take-a-compliment.html

2011-03-09T06:40:00.000-08:00

I'm sore. Not news really, but I'm sore in a spot I don't like. I don't like pressure on the bottom of my sternum - xiphoid process - in fact, I don't even like writing about it because it makes me nauseated. We worked knee on belly on Monday and I was ranking student so I had the "privilege" on repeatedly experiencing knee on belly from Julian (who does it very well) during the demonstartion. Large class that night with several new guys so I felt obligated to be tough and give them confidence that they could take it. Ugh...Lying in bed last night I had to sleep on my side because it felt wired on my back. Kind of funny really.

Stayed for kick boxing. Not too bad but I skipped a lot of classes recently to focus on NAGA and I feel lik I have lost some snap. It really is the snap - actually the turning over of the hips - that powers the kick. It's an awesome feeling when that comes together and you can feel it.

2011-03-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Spent most of the day at JaxBJJ with some amazing guys. The school is run by Professor Larry Shealy, a true master in the art. I was there to start my certification in Kid Jitsu, a system devised by Professor Shealy that layouts guidelines, goals, values, and moves for teaching kids of various levels. I can't help but sell in short in text, because you have to experience to really understand what a great system it is.

One of the advantages of being there was to get some tweaks from some high level belts. The most amazing part was the rear naked choke. A simple move, yes? But when done by a legit black belt, it is truly frightening. Professor Shealy explained that it shouldn't hurt and that the opponent should be surprised by the blackout - and I was. There was only a feeling of pressure, then suddenly the blackness closed in around my eyes. It was like I stood up too fast and dropped my blood pressure. Wild.

2011-02-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a NAGA tournament and I'm not happy. My performance was way below where I should be and I lost matches that I shouldn't have. However I did learn a few things.

If I am going to compete I must fully commit. I put in the hours at the gym, but I didn't train to compete. I stuck with areas I was already comfortable with and did not challenge myself enough.
Don't rely too heavily on one thing. My bottom half guard lock down is very good - at stalling. I can hold people in it pretty well, try for the kimura, then failing that, a sweep to top. But when I couldn't get these to work, I was afraid to move to something else because I had built my strategy on those evolutions.
Make the right weight. I have several years of power lifting under my belt which makes me strong, but trying to out muscle bigger guys is a terrible strategy. I was feeling weak and afraid that I wouldn't make the cut, so I abandoned it in the last week to try to be as strong as possible. 155lbs is where I need to be.