Coach John Boyle demonstrating the "Helicopter Choke"

That right there is some Jet Li shit...

Getting it done- Intermediate, Randori, Blackbelt

Last night I was able to scramble and get to the school in time to make the 5:30 intermediate No-Gi class. We worked side control escapes with some positional drilling at the end of class. I then stuck around and spent the next 30 minutes rolling with one of our Purple Belts. He had a knack for snaring one of my feet into half guard and I spent a good deal of time working my half escapes. To try to explain, this guy is almost my perfect antithesis we weigh nearly the same, but where I am long in body, and limb, he is stocky and compact. It was like trying to submit a beer keg! We had about 4 great rolls during the 30 min, most ending with me in a loop choke (gotta watch those arms damn it). It was the kind of fast, aggressive but friendly and educational rolling that you really look for with a training partner. I was grateful for the time spent, and the lessons learned.
Once you have been active in Jiu Jitsu for an hour and a half, another hour doesn't seem so bad so I stuck around to train in the advanced level class instructed by the school's 2nd Degree Black belt founder Professor Amal Easton. I found the lesson to be very drilling intensive, and as there were 2 Black Belt Professors present we recieved a lot of great feedback and guidance on some of the finer points of the technique.
over all a good training session, with lots of new material to dedicate to memory, and drill drill drill into consistency.

Black Belt session

The Monday Black Belt training session is going to be part of my permanent training schedule. It was a mutual experience of whoop ass. I gave nearly as good as I got, but then this is the "upper classman's class" so I had to expect that. The newest thing fro me was remembering to go for the wristlock when the opportunity was right. Also, taking people over my head from my guard seemed to be working pretty well.

I think more of this sort of high level practice will continue to add dimension to my game. It's time to push myself and grow.

BREAK OVER

In the end of September I re-dedicated myself to training BJJ on a full time schedule of 3x classes per week minimum. Throughout much of July, and the first part of August I was only training 2x per week. My training consisted of being an Oki during private lessons, and thus getting free private lessons with a Brown Belt instructor, and a loosely formatted positional drilling session on Wednesday nights. I was helping a buddy prepare for tournament, and I was having a problem with my low-back which kept me from really pushing too hard during that time-frame.

Excuse time is now officially past. For the next 2 weeks i will be rigidly sticking to my 3x training schedule Attending Black Belt class on Monday, Intermediate Tuesday, and Intermediate Saturday mornings- after that Shannon is done with Softball and Thursdays will again be open for BB training. I am still a bit Ronin from my normal schedule, as I have been working out sessions at the South School Intermediate level classes as well as attending at my home academy in Denver. I like the crowd in HR, and I like to train down there so I am splitting time.

As I am returning to class I am also working in a lot of the things I had been working on in the private sessions, and drilling- mostly sweeps. Last week I got a lot of good results from the pendulum sweep, which feels very natural to me.

I was pleasantly reminded last weekend of just how effective BJJ is against the uninformed opponent- I swept a guy at will while training with a Fundamentals / Intermediate group in Boulder. This guy had at least 50 lbs on me- was bigger / stronger ect- totally helpless in my guard. Of course sweeps become less and less effective once you are rolling with someone who actually knows some BJJ, but it was heartening to realize how simple it was to work game on an unwitting opponent. I saw a guy fight in a UFC prelim over summer who said of BJJ "I don't believe in it" He was a striker, and apparently hadn't come up against a real BJJ player yet. He won his fight due to strikes and seemed to reinforce his belief. This past weekend during the UFC prelims I watched a solid BJJ player- a record holder having finished 7 fights in a row by triangle, and then the next 3 via heel hook to be 10-0 in his MMA career. He finished his opponent via heel hook- and you KNOW his opponent knew it was coming, but just couldn't get away from it. Tell THAT guy you "don't believe in BJJ" and I predict a life altering outcome for you...

BJJ is intelligent, and resourceful. It's fighting, but it is also methodical, thought provoking and strategic. It is an art.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - The Ultimate Reinvention of Fighting

Remembering why I do this. Time to get fired up and start kicking ass again!

Taking a break

It's been a while since i posted, and that is mostly due to having taken a significant break from my traditional training schedule. Leading up to July I was rolling up to 4 times a week. Attending classes on Wednesday Morning, Wednesday Afternoon, (yes twice in a day) Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings. This was pretty hard on my body, but I was liking it, and so i was content to keep getting after it every chance I got. Around mid July I started helping my buddy get ready for a tournament that is coming up at the end of this month. As such we have been attending private sessions with one of our most competitive coaches, and then meeting up mid-week to drill positions. Since this happened i have been training only during those sessions.

I'm not exactly sure why I slowed down so drastically. I mean, sure Saturdays have been busy, but that shouldn't stop me from getting to the school on the other days. Work has certainly played it's part. My old 2-a-day schedule on Wednesdays is just a fantasy now. No way I can escape for the class at noon with the load I have been pulling. Getting to class in Denver has been a traffic nightmare too. Excuses excuses I guess. I sure do have plenty.

I think I'm just looking to regroup, and get reinvigorated regarding my training. Twice a week isn't horrible or anything, but 3 classes a week used to be my minimum and I'd like to get back to that. I am thinking of switching up and going Ronin between schools attending more classes at Boulder, Arvada, since those schools are reasonably closer to the office than Denver. and South School on the weekends. It sucks, because I feel like I have relationships in Denver, but even that seems to be changing this past month. The coaches and professors I have grown accustomed to have been playing musical chairs with class times, so it is growing more difficult to get my schedule to match up with theirs.

Warrior Dash is this Sunday, and then next week is a new week. I plan to draw out a new training plan and get back to the mats at least 3 times per week even though each class may be at a different school. I'll blog how that goes.

What's your name again?

I've been training for a year and a half now, mostly at the same school location during that time, and I've seen a lot of people come and go. I try to remember peoples names. I'm bad at it, but I DO legitimately try. I am a pretty friendly guy in general, so that isn't unusual.

Since i have been training at Intermediate and above for some time now, most of the "new" faces i see have actually been around for several months attending Fundamentals classes prior to entering the Intermediate program themselves. When new faces show up I try to be welcoming, and help them out if they are just rolling live for the first time. I feel like it is important to make people feel comfortable, and I also find that when I'm a nice guy, then they tend to be nice back to me, and that is good for drilling, and training together.

I think BJJ class is actually a great place to make friends- as adults it is tricky to meet up with cool people you don't work with, and I have found training is a great social common ground.

I do tend to gravitate toward the people from my "class" meaning the folks that started right around the same time I started. There are several people I genuinely like from that group, whom I am friends with on Facebook, or have met up with off the mat. Others I just have a respectful acquaintanceship with on the mat, and it gets left at that until whenever.

i really believe you need to approach this sport with an open mind. I roll with all sorts of people- different races, educations, religions, professions, political affiliations, personal ethos, and socio-economic circumstances. I generally like everyone, so I feel pretty good about that.