Make it a Double.....

(7/16/09 5:00pm 105 Degrees) Fitness Kickboxing
(7/16/09 6:00pm 105 Degrees) BJJ

One of my post-surgery, post-heart problem recovery goals was to be able to take on our Fitness Kickboxing class and to then dive right into the Jits class immediately afterward.

Goal accomplished.

All day Thursday I was super sore from the Tuesday night conditioning session. I was suffering from DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in a pretty major way. I could barely walk up the set of stairs leading to my desk. When it came time to leave work, my brain was engaged in a bitter wrestling match. Should I go to the 5:00 Kickboxing class, even though I am sore that my soreness is sore, even though I know that it will help me to feel better; or should I just head home, soak my body in near-boiling water and hope that tomorrow is a more mobile day? And besides, its over 100 degrees outside, which means the gym will be somewhere in the high 90's.

I actually started driving toward home. I got quite far before I took a deep breath, unwadded my panties, turned the car around and set a trajectory toward the gym. I told myself, "just go for conditioning and take it easy if you need to". You see the funny part about that is I can NEVER seem to take it easy but I was still able to convince myself of it.

I got to the gym a bit early so I was able to change, get some water and wrap my hands in peace. I really needed that short bit of time to recharge my batteries and to stretch most of my tension away.

And then it began. The session on Tuesday was very leg heavy and that was where the majority of my pain was living. Ironically (in the Alanis Morisette way and not the literal way) I was feeling much stronger and in better shape than I had since my return. Don't get me wrong, I was still dying but I felt like I was dying just a bit less. I performed each exercise and combination with everything I had and by the end I was shaking and covered with sweat.

In the locker room I began to dry off and pack up to head home. I then had another moment of pause. I felt really good despite being half dead. I LOVE Jiu Jitsu, I figured that even a class in which I would totally suck, it would still be good for me. So I took off my t-shirt and peeled on my rashguard. I managed to get my gi on and get out to the mats.

We have a standing rule that if you participate in the conditioning class then you do not have to engage in the BJJ warm-ups. Most of you know about BJJ warm-ups and I'm sure I've written about our special little brand of hell in the past. When I got to the mats the warm-ups were at about the half-way point, just before the shrimping, monkeys and other exercises that take you back and forth across the mats. I decided, if I am going to die, it may as well be face down on the mats; so I joined in.

After the warm-ups completed we started drills. There were not a whole lot of long time guys there so Fritz had us work on a perpetual motion drill that involved: lapel choke from the mount, upa escape, lapel choke from the guard, guard pass to side control, pass from side control to mount....and continue in that order. I love drilling like this. Any chance to work on the fundamentals and drill them repeatedly is welcome by me. One thing that was kind of funny was the fact that even though I had already punished myslef in the conditioning class, I seemed to have more fuel than the guy I was working with. I think things are getting better.

When it came time to roll, I stuck to my commitment of not rolling till I am off my post-surgery meds. I saw Howard in the class (gigantic, yet athletic blue belt). Howard and I worked with each other once since I've been back and he knows my condition and how to roll without it killing me. I asked him if he wanted to go and before we could, Fritz asked me to work with the brand new, first night kid named Aldo. I love rolling but at the same time I LOVE teaching someone new about our art.

I taught Aldo the lapel choke and showed him how to apply it kneeling, from the guard and from the mount. Once he had it I started our very own perpetual motion drill similar to the one we were doing in class (while he was relegated to the side of the mat practicing the good ol' UPA). As he got more and more comfortable I started upping the resistance and introducing him to the principals of head and hip control, hip movement and energy conservation. At one point I was defending, with him in mount, using just my hips and movement. What a great session. I left the gym so spent yet so exhilarated.

Goals for 2009

Goal Setting (1/2/2009)

I'm not one for waxing nostalgic. Not one for waxing anything really; cars, moustaches, surf boards, lower back hair....but now I'm getting off topic. This time of year its natural, because the media tells us, to review the year that has past and to look forward to what is coming in the next.

Far be it for me to shrug my duty to dwell on my shortcomings and to make plans to better myself so here we go! Please realize I am typing with tongue planted firmly in cheek. I do not make resolutions. Those should be left to marketing professionals who need to sell gym memberships and weight loss meal delivery plans. I set goals.

In my business life I set, as many do, SMART goals. That is, they are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. I go thru this whole process in evaluating and setting the goals with different intervals wherein I will check back and gauge my progress. With BJJ however, well its a bit more fluid of a thing. I cant make a goal that says "Master the Triangle choke by June 1, 2009" and have that be anywhere near valid. So I set a path of areas to focus on and improve. So, keep that in mind and take a look below. From time to time I will post reports on how I am progressing in the areas I have listed.

Here is a quick summary of 2008:

• Beginning weight 195, Ending weight 162 (33 lbs.)
• Met a lot of great folks
• Got a fancy stripe on my belt
• Had so many work outs that I never thought I'd survive
• Learned so much
• Taught some of what I learned
• Had a couple of mini strokes (TIA)
• Wanted to train even more
  

Here are my BJJ related goals for 2009:

• Become a better BJJ player (Easy one eh?)
• Train more consistently
• Attend minimum of 3 classes/week
  -Attend Open Mat more frequently (it rocks)
• Improve my guard game
  -Work on it every session
  -Drill techniques at open mat
  -Start some rolls from guard
• Make the Triangle my go-to submission
  -Train it weekly
  -Try it in rolling / record results
• Improve my conditioning
  -More BJJ classes
  -Fitness kickboxing classes
  -More cycling (Mountain / Road)
• Keep my head in the “right” place
  -Allow the flow back in my rolling
  -Don’t let mat anxiety freeze me up
  -RELAX!!!
• Get more photos during training
• Write more
  -MMA Blog
  -Cycling Training Blog

There they are, my goals. Those are the things I want to work on. Some are concrete and measurable like the number of training sessions but most are intentionally vague because our sport is organic. Learning in our sport is organic. Progress in our sport slows when you push too hard. Its the paradox of force. So I wont force it, I will put myself in the best position to learn and improve these things and it should happen. So wish me luck and please help to keep me accountable.

Post-Christmas Jits

Open Mat (12/27/08 10:00am)

Neil and I met up for open mat on Saturday. The gym has limited hours during these holiday times so we decided to take advantage while we can. There were no normal classes on Saturday (i.e. No gi, Fitness Kickboxing) but instead open mat ran from 9:00am to 1:00pm. That's pretty awesome. Actually, I wish the open mat time was like that every week. I find that time invaluable because I really learn a lot in that environment.

Neil had said that he had wanted to learn from me so, that was interesting. Particularly because at times I feel like I don't really know anything!!! But as it turns out I had plenty of things to show him. He wanted to work primarily on sweeps from guard and on some side control escapes. Both of those are things that I always want to work on because of how practical and necessary they are.

We went over the pendulum sweep; he got that one down pretty well quickly. We also did the normal scissor sweep and thanks to my new Jiu Jitsu University book (Thank you Saulo Ribeiro) we worked on a nifty sweep from the guard that makes it easy to take your opponent's back. I love that book. It doesn't teach anything new and flashy but it sure puts the polish and perspective one things.

We reviewed different side control escapes and I helped him work on his phobia of being trapped in side control. This was good for both of us. I have always had a really strong side control so working with someone who is really wanting to learn to escape was beneficial for me in terms of positional awareness when I get it. Also, who doesn't hate being in side control? It sucks. So why not work on getting out of it whenever you can.

We did take some time and I taught Neil that choke the Doctor and I learned from Dennis during the last open mat. I was actually pulling it off pretty well this time. I like it now and I think I will be using it during rolling as situations arise.

We finished the session off with some specific drilling. Starting from guard, the other would try to pass while we would attempt to sweep, submit, retain guard or just survive. It went well. Neil did an awesome job. He tried out a nifty choke from inside my closed guard that worked surprisingly well, so we'll try that out some more and report back later.

My Own Little Class

Open Mat (11/8/08 12:00pm)

As things would have it, this week I was also relegated to just training on Monday evening and on Saturday Open Mat. Needless to say this is not nearly enough! At the office I am in the middle of a mandatory, non-mandatory (if that makes any sense) after hours training course that takes place after hours. This class normally takes place on Tuesdays but as luck would have it, this week it was moved to Wednesday, one of my primary BJJ nights.

When I got to open Mat, the gym was empty. There was nobody there except for Playboy and Angel behind the desk. Thats it. I was fearful that the place was closed down for improvements or maybe the MMA cage had finally come in and was being installed. Nope, it was just a nice Saturday morning that must have kept everyone in their other lives. Before I had arrived, Dr. Evil had texted me to let me know that he was running late so I thought that I would have to wait for a while to work out.

Luckily, there was a brand new guy at the gym named Darren(sp?) he had shown up to watch the open mat session while I was warming up aimlessly, waiting for the Doc to arrive, I told Angel to find Darren a Kimono so I could show him some of the day 1 basics. I started with Upas, showing him that all familiar escape we all learn. We did a perpetual motion drill that had him escaping from my mount rolling into my guard where I would get to practice my scissor or pendulum sweep to get back to mount...and repeat.

When Dr. Evil arrived we worked with Darren on basic cross collar chokes and the Americana. The Doc also showed me a side control armbar and Kimura transition that is very similar to a knee on belly we learned a few weeks ago.

This was great. It really helped me to remember the basics and teaching them to someone is always the best way to learn. I told Darren to really resist the best he could when it was my turn to sweep. Even though he did not know "BJJ" he knows he doesn't want to be hurled over. I really learned a lot about my own technique and what works for me during this time.

We did some very light game oriented "rolling". I hesitate to call it rolling but for lack of a better word, that's what I'll go with. I started on my back with Darren in the mount his goal was to try to get the cross collar choke or Americana while my objective obviously was to escape & preferably submit.

Now Darren is a giant compared to me. He's probably at least 6' tall, extraordinarily strong with great big hands. I am not. The amazing thing about BJJ is how it neutralizes these differences when we hit the ground. While I am smaller and weaker, my little bit of technique led me to victory in every situation. I really needed this reinforcement that I have improved after some of the frustration I've had lately.

This was great session even though there were only three of us on the mats. I hope Darren keeps on coming.