JujitsuBlog.com

NyQuil Newaza

I'm really not sure if my 'judgment' is my worst enemy or an important driver in continuing to move forward

After Tuesday's full out class, I took Wednesday off except for a light set of weights and sit-ups. I was planning to run the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving morning with my daughter. Unfortunately, she work up Thursday with a cold/flu and I ended up running alone (although in a crowd of around 11,000). I woke up Friday and my legs felt fine but I had picked up my daughter's illness. A few gulps of NyQuil and I was off to bed early. 

I fiddled around Saturday morning wondering if it was a good idea to head to class. Maybe I should take the day off. Heck, I was taking the ahead week off from work to try and relax some. Skipping a class might be just the right medicine to make we feel better. I delayed long enough to barely make class. I was still tying my belt as we lined up to start. I could tell right away that I'd probably made a mistake. Things ached and I could feel the NyQuil remnants swilled around in my stomach. Sempai Jake led the class and he focused on ab work which made matters worse. 

Sensei then paired us up for a series of exercises. I was matched up with Osoto Gary. One example of the series went like this: I did a forward roll toward Gary. He tackled me and I turned this into a Sumi Geashi. Then Gary began the sequence. We did a number of repetitions of these sequences. 

As Sensei broke the class into groups for the main training of the day, I approached him and asked if I could work with the lower belts for the day. He agreed and re-arranged us a bit to allow for that. I was impressed that some of my classmates asked what was going on with me. This is a group that will typically show it's caring by challenging you to man-up. I didn't like backing down but it seemed like the smart thing to do at the moment. 

My partners were an interesting pair. While still a white belt by Kobukai standards, one of my partners has a long history with the dojo and other hand-to-hand methods. The other student was trying the class for the first time. Unfortunately, the physicality and fitness required of the training took him by surprise and he spent most of the class looking on. 

We spent most of the time working on a basic technique but it validated that it made sense to suck it up and get to class. Guard/Gyaku Ude Garami is one of the first technique we learn but I still picked up valuable nuances and repetitions as Sensei and Sempai Ryan checked in with advice. 

For Randori, I started with Osoto Gary and it went okay. I was feeling more gassed than usual afterward but didn't let the big guy get the best of me. Then I moved onto the really big guy, Big Dave. On one side, I was able to get him to the ground repeatedly with an Uke Waza. I was even able to gain Keza on him the first time around. I couldn't contain him and he kept getting back up. Eventually he was able to turn one of my Uke Waza attempts into a sliding arm bar. In one exchange, I cranked my knee pretty good. It's a little stiff today but it feels like a bit of a sprain and nothing else. 

All in all, it was a good day. I learned and sweated and did the best possible. Was it a smart move to head to class today? I never really know whether that's the case. I think I'll just need to realize that my tendency is to go despite my own reservations. And that most everytime the resolve makes the trip worthwhile. 

Happy Thanksgiving...

These Go To Eleven

Every once in awhile, you walk through the dojo doors and the class has a different intensity. You expect that with the annual bash or a belt test but not so much on a seemingly unexceptional Tuesday in late November. What was the impetus behind Sensei pushing us harder than has been typical? Was it a tough day at work or highways? Was it the prospective new student watching the class? Maybe it was the upcoming annual bash or us not having class on Thursday due to the holiday? Maybe he felt we needed to be driven harder? Obviously, there’s no explanation offered. We simply needed to tighten our belts and stay with the pace. As I sat down to dinner later in the evening, I had no interest in the salad in front of me. My insides were still churning. I just wanted to drink Gatorade and watch ‘The Road to Perdition’. 

The workout started with the rapid-fire jumping jacks that Sensei likes. He pushed us through a furious workout and then right into practicing a series of throws. Sensei asked us to pair up with someone near our size but that never works out when Big Dave is in the class. I took him as my partner since I’m accustomed to him and I always figure that, by comparison, things will seem easier with everyone else. Aside from a couple thuds to the floor from his Ogoshi (which had me flying near the cross-beams), I survived these quick sets of multiple repetitions. 

Sensei paired Big Dave and I with Mega Chris to go through some Blue Belt weapon defense. With each technique, we did a round robin. For example, Mega would do three reps with me and then three with Big Dave. Then it was my turn and then Big Dave. We usually did at least a couple rounds of each method. We did three techniques; so that means we did more than 75 repetitions of the following:

• Club – Maki Tori – A nice torque of the elbow and then the shoulder. 
• Knife Throat Rear – Ippon Seoi: Sensei recently showed me a way to prepare as uke for these throws and my landings were better overall. Throwing Big Dave on this is interesting since there’s no need to lower your position as his center of gravity is halfway up my back. 
• Knife Stab – Kote Mawashi: Big Dave was actually able to get me completely airborne on this. And I came to a skidding, bumping stop as he finished the technique. 

We ended the night with some randori. I started with ACR and I shot for a double leg. He got me in an annoying headlock around my face. No choke but tight and bothersome. I have a nice scrape on my lower lip from pulling out of it. After that, I just instructed him on options he had and things he should be doing (e.g., closing his guard). Next up was Little Greg and Sensei said, ‘No instruction. Use everything you have.’ I worked it pretty hard and tried to catch things I don’t always do. As Sensei had suggested recently, I was able to turn a Juji Gatame threat into a Kata Hajime. 

My last opponent was Mega Chris. I got an early guillotine but I couldn’t get my guard. I held on a long time before Chris peeled me off. He got mount but I passed and we scrambled. I ended up in a modified Keza and started to work a Kata Juji Jime from a quasi-knee in stomach position. I stayed with it and eventually got a gurgle and a tap. Chris backed me into a corner on the second round and I got myself into a poor position underneath him. Chris got my gi collar from behind and Sensei was coaching him to roll into a choke. I held off the roll for a few moments but eventually he pulled off an awesome finish. Awesome for him that is. For me, I was gagging and tapping. My mistake wasn’t in letting him roll into the choke but in allowing myself to get into poor position in the first place. 

For some reason, the class reminded me of the scene in ‘Spinal Tap’ where Nigel talks about his special amps that ‘go to eleven’. Last night’s class went to eleven. And I’m thankful for the Thanksgiving break.

If We Only Defend, We Lose The War

Over the past couple days, I've been watching 'Seven Samurai'. The movie is nearly 3 1/2 hours so watching it in one sitting would require more time or patience than I have these days. It's an excellent movie and I'd recommend it highly. During the battle scene toward the end of the movie, the two top samurai are discussing the fortifications they built. The second in charge asks why they had left an exposure on one of their four boundaries. The leader replies that they needed to provide a gap to lure the attacking bandits in to fight them. We states, 'If we only defend, we lose the war.' This made me think about jujitsu. That rushing in heedlessly or playing all defense were both flawed strategies. It was fine to be careful but not to withdraw completely. 

Sensei started class by having us run around the yard surrounding the dojo. We looked like a motely crew in our gi and assorted footwear (e.g., sandals, boots, sneakers) as we trudged across the frosty grass. It did make the cool air inside the dojo seem warm in comparison. Sempai Jake led a round of Ukemi to close out the warm-ups. I felt bad for the new white belt Mikey. He hadn't done Ukemi before and his rolls were awkward. He also had some very sore ribs from a tough landing he took at Thursday's class. He was treading on the fine line between being gritty and doing more than he should have. We all run into these judgment calls about our fitness. Are we making a reasoned decision or wuzzing out when we skip a class due to a tweak? Should we suck it up and make the best of it or allow ourselves to recover? 

I spent the majority of class working with Sempai Jake on blue belt jujitsu. This included:

• Punch - Ippon Seoi Nage - There's a lot of flow with this Ippon Seoi version but leading with the right leg seemed awkard. It did feel good once the components came together. 
• Punches - Kneeling Kubi Nage - I thought that I was doing this throw wrong because Sempai Jake was going over before my knee hit the mat. In fact, this was the correct technique. 
• Front Hug - Harai Goshi - This throw will continue to take lots of work for me. I asked Sensei for tips on practicing this and he demonstrated how you could use your belt and a tree to practice setting the throw. My neighbors are going to be calling the mental hospital when they see this. 
• Rear Hug - Ippon Seoi Otoshi - This is a fairly straight forward throw once you get the arm position tight. It was harder on me as an uke since it put a lot of torque on my shoulder as I went over the top. 
• Rear Hug Free - Soto Makikomi - On this throw, you hook the attacker's elbow and do a forward roll into an ude gatame. Initially, I was rolling too much and mashing Sempai Jake's head. 
• Lapel Grab - Ippon Seoi Nage - This throw is fairly easy for the thrower but not the uke. The uke grabs with one hand and throws a punch with the other. The punching arm is blocked and bundled in with your other arm. In other words, you head toward the mats with both arms restrained. You only have a fraction of a second to get an arm free to slap and break your fall. 
• Mae Geri - Ouchi Gari - This was a tough one for me to be the uke on as I'm shorter than Sempai Jake. He had a tough time reaching under my kicking leg to grab my lapel. On my end, I took quite a few reaping heels directly into my left calf. The knot is still there today. 

We ended class with some randori. I had a chance to go with some of the lower belts and Sempai Jake. With the white and yellow belts, I spent a fair amount of this time trying to be helpful but also looking to work a submission if I could find the opening. My toughest roll was, not surprisingly, with Sempai Jake. He had me in a couple tough spots but I kept composed enough to not make matters worse for myself. Although I didn't tap out, I don't think I lived up to the quote above about only defending. I'll need to ensure I add more offense to my rolls with the senior belts (even if it means losing a few battles along the way).   

Bruce Lee's Nunchuck Ping Pong

Warriors Judoka

I Fell Down

Last night's class was relatively small which has become the norm for a Thursday's evening. In fact, I was the highest belt in class other than Sensei. He put us through a pretty tough workout to begin with things like doing sit-ups from the back of a training partner on their hands and knees. Sensei then ended the sequence with some yoga to warm us down. 

We began with doing a series of Nage (throw) fits including Osoto Gari, Ogoshi and Ippon Seoi. For example, we would do ten repitions (while getting instruction on tweaking our technique) and then complete the throw on the final attempt. 

I was then paired with Osoto Gary to work on a number of yellow belt throws. These included Front Choke - Kubi Nage Otoshi, Club - Ippon Seoi. I was really pleased to see Gary get the feel for the Kubi Nage Otoshi. When done correctly, there's a distinctive zipping sound as the uke's foot is swept across the floor by the force of the thrower's calf on their ankle. Cool stuff. 

Training next to us were a couple white belts, ACR and Mikey. They were working on doing Osoto Gari. Mikey is very new to the class and he's still working on everything. At one point, everyone froze as Mikey took a tough, newbie fall and landed too hard on his ribs and head. He yelled out in pain and laid motionless. There's always a moment when everyone looks over and hopes it's just a hard knock and not an injury. Mikey got to his feet and stood wavering slightly. Sensei asked him, 'What happened?' and Mikey paused for a good while as the neurons connected and he assessed the damage. He finally looked over and said. 'I fell down'. Well put.

Sensei then demonstrated some ways to begin newaza when starting from the ground in the kneeling position. He showed us a number of methods to off balance to opponent and sweep into a dominate position. 

We ended the night with some newaza and I went with Osoto Gary again. We had a good roll and I focused on showing him a choke to arm bar transition that's been working for me consistently. I saw this particular entry this summer on a Saulo Ribeiro tape and immediately liked it. So far, it's been a winner.

Monkey Steals The Peach

Outliers and The End of the Scooby Era

There’s no piece of technology that I’m more attached to than my iPod. Even this computer plays second fiddle to my iPod. I listen to it on my long commute to and from work. I carry it with me when I run on the track, hike along trails or mow the lawn. I even go to sleep with one ear bud in. I most often listen to podcasts (e.g., FilmSpotting.net, TheFightWorksPodcast.com, Adam Corolla) or audiobooks. Yesterday, I downloaded the new book ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Galdwell. He’s the authored of such best sellers as ‘The Tipping Point’ and ‘Blink’.

This new books delves into the phenomenon of why some people (e.g., Bill Gates, Michael Jordan) are so successful. One chapter discusses the ’10,000 Hour Rule’. In short, this is the finding that one needs to dedicate 10,000 hours to be an expert at something. This applies to everything from computer programming to playing an instrument. That equates to about 3 hours of practice each day for 10 years.

Assuming that the 10,000 hour rule applies to jujitsu, I will become a jujitsu expert at about age 75.

Earlier this week, I heard from a dojo mate that had been missing from class the past few weeks. Scooby Tom was nicknamed for the Scooby Doo-like noises he sometimes made when enduring a choke, arm bar or some other unfortunate event. Jujitsu had been good for Scooby. I remember the first times we ran before class. At some points, I actually ran behind him and pushed him along with two hands in his back. This past summer he had come so far that he ran away from the crowd to finish before everyone else. He’d also lost lots of weight and gained a good deal of strength and skill. That said he had some nagging injuries that discouraged him. Like I had also been, he was ‘stuck’ trying to earn his blue belt. In the end, he decided to pursue his love of hiking versus continuing to train. Scooby is hardly the first person to stop training and certainly won’t be the last but he'll definitely be missed more than most.

Training on Tuesday focused on more ‘knee on stomach’ positions. Just wonderful when my training partner is Big Dave. Even more amusing was my attempt at Guard/Sankaku Garami (a.k.a., omoplata) on this big dude. The good news is that I'll be prepared should I ever be attacked by Hulk Hogan.

Jujitsu Tidbits

I was recently listening to an interview with Emily Kwok on the TheFightworksPodcast.com. She described the journey of going from white belt to black belt as being like learning the alphabet to writing a novel. She suggested that you went from learning letters to forming words to writing sentences and onward toward writing a novel. At this point, I feel like someone that knows a few words but not too many sentences.

I led the warm-ups in class on Tuesday. I've been called on to do this more so of late and I'm becoming more comfortable with leading this portion of class. What I need to do is to look through some of the training books so that I can introduce something special versus simply repeating the usual exercises and stretching. There's no sense taking the lead unless you bring something new to the task. 

I spent most of Thursday's class working on half-guard escapes/transitions and knee-on-stomach variations with Sempai Steve. While it's great to get this type of high-level training, I do worry that this is boring to the senior dojo-mate. 

I ended class by rolling with some of the white and yellow belts in class. I don't usually have a chance to roll with lower belts. This group is no picnic since they are all much bigger than me but, for the time being, I have an advantage in experience. I was happy to get the chance to take the newest student Mikey on his first newaza spin. I talked him through some of the mechanics and showed him how to lock on a couple submissions. Then I choked him out for the first time. What are friends for?

We didn't have an black belts in class on Saturday as they were gathering to go away for a weekend retreat. This left the class to Mega Chris. He did a very good job all around. Since one of the students in class is in law enforcement, we focused on weapon defense techniques. It was good to see that Chris and I could do a decent job in leading our partners through this instruction. 

As I was rolling with Little Greg at the end of class, Sempai Ryan stuck his head in. He was dressed in his camping gear but he looked like he wanted to get onto the mat. He spent some time giving me instruction. Primarily he was strongly suggesting going to a knee on stomach to maintain control from the top. I've just started learning this and gave it a shot but it's not a strong suit as yet. Still it's good to be, at least, trying this technique after having it done to me for a couple years.