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Jujitsu Triple Play

Schedule: Monday - Omoplata BJJ, Tuesday - Kobukai Jujitsu, Wednesday - Omoplata BJJ. That makes for a nice flow of training and something I wouldn't mind being able to do more often. Now that's not going to happen given the schools are 90 minutes apart but it's great when my schedule allows for it. 

I've found some interesting contrasts and synergies between the two schools which I'll try to touch on below: 

Age: While I'm the oldest student at Kobukai, there are at least a couple of guys in the forties and many in there 30's. Most of the Omoplate crew are less than half my age with a fair number just 18 and preparing to enter college in the fall. In other words, I'm older than some of their fathers. 

Nage: In my limited time at Omoplata, we have spent minimal time on throws/takedowns aside from practicing sprawls. The judo aspect of Kobukai is missing. You avoid the pounding nage can be but you also don't get these important techniques. 

Newaza/Grappling: At Kobukai, ground work is just one component of a multi-faceted cirriculum. At Omoplata, ground work is king and the vast majority of class is spent on the mats. 

Walls: Kobukai's environment features the walls of the hombu. They're often used to press an opponent against, to bang someone's head, to corner an opponent on the ground, to push off of when rolling or to bash into when misjudging distance. Omoplata has no walls but less standing randori makes this less important. 

Size: Kobukai's Big Dave is the largest dude at either academy. He clocks in at about 6' 3 1/2'' and 290 pounds. Omoplata's Nightmare is about 5' 9'' and 120. In general, the guys at Kobukai are married with children and looking to sheds pounds versus the Omoplata crew that are bulking up. 

Conversation: Discussion before a Kobukai class often involves work, marriage situations and women. At Omoplata, the conversation has been on happening clubs, beach parties and girls. 

Atmosphere: The expectation at Kobukai is that you'll arrive promptly for bow in to start class and will leave only after the class ends and the lower belts clean the dojo. Omoplata is less formal in that regard. Guys tend to arrive and leave as their schedule allow. There's certainly respect and attention paid to the instructors at Omoplata but there's no formal rank or references like Sempai or Sensei. 

Points/Self-Defense: A number of times, my training partners at Omoplata referenced that a position would mean points. Given the self-defense focus at Kobukai, points are a foreign to me. We also do loads of self-defense techniques including weapons defense and aikijitsu. 

Class Length: The Omoplata classes are three hours versus the 90 minutes at Kobukai. The pace at Omoplata is relatively relaxed and we take a number of short breaks. Kobukai tends to be fairly intense and breaks are infrequent. The lack of throws and other Kobukai techniques allow for a longer class. I can't imagine doing a 3-hour Kobukai class. 

Grappling: There are often Kobukai classes where we won't do any rolling whatsoever. This Tuesday's class was typical in that we spent the last 20 minutes doing newaza (which included about a ten minute roll between Sensei and I). One Omoplata class I attended started with light rolling to warm-up and when went into jiu-jitsu techniques and into live grappling. Basically the entire class rolling. Add to this 'Club Omo' where music is played as a background to the grappling. There is no club music soundtrack at Kobukai. 

Fitness: Kobukai is noted for some insane workouts including runs through the woods, pool-bound classes and lots of endurance contests. Omoplata has a fitness component with a focus on balance and all-around strength. It's not as intense as Kobukai can be but introduces some interesting things like 'clock pushups' and 'gators'. 

All that noted, I have a great time at both schools. I learn a ton, laugh lots, hang with cool folks and stay fit. I've been able to see cross benefits as I use techniques from Kobukai at Omoplata and vice versa. The jujitsu community is currently a fantastic environment and I'd encourage anyone to venture into it and explore.

This Is Better Than Cable

Yesterday, my daughter and her friend spent hours luring crabs into their nets. It seemed like an inexhaustable amount of fun for them. At one point they even exclaimed, 'This is even better than cable!'

In the afternoon, I headed back to Omoplata BJJ for another marathon class. Dan was the instructor on what I learned was 'fitness day'. We spent about the first half-hour doing a variety of exercises. The first group involved various crawls and runs around the mats. The next set included a variety of pushups, squats and leg extensions. 

The primary instruction was on side mount positions. We started with one version that focused on keeping your shoulder pressed into the opponent's chin by keeping your head-side leg extended and your hip leveraging down. We then worked another version where you couldn't get shoulder pressure and used your forearm to turn the opponent's head away. In this second version, your left knee stayed at the oppoenent's hip but your right leg was posted out. We also did these positions 'live' to test our technique against a real escape. 

The next variation was to set-up an ude garami/key lock attack from these side mounts. Dan instructed that you'd start this attack whenever the opponent's arm came out from their chest and either toward your forehead or around your neck. The technique was to pull their bicep in with your left hand and use your left shoulder to trap their arm to the mat. You could then drag your right arm across your chest/neck to position the key lock hold. 

The last thing we began working on was using that same set-up to transition to a harness position that can be used to transition to a variety of attacks. In short, the expectation on the key lock attempt is that the opponent will roll toward their arm to defend. Dan showed a switch to grabbing the other hand and your own forearm with your oppposite hand. This put you in a controlling position to attempt a variety of attacks including taking the back for a choke. 

For newaza, I started with one of the young guys and had no issue with him. He's going to be good as he's young, strong and athletic. At this point he just lacks experience. Next, I went with Dan and he dominated me. Like Oz at my hombu, he was very strong legs and passing him is a nightmare. Jumping in gets you into all kinds of trouble including the crucifix arm bar that ended our roll. 

My last roll was with Pez. He has the advantage in technique but I had size on him. We had a good roll with Pez trying to arm drag to my back and me trying to get to side or keza control. I did ctach him on a kata gatame but dragged a finger nail across his head in the attempt. He got a nice scrap but accepted my apology and was gracious enough to give me some arm drag and arm bar tips before I headed out. It was another good class with lots of excellent grappling concepts. I'm looking forward to heading back next week for instruction.

Back Mount And More

First of all, my apologizes for any spelling and grammer isssues but I'm posting by phone and can't fix anything I post. I saw some mistakes on previous posts but they'll need to remain until I get back on a computer. 

My daughter had a couple friends visit today. One of the girls is 14 and had has been practicing a judo-focused version of jujitsu for six years. She demonstrated her expertise by tossing me with an Ogoshi and an Osoto Gari on the lawn outside the cottage. 

Headed over to Omoplata BJJ for another class. One thing that's very different from my school is the informality. Guys sort of just drift into a relaxed environment. The classes are also slated to be three hours long versus the 90 minutes I'm accustomed to. There's more down time but three hours is still a marathon for me. The class started around 5:30 and we began with about 30 minutes of positional rolling. We then did 30 minutes of live rolling. We always started from the ground. I worked with everyone from the instructor Dennis to a couple 18 year olds who had just started recently. 

The next hour we worked on some techniques and the final hour was for more rolling. The technigue was transitioning from a back riding position to a rear naked choke. This included:

* Bucking forward and extending the opponent's left wrist to create space for sinking one hook. 

* Creating a 'harness' with your left arm around their neck and right arm underneath to their shoulder. * Coming off to the left side and dragging the opponent onto their side. 

* Streching the opponent out by extending back with your shoulders and legs. 

* Switching your right arm over your left and between your head and the oppnent's to lock in the choke. 

I ended by rolling with a guy nicknamed 'Black History'. He's an experienced BJJ guy and we had a good roll. I was definitely fighting defensively for much of the time. I booked around 8 as two and a half hours is enough BJJ for a newbie but oldie like myself.

Jujitsu By The Beach

I found that Omoplata BJJ is just a few minutes from where I'm staying. Nothing like a restful vacation with BJJ class to keep the soreness intact. 

Dan Faggella met me at his place on Wakefeld, Rhode Island for his Sunday class. He rolled out the mats in the back of a warehouse and be started with a roll. I'm guessing that he wanted to warmup and get a sense of whether I had any game whatsoever. 

The class focused on setting up an arm bar when in the side mount position and your opponent blocking in his arm and elbows to his chest. How do you peel these arms away and get the opponent onto their side? Dan had us progress from a standard side mount position in this way: 

* Cup the opponent's right shoulder with your right hand. 

* Get your right hip up to get pressure on the opponent's upper torso. 

* Move your left hand to your side of the oppponent's hip to block them. 

* Keeping the pressure on the upper torso, rotate toward a North/South position driving your right shoulder across their chin. 

* Turning to about a 45 degree angle will expose their left arm. 

* Now use your left hand to hook their left arm while continuing to drive the opponent onto their side. 

* Grasp the inner bicep of their left arm. 

* Use your right hand to pin their right wrist to the mat. 

* Pop up your left foot to block the opponent's hip with your knee. 

* Create some 'bow and arrow' tension by pressuring the hip, keeping the wrist pinned to the mat and pulling back on their left arm. 

* Pop up your right leg wide of the opponent's head and work your foot back toward their head and inside their blocked wrist. 

* Release their wrist and quickly drop back into an arm bar. 

We did another variation of this technique starting from an ude garami attempt. Essentially the opponent put themselves into the arm bar position by rolling onto their side to block the ude garami attempt. I ended the class with long rolls with Dan and one of his instructors, Pez. It was a very good workout although I could tell that they had many gears that they didn't ramp up to. Tonight I'm going to head back for more instruction and a little physical abuse.

The Courage Of Sempai Matt

I was recently reading a book called 'The Survivor's Club' that discussed the topic of courage. In short, it suggested that courage wasn't the absence of fear but being aware of your fear but taking action anyway. 

On Saturday night, Sempai Matt stepped into a cage for his first MMA fight. The result wasn't what we all had hoped for but I found myself feeling no less proud and impressed with him. He had challenged himself to try something dangerous and had trained extremely hard. His victory was in the journey. 

Over the past few months, Matt dropped 65 pounds as he worked tirelessly to retool his physique. He practiced nearly every day and stretched himself by training in a variety of fighting arts. He stepped in front of a more experienced MMA fight and took the fight right to him. 

Sempai Matt is no doubt disappointed in Saturday's result but, I expect, that he'll be back on the mats almost immediately. He's that type of warrior. Never letting up and continually facing his fears to battle and improve himself with each step of the journey. It's a priviledge to train with and know men like Sempai Matt. That's why we all drag our tired and bruised bodies to the dojo each class. To learn from and hang with these brave and dedicated souls.

Time For A Break

American Hands

Via WarrenEllis.com...

There's No Bug Spray In Jujitsu

Classes continue to be packed in the middle of summer. I'd expected things to slow as folks headed off on vacation but, instead, the dojo has been packed. We've been packed onto the mats and needing to keep an eye open for flying heels and elbows of the training partners beside us. I'm not sure why we're seeing this number of folks but I have to assume it's largely due to Sempa Matt's upcoming fight. We've all had the chance to work with him over the past few weeks and probably now share a few of the butterflies he's feeling. 

On Tuesday, we were mulling around the entrance to the dojo anticipating a run to start class. Sensei approached and said that we wouldn't be running today. Some of the guys don't care for running and expressed relief. Sensei then said ominously, 'You're going to wish you were running.' He when spent the next 45 minutes pushing us through a workout that included a crazy amount of push-ups and squats. My legs were burning from doing things like back-to-back squats with Big Dave. I fell out early in some cases and did more than my share of push-ups as a penalty. 

We spent the next half-hour or so working on techniques. I was matched with Big Dave and Mega Chris to work on some newaza. I like to think that I know the blue belt techniques fairly well but attempting them on Big Dave is a reality check. The most difficult proved to be attempting a sankaku jime (triangle choke) that initates from mount. First of all, how do you move someone that's 100 plus pounds heavier than you?Secondly, how are my short legs supposed to fit around this hulk? It wasn't pretty but a good lesson nevertheless. 

I had only one fight during randori and it was with Sensei. Both Sensei and Mega Chris have been getting on me about being more aggressive. Therefore, I've been trying to take the offensive more and not focus as much on just resisting submissions. As I look back over the past three years, I've noticed a transition in my approach. I've began being very aggressive as a substitute for knowing any techniques. Once I suffered some injuries, I turned to being very defensive and fighting from my back. These days, I'm trying to add a little more energy to my randori. In rolling with Sensei, my first objective was to try and not fall pray to the kimura he tends to get me on. I resisted the kimura and was able to stay active. I had a couple submission attempts and had the help of Sempai Ryan barking at me. The main things I was doing wrong was in gaining back position and in shrimping. I was a little over anxious to go for the back without getting my hooks in and shrimping too flatly. 

Last night's class was another big one. It included everything from five black belts to the newest white belt John who was suffering a chest injury suffered in a fantasy sword-fighting duel. We began the class with the run but not a typical one. Sensei led us through a wooded trail and included a variety of exercises including attacks from behind trees, jumping up on cinder block walls and practicing striking techniques on the side of a sandy slope. 

I spent class working on yellow belt newaza with Osoto Gary. It was a muggy, sweaty night and the perspiration was soaking the mats. We kept the doors of the dojo open to let a little air in but that was also an invitation to all the local mosquitos. Toward the end of class, we all began to sense an unusual odor. Sort of a peppermint smell. At first, I thought it was some balm for sore muscles. It turned out to be Special Ed's bug spray. Bug spray?! Mega Chris grabbed the cannister and chucked it outside saying, 'There's no bug spray in jujitsu!' I might have added, 'The next time you bring it, it will be a suppository.'

 Well, we can get a bit testosterone laden. 

Thursday = Beatdown, Saturday = Technical

No gi season is typically the time of year where we are brutalized by the heat and humidity plus the mosquitos that are attracted to sweaty humans in a confined area. So far, we've had an unusually cool summer with lots of thunderstorms. The variation we might have seen in the summer weather hasn't really panned out as yet but it's been a unique few weeks nevertheless. Classes on Thursday and Saturday were perfect examples of the diversity. 

Thursday was another class largely devoted to helping Sempai Matt prepare for his MMA fight on July 18th. Essentially we lined up to take our turn grappling with him. For the most part, Matt took no breaks while each of us cycled in to work him out. Eventually we put on MMA gloves and added strikes to what he had to deal with. Actually, wearing the gloves and punching felt odd as it's not something we do typically. We practice many variation of punch and other strike defenses but are not usually on the offense. 

I cannot imagine the mixture of anxiousness and excitement Matt must be feeling as the months of preparation come to a close and the fight night nears. I'm simply going to watch him and I'm getting nervous. It will be a crazy night. 

Saturday's class was small compared to Thursday's crowded house that included the likes of Sempai Kenny and Sempai Cort. Only Sempai Greg, Sempai Ryan, Little Greg and I. Instead of spending time trying to beat on Matt, we worked on some technical grappling techniques. 

My favorite of the bunch was an escape done when your opponent was passing from half guard into side control. As Sempai Ryan demonstrated, you would lock the opponent's underhooking right arm with your left. As the opponent began their pass, moved your right hand under them and to their left side. You would then use the hand to help pull yourself under the opponent and into a spot to gain a superior position. 

What was most cool about this technique was that it came into play when I was rolling with Sempai Ryan later in class. I was in the exact position was able to successfully utilize the same pass that he'd shown me just moments earlier. 

I didn't have as much luck rolling with Sempai Greg. Overall, I did fairly well but made the same mistake twice and one that I make too often. When passing his guard, I placed my hand on the mat which he quickly turned into a kimura.. Twice. In addition, this is something that Sensei always get me on. It's ongoing problem for me and one that I need to solve. 

One more week of classes before vacation. Then things should really get interesting. Especially with Matt's fight on the 18th to kick things off. 

Kouchi Gari