After the unsuccessful competition début at the Welsh Open I decided that I was not being clever maintaining my chubby porker status so I took the almighty leap into a proper gym schedule and a somewhat less calorific diet. First step, I spoke to Rane, one of the fitness instructors at Sweat FA where I happened to have membership (if a trifle under used), who showed me a decent interval training routine (not like the shite one I'd made up for myself) on the cross-trainer, bike and running machine. She also recommended I get myself a heart monitor. Now I'm no string bean but when a fitness instructor advised me to get a heart monitor I thought "holy shit, how out of shape am I?!". On voicing this concern Rane explained to me that it was just to measure my heart rate for effort and then recovery rate. I was quite relieved and went out immediately a bought a cheap heart rate monitor from Boots chemist. £10, Bargain.
On to the workout. I started off doing 25 minutes a day (at lunch time during work, thank god for the flexi time job I am fortunate enough to have), 5 mins warm up, 10 minutes taking my heart rate up to 170 for 30 secs then resting it back down to 140, and then a moderate pace for the final 10 minutes keeping my heart rate at 155-ish. I did this five times a week when I could but more often than not it would be reduced to 4 times due to the odd work commitment.
I find it prudent to add at this time that due to my nature and my possible ADHD type personality, I find it difficult to do cardiovascular activity for too long as I get tremendously bored and then my mind started to realise how knackered I was getting. This is where the remarkable Steve Jobs (R.I.P) comes in. I was fortunate enough at the time to be gifted with an IPOD nano from my darling wife, Emma, which I have found to help out no end with the monotony of physical exertion. I just ramp on something heavy (Metallica, Pantera, Machinehead) and zone out. When my mind was focused on listening to music I like I found the minutes just flying by and I was gradually starting to gain some form of stamina. And I was also getting the opportunity to listen to some new music which was a bonus. In short, an IPOD is a must have cardiovascular work out aid.
Another thing I did at this time to aid me in my fitness and weight loss regime was to start eating the shit my wife eats. Gone were the days of me planking back a full Fray Bentos pie with chips or mash while my enduring wife ate some form of dry chicken breast with some salad. I was joining her on the rabbit food. Something that had always repulsed me previously, I had never found salad appealing whatsoever. As a wise old work colleague of mine says "I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to go around eating green shit". But never the less, I was starting to sit down with a healthy fish cake, salad and a small portion of rice or something like that.
This new approach to life that I was going through seemed to work. I stuck at it for about 3 months or so and at the end I'd dropped down to 83.9 Kilos at my best (or 13 stone 3 in real money), which was amazing. I was well chuffed. You could really tell the difference as well, I looked thinner, I had stopped snoring at night which was a bonus for the missus, my Bjj game was better due to having much more stamina and poor long enduring Marcus, my regular training partner, didn't have a fat git laying on him week in week out. I was getting good enough that I was able to roll the full 4 x five minutes sparring sessions up at Trojan in Bristol at top capability. I was also finding this was helping with my technique during rolling as I wasn't getting so exhausted so I could focus my mind more on what I wanted to do. All in all, things were looking up.
And at that time things got a whole lot better. Trojan Freefighters (where I was training in Bristol) had joined up with the mighty Checkmat team, headed by multi time World Champion, Leo Vieira, and introduced their new instructor, the outstanding 2nd Grade Black Belt, Chico Mendes.
Straight away it became apparent that Chico's teaching was on a whole other level to what we'd experienced before. Chico's knowledge of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique is immense, he makes you better just by being in the class with him. When he shows a pass or a sweep his explanation of the manoeuvre (you wouldn't believe what I just went through to find the correct spelling for that word) is complete down to the most minor detail. He not only tells you where you put your hands (for example), he tells you why you put them there and often tells you where you definitely don't put them and for what reason. And if he sees someone doing the technique wrong he'll call the class to a halt and explain (without indicating who it was as to cause embarrassment) a bit more about what can go wrong and how to avoid the situation. His kind of teaching really makes you feel like he is paying a lot of attention to his students and really helps you to tighten up your game.
And so, with the addition of Chico and Checkmat to the Trojan team and with my fitness level getting better everyday, I was finally feeling that my Bjj game was advancing to next level.
Cheers 'til next time. \m/
This is an ongoing blog about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and my experiences.
Showing posts with label Brazilian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brazilian. Show all posts
Friday, 14 October 2011
Monday, 10 October 2011
The Welsh Open part 2.
On the morning of the big competition I was in high spirits, though a little nervous. I met up with the guys (Ian, Tom, Marcus and his missus) at the local supermarket car park where they all piled in to my car and off we went. The journey was a great time in itself, all of us full of the excitement of people who were about to physically pit themselves against another human being in a contest of skill and strength.
We arrived in Cardiff with ample time to spare so stopped at Maccy D's for a quick drink, some of the guys had a McBreakfast but I was a bit unsure of putting food in my belly before a grappling tournament so I just had a banana and an energy drink. In fact, over the course of the day I had about 4 energy drinks and a packet of jelly belly sports beans. I was hyped up and ready to go.
On arrival at the Western Sports Centre in Cardiff we were greeted by our fellow Somerset Jiu Jitsu Alliance club mates (there was about 12 or so of us in total) and then made our way to the sign in area. Sign up was a quick and painless process although trying to find a space to sit/congregate after was a bit of a chore. Then it was just the wait for the weigh ins to be called. White belt categories were all to compete first fortunately so we didn't have long to wait before some of our group (all of us competing were white belts) were called to weigh. Starting with the lighter weights so Marcus and Tom were straight up weighing in and then on the dedicated warm up area.
Then the competition began and Tom and Marcus were competing. Tom fought a couple of tough fights and managed to secure a bronze medal for his efforts, while Marcus had two extremely difficult fights and unfortunately got outpointed on both. It was during Marcus' second fight that I heard my name being called over the (absolutely terrible) tanoy system. I was up to be weighed in. In fact I was late to be weighed in even though I never heard my category being called prior to that (as I said, shite tanoy). I ran up to the desk and stood on the scale and weighed a mighty 91.4 kilos. In the 94.3 kilo and under Heavy weight class. So I certainly wasn't going to be one of the heavier guys in my class but that's ok.
I then made my way down to the warm up mats where there was a collection of what I can only describe as herculean man-beasts stretching and sparring with friends and doing their own little thing to focus. I was by then shitting myself hoping to god that the guys I was looking at were actually in the super heavys or something. How wrong could I be? So I was sitting there stretching and chatting with Dan and Ben from our Taunton club when their category, Medium Heavy, was called for mat 2. Dan and Ben get up and walk off. So do a healthy selection of the Man Beast crew. Holy schnitz they were in the class below mine. Then a load more guys got on the warm up mats and some of them were truly frickin giants. I had an image in my head that one of them had just rushed in from eating a whole raw cow.
Ok, so I might have been letting intimidation get the better of me by now. Fortunately, a friend from Pedro Bessa Bjj, Nathan 'Matrix' Moore Pointing, who occasionally trains with SJJA came over and started chatting with me which calmed my nerves somewhat. He also suggested I have a light roll with him which at the time I thought was crazy (roll with a purple belt before my first competition match?! are you nuts?) but he went relatively light and I think the idea was to calm me down a bit. It worked somewhat as it took my mind off of my impending doom.
When my category was called I walked up to the table near mat 3 with the Gorilla parade to find out how long I had until my first fight and found that I was given a bye for the first round. Awesome I thought. I got to gage and rate the opponents before ever stepping on the mat. Wicked. There was some pretty good talent on display but I did notice that there weren't many battles for takedowns going on. Most fights featured someone pulling guard straight away. Nutsacks. The guy I had previously noted as possibly eating a whole cow before the warm up (Matt, I later found his name to be) managed to choke his first opponent unconscious using a gi choke that I didn't quite see. When the first round was over I checked the next round bracket and found that I was to be fighting Matt. What a surprise. And he didn't even look like he'd been in a fight. Chuffing marvelous.
Come my fight time I was so anxious that I walked on the mat and the ref (Pippa Granger) told me to get off as they hadn't raised the hand of the previous winner (d'oh). Then came time. I was stood opposite my enormous opponent. He stood about 6' 2" - 6' 3" and looked pretty much solid muscle and probably weighing nearer the 94 kilo mark. And there was me, 91 kilos of chubby 33 year old. We tapped knuckle and were off. I quickly went in for a grab on his collar hoping that I could go for a takedown or something but the guy instantly pulled guard on me. During his pulling of guard he had a vice like grip on one of my lapels and shoved his knuckle in the other side of my throat so his forearms were crossed. Now the move was tight but I rather stupidly thought to myself that I wasn't choking so I had time to escape. I carefully threaded my arm underneath his knuckled hand forearm and started to push up......
The next thing I was aware of was Gary shouting from the sidelines "Martin, stay down". The only thought I can recall having at this point was thinking that it was some sort of Jiu Jitsu trick and that I would actually win if I stayed down. Then my legs were shaken and I was helped back up. Oh the shame, I had lost my first match and gotten choked unconscious. Gutted. I sat at the side regaining my senses, my victorious opponent came over to check if I was all right, Ian came over to see that I was ok to go on then gave me a bit of advice that I don't recall now, then went off to check on how the other guys were fairing. I just had to calm myself and carry on. After all, the repechage system meant that I could still compete for bronze.
After a thankfully long rest to bring my brain functions back to order I was due to fight again. I pulled my pride hurt ass off the floor and walked on to the mats (at the right time this time too). My opponent was not as large as the previous titan I faced and fortunately looked like he bore a matching mid-rift spread to mine. We tapped hands and then dived in. Shocker of shockers he instantly pulled guard on me. I managed to pass his guard quite quickly though he turned to turtle to deny me points. I pushed him over on to his back but in the scramble he recovered to half guard. Still no points. He then escaped hips and recovered full guard. He managed a quick sweep attempt with no luck and then I smashed passed his guard again with him turning to turtle again. This time though I pulled him toward me and flattened him out gaining 3 points. My side were cheering me on rabidly. I then put all my weight down on him to crush him to the floor and secured my left arm around the back of his head. Putting my other arm down and sneaking it to his nearside under arm I grabbed a hand full of his gi and quickly switched the left arm over the top, still gripping the collar, and pressed my forearm down on his throat. I had the technique sunk in quite well and for a while the guy was going some interesting shades of purple. Unfortunately he managed to switch his hips into me, giving me his back but breaking the choke hold. He then turtled up but I still had a damn good grip on his lapel with my left hand which I then swapped to my right. I quickly, at the very loud instruction of Gary, managed to get my hooks in and pull him over so I had his back with hooks in (4 points) and after a little tom foolery with going to the wrong side first I managed to sink in a decent Bow and Arrow, a move which I love and have rarely seen fail. But to the credit of my opponent he turned his head the correct way and kept his hand just inside his collar so the choke wasn't sunk in properly. With most of my club on the side lines just screaming at me to pull with all my might and Gary trying to call out technique over the top I couldn't really hear anything. I did realise I was tiring from tugging on his gi though and saw the ideal opportunity to bring my right leg up over his head and get a firm hold on his arm with both hands. I then rolled my weight to my right shoulder and pulled on the armbar. The guy tapped instantly.
It was over. My second match. My first win. My corner were going crazy. I loved the feeling of having my arm raised in front of all those people. I shook hands with my opponent (I never even realised until it was pointed out to me later that he had 4 tags on his belt) who looked gutted. Then all my buddies came over and congratulated me and it really did feel amazing. I can so see why people get addicted to competing. The thrill of the fight. The excellent feeling you get when you win. I was on top of the world, for a moment.
Before long though I was called to prepare for my next fight. I was knackered. I blasted back and energy drink and some more beans at this time to try and recover some lost stamina but the weary feeling isn't the exhaustion of running about it's the muscle weariness of pitting all your strength against all your opponents strength. My arms were feeling pretty weak. My next opponent was another quite big bloke. About 6' 1", a three stripe white belt, he was obviously another one who was at the heavier end of the category. Remembering back to it in my mind I kind of imagine myself doing some sort of theatrical gulp as we stood opposite each other.
We tapped hands and began. Now I really don't remember much at all about this fight except that he did stand with me trying for a takedown, which I managed to get (yay me, I knew all that takedown training wasn't for nothing), and that we both worked in guard for a time, I had him in side control for a time and we stood up at one point when we both just managed to regain our feet. The second time stood face to face he pulled guard on me, I managed to pass his guard and he tried for a turtle but I grabbed around he undefended neck quickly and didn't even bother to get my hooks in I just cranked in a rear naked choke and he tapped really quickly without even trying to resist. I won my third match.
I don't remember anything from winning that one though as my blood was pumping so hard that I was in a bit of a daze. I got off the mat and it was then called out that I had a five minute break and would be on again. Bummer!! I was absolutely exhausted, bone weary, muscle shocked and I could hardly focus my thoughts at all. The five minutes went ridiculously quick and I was back on the mat facing guy of comparable size to the last one I fought. And he looked fresher than I did by far.
I'm sure I won't surprise you by telling you that I remember vitrually bugger all about this fight. I do remember that he pretty much passed my guard at will and in the vid I've seen of the match my opponent went to side control then to mount twice, both times trying to finish with a cross choke, both times I used the classic upa escape from mount and burst out of the choke. Both times I then passed his guard to side and then got swept back to to bottom with him in my closed guard. The third time he tried though he secured the grip tight and I upa turned him so I was then in his guard and I just remember feeling so weak and so helpless that I knew I wasn't going to be able to burst out of his cross choke and I didn't have enough time to work my arms through as he had it on tight. I had to tap.
I was a bit crest fallen but I knew I'd done my best and my first tournament was a good one. I'd got two taps out of four which wasn't bad for a fat git. One thing was for sure though, I swore to myself as I walked away that I would not be competing at Heavyweight again. Unsurprisingly, Matt the titan, man-beast, raw cow eating, pressure choke machine won my category so at least one of my losses was to the eventual winner. I felt pride from my performance. I thought to myself as I left that I would be back and a whole lot fitter.
\m/
We arrived in Cardiff with ample time to spare so stopped at Maccy D's for a quick drink, some of the guys had a McBreakfast but I was a bit unsure of putting food in my belly before a grappling tournament so I just had a banana and an energy drink. In fact, over the course of the day I had about 4 energy drinks and a packet of jelly belly sports beans. I was hyped up and ready to go.
On arrival at the Western Sports Centre in Cardiff we were greeted by our fellow Somerset Jiu Jitsu Alliance club mates (there was about 12 or so of us in total) and then made our way to the sign in area. Sign up was a quick and painless process although trying to find a space to sit/congregate after was a bit of a chore. Then it was just the wait for the weigh ins to be called. White belt categories were all to compete first fortunately so we didn't have long to wait before some of our group (all of us competing were white belts) were called to weigh. Starting with the lighter weights so Marcus and Tom were straight up weighing in and then on the dedicated warm up area.
Then the competition began and Tom and Marcus were competing. Tom fought a couple of tough fights and managed to secure a bronze medal for his efforts, while Marcus had two extremely difficult fights and unfortunately got outpointed on both. It was during Marcus' second fight that I heard my name being called over the (absolutely terrible) tanoy system. I was up to be weighed in. In fact I was late to be weighed in even though I never heard my category being called prior to that (as I said, shite tanoy). I ran up to the desk and stood on the scale and weighed a mighty 91.4 kilos. In the 94.3 kilo and under Heavy weight class. So I certainly wasn't going to be one of the heavier guys in my class but that's ok.
I then made my way down to the warm up mats where there was a collection of what I can only describe as herculean man-beasts stretching and sparring with friends and doing their own little thing to focus. I was by then shitting myself hoping to god that the guys I was looking at were actually in the super heavys or something. How wrong could I be? So I was sitting there stretching and chatting with Dan and Ben from our Taunton club when their category, Medium Heavy, was called for mat 2. Dan and Ben get up and walk off. So do a healthy selection of the Man Beast crew. Holy schnitz they were in the class below mine. Then a load more guys got on the warm up mats and some of them were truly frickin giants. I had an image in my head that one of them had just rushed in from eating a whole raw cow.
Ok, so I might have been letting intimidation get the better of me by now. Fortunately, a friend from Pedro Bessa Bjj, Nathan 'Matrix' Moore Pointing, who occasionally trains with SJJA came over and started chatting with me which calmed my nerves somewhat. He also suggested I have a light roll with him which at the time I thought was crazy (roll with a purple belt before my first competition match?! are you nuts?) but he went relatively light and I think the idea was to calm me down a bit. It worked somewhat as it took my mind off of my impending doom.
When my category was called I walked up to the table near mat 3 with the Gorilla parade to find out how long I had until my first fight and found that I was given a bye for the first round. Awesome I thought. I got to gage and rate the opponents before ever stepping on the mat. Wicked. There was some pretty good talent on display but I did notice that there weren't many battles for takedowns going on. Most fights featured someone pulling guard straight away. Nutsacks. The guy I had previously noted as possibly eating a whole cow before the warm up (Matt, I later found his name to be) managed to choke his first opponent unconscious using a gi choke that I didn't quite see. When the first round was over I checked the next round bracket and found that I was to be fighting Matt. What a surprise. And he didn't even look like he'd been in a fight. Chuffing marvelous.
Come my fight time I was so anxious that I walked on the mat and the ref (Pippa Granger) told me to get off as they hadn't raised the hand of the previous winner (d'oh). Then came time. I was stood opposite my enormous opponent. He stood about 6' 2" - 6' 3" and looked pretty much solid muscle and probably weighing nearer the 94 kilo mark. And there was me, 91 kilos of chubby 33 year old. We tapped knuckle and were off. I quickly went in for a grab on his collar hoping that I could go for a takedown or something but the guy instantly pulled guard on me. During his pulling of guard he had a vice like grip on one of my lapels and shoved his knuckle in the other side of my throat so his forearms were crossed. Now the move was tight but I rather stupidly thought to myself that I wasn't choking so I had time to escape. I carefully threaded my arm underneath his knuckled hand forearm and started to push up......
The next thing I was aware of was Gary shouting from the sidelines "Martin, stay down". The only thought I can recall having at this point was thinking that it was some sort of Jiu Jitsu trick and that I would actually win if I stayed down. Then my legs were shaken and I was helped back up. Oh the shame, I had lost my first match and gotten choked unconscious. Gutted. I sat at the side regaining my senses, my victorious opponent came over to check if I was all right, Ian came over to see that I was ok to go on then gave me a bit of advice that I don't recall now, then went off to check on how the other guys were fairing. I just had to calm myself and carry on. After all, the repechage system meant that I could still compete for bronze.
After a thankfully long rest to bring my brain functions back to order I was due to fight again. I pulled my pride hurt ass off the floor and walked on to the mats (at the right time this time too). My opponent was not as large as the previous titan I faced and fortunately looked like he bore a matching mid-rift spread to mine. We tapped hands and then dived in. Shocker of shockers he instantly pulled guard on me. I managed to pass his guard quite quickly though he turned to turtle to deny me points. I pushed him over on to his back but in the scramble he recovered to half guard. Still no points. He then escaped hips and recovered full guard. He managed a quick sweep attempt with no luck and then I smashed passed his guard again with him turning to turtle again. This time though I pulled him toward me and flattened him out gaining 3 points. My side were cheering me on rabidly. I then put all my weight down on him to crush him to the floor and secured my left arm around the back of his head. Putting my other arm down and sneaking it to his nearside under arm I grabbed a hand full of his gi and quickly switched the left arm over the top, still gripping the collar, and pressed my forearm down on his throat. I had the technique sunk in quite well and for a while the guy was going some interesting shades of purple. Unfortunately he managed to switch his hips into me, giving me his back but breaking the choke hold. He then turtled up but I still had a damn good grip on his lapel with my left hand which I then swapped to my right. I quickly, at the very loud instruction of Gary, managed to get my hooks in and pull him over so I had his back with hooks in (4 points) and after a little tom foolery with going to the wrong side first I managed to sink in a decent Bow and Arrow, a move which I love and have rarely seen fail. But to the credit of my opponent he turned his head the correct way and kept his hand just inside his collar so the choke wasn't sunk in properly. With most of my club on the side lines just screaming at me to pull with all my might and Gary trying to call out technique over the top I couldn't really hear anything. I did realise I was tiring from tugging on his gi though and saw the ideal opportunity to bring my right leg up over his head and get a firm hold on his arm with both hands. I then rolled my weight to my right shoulder and pulled on the armbar. The guy tapped instantly.
It was over. My second match. My first win. My corner were going crazy. I loved the feeling of having my arm raised in front of all those people. I shook hands with my opponent (I never even realised until it was pointed out to me later that he had 4 tags on his belt) who looked gutted. Then all my buddies came over and congratulated me and it really did feel amazing. I can so see why people get addicted to competing. The thrill of the fight. The excellent feeling you get when you win. I was on top of the world, for a moment.
Before long though I was called to prepare for my next fight. I was knackered. I blasted back and energy drink and some more beans at this time to try and recover some lost stamina but the weary feeling isn't the exhaustion of running about it's the muscle weariness of pitting all your strength against all your opponents strength. My arms were feeling pretty weak. My next opponent was another quite big bloke. About 6' 1", a three stripe white belt, he was obviously another one who was at the heavier end of the category. Remembering back to it in my mind I kind of imagine myself doing some sort of theatrical gulp as we stood opposite each other.
We tapped hands and began. Now I really don't remember much at all about this fight except that he did stand with me trying for a takedown, which I managed to get (yay me, I knew all that takedown training wasn't for nothing), and that we both worked in guard for a time, I had him in side control for a time and we stood up at one point when we both just managed to regain our feet. The second time stood face to face he pulled guard on me, I managed to pass his guard and he tried for a turtle but I grabbed around he undefended neck quickly and didn't even bother to get my hooks in I just cranked in a rear naked choke and he tapped really quickly without even trying to resist. I won my third match.
I don't remember anything from winning that one though as my blood was pumping so hard that I was in a bit of a daze. I got off the mat and it was then called out that I had a five minute break and would be on again. Bummer!! I was absolutely exhausted, bone weary, muscle shocked and I could hardly focus my thoughts at all. The five minutes went ridiculously quick and I was back on the mat facing guy of comparable size to the last one I fought. And he looked fresher than I did by far.
I'm sure I won't surprise you by telling you that I remember vitrually bugger all about this fight. I do remember that he pretty much passed my guard at will and in the vid I've seen of the match my opponent went to side control then to mount twice, both times trying to finish with a cross choke, both times I used the classic upa escape from mount and burst out of the choke. Both times I then passed his guard to side and then got swept back to to bottom with him in my closed guard. The third time he tried though he secured the grip tight and I upa turned him so I was then in his guard and I just remember feeling so weak and so helpless that I knew I wasn't going to be able to burst out of his cross choke and I didn't have enough time to work my arms through as he had it on tight. I had to tap.
I was a bit crest fallen but I knew I'd done my best and my first tournament was a good one. I'd got two taps out of four which wasn't bad for a fat git. One thing was for sure though, I swore to myself as I walked away that I would not be competing at Heavyweight again. Unsurprisingly, Matt the titan, man-beast, raw cow eating, pressure choke machine won my category so at least one of my losses was to the eventual winner. I felt pride from my performance. I thought to myself as I left that I would be back and a whole lot fitter.
\m/
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Italo Ferreira's class.
Throughout 2010 I was training every Thursday at Sweat FA under Ian. It was great and I was really building my my skillset up and developing my love for the art of Bjj. At the end of every lesson Ian always said the same thing, "any one who fancies going to an additional (and slightly more advanced) class, can go along with him on a Tuesday up to Bristol and train under the Black Belt instructor at Trojan Freefighters, Italo Ferreira". I had wanted to increase my mat time for a while by this point and this seemed like a great opportunity so towards the end of 2010 I took him up on his offer and started going along.
The classes up at Carrefour in Bristol were a bit different to Ian's lessons. Italo basically walked into the class, told you to do a load of push ups, sit ups and stretches and then we were into techniques. Italo would show a technique twice and then send you off to drill it. The techniques were more advanced than the stuff I'd previously learned, spider guard sweeps, half guard passes and sweeps and some butterfly guard stuff. Another big difference was that Italo always made reference to points when gaining certain positions which was something I was not familiar with. I asked Ian about the whole competition thing and what scores points etc. after class to which he gave me a rough outline and directed me to the IBJJF website to read the competition rule set for myself. This was my first thought of BJJ competition.
Another thing that I found different (and a little hard to get used too) was when rolling at the end of Italo's lessons, you were not allowed to use knee bars, toe holds and leg locks (except for achilles). I later found this was to reflect competition rules for purple belt and below. This change in game definitely seemed weird to me, particularly because I was going through a cool period in rolling where I was tapping everyone out with toe holds. Down at Ian's class in Weston (and previously in Burnham) the only restriction on submissions was NO HEEL HOOKS. I emphasize that as it was always emphasized to me. A heel hook is an exceptionally dangerous move (as highlighted with the controversy at the ADCC this year) and should not be used lightly. So anyway, at Italo's class I was no longer allowed to use my go to move of the toe hold, it was after this point that I basically revised my entire game and totally stopped using leg locks (except for achilles) and really developed my top game.
I was finding results with a good smash pass game using my weight advantage (funny term that for a fat git) and gaining side control or mount and tapping people using an ezekial choke or an arm bar. The other technique I developed a major love for was the Bow and Arrow choke. I really love the move and nowadays find it my go to finish from the back, particularly as if you don't quite get it in it's real easy to transition to an arm bar. I was also finding that I was having a lot of success in rolling up at Italo's, something I didn't think would happen as the class was considered to be a bit more advanced than the one I usually attended. But it was giving me a lot of experience rolling against guys that were coming at me using techniques I had rarely seen before. The main reason why I was having good fortune against Italo's guys was due to Ian's thoroughness in teaching his guys the basics first as mentioned in my post Learning basics and moving class.
I was really loving the new class and different approach and gained a host of new Bjj friends. Sadly though, Italo did not hang around for long after I started that class. The spawny git had managed to get a new job in Abu Dhabi, as a part of the Sheiks program to make Bjj part of their children's national curriculum. 100 (roughly) black belts were being employed to teach children for a few hours a day and then they got to train with each other for the rest of the day or do as they pleased. For this they were given a house, a car, flight expenses and the equivalent of £30,000 a year. Lucky B*****d. So it was an emotional (for him) day in January 2011 when Italo said his goodbyes and left.
I have continued going up to the Bristol class on Tuesdays on a semi regular basis. Ian took over the teaching of the class until Italo's full time replacement, Chico Mendes of Checkmat, arrived in April 2011. It was during that time between January and February that I decided to take the leap and go in for a competition.
More on that next time \m/
The classes up at Carrefour in Bristol were a bit different to Ian's lessons. Italo basically walked into the class, told you to do a load of push ups, sit ups and stretches and then we were into techniques. Italo would show a technique twice and then send you off to drill it. The techniques were more advanced than the stuff I'd previously learned, spider guard sweeps, half guard passes and sweeps and some butterfly guard stuff. Another big difference was that Italo always made reference to points when gaining certain positions which was something I was not familiar with. I asked Ian about the whole competition thing and what scores points etc. after class to which he gave me a rough outline and directed me to the IBJJF website to read the competition rule set for myself. This was my first thought of BJJ competition.
Italo's class.
Another thing that I found different (and a little hard to get used too) was when rolling at the end of Italo's lessons, you were not allowed to use knee bars, toe holds and leg locks (except for achilles). I later found this was to reflect competition rules for purple belt and below. This change in game definitely seemed weird to me, particularly because I was going through a cool period in rolling where I was tapping everyone out with toe holds. Down at Ian's class in Weston (and previously in Burnham) the only restriction on submissions was NO HEEL HOOKS. I emphasize that as it was always emphasized to me. A heel hook is an exceptionally dangerous move (as highlighted with the controversy at the ADCC this year) and should not be used lightly. So anyway, at Italo's class I was no longer allowed to use my go to move of the toe hold, it was after this point that I basically revised my entire game and totally stopped using leg locks (except for achilles) and really developed my top game.
I was finding results with a good smash pass game using my weight advantage (funny term that for a fat git) and gaining side control or mount and tapping people using an ezekial choke or an arm bar. The other technique I developed a major love for was the Bow and Arrow choke. I really love the move and nowadays find it my go to finish from the back, particularly as if you don't quite get it in it's real easy to transition to an arm bar. I was also finding that I was having a lot of success in rolling up at Italo's, something I didn't think would happen as the class was considered to be a bit more advanced than the one I usually attended. But it was giving me a lot of experience rolling against guys that were coming at me using techniques I had rarely seen before. The main reason why I was having good fortune against Italo's guys was due to Ian's thoroughness in teaching his guys the basics first as mentioned in my post Learning basics and moving class.
A random pic of me rolling at Italo's and actually looking like I was doing something right.
(I'm the guy in blue).
I was really loving the new class and different approach and gained a host of new Bjj friends. Sadly though, Italo did not hang around for long after I started that class. The spawny git had managed to get a new job in Abu Dhabi, as a part of the Sheiks program to make Bjj part of their children's national curriculum. 100 (roughly) black belts were being employed to teach children for a few hours a day and then they got to train with each other for the rest of the day or do as they pleased. For this they were given a house, a car, flight expenses and the equivalent of £30,000 a year. Lucky B*****d. So it was an emotional (for him) day in January 2011 when Italo said his goodbyes and left.
I have continued going up to the Bristol class on Tuesdays on a semi regular basis. Ian took over the teaching of the class until Italo's full time replacement, Chico Mendes of Checkmat, arrived in April 2011. It was during that time between January and February that I decided to take the leap and go in for a competition.
More on that next time \m/
Monday, 26 September 2011
ADCC
Wow, what a weekend. The ADCC submission world championships in Nottingham. Absolutely bloody amazing. From the very first match all the way through to the Absolute Finals. Loved it.
André Galvao came away as the big winner this year winning both his weight category at under 88KG in a massive and dramatic battle against one of the competitions big stars, Rousimar Palhares, and coming away as the eventual winner of the Absolute category also. Galvao was brilliant all the way through the competition and thoroughly deserved both titles.
André's Absolute title gives him the honour of fighting in the Superfight at the 2013 ADCC against Braulio Estima who was the winner of this years Superfight over "Jacare" Ronaldo Souza in a very closely fought points decision. Braulio was very VERY well supported due to the locality of his own club just 40 miles away. The Braulio Superfight was definitely the loudest match in terms of crowd noise and atmosphere. And Braulio seemed to love it, he really shone all weekend as a true Jiu Jitsu superstar.
Best throw of the weekend definitely goes to my man, Leo Vieira for an immense Ippon Seoinage against Enricco Coco in his first bout. It seemed like the guy almost bounced off the mat, the whole arena erupted. Leo was my favourite for winning his under 77Kg category but, after getting to the finals, he bowed out to the phenomenal Marcelo Garcia via triangle choke. Garcia was brilliant through the entire competition, watching his Jiu Jitsu is an absolute pleasure and I had wished he would've competed in the Absolute. It is no wonder he is known as the "Jiu Jitsu Genius".
The most exciting competitor in my opinion (and that of my friends) was definitely Rousimar Palhares. Tapping out all three of his opponents on the way to the finals of the under 88Kg by heel hook, only losing to eventual big winner Andre Galvao on points. Palhares' fights were all exciting affairs with the crowd always on the edge of their seats. He threw his opponents around with what I can only describe as scary strength and even tapped one guy out twice (so it seemed to everyone near me at least). He also supplied some much needed comedy with his over zealous back slapping of defeated opponents.
Hands down though, the best moment for me was getting to meet THE MAN. That's right, Rickson Gracie was in attendance doing an amazing job for the fans, signing stuff, having his picture taken and generally just being a monolithic Jiu Jitsu presence. At times you felt that people were ignoring the fighting and just watching him to see what he did next. Awesome guy. I felt truly blessed to just be in his presence (and I'm quite sure it's probably improved my BJJ game no end :o) ), Rickson, you are a legend!
Note, the Acai berry stuff that was being served at a concession stand at the front of the arena looked hideous (kind of like it had been pre-chewed) and was ridiculously expensive at £6 a bowl. Yes that's right, £6!!! for that little bowl Rickson has in his hand. Although I doubt Rickson paid for any of the 7 plus bowls I saw him eating over the entire weekend (too stalkery?) but for mere mortals that's quite a hefty price tag for something that looks like it's already been eaten and doesn't come with a guarentee of massive Jiu Jitsu improvements with each bowl. Guy next to me said it tasted good though.
Other stars I managed to Pap this weekend were;
I also had a strange moment in the loos with Jeff "The Snowman" Monson.
As I said, an absolutely great weekend for a BJJ Geek fan boy.
Til next time \m/
André Galvao came away as the big winner this year winning both his weight category at under 88KG in a massive and dramatic battle against one of the competitions big stars, Rousimar Palhares, and coming away as the eventual winner of the Absolute category also. Galvao was brilliant all the way through the competition and thoroughly deserved both titles.
André's Absolute title gives him the honour of fighting in the Superfight at the 2013 ADCC against Braulio Estima who was the winner of this years Superfight over "Jacare" Ronaldo Souza in a very closely fought points decision. Braulio was very VERY well supported due to the locality of his own club just 40 miles away. The Braulio Superfight was definitely the loudest match in terms of crowd noise and atmosphere. And Braulio seemed to love it, he really shone all weekend as a true Jiu Jitsu superstar.
Best throw of the weekend definitely goes to my man, Leo Vieira for an immense Ippon Seoinage against Enricco Coco in his first bout. It seemed like the guy almost bounced off the mat, the whole arena erupted. Leo was my favourite for winning his under 77Kg category but, after getting to the finals, he bowed out to the phenomenal Marcelo Garcia via triangle choke. Garcia was brilliant through the entire competition, watching his Jiu Jitsu is an absolute pleasure and I had wished he would've competed in the Absolute. It is no wonder he is known as the "Jiu Jitsu Genius".
The most exciting competitor in my opinion (and that of my friends) was definitely Rousimar Palhares. Tapping out all three of his opponents on the way to the finals of the under 88Kg by heel hook, only losing to eventual big winner Andre Galvao on points. Palhares' fights were all exciting affairs with the crowd always on the edge of their seats. He threw his opponents around with what I can only describe as scary strength and even tapped one guy out twice (so it seemed to everyone near me at least). He also supplied some much needed comedy with his over zealous back slapping of defeated opponents.
Hands down though, the best moment for me was getting to meet THE MAN. That's right, Rickson Gracie was in attendance doing an amazing job for the fans, signing stuff, having his picture taken and generally just being a monolithic Jiu Jitsu presence. At times you felt that people were ignoring the fighting and just watching him to see what he did next. Awesome guy. I felt truly blessed to just be in his presence (and I'm quite sure it's probably improved my BJJ game no end :o) ), Rickson, you are a legend!
Other stars I managed to Pap this weekend were;
Jean Jacques Machado
Renzo Gracie
and
Fabricio Werdum
I also had a strange moment in the loos with Jeff "The Snowman" Monson.
As I said, an absolutely great weekend for a BJJ Geek fan boy.
Til next time \m/
Monday, 19 September 2011
Learning the basics and moving class.
In my first year of training Jiu Jitsu (traditional at the time) I was very pleased with the thorough approach my instructors, Ian and Gary, took to imparting their knowledge on to their students. Their method of teaching was that you need to learn to walk before you can run. Basics. The lessons we were taught down at the King Alfred Sports Hall, Burnham on Sea over a two hour lesson (yeah I know, 2 hours, virtually unheard of these days), nearly always featured some sort of takedown/throw (something I find lacking in most BJJ classes) and some kind of submission finish, but also usually featured some escapes, sweeps or survival techniques from basic positions. I've been to classes and seminars previously where some of the people in attendance don't even know basic mount or side control escapes and yet they were being taught sweeps from half guard and spider guard. Sometimes the basics are necessary. We all like to drill a bit of De La Riva guard or a disco sub occasionally to chuck into our rolling as a bit of a surprise but it's the bread and butter basics that we use every time we roll that need to be ingrained into our muscle memory to become second nature.
During my time down at the Burnham class I learned the fundamental ways to escape mount, back control or side control and how to block or survive kimura's, americana's and chokes. These are the lessons the newbie should be learning. I've rolled against guys who can throw down a mean Butterfly Guard but didn't have a single answer when his back was taken. Basic stuff.
Ian was always very good at drilling the fundamentals into us, so much so that when sparring at the end of lessons I nearly never felt I was in a position that I didn't have the knowledge to get out of. What did let me down however was my joke of a fitness level. I was so out of shape back then that sometimes I didn't have the strength left to try an escape. Usually when I left the class and was driving home my head would be spinning like crazy from the exertion I'd just been put through to the point where I actually felt like I was inebriated. How I made that 11 mile journey home safely every week I do not know.
So when Ian announced that he was going to be moving his class from Burnham to Weston Super Mare I was very happy. The new location Ian had selected for his Thursday night class was Sweat FA gym on Winterstoke Road in Weston (where it still is today) and this was great for me as it was only about two miles from my front door. I was sad to leave Burnham, a lot of the class stayed there training under Big Matt and I miss the friendships I'd gained from the club venue. But it is so much easier for me to train in my home town and I was staying with Ian, who has trained me since day one and whose instruction and class atmosphere I respect beyond any other. I still get to see some of the Burnham (now Wellington, as the rest of the class moved) lot at the occasional event or competition. A load of us went up to see UFC 120 back in October 2010 which was a fantastic club night out.
The other great part about moving club with Ian was the fact that he was hanging up his Black Belt 4th Dan in Traditional Jiu Jitsu and teaching the new class wearing a Brown Belt as he decided to dedicate the new class to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which was the martial art I originally wanted to do in the first place. Everything worked out well. We had a swank brand new gym to train in with mats permanently down. No more laying out mats at the beginning of class and packing them away at the end (always a ball ache). And we got good numbers for attendance most of the time, with loads of new faces mixed with a couple of the old bunch from Burnham. The camaraderie in the class is as good as it ever was.
To be cont. \m/
During my time down at the Burnham class I learned the fundamental ways to escape mount, back control or side control and how to block or survive kimura's, americana's and chokes. These are the lessons the newbie should be learning. I've rolled against guys who can throw down a mean Butterfly Guard but didn't have a single answer when his back was taken. Basic stuff.
Ian was always very good at drilling the fundamentals into us, so much so that when sparring at the end of lessons I nearly never felt I was in a position that I didn't have the knowledge to get out of. What did let me down however was my joke of a fitness level. I was so out of shape back then that sometimes I didn't have the strength left to try an escape. Usually when I left the class and was driving home my head would be spinning like crazy from the exertion I'd just been put through to the point where I actually felt like I was inebriated. How I made that 11 mile journey home safely every week I do not know.
So when Ian announced that he was going to be moving his class from Burnham to Weston Super Mare I was very happy. The new location Ian had selected for his Thursday night class was Sweat FA gym on Winterstoke Road in Weston (where it still is today) and this was great for me as it was only about two miles from my front door. I was sad to leave Burnham, a lot of the class stayed there training under Big Matt and I miss the friendships I'd gained from the club venue. But it is so much easier for me to train in my home town and I was staying with Ian, who has trained me since day one and whose instruction and class atmosphere I respect beyond any other. I still get to see some of the Burnham (now Wellington, as the rest of the class moved) lot at the occasional event or competition. A load of us went up to see UFC 120 back in October 2010 which was a fantastic club night out.
To be cont. \m/
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Blue Belt!!
Breaking away from the continuing story once again I feel the need to update you on a giant moment in my BJJ life. I probably would have/should have entered this post last night but I was so high on life (and quite a lot of lager) that I didn't trust what I would type. Yesterday afternoon I was lucky enough to attend a seminar with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Legend, Leo Vieira, Head of Checkmat Bjj at the Trojan Free Fighters gym in Cheltenham.
The seminar just reeked of awesome as soon as we walked through the door. Our Bristol instructor Chico Mendes had really treated us to great seminar with 6 (ending in 7) Black Belts in attendance. Joining Chico was Leo Vieira (obviously, it was his seminar after all), his brother Rico Vieira, Rafael Heck, ,Marco Canha and Marcus Donnici Sion. There weren't that many black belts in the room at the Welsh Open last year!
For time constraint and mis-management reasons I only participated in the Gi portion of the seminar. Leo was very no nonsense in his teaching approach getting straight to business showing a method of stopping a pass from Spider guard that then developed into a couple of submissions (2 gi chokes). He then progressed the movements as if the opponent had postured up out of the choke and the guy on the bottom moved into a deep half guard. We then trained a few different sweeps from deep half. All of this was fairly new ground for me as I've never really utilized a deep half guard before but after a couple of times drilling it all settle in and I'm glad to say that I still remember it all clearly the next day.
After all the technique training I was expecting a roll but Chico called a halt to the days training and started handing out belts. I did not know for sure that I was going to be graded although I knew it was a possibility, but as the names were being called out and the pile of belts was going down I was starting to think it wasn't my time. Rather callously, Chico let the supply of belts dwindle down to none leaving me feeling a bit gutted if I was being honest. But then he looked directly at me and said you, Martin, and I was suddenly washed over with a feeling of chuffed-ness. I got up and nervously walked to the front while my Weston instructor Ian got two more blue belts out of his bag, the other was for my mate Leighton. Chico then strapped the belt around my waist and shook my hand. Then I was shaking the hands of the other black belts in attendance including Leo Vieira (Legend :o) and having my picture taken (gotta get a copy of that).
After that came the traditional belt whipping. Two rows of blood thirsty jiu jitsu warriors armed with double folded, extra strength torture devices cunningly shaped like belts, make up the gauntlet that the newly promoted had to walk. Twice. Ouchy. Today my back looks like the result of a gang warfare beating. I still wouldn't change a thing though. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life :o)
Rico Vieira, Leo Vieira, Me and Chico Mendes.
Or the four legends as I like to say it :o) (If I get away with that one I'll be lucky).
The seminar just reeked of awesome as soon as we walked through the door. Our Bristol instructor Chico Mendes had really treated us to great seminar with 6 (ending in 7) Black Belts in attendance. Joining Chico was Leo Vieira (obviously, it was his seminar after all), his brother Rico Vieira, Rafael Heck, ,Marco Canha and Marcus Donnici Sion. There weren't that many black belts in the room at the Welsh Open last year!
For time constraint and mis-management reasons I only participated in the Gi portion of the seminar. Leo was very no nonsense in his teaching approach getting straight to business showing a method of stopping a pass from Spider guard that then developed into a couple of submissions (2 gi chokes). He then progressed the movements as if the opponent had postured up out of the choke and the guy on the bottom moved into a deep half guard. We then trained a few different sweeps from deep half. All of this was fairly new ground for me as I've never really utilized a deep half guard before but after a couple of times drilling it all settle in and I'm glad to say that I still remember it all clearly the next day.
After all the technique training I was expecting a roll but Chico called a halt to the days training and started handing out belts. I did not know for sure that I was going to be graded although I knew it was a possibility, but as the names were being called out and the pile of belts was going down I was starting to think it wasn't my time. Rather callously, Chico let the supply of belts dwindle down to none leaving me feeling a bit gutted if I was being honest. But then he looked directly at me and said you, Martin, and I was suddenly washed over with a feeling of chuffed-ness. I got up and nervously walked to the front while my Weston instructor Ian got two more blue belts out of his bag, the other was for my mate Leighton. Chico then strapped the belt around my waist and shook my hand. Then I was shaking the hands of the other black belts in attendance including Leo Vieira (Legend :o) and having my picture taken (gotta get a copy of that).
After that came the traditional belt whipping. Two rows of blood thirsty jiu jitsu warriors armed with double folded, extra strength torture devices cunningly shaped like belts, make up the gauntlet that the newly promoted had to walk. Twice. Ouchy. Today my back looks like the result of a gang warfare beating. I still wouldn't change a thing though. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life :o)
Or the four legends as I like to say it :o) (If I get away with that one I'll be lucky).
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
My first big tap and the joys of You Tube.
Into the first few months of my training and I was feeling ok with my Jiu Jitsu. I was still doing traditional Jiu Jitsu with a heavy lean towards Bjj at the time, so we were still training loads of takedowns, hip tosses and over shoulder throws, most of them ending with the word "oshi" (but I can rarely remember the names of throws), leading into some cool ground finishes. I was still pretty much in basic armbar, americana, cross choke and rear naked choke territory with my finishing. In rolls against opponents of my own level I would do well in the first one or two rolls, then my god-awful cardio would take over and I would generally end up on my back gasping for air and trying to get my opponent off me. If however, I rolled first against an opponent of moderate to advanced skill level (orange belt and above in traditional), I would do the popular beginners thing of struggling with all my might and blowing myself out in the first minute.
No matter how many times people told me not to use all my strength all the time, as soon as I rolled against someone far superior in ability to me I'd revert to type and struggle my balls off. One person who always tried to help me with this problem was Big Matt. Matt was a brown belt Tjj and he stands about 6' 2, maybe a bit more, and weighs about 120 Kilos (hence the name big Matt). Matt's ability, alongside his strength and weight advantage, meant he could pretty much play with almost anyone at the club except for Ian or Gary (the instructors). Because of this, Matt would happily start off rolling from a number of very unfavourable positions and let me try and tap him while he tries to escape. Inevitably he would escape all the time and then I would end in the unfavourable position and he would try to coach me on how to get out of it. Let me tell you, a nearly twenty stone bloke laying on top of you in side control is not the easiest thing to shake off. But it did help me with learning to exert myself in a more controlled manner. And for that I thank Big Matt a lot.
It was during one of these positional rolls where Matt had started in turtle and I'd managed (although I'm sure he half let me) pull him over so I had his back with both hooks in, that I managed to pull a bit of magic out of the hat. Well not magic exactly but for my level at the time it was a good move. You see I'd be doing the thing that every newly obsessed with Jiu Jitsu young (well not so young) white belt does and trawled the internet looking for some moves. I'd found loads on you tube and one had particularly caught my eye. The armbar from back. Now I'd only that week looked at the move and I'd thought, wow that looks pretty easy to land, so I thought next time I've got back control I'll try for that instead of the choke. So there's Matt in my back control and casually defending the choke like a bear swatting aside a gnat, when I suddenly remembered my big move. One of my legs was already semi wrapped around Matt's middle at the hook so, securing his arm I leant sideways whilst pushing Matt's head the other way and wrapped my other leg around his head and leant back. Matt by this time realizing what I was doing just managed to get a half grip with his hands but could feel it rapidly slipping and I was pulling with all my might as only a young newbie would. Matt, whilst laughing like a proud mentor, quickly shouted tap and said he didn't want to get to the point where his grip slipped because I was torquing his arm so hard I probably would've really hurt him. He also said that he was impressed with the move because he knew I hadn't learnt it at the club so he was impressed with the fact that I'd gone out and done a bit of research and learnt from it.
I left class that day with a really good excited feeling inside, not just from the tap, (which in all realism I never would've got in a million years at that point in my training against a guy like Matt) but from the compliment he paid me after and the fact that he seemed so excited that I was learning stuff. It's the little compliments like this that really encourage a guy to carry on and raise his commitment level to try and improve his game. This was the first move that I'd dug off the internet and successfully used and I loved it. After that I was always on the internet looking for inspiration for techniques to use in different situations. I have now also developed a bit of an addiction to Bjj technique manuals of which I will probably be reviewing in the coming months. But the additional research all stemmed from the successful use of this one single move. A move that I still regularly and successfully use today. Even tapping an opponent out in competition with it.
And this is the exact video I learnt it from.
Cheers for now guys. \m/
No matter how many times people told me not to use all my strength all the time, as soon as I rolled against someone far superior in ability to me I'd revert to type and struggle my balls off. One person who always tried to help me with this problem was Big Matt. Matt was a brown belt Tjj and he stands about 6' 2, maybe a bit more, and weighs about 120 Kilos (hence the name big Matt). Matt's ability, alongside his strength and weight advantage, meant he could pretty much play with almost anyone at the club except for Ian or Gary (the instructors). Because of this, Matt would happily start off rolling from a number of very unfavourable positions and let me try and tap him while he tries to escape. Inevitably he would escape all the time and then I would end in the unfavourable position and he would try to coach me on how to get out of it. Let me tell you, a nearly twenty stone bloke laying on top of you in side control is not the easiest thing to shake off. But it did help me with learning to exert myself in a more controlled manner. And for that I thank Big Matt a lot.
It was during one of these positional rolls where Matt had started in turtle and I'd managed (although I'm sure he half let me) pull him over so I had his back with both hooks in, that I managed to pull a bit of magic out of the hat. Well not magic exactly but for my level at the time it was a good move. You see I'd be doing the thing that every newly obsessed with Jiu Jitsu young (well not so young) white belt does and trawled the internet looking for some moves. I'd found loads on you tube and one had particularly caught my eye. The armbar from back. Now I'd only that week looked at the move and I'd thought, wow that looks pretty easy to land, so I thought next time I've got back control I'll try for that instead of the choke. So there's Matt in my back control and casually defending the choke like a bear swatting aside a gnat, when I suddenly remembered my big move. One of my legs was already semi wrapped around Matt's middle at the hook so, securing his arm I leant sideways whilst pushing Matt's head the other way and wrapped my other leg around his head and leant back. Matt by this time realizing what I was doing just managed to get a half grip with his hands but could feel it rapidly slipping and I was pulling with all my might as only a young newbie would. Matt, whilst laughing like a proud mentor, quickly shouted tap and said he didn't want to get to the point where his grip slipped because I was torquing his arm so hard I probably would've really hurt him. He also said that he was impressed with the move because he knew I hadn't learnt it at the club so he was impressed with the fact that I'd gone out and done a bit of research and learnt from it.
I left class that day with a really good excited feeling inside, not just from the tap, (which in all realism I never would've got in a million years at that point in my training against a guy like Matt) but from the compliment he paid me after and the fact that he seemed so excited that I was learning stuff. It's the little compliments like this that really encourage a guy to carry on and raise his commitment level to try and improve his game. This was the first move that I'd dug off the internet and successfully used and I loved it. After that I was always on the internet looking for inspiration for techniques to use in different situations. I have now also developed a bit of an addiction to Bjj technique manuals of which I will probably be reviewing in the coming months. But the additional research all stemmed from the successful use of this one single move. A move that I still regularly and successfully use today. Even tapping an opponent out in competition with it.
And this is the exact video I learnt it from.
Cheers for now guys. \m/
Monday, 12 September 2011
The first few weeks - natural assets.
From the third lesson on I was starting to make some good friends in the class and as there were some other new guys who all joined over the following few weeks I was already feeling like I wasn't the total newbie of the class (even though I was by far the unfittest person there) and I was actually finding that due to certain characteristics about my body, I have few natural abilties that could enhance my Jiu Jitsu game.
Firstly, I'm a shortass. I don't love this feature about me, in fact growing up it was always pretty annoying always feeling like "the short one" with your mates towering over you. I remember at an Almighty gig in Poole one time when I was young, me and my mate Steve were right at the front, and Floyd London, the bassist for The Almighty reached out with a plectrum to pass it to a lucky fan in the crowd. I was easily the closest to it but due to my previously mentioned shortass-ishness and the fact that my mate Steve was a rangy six footer, his arms reached out Inspector Gadget like and grabbed the guitar strumming device from the surprised band members hand. Anyway, with regards to Bjj my stumpyness is an advantage as my low centre of gravity makes me a very hard little nugget to sweep and I generally have the advantage when standing face to face with an opponent trying for a takedown. I have always had a pretty good base which tends to frustrate any rolling partners.
Second, I'm naturally flexible as hell. My legs especially. Remember when you were back at school and there was always one kid who could put his legs behind his head. That kid was me. It was kind of like a weird party trick that everyone used to ask me to do when we were getting pissed. Another act of insane flexibility related athleticism that I regularly perform was to hurdle ridiculously high things. You name it, I'd hurdle it. The big gate at our school, the railings down our local town, a picnic bench, tennis net. A couple of times during the height of my attention seeking ways I hurdled a Badminton Net. I know how totally unbelievable that sounds but I did it on more than one occasion. With witnesses. So, my flexibility is also a great natural asset to my Bjj game because often I can use the flexibility in my legs as an escape from mount. Sometimes when an opponent is sitting on me in mount and sitting up just slightly too much I can hook him off with one or both legs, most often landing in their guard but occasionally coming out sideways in the scramble and going straight into side control. Other handy uses of having flexible legs are that I've never been tapped using any kind of leg lock.
My third handy attribute at that time was that by the time I got to rolling I was sweating like a pretty boy in a prison riot. This was a great help because opponents found it difficult to get a decent grip on me. I have recently been on the other end of this and it is very frustrating. About 5 weeks ago at my Bristol class I was rolling against a newbie who reminded me a lot of myself when I first started, bar the good looks (yeah right). He's a bit out of shape being on the wrong side of 15 stone, wasn't wearing a gi, and was absolutely soaking. I made the mistake of pulling guard on him to let him have top as he was new but then I couldn't get a grip on him he was so wet. In the end I only just managed to sweep him using a bastardized version of the rubber guard before time was called. I now realise just how frustrating the sweaty no-gi newbie can be.
Although not totally unbeatable characteristics to have, they certainly proved helpful to my early development whilst sparring as I tapped out a lot less than I would have had I not possessed said attributes. Couple that with the fact that we had a good 7 or 8 new guys that started all at the same time and I was occasionally finding luck at a very early point in my Bjj journey, often tapping people out with the Americana, my one good technique.
Until next time \m/
Firstly, I'm a shortass. I don't love this feature about me, in fact growing up it was always pretty annoying always feeling like "the short one" with your mates towering over you. I remember at an Almighty gig in Poole one time when I was young, me and my mate Steve were right at the front, and Floyd London, the bassist for The Almighty reached out with a plectrum to pass it to a lucky fan in the crowd. I was easily the closest to it but due to my previously mentioned shortass-ishness and the fact that my mate Steve was a rangy six footer, his arms reached out Inspector Gadget like and grabbed the guitar strumming device from the surprised band members hand. Anyway, with regards to Bjj my stumpyness is an advantage as my low centre of gravity makes me a very hard little nugget to sweep and I generally have the advantage when standing face to face with an opponent trying for a takedown. I have always had a pretty good base which tends to frustrate any rolling partners.
Second, I'm naturally flexible as hell. My legs especially. Remember when you were back at school and there was always one kid who could put his legs behind his head. That kid was me. It was kind of like a weird party trick that everyone used to ask me to do when we were getting pissed. Another act of insane flexibility related athleticism that I regularly perform was to hurdle ridiculously high things. You name it, I'd hurdle it. The big gate at our school, the railings down our local town, a picnic bench, tennis net. A couple of times during the height of my attention seeking ways I hurdled a Badminton Net. I know how totally unbelievable that sounds but I did it on more than one occasion. With witnesses. So, my flexibility is also a great natural asset to my Bjj game because often I can use the flexibility in my legs as an escape from mount. Sometimes when an opponent is sitting on me in mount and sitting up just slightly too much I can hook him off with one or both legs, most often landing in their guard but occasionally coming out sideways in the scramble and going straight into side control. Other handy uses of having flexible legs are that I've never been tapped using any kind of leg lock.
My third handy attribute at that time was that by the time I got to rolling I was sweating like a pretty boy in a prison riot. This was a great help because opponents found it difficult to get a decent grip on me. I have recently been on the other end of this and it is very frustrating. About 5 weeks ago at my Bristol class I was rolling against a newbie who reminded me a lot of myself when I first started, bar the good looks (yeah right). He's a bit out of shape being on the wrong side of 15 stone, wasn't wearing a gi, and was absolutely soaking. I made the mistake of pulling guard on him to let him have top as he was new but then I couldn't get a grip on him he was so wet. In the end I only just managed to sweep him using a bastardized version of the rubber guard before time was called. I now realise just how frustrating the sweaty no-gi newbie can be.
Although not totally unbeatable characteristics to have, they certainly proved helpful to my early development whilst sparring as I tapped out a lot less than I would have had I not possessed said attributes. Couple that with the fact that we had a good 7 or 8 new guys that started all at the same time and I was occasionally finding luck at a very early point in my Bjj journey, often tapping people out with the Americana, my one good technique.
Until next time \m/
Leo Vieira Seminar
I am very, very excited. This Saturday, at Trojan Free Fighters, Cheltenham, Leo Vieira will be doing a Bjj gi and no gi seminar, just ONE week before he competes at the ADCC in Nottingham (of which I am also attending).
For those of you who don't know Leo is a multi time World Bjj Champion and 2 x ADCC Champion. The guy is for all intents and purposes a legend. And he's coming to Cheltenham. Not only that but he's bringing with him, his brother, 6 x World Bjj champion, Ricardo Vieira, and a number of additional Checkmat Black Belts.
To make things even better my current tuesday night instructor, black belt, Chico Mendes (I haven't got that far in the story yet) will be doing his first grading in this country and I could be up for my Blue Belt. I have waited a while for this and feel ready but the decision is ultimately up to Chico. There have also been some nasty rumours floating around that he will only be giving out 1 blue belt per club (he teaches at 4 clubs) and students will have to fight for it. If this is the case, I feel ready for that too. I have been training hard both on the mats and in the gym and although not 100% confident of success, I'd say I'm a least 80% there.
Regardless of the outcome though I will definitely be looking forward to meeting and learning from two greats in the BJJ world.
And in case you're wondering what all the fuss is about, check out the slick moves in this sparring video of Leo v Ricardo.
For those of you who don't know Leo is a multi time World Bjj Champion and 2 x ADCC Champion. The guy is for all intents and purposes a legend. And he's coming to Cheltenham. Not only that but he's bringing with him, his brother, 6 x World Bjj champion, Ricardo Vieira, and a number of additional Checkmat Black Belts.
To make things even better my current tuesday night instructor, black belt, Chico Mendes (I haven't got that far in the story yet) will be doing his first grading in this country and I could be up for my Blue Belt. I have waited a while for this and feel ready but the decision is ultimately up to Chico. There have also been some nasty rumours floating around that he will only be giving out 1 blue belt per club (he teaches at 4 clubs) and students will have to fight for it. If this is the case, I feel ready for that too. I have been training hard both on the mats and in the gym and although not 100% confident of success, I'd say I'm a least 80% there.
Regardless of the outcome though I will definitely be looking forward to meeting and learning from two greats in the BJJ world.
And in case you're wondering what all the fuss is about, check out the slick moves in this sparring video of Leo v Ricardo.
Oh and I need to add this for the lovely guys at http://technorati.com ARWKYWKJH2RU
Cheers guys.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Tonights action.
Ok. Taking a break from the story telling aspect of this blog I just wanna take this opportunity to point out that there is an MMA event on tonight. Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov will feature two of the most stellar BJJ practitioners in the world today.
Roger Gracie, mutli time BJJ and ADCC world champion will face off against "King" Mo Lawal.
And Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza will defend against Luke Rockhold.
I can't wait for these matches more than any others on the card but I also have a certain trepidation for them too. You see I have tickets for the ADCC in Nottingham in two weeks time and both Roger Gracie and Jacaré are strong fixtures on the competitors list with Jacaré headlining against Braulio Estima!!! and Roger a firm favourite for a big win. If either of these guys can't attend through injury I will be gutted!
Good luck guys. A couple of slick subs in the first minutes of your respective matches would be great.
Roger Gracie, mutli time BJJ and ADCC world champion will face off against "King" Mo Lawal.
And Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza will defend against Luke Rockhold.
I can't wait for these matches more than any others on the card but I also have a certain trepidation for them too. You see I have tickets for the ADCC in Nottingham in two weeks time and both Roger Gracie and Jacaré are strong fixtures on the competitors list with Jacaré headlining against Braulio Estima!!! and Roger a firm favourite for a big win. If either of these guys can't attend through injury I will be gutted!
Good luck guys. A couple of slick subs in the first minutes of your respective matches would be great.
Second lesson and pain.
So Thursday came around again and I'd stopped aching by about Tuesday so I was ready for my second Jiu Jitsu class. I made the quick trip down the M5 to junction 22, Burnham, to King Alfred's Sport Centre nice and early to help get the mats out. Ian's assistant instructor, Gary, was also there nice and early and we were having a good chat and a laugh. Gary asked me whether I'd ached on the weekend after my first session to which (for reasons I will never work out) I lied and said I'd ached a bit on the Friday but was fine all weekend. That one little white lie was possibly the stupidest lie I've ever told as not only did Gary not believe me but he decided that the sessions warm up and pre lesson drills would be extra special, just for me.
There were many laps of the mats, sprints, press ups, sit ups, squats, two man back to back stand ups, break falls and the lessons novelty drill, which was first shrimping up and down the mats, then shoot drills up and down the mats and finally Jacare style crawling up and down. After all this my unfit 15 stone fat turd of a body was well and truly knackered. I was literally sweating out of every pore in my body. I could barely open my eyes for the sweat pouring down my forehead, stinging my eyes.
Taking a looooonngggg drink of water while everyone paired off, I was left to pair off with a fairly short, italian looking dude whose name I cannot remember. Now I had not seen him the week before and from the reaction Ian gave him when he'd come in the guy was not a regular but he was a former student at the club. He was not wearing a gi or anything so I was unsure of how much training he'd had (not that a gi would've been much of a tell tale sign anyway) so I asked him straight out how much he'd done. He said he used to come a year before for a few months but never got a gi or a belt or anything. We did the first few training exercises, me with a total lack of skill which gave him to confidence to try and "show me" how. Then we did some ground work which he also "helped" me with. By the end of our technique training I had in no uncertain terms proved to him that I was as clueless about ground techniques as nearly anyone he was like to meet, where as he had done his best to attempt to prove to me that he was a long lost Gracie, with knowledge that I would probably never obtain.
So when I got up to get a drink before the rolling I figured he would do as everyone I had rolled against the previous week had done and just lightly roll against me whilst trying to actually teach me some stuff. How wrong could I be? Not this little dude. No. He proceeded to use every single technique in his arsenal to tap me out issuing a master class in pain like I have never received since that day. He was cranking on some armbars, squeezing my head off with a particularly tight rear naked (I didn't even know what that was at the time), nearly choking me unconcious with an arm triangle and his pièce de résistance, an americana cranked on so hard my shoulder nearly popped out. 6 times he tapped me out in 3 minutes, all the while saying things like "I'm just seeing how much I can remember" and "see if this works as I remember it" and "oh sorry I'm just trying to get the technique right".
In my previous post I said that I'd never ached more than after my first JJ lesson but that isn't entirely true. It was after my second lesson with Gary's monster warm up and the little idiots Americana cranking demonstration that I truly ached like never before. I could barely move come Saturday morning and come Sunday I was trying to remove four shrub stumps from my garden in total agony. I still to this day feel weary about the shoulder that the little prick nearly popped out on that session. I related the story to Gary the next week and he said he'd have a word with the guy but we never saw him again. And all the pain still didn't put me off.
To be continued.
There were many laps of the mats, sprints, press ups, sit ups, squats, two man back to back stand ups, break falls and the lessons novelty drill, which was first shrimping up and down the mats, then shoot drills up and down the mats and finally Jacare style crawling up and down. After all this my unfit 15 stone fat turd of a body was well and truly knackered. I was literally sweating out of every pore in my body. I could barely open my eyes for the sweat pouring down my forehead, stinging my eyes.
Taking a looooonngggg drink of water while everyone paired off, I was left to pair off with a fairly short, italian looking dude whose name I cannot remember. Now I had not seen him the week before and from the reaction Ian gave him when he'd come in the guy was not a regular but he was a former student at the club. He was not wearing a gi or anything so I was unsure of how much training he'd had (not that a gi would've been much of a tell tale sign anyway) so I asked him straight out how much he'd done. He said he used to come a year before for a few months but never got a gi or a belt or anything. We did the first few training exercises, me with a total lack of skill which gave him to confidence to try and "show me" how. Then we did some ground work which he also "helped" me with. By the end of our technique training I had in no uncertain terms proved to him that I was as clueless about ground techniques as nearly anyone he was like to meet, where as he had done his best to attempt to prove to me that he was a long lost Gracie, with knowledge that I would probably never obtain.
So when I got up to get a drink before the rolling I figured he would do as everyone I had rolled against the previous week had done and just lightly roll against me whilst trying to actually teach me some stuff. How wrong could I be? Not this little dude. No. He proceeded to use every single technique in his arsenal to tap me out issuing a master class in pain like I have never received since that day. He was cranking on some armbars, squeezing my head off with a particularly tight rear naked (I didn't even know what that was at the time), nearly choking me unconcious with an arm triangle and his pièce de résistance, an americana cranked on so hard my shoulder nearly popped out. 6 times he tapped me out in 3 minutes, all the while saying things like "I'm just seeing how much I can remember" and "see if this works as I remember it" and "oh sorry I'm just trying to get the technique right".
In my previous post I said that I'd never ached more than after my first JJ lesson but that isn't entirely true. It was after my second lesson with Gary's monster warm up and the little idiots Americana cranking demonstration that I truly ached like never before. I could barely move come Saturday morning and come Sunday I was trying to remove four shrub stumps from my garden in total agony. I still to this day feel weary about the shoulder that the little prick nearly popped out on that session. I related the story to Gary the next week and he said he'd have a word with the guy but we never saw him again. And all the pain still didn't put me off.
To be continued.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Introduce myself.
Hi Guys. I say that confidently like I know people will be reading this even though I kind of doubt it. This is the first and introductory blog that I will be writing on my favourite sport and pastime, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
First I'll explain a little about how I got into BJJ. I have to admit to having a bit of a stereotypical reason for originally finding the the Martial Art Form of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu interesting. Back in about 1999 I borrowed a video (yes, video) off of my mate Dave (yes we've all got one). This video was the about the second Vale Tudo Tournament, an eight fighter elimination tournament focusing in part on the time leading up to the tournament of one Mr Rickson Gracie. Now although impressive of physique he was no where near the largest person with regards to stature standing in the ring during that competition introduction. And yet the video was promoting Rickson as the winner of the last tournament, back to defend his title. Looking at some of the other competitors, and coming from a lifetime of believing that the Heavyweight boxing champion of the World was the best fighter in the world (yeah I know, I was stupid), I thought this was gonna be one of those stories where the guy loses of something.
How wrong could I be? Through the video it also showed scenes of a young American Kickboxer called Todd Hayes who obviously, mainly through the hype of his mouthpiece manager, was regarded as a serious contender to stop Rickson gaining the title for a second year in a row. I ashamedly admit that I thought this guy was going to demolish all in his path. Rickson Gracie tore through his opponents, controlling them, then submitting them easily without getting a mark on him. The little guy, Yuki Nakai, who Rickson fought in the final looked like a blood splattered scene from a horror film with one eye swollen up so he could barely see out of it. And Rickson was unmarked. Both had fought 2 fighters before this. Only Rickson had dominated his opponents, Nakai had recieved much damage a won with last ditch submission efforts.
Seeing Rickson dominate his opponents on the ground and submit them all, my first introduction to submissions outside of the laughable "sleeper" attempts and such the like employed in Wrestling, I wanted to learn more. Unfortunately, back then the internet was only just taking of its training wheels and I wasn't one of the people blessed with a connection so all I could do was ask around and check the yellow pages to find there were no BJJ or even TJJ classes local to where I grew up. Dream crushed.
It wasn't until I had moved, got married, had a kid, gone through six jobs and 3 cars that I finally got in a profession where I had free time in the evenings and was in a place where I could do something. It was also around this time that I'd rekindled my yearning for BJJ after finally managing to find a Sky channel that showed MMA matches. So in early 2008 I checked the information highway for any local Jiu Jitsu classes and found one on a Thursday down in Burnham on Sea just a few miles away from where I live. A quick email to the instructor and I was on my journey. It should be worth explaining at this point that I was a brutally out of shape 15 stone 4 ex chef who hadn't done any serious cardiovascular activity for many many years.
March 2008 I had my first Traditional Jiu Jitsu class in King Alfred Sport Centre, Burnham on Sea with the Somerset Jiu Jitsu Alliance under instructor Ian Rossiter and his ever present assistant instructor Gary Davies. They were/are both Black Belts in Traditional JJ with Ian being a fourth dan and Gary a second, but their lessons tended to lean away from traditional standards and veer more towards BJJ lessons. Ian and Gary were both, at that time, Purple Belts in BJJ and their affection had been leaning toward the ground elements of the Brazilian art form which was reflected in their methods of teaching. Classes always began with the traditional warm up, stretches and break fall practice, usually including some sort of novelty warm exercise too, and then started with some kind of stand up technique with a throw or takedown or two and then we went on to the ground techniques. We usually covered about 3 or 4 ground techniques with repeated drilling and then we rolled. Now coming back to my first lesson I remember when Ian told everyone to get a drink and get ready for rolling I had no idea what he was talking about. When I asked he explained that everyone takes part in the sparring at the end to which my ass nearly fell out. I said "what? this is only my first lesson". To which someone told me not to worry as no one would come in too hard on a new guy. True to their word everybody I rolled with that day was really easy on me and generally just tried to show me some techniques and ways of getting out of them in lieu of any real sparring.
I left that day feeling totally exhausted, aching like crazy and craving more as if it was the best new drug on the market. My body has never hurt so much as it did the three days after that lesson. It was nearly a deal killer. My body was regretting it, my wife was telling me I was crazy to do it again if it made me hurt so much and it drove home just how completely unfit I was. In fact thinking back to it I'm surprised I ever went back. But I did cause I loved it.
Continued next time.
First I'll explain a little about how I got into BJJ. I have to admit to having a bit of a stereotypical reason for originally finding the the Martial Art Form of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu interesting. Back in about 1999 I borrowed a video (yes, video) off of my mate Dave (yes we've all got one). This video was the about the second Vale Tudo Tournament, an eight fighter elimination tournament focusing in part on the time leading up to the tournament of one Mr Rickson Gracie. Now although impressive of physique he was no where near the largest person with regards to stature standing in the ring during that competition introduction. And yet the video was promoting Rickson as the winner of the last tournament, back to defend his title. Looking at some of the other competitors, and coming from a lifetime of believing that the Heavyweight boxing champion of the World was the best fighter in the world (yeah I know, I was stupid), I thought this was gonna be one of those stories where the guy loses of something.
How wrong could I be? Through the video it also showed scenes of a young American Kickboxer called Todd Hayes who obviously, mainly through the hype of his mouthpiece manager, was regarded as a serious contender to stop Rickson gaining the title for a second year in a row. I ashamedly admit that I thought this guy was going to demolish all in his path. Rickson Gracie tore through his opponents, controlling them, then submitting them easily without getting a mark on him. The little guy, Yuki Nakai, who Rickson fought in the final looked like a blood splattered scene from a horror film with one eye swollen up so he could barely see out of it. And Rickson was unmarked. Both had fought 2 fighters before this. Only Rickson had dominated his opponents, Nakai had recieved much damage a won with last ditch submission efforts.
Seeing Rickson dominate his opponents on the ground and submit them all, my first introduction to submissions outside of the laughable "sleeper" attempts and such the like employed in Wrestling, I wanted to learn more. Unfortunately, back then the internet was only just taking of its training wheels and I wasn't one of the people blessed with a connection so all I could do was ask around and check the yellow pages to find there were no BJJ or even TJJ classes local to where I grew up. Dream crushed.
It wasn't until I had moved, got married, had a kid, gone through six jobs and 3 cars that I finally got in a profession where I had free time in the evenings and was in a place where I could do something. It was also around this time that I'd rekindled my yearning for BJJ after finally managing to find a Sky channel that showed MMA matches. So in early 2008 I checked the information highway for any local Jiu Jitsu classes and found one on a Thursday down in Burnham on Sea just a few miles away from where I live. A quick email to the instructor and I was on my journey. It should be worth explaining at this point that I was a brutally out of shape 15 stone 4 ex chef who hadn't done any serious cardiovascular activity for many many years.
March 2008 I had my first Traditional Jiu Jitsu class in King Alfred Sport Centre, Burnham on Sea with the Somerset Jiu Jitsu Alliance under instructor Ian Rossiter and his ever present assistant instructor Gary Davies. They were/are both Black Belts in Traditional JJ with Ian being a fourth dan and Gary a second, but their lessons tended to lean away from traditional standards and veer more towards BJJ lessons. Ian and Gary were both, at that time, Purple Belts in BJJ and their affection had been leaning toward the ground elements of the Brazilian art form which was reflected in their methods of teaching. Classes always began with the traditional warm up, stretches and break fall practice, usually including some sort of novelty warm exercise too, and then started with some kind of stand up technique with a throw or takedown or two and then we went on to the ground techniques. We usually covered about 3 or 4 ground techniques with repeated drilling and then we rolled. Now coming back to my first lesson I remember when Ian told everyone to get a drink and get ready for rolling I had no idea what he was talking about. When I asked he explained that everyone takes part in the sparring at the end to which my ass nearly fell out. I said "what? this is only my first lesson". To which someone told me not to worry as no one would come in too hard on a new guy. True to their word everybody I rolled with that day was really easy on me and generally just tried to show me some techniques and ways of getting out of them in lieu of any real sparring.
I left that day feeling totally exhausted, aching like crazy and craving more as if it was the best new drug on the market. My body has never hurt so much as it did the three days after that lesson. It was nearly a deal killer. My body was regretting it, my wife was telling me I was crazy to do it again if it made me hurt so much and it drove home just how completely unfit I was. In fact thinking back to it I'm surprised I ever went back. But I did cause I loved it.
Continued next time.
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