Lots of stuff going on

Sorry I have been kind of out of the loop. A LOT has been going on. I have been quite busy with work, school, and personal life. I wanted to post an update here, though. The school has closed, but Frank has moved the program. We are now based, temporarily, at the Melissa Berry School of Dance. The room we are training in is kind of small, is on a second floor with a window looking out on a parking lot and mirrors along both walls (it's a dance studio after all), and, is a funny shade of pink. But, it is good to be back in the game. The new school is called Ronin Muay Thai/Grappling. The plan is, hopefully within a couple of months we will be in our own space again. For now, this is an okay stop-gap.

Last night, we went over a couple of basic collar chokes and then rolled lightly. I rolled with this new guy, Paul. He is another pretty big guy (240ish) but I was able to hang with him

Last night

Was a good class. Frank seemed pretty hopeful that something good will happen in term of moving the program to another facility. I am hoping it happens. He went over the Kimura from guard:



and the Omoplata from guard:



Rolled a bit with Frank. Managed to avoid a few sweep attempts and a couple of armbar attempts. He kept catching me in all manner of chokes, though. He got me in a gi collar choke and I tried to work my way out of it, but the room started to get swimmy and I decided tapping out was probably a good idea.

Tony and I then another semi-epic roll. We went about 7-8 minutes. I was never able to get in a really advantageous position, but I managed to keep him from getting into one by just keeping moving and trying to keep him from using his size and strength. I escaped a guillotine choke attempt and an Americana attempt. He finally caught me with a short armbar and got the tap. But, again, I feel like my technique is improving dramatically.

I am going to concentrate on going to the gym, keeping my cardio up and working on upper body and core strength. Hoping this is not the end of the road for me with BJJ. I feel like I am at the point of having the first tiny glimmers of competence. We shall see.

Roll on.

BUMP IN THE ROAD

I haven't posted much lately. I've been kind of busy with school and such. Also just got a bit of bad(?) news. Frank called just a few minutes ago and the school is shutting down as of March 1st. The problem is, Chris, the owner, is stopping paying Frank effective immediately. So, tonight is the last adult class. Frank is more or less coming by to say goodbye. He told me he is trying to work out something with another gym locally to start a BJJ program, but it remains to be seen whether it will happen. I am hoping this is just a small bump in the road in my progress in the art. Due to family and life obligations, a much longer drive would not be feasible to do on a regular basis. I am hopeful and interested to see what the next chapter of the saga brings.

UFC 94 and meeting Raven

Well, my UFC 94 picks were, shall we say, spotty at best!

The Guida/Diaz fight was a pleasant surprise. I was ever so glad to finally see that cocky little punk get shut up. Clay Guida surprised me and, honestly, dominated Nate Diaz. I was pleased with the outcome, although it was not my pick. 0-1 in picks.

Parisyan/Kim was, honestly, a bit boring. Split deciion by Parysian, although, honestly, I think Kim actually won that fight. 1-1 in picks.

Bonnar/Jones was a shocker. This Jones kid has a future ahead of him. Was very surprised at the outcome. 1-2 in picks.

Machida/Silva was a good one. I was not expecting it to end up knockout however. 2-2 in picks.

Penn/GSP was a bitter disappointment. After all of the hype and after all of Penn calling GSP a quitter, what does BJ do? He lets his corner crew basically throw in the towel for him, not answering the bell for round 5. GSP was passing his guard at will also. Penn needs to really re-evaluate a lot of things in my opinion.


Something else about myself...I am kind of a geek. Or at least, I have some geeky interests. I went to the Atlanta Comic Book Convention this afternoon and while I was down there, I attended an autograph session with Scott Levy, who is perhaps better known as the ECW/WCW/WWE/TNA wrestler Raven. Had a brief conversation with him and found him to be a very nice, cordial guy. I was mentioning to him that he was and is probably the best "promo guy" in the business. Unlike a lot of wrestlers, when cutting a promo, he would rarely raise his voice. He also would not rant and rave. His above-average intelligence and vocabulary were his primary weapons in his promos. He was just a sinister presence who could send shivers down your spine for his portrayal of a sociopath. Two great examples of Raven promos are below:





Below is a cellphone pic capturing my meeting with Scott "Raven" Levy.

Last night's class and UFC 94 picks

I had a pretty good class last night. Didn't perform as well as I would have liked rolling, but I was having some stomach problems so I wasn't at my best, physically. I did have one important breakthough, however. I used a technique Frank had shown me. When in side control, using the arms to block your opponent's knees and keeping your knee near your elbow and letting your knee follow your elbow across as you slide into mount. I actually was able to use that while rolling. I got bucked off pretty quick, but it felt good to make a little technique work.

UFC 94 picks:

Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida: I think this has the potential to be quite a good fight. Guida has a lot of heart and a lot of skill. Nate Diaz has some sick jiu-jitsu skills. Diaz is a cocky little punk, but it is hard to take much away from him. I will predict Diaz by submission in the second round.

Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim: Not terribly familiar with either fighter. I have seen Parisyan fight and don't believe I have seen Kim. Based upon my lack of knowledge about these guys, it is a tossup, but I will say Parisyan by TKO or unanimous decision.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Jon Jones: Having seen the two classic fights Bonnar had with Forrest Griffin, I have to say that I really like Bonnar. There is NO quit in him. None. I don't know anything about Jones. I will pick Bonnar by first round TKO.

Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva: Not terribly familiar with either fighter. Saw Lyoto Machida fight Tito Ortiz in Tito's UFC farewell and do very well. Based upon that, I will pick Machida by submission in round 3.

BJ Penn vs. George St Pierre: This has the potential to be one for the ages. Their first fight, GSP won by split decision, but in terms of damage done, GSP by far got the worst end of it. He was a bloody mess. The consensus seems to be that GSP takes this fight. I am a huge BJ Penn fan, however. His jiu-jitsu is some of the best on the planet. I am therefore going to pick BJ Penn to defeat GSP by submission and become the first fighter in the UFC to hold two titles simultaneously in 2 different weight classes.

We're going to watch the fights tonight and I will post again tomorrow, reviewing my picks.

RIP Helio Gracie

Just heard that Helio Gracie, the grandmaster and patriarch of the Gracie family, passed away this morning at age 95. At this advanced age, he was still routinely rolling and doing very well. I hope to be half that active at 95.



RIP Helio Gracie (10/01/1913- 01/29/2009)

Tuesday Night Class: Epic Roll

Went to class last night and had a really good time. We started off with a lengthy warmup (jogging, side skips, running backwards, duckwalks, spidermans, shrimps, and slugs). We then did the "swimming" drill and drilled a couple of takedowns. We then reviewed a little armbar defense and then we rolled. I was a bit tired last night, so I decided in advance that one roll was going to be it for me. But, what a roll it ended up being.
I rolled with Tony, who, as I have mentioned in previous posts, outweighs me by 50+ pounds. It was gi night. We started off on knees and I pulled guard. He pulled the tail of my gi up and attempted the "baseball bat" choke which I was able to evade. I then grabbed his gi and pulled it up and over his head, in an attempt to both impair his vision and his ability to breathe.
He passed into side control and tried to mount me but I was able to transition instead into half guard. At that point, his gi is still over his head. I began to attack his left shoulder, working to try to lock in a kimura. Tony has very flexible shoulders, so the kimura wasn't doing much to him. He finally yanked the gi off his head (at this point the gi top came completely off) and slipped out of my half-guard and back into mount. I bucked and turned and inadverantly gave him my back.

He then tried to work an arm under my chin to set up for the rear naked choke. I grabbed his wrist and blocked his other arm. I was then able to turn into him and recompose half-guard. We then jockeyed for position for awhile. He finally got hold of my head and began to try for a guillotine choke. I tried posting up on a leg to take some of the pressure off, which was a fatal mistake. He swept me at that point and really was able to sink in the choke. I quickly evaluated the situation, realized there was really no way out and tapped.

Eleven and a half minutes had passed, which was a LONG roll (at least for me). Although I didn't "win", I more than held my own with a bigger, heavier, stronger opponent for a long time. That, supposedly, is what BJJ is all about, so I am very pleased. Little victories! Roll on.