It has been nearly 2 months since I last posted. A LOT has happened in the interim. Just a few days after my last post, my mom became ill and was transported to the hospital via EMS. She ended up unfortunately passing away on April 21st. I have spent a lot of time recently processing things, emotionally and mentally. I hadn't trained a bit during this time. Have just been focused on family stuff and getting things back on track. The loss of a parent is a world-rocking experience. It is much different than the loss of a grandparent. I am still having good days and bad days. More bad now than good. Time does heal and also puts things in more perspective. Thankfully, I have a great bunch of friends who have really been there for me during all of this. A real blessing.
Recently, I got the itch to get back to training. I also decided the time might be right to consider my options with regard to my training. Last night I went to a different school (a little further away and a little more expensive) and tried a sample class. The school has a very cool vibe and I think I am probably going to join up. Last night, we went over a guard pass, reviewed the kimura (did 2 variations), and then a sweep to be used if someone defends the kimura. Then we rolled. I rolled with the son of the guy teaching last night. 18 year old kid who has been doing martial arts for 10 years and BJJ for about 4. He was very fast and very skilled and I got owned. Although I have been running some during my time away, my cardio was not good. I also noticed my timing is off and I had gotten shaky on a lot of the fundamentals. I literally fell into a triangle choke almost immediately. I stacked him and drove into him, attempting to flip him over, which I did. He immediately transitioned into an armbar and got me, though. The rest of the rolling went pretty much the same way. Felt very much like a newbie but it was good to be back at it.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Spiritual Jiu-Jitsu: Posture Up and Base Out!
Hey readers. This is the second in an occasional series on this blog detailing the spiritual parallels I see in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling in general. Another key factor in successful jiu-jitsu, both Brazilian and spiritual, is keeping good posture and a solid base. Good posture and a solid base can prevent many attacks from your opponent and can make you much more difficult to move and/or sweep.
On the mat, your opponent may have you in his guard. It is in his best interest to break your posture and/or disrupt your base. This can be accomplished by pulling down on your head and keeping you in close to him, or working to compromise a leg or an arm that you may be posted up on. Breaking your posture serves several purposes: 1) It nullifies a lot of your options for attack in jiu-jitsu by not allowing you to move easily into more advantageous positions. It also limits striking or ground and pound attacks if it is a full MMA fight, by not allowing you the distance from your opponent needed to get velocity or power to your blows. 2) It wears you down physically as you struggle to get back to a position you can work effectively from.
In the spiritual realm, your Adversary has the same goals. Breaking your posture and/or disrupting your base spiritually can make you much more susceptible to a wide variety of attacks and traps. He knows this and will employ many techniques to try to do so. Maintaining good posture spiritually comes from the knowledge that, although flawed and deeply sinful, we are, on an individual basis, loved by God enough to send his only Son to suffer and die in our place, freeing us from the bonds of our sin. The Adversary will use the tool of guilt over past transgressions to try to keep our spiritual posture broken. Although God and others we have hurt may have forgiven us, forgiving ourselves is often the hardest thing to do. The Adversary will use that, reminding us of the things we have done, plant seeds of depression and doubt, wearing us down and pulling us into a very dark place spiritually. From there he can take your back, sink his hooks in and you may feel that cold arm begin to work its way into position for a choke.
Maintaining a good base spiritually comes chiefly from actively reading God's Word and from having an active prayer life. The Adversary fears that because with a good base, you will be much more difficult to move or sweep into a position that he can begin to more effectively attack. The Adversary will put other activities, people, or any number of things in your path to try to dissuade you from feeding on scripture and from having an ongoing prayer dialogue with God. Without a steady diet of those two things, your base will become shaky and you can be easily swept over and mounted by your Adversary. From there, the Adversary has any number of options for attack. Prayer and reading the Word must become part of your lifestyle. They are an essential part of winning the battles we fight on a daily basis.
When you feel the Adversary pulling down on you, trying to break your posture by throwing your past up in your face, simply remind him that he is defeated and that you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the Universe. A simple way to do so is to say, "Hey, I've got two words for you: John 3:16."
Fight on in the knowledge that you have the best Corner Man in the Universe. He is there to pick you up when you fall, wipe the blood from your face when you are wounded, wet your parched mouth with the Living Water that only He can give, and send you back out for the next round, rejuvenated. At some point, the horn will sound for the final time and you will sit down in the corner with your Corner Man. He will place His arms around you and say "Well done, good and faithful fighter." What a day that will be.
On the mat, your opponent may have you in his guard. It is in his best interest to break your posture and/or disrupt your base. This can be accomplished by pulling down on your head and keeping you in close to him, or working to compromise a leg or an arm that you may be posted up on. Breaking your posture serves several purposes: 1) It nullifies a lot of your options for attack in jiu-jitsu by not allowing you to move easily into more advantageous positions. It also limits striking or ground and pound attacks if it is a full MMA fight, by not allowing you the distance from your opponent needed to get velocity or power to your blows. 2) It wears you down physically as you struggle to get back to a position you can work effectively from.
In the spiritual realm, your Adversary has the same goals. Breaking your posture and/or disrupting your base spiritually can make you much more susceptible to a wide variety of attacks and traps. He knows this and will employ many techniques to try to do so. Maintaining good posture spiritually comes from the knowledge that, although flawed and deeply sinful, we are, on an individual basis, loved by God enough to send his only Son to suffer and die in our place, freeing us from the bonds of our sin. The Adversary will use the tool of guilt over past transgressions to try to keep our spiritual posture broken. Although God and others we have hurt may have forgiven us, forgiving ourselves is often the hardest thing to do. The Adversary will use that, reminding us of the things we have done, plant seeds of depression and doubt, wearing us down and pulling us into a very dark place spiritually. From there he can take your back, sink his hooks in and you may feel that cold arm begin to work its way into position for a choke.
Maintaining a good base spiritually comes chiefly from actively reading God's Word and from having an active prayer life. The Adversary fears that because with a good base, you will be much more difficult to move or sweep into a position that he can begin to more effectively attack. The Adversary will put other activities, people, or any number of things in your path to try to dissuade you from feeding on scripture and from having an ongoing prayer dialogue with God. Without a steady diet of those two things, your base will become shaky and you can be easily swept over and mounted by your Adversary. From there, the Adversary has any number of options for attack. Prayer and reading the Word must become part of your lifestyle. They are an essential part of winning the battles we fight on a daily basis.
When you feel the Adversary pulling down on you, trying to break your posture by throwing your past up in your face, simply remind him that he is defeated and that you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the Universe. A simple way to do so is to say, "Hey, I've got two words for you: John 3:16."
Fight on in the knowledge that you have the best Corner Man in the Universe. He is there to pick you up when you fall, wipe the blood from your face when you are wounded, wet your parched mouth with the Living Water that only He can give, and send you back out for the next round, rejuvenated. At some point, the horn will sound for the final time and you will sit down in the corner with your Corner Man. He will place His arms around you and say "Well done, good and faithful fighter." What a day that will be.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Updating...
I am really sruggling with being good at this blogging thing. I will try to do better. Again, I have had a lot going on between work, school, BJJ, running, and life in general. Training has been going well. My thumbs are still kind of tender. I have come to the conclusion (self-diagnosis) that I probably have a little tendonitis in them. Last week, I managed to not aggravate them, which was good. I hope that trend continues this week.
Ronin Muay Thai/Jiu Jitsu is moving into its own facility as of today, which is exciting. I will be going tomorrow night and will report on it after that.
Ronin Muay Thai/Jiu Jitsu is moving into its own facility as of today, which is exciting. I will be going tomorrow night and will report on it after that.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Jammed Thumbs and The Peachtree
The last couple of weeks, I have managed to jam both of my thumbs pretty badly while rolling on gi night. Last week, I jammed my left thumb. This week (last night), the left thumb was starting to feel pretty good, so what did I do? You got it. I managed to jam the right one. The right one feels worse than the left one did. It seems to be from grabbing my opponent's gi and having him make a sudden turn, unexpectedly torquing my thumb. So, I am icing my thumbs and taking ibuprofen and/or aleve. This too shall pass. All part of the game.
I am continuing to hold my own with bigger, heavier opponents. They are generally able to get me eventually, but they are having to work for it, which feels good. I got caught last night by an Americana, a few collar chokes, and the like.
I am registered for this year's Peachtree Road Race (July 4th), so I am trying to up my running a bit. I ran it last year, but this year they are returning to the original course, which will end in Piedmont Park. My rough goal for this time is to TRY to finish it in under an hour. I am hopeful I can pull it off, but if not, it is not the end of the world. It'll be cool just to finish it again.
Frank has secured a space for us, right next to the dance studio. We should be moving in sometime in April. Exciting stuff. Tim and I are helping out with the website. Lots of good things happening.
Roll on.
I am continuing to hold my own with bigger, heavier opponents. They are generally able to get me eventually, but they are having to work for it, which feels good. I got caught last night by an Americana, a few collar chokes, and the like.
I am registered for this year's Peachtree Road Race (July 4th), so I am trying to up my running a bit. I ran it last year, but this year they are returning to the original course, which will end in Piedmont Park. My rough goal for this time is to TRY to finish it in under an hour. I am hopeful I can pull it off, but if not, it is not the end of the world. It'll be cool just to finish it again.
Frank has secured a space for us, right next to the dance studio. We should be moving in sometime in April. Exciting stuff. Tim and I are helping out with the website. Lots of good things happening.
Roll on.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
This week
This week I trained fairly extensively. I had BJJ Tuesday night, Friday night, and today at noon. I normally don't go on Saturdays but Julia was scrapbooking. I had been working on a paper for school and needed a break and to blow off some steam so I went and rolled for an hour.
Tuesday was Gi night. We did some technique work and then rolled. I rolled with Tim a good bit and was actually able to submit him for the first time. It was a lucky break on my part. He had taken my back, had his hooks in but had crossed his feet. I was able to bring my right leg over and ankle-lock him. He made a silly mistake that I was able to recognize and capitalize upon. But I guess that is what BJJ is all about. Otherwise, again I was able to hold my own with him. Again I was able to get out of the Peruvian Necktie attempts, avoided a triangle choke and a gi choke attempt. He is good at sneaking the armbar in on me, however. He told me that my timing is getting a whole lot better, which is another huge aspect of the art.
Friday night (last night) was no-gi. Frank and Paul and I were there. Paul and I rolled against each other first and I was able to get to his back and sink in a rear naked choke for the tap. We spent the rest of last night taking turns rolling with Frank who basically dominated both of us.
Today was the same three folks. I rolled some with Frank and got dominated again. Lately I have a fascination of sorts with leglocks and I keep grabbing Frank's legs and thinking about trying to anklelock him, which has yet to be successful. Rolled twice with Paul and split the two rolls. He got me with an Americana (tapped more due to a jammed thumb getting torqued than the actual Americana) and I got him with a collar choke. Good stuff.
Frank called me a little while ago and things look very good toward Ronin moving into its own space by the middle of April. More details as we learn them.
Roll on.
Tuesday was Gi night. We did some technique work and then rolled. I rolled with Tim a good bit and was actually able to submit him for the first time. It was a lucky break on my part. He had taken my back, had his hooks in but had crossed his feet. I was able to bring my right leg over and ankle-lock him. He made a silly mistake that I was able to recognize and capitalize upon. But I guess that is what BJJ is all about. Otherwise, again I was able to hold my own with him. Again I was able to get out of the Peruvian Necktie attempts, avoided a triangle choke and a gi choke attempt. He is good at sneaking the armbar in on me, however. He told me that my timing is getting a whole lot better, which is another huge aspect of the art.
Friday night (last night) was no-gi. Frank and Paul and I were there. Paul and I rolled against each other first and I was able to get to his back and sink in a rear naked choke for the tap. We spent the rest of last night taking turns rolling with Frank who basically dominated both of us.
Today was the same three folks. I rolled some with Frank and got dominated again. Lately I have a fascination of sorts with leglocks and I keep grabbing Frank's legs and thinking about trying to anklelock him, which has yet to be successful. Rolled twice with Paul and split the two rolls. He got me with an Americana (tapped more due to a jammed thumb getting torqued than the actual Americana) and I got him with a collar choke. Good stuff.
Frank called me a little while ago and things look very good toward Ronin moving into its own space by the middle of April. More details as we learn them.
Roll on.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Sad News
Was working this morning and happened upon the news of the death of Charles "Mask" Lewis, the founder of the TapOut brand of clothing and MMA gear. Mask and his cohorts have done a lot to promote the fighting arts to what they are today and he will be missed. The full circumstances surrounding the car accident that killed Mask are not yet known. Hopefully drugs or alcohol on his part is not a factor. In any event, a great supporter of mixed martial arts has passed away.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Progress/Shoutouts/An Irish Blessing
My apologies for being so spotty lately with posts on here. I have been very busy with work and school and have had a lot going on in my personal life as well. I am going to try to be a better blogger. I am working on the second installment of my series on the spiritual parallels of Jiu-Jitsu, so look for that soon (hopefully).
I had a good training week last week. Rolled some with Frank and, as usual, felt pretty helpless and got my butt handed to me in a variety of fashions. He doesn't outweigh me significantly (he is around 170, I fluctuate 145-155), but he is very good at USING his weight very effectively. He likes to get into side control and bear down with his weight. I usually turn to my side at that point and attempt to shrimp away. When I do that, though, he almost invariably takes my back and from there it is just a matter of time before he sinks in some manner of choke. However, I also rolled with Tim, one of our blue belts, who I have mentioned in previous posts. I managed to extricate myself from several predicaments when grappling with him. I worked my way out of two Peruvian Necktie attempts (see video below for demo of the Peruvian).
This was good for my psyche, as this is the one choke I have been caught in that has actually put me to sleep. Frank caught me in the Peruvian awhile back and it didn't feel that tight. I went to turn to try to work my way out of it and next thing I knew I was looking at the ceiling with him kneelng next to me telling me I had gone to sleep. Very odd sensation. I am generally one to tap if I know I am caught. I never felt that one coming.
Anyway, back to my roll with Tim. I also managed to extricate myself from a triangle attempt by posturing up and driving forward, flipping him over. Shortly after that, he managed to grab one of my arms and get an armbar on me. But, I feel like my skill level is slowly improving.
On the subject of shoutouts, I would like to say a big hello to Kyle Kaiser and the folks at AnointedFighter.com. Anointed Fighter is a website/ministry dedicated to Christians involved with the fighting arts. A lot of really great people on that site, in addition to some professional fighters who are also believers.
I will be going to class tomorrow night and Friday night and will post sometime during that span.
I will leave you with an Irish blessing that the great "Rowdy" Roddy Piper ended his recent interview with TAGGRADIO.com with. This blessing kind of made my morning.
To those who love us, may God bless them. And for those who don't may God turn their hearts. And for those whose hearts He cannot turn, may He turn their ankles so we recognize them by their limp.
Roll on.
I had a good training week last week. Rolled some with Frank and, as usual, felt pretty helpless and got my butt handed to me in a variety of fashions. He doesn't outweigh me significantly (he is around 170, I fluctuate 145-155), but he is very good at USING his weight very effectively. He likes to get into side control and bear down with his weight. I usually turn to my side at that point and attempt to shrimp away. When I do that, though, he almost invariably takes my back and from there it is just a matter of time before he sinks in some manner of choke. However, I also rolled with Tim, one of our blue belts, who I have mentioned in previous posts. I managed to extricate myself from several predicaments when grappling with him. I worked my way out of two Peruvian Necktie attempts (see video below for demo of the Peruvian).
This was good for my psyche, as this is the one choke I have been caught in that has actually put me to sleep. Frank caught me in the Peruvian awhile back and it didn't feel that tight. I went to turn to try to work my way out of it and next thing I knew I was looking at the ceiling with him kneelng next to me telling me I had gone to sleep. Very odd sensation. I am generally one to tap if I know I am caught. I never felt that one coming.
Anyway, back to my roll with Tim. I also managed to extricate myself from a triangle attempt by posturing up and driving forward, flipping him over. Shortly after that, he managed to grab one of my arms and get an armbar on me. But, I feel like my skill level is slowly improving.
On the subject of shoutouts, I would like to say a big hello to Kyle Kaiser and the folks at AnointedFighter.com. Anointed Fighter is a website/ministry dedicated to Christians involved with the fighting arts. A lot of really great people on that site, in addition to some professional fighters who are also believers.
I will be going to class tomorrow night and Friday night and will post sometime during that span.
I will leave you with an Irish blessing that the great "Rowdy" Roddy Piper ended his recent interview with TAGGRADIO.com with. This blessing kind of made my morning.
To those who love us, may God bless them. And for those who don't may God turn their hearts. And for those whose hearts He cannot turn, may He turn their ankles so we recognize them by their limp.
Roll on.
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