It was a beautiful day. I managed to get out of bed on time and did a few deadlifts and pullups before I left for work.
Work was…work, yes you guessed it.
Tonight I whipped up some pasta for the boys and then figured out how Chris publishes the Martial Arts Planet Newsletter. He’s in Rio training (the bastard) so I volunteered to do the newsletter for him. Chris also sent a few pics of the beaches via Facebook. Did I call him a bastard? I had to miss BJJ tonight to get it done so now I’m cranky. What would it be in Portuguese? Oh right “Bastardo”
Time for bed.
It’s sunny. Warmer than normal for this time of year. And I can somehow be more upbeat when it is bright.
Today was a mix of driving son #1 to his volunteer work, picking up groceries, going with son #2 to Jiu Jitsu, going to work for a safety inspection, doing laundry, and picking up some work clothes from value village. Not in that order but you get the idea. Still need to pick up son #1, make dinner for them and then have dinner with Annette. Busy for a day off but ultimately better than the alternative.
BJJ was about grabbing an arm from full guard and transitioning to a tight armbar. Peter did a good job of teaching the concept. Then we rolled in quick rounds with everyone in the class. Fingers are SORE.
Sunny day, oh sunny, sunny, sunny day….
Today was Mike Sweeney’s last day at Martial Arts Planet. He and Rebecca are gearing up for their life shipboard. While it is an exciting step for them I think that I will miss Mike’s no-nonsense approach to teaching BJJ. MAP has been their baby from it’s creation and they have left a strong legacy.
There were a number of promotions at MAP today. I am very proud of Aidan. He worked hard against two opponents for two kimura submissions with his leg out of underhook sitout. He has really improved of late in my opinion and Chris and Mike agreed by awarding him and orange belt today.
Mike tossed me against Laura. The two battered folks. I had my fingers taped and they work in most directions now (except for my little finger). Laura’s ribs are battered. We agreed to avoid hurting each other. I eventually eked out a leg triangle but Laura is tough to hold down.
I then went up against Nick, a fellow that I hadn’t met before . Nice guy. Right off the smash I pulled him into my full guard he felt really strong. I kind of defeat myself sometimes when am intimidated because I figured I would simply defend valiantly until I tapped. I couldn’t finish a Kimura from Rubber Guard. Got rolled from side control and upa’d him off me onto a pile of water bottles at one point. He spent a lot of time in my closed guard with me exhausted and fighting a pass. It was more fluke than anything I think that I managed to catch him in a leg triangle.
Liam came and watched which was nice. Afterwards we had Wendy’s and came home to relax.
I’m back to icing my hand. The last two fingers are swollen so that the wrinkles on my knuckles have disappeared. It may be time to get those two fingers checked out again. The pain when they are even slightly “stubbed” is more than it should be. Something is not right.
We worked North South tonight. When to get on to your side, grab an ankle, push you opponent over, pass the legs, take side control.
OR
Pivot under them using your legs as a counterweight to swing around to grab guard from the bottom.
Tough stuff.
The I rolled for a short time with Lex. He’s good and I played a limited defense that went nowhere.
Aidan did well, rolling for about 40 minutes with Greg. The have fun. Aidan’s a bit bigger with longer legs but Greg is more experienced and is quite strong so they trade subs.
Fingers still hurt and I can’t grab anything with any strength. I have been using aspercreme and I tape them to their neighbours when I roll. I force them through the full range of motion a few times a day but 3 weeks after being dislocated they are still pretty swollen. I guess dislocation injuries are pretty traumatic. Right afterwards I iced them on and off for about 24 hours. Maybe I should go back to some ice therapy. Hmmmm.
This was another 1500 calorie day. It leaves me feeling weak, unmotivated and a bit depressed. I am determined however, to lose some weight so I’ll put up with it. Absolutely no junk, and only complex carbs.
Right now I’m in the basement doing some deadlifts, weighted pullups, and presses. Just a few sets.
I am TRYING to hit my knees faster as it becomes apparent that my guard will be passed. Today Rebecca helped out with pointers for getting to our knees quickly. Good class with just me Mike and Mike. Hand is still tweaked so I had to take it easy. Blue Belt Mike torqued my neck a couple of times. Not his fault. I need to work on flexibility. I also need to remember to keep the bottom elbow tucked when I transition from my back to my knees.
On the way out coach Mike played a bit of Amazing Grace on his harmonica. They need to pack light when they sail away so it’s the ideal instrument. It brought back memories of playing mine on a trip to PEI back in ‘77.
Now I’m sitting watching the Time Traveler’s Wife with the boys. Good kids. Good young men really.
Ok this movie is an extreme tear jerker.
Got home at a reasonable hour. Cooked roast chicken and veggies. Then Liam and I spent a couple of hours reviewing Functions and Relations for his test tomorrow. Then a fast shower and off to Jits.
We worked a version of North-South called (I think) 100 kilo position. There is a choke from there and it’s pretty hard to get someone off you.
Aidan and I drove home in a snowstorm. Stopped for gas and milk. The roads are greasy for sure.
Garbage out, dishes in the dishwasher. Teeth brushed.
Wow. This is the first moment I’ve had to sit down. And I’m in bed. Good grief.
Today we worked on Z-Guard. Gotta get the knee in just right or your opponent feels no pain. From there we tried collar chokes and americanas. Good class.
I rolled with Aidan. He’s a mass of bruises after the last open mat.
Picked up Liam from work. He’s looking forward to hanging out with his brother now.
Must
get
ahead
of
the
laundry monster
in the basement.
It scares me…
Went to BJJ at Martial Arts Planet tonight as usual. Big surprise. My hand was fine until I caught it in Aidan’s Gi. Fortunately the pain died away fast. We worked on back escapes again. All 20 of us. Big class! Excellent.
I rolled with Sheldon. Tried to protect the hand BUT I REALLY WANT TO TRAIN. He flows from position to position. Arm barred me. The good news is that I got to my knees a few times, got a couple of sweeps and escaped quarter bottom. Stayed tighter inside, and am feeling better about the flow. Make no mistake Sheldon owned me but I had some minor improvements that are encouraging.
Tomorrow is a vacation day. I’ll use it to get caught up on housework and maybe do a strength workout.
This week has been about working on escaping back control at Martial Arts Planet. I have been reading and watching video on the subject.
So far, the best wisdom came from Sheldon: “Don’t let them take your back in the first place”.
BUT…If you get there then I like Rebecca’s approach: Control the choking arm with two hands. Pinch the “not choking” arm so they don’t switch sides. IMMEDIATELY drive your head backwards over their shoulder to the floor on the non-choking side. Shrimp your back to the floor. Control the knee that is coming over for mount, go to to your knees, grab side control.
My biggest issue is not going to my knees fast / soon enough in almost all situations. Rebecca’s method of tucking in her arm as she goes to her knees needs to be drilled.
That said, I continue to read about posture from Cane Prevost’s blog. This is job one. I keep missing key details though and go back to pick them up after I get 9/10’s of the posture right and then just miss the position when I am rolling. trial and error – refine – trial and error.
I have had minor success with getting Lockdown / Jaws of Life / Whip up / Old School but then I stall in side control because I can’t figure out a sub from there without losing control. The Blue belts know to hide the leg so lockdown doesn’t happen.
Rubber guard works on white belts who don’t know it but I only have the progression to Jiu Claw figured out so that is somewhat limited right now. Half the time I’ll get the omoplata, the other half they roll and I get side control. Then of course, I stall again. I also need to realize I don’t need to sit up out of Jiu Claw right away and can control the roll by holding down their feet with my free arm.
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