Tag: Training

A Compliment, I Think…

After class last Wednesday, I asked a training partner if he thought I was moving better.  He usually submits me pretty easily, so I thought he would be a good person to ask.  His reply was:

“I don’t know if you’re moving better.  You seem to be in the right place at the right time more often to get out of a bad situation and/or attack.”

Or something like that.  I’ll take what I can get.  🙂

I’ve been thinking a lot about the loop choke.  I’ve been watching seminars and online video on the specific technique, setups, and variations.  On Wednesday I attempted to put what I had seen and gone over in my head, in to practice.  Success!  I got 2 submissions in 3 rolls.  One was on the above mentioned partner, whom I never submit.  Yay me!

I Think I’m Cursed

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

Nice wy to start a post, right? Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. So, let’s see… Where to start? Remember that time that I was working all summer so that I could pay off my debt and have a little breathing g room financially for the winter? Well firstly, my boat suddenly developed an oil leak. It had to be fixed. Not only would an oil leak turn in to major engine damage over time, but I couldn’t in good conscious have my boat in the water knowing I was causing damage to the environment (more than I usually do). $1400 for the fix.

Secondly my basement started leaking. No major river, but any leak is a bad thing. So I’ve torn out the drywall, vapor barrier, and insulation exposing the foundation. It’s a bit of a mystery. No cracks… I’ve spent hours contemplating what the problem could be. Now I need a major rain storm to see if I’ve fixed it. I lie in bed at night thinking about how much it’s going to cost to dig up the back yard and water proof if my “fix” wasn’t the issue.

Thirdly, I got in shit at work from management for expressing an opinion. An opinion people. Not breaking the rules or policy, but saying what I think. I’m in no danger of getting fired (I’m an unionized public servant, good luck), but it really bothers me. What the fuck is this world coming to when you can’t express yourself? I’d tell you more about it, but section 107 of the particular government act I enforce, prohibits it. Trust me, you’d shake your head if you knew…

Fourthly, my leg injury doesn’t seem to be improving. It pains me constantly. Plus, after checking out my knee X-rays this week, the doctor has ordered MRI on both of them. To top it all off, I’m sick as fuck!!! ARGHHHHHJH!!!! I can’t train for the Ontario BJJ provincial championships which is fast approaching.

I’m very frustrated with everything. I don’t deal with stress well. It all bottles up inside me and I end up in a depression which affects my sleep and general mood. Of course this affects my family. It’s hard to look on the bright side, you know?

That’s all.

October 23, 2013 Training Journal

October 23, 2013

Good BJJ training tonight at Grizzly Gym. Class started with some basic drilling. We practiced several lock flows.

Lock flow #1
I really took my time throughout the whole routine. During the double leg, I concentrated on keeping my head up and tight to avoid the guillotine choke. During the arm lock routines, I focused on keeping the arm trapped. Because of this, the techniques flowed much better.

Lock flow #5
I was helping a newbie who had never tried leg locks. It was good to explain aloud as I was performing the techniques because it forced me to keep everything nice and tight.

Lock flow #4
I really like this flow. I feel like several of the techniques play right in to my game. I worked on keeping angles during the kimura so I didn’t have to use as much muscle.

Rolling
Several good matches. I started every match by getting in to it right away. I locked up, pulled guard and immediately worked for sweeps or submissions. It worked very well. I got several good sweeps (kimura sweep, old school, scissor sweep) and several submissions (rolling guillotine, arm bar, Russian scarecrow, banana split). I almost had an arm bar on Sean and then started to transition to a omoplata but the buzzer sounded. All in all it was a good night.

ONE THING TO TAKE AWAY
Practicing the techniques slowly and being meticulous is paying off.

Dammit!!!

I went to BJJ last night feeling pretty good.  We started off with a kind of shark bait/takedown warmup.  Basically we had takedown (of any kind) matches.  When someone was clearly taken down, they were declared the loser.  The loser stayed in until they weren’t the loser anymore.  There were a couple of new people who did not participate, so there were 4 of us that went for 10 min.  Sweaty…  We all had our share of wins.  There were double legs, single legs, body locks, arm drags, the “Northern Lights Suplex”, and a scissor attempt.  It was good fun.

We went in to drilling the armbar from guard, to triangle, to oma plata sequence.  Everything was going well.  I was working smoothly and taking my time to ensure proper technique.  Then, for no apparent reason, whist executing the triangle with right ankle behind left knee, my left knee popped.  It immediately started hurting.  I stopped of course.  For some reason, I couldn’t straighten it.  It was like it was locked at a 90 degree angle.  When I tried to straighten it, there was a lot of pain.

I put ice on it right away and went to the side of the mats.  Nobody really seemed that interested…  Nice… Anyways, I sat there and started to work it out.  Finally I said “fuck it” and force straightened it.  There was a clunk inside like everything was realigning and the pain immediately subsided.  “Queer and unusual”, I thought to myself.

I didn’t go back to the mats.  I went home to ice it.  Nobody even said goodbye.  lol.  That’s ok.  I know I am insignificant.  Anyways, there was little swelling this morning so I think it’s ok.  Maybe there is some meniscus folded over or something.  Maybe it was a slight dislocation…  I have no idea really.  I told my wife it was a dislocation because that’s totally what it felt like.  I made a Dr appointment for Monday.  I’ll get him to send me to a specialist.  If it feels ok tomorrow, I’ll go back to the mats…  Might as well.