Even though I haven't been having much tournament success, it's nice to see that I am actually learning from my experiences. I felt pretty good about last night's training session, despite taking an errant knee to the mouth and getting a fat lip.

Anyway, I've been playing this dubstep jam all morning:

This one too!

Mishal Moore - It Ain't Over (Document One Remix)

It's not that I cherry pick people in order for easier training, because most of the guys I like to train with range from being competitive with me, to outright crushing me. It's because I know they train safe and that they can go hard without being hazardous to my health.

But today, I needed someone who didn't know my game but who I thought would be around my level. I ended up pairing up with two blue belts who are probably recent blue belts. One was bigger than me and the other one was significantly bigger than me. When it came time to roll, I was amazed at all the passes, transitions and submissions I was able to hit. I RARELY get a submission in training.

Anybody who trains will probably read this and be like psshh look at this loser, so excited about some gym "wins."

It's not about winning. It's about knowing that my jiu jitsu works. A lot of times I think that I've trained for 3 and a half years but my jiu jitsu is just meh, so it's nice to have some type of confirmation that hey, it wasn't all for nothing. I'm actually getting better.

So with this in mind, I need to find a way to balance my training out more. I need to train with fresh faces more often. There is usually 40+ people in class, so a shortage of bodies isn't the problem. A lot of times, what happens is that somebody asks me if I want to pair up. It doesn't feel right to say no, especially when it's somebody who I enjoy training with. But many times I want to work on a new position or a new move and my usual partners are just too good for me to experiment with. I end up being on the defensive the whole time. I swear, the worst compliment to hear from somebody is "great defense man."

I need to be more proactive in asking people who I don't train with regularly to pair up in addition to training with the guys that I like training with.

However, today I trained with some fresh faces that I don't normally train with and I felt great. All of them were bigger than me and I was able to dominate and control them for the most part. This one guy who I was performing well against did succeed in catching me with a footlock from under my mount, but this guy has some insanely uncanny flexibility and escapes my mount in such an unorthodox manner. But other than that weird setback, I crushed it on the mats today.

Anyway, I decided to be a homebody today and went home after training. I started watching Vampire Diaries so I'm catching up from season 1. All I have to say is, Nina Dobrev is SO CUTE.

I think I would suck as a missionary, because my conversion rate for bringing my friends over in into the jiu-jitsu faith is 0%. Usually if somebody is half-way interested, money will be the big factor. NYC prices are pretty high, and people are in shock when they hear that prices can range from 180-250 in the big apple. I'm not sure how much gyms are in the outer boroughs, but I doubt it's much cheaper than $180. They do a mental comparison to other gyms and think to themselves "well let's see, I'm paying $70 a month for NYSC and you're asking me to pay 2-3 times that amount for your gym?"

People usually think you have to be loaded to train at a jiu jitsu gym that costs that much, but that's far from the case. Training is a lifestyle. I spend 3-5 days training at the gym, where I receive specialized instruction from highly credentialed instructors. The monthly price tag is easily offset by cutting back on a few nights of drinking and partying. I'm replacing bad habits with good ones, and the cost of those bad habits are probably about the same.

Another objection I've come across is that people will tell me that they feel uncomfortable being in close contact with other men. Honestly, I don't know how to address that concern because I've never felt there was anything sexual about it. Two individuals are engaged in an activity where the ultimate goal is to force you to submit by choking you unconscious or breaking your limbs. I know it can probably look a little awkward, but trust me when I say that your survival instincts will kick in and negate whatever homophobic weirdness you might have.

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I hate it when I pair up with an uncooperative partner when we drill in training, especially during the standup portion. Like, hey buddy, how am I supposed to rep this move out if you stand there completely planted with a strong base? The point is to allow me to work in some reps when we are drilling, not to try and simulate a live situation and prevent me from working in my reps.

And speaking of drilling, it seems like the majority of people I encounter do not enjoy drilling. I went to an open mat at my friend's gym yesterday and I asked a few guys if they wanted to drill or if they were just there to roll (roll = wrestle, train live, or however you want to put it). None of them wanted to drill. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to drill some moves I've been trying to work on. I think drilling is crucial to success, so it's a shame that most folks that train don't put much weight in it.

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Final thought of the morning: Marcelo Garcia is doing something totally revolutionary in jiu jitsu with his website, www.mginaction.com. Every lesson he teaches is posted up, and a lot of his training sessions are recorded. The way everything is systematically broken down and categorized is amazing, and the delivery format is exceptional. You can even use it on your smartphone. I have so much more to say about the website but long story short, if you have the money to spare and the time to actually use the website, it's worth every penny.

There's such a fine line between being positive and having an objective outlook on things. I have below average athleticism and coordination, which I'm sure many of my friends can attest to. My reflexes are poor, I'm slow to grasp concepts and pick up on things, and I have the body of Ghandi. I don't want to come off like I tell myself these things all the time to justify why I do poorly in training sometimes, but this is what I see when I try to analyze myself objectively.

I haul my ass to the gym all the time and I never make excuses while I'm there, but sometimes I have to question if this whole "if you believe in yourself you can achieve anything" is just positive bullshit that we feed ourselves to get us going.

Are these kinds of thoughts a form of self-limiting behavior? 

Maybe, but I still try my best at the gym. I still show several times a week to take those beatings. On rare occasions I'll have a good training session where I'm able to impose my game and my will, but it seems like a lot of times I'm on the other side of that. When people tell me "great defense," I never take that as a compliment. Barely surviving is not something to be proud of. Still, I thank them for the round of training and move on to the next guy and do my best. Aside from appreciation of the art (or sport, whatever you want to call it), the only thing that keeps me going is this belief that if I keep on training, I will be better. But then I get those nights like last night that make me question that faith. Will I get better?

Every time I train I am humbled, and I have to reach deep within to pick myself back up and tell myself that this is my own journey and that even though other folks are farther along on their journies, if I keep going I'll eventually get there. And then I'll find out there was never any "there" to begin with, and it was the journey that mattered all along and I'll reach some enlightened zen like Buddha state. This is getting too meta.

I need a beer ASAP.

TGIF!

I was finally able to get a class in. I haven't gone for about a week and change until today. Work is killing me . . .

I doubled up on classes today and did the no-gi class followed by the mma class. The no-gi class was great. I paired up with a really great partner who is very good and also does not hold back on very useful tips during our rolls together. It also helps that he is around my size. Height-wise anyway . . . he's definitely still a bigger guy than I am.

Anyway, Leo was instructing today and he showed us a great move from the mount. In no-gi, there are less attack options from the mount because a lot of the choke attacks from there are depending on the gi. He showed us one option you can go to from full mount: taking the back.

One hand underhooks his head and I use my shoulder to drive into his face and pin it side ways. Assuming he's defending by putting his arms in an "X" shape under his chin, my free arm underhooks his same-side arm and I walk his arm up with my arm so that it looks like I'm trying for an arm triangle. Once his arm is against his face I sandwich it between his head and my head and replace the original arm underhooking his head with the arm that walked up his arm.

I wrap my hand under his neck and around his shoulder like I'm trying to dig downward into his armpit. I used that grip to turn him belly-down, while my leg kicks his legs down to spin him all the way.

After Leo's class, I took a 15 minute break until the next class, which is the mma class taught by Sapo. The technique of the day he showed us was a way to transition to full mount from side.

Shoulder pressure to make him look away, top arm underhooking his head. My bottom arm weaves under and then over his legs and I drive his legs away so that I'm pinning them down away from me. My head-side leg turns parallel and flush against his back while my other leg pins down his top knee that is pointed away from me. My knee is resting on the ground while my foot is stepping on his thigh and not the ground. The arm I used to drive his legs away and pin it down gets replaced by my knee, and I complete the transition to full mount by underhooking his far arm to make sure he does not put me back in guard as I make my way towards full mount.

I took a picture after class:

Me with Rafael "Sapo" Natal

I met up with with Pat after class. I went to his lion dance youth club today to work on some stuff with him. His club just got brand new gear and I had the chance to learn some kicks from him to break in their new banana  bag. It's too bad his gym does not have mats. The wooden floor is old and definitely not good for any type of barefoot activity.

I'm trying to look for some mats to donate to his club. He's trying to get something started at his club and I think it's a great idea. Like the character "Cutty" from The Wire, I also think that training in martial arts is a great thing, especially for younger people. It develops discipline. In The Wire it was boxing. At Pat's club, it's muay thai.

If the only thing stopping anybody from training is the lack of resources, I would always be more than happy to help. I really hope he gets something good going at his gym. I'm hoping it will also be a positive thing for him too because it might motivate him more to attend his own classes at his gym more often.

I renamed my blog in haste after I changed the wordpress theme for this site. It was just a random thought that popped up and I typed away. I think it's lame but have not been able to think of anything. Been thinking about it for almost two weeks.

In the meantime, I'll leave it for now. I was trying to think of a name that would describe what this blog was about but I guess not much came to mind. I don't mean to get all martial-artsy philosophical and shit, but jiu-jitsu and life have a lot in common.

Jiu-jitsu is about using brains intead of brawn. It's not about using force and hurting your opponent but rather to use superior skill in order to get compliance. Not much different from life is it? If you have a peanut, why would you want to use a hammer to smash it open when the smartest way is to just gently squeeze? Deeeeeeeeep right?

jj rewards patience and hard work. It's also fun. And isn't this all what life is about?

Well anyway today I got my ass kicked in the gym so that definitely was not fun.

*Forgot to add that the "corporate" part came from this band that I liked a lot when I was in college, Something Corporate. I always thought the band name was pretty cool.

Anyway, I thought it would be cool to do this, but with people I know instead. So far this is only the second week, but already some people have taken some pretty interesting shots. We are following the challenges that are posted  on http://www.photofriday.com/.

This morning, as I was walking east towards the train station the sun was shining directly in my face. I didn't have time to think of anything cool so I just snapped two or three shots and went about my way.

17.

Didn't quite get the effect I want but it'll do.

After work, as I exited the revolving doors of my building, I turned to my left and was met with the sun once again shining right into my face. I thought it would be a great shot, and it almost was.

I did not know what those ugly colored spots were so I asked my friend Steve. He schooled me on out of focus higlights. Better lenses produce more desirable oof highlights/bokeh. I think he said that one of the factors is the way the shutter is shaped?

Well, as you can see above, those ugly red hexagonal splotches on that picture ruin the picture =X

After I left work I went to my 7:30 bjj class. Had a very good training session today. I wasn't getting into dominating positions but for most of my rolls I thought I was moving and defending well. The techniques my instructor taught today were pretty cool too, since I can't recall the last time I learned a move from the north/south turtle position.

The first was a head and arm. D'arce? I don't know. My instructor, Magno Gama, said that all these names are new to him. I've heard another instructor say that in Brazil, all chokes are just chokes. Hell, most of the moves we learn don't even have names to them. It's either a "sweep" or a "choke" or an "escape."

The second move was another option in case he defends the first move by tucking in his arms. Magno was demonstrating the move when someone asked aloud if this was the Peruvian necktie. Magno said he does not call it that. Renzo was doing this way before people even started to call it the Peruvian necktie. If you want to call it that though, it's fine with me, he told us.

I asked someone to help me take a picture of me and Magno after class.

Magno Gama. One of the many instructors at RGA.

I don’t know anyone who has been training in the sport of grappling for an extensive period of time that hasn’t experienced a slump or been in some sort of rut. When you are in a training slump you may experience the following:

- You don’t feel like your improving and have the feeling that you no longer will.

- You’re starting to feel frustrated.

- You feel unmotivated.

- You feel like you want to quit training all together.

- You feel nothing is going right.

Being able to get through your slump in grappling could be the determining factor of whether you continue in your training or not. If you do continue and get through your first slump, then getting through other slumps will get easier. If you don’t get through your slump, then chances are that you probably won’t be grappling much longer. I’ve seen training slumps make and break many people. 

Continue to the rest of the article here.

While I did not personally find many of the tips useful, it's comforting to know that I'm not alone.

Everyone has their bad days I guess.

What matters more is what we do after those bad days. I really liked this quote at the beginning of the article

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached as by the obstacles that one has overcome while trying to succeed.” ~ Mark Twain