Monthly Archives: May 2011

Training in Heat

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The nice thing about training when it’s hot outside (or wherever you are) is that you feel like you got a good workout in before the workout even starts. It’s funny how the quantity of sweat seems to serve as a psychological indicator to me of how hard I’ve worked.

If I’ve trained judo or jiu jitsu and my gi is soaking wet, I feel like it’s been a good workout. Of course, that’s not always the case, especially as we enter the summer months. Still, I’ll take hot over cold any day.

I’m sure all the folks getting ready for Worlds this week will appreciate a little help from the weather gods in making the weight cut.

PS: Good luck to Andrew Thomas of BJJ United who is fighting at Worlds this upcoming weekend. His division has 76 people so far. I wish I was there with him, to support and fight alongside. My divisions have 115 and 101 people (lightweight and middleweight, respectively). What a tournament!

Getting in Touch with My Inner Sambo Leg Lock Specialist

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I was born in the former Soviet Union and lived half my life there. I’m thoroughly “Americanized” at this point, but obviously all the stereotypical Russian qualities must still be deeply a part of my genetics. All I have to do is unlock them, no pun intended. Surely, that includes the intrinsic knowledge of leg locks which are a central element of Sambo (a martial art of Russian origin).

In all seriousness, my knowledge of leg locks is nearly non-existent, and I feel that this is simply unacceptable for anyone looking to compete in high level no-gi events. I know a few fundamentals of defending leg locks, but am not at all comfortable doing so. Bottom line is it’s a big hole in my no-gi game and as a leg lock specialist (and facebook friend of mine), Reilly Bodycomb, says in this excellent interview, it’s a hole that should not be there.

For this reason, it was very cool when Sharon taught a calf slicer in Tuesday’s class. It was something like this:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKqe3mQ33gI

I had a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around the technique at first. Given my advancing age, I sometimes have trouble figuring this youngster trickery out, but it eventually started clicking. I think that this attack could be effectively used on the way to taking the back with something like a rolling back take (that Ryan Hall, for example, likes to do).

Golden Score Randori at Osagame Martial Arts

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ray-huxen-harai-goshiI trained at Osagame (aka Philadelphia Judo Club) today and last Sunday. Judo is still a passion of mine, even as jiu jitsu creeps in gradually. It’s fun, especially given that Ray is a good person, good instructor, and good friend.

Here’s a video of some highlights from the two randori sessions:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehEqy7xI6no

I should also mention that Ray criticized a previous blog post where I mentioned my growing appreciation of taking the back versus working the clock choke. He then proceeded to attempt the clock choke on me during training, didn’t finish it, and took my back, where he then proceeded to submit me with a bow and arrow choke, thereby proving me correct ;-)

Take The Long Way Home

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I decided to take a different way to BJJ United today (Saturday). Instead of the Market-Frankford line to Broad Street line to 55 bus, I took my bike on a regional rail train to the Jenkintown-Wyncote stop which is about a mile away from the school. The problem is that I got lost. There are a lot of roads going out from the station, so it was a little disorienting and though I took the right road at first, I began to doubt myself and decided to ask for directions.

map-with-path

First, let me say to the dear people of Jenkintown… I asked four of you for directions today. All four gave directions with outmost confidence, and all four were wrong. The worst one was the first one: a chatty couple of older ladies that told me to go in the opposite direction when I was just a minute away from the destination. This sent me on an 8 mile journey around the area, pictured above.

When I asked those ladies for directions there were about 5 minutes left before the start of practice. They asked me what brazilian jiu jitsu was and given that I still had hope of making it to practice on time, I hastily said that it was kind of like wrestling but more useful in a self-defense situation. Side note: I have no idea why I put it that way, but I was trying to relate it to their view of martial arts.

I was frustrated for having to backtrack. In fact, frustration would be the main theme for the next hour. I should say that I hate biking, and I really hate biking on hilly terrain. Jenkintown has more hills than the god damn stock market. Now, 8 miles on a bike is really not a big deal. But the combination of the fact that I was missing practice, that I was lost, that the f’ing steep hills were making me work, that I badly had to take a piss all really put me to the test mentally. I told myself that even if I have to go another hour, I will make it to the school. I did make it, exactly an hour late (just as practice was wrapping up), which was awkward, because I didn’t really think about how I would explain this. I basically came in, said hi, and went back home.

As I got home, I did a hard circuit workout to get the frustration out, and spent the rest of the day and night behind the computer happily programming.

I’m not sure this blog post has any value or meaning, but it’s an experience. I’ve been trying new ways of doing things, getting places, etc, and sometimes that means you have to take the long way home:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfApBz4_XQk

Clock Choke vs Back Take

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When I was a young lad of 26 (two years ago), all I knew of jiu jitsu was the clock choke. It’s one of the most effective attacks on the ground in judo because in the transition from standing to ground there’s an opportunity to get the proper lapel grip and hit the clock choke right away as the opponent begins to turtle.

A year and a half ago I started learning jiu jitsu. The more I learned, the more my view of attacking the turtle changed. The sports jiu jitsu game is very different in this aspect (as well as many others) to the sports judo game. In bjj:

  1. You have more time (the ref won’t stand you up)
  2. You get points for taking the back (putting both hooks in)
  3. The opponent is less defensive, more dynamic, so there’s room to capitalize on gripping / submission openings

With that in mind, I’ve noticed myself thinking less and less about the clock choke when faced with an opponent in the turtle position, and more and more thinking “back take”. First, take the back, control the position, and then work for the submission.

This is why when Jared Weiner taught the clock choke yesterday right when the opponent turtles to avoid the pass, I was surprised how much I instinctively wanted to instead take the back. The positioning of the body for the two techniques is very different. For taking the back, I make myself into a “backpack”, tight on the person, but not applying huge pressure, and moving with him. While for the clock choke I have to pin him down (especially the near shoulder) with a lot of pressure from my hip.

It’s funny how the judo guy inside me is always fighting the jiu jitsu guy. I think there is a lot to learn from both disciplines, and neither should be neglected for a competitor in grappling sports.

Here are some clips from the training session two nights before that.
Click “like” on it if you want to see more of those:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sy9E4F4cyM

As always, thanks to BJJ United for great training and instruction (Jared, Wilson, Sharon, etc). Friend them on Facebook!

Shoyoroll Gis: Better Than Sex?

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Let me get this straight. Today, the new “Americana” and “ComPadre” Shoyoroll gi’s will go on sale at 12pm pacific time. They will be available for 2 hours only on budovideos. Also, you can’t buy more than two gi’s.

This is a gi we are talking about, right? I’ve heard several people today talk about this gi as if it gives you god-like powers

I don’t own a Shoyoroll, and honestly can’t see myself spending more than $100 on a gi. To me, a good gi is a clean one, and one that fits well.

I’m not knocking it, I’m just stating my ignorance and confusion to the world.

Sit-up Guard with a Dominant Lapel Grip

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Gi class and training on Saturday afternoon at BJJ United. The one time in the week that I can make it there while the sun is still up. Here are some clips from that training session. Click “like” on it if you want to see more of those:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTfYYia-SJA

The video actually shows Jared pulling off a variation of a technique he taught in class: a sweep from the sit-up guard. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any good YouTube videos showing a similar sweep from this position. I find that good de la riva guard players like to sit up into this guard and look for sweeps by driving forward or knocking my back foot out. Jared showed a powerful grip variation that worked well. Here’s a random descent video of another sweep from this position:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnnSSt6AXGc

I never liked playing the “sit-up” guard for the same reason I don’t like playing the one-legged x-guard as I feel like I lack control of the opponent. Of course, with the grip Jared showed there’s more than enough control but it’s a fight to get that grip. I also don’t like going against this guard as it’s risky if the opponent is quick. I put pressure and look for knee cut pass with the sleeve grip, but that’s doesn’t always work.

As always, thanks to BJJ United, they’re good people (Jared, Wilson, Sharon, etc) and tough training partners. Email bjjunited@comcast.net or friend on Facebook.

A Shot Won’t Save You From Being Taken Down

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This is the part of the blog post where I cry about little things that no self-respecting man should cry about. What I was dealing with last night:

  • Cauliflower ear
  • Trying to train in headgear so that the new cauliflower ear would heal up eventually.
  • One of my contacts fell out half way through training. Couldn’t find it.
  • Because of allergies my eyes were itching and nose was stuffed.
  • Only 4 hours of sleep the night before.

Okay now I will put my teddy bear and pink kleenex box down.

The no-gi training at night at BJJ United was solid as always. Hard warm up, and fast-paced technical drills for the first half hour.

One of the things Wilson Reis had us drill was the re-shot double. When the opponent shoots in for a double, you stop them with hooks and explosively lift them up a level to create the space for a re-shot of a double of your own. I really like this idea of shooting in on the opponent even if he shoots first. Usually, I sprawl and look to come around to the back, but if his shot is not low enough (or committed enough), then this is a great option.

Here’s a video of Dan Gable teaching a similar re-shot technique. Instead of lifting your opponent, in this case, he waits for the opponent to come back up on his own:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-BAya2rOuU

As always, thanks to BJJ United, they’re good people (Jared, Wilson, Sharon, etc). Email bjjunited@comcast.net or friend on Facebook.

Back Take with Wilson Reis

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wilson-reis-back-take-guillotineI trained no-gi at BJJ United last night. As always, good instruction and tough training. Wilson Reis was running the class. He keeps the intensity up, from warm up to drills to live training.

As part of the warm up, one thing that stood out is the single leg defense drill that I remember doing a lot in wrestling. The opponent gets a single leg on you, and then you hop around for about 20-30 seconds. The surprising thing was how easy it was for the first 10 seconds, and how tough it was after that. Once the calves started burning, my will to continue hopping around quickly diminished.

He showed a cool (acrobatic) back take where you open up a guy’s turtle by flipping over to a bridge and bringing him along. In Wilson’s match against Bruno Tostes (included below), you can see him attempt it at the 0:55 mark. This is a great way to open up a defensive turtle.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ORClb8829w

We finished from there with a guillotine. He reminded me to do all the steps and to do them well as I was getting lazy on the hooks and the wrist control. It was great to have an instructor after me. As a result I kept the pace up and the technique sharp.

BJJ United are good people (Jared, Wilson, Sharon, etc). Email bjjunited@comcast.net or friend on Facebook.

The Fighting Spirit of a Returning Judoka

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_49E0OK2OAQ

We had another good training session at the Philadelphia Judo Club on Sunday. I actually remembered to bring my camera along this time, and caught some of the randori on video (see above).

Philadelphia Judo Club and Osagame Martial Arts and Fitness

What was different this time is the appearance of a new Albanian judoka who has taken 14 months off from training and was just making his return. He is wearing a white belt in the video, but is actually a black belt. Though he was noticeably rusty in his technique, he more than made up for it in intensity and “fighting spirit”. He kept getting up, getting really excited, angry, happy, lauging, etc. It was a little chaotic and concerning at first (since his unpredictability was a little dangerous) but it grew on me pretty quickly.

He was my training partner, and kept telling me that I was doing the te guruma pick-up wrong. Many of the points he made were absolutely correct, so I was happy to learn from him. More importantly, the harder and faster I threw him, the harder and faster he would throw me back. Given that the technique was clean, this process lead to one hell of a good work out. We probably got 30-40 big throws in.

Given how hard he went, I’m sure he won’t be back for a few days (needing to recover), but I look forward to seeing him get back into fighting shape. For a competitive person like that it’s always tough to step into a new club.