Tag Archives: sharon bonewicz

Solid Jiu Jitsu Fundamentals

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lex-fridman-jared-weiner-training-at-bjj-united

Fundamentals class (6-7pm) at BJJ United precedes kettlebells, no-gi, and then an advanced bjj class. It’s always packed with good training partners, and a lot of them.

I like this class because in it Jared Weiner usually shows the basics, and I’m all about the basics. All I want to do in jiu jitsu, in the end, is to excel at the fundamentals.

I got a chance to train with Jared and Rafa (one of my favorite training partners). Rafa kept going to inverted guard which is great to see because it makes me feel like I’m not being ridiculous for working on this guard also. He has a very technical game that’s fun to figure out and find answers to.

The roll with Jared was excellent. He has exactly the kind of top game I hope to developlex-fridman-rafa-rolling-at-bjj-united one day. Lots of pressure, strong powerful passing, knee on belly, chokes, backtakes, etc. I went for a basic x-guard entry that works on most people, and he just didn’t even pay attention to it. He broke the butterfly guard, and passed real heavy. I had no space to move, none. Awesome jiu jitsu!

I also did the Kettlebells class with Sharon. I especially liked the pass-under lunges. She had a better name for them, but I forget it now. Here’s a video of this exercise. It’s definitely a good mix of balance, coordination, strength, and there’s a kind of nice flow to it.

PS: Thanks to Greg (a BJJ United student) for the excellent photography. It’s always great to see someone be very good at their hobby (or job).

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).

Cold and Heat Therapy

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I’ve used cold therapy on a regular basis since starting judo and jiu jitsu to relieve the pain and inflammation in my shoulders, or more specifically bicep tendonitis. I know it’s something you are supposed to do, as it promotes healing, but I did it because it relieved the mild (and sometimes not-so-mild) pain associated with this overuse injury. That in combination with ibuprofen helps me recover from the hard training sessions.

Last Wednesday I tweaked my right shoulder (aggravating it more seriously on Saturday). I haven’t done injured it in this way in a few years. Last time I did was when I was powerlifting seriously, and the injury came from overtraining heavy bench and military press. Anyway, Sharon (BJJ United) suggested that I ice the injury in the first 48 hours and then switch to heat therapy (when the inflammation goes down). I’ve heard this advice many times before, but for some reason decided to actually do it this time. It’s either that Sharon is exceptionally convincing or that I just can’t stay off the mat for more than a day so I’m willing to try anything.

Anyway, I tried applying heat to my shoulder today. The first time I put the heat pack to my shoulder a sharp pain ran through it. It was a strange deep pain, but within about a minute the pain was completely gone and when I removed the pack, my shoulder felt great. So whatever it did (I guess increase blood flow to the area), it certainly alleviated the pain. I did it a few more times throughout the day and right now my shoulder feels great.

I wrote this post not to talk about my shoulder, which I certainly have done way too much in the past two years, but to encourage others with similar injuries to try both ice and heat therapy. The key is to really do it and do it frequently. In order to make that happen, you have to figure out a system that makes applying ice and heat as hassle-free as possible.

For example, here’s the cold/hot pack I use. It’s really easy to use. It has held up for two years of daily use. I also have a shoulder strap thing that is supposed to help connect the pack to my shoulder, but I’ve only used it once. It’s a pain in the ass to use frankly. I just put the cold/hot pack on my shoulder and it stays on.