Rodrigo Gracie Seminar August 2008 August 31, 2008
Posted by dannicus in jiu jitsu.Tags: ASMA, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, Rodrigo Gracie, whtie belt three stripes
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Today we were fortunate enough to have Rodrigo Gracie in for a 4 hour seminar. I was disappointed last night as I couldn’t get out of work, and Rodrigo flew in early so he could teach the Friday night class at the gym. Today, with the gym full of eager jiu jitsu players, Rodrigo started us off doing standing headlock escapes to warm up our shoulders for what would be a seminar that centered around the omaplata Yay! I love the omaplata, it’s my favorite technique. Omaplatas are shoulder locks using the leg to isolate and attack the shoulder. First we started with an armbar escape where you spin, switch your hips and end up taking side control. After that, we countered the escape with an omaplata set up. From there, the person in the omaplata was supposed to try to posture up, and we counter with a very nice, and very very nasty armlock.
Then we practiced rolling out of omaplatas and transition back to guard, or into a triangle choke. While drilling this particular situation with Gus, I made the mistake of rolling over my head instead of my shoulder, and cranked my neck pretty good. I was pretty much done with the seminar at that point. It hurt, it was hard to move my neck, and I was miserable. So again, I sat on the sidelines as everyone else got to roll for the last 40 minutes.
All in all though, it was a good seminar. We learned some very cool things. And oh yeah, Rodrigo and Eric deemed me worthy of my third stripe! So now, after 9 months of training, I am hopefully 1 stripe, and a seminar away from attaining my blue belt. So it was a high and a low day. I’m still pretty excited. I’ve got new things to work on, and am 1 step closer to my goals.
Making the Jits my own August 24, 2008
Posted by dannicus in jiu jitsu.Tags: ASMA, blue belt, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Rodrigo Gracie, white belt
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So the last couple weeks haven’t been my greatest in my jiu jitsu life. I have been dealing with some real world stuff, and have kind of put my jits on the backburner because of it. I went 3 times 2 weeks ago and this past week, I only made it to the gym once. I do miss it however, and starting Monday, it’s the gym every day for the week. As Rodrigo Gracie will be in town on Saturday the 30th for a 1 day seminar. My instructor has mentioned this will probably be the last seminar for the year, so I want to make it count. At the end of the month I will have been training for 9 months. It’s time to buckle down and redouble my efforts to start to blend everything I have been taught into my own game, and while belt colors shouldn’t matter, I’m far enough along in my training to realize I need to be willing to step up to the next level here. I can’t wear my training wheels forever.
Rodrigo said in his book, “The Path to the Black Belt” that the difference between a white belt and a blue belt is that a blue belt has been taught the basics, and is now, in essence, trying to make it his or her own game.
The white belt knows nothing, he is an infant in the art. He knows a little bit about things, but doesn’t really understand the principles and doesn’t really see the big picture.
The blue belt is beginning to learn what works for him and what doesn’t. He is also learning to string together the different techniques he has learned. He is starting to see a wider view, and not just one move, he needs to start to see more of the picture, not just one section.
I’ve had some success the last couple times I have rolled with knee-on-belly control, and moving from side control to north/south position to hunt submissions. I’m also finding that against guys who are closer to my skill level, I am flowing nicely between move and counter move, and the counter to that move, etc. It’s been very fun.
It’s these particular rolls that I will use as motivators for when things aren’t fun for me, where it’s hard work, and frustrating, and down right awful to train. I think everyone goes through times like these, especially when they are in between milestones on their journey. Right now, I am not really a beginner anymore, but there are still plenty of times where I make stupid stupid mistakes.
Learn everything, put aside what doesn’t work for you, and make what does work…your own.
See you on the mats.
Zeroing in on my frustrations July 31, 2008
Posted by dannicus in jiu jitsu.Tags: Gracie Jiu Jitsu, learning from adversity, white belt 2 stripes
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Today when I went into the gym, I ended up being the only person to show up. This happens quite frequently in the mornings, especially on days where the weather is far from fair. So I was stretching, in comes Eric, and we begin to roll. We roll for 12 minutes, mostly me getting mauled. I finally gas out and tap to an impending cross collar choke. I gave up. I grabbed some water, came back, we rolled again, (i neglected to keep good hygine and didn’t clip my toenails, assumed they were short enough) Got my big toe nail caught on the mat, bent it back and yelp in pain. Clipped said toenail, taped up my toe, and went back to the mat. All in all we rolled from 10:15 to about 10:50 with small breathers in between.
Afterwards, we talked about my frustrations again. I brought up how it seems fruitless for me to try to escape his side control as if someone of equal size wants to keep you pinned, you’re pinned. Eric responded, I get out of your side control don’t I? To which my answer was, yes, but it seems it typically happens as I am trying to figure out my options and attack an arm, etc. We went back and forth on this for a bit, eventually coming to the crux of the discussion, It’s good that I am frustrated, as it shows my passion for jiu jitsu, the reason things seem impossible, is because I haven’t learned to combine what I have learned yet. It’s like being mounted, just an Upa, or just and elbow escape rarely works against someone who knows the art. They know whats coming. Its the combination, the constant switch between Upa and elbow escape that finally brings you to one or the other. It’s the same with side control. Shrimping out, and bellying out go hand in hand. I need to combine the too, become instinctual with them so they flow naturally before they will start working better. Also, Eric pointed out once I got those down, I could learn a third side escape, bring in what he likes to call the rule of 3. The rule of 3 is basically the same philosophy I talked about last post where you work 3 different basics eventually one will fall into place.
So there was the potatoes of this lesson, now for the meat. I don’t roll enough. I study like crazy, I read books, read forums, enter into discussions, watch videos and all that is good. But when it comes down to applying my lessons, I don’t test them enough in live rolls.
So here’s the big lesson today. For the next 3-6 months, it’s live rolling every day, at least 30 minutes. It’s building my grappling cardio, it’s working through the frustrations, and developing instincts. Eric told me today that I am fairly difficult to submit now, even for him, because I am learning to keep everything tight. He believes, that if I follow this game plan, 6 months from now, I should and could be an absolute beast on the mats. He said, you keep at it, and guys will start to hate to roll with you. Talk about motivation.
Elevator..going up..frustrations…going down July 29, 2008
Posted by dannicus in jiu jitsu.Tags: bjj training frustrations, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, white belt two stripes
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Today was the beginning of a new week in Jits-heaven. I got to class today, sporting a massive headache. Which to those who know the world of grappling, is a huge hindrance. Luckily today was an easier day. No one had arrived for morning class so it was going to be me and Eric, which normally means I get ground into the mat for the duration of class. But today, as I was stretching, Eric came in and talked to me about my frustrations with my progress. His suggestion. Don’t study so much. Let me explain, I have always been a fan of reading as much material as I can, watch as much footage, take part in as many discussions as I can about things I want to be better at. He thinks I am getting frustrated because I see videos, and read books, and talk to guys about stuff I am not ready to deal with yet. And it is sapping my desire to improve etc.
Well I don’t know about all that, but I know I am concentrating on what I am supposed to be learning in class for a while. For the next month, I won’t be checking out technique videos from other sources other than Rodrigo’s at Virtual Gracie and I’m going to concentrate on becoming proficient at 3 moves from each position. Eric said something that made sense to me. That, at least for now, given my body type, I am an “old-school” jiu jitsu fighter. My flexibility isn’t nearly where I’d like it to be, but that doesn’t mean it can’t get better. For now. I am working for americanas, kimuras, and armbars from side control. In guard. Armbars, omoplatas, and sweeps. I’m working on my knee hop guard pass, stacking guard pass, and just backing off. My sweeps, scissor sweep, the push sweep, and today we worked the elevator sweep, which uses your foot on the bottom of your opponents leg to help lift them up and over. We also started training to instinctively, roll them up on their side once swept, to take the armbar.
Those of you who read this, I’m interested in your thoughts on the idea of over studying, what your goals in your training are, or just what you do when you are frustrated with something new?
See you on the mats,
Dan
Still alive, still rolling July 21, 2008
Posted by dannicus in Uncategorized.Tags: bjj, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, frustrations with training, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, white belt
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It’s been a while since my last post. I am sorry to those of you who have emailed and commented and asked for updates. I had taken a week or two off from the gym as I had become frustrated with training and was not liking my bad attitude I was developing. But after a week off, I began to really miss training and I packed up my gi and headed back for some class…
I learned a big lesson. Training in a martial art, especially one like Gracie Jiu Jitsu isn’t all gumdrops and lollipops. it’s got it’s peaks and valleys. I was getting frustrated because I felt I was at a stand still in my evolution. But it took a half hour talk with my instructor today to scope out the big picture. As you know, there’s at least once a week where I roll with him and get my butt kicked all over the mat. Part of my frustration lately, has been when people show up that I haven’t rolled with before, I get excited as I like to try my skills with different people, and different body types. What typically happens is we start to roll, and Eric pairs that person up with someone else, and then tells me it’s time to roll with him. Then the guys slink out while I’m rolling with Eric, and I don’t get to roll with someone new. I end up getting pounded out by him.
So I asked Eric today, what else can I be looking for while rolling with him, besides getting my butt kicked. He told me that there isn’t much to do there but continue to work the skills I am learning and drilling in class. He pointed out something that was so obvious that I should have seen it myself. Noone else in the gym can really work me over the way Eric can. Sure there are guys who are technically superior to me, but Very few, 1 or 2 other guys have the physical size and strength to overpower me. Eric, is technically superior to me, and is my size, getting beat on by him has improved my game more than I realized. I find my crossbody is pretty solid, and guys do everything possible to not get put in my side mount. Having him dominate me from that position so many times, I have figured out how to use my size and body positioning to stay in control.
So yes, I got frustrated, yes, I took some time off, but I am back. Moral of the story kids, Every dark cloud has a silver lining. And in your training, your instructor is going to do things and conduct classes in ways that do not make sense to you. Everything has a purpose, there IS a method to the madness. Purservear guys and gals. Don’t give up, don’t allow yourself to get frustrated. If it were easy, everyone would be blackbelts in Gracie Jiu Jitsu….kinda like Tae Kwan Do……sorry board kickers….I’m not impressed
Train hard my friends, and I will do the same, see you on the mats
Stripes- part deux June 12, 2008
Posted by dannicus in Uncategorized.Tags: Gracie Jiu Jitsu, playing the guard, rolling, sparring, white belt two stripes
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This entire week I have been babying my back. My back and ribs have been very sore this week after the seminar. We’ve had new people starting morning classes, and Eric is back in school every morning, so we have been doing alot of the “safety” techniques as I like to call them. Learning to fall backwards, and to the sides, standing and sitting in base. All these, over and over again all week have been killer on my back. So I haven’t rolled all week. I think Eric has been annoyed as after class he’s wanted to roll with me, but I have been trying to take it easy so I scooted out after class. Today I went in feeling pretty good, It was a good thing too, as it was just me and Bryce, today. Eric came on the mat, wearing his gi. Usually he has a pair of fight shorts and a sweatshirt on, and then throws his gi top on at some point if he wants to roll. Today, he came ready for war. He didn’t say anything to us, he just came in, started some music on the stereo, and stretched out. Bryce and I looked at each other and gave a mutual, “Ohhhh boy!” type look. We rolled through the entire class. Round Robin style. 3 minute rounds…30 second rest. So I would start with Eric, he would then roll with Bryce, I’d roll with Bryce, then roll with Eric. So basically, 6 minutes on, 3 minutes off, for the hour. I was having the time of my life. I really missed rolling. We haven’t been doing it much. I was excited to try some things I have been studying. BJ Penn’s Book of Knowledge has some great stuff from what he calls the sit up guard. I think this can be very effective for me, posting up to try for the sweep, then convert to kimuras, armbars, omaplatas…Anyway, anytime I could pull guard, I did so with Bryce, with Eric, it was about survival. 
I’ve been working my armbar defense alot lately, and I think I’m getting pretty good at defending them now.
Anyway, the hour flew by, I was feeling great. Eric said class was over, then turned to me, and told me I was ready for my second stripe on my belt. I felt like jumping in the air. What a great day it was for me. I rolled, got to try some things, got to work my game, got a great sweat going, and to ice the cake, I got my second stripe. 2 stripes down, 2 to go before I reach goal number one, my blue belt.
One more day of class tomorrow, then the weekend. I’m hoping the weather stays nice so I can go out and walk a couple hours this weekend. For now, I’m off to the pool for some sunshine and a nice swim to loosen up the muscles. See you all soon.
Rodrigo Seminar June 2008 June 9, 2008
Posted by dannicus in jiu jitsu.Tags: ASMA, jiu jitsu seminar, Rodrigo Gracie, white belt one stripe
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This past weekend marked my second seminar with Rodrigo Gracie. I was incredibly excited to see what we would learn. I got to the gym 15 minutes early to put some extra stretching time in so my back wouldn’t give me any issues. My back has been tight and sore the past couple weeks so I was hoping everything would be fine.
It was the same as the last time. Excellent stuff. Saturday we concentrated on gi work. We worked on more collar chokes, some very interesting variations of a cross lapel choke from when someone is in turtle. I even got that choke when we rolled later on. The day was filled with great instruction. Rodrigo is a fantastic teacher. He knows exactly what needs to be said to get you to understand when you are confused.
After 3 hours of working the techniques he was teaching, we rolled. First up was Tony, just like last time, he smothered me. This time when passing my guard he flopped down on my nose which started bleeding so I had to spend the majority of rolling at the end stopping my nose bleed. When it finally stopped, Bryce and I rolled, we had a good hard-rolling session which ended up with me getting wacked in the nose again. Bryce and I were scrambling for position, and I moved to take his back, my grip slipped and I fell on his elbow, caught me square in the nose, it dang near knocked me out cold. I ended rolling with Jordan. At the end of the seminar, Bryce and Tony got their blue belts. No stripe for me, I was a bit disappointed, but as Royce has always said. A belt only covers two inches of your butt, the rest is up to you. I still feel I am getting better. I know I’m better than the newer guys, I pretty much tooled the guys who were newer than me. I even held my own for a while with the blues on Day Two of the seminar which was all no gi. It just gives me more drive to be ready for when Royce is here in August, and if not then, then maybe in October when Rodrigo comes back.
Day Two we worked alot of guard passes, Jordan and I partnered up today alot. He’s the senior most student in the school when it comes to Jiu Jitsu, a wealth of knowledge, and a fantastic training partner. I was glad we were teamed up, as he helped me get through the issues I was having with the arm triangle drills we did today.
No rest for the weary, I’ll be back on the mats tomorrow, training and testing the new things I have learned. I hope I don’t forget everything over night.
Teaching Aspirations May 21, 2008
Posted by dannicus in jiu jitsu.Tags: blue belt requirements, drills, Royce Gracie Jiu Jitsu, training
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So for the past few weeks, Bryce and I have been taking a self taught stance on our jiu jitsu training. Our instructor hasn’t been able to come in for morning classes because of some other issues that had to come first over Bryce and I flopping around on the mat. So he graciously allowed us to continue to come in to the gym in the morning during normal class time, and drill the Blue Belt Requirements over and over again. Originally it was just supposed to be time for us to practice and refine our basics before Royce came in June. As time went on, I began to make it my personal mission to be sure Bryce, who is a 4 stripe white belt, is ready for the seminar, and will be on point so he might be promoted to blue belt at the next seminar.
We also started getting a couple of other guys come in to class in the morning. Gus, Dan, Ben, and Mark all started showing up from time to time to give us a fresh body type to drill on. Ben and Mark are relatively new to the jiu jitsu world, we did our best as white belts to help them tune up their guard passes, their armbars, guillotines, kimuras, sweeps….we have gone through a ton of material in a month. It really got my mind working on the idea of some day, 8-10 years from now when i have my brown belt…if I would be interested in opening my own school. Or at least try to teach….it gives me more to think about and something else to strive for….we shall see I guess…
Anyway, Jordan has agreed to come in Tuesday-Thursday every week at least until the seminar to give us pointers. Jordan is one of the top students in Jiu Jitsu. He has one stripe on his blue belt. He has a wealth of knowledge in the sport, he’s laid back and easy going, and a great teacher…I’m really glad he’s willing to help us out.
As a quick update, Royce will not be coming to do a seminar in June, we found out last week, that his manager had double booked him for a seminar, instead, Rodrigo will be back for a second time this year, I’m still pretty stoked. Sorry about the slow updates, but I didn’t want this to become some stupid drivel with no substance, so I waited til I had something a bit more significant to post besides, oh, we did armbars from guard, the end…….see….aren’t you glad I waited?
More to come friends, stick with me…..
Lean and well..I’m still not so mean. May 6, 2008
Posted by dannicus in Uncategorized.Tags: jiu jitsu, sweeps, weight loss
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The study hall style continues this week. Yesterday, Bryce and I went over the Elevator sweep and a couple of other things. It’s a short note today, I went to class tonight to roll with Someone my own size and boy was he ever. We worked on Elevator sweeps in night class as well, along with a sweep that hooks the posted leg and helps sweep them over. It was a good class. Very warm in the gym as I was sweating buckets after we shrimped and stretched.
My highlight of the evening was stepping on the scale for Eric to chart my progress to the 250 lbs goal on July 4th. I am happy to report that I am down to 277. Only 27 pounds to go by July 4th…woo hoo!
Working from the book May 2, 2008
Posted by dannicus in Uncategorized.Tags: blue belt requirements, drilling, Royce Gracie Jiu Jitsu, white belt
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This week has been kind of study hall like. Bryce and I have been working on the Blue belt requirements all week. Today, we finished our first run through of the self defense techniques. Though I must admit, we just went through the motions on a few of them, as neither Bryce and I thought we could handle a week of being thrown to the mat. I was surprised as to how many of these SD techniques are handled with set ups into hip tosses.
Aside from that, we worked on some submissions from mount, as we both tend to spaz a bit once we get the position, I don’t like the mount position that much, I prefer to stay in side control, I feel I have a bit more control over my opponent that way. But as Bryce pointed out, I really do need to get comfortable in Mount, with my sheer size, it could be very VERY bad news for someone in a real life situation should I attain the mount. So we flipped through the books, went down the sheets, and got some serious stuff done this week. I really have been enjoying this method of study for us. But I do miss formal classes. I’m headed to my 2nd night class tonight. I am really looking forward to it. Have a great weekend all. See you next week.
