I consider myself a calculating and analytical individual when it comes to jiu jitsu. You will always find me smiling as Im enjoying it but my emotions are quite reserved. Ill be concentrating on what to do next based on what my opponent will try to do next, strengths and weaknesses etc. And I think this type of thinking is good, I believe in the jiu jitsu - chess idea. However Ive been training without passion. This has just become clear now because I feel on fire, instead of butterflies my stomach is filled with easily to anger hornets who have just had their nest pissed on. I dont feel any anger, just a powerful drive to train my ass off and to do well. And all this drive is aimed at one guy - Ross Nickols. This guy kicked my ass in Kent and I want to avenge myself. His in my division in the Hereford comp on the 7th. Let me reiterate that I dont dislike him or feel any anger at him, his just a focal point for what I need to achieve. So if your reading this Ross and Ive just knee ridden your sternum into paste Im sorry. If you beat me again then kudos!. Beating Ross is more important to me than winning the comp, so if we dont face each other ill ask him for a roll on the warm up mat.
But yes, passion!. Will it make a difference? we shall see tonight at training. A while ago I trained in "anger" and I got my ass kicked all over the show. This feels different, I still feel clear headed and able to think ahead. Ive always wanted to win and do well but Ive not had this hunger before. And its given me heart.
A few of us are going down to Hereford so should be another good day of fun. Hereford was my first BJJ comp and my first 2 losses, so am eager to avenge them. Hereford features a different rule set as well. All positions have to be helf for 15 seconds not 3 (except knee on belly). Passing is 3 points. Rolling someone off from mount counts as a sweep! - which is particularly annoying. That is how I lost my first fight. Fights are only 3 minutes and start from knee's. Straight knee bar and achiles lock is allowed. I think its good fighting under different rule sets, so as to not narrow down ones game to take advantage of one particular rule set.
Ive been spending alot more time in half guard as mentioned in previous posts, feeling alot more confident there now. Can see the oppertunities to sweep and to take the back more clearly now. Subs are there as well, although abit harder to finish.
Last session was good and found myself putting on a few omoplata's. Couldnt quite finish them though, so got the sweep instead. Controlling them from rolling over is natural now. Just need to make my setup flow abit more. Had a great roll with Brian before the lesson started. Off the bat I did well, got side control, mount and then back. But Brian is a tough customer and has a very good judgement on how tight your submission is, which allows him to resist for a long time. He has alot of heart. So his turtle was tight and I was on his back, going for a clock choke. Put my head to the floor and started walking around (abandoned the hooks). But I didnt have the hand in deep enough and he eventually got out. From their it went back and forth but he had good control and finished me with a americana.
We did some guard passing and I found myself getting triangled a few times. Which was frustrating but also very good as it pointed out a mistake I was making consistently. Andy gave me some advice on sorting out that mistake so hopefully no more triangles!. Managed to pass a very tired Dorians guard which is a big achievement for me, this guy EXPLODES. And he times it well so very hard to control him, but eventually I managed it.
My guard has become abit more static since I started focusing on guard passing, my sit up sweep timing is abit sluggish. So didnt get to much from full guard.
After the lesson, Nick wanted some more rolling and Im always up for it. Its only been a short time but his definitely coming along. We focused on how important it was always to stay moving, especially when under positions like mount. We kinda did a pseudo drill where we focused on me passing his guard and then him putting me back (medium resistance). That went quite well and I might try repeat this drill again sometime. Some of the guys also pointed out good grips and hand placement for blocking hips etc. One of the things I love about my club and I hope all clubs are like this, is how willing people are to help each other out. And how there is no ego when people are corrected or shown a variation. I would still be making alot of old mistakes without the input of my partners, and Im almost relying on them pointing out more so I can get better!
Any readers going to the RGA christmas dinner? - I hope to be there so let me know.
Heres a great vid from Stephen Kesting where he talks about the importance of position when going for subs and defending them.
He then goes onto show the Von Flue choke as a defense to the guillotine at 3:10. Love this choke and used it in my last lesson, very fun.
Stephen Kesting provides some great video's so if you see his name on a vid -watch it.
Heres an awesome judo vid shamelessly taken from Martial farts (great blog! - read it!):
Reason I include this, is because the judoka in question is pulling off the same throw everytime. His opponents know its coming probaly before they step on the mat, but the guy is SO good at it all they can do is slow him down abit. This gives me confidence in really focusing alot of effort into getting a few throwing techniques down to a T (as shown a few posts ago). I think it definitely works in BJJ as well.
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