Alcohol cures my BJJ woes?!

Instead of training friday night I went out drinking with my buddies as I hadnt seen them for a while and there were some last minute plan changes. So did that, got drunk, came home. Went to training saturday morning feeling pretty hung over but my stomach felt stable. In the warm up we were rolling and shrimping down the mat. Which really got me dizzy, dizzy enough I had to cling to the wall whilst walking back to do it again. We also did some full throwing drilling which was really good, my breakfalls are rubbish. Forgot how hard even a soft throw can feel.

So at this point Im feeling a lil more tired than usual but coping. We do some more drilling focusing on pulling guard, sitting into open guard etc. Saturday sessions are more focused on competition so we had a Q & A session with Andy as well.

After this we did some positional sparring (from side control, mount and guard). And this is where things got more interesting. I was feeling a lil dehydrated and everything seemed very blurry. Almost like tunnel vision but less extreme and very fuzzy. I can only assume because of the alcohol and the sweating I was running pretty low on sugar, salts, water etc.

But there was a plus side! - I felt very relaxed and calm, I felt I could weasel myself anywhere. My mind was muddled so I had no internal dialogue, no analysing or planning. I just felt everything in the moment. So not only did I do well but I was pulling off things Ive never tried or been shown before. Like taking someones back from UNDERNEATH side control. Or passing from inside guard to someones back. The sit up sweep came back with a vengeance as I was abit more subtle with it. Pendelum sweep also felt abit more natural.

I did get subbed by a very good gi choke mind you, very nicely setup by pinning my arm so I couldnt defend it. So we rolled again and I went to repay the favour and gi choke him. This guy is strong as hell and a good 20kg's heavier, annoyingly he is also fairly cunning. While I was trying to choke him he said "wow check out that blister on the guys foot". So I tried to look, half forgetting I wasnt wearing my glasses and wouldnt be able to tell if the guy even had toes. Then I realised he was distracting me while he made his escape!. Luckily for me he left an arm behind and I managed (just) to pull off the armbar.

I also noticed I still need to be a lil more aware when holding side control, couple of times I fell into peoples halfguard from them scooting their legs around.

Session finished but I had ages till my train so I didnt get out of me gi, and had a rest. My strong friend wanted to spar some more because he came late to the session but I was really dead now. I could barely do the warm down and I felt very dizzy. I finished my water and bought some lucazade. Also had an apple. 20 minutes later and I was feeling good. My friend was sparring with another training partner which seemed to go on forever. Andy was teaching a private and asked me over to spar with the guy (my friend Terry who I had been paired with during the session before). He wanted to look at things whilst we sparred and to work on any issues that came up, while giving coaching as well.

There are few things more annoying in jiu jitsu than your opponent being given good advice that he follows whilst rolling. Its like fighting two people!. But it was fun and good, I feel guilty that I actually learnt a fair bit from it and it was Terry's private. During our rolls he managed to get back to his knee's several times from under my side control. Using a really simple set of movements. His pressure was better and tighter, he also came incredibly close to finishing me off with a guillotine. Baring in mind Terry had now been training for well over 3 hours, he did really really well. The difference from merely an hour ago was definitely noticable, which has resolved my conflicting ideas on how worthwhile privates are. Terry is another asset to the club, a JKD instructer as well I always learn something from my conversations with him. When we spar, I cant pass his hands. I can pass his legs, I can get good position and get submissions but I cannot for the life of me pass his hands. If I want to grab his elbow, get an underhook, grab a wrist then I need to think of a new plan. Because his hands just fend everything off like Im attacking him in over telegraphed A-team style punches. His also escaping alot of my armbar attempts by straightning his body to line up with mine and then rolling, till the angles safe.

The session before this one Mick (a Muay thai trainer) and Terry were talking about low leg kicks. Mick volunteered me as a dummy and very slowly placed a few on my thigh. Despite this very slow kicking it still hurt, his shins were like lead and he was spot on in hitting his target. Then Terry showed his kick, then Mick showed his. This went on for 2 minutes, at the end I was one knee on the ground, pleading for mercy. Hopefully if Mick does a class at our new centre Ill be able to attend, my first love will always be grappling but striking is fun to and opens things up to trying MMA. After the Saturday session and extra rolling I helped Andy and co put up the big sign for our club. Was quite a fun afternoon as the weather was great and the banter flowing.

The Kent open is approaching fast!, I plan to register today. I hope I still get one of the free shirts, I wanna start a comp shirt collection. Saturdays session really rebuilt my confidence and made me feel good about my progress. We have quite a few guys entering now, we are gonna bring back alot of medals. I am completely convinced of this. I think Ill do good, good chance of winning I feel. Hope to fight a team mate in the final.

One more thing:

Anyone got a sewing machine?

Cause Im ripped! *flexes*

Mind set

Just before training on friday I got the annoying news that I didnt get the extended job contract I had earlier interviewed, I really love the job so it bummed me out. So this boiled away while I made my way to the club. I decided I would use this frustration and channel it into aggression for sparring. Which at the time seemed like a good idea, to help me vent and to test out the approach.

The lesson covered halfguard, I really need to work on my halfguard. Being in it or holding it, it is easily one of the worst parts of my game. I get more submissions from under peoples side control than I do from within my half guard. So this is the lesson I really needed, and we covered some really usefull stuff. But I was in such a negetive mood all I could think about was how much I hated half guard. I lost out. It only occured to me hours later what a dick I was being. Now Im trying to rethink every minute of the lesson to salvage what I should of been focusing on positively.

We did some half guard sparring, I managed to work my way out of a few peoples half guards, and managed a few sweeps. But still lost a fair few matches, which made me feel more bitter towards halfguard at the time.

Then came full sparring, finally a chance to go mental I thought. And so I warned my opponent that I was gonna be aggressive. And so I went for it....

If you could call it that, I made stupid mistakes and ended up fighting a triangle attempt for most of it. I felt like it was my first lesson. Not taking anything away from my opponent, he was solid but I felt I could of done better. He had a triangle on and I was defending by putting my other arm inside his leg, all I had to do was push it through, but I didnt. I ended up waiting till he had it on tight enough I had to tap.

My other sparring match was a similar affair, it ended up going the whole distance without a sub but again I felt limited. I kept on getting top position but not getting his legs out of my way properly.

It really was like I had resetted myself to when I first started, and it frustrated me. It took me a long time to really get into the habit of looking at aquiring good position as the most important thing. Then theres control, setups, breathing, subtelty, planning ahead, tactics etc. The submission is only the last puzzle piece, everything else needs to be in place first.

Position before submission. I let that fly out the window for the stupid justification of "venting". My game suffered. I got tired and made silly mistakes. So now for the plus side, I have learnt from this mistake. I am now confident in my normal approach, that it has the right levels of aggression and passivity. Allowing me to relax but to threaten at the sime time.

Hopefully the damage is only temporary and Ill be back to my old self for Tuesday. I need to start training hard for the Kent open.

Perhaps Im being overly critical of myself, just because I didnt do well in one lesson. I know some people in my club that dont get a submission for months, yet are really positive and keep on working at it. Using it as motivation to improve and keep on trying. It wont be long till these people far surpass me, if I dont learn from them.

Another team mate told me this on Friday after I told him it had been a hard lesson and I hadnt done well :" Yeah they are the best, they are the ones you really learn from" . Having this mindset seems to make all the difference in training, I let it slip and it made a big difference. Now Im trying to learn from it, as you should all your mistakes.

Saturday sessions have just started at the new club, so Ill be able to train 3 times a week when I can. Hopefully get a few saturdays in before Kent.

Brand new digs, new moves and preparation

Been a lil while since my last update, missed some training due to work and other commitments. Was abit worried about my performance taking a drop. But you gotta just jump back on these things.

Rolling felt great, the little break actually seemed to benefit me. I feel so relaxed that I never get tired and my recovery time is good. Had a great roll with Ryan, no gi was feeling better and I was defending well. Most spars with ryan I get stuck just defending, but I managed to attack this time as well. Guillotine, kimura's and arm triangles. Couldnt finish him though so we ended up stalemating. I need to learn to keep back control better though, to many people ending up back in my guard.

We covered some solid basics in class and I went with a new guy and helped him through it, giving him tips where needed. I need to talk less.

Next session.

ITS IN FARNBOROUGH!

The day has finally arrived, Andy and the guys put in an ass load of work to tranform the place from this:

To this:

To summarise:

• 1000sqft
• matted area with matted walls
• Changing facilities
• Toilets
• Filtered water fountain
• Power rack
  Free weights
• Gymnastic Rings
• Kettlebells
• Rope
• Lucozade Sport Machine
• Equipment Shop - Gi's, kneepads, shorts etc etc
• Strength and Conditioning coach (PTI Royal Marines, Judo Black Belt, BJJ Blue Belt)
• Judo Coach - 2nd Dan Black Belt
• Thai Coach

So the Andy Roberts Academy is looking good. The first lesson was busy!, everyone turned up plus some new guys. So around the 40 mark. However despite knocking into people on occasion, wasnt to much of a problem. Most lessons will be around 30 people so plenty of room. A few things in the other rooms are still being worked on, once they are done we are gonna have a open day and get lots of people down. Have a seminar and have a good time.

During the lesson we covered a very nice alternative arm triangle from on top. Holding side control, your put your arm over their head and slide it under their neck. The arm closest to your body must be inbetween your body and there neck, not floating about. You then work your other arm to your hadn under there neck and clasp it. Put your head on the same side of their body as your body. Work your body round so you are straight onto them while squeezing a tad. Comes on a treat. Everything must be tight though.

Warming up with Kimura's!

Also worked on setting up the triangle from mount, which really improved my existing thoughts on it. Head control, hooking the leg underneath and arm control. Pulled it off during sparring which is always a good sign. Sparred Terry whose defense is really improving, but Im quite unrelenting with him as he can be sneaky. No longer catching him in armbars or ezekiels, really having to work for the subs.

Also sparred a new guy, talked to him abit on keeping tight and working his game. Illustrated this by passing his guard a few times. He was flinging on triangles without the control. But he made some progress, was very relaxed and a great attitude.

Finished up with some sparring, a warm down and then Andy giving out some presents to the guys who helped him do the place up. Well deserved.

Warming down or dancing to "thriller", you decide.

Me and all the boys listining to Andy telling us for the 5th time not to walk around barefoot. We have shoe cubby holes now!