Good vibes

Ive been stuffing my face with pizza and takeaway the last 2 weeks, felt abit shit at training (an incentive to eat well!)but was mystified at somehow losing weight. Am now 67kg. Ive noticed two things of interest recently:

Been using the cross choke from guard and mount a huge amount, practically every single roll multiple times and have been getting it quite tight. My hands are feeling pretty strong, hopefully if I can get some more climbing wall practise itll get even better.

The other note of interest is the psychological aspect. I was successfull a few times and some people gave me some compliments and it gave me a massive unconscious boost to carry on with that tactic. Which has led to me improving it through practise and now forms a big part of my arsenal. All down to positive reinforcement really. So give a training partner a compliment on something they did well and see what effect it has. Ive made it a habit of always trying to give a compliment on something they did well after every roll. You run the risk of sounding condescending but the good vibes are worth it I think as these are the things you draw on when you are at a low point.

My instructer doesnt give compliments very often but when he does they hold more gravity. I very specifically remember the first time I got to roll fully, Id been waiting for a long time and was very determined. Landed a triangle quickly on a larger opponent. After the roll my instructer told me I did well, very simple and understated but I still carry that with me.

We put alot of effort into taking care of our physical health so that we can train but the mental aspects are just as important. If you attack every less experienced partner with the aim of submitting them as often and effortlessly as possible then you are gonna kill their confidence, which may hurt their ability and even their enjoyment of the art. Which is unforgivable.

Let me know if you see any interesting effects after giving someone some positive feedback.

Jiu jitsu brotherhood wisdom

"To maximize your potential as a jiu-jitsoka, it’s not enough to just head to class every day and go through the motions. You need to approach your training from several angles.

I have a particular system which has worked for my students and I. It’s called the A.C.T. Model. This stands for Attribute Maximization, Conceptual Understanding, Technical Knowledge. This article will provide a general overview of this model. " -

Very interesting concept from Nicolas Gregoriades who has just stuck it up on his website: Jiu jitsu brotherhood (goto the link to read the whole article) . Ive mentioned Nic on here before and I quite like his cerebral approach to the complex problem of grappling. I think Ill hit him up for a private lesson one day just to get a better insight into his way of thinking,which may or may not be for me. I tend to think quite alot about BJJ and Ive often found it as much as a hinderence as an advantage.

Matt Benyon over at Martial farts has been churning up some super awesome hyper mega material that makes me want to headbut a horse with creative jealousy. Go there, buy his shit and support him so I can be regularly entertained and inspired.

Havnt been able to train as much as Id like due to Woking (where I live) roadworks which add another 20 mins onto my journey and make me late for my train. I dont want to ride there on the motorcycle because itll end up being a one way ticket to a private with helio. Its getting lighter though so perhaps soon.

Now thats more like it

Finally got in a good solid week of training, around 7.5 hours including a private I had with Andy. Felt quite achey at the end of it but felt it was definitely a good start to 2010.

Private wise I didnt cover anything really specific just some niggling things:

• Keeping them flat on their back when passing (turns out this was alot more important than I gave it credit for).
• A tighter omoplata sweep ( I was getting the sweep but not keeping the position).
• Knee on pressure (Break the habit of planting the foot on the ground)
• Side control shrimping towards opponent (Ive been going the other way and its been working but it wont in the future.)
• A bjj version of Baz Lurhmans "wear sunscreen", its gonna be awesome.

With a few rolls inbetween for good measure. I put this into practise following the next sessions and even though quite small adjustments to stuff I was already doing it made a considerable difference I felt. Especially the first one, I felt I was limiting their ability to move considerably.

I got raped in the no gi class, by pretty much everyone. My no gi really does suck. Was good to see Ryan back as I love our mad scramble fests, high lights were him getting a scissor takedown. Then trying it again where I imagined to jump and sit on on him like a balance ball. Then he got me in a banana split/crotch ripper. It was an hour and a half of pure sparring pretty much from many positions.

The no gi class did help teach me a good lesson about wrestling though, as Ive been very complacent with just turtling and moving from there, but as people have improved that shit just doesnt fly anymore. Way to much effort now. So my new strategy was to stay on top and give them impression I wasnt gonna pull guard, once I stuff their attempts to get on top most people seem to switch to a bottom game (path of least resistance I guess). I should add that some people have the EXACT same idea...and are better wrestlers than me. Ive been using alot of guard recently so getting back to a proactive passing style felt good.

Future thoughts are on more passing and sweeps. Got alot more to write about but Im gonna split it into a few posts.

Tapping 10 000 times on the road to blackbelt

Just found this interesting youtube vid, I normally dislike submissions 101 but Keith Owen is bonafide blackbelt. I mention it here to further highlight the importance of tapping.



Let me know what you think.

Injuries and brazilian jiu jitsu

Brazilian Jiu jitsu is a martial art that practises full resistance training with a strong emphasis on competitions, with a great deal of focus on how to render someone unconscious or broken. So injuries will inevitably happen. Control and a relaxed manner are advocated as well which makes it as safe as it is possible whilst still training with full resistance i.e someone trying to stop you and submit you with all their ability.

Recently Ive heard and seen a couple of injuries. Almost all are freak accidents, like this recent one in new Zealand where young guy had a serious injury to the neck, where some of his vertebrae were broken whilst being stacked. One of our very own guys at the club had a freak injury as well where he landed badly on his head during a throw, he has had an operation and last I heard was doing well. So hopefully he will be back on the mats soon, so send Matt Jackson your positive vibes. Get well soon big guy.

Ive been lucky and have never suffered a broken bone or serious injury, closest was in kent where my elbow made some rice krispy noises but no lasting damage. Ive been choked out a few times and that was kinda fun and was alot more enjoyable than you would think...

So what can you do to help prevent injury?

• Train with people you trust, if you are brand new then typically the higher grades should have more control and be relaxed.
• Be relaxed and controlled yourself, if you spaz out they might think thats a go ahead to spaz out to.
• TAP, if you cant defend or escape TAP, dont wait for the pain or to be pushed to the limit. Even if nothing breaks that damage will add up if its often enough. TAP, snap or nap as the saying goes.
• Be aware, sometimes legs,arms and fingers get tangled if you roll the wrong way something could pop. And there is often other people rolling right next to you who you might not notice.
• Sit without leaning back on straight arms, if someone rolls into the back of them it will hurt.
• Be a good training partner if you injure your training partners no one will want to train with you, no slams! dont knee them in the face! dont sandpaper their face! dont crank subs on. Control at all times.
• Hygiene be clean! I dont want your staph, MRSA or ringworm. Cut your fingernails and toe nails!

If you have a serious injury obviously listen to your doctor if its just a sore joint or muscle then theres a couple of things you can do:

• R.I.C.E - Rest, Ice, compression, Elevation. It helps alot.
• Take care of yourself, try not to over train. Take your vitamins, some people advocate fish oils and glucosamine for joints. Make sure you sleep right and eat right.

The most common injuries Ive seen are mostly elbow and knee related. Especially knee's as they can often put you out and can happen very suddenly, just the slight wrong angle and to much pressure at the wrong time can lead to something giving it seems. What Ive also seen alot is people coming back to early and training to hard on the injury. Be very carefull and let your partners know, as you are running the risk of putting yourself out for even longer.

Like I said before accidents do happen but they arnt that often if you train with good people and do it right.