New home

It has been a long time since my last post. I guess my sporadic blogging is indicative of my training consistency. :) Not proud of it but I'm here for the long run.

I'm sad to say I'll be heading to the Wordpress platform and giving my blog a new name!

www.rsnbjj.wordpress.com

See you on the other side!

Pride Begets Injury

And so another vacation from the mat has begun. The other night while rolling with a classmate, I tweaked my right knee pretty good. I was attacking turtle position with a figure four on the inside arm of my partner in attempts to sink the RNC MG style. It felt like I didn't have my weight placed in the right spot which allowed my partner to turn into me while driving for the single leg. Enter pride - for some reason I thought I could sprawl like BJ Penn does with the leg turned inward (silly me) and then it happened... POP, POP!

Morale of the story: Pride Begets Injury. I should have allowed the transition to happen and continued to work from there. I mean I felt the leg turned inward and felt it stressing. What were you thinking Randy!

Sophomore blues

Last night after class I made a personal observation of my game, which in turn led me to Google the phrase ‘ego and bjj.’ I found a great blog post that hit what I was feeling dead on the head. The post is by Sam aka: AngryGrappler, and is fittingly titled ‘Ego and Jiu Jitsu.’

AngryGrappler says:

“A lot of academies have mat rules, "leave your ego at the door." You hear it all the time in BJJ. Have no ego. My ego gets in the way. No ego no politics. But the thing is it's very hard! Because it's not a switch that you can turn off. It's something you have to try to accomplish every day. And it's hard! Because Jiu Jitsu is a sport, competitive, and it has winners and losers. That makes it hard not to care, even a little. I told myself since white belt, that I won't care if I get tapped or not. And I change my mind as soon as I get tapped! Nothing slows down your learning curve than ego. And it seems like the lower belts have more pride than some of the higher belts. On average people stay in blue belt longer than any other belt because of ego. I think it's like being the sophomore.”

I think there’s a whole lot of truth to this. I’m at the tail end of blue belt after 5 1/2 years of training and I’m struggling with ego. When I roll with lower ranked classmates, the drunken desire to control, dominate and win gets in the way of fluid movement and executing the most basic techniques. This in turn blocks the facilities necessary to learn. I also realized that fear is definitely at play here. Is this what the long-haired dude in The Last Samurai meant when he said “too many mind?” I think so. I’m thinking too much about winning, not winning and everything else in between.

As I spend my last days as a sophomore and beyond, I’m going to work on cherishing the lessons over anything else.

BJJ for life.

Tournament Video Updates

What's up pops, you're behind. I forgot to post these recent competition videos of my children.

The New School

I'm still hanging in there. Definitely not training as much as I would like to these days but I'm feeling good about how consistent I've been able to hit the mat since my last post. One thing is for certain. You quickly realize how important mat time is when you feel the people you've helped train over the last few years get closer and closer to positional dominance. In fact, this weekend I rolled with a person I convinced to try BJJ two years ago and my guard was passed on several occasions. Absolute night and day.

A good friend recently opened a school in Dallas and you're going to love the name - "Tiny Killer Robot Jiu-Jitsu"... you read right. The name may sound cute but black-belt Rob Ables puts the "killer robot" in Jiu-Jitsu. Rob spends a ton of time training with the top names in Dallas and with world champion Marcelo Garcia. I've attended three classes so far and have already learned some great half-guard passes and a mean way to hit the guillotine choke MG style while in your opponent's half-guard.

I also looked back at some notes on my cardio and conditioning and I'm happy to say I've gone from dying after 5 minute rounds x 2, to rolling for 5 minute rounds x 6 with some gas left in the tank. I also feel good with control from the top using knee on belly transitions to side and full mount positions. On the downside, I've been struggling with my half-guard game. Just feels stuck. I'm looking forward to getting some input at the New School.

Congrats Tiny Killer Robot!

Alive and well

Well I have to say that although blog posting activities have been inconsistent, my training has been excellent. I'm training 2-3 days of BJJ plus a day or two of conditioning... yes, you heard right. Conditioning. The result is night and day... being able to last more than two rounds has been a blessing. Training to the point of complete exhaustion and not being afraid has improved my outlook on life. I'm excited!

I thought I'd list a few cool things that happened since my last post:

• Received a 4th stripe on my blue belt from BJJ Black Belt Rob Ables. (Purple here I come!)
• Lost 7 lbs. (Thanks to Cody Mitchell aka: Body Killer, Death by exhaustion master or the Burpee king.)
• Consistently complete a 45 minute body-weight exercise circuit after about an hour of rolling. (see thank you note above)
• Hanging with the purple belts on the mat (I feel like I belong)
• Found a new love for collar chokes and the x-guard.
• My kids (Dayna and Devon) took 1st and 2nd place at a No Gi tournament in CA.

I'm alive and well. More to come.

Devon Wins 1st Place at Jiu-Jitsu by the Sea Tournament – Santa Cruz, CA

Match #1

Match #2

At the Podium!

Kids Attend Royce Gracie Seminar

It has been a while since my last post. Not to say that I haven't been training. I just need to muster up enough motivation to transfer my notes from notebook to blog. Maybe over the weekend.

The good news is my children have been more consistent than I have been. They recently attended a Royce Gracie Seminar in Modesto, California. The seminar was held at a Charles Gracie Academy a few blocks from the house. Here are some cool pictures:

Dayna and Devon with two BJJ Legends

Group Picture. Notice the two Samurai Kimono Gis!

Devon working out near the UFC Hall of Famer

 

Technorati Tags: bjj,brazilian jiu-jitsu,royce gracie,charles gracie

Slow Down!

Every now and then I just absolutely forget all that I've learned in the last 4.5 years, throw it out the window and give in to the urge to grapple with pure aggression. This past Sunday was a day of just that. Rather then focusing on movement and position, I thought I could bull my way through one of my instructors to eventually tap him. If you understand the nature of the BJJ belt ranking system and the skill level required to achieve each rank, you know how unlikely it is for a blue-belt to submit a black-belt. Unless maybe the black-belt has had several bottles of wine and is sporting a broken leg!

This primal desire to smash everything in sight is actually a common dynamic all BJJ practitioners deal with. It comes from the internal need to win all the time. This is one of the most fascinating components of BJJ in my opinion. Dealing with the victories and defeats on the mat challenge the very core of the practitioner. Chris Story calls it 'Soul Searching'.

So here's what I learned last week (this post is one week late!):

• Slow down! (discussed above)
• Ankle pick from open guard position
• Passing the guard using a knee joust
• Stuffing the under hook as I pass the guard
• Side control is about moving and adjusting
• Know when to abandon a position and move to the next while defending
• Slow down! (needed to be mentioned again)

X-Guard Continued...

What a difference drilling makes. Last week we covered a basic X-Guard entry which felt like I was dragging an extra person with me on the mat. This weekend I figured out why I was having such a hard time with the entry - I was a sitting up while trying to scoot under my opponent. RA pointed out that I needed to transition to laying flight on my back - Not accustomed to this because I play open guard a lot by sitting up with a stiff arm in the neck as I scoot around hunting for the reversal. Not to mention in most cases it's not advisable to be flat on your back no matter the situation. Now I know why my hips felt so immobile. After about 15 minutes of drilling I finally got the timing down and started really committing to the entry. The X-Guard is starting to feel really natural. The cool thing is by sitting in the position I can "feel" about 3 reversals without RA showing me. It's all the basics right? Break the opponents posture down, eliminate the post and take the opponent over.

The choke I learned from 50/50 is going to be one of my favorites. I've been choked out via this submission and have seen it on you-tube a bunch. Anything doable from side control is sweet.

The steps as I remember them:

1. From side control leave the top arm floating underneath my opponents head.
2. Remove the floating hand and reach over lightly over-hooking my opponents head as I simultaneously hip switch using my rib area to force my opponent to look away from me.
3. Still maintaining light pressure and my head tucked to the opposite side I slide to 50/50 position still with only one hand around my opponent's head.
4. At this point my opponent feels an escape route is directly south and will typically start to squirm out.
5. As my opponent squirms south his neck is exposed at which time I go palm to palm squeezing for the choke.

Mat log:

Felt pretty good in spite of getting tapped out via ankle lock and a lapel choke from the back. I do remember getting a reversal using a technique Rob taught me years ago. I also remember being able to get to my knees and defending a few chokes from the turtle position, eventually sitting back to guard.

A side note on my cardio - the treadmill is working. I've been running a mile and working dumbbells and medicine ball drills several times a week.

 

Technorati Tags: brazilian jiu-jitsu,bjj,grappling,jiu-jitsu

Kids Train with 'The Pitbull'

This week the kids had the opportunity to train with Ralph Gracie! Here are some pictures and videos of the class.

 

PICTURES

 

VIDEOS

Drilling under Ralph Gracie's watch

Some light rolling

Getting striped

 

Technorati Tags: brazilian jiu-jitsu,jiu-jitsu,bjj,ralph gracie,kids jiu-jitsu

Sunday Training

I need to get into the habbit of posting my notes immediately after training. It's hard enough to remember all the details when collecting my thoughts after class. 

Note to self: post training notes no more than a 3 hours after training.

Sunday was my first day training with Rob Ables, a local black-belt in the DFW area. I was advised by my current instructor Chris Story, to branch out and explore other formats to help push my game to the next level. It was an eye-opener. First off, Rob's style of instruction was excellent. Rather then going through a list of mechanical steps, we started off with the end game objective and concept building working backwards. This really helped solidify the "reasons" for each step.

This session we covered the following:

1. basic x-guard concepts
2. x-guard entry options

It was an excellent session because I love to play half-guard and naturally transition to a different form of the x-guard in my current game. I usually transition to the x-guard by uncrossing my oustide leg and inserting the hook on the inside of my partners thigh. The x-guard entry and position Rob covered was not what I'm accustomed to. 

Things that stuck:

1. x-guard entry - the interesting thing about what I took away from this part of the lesson was not the actual x-guard entry. Rob explained how to square up when playing open guard and proper hand position to defend the pass. This alone was worth the entire day!
2. The x-guard feel - Although I don't remember all technical details (as I drill more I'll remember) I do remember what it feels like to have the correct control. Rob said "once you understand where you need to be, you can be inventive on how to get there." Good stuff.
3. The Box- Entry to the x-guard is not about forcing. It's about engaging when you are ready to by keeping squared up with your partner and engaging/disengaging when you to. Then when the grips and position are available you transition.

Things that didn't stick:

1. All the details on set up. I'll need to drill this a few thousand times before it makes sense :)
2. x-guard reversal details. I'm able to execute an x-guard reversal in live grappling but I just don't remember all the details.

Mat Log:

1. Cardio absolutely sucks. 10 minutes of live rolling and I gassed.
   
2. Rob was going easy on me but still made it a point to make me see where he could have finished. 
3. The one good thing I did that I do remember (amidst all the fleeing) was a good base out on an attempted reversal. I felt my body lifting off the ground and I literally straightened out my two legs as a counter weight to stop the reversal and it worked. I definitely paid for that for the next 5 minutes but it's the small victories that get you through it!

Next time....

Kids Up for Belt test

My kids are coming up on 5 years of BJJ training. It is amazing to see how they've grown both in technical knowledge and sensitivity. My daughter Dayna is already training with the adults in her class and is holding her own with women twice her age. Devon is also doing well in the kids class.

Next week Thursday Ralph Gracie will be visiting the academy for belt testing and promotions. Dayna and Devon were invited and will probably get bumped up a rank. They are going to be a solid blue belts one day.

(they've grown some since this picture was taken - 3 yrs ago)

The power of fatigue

I remember having lunch with my first BJJ instructor Orlando Waugh (2nd degree black-belt) at a local Chili's about a year ago. We were talking about the importance of physical fitness and its relationship to my level of performance on the mat. The bottom line was that my physical fitness level would not support the performance level I was hoping for at the time. I'll never forget what he told me - "fatigue makes cowards of all men." Wow! What a revelation. A simple concept yet not so simple. I've always felt relatively mobile and sensitive on the mat but 4, 5, 10 minutes into a roll, my ability to perform escapes under a higher ranked student would go out the window. Being less skilled than the guy on top of you also adds to the helpless, exhausting and fearful feeling [fear is another post all together]

This will change over the next few months. To support my 2009 goals, I'm purchasing a treadmill to add some cardio to my training. In addition to rolling 3 times per week, I'll run and work basic lifts to help me survive a little longer while rolling with guys like my current instructor Chris Story. 

Mat Log - No mat time this week. Still in California visiting my kids. Planning.

My kids inspire me to try harder

Here are a few competition and highlight videos of my two children:

Dayna San Nicolas (current age - 14)

Devon San Nicolas (current age - 10)

Round 2 - A New Beginning

This isn't the first time I've started to blog about my experiences as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. The truth is it is my second time. Through the course of my short 4.5 years of training, the one universal truth I've learned about myself is how inconsistent I've been with my training and representation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in my life. With 2009 upon me, I've recommitted myself to the journey to black belt and have enlisted the help of some very close friends and training partners. I've realized the mental commitment for me stands to be the greatest challenge as I live a busy life. This blog represents my desire to hold myself accountable to my renewed commitment to achieve the rank of black belt in a martial art I enjoy with my children. t does black belt mean to me?

The first step in a long journey to know myself. Facing fear head on. Learning and evolving.

Mat Log - Today I have two stripes on my blue belt. Here we go.