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!

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.

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.

 

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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)

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.