BJJ 6/22 My first real *Flow*

5:15 women's Marc
Flow
Rolling at the end of the women's class today I had my first real moments of Flow during BJJ. It was amazing. I knew that was how BJJ is supposed to feel, but today was the first time that all the components of Flow were present at the same time for me; most importantly characterized by the loss of consciousness of self and a distorted sense of time.
For one submission and two positional transitions I had a clear goal and I was relaxed, breathing, and executing. Time didn't seem as frantic and crazy as usual. I saw the opportunity for a move and I saw the path of it in front of me and I started working down that path by the numbers and the movements fell into place. To get the tap I was calmly increasing the pressure; I wasn't stressed or angry or frantic. It was so weird, I just knew where we were going and kept working the path. It was really amazing because it just felt fluid and natural.

Choke
Today we learned the papercutter choke, which I'll just say I find awkward. I did take a lot away from the lesson just from Marc's general attitude about head pressure and body placement (where chest to chest) and Gary showed this from North/South the other day so I can see the versatility of it. I think that I am beginning to notice the difference in style between Kelly and Marc. Of course, I know it's incredibly difficult to tell what a higher belt teacher is doing or not doing or changing in order to help facilitate your learning, but they both feel different.

BJJ 6/20 themes, themes, themes

I'm starting to see some movements that are major themes woven throughout the jiu-jitsu and how those major themes come in to play from almost any other position. It's interesting that BJJ is often taught at a "specific technique" level to beginners instead of from a thematic level. I know everyone learns differently and that for many people the reward is in the submission, but I feel differently about it. The reward to me is in understanding the nature of the system and then applying that understanding. In this case Jiu-Jitsu; at work it's the computer, programming languages, etc. The submissions will naturally come later, but they won't be in a vacuum. A good submission, to me, seems to be the culmination of the position, the transition, the setup, the sum of it all. Again I have to say it's a really beautiful art.

So, for today it was conceptually about knee to elbow and the 101 groovy things that knee to elbow will help save you from. In addition, how to use knee to elbow to make the available area also conveniently be your guard. For example, if you get the correct knee up to protect from side control you're also conveniently opening up your guard area. Same concept from a lot of other positions. The other major conceptual movement is the post on one foot and the opposite elbow and the 101 groovy things you can do with that; get away, get back in, etc. I'm also seeing the value of make some space in order to do something with it. Hip out to get your knee in is a good example. My "death grip" seems to be easing up just a little bit so maybe I'll feel more able to make some space when I need it. :)

This is why I love my private classes. I want to see the overarching, interwoven theme and then allow my body to spontaneously apply that theme in a place where it is appropriate. It seems to me a lot like, "teach a (wo)man to fish..."

6/17 BJJ -High Mount Part 2

6/17 built from 6/13 where if the choke wasn't working out or they put their arm up in there to defend it or if it's a Tuesday :) then you'll work this into an armbar setup instead. I found the bodyweight balance aspect pretty sketchy even though I intellectually understand the concept; I'm not pulling it off so well. I'm sure it's just a drilling issue.

6/15 Lynn's rough notes - will clean up later

6/15
5:15
high mount and a choke
keep your hand pushing down on their head while you are moving up into high mount
Then weasel your hand in cross and get deep in their collar, use the other hand to get your thumb in and grip real tight, sweep that arm over their face for a choke. give them a shake to open up the chin and then pull your elbows back (you'll lean forward and post on your head)

6:00
A choke from NorthSouth. The arm that is underhook sweep around the outside of their shoulder and grab deep in their collar. the other hand reaches in with the thumb and grab a fistful of gi, then rotate away from your thumb - using should weight and sprawling on them. clear their chin and press your elbow down into the ground. One arm is pulling down the backside of their body and the other arm is pressing elbow into floor with bodyweight. I could sort of get this on Tim. I didn't stand a chance of getting it on the big guy...I think that my hands were too close together too far around the back of his neck - so I think if the person is WAY bigger than you, you can actually get too deep.

Tim taught me: (was a super cool, tough, helpful, nice guy)
-snatch your leg back (careful not to hyperextend the knee...I almost did this twice, very scary)
-if their head is on the outside, crossface up and away while pulling your leg back
-if their head is on the inside, push down on the back of their head
-I could tell he was working his open/butterfly guard a lot
-showed me the difference between me being squared up and me having one leg behind when I'm in their butterfly guard
-when they have your sleeves and their feet in your armpits, you can step on one of their arms to get them to let go
-if you're getting into sweep trouble from guard you can jump your legs out and over sort of disengaging. You haven't lost much and you haven't been swept.

7:00 sweeps from half guard
my friend Brian came to class.
One is lock up the leg, underhook the arm and the leg, pull all your limbs upward first and then over. If up and over isn't working (or they post that arm up there) you can also push your knees down to the mat dumping them to the side.

One is where you get a knee in and underhook that same side. You can extend to get their arm in front of you and then post up on your elbow to reach over for a handful of lat and pull them tight to you. scoot your but out and get up on knees, then pull leg out to swing over for mount. If they drive into you here is where you drop your shoulder and sweep them over doing the breakdance thing with your underside leg to use it for momentum and then get it out of the way.
Gary of course showed how you have a lot of other options if any of these things don't work out.

BJJ 6/13

10:00 Private class w/Kelly
Mount & side control - How to keep them and transition between. Biggest a-ha moment was the baseball slide.

I had been feeling a little *flaily* in terms of lacking a real curriculum in Jits, but we talked about it and now I feel comfortable that my training progression is in good hands. This means that I can relax and just let go of that part (the curriculum), at least for now, because I trust that the person I spend the most time learning from, has an understanding of how I learn and how and when to give me the next piece.

Jits is a perfect, yet difficult sport for a Type A person. A software engineer no less; everything to me is a thinking puzzle, but Jits is a body puzzle...physical chess...and my mind has a hard time turning off (or down). I have to work on (as in, relax) the Nexus between my mind and my body more. I have to allow power, information, and trust to flow both directions. I can learn by listening and seeing, but I have to allow that to pass over to my body for movement. In addition, when I learn something from the physical act of it happening to me I need to bring that up in my conscious mind to assimilate and store it. So, I really need the pathway to be open and clear both ways. I'm working on that and a lot of it is relaxation. I felt some of this happen on Wednesday and a little of it happen on Saturday. It's a very difficult exercise to turn the brain control-center down and to transfer power and decision-making over to the physical realm, but I'm working on it. I believe that over the last 3 months my body has been earning some trust, so take that OCD brain. ;)

I had decided, probably a few weeks ago, that I just want to learn and work on positions and transitions. The women's classes have been positional in nature and my private classes have been about positions, so it's all on the right track. The revelation that I had Wednesday (about speed not being the deciding factor), will help me with this.
I really don't care about who I am better or worse than in class so I'm going to just focus on what we learned that day and trying to apply it. I know this seems like a total "duh" moment, but when I was rolling, even at 50%, if I was trying to win I was compromising the new thing I just learned by using the thing I already know and was more comfortable with.

I'm starting to see a pattern of major phases that I'm passing through and to identify them all is an exercise for another day. For now, I'll say that I'm in a phase where I am conceptually learning position, position, position...and it is good.

And, to borrow from one of my favorite novels, Dune,
"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it." -The First Law of Mentat, quoted by Paul Atreides to Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

BJJ 6/10 -You don't have to sneak it on them

5:15 Women/Teens Kelly
Today we covered some sweeps that I've seen before, but I could never get to work for me.
2 things came clear today:
#1 - Kelly told us a slightly different placement of one limb which worked way better for me
#2 - I realized today that if you have the techniques correct, it is not required that you surprise the opponent. This is a huge, huge lesson for me because I've been thinking, "Well, they know exactly what I'm going to do so I've got to try to slip it on them quick." and of course that wasn't working out very well. So, today I said, "I know that they know this is exactly what I'm going to do, but I'm so frustrated with these sweeps that I'm going to just go ahead and drill them anyway....over and over". Surprisingly, the sweeps worked for me like 3 out of 5 times (as opposed to 0 out of 5 times like usual).
Now when I think about this for a minute it makes total sense. Often I tell Kelly, "I knew where you were going with that, but I didn't know what to do about it.". So, I feel like that is a major milestone in my personal Jits process. :)

BJJ: Time Management

You know what; I'm pretty sure I can just say "Time Management" and anybody who reads this blog will know exactly what I mean.

But just to include a few of my own time management jewels:
-Balancing the significant other with the *significant hobby* a.k.a "I do love you, but I love Jits too" a.k.a "Oooh, that's right during the only time this week I can roll with fill-in-the-blank-fave-rolling-partner. Can I catch up with you after?"
This particular time management task totally blows!!!

-Finding new and inventive ways to get out of work in time to catch fill-in-the-blank class without looking like a slacker

-"Damn, this isn't all the way dry. Screw it, I'm gonna sweat anyway, right?"

-"Which day was supposed to be my rest day?"

Please, feel free to chime in your personal faves. ;)

BJJ ear protection - looking for your reviews, experiences

Okay, so today I noticed that I have the slightest little (new) bump on my ear (the ear that I favor mashing into my opponent when I'm afraid of them doing *something* to me if I raise my head). So, any new bumps, and the dreaded cauliflower ear is not an option for me. I'll be picking up some headgear this weekend. Maybe it's a girl thing, but I don't think it's cool at all.

I've got a pretty small head (hat size 6.75) so I thought I'd ask for some comments about brands and fit from you guys. I think the Adidas ones look cool with their graphite look, but ultimately I need to get what fits best and does the job. So, if you have experience with what brands runs large or small and/or falls apart quickly, etc, etc, please share.
I love having a space to get some ideas/answers from fellow BJJ sufferers, I mean enthusiasts.
;)

BJJ 6/4 in Truckee at Kelly/Marc's school

I had to work late Wednesday so I missed the 5:15 at Gary's school. Thursday 6/4 I got out of work early enough to drive up to Truckee to catch the 6:00 women's class and stay for the 7:00. It was great training because it was with girls that are better than me and with guys that I think are really great. A handful of the Reno guys are just not fun or helpful to roll with; too much ego. The Truckee guys that I have met have had a better attitude about BJJ in general. So, it was a really great class.
The 45 minutes each way totally blows though so I may not be going up there as often as I had planned. I'll just play it by ear on a day by day basis. Work has been demanding lately because of some deadlines so I don't know whether I can hit jits or not until the last minute.
The other thing that holds up my *Ultimate Training Plan* ;) is that my CrossFit gym and my BJJ gym are not merging just yet. They were supposed to merge on 6/1, but some last minute negotiating problems came up with the landlord. I've been looking forward to having everything under one roof. Then I'll do the women's class at 5:15 and the CrossFit at 6:00 and then decide whether to roll after CrossFit.

You know Jits has you when.....

-when the skin on your feet is contantly missing in 1-4 strategic places
-when you post on an elbow and foot to roll over in bed...in your sleep
-when you use a swimming underhook type motion to pull your arm under the covers
-when you swim out of bed in the morning (leading with the hand you throw your arm forward while you sit up)