Week of February 27th 2012

MT - Worked the orange sash combos with Mike P.
mitts 1,2,1,2,step, 2, sweep w/ left leg, 2 left knees
1,2,1,2,slip, step left, 3, chopping right leg to top of knee, 2 right knees
pads hard shots
1,2,5,2, 3x lft kick, check, 2x left kick (teep for fun)
1,2,5,2,3, 3x rt kick, check, 2x rt kick (teep)

Overheard my coach (Paul) discussing with big Mike how I was improving. I wasn't paying close attention to them, but it sounded like favorable comments. Something about "It's the engineer in him, trying to perfect every move..." something like that. Made my happy that I've stuck with it.

BJJ - Bottom side control - if you can't get a knee in for recomposing, get underhook on near side, get to side, grab single leg, get to knees, get double if you can, drive for takedown, pass to side control.

top side control - if you feel bottom guy going for above pass, switch base to face his hips, keep bottom leg against his hips, move arm to over body to pin hips on that side, look for kimura or straight arm bar, or reset to side control.

guard pass - pin arm on mat, drop head to either arm pit, push pinned arm under hips and grab with other hand under hips. Posture and stand, contorting opponent. Use free hand to pop open guard, retain hand and do a knee slide pass as you come down

Thursday BJJ:
Man, I did NOT want to train yesterday. Beat up and sore from the other days of training. I wanted to leave about 1/2 way through the drilling. I stuck it out and this morning I'm stoked that I went.

worked basic kimuras

straight arm bars - dive your far arm deep under armpit as you bring your body/head to the attacked arm, pinch arm between shoulder and head as you clasp hands and straighten arm. Hip escape to get far knee heavy on his head/shoulder. Find the elbow joint and attack

setup for 4x attack (4 that I know) - grab wrist, tug it down to mat or stuff it under your hips while bringing that foot onto hip, locking arm down. Put other knee inside other arm. Hip escape and get 'other knee' leg out and over to lock a triangle guard. Option exists for kimura, straight arm lock, triangle, omaplata, regular arm bar, and on...

Standing guard pass - If his feet are on your hips, get a cross grip on the outside of his ankle, step back and throw leg across body, don't drop leg, collapse into side control.


We got a new 2 stripe white belt. He's been going on and off for a year, bjj only. I was glad to see I could nullify most of his attacks, and I passed his guard a few times. One time very deliberately. I imposed my game on him. It's cool to see someone from a different school with a different game. I took his back, took mount, and did pretty well getting into positions. He likes to work chokes, which is nice, since we seem to mostly work joint locks and chokes that work NoGi as well. This is a result of our coaches being MMA guys, so they tend to teach useful moves for their game. Which I really like actually, since this is sort of where this is all headed for me. I rolled hard, got tapped a bunch, nullified a bunch of passes, kept active. I think I did well even though I probably came out on the losing end most of the time. I gave up a good deep arm in guillotine after Jr. pulled and struggled. I just sort of got frustrated, and should have gutted it out and kept fishing for it. I also missed an omaplata off of a triangle that big Mike was defending by burying his arm around my waist. That won't happen again... I was sitting there, looking at his arm wrapped around me and remember thinking... "I KNOW there's something I can do from here, but I can't remember what it is..." Oh well. Good training...

Thursday was another great day of jits. Drilled for a while, then we worked open guard drilling. I was able to get an arm triangle, a near arm bar from knee on belly (this one is good...), and some other stuff. Jeff is back and it's good to see him.

Had to cancel with Conwict for some training tomorrow, hopefully we can get together Sunday and work some SIRT stuff. Will add more on Thursday for next BJJ class.

Ran 3 miles friday w/ dogs. Running is getting easier... :)

Style and the 'Gun Guy'

It has been an interesting last few months. I have had a lot of personal growth in a short time. One of the things that has occurred to me recently is my appearance. I rarely gave it thought in the past, but recently it's been on my mind more and more.

The last place you think you'll learn about style is at a shooting class. Gun guys are notoriously bad dressers. From the 'shoot me first' 5.11 vests, to the 'full diaper' tactical pants. A size medium guy wearing XL shirts to conceal his kit... It's just bad.

However, SouthNarc, in addition to being the best trainer I've ever met, is also a fashion-savvy dude. He said some very interesting things in during dinner. The one that sticks out in my mind is, "if you have a dominating physical presence in a room, AND you are dressed better than any other man in that room, you can just intimidate the hell out of guys." Also, he made me laugh with "this is a coyote-tan free zone". Wearing clothes that compliment my build as well as look sharp... That's one of my goals for this year.

NOPE

I have NO style. I spent the bulk of my 20's wearing free t-shirts I got when I worked at a supplement store. So I was wearing misfitted t-shirts, and cargo shorts for like 5 years. Add being overweight to that, and the recipe is for lame-looks. I'm actually pretty lucky my wife decided to marry me, now that I think about it. When I was overweight, I didn't much care how I looked. Now that I'm at 180lbs, I feel it is my duty to wear clothes that fit me. I want to be a nice piece of arm candy for my wife. I also want to carry my tools.

One of the cool things about gaining the competence in empty hand fighting, increased skill in shooting, and developing better tactical thinking is that I feel comfortable with fewer tools. I feel fine carrying my Kel-Tec PF9, my P'Kal, and a small flashlight. If the setting demanded it, I'd go for less. My pt-22 in a deep concealment rig would be fine. As my friend Claude says, "competence breeds confidence".

So, as I am want to do, I'm developing a plan to incrementally replace my clothes with better fitting, more stylish clothes. The first step in this is researching the subject. My new haunts are:
http://www.styleforum.net/
and
http://artofmanliness.com/

http://www.atailoredsuit.com/mens-style-guide-tailored-suit.html

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/08/12/mans-guide-change-appearance/
http://www.atailoredsuit.com/good-mens-dress-shoes-(a).html
http://www.atailoredsuit.com/mens-shirt-detail.html
http://www.atailoredsuit.com/mens-suit-detail.html


I'm going to start looking for a watch, a few pairs of pants, and a few shirts, and some shoes that will be my baseline wardrobe. A jumping off point...

I'll post updates as things develop.

Weekend 24-26th

Friday I got a 2 mile run and about 30 pullups in.

Saturday I installed a 3.5# connector and NY1 trigger spring in my g19. The reset is SO positive now. I look forward to shooting with it. Trigger press feels a bit heavier, but I'm fine with that. It snaps back to reset. Plus the bonus of knowing that if the trigger spring breaks, the gun won't require manual resetting of the trigger. The compression geometry of the NY1 assures this, while the standard one is put into tension.

Why?

I have no delusions that I'm a 'hard man' or that I'm a physical specimen or a gifted shooter. I don't think I have a great handle on nutrition or diet or lifting. I'm not a subject matter expert in anything really. I'm just a dude with goals. I'm on the upward slope in achieving them. It's exciting because I realize just how much I don't know. It's daunting because the holes in my game are large, but at least I'm aware of (some of) them. I really try to step outside of myself and look back. Checking to see if I'm letting pride, fear, or some mental block get in the way of something that is truly good for me.

It's amazing what reading some philosophy and paying attention to what you're feeling will do for you. I asked myself a simple question over the weekend, right before I put on a padded helmet and got in a gunfight in the rain and mud, at night. I asked "why?" Why the shit do I like this? Why did I show up? What makes me train with (what I consider to be) focus and intensity? What has changed in me over the last 5 years?

Well, the most obvious reason is that I enjoy it. Sure I have days where I'd rather drink beer and play video games. Instead I show up and do the work. But I choose these hobbies and outlets because I enjoy them and I think they are important skills to have in this world. That parlays in to the next reason... I fought hard to remain alive, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let some piece of scum take that away from me cheaply. But those are the obvious ones. The others take some inward focus.

The guys I look up to and want to impress are supermen. Dudes with seemingly unlimited strengths and skill-sets, who are well read, and fun to talk to. They are my life goal markers. To be a subject matter expert in many subjects is a goal I think everyone should aspire to. I have basically picked my supermen for all the aspects of my life, including relationships, intellect, fighting, shooting, and several others. I'm just scrambling to feel 'good enough' to talk among them. Now that I think of it, I may have a pretty solid inferiority complex... Trying to prove to myself that I'm good enough might be a part of it too.

I think it's also partially a want to be revered by my peers. It is a selfish thing, but it feels good when people say "man, you're doing great!" I got my first taste of that when someone in a class found out I was sick with the big C and taking a pistol class. They would tell me how much of a warrior I was, and so on. It felt good, but it also felt like I was trying to wring sympathy out of my personal bullshit. It's probably a bit of a crutch of mine. A sympathy getter. I try to not bring that up anymore, and try to let my hard work and dedication to my arts speak for me. Though the changes in my outlook that being sick gave me have permanently changed how I do business.

I'm going to die. I have a very very high awareness of this. I don't know if I'm out of the woods from cancer in my life. As a matter of fact, I have a nearly constant (but fading) tapping on my shoulder about this. I feel like the other foot is always about to drop, and I'll get a checkup and something will be wrong. This makes my outlook very time compressed. If I check out in 5 years, will I feel accomplished? I'm trying to do what I can do so that is the case. I'm jamming as much experience into as short a time as possible. I'm racing a sand timer, and I can't see the top half of it. Either I'll check out soon and feel like I didn't squander it, or I'll live to be 85 and have done more in my life than three men. I'm OK with both of those, but would prefer the later.

That's all the reasons that I can think of for now. I'll add more if I come up with any.

My Year in Review 2011

Here is the summary of 2011 for me.

What did I do in 2011:
My original goals from Oct 2010
Continue my dry fire/airsoft home training to keep sharp on gun handling
-Continue sparring and training with my home boxing group
-Continue shooting IDPA to maintain skillset and keep myself honest
-Continue following the exercise and diet suggestions from here and elsewhere
-CMD seminar with Cecil in December 2010
-Take ECQC 1/2 in March
-Take Tactical Response's 'The Fight'
-Join BJJ gym early in ‘11 when we pay our CC’s off.
-Take gunshot wound trauma course

So I met all my goals for 2010. All too easy... :P

What I did that I didn’t expect to do:
-lost 50 lbs (4 hour body, then Eat/Stop/Eat method), I’ll spare you the photos...  I’m between 175 and 180 right now, have been maintaining this weight.
-enter a BJJ competition (and won my weight class!)
-begin assisting a local trainer with his ATL firearms courses.

What are my reevaluated strengths after this year?
1)Mindset
2)fitness
3)empty hands
4)pistol
5)tactics
6)deescalation

realizations:
The more physical pursuits (especially those which put me against another person) caused me to look into myself for truths about my character and personal development. I realized (actually confirmed) I really don’t like competition. I don’t like to lose. I don’t like to put my ego and pride on the line. I fear injury and pain. The BJJ tournament was HARD to enter because of this. I get upset if I lose a board game for christ’s sake. I feel fear when I am about to spar or roll in class. I find myself not wanting to follow through and exert my force on another person. I’m still trying to figure out if I am afraid of hurting the other person, or if I don’t care about winning enough to get worked up and power through. In BJJ specifically, I find I roll passively. Trying to pull the technique off cleanly instead of muscling through. However, my training partners tend to just flatten me out. I’ll try to make a concerted effort to amp up aggression in a controlled way.

I realize that I’m over the idea of weight lifting for the purpose of ‘bigger muscles’. That is a waste of time for me. Lifting to be a better fighter, more able to deliver power and force, on-demand, are my only needs when it comes to weights. I don’t believe I’ll do another biceps curl in the near future. To quote my bro MattMan.. I’m working on “ getting everything out of each pound I weigh”. Compound heavy  lifts are what I’ll use barbells for. When I look in the mirror, I feel like THIS is what I am supposed to look like. In my late 20’s I feel like comfortable with my body. It’s a big deal to me, and it’s not a feeling I ever got from trying to put a bunch of muscle on.

I realized that surrounding myself with people who are like minded and supportive HELP. Facebook has played a huge part in this for me. I’m very much a self starter, but seeing someone who gives a quick “keep it up” really boosts my drive and keeps me going. The ATL training group has also done a lot to help me keep motivated. Public scrutiny and accountability go a LONG way in keeping ME on track.

Making a small wager increased the chance of me sticking with a goal.

People can and WILL try to derail your progress. It seems like when people noticed me being successful, they tried to offer me cupcakes and pies to celebrate. Expect the same. I try to distance myself from this as best I can. Bringing people into my frame of mind is the best solution I’ve found. Those that can’t be convinced are to be discarded as much as possible.

I realize that sharing my passions is a way to reinforce my mindset and drive. Instruction and teaching is a good way to do this.

I realize that if I want to be awesome, I have to surround myself with MMA and shooting studs and leech their cool. I’m never sure if I’m cool, or if I only do the hobbies that cool dudes do. This really is something that I’ve thought about... *dunno*

What am I wasting my time on? Primarily, my biggest time sync that provide me little benefit is my animals.. I spend a lot of time on them. Oh, that and my job... Pity a job has to get in the way of your passions.

On with the future plan...

What do I want to do in 2012:
 [LIST]  [*] run a 5 or 10k - Why? Since I always feared running and figured I’m not ‘built’ for running. The fact is, I was too fat and out of shape to run. no mas.
[*]Begin 8 week blocks alternating between either running or weights. 2- 1 hour a week sessions.
[*]touch pistol (or sirt) at least 2x a week for 10 minutes with a regimented dry fire session. I still don’t have the time to make it to the range regularly.
[*]Shoot at least 4 IDPA matches. The time pressure is invaluable.
[*]enter a Muay Thai tournament. Even if it’s just an intra-gym tournament, I’ll be happy.
[*]enter at least 2 bjj tournys. Grappling is most complex part of the game I’m trying to play, and tournaments are like compressed training time. Compete.
[*]train more wrestling/takedowns and an integrated MMA game.
[*]continue bjj/mt (duh), and start taking daily notes about training. A log of techniques would be very helpful.
[*]Orchestrate and train with the training group more regularly.
[*]Take ECQC again to see where my game needs improvement
[*]Take AMIS (may be in 2012)
[*]Train with Tactical Response (maybe an hrcc?)
[*]READ for at least 2 hours a week. This can be on the shitter or a dedicated time. Read things to exercise the mind and gain insight into the history of what I’m doing.
 [*]Begin doing something related to ‘art’. At least 2 hours a month. Whether it’s writing or taking photos. The samurai understood the need for balance between martial arts and regular art and I’m afraid I’m not balancing myself. Hopefully it will keep me from burning out.[/LIST]



Let me know what you think, and please go through the exercise of doing this for yourself. It’s very helpful. Lists get stuff done.

Reading List

I'm currently reading a few books recommended to me by my buddy K.C.

One is http://jim.com/treason.htm

The other is The True Believer.

I'm really developing a love for political philosophy, and philosophy in general. I used to shun these topics as silly wastes of time. They probably are, as life is too short to waste on spending one's mental energy thinking about how things are. I'm deep into True Believer right now. It's a quick read, but a worthwhile one. Looking at what prerequisites there are for the development of mass movements or a lack thereof. All of the things he mentions have occurred to me in the past. Likening religion to fascism is extremely accurate as I think anyone with a shred of observational skills and the ability to step out of their societal brainwashing can see.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more like this.

I need to ramp up my reading if I'm going to keep my 2012 plan to read more.

week of 2/20/2012

MT: worked 1,2,1,2 s, s
1,2,3,b,w
10 punch, s,s,b,w,evade back, 2

1,2,2 lt kicks, block forward, 2 rt knees
1,2,3, 2 rt kicks, block, 2 lft knees

BJJ:
arm bars, both technical, and swivel hip variations
sneaky variation: to attack his right arm, plant left foot by his hip to keep pinned, use right leg to break posture towards you and to left. As he falls to your left, bring left foot from mat over head to armbar. Don't telegraph that you're going to attack that arm by doing obvious grips on it.
hip bump sweep off of kimura, then added opponent sprawl to hip out and recompose guard
triangle from knee on bicep, foot on hip.

Getting a bit of a puffy and sore ear. Ordered some headgear to protect my ears until they heal.

BJJ: (thursday)
arm bars from mount - apply pressure from mount, wait for push plant hands on chest, lift hips, swing leg around and finish
arm bar from mount 2 - get deep collar hold, wait for defense, trap arm and press off and finish
collar choke from mount- deep collar hold, post forward w/ off hand, swipe around, grab gi, finish
hip bump as defense for mounted collar choke- timing attach

It was a good day of BJJ. Raph wasn't being the task master he usually is. We drilled moves most of the night, then switched to positional drilling and then 2 rounds  of rolling. Ron is a great training partner and his college wrestling background makes him a crazy good opponent for me to train with. Great pressure and great submissions. Super on top control. I just flail to keep up.

ECQC - Americus GA Feb 17-19 2012

Well, ECQC is done. I'm done with my yearly audit of my training. I won't rehash any of drills or anything, but I'll mention what I feel I did well with, and what I screwed up. This is sort of an inward looking AAR.

 The Techniques:

MUC- This is still one of the hardest parts of this coursework, as silly as that sounds. I'm comfortable with the movement, the default position, and physical aspects. It's the request, tell, yell thing I have trouble with. I feel I'm getting loud with my command to stop right there (bang without the flash), but I'm just not. I need to practice this in earnest.

shooting pattern interrupts- During the drills working the 3 of the draw-stroke, several times I'd run dry. I would look down, reload the gun, and resume shooting the drill. Craig corrected me and said I should put in some sort of pattern interrupt. He recommended throwing a jab, and eye jab, or do the first step/stomp of a modified takeoff. Just to remind myself that I should NOT stand in front of a guy to reload. It's so obvious, but I've ground that training scar pretty deep. I'll work on it.

foot work- I have a bad tendency when dealing with UCs (and in boxing and MT), to go straight back at least a few steps until I think about it and start to circle. This happened every time I was engaged in MUC and wasn't immediately thinking about it. It happened in my 2 on 1. I went back, thought about it, side stepped, and then planted. It got me swarmed, taken down, where I was completely screwed. I just need to work this.

standing grappling - We probably do less than 5% clinch work in MT in the intermediate class at Madhouse. So I have done some clinch work, but it's still lacking. I have a lot of problem getting the escapes (duck unders, arm drags) and have a lot better work with tie ups (seat belt, entangled arm drag). I'm going to concentrate on entering the clinch, getting a tie up, and throwing some punches on the push off. I think this will get me used to the range and balance issues.

disarms- This time I had a lot less trouble making sense of the disarms. I was having trouble with in-holster retention though. I wasn't using a holster, which might have been part of it. Also my partner was a 230lb dude who wasn't a very good training partner. What eventually clicked for me was trying to fold and do a crunch on the gun, locking it in with my gut and hips. My mistake before that was dropping my hips back and away, giving a clear line to withdraw the gun.

grounded grappling- I felt like I did pretty well on this. The BJJ is making it way easier to move on the ground, get feet in, and make space. A  few times, though, I reverted to 'sport' jits and would reengage my opponent into guard instead of making space and doing a get up. Craig told the story of a cop who was training a lot of Judo and was on a foot pursuit and the BG turned around, and instead of protecting his dome, he grabbed the BG's lapels, and got KTFO. He reverted to his sport. This isn't jits, it's gun grappling. However, sports jits DOES improve your overall chances in the evo's, and therefore by extrapolating, hopefully in a real-world encounter. When I was the BG, I admittedly played a simple positional control game, trying for side control, mount, knee on belly, etc. I did almost no striking.

level changes- Craig made mention that my level changes are inconsistent. Sometimes I drop my head, sometimes I lean back, sometime I do it right. I think maybe some light Olympic lifts and more wrestling will help with this.

drawstroke- I feel like my drawstroke is pretty on-point. My 3 is a little bit low, but on the drill alternating between 4 and 3, my group was within a 6" diameter circle. I'll work with the SIRT on getting my 3 higher and more level with the target. It can always be faster, though. I'll work on my shooting skills, while keeping an eye on the larger picture.

cardio, fuel economy- My improvements in cardio in the last year significantly improved my enjoyment of this class. I was able to pay attention to small details, watch other evos more closely, and was able to do my MT class on Monday. However, in the 2 on 1, I COMPLETELY gassed (watching the video is painful). So more MMA training and everything should help this.

Strength - always need more. deadlifting and oly lifting is in my future.

The Mental side:
Being on the bottom of a 2 on 1 is terrifying. As you feel the lactic acid build up, and your strength leave you, it really becomes dire. I'm still reflecting on the emotions I was feeling, and what it means for me. The experiential nature of this training is probably the greatest benefit. Being in the deep deep hole, way behind the power curve, is scary. Experiencing this feeling is the sort of thing that makes me want to initiate more and more. Step off cross, eye jab, grip on the pistol, SOMETHING. I refuse to go down with 2 dudes trying to kill me. I will not go to the ground... mobility and consciousness!

Gear:
Walther PPS - This gun is extremely cool. Nice glock-ish trigger. Good size. Only just slightly larger than the pf9, with a seemingly more robust design. Feels more sturdy. I ran pretty fast splits on 3 targets side by side ( no timer though). Extremely shootable. I'll seriously consider getting one based on Craig's and Matt's recommendation. This coupled with the Vanguard2 will make a formidable combination.

Vanguard2 - Very cool design. I don't know that I'll buy one for a glock though. I think it's better for an even smaller hideaway gun. I think I have figured out that the clip draw with a double action small gun is the way for me to guarantee I have a gun on, even when on the way to the gym. For tuck-able, secure carry of a striker fired pistol, the vanguard is slick.

Diamond back DB9 - 6+1 9mm in a pistol that disappears between your closed hands is a very neat idea. However, Paul (not Gomez) mentioned that there was some extraction issues. I'll let the early adopters pay for the research before I consider jumping on that.

My glock is the dirtiest glock that Shane has ever cleaned. I wear that badge proudly. The trigger press in my gun is SO MUCH cleaner. It performed perfectly for me.


"the goal is to keep the goal, the goal" -Dan John

Gomez International 6/11-12/2011 RPM

I wrote this last year

-------------

TL;DR : Train with Paul, he's like a shooting engineer.

Who: Taught by Paul Gomez. Hosted by Shane G. of the Americus PD.

When:6/11-12/2011 

Where: A blast furnace in the woods of Americus

Gear:

-G19 with grip force adapter, Heinie straight 8 sights

-about 700 rounds of ammo, tula

-Ran Ludus Magnus' MMA holster appendix the first day, then switched to the leather arsenal Gomez mod. of the DDC to make the manipulations harder on day 2.

-Used the Kolbeson canted mag plus TDI sheath. It proved a good place to rack the slide for one handed work, and a fast reload. I like it more and more as I use it.

I have started measuring the worth of classes by how much of a dunce I feel like as I take it. If my ego is bruised, I know it was worthwhile. This class passed that test. It didn't contain the sexy drills that makes gun-camps so appealing to weekend warriors. It was a compilation of all the gun-handling skills that Paul noticed were either completely missing or poorly taught in other circles. This class was a large missing piece for me.

EVERY SINGLE thing he teaches has been thought through and plugs in very tightly to the overall 'fight' game. You can take a class with Paul, then go train with SouthNarc, and then Claude Werner and the general mechanics are congruent. 

We started with intros, medical brief, the gun-handling rules, Ayoob's Priorities (Mindset,Tactics,Skill,Equipment), and diagnostics.

Then came the minutia that I hoped would be involved. It didn't let up for the next 14 hours of class time.

The 'shooting platform' is that of any athletic endeavor. Nose over Toes, ready to fight/move/sprint/jump/etc. I often times end up getting a weight back/ straight back posture when I get tired. Paul pointed that out to me a few times, I'm becoming more conscious of it as I continue to train. If I take my muay thai stance, I shoot MUCH better.

Grip was taught with detail. I felt I was mitigating recoil pretty well, and able to watch my sights lift and return after each shot. I've had an ongoing issue with the slide not locking on the last shot of the mag. I had about 60% of my last shots lock the slide, 40% didn't. My thumb is still resting on the slide release enough that it's causing that inconsistency. I'm going to continue racking the slide to release it. I don't see a choice, and I feel my grip is correct. The only grip improvement thing I could improve is cam my left hand forward a little more.

A great point Paul made about manipulations and time to complete them: If someone says something is "faster", one should average HUNDREDS of reps of that motion, while doing all sorts of things like running, squatting, sitting in a car, getting bashed on the ground, and so forth. As well as the probability of it being successful (robustness). For instance, running the slide on a reload. Yes on the clock it's faster to hit the button when just that motion is isolated, but when you include the severity of an empty chamber... You get the idea. Being honest in what you're trying to do is important. I've been bogged down in all of this for the last few months, trying to balance speed of manipulations with probability of success. I'm still mulling it all over.

The drawstroke was taught as a 4 count.

1)the full firing grip on the gun in the holster

2)a tight, well indexed retention position

3)gun under dominant eye, referenced at the edge of the visual field, where both hands come together, if needed.

4)the gun, at appropriate extension, based on proximity of threat

Reloads were interesting to me. Paul didn't teach an 'emergency reload' when the gun runs dry. Instead we worked the 'reload with retention'. This applied to partial mags being taken out as well as fully empty ones. The mag is released into the WeakH and stowed in the belt at centerline. The hand swipes back for the spare mag, where it reloads as standard practice. The logic of not doing the 'speed reload' where the partial is jettisoned onto the deck, where you can then cover the downed threat and retrieve it is that you probably should be about 30 yards from where you started shooting at this point, and the mag simply isn't at your feet anymore. Forming the technique around a firing line atmosphere can be rife with problems (Newhall incident, empty brass in pockets of dead agents). The stowing of the magazine gives you maximum bullets if you should need them, and having the mag secured in the beltline does away with any fumbling that can happen if you're trying a tactical reload at full sprint, where you're just as likely to end up dropping both the partial and fresh mag. 

Reloading one handed included running the gun dry, since shit is bad enough for you at this point, jettisoning the empty, and reloading it. This was the only disconnect (as I saw it) in the reloading progression. The 2 handed empty is stowed, the one handed empties are dropped. The principle reasons given for stowing the empty was that during Katrina, the mags were lost in the waters and left behind in running gun fights, and cops were coming back with no mags and empty guns. Apparently Canada sent down a conex box full of g22 mags to try to keep everyone armed. I haven't fully accepted this is a huge risk for me, but the point was taken.

The 'ready gun' position is the 'muzzle elevated/averted 3'  where you look past the front sight with the rear sight dropped a few inches. It is a way to keep the muzzle off of something that you're not SURE if you have to shoot or not. It's a great scanning and cover position, you can press out very quickly from here, and you don't have the same chance of someone getting between you and the gun if you get broadsided like you could with a 'low ready'. A consideration garnered from lots of FoF, I'd wager. Paul doesn't teach it as part of the drawstroke, but something to fall back into from the regular drawstroke as situation dictates. 

Also, Paul made a very good point that the 'muzzle up' is not a ready position, as it is taught by some, but is good for rapid movement or scanning. You have to break your grip and the gun leaves it's usual presentation path, which you have thousands of reps moving through. 

We had a discussion on trigger manipulation. The recurring theme was the 'press out'. The goal being to begin to take the slack out of the trigger as soon as the gun was visually referenced and on it's way to the target, and for the shot to break just as the gun reaches pull extension. It makes for smoking fast first shots (see Todd Green's FAST videos). 

The drawstroke was always performed one handed. There was no assistance from the off hand to help rip the shirt out of the way. This is a crucially important lesson that I learned from ECQC. Take BOTH hands out of the fight, and it probably won't end well for you. We then did one handed draws, with either hand.

We worked immediate action drills with both hands, and then with one hand. Likewise with remedial action. A few methods were taught to clear a type 3 one handed. Let me just say, I'll be further modifying the frame of my gun for one handed work.

We did positional shooting. Supine as well as seated, where you have to contort your shooting platform because you can't square to the target. The draw stroke is the draw stroke.

We ended the day with Paul's 'Task Oriented Qual Course' which is a set of 12 drills that have par times (some of them very hard) which allow you to get an idea of how bad you are at that manipulation, and a benchmark to work off of to track progress.

Again, this class is well worth attending and Paul is a truly a great instructor. My classmates were a great group and fun to train with. Thanks to Shane for hosting.

*edit for historical fact correction*

Injury

Monday at Muay Thai I was kicking with my left leg and my sparring partner checked the kick with his knee. My ankle swelled up and I've been limping since. It's just bruised, as it's a a lot better than it was, but the timing couldn't have been worse.

I have ECQC this weekend in Americus. My yearly feedback loop on all the stuff I've been doing for the last year. Since this class is the same as 5 months of Madhouse training, I need to just rest and recover as completely as I can before rolling in the dirt with sims guns this weekend.

Been a bad February for training. I had a stomach virus, followed by a head cold, followed by an ankle injury. The good news is, it can only go up from here.

New Shoes and a Run

I ordered a pair of Saucony Kinvara 2 running shoes this week. Received them on Friday from Amazon. I'm absolutely not a runner. I am dipping into the pool. I resisted the 'barefoot' running thing long enough to wade through the theories about why it seems to cause less injuries and strengthen the lower leg so well. That allowed me to find 'mid-foot' running. It's the premise of Chi, pose, and a number of other running styles, apparently. I talked with a kid that worked for our company who was on the GaTech running team and he told me that mid-foot is where it's at. So I felt like I was barking up the right tree.

I read a boat load of reviews from This Dude and decided that I didn't want to jump straight into 'minimalist' running shoes right away (like the Nike Free 3.0), but instead would try one of the transitional shoes he recommended. I went with the most visible and flashiest color they had and ordered up a pair. I was stoked to find that they come in half sized through 12.5. I have a pair of Nike Free+ in 12 that I purchased last year with the intention of starting a running program. I liked the shoes, but they felt about 1/2 size too small and a few of my small toes would rub and bunch after a jog. The 12.5's in Saucony seem PERFECT.

I'm not a runner, yet. I'm using running as a means to an end. That end, specifically, is to improve my cardio conditioning for sparring and fighting.  I know in Muay Thai training camps in Thailand, they run 3-5 miles every morning before beginning training for the day. Road work is a common and sometimes hated facet of a fighters training program. I had to take the plunge.

Due to limited training time, I am going to cycle 8 week 'programs' of either strength or cardio training in with my fight training. I started my running program a few weeks ago. I have run two times a week since I started, but only about a mile at a time. My new shoes are awesome, light, and comfortable.

Yesterday I went for a run with each dog for a mile, then a solo run for a total of about 3.5 miles. That's the furthest I've ever run. I just listened to Joe Rogan's podcast and just zoned out and trotted. I paid attention to my stride, trying to emulate the mid-foot stride I had been reading about. Today I'm feeling good. I'll go for another run tomorrow A.M.

I'll do my best to log my mileage to see how the shoes hold up, as well as for a training log.

Also did 2 miles 2/12/12

Self Experimentation in Fitness and Fighting

I'm 28 now. I can remember being about 18 or 19 and being frustrated at how the older guys who I worked out with and worked around at supplement warehouse knew what worked for them. The smart ones had dialed in their methods and tabulated what foods, lift techniques, and volume of training was working best for them. Some of them were lazy and just sort of faked it through a lifetime of training, others had done the work and actually plotted their course. I wanted to be like that. The problem with where I was at the time was that I hadn't been lifting long enough to be able to change one variable and see the outcome of that one change. It was about chasing multiple variables around and trying to figure out which one is making the difference. In doing that, eventually I would plateau in strength, weight, fat loss or whatever it was. I was trying to emulate everyone who I saw as successful all at once, which is akin to just playing QWOP. There was no central focus.

I guess everyone has to sort of go down that path.

The beautiful thing about the decision I made to be rock solid consistent in muay thai and bjj for a year, as well as dedicate myself to losing a significant amount of weight (50 lbs over the course of a year) is that I now have a baseline. I can feel it when I get too much salt, or carbohydrates. I just feel bloated. I can feel my body recover quicker when I eat extra protein. When my blood sugar is low, I know it, and I know what is the best way to get to feeling normal again. I know the effects of being dehydrated on my performance. The only way I would ever know how each of those things trended and affected me is by having a well known baseline, and having done the work. It's an ongoing learning journey, like any of this, but I'm getting a feel for it FINALLY.

These aren't groundbreaking revelations to most athletes, but I'm not an athlete. I'm a dude who faked my way through many years of average joe weight lifting (no records, no goals, just "lifting") and tried everything at one time, and inconsistently to "improve". Oh yeah, That's another thing that I didn't know how to quantify. Improvement was a nebulous goal that I'll write my thoughts about later.

Now that I'm putting the sweat-equity into laser sharp goals, and I have reached a baseline,  I can listen to my body and improve as I get feedback from my results.

I'll post about my goals and plans in another entry. For now, this covers how I feel about being consistent and the importance of self experimentation.

Training week of Feb 8 2012

Monday- worked some MT. Worked our 'orange sash' combos. Did the same Wednesday.

Pad Combos - C1 - 1,1, 1, 2, 5, 2, 3x left kick, check left, 2x left kick
C2 1,1,1,2,5,2,3, 3x lk, check left, 2x lk
Mitt combo - 1,1,1,2,1,2, step, 2, sweep w/ left leg to offbalance, 2x L knees
1,1,1,2,1,2, slip, step left, 3, chopping right kick, 2x right knees

BJJ - worked 2 1/2 guard sweeps.
Key points: stay on side, don't get flat, avoid cross face, be small and get under him.

Underhook far leg w/ bottom arm, hip escape to get butterfly hook of top leg in, pull dude on top of you to take his base away, drive hooks away while lifting underhooked leg, sweep and end up on top, get to side. If needed, you can pull his basing arm out and force the sweep.

second variation : If you're getting a lot of cross face pressure and guy is glued to you, get a whizzer on overhooked arm to keep him from basing with that elbow, roll towards trapped elbow, end up in top half

Thoughts:

Muay Thai - Getting to spar with a guy who has an amateur MT fight coming up was fun and eye opening. He was a new training partner that Raphael was doing a private with. I hadn't trained with him before. He had a Wandi Fight team shirt on, and apparently is a cop who is travelling around training at famous gyms. I'm not sure if he was going easy on me or what, but I didn't feel overwhelmed by his strikes. I felt like I was able to keep my head and intelligently move and get some good licks on him. I'm noticing that I'm copying George Hickman's style (at least what he did against me) of keeping my jabbing hand sort of extended, with my shoulder up against my chin. I can monitor my opponents jabs, paw with my jab, and still have my right hand tucked tight to my chin to fire when needed. I'm working on evading and checking kicks and not taking a lot of body kicks.

Jits - I'm finding that after 13 months of jits, I have a shorter learning curve when learning/ understanding new moves. I'm starting to see where base is, and what angles are important to attack. I still suck, and regularly get flattened by our blue belt, but I'm starting to understand it. I had a successful pass on him, and survive his attacks a lot better. Not sure why, but I seem to have made a quantum leap in skill. I still get the feeling that I want to quit sometime near the end of each class. But I fight through.

The Birth of a Cupcake

I'm starting a blog that should be promptly ignored. This is that blog. It'll be a place to put my thoughts, mostly for me.

If you're reading this, then you know me so I won't bore you with details of my history. I'll just share training logs, thoughts on my development, thoughts on training, shooting, reading, cooking, or whatever strikes my fancy.