I have been having a crisis with my training and fitness lately. I have had a shit-load of stuff playing on my mind in the last 4 months. Chief of which is my wife being pregnant. That happening is seriously something that I didn't expect due to my medical history and being told I would likely be sterile. This was a big OODA loop interrupter for how I thought the next 5 years would go. None of that is worrisome at all, it's just been on my mind a lot. Then I got a cold last week and was out of training for 5 days.
In that time, I remembered something... Sitting on the couch is easy and fun! I'd go home from work, and not have to run around getting ready and walking dogs and then run out of the door to get punched or choked. I'd just watch TV and drink a beer or something. This allowed me to get further into my own head.
Over-training is another contributing element to this. After finding out my wife was pregnant, I made it a point to train as hard as possible, as much as I was able to. I was driven a little harder than my body could handle, which I think is part of the reason I got that cold.
Lastly, I have been having bad days at MT and BJJ. Days when I can't finish a technique, or I can't get in to punch someone or land a kick to save my life. It's as if I've never done the techniques before. This really gets to me, as the only thing I've got is technique. So, when I can't pull it off, it enrages me. I almost walked out of BJJ yesterday.
Anyway, I'm saying all that to say this. I've been having sort of a crisis of training recently. I am constantly having to remind myself why I'm going to martial arts training. Sometimes I have trouble thinking of a reason.
I initially started doing MT and BJJ because it plugged into ECQC so well. It allows footwork and positioning and control to access weapons and get out of trouble. Plus a MT round kick to the leg is a near perfect street kick. After a year or so of making myself go to class, I started falling in love with the art. I wanted to compete, fight, and win. I went a few more months and was improving and on the upward swing. I am currently in a slump where I feel like I can't get out of my own way. I'm sure this is a mental game and I know lots of people go through the same thing. Many of them quit. There are a lot more near blue belts, than blue belts. A lot of people stagnate and lose interest. I didn't want to be one of those people.
I also have sort of a reputation to uphold. I initially started training and put my 'journey' under public scrutiny (damn you FB) to help motivate me off of the couch. Well, since then, I have had at least 5 people tell me thanks for motivating them and how much I've helped them. I also have guys on FB and some forums who message me and update me on their progress. This means more to me than I can write on here. So I feel an obligation to them to keep going. I feel like I'm a poser if I don't.
On the other hand, I really only have to answer to myself at the end of this life, so who cares what anyone thinks.
I'm a list maker. Here's a list.
Reasons to remain in MT and BJJ as much as possible until baby comes and after:
-The skill set is still the most applicable thing to 0 feet gun fighting that exists (as far as I can tell)
- I am more confident now than I have ever been in my life
- I don't want to be a quitter. I HATE being a quitter.
- I am motivating people to do new things, and change their lives (maybe overstated, but give me a break)
- I am in better shape than I have ever been in my life.
- To earn higher rankings (I don't want to be a belt chaser, but I'd be lying if this wasn't part of my motivation)
- Being in martial arts helps me remain disciplined and gives me goals (Can't be overstated, I need goals in my training or I stagnate and eventually quit)
- They help me remain compliant to my diet and other aspects of health (lifting weights does this too)
- It's hard, and most people don't want to do hard thing. I can be different and do hard things.
- I want to be able to tell good stories to my kids. No good stories come from sitting on a couch.
Reasons to quit:
- Quitting is easy
- I'm frustrated with my progress, and suck at this crap
- I'll never be a fighter, and I'm not even good against people who are new in our gym.
- I have a strong enough base in this to keep practicing on my own, and be serviceable
- It's hard. Both on my body, and my ego.
- I don't owe anything to anyone, and I can be a slob if I want.
- I'll save money every month ( more money for beer)
- I'll have more time for other sports (the only really legit reason I can see)
I guess when I'm logical, I need to continue. Overtraining is something I will cure when the baby comes. I'll be on a forced hiatus. Actually, I'm pretty glad I'll have to take time off. I'll be able to get strong and lift weights, maybe do some races, trail running, and other stuff that I can do at home. The trick there will be finding motivation. But maybe wanting to get away from a screaming baby will be enough.
Staying the course,
M
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Week of 7/9/12
I took last week off due to a summer chest/head cold. I was feeling better and probably could have worked out last friday, but decided to force myself to rest. On saturday, I took J. to run at Juhan Road park. after a 40 minute trail run, we did 100 pushups, 100 body weight squats, and 100 vertical scissors.
Monday: AM WEIGHT 192.4! This is the heaviest I've been in probably a year. This is to be blamed on my knack for power eating when I can't train and am kept from working out. My biggest problem is that I have an 'all or nothing' attitude when I'm training. When I can train, my diet adherence is very good. but a day I'm not training, and watch out. Booze, Fried foods, lots of volumes of both. It's pretty bad.
I'm going to change my diet starting this week to more of a 4 hour body (slow carb) diet, with the only simple carbs being consumed after training. I also will do 2-3 fasts a week, lunch to lunch.
MT: Drilled basic combos with a kick evasion at the end.
1,2,2x lk, check, evade, 2x rk
same on other side
mitts: 1, 2, slip 2, 3, 2, step 2.
mirror for other side.
Drilling: I'm stoked Anthony is letting us work some 'positional drilling'
round 1, one guy offense, other guy teeps and jabs
round 2 boxing and clinch(knees)
round 3 free spar
Tuesday:
BJJ
started w/ judo basics! W00t! We practiced sleeve and collar control and popping the sleeve and collar away while penetrating with the body and kicking the sleeve controlling side's leg across (setting up a trip)
foot work for hip throw: right leg lead, step right leg forward and cant it slightly inward, step left leg to the right of that leg while rotating hips, end up with feet square, level changed and facing the other way. This works off of an underhook on the same side as the forward leg.
we also tried a fancy hop back, then enter the same footwork as above. It's like dancing, and I need a lot of practice
omaplatas
Then we worked kimura, hip bump, and back take from the closed guard.
I almost quit bjj last night for good. I'm inside my own head about getting better and not being able to submit people who I think I should be able to submit. My guillotine sucks. my setups for arm bars suck. I'm not very good at this.
Wednesday:
MT More of the same stuff we did monday, as well as Clinch work.
game is to get inside control, throw light knees, and break while throwing a strike. Control at the crown of the head.
Thursday: rest
Friday: did the Stanley workout. 100 burpies, flutter kicks, squats, pushups. completed in 19m:53s
Saturday: 45 minute trail run w/ kuo.
Monday: AM WEIGHT 192.4! This is the heaviest I've been in probably a year. This is to be blamed on my knack for power eating when I can't train and am kept from working out. My biggest problem is that I have an 'all or nothing' attitude when I'm training. When I can train, my diet adherence is very good. but a day I'm not training, and watch out. Booze, Fried foods, lots of volumes of both. It's pretty bad.
I'm going to change my diet starting this week to more of a 4 hour body (slow carb) diet, with the only simple carbs being consumed after training. I also will do 2-3 fasts a week, lunch to lunch.
MT: Drilled basic combos with a kick evasion at the end.
1,2,2x lk, check, evade, 2x rk
same on other side
mitts: 1, 2, slip 2, 3, 2, step 2.
mirror for other side.
Drilling: I'm stoked Anthony is letting us work some 'positional drilling'
round 1, one guy offense, other guy teeps and jabs
round 2 boxing and clinch(knees)
round 3 free spar
Tuesday:
BJJ
started w/ judo basics! W00t! We practiced sleeve and collar control and popping the sleeve and collar away while penetrating with the body and kicking the sleeve controlling side's leg across (setting up a trip)
foot work for hip throw: right leg lead, step right leg forward and cant it slightly inward, step left leg to the right of that leg while rotating hips, end up with feet square, level changed and facing the other way. This works off of an underhook on the same side as the forward leg.
we also tried a fancy hop back, then enter the same footwork as above. It's like dancing, and I need a lot of practice
omaplatas
Then we worked kimura, hip bump, and back take from the closed guard.
I almost quit bjj last night for good. I'm inside my own head about getting better and not being able to submit people who I think I should be able to submit. My guillotine sucks. my setups for arm bars suck. I'm not very good at this.
Wednesday:
MT More of the same stuff we did monday, as well as Clinch work.
game is to get inside control, throw light knees, and break while throwing a strike. Control at the crown of the head.
Thursday: rest
Friday: did the Stanley workout. 100 burpies, flutter kicks, squats, pushups. completed in 19m:53s
Saturday: 45 minute trail run w/ kuo.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Week of 6/26/12
Monday: I have been fighting a serious case of burnout. I don't know if it's from too much drinking on weekends, too much food, or maybe too much training, but I just felt like sitting on the couch.
Tuesday: Despite Mike's (and my own) recommendations, I decided to do both boxing and bjj today.
BOXING:
We jogged to warm up, maybe a round. Then we did circuits consisting of the double end bag (timing bag), jump rope, shadow box w/ weights, hitting the heavy bag, uppercut bag, and a round of mitts w/ Jamal. Each have their own 'goal'. timing bag is good for timing head motion, moving, attacking quickly and from different angles, heavy is for big body shots, heavy combos. And the uppercut bag is awesome because it spins and swings in big arcs, forcing you to use jabs and hooks and movement to get around it and control it. Mitts with Jamal is always difficult, because he pushes me to the limit of my concentration, doing combos I've never done before. Lots of double body shots, double jabs, jabs to hooks, long strings of 1-2's with head movement. A note about my jabs... I have the bad habit (I think always trying to do a 'falling jab' is to blame) of lifting my front foot and stepping with the jab, to make it stiff and heavy. Jamal kept swinging his right arm over the top, and slapping my head. He said that the jab is for range and once you're in range, it doesn't have to be used in a hard manner, just a space keeper.
BJJ:
more closed guard passing: open guard the same way as last week. as soon as guard breaks, put weight on the bottom leg, and try to get an upright 1/2 guard on that leg. As the guy tries to get his foot back in for a hook, UNDERHOOK his thigh, reaching for his belt. This nullifies that outside leg and hip. Sprawl and control to pass to the same side.
if he stops you by pressuring down w/ his thigh, reach deeper under his thigh to get the lapel, sprawl, trying to put his knee to his face, and go to other side of above pass.
if he stops you by putting a knee across your belly (I'm extremely guilty of this, and will fix it), just jam it down and hop over to the side.
if he stops you mid pass w/ a butterfly hook, using non belt grabbing hand - pop his knee, and therefor the hook out, and hop over to same side.
Raph talked about getting a competition team together. I'm obligated to be on it, I think. Both for myself, and for the gym. It's going to be good, and something to look forward to.
Wednesday: No juice to train, feeling pretty burned out. 187lbs AM weight
Thursday: BJJ
Keylock from mount; 2 on 1 grip, elbow bracing between hand and their head, other hand under, spread base out to stay stable, tuck elbow back in towards body (tightens it up big time), paint the floor with their fist, while lifting their elbow.
Kimura from guard: break grip (along lapel), 2 on 1, push arm away, grip wrist w/ same side hand, reach up and over (armpit to his shoulder), build grip, escape hips to the side that you control, pass that same leg over his back to control posture, pull arm taut, try to hide his arm behind his back.
if he defends Kimura by grabbing pants, drop that leg to trap him on that side, use that side arm to post on the mat, lift hips, and step over w/ far leg, sweeping to full mount
Guillotine from kimura/sweep: work the kimura, then if he commits to defending, release grip and pull guillotine.
Tuesday: Despite Mike's (and my own) recommendations, I decided to do both boxing and bjj today.
BOXING:
We jogged to warm up, maybe a round. Then we did circuits consisting of the double end bag (timing bag), jump rope, shadow box w/ weights, hitting the heavy bag, uppercut bag, and a round of mitts w/ Jamal. Each have their own 'goal'. timing bag is good for timing head motion, moving, attacking quickly and from different angles, heavy is for big body shots, heavy combos. And the uppercut bag is awesome because it spins and swings in big arcs, forcing you to use jabs and hooks and movement to get around it and control it. Mitts with Jamal is always difficult, because he pushes me to the limit of my concentration, doing combos I've never done before. Lots of double body shots, double jabs, jabs to hooks, long strings of 1-2's with head movement. A note about my jabs... I have the bad habit (I think always trying to do a 'falling jab' is to blame) of lifting my front foot and stepping with the jab, to make it stiff and heavy. Jamal kept swinging his right arm over the top, and slapping my head. He said that the jab is for range and once you're in range, it doesn't have to be used in a hard manner, just a space keeper.
BJJ:
more closed guard passing: open guard the same way as last week. as soon as guard breaks, put weight on the bottom leg, and try to get an upright 1/2 guard on that leg. As the guy tries to get his foot back in for a hook, UNDERHOOK his thigh, reaching for his belt. This nullifies that outside leg and hip. Sprawl and control to pass to the same side.
if he stops you by pressuring down w/ his thigh, reach deeper under his thigh to get the lapel, sprawl, trying to put his knee to his face, and go to other side of above pass.
if he stops you by putting a knee across your belly (I'm extremely guilty of this, and will fix it), just jam it down and hop over to the side.
if he stops you mid pass w/ a butterfly hook, using non belt grabbing hand - pop his knee, and therefor the hook out, and hop over to same side.
Raph talked about getting a competition team together. I'm obligated to be on it, I think. Both for myself, and for the gym. It's going to be good, and something to look forward to.
Wednesday: No juice to train, feeling pretty burned out. 187lbs AM weight
Thursday: BJJ
Keylock from mount; 2 on 1 grip, elbow bracing between hand and their head, other hand under, spread base out to stay stable, tuck elbow back in towards body (tightens it up big time), paint the floor with their fist, while lifting their elbow.
Kimura from guard: break grip (along lapel), 2 on 1, push arm away, grip wrist w/ same side hand, reach up and over (armpit to his shoulder), build grip, escape hips to the side that you control, pass that same leg over his back to control posture, pull arm taut, try to hide his arm behind his back.
if he defends Kimura by grabbing pants, drop that leg to trap him on that side, use that side arm to post on the mat, lift hips, and step over w/ far leg, sweeping to full mount
Guillotine from kimura/sweep: work the kimura, then if he commits to defending, release grip and pull guillotine.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Week of 6/18/12
Monday: 189 lbs
MT: Knees and parry drills
combos: 1, 2, lk lk block step, rknee rknee
1,2,3 rk rk block lknee lknee
1,2,3, bob, weave, 2, 3 rk rk
1,2,3, bob, weave, 2,3,2, lk, lk
drilling: off jab, use right hand to parry, 'climb hands' left hand behind shoulder while stepping w/ right hand, and left knees to body
off cross, use left hand to parry, rt knees to body
Sparring was good today. Big Mike mentioned that my footwork gets me introuble quite a bit. So more shadow boxing w/ an eye for footwork and positioning. I'll also keep concentrating on that in sparring, as well as entering the clinch, and offbalancing/knees
Tuesday: 183lbs
BJJ:
arm drag:
cross collar, same side sleeve grip, open guard, trap legs to ground using opened guard. get 2on1 grip on sleeve, and opposite foot on hip. drive off that hip and escape hips to 2on1 side, as he pressures back, slip that foot off hip while pushing 2on1 away and post on that arm, keeping it on the mat. come to seatbelt grip, work the back.
collar choke from back:
from 2on1, reach around w/ near arm to under opposite arm, use close arm to open lapel, and grab w/ near arm, then grab w/ far arm the opposite lapel, pull to rear mount and finish, or work clock choke.
rolling:
We drilled open guard, I rolled like a bag of dicks. Very disappointed in my performance. Constantly getting swept from open guard. I think it's my shitty combat base or something. I need to watch some videos and figure out what I'm doing wrong. I got scissor swept like 5 times. fuck.
Wednesday: rested due to burnout feeling. Drank a lot of Gin and Tonics. Feltgoodman.
Thursday: BJJ
Opening guard: lapel hold, belt hold, elbows tight and in, knee in butt, other leg sprawled back and down, side w/ knee in butt should be side that has lapel hold, keep downward outward pressure on that hip/leg, turn hips away to increase pressure, pop guard open, keep good pressure on that bottom leg, pass a knee over, and get to 1/2 guard or side control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_fcJi04vYk this isn't what we did, but I need to study it.
1/2 guard pass: from gable grip behind head w/ underhook on far side: pass near arm over body, under his far armpit, switch hips to face away, drive his legs down as you shimmy your knee out. if possible, get ankle out and get full mount. If you get stuck, turn hips back towards his face while scooping far elbow up, and gable grip around his head and arm, sticking yourself to him and nullifying his arm. Use free leg to help pry ankle free.
nogi:
opening guard: staggered arms, keep hips on ground, knee in butt, other leg open like a door, pry that leg down on the side of 'open' leg, get center leg up
pass: if he goes to butterfly hooks, push hook in, and step around to foot up in middle, use that center knee to cut either across or to same side. get underhook on leg where it helps, keep peeled knee down and use that to step other leg over.
if he gets knee in: shove knee out of the way., go for underhook on far side to retain control.
The fight comes in from gaining the underhook, if bottom guy gets it, he can get to the back, if top guy gets it, he can flatten out bottom guy. That's the fight. Also, I can't be stalling in scrambles, I have to keep moving.
MT: Knees and parry drills
combos: 1, 2, lk lk block step, rknee rknee
1,2,3 rk rk block lknee lknee
1,2,3, bob, weave, 2, 3 rk rk
1,2,3, bob, weave, 2,3,2, lk, lk
drilling: off jab, use right hand to parry, 'climb hands' left hand behind shoulder while stepping w/ right hand, and left knees to body
off cross, use left hand to parry, rt knees to body
Sparring was good today. Big Mike mentioned that my footwork gets me introuble quite a bit. So more shadow boxing w/ an eye for footwork and positioning. I'll also keep concentrating on that in sparring, as well as entering the clinch, and offbalancing/knees
Tuesday: 183lbs
BJJ:
arm drag:
cross collar, same side sleeve grip, open guard, trap legs to ground using opened guard. get 2on1 grip on sleeve, and opposite foot on hip. drive off that hip and escape hips to 2on1 side, as he pressures back, slip that foot off hip while pushing 2on1 away and post on that arm, keeping it on the mat. come to seatbelt grip, work the back.
collar choke from back:
from 2on1, reach around w/ near arm to under opposite arm, use close arm to open lapel, and grab w/ near arm, then grab w/ far arm the opposite lapel, pull to rear mount and finish, or work clock choke.
rolling:
We drilled open guard, I rolled like a bag of dicks. Very disappointed in my performance. Constantly getting swept from open guard. I think it's my shitty combat base or something. I need to watch some videos and figure out what I'm doing wrong. I got scissor swept like 5 times. fuck.
Wednesday: rested due to burnout feeling. Drank a lot of Gin and Tonics. Feltgoodman.
Thursday: BJJ
Opening guard: lapel hold, belt hold, elbows tight and in, knee in butt, other leg sprawled back and down, side w/ knee in butt should be side that has lapel hold, keep downward outward pressure on that hip/leg, turn hips away to increase pressure, pop guard open, keep good pressure on that bottom leg, pass a knee over, and get to 1/2 guard or side control.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_fcJi04vYk this isn't what we did, but I need to study it.
1/2 guard pass: from gable grip behind head w/ underhook on far side: pass near arm over body, under his far armpit, switch hips to face away, drive his legs down as you shimmy your knee out. if possible, get ankle out and get full mount. If you get stuck, turn hips back towards his face while scooping far elbow up, and gable grip around his head and arm, sticking yourself to him and nullifying his arm. Use free leg to help pry ankle free.
nogi:
opening guard: staggered arms, keep hips on ground, knee in butt, other leg open like a door, pry that leg down on the side of 'open' leg, get center leg up
pass: if he goes to butterfly hooks, push hook in, and step around to foot up in middle, use that center knee to cut either across or to same side. get underhook on leg where it helps, keep peeled knee down and use that to step other leg over.
if he gets knee in: shove knee out of the way., go for underhook on far side to retain control.
The fight comes in from gaining the underhook, if bottom guy gets it, he can get to the back, if top guy gets it, he can flatten out bottom guy. That's the fight. Also, I can't be stalling in scrambles, I have to keep moving.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Fusion MMA - Saturday No Gi.
I had the pleasure to go train with my buddy Sean B. at his home gym, Fusion Fitness and MMA in Marietta. http://fusionfitnessandmma.com/
It was a good time. The grappling class worked sweeps. I'll write more about the head instructor later, since I was really impressed with his teaching style and his patience with me and his ability to monitor the whole class and give pointers. He deals in frameworks and themes rather than a 'random moves of the day'. The teaching method is very much counter to the Brazilian way I'm accustomed to.
We worked sweeps this class:
Scissor sweep, wrist control, off balance forward (swim hands through and make him base out), get knee across belly, pull wrists away while scissoring, end up on top.
Bottom guy gets elbows in, and recomposes guard, then he sweeps.
If he bases, you can quickly switch the direction of the sweep by getting other knee in, etc., also can run subs off of this transition phase, triangles, arm bars, etc.
Stuffing this sweep: You have to kill the knee and hook that across your belly, sprawling and pinning that leg to the ground helps this. You can then walk around.
Sweep from open guard: feet on hips, shins on inside of biceps, if he bases, get a butterfly hook under that leg, bring weight on top, use hook to sweep to 1/2 guard.
Bump sweep- base off arm, attach other arm pit to his shoulder, lift hips, step over and sweep.
Did some shoots and double/singles, no knee stomp, but instead a good level change, and back of knee grab to finish. Good street safe takedown.
SITOUTS! off of a failed shot, if he sprawls, IMMEDIATELY base leg on side that your head is trapped, then step other leg under, sit out, apply head/ear pressure, get to top/back. Hook always goes on bottom side. I need to make this a standard part of my game. I can see this being super powerful and take away some of the fear of attempting take-downs.
Rolling with the instructor:
arm bar defense, grab own bicep w/ attacked arm, then use non attacked arm to hide behind the thigh to further lock it up.
Did wrong: putting leg up in his guard, where he could attack my legs (lack of leg locks bums me out in our school), didn't stagger arms when in his guard.
elbows tighter, keep knees tighter, think of it as guard on top, don't let elbows splay out, stagger hands in his guard.
Needed to keep hips lower, follow his movement more, make a 'cross' sign out of myself. no space between hips and floor, nor between his body and my body.
Noted I was relaxed on the bottom and tensed up on the top. He recommended that I work a lot of sweeps and escapes to improve my top game.
It was a good time. The grappling class worked sweeps. I'll write more about the head instructor later, since I was really impressed with his teaching style and his patience with me and his ability to monitor the whole class and give pointers. He deals in frameworks and themes rather than a 'random moves of the day'. The teaching method is very much counter to the Brazilian way I'm accustomed to.
We worked sweeps this class:
Scissor sweep, wrist control, off balance forward (swim hands through and make him base out), get knee across belly, pull wrists away while scissoring, end up on top.
Bottom guy gets elbows in, and recomposes guard, then he sweeps.
If he bases, you can quickly switch the direction of the sweep by getting other knee in, etc., also can run subs off of this transition phase, triangles, arm bars, etc.
Stuffing this sweep: You have to kill the knee and hook that across your belly, sprawling and pinning that leg to the ground helps this. You can then walk around.
Sweep from open guard: feet on hips, shins on inside of biceps, if he bases, get a butterfly hook under that leg, bring weight on top, use hook to sweep to 1/2 guard.
Bump sweep- base off arm, attach other arm pit to his shoulder, lift hips, step over and sweep.
Did some shoots and double/singles, no knee stomp, but instead a good level change, and back of knee grab to finish. Good street safe takedown.
SITOUTS! off of a failed shot, if he sprawls, IMMEDIATELY base leg on side that your head is trapped, then step other leg under, sit out, apply head/ear pressure, get to top/back. Hook always goes on bottom side. I need to make this a standard part of my game. I can see this being super powerful and take away some of the fear of attempting take-downs.
Rolling with the instructor:
arm bar defense, grab own bicep w/ attacked arm, then use non attacked arm to hide behind the thigh to further lock it up.
Did wrong: putting leg up in his guard, where he could attack my legs (lack of leg locks bums me out in our school), didn't stagger arms when in his guard.
elbows tighter, keep knees tighter, think of it as guard on top, don't let elbows splay out, stagger hands in his guard.
Needed to keep hips lower, follow his movement more, make a 'cross' sign out of myself. no space between hips and floor, nor between his body and my body.
Noted I was relaxed on the bottom and tensed up on the top. He recommended that I work a lot of sweeps and escapes to improve my top game.
Monday, June 11, 2012
week of 6/11/12
I'm going to try to do more 'writing' this week, rather than just record keeping. It's been an emotional month. First I found out that my wife was pregnant, then two weeks later, we thought she miscarried, then two weeks after that, we found out that she didn't miscarry, and was(is) still pregnant. Then my mentor and friend Paul Gomez passed away unexpectedly. On top of that all, it was also my friend's birthday, then my wives parents birthday, mothers day, soon father's day. So my (selfish) excuses have been piling up. It's hard to keep motivated, but I know the day is coming when I can't train regularly, so I keep pushing.
So all that led to celebratory eating, emotional eating, drinking, staying up too late, and all sorts of dampers on my mental game. There were days that I wanted to just quit everything. I find myself losing interest in shooting in recent weeks. I don't know why I'm losing interest in that, I think it's just because I haven't gone to shoot for fun in so long. I need to go do an IDPA match soon. Relight that fire a bit.
AM weight - 189 (!!!)
Post MT weight 185 My diet has been shit for the last two months. It was a slow gain back to 185ish, but I know there's a few lbs of fat in there. I'm going to do some subtle meal composition tweaks in addition to IF to try to bring it back in range.
MT: jump rope 3 rounds 20pushups/squats between, check to knees around the gym
1,2, lk, lk, block w/ left, step, 2x right knees
1,2,3, rk, rk, block w/ right, step 2x lft knees
mitts:
1, 2, slip, 6,7,3, 6, 7
sparring: positional sparring, boxing and clinch range only. AWESOME. I suck at this, and need tons of work on the entry, and on the clinch itself. I asked Anthony if we could work it, and he said he would work us in.
BJJ: Bump sweep- bump, trap arm/ trap same leg, bump again.
armbar from mount (Rickson armbar) - put pressure, as guy pushes off, plant one hand around arm and other hand inside. put weight into hands and lift hips. swing leg around and finish
variation - go inside w/ throat pressure, as he resists and reaches for the defense, plant other hand, spin, and finish.
choke from side control - as he pressures w/ hand on your throat, get lapel out, feed to headhold hand, pop to knee on belly, reach w/ other hand inside (palm up), turn hand over and down, while lifting w/ headhold hand, and go to N/S to finish.
Rolling was good, the guys who have recently arrived are easy to sweep and choke. B. and JR. are my only skilled opponents now, but luckily, I think they're both better than me. That's my gain.
MT:
Warmup was beast. 3m round rope, 20/20, x3 rounds. Combos for one round, yellow sash 1 and 2, second Combos, block, knee, block step knee.
Same combos as monday. on pads and mitts
sparring
abs; vertical scissors, out and up, situps, crunches, squat hop thingies.
BJJ:
cross collar chokes. small finger sleeve grips. trap arm between leg and with a tight grip, then reach across with other arm for deep cross lapel hold, switch hips, use same leg as the arm that's gripping to climb back and offbalance to get angle for other grip. Can grab a bunch of fabric, and finish. OR you can slide thumb under lapel, and finish.
scissor sweep. same grips as before, cross collar and sleeve, escape hips, and either use shin across belly, or swing leg over while chopping base on far side. or the stomp the knee variation.
So all that led to celebratory eating, emotional eating, drinking, staying up too late, and all sorts of dampers on my mental game. There were days that I wanted to just quit everything. I find myself losing interest in shooting in recent weeks. I don't know why I'm losing interest in that, I think it's just because I haven't gone to shoot for fun in so long. I need to go do an IDPA match soon. Relight that fire a bit.
AM weight - 189 (!!!)
Post MT weight 185 My diet has been shit for the last two months. It was a slow gain back to 185ish, but I know there's a few lbs of fat in there. I'm going to do some subtle meal composition tweaks in addition to IF to try to bring it back in range.
MT: jump rope 3 rounds 20pushups/squats between, check to knees around the gym
1,2, lk, lk, block w/ left, step, 2x right knees
1,2,3, rk, rk, block w/ right, step 2x lft knees
mitts:
1, 2, slip, 6,7,3, 6, 7
sparring: positional sparring, boxing and clinch range only. AWESOME. I suck at this, and need tons of work on the entry, and on the clinch itself. I asked Anthony if we could work it, and he said he would work us in.
BJJ: Bump sweep- bump, trap arm/ trap same leg, bump again.
armbar from mount (Rickson armbar) - put pressure, as guy pushes off, plant one hand around arm and other hand inside. put weight into hands and lift hips. swing leg around and finish
variation - go inside w/ throat pressure, as he resists and reaches for the defense, plant other hand, spin, and finish.
choke from side control - as he pressures w/ hand on your throat, get lapel out, feed to headhold hand, pop to knee on belly, reach w/ other hand inside (palm up), turn hand over and down, while lifting w/ headhold hand, and go to N/S to finish.
Rolling was good, the guys who have recently arrived are easy to sweep and choke. B. and JR. are my only skilled opponents now, but luckily, I think they're both better than me. That's my gain.
MT:
Warmup was beast. 3m round rope, 20/20, x3 rounds. Combos for one round, yellow sash 1 and 2, second Combos, block, knee, block step knee.
Same combos as monday. on pads and mitts
sparring
abs; vertical scissors, out and up, situps, crunches, squat hop thingies.
BJJ:
cross collar chokes. small finger sleeve grips. trap arm between leg and with a tight grip, then reach across with other arm for deep cross lapel hold, switch hips, use same leg as the arm that's gripping to climb back and offbalance to get angle for other grip. Can grab a bunch of fabric, and finish. OR you can slide thumb under lapel, and finish.
scissor sweep. same grips as before, cross collar and sleeve, escape hips, and either use shin across belly, or swing leg over while chopping base on far side. or the stomp the knee variation.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Week of 6/4/12
Monday:
MT: muay khaw (sp?). The forward driving style. Lots of forward checks to knees. A forward pressure.
combos:
1,2,3, rt kicks, block, step through, 2x left kicks
1,2 lt kicks, block, step, 2x rt kicks
Tuesday:
BJJ: Raph is back. Douglas is gone to teach at his own gym.
We worked arm bar setups and variations.
Standard arm bar: control sleeve, cross grip at elbow. foot on hip, trapping the attacked arm. use other leg to off set balance and pull over opponent. use foot on hip to pass over and attack arm.
Sneakier setup:
cuff control, put foot down to block base on trapped arm side, and knee control on other side (either gi or knee). Use pant control to help get hips out and swing leg over head while pulling sleeve controlled arm across body.
Sweep from same grips:
instead of pulling the sleeve across body, or if it slips out, you can pull the sleeve up and away, and use the off-balancing leg to sweep, end up on top.
If you lose control of that sleeve, and he bases using that arm. use whatever grips you can get to push him off balance in that direction of travel. There are omaplatas, escapes, back takes, arm bars and lots of stuff available.
Wednesday: 183#
no MT for me. Rested and relaxed w/ mom to be.
Thursday: BJJ
side control escape: put elbow across throat and on shoulder, and bridge to make space, shrimp, get hook in, recompose.
Side control top, when guy does above move, sneak his lapel out of his belt, and pass it under his neck. grab bottom of lapel w/ bottom arm, shift weight forward, roll arm over, elbow down. then take a big step over his head, baseball bat choke (can grab own hand).
Some other choke from the same grip... I can't remember it, though.
No GI:
double/ single leg take downs- penetration step, put other foot BEHIND nearest leg to block base, head inside, grab both legs behind knees, lift legs and drive to side, take down.
single - same steup, head inside, grab leg, suck leg between your legs, apply Shoulder pressure to hip/leg, walk back and spin
escape from guard to guillotine, clinch head, escape hips, use outside arm to drive head to mat, until stiff armed, get up on other elbow then hand, escape hips, pass far leg back through to base, suck down into over under (arm in guillotine) grip, play top or suck back in for a guillotine.
escape from guard to sweep to mount - if leg gets stuck trying to get back through to base, just hip bump sweep and end in mount
escape from guard to ompalata. if guy tries to keep you in by hugging your hips, escape bottom leg and work the omaplata.
MT: muay khaw (sp?). The forward driving style. Lots of forward checks to knees. A forward pressure.
combos:
1,2,3, rt kicks, block, step through, 2x left kicks
1,2 lt kicks, block, step, 2x rt kicks
Tuesday:
BJJ: Raph is back. Douglas is gone to teach at his own gym.
We worked arm bar setups and variations.
Standard arm bar: control sleeve, cross grip at elbow. foot on hip, trapping the attacked arm. use other leg to off set balance and pull over opponent. use foot on hip to pass over and attack arm.
Sneakier setup:
cuff control, put foot down to block base on trapped arm side, and knee control on other side (either gi or knee). Use pant control to help get hips out and swing leg over head while pulling sleeve controlled arm across body.
Sweep from same grips:
instead of pulling the sleeve across body, or if it slips out, you can pull the sleeve up and away, and use the off-balancing leg to sweep, end up on top.
If you lose control of that sleeve, and he bases using that arm. use whatever grips you can get to push him off balance in that direction of travel. There are omaplatas, escapes, back takes, arm bars and lots of stuff available.
Wednesday: 183#
no MT for me. Rested and relaxed w/ mom to be.
Thursday: BJJ
side control escape: put elbow across throat and on shoulder, and bridge to make space, shrimp, get hook in, recompose.
Side control top, when guy does above move, sneak his lapel out of his belt, and pass it under his neck. grab bottom of lapel w/ bottom arm, shift weight forward, roll arm over, elbow down. then take a big step over his head, baseball bat choke (can grab own hand).
Some other choke from the same grip... I can't remember it, though.
No GI:
double/ single leg take downs- penetration step, put other foot BEHIND nearest leg to block base, head inside, grab both legs behind knees, lift legs and drive to side, take down.
single - same steup, head inside, grab leg, suck leg between your legs, apply Shoulder pressure to hip/leg, walk back and spin
escape from guard to guillotine, clinch head, escape hips, use outside arm to drive head to mat, until stiff armed, get up on other elbow then hand, escape hips, pass far leg back through to base, suck down into over under (arm in guillotine) grip, play top or suck back in for a guillotine.
escape from guard to sweep to mount - if leg gets stuck trying to get back through to base, just hip bump sweep and end in mount
escape from guard to ompalata. if guy tries to keep you in by hugging your hips, escape bottom leg and work the omaplata.
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