Cultural misunderstandings and language oopsies.

At gymnastics last night, I was crashing my standing back tucks on my knees. Apparently I was not bringing my knees up into the tuck fast enough, although I was getting enough height. This conversation was had:

Classmate, pointing to his knees: “Put your shoulders on your breasts.”

Me: “Those are your knees. And I’m pretty sure anywhere else in the world I would be really uncomfortable that you just said that.”

 

I want to get strong.

So like I said, I’m seriously considering Mundials this year, and that means I need to get strong. Like, really strong. Kettlebells aren’t going to cut it, I don’t think.  I have two options:

1. Join a gym
2. Join CrossFit.

So I’ve heard both good and bad things about CrossFit. Can anyone who hasn’t drank the CrossFit kool-aid give me an honest opinion on the program?

“So then this huge guy sat on my chest and started to yell something about ‘THE TOMB’” [technique post]

So per some requests, I took some video from my class the other night– my favorite mount escape. I still have one more post on style that I’d like to do, but this one has been sitting on my camera for about a week now, so… POST!

First, the drills!

Upa Drill

This is what everyone should learn day one of BJJ.

Bridge and turn over one shoulder, suck in the arm, and roll the guy over. Basic. I like this particular version of it because it is applicable in no-gi, and gives people some practice collapsing the supporting arm of the opponent without  exposing their own arm to an arm-bar. If you’re practicing this drill, make sure you’re blocking the leg on the same side as the arm.

Hip escape/Shrimping drill

You can hear me on camera telling her to turn onto her side more. To do this drill properly, you should really be all the way on your side in the fetal position. This “escape” doesn’t really work in real life, but it’s important to get used to moving like this on the bottom.

Back take drill (for top player)

This is a timing drill for the top player. When the guy on the bottom bridges/does an upa, the top guy slides his knee up the other person’s back and switches his base. This allows him/her to take the bottom guy’s back. This is also why you must block the leg when you try to do an upa.

Mount escape

Sorry for the attitude, I was getting grumpy with people who weren’t listening in class, haha. Even though I had just gone over NOT OPENING YOUR ARMPITS, I was still seeing it in drilling. I’m usually not so grumpy.

The only thing I really want to add about this is that it’s vitally important that you get that leg flat on the ground, otherwise you just can’t pull this technique off at all.

From here, for little guys, it’s important also to be careful of the D’arce (Darce? Google is inconclusive on this subject) choke from the top (the bigger your shoulders are, the harder the choke is to set up from this underhook position). If you feel your opponent reaching behind your head, get up on your elbow or bail out of the position entirely. I’d say if you can, you should always be up on your elbow in this position anyway. It gives you more freedom of movement and makes it less likely that your hips are going to be pinned uncomfortably and your guard may be passed.  So here, for people with poor reading comprehension, are my basic tips:

• You must switch your hips so that you’re facing the guy, or he’s going to take your back.
• Go for the underhook, but also get up on your elbow.
• If you don’t get up on your elbow, a bigger guy with longer arms and some idea of what he’s doing is going to D’arce/Darce choke you in no-gi or do a strange reverse-sideways guillotine in gi. You don’t even have to have long arms for the second one, I do it all the time.
• The key to this is keeping your hips free and mobile. You only need a few inches of space in the right place to make it work.
• This movement is all about timing– don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work perfectly the first five, ten, fifteen times you do it. It took me forever to develop it, but now it’s definitely my go-to move.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Taking a (brief) break…

I’m really burned out from work (miserableawfulwtf) and life and aghhh I sound so emo. I’m not really emo, just overwhelmed by life and sick because kids are just walking balls of germs. So the next few days, I’m taking off… then back to hard training.

I have some video of a technique that I will post tomorrow

Beat the Banana!

I’m running a race in March– Beat the Banana. It’s a short run, only 6K, but it’s for a good cause. If anyone would like to sponsor/donate towards cancer research, let me know and I can link you to my fundraising page.

I’m super excited, I haven’t run a race in years.  I think it’s my first since 2007 or 2008… I wanted to run the Great Wall Half-Marathon but then I decided I hated China and left.

Brazil v. Japan (Style Part 2)

Here’s the second part of my little series on style and stylistic differences.  In this part, I’m going to talk about the Brazilians and the Japanese, and their different styles of BJJ.

I’ve been really interested, lately, in the convergence and divergence of style, as I said in my last post.  It started when I moved to Asia, I think. I became enthralled by questions like this: how do the Japanese differ from the Brazilians? Is American BJJ transforming into its own style? What can we learn by looking the Brazilians and the Japanese as separate entities with different styles of BJJ?  What are their weaknesses, and what strengths does each style bring to the table?

First, I’d like to talk about the Japanese. As for Japanese-style BJJ, I’ve come to believe that the influence of judo in Japanese BJJ is really apparent. My Japanese friends that do BJJ are all about the utility of movement; they are less about slick, big finishes and more about ending this crap now.  That doesn’t mean that they don’t have pretty movement, but they seem to move less than the Brazilians, and every movement seems to be precise and focused, with a clear goal in mind. Always forward, towards the goal, never backwards. At the risk of sounding dirty (what doesn’t sound dirty in BJJ?) if you’ve ever been on your back with a Japanese guy on top of you, you aren’t going anywhere very fast.  If you haven’t been on your back with a Japanese guy on top of you, it’s definitely something I recommend. Their hip control is excellent, which makes their guard passing pretty damn stellar. Their style is calm, controlled, and without flourish.

When I think of the Brazilians, I think of people like the Mendes brothers and Leo Viera. Squirmy hips. Sure, maybe you could submit them (BIG MAYBE) if you could get them to stop moving, but who could possibly get them to stop moving? They have a flashier style, and I love it when they go for (and nail) the big, ridiculous finishes. Who can forget when Jacare had his arm broken in the Mundials in 2004?  And then won anyway? Everyone in the venue watched that happen. I was utterly in awe of how badass he was. Like Batman or something, except without a cape.

It’s funny because these two cultures and styles are so different on the face– the Japanese are unfailingly polite, generally excellent sports, and capable of breaking your arm with an apology already on their tongue. The Brazilians, on the other hand, will strut in like peacocks, scream like you just called their mom a whore, flip the judges the bird, and then break your arm upside-down with their eyes closed out of pure spite. But both cultures place a heavy focus on saving face, hard training, and maintaining pride– I think this is what makes them both turn out excellent competitors.

So now that I’ve been exposed extensively to both styles (I grew up training under a Brazilian and an American, I currently train under a Japanese man, and I trained in Japan for a while), who do I want to be like?  Well, I want to start and finish fights with the confidence and epic-ness of a Brazilian, with the good sportsmanship and calm of the Japanese, and the risk-assessment abilities of the top female fighters in the world. Is that so much to ask for, really? Don’t answer that.

Oh– and of course, there’s the Americans. Can’t leave them out. This video sums us up pretty succinctly, don’t you think?

Durrrrrr.

What kind of BJJ player are you? (Style Part 1)

I’m thinking that I’m going to do a little mini-series of posts on style, developing style, and the evolution of BJJ over the years from my perspective.  I am going to talk a little bit about developing yourself as a player today. Keep in mind that this is only my opinion and it doesn’t really count for too much. Don’t get huffy if you disagree, I am always open to discussion. Also, I ramble a lot. You’ve been warned.

Here is my basic BJJ philosophy: three things matter in BJJ. They are strength/physique, technique, and speed, in no particular order.  Let’s talk about that a little bit.

• Strength/Physique: Strength, to me, comes in two forms; the strength you can acquire by lifting heavy things, and the size/weight you’re born with, which you can’t change as much. I lump these in the same category because I know some freakishly strong little people. This can also mean being born with really long limbs or a really strong grip.  Body build and strength do matter in BJJ.
• Technique: Having good technique means knowing what techniques work for you and being able to apply them with a minimum amount of strength. I’m not going to open the “but big people can be technical too!” can of worms here. Size doesn’t matter when it comes to technical/not technical. Fact remains that anyone who has been training a while can point to a “technical” player and a “brute force” player.
• Speed: This guy is fast. You all know this guy. His brain isn’t connected to his body. He just moves and one second he is there and the next he isn’t. Blindingly fast, and usually smiling the whole practice.  He often likes to do crazy guards and cartwheeling guard passes until he gets a stripe or two and learns to use his speed properly.

So now I’ve elaborated on the three things that I think matter most in BJJ. I think that to be a good player, you must have two of these things.  To be a great player, you have to cultivate and care for all three, but some will always be weaker than others. Everyone has each talent in different amounts, and the ratio of strength:speed:technique is what makes people’s games unique. I think it’s important to look at your strengths and your weaknesses when devising a game for yourself.  But I can’t help you with that– not without seeing you play in person. I can help with breaking down an opponent’s style a little bit though, and help you know what to expect from them.

1. An opponent with a lot of strength/an opponent who is very large/some other physically unique trait. Welcome to my life. In class, I regularly feel like this:
   
   So… yeah. I’m used to this problem. What can you do?  Well, the most important thing, I think (and it took me ten years to figure it out) is to get on top via any means necessary.  If you can’t get on top, keep as much space as possible between you and your opponent. This is a bad time to try out that new deep half guard, for example.  In a similar vein, if the person has freakishly long arms or legs, you probably don’t want to end up in their De La Riva/spider guard.  Use your brain.

   Main tactic: Someone like this is probably going to be going for squishing the opponent into submission. A good, strong player, like an ex-wrestler or judo player, is going to try to keep their weaker opponent from moving. Against this type of person, immobilization is death. Keep moving, try to stay off the bottom, and keep as much space as possible. This type of player is usually (in a competition) an aggressive player that does not wait for openings– if he/she wants an arm, he/she is going to pry it out and rip it off. Don’t give him/her the chance by keeping them on the defensive. This player is going to come out with every intention of forcing you to play their game. If you play, you’ll lose. It’s hard to be aggressive against someone like this because it feels dangerous, but I honestly believe it’s the only way to win against this type of player.

2. An opponent who is about your size but technically very sound. Fitness. If the playing field is almost even, and you are in better shape than your opponent, you can win a match against someone who out-skills you.  If this is training, try to resist the urge to go balls-out crazy and try to smash the person. Instead, focus on the flow of technique and try to learn something from the sparring match, and the other person’s technique. If it’s competition, close the space, and try to be as slow and methodical as possible. I’m really guilty of slipping into defense mode when I’m technically outmatched, but I don’t think this is necessarily the best thing. Instead, try for cautiously aggressive. If you’re fast, you can try to race them, but I find people who are more technical than me are also faster than me.

   Main tactic: A technical player is going to try to use as little strength and energy as possible to the greatest effect. This can be overcome by good fitness and a focus on staying tight and reversion to the basics. Elbows in, protect the neck, give nothing away. This type of player is usually a patient, reactionary player; they wait for you to move, and react. Counter this by ensuring that every movement is tight and controlled. Open elbows and lazy feet could easily mean the end of the match.

3. An opponent who is very, very fast. If you try to fight a match against a speed demon at their pace, you will lose. Guaranteed. They spar at that speed, they walk at that speed, they probably even sleep at that speed. Fighting a match on anyone’s terms but your own is usually just… a bad idea. It’s an even worse idea when the speed demon is probably in better shape.

   Main tactic: This type of person is usually small and in good shape, so their main tactic is movement, although not necessarily aggressive movement. The whole idea is to force you to react. They will move until you make a mistake, and then capitalize on it. The one downside to this type of game is that a lot of movement also means that they are potentially making mistakes of their own. Don’t get mentally defeated by an opponent who is jumping around– be patient, get good grips, and kill their movement as fast as possible. Pinning hips and shoulders to the ground is a good start.

I found myself figuring out these types, for lack of better word, over years of training, in an attempt to understand my opponents better. I find them helpful because it gives me an insight into the psychology of a person’s game– if I can figure out what type they are primarily, and which type they are secondarily, I can go into a sparring match or competition armed with a much more comprehensive game plan.  In competition, I don’t want to play my opponent’s game, and knowing the basic goal behind their game gives me a leg up when it comes to choosing how I will fight my fight.  Does this make any sense at all? I feel like my words are a little muddy today.

Anyway, lastly, what I like to do is think about my weaknesses in terms of this little theory/philosophy. I know I’m going to lose to a 110kg man, so that’s kind of a moot point. But if we’re talking about someone generally my size or a little bigger, which skill set am I weakest against? What can I do to mitigate the effects of their advantage?  Should I be lifting more? Is there a technique that consistently allows someone to pass my guard? Should I drill more and work on my speed?

I hope this little rubric gives you something to think about– when I wrote it out, I thought of a few areas that I need to improve. Did I miss anything?