TNT

For the longest time in Jiu-Jitsu I felt like I was on an endless plateau, and no matter how hard I tried I just didn't really seem to be getting anywhere, and then suddenly things starting clicking.  Lately while grappling with my husband (after about five months of not rolling with him) he's noticed that I didn't just improve a little bit, I improved a lot.  He said "You weren't plateauing, you were building up pressure, and when you came off of it, you exploded!".

I think part of the reason I finally started moving forward may have to do with my injury, and being forced to take time off from class.  During that period I really studied Jiu-Jitsu, and I tried to gain a deeper understanding of the big picture.  I was able to step back and see how some of my own tendencies worked against me, and I spent time figuring out what I wanted my own game to be, so that when I came back I had a clearer sense of purpose when rolling.

Another aspect that I've mentioned lately is relaxation, and I've been trying to free my mind when I grapple.  This has been allowing me to see more possibilities, and not be so caught up in linear thought patterns.  Before, I would be thinking like this:

Okay, I have Joe in guard, what can I do from here?  How about a triangle?  Maybe I should sweep him?  Oh no, he just passed my guard!  Okay, now he has me in side control, how should I get out of it?  (thrash, thrash, thrash).  Oh crap, now he has me a kimura!  What should I do?  (tap tap tap).

Now, it's more like this:

(tap, tap, tap)  
Holy cow, I just submitted Joe with a straight armbar that started out as a kimura from guard!  How did that happen?!

(tap, tap,tap)
Holy moley, I just tapped Joe out with a north-south choke that started from top side control that I got after sweeping him!  What the what?!

However, I think all of the time that I spent plateauing is really what led to my current success.  Even though it didn't seem like it at the time, I was learning things, and those are the very things which I am now successfully applying.  Without the mat time I put in, no amount of studying, or relaxation, would have enabled me to progress.  You have to keep putting in the work, even when it doesn't seem like it's working.

I know that my current state of Jiu-Jitsu awesomeness is not going to last long (and I already find it almost completely useless against purple belts and above ;).  I know that I will end up on another plateau, and that I will once again start feeling like I suck.  So, I'm going to ride this explosion as hard as I can, and when I crash, I will just keep building up pressure until the next one.

The Unwritten Law

After my belt etiquette post, one of the Jiu-Jitsu students said that he thought he knew all the belt rules, but he had never heard "Don't carry your belt around your neck."  I think that's because not all of the rules are written.  That particular etiquette was an unwritten one that I chose to write down, because it is a pet peeve of Shihan's.  The student asked the purpose of the rule, and I said "Well, if you have your belt around your neck and Shihan sees you, there's a good chance he will break the rule about not choking people with belts."  Shihan just doesn't understand why someone would voluntarily put a noose around their own neck (and the same rule applies to nunchaku).  A Judo Sensei said "So, you have a collar around your neck, and I can choke you with that, too."  True, but only a trained person can usually do that, while any idiot can choke someone with a belt.  A collar has to be around your neck, but a belt doesn't.

An additional reason for this rule is that generally if you are not wearing your belt, then you should not be displaying it.  You are also not supposed to toss your belt over your shoulder, or carry it dangling in your hand.  Technically, it should be folded up and tucked discreetly under your arm (or inside your gi).  If you carry your gi with the belt tied around it, and it's not in a bag, then you should also tuck the gi under your arm, so that the belt is not displayed.  Showing your belt in any manner except while wearing it to train, compete, teach, or demo your art is considered bad etiquette.

There are even more unwritten belt rules that I didn't mention...if you have to fix or remove your belt, turn away from your partner and/or the class (unless you are in a competition-never turn your back to your opponent-and don't fix your belt or gi unless told to by the ref)...do not ask a black belt what dan rank they are...don't touch someone's belt without permission (except in the course of training)...etc...etc.

In the following video I broke etiquette at the beginning when I let my belt touch the floor, and at the end when I turned my back to Shihan (I was supposed to just walk backward).  They still let me keep my black belt!

I am a blue belt

Sara, Conan, Gina

After about a year and a half of training Jiu-Jitsu, I received my blue belt, and I've now had it for about a year and a half.  For the first time since I put it on, I finally feel as though I deserve to wear it.  I don't just have a blue belt anymore, now I am one.

Conan promised that our blue belts had magical powers, but up until recently I was pretty sure mine was defective, or that my own black magic mojo was someone interfering with the awesome goodness of my belt.  Perhaps the problem was that I didn't really believe in the belt's magic, so it was kept hidden from me.

I'm not sure how I managed to start tapping into my blue belt's magical potential, but now when I grapple, I can feel the magic working.  My belt and I have finally joined forces, and our mission is to make all the Muggles who want to fight us submit to our will.

"You may lose faith in your magical belt. This happens from time to time, but know this. The belt will never lose faith in you. Those who stick with it and experience the rebirth of the powers locked deep inside the blue belt, they will have the most wonderful gifts bestowed upon them."

This is Why I'm Hot

Our dojo is not air-conditioned, and even if we did have an AC, Shihan says he wouldn't let us turn it on.  We have a few fans, and a garage door we can open, but it gets really steamy in there in the summer.  People who are used to training in AC sometimes have difficulty dealing with the heat when they compete in tournaments at our school, but to those of us from Roseberry's, it's just another day in the sweat shop.  It can be pretty brutal, and no matter how hot it gets in therre, it is against etiquette to take off all your clothes! 

So, after over seven years at Roseberry's, I'm used to being hot, which is why it surprised me when I suddenly overheated while rolling with Mike yesterday.  I had to tap out due to my head feeling like it had caught on fire!  It was a warm day, but far from the hottest conditions I have ever trained in, and I really don't believe I was suffering from dehydration.  I told Conan I thought I was overheating, but I don't remember the rest of our conversation.  I imagine it went something like this:

G: Call 911, my head is on fire!

C: Ah, just dunk your head in the toilet, you'll be fine.

I jest, overheating is a serious thing, and it should not be taken lightly!  After a short amount of rest I felt better, so I decided to go ahead and try rolling with David.  A few minutes into it, I was feeling a little woozy again, and I noticed that his side control hurt even more than usual, so I quit.  My ribs were sore, but I didn't think too much of it at the time.  Fast forward to a few hours later, the pain kept intensifying and I realized that there's a very good chance that I fractured a rib.  Mike and I were going kind of fast and furious (damn little people! ;) and I don't really know what happened, but I believe my instant hot head might have partially been a stress reaction due to a rib cracking.  I hope it's just badly bruised, but luckily it only hurts when I'm awake, so I can handle it.  I probably won't go to open mat today, but otherwise I'm just going to try to keep training as usual. 

While writing this post I was curious as to whether women really do have more ribs than men, so I googled it, and it's just a myth, but I did run across this inspiring comment.  Enjoy!

"The lord took a rib from Adam and gave it to Eve, and from that point women had more bones. This could be why women have so much trouble doing real work, their ribs restrict their movement!  Men have less ribs in the way so we have the freedom to run around and play football. Women stay at home and cook because that's the only thing their bodies can do." -A dumbass whose rib I wouldn't mind fracturing

Beltiquette

Last Friday my husband went to open mat with me, then afterward he changed into his karate gi to teach the kid's class, and I was leaving the dojo.  When he tried to give me a kiss goodbye, I told him "No PDA while wearing your belt".  You never saw a man take a belt off so fast!

I was really just giving Joe a hard time, because he is "The Etiquette Police", and he likes to remind me of what a sorry excuse for a martial artist I am when I have occasional lapses in etiquette memory.  Shihan was standing there when this incident happened, and he said if there was such an etiquette, then he was in big trouble!

We do have a few belt rules in our dojo, but I guess tasteful displays of affection are acceptable.  However, if you asked the students from the kid's class, they might disagree.  I have a feeling they would probably think it was icky, belt or not!

Roseberry's Sho-Rei-Shobu-Kan belt etiquette:

Never let your belt touch the floor.
Never throw your belt.
Never slap or choke other students with your belt.
Do not carry your belt around your neck.
Do not wash your belt.
Do not wear your belt outside of the dojo. 
Remove your belt before eating, cleaning, etc.

(Obviously the first one doesn't apply to when your belt touches the floor while training, and I'm not sure what "etc" is, but I thought it was "kissing" ;)

"Etiquette means behaving yourself a little better than is absolutely essential." -Will Cuppy

Throwing bones

Yesterday was our first Throwing Sunday in women's Jiu-Jitsu class since I broke my wrist during one.  I have done some throwing since then, but only reluctantly, and I even put this Throwing Sunday off for a week.  Ever since my injury I seem to have developed a mental block towards throwing, which causes me to freeze up.  The weird thing is, even though my wrist was broken because I stuck my arm out as I was falling, my fear does not seem to revolve as much around being thrown.  What I've really been afraid of is throwing someone else.

Our teacher Amy said the reason might be because I am empathetic, and since I was broken I am now afraid of breaking someone, more than I am afraid of being broken again myself.  There might be some truth to that, especially concerning yesterday's class, because the person I was throwing the entire time was my own daughter.  In women's Jiu-Jitsu, we always practice our throws by landing on our partner, which can be pretty scary.  Skyler falling on my arm is what really broke my wrist (although if I hadn't posted, it wouldn't have happened, so it was all my fault), and since then she has also developed a fear of throwing, especially of throwing me.

Amy knew neither one of us wanted to throw yesterday, but we showed up, and we worked through the fear.  Skyler and I both threw each other about forty times, and no one was broken or hurt in any significant way.  Except for my feelings, when Amy told me that I should have someone film our next throwing class, so I can see how ridiculous I look trying to do Soto Makikomi!  Yeah well, who taught me how to do it, Amy? :p

I think this throwing class went a long way toward alleviating our fears, and I'm glad we finally got it over with.  I still won't be looking forward to the next one, but when have I ever?  At least I'm not completely dreading it anymore.  For all of our fears and comical errors, Skyler and I pulled off some nice throws yesterday, so there is hope for us yet.  One Throwing Sunday at a time.

Open Mind

In all of the martial arts I've trained, different teachers have taught me varying ways to do the same techniques. There are the slight changes in style with the things that are common to more than one art, but I've also had differing instruction from teachers within the same art. I used to wonder about who was "right", but now I realize that the minor changes in details are really just a matter of body type and taste. They reflect the varying ways that people adapt things to best suit their strengths and weaknesses. Once in awhile, someone's adaptation of a particular technique due to their own physical limitations will be different enough that it will actually become an alternate method within the dojo, and it will be taught alongside the traditional one.

Having access to many teachers with varying details allows me to explore several options and figure out what works within my abilities. The other day in Jiu-Jitsu when Conan had us practicing north-south choke, Brad showed me a slight variation that he said was taught to him by Ray. When he did the choke, his shoulder was driving directly into my trachea, which was very painful and effective. When I tried to do it like he did, I had a hard time getting my shoulder in the right place, so I wasn't able to cause the same effect. However, Brad pointed out that I didn't really need the shoulder, because my bony little arms encircling his neck hurt like crazy, and my blood choke was so effective that his fingers and toes started tingling right away.  It turned out that the original way we were practicing the choke worked better for me, but the variation was better for Brad.

When someone teaches me something I already "know" in a manner that is different than what I have previously learned, I just keep an open mind and try to figure out if what they are offering is something that could be helpful to me. Sometimes just slightly altering the details of a technique can make it go from one that doesn't work very well to one that does. The only "right" way to do something is in the manner that is the most effective for you, and a good way to find out what that is to be able to try different options. Opening your mind can help you find your way.

Let the games begin!

I recently found out that the Battle on the Plains IV Jiu-Jitsu Tournament is coming up in about a month.  I had been doing a good job of competing on a regular basis, and then I broke my wrist five months ago, so now it's been eight months since I last competed.  I really don't want to think about competition right now, but I know it's time to jump back in the game, so I will be entering the tournament.

There's a good chance I'm only going to compete in gi this time, because that's what I train the most often.  I just don't even want to think about competing in no gi at this point.  Well actually, as I said before, I don't want to think about competing at all, but if I have to I would prefer to just focus on gi.  My last two grappling tournaments were both no gi, and I got crazy new gi skills I wanna try out!  I know that I have improved since my past competitions, and my biggest challenge is going to be to not defeat myself (as I have in the past).  As long as I can keep my wits about me, and not let my nerves get the better of me, my progress should be evident.

Tuesday when I was rolling with Conan, over half of the class was watching and coaching me, which made me hella nervous!  I figure if I can survive that, then the tournament should be a breeze, because I'm pretty sure I will not have to fight Conan.

So now my off-season has officially ended.  A couple of months after the Battle on the Plains is the Cornhusker State Games.  I've already been asked by a few people if I'm going to compete in Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, and Judo like I did last year and my answer is "I don't know, I haven't decided yet, stop bugging me, I don't want to think about any of it, go away before I punch you in the spleen!"  Let the games begin!

Punch the Clown

One of the reasons Jiu-Jitsu doesn't satisfy all of my martial cravings is because in Jiu-Jitsu we are not allowed to punch things, and I really like punching things, punching things is fun! I think my favorite thing to punch is ribs, but punching bags is also pleasing.

I believe my love of punching things was born when I was about four and my dad bought me "Punch the Clown", whose sole purpose of existence was to be punched. You can see from the picture that I loved Punch! Even though my dad and uncle destroyed Punch by punching him one too many times, the short time I had with him is forever etched in my brain. Ever since then I have loved punching things, especially clowns. To this day it's not safe for me to go to a circus or be around Shriners, because I am overcome with an irresistible urge to punch clowns in their big red noses!

I don't remember ever kicking Punch, because his name was clearly not Kick the Clown. Which might explain why I am not as fond of kicking things as I am of punching them. Even all these years after Punch's tragic death, he still holds a special place in my heart. I dedicate this poem to him.

Weebles may wobble and not fall down

But no toy was as cool as Punch the Clown

He was a friend I cannot replace

Because he let me punch him in the face

Daddy's Girl

When I'm playing Fallout 3, I love it when the Super Mutants say "Stupid lady!" as I'm killing them, even though I've not really much of a "lady", I'm more like a broad or a dame (but not a floozy or a hussy!), which is perfectly fine with me.

My dad didn't have any sons, so he just did the things a father might do with them with us girls instead. We went fishing, played catch, helped him work on the car, and he would buy us "boy toys" (which I think was really just so he could play with them ;). I was always at his side, and I don't know if it was the things we did as much as that I just liked spending time with him. I especially didn't care for fishing (oh, so boring), but one of my fondest memories involves my dad and I painting my Mustang when I was sixteen (too bad I wrecked it a couple of months later!).

My sisters and I mowed the lawn, changed the oil in our own cars, took out the trash. My dad would not let us get drivers licenses until we could change a tire by ourselves. When we kept fighting, he threatened to buy us boxing gloves and let us have at it. Yet, despite all of this, we never doubted or questioned that we were daddy's little girls. He made it clear to us that knowing how to do these things had nothing to do with our sex, and everything to do with our ability to be independent human beings. He loved his daughters, and he wanted to make sure we didn't limit ourselves to traditional gender roles. He always encouraged us to not let anyone tell us we couldn't do something just because we were female.

When I was a nineteen I was a department manager for a store, and one of the things I sold in my department was guns. I once had a male customer who refused to allow me to help him, and he asked for "a man", so I called one of the male store managers to assist him. When the manager found out that the reason the customer didn't want me to help him was because I was female, he said "Gina is the manager of this department, and she knows more about these guns than I do. If you want to buy one, you're going to have to buy it from her.", then he walked away. My manager risked losing a sale, and angering a customer, in order to stand up for womankind. I sold that asshole two guns that day.

Within my lifetime, women in the US were not allowed to have credit cards without a husband or father to co-sign for them. When I was born in 1969, women only had about five careers they could chose from; teacher, flight attendant, operator, nurse, or prostitute. We have come a long way in that time, but there's still a way to go. In the dojo not too long ago I had a male white belt karate student who did not want me (a black belt) to teach him simply because I'm a woman. I didn't call a "manager" for help that time, I just told him if he didn't want me to teach him, then he was free to leave.

I don't know if I could make it in a male-dominated world as a "lady", but this broad is equipped to deal with it, and still remain all woman as I do so. My daddy taught me well, and I think he would be proud.

Frenemy

After I wrote about The SOB in my last post, someone asked who is the person that I'm "mad at", so I wanted to explain. I am not now, nor have I ever been, mad at The SOB. I just like to give him a hard time because in a way he's what you might call my Jiu-Jitsu nemesis. He brought it on himself!

When I started Jiu-Jitsu he was one of the few people who would ask me to roll, and he was the first guy with more experience than me who didn't hold back when we grappled. It was quite a shock the first time I rolled with him, because it made me realize how much some of the other students had been taking it easy on me. There's a good chance he was actually going lighter with me than he would have with another white belt, but the fact that he repeatedly submitted me in various painful ways sure didn't feel like it!

I appreciate that he's always respected me as a worthy partner. He's never been reckless or injured me in any way, but from day one he's made me really work when I roll with him, and he's always been willing to help me learn. He reached out to me, and his "tough love" helped me grow. Which is why I am on a quest to submit him! The best way I can think of to repay him for investing his time and energy is by getting good enough so that I can beat him.

He once told me that he knows his days are numbered until I'm able to submit him. When it finally happens, I hope he also realizes that he's partially responsible for it. I didn't choose The SOB as my friendly foe, he became one by challenging me.

The Secret of my Success

I don't often write about the specifics of my rolling, because talking about all the details bores me, and I don't always remember them. When I do write about open mat, I'm much more likely to talk about my failures than successes. One of the reasons for this is that I'm generally more focused on the negative (so I can correct myself!), but another reason is because although I try to come across as all mean, I'm actually a big softie (which sickens me! ;). Don't get me wrong, I have no problem kicking ass and taking names, I just don't want to reveal those names publicly. Since most of my rolling "successes" (read: submissions) happen against white belts, I don't want to write about them for fear of making people feel bad, or discouraging them.

I don't actually believe that most of the students who I train with read my blog, but we are a small school, and on the off-chance that someone might hear that I wrote about tapping them out, I'm afraid it might embarrass them, particularly if they are new. The SOB once joked about it, but I don't want people to be reluctant to roll with me because they're afraid I'm going to talk about how much more awesome I am than they are! Even if I used nicknames, it probably wouldn't be too hard for people to figure out who I was talking about. Maybe I'm being too sensitive about it, but I don't want to hurt feelings.

Lately I've been rolling with a lot of purple and black belts (so the only one tapping out has been me ;). The last time I rolled with Conan, at one point he asked "Are you trying to submit me?", and I answered "No, I gave up on that a long time ago, now I just try to survive." To me, surviving for over ten minutes against Conan seems like a greater success than tapping out a white belt. I have never been able to make it through a roll with him without eventually being submitted (except for one time when I caught him slipping). Someday I hope to prevent it long enough so that we will run out of time! When I do, you can bet I will write about it "Woohoo, Conan didn't tap me out today! Who's awesome? I'm awesome!" If I ever actually succeed in submitting Conan (for reals, and not because he's taking it easy on me ;) I know he would not mind me writing about it. As a matter of fact, no one would probably be happier for me than he would. I don't think you can make it to black belt without conquering your ego.

Last week I accidentally hit one of the new white belts in the face, and of course I said "I'm sorry!", to which he replied "It's okay, if I can't take a punch to the face, I'm probably in the wrong place." I suppose the same holds true in regards to them being submitted by me; if they can't take it, then they are probably in the wrong place. However, I still want to be careful when I talk about it, because every "success" for me is a "failure" for someone else, and many new students have a hard enough time as it is, without me telling the internet all about how I destroyed them!

Since I mentioned The SOB earlier, I thought I would clarify that I don't care about his feelings, the only reason I have not yet written a post about submitting him is because I have not yet been able to submit him. However, he has also not triangled me since the day I wrote that post...oh, but not for lack of trying! He even tried to triangle me today, but I was like "Oh no you didn't!" So, I also consider that to be one of my greatest successes. Even though he's tapped me out with a bunch of other chokes, he can't triangle me anymore, and that feels like a great victory. It's all in how you look at it.

Bad dog!

No little sticks for my dog!

I should have named my dog "Houdini" because he is a master escape artist. We have a six-foot privacy fence in our backyard, and even though he is only about two-feet tall, he quickly figured out how to get over it. He would hop over the short fence into the garden, then climb on top of the mulch pile and jump over the privacy fence. His main reason for doing this is brotherly love! You see, our neighbors adopted his brother at the same time we adopted Jay, and he loves to go next door and play with Jake. Yes, they are named Jay and Jake...Jay Tripps and Jake Tanglefoot to be exact, and neither of us even knew what the other one was naming them!

Due to Jay's insistence on trying to get out and visit Jake, I have learned that Jiu-Jitsu training can also be beneficial in trying to deal with a sneaky dog! Last week Jake was outside in the neighbor's front yard, and Jay found a new way to escape from the house to go see him. We have a double-hung window upstairs, and the top section of it was open. Jay could not reach the open window, so he climbed on top of the love seat and literally scaled the wall to reach it. Then he jumped through the window with such force that it knocked out the screen that was clipped in. After surviving the ten-foot fall to the roof of the front porch, he then jumped fifteen feet off of the porch into the front yard.

Jay thought he was home free, but little did he know that one of our women's Jiu-Jitsu students, AJ, lives next door. She caught him, and since his collar had fallen off during his escape, she held him in back control until I got over there. As she was releasing him to me, Jay took the opportunity to try to run, and he almost got away, until I reached out with one hand and grabbed him by the skin on his side. I still can't believe I was actually able to catch him, and I'm convinced my Jiu-Jitsu training helped me to do so. There was no way he was getting away from my awesome grip skills! At that point he just sat down, and allowed me to pick him up and carry him home. Jiu-Jitsu can help in ways you never even realize, both AJ and I were able to control Jay without hurting either him or ourselves!

Nerds!

Ginger Snaps was recently named a Top BJJ Nerd Blog by Daniel Faggella over at Science of Skill. At first I was like "Excuse me? I am not a nerd, I am super cool!", but then I realized a few things...

1. It doesn't necessarily mean that I'm a nerd, just that nerds might like my blog.

2. When you put BJJ in front of any word, it automatically becomes cool, so "BJJ nerd" is an oxymoron.

3. I am, in fact, a nerd.

Coming soon to a theater near you "Revenge of the BJJ Nerds"...picking on these nerds could be hazardous to your health! Seriously, Daniel said some very nice things about Ginger Snaps, and I am honored to find myself in such great company among the other blogs he has included!

Amnesia

Why are there some things I feel like I know about Jiu-Jitsu, but when it's grappling time, I suddenly develop amnesia and forget them? Even though I know better than to turn my back to someone when they have me in side control, I still did it the other day when I was rolling with Greg. He said "You're supposed to turn toward me, not away.", and I was thinking "Yeah, I totally know that, I just thought today was opposite day and so I should do the opposite of what I'm supposed to do!" Seriously, what's up with that? I even lost a competition Jiu-Jitsu match because of that very thing, but I still do it.

I think part of the problem is that I have not yet fully developed my mind-body connection, and I do things like that without even realizing I'm doing them. If I was watching myself, I would be like "WTF? You know better than that!" I've also noticed that the less relaxed I am, the more likely they are to happen (which is why I spazzed out while rolling with Greg ;). When I'm too tense, I revert to primitive brain function, and my body just does whatever it feels like, which is usually the opposite of what you should do in Jiu-Jitsu, since so much of it is counter-intuitive. The more stressed I am, the longer it takes for me to realize what's happening, which slows down my reaction time. At some point my brain will finally kick in and say "No, turn the other way, idiot!", but by then it's often too late.

It has gotten progressively better over the years, I'm less likely do things I know I shouldn't do. As my muscle memory grows, it's easier for me to react appropriately without having to think about it, even when I'm stressed. I think the only cure for this affliction is the same thing recommended for almost any Jiu-Jitsu ailment...more mat time. I prescribe myself massive doses of grappling to cure my amnesia.

Time to Relax

This is Greg, in the white gi, back when he was a purple belt.

I wasn't intending to roll at the end of Jiu-Jitsu yesterday, my injured wrist had gotten tweaked earlier in class and it was hurting, so I was just going to sit out for open mat. Then Greg, our BJJ black belt instructor, asked me to roll, and I'd never grappled with him before, so how could I say no?! I have to admit that in a way I've always been a little bit intimidated by him. He's a super nice guy, and I've never been afraid of him hurting me or anything like that, I just felt like if I grappled with him he would really be able to see how much I don't know, and then I would feel totally stupid!

I actually told him that I was nervous, and I'm sure he could tell because I was pretty tense. It's taken me a long time to be able relax at all when I grapple, and rolling with Greg made me revert back to over-thinking mode. He just took it slow and tried to help me understand why things were and weren't working. After he swept me he asked me why I thought he was able to do it, and it surprised me that I knew the answer (but I didn't realize it until he pointed it out to me).

This is not Greg, it's Milton, chilling on a beach.

Whenever I watch Greg grapple, one of the things that has always stood out to me is how relaxed he is. Seriously, he'll be rolling with the biggest, strongest guys who are grunting and panting, and he just looks like he's sitting on a beach somewhere drinking an Armbar Ale! I believe relaxation is a large part of why he is able to sense the slightest change in his partner's balance, direction, or even breathing, and capitalize on it. Greg doesn't use strength, he doesn't have to because he knows much more efficient ways to get what he wants, and he's relaxed enough to take full advantage of them. Relaxation, and not relying on strength, also keep him from tiring out as soon.

It's generally hard enough for me to relax when people are not tossing me around like a rag doll and trying to break my limbs or choke the breath out of me, so that is an area I still need a lot of work on, but when I can see that relaxation is the very thing which may actually help prevent people from being able to do anything to me, it's importance becomes very clear. I think that if I'd been more relaxed when I was rolling with Greg yesterday, it would have helped me to better feel some of the things he was trying to point out to me. In my own experience, the more relaxed I am, the better I grapple. Someday I hope to be able to be as relaxed as Greg is...just chilling on a beach somewhere, submitting some dudes.

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." -Sydney J. Harris

You Really Got A Hold On Me

I want to take you on a trip back in time to exactly three years ago. A woman who was about to turn forty in a couple of months decided that she should start training Jiu-Jitsu. It seemed like a crazy decision to a lot of people, especially considering the fact that she totally sucked at it, I mean she did not have a clue! After Jiu-Jitsu class every muscle in her body would hurt, she was always covered with polka dot bruises, and she was constantly nursing injuries. She was as stiff as a board when she grappled, and she usually felt a little lost and confused in class. Not to mention that she was painfully shy, and she had a hard time asking people to roll, or seeking help.

By all rights she should have quit, it wouldn't have surprised anyone if she had. She just didn't seem cut out for it, it didn't seem like she really belonged. Yet, no matter how much she struggled, she was powerless to walk away. Since she couldn't quit, her only option was to keep trying to get better.

Slowly but surely, she did get better, and she started to feel like she belonged, and she started a blog to talk about this thing which had such a hold on her. This thing that challenged her and made her grow. This thing that tested every part of her being.

Three years. Three years to go from completely clueless to approaching awesome. Three years of hard work and fun, pain and joy, triumph and defeat. Three years that she would not trade for anything in the world. Now that she's seen how far she has come in such a relatively short amount of time, she can't wait to see what the next three Jiu-Jitsu years have in store.

"I don't like you, but I love you.  Seems that I'm always thinkin' of you.

Though you treat me badly, I love you madly.  You've really got a hold on me."