When myself, Abby Bork, and Noah Sazy were promoted to new belts last week, we got to partake in a Jorge Gurgel tradition that originated in Brazil. This is known as walking the gauntlet. I had been part of a few of these before, but this was my first time on the receiving end. The video is self explanatory, and yes it hurts....but it's OK that it hurts. Just thinking about all the pain and sacrifice I had to endure to make it this far in the last year and a half, makes the pain and the slow walk WELL worth it. I pray some day I can take this walk again some day.
Not all schools do this, but many do. Some let you wear your gi top, some just have the higher belts throw you, some do nothing but toss you a new belt. This is how we do it, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tuesday
Tonight was a very fun class. When I got there, I noticed hardly ANYONE was there. I quickly found out that is because we got our MMA cage set up in the building next door! Everyone was crowded around and a bunch of the MMA guys were sparring about 39 times harder then normal because they were "in da cage".
Class managed to start on time with Crazy Chris taking the lead. We did HIIT sprints as the main cardio followed by about 2 minutes of holding the plank position. That was tough, and I saw guys falling all over the place. That makes the sweat shoot out of my skin.
Chris then had us get in groups of 3. I got paired up with "salty" Jorge and Dan-O. Jorge is a 4 stripe white belt and Dan-O is an assassin who happens to be wearing 2 stripes on his blue belt for the current moment as he shoots up the ladder to stardom. Each person took a turn being in the middle. We did 30 second rounds, where you had to score a point. If you didn't, you had to do 5 pushups. Every 30 seconds, the fresh guy would go in to the group. The "in" person had to go through 6 rounds of rotating fresh opponents. Then the next person in the group was in the middle and the cycle continued. Basically it's straight rolling for like 30 minutes with no more then a 30 second break. Chris changed up the positions every couple rounds. It's great cardio, and great situational rolling. I did OK considering my very game group mates. I scored some, tied some, and lost a couple.
Big Dawg showed us a few collar chokes from different positions for the technique portion of class. The first we learned was from knee on belly and was in the "baseball" grip. See the video below if you don't know what that is. We worked that for a while then he showed the baseball bat choke from guard (similar to what is shown below). Clint then showed a couple other tricky variations that he likes to use. Clint's more of a top player, but has SICK chokes from the guard, so it was a fun class.
Similar technique:
We finished with 30 minutes or so of rolling and I got to roll with Crazy Chris, Crazy Legs Wenstrom, Mike Spears, and Mark "Thesz" Van Tongeren who all have very different and unique games. I tried to work on tight guard passing and armdrags and sweeps from the bottom. I got essentially a "flying flower sweep" on Spears which was fun and probably the highlight of my rolls. As I was rolling with Chris, Clint sat by us and told me I was leaving way too much space which was definitely true and is a common problem of mine. It's just not completely natural to have my hips down to the ground like a BJJ snake. It will come. Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm in this for the long haul =)
Class managed to start on time with Crazy Chris taking the lead. We did HIIT sprints as the main cardio followed by about 2 minutes of holding the plank position. That was tough, and I saw guys falling all over the place. That makes the sweat shoot out of my skin.
Chris then had us get in groups of 3. I got paired up with "salty" Jorge and Dan-O. Jorge is a 4 stripe white belt and Dan-O is an assassin who happens to be wearing 2 stripes on his blue belt for the current moment as he shoots up the ladder to stardom. Each person took a turn being in the middle. We did 30 second rounds, where you had to score a point. If you didn't, you had to do 5 pushups. Every 30 seconds, the fresh guy would go in to the group. The "in" person had to go through 6 rounds of rotating fresh opponents. Then the next person in the group was in the middle and the cycle continued. Basically it's straight rolling for like 30 minutes with no more then a 30 second break. Chris changed up the positions every couple rounds. It's great cardio, and great situational rolling. I did OK considering my very game group mates. I scored some, tied some, and lost a couple.
Big Dawg showed us a few collar chokes from different positions for the technique portion of class. The first we learned was from knee on belly and was in the "baseball" grip. See the video below if you don't know what that is. We worked that for a while then he showed the baseball bat choke from guard (similar to what is shown below). Clint then showed a couple other tricky variations that he likes to use. Clint's more of a top player, but has SICK chokes from the guard, so it was a fun class.
Similar technique:
We finished with 30 minutes or so of rolling and I got to roll with Crazy Chris, Crazy Legs Wenstrom, Mike Spears, and Mark "Thesz" Van Tongeren who all have very different and unique games. I tried to work on tight guard passing and armdrags and sweeps from the bottom. I got essentially a "flying flower sweep" on Spears which was fun and probably the highlight of my rolls. As I was rolling with Chris, Clint sat by us and told me I was leaving way too much space which was definitely true and is a common problem of mine. It's just not completely natural to have my hips down to the ground like a BJJ snake. It will come. Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm in this for the long haul =)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
faixa azul: dia um
My first class as a blue belt was awesome! Charles and Mr. Hyde ran the class. We warmed up with some wonderful sport specific hip and core exersises that Chuckles put together. We played guard against the wall and changed from left side to right side to inverted and back again, constantly shifting our hips. We also did a number of sitting motions where we shifted our legs to different positions. It was fun and effective.
We did some basic oma plata stuff in class, and a transition from oma to armbar. Mr. Hyde showed a variety of position he sets these up. It was a good lesson from two awesome instructors.
We had a good amount of time for some live rolling, and I was lucky enough to roll with everyone one in the room, instructors included. I picked up some much overdue tweaking on my knee lead guard pass from Chuckles. I had been questioning where to put my grips when an underhook is not readily available. He showed me to grab both the same side lapels tight; and also to lean in towards the pass as I scoot my knee lead from his weiner area to his chest. I had been staying upright too much in an attempt to keep good posture and not get swept. I think this small tweak will make my guard passes more dangerous.
We did some basic oma plata stuff in class, and a transition from oma to armbar. Mr. Hyde showed a variety of position he sets these up. It was a good lesson from two awesome instructors.
We had a good amount of time for some live rolling, and I was lucky enough to roll with everyone one in the room, instructors included. I picked up some much overdue tweaking on my knee lead guard pass from Chuckles. I had been questioning where to put my grips when an underhook is not readily available. He showed me to grab both the same side lapels tight; and also to lean in towards the pass as I scoot my knee lead from his weiner area to his chest. I had been staying upright too much in an attempt to keep good posture and not get swept. I think this small tweak will make my guard passes more dangerous.
A brand new day
I'm finally back home from my work trip to French Lick, IN. The resort was
INCREDIBLE they put us up in, and if it wasn't literally in the middle of nowhere, I would recommend everyone to go. My wife and I got to go horse back riding and get massages in between the nice dinners and boozing.
I'm very excited for class tonight as I haven't been to one since last Tuesday. I need to step up the training for Naga Milwaukee. I was walking around at 195 for most of the time in the past couple months, but after my little "business" trip I'm now around 200. I'm planning to go 170-179 for Naga, so it's about time to get serious with the training and just as importantly, the diet.
Tonight will be my first official full class as a blue belt! I am very proud to be recognized by Clint Crabtree, and be awarded this rank promotion. I am 33 years old, and not the strongest, fastest, or most athletic guy at the gym by a long shot. But I LOVE this sport, and I LOVE my team. I have busted my ass to get to class 5-6 days per week most times for the last year and a half. I'm not the brightest, or quickest study; and I needed every minute of that time to progress my skills. I literally couldn't have done it without my incredible coaches: Clint "Big Dawg" Crabtree, Charles "Cthulhu, C, Chuckles, C-Brian" Smith, "Crazy" Chris Crampton, and Ryan "Mr." Hyde.
I also couldn't have done it without my friends and teammates. I'm not going to name names, because it's a long list, and I don't want to forget anyone, or leave anyout out....but you know who you are. You made me stay on task when I was screwing around. You pushed me to sprint harder. You corrected me when I made a mistake. You said "go, go, go" when I was just sitting there. You oma-plata'd me when I put my hand on the mat. You "thesz'd" me when I was looking the wrong direction. You crushed your shoulder into my chin so hard I thought I was going to have my jaw fall off. I have to thank everyone sincerely...white belts, blue belts, purple belts and Black belts (JG, Clint, Neto, Carlson Jr, Robson, Hermes, Tozi, etc). I have learned so much from every single one of you.
I'm ranting now, and it's only a blue belt. I have a LONG way to go to meet my ultimate goal. I want to be a Clint Crabtree black belt. That is MANY years in the future, so right now I just have to focus on my fundentals. The more fancy moves I learn, I realize that the simple basics are the most important thing. The fundementals of BJJ are there for a reason and are usually the most efficient way to get things done. I have to work a lot on my fundementals, as I make a lot of mistakes. I am in a great position being on the best team with the best instructors. I know my dreams can come true.
This all being said, I'm gonna go work my ass off tonight. Your belt only covers 2 inches of your ass, as Royce Gracie once said. I see the long journey ahead, and look forward to every single day of it.
Thank you everyone!
INCREDIBLE they put us up in, and if it wasn't literally in the middle of nowhere, I would recommend everyone to go. My wife and I got to go horse back riding and get massages in between the nice dinners and boozing.
I'm very excited for class tonight as I haven't been to one since last Tuesday. I need to step up the training for Naga Milwaukee. I was walking around at 195 for most of the time in the past couple months, but after my little "business" trip I'm now around 200. I'm planning to go 170-179 for Naga, so it's about time to get serious with the training and just as importantly, the diet.
Tonight will be my first official full class as a blue belt! I am very proud to be recognized by Clint Crabtree, and be awarded this rank promotion. I am 33 years old, and not the strongest, fastest, or most athletic guy at the gym by a long shot. But I LOVE this sport, and I LOVE my team. I have busted my ass to get to class 5-6 days per week most times for the last year and a half. I'm not the brightest, or quickest study; and I needed every minute of that time to progress my skills. I literally couldn't have done it without my incredible coaches: Clint "Big Dawg" Crabtree, Charles "Cthulhu, C, Chuckles, C-Brian" Smith, "Crazy" Chris Crampton, and Ryan "Mr." Hyde.
I also couldn't have done it without my friends and teammates. I'm not going to name names, because it's a long list, and I don't want to forget anyone, or leave anyout out....but you know who you are. You made me stay on task when I was screwing around. You pushed me to sprint harder. You corrected me when I made a mistake. You said "go, go, go" when I was just sitting there. You oma-plata'd me when I put my hand on the mat. You "thesz'd" me when I was looking the wrong direction. You crushed your shoulder into my chin so hard I thought I was going to have my jaw fall off. I have to thank everyone sincerely...white belts, blue belts, purple belts and Black belts (JG, Clint, Neto, Carlson Jr, Robson, Hermes, Tozi, etc). I have learned so much from every single one of you.
I'm ranting now, and it's only a blue belt. I have a LONG way to go to meet my ultimate goal. I want to be a Clint Crabtree black belt. That is MANY years in the future, so right now I just have to focus on my fundentals. The more fancy moves I learn, I realize that the simple basics are the most important thing. The fundementals of BJJ are there for a reason and are usually the most efficient way to get things done. I have to work a lot on my fundementals, as I make a lot of mistakes. I am in a great position being on the best team with the best instructors. I know my dreams can come true.
This all being said, I'm gonna go work my ass off tonight. Your belt only covers 2 inches of your ass, as Royce Gracie once said. I see the long journey ahead, and look forward to every single day of it.
Thank you everyone!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Blue
I was awarded my blue belt last night by my instructor, black belt Clint Crabtree. I have to drive 6.5 hours to French Lick, IN for work and be there until friday night. More thoughts after that.
In the meanwhile...Robson Moura competed no-gi at grapplers quest. He's pretty good...not as good as Iggy, but pretty damn good.
In the meanwhile...Robson Moura competed no-gi at grapplers quest. He's pretty good...not as good as Iggy, but pretty damn good.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Blogs suck
Sorry I haven't updated in a week or so. I hate blogs that don't update. I hate even more blogs who post blogs about how they are "so busy" and can't update.
I have missed a couple classes the last 2 weeks. I am only averaging maybe 4 days per week going to class in this period. I think the top of my foot might be broken also.
Tuesday class is mandatory according to the big boss, so it will be very interesting to see what's going down.
I have been working on takedowns, stand up guard passes, x-guard, and more.
Sorry to my loyal readers (all 18-20 per day). You have come from all over the globe to read my stupid training blog, which was started for no one other then myself. I will start putting up cooler regular updates soon. Except....
I have to go to French Lick, IN this week from Wednesday through Friday for work. I work for a cell phone company and we are having two awards dinners that I have to attend. For the MI/IN/KY region they had to pick a place 6.5 hours away from me. Drats.
After I get back it will be May 1st. Assuming my foot is decent enough to go, I am going to start training hard and often for NAGA Milwaukee. I feel like I've lost some cardio since my great training for the Arnolds. I hope to do much better in gi then at the Arnolds, and think with the experience I have gained that should be pretty easy to do.
It's all about the journey, baby.
I have missed a couple classes the last 2 weeks. I am only averaging maybe 4 days per week going to class in this period. I think the top of my foot might be broken also.
Tuesday class is mandatory according to the big boss, so it will be very interesting to see what's going down.
I have been working on takedowns, stand up guard passes, x-guard, and more.
Sorry to my loyal readers (all 18-20 per day). You have come from all over the globe to read my stupid training blog, which was started for no one other then myself. I will start putting up cooler regular updates soon. Except....
I have to go to French Lick, IN this week from Wednesday through Friday for work. I work for a cell phone company and we are having two awards dinners that I have to attend. For the MI/IN/KY region they had to pick a place 6.5 hours away from me. Drats.
After I get back it will be May 1st. Assuming my foot is decent enough to go, I am going to start training hard and often for NAGA Milwaukee. I feel like I've lost some cardio since my great training for the Arnolds. I hope to do much better in gi then at the Arnolds, and think with the experience I have gained that should be pretty easy to do.
It's all about the journey, baby.
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