Out for a while

I haven't blogged in a while but now I have some downtime. 2 weeks for sure once I have my surgery.

Apparently, they back pain and issues I've been having the past 4-6 weeks is related to my gallbladder and pancreatitis. I had a CT of my abdomen and a gallbladder ultrasound yesterday to confirm this. I came to the ER after my back was hurting for nearly 36 hours straight (I took norco, soma, advil, used ice/heat, icey hot, massage with very little relief). After it was hurting for so long yesterday night/morning I began to have severe abdominal pain along with the back pain. Talk about miserable!!!!

So, I won't be training for several weeks. I'm not sure what I will be able to do at the Ralph Gracie seminar on April 30th. I'm bummed that I won't be able to train and that this will set me back.

The good news is I this will allow me to feel better, rest up, and have more motivation for BJJ!

Back pain and training

Last Monday I rolled with a very strong wrestler who is new to the class. Other than going at 110% he was pretty rough on me. Needless to say Tuesday I was hurting pretty bad and by Wednesday I was having horrible back spasms. I did not compete in our in-house tournament because during the day I went to the ER and was given IV Robaxin (a muscle relaxer) and some pain medication.

I went to class last night and I rolled for 5 minutes towards the end of class (probably at 80% or so) with out hurting myself. Honestly, I think I felt better after class.

I've had some back strains before from work (lifting people, moving people, etc) and I'm not certain that BJJ hurt my back. I'm sure it is a combination of things but I honestly feel that BJJ is helping my back and my body. I'm more active now than I have been in years and I can only hope that my health and my back will prosper.

BJJ class

Tonight we went over side mount chokes and submissions with a "flow" from one to the other.

First, the arm-bar from side control. We started out with our typical side control (one hand behind the head meeting your other hand that underhooks an arm meeting somewhere along their back).

We move a hand to block a hip and also use our knees to block their back and body. From there, we would (close to the same time) roll them to their side and take our arm that is under their head and hook under their arm that is close to our body. We then would move our leg over their head and sit back for an arm bar. Typical arm-bar setup except one foot sits under their torso.

From there, we could go for a collar choke if they block the arm bar. If they block that, we could do a wrist lock, and if they block that, we could go into a head/arm choke.

And as Tony said it "and if the fucker still wont tap".. we then went into the Ezequiel choke. One of my favorite moves thus far. It's pretty sneaky as your opponent is unaware of the beginning of the set-up usually and to top it off, it's probably one of the tightest and most uncomfortable chokes.

Pretty vague on some of the later techniques but I typically visualize these moves as I try to fall asleep. Maybe as I get into my blogging I will give more details (I'm sure that will help me later this year as I test out for my blue belt in front of Ralph Gracie ... that's right, we get our belt promotions from a Gracie legend!)

Lately, my left shoulder has been giving me some problems. I think I should probably take some time off from training and let it rest/heal. I talked to Tony and I can still do the instruction part but I can sit out of the sparring session until I heal up. I hate to do this (H A T E). Sparring is my favorite part!

Anyways, on a personal note things have calmed down on the home front so far. Work is still work (with the possibility of a new part-time job on the horizon) and the relationship is coming out of the slump. I think we just had a bad week or two and it caught up with us.

Life is great tho..

Roll safe!

A slump?

My previous posts have been mostly uplifting and exciting but here lately, I feel that I'm losing ground or not gaining ground. Does that even make sense? Let me explain.

In class I feel like I my technique isn't there. For a few weeks the people I was rolling with would tell me things like "you're getting good" or "man you are slick". But the past few classes, I've felt out of focus, distracted, and weak. One of the assistant instructors told me about about peaks and valleys. He said that he felt that he is in that situation himself at the moment.

It makes sense. I guess that is part of the learning process. I admit, I have several things in my personal life that are distractions (work, relationships, kids, stress, life, etc).

I still don't have any subscribers but I should be patient.

Starting after class tonight I'm going to start blogging about class and what we went over.

Roll safe!

Stripe number 2!!!

Tonight I received my second stripe! I wasn't expecting to get a 2nd stripe for another few weeks or even a month; at the very least.

Ralph Gracie will be here on April 30th and I can't be more excited. Ralph Gracie is a legend and I'm sure his skills on the ground are god-like. If you're close to Lubbock Texas, I encourage you to come by and meet the legend.

I'm still reading the books and trying to use what I read about in the gym. I can honestly say that I've learned quite a bit from the book.

Sorry I haven't blogged lately. I've been working on some relationship issues. I'm sure we all have rough spots in the road, so I have been concentrating on that. Besides, I think I'm the only one who reads this anyways! Ha!

Roll safe!

Survivor

I started reading Jiu-Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro and a lot of what I've read so far is making complete sense. As a white belt you basically look to just survive. You don't have too many offensive weapons so you try to survive. I can relate to this because when I first started, I knew nothing other than I didn't want to get choked or end up in a joint lock.

Last night during class I was partnered with a guy who does MMA and has a few fights under his belt. He is pretty good as he knows quite a few offensive moves. The first round of rolling, I survived. I swept, escaped, got swept, mounted, and managed to survive. The next couple of rounds I gassed and basically was dead meat.

He told me I was "pretty strong" and "you've gotten a lot better". I take that as a compliment. I truly believe in the techniques, even the few that I know.

So my point is, I'm just learning to survive and learning well. The submission skills will come with time, we are learning those too.

But, position before submission. That is an excellent quote.

Roll safe!

Tapping a purple belt

Sorta...

I had him in half-guard and since he was a lot taller than me (he's probably 6'4" compared to my 5'9"), I decided to try and work out of it and I apparently put a little too much pressure on his nuts. Yes, he forgot to wear his cup and I got a little high up on him. He tapped and said "my nuts, my nuts!". Poor guy. Is that move legal in competition?

During another one of our rolls I got jabbed on the noggin. I have a nice hematoma on the left side of my forehead. I guess an eye for an eye.. or something.

We we're both exhausted and I just worked on escapes and surviving basically. He tapped me a few times of course but I did manage a few escapes (mount escape was the hardest!) Sure, he may have been going a little easy on me but still, the technique was good according to him. I think that says a lot.

I love this sport. I'm excited that I'm progressing and retaining some of this information.

I bought "Jiu-Jitsu University" tonight and once I read it, I will blog a review.

I loaned out Roy Dean's blue belt requirement DVD's so once I get them back, I'll review them also.

Thanks for reading! Roll safe!