Making Connections

I believe we are all connected. Or in the words of Genki Sudo "We Are All One". I think our sub-conscious minds are somehow all linked up. You know the feeling you get when you walk in to a seedy pub or club full of sus dudes and a wave of gloom just washes over you. Or when you are at a music festival and everyone is so in to the music and having such a rad time a wave of euphoria comes over you. I think those waves are the collective sub conscious of the group connecting with your own. Yeah it's official, I'm a hippie.  

I think we can somewhat recreate those positive connections consciously. When ever I get to hang with a new mate I always try to look for that connection. Usually it's music. I love metal but I also listen to lots of other shit. I like hip-hop, break beat, punk, grunge, 80s cock rock, blues, folk, even some country. It's all good except for heartless pop and mindless trance.

BJJ is another way to make connections. If you both have trained for a while then you have heaps in common. I think that's why my blog gets a lot of traffic. Any one who has trained for a few months can totally relate/connect with what I'm banging on about.

At a philosophical level I could talk to a fellow Jits practitioner for hours. But actually rolling is the best way to get on the same page and communicate. The moment I slap hands it's possible to make those sub conscious connections again. Sometimes in the roll the art of bjj takes over and guides the collective sub conscious towards being totally immersed. But in the same way as when you walk in to a seedy pub, the roll can go bad when the energy is just off.

My coach has been working hard on getting everyone in the gym to roll with control and flow through all of our techniques. His philosophy on BJJ is very similar to Roy Deans ideas in the video clip below.

There are some guys in the gym I have some great conversations(rolls) with, back and forth and very stimulating. Some times I listen too much and should be a little more ascertive and some times I get in to yelling matches. But as in life off the mat, it's always better to try to listen and respond in equal amounts with people if you want to make some meaningful connections. I try to use as much etiquette and decorum as possible but I also try to add a little bit of my own accent and cool where I can.

Jits is not only a great way to keep fit, stimulate your mind and learn one of the most effective martial arts on the planet. It's also a great way to meet some most excellent individuals and make some rock solid connections.

C u on the mat

Rex

Birthday Punches.

I just turned another year older.... so anyway training is excellent. Worked on ground n pound with one of team mates at Saturdays open mat session. That was super fun. I love testing out my jits under some pressure. Finding out what works and how I react to being punched in the face. I'm not a huge fan of being smacked upside the head but it makes me fine tune my game from the bottom. I found in closed guard I had success with an armwrap and head control. I'd wait for my team mate to strike with his free hand then control that wrist hip out a little and look to set up a triangle or omoplata. I found that the omoplata worked for me real well. I'd at least get a sweep out of it. Then transition to the sidecontrol crucifix position and drop some hammer fists then maybe setup an armbar.

I found my self  having trouble pulling the trigger and punching my team mate in the face. The grappling gloves we train with have some padding... but not much. So even those little hammer fists do some damage. It just feels a bit awkward but once your team mate cracks you a few times and the adrenalin gets going it becomes a bit easier. The trick is to keep the punches hard enough to make them have to react but not that hard that u risk hurting or splitting a guy open who's getting ready for an upcoming fight.

I don't think I have ever hit anyone with my full power, ever. Even in the few street fights I've been in. I always pull my punches a bit and try to hit them often and fast.

Would be very interesting to get in the cage and let it all hang out one time. I've worked a lot of boxing technique over the years with my old man and brother and I think my boxing is at an ok level. Wow, listen to my self. Who am i kidding? At the weight i am at the moment i would have to fight dudes the size of Brock Lesnar... no thank you. Also the amount of time and effort I see the guys put in to prepare for a fight is crazy. Time I don't have right now. I wonder what my actual fighting weight would be if i got super fit though? I'm about 178cm tall but I've got big legs and I've got a deep core(fat arse) and chest(man boobs). I always thought it would be around 93kg. But it may be as low as 85?? hmmm.

Last nights training was mainly free rolling. Getting through all our positions and techniques. We also drilled the low butterfly pass, a transition from butterfly to x-guard and an x-guard sweep. Was a good session and i had some real nice flowing rolls with a couple of my fellow blue belts.

I've got a couple of my mates from Gympie in to BJJ, which is cool. They have both come down with me to train at advance now and are both real keen to keep it going. So see how it goes but hopefully it mean I'll have some local dudes keen to train and travel with. They both have picked it up real fast and will get good quickly, as long as they train 2-3times a week at least. Hopefully they get the jits bug like me.

C u on the mat.
Rex

Flow Rollin', Some Coachin' and Tummy Rumblin'

Trained twice last week and I'm happy with how I'm rolling at the moment. I'm flowing a lot better and getting through a lot of techniques. Mainly due to the way we are rolling in class. Coach has been trying to get everyone to roll with control and going almost go for go with your training partner. This really helps to make the roll much more enjoyable. Instead of the roll getting to certain positions and both training partners clamping down. Both not willing to let the other person get any advantage. Not willing to try something in the fear of getting submitted or swept. As I've blogged about before Don't Let Fear Hold You Back! Once you let go of that fear the game really opens up and becomes something really special. Rather than a game of who has the tightest grip.

Been helping my old footy team with there wrestling/controlling the ruck. Nothing to full on, just how to pummel, how to maintain side control and how to escape to the knees. It's a good chance for me to work on my teaching skills. I really enjoy helping out. Before I discovered BJJ footy was the sport I was passionate about and I still think it's a great game that can really bring the best out of people. Hopefully I can help them out in someway and may be get some new people interested in trying some jits one day.

Training at home is underway. I did a session with a young mate of mine. He's a keen ufc fan and was keen to try out some bjj. We did some circuit training which consisted of 8x2min rounds of gi-pullups, g n p bag, heavy bag and tyre chops. Then I gave him his first lesson in jits. Taught him to hip escape. How to come to the knees, Upa, the posture when in closed guard, how to break the closed guard and the double under pass to side control. Sounds like a lot but he was soaking it all up really well so I kept it going. He must have enjoyed it because he wants to come down to training with me at AdvanceSC tonight.

Teaching jits is definitely a technique in it's self. I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job or not. But as with any BJJ techniques it requires reps to get better at. I want to make sure I'm teaching correct techniques that I actually use and have a depth of knowledge on. I really want every technique that I teach to connect easily and flow together nicely. This is the way I was taught and it has helped me a lot.

I'm still watching what I eat very closely and cutting back on the amount of crap I stuff in to my pie hole. It's not easy some days... well actually everyday. Right now I'm feeling a bit weird. Headaches, bad moods and tummy rumbles. I think it's due to my body craving sugar. I'm definitely not starving myself, but my body is used to having a constant stream of sugar and carbs being put in to it. Now it's not getting that, it's freaking out a bit. On the days I train jits it's not so bad because my mind is on the upcoming session on the mat and then afterwards I think about what I got done and what I'm going to do next time I roll. My brain's not thinking about food. But on a day like yesterday where I worked in the morning then chilled in the arvo on my couch watching the UFC, it gets real tough. I crave junk food real bad kfc! nachos! chips! coke!. But I've held strong..... so far.... but I'd choke my own mother for a Beefy pie and a 600ml coke right now.

C u on the mat,
Rex