It's Kind of Like This...

When I grapple a lot of the guys at my school, this is kind of what it's like.



I am doing everything in my power to try to get them and they are just relaxing and having fun! :)

Kicked In The Face

Big knee to the face tonight. No, not to me. By me. To Fabio. Really bad.

And here I thought I was getting a little better about the whole unintentional MMA thing. Man, I clocked Fabio right in the forehead with my knee. It made that horrible "twunk" sound. Afterwards, I apologized. He said, "It's ok, I'm used to it. You do it all the time." Crestfallen, I asked him, "Really? Do I kick you in the face every time?" He kind of smiled and shrugged, then nodded.

Well suckity suck. :(

It is now my mission to make it through my next grapple day of grappling without ANY face kicks! lol For real. This must end. I need to get my knobby knees under control.

I do have some sunshine for you.

Some of our new girls have started training in gi! I see many choke and sweep techniques in our Women's Class' future. :)

BJJ Sweeps: Levers and Force

In the last few months, the techniques that have most held my attention have been ones that involve using levers for getting your opponent off balance and then using force in the right direction to take them over. I am always thinking about it when I grapple. What can I trap and how can I take them over?

Here is what I look for specifically:

1) Where is their weight distributed? If they are leaning back, that is the way I am going to try to go. If their weight is forward, then I am going to take them that way.

2) Based on there their weight is, what will they use to steady themselves if I push them that way? Whatever it is, I try to trap it. Usually, it is an arm or a leg, or the hips. I am finding that hip movement is MUCH more important to sweeping--and defending sweeps--than is arm or leg strength. In fact, if I am straining, then I can be pretty much be sure that I have the angle off and I need to hip a certain way to fix it.

3) Be prepared to go the opposite way. Every time I push, I am expecting the person to resist in the opposite direction. Because of that, I try to get ready to pull and block on that direction so they go over.

The Trickity Trap:

A lot of the higher belts I grapple are really trickity. They like to pretend to be setting up a sweep, but then when you counter it, they take you over another way.
Anytime a higher belt appears to be letting me pass their guard... Trap.
Anytime a higher belt sits still for a minute while I am coming around to one side or driving into them...Trap.

Sadly, many times I have a feeling it might be a trap...and I keep going. Something like this usually results.

Sometimes, it is not so much that they planned it that way--although sometimes they do. More often, I think, it is their understanding of levers and force and years of practice doing the kinds of experimenting I mentioned above. They know how to get you off balance and how you are likely to try to regain your balance. Since they know the possibilities of what you might do, they already have a string of options in their minds that they can go to depending on your reaction.

Yeah. It's kind of not fair. ;)

But the cool thing is to think about how that could be me in the future. All I have to do is keep dragging myself out onto the mat and keep trying new ways to trap and trip up my opponents.

Women's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Lakeland, Florida

Stephanie made an awesome website for our Women's BJJ class! Thanks so much, Steph!!

http://womensbjj.weebly.com/

Let me know what you guys think!!

What Were You Thinking?

Have you ever had a bad habit that you wanted to change? Ever noticed how, the more you try to change that habit, the more control over you it seems to have? If you are trying to stop doing something, then the more you think about NOT doing it, the more you want to do that thing. It can be disheartening and make you feel like you are incapable of "getting better" in whatever area it is.

What I have been learning is that, the best way to change a bad habit is not to focus on that habit or on changing it. The best way to change is to focus on the healthy replacement that you want to adopt in it's place. For example, if you want to eat healthier, going around all day thinking, "I will not eat that chocolate. I will not eat that chocolate," will make you think about how much you want chocolate. You'll be binge eating snickers and kit-kats by 4 pm. But, if you spend your thoughts thinking about creative recipes that are healthier, you will be more likely to make healthier eating decisions.

The general idea is that the focus of your mind determines your actions.

Sounds obvious. But I think a lot of times I--and other people--sink our own ships by focusing on the negative instead of the positive.

In BJJ, it would look something like this: You are having trouble with a certain position. Say, bottom side control. So, before grappling you think, "I'm not going to get into bottom side control. I'm not going to get into bottom side control." But, where do you end up? Bottom side control.

What I have been trying to do instead is focus on what I DO want to do, instead of what I don't want to happen. Instead of thinking, "I don't want to get into bottom side control," I think, "I want to pass." Instead of my mind being focused on bottom side control--even if it is focused on avoiding bottom side control it is still focused on bottom side control--my mind instead focuses on a positive action; passing.

I know this sounds like I am just playing semantics, but it has been working for me. If I start worrying about possible negative outcomes, I tend to see those become the reality. On the other hand, if I think about what I want to accomplish, I see a much higher success rate.

For me, this does NOT mean laboring over the details of a specific pass in my mind, like, "I am going to grip here and then shift my weight there." I think of very general things like, "I want to pass" or "I want to sweep" or "I want to escape". Then, I go by instinct, trusting the hours and hours of drilling and previous grappling that I have done and trusting my muscle memory to know how to accomplish those goals.

This helped me a lot at my last tournament. Instead of focusing on possible negative outcomes--like being taken down or submitted--I tried to keep what I wanted to do at the forefront of my mind. It helped me to manage my nerves because I had a plan (a very lose, general plan but still a plan) and it helped me keep my confidence up because I was thinking about my strengths instead of my weaknesses.

I don't know if that makes sense or not. But it is really helping me to grow both on and off the mat.

Um, that's not how it works...

This has nothing to do with Jiu-Jitsu, but it was so funny to me I have to post about it.

My son, Noah, is 6. They were having baptisms this morning at our church so he had to come sit through the adult service. While they were getting ready, the pastor was talking about how baptism is an outward symbol that you are joining the family of God.

Noah asked me, "Am I a part of the family of God?"

I said, "Well, do you love God and want to be a part of His family?"

He said, "Yes."

I said. "Then you are. Do you want to be baptized?"

He thought about it and then said, "I'm not quite ready yet."

I said, "Ok," and because of the way he'd said he wasn't ready yet, I was curious, so I asked him, "Why not?"

He said, "I don't want to get naked in front of everyone just yet."

I choked a little bit trying not to burst out laughing. It was during a really serious moment, too. I told Noah, "You don't have to get naked, buddy. You get baptized in your clothes."

He smiled and said, "Ooooooh."

LOL!!!!

Happy Saturday Training!