Always Keep Moving

I have been trying to break a bad habit in the past few months. When I am grappling and get into a scramble and end up in a bad position, I have had the bad habit of stopping in the bad position for a little bit. For example, I am defending guard and someone passes and gets to side control. I would pause in side control for a few seconds. Part of it was being tired. Part of it was thinking about what to do next. Part of it was just feeling a little defeated, I guess.

But Fabio pointed out that, in a tournament, the person has to establish the position for 3 seconds before they get the points for it. If I keep moving, I might be able to escape before they get points for establishing the position.

So, lately, when I am grappling, it is my goal to never stop moving. If I don't know what to do, oh well. I try to just go with my instincts and see what happens. Doing that has been helpful because I am learning new ways I can move.

I try to ignore being tired. Last night a guy was passing my guard and we were scrambling. He was moving around on top of me with a lot of pressure and I was folding and hipping and folding, trying to return to guard. My muscles got so tired that, at one point, my whole chest felt like it was constricting and I felt a little panicked because I could not breathe. But I pushed through that panic kept moving until I got to my guard where I could rest for a second. It is amazing how my mind wants to give up before my body actually needs to.

If I am in a bad position and I am tired, thinking about escaping can be overwhelming. The thing that helps me the most when I am that tired is to focus on basic principles and small steps like, "I need the underhook here. Work for that underhook. Good. Now I need to hip out. Inch, inch, inch. Good." When I only work on a few steps at a time, it makes it seem like less of an impossibility. It also takes my mind off a negative fact--that I am in a bad position--and keeps it focused on a positive action--what I can do to escape.

There are a lot of times where I still run out of gas and have to pause in a bad position. If I absolutely have to stop, I defend my limbs and neck, breathe for a few seconds, then start inching and moving again.

The main things I am looking for with all of this constant movement are:

1. To move my limbs out of danger.

2. To create space for an escape.

3. To get my opponent off balance for a sweep.

4. To look for the chance to go on the offense (to attack something when someone is moving between positions, usually).

A teammate of mine who is a higher rank than me grappled me recently and, after a scramble, put me in a choke. Usually he lets me work out of submissions, but this time, he went for the tap. When I tapped and said it was a nice choke, he responded with, "Yeah, you were wriggling out of things so much and being such a pain in the ass I had to choke you." LOL. I take that as a compliment, sir. Hopefully I will get better at it.

Women's Self-Defense Seminar

This past Thursday, I had the pleasure of being a part of a Women's Self-Defense Seminar to benefit Relay for Life. Fabio hosted the seminar at his school, and I got the chance to try my hand at leading a seminar.

In case you don't know much about Relay for Life, is is a fundraising event led by volunteers in local communities where teams gather to celebrate loved ones who have battled cancer and won, to remember loved ones who have been lost to the disease and to raise money to fight back and work towards finding a cure.

I was excited to be a part of this because not only is this a great charity to support, but this past year I have experienced the fear that comes from hearing the word "cancer" after a loved one goes to the doctor. My grandmother battled breast cancer this year and is one of the lucky ones. It was a scary time for our family when we found out, because at first the prognosis wasn't good. But thank God she was able to fight back.

Since the seminar was for women and was attended by mostly women who had never done Jiu-Jitsu before, we focused mainly on techniques that can be used in self-defense if a man tries to attack and rape you. We worked several different armbars and kimuras from guard and mount escapes. After that, we had a "what if" session where they asked me questions like, "What if someone grabs you from behind." I told them that I was by no means an expert, but that I would show them what I would do in those situations. During the seminar I was so busy I completely forgot to take pictures. I know, I know. Go ahead and verbally flog me. ;)

I want to thank Relay for Life for coming out to our school and for letting us take part in the fight to cure cancer. We had an awesome time. Also, thanks to Stephanie, Jen, Joyce, Rowan, Shelby, Frances and Cheraine for coming out to help with the seminar. You ladies rock! :)

2012 NAGA Tampa

So the Women's Class went to our first tournament!

 Here is Madison getting ready to do battle! :)

 At Fabio's, we have a tradition of tying up new competitors up on the way up to the tournament.

 They are lucky the trip was only an hour away! LOL

It was Madison's dad's first tournament as well, and Stephanie was also competing. Me and Robo Rowan were there to support.

 After coming to the tournament, Robo Rowan has decided that she wants to "beat some people up" too. She will be terrorizing the teen division in no time! ;)

 Stpehanie getting in the zone. 

Warming up before the tournament started.

Some of my favorite girls. Erica (on the far left) also competed. 

I am so proud of "Mad Dog" Madison. After only three weeks of training, she stepped on the mat to compete. She ended up having to fight a girl who was older, bigger and with way more experience. Even so, she did awesome. She defended a guillotine, swept the girl and was trying to pass guard when the girl caught an inverted armbar. Madison didn't know how to escape that because she had never seen it before, but even so she started to roll out the right way, but then got confused and went the other way. Unfortunately, she ended up hurting her elbow. But she is already back in class and is planning to compete again when her elbow is better. She is a fighter! :)

Steph and Erica also did really well. They each got second place in their divisions. I am so proud to be a part of Team Fabio Novaes and to have the chance to train with so many great people!

Mock Tournament

One of the girls from the Women's Class is competing this weekend at a NAGA in Tampa. I am so excited. As this is her first tournament, Stephanie and I have been trying to prepare her for the intensity of a tournament grapple by putting on a lot more pressure and being a lot more aggressive in sparring. But last Saturday, we took it a step further and had a "mock tournament" during class.

(some of the girls from class)

Everyone sat along the wall. The girls that wanted to participate went up one by one to face off against me or Stephanie. Either Steph or I acted as a coach. We started off each match like it would go in a tournament, with the "ref" talking about the rules and asking each fighter if they were ready. We timed each match five minutes.

The girls have not started from standing very often, and they had never had to grapple with the whole class watching, with a coach screaming at them. It was a good exercise. They did some of the best grappling I've seen them do and they got a little taste of the adrenaline rush that they will experience when they compete. I was really proud of them!

We are going to try it again tonight, and this time I am going to have all the girls on the wall shout: half for one of the fighters, half for the other. And we are going to have two coaches, one screaming for one of my students and one screaming for me or Stephanie. Should be fun. :)

In other news, my son Noah did his first BJJ class this past week! As you can see, he is a natural born fighter. LOL

He absolutely LOVED it and can't wait to go back. I am excited about being able to do jiu-jitsu with him.

 

Jiu-Jitsu is not Capoeira

We had a new girl come to our Women's Class this morning. She came in a little late--we had already gone through warm-ups and had just started technique--so I did not get to talk with her as much as I normally would a new student.

When she stepped onto the mat, I told her to sit down and asked her if she new what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was. She said, "Not really. But it looked really beautiful."

Agreeing that it was beautiful, I then proceeded to explain that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is mostly ground fighting and told her a little bit about what the goals of BJJ were. She looked a little confused while I was talking, but as many women are a little overwhelmed by BJJ on their first day, I didn't think much of it.

I showed her the basic hip out from under mount, showed her an americana from mount and a few other basic moves that we show on the first day. She worked hard at it and seemed to be really into it. When we grappled, she threw herself into it full force and was not shy. She seemed to to really be enjoying it.

It wasn't until after class was over, when I was telling her about our class options and we were talking about her coming back that she started asking some questions.

"You guys don't do the dancing here?" she asked.

This caught me off guard. "Dancing?" It took me a second to guess what she might mean. "Do you mean Capoeira?"

"Yeah," she said.

She said she had thought this was a Capoeira class and had been waiting the whole time for us to start dancing. Poor girl came expecting a dance class based on self-defense moves and instead got thrown into grappling! She was a really good sport about it, though, and she said, "It wasn't what I was expecting but it was still cool." She said she wants to come back.

In case you were wondering, this is Capoeira. Just a little bit different from BJJ. :)

Remembering Techniques

Madison is a new addition to our Women's Class. She has been to only a handful of classes, but at 12 years old, she has already become addicted to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Last night, while I was watching her grapple one of the other girls, I saw her try to get a triangle choke several times. She had seen the choke two classes before. She was not able to finish the choke during the grapple but I was proud of her for several reasons.

1. She recognized that she could use the choke from the position she was in.

2. She understood the basics of what the choke looked like and what position she needed to be in to do it.

3. She remembered the first few steps of applying the choke.

4. Most importantly, I was proud of her for TRYING the technique she had learned against a live, resisting partner.

I remember when I first started BJJ how overwhelming all of the techniques were. There were so many steps. So many details. I felt anxiety over the fact that I would go to class, see the techniques and forget most of what I saw after I left and went home.

For a long time, my experience was exactly like Madisons. I would remember that I had seen something I could use from a certain position, I'd remember the basics of what it had looked like, but as I tried to do it, I would realize that I had forgotten most of the steps. I would get through the first few "steps" of the move and then be lost. But, over time, those details were filled in and I was able to go through all the steps.

If you are new to BJJ and you are feeling overwhelmed, try to remember that time is on your side. Your instructor will show the techniques in more than one class. You will see a triangle choke in one class, try it for a few weeks unsuccessfully, and then see the same choke in another class and notice the details you had forgotten. Even now I love it when Fabio goes over basic positions and submissions, because I always notice new details I didn't see before.

But, if you want to maximize your memory and hold onto as much as possible, here are some things you can ask yourself about each of the techniques you see in class. If you can remember the answers to these questions, if will help you on your way to being able to use them during a live grapple.

1. What position is this technique useful from? A common mistake that beginners make is trying to use a submission from the wrong position. For example, they might try to use a gi choke while they are under mount or stuck in someone's guard.

2. What is the goal of the technique? Sometimes people misunderstand what part of the body a submission is aimed at. For example, they might think an americana is meant to break the elbow, when really it is the shoulder joint that is being targeted.

3. Why does the technique work? Here is where you can help yourself to remember the details. If you understand that the reason a triangle choke works is because you are using your opponent's shoulder and your leg to block off the carotid arteries and the blood flow to the brain, then you will be better able to understand the point of those seemingly endless details you are trying to remember.

When your instructor is demonstrating the triangle choke and he/she tells you to squeeze your knees and lift your hips, ask yourself why. Why does that make the move work more effectively? What is that motion doing to my body position and the other person's body position?

4. Make the most of your drilling time. A lot of times, I see beginners trying the technique once or twice and then sit there, looking around as if they have already gotten it. The purpose of drilling is not just about remembering the steps with your mind. Drilling is also about making those details a part of your muscle memory. You are teaching your body how to move. If you practice the techniques over and over again, then when you are grappling, your body will do it automatically. You won't have to stop to remember the steps.

5. Try the techniques you saw during your grappling time. A common mistake people make is to NOT try new things because they don't think they will be successful. The truth is, you probably wont be successful the first time you try a new technique. But you will get closer each time you try. When you try and fail, you will discover the parts of the technique that you need to understand better.

6. Ask your instructor or a higher belt to remind you about the details. If you are grappling and you try a technique and can't remember all the steps, ask someone after class to refresh your memory. Most higher belts will be more than happy to help.

7. Be patient. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu takes time to learn. Legitimate black belts aren't made overnight. Enjoy your training and have fun. Perfect technique will come in time and with practice over years.

Brood of Jiu-Jitsu Competitors? Mayhaps!

I am excited! A couple of the girls that have recently joined the Women's Class are interested in competing. They've been asking me about points and positions and all things tournament related. Stephanie and I might take a few of them to a NAGA that is coming up in February to let them watch and see what goes on at a tournament and see if it is something they are interested in doing. 

So far, my focus in the Women's Class has been more geared toward BJJ for self-defense. So I have been heavier on escapes, sweeps, taking the back and submissions from guard, mount and chokes from behind. My thought process was that, if these girls were attacked in real life, chances are they would end up on the bottom, underneath a bigger, stronger person. My first priority has been teaching them tools to get out from underneath a heavier person and how to break down someone's posture in guard and them sweep or to go for submissions from guard. 

Thinking about preparing them for a tournament changes some of the priorities for what I want them to work  on.  I have done almost nothing on take downs. And, though I have shown a few basic guard passes, I need to give them a lot more instruction in that area.   

I think I will shift my focus more to guard passing and keeping their base for the next few weeks. Also, I want to help them prepare mentally. If you were preparing a class of beginners for their first tournament, what would your primary focus be?

Also, if the girls do end up competing, I think I will probably suffer a nervous breakdown on the sidelines while they're fighting. Someone better have a tranquilizer gun handy if someone hurts one of my girls because mama bears gunna get ya! LOL Just kidding....mostly.