Drill to Win (repost)

I am reposting this for those who are not able to access it on my blog.






In the last several classes, we have been drilling techniques in side control – escapes, transitions, and submissions from this position. One good thing with attending the beginners' classes over at Battersea is that most of the techniques taught week after week tend to be chained together, so that the techniques from the previous session is revisited, as the technique is shown.

As beneficial the beginners' classes are to me in solidifying my fundamentals, I would also like to start attending the mixed classes. I imagine it would be like the old Kamon classes where there would be an even amount of time for drilling and rolling, except that there would be more coloured belts to roll with. I promised myself that I'm going to attempt to attend at least two classes a week to further my skills. I have not been too successful with it lately, with this blasted weather making me and my family ill with colds and flu. As if the weather isn't miserable enough...

A bit of good news to finish this off, my good BJJ pal, Elliott has been awarded two stripes by Dante over at Kamon several weeks ago. Together with Gerry and Rob, they are the first ones to earn stripes on their belt. If you remember on my earlier posts, it isn't Kevin's style to award stripes, although I have been told he has given his blessing to this awarding.

Well, truth be told, earning stripes is a sure-fire way to keep one motivated. 

I hope to earn one before the year ends. ;)

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At the moment, I have been typing and posting blogs via my phone. My daughter (who recently celebrated her birthday, by the way), decided in typical 5year-old fashion, to remove the space bar and the letter N on my laptop. This obviously affects the speed of my typing – imagine driving on a road where there are random speed bumps...Meh.

Commitment (repost)

I am reposting this as for some reason, this particular post (and another one) does not show up on the blog. Technology, eh?






In this age of technology, you'd think that Microsoft and Apple would get their  shit together, but no. Friday night, I attempted to download the latest version of iTunes on my laptop. Well, it wouldn't. At least, that's what my computer says. It spewed a bunch of error codes, which took me the whole of the weekends to trawl thru internet forums to find a solution. Turns out to be that I'm not the only one. Microsoft or Windows Vista has trouble with updates and software installations,  that even tech geeks were having problems finding a solution for it up to now.

Now I can't access all my music. Sheesh.

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In the past couple of weeks, I have been diligently attending the beginners' classes over at BJJ School and have augmented it by attending the Friday mixed classes.

I must say, it is a totally different atmosphere (at least for me) in the mixed classes. It seemed more laid back and loose, as compared to the beginners' classes where we were put through our paces - teaching technique followed by drilling, then positional sparring, to be finished by full sparring (most times).

In the mixed classes, where there is a terrific abundance of coloured belts, it would be pretty much of the same format although there is more time spent on sparring. Also, people can just drift in or out during the sessions. On one class, Felipe taught two techniques involving leglocks and calf slicers that just went over my head. Duh. Good thing that there were two other white belts during the class, and sensing our confusion, he decided to teach us three a more basic technique.

As there were loads of higher belts, there is no dearth with sparring with blues, purples and browns, though I was kept busy enough sparring with the lighter coloured ones. One thing I very much like with sparring with different coloured belts is that each roll is terrific for learning and a good grounding experience with regards to seeing how I am progressing. It provides me with a valuable insight on my improvement, or lack thereof, as a BJJ player. With people that you train with regularly, this can be difficult at times, as you pit yourself with someone who is also improving, unless one's rate of progression is faster than the other person. I guess in these instances, an outsider, or someone who hasn't seen or trained with you for a while, might notice the improvement.

I told myself at the start of the year that I am going to make more of a commitment to training BJJ. I have set myself goals – really small ones, like, getting off work on time, getting to class, training at least twice a week, etc. I have had a chat with my wife about this, as well, as I needed her on board with this and supporting me, which she has always been, in her own little way (Thanks, hon).

My body is also adjusting to the increased demands brought about by training. Good nutrition and enough rest should take care of it (and painkillers and liniment).The key here is to resist the urge to overdo it, as injuries would only set you back, as I have learned last year.

Time spent away from my family is time that cannot be taken back. I need to make it count.

Light rolling, anyone?

One valuable lesson learned in tonight's mixed class - the true definition of light rolling.

Myself and Keith, regularly drill and train together over at the BJJ School for several months now. On some occasions, when we feel a bit knackered or are nursing a bit of injury, we'd say, "Let's do some light rolling, bro." And then, we'd proceed to do just that - or what we think what light rolling meant.

The first time I rolled with Bong, on our first ever open mat, Bong said, "Let's do some light rolling as we wait for the others to turn up." I nearly took his eye out by accident (as I would always tell the judge if I was ever hauled in court).

Tonight, as myself and Keith were doing some "light rolling", one of the higher belts spoke to us the danger of rolling hard - as we were doing apparently! He also said that higher belts would not be too keen to roll with us if we go hard every rolling session - as injuries arise especially when noobs (like us) goes balls-to-the-wall. This means that we potentially lose valuable input from them if we just continue to roll like we do.

I think was what happening is that we were reacting to the bio feedback we get with each other during rolling and if we perceive a certain force against us, we naturally respond with an equal or slightly bigger amount of force to "counter" the force exerted against us. So that's why what starts of as a light roll transforms itself into a more intensive one.

Point well taken and as I have had the experience rolling with higher belts (a blue and a brown) during the class tonight, I saw what light rolling truly is. It is an amazing learning experience.

Pinoy BJJ Group Meet II

The 18th of March marked the day when our small group met formally for the second time since we founded it. This time, I hosted it and we held it at the BJJ School in Battersea (Battersea Youth Centre), where I train.

The usual suspects turned up - Jon, Dio, Jodi, Bong and myself. I managed to coax my regular training mate, Keith, and our old training partner, Elliott - both members of the Chili Brotherhood (wassup spice-loving homies), to come and join our little group to boost our numbers. We tried inviting some of the higher belts we knew from BJJ School and other schools but I guess they were busy...you, know, Mum's day and all that...

Anyways, I believe that the meet was successful, despite the fact that the pinoys themselves were late - a first-hand experience of the term "Filipino time" that both Keith and Elliott unfortunately learned. Did you know that in the Philippines, common custom is when you hold a party or anything that involves visitors, you actually tell them a 2-hour advanced start time as they hardly arrive on time - or shall we say, they would arrive just in time for the real start. This is one of the embarrassing traits that we try to erase to show respect to our colleagues. In all honesty, I was at the Clapham Junction train station 40 minutes early but train delays and closure of the nearest station exit caused some problems for the rest of the group. Enough of the excuses.

We did several rounds of rolling with different partners and I like to believe that I have shown some improvement since the last time we met. As always, both Jon and Dio were very supportive of us lower belts and both Bong and Elliott showed us a thing or two of their favourite moves. Good luck to Elliott as he prepares for competition in June. I hope he does not go against one of the BJJ School guys - I wouldn't know who to cheer for!

I hope that we can schedule another meet around summer and hoping that our numbers will increase. Sometimes I think that the higher belts are not too keen on coming to the open mat as they might think that there isn't much to gain rolling with lower belts. I really hope that this is not the case - the one of the main reasons we founded the group is to use it as a venue to know other Filipinos practicing the art and use it to share our collective knowledge with others in a fun and supportive environment. That is why we greatly appreciate the participation of both Keith and Elliott, as despite not belonging to the group in the strictest sense, their willingness to show support and share their time and skill with us embodies the true spirit of why the group was founded in the first place.

Now, if only you guys would try our adobo, kare-kare, and dinuguan...

Good days, bad days

There are days that I feel that I feel that I "know" BJJ, and there are days that I feel I don't . This past several sessions fall on the latter category. Thinking about it too much would only bum me out, so I don't. I am enjoying it despite the frustrations of getting smashed at sparring or knowing that you could escape into a better position but is too gassed to effect it. Yes, I know - cardio is still an issue but I am slowly getting there. ;)

Sometimes, I am tempted to analyse why am I crappy at BJJ, but most times, I just tell myself, "Knowledge and skill would come soon enough." If you remember recently, I have made small goals for myself, mostly focusing on establishing the commitment to set time for BJJ. I would like to say that I am getting AT LEAST two sessions a week now, and I have been granting myself a third session most weeks. Balancing work, family and BJJ is often difficult, even in the best of times.

On a more positive note, the second Pinoy BJJ Group Open Mat is this Sunday at the Battersea Youth Centre. Aside from the original pinoy grapplers from the first open mat in Hertfordshire, we are lucky to be joined by some of my regular training partners from the Kamon Croydon crew, Elliott, Keith, and possibly blue belt Steve (owner of the nasty Steve-o-tine). I have also been informed that brown belt Paul has confirmed his attendance. Bong has certainly worked his charms in securing this one (Thanks, brother).

I hope someone brings a camera for posterity.