Jiu-jitsu Month 21

Every bluebelt has his/her signature attacks and the paper-cutter choke, the

Dan-Camarillo armbar, and the scarf-hold, all from cross-side, are mine. March

3, for the first time, I tapped James, a two-stripe bluebelt, with the choke.

He didn't say "great job" as I would when submitted by my partner. Looking

rather disappointed, he retreated to a corner afterwards, and sat there and

watched others grapple.

 

We all have to deal with it at some point, I guess, i.e., being submitted by

someone who came later or an experienced lower-rank. It is a bitter pill. Often

the lightest on the mat, I get caught by whitebelts from time to time. I fought

it early on but nowadays just tap and it doesn't bother me at all. I have started

to live the BJJ cliche "leave your ego at the door."

 

Another video shot by Brenda of Adam and me revealed the gap between me and the

champion purple belt. Adam stayed on top 90% of the time, no matter how many

attacks I launched or escapes I attempted from the turtle bottom position. It

was amazing to see. I wanted to be as good. One thing my friend L pointed out,

when I showed it to him when we chatted at work, was that I paused from time to

time. From the video it was clear but I had no clue what to do at those moments.

Reviewing the film, I think I should move, i.e., to shrimp, turtle, or just get

a leg up, whenever Adam tried to make a "connection." At my level, I only spot

certain obvious opportunities. Improvement will come as I keep training.

 

As I keep rolling, I am getting better at finding space and as a result, I have

become harder to control. It was a great feeling, knowing a big but less

experienced guy couldn't do anything to me. Two more encounters with Stephen, the

one who caught my arm in the last video, left me un-scored on. More escapes led

to more chances of getting on top and submission follows.

 

Professor Weiqi (who's a professor outside the gym, too) taught the nuances of

the guillotine choke. It was very impressive. I kept forgetting using it,

though. What I did was to practice Henry's knee-collapsing defense which caught

a few people and made me very happy.

 

Brenda announced her retirement, which came as a shock to me. It's hard to

imagine the place without her. The 65-year-old had suffered hip injuries for a

while. "It's not replacement-worthy but certainly surgery-worthy," she said.

"You do plan to come back?" I asked. "Definitely when you get your blackbelt."

She smiled.

 

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My right hand, especially the bottom of the index finger started to hurt every

morning for the first 10 seconds when I make a fist. Weiqi told me it was overuse

induced osteoarthritis and advised me to do no gi and change grip with the gi.