Jiu-jitsu Month 37 (So much to learn and so much fun)

1. The Blue Belt Effect

As I suspected, the blue belt was the hardest belt as Rickson himself said

(English is not his first language.)

        In white belt you do not have much idea. there you get to create your

        reflexes and your understanding of the game. To become blue belt, you

        need to know all of the sport. You already know how to ride, throttle,

        arm locks and escape the grip. Have you ever felt the pressure from

        opponents, can last more in training and know how to breathe properly.

        Have you become a creature of Jiu-Jitsu.

 

He even thought

        What the athlete lacks after the blue belt is practice and reflexes. He

        has everything he needs even the black belt, he just needs to keep up.

 

Earning a blue belt in BJJ changed me, which took one more year to sink in. Facing

higher belts on the mat, I know I have a chance to defend and escape and I can

only improve if I keep showing up. With the lower belts, I train with a more

playful attitude doing catch and release. I've sensed in jiu-jitsu something that

cannot be taught yet can be learned, only by doing.

 

Outside the dojo, a great calm that I've never known has descended on me. That

tranquility shields me from the worries of the world and gives me confidence

when dealing with people. I have become much more at ease and people seemed to

like me.

 

2. Caught by White Belts

In the past three years, I probably passed out three or four times in sparring,

from chokes that sank in too far. In the old gym, they said I was stubborn. I

was and guess still am.

 

Justin was a four-stripe white belt and good at the bow-and-arrow, which I

thought I was good to escape from. The other day, I was in turtle and let him

get the first grip on my collar. In seconds, he hooked his left hand under my left

leg, and right leg clamped down on my right shoulder. It was as deep as it could

get. I was still fighting to get my left leg free but my move was rusty and the

next thing I knew, I woke up in front of him on the mat thinking he let me go at

the last second. It was only after the session I asked "Did I just pass out?"

 

Another white belt, the 130lb Loressa, caught me in the crucifix position,

twice. She taught me how to escape but I still had to tap the second time

around.

 

Humbling experiences, no doubt. But no alternatives if one wants to learn. I

had to be more careful not to allow things to get too late.

 

3. An Accident

Sat, Jul 13, the lesson was lifting by the belt to pass guard and I paired with

Mr. Li in position-sparring. As I grabbed his belt from under his legs and

pulled him up, his neck was on the mat, and I tossed him by the hips to one side

and then the other to pass. But he curled up in turtle and I sprawled on top.

Then he tapped in agony with one hand over his belly. "It's the neck," he said.

I was scared not knowing the exact cause thought it could from my sprawling

pressure. But afterwards, I thought it could be from his legs being thrown from

one side to the other with his neck underneath. It was dangerous.

 

I felt very bad at first and after one more round, I went to the locker room and

saw Mr. Li (Justin was with him). He told me he was okay and I should go back to

the mat, which I did.

 

That day, I rolled with Matt, a 5'10" black youth, and got my back taken as I

pulled turtle. In the same position, with Maria, I was able to place my two

legs besides her leg and invert to catch for the sadle position.

 

4. Love the new gym.

Every class allots a few minutes to takedowns, wrestling or judo. Sparring

starts on the feet. One can pull guard but generally we first try to take each

other to the ground. This is no small matter for me, as I still believe that

jiu-jitsu is for self-defense as opposed to competition.

 

July, we drilled entries and finishes of the single-leg takedown. The finish

that Machine showed applies also to turtle takedown. Max, a 2-stripe blue belt

and wrestler, taught two techniques that stuck in my mind. And they reminded me

of another one Adam taught in the old gym. I loved them all and am very happy

that I get to practice them regularly.

 

The shorter commute and the format of the class (more positional and less full

sparring) leads to better recovery. As a result, I trained four or five instead

of three or four times per week.

 

5. Level Drop

I have had a hard time changing levels for a takedown since day one and nobody

explained to me exactly how it was done. I had believed that it was very hard to

drop quickly without the back knee hitting the ground, which would certainly

hurt on concrete. In fact, I mistook that the knee has to hit ground to

support the whole body. That thought held me back from working on it.

 

Darren's comment that my level-change was too slowly came back to me one morning

and I searched for wrestling instructions and found out that I didn't need to

let the back knee touch the ground if I balance on the balls of both feet and

tense the core muscles to support the body before the knee hits the ground. It

was a big Aha! moment. Afterwards, I included this move into my daily drills

very naturally. It requires certain glute muscles and I got sore in the first

couple of days but I was very happy!

 

6. The Turtle and Leg Lock Games

I learned about Eduardo Telles from Darren when I asked him if he saw Raould

Audhoe's 7 submissions from turtle. I watched some of Telles's techniques and

was much impressed as they opened possibilities for me.

 

From turtle, I tried a few times to invert or roll and catch people's legs with

some good results. I could get a leg or even enter the figure 4. This gave me

great hope. I was flexible and good at invert and therefore love Darren's

leg-lock entries. At figure 4, I now know I can go for the "double-trouble." I

was also already good at entering turtle and starting attacks from there (Thanks

to Henry's lessons) and therefore would try to keep on combining the two.

 

7. The Mount Position

Thanks to the 30min positional training in each class, I got to practice

attacking from mount, not just getting out from underneath! I tried Henry's kesa

gatame entry from mount on Darren and it worked!

 

8. The White Belts

In the old gym, the white belts that remained after a year were mostly big,

strong or both. They called me tough, stubborn, tense, or whatever, but I

survived. I did it at 155 lbs and was promoted to blue belt. Being able to

persist in something is a gift in itself.

 

In the new gym, we have a few light-weight young white-belts, 130 lbs or less!

They are nonetheless very strong and even tougher. All of them look like my

compatriots. I could see they are going through what I did at their age as a new

immigrant. We don't attempt to speak Chinese with each other and I think

that's for the best.