Great Seminar & Eating all the Things

I need to for real stay away from the scale b/c I've been indulging in everything in sight. It's partly due to stress coping and partly to not feeling like I have to be restrained for tournaments. It's been nice for awhile but I'm going to tone it down a bit. It's amazing how quickly the body will happily accept far more food than is needed.

Training has been going pretty well. Rachael has been trying to talk me into doing Master's in late August. I'm probably going to be busy, but she is persistent. I'll have to see how the summer progresses. Signed up for the Seattle Open and will more than likely need to drop down to adult. I'm not looking forward to competing again in the next couple of months, but it is what it is.

We went to the Staack/McDermont seminar last weekend. 10am-4pm of jiu jitsu Saturday and Sunday. There was a little bit of the campfire chit chat stuff but by and large we were moving most of that time. 

The first day was interesting. I felt like I couldn't really jiu jitsu. Paired with a white belt who was good but I just felt super dumb. Couldn't seem to execute anything very well. Might not have had enough nutrition or hydration on board, or maybe it was just stuff that is awkward for me. In any case, it got worse through day as we moved through instructors and techniques. Wasn't feeling too hot about things at the end of the day.

Next day was Hannette and that went much, much better. The difference in the type of energy from the instructors was noticeable which may have also had an impact. She's just such a positive, sweet person. 

Rolled with Hannette, Cindy, Hillary and some purple and blue belts. I kept making the same damned mistakes over and over with Cindy. That didn't feel too great. Hannette beat the crap out of me, but she did that with everyone so I felt a little less bad about that. I did well with Hillary and the purples and blues. The range of skill was really pretty amazing and good to feel every now and again.

Utterly fatigued by the time we left. Really happy that I went. I might have made a deal that if Hannette does Master's that I will too. :p

Worlds

What an experience.

Weight was a concern, as I was hovering right where I needed to be a week or two beforehand. It was close though, and I would have much rather had several pounds cushion but I didn't. Flew in Thursday night, compete Friday night. Checked my weight Friday afternoon and was one tenth of a pound over with my gi over my cargo shorts, which had a bunch of crap in the pockets. I figured that I was probably a half pound under, but that didn't leave me much leeway to eat or drink. 

The vibe in the building was intense, so I decided to spend the bulk of the afternoon sitting in a quiet grassy spot away from the venue. I tried to nap and not worry about the fact that I wasn't competing until 6pm on an empty stomach (no food the night before either). It was a loooooooong wait. Other than nutrition I felt pretty peaceful about the whole thing. Ended up with a bit of a sunburn, but didn't realize it until I got back to the hotel that night.

Finally it's time to at least go in the building. Walter and Chris were both there, which was cool for coaching but frustrating in that I felt like I had to spend time with them when I would have rather been prepping on my own. Stretched a bit on the mats under bleachers. Walter tried to warm me up but was not helpful to my confidence at all. I was already feeling like I was exerting too much and getting out of breath, and again tried to not stress about lack of nutrition. 

Decide to go weigh in so that I could at least have some water, and came in at 160.6. Good grief, that's a fair amount of food and water that I could have consumed. Again, poor planning on my part by not weighing myself with compression gear instead of shorts. Gi passes no problem and it's on to the mat. 

No real plan to start the match. I figured I would try to gi drag, but I didn't really try at all and ended up in guard. Pretty quickly got swept and thought 'oh shit, this is really, really bad'. Managed to recover to a decent half guard and then full guard. Knew I had plenty of time to work, so stayed patient and didn't panic. She inexplicably kept putting her hands high on my collar, so I tried trapping a side and flower sweep. Didn't really commit to it though and failed. Tried to trap her arm a second and a third and got it good enough to attempt an arm-bar. She stood up but I had a good grip and finished. Was so damned excited to get a win.

I knew that I had about an hour until my next match, so I hung out near the mat. Sat for most of the time, again worried about conserving energy. I was keeping an eye on the order of fights and it looked like there would be a blue belt match and then my next one. But no, they scrapped the blues so I got called up sooner than I thought. I had done a light warm-up, but wasn't really warm. Went out, she pulled guard immediately. Another quick sweep. Damn it. I couldn't really get to a good half guard though, as she was already in a knee cut position and making life difficult. I kept fending off the knee cut but not really improving the position. Almost came up for a sweep once, couldn't complete. Had a kimura at one point and should have really wrenched it, but didn't and she was able to escape and keep top position. Eventually she passed, got to side control and a great lapel grip that finished with a choke.

I was bummed that I lost and felt like I wasn't really doing jiu jitsu or implementing what I know at all, but overall happy that I went down and tried. Talking to Chris and Walter after the match though made me feel worse, as Walter said I made kid mistakes and Chris mentioned like eighteen different things I did wrong. They weren't trying to bring me down, but it made me feel like I was a crappy brown belt. Later on I felt better after time had passed and I talked to James on the phone the next day. 

Watching the black belt matches on Sat and Sun was freaking awesome. Definitely a top five if not number one jiu jitsu experience I've had. I was so, so happy that I decided to fly out Monday morning instead of Sunday night, otherwise I would have missed a bunch of the finals. 

Overall I'm really happy that I went. I dearly wish I could have brought home a medal, but in the end I'm proud that I tried and can say that I had a submission victory at brown belt Worlds. That's not nothing.

Taking Notes

I'm back to taking notes after (almost) every class. Transcribing it to html and mind mapping it. Don't know if it will help, but it can't possibly hurt.

Had a weird week last week when it came to rolling. Partly due to the "rule" that you could only win by back or mount. No submissions. Loser had to do jumping jacks between rounds. It's a good way to mix up rolls a bit, but I just wasn't in the spirit of it. On one memorable occasion, my partner kept forgetting the goal of the roll and was willingly giving up back or mount. -_-

It's very weird to have your teammate and coach mention in casual conversation that I'm almost a black belt. Like...wtf? It was especially fun when James mentioned my availability for private lessons, how great I am with details, fundamentals, etc and then I have a quick roll with Ben who took my back and sank in a choke pretty damned fast. A bunch of people were watching, which was the galling part. Seriously James, stop giving me any sort of praise in class. 

Aside from that, rolls have been ok. I feel like I need to up the intensity again, and was helped out by my bestie on Saturday who will hopefully be able to train with some regularity again. She might even do Worlds as well if her back allows it. 

I feel like I need to get in high reps of drilling, something, anything to build muscle memory. No one has been doing advanced class, which was the best avenue for that sort of thing. I could get some reps before or after classes. 

Teaching has been going ok. Classes are 25+, which seems like a lot of people when you look around the room. I think my instruction is going well, but I must get tired of talking b/c I never end class the way I'd like. It's very abrupt and I'd like to drop some non-technique knowledge. Need to come up with something ahead of time and stick with it instead of assuming that everyone would like for me to zip it.

Uh Oh

If I want to do adult Worlds it has to be this year. So........ off I go!

Shit.

Video Review

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch a high quality video of my match. How I remembered it happening isn't quite how it went down. I got to the back early, but then fought in top half guard for awhile before securing a pass and multiple back-controls at the end of the match. Some things I'd like to improve upon:

• Be more patient setting up submissions. I could have taken a bit more time to get good grips for the bow and arrow, get my legs in the right position, etc. I rushed it and it cost me a chance to finish.

• Figure out how in the hell to pull an advantageous guard so I can work open guard instead of having them immediately in top half guard. It worked out ok in this match, but I'd rather play open than half.

• When standing, don't hunch over so much. Lifting has helped with maintaining a more neutral spine in a variety of positions, but my shoulders were still too far forward of my hips.

• Stop being a ninny and do absolute. If I go into a tournament planning on doing it regardless, I think that would help.

I was shot from the trip so didn't do class yesterday. Back at it tomorrow, possibly with a double. Back to lifting and conditioning on Thursday. So very happy to be home.

Pans

One other competitor in my division. I was determined to walk out to the mat fully warmed up from a vigorous solo exercise in the warm-up room. That didn't happen. I was in the warm-up room, but found that trying to get myself warm in time with when I was likely going to compete was too much for my brain to handle. I did some stretching, shrimping, back rolls and such, but that was it. I was down there plenty early, but just trying to get the timing of it was too much to think about.

I walked out to the bullpen with about 4-5 matches in front of me. Gi check and weight no problem, I think I was at least 4lb under with my shoes on. I'm also pretty sure the scales were light. Walked out to the mat and had the remainder of the current match to jump around a bit and try to get warm. 

Match starts and I try to get a good grip on her hands so that I could do a gi drag takedown. Had a good grip on her collar once, but her countering grips were threatening enough that I didn't attempt the drag. We fussed around for a bit and I decided that instead of a standup grip fight that I had decent enough grips to pull. I ended up in half guard immediately but had the underhook, so I was able to quickly work up to a dog-fight position before things got too bad. Tried and tried to tackle and grapple but she stayed upright. For whatever reason, I decided that it would be a good idea to try to jump to her back. I got one hook in while she was on all fours, but I was higher on her back then I would have liked. She was doing a good job of listening to her coach and started to work my hook out, so I hucked us off to the side onto the mat. Got my second hook in and tried to work the back. Came close on a bow and arrow but did an absolutely awful job of trying to finish it. Got to mount and possibly the back again. She was able to get to half guard, and I think the remainder of the match was me trying to stay on top and work a pass which I don't think I ever completed.

Aside from the botched bow and arrow and not being able to pass her half guard, I'm happy with the match.

Jason did absolutely amazing in his matches, pulling guard and getting a triangle on three guys before seeing the other side of a triangle in the finals. Jamie had a couple of grinding matches and then finished the final with a north/south choke to take the gold. They were going at the same time that I was called for absolute, and I was too spent from the emotions of their matches that I had no desire to do absolute. Truth be told, I had no desire to do absolute anyway. Jason and Jamie got their brown belts on the podium, with James giving Jamie my belt. Seeing those guys compete and get promoted was the absolute highlight of the weekend.

The Work is Done

Leave tomorrow for sunny and warm California!

I feel much better about my preparation this year than last year. Probably my best prep ever. Whether that translates into wins remains to be seen, but I'm going to be peaceful about it regardless. I've lost close to 15lb in less than 3 months. Training with purpose has helped me focus and roll with more intensity, which has translated into more progress (I think). I started taking notes again and transcribing them into the visual mapping system that I used to use frequently. 

Most importantly, jiu jitsu has been mostly fun again.

Pans Prep II

Weight loss has been going pretty well. Depending on the day and the gi, I'm at weight now. Hoping to lose another 2lb so that I don't have to stress about weight. After several sessions with James, I'm feeling a little better about my take-down game plan, guard and passing. I've been able to use some of it during rolls. 

I had a great roll with Jason S. last week where I got a legitimate sweep on him, something I haven't been able to accomplish in I don't even know how long. Had a very demoralizing roll with a blue belt a day later that had me very bummed on jiu jitsu. But he gives James problems as well, so I need to chill.

In general I'm feeling decent with the rolls. They aren't fantastic, but I feel like the prep and mindset that I have this year is better than last year. I'm looking for hard rolls and trying to push myself at the end of each round to finish in a good position. Had a roll with Jason W. yesterday that was very frustrating. He sat in top side control and was trying to bait me to separate my elbows from my body. Of course I'm not going to do that, but I couldn't budge him to escape either. We were in a stalemate for awhile until I finally tried a big explosive movement out and he capitalized for a submission. 

I've been sticking with the weight lifting twice a week. It's working well, and I feel like I'm able to maintain whatever gains I've made in the past several months. I can't wait until my gym is in a garage or shop space instead of in the house.

Pans Prep

I've been fortunate to get some privates with my instructor leading up to Pans. Last week we went over passing, because I'm just having a hell of a time with good DLRs. Of course, it almost always comes back to grip breaks, but he explained two breaks down for me in a way that I didn't get before that has already helped. 

I'm being a dumdum and stepping right into DLR, getting entangled and then struggling. I shouldn't be surprised.

This week we went over leg locks because I'm so wildly deficient in that area. I wasn't sure when I should try to turn my knee away and when I should try to pull my leg out. Turns out that it's pretty simple...if you can't turn your knee, pull your leg out. :p We covered several positions, including 50/50, back step pass and some standing. He had some great tips for avoiding bad spots in the first place.

My hope is that I'll be able to incorporate this stuff into my game for the long haul. I hate when I get a lesson on something, it seems great and then a year and half later I'm all "gee I wish I knew how to do that thing". 

Rolls have been so-so. Some good ones, I'm making progress with pushing the pace a bit. Others I'm just getting totally stymied and lose a bit of confidence. Need to learn from that and remember just how fun this is. FUN.

Bestie is Back

Training has been going fairly well the past month. Consistent 3-4 days a week, ramping up to 6 days a week because my bestie is back on the mats. I'm loathe to give up the morning class, so doubling up on Mon & Wed. I felt a bit like a wreck on Thursday, but better on Friday.

I had great rolls on Monday and I felt competitive with Jason S. We had a real back and forth roll in which he submitted me but I was able to get and hold a dominant position after we reset. It's the first time in a really, really long time that I've been competitive with him. Wednesday morning was a different tale, as he pretty much wrecked me. I had Jason, Sol and Chaz back-to-back-to-back. Not much went my way for most of the day.

I finally decided to do Pans. It's a good motivator for losing the weight that I put on last year. I've been eating better (and less) since the beginning of January and have had a slow but steady progression of weight loss. I'd like to make it down to medium heavy, but I don't think that's going to happen. I don't want to compete against Nika (and only Nika) for the third year in a row, so I might go to adult. I'll probably get mauled, but at least I'll get mauled by someone new.

My mindset is pretty good so far. I'm not overly stressing about it, and really keeping the fact that jiu jitsu should be fun in the forefront of my mind. We'll see how that pans out. Get it? "Pans out"? I kill me.