Hold More than Just the Head

In a previous post I mentioned that I held Jeff’s head way too long and didn’t do anything with it…

                After looking at the video I noticed Brian, the instructor, rolling with Tony and holding him in a pretty strong hold by holding Tony's head and arm. Brian moved around the mat with Tony to keep his advantage on top, but sometime in Tony was able to get his arm through Brian's legs and locked Brian's head and leg together. SORT OF...

Overall, it seems fine to keep a hold, in fact--- I’m sure it’s preferred. But if I do intend to keep the hold, I'll have to have more than just the head, and be able to move around to keep it secure…           

Game of Chess

Brian, the instructor, explained to me how Jujitsu is like a game of Chess. Every move you make can leave and opening and make you vulnerable to attack. And every time you try to attack the opponent, it could give them an advantage to use against you…

                This is something I’ve experienced several times, but its fun as long as you don’t mind getting beat up now and again.

Rolling with Brian

In this Video I was rolling with Brian (the instructor). I tried to yell-out "O-SHIT!",  right before he flipped me over---- but i was wearing a mouth guard at the time...

I knew he was about to get me in a cradle and flip me over, and I was pissed that I wasn’t able to prevent it…

It’s not about winning or losing----but a big part of it is learning to get tougher and improve your skills in the sport. As you can see, I've got a long way to go...

Know when to fold

“I hate to quote Kenny Rogers; but ‘know when to fold, know when to let go of something” Brian said.

One of the problems I’ve experienced is that I may not always know what to do with a hold once I’ve got something, or at least when I THINK I’ve got something…

                Several of the times I was rolling with Jeff, I got a hold of his head and held on for dear life in order to resist getting beat again----- AT ANY COST….

                Much to my dismay, I found that I just held tightly onto his head as he pulled me around with him… sometimes it’s best to let go of the hold or find a way to use it, but in my situation, I think I only wanted to avoid getting beat too bad---- especially on my own damn blog!!!

 I just wouldn’t let go of Jeff's head...

            This wasn’t the most effective thing I could have done, and it could have also been dangerous for him if something went wrong---- so for now on, I’ll think about how to apply the moves I learn in class instead of trying to invent my own…

Sparring with Jeff

Tony and Brian rolled (sparred) with each other, while Jeff and I rolled on the other side of the mat. Jeff said he’s been practicing for about a year and trains several times a week. To be perfectly honest, I got my ass handed to me in every round.

At a certain point I started to realize Jeff was WAY MORE experienced than I was.  Somewhere into the practice I realized that the most I could hope for in sparring with him is to prove that I’m a worthy opponent by not giving up, or to find a way to roll us both off the mat so we could restart the match when I’m losing too bad…  

Rolling with Jeff

Side-Control

Training session

Today's practice began with practicing Side-Control to help move around the opponent once they’re on their back or in a 'turtle' position. I’ve practiced this exact same move and drills practicing wresting in high school. Having not been as active for so long has really made this shit more difficult… I need to get back in shape!!!

Brian Teaching Side-Control 

Me, practicing side-control on Jeff

Get a Mouth Guard

Although I try to go to every practice, the training still takes its toll on me. And these bruises on my arms will help insure that I won’t forget about it the next morning.

Although I’m sore, mine bruises are minor compared to Adam, a student I practiced with said he almost had his teeth Brocken once. Adam told me a story about when he was training with another student, who accidently kneed him in the mouth. Since then, Adam has used a rubber mouth guard to keep his teeth protected when he spars…

 “Someone might accidently knee you in the mouth or something and you could end up with a 1,000 dollar dental bill” Adam said.

Note to self: get a mouth guard!!!

Learning New moves to control the opponent from the top---Kamora and moving past the legs…

The student (on top) uses a ‘Kamora’ to subdue his opponent. I learned the Kamora as an effective way to take control from when on top.

This move seems vaguely similar to Wresting and Aikido which I have tried before, and the general idea is to lock the arm join and bend it in a way it’s not supposed to go. The result is immobilizing the fighters arm and causing them to yell in pain.

---Two bottom pictures----

The practicioner (on top) controls his opponent by moving onto him in a sit in position by getting past his legs. By getting past the legs, the fighter on the bottom won’t be able to lock him up, and will have much more difficulty getting free from that position.

From the sitting position on top, he could more easily lock the head and arm of his opponent, or use the Kamora to get him to tap out….

He struggled to get past his opponents defenses (legs) in the first image, and then is in a better position to control his opponent in the second image…

Sunday Practice with numerous students

Today I went to Jujitsu training in the Gymnastics gym with about 10 other guys training that day.

Tony (in the Red shirt), is one of the more experience students and is shown in these two photos as he got a less experienced student in a ‘triangle’ lock, which involves wrapping his legs around the guys arm and head and squeezing in till he can breath and has to give up…

Sam (in blue) is on top of another student as he works from the top and tries to get the guys arm and head in a lock and keep him in submission. Sam's a blue belt and has been trianing for several years now.

It may seem easy to see which ones are the more experience grapplers, but a competitor who gets too over confident and charges right into his opponent can very easily find himself arm-bared or chocked out--- as I have found out very quickly in training…

"You go in like a T-Rex” said Brian (the Sunday class instructor)--- meaning you keep your arms close to your body and move in with caution to avoid getting your arms locked and trapped by the opponent.

being 'the Nail'

        This Sunday’s practice I entered the room to seeing Brian (in the blue-Gi), is the instructor and Tony (in the black-Gi) is one of the students. In these photos they are rolling (or sparring) with eachother...

        Brian has obviously got the upper-hand as the more experienced grappler, but I got my turn on the mat to get thrown around and chocked out by Tony before I had to tap out (several times).

 

I used to wrestle on my highschool team and i have practiced other styles of martial arts, but jujitsu is much more agressive and makes more sense in a way... unlike in wrestling, the round isn’t over once the opponents back is to the mat.

The round continues until one opponent is able to make the other tap-out, and an opponent with pride usually doesn’t want to give up so easy. I would also like to mention, that as I type this (almost 12 hours after the practice), my body is still very sore. But its awesome!

                             "When you start out; you’ll be the nail for awhile before you start to become the hammer" Brian said... This style seems to be very different and yet somewhat similar to the wrestling i used to do back in highschool.