Good work Alexus.
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[quote]alexus wrote:
i rolled for a bit again yesterday. i think they started earlier than usual so things were well underway when i’d arrived. i didn’t get what was going on so i just kinda watched from the sidelines. then started hitting up the injured people who were watching to see if anyone would let me practice choking them… basically i kinda fucked up because it took me a while to figure that it didn’t matter that i didn’t matter that i didn’t know what was going on i was supposed to get my ass on the damned mat if i wanted to learn. i really can be a social retard sometimes.[/quote]
I think there’s such a high turn over of new people in a lot of classes (really of any sort) that unless you show you’re motivated to learn, and take action, no one is going to tell you what to do. I know after a little while I just got burned out on helping new poeple and then them not ever showing up again. Push your way in for a while, then you’ll have proved yourself and they’ll be more open.
Yup, variety is good!
I think you already know my thoughts on GFs that come to class and MMA. Meh.
I smile and nod at those guys. They’re akin to unsolicited advice guys in the gym, you just can’t get rid of them as easily. Smile, nod, keep doing what you know you need to do.
Yup. Slow the fuck down.
I was super overwhelmed initially, but I’ve accepted that it will take me 3 exposures to learn any new moves. The first time is just learning it exists, broad strokes, I don’t even bother with paying attention to details. Second is details, third is refinement.
[quote]need to learn different positions like starting ones and then mount, side control etc i think…
or probably… just immerse myself in learning whatever move we are learning for that day as best i can. actually… that is probably it. i think one of the hardest things about this for me is that i don’t know how to learn if that makes sense. [/quote]
You’re new at it, it’ll come with a few classes. You have no schema or scaffolding for any of it, so for now just learn broad strokes of what’s being taught in class. After a little while you’ll have enough isolated pockets of knowledge that you’ll be able to eventually connect them and see themes an big pictures. Really Lexi, it’s like learning anything new.
Neither, don’t fight nor be floppy. The key is to always keep base aka your center of balance. If someone trys to move you, don’t just fall over, but don’t really resist. Flow. For now think of sex. You know those times when he wants to move you, but you don’t really want to change positions, so you just kinda resist, but if he really wants to move, you just do? You would never just lay there floppy during sex (hopefully!), but you don’t always want to be director and resist everything. It’s the same balance. I hope that makes sense.
If I’m over advising, let me know! I just remember being so confused when I first started BJJ, though I guess you know that
[quote]alexus wrote:
thanks for the names pch that really helped me look them up. the guys call it ‘ju jitzu’ (though i can’t spell it) which was why i never paid much attention to start with (thinking that ju jitzu was more about standing kicks and throws and my ankles aren’t up to that).
i didn’t get that they meant bjj - or… well… perhaps they don’t really… perhaps it is some adapted version of bjj for mma??? i think they are about mma really… mma gear rather than gi…
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Well there’s technically Jiu Jitsu, Brazillian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and Gracie Jiu Jitsu (GJJ). The first is a really general umbrella term, that for most people cover both Japanese and Brazilian JJ. I don’t really know much about Japanese JJ, maybe something to ask Kev about in g+ or in the combat forum? Since I don’t know much about Japanese JJ, I can’t really compare it to BJJ. I just know the former is much more of a traditional martial art, and BJJ people don’t consider it ‘real’ BJJ. Then there’s GJJ which is a type of BJJ that is taught by the Gracie family. I think what differentiates it from most other BJJ is the focus on self defense. A lot of other BJJ is purely combat or sport, not really get them off you and run away (self defense).
If your guys are MMA they’re doing BJJ, but most MMA guys just call it Jiu Jitsu, since there are no other types in their experience, there is no reason to differentiate. Unless you care about the difference between saffron and magenta it’s all red.
Yup, I’m a GJJ snob and all about being technical, which is why I get so pissy when people just try to muscle me.
[quote]anyhoo… i’m learning no gi and might possibly get to learn some boxing, too (which should help my skipping or vice versa)
:-)[/quote]
Hitting? You are a more daring woman then I.
[quote]i will be careful not to overdo it…
but i’m really enjoying taking up the opportunities i’ve got right now.
am the happiest i’ve been in a long long time :-)[/quote]
Oh, Lexi, that’s wonderful.
I’m not on here as often anymore, but you have my email, if you need anything just shoot me an email. I’m addicted to my iphone. I’m really excited that you’re doing BJJ!
[quote]alexus wrote:
clean and jerk (power both since that is how i’m strongest. worked up to 5x2@35. getting the hang of shoving my head through (thus reducing the height i need to get on the bar to lockout). something funky is going on with my grip / knees, but whatever…
- people seem to struggle with the bar falling down on them in their cleans and choking them out. my coach seems to think that this is partly because they are doing wide grip pulls (apparently this helps them pull it higher??) and unsuccessfully narrowing their grip for the rack / racking it with their neck rather than their delts. he says one should keep the grip the same (thus practicing with straps is pretty useful). i suspect he may be right about that… i don’t see the point it pulling it any higher than you need to fit your ass down under it at any rate. i mean how many people find their clean and jerks are limited by how much they can pull into position???
i personally think that one should simply get used to pulling the bar to the exact same height (high enough to fit your ass under) every. single. fucking. time. but whatever whatever nobody listens to me… pull pull pull lets get those pulls nice and strong… now the bar is crashing down. whopsie. okay so lets now forget about squat cleans and just do powercleans until your front squat is strong enough… which is like, when?? bye bye technique mastery.
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Hmm well hopefully I’m reading this right. Not sure what you mean by shoving your head through? Do you mean jerking? with jerking I found that its about racking the bar properly.
But I thought with cleans and snatching, that yes you make sure you extend fully but that doesn’t mean you throw the bar as high as you can get it. I’m still not sure about power versions actually helping with technique, thought they were just used to develop some speed.
Sigh I miss it!
thursday:
playing around by self. was about to have a go @40kg (which i should have been able to snatch for the comp) but coach arrived and said it was time for some hang power snatches with straps.
worked triples up to 30kg which was work… then trying to get 35kg. couldn’t quite do it… he is worrying about my traps not coming up properly. working from the hang seems to be helping my funky leg issues. starting to frog more to keep my torso upright. fairly happy about that. i’m not sure about this ‘shrug the bar up’ business… but i’m not quite finishing the pull to be sure…
front squats. doubles. up to 40kg. feeling really smooth and perfect form as i can. hopefully i can maintain that form with weight increases.
rows. some assistance for my chins.
friday:
yoga gym for first time in a very long time.
i’m getting pretty good at this rolling around on my back and rolling back to headstand business. i really will try and take some vids of it… playing with using a hip snap to jump myself up off the ground, too… i need to take vids…
centergy / balance.
i think i’m over it. basically… hang around people who you want to be like. i want to hang around people who are individually aspiring to better the way they were yesterday. not people who congratulate themselves on being better than others (regardless of the work that has or has not been put in). not people who feel bad about themselves because they feel others are better than them. the yoga thing is weirdly competitive… i’ve noticed a few times i’ve actually held myself back on some things because i don’t like to be envied. made a big fuss of things i couldn’t do well in order to make other people feel better about themselves. i don’t want to be a peacekeeper in the gym. fuckit. i’ve lost MY yoga. and there it is. i think the bjj will keep me bendy enough…
some fucking around on a variety of cardio machines seeking for the elusive something that allows functional movement pattern. not finding it.
some punching the bag. i’m getting some looks when i do this. of the ‘ease up’ variety. how come? aren’t you supposed to hit it very hard or is it more that i’m not supposed to try and hit it very hard since i’m a girl? i think i’m supposed to hire a PT so i get to use the gloves. hands do feel a little beat up. carpals. haha. hitting is kinda fun actually. i feel beast mode. indeed.
pch - not over-advising at all. i really (really really) appreciate your taking the time. helps me a great deal, actually. probably more than you know… i will persist. been feeling pretty bad about taking this last week off from it. i did tell them all it was because i was sick so didn’t want to give them cooties… but since i only rolled with them twice before getting sick they probably don’t quite believe me… back into it next week, though!
hitting…
i don’t think you start out actually hitting other people / being hit by other people… i think you start out with the bag and / or hitting those mitt things. i think it is mostly about being light on your feet and getting good timing / coordination and keeping your hands up to protect your head etc etc. technique work… even amateur comps are more about points than about using much force (knockouts)… i LOVE trying to smash the fuck out of the bag actually… urm… yeah. not sure how i would go with being hit, though… but i’m looking forward to this, yeah.
minimal - i mean getting the knack of throwing the head up / back so the bar has a clear path straight up… and then shoving my chest through, yeah. seems to cut about an inch off the lockout height. which means i can lockout more weight…
part 1 of about 7 (whole bbc documentary).
pretty darned good, actually…
not entirely sure what i’m up to to tell you the honest truth. meh. headstands can be more controlled but need more time to warm-up… me @68kg for future reference… need to get stuck into postural / ab work. realized i’m not actually bracing my core AT ALL for squats etc. dammit.
omg. Thank you for this video. I loved watching it and I think I’ll try rolling back into handstands next week.
awesome!
arachne - cool i haven’t managed to push back to a handstand as yet, but i’m optimistic that i will once i get the hang of the hip snap momentum. i’m certainly not strong enough to use my arms to push up from headstand to handstand… enjoying whatever it is that i’m doing for getting better control over my body, flexibility, and stuff though. it is kinda fun. i want to get heaps better control over the headstand. would like to be able to kick back from a one legged bridge, too (like a backwards walkover but from headstand rather than handstand), but my one legged bridge isn’t strong enough as yet.
Saturday
oly lifting.
a chick turned up who is a powerlifter who used to do a bit of oly lifting and is just now getting back into it. she is heaps stronger than me - easily powering my work weights her first day back. i guess i’m ambivalent. on the one hand i’m all about more women being involved… but on the other it kinda sucks to have your ass so easily kicked lol.
it is kinda cool because i’m hoping my future role will be in a coaching capacity, anyway. i know i have no natural talent or aptitude… but i would like to learn properly how to coach and hopefully develop into a good / useful one.
more snatch pulls today and i finally powersnatched 35kg for the first time.
there is something funky going on where if i really do extend properly with my traps the bar goes higher and also it doesn’t swing out front - the bar is in a good place to be caught.
there is also something funky going on where if i bring my shoulders forwards over the bar in the start position then i am much stronger with pulling it.
but i was trying to keep hips down / have vertical torso to minimize lumbar torque… different style, basically…
i’m hoping that i will be able to discuss why with my coach at some point without him thinking that i’m being argumentative or whatever. i need to know why… i do suck it up and do as he says… but i need to know why. i’m not convinced that the aim is to pull it high as you can… but then i’m not convinced the aim is to get under it fast as you can either. i suspect it is a trade-off / that there is a middle way…
want to find out about when this bar trajectory stuff will be sorted… i’m hopeful that i’ll get to see a bunch of lifters (different athropomentry) with different degrees of technique proficiency… not terribly sure how much can be learned by only watching the very very best… (with their levers)
[quote]alexus wrote:
more snatch pulls today and i finally powersnatched 35kg for the first time.
there is something funky going on where if i really do extend properly with my traps the bar goes higher and also it doesn’t swing out front - the bar is in a good place to be caught.
there is also something funky going on where if i bring my shoulders forwards over the bar in the start position then i am much stronger with pulling it.
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I have a problem with banging the bar out and cutting my pull short and I’m really finding that actively trying to get more height on the bar allows me to keep my elbows high which keeps the bar close and fully extending to get me in a better position to get under the bar.
Doing snatch pulls helps A LOT. I’ve found that when I’m totally losing it and getting frustrated and missing every attempt, I can often get back on track by doing a snatch high pull followed by a full lift. What this tells me I think answers your question in a way is that the high pull itself doesn’t benefit but the cue to bring it high thus close to my chest keeps the bar closer. I also have to think about grazing the bar against my thighs and scooping it instead of banging it out and the pull+full lift really helps with that.
And then cutting the pull short–I think very talented and experienced lifters can do a more optimal pull/extension that is short of fully extended but for someone at my level cutting the pull means I’m probably going to be diving under the bar too soon and not going to make it.
So with that in mind I think a lot of what gets taught in weightlifting isn’t necessarily what is actually correct but cues you into doing the correct thing.
A couple of days ago I was having a really crappy round of snatches and I reset back to lower weight and did the pull+full lift and it was like magic I didn’t miss until I reached my max weight. I’m going to be doing that more often!
edit: About banging the bar out vs grazing the thighs, I think that might actually be controversial but I am sold on the grazing on the thighs because I actually have control of where the bar goes.
what you say makes a lot of sense, thanks for that. doing pulls seems to sort out the full version for me, too. it is funny (strange) how cues can be quite different from what you actually need to do. quite an art to cuing…
having some trouble with cuing (for class)… i’ve learned most of mine from places like t nation. i don’t think you are supposed to tell regular clients to ‘drop your dick between your knees’ and the like, though. apparently ‘squeeze your ass’ is mostly okay… lolz. i suppose ‘stick your butt out’ is okay, too… lolz.
a chick from my class came along to oly lifting today. she seemed to enjoy it. she’ll be outlifting me in no time people don’t seem to understand that there are shyer people around who probably would do it with a little encouragement… people are expected to just push in if they want to do something - but some people weren’t raised like that lol. they do seem determined to teach me to be more assertive, though, which is probably good for me. guess that is something that i have got from lifting that i could do with some more of. that is kind of what i’m hoping other people can find from it so guess it is good for me to work on it more myself.
got a couple cues from another lifter (which is good because i’m starting to worry i’m really not on the same page as my coach). shoulders more over the bar… okay… i do wanna see that on vid, though. also i’m not using my glutes properly on the pull. story of my life…
we have video gear. to get side on and front on camera views and do bar analysis stuff etc etc. yeah! can’t wait for them to figure out the wireless computer setup…
bjj again today… was a bit weird… guess that is to be expected first time back after some time off. that dudes girlfriend didn’t roll today… i might be imagining it… but they might have come to peace with a ‘don’t you roll with her’ understanding or something like that… i think something like that might be going on… that is okay by me. i mean… i can not take that personally and be okay with it. even though it isn’t sexual… there are moments of weirdness when you are learning…
we learned some stuff that everyone else knew… think it was for me in a way. side control. wiggling out if the person doesn’t control you close enough (so you gotta really be clingy limpet). another way out… then something super flash… rolled with the oly guy again. he may have only been doing it for 4 months but i’m really starting to appreciate him… he is letting me work before tapping on my chokes now (apparently i have bony wrists that work good if i get the bone in the right place) and he is starting to choke me a little harder… some arm bar stuff… then another guy showed me some stuff…
the only thing that sucks… is that with oly lifting you can take the bar off to the corner and practice not sucking so bad without bothering anybody else. but i can’t practice rolling by myself. or i don’t know how to practice rolling without another body. and i feel like i’m wasting peoples time in making them roll with me. self confidence again? maybe… rolled with another dude and that was cool. i guess the major lesson for today is that i’m cool with full mount and stuff… and yeah, i gotta hug them close or there isn’t a hope. it was fun, yeah. i kinda want to just do one thing over and over and over till it feels automatic, though. thats what i’m not sure about. i suppose i should just speak up?? say that that is what i want to do. maybe they feel like they should entertain me with cool stuff or something but i’d rather get the basics good and… functional. if possible. actually working.
i’ll be one of the sociopaths before you know it… i actually don’t think they are sociopathic anymore… they are just practicing… or playing… yeah. i don’t see the harm anymore.
Ooo bar analysis, sounds exciting.
Shoulders over the bar more, was definitely a cue that helped me. The lifts got 25% easier when I remembered that.
Your vid looks like loads of fun.
I’m hoping by summer to get back into the swing of things. I don’t care if its just using an empty bar.
i miss the empty bar, minimal.
had a teeny bit of a meltdown today / feeling right on the verge of meltdown.
sudden panic: what the fuck am i doing!!!
you know, with basically bailing on my thesis and moving away from all the professional contacts i had and moving from a life of academic research to doing a course at tech…
… and not really fitting in particularly well with the athletic kids. which was only to be expected, i suppose. i mean: what the fuck am i doing!!! and what on earth was i thinking!!!
i think i need to cut back on something… skipping (training before class), oly lifting, jiu jitzu… probably a bit much to do 2 of those per day… i don’t know.
need to find myself with the oly lifting… i used to be all about the technique… who am i kidding my coach is all about the big boys lifting whatever the big boys can lift even if they do hurt their backs. it isn’t my cup of tea at all.
and there it is.
there are other people i can learn technique from… but i need to extract myself from my coach first…
so it looks like oly lifting @6am before class it is going to have to be. or something. i’m too unco to properly track my heart rate but right now i really am eating and i really am sleeping and something has got to give… maybe i’m not quite over the cold… maybe it was just having to do a cv in class today and i didn’t really want the other students to know… but then i feel stupidly undercover… but then… what the fuck am i doing!!!
i seem to have girl cooties at jiu jitzu. except for one guy who seems to feel a bit sorry for me. whatever. time will put things right. i think possibly the girlfriend training last week didn’t work out for whatever reason and the guys are saying they don’t want to make a girl tap. reading over pch’s log i’m getting a sense of how she just didn’t worry about this shit. just turn up and train. whatever. i’ll get better eventually lolz. at least there is one guy who is cool about rolling with me. if i can choke his massive neck i reckon i’m pretty much good for choking anything, too, since he is probably around 100kg of big samoan dude lolz.
today: realized i do better with playing defense. i can be pretty squirmy and might be able to squirm into a good position for a choke or armbar. playing offense doesn’t really work for me because i can’t really throw around a dude who weighs probably two of me… maybe the smaller guys have a false impression of how strong i am because they know i’m a weightlifter? maybe girlfriend chick freaked about guy sweat or something? who knows… made the guy do a couple of the same moves over and over so i started to feel better with them… i realize pch did a lot of that in her log… ask questions… demand answers… drill things with whoever will drill them. just bloody well get on with it. just like oly lifting, eh.
i wish i didn’t have this highish pitched distress response sounding nervous laugh when i try new things… think it took a couple weeks in the heavy weights room for me to feel more comfortable and lose the laugh. hope it leaves the mats soon because it kind of is attention grabbing on the mats and doesn’t really help my case at all…
That is tough :{ Not quite hitting a nitch anywhere? 
That sucks. :{
Hmmm, well it does sound like you have alot on your plate at the moment.
Do you really enjoy jitsu? Sorry if I missed it in your logs, but what made you try jitsu? Doesnt sound like your thing. If I had to do a martial art, I would choose ninjitsu. Always wanted to be a ninja.
Hows your bike going? I still think you should try a road bike. Doesnt matter how crappy my ankle feels… the road bike is always forgiving and is a heaps load of fun, by myself or with others. And you get to stop for coffee aswell. And you develop killer hamstrings and calves. Let me know if you have any questions on road bikes.
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[quote]alexus wrote:
i will be careful not to overdo it…
but i’m really enjoying taking up the opportunities i’ve got right now.
am the happiest i’ve been in a long long time :-)[/quote]
Just remember this feeling Lex. I know it’s hard when times get hard or confusing to remember why you made a big change in the first place, but you’re where you’re supposed to be. It takes a lot of courage to keep searching for what truly moves you, hang tight.
Well I am biased but to me oly lifting is all about the grace of technique. I see some guys lifting big weights, and to be honest their technique isn’t too bad but if they are not graceful (& I know that is only my perception of it) it doesn’t do anything for me. But when I see gracefulness in the snatch, it just looks like a thing of beauty. Gawd I miss it, I know I keep saying that ;-p
Being the happiest you have been in a long time is GREAT progress!