Full Capacity Training

Training Over 35 Lifter
181

Pretty much took Sunday off. Yard work, dog stuff, horse stuff (got a load of hay), but nothing structured.

Monday, Nov. 3:

MT:

Great class, which was kind of ironic 'cause I wasn’t feeling jazzed like I usually am. It was one of those days where I struggled to get out the door on time only to get bogged down in a ton of stupid traffic. On days like that it’s easy to start asking myself why I’m doing this?

Anyhow, we spent about 15 minutes drilling slips and counters, then put it to practice sparring. Changed partners every round and everyone had to spar one round with one of the school’s more experienced fighters. Every time someone came out of the ring they’d say stuff like, 'Watch out, he’s not pulling his punches and his knees are brutal." Hm. He mostly let me play defense. Fine, but my goal is that some day he won’t get a choice. (Hey, I can dream!)

I actually got a nice compliment, too. I was getting ready to leave when one of the more advanced guys (who seldom spars with me, but did today) said I’ve improved a lot. I thought maybe he was just being “nice” so I asked him what he thought I was doing better. He said, “Everything!” Wow!

Then he went on to say he wasn’t giving me any slack and I caught him fair and square more than once. Man, that made MY day and kinda made up for all the other stupid mistakes I made! (And the crummy commute!)

Thing is, I’ve sort of been feeling like I’m getting a little better, but I’m still such a rookie that I think I gauge my progress based on how class feels on any given day. I don’t really think that’s a good way to measure progress, but I fall into the trap just the same. So on days when I’m a total moron I feel like I haven’t improved at all and on days when I’m on top of my game I feel like I’m actually getting somewhere. Nice to have some validation for a change.

Lifting:

arms/legs/hypers/abs.

Stretch

Tues, Nov 4th:

BJJ:

More work on side mount: holds and escapes, this time by posturing onto the side. I have one heck of a time gluing myself to the mat when some of the bigger guys try to break thru my posture. Sometimes the best I can do is to just hold position as they push me around the mat like a broom. If they can’t flip me or get a hand or a hook in then I guess I’m doing the job right. Learned some subtle stuff today. It’s always the subtle stuff that’s SO important.

Stretch (Low back pretty sore/tight from lifting yesterday. Gotta knock that crap off!)

KMC & El: Hijack my log any time!

I’m not in a gi class. As it stands it’s very hard to find morning classes and for some weird reason, they all seem to be no-gi. I would have thought otherwise. It seems like most the people in no-gi class have no intention of ever actually stepping into a cage and I find it a bit odd that the instructors always have to start with the disclaimer … “If you were doing this with a gi you would have to … yadda, yadda, yadda …”

Taking a gi class would appear to be smart, I just don’t know if I can swing it until spring because it probably means adding a night class. I’m so not a night person!

Cappy

182

Could you explain a little about gi vs no gi. All new to me. Is it just to make the class more informal or get you use to grabbing body parts vs clothing? Is it to make a delineation between sport training and self defense? Different type of training than I’m familiar with.

183

[quote]hel320 wrote:
Could you explain a little about gi vs no gi. All new to me. Is it just to make the class more informal or get you use to grabbing body parts vs clothing? Is it to make a delineation between sport training and self defense? Different type of training than I’m familiar with.[/quote]

KMC … El … (Or anyone else), have at it before I give this question a whirl. Like I said, I’ve never had any BJJ gi training, just no-gi. But you can’t take a no-gi class without hearing a buttload of stuff about gi and how important/different it is. It seems to be a loaded topic lately.

Cappy

184

[quote]Capacity wrote:
hel320 wrote:
Could you explain a little about gi vs no gi. All new to me. Is it just to make the class more informal or get you use to grabbing body parts vs clothing? Is it to make a delineation between sport training and self defense? Different type of training than I’m familiar with.

KMC … El … (Or anyone else), have at it before I give this question a whirl. Like I said, I’ve never had any BJJ gi training, just no-gi. But you can’t take a no-gi class without hearing a buttload of stuff about gi and how important/different it is. It seems to be a loaded topic lately.

Cappy
[/quote]

Hey Cappy, I just found your log (as result of your post in the MMA hub) and am enjoying catching up on it. It’s really nice to see a female with longevity and doing BJJ! I just started, and am the only female in my school, so it’s good to know you exist :slight_smile:

I’m no expert, but gi and no gi are two different worlds.

No gi you aren’t able to grip the person as easily, and it’s incredible what a difference a sweaty body makes to keeping closed guard.

With gi, grips are worked a lot more, and you have a wonderful range of chokes and ways to hold the person. The first time someone reaches behind you and chokes you with the back of your lapel is shocking.

Our classes are incredibly informal to begin with, so gi vs no gi doesn’t really affect that. Both can be sport training since there are gi and no gi competitions. Both can also be used for self defense since it’s not often you’re attacked by a naked person. I went to a black belt seminar in which he said they used to practice chokes with random clothing, and that those big chunky necklaces were almost as good as a gi lapel.

Oy, sorry about the novel!

185

Another Hijack
Basically Judo and Brazilian Jujitsu
came from jujutsu… and adapted it for their needs, they have the same techniques,
with different nuances to their application.
And emphasis of study.

the Gi is the pajamas the uniform.
Sometimes called a Kimono in Akido its often called a Hakama ( the pants or skirt)

Traditionally in Judo they where white,
recently 30? years 20 years Blue has been very very popular- to help distinguish the two players.

So Gi or No Gi is with or with out the uniform and that affects how it is taught
how the class is structured and how you apply the techniques.

Adapting is different- how to throw, choke, grip, defend, manipulate someone with out the
built in handles, the armor,
their is a nice thread in the combat forum about it too.

Its a preference, and a stylistic choice
and the debate is hot…
But realy you should do what you like,
I say do both. But thats me.

sorry for the hijack…
kmc

186

Take intocombat.com – they train a lot of no gi competitors, or at least they did when Santana and Ferguson were partners. That included The Snowman and others.

Most of the training was done in the gi to learn the things that you learn faster with a gi.

If you would like, I’d be glad to mail you a two CD set on the topic (just send me your husband’s work mailing address and I’ll drop them in the mail to him).

I’ve wrestled and I’ve played Judo. What Camarillo and Ferguson said made sense to me. They’ve trained some pretty solid competitors in the no-gi world, using gis.

187

Tuesday, Nov 4th

BJJ:
Worked on side mount defense and escapes … specifically, rolling to the diagonal, curling into a semi-fetal position and guarding the neck/head. Covered the head-grabbers, arm-grabbers, back-takers and the roll-overs. A lot of this stuff is subtle, but it makes a big difference in your options and outcome.

Wed, Nov 5th

MT:
Partnered up and practiced taking and deflecting punches to the head and body. Then worked (more) on slips, counters and kicks. Did several rounds of sparring with different partners to try to put things into practice.

BJJ:
Worked on some frigging arm bar that I’m not in a million years ready to do. Way over my skill level and pretty much everyone else’s. That annoyed me. I’m seeing a huge difference in how my Tues/Friday/Sat. class is taught and how the Wed class is taught. The Wed. class lesson is random … never know what it’s going to be or where it fits into the bigger picture. The main focus seems to be on rolling, but most of the students are rookies, which begs the question why? I dunno. I don’t see me getting much out of it right now, but I stay for the class because it follows the Muay Thai class and I’m there anyway. We’ll see.

Stretch

Thurs, Nov 6th:

Cardio: heavy bag: 15 min, run: 35 min.
Stretch

Friday, Nov 7th.

BJJ:

Butterfly guard. Worked on four different ways to sweep. Again, looked at the more subtle adjustments and counters to help deal with head-grabbers and blockers.

Cardio: Powerwalk on incline 50 min.

Sat, Nov 8th:

Crap. Really sore back today. REALLy sore. That should learn me not to try to use brute strength when I sweep! Took my time getting up and about and decided to hit today’s BJJ class anyhow. Figured I could always just audit if I couldn’t participate. Turns out I was 85% better after moving around for a few hours, so I did take part in class, which was mostly a review of the last week’s lessons. Awesome!

I was going to attend a kettlebell seminar, but the rain held off just long enough that we decided to get a load of wood instead. Then we went to a small Scottish concert at our local library, which was very cool.

No lifting today. Giving the back some needed rest. Might lift tomorrow if I feel better.

Cappy

188

You had a busy week. Hope you work the kinks out of that back soon

189

Spent most of the weekend with an annoying back spasm.

Decided to take a little break from the weights while I see a chiro. I just couldn’t ignore the nagging ache in my traps/neck/thoracic region anymore. Gonna do a week or two of treatment and see how it goes. He seems to think it’s fixable. (Don’t they all?)

Might do a LIGHT FB workout today, but I’m really not in a hurry if it doesn’t feel right. Still playing BJJ and MT, but not pushing either as hard. Still stretching and doing cardio.

This isn’t a major setback, but I need to get to the bottom of it now or it’s going get in my face somewhere down the line.

Cappy

190

Yes, don’t act like a guy and wait for problems to go away.

191

[quote]Elaikases wrote:
Yes, don’t act like a guy and wait for problems to go away.
[/quote]

I don’t think your gender has the corner on the stupidity market! OK … maybe it does, but when it comes to some things my gender isn’t exempt.

The bad thing is that I have a fairly high pain tolerance. But the chronic pain issues I have with my lumbar crap make me far less willing to shut up and put up with pain in other places. In all fairness, I’ve been putting off dealing with this for about two years. Maybe more.

But I can’t avoid it anymore. It’s to the point where I’m having trouble turning my head while driving. I’ve lost that much ROM.

I’ve been to the chiro twice. They really do believe in themselves, don’t they? He wanted to know if I got any relief from the first visit! BWAH! I had everything I could do not to snicker.

But I think I’m seeing a small improvement tonight. It’s still giving me a headache, but it doesn’t hurt to take a deep breath like it has the last couple of days.

I hate this.

Cappy

PS. I hit the gym today. Did a light full body workout then did a 40 minute run.

192

[quote]Capacity wrote:
Elaikases wrote:

I’ve been to the chiro twice. They really do believe in themselves, don’t they? He wanted to know if I got any relief from the first visit! BWAH! I had everything I could do not to snicker.

Cappy

PS. I hit the gym today. Did a light full body workout then did a 40 minute run.
[/quote]

Good luck with the adjustments. The wife’s chiro is the same way, he is a miracle worker in his own mind! But the wife progresses by degrees.

193

Last time I saw a chiro he fixed my problems in two visits. I think he was kind of disappointed that it happened so fast, but I was a cash customer.

194

Mon Nov 10:
MT:
Worked on multiple kicks and defending them.
Spar

Tues Nov 11:
BJJ
Worked on establishing a good base, posture and use of weight/pressure.
Guard passing:
Under the leg pass
Over the leg pass (3 different variations)
Drill.
Roll

Wed, Nov 12:
MT:
More work on high kicks, teeps and defense of same.
Added basic strikes to kicks
Spar

BJJ:
Worked on armbar from the mount
Roll

Thurs Nov 13:
Lifting. Light full body workout.
Run

Friday Nov 14:
BJJ
Triangle chokes & neck cranks using arms:
From the mount
From side control
Triangle chokes using legs:
From guard
Reverse dbl leg
defense against the triangle (passing thru)

Drilled individual components of each movement, then worked on putting the different components simultaneously.
Roll.

Sat Nov 15
BJJ
Worked on the Kimura from closed guard.
Got some pointers on fine-tuning the movement and how to prevent or force a forward roll
Again, practiced the individual components of the drill, then worked on putting everything together simultaneously.
Roll

Elliptical 30 min.

Sunday Nov 16:
Chest, shoulders, back, abs, hypers
Bag work
Stretch

Cappy

195

I guess the back is doing better? I like the component concept your training has. Probably common sense to most, but for me it is very interesting.

196

[quote]j_willy3 wrote:
I guess the back is doing better? I like the component concept your training has. Probably common sense to most, but for me it is very interesting.[/quote]

I think it was actually more the neck that was the problem than the back, but the neck was causing secondary back/scapula issues. Yes, it’s starting to come around, but it’s not 100% by any means. It feels better and the ROM is starting to improve, so hopefully I can get things back on board soon. I’m going to give it all the time it needs and I’m not pushing it. For now I’ll only roll or spar with people who have their ego in check.

I’ve discovered very few MA schools teach BJJ in a manner that I can grasp. Most spend about 15-20 minutes on conditioning drills, ten minutes teching a specific BJJ technique and drilling it a few times, then the rest of the class time is spent rolling. As a beginner, that doesn’t work for me, especially if there’s no sequential order to the techniques they are teaching, which is often the case.

The place where I go on Tues, Fri, Sat spends 90% of their beginner class on technique, technique drills and putting the components together like I explained above. You can stay after class and roll all you like … and most of the guys do. The instructor watches rolling and instructs where and when needed. In other words, he’s not off chatting on his cell phone or rolling with someone … unless it’s to help them work something out. They also offer a 90-minute drill class that is 100% rolling on Monday night.

This place has a very structured, sequential approach and it’s a much different atmosphere. I really like it. On the other hand, it’s not the most glitzy, state of the art place, which I’m sure turns off some prospects. But IMO, it’s a diamond in the rough.

Cappy

197

Who cares about glitz if they are actually teaching. Sounds like you were very lucky in finding the place.

198

Sounds like you’ve found the right place for you and you’re enjoying it. All the fancy decor and equipment there is can’t replace that.

199

Mon Nov 17th:

MT:
I forgot to write it down. I think we did station work, which in essence means moving around the room to different partners and being given one thing to work, then doing a round of sparring using everything we’ve got. For example, station 1 might be using only the jab for a round, then doing a round of sparring using everything. Then you move to the next person where you do something else, then spar using everything. Rinse, repeat.

Tuesday, Nov. 18:

BJJ: Arm locks from side mount. Four versions. Then passing the guard into side mount and into one of the arm lock versions. Did some mobility drills to help with some of the mechanics.

Lift:
Legs, arms, abs
Run: 30 min.
Stretch

Wed, Nov 19:

MT: Entire class was sparring. Phew! Did conditioning drills between rounds. A real bitch of a class. Fun!

BJJ: Drilled butterfly guard pass. (20 min)
Roll

Thurs, Nov. 20:
Lift: Chest, shoulders, back. Abs
Elliptical: 30 min
Stretch

Friday, Nov 21:
BJJ: Knee bars (4 variations) and foot/heel locks (4)

Saturday, Nov 22:
Kettlebells
Stretch

The back/neck is doing better. My ROM has improved and I’m not guarding things as much. It’s nice to be able to turn my head and back my car up without grinding my teeth. I’ve got another week of 3 chiro appointments, then we’ll re-evaluate things. While it’s nice to feel a bit better, I don’t want to be married to the guy …

Cappy

200

The whole guard thing is new to me, but it is interesting to watch as they develop. Just started watching a series of videos on the turtle guard.

I think I may be too old, without enough time, to start up the new ground work, but watching and a little bit of training and I can understand it when I see it.

Looks like you are making great progress.