Working that top game...

So this week is all about working the mount.

Our brown belt instructor got sick earlier in the week but another brown belt stepped up to teach.

As, I get into the curriculum in SBG the more I am liking it. For the longest i was used to maintaining mount by swimming arms and balancing myself with my hands on the mat about the guys head, which makes sense because I come from a Gracie background. The main points that I think will help my game that I leard at SBG is to squeeze your legs together when you are on top mount position and to not look to balance your hands on the mat as much.

So, lets address the first point. People differ on how to maintain mount. Some say to keep your legs wide when mounting someone which I understand that it gives you good balance but if someone starts bridging you then you have your hands to help balance you and maintain your balance. One glaring problem I feel about keeping your legs wide is that it creates space where a guy can move his hips and arms and possiblly escape out the back door on you. If you squeeze your legs together and tuck your feet in then you really limit the mobility of that person, finally a position where my weight comes in handy :).

Now the other point that I really like is that you don't look to balance using your hands out front above the guy's head as much. The point being that you immediately look to cross face or gain an underhook somehow. What I mean by crossface; imagine you are on top mount you slide your left arm under the guys head and drive your shoulder into the side of his face. When someone has you crossfaced it's hard to think of what to do and if you have their face forced that other way it's nearly impossible for them to move back into you all they can think is to go the direction their head is pointing. I started going directly into crossface on full mount with a similarly big guy and I was really able to control him a lot more.

For your viewing pleasure here are some videos of the head of SBGI and a quick highlight vid of one of his BB.

So I got my wish...

Well the last few weeks have been pretty normal. Getting some jiu jitsu in 3x a week and some extra workouts here and there.

We have been working top control the last few weeks. Working from half guard, full mount and side control. I'm not sure what this week will bring but it's supposed to be different. Just like most sports the offensive stuff is what is flashy and what gets the most highlights but we all know that defense is absolutely essential. So, I have a feeling this week may be back to defending. I have heard people say that Jiu jitsu is a game of inches which is absolutely true and it makes more and more sense to me. I always think about this when someone is controlling my movements and I'm trying to escape or I rushed a submission and end up in a bad spot. Sometimes you work your ass off just to get your hips away from a person inch-by-inch just to start over and repeat but eventually the hard work gets you in a position to take advantage of a window of opportunity. Every time I don't work for a position and just try to muscle my way out of a bad position I usually end up back where i started. So, maybe what I'm saying is technique and position means everything just like they tell you from the moment you start training BJJ. It's these little revelations, that you know are true but don't really take hold until you actually see them for yourself, that keep you going.

Ok, I'll move on from mindless wandering. So, my gym just added a competition conditioning class. Anytime I hear conditioning in the name of a class I think, yeah i probably better go to that and looks like good 'ol pukie the clown will show up for this one. Which brings me to talking about crossfit. A few years ago when I was going through this fight of losing major weight and getting back into shape and beginning BJJ, damn I can't believe I lost sight of that struggle and gave up, I started incorporating some crossfit workouts into my training and found them incredibly challenging and beneficial. I encourage you to check out that site and delve into what crossfit has to offer. And you may even want to see if there are local gyms in your area, they are getting more and more popular. I like it because most of the workouts are really intense but don't take all day to do. You can scale the workouts to your fitness level and you will still feel like puking at some point (always a sign of a good workout). The workouts are always changing and they are composed of compound and functional movements, lots of Olympic lifts, calisthenic work, plyometrics and good 'ol cardio. Damn, I'm rambling for a Monday. This all ties back into the conditioning class at my gym because it is described as being "like" crossfit workouts. Look for updates from me whining about how I'm sore and how I puked at this conditioning class.

Oh, yeah so that picture at top is Pukie the clown. If you read the crossfit message boards you will see where people talk about meeting pukie the clown which means, of course, they puked during the workout. Pukie is kind of a mascot for crossfit because the intense workouts lead to meeting this unfortunate character from time-to-time.

As, always I'll try to be more frequent with the updates!

Just want a normal schedule.

Work has been crazy this summer. We are 24x7 and usually have two "floater" positions who cover for people when they need time off. Well I have been the only floater all summer so I have been covering for people's vacations and random needs to have time off. My normal schedule is Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri 6am-430pm, which works really well from me because most of the Jiu Jitsu classes are in the evening. Well, finally starting next week there will be a second floater again! As for this week I have been covering for a co-worker who went to Disney World at the end of the fiscal year, which is a busy time for us. So, I have been off my usual routine and have not been at Jiu Jitsu all week!! Which just blows. But, luckily next Monday I will be back on the mats. I have managed to get in three workouts this week, two Jump Rope and calestinics workout and on running workout. So, hopefully I have been able to somewhat maintain cardio. I prefer to get in 5-6 workouts a week, especially if I'm trying to get back in shape and lose weight like I am right now. I'm going to get a fourth workout in tomorrow. Here's to keeping your head down and getting some work in and BOO to one day weekends!! Back to work....

-Luke

More Side control Escaping...

Made it to the afternoon class today. We continued working on sidecontrol escapes. Maybe it's because I'm a big guy but it seems the guys at this gym like to put a knee on your head to control you in side control. I must say it works well but damn if it doesn't grind the hell out of your ears. It was hard to wash my hair afterwards because my left ear is mangled. Time to get some wrestling head gear to avoid the dreaded cauliflower ear.

I'm starting to get to know some people at the gym which is making it more comfortable. I really miss the comraderie I experienced at my old gym in Mobile. I did get a little time to talk to our black belt Matt, the owner of the gym, and he was telling me how his Dad and Grandpa both died of heart attacks in their 50's and how he has high colesterol. So, of course I talked about my family history. We both agreed I was in the right place for losing weight and getting back in shape. Which by the way my pants are getting loser which is a good thing!

A quick and healthy recipe I tried this week was getting some prepacked asian veggies in the frozen section and some deveined shrimp and threw together a quick meal sauteed in canola oil added a little garlic powder and a pinch of sea salt. It was quite satisfying!

So, In class today we warmed up by rolling. My stamina is getting better to where I can stay competetive a little longer. I held my own and did not get submitted by two blue belts and got a cross choke on another white belt. It's defnitely not all about submissions but it's nice get one from time-to-time. After warming up we drilled escaping from side control which wore me out pretty good. And then we did some 6 minute matchs from the standing position! That was pretty fun although i was pretty tired by then and didn't have as much to give as i would have liked. Although i did nail a seoi nage judo throw. It wasn't real pretty but it worked! Here's a video of some people that can do it way better then myself. I wish I could do it that well! I apologize for the rockin' music that accompanies this video.



Anyhow after a couple rounds of standing to submission sparring I was done. All-in-all it was a good class and another step in the right direction.

Jumping Rope

I got out an old favorite of mine this week for a couple workouts, the jump rope. I discovered the benefits of jumping rope way back when I used to play basketball. I remember reading an article about Clyde Drexler, coincidentally, of the Portland Trailblazers and how he would jump rope to improve his jumping ability, quickness and first-step explosiveness. So, to the garage I went to jump rope. I also remember my Dad telling me that my uncle David recommended jumping rope, he was kind of the sports advisor for me because he was a high school football coach and always in killer shape. It doesn't take long to realize the benefits of jumping rope because after a few minutes you will really start to feel it. Jumping rope will improve your foot work, your coordination and will really blast your calfs and shoulders. Plus, a jump rope is cheap and portable and just a good way to put some variation in your workouts.

I like to switch up my foot patterns when jumping. I usually start off jumping with both feet then move to a running in place type pattern. I also like jumping twice on one foot then alternate. It's up to you and what comes natural.

I have a couple different workouts I do with the jump rope.

This week I did one where I:

Jump Rope 1 minute
1x10 pushups
1x15 squats
jump rope 1 minute
1x10 pushups
1x15 lunges (on each leg so actually 30)
Repeat until you get 10 minutes of jumping rope in. I'm not in very good shape at the moment so this was plenty challenging for me adjust it to fit your fitness level.

Another one I did was:

Jump rope 5 minutes
1x12 curls (25lb. dumbbells)
1x15 kick backs
1x12 lateral raises for shoulders (25lb. dumbbells)
1x12 front raises for shoulders (25lb. dumbbells)
1x20 crunches (I use a camping sleeping pad because we have hardwood floors and it can be rough on the back)
1x20 leg lifts
Repeat the sets 4 times
Finish with 5 minutes of jumping rope.

Also, I have found that a jump rope with plastic beads or 1.5" sections (whatever you want to refer to them as) to work best for me rather then just a rope.

So, get on it!

P.s.- Jumping rope is also good because you can stay in if you just don't feel like going outside to work out and you can watch TV to distract from the pain.

Side Control Escape Week

Yeah, it's been forever but I have been training at least twice a week... But, I have finally come to a place where nothing will stop me from training to get better and to lose weight and get back in shape. It was really hard to get to that place and actually humble myself. It almost like starting over. I can't believe how much I let life affect me after Dad died and I moved to Portland. I really just tried to stay numb and seek comforting things. I have given up the majority of impurities in my life like soda, alcohol (sans wine and the occasional micro brew) and green. First time I have sought a pure life style in quite awhile. Enough rambling.

This week is side control escapes at SBG. Here's a link on Wikipedia that explains side control. Cane was teaching the class, one of my favorite coaches and brown belt, he is really good at breaking down the positions so you can understand them. He started by showing us the basic position you want to assume when you are caught in side control. If someone is on your right side you want to put your left arm across your stomach with your hand on your right hip and pin your right elbow on your side with your arm bent defending the cross face and blocking your opponents hips. He then moved on to showing how to get that basic position back when someone your arms are caught outside the basic position by utilizing the umpa aka bridging and driving your right elbow into the space you create when you umpa then you bridge again and thrust your left arm up over your right shoulder driving your elbow back down across your body to get your basic position back.

I came home and weighed after class and was down 7lbs. that's a lot of sweat! I consider that a good class.

Internet

So, we have been without the internet for a few weeks and just got it back a couple days ago. I should be able to update my blogs on a more regular basis. I hope all of you are doing well out there.

I'm including a few videos with Jon Stewart interviewing Betsy McCaughey about Healthcare. Betsy told some pretty good lies about Clinton's health care reform attempt back in the 90's. I know that not all of you are liberal like myself but, maybe it would be good to see some of these "claims" by conservatives about the proposed healthcare bill at least challenged.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Betsy McCaughey Pt. 1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 2
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests