Finally The New Home Has Arrived

This blog has been moved to www.jitsujourney.com

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A Day of Rest

Today is going to be a day of rest. A calm before the storm so to speak. This seems to be what I do the day before a competition...nothing. As I mentioned before I'm not super pumped for this competition, but it should be good growth for me in terms of experience. We have a significant number of people competing this time which is awesome. I love watching other people compete and catch the bug. You can always see peoples game jump several levels after they compete. I think it refocuses some people, and helps them fill in holes they may not have noticed otherwise. One great thing is I don't have to cut any weight for this one so I'm hoping I feel stronger this time. Bri isn't competing this time because of the lack of girls so she is going to get as much footage and pics as she can. I'll make sure to post them all again. Stay tuned.

Great Podcast

Recently I came across an amazing podcast about Bjj. It has over 600k listeners so I think I'm a little late finding it, but it's well worth the hour spent listening to it every Sunday. They cover all types of news related to Bjj and often have in depth interviews with Jiu-Jitsu stars and legends (this week it's Silvio Braga) . Jiu jitsu is way more then just an activity that I do 3 times a week. It really is a way of life, and the more time spent doing it, the more it spills over into other aspects of the day to day. So check it out, I highly recommend it and its free! The FightWorks Podcast

New Home Coming Soon

I just wanted to let everyone know that soon this blog will be moved to www.jitsujourney.com. I purchased my own domain and have been putting in more effort getting it set up then blogging lately. Soon I will be back in full swing with a sweet new look. The Foundry will be representing again in a few weeks a the Maine Skirmish. We are all pumped. It's a smaller tourney, but I'm looking forward to competing again. Just like people run to improve their cardio, I want to compete more to improve my nerves. I want to be able to step out there and roll just like it's a normal session in class. Then I think I will do so much better. The only way to practice for that is to actually compete, and that's what this tournament will be for me. I've been working on a new sweep I saw Abmar Barbosa do at the FGO this year as well. Seems to be coming together nicely with my game.

FGO 2009

Let me start off first by saying Team Foundry had a great showing at the FGO this year. We took 5 competitors and walked away with 6 medals total. Out of around 27 teams that registered we took 7th overall. Not bad at all. We had some steep competition let me tell ya, no one had any easy fights. My first match I went up against a monster from team LINK. The nerves of it being my first match of the day really sapped my energy quickly and I found myself gassed and working to keep him from passing. He defeated me and went on to win the division. I guess that makes me feel better. My second match was against the guy who took first place last year. I had no nerves at all for this match because I was still really bummed that I lost and could no longer take 1st. I stepped out on the mat with an I don't give a shit mentality. I ended up pulling guard after trying a take down. Worked a de la riva sweep that left me on top for the win. Now I found myself going against the guy who took second last year. This match was to decide 3rd place. He pulled guard on me and I came down really odd on my knee almost hyper extending it. It was enough to take my mind off for a split second and by the time we both were on the ground he had a triangle locked up. So I took 4th place. I really wish I had placed, but that's how it goes. I think next year I will set a goal for myself to just medal in the FGO and then work from there. In other news soon my blog will be moving to www.jitsujourney.com. Yup thats right I purchased my own domain. Videos of my matches can be found here.

My Visualization

This Saturday night we all decided to do a little test run to check our weight. We didn't eat or drink much of anything after 5pm. The next day we woke up and went down to the gym and weighed in. I was relieved when I hit the scales weighing 154.5 HELL YEAH! Finally. Now I just need to work on eating right this week and getting my energy back. No Shawn that doesn't mean bud lite limes. The other thing that I wanted to talk about was things I do to mentally get ready for a match. We do a lot of running and extra workout stuff of course to make sure the cardio and strength is on par. The most important thing I do is visualize, and no matter what I am concentrating on at the time, it always ends with my hand raised. I hate running, but one thing I found that passes the time quicker is music. I'm sure everyone runs to their fav jams, so this isn't out of the norm, but I do something a little different I think. I like to run to trance or progressive techno. I started doing this because I hated finding a song that matched my mood while running. Lets just say I couldn't find a tune that said "I friggen hate running, and I'd rather been drinkin' beeeeeeer!" So the techno I listen to has no words just a driving beat that starts slow and builds and ramps up, just like my run. Now where my visualization kicks in is every time a new layer is added to the beat I add in another step in a sequence of moves. By breaking down the different steps to a move and assigning them to a beat, I am essentially drilling technique in my head. This goes hand in hand with my game plan because the early songs will start with everything from stepping on the mat and shaking hands, to later on finishing the match and raising my hand. Then of course Jacare runs out and hoists me on his shoulders and all the Brazilians start chanting a special chant just for me. What? You don't think of that?

2 Weeks To Go

2 weeks and counting. It's crunch time. Literally...I need to do crunches because I have about 5 pounds to lose in that short amount of time. Besides the weight I feel confident. I think my ground game plan is solid. I have some go-to moves that I feel comfortable with. My stand up seems a lot more smooth and confident this time. I have about 4 different setups that I'm going to be trying. Having a game plan is certainly key. They say a lot of any sport is mental and I can't help, but agree. Say you have a game plan that has 5 moves or positions, the plan isn't there so that you have to go in order, it's more for those times when things aren't going as planned. Your opponent may have stopped you from doing move 1 and 2, but somehow you have made it to 3 and guess what you automatically do next...4. This is like a road map for when you get lost, it puts you back on track mentally and you no longer feel hopeless. Of course if you go out and dominate and pull off moves 1-5 then props to you! I personally do a lot of visualization, how about you all? What are some things you do to mentally get ready to compete? I think my next post will be about my methods of visualizing.

Progress is Best Measured in Pounds?

This past Thursday was the first time I've weighed since getting the shocking news that I had to lose 10 pounds. It was after an excellent class where we had lots of high level guys on the mats. It's always nice to see the mats full because you know you will be rolling a lot when the time comes around. I think I rolled with 6 different people Thursday night. So after class we head over to the gym again and Bri and Justin stepped on the scales and weighed about the same. Bri has lost about 4 pounds even though she doesn't need to. Justin has done well maintaining. I step on the scale and cringe because I have worked hard over the last week and a half, and I knew if I hadn't lost anything it would be a huge blow to my motivation. Somehow I lost 4-5 pounds in a week and a half AWESOME! Makes me feel better about being able to drop the other 5 in the last 4 weeks. 155 here I come!

Porky The Pig Does BJJ

So the other night after Thursdays class, we headed straight to the local gym and weighed ourselves. This was just to get an idea of where we are at and gauge how much weight we have to cut for the Freestyle Grappling Open in Oct. My girlfriend Bri doesn't need to cut weight and never does, so that wasn't a shock. Justin had less then 5 pounds to lose. Me on the other hand...10ish maybe even 12 pounds. One thing as become apparent I am a Taco-holic. I friggen hate cutting for competitions. I cut out beer and try to eat healthy for about a month and a half, but by the time the date rolls around I would kill a man for a Big Mac. So needless to say, this week at the Foundry I have been trying to put in extra work and rolls to shed some of these pounds. I need to cut down to 155 by mid Oct. Tofu here I come!

Life after Bjj

Jiu Jitsu has affected me in such positive ways it's crazy. At the same time it's hard to list them out on paper. I guess it's just an over all feeling that's hard to step back from and dissect. I can state the obvious, like I lost a lot of weight just by doing bjj 3 times a week. I lost like 30 pounds I think. I have been able to cut down lower for competitions so in a way jiu jitsu has shown me that I do in fact have control over my health, and being fat and lazy is somewhat of a choice. The less obvious ones are things like confidence in myself and my abilities. Not just on the mat, but in life. Every night when you step out onto the mats you overcome something. When you are mounted and you feel hopeless, you suddenly gain half guard and work hard to regain full guard. Once you are there things don't seem so bad. This outlook helps so much in everyday life. So what about you? What has jiu jitsu done for your life?

Extended Family

It's often said that soldiers will form lifetime bonds with the people they go to battle with. They trust their lives to each other and know that when the shit hits the fan their teammates will be there to back them up. This happens in jiu-jitsu as well. You may not have to trust your life to your teammates, but you sure as hell put your own safety in their hands. This fact forms the bonds that make teammates like extended family. Tonight at the Foundry we had a big class again, the mats were full of familiar faces. Some we haven't seen in months, some only a few days. There is something about sitting on the mats with friends learning things together, sharing new moves you have been trying out and chatting about life that brings people together.

Foundry in Rangeley

We gathered up the local crew and decided to head up to the Rangeley for a high paced, action packed jiu-jitsu class. That's exactly what we got. Shawn is a great teacher and knows how to push people. I think we needed that kind of motivation. The Freestyle Grappling Open is coming up soon and we need to be ready for that. I've been tossing the idea around of competing. I'm just not one of those people who gets super motivated to compete. I don't have that drive or need to match myself up to others and see who is the best. I was telling Jon, what motivates me to compete is my team mates. I like the idea of getting them ready for their matches and being there when they step on the mat. I like congratulating them when they step off the mat victorious. That's why I compete. With that said, I need to find the right mind set to get pumped up for this. I think we have about 7 weeks until it's go time. It's about time to get in the gym and check my weight. I always say after I cut weight that I want to stay in shape, but the weight always creeps back up. I think our last training session at Shawn's will really motivate Justin to get our asses in shape. Let's do this!

A Breather

Tonight I took a night off from jiu-jitsu. I did some stuff around that house that needed to be done and took the dog for a walk. I needed a break. I started jiu-jitsu because it was fun and I want to make sure that “fun” is the reason I keep going to class. Sometimes a step back for a couple days just makes you realize how hooked you really are and the next time you step on the mats you feel refreshed. I hope that happens, last class was a drag. It was really nice outside and I had a tough day at work and I really didn’t want to even go to class. I showed up anyways and had some of the worse rolls in the past few months. That annoyed me even more. So if all goes as planned next class I will feel reenergized.

Good Rolls

I had a good night in class the other night. It's been mostly just Bri, Justin and I showing up to class. Every once in a while Shawn Smith will show up and that's always fun. The other night though Jon showed up and we had some great rolls. Whenever I roll with him it's always high pace and a lot of transitions. It was a lot of fun. Hard to stay motivated these days.

New Gi

I was excited the other day because I got a new gi. If you are into Jiu-Jitsu then you know the feeling I had when I came home and saw the package on the doorstep.

I got the new Koral competition light gi in black. This time I went with an A1 for the first time to try and reduce the bagginess in the chest area. I have to say that the A1 fits pretty damn nice. It feels a tad bit longer then my other Koral, but I haven't washed it yet either. I don’t really expect it to shrink very much because Korals come pre-shrunk, but I think the fabric will tighten up some. The weave on it is really cool and its pretty light as well. So far I think it’s going to be a good purchase.

So I Still Like the Triangle

Had some good rolls last class. The numbers have been smaller, but that just means more purple belts to roll with so that's ok with me. I still have been working my top game trying new passes and there seems to be some progress there. I keep finding myself in the triangle position, but now I'm using it to set up different things like the komora or the armbar. I need to really start working on high guard options because I think it will fit right into my game.

Progress

Well last class I was focused more on my top game. I worked the pass that I had talked about in my previous post and I’m happy to say that it worked about 50% of the time. Maybe a little under because I forget the exact number of times that I went for it. The thing that makes these numbers promising is that the pass was done on high level guys. I’m going to keep working the pass and perfect it more on the lower belts that’s for sure.

I’m super pumped for class tonight. I’ve been watching the Mundials 08 DVD and its really got me in the zone. In fact I wish class was right now lol. Joe T. said he was going to stop by class tonight so that will be a blast. It’s always fun to roll with Joe because he has a very different style then most of the people at the club. Can’t wait!

Meeting of the Minds

Justin and I met yesterday for a little meeting of the minds. We each went over some ideas we had floating around and ironed out some details. I was working mainly on a new pass (new to me). It’s pretty basic. I always pass in the combat base position and tend to do knee rides to the cross side. This works off of that, but instead of going cross knee, I hook a leg and sit on it and base down. The hand that’s on the same side I bring up and grab their belt so they can’t hip away from me. The other hand is controlling the leg I’m not sitting on. Once I have control I sit out into reverse scarf as I extend their leg that I’m sitting on. This forces their leg to flatten out.

The detail that I was working on is how I hook their leg before sitting on it. If done the way I was thinking it’s easier to straighten their leg out as you pass because your heel is kind of hooked on their heel. I’m sure I can find a video of this somewhere on YouTube, and if anyone knows of one already please point me in the right direction. I think tonight in class I’ll only pass using this method to try and work more kinks out of it. What say you?

Workin My Way to The Top

Lately I have been looking for something to work on specifically. I think I've found it. It's my top game and passing. I used to really suck at both of them, and I think now is the perfect time to really concentrate on them and bring them up to speed. I'm a guard player so I always give up position and work off my back, but in a competition that game plan sucks.
The last competition that I went to was last Oct down in Portland. The tourney was the Freestyle Grappling Open and is one of the biggest in Maine. I was so nervous and pumped at the time I just wanted to get it over with. When the match started I was going to so many positions and going for so many submissions that in a 4 min match I was up 14 - 2 on the guy. I ended up getting caught in a triangle with 20 secs left. SUUUUUCKS! I learned something though, if I had just solidified a few of those dominate positions I would have ate a lot of time off the clock and saved energy.
So top game it is. I need to start being able to dictate the pace and eat up time on the clock when I want to rest. My passing seems to be getting better. Now I just need to work on being able to stay there once I have passed.

Past Week

This past week we have had some good classes and I have done some good rolling. Our new guys are really coming along. Jon gave Will and Joe each their second stripe so congrats to them. Well deserved. I hope they both come back from summer break ready to learn.
Yesterday I went to open mat with Justin and Jordan. Justin and I ironed out some small details on things we have been working on. I have been trying this new thing where if the person has me in Oma plata, before they can sit up and control my back I do the normal forward roll escape. Now I have been doing that for a while, but I don't like the idea of letting them get side control on me. So what I do when I roll is make sure its really tight and swing my leg out like I'm going to roll into guard. What this does is if they are posturing up the leg that swings will catch on their back and stop my roll. At this point I'm kind of upside down so I walk out on my shoulders some. The arm that's not being attacked I reach over and grab their belt to make sure I can come up and take the back. It's kind of neat and seems to be working well for me. I have also been trying to work on my top game a lot. Messing around with mount more to set up attacks and just practicing being in the dominant position. This will help greatly in a competition if I want to eat some time off the clock.
I think Justin and I are going to split a few private lessons from Jon. Now that Noel is gone we need someone to be able to point us in the right direction when it comes to making small changes and tweaking our games. I think it will be a great help for both of us. Plus splitting it makes it more affordable.