tallgeese

Congrats! Well deserved!

It's also important to look at hwy you're training now and again. If you want to train for combatives, yet spend most of your time in sport based system then no matter how hard you train you won't be effective. Sometimes it's style selection that's more of a problem then a style.

5/28 Drilled arm triangle from mount. Same side D'Arce. North/South Choke. 35 min free roll. Worked on last weeks leg lock material. And focused on hitting some chokes from today. Kind of newish material to me since the change of schools. I'm not a big leg lock kind of guy. 35 min roll no-gi for fighter prep for a fight next month.

I hate to say it Shori, but that really was the deciding factor I loved the gym I used to go to and the people there, and the coach, ect. Of course, I wouldn't leave for anything less, so of course all of those things have to factor in. But in the end, it came down to two great gyms and coaches. All things being equal and all.... The vibe at my old place was a hair more laid back, but I'll fit here as well. As I start up regular this week, since I've known a bunch of these guys, and the coach, a while, I've found the transition to be very easy. MP, the time factor is almost as big a factor as the drive and the gas money. Now I can really crush some Warcraft...no wait, I mean spend time with my family

5/26 Drilled over straight ankle lock, toe hold, and ankle lock from sweep. Finished with repping back step out of half guard to knee bar and secondary move to ankle. 60 min free roll

So last week was one of major change for me, after several years with the same BJJ school I made the decision to move over to a new team. It was a decision that had nothing to do with the people or quality of instruction (both of which were excellent) at my previous school. About a year ago, a BJJ academy moved into the town in which I live. Legit instructor with a great pedigree who is a fantastic teacher. With a driving distance of five minutes vs. forty five, it might seem like an easy decision. However, loyalty means quite a lot in these matters so I waited for some time. I did get the opportunity to cross train with the closer school frequently and it became apparent it would be a good fit for me as well. Different vibe, but very accessible for my personality and goals. So, with the end of my contract I made the decision to move. Removing patches has never been this hard (I know a bit sentimental and dare I say even traditional response). Despite that, I'm looking forward to taking new steps and building new relationships. Not an easy go round, but one that makes a lot of sense and excites me to keep learning. Anyway, just sharing and explaining the new trappings in my profile block.

4/25 60 min free roll. More work on pressure.

Here's the link to a very interesting article that a friend of mine put me onto that Sam Harris wrote about understanding BJJ. He touches on a couple of concepts which Renzo Gracie puts forth in his book "Mastering Jiu Jitsu" about the ability to train at full, live pace compared to constant scaling of speed and power. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-pleasures-of-drowning The best insights are in his paragraph that details his analogy of learning jits and drowning. Pure gold. Enjoy.

Sweet! Congrats on the 4 stripes, it's right around the corner now.

5/24 Drilled preventing the spider guard. Knee slide pass. Moved into very specific side pressure to mount tactics. Finished with a choke variant from mount. 45 min free roll.

I tend to agree with bushidoman on this, from my experience aikido isn't the best answer to counter the takedown. However, from your post you make it sound as if you're talking about evasion from the initial contact rather than a countermeasure once lock up is achieved. If this is where you're coming from, then it would seem to be a stronger position to take. Aikido's footwork is fluid and quite evasive. Is this what you're getting at?

Welcome to KF!

I think some sort of contact sparring is important to martial development. Mainly for just about every point made. The first time you deal with contact can not be when it is for real. Now, that does not mean one should train at a pace all the time that gets them hurt. That actually impedes progress. But one does need from time to time to pick it up to build an acclimatization with contact. It's part of building that "pre-combat veteran" that Grossman talks about in "On Combat". We need to prep ourselves to already have experienced those physiological effects of combat BEFORE dealing with them for real.

I'm on the air-dry camp. Dryers shrink cotton and gi's can easily change a size with the wrong setting. Heck, even from washing in cold I have a set of pants or two for BJJ that are more like capri's than pants. Dryers exacerbate this. It leaves my duffel, gets washed, and then hung to dry. I never iron or dry clean. I'm going to drag these all over the mat after all. The only time they go to the cleaners is when I need patches sewed on or rips repaired.

There are some differences you'll have to make. However, it's important to note, that a deadly force threat is a deadly force threat. It does not matter if you shoot the bad guy with the knife who is attacking you or redirect the knife into his gullet. It's all about an objectively reasonable action. So, all of those skills will come in useful in the extreme situations. That said, what we generally can't get by with is breaking people into pieces after they punch at us. There is a certain amount of truth to the fact that I've become infinitely more involved with grappling arts since joining the LE community. We deal with bringing people under control via means that don't become excessive. Grappling serves as a good medium to do this. That said, my time spent in my core art was exceptional in preparing me for what I'd have to do on the job. Standing JJ has a great place in LE and, actually, a long history of driving control tactics in the profession. You'll find the transition easier than you think. Bear in mind, you'll be in 3 months worth of training centered around bringing you up to speed in regard to the job. You'll be so sick of UoF law that you'll never want to hear it again. This will get so engrained that it WILL effect your UoF decision making. Don't think of it so much as reprogramming as a minor course correction. Don't get me wrong, you're right that it's an important course correction, but one that you'll easily adapt to. At the end of the day, you've got a great skill set going into this. It crosses a broad range of ranges and situations, which is the reality you'll deal with. Now, as MP states, you'll need to start adding certain things to what you do. Firearms integration is one of them. Retention, deployment from close quarters, ect. is all a good starting point. Grapple with different holsters to learn their strengths and weaknesses. Just think of re-purposing Bujin rather than reprogramming and you'll be fine. Good luck, keep us posted, and give me a shout when we can get together and hash all this out in person

5/23 2 mile run abs

I've spent a great deal of time training on my own over the years on an on and off basis. Right now, I spend a bulk of my technical time on the mat with others. However, I do remember a few notes from this whole thing. I have an article that should post at some point about designing a home work out area, by extension, it has some ideas about training in it. Until this, here are the basics. of what I consider time well spent. The easiest thing, out of gym, to take your time on solo is obviously your conditioning. It requires no one else and you can make great strides all along. Increased physical capacity will only translate to your favor in combat arts. This is the realm of strength training and cardio. There's a bunch of stuff out there about what's best for martial artist of different kinds. Pick something you like and do it hard. Next up, look at a heavy bag for almost any striking art. It allows combos (a mandatory component) at speed and power. From a secondary standpoint you could look at a double ended bag followed by a speed bag, followed by some other specialty bags (upper cut, ect.) You can start this on the cheap by getting the heavy bag second hand and building from there. Look at space you can use for drilling of movements common to your system. This might mean kata, or part of a drill. Whatever it is, just have space to work it. You can go from very elaborate routes to keeping it basic. It's about how much time you spend solo vs. class and how that impacts your goals.

5/22 2 mile run abs

5/21 60 min free roll.Focused with some success on applying lessons from last weeks private.

Wow, 11 years! While I haven't been around that long, I can say the years I've spent around here have been excellent. This has become a part of my development as an artist and expanded my discourse on the arts. Thanks, Patrick for keeping us going here and everyone that hangs out and contributes.

From my experience, if you train true karate there is a technique to counter every grappling attack. In my opinion, this is why kata is so darn important. It has within it, every technique you would ever need. The challenge in my view is to remove the mickey mouse bunkai and figure out exactly how these techniques apply or don't apply to a given attack. The intent of the thread really wasn't about my training, I think I have a decent foundation in grappling between my judo and bjj experiences. Once again, my primary concern is teaching with the scope of the style of the school in which you teach. I believe that if it isn't your own style and you are under the direction of others, it is not ok to bring techniques in from outside the style. However, it is being a true martial artist to study other styles and how to apply the techniques in your system to counter potential opponents. Yes, reading thru the subsequent posts it does seem we are pretty much in agreement for our own purposes of getting better. It's passing it on that we seem to disagree on. Good point, Ueshiro. The bolded statement above I guess is at the heart of where we don't have similar philosophies. I have no problems by going outside a system, finding a tool that works well, integrating it into what I do, then showing others how it fits. I'd never claim it's mine, or out of my system, ect. Give credit where it's due and then let the students be as well rounded as you are. The big challenge as I see it, is the integrations step. A tool is useless unless it fits into your response pattern well. This will be even more true of students who have less experience in doing such things.

This, and the following example that Ueshiro lists is a great, and often overlooked, fact. Geography will often dictate what you have available. I had wanted to train BJJ for years, however, I had to wait until I was in a area, and time in my life, where this was possible. I had a friend who wanted to do the same thing. Instead of waiting, he finished school and ended up in Rio. It's about priorities and what you can make work with you life. Currently, I'm waiting until time lines up so I can fulfill another martial goal. These things will change with time. But geography is a major factor in this. Good point.

I'll go with the "just do it" crowd on this one. If you want to compete, it's rarely to early. Most all credible tournaments are adjusted for skill level and age. Weight class if you're into the free fighting side of things many times. This is very equalizing. Give it a go and don't take it too seriously. Every event should be a learning experience. As long as you keep that in mind, you'll do fine.

If they are there, yes. However, why not take the step to cross train in the styles that specialize in those aspects. Even if it's a seminar based cross training thing (more time efficient if you don't have time to train in more than one art) even that will, in many cases, give a better understanding of countering those tactics that your concerned with than applying estimations of what movements might be. Now, conceptually, you can take certain things out of non-grappling styles that might be useful. Basing, ect. that comes from one's base art. But your going to need some grapplers to clarify how and what might be useful. If you don't have this, as MP points out, you're not going to realistically assess your pattern. If you've got that grappler, might as well use him to show you counters. I worked with wrestlers in this manner for a long time before I had access to shootfighting and later BJJ. It started out as a situation where I worked what I knew to counter. It quickly became "show me what you do".

I'll second what's been said above once, the best way to defeat grappling attacks (takedowns too) is to learn to grapple. ps1 give solid advice to the tactics, the best way to learn these is by studying a grappling style. As MP stated, if your partner does not have an adequate understanding of said takedown (or grappling tactics) they can't give you a good feed. To do well against a grappler, you have to train to be one.