Groinstrike

There is a thread in the general martial arts forum that asked "are you afraid of your sensei" My two cents is that there should be a certain level of fear when practicing a martial art. This way you must learn handle fear, fear restricts actions. You must also learn to handle other emotions, such as anger. Anger can lead to "tunnel vision" or "fighting recklessly". When i first started martial arts, i was knocked out cold approximately 3-5 times in the first year and yes i was scared to death. Fighting will get you hurt, if you're going to fight you must accept this as a possibility. As Masterpain said, fights are not pretty, crisp, clean displays of technique like the movies would have you believe. They are dirty, snarling affairs full of blood, skin, teeth, hair, and other assorted sinew. By all means you should crosstrain, maybe check out a mma gym for some heavier contact. Check out a combative art such as Krav Maga to learn to deal with the very real reactions you're body has to an extreme situation. What happened to you is that your body had a very normal reaction, and you reacted in a very normal way. Don't feel guilty, don't feel ashamed. If you do, you are just wasting your time. Learn from your experience.

6/27 30min stretching 45min freeroll(concentrating on grips and spider guard) 15min clinch striking with a gi on.

The quote from the Karate Kid, "There is no Fear in this dojo, there is no pain in this dojo" has always been a talking point between my instructors and students. IMHO a dojo without pain and fear is not worth attending.

I thought it meant you lost by default in a forfeit. "THE TWO GREATEST WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, DE, FAULT!!!!!!!

6/22 Armbar/omoplata/triangle series light roll for 30 minutes taking rest of week off, hopefully my knee is back to normal by next week.

Sounds like you made a good decision, stay with it.

6/21 Takedown warmup drills spider guard drills 60 min freeroll(hit a peruvian necktie, wrenched knee on last roll, thanks again sensei)

I would say that there are holes, in every position of every jiu jitsu practicioner on the planet. No art is perfect, no position unescapable. Thats the great thing about BJJ, there are literally counters to everything. All we can do is get our positions tighter, providing less and less space for escape, make our movements more technically sound, to make sure that we have secured a position in its entirety before attempted a submission, and to make sure that our submissions are both technically sound and properly secured. This is what makes BJJ great, it is limitless.

So once again, the best self defense tool is our own awareness. Human beings are easily distracted individuals, who could blame us, we have all kinds of crap in our lives that takes our attention away from more important things. Go to walmart sometime and think like a criminal would think. Who would be the easiest people to attack: Those preoccupied with there cell phones, ipods, video games etc. Scare yourself sometimes, while walking to your car at the grocery store, be aware of the cars parked around yours, the corners of the buildings, heck, even your own backseat. This may be viewed by some as paranoia, but it never hurts to run scenarios through your head so that your nervous system will not be totally shocked should you run into trouble.

6/20 takedown drills omoplata escapes and counters 60 min freeroll

I agree with TG and LP that a if a firearm is not an option, a ranged hand to hand weapon such as a club may be your best option. Know the laws in your area, in certain places an expandable asp(baton) is considered a concealed weapon. If this is an option, train with it diligently.

I have been practicing in our system for 3.5 years, currently i am 2nd kyu rank. I train 3-5 days a week. My progression through the system may have been accelerated by my number of days training a week. From where i am now, it will be atleast 2-4 more years before i even would feel comfortable testing for BB.

Interesting discussion. LP raises some interesting points. As was said earlier in the thread, simply not acting like a victim can keep you out of many unpleasant situations. If nothing else martial artists are generally confident people and that confidence(not arrogance) when displayed can send signals to would be attackers that you know how to handle yourself. By going through these neighborhoods in a manner that shows that "yes i am jogging through a potentially hostile enviroment, i understand the potential dangers and am preparred for them." This attitude is quite possibly the best defense against potential violence. I do not recommend going out of one's way to find trouble. But if you find yourself in "bad" part of town, the best thing that you can do is to walk tall, make eye contact, and keep your head on a swivel. A mugger is more than likely not going to attack someone that is carrying themselves in this manner.

6/16 2 mile run knife disarms drills stick sparring

"Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu" is a system of grappling created by Dave Camarillo blends together aspects of BJJ with aspects from Judo. So i assume a large emphasis is put on throws and takedowns, atleast more so than other systems of BJJ?????

6/14 90 minute freeroll, getting better with the gi.

tripping over the top step of my deck, going into a forward roll and springing back to my feet, saved me from faceplanting for sure.

3.5 years ago i started martial arts because i felt that i needed an outlet for pent up energy. I was 22 at the time, i started just wanting to learn grappling and mma. However, the more i became emersed into the culture i found myself more interested in the combative side. I realized that i had no desire to compete in a cagefight, so combative concepts took a front seat. I still work on grappling, boxing, wrestling and MMA in general always keeping in mind their combative application. So i guess to answer the question, when i started i had no thoughts of becoming a black belt. It didn't really dawn on me to even test for a rank until our instructor threw me a green belt about 2 years ago. I am now 2nd kyu brown and feel as though i have a good ways to go before even thinking about testing for black. For me atleast it is more about the journey than the destination.

6/13 90 minutes of grappling and kickboxing with masterpain and liverpunch. MY FACE HURTS.

6/9 Worked double leg/single leg basics with newbies, as well as, basic guard break/pass series 60 min freeroll

CLAP...........CLAP...........CLAP

peanut butter-cheap protein WATER,WATER,WATER whole wheat bread instead of white

6/8 Takedowns drilled triangle from spider guard 30 min freeroll

LP makes good points, also don't forget to keep your body in shape, cross-training has its place. Maybe see if you have any friends who would be interesting in joining you???

The easiest "weapon" should be your mind and your awareness skills. If you aren't around to fight, you win the fight.