A Plateau

I've come to the conclusion that my progression in Jiu Jitsu has plateaued somewhat. It's still quite enjoyable and a great workout, however I'm not making much progress. Part of the problem is time. Those who progress quickly are putting in 4 hours a week at minimum. I'm averaging less than half that. But that's fine, I'm in no rush. The other problem is that I haven't been attending the more intermediate classes. And so tonight I went to the later class. The school has grown considerably so the fundamental classes are packed. The intermediate class is much smaller and affords more opportunity to focus on technique.

For something new, I'm trying a different class - Haganah. It stands in direct contrast to Jiu Jitsu. Where Jiu Jistu is much more controlled (even though it looks like it's just sweaty guys rolling around) with varying degrees of force (restraint, chokes, or broken joints), Haganah is simply about inflicting the most damage in the least amount of time to an aggressor. It's a great way to burn off some steam. There are many weapon disarms as well - so it's quite real world. But a gun disarm brings up a new problem for me. While I theoretically could disarm someone, I've never fired a gun. Perhaps a gun safety class is in order. It's probably not a bad thing to know - especially in Florida. When in Rome...

Wall-E and a New Belt

Pixar does it again with Wall-E. Go see it. With each new film the animation out does the last one. And each plot is just as brilliant. Would've thought you could get a feature film about a lonely trash compacting robot.

From a purely business angle, the soundtrack was thin on vocals with balance left to instrumentals. Not that it was a bad soundtrack, I just doubt it'll sell as well as previous sound tracks.

In other news I earned my blue belt in my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training! Yes, I was a bit surprised. Some of us squeaked through without having to do another test.

Next Step: Blue Belt

Earlier this week I earned my 4th and final stripe as a White Belt in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. So that means that the next hurdle is a belt test. Certainly, I'm making progress, but I know I have a lot to tighten up before I'm ready to test. If nothing else, I'll need to push my endurance training. The last testing session was a good 2.5 hours of pure joy.

On a side note, there's actually a Jiu Jitsu related movie coming out. I don't know much about it, but it might be worth seeing. I can't remember the last movie we went to. We've mostly switched to Netflix, AppleTV, and Discovery Channel HD.

Number Three

To my surprise, I got my 3rd stripe on Monday.    It'll be a while though before the next one.  Only one more stripe and then a belt test...

Belt Testing

Yesterday I participated in a Jiu Jitsu belt testing session.  While I'm not ready for a new belt, just possibly an additional stripe (incremental progress).    I figured I'd give it a shot.    The session lasted a grueling  2 hours.    And I can't remember the last time I was this sore.   

First, we were tested on specific maneuvers.   That wasn't too bad although I did draw a blank on one question.    Then we moved to more drill based testing followed by full speed sparring sessions.    Surviving a long sessions depends on solid technique as good technical Jiu Jitsu shouldn't be very demanding in terms of strength (otherwise it's wrestling).    My conditioning was probably middle of the road, and being at a distinct size disadvantage against most of the students didn't help.    Towards the end, my heavier partners were just as fatigued as I was, but I had to deal with them rolling around on my chest.   

We get the results tomorrow.   I don't know if I'll have passed.   Having gone through it, I don't think I was ready.   But our Professor didn't stop me from testing.     And he was disappointed with much of the session.   I figure I'm only learning by the example of senior students...

2nd Stripe

With a touch less fanfare, I was awarded another stripe this evening. Now I might last a little more than a minute with a senior student.   There's still so much learn...  

First Stripe

Tonight I was awarded my first stripe in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu! It's the first mark of progress in a long road of training. Practically speaking, it means I might survive for a minute before being submitted by a more senior student.

Jiu Jitsu Class

This week I tried two classes of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I warmed up with the class and then I was paired with guy who worked with me on a couple variations of the class drill for. The first class didn't really make much sense. It wasn't until after the class that I started thinking through the steps for each maneuver that it started to click. At first glance it looks like everyone is just rolling around on the mats, but there's actually quite a science and strategy to everything.

This particular martial art is focused on grappling with lots of joint locks, submissions and chokes. But the first steps are simply learning the basic escapes. Jiu Jitsu training seems to hold up well against most other martial arts. Once the fight goes to the ground, fancy kicks and punches fail.

Tonight's class made a bit more sense, partially because we were doing some more fundamental moves. Throughout each maneuver there's a place for each limb, joint, hand and foot. And if something isn't in the right place, you get beat.

After running through a couple drills we paired up against the more experienced guys. Just when I thought I had learned something, I realized how much more fine tuning is required to resist just little more resistance...

If nothing else, it seems like a great workout. The class seems relatively low key and not too macho. Originally I thought it was an all guys things, but a couple women showed up tonight. That further shows that size and strength aren't the sole determinants of a fight.

I'll make the decision to sign up over the next few days. It's definitely a commitment, but it seems like a good skill to pick up.

Martial Arts

For the past several weeks I've been taking a self defense class at my local YMCA. It's a good class with a practical focus. The instructor's motto is "Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6." Think about that for a moment... Aggressive thinking, yes, but I guess that's kind of the point. We're learning basic blocks, punches, kicks, and many pressure point type maneuvers, which if done properly, can be lethal.

While the class is fun, I've been thinking about stepping it up a notch. Or maybe I've just been watching too much Human Weapon on The History Channel. My instructor recommended Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. As luck would have it, there's a studio in town.

The other option, as a friend pointed out, is a concealed carry permit. But where's the fun in that?