(Weight: 198.5 SUCCULENT pounds)!!!
Alright, we can strike the “succulent” from the record, but a man can always dream!!!! I head to San Diego tomorrow for the entire week, and have a pretty jam packed schedule out there. But I think I’ll get to train a couple of times while I’m out there. I have to train! I feel too good not to train! I’m only a few pounds heavier than I need to be for “tourney shape”, as I like to call it. I’ve been feeling really healthy and focused the past four weeks, and I was commenting to a training partner of mine how Ricardo is really teaching me how to train hard, but smart. The end result is that I have days where I train extremely hard and other days where I keep up the intensity, but maybe focus more on technique verses hard rolling. I’ve been training with guys 40 to 100 lbs heavier than me, and have been rolling matches with them at a pretty stepped up pace, so my cardio feels really good.
I’m working a bit more on the feet to push my cardio even further, and, I’m stretching quite a bit to improve my flexibility. I’ve always been somewhat flexible, but I’m trying to up this a bit to round out my bottom game a bit more. I actually hit a half-guard sweep earlier today on a really solid “top guy”, and it was my commitment to flexibility that pulled it off.
We’ve been working a great deal on both maintain and escaping side control. Ricardo has a position termed “100 kilos” that when done properly is truly the closest thing to hell on earth that I’ve ever experienced!!! When he does it to me, I want to TAP just from the pressure of it! The position involves driving your hip into your opponent’s sternum and completely isolating their arms from being able to make a frame to escape. All kinds of Americana, Kimura, and arm bar submissions are available to the top guy from this position which plays well into my top game.
He’s also instilling in me the need to fight to get out from side control and either reverse the position or establish guard—this line of thinking is way different than how I was originally trained which was quite a bit more defensive from this position. No need to just “lay there” like a bitch wile the top guy runs out the clock!!! Now, I don’t stop and don’t quit until I’m out of there, and I am really focused on bringing pressure with solid technique from both side control and the mount.
So I head out to San Diego, and still don’t know where I will train. I’m looking for somewhere close to the Manchester Grand Hyatt which is near the old part of the City. Most of the Gracie Barra schools appear to be out of the City, so I’ll probably go with my GUT AND go visit Saulo & Xande Ribeiro's University of Jiu Jitsu. San Diego California. I’m also thinking of hitting Fabio Santos’ Academy as well. I’ll let you know how it goes, and who knows, maybe I’ll get a pic of Diego Sanchez teaching me how to do the ”YES!!!” cartwheel!!!” Have a safe week of training, my friends!
With Much Respect,
Larry, the LTrain
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Training Recap for the Week of March 3
Hi folks,
Sorry that I’m a little late with this past week’s recap. In short, this week we primarily spent our time training positions from the half-guard. Half-guard has become a fairly offensive position for me, and while it’s not my first preference, (for I feel that I’m developing more into a top game player) I’ve worked pretty hard to shore up this position to where I can stay fairly safe and pull off some sweeps and submissions during live rolling when I play half-guard.
From the feet, we worked on pulling half-guard. I worked this position with a few people who have never drilled this before, and was very much aware of the need to really choose a hip to fall to when pulling half-guard, or any sort of guard from the feet. It was a good exercise for me, for we drilled it all week long, but I really don’t see myself using it for no-Gi very often at this stage. Not until I get a whole lot more comfortable with pulling half-guard without the Gi grips!
Regarding the ground, we worked two submissions and two sweeps. From taking the overhook on the top guy’s arm, we worked a Gi choke as well as an Uma-Plata. The Gi choke details were interesting, and Ricardo fixed a really bad habit I had acquired when trying to finish this choke. He showed how to really drop one’s shoulder of their choking arm to get deeper in the lapel when setting up this choke to finish. When the choke isn’t there, abandon ship and switch to the Uma-Plata (shoulder lock). Again, he showed a cool detail as to how to advance the bottom knee, thus making it easier to rotate one’s hips away and move toward finishing the shoulder lock. He also showed me privately a variation of this shoulder lock that one of his black belts, Cameron Diffley likes to use whereby rather than shifting to the Uma-Plata, you simply trap the near side shoulder with your top knee and rotate your hips clockwise towards the mat for the tap. I actually picked up on this rather quickly and really like it.
The sweeps were just reviews of two basic half-guard sweeps that requires your head to be on the top guy’s hip. One involves pinning the guys foot to his butt as you switch your legs on the bottom trapping the guy’s leg and pulling it towards you as you push into him. The other sweep is when the top guy bases out and takes the whizzer, nullifying your underhook; simply trap that arm by pinching your elbow tight and roll toward your opposite shoulder. In both instances, I find it’s imperative to control the top guy’s leg that you have in your half-guard, for there’s nothing more irritating to me than sweeping someone and ending up in their half-guard, so I’m really ensuring that I complete the pass.
Yesterday I trained privately with a buddy of mine, and we focused a great deal on grip fighting and working from the feet, an element that I feel is neglected in a lot of BJJ schools. If I’m not traveling for work and am healthy, I plan to compete next month, and my gameplan is to do a better job dictating how the fight goes by having a strong showing from the feet, regardless of whether I choose to pull guard or work for the takedown—the point is, I want the choice to be mine to make! I hope everyone’s weekend was good, and let’s all have a safe and fun week training!
Respectfully Submitted By:
Larry, the LTrain
Sorry that I’m a little late with this past week’s recap. In short, this week we primarily spent our time training positions from the half-guard. Half-guard has become a fairly offensive position for me, and while it’s not my first preference, (for I feel that I’m developing more into a top game player) I’ve worked pretty hard to shore up this position to where I can stay fairly safe and pull off some sweeps and submissions during live rolling when I play half-guard.
From the feet, we worked on pulling half-guard. I worked this position with a few people who have never drilled this before, and was very much aware of the need to really choose a hip to fall to when pulling half-guard, or any sort of guard from the feet. It was a good exercise for me, for we drilled it all week long, but I really don’t see myself using it for no-Gi very often at this stage. Not until I get a whole lot more comfortable with pulling half-guard without the Gi grips!
Regarding the ground, we worked two submissions and two sweeps. From taking the overhook on the top guy’s arm, we worked a Gi choke as well as an Uma-Plata. The Gi choke details were interesting, and Ricardo fixed a really bad habit I had acquired when trying to finish this choke. He showed how to really drop one’s shoulder of their choking arm to get deeper in the lapel when setting up this choke to finish. When the choke isn’t there, abandon ship and switch to the Uma-Plata (shoulder lock). Again, he showed a cool detail as to how to advance the bottom knee, thus making it easier to rotate one’s hips away and move toward finishing the shoulder lock. He also showed me privately a variation of this shoulder lock that one of his black belts, Cameron Diffley likes to use whereby rather than shifting to the Uma-Plata, you simply trap the near side shoulder with your top knee and rotate your hips clockwise towards the mat for the tap. I actually picked up on this rather quickly and really like it.
The sweeps were just reviews of two basic half-guard sweeps that requires your head to be on the top guy’s hip. One involves pinning the guys foot to his butt as you switch your legs on the bottom trapping the guy’s leg and pulling it towards you as you push into him. The other sweep is when the top guy bases out and takes the whizzer, nullifying your underhook; simply trap that arm by pinching your elbow tight and roll toward your opposite shoulder. In both instances, I find it’s imperative to control the top guy’s leg that you have in your half-guard, for there’s nothing more irritating to me than sweeping someone and ending up in their half-guard, so I’m really ensuring that I complete the pass.
Yesterday I trained privately with a buddy of mine, and we focused a great deal on grip fighting and working from the feet, an element that I feel is neglected in a lot of BJJ schools. If I’m not traveling for work and am healthy, I plan to compete next month, and my gameplan is to do a better job dictating how the fight goes by having a strong showing from the feet, regardless of whether I choose to pull guard or work for the takedown—the point is, I want the choice to be mine to make! I hope everyone’s weekend was good, and let’s all have a safe and fun week training!
Respectfully Submitted By:
Larry, the LTrain
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Interview With Royler Gracie
Just a short blog post to make you aware, if you are not already, that this week’s FightWorks Podcast feature interview is with none other than the world renown Royler Gracie. Click Here to download the entire 200th episode of this great resource and listen to the interview. No matter what my team affiliation may be, Royler will always be THE MAN! His commitment to “keeping it real” by personifying what Gracie Jiu Jitsu is makes him a true example for all of us to attempt to emulate his habits, techniques, and fighting spirit. Thanks, Royler, for all that you represent!
With Much Respect
Larry, the LTrain
With Much Respect
Larry, the LTrain
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Recap of This Week
Weight: 201.02 lbs (6 pounds heavier than I need to be—blame it on the awesome fish fry followed by the piece of carrot cake last night!)
It’s a mildly sad morning for “The Train” this morning, for due to inclement weather, RPBJJ staff did the responsible thing and cancelled class. The upside is that I got to sleep in and eat a less than healthy breakfast, but the downside is that my body feels really good, and I have all of this pent up energy! May have to settle for a good hard lift later this afternoon, but it’s not the same.
So, since I’m not training, I might as well be true to my new found blogging convictions and recap this past week of training. It all started last Sunday where my good friend Ulric and I had a private training session on some mat space that I have access to. Ulric’s a little smaller than me, but has amazing grips while going from the feet due to his background in Judo. So he gave me some pointers of achieving and maintaining dominant grips on the feet, and I showed him some defensive to, and passes for the Spider Guard that Ricardo had covered the prior week. The training session was Gi specific, and Ulric and I (as usual) had a very spirited “roll” to wrap up the training.
All this week, Ricardo focused on two throws from the feet and three positions for the guy in the top position of half-guard.
One thing that I love about the RPBjJ curriculum is that every class has a portion focused on throws from the feet, with the fundamentals class also focusing on self-defense. Yes, it’s true--Gracie Barra also believes in the importance of BJJ self-defense! He and Professor Ze (José Dias) spend about 15-20 minutes after our warm-ups working positions from the feet. Ze is especially proficient at teaching these positions due to his training in Judo. We worked both the “uchimata” and “osotogari”. I know I’m butchering the spelling of both throws, but both are set up from similar grip positions and I’m learning that the effectiveness of these throws are dependent upon:
1. One’s dominant grips
2. Breaking your opponents balance
3. Creating a “triangle” between your lead foot and your opponent’s other two feet
4. The actual footwork between stepping either between the opponent’s legs or toward the outside leg on which all of the opponent’s weight is placed.
5. Controlling the opponent when he hits the mat—Ricardo has a brutally vicious knee on belly which I can vouch for being his “dummy” as he teaches the rest of the class.
I’m feeling better with both throws, but I still need to really drill the footwork.
As for the top half-guard, he showed three submissions. One was a lapel choke when the guy playing half-guard tries to take your back. The other was an arm-in “DARS” choke using the Gi. A very cool detail that he showed was how to not just use the lapel, but reach over the guy’s head and use his Gi, or his belt for secondary leverage on the choke.
The third submission was a counter to the guy taking the Kimura from bottom half-guard. I already knew to trap the hip, and had been taught to stand up and turn this into an arm-bar. I learned a much simpler, quicker alternative than trying to stand up. Ricardo showed how to step your leg up closest to the guy’s face and use that leg to brace against the guy’s shoulder. You then trap his hip and the top arm going for the Kimura, break the grip, make sure your hands are locked, and rotate your shoulders towards the guy’s head. The end result is a very quick shoulder lock for the guy on bottom. Let me tell you that when done properly, it’s a quick tap.
I felt pretty good rolling, but need a few tougher rolls next week with some upper belts. I had a few of them, and I know that Ricardo mixes up the match-ups to give some of the new guys time with those of us who have trained a little longer, and I don’t mind this. But my knee, which has been bothering me for a few weeks, is feeling really good, and I really and up for charging hard in technical training this coming week.
Respectfully Submitted By:
Larry, The LTrain
It’s a mildly sad morning for “The Train” this morning, for due to inclement weather, RPBJJ staff did the responsible thing and cancelled class. The upside is that I got to sleep in and eat a less than healthy breakfast, but the downside is that my body feels really good, and I have all of this pent up energy! May have to settle for a good hard lift later this afternoon, but it’s not the same.
So, since I’m not training, I might as well be true to my new found blogging convictions and recap this past week of training. It all started last Sunday where my good friend Ulric and I had a private training session on some mat space that I have access to. Ulric’s a little smaller than me, but has amazing grips while going from the feet due to his background in Judo. So he gave me some pointers of achieving and maintaining dominant grips on the feet, and I showed him some defensive to, and passes for the Spider Guard that Ricardo had covered the prior week. The training session was Gi specific, and Ulric and I (as usual) had a very spirited “roll” to wrap up the training.
All this week, Ricardo focused on two throws from the feet and three positions for the guy in the top position of half-guard.
One thing that I love about the RPBjJ curriculum is that every class has a portion focused on throws from the feet, with the fundamentals class also focusing on self-defense. Yes, it’s true--Gracie Barra also believes in the importance of BJJ self-defense! He and Professor Ze (José Dias) spend about 15-20 minutes after our warm-ups working positions from the feet. Ze is especially proficient at teaching these positions due to his training in Judo. We worked both the “uchimata” and “osotogari”. I know I’m butchering the spelling of both throws, but both are set up from similar grip positions and I’m learning that the effectiveness of these throws are dependent upon:
1. One’s dominant grips
2. Breaking your opponents balance
3. Creating a “triangle” between your lead foot and your opponent’s other two feet
4. The actual footwork between stepping either between the opponent’s legs or toward the outside leg on which all of the opponent’s weight is placed.
5. Controlling the opponent when he hits the mat—Ricardo has a brutally vicious knee on belly which I can vouch for being his “dummy” as he teaches the rest of the class.
I’m feeling better with both throws, but I still need to really drill the footwork.
As for the top half-guard, he showed three submissions. One was a lapel choke when the guy playing half-guard tries to take your back. The other was an arm-in “DARS” choke using the Gi. A very cool detail that he showed was how to not just use the lapel, but reach over the guy’s head and use his Gi, or his belt for secondary leverage on the choke.
The third submission was a counter to the guy taking the Kimura from bottom half-guard. I already knew to trap the hip, and had been taught to stand up and turn this into an arm-bar. I learned a much simpler, quicker alternative than trying to stand up. Ricardo showed how to step your leg up closest to the guy’s face and use that leg to brace against the guy’s shoulder. You then trap his hip and the top arm going for the Kimura, break the grip, make sure your hands are locked, and rotate your shoulders towards the guy’s head. The end result is a very quick shoulder lock for the guy on bottom. Let me tell you that when done properly, it’s a quick tap.
I felt pretty good rolling, but need a few tougher rolls next week with some upper belts. I had a few of them, and I know that Ricardo mixes up the match-ups to give some of the new guys time with those of us who have trained a little longer, and I don’t mind this. But my knee, which has been bothering me for a few weeks, is feeling really good, and I really and up for charging hard in technical training this coming week.
Respectfully Submitted By:
Larry, The LTrain
Monday, February 22, 2010
NEW BEGINNINGS
Greetings! Greetings! And Thrice, greetings! Some of you have been inquiring of me privately as to “what’s up with the blog, or the lack thereof?” After a six month hiatus, the LTrain is back, totally reinvigorated and throwing himself full force into his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training. So where have I been over the past six months. Well, a great deal has happened, not all of it good, but I’ve come out of the last six months a better man, and so much happier and more focused in my training, and in life in general. To cut to the chase, due to a variety of circumstances, I no longer am a part of team Evolution. I owe my introduction and foundation of my Jiu Jitsu training to the instruction I received from Team Evolution, as well as Professors David Adiv and Royler Gracie. No matter what has happened, Professors David Adiv and Royler Gracie Jiu Jitsu has left an indelible mark upon my life, and I will always have a high degree of appreciation for what Team Evolution and Team RGDA has done for me.
Having said all of that, “all’s well” does not always “end well”. Last May, I was asked to assist with actually running the Team Evolution Business, and in theory, I was a 20% owner of the school; I’ll spare the details as to how this came about so as not to bore the reader. Suffice to say, in early October I knew in my heart that I wouldn’t be able to continue to assist with running Team Evolution business, for I had become extremely uncomfortable with most of the Team Evolution business practices that were driving the overall welfare of the school. On January 3, 2010 I submitted my long overdue resignation and forfeited my 20% ownership of Team Evolution. I tried to continue to train at Team Evolution, but irreconcilable personality differences between me and my coach which were born out of a business relationship came to a head on January 31, which was, and will forever be, my last day training on a Team Evolution mat. I have no regrets over the past 3.5 years, except that I didn’t man up” and cut all ties back in October, for that would have been the right thing to do for me. But I put the needs of my business partners and my teammates before my own needs, and let’s just say that my own training began to suffer simply because I didn’t make a hard, yet wise decision back in October.
But as I have said, I am training hard once again, and have a new home. Allow me to introduce you to Ricardo Pires Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I began to train with Professor Pires about once or twice a week back in September. Why did I do this? Because I guess I wanted to “hedge my bets”, and ensure that I always had a place where I can train and call my BJJ home. As it turns out, it was a smart move, for I’m training with him full time and loving it! While I’m still in the “feeling out process” with many of my training partners, RPBJJ has amassed a number of blue, purple, brown, and black belts that I’m beginning to click with , and Professors Pires and Jose Dias, are taking my BJJ foundation and beginning to not only shore up the many holes in my game, but actually are interacting with me on developing a BJJ style conducive to my strengths while addressing my glaring weaknesses. At RPBjJ, I have access to:
1. A clean, state-of-the-art facility to train.
2. A lead Professor who is a black belt multi-time world champion who has trained longer than my previous coach has been alive.
3. Access to two, and sometimes 3 top level black belts on the mat to roll with me and give me different, equally helpful perspectives on my BJJ game.
4. Exposure to both self-defense as well as sport aspects of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
5. A willingness by RPBJJ to allow me to cross promote my own business with his clientele and visa-versa. I’ll do all I can to promote RPBJJ as well.
The level of professionalism coupled with my desire to learn under the guidance of Professors Pires and Dias has made this an awesome move for me. While I do miss some of my former training partners, I gladly take three public busses each way to train with RPBJJ and will do everything in my power to be the best training partner for the RPBjJ Team who is a proud member of Gracie Barra. Some will criticize my decision to train at RPBJJ. Let me tell you that I exhausted all efforts to continue with Team Evolution, but I couldn’t do it for reasons which I don’t need to put in writing. A few may accuse me of training at RPBJJ because i'm "chasing a belt". I had a private discussion with Professor Pires about this, and he knows that I'm not looking for any hand-outs or fast promotions, and he now knows that I know that "slow and steady wins the black belt race".
The end result is that I now have a coach who I enjoy learning from, and who has taken an interest in me learning a Martial Art that he has practiced for over three decades. I look forward to sharing with those of you who care to follow this blog my continual journey studying “the gentle art” under Professor Pires.
I’ve also been traveling a fair amount, so look for posts about my adventures and learning in other BJJ Academies around the country.
Again, it feels great to be blogging again, and for those of you interested, check out the link To RPBJJ which I provided above, and come by and join us and decide for yourself if RPBJJ is for you.
With Much Respect,
Larry, The LTrain
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Hilarious Self-Defense Video
Greetings,
Not much exciting to blog about except for this funny video that a new friend sent to me on Facebook. Enjoy this hilarious self-defense video!
Respectfully,
Larry, the LTrain
Not much exciting to blog about except for this funny video that a new friend sent to me on Facebook. Enjoy this hilarious self-defense video!
Respectfully,
Larry, the LTrain
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Royler Gracie-David Adiv Youtube Channel
Hi folks,
I just came across this great resource on Youtube whereby the RGDA headquarters in New Jersey has set up a Youtube Channel for uploading video clips of Professor David Adiv instruction. Click to visit The RGDA YOutube Channel and check it out!
Respectfully Submitted By
Larry, the LTrain
I just came across this great resource on Youtube whereby the RGDA headquarters in New Jersey has set up a Youtube Channel for uploading video clips of Professor David Adiv instruction. Click to visit The RGDA YOutube Channel and check it out!
Respectfully Submitted By
Larry, the LTrain
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)