Firstly, June’s been pretty uneventful since my return from Vegas. Upon my departure, Gabriel Kitober undoubtedly gave me worst black belt beatdowns that I’ve ever had in my life—and I’ve rolled with a fair number of black belts. I mean, he really put it on me the last class I attended at Throw-Down MMA, and he laughed and provided color commentary in his broken, Brazilian English for the entire roll. My ribs and sternum were actually pretty sore for almost a week. I guess he lives by that adage that sometimes you gotta hurt the ones you love! Seriously, my time spent with him was great and his tweaks to my game have been paying dividends since I returned to Cleveland.
I’ve gotten a bit more aggressive with my open guard while recognizing the necessity for me to stay connected and stick to my gameplan when opening the guard.
This week we’re going over a series from side control that was the first series that I ever witnessed Ricardo teaching. Last Fall, when I wisely made the decision to visit RPBjJ he showed a series of side control positions based off of a position called the “100 kilos”. It’s a position perfected by his instructor, Aswaldo Alves, one of the pioneers of BJJ who is still based in Rio.
Some might say that this position is a “big man’s game”, but it’s really not—I’ve been around when 170 lb guys have tapped bigger guys just from the pressure of this position.
The “100 kilos” is established after passing the guard and moving to side control. It involves trapping both arms while placing the bone of your hip just beyond the guy’s sternum. You then keep your body straight and slide across the guy’s body whereby your bottom rib is driving into his diaphragm. If you do it properly, the guy is completely helpless, you are controlling him without even using your hands, and he can’t even speak. You can then use your hands to work a series of submissions.
This position is very “feel” oriented, which works great for me. This morning while training, it was if a light went off in my big head and I really began to feel the mechanics of this move. I feel like I got just a glimpse of what Rickson Gracie refers to as the “invisible Jiu Jitsu”. I need lots of work with this position, but I really dominated a couple of big guys with this position for I purposely worked it while rolling today. I’m so amped up about my progress with this position, for I like lots of arm-bars and shoulder locks from side control, and this “100 kilos” position plays right into guys putting themselves in immediate danger of being submitted.
I really wish I could explain how awful the position feels. Ricardo uses me as a dummy for much of the class—partly because I’m blind, but he also knows that I can take the pain. And when he lays that position on me it feels like I’ve been hit by an 18-wheeler that decides to stop right on top of me! It’s so nasty, man!!!!
Anyway, more work on this for the rest of the week, and then there’s the 4th of July weekend. I typically work a trade show for a couple of clients of mine over this holiday weekend, but not this year! So there’ll be much fun for the train this weekend, and then I really kick things into gear for July. I’m pondering doing a couple of fairly big tournaments this Fall—one of which is the “NO-Gi Pan-Ams” but much depends on my travel schedule and work load. But if I can swing it, I’d like to medal in one of these international events before I get too much older and beaten up to do so! Anyway, in the event that I don’t make another post this week, have an awesome, yet safe 4th of July, and amongst all the partying, remember what a wonderful country those of us in the US are fortunate enough to call our home and for all of those who have laid down their lives to make it happen for us!!!
With Much Respect
Larry, the LTrain
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
My Training in Las Vegas
(Note: Check out the photo of UFC fighters Matt Riddle, Mike Pile, and the LTrain horsing around after a no-gi work-out at “Throw Down MMA”!)
As some of you know, I’ve been in Vegas on business since last Tuesday. While the glits and glamour of Vegas isn’t my scene, it’s an awesome place to be if you enjoy training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, submission wrestling, or for that matter, any of the mixed martial arts. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve set up shop at “Throw Down MMA” where Gabriel Kitober, one of Ricardo Pires’ guys, another Aswaldo black belt runs the Jiu Jitsu and submission fighting program. I visited there back in January. Gabriel’s an awesome teacher, but I didn’t find the guys to really push me as much as they are doing now. Some of the guys have gotten better, and new guys have joined on. We’ve been experiencing 100+ temperatures for most of my stay here, and I have to tell you that this dry heat can really take a great deal out of you. The upside is that my diet here has been pretty good (aside from those awesome garlic fries last night!), and I’m feeling terrific! I trained very hard four times last week and am on pace to train another four times this week.
Gabriel has a really tight, mean game much like his instructor’s. He’s about my size—perhaps a bit leaner, and he’s been showing lots of basic ways to control via side mount as well as transitioning to the mount. He’s also tightened up my game as it relates to taking the arm-bar from side control, transitioning to the opposite arm for the arm-bar when the guy defends, and transitioning to the back when the arm is not a viable option.
We roll an average of four to five matches, and I’m enjoying rolling with the unfamiliar bodies in this gym. I’m faring pretty well, for the most part, but really got taken to the limit last night by a blue belt about my size who took the gold medal in the tournament sponsored by the UFC and Grapplers Quest (I believe) two weekends ago. He’s a tough guy, and an awesome training partner for the train. His name is Chance, and he’s becoming a friend as well.
Last Saturday, Gabriel went to California to take in the BJJ World Championships, so I used this opportunity to do something that I thought I would never have done a number of months ago. I went to visit Marc Laimon’s Cobra Kai Jiu Jitsu. I was pretty turned off by Marc Laimon on the Ultimate Fighter season 4 TV show with all of the Gracie bashing, and really enjoyed Matt Serra talking him down in front of a room foul of fighters on one particular episode. However, as I’ve trained with more and more Jiu Jitsu players, I’ve learned that the best thing to do is to stay out of the politics of Jiu Jitsu and just focus on my own training. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Laimon’s school, and while he wasn’t there for this particular class, I had a great time training with his guys last Saturday. Some brown belt named Aqeel taught the class, and taught some really awesome back defense techniques. He showed us how to use our head to control the guy’s head who has our back by bridging back with our head under his chin. He also showed how to transition for the escape by placing our head on the mat next to our opponent’s head and turning into the guy. It was really helpful for me. He and a few of the purple belts made it clear when I arrived that they were pretty a tight-knit group and that I’d need to earn my props there. They really made me feel unwelcomed at first—it probably didn’t help that I went in there wearing Ricardo Pires gear, for Cobra Kai’s dislike for the Brazilians is well documented. But once we started training, they warmed up to me. All the guys were really tough and technical, and I really had a great time there. I may actually try to go back one more time, but really enjoy Gabriel’s teaching, so I’m a bit torn right now. But I would recommend Laimon’s school for anyone who doesn’t mind an old-school gym with a fairly rough group of guys who will push you to your limit. I must have made an OK impression there, for I was invited back at the end of class, and considering that they really gave me the cold shoulder at first, I feel pretty good about this invite.
Well, it’s a few more days here, and then back to Cleveland. I’ll jump back on this blog if anything else noteworthy happens this week. Until then, train hard and be safe.
With Much Respect,
Larry the LTrain
Friday, May 28, 2010
A Fantastic Idea!
While I really can’t directly benefit from this idea, it’s still a great one. A few days ago, Professor Pires had a live webcam at the Academy and had a live internet feed of the entire advanced class for Professor ZE and others to watch down in Brazil. He did this for the entire duration of the class and the technical training after class. The plan is for all RPBJJ students under contract to have a log-in to an Url that will give them on-line access to instruction when they can’t make it to class. I really think it’s a clever idea and a nice touch to an already excellent BJJ experience. These classes will not be recorded nor archived, but will be viewable as they occur. I’m often Ricardo’s demonstration dummy, so those of you who will have access to these live feeds can watch the LTrain get twisted and smashed quite often!
Well, it’s off to Las Vegas for me next week, for I have some business there. I’m looking forward to getting some good training in while I’m there. I’ll be spending most of my time training with Gabriel Kitober, one of Ricardo’s guys who runs the BjJ program at the Warrior Training Center, home to a number of UFC fighters; who knows, maybe I’ll tap one of them-smiles—if I do, I’ll be sure to let you know. I’ll also try to spice up the blog with some photos and videos while I’m there. Until then, have a safe Memorial Day weekend.
With Much Respect,
Larry, the LTrain
Well, it’s off to Las Vegas for me next week, for I have some business there. I’m looking forward to getting some good training in while I’m there. I’ll be spending most of my time training with Gabriel Kitober, one of Ricardo’s guys who runs the BjJ program at the Warrior Training Center, home to a number of UFC fighters; who knows, maybe I’ll tap one of them-smiles—if I do, I’ll be sure to let you know. I’ll also try to spice up the blog with some photos and videos while I’m there. Until then, have a safe Memorial Day weekend.
With Much Respect,
Larry, the LTrain
Monday, May 24, 2010
Feeling Better About My Open Guard
Quite often on Sundays I train with my training partner, Ulric. Ulric and I started training BJJ around the same time; he’s about 170 pounds—25 to 30 pounds lighter than yours truly, but is incredibly strong for his size, and has a very solid understanding of the BJJ game. We have access to a bit of private mat space where we drill whatever we feel we need to work on, and then roll a fair amount. Ulric also trains in Judo, so we spend a fair amount of time working takedowns, and he’s really helped me gain a better understanding of the importance of grip fighting and obtaining and maintaining dominant grips.
One aspect of my game that I’ve been focusing on while training with Ulric is my transitions from closed to open guard. When I joined RPBjJ, I had a somewhat OK understanding of both guards, but have been struggling with transitioning from closed to open guard when someone stands up in my guard to pass. Ricardo’s done an awesome job with helping me become more aggressive with my closed guard by controlling the guy’s posture and working towards either a sweep or submission. However, there are times when people get pretty far along when standing to pass my guard, and he even concedes that when this happens, switch to open guard.
Part of my problems with open guard are psychological because I can’t see my opponent, and I often freeze up, lose my open guard connection with my opponent, and either transition to half-guard (which isn’t the end of the world) or get my guard passed (which sucks!!!!) I’ve really been thinking about when to transition to either Della Riva or Spider Guard once a fair amount of tension is placed on my open guard. A few weeks ago we worked a series of sweeps from the Della Riva Guard, and the timing of these drills was fantastic for what I have been needing to improve.
Rule number one for me when transitioning to an open guard is to stay connected by maintaining a dominant grip on one of my opponent’s Gi sleeves while creating tension by stretching him out by placing one foot on the hip. This gives me room to slide in the Della Riva hook on the opposite side from the hip on which my foot is placed. About 15-18 months ago, I had a hard time putting this hook in, for my leg would cramp up for some reason. I think the added work on my flexibility bending my leg in this manner has paid off because I feel really strong with this hook and am able to really affect my opponent’s balance by moving him around. Maybe it’s also the extra bananas in the LTrain’s diet to up the potassium level-just call me “LTrain, the blind monkey-boy”—LOL!!!!!
My second strategy is to really create tension with this hook by turning my same side hip that has the hook towards my opponent’s leg. I also try to ensure that my butt is sitting practically on my opponent’s foot of the leg that is hooked; to be fair, I have to credit my prior coach’s instruction on this last detail to really being an important way for me to keep a tight connection when playing this guard.
There’s a number of sweeps that can happen from this position. Yesterday, when rolling with Ulric, I really shocked myself from hitting a sweep by this guard whereby I went to this guard when he stood up, trapped his leg and moved my far leg from his hip to behind his knee and completed the sweep. I actually thought he gave the sweep to me, but he assures me that he didn’t. Ulric’s got a great base, probably because of his Judo training, and I really surprised myself by transitioning so smoothly to this guard and hitting the sweep. To be sure, I really need to work harder on these transitions, but yesterday was a turning point for me where I plan to really open up these transitions and playing a much more aggressive open guard.
With Much Respect,
Larry, The LTrain
One aspect of my game that I’ve been focusing on while training with Ulric is my transitions from closed to open guard. When I joined RPBjJ, I had a somewhat OK understanding of both guards, but have been struggling with transitioning from closed to open guard when someone stands up in my guard to pass. Ricardo’s done an awesome job with helping me become more aggressive with my closed guard by controlling the guy’s posture and working towards either a sweep or submission. However, there are times when people get pretty far along when standing to pass my guard, and he even concedes that when this happens, switch to open guard.
Part of my problems with open guard are psychological because I can’t see my opponent, and I often freeze up, lose my open guard connection with my opponent, and either transition to half-guard (which isn’t the end of the world) or get my guard passed (which sucks!!!!) I’ve really been thinking about when to transition to either Della Riva or Spider Guard once a fair amount of tension is placed on my open guard. A few weeks ago we worked a series of sweeps from the Della Riva Guard, and the timing of these drills was fantastic for what I have been needing to improve.
Rule number one for me when transitioning to an open guard is to stay connected by maintaining a dominant grip on one of my opponent’s Gi sleeves while creating tension by stretching him out by placing one foot on the hip. This gives me room to slide in the Della Riva hook on the opposite side from the hip on which my foot is placed. About 15-18 months ago, I had a hard time putting this hook in, for my leg would cramp up for some reason. I think the added work on my flexibility bending my leg in this manner has paid off because I feel really strong with this hook and am able to really affect my opponent’s balance by moving him around. Maybe it’s also the extra bananas in the LTrain’s diet to up the potassium level-just call me “LTrain, the blind monkey-boy”—LOL!!!!!
My second strategy is to really create tension with this hook by turning my same side hip that has the hook towards my opponent’s leg. I also try to ensure that my butt is sitting practically on my opponent’s foot of the leg that is hooked; to be fair, I have to credit my prior coach’s instruction on this last detail to really being an important way for me to keep a tight connection when playing this guard.
There’s a number of sweeps that can happen from this position. Yesterday, when rolling with Ulric, I really shocked myself from hitting a sweep by this guard whereby I went to this guard when he stood up, trapped his leg and moved my far leg from his hip to behind his knee and completed the sweep. I actually thought he gave the sweep to me, but he assures me that he didn’t. Ulric’s got a great base, probably because of his Judo training, and I really surprised myself by transitioning so smoothly to this guard and hitting the sweep. To be sure, I really need to work harder on these transitions, but yesterday was a turning point for me where I plan to really open up these transitions and playing a much more aggressive open guard.
With Much Respect,
Larry, The LTrain
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Long Overdue!
Weight = 201 lbs—a tad bit heavy, but nothing too alarming!
I’ve been crazy busy with work and with training and this morning after training I realized that I’m falling back into my non-blogging ways!
A great deal has happened since my last post on April 8. For starters, I spent three weeks in Memphis Tennessee where I trained at Memphis BJJ, a Marcello Garcia affiliate. All the guys there were pretty tough, and while I didn’t really learn a great deal of new technique there, those guys really worked me out and made me feel at home. One of the most craziest things there were that a few guys brought there dogs there who just hung out while we trained!!!
I learned a very neat catch of an arm-bar from the standing position when your opponent hits the osotogari (pardon the misspelling). I felt good drilling it, but if the Judo guys who I know hit that throw on me, I’m not sure that I could hit that arm-bar in a straight match—it’s a traditional arm-bar once the throw is complete—you just elevate your hips and take the arm-bar while the guy is standing and moving to side control. Again, very cool—but I know how it feels to get drilled into the mat by good Judo players.
I want to thank Alex Shundi, a Marcello Brown Belt for giving me some awesome mat time and for my man, Pride Venceil for hooking me up with some rides to and from the gym! As I told you all before I left, you are all welcome to visit my BJJ home in Cleveland!!!
While I was gone I missed the OGC Tourney on April 24, and the superfight between J. T. Torres and Dustin Hazelet. Congrats to J. T. for finishing a solid BjJ Black Belt and UFC Vet.
A few of my BjJ friends brought to my attention a fair amount of propaganda being circulated about the circumstances surrounding J. T. Torres’ departure from Team RGDA so that he might join Team Lloyd Irvin. Well, oddly enough, Torres discusses his move to Team Lloyd Irvin Here on a Fightworks Podcast episode that aired in December, so this should put any questions about why he joined Team Lloyd Irvin to rest. From what I hear, this trend appears to be contagious, and it sounded like Irvin’s boys really cleaned house at that Tournament—not too surprising, for when world champions train together and impart their fighting spirit to their other teammates, that’s what happens.
As for me, I’m really trying to focus lately on grip fighting and working from the feet. I feel that I’m becoming more of a top guy when the chips are down, but I’m also forcing myself to play guard against guys who are better than me to round off my overall game. This past week we worked arm-bar and triangle defenses from the guard which was really good for me, for as I mentioned, if I can get the takedown and even land in some sort of guard, I need to play aggressive and pass, but do it safely.
We also worked a very cool takedown when the guy has double underhooks and the body lock. We create space with our hips and with the opposite arm from the side where one’s head is located, we lock up the arm, sit to the same side hip, and hook the guys opposite leg with the far foot sweeping him to one side and landing in side control. Again, it sounds harder than it is, and since this blog also serves as notes for me, I don’t expect it to make sense to you. I was trapping the wrong arm and botching the throw for the first two days of drilling this, but really got the throw down the rest of the week.
A last bit of news—it’s somewhat official and will be taking more full shape when Professor Ze returns from Brazil but Ricardo Pires Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is partnering with Evolve Sports Mixed Martial Arts in Medina whereby Ricardo and staff will be handling their MMA program with an emphasis on submission fighting. Go figure—Evolve now has access to a Jiu Jitsu player who has actually won professional MMA Fights (including bare knuckle Vale tudo contests in Brazil) and who has led fighters to UFC Gold! I think it’s a great fit for Evolve, and am excited that some of their guys are interested in putting on the Gi and visiting our school. I’m also looking forward to possibly picking up some wrestling classes from the Evolve staff. The one thing that I’ll say about the Evolve guys is that they’re definitely in shape—with the proper guidance and tutelage, some of these guys could possibly make a serious impact on both the regional and larger MMA circuits. I think you’ll see Ricardo bringing a few more black belts up from Brazil to make sure that everything is being handled in typical Ricardo fashion.
As for me, I’m around for one more week, and then off to Las Vegas for almost two weeks. I plan to train with one of Ricardo’s employees, black belt Gabriel Kitober, who I’ve trained with before—he’s awesome. I may also visit a couple of other places, but will set up home base with my man, Gabriel at the Warrior’s Training Center where Ricardo and crew run the grappling program in Vegas. I’ll definitely keep you posted, but will touch base before leaving for Vegas. Until then, train hard and train safe!
Respectfully Submitted By:
Larry, the LTrain
I’ve been crazy busy with work and with training and this morning after training I realized that I’m falling back into my non-blogging ways!
A great deal has happened since my last post on April 8. For starters, I spent three weeks in Memphis Tennessee where I trained at Memphis BJJ, a Marcello Garcia affiliate. All the guys there were pretty tough, and while I didn’t really learn a great deal of new technique there, those guys really worked me out and made me feel at home. One of the most craziest things there were that a few guys brought there dogs there who just hung out while we trained!!!
I learned a very neat catch of an arm-bar from the standing position when your opponent hits the osotogari (pardon the misspelling). I felt good drilling it, but if the Judo guys who I know hit that throw on me, I’m not sure that I could hit that arm-bar in a straight match—it’s a traditional arm-bar once the throw is complete—you just elevate your hips and take the arm-bar while the guy is standing and moving to side control. Again, very cool—but I know how it feels to get drilled into the mat by good Judo players.
I want to thank Alex Shundi, a Marcello Brown Belt for giving me some awesome mat time and for my man, Pride Venceil for hooking me up with some rides to and from the gym! As I told you all before I left, you are all welcome to visit my BJJ home in Cleveland!!!
While I was gone I missed the OGC Tourney on April 24, and the superfight between J. T. Torres and Dustin Hazelet. Congrats to J. T. for finishing a solid BjJ Black Belt and UFC Vet.
A few of my BjJ friends brought to my attention a fair amount of propaganda being circulated about the circumstances surrounding J. T. Torres’ departure from Team RGDA so that he might join Team Lloyd Irvin. Well, oddly enough, Torres discusses his move to Team Lloyd Irvin Here on a Fightworks Podcast episode that aired in December, so this should put any questions about why he joined Team Lloyd Irvin to rest. From what I hear, this trend appears to be contagious, and it sounded like Irvin’s boys really cleaned house at that Tournament—not too surprising, for when world champions train together and impart their fighting spirit to their other teammates, that’s what happens.
As for me, I’m really trying to focus lately on grip fighting and working from the feet. I feel that I’m becoming more of a top guy when the chips are down, but I’m also forcing myself to play guard against guys who are better than me to round off my overall game. This past week we worked arm-bar and triangle defenses from the guard which was really good for me, for as I mentioned, if I can get the takedown and even land in some sort of guard, I need to play aggressive and pass, but do it safely.
We also worked a very cool takedown when the guy has double underhooks and the body lock. We create space with our hips and with the opposite arm from the side where one’s head is located, we lock up the arm, sit to the same side hip, and hook the guys opposite leg with the far foot sweeping him to one side and landing in side control. Again, it sounds harder than it is, and since this blog also serves as notes for me, I don’t expect it to make sense to you. I was trapping the wrong arm and botching the throw for the first two days of drilling this, but really got the throw down the rest of the week.
A last bit of news—it’s somewhat official and will be taking more full shape when Professor Ze returns from Brazil but Ricardo Pires Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is partnering with Evolve Sports Mixed Martial Arts in Medina whereby Ricardo and staff will be handling their MMA program with an emphasis on submission fighting. Go figure—Evolve now has access to a Jiu Jitsu player who has actually won professional MMA Fights (including bare knuckle Vale tudo contests in Brazil) and who has led fighters to UFC Gold! I think it’s a great fit for Evolve, and am excited that some of their guys are interested in putting on the Gi and visiting our school. I’m also looking forward to possibly picking up some wrestling classes from the Evolve staff. The one thing that I’ll say about the Evolve guys is that they’re definitely in shape—with the proper guidance and tutelage, some of these guys could possibly make a serious impact on both the regional and larger MMA circuits. I think you’ll see Ricardo bringing a few more black belts up from Brazil to make sure that everything is being handled in typical Ricardo fashion.
As for me, I’m around for one more week, and then off to Las Vegas for almost two weeks. I plan to train with one of Ricardo’s employees, black belt Gabriel Kitober, who I’ve trained with before—he’s awesome. I may also visit a couple of other places, but will set up home base with my man, Gabriel at the Warrior’s Training Center where Ricardo and crew run the grappling program in Vegas. I’ll definitely keep you posted, but will touch base before leaving for Vegas. Until then, train hard and train safe!
Respectfully Submitted By:
Larry, the LTrain
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Post-Tourney Update, and Update for the Week of April 5
Well, the Tournament in Mansfield went pretty well. It was pretty small, and had a number of tough wrestlers and MMA guys, but everybody was pretty cool at the Fight Farm Gym, where the event was held. We brought five guys down and walked away with five gold medals-AH SNAP!!! OK, maybe half a snap; it wasn’t that big of a tournament, but was a good venue for me to get my RPBJJ Competition Cherry popped, so to speak! Being coached by Ricardo is unlike any wrestling or BJJ coaching that I have ever experienced. The guy plays no favorites, throws himself headlong into coaching his students, and really does a hell of a job helping us all stick to our game plans. I think he was as tired as we were after it was all said and done. He coached me through a dicey situation in my second fight where I got thrown, became pretty pissed off about it, and almost got arm-barred for losing my cool, but he got “The Train” back on track and I ended up winning handily 8 to 2. I actually won all three of my matches, was happy about my work on the feet, minus being thrown, and was happy about control, establishing positions, and throwing up lots of submissions. It was my first entry into the advanced division and they combined my weight class with the one above mine, so I got to roll with a couple of big old boys out there! Again, we all had a great time; I actually beat two brothers (not black guys—real brothers—smiles) and they wanted a picture with me between them after the matches. I thought they might have had a bigger brother waiting for me, and got some laughs out of them.
Ricardo really chatted with me afterwards about what went well, and where to improve, and both he and Ze are taking an interest in curbing that ability I have to lose my cool and are teaching me how to mellow out (Brazilian style, I guess), relax, and play my game. I now see why Ricardo has coached BJJ world champs, and UFC veterans.
This week we focused a bit more on Judo, principles, foot trips, taking angles, and focusing more on breaking balance, and transitions rather than just worrying about one throw. We had Stew in from Baltimore. I actually don’t know his last name, but he’s a 3rd degree Judo black belt from Hawaii who also has a brown belt in BJJ. He’s a great guy, and once during a demonstration, he threw me harder and higher than I’ve been thrown in my entire life. I’ve been break-falling for years, but I hit the back of my head and the throw almost knocked me out. He spent some time with me Monday night focusing on using my entire body to break my opponent’s balance. Good stuff for the LTrain to work on!!!
On the ground, we focused on a number of chokes while controlling folks who are turtled up. I’m actually learning how to catch the crucifix off the turtle and finish with a Gi choke. If nothing else, that crucifix is a bad spot to get someone in, but I’m really feeling good about trapping the arm with my legs, controlling the opposite arm and rolling over my opposite shoulder to take the guy over.
Rolling was o.K. this week, except for today, I had a hard time working my half-guard offense with someone who is way bigger than me. Ze actually got a bit frustrated with me, and rightfully so. I just wasn’t getting my body to respond to what he was saying. Go figure.
I go to Memphis Tennessee for 3 weeks, and unfortunately will miss the Ohio Grappling Challenge on April 24. RPBjJ will be well represented, though, and I’m actually not happy that I won’t be with them. Ricardo really has his competition team geared up to win, and not accept anything else. Probably one of the stupidest things that I’ve ever heard a number of people say about BJJ tournaments is that “It doesn’t matter if I win or not.” Why the hell do the tournament then. Sure, everybody loses, but why spend the money and time preparing for the tournament if you don’t know in your heart that you can win it? I’m serious—I just don’t understand how such a shitty way of thinking has found it into the competition circles of some parts of the BJJ community. Ricardo wants no part of this, and we all know that if we lose, we lose, but we shouldn’t lose due to a lack of effort, and we should never tap just because are spirits are broken. “Keep fighting” is his mantra, and it’s actually catching fire with some of the more talented guys in the room.
I found a Marcello Garcia affiliate in Memphis where I’ll be training while I’m there. So I will get my dosage of Alliance BJJ which is cool by me. New perspectives, and new guys to train with. I’ll keep you all posted as to how it is going.
With Much Respect
Larry, the LTrain
Ricardo really chatted with me afterwards about what went well, and where to improve, and both he and Ze are taking an interest in curbing that ability I have to lose my cool and are teaching me how to mellow out (Brazilian style, I guess), relax, and play my game. I now see why Ricardo has coached BJJ world champs, and UFC veterans.
This week we focused a bit more on Judo, principles, foot trips, taking angles, and focusing more on breaking balance, and transitions rather than just worrying about one throw. We had Stew in from Baltimore. I actually don’t know his last name, but he’s a 3rd degree Judo black belt from Hawaii who also has a brown belt in BJJ. He’s a great guy, and once during a demonstration, he threw me harder and higher than I’ve been thrown in my entire life. I’ve been break-falling for years, but I hit the back of my head and the throw almost knocked me out. He spent some time with me Monday night focusing on using my entire body to break my opponent’s balance. Good stuff for the LTrain to work on!!!
On the ground, we focused on a number of chokes while controlling folks who are turtled up. I’m actually learning how to catch the crucifix off the turtle and finish with a Gi choke. If nothing else, that crucifix is a bad spot to get someone in, but I’m really feeling good about trapping the arm with my legs, controlling the opposite arm and rolling over my opposite shoulder to take the guy over.
Rolling was o.K. this week, except for today, I had a hard time working my half-guard offense with someone who is way bigger than me. Ze actually got a bit frustrated with me, and rightfully so. I just wasn’t getting my body to respond to what he was saying. Go figure.
I go to Memphis Tennessee for 3 weeks, and unfortunately will miss the Ohio Grappling Challenge on April 24. RPBjJ will be well represented, though, and I’m actually not happy that I won’t be with them. Ricardo really has his competition team geared up to win, and not accept anything else. Probably one of the stupidest things that I’ve ever heard a number of people say about BJJ tournaments is that “It doesn’t matter if I win or not.” Why the hell do the tournament then. Sure, everybody loses, but why spend the money and time preparing for the tournament if you don’t know in your heart that you can win it? I’m serious—I just don’t understand how such a shitty way of thinking has found it into the competition circles of some parts of the BJJ community. Ricardo wants no part of this, and we all know that if we lose, we lose, but we shouldn’t lose due to a lack of effort, and we should never tap just because are spirits are broken. “Keep fighting” is his mantra, and it’s actually catching fire with some of the more talented guys in the room.
I found a Marcello Garcia affiliate in Memphis where I’ll be training while I’m there. So I will get my dosage of Alliance BJJ which is cool by me. New perspectives, and new guys to train with. I’ll keep you all posted as to how it is going.
With Much Respect
Larry, the LTrain
Friday, April 2, 2010
Touching Base
(Weight: 195.6 DELICIOUS pounds!!!!—Delicious in a Neanderthal sort of way!)
Well, let’s get the bad news out of the way first. My trip to San Diego was crazy busy and the only evening I had free to go training, Saulo was leaving early, and I would have gotten to their school late. The same was true on the Fabio Santos front—I would have been an hour late to his class. The good news is that I’ve shed my 8 pounds of winter CHUB and feel great. I trained five times this week, and on the spur of the moment, have decided to go scrap in the no-Gi tournament tomorrow in Mansfield, about an hour away from here. We’re taking only about 7 guys down because it’s no-Gi. I still haven’t figured out people’s reservations to fight no-Gi. Maybe it’s because I wrestled in high school or something. I feel good, and we’ll see what happens. I checked the weight classes out two days ago and learned it was not standard BJJ weight classes, and that if I wanted to fight middle weight, I’d have to drop to 185 lbs. No thanks. I’ll just deal with some bigger guys this go-around. I’ve been training hard with guys who outweigh me between 30 and 130 pounds, so my body is conditioned for it.
This week, we focused a great deal on the tomianagi (pardon the misspelling) throw from the feet. The throw is executed by using the Gi grips to get your opponent to step back with his lead leg and change his stance. Place your opposite foot on his lead hip, grip the lapel of the lead hip side, grip behind the elbow of the Gi on he opposite side, (turn the wheel) towards the elbow side and sit to that side kicking in the opposite direction of the lapel. It’s actually easier than I described it. I learned this throw at a Judo school once where you sit straight back and use your leg to launch the guy over the top of your head, but I have always found that you can’t control guys very well when they hit the ground in this position.
On the ground we worked mount escapes, by connecting the knee to the elbow primarily and getting that knee inside the top guy’s knee to create space. A few different scenarios can happen from there, and I’m too tired to describe them all right now. Ricardo’s really into guys using technique and fighting like hell to get out of bad positions. We worked that a lot this week. It’s actually also helping me develop a better mount having these guys really working to escape my mount.
Well, enough babbling. I wish any Christian who might be reading this blog a very Blessed Easter, and I’ll get after it early next week on the blog front!
With Much Respect
Larry, the LTrain
Well, let’s get the bad news out of the way first. My trip to San Diego was crazy busy and the only evening I had free to go training, Saulo was leaving early, and I would have gotten to their school late. The same was true on the Fabio Santos front—I would have been an hour late to his class. The good news is that I’ve shed my 8 pounds of winter CHUB and feel great. I trained five times this week, and on the spur of the moment, have decided to go scrap in the no-Gi tournament tomorrow in Mansfield, about an hour away from here. We’re taking only about 7 guys down because it’s no-Gi. I still haven’t figured out people’s reservations to fight no-Gi. Maybe it’s because I wrestled in high school or something. I feel good, and we’ll see what happens. I checked the weight classes out two days ago and learned it was not standard BJJ weight classes, and that if I wanted to fight middle weight, I’d have to drop to 185 lbs. No thanks. I’ll just deal with some bigger guys this go-around. I’ve been training hard with guys who outweigh me between 30 and 130 pounds, so my body is conditioned for it.
This week, we focused a great deal on the tomianagi (pardon the misspelling) throw from the feet. The throw is executed by using the Gi grips to get your opponent to step back with his lead leg and change his stance. Place your opposite foot on his lead hip, grip the lapel of the lead hip side, grip behind the elbow of the Gi on he opposite side, (turn the wheel) towards the elbow side and sit to that side kicking in the opposite direction of the lapel. It’s actually easier than I described it. I learned this throw at a Judo school once where you sit straight back and use your leg to launch the guy over the top of your head, but I have always found that you can’t control guys very well when they hit the ground in this position.
On the ground we worked mount escapes, by connecting the knee to the elbow primarily and getting that knee inside the top guy’s knee to create space. A few different scenarios can happen from there, and I’m too tired to describe them all right now. Ricardo’s really into guys using technique and fighting like hell to get out of bad positions. We worked that a lot this week. It’s actually also helping me develop a better mount having these guys really working to escape my mount.
Well, enough babbling. I wish any Christian who might be reading this blog a very Blessed Easter, and I’ll get after it early next week on the blog front!
With Much Respect
Larry, the LTrain
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)