Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Blue Belt Week 32, July 26, 2012

July 30, 2012 by Jason

I am realizing, from watching fundamental videos,  that I’m making small mistakes in some of my fundamental techniques.   I have a plan to change all of that as I start getting more serious in preparation for the Helio Gracie Tournament in October.  My goal is getting to the second round.

I recommend all Gracie Jiu Jitsu student to see the movie, CHOKE.  It is not on Netflix .  Here is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjvzJO-6ESc  Wow. Very inspirational for anyone that follows Gracie Jiu Jitsu.   A true, flesh, and blood champion, is Rickson Gracie.  I plan to watch it a few more times.

I had thought Kimura, the all time Judo champion, had never lost a match.  WRONG!  Rikidozan verses Masahiko Kimura.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtwqmU2eV6M  As I wrote in the first few weeks of the start of this blog, how judo practitioners are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to a real street fight.   I was going around thinking Mr. Kimura was invincible.  He never lost a fight.   As per the YouTube match between Japanese wrestler, Rikidazon, Kimura was clearly knocked out in a fist fight.   It was a humiliating loss.   Why didn’t Kimura clinch?  Close the distance?  Get out of the ring??

Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Blue Belt Week 31, July 20, 2012

July 22, 2012 by Jason

What would you do if you were violently grabbed from behind in a bear hug over your arms??? The answer is a throw.   Note,  I had this lesson a few times and today the fundamental lesson finally sunk into my thick skull.  Also, I was back working out with the heavy weights, someone that out weighs me by more than 50 lbs. My partner was Alex, a Romanian Black Jack dealer at the Hard Rock Casino.

Like a guy with a grudge, bam!, into my back, he’s got me in a Grizzle bear hug, my arms were locked down, and I felt that I may be body slammed if I don’t act quickly.  Just like I was taught, I quickly base out. I drop down and curled my arms.  My shoulders wobbled a little bit as he thrashed me side to side.  I shrugged my shoulders up, it gives the space I need, I  step to one side, all in seconds, I then slip my front left leg behind his back knees. From my semi crouched position, I stood up quickly while grabbing his pant legs at his knees while dumping him over my shoulder.  I launched him, off over my back shoulder with velocity, right into the mat.  Actually, I stopped while I had him in the air.

Of course, nobody was injured.   We didn’t actually execute the throw.  This was a typical fundamental’s class.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

Blue Belt Week 30, July 13, 2012 Qatar

July 6, 2012 by Jason

It has been an interesting week. On Monday, a sports Gracie Jiu Jitsu team from Qatar, practiced with us. The team was in Miami on their way to Orlando for an international tournament. I worked out with a guy named Abdul. He was strong, tall, and had some skills. He said they were exhausted because it took 27 hours to get from Qatar to Miami. Plane delays.  The team was trying to adjust to the time change and practice a bit before the big match in Orlando this weekend.  Abdul said that he was hoping to visit Milwaukee after the tournament because one of his parents was from there and he still has family living in Wisconsin, ironically, so were mine parents.  It is a small world.  After training I wished him and his team good luck.

A few days earlier, I was channel surfing and stopped on a TV channel called Link TV, www.linktv.org.  It was a documentary on Qatar. It is the wealthiest nation in the Middle East. It has a population of 250,000. Qatar is friends to everyone.  The person that runs Qatar, Emir, is Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, whom is a brilliant politician.  Besides making Qatar an amazing place to live, he also created Al Jazeera, the premier Middle East television news program. When I can, I will watch Al Jazeera.  I like it since it gives a very different view of the world of an issue.  I feel U.S. news is filtered. True or not, it is good to get different points of view.

I’m not exactly sure how to pronounce Qatar.  It is pronounced in different ways. See YouTube. 60 minutes Qatar.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFW-IUlnHag

In the year, 2022,  the whole world will  learn about Qatar because it is scheduled to host The World Cup, which is the biggest soccer event held every four years.

Posted in Jiu Jitsu, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Blue Belt Week 29, July 6, 2012

July 4, 2012 by Jason

Happy 4th of July, 2012, the celebration of the United States Independence.

Before class, Kevin, a fellow blue belt, three striped, confided in me, ” I don’t know anything. I can’t recall what I have learned.”  Do you remember driving from your home to the dojo, school, or gym? How many right turns did you take? Did you use the turning signal? The truth is that you don’t remember because the information is in your subconscious mind. I trust the info is in my subconscious memory, memory you know without actively thinking.

Am I on the right path? Freak!!!! My arm, shoulder, was almost broken in the grappling techniques class. I was super pissed off the other day. This is good because I am working out my anger.  I’m trying my best not to make this personal.  I will let this go out of my respect for the professors. I control my emotions and no one else.  Maybe this was a good event to happen. I think learning to control your emotions could be a part of jiu jitsu.  I will continue until purple belt. I owe it to this blog.

Super cool!  I got an invitational YouTube email to practice Gracie jiu Jitsu in Tokyo, Japan. Probably spam. I didn’t respond yet. The training starts in August which is too short a time for me to get everything together and it is for a month. If it were true, I would want to do it next summer so that I could train, train, and train at home. I’m not going to Japan to make an ass of myself, my school, and my country. Wife already said no and said something about a divorce. I think I could change her mind if I had more time. My kids were super excited when I mentioned the invitation. I would be a great candidate to study in Japan. I love their culture. Atari, Godzilla, Gamera, Speed Racer, Shogun,Sushi, Judo, jiu Jitsu, sumo wrestling, Judo champion Kimura, Buddhism, baseball fanatics, The iron chief, samurai, Kumon, Honda, Toyota, Toshiba, Sony. Seppuku.  I was learning to read and write Japanese. It is not as difficult as you might think. It is a phonetic language unlike Chinese. I gave up learning Japanese since learning Japanese didn’t make sense. I wish I had Japanese friends. Well, it’s was a fun dream.

Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

Blue Belt Week 28, June 28, 2012

June 30, 2012 by Jason

This week, I went to grappling techniques class.  It was at headquarters on Tuesday morning at 10:00 am.  While training, a three striped purple belt showed up late and asked my practice partner, a brown belt, if he could join our group.  He said okay.  As soon as it was my turn to practice the move with the new comer, he started causing me pain.  I didn’t say anything.  I thought it to be bad manners.

While practicing a new move, he was overly aggressive, I would say almost pissed.  I could feel my right shoulder buckle and the pain started.  At that point, I then immediately stopped and told the guy I was only interested in technique.  I didn’t have to communicate this to the brown belt. He lightened up, but it was too late for my shoulder.  Fortunately,  I think the injury was just a torn muscle.

I am trying not to hold onto anger or to be vengeful. I am focused on winning.

In order to avoid injury I advise the following, to minimize injuries, communicate right away 1)  Introduce yourself.  2) Tell them that you’re trying to do the move without power and in control. 3) Tap immediately if you feel pain. Don’t wait until it is too late.

Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Blue Belt Week 27, June 22, 2012

June 25, 2012 by Jason

This week we relearned the pizon, the side kick.    Professor Joaquin had a good point for the class, something that I didn’t consider before, that the pizon is a good defense against an approaching boxer.    The pizon doesn’t require much force to damage a knee.  Once an attacker is hit with the pizon to the knee, if the pizon doesn’t damage the attacker’s knee, it will hurt, so they back away.   Also, the pizon can  be used to the mid section of the body which is a larger target.    Basically, what you want is the attacker to keep a safe distance.      In conclusion, when the pizon is done properly, it is a great defense against a boxer that is approaching from a distance.

Changing subjects, the Miami Heat won the National Championship this week.  Lebron James, of the National Champion Miami Heat, and James was this year’s MVP of the league, made an interesting comment about his last year’s play verses this year’s play.

 “Last year I played with hate. That’s not the way I play. I play with a lot of love.” Lebron

In 2011, the Miami Heat had a humiliating loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.  James was blamed for much of the loss.  He even excepted full responsibility.  So your probably wondering how this relates to Jiu Jitsu??  When James played with passion and love, it contributed to his whole team winning the national championship.   The message is that passion and compassion is more powerful than hate.  I believe this to be true.   I noticed with the Jiu Jitsu instructors, when they grab the kimono to show a move, they are relaxed almost like they aren’t there… not with power and anger.  Hate is focused on hurting.  Passion is focused on winning.

Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

How to bring goodness into your life.

June 19, 2012 by Jason

If you did something bad and you’re looking for a way to get right. This powerful meditation is a good start. It takes about 10 minutes. You can also say it in your mind while waiting in line.  Before you start, think about someone you care about for a few seconds then start reciting the following in your mind or out loud.

If you do this meditation, in the morning or in the evening for thirty days, it will bring goodness into your life. You will also notice that people start to treat you better.

Note, I don’t take any credit for this meditation which I obtained from a buddhist monk on youtube.

Loving Kindness

(Say the following three times.)

May all beings in my home be free from hatred.

May all beings in my home be free from anger.

May all beings in my home be free from jealousy.

May all being in my home be free from stress and suffering.

May all beings in my home be happy and well.

May all beings in my home find the ultimate peace and happiness.

(Say the following three times.)

May all beings in my city be free from hatred.

May all beings in my city be free from anger.

May all beings in my city be free from jealousy.

May all being in my city be free from stress and suffering.

May all beings in my city be happy and well.

May all beings in my city find the ultimate peace and happiness.

(Say the following three times.)

May all beings in my state be free from hatred.

May all beings in my state be free from anger.

May all beings in my state be free from jealousy.

May all being in my state be free from stress and suffering.

May all beings in my state be happy and well.

May all beings in my state find the ultimate peace and happiness.

(Say the following three times.)

May all beings in my country be free from hatred.

May all beings in my country be free from anger.

May all beings in my country be free from jealousy.

May all being in my country be free from stress and suffering.

May all beings in my country be happy and well.

May all beings in my country find the ultimate peace and happiness.

(Say the following three times.)

May all beings in the world be free from hatred.

May all beings in the world be free from anger.

May all beings in the world be free from jealousy.

May all being in the world be free from stress and suffering.

May all beings in the world be happy and well.

May all beings in the world find the ultimate peace and happiness.

(Say the following three times.)

May all beings in the Universe be free from hatred.

May all beings in the Universe be free from anger.

May all beings in the Universe be free from jealousy.

May all being in the Universe be free from stress and suffering.

May all beings in the Universe be happy and well.

May all beings in the Universe find the ultimate peace and happiness.

(Say the following ten times.)

May all beings be happy and well.

Posted in Self Development | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Blue Belt, Week 26, June 15, 2012

June 14, 2012 by Jason

I am a quarter of the way to purple belt. I had earned my first blue belt stripe.  The belt system is like climbing a mountain. The higher you climb, the tougher the course.  The toughest part on the nine year climb is the very top, the black belt test.

I had some good insights into my lack of zanshin, awareness, thanks to a fellow blue belt named Barry.  Zanshin is an important aspect of jiu jitsu. During review on Wednesday, I had briefly forgotten a self defense move. I felt foolish. My mind should be alert. It wasn’t. While I had Barry in my guard, he reminded to make pretend ear strikes.  In a sneak attack, Barry had successfully kicked me in the stomach. I wasn’t prepared. I was frustrated. Barry’s mind is alert. He then asked me a question. ” From this distance, 10 feet, 3 meters, how could someone attack you?  He is aware of the distance and has an idea of the attacker’s next move. I need to be more like Barry.

Posted in Jiu Jitsu | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Blue Belt Week 25, June 8, 2012

June 9, 2012 by Jason

It has been six months since I earned Blue belt.  A few days ago was the Summer belt ceromony which I couldn’t attend. I had made the Winter event a life turning point. That night, I made a commitment to my self. Gracie jiu Jitsu isn’t just a gym to workout at. It is the accepting of a new life style, a fitness of mind and body. The winter ceromony felt like an ordination. I let go of an unheathy life to purse a health life, a life that will produce fruit.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Blue Belt Week 24, June 1, 2012

June 5, 2012 by Jason

Nothing to report. I have a lower back injury that I am taking care of. FYI,  I hate going to the doctor which I try to avoid at all costs.  I am improving.  I am worried if I return too early that I could reinjury myself and start all over again. I should be attending class regardless.  Sometimes its good to take a break.  I don’t like being fanatical about anything, really.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »