Lots of stuff has happened
I haven't posted much for a while and lots of shit has happened so this might just be a long one...
1. BJJ Dummy - Now with an extra 2 Stripes
During David Onuma's seminar in Manchester (when it was snowing!) I was awarded another 2 stripes on my white belt by David and Martyn
2. I have bought a load of stuff to be reviewed including - Sandee Headguard, Scramble 1chiban, BJJ Life Rashguard and other things i cant think of right now.
3. Enrolled myself in 2 tournaments
I have signed up for 2 tournaments, the first at Evolve at u66Kg which means I need to beef up a little bit (currently around 63Kg) and then another at Fighting Fit fighting at 62Kg, so will have to cut for that one. Hopefully that wont be too hard.... (i hope!!)
4. I have started having Personal Strength and Conditioning Training with Dom Kinsey.
This is something i need to sort out since 90% of my training partners are bigger and stronger than me, i need to swing things back in my favour!
Back in BJJ Pajamas and covering the x-guard
Tonight marked the first night back in the pajama game this year for me.
The class was only 6 in the fundamentals class and 4 in the advanced class which meant that there was a lot of time for details and drilling with everyone, which means drilling with different body types and weights. This usually means problems for me since everyone is bigger and heavier than me.
We covered grip fighting to the single leg takedown, then the butterfly guard transitioning to single x-guard then to full x-guard and sweeping to side control. This was then all rolled into one and then drilled to perfection against everyone!
I quite like using single leg x-guard, since I am quite bendy this lends itself to me (that and De La Riva guard) I just need to drill it some more and then get used to it whilst rolling.
Here is Marcelo Garcia showing how it is done!
Strike Fightwear – Mashuu the Macaque Rash Guard
Last week I ordered the Mashuu the Macaque Rashguard from Strike Fightwear.
So here we go on the review!!!
Design
The rashguard itself is designed by none other than Meerkatsu himself.
I have to say the graphics themselves are awesome! The Strike logo of a dragon on one shoulder, the Meerkatsu logo on the other and then Mashuu on the left side.
The Rashguard
The Rashguard itself feels slightly thicker than other rashguards that I have used in the past, which to me is a good thing. Another thing i like about this rashguard is the slightly higher neck than the usual crew neck varieties, quite like the surfing rashguards on sale. They say its to avoid rubbing against the Gi, I also like it whilst rolling NoGi to protect against neck attacks.
When I first tried the rashguard on I was very surprised how it felt, it was surprisingly comfortable and very well fitting, i went for the small and it even made me look thin after i let myself go!
I would suggest you buy one! NOW!!
Mashuu the Macaque Rash Guard Modelled by The BJJ Dummy
you can buy the Mashuu Rashguard here
why does everything I order from America not turn up?
Over the past few months I have ordered a couple of BJJ things from the internets from America, and they haven't turned up!!
One on 8/11/11 and the other on 12/12/11!!
This could have happened for a couple of reasons:
1. USPS/Royal Mail are totally shite at doing their jobs!
2. Its the run up to christmas and everything is hectic!
I have spoken to one of the suppliers (the earlier one) and they have resent what i ordered, the other has been 'Ready to Ship' for over 2 weeks!!
When I contacted the other company they just said
I sincerely apologize, but the order was held up because the shipping did not calculate correctly. I will ask shipping to get me that information as quickly as possible and update you
6 days later and ANOTHER email, i still am none the wiser and more pissed off!!
I should stop ordering things from America, everytime I order things something always goes wrong! Be it Royal Mail fucking up and returning it without trying to deliver, or sticking an extortionate 'Handling Fee' for charging VAT, the VAT was £4.87 and the handling fee was £8.00!
How ridiculous is that!!
Royal Mail FAIL!
UPDATE
The company I ordered my 2nd order from FINALLY got back to me to tell me the reason it didn't leave their warehouse was that there wasn't any shipping on it and they wanted $65 P&P on a $60 order!!
This many not be the case with anyone else's order but i don't think i will be using Martial Arts Supplies again!
A Merry BJJ Christmas To YOU!
Its now coming to the end of another jam packed BJJ year for me. Mainly training like a madman and then getting injured!!
Hopefully by next year i will be back from the injury list and training in no time!
To everyone that i have trained with this year at Fighting Fit and everyone who trains under David Onuma at CFS have a Merry BJJ christmas and i'm sure we'll train again next year!
Holy Horseshoes Batman! I’ve ordered stuff to be reviewed!
Today I made a nice venture into buying more BJJ stuff that I can review!
So, postman permitting I may receive what I have ordered soon!
p.s. feel free to send me anything to be reviewed 
Roll smart in BJJ
Recently when rolling against a purple belt, he pulled me up after the roll and told me that he thinks I needed to work on my posture in the guard. Which since then on I have been working on, he also said for me to try and roll with the blue/purple belts as they will help sharpen up my basic skills and help me progress. Even if you get smashed by them you will then learn not to do the same things again and again, and eventually find something that will work.
This made me think that when rolling in BJJ you need to have a basic strategy of what you want to achieve and work on:
If you are rolling against higher belts (most likely scenario) than you need to have a vague strategy of what you want to do e.g. survive, try not to be swept and work on posture in guard.
If if you are against people of the same ability as you then your goals will be slightly more ambitious e.g. work for a submission of your choice, don't make silly mistakes, if they make mistakes punish them!
If you are against a new person, you may want to slow your game right down and allow the new person to work on what they know and if they get lost give them a helping hand.
If you roll smart and have a basic strategy for the type of partners you will encounter you will be able to adapt the plan if needs be.
The Importance of BJJ Grading
As we all know grading in BJJ takes a long time, sometimes between 2-3 years between belts. So time between belts is a long occurrence.
From forums,Reddit etc. I have found there are 2 types of attitude to grading:
- I dont care that much about grading
- I REALLY care about grading!
From what I have seen the first group are higher ranking and people who have attained belts in another martial arts discipline. The second group seem to be White belts without any other martial arts training.
For most new people the trip to Blue belt is the make-or-break of their BJJ journey, since after gaining a blue belt they then have to dig in again and get ready for the long haul trip to Purple (and then repeat a couple more times till black).
For the 2nd group of people the importance of grading is quite important since they need to gauge how close to their target they are getting and can monitor their own progress in relation to others.
At some gyms there are regular gradings usually when the black belt comes for a seminar, whereas others there are sporadic gradings where one person will be moved up a belt.
No matter what sort of grading structure you have, as long as you actually deserve your new rank and haven't been hurried through you'll be fine. If you think you deserve a new belt, the only one person who actually knows is your instructor because "Sensei Knows Best!"
This is now turning to rambling of an idiot so I'll leave you with this quote:
"A belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest." -Royce Gracie
Favorite BJJ Moves
Everyone has their favorite moves in BJJ, how did we arrive at what our favorite move is?
I know this sounds like one bloody stupid question, but really how?
I was thinking and there are a couple of ways we can arrive at a favorite move:
- A move you can consistently hit first and every time
- Something you see someone else do and think its awesome
My current favorite move starts in my opponents butterfly guard and ends up with a figure 4 arm lock which can turn into an armbar/mount. I really cant remember how I came across this move, I think someone (Liam) posted it on his blog or someone told me about it. Anyhow from when I was shown it I knew I wanted to know how it was done and then try it out during rolling. As of yet I haven't been given the situation!!
Improving in BJJ
At the moment I feel like I am still improving at BJJ, but not as fast as I would like. Since progress in BJJ is all down to mat time, the only way you can progess quickly is to train as much as possible. This can lead to being easily fatigued and injuries will occur easier the more fatigued you are. Since I am what Liam Wandi calls a 'Part Time Grappler' meaning that I go to work and train part time, so I couldn't possibly train 7 days a week because I like eating and having somewhere to live! This can't be possible!
Whilst thinking on the speed of progress of BJJ it occurred to me that the most improvement that anyone studying BJJ will have is around the 3-6 month mark, when you realise your arse from your elbow! By that I mean that this is the time you will start putting the outside pieces of your basic BJJ knowledge jigsaw together. At first you are just looking at a great big mess of jigsaw pieces on the floor, then you slowly start to find the outside pieces of the puzzle and are recognising basic moves and positions whilst sparring and then reacting to them. This is when you have gone from knowing very little (if at all) to having enough knowledge to diligently spar with people without flailing like a dead fish!
This jigsaw related thinking lead me to put together some sort of total BJJ-to-jigsaw analogy (so here goes!):
- White Belt - Opening the jigsaw box and scattering the pieces everywhere to find the outside pieces, then joining all the outside pieces together to form your basic knowledge
- Blue Belt - Finding some pieces of the same colour and starting to fill in blocks of the jigsaw of BJJ knowlege
- Purple Belt - Focusing on most of the unfinished sections
- Brown Belt - Filling in the final unfinished parts of the jigsaw
- Black Belt - Going to find another jigsaw to complete, or helping other complete their jigsaw
I'm hoping this made some sense! (I doubt it though!!)
Until next time I have a BJJ related thought that i deem the world should know about!!
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