October 31, 2005
Grappling with Jean Jacques Machado
One of my favorite grappling sessions of all time was only about 1 or 2 minutes long. It was with Jean Jacques Machado, ADCC champion and a personal hero of mine.
This happened about 4 years ago when I was a large, strong purple belt. After a BJJ seminar at the Inosanto Academy in Los Angeles, Jean Jacques decided that he was going to roll with all the seminar participants one after another. Not surprisingly, he went through us all without really breaking a sweat.
In my match with Jean Jacques he first passed my open guard like a hot knife going through butter. I turned and came onto my knees to avoid the pin, but he got on my back with one hook in. When he started fishing for a lapel choke I was determined to defend it well: I was not going to give him an easy tap out! At one point I accidentally hit him in the face with the back of my hand. I immediately apologized and got the ubiquitous Brazilian "no problem, my friend" response.
He then switched to an armbar, with me still turtled and him balanced on his head, face down to the mat. I was defending well, I thought, but after about 20 seconds I realized that my arm was suddenly straight: somehow he had moved it into a perfect armbar position WITHOUT me recognizing it. He was holding it in that position, but not applying ANY pressure to it, waiting for me to realize that he had caught me. My thoughts at the time went something like this: "I'm defending this, so far so good, to get out all I need to do now is.... wait a second... I'm already caught!" This was so unexpected that I was laughing as I tapped out.
As far as I'm concerned we both won that match. He won it because he got the armbar. I won it because I got to experience rolling with someone who is at a very, very high level of skill. I hope that everyone gets to experience what that feels like at least once in their grappling career.
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This happened about 4 years ago when I was a large, strong purple belt. After a BJJ seminar at the Inosanto Academy in Los Angeles, Jean Jacques decided that he was going to roll with all the seminar participants one after another. Not surprisingly, he went through us all without really breaking a sweat.
In my match with Jean Jacques he first passed my open guard like a hot knife going through butter. I turned and came onto my knees to avoid the pin, but he got on my back with one hook in. When he started fishing for a lapel choke I was determined to defend it well: I was not going to give him an easy tap out! At one point I accidentally hit him in the face with the back of my hand. I immediately apologized and got the ubiquitous Brazilian "no problem, my friend" response.
He then switched to an armbar, with me still turtled and him balanced on his head, face down to the mat. I was defending well, I thought, but after about 20 seconds I realized that my arm was suddenly straight: somehow he had moved it into a perfect armbar position WITHOUT me recognizing it. He was holding it in that position, but not applying ANY pressure to it, waiting for me to realize that he had caught me. My thoughts at the time went something like this: "I'm defending this, so far so good, to get out all I need to do now is.... wait a second... I'm already caught!" This was so unexpected that I was laughing as I tapped out.
As far as I'm concerned we both won that match. He won it because he got the armbar. I won it because I got to experience rolling with someone who is at a very, very high level of skill. I hope that everyone gets to experience what that feels like at least once in their grappling career.
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October 22, 2005
The Two-Month Survival Blues.
It's very common for new grapplers to become discouraged at about the 2 or 3 month mark. In the beginning this person sort of expected to get his ass kicked, but now (after a few months of classes) he is still STILL getting his ass kicked. His grappling game largely consists of lying there pinned while frantically defending submission attempts.
This style of purely defensive and purely reactionary grappling isn't very satisfying. This new student is learning all sorts of cool offensive techniques, but never getting to apply any them himself, so why bother training at all?
What this person has forgotten is that all his training partners have been getting better as well. Everybody is improving at the same time, so it can take a long time to close a skill gap between himself and and someone who has been grappling longer.
It is only when newbies show up at the club and the former beginner gets to do some ass kicking of his own that he realizes how much he's learned. All of a sudden he finds out that he HAS been learning stuff all along, and that he isn't a complete failure at this grappling stuff after all.
If you are a beginner and find yourself at this two month mark then take heart! Things will improve. If you are in a coaching or mentoring position in your club then keep your eyes open for this phenomenon. In my experience it often occurs after about 2 months of training. Take that person aside and explain what is happening - it will cheer him up and may even stop him from dropping out altogether.
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This style of purely defensive and purely reactionary grappling isn't very satisfying. This new student is learning all sorts of cool offensive techniques, but never getting to apply any them himself, so why bother training at all?
What this person has forgotten is that all his training partners have been getting better as well. Everybody is improving at the same time, so it can take a long time to close a skill gap between himself and and someone who has been grappling longer.
It is only when newbies show up at the club and the former beginner gets to do some ass kicking of his own that he realizes how much he's learned. All of a sudden he finds out that he HAS been learning stuff all along, and that he isn't a complete failure at this grappling stuff after all.
If you are a beginner and find yourself at this two month mark then take heart! Things will improve. If you are in a coaching or mentoring position in your club then keep your eyes open for this phenomenon. In my experience it often occurs after about 2 months of training. Take that person aside and explain what is happening - it will cheer him up and may even stop him from dropping out altogether.
Labels: the mental aspect
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October 14, 2005
Fear Does Not Exist...
It is important to know when you can't improve on something. This is the position I find myself in this week as I ponder a quote about fear by the author Dr. Michael Colgan. Without further ado, here it is:
"Fear does not exist in any object or situation. It is constructed by you alone, a barrier to progress, imposed solely by your mind."
I can't say it better than that, so I'll keep it short and sweet this week!
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"Fear does not exist in any object or situation. It is constructed by you alone, a barrier to progress, imposed solely by your mind."
I can't say it better than that, so I'll keep it short and sweet this week!
Labels: the mental aspect
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October 01, 2005
Spare the Knife, Spoil the Grappler?
In twenty-four years of martial arts training I have had more than my share of injuries and surgeries. Recently, however, I had an interesting encounter with the medical establishment that I’d like to share with you. Given the abundance of injuries in combative sports I think it might have some value for the readers of this newsletter.
About 6 months ago I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), which basically means that the Ulnar nerve is compressed as it goes through your shoulder on its way down to the rest of your arm. Functionally it means that you might experience some weakness, numbness and tingling in your arm and hand, especially when your arm is raised above your head. TOS didn’t really bother me very much, but I thought that I should do something about it nonetheless.
Eventually my doctor suggested that I see a surgeon to find out what the surgical options were. After a brief examination the surgeon concluded that I could probably benefit from surgery. “What type of surgery”, I ask. “A re-section of the first rib” he says – and then I find out that that basically means cutting the rib in half and removing several inches in each direction.
Needless to say I left the office determined NOT to have my rib resected; the cost-benefit analysis of a relatively invasive, and essentially optional, operation just didn’t seem worth it to me.
Several days later I visited a friend who is a massage therapist. “Let me have a look at that shoulder” he says. He spent about 5 minutes doing somewhat painful work on the muscles of my neck and shoulder (the Scalenes, Subclavius, and Pectoralis minor). Afterwards I got up and went though some of the tests that are used to diagnose TOS: I was amazed to find that my symptoms had completely disappeared.
Since this ‘miracle cure’ I have been using massage therapy, chiropractic care and physiotherapy to keep the condition in check. As far as I can tell it is completely gone, and my doctor agrees that it seems to have dissapeared as well.
As I write this story I am reminded of the old adage that goes something like this: if all you have is a hammer, then the whole world looks like a nail. Surgeons want to do surgery, massage therapists want to do massage, physiotherapists want to play with rubber tubing and chiropractors want to adjust vertebrae. Each treatment modality is (sometimes) valuable and (sometimes) appropriate for different conditions.
Sometimes surgery is incredibly helpful; sometimes it is even the only sensible option. Without surgery I wouldn’t be grappling (and probably not even walking properly). My point is simply that ultimately YOU are responsible for managing your body and your injuries, NOT some other person who doesn’t have nearly as much at stake. Taking responsibility means spending time, reading books, doing research, and consulting different experts to sort out valid information from the flood of propaganda and unsubstantiated advertising. It’s your body, and you’re hopefully going to be stuck with it for a long time, so take care of it.
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About 6 months ago I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), which basically means that the Ulnar nerve is compressed as it goes through your shoulder on its way down to the rest of your arm. Functionally it means that you might experience some weakness, numbness and tingling in your arm and hand, especially when your arm is raised above your head. TOS didn’t really bother me very much, but I thought that I should do something about it nonetheless.
Eventually my doctor suggested that I see a surgeon to find out what the surgical options were. After a brief examination the surgeon concluded that I could probably benefit from surgery. “What type of surgery”, I ask. “A re-section of the first rib” he says – and then I find out that that basically means cutting the rib in half and removing several inches in each direction.
Needless to say I left the office determined NOT to have my rib resected; the cost-benefit analysis of a relatively invasive, and essentially optional, operation just didn’t seem worth it to me.
Several days later I visited a friend who is a massage therapist. “Let me have a look at that shoulder” he says. He spent about 5 minutes doing somewhat painful work on the muscles of my neck and shoulder (the Scalenes, Subclavius, and Pectoralis minor). Afterwards I got up and went though some of the tests that are used to diagnose TOS: I was amazed to find that my symptoms had completely disappeared.
Since this ‘miracle cure’ I have been using massage therapy, chiropractic care and physiotherapy to keep the condition in check. As far as I can tell it is completely gone, and my doctor agrees that it seems to have dissapeared as well.
As I write this story I am reminded of the old adage that goes something like this: if all you have is a hammer, then the whole world looks like a nail. Surgeons want to do surgery, massage therapists want to do massage, physiotherapists want to play with rubber tubing and chiropractors want to adjust vertebrae. Each treatment modality is (sometimes) valuable and (sometimes) appropriate for different conditions.
Sometimes surgery is incredibly helpful; sometimes it is even the only sensible option. Without surgery I wouldn’t be grappling (and probably not even walking properly). My point is simply that ultimately YOU are responsible for managing your body and your injuries, NOT some other person who doesn’t have nearly as much at stake. Taking responsibility means spending time, reading books, doing research, and consulting different experts to sort out valid information from the flood of propaganda and unsubstantiated advertising. It’s your body, and you’re hopefully going to be stuck with it for a long time, so take care of it.
Labels: Injuries
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