Month: March 2015

Monday Night BJJ Grading’s, Day 2

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LOL, when I got home last night from work, my wife was like, I’m going for a long walk with the dog lol… if she only new my secret!

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Between the dog and the 3 month old… the combination is deadly. Been trying to convince her to train BJJ ever since… no dice. One day… one day! Whenever she decides… I will feel safer at home hahahaha!

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Below is a picture of the hairy little turd, 13 lbs… kinda cute eh? with the bat-like ears… half Dachshund, half Chihuahua… a Chi-weenie, lets just say he gets away with a lot…

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Goodbye Mondays and Wednesdays… I use to go to Open-Mat at 4:30pm or 5:00pm, then attend a class at 6:30pm every week. Yep, Sundays, Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays… now Mondays and Wednesdays area mid-day breaks for my counterpart lol. Currently my training has been limited to Sundays, Tuesdays, Fridays & Saturdays on a good week… if I get permission… then maybe Wednesdays too!

Obviously, last night… I was there for the Gradings…

Tonight was hilarious… sorry lol… I totally saw myself OTM as a White-Belt, back in the day, when looking at some of the new guys that showed up. Heck, even with the guys that normally only attend the the Mondays and Wednesdays.

Did anyone dodge the grading tonight?

Definitely a good amount of guys OTM tonight… wish some of these guys would start attending the other classes… new bodies are always good. Look at me talking like they are resources. Maybe, I guess, 1 or 2 nights a week is what others can only commit too… the part time BJJer. Until you get hooked, of course like myself and even I still consider myself as a part time BJJer. I do it for stress, keeping in shape, or that just because I have an obsessive compulsive nature where I think I will suck if I don’t continue to train… the magical  hands that churns personal motivation and gains… looking shity while you roll. #bjjproblems.

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BJJ ain’t easy, 1 or 2 nights a week can be time consuming if you have other hobbies or activities… luckily I don’t have a life, aside for my wife and my 3.5 months old baby… wait did I just call them a hobby? hope they don’t ever read this lol neglect OTM… Oss.

We are on day 2 of 3 day for the grading grind… this coming Wednesday being the last and 3rd.

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A small warm up was run by Standard Steve, AKA Big Rig… a short clip below… Notice the fellow rolling like a log during the inverted side rolls. I seriously showed him like multiple times before… guess BJJ is different for everyone, learn and absorb what you want to absorb… the rest meh, pretend and survive…. #whitebeltproblems lol

The guys and gals had to execute a bunch of submissions while someone was in their closed guard, I noticed guys making stuff up… nioce, not keeping their hips high while working a typical closed guard arm-bar, while others being very technical, smooth and focused. Lots of growth and potential for growth. BJJ is growing in Thunder Bay, Northern nowhere and its beautiful… below is a short clip…

 

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Coach then got everyone to roll with specific people… short clip below. Boy some of these guys were going hard… must be grading time. Sometimes with a goal in mind we forget about our training partners. Without them BJJ would be nothing and we do need them to return… heck, I was there at one point, almost quit at one point. oh well… we live and we learn, BJJ will only make us stronger, those that aren’t will leave… wait doesn’t that comment hinder growth? don”t be sooo negative T-son!!

Everyone rolled so hard we got Crystal to do a quick stretch…

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Don’t mind my gibberish… I have lots of downtime with the wife and baby sleeping.

Great work tonight guys!

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See you guys for 8:00pm BJJ or tomorrow for the final day of Gradings!

Ossu!

Watch “Metamoris 6: Josh Barnett vs. Cyborg Abreu (Trailer)” on YouTube

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As much as I don’t wanna support all the drama… Josh vs Cyborg… damn!

Was working on Cyborgs tornado sweep a few years ago, after seeing it being applied in Metamoris 1? by Buchecha?… stopped due to no real reason, upper shoulders was a little sore after repping it out… maybe I’ll try working it into my repertoire again?

Metamoris 6: Josh Barnett vs. Cyborg Abreu (Trailer):

Wed Night BJJ Grading, Day 1

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LMAO… not last night…

Wow… sooo many new face’s and guys I don’t normally see out… must be BJJ grading day only 2 more to go hahahah.

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Someone did this to me last night while rolling … not naming any names hahahaha!!

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However, there were a few regulars missing tonight… dodging grading, promotions?

Coach is having us do grading’s through a 3 day grind to make the assessments accordingly for the next few classes with next Monday and Wednesday.

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A small warm up ran by Travis, then some takedowns… a short clip below…

Our head Coach asked us to execute a a bunch of techniques, takedowns, closed guard sweeps, open guard sweeps, side control escapes, low level passing, high level passing, mount escapes, half guard escapes to back takes etc… below is a short clip of us executing more takedowns from a different perspective… 

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Live Sparring: (3 min rounds, from standing of course)

  1. Nathan Hatton
  2. Juneau Barnett
  3. Mike Woodcock

My bum is sore… Nathan is always a brute, hard worker, with a plethora of wrestling knowledge, understanding of its technique and the execution to boot. I will always try my best to put Nathan on his back so he can work his guard.

Juneau is your typical furious, athletic White Belt and always with a great smile, love yeah buddy. He’s just back recently from a hiatus away from BJJ due to school. His focus could be improved by primarily on just slowing down his breathing and not letting his physical attributes telegraph his movements.

Mike Woodcock stuck it to me. With pure technique and the strength as only an accompaniment. I’ve always looked up to Mike, 45 and competes regularly, with a high level competition Black Belt in judo just as a complement. Yes, he can take you down, yes, he can submit you quickly and willingly… One of the other reasons why I mainly train GI. Back in the day of James street where he would visit every sooo often and was Blue Belt visiting us from Sudbury. I was a White Belt back then when I first trained with him. He currently trains with Troop BJJ, with Professor Monkey Richard Nancoo. Sudbury’s MMA superstar Michel Gagnon who competes in the UFC. That team is badass. I’ve had a pleasure to train with them a few times… definitely a bunch of hard working and very talented group of BJJer’s there. It’s always a place for me to train while visiting Sudbury, when visiting the in-laws over the break. I haven’t been there since they’ve moved their team to a different location, but in due time, I will make my training visit…

My bum is sore… lol

See everyone for Open Mat Friday!

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Oss!

Tues 8:00 pm BJJ… Then sleep!

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Everyone keeps saying that the sleeping will get better… 4 hours a sleep every night or other night kinda wears you down… oh well. 6 months is the magic number and its all worth it. Just to see him smile and giggle at me. May 2nd is the next tourney I do want to compete in… Master Division obviously and yes Minni. The Toronto International Open is a no go do to traveling with the baby and time to invest… Minni is only 6 to 8 hours away.

4 to 5 nights a week of BJJ is OK I guess… I may have to take a few of those nights to work on just conditioning… the lack of sleep does wear you down physically and mentally. I hear, I still do train more then others in the same situation… must be doing something right, or wrong lol… my loving wife is patient… BJJ is about having patients. Maybe she needs to start training lol.

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Warm Up (with Drilling & Takedowns):

  1. Arm bars from closed guard, 10 reps alternating sides
  2. Hip bump sweep from closed guard, 10 reps alternating sides
  3. Kimura from closed guard, 10 reps alternating sides
  4. Omaplata’s with over hook, from closed guard, 10 reps alternating sides
  5. Triangles from closed guard, 10 reps alternating sides
  6. Marcellotines, 10 reps alternating sides
  7. Spinning arm bar, from side control, with under hook when partner turns into you. 10 reps alternating sides
  8. Modified single leg takedown (chest pressure & heal pick, from cross-lapel double fist grip break, maintain the lapel grip once placing between partner), 10 reps alternating sides
  9. Drop Seoi Nage, with under arm pit grip, 10 reps alternating sides

Technique (open guard sweeps):

  1. Weighter Sweep
  2. Tripod or Hook Sweep
  3. Star Sweep
  4. Tomahawk/Hammer/Sickle Sweep
  5. Balloon Sweep (Differant Variant that Mike Woodcock showed us, Lapel and sleave grip)

YouTube by Jason Skully for reference with 51 other sweeps below…

Rolling (5 min rounds, 45 sec breaks):

  1. Nathan Hatton
  2. Mike Woodcock
  3. John Ganth
  4. Philippe Decker
  5. Nathan Hatton
  6. No one to roll with…

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Below are some quick clips of us rolling decently competitively…

See you tonight…

Oss!

Watch “Joe Rogan talks BJJ belt progression.” on YouTube

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Joe Rogan talks BJJ belt progression… a cool excerpt from one of Joes Rogans Podcast by Sydney West Martial Arts found on YouTube.

  • White Belt: Learning to survive.
  • Blue Belt: Escaping, adapting, some techniques, some submissions, developing a personal game.
  • Purple Belt: Catching, controlling, strategy, refining techniques with personal touches to your game.
  • Brown Belt: Experts OTM.
  • Black Belt: Masters OTM.
  • Red Belt: Rulers of the ground and OTM realm. lol…