BJJ Week 2

It was a short week as I only sparred three days out of five (Although I showed

up every day). I was caught in a deep guillotine on Wed and has been recovering

since. Weightlifting or running had not prepared me for defending chokeholds and

therefore neck and shoulder pain might become a recurring theme until adaptation

to the new movements is complete. I have started daily drills to build up the neck.

 

I have met more people on the mat, including Weiqi the blackbelt and the

bluebelts Patrick, Ed, and Ernest. Physically fit, I cannot gain any advantage

with these guys and got strangled often. The 16-year-old Tadeo could easily

dominate and put me in a footlock. Iyuresh the new whitebelt was the only one I

could submit. In this game, knowledge and its execution indeed overpower raw

strength.

 

But interestingly, I feel no defeat at all but a privilege to gain knowledge to

a new world, just like I have felt happy to be able to learn English and expand

my horizon to the western world. It has been conquering and liberating. After 

the featherweight Stephan put me in a head-and-arm choke, I was sincerely happy

that someday I could be as good as him.

 

My thinking has changed dramatically since my health awakening eight years ago,

not just because I have read Anti-Fragile many times but also that some of its

tenets, e.g., error is information, have felt easier to embrace as I age. After

I was caught in a chokehold in sparring, I would be more interested in knowing

the name of my opponent's move than feeling inadequate, hurt or, worse, vengeful.

Once I learnt, I'd go home and search my library for a counter, and come back

better prepared.

 

And there is a sense of progress as I repeat the learning cycle. In two short 

weeks I have learnt to defend the bow-and-arrow choke and some cross-collar

chokes, to counter the hip-bump sweep, to escape from certain cross-side

positions, and even to apply the americana armlock successfully.

 

Thank You!

 

[7grizzly]

回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : Thank you, 暖冬, for suffering through the BJJ jargons and your kind comment. Indeed, the attitude shift has made training a process of acquiring knowledge. BJJ is a very brainy game and in that sense friendly to book-smart Chinese scholars.

[暖冬cool夏]

Once I learnt, I'd go home and search my library for a counter, and come back
better prepared.
+1
with such a great attitude, you could only be better.
Your skills are now broader, so is your vision:))