Jiu-Jitsu Mini-Camp, Master Jean Jacques, and My Second Stripe

 

The past week, I might have re-discovered hanging as the solution to my 

upper-body pain from jiu-jitsu (The idea originally came to me from Mr. Steve 

Maxwell in a Joe Rogan podcast). I hang three times, each about 45 seconds,

everyday on Wed and Thu, and the $20 door-way pull-up bar worked wonders on the

shoulders and rib cage. By Sunday morning, getting up on the elbows, making a

proud chest, and shrugging, all felt much better.

 

The mini-camp kicked off Friday evening with a two-hour gi class taught by

professors Jay and Mark, the head instructors from the Jean Jacques Machado BJJ

headquarters. Phil and I* paired up and had a great time drilling half-guard

defense, passing the knee shield, and choking each other. Training resumed the

next morning with a no-gi class and we learnt the variations of attacking the

near-side arm and defending with hooks from the bottom of half-guard. Profs. Jay

and Gene paid a lot of attention to us to make sure we execute the moves right.

The hours just flew by.

 

Master Jean Jacques stepped on the mat in a white gi** as we regrouped early 

afternoon. Standing over six feet, the 54-year-old multiple-time Abu Dhabi

champion was soft-spoken, unassuming, and friendly. Born with only the thumb on

his left hand, he learnt from great teachers and moved on to become a living

legend. One story was that he used to ride a bus to Rickson's academy half 

an hour before it opened. His most impressive quote was "It is great to train

hard and become a champion, but it is greater to be a good human being." Among

the students and instructors, he joked a lot and shook hands with everyone.

 

The two-hour class was filled with escapes from bad positions. It was a great

treat for me. As a white belt, escapes were what I needed the most. Rapid-fire

drills over, we sat around him for Q&A. Adults asked technical questions and

half-a-dozen kids did flying arm-bars on him. All were happy. Then a blackbelt

asked for advices on lifestyle. My ears perked up when Jean Jacques said besides 

jiu-jitsu, he ran regularly to maintain his health and he hadn't been sick for

the past 10 years. The daily struggle against bad choices, he said, was the most

difficult thing. When trying to form a good habit, it was easy for the mind to

come up with excuses, but that was the time to do it.

 

 * We both were promoted with a second stripe at the end of the class.

** Jean Jacques asked everyone to wear a white gi in his class. The idea is that

   everyone is equal. 

 

PS The second half of the first episode of the JJM NO GI REQUIRED podcast showed the four matches JJM did in Abu Dhabi in 1999.

 

[7grizzly]

回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : Thank you, 暖冬, for reading and your kind comments. It was me and Phil, my training partner. I moved the '*' around without realizing the footnote could become confusing.

Indeed, it has been like a Wuxia movie, only the hero here has no talent or extra luck. Maybe his diet would be the key to his final triumph :-)

[暖冬cool夏]

We both were promoted with a second stripe.--- You and Tim? Congrats to you both!
I finally know what gi means by consulting the dictionary. It must be a foreign word, like wu wei:))
"Your Jiu Jitsu Gi is your armor. It should fit and feel like it was custom made, so you can step on the mat with the confidence that it will perform as hard as you."== It reminds me of what we saw on movies. Good luck!