Jiu-jitsu Month 27

Sep 1 was an open-mat Friday and I rolled with Francisco, Jon, Bret, Michael,

JR, and Sam. I did well after one entire month off. I planned to train four days

a week, skipping Wed and the weekend.

 

It was nothing like my first six months in jiu-jitsu. Nonetheless, many parts of

the body were sore including the finger joints, arms, shoulders, chest, lats,

abs, and glutes. It surprised me that the neck and jaw muscles including the

chin hurt, too, and I had a hard time opening my mouth to eat a banana next

morning. All healed in three days.

 

I ate normally but added 4lbs by Monday morning! Was this the body's response to

threat?

 

As I settled down to the routine, the soreness never returned. Hard rolls at

noon, however, sometimes left me in a daze and unable to concentrate on reading,

writing, or business, for which I need a sharp mind, the rest of the day. My

solution was to take a 15min nap.

 

Had a near-death experience sparring with Josh. We were both blue belts and had

always been tough on each other. This time, I escaped his bow-and-arrow choke

the first round and didn't take it that seriously when he got my back and the

grips on the collar. As he went for the same choke for the second time, I

resisted a bit too long. I passed out after tapping for about one or two

seconds, not enough for him to notice. My left arm was still flailing on its own

when I came to. That was scary.

 

My daily 10 reps of toes-to-bar seemed to have prepared the abs well. The last

open mat, after a roll with Sebastian, a 40-year-old cop outweighing me by at

least 30 lbs, he said he couldn't open me up to attack as my knee and elbow

connection was too strong.

 

I had a great time commuting to and from the gym. I would board the northbound

Caltrain at around 11:15 and arrive at Menlo Park in 13min. It took another

10min of bike ride to get to the gym. After the class, I would either ride

straight back home or to Menlo Park to board the next southbound train. The sun

was always fierce around noon but it was still very relaxing sitting on a chair

on the platform reading while waiting for the iron horse. I have finished two

Dostoyevsky's short novels.

 

Work on selling my house interrupted jiu-jitsu for a week. I look forward to a

great training month in Oct.