Choose Strong
For Tim.
1. The Blue Belt Effect
As I suspected, the blue belt was the hardest belt as Rickson himself said
(English is not his first language.)
In white belt you do not have much idea. there you get to create your
reflexes and your understanding of the game. To become blue belt, you
need to know all of the sport. You already know how to ride, throttle,
arm locks and escape the grip. Have you ever felt the pressure from
opponents, can last more in training and know how to breathe properly.
Have you become a creature of Jiu-Jitsu.
He even thought
What the athlete lacks after the blue belt is practice and reflexes. He
has everything he needs even the black belt, he just needs to keep up.
Earning a blue belt in BJJ changed me, which took one more year to sink in. Facing
higher belts on the mat, I know I have a chance to defend and escape and I can
only improve if I keep showing up. I've sensed in jiu-jitsu something that
cannot be taught yet can be learned, only by doing.
Outside the dojo, a great calm that I've never known has descended on me. That
tranquility shields me from the worries of the world and gives me confidence
when dealing with people. I have become much more at ease and people seemed to
like me.
2. Caught by White Belts
In the past three years, I probably passed out three or four times in sparring,
from chokes that sank in too far. In the old gym, they said I was stubborn. I
was and guess still am.
Justin was a four-stripe white belt and good at the bow-and-arrow, which I
thought I was good to escape from. The other day, I was in turtle and let him
get the first grip on my collar. In seconds, he hooked his left hand under my left
leg, and right leg clamped down on my right shoulder. It was as deep as it could
get. I was still fighting to get my left leg free but my move was rusty and the
next thing I knew, I woke up in front of him on the mat thinking he let me go at
the last second. It was only after the session I asked "Did I just pass out?"
Another white belt, the 130lb Loressa, caught me in the crucifix position,
twice. She taught me how to escape but I still had to tap the second time
around.
Humbling experiences, no doubt. But no alternatives if one wants to learn. I
had to be more careful not to allow things to get too late.
3. An Accident
Sat, Jul 13, the lesson was lifting by the belt to pass guard and I paired with
Mr. Li in position-sparring. As I grabbed his belt from under his legs and
pulled him up, his neck was on the mat, and I tossed him by the hips to one side
and then the other to pass. But he curled up in turtle and I sprawled on top.
Then he tapped in agony with one hand over his belly. "It's the neck," he said.
I was scared not knowing the exact cause thought it could from my sprawling
pressure. But afterwards, I thought it could be from his legs being thrown from
one side to the other with his neck underneath. It was dangerous.
I felt very bad at first and after one more round, I went to the locker room and
saw Mr. Li (Justin was with him). He told me he was okay and I should go back to
the mat, which I did.
That day, I rolled with Matt, a 5'10" black youth, and got my back taken as I
pulled turtle. In the same position, with Maria, I was able to place my two
legs besides her leg and invert to catch for the sadle position.
4. Love the new gym.
Every class allots a few minutes to takedowns, wrestling or judo. Sparring
starts on the feet. One can pull guard but generally we first try to take each
other to the ground. This is no small matter for me, as I still believe that
jiu-jitsu is for self-defense as opposed to competition.
July, we drilled entries and finishes of the single-leg takedown. The finish
that Machine showed applies also to turtle takedown. Max, a 2-stripe blue belt
and wrestler, taught two techniques that stuck in my mind. And they reminded me
of another one Adam taught in the old gym. I loved them all and am very happy
that I get to practice them regularly.
The shorter commute and the format of the class (more positional and less full
sparring) leads to better recovery. As a result, I trained four or five instead
of three or four times per week.
5. Level Drop
I have had a hard time changing levels for a takedown since day one and nobody
explained to me exactly how it was done. I had believed that it was very hard to
drop quickly without the back knee hitting the ground, which would certainly
hurt on concrete. In fact, I mistook that the knee has to hit ground to
support the whole body. That thought held me back from working on it.
Darren's comment that my level-change was too slowly came back to me one morning
and I searched for wrestling instructions and found out that I didn't need to
let the back knee touch the ground if I balance on the balls of both feet and
tense the core muscles to support the body before the knee hits the ground. It
was a big Aha! moment. Afterwards, I included this move into my daily drills
very naturally. It requires certain glute muscles and I got sore in the first
couple of days but I was very happy!
6. The Turtle and Leg Lock Games
I learned about Eduardo Telles from Darren when I asked him if he saw Raould
Audhoe's 7 submissions from turtle. I watched some of Telles's techniques and
was much impressed as they opened possibilities for me.
From turtle, I tried a few times to invert or roll and catch people's legs with
some good results. I could get a leg or even enter the figure 4. This gave me
great hope. I was flexible and good at invert and therefore love Darren's
leg-lock entries. At figure 4, I now know I can go for the "double-trouble." I
was also already good at entering turtle and starting attacks from there (Thanks
to Henry's lessons) and therefore would try to keep on combining the two.
7. The Mount Position
Thanks to the 30min positional training in each class, I got to practice
attacking from mount, not just getting out from underneath! I tried Henry's kesa
gatame entry from mount on Darren and it worked!
8. The White Belts
In the old gym, the white belts that remained after a year were mostly big,
strong or both. They called me tough, stubborn, tense, or whatever, but I
survived. I did it at 155 lbs and was promoted to blue belt. Being able to
persist in something is a gift in itself.
In the new gym, we have a few light-weight young white-belts, 130 lbs or less!
They are nonetheless very strong and even tougher. All of them look like my
compatriots. I could see they are going through what I did at their age as a new
immigrant. We don't attempt to speak Chinese with each other and I think
that's for the best.
