October 30, 2010

October 30, 2010

The Holy Grail has been found.

Several weeks ago I wrote about passing (um, or, rather not passing) Louis' guard.  He is an annoyingly talented black belt who recently put on 25 pounds of lean muscle weight, so now he has excellent movement skills, AND functional strength, AND speed.

We did no-gi today, which always requires a certain amount of quick translation in my head.  I asked Louis if I could roll with him.  He agreed.  And we were off.  I jumped, sprinted into action.  I curled my right hand around the back of his neck, head into his right shoulder, and moved forward.  Louis has an excellent base, so I struggled for a bit trying to find that one open space where I could drive ahead.  Found it.  Got Louis on his back.

And then the all too familiar sight of Louis' knees and right arm trying to mess with my position.  I kept my weight down on his legs.  I grabbed his right arm, pinned it with my left knee.  And I did it fast. I remember thinking, whoa, did I just do that?  Half guard.  Okay, I thought.  Quit screwing off Dag. Let's DO this today.

I trapped his right arm with my left arm and drove my left shoulder into his neck like a mack truck to stabilize my position.  I used to right arm to push his half guard off of my right leg, all the while keeping my hips drawn into the floor, and keeping my shoulder on his neck.  I could feel my leg start to loosen out, here we go....I thought, this is where he always sweeps me.

Not today.

I kicked my right leg out of his half guard with an efficient snap, drove it to the ground to join the left leg, shifted my hips and swooped my right arm under his left to stabilize the SIDE CONTROL position I had just achieved.  Holy mackeral.  I just did that.  I passed Louis' guard.  And I did it fast!

I have been trying to pass Louis' guard for five years.  His open guard functions as a treasure trove (for him) of triangles, sweeps, you name it.  One little mistake and down the rabbit hole you go.  It's like a steel bear trap.  And today I passed it.  

That's all I have today.  I rarely allow myself a good brag, so today will be it for another long while, until I find the next Holy Grail.

Train well,
Dag
 

October 25, 2010

October 24, 2010

Hey all, be sure to check out Valerie Worthington's blog (Prancing and Sucking) for info about women's grappling camp.

October 23, 2010

October 23, 2010

I am HUGE in Japan.  And Saudi Arabia.  And Russia.  Prom Queen huge.  

In a fit of high school level vanity and curiosity, I looked at my "stats" page the other day, and I was surprised to see I had several page views from Saudi Arabia, Russia and a few from Japan.  

So I am wondering, who are these people?  Military?  Spooks?  Embassy employees?  Do they like my blog?  Or do they think I am a dolt?  Curiouser and curiouser.

Well, my focus on speed and offense this past rocky year is FINALLY starting to manifest itself in my limbs.  I rolled with Andres and Chris on Tuesday morning.  I locked a triangle on Andres, which is significant because he is also a purple belt, and outweighs me by 80 pounds.  I almost  locked in a another triangle on Chris, who is my size and also a purple belt, and has maddening movement skills.  I felt strong and threatening and balletic and most important, offensive.  A well crafted, purposeful, Tasmanian Devil.  I could see worry in my opponent's eyes as I shifted from one tactic to another, taking control of the fight.  

I am/have been forcing myself to try it, try it, and try it again and again and again and again... And by "it,"  I refer not only to the triangle, but any glimmer of a submission I see three moves away. This process has left me hanging my head low on more than one occasion, as the number of failed attempts that lead to a successful submission loom over my practice and confidence like K2.  

I consider myself to be low on the ego scale, but heck, I don't want to let a lower belt tap me out, and yet, in order to move my practice forward, I must be willing to "try it again" at the risk of sacrificing a position of advantage.  Giving up my ruthless side control for knee on belly for an arm bar has resulted in more sweeps than I care to remember.  The process of improving my spider guard was, for a long time, like a damn gold plated invitation saying "Pass my guard! go ahead!  it's easy!"  Allowing the fear of defeat to curb your efforts is like putting an impenetrable wall in front of your road to excellence.  

Ahh! But the occasional light of success peaks through the cold with the crack of lightening.  The work of failure is carving through to refined, effortless skill.

SIS!  My sister came down from LA this week and rolled with me on Tuesday morning.  She recently started BJJ at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, where her white belt only class is made up of 50, FIFTY!! people.  Apparently they do not spar in this beginning class, instead they concentrate on specific techniques.  So, Tuesday morning was her first sparring session and she was completely freaked out.  She is much more cautious and careful than me, and a bit reluctant to just go for it, so she concentrated on defense.  I told her later, learning to spar can be a little intimidating, as being pretzeled up while fighting does not necessarily feel normal.  All in good time, I told her, all in good time.  

She had a good time, and Fabio welcomed her with open arms.  My classmates greeted her like a family member.  BJJ is a beautiful community.
  
Train well,

Dag


October 09, 2010

Friday October 8, 2010

I took a couple, well three, weeks off for house remodeling.  New skylights (yeah! no rain in the house!), new windows, and a front yard that is a beautiful rock garden fire break (dry weather+dry brush=bad). Each day of digging dirt and rock was followed by well deserved beers at the new pub that has opened down the street from our house.  Yes. Down. The. Street.  The beer is good.  The food is good.  Dagney is happy.

But the brass tacks of the mat call!

I had a good roll Wednesday morning.  We worked on base.  Base while standing.  In your opponent's guard.  The focus of the work was the hips; harnessing the immense power and stability that lives in the core.  I love concentrating on these details because they are such miniscule unseen diamonds that, once discovered, utterly transform your game from a crazed maniacal mess to an elegant waltz.  The brilliance of jiu jitsu lies in the invisible.  I received a fun compliment from one of my sparring partners, Nick; when I started to get him in side control (my everyday purse) he scrambled, "no no no NO...! I don't want to be in your side control."  I smiled.  My work schedule just changed, so I get to roll on Saturday mornings again, always the most fun and most crowded class of the week.

In other related news, my SISTER has taken up jiu jitsu!  She lives in LA and is practicing at the Gracie Academy in Torrance.  I am so excited for her.  Listening to her new kid on the block stories is so invigorating!  It reminds me of how far I have travelled, but it has also helped push me forward out of the up and down slump I have allowed myself to be snarled in this year.  weird year.  She is going to visit next week so we can roll together.  My poor parents with these two wrasslin' ladies for daughters.

Speaking of the travelled road, I encourage you all to read Georgette's blog post this week about entering her third year of jiu jitsu.  Georgette is nothing short of terrific and humorous.

Train well.

Dag