Day 13: Kumi-te (Grip Fighting)

This week Fukuzumi-sensei said we would concentrate on grip fighting. He called it Kumi-te, which I had always assumed was the Jean-Claude Van Damme "Bloodsport" Kumite Kumute uhh ahh type of thing meaning fighting. But in Jiu-jitsu and Judo it means grip fighting.

It was a lot like boxing or striking movements. Attack the lapels or collar of your opponent swiftly and pull the elbow back fast to your body to cause your opponent to lose balance. There were a lot of variations mostly how to get the opponent to release their grip. We also did some structured drills with 1 person taking the back and trying to choke the other within a 2 min time period. This was hard to do, especially as the other people at the Dojo were a purple, brown and strong white belt.

Sparring started well I fought 5 bouts. The last 2 were with the Brazilian guy. He is a 4 stripe white belt, probably deserves to be blue. He likes to push his head or shoulder into the opponent to cause them discomfort. He held me down well and I just couldn't escape, it was frustrating. While his stomach area was pressing down smothering my face I just ignored the discomfort and used the centering breaths techniques, deep belly breathing with 7-2-5 (inhale, hold, exhale) which I've been reading in a book I just bought called 10-minute toughness. The breathing really helped me get through it.

I think I am becoming stronger mentally. This book I am reading helps athletes prepare their mental game for sports. It mostly talks about baseball or golf but it's still pertinent to any sport. I'm still only a little way through it but it's already helping me. I have to pick a performance statement, this can be something like "Track the ball, smooth and easy" for baseball. The statement can't contain any negatives such as "Don't let him choke you, don't be weak." The one I chose for myself is "Relax, keep moving." I got the relaxed part down but the keep moving still needs work. As I read more of this book, hopefully I can achieve a more powerful mindset.

The skin on my fingers is peeling and my first knuckles from the tips of my fingers are swollen. It's rough but I enjoy it. Despite the pain, discomfort and injuries, I can only get stronger, right?