Friday 15 February 2013

On the Mat Day 342: Complacency

I am rather sore this morning. Tuesday BJJ, Wednesday Kettlebells, Thursday BJJ and today I plan to do yoga to let my central nervous system recover. Ah, to be young again and know what I know now. I could really do with a massage or a visit to the hot spring. Maybe Saturday night I will go. I envy Joe Rogan for his isolation tank. In a recent "Open Mat Radio" podcast episode Nic Gregoriades talks about how yoga and meditation helped him perform better on the mat. It is something to think about.

Training was good last night. My energy was higher than Tuesday. I also got to the dojo half an hour early because I suspected Dmitri would turn up early which he did, so we could drill some stuff. There are a million and one things I want to drill to improve my jiu-jitsu and also get a good warm up. Maybe now that I have the chance to do drilling with someone I should break out the Andre Galvao book Drill to Win. I would also like to drill sets, that is a string of technique together in a logic progression that helps my body remember the movement. For example, person 1 guard passes, person 2 turtles, gramby rolls to recover then arm drags, person 1 counters the arm drag and moves to side control, knee on belly far side armbar. Rinse repeat. Both guys get muscle memory of countering and attacking. There are so many sets that could be made this way I'm suprised nobody has made a video of common chained movements that can be used to drill.

A nice picture of a complacent sloth
It's apparent to me after sparring with Dmitri that I have become complacent training jiu-jitsu. At white belt I was all out to get the other guy, lots of power, all that mattered was to tap the guy. Then I got my blue belt and started to try to build a repertoire of techniques and not use strength or explosiveness. I also lost that "Eye of the Tiger" instinct as I began to see jiu-jitsu more as a game, play-time something to enjoy and have fun with. Although this is a good attitude to have for the long run and be able to practice jiu-jitsu until the wheels fall off, I have become lazy in that when I get a good position, I will not pursue it if there is too much resistance. I will often work for a good position and hang out there once I get it. The oppoent will remove my hooks or get out and I've expended energy for nothing. I need to push past this barrier and take the technique to its conclusion. I give my opponent too much time to think. My complacency also comes from training with the same guys for the past 3 years. I've developed bonds with many of them and there are times when I am reluctanct to go all out against them, as I'm sure they are with me.

Sparring time: 6 x 6 mins = 36 mins
 

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