On the Mat Day 347: Feeding the Ape

"We choke each other and bend joints the wrong way."

Anyone hearing that description of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is sure to run the other way.
I'm constantly offering people around me a chance to come train at our club and to just try it.
My offer is often met with a shifty look and a quick exit.

But doing jiu-jitsu is more than this. If you peel back the layers, it is a method of staying healthy, both in body and mind.
It used to be that people lived in tribes and communally gathered to wrestle. Look at the Greeks, the Gauls and Africans. Even the county I was born has its own form of wrestling that shares rules with Scotland. Obviously, this communal combat built strong bonds and character among the participants. Fast foward centuries and now males on this planet have very little outlet for the stress they have to deal with from work, family and monetary worries. They buy cars, new gadgets and nice clothes but still feel unfulfilled. That's because they don't feed their basic self, the ape within them, they don't allow time for playing of which grappling is one of the most purest forms.

So now my rant is over, I can say that training last night was fun. I am trying to be less power, more technique which is hard to do. I often get side tracked with my goals. Do I want to improve stand up or my guard? I think to truly learn standup I need to go to a Judo or Wrestling school and take a lot of knocks. It's probably in my best interest to keep to guard work at BJJ class because I feel I am losing ground versus the passing ability of everyone at the club. I think I'll look around for somewhere near my home to train judo/wrestling at least once or twice per week time permitting. I know Yuuki who trains with us also trains with High School Judo and he has become very strong on his feet since doing it.

Areas to improve:

• Arm bar from mount taught by Shawn Williams (my arm placement after the pushup was wrong)
• Choke defense (I must not let that 2nd hand get in my collar no matter what)
• Back takes (I allow the opponent to turn into me when I try to pull them down, probably not getting enough grip with both hands on their belt)

Sparring time: 7 x 6 mins = 42 mins