Assessing the Damage

I got on the scale this morning and I figure I put on about 5 pounds over the last week or so. Not great but not terrible. We had class on Thr and I covered BJJ. There was an interesting mix in class on Thr, actually it was my first all girls class :) AQ was invaluable as a training partner for one of the newer girls to the club. We also had a new face in Judo, both very positive signs.

I have not trained as hard as I wanted to the past week, but I got a few good days in.

I got a garage workout in over the weekend (which was a killer), no class on Mon due to the weather (but lots of shoving), pre-class kettle bell workout on Tue followed by Tue BJJ and a light kettle bell workout Wed night. As I start heading into the new year I need to really up the intensity of my workouts to get ready the the tournaments I want to do. Getting to more classes is going to be extremly difficult so I need to make the classes I do get to really really count. I also need to buckle down on the off night training routine and make it a MUST due on non-class nights.

Tue Training

I had 4 people in class on Tue including a cameo appearance from an old friend that would be a strong addition to the club. Hopefully he continues to come on a regular basis and gets back into the game. I was also very happy to see Lori in class. BJJ will help her overall game. She is aggresive and has good instincts, we just need to polish a few things. She also provides a much needed girl to guy ratio. I had her working with Sarah most of the night and Sarah did a good job helping her through a few sticking points. Hopefully the new faces from last night will stick and some of the irregulars will join the ranks of the regulars. We could have a really nice mix of size, rank and gender if I can get everyone in on the same night.

Onto class, I did a quick review of the double lapel choke from closed guard, then moved on to the scissor sweep followed by the scissor sweep to triangle setup. Overall the class did well with it and saw how the three different positions tied together. The scissor to triangle setup was the most difficult of the three positions but I am glad I got it in and for the most part they did well with it. I might be teaching this Thr, if I do i will show the hip bump sweep series. I want to get the hip bump sweep in now because you need it as plan B to the scissor sweep when the person is leaning backwards and you cannot get the off balance to the front.

I like to show positions and moves in a logical order and this is a perfect example of various moves and positions that naturally flow into one another.

Mon Marathon

I woke up this morning feeling every bit of Sun's workout, yesterday's lunch time training and ALL of last night's BJJ/Judo classes. It was the good kind of soreness and it reminds me of the work I have to do to get ready for the upcoming tournament session.

During class last night Ray showed some fundamentals and I helped one of the newbie's through the moves. The newbie did one Judo class over the weekend and this was her first BJJ class.

Side note - we need gi pants that fit skinny people or a pair of white sweat pants (no offense Ray, but she was swimming in your old gi pants).

Class was good and it is always good to review the fundamentals. I think for some this may have been the first time some of the moves were broken down with such detail. For me, it always helps to be reminded of the finer points so it was helpful all the way around. I will also use yesterday's closed guard gi choke as my segue into tonight's scissor sweep class. I think it helps if people understand why the fundamentals are so important and how they can used to set up the next positions.

Training was good, I had a great set with Ray. I started from a bad position and was able to work back into the game. I hit a sweep with a second effort but I dont think he would have gone over if he was not already run down from the kettle bell class before hand. After I got the sweep I tried to press the action but I couldnt make anything happen. I got close to points but he defended every effort. It was a really good set for me despite losing by a lopsided score. I will have to ask AQ to up the intensity of the next kettle bell class :)

Good set with Peter, I got a lazy when I was in his half guard and he hip bumped me over. He is progressing quite nicely.

Also had good sets with Lex and Sarah. Sarah keeps going for the scissor sweep and keeps making the same mistake. I keep promising to do a class on it and I keep not getting around to it. ---> I will be sure to cover the position tonight and point out the key detail of the sweep that makes it work. <---- (Shameless, unfair, not nice way to boost class attendance? Yes, but what can I say.)

Fun set with Lex as well. He had a good attempt at moving into x-guard but I was able to stop it by grabbing head control. Lex....STOP GIVING UP HEAD CONTROL!!!!!

Judo Class
Ray put us through some tough drills working on speed and conditioning. He pushed us but didnt over do it. I think the pace and drills were just right for where the class is right now conditioning wise. No doubt the drills will get more difficult and more intense as we get closer and closer to tournament time. I had a good standup set with Ray and others. I didnt score at all against Ray, but I stayed aggressive the whole time and got some good attacks in. I was also happy with being able to do all three randori sets. I was tired coming into BJJ and exhausted after the drills so I had to knuckle down for randori.

A Dangerous Habit

I think it has been 2 or maybe two and a half years since I got hit with MRSA. For those of that dont know what MRSA is you need to read up on it. MRSA is basically a super strong antibiotic resistant infection. Usually starts as an infected pimple around the hind quarters (but can be anywhere on the body). The infection is often found in the grappling arts because of the close body to body contact.

My do I bring this up? Well it has come to my attention that some people in our gym (guys and girls) are leaving their Gis at the gym to "air out" rather than bringing their gear home to be washed. Not only is this gross, but it is dangerous. MRSA is no joke, when I got MRSA I was in my early 30s and in prime physical condition. I was laid up in the hospital for over a week, out of training for a few months and I still have a hole in my leg from where the doctors had to cut into the infection to let it drain. I am not talking about a pin hole either, the scar is about the size of a half dollar now, but at the time the infection the area was the size of a cantaloupe, the hole was the size of a dollar coin and about 1/2 inch deep. I caught the infection early because I knew what to look for, but death from MRSA is absolutely NOT unheard of so dont F-around with it. There are other skin infections that are less dangerous but unsightly and annoying that no one wants either.

Hopefully I have made my point. It is not just about how much YOU sweat during class, you are rolling with everyone else in class too. You might not even get an infection, but your Gi could have something on it that you pass to someone else next class.

A note on ring worm:

I know someone that INSISTS they are immune to skin infections. Well the fact is no one is immune to ring worm because it is not a virus it is a fungus. Your body might be able to fight it off because your immune system is strong that day, but it does not mean you are immune. It just means you were a carrier for the short period of time when you HAD ringworm and didnt know it. To put it another way, saying you are immune to ringworm is like saying you are immune to bear attacks because you dont get attacked by bears. Sorry it just does not work that way.

http://ringworm-treatment-center.com/2008/02/ringworm-treatment-and-immunity.html

Lunch Time Workout

I got my lunch time workout in today and I was pleasantly surprised by how well I did. I will probably be dragging during tonight’s class, but I have a starting point to build on.

Garage Workout

I got a desent workout in yesterday. My garage is a detached garage with no heat or electricity so it was pretty cold. I have been slacking on my workouts lately and it really showed yesterday. I am planning on hitting as many tournaments as possible in 2011 so I need to get back in fighting shape. I thought about waiting until the new year, but why wait? I figure if I start back on the workout path now I can knock of a few holiday pounds before I put them on. there are also a few tournaments in Jan and early next year I want to hit so I might as well get a jump start.

Late to my own class

Last Tue I was getting absolutly overwhelmed with work and a "THE SKY IS FALLING" disaster that took an unexpected 3.5 hours to work through. At 3 one of the big dogs asked if I could review some info with him at 5. Even if I could get in and out of there in 10 min I knew I would be late to class. I got Ray to cover for me, but I dont like being late to my own class it really sets a bad example. As it turned out the meeting got moved up to 4:30, but took 40 min so I was still late :(

On the bright side I accepted a NEW JOB!!! I am still working for the same company but I will be in a different role starting Jan 1. This new position will be much more focused on data mining and report building with (hopefully) much less time dealing with ridiculous BS. I am excited and a little nervous at the same time. I am the type of person that needs to switch things up every once in a while and this change was long over due. I dont think this will impact my ability to teach class as there is very little travel invovled but there could be some late nights and that could effect my ability to get in and train. We will have to see how everything plays out, but I am excited no the less.

When I walked in I saw my buddy Mat, Peter and Sarah were already there and Ray was showing grip breaks from the "almost on" straight arm bar. Once I changed and taped up Ray turned the class over to me. I decided to pick up where he left off. I quickly reviewed a few other grip breaks and the theory behind falling toward the legs vs falling toward the head. My preference is to fall toward the head. I also covered my favorate grip break which I consider the answer to all the various grips but one.

After grip breaks we did sets of attacking the back followed by randori sets. It was a good training session but my head was not in the game. Work turned my brain into absolute mush.