There and Back

A journey. A return. Probably tired.

Month: September 2023

  • Open Mat Reflections – Saturday September 16, 2023

    A brown belt was on the side of the mat and gave me a thumbs up after I rolled with a white belt. Felt good because I’m a bit intimidated by him because he’s so cool and Alpha.

    A fellow blue belt caught me in a Canto choke and I held out for too long before I tapped. My ego was hurt more. I almost got mad, like I wanted to retaliate. That is not a good thing. I didn’t. He proceeded to pass my guard like it was nothing. I must be doing something wrong, gotta figure out what it is. Or I could just bring a weapon next time and hide it in my Gi.

    I was hand fighting with another fellow blue belt and hurt my pinky. Had to tape it up. I never tape my fingers. Am I at that age already?

    It was a tough day at open mat. It was one of those training sessions where you think, “did I somehow get worse?” No, everyone else is getting better and harder.

    One thing that didn’t get worse was my recurring shoulder injury, thank goodness. But it has been bugging me for a few weeks now, and I’ve been training through it and it looks like it will not be fully healed before the competition in two weeks. I’d rather not have to pump myself full of Advil while I compete, I think I’ll just tough it out.

    Here are some photos from Adobe FireFly A.I. Text to Image generator.

    Prompt was, “Advil as if it were a cartoon”

  • Open Mat Reflections – Saturday September 9, 2023

    A young man, a fellow blue belt, said I would be deadly in my Nogi competition. That definitely put a pep in my step.

    I may or may not have accidentally cut a rolling partner of mine while rolling. He’s fine.

    To switch things up today, our head instructor divided the mat into weight classes. So we got a chance to have rolls against people who are around the same weight. I didn’t ask, but I think he did that because there’s a few competitions coming up and it may have been a way for people who are competing to get a feel of what they’re in for. After the head instructor left, I slid over to the other side so I could roll with heavier people because I like a challenge.

    I got caught and submitted in a guillotine by a purple belt and I got caught and submitted in a nasty rear naked choke. I think I lean in with my head too much sometimes. I’ve mentioned this before but it’s another bad habit, leaning in with my head, from my wrestling days.

    I rolled with a white belt. He was about 10 pounds heavier. He had good wrestling. It was a tough roll. If he keeps up with bjj, he’s gonna be hard to beat. Come to think of it, there aren’t many rolls these days that come easy, even if they are white belts.

  • Open Mat Reflections – Saturday September 2, 2023

    I submitted a blue belt I’ve never submitted before. I have a giant smile on my face as I write this. I now like the bow and arrow choke.

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    I almost seriously injured my ankle when a bigger partner fell on it and I rolled my ankle. Thank goodness it just hurts and isn’t serious. I gotta be more careful. Hopefully it fully heals by the end of the month before my competition.

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    I sparred well with a purple belt who is similar in weight as me. He is quiet and stoic and doesn’t talk much to me, but he said “good roll” after. Are we becoming best friends?

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    “Oh you want to start standing?”

    That was the theme for today. Almost everyone I rolled with seemed surprised that I wanted to start standing. I always start standing, especially if my opponent starts on their butt in guard. My guard passing is getting much better as a result.

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    I paid for a yearly subscription to FloSports (FloGrappling). I like all the live events I can watch, but the app itself could be better. I’ve being watching a bunch of the World Master IBJJF Championship, and I’ve been seeing some great guard passing.

    For example, I’ve noticed the pressure and intensity needed to be a great passer. Ronaldo Junior was a pleasure to watch. One technique I noticed was to get grips on your seated opponents pants near their feet, and hold them down while you pass, keep changing sides and the way you go and don’t stop moving. That’s what I did today at open mat and was successful most of the time.

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    Overall, I felt like I was in the zone today. Cheers to a good rolling session. More of these please.

    See you on the mats.

    Here are some fun AI generated images from deepai.org – I used the prompt “Jiu Jitsu grappling wearing a Gi yelling”