I went on Saturday and on Tuesday. I participated in about 75% of class and I rolled in each class. At the time my back felt fine for most of it.

Wednesday I went to the gym and my back felt off. I don’t know how to put it any other way. I did less than half of my work at the gym, went home, and took the rest of the week off of physical activity. Rested on my back. It still feels a bit tweaky.

Thing is, at this point, I can generally feel the difference between a muscular pain and a deeper pain. This was something spinal. Sigh.

So, it looks like overall I’m back to watching. Grr. I will be taking part in the Caio Terra seminar at my gym this weekend, but only actually participating one day and watching the second day. After this I might try to do it once every two weeks and see how the recovery for that is, or if it stays bad I’ll just keep watching.

I’m a sad Jiu Jiu. Ah well.

During class I took some videos during class, and the notes I wrote were mistakes I saw myself making, or new insights. I think valuable things can be learned from mistakes. For example, on what I call the “Marcelo leg grab” I wrote that I kept forgetting which hand to grab with. This is quite different to the notes I was taking while observing.

During sparring, I was paired with the big MMA guy, and I didn’t get flattened or armbarred or trapped under him. I was in the weaker position for about 85% of the match, but only had to tap once due to a choke. However, I was quite happy because, though having been off the mats for so long, I didn’t get manhandled nor did I get stuck during the match.

It’s so easy to get caught up in positive achievements that we can overlook the negative ones. Instead of focusing on “I did XYZ” we can also focus on “ABC did not happen to me.” Even if it’s a small thing – like “I only got caught in knee on belly 3 times rather than 5″ or some smaller gain “It took 20 seconds for me to tap out due to claustrophobia instead of 5 seconds.” These are things to celebrate – to be happy about. These are gains.

In language learning as in BJJ, it’s very easy to see gains in the beginning. Hooray – I got home successfully in a taxi! Hooray – I ordered something and got what I wanted. Hooray – learned how to shrimp. Hooray – I was able to get full mount! However, in both BJJ and language learning, seeing gains in the intermediate or advanced levels is harder. You start to realize how much you can’t do, and you often stop looking backward to see how much you have accomplished and get caught in a negative spiral – “I can’t do XYZ after 2 or 3 years” or “Why can everyone else do ABC and I still can’t?” It can be very defeating, and I’ve seen my language students be flat out embarrassed about things they still couldn’t do.

Celebrate your accomplishments. Tell what you’ve achieved this week, even if it’s negative. Do you generally rejoice in these, or do you only celebrate positive ones? If you have only achieved negative victories, do you still feel as proud of yourself?

For me to go back to BJJ my test for myself was – could I do burpees? I tried one in January, and my back said NO. I knew that the amount of spine twisting and bending that went into BJJ was much greater than burpees – so if I had that much pain from one burpee, no way. Now I’ve been able to do many more, so I was ready.

I showed up 30 minutes early and got warmed up. I let the instructor know what was going on, so I wouldn’t be participating in everything (he is my coach’s instructor, not my regular coach). I tried out a few warmups I’d been watching over the last few months and I felt very awkward, uncoordinated, and unsteady.

Warmups
We did some fun hopping games where you hopped on one leg and tried to pull your partner off balance. I discovered that these hurt my back a bit, as I wasn’t terribly used to a lot of hopping, nor people pulling on me. So after this I took a break and stretched and got more warmed up as they did takedowns.

No takedowns for me. That’ll hold true for a long time. I watched and recorded, then when they drilled I just stretched and did other things.

Drills
For the ground drills, I partnered with a brown belt. This is where I really felt the time away. Yes, I’d been watching BJJ, but for nearly 6 months I have not had to physically imitate something I’d seen. My short term memory and translating that into my body was definitely rusty. Thankfully, my partner was very helpful.

We then did some positional sparring. In this, one person had side control, the other person was trying to get out. This yielded uneven results with me – some of the actions felt natural – like getting into a hip escape position with my hip fully under me. Other things felt awkward. Holding down my partner – I wasn’t quite putting leverage in the right place, or my base was a bit off – those things were difficult.

Sparring
I had a much easier time with the brown belt partner, but that’s obviously because he was definitely giving me lots of room to work, which was much appreciated. I had a harder time with my white belt partners – mostly the initial engagement – passing the guard. I just hadn’t done it in so long.

The sparring that was most helpful was with the purple from my school. His name is Rick, and so every time we spar I say “Yeah, I just got RICK ROLLED” hahahaha. Anyway, we rolled after class and went a much longer time. During this point I remember getting caught up in his legs and feeling a little overwhelmed by what to do, so I closed my eyes and tried to pay attention to where I was feeling pressure, where I was feeling unsteady, and made my move with my eyes closed, because what I HAD been doing hadn’t been working. At one point I think he was in side control and I pushed on his face to push him away from me – I asked about it later. I know that forearm in the throat is a bit douchy in the gym, but apparently just pushing gently and firmly on the face is fine.

My final partner was a 15 year old white belt girl. She has 4 legs and rotates like she’s on a freaking merry go round. Okay – that’s what it seems like. Anyway, we were rolling and all of a sudden my muscles went NOPE! DONE! WE’RE ON STRIKE. She just had normal side control and I said “Tap, I’m done” and just laid there. Absolutely all energy gone.

What’s changed

Poor little piggy who stayed home - he wasn't quite tough enough for BJJ.

First thing I noticed is that my toes are no longer tough. I have mat burn on my feet something fierce. Open skin on the little piggie that stayed home, where apparently the top layer of skin just came off. I have a raw patch on top of my feet.

Ouch! I ended up with painful bruises on my hips and shoulders and knees – I have had ZERO pressure on them for the past 6 months, and since they’re key pivot points, they took the brunt of my weight and my partner’s weight and I can really feel it today!

Muscle aches! The one that surprised me the most – my feet are KILLING me – from holding my feet at a 90 degree angle for hooking. Also, my neck is sore from holding up my head while laying down. My hands are also achy from using more grip strength. And, of course, there’s the overall just ache from using my muscles in different ways.

Ouchie!

Some things I feel I did better than before

1. I was paying attention to grip fighting – even the purple noticed it. I wasn’t necessarily better at it, but I was more conscientious about it.
2. Getting my hip totally under me. I didn’t used to do that and it meant I was easier to shove down.
3. Jackknifing my body. This happened several times – I would consciously move so that my bottom leg was jackknifed near my body and the top leg was making base. My natural inclination is to do the opposite.
4. The Homer Simpson spin.
   
5. Crawling my hand up. My base positioning was off, but when I had my partner in  mount, I used a technique I saw in Emily Kwok’s video and I walked my hand up, slowly moving their arm up. It was very cool, until my partner exploited my weak base.

What I didn’t feel
Shame, embarrassment, or intimidation. I was injured and am coming back. Anyone who can’t understand that is an ass.

I’m terribly glad to be back, and this morning, no back pain – just muscle fatigue and bruising.

Meesa is baaaack!

Finally, the wait is over! Tell about your favorite part of “Return of the Jiu Jiu!” Did you like the part with the laser beams shooting out of her eyes? Or the flying armbars – with wings? Please, do tell!

Now imagine a good friend of yours. This friend has decided they want to do BJJ. They know zero about it, have never watched MMA, UFC, or any other acronymed events. This friend has a choice between a black belt who can’t speak your friend’s language, or a blue belt who can. Who would you recommend to your friend?

Assume that both can show moves equally well, they will click with your friend, the class size is 12-15, and they both have good teaching style. The big difference is: the black belt clearly comes with more experience and knowledge, but the blue belt can answer questions and explain things.

Who would you choose for your brand newbie white belt friend?

Now I present you with a choice, and in the spirit of the game, it’s not the best choice, but I’d love your answer.

You can choose: a BJJ instructor who is a single belt ahead of you and speaks your language, or a BJJ black belt who you don’t share a common language with.

So for me, it would be an English speaking purple belt or a Korean speaking black belt. ^_^

Obviously I chose a higher level instructor who doesn’t speak my language, but I think that had I had English instruction available to me I would have taken it when I started. I definitely haven’t grown as much as I could have, and part of that is not sharing a strong common language bond – so I miss a lot of the concepts, though I get the movements. For me, generally the AHA moments come when you can understand the principles underlying the movement.

What about you? The parameters are: one year of instruction. The lower belt: can explain concepts well but is only one belt above you. The black belt: zero translation is available, but he’s really great.

Make your choice!

http://scienceofskill.com/2012/03/top-bjj-nerd-blogs-jiu-jiu-bjj/

The guy was very nice, and I had a chance to check out his other articles, especially about other BJJ bloggers. I’ve had an idea to do some interviews with other bloggers, but I tend to move slowly when it comes to my ideas. Generating – easy; producing – not so much.

Turns out “the guy” is Dan Faggella. I’d never heard of him, but since I’m in a cave in Korea, I’m not surprised. He’s a brown belt who does seminars and has his own school. He’s also won some medals – and he is the 2011 No Gi Pan American champion at Brown Belt.

Interviewing me put him on my radar – which puts him on your radar. Nice way to get your name out. It reminds me a bit about Meg’s articles about branding/business + the BJJ community – just because you’re great at BJJ does NOT mean you’re great at the business end of things. Dan seems to have a background in sales/business/consulting and applied that knowledge to his BJJ. It’s clear, looking at his website, that he’s a salesman.

Dan’s blog right now contains a lot of short articles about BJJ blogs. It’s definitely a different style than mine – short and to the point, sometimes with spelling errors. Dan’s blog has a lot of cupcakes (as Ray Elbe put it) – and has definitely focused on getting the content out there and quickly. Note to self – stop baking cakes and bake more cupcakes!

Anyway, check out the article and his blog!

Everyone is welcome to attend. The seminar will be held at the Jiujitsu World Academy near Yeoksam Station (directions below).

Saturday will be a gi seminar starting at 3:00 PM, and last at least 3 hours. Sunday will be a nogi seminar starting at 2:00 PM, and also last at least 3 hours.

Pricing will be tiered as follows:
If you register and pay by
Mar 25-31: W70,000 1 day, W80,000 2 days
Apr 1-7: W80,000 1 day, W90,000 2 days
Apr 8-13: W90,000 1 day, W100,000 2 days
Apr 14: W120,000 for both days

Please send payment to Duek Young Jang (장덕영)
Kookmin Bank 004401-04-034132, and send him a text message or leave a message here.

Caio Terra is a World Black Belt Champion, 4x World No Gi Champion, 4x Mundial Silver medalist and PanAm Gold Medalist, in addition to winning many other tournaments.

In addition to being a champion, he is well known for being a small, technical guy, with a super mean half guard.

Ciao Terra won a gold medal at the 2011 Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships and said this gem:
I came here because I wanted to show everybody that technique can beat the steroids.

Directions: Yeoksam station on the Green (2) line. Exit 6, walk forward. At the first light take a left – there’s a KFC on the corner. Take the first right, around a big brown building called Done Zone. Then, take the first left, at the big coffee shop. We’re in the building on the right – you’ll see a sign on the door. Go down to the basement and there we are!

Hope to see you there! And hey – if you’re someone who has corresponded with me, I might be able to supply you with some crash space, but BE AWARE – I have a kitty who wears the Cone of Shame right now.

The Instructor
Ray Elbe is a BJJ black belt and pro-MMA fighter. As of 3/12 his record stands at 23 wins and 11 losses, including 16 wins by submission. He’s the head MMA coach over at Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Phuket. You may remember Ray from the great blue belt activity I posted about. You can visit his Facebook site here and his blog here.

From Ray's Facebook page

The attendees
Approximately 30 students attended – 27 men and 3 women. There were mostly white belts, with a handful of blue belts, 2-3 purple belts, and several with absolutely no BJJ experience whatsoever.

That's SL in the pink ankle supports!

The seminar
I was impressed with how the seminar was run. It is clear that Ray is a professional and that this is a source of income for him. He arrived early, started on time, and stayed late. It was a well structured and smoothly run seminar. There were warm ups, drills, techniques, a game, and free rolling time.

Ray Elbe hanging out before the seminar.

The atmosphere
It was incredibly FUN! SL wrote in her seminar review: “I don’t think I’ve ever laugh this hard in a BJJ seminar before.” There was a bit of intensity about it – Ray definitely does not appreciate sluggishness nor laziness – but in a good way. At one point he said something like “Be ready to go in five seconds or we’re all doing sprawls!” They were much faster after that. He did his best to motivate the students – “If you don’t work on it, you can’t get better.” He also said that “Life’s not fair, but it’s not fair for everyone, which makes it fair” – a bit Yogi Berra, but true nonetheless.

Ray’s seminar was informal but by no means amateur. He would joke around, swear, laugh, and just flat out had a good time at his own seminar. It was clear that he enjoys what he does. Ray feels like your friend’s older brother who is joking around a lot but you’re glad to have on your side in case something goes down. He also feels like that kid who either exasperated his teachers or they loved him dearly. He would come over and joke with me on occasion and made me feel part of the group.

Why on earth do you call yourself a bully, Ray?

The techniques
Ray showed a variety of techniques, starting with the armbar. Everything built on the last technique, or was some sort of variant – there was clear, logical organization and a deliberate progression with ample time for drilling. Overall it was a tight seminar and clear that Ray was experienced and competent in the seminar format.

The methodology
Dealing with a variety of levels can be a challenge. When Ray was going through the warmups he would explain each move, and did not use the technical names. He showed how to shrimp, explaining step by step, then would go around and help people do the drills.

Ample drilling time!

This is a video of the first technique. Things I noted: the teacher voice – deliberate, loud, commanding, clear. Repetition – explanation, repetition, with short verbal phrases to aid memory. Visual focusing techniques – he had everyone sit on the same side so he had better control over what people could see and helped him better demonstrate. I also appreciated Ray’s consistency. He even had everyone clap together afterward created a nice routine, and he was maintained that throughout the seminar.

Before the seminar, I interviewed Ray, and during that time he mentioned he had gotten his degree in education – he went to school to be an elementary school teacher, but the pay wasn’t nearly close to what he was earning in MMA. In these seminars I think that Ray draws on his education background and it makes the seminars strong. He has a playfulness that would lead me to believe that kids would ADORE him, he managed his time effectively, and he demonstrates clear teaching methodology. I also appreciate a teacher who monitors his students carefully, intervening when he sees struggling students, and is actively involved in his students’ learning.

Ray demonstrating to a student the finer point of the technique they were drilling.

I also appreciated Ray’s sincerity and transparency. He shared his techniques, but also shared reasoning behind it. He shared his teacher tips, including WHY he had them all sit in one section rather than panoramic. After the seminar he asked for a show of hands as to who was serious about BJJ – nearly everyone raised their hands – he then asked who had a notebook – no one (except me). He gave a bit of a verbal smackdown to everyone and said that if they were serious they need to be active in their learning and take notes. He mentioned that if the instructor repeats something it’s probably something you should write down.

Ray won't award a blue belt if you can't clap on time.

Ray Elbe-isms
One of my favorite things about Ray are his memorable phrases. Here is a guide to some of the more colorful or interesting phrases I heard:
“Elbow fat” to describe the fleshy bits behind your elbow.
“Thumb to the sky, make him cry.”
“Bunny ears” – when you have someone in an armbar but your legs are straight up.
“Brother-sister-cousin” – armbar, triangle, omoplata.
“Rocket launcher” – describing the leg used to push yourself up.
“Climb the branch, not the twigs” – grab your leg, not your toes.
There were far too many to count. I really enjoyed the real-life language he used – it made everything more memorable.

Ray showing BJJ "Bunny Ears"

The fun
After the techniques, Ray had everyone playing a game. Sort of like a free for all dodgeball – where people can gang up on one another and if you tap you’re out. He recommended people team up and get the good people out. So they followed his advice:

The aha!
So it’s been nearly two months since I was at the seminar, and the one big AHA moment for me was what he said about open guard. If you have closed guard you can go for one submission. Essentially you must open your guard to attack. When you open your legs, they know you’re doing something, so they have to be on defense, but if your legs are closed they’re simply going to be attempting to break free. This was a big concept for me. I’m not suggesting I’m a great open guard player, but it made a lot of sense to me.

Overall
I would happily pay $50 for a Ray Elbe seminar, potentially even more. It was memorable, fun, well put together, and solid teaching methodology. Beginners and more advanced can get something out of this, gi or nogi people can learn things, and sports or mma jiu jitsu people could benefit from it. Ultimately – if you like RAY you will like the seminar. If he rubs you the wrong way, you won’t. As Ray put it: “You like me or you don’t.” Well, Ray, I like you! And I like your seminar, too! Thanks for letting me record it!

Ray has an upcoming seminar in Laredo, Texas. If you’re able to make it, please tell him HI and let him know you heard about it from my blog!

My experience:
In March 2011 I decided to buy some gis. I’m 5’4″ and weighed 190lbs. Weight charts for gis give height and weight. All the advice I had read said you should always choose the larger number when choosing a gi. If you are tall and skinny, choose based on height. If you’re short and fat, choose based on weight. I’m the latter, so that’s what I did.

I wanted to buy a Black Eagle gi, and I looked at their size chart:

5’1″-5’5″ 110-140 160cm (A1)
5’5″-5’9″ 140-170 170cm (A2)
5’8″-6’0″ 150-190 175cm (A2.5)
5’9″-6’1″ 170-200 180cm (A3)
6’0″-6’4″ 200-250 190cm (A4)
6’4″ up 225-275 200cm (A5)

I thought – PERFECT – I’ll get an A2.5, even though it will be tall on me, the weight matches. Ordered the gi, paid my money, eagerly awaited it, it arrived, I put it on and…

What happens when a woman orders a man's gi by weight.

Sadly, I looked like I was a kid trying on my daddy’s gi. I wanted to cry–the fabric felt AMAZING and I wanted so much to fit it. Then I realized – a 190 lb man is MUCH bigger than a 190 lb woman. DOPE!

Advice
If you’re buying a men’s gi for the first time, contact their customer service department. Tell them your measurements rather than weight, and ask them which size you should order. After my SNAFU I contacted Black Eagle’s customer service and this is what they wrote me back:

“Hi Julia, we are confident the Ladies Gi will be a perfect fit, a sample is on its way to us for testing etc. As soon as we release this, I will let you know. Based on the measurements you emailed me, I would not have recommended you bought an A2.5!!”

Lesson learned. Email first. The price for return shipping from Korea to the UK would have been outrageous, so I just sold mine. However, I had such a good interaction with them that I will absolutely buy a Predadora when I return to the mats.