Blog direction
I missed yesterday’s no-gi class because I got totally jacked-up at work. I didn’t get back home until midnight. It was such a stressful day but for some reason I couldn’t sleep. I woke up at 5 am and started watching Marcelo Garcia videos on YouTube. Marcelo Garcia is the shiznit. I like his arm-drags.
Anyway, the point is I hate missing no-gi classes because I think I prefer no-gi now. It’s much faster and more fun for me somehow. But I must say, I feel sorry for the poor saps who have to roll with me because I am the sweatiest person alive. It’s weird and disgusting. I’m sweating right now as a matter of fact.
After tonight’s class I decided I’m going to avoid blogging about technique. It’s too hard to not be prescriptive, and as a white belt and all-around scrub I have no place writing prescriptively about BJJ technique. The more classes I go to the more I realize I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. And I don’t want to write something that inadvertently misrepresents Shawn or the academy.
One thing I did realize tonight is that you can transition to arm-bar from the cradle. How do I know? Because Alex arm-barred me three times tonight after cradling me in back-mount. I couldn’t really see how he did it so I’ll have to ask about it later.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I don’t exactly know what you mean by “cradling… in the back-mount,” but if I’m interpreting you correctly it is when an opponent is ‘turtling’ or in a near turtle position and you are on top of their back.
I used to love capturing arm bars from this position because you could use your entire body on one isolated arm. Most people expect their sparring partner to go for the RNC. When you grab their arm they surprised.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:42 am
wazzup, Tedmeister! Congrats on the three stripes promo that Laura told me about today. That rules! I think it would be supercool if you could post a pic of yourself wearing your uni and featuring the stripes. I would love to see it! Rich and I really miss you both. We must hand out fo’ shizzle when you come back to MN. It is finally starting to thaw out here!
February 20th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
dude, i was thinking about your decision to avoid blogging about technique. i think it’s great not to be too prescriptive, but maybe blogging about technique has a positive side? maybe the positive side is that you are learning how your body works and how the whole fighting thang works for you. just my 2 cents! we miss you both terribly!
February 21st, 2008 at 3:38 pm
You know, I realized that if I don’t blog about technique I have nothing left to write about. Maybe I’ll try to write in a different way. I’ll see you soon in “The M” homey!
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:02 am
rock on, bro!