Wanna Roll?

CRAZY MONTH

2011-02-08T17:40:00.000+08:00

February is shaping up to be a super mad month for Jiu-Jitsu.

I was in Sydney over the Chinese New Year holidays to visit family in Sydney, and I managed to drop by Roger Gracie Academy (Sydney) for some classes with the always cool Nicolas Gregoriades.

In 2 weeks it's off to Bangkok for some training with my coach, Professor Adam Kayoom at Bangkok BJJ.

And a week after that, who else but Roger Gracie will be in Singapore for a seminar at Evolve MMA. It was limited to 50 spots and when I called to book my spot there were only 2 left. Yikes.

This. Is. Going. To. Be. SWEET.

5 YEARS IN

2010-11-15T15:01:00.000+08:00

Really? Huh.

TOURNAMENT REPORT: BANGKOK

2010-10-25T10:25:00.002+08:00

Edited for massively misremembered names.

In Bangkok now with a few minutes of free time. It's Monday morning and I've just spent the weekend at the awesome FBT Thailand Open, competing in gi and (for the first ever time) no-gi.

It's also the first time I've ever brought students to compete. There were times when I was more stressed about them than myself! Did they get on the flight, did they make weight, how are they doing, etc etc etc.

This year's competition was held in Lumpini Hall, which IMHO is a totally rocking venue. Someone told me that it looks like it was MADE for this event. Which, if you look at the setup, is true!

DAY 1: Blue Belt, >70kg & Absolute

Match 1: Division 1st Round, v. Katsuhiko Hibino from Alive Academy (Nagoya).

The match starts with him going for a tomoe nage. He doesn't get it as I'm able to handstand and drop to my knees. He immediately gets up before I can stop him, grabs my lapel and dives for a rolling loop choke. He's pulling with everything he's got and I felt a lot of pressure. Fortunately the lapel was on my chin.

He abandons it as I get up to my knees. It gets a bit fuzzy here as I'm writing without my camera present so I can't look at the video. I remember it went like this: he tries to kneeride but I bump his knee off, I can't move because he's still controlling me. We scramble and somehow he mounts me. I try to flip him off but no success and he's got 4 points.

I dig for both underhooks as I buck him forward, scooping him off me. We're scrambling again but he's still on top, I can't get him off. I manage to create enough space to pull halfguard. He tries to pop my legs open but I grab an arm and he can't. He stands at one point and I start grabbing his leg in a koala guard. I start standing, and he's pushing my head down but manage to get up. As he turns and pulls his leg out I jump for his back and lock my hands round his waist.

I feel him going for a kimura on my right arm so I fall to the side and try to secure my hooks. He blocks one of my feet so I just barely miss out on the 4 points. He blocks my lapel choke attempt and is able to spin and face me. Time is running out and I'm trying everything but he postures really well up. Wristlock, no good. Ezequiel, no good. Cross lapel choke, no good. Time is called.

Result: Loss via Points. Me: 0 points. Katsuhiko: 4 points. Think he had a couple of advantages and I had 1, not sure for what.

So I'm out of the division. Disappointed but what can you say really, he was really good. I never felt like I couldn't win, and there were opportunities for me but I couldn't make the most of them.

Match 2: Absolute 1st Round, v. Tom Woodfin from MMA Chiang Mai.

The match starts with us playing more of a standup game, with him getting the better of it. I'm holding my own for about a minute but he rushes in and double legs me. I'm in halfguard, but he gets a deep crossface with very intense shoulder pressure on the right side of my face, that I am unable to get off.

I'm underneath the whole match. I defended a kimura attempt, I manage to escape the crossface briefly but am unable to go to deep half. He replaces the crossface and I am shut down for the rest of the time.

Result: Loss via Points. Me: 0 points. Tom: 2 points.

DAY 2: No-gi Intermediate >70kg & Absolute.

Before matches start I see that in the absolute seedings my first match is with Murase Yoichi, who on day 1, won his purple belt divison, and the purple absolute. Yay! I'm looking forward to testing myself against him but of course, there's a saying about wishing for things, isn't there.

Match 1: Division 1st Round, v. Major Overall, from Team Taiwan/Tough MMA

The match starts with us going some gripfighting. We're both trying to tie up with a clinch. He drops and rolls me with an armbar attempt but I base and stack him to escape. I immediately try to pass his guard but we are scrambling until he pulls guard. He tries a triangle which I posture out of, and an omoplata which I posture out of.

When I escape the omplata we are back to scrambling and at one point I pass his guard. From there I get to mount. He was baiting it to try and roll me off, but I secure the position. I can't finish him and he does get me off with a buck and push. We go back and forth but I end up passing again. He baits another mount and when I go for it he does get me off.

He's way behind and his corner is yelling that he needs to finish me. During the next few exchanges he starts going for my legs. He tries a kneebar and a toehold but can't finish either one. The referee stands us up and he starts pushing the pace. He dives for my legs and is trying to finish both a toehold and a reverse triangle but I defend both and time is called.

Result: Win via Points. Me: 11(?) points. Major: 0 points.

After this match I find out that 1) Yoichi is in my division. 2) Yoichi is in my bracket. 3) Yoichi has to win one fight before he goes with me. 4) Yoichi's opponent is a no-show. When I say hi to him, his friends are there. Katsuhiko is among them and when I tell him about my next match he starts laughing and shouts, "good luck!"

Match 2: Division 2nd Round, v. Murase Yoichi, from Axis Japan.

The match starts with us gripfighting. He's trying to go for my legs but is unsuccessful. He also goes for a couple of guillotines that he can't get. He ends up pulling guard. He unbalances me and sweeps me, I think it was from halfguard. He goes to pass my guard with a knee cut across, but I block it. We're struggling and he goes for my back. He's trying to choke but I block his hooks and he's not able to get enough leverage for the submission.

I spin around and am in his guard. I push forward into his halfguard and he can't get me off. However, I don't take enough time to secure the position. I try to mount him BUT he takes advantage of a lapse in my balance and sweeps me. He's trying to finish me with a choke but I don't let him get it, and the match ends soon after.

Result: Loss via Points. Me: 0 points. Yoichi: 4 points. Not bad for me having just went with the worst possible guy!

I was getting ready for round 2 with Yoichi, because I felt like I would have a really good chance to beat him on points at least. However, a lot of guys ended up pulling out of the absolute due to time, other commitments or injury. Unfortunately Yoichi decided to bow out. That's alright though because I got another tough guy.

Match 3: Absolute 1st Round, v. Martin Persson, from Tiger Muay Thai.

He starts the match pulling guard. I knew he was going to do that. Just like I knew he was going to try a kimura. I thought I would be fine until at one point I try to get my attacked arm to a good position and he pulls it out. He is going for it but I manage to reach behind me and grab my hand to stop the submission.

After a minute of him going for it, he lets it go and I'm unable to stop his sweep. He ends up on top with me in halfguard, he has a deep crossface with very intense shoulder pressure on the right side of my face, that I'm not able to break. It felt pretty painfully familiar. The match ends almost exactly like my absolute match yesterday.

Result: Loss via Points. Me: 0 points. Martin: 2 points.

So that's it and I'm done for the weekend. Speaking strictly in terms of results, yes I'm disappointed, especially because I think I could have won my division matches, and would have fared better in the absolute with a different strategy. However, in terms of the experience, I can't complain. I got to test myself against some really good guys. Most of my losses were against the worst possible guy, or arguably so.

I feel my performances were respectable. My losses were by small point margins against very high quality opponents and I was not submitted. I have a lot of stuff to work on, and I'll make sure to shore up those weak spots before the next competition.

I'm also VERY proud of my guys! Ivan and Tony both went undefeated on the Gi day, closing out the White Belt >80kg division, and Ivan also took gold in the Absolute! All the hard work paid off, and they thoroughly deserve this. I felt like a complete mother hen the whole weekend. Especially since Tony finished at least 2 of his fights with the Ezequiel :)

Studio 23 Jiu-Jitsu Team went for a combined 20 matches over 2 days without anybody losing by submission. Every loss was either by a 2 or 4 point margin, or referee decision.

To sum it up: I thank God for an awesome time. Adam, Luke and their whole team did a really great job of putting this event together. The T-shirts were fantastic. I'm going to go back and work hard to come back here and win another of those beautiful gold medals!

I thank God for awesome opponents. I could not have asked for a tougher bunch of guys and I really learned a whole lot. I'm sure my game will improve as a result of this, both physically and mentally.

I thank God for Jiu-Jitsu. Without it I would never have met such completely cool people like the BKKBJJ team, the Taiwan BJJ team, and Stephen Kamphuis, who came in just to referee. Of course I'm not forgetting all my friends in the small but now definitely greatly improving Malaysian BJJ scene! It was definitely great to catch up with my friends in the Check Mat Malaysia team, who also brought back some serious metal.

Later today Adam and Dan Simmler (who had one of the greatest matches I've ever seen yesterday, beating Rodrigo Caporal on points) will be doing a seminar at Bangkok BJJ. Time to go get ready for that.

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

2010-10-12T13:36:00.000+08:00

When I first started training, nobody would have guessed that I'd amount to anything as far as BJJ competition. I know I wouldn't have given myself great odds. Nobody would have guessed that out of all the potential and talent in the gym, I'd turn out to be the only one regularly competing.

I certainly wasn't the biggest, strongest, fastest or most gifted guy, or even halfway flexible. I was just hard to submit and that's about it.

Having a reasonably tough chin helped me out a little.

Nobody would have imagined that one day I'd be running a studio of my own, let alone bringing students to compete with me, but that's what's happening now.

The FBT Thailand BJJ Open is just over a week away and the butterflies have again returned to settle in my stomach. They're quite comfortable, but every now and then they have a little dance battle or something.

A lot has changed from even the last competition in June and it's like everything old is new again. It looks like this year will be huge, and there are a whole lot of good guys attending. I'm really excited to see what's going to happen. I'm really excited to see how my guys do. I'm really excited to meet old friends and make new ones.

I think it's going to be a completely awesome time and I'm looking forward to it.

ONE MAN'S MEMORY LANE

2010-07-01T11:14:00.000+08:00

I find it really interesting to listen to stories of how - for example - Braulio Estima's coach was a blue belt when he first started, because they were so far removed from centres of Jiu-Jitsu activity, and how they had to travel for hours to compete. In the latest Fightworks Podcast, Sergio Penha goes on about how back in the day, he only had a mere handful of training partners, and that there were maybe only one or two chances in a year for people to compete.

I think the main reason I find it interesting is this is so far in the past for many, but living in Malaysia (and East Malaysia at that) this is my reality. I am myself a blue belt coach, because if I didn't do it, then there would just be no Jiu-Jitsu here at all. Over in the next state on this island, the (note the singular) BJJ coach is also a blue belt. I remember in Korea, they were shocked to learn there were only 5 (or 6, I'm not sure) Jiu-Jitsu gyms in the whole of Malaysia - which is itself a recent "phenomenon".

There are no competitions in Malaysia. If you want to test yourself, you've got to leave the country. Never mind the anxiety, planning and financial commitment - the time that you have to devote to this is enough to stop many from competing. The closest destination that offers regular (read: once a year) competition is Thailand. For me, that's roughly an 8-hour journey, one way from home to hotel if I do the whole thing in one go.

Rather than this just being a whinge post, I actually quite like it like this. People leave me to my own devices here and I'm free to explore and discover things by myself. Thanks to the internet, I don't have to reinvent the wheel, and at my belt level I feel I'm doing a fairly OK job. I'm at least so-so. Um, yeah.

TOURNAMENT REPORT: SEOUL

2010-06-15T15:03:00.008+08:00

Edited to correct some names, among other things.

Just back in Kuching now. Spent the weekend in Seoul, where I competed in the 2nd Korean National Jiu-Jitsu Open.

Pre-competition

Started the day with a spot of stress: I woke up at around 6:30 or so, put my gi on and weighed myself in at 70.2 kilos. For a few seconds I almost considered the wisdom of trying to spit out 300 grams' worth of water before dismissing the idea as unnaturally desperate. If my experience at the last 2 competitions was any indication, I would definitely lose that weight in time just from doing nothing.

We got to the venue - the Mapo Arts Centre - by 8:30. It's really easy to find as there are very clear signs (in english, for us poor tourists) pointing you in the right direction (provided you take the correct exit, of course). The mats were already good to go and the organising crew was busy putting the finishing touches on the whole setup.

My wife and I got settled and then I went to say hi to the main organiser, Marc Lee. Really nice fellow - very soft-spoken but an accomplished competitor himself, he's also the owner of M.A.R.C., one of the BJJ studios in Seoul. I checked the seedings and found that there was only one other person in my division. It all came down to a bit of bad timing really: because of scheduling conflicts, there were two (maybe even three) BJJ competitions within a month of each other, so many had opted for other tournaments.

There was a little bit of confusion before everything got started, as a few people (myself included) were unaware that we had to bring already completed waivers with us. Fortunately there were a good number of waivers on standby and that got taken care of with minimal fuss (it was completely in Korean but I was lucky enough to find some gentlemen to help with translation).

I weighed in at approximately 69.8 or 9, I'm not sure because it was a digital scale but kept jumping. Got comfortable and tucked into a sandwich featuring the first piece of glorious processed cheese that I had allowed myself to touch in 2 weeks. I had a chat with some expat english teachers, Michael and Tommy. Both nice guys, easy to talk to. There was a kids' division and a ladies' division, then the white belts got going.

About an hour or two into the whole thing, the blue belts were notified to start warming up. When I got to the matside area, Marc informed us that there was a late addition to our division, so being that there were three people, it would play out like this: first two guys go. Winner goes to finals and loser gets to have a second match, with the third guy, and the person who wins this match goes to finals. Everyone agrees and we're off to the races.

Competition

Note: got my opponents' names off BJJ Asia's results page. If there is any mistake please let me know and I'll fix it.

Match 1: Pena Division, v. Cha Minha, from Action Reaction Jiu-Jitsu

The match started with us squaring up briefly. He jumped guard almost right away and tried to set up a triangle. I turned away from the angle he needed so the sub was never tight, but his legs were locked so well that I couldn't free myself.

It was literally like this the whole match: he'd try to unbalance me and lock in the triangle, and I would base out and posture. Eventually I got a bit tired of this and started stacking him. I could hear his breathing becoming progressively ragged as the match wore on, so I thought I'd try a lapel choke. I dragged his collar across and pushed down, but he defended it. I tried again, this time pulling his other lapel up towards me, but that got blocked as well.

I felt his legs really weakening, and he confirms this by abandoning the triangle and trying to armbar me. I blocked it, got my knee over his leg and started to move into halfguard, when time is called. The ref stands us up and raises his hand.

Result: Loss via points. Me: 0 points, 2 advantages. Minha: 0 points, 3 advantages.

A very disappointing result, but honestly the loss was simply my fault, end of story. I wasn't active enough in his triangle and he spent more time trying to submit me. Oh well, live and learn. I still had one more chance though, so that was consolation enough. I was still completely fresh and spent the next few minutes staying warm.

Match 2: Pena Division, v. Baek Doo Hyeon, from John Frankl BJJ

This match started off the same as the first, though he was a bit more aggressive. I remember him trying to unbalance me really vigorously, before jumping guard. Almost immediately he attempts a flower sweep but he doesn't block my arm, so I post with it. He's unable to capitalise immediately and after a little more of me trying unsuccessfully to pop his guard open he attempts a triangle.

I didn't actually see it coming, but dove into it all the same, getting on the angle I needed to defend. He counters right away with an omoplata attempt, but I based out and didn't let him flatten me. I squared up with him and he slaps on another triangle. This attempt is much tighter and even though I didn't really feel threatened, there was a marked increase in pressure. All the same, I'm able to get my arm wrapped around his leg.

He attempts another omoplata but I block it - this time he's not able to pull me off balance. I'm now in his closed guard and he's blocking one of my arms. I have no idea what the time is but started feeling like I had better do something. I reach forward, get a crossface and attempt an ezequiel.

I manage to catch him unprepared, and lock it in. He's really fighting it, and tries to get his legs over my face to armbar me, but I keep my face down and it's over quite soon afterwards.

Result: Win via Submission (Ezequiel).

I still felt pretty fresh after this match. Little bit drained but nothing I couldn't deal with. I'm in the finals now, against the same guy from my first match. I decided that it would be a bad idea to drastically change the way I play for the finals.

Match 3: Pena Division, Finals v. Cha Minha from Action Reaction Jiu-Jitsu

Note: I'm using video of the match to write this portion of the blog post. If I didn't, I promise it would make for very unsatisfying reading.

Because of the stagnant nature of our last match, I was not that concerned about playing the same guy again, because he wouldn't have had that much of a chance to know about my game, beyond: A) I'm reasonably strong for my weight, B) I'm hard to submit and C) I have good stamina. He looked like he had one awesome pep talk before the match started though, because he walked up bursting with energy and ready to play.

He started the match by really keeping his distance though, and I was following him around the mat. After a few attempts I get him to grab my sleeve and he jumps guard. He's not able to get closed guard, as I immediately drop to combat base and overhook one of his legs. He has his other leg trying to set up a De La Riva guard but I don't let him get on the angle.

He sets up a triangle, but I don't let him close his legs and try to push my knee over his leg to pass his guard. He doesn't let me, and tries to sweep but I don't lose my balance. He then tries to set up something to do with my lapels, I get an arm under his legs and try to pass under, and he changes his angle to maintain his position. I'm now in a position where I could maybe attempt a double under pass, but his body language and posture suggest he's prepared for that, so I sit tight.

He moves to halfguard and I try to flatten him out but he does a great job of keeping his knee on my chest to push me away. Suddenly though, he pulls me forward and when I go to post my arm, he gets the underhook he needs. I was pretty impressed by this, it was so sneaky I should like to appropriate it for my own game :)

I balance out but he's shifting me off him. I get a whizzer but too late, he's on his feet and pulls me off mine, securing a takedown and 2 points. Now he's in side control (but no extra points because there was no guard pass) and I know I have to reset this position. He starts setting up a kneeride. I roll away to show him my back. He goes for it and I block his hooks and get him off me.

We're back to standing, and he's looking a little wary of reengaging. The ref has a word with us, I'm not completely sure but I think it was a warning for stalling. He grips up and pulls me into his open guard. I think he was trying to armbar me. That didn't work and he attempts another triangle. This felt painfully familiar, right down to me trying the same lapel choke.

I went to stack him right away this time and have him pretty well folded. I could feel the triangle wasn't all that tight and he lets go after a little while. I try to push his leg off my head to pass, but he defends that by rolling to upside down guard. I trap his legs before he can create some distance, but he pushes me away, continuing his roll and I'm in his halfguard again.

I keep trying to roll him over but he's defending everything I throw at him and rolling every which way. My break comes when he turtles with me in side-back control. I stick my knee in between his arm and leg. I wasn't intending for this to be bait of any kind, but he changes tack, faces me and tries to shoot for a double leg.

I sprawl with an overhook and underhook. I move my underhook to grab his cross lapel, and as I get my grip he suddenly stands. I get dragged up with him but I don't lose my grip. He sits down, pulling me into halfguard and I attempt a loop choke. My balance is too poor and I can't finish it, but I still have the lapel grip. I'm trying to push his leg down to pass into mount, when I feel him tapping. I let go in shock more than anything else, I honestly didn't think the choke was all that tight.

Result: Win via Submission (some kind of lapel choke).

This match over and my division done, it was now time for the absolute.

Match 4: Absolute Round 1, v. Kim Hyeop, from Action Reaction Jiu-Jitsu

I was aware before the match started that my opponent was actually in the division below mine. Not that this made the match any easier for me. He started by jumping guard, then trying to triangle me. He never got it tightly set, and I was always on the wrong angle for him to finish. He didn't give up on it though, which made me wonder if I was in for another long haul.

This time my immediate response to the triangle was to just base and start stacking. After a little bit, his legs pop open and I lurch forward into halfguard. He tries to unbalance me but I am able to keep steady. After a little work I manage to get a crossface. He knows the ezequiel is coming and gets a palm out to block the choke, but I find some space anyhow and lock it in.

Result: Win via Submission (Ezequiel).

After this match, a few minutes pass before I am told who my next opponent is: at a rough guess I would put him at 85 kilos (low estimate). He's pretty well built, and I know I'm in for a rough time.

Edit: It appears he was registered as a Pesadissimo, but for this competition, anyone above 88.3 kilos went into that division, so he's at least a Pesado.

Match 5: Absolute Round 2, v. Park Jeonggyo, from Jeongsim Jiu-Jitsu

The match started inauspiciously for me: I got pretty well beasted into a takedown, and in the process I jammed my toe into the mat. At the time it didn't bother me beyond the initial discomfort, so I put it out of my mind. I went to pull halfguard and got a lockdown which he was not able to break.

He then went for a head-arm choke, but that didn't work so he tried to kimura me a couple of times. The whole time I'm trying to push his knee down and pull guard, but his leg was fairly massive and I had no success on that front. At some point I'm facing him, in kind of a really loose halfguard: one leg is around him and my other foot is stuck hooking his leg.

What he does next is to grab my lapel and stand up. I grab on, close my guard as he's standing and try to ezequiel him, while he's carrying me. That doesn't work and he posts his hand on my face and pushes me away from him. He pops my legs open and tries to pass but I get my halfguard back and stop his advance.

I spent the remainder of the match getting shut down and smothered. I couldn't get him off, he closed off all angles for my attacks and that was pretty much all she wrote. He did get called for stalling if I remember correctly, but in the end it didn't matter.

Result: Loss via Points. Me: 0 points. Jeong Gyo: 2 points. I'm not sure if he had any advantages, because I don't remember being really threatened by a submission attempt.

Post-Competition

After my absolute match, my toe started to bother me a bit more. I went to the first aid booth and they gave me some kind of cooling spray. When I used it, I couldn't feel anything happening, which was a source of some concern to me. But I didn't feel any real pain. I checked out a merchandise stall and picked up some dvds, before heading back inside.

I chatted with a bunch of people, including all the guys I competed against. Everybody was so cool, it really was awesome. I got a bunch of invites to train the next time I come back to Korea, which I completely intend to do: I really like this place!

There was quite a massive haul from sponsored gifts, including a whole bunch of gis. These were all given away as part of a lottery. Doo Hyeon was very kind in coming over to tell me what my number was in Korean and I kept my ears open. I missed out on winning a free gi, but there were more prizes besides, and my number was eventually called!

I went to the front and they gave me a voucher that I could use at the store of the guys outside with the merchandise stall. However, since I was flying off, they let me use it immediately. I picked up a very nice Atama longsleeve rashguard with my voucher.

After everything was done, medals all handed out and photos taken, I made my way off - but not before a whole bunch of people came to wish me well. I was really blown away by how good everyone was. I usually have great experiences thanks to Jiu-Jitsu but this ranks among the best. There was no hint of poor sportsmanship to be seen, and everyone I met was very welcoming.

Thanks to my super awesome and beautiful wife, who came all the way to support me, video my matches and refill my water bottle.

Thanks to Marc Lee, for putting on a great competition and taking awesome care of everyone. Thanks to Doo Hyeon, and the De La Riva team, for your kindness and hospitality. I hope to train with you all again soon.

Thanks to John Newton, for writing the song "Amazing Grace" - by my third match, I was feeling the effects of an adrenaline dump, and this song was pretty much the only thing keeping me in the game mentally.

Thanks to Jesus Christ: my God and my king, my shield and my reward, my strength and my song.

ANNYEONGHASEYO!

2010-05-28T17:01:00.002+08:00

Just submitted my registration for the Korean National BJJ Open, scheduled for June 13. Hope to see other SEABJJ players there. Later!

NICOLAS GREGORIADES SEMINAR AND OTHER GOODNESS @ BANGKOK BJJ

2010-02-25T16:17:00.001+08:00

I was in Thailand just around the CNY break to go hang out at Bangkok BJJ and attend a seminar put on by Roger Gracie black belt, Nicolas Gregoriades. I stayed at the Golden Palace Hotel, I really like that place. Super location, great restaurant, very friendly staff and a BJJ/CMD gym. What more need be said?

The seminar was for me an incredible experience. Not only is Nicolas a very knowledgeable BJJ player, he's also a really nice guy. Very laid back and chill, with a super smooth game. He talked us through some concepts and how we could apply them to our Jiu-Jitsu. A lot of what he said was particularly - is the word "reassuring"? - for me, as it reinforced much of how I already approached my training.

He also shared some great bodyweight exercises with us: awesome variations on Fizfit exercises, which are currently making the rounds and becoming very popular in the studio. Very popular indeed, particularly the leopards. I have yet to unleash the maggots but I'm looking forward to it.

When we got done, as soon as we got done actually, I had to run to catch my taxi back to the airport, but Nicolas was cool enough to roll with me before anyone else. Like I said, super smooth game. Some photos and hugs later, I was back on the highway out of the city.

This trip definitely ranks among my favourite experiences in martial arts. It was a total blast hanging out with Adam and Jem. As usual it was worth the trip to Thailand just to catch up, and as usual, I didn't stay half as long as I would have liked to.

I also really enjoyed meeting some more of the regulars at the gym. Three in particular, Lorne, Peter and Martin were excellent training partners. Thanks also to Amps, who was cool enough to bring me around town while I was searching for boxing gear - and also help me look for Thai hip hop cds.

I'm really looking forward to the next time I get to roll at Bangkok BJJ, it's a totally beautiful place. I can really see the love that went into planning the gym out and it has a very cool atmosphere. I was sitting there just trying to soak up as much as I could in the time I had.

If I have any regrets, they would be not getting to roll with Sebastien and Luke, as they weren't able to be there. Ah well. Next time!

THINGS THAT I LEARNED IN 2009

2009-12-24T00:35:00.003+08:00

I've just finished my first year (officially, anyway) of full-time coaching. It's been a really unforgettable year. It seems like just a few days ago that I was stressing about pre-launch problems, and now I'm getting ready to go unwind and prepare for the coming year. It was definitely a year of self-discovery and I learned so much more than I would have thought possible.

I learned that God is good. Actually I already knew that, but 2009 just completely reinforced that for me.

I learned that people skills are actually pretty important. Who knew?

I learned that it's much harder to hide dirt, hair and dead bugs on lighter-coloured mats than darker ones.

I learned that isolation doesn't have to mean stagnation. If you want to improve, find a way or go do something else.

I learned that running a business with your wife can be really fun.

I learned that friendships and relationships should be prioritised far, far above who can tap who out. Actually I already knew that too, but 2009 drove it home.

I learned that eye infections really, really suck.

I learned that it's easy to create a fun, ego-free atmosphere... but only if that's what you actually want, deep down.

I learned that hypocrisy is not worth your anger. But it is worth your pity.

I learned that running a martial arts/fitness business by yourself is much, much more demanding (mentally, emotionally and physically), involved and scary than the mere sum of its parts would make it seem. Which leads me to the next point...

I learned that God is very, very good.

Finally...

I learned that you may or may not be able to go home again, but if the people there were worth your fond memories in the first place, they'll still be worth it when you visit.

4 YEARS IN

2009-11-19T12:35:00.002+08:00

Celebrated my 4th year anniversary of the day I started BJJ 4 days ago. I say "celebrated" but really, that should read more like, "completely forgot until last night when a CMD client asked me how long I'd been training".

It feels a bit weird, me typing this, like I'm moving my fingers for the sake of doing so and little else. It's really interesting for me to go back and read my old posts. Nostalgia and memory lane and such. Doesn't do anything to make me want to write new ones. Got a lot to say and nothing I feel compelled to blog about. Except this, I suppose it's good for future reference. Ah well.

Teaching has likely been one of the best things to ever happen to my BJJ. And as it turns out, I've got everything I need to work on what I need to work on. Which is nice.

Still enjoying training, still loving Jiu-Jitsu.

NOTE TO SELF

2009-11-18T15:12:00.001+08:00

From this link. Emphasis mine.

I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to train with a lot of different people and to compete a lot, but honestly what I try to do and What I really believe helps me the most is that I try to break Jiu-Jitsu down to a fundamental level and really work to understand what determines success and failure, kind of on a body mechanics level, to really understand that there are correct and incorrect ways to do things.

There are plenty of reasons that people have success with a given technique or a given strategy, yet often times they are succeeding in spite of doing things improperly. I know I was. You can win a match and still have done 10 things wrong. Maybe you’re the vastly superior athlete or maybe the other guy was hung over…or you could do almost everything right and still lose. In any event, the idea is that if you can get down to a fundamental level of body mechanics and understanding, you can kind of distill your Jiu-Jitsu down to something that’s very direct, very simple, allowing you to be able to operate on a higher level of efficiency in many, many positions, all positions really, instead of just drilling just one series or just a couple series of moves and becoming very strong [in that particular area] while neglecting other areas.

Many guys I know, they’re very tough at their specific areas. Like so-and-so has a great De La Riva guard; they can use this sweep to this sweep to this sweep, and they know that series in and out, but if you can drag them out of that series, they’re far less dangerous because their Jiu-Jitsu knowledge is more superficial. On a more fundamental level their movement as a whole might not be great. Rather than focusing on specific techniques, I feel what’s been able to help me and my students succeed pretty rapidly has really been trying to focus on how to move rather than a series of techniques…I’ve noticed a massive change for the positive.

-Ryan Hall

MY TURN TO FIND OUT

2009-10-05T12:26:00.003+08:00

So I know this isn't a particularly original revelation - I've heard lots of guys talk about how they like to play Jiu-Jitsu without submissions, or just catch and release. But over the last couple of months I've come to understand that Jiu-Jitsu really is arte suave - the "gentle art" - and it's more important than, oh, say, winning.

SO, UH...

2009-09-08T18:01:00.003+08:00

It's been business as usual for the past two weeks or so, apart from my not doing any competition training - which is fine, it's still Jiu-Jitsu and that's all good. Since the Pan Asians in May I find I've been really branching out and playing with all-new stuff on a regular basis. That's really fun in and of itself but the fact that I'm not preoccupied with a tournament looming on the horizon means I can really let go and play.

Which is not to say I'm happy I'm not going to Bangkok. I was really looking forward to not just the challenge, but seeing a lot of friends, and I'll not be sad to see the end of September. I notice Isaac's name isn't on the list anymore either, which is a bit of a bummer as since I wouldn't be there, he was my pick to win my division.

What else is new...oh, I keep getting knocks on my bad eye. Murphy's law has really zoomed in on that one, it's taken three hits in the last week from relatively freakish accidents. My glasses slipped in my hands as I put them on, poking me in the eye. I go to defend a punch that takes a weird curve and the velcro in my glove scrapes the eyeball. Most recently I was playing no-gi and when I was defending against a stack I manage to knee myself in the eye. Thank God for medicated eyedrops.

Attendance in the CMD classes has been picking up, which is pretty exciting, and I'm looking to get the BJJ program some advertising, so we'll see how that plays out.

MINDFULNESS VS. "NO-MIND"

2009-08-21T13:23:00.003+08:00

For the lack of a better way to say it, this is something I've been trying to figure out for myself. When you play BJJ, do you stay present and mindful of yourself and the situation, or do you just go all zen, blank out and just do whatever? I can see both sides of the argument having good points. It gets a bit confusing for me, though, as each side has some really credible support.

For example, Saulo Ribeiro is one of those who advocate the no-mind-let-your-body-know-what-it-knows-to-do style of rolling. He quotes Rickson(?) by saying "if you think, you are late. If you are late, you use strength. If you use strength, you get tired. If you get tired, you die." (source: Jiu-Jitsu University - IMHO a freaking incredible resource that was worth every cent!) That says it all so I won't try to elaborate.

On the other hand, Roger Gracie prefers to stay present and think his way through matches. To paraphrase him, "it's like chess. You've got to think. If you don't use your brain, you're going to lose" (source: Arte Suave vol. 1). It's really not as though you could argue with the man, based on his results. It is of course valid to note, though, not everyone is 6 foot 4, trains with a number of the greatest sport BJJ players alive, is super-strong, and has freakish Cobrinha-level technical ability - all at once.

For myself, I've noticed big results when I don't actively try to think my way through things. In rolling in the gym, or in competition matches, some of the best stuff I've ever done came in the absence of conscious thought. And on the other side, when I lose in competition, it's because I tried to use my head and work stuff out - while my opponent is already acting.

Which is not to discount engaging the mind and applying problem-solving skills to BJJ. I get a big kick anytime I'm able to have a game plan when I roll,and then implement what I can and adapt on the fly. For me, it feels really awesome if I can go in with an actual strategy. Just being able to read the situation and use tactics to get by is something I find amazing. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it's really quite cool. This must be how rock climbers feel.

BLARGH

2009-08-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

I'm withdrawing from the Bangkok Competition in September. I'm not injured, and I didn't give up competing - there's some stuff that has to take priority over this trip. That's just how it is.

Big ups and all the best to everyone who's still in. Especially to all my friends over there in Bangkok BJJ and also the Malaysian contingent. Stay safe, don't get hurt, and have fun!

And bringing some metal home with you would also be nice :)

RODNEY KING SEMINAR @ KDTA

2009-08-09T18:58:00.003+08:00

The weekend is over and with it, the latest Rodney King seminar at KDT. I had a tremendous time as usual, it was a lot of fun to hang out with everyone from the gym again. It was also good to meet James Woodfield-Jones, who is a new CMD trainer from Perth. Rodney was back and brought with him some really top-notch material for BJJ, CMD and MMA training. Some highlights for me included:

*Rodney's Combat Intelligent Athlete (CIA) module, which is a tool to help with preparation for self-defense. He covered some very interesting insights on self-defense and how these situations affect you physiologically.
*Of course, getting to hang out with Adam. Bummer that I couldn't train with him but there'll be time for that. Oh yes. Time there will be.
*James and (belatedly) Adam got promoted to Trainer! Congratulations, guys!
*Rodney's BJJ material. He covered some guard passing stuff which he actually showed before, but I seriously appreciated this second round. Last time there was a lot of stuff to go over and I wasn't able to get everything down on paper. This time though, I think I could understand a lot more of it, having had months to let it sit. Plus he showed some cool nuances to the techniques which were very cool.
*Kon and Naresh from Kreation BJJ in Singapore made the trip up and it was really cool to see them there.

I appreciate every opportunity to go to KDT, it's just that being such a huge seminar, it really made it quite the occasion. I'm a bit bummed that it's all over (a feeling reminiscent of the post-holiday blues, actually), but there's the seminar at Studio 23 coming up, and I definitely have a load of stuff to play with until the next seminar. It should be another awesome time and I'm so looking forward to it!

EXQUISITE TORTURE...

2009-08-08T19:09:00.003+08:00

...is being in a room full of BJJ people and NOT BEING ABLE TO ROLL BECAUSE OF YOUR EYE. Almost all the KDT regulars were there at open mats. I especially wanted to train with Rich, who I've only recently met but who is a great (and really strong and skilled) guy. The salt in this wound was that Adam was also in town for Rodney's seminar and I couldn't roll with him. At least I get to train with him in Bangkok, but that's a month away and for right now it's really killing me.

At least the eye is doing much better now and I will hopefully be able to be on the mats (as opposed to sitting at the side with a notebook) when Rodney is over at Studio 23 in a few days' time.

*SIGH*

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN TIMED BETTER, IS ALL

2009-08-06T17:41:00.004+08:00

About 2 weeks ago I reaggravated the injury in my left eye. It wasn't so bad immediately, but a few days later when I woke up it started to feel like someone was scraping my eyeball with sandpaper. To make things even more fun, I could see a white dot on my iris. A trip to the doctor confirmed that not only did I have corneal scarring, the injury was infected. Extreme light sensitivity, sporadic pain and it honestly didn't help that I was so insistent on touching my eye. The doctor gave me some medicated eyedrops and away I went.

It's now much better, no more real pain, though there still is some irritation, which was made worse by the onset of the haze. There's nothing like waking up and smelling the faint scent of burning to start the day on the wrong foot. The odd thing is though, I started to notice that (I have required glasses to correct shortsightedness in both eyes since I was a teenager) I could clearly make out shapes and lines with my injured eye.

After the initial confusion, I went to the doctor again and was told that the scarring changed the shape of my eye. So it seems that me getting injured actually helped my vision(!!). Except, of course, for the fact that all my prescription glasses now have to be changed, including a really cool pair of sunglasses I just had made. Plus it appears that I'm now farsighted in the left eye, as things really up close are a bit blurry. Oh well, makes things more interesting, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm flying to KL tomorrow for the weekend, as Rodney King is in town for seminars at KDT. What's more, he'll be coming to Kuching for a seminar at where else, but Studio 23! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in KL, and a fairly relaxing time since I obviously can't do any standup for the moment. Here we go!

SO. MUCH. ENVY.

2009-07-27T21:49:00.003+08:00

On the latest Fightworks Podcast, they've got Andrew Smith from U.S. Grappling on the show. He was talking about his most recent tournament, a submissions-only, NO TIME LIMIT event. In his words, "if a match goes a couple of hours, it goes a couple of hours". Smith goes on to add "almost all the competitors walk away extremely happy with the outcome, because nobody can complain about the outcome".

Now, fair enough, maybe I'm biased. But GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST, WE NEED THESE EVENTS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA.

Anyway, it's also a really good episode. I think so, anyway. Ryan Hall is on it. So, yeah. U. S. Grappling = two thumbs up!

HERE WE GO AGAIN

2009-07-17T18:10:00.003+08:00

Online registration for the 2009 Thailand BJJ Open is now live. I've got myself down with lots of time to spare to get a free rashguard out of it! I thought I was early enough last year to snag one but I suppose not. Ah well.

I see loads of familiar names on the list already, and I'm looking forward to a great time! I'm planning to take some time off to stay in Bangkok after the competition, so I'll also be looking to do the no-gi competition.

It'll be my first experience competing without a gi and frankly I have no idea what to expect (not to mention, going by the experience chart, I'm supposed to be in the advanced category, hah). It's all good though, at least I'll finally get to see what it's all about.

Right now I'm the only one on the list from Malaysia. Come on you slackers! ;)

IF ONLY

2009-07-08T11:22:00.001+08:00

I was reading the recent Cobrinha interview on Facebook (the full transcript appears on BJJ Asia) and the thing that made the most impact on me was when he talked about how he used to be a baker and still enjoys it – but doesn’t get much time for life outside BJJ, as one may imagine.

I don’t know how common this sentiment is, but something that sometimes pops up in my head is a feeling along the lines of:

“Oh man, if I had been training BJJ since I was a kid, I would be really good now.”

Maybe now and then it would be more like:

“Wow, if I hadn’t spent all that time playing Warcraft / at the office / doing nothing / reading comics (I do not, in fact, regret that last one), and just put all that energy into Jiu-Jitsu, I could be so much better now.”

Very rarely, this comes in the form of something like:

“I wish I had a BJJ group around me when I was younger, like the Gracies had – being so fully immersed in Jiu-Jitsu from childhood would have been awesome!”

I can’t be the only one to have felt things like this. I think it’s not uncommon to look at a Rickson, or a Roger, or whoever, and wonder what I could be like with the same kind of background. Honestly, who wouldn’t want that kind of amazing skill and insight into the game – and to still be whatever age you are?

I say it’s perfectly normal to look at a mind-numbing, soul-crushing office job and wish you could just throw it all away and go do BJJ every day. Jiu-Jitsu 3 times a day, 7 days a week, would sure sound appealing when faced with a backed-up inbox and a 12-hour day of conference calls and client meetings.

For me, it’s understandable to wish you had the kind of support for Jiu-Jitsu that kids in Brazil seem to enjoy so much. Wouldn’t it be so cool to have a group of enthusiastic guys to push me in all things BJJ, to have that brotherhood and community to challenge and encourage me?

Upon reflection I think the important thing to remember is that people like Roger, Saulo and all the other amazing BJJ players I could name are who they are – and still have the desire and motivation to train BJJ – because they each lived a life that not everyone was meant to have.

If we are shaped by our experiences, then how can anyone say they would be who they are now if they lived a vastly different life? Would I really be so in love with Jiu-Jitsu if I had to be around it every day from since I was a toddler? And what about my relationships with friends and family, how would they be different if my whole life was all about training?

The more I think about it, the more I’m really thankful for my experiences, and where they’ve brought me in my life. I’m thankful for the ability to just buy a bunch of DVDs and benefit from the experiences and sacrifices of a Cobrinha, a Saulo, a Galvao, or what have you. I’m thankful I get to train Jiu-Jitsu, compete in Jiu-Jitsu, and travel and make friends from all around the world, because I choose to.

FUN AT ESCOBAR BJJ

2009-06-19T11:01:00.004+08:00

A couple of nights ago I was finally able to make it out to Kota Damansara where Marcos Escobar, a 2nd Degree Black Belt with Check Mat, runs a BJJ class. Finding the place was no problem, and parking was plentiful as by 9pm most of the tenants there have long since left for home.

Right as soon as I was about to lock my car up I noticed Roy, who was one of the first guys I ever trained with and who was himself getting his stuff ready for class. It was great to see him again, it must have been 2 years since the last time we rolled. I also saw a bunch of friendly faces while I was waiting for the class. Aaron, Eugene and a few of the other guys who went to Manila were there, among others.

Marcos took us through a great warmup, as well as a really nice guard drill before finishing up with a transition to kneeride and choke. It was all excellent food for thought and I enjoyed it. Rolling after the class was also very fun. I got to go with the blues in the class, as well as Marcos himself, who was very open and friendly.

I would like to say this about the guy: I've met Black Belts who talk a good game and put forward this image of themselves as laid-back avant-garde hippies, but when they roll and don't get their way with lower belts, will invariably end up kicking it into high gear and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at their hapless target.

Marcos is not one of those guys, and in fact I had a tremendous amount of fun rolling with the guy. I got hit with an armbar that was so smooth I didn't even realise it was on the way until it was too late. So right there I picked up one more thing to watch out for.

I really liked that there were so many familiar faces in the class, and it helped me feel immediately at ease. I look forward to the next time I get to go train there!

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: MUNDIALS SURVIVAL GUIDE

2009-06-17T15:35:00.004+08:00

1. They only really cared about you videotaping matches on the final day. I saw a lot of people break out their video cameras and tape black belt matches on Saturday, and nobody cared. It was only on the day of the finals that they started searching bags. I did not video any matches after Thursday (the only day that it was officially allowed), partly because I didn't want to have my camera taken away or something, but I was also still wallowing in righteous indignation.

2. If you're there with friends, excellent. But if you're there on your own, don't bring more than 1 bag, the room is just too huge and you won't be able to keep an eye on your stuff the whole time. Also, if you have to go to the bathroom or buy some food (see next) you will have to lug your stuff everywhere with you.

2a. Travel as light as possible. Leave extra space in your bag for food, maybe an extra T-shirt and maybe a couple of DVDs that you may or may not (you know, inevitably) purchase.

3. Buy extra food and water in advance. You don't want to be starving but afraid to leave your seat. This scenario will usually take place in addition to one of the following circumstances: either there's nobody in line at the concession stands but there's a hugely important match coming up, or there's a lull in the action and everybody wants to get a hot dog. Buy extra food in advance. Bring your own water though.

(note: the hot dogs at the Walter Pyramid were in my opinion incredibly good, I didn't try the pizza though)

3a. If you're interested not in the regular food, but the açaí, then you don't have to worry, as the stand for that should be located in an area with a good view of the mats. They may change the location for next year but I honestly don't see why they would, as it made it so much easier for them to sell their product. Which was fantastic.

4. Bring a bit of extra cash but leave the credit card at home. If you're anything like me you simply won't be able to walk past the DVDs and not "have a look", no matter how many times you do so.

5. Are you competing? Get there early on your first day. If you do not, then the line to collect your competitor T-shirt may take 30-60 minutes to get through. Why? I don't know, it seems like it's pretty straightforward: say hello, tell them who you are and show your ID, collect your stuff and go away. Someone will always manage to drag this process out for several minutes.

6. If you are a competitor but you only see action on some of the days, you will be able to enter as a spectator for free (normal spectator fee is $10), which is nice - just go through the athletes entrance, EXCEPT on the day of the finals. Be aware that on the last day everyone except black belt competitors has to pay a $15 entrance fee. I was a bit shocked at this. I understand why they did it, which still doesn't make it OK, but whatever.

7. Bring an iPod. Mundials competition is a huge game of "hurry up and wait", and trust me, the waiting you have to do will be excruciating. It's MUCH better with friends around but it's nothing short of torture if you have nobody to talk to.

WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN

2009-06-11T23:33:00.001+08:00

The last 2 days of the Mundials were crazy, with loads of awesome matches to be seen. I didn’t stay the whole day on Saturday, and had to leave before Kron Gracie and Marcelo Garcia had their matches, but I did get to watch Braulio Estima and Roger Gracie in their absolute matches.

On the Sunday I got there in time to catch Cobrinha’s first match. Later that day I met up again with the Factory BJJ team, as well as fellow CMD trainer, Cecil Burch! It was excellent to meet him finally, and he struck me as being a great guy. I hung around until just after the last matches of the day then left for the airport.

So here’s a bunch of random thoughts from the competition:

I was really struck by the sheer scale of the Mundials. When they say “world championships” they mean it. It’s crazy how big this competition is. ESPECIALLY for a guy from South-East Asia. I’m used to having 3 to 4 guys in my division. Everything wraps up nicely in a day and you can stay to watch every last match. And if you’ve been to maybe 2 of them, you already know at least half the people there. Now, the Mundials, unless you don’t care at all about life outside BJJ, it’s just about impossible to watch everyone’s division. It’s exhausting, really…in a good way, but still. It would be so easy to burn out from 4 solid days of BJJ, 9 to 12 hours each.

Roger and Braulio were easily, for me, the definite highlight of the whole Mundials. I saw loads of people play for points and then stall to the end so it was both really satisfying and really inspiring to see people go out and actually submit their opponents. As far as the matches I watched, that is to say, as many as possible, Roger tapped everyone out and Braulio won all his matches by submission except his division final.

Braulio Estima has, in my opinion, the single coolest name in all of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, rated higher than even “Cobrinha” on the grounds that it’s his actual name.

My favourite match of the competition was probably Roger Gracie v. Rafael Lovato. This one was pretty amazing to see; almost no other match (Cobrinha v. Rafael Mendes and Kron Gracie v. Lucas Leite were probably the others) that I watched had as many people in the audience more pumped up to watch. For me, this match wins out because it’s the only one that ended with a submission instead of points or referee decision.

Gilbert Burns, after winning a match on Saturday, decides to taunt the losing player’s team, by doing the little Atos victory dance – 2 slashing motions and a stabbing motion with an imaginary sword (the Atos crest is a sword and shield) – in their direction. Normally that sort of thing is just being a poor winner. But when the team you decide to flip off is Alliance, people will start wondering if you’ve lost your marbles. The whole Alliance team was singing chants at him for maybe a few minutes, it was awesome. Not the greatest exercise in public relations but really fun to watch.

Gui Mendes, after winning his division final, also decides to do the little Atos dance and use it to cheese off the Alliance bench. The only thing was his opponent (Samuel Braga) was from Gracie Barra. Then, after the match (more below) he goes and celebrates with the Barra team, which at that point was sitting right next to Alliance.

Samuel Braga, after being (IMHO) ruthlessly and blatantly stalled out by Gui Mendes, decides to shove Gui and get in his face. Yes, what happened to him in that match was really frustrating, but he lost any sympathy the crowd had for him. The organizers also weren’t impressed, and DQ’ed him, stating that “there will be no 2nd place in this division”.

After Michael Langhi won his division final match, against Gilbert Burns no less, Sergio Moraes runs on to the mat and does the Atos JJ dance at Langhi, whose response was to get his hands in a machine gun motion and riddle Moraes, who falls over flat, with scores of imaginary bullets. Just about everyone in the room went crazy for that. Makes you wonder how long they were waiting to do that.

After Sergio Moraes won his division semi-final and Romulo Barral won his division final, they spent time to give their opponents respect. They got their team to cheer and/or sing to honour the loser, which I thought was really classy.

I get there on Saturday and find a spot on the bleachers. After a minute I notice a guy sitting a few seats away. I’m thinking “hey, that guy looks just like Xande Ribeiro. Can’t be him though, he’s way too huge.” And then I notice he’s wearing a “University of Jiu-Jitsu” shirt and he’s talking to Saulo. What? He looks a lot skinnier on Youtube.

My vote for the best team would probably go to Alliance. Not because of any success on the mats, but because of the tremendous support they gave their players, it was nothing short of amazing. Fabio Gurgel was always there to lead the team in chants and songs. They were easily and by far the most vocal bunch of supporters – every time they won a big match, everybody in the room knew about it. They also had a huge flag bearing the team logo and waved it every chance they got. I wish every team was as supportive of their guys as Alliance.

For much of the time I really enjoyed the location of my seat, which was on the side with the bulk of the Barra supporters. The guys I was most there to watch were Roger and Braulio so this meant everyone near me was also cheering for them. A bonus to this was that it was the best possible place to watch the Alliance team go crazy.

After Rafael Lovato lost in his division I saw him sitting by himself. I could feel the anguish and frustration from all the way in the stands. He didn’t break down or anything, he was just really quiet. Some guys will lose it right on the mats and I’ll feel bad for them. Rafael sat there by himself and it was heartbreaking. Royler walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder and walked away without saying anything. I would not even try to compare my disappointment to his, and it gave me some valuable perspective.

There was another moment of silence on Sunday to honour Helio Gracie. The whole building went dead silent and for just a minute, we were all family members at a belated wake. They played a video of his life and you could see all these world-class BJJ players looking up at Helio. “What? No I just have some dirt in my eye.”

Marcelo Garcia is still incredible.

The Budo Videos guys were really cool as well, and really helped me out. I needed to get some stuff that they didn’t have available at the competition so they brought it over from their store (which I also went to, it’s a bit small but very impressive…just costs a lot to cab there from downtown Long Beach).

Cobrinha won his division semi-final and final matches by referee decision. I know that these matches are really close but I did feel just a bit unsatisfied. Not just as a spectator but I can only imagine the sense of injustice felt by the “loser”. It happened a whole lot of times that the score would finish perfectly tied, and the referees would pick the winner. The thing I found a bit awkward is that both players would always raise their hands and act like they already won.

At the Budo Videos booth looking to buy some dvds, the guy I’m talking to asks me to hold on a sec. He says to someone behind me, “hey, Rickson”. I’m thinking, “ehh?” I turn my head to the left and sure enough, Rickson Gracie is standing right there. I did a pretty good job of being cool, but what I really wanted to do was scream, ask him for an autograph and a photo and then have a heart attack.

Demian Maia and BJ Penn were there to check the competition out. That was pretty cool to see.

My favourite personality at the competition was the announcer on Thursday, no idea who he is. He was a big guy and whenever someone didn’t show up on time and missed the warnings, the whole room would hear something to the effect of, “(NAME), you are NOW oFFICially DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE KEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” in this awesome bass voice. It was brutal. Sometimes he would do it in a southern drawl. It got to the point where some audience members would sing along.

TOURNAMENT REPORT: MUNDIALS 2009

2009-06-05T20:19:00.004+08:00

Thursday June 4: Woke up to some abysmal weather, especially considering we were in Southern California. Took a cab and got to the Walter Pyramid around 10.30 or so in the morning. Spent some time getting used to the place and such, checked out the merchandise booths.

I managed to catch up with Adam Adshead and the Factory BJJ guys and chatted with them for a bit. It was good to meet them. Didn't see anyone else I knew well enough to just go up to and say hi, but I definitely saw some recognizable people.

Around a half hour or so before my division's scheduled start time I went down to the holding area to get warmed up. John from Factory BJJ was in my division and we passed a bit of the time chatting, but he got called up first at I don't know, maybe half past 2.

I was there for a good while before my name got called. I don't know how long, but it felt like forever. Then when my name did get called, it felt like another eternity (I was told later it was around 40 minutes or so) before I even had my gi checked.

Match 1: v. Omar Rashid, from Rick Young's Blackbelt Academy

The match started with us working for sleeve grips. He jumps guard and right away starts to look for a cross lapel choke. He doesn't get it (though the scrapes on my face are still evident some 12 hours later) and I go for an Ezequiel. He doesn't let me get it, and keeps me pushed away. He keeps working for a sweep by trying to underhook my leg, but I use the opportunity to underhook his head and go for a choke.

After a few minutes of this, the referee stands us both up, gives each of us an advantage (for stalling, apparently, I'm not sure how this works) and makes us go again. He jumps guard though and it's the same thing over again, albeit this time he's got a bit more urgency about his game.

I don't let him get anything, he tries a couple of sweeps (from the same underhook setup) but I base out. I'm trying to pop his legs open to pass his guard but I guess I left a hole open so he jumps in and goes for a triangle. He cinches it in, but I'm nowhere close to tapping. However, my best guess is that the Mundial-brand adrenaline was pumping, because I just couldn't break his legs open. Time gets called and the referee awards him an advantage for the triangle.

Result: LOSS VIA POINTS: Me - 0 points, 1 advantage. Omar: 0 points, 2 advantages.

It was a bit of a surprise, as I really didn't think we were taking that much time. I thought I still had maybe another minute to get things done. I shook hands with him and we thanked each other. He seems like a nice guy.

I don't feel like I was very affected by the atmosphere. Once we touched hands, it was like I forgot where I was and it was just the two of us. Having said that, I was surprised by all the faces I could make out. Robert Drysdale was walking around, Marcelo Garcia was sitting a few rows behind me and I could swear I saw Saulo Ribeiro there. While waiting for my match, I saw Leo Vieira and Lucas Leite chatting to some competitors.

So for me, yes the experience was quite surreal, but as far as the actual Jiu-Jitsu part, I don't think I let it get to me. I went in with a strategy and maybe I was too rigid in following it, whatever, it didn't pay off. Full credit to Omar, who played his game, stopped me from playing mine, and got the win fairly.

While it was an extremely disappointing way to lose - the worst part was that I was still fresh, and had to go home without even sweating - I'm trying to take as many positives from this as I can. Don't get me wrong, this is pretty hard to swallow, but judging from the sheer amount of what-if-20-20-hindsight-coulda-shoulda-woulda scenarios running through my head, I definitely have a list of things to analyse and to work on.

I'm so very thankful to God that I even got the chance to be here, to see what it was like at this level of competition (even if it was only for six minutes) and that I have such an amazing wife and family, who have fully supported my crazy globe-trotting BJJ adventures. They know I'm not done yet and they don't care.

I'll be taking Friday off, before heading back to catch all the black belt action on Saturday and Sunday.

When I get home I think I'll be giving my BJJ mind a good rest, during which time I look forward to occupying my Dungeons & Dragons mind. Next competition stop: Bangkok!

GETTING CLOSE

2009-06-04T02:48:00.003+08:00

Posted: Wednesday June 3, 11.45 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. My division is set to go at 2pm tomorrow. Brackets have been posted and my first guy also has a bunch of tournament wins under his belt. Seems he's from Scotland, which means that one way or the other, somebody travelled a long way to lose in the first round. All I can really do is pray that I'm able to give it my best and play my game.

I'll be heading to the venue later to check it out and get a feel for the area. Taxi fares cost an arm and a leg over here! Thank God there's a city bus that stops in front of my hotel.

I still feel good. Going to relax today and take care of my mind.

SAY WHA?

2009-06-01T23:10:00.005+08:00

Long Beach is freezing, the 3-day forecast won't put the high above 21 degrees celcius. Nobody knows why. My hotel is pretty awesome though. So far that's my favourite thing about the trip: there's a really good competitor discount for a whole bunch of hotels in the area.

I just found out some pretty important details though:

1. The schedule, newly released, has me competing in my division on Thursday and not Friday as I was expecting. Not a tremendously huge deal but it did catch me a little off guard and means I have less time to do touristy stuff with my wife. The absolute is to be on Friday.

2. NO VIDEO CAMERAS ALLOWED ON FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. I'm NOT happy about this, as not only have they not given any indication that recording would be banned - I've JUST bought a HDD camera to record the black belt matches. GAH. Well, at least I'll get to have my division matches taped.

Edit: GAHHH!!!

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:8

2009-05-28T14:28:00.000+08:00

Day 60 (May 28)
Have just checked the Mundial competitor list and since the last time I read it, 24 guys have been added for a grand total of 72. For most guys that's a lot. For me it's a phenomenal number. Strangely, I'm much more excited about competing than I am anxious. I really can't wait to get out there and roll. I feel good, fitness level is alright, and I should be fine if I can make it past the first round.

Taking it easy on the strength training but I'm pretty confident in that respect. My main focus until the competition is done will be my mental game (I say that like I know what I'm talking about, but mostly I just watch Roger Gracie videos on Youtube), but I will be packing my skipping rope for maintenance fitness work / weight watching.

I read that only the top 3 finishers in each blue belt division will be eligible to join the absolute, which I thought was funny. If my division stays at 72, then unless I'm mistaken, just getting to the division final means I have to do 7 matches. Some divisions have more than 100 people. Assuming the top 3 from each division accept, it means 27 competitors, or another 5 matches to win that as well. I've never in my life come across a mountain that I've wanted to climb more than this.

Class tonight will be a bit more relaxed, as not only is it my last day at the Studio before heading to KL, but it will be the last class for a couple of guys who are moving soon.I fly to KL on Friday night and before my flight on Saturday there's enough time to go to open mats at KDT. I'm just going to take it nice and easy, savour the moment and enjoy my life - which right now is just a whole lot of fun.

“WHAT DO YOU –MEAN-, ‘I’M NOT GOING!?’”

2009-05-26T13:30:00.001+08:00

I've been getting this a lot lately. For the last week I’ve been debating my attendance at the Mundials, which is why I haven’t posted anything about plyometric chinups or whatever.

It’s a long story and I guess I don’t have to go into very much detail about this. Suffice it to say that it’s not been fun. There were a lot of reasons for me to stay in Malaysia and I’ve been busy dealing with them. Even as late as yesterday morning, I was convinced I should just withdraw.

Something then happened to change my mind and get me back on track. Again, there’s not much need to go into it right now, but the end result is that I will in fact be there this year.

I’ve just checked the competitor list and there’s now 48 guys, which means a current maximum of 6 matches. It’s by far and away the largest competition I could even think about entering. I’ll have to fly to the other side of the world, deal with a 16-hour time difference and I fully expect every one of these guys to want this as much as I do.

Which is fine. I am going to the Mundials to give it everything I have and, win or lose, I will carry God and His Word with me.

Time to get back to training.

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:7

2009-05-16T22:42:00.000+08:00

Day 41 (May 9)
Training: Open mats was pretty good today, I’m messing about more with my open guard game and I can see clear signs of improvement, which is very encouraging.

Day 43 (May 11)
Conditioning: Chelseas x14 sets – Was halfway through set 15 but some people walked in and asked me about classes. Oh well. Decided to track my progress with the skipping rope, I’m averaging 140-ish reps in a 60-second period (high of 164).

Day 44 (May 12)
Checked the competitor list and now there’s 11 guys in my division. Around 3 weeks to go and it’s already almost the biggest division I’ve ever been in (12 guys in the 2007 Machado Nationals). But the divisions right above mine are pushing 30 guys. Yow.

Training: BJJ class was fun, no big surprise there. Afterwards I rolled with Ivan, not sure for how long, but it ended when I tried to pass his guard at the same time as he pulled me forward for a scissor sweep and we headbutted each other. We didn’t get cut but I was just happy that his forehead missed my eye. Spent the next 15 minutes chatting and holding cans of 100 Plus to our faces.

Day 46 (May 16)
Training: Open mats today was really good. 6-minute rounds with Ivan (82-ish kilos) and Greg (87-ish kilos but he used to play high-level rugby and is huge to boot) rotating, and a short break in between rounds (never more than 5 minutes). I went 11 rounds which doesn’t seem like much I know, but what can I say…they’re big, strong boys.

In 2 weeks I’ll be off on my biggest BJJ adventure yet: the Mundials. It kind of doesn’t seem real that I’m actually competing in the world championships (but if this swine flu thing gets much worse it may still not be). I feel pretty good, and should be good to go. I’ll have a few days in LA before the competition so I may be able to get away with another two nights of good rolls before I have to be on my way.

Weight check: (before open mats) 67.5 kilos without gi, (after open mats) 67 kilos without gi. Maybe I should start slowing down my fiber intake. Where did I put that loaf of white bread?

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:6

2009-05-08T12:07:00.001+08:00

Day 37 (May 5)
Training: First night back in BJJ class. Had a really good bunch of rolls, inspired both by stuff I saw at the competition and also by a few really good videos I’ve seen recently. Feeling a bit of fatigue though, so will probably take it easy for this week and then start picking it up again.

Day 38 (May 6)
Official results for the Pan Asians are up on BJJ Asia. I see that my studio is properly listed, which was nice (“Studio 23” is also a TV station in the Philippines so they weren’t sure how to announce my team, but on the results they were kind enough to include “Malaysia” in the team name so there would be less confusion).

Day 39 (May 7)
Weight check: 67.5 kilos without gi. It’s time for some fried chicken! Can’t be getting too skinny now (Slow news day).

Training: Had another good class. Messing about with all kinds of fun stuff now (Cobrinha guard, what?). Maybe I’m just more relaxed after the competition is all said and done, I’m not sure. Started my conditioning routine again today but am looking to ease into it.

Got home and found out that the competitor list for the Mundials is also out. So far there’s 9 guys in my division including me. Why, hello there, anxiety! Haven’t seen you in a few days, how you doing?

BACK IN KL

2009-05-03T20:39:00.001+08:00

Waiting in KLIA for my flight back to Kuching, and there's a booth with free internet access so hey.

The no-gi day was really good. It went by much faster than I expected, and it turns out I could actually have competed in my division before going (the absolute would have made me miss my flight).

There were a lot of good matches on show, with at least one flying armbar and loads of very cool sweeps. The highlight of the day, possibly both days of the competition, was the Advanced division, which was packed with talent. Sebastian and Scott were in it, as were Marcos Escobar, Jason Bukich (from BJJ Taiwan) and Makoto Ogasawara (who was also representing BJJ Taiwan.

I did get to watch Marcos and Jason go at it before I had to leave, and it was an amazing match. Simply amazing. It was back and forth and back again, with Marcos losing out on a single advantage point. I actually thought it was going his way but for a last second submission attempt.

I'm really happy I got to go, even with all the delays and quirks of the trip and what not. I don't regret it mainly because of all the awesome people I got to catch up with (or meet for the first time). I enjoyed hanging out with the Escobar BJJ team and hope to see them more in future competitions (and for them to take part in the absolute, you know who you are!).

Finally, I have to say it was worth it for one more competition with Aziz. He quit his job and will shortly depart on a truly epic globe-trotting adventure. Biking it across the UK, visiting Africa, and even training BJJ in Brazil with Demian Maia's people!

I'm really going to miss not hanging out with him at my competitions (he was there at my last four, he's like a fixture!). Safe travels, my friend, and hope to roll with you again one day soon.

TOURNAMENT REPORT: MANILA

2009-05-03T00:32:00.014+08:00

EDITED for some stuff I forgot (like putting in the NAME of the competition, duh). What, I wrote this at 2 in the morning.

I'm just going to treat this post as "COMPETITION JOURNAL 2009:5".

Day 31 (May 1)
Flew from Kuching to KL. You know how some people clap when the plane lands? Well, my guys applauded when the plane took off. They also applauded when the plane landed. And when the stewardess announced, "ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Kuala Lumpur International Airport". Some even clapped when everyone stood up to get their bags. The food was really good though, a veggie omelette.

Flew from KL to Manila after a short transit period. Food was also very impressive, a chicken curry with briyani rice that I wouldn't let myself finish, *SIGH*.

Got to the hotel after a surprisingly long taxi ride. It seems like I got the old bait and switch again by the internet - I could have sworn it was something like 2 kilometers from the airport to the hotel. I get here and ask where SM Mall of Asia (venue for the competition - I deliberately booked it as it was "just down the street") and I am informed that it is a 20-minute walk.

I get in touch with Aziz, and am tempted to cancel my room reservation and go stay where he is if he's closer. He's not. Never mind then, I check in and get sorted, then decide to walk to the mall.

Online, all the buildings are friendly, orange rectangles beside a welcoming street in a matching orange (which looks a very invitingly short length, relative to the nice, happy buildings. It makes it seem that you can just pop back and forth in between the hotel and mall. In reality, I had to navigate a semi-complex system of elevated walkways connected to the public trains (for this being my first time, I was a bit disoriented), and then duck across a couple of main highways, passing through some ghetto-looking area.

The mall itself is very impressive. Loads of stuff to check out, I could spend a day here window shopping. I went to get some dinner, which ended up in the form of a teriyaki chicken salad that was actually really, really good. I also scouted the area where the competition would be held, the Music Hall. I got close to it and heard a loud commotion. I thought, "this doesn't sound like a bunch of guys setting up a BJJ comp?"

It wasn't. There was some fun fair type thing happening, and on the main stage there was some Filipino boy band singing Akon covers. I thought that was funny, and left it at that. I have to say they were actually quite good though.

After picking up the obligatory supplies for the coming day (bananas, Gatorade, water, Mars bars) I cabbed it to Aziz's hotel. When I got there what greeted me but the sight of several hundred soldiers and SWAT teams, armed with automatic rifles and riot gear. Yup. Apparently every year at this time there's a riot in front of the American embassy, which is right next to the hotel. How come Lonely Planet never covers this kind of stuff, huh?

I met Aziz in the lobby and we walked through several battalions on the way to find some place to eat and catch up. I really enjoy hanging out with this guy, it's one of the things that has helped make my three previous competitions that much more fun.

Went to bed at 11pm.

Day 32 (May 2) - COMPETITION DAY - PAN ASIAN BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU INTERNATIONAL
Woke up at 2am. Tried to get back to sleep.
Woke up at 3am. Tried to get back to sleep.
Woke up at 4am. Tried to get back to sleep.
Woke up at 5am. Tried to get back to sleep.
Got up at 5.20am. I have no idea why my sleep was so restless, this has never happened before.

Took a cab to SM Mall of Asia at 7am. I really didn't want to walk all that way again. Besides, I want to get there nice and early, right (they listed their start time at 9am)? Right?

Get to Music Hall at 7.20am or so. There's almost nobody else here. Fine, so I pull out the ipod.

8am comes and goes. People start showing up at 8.30 though, that wasn't too painful. When most of the people are there, we start registering and I find out that while you can check your weight, official weigh-ins are not until right when your division gets together.

If the wait wasn't bad enough, I was also feeling really hungry. I was hoping for a system like they had in the FBT Thailand Open, where you weigh in at the start and you can go do whatever. But the BJJFP is now affiliated with the IBJJF, so we have to use their rules. Ok, so how long do I have to wait? I am told blue belts won't compete until 2pm. Huh?

I spent time chatting with Aziz and also some of the Escobar BJJ guys. It was good to catch up with guys like Eugene and Aaron, who I had not seen in a long while.

At one point, though, I spotted Silvio Braga there! I talked to him for a bit and was surprised to see he still remembers me. Either that or he has at least a passing memory of an Asian guy with a goatee visiting his BJJ class, I guess we're not all that common. I found out he's planning on opening up his own place in central Hong Kong. Like I said, if I ever do go back to Hong Kong (they have competitions too, right?) I'm definitely packing my gi!

That aside (though it was cool), I was starting to feel a bit miserable. I was really hungry, but didn't want to put myself over the limit. I was making do with munching on some biscuits. They were OK but some big, juicy lamb chops would really have hit the spot.

I also met this guy Ben, who is a Brit living in Japan. He's here representing AACC. He's a cool guy. He's the only person I've met in the 6 years of having the tattoo on my right arm, who recognized the reference, which was very impressive.

They started a bit late (closing in on 11am), beginning with divisions for the kids, women and masters, followed by the first white belt divisions. The kids were first, and I don't know why, but they did a guided warmup on the competition mats for what felt like 30 minutes before starting.

I checked my division when it was posted and found out that my first match would be with JR Santos, whose name sounded familiar. I think I saw him in Thailand. At any rate, he remembered seeing me there. There were 4 guys in my division.

Pretty suddenly though, they made the announcement that the blue belts should start weighing in and warming up! I was surprised, and I knew just by looking around that everyone else was caught off guard too. I rushed to the weigh-in station, clocking in at 68.5 to 69. I'm not exactly sure, it was an analog scale and the needle kept jumping. Anyway.

MATCH 1: MENS' BLUE BELT, PENA DIVISION, v. J R SANTOS, TEAM VPF

As soon as the match started and we got sleeve grips, he jumps guard. He tried to play a very aggressive guard game, but I pretty much knew that's what he was going to try so I flattened him out. He tried to get on an angle to sweep or triangle, but I squared myself up.

I got my arm around the back of his neck and immediately developed "Ezequiel Eyes". Somehow it was the one and only thing that I could see, so it's the only thing I went for. He did open his guard to try and create space to escape a couple of times, but I didn't bother trying to pass. I didn't want to have to deal with his speed (and he did look like a very agile fellow) so I killed his space.

I went for the Ezequiel a couple of times and didn't get it. I heard his coach tell him that's what I wanted, and to counter with a cutting armbar. I thought "OK, I know that counter, I'll be fine. It won't get me".

Then, though, I heard the coach yell out that I wasn't playing a tactical game. At the time I let it roll off my back but the more I think about it, the more I resent it. I feel I played a very tactical game. I knew what this guy wanted to do, and shut him down through a series of very deliberate, sequential actions, with a specific, set goal in mind i.e. the Ezequiel. That's not tactical? But whatever.

In any event, he defended another deep Ezequiel attempt but I finally manage to hit a good one. He fought it as best he could, but I had it locked tight.

Result: Win via submission (Ezequiel choke).

After the match I felt pretty fresh actually. For some strange reason, made stranger by the fact that we were outdoors, I wasn't even sweating much.

MATCH 2: MENS' BLUE BELT, PENA DIVISION, FINAL v. ISAAC CHANG, BJJ TAIWAN

The match started with him playing a very cautious grip game, then as soon as he had a grip he jumped guard. He tried a few hook sweeps but couldn't get them, so he pulled closed guard.

I tried to pop open his legs to pass, but he wasn't having it, keeping my posture broken. At one point he got my left arm across my centreline and tried to take my back, but I walked myself back to face him. He tried a few times to get one of his feet to hook under my leg. I wasn't very comfortable with that but found out I could fix it by straightening the leg and then bringing the knee back in.

After a couple of attempts to pop his guard open he tries to triangle me. I get both arms through between his legs though and I'm safe for the moment.

I hear Aziz yelling at me that I have to do something. I don't remember if he said I was behind on advantages or what have you. Anyway, at that point he tried to sit up and when I flattened him I had my arm around his neck, so what the heck, I went for an Ezequiel.

I get it, and he's also fighting pretty hard. I remember thinking "please don't pull back, just tap, please don't..." and then all the tension in his neck disappears. That's not good. Fortunately I'm now at least slightly useful to have around when someone blacks out. I pulled him up and held his shoulder down in case he forgets where he is (hey, happened to me).

Result: Win via submission (Ezequiel choke).

I spent a bit of time after the match to make sure he was OK and we chatted for a bit. He looks at me, smiles, and says "I should have just opened my guard". Another cool guy, who as things would have it, wouldn't see the end of me just yet.

But in the meantime...

Aziz was going strong in his division, he also had 3 other guys in his division. He won both by points to take gold for the first time as a blue belt! He fully deserves this success, he's worked hard for it and has definitely put the mat time in.

Also, Escobar BJJ took home 2 medals: Eugene won gold in his division and Aaron brought home a bronze. Good work, guys!

MATCH 3: MENS' BLUE BELT, ABSOLUTE v. ISAAC CHANG, BJJ TAIWAN

I was fully expecting to have to go with someone else, as per the printed schedule, but there was some reshuffling and a bunch of guys had their opponents switched.

This was a really interesting match. He had just wrestled me and knew exactly what he didn't want me to do. He gets sleeve grips and immediately goes into a tomoe-nage, which he doesn't finish (and doesn't get takedown points) but he turns it into a helicopter armbar attempt.

Fortunately my arm's at a funny angle for him, so I turn it further to my advantage and pull it out. He spins to face me and gets a butterfly guard, using sleeve grips to trap my arms to the outside of his legs.

It turns out his grips are pretty strong, and it's all I can do to get my arms on the insides of his legs. At one point he isolates one arm and goes for a triangle. Luckily I see it coming and get my other hand in between his legs. He's still going for it though - he has the cutting leg directly across my neck and he's pulling my head down. However, I don't feel any pressure. It's just that I can't posture up.

Scott Calver from Kreation BJJ was there to compete in his Purple belt division and started yelling for me to get my knee to his hips. I do and it helps me escape. I make the mistake of looking at the scoreboard and see that Isaac has an advantage. I stand up to try and pass through his legs, but he grabs my ankle for the sweep and 2 points.

I pull guard, but he stands up, grabs my lapel, straightens his arm and bases out. He's there for the remainder of the match while I try in vain to get something.

Result: Loss via points, ME: 0 points, ISAAC: 2 points, 1 advantage.

It was actually a really fun roll, he's very strong and technical, with a great open guard game (which does make me wonder why he wanted to play closed guard in our division).

After it was all said and done, we got to chill out and watch some great matches. The BJJ Taiwan team put on a terrific show, with guys like Demitri and Vladimir who were really fun to watch. It also helped that their whole team was very cool.

The purple belts also were great to watch, with Mr. Sebastian Desvignes putting on a stellar bunch of performances, even winning the "Match of the Day" award! When I wrestled him in Bangkok he weighed around 85 kilos with gi. Today he weighed in at 79 kilos, and was every bit as strong. His secret? Train 6 days a week and do super cardio. Note to self.

There was also a purple belt from Guam here who was just as impressive as Sebastian, winning the absolute. I think his name is Javier, but I'm not sure. Young, very strong, very skilled, very fast. A total beast.

I went to get changed and got a drink at the nearby Coffee Bean with Aziz, then went back to the seating area and had a good chat with Aaron that lasted maybe 20 minutes. Then we all just kind of sat up and went "hey, where's our medals?" It took them a fair while more to get everything ready for the medal ceremony. Maybe they were still figuring out who won which award for best team, I don't know.

However. When they did announce the medal ceremony was going to start...they made everyone put their gis back on. Yes. That's right. The same disgustingly rank, filthy, sweaty and in some cases blood-encrusted gis that most guys had already changed out of. And if you didn't at least put the top on they made you go back and get dressed. I'm not going to say anymore about this but dude. Seriously.

The night ended with a good dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant in the mall, some lively banter and a spot of shopping. In the morning I'll be heading back to the mall to catch some no-gi action before flying off home (I wanted to enter no-gi but due to the fact there's only one MAS flight a day out of Manila, it turns out I can't both do that and be in Kuching on Monday).

The good:
1. I improved upon my performance in Bangkok. There I got 2 wins (1 by submission, 1 by points) and a loss by 5 points. Here I got 2 wins (both by submission) and a loss by 2 points.
2. All the competitors got a free can of Pocari Sweat.
3. I'm still hard to submit and nobody's gassed me out in the middle of a match before.
4. It's beautifully easy to get a taxi in Manila who won't try and cheat you (especially when compared to Bangkok or even Kuala Lumpur).
5. Malaysia is finally starting to get more BJJ competitors. This time out, there were maybe 6 Malaysians competing, bringing home 2 golds (myself and Eugene) and a bronze (Aaron). I hope this will push them all to do better in the future and get something really cool going.
6. Meeting so many cool guys there. It's always one of the highlights of the tournaments I've been to.

The bad:
1. I still can't get more than 3 matches in a day. I would love to get to 4 but it will be a month until I can try again.
2. If I lose a match it is always because of points. If it weren't completely unfeasible, I would wish that all matches could only end with a submission.
3. In some places they tell you that the lines on the road are just suggestions. Never has that been truer for me than in Manila. I do not know where these people learn to drive, I really don't, but for all the drama you see when just driving around, they could charge admission for joyrides.
4. The medals we got look pretty nice, but maybe I've been spoiled by the Bangkok guys, there's really no comparison between the two. If the Pan Asian medal is the Iron Man movie, then Bangkok BJJ's medal is The Dark Knight (Iron Man was pretty nice, but nonetheless overwhelmed by the sheer, unadulterated awesomeness of Batman).
5. I was there at just after 7am. I thought, cool! I'll show up early because it's bound to be really happening, right? Thanks to a few delays, the competition wrapped up at 8pm. I'm so utterly glad I decided to go so early.
6. The warmup area was tiny (and a lot of people still decided to walk on it with their shoes - oh, a bunch of people also weighed in wearing shoes).

No official comment:
1. The thing about putting your sweaty gi back on to collect your medal. At least one guy was refused his spot on the podium until he went back to collect his gi.
2. General socioeconomic issues that I have.

Thoughts:
1. The purple belt divisions are scary beyond words.
2. If you want to do weigh-ins before the division starts, make sure that everyone is extremely well taken care of. The blues and purples were just sitting there letting our stomachs dissolve themselves. Anyway, I think for the big IBJJF competitions, the white belts go on a seperate day.
3. The guys from BJJ Taiwan won first and second in the blue belt absolute and decided to close it out by flipping a coin rather than wrestle each other. This is a practise that I do support. They train with each other almost every other day or something, why do they need to fly all the way to Manila to tell everyone what they both already know? They proved their point and deserve the rest.
4. Note to self, don't ever try and look at the scores again in the middle of a match. Just don't.

I thank God for the opportunity to have come here and taken part in this competition, and for all He has done for me. It was definitely an experience I won't soon forget.

THREE TO GET READY

2009-04-30T23:27:00.006+08:00

I'm in the process of packing for my flight tomorrow. I have to fly to KL and then catch a connecting flight to Manila. I'm looking forward to the trip. A bit nervous, and I won't write very much about this just yet...

Weight is alright, I'm on target. Feel pretty strong, and I should be fine on the day if I can get a good clean meal tomorrow night. All the conditioning has paid pretty good dividends. I could go posting half-naked before and after pics of myself on the net, which I won't, but I will say that for a month's training, I look pretty damn good.

If you are so inclined, please pray for the health and safety of all the competitors, officials and spectators, and also of course for an atmosphere of good sportsmanship.

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:4

2009-04-28T09:27:00.005+08:00

Day 23 (Apr 21)
Weight check: 71 kilos with gi. So. Close.

Training: Finally managed to get my hands on a good skipping rope, have been playing around with it. I’m thinking of giving the Chelseas a rest for the time being.

Day 24 (Apr 22)
Weight check: 71 kilos with gi. I think I’m weighing myself too soon after eating.

Training: After 2 days of skipping rope I think that yes, I will stop the Chelseas until after Manila and then start picking them up again. I really miss working with a good skipping rope which, I have to say, was actually quite painful to find.

Day 25 (Apr 23)
Weight check (after BJJ): 70.5-ish kilos with gi. I think. I can.

Day 27 (Apr 25)
Training: Had a great open mats today. I’m looking at this as the last chance to train at a slightly higher pace before Manila. For the coming week I’ll be focusing on lighter rolling and maintenance cardio work.

Weight check after open mats: 69.5 kilos with gi and belt. I love you, Gameness Pearl Weave! My competition gi has been with me for something like 2 and a half years. It’s been put through a whole bunch of crazy, interesting and monstrous wringers and still looks in near-perfect shape. Best gi I ever owned.

Day 28 (Apr 26)
A woman I know walks up to me and asks if I use protein supplements (I do not, and have never done so). I say no, and she asks me to talk to her son, who seems convinced that I do.

Him: “But how did you get so big?” (I thought this was cute – I weigh 69-ish kilos at the moment, keep in mind I’m talking to an Asian kid in his early-mid teens)

Me: “Lots of pushups”.

SO I GUESS I'M REALLY DOING THIS THEN.

2009-04-24T01:34:00.001+08:00

ibjjf@ibjjf.org to me 1:22 AM
Thank you for registering for the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2009/International Open Novice Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2009

I mean, I already bought my plane tickets and all, but this had a nice little air of finality about it.

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:3

2009-04-20T16:36:00.003+08:00

Day 18 (Apr 16)
This morning was the first time in 7 months that I’ve actually seen my weight dip below 70 kilos. Pretty encouraged by that.

Day 19 (Apr 17)
Training: Kettlebells at KDT. Am in town for a John Will BJJ seminar, so had a go at the Fizfit session. Was a lot of fun – good, super solid workout with great friends, loads of pain and lots of laughs besides. My favourite kind of workout.

Found out that the link to online registration for the Mundials is live. However, there was a problem when I tried to verify my info. Bah.

Registered online for the Pan-Asians. Looking forward to a great competition. I found out that Aziz will be going, which was excellent news, it’s always a more enjoyable experience with that one around.

Day 20 (Apr 18)
Spent hours watching BJJ videos on Youtube. So addictive. It’s making me really nervous but I can’t help but watch. I don’t even know if this is a “healthy nervous”.

Training: John Will seminar at KDT. John was in KL in between his seminars in Singapore and England, so he stopped by KDT and went through a bunch of stuff with us. I found it tremendously informative and interesting, with a wealth of concepts to work with. I had a pretty big hole in my game filled up, so I’m happy. I only had the time to attend his BJJ seminar though, MMA on Sunday mornings is all well and good, but all the same I’ll pick church.

In exactly 2 weeks I will have competed at the Pan Asians, barring an Act of God. The excitement level is picking up, which is good, hopefully it can give the anxiety level a run for the money. This is the last week I’ll be doing any real training, so I’m going to start tuning it down. Which isn’t to say that I’ve been doing anything Cobrinha-esque in my routine, I’m just saying is all.

Day 22 (Apr 20)
Tried to register again for the Mundials but ran into the same error. Sent them an email, hope this gets sorted soon.

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:2

2009-04-15T00:37:00.003+08:00

Day 9 (Apr 7)
Training: Played around with a new - to me, anyway - drill in BJJ…roll, full speed, until you get a dominant position, then consolidate and hold it (the guy in the poor position has to keep going and try to escape, thereby forcing the other guy to resume going all-out). 3-minute rounds. No submissions, just positional control. Lot of fun and a great workout besides. Not sure what to call this drill… “Full throttle”? “Gas-jitsu”? “Death Roll?” (this one is my personal favourite so far) Help?... I want to see if I can get this up to several rounds (ideally 6) @ 6 minutes each by May.

Day 11 (Apr 9)
Conditioning: Chelsea x18 sets. May have been OK after this, but made the mistake of gulping down a bottle of water right after, which killed me off for about 9 minutes (the approximate play time of Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself” and The Cure’s “The Lovecats”…so far, every time I’ve stopped my Chelsea sets, it was because I chose to do so in the interests of slowly building up. Which is encouraging in that I know I can push myself further). Bear crawls x2 laps (approx. 23m each), crab walks x2 laps, bear crawls x2 laps, running x20 laps, running x30 laps. Not as hard as I remember the workouts at KDT being, but I also don’t have anyone else here to push me along.

Later spent about 20 minutes working balance with a stability ball.

Day 15 (Apr 13)
My situation (see previous post) was not helped by the fact that I need glasses to see properly and haven’t worn contacts in years. So to put a contact in one eye when my other is a) damaged, b) already myopic, and c) covered by a patch – and then try and coach – proved to be extremely disconcerting and just generally not one of my more brilliant ideas. Fortunately classes were really fun nonetheless.

Day 16 (Apr 14)
Decided to bin the patch and already feeling better.

Conditioning: Chelsea x21 sets – I stopped voluntarily when I felt fatigue settling in. Quite happy with this progress, at this rate I’ll hit my target of 30 sets within 2 weeks.

FORMER DIRECTOR OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

2009-04-13T15:06:00.005+08:00

So anyway, yesterday my eye started really bugging me. Extreme light sensitivity and such. A while ago while training (this was actually in KL) I took a shot to my left eye and since then it's been giving me problems whenever I rub it accidentally. It's been a decidedly minor irritation for me until now and I finally decided to see a doctor about it.

Turns out I have some kind of corneal erosion. The cells that are trying to repair my eye don't get the chance to stick properly and get pulled off, causing the irritation. This wasn't helped by my pathological need to keep touching my eye. So, my wife had to step in. One quick trip to the pharmacy later and this is what I look like:

"I'd like to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative..."

***

On a completely unrelated, and much happier note, congratulations to my friend and BJJ-brother Rizan, on the birth of his daughter Sierra!

YOU KNOW, HE'S PROBABLY GOT SOME SWEET ARMBAR SETUPS

2009-04-12T12:01:00.000+08:00

COMPETITION JOURNAL, 2009:1

2009-04-06T23:16:00.003+08:00

Start: March 30, 2009

Day 1 (Mar 30)
Made initial payment at bank for US visa application.

Day 2 (Mar 31)
Conditioning: Chelsea x10 sets. Wanted to go on but timing was bad – had to stop as clients started arriving for Fizfit session. Also had a large meal immediately before.
Initial goal to reach by May 1, 2009: 30 sets. Am not sure if that is pushing it a bit too far.
Set date and time for US visa interview. Flying to KL this Sunday for interview Monday morning.

Day 4 (Apr 2)
Conditioning: Chelsea x15 sets. Slightly burned out from recent workouts, towards the last few sets the chinups were very sloppy.

Day 7 (Apr 5)
Training: Went to Ivan’s Judo place. Trained standup and newaza with a bunch of the guys. Good thing I went today, as it’s Gary’s (their black belt instructor, nice guy) last Saturday there, he’s moving to Penang. Pity that, I was hoping to train with him more.
Flew to KL for the night.

Day 8 (Apr 6)
US visa interview. Went off without a hitch and I got it. Everyone was very nice to me, I didn't see any of the horror stories so many people told me about. A huge weight off my shoulders, now I can focus more on Manila and the Pan-Asians.

"HI BOSS...VISITING KDT ACADEMY"

2009-03-22T15:44:00.006+08:00

I was in KL over the weekend for the wedding of a good friend, and had Saturday afternoon free. So of course I decided to go to open mats at KDT. It wasn't that long ago, just a few months, that I would just go "hi, boss!" to the guards at the gate (in the interests of preempting any confusion, KDT is located in a small gated community-type development), hand them my KDT membership card and drive through.

Now though, I have to wait while the guard (odds are he won't be someone who knows who I am, as the company who supplies the guards rotates them among different assignments) fills out the details in my driving license in his book, then hands me a big laminated sign saying "VISITOR". It's quite a new thing to have to get used to, but I usually run into one of the guards who does remember me and we exchange pleasantries.

I showed up about a half hour early, which was nice, as I got to hang out and just be with the atmosphere. I really miss sitting alone outside the gym with nothing but the afternoon breeze and the sounds of birds chirping and the occasional car driving past. I sat there for a bit and chatted with some of the guys who arrived later on.

When Vince got there he told me Adam was just there a few days ago to say hi. Vince also handed me some of the new CMD shirts, which look super cool. Really slick design and the shirts themselves are dri-fit. Sweet. I didn't pack my gi, which was fine as I just put on one of my CMD trainer shirts and did some no-gi. I got to roll with Leong and Wee Li, did some standup with Rizan, Adrian, Fidael and Mike and just horsed around with Vince.

It was such a great time, I don't even know how to describe it. It was like I never left. The whole afternoon was extremely fun: high energy, everyone laughing, a real spirit of play. An excellent time spent with good friends is just plain hard to beat.

HMMM.

2009-03-15T15:36:00.002+08:00

In reviewing my competition plans for the year, I've hit on some stumbling blocks. Firstly, there are the (perhaps rather obvious) problems with wanting to go to both America and Australia for competition. Leaving aside the fact of the entire world's economic slowdown, it's just not very responsible to close up shop in both June and September. Which means I'd need to choose one over the other.

If you asked me 2 years ago, the Mundials would have been as much an option for me as, I don't know, winning the Tour de France 7 years running. Even suggesting I consider taking part would have been Spaceballs-level ludicrous. Now though, I think I may actually do quite well for myself. Plus, this year is - and I was more than a little shocked to find out - the only opportunity for me to compete in the Mundials and NOT. ALSO. BE. ELIGIBLE. FOR. THE. MASTERS.

So then, if I can manage to get a US visa, I'd have to forego attending this year's Machado Nationals. Which was not the funnest decision I ever had to make. I was really hoping to go for a bunch of reasons. In terms of atmosphere (and if I'm being totally honest, sentimental value), this competition is the best one I've ever taken part in. There's loads of really cool people there. Plus, I was actually kind of really looking forward to, you know, defending my title.

However, it's looking like I won't be able to take part in any competitions outside of South East Asia next year, and if I had to pick one, I'm not sure I would be able to live with a "what if?" this big. Not to mention, there's a slight conflict with the Thailand competition. They aren't on the same day, but Australia is set for the weekend right before Bangkok, and I'm not quite that crazy.

So now I'm thinking my (still very tentative) schedule looks like this:

May 2,3: Pan Asians, Manila, Philippines

June 4,5,6,7: Mundials, Long Beach, California, USA

September 19,20: Thailand BJJ Open

A lot more spread out than last year, so I'm wondering how this will pan out.

***

Also, I've just found out that Adam's just been given his black belt! Very cool stuff, and extremely well-deserved. Congratulations Adam!

SO ANYWAY...

2009-03-06T16:29:00.001+08:00

Things have been moving along over at the studio. Not really at any kind of breakneck speed, but fast enough to keep me on my toes and perpetually fatigued. In a good way. Honestly.

The CMD class is starting to grow, with a couple more people signing up recently. The play drills are very popular and it's always a great time to coach people when they're laughing and having fun.

The BJJ side is also seeing some encouraging growth. For us having done zero advertising, I think it's pretty good. There have been a few signups lately, with regular attendance in both weekly classes and pretty good feedback. We've been working from a conceptual standpoint and then focusing in on more specific stuff.

For the end-of-class rolling, what we've been doing is working purely on positional control, i.e. no submissions, while also throwing in random handicaps for every roll. It's been a lot of fun and we're seeing a lot of cool stuff come out in rolling, just from putting in a small change to the rules. It's funny how whole games can change for the better, and all I had to do was say "OK, in the next roll you can't use your hands to grip or post."

Just last night we did this drill where the object is to lose. I've read a lot about these kinds of drills - while I do agree it's very important to not fear the tap, I wonder what it would be like if both guys were competing to lose. I mean, if this was the case, then nobody would ever go for submissions, since tapping your opponent is an instant loss. So the best we could come up with was to roll, and the winner would be the guy who finished in the worst position at the sound of the buzzer.

It was tremendously fun, not just for the novelty factor, but with the play drills in general it's a good change to cut back on the competitive aspect of rolling.

Speaking of competition, I've been trying to plan what I want to do for the year. Firstly, there's the Mundials in California this June.

Really, the only thing standing in my way is the absolute pain of trying to apply for a US visa while living in a muslim country. Since to my knowledge there's no American embassy in East Malaysia, I'd need to fly back to KL for an in-person interview. Bah. The only other problem would be that I'd have to close up the studio for possibly up to 2 weeks, but I'm working on a plan to keep things running.

Then there's also the Machado Nationals in Melbourne, which should be in September. I'm really keen on going to that one, as for me it's always an awesome time down there.

Finally, I'm hoping that Luke and the guys over at Bangkok BJJ will be organizing another tournament this year, I'll definitely make an effort to swing by for that one!

SCCS EVENT UPDATE

2009-02-16T13:15:00.006+08:00

The "Give Hope, Go Bald" event was a lot of fun! Over a hundred people stepped up to get their heads shaved in support of children with cancer, and their families. The SCCS had set a target of RM200,000 and by the end of the day I believe they had exceeded that by a tidy sum, towards which Studio 23 managed a contribution of RM5,000.

Thanks to everyone who donated! Much respect also goes to everyone who got the haircut, especially the few women who went for it (Way to go Georgette!).

Plenty of hair to spare.

...Not so much now.

THE MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION

2009-02-15T00:05:00.002+08:00

2 years ago during the CMD Trainers' Retreat in Singapore, Rodney King brought up a point that has stuck with me ever since. I think about it every now and then, and I find this has been one of those exercises in articulation which has really helped me to refocus myself when I need it.

To paraphrase:

If our actions are the outward manifestations of our internal mental and emotional states of being, how do we reconcile that with the fact that functional, honest training in the martial arts invariably involves the domination of other people?

For me, anyway, the answer is always the same, and it's pretty straightforward. I won't post it, though. Get your own.

GIVE HOPE, GO BALD

2009-02-12T11:30:00.003+08:00

Edit for updated information.

So anyway, I'm getting my head shaved this Sunday, 15th February, to benefit the Sarawak Children's Cancer Society. They are holding an event named "Give Hope, Go Bald" at the Spring shopping centre, and I'll be among several people having their locks shorn in the name of children fighting cancer.

We are also collecting donations for this. Cancer in children is highly curable, and usually the only problem is a lack of funding. So please, give generously.

If you would like to donate, email me at albert@studio23.my (there is no .com) with your name, IC number (if Malaysian) and the amount you would like to pledge.

You can deposit the cash into Public Bank, account # 3151803723 (Account name: Studio Twenty Three) - or, you can write a cheque (if you do, please just make it out to SARAWAK CHILDREN'S CANCER SOCIETY).

All of the money you pledge will go directly to the SCCS. You don't have to be in Kuching, or even in Malaysia to donate. If you want to donate and you aren't in Malaysia, please visit www.kennysia.com/gobald

Cheers all.

HOLIDAY BREAK #1: CNY

2009-01-26T11:26:00.013+08:00

With the Chinese New Year kicking off, I've been taking advantage of the first real opportunity this year to relax and process the last three weeks of running the studio. My wife and I came back to KL for the long weekend and we've been having a lot of fun meeting up with friends and going to family reunion dinners.

I went to Open Mats at KDT on Saturday afternoon and spent most of it talking with Sam and Mike, before having a couple of quick rolls. The place looks quite different now as there's been a few new coats of paint slapped on ("apple white", say they) and some racks and such put in to make more efficient use of the space.

Sunday I met up with Vince and had a chat over some dim sum, which was also a lot of fun. As would be expected, I got a lot of great ideas out of this talk, and that's always cool with me. Tomorrow evening there's another get-together with the KDT people and I'm totally looking forward to an evening of great food and catching up with friends.

After almost a month of coaching, I think I'm starting to see things in a whole other light. It's really an eye-opening experience not just to be a once-in-a-while backup for the backup, but to strap in and do this full time, with no safety net, as it were. It's given me a new appreciation for what coaches go through on a day-to-day basis.

The Fizfit classes are pretty fun to do, as I've been working on some new stuff. CMD is always great as because the format of the class is so simple and set, I don't have to worry about what I'm going to coach, and just go focus on my clients - which adds a lot to the fun factor. BJJ is also starting to really pick up, and I'm playing round with some things now which I think will work out well.

Everyone kept telling me about funny stories and incidents I missed while I was gone, and what they're doing now, which was quite the reminder that while I'm not alone, I'm on my own. Far from being something I regret, however, running my own place is definitely one of the most rewarding things I've ever done - so far, so good!

CMD PRO-ONLINE OPEN DAY

2009-01-13T06:00:00.002+08:00

The Crazy Monkey Defense website is having a free open day for its Pro-Membership section.

In case you've never been, there are two main sections to the site: a free membership section, and a paid Pro-Membership section with instructional videos and a Pro Forum. There's a whole bunch of good stuff to be had, definitely more than any normal person can get through in 24 hours.

If you're up for it, all you have to do is to register for the free forum and log in from 5pm EST on Friday, 16th January. In Malaysian time, that's 5am, Saturday 17th.

Link in the sidebar, or go to www.crazymonkeydefense.com

Any questions, come and talk to me.

ONE WEEK LATER

2009-01-12T14:59:00.003+08:00

It's been a mad few days. Contractors are still going through the building, we haven't got all our furniture in, blah blah blah. I knew it was going to be busy but I should be able to be forgiven for underestimating what we actually got. By Thursday I was so drained I thought I was going to pass out. And then I went and wrestled on Saturday.

The Fizfit classes have been doing alright, some sessions smaller than others but it's all good. The BJJ side already has a small core of people who look to be regulars, so I'm happy with that. I'm also having a lot of fun coaching CMD.

Not really much more to add right now...I'm still without a fridge but I'm working on getting one in by the end of the week.

Week #1 down, #2 starts in less than 4 hours.

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED...

2009-01-04T21:12:00.003+08:00

Oh yeah.

In the last few days I've officially become the owner of a gym. We had our launch on the 1st of January and there were, for me, a shocking number of people. My wife led some workshops and demonstrations for her dance classes, followed by BJJ and CMD demos by me (ably accompanied by my lovely assistant, Patrick). We finished off with a Fizfit class.

It was a lot of fun, made all the more special by the presence of friends from KL! Vince, Kate, Cliff and his wife were there, which was very cool. They even brought me a special "eyes, meet tears" kettlebell sporting a custom design by Daniel at KDT, pictures of which will definitely be posted if I can remember to.

Classes start tomorrow. It's a bit intimidating but I know I've been well trained and have a lot of support from a lot of good friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what God's got in store for me.

Studio 23
152, Lorong 8, Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, 93150 Kuching
studio23.my

WHAT I GAINED FROM RODNEY KING @ KDT, DEC 8-10 2008

2008-12-17T16:37:00.001+08:00

1. Perspective

Throughout all 3 days of the seminar Rodney shared some of his views with us and I got a lot of mileage out of that. I really appreciated having the opportunity to look at things in a different light and see what was old become new again.

2. A bunch of cool techniques

Not “cool” as in “flash”, but really more as in “simple”. Martial arts are at their most beautiful to me when they are kept really simple, and Rodney embodies that kind of economical, pragmatic, “just the facts” approach. No messing about, just functional training.

3. A new title

Rodney moved me to full Trainer status in the Crazy Monkey Defense Program. Also, Vince was promoted to Pro Trainer status. I’m very happy to have achieved this, and also for Vince, who thoroughly deserves the recognition.

4. Inspiration

I’ve not met very many martial artists who are as skilled as Rodney, even less who are as well read, and less still who combine these with intelligent and effective coaching. I’ve got so much to learn from him, it’s amazing. Just the fact that it’s humanly possible to achieve that level of skill is enough to make me want to go train right now.

FEELING SLIGHTLY BETTER

2008-12-15T19:06:00.002+08:00

Was shopping for exercise gear today and I picked up some balance balls. I had to ask a store attendant a question about their stock and then put three boxes up on the counter.

"Oh, that's quite a lot", said she. "Are you a trainer at a gym?"

"Yes", said I, "I am".

Now I know that's not amazing to some of you, but it was pretty cool for me to be able to say. You know, finally.

LAST OPEN MATS (FOR NOW)

2008-12-14T20:56:00.003+08:00

It’s 5.50pm and open mats has been over for almost an hour. Everyone went home and I was outside KDT chatting with Tommy and Fidael for a while. They have just left and I’m sitting alone typing in my Macbook.

It’s hard to believe that 3 years of my life have passed, just like that. 3 whole years. All I can think of are various random memories of my time here. It’s all quite literally flashing before my eyes. No, seriously, when I look through the windows I can almost see myself training.

There, by the windows, where I got choked unconscious for the first time. Over there, next to the wall, where I had a bad fall (my collarbone has been slightly misaligned ever since). Here by the door, where Adam personally cooked and fed me a 10-course meal’s worth of body shots. Right in the middle of the room, where Vince let, I say LET, me tap him.

I remember my first core strength class here. I remember the first time I met John Will. I remember getting my blue belt. I remember training for competitions. I remember birthdays, promotions, and talking loads of nonsense while drinking can after can of 100 Plus.

My kettlebells are where I usually keep them, chained up by the wall with the other privately owned kettlebells. I think I’ll leave them there for a little while. Just the thought of taking them out of the gym is making my eyes mercilessly well up.

I’m just amazed I made it through this open mats session, never mind the annual gym dinner last night, without crying. I’m trying really hard to think of ways to describe how I feel, but all the analogies I can come up with are all massively inappropriate in some way.

When I move I’ll be leaving a huge part of myself behind. My chest feels kind of – I don’t know – ‘hollow’ is the first word into my head.

Since I have no idea how to properly end this post, I guess that will have to be that.

MOSEYING ALONG

2008-12-02T15:46:00.004+08:00

Lately the upcoming opening of my gym has been the biggest thing on my mind. It's not too bad yet, but I'm starting to get more and more nervous. It's kind of an awkward combination of "wow, I can't believe I get to do this for a living" nervous and "I really wonder if I can get away with this" nervous. I suppose that's a good thing.

I'm looking forward to leading classes and I'm already thinking of cool stuff to do. I recently had a chance to put a little bit of it into practice, as Sam was away for Yulius' wedding (congrats man!) and Vince asked if I wanted to do the classes. I got to lead 3 of them over 2 weeks and while it started off slightly choppy, it definitely picked up steam. My favourite was the third class, I got the guys to do drills using balance balls which, as far as I know they had never tried.

I've also been doing a few private training sessions with Vince. I've almost never done any PTS with anyone, being that I usually never know what to ask for. Or, when I know what to ask for, it turns out I don't know how to ask the right questions. Either that or I just articulate myself in a manner that only serves to confuse the guy. I really get annoyed with myself when that happens.

It turns out that all I really wanted was to get a bunch of ideas to get my mind going, so I can come up with my own stuff. We spent a few sessions working on my guard, a couple on kicking drills, and still more using club bells, which are pure madness on my wrists and palms.

I thought kettlebells were bad, now I have to get used to a whole new torture. At least it's a cool torture. My normal kettlebell weighs 20kg, or 16 when I feel lazy. Right now the 4kg club bells are whooping my butt good. I can't wait to see the effects this has on strengthening my shoulders, forearms and grips!

KDT is also gearing up for a visit from Rodney King, who will be in town next Monday through Wednesday for a series of seminars in CMD, BJJ and MMA. I'm expecting a great time for all, and I'll be getting my notebook ready!

3 YEARS IN

2008-11-15T09:05:00.002+08:00

3 years ago to the day, I had my first BJJ class. In certain respects I just don’t know how I lived without Jiu-Jitsu for 25 years. In others, I can’t believe I stuck with it for this long. At the beginning, it was just a thing to do three times a week. Now it’s one of the central preoccupations of my life.

I’ve met some truly excellent people from all over the world. Through BJJ I now have friends in Thailand, Australia, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and England – none of whom I would have had any occasion to meet, were it not for seminars, competitions and what not – which I find to be really quite amazing.

I suppose I can consider myself even more fortunate that my experience with negative people has been minimal, limited mostly to a certain someone about whom I won’t any more waste time and brain cells typing.

Today my thoughts are mostly about the guys I’ve trained with at KDT, many of whom became good friends and, thanks to life getting in the way, almost none of whom are still active. I wish things were different, and they could have kept on training – and not just because the BJJ scene in Malaysia would be so much better off for it. On a more selfish note, this would mean I’d have more guys to roll with and help push me to a higher level.

Which is not to say I’m complaining about my lot in life. I get to train 5 days a week, 6 if I’m not sick, injured or lazy. I don’t have to put up with an office job and in a short time BJJ will also become a way for me to make a living. And my wife is not only cool with it – she’s also encouraging. I’m living the dream, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. It’s really exciting, really bizarre and really humbling.

Sure, there are lots of things I wish could have been different, but these are regrets that aren’t worth having. I’ve got a lot of hope for the future, some ideas that could turn out to be pretty cool – and really nice digs to use as a big BJJ Petri dish. I can’t wait.

WHAT DO -YOU- MEAN, "YOU PEOPLE"?

2008-11-07T13:26:00.006+08:00

I checked out Tropic Thunder a few days ago and, aside from laughing my head off at a tremendously funny movie, I noticed something that I think most people would not have picked up on, which was really funny for me to see (spoiler warning but to be fair it's pretty negligible and really, if you haven't seen it by now I don't know what to tell you).

When they're showing the documentary about how Kirk Lazarus goes through skin pigmentation treatment to look like a black man, they show the doctors using this:

For all those of you who aren't familiar with this product, it's a liniment for bruises and such. This brought back so many memories of my Karate days - I used to be very familiar with this stuff, you see. I actually used to wonder if I kept using it heavily, if my skin would look darker. It made me smell terrible, but that was about it.

A small thing yes, but it just made the movie that much funnier for me.

***

Also, I can't be bothered to make a new post about this so here's a couple of pictures I just got (thanks, Rob!):

This is the mall courtyard where the Bangkok competition was held. This was taken just after everything was finished. I really liked that there was a fully-stocked supermarket 10 feet from where we were wrestling.

Here's me with Adam. I really liked this one as, well, it's the ONLY clear picture I have of him. And yeah check out the burns on my forehead. Every freaking competition so far, guaranteed, my face gets marked up.

LIFEBOATS AND WHIPPINGS

2008-10-24T16:05:00.010+08:00

^
^
I am not.

In essence, fear keeps people safe. I know that as well as anybody, yet I simply didn't realise how much it applied to me until class on Tuesday night. Fear stops you from doing stupid things, but it also inhibits your growth.

I think I have a much better picture of how fear has influenced my learning curve and the evolution of my game. To an extent it's been great: I have a top game which works quite well, and a bottom game that leads slowly back to a top game. As far as that, it's worked out quite well for me. So it's not so much the fear of losing, or looking stupid, in my case it seems to have been a fear of letting go.

John Will has a great analogy that more or less illustrates my point: (paraphrasing) if a bad situation in BJJ is like the sinking of the titanic, the black belts are the first ones off the ship (with the best lifeboats and supplies), the browns and purples are right behind and get whatever's left, the blues have what is pretty much a 50-50 chance and the white belts are locked in their cabins wondering why their feet are getting wet.

When I first heard it I thought it just referred to knowing when to bail on a submission or position and move on. Now I think it's also about not being fixated on one or a few facets of my game, to the exclusion of others. Maybe it's about letting go (not the same thing as abandoning) of what I think I know and being OK with moving outside my comfort zone before I get mentally locked into a set path and never deviate, even if it becomes a sinking ship. Because I like my top game, but it's really depressing to think about never doing anything else.

My game has almost always been very stable, tight and economical. It's been slow to evolve and when it has, it's been quite a significant jump. But a part of the reason is simply that I was afraid to try new things. Not of the consequences, just of trying them. I got so comfortable with one game and never really did any kind of exploring. I had so many missed opportunities over the last couple of years to try and experiment that it hurts to think of.

So I started messing around with my guard game and, while it's kind of lacking, I started really enjoying it. What also made a huge difference was a few nuggets of advice Vince gave me. They changed the way I approached my guard, which was pretty exciting.

That same class, we had another grading. Leong was promoted to blue, which I was happy to see. I feel he deserves it because he's put forth an impressive effort in developing his own unique game, which nobody else can really imitate. At this point it's still kind of attribute-driven (but hey, who am I to talk) though I can clearly see him getting more and more technical. He's the only one in the class who regularly goes for (and hits) gongoas.

Also, I got bumped to blue with 3-stripes. Which was nice.

This will likely turn out to be the last grading I see at KDT as a full-time student. In a way it was really a bummer, but it's still got that "In a little while I'm going to have that new car smell I can feel good about" vibe.

I'm really going to miss nights like these.

MACHADO NATIONALS, MY FINALS MATCH

2008-10-18T12:55:00.005+08:00

Sorry sorry, I would have liked to have posted this with the pictures but I only just saw this. If you get bored watching it, just let it load then forward to about the 3:20 mark. Thanks very much to Aziz of Kreation BJJ for taking the video and for the encouragement during the match.

BANGKOK PHOTOS - PART 1

2008-10-14T01:17:00.014+08:00

This is a selection of the photos that the professional photogs on the scene were able to get. I'm waiting on the pics on Rob's camera so can't put those ones up yet.

The rules meeting just before the day got under way. There were over 120 competitors, quite a fantastic turnout, I would say.

MATCH 1

I was fortunate to have a few friends from Singapore there at the competition. Here are some of them, wondering when the action is going to start.

I went for an ezequiel but couldn't lock it in time. Can't say I didn't try.

He almost got both hooks in but I stopped him getting points by underhooking his leg. You can see he's almost got the choke set, he's nearly past my chin.

Here's the mount that I still don't remember how or when I got.

MATCH 2

He really wanted the choke. He couldn't get past the chin but he meant business.

Here's how you can tell: the blood that would normally be in my torso is currently in my head. Either that or I really need a tan.

Here's one of the few moments in the match that my head is free.

MATCH 3

I didn't actually find any photos of this match that I liked, but here's one that I'm putting up so you can check out the scuffs on my forehead. It's more than 2 weeks later and I've still got them.

GUSTAVO MACHADO ALMOST-SEMINAR @ KREATION BJJ

2008-10-07T10:22:00.004+08:00

Over the past weekend, Gustavo Machado was in Singapore to give a couple of BJJ seminars at Kreation BJJ, for both gi and no-gi. If I'm being completely honest I wasn't so hot on going - not because I didn't want to (because I did) but because I was just feeling fatigued and slightly emotionally drained after the recent competitions and just wanted a quiet open mat session at KDT.

As it turned out, my sister-in-law needed to drive to Singapore on Friday night. I didn't want her to go alone so I volunteered to drive. Her plan was to come back Saturday night so I thought, "OK great, this means I'm in town anyway, so I may as well go to the seminar". It was set for gi from 2-4 and no-gi from 4-6.

Then, just before we leave KL I check the details again. Apparently I managed to read "Sunday, 5th October" as "Saturday, 4th October". I don't know how, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm feeling kind of bummed about it as we're all still leaving town Saturday night, but when I check with Aziz, there's a BJJ class anyway from 2-4 at Kreation so I may as well bring my gi.

Fine, so we get to Singapore. Friday night passes without event and we're on to Saturday. I had printed out a bunch of Google maps so driving to Kreation was also pretty merciful. I get there and I say hi to a lot of familiar faces. Aziz and Melvynna were there and I met Christiano, their resident black belt. Gustavo is also walking around and I get introduced to him.

We started with a cardio warm-up that was way more intense than I'm normally used to for BJJ. Fortunately it was still much easier than one of Vince's conditioning classes, or Adam's style of warm-up, so I was fine. We did some basic self-defense stuff and that's more or less all I remember about the class. I know we did one or two BJJ techniques as well but they just escape me right now.

Which is fine, as the main reason I wanted to attend the seminar was not to see what he teaches, but how he teaches it. It's always interesting for me to check out different coaches and their styles.

At the end of class we started rolling. I got to roll with Aziz, Christiano, Kon and Gustavo, among others. It was a lot of fun! It was my first time rolling with all of those guys, except Aziz and it was a really interesting experience. Particularly fun was rolling with Kon and Christiano, I really like those guys.

The only thing was except for the roll with Gustavo we kept getting interrupted by people who were getting too close to us. As it so happened, twice the normal number of people showed up and it was pretty packed. I got a photo taken with Gustavo but it wasn't with my camera so I'll need to wait for that as well before posting.

Finally, after I left I drove over to the Fightworks Asia gym to have a look, as they were pretty much just down the road. It was more or less the end of the day for them and I had a chat with Sascha, who runs the place. He was cool to me, he showed me around both floors of the gym and we talked for a while.

Overall it was a really edifying trip. The drive itself was quite the experience, as was the causeway. Rolling with the guys at Kreation was always going to be fun. I learned a lot this trip and I'm glad I made the drive!

MACHADO NATIONALS 2008: MY DAY IN PICTURES

2008-10-01T11:10:00.002+08:00

Here's me and Aziz surveying the crowd before the action started, and trying to not get kicked.

MATCH 1

He shot, I sprawled, I landed on top. Not the smoothest of starts but it worked out for me.

He went for the guillotine but I had known it was coming for at least 10 seconds because of all the people yelling, "GUILLOTINE!"

Fortunately for me, by the middle of the match he had already used up most of his energy trying to sweep me and I was able to get mount, and subsequently, an ezequiel.

MATCH 2

He opened with a shoot but I saw this one coming as well (last Machado Nationals, I lost after getting double-legged pretty early, so I spent the next year working my sprawl).

Here's me thinking, "He's trying to choke! Thank God!"

Here's Matt shouting instructions at me. I didn't have a clue what was going on until a bit later.

I got to mount again and started looking for an ezequiel, which fortunately I was able to find.

MATCH 3

Neither of us was willing to commit to a shoot, so we were standing for a fair while. I managed to pull him into a kind of sprawl, which didn't really work...

...as he used it to drive in and get takedown points.

He went to consolidate his position but we landed outside the mat and they brought us back. He started to get a kneeride but I blocked his leg and rolled to my knees.

He went for it, giving me the chance to underhook his legs and shuck him off.

He ended up putting me in hook guard, which I passed by pushing his knees down and hopping forwards.

Me and Matt.

A handshake, a first place trophy and congratulations from one Mr. John Will. I'm not going to lie to you: this felt SWEET.

Aziz, my wife and I were joined by our good friend Justin, who took us all out to a restaurant called Sofia for a post-competition dinner. The portions here are, as you can tell, massive. All of these dishes are "small".

I'll be putting up pictures of the Bangkok competition as soon as I have them. I forgot to bring my own camera, but Rob loaned me his and I got a few photos. Also, a nice value-added feature the organisers had was the option of getting professional photographers to take pictures of your matches for a small fee (I've never seen anyone else offer this type of service but it's a great idea and I hope more people do it). So when those come in I'll try and put them up as well.

TOURNAMENT REPORT: BANGKOK

2008-09-28T10:10:00.007+08:00

Edited for misspelled names.

I am writing this in Bangkok, where I just competed in the 2008 FBT Thailand BJJ / Submission Grappling Open.

I got to Bangkok the day before and spent it walking around, trying not to drink too much water. I was still a bit nervous about my weight and the not knowing was killing me. I did manage to meet Allen and Sam, friends from BJJ Borneo. They were here with the Tiger Muay Thai team, who sent quite a significant contingent.

Dinner was a barbeque chicken salad, the "healthiest" thing I could find in the Paragon food court. Everything else looked incredibly delicious but I was scared to death of eating it. I bought some Gatorade and chocolate bars for the competition, as well as some bananas. Later that night I met up with Aziz when he arrived.

The day of the competition started pretty early for me, I was up by 7. I was staying at the Golden Palace hotel, which was offering a special deal for competitors, as well as a shuttle to the event. I went down to the waiting area and met Rob, Aziz and some guys from Singapore: Melvynna, Mitch and Justin. Pretty sure they are all with Kreation BJJ. I also met Luke from BJJ Asia, who was there to help organise.

The shuttle ride took about 20 to 30 minutes and we found ourselves at Futuremall, a smallish shopping centre. The competition would be held in the central courtyard-type area. There were loads of guys already there and I got ready to weigh in when I ran into Adam. I actually didn't see him because there were so many monsters in the room! It was great to catch up, I hadn't seen him in a really long time, maybe close to a year. I also saw Sebastian there, who I had last met in Singapore.

Anyway, weigh-in. I'll cut this part of the story short and just say that I needed to be 69.9, and that's what I clocked in. All that stress and disgusting "health" food paid off! From the weigh-in at the Machado Nationals 2 weeks hence, I had lost at least 5 kilos, which isn't that impressive but it was my first time dieting, let alone dieting to make weight for a BJJ competition.

When I got to the mats to warm up, I found out there were only 4 guys in my division. The absolute, however, was jam packed solid.

It was really a lot of fun just hanging out with the Singapore bunch, and we were also joined by Charles, who I believe also trains at Kreation and is a super funny guy.

***

MATCH 1: Blue Belt <70 division v. Momon Fortich, from New Breed BJJ in the Philippines.

I'm going to be honest, I really don't remember very much about this. My memory of this match is very fuzzy in a lot of places, and it almost just happened.

I recall him starting by jumping to guard and then trying to sweep me repeatedly. He wasn't able to, but he had my arm trapped at an awkward angle so I couldn't work for an ezequiel. At some point I think I got halfguard but was quickly pulled back to closed guard.

I couldn't get around his arm that was trapping my own and I guess I took too much time trying to figure it out because the referee gave me a warning for stalling: I had 20 seconds to move, or else. Fine, so I give him more room to move and I feel him trying to pull my left calf into him, to try and push me over. I kick that leg out and somehow end up in halfguard.

So now I go for the ezequiel and I get it - partially. I wasn't able to finish the hold by grabbing my arm with the choking hand. That let him roll me onto my side and fight his way out of it. He then jumps to my back and gets his left hook in, while trying for a rear naked choke. I see it just in time and get my right arm back to block his leg.

We roll around for a few seconds and I'm able to get back to guard. Here is where it gets fuzzy. Somehow, from there I end up (let me see if I get this right) in side-back control - with him ON TOP. I reach around his neck and get a rear naked choke.

Result: Win via submission (rear naked choke). I was leading with 4 points because I got mount at some point, but for the life of me do not remember when.

After I let him go I just rolled on my back and stared at the sunroof of the mall, all I could see was a really bright light, which was kinda cool. But man, I was completely destroyed. I was just hoping that my next match would be much later.

Before the next match though, I was able to chat with Momon and his friends from New Breed. What a cool guy! He was also going through some of the same problems I was having, namely having to make weight. He told me more about their gym and gave me an invitation to go train there when I'm in Manila. Sweet!

As it turns out, my absolute happened before my division final. And as luck would have it, my opponent was to be Sebastian! I remember thinking that in Singapore I would have loved to roll with him but never got the chance.

***

MATCH 2: Blue Belt Absolute, v. Sebastian Desvignes, from EMAC in Bangkok.

This one started with Sebastian really going for sleeve grips on me. He managed to get me in a really awkward position but when he went for the footsweep I could keep my balance.

Memory not so great on this one as well, he pulls guard pretty early and spends half the match going for a cross lapel choke. He never got past my chin but man, trust me this guy is strong. He went for a couple of sweeps but I managed to block his attempts. He pulls guard and I try to set up an ezequiel but his legs are way strong and he pulls me back.

He pulled guard and went for more of the cross lapel choke. Again he never got past my chin but I couldn't move! Again, his legs were just too strong. So now I get another warning for stalling, which I found really funny actually - I mean, like I could have done anything. I remember that around now he almost gets me with a triangle, but he couldn't isolate my arm so he couldn't finish the choke.

Aziz is now yelling at me that the score is still 0-0 but I'm in the lead with an advantage (wha??). He lets the guard go and stands up, taking me with him. We get sleeve grips and he shoots in. I see it coming and I actually get the sprawl - but he lifts me up like a sack of rice and puts me on my butt for the points, and passes my guard right away. He tried a kneeride that I blocked but time got called.

Result: Loss via points - Me: 0 points, 1 advantage. Sebastian: 5 points.

Not bad for me being outweighed by 15 kilos! It was so excellent to roll with Sebastian, it totally did not feel like a competition match. There were a couple of times we just had a moment to laugh, usually after he let a choke attempt go and I start sighing in relief. He was very cool, a great guy and I'm happy to know him.

About 45 minutes or so later, I get called for my division match. It would be with a Japanese fellow, we shook hands and exchanged a couple of pleasantries before the match.

***

MATCH 3: Blue Belt <70 division, FINALS v. Ozaki Shigeharu from Axis Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Japan.

So my memory of this is a bit better, mainly because there wasn't that much variation in the match. He pulled guard early on and when he wasn't able to sweep me, he went for a cross lapel choke. We were, and I'm not kidding, here for at least 3 minutes, maybe 4. He was really going for it but he had not got past my chin at all.

So anyway. I'm trying to open him up but I simply can't because he has a deathgrip on my head, and his legs are locked tight. At least I didn't get called for stalling again. I hear Adam yelling at me with updates on the time.

At close to the 5-minute mark, I feel him open his legs, and after a brief scramble I get halfguard for a little while but I get pulled back to guard. He lets me lurch forward and get my arm around his neck so now I'm going for an ezequiel but time is called.

We get up and I'm really dreading the outcome. I'm under the impression that the score is still 0-0 and I'm not sure who was more agressive in the match. I did not remember anyone telling me otherwise, everyone was just yelling updates on the time. Also, I'm shortsighted and do not wrestle with contacts so I can't see the scores. My hand is raised.

Result: Win via points - Me: 0 points, 1 advantage. Shigeharu: 0 points.

Talk about cutting it close! After the match some of his team were a bit confused about the result but after some discussion they were cool with it. It was really good talking with them as well: Ken and Yoichi (sp? - he did really well too, he won the <64 Blue division AND got 3rd in the absolute!). I also got invited to train at Axis if I'm ever in Tokyo. They were such cool guys, I don't see how I can't if I'm in Japan!

The competition was so much fun. I was completely blessed on the day because not only did I meet so many awesome people, everyone I rolled with was very cool. Thanks to the organisers and sponsors, who made the medallions we got possible. Those things are actually really heavy! I also picked up some really nice t-shirts, one of which (they ran out of my size, bah!) has writing in Thai on the back which says something like "BANGKOK BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU", I thought that was a brilliant idea.

After the presentations, I said my goodbyes and went to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. I ended up in a taxi with Taki (who won his brown belt division) and Kubo, a couple of cool Japanese dudes who run Kowloon BJJ in Hong Kong. Yes, I also got invited there, yes it was very cool!

It's also worth noting that the political situation in Bangkok is, as the organisers tried to tell everyone, very much the victim of media hype. The amount of sensationalism pumped into the happenings of late seem completely crazy when you actually go to Bangkok and have a look around. I was taking the MRT and Skytrain all around the city, walking through side streets to find weird Lebanese restaurants in German hotels with Aziz, and hanging out at Paragon. No riots were observed, sorry.

It was excellent seeing Adam and Jem again, that alone made my trip. By far the best part of the trip was having Adam in my corner for the finals. Also very cool was meeting Sebastian, and Luke - a good guy and a great BJJ player!

This marks the end of my first ever real tournament cycle: 3 in a month's time. Singapore to Australia to Thailand. Thanks to everyone who gave me encouragement during my training, and also on the actual competition days. Special thanks to my friends at KDT, Aziz, the Bangsar Sports Centre Judo guys, and all the excellent people I met during my travels.

Thanks to my wife, who I couldn't have done this without, and to Jesus, who made this possible for me - the glory that I won is all His, I'm just holding on to the medals for now.

BANGKOK CALLING

2008-09-25T18:35:00.003+08:00

Blogger is being a real pain about uploading photos so the pics from Melbourne will have to wait.

I'm flying to Bangkok tomorrow for the BJJ competition on Saturday. Kinda nervous about my weight. Been trying to watch my diet all week so I can lose the approximately 1.5 kilos I need to be OK for the <70 division. Hopefully I can make it, if not I'm hoping they'll let me join the <80 division. But we'll see. Anyway, I'm also signed up for the absolute.

Won't be bringing my Macbook so on the off-chance you were at all curious, you'll have to wait till next week to read of my glory/mediocrity/humiliation/non-action. Further bulletins as events warrant.

EDIT 10.45pm: Just got back from BJJ class. Weighed myself with a heavier gi than normal and with belt I'm right at 70. Which is sweet, now I know I can get there.

TOURNAMENT REPORT: MELBOURNE

2008-09-17T00:09:00.003+08:00

Pictures coming later, I'm feeling pretty lazy about my camera right this minute.

This past Saturday, I took part in the 2008 Will-Machado BJJ Australasia Championships. I competed in the Male Blue Belt Lightweight division (60-70 kg). Loads of people were here, not sure if there were more spectators but definitely more competitors. There were 8 guys in my division, compared to the middleweight division (70-80 kg), which had like 20 guys.

The adults were scheduled to get going at 11 am; my wife and I arrived at around 10, when we met none other than Aziz, from Kreation BJJ! He decided to take the plunge and make the trip out here from Singapore, and this would be his first tournament as a blue – something about which I do know a little (the 2007 Machado Nationals was not only my first tournament as a blue, it was my first-ever tournament). Aziz was signed up for the middleweight division.

The three of us spent the time leading up to the matches chatting. We had some time to kill – Aziz’s division was only scheduled to begin at 12.45, and mine was set for 1.45. We just sat there and had bouts of nervous laughter looking around at all the huge Australian guys. I do not know what they feed these people but it is unreal. I mean, we knew they were mostly white belts but come on.

We had a light roll before Aziz’s first match to get the jitters out. He asked me to be his corner man, something that I was honoured to do (during the Singapore tournament he acted as mine). Unfortunately, there were just so many guys in his division that mine started before his first match! There was also a women’s division that was running concurrently on the same mat as Aziz’s, which didn’t help.

I had weighed myself just an hour prior to my division getting together and clocked in at a kilo under the limit. Sweet. However, when I got on the scales with an official watching, my weight was DIRECTLY on the limit, I literally made it by the skin of my teeth. I actually thought I was over. All I could say was “…uhh?” to which the official replied “it’s ok, you just made it, you’re alright. You were ****ing bricks for a second there, huh!” I managed a weak smile and staggered off to sit down and get my head right.

Mine was the 3rd match in the division so I had a bit of breathing room. Just then Aziz came up to me. As it turned out he ran into some bad luck, he got armbarred in the first round. I saw the guy Aziz had to fight and will very gladly vouch for the fact that he was huge. Not necessarily a genetic freak (debatable) but still scary-looking (not debatable).

Now to the actual matches – I apologise in advance, as I was really bad with last names on the day.

***

MATCH 1: v. Joel

I started the match by getting a sleeve grip. His response was to shoot for a takedown. I got a really sloppy sprawl and we lurched, as one, towards the edge of the mats. What ended up happening was that I managed to push myself forward and land on top, in his open guard.

He kept working the hip bump sweep – kimura – guillotine combination but since he was leading with the sweep I was able to stop it by getting up on my knees, pushing forwards and locking my arm. I worked my way to halfguard, but it is unclear whether he also wanted this for his own game, as I heard some guys telling him to lock my leg down. No complaints from me, I stopped worrying about the leg and went for an ezequiel.

I didn’t get it, as soon as he felt my arm around his neck he went for a cutting armbar but my arm was bent too far, giving me the time I needed to slip out. He was still going for the sweep, after a few attempts he went for the guillotine but I knew it was coming as I heard his corner yelling at him to do it. I blocked it, got my leg past his and took mount. At this point I think he was starting to tire out, I went for and hit an ezequiel.

I do want to say that Joel and I had a quick few words before the match – nice guy, with a great attitude.

Result: Win via submission (ezequiel choke). I was also apparently leading in points.

After this match I was really zoned, it always amazes me how much tournament matches take it out of me. I can only imagine what high-level athletes or professional fighters go through, especially at the start of their careers, it must be crazy.

***

MATCH 2: v. Paul

I was pretty nervous about this one. We (the other guys in the division) were all watching Paul’s first match – which he ended in less than a minute with a very smooth armbar, so we knew he was still fresh. I was still feeling wrecked from the previous match and honestly wasn’t sure I could win.

This one started with me trying to get a sleeve grip, he was trying to circle around. I was actually trying to clinch him and use that to push him down, but he never let me get the first necktie in.

Like the first match, he shoots in and I sprawl. Unlike the first match, he gets out right away and we scramble, ending up with him getting hook guard. At this point I hear a voice yelling, “He likes to play fast! Slow him down! Slow him down!” I stopped myself from asking Paul if that guy was talking to me or to him.

He immediately begins to work a cross-lapel choke. He got past my chin at one point but my neck pulled me through and I held out long enough to push his hands up. He was still really going for it though, so I was happy.

He spent the next part of the match trying to hip escape away from me as I was working for the halfguard. However, in almost a mirror image repeat of the first match I pushed his leg down and took mount. I went right to secure my position for the points. He tried to sweep but I hop up, let him roll and took his back.

Around now I hear the same voice going “Albert! Albert!” (So I know it’s for me) “You’re smashing him on points, just don’t do anything crazy! Don’t do anything crazy!” I was really puzzled, because I know nobody here actually knows me but John, Aziz and my wife – and it wasn’t any of their voices.

He tries to roll me off but I hang on and try to stretch him out. He got on top of my right leg and tried to escape but I saw it coming and countered by pushing my left leg over and taking mount. At this point I start looking for the tap. He defends the first ezequiel but the second one gets him.

Result: Win via submission (ezequiel choke). I counted 12 points for myself, possibly 14 or 15 as my first mount was also a guard pass. It’s possible I didn’t get points for the second mount, though, as if I remember, the transition was mount - back - mount.

After the match I was first congratulated by one of the other guys in the division, Matt (who would be in the finals next with me). I found out he was the guy pulling for me! What happened was: he looked around and saw there was nobody in my corner while everyone who was yelling was giving Paul instructions. He asked if anyone knew me, nobody did so he goes “OK, I’ll go for him!”

I was so amazed by that; he definitely went above and beyond and I really appreciate it, and plus his instructions actually did help to relax me during the match. He was really cool to me and we talked for a little while. We wished each other good luck for the next match.

***

MATCH 3: Male Blue Belt Lightweight Finals, v. Matt (I know how to pronounce his last name but for fear of butchering it, will not attempt to spell it), from Dominance Mixed Martial Arts Academy, in Melbourne.

This one was almost completely unlike the first two matches. We were standing for what felt like half the match. We were each trying to get sleeve grips and he was trying to pull me around to his side, and didn’t want to shoot in.

It was kind of weird as he was using his head to try to unbalance me, but I managed to stay on my feet. After some effort I manage to get myself on top of his shoulders and try to sprawl him down. He stays on his feet, bent double. I’m trying to grab his belt and pants to push him over, when he rushes forward and goes for the takedown. I was hopping around for about 10 seconds but he gets me down for 2 points.

Immediately he starts setting up a kneeride but I saw it coming and blocked his knee with my elbow. I roll away from him onto my knees, trying to get him to go for my back. He does and I roll him off me. We scramble and he gets me in hook guard.

I hear a voice telling us we have one minute left. I’m not sure how I distract him but it seems I do (I think I was faking a choke but I just do not remember) – I manage to push his knees down with my hands and jump to mount. He knows he has to do something so he’s really going for the reversal but I block it and get the points.

I’m also working hard for an ezequiel but he blocks my first few attempts. I actually was almost about to get it when time is called.

Result: Win via points – Me: 4, Matt: 2.

That’s the first time I’ve ever won on points – I do not think in terms of points and much prefer to work for taps, using position as a means to open up the submission. Honestly I wanted to win with the choke but that’s how it goes. Matt got up and we shared a good, brotherly hug.

During the prize presentations I was checking out what each winner received. Second place got a backpack and first place got a goodie bag. At first I was actually bummed because the backpack looked really cool. Then I looked inside MY bag and found out that all first place winners received coupons for a free pair of shoes(!) from Globe – AND a FREE GI from Virtus (I’ve already given the gi a test-drive and it feels pretty nice)!

Some other highlights of the day:
*There were enough brown belts this year to have 2 separate divisions (both won by Dave Hart).
*There was even a black belt competition this year (last year there was only 1 black belt exhibition match), won by Cameron Rowe (who was also really cool to me).
*Steve Perceval (who I believe is the only official UFC-certified referee in Australia) received his black belt from John.
*Dave Hart received his black belt from John. I can literally not wait to come back next year and watch THAT division.

The event was very well run, very smooth. Last year there were 220 competitors while this year there were 270 – and it was actually smoother than last year. They really had their game together and it was a very awesome time. And it wasn’t all about the tournament. Sunday morning saw Rigan give seminars at Dominance, where I saw him teach some really cool stuff from his “secret stash” and met some great people from New Zealand (Dom, Sarah and Geoff – if you’re reading, hi!).

Thanks to John Will, Melissa Will and their team, to Rigan Machado and to everyone, especially the sponsors who donated such fantastic prizes, who worked to make this tournament what it was. This is NOT a normal competition. To me, and I say this as an almost total outsider, in many ways it’s more like a big family reunion, with the attitude and the atmosphere. I am so glad I even made it here.

Thanks Matt, for showing such coolness and kindness. You’re a real credit to your gym and this sport. Cheers mate.

I want to give a special shout to Aziz. I know what it feels like to get on a plane, go to a faraway place where nobody knows you and compete, with no home support, in a huge room with hundreds of people watching, that you know are not in your corner because they have no idea who you are. It can be really scary and to take that step usually requires either clinical obsession (me) or serious, serious guts (Aziz).

Special thanks also to my wife, who was always right there with me. She was always ready with a bottle of water or a banana or extra tape, whatever I needed. She made the day a lot more special just by being there. She also SMS’ed our parents for me – thanks, baby!

Finally, who else should be thanked, but The Ultimate Sports Psychologist, who deserves all glory and praise for my performance.

Winning the Machado Nationals has been something I’ve really, really wanted for a year. As soon as the last one ended I had made up my mind that I was going to come back. I can’t describe how this feels, really, to have won a competition bearing the names of two guys I respect so much. It’s a great feeling – and all I can think about is coming back here next year.

MORE SINGAPORE STUFF

2008-09-07T15:45:00.010+08:00

Some pictures from the competition (only a few were usable):

Match 1

Here I am, about 2 seconds from being pulled back to his guard.

Here I am, about 1 second from being pulled back to his guard.

Here's me thinking, "He's not letting go, why won't he let go?"

***

Match 2

He couldn't get the hook sweep but it still counted as an advantage.

Here's something I forgot about: at one point I had side-back control on him, and I got his lapel under his chin. My choices were to either try and take his back or to attempt a choke. I went for the choke but he escaped.

***

Match 3

He shot and I sprawled. We were here for a good while. The ref never cautioned us for lack of action but he did look at his watch a few times.

Here I am going for an ezequiel, again. It felt like we spent almost half the match like this.

Finally, here's me with Yu, after the medal presentations. He was cool to me and I got a great impression of him. I hope to be able to roll with him again, even though it was a competition it was really fun!

Thanks again to the organisers of the competition, especially Albert Tan and one other guy (sorry man, I realise I never got your name, I think you were wearing the baseball cap). It was their second competition and considering the region we're in, I thought it was an encouraging turnout. I'm looking forward to the next competiton in Singapore.

TOURNAMENT REPORT: SINGAPORE

2008-08-30T19:00:00.009+08:00

Edited for spelling mistakes and forgotten details. Sorry if you read this and saw weird stuff, it's the computer's fault I promise!

No pictures yet as my camera cable is in KL, so will post when I get home.

I'm sitting in the Business Centre of my hotel, having just finished a day of BJJ competition. I was in town for the Singapore International BJJ Tournament 2008, joined by Rob.

We got there at 8.30am and we hung out until 6.30pm or so. Mostly we were sitting around, but we got to meet a lot of cool guys. Roy from Synergy (Indonesia) was one of them, as was Sebastian from EMAC (Bangkok), both really cool guys.

It was mostly white belts. Not many blues attended, there were like 4 of us, Sebastian and I were 2 of them. Unfortunately, because of an apparent issue with the number of referees, Sebastian had to bow out. I don't blame him, it was just taking much too long and he wanted to go hang out with his son - I'd have done the same thing.

At first there were only 3 blues registered, but the third guy pulled out being that he was stuck in Indonesia for the day. Then a few guys showed up from Hong Kong, one of whom was a blue. Also, they got one of the blues from the organising gym to enter, a Japanese expat living here.

Sebastian was in a heavier weight class but the other two were in mine. So I would need to roll with the Hong Kong dude, then meet the Japanese guy in the final. I also entered in the open weight division where there were again only 3 of us (I was all set for my division to be "open" anyway), so I would have to go with Sebastian then, again, meet the Japanese guy in the final.

When Sebastian had to go, it was down to the two of us, so it was straight away a final.

At about 12.30pm they had the first rules briefing. At about 3.45, I had my first match. They only had one referee available and had to run only one match at a time, whites then blues.

MATCH 1: Blue Belt <77kg division, v. Danny H, from Impakt gym in Hong Kong.

I don't really remember much about this. He tried to pull guard but ended up trying to set up a scissor sweep. He couldn't get the sweep but he had a grip on my collar that I just couldn't break.

After the first few sweep attempts I managed to pass guard for a bit before he reestablished the scissor sweep setup. If I remember correctly I was always on top or in his guard. He tried a triangle but I defended and passed his guard. I didn't hold it long enough for the points because he pulled halfguard. I dropped down to secure it before he could get his knee in the way and hit an ezequiel.

It was a case of "I got him before he got me", as we had a chat for a bit after that and I found out he was trying to set up an armbar, but couldn't move his hips enough. He struck me as a good guy when we talked, and so did his friends from Impakt.

Result: Win via submission (Ezequiel choke), I was told afterwards that I was up by about 3 advantages.

MATCH 2: Blue Belt <77kg division, finals, v. Yu Morioka, from Alive Academy in Singapore.

The match started with him also pulling guard. He tried a couple of hook sweeps, one of which gave him an advantage. Early on, we ended up seperated then had to reengage standing. He hit a throw for 2 immediate points, I think it was an ashi barai. Rob later told me it was actually the best takedown of the entire day. Yay, I think.

I suspect he was watching my earlier match because he really didn't want to give me his neck. I think he then passed my guard or did something because he got another 2 points. I pulled him back to halfguard and got a lockdown, which he wasn't able to break.

At this point he tries his own ezequiel, but I managed to defend it. He goes for a cross lapel choke next, but I stopped that too. I pulled guard and went for a wristlock, and I hit it, but time was sounded. I imagine his wrists were pretty flexible though, didn't look like anything was happening.

Result: Loss via points - Me: 0, Yu Morioka: 4 points, 5(!) advantages.

So, a silver for me and guaranteed at least another silver, being that I'm directly in the finals, with Yu again. I was a bit disappointed in the result but I know I gave it my best, so that will have to do.

MATCH 3: Blue Belt Open Weight division, finals, v. Yu Morioka of Alive Academy.

The match started with some shuffling around, he was trying to circle around but I kept my hips squared up. He shot in for a takedown but I got the sprawl and we were there for a fair while. I was trying to get him on his knees or back. He, meanwhile, was bent double and holding on to my arms so I couldn't do anything. He was also very mindful of his neck.

I don't remember how but he got out and we scrambled for a bit. I'm not sure if he passed my guard or what, but he was up by 2 points. I was trying to set up another ezequiel but he got me in a triangle which fortunately I spotted. He was really going for it but I held out - he never got my arm free and his cutting leg was never directly over my neck.

After that was done I spent the rest of the match going for an ezequiel which I could never get, he just wouldn't give it to me. It was kind of funny as his cornerman was the referee in my first match, and he was yelling in Japanese but I KNOW I heard him say "ezequiel" (I mean, there's no Japanese translation). I looked up at him and gave a quick smile and a shrug.

Result: Loss via points. Me: 0 points, 1 advantage. Yu Morioka: 2 points, 1 advantage.

A much better job of it if I do say so myself. Was a much closer match. There was one point where I felt like I could almost have taken mount, but I could feel his hook near my knee so I could never get it.

After the medal presentations I talked to Yu and asked how long he'd been training and found out he's got 6 years' experience, 4 of them as a blue. Which was GREAT for me to hear, now I felt much better! It was also a pleasure to have rolled with him twice, he's smooth and fast - and also pretty strong.

The event was a great experience, not counting all the waiting we had to do. I met some good friends and got to catch up. Sul was there, as was Aziz (who competed in two divisions as a white belt, got gold in both, AND got graded to blue! Congrats buddy!).

In addition, Rob did a great job in his first-ever BJJ tournament, winning the silver in the White Belt Novice (<6 Months' experience) division. Way to go!

I'm also really pumped up for Melbourne - looking forward to a few good rolls!

Postscript 31st August: I ended up pulling out of the no-gi tournament due to injury. My ankle was slightly buggered after yesterday's competition - I can walk on it but risking it in competition struck me as being less than prudent.

RAINY DAY SAVINGS

2008-08-28T00:42:00.005+08:00

I consider myself really fortunate in the sense that ever since I started training BJJ, my enthusiasm never stopped pushing me on. I’ve never experienced a serious drop in my desire to train, or ever considered just packing it all in and giving it a rest. So far so good, it’s been all about finding newer, better ways to drill and roll, and make it more fun.

Which is not to say that I’ve never had nights when I was just plain not up for it – the nights when I felt neither motivated nor engaged and just went straight to autopilot – which, also fortunately, have been few and far between. This brings me to something my wife was telling me about. She heard it during a workshop she attended and goes like this:

Finding out what is right in life gives us the strength to fix what is wrong.

I thought it was a very good way to look at things and because I seem to be clinically obsessed, set to applying this to my Jiu-Jitsu. You know, for the next time I start feeling blah. I ended up with a list of various people and things that inspire me, and give me a reason to not only get in gear and train, but to want it as well.

It turned out to be a great exercise. Not only was it, in some cases, a great reminder of stuff I want to bring back into my training, it was also cool to just hang out with some fun memories.

The list:

My wife
Vince, Sam and the rest of the KDT bunch
Rigan Machado
John Will
Adam & Jem Kayoom (one of my favourite memories of Adam is him looking at me and going “Albert, you’re one tough son of a *****”)
Finding out about the Ezequiel choke
Finding new ways to apply the Ezequiel
Taking loads of flak for using the Ezequiel
Reading Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu, by Dave Camarillo
Road tripping to Singapore with the KDT guys for BJJ seminars
Rooming with Vince and Tarbo during my first CMD trainers’ retreat
Silvio Braga, who taught me my all-time favourite armbar setup
Rolling with handicaps, even if everybody else cheats at it
Combining striking with takedowns and grappling in CMD class
Judo – with and without gi
Coaching, and learning how others coach
Batman & Superman

WEEK IN REVIEW, AUGUST 16-23

2008-08-27T11:55:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday, Steve Cotter was back at KDT for the second time this year to conduct a seminar on Dynamic Joint Mobility. No kettlebells this time, it was all bodyweight stuff. It was like a 2-hour warm-up that thoroughly did us all in! We did mobility exercises for pretty much the whole body, including individual fingers.

The only down side to the whole day was having to miss open mats, but it was worth it. It’s not often that someone like Steve visits and I’m glad to have been there. He even gave me some help with my bum knee.

***

On Tuesday evening, I made it back to the Bangsar Sports Centre for another spot of Judo training with Mike and Junji. Again, it was a lot of fun – I showed up late, which was a shame as I walked in and found out they were doing no-gi grappling! Looked like I missed a lot of fun.

I did a bit of standup and groundwork with a fellow named Max, really nice guy. I also got to do a bit of standup with Chew. I asked if he could go for throws while I just defended, which he was cool with. I decided that the best way to spend my time here was to get a better understanding of how standing starts feel – and to try and not get thrown, which I did a better job of this time.

I really liked training with Chew and Max, they’re the kind of training partners you wish you could have all the time.

***

Thursday evening, we cut our BJJ class a bit short, in order to adjourn to the Chili’s at Bangsar Shopping Centre. It was the last class for Ean, who’s in college in Texas and back in Malaysia for summer break. It wasn’t just a goodbye drinks session for him, but also for Walter, who will be making his way back to British Columbia to continue going after a university degree.

We shared stories and shot the breeze over many, many refills of 100 Plus and iced lemon tea, it was a great time. I wish them both well in all they do, they’ve got a lot of potential and their whole lives ahead of them (one’s 20, the other is 19)!

JUDO CHOP!

2008-08-10T17:35:00.003+08:00

No picture - I didn't think to bring my camera.

Earlier in the week I got my first taste of Judo training, courtesy of Mike. A little while ago he brought his friend Junji, a Judo black belt from Japan, to KDT for some BJJ training. He struck me as a cool guy and so I decided to act on what had for me been a pretty long-standing curiousity, which was to try Judo out and see what happens.

I had been interested in Judo for a fair while, but I didn’t want to jump into too many different things all at once. I already had Jiu-Jitsu and boxing to tide me over, so I put this back on the shelf. Then one day I read Dave Camarillo’s book, Guerilla Jiu-Jitsu, and the combination of BJJ and Judo really got me thinking. I just kind of don’t see myself trying any of his flying submissions.

It just so happened that in CMD training, we began to work on takedowns from the clinch around the same time. As soon as I realized what was going on I was sold – we did no-gi setups for tai otoshi, uchi mata, kata guruma and koshi guruma that week, definitely one of the more exciting developments of the CMD program at KDT.

I arranged to meet up with Junji and Mike at the Bangsar Sports Centre, where they train Tuesday nights (which was a major reason I never tried to join before, the timing is a direct conflict with the BJJ class). Mike met up with me a litter earlier and drove me there, where we found Junji waiting for us. We decided to meet up before the Tuesday class and train for a bit, then head back to KDT for BJJ.

The first thing I have to say about the sports centre is if the city council was trying to design that place with camouflage in mind, they did a really good job. It’s right smack in the middle of a housing estate, far away from anywhere I would have thought to look for it.

We began with some basics and Junji talked to me a little while about balance and the breaking thereof. After that and a little bit of practice (during which I got dumped on my head, ouch) some more people started to show up. Junji and Mike got me to spar with some of the regulars there. I did have a bit of difficulty adjusting to the rules of the Judo game, though. The biggest one for me was not being allowed to hold a cross-lapel grip for more than a few seconds, which took some getting used to.

I also found out that a lot of the guys there were keen on practicing their groundwork. I rolled with Junji, a fellow named Ash and this guy Chew, who is a black belt there and is apparently on the state team – as well as a really nice guy and a great training partner. During standup, whenever he would set me up for a huge seoi nage, he made sure it was always just uchikomi, giving me ample time to (very humbly) tap his leg.

It was a good time and a great learning experience. It was cool doing standup with those guys, and it reinforced the importance of having good grip strength, which they had in spades. Rolling with them was a bit like with wrestlers, as they had a lot of power and excellent base. They also know how to use their weight and their grips made it difficult for me in a lot of situations.

Finally, I learned the importance of being prepared. The room we trained in looked fairly innocuous when I stepped in. The thing is, when it starts filling up with guys it starts to turn, ever so slightly, into a gigantic pressure cooker. I was there for about 2 and a half hours, either getting thrown on my butt or rolling, without much of a rest in between. That, combined with the monstrous grips these guys have – they’re also pretty strong – made for an experience that almost equated rolling with all 130(?) kilos of big Raj at KDT.

I also didn’t think to bring water, which really cost me. By the time we got to KDT, dehydration was completely beating me down – after about an hour I had finished 7 cans of 100 Plus.

I’m going to give it a little more time to settle in, but I’m really hoping to train there again soon. Just about everyone was cool to me and it was a fun change of pace. I’m looking forward to more of this type of training!

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS

2008-07-31T14:35:00.007+08:00

Living in Malaysia is a bit of a mixed bag as far as training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The local scene is pretty blah overall, with only 2 gyms on the peninsula, there were 3 until recently when one closed down. So the bad news is you need to leave the country to get any kind of competition experience. The good news, if you can call it that, is that Malaysia's relatively central location makes travel a bit less painful. Not what I would consider a fantastic trade-off.

There is a pretty packed cycle of tournaments coming up soon, in the next couple of months really. I'm trying to finalise my plans but I've settled on this so far:

Not confirmed:
Aug 23-24 - Taiwan
Aug 30-31 - Singapore

My dilemma here is mainly financial, coming down to "plane ticket" vs. "bus ticket and hotel stay". It would be nice to go to both but I'm not sure that will fly.

CONFIRMED:
Sept 13 - Melbourne, Will-Machado Australian BJJ Nationals. I basically nailgunned myself to this one as soon as the last one finished.
Sept 27-28 - Bangkok, Thailand Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / Sub-Grappling Open. As I understand it, some good friends will be there and I'm looking forward to meeting them again...just waiting for the online registration to open up.

UPDATE 10th August: Have just dropped off my registration for Bangkok, and am looking at the Singapore registration form now. I really, seriously wish there could be a standard set of weight divisions across the board. In Singapore my division is <77, in Bangkok it's <70 WITH GI, in Melbourne it should be <70 with a 3kg gi allowance. Should be interesting.

JIU-JITSU TOURISM: HONG KONG

2008-07-30T16:59:00.005+08:00

I just got back from Hong Kong, where I spent the weekend with my super hot (yes it’s true, I don’t mind telling you) wife. She was in town for a dance conference, so for at least a little while I was on my own. Fortunately Imran and Yulius, friends from KDT who are currently based here for work, invited me to dinner – and to go train BJJ with them. Even more fortunately, the class would be held at the exact same time that I was free.

Having made no plans to do anything in Hong Kong but buy the soundtrack to The Dark Knight (since Malaysia takes freaking forEVER to get movie soundtracks that in other countries I can get pretty much as soon as I leave the theatre on opening night) and then eat lots of pork when that was done, I felt a bit bummed that I didn’t bring any of my gear. No worries, I was told, nobody else except the coach has a gi yet. I am also informed that this would be only the second BJJ class at this gym, the first class bring held earlier that week. Right then.

We set a time and place to meet up. The gym is near Causeway Bay MTR station and I got there early, so I braved the insane crowds and popped into a mall to go shopping for knee protection. I managed to find a really nice pair of Nike supports so I was all set. A short walk later, I was introduced to the coach, one Mr. Silvio Braga, a 2nd-degree black belt from Brazil.

I was immediately put at ease. From the word go, Silvio came across as a really cool guy – down to earth, funny and easy to talk to. I was seriously impressed with his ability to coach, and he definitely showed that he could take his skill and articulate it concisely and effectively for others. He was very adept at giving the right coaching cue at the right time and it made a huge difference in my understanding of the material and my enjoyment of the class.

He also ran us through some stretches and drills to warm up (that I will be shamelessly appropriating for my own use), and then showed us a nice guard pass and an armbar from mount setup that I particularly liked, as I can secure and keep my position for as long as possible. I never try armbars as, not only do I hate losing top position, in doing so I would frequently crush my own unmentionables. With this setup, I feel pretty confident in being able to avoid both pitfalls.

I got to roll for a little while with Silvio at the end of class and it was quite the experience. It was super fun, we had three quick rolls and I got armbarred as many times, and it was then that I was even more impressed with him. He would coach on the fly and give me opportunities to escape or attack, flowing right around anything I tried – it was all about mutual respect and having a whole lot of fun. Destroying me would have been about as hard for him as making a bowl of cornflakes, and the whole time I felt completely safe.

After we were done, Yulius and I spent a couple of minutes chatting with Silvio. He shared a couple of anecdotes with us and was really encouraging, a real class act. I left that class completely inspired and – since I wouldn’t be able to attend any more classes before my flight back – all I wanted to do was get back to KL and train.

It was great to meet up with Imran and Yulius; good guys, good training partners and good friends. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get back to Hong Kong anytime soon, but as long as Silvio is still based there, I’m definitely packing my gi!

DEAR MARVEL COMICS...

2008-07-03T17:19:00.005+08:00

Hi.

I've only just watched your new Hulk movie. I'm sorry, I know, I should have done it a month ago, but I've been busy.

Thank you for doing such an excellent job with casting. Ed Norton was an inspired choice to play Bruce Banner - though to be honest I also really liked Eric Bana's portrayal (shame about the rest of that movie).

And seriously, William Hurt as General Thunderbolt Ross? Like, whoa. BEST. CASTING. EVER. And by "ever", I of course mean "since you cast J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson".

Thank you for staying true to the spirit of the comics and still managing to make awesomely nerdlicious movies. I completely squealed when I saw Stan Lee get Gamma poisoning, and it would be so sweet to see the Leader in the next Hulk movie.

I loved Iron Man too (its soundtrack will be a near-permanent fixture in my conditioning classes in the future) and you have got me so completely pumped up for Thor, Cap and THE AVENGERS! YAAAA HA-HAAAA! WOOOOOO!

As an aside, thank you for giving DC a big wake-up call, and showing them exactly what they can accomplish - in terms of continuity, content and sheer butt-kickery, if they can only get to work. I mean, I love DC, but nobody can deny that right now you have the clear advantage in terms of storytelling. Overall, that is. To be frank, for me, you haven't done anything that tops Batman Begins, and with The Dark Knight coming out soon, they still have the edge in terms of stand-alone movie goodness.

Thank you again for being so utterly cool by giving so much respect to the TV series (the theme? VERY classy) and to Lou Ferrigno. If I wore a hat, it would be so totally off to you.

Thank you for giving people a whole new reason to give the comic book industry the respect it deserves.

And finally...because I need to justify putting this post up on a BJJ blog...

Thank you so much for casting Rickson Gracie! I went nuts in the theatre when I realised who it was. So very cool. So much respect. It was sweet to watch him..."the man who slapped Hulk in the face"!

Sincerely,

Bert

...

...But, why was Rickson credited as "Aikido Instructor"?

RODNEY KING @ BUDO ACADEMY, JUNE 2008

2008-06-22T18:24:00.005+08:00

No picture yet, I'll try to get one.

Last weekend a small group of the KDT guys made it down to Singapore to go train with Rodney King. Unfortunately, we were almost all of us injured or sick. Vince had some really bad food poisoning, Mike cut up his hand in a freak accident with exploding beer bottles, and on the Singapore side, Kon was out of action with stitches in his forehead, while Sul also had food poisoning (but he was ok for the second day of training). It was a bummer also because Adam and Jem were not able to make it down from Bangkok, as Adam hurt his elbow and shin in one of his Muay Thai fights.

As for me, I had a really weird thing going on with the middle knuckle on my left hand. About 2 weeks earlier I hurt it on Mike's forehead. Wasn't a hard shot, just one of those things. I suppose I didn't take enough care of it, because on the Friday we got there, it literally ballooned up. It was a bit scary and really strange. A lot of ice helped with the swelling and the blood stuck around for a few days after, making half my hand really purple. Going to the doctor tomorrow.

The trip was pretty fun regardless, we got to see some good friends there and it's a treat to watch Rodney in action. I learned a lot just watching him coach basics. He also showed a few drills which were really interesting and will definitely make their way into CMD classes at KDT. I'm really looking forward to the week-long CMD retreat in November!

KETTLEBELLS IN THE PARK, JUNE 8, 2008

2008-06-22T18:17:00.002+08:00

Bottoms-up cleans are MUCH easier with Pro Series kettlebells.

What can I say, I couldn't find my sneakers.

Assistant coach Chui led stretches for the day.

Posing down after a hard morning's work.

HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING...

2008-06-22T16:55:00.008+08:00

...about my training journal. And by that, I don't mean this blog. Instead, I'm talking about the actual notebook that I scribble in every now and then.

I've got this thing where I'm mad about brand new notebooks. I love everything about them: from the way the pages smell, to the sound they make when you flip the pages, to the feel of high-quality paper. It's especially the case for high-end notebooks, like the kind with the built-in rubber band, so they don't flop open, and the pocket in the back for loose sheets of paper.

I just hate writing in them.

It kills me when I have to start writing in a really nice book, because it's like I've just condemned it. Its future is now etched in stone. If I rip out a page so I can use the book for something else, I've just taken away a little part of its soul.

The worst part, though, the WORST part? There was a time when I was absolutely horrified of writing anything in my notebook about my BJJ classes until I had - and I know how this will sound - positively every aspect of every technique ready to put into print. Never mind the ignorance of assuming this was even possible. Let me explain.

Guy obsessed with getting everything positively right the first time with a notebook + constantly evolving system of combat sports = not fun. To illustrate, imagine the following internal dialogue:

"OK, right. So. I'll just start writing the alphabet in this book, with my ballpoint pen. So...whatever I write...will be permanent. So I need the first page for 'A', the second page for 'G' and the third for 'Y'...OK I can do this, I can do this, just breathe. Just breathe. Relax. I'm just going to write down some letters in a book. In order. But great Caesar's ghost, what happens if THERE'S A LETTER BETWEEN A AND G?!?!"

You get the idea, I hope.

Yes I know, there's something a little wrong with me. I mean, I'm no Tony Shalhoub. I think this is the only thing I ever really get all OCD over.

I've had the same book since last september. I started writing in it after last year's Australian BJJ Nationals, when I was on the train to Geelong for a visit to John Will's gym. The train was really jerky so the writing for the first 10 pages or so is frighteningly sloppy.

When I got back home I found some old notes from a seminar earlier in the year. I didn't want to lose them, so I copied them into the book. Pretty soon I started using it to take notes on CMD classes. Thoughts and things I had learned about coaching also made it into the notebook. I ended up writing in the book from both ends, so now there's just a bit of space left in the middle.

I'm trying to save enough space to make it last until after this year's Australian Nationals, at least, so I've been going back and looking for pages where I didn't write on both sides of a page to scribble in the latest notes.

When I look back at things I wrote just a few months ago I see rubbish and I wonder what I was thinking. That's OK, because I can flip just a couple of pages and be reminded of something I may have forgotten about, and have it become a meaningful addition to my game after some drilling. And who knows, a few months from now I may look back through my notebook and yesterday's 'awesome' will have become today's 'this is a joke, right?'.

I can, with some embarrassment, trace the progression of my game through the kind of notes I take, which for me is really cool to think about. It's also helpful that having a notebook does not mean I can just totally forget about stuff. In addition to the mat time I spend drilling something, I've also taken the time to write it down, which makes me think about it and analyse it enough to be able to articulate it.

The purpose of this is to say, just get a book and write in it. To an extent, it doesn't matter what you write, just as long as you get started. Write down things you learned in class, things you feel, things you think won't work, whatever. I mean, not to sound facetious, but if I can do it, I think anyone can. The trick is, if you are even half as obsessive as I am, don't think about it...start writing before your OCD defense mechanism knows what hit it.

It also helped that my notebook is ringed, and not bound with glue. It drives me absolutely up the wall when the spine on one of my books is damaged.

NEITHER RAIN NOR TRAFFIC NOR BITES OF MOSQUITOES...

2008-06-08T13:52:00.011+08:00

...Stays these crazy kettlebellers from getting it on in public.

I've just arrived home after our first Kettlebells In The Park workout, held in TTDI park. The KDT bunch was joined by Jonathan Wong and friends from the Pushmore gym, which was really cool.

We got off to a late start, because it was raining a bit and there was also a pretty big event being held in the park, so there was quite a lot of traffic in and around the area. Fortunately I was one of the few who got there on time and managed to score myself a parking spot. The area where we got to work out was actually quite far in, so just getting there, while hanging on to a kettlebell, was a good warmup in itself.

I had made the decision to switch down in weight for today's session, passing my current 20kg kettlebell over in favour of a 16kg (fortunately they were both Pro Series kettlebells, so nobody could tell I was cheating). It turned out to be a pretty smart decision.

The KDT group was the first to arrive so we were already doing snatches, swings and squats. When the Pushmore gang joined and everything got under way, though, it turned out to be a really good workout! We did another several hundred swings, snatches, presses, jerks, squats and slingshots.

For me, the killer was when we did our sets of swings. First Cliff, then Thong and finally myself, each counted out 50 swings (25 each hand) and everyone followed along. In between each set, nobody could put the kettlebells down, and we were made to do slingshots as an active recovery exercise. By the time I was done we had gone through about 150 swings - which was really challenging for me, first thing in the morning - and we weren't even halfway finished!

I did manage to find one thing out for myself though. Placing my kettlebell on the floor with the handle perpendicular to me, and my hands on either side with my fingers pointing towards the ground, pushups are a great way to stretch out my wrists. Being that the swings only tired out my forearms, wrists and fingers - my triceps and pecs were still right fresh.

Lots of fun was had by all, and I'm seriously looking forward to the next time we get to drag ourselves out of our warm beds at 8 in the morning on a rainy Sunday to go hurl my kettlebell in a park with all the joggers and mosquitoes!

I'll be looking to put up pics of the workout, though since I didn't bring a camera, I'm rather at the mercy of those who did.

BJJ - CHESS REDUX

2008-05-31T13:51:00.001+08:00

This isn't meant to be as rambling a post as my previous effort on the topic. Instead, I was inspired to write something after reading Garry Kasparov's book, "How Life Imitates Chess".

I've also been affected by a spot of blog inertia, so aside from the not-unwelcome chance of spurring me on to more entries of greater insight, I hope that this post will actually be of some use to its readers, and in so doing prove to be somewhat more than an exercise in creatively bankrupt indulgence.

I won't go into very much detail here - because I really do recommend this book to anyone with more than a passing interest in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - but I will bring up some of the highlights.

Strategy vs. Tactics:

The words 'strategy' and 'tactics' are routinely used interchangeably, a waste of many useful distinctions. While strategy is abstract and based on long-term goals, tactics are concrete and based on finding the best move right now.

A tactician feels at home reacting to threats and seizing opportunities on the battlefield. His problem is how to make progress when there are no obvious moves, when action is required, not reaction.

Just think about all the times when you started rolling with a "I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm doing it" mindset (which for me would be...alot) and you start to get a sense of the gold to be mined from them thar hills.

Challenges, Competition and the Path to Growth:

Feudal and caste systems might be dying out in most places but they are alive and well in the chess world...First category players aren't allowed to participate in the second category competition, any more than a twenty-year-old could play in the under-twelve championship. Of course there are no restrictions in the opposite direction...No one could complain that it was unfair when I won the Soviet national under-eighteen tournament at the age of twelve.

If it is challenges that help us improve, why then - apart from prize money - shouldn't everyone want to play in the open section of the tournament? Would we not learn more from nine losses to very strong opponents than from six wins and three losses against players roughly our own level?

...Finding the correct balance between confidence and correction is up to each person. 'Lose as often as you can take it' is a good rule of thumb...as much as we enjoy winning, and winning every time out would obviously be ideal, it is important to realise that setbacks are both necessary and required if we are to make progress.

I think it's quite obvious just from this passage that this information is relevant to a great many things, including of course, Jiu-Jitsu. I often feel like the times I grew the most in my training were the nights I got repeatedly, quickly and sometimes uncomfortably tapped.

I would hope I'm not just preaching to the choir here, but trust me, if there's anything that will make a fast learner out of you, it's getting flattened into a white-and-sometimes-blue stain on the mats by guys who are just so far above you in skill that it's not funny anymore, but you laugh anyway. (thanks, Adam!).

I found a whole lot of good stuff from my first read - much, much more than has been presented here, so treat this strictly as the teaser trailer before the summer blockbuster - and will definitely need to have another go.

BETTER LOOKING THAN RENZO GRACIE...

2008-05-20T15:43:00.004+08:00

...And here's proof!

Vince edited this video of a CMD class we recently had, the whole time we just did really light "MMA" sparring. No elbows or knees, but kicks, takedowns and grappling were allowed. I'm the fellow with the dark blue t-shirt (also designed by Vince), the black Fairtex shorts and the light blue gloves.

I found it tremendously fun, though pretty draining. As you may guess from the sloppy takedown, much of the video was shot close to the end of class. I think I did alright as far as endurance is concerned, and I have only Vince's conditioning classes to thank for it. If you're looking to train for MMA or even standup, I'd really recommend some kind of interval training regime, the benefits to be had are simply immense.

I had loads of fun integrating BJJ into my sparring. I can't get enough of it as is, so any opportunity to throw in some grappling is always cool. It was really interesting to again take note of how much the dynamics of "normal" BJJ training shift when not only do you not have a gi to slow things down, but someone is also trying to punch you in the face.

JOHN WILL @ KDT, APRIL 2008

2008-04-26T02:02:00.007+08:00

Entry 1: In roughly 14 hours from now, John Will rolls back into KDT to conduct his second-ever Malaysian BJJ seminar. It's been about a year since he was here last and I'm really pumped up for this. Not trying to oversell him but John is probably the single best BJJ coach I've ever met.

His teaching style is, to me anyway, excellent - he moves along at a good pace and always manages to never leave anyone behind. What's more, right before the seminar starts, there will be a 2-hour open mat session. I'm really looking forward to a thoroughly awesome day of training.

Entry 2: Well, I was right - it was another amazing session by John, focusing on the omoplata. We covered so much it such a short span of time, it was nuts. I have about 4 pages of "rough" notes in my book! There was so much pure gold to be found in his coaching style, his advice for us and even just things that he said offhand. I also snagged a set (2 books) of his new autobiography. I'm told it's pretty good reading so I'll be checking it out when I have time.

What's more, the day was capped off with Sam getting his brown from John! Excellent stuff and well done, coach!

Entry 3: We did a session based around the x-guard, then takedowns. I had seen the x-guard material presented before at one of his Singapore seminars but far from being redundant, I was amazed at how much more sense everything made to me the second time around!

Not to mention the fact that in Singapore, at the exact same time he was showing the x-guard sweep I was overcome by an upset stomach and had to run for the mens room...

The takedown material was pretty eye-opening for me. My experience with them is rather bad, to put it mildly, and this was a great primer on the single-leg. I'd be looking to try some of this stuff on Tuesday if I didn't have to fly off for wedding preparations!

There was also another grading - this time for Vince! Mr. KDT himself was graded to purple by John. A great achievement and much deserved. Way to go!

The whole thing was a really awesome BJJ experience. Besides the gradings and the techniques, it was cool to see Allen Chong and the BJJ Borneo guys in town again. Also cool was to see Laurent back on the mats again, he's been MIA since the CMD seminar, when he hurt his knee during a roll.

And yeah, it wasn't bad meeting John Will again. There are not many people who inspire me as much as this man does - who make me really want to be excellent in what I do...not just to stand out, but to go above and beyond. Whether or not such a fate is in my future remains to be seen, but man, I can't wait to get back on the mats and start working for it.

NO, SERIOUSLY, KEEP THE WRAPPING ON. PLEASE.

2008-04-24T17:39:00.005+08:00

Last Saturday I had a sort of double celebration at the gym. My birthday was the next day (when the gym is closed)...and my wedding is coming up pretty quickly so it was also a kind of bachelor's party.

I wouldn't say I'm really a match for Steve Martin or Dan Aykroyd in the "wild and crazy guy" department, as I much prefer a nice, quiet evening of good, old-fashioned, brotherly violence with a room full of sweaty men, to say, a wallet-draining night out on the town that everybody and his uncle vows to never forget, but will all the same.

So it was with much joy that I made my way to a Bert-requested, Vince-approved KDT birthday-stag party: 6 hours of boxing and BJJ fun with isotonic sports drinks sponsored by yours truly!

I showed up at noon and spent about an hour on my own, just doing a light warmup, scribbling in my training notebook and doing a spot of reading. It was really cool just to have the place all to myself, I wish everyday could be like that...and as it so happens, it will in a few months!

Mike was the first to show up and we did some no-gi training for about another hour before more guys started to show up. I had a few marathon rolls with Rizan, Sam and Wee Li and then did a spot of boxing to finish off.

It was so much fun and just goes to show that the best part of any gym is the people who make it what it is. Usually Saturday open mats are over much too quickly for my tastes and it just leaves me wanting more (true, sometimes I just show up late). Today, though, it was a thoroughly excellent session with an awesome bunch of guys.

Times like this, I really recognise how lucky I am to have found this gym and I'm especially grateful to have been accepted as a part of this family. I'm really going to miss days like this when I move and start my own place, but hopefully I'll be able to make some more of these memories happen, somewhere down the road.

Or maybe I'll just close up shop for the day, hop on a plane and pop by KDT, who knows!

THE THICK BLUE LINE

2008-04-10T22:17:00.006+08:00

When I first got my blue belt, I remember feeling like a complete poser. The sheer weight of my own expectations and preconceived notions was so intense, it was crazy. I felt really nervous, like a fraud waiting to be found out. It took me a while just to get used to holding it in my hand, never mind wearing it.

The thing that freaked me out the most was in my gym, there seems to be this thing where someone gets their blue, then either stops training or takes a sabbatical. I was so afraid that would be me as well. Over time, though, I slowly got used to it. I didn't stop training, in fact I started to enjoy it more.

So I doubt I'll be winning the Mundials anytime soon, but at least I don't beat myself up about it.

Tonight at the end of class, Patrick, Rizan and Wee Li got their blues. I'm really happy for them and I'm even happier that I get to train with them. For as long as they've been with the gym they've been really dedicated to BJJ and I'm proud just to be associated with them. Over the past two years they've come a long way, and they've still got a lot of potential, just waiting to be realised.

In terms of BJJ, or martial arts for that matter, today may just have been the best, most fulfilling day of my life. It was so cool to see these guys step up to take their belts (and beatings!), having watched them progress from the day they walked on the mats for the first time. I actually got in my car and started to drive home before realising that I was still wearing my rashguard and kneepads!

Plus, Vince got in his new BJJ T-shirts today, they look really sweet and I think I may be persuaded to buy a number for myself.

So congratulations to the new blues - well done and well deserved, boys. I really hope you stick around and see what happens, because it really just gets better from here. I promise.

On a side note, I also got graded today - as did Mike - to a blue with one stripe.

So that was pretty nice, too.

ONE MAN'S BREAD AND BUTTER...

2008-03-24T12:21:00.010+08:00

If you're trying something new and you aren't sure of yourself, I would say it's pretty common to have a look around, say "hey that guy seems to know what he's doing" and then just follow along. There's nothing wrong with this - it can be a good way to start yourself off. It's how many people learn and it's how many people teach.

Taking this back to Jiu-Jitsu: say someone in the gym has a really good open guard. Nobody can pass it and he sweeps or subs everyone like it was nothing. You look at him, say "that looks cool! I want to do that too!" and all you do from then on is drill your guard game.

A few months pass. Maybe you've become hot stuff on the mats. Maybe you haven't - maybe you just don't feel comfortable playing open guard. The problem with "monkey see, monkey do" starts when all you do is imitate others.

Just because "hey, that guy makes it work" doesn't mean everyone will have the same kind of success with it. There are tons of reasons for this - attributes (gogoplata from closed guard, what?) and mindsets ("I'll wait and see what he gives me" vs. "If I don't explode right now I'm going to lose") are great examples.

Not everyone is insanely flexible, even if half the guys you train with seem to have some kind of genetic mutation. Likewise, if you're naturally agressive, you may not be well suited to a "lay & pray" game.

By default, your coach deserves trust (without which, there's really no point to your even being in the class). But the coach really only shows you your options - and you do need to take responsibility for the choices you make in training.

A coach can be a great fighter with the best triangle game in the world. You may have short legs or bad knees that mean your triangles are horrid. There should not be an issue here unless all your coach makes you do are triangles. You can learn to make your triangle more efficient but if it's not clicking, it's not clicking.

The whole point is to play and explore, to see for yourself what works and what doesn't. Sometimes you just know right away you won't like certain positions or techniques, and sometimes it may take you months of experimentation before you find out.

Don't be afraid to take parts of other peoples' games and make them your own - equally, don't be afraid to go your own way and try to find something that is truly yours.

NOTE TO SELF

2008-03-19T11:08:00.010+08:00

Good Coaching Behavior

Loves the game
Cares about athletes
Calls athletes to nobility
Focuses on excellence in fundamentals
Uses intensity to build and encourage
Speaks well of athletes to others
Shakes hands with the athletes
Encourages progress
Uses the coach position constructively
Is good at support
Talks to athletes directly
Says "We'll work on that"
Honors athletes' past coaches
Supports the team
With wins, boldly esteems the athletes
With losses, brutally examines self
Expects 100 percent from athletes
Gives 100 percent of self
Gives consistent message to athletes
Shows loyalty to athletes
Is strong in character
Invites feedback from athletes
Respects parents/family
Earns respect
Seeks to understand the athletes
"Owns" the results of his/her coaching
Apologies and forgives
Cultivates confidence
Embraces humility
Is teachable and open-minded
Seeks help and input
Shares information
Single faced and forthright
Emotionally and intellectually honest
Protects athletes' weaknesses
Admits personal weaknesses
Inspires hope
Brings joy to the game
Releases athletes
Channels passions
Finds the best in every athlete
Teaches and instructs
Works for athletes
Seeks acclaim for athletes

Bad Coaching Behavior

Loves to win
Cares about wins and losses
Calls athletes stupid
Develops the showy before the solid
Uses intensity to degrade and shame
Speaks poorly of athletes to others
Shakes head at the athletes
Encourages favorites
Uses the coach position to tear down
Is good at sarcasm
Talks about athletes behind their backs
Says "What was that?!"
Mocks athletes past coaches
Supports own ego
With wins, boldly esteems self
With losses, brutally examines athletes
Expects applause from athletes
Talks about how much he/she gives
Gives erratic message to athletes
Shows disgust with athletes
Boasts of his/her strength of character
Instills fear in athletes
Disregards parents/family
Expects or demands respect
Seeks to undermine the athletes
Blames results on athletes/staff/circumstances
Holds personal grudges, seeks vindication
Crushes confidence
Parades arrogance
Knows it all
Seeks to block and isolate
Withholds information
Two or three faced and oblique
Emotionally and intellectually dishonest
Exposes athletes' weakness to others
Denies personal weaknesses
Inspires hopelessness
Robs the game of joy
Stifles athletes
Chokes passions
Seeks only the best athletes
Yells and shames
Expects athletes to work for him/her
Seeks acclaim for self

Final note:
A Good Coach reads this and reflects on his or her style and motivations.
A Bad Coach reads this and responds with contempt and cynicism.
Gut check time.

~Mark Eaton~

I hope that according to this I'm moving more or less in the right direction. I also hope that anyone I coach will call me out if I'm not.

BERT IN CHARGE

2008-03-13T22:45:00.005+08:00

Scott Baio, eat your heart out.

Seriously though, tonight I led my first BJJ class. I wasn't really expecting to, but Sam wasn't in town and Vince had a wisdom tooth removed so there I was.

I led the guys through a warmup based on some stuff I saw from Rigan Machado, then went into drills based around positional control. We only really had time to focus on the mount and side control before everyone started rolling, but it looked like everyone was into it.

I was trying a bit of a different format for the class, where I'd get them to drill and then after a couple of minutes I'd break, bring everyone in and do a little troubleshooting session where everyone got to listen in. Seemed to work pretty well, and I got everyone to try and apply the suggestions I made in the next round of drilling.

For me, it was really fun getting the chance to put on the coach's shoes for just a little bit and get a taste of what it's like. I hope the class was just as fun (or more) for the guys. It was all really inspiring to me - just like the recent MMA-based classes we've been doing, it was like rediscovering why this is so completely fun.

I'm playing around with things I'd like to try if I ever get asked to do this again, which I'm hoping for.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

2008-03-11T10:20:00.002+08:00

Last night we had an MMA-based boxing class. For many of us, myself included, it was pretty new territory so we started out slow. Very light contact, as some people didn't have MMA gloves - as well as limited drills: maintaining the mount and some basic defense.

I just wanted to learn it - I had no idea how fun it was going to be! Using strikes to set up positions and submissions opens up a whole new field of possibilities. It's a pretty exciting time right now, as it also freshens up BJJ classes (not that they needed it), helping me to be aware of my options, even if they're not allowed.

Very cool stuff. I can't wait for Wednesday night!

I CAST MAGIC MISSLE!

2008-03-10T22:50:00.003+08:00

Note: This post is completely unrelated to anything close to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing or any other martial art, unless you count the Monk class in 3rd Edition.

I feel that, ridiculously wild tangent though this entire post may be, I would be seriously remiss in my duties as a nerd (for you see, besides my fiancee, and BJJ, the other great love of my life is role-playing games) if I did not take the time to make a blog mourning the passing of one Mr. Ernest Gary Gygax.

The co-creator of the epic and marvelously fantastic game Dungeons & Dragons, Gary sadly left this life on March 4, 2008. He leaves behind an unimaginably spectacular legacy of great games inspired by his part-brainchild. He is mourned by his family, which includes millions of other nerds around the world.

Fare thee well, Master Gygax. Wherever you are, may you roll maximum damage for your fireballs, and may all your attacks be critical hits.

Rest in peace.

Ernest Gary Gygax (July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008)

MAKING SENSE OF MADNESS

2008-03-03T11:33:00.010+08:00

"How did he do that?"

For the first couple of months of training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, that's pretty much what I thought it was: insane. Not in a bad way, mind you. It was so completely incomprehensible, just thinking about it makes me laugh.

During drilling it was ok. I could more or less grasp general concepts, because everything would get broken down nicely. During rolling it was a bit different. I was just trying to survive, because everything I just learned went nicely – out the window.

One second I'm trying to pass guard, a moment later I'm defending an armbar. One second I'm on top in side control, a moment later I'm on the bottom and my face is being smeared across the mat. One second I'm in safety position, a moment later I'm getting triangled.

And so on. And the whole time, there I was, with no idea as to what was going on. I can see how this could get old. It didn't for me, but I can see how it's a possibility.

I suppose that really, the best advice I may be able to give to people in this position is to just not give up. Stay focused and stay engaged. Want to be there. Trust that your coach knows what he's talking about, and that he’s actually interested in seeing you get better, because unless you are tremendously unlucky – or unpleasant – he probably is.

Most importantly: it really doesn’t matter if you get your butt whupped, it really doesn’t (in fact, it’s arguably the single best way for you to learn). What really matters is if you keep putting in the time (just make sure you train in a safe environment, where you can feel comfortable).

Sooner or later you’ll start seeing returns. The fog will start to clear up and while you may not become brilliant overnight, at the very least you’ll experience a taste of what it could be like. Put in enough time and this is as good a guarantee as you'll get.

It’s a bit like a 1,000,000-piece jigsaw puzzle in this respect: at first it’s a freakishly indecipherable jumble (especially if you don’t have a good example of what it’s supposed to look like). Nothing makes any kind of human sense and it’s the easiest thing in the world to say “nuts to this” and walk away.

But if you stay, keep at it and never stop wanting to see what you can make of it – soon enough you’ll find two pieces that go together. Keep looking and you’ll find a third piece, then a fourth. You may even find two unrelated pieces that go together. Cool, just hang on to those.

Maybe you find it easier to start at the corners, maybe you like to lump them up by colour. Well, nobody said you have to start in a particular place, right?

Eventually you come to a point when you can try to put 2 and 2 together, and make an educated guess as to what a small part of the picture is. You still don’t have the whole thing together but now you’ve figured out enough that you aren’t clueless.

Imagine that all across the world there are people working on this same puzzle. Many are farther along than you are. Learn from these people; if they don’t give you straight answers as to what they’ve figured out, at least try to see how they go about it.

Many are still mired in tangible confusion. Learn from these people; see what they’re doing wrong and either help them or not, but don’t repeat their mistakes.

You may come to a point, or several points, when you wonder if it’s all worth it. There are so many other ways to spend your life, why would you devote so much of your time to this? You may decide that you want to go on, or that you’d rather call it a day. Hey, do what feels right.

The bottom line is: it may take you all your life, and still you may not even come close to finishing it. But, as long as you're having fun along the way, it's really not so bad after all.

THERE WILL BE BLISTERS

2008-03-02T19:02:00.006+08:00

No, that's not my picture. This is Steve Cotter, who was just at KDT to conduct a 2-day Kettlebell Trainer Certification seminar.

Steve is the Director of the International Kettlebell and Fitness Federation (IKFF). He has over 25 years of fitness and martial arts experience. He's also phenomenally strong (we took a picture of him doing a double windmill, holding a 20kg -AND- a 28kg kettlebell, both in his lower hand).

So the long and short of it is, after around 13 hours' worth of training over 2 days, I am now a Certified Kettlebell Trainer (level 1)! I'm told that we're the first batch to be certified in South-East Asia, which is pretty cool. I had a lot of fun - Steve is a really cool guy, and not just cause he autographed one of my kettlebells.

The others who were certified were (from KDT) Vince, Kate, Thong, Chui and Cliff. Paul and David, Vince's friends from Kota Kinabalu were also certified, as were Jonathan Wong from the Pushmore gym and Ty (sorry man, forget your last name), an American living in Bangkok.

My palms had the life wrung out of them and I wonder how much of this seminar will make it into Vince's classes this week. Time to soak my hands.

P/S I'm also in the process of adding more pictures to the blog. Just in case you didn't notice.

FACTORY BJJ

2008-02-25T16:34:00.006+08:00

I've just found out that Adam Adshead (of Conceptual BJJ - link in the sidebar) will be involved in setting up a new BJJ gym in England.

I sincerely doubt that I get any kind of random traffic from that part of town, but I want to give the place a plug and wish him and his guys the best of luck.

Factory BJJ
Hulleys Gym (AstraZeneca)
Charter Way, Silk Rd Business Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 2NA

Check it out here. And I'll just add, I'm really digging the logo.

Cheers!

ME GRIMLOCK NOT KISSER, ME GRIMLOCK KING!

2008-02-25T15:40:00.006+08:00

The title of this post is not completely relevant. I just wanted to use a Transformers quote.

In preparation for my wedding, my fiancee and I have been taking dance classes. We're learning the Waltz, as well as the Argentinian Tango. The Waltz is kind of tricky for me, but if I do say so myself, I'm actually not bad at the Argentinian Tango.

It was really weird, though, my form had to be corrected quite a lot. Among my errors - my shoulders were always too high up and too tense.

After all that mat time in BJJ and CMD classes, I think I'd be a bit alarmed if this wasn't the case, but in any event it was pretty hard to get used to...I feel a bit naked without my shoulders touching my jaw.

Also, I actually have a pretty long neck; as it turns out, several circumstances have conspired to make it appear otherwise:

1. My neck is a little thick, and my traps are a bit bigger than the average guy on the street.
2. My shoulders spend more time closer to my face than away from it (see above).
3. I don't shave regularly and I also keep a goatee, which apparently makes my jaw seem longer than it is.

As an aside, I would like to send out a great, big "HA!" to all the people who keep giving me flak about my jaw and neck (or the overabundance and lack thereof, respectively).

AN INTERESTING THOUGHT

2008-02-18T16:28:00.003+08:00

Golf tips are like aspirin. Take just one, and it will probably do you good. But if you swallow the whole bottle, you'll be lucky to survive.
-Harvey Penick

I really like this quote. In fact, I wish I had read it 2 years ago. It would have saved me so much hassle - trying to robotically memorise every last detail of every class, and then never being able to pull off any of those cool escapes and submissions because I was thinking too much.

I find it much easier to just focus my attention on one or two things per class. This way I can slowly but more reliably (I don't like the use of the word "surely" in this context) grow my game, instead of trying to cram for exams before every class and praying that I can remember enough to survive.

TIMELY INSPIRATION

2008-02-12T14:41:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is great for alot of things. The time off work is excellent. Dinners with friends and family are always fun. So it's not that I have anything against the occasion, except when it comes to my training.

The gym was closed from last wednesday and today will be our first day back in action. My training casualty count thus stands at: 2 boxing classes, 3 conditioning classes and the ones that really get me, 1 BJJ class AND an open mat session.

My fiancee was visitng her family for the holidays so I was left to my own devices. And OH, what fun and exciting devices they were indeed. I cleaned the house - yes I swept the floor - I played a few board games with friends and there was a lot of World of Warcraft thrown in for good measure.

When I finally dragged myself into the office today I was feeling thoroughly apathetic. Inertia had taken what seemed like a reverse triangle on me, and I could feel my knees being pulled steadily into my chest. What's worse, I knew I should be trying to kick my legs out and roll to my stomach...but in a way I couldn't be bothered.

Basically, I was feeling pretty blah and just generally uninspired. I wasn't even going to write this blog until I read a post on John Will's blog (link in the sidebar on the right) which I will cross-post in part:

The Springtime Squirrel

The old ‘financial planning’ model is based on the premise that you dislike your work and one day you will ‘retire’, put your feet up, and live your life by drawing a pension from the nest-egg that you have spent forty odd years building up.
I can tell you one thing for certain – it is far more important to find a way of making a living that you really enjoy than it is to grit your teeth and keep doing something you dislike just so you can ‘live large’ when you turn 60.

...

We all need money to live the way we want and do the things we want – no doubt about that. But don’t give up the ‘now’ so that you can ‘live the life’ when you turn sixty. Live it all the way – be passionate about what you do – invest in super, be smart, read good books, talk to successful people – but LIVE NOW! Love the whole journey – and never stop.

When I read that it was an instant reminder of every last reason I have for training. All my plans for opening my own place are based around this exact line of thought. I'm excited by what the future holds - and I'm also pretty fired up for tonight's class.

BJJ SABAH - PART 2

2008-01-27T11:01:00.000+08:00

I just got back from Kota Kinabalu, where Vince, Raj and myself were visiting the guys at BJJ Borneo. It was a pretty cool experience; it was my first trip to Sabah and everyone treated us really well. We also paid a visit to some of Vince's Karate buddies and I helped out with their first BJJ class.

As far as BJJ itself goes, I was really impressed with the improvements that a couple of the BJJ Borneo guys made to their game. It was very good to see and I had a lot of fun. In particular, it was cool rolling with Allen. It would have been nice to get one or two more rolls in but I'll get the chance in April, when John Will is dropping by to conduct a seminar at KDT.

"THE CHESS POST"

2008-01-14T17:08:00.000+08:00

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the connection between chess and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This analogy first made itself known to me over a year ago and I’ve always found it really interesting. Then I started thinking that it would be nice if I did some research on the topic.

So, I started playing chess.

I don’t have anyone to play with, or even a real set. Instead I’m messing about with the “Big Bang Chess” game that came with my iMac. It’s not exactly Deep Blue, which works out quite nicely, as I’m not exactly Garry Kasparov. At any rate, here’s what I have:

Chess, like BJJ, is a game of functionality.

The aim of chess is to put your opponent in checkmate. The aim of BJJ is to make your opponent submit. To that end, an incredible number of techniques and tactics have evolved over the years for each pastime. There is always someone trying to explore and to innovate, whether in chess or Jiu-Jitsu. A particular strategy will dominate until someone finds out how to break it down. If it doesn’t work, nobody does it.

Chess, like BJJ, requires a good amount of preparation.

As far as my own chess adventure, the first thing I realized was that in terms of chess, I haven’t really come a very long way from my days in the school chess club (this would be about 17 years ago, maybe 18). I got seriously mauled, by just about everyone. I would start playing with no game plan and I can remember everything I did being picked apart.

Take that last sentence on its own and you find it immediately applicable to grappling.

I’m not talking about taking notes on all your training partners to find ways to exploit their weaknesses, even though I have heard of that happening. I’m referring to things like making notes after classes and seminars. Actively work to fill up the holes in your game. Train smart, not paranoid.

I’ve also noticed that the more time I spend thinking about BJJ off the mats, the less time I spend thinking about it on the mats. A fair portion of my free time goes to thinking about random BJJ-related stuff. Things like possible escapes from bad positions, possible submissions I can attempt from a given position and so on.

Chess, like BJJ, can be really intimidating.

Anyway, 17 or 18 years later, I would routinely avoid “Big Bang Chess” in favour of something more my speed. “Big Bang Checkers” was very popular, as would have been “Big Bang Tic Tac Toe” – if every game didn’t end in a draw. That got old after a while. I was very kindly introduced to new levels of humility by “Big Bang Connect Four”, but maybe I’ll save that for another post.

Even in retrospect I’m not totally sure if I was intimidated by the game, or if I just wasn’t interested enough to try. Then I started thinking about all the guys I try to get to just try BJJ out. I managed to get one guy hooked but overall my success rate isn’t so hot. I know, diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks, but almost nobody would agree to even try.

Instead, when I would try to tell people about how cool BJJ can be in the right environment, they would just lower the cone of silence on themselves.

Chess, like BJJ, challenges us to overcome panic.

Panic has always been a problem in BJJ. If it sets in, you’ve already lost. I almost never see this in training, though I now understand that in tournaments, it’s a very different thing. Before I started reading up on this, I wouldn’t really have thought that it would be a concern in chess as well. Then I came upon this (emphasis mine):

Chess; NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, DON'T PANIC

By Robert Byrne
Published Dec 20, 1981

It is all very human to become frantic and illogical when your chances are slipping away in a match, but it almost always results in disaster. The wild gamble, the variation you know to be unsound, instead of beguiling the opponent makes your defeat all the more probable.

The critical situation in a match should not be played differently from the normal way of going about winning any tournament game. Barring gross errors of the opponent - over which you have no control - the method must be to maneuver to obtain a favorable position and only then to work forcefully for victory. There are no rational shortcuts.

Note the date of the article. Note also the use of language.

Chess, like BJJ, is a game of position before submission.

In order to set up a checkmate or a submission, you need to have a good position. You need to account for all the ways that your opponent can escape or counter, and then eliminate all of them.

Of course, when you have the position you need to be able to submit. Spending half a game trying to immobilize your opponent’s queen doesn’t mean you win. Neither does completely pinning down the opposing king without being able to put it in check.

Chess, like BJJ, is a game of chaos.

You can’t control your opponent’s actions. You can lead your opponent towards a particular course of action, but you have no way to know that this action will in fact be taken.

I’ve heard both chess and BJJ referred to as “controlled chaos”, which is a bit misleading. If you can control chaos, then it’s not chaos any more. I think that both chess and BJJ are more about adapting to chaos than controlling it. Knowing when to push for a position or submission attempt, knowing when to tap, knowing when to go fast or slow, knowing when to bail out.

I’ll refrain from posting the lyrics to “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers, but I pretty much just paraphrased it.

The only times when I could predict with any real accuracy how the computer would react were when I put its king in check, or when I threatened one of its more important pieces. And even in the latter case, there were occasions when the computer would sacrifice the piece to gain a positional advantage on me, which I just didn’t see coming.

In chess, like BJJ, there are people who just take it way too seriously.

Most people who train BJJ have at one point rolled with someone who just flips out on the mat. It’s always full steam ahead and usually you’re just concerned about getting hurt by this person. And this is just during a normal class. Enter a tournament and you’re almost sure to see one of these guys in action.

By the same token, Maurice Ashley (the first African-American Grand Master) has said,

A guy is trying to kill you in chess. He is trying to maim you intellectually. It is not some esoteric general exercise. It’s war! I’m trying to break YOU down. I’m trying to break down your pieces. I’m trying to break down your mind. I’m trying to break down your spirit – everything.

When guys lose at the highest level it’s brutal. You feel like you have totally prepared to come out. You have all these skills. Then a guy comes and takes your position and rips it apart. That’s personal.

There’s also Bobby Fischer, who infamously remarked,

I like the moment when I break a man’s ego.

Chess and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can each be seen as either just a game or a life-and-death struggle of alpha male superiority. To each his own, I suppose.

Slight tangent: in the Maurice Ashley article he makes a very good point about how people who play chess in the park don't necessarily find success in tournaments. It's such a completely different atmosphere and casual or "street" players find it hard to adapt to the pressure of playing timed games.

Finally,

Chess, like BJJ, is much more fun when it is played, rather than talked about.

I’m having fun with “Big Bang Chess”. Right now I have it on the highest difficulty setting, which doesn’t really mean that much except it takes longer to make decisions. I’m doing well enough by opening up my queen and white bishop (I usually play white), though I suspect I should try new openings before it gets stagnant.

There’s also a handy “undo” option for when I mess up.

YEAR IN REVIEW

2007-12-29T22:58:00.000+08:00

In terms of training-related stuff, I think 2007 has been pretty good to me.

I've started to explore and experiment more with my Jiu-Jitsu. I've been working on a pressure-style top game for smaller guys (not by choice, everyone is heavier than I am) which is a bit tricky but I still want to see where I can go with it.

I also feel like I've begun to get myself stuck in a rut. I started playing around with the Ezekiel choke early on in the year and I think I have a decent game based around that submission.

Unfortunately, I started using it too much, to what I believe was the detriment of other facets of my game. So now I tell myself to play more with other submissions.

After this year's Machado Australian BJJ Nationals, I was fortunate enough to meet Rigan Machado himself, as well as to go to Geelong for a class at John Will's place. That was pretty awesome.

Around that time I started keeping a notebook for BJJ and CMD stuff; thoughts, techniques and so on. It's really helped me, more than I could have imagined. It's helped me mentally process classes, techniques, drills...basically it's improved my game significantly.

I met Rigan again at the CMD retreat in Singapore, where he proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that he is so cool, it's insane. He hung out with everybody, he told us all the best stories (not just about BJJ) and he even asked if he could get a photo of himself with me (not that I was so special, he did that for everybody, so he could put together a slide show, which I took as further evidence of his complete and utter coolness)!

After the seminar he said to me: "My friend, you're doing really well. But, I want to see more movement from you. I want you to improve your chess game." I've been thinking about those words ever since and I came back from that seminar completely imspired to do just that.

My boxing took a while to get going but I think it's starting to move along on the right track. I started going to the CMD classes again in January, signing up to become a trainer in March. It took me forever to figure out what I was doing.

I was quite nervous about it, not being used to the nature of the class. I was always too stiff and tense when sparring. I was always eating shots to the face (thanks, Mike!) and wondering "how the hell did he do that?" I just didn't know what I was doing wrong.

At the CMD retreat, I got to attend one of the Gold sessions, in which Rodney King shared with us details of his "Fight Compass" (no, I'm not giving details about it). Without trying to sell it too much, it completely blew my mind wide open.

It was like in the cartoons, when the lightbulb isn't working so someone lights a match to reveal the room is packed with dynamite or nitroglycerine. Well, it was for me, at any rate.

I could literally feel new doors open for my game. I'm now much more confident; I have at least a fair idea of what I'm doing, I know it's what I'm good at and I know what I can try when it's not working.

Just in the last couple of days, I found a really good location for my future gym. I have a name for it pretty well set and I expect to get it under way this year at some point.

So yeah, 2008 is looking good, too.

***

My to-do list for early 2008:

My armbars are still in dire need of work.

I want to work on my bottom game for side control.

I should probably also really be thinking more about playing open guard.

I want to develop a game around the gogoplata from mount. Like, a real game, not just a gimmick.

I would also like to play more with the omoplata.

Edit: Gogoplata from MOUNT, not GUARD.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JASON

2007-12-25T01:36:00.000+08:00

This post intentionally left blank.

POTENTIAL

2007-12-19T12:43:00.000+08:00

As Galileo Galilei said, "we cannot teach people anything. We can only help them discover it within themselves" .

If, indeed, there is nothing that can be taught, there are only things that can be brought out from inside us. That means that every great thing that has ever been done by a human being is just as achievable by any other human being, under the right circumstances.

It means that for any activity that you can think of it doesn't matter how good someone is at it; if you put in the hours, you will one day be just as good. Maybe even better. All you have to do is want it enough.

It means a lot to me when I see this kind of spirit displayed by the guys on the mats, be it in BJJ or CMD. It's so cool to train with guys who both really want to be there, and who have the right attitude.

It's even cooler to be there on nights when people have those lightbulb-going-on moments of enlightenment, and to see everything click for them.

I'll end with a paraphrased quote from the Hagakure:

It is spiritless to think that you cannot achieve what the masters have achieved. The masters were men. You are also a man.

PLAYING IT BY EAR

2007-12-18T10:47:00.000+08:00

About a week ago, during the CMD class on Monday, I started feeling a sharp pain in my left ear. It was taking small knocks and I didn't think anything of it. Later that night I found out that it was cauliflowering and that it was much bigger than my first one.

[photograph coming soon]

I don't remember exactly when I got my first cauliflower, but it was pretty small and most people wouldn't see it without looking for it. I went to a doctor who told me it wasn't cauliflowering and that it would go away. Later that week it hardened.

This one was sizable enough, though, that I didn't really think it was such a hot idea to let it become permanent. So just this afternoon I went to get it looked at by a doctor, who told me I could have minor surgery done on it.

The alternative was to just simply get it drained and leave it alone, meaning it would probably fill up again in a day or three. I went for the more lasting option.

I am told that it would need to take place in an operating theatre. OK, that's fine. I get there at the appointed time and I am directed to Day Surgery, where I am instructed to change into a robe and wheeled on a hospital bed into the next waiting area.

Around this time I started feeling a little awkward. Was all this really so necessary for an ear? I mean, I thought I could just walk there. I didn't say anything though, because it was my first surgery and I thought I may as well see what it's like.

We get to the waiting area where I switch beds again and wait some more. Once we get moving again and I'm in the operating room, the first thing I remember thinking is,

"Ooh, operating lights are pretty when they're off".

And then they were switched on, which was actually quite painful. I then had some thick hospital-type paper(?) towels draped over my head and I was made to look to my right, so now all I can see are shades of blue and yellow spots where the lights were.

Before we get started I am informed that the procedure will involve four buttons being sewn into my ear to stop it from filling up again.

It was a very weird feeling, as even with the local anaesthetic I could still feel quite a bit going on. I thought parts of it were bordering on dicey - at times my head was being pulled up by the ear and I was still bracing myself for any pain.

When it was all over, I felt a little groggy and was suddenly thankful that someone was there to wheel me back to my stuff. The doctor said that many patients complain of increased pressure around their heads after this type of surgery (which is surprisingly common).

I did feel a fair bit of pressure at first but it's quite alright by now. I'm also pretty noticable walking down the street, being that the bandage they put on my ear makes it stick right out (think, Dumbo), but thankfully this is only the case when someone looks at me from the front or the back.

I'm also pretty thankful that this happened at the end of the year - the gym is closing for the Christmas-New Year break soon and I'll have until the second week in January to get better.

Thanks also go out to my fiancee, for threatening me with pre-emptive divorce if I didn't get this done.

OK, SO HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN IT'S DONE?

2007-12-09T15:32:00.000+08:00

My fiancee and I made spaghetti for lunch today.

We poured some water in a pot. After a few minutes it started boiling so we put in some salt and spaghetti. It wasn't long before the noodles were soft enough that they could all fit in the pot. When 5 minutes had passed (we were very careful to double-check that's what it said on the packaging) she asked me,

"Can you check to see if this is done?"

Sifting through the remnants of my culinary knowledge from my days in university, I chanced upon (odds were pretty good, it was either this, or "food tastes good hot") this gem: pick up a noodle and fling it against a wall. If it sticks, it's done. I then obliged my adolescent urges and had a food fight with myself. The wet noodle duly adhered to the door (easier for me to clean).

We drained the pot, putting the pasta into 2 dishes and brought them to the living room. All we had for sauce was a jar of chunky tomato puree so we started pouring it over the spaghetti. A quick bite revealed that the food was far too sour for our tastes. We rummaged through our cupboards and turned up some olive oil to go with more of our salt, so to our lunch we added a little of each.

The salt turned out to be quite the big hit, though the olive oil sadly bombed out. The particular brand we used was really pungent and we had to use more salt and tomato puree to cover it up.

Making mental notes to buy real spices next time, we finished off the spaghetti and washed up. The spaghetti we used came in a clear plastic bag, so we had to keep it sealed with some plastic wrap for next time.

Around this time I thought it might make a nice blog post, so here I am.

The first part of this surprisingly long analogy is the desire to eat - the hunger to train jiu-jitsu - as well as the will to translate this thought into reality. Without this, nothing more would happen, or even be possible.

Next comes the noodles. This could be seen as the experience more than the actual food but I prefer to think of this as respresenting us - the sweaty guys rolling around on the mats. Some may say that a noodle is a noodle - it all tastes the same in the end - in some respects I disagree.

There are different grades of noodles: fine, thick, fresh, loaded with preservatives, and so on. I'm not a connoisseur of Italian food but I'm sure that I could find one who will tell you that this has a real impact on the finished product. Just like how when you look at the guys you train with, you can see that each one is a mixed bag of attributes, experiences and mindsets and that this can affect how they learn, train and interact with others.

Of course, just because one noodle has a gourmet label and another is a local supermarket brand, in the final analysis it doesn't matter as much as the way each noodle is cooked. Moving right along...

Now you have to prepare the pasta. If you follow the instructions on the label, you're at least heading in the right direction. This is akin to receiving competent, accurate and safe instruction from an experienced coach. If you don't listen, who knows what horrible injury or experience you will visit upon yourself. Maybe you slice your thumb off while trying to make a sauce from scratch, maybe you pop a friend's knee by trying that cool new heelhook setup you saw on YouTube, I don't know.

What comes next but, of course, The Test. How are you going to know if the noodles have spent enough time in the pot? Pick one up, throw it at a wall and see if it sticks. How are you going to know if what you are training in will actually work? Start rolling, try a technique against a resisting opponent and see if it works.

Of course, it doesn't end there. Some may consider it done and dusted right now, but the truth of the matter is that it's all just starting. Sure, you now have a bowl of cooked noodles. Maybe they've got that perfect not-too-wet-not-too-sticky consistency. Doesn't matter, because who's going to eat a bowl of plain noodles and then say it tastes good?

You need to add some kind of sauce, seasoning or something to go with the pasta, to enhance the taste of the noodles. Maybe to you this means drilling over and over until your game gets really smooth. Maybe it means training standup, clinch or whatever to broaden your horizons. Maybe it means doing conditioning classes to boost your stamina. Maybe it's all of the above, the point is to do something more.

As you start to get into your food, you may want to add to it, in the hopes of making it taste better. Likewise, as you get better at BJJ and tighten up your game, you'll likely want to check out as many sources of information about BJJ as you can. Books, magazines, DVDs, the internet - each and every one can be either a fantastic gold mine of knowledge, or a big, heavy chunk of lead with the words "A FOOL AND HIS MONEY" scrawled across it. Please don't ask me how I know that.

Some will help to enrich your game, others will weigh you down with false information and bad habits if you don't discard them. You'll need to make your own mind up about what does and doesn't work for you. Some will - great. Some won't - that's ok, too. It's all down to personal taste, right?

When all is said and done, you're left with a bunch of dirty pots, dishes and utensils. You have another choice ahead of you: do you do the washing-up now and get everything ready for the next meal? Or do you let it all sit for days on end, letting the sauce stuck to the fork harden, bonding the two forevermore in unnatural matrimony?

A less-disturbing way to think of it is: after your brain-overloading information dump of a class, you can either go home and take notes on everything - getting it all down so you can properly mull it over without fear of getting something mixed up, or you can let it sit - so that if you do finally decide to take notes, you get one class confused with another, one technique confused with another, until you don't know what's what.

Yes, you can do it, but the longer you wait, the harder it gets. I'm also sure that by allowing different combinations of food to fester unchecked for extended periods of time, there is the possibility that you will create a mind-blowing taste sensation. But I doubt you'd be able to do it.

So there you have it - some new food for thought. And I have just successfully killed 2 hours of my Sunday afternoon.

Now get out there and cook something!

P.S. That pun wasn't intentional, I promise.