NICOLAS GREGORIADES SEMINAR AND OTHER GOODNESS @ BANGKOK BJJ

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

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

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

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

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...

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"

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.