Boobs in your face: A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu update
I grappled with a girl for the first time on Monday. Having been practising for a few weeks with her muscled 6-foot boyfriend, who has been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a while, she is very strong and fast. She even managed to knock out one of the earrings I had put in on Saturday (you aren’t supposed to take them out for the first 2 weeks you have them).
Anyway, it was an unusual experience wrestling with a girl. As the title of this entry suggests, you often find yourself pressed face first against heaving bosoms (Suddenly class enrolment sky-rockets!). Fortunately I’m tougher than I look and she couldn’t get me to submit with either a choke or an elbow lock even though she was in a dominant position for most of the round.
My other grappling rounds these past 2 weeks have been up and down in terms of confidence boosting. Last week Monday I fought 2 bigger, more experienced guys and clung on through submissions. On Wednesday I grappled with a guy of my own experience level, in the same weight region, and held my own, which was much more encouraging. Overall, the sport is great for boosting your confidence in terms of knowing how to handle yourself if you need to, or if someone is causing shit with you and needs a choking...
I enjoy Jiu-Jitsu. It isn’t mindless kicking and punching. It boils down to a kind of chess with your body because you have to remain calm in any situation, you have to have an excellent grasp of technique, and you have to be able to quickly analyse situations in order to seize split-second opportunities for advantage or escape. It’s very much a physical sport that requires a lot of mental commitment. If you aren’t there mentally, you will lose. That means shoving aside your problems and concentrating. As a sidenote, 2 of the club’s members are doctors, if you think martial arts are just for bulky rugger-buggers, or Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee wannabees.
Although leverage and technique are more important than strength (making it a perfect sport / self defence form for women), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is certainly a great workout. The other week we were doing sit ups from a standing guard position. That involves clinging to a standing person by locking your ankles behind their hips, and then lowering yourself down so you are lying vertically against their legs, and sitting up again. Exercise for exercise’s sake is no motivation at all for me, hence my resistance to gym contracts. But Jiu-Jitsu, for all the bruises, and soreness, makes me feel healthier. I even think I felt a tricep the other day.
As you may have guessed by now, I don’t flirt casually with hobbies.
I’ve ordered a copy of
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory & Technique by Renzo and Royler Gracie, which is supposed to be an excellent reference book for beginners to intermediate level practitioners. With 105 reviews over at Amazon.com, it’s averaged 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m looking forward to it. When you learn new techniques every week, after a while some of the older ones start to blur in your memory. It’ll be handy to have a step-by-step refresher guide to back up the class work. Anyway, here is the descriptor copy from Kalahari.net, to give you an idea of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's value and importance as an increasingly popular martial art.
During the last decade, the martial arts world has looked to innovative mixed martial arts competitions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship to determine which fighting style is the best. These contests have repeatedly shown the grappling style of martial arts, headed by Brazilian jiu-jitsu, to dominate. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu style stems from the premise, garnered from analysis of actual street fights, that the outcome of any fight is decided on the ground. While most martial arts deal only with the initial punching and kicking stages of combat, Brazilian jiu-jitsu concentrates on ground combat. This guide shows how to use Brazilian jiu-jitsu to increase combat effectiveness. Photographs and step-by-step instructions show how to master the techniques used in this exciting new form of combat.
Anyway, it was an unusual experience wrestling with a girl. As the title of this entry suggests, you often find yourself pressed face first against heaving bosoms (Suddenly class enrolment sky-rockets!). Fortunately I’m tougher than I look and she couldn’t get me to submit with either a choke or an elbow lock even though she was in a dominant position for most of the round.
My other grappling rounds these past 2 weeks have been up and down in terms of confidence boosting. Last week Monday I fought 2 bigger, more experienced guys and clung on through submissions. On Wednesday I grappled with a guy of my own experience level, in the same weight region, and held my own, which was much more encouraging. Overall, the sport is great for boosting your confidence in terms of knowing how to handle yourself if you need to, or if someone is causing shit with you and needs a choking...
I enjoy Jiu-Jitsu. It isn’t mindless kicking and punching. It boils down to a kind of chess with your body because you have to remain calm in any situation, you have to have an excellent grasp of technique, and you have to be able to quickly analyse situations in order to seize split-second opportunities for advantage or escape. It’s very much a physical sport that requires a lot of mental commitment. If you aren’t there mentally, you will lose. That means shoving aside your problems and concentrating. As a sidenote, 2 of the club’s members are doctors, if you think martial arts are just for bulky rugger-buggers, or Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee wannabees.
Although leverage and technique are more important than strength (making it a perfect sport / self defence form for women), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is certainly a great workout. The other week we were doing sit ups from a standing guard position. That involves clinging to a standing person by locking your ankles behind their hips, and then lowering yourself down so you are lying vertically against their legs, and sitting up again. Exercise for exercise’s sake is no motivation at all for me, hence my resistance to gym contracts. But Jiu-Jitsu, for all the bruises, and soreness, makes me feel healthier. I even think I felt a tricep the other day.
As you may have guessed by now, I don’t flirt casually with hobbies.
I’ve ordered a copy of
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory & Technique by Renzo and Royler Gracie, which is supposed to be an excellent reference book for beginners to intermediate level practitioners. With 105 reviews over at Amazon.com, it’s averaged 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m looking forward to it. When you learn new techniques every week, after a while some of the older ones start to blur in your memory. It’ll be handy to have a step-by-step refresher guide to back up the class work. Anyway, here is the descriptor copy from Kalahari.net, to give you an idea of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's value and importance as an increasingly popular martial art.
During the last decade, the martial arts world has looked to innovative mixed martial arts competitions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship to determine which fighting style is the best. These contests have repeatedly shown the grappling style of martial arts, headed by Brazilian jiu-jitsu, to dominate. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu style stems from the premise, garnered from analysis of actual street fights, that the outcome of any fight is decided on the ground. While most martial arts deal only with the initial punching and kicking stages of combat, Brazilian jiu-jitsu concentrates on ground combat. This guide shows how to use Brazilian jiu-jitsu to increase combat effectiveness. Photographs and step-by-step instructions show how to master the techniques used in this exciting new form of combat.
Comments
There are other books that would be considered more 'up to date', but for a beginner it is a good collection of techniques.
Apparently the section on passing the guard is especially basic by today's standards.
The other guard pass i remember from the book is a standing pass, which will work in many circumstances.
although passing someones guard is something i have yet to actually be able to do (unless they try to go for an armbar or something and i move faster). but i have only been doing it for a month :)
I struggle with escaping guard but I generally don't battle with it as much as trying to escape mount- I need to practice that.
I am proud that my guard is very strong. It takes a long time to break it, even with the standing pass.
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