I just had to pass this along.  Apparently a local “ninja” is willing to hire himself for (among other things (spelling errors are from the original article)):

• security work.
• house or apartment cleaning.
• moving help.
• birthdays.
• suprise parties.
• basic repair jobs.
• some self defense and other training.
• House and apartment sitting.
• demonstrations.
• corperate parties.
• trapping strayes.

A joke, you might think?  Oh no my misguided, ninja unbelieving friend.  The advertiser goes on to inform us:

“I do dress in a full black suit resembling a ninja if this alarms you please don’t worry i only wear the clothing, i carry some weapons, depending on the job, on my person.

I do take this very seriously and do not like people calling to make fun of it, please call only if you are serious about retaining my services for any work.”

So… Are your combat skills lacking?  Do you need serious, stealthy help with that corporate party or moving job?  If so, a ninja just might be your solution.  You can read the full article, and even hire your own ninja here.

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My Sensei in Judo got talking to me about a week ago about one of the best ways to learn when you’re doing Randori (that’s Judo-speak for “sparring”.)  Often times we try to win.  Even if we’re not going 100%, and are taking in gentle, we still tend to keep from putting ourselves into bad situations, and we tend to go for the moves we’re most comfortable with.

The problem with practicing that way is that when someone really does put you in a bad position, or completely nullifies what you normally like to do, you run the risk of not knowing how to handle it.

Since our talk, I have been working a lot with Don.  Don and I have specifically been working to learn, rather than to win.  If I grab an Americana, or he grabs a rear naked choke, we grab it long enough to know that we could have followed through, but then we let go and keep going.  Or we even grab it lightly enough to help teach the other person how to get beter at escaping.

Similarly, since no one is out to win, we are willing to try some, “I wonder what would happen if,” moves.  Rather than trying to front roll out of the omoplata, what if I try to quicky spin out andface the guy.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  But you ge to learn new things, and why they do or don’t work.

This article is titled, “Learning from bad positions.”  But it could just as easily be called, “Check your ego at the door.”  Because that’s what it really takes to stop worrying about performing well in sparring, and be willing to take that turnoff to hell sometimes so you can really learn.

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This post is written by Sensei Mike Hermosillo:

BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU PHILOSOPHY FROM THE MASTERS

My BJJ instructors always told me that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was the most complete and effective martial art in the world. I believed that until I started seeing world class Jiu-Jitsu competitors loosing MMA fights. I started to rationalize with myself that maybe it was the best martial art for self-defense.  Last week I had a great opportunity to train with Grandmaster Alvaro Barreto and Master Sylvio Behring.  Grandmaster Barreto spoke to us after a wonderful and informative seminar and said that “True Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” is comprised of 4 parts:

• Jiu-Jitsu Self Defense (Goshin Jitsu)
• Sport Jiu-Jitsu (Newaza)
• Judo (Nage Waza)
• Striking(Atemi Waza )

These four elements are crucial and essential for Jiu-Jitsu to be the most effective martial art in the word. Master Barreto also indicated that many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners fail because they focus on just one element: Sports Jiu-Jitsu.   As true practitioners of this art we should all continue to try our best to follow Grandmaster Alvaro Barreto’s teachings and implement all four aspects of combat.

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Yesterday was Ty’s 15th birthday.  It was also his advancement from a yellow to an orange belt.  It was really cool of Sensei to prepare a cake for the occasion.  Thanks to everyone in class.  Not only has it been great to learn Judo and Jiu Jitsu with all of you, but you’ve all become like family.

Thanks from Ty as well

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I wanted to take a second and let you all know a couple fo things about Master Sylvio Behring:

Master Behring is a 7th dgree BJJ Red and Black belt, and Anderson Silva’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach.  Master Behring will be conducting some classes in August that I want to bring to your attention, but first I want to mention something else.

Last weekend, several people from our Dojo flew to Canada to work with, and test with Master Behring.  Notably, George in our class received his blue belt; congratulations George.  Also, my Sensei, Mike Hermosillo, who was already a black belt in Jiu Jitsu tested, and became a certified instructor under Master Behring, and able to advance others in Behring Jiu Jitsu.  Congratulation Mike!  We celebrated tuesday in class by having Mike damn near choke the life out of me on the ground

Details on the August classes follow:

Master Sylvio Behring BJJ Camp 2009

Once again, Franco Behring BJJ Alliance in association with Rio Sports Tour is organizing a BJJ camp with Master Sylvio Behring. Master Behring, a 7th degree BJJ Red and Black belt, Anderson Silva’s BJJ coach and a legend will conduct 2 sessions per day at his club in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Mr. Angelo Panoussis (theorangevilledojo@yahoo.ca – phone: 519-941-3656) and sign up today. Don’t miss this chance and get to know Rio as a local. Live like a Carioca!
www.riosportstour.com

July 29 – August 10, 2009
Location: X-Gym Academy
City/Town: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cost: US$1.800 per person
Phone: 5199413656
Email: theorangevilledojo@yahoo.ca

Promo Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T0Nukv6WM8

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Test, please ignore

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Today we hit it double hard on Judo:

We did 2 hours at Hidden Valley Judo, grabbed some lunch, then did another 3 hours of Judo with Akbar and Bill over at Absolute MMA.

Then, I headed home to throw up.

5 hours of Judo was just a bit more than I think my poor body was up for today.

But the good news is, that once I got over the joy of watching lunch flush down the toilet, and started feeling better, I had a chance to really reflect on what  neat experience it was.  Any of you who have followed this blog for a long period know that Ty (My son) and I attended two Judo classes per night for quite a while.  The experience was really neat.  It is always good to work with different people, all with slightly different skills, and all with different body types.

Today was no exception.  I want to really thank Bill and Akbar for the excellent teaching.  I also want to that those we worked with, and all that we had a chance to learn from them.  Special thanks also to Kevin and Adam for helping me as I try to understand this whole “exercise induced asthma” thing and what it means for me.

We will definitely try to sit in on this class more often in the future (although I don’t know that I can convince my family that I should be doing Judo from 9:00 through 3:00 or 4:00 every Saturday.)  I think there is real value in finding a martial art you like, and sticking with it.  I also think there is value to finding a Sensei that you like, and having them help you grow.  But there is also value in adding a dash of new-ness from time to time as well… just to push you out of your comfort zone.

Thanks again to everyone.  I hope to see a lot more of you.

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I woke up this morning with one of the tell-tale signs of Judo.  It’s funny, but it seems I always have bruises on my arms since I took up Judo.  They don’t really hurt, but they can be an interesting conversation starter.

For those of you who also do Judo, I’m sure you know what I mean.  For anyone who doesn’t let me explain: In Judo, the Gi isn’t just some fancy piece of clothing, or a traditional uniform.  Judo uses clothing a lot for gripping, throwing, and choking people.  Although this is possible without the Gi, you will go through an awful lot of torn shirts in a month.  The Gi is much more durable and tough.

As you grip the Gi, often times you also get a bit of what’s inside it

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This content was written by Mike Hermosillo (thank much mike!):

The Inter mountain West Regional Judo Championship was a success.  It was held May 15-16 2009 at Granite High School.  We were all excited to have the 2008 Beijing Olympian Ryan Reser there.

Ryan held a very high level clinic and also competed in the Black belt division.  It was great to see an Olympic level Judoka compete.

I was also impressed with the level of Judo that was shown at the tournament. We had competitors who trained other sports and martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling but opted to use Judo techniques as opposed to using what they felt more comfortable with.

The womans open division black belt division had to have been my favorite.   The big difference between women and men are when men get competitive they tend to use more streghth.  When woman turn up the competitive spirit they tend to get faster and much more technical.  The following competitors from Hidden Valley Judo and Jiu-Jitsu placed:

Isabella Hermosillo (Age 4) took 2

Braden whatcott (age 6) took 3rd

Alicia Hermosillo (Age 9) Took 1st

Jon Newman (12) who won by golden Score @ 2:59 of the 3 minute overtime match took 3rd

Michael Hermosillo (12) Took 2nd in the 11-12 YO division and 2nd in the 13-14 YO division

In the Adult division Jerry took 1st in the white belt division and 3rd in the Brown Black division.

Those of you who did not attend this year missed out on a great tournament but unlike other lost oppertunites this one will be back next year.   All in all it was a great compitition.  See you there next year.

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I have been doing Judo actively for just over a year and a half now.  Prior to that I did Karate off and on for several years, and long before that I was a wrestler.  I have never had any trouble with my breathing… or so I thought.

Starting about 9 months ago, a good friend of mine in Judo started commenting on my breathing in Judo.  He mentioned a wheeze in my breathing and told me I had asthma.  Quite frankly, I thought he was off base.  I felt great.  I didn’t feel like there was anything wrong with my breathing.  I disregarded his comments.

Then, more recently I had another person who was visiting our class comment on my breathing and ask how long I’ve had asthma.  Although I again denied any problem breathing, it struck me that multiple people would say this.  The most recent person stated that I definitely sounded as if I were having a pre-asthmatic episode.

Just to be sure, I went to the doctor.  The tested my heart, and it looked good.  They had me blow down some tube to see how well I could blow.  I guess that normal is 300 or so, and I blew a 440.  Great so far.

I have another test set up for later this week, but in the mean time they gave me an inhaler to try.

I tried it before Judo class on Thursday.  The effects were staggering.  I didn’t feel any different when I wasn’t pushing hard, but once we really starting working hard I did.  At the point where I would normally be really winded, and take a break my lungs were amazing.  I felt like such a weight had been lifted off my chest.  It was really invigorating.

I hope my story might be helpful for someone else out there… I feel so much better.

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