For the last couple of months it has been pretty common for my elbow to hurt me after practice.  In particular I think it got a fair amount worse during a submission grappling tournament about 6 weeks ago where I had to face some really, really big opponents.

I’ve iced it.  I’ve done ibuprofen.  It will get feeling good, and then it will start hurting again.  Sometimes it even hurts in the wrist and up toward the shoulder as well… Definitely a tendon.

Well, I just kept hoping it would get better, but finally hurt it pretty good last week (actually, I hurt it gripping the chair in the dentist’s office believe it or not), and decided it was time to go see the doctor.

Doc says it’s Tennis Elbow.  Unfortunately he then proceeded to give me a whole lot of no-quick-fixes.  Apparently it’s an issue with the tendon, but isn’t inflammation.  That means that Ibuprofen may help with pain, but if you think taking it to keep the inflammation down is a good plan, you’re doing yourself no good.

He’s also not a big fan of Cortisone shots.

So, the plan is: several weird “drop-catch” exercises (put your arm on a desk, hold a light weight in your hand with the hand hanging off the edge of the desk.  Lift the weight up with your wrist, then let it “drop” by going limp in the wrist, but tense up again to “catch” it before it goes down all of the way.)  He says this will help to strengthen the tendon, and that doing these is really about all that can be done.

He also felt that Judo and Jiu Jitsu shouldn’t be a problem to continue (although I really don’t think he understood what in the heck they are.)  But that if practice makes it really, really hurt (he says 6 out of 10 on the pain scale… is that like a crotch kick?) that I may want to back off.

I’ll keep you posted on how this progresses.  Kind of a bummer really… was hoping for a magic shot or pill I guess.  Anyone else been through this?  Have any suggestions?

I’ve been doing Judo and Jiu Jitsu for about three years now, and have been choked more times than I can count.  But up until this week I had never been actually choked all the way out.  I’m sure many or most of you have been through this before me.  But for those of you who have not, I wanted to share my trip down the rabbit hole

Well, for starters, the last week had been rough.  I have been on call for work, and had several issues arise at night to interrupt my sleep.  By Thursday night I was exhausted, and feeling pretty run down.  I don’t use this as an excuse for getting choked.  The choke was a great one.  I just found it interested how this element played into the night, and wanted to share.

That night at Hidden Valley we were working on chokes.  We also had a lot of newer students who have not worked their chokes much.  As I am normally pretty tough to choke, I worked with a lot of people that night to help them perfect their choke skills.

Now, as I said, I am normally pretty tough to choke out.  But when I do almost go out I find that after I tap out and am released my lips will go numb and tingly for a few seconds, my vision will tunnel, and I will be disoriented.  Not unlike a head rush from standing up too quickly, but with the addition of the numb lips.

Normally I might feel this once, or maybe twice in a night when we work chokes.  But it was getting that close literally every time.  I have never run into this before.  I am curious if others have seen this when they are run down and tired?

Things got really interesting when I was working with Little Hermosillo on his cross collar choke.  I asked him if he wanted it easy, or a little resistance.  He said to make it tough.  I resisted, and recall thinking he had it tight and I needed to tap.

- break for a trip down the rabbit hole -

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you go to work or school with no pants?  When you try to fix the problem it seems like you can’t no matter what.

Well, I started to wake up from a deep, deep sleep.  I was convinced I was having a dream about being in Judo class.  I was dreaming that I had fallen asleep in the Dojo, and was asleep for several hours, and that everyone was just standing around me.  Furthermore, I seemed unable to get my limbs to work right.  As I tried to move them they just flipped like fish flippers.

As I became more aware, I was sleep convinced that I had been asleep for quite some time (at least an hour.)  I looked up and asked those looking at me, “What’s going on?”

The response was, “You were unconscious.”

I was baffled… Still convinced that I had been sleeping for some time.  “For that long??” I asked.  Only to find out that I had only been out a few seconds.

Again, this may not be news to anyone else, but just in case you have ever wanted to ask “What’s it like to be choked out?”  I thought I’d share what the trip was like for me.

My son and I competed in a Grappling tournament last weekend.  It was more like Jiu Jitsu than anything else.  We both did Gi and no-Gi divisions.

After the tournament I started really doing some soul searching on why I didn’t do better…  It reminded me of a scene from the movie Apocalypto.  Our hero attempts to defeat the handsome gentleman pictured here.  It doesn’t go so well.  In the picture, the victor is making the statement, “Almost,” (because the hero almost won,) “Your name is Almost.”  In the movie, “Almost” is translated into the word “Olac.”

Well, If I had to choose a fight name right now, Ifeel like I’d have to go with Olac.  Why is it that I never seem to finish the job??

I sat down and reviewed the videos of my fights.  The are a couple of the fights where I was just out done.  I did what I could, fought hard, but still lost.  I found that these didn’t bother me.

But half of my fights, I seem to tap when I really don’t look like I should.  In those cases, I feel that in a lower stress environment, like just in class rolling around, I could probably take these guys.  But on the mat in a competition these guys are beating me.  Why am I so quick to tap?

I had to painfully admit that they just wanted to win more than I did.

That didn’t taste very good.

But it has given me something to think on.  I always think about what move or position to improve on.  But this is a mental thing.  It’s different than technique.  What I really need is to grab someone better than me, and have them push me into ugly territory.  I need to keep from tapping so soon.  I need to sit, trapped in a position for a while, with no hope of escape; and be okay with that.  I need to hold longer, and fight harder.

This is an element of training that I think can be easy to overlook.  We are so used to tapping as soon as a good hold gets put on, with a brotherly, “nice job.”  But when do we work to fight that extra little bit to not tap.

Well, for me at least it appears that the answer is: Not often enough.

So, I begin my journey toward no longer being Olac.

Wish me luck

Have you ever worked on something, and asked yourself, “Am I really trying hard enough?  Am I really giving my all?  Or am I slacking off?”

Well, good news folks.  When you’re really trying in Judo and Jiu Jitsu, it means that your opponent needs to get a pretty good grip on your Gi to pass your guard, or get a good throw.  Of course, we don’t want to really rely on strength… The real goal of these arts is to use our speed, technique, and kazushi.  But every once in a while, when you come home looking like this (which I did last night,)  you know you earned all of the sweat in that Gi

Heal well my friends.

Judo is based on two core concepts:

Maximum Efficiency of Power

Mutual Benefit and Welfare

What I want to write about today is the “Mutual Benefit and Welfare” aspect of Judo, why it’s so true, and the brotherhood it tends to build.

I have done several martial arts over the years, Judo, Karate, Jiu Jitsu.  In most styles of martial arts, as you drill your moves it is pretty evident rather or not they are working.  In Karate, I can see if I am kicking hard, straights, and fast.  In Jiu Jitsu, I can see pretty clearly rather I choked you or arm barred you based on rather or not you tap.

In Judo however, you generally grab a partner, and do what are known as Uchikomis (oochee-k0meez.)  These are the beginning of the move, where you go just far enough to start to affect a person’s balance (Kazushi.)  The reason this is important is that you need to count on your partner (you Uke) for two important things:

1- To act normally.  If your Uke is unnaturally stiff, or just floppy, you will not get a real feel for how to do the move.

2- To give you feedback on what he/she is feeling.  Subtleties of their balance, and what is or is not breaking their Kazushi should be shared so you know where you are doing well or not.

In these ways, your Uke, even if they are more junior in the art than you, really are a partner in your learning process.  You have to be able to count on each other.  “Mutual Benefit and Welfare” isn’t just a neat concept, the art literally depends on it.

This partnership of the Uke and the Tori (the person attempting the move) builds a mutual respect and bond that is often not there in arts where everything is merely competitive.  This brotherhood of Judo is a unique and wonderful part of the art.

I’m not a small person (6’1″, around 260lbs.)  So I have long since come to grips with the fact that I cannot (as they say in the Motley Crue song) “move like a cat.”  So I’m always on the lookout for a good Judo throw for my body type.  A while back I did a post on what has become one of my favorites, the Makikomi.  As a big guy, once I get my weight behind the Maki, people will tend to hit the ground pretty hard.

But I have recently started to get a good feel for, and quite like a derivative of the Harai Goshi.  Now, a typical Harai Goshi uses a lot of Gi gripping.  but the way I prefer to throw it doesn’t so much.  I like this better not only because I feel it lets me man-handle an opponent a little more, and I have a better success rate.  but also because it makes the move applicable for use in a non-Gi situation as well (something I always watch for in throws.)

The key to how I like to throw the Harai Goshi is that instead of grabbing the collar of the Gi, I slip my arm under the opponent’s/ victim’s arm.  I tend to like to have my arm pointing up a little more than some of the videos we’ll be showing here… a little bit more like the Uki Goshi.

This first video is a good example of a couple of big guys, using a lot of strength (yes…I know it’s about Kazushi and not strength… but sometimes it take both.)  The throw is pretty much at the end of the video.  Unfortunately our view is a bit obstructed in this shot, but I think it still gives a pretty good view of what I’m talking about with this throw.

Another great video of this throw actually comes to us from Sambo, who refer to the throw as a “Forward Leg Sweep.”  This video really does do a nice job of showing the mechanics of the throw.  As this is done in the video, you might find yourself thinking that the momentum shown is a little contrived… Throws never seem to work as well against an opponent as the do against a willing target on a youTube video.  While that’s true, the power shown here is very real.  I have moved very large opponents effectively with this.  It really does work well on people who can be difficult to move in other ways.

Finally, I want to add another option on the throw.  You can’t always get the foot clear across the other person to pull of the Harai Goshi.  That’s okay.  It doesn’t mean you can’t still nail a good throw here.  the following video shows several versions of the Uchi Mata throw.  Pay particular attention to the version that leverages the same under-the-arm-and -up-the-back grab that we have seen on the other two videos.  I think, particularly with a large opponent, that the grab over the arm, rather than under can be tough to pull of… their base is sometimes just too good.

Enjoy, and happy throwing

… is fear itself.

In 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt made that famous statement.  But never has the statement been so salient for me as it was this weekend.

I have not actually competed very many times in Judo.  Also, it has been a year since my last competition.  Until this weekend that is.

We showed up early for weigh-ins (9:00).  My son Ty got to start competing starting at a bit after noon.  But my bouts did not actually get started until probably about 3:00 in the afternoon.  What all of this means is that I had a good six hours so sit around and stew about my first competition in a year.

I have to tell you here, I am not afraid of confrontation.  In my job I negotiate hard issues, deal with aggressive lawyers, an have had to slug it out in some very tense situations.  Even outside of the workplace I am not a person to cringe from confrontation.  I don’t go looking for trouble, but have always been willing to deal with it when it comes.

But waiting is something different.  This isn’t the moment of exhilaration when you realize you need to deal with a confrontation.  This is hours of that same primal, crippling nervousness that I haven’t felt since grade school, and watching the clock all day before going to meet at the flag pole at 3:30 for the clandestine throw down.

As some of you who follow this blog know, I am a fairly new brown belt in Judo.  The man I was to face was a very, very experience and tough black belt.

But once I stepped onto the mat, and fear was gone.  It was on.  The first match I feel I did okay, but he pretty well owned me.  The second match I feel I did much better.  I avoided several of his throws, and at once point took his back and worked toward (an eventually unsuccessful) choke.

But I was jazzed.  I loved every minute of it.  Even though he beat me soundly, I would have been happy to step back onto the mat a dozen more times to face him.  I was learning and experiencing.  I was better than I thought.  It was a great!

I saw several of my good friends feeling this same creeping tension throughout the day.  I was so impressed with how they all did.  Win or lose, I hope they enjoyed the experience, and learned as much from it as I did.

But the main reason that I wanted to write this article really comes back to the title:  As FDR told us, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  How true.  The advice for myself that I take away is to be eager to be on that mat.  To remember the excitement.  To keep from letting that all-day tension eat at me.

I can only hope that anyone else can benefit as well.

I’ll try to get a post up later this week with some pictures from the event.

This Saturday, May 1st is the third annual Kaizen Judo Tournament.  Everyone is encouraged to compete, or even to just come watch.

Never watched Judo?  Well, good news: admission is free!  So come check it out.

Competition start times:

Juniors: 9:30

Seniors: 12:00 noon

Location: Ogden Weber Applied Technology College (200 N Washington Blvd. in Ogden)

See you there!

Weekend before last, my son, Ty (15, tell and skinny) competed in his first Jiu Jitsu tournament.

He really, really got into it.  Particularly the no-gi portion.

As a follow up to that, we had a really great seminar this weekend with several other schools.  We do Judo and Jiu Jitsu at our school.  We had another Jiu Jitsu school join us (thanks Robert Scoca!), as well as some Hapkido guys (great to see you Ty!)  We even had a guy who teaches catch wrestling (sorry, I forgot the name… but I definitely want to learn more about it.)  It was a great experience to train with other people, of other styles, and from other schools.  I can’t wait for more combined seminars in the future.

One of the things that really stood out to me were some of the differences.  I have often noticed that in any class, if you have more than one instructor, you will start to see some stylistic differences.  You might even have one correcting what another just showed you to to.  It’s just the nature of martial arts I think.

Whenever you work with new people there will be certain things you nod your head and think, “ya… just like I do it now,”  some things that you may find yourself internally disagreeing with, and some things that make you say, “Holy crap!  That’s cool!”  Just go into it expecting that, and don’t get too hung up on any discrepancies.  Realize that every one’s style is a little different, and respect all of the people who are working to share their knowledge and experience.

Thanks to all who contributed to make this seminar possible.  It was really great.

I have to tell you, the last few classes over at Hidden Vally Judo / Jiu Jitsu have been some of the best I’ve had.

I took some time over the weekend to really reflect on why that is.  The answer that came to me is this: To really know, and be good at a martial arts is actually different than being a true, experienced and seasoned competitor who knows what actually works.

A person can know all of the correct ways to do throws, and be absolutely text-book in their execution.  But that will only take you so far.  It’s the experience of how to set up a throw, and some subtle nuances and variations of the throws that the instructor has had good success with that become the real gold.

Just this last week Dr. Chen showed us how to turn a cross-collar Osoto Gari into a Swain-like arm attack that puts amazing pressing on the arm, and really breaks the Kazishi of the defender much easier.  Mike showed me a beautiful setup for what is essentially a wrestling-like “duck under” into a Tani Otoshi, as well as how to leverage a leg grab to setup up an Osoto Gari or Makikomi.  All of these came from “What has worked really well for me,” rather then “The way this move should be done is.”

Whatever your martial art, don’t just find someone who is a certified instructor, or who just happens to be a black belt.  Ask some questions about their experience.  What have they really done with the art they are teaching?