Judo Saturday was a real treat.  Mike Hermosillo, my Sensei, has amazing Judo.  I am always impressed and blessed by his insights into my technique.  Saturday however, we had Dr. Chen come in to work with us as well.

Dr. Chen trained my Sensei in Judo… and Dr. Chen’s skills are amazing.

I stand just over six feet tall, and weight in at around 250.  To have a tiny old guy walk up to you, speak so softly you almost have to strain to hear him, grab you gently with his finger-tips, and then send you flying is quite an experience.

Further, Mike has informed me that we plan to have Dr. Chen every Saturday in class now.  If you live in Utah and have ever wanted to learn Judo, or if you know Judo and really want to hone your skills, this is an amazing opportunity.

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A couple of weeks ago I was honored to receive my Brown Belt in Judo.

I guess everyone has their own outlook on the martial arts, as well as their own perspective on advancement in the arts.  I know we have seen some people come into class and ask, “How long does it take to get a black belt?”

Well of course, the answer to that is: 10 minutes, a credit card, and an Internet connection.

We have also seen people who come to class for a few months, and then inform the Sensei that their “Ready for their brown belt.”

My mindset has always been somewhat different.  When I saw this picture I knew I had to use it.  It really sums up exactly how I feel when I get a belt advancement.  I see an advancement not so much as recognition of what you have done thus far, but more as a new set of expectations.  Hopefully, those are set because your Sensei feels you are now prepared for them.

When I received my green belt (the first belt above white in Judo), it took me about nine months to feel like I really was “a green belt.”  What does that mean?  Well, for me at least, it meant that once I had the green belt for about nine months, I truly did feel that I had more control, knowledge, and ability than an athletic white belt that came in off the street.

But now a new bar has been set.  I worry as a brown belt if green belts will judge me, and wonder, “Who is he to be instructing me?  I do [insert name] throw better than him anyway.”

But this got me thinking as well…

As some of you may, or may not know, I am also pretty active in business and entrepreneurship (you can see my linked-in profile here.)  In business I hire people, and put them in positions all the time.  When I hire someone into a company, even a person who is fairly junior, I am not surprised if they are better at something than I am.  They probably aren’t better at everything.  But, I would almost expect that they have certain skills or abilities that are good.  Otherwise, why would I be hiring them.

But that new-hire still has a lot of other things that they can learn from me, and from others in the company.

I think this is true of the martial arts as well.  I need to be able to accept that I have value to offer, and not feel that I have in some way “tarnished my belt” if a lower ranking person has things they can teach me.  I need to be able to be humble and learn (which I think I do pretty well at in Judo), but along with that humility, I need to make sure that I still recognize my abilities, and am “humble” without being “humbled”, or “broken”.

I don’t know if anyone else struggles with this.  Is it an inherent issue with a “belt system”?  Is it less likely to happen in a system without rankings, like MMA?

I don’t know.

But in the meantime, I want to thank my Sensei for feeling I am ready for this.  I’ve got some big clothes to grow into

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I was working with one of the classes in our Dojo on teaching the Tai Otoshi.  Things seemed to be going pretty well.  Everyone was getting better and better at the move.

But then I would ask a couple of students at a time to come forward and do some light Randori, working for their Tai Otoshi.  I was surprised how many of the students would approach each other wit their hands down, and then calmly reach up to grab the Gi.

At that point we stopped, and I had a someone come forward.  I grabbed him with a very dominant grip, and asked him if he felt it was likely he was going to throw me.  The obvious answer was, “no.”  I then had him grab me with a good grip, and asked again.  The obvious answer being, “yes.”

We spent the rest of the class working on getting a good grip on our opponent, and breaking dominant grips they might get on us.

I know that this blog is syndicated in multiple places.  Some of them non-Judo sites, such as Utah Martial Arts.  So some of you might be reading this, and wondering how applicable in it is for non-Gi, non-Judo applications.  The answer is: Very.

Long before I did Judo I wrestled.  In wrestling it is very common to see the two opponents “lock up.”  I loved the lockup.  Transition into it was a great time to hit a duck-under or a fireman,s carry (Kata Garuma in Judo.)  If you were good at it you could also use the lockup to force your opponent around and create the opening you wanted.

We see this mirrored as well in the Muay Thai clinch.  A good clinch is the first step to vicious knee attacks.  In MMA we see opponents pushing eachother against the cage and going for their “underhooks.”  This allows for hip-throws, keeps a person from dropping for a double-leg, and many more advantages.

Back to Judo specifically however:  I cannot stress enough how important it is to protect yourself from being “outgripped” as your approach your oppoenent.  Keep your hands in, protect the collar.  Fight for and gain good Kumikata and you are not only far more likely to hit your throws, but less likely to be thrown.

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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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