Purple Belts...purple backs.

Training over the past few weeks has been excellent. We’ve been working a lot from the guard and open guard – passes, sweeps, controlling the guy in your guard with sensitivity and balance, movement and taking angles to get controls, taking the back – a lot of stuff, some new, some revision with fine tuning and new, deeper understandings, but one thing remains common to all of it – core understanding of body movement, leverage and sensitivity. I would honestly go insane trying to recall the detail of every technique or detail of the stuff we’re practising, so instead, what I am focussing on is the core principles of everything we do and how these apply to just about any situation. Ultimately, Jiu Jitsu is about creating – creating movement and exploiting leverage and balance.

There’s also been a good mix at the club lately – some of the older guys returning, a few new guys who seem to be enjoying themselves and a spirit of cooperation. I’ve been enjoying rolling with a couple of the newer guys – Nuri and Dave. Both have been training long enough now to have a grasp of the basics and the direction that they should be heading. I can roll with them and see the gaps and opportunities they give me that perhaps some of the more experienced guys wouldn’t – this doesn’t mean that I exploit any advantage of experience, indeed I purposely give up positions and wilful submissions so that we can continue to roll and learn from each other. I’ve learned a lot from rolling in this way, get a good workout and always come up smiling.

I’ve also enjoyed rolling with Dean T. Because of the way that Dean rolls, I feel compelled to return the complement, so to speak. Also, because Dean’s game is so secure, you’re forced to think more creatively about opportunities and escapes, which is never a bad thing. Last Sunday I trained with Dean and he took me through the basics and finer details of holding cross side and escaping – a position I always struggle with and I came away with a deeper understanding of this position and very grateful for the time that Dean had given me.

All told, I am really enjoying my training lately. I’m enjoying the possibilities and the feeling that I’m no longer do Jiu Jitsu “by numbers” – i.e. I’m a little more adaptable than thinking “Right, I’m under mount so I’m going to do an upa escape, page 5 figure 4” and insisting on that one technique because it’s all I know. I’ve felt the ability to move well – sure, sometimes, especially under pressure I can freeze and, especially early on in each session my back keeps me rigid (it takes a while for things to warm up and get some flexibility there), but I’m headed in the right direction.

Around Jiu Jitsu, I’ve been prevented from training a little by colds and a few sessions missed due to work commitments/travel, which sucks, but that’s life. Yoga’s going OK – I feel I’m making progress and becoming more aware of the areas of my body I need to work on – not surprisingly my lower back mobility is poor, but especially on one side – the side I had all the trouble – maybe I’ll look into some kind of massage/physio – I’m beginning to wonder if something strange has happened to the muscles there during the time that it was bad…? Anyway, yes, Yoga. I’m definitely feeling the benefits – I feel much stronger and still enjoying the challenge that it presents.

On to Some other news. On 6th December I went along to Carlson Gracie London, in Hammersmith. I knew that a number of guys I know would potentially be getting belts so I wanted to be there to congratulate them. I met some of the Tonbridge guys in central London and we headed over. I was meant to meet Si there too but there was no sign of him and I couldn’t get hold of his mobile. One of the guys mentioned that he’d hurt his ribs the night before so I started to suspect that he was bad enough not to train. More on that in a moment.

The gym itself looks, at first, like you’re walking into someone’s flat, but as you walk up the stairs the walls are covered in photos, reflecting the history and changing times the club has seen. Upstairs, the training area is a reasonable size and well matted out. I’ve been to lighter, airier gyms, but it has the feel of a friendly, but serious, no-fuss, no-nonsense approach to BJJ, which, I guess reflects the Carlson ethos well. I saw Mike there, who has been training there for a while now (it’s easier access for him), tearing up the mats. It was really good to see him again and catch up. It was also good to see him leglock a purple belt, who, I have to say, could have been a little more gracious in defeat. Also, really nice, was to have Simon Hayes come up to me at the start and congratulate me on my Blue Belt – a nice thing to do considering he doesn’t know me too well.

There must have been between 50 and 60 guys at the session and a great atmosphere of fun and expectation. The session was all rolling – and it was tough, lots of guys smelling blood and seeing a chance for a promotion. I managed to cope with most of my opponents well, staying calm and secure and mostly dominating. I rolled with a purple belt, who, at the end of the session got his Brown Belt. I actually did OK – first off he choked me but after that I managed to hold him at bay with a reasonable level of confidence. The person I struggled most with was a guy from Tonbridge called Keith – a blue belt for quite a while now. He caught me with armbars about 3 or 4 times from taking early cross side. I’m not sure what I was doing wrong or maybe I was just too relaxed, but I found it tough to compete. Maybe he was just better than me.

Anyway, after it was all over, it was belt time. Some well earned promotions for some of the Tonbridge guys – Doug, Hellboy and Yaron all got blues – well deserved. Mike got his blue – which I was pleased to see. Mike’s a monster and easily out performs a lot of guys with his natural ability and athleticism. Dave Broughton got his purple, which was easily due any time soon, if not sooner, in my opinion. Most noteable, for me, amongst all of those was Si, getting his Purple belt – long, looong overdue. Yep, Si had turned up nursing two broken ribs, but still trained (much to his pain and my concern!). It was mainly my suspicion that Si would get his belt that made me go along and it was great to see him promoted. Si’s been training at Carlson’s quite regularly now, alongside at our place, as usual, and has had quite an impact with his style of Jiu Jitsu and it was great to see it recognised in this way. I guess it also speaks well for the Carlson’s guys that they would do this for a guy, effectively, from another association. Anyway, huge congratulations to all, but for me, especially Si. Here's a snap of the proud owner of a new purple belt:

After a brief photo, some 50 odd guys lined up for what is a Carlson’s tradition – one which I believe is common in Brazil. All I can say is that I was glad to have got my belt in the way that I did. Belt Whipping. Basically this is the new promotions walking a gauntlet while being whipped by the other guys’ belts. There are boundaries – no head shots or below the waist, but, still, it’s pretty brutal! It’s done in good humour and people participate willingly – some actually seem to enjoy it! Man, there were some red backs at the end of that. It’s not for everyone, but it is the Carlson’s way. Here's a clip so you get the idea:

So, there we go – the last few weeks in a nutshell. Not long til Christmas now, so I sense one more post before the year’s out.

Catch ya soon.

Al

The way...

Since my last proper post, training has continued as usual, and largely has been going great (apart from getting another bloody cold just as the last one has cleared up!!!). I'm still working on my movement, sensitivity etc with Dean and he's been really generous with his time helping me to get to grips with this and I just know it's going to pay dividends. It's also interesting in that it's kind of setting me up to be able to train myself and from what I understand of Rickson, this is very much the way that he's trained his network of friends and associates over the years. It's great as it's an ultimately sustainable way of training Jiu Jitsu so long as you can find a few like minded people to practice with.

A few things of note really in terms of what we've been doing - a lot more stand-up stuff with self defence application which has been great, a neat defence/escape from spider guard and really just focussing on the movement. There's little technique involved - a few set points here and there, but it all revolves around this movement and sensitivity.

Dean also brought in his set of "bodylastics" - exercise tubes, to illustrate how these can be used to practice the movements we've been doing whilst also doing specific conditioning. This was really interesting and guess what's now on my Christmas list?! Again, it's part of this ethos that with an appreciation of Jiu Jitsu and the true ethos within the art, you can train and develop a long way on your own.

I've also spent a bit of time chatting with Dean after training, sharing thoughts, philosophies and i've appreciated this insight into the way that Dean approaches Jiu Jitsu and it has made me appreciate all the more what we've been doing over the past months. A bit more on that later.

Earlier in the month I went to the Kent Open for my first tournament as a Blue Belt. I guess by many's standards, it was a quick entry so soon after promotion, but I'd entered (and paid!) as a white belt (I wasn't expecting to get my Blue Belt so soon!) but I couldn't lie and I'd paid my entry fee! It was a mammoth event brilliantly organised by the Carlson's guys, held at the Olympic Judo training centre at Dartford - just up the road from me (bonus!) - a great facility.

I knew that by going up to Blue Belt that I'd meet Janos AKA "Dumptruck" who had so resoundingly beaten me at the Southern Open. An absolute monster. Anyway. It turned out that in my category it was just me and Janos - one other Hungarian guy hadn't shown, so only one fight. This would be the only criticism I had of the day (and it's not a huge gripe - that's the way it goes), but there were two guys in the same weight class in the Adult category (I'm Masters) so by merging the categories we could all have had a couple of fights at least. To be fair, looking at the numbers there maybe there wasn't time to mess about with the schedule, but to have one fight (and lose!) for £25 ...well, I just wish it had been different.

So...yes, I lost. Pretty early on Janos got a single leg take down. I fell quite well and managed to frame him off and as far as I know he failed to secure cross side or knee on stomach. He tried a a choke with the fist in the throat quite early but didn't have the purchase. Eventually (and it must have been approaching time) he took a decent Gi choke. Janos won, but I must say I didn't feel as overwhelmed as I had at the Southern Open - maybe a combination of more experience of both Jiu Jitsu and tournaments? I'm annoyed with myself that I pretty much got consumed with holding him off rather than working some movement to improve my situation, but I guess that's my learning point from the day. It was also strange to be awarded a silver medal for losing one fight!

On the flip side, getting my stuff out of the way so early meant that I got to watch some good (and some not so good!) Jiu Jitsu for the rest of the day.

Si had a great day at the office ploughing through his division with relative ease to take Gold. Here's a film of Si's final - it speaks for itself - great roll to reverse the takedown and a trademark cross collar finish from Si:

All in all it was a good day and a huge congratulations goes to all the Carlson's guys that made it happen - hopefully one for the annual BJJ calendar! It was good to hang out with the guys (Dean T came along, as did Dave, Big Dean (who is in LA training at Rickson's Academy at the moment - can't wait to get the low-down when he gets back) and to cap it all, there was a Subway van there and I had a Meatball Marinara Sub - my favourite!


On to some other stuff that I've found interesting. I mentioned eralier that I've had a few good chats with Dean T and he's spoken about how a lot of his recent philosophy has come from reading about Morihei Ueshiba - the founder of Aikido (there are some great clips of him well worth a look on YouTube) Dean mentioned a collection of Ueshiba's writings - "The Art of Peace" (which you can read here) so I thought I'd have a little look into it to see what it might have to offer me in my training.

It's a small, digestible book, full of short quotes on a range of subject, some more spiritual than others, but found a good few words that held resonance for me in the way that I am experiencing training. Here are a few of my favourites - whilst they ultimately stem from his practice of Akido, I feel that the sentiments are equally applicable to true Jiu Jitsu:

On Training

The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit.

Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through forging, it becomes steel and is transformed into razor-sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion.

Instructors can impart only a fraction of the teaching. It is through your own devoted practice that the mysteries of the Art of Peace are brought to life.

Progress comes to those who Train and train; Reliance on secret techniques Will get you nowhere. Fiddling with this And that technique Is of no avail.

In your training do not be in a hurry, for it takes a minimum of ten years to master the basics and advance to the first rung. Never think of yourself as an all-knowing, perfected master; you must continue to train daily with your friends and students and progress together in the Art of Peace.

Ultimately, you must forget about technique. The further you progress, the fewer teachings there are. The Great Path is really No Path.

On Mindset

There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within.

A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind.

On the philosophy of the art

The Art of Peace is the principle of nonresistance. Because it is nonresistant, it is victorious from the beginning. Those with evil intentions or contentious thoughts are instantly vanquished. The Art of Peace is invincible because it contends with nothing.

It is necessary to develop a strategy that utilizes all the physical conditions and elements that are directly at hand. The best strategy relies upon an unlimited set of responses.

Techniques employ four qualities that reflect the nature of our world. Depending on the circumstance, you should be: hard as a diamond, flexible as a willow, smooth-flowing like water, or as empty as space.

If your opponent strikes with fire, counter with water, becoming completely fluid and free-flowing. Water, by its nature, never collides with or breaks against anything. On the contrary, it swallows up any attack harmlessly.

When an opponent comes forward, move in and greet him; if he wants to pull back, send him on his way.

The body should be triangular, the mind circular. The triangle represents the generation of energy and is the most stable physical posture. The circle symbolizes serenity and perfection, the source of unlimited techniques. The square stands for solidity, the basis of applied control.

In the Art of Peace we never attack. An attack is proof that one is out of control.

Never run away from any kind of challenge, but do not try to suppress or control an opponent unnaturally. Let attackers come any way they like and then blend with them. Never chase after opponents. Redirect each attack and get firmly behind it.

Opponents confront us continually, but actually there is no opponent there. Enter deeply into an attack and neutralize it as you draw that misdirected force into your own sphere.

Even the most powerful human being has a limited sphere of strength. Draw him outside of that sphere and into your own, and his strength will dissipate.

The essence of training is to bring your opponent completely into your sphere. Then you can stand where you like.

Whirl in circles around A stable center. Manifest yang In your right hand, Balance it with The yin of your left, And guide your partner.

The techniques of Peace Enable us to meet every challenge Seeing me before him, The enemy attacks, But by that time I am already standing Safely behind him.

Pretty cool huh? That's how I want my Jiu Jitsu to be.

One last thing - proud dad moment. I took my 4 year old son to his first Judo class last week. Dartford Judo Club run a "Pre Judo" class for under 5's which is great as most clubs and classes don't start 'til after 5 years. Anyway, he got really stuck in and loved every second. He even won a couple of his fights! I'm so proud and his new Gi just arrived today - the smallest Gi you've ever seen! Cute.

This sucks...sniff!

I haven't trained at all this last week as on Monday I came down with a cold... (in honour, I'm publishing this entry in green). I guess I'm due one and one of the things of having kids is that they come home with anything that's out there.

It's not the worst cold I've ever had but its main feature seems to be lethargy. It sucks...no gym and no BJJ. All I want to do is sleep. The worst thing is that (I'm guessing I may be better once the weekend's out (I'm hoping to at least get to Yoga on Sunday)) I won't be able to train Jiu Jitsu until Thursday next week as I'm away with work on Tuesday night.

Recent training continues in the same fashion although we've started a bit of stand up - same principles of occupying space/yeilding, controlling your opponent's base with the odd trip here and there. I get the principles but just need to work a little more sensitively - there's still a temptation to over do it and end up wrestling with my opponent. In all of this there's a notion of self defence first and foremost, which is great. It means that the training is immediately transferable to a sports arena without any adaptation required - not neccesarily the case if Jiu Jitsu is trained primarily with sport in mind.

I trained on Sunday with Big Dean and Si - just casual, swapping a few ideas and observations - nothing taxing and good to just throw a few ideas around. Obviously it was good to see Dean again too - mate, it's been too long! I think it was a good thing that the session wasn't too tough as just after the first few signs of my cold started to make themselves known. :(

Another feature of recent weeks seems to be burgeoning numbers with Nuri bringing a friend along and old-timers returning (some threatening) to the fray. One major development worth spending a bit of time on is the news of Richard's (Blue belt, purple stripe) decision to stop training.

This came out of the blue and as quite a shock to all. Richard's not the longest serving member of the club, but is one of the most advanced and ever present guys. I'm only guessing, but I'd imagine a few factors in his decsion. Without going into detail Richard does a job that he's fully committed to both ideologically and in terms of his own career progression. It's a taxing job that most of us, me included couldn't even countenance doing - I'm just glad there are people around like him to do it.

He also lives in Whitstable so I guess a minimum hour and a half round trip twice a week is tough.

Whether this is forever, I guess time will tell and ultimately, only Richard knows. All I can say, and this is purely selfish, is it's a shame. I've definitely benefited from training with, and under Richard - he's able to feel exactly what you need to do to improve or make things easier and coaches really well. Maybe a long break will reignite whatever it is he's lost (assuming he has of course, or even that he wants to).

The other by-product of Richard ending his training is that Craig won't be around either as he got his lifts with Rick - a shame as I enjoyed rolling with Craig as he is much smaller than me so challenged me to roll with technique rather than strength.

Richard, if you're reading, thanks for the training, the coaching and the pointers and all the best for all that you do in the future.

Update to "Where is Rickson?"

Today, Dean Taylor, my instructor sent me a couple of links that make reference to recent Rickson activity that I thought was interesting so I thought I'd share it here:

The first is a recent (this month) interview with Rickson himself (in Portuguese):



No huge surprises in what he says, but it's interesting to see his views on Jiu Jitsu as a martial art above and beyond the sport and its links with MMA. The rough translation provided is:

“He said that he will probably not fight again, if he fight again he wants to get paid more than any other fighter (he said that he does Not need the money but he has too much to lose) and he doesn't need to prove nothing to nobody. He said that he is not impressed with anybody at this moment in BJJ in MMA, he said that he adores Minotauro but he is should be training more BJJ he has great BJJ but he should train less boxing or MT and more BJJ, because he should not have to take so much damage in a fight to win in the ground, when he is on the ground he usually wins but he has a hard time taking the fight to the ground. He said that he wants to change the image of BJJ in Brasil, he wants it to be a martial art that is effective like it is today but he wants everybody to do it, not just fighters, because he believes that, BJJ should be used to make people more confident, better citizens, make people more respectful, BJJ need to bring back some of the traditional martial arts ideals.” [sic].

Also, according to GracieMag, Rickson is running a seminar this weekend (11th/12th Oct 08) in Rio - “Rickson has reached a point in his life where he has decided to share with everyone, indiscriminately, his knowledge of Jiu-Jitsu. It’s a unique opportunity to learn the Jiu-Jitsu he has dubbed as "invisible", but that, although abstract, will be taught for application not just on the mats, but also off them”.

If this is true (aligned to the plans for a seminar series in 2009), this is going to be an awesome time for anyone that can attend these seminars.

The second is this interview with Shane Rice (scroll down the page)(Rickson Gracie Black Belt and main instructor at the LA Academy). What's interesting is Shane's take on what it's like to train with Rickson and the difference in the way Rickson approaches BJJ compared to most people. Some of the stories (like the legendary closed doors fight with Yoji Anjoh) are cool too. I've never met Shane (or Rickson!), but I recognise what he's saying in the philosophy that Dean brings to the way we practice Jiu Jitsu at our club. Some will dismiss this as just more Rickson propganda from a loyal student, but it's hard not to be inspired. Enjoy.

Where is Rickson?

Training this week has been more of the same and it’s going well – a couple of sessions this week just working hard on the principles we’ve been covering. Am I making progress? Yes, I think so – I may not have fluid, instinctive movement yet, but every so often I get something that feels great and works really effectively. My marker is that the frequency of such events is steadily on the increase week by week. I’m really enjoying myself at the moment.

For some reason, and I may have mentioned this already, my back is giving me a little trouble at the moment. Nothing like the “old” days, but I start out sessions a bit restricted then warm up into better movement during the session then it seizes up as I cool down. However, I’ve thought back to my time at the Osteopath’s and the hold/cold therapy that I was recommended so when I get in I’ve started using a hot water bottle and an ice pack alternately (always ending with ice) and it’s really helped – by morning I’m moving pretty freely. There must just be something that gets a little inflamed – I’m hoping that staying active, doing Yoga (my back always feels great after Yoga) and losing weight will gradually improve my back health.

On to the topic at hand. I thought I’d try and broaden the scope of the blog – mainly for interest but also as there are a lot of other things that surround BJJ – books, DVDs, news, products etc so I thought I’d try a few different pieces, reviews and so on. So today, I launch a pretty poor investigation into the question “Where is Rickson?”.

Rickson’s is a name that looms large in BJJ folklore and everyone’s got an opinion on him. To many, he’s a legend and an icon. Check any internet forum and there are many threads discussing how Rickson would fare against today’s MMA stars. It seems that as we approach the end of each year, rumours abound that “next year” Rickson is stepping into the ring for one last time, usually with the name of Sakuraba, “The Gracie Hunter” mentioned in connection. These rumours spark excitement, disbelief and their own speculations about who would win and how, and the inevitable discussion on Rickson’s age (he’s 49 at the time of writing) and whether he could still cut it in a professional Vale Tudo/NHB fight.

For an angle on this, we can look at a story from 2006, regarding Paulo Filho training with Rickson stating “I have trained with the toughest guys formed by Carlson Gracie. They were all great and I for sure don’t want to diminish anybody, but I have to say that no one ever did to me what Rickson Gracie has done during training these last days” suggesting that Rickson’s fitness and technique is as supreme as ever. And why wouldn’t it be? For sure, Rickson is genetically gifted, but why would anyone assume that he has stopped training, evolving, improving, just because he is no longer under the spotlights?

So where is he? Fitting with his legendary status, it seems that sightings of him and knowledge of his activities are fleeting. Every time he surfaces, there’s news or clips on the intranet and I guess there are two major things people want to know – is Rickson ever going to fight again and where/when and how can they train with him? It's a question that occupies my mind as a member of his association - especially since pretty much everyone else at my club has met Rickson and trained with him at least once...everyone except me!

Here are a few of the main sightings and rumours:

Rickson quits the US

According to this interview, Rickson has quit the US in favour of his Brazil homeland. Many observers speculate that the death of Rickson’s eldest son, Rockson back in 2001 in a Motorcycle accident (although rumours persist around the cause of death that I won’t grace with any mention here) prompted a retreat from public life for Rickson (and why wouldn’t it? The adage that no parent should ever have to bury a child springs to mind - take a look at this sympathetic interview which sheds light on Rickson's life straight after the death of Rockson). Rickson had this to say about his life in the US:

"There I feel that I am being sucked and I do not have a way to recycle that. "

I heard 2nd hand from someone that had spoken with Eddie Kone, who had trained in Brazil recently with Royler, that Rickson was at Royler’s Academy, just training and hanging out.

Rickson at the Mundials…

…and other assorted tournaments. Wherever Kron fights, Rickson’s usually around. Kron’s a big name. Not only is he Rickson’s son, but he’s also a pretty good BJJ prospect. OK, so after getting his black belt, he lost his first match at the Mundials. This created inevitable glee amongst far less talented people on internet forums all over with accusations of “sandbagging” at Brown Belt. From where I sit, these people conveniently miss the fact that Kron almost finished that fight by choke within the first two minutes but his opponent managed to tough that out – fair play, but it stands to some reason that a young guy (late teens) who’d been a Black Belt literally months, might lose out to an older guy with more experience. Kron isn’t Rickson, something that seems lost on detractors. I’m sure Kron will take lessons from the Mundials and return to dominate in future years. And Rickson will be there, coaching from the bleachers.

Rickson launches Budo Challenge

I think this was launched back in 2005 as a pilot with the prospect of more competitions to follow this foray. The notion behind the event was to promote Gi fighting with a rule set which encouraged submissions with core martial arts values such as honour and respect. This was seen as a rebuke by Rickson of competition Jiu Jitsu which allows competitors to play a tactical game of stalling and holding positions for points rather than seeking to end a fight by submission, which, ultimately, is Jiu Jitsu’s aim. It was also seen by many, with its production values, as an antedote to the rise of promotions such as the UFC, which many feel are now well removed from the core spirit of martial arts, something that Rickson quotes as his reasons for solely fighting in Japan during his “prime”. Take a look at this article which gives a pretty good overview of what Budo Challenge is all about.

I bought the DVD via the website and got pretty quick responses to emails to the producer, so there is an air of it not being completely dead, but almost three years on little else seems to have happened. I’ll review the DVD some other time, but suffice to say it’s a great spectacle for anyone that loves the Gi game.

Rickson joins Carlos Gracie Jr in Celebration

At the award of Carlos Gracie Jr’s Red and Black belt (8th Degree), in April 08, Rickson made an appearance as a guest speaker. This was a significant gathering of some of the best known names in BJJ and the promotion of a man who heads up the largest BJJ organisation in the world (Gracie Barra). Rickson’s presence was seen as significant by many because of a perceived “split” between those who believe that Carlos Gracie (Jr’s Father) is the true founder of BJJ and those that believe that Helio (Carlos’ brother and Rickson’s Father) forged what we now recognise to be BJJ. Such argument, if indeed any exists, is ultimately nonsense and was effectively buried by Rickson’s pesence at the ceremony, showing family unity between him and his cousins.

Rickson in Japan and launches the Jiu Jitsu Federation of Japan

Rickson holds a special status in Japan and has said in many articles he feels at home there amongst people who have a high appreciation of the martial arts. Because of his many Vale Tudo fights there in the 1990s, he is something of a celebrity in Japan and appears to spend a reasonable amount of time there.

Rickson has spent some time this year in Japan with one of his black belts, Takamasa Watanabe of Axis Jiu Jitsu running seminars with his son, Kron, which must be one of few, if not the only seminars or teaching he’s done recently.

Rickson (President) has also entered into a venture with Takamasa Watanabe (Director) called the Jiu Jitsu Federation of Japan. It seems that in addition to organising many tournaments, seminars and offering affiliation to clubs (for FREE and the list of current members is impressive), this organisation has, at it’s core, the desire to propagate the martial traditions that Rickson has spoken of many times and that are held in esteem in Japan, which is, afterall, where BJJ originated – almost a return to the roots.

Take a look at the website and you’ll get a better idea of what it’s about and here’s a little clip of Rickson talking about the federation:

Rickson slaps The Hulk!

Rickson makes a brief appearance in the 2008 film version of The Incredible Hulk, starring Ed Norton. In his short scene, Rickson plays a Martial Arts Instructor (a big stretch!) – confusingly labelled as “Aikido” in the end credits – teaching Bruce Banner a breathing method to control his anger. Quite how Rickson got this part (could be his famous breathing scenes in “Choke” caught someone’s eye), or whether this signals a wider interest in acting I do not know, but it’s still pretty cool that Rickson gets to slap the Hulk, thereby nullifying any arguments that he isn’t what he once was ;P LOL. Rickson beats the Hulk by Armbar! Here’s a clip (crumby quality but the only one I could find):

So there’s the best of what the internet has to offer…Still none the wiser, I decided to contact the Association Headquarters in LA and, as a member, ask simply “Where is Rickson?”.

I got this answer:

“Rickson pretty much living in Brazil, he spends only few times a year over here. He has a project for 2009 of seminars in the main cities of Brasil, US and some overseas. The Rickson Gracie Seminar Tour schedule is not available at the moment but we will post on the web. Rickson is not teaching in regular bases anymore or thus he has an academy in Brazil.” (sic)

I take the last part to mean that he doesn’t yet have an Academy in Brazil, but may be wrong on this.

So there we go – there may well be more info out there or people that know stuff for certain, but this is what I’ve found. I’d be happy to hear from anyone that has factual information on where Rickson is and what he’s doing. Let’s see what happens in 2009 with the Seminar project. I’m planning a trip to the US in 09 anyway so if there’s a dovetailing of plans there that would be awesome, but we’ll see…

Rickson… where are you?!

Ommmm....

Another entry, but I thought it best to keep this one separate from the San Francisco post just to catch up on the last week.

We arrived back from San Fran on Sunday morning – not feeling too shabby as it goes, but jet lag was evident at times. I was faring pretty well although the kids were still on California time and if they’re awake, then me and my wife are awake so this delayed all of our recoveries somewhat.

Tuesday I got back to training and we were pretty much doing what we’d done just before I went away – practising certain movements, keeping the core connected, keeping the feet off the floor and then Dean T very skillfully wove these movements into the practice. We spent most of the time looking at escapes from cross side and knee on stomach using these principles of sensitivity to weight and balance and gaining leverage using the legs and the core. I love this stuff – it’s a tough route to take in Jiu Jitsu… a long term practice, but it feels right.
I found it good to get back to training, but the effects of jet lag were ever present and toward the end of the session I was very tired and everything teetered on the edge of cramp with every movement…maybe just a little too soon after getting back? I don’t know – there must be some stuff out there about dealing with jet lag and training etc…
Anyway, next session was due to be Thursday, but I’d agreed to take my parents to Heathrow and ended up getting stuck on the M25 on the way back so missed training. On reflection, I was still pretty tired so maybe it was for the best to have a rest, but I did spend the time in the car thinking through the movements we’ve been doing which I’m sure was useful.

As I’ve mentioned, Sunday I went to a Yoga class. Equipped with my £6.99 mat from Tesco (is there anything they don’t sell?) I arrived feeling a little sleepy and not at all bendy. Not unexpectedly I was the only man there (although I’m told there are usually a couple of others) but I was made to feel welcome. As I’ve said, the type of Yoga is Iyengar – the differentiator with this type I’m lead to believe is that postures are achieved and then held for longer than in other styles. I was pretty pleased with my level of flexibility in comparison to some of the people that have been doing it longer, but was surprised at just how tough it was! Like many other people I guess I thought that yoga was all gentleness and joss sticks, but half way through a few of the poses I got the muscle tremors and was desperate for the instruction to relax! After just one session I can feel a difference – my hamstrings and shoulders definitely feel like they’ve worked. I can see already that if I keep this up my strength, muscle tone and overall fitness will improve…no doubt at all. My objectives with Yoga…all driven by BJJ are: regain lost flexibility; strengthen my back; strengthen my core. I can see this as something that has longevity and many benefits, but we’ll see how it pans out – after my first session I feel very positive. The only thing I felt a bit strange about was the “Ommm” stuff at the beginning, but I guess I’ll get used to it – I still remember how odd bowing and “kihap!” was when I started martial arts.

If anyone reading this has thought about Yoga I’d say definitely give it a go. I was inspired to give it a try by Dean T and also watching Rickson in “Choke”, but also as I’ve read good things about it in relation to health and backs. I would say however, that I’ve also read about an upsurge in injuries form people trying to do it from books, DVDs and unqualified instructors. Having done this class I would definitely advocate finding a class with a qualified tutor. Getting the hands on corrections really is necessary and makes all the difference to the efficacy of the poses.

As I type this, I’ve just gotten another year older – I’m now 34. That’s not ancient, but I can feel time ticking on - things creaking that didn’t before. I’m still on my journey to my milestone blue belt and hopefully that will come to fruition next year. So I’ll ask the same questions as last year – older? Yes. Wiser? I think so. With Dean T’s help I’m starting to see how to train Jiu Jitsu in the way that it was intended and with it, practices, like Yoga, that are going to sustain me in the long term. I want to remain active and stay healthy right through to old age. Lots of damage has already been done with Rugby etc, but I want to limit this as much a possible and in achieving this, there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to train and regularly beasting your body is sometimes fun, but a surefire path to niggling injuries. I want to train smarter, not necessarily just harder.

Game On!

So, I’ve had three sessions since my last post. Last Friday was MMA with Big Dean , Tugboat Steve and Si. A good session working a takedown from the clinch (immediately useful to BJJ stand up and pretty similar to a takedown from the rear in the BJJ syllabus). Then we worked defending strikes from the back under cross-side – again, very useful to BJJ, especially Rickson’s style which always starts from a position of self defence. That was really hard work, and especially with some meaningful punches coming in to be defended. It’s also easier in this drill to see how the BJJ translates as any attacker trying to strike will always give something up for an escape, much moreso than in BJJ without strikes. I have to confess, I got a bit carried away in this drill – we were fed opponents and it was hard work to keep up and I also found that after a couple of clips, I got a bit rattled and became a little more aggressive. So much so that when I rolled Tugboat Steve off, I took top position and gave him a dig in the ribs….it was automatic. Luckily, Steve’s actually built like a tugboat so no harm done but I’ve gotta watch my control. The aggression’s an asset, but only if it’s controlled.

We finished off the session with some stand up sparring, punches and kicks only, not all out but enough effort to want to keep your hands up. I enjoyed that – it’s good to put a bit of pressure in your training once in a while. Dean was looking sharp and threw in a lovely “Superman punch” that landed right on top of Steve’s head, giving him a look of “what was that/where did that come from?”. He got his own back a bit later on with a couple of heavy body shots. A good session and a great workout.

In Monday’s session Rick went over a take down from the rear for my benefit (grading wise). It was good to cover this again, not least for the need to look again at good base on your feet – a really hard concept. We also covered a takedown and escape from being in the side headlock – similar in principle to the previous takedown, then using a frame to release the headlock.

French Steve turned up again - always good to see him. Quick explanation of the oh-so transparent nickname. His name’s Steve and he lives in France. Good eh? See what they've done? He visits for a few weeks at a time then disappears back home for months – cue many jibes about being on the run and Interpol etc. Steve’s a Blue belt and started BJJ all the way back with Dean Taylor when they visited LA together. Steve’s a small but strong guy with great technique and he’s really into Qigong type stuff, which is really interesting and maybe something I’ll investigate when I get the time.

Rolling was good – had some good rolls with Roubel and Craig. Roubel commented as we were leaving that I’m really improving, which coming from a far more experienced white belt that used to own me every time we rolled, was really cool, so cheers mate.

Anyway, here's a couple of videos of the guys rolling on Monday:

Above: Big Dean and Roubel

Above: Rick and French Steve

Wednesday night was just me and Si so we just drilled some positional stuff – cross side to be exact. I used to get real bored doing this sort of stuff, but now I know how important it is, I’ll drill it as long as someone wants to keep on doing it. It was really good to do this and Si’s really good at coaching the details and is very patient – happy to let me do my thing. Really appreciated. I think the biggest thing I took away was the need for good connections – take up the space and stay connected ….CONNECTED, not pushing. And small, constant, movements. It all makes a huge difference.

We spoke a bit about wanting to grow the membership a little more and to try and move things forward, in terms of getting some seminars or something that will help us all develop. It’s good to know that there’s a few of us that want it to stay alive and keep moving forward. I just think we need to set some targets and hit them, otherwise another year’s gonna pass and we’ll all be where we are now. It’s a tough one though – a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. We need existing numbers to be consistent to stand a chance of making a new venue work – which will attract new members which will make seminars etc cost effective. It’s really frustrating but it’s always been this way - why is the general population so apathetic? I’m not just talking BJJ – just life in general.

Anyway, there was a ray of sun on my BJJ landscape this week as I got an email from Kim Gracie, Rickson’s wife, saying that she’ll arrange my belt test when I visit LA, so, on the face of it, when I’m ready, it’s game on…very exciting!