tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20425962521054738312024-03-05T01:50:50.613-08:00The Fisk ChroniclesThis blog is about my sometimes maddening journey through the world of Brazilian Jiu JitsuCarter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-3642147936795941892015-04-09T15:06:00.000-07:002015-04-09T15:06:00.763-07:00Learning Cottonwood martial arts the right way<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When you think of places to learn <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cottonwood martial arts </strong>your first thought might not be Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Osburn BJJ. When most people think martial arts, they think of punches, kicks, and katas. They don’t think of people wrestling for dominant position and look for submission holds. At least that’s how people <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">used</span> to think. However, since the advent of the <a href="http://www.ufc.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #0fbe7c; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="UFC">UFC</a> in 1993 people started to look at martial arts differently. For so long they had been clouded in mystery and myth. Often times martial arts fans would pose questions like, “Who would win in a fight, the kung fu master or the karate stylist?” The UFC quickly gave us the answer: the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner would beat them both!</div>
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This isn’t to say that there aren’t many good <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cottonwood martial arts</em> that you can learn. But in a real life fighting situation, if you do not know Brazilian Jiu Jitsu(BJJ), you will be at a huge disadvantage. However, if you <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">do</strong> know BJJ then you can start to use many of the other martial arts that you may have learned before. In fact, in recent years we’ve started to see a resurgence of traditional martial arts in the UFC. One of the newest stars fighting for the featherweight title is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conor_McGregor" style="border: 0px; color: #0fbe7c; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Conor McGregor">Conor McGregor</a>. He employs an arsenal of karate-style kicks, stances, and the in-and-out movement seen in point style fighting. He can do all this<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">because</span> he knows BJJ.</div>
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Even if BJJ is not what you want to specialize in, you need to learn it if you really want to properly express other <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Cottonwood martial arts</span> that you know. In other words, if you want to truly be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of your karate, you need to learn BJJ. That way if you end up on the ground in a fight you know how to survive, get up, and then get back into karate range. And having the confidence of knowing BJJ will make your other martial arts better. If you are not afraid of being taken down, then you can commit more to your strikes and root yourself into the ground for more power.</div>
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In this <a href="https://youtu.be/mzpDWmkDtLk" style="border: 0px; color: #0fbe7c; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Cottonwood martial arts">Cottonwood martial arts</a> clip Coach Osburn shows was to escape from the sidemount position. In a fight, this is one of the worst positions for someone to be in. Any martial artist of any style needs to know how to stay safe from strikes and how to escape this position. If you are already good at a traditional martial art, think how much more confident you will be once you learn the efficient and technical BJJ answer to getting out of this position while staying safe!</div>
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So if you'd like to learn from the only BJJ black belt in Cottonwood, who is also an assistant wrestling coach at Mingus High School, then contact Coach Osburn at (928) 254-7851. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will change your life. We guarantee it!Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-26917035337418732912015-04-07T15:23:00.001-07:002015-04-07T15:23:56.226-07:00Verde Valley Self Defense aka why women and children should learn Brazilian Jiu JitsuSo it's been a long time since I've written on this blog. I felt the need to bring it back since the world needs to know about <a href="https://youtu.be/5A0swMfdSpg" target="_blank">Verde Valley self defense</a> aka why women and children should learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu(BJJ). Now of course, the best place to train and learn BJJ is at my good friend Ted Osburn's school <a href="http://www.osburnbjj.com/">Osburn BJJ</a>.<br />
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What makes BJJ such a great form of martial arts to help in your Verde Valley self defense quest is the fact that it can be very effective even when your opponent is younger, stronger, bigger, and more athletic. This is the scenario that most women and children find themselves in when dealing with a larger male attacker. And where BJJ shines even more specifically is it teaches you how to properly choke this potential attacker unconscious.<br />
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<b>Brazilian Jiu Jitsu's best weapon: the choke!</b><br />
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Helio Gracie, the Godfather of BJJ, said that even the toughest guy in the world will go to sleep with a properly applied choke. While there are boxers who are known for their "iron chin" and can't be knocked out or even guys in the BJJ world who are super flexible and unable to be submitted through joint locks, no one is choke proof.<br />
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When someone is an attacker you have to ask yourself, what is the most likely Verde Valley self defense strategy? Are you going to be able to knock him out with a punch? Can you spray him with mace in time? What about a swift kick to the groin, will that work? All of those scenarios <b>might</b> work but they also just might make your attacker angrier. Your attacker won't be able to tough out a choke. He will just go to sleep.<br />
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The choke is also a more humane way to stop your attacker. Now this might not matter to some people but in the world we live in, doing less damage is usually a better thing. A strike that really stops an attacker usually has to hurt him. Any other type of BJJ submission can break bones, tear ligaments, or dislocate joints. But a properly applied choke simply cuts off blood supply to the brain and gently puts the person to sleep. As long as the choke is let go of, the person will regain consciousness and be fine. So learning Verde Valley self defense may be safer for everyone.<br />
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This also includes children. When dealing with bullies, one issue that has risen to the forefront is the idea that kids aren't supposed to hit back if they are attacked. While I have mixed feelings about such policies, a properly applied choke will subdue any bully and not leave a mark on him. Learning tactics like these can help your self defense Verde Valley needs!<br />
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The next reality of a choke is it takes the least amount of size and strength to do correctly. There are limiting factors of physics that prevent a smaller woman or a child from being able to hurt an adult male with strikes. You may get lucky but counting on luck to save your life is not smart.<br />
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Even within BJJ joint lock defense can happen if the opponent. If an attacker is intoxicated on drugs or alcohol they may not be effected by the submission hold or feel anything until hours later. But like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9lio_Gracie" target="_blank">Helio Gracie</a> said no one can withstand a properly applied choke.<br />
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I'm about 175 pounds and I've had 95 pound women and 75 pound children catch me in chokes. When the choke is sunk in, I am going to tap or going to sleep. The choke is powerful! If you want to learn Verde Valley self defense, give Ted a call. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will change your or your child's life!<br />
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<br />Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-15590353114079224712010-12-28T21:05:00.001-08:002010-12-28T21:08:53.687-08:00New website!Sorry blogger.com you've been replaced!<br /><br />I'm moving to <a href="http://fiskbjj.com">www.fiskbjj.com</a><a href="www.fiskbjj.com"></a>Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-49231808139052181502010-06-29T20:37:00.000-07:002010-06-29T20:38:15.733-07:00InjuriesI’ve been injured a lot over the last year. It started with shoulder problems, continued with a broken foot, then torn labrum in one hip, then a sports hernia and torn labrum in the other hip. <br /><br />As I plan out my return, I keep thinking about the concept of picking my battles wisely<br /><br />While my ego and overall quest to master jiu jitsu would like to say that it’s important for me to learn how to deal with a 240 pound wrestler crushing me in side mount and be able to escape easily, the reality is I’m 36 and 180 pounds. It’s probably a smarter use of my time to learn better ways of preventing that crushing sidemount from ever happening. <br /><br />And while I agree it’s important to explore all positions, I also think that positions were designed to have one person inflict maximum damage at minimum risk. Which would imply that the other person is getting most of the damage and most of the risk.<br /><br />So I think one solution is drilling details of the in between “grey area” moments. <br /><br />What I mean by this is rather than constantly working on my sidemount escapes I want to work on the moments when my opponent is past my legs but hasn’t passed the guard. There is a whole world of the “in between” that I all but ignore in lieu of working my “side mount defense”.<br /><br />This “in between” is everywhere. I notice it a lot when dealing with D’arces, half nelsons and guillotines. While there are defense to all of these, I’d rather spend my time working on proper underhooking, head position and correct hand fighting so my opponent never has a chance to do these in the first place.<br /><br />It also means looking at some of my offense from the guard. While I love the triangle, it’s time to really pick my moments on that attack. I see people attempt the triangle all the time while letting themselves get stacked. I’ve done it many times and while many times I would get the tap, it still started to wreak havoc on my neck and upper back. <br /><br />So I think the golden rule now will be to get my opponent out of position while keeping a strong position myself and then getting the submission. A triangle when they’re falling forward out of base is a good thing. When it’s with your own knees in your face, it’s not.<br /><br />I guess all of this comes down to wanting my jiu jitsu to age gracefully.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-89247366047852752722010-04-13T16:09:00.000-07:002010-04-13T16:10:17.667-07:00The zero pointTo me, one of the most hindering things that can happen in my jiu jitsu progress is when a technique starts to work too well.<br /><br />A lot of times it will work because my training partner reacts just the right way for it to be the right moment for that technique to work. And while it’s good to know how to recreate that magic, I think it’s more important to know when that magic isn’t there.<br /><br />Almost every time I feel myself start to force a technique it’s because I’m focused on a time it did work. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve held on to a triangle when it was slipping off because I was remembering the times it didn’t slip.<br /><br />It seems like it becomes more important to remember why things were successful and to be completely honest with myself when they’re not. I’m trying to temper my ego in situation where I know a quick movement or a little more “oomph” would make the technique “work”<br /><br />I remember a long time ago when Rickson talked about the idea of getting to a neutral or “zero” point where he had no expectations of his opponent and he was “connected with the variations.”<br /><br />It reminds me of when I took acting classes years ago. Our teacher always told us to do as much preparation for the character as possible and to know our lines backwards and forwards. But when it came time for the cameras to roll, he said we had to throw all the preparation out and see where the moment leads. We couldn’t go into the scene with any preconceived notions as to what we were going to do or the other people in the scene were going to do because that would come across on film as disingenuous. He’d always remind us that, “the camera never lies.”<br /><br />Jiu jitsu never lies either. There is an answer to every situation. It takes a certain type of discipline to fully acknowledge that verses trying to make a situation something it’s not. This inevitably turns into fear and panic, especially if the situation becomes further complicated. <br /><br />For me this is the next step in my jiu jitsu. I am most effective when I am relaxed, but right now this is limited to certain situations. I want to adapt this to all situations. It’s a lifetime project so I better get started now!Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-68981200834023685992010-03-29T14:00:00.000-07:002010-03-29T14:01:43.086-07:00Position vs Submission vs ControlWhen I started jiu jitsu, “position position position” was drilled into my head. Back then they told us good position would allow you to control and dominate your opponent, whether it was jiu jitsu or fighting. And when you got a superior position, you did everything you could to hold it.<br /><br />But as people were learning jiu jitsu, things were changing. It was no longer a done deal when someone got position on someone. Before that, when a jiu jitsu guy got the mount or the back the fight was over. But once people started learning how to defend and to escape, the idea of just holding position seemed to wane, even with punches.<br /><br />As my training continued, I started seeing other types of games that were more submission oriented. The goal was to get the tap and if you spent all your time holding position, you were stalling. Now these were mainly in jiu jitsu situations so no punches were being thrown so one could argue position with punches leads to the submission.<br /><br />Without the punches, and with the influence of leg locks things really started to change in jiu jitsu too. Your legs can do many things to defend the pass but when you’re worried about someone dropping back for an ankle lock or spinning to a knee bar it changes the game. <br /><br />With no gi, the heelhook further complicates this situation.<br /><br />So at some point, for me, it seemed like there were two possibilities: be a submission guy or be a control guy. And in my own training, I would go back and forth on that. Usually it depended on what I could do to the opponent: there were people I could tap and there were ones I could only get position on.<br /><br />I would fall back on controlling people that were hard to tap. And the control always felt like a type of panic. I was exerting a lot of energy and muscle trying to keep them put. When I’d go in submission mode, I’d let them move more, which felt fine as long as they weren’t a threat.<br /><br />But over the last few weeks I’m beginning to see something different. I’m thinking that the real object is control. And most times control is about not only having position, but putting the opponent out of position.<br /><br />Position and control are deeply intertwined. But to control someone doesn’t mean just to keep him immobile. I think more than anything it’s about putting them out of position, giving them a series of bad options.<br /><br />I was watching a wrestling instructional by Cael Sanderson where he talked about not worrying about what takedown he was going to do on his opponent. He simply wanted to put the guy out of position and from there the correct takedown would appear.<br /><br />From a jiu jitsu point of view, I look at this as modifying the concept of any position.<br /><br />Take the closed guard. For a long time I’ve worked on breaking posture. I figured as long as the head was down, I had opportunities to attack while the other guy had to work himself back into position.<br /><br />Against someone with good base or someone big and strong, this quickly would turn into me trying to hold them down and hopefully catch an arm or a choke when they were on their way up. It often felt like a 50/50 moment where they would either posture out completely or I’d catch the submission.<br /><br />And this always bothered me. I don’t like even odds in a situation like this and it’s certainly not something I’d want to teach to someone either. Jiu jitsu is about stacking the deck in your favor.<br /><br />For a long time, I felt like maybe the answer was just going for more submissions or sweeps. Maybe going for the pendulum sweep or rolling for the knee bar would keep them on the defensive.<br /><br />This would work, but only up to a certain point. <br /><br />A higher-level player is waiting for these submissions and will use it as an opportunity to advance his position or to attack with a counter submission.<br /><br />So was lost in what to do past a certain point. It felt like controlling was involving too much strength and that submissions had too low odds. Both ideas seemed limited by either physical or skill elements.<br /><br />But both ideas are also not really jiu jitsu.<br /><br />Throwing up submissions looks flashy but stops working on people when they get past a certain skill or size or combination of the two.<br /><br />And simply trying to pin someone or keep them in your guard is not only boring it also does not motivate a calm person to do anything. So if you’re crushing someone who isn’t bothered by being crushed, it’s only a matter of time until you get tired. <br /><br />I think it’s mainly that the mentality is wrong. The idea of holding someone implies that if they escape, you have failed. You want the person to try to escape. You just want to give him only bad escapes. <br /><br />So rather than a crush, it becomes collar bone control, neck pressure, far hip control and more combinations of specific pressure. If your opponent has to realign their body first and then escape second, you can always be a step ahead of him.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-59537368465214403462010-03-06T09:59:00.001-08:002010-03-06T09:59:52.355-08:00The importance of wrestling for jiu jitsuFor a long time I looked at wrestling as a separate entity from jiu jitsu. I figured that yes, the takedowns were important and wrestlers did them best, but the rest of wrestling was essentially useless for jiu jitsu as there was a different goal in the end: the pin vs the tap. So while I would train it from time to time, it was always just from the standup.<br /><br />But lately, I’ve been seeing how being a jiu jitsu guy who looks at wrestling as just a way to take someone down is as limiting as a wrestler learning just enough jiu jitsu to prevent themselves from being submitted. <br /><br />While the end goal may be different, what lies in the middle is the same, which is control. Both systems should use leverage, handles and misalignment to force an opponent to react to an increasingly bad set of options. And both systems have follow up moves that are specific to the opponent’s reaction. Interestingly, I notice that most wrestling instruction incorporates this more than jiu jitsu tends to.<br /><br />I look at takedown defense and defending the guard pass and see how similar those two things are. In both cases, for the most part, the object of the person taking someone down or passing the guard is to control the opponent’s hips. <br /><br />And the goal of the person defending is to prevent their hips from being controlled. Common counters for both are things like <br />pushing the opponent’s head away from the hips, controlling their wrist and keeping your hips square to them.<br /><br />Take downs are often set up by disturbing someone’s posture and when they compensate, that’s when the shot is taken. That’s very similar to most sweeps from the guard.<br /><br />I learned yesterday about the concept of the spiral ride as a way to pin someone. It’s also as great way to take their back, work a twister or an armlock.<br /><br />The front headlock set ups in wrestling can quickly take the match down in a D’arce,/anaconda/arm in guillotine position. <br />There are so many opportunities to use wrestling in the standup to enforce your jiu jitsu on the ground beyond just taking someone down. <br /><br />And even if you may not be able to take someone down, using wrestling concepts from the stand up can allow you to flow into your jiu jitsu attacks much better than just jumping to guard.<br /><br />I think this will be my main project in my own training this year.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-2072005237924567072010-02-05T07:45:00.000-08:002010-02-05T07:47:02.692-08:00Doing what you want verses doing what you needEveryone knows that doing what you want verses what you need are not always the same thing. I’ve always felt like I had a good grasp of this and, in a way, have been very lucky, as I generally like to do things that I thought were good for me.<br />Working out, in some form or another, has been a staple of my life for over 18 years now. <br /><br />When I started it was all about getting big and strong. Like many a young man, I thought muscles were the solutions to my problems.<br /><br />As that faded and my interest in jiu jitsu increased, I started searching for the ever-elusive “functional” exercises. <br />This led me to the somewhat bizarre subculture of kettlebells, crossfit etc. where people were obsessed with doing all sorts of crazy exercises, then showing off their physiques and claiming they didn’t care about looking good, it just sort of happened. <br />It always seemed strange to me to be so obsessed with trying to not care about looking like you worked out and yet constantly talking about working out, then putting down people who actually admitted they worked out. <br /><br />But I bought into it, and thus dropped my “bodybuilding” routines and started my “functional fitness” routines.<br /><br />I did just about everything you can think of from combat conditioning, to Crossfit, to kettlebells, Ross training, caveman training, Tabata intervals and a whole bunch of other things I’m forgetting. <br /><br />Some things seemed to work better than others. I definitely noticed certain types of conditioning seemed to help my endurance on the mat and certain types of weightlifting helped make me bigger and stronger.<br /><br />I know, good work Sherlock.<br /><br />But I also noticed something else: Injuries. Lots of them.<br /><br />Obviously jiu jitsu is a sport that is always going to lead to injuries. But at some point I knew I would have to really examine my attachment to always “working out” in the way that I had and what it was really doing to my body.<br /><br />I had a friend who had been doing jiu jitsu longer than me who had come to this same revelation and started doing posture exercises and was able to rid himself of many of the chronic and acute injuries he had from doing jiu jitsu.<br /><br />I started doing these exercises but refused to quit jiu jitsu for even a few weeks and continued to “supplement” my training with lifting, conditioning work and whatever else I felt I wanted to do.<br /><br />The result was continual jiu jitsu progress and consistent injuries. <br /><br />But I continued on, thinking that if I just got a little stronger, more conditioned, more flexible or some other answer, my game would keep improving and it would be worth it.<br /><br />And in a way it was. I wanted to get my black belt and I got it. Life was good. But once I got that goal, I started to think about what my next goal was. <br /><br />I decided that it was time to really be honest with myself. <br /><br />All these supplemental activities were helping injuring me as much as they were helping my jiu jitsu. And while that made sense to me before, that simply was no longer the type of math I wanted in my life.<br /><br />What I want now, at 35, is for supplemental activities that make me healthier and offset the damage that jiu jitsu has done to my body.<br /><br />Part of this formula is to really give my posture work a real shot. And that means no jiu jitsu at all for a few months. <br /><br />It’s been four weeks of no training and two and a half of posture work. My program will change every week as my posture coach examines the changes in my posture. <br /><br />So far it’s been interesting to feel some of the changes. The injuries are still there, although feel like they’re fading. I can feel my weight more in the balls of my feet than my heels. My hips are starting to finally be above my knees rather than behind them.<br /><br />It took a long time to get this bad so it will take a long time to get better.<br /><br />And if I can rid myself of these injuries, the next step is to start adding more activities rather than “exercise” into my life. <br />In my mind this means things like hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, swimming, and even playing on a jungle gym. <br /><br />All these activities can make me stronger and more conditioned but more than anything they can make me a better athlete. <br /><br />For so long I wanted to train like the jiu jitsu champions trained when it finally dawned on me that I don’t want to be a jiu jitsu champion. I want to master jiu jitsu as best I can and still be healthy enough to do a lot of other fun stuff.<br /><br />This revelation has been bizarrely freeing and I’m excited to see where it leads.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-9703121147120979922010-01-15T06:27:00.000-08:002010-01-15T06:29:13.334-08:00Getting healthyThe goal for the next two months is to work on being healthy. I have golfers elbow in both arms, especially my right one. I have some type of piriformis strain in my left leg that has been there for almost four months. And most significantly I have a labral tear on my right hip.<br /><br />I had a proltherapy injection for the hip on Dec 7, 2009. I immediately went back to training jiu jitsu and lifting weights. About 9 days later the hip started flaring up so I took a week off. I trained sporadically until last week when I trained on Monday and Tuesday (Jan 5th and 6th). I also lifted weights on Jan 6th and did plyo jumps onto a box.<br />The next day my hip flared up again. Saw my prolo doc and we both agreed that I needed to get a PRP prolotherapy injection, which I got on Tuesday (Jan 12 2010)<br /><br />I have a follow up March 9th, which is 8 weeks from now.<br /><br />The goal between then and now is not to get in the way of healing. <br />In my mind that means limiting my hip flexion and internal twisting as much as possible. What it really means is no jiu jitsu, or at least no sparring. I’d rather take two months than continue to push myself towards a surgery that I don’t believe is really effective and would put me out for most of the year.<br /><br />I look at this as an opportunity to address a few things I have been avoiding.<br /><br />Number one is the other injuries I have. The piriformis issue may just be a matter of ART treatment and rest. The same could be said for the elbow issues. They may also need some prolotherapy injections as well.<br /><br />Number two is continuing to work on my posture exercises. I have been very inconsistent with this over the past year or so. I’m pretty sure that some of my hip problems are caused by the extensive pelvic tilt I have so now is a good chance to work on correcting that. I’m going to be in contact with Geoff Gluckman once a month to update my programs.<br />I’m also going to take pictures once a week to monitor my progress much more closely. <br /><br />The third thing I’m going to focus on is swimming. I tried this last year when I was also doing a lot of weight training. The result was an inflamed rotator cuff in my right shoulder. <br /><br />I’m confident that if I focus on my posture work and drop the weight training, I can start swimming with less strain on the shoulder. The kicking motions of the freestyle stroke involve minimal hip flexion so I should be able to spare my hip some discomfort.<br /><br />This is a great chance to really delve into an exercise system which is very practical in terms of real world survival that I have never really worked on before.<br /><br />For additional cardio work, I’ll hike and jump rope. The goal is to minimize hip flexion and do as many “natural” movements as possible.<br /><br />The goal is to be pain free by March 15th 2010.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-74880618361599274282009-12-13T12:17:00.000-08:002009-12-13T12:18:01.389-08:00DrillingWe did a lot of drilling in the last few days. It’s been a long time since I’ve drilled technique after technique like that. Certainly not the most fun way to train, but it definitely has its place, especially in a pressure situation.<br /><br />One thing I’ve noticed about drilling is the situation that you drill magically seems to appear more often in sparring. <br /><br />I’ve fallen out of the habit of drilling as I’ve been much more interested in the situation by situation moment. Subconsciously I think I’ve told myself that drilling creates a false reality and I need to react to the moment as it’s happening.<br /><br />But after listening to Rigan talk, I’m thinking I’ve been ignoring the fuller picture. Yes the moment by moment situation is important, but part of what creates proper reaction is having seen the moment before. There are many times I’ve been able to anticipate where a match is going to go simply because I’ve been in the situation before. Drilling allows that to happen in a controlled environment.<br /><br />So this week begins drilling things over and over again. Since guard passing is on my mind, that’s what I’m going to drill first.<br /><br />I’m going to structure my drilling in two parts:<br />1) Doing the technique on demand, i.e. when the moment is right, I’m doing it immediately.<br />2) Chaining techniques together.<br /><br />For various reasons my passing game is still more one of force rather than flow. I want to make sure I drill the moment to do the correct technique. But I want to make sure I also drill the follow up moments of what to do when that moment is gone.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-83386448113910168232009-11-19T15:46:00.000-08:002009-11-19T15:47:04.953-08:00Working guard passing detailsI’m continuing to work on the details of simplicity. I’ve been reanalyzing my guard passing over the last few days as I realized how lacking it was while working with JS on Monday. Where I normally feel like my hips are heavy, I felt like a kite in the wind and kept getting swept over effortlessly by him.<br /><br />I keep thinking of the Roger Gracie quote, “The basics work. You just have to do them right.”<br /><br />And I realized that I am doing the right moves incorrectly and sometimes at the wrong time. <br /><br />First thing I’m going to work on is committing to being a tight guard passer. I’m not a jumping around, flipping over guy and I find being methodical with my whole game works best for me.<br /><br />The second thing is to commit my hips more. I’m realizing in hindsight that I was light because my hips were light.<br /><br />Third, using my head. Just like in takedowns, and open guard, I want my head below his. I’ve used my forehead under the chin from time to time and I need to start that up again.<br /><br />Fourth is tying the passes in together. The idea is to gain slow steady control and decrease his options, just like in every other position.<br /><br />Fifth and I think most important, is securing control after the pass. JS is excellent and sweeping right after I’m past his legs or getting to his knees. I think looking at keep his legs crossed, working the crossface, knee on stomach and taking the back may be a few of the options to look at.<br /><br />But more importantly, I have to realize that a certain level of player is always going to accept the next position and start reacting to it. He accepts the pass so that he can set up the sweep. I have to anticipate the potential sweep I’m giving him and start reacting to that when the pass is finishing.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-20188877968238106062009-11-09T20:56:00.000-08:002009-11-09T20:57:57.676-08:00Kevin Bacon, Organic Chemistry and Jiu JitsuLast week in training, I caught my training partner in a toehold. It came from a failed reverse triangle underneath. Which came from a failed arm bar from up top. Which came from a failed choke from sidemount.<br /><br />For some reason this sequence made me think of organic chemistry exams. <br /><br />In those tests, you were given a starting compound and a final compound. It was up to you to show the path of chemical reactions that would transform your starting compound into your final one.<br /><br />And for some other reason this made me think about Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. This was a game that started in the early 90’s where the object was to connect any actor to Kevin Bacon in as few steps as possible.<br /><br />And this leads back to jiu jitsu where each reaction can lead to the final goal if you just know how to order the subsequent steps. The defenses are predictable and lead to predictable offensive opportunities. <br /><br />Kron Gracie said his father Rickson was the master at finding the easiest route to the submission.<br /><br />In college, we got a better score for getting to the final compound in the fewest steps.<br /><br />And in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, the fewer films you needed to connect to Kevin Bacon, the higher score you got.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-41001575679516709242009-10-30T20:22:00.001-07:002009-10-30T20:22:46.313-07:00Revisting the basics part 6: Keeping it simpleLately I’ve been working on the idea of making your life simple and your opponent’s life difficult. <br /><br />What I mean by this is always having two attacks working together. He has two bad choices to make and you have one easy one: whichever one is given.<br /><br />It reminds me of a quote I once heard, “A man can do anything he wants but he can’t do everything.”<br /><br />An aspect of keeping things simple is to always give your opponent motivation to move.<br /><br />My dad told me many years ago that in judo, the way to get someone to push you was to push him first. I think about this all the time in my attacks. I always want to get the other guy to want move rather than force him. Forcing involves energy and can allow tunnel vision to take over.<br /><br />For instance, if someone postures up in my closed guard, rather than pull the opponent down, I prefer to hip bump them, which forces them to push me back. <br /><br />All these concepts have been floating in my head as my instructor’s been telling me lately to simplify everything. Quite frankly, it’s been a relief. <br /><br />For so long I’ve had so many techniques and options floating in my head that I often would freeze up with analysis paralysis. Now by just focusing on a few basic attacks I simply need to figure out what the two threats are in a situation, then take whatever one is given to me. It’s that simple.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-19768240281456065262009-10-21T06:41:00.000-07:002009-10-21T06:47:40.322-07:00Revisiting the basics part 5: getting your hips underneath their hipsI started working some of the deep half guard over the last week. Yesterday with JS I was messing around with some of the entries from far away. I could definitely feel that my arms and my neck were vulnerable. It felt like trying to sprint off the trail in the woods and had to dodge branches coming from all directions. <br /><br />But I did notice if I was able to get there, some sweeps were possible. Afterward we were discussing this type of half guard vs the Bear half guard which is more shifting the hips, trapping a side, then bridging. I feel that both are good sweeping systems with quite a lot in common.<br /><br />In my efforts to tie things together, I started thinking that these sweeps are not just unique to half guard, as X guard, scissor sweeps, ankle sweeps and really almost all sweeps involve getting your hips underneath your opponent.<br /><br />I thought about this more as I started trying to work more of an open guard against JS. I was putting up some barriers to his pass, but since he tends to keep his hips low and back, my barriers are ultimately ineffective. <br /><br />The smarter gameplan would be either to disengage completely or to use a strategy that would cause him to want to move his hips forward. A good example of that might be the rolling knee bar. My instructor often mentions how he started to use the rolling knee bar when people became wary of his armlock from the guard. <br /><br />One of the best defenses for the arm lock is to keep the hips back. However, when the hips are back, the legs are exposed to a degree. And when one starts to counter the legs, usually this involves moving their hips forward and inevitably up. The next move is to attack their base while still looking for submissions. And furthermore, you can get underneath their hips now, in order to do this.<br /><br />While this might be a little more complicated example, a simpler version is the scissor sweep. Regardless of the variation that is taught, there is always the idea of pulling the opponent on top of you, i.e. getting his hips over yours, in order to do the sweep. <br /><br />And looking back at times when a sweep works verses when it doesn’t, I’m seeing this hip principle is present much of the time. There are other factors of course, but it’s hard to get any sweep without this floating hip idea.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-16649436975048298572009-10-15T14:23:00.001-07:002009-10-15T14:23:49.148-07:00Revisting the basics part 4: Bumping the butt with the kneeAs a tall lanky fella, there are a lot of moments where I had a lot of difficulty using the hip escape, as I could never seem to get my knee in tight enough. I saw guys with shorter legs slide right in, but for me, my knee would always bump against the top player’s knee.<br /><br />I noticed this initially from mount escapes, but soon saw it from side mount escapes or even guard pass defense when the opponent would, slice his knee through and baseball slide in. I saw shorter legged guys who could get their knees in to block the hips and I’d suffer from reverse Napoleon syndrome.<br /><br />Well my instructor showed me something a few years ago that I didn’t really think much about at the time. The basic principal is when you bump the back of someone’s thigh or their butt with your it brings their hips forward and makes them base out with their hands. It also makes their legs light, which means it’s easier to push them back or lift them up.<br /><br />My instructor later showed this same concept from the umpa escape from the mount, where he’d first bump the butt to get the hands to base. This makes it easier to grab the arm and start the move.<br />I’ve noticed this in some of the competition footage I’ve seen where Jeff Glover uses this a lot to get hooks in with his deep half guard game. And I’ve noticed this helps me in situations that previously felt impossible to get out of.<br /><br />It’s a movement I’ve seen a lot of people do, but outside of my instructor and the Bear half guard dvd, I’ve never really seen anyone talk about it. Once I started thinking about it and putting it back in my consciousness, I see it everywhere.<br /><br />Worked on it with JS early this week and while it’s not enough to stop the crushing freight train, it is enough to get some hooks and attempt some other attacks. With lighter guys it seems even more effective.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-23833430731215827162009-10-12T20:43:00.000-07:002009-10-12T20:44:28.738-07:00Revisting the basics part 3: The Bigger PictureFor a long time now I’ve gotten caught up in minutia. I’ve become so obsessed with jiu jitsu that I started to forget what the point was. Last week was a frustrating one of training for the most part. I was trying to find the exact answer to the exact moment of an isolated situation. And I was annoyed when I couldn’t reproduce the situation exactly so I could keep practicing this one scenario.<br /><br />I think this is where the idea of being a scientist breaks down. Jiu jitsu is too much like life. No two scenarios are ever the same. I was searching for order when there is only a controlled form of chaos. I was trying to find details when I was missing the bigger picture. The reason I’m doing all of this is to get better at jiu jitsu. Knowing all the nuances and details in a frame by frame manner is all well and good, but if I don’t make a good movie out of it, then what’s the point?<br /><br />I think what all this means is more sparring, less thinking. I remember Rickson talking about the true purpose of training is to reach a point of neutrality. This is what I need to work on now. I have so many techniques and questions in my mind, but it’s time to throw that all away and just see what happens.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-86058835625212212002009-10-07T06:03:00.000-07:002009-10-07T06:18:11.226-07:00Revisiting the basics part 2: The X GuardI remember getting exposed to this guard 10 plus years ago by Ethan Milius. Back then it was a follow up to a failed butterfly sweep. I wasn’t ready for that technique and even though I could drill it, I rarely ever hit it.<br /><br />I pretty much ignored it for the next few years but rediscovered it when I came out to Texas. My instructor here had a different version with one foot controlling the instep of the opponent instead of the upper thigh.<br /><br />I started playing around with this new version and liked some of the dexterity it brought to the picture to set up leg locks and sweeps that were more balling up oriented rather than stretching out. <br /><br />I used this game a lot as a purple belt against some of the bigger guys. It was especially effective against wrestlers, as I don’t think there are too many situations in a wrestling match where competitors would find themselves in this position.<br /><br />Then for some reason I stopped playing this game completely. It might have been that I wanted to develop more submissions from the bottom and ventured into other things. I don’t remember it being any conscious decision, but I look back at the last few years of training and can only think of a handful of times that I’ve used x-guard to any degree.<br /><br />All of this information has been flooding in my head over the last few hours as I think about my training session with JS yesterday. His game has gotten so good that I can’t decide if starting on the bottom of half guard is a brave gesture, an exercise in stupidity or some sadistic urge I have to make myself seem chumpy.<br /><br />I wanted to focus on the omoplata battle but his head was in a different position. He was moving more to a reverse kesa type pass. I kept flailing trying to force the situation that we'd been working on the previous day rather than truly accepting the reality of what was happening. With a guy like him, this becomes a punishing and humbling experience as indecision makes surviving a freight train unlikely.<br /><br />I had no real strategy because I had no real idea of attack. One of the main flaws in my thinking was not coordinating my upper body and lower body. <br /><br />My instructor suggested I think about x guard from this position and at first I felt even more lost. It had been so long I didn’t even see how I could get there. He showed me some sweep variations that weren’t X in the strictest sense but had the same principles.<br /><br />I was annoyed with myself after training. I felt like I’d just been a flailing spazz for an hour and that belt was just staring me in the face, disappointed. But I realized the lesson had been learned. I needed to delve back into the X guard.<br /><br />After looking at my book and a ton of videos, I realized that the half guard position does have an x guard set up to it. I’d just never really drilled it. In fact, x guard has always worked well for me, once I got there. But I haven’t practiced getting there enough. This is why it came and went for me as without drilling sequences, I'll never go to them when the chips are down.<br /><br />I'll need to work on the timing and sensitivity down the road, but for now I don’t even have enough reps in to warrant that. For now, I need simple repetition. After working on entries over and over, I'll start to recognize them in live training. In fact, I can already think of at least four times in yesterday's session where I could have transitioned to X guard.<br /><br />As long as frustration ends in a lesson, I'll always take it.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-51416049088878100922009-10-05T15:28:00.000-07:002009-10-05T15:29:33.084-07:00A revision of the revisitingI think about new variations and applications of techniques all the time. I’m definitely not at the point where I can be sure if these things will work. Luckily for my JS was training today and he’s my best litmus test for almost everything. <br /><br />I thought the idea of planting my foot in the omoplata battle and hipping away would be good. The problem is, it’s too easy for the top player to hold you down from there and keep your hip flat.<br /><br />I also experimented with straightening my leg if my shin was across his belt. This actually made his pass even easier.<br /><br />It was frustrating for a good half hour and I felt myself being tense and holding onto positions, trying to change angles and getting passed repeatedly. We started isolating the positions over and over and I still was not getting any better structure or attacks.<br /><br />It really helped the drill that this is one of JS’s favorite passes as I want to learn how to deal with people’s best moves.<br /><br />Finally after all this searching on how to change position to get the best leverage, I realized the simple truth: I needed to reexamine the advantages of the position I was in, rather than trying to change the situation to fit a predetermined outcome and series I had in my head.<br /><br />I was on my right hip, not wanting to force the omoplata when I realized, simply bracing off him so that my arms were in line with my shoulders, hipping out and getting my shin in was the least path of resistance. Obviously it’s just a moment in the dance, but it felt like a big step to a situation I’ve encountered many times and seen my training partners in as well.<br /><br />As always the answers are simple and right in front of me, but it took an hour of sweat, panic and looking bad in front of everyone to figure that out. <br /><br />I’ll take that price every day.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-64867930708159758822009-10-04T15:39:00.000-07:002009-10-04T16:16:10.393-07:00Rethinking the basics part 1:the omoplata battleI’ve often found myself in the omoplata battle and I thought about something the other day that might be an alternative to it.<br /><br />Let’s say the opponent is passing to your right. His right hand is on the mat and you’re trying to set up an omoplata by getting your left foot underneath his head. A lot of guys on top will step over the right leg, almost putting themselves in a butterfly hook and drive their head into you.<br /><br /><br />The battle becomes me pushing the top players head away or trying to yank my left leg under their chin or a combination of both. The top player pushes him hard to prevent this and for a long time I’ve either yanked extra hard on my leg or tried to push even harder on his head. Sometimes I’d get my foot in position and sometimes I’d get passed.<br />I’ve never liked this battle for a few reasons.<br /><br />First, against big strong guys, I’ve always felt like my knee was in danger of getting hurt. Even times that I got the foot in successfully, it still felt like I was playing Russion roulette with my knee. It makes me squirm watching other people do this as well as I’m always terrified to hear that “POP!”<br /><br />And the other thing is it never felt like jiu jitsu to be pushing directly against someone pushing against me. It seemed like the finesse had been taking away and now it was a battle of wills and strength.<br /><br />So I was watching Rener show a basic side mount escape and realized that he would end up in the same position, but with a different goal: to get back to full guard.<br />Once he ended up in this position, he was basing off his butterfly foot (right), scooting his hips out to the right, then getting back into full guard.<br /><br />So I’m wondering if, rather than meeting the top players head with direct force, maybe the goal could be to redirect that force and concentrate on keep weight on the butterfly foot. If I push the head away enough to get him to really push in hard, then if I take away my pressure and shift my hips so I’m slightly on my left side, his passing will be somewhat nullified.<br /><br />From here, I’m thinking right forearm under the chin, grabbing the right shoulder and looking at my watch to prevent a follow up pass.<br /><br />It also seems to me that once I get this space, my left foot could get on his right hip and my right foot would be free. I almost think that I could attack his left arm now with an omoplata, and be able to use my feet on the hips, so I could move my body away and into position while destroying his base and structure.<br /><br />In my mind this might be a better way of getting this attack and more in line with my current training philosophy. I just had never put together the idea of using the basic hip escape in that position before until now.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-90642894556356182672009-09-28T12:48:00.000-07:002009-09-28T12:49:26.321-07:00dealing with the 10%Had a good training session today with TO. His defense and calmness is at such a level, that it shuts down submissions. I wrote about the 10% concept a while back and he definitely personifies that. It takes a lot of discipline to not reach out and try to grab what seems right in front of you. Many times I’ve thought I had a triangle or some other submission and burned myself out trying to finish it.<br /><br />Today I found myself working on two ideas that I’ve been thinking about quite a bit lately. The first idea is the tug of war. It’s basically where you pull the rope just enough to get the other guy to give a mighty tug then you let go just as he’s pulling his hardest and he falls on his butt. <br /><br />I’ve found this idea works well with bigger and stronger guys. I am not going to be able to stop their movement, but with barriers that are solid enough, I can usually tell where they are going to go. I give enough resistance to make them really push, then suddenly no resistance. The important thing here is to have a follow up in mind that you can start working on right as they’re moving into the position they were just fighting for. The cool thing is it can make you seem much faster than you actually are because you’re timing their movement.<br /><br />The second idea has a subtler element to it. Let’s say I get a triangle on someone that appears to be on pretty well. The legs are figure foured but maybe their elbow is glued to my hip and I can’t spin to a more perpendicular angle for whatever reason. The temptation has always been to power through this and just crunch down, pull the head and squeeze. Sometimes this works and other times it doesn’t. Many times I can’t really tell why it does and why it doesn’t.<br /><br />What I’m realizing though is that submission attempt is leaving other submissions open. The arm with the elbow planted on the hip is strong in preventing itself from being pushed across his body. Even if you bridge up and push, a good player is expecting and waiting for this. But it you bridge and scoop under the wrist instead, he now has a new problem. That firmly planted elbow is now an anchor for me to move his wrist towards that direction and start working a kimura type lock. Now if he releases his pin on the hips I now have a much easier time pushing it across the body.<br /><br />I like the idea of steadily making my opponent’s options worse and their life more complicated. Good defense can shut down one attack, but it almost invariably opens up another one. My goal is to start seeing what those other attacks are and start working them. It may leave the original attack open or it may make yet another attack option appear. This may only be something I can do against people closer to my own size but it’s like a smaller chain of subission attempts.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-87320854819261671202009-09-28T06:58:00.000-07:002009-09-28T06:59:19.895-07:00Setting up the foot on hip guardWe’ve been working on the foot on hip to elbow lock and omoplata combos. This is something I’ve been thinking about lately and a part of my game that needs a lot of work. I feel like I’ve set the stage a little by working on getting an angle on my side as well as constantly looking to base out on my elbow and slide back.<br /><br />The biggest hurdle I’m finding right now is how to actually get the overhook. Once I get that position, my training partners are wary of the overhook. But after watching some video footage today, I think I need to tie in the butterfly guard and sword guard to lead into this position. In those two positions, I find it much easier to get the over hook so I think it makes sense to start trying to feel those transitions.<br /><br />The cool thing about this sit out guard is it’s constantly messing with my opponent’s posture. And every time you’re messing with the posture, you’re also threatening submissions. And furthermore, I think every time they become wary of a submission, there is a sweep right there. For whatever reason, this guard has never been something I’ve exploited very much, but right now it seems to fit in perfectly with everything else I’m doing.<br /><br />Got to work on some wrestling drills on Friday with MB. By the end, he had the timing down perfectly and I realized how limited my knowledge of wrestling really is. I’m going to keep at working on timing and set ups as I think it’s the best formula for me.<br /><br />His guard pass defense has gotten really good as well. I still have the conflict within myself as far as how much do I force the pass through verses learning to flow from pass to pass. I think I need to set up the next pass better if I’m going to move from side to side. I get myself stuck in one pass that I may be able to force through but I may not and either way I really have no choice from there.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-23108405254247550572009-09-22T17:52:00.000-07:002009-09-22T17:53:30.580-07:00Some mount escape ideas and other thingsHave had some good training sessions with JS, MB and TO over the last few days. Really working on my conditioning hard in the gym, then making my jiu jitsu more of a calm flow.<br /><br />Have mainly been working mount and mount escapes. Trying to look at this as just another area where it is a combination of techniques and reactions to reactions. One thing that is coming to mind is the idea of taking things step by step.<br /><br />One issue I’ve noticed with JS that certainly applies to me as well is that of the Mickey Mantle idea. That ball's going out of the park, or he’s striking out. At times, my mount escapes have been like this. For a long time it was only elbow escaping to my left side. At other times, I had a decent bridge, but if that didn’t work, I was right back where I started.<br /><br />With my mount escapes (and side mount for that matter) I want to make sure that every move is making progress and chaining with the last one. I think this is a little different concept that trying a lot of moves. <br /><br />Before I would try one move after another, but I would be coming back to a neutral point of being on my back in between efforts. What I’m attempting to do now is have each move be a natural continuation of the move before it.<br /><br />So if the opponent has a tight mount with good head control, I could control the arm holding the head or just press down with my head to trap their arm and trap their foot. I’d bridge up and over at a 45 degree angle over the shoulder.<br /><br />But this usually won’t be enough to get them over, but it should be enough to get to my side. I’d look to continue with the framing, maybe moving to an elbow escape, or maybe moving onto my elbow and pulling my hips back from here with my legs straight. There are a lot of options, but the main thing I’m thinking about is to not bridge, then just end up right back on my back.<br /><br />I'm really liking the concept of getting up on my elbow, not only for mount escapes, but also side mount escapes and open guard. I feel like there’s suddenly another dimension of movement, which gives me better offensive angles.<br /><br />I need to start working the full game again soon. I like many of the side control aspects, along with some really cool collar chokes my instructor showed me today. Again the concept of circular motion and moving out of the tidal wave’s way is something I keep considering.<br /><br />Tomorrow is my rest day but I look forward to continuing these ideas and also to start working on my wrestling but with the same sense of flow and sensitivity.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-74228077686766865342009-09-19T16:31:00.000-07:002009-09-19T16:33:05.671-07:00No gi back control, passing and guard work9/19/09<br />Had a great time training today.<br /><br />The flow on guard passing is not there yet, but I am stopping short of forcing what is not there. There where a few chances, looking back, where I could have switched sides but the sensitivity isn’t there yet.<br /><br />Did see some good possibilities on getting the back. Ended up in an interesting situation from the back where my right lower leg was on the crook of both his arms towards his hips. I found that rotating my hips to my left made it easier to get that leg straight. From there could get the left hook in as well.<br /><br />Also from the back, when the opponent want to shuck you off and you have your right hook in I found that my hooking the inside of his left leg with my left hand while basing out with my right and pulling to rotate my hips clockwise, I had some pretty decent hip control.<br /><br />Additionally when opponent rolls, I’m working on rolling with him while keeping my hips underneath his on the bottom. With each roll there is a moment in time that you can get the forearm under the chin.<br /><br />For open guard seeing how getting up on my forearm, after getting on my side is a great offensive weapon as it inherently make it harder for him to control my hips. Really noticed it opening up a lot of possibilities.<br /><br />Little details but felt like some big changes.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-57120459189613088462009-09-18T15:24:00.000-07:002009-09-18T15:25:35.393-07:00Getting back to itI haven’t trained at all since the seminar, so it was almost two weeks before I finally got to take the new belt out for a spin. I was a little self-conscious for a moment but soon it was back to work as usual.<br /><br />Working on guard passing. I realize how stale this part of my game has gotten. And also how much it’s become a power game. Now there are times when a good crush is probably necessary, but I think it has some downsides as well. Most notably, I tend to get tired when I’m driving my weight into someone.<br /><br />So working with JS today, I wanted to have a more flowing pace. I tried to make a conscious effort to feel where I could mix up some passes and most importantly switch up from side to side. <br /><br />I also am trying to work on rotating all the way around the head after passing. One key thing I was shown is when the opponent is on his side, to put your weight on his shoulder. You’re not trying to drive into him and flatten him out, you’re just inhibiting his movement.<br /><br />I really want to get more precise with this aspect of control. I’m not looking to switch into a looser style of playing, I merely want my control to be on the essentials of what stops someone from moving where they want to go, rather than just crushing them completely. <br /><br />Another aspect of passing that I’m going to really work on is going to my right. Sometimes I feel like the reverse of Zoolander as I can only go left. Going to my right confuses people as most don’t pass that way. And I find that doing things on the opposite side often make you aware of opportunities you just don’t see when you’re on autopilot doing things on your strong side.<br /><br />Case in point today was there were some moments when I was standing and getting ready to try a slice through Judo Marc style pass. I realized I could just lift and kick my foot out instead as JS was anticipating my foot coming up since my knee would go down so he wasn’t clasping my foot tightly with his legs.<br /><br />I think slowing the pass, but not going at a slow pace, but more a true flow, will help me see these opportunities. My guard passing has had a lot of tunnel vision to it over the last year or so. I need to look at it, like I try to with open guard, where different attacks appear and work well in combination. With passing a lot of times, I force the issue. I really want to work on doing what they give me rather than forcing something.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2042596252105473831.post-66612031132691098402009-09-16T08:19:00.000-07:002009-09-16T08:23:11.558-07:00My Journey to the Black BeltMy attitude and reasons for training have changed quite a bit over the years. Each belt level was a very distinct phase for me in terms of attitude and training habits.<br /><br />White Belt<br /><br />I was actually a white belt longer than any other belt. It was the most frustrating and depressing belt for me as well.<br /><br />At first, my reasons for training were I wanted to “learn how to fight”. This wasn’t particularly motivating, as I really didn’t want to fight anyone. I just didn’t want them to want to fight me.<br /><br />I’d start training then stop over and over again. I went just enough to get frustrated. I’d see maybe a little skill start to develop, but with the first mishap, injury or frustration, I’d quit for months then have to start the process over again. <br /><br />My thoughts about my skill went up and down depending on my tapping verses getting tapped ratio. Since I wasn’t showing up consistently, I had to relearn things and was frustrated to watch people pass me by.<br /><br />And since I got depressed about always being tapped out, once I missed class and knew coming back would be even harder, I’d show up even less.<br /><br />This happened for years at two different schools. <br /><br />But I started to make some good friends at my second school, which motivated me to want to show up more.<br /><br />Although it’s debatable whether I was there more to hang out than to actually train, I started getting reasonably proficient at a few techniques. <br /><br />I was embarrassed to be a white belt for as long as I was, mainly because telling people I was a white belt felt chumpy. Again, I was still trying to impress on people that I was well on my way to becoming a fighting machine, so “white belt” made them reply, “Oh, you’re just a beginner”. <br /><br />So for me, getting the blue belt was a huge deal.<br /><br />Blue Belt<br /><br />I felt the most competitive with my classmates at this belt . There are white belts that have a lot of skill coming in and can quickly challenge you. At the same time you have purple belts in your sights as well.<br /><br />The focus continued to be “winning and losing” rather than working towards getting better. I frankly didn’t know the difference between the two. <br /><br />At this point, I liked talking about jiu jitsu much more than actually training it. I had friends that were really good, which made it tough for my ego to take. It was easier for me to just hang out with them socially than to train with them.<br /><br />As a result, I really lost focus on jiu jitsu. I just trained in various garages with my friends. Without real guidance, I was just always looking for new techniques and secrets rather than being honest about the cause of why I wasn’t any good.<br /><br />This lack of responsibility led to me quitting altogether for well over a year. I still had a competitive mindset but wasn’t willing to do the work necessary to progress.<br /><br />Purple Belt<br /><br />But in the back of my mind, jiu jitsu continued to irritate me. Part of me wanted to believe that the problem was what I’d been taught. Secretly I thought maybe my former instructors’ style of jiu jitsu just didn’t work anymore.<br /><br />I found a new teacher who espoused this idea that traditional jiu jitsu was outdated . He had all these techniques that people were calling “cutting edge”. Because of this, I decided to give jiu jitsu another shot. I figured with my newfound knowledge, I’d finally be able to hang with my old friends as a jiu jitsu equal.<br /><br />Of course, I was repeating another variation of the same mistake, and my old friends would crush me every time. I was trying to get better by using tricks and things they hadn’t seen rather than really dealing with problems. <br /><br />Strangely enough I really couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t very good. I really blamed things like not being athletic or “natural” rather than really asking myself if I had ever really worked on jiu jitsu. <br /><br />Sure I had trained with some good people and watched videos and learned the motions of some techniques. But I had never worked on patterns, thought about principals or worked on developing combinations of attacks. In short, I had never studied the game.<br /><br />It was at this point that I was lucky enough to move to Austin, Texas where two important things happened in my training: I met William Vandry and I hurt my knee.<br /><br />Meeting William was important as I finally had a teacher in the true sense of the word. It’s not to say I hadn’t learned a lot from other people, but William was the first person to be able to analyze my game better than anyone ever will and tell me step by step what to work on. <br /><br />Hurting my knee was important as it forced me to spend three months watching every class. I quickly realized how little jiu jitsu I knew. I could roll with people and pull some moves off, but when I sat back and watched people train, I couldn’t tell what they should do half the time, or what their options were or what I would do.<br /><br />So I started to mentally spar. It was almost like a video game where I would choose one person and try to figure out what they should be doing at every moment. Then I’d switch to the other person. Sometimes I’d just take what was happening as a whole and predict what I thought was going to happen. And other times, I’d mentally put myself in there and see what I’d do.<br /><br />I did this day after day. I still do this now and I still don’t think I’m good at it, but it’s a little better than it was.<br /><br />So the purple belt started off thinking I’d found the secrets and ended up truly admitting how little I knew but finally being okay with that.<br /><br />I was also able to stop worrying about looking good. The danger of being a purple belt is worrying about people’s opinions of your skills. In my mind, if your instructor knows what you’re doing, that’s all that matters. <br /><br />Brown Belt<br /><br />I was really happy to get this belt. It was the first one I really felt like I had earned and more importantly, I felt like I was beginning to learn how to learn.<br /><br />Two new training partners came into the fold who were and are vital to my progress. I think it’s always important to have people that serve as litmus tests. In order to develop new angles and variations of techniques, I’d first try to get them on beginning students. After meddling around with that for a while, I’d start working up the ranks. If I could start pulling the technique off consistently, I knew there was something there. <br /><br />But they were never officially part of my arsenal until I could work them on the two litmus tests. They helped me really deal with problems in my game, rather than just scrambling through them. I was able to hit the rewind button over and over until I was satisfied that we’d come up with some answers.<br /><br />I had taken notes sporadically through the years but starting this year (2009) I did them consistently. Doing this really helped me keep my head in the game regardless of whether I was out of town or injured. In fact, I knew as long as I stayed in decent shape and kept reviewing my notes, I could make progress even with breaks in my training. <br /><br />I also started blogging, which kept me accountable to other people to continue with my thought processes. Plus when people had questions I couldn’t answer, it made me reevaluate my conclusions.<br /><br />There was definitely a bullseye on my back with this belt. But this was also the first belt that I felt responsibility. I could see people listening in when I’d explain a technique to someone. And having someone really listen to your advice and then take it is a great motivation for making sure you know what you’re talking about!<br /><br />Black Belt<br /><br />September 5, 2009 is a day I will never forget. While I cringe at much of the time wasted, I am confident that I can teach someone to learn much faster and better than I did. And in many ways I think that is the point of life: to make your mistakes and pass on what you’ve learned to the next generation.<br /><br />I’ve said before, that feeling like I understand jiu jitsu is like seeing a mirage in the desert. At some point I had to learn to enjoy the walk fully knowing that the mirage will always be in the far off distance.<br /><br />I have so much more of my game to work on. There are many principals of structure and movement that I want to explore. I have toyed with the idea of one day opening up my own school but for now my energies are on making myself a better martial artist and doing everything I can to make the people around me better.<br /><br />I never want to protect this belt, but I will always honor it.Carter Fiskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03757659572237586286noreply@blogger.com2