Getting Sh*t Done

Wot? No Update??

2005-12-04T22:44:00.000+08:00

It's been a while...

There's an update coming up in 1 week.

Fight Club!

2005-09-06T09:43:00.000+08:00

I'm getting ready to take a 10 day holiday in Thailand this week. While there I plan to stop off at Bangkok Fight Club to do a bit of training. I also hope to get some Thai Boxing in. A tan would be nice, too.

My BJJ has been improving at a satisfactory rate, but every now an again I have an off day. Today was one of those days- I felt weak, gassed quickly, and got owned by less experienced guys. I also noted that my takedowns need work- Because of my dodgy ankle, I find it hard to commit to takedowns for fear of something moving out of place, I can feel it starting to happen when I crouch down and push up. I need to tape it up better and start working stand up- I want to be feared on my feet, not to fear being thrown about like a rag-doll.

I will update when I'm in Thailand.

Into My Sixth Month

2005-08-23T00:04:00.000+08:00

Lost 14 Kg / 30lb
My clothes feel looser- need a belt
Got a stripe on my white belt
Passing Blue-belt guards- occasionally dominating + beginning to get submissions on them

6 months ago- I hadn't even gotten around to making the commitment to lose weight, let alone study Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It would have been difficult for me to believe that I would have been able to stick to any kind of program and have lost the weight that I have. I'm pretty pleased with myself about these achievements.

However, I have slipped up a lot along the way and I haven't been as disciplined as I'd like- especially with weights and cardio- these have been pretty much non existent and I've been relying on BJJ and a bit of kickboxing for my fitness needs. It has been effective but I'm still not satisfied. Yes, I feel lighter and much more agile, but when I look in the mirror I don't see much of a difference. This is probably becasue although I've lost poundage, my basic body shape has stayed the same- whereas if I'd at least pushed it with weight training, I would see some muscle size and definition increases- more so if I did more cardio. I can't be too hard on myself though...I remember that I was going to to it slowly and in small steps.

So at this point I feel it's time to make some further commitments to myself.
It would be so easy to go running here. I live at the top of a big hill, at the bottom of which is a lake for me to run around before climbing back up. I have a dog that needs lots of exercise, and I know from exoerience that it really works for me. The main problems are that I hate it..if fucking bores me to death- and theres a motivation problem, you know - the one where you convince yourself that you done need to go right now becasue you can go any time. I need to go cliche on it and 'just do it'. I don't have a good excuse for avoiding weight training either.

I think I should start of lightly by allotting time to do each of these twice a week- I know that cardio work should be done more often- but it's best to start slowly, and I do get a good workout at BJJ. This will start in September.

On the financial front, I need to move house in 2/3 weeks time but I haven't found anywhere yet. I'm moving house in order to help me save money- the place that I'm in right now is in the lap of fucking luxury- fully furnished with high high high quality stuff- everything I need. I've been shelling out a small fortune every month for the past 2 years and have decided that I can find a place at half the price with some basics like air con, sofa, etc. This all means that I need to find cahs for 2 moths deposit, the first month's rent, and the agency fee that I will no doubt have to pay unless I find a place by myself. This could be done, if I didn't also need to leave the country to renew my visa and work permit at around the same time- that will cost a bit too. So, I need to do a bit of juggling to make all that work, I might stay at a friends place for a month to make things financially smother- the problem is, I have a dog and I doubt anyone wants to deal with a pet. We will see.

Leaving the country- As usual, I think I will make the trip to Thailand. The benifits are many. I can get a break from this wasps nest called Taipei, catch some live Thai Boxing- perhaps train, too. I can also head to Bangkok Fight Club, where they have BJJ, Thai boxing, and MMA classes. I'd like to try my hand at mixing things up and doing a buit of MMA. I can also get some new clothes- jeans and t-shirts. It's pretty much impossible for even average sized foreigners to find stuff here. Next, there's the food... then beaches. Ihope I can stay for a while and make a holiday out of it, I don't think a couple of days will cut it. That's it, I'm making it a mental health break, so I can come back fresh.

Actually Getting Shit Done!

2005-08-18T23:47:00.000+08:00

I've been so busy actually getting shit done to come here and write about it. ..I suppose it's a good thing.

I got a new cellphone, paid a load of bills that I would normally leave until the day I am scheduled to have the service disconnected, got a load of food shopping done..and other stuff that I can't think of right now. This simple stuff is all aimed at being prepared for the last week or so of the month- before my next paycheck comes in> to avoid anything like the scooter incident from happening again. I've also been keeping a close eye on what I'm spending. I haven't bought anything expensive on impulse, I've been eating at cheaper places when I eat out- and cooking at home more. I can see that this is all simple stuff but I'm trying to break a lot of fucking bad habits in order to make my life easier.

I saw a movie/documentary recently which has been having an influence on the way I look at my own behaviour. The movie is called 'What The Bleep Do We Know' and is all about quantum physics and its relationship to how we live our lives. It's late now and i've just come back from BJJ class, So I don't want to get into the details, in any case its a bit new age and far out, but it made me think more about the fact that I have a lot more control over my life and how I affect my surroundings than I thought..I want to talk about this but my eyelids are heavy..I will move on.

BJJ is going well, I'm working a lot on my open guard and trying to make it fucking difficult to pass my guard- I've had some success, but havee been more successful in recovering guard after the guy thinks he's got me. I't seems that it's been a while since I submitted anyone but the quality of opponents has been pretty high lately.

I've been in touch with this dude who has a virtual sever with shit loads of space and banwidht, he has offered me a nice deal and I plan to move this site away from old blogger to my own domain. I'm still working out what I actually want to do with it and how I want the whole thing laid out- I'm thinking that I want to keep my blog, but have a lot of other stuff that is not centred upon my excruciatingly boring diary- like a BJJ techniques library perhaps..I'm just brainstorming and will write more as it comes together...

zzZZZzZZZzzzzzZZZ..

Shit Magnet

2005-08-05T15:22:00.000+08:00

Everyone knows someone who everytime you meet them, they always seem to be in the shit in some way. When you meet this person and hear their latest run of bad luck, you probably wonder to yourself, how the fuck they can get into so much trouble- well, It's becasue they are 'Shit Magnets'.

"I AM A SHIT MAGNET!" There! I have said it. And thus, I have taken my first step out of thit filthy pit of misfortune.

I used to think that some people are destined to be unlucky and that there's nothing that they can do about it. But after the 'long march' incident last friday- I have began to see the error of my ways. Everyone has good and bad luck at various times- these are the things that we can't change. But chance does favour the prepared mind. Things like saving money and preparing for things that can go wrong, can absorb the worst part of the bad luck, and help us to take advantage of the good luck- the opportunities that frequently come our way.

I have come to realize that my general patterns of behaviour actually invite misfortune and shun opportunities. The examples are many but you only need to look at last weeks farce to see what I mean

1. Running late for work for no particular reason. I probably just took a gamble and messed around on the net for an extra 10 minutes.

2. Gambling again- I tried to find a parking space near to my office despite knowing full well that it's so very difficult. I could have parked further away and then walked

3. Parking ilegally, right next to the sign which warned of towing in operation.

4. Having no money on me- or anywhere else for that matter. If I had some, I would have been able to take the subway and avoided this mess altogether

5. Not having a mobile phone, so I couldn't call anyone for help.

Under those circumstances, bad luck found me just too irresistable to pass up.

So, I'm taking steps to ensure that this kind of thing never happens again. I have already bought a phone and plan to charge up a subway card for use in emergencies only. I will be anal about parking legally- even if it means being late for work- It's not like I'm late often- but I am often 'running' late. So I will be more conscious about giving myself enough time to get to places.

I'm not sure if anyone reads this now, since I changed the name and address- but if there are readers, I know what you are thinking. "How did this guy make it to the age of 29??" Sometimes I wonder about that, too. I think that must be down to the good luck that comes my way. Any reader of this blog must also be amused that a guy needs a blog to organize the simplest things- It amuses me too; it seems that I have excelled at some things, and I feel I am capable of doing something great and worthwhile (come on, don't laugh)- yet I can't seem to function well at all in terms of mundane, common sense things.

This has got to change.

I need to go and find a new place to live, I want to move out of this expensive apartment at the end of this month- and move into somewhere cheaper...more later.

My Biggest Battle...

2005-08-01T00:41:00.000+08:00

Of all the goals I have set myself, saving money is far and away the most challenging. I used to be very fucken poor, and for a long time I didn't need an excuse for never having any money. But now things should be different, I am making a fair amount each month and this is well over Taiwan's national average without working very hard at all- yet I never seem to have a penny to scratch my arse with. As with my weight issue, my problems are deeply rooted in habit. Being poor in the past has given me an extraordinarily high tolerance for being broke. I also have that burning a hole in my pocket sensation, which compels me to spend it all as soon as I can.

The straw that broke the camel's back came on Friday night. I was running a bit late for work and had to find a place to park my motorbike. This is something that is nigh on impossible in Taipei. In the end I had to risk parking on a red line. Sure enough, I came out of the office a few hours later and my bike had been impounded. Not really a big deal but then I realized that I didn't have enough money to get it back right away- I still don't. I also didn't have enough money either in my pocket, or in the bank to get get home that night. I was too embarrassed to call anyone, so I was forced to walk- If anyone wants to know how long it takes to walk from Taipei main station to the upscale residential community of 'Lotus Hill' ...it takes 3 hours. Am I fucking pathetic or what?

Since then I've been getting by on the shrapnel in my coin jar, and will have to try and make that stretch until friday, when I get paid. One that long, sweaty walk home, I made a pact with myself never to let myself be in this kind of situation again. So I'm going to start being more mature about my attitude towards money. This means budgeting adequately for the month ahead, stopping buying things I don't need such as the ipod thats gathering dust on my desk, and putting money away and leaving it there in case of emergency. I also need to save money for my plan to leave Taiwan.

I need to pay a lot of bills and stuff when I get paid, and it will be another month without much money to play with, but I should have enough to get by if I don't waste anything. I won't be able to save anything- that's for sure. Also, I will move house in early september, which will no doubt cost a bit of money, so I think I will start saving in October. I think I earn enough to be able to put around 750 pounds away each month, providing I change my habits...

More on this later, I need to get some sleep now.

Time To Pull My Finger Out

2005-07-31T15:11:00.000+08:00

6KG In One Month?
I weighed myself today and recorded a weight of 96Kg- No change from last month. I actually started to go up again at one point after not training for a while and eating a lot of shite. So I quickly turned things around again to get back on track.

I really want to hit 90Kg by the end of August. 6 Kilos in about a month is quite a lot, but when I look at how I've lost weight so far, I think it can be done. I've only been doing BJJ and watching my diet a little. I haven't been very strict and I've pussied out of going running for a long time now. I should also be weight training but for a number of reasons, I haven't been able to go- and that's for real- I'm more than willing to admit laziness.

So, now I need to work out exactly how I'm going to get sown to 90Kg. I currently practice Ju-Jitsu on Mondays and Thursdays, so those days are covered. I work all day on saturdays So I won't be able to do anything after that. Tuesdays and Sundays are days off, and Wednesdays and Fridays are pretty easy work days. This all means that I should do some form of exercise on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It might also be a good idea to keep one of these days as a rest day- I'm thinking Wednesadays for now.
It's very convenient for me to take my dog out and go jogging and I should go and do that. However, I know that I won't be able to stick to it 3 times a week becasue I hate running- so I need to think about something else. One of the BJJ guys who I train with, has suggested doing some Judo- sounds like a good option, and it can also improve my BJJ stand up game. I will look into it.

I will start this week by running on Tuesday and Friday along with the BJJ and I will see what I can arrange for Sunday. This should kick start some fat loss.

I've been thinking about my ideal weight. In the beginning I thought that 85 would be just right, but right now I'm thinking that I will still be carrying a fair ammount of fat even at that weight. 85Kg would be a good weight if I had some more muscle tissue-and this could be a longer term goal-but for now I thing that 78Kg would be ideal for my height and musculature. That leaves another 18Kg to go- and that I'm already more than a third of the way there after 5 months of moderate exercise and a diet which could still be vastly improved upon. So it's resonable to say that with an increase in intensity, via running etc, I should be able to do better than that in the next 5 months. With this in mind, I think that I could reach 78Kg by Christmas. It's a lofty goal but I think that the past 5 months have been good preperation for me to step things up a bit.

Stretching
Ever since my karate and kickboxing days, I've wanted to be able to do the splits. I was naturally quite flexible as a kid and I could get pretty close to the spilts after a good warm up or after a tough training session. Nowadays, however, my flexibilty is average at best. This is probably due to inactivity and the lack of stretching activity in Thai- boxing Jiu-Jitsu.

Anyway, I recently came into possesion of a video and book set called Stretching Scientifically by Thomas Kurz. Kurz is an expert in the field and he states that the splits can be achived within 2 months of regular stretching- if it's done right. This book and video have been on the go for about 20 years and no one has said that it's shite, so, I'm going to start following the stretching programme and aim for full flexibility in my legs.

I won't be disappointed if it takes longer than 2 months- in fact I find it hard to believe it can be done, nevertheless, I will just follow the programme and see what happens.

Wanted: New Ankle
The saga of my ankle injury continues as I never fully recovered from it. There is something in there- a piece of cartelage or bone, that has broken off and can move around. I can even grab the peice and move it myself. Although, it doesn't affect my daily functining, it does cause a few problems when exercising. It's unstable when I crouch or go for takedowns in BJJ- so, at some point I'm going to be forced to have corrective surgery that would probably put me out of BJJ for at least a couple of months. This one of the reasons that I haven't had it done yet. The other is that I am still in Taiwan and I don't trust the bungling idiots that pass for doctors here to do a very good job. Unless something happens to make it worse, I'm going to leave it until I leave Taiwan.

Chinese
Living in Taiwan for 3 years has allowed me to pick up Mandarin Chinese. I really did pick it up very easily and have had very little formal instruction. I learn through my daily interactions with people, the television, reading, and a lot of curiosity. Having this ability has opened a few doors for me here in Taiwan and I now work in translation. I think that I would like to continue translating after I leave here and at the moment it's the closest thing I have to a career.

One of my options after leaving Taiwan is to do an MA in translation, and i think it would be a necessary step in order to carve a career out of it. The obstacles are that my bachelors degree is in Psychology, I have no formal Chinese qualifications, and I am terrible at saving money (i.e. the money needed to fund an MA)- so I need to try to get around these problems in some way. The money thing will be covered later, but the qualification thing can be helped by getting a decent HSK result. So, I plan to take the test next may.

The HSK is actually seperated into 3 tests: Basic, Elementary/Intermediate, and Advanced. I've taken a couple of mock tests for the Basic level and stormed them. A high score on the basic test is enough to get a place on an undergraduate programme in science, engineering, agriculture and Western medicine at any university in China. So being called 'basic' is a little deceptive.

I just stole this HSK breakdown from another site:

Proficiency Level: HSK Basic

Certificate Raw Score Range Proficiency Level
Level 1 (100-154) Intermediate
Level 2 (155-209) Intermediate +
Level 3 (210-300) Intermediate ++

Proficiency Level: HSK Elementary Intermediate

Certificate Raw Score Range Proficiency Level
Level 3 (152-188) Intermediate ++
Level 4 (189-225) Advanced
Level 5 (226-262) Advanced
Level 6 (263-299) Advanced +
Level 7 (300-336) Advanced +
Level 8 (337-400) Advanced ++

Proficiency Level: HSK Advanced

Certificate Raw Score Range Proficiency Level
Level 9 (280-339) Advanced ++
Level 10 (340-399) Superior
Level 11 (400-500) Distinguished

So as far as I can be sure, I'm at the intermediate ++ level right now. The chances are that I'm better, but I haven't taken any mock tests at the higher levels yet. I have found a website that has a load of practice tests and I will probably do an elementart/intermediate one later tonight.

Ideally, I should have a pass at the advanced level, but I'm certain that I won't be able to reach that standard at the moment- whether or not it can be done next may is still in the air until I get a good enough idea of my current limits.

This is my longest post ever and I think I should stop now, I doubt anyone has read this far anyway coz its as boring as fuck! This site has always been a place for me to get my head together- not for the entertainment of others- but, as some people actually read this blog-

Shutdown your fucken PC and do something with your Sunday!

Expanding

2005-07-29T16:02:00.000+08:00

So far this blog has been focussing upon my progress in both Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and losing weight. As you can see by my new title, I want to broaden the scope of the blog and dedicate it to all of the things I want to achieve. This way I can set goals and use this blog to keep track of them. I'm going to be experimenting with new templates over the next few days because the basic Blogger format doesn't quite cut the mustard in terms of what I want to do with my blog.

So..what about my goals then? From the top of my head, my current goals are to:

continue to lose weight
continue to get better at BJJ
be able to do the splits with ease
leave taiwan
take the HSK test (the internationally recognised test of Chinese ability)
improve my career prospects
save a bunch of money
have that ankle operation that I need

Of course, with each of these there are secondary goals- such as learning x number of words for the HSK, or saving x ammount of money each month for 6 months, and so on. Over the coming days I'm going to work out how I'm going to go about Getting Sh1t done, and post it on the blog.

After looking at that list, I realized that many of those goals are interconnected. Leaving Taiwan requires some saving up. I can't leave Taiwan if it's not going to improve my career prospects or if I prevents me from practising BJJ. Also, I don't particularly want to have that operation here, so it may have to ait until I leave... Anyway..more on all that later.

I've only been doing BJJ twice a week this month and I haven't done any other exercise at all. All that talk of weight training and running came to nothing. Having said that, my weight is pretty stable- it's not going up at least. I will work on getting more exercise as I'm sure that If I ran a few times a week, the fat would melt off quickly.

Back to BJJ for a minute- I don't feel like I've improved much at all since the tournament, I'm also having a harder time beating people because the newer guys are starting to catch up just like I was a couple of months back. I still get superior position on all of the white belts but it's not so easy to finish- That's not really a bad thing, it just means that I'll have to tighten up my technique and timing a bit. Despite being pretty good among the white belts, it's obvious that I'm no where near blue belt level- especially when I'm on the bottom. When I'm on the bottom its only a matter of seconds before I get choked or cranked. At the moment, the best I can do is pass their guards occasionally. Speaking of which, my guard passing stinks! I've been too focussed upon submission holds since day one and need to pay more atttention to passing.

Anyway, enough for now- got to go out and make some money.

Change: The Only Constant

2005-07-15T11:32:00.000+08:00

There's hardly been any training since the tournament because Andy was getting his shit together to go home. during this time I've let me diet slip badly and I can feel the bad habits coming back.

Andy's departure has brough a few changes. The club has been left in the hands of one of the blue belts, which is fine- I can still learn a lot from this guy. The schedule has changed, too- as has my own work schedule. This means that I can only practise BJJ twice a week. There's nothing I can do about that for at least the next two months, so I'm going to have to do oother stuff to make sure I'm still losing weight, which is still my main goal.

I have had a hard time motivating mnyself to go weight training, but I think I should up the frequency a little bit. I could also run a couple of times a week around my neighbourhood- I hate running though. So basically, I have to dig deep and do some stuff that I don't enjoy for a while in order to keep moving forward.

I continue to give a lot of thought into relocating. I've promised myself that I will leave Taiwan next year- September 2006. I haven't decided where I'm going to go yet, but my decision will be based upon my ability to continue studying BJJ, alongside being able to continue making progress in my career. The ideal option would be to go to the U.S. They have some great clubs like 10th planet, Grappling Unimited (Hawaii), and Kobra-Kai. But it would be very tough for me to find work there as the regulations are pretty tough , especially for Brits. I'm not sure I would be able to find the kind of work I'm looking for anyway. I do wish to go somewhere like that though. I'm fed up of being a foreigner in Asia. I'm looking into other options like Australia and NZ- but the most viable option is to go home to England, despite not really wanting to. In England there are lots of BJJ clubs, work shouldn't really be a problem, and I can get that Masters degree in Translation that I want.

Well, I will keeping mulling that over until I find an answer- I suppose I have over a year to work it all out.

A Cherry Popped

2005-07-08T11:25:00.000+08:00

So last week we had the tournament..

Overall it was a big success. There were teams and competitors from Hong Kong, Thailand, The Philippines, Japan, and even a guy from Guam. The nationalities of the competitors was even more diverse.

I had a shitty start to BJJ competition and got dragged to the floor, sat on, and then choked out with my own jacket in my first match. That guy (trains in a nother city) was the most experienced of the lot of us and went on to win the heavyweight division, which is some consolation for me. It has also given me more encouragement to get out of that division as soon as possible- I just shouldn't be there.
That was the 'gi' competition. The rest of the guys had some success and our club won the team trophy.

The next day came the 'no-gi' competition. I had some reservations about entering becasue I was a bit jaded by yesterday's loss. However, I thought about Andy leaving and the fact that there may not be another tournament in Taiwan for a long, long time- and decided to give it a go. Besides, I felt that not wearing the gi would give me a bit more freedom to move around without someone hanging from my jacket for 5 minutes.

My aim was solely to redeem myself after yesterday's loss, the competition was actually tougher than the day before due to there being no stratification based on belt level...there were blue belts and even a purple belt in our bracket. Also, interstigly enough, a bunch of local 'pro wrestlers' came along to participate. A couple of us were worried about being body slammed and piledrivered by these huge guys, but it transpired that they didn't know anything about the guard- and the only submission that any of them seemed to know was a playground style headlock.

I didn't have the pleasure of rolling with any of those guys and was instead matched against a guy from our club. He was the only guy from our club that I was really concerned about. He's a natural heavyweight and has been there since the club began - he has a bout 4 striped on his white belt too. I've rolled with him in practice and although I don't remember being submitted by him, he usually controlled things from the top and used his weight well. The match started out with me steeping back and seeing what he had in mind- It seemed that without the gi, he wanted to try double-leg takedowns. I stayed on the defensive and sprawled out of two of his shots and when the third came in I instinctively wrapped my left arm around his neck with my forearm over his throat. I've done this a lot in practice but have never been able to finish it, but this time I know that It was deep enough. So I used my other arm to help lever my choke more deeply, went to my back, and the closed my legs around him to prevent escape and apply additional pressure. After about 15 seconds, and an adjusting twist, he started gurgling and tapped out.

Winner by Guillotine Choke

After that, I felt like I'd redeemed myself, even if it was a bit lucky.

The next round had me matched up against the biggest guy in the room. He's aslo a blue belt and had won his gi division the day before. I had hoped to simply last the full 5 minutes and not give away too many points. I puilled guard right away but was unable to break his posture and he had no trouble getting around my legs. I was able to escpape from his mounts and submissions a couple of times and towards the end of the match found myself under a north south position and not knowing what to do. He managed to get my arm and submitted me with a shoulder lock.

He went on to win it all, even defeating the purple belt. So at least I can say that I was beaten by the best.

People were recording the matches all day and I hope to get the videos soon. In fact, I remeber looking into one video camera as I was being choked out- so that footage should be funny.

I don't know when I will be able to compete again, I don't even know if there is a club anymore, but I'm already looking into ways to move somewhere and train at a top school without compromising my career.

I've lost more weight and have set my goal to be well under 90Kg by September.

Weight on 30th June 2005: 96Kg

Finishing Touches

2005-06-28T23:29:00.000+08:00

I will compete in my first submission grappling tournaments this weekend. There is a BJJ gi tournament on Saturday and theres a no-gi event on Sunday. I am focussing primarily on the gi event as thats the way I've been training for the past four months- I will think about the no-gi part on Saturday night.

The past few sessions for me have been about escapes and coping with the pressure of being in unfavorable positions. I know I can apply a few submissions now, so I feel it's time to think about how I will react beyond my comfort zone. I have been allowing people to past my guard, get full mount, and take the back..just to work on getting over the fear of being sort of helpless. It feels like how I imagine drowning would be..especially when being choked- I reckon that if you are drowning and start to panic and flail around, you will only die faster. It's better to be relaxed and to think rationally, even under such pressure. I've had some success with this over the past few sesions, however, I got choked out twice tonight. Tthe first was after deliberately giving the guy my back, the second he got fair and square.

It turns out that the weight brackets for this tournament will be different to the one I went to in the Philippines. I have lost enough weight to make an under 96kg category, however, these tournaments have the heaviest catergory at 201lb and above..thats 90kg, So I'm not going to make that in 3 days- I wouldn't have been able to do it in a month in my condition. It's funny though, I remeber losing crazy ammounts of weight in short periods of time to make weight Kick/Thai-boxing bouts. But that was when I was in good shape, my metabolism was optimal and most of the excess weight was water-not fat. So, I don't need to worry about weight for the rest ofthe week- unless I take being the lightest heavyweight into account.

Due to this being an Asian tournament, with the bulk of its participants being of Asian origins, I suspect there won't be that many heavyweights. But there are at least 4 heavyweights from our club taking part, and the chances are I will have to take on at least one of them. That's no problem for me: it's competition and I won't be holding anything back. I want to push myself beyond my limits, no matter which bodies are put in front of me. I'm not underestimating any of those guys..I've beaten them all in sparring, just as they have beaten me. I expect that group to be pretty tough. A couple of things set me aside from the others, though-None of those guys have trained as hard as I have over the past six weeks- I'm no stranger to competition and know how to prepare myself mentally for this challenge.

I don't understand how I let myself drift away from this (fighting sports)..but It feels great to be back...

Stay Tuned

What Happens Next?

2005-06-24T01:08:00.000+08:00

It looks like my instructor, Andy Wang, will be leaving Taiwan for a while to pursue his own BJJ and MMA career. He says he's 28 and is still young enough to further make his mark in these sports, and I know what he means. ONLY 28- not too old to compete and be successful, however, ALREADY 28- time to get a move on if it's ever going to happen.

The announcement came tonight after practice. He's been hinting at it for a while and knowing his martial arts background before he came to Taiwan, I knew it had to happen sooner or later. I suppose everyone else knew, too...but as the announcement came, there were more than a few heads hung low, and faces that couldn't hide their sadness. The usual childish banter that takes place while we are getting ready to leave was replaced by the kind of silence and moping seen at a funeral.

For me personally there was also a strong sense of dissapointment- for want of a better word- I mean, I've learnt so fucking much over the past 3/4 months, I've lost a lot of weight, I feel better about myself, in every sense of the word, than I have in years. I guess a word better than dissapointment is- loss. I came home tonight, sat down on my sofa and suddenly came to the realisation that the only thing keeping me in Taiwan at the moment is Brazilian Ju-Jitsu. I haven't really gotten personal on the blog before, but my life here prior to starting out with BJJ was starting to fall apart and up until that point the only thing keeping me here was the gradual improvement in terms of my career. Since that time, the work situation has taken a severe turn for the worse and I'm simply not making money anymore. This has been great for my training; I've had tons of free time, and the joy of training has lessened the impact of the shitty job situation. I spend most days looking at the clock and thinking about going to train that evening. With that gone, what will I have left? Sweet fuck all.

Andy was a little vague about how long he will be away, and when he will be back ( I assume he will be off shortly after the tournament-which is next weekend). He may not even be back for more than a quick visit- Hell, he may end up being succesful enough to get a spot on one of the bigger promotions like Pride and the UFC, which makes the chances of his return even less likely. Sure, he's not the kind of guy who would leave us high and dry, and there are a few blue belt guys that can cover when he's away-perhaps I'm overeacting, and he will be back after the competitions he will enter in October, nevertheless. I'm already looking into getting off this island and going to a place where I can get a masters degree in translation while training at a great grappling club. Any suggestions? After all, I recently discovered that over 70 people stop by here every day- a lot more on the day that I post.

I think this is a wake up call for me; From the outset in February, I committed myself to seeing this thing through, It was initially about getting in better shape because I feared for my health and was disgusted each time I was confronted with my image in the miror. But now its very much a hobby. I realise that I need martial arts in my life, I always have and I'm not going to turn my back on it again.

I'm not sure where I'm going to go, I still have strong reservations about returning home to England, despite of the cost of a masters degree being much lower than if I go elsewhere. I just don't feel like I'm one of 'them' anymore- I wouldn't be able to fit in~ I never did. Anyway, I have some time to work it out because It will probably be another year before I can really afford to set up somewhere else.

In spite of this being a selfish, pissy, sob story, I support Andy fully in his decision and I'm not at all dissappointed in him, the stuff I've learnt through him is priceless, and I owe him for that. He has done a great job here, more and more local people are expressing and interest in this progressive martial art in a land that is blinded by tradition and superstion with regards to martial arts (there are still Tai-Chi and Kung-Fu masters who say they can walk through walls and instantly boil water with their finger) . The classes have become huge lately, which adds to the sadness because there is no one here who can fill his boots, and maintain the high numbers. A Chinese guy is needed to win the trust of the locals. Rome wasn't built in a day I suppose, and in the long run Andy's future successes will only benefit the martial arts scene in Taiwan.

I hope to see him smashing fools in the near future.

From Nail To Hammer

2005-06-17T02:04:00.000+08:00

I spent my first 2 months in BJJ being the nail. I was getting tapped out left right and centre by everyone in the club. Since that time, I've improved enough to bring the frequency of me being submitted down considerably. Also some new guys have come along and are currently going through what I went through. I tend to avoid the newer guys just because I want to work with the experienced guys - I've always found that having tough opponents helps to raise one's game; the learning curve is pretty steep and it can be frustrating at times, but there isn't a faster was to make progress.

During the last couple of sessions I made a point of rolling with a couple of the newer guys..and wow! Being the nail for so long has finally paid off! I must have submitted one guy at least 15 times during a 5 minute period. I found I was able to do anything I wanted to him due to my having a better sense of position and him not knowing when he was in danger- man, I was trying stuff I'd seen on intructional videos and getting away with it. Naturally, dominating a guy with a couple of week's training is nothing to brag about- there's no way I'd be able to submit a blue-belt with a triangle choke from the mount, but, the way I see it is that this must be how the average thug on the street will fight on the ground (not accounting for punches and other attacks, of course). So, I certainly have a bit more confidence in my ability to defend myself should the need arise- Not that I'd ever want to put myself in that situation.

I think that every now and again I will roll with the new guys- It's an opportunity to work on techniques that I can't practice with the more experienced guys..it will help the newbies, too, just as it has helped me.

So Far..

2005-06-15T00:06:00.000+08:00

This is a list of the stuff I've been taught over the past 3 and a half months. I haven't, by any stretch of the imagination, come close to mastering all of the techniques in the list- In fact I've already forgotten how to do a number of them; my collar chokes are shite. However, I always make a point of trying as many as I can in sparring.

Submissions

Baseball Choke (Side control)
Chop Choke
Cross Choke (full mount, knee on belly)
Key Lock (full mount)
Armbar (knee on belly)
Spinning Armbar (side control)
Armbar from closed guard
Crosschoke from closed guard
Omoplata from closed guard
Triangle Choke from stack escape
Reverse Guillotine (from back)
Collar Choke (from back)
Arm bar from back
Crosschoke from knee on belly

Positions

Full Mount
Knee On Belly
Puppet Guard
Side Control
Correct posture when sitting inside a closed guard
Stack+guard pass
North-South position
Taking back from North-South
Half guard
Half guard to back

Throws/Sweeps/Takedowns

Large Hip Throw
Ankle Throw
Sweep from Puppet Guard
Greco Roman Twist and Drop (basic+backover)
'Tito' Lift and Twist
Scissor Sweep from the guard
Back Suplex (yes, just like in WWE!)
Single Leg takedown
High Crotch takedown
Double Leg takedown
Double leg with sweep
Elevator sweep

Escapes

Upa-bump n roll
Armbar escape (rolling)
Turtle escape
Stack escape
Half guard escape (pass)
Omoplata escape+reversal
Key -lock escape
Elbow escape (under mount)

Patience Or Laziness?

2005-06-12T20:59:00.000+08:00

I've been pretty pleased with my progress since coming back from the Philippines- I'm regularly and sucessfully applying 3 submissions in particular, namely, armbar from mount, crosschokes, and keylocks. Sure, these are pretty basic but it takes time to be able to do them well on a resisting opponent.

I've also learned to become more comfortable on my back with people pressing their weight down on me. It's purely a psychological thing and most peoples' instinct is to try and buck them off using brute force- This doesn't work and there are a number of escapes from each position that require leverage. However, you need to wait for your opponent to begin to make his move and then look for gaps and mistakes. This requires patience, which I have developed through being comfortable. Another thing that aids this is my innate slothfulness- I am not in a great hurry to exert myself. With the competition coming in 3 weeks, I need to work on this- each match is only 5 minutes long, so if, like today in training, I spend most of that time lazing around on my back and waiting for an opportunity to escape- I'm not going to win anything.

Despite being lazy in that sense, I'm very active when I'm in control. I'm working for the submission all of the time and care little about scoring points (Some guys play for points- points are awarded for getting certain positions, so if a points minded guy is in the lead with a minute or so left on the clock, he will just try to hold the current position until the clock runs out. That's not how I want to play).

With 3 weeks left until the tournament date, I need to work on losing 3 or 4kg in order to be in the 85-95kg category- I dont really want to be in the 96+ category as I would be one of the smallest and weakest there. Also, it's a motive to lose some more weight. If I could hit 95kg, that would ammount to a loss of 12kg in 4 months. I aim to below 90kg by the end of this year, which would put me back to my weight in early 2001- Like turning back the clock!

Shoot'n Brown Lasers

2005-06-01T14:11:00.000+08:00

It's been a while...

I went over to the Philippines with the crew to watch them compete and also to check out Manila for a few days. The tournament was the first Pan-Asia Brazilian Ju-Jitsu tournament and our team took first place after getting a haul of medals. I thought about entering for a while but was glad I didn't in the end. It was bette for me to take a look at what goes on in BJJ competition so I can prepare for it.

Within a day or so of returning I came down with a stomach bug and spent a lot of time shooting brown lasers..I later found out that the bulk of the guys who went on the trip had also come down with something- I suspect it was the slighty suspect food that was on offer in the departure lounge we hung out in on the way home.

Since returning I've stepped up my training a little- meaning that I have been going more often. This is because there will be a tournament here in Taipei early in July. It will take place over two days- one will be with the gi and the other will be 'no-gi'. I plan to enter both tournaments and if possible I will be in the under 95kg category. I've not done a lot of no gi but I'm, certain that I prefer it. I don't enjoy being controlled by someone hanging off my sleeves. mI'm already nervous about it, despite being safe in the knowlege that I won't be punched and kicked- It's really weird~ Then again, I'm sure chess players get nervous before a big game too.

I've had some more progress in the weight loss department this month and am pleased to say that I've broken the 100kg barrier.

Weight on June 31st 2005: 99kg

New Techniques

Achilles lock
Double leg sweep takedown
Half Guard
Halfguard to back

I think the number of new techniques has started to taper off lately, which is a good thing. I want to work towards mastering the stuff that I have already learnt by applying it in sparring.

The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done

2005-05-10T23:20:00.000+08:00

I shit you not! Learning BJJ has so far been the most challenging thing I've ever done- Much more so than any other physical activity I've ever tried. It's also mentally draining/challenging. A typical class involves a mental struggle against giving up and letting the other guy win- When Andy asks if anyone needs a rest, I'm always the first to raise my hand and offer a shitty excuse- like my ankle is giving me 'gyp' (sometimes this part is true), or I'm too tired- the fact is I now have enough gas to work all the way through a class without having to sit out. This way I'm defeating myself and not making the most of the opportunities I have.

I'm going to make a conscious effort to change the way I approach training, especially rolling- I even find myself hoping to be paired with someone smaller or less experienced so I can out- muscle or outsmart them- This isn't helping me at all and today I got bested by a guy who had showed up for the first time and had only seen this stuf on TV. He obviosuly had some wrestling or judo background but I still should have at least managed to hold him off. To make things worse I was thinking as follows: "I hope this little fucker comes to kickboxing class tomorrow night so I can smack him around''.

At 29 years of age, I feel should be way beyond this bullshit-but I'm not sure if I ever will be and I'm not sure if anyone truly leaves their ego at home. Furthermore, there wouldn't be any martial arts competition if people didn't have something to prove.

Speaking of kickboxing, I've really started to shake off the rust and have become very relaxed in my sparring. This is showing in the fact that I'm starting to pull away from the rest of the group, I'm even out-foxing the tall guy who was giving me problems in the beginning. I would like to do a lot more knee and kicking work to add some balance as we are mostly boxing at the moment. Andy does a great job and knows what he is doing but I think that I'll soon be at a point where I will get nothing from the striking classes and will stagnate. This is due largely to the number of new students that come in each week, coupled with the fact that there are very few who regularly attend- This slows progress greatly.

There is nowhere else on this island where I can get quality striking training- the local kickboxing variants called San-da and San-shou are at best sloppy imitations of Muay Thai despite their claims that it's "Chinese Kung-Fu". I often wonder whether any of the thousands of Thai workers in Taiwan are former Muay Thai fighters, There is probably a high likelyhood of there being at least a few, and it would be great to train with Thais again- I'm going to look into it, I have one or two friends in thailand that could help me scour a few 'Thai in Taiwan' forums to see what's what.

I've started to lose weight again, so I hope to be able to break the 100 barrier this month.

Rollin'Rollin'Rollin'

2005-05-03T01:14:00.000+08:00

Had another one of my 'on' days today. Most of the class was taken up with drills and sparring ( in BJJ they call it 'rolling') in order to prepare those who are competing in the 'pines. I've become aware that I'm good at getting out of almost hopeless situations-a bit of an escape artist. My overall awareness of what is going on during sparring has increased considerably and this is allowing me to get into and hold some favourable positions. Applying submissions against a guy who sees it coming and wants to beat you, too, is much more difficult than when we are simply taking turns on each other. I managed to apply a tight crosschoke on one guy and that was it...here I go again!-Expecting to dominate after about two months of training and an unpleasant injury....

I went to see this chiropractor dude today and was subjected to a shit load of tests to see if there was any bone damage or ruptures. After probing around with a tuning fork and various other tests, he concluded that there was no evidence of anything nasty in there and would therefore not need an operation. It appears that the injury is only a stretch or at worst a slight tear in something called a retinaculum, many of which are all over the body and act as 'tape' to hold ligaments and muscles in place...anyway to make a long and fucking boring story even longer- he told me to rest- of course, but also suggest that I tried some stinky Chinese medicinal paste. Now let's make no mistake, I'm a super sceptic, especially of the dubious Chinese stuff that I see every day in Taiwan. But, as he gave it to me for free because I laughed at him- I will give it a go. It requires that I put a fat wad of this reekin' brown paste onto the injury and tape over it- put a sock over that, and leave it overnight before washing it off-for about a week. He even said not to be surprised if all kinds of multi coloured goo is secreted from the skin as it's just the bad stuff coming out. Anyway- despite him claiming that the injury will heal 4 times faster than without the paste, I won't expect too much from it.

Busy Busy

2005-05-01T23:42:00.000+08:00

I've been busy with work lately and haven't gotten around to updating the blog...

This fitness and weight loss drive is a case of swings and roundabouts. One day I'm making progress and feeling great- the next I'm getting mauled and my ankle is giving me shit. I find myself wondering what I'm doing there and tricking myself into thinking that I don't have what it takes to learn Brazilian Ju-Jitsu- I then remind myself that Its not that I don't have the capacity to learn, but that I'm in terrible shape and can't move in the way my mind wants to- Besides, I am a natural striker- When I started out in the kickboxing game, I quickly got a good grip of it and had a style of my own which allowed me to better anyone in the clubs where I trained- no matter if they were bigger and stronger than me. I had my first fight after only four months of training. Even though the grappling is taking me longer to get the hang of, if im totally objective about it, I am quickly catching up with guys who've been training for about 8-10 months. subjectively though, I'm frustrated because I'm not 'owning' as much as I do in striking. This is an ego thing that needs to be checked.

I've learnt a shitload of new stuff over the last two weeks and I'm feeling better than I have in years desipite having lost no weight at all this month (could be becasue I'm eating more to fuel my weight training). My ankle however, may need an operation, I have an appointment with a specialist tomorrow who will decide whether I need the operation or not- even if not, he says I might need a cast on my foot for a month or so to stop me from being stupid and disrupting the healing process (I've aggravated it 3 times in the last couple of weeks).

The club is going over to Manila in The Philipines in a couple of weeks to take part in a tournament. I'm going over too, just for the hell of it- and the cheap flight/5 start hotel deal.

New Techniques

Single Leg takedown
Double Leg takedown
Reverse Guillotine (from back)
Collar Choke (from back)
Arm bar from back
North-South position
Taking back from North-South
Omoplata (shoulder lock from full guard)
Omoplata escape+reversal
Stack grip
Stack escape
Triangle Choke
Stack escape to Triangle

This Months Weight: 103kg

Leaps and Bounds

2005-04-16T02:11:00.000+08:00

Thursday morning's class was great- I got to use a variety of moves on 3 different guys. I seemed to dominate in sparring save for the guy who's been training for about a year. I still made great improvement against him though using reversals and getting a submission.

I've got the gym membership now and I am going to put another page up to document the weight training aspect of my training. I hope to have my first weights workout on Sunday.

New Techniques

Cross Choke from closed guard

Wrestlemania

2005-04-12T02:30:00.000+08:00

One of the great things about this club is that they incorporate Greco-Roman wrestling into the training. Recent years have shown that Wrestling is the missing link between Striking and Groundwork when it comes to MMA.

The bulk of todays class was taken up by escape drills and passing the guard. I also got to do a little sparring. We start from the knees because most of us are beginners, but this is a great opportunity to practice what we learn on an opponent who is resisting your moves and trying to use his own on you. Today I rolled with a guy who has been there since last summer and has gotten quite good. He usually has me tapping out when we roll, and he's the guy who was involved in the ankle incident. Anyway, I just stuck with the guard passing and posture stuff that I've been working on recently- This time I wasn't tapped out once. Thats progress in my book.

After that I rolled with a new guy, I think he'd been a couple of times before but didn't know as much as me. This allowed me to be a bit more adventurous. I dominated for the whole 5 minutes. I made a few choke and armbar attempts from side control, dragged him into my guard and got him with the armbar from the guard that I learned last Thursday. I also got him with a textbook chop-choke. Granted, he didn't know what he was doing so it was easy for me and I kind of felt like a bully, but it's not like he just lay there and let me do it-he made a decent effort to escape. He's just where I was a week or two ago.

I'm still having problems with this bastard ankle. I keep tweaking it and the healing process get put back a week or so. It means that I have a lot less mobility than i would like and that this is stopping me from passing the guard. I'm going to try to find a stronger brace to get some more stability- I'm just using a tubular bandage at the moment.

After the main lesson it was time for some wrestling sparring. Unfortunatley, as I can't really move around on my feet without agrivating my ankle, I had to sit out and watch. They just played a winner stays on thing where the aim was to pin your opponent on his back. Submissions weren't allowed- just pure wrestling. It was great to watch and some of those guys had great technical ability. A couple of them were high school and college wrestlers from the U.S. I wish we could have done some of that shit at my school; England's all about football and Rugby.

I still haven't managed to get the gym sorted out- I need to make time to go down with Andy when he's free.

Today's Techniques

Armbar roll escape
Turtle escape (made up names today..)
Sweep fromt the guard- grabbing the leg and using own legs to get momentum

Morning Glory

2005-04-08T02:40:00.000+08:00

I'm definitely going to try to make more morning classes. They are as good as private lessons.
Today I got another chance to have Andy help me through some basic stuff, And I got to roll with a strong guy, too. I learned how to combine a couple of the basic chokes and armbars that I had learnt in previous classes. I also got to learn how to do that armbar from the guard that I've seen so many people sucessfully use in MMA. To finish up I tried some more of the basic guard passing stuff that I wrote about last time. Although I'm improving, I still couldnt actually pass the guard- The closest I came was getting one leg through before getting swept..

I've just realised that im speaking in 'jargon'. if you don't have a clue what I'm going on about, and you actually want to know, you will need to do a bit of reading up.

New Techniques

Scissor Sweep from Closed Guard to Mount
Crosschoke transition into Armbar from Mount
(combining the above)

Mount escape (I thinks it's called an 'Upa') reversal to Mount
Countering the above by securing the 'grabbing' arm as the opponent goes for a Crosschoke
Following up with an Armbar from the Guard

Before You Run...

2005-04-05T17:12:00.000+08:00

...You need to learn to walk.

I had a frustrating time on Monday as I was getting thrown around and submitted by just about everyone in the class. I realised that although I've learnt a handful of submissions, I'm never going to get a chance to apply them when I don't even know how to get into a favourable position first. In fact I don't even know whaere I'm supposed to grab someone and my opponents are controlling my arms by grabbing my white pyjamas. Andy picked up on my frustration as he saw me sitting on the floor staring into space with a wrinkled frown after class. He suggested that I came back the next morning when there where fewer people so he could give me some pointers.

So today I went in and got the opportunity to have Andy coach me on the 3 basic principles of setting myself up to pass the guard. He noticed immediately that my posture was all wrong and thats why I kept being dragged into unpleasant positions- my partner had some skills and had been training for almost a year so this was an opportunity for him to work with a much heavier oppponent. I think I got a lot from that session that I wouldn't have gotten from the regular class as everyone there already knows the basics.

I will finally be signing up at a gym with good weight training facilites tomorrow night and I have already got a basic routine planned out- I will need to eat a lot more often to support weight training 3 times per week alongside 3/4 BJJ sessions and a couple of striking sessions. I expect the weight losss to acelerate pretty soon and my cardio to improve considerably.

New Techniques

Back Suplex
Aborted Spinning Armbar- Switching To Other Arm (I'm making this name up!)
Single Leg Takedown
Correct Posture from Inside Closed Guard Positon

Progress

2005-04-03T17:38:00.000+08:00

I've been back in training this week after a 2 week rest. I feel that if I avoid sparring I will be able to continue learning without rolling the ankle again. I think I will need another couple of weeks to be back at 100%, so easy does it until then.

Strangely enough, despite only training a few times in march, I've managed to lose a significant ammount of weight. I'm putting all down to the changes in my diet. I said when I started this that the changes would be gradual in order to help me keep at it and to slowly break my bad eating habits...and I can honestly say that its working.
I'm going to introduce a lot more vegetables into my diet in April and make an effort to drink a lot more water as the weather here is about to shift from mild/cold to hot and sweaty.

My weight as taken on the 31st of March:

103Kg

Setbacks...

2005-03-17T13:24:00.000+08:00

I returned to training last night and was fairly confident that if I took it easy, my ankle would be fine. I did take it easy but then was tempted by a little sparring- boxing only. Not only did I get slapped around by a relatively inexperienced (but tall) guy, I also stretched the ankle again while trying to get close to my tall opponent.

No more gambling! I will just have to stay away until the ankle fully recovers-It's hard to accept because I am doing my best to get back into this and setbacks like this at the beggining are bad for morale.

Andy is packing up and moving the club to an as yet undisclosed location. This might take a while so at least I won't be missing much. I'm also going to use this resting period as an opportunity to join a gym and start weight training. There's plenty for me to do with weights that won't affect the ankle. This way I can continue to try and lose some fat by adding muscle.

I've made a couple more dietry changes:- Chocolate is out and sugary drinks have been replaced by water and a peice of fruit. I still need to work on eating breakfast- I sometimes don't even eat until late into the afternoon. The weight training will demand that I eat more often.

When I've signed up and made a training program, a link will appear on the right.

Another link to some great fighting action: http://www.compfused.com/directlink/442/
Ramon Dekker in his heyday.

Inspired

2005-03-11T22:41:00.000+08:00

I couldn't walk at all on Tuesday but I've made a rapid recovery since then. I had an X-ray done and found that there was nothing broken. After inspecting my foot, which looked like an inflated rubber glove, the doc said that I had badly sprained it. He told me to RICE* the injury for 2 days and come back. I limped back down to the hospital yesterday and ended up getting ultrasound treatment. Today I'm walking around normally except I can barely pronate my foot. I could risk training tomorrow morning, but I think I should wait a couple more days to be on the safe side.

I've been working at home all week and took every opportunity to watch some fights. I can get UFC and Pride almost daily on cable, and I have some stuff that I borrowed from a friend named 'Limewire'. After watching awesome submission grapplers like Kazushi Sakuraba and Rumina Sato, I am all fired up to get back onto the mats and develop a ground game.

You can see a nice video showcasing Rumina Sato's talent HERE

*RICE-> Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation

Twist and Shout

2005-03-08T01:56:00.000+08:00

I was having fun tonight until I did something stupid and landed heavily on my ankle, which made a loud crack as it twisted. I've had ankle injuries on numerous occasions as they are the most common sports injury. I can hardly put any weight on it right now, so this will probably put me out of doing anything heavy for a week or two but I still hope to go along and take part, and to keep my mind training oriented. If I stay at home i might become lazy and put off going back.

On a positive note, I got to do a little greco roman wrestling tonight- great for takedowns!

New Techniques

Puppet Guard
2 Sweep variations from the Puppet guard
Greco Roman stuff that I've added to the list in the link over on the right....

Resting Up

2005-03-06T17:11:00.000+08:00

After training 5 days out of 7, my body was aching all over on Friday morning. It was worse on Saturday, so I decided to rest up for a couple of days. I feel much better now, I can even walk down stairs without one of my legs giving way. Getting enough rest is important, but that doesn't mean I haven't been wanting to get back onto the mats.
Next Session: Monday night

Here's a cool clip of some BJJ guys in Denmark rolling around. This should give someone who knows nothing about Brazlian Jiu-Jitsu, a vague idea about what we do. Remember that this is only the grappling and submissions aspect of mixed martial arts.

Also, this is how we don't train

Supermarket Sweep

2005-03-04T16:35:00.000+08:00

No training today, but, it's payday. That means I can go and do some serious food shopping.

Although I'm going to be working out regularly, I won't be able to get the most out of it unless I completely reform my eating habits. This time though, I have my head screwed on right. I know through trial and error that changing everything overnight isn't going to work; I will quit within a fortnight. Putting on 30Kg took quite a long time, and over that time I developed some nasty habits including: eating huge meals late at night; eating only once or twice a day; drinking lots of sugary drinks (this started when i move to Asia- getting hold of this stuff is far too easy compared to The Uk); skipping breakfast; being too lazy to cook unless it can be thrown into a frying pan and cooked with in 5 minutes- vegetables are too troublesome with all that washing and chopping; eating chocolate just because I'm bored.... You get the picture. So, I'm going to stagger it over a couple of months or more- as long as it takes.

I now need to make some kind of list before going into the store, one that I must stick to. Otherwise I will just buy a lot of shite. I'm coming up with ideas as I type here and I'm thinking that I should at least commit to making at least one balanced meal at home per day (one that includes a good helping of veg). I am within comfortable reach of a subway most weekdays so I could go there for lunch, but not get the footlong as I usually do. As I said earlier, small changes, step-by-step, and I will get there eventually.

If anyone is actually reading this and has a few tips to improve eating habits, by all means let me know.

One other thing, I found myself back in 'white pyjamas' yesterday, the first time since I quit Karate at 16. I never thought that I would wear them again as I had turned my back on all those useless blocks, and all that pomp and ceremony. In this case, I feel that the 'Gi' as it is called, is very functional for BJJ. The bowing and scraping has been replaced by handshakes; the respect for the coach and other practitioners remains.

Not A Morning Person

2005-03-03T13:13:00.000+08:00

Today's class started at 10 am- just 12 hours after finishing a striking class last night. It was really hard for me to get out of bed at 8, feed and walk my dog, and all that stuff, before driving for an hour to the gym. I almost quit and went back to bed.
Due to the class being so early, and most people with real jobs being at work. There were only two students: Myself and another guy of similar build and a lot more experience. I have already forgotten his name as I usually have to ask three times before finally getting it. This was great for me becasue Andy was there to spend a lot of time working through each action and spotting mistakes. It was also great becasue we got quite a lot done. I've made improvements since last time in executing arm bars, and that is enough for me. I also learned the correct side control position and how hard it is to escape from it. I got nailed again in sparring but at least I got a few tips from Andy about getting out of the full guard and holding correct posture while doing so. I am thinking about training again tomorrow, but i might wait until saturday morning- 4 days on the trot is a bit much for me at this stage.

Today's Techniques

Side Control Position
Baseball Choke
Another Choke (Chop Choke?? I will have to get the name of that from Andy and come back and edit)
Spinning Arm Bar From Side Control

Reality Check

2005-02-28T15:40:00.000+08:00

I was right about the beginners luck; Today I went to school!

The session started out with a review of the same two throws that we did last time. This time, however, I just couldn't get them right. My footwork was terrible. I was partnered off with an 80kg+ girl who is a member of the National Taiwan University's Judo team, so she was kind enough to point out where I was going wrong. It was a little naive of me to think I had gotten these moves down after just one session as they are not as simple as throwing a punch. Anyhow, it takes time- I will get it.
Afterwards, I learnt a new position and how to apply the cross choke from that position. Next, I got to have my first crack at an arm bar, which is one of the most frequently used and effective submission techniques. I understand the principles but I definitely need more work on this one so as to apply it in a smooth and coordinated fashion.
Finally, we sparred. Like the other day, I was fortunate enough to be able to work with three experienced guys and given the choice I would have it no other way. I got tortured! I had to tap left right and centre- mostly to arm bars from the full guard position, meaning that my opponents legs were wrapped around my waist like whore who loves her work. From here, knowing that it's pretty hard to escape, they just took my right arm (or did i give it to them?) and pulled it until it locked out and I had no choice but to tap. I learnt that I need to be more careful about where my right arm is. Training with people who have so more more experience than you is tough. The learning curve is very steep. However, there's no better way to learn as every mistake you make is exploited, and If you don't want to go home every day in pain- you'd better learn from these mistakes. The next BJJ session will be on Thurdsay morning. Between now and then I will be back in familiar territory when I take the striking class, which largely consists of Thai/Kick boxing.

Today's Techniques

Knee On Belly Position
Cross Choke from Knee On Belly
Arm Bar from Knee On Belly

This month's weight

On the last day of each month, I will weigh myself and put the results up on the blog. As today is the 28th of February, I weighed in at a whopping:

107Kg

A Good Start

2005-02-27T07:50:00.000+08:00

woo hoo!

I had my first taste of Brazilian Ju-Jitsu this morning and I have to say I just loved it. I learned an awful lot in just an hour and a half. I got to learn a couple of basic judo throws, how to properly 'mount' an opponent (oo-er!), and two very nice submissions. I also got to roll around with a couple of the blue-belts who were there to help Andy with instruction. I managed to get side position on both of them and even successfully fended of numerous arm bar attempts. I even got to use headlock escape that I saw on a Bas Rutten training video. I was knackered by the end but felt great. Experience, however, tells me that this was just beginners luck.

Today's Techniques
Large Hip Throw
Ankle Throw
Full Mount
Cross Choke
Key Lock

When I Have time i hope to find a way of displaying all the techniques i have learnt together on one page in categories such as positions, submissions, escapes, and so on. Training continues on Monday 28th of February.

Another Beginning

2005-02-26T15:55:00.000+08:00

My name is David, and I’m a fat has-been. Here goes the first entry on my first ever blog.

Ages ago...

I used to compete at the top level in kickboxing (at the top level in Europe anyway). I've fought and beaten some of the best fighters of the time and had 23 full contact fights. One or two of those guys are still up there to this day. I later made the switch to Muay-Thai (that's Thai boxing for those who don't know) after admiring it for some time. I was also beginning to feel like what I was doing was a bit 'light' in comparison. After a long period of adjustment I began competing and had a fair amount of success before giving it up at 24 years of age due to an accumulation of distractions such as girlfriends, university, and travel.

Four years later...

I've put on over 30 kilos and have done nothing in the way of exercise other than a brief stint at a Muay-Thai camp in the summer of 2002. That was cut short when I caught dengue fever while on a visa run to Laos.
I currently live in Taipei, Taiwan working in Chinese to English translation; I also do some editing for a local publishing company. Last summer, I learned that there was a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (hereafter referred to as BJJ) club opening in Taipei and the chief instructor is a guy named Andy Wang, who has a fair amount of experience in mixed martial arts (MMA). Andy, who was raised in the US and is of Taiwanese descent, seized the opportunity to come to Taiwan and help with the BJJ school, and from what I’ve read about him, wishes to play a significant part in establishing mixed martial arts in Taiwan.
Anyway, due to work commitments and having developed habitual laziness over my years of inactivity, I have been unable to participate until now. However, my work situation has become a lot more flexible over the last couple of months. This, when added to my watching a lot of mixed martial arts shows on video recently, has fuelled a strong desire to give it a go. At 28, it’s probably too late for me to aim at reaching the highest levels of the sport - as I always did in the past. Therefore, I don’t wish to compete as I don’t see the point if I’m not going to go all the way. I simply don’t do things by halves. I am doing this because I want to lose all the flab I’ve amassed over the years. I have tried running, weight training, and absurd diets, and failed miserably. I’ve come to the conclusion that- I just love to fight. Not street fighting, though I’ve had a bit of that- coming from the northeast of England, but fighting as a sport. Therefore, I believe that this is the only way for be to get in shape; I don’t really think about it as exercising as I did while plodding away on the treadmill. I think of it as tremendous fun.
There is another reason for taking up BJJ/MMA: balance. I’ve always felt pretty safe and confident that I can take care of myself should the need arise. In fact I have had to on numerous occasions. However, I think I was very lucky. Many people say that (insert number close to 100 here) percent of fights go to the ground. I was lucky because most of mine didn’t. Having seen what systems like BJJ can do on the ground, I no longer feel safe. Lots of people are learning this kind of stuff now and not all of them are gentlemen like me ;) – so, if I want to have that sense of security again, I need to become ‘the complete fighter’. I have a head start in that (when I am in shape) I can already fight well on my feet. So I’m really going to go all out on the ground stuff and wrestling before learning how to put it all together.

The Blog...

This blog will serve as my training diary, documenting my progress with regards to my weight, new stuff I’m learning, and areas for improvement. I may also add other anecdotes as I go. My first session will be tommorrow.

Feel free to leave any comments. I've got thick skin.