2021/07/09 - I Miss Jiu-Jitsu, What I've Been Up To, Conceptual Learning

 Man, I really miss Jiu-Jitsu. I haven't trained in quite a while - in September 2018 I left my LA life behind to attend UC Davis for my Ph.D in math. I always told myself I would go back to Jiu-Jitsu eventually, but I couldn't really find a school that I liked, or one that was affordable. I trained with someone at school for a little bit, but that didn't last very long. So essentially, I haven't really trained since September 2018. We're almost at 3 years of no training.

Yet my body seems to remember everything like it was yesterday - and I've been becoming really unhealthy physically, so I really want to get back to training and feeling good physically again. I've been watching some videos here and there and it's really making me miss Jiu-Jitsu. So when I go back to Davis in a few days, I think I'm going to start training - at least, after I'm done moving.

So Rener and Ryron released this thing on their "32 Principles" of Jiu-Jitsu recently - which I thought was kind of funny because I've always believed that this is the way martial arts should be taught, and it's finally nice to see them catching along. I've also been watching a lot of Priit Mikhelson and Chris Paines, and this really validates a lot of the concerns I had about how Jiu-Jitsu was taught. I never got caught in that trap because I always took my own education into my own hands, but yeah...

Ever since I read "The Book of Martial Power," as well as Marc MacYoung/Rory Miller's books, the general consensus was that learning an abundance of techniques wasn't useful - unless there's progressive resistance. I'm really good at Twister-style attacks because I drilled them on Chris with progressive resistance until I was good enough, and then was able to apply it on everyone. 

For other things, like sweeps, I troubleshooted the mechanics of it myself, and then adjusted to really make it work. I'm still at the phase where now I know why I can't get a sweep, but still trying to change things to make it work. 

Priit is changing how I look at escapes and defense - he's right. A lot of those positions are mechanically advantageous for one side. So it's stupid to try to expect that I would get out of it. The gist is that an escape goes from really bad position to out in one move - but often it's not like that. So there's like a super safe posture that he tries to escape from, and then a lot of it is prevention, as well as fighting for that posture. 

I really like this idea - a lot of this defense stuff is great, and much more manageable. Priit's methodology is very in line with how I personally learn, and how I feel people learn. So when I go back to train, this will be what I focus on mainly. 

What Chris Paines did is incredible as well - he took everything in Jiu-Jitsu and just simplified it to a few things - don't let them get the space between your elbows and knees/behind your knees. That's literally it. Everything else is that. That makes it so easy to work with. Or like chokes = preventing you from turning. Well, they need the space between your elbows/knees to do that. So you should have a defensive posture that protects that - just like you do in boxing. 

In terms of principles, this has always been what has helped my game the most. I used to go into a roll session with a specific thing or concept that I would work on - for instance, using my weight in passing, or focusing on full body motion, focusing on bone structure, focusing on good angles, focusing on applying force at the end of the lever, on not going for things where they're not primed for it, etc. I think I should make a list and really focus on each one of them. 

I will do this at some point - right now I need to work.

2017/08/15: Coming Back, Full Circle

It's been a while since I've written on this thing - I haven't really been paying attention to martial arts/self defense as much the past year, since I had a job, and I had to prioritize math and music. But recently, I quit my job, and can actually train and put a little bit more effort into Jiu-Jitsu. I also picked up chess, and seeing the parallels between the two arts is very interesting.

I also got my second stripe the other day, that was nice. I'm having a lot of fun training right now.

Anyway, for the longest time, I'd been working on submission defense only - letting people catch me in them, and then working on how to defend it. I think I do a pretty good job, and while I could always get better at it (there are some people that still get me pretty consistently), I think at this point in my game it's safe to say I can progress to the next phase of my plan - practice escapes.

I'd been working on a flowchart of how to get out of side control, including escapes for literally every hand position, and how to abuse every single tiny movement (my escape system is based on waiting, and taking advantage of their motion, as opposed to forcing stuff...though I do have options if I really need to) that my opponent makes. I'd been trying it all last week though, and I couldn't get any of the moves to work. Some of the moves were really hard as well when I was practicing with my buddy Chris.

I decided to spent a bit of time thinking about the mechanics of the moves (like I did with stand up stuff, and other Jiu-Jitsu moves), and I realized that all it was was performing the hip motions and shoulder motions correctly. The funny part was, I thought I had been doing it right. But then I realized - wait a minute, something doesn't feel right. Since I had worked on this concept two years ago, I thought I had it already...and found that it had mysteriously disappeared.

It was like magic; all of my escapes started working again. Or at least, what was supposed to significantly affect the opponent began affecting them...even if they knew the counter.

So I suppose if something is not maintained, it will be lost...so I guess the plan going forward is to always focus on the hips, and then work on other things as needed. So perhaps we can do something like we do in StarCraft, and make a mental list of things that I just keep running through...

1. Correct full body motion (motion at the hips or shoulders - moving from the center)
2. BREATHING
3. Relax! 
4. Listen
5. And finally, as Ryron would say, keep it playful.

To a summer (and year...and life I guess) of healthy and productive training!

2016/05/24: Just There to Have Fun

The skill will come. It most certainly will.

It's not something that you can go out and 100% obtain. If that were the case, everyone would be amazing. I think skill is two things:

1. Being receptive enough to obtain it
2. Being dedicated enough to let it sink it

It's there, all around you. You just have to be open and give it time.

Just show up, go there and have fun. You feel better after it anyway!

It's just like they said. All you have to do is show up.

2016/04/27: Return to Training

I actually returned a week ago in the morning, but I'm going to talk about it here.

It feels so good to get back on the mat, to sweat, to push my body again, but I've had to take it easy because I found out I had Spina Bifida Occulta. Not too big of a deal for now but I need to be careful.

I'm a lot calmer than I was before, probably due to my injury haha. Everyone's gotten so good! I'm so behind now! Back on the grind.

Notes: During the half guard backstep series, whoever owns the inside leg wins the sweep battle. You want your leg to be under theirs.

2016/02/20: Injury...Severe Injury

So a couple of weeks ago we were practicing Overhead Sweeps...and I had been stress binging on food like CRAZY, having super bad posture, and eating terribly...so I ended up being super bloated, and doing overhead sweeps while super bloated...and then rolling on top of that...

So I got home and my back hurt like crazy, and parts of my body randomly started going numb and I was in a LOT of pain. I started freaking out; I couldn't sleep that night since parts of my body kept going numb. So I was really scared.

I ended up seeing a bunch of doctors and stuff, and having a VERY painful time, in all respects. But then eventually it started getting better. I saw my chiropractor...and I'm on the road to recovery. But it was quite scary.

So I'm taking a few weeks off of life, off of Jiu-Jitsu, and when I come back, hopefully I'll have some new ideas?

2015/12/18: Awareness, Interaction, "Don't Look for It"

So I've been in a bit of a slump recently. But recently I've been trying to think of ways to change my mindset, and today I tried some new things...and they worked surprisingly well!

I remember I wrote an article on Facebook once upon a time about competitive activities (found at https://www.facebook.com/notes/ray-chou/my-thoughts-on-competitive-activities/10152925793451666) and I concluded that awareness was a key element of competitive activities; without awareness, one fails. Every problem that one can conceive of, at the end of the day, is traced back to awareness. Especially reading things like the Art of War and things of that nature...know yourself, but not your enemy, for every battle won you will suffer a loss. Know yourself and your enemy, a hundred battles, a hundred victories.

I found that particularly interesting because I somehow forgot about this concept in my Jiu-Jitsu. Sometimes, there will be people that do moves to me, and I will have no idea how they did it, but I am so caught up, so invested in the moment, that I don't even realize that such a thing occurred. That...or most people do moves that are very obvious. But today I tried focusing on sole awareness.

It was incredible how easy everything became all of a sudden. Because I was so aware of my opponent's weight distribution in my guard, it was so easy to mess with it (just add a little more to whatever they're doing at the time). It was also cool how I seemed to "sense" their moves before it happened.

I even overhead swept a guy because I sensed him about to commit his weight forward.

I also got to roll with Alex, the instructor that I'd say I'm closest with, since I interact with him the most. Watching him roll is quite interesting, and quite enlightening, but rolling with him was a truly eye-opening experience in itself. I went into it with the mindset that I would be as aware as possible, only paying attention to the motions of my opponents (will come back to), and it was so cool watching the subtle little motions he was doing to constantly keep me off balance. His motions were so subtle, but all done at the perfect time, and at one point I even got overhead swept myself haha. I learned a lot though. He really sharpened my defense in his closed guard; the hand-fighting was really fun, but I stayed calm, and just watched what he was doing to me, and didn't try particularly hard to do anything. (will come to back to as well) When I asked him for advice, he told me to keep doing what I was doing. So I guess focusing on awareness is effective.

Also, I think one thing that's been holding me back is that I was always focusing on what I was doing. What am I doing? I want to go for this overhead sweep/butterfly sweep/escape/whatever move that I want to do. However, that's not how it works. Jiu-Jitsu is a live interaction between two grown human beings, and it must be treated as such; it's a conversation, a dance, and there is no sense in me being able to impose my will on the opponent. I must listen to my opponent (think Bruce Lee! All of the maxims apply on the ground as well), and I must become one with him. Forget about whatever ambitions I have, I simply must become one with the moment, and trust my training. After all, that is what technique drilling is for. If you try to force something, it will never work... (See the Art of Dying)

Finally, I think it's the fact that I am going for moves that is making the moves not work. Alex said that to me today, and I find that it aligns so much with the other things that I believe in. What's so crazy though is that I didn't apply it in this particular way, which troubles me because once again, it's another blind spot that I couldn't see. Don't try to make the moves work, let the moves come to you. Literally, don't actually try to go for anything. Your body will do it itself. You must trust that your body can recognize the indicators, and your mind either must be in an empty state, or, if one is not advanced enough, one must be focused on almost solely the opponent. But that is so interesting; not trying to even go for a move, and just letting it happen. Surprise yourself. Later on, you'll create gameplans where you try to mess with your opponent's motions, but if the bodily reflex of moving when one's conscious/unconscious mind senses an opportunity must be ingrained to reflex level.

So, for the next month, I will be aware, use my awareness to respond to my opponent, and I won't actually try to go for anything.

2015/12/08: Percentages, Rate Calculation

I decided to take a break from Jiu-Jitsu today. I'm tired of always being disappointed in myself, so I thought today could be a good break to just play piano...[and not get punched in the face XD]. So of course, I did a lot of thinking. Like I always do.

I've decided I'm going to actually break down every motion, or at least the ones that are currently relevant to me, identify the lever systems in place, and figure out how I need to position my limbs and such so that I exert the maximum force possible. That will be my mission over the break that I get from Jiu-Jitsu, and I will post significant findings here.

Anyway, I've been thinking. And I realized something - the reason I'm so disappointed in myself is that I can't get my moves to work a majority of the time. But there's one -well...a few- problems with that.

1. I have not drilled the moves to muscle memory so they are not 100% in terms of execution
2. I am fighting against an opponent who is somewhat equal in skill
3. There are inherent percentages of the moves themselves based on the inherent advantages/disadvantages of the positions
4. Timing advantage, speed advantage, inherent physical traits [strength] advantage

So suppose I am doing an elbow escape that I have only 65% mastered. Elbow escapes are about 80% success, say. with the proper setup, and we will assume that I have the proper setup. Here, a success will be defined as no longer in the mount. [They might jump to knee on belly, but that forces movement] I will assume my opponent is equal in skill with me, but I only have 75% of his strength. I have a speed advantage of 110%, and a timing advantage of 110%. So let's do some calculations.

Expected Percentage = Execution% * (Your skill/( Their Skill + Your Skill)) * Inherent Advantage/Disadvantage * Inherent strengths

So for this elbow escape, Expected Percentage = 0.65*0.50*0.80*0.75*1.10*1.10 = 0.23595.

Holy shit. That number is way lower than I expected. So I should expect my elbow escapes to work about a fourth of the time [for now]. Any higher means I'm improving! Moral of the story? Stop being so disappointed in yourself. Right now, a 25% success rate means average, and later on, that number will go up, whether because your relative skill is increasing depending on your opponent, or otherwise.

Calm down.

Also, I'm waiting for my first stripe (mainly because I want access to the stripe 2 material on Gracie University), but I haven't gotten it yet for some reason, despite numerous other people who tested for their blue belt after me getting it. So I sense something is wrong. Was it due to my lackluster attendance in the first months of the year? The fact that I twistered a bunch of people? Or do rubber guard stuff/other super sporty/unorthodox stuff sometimes? I have no idea. I think I'm keeping it playful and I'm definitely putting survival first, but the scary part is that one's blindspots...are blind to oneself. So I'll just keep going and I hope I get my stripe soon haha. I want to learn those moves grrrrrrr