2015/09/16: Footwork, Awareness, Riding the Storm

I don't think I've ever talked about this, but I have a somewhat-plan for my Jiu-Jitsu journey. The plan was that I would focus most of my efforts on defending for the entirety of blue belt, then focus most of my effort on escapes for the entirety of purple belt, spend brown belt on reversals/control, and spend black belt on submissions. This will guarantee that I will be safe while I'm experimenting with whatever it is that I'm doing.

Developing my game so asymmetrically has actually been very interesting; though control feels a bit natural to me, I tend to lose my position when I do something stupid, but laying my body weight honestly is not that hard LOL. Anyway...

So today I let a brown belt knee-on-belly me, and he was one of the go-hard-or-go-home dudes; he was all over the place, moving really quickly, barely giving me a moment to blink. But I think he only caught me like twice. Because while he was doing all of his fancy knee-on-belly spins, I had my elbows pinched tight to my body, knowing that so long as he did not separate my elbows from my body, he could not submit me. (Unless he did a collar choke, but he can't collar choke me when his hands are posted for base so he could do his fancy spin moves) So I just waited, and waited, recovered half guard a couple times but I have no idea what to do from there so I eventually lost it...

But that was a victory for me. Being submitted less and less is good. He showed me his cool armlock where he used his knee to subtly wedge my elbow away from my body, but I was so focused on the storm going on above my head that I did not notice. Asking people how you got caught is one of the most important things you can do in my opinion.

Also I went with the other brown belt, Greg, and that was fun; I need to find a way to not get my hand trapped under me after the run from one side mount through North-South to side mount on the other side though. And I need to not try to roll them off when they go for Ezekiels. Aside from that, I survived, which was what I wanted.

All of it is just awareness. If you are aware of the possible dangers (which comes from learning the moves and what is necessary), then you know what you are in danger of and what you are not. So long as you recognize what the key elements are, no matter how crazy the picture looks, so long as the key elements aren't there, you are safe. A gangbanger can flail his arms wildly at you, but so long as you are out of range and keep it that way, you are 100% safe.

On a different note, I've been studying standup lately, and it seems to me like it is just war of footwork. Will elaborate more later.