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!