Pilates (8-9a)

Pilates at the Y. Today was my first attempt. Made it through most of the hour without cramping, but the last 15 mins were a real challenge. BTW, I sweat quite a bit. It is a workout. Just not of the cardio type. I was the only guy in a class with ~20 women (all ages, but most of them were fairly fit). Hey, it kicked my butt and the balance/core exercises can't hurt the jiu jitsu! Too bad it's only one day per week. Might have to explore other options when I return to San Diego.

Pain

My body aches...seriously. Every joint. Neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, knees, toes, lower back...even my ribs feel sore. I went swimming this afternoon and had sharp elbow pain every stroke. My left ear is terrible. Cartilage pops with little pressure and I can't lay that side of my head on a pillow. Odd...today was my 3rd day off after 4 consecutive training days. Why do I hurt so bad now? I'm 34...but feel like 60.

10:50 to 11:05a

I'm in San Diego and thought I'd try to make a session or two at GB San Diego. Unfortunately I have conflicts with every session while I'm here except for this morning's. I showed up 10 mins early and the gym was dark. Waited 15 minutes and still no one showed. Oh well. Went home and stretched.

5:15-7:00p

5:15-5:30p: Brief stretches and light roll with one of the instructors (brown belt). His ability to create space and escape side control blows my mind. I must have 50lbs on him. He has zero problem creating all the space he needs to escape. Can't wait to have skills like that.

5:30-5:45p: Warm-up/standard drills. Could only complete 65% of push-ups from knees and 50% or so of core exercises (significant back cramping).

5:45-5:55p: Instructor taught the class the side control escape he used on me prior to class. Worked the escape with a partner a few times.

5:55-6:10p: Pass the guard. Don't think I had a successful pass. Gave a couple guys a hard time from bottom, but they eventually passed. Last pass attempt was with the Professor. He let me work a bit, but eventually swept me.

6:10-6:30p: Technique. Worked a couple different triangle escapes. Then armbar escapes. Good for the bag-o-tricks. Hopefully I can remember them.

6:30-7p: Rolls. First roll with a familiar white belt. Roughly my size. A bit more experience. I was in his guard and he trapped an arm. Almost had the kimura, but not quite. After a minute or so of thinking of a way to escape, the only thing I could come up with was a roll out that gave him side control. Ended up escaping that back to guard. Swept him to mount and then he immediately reversed (umpa) back to my guard. Time ran out.

Second roll was with a four-stripe white belt I hadn't met before. Apparently he works out in the mornings. He's tall (6'2" or 6'3") and really strong. Biceps twice my size. We had a good roll. I almost had a couple gi chokes. I thought I was close with one gi choke, but I left and arm exposed and he managed to arm bar when I least expected it. He also caught me with two gi chokes. Basically took my gi off and wrapped it around my neck.

Third roll was with the white belt I submitted 5 times in 2 rolls last week. I have at least 80lbs on him. Tried not to use my weight. He started in my guard. He spent most of the roll trying to pass guard. I started a number of armbar, triangle, kimura submission attempts, but backed off. Also had a couple sweeps, but didn't push through. All because had I pulled them off it would be mostly because of my size/strength advantage and not necessarily because he was making too many mistakes. He had a couple good sweep attempts that would have worked had I been anywhere near his weight class. I could feel he had the right position/angle, but I was simply too heavy. Ended up trying to pass a half butterfly guard. He defended well and almost had me in an omoplata, but didn't have the angle to finish. We worked on the finish after time ran out.

5:30-8:30p

5:30-5:50p: Stretches. Watched MMA practice. This guy took bottom for multiple rounds with rested partners rotating in to simulate striking from top while he worked escapes. Crazy endurance.

5:50-6p: Light roll with a blue belt. I rolled with him my first bjj class. He kept telling me to relax and not use so much muscle. Said the same thing a few times since that first day, but not lately. He likes unconventional starting positions (both on knees, one stand up one down with open guard, etc.). Interesting but uneventful warm-up roll.

6-7p: Self defense course. First time taking this class. Worked on wrist grab defense, close quarters posture and punch/knee/head butt defense. Also worked open guard pass with punch/head kick defense. Finished class with shrimping technique/drills. Mostly gals in the class. One guy was there, but not the white belt who usually takes the class and catches me in odd submissions (chokes and ankle locks). I have to admit I felt a bit uncomfortable working with the women. The self defense class gals aren't like the couple women who roll with us in the sports jiu-jitsu class. I have no problem being aggressive with those girls. I don't know how to describe it. I'll have to get over it if I want to keep taking the self defense class. As I said. Mostly women.

7-7:15p: Warm-up/standard drills. Did 100% of the pushups from knees. Might try "real" push-ups tomorrow. Back still cramping from core exercises. Figure I made 75% or so of the reps with sporadic cramping.

7:15-7:30p: Pass the guard. Gassed myself while a blue belt attempted to pass. He eventually passed. Nothing else to write home about.

7:30-7:45p: Half guard escape technique. Worked a few different types.

7:45-8p: Sweep/escape drills. Underhook sweep from guard to mount then mount escape to guard to underhook sweep from guard to mount - repeat... Good stuff.

8-8:30p: Rolls. No need for a blow-by-blow. Basically sloppy work on my part. Armbarred and choked too many times. Game was far too loose. Need to return to survival basics.

Ears

My ears are very sore. Have been for a week now. Especially the right ear. Want to get me tap? Just twist my ear slightly. I'll tap. Fo sure. It doesn't look swollen and I don't feel any fluid. I'm told those are the warning signs and that I'll need to drain any fluid. One of the guys has headgear, but he only wears it during a flare up. Some say ice works. Speaking of ice. I'll try that now.

5:15p to 7:00p

5:15-5:30p: Extra stretching. Did 3 pull-ups! Don't think I've done more than 2 since high school.

5:30-5:50p: Warm-up/standard drills. Managed 75% of core exercises. Cramping. Completed 100% of push-ups from knees. Progress?

5:50-6:10p: Pass the guard. Did ok. Guard defense getting better, although after a couple minutes of frustrated pass attempts to pass my guard, a very experienced blue belt managed to choke me out while still in my guard. I should have broke my guard and defended the choke. Thought about that a bit too late. Next time.

6:10-6:30p: Technique/drills. Stand-up pull into guard. Then worked a kimura option from guard. Finished with a sweep option if opponent employs predictable kimura defense. Drilled all three combined. Learned something new. Simple enough that I don't *think* I'll forget this one!

6:30-7p: Rolls. First roll was with a fellow white belt of my approximate weight/size. I've rolled with him many many times. I recall rolling to a draw, but then again, he might have caught me in a choke. Second roll with same white belt I wrote about last week (5 submissions in 2 rolls). He felt a lot stronger and more confident than last week, but I didn't go for any submissions. Made him work though. Third roll was with an older white belt. Never rolled with him before. Tried a few interesting things from mount, all unsuccessful...especially the gogoplata (he reversed to side control). Good news is I'm definitely flexible enough to pull it off...some day. Last roll was with the new blue belt I rolled with last week (got his back). This time he choked me out a couple times and forced me to survive the entire roll. Need to defend the neck...big time.