The Good News: I Haven’t Been Kicked in the Head. Yet.

Posted on 18. May, 2008 by Jeremy in Press On, Sharpening, Writing

The second day of MMA training went much better. I’m not nearly as sore as I was after the first day, and since I knew what to expect I didn’t have the tension that wore me out so quickly last time.

After warming up with jogging, air squats, leg lifts, jumping rope, and shoots & sprawls, we started with some boxing combinations. Jabs (1), crosses (2), and lead hooks (3) with footwork, doing combos of 1-1-2-3-2 ( so jab, jab, cross, hook, cross). It can get pretty tiring, especially in the shoulders, to keep my hands up while punching then holding the mitts up for my partner to throw his punches. There was a lot of “shaking it out.”

I got some great pointers on keeping my punches solid and smooth without flailing around and getting off balance. Form and technique first, then speed. Power comes later.

We did three rounds of 6-minute sparring sessions with 2 minutes rest in between. The stand-up was a lot of fun and increased my respect for fighters who stand in the pocket. It’s unsettling to be within range of punches, kicks, knees and elbows, even at half speed.

When it went to the ground I managed to get an Americana (raise your hand like you’re getting sworn in and tilt your hand back and push your elbow forward, putting torque on the shoulder), a quasi-Anaconda Choke without the gator roll (I tried it once with the roll and failed miserably). I tapped out to an armbar and was close to getting submitted via Americana myself, but my partner wasn’t very familiar with it so we went through the steps until the round was over.

It was another great session, and it’s already informed the writing for book two of the Woodshed Wallace series. I’m very happy that the class won’t leave me too sore to type, which would kind of defeat the purpose.

Day One of Understanding Woodshed Wallace

Posted on 13. May, 2008 by Jeremy in Press On, Sharpening, Writing

Today was my first day of mixed martial arts (MMA) training at the Grand Rapids Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Grand Rapids, MI.

I’ve trained a little before in Judo, Jeet Kune Do & Combat Kempo, a tiny bit of BJJ, and I warm up before every workout with some time on the heavy bag. I’ve also been doing some high-intensity workouts for the past year with lots of bodyweight exercises, interval sprints on the AirDyne, kettlebell swings, and various big-movement lifts.

I wanted to see how all of this prepared me for some serious MMA training.

It was much like microwaving mac & cheese for 15 years then trying to cook a 20-course meal underwater while someone punches you in the face. I got crushed. And I loved it.

Everyone at the gym is great; they’re serious about training and learning but don’t take themselves too seriously, and they are more than happy to teach each other how to better beat each other up. They were all very courteous and stepped around my prone form after 12 minutes of light sparring.

I’m not comfortable sparring on my feet yet, so my partners were nice enough to start on the ground. In the first two 6-minute rounds, I got submitted via armbar, can opener (yeah, I know), and exhaustion on its way to kimura. I’m probably forgetting some due to brain sweat.

During the can opener submission, I distinctly recalled a Joe Rogan UFC commentary in which he was watching a fighter in the guard crank on his opponent’s head, and he said something like, “I don’t know what he’s doing, unless he’s trying to get him with the can opener, but he won’t get caught in that unless he’s a knucklehead.”

I hope the knucklehead belt comes in my size.

I sat out the next two rounds and tried to get some water down my neck. Every time I brought the water bottle up and tried to squeeze it, my hand shook with fatigue. I’m going to have to get a softer water bottle. Do they make them out of Nerf?

I jumped into the last round and sparred with a guy who’d been going the whole time, so the kimura and Von Flue choke he tapped to must be accompanied by an asterisk.

If I had sparred every round, I would have tapped to a frown.

We’ll see how it all feels tomorrow. Right now I’m worn out and happy.

Thanks to everyone at GRBJJ & MMA!