So What's Next?!

I finished my first Ultramarathon.

Sure it was just a 50K, but I DID it, and I'm very happy about that.

But now what?

I feel like there is an ever-present gloom shadowing me right now... And it is very frustrating because things are GOOD!

Had some busy birthdays and lots of time spent with family. We even set up both of my slacklines in my sister's backyard - using the 25m line to almost it's full 82 foot extent! We ended up putting the monkey cage climbing thing in the middle because it was too loose.

Me and my son on the blue ENO line

Mayurasana on the 82ft Gibbon line!

BJJ has been going good - I think I'm getting places where I can avoid and escape submissions -but I still am not very good on the offensive!

So what can I do to get rid of the FOG OF DOOM that is lingering at the outskirts of my life right now?

Should I sign up for another 50k? Maybe bump up to a 50 miler? Maybe sign up for a beginner BJJ Competition? Ooh or I could sign up for a Natural Bodybuilding Men's Physique contest!!

No matter what I do - I need to use some of my accrued vacation time and get out and commune with Nature!

BJJ's North South Position

Man, I'm having a somewhat rough patch of Seasonal Affective Disorder or something. As soon as the sun goes down I start getting GRUMPY!

In some ways it's because my body is REALLY wanting to be out in the great outdoors feeling the sun - but it's COLD and DARK really fast now. Grrrrr. In other ways things just keep getting canceled or not happening, like yesterday's yoga class. THAT's why you get two BJJ Specific entries in a row!

At least I have other endeavors that still shine a different kind of light!

Today we worked on submissions and escapes from North South not to be confused with the British Television series of a similar name! (wiki)

1. If they push on your hips sit into their arm so their arm is up around your hips - trap their leg and get them with an Americana (or an armbar) - This video explains it pretty well, with a slightly different beginning. (This one talks about the basics of Kimura, Americana, and armbar - so it's a good supplement)
2. Same move can be done from cross body any time they have their arm underneath like the first escape from crossbody we worked on Tuesday - if they aren't quick and solid you can get their arm and sit it into the Americana - also it is useful that after trapping the leg lift the leg under their knee for a better submission.
3. From North South - push on one arm so the bottom person turns a bit, slide your hand under the other elbow and trap their arm in a figure four, lie back when they sit up follow and hook their leg, taking their back with seatbelt grip.
4. From 3 instead of them sitting up trap their opposite arm and lock your legs putting them into Crucifix.
5. From 3 scoot your lower knee up behind their back and your other leg over their head to put them into an armbar
6. From 3 when he sits up scoop your arm down over their neck (bicep down across their throat) flatten out into the Monson Choke 
   
   Monson is a scary crazy dude. I found a how-to from the namesake of the choke.
7. If you don't quite get the choke or he doesn't tap, overhook the arm and pull it back over your hips so you are back into #1, scoot down more to get the right leverage, hook the leg and lift with the other leg like before.
8. Escapes from North South - Most important is to make space and get away from the opponent
9. Just like the Crossbody escape we learned Tuesday, push away on the guy on top's hips, swing your legs around, trap their leg and put them in your guard (or take their back or whatever you can get!)
10. Pushing on their arms, make some space and bring your knees up through and backwards roll to put them into guard OR backwards roll enough to immediately take their back. (I could use some drilling on this!) If you get stuck on the backwards roll and are flexible enough you can hook their leg to help complete the movement.
11. if you can't roll you can also bring your knees/shins to their elbows, grab their wrists and push them down so they fly towards the ground with their face. Yeehaw!
12. If you can roll quick enough (again, drilling this somehow could be useful!) you can swing around and catch them in a triangle.

In Grappling I was pretty successful today actually! I was able to get one or two armbars, including a textbook mount to s-mount and armbar. Woot! Feels good to actually feel stuff kind of working. I still have a VERY long way to go. Unfortunately I crunched some knuckles and rolled funny on my bad shoulder, even though I was being careful to submit early if that arm got caught - and it usually does with Micah! I may add more videos to the techniques above later!

Next week I won't be coming into work - so anything I do will be at home. I will definitely miss the Yoga and BJJ classes - but it will probably good to let my right arm have a little bit of a break!

I'm trying to put together some comparison gifs of my torso muscular progress since starting Primal at the beginning of the year. It's kind of interesting to see!

BJJ Cross Body Escapes!

Writing down what I learn in Jiu-Jitsu helps me remember techniques a LOT better. 

The other day I read this intriguing blog entry on The Jiu-Jitsu Vortex, a new BJJ blog I'm following, about keeping a BJJ notebook and thought it was a good idea that I've kind of already am doing by recording it here on TFAOWLB.  (Now THAT's a spiffy acronym! I should us it more often. However, I should also use the word 'spiffy' less often.)

I know I miss stuff in trying to remember this - So I try to send it to the guys I train with as well and get their feedback before I'm finished here. If I ever get more serious, like actually paying for a BJJ gym membership somewhere (I'm SO lucky to get what I'm getting!) I think I will definitely implement an actual moleskin or something - practice drawing some too! However typing it up and looking for Videos of the relevant techniques has also been really useful.

Tuesday we went over escapes from cross-body, a quite unpleasant position to be in:

1. Trap their outer arm, thread YOUR inner arm under and through and grab as high on their back as possible. Swing legs towards their body/legs, then swing back the other way to create force and slip out to try to take their back. This is pretty much the movement - but you can do it without the BRahttitude and Heavy Metal. Although practicing the finishes like that could be very good!
2. Pop hips/Bridge up to get them to push down, then sweep them over the opposite way - kind of like this.
3. Start movement 2 above, if they sprawl , step the legs out 2-3 times then flip to your front keeping your neck and arms up to control their hips, so they are putting pressure on your upper back with their chest. In this position if you let them flip around they’d have your back – but this is before they can do that
4. From the opponent sprawled position one arm posts, the opposite leg posts up, and then throw the non-posted arm’s elbow up and around to drop them on their face, then take their back or whatever
5. From them sprawled again grab their leg, scoot it out, then pull the knee and take them backwards onto their back
6. From the Sprawl, if they try to flip around to take your back sit into them and put them in to Guard - OR do something more advantageous from there that I can’t remember at the moment!

I was actually able to succesfully execute #1 multiple times against the Kung Fu guy who has been training with us. I actually ended up submitting him with the same leglock I got him in a few weeks ago - gotta remind him NOT to cross his legs when hooking somebody's back. Then again - I should NOT have allowed him to get my back like that so easily sheesh!
I was lucky.
But I AM still improving - I hope that doesn't stop! Continuous Education in the art of BJJ sounds good to me!