Gi comparison

Like I said before, I haven't been training for several weeks now due to work and family commitments but I have been trying to keep that BJJ fire alive through watching video instructionals and some solo drills in my spare time - which is not really much, unfortunately.

I have also managed to get hold of two more BJJ gis to the consternation of my wife. I currently have a Classico white Faixa Rua and have added a blue Atama single weave and a white Keiko Raca Summer gi.

Here's a picture of the Faixa Rua. Note the embroidered club patch at the back. Wicked.

Here's the Atama.

And the Keiko Raca.Note the patch on the right sleeve and the Keiko flag on the back.

As most people do when they have multiple gis in their possession, I have compared them against each other. My two-year old daughter refuses to give up the location of our measuring tape, therefore, I have resorted to just comparing them side by side.

Let's start off with the collar.

(L-R) Keiko Raca, Atama, Faixa Rua

Faixa Rua has the thickest collar amongst the three. I do not know if it has a rubber insert but it is stiff as hell.

Sleeve width and length

 

(L-R)  Faixa Rua, Keiko Raca,Atama

From the picture, it appears that Faixa has the longest sleeve length by approximately an inch as compared to the Faixa, and clearly around two inches from the Atama. When worn, the Faixa sleeve reaches the bottom of my wrist,

whilst the Keiko sleeve sits just above the wrist.

                                     

Atama's sleeve, on the other hand, never even reached my wrist!

                                    

Also, Faixa Rua has the most generous cut, sleeve-wise. This makes for a roomier fit but gives your opponent more "handles" to grab. Maybe this would make you a more technical player, as you wouldn't want to leave your arm where you could be grabbed and be more susceptible to armlocks.

Trouser length

 

(L-R) Atama, Keiko Raca, Faixa Rua

Faixa Rua, again has "won" in this category but not by much, compared to the Keiko Raca. Please note that the Faixa Rua is an A3 as compared to the two (both A2) but it has been aggressively shrunk to fit.

Jacket weave

Trouser cloth

All three were made with a denim-like material with varying thickness. Note that the Atama single weave is not made of "Ripstop" material, unlike the Mundial models, but like the other two, only slightly thinner. All three have reinforcements sewn from around mid-thigh down to the hem.

So, there you go. This is not a  review of any sort, unlike the others who have painstakingly measured and tested their gi. This is merely a comparison by someone who really needs to back into training.

'Til then.

Priorities

It's been nearly a month since I last trained. This is due to numerous work and family commitments I have had to prioritise in the last several weeks. I know this is not ideal, but as they say, life gets in the way at times. I guess my journey through BJJ is going to take a little longer than what I originally envisaged.

During this time, though, BJJ has always been at the back of my mind. I have been watching Saulo Ribeiro's Jiujitsu Revolution Series via the iPhone most days just to keep the BJJ fire going and have been doing some solo drills at home when I have spare time. I have been unsuccessful at trying to get a close friend of mine to do BJJ or even be my grappling dummy to practice what I have learned in the few sessions I had at Carlson's, or even try out what I 've seen in Saulo's videos. This is a bit frustrating, I admit, but I try to keep a positive frame of mind through all of this.

I really do miss training, though.

Cramps!

Attended my first advanced/normal/mixed ability class last night. I'm currently having scheduling conflicts at home, which prevents me from doing the Monday and Friday Basics classes. I was hesitant initially and asked advice from Simon regarding this. As you well know, this is my fourth class, the first three classes were beginners, and I'm sure you will understand my anxieties. Simon was very supportive in this regard and gave me positive comments on my (limited) capabilities - he said, " You are a fast learner and have talent. I think you are going to be a very good BJJ fighter. You are ready. No doubt."

Getting that positive comment from my BB instructor really boosted my self-esteem and shall I say, banished my anxieties away.

So, came in early and got "the white belt" from Vince. Wilson was teaching but was pleasantly surprised that Simon was coming in as well to co-facilitate the session. Clearly, this class is a far cry from the basics class. The techniques - most of them without names (!!), were only shown twice, and then you pair up. I must have looked confused, so Simon paired up with me. He was patient in teaching me not only the techniques, but the details on how to properly apply it to make it work. I'm quite fortunate to get this 1:1 session and I'm hoping I'll get some more in the future. :)

I had several sessions in free rolling and I was paired with a fellow white belt. This was a very good roll for me. I felt I have dominated that session with several mounts and side control. I still lack the flow, obviously, and effective submission techniques ( have tried several lapel chokes and an armbar) - as I felt I haven't done them as effective as I wanted. As I went into another side control, the guy asked me how much I weighed (78 kg), and said that I was too heavy for him. LOL. BJJ should  be effective enough to pit a weaker man against a stronger man. Towards the end, he said that he's tired, so I just left him at that - to be honest, I was tired myself.

My second free rolling was another white belt. This session is different. The person on the bottom has to work with a disadvantage. One hand/arm should only be used - the other should be gripping his own belt. The person at the top is free to use both. If the person at the bottom manages to reverse the position or submit (haha!!), or the top person submits the bottom guy, the session restarts. We started off with me at the bottom and I was thinking to myself, "I find it hard enough to reverse guard using all my limbs, and now, I'm only supposed to use three?!"But surprise, surprise, I was able to reverse the position! I can't remember how I did it, but I did. I was surprised myself and asked my training partner, "What do we do now? Shall I start using both hands now that I'm at the top?" He was as surprised as I am, judging from his face, as he found himself at the bottom.

I had to pass the third one as I have gassed but Wilson picked me again for the fourth one. He asked me how long have I been training and I said that this was my first normal but that I did three basics classes. To my surprise, Simon shouted from the end of the room, "He's good. He's my student." Whoa! That was a surprise on my part. And the blue belt guy was called.

The fourth session started with him trying to achieve dominance but tired as I was, I was resisting with all my limited ability. I managed to get an arm  but as I swung my left leg upward across his body to attempt a triangle choke, my calf suddenly cramped up! Because of that, I lost my concentration and then he reversed and a subsequent tap came from me. He then asked what happened with my choke, and thaought that I had hurt my wrist. I told him of the cramp and apologised and asked if we could roll again. He willingly obliged but my other calf would have none of it. As soon as we started another cramp came, this time with my right calf and that basically ended it. He tried to stretch my calf  but I knew then that it was over that night. Luckily, that was the last session and we ended with the usual handshakes.

I felt I had let Simon down at this point although, truth be told, it was the lack of conditioning that has let me down, as before that I thought I was doing well, techniques-wise ( at my level at least).

Did I mention that Wilson's warm up was a killer?!

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Here's what we learned in that session. Simon said that it's imposible to learn the techniques immediately but rest assured that these techniques will be repeated in several months' time, and by then, things would click.

there are no proper names for the techniques listed below but I have named them like I would describe them.

Skirt Choke from Rear Sitting Mount

Arm Bar from Rear Sitting Mount

Modified Triangle Choke from Rear Sitting Mount

Sleeve Choke from Rear Sitting Mount

Rear Naked Choke

OSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

Chuffed!

Went last night to Carlsons and Simon was heading the session. I was pleased as I like his style of teaching as I said before. Most of the techniques taught were the same ones the first time I attended his class but it didn't matter to me. It allowed me to drill in the techniques better and at the end of the session, made me more comfortable with the execution.

Again, as I had no gi yet, I was paired with a first-timer during the drilling and we did takedowns and submission. I am really starting to get comfortable with the sessions despite coming for only three times and I really get excited about coming to the classes. That being said, there is still a long way to go for me to start attending the advanced classes, in my opinion.

Being the last class of the day, Simon extended the class to two hours and we had three rounds of sparring. As a testament to my poor conditioning, I was tired by the third rolling session. I felt though, that I was more "holding my own" during the sessions and in retrospect, Simon has been putting me in with more experienced partners during the rolling - from a first timer with trad jiu jitsu experience in the first session, then to my namesake, who's also a fellow Filipino who's got three months worth of traning under his belt in the second, to a guy called Tomas (sp?) who had ben training since April last year. Needless to say, the more experienced they are the more times I've tapped out. ;)

During the handshakes, Simon told me that I was doing very well and reiterated that again after class. Coming from a BB instructor, I was really pleased. He offered me a gi as well and said that my game would improve immensely now that I've got a gi. Got to talking about the Cage Warrior forum and mentioned my user name. His face lit up in recognition and gave me advice about doing gi and nogi, telling me as well to disregard those punters who pit gi vs. nogi. Simon said that Carlsons encourage both to improve a jiujitero's game and mix it up with striking and judo to be a more well-rounded martial artist. Clearly, the Carlson Gracie ethos have moved with the times.

But what really made everything all worthwhile was this morning. As I logged in to the forum, I saw a PM from Simon. He said that he forgot to give me a belt yesterday and that I collect it from Vince the next time I go to Carlsons. Simon said, "Don't buy one from the desk,tell whoever is on the desk i said you can have a free one and to check with me,otherwise it will cost you £10. I don't want you to have to pay for one."

How about that....

OSSSSSSSSSS!!!

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Here's what we learned last night. Like I said previously, it was a drilling of my initial class, except for the last two.

Passing the Guard to Side Control
Side Control to Mount

Reversal from Full Guard to Top Position
 
Takedown from Standing (Gi and Nogi)
 
Americana

Defensive and Offensive drilling from Side Control

WTF?!

Went to class today and paid my monthly dues to Wilson Junior, one of the blackbelts who teaches here. Immediately got changed but was a little early so I watched Atilla's class. Got a nod from one of the students ( I think he remembers me from last week). He was one of those who does striking as well as grappling. As the others trickle in, I noticed only one other without a gi, so I assumed another newbie like me. Dickie Martin started off the class with his brand of warm up and it was a killer! I think I pulled /sprained my left adductor muscle on my left leg during the warm up, which made the warm up a bit harder. Maybe I was more unfit than I thought but then aren't warm ups meant to "warm up" your muscles to training temperature to avoid/reduce injury and/or "muscle shock"? Maybe I need to "warm up" before the actual warm up...

The techniques section started off where my training left off, which was side control. Sort of gravitated towards the other newbie, who shall remain unnamed for the duration of this post, who I found out was a first-timer. Practiced the techniques and he seemed to be an OK training partner - but I was mistaken. I sat out the first sparring session because it was an odd-numbered class but in the second sparring session ( I believe it was called "positional sparring" as we were meant to do the techniques with resistance from the opponent , Dickie paired me off with him, and I thought, "Great! Let me see if I could drill in the techniques better."

As soon as the sparring started, this guy came on to me full on! All he wanted to do was to choke me with all his might! No technique, just cranking my neck. Tsk tsk...I didn't want to use my strength against this and tried to relax so I could think through the escape and positioning but this guy just kept on cranking my neck! It wasn't even a proper choke as the arm wasn't sunk in. I just tapped so we could start again but as soon as we restarted, the guy charged at me again! In my last class, I had the opportunity to spar with Simon (BB) and Jasper (WB) who contained their abilities to submit me to a minimum as they knew they were way ahead of me skills-wise. But this guy was different! Maybe he was still on a high from watching UFC 102 last Saturday and was eager to show his "Skillz". I was really trying hard to restrain myself and go full on with this guy but on the third restart, Dickie asked me to sit it out. He was paired with a white belt and I saw that he was on the business end of the tap this time.

The class ended on a high note, though. During the hand shakes, one of the guys told me that I looked like BJ Penn and that maybe I was as good as him, to my amusement. Little did he know how farthest from his comment were my skills.

As we were changing from our training gear, I overheard Vince ask this guy how old was he and he replied, "15".

That explains a lot.

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Here's what we've learned today. The names could be different from what they are properly called but I'll try to describe the techniques through their names.

Side Control to Knee on Belly
Knee on Belly to Knee on Chest
Knee on Belly to Arm Bar
Knee on Belly to Arm Bar (Stiff arm)
Baseball Choke
Knee on Belly Escape
Knee on Belly Escape with Ankle Sweep

Ross Training

Found this training site sometime ago, RossTraining , on the web, by Ross Enamait,  and has detailed supplementary exercises for conditioning and strength training. I found this as a very good alternative to going to a traditional weight-lifting gym to build up muscles, as it focuses on functional strength and the improvement of conditioning, especially those involved in combat sports. I remember getting confused looks from some gym-goers when I try to "functionalise" my resistance training during my escrima days.

Some articles in this website were published sometime ago (ca. 2004), but in my opinion, are still very relevant. There was even a testimonial by John Hackleman, Chuck Lidell's trainer at the Pit, testifying it's effectiveness. I believe further explanations of the training principles and exercises are in his book, Never Gymless, and other products, but I think the web articles could give you a glimpse of this type of training. This is not by any means a newfangled thing, as I've seen other fighters do this type of training, but this supplements traditional weight lifting and treadmill running, but obviously not techniques training.

I liked the sandbag-construction article, and have made one. Went to a military surplus shop and got a sea bag, then off to Homebase and Sainsbury's to get some sand and self-sealing bags. I previously used the sandbag exercises to improve my conditioning in my escrima days, but now have found the exercises more functional with regards to BJJ.

Let's hope this pays dividends on the mats. ;)

First class

Went to Carlson's in Hammersmith last night as planned. As I was an hour early, I met Atilla Varga of the legendary Hungarian Thaifight Team and resident Muay Thai instructor,and was very accommodating. He offered me to stay and watch them train but decided to go to Tesco instead as I was feeling a bit hungry and wanted to make sure I had enough fuel to last me through the class.

When I came back I met VinceMachado, who was doing reception duties. Very funny guy and kept me and a fellow student entertained until the class started. There was initial talk that Wilson Junior was going to teach the basics class and Simon Hayes the next but when the class started, it was Simon at the front. Simon has excellent teaching skills - breaks down the technique into stages so it becomes easier to understand. I know this for a fact as I teach how to physically manage violent and aggressive clients to staff where I work. The techniques were also taught in a way that it flowed together.

There was a lot of time to practice the techniques, which allowed students to put into practice what they've seen - and drilling it so eventually it becomes second nature (muscle memory). I paired up with another first timer, Ben, and proceeded to practice. It appeared that although it was his first session in BJJ, he seemed to move in a manner who has been involved with other martial arts (which was verified when we chatted after class). I guess we were doing well during practice because Simon saw no cause to come over and correct us - except this one time when he came over to tell me to use the side of my head to tighten my squeeze on a submission choke from guard.

During sparring, I got to spar with the main man himself - only because I wasn't paired with anyone. I can't remember how many times I had to tap (LOL). I remember reading somewhere that when you're a BJJ white belt, the main goal during sparring is to SURVIVE. Whether all white belts subscribe to this or not,  that certainly was what I was trying to do when I was sparring with Simon. I fared a little bit better in the next sparring session as I was paired up with Jasper, a white belt with a black band. I still tapped a couple of times, but I appeared to be surviving better, as I was trying a few submissions of my own - very poorly executed, though. Jasper was kind enough to give me a few pointers during the session and afterwards complimented ( I think) me by saying I'm a fighter. I really hope that was a compliment and not a polite way of saying that I'm a spaz.

Afterwards, we all lined up and after hand shakes all over, the class ended.

It was a good class and they're a nice bunch. The club's very homey and accommodating. My only gripe is there didn't appear to be a shower room so I had to jump into the shower to get sanitised as soon as I got home before I could kiss my wife and daughter.

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Here are the techniques that we've learned yesterday:
Passing the Guard to Side Control
Side Control to Mount
Cross Choke from Mount
Choke from Full Guard
Cross Choke from Full Guard
Reversal from Full Guard to Top Position