Nihon Tai-Jitsu Weblog

Welp another fun weekend down. This was a good weekend cause we did our first no-gi night. Thanks to Gordon for letting us do this. It was by far pretty dang awesome. Who all was in class? Jasmine, Anthony, Gordon, and myself. We did have a power outage before class started. Oh lets backup for a second. We scared the crap out of Anthony. He was late coming to class, some excuse about traffic, shopping, or something.. Well he gets there finally and it’s dark still. Jasmine and Gordon are hiding behind the divider that separates the  guests from the floor. I was hiding in the office. Anthony comes in yelling for everyone. Even tries a feeble attempt to use his cellphone for a flashlight. Well as he begins to walk out we all jump out screaming. I couldn’t quite see what he did but I do know he jumped in the air. I swore I heard Patricia, his wife, laughing in their car lol.. Fun times.

No ritual tonight. The power was still out so we decided to start rolling that way. No way we were gonna let a stupid power outage mess up the nights activities. Let’s say rolling with no-gi was different. Not having any lights made it even more interesting! Let’s see if I can make an analogy of it. I think Eddie Bravo made the analogy of rolling with a gi is like riding a crotch rocket 100mph down a freeway. No-gi is the same thing only down a regular street. Not that I would condone that but you get the idea.. You don’t really have any leverage points to push and pull on like you do with a gi. It’s all based on over hooks, under hooks, wrist control, and breaking your opponent down. Anthony and I were the first to roll together and it was a back and forth motion during the free roll session. It was fun regardless.

Rolling with Gordon was different. Took me awhile to adjust to not being able to use the gi. I wasn’t really used to not having a lot of the leverage points I’m used to with out traditional way. In between the eye gouging, face smacking, knee slapping we had a fun time. I will say also that you don’t get hung up near as much no-gi. I did find myself no having to make as much or take away that much space depending on your position. Offense or defense. That was a pretty nice change. Also found out why knee on the belly is such a controlling position, thanks for tip on that one Gordon..

I gotta say at the end of the night my neck was pretty sore from all the pulling, tugging, and cranking. Actually felt ill a little bit after I got home and started to relax after I ate. It was good night all in all. GOTTA do that again sometime soon. That was a blast..

Take care everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend..

- NTJ Crew

Well the NTJ Crew had our first demonstration this past Saturday at the Inaugural Chois Tae Kwon Do Celebration Tournament. Big thanks to Master Wesley, and Timmie for working to set this up. There were plenty of others that helped, you all know who you are, BIG thanks for making it a fun event. We finally got to give people a brief taste of what we do on our late nights. Despite what some believe we aren’t partying. Well a different kind of party but you get the idea..

Everything went pretty well. Throughout the whole tournament I had people telling me in the holding area that our demo looked awesome, great, specatcular, et.., I could go on. All the specators and other competitors loved it. Also had a few guys I’ve competed with in previous TKD tournaments wonder what I’ve been up too. Told them I’ve been competing in BJJ and grappling tournaments. Been to 3 so far and placed in the top 5 in the first 2 and got 10th at my last one. Pulled off a nice scissor sweep that messed up my opponents floating rib and popped another guys arm cause he wouldn’t tap.

Reason I called this entry Mass Chaos was on Sat I was back in the holding area setting up matches all day. Man let me tell you the patience needed to go through that needs be really high. In between the kids, parents, and other instructors all in your ears talking. It’s easy to spidermonkey-ish on someone.. But with the help of the other students, a few parents, and some of our other instructors we all got through it. Huge thanks to Gordon for bringing me food. He knows how cranky I get when I’m hungry.

Let’s see everyone from the crew competed in the tournament.  Melissa competed in forms, Jasmine was in forms and sparring, and Anthony was in forms and sparring. Oh I need to apoloize to Jasmine. My Harai Goshi was a little over the top than when we practiced so if you hit tha ground harder, sowwwy.. I was signed up to compete in everything but couldn’t get away from the holding area. No biggy. I got my rocks off at the last grappling tournament so I’ll be happy for a few more weeks until the bug bites again..

Oh and wow I just realized the blog is 2 years old now. I started this right after my brother and I first joined NTJ. I stuck with it and my brother has moved on, hopefully figuring out what he wants in life. But man 2 years. Melissa said something to me on Sat about it and it didn’t click until now. Man what a ride so far. I can’t thank Gordon enough for teaching me what he has so far and letting my mind grow into its own with the art, grappling, and competing. And a HUGE thanks to Master Wesley for letting me join. I remember watching Gordon come to class and train by himself for soooo long. He’d get his belt, work his throws on the pole, do his Ukemi by himself. I know he couldn’t really grapple but I know he was thinking up scenarios in his head. And a big thanks for the students that have joined. Sure the classes are small but that’s good in a way cause we all feel like a family. It’s pretty damn awesome..

Take Care Everyone

- NTJ Crew

So it has been almost 2 months since I’ve started Tai-Jitsu. And so far I am still loving all of it. I do feel myself getting stronger. Are demo for the Tournament looks pretty sharp. Hopefully when people see it they will want to join. Not to sound mean but I think our demo looks a tad bit better then our Taekwondo demo but don’t tell anyone : ) I missed Sat class cause of my ribs they are still tender from sparring with Daniel last Mon and from rolling around with everyone on Fri. I will be in class tonight and will try to do the enitre ritual. See you all 2 night.

So after my 1st week in Tai-Jitsu I know this is going to be fun. I really liked Fridays class even though I got choked/tapped out by Gordon and Daniel like hundred times but it was fun. My knees were killing me from Free Rolling with out knee pads.  Saturday I woke up feeling like I was hit by a truck. I got to get use to training back to back but it will do me some good cause I need it lol. Thanks Gordon, Daniel and Jasmine for your guys patients with me. I know I am slower and heavier but hopefully with Tai-Jitsu and Taekwondo I should slim down so I won’t crush you all : ) ha ha ha lol. See you all 2nite.

So I really enjoyed my 1st night in Tai-Jitsu. My shoulder is a lil sore from learning how to roll but I know I will get the hang of it. I am dedicated and determined ! ! ! I can tell already I am really going to enjoy this Art. Thanks Gordon and Daniel for for being patient with me. It’s hard to throw my weight around lol. But now that I’ll be training 6 days a week I will shed some pounds so no worries Daniel I won’t be so heavy for our ball strech!

I am finally joining Nihon Tai-Jitsu and not just the warm ups. I can’t wait but it’s going to be weird wearing a white belt again ha ha ha. I have done alot research on the orgins of the art and it was hard to find actual text in English becase most of it is in French and Spanish. But I did end up finding some English text on the History. I found it to be very deep rooted in Japan and it sticks to the Arts parent orgins.

As I sit here pretty much drugged up on whatever antibiotics the doc has prescribed along with sudafed and Tylenol I can’t really do much. I’m at work but I’m staying in my office. Now and then I’ll surf the web. I ran across a page that had some pretty cool quotes in it. I’ll post em here

- BJ Penn after the fight again Joe Stevenson: “I was dropping elbows on him and I looked over and saw his wife crying and I thought..Ok..enough’s enough..time to end this”

- ‘Jiu Jitsu is a conversation

between two people….if you are too aggressive the other person will respond the same, so make it like a debate, where you are firm in your convictions but eloquent in your delivery, succeeding by technique and respect so that your opponent can learn something too without anger and ego’

- Difference in belts: White Belt-You are just learning the words. You do not always fully understand them, but you are starting to build a vocabulary. You can sometimes get your point across with a single word, or two strung together, but that is usually by accident.

Blue Belt-You have built up your word vocabulary, and are starting to use sentences. They are not always well punctuated, and are most often very simple. You are starting to notice the intricacies of those who write well, but are not yet able to match their abilities.

Brown Belt-Your style and writing ability are very well established. You are more than capable of writing a book.

Black Belt-Poetry.

- Helio Gracie “I couldn’t do most of the moves, but I strived hard to find ways to adapt them to my abilities. All my life I have been very determined, and I took it as a challenge to find ways to do the moves. So I began experimenting with different leverages and adjustments…I started to study the leverage points on the human body. If you use leverage, you can multiply your effect many times over, much like you use a jack to lift a car. You can’t lift a car, but when you use a jack you can easily lift it. I simply adapted the use of a “jack” to every position of jiu-jitsu. And that became the sport we have today. I made the sport accessible to the weakling so he could defend against a strong person”

- “Jiu jitsu is like chess, except with choking”

- “If got big balls, put ‘em to de side.” — John Machado, a long time ago when someone complained about hurting their balls while doing an armbar.

- “The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you’re in my world. My world is like the ocean and im like a shark and most people don’t even know how to swim”

- “Jiu-jitsu is the gentle art. It’s the art where a small man is going to prove to you, no matter how strong you are, no matter how mad you get, that you’re going to have to accept defeat. Thats what Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is.” -Saulo Ribeiro

- “For the choke, there are no “tough guys”.. with an arm lock he can be tough and resist the pain.. With the choke he just passes out, goes to sleep.”- Helio Gracie

And finally: What you gon’ do with all that junk?
All that junk inside your trunk?
I’ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump.

-Helio Gracie

I think Jasmine gave this crap to me haha.. I was only in class for Tue nights class so I’ll copy & paste what Gordon worked on last Fri. I’ve been hopped up on antibiotics and various other stuff my physician guy gave me. Makes for some interesting evenings let’s put it that way. Seriously I came down with the flu and a sinus infection. For some reason when I get sick for it to have any effect on me it’s gotta double team me. Dunno about that..

Tues night was Jasmine, Melissa, Jasmine, and myself. Tony joined in with the warmups also. We got through the ritual, working the rubber bands, and doing doube squats. We all went through our Ukemi work on the mat before Gordon paired me up with Jasmine and he took Melissa. I went through all the throws with Jasmine. Then we went backwards through them. This took up pretty much the whole class. Jasmine does need to work on her Kata Guruma throw. She’s not getting the “wheel” motion when throwing. Gordon worked with her for a bit on it. She will get it eventually though.

For Fri’s work I’ll just copy what Gordon wrote me in an email. It was just Melissa, Jasmine, and Gordon that night. They went through the ritual, shrimping, and core work. Speaking of which who won the situp war Gordon? They did the normal rolling and rope jumping between sets. TOTW was a close guard to straight arm bar transition (over the back of the arm).  Nothing too fancy but good for the girls to go through the setup details and to give them another tool to work with.

There was no Sat class cause of a TKD tournament.

So I can’t wait to get back on the mat and get this crap behind me. Have to go through the blog entries. Can’t remember how long ago it was that I got knocked on my butt with something like this. I’d like to find whoever gave it to me and throw em through a window..

Hope everyone had a safe weekend.

- NTJ Crew

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was pretty productive. Got some stuff knocked off my house todo list.

Fri night newaza. Fun night as always. Class attendees were Gordon, Melissa, Mike, and myself. Jasmine is out with the flu and I don’t know where Beth is at. Maybe Gordon has heard something. Went through the ritual and did our warmups. The first funny thing was at the end of the ritual and Mike was finishing up. I can’t remember what Gordon said, something about finishing his run. Mike was already done but I told him, jokingly, make another one. Haha he almost did. I’m probably gonna get it in TKD class tonight.. The next one Melissa and I were neck and neck on the negative situps. Gordon said something and Melissa dropped. One of those had to be there moments.. First session I was with Mike and we went over the 4 basic holds and their names. I went over them in detail to make sure his weight and various body positions were correct. Also explained why to do things a certain way. Showing if he did this your opponent could escape this or that way. We didn’t get a free roll session. He hadn’t gotten knee pads yet so his knees were killing him. His next session with Gordon I think he was working mostly off his back. I’ll let Gordon chime in on his progress with Mike. Next session was with Melissa. Pretty much a free rolling session. Her biggest thing is passing guard. I think next week when we roll I’m going to concentrate on drilling that with her. Unless Gordon has other plans for her. Gordon helped out later in the class on a basic pass. I had to think about over the weekend but I think the reason I kept spinning on my back as she attempted a pass was becuase she didn’t have a hold of the lapel of my gi and wasn’t stacking my up. Hard to explain in words so I’d like to work on it in live class this coming Fri. Next session was with Gordon. As usual a very fun and active session. He got me in a few chokes and I think I got him in an armbar transitioning from a failed triangle choke. Got some sweeps in on each other. Fri night TOTW was going for a choke when your opponent goes into the turtle position.

Sat morning. Oh ya. As you all know this day comes pretty early. At least for me. Granted if I would goto sleep before 1am but that’s another story.. It was just Gordon, Melissa, and myself. We went through our Sat ritual, warmups, and stretching. Gordon watched and gave comments as Melissa and I went through her basic displacements and fundamentals. We also went over some basic self defence techinques. I do have to say working with Melissa is awesome. During one of the chokes I had to clean up my technique a little cause it wasn’t working like it does with Gordon or Jasmine. Awesome stuff I tell ya.. She had a good choke on the cross choke, another 2 seconds in it and Gordon would’ve had to wake me up.

So that’s it for the weekend stuff. I’ll make the next update after Tues night. Judo stuff. Get to throw each other around and stuff… Take care everyone.

- NTJ Crew

What going on everyone. Got another update from this past weekend and last night.

Last Fri only ones in class were Melissa, Gordon, and myself. So after the ritual and warmups we got some sorta one on one work with Gordon. In between rounds we commenced jumping rope. Melissa is a pretty strong woman I have to say. I’m not surprised at all that she’s getting stuff pretty quickly. I would not be surprised if she would be catching us in subs here in the next few months.. I worked with her on her basic hold downs and transitions. Caught her in some stuff when she made a mistake then rewound and showed her some other options. We got two sessions in. One in the beginning and one at the end. Gordon and I got one session in. That man’s guard is so friggin hard to pass!!! I find myself setting up a game just to get past it and not worry about anything else. It’s good practice, keeps me on my toes… We got some good stuff in on each other. Seriously it’s always a treat to be able to roll with Gordon. I enjoy every minute of it. Even if I’m on the recieving end of a collar choke..

Sat morning. Man sometimes these come to early after Fri nights. Again Gordon, Melissa, and myself. Did the usual Sat warmups and terminology work. Then after that worked on basic dispacements, fundamentals, and Kata #1 with Melissa. Then during her 1st Kata I worked on Kata #2 for myself. We spent alot of time working on the details of everything. Basically the same thing as all the white belts start out with. They got a ton of stuff thrown at them. It does seem overwhelming at the time but it all evens out eventually.

Tues Judo night.. Again class attendees were Melissa, Gordon, and myself. Dunno what happened to Beth and Jasmine. Taking time off or school stuff came up. Went through the ritual warmup. Rubber band thingamabob work. Since there wasn’t the usual number of students I was pulling 3 bands tonight.  Ya that hurt.. I ended up having to end the night early cause of work the next day. But by the end my upper body was feeling it. We all went through our Ukemi work. Gordon had us slow down during a few sessions to work on some detail stuff. Then it was off to the throwing. Remember Melissa, the throw is called “Oh Gee” Anyhow Gordon introduced her to Kouchi and Ouchi Gari. Love those throws. Actually more as a setup for other stuff but you know it works. Man she got the throws right on the spot pretty much, it’s awesome. And man I hit the mat pretty hard a couple times, fun stuff.

I had to take off a little early Tues night. I know Gordo and Melissa worked on some other stuff so I’ll let him chime in with what they did and if I missed anything. Take care everyone and see my classmates for Fri newaza..

NTJ Crew