Nihon Tai-Jitsu Weblog

Welp another week down. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was pretty good, not long enough cause I had to work part of Sat.

Don’t thing I welcomed Melissa to the class. Hope she sticks with it past the 4 week intro period. Class attendees during the week were Jasmine, Melissa, Jason, Gordon, Dr James, and myself.

Tue night was a short night for me. So hopefully Gordon can chime in for the activities past the ritual. I had to take off right after so I didn’t get a chance to work on my judo work.

Fri night I was there for the whole night. I rolled with Jasmine, Jason, Melissa, and Gordon.  Went over the usual stuff with Jasmine and Jason during free rolling. Rolled with Melissa. She’s getting the hand of it. Right now she’s at the “new” state where she doesn’t quite know what to do. We all started there so it’s all good. Gordon told her to remember this moment cause it’s something to reflect on and he’s right. Hard to believe I actually hated the grappling part when I first started. Like I said she’s at that state where she had good instincts but isn’t sure on how to apply things since she doesn’t know any real guard passing or submissions. Again all this will come in time. It may sound wierd but getting submitted and caught in things all the time teaches you, if you choose to learn it. So we’ll see how things go over the trial period. I really hope she sticks with it.

See everyone Tues night for Judo night.

Take Care

- NTJ Crew

Hello everyone. Hope everyone had a good time last week. With work running full steam ahead I’m going to lump the blog updates in these kind of updates. So please bear with me. Makes it easier on my cause my schedule is getting more hectic as the days go by. Still if you have any direct questions you can post at the bottom of the updates. Or send me an email directly.

Tues night attendees were Gordon, Jasmine, Mike, Melissa, and myself. We went through the usual ritual warmup, uchi komi work, squats, and rubber band work. We then broke out the mats in the usual technicolor fashion and started our ukemi work. After that Gordon had Jasmine and myself work on the leg sweep part of Osoto Gari. I do have to say Jasmine’s legwork is awesome. She can kick her foot up past her head. I really feel sorry for the poor sap she throws with that cause it’s gonna hurt.. After that we moved to the mat to work on the throw. We stayed on this on pretty much the whole night, even during our rondori session. Looks like Gordon is going back over the finer points of the throws. It’s actually helping alot by breaking it down. At the end of class we all took turns with each other with some rondori sessions.

Fri night newaza night. Gordon had to out of town on travel for work so class was run by Dr James. It was just Jasmine and myself. Jasmine and I went through the ritual in Gordon’s absence… The night was spent mostly doing free rolling with Jasmine and myself. Dr James did put emphasis for Jasmine on controlling your opponent by keeping your weight on them. That and not giving them any space between yourself and your opponent. For the most part Jasmine did great. She was active, stayed busy when one sub wasn’t working, worked transistions nicely, and didn’t get stuck too many times. All in all it was good but short night.

Sat curriculum class. Jasmine and I were on time.. Gordon called and said he slept in so Jasmine and I started the usual Sat warmup without them.  We got all the way to working on our basic displacements before Gordon and Dr James showed up. After that Gordon made a long awaited phonecall to sensei Mohammed in regards to my greenbelt test. Got some good feedback from sensei. Wish he was actually here to see the progress in person rather than on a video. Hopefully he’ll be able to come back home soon. The phonecall took up most of the class time. After the call Gordon paired up with Jasmine to work on her curriculum and I paired up with Dr James. We worked on my Atemis with locks till the end of the class.

I will see everyone next week and hope everyone had a great weekend.

- NTJ Crew

Gonna lump the whole week into this update. Hope all the readers are doing fine. And is response to the emails I’ve been getting about the lack of updates sorry. Been a lot going on with work and family stuff going on. I’ve been slacking on a couple Sat classes that I need to makeup. However I’m still making Judo and Newaza nights during the week. I’ll have things back in order in the coming weeks and hopefully life will return to some kind of normalcy…

Tues night Judo night. In class was Gordon, Dr. James, Jasmine, and myself. Doing the ritual was all of us along with Melissa and Mike. Think we got em hooked on the warmups guys.. After the warmups we went into our usual ukemi work and worked on some throws. Gordon is having us tie some throws together in a drill like fashion working the left and right sides now. We start with  Osoto Gari, then  Kouchi Gari , then Ouchi Gari , and finally Kosoto Gake. We will work 10 sets on both sides for both partners. I partnered up with Dr James and Gordon was with Jasmine. We worked this for the whole class. Awesome way to get the reps in and work on chaining moves together for rondori.

Fri night was Gordon, Jasmine, and myself. Mike showed up for the warmups. Jasmine and I are still pushing each other on the stomach portion of the warmup… First part of the class was free rolling. First round was Gordon and I. I made the comment that we’re to the point that unless one of us makes a glaring mistake we pretty much cancel each other out during our sessions. Don’t get me wrong we still learn new setups and stuff. But I’m amazed at how much things have progressed with the both of us. Next round was Jasmine and myself. Alot of back and forth with her like I do everyone else. If I catch her in something I’ll reset and ask her why she got caught, swept, etc.., then proceed. She’s getting pretty good. Can’t wait for the rest of her body to catch up as she matures. Like I’ve said before I hope she stays with it. Let’s see TOTW was a cool arm crush Gordon whipped out on us. Damn thing hurt before you even had a chance to tap. Seriously he frogged the crap outta my bicep with it. As he’s setting it up I’m like “what the hell is he doing” then all of a sudden ouch, holy crap!!! When the white belts return I’m whipping that sucker out. Gonna work that into my rotation..

I didn’t make Sat curriculum class. Hopefully Gordon can chime in and giveus the rundown. From his email it was Jasmine, Dr James, and himself.

On that note I’ll see everyone tonight for Judo night. Hope everyone had a fun and safe memorial day weekend.

- NTJ Crew

What’s going on gang. Back for another fun filled week of throwing, tossing, grappling, and general shenanigans. Took the weekend off after my TKD test on Fri so I was anxious to get back on the mat. Let’s just say after 4 days off you’ll feel it at the end of the night. I mean that’s not to say you won’t anyway. You just feel it a little more than usual.

Class attendees were Gordon, Jasmine, Jason, and myself. Joining us for the ritual was Mike and Melissa. After that we went through our Uchi Komis, squats, and rubber tooby work. Then we broke out the mats for some Ukemi work, then moved onto lining up and our throws. Don’t wanna sound like a broken record but I gotta work on getting more consistant on my throws. I’ll start off kinda sloppy then adjust my way into it. So I’m trying to get past this. I’m finding out that judo is one of those inconsistant arts. Even with the same person there’s always something different each time you do the same throw. It’s pretty neat and frustrating at the same time. After the throwing excercises Gordon had us do some combination work. We’re also working both sides now. After that Jason had to take off. So Gordon, Jasmine, and me did some rondori.

All in all a pretty good night as usual. Also have to add the way Gordon has me doing the ritual and warmups now is improving strength and cardio. Pretty cool how things happend when you slow things down.. See everyone on Fri night newaza. Take care and stay safe.

- NTJ Crew

Sorry gotta get a laugh at the title on this one. I know it’s a serious problem but with all the media hype around it you can’t help but chuckle a little. Plus the only ones in class were myself and Gordon. We figured the rest of the group came down with it. Jasmine was looking a little pale Tues night.. The other two white belts are prolly doing some kinda bachelor thing.

So it was just Gordon and I. Just like when I first started.. Actually I take that back. Mike Picallo joined us for the ritual warmup and took off after it was done. After that Gordon and I did some free rolling and worked on my sweeps pretty much the whole night. We got a couple off on each other. Always a good time when you get some one on one with the intructor. Kinda wish the rest of the guys were there cause it’s always nice to mix it up with others.

Tues night was good. It was just Gordon, Jas, and myself. Worked on Jas’s throws. Talking with Gordon she needs to clean them up a little before her test. So I’ll help out and keep the rhythm going during the workouts. Need to get the repitition going instead of doing a throw and asking a bunch of questions.

I’m gonna be out of NTJ this week. I have a TKD test I gotta get ready for. So I’m gonna be spending my free time going over my curriculum for my intermediate red belt. So I’ll join back up with the NTJ crew next week after my test. Wish me luck..

- NTJ Crew

Hello everyone. Tue judo night.. In class was Gordon, Jasmine, Marcus, Jason, and myself. Brother James wasn’t able to make it cause of a crazy work schedule. Pretty cool the class is getting bigger…

We went through the usual ritual. Marcus grace period is over so it’s time to start hitting stuff hard. So it’s up to 20’s now, the terms, etc… Hope he doesn’t make us all do many pushups.. After that worked our uchi comi footwork, mat squats, and rubber band thingies. Then we broke out the mats worked Ukemi. We had a few comical events take place that involved Jasmine rolling. Based on past results you can guess it involved sounds of some nature..

After that we worked on our throws. I worked with Marcus. I think Gordon took Jasmine and Jason. I was putting most of my concentration on Marcus and getting him up to speed on the throws and working on technique. Plus his landings kinda scare me right now. Seems he’s trying to fight the practice throws. So when I go for something I feel him tense up and try and counter the flow. That with the landings I’ve been trying not to throw him that hard cause I don’t want him hurt. Being hurt means one less partner to practice with. Plus I was trying to break the throws down step by step with him to get things in place. He was rushing through them and it just wasn’t working. So I broke it down with a load up only, step by step. Did that a few times then followed through with a throw.

After all that we all got together for some rondori sparring. Fun times. Got to go a few minutes with Gordon. Haven’t done that in a very long time so that was great. Feels like the man hasn’t lost a step. I also sparred with Jasmine and Marcus. We cut class short since it was a school night for Jas.

Take care everyone and see ya on the mat Fri night…

- NTJ Crew

Hey guys. I do have to say then if we can get everyone in class it looks pretty big. Brother James called me Tues morning and asked if he could come to class. I made the phone calls to Gordon and Master Wesley making sure it was allright. They gave the ok so I told him to get his ass down there. He showed up.

So in class it was Gordon, Jasmine, Jason, Brother James, and myself.  Dunno where Marcus was. Jason said something about him not coming cause some girl was stalking. Dunno what that’s about but sounds pretty hilarious. I can imagine a crazy girl coming in going off with a bunch of guys that throw people around and choke them out. So ya really funny. Anyhow, big thanks to Brother James for showing up. It was just like old time tossing each other around. We started with the ritual, regular warmups, uchi komi’s, squats, and the rubber bank pulling thingies…

After that we broke out the mats and did some Ukemi work. On the floor and on the mats. It all came back to Brother James pretty quickly. He was nervous he wasn’t gonna be able to remember anything. I told him naw, it’s like riding a bike. Once you learn you never really lose it.  Sure you come back sucking wind but that comes back with time. However I did tell him, you yak, you clean..

Throwing was pretty on tonight. I was working with Brother James most of the night going through my throws and the ones he remembered. After him and I were done we rotated. Jasmine and I worked on Harai Goshi together.

TOTW was interesting. Don’t know the initial term for it. For now guess I’ll call it WTF cartwheel with knee out of nowhere.. Basically when someone it running at you trying to tackle you. You just take a small step to the side, one hand goes under their arm, the other kinda around the side of their head. You knee them in the face, then cartwheel them over using their forward momentum to carry them. Pretty cool little throw you can execute against drunken meatheads charging you on Mill Ave..

Also Gordon and I over the weekend went to a Grapplers Quest competition to check it out. Man it was pretty cool. I’ll be signing up for the next one. Hopefully along with Brother James and the others if they choose to. It’s pretty much what we practice here with the match starting from the standing position. Get the takedown and work towards winning the match via submission or points. Pretty active setup. They had matched going in all three mats pretty much the whole time. Oh and a little inside joke. We met Crocops fat uncle..

Take care everyone  and we’ll see ya on Fri

- NTJ Crew

What’s going on? Decided to make a full week update this week. Work and things outside of class have been riding hard this week. So sorry for the lack of regular updates, I try to stay ontop of it…

Let’s see Tues night, Judo night. Class attendees were Gordon, Jasmine, and myself. After the usual ritual warmup, uchi komi, and rubberband thingy work. After that did our Ukemi work. After that Gordon had Jasmine and I work on our throw list. We’re working on getting Jasmine ready for her test in the coming months. So efforts will be pointing towards her and getting her ready. For myself continuation of the detail work on pretty much everything. I’ve been getting Gordon’s feedback as the weeks progress and I look forward to Sensei’s call.

Fri night we decided to swap Sat and Fri work since the TKD test went into our class. So we went through Jasmine’s program work working on what is going to be required for her test. And with myself continuation work on details.

For Sat since we did program work we moved on to newaza. Wierd doing it Sat morning since things are a little tighter than normal…. No technique work today since time was limited with the kids TKD test. So Jasmine and I rolled on session, Gordon and I, then Gordon and Jasmine. During the breaks we jumped rope to keep the cardio going.

Next week things are back to normal. So I’ll make the updates as the days go by. Take care everyone.

- NTJ Crew

Here’s some pictures that Renee took while I was taking my test. Doesn’t show much except for the fact I was there. I think she was too busy running the video camera..

Click Here For The Pictures

- NTJ Crew

Tues is normally our Judo night. However Gordon scheduled my belt test for last night. All in all it went pretty well. Made a few mistakes in some areas that I will need to fix. Course that’s always the case. Gordon, Dr J, and Master Wesley seem to be happy with the progress. Lots if little details to work on but nothing that stands out as being horribly wrong.

Wasn’t as nervous for this test as my last one. Also didn’t get hurt towards the end.. I knew the curriculum and what I needed to do. Just had to execute it. Big thanks to Jasmine and Jason for showing up. Also thanks to my other half, Renee, for running the camera and keeping my happy ass in frame and focus. Thanks for letting me throw you around, choke you, and turn you into a pretzel…

First part of the test was the terminology portion. Making sure I know the names of the various blocks, kicks, punches, and stances After that Gordon threw some combos at me to demonstrate. Messed up on a couple of them. Situation where my brain said one thing but my body did another.

Next portion was the Judo program. Made sure I knew all of my Ukemi. Made sure I knew all of my throws by name, 8 kazushi positions, etc… Jasmine threw me a couple times to make sure I could fall correctly while being thrown. Next I had a few rondori sessions with Jasmine and Jason. Need to work on getting my throws consistent. Some were on however some didn’t feel quite right, Dr J eluded to this at the end of my test.

Next portion was the grappling program. Course this is my favorite part.. Went through my basic holds with Jasmine. She would try and struggle out of them. Went through a couple sweeps, locks, and chokes to make sure I knew what the were. Transitions to them was pretty smooth. Working transition work with Jasmine is always fun cause she’s so “rubbery”. Makes you work on getting your setups correct cause she doesn’t move like someone normally would. Keeps you on your toes. Did a couple newaza sessions with Jasmine and Jason. Both sessions were pretty good. I wanted to be a little smoother than I was however for the test hopefully it went over well. Oh one thing to Jason if he reads this. Man you gotta tap and let your partner know that he’s got a sub on you. I had a couple chokes on you locked in pretty good. If it wasn’t for me noticing your grip start to loosen like someone who’s about to pass out you would’ve gone to sleep. No harm in tapping man, this isn’t a toughman competition. Gordon gets me in a lot of positions where I have no choice in tapping out. Doesn’t hurt my pride at all. Take it as a lesson to be learned..

Last portion of the test was the self defense section. That went allright. The sticks I need to work on. The other stuff is more fine tuning. Gordon is working more of this into the program. He’s breaking them down into strikes, kicks, locks, and throws. I look forward to these cause it will help the program start to come together.

Overall I think it was good test. Doesn’t sound like much but the test was a little over 2 hours. Pretty long compared to the TKD side of things. Was pretty tired at the end. However it wasn’t like my last test where I was just beat to a pulp. Did a pretty good job staying relaxed throught the whole thing. Again I gotta give a big thanks to Gordon. If it wasn’t for him these doors wouldn’t have been opened by joining this class. I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about when I say that my mind is active all the time on things to do. At the risk of pissing off KJN more so than what TKD has done for me. With that said thanks to Master Wesley for letting me join this class. And if it wasn’t for Dr J pointing out the little things I wouldn’t think about them. I know he’s not there that often but when he is there I do my best to listen.

Welp take care everyone and see you on Fri…

- NTJ Crew