I haven’t been blogging at all. Haven’t been journaling much either. I’m a little disappointed in myself because I’ve had some interesting (to me) things rolling around in my head lately. One new thing I have been doing is going to striking classes at the gym.
My motivation for starting had nothing to do with fighting. I just felt like I needed a fitness jolt I wasn’t going to get any other way. I’m definitely finding it harder to maintain the level of fitness I expect of myself as I get older. I think one of the contributing factors is that my jiu jitsu is improving and becoming more efficient and patient. It’s still hotter’n’a four balled tomcat in the gym, but I haven’t felt my cardio get pushed in a while–I’ve figured out where the rest spots are with most of my partners. I’ve been running a little, but I’m mostly getting the mental benefits there, and the last time I tried to push myself with running I got some minor injuries.
Striking seemed like a good option. It would introduce a new cardio element that would shock my body. It would be a whole new thing to learn and provide mental stimulation. And, once I started throwing an MMA class into the mix, would be a good test of where my jiu jitsu stands in the real world and help me make it a little more practical. I also felt really comfortable showing up to the classes at Carlson Gracie Melbourne. Knowing the vibe of the gym and having trained BJJ for a while with a lot of the folks that also strike/fight, I knew I wasn’t going to be beaten to a pulp. Even the guys who fight have an understanding that I’m old and have a different agenda than they have.
I don’t mind being their “rest round”. And I’m aware that’s what I am for most of the guys who are experienced. One young man in particular is a pro, and a heckuva nice guy. He’s in his 20s, a decorated college wrestler, BJJ brown belt, and has about 80 pounds on me. So, yeah, I’m a rest round for him, but he graciously spars with me and helps me out.
This is where the level up comes in. How do you “level up” in a discipline with no belt system? I guess it’s even more subjective than the BJJ system. But last night I went a round with pro guy, and I could tell he wasn’t touching me as much as normal. Don’t get me wrong–he was still touching me a lot, just not as much. And I was having some success as well. Not a lot of success, just more than “none”, which is what I usually have. Two rounds later, he invited me to go again.
Wait. What?
Much more of the same…not a lot of success for me, and still pretty effortless for him. So I guess that’s not exactly where the level up came in. It was the round immediately following.
Another young athletic guy grabs me. This isn’t someone I’ve sparred with before. In fact, I’d never seen him at our gym. But…ok…yeah…let’s see what happens. We started off as expected–mostly trying to feel each other out. I could immediately tell he was more experienced than me, but also not super experienced. I was thinking “Almost a blue belt vs. one stripe white belt.” So my only real concern was my gas tank after the previous round. Yeah, it was a rest round for him, but I’d been trying my best.
This round was fun from the get go. We started off really light, but I think we both felt like the other guy was someone we could safely punch/kick a little bit harder and they’d be cool with it. We baby-stepped up the intensity a little. By this point in the class we’d progressed from Boxing->Muay Thai->MMA (takedowns are in play). Like I said, he was definitely better than me, but I was touching him and he was reacting a bit–raising his hand in response to shots.
Feint and shoot a double leg? Like your chances that you’re better on the ground that this dude is? GO!!!!
And I got it! Yay. And I got swept pretty quickly. Hmm. So he does have some ground game. Being on your back in MMA isn’t nearly as advantageous as it is in BJJ (obviously to some, but I learn everything the hard way), and it took me a second to get my wits about me. Having fists coming at your face is a game changer. I remembered what I’d learned last week–when someone is on top of me, they may be doing MMA/Ground-N-Pound, but I’ve got to switch my mindset to BJJ only and focus on sweep/submit/getup.
With urgency.
My instinct is always to sweep, especially from half guard, which is where I was able to scramble to from his sweep. I could tell this guy had skills on the ground, but that I had more options. Of course, a lot of these options get negated when the other guy is strong, and on top. Gloves didn’t help me dig for underhooks and get my hands where I wanted them either. But what’s this? That kimura looks tasty!
He defended, and I switched to a guillotine attempt. I didn’t get my arm all the way under his chin, but it was enough that he had to react–just enough of a reaction to allow me to open my guard, put my feet on his hips, push away, and stand up. I think my technical get up was decent, but I’m old and slow, and he did clip me pretty good as I got back to my feet.
It was cool. I knew what that was about. We’d been going at a respectful pace while we were on our feet, then we shifted gears into something more realistic on the ground. That was the gear he was still in when we stood up quickly. But a nice guy–he immediately stopped to make sure we were good, and I just motioned for him to keep coming and held up my hand for a glove touch. I wasn’t worried at all like he’d throw anything else with that kind of heat, and I was right.
Round ended soon after that. And…wait…did I just catch that look that I’ve shared with people at the end of a really good and fun BJJ round? I know I gave it. If so, that was a level up. I may have actually gotten some respect from someone who is there to get challenged and improve.
Maybe I’m not a rest round for everybody. That’s a big step up for me.
