Out of Rhythm

Since I have to work tomorrow night, I'll be missing practice once again. I already missed last Wednesday due to this head cold that I developed after going for a hike upon my return from San Diego. And now, with work tomorrow night, I just can't seem to get back in the swing of things.

I'll hit practice this coming Wednesday, but since my last practice wasn't exactly stellar since I wasn't feeling well, this will really be my first workout on the tatami since the clinic. That's rather sad, I know, but it's what it is because of this stupid cold.

Heck, I haven't even really been able to get back to the gym either. I'm going to try tonight, as well as tomorrow morning, but I had such a difficult time breathing because of the plugged up sinuses. I'd rather spare you any further details beyond that, but it just wasn't fun trying to do anything physical, even if it was walking up a flight of steps.

Hopefully I'll get a good workout on Wednesday, as well as those trips to the gym this week, and can be back at 'em and into the swing of things by the end of this week. I'd like to get back into a normal schedule and feel like I'm actually doing something. This feeling of sluggishness is driving me nuts.

Coaching the Kids

Even though I'm not feeling well enough to practice I felt well enough to go in and help out with the kid's class. I went to work today, so I figured I could at least head over to the dojo and help out if I was needed. We had a brand new kid, so I was needed.

Scott worked with him on a few things and I took the other few kids (it was a small practice tonight) and headed down to the other end of the mat and worked with them on some nage komi.

Normally we do nage komi, even with the kids, on the big blue crash pads. Tonight I had them go without and do moving throws. It was a new experience for them and they struggled with it a bit, but because of the heavy amounts of randori we do they picked up on it quickly.

I had to explain a few times about the power hand and the movement they were looking to day. By this I mean that they had to pull uke, who wasn't resisting at all really, to their right hand, which was on the lapel, if they wanted to throw with a right sided seoi nage. If they tried to throw righty by pulling on their sleeve and moving to the left, they'd never catch up to them to do it.

All in all I think it went well and it was good to have the small class tonight so we could mix things up a bit. One of the big take aways I had from San Diego is that we need to get out of the ruts we find ourselves in so often. It becomes easy to be repetitous and I want to try to keep us out of that. And I think tonight was a good example of changing things up, even slightly, to make it different and to help improve learning.

We also, throughout the night, changed up some of the games we play. We played a classic the kids love, British Bulldog (or Sharks and Penguins for others), but we also played a new one that JudoSensei on the Judo Forum tipped me off on; it involved knocking the other kids down while trying to maintain your own balance as you're bouncing around on one foot as you hold the other up.

The kids loved the new game and I know will want to play it more. And the funny thing is, it's a game that makes them work more than any of the other ones we ever do since, as I tell them, if they get knocked down or put their foot down, they have to do five pushups before they get back up and get in the game. They loved it though, so it'll quickly find a place in our games list.

Sick From Practice

I've had a head cold all weekend, ever since going and doing some hikes up in Rocky Mountain National Park and along Trail Ridge Road, and judo practice last night brought it back something fierce this morning.

I woke up to get ready for work and just couldn't get out of bed. Instead I lay there coughing and trying to breathe as my sinuses are all plugged up. I'm unfortunately now staying home from work trying to nurse it and not push anything, which would then make it even worse.

I thought, last night, that my head cold has been a result of allergies since this June has been the second wettest June on record in the history of Colorado. I've never suffered from allergies before, but I wondered if I may be now since others have been developing issues because of the precipitation making everything bloom.

Either way, I'm a mess today and have no desire to do anything but lay down and relax...which is exactly what I'm going to do now. Staying inside and away from any allergens and the heat are definitely a key for me today since I know they won't be helping anything.

It's over 90 again, and that's part of what killed me at practice last night. The heat in the dojo was unbearable since we couldn't even get a good breeze running through, and I know it's definitely a contributing factor to how I feel today since I had to step off the mat a couple of times to settle a dizzy spell.

So today is rest and relaxation with some good old fashioned over the counter meds.

Showing What I Learned

Now comes the real task at hand: showing what I learned in San Diego to everyone in our dojo. I'm not sure if it'll be asked of me at practice tomorrow night, but I need to be prepared in case my club mate and I are called upon.

I've been running some things through my head over the weekend trying to figure out what would be best. I have a few ideas, but haven't settled on anything quite yet. At least I know it'll only have to be the ne waza that I'll show.

Why's that? Well, my club mate and I, half way through the Tuesday session, talked about how we'd separate things out if we're were asked to demonstrate what we learned, and we agreed that he'd do the tachi waza and I the ne waza.

I'm happy this this since, although not great by any means in my opinion, my ne waza is MUCH better than my tachi waza. And my club mate is much better at his tai sabaki and abilities standing than I am. I know I need to work at this and that it's a big weakness of mine, but doing it while demonstrating what I learned to others doesn't seem like the proper time.

I'm excited for practice tomorrow night. The hard part will be to narrow it down to two or three things that I think would be good to show that night; the rest I can do over time as am asked. I think it's best not to overload everyone with too many things at once though, more for my own good than theirs since I'd hate to mix up the things I learned and not demonstrate it properly.

BJJ Instruction

There are so many pointless discussions about whether Judo or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is better. It really doesn't matter which is better since it's more about which is better for the individual learning it. It's not like there's some dominant martial art that trumps all. Each one has pluses and minuses and they all have something to contribute.

I was strongly reminded of this at the Judo Forum Camp in San Diego when Saulo Ribeiro dropped in for an hour to give some instruction. If you're not familiar with his name, then you're not alone because I wasn't either since I don't read much about the BJJ world. I'm strictly a judo guy and don't plan to change from that at all.

But, to give credit where credit is due, Ribeiro can claim six world jiu-jitsu championships, among a long laundry list of other accomplishments. He is a highly skilled athlete and definitely proved it in only an hour's time with us at the clinic.

And oh, for what it's worth, he's also the coach of MMA star Diego Sanchez, who won in Las Vegas, with Ribeiro in his corner, just a couple of days before the clinic.

I was so impressed with what Ribeiro showed us that I was compelled to buy his book, Jiu-Jitsu University, at the dojo and get it autographed. I know not all of what he demonstrated is necessarily applicable to judo, but it gave me a lot of good thoughts and ideas about things that could work for me in judo.

I haven't had time since returning from San Diego to crack open the book and take a real good look at it, but I am certainly excited to do so. I'm sure there's a lot in there that won't work for judo, or for me, but at least I'm getting ideas and can learn from it.

And when it comes down to it, that's what's most important. We're all learning from each other and helping each other. It's not a Judo v. BJJ argument or discussion, it's just all of us learning and helping each other.

Nothing is of greater importance than education;

the teachings of one virtuous man can reach many,

and that which has been learned by one generation

can be passed on to a hundred. ~ Jigoro Kano

San Diego Camp

I was only there for a day, but I had a blast and wish it could've been much more. I learned so much that it's really difficult to articulate it all here. Many of the techniques I learned in the one day, particularly the morning session, I already knew, but I learn some finer points on things that made everything so much easeier.

It really was fantastic. There was so much judo wisdom in the room it really wasn't funny. It made me feel like the small fish that I really and truly am. I can lose sight of that at times in my small, little corner of the world, but I was quickly reminded of that as I had Jimmy Pedro Sr., first thing in the morning, yelling at me telling me I was doing something wrong.

At first I was affronted by this, but then I took a moment and quickly understood exactly where my very small position in the judo universe really is, and that's still near the bottom rung of the ladder. I'm no where near any where of these folks in terms of knowledge and ability and it's just amazing to hear from them.

This one day was probably the best day in my judo life, and that's including my shodan grading. I absolutely loved it and would put it head and shoulders above being ranked as a yudansha because I realize, more now so than ever, that rank really doesn't matter. We're all learning and sharing with each other and need each other to grow. And no matter how much you think you know and can do, there's always someone with more knowledge and better technique.

That was simply evident when I had Jim Pedro Sr. pinning me, to demonstrate a technique to a club mate, and I knew there was no way I could get out from this man's techinque, even thoug he's half my size. The air was sucked out of me. And when Ronda Rousey threw me with sumi gaeshi to help another student understand a technique, I learned exactly what "smooth" was.

I can only feel for my club mate, who I have an emense amount of respect for, after all of the falls he took from her over the days being her uke. I only saw one of the days, but I was told the first was MUCH worse. And I respected him a great deal before, but now it's with more than I can really explain.

I truly and deeply thank all of the clinicians that volunteered their time and, especially, Paul Nogaki Sensei for organizing the whole event. I had a spectacular time and will be making it a point to go again next year. I just hope that then there'll be more people from the judo forum to work out with; after all, the more the merrier.

And don't you worry, this isn't all I have to say about the subject. I'll definitely blog more in the near future about the camp. Also look to my travel blog, through my profile page, for a posting or two about my trip as well. There's just so much to say and so little time.

Starting Without Me

The Judo Forum Camp in San Diego has started and I'm here at work. I leave this afternoon, but now that I see the picture that Jerry Hays has posted on the forum page, I'm even more disappointed that I'm not there now. It's an interesting mixture of emotions, disappointment and excitement, but it's how I feel.

I can't wait to get there tonight, meet up with everyone and then get on the mat tomorrow. I have all of my bags packed, including the Otaki/Draeger kata book, and now all I need to do is go home and get them and jump on my flight. Within a matter of hours I'll be there.