"Don't tell the ESL guy that!"

Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the face.” –Mike Tyson


Friday evening women's class in Bellevue.  It's a little awkward to have this new women's class right before Friday night class, as I love Friday night class and it's going to be nearly impossible to do both back to back. I just don't have the stamina/cardio unless I phone one of them in, and I can't do that because it's cheating may partner. Unless maybe I have a really really REALLY new white belt for the first class.

Tonight that was NOT happening. We had an odd number of people, and so I drew Professor Doug. So much for phoning it in! I was like, "Okay, shoulder to the boulder now,"  He did a few reps but let me have most of the drilling, and we were moving at a fairly good clip. I was quite exhausted by the end.

Standup- choke from behind. Pull down on forearm and get chin down. step to the side while shoving elbow up. Shuck the elbow over your head and secure opponent's arm in a figure 4 (snug up really close or s/hell wiggle out). This was difficult for me on the stupid side.
Knee to face, then take down and armbar.

Pull guard from standing, then situp sweep. By the end-of-class drill reps, my abs were howling for mercy and I had to reprimand Doug twice for rolling over for me instead of MAKING me do the technique correctly, even when I was struggling.

Standup, judo grips. Yank foe toward you with the lapel grip and try to reap the leg. Bad guy steps out. Pick the other leg. At first I was anxious about getting kneed in the face while leaning over to pick that second leg, but Doug proved that *if* you get the person off balance enough first, they are too busy trying to stand on that leg to be able to life it up and knee your face.

A little QOTH (Queen Of the Hill), pass guard vs sweep.

Prof. Carlos started out by calling us "women" but then switched to "girls" on Doug's advice. (sigh)

Me: Don't tell the ESL guy that!
Doug: (puzzled expression)
Me: Tell him to call us women! Anybody over 12 should be "woman" not "girl".
Doug: (pointing at the single pubescent girl in the group) What about her?
Me: Since she's in a group of adult women, just include her in "women", don't single her out and make her feel weird.

In the locker room after, one of the white belt WOMEN was talking about how I had instructed her to relax and breathe during the QOTH, and another one exclaimed, "Oh yeah, you told me that same thing two weeks ago!!" Then another one started talking about how she was afraid to spar because she felt like she did not know what she was doing, and the whole roomful looked at me like I knew something, LOL.

I told them that I had gone a really really long time just drilling before trying to spar, because I felt the same way, and it was okay. That they just needed to work with the right people, and I could point out which men were careful and helpful. "NO WHITE BELT MEN."

Me: (In private message):
Doug was teasing you, Professor! You should call your women's class "women" and not "girls"!
If it is an informal situation or people you know well, it doesn't matter as much. If you are talking to me and Chrisanne in the lobby and you call us "girls", we won't be mad. But on the mat where we try to be a little more formal, and with new students you don't know well enough yet to consider them friends, it's polite to call any female over 12 "women" and not girls. Sometimes calling them girls makes it sound bad, like calling a class of men "little boys".

How to Walk Like a Narc

“It’s not gonna get any better.” –John Fogh


Boss is getting me access to a shower at the hospital, so that I can do the lunchtime class in Bellevue on Tues/Thurs on occasions that I have a 15:00 shift. The Bellevue school doesn't have a shower, and there just wasn't adequate time to go home in between. Felt like a waste.
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Told this favorite story on Jiu Jitsu forums today, and I can't remember if I've related it here:


I work for a charity that traps stray cats and spays/neuters them to help keep the stray cat population under control. This trapping often takes place in bad neighborhoods in the middle of the night, because this is when the kitties come out.

A friend and I were out on the railroad tracks in the middle of the night, in a Bad Place. There were cars parked all along the tracks- the people in them doing Lord knows what, but probably not playing Parcheesi.

I got out of the car and walked a ways down the tracks to look for the stray cat feeding station that I had been told was there. I could feel myself being watched by the people in the parked cars, and I was very consciously doing my "Don't F with me" walk- not quite a swagger or anything that would invite status challenge, just "I'm not prey".

I got back in the car, locked the doors, and my friend and I sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then, apropos of nothing, he suddenly turned to me and said, "You could never make a pot buy on the street, because you walk like a narc."



 

More self defense

When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away. 


Lunchtime BJJ at GB Sea. My eyes were a little irritated from my contacts, so I had to wear my glasses to see the drills and then take them off to perform. It was a real PITA.


The prof and a white belt guy used me for a practice dummy to work Del a Riva sweeps before class. Then Steve came in and walked around shaking everyone's hand on the mat. When he got to me, he seemed to be bracing himself. I can't imagine why. Certainly not because I would use the handshake to yank myself into Del a Riva guard and try to take him down, then cross collar choke him from guard. When he didn't tap to the choke, I sit-up swept him and counted points for mount.


More "self defense" today.


Same standing front straight-arm choke defense as yesterday (with throw and kimura lock). I was fortunate enough to drill with Steve, who also complimented my throws. I was putting him down harder than I had put Lindsey down... not because I like him less, but because he's a purple belt and I figure he can take it.  :D


Next: opponent is in your guard, and stands up in preparation for squatting to punch you in the face. You open guard and slide down the legs, staying close and up on your shoulders. Feet on hir hips. Brace one foot and use the other to punch straight up into the chin. Both feet back on hips, shove hir away. When s/he comes back, Lean on elbow and technical lift-kick to just below knee. Rise up on hand and do it again, to just above knee. I had trouble remembering to stay on the elbow for the first one... but when I failed to do so, I had no range left for #2.


Then: opponent is in your closed guard, punching at your face. You parry two punches, gripping the wrists (not the gi sleeves) lightly and letting the fists continue to your cross ears. On punch #3, you yank a little harder and stuff the other hand. Triangle.


Steve and I had good feedback exchange. He noted that my triangles sucked on my bad side (my wording, not his), and it took us a little back and forth before we finally figured out that I wasn't hipping up high enough on my awkward side. For his weak side triangle, I noted that his body was too straight to mine and that he should probably be more diagonal. As soon as he adjusted that, the choke made my eyes feel like they were bugging out of my head... much tighter.


I always go out of my way to be verbally appreciative of my favorite drilling partners, so I made sure to take time at the end of class to tell him how much I value his input.