Takeoff, crash

People comfortable with high levels of violence have learned to skip steps in escalation. -Rory Miller




Thursday and Friday BJJ last week- I did it, but was too lazy to write it up.

This Thursday I had to take my dog to the vet- she had a cauliflower ear just like her mommy! So I only got to class on Friday (Kirkland). I only did drills because I just got tattooed the night before (shouldn't have been in there at all... it hurt.... but I just couldn't bear skipping).

Someone got on my case while ago for sticking my *bottom* knee in while trying to replace guard from under side control; I'm not sure why my brain wants to do that, but it does, so I have been trying to break myself of it. Tonight we did a technique wherein you *do* stick your bottom knee in first (HA!) and then swing the top one over the back of the opponent's neck, and attack that arm with a figure 4. Made them summersault, then go belly-down and lock the shoulder. I need to avoid getting so anxious about controlling the person that I can't deal with the figure 4, and I also need to cope with my instinctual reluctance to do *anything* beside let go of everything and try to jump on top once they summersault. You actually have to belly-crawl AWAY from them a bit to get that lock, and they really can't get out, even if my caveman brain is yammering that they are loose and flopping and getting ready to get up and smash me.

I know I have been bad about blogging lately. I had some kind of epiphany last month where I went down to the River and (metaphorically) threw away some burdensome life crap, and then I spent about a week and a half in a strange state of feeling too big for my physical boundaries. It was a very dramatic Kundalini-Awakening type of thing. I have touched it before, but never so strong or lasting that long.  I got really excited ("I'm Superwoman! I am going to do ALL OF THE THINGS now! I am a higher manifestation!"), then I got scared, then I set earnestly to work self-sabotaging (partly by stuffing myself with so much sugar and carbs that I feel exhausted and weak and am fatter than I ever imagined I'd be).  It is a recurrent pattern that I am well aware of, but this time it was happening in 3D, technicolor and Slo-mo. I'm frustated with my state of own-worst-enemy-ness. I remember that feeling, though. I want it back. Permanently.

In the meantime, I persevere in studying both Portuguese and ASL (see how I get in my manic state, LOL... I almost added Chinese on top of it, but decided that that was insane- will save that for later) and studying for the EMT course (which should be starting in February).

I commited to hosting a self-defence class at PSG next year (assuming it's approved, which I can't imagine it wouldn't be). It will be discusion only, focused mainly on how to spot and avoid trouble. I may do a Part 2 with some simple physical tricks if there seems to be enough interest. I asked onlist if there was anyone who would co-host so that we could get some different perspectives and experiences from different training backgrounds. Didn't get a response as of yet. I'll ask again when it gets closer.  I'm excited about it, even if I have to do it by myself. I have all sorts of ideas. I've been thinking of doing it for a few years , but now is the time. The Pagans, the gay folks, the trans folks and other fringe elements are scared and want to know how to stay safe.

Estuda BJJ; Estuda Portuguese

https://www.facebook.com/groups/178233979304527/

We made a little practice page for those of us who are trying to learn Portuguese. Join us if you like.

Can we keep him?

The situation *isn't* over until everyone involved DEEMS it's over.   -Marc MacYoung


Thursday evening BJJ in Bellevue: Another brand new female student (I was able to inform Carlos IN PORTUGUESE that we had a new student!). I helped her as we drilled spider guard passes, then I lined up a safe partner for her for the next class- but it ended up not mattering because we did King Of the Hill all hour.  I might not have stayed for the 2nd class had I known that it would be a SECOND hour of spider guard. (oooo, grips!)

Thursday evening BJJ in Kirkland: My diet's been terrible and my energy level low, and I had to struggle hard to get through these warmups. Had to actually skip the frog-jump portion- I just couldn't- thought I was gonna have a heart attack.   More guard passes, upas, got to have a spar with Dave.

Friday evening BJJ in Bellevue, all King Of the Hill. We were all having so much fun that we extended the class an extra half hour.

We have a visiting Professor, Willas. I asked Amy to tell Carlos that we all like Willas and want to keep him.    ;)   He's really nice and has a lot of good little-guy tricks. Watched him take on this huge muscley (somewhat obnoxious) white belt guy... it was inspiring.

Esta quente.

Instead of thinking about conquering an art form, think instead about kissing it hello, wooing it, exploring it in small, enticing steps. –Julia Cameron


Thursday BJJ in Bellevue: Carlos was absent, and there was a brand new girl taking her first class- so I taught her how to shrimp and then did the drills with her (side control escapes). Then there were a few short spars, and I matched her up with safe people. Will was there- I have not seen him in forever- so I called him out after class and we had a really fun roll.

Thursday BJJ in Bellevue: Standing guard pass drills. Standing spider guard pass by pinning one knee to the floor and underhooking the other thigh. King of the hill, spider guard sweep vs pass. I did pretty horrible today for some reason.

I got to try out my beginning Portuguese on Carlos today. I informed him that he is a very tall Brazilian man. You should have seen his face. He made me repeat it, and made a minor correction. Later I told him that it was too hot in the gym. At the end, I tried to tell him that the class was great, but he didn't understand me.  I hope my pronunciation is not that bad. I will keep trying. I was able to read a comment today on one of his FB posts that was in Portuguese.

Eye-opening

The four lines people cross that take their actions out of the self-defense justification are:
1)The threat isn't physical
2)The threat isn't immediate
3)They cross into excessive force
4)They participate in the creation and escalation of the situation.
-Marc MacYoung

Thursday BJJ in Bellevue. I had a really good spar with Seth; asked him to not let me do any escapes so that I would be forced to try other things. He praised me for staying on the move.

Thursday BJJ in Bellevue.  A lot of King Of the Hill from back mount. As usual, I was doing well at escaping back mount and I was not doing well at keeping it.

Friday evening BJJ in Bellevue. All spars. Carlos left early, so Chrisanne wanted to spar with me for the first time in forever. I didn't injure her. Another good spar with Seth (no escapes allowed). Kevin.... OMG. Nobody rolls like this guy. Every BJJ artist on the planet should get a chance to roll with this guy once just to experience it.  That Brazilian purple belt woman that I have always found challenging- neither of us was able to tap the other tonight, and we spent a long time working standup... so nice to get to work standup with someone my own size. New girl: she stared at me wide-eyed after time was called and exclaimed, "That was..... so EYE-OPENING!"  

Chrisanne is competing next month for the first time. She has 4 stripes on her blue belt. I have spent a lot of time puzzling over our differing strategies. She has done everything possible to set herself up to win. Whereas anyone who has been reading my blog for a while well knows, I am self-sabotaging- I set things up so that if I lose, I have excuses. It seems like either Chrisanne or I have things fucked up- and I suspect it's me.

Adolescent boys- that critical window

 

Generally, women are more reluctant to fight than men. And when they do, men tend to focus on the abstract, bullshit social construct of “winning” and women are just there to hurt you.  -Rory Miller


Thursday 8-18: walk 2 miles.

 BJJ in Bellevue. All spars. Got worked over by a few higher belts, and coached a few white belts.

Dave has his black belt!!!!!!! So exciting. He was walking in as I pulled into the parking lot, so I leaned out the window and shrieked, "LOOK AT THAT BLACK BELT!!!!!"  Then I called him "Professor" at every possible opportunity.  As we rolled, he said that he didn't feel like a black belt. He said this *as* he was tapping me out.

Amber and Jacquelin got their blues (yay, more colored belt women), Kara got a stripe, Jim got his black. (I managed to escape yet another promotion cycle unstriped.)  I'm happy for them, but I am conscious of how much less stressful the whole process is for me when I'm not getting promoted any more.


Thursday 8-25: walk 2 miles.

 BJJ in Kirkland. Some guard passes. Having a little trouble distinguishing left from right, as usual... my partner did too.... and then we did another pass that involved the same entry only changing sides for the part we were both having trouble with. Good thing this wasn't a Carlos class, where we would have had to do a bunch of rounds of both at the end..... I think our  heads would have exploded. We ended with head-and-arm chokes. I continue to struggle to remember which side to jump to (it's the side where you have their arm).  Next, swinging around and armbarring the opposite side. It is worth trying to keep in mind that you don't always have to focus on the near arm.

A few spars. I felt like a purple belt today (which is rare). I dominated two FRAMO's who usually dominate me- even tapping each of them once. Then Amber brought me back down to earth by pwn'ing me all over the mat. My goal for the day was to not get caught in her triangle. There were a couple of near misses, but I succeeded in that. She had to tap me with other stuff.   :)  I rolled with her son, which was great fun. He reminds me of Will when he was little. Will got visibly bigger every class. There was a tiny window of about four days when we were the same size, and I could still tap him sometimes.  Then it was all over, ha ha.  Ten is just hitting the point where his legs are starting to sprout, and I told him that in another couple of years when they are twice as long as they are now, he is going to be a monster.  I hope I get to roll with him during the window.

On the whole, I left feeling really good.

Master Worlds, and GB Northwest kicked ass and took names. Carlos, Cindy, Christy, John, Anica.

Having some trouble with motivation these past 2 weeks.... skipped both Fridays. Once because it was really hot; the other Friday I was already on the eastside with the gear, and I just decided I was too fucking tired.

Unsanctioned pants

 

 

Good art is a form of prayer. It’s a way to say what is not sayable. –Frederich Busch

 

 

 

 

Thursday and Friday BJJ in Bellevue.

Thursday: Drills and king-of-the-hill from various positions. I did really poorly at KOTH today.

Someone posted a new pic of Christiano Oliviera (GB NW's child-rapist ex-professor) out of jail, on the mats, smiling, with smiling students (including females and a presumably underage green belt), wearing gi pants with the GB logo. I was.... well, less than thrilled.   The buzz is that he's going to open (or buy) a school in Yakima. How he has the nerve to go right back to Yakima, and right back into the BJJ community, I cannot imagine. Guy has no shame and has obviously learned nothing from his experience with the justice system. Despite what he may want us to infer from his togs, however, he is *NOT* worming his way back into GB- which has denounced him. I am really angry that he's running around wearing our logo, but apparently we can't legally stop him from doing that. Nor can we stop him from opening a jiu jitsu school- although he should not legally be able to have underage students. We (including his victim) would be seeing him at comps, though. Lovely.

So because I had said- er, a few things- on Facebook regarding the matter, Rodrigo pulled me into his office on Friday and we had a really, really long talk. I have mixed feelings about this. He didn't tell me or even ask me to shut up- which I appreciate, since he obviously wishes I would. He did reassure me that this asshole is not coming back to GB NW- that in fact if GB (in a worldly sense) accepts him back into the fold in any capacity, Rodrigo will be out the door. There was much discussion about keeping our mats safe and our communication lines open and so on. We disagree on a few points, but I was left feeling that we were on the same side. There was much hugging and possibly a few teary eyed moments. I appreciated that he took the time and effort to do that- especially as it became apparent that he had spent the entire day hashing this over with multiple parties (including the survivor and legal counsel). I was quite surprised, frankly, that I merited being on his short list of people to pow wow with about this. I'm not sure whether to be flattered or dismayed.

Anyhow, I was in Rodrigo's office for almost the entire class time on Friday, and got out just in time to do a few guard pass drills and a couple of rolls- one with Casey (who showed me a fascinating new choke and some refinements to my armbar from mount) and one with one of the white belt ladies (who seems happy for my hints).