SW Portland Martial Arts Blog

Wait, They Can HIT Me?

May 9th, 2016

As a system, we try to continually emphasize practicality.  Things need to work in order to stick around in our style.  If they don’t work, we should discard them and change them out for something better.

BJJ works.  The techniques are solid for defending yourself if you have been taken to the ground.  The techniques are also solid for using to pin an opponent to the ground and keep them under control.  As an BJJ practitioner will tell you, when it comes to self defense and practicality, you need to drill your BJJ against strikes.  If you don’t, you will be in for a sad surprise when you try to use your grappling in a self defense situation.

So tonight we worked a simple mount escape against no resistance.  Then we added some slow punches in.  It is remarkable how much more difficult the reversal is to do when someone is hitting you (even slowly) BUT it still works – and it will work even better if we practice it more… back to work.

 

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No Gi

May 3rd, 2016
No gi class 5.3.16

What is the difference between regular BJJ class and no Gi BJJ class?  Simple: you wear a Gi in the regular class and you don’t in the no Gi class.

The more complex difference is, of course, do the two classes “feel” different?  For me, yes – they feel very different.  With the Gi, there is stuff to grip.  There is friction.  When you get a hold of something, can hang on to it.  With no Gi, stuff slips and slides this way and that – it feels faster.

Do both.  Do both to feel the interesting difference.  Do both for practicality.  Sometimes people are wearing jackets and pants.  Sometimes they are wearing a flimsy t-shirt and shorts.

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Being a Good Partner

April 22nd, 2016

Rule #1 of being a good partner: meet them where they are at.  If you have a higher skill than your partner, work to find a pace that gives them challenge.

One of the best signs that you are doing this correctly is when their face displays a mix of excitement, fun and nervousness.  If you see that look on their face, you’re doing it right!  One of the best signs that you’re doing it wrong is when their face is wracked with panic.  Few people learn well in a state of panic.

For today’s drill, we worked back and forth with a partner trying to expose and then shore up defensive weaknesses in our striking game.  The drill is fairly simple: throw strikes at your partner until you find something that lands.  When you find a strike that lands, throw it again but slightly slower.  Keep throwing it until your partner figures out a way to defend against it.  It is best to start with single attacks and if your partner does well against that, to start putting in combinations.  If they are rocking the defense against combos, try adding some fakes and see if you can find any holes in their game.

Remember, by improving your partner’s defense, by meeting them where they are at skill wise, you will improve their sparring game.  By improving their sparring game, you will help create a better partner who will, in turn, help to bump your game up as well.

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Serial

April 17th, 2016

I am digging Joe’s Weightlifting class!  I’ve been to seminars before but the once a week for 8 weeks format is helping me out so much more.  I just don’t think I can absorb as much information in one 8 hour session as I can in 8 one hour sessions.

I think we should do a powerlifting series next!  And for the martial arts side, a boxing series!  And a Judo series!

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Robert Gray Demo

April 8th, 2016

We had a blast over at Robert Gray Middle School on Thursday, showing our stuff.  Thanks to all the students who participated, the parents who helped bring their kids and to Rich for the photos!

Posted in Kung Fu | Comments Off on Robert Gray Demo

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