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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Homecoming and Claustrophobia

Holidays, sickness, family, laziness, they have all kept me away from BJJ for the last month or so.  Tonight I went back and it was just like a homecoming.  I was warmly greeted by my BJJ family.  I realized how much I missed them and they let me know I was missed.  It was great.  I had a a interesting experiences in class that I can’t go without mentioning.  It was a very eventful night. 

I came face to face with my old nemesis claustrophobia.  Mark, our instructor, was demonstrating what looked liked a reversed scarf hold.  I was the dummy.  I started to get claustrophobia.  We weren’t moving.  He was just explaining.  I had a few minutes, which seemed like hours, to think about what I was feeling.  I knew I wasn’t in danger and that Mark would quickly let go if I tapped.  But there inside of me was the panic.  It wouldn’t go away no matter how I reasoned with it.  I felt irritated that it was so primal and that I couldn’t banish it with the obvious fact that I was in no immediate danger.   I controlled it.  I didn’t tap.  What I learned in that short while was I will always have fear and I can master it.  I had a internal battle and won.  The war rages on.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Hayabusa Ashi MMA Footgrips VS GrappleSock VX2 for BJJ

Ashi_socksWhile surfing MMAOutLet.com I came across the Hayabusa Ashi MMA Footgrips and I thought about getting myself a pair.  But before I could do that I had to see how they compared to some of the grapple socks I have seen and know that people like.  So in the spirit of Christmas I gave a pair of the Hayabusa Ashi’s to a friend who I know had the GrappleSock VX2.  I let him wear both and then interrogated him on what he liked and didn’t like.  Here are my findings:

Hayabusa Ashi MMA Footgrips:

Pros

  1. Very comfortable fit.  Good ankle support but not too stiff.
  2. Red studs on bottom sole did NOT come off after first use and wash.
  3. He liked having open toes as opposed to the VX2 which has toe holes.

Cons

  1. Neoprene material made his foot sweat but that was expected.
  2. Grip on bottom did seem to happen more near the arch of my foot than on the ball where he expected it.

GrappleSock VX2:

Pros

  1. Less expensive
  2. Good Customer Service

Cons

  1. Lost all grip from the ball of the foot after first use and wash. He called GrappleSock about this and they said it wasn’t supposed to happen and sent him replacement socks, but the replacements did the same thing.
  2. He had a couple busted up toes so getting the VX2s on were much more difficult.

It looks like I’m going to pick up a pair of the Hayabusa Ashi and try them out myself.  I’ll do a post on my first hand experience.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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Kindle Jiu-Jitsu

I bought my wife a Kindle Wireless Reading Device from Amazon.com for Christmas.  It has become a big hit.  In fact I am getting a little jealous.  Its just about replaced me it feels like or at least that is what I kid my wife about.

I am thinking of getting myself one.  Of course what is the first thing I thought of “Jiu-Jitsu”.  What books could I get on my Kindle that were related to BJJ if I bought one.  A quick search at Amazon showed me 19 books.  Most were not in my collection and a few I thought might be worth having.  I was a little disappointed to see that some of the really important ones to me like Jiu-Jitsu University were not on the list.

This started me thinking how hard is it to create your own Kindle book?  It can’t be that hard.  What would I want to say that would be worth putting into a book?  I’d want to talk about BJJ of course.

Have any of my readers created a Kindle book and know where to start?  If so please share with us.  I’m sure a lot of us are interested.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu

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New Years Jiu-Jitsu Goals for 2011

Oh, man!  2011 is here and its time to review my goals I set last year in my post “New Years Jiu-Jitsu Goals for 2010”.  I have been thinking about this post and avoiding it too.  I did better this year on my goals then in 2009.  This year I actually know what I succeeded and failed at.  LOL!

Successes

  1. Tap out some one I never have before in my school (I got Pat and Chris both purple belts)
  2. Compete in a tournament (I competed in the Scrap for the Skull Tournament)
  3. Read all my Jiu-Jitsu Books from cover to cover. Even the ones I buy new this year (I was close enough I am going to count this one)

Failures

  1. Increase my stamina (I gained weight and went backwards on this)
  2. Post a blog to www.jiujitsumap.com 5 days each week (I did ok for the first half of the year but then lost the habit)
  3. Get up early every morning and drill with my Submission Master Grappling Dummy.  (This was just plain wishful thinking.  I don’t get up in the morning)
  4. Increase my flexibility
  5. Watch all my Jiu-Jitsu DVDs.  Even the ones I buy new this year.
  6. Keep my BJJ Journal up to date.
  7. Know all the purple belt requirements.

30% is a “F”.  If I let that get me down then I’m done for.  I will roll over all the ones that I was unsuccessful in to 2011.  I’m not going to beat myself up about it.  After all I do BJJ for fun and exercise not for a living.

Jiu-Jitsu is Life and Life is Jiu-Jitsu