Grip, Weightlifting, & Bw Stuff For Bjj/wrestling

[God-man]

Reading all your BJJ posts it seems like your getting the better of most of the people there! Impressive stuff . How come your not a higher belt yet? you seem capable of it. What do you actually have to do to go up a belt?

Thanks, Davesbeard! I do what I can ... which isn't much, hehe.

Well, the thing is, schools differ in their bjj promotion. Like some schools will promote their students more quickly, which in one sense can be an encouragement to them, but in another sense, when a school promotes their students too quickly, the result is that the caliber of blue belts/purple belts/etc. will not be so great. Like there is one school in the area where I live that promotes quicker than our school, and in turn, a 3 or 4 stripe white belt at that school is really like a 1 or 2 stripe white belt at my school. My coach is not one who is going to give away a belt unless you prove many, many times that you have the skill and dedication, which is fine by me. And generally, it usually takes (on average) close to 2, or even 3 years to get promoted up to a higher belt in BJJ. I've been doing the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a little over 7 months, so I'm sure I have a ways to go before I get to blue.

Also, some schools actually give tests (not written, of course) to see if you are ready to move up a belt. Our school doesn't do that. My coach basically observes how you do against others in live matches to see whether or not you are capable of implimenting and executing moves in a real live go.

Plus, if you promote someone too quickly, like say a white to a blue, they are going to get raped in a competition against a blue belt that really had to earn his blet, see? Hope this all makes sense.

[God-man]

Hopefully I'll be able to make it to Saturday's class/practice ... that is, if I don't wuss out like a pansy!!!! Yeah, I'm talkin' to YOU, unseenbeat!!! haaaa

Whatever, NANCY!!!!!

HO, HO ... you turned your back on me, HOHOHO! You made me mad and I almost liked it!!!! -guy at the phone booth in Dumb and Dumber

[Davesbeard]

Reading all your BJJ posts it seems like your getting the better of most of the people there! Impressive stuff . How come your not a higher belt yet? you seem capable of it. What do you actually have to do to go up a belt?

Thanks, Davesbeard! I do what I can ... which isn't much, hehe.

Well, the thing is, schools differ in their bjj promotion. Like some schools will promote their students more quickly, which in one sense can be an encouragement to them, but in another sense, when a school promotes their students too quickly, the result is that the caliber of blue belts/purple belts/etc. will not be so great. Like there is one school in the area where I live that promotes quicker than our school, and in turn, a 3 or 4 stripe white belt at that school is really like a 1 or 2 stripe white belt at my school. My coach is not one who is going to give away a belt unless you prove many, many times that you have the skill and dedication, which is fine by me. And generally, it usually takes (on average) close to 2, or even 3 years to get promoted up to a higher belt in BJJ. I've been doing the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a little over 7 months, so I'm sure I have a ways to go before I get to blue.

Also, some schools actually give tests (not written, of course) to see if you are ready to move up a belt. Our school doesn't do that. My coach basically observes how you do against others in live matches to see whether or not you are capable of implimenting and executing moves in a real live go.

Plus, if you promote someone too quickly, like say a white to a blue, they are going to get raped in a competition against a blue belt that really had to earn his blet, see? Hope this all makes sense.

Ah right, sounds like a good system. Keep at it!

[God-man]

Reading all your BJJ posts it seems like your getting the better of most of the people there! Impressive stuff . How come your not a higher belt yet? you seem capable of it. What do you actually have to do to go up a belt?

Thanks, Davesbeard! I do what I can ... which isn't much, hehe.

Well, the thing is, schools differ in their bjj promotion. Like some schools will promote their students more quickly, which in one sense can be an encouragement to them, but in another sense, when a school promotes their students too quickly, the result is that the caliber of blue belts/purple belts/etc. will not be so great. Like there is one school in the area where I live that promotes quicker than our school, and in turn, a 3 or 4 stripe white belt at that school is really like a 1 or 2 stripe white belt at my school. My coach is not one who is going to give away a belt unless you prove many, many times that you have the skill and dedication, which is fine by me. And generally, it usually takes (on average) close to 2, or even 3 years to get promoted up to a higher belt in BJJ. I've been doing the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a little over 7 months, so I'm sure I have a ways to go before I get to blue.

Also, some schools actually give tests (not written, of course) to see if you are ready to move up a belt. Our school doesn't do that. My coach basically observes how you do against others in live matches to see whether or not you are capable of implimenting and executing moves in a real live go.

Plus, if you promote someone too quickly, like say a white to a blue, they are going to get raped in a competition against a blue belt that really had to earn his blet, see? Hope this all makes sense.

Ah right, sounds like a good system. Keep at it!

I sure will!

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Friday:

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2.5" FBBC Crusher singles (up to 105lbs)

Ok, this thing just whoops me. I can't even get 105lbs w/ my right hand on this. Suppossedly chalk helps with this thing, but I have none. It rotates like it has just been greased up, too. It's not THAT much bigger than the Rolling Thunder ... I don't get it. I guess I'm really am a nancy.

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Rolling Thunder timed holds (w/ 135lbs)

I was able to hold onto the 135lbs for a little over 6 seconds after doing the fbbc crusher max attmepts. meh

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Pinch Grip

sets w/ 2 25lb plates (50lbs)

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Close-grip Dumbbell Military Press

8 x 45lbs dumbbells

8 x 50lbs dumbbells

6 x 55lbs dumbbells

1 x 60lbs dumbbells (weeeeak)

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Dumbbell Hammer Curls

8 x 40lb dumbbells

8 x 45lb dumbbells

4 x 50lb dumbbells

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Skull-Crushers

8 x 60lbs

8 x 80lbs

4 x 90lbs

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Deadlift lockouts (from 20")

10 x 135

8 x 225

6 x 315

I've never done them before ... they felt pretty good, and I did a good job of keeping my posture, head up, back straight, chest out, etc..

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I've got BJJ tomorrow @ 1pm. yay.

[Scott Styles]

Great log. Interesting to see someone actually putting the grip work to use. Keep up the hard work!

[God-man]

Great log. Interesting to see someone actually putting the grip work to use. Keep up the hard work!

Thanks! Grip training has definitely given me a nice advantage in wrestling and bjj.

[God-man]

Saturday:

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class/practice (1:00pm - 2:30pm)

Today a very experienced purple belt taught the class instead of Yousef, the head coach. Don't know where Yousef was .... Anyway, we worked on a sweep and set-up to a triangle choke. Then we worked on side control and a couplel of different set-ups for gi chokes. Then we did live matches:

The first live match was against Court, another whitebelt who was very new. He had done a lot of different "traditional martial arts" like tae kwon do, kempo, etc.. I don't remember how many times I submitted him in the 5 minutes we went at it, but it was a lot. I was not submitted. yay. He eventually kinda gassed out and we stopped and just talked n' stuff.

The second one, again, was against a whitebelt named Mar (spelling?) who been coming kinda off n' on for the past few months. I got him in an armbar, a triangle choke, a kimura, and of course, a keylock . I was not submitted by him, either. yay. He was making a lot of mistakes and I got him in all of those submissions in less than 5 minutes. I felt kinda bad because I thought he had more experience so I was going pretty hard, so when I found out he knew very little (not that I know a lot), we just spent the rest of the time working on some basic guard passing techniques together.

The third and final live match was against a 4 stripe whitebelt who I had never seen before named Clint. He's been doing BJJ for about 2 years, and he was pretty cool. We went at it for what seemed forever ... I think it was between 10 to 15 minutes ... which can seem like an eternity in combat. Anyway, we both ended up kinda in a stalemate, and neither of us were able to submit each other. We kinda went in circles in a sense that, I'd be in his guard, then he'd eventually sweep me and put me on bottom, and then I'd eventually somehow get back on top of him in his guard, and then we'd do all of that all over again. Of course, in between all of that, there were numerous submission attempts, mostly by Clint. He almost got me in an armbar. I knew what he was doing as he was setting it up, so I baited him and when he tried it, I eventually got out and regained top position. He almost got me in an omoplata right after that, but again, I ripped out of it. He went for a bunch of gi chokes (which are annoying, lol), none of which worked. He almost had me in one, where he was crushing my shoulder up against my neck and smothering me, so I basically put my hands on his right cheek and did a "tricep pulldown" motion and ripped out of the choke. Then he started bleeding on his forehead later on ... I don't know if I accidentally scratched him or not, but we were both dead tired and he just went and cleaned his face up and we both stopped after that. I'd say that he was winning positionally, since he got full mount on me like twice, I think. After all of that, class was over and we sat around and talked for a while, then I went home.

I need to learn more defense against sweeps.

Edited June 10, 2006 by God-man

[JasonL]

Nice lifts, Jason! How has it been going? Anything new on sherdog

Thanks. Nothing new but gossip on Sherdog. Its pityful the things they talk about sometimes. I am just there out of bordom and it has a lot of variety on the forum, lots of different ones to go too.

[God-man]

Nice lifts, Jason! How has it been going? Anything new on sherdog

Thanks. Nothing new but gossip on Sherdog. Its pityful the things they talk about sometimes. I am just there out of bordom and it has a lot of variety on the forum, lots of different ones to go too.

That's cool. I still go there sometimes and check out the grappling forum and strength forum, and I always go to sherdog during a big mma event to see the spoilers, haha.

[EricMilfeld]

Paul, I'm getting a sense of what kind of grappler you are. You're one of those annoying smaller guys who puts bigger, slower, not so sneaky guys like myself in all kinds of compromising positions. Aaarghh!!! You guys really tick me off! Ha, ha! (Take this as a compliment.)

I did pretty good tonight at Jiu Jitsu, I didn't tap out, and in fact, got three tap outs collectively from some other white belts. One was a gi choke, and the other two were my old standbys, ankle locks. I'm super weak at escaping from the various positions and maintaining the same. About all I got going for me is my physical strength and stubborness. My stamina is pretty sub par at the moment. I intend to correct this, with probably rope skipping.

Hey, you ever get this? It took me so ridiculously long to choke out that guy with the lapel choke that the joints in my fingers feel as if they have arthritis! I mean they hurt! Kind of ironic. A grip nut hurting his hands in jiu jitsu! I know it's because I'm not acclimated to going full force with basically no substance between my fingers to prevent hyper flexion of the joints (if that's the right terminology). I hope my fingers do adapt to this new stress.

[God-man]

Paul, I'm getting a sense of what kind of grappler you are. You're one of those annoying smaller guys who puts bigger, slower, not so sneaky guys like myself in all kinds of compromising positions. Aaarghh!!! You guys really tick me off! Ha, ha! (Take this as a compliment.)

I did pretty good tonight at Jiu Jitsu, I didn't tap out, and in fact, got three tap outs collectively from some other white belts. One was a gi choke, and the other two were my old standbys, ankle locks. I'm super weak at escaping from the various positions and maintaining the same. About all I got going for me is my physical strength and stubborness. My stamina is pretty sub par at the moment. I intend to correct this, with probably rope skipping.

Hey, you ever get this? It took me so ridiculously long to choke out that guy with the lapel choke that the joints in my fingers feel as if they have arthritis! I mean they hurt! Kind of ironic. A grip nut hurting his hands in jiu jitsu! I know it's because I'm not acclimated to going full force with basically no substance between my fingers to prevent hyper flexion of the joints (if that's the right terminology). I hope my fingers do adapt to this new stress.

Hahahaha, yeah, I guess you're on to me and my sneaky little-man ways, ha. Seriously, that's awesome that you slapped on 3 submission on others! AND you didn't tap out! Man, if your 'standbys' are anklelocks, I can't wait to come over to see you at peakbjj, 'cause I just started getting real interested in anklelocks and toeholds n' stuff. I have yet to get anybody in an anklelock before (because I've never tried it in a live match before), so you'll have to show me the ropes! I just bought a DVD of Igor Yakimov's (a world Sambo champ) leg locks, which is awesome.

Yeah, I don't have any advice about escaping positions, ha. Actually, I consider myself not too bad at escaping mount/side-control/etc., but it's not because I have good technique, but because I am real wirey and wormy and I have a real good wrestlers bridge to explode off the bottom and reverse others.

So have you been using your super-crazy grip strength to your advantage in bjj? And yeah, that is weird that your fingers hurt from the gi choke .... Maybe it's just because you're an old man! j/k Honestly, I haven't had that experience before ... but then again, I also have never tried choking someone with the gi for a real long time. If I'm doing a gi choke and it is taking a real long time because of the person defending with their hands/arms, I usually try to trick them into a keylock or kimura real unexpectedly, like 'surprise!'. Sometimes I try to bait the person into thinking that I am doing a gi choke or something and as soon as they defend with one (or both) of their hands/arms, I'll suddenly slip on an arm-lock real quickly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Anyway, again, congrats on your submission!!!

Edited June 13, 2006 by God-man

[God-man]

Tuesday: (weightroom workout, then went to BJJ after that (see bottom of post))

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Bodyweight Pullups

1 set of 15 reps

Meh, I just felt like going light on these today and giving my lats a little rest.

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Rolling Thunder singles (up to 160lbs)

Man, I got 160 up like 5 or 6 times today, but I just wasn't able to hold on enough to lock out. Each time I'd get it up almost to lock out and then I couldn't hold on anymore. dah! Bad day. I could tell by the way I was warming up with 145 and 150 that it wasn't gonna be good. I could only lock out with 145 once with my left hand, too. rrr

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Pinch Grip

sets w/ 2 25lb plates (50lbs)

sets w/ 1 35lb plate and 1 25lb plate (60lbs)

I got the 60lbs up surprisingly easy with BOTH my left and right hands today, numerous times. yah!

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Close-grip Dumbbell Bench Press

15 x 35 dumbbells

10 x 50lbs dumbbells

8 x 60lbs dumbbells

2 x 70lbs dumbbells (just warming up for the 85's)

5 x 85lb dumbbells NEW PR

3 x 85lb dumbbells NEW PR

I am definitely making progress on the close-grip dumbbell bench press, considering I was having a hard time with the 70lb dumbbells on these about 2 or 3 months ago.

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Squats

10 x 45lbs

10 x 95lbs

10 x 135lbs

6 x 185lbs

6 x 205lbs

6 x 205lbs

Squatting depth was a little below parallel, and the sets wit 205 felt very good. I may be moving up in weight on squats next week.

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Close-grip Dumbbell Military Press

10 x 30lb dumbbells

10 x 30lb dumbbells

10 x 30lb dumbbells

I am not going heavy on these anymore on Tuesdays. I will got heavy on close-grip db military press on Fridays.

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Bent-Over Rows

10 x 135lbs

6 x 185lbs

6 x 185lbs

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Skull-Crushers

10 x 40lbs

8 x 80lbs

7 x 90lbs NEW PR

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Dumbbell Hammer Curls

8 x 40lb dumbbells

8 x 45lb dumbbells

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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class/practice

Today went well. We worked on some reversals from the guard position which were very cool, then some transitions into triangle chokes and armbars.

The first live match I had was against Adrian, a whitebelt who has been training for a while now and goes to lots of different places to do BJJ. We didn't go for very long. The only thing that happened was he put me in the guard, and then I eventually up-ended him and put him in the guard. Right after that it was time to switch partners already, haha. Not much happening there. Adrian's a real nice guy.

The second live match was against Ali, a very good whitebelt who is a big guy, 6'3", 215lbs. He is real aggressive and it is good to go with him. Last time I went with him, which was a long time ago, he submitted me a couple of times. This match, he was not able to submit me, but I wasn't able to submit him, either. He tried going for a bunch of sweeps which I countered, all except one. The one where I did get sweeped, he took my back and almost sank in a rear-naked choke, but I was able to defend against it, and then get I managed to transition and get back on top of him, and that's when the match ended.

Then the third match I went against Zane, a huge whitebelt (270lbs ). Although he is very big, I was able to submit him with 2 keylocks and one armbar. He was not able to really do anything or submit me. I actually reversed him with a wrestler's bridge twice when he was on top of me, which definitely surprised me.

Then the fourth match was against Sinah, a 3rd degree blackbelt Judo master who is also a purple belt in BJJ ... yeah. This guy is a beast. These are his credentials on Star Jiu-Jitsu's website:

"Coach Sina Haddad is a recognized World Champion specializing in Judo and has trained at the Kodokan in Japan.

- Third Degree Black Belt in Judo

- Silver Medalist (Iranian Armed Forces in Italy)

- Silver Medalist (Kier Bulgaria)

- Bronze Medalist (Central China)

- 20 years experience in Judo

- 10 years experience in coaching Judo

- Over 150 gold medals Judo - Gold Medalist (Dallas Invitational Judo Championship)

- Iranian National Judo Team Member - Six Years - 2 time Gold Medalist (Lonestar Championship)

- Gold Medalist (Turkish / Iranian Championship) - Silver Medalist Texas All Star Judo Tournament "

Yeah .... Anyway, I had to go up against him. The last time I went up against this guy, he submitted me like 7 or 8 times in a matter of like a little over 10 minutes. Today we had a match for like 7 minutes, and ... he only submitted me ONCE (with a gi choke, which he is awesome at because of his Judo stuff)!!! YAY!!! hahaha Actually, in all seriousness, that was kinda like a victory for me, because I really was able to shut down a lot of his sweeps and submissions this time, so although I did get submitted that one time, this really was a little victory for me. Of course, I did not submit Sinah during the match ... THIS time ... haha.

Then, the fifth match I went up against David, a fellow whitebelt and practicioneer of many different traditional martial arts. We only went for like a minute. He actually got full mount on me, but again, I was able to reverse him and got back on top of him in what seemed like half-guard (it all happened so fast), but live match time was up right after that happened, so that was it.

WHEW! I am tired. Gonna go take a shower and a nappy now.

Edited June 13, 2006 by God-man

[EricMilfeld]

Paul, don't be looking for me to show you the ropes in anything jiu jitsu related. I guess my old standby is actually called an achilles lock? It's the move where you lean back and crank on the guy's achilles tendon with your forearm. It's also the way a blue belt was kind enough to injure my leg for me last week, thereby teaching me the folly of trying to be too macho. But it must be the simplest submission tactic in grappling. Right up my alley!

So far, it doesn't really seem like my grip training has given me any significant advantage. I'm sure it is an advantage, but I can't recall a situation where it was directly responsible for my avoiding or inflicting a tap out.

I know one thing, you're making great progress on all fronts! Keep up the good work!

Paul, I'm getting a sense of what kind of grappler you are. You're one of those annoying smaller guys who puts bigger, slower, not so sneaky guys like myself in all kinds of compromising positions. Aaarghh!!! You guys really tick me off! Ha, ha! (Take this as a compliment.)

I did pretty good tonight at Jiu Jitsu, I didn't tap out, and in fact, got three tap outs collectively from some other white belts. One was a gi choke, and the other two were my old standbys, ankle locks. I'm super weak at escaping from the various positions and maintaining the same. About all I got going for me is my physical strength and stubborness. My stamina is pretty sub par at the moment. I intend to correct this, with probably rope skipping.

Hey, you ever get this? It took me so ridiculously long to choke out that guy with the lapel choke that the joints in my fingers feel as if they have arthritis! I mean they hurt! Kind of ironic. A grip nut hurting his hands in jiu jitsu! I know it's because I'm not acclimated to going full force with basically no substance between my fingers to prevent hyper flexion of the joints (if that's the right terminology). I hope my fingers do adapt to this new stress.

Hahahaha, yeah, I guess you're on to me and my sneaky little-man ways, ha. Seriously, that's awesome that you slapped on 3 submission on others! AND you didn't tap out! Man, if your 'standbys' are anklelocks, I can't wait to come over to see you at peakbjj, 'cause I just started getting real interested in anklelocks and toeholds n' stuff. I have yet to get anybody in an anklelock before (because I've never tried it in a live match before), so you'll have to show me the ropes! I just bought a DVD of Igor Yakimov's (a world Sambo champ) leg locks, which is awesome.

Yeah, I don't have any advice about escaping positions, ha. Actually, I consider myself not too bad at escaping mount/side-control/etc., but it's not because I have good technique, but because I am real wirey and wormy and I have a real good wrestlers bridge to explode off the bottom and reverse others.

So have you been using your super-crazy grip strength to your advantage in bjj? And yeah, that is weird that your fingers hurt from the gi choke .... Maybe it's just because you're an old man! j/k Honestly, I haven't had that experience before ... but then again, I also have never tried choking someone with the gi for a real long time. If I'm doing a gi choke and it is taking a real long time because of the person defending with their hands/arms, I usually try to trick them into a keylock or kimura real unexpectedly, like 'surprise!'. Sometimes I try to bait the person into thinking that I am doing a gi choke or something and as soon as they defend with one (or both) of their hands/arms, I'll suddenly slip on an arm-lock real quickly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Anyway, again, congrats on your submission!!!

[God-man]

Paul, don't be looking for me to show you the ropes in anything jiu jitsu related. I guess my old standby is actually called an achilles lock? It's the move where you lean back and crank on the guy's achilles tendon with your forearm. It's also the way a blue belt was kind enough to injure my leg for me last week, thereby teaching me the folly of trying to be too macho. But it must be the simplest submission tactic in grappling. Right up my alley!

So far, it doesn't really seem like my grip training has given me any significant advantage. I'm sure it is an advantage, but I can't recall a situation where it was directly responsible for my avoiding or inflicting a tap out.

I know one thing, you're making great progress on all fronts! Keep up the good work!

That's cool, yeah, the achilles lock is awesome. I like how if you don't get it right for some reason, you can also transition by rolling over to the outside of the leg that you have captured and go into a toe-hold really fast, too.

Actually, Eric, yesterday in class I met the guy that hurt your leg. I forgot what his real name is but he said everybody calls him 'Zuber' I think (spelling?) and he was a bluebelt. I talked to him for a while and he was showing me a couple of transitions from triangle chokes to armbars and omaplatas (which are actually pretty easy, really). He said he trained with Paul Halme and I asked about peakbjj and also if he knew you and he said yes. I told him that somebody hurt your ankle or something training he was like, "Yeah, that was me.". That was kind of a coincidence that I met the very guy that did that to you this week .... Anyway, he seemed very nice and we talked for a while. I just thought I'd mention that to ya ... isn't that weird that I met him?

Actually, concerning grip really helping in bjj, I remember this one guy tried to get me in an achilles lock and he got my leg locked in with his one arm, but right before he dropped down to extend, I grabbed his other wrist with one of my hands and pulled him so he couldn't extend. Then I shoved my free foot into his armpit (of the arm I grabbed) and just started pulling as hard as I could on his wrist/arm that I had grabbed. He kept trying real hard to free his wrist but my grip was too strong. I started pulling real hard on his wrist and digging my heel into his armpit/ribs and eventually he had to let go of my leg and get back up becaue his arm was going to dislocate eventually. That time my grip was pretty crucial, haha. I also use my grip a lot to control others by their wrists whether I am in their guard/my guard/etc.. I have found a few useful 'tricks' using grip strength that I might be able to show you once we get together that would put you at a nice advantage in some situations (if you haven't figured them out already on your own).

[EricMilfeld]

Are there any real lethal moves dependant upon bending strength you could show me?

Actually anything you could show me would be greatly appreciated.

That is quite a coincidence that you meet the blue belt in question! He's strong, and effective!

Hey, do you specifically train your flexibility? This is definitely one area I'm trying to work on. I've also streamlined my strength training workouts a bit to save a little for the BJJ. On a related note, I'm fearful I'm relying too much on strength instead of technique, but I know this will change as I start to figure things out.

[God-man]

Are there any real lethal moves dependant upon bending strength you could show me?

Actually anything you could show me would be greatly appreciated.

That is quite a coincidence that you meet the blue belt in question! He's strong, and effective!

Hey, do you specifically train your flexibility? This is definitely one area I'm trying to work on. I've also streamlined my strength training workouts a bit to save a little for the BJJ. On a related note, I'm fearful I'm relying too much on strength instead of technique, but I know this will change as I start to figure things out.

Shoot, man, if you can bend what you bend, anything like keylocks, kimuras, toeholds ... anything where you 'figure four' your arms like on those 3 submissions, you should be able to finish anybody off. The hard part is, though, actually getting people in the 'figure four', first, haha.

And yeah, the bluebelt 'Zuber' from peakbjj was good, although I didn't get to go live with him.

Yeah, my upperbody is very flexible, but my legs aren't. I try to stretch my legs after workouts and stuff. Flexibility in the legs will definitely be important in triangle chokes, armbars, omaplatas, etc.. The more flexible you are, the better, imo ... but I wouldn't suggest a lot of static stretching, which gets you more flexible, but overall makes your muscles weaker. Some argue that static stretching is ok, but I've had the experience of it making the muscle I was stretching significantly weaker firsthand. I was rehabbing my right shoulder and doing a lot of static stretching and in turn, my right bicep was getting a lot of stretching, too, and it became ridiculously weaker than my left over time (and my right arm is always stronger than my left). That is my experience with it. It's ok to stretch, but lots of static stretching will weaken you over time.

Like you were saying about your workouts, I also can't do everything I want to do lifting-wise because of bjj and wrestling ... like bending. Man, doing all the weights I lift, the thickbar, pinch and gripper stuff, if I started bending too, I know my joints can't handle that. Bending is so hard on your joints, man, I just can't work it in. I'd be miserable and more sore than I already am, haha. Also, it is definitely NOT good to try merely use strength during the live matches. Yeah, you might win some with it, esp. against a beginner, but you will deprive yourself of practicing good technique in a live match/fight, which will definitely hinder your progress. I had a little bit of a problem of trying to overpower others too much when I first started, too. There is nothing wrong with using strength, but if that is all you're using, your progress in bjj will slow big time. Once you start working technique and learning more and more, you will be amazed how much more easy and effective it will be against your opponent, rather than overpowering them. Heck, my coach Yousef is a heavyweight, and I lift more than he does in the weightroom ... but he could just massacre me with all of the technique he has ... it's ridiculous. I mean, here I am @ 155 being stronger than he is at heavyweight, then he goes into the Pan-Am games a couple of months ago in the heavyweight blackbelt division, and wins the gold. He's going against some insanely strong guys ... but he won with the technique ... which was encouraging to me! Hopefully we can get together at peakbjj one of these days!

[EricMilfeld]

This all sounds like great advice, Paul. I remember when I dabbled in jiu jitsu nine years ago, and the frustration of being destroyed by a 155 pounder with less than half my strength. But this is a testimony to the effectiveness of the art, for sure.

[God-man]

This all sounds like great advice, Paul. I remember when I dabbled in jiu jitsu nine years ago, and the frustration of being destroyed by a 155 pounder with less than half my strength. But this is a testimony to the effectiveness of the art, for sure.

Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you did bjj for a little bit 9 years ago .... What does your wife think of you doing it now? My mom thinks the wrestling and bjj is weird and gay. I think she thinks the grip stuff is even weirder, haha!

Edited June 16, 2006 by God-man

[God-man]

Friday:

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Rolling Thunder singles (up to 165lbs)

Got 165lbs with my right hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEW PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't lock out with 150 again with my left hand. Lefty's laggin', as usual.

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Pinch Grip

sets w/ 2 25lb plates (50lbs)

sets w/ 1 35lb plate and 1 25lb plate (60lbs)

attempts on 2 35lb plates (70lbs)

The 2 35's attempts didn't go well ... but then again, I haven't tried the 2 35's in what seems like forever. Plus, I jammed my left thumb on Tuesday in bjj, which didn't help the RT or the pinch.

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Close-grip Dumbbell Military Press

10 x 35lb dumbbells

10 x 45lb dumbbells

8 x 55lb dumbbells

2 x 60lb dumbbells NEW PR!!!

New PR on the 60lb dumbbells on close-grip dumbbell military press. I've gone up to 75's before on military press, but not on close-grip ... and plus, I wasn't even going all the way down at that time, either ... I was doing that go-down-to-parallel thing. I'm doing full range of motion like a normal human being now. ha

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Dumbbell Hammer Curls

8 x 40lb dumbbells

8 x 45lb dumbbells

6 x 50lb dumbbells (got 5 w/ right arm, 4 w/ left arm)

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Skull-Crushers

10 x 60lbs

8 x 80lbs

8 x 90lbs NEW PR!!!

1 x 100lbs (+ negatives afterwards)

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Heeeeyyyyy, pr's in 3 different exercises. woohoo!

[JasonL]

Dude, your just getting to strong hmmm, is there such thing?

[God-man]

Dude, your just getting to strong hmmm, is there such thing?

Strong? I know not of this adjective ...

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class/practice

Class was tiring. We worked on some sweeps, gi chokes, and armbars. There were no higher belts today in class ... lazy bums. Then we had live matches:

The first live match was against Court, a whitebelt. I submitted him with a gi-choke and a keylock. He didn't submit me. We didn't really go for that long, only for like 5 minutes.

Then we all played 'King of the Mountain', where people sit in guard, and then other people try to pass their guard. The people on bottom can submit you or sweep you, but the person on top can't, he can only try to pass the guard. Then whoever loses goes to the line and the next person in line goes. Anyway, my guard passing abilities are picking up, and I think I won my first one today against Nate, a black guy who is a pretty good whitebelt. He almost got me in a triangle but I ripped out of it and was able to get side control on him (after passing his guard). Then I, for the first time, had to be one of the kings who starts in guard. Then Joseph, a very unpredictable whitebelt, came after me, trying to pass my guard. We spent almost 10 minutes going at it. He never passed my guard, but I wasn't able to sweep him or submit him. After that time was up, and I was exhausted.

Then, we went back to live matches:

The second live match was against Damian, a 230lb wrestler who started bjj a few weeks ago. I could not get past this guy's guard, his legs were so strong. He said nobody has passed his guard yet .... Anyway, we went at it for like 6 or 7 minutes. I was able to get him in a gi-choke, and then in a keylock. He did not submit me. I was able to reverse him when he got side control on me, which really surprised him. I also got my first successful sweep in a live match!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And against a 230lb guy, too, ha! Of course, it was ridiculously easy to do it, since I have the technique down now. I was really happy about finally getting that. (That was how I was able to get him in the keylock, right after I sweeped him and got him in full mount).

The last live match was against crazy Joseph. He's pretty funny. The guy is still a whitebelt and he already has cauliflower ear (both ears, too)! youch! Anyway, he is 150lbs like me and is pretty sneaky. He kept going for guillotine chokes on me each time I took him down, but he wasn't able to get any of them on me. I was able to submit him with a kimura, gi-choke, and a TOE-HOLD!!!!! That's my first time to get a toehold on someone in a live match!!!! It's funny that I got it on Joseph, too, 'cause he is a real leg-lock fanatic, haha. Joseph didn't submit me. After this, I was TIRED! I don't know what was wrong with me, but I was exhausted. And plus, Yousef made us do sprints, bearcrawls, gorilla walks, pushups, jumping jacks, situps, and squats after the matches. Ug!

Good day. Got my first sweep and first toehold. Also, my grip is FRIED from BJJ! I used it so much to isolate people's arms and control them, my hands and the lower half of my forearms were bright red after practice.

Edited June 17, 2006 by God-man

[EricMilfeld]

This all sounds like great advice, Paul. I remember when I dabbled in jiu jitsu nine years ago, and the frustration of being destroyed by a 155 pounder with less than half my strength. But this is a testimony to the effectiveness of the art, for sure.

Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you did bjj for a little bit 9 years ago .... What does your wife think of you doing it now? My mom thinks the wrestling and bjj is weird and gay. I think she thinks the grip stuff is even weirder, haha!

Sandy's coming around to "accepting" it. At first she was a little less than supportive, due mainly to the financial burden. But it doesn't really eat up too much time on a weekly basis, so she's cool with it.

Driving back from Oklahoma today I was "bending at the wheel" (don't try this at home, kids) and I handed her a bent nail, which she promptly threw out the window, just to remind how not interested she is in all things grip.

[gazza]

Just picture the seen now i am driving along in my convertible/softop and a truck/car comes along side and a bent edgin/nail/bolt lands in my lap and i look up and see a lady smiling

[God-man]

This all sounds like great advice, Paul. I remember when I dabbled in jiu jitsu nine years ago, and the frustration of being destroyed by a 155 pounder with less than half my strength. But this is a testimony to the effectiveness of the art, for sure.

Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you did bjj for a little bit 9 years ago .... What does your wife think of you doing it now? My mom thinks the wrestling and bjj is weird and gay. I think she thinks the grip stuff is even weirder, haha!

Sandy's coming around to "accepting" it. At first she was a little less than supportive, due mainly to the financial burden. But it doesn't really eat up too much time on a weekly basis, so she's cool with it.

Driving back from Oklahoma today I was "bending at the wheel" (don't try this at home, kids) and I handed her a bent nail, which she promptly threw out the window, just to remind how not interested she is in all things grip.

Hahaha, ouch!

[God-man]

Thursday:

*************************************************************************

Rolling Thunder singles (up to 165lbs)

Got 165lbs with my right hand (one time), again, which surprised me. I couldn't lock out with 150 again with my left hand.

*************************************************************************

Pinch Grip

sets w/ 2 25lb plates (50lbs)

sets w/ 1 35lb plate and 1 25lb plate (60lbs)

*************************************************************************

Close-grip Dumbbell Bench Press

10 x 35lb dumbbells

10 x 50lb dumbbells

8 x 60lb dumbbells

2 x 70lb dumbbells (just warming up for 85lb dumbbells)

3 x 85lb dumbbells

3 x 85lb dumbbells

That was weird ... same number of reps on both sets of 85lb dumbbells ....

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Squats

10 x 45lbs

10 x 95lbs

10 x 135lbs

2 x 185lbs (just warming up for sets w/ 205)

6 x 205lbs

6 x 205lbs

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Close-grip Dumbbell Military Press

10 x 45lb dumbbells

Went light today.

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Bodyweight Pullups

1 x 15 reps

Went light today on these.

*************************************************************************

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

8 x 45lb dumbbells

6 x 50lb dumbbells

*************************************************************************

Skull-Crushers

10 x 60lbs

8 x 80lbs

8 x 90lbs

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Edited June 22, 2006 by God-man