My Mommy Told Me To....

Actually she asked, so 2 posts in one week for me at least has to be some kind of record worthy of an award..

so this one's for my mom, bc she called with a question about BJJ (Brazilian Jujitsu) and since i can't train i'll talk about it.

I guess i'll start with the concept of BJJ...As a martial art it was developed from a Japanese form of Jujitsu late 19th century by the Gracie family from Brazil as the "ultimate form of fighting." if you want more info on the history, google it. It was developed bc the originator believed all fights ended up on the ground, and his family was notoriously undersized as far as people went (short and 135 on average as adult males). So this system of grappling or wrestling was developed focusing on immobilizing and submitting your opponent based on joint locks and chokes, which is very different from other martial arts since there are no strikes in BJJ.

So now to the Method....

The idea of engaging your opponent in BJJ is to put them on the ground, control them with your body weight, leverage, and superior technique (not strength) and to submit them as i mentioned. So there are a few basic positions you need to become familiar with: 

1)the Guard: This is a primarily defensive position where the opponent is grasped between your legs and you are seeking to sweep them, or possibly submit them. Your leverage here is your arms but especially your legs. You throw your opponent forward toward your head and look to isolate their arm or neck for a submission or to get their body weight and balance off so you can sweep them and get on top. 

2)the Half Guard: This is a slightly better position for the person on top then being in full guard. from here you have better control of the person on bottom but are admittedly often at a risk of being swept if you don't keep your base solid. Here you can attack chokes, arms, and possibly the legs from the top. From the bottom you are surging upward with your energy trying to imbalance the person on top and keep them from attempting a submission with the hopes they make a mistake and leave an opening for you to sweep or submit from the bottom.

 

This is a good time to mention base everything in BJJ is about balance. you have to be grounded and sensitive to what your opponent is doing. In most of the positions your goal, especially when on top is to keep pressure on the person below you so they can get to a more advantageous position. The idea is to feel heavier than you are. That being  said however you have to remain relatively relaxed at almost all times, tension can hurt you and make you more vulnerable to being swept and submitted or freaking out prematurely when in a bad position and giving up unnecessarily.

3) Side Control - This is when you are on top of your opponent at a roughly 90 degree angle to them with all your limbs free of their guard. This is a very good position to submit and control the opponent especially by driving your weight in to the ground. To maximize this position you have to minimize the amount of space between you and your opponent. you don't allow them a crack of space to work with and meanwhile are attack their arms neck and looking to move to mount or take their back. From the bottom when you are being pressed down you have to look and try to create space between you and the opponent on top so you can either sweep them, take their back if they are careless, or get them back in your guard.

4) Mount - this is when you are straddling your opponent and is a very good offensive position but often leaves the one on top vulnerable to sweeps and reversals when they attack. In this position base is even that much more important to maintain balance and weight on your opponent.

5) Taking the Back - this is possibly one of the crumbiest positions to be in as a defender and a good one for the attacker. in this position as the aggressor you have your legs wrapped  around your  opponent and feet ("hooks") under their thighs. your chest is tight to their back and arms open to a number of possible submissions, especially chokes.

As a BJJ practitioner there are times consistently through the rolling process that you feel in pain, afraid, like you screwed up, don't have enough energy to throw the guy on top of you, can hardly breath as your being choked out, or just plain out of ideas bc nothing seems to work. This is an are of BJJ that i am learning to painfully appreciate - patience, determination, stamina, planning. Inevitably i have been in positions where i am being choked by a triangle choke and couldn't position myself to break the hold of my opponent so i've had to decide wether to tap and give up or push through and hope he gets tired before i pass out. now a number of factors go into deciding these things and i do both quit often, however the necessity of that decision still exists.

Another challenge of training like this is simply the discipline day in and day out to train and get up early and eat right when most days you just want to snuggle in bed, or go get pizza and a movie...the self inflicted challenges of working through pain, discomfort, and determination of training for championships, as well as the outward inflicted challenges that come with this sport and challenges of the mental aspect of the game are all things that draw me to and bring me joy in BJJ. Maybe you have to be slightly sadistic, maybe simply this mans need to challenge himself beyond what i want or am comfortable doing. Regardless, the effect of the sport caries into my spiritual and personal life...discipline i believe is holistic in its application. as are concepts of fluidity, relaxation under pressure, and determination...if i can get up tomorrow at 6am and train in 3 classes, 1 lifting\ conditioning workout, mental focus drills, spend 1-2 hours drilling, call my bride and tell her i miss her, answer some emails,  eat 5-6x's and be home by 4 to wake tammy up and kiss her so we can have dinner together and either go out, stay in, or do it all over again the next day...then i can sacrifice my comfort when God calls me to, i can give when it hurts to give, i can serve when i don't want to serve, i can give grace\ forgiveness\ and mercy when i want to inflict pain\ hate\ and retaliate. i can read scripture every day and humble myself to rebuke, i can become a better more patient and loving, serving, and giving husband than i was the day before....

of course the challenge with all these things are the same as me getting up at 6 tomorrow...i don't want to...but i have to decide every morning to not give up.

in honesty,

Jonathan +)

I Need the Wisdom of Your life...

For the record, i'm pretty sure i've mentioned this before but i'll do it again, New York rain is great...15 minute serious thunderstorm and finito...geographical weather patterns amaze me.

So our friends Jeanne and her mom are currently on the way to Laguardia to fly back to SC and we had a good time with them this weekend. Tammy as usual played the patient role of tour guide, we have decided to start charging a nominal fee for her services of guidance and my google maps researching contributions to peoples trips. and for the record we love our new little buddy Gus. He is a wonderfully inquisitive ferret, very energetic and prone to claw, shred, dig, break, fall, knock over, climb, or randomly attack things...like our knees and shoes, but he is super sweet and strangely (as compared to jeffery who tolerates it) loves to be petted and rubbed much like a dog...

And so everyone know Tammy made it back safely from Vegas and had a really good time plus got the chance to see the Cirque du Soliel KA production, which was mind blowing she says and if you know her fascination with Cirque, was a fantastic dream come true...

We are very much still discussing the plan for my teaching in the future and what that's going to look like this next year. And i think i still think in a college time frame, partly due to my association with schools here, but also due to our schedule with CV...so i mean this school year. On that note, Tammy and i have discussed time and again my involvement in continuing to teach evening classes over the next year and here's the lowdown:

As i mentioned before CV and Sheng Tai Studios (STS) are going into a public school here in our neighborhood in partnership with an organization from Dallas called Heart of a Champion (HOC) - we like initials in the non-profit organizational world - HOC has been actively providing materials for character development in public schools in a number of states in the country, but has struggled bc of costs to stay afloat here in NYC. So through Divine orchestration, we are able to partner with them and take their program of simple materials to the next level (and not the summer missions experience) with onsite followup, advocacy for the school and families to the community and political leaders, launch event with pro athletes, and of course my role - martial arts instruction to reinforce the materials in about 50 students. 

My role will be a paid position by the program and i will be responsible for 4 classes a week with 2 on Monday, 1 Wednesday, 1 Friday. This is great for me bc i'm working with slightly older students 6-9 grades and able to really focus on mentoring students and helping develop character, i like this hands on ministry style. However this leaves me in a pickle...

Tammy and i decided for me to focus on my training with the Gracie's as an investment in our future since that is what i want to be teaching for a number of reasons, as well as working toward competition. so between those two, it makes a challenging schedule to be also offering evening classes and not running myself ragged. When i talk about training i need to clarify that i am training for 2 goals, 1:to gain the knowledge to instruct champions, 2:to become a champion so i can teach champions. So i realize most people are like, "what's the big deal with training? Just do it then teach." But i need to clarify that i leave the house Monday - Friday at 6:30 in the morning and don't get home from training until 4 in the afternoon. We're talking about a full time job here. And on top of that add all the physical abuse i take and the mental strain of the sport, and i am pretty much beat. so we are trying to be wise with our time so we can also have time together. mind you she leaves around 7 which is a prime time for teaching a class, and we want to see each other.

so anyway all that being said in way of explination, we want to be wise in our decision making. i want to be consistent in what i do but realize i can't do everything so any wisdom in that area would be very much appreciated from you guys. Also if you could be praying for the funding for this program to come in, since we need to raise my salary, cost of materials, launch event costs, etc. all in all we budgeted $300,000+ for this years program, thankfully we have connections to some sports teams and all, but still need to raise it. so be in prayer and if you know anyone that want's to sponsor a child, or any businesses that want to get behind this please let us know at jonathan@citivision.org. The cost to sponsor a child is $250. 

please feel free to pass on to tammy and i your invaluable wisdom as well...i'm still new to this business thing and life is always a beautiful and challenging ride...

love you all,

Jonathan