Plans and Changes

It has been planned for a while that we would leave soon for our trip to California.

I have a week booked at a nicely located Best Western, followed by a second reservation at the same hotel for two more weeks. Beyond that we'll play it by ear. The first week was done normally on a credit card, and the other two weeks done on the same card, but using magic-fairy points.

I did it that was in case anything “came up” to delay our departure. A normal reservation is easy as pie to modify or cancel. I suspect that credit-card-travel-points bookings are more hassle to mess with.

“What could come up?” you might ask. Well, suppose our car started acting funny, or I managed to wreck myself running? Even weather might make us decide to delay things a bit.

In fact, as we were packing to come home from my brother-in-law's place in Victoria, I made my back go ping. I was carrying some stupid thing down the stairs and something went. It actually made me elicit a noise. I never make sounds when I'm hurt, but I did then; sort of a cross between a squeak and a grunt. Was very careful finishing the loading of the car, and the unloading when we got home. I can still feel it, but it doesn't hurt at all. Now that a couple of days have passed I have officially declared it a non-issue. No bookings had to be changed.

Now it turns out it's Helen's turn. She says it happened when she was reaching for the light switch last night. I was already asleep. She hasn't been comfortable since, and has made a doctor appointment.

Her's hurts way more than mine did. It doesn't look like a non-issue. We'll know more after the doctor visit. The booking might need changing.

She may not be doing Jiu-Jitsu in California, but the long driving days to get there are a big hurdle. Heck, even sleeping in strange, less-than-ideal beds is a bad idea. She might not need to be 100%, but she needs to be pretty close.

Can you tell that we're both over 50? I'm as concerned about beds and long drives as I am about martial arts activity. My little hurt was caused by carrying something pretty light down a flight of stairs. Her worse one was the result of turning off a lightswitch.

I'd say that we should just stay safe and unmoving in our puffy chairs, but I've been hurt doing that, too.

Week to Year

Every once in a while I wonder about where I'll be in a week, or a month, three months, six months, or a year.

I week from today it will be the first Sunday evening of 2014. We will have checked into our Los Angeles hotel. I will be starting my Jiu-Jitsu odyssey the next morning.

In a month, it will be nearing the end of January. I'm hoping my body will still be holding up. We'll have spent the month doing the tourist/vacation thing, and I'll be in the middle of a my 39^th class with the Gracies.

In three months that will all be over and we'll have been home for a goodly while. It will be a lovely home period. We both like those. We have a friend-filled cruise to Alaska planned, but that will still be months off.

Six months puts us into the very end of June. The cruise will be long over. Summer for us will be a time of short trips to visit friends in Vernon and family in Victoria, and other short-distance adventures.

Between then and a one year look into the future we have nothing planned in any way, except for Christmas. Helen has decided she wants more than the one week we did in Victoria this year. I have nothing against this. Let's call it two weeks. She likes to put Christmas more towards the early part of the two weeks, but nothing is in stone. If we go by these ideas, we'll still be in Victoria.

Well, that is what our upcoming year looks like so far.

Looks good to me.

Pack

How on earth do you pack for two months away from home?

There are all the other preparations, like bills, house sitters and such, but what about the actual packing?

Luckily, we just did a week with family to refresh our travel memory banks. I always forget the silly little things I like to have along, so our little pre-holiday was very useful.

We are taking our folding bikes along. That's a must. We didn't talk about it much as we both knew they were coming. The question turns out to be, “how are they coming along?”

I was expecting to put the bike rack on the car and carry the bikes out there. Helen doesn't like them exposed to winter road grime and weather, and wants them folded, bagged and inside. The difference is huge.

On the rack, they take up no room at all. There would be a single box in the car to handle helmets and things like that. Inside they take up the majority of the vehicle's inside space. I'll have to do a test packing to see if there is room for other stuff with the bikes in the car, or maybe one bike inside. Experimentation is necessary.

I have six Jiu-Jitsu uniforms to take. These are not normal items of clothing. They are big and bulky. Even with six I'll be doing lots of laundry in LA to keep them clean. If I have to do laundry anyhow, we don't need to take more than about a week's worth of other clothing. That strangely helps. Otherwise we'd probably take twice as much to wear. Cool; half as much underwear, socks, and shirts.

We are taking a ton of electronics. There are ipads, phones, ipods, cameras, and a laptop. The cool thing about this stuff is that it's all remarkably tiny in real-world terms. The biggest item is the laptop, and it easily slips under a car seat.

So to recap in order of size. The bikes; my uniforms; our clothes; the electronics; toothbrushes.

Anything we forget, we can get there.

Time

Christmas is a corridor; a passageway through the years.

It brings up memories of Christmases past better than any Charles Dickens ghost ever could. It burrows back through the years as if they'd never existed. For me this is grand, as I've been very lucky. For others it is a mixed blessing. A dear, close relation finds it a difficult time of year.

In either case, the memories are incredibly strong. My wife shares her own so vividly that they have almost become mine. I wonder if mine have also become hers.

It's funny how this holiday manages to hold so many traditions that be believe are immutable, and yet no two Christmases have ever been the same. It is a day that evolves from year to year, but no matter how much change it also remains the same.

A microcosm of life and all of our recollections.

Results are in

The waiting is over. My Jiu-Jitsu exam results are in.

I earned my Blue Belt a year and a half ago. That was my start down this track, but I didn't start very fast. Helen and I spent two months that summer travelling. As a result, I didn't start training at the new level until September.

I took things as they came until around Christmas. About then I noticed how long things were going to take. Progressing at the approved rate means a minimum of 21 months between level; longer for me due to our summer travels. Let's call it 25 months. That's too much.

I started taking private lessons and bumping up my solo study. Managed to get it all done within a year. Madeline was ready at the same time as me, and we spent a month getting everything polished up in preparation for testing.

We pushed through and recorded the exam sections. Mine was uploaded last weekend.

Today Helen and I were sitting at Denny's, enjoying a breakfast and using their wifi when I received my results. You need a minimum of 80 to pass, and I managed a 92. I'm darn proud of that.

Next on our schedule is a two month trip to Los Angeles. While there I'll be training with the Gracies 11 times per week.  I will be going with my new rank.

Can't really predict how long my new level will take, as changes in the requirements are in the works.

Doesn't matter. The journey is the destination.

SoCal

We've driven to California many times, but never in the winter. My parents used to do that all the time, and apparently there is an issue with snow and Interstate 5 around the Oregon/California border.

I don't like driving in snow at the best of times, so we'll likely head out to the sea after we hit Portland, following the Columbia River. From there we'll hug the ocean. Our first night's stop will be someplace in Oregon.

The next day we'll do the coast road until we're in the San Francisco Bay area, then head back over to I5. The sleeping second stop will be someplace around there.

The last day of driving will all be zipping along on the freeway, and will get us to our Los Angeles hotel after a light road day. This will be Sunday.

I start training Monday. The schedule is pretty complicated, but every weekday there is a class that starts between 11am and noon. They last from an hour to an hour-and-a-half, and end anywhere from noon until 1:30pm.

There is always an evening class as well. These start between 6:30 and 8:30pm; last 60-90 minutes; and end between 8pm and 9:30.

This creates an afternoon break each day of varying length. The shortest is 5 hours, and the longest 8.5 hours.

Monday the break is a short one of 5 hours. This is a respectable chunk of time, but I doubt I'll want to go very far afield that first training day.

Tuesday the gap is 8.5 hours. Disneyland is about half an hour away. I bet we'll do the half-hour drive over and do our first of many visits. We'll be purchasing annual passes even though we'll only be in the area two months. It's cheaper that way.

We'll keep entertained through the week as I train. Helen is even investigating a music group in nearby Gardena. Our hotel is walking distance to the academy, so Helen can have the car if she wants.

On Saturday there is a single one-hour class that is over by noon. On Sunday there is nothing in the timetable at all. Weekends will be largely dedicated to having fun. I think we can find find ways to keep entertained in Los Angeles. If not, there are always things slightly farther afield. San Diego and Palm Springs pop to mind. Each is a two-hour drive away.

All assuming my old body holds out, of course.

Ends

At the start of 2013 there were two UFC Champions who shone far brighter than any of the rest.

The welterweight division's king was Canadian Georges St. Pierre. He originally won the belt in 2006, but lots it again in his first title defense to Matt Serra. He took the championship back from Serra on April 19, 2008 and had held it ever since.

That works out to 5 years and 8 months. In comparison, Muhammad Ali's held his title for less than 4 years in any one go, as did Mike Tyson.

George St. Pierre won again on November 16^th, 2013, but for the very first time he did not dominate. He won by controversial split decision. He has since announced he is releasing the title, and taking a break; retirement perhaps.

In any case, the very-long-reigning Welterweight Champion no longer holds the crown.

The other dominant UFC Champion at the start of the year was Anderson Silva. He took the title from Rich Franklin way back on October 14^th, 2006. He had fought 14 times since then without a single defeat.

This ended on July 6^th, 2013, when he was knocked out by Chris Weidman. It happened while clowning in the ring, and many consider it a fluke. Equally, many do not. In either case his reign of 6 years, 9 months was ended.

Unlike St. Pierre, Silva wants his title back. He and the new Champion meet again on December 28^th, to settle the matter.

Both Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva originally won their titles in 2006, and had their reigns end in 2013. Each has dominated their respective divisions for what seems like a lifetime.

Funny how things work out.

Access

I really, really, really want to pass my Jiu-Jitsu exam. I'll get to move on to new material, and even to wear a snazzy, little stripe my Blue Belt.

Passing will also mean giving something up.

Let me explain. Students at Certified Training Centers get access, appropriate to their rank, to online training videos. These are immensely useful. For every technique there is a lesson of from 30 minutes to an hour, as well as several, short, quick view demonstrations.

While working through the 60 techniques of my current level some of these videos have become trusted friends.

If I pass, a similar body of online material will be unlocked for me, and I'll lose access to what I currently have. This makes sense, but for a review junkie like me it is a two-edged sword.

The Gracies do sell access to the material as well. I could pay $378 and be able to view it forever. This is bit rich for my blood.

I'll survive. When I became a Blue Belt, I lost access to the White Belt stuff in exactly the same fashion, and I survived. I will survive this as well.

In fact, I hope I have to.

Results

I am not the world's best at waiting for things. If I know exactly when they will happen, I'm something of a champ, but not if the timing is uncertain.

Right now, it's time to wait for my Jiu-Jitsu exam results. My part is done, which was the performing of the test itself.

The remaining steps are; evaluation and preparation by my instructor; transmission of the material to HQ; grading of performance; notification of results; and arrival of the belt stripe and certificate.

Barring unforseens, whole shebang could take as little as a week, and as long as three to get the results. The final step of receiving the stripe and paperwork isn't really part of things. It is the knowledge of the results that counts.

There is one thing I really like on our new washing machine. It has little lights that go on and off as the cycle progresses. It would be super if the test procedure had little lights. There are no lights.

Madeline completed her exam over a month ago, and the recordings haven't even reached the first step. They've been waiting for our instructor to return from Mexico, and are at exactly the same phase as mine. She doesn't seem to mind. I think she's insane.

There isn't really any rush for me. There are more than three weeks left before Helen and I head to Los Angeles. I'd like the results before then, but even if they take a bit longer it doesn't truly matter. It will be four weeks before I'm on the mat at the Gracie Headquarters academy. That should be more than enough time for everything to sort itself out.

But washing machine lights would be nice.

Ducks in a Row

A lot of things are falling into place.

I've received my lovely, second generation iPad Mini. It's all hooked up to the cellular data system and has become my main device. My old phone and expensive phone plan have been demobilized.

At the Jiu-Jitsu school, wifi has been installed. We can now watch instructional videos directly on the mat. My new iPad could do that with cellular data, but that is expensive. The wifi is free.

Our Jiu-Jitsu instructor has returned all tanned from a vacation in Mexico. The has meant that my paused rank exam could resume. Last Friday and Saturday I banged off the last two exam sections. It should be uploaded to headquarters any time now.

I only have 120km left to go on my 2013 bike riding goal. Looks like I'll make it.

There is also news for Gracie HQ regarding Jiu-Jitsu rank progression. The current super-strict requirements just don't seem to be working out for people. The entire idea of the belts and stripe is to motivate people to attain the next notch. Under the current system, each stripe takes about two years, and a full belt about eight. Goals that far away just don't seem to motivate.

It looks like stripe progression might be possible every 6-8 months, and belts in three years. While still very slow compared to other martial arts, it is light years better than it's been. This isn't in effect yet, and the details still have to be worked out, but it's a big step in the right direction.

Some potentially-big, home-front problems have also worked themselves out.

When we travel, friends of ours move into our house. They live in a tiny place, and consider our home a resort, with cable. It was starting to look like they wouldn't be able to this time, and our place would have to be non-house sat, but it's all worked itself out.

They will be moving in the same day that we are heading to Victoria for Christmas, and can stay clear until we return from LA in 2014. Peace of mind for us.

There was also some weirdness with an American bank account and credit card we'd set up for the LA stay. It was just starting to smell like a huge hassle, but it all turned out to be a temporary glitch with their online sign-in procedure. It has self-healed and all is well. International bank stuff gives me the willies.

So it looks like we can slide into the Holiday Season with everything in fine shape. All we'll have to worry about will be how much turkey to over-consume. We can return home after Boxing Day content that our place is well looked after. After a couple of days sharing our place with the sitters, we can head off to LA with finances all worked out and extra medical (US) insurance all set.

We can start off January doing the Snow Bird thing, except with Jiu-Jitsu instead of golf.

A touch of gas

I get a kick out of how emotional people are about their vehicles. Somehow their ride seems to be an expression of who they think they are in the world.

I suppose I'm the same way. I'm a cheap bastard, but I don't want to drive a beater either. A total lack of mechanical ability makes the old car option into a nightmare. I also like things that are pretty techie.

We have two cars, a 2008 Prius and a 2012 Scion IQ. The Prius is a hybrid, and the Scion is a tiny gas car. In fact, it gets the best gas mileage of any conventionally fueled vehicle, tying the Smart Car.

Here's what I mean about me being a cheap bastard. Helen and I will be driving to California this year and back. The one-way drive will be over 1441 km. While down there I'm sure we'll average something like a hundred km of driving a day, but let's half that for my comparison. So we will drive 1441 km down, cruise about for 3000 km, and then drive home.

Using US gas prices, the trip will cost me $352 bucks. This assumes that we take the Scion.

Let's say we decide that the tiny IQ just “isn't us” that we need more room. Suppose we were to trade it in on a 2013 Toyota Corolla. The Corolla is a pretty mainstream vehicle and has a good reputation for mileage.

A brand new Corolla could burn $384 bucks on the exact same trip. Not bad.

However, for most people a Corolla is also just too small. My parents used to travel widely and chose a Dodge Grand Caravan. This is closer to what most people like, what with all the big vehicles around.

In a 2013 Grand Caravan the California drive would cost $523.

The fact is, however that it isn't a Corolla or a Grand Caravan versus our Scion IQ.

For this trip we'll be taking our much larger and more fuel efficient 2008 Prius. It is much bigger than a Corolla and gets better mileage than a Scion IQ.

The Prius fuel bill will be $290.

But is that really a fair comparison. My five-year-old car competing against a 2013 Corolla and a 2013 Grand Caravan. I think not. Let's substitute my current dream car. That would be a 2013 Toyota Prius c.

The California drive in that car would cost $264.

That's less than 2/3 the cost for a Corolla, and about half the price of a Grand Caravan.

And that's just one trip.

Let's take the Prius c, a Corolla, and a Grand Caravan over a ten year life span. Let's drive each a conservative 10,000 km per year and fill the tank with currently priced Canadian gas.

$15,876 for the Dodge Caravan

$10,949 for the Corolla

$ 6,345 for the Prius c

Like I said, I'm a cheap bastard.

Good Night

The last half hour at tonight's Jiu-Jitsu was outstanding. We rolled.

There was just enough time for 5 five-minute match ups. This is always fun, but tonight something interesting was going on.

The least surprising was Tobias. He's strong, fast, and determined. We are a pretty even match, as I have twice as much free-rolling experience and training. Every time we roll, he improves in relation. Tonight was no different. Sooner or later he'll be able to dominate me, and this process continued.

I also had a go at Scott. He's been a Blue Belt longer than the rest of us, but took a couple of years off. He also rolls around with non-Jiu-Jitsu friends, and does some stuff weirdly. He just doesn't seem to trust the basics. Tonight he was different. He was defending using correct responses. In Jiu-Jitsu if you respond wrong you end up either choked, have a joint locked, or with some bastard sitting on your chest. It was the best he's ever done rolling with me.

Madeline is always impressive when rolling. She is fast, athletic, and has the best technique in the class. We rolled a couple of nights ago, and she somehow took it to an even higher level. Tonight it showed that her progress wasn't a one-time event.

I wondered if last time it was due to a change in her attitude, as she was pretty darn intense. Tonight, we were both laughing a lot, so that wasn't it.

I was partnered twice tonight with Elizabeth. She's one of the newer Blue Belts, and has a nasty injury with one arm. She always comes to training, even though she can't really do much physically. She has had to be very careful when rolling, and has to be careful who she works with. I try and be very careful with her.

Today, about five seconds in she caught me in a hip throw. Nobody ever throws me, but Elizabeth did. The whole match kinda went that way. I defended a lot, and did careful attacks. Elizabeth defended against those, and attacked a lot. She was still unhurt when we finished.

Later, Elizabeth and I rolled a second time, and it was a replay of the first time, minus the lovely throw.

Tonight everybody I fought was improved from last time we rolled, especially Elizabeth, and it wasn't because I stunk more than usual.

Every single one of them has improved.

Mix

It looks like testing season is rolling around.

Madeline completed her Blue Belt Stripe One exam back on October 24^th. It just needs to be submitted, and has been awaiting the return of our instructor from a five-week vacation in Mexico.

Likewise, my Blue Belt Stripe One exam has been on hold. I have two tiny sparring sections to complete. I expect this to be done within a week, and then my test will also be ready to submit.

We also have a number for White Belts rapidly approaching their Blue Belt exams. One has already started. She should be done before Christmas.

There are three or four more who will be starting soon after. This will likely happen early in the new year.

I will be away in Los Angeles while this crop undergoes the process. When I get back I can expect to see a greatly expanded Blue Belt cadre. There could be a dozen of us on the mat.

The only downside of all this testing is that we might still all be the of the same level of Blue Belt.

Madeline and I have tests that are about to be submitted for the next level. I am 100% certain that Madeline has passed with flying colours, but she is moving away. My own progress isn't as clear.

If I fail, then we'll all be of the exact same level. If I pass, then one of us will have a single stripe.

Two of the Blue Belt guys could test for their stripes in the new year. Somehow they just don't seem motivated. There is a third guy who has also gone through all of the training, but he's taken the last year or so off and has rust to polish off. Ryan will be the next guy ready to start, but not until the summertime.

When will we get a Blue Belt with two stripes? Now we're talking about the distant future.

Old???

There are currently eight Blue Belts attending our Jiu-Jitsu class. I am 57 years old, while the average age of the rest is a shade over 25.

How does such an old guy regularly roll with people who average under half his age? It varies from person to person.

Two of them have been Blue Belts much longer than I. One of these gives me all I can handle, and is stinking fast, but I have 50 pounds on him. Our skill levels are close enough that they cancel out and it's his speed and youth against my size. It evens out. The other guy senior to me took a huge amount of time out of training. In those several years my skill has passed his.

One of the two female Blue Belts can't really spar due to injury. The other has the highest skill level in the class, and moves like greased lightning. Here again, I'm pretty close to her in training and have over a 50% advantage in size. It's competitive.

I have been training much longer than the remaining three adult males. Two are close to my size, while the third is much larger. All are younger and stronger.

For a long time I could handle them pretty easily. They were just too new to the more advanced curriculum. I beat them with my deeper knowledge and training.

That's all very well, but every day that they train brings us closer in ability. I'm at a pause in progress while waiting to complete my exam, get my results, and to start learning at the next level. Maybe then I can keep a bit ahead.

Right now I can roll just fine with the young folks. It isn't a realistic goal to expect to regularly beat them, but that isn't my desire. I just want to remain in the game.

Rolling is fun in itself, but it would get frustrating if I could be easily dominated.

As it is, sometimes they get an armbar or choke on me, and sometimes I get one on them. We tap and keep going. Maybe the same person scores again, or maybe not.

"Watch out for the old guy."

Year totals

Goals can be tricky.

I set one back in April when I retired. I was to run 15km per week until the end of the year. Turns out, this was very easy to achieve.

By December 31, the goal total will be 587km. I am currently at 618km, well passed the target already.

My other mileage goal was to bang off 50km per week on the bike. This was much more ambitious. I need to hit 1957km, and still have a ways to go. I am only at 1695km. As there won't be any cycling during the Christmas holidays, there are only three weeks left to wrap this puppy up.

My trusty spreadsheet says I can finish by riding 11.9km per day until the holidays.

In the summer this would be a piece of cake. Now? Not so much.

On decent days it is easy to go over the daily goal, but nasty weather brings things to a halt. The forecast even shows a chance of snow in a few day.

To make my self-imposed and totally arbitrary goal I need to really ramp it up. Tuesday I rode 28 and yesterday 15km. Today will also be over-target by quite a bit. I want to be able to cover a couple of non-riding wet/snow days.

Will I do all this nonsense again in the New Year? I think so, as it does get me pushing to achieve my totals.

I think I'll bump my running goal up to 20km a week up from 15. It was almost too easy this time.

Biking will drop from 50km per week down to 40. The 50 goal was just a wee bit too much considering all the non-bike traveling we do.

I can run wherever we are, but it's hard to bike when the bike is far away at home.

No Worries

For the last while at Jiu-Jitsu, I've been avoiding rolling. When I have done it, I've kept it as sedate as possible.

Avoiding injury has been a top priority. At first it was so that I wouldn't lose any training time while preparing for my rank exam. After that, it was so that damage wouldn't interfere with the actual testing. For the last couple of weeks I was trying to stay undamaged before the big Karate seminar.

All of that is over.

This week I've already rolled with everybody I could, not only during class but before.

There isn't really much risk of injury, but it's nice not to have to think about it at all.

Upcoming

So what's coming up around here in the next month?

Well, for one thing, the month includes Christmas, which is always interesting.

I should also have my new iPad Mini, but it hasn't shipped yet and is supposed to arrive anytime from tomorrow up until December 3^rd. I now expect it towards the far side of that spread, or even later.

My Jiu-Jitsu instructor should also be back from Mexico a couple of weeks from now. Things have been running alright, but it just isn't the same. I will also be completing the last two sparring sections for my rank exam after his return.

My exam should be wrapped up, and uploaded to headquarters. Likely I'll have my results before Christmas. Passing would be nice.

So to recap in probable order; new iPad, instructor's return, test finished, results back, and then Christmas.

Pennywise

So just how much are my two months of training at the Gracie Academy in Los Angeles going to cost?

It isn't going to be cheap, but it will be a great experience for the price.

First the basics.

Helen and I will need a place to stay. We will be starting out in a hotel, and hoping to find somebody with a room to rent. At worst, we'll end up in the hotel for the entire stay. Two months in a hotel would be big bucks. Well, yes, but not as bad as you'd think.

My Visa card is of the type that saves up travel points. It currently has enough on it to cover about three weeks in a hotel room very close to the Gracie Academy. We'll have to pay for the rest of the time, but I just joined the American Association of Retired Persons. That entitles me to a nice room rate. A perk of being an old fart.

We'll also have to eat, but that's something we already do at home. There will be more restaurant meals, but there are lots of good cheap eats in the US, more so than here. We'll pay more overall than at home, but nothing unreasonable.

Another big cost will be the actual Jiu-Jitsu training. My plan is to hit the mat 11 times per week for 8 weeks. The price they charge works out to about $20 per class, which would make entire bundle of training cost $1760.

That would be a serious chunk of change, but as a member of the association I am entitled to unlimited training for a 30 day period. That works out to a hair over 4 weeks. As a result I'll actually be paying $800, which I'm more than happy to do.

There are a few hidden costs. There are two classes per week where the students do not wear traditional uniforms. They instead wear association shorts and shirts. The Gracie's have the lowest prices I've seen for this type of clothing, but as both classes are on the same day, I will need two sets at $45 for shorts and $40 for each shirt. I'll also pick up an extra gi at about $150. Altogether it will be about $350 for assorted clothes.

We'll also spend a lot of money on just plain old having fun. I don't count this against the price of the training as it is another type of thing altogether.

It works out to thousands of dollars, but how often does one do this in a lifetime?

Fickle

Sports fans, journalists and organizations are a bunch of fickle butterflies.

What do I mean?

Take the UFC official fighter rankings. The UFC calculates them by amalgamating the rankings of a number of respected journalists and mma websites. About a month ago in the women's division Alexis Davis was ranked one spot above Sara McMann. Based on their records this seemed correct. Since then the two have switched spots with McMann on top.

What changed in that month? McMann did nothing, but Davis had a fight against another top-level fighter and won convincingly. Somehow, the consensus was now that McMann was better than Davis despite Davis's victory. What's up with that?

Another example of fickle fans is the case of Rory MacDonald. He was the third-ranked challenger in the welterweight division. Everybody was convinced he was on the verge of seizing the title. It seemed to be only a matter of when. He always looked great and had amassed a record of 15-1.

It didn't seem to matter that he only had two big names on his resume. One was a victory against over-the-hill BJ Penn, and the other a loss to Carlos Condit. The evidence showed that Rory was good, but there was no proof that he was a future world-beater.

A week ago he had a fight against Robbie Lawler, who beat him in a split decision. A few more punches one way or the other, or a takedown or two, or even a judge in a slightly different mood, and MacDonald might have won.

If he'd won, the chorus would still be calling him the next World Champion. Unfortunately he lost, barely, and is now being called a trumped-up phoney. Really? Interestingly, the guy slightly on the winning side of this close fight is being hailed as the new Superman.

It is not possible that two guys who performed that closely can be considered so vastly different in potential.

The same night, the longest-reigning champion in the UFC, Georges St. Pierre, took on number-one-ranked John Hendricks.

Hendricks has killer punching power, and is a top-level wrestler. People were saying that there was no way the champion could handle either ability. Really?

Regarding wrestling; for years Georges St. Pierre has been considered the best wrestler in the UFC. In his career, he has dominated every top-level wrestler he has faced, including fighters like Koscheck and hall-of-famer Matt Hughes.

Georges St. Pierre can be hurt by a big puncher, but he has one of the best defenses in the game and is incredibly difficult to hit.

So they fought, and St. Pierre won by split decision. Many are calling this a bad decision, and that Hendricks should have won.

If this is true, or even if it is a fair result that he lost a close decision, the call should be for a rematch. Fans should want to see this thing settled. Instead, the call is for George St. Pierre to retire. Retire?

St. Pierre, despite his illustrious career, is only 32 years of age. He's hardly over the hill.

After losing to Matt Serra by knockout back in 2004, he came back determined to return the favor. In the rematch, he totally dominated every second and knocked out Serra with ease. After losing to Matt Hughes by first-round arm-bar, he returned in the rematch and knocked Hughes out. When Hughes and St. Pierre fought a third time, he arm-barred the only man to have arm-barred him. In all his rematches, St. Pierre comes back better and determined to win.

Retire? Really? Granted, St. Pierre himself has made retirement comments, but this was right after the fight. Fighters always say silly stuff immediately after fights. More recently he's been saying that he needs some time to sort out some personal issues. Turns out he not only has management conflicts, but he has gotten some woman pregnant, and that his father is seriously ill, perhaps terminally.

I'd say, fans should want him to get that all dealt with, however long it takes, and that a rematch take place. I think we'd either see him exert his usual dominance, or that it will turn out Johnny Hendricks does deserve to rule the division.

The point all being, sports fans make pretty random judgment calls. Pity that the official UFC rankings follow this insanity around.

See if you can follow this one.

Lyoto Machida was ranked number 6 in the 205 pound division, and Gegard Mousasi was number 9. Mousasi hasn't fought at all in the period in question. Machida, in contrast, dropped down in weight and defeated the number 5 contender in the 185 division.

As a result, Machida is now rated number 5 at 185 pounds. Interestingly, this victory caused him to drop from 6^th at 205 down to number 10. This helped Mousasi, as he is moved up to number 8. The two men have since been contracted to fight each other at 185 pounds. In comparing the two men one should compare their 185 rankings, but Mousasi has none. The next best would be to look at them at 205, where both are ranked, and to consider Mousasi the better man.

How did he get to be the better man over someone who out-ranked him? Simple. He sat on his ass while the better man defeated a top-ranked contender.

Fickle butterflies.

Toe Touchlessness

Karate is definitely hard on the body.

This weekend I've been at a Karate seminar for Black Belts. There has been nothing like free fighting. It has all been technique and Kata.

This is all done in formal, low stances. There have been a significant amount of kicking, but nothing unusual. Lots of hand/arm technique but they have not been a problem.

The stances and kicking put pressure on the legs in a way not encountered in normal life.

Keep in mind that I'm in good shape for a guy my age. I run and bike all the time, and train in Jiu-Jitsu 1-3 hours a day; six days a week. However, I have NOT been training in Karate recently at all. No kicking or moving in low stances at all.

I was tired after the first day of training. My only problem to that point was an ankle that was just plumb tired to the core, and had pretty much stopped bending.

By the middle of the second day I really couldn't kick anymore at all. The muscles just couldn't do the motions anymore. My lower back wasn't bending anymore. It didn't hurt, but I couldn't have done a toe touch for a million bucks. An hour later, I couldn't have touched my knees.

Today I'm at home, shuffling about like a zombie.

It's really my own fault. If I even did occasional training my legs and back would have been ready. As Karate goes, this weekend was pretty non-demanding. It was all focused around information rather than sweat.

Next weekend I go back. It will no longer be restricted to only Black Belts, and will not be focused on information. There will be a much bigger sweat-and-strain component.

Just in time to cripple me up again.

Transition

Just completed a bit over a week visiting friends up in the interior.

It was great in every way; good food, good laughs, great companionship. I also got a bit of time to heal up.

I don't really get hurt much, even at age 57, but things to take longer to mend.

The trip home takes about six or seven hours. This acts as a kind of transition between our vacation and our normal lives. It was also a training day for me. When I got up I was still within our vacation, and by the end of the day I was home and back on the mat.

There was also another transition.

Currently I haul around a bucket full of devices, and when I'm not on wifi am internet-less. I've been waiting for the iPad Mini 2 to become available to change all of this. It will replace all of my machines, and get me onto wireless internet.

Apple, in all its wisdom, hasn't let the world know when the device would be available. This year's big iPad was announced on October 22. They let it be known the order date would be November 1^st. All they released about the little pad was that it would be coming, “later in November.” The rumor mill was soon predicting availability around Black Friday. This falls one day short of December this year.

That would suck. There are also supposed to be big shortages. It was starting to look doubtful if I would get one at all before we were off to LA in January.

Without warning, the iPad Mini 2 showed up yesterday on the Apple Store website as available to order. I couldn't believe it.

Went through the order process as quickly and carefully as I could. It was about 7am pacific time, which meant that it had been up there for 7 hours already. Would there be any left? It was still early in the day for the west coast, but much later for most of North America.

I got one of the first lot to ship.

The expected arrival date for me is early December at the latest. Wahoo.

Yesterday I transitioned from vacation to home, resting guy back to grappler, and data-less tech packrat into an iPad Mini-man.

Time and tape

It's been 10 days since I've done a lick of training, and there are still 2 more to go.

My foot has healed up nicely.

My thumb isn't fixed yet. Besides resting it, I've experimented in supporting it using kinesiology tape. This has been a huge success, and I've become a convert to the stuff.

My usual taping regime is just duct tape used to splint toes together or to support a sprained ankle.

The new, fancy stuff sticks to skin and acts to back-up injured tendons, ligaments, and joints. It you're interested, look it up.

Anyhow, I should be mostly mended, and just a little taped up.

I've missed a week of review, and there is more in the immediate future. I don't mind review. I do tons of it all the time on my own. An old Jiu-Jitsu friend has returned after a long absence. I look forward to seeing him.

Back to normal for over a month.

Normal is good.

I been Nuked

Never trust the bastards.

I've been using a lovely, simple little app on my iPad to do my word processing.

Recently, they updated it to be more IOS7ish, which is fine. They also slipped in a few pop-up ads, which is annoying, but I can live with that.

The new version also decided to nuke all the files I'd saved.

How is that for user friendly?

Needless to say, I have removed it from my device.

Who can I trust? Likely nobody, but soon I shall have Apple's own word processor installed. It is called Pages. New device owners get free access, and I'll soon have a new iPad.

Likely it will do more than I need, which means more complication. Microsoft has said they will soon be releasing an IOS version of Office. That will have to be a whole other level of difficulty to master, and have a hefty pricetag.

It all reminds me of my days as a tech teacher when people would say, "Which do you prefer; Windows or Mac."

And I'd answer, "NEITHER."

Heal

Not doing a lick of martial arts today, for it is Sunday. I don't normally train on Sunday.

However, this week I did nothing on either Friday or Saturday either.

"OMG," you say with a worried voice. "Are you sick, or have you quit?"

Neither. I'm on vacation. We installed our house sitters, packed the car, and headed off to see our best friends inVernon. We'll be here for ten days in total.

Therfore; I've missed two classs, and will be away for ten more.

This will give my little boo-boos a chance to heal. I have a banged-up toe that keeps getting re-smacked. Won't this week.

One of my thumbs has an injured tendon. It could use some time off, too. You'd be surprised how often a thumb gets grabbed when you're wrasslin'.

This all sounds pretty whimpy, I'm sure.

It is. Normally, I just plow through such petty injuries. The reason I am being so careful with these ones is that I'm off for two months starting early in the new year to train in Los Angeles.

I don't want to miss a moment of training while there and so wish to start at 100% condition. There will be zero healing time while there. It will be six days a week; 14 classes per week.

Maniac

When I was a kid, my family used to drive down to California every couple of years. Back then, I never even knew another kid who'd been to the kid Mecca of all vacations, and we went semi-regularly to Disneyland.

I loved that place, and still do. I used to think that the greatest thing in the world would be to live right inside Disneyland itself, and if that wasn't possible, to live close by.

This winter Helen and I will be living about a half hour drive away.

We are going for Jiu-Jitsu, and I do not intend missing any training.

Three days a week I will have an afternoon break of about 5 hours. In a normal world this would be plenty of time to pop down for a short visit, but not in LA.

Drives always take longer than expected, but let's assume that we make it to Disneyland in 30 minutes. I'd insist on an extra 30 minutes for the drive back in case of any traffic snarls; not going to be late for class.

Disney parking isn't the same as parking anywhere else. You park in a giant structure, catch a tram, ride it, get off, walk, line up, and finally enter. Leaving is the same.

At best, a 5 hour training break would contain well under 3 hours in the theme park, surrounded by 2 hours of commuting.

Even I don't find this very attractive.

The other two weekdays have longer breaks of 7 and 8.5 hours. This is much more promising. They could contain 5 and 6.5 hours in the theme park respectively.

Saturday, I have a single class that ends at noon, and there are no classes at all on Sunday. Lots of vacation fun possible on the weekends.

Does this mean I plan on going to Disneyland four days a week for two months?

Not at all. I use my Disney addiction to illustrate our LA situation. We will have time to do something fun each day, but often it will need to be closer at hand.

This is fine. We are taking our folding bikes along, and might just go ride along the seaside. There are several massive malls nearby, and we might just wander there. Downtown, Chinatown, and Japantown are all very attractive to walk through.

Bigger or farther things will be tackled on my longer-break days, or on the weekends.

So will we go to Disneyland a lot? Let me answer by saying that it will make financial sense for us to purchase annual passes even though we're only going to be in LA for two months.

I love that place.

Skinny legs

I really enjoy Jiu-Jitsu, and it's done a lot for me physically.

My back hasn't had a serous problem since I started training over two years ago. I've also lost a bunch of weight, and there seems to be more muscle on my arms and torso than is typical for me.

A weird thing has happened since I've pretty much stopped Karate training and seriously curtailed my running in lieu of more Jiu-Jitsu.

Pretty much all I've been doing is bike riding and Jiu-Jitsu for the last couple of months.

My calves have gotten smaller. They were pretty muscular before. It seems that although Jiu-Jitsu has been great for me generally, it isn't so wonderful for the lower body.

This makes sense. The majority of time we're on the ground rolling around. Arms, backs, and the good old core get a good workout, but the legs don't.

Now that my much dreaded Jiu-Jitsu exam is largely over, I can get back into my other activities. I ran today. Haven't done that recently. I'm going to spend two three-day weekends soon training in good, old Shotokan Karate.

My calves should re-emerge soon.

Relaxed

Things changed today.

I no longer have to worry about my Jiu-Jitsu test. Today I finished off the last technical section. The video file is saved and ready to upload to HQ. I still have two teenie tiny sparring sections left to bang off, but I'll likely wait until our instructor gets home early in December. No pressure to that.

No pressure at all.

I've been pushing ahead towards this exam since last December. It's been ten months of cramming in 16 months of material. As time went on, the pressure slowly increased, reaching a crescendo recently.

Now it's done.

Plenty still to do, of course. There are several While belts who want to be ready to test soon. They could use some help.

There are also our two newest Blue Belts. They are pretty lost when we do free-rolling. I'm sure they could use some assistance, too.

Not too much to do just for myself.

If I pass and earn my first little belt stripe, my next exam will be about two or three years away.

If I fail, I don't think I'll be trying again. I honestly think I've done about as good on this attempt as I ever will be able to do. Don't think I'd try again.

Either way, from now until Christmas it will be relaxing training.

After Christmas it's off to LA for a couple of months to train at the HQ Gracie school. Passing or failing won't change this, but will determine what I get to work on while there.

Goes without saying I'd rather pass.

Last Part

Last night my Jiu-Jitu training partner went through her exam routine. I was the dummy, and got generally chucked about and mushed.

She did as perfect as any human being could, but even so she wanted to give it another shot. I think she was unhappy with some teensy mistake.

Off we went again. It just didn't have the pizazz of the first go. No problem; our instructor said he'd review both recordings and send in the better one.

Madeline is all done.

I used today to get myself ready. Tomorrow it's my test, and I get to chuck her around.

I'd say I can pull off three attempts at getting a good recording before fatigue makes further effort counter-productive.

My best run is always when I'm freshest. Hopefully, I can stick-the-landing with the very first try. If it's good, I will NOT make another attempt.

Madeline will be totally finished, but I will still have two sparring sections to record. They are a mere 5 minutes each, and are something we do all the time.

When our instructor gets back from Mexico early in December, I can bang out my final, short recordings. It will all get submitted at that time.

Results can take anywhere from one to three weeks to get back.

Passing would be very Christmassy.

Ahead of plan

The test is weirdly difficult. When you feel ready, you shouldn't delay. You need to go for it, as the feeling can easily pass. Peaking and not giving it a shot would not feel good.

We both want to be done by Saturday. As Madeline is ahead of me in the queue she needs to try and finish Friday.

I have been hoping that she'd even make a first attempt after class on Thursday. She's good enough that a single attempt might get the job done.

Today is Wednesday. We worked for about an hour on the test material, and she announced that she wanted to start tonight.

The only thing that prevented it was the camera wasn't present. Instead, the instructor had us perform the test section in front of the class. Madeline was outstanding, and no flaws were detected.

The camera promised it would be there tomorrow. She will get it on the first attempt.

I will need a bit of warm-up time. For the last few days I've been learning to be a fabulous partner. This isn't exactly the same as getting ready to do the test myself.

Likely we'll get an hour or so after Madeline's test to focus on me. It's her brother's birthday Friday, and she'd love to be able to spend it with him. I have no problem with this, as I'll be happy to work on my stuff another day. Maybe I can get somebody to show up and help me. I can do it without Madeline, but a live buddy would be useful.

That saves Saturday for recording my test.

I'm feeling so good about it, I wouldn't be surprised to nail it on the first try, too.

Contrast

There are two of us with only a single part of our Jiu-Jitsu exam to finish this week.

Madeline is blowing the whole thing away. If she keeps performing as she has been, there is no possibility of a failing grade.

It is harder for me. In the three test sections we've been plowing through, a candidate is permitted a total of 20 demerits. These are given for any variation from acceptable technique.

I think I did pretty good on test section one. We recorded my second section on Monday. It was probably OK, but there were errors. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be able to do it better. That test section is just a killer.

This means that I want to do very well on the part we're doing this week. That will leave more of my demerits available to keep test section two afloat.

I'm not even worrying about the three sparring sections of the exam. Madeline has finished all of her's, and I have two to go. Those can be banged off in one evening anytime.

This is an extremely difficult examination process.

The most annoying part is that at the HQ Gracie School, there are no exams at all. There the ranks are awarded once a student has put in enough time if they are good enough. Their instructors are the same ones who authorize our promotions. Down there they have intimate knowledge of the students and exams are not necessary.

They don't know us at all. So we take exams.

Crushingly difficult exams.

Mo' 'structors

Our local Jiu-Jitsu school is undergoing a positive evolution.

Up until now, the burden of instruction has had to fall on only one person. It isn't unusual for him to teach four classes a night. He also can't be sick or injured.

Right now, three of the advanced students are enrolled in the Gracie University program for instructor certification. They should be official instructors early in 2014.

This will make it possible for the teaching load to be shared.

There is also excellent potential around here for satellite training locations. This hasn't been possible, but soon will be.

We live on a 50 mile stretch of coastline that can only be reached by ferry. Our current school is located at one end road in the town of Gibsons, which is one of two towns. The other town is located in the middle, and has a little bit larger population.

Only a handful of people make the drive from the larger town to the Jiu-Jitsu school. Sechelt (my town's name) could support a second academy every bit as substantial as the first. A second school here has been an ambition of our instructor for quite a while.

All it will take now is for one or more of the new teachers to go for it. Likely, things would have to start small and grow over time.

For me it's too late. I'll continue my training with our current instructor, Shawn Phillips. I enjoy his personality and style, and he's the only one who can teach at my level.

A little driving is good for the soul.

Fight Saturday

This coming Saturday there is going to be a free-TV UFC fight that I'm dying to see. It isn't for a title, but is chock full of interesting angles.

Lyoto Machida used to be the UFC Light Heavyweight champion. Unlike most fighters, he's always fought at the weight he actually is.

The cut off for that division is 206 pounds. His normal weight is in the 200-205 pound range, so he never has to cut weight. This puts him at a big size disadvantage when competing against others in that division. The current champ, Jon Jones walks around weighing 230 pounds. When he has a fight scheduled he loses weight normally, and then cuts perhaps the last ten pounds by sweating it out. In the 24 hours between the weigh-in and the actual bout, he gains this all back. He steps in to the ring at about 215.

Size isn't everything, but between two equally talented and trained fighters it can be the tipping factor.

Machida is probably the only guy in any division to actually fight at his weight.

He's decided to change this, and has accepted a fight in the 186 pound Middleweight division.

For this fight, he'll be facing Mark Munoz. Munoz is the Middleweight division's number 5 ranked fighter. My coincidence, Lyoto Machida is the number 5 ranked Light Heavyweight.

Their martial arts backgrounds couldn't be more different. Munoz was a top-level wrestler, and Machida is a Karate guy. Both have cross-trained extensively, but it could be a classic grappler versus striker match-up.

Another twist is that Munoz, although a wrestler, has a weak submission game. To try and remedy this, he's recently been training at the headquarters Gracie Academy in Los Angeles. Another guy training there to improve his Jiu-Jitsu skills is Lyoto Machida.

The two guys have been training together for the last while under Ryron and Rener Gracie, the eldest grandsons of the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. I assume they stopped being training partners once they found out about the fight.

Ryron Gracie will be in Mark Munoz's corner, while Rener Gracie will corner Lyoto Machida.

I can't wait, and it's free.

Baby

Madeline and I have been partners in preparing for, and performing, our Jiu-Jitsu exams. We're both operating under time constraints. This seriously sucks.

Her situation is much worse than mine. Our instructor is flying off to Mexico for over a month. I think the last day we can record any test material with him will be Saturday. By the time he gets back, Madeline will have moved to Calgary and she won't see him again. If she isn't finished by Saturday, we'll have record her test without our instructor being present. Technically this is possible, but would be extremely dicey.

This means we've got only this week to get Madeline's last test segment finished.

I have more stuff to finish, but also potentially more time. I have two technical sections and two sparring segments to compete. If I don't finish by Saturday, I could try without the instructor, or could wait for his return.

My own deadline is really anytime before Christmas.

The problem is I'm a big baby and want it done now. Well, not now exactly. I want it done by Saturday, the same as Madeline.

Actually, I don't need it all done. I don't mind if I still have sparring to complete. That takes no time at all, and doesn't require massive amounts of memorization.

What I'm shooting for is completion of my two technical sections this week. Really it's only one, if I can get this week's test recorded successfully. I had a couple of shots at it today, but blew both. I get to try again Monday.

With that out of the way, Madeline and I can work hard on the final part and get that into the bag.

I'm going to spend the next two days memorizing the sequence as deeply as I can. I want the video done successfully on the first attempt Monday, leaving us the rest of the mat time to get ready to move on.

And then we find out if HQ thinks we're good enough.

Three Weeks

Last week we concentrated all our training on exam review. It was the easiest part of the test, and we already knew it quite well. When we couldn't work together, we worked on our own. Madeline and I both successfully recorded our performance on Saturday of the first week.

This week the material is much, much harder, and there is more of it. This is the hardest part of the exam.

Again, we worked together as much as possible, and alone when we couldn't. Thursday I was in the hospital getting a gastroscopy and a colonoscopy, and still made it to the evening's training. I had to.

Today is Friday, and we had time for two attempts at making a successful recording. Madeline went first with me as her partner. We made it through everything without a major mistake. There were a couple of minor ones, so our instructor decided it wasn't acceptable.

No big deal. We took about ten minutes to recover, and did it all over again.

This time I made a significant error, but Madeline handled it without missing a beat. We made it almost to the end of the exam sequence, and Madeline made a test-stopping mistake.

We were out of time.

We meet again tomorrow to continue the effort. Our instructor has family commitments, so we can only have him for an hour. That's enough time for three attempts, tops.

Madeline is very good. I am confident she will get it done, perhaps with a single attempt. Even so, the chance of me producing a successful effort within the remaining time are quite slim.

We have arranged more mat time on Monday, to either finish recording this week's segment, or to start working on the final technical section.

Again, we practice all week and do the recordings on Friday and Saturday.

There has to be a better way.

Scrunchies

On the TV show called The Ultimate Fighter there are always a bunch of fighters divided into two teams. They then train and live together for the season, with elimination fights throughout the season. They almost never show anything of interest in any of the training sessions.

I'm sure good technical stuff is being worked on, but that probably would be dull to film. What mostly gets shown is cardio stuff.

This week's episode is different.

Let me describe the situation. For the first time there are both male and female fighters. The opposing coaches are the current women's champ, and the contender she's facing in December. All the fighter are experienced as well.

This time it was the Champ, Ronda Rousey, showing her team a different way of moving when you are down on the mat.

Try it. Lay down on your back. Lift both arms and legs off the ground. They are not allowed to ever touch down. Now, quickly move around the room. Does much happen?

Ronda demonstrated moving fast in all four directions.

Her team all try. Most barely move, some not at all. They are all highly conditioned and highly trained, but can barely do it at all.

One of them calls their coach, “a Judo wizard.”

She is so far above all of them it's unbelievable.

I think she called the method, “scrunchies.”