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.