Sunday, 31 August 2014

GoingTo

I am an old-fashioned kind of guy. My view divides the world into 7 continents. I don't have any sort of bucket list going where I want to visit them all.

In fact, there are many that I have no real interest in visiting at all.

Antarctica; zero interest, even if it wasn't incredibly expensive.

Australia and the South Pacific; too far away, and nothing that is calling out to me.

Africa and South America; there are things I'd like to see, but that aren't really high up on my list. For example; I am interested in the Atacoma Desert in Chile, but the cost in time, effort, comfort and treasure just to get there effectively eliminate it.

That leaves Asia, Europe, and North America in the top half of the list.

Asia; Japan holds Asia's greatest fascination for me. It is readily accessible, and comfortable to visit. We'll get there someday.

Europe; I have tons of targets to hit in this continent. Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece...you get the idea. Whenever we are planning travel, several of these ideas bubble to the surface. The only thing that slows us down is the distance.

North America; I live here, and so have already travelled here extensively. It is by far the cheapest and easiest to see. For this coming year, North America wins out.

Besides numerous small trips within our own Province, we will be heading to different venues in the USA. Not counting states we'll just be travelling through, we will be visiting California, Florida, California again, Arizona, Nevada, and Alaska. These are spread out through the coming year.

This North American exclusivity wasn't cunningly planned. Nobody decided to ignore the rest of the world and stick near to home. It just happened.

When it becomes time to plan something else, perhaps for a little over a year away, other continents will certainly have their hands raised as if to say, “pick me!”

I'd put my wager on someplace in Europe.

We talk a lot about Portugal, and Spain, and Italy. Our thoughts are currently aimed somewhat south, as we'll be visiting in the cooler months. None of us are the type that would like to visit Norway for Christmas.



Friday, 29 August 2014

Huggies


This week at Jiu-Jitsu there are no formal classes, but I've been opening the place up so that we students can use the mat.

Saturday, I was alone. Tuesday; it was Rob, Ryan and me. Wednesday; Dave, and the other Dave, Rob and me. Thursday; just one Dave, Rob, Koko, and me. Today it's Friday; I was joined by Koko, and Elizabeth.

It has all been a great review time. The two Daves wanted to go over the White Belt curriculum in preparation for testing. Ryan, Rob, Koko and Elizabeth all wanted to work pretty much on the stuff at the first level of Blue Belt. I was happy to help anybody, and when alone went over the second level of Blue Belt material.

At the end of today, Koko and Elizabeth got up to leave. Koko has spent most of this year attending Simon Fraser University, and is about to head back. I've known her since I started training three years ago. She said it was the last time she'd see me for a while, and started walking towards me.

We do a lot of hand slapping around here, so I reached up from my seated position pro-offering an outstretched hand. She said she wanted a hug. I got up and hugged her. It might be months before I'll see her again.

Elizabeth, standing nearby then announced, “I'm not going to hug you.” It didn't exactly sound like a joke. I made it into one by saying something like, “Hugs are for people going off to University.”

I found that all very strange.

I've known Elizabeth for about two years. In all that time we've never hugged, nor have I ever expected that we should. We have been all tangled up on the ground many, many times clinging to one another, but never hugged. Why would we hug?

As far as I can tell there seems to be two kinds of social hugs performed these days. The first is the kind that I exchanged with Koko. This kind is as old as the hills, and done in a traditional hugging manner. It can be freely exchanged between ladies, or between a lady and a gent. It is extremely rare between two gentlemen.

Between guys there is this strange creature that has grown out of a cross breeding between a handshake and a hug. Imagine a two guys starting a handshake, and then hugging with their free left arms.

It's done a little differently now. The two gentleman bend their right hands up to their shoulders, and then clasp each other palm-to-palm. Their still-free left arms hug around the other dudes shoulder, and they execute one back slap or shoulder squeeze. Note; this is only done between two guys, and is never mixed gender or done between two ladies.

Maybe Elizabeth was concerned that I might want to do one of these one-armed man hug abominations with her.

No wonder she spoke up quickly to quash any such possibility. If so, I thank her.

I hate everything about those bro hugs.


Brakes

The brakes are on.

When I first started training on the mat, my feet took a beating. My toes were forever getting snapped back. There were always a few of them complaining about abuse. I suspect that they suffered several breaks. I just taped them together and kept going. After a few months something changed, and they stopped getting hurt.

I over pulled a tendon in my arm. Taped it up, too, and kept training.

A shoulder thing? Kept going.

Dragged my old butt down to Gracie Headquarters, and trained there two or three times at day for 8 weeks. Made it through a lot of great partners, and a few meatheads. Made it through that, too. No injuries worth the telling.

Then back home again, and my knee got hurt. I have no idea how, but something went wrong. Didn't seem to be getting better, so went the doctor, MRI, physio route. Kept training, but with care. Slow progress was being made.

Had my next visit to Gracie HQ planned for this winter; another 3 weeks worth, and then another week just as winter would turn into spring.

Then my knee got re-injured. Again, and like always, I have no idea what happened.

I fully expect recovery, but these things progress slowly enough for people with young bones and joints. For me to expect to train at Gracie Headquarter pace in just a few months is foolish. The 3 week visit is erased from the calendar. Lucky I always plan in pencil.

The 1-week visit later is still on the schedule. It might have to go, too. It can also be expanded, perhaps into 2 weeks. That will all depend on how things go.

I'm pleased that my 58-year-old body has held up to the ravages of three years of Jiu-Jitsu training without requiring a break. I still can train, but for the first time have to modify what I desire due to injury.

I am slowed somewhat.


Saturday, 23 August 2014

Empty Hall

Today was day one of our ten-day shutdown at the local Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school.

Normally, there would be an open-mat session. That's when the place is open to be used, but no formal instruction is going on. Anybody that shows up is left to their own devices. Three or four people are the most common number of attendees.

I let people know the schedule that I'd be opening the school up for student use. I am fortunate enough to have been trusted with a key, and our instructor is quite in favour of us using the place.

Nobody else showed up. I put away the tables and chairs left out from last nights Hapkido exams. There were sparring gloves and water bottles laying about. I straightened the place up. There was even a mouth guard left on a chair. Eww.

The cleanup didn't take very long.

I hoisted on my knee pads and got to work reviewing material appropriate to my level.

Who did I train with, you might ask?

Fully expecting to be alone, I'd dusted off my home-made grappling dummy and stuffed him into the car. He happily joined me on the mat. I did a great many arm triangles on him, and he never complained; not even once.

I left him behind when I went home. He's a bit awkward to haul around in my teensy, tiny car.

He should be fine.



Friday, 22 August 2014

Closed for Holiday

Starting tomorrow, the local Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school will be closing down for ten days. The instructor is heading out for a little rest and recreation.

This doesn't mean the doors will never be open. I have a key, and will be going in most days just like usual. The boss is fine with this.

I let the group know. There will be a normal open-mat 10am start time this Saturday. Usually, nothing happens anyway on Sunday or Monday, so I planned on going in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays at 6pm for at least an hour. Friday I'll maintain the usual open-mat time of 4-5:30pm, and open-mat again on Saturday at 10am.

I told people I'm up for other suggested times, and Ryan may already be taking me up on a Monday opening.

Likely, I'll be alone for most of these times. If so, I have instructional videos to watch, along with plenty of things I can practice solo. My grappling dummy, Bubba, will be on the mat with me. He is quite loyal.

If anybody else is there, I'll be happy to play teacher if they are White Belts, or training partner if they are Blues. I know that Ryan wants to do a Gracie University Blue Belt Stripe exam soon. I've already done that one, and will be happy to help him prepare. Maybe people will just want to roll. Fine by me.

It won't be as good as normal class time, but very valuable none-the-less.

With the Gracies, there are a million ways to do every little thing, but only one way that is considered text-book correct. We've been blasting through the curriculum at a brisk pace. Some of it has sunk in nicely, but there are also quite a few techniques that have slipped away since we covered them. Closed-school time will give me an opportunity to revisit, review, and relearn those that gave gotten away.



Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Rush?

Pretty much from my very start in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu I've been in a rush.

Rank in this martial art is about the slowest anywhere, and I was no youngster when I first stepped onto the mat. It was 2011, and I was 55. I'm 58 now.

I knew that I only had so many years in which I'd be able to progress. There are a lot of levels to get through in the Gracie system. They have 3 coloured belts (Blue, Purple, Brown), that each come with five levels (no stripe, one stripe, two, three, and four).

I pushed and managed to earn a Blue Belt in 9 months, a record at my local school. I continued this pattern with my new rank.

Back then, adding each of the four rank stripes onto a Blue Belt would take nearly two years. I found this unacceptably slow.

I passed the test for my first stripe within 18 months.

The Gracie system then evolved, making promotions possible every 8 months. I received a second stripe.

I'd say I'm about halfway along the road to adding a third.

As part of my journey, last winter I travelled to train at the main Gracie Academy in Los Angeles. I was there for 8 weeks, and attended several classes daily.

The idea of going back every winter was already planted in my brain. For this coming cold season, there were two separate trips south planned. One of these was a trip to Arizona, which would be stretched a bit to give me another week at the Gracie Academy. The other was a dedicated 3 week training vacation.

My training trips and my rush-to-progress are related in an unfortunate way. Both might just have come to a halt.

In about April, my knee started acting weird. For no discernible reason, it began to swell, and to react poorly to almost any sort of activity. It didn't seem to be getting better, so I followed the doctor/MRI/physio route.

There was no particular injury, just general age-related deterioration. I've been taking a lot of care with it, and up until last week was seeing glacially slow, but steady improvement.

Not it's hurt again, and worse than it was before. With four months of care, I'd gotten it back to darn good, and am suddenly back to square one. Even if I can fix it up again over the next four months, that puts the calendar into winter. That's when I'm supposed to be training like a madman down in LA. I won't be able to. The risk to the knee is too great.

I'd have to sit out every warm up. The training lessons themselves would be OK, but the daily sparring wouldn't. At best I could come up with a few trusted partners, similar to my at-home situation.

Will have to seriously consider not going at all.

What about training at home? It seems pretty safe. I trust all my partners here.

What if the knee doesn't get better? What if it gets worse? Currently I do all my required kneeling with my weight almost all on my good knee. What if the good knee gets bad?

My ultimate progress goal was to earn a Purple Belt. I was on track to do so sometime in 2016 or 2017. To do so will only be possible if I can continue steady training at home, with occasional visits to LA interspersed.

With a damaged training schedule, I would eventually still be able to earn my last two Blue Belt stripes, although at a slower rate. The jump to Purple requires an evaluation by the Gracies that is mostly predicated on sparring comfort and ability. Can the candidate roll like a Purple Belt?

Don't think I'll match up to that standard.

Perhaps my rush is over.



Sunday, 17 August 2014

Silly Way

Martial artists are crazy.

To explain we'll need an example. Let's design a Martial Arts training session. Let's have it be a physically vigorous class, with a generous amount of review along with a couple of complex new movements or concepts being introduced.

Let's assume that the students understand the review material, and will be applying it with full speed and power. They do not know the new movements at all, which will be explained, demonstrated, and then practised; slowly at first, then with increasing speed. As these are being learned the emphasis will be on correct movement rather than going full out.

What order shall these be done in for maximum effect?

Educators universally understand that learning occurs most efficiently with students who are not fatigued, either mentally or physically.

Logically, the new material should be presented first, before anybody gets tired out performing multiple full-speed-and-power repetitions of well known movements.

Using a Karate example let's have the new material to be introducing a class to the concept of tai sabaki, or subtle body shifting. The review material will be half an hour of performing all of the basic kicks, blocks, and strikes back and forth across the floor at full speed to the instructors count.

They will learn the subtle body shifting concept better if they do that first, followed by the review drills, rather than the other way around.

Unfortunately, in Martial Arts this is never how it goes. The full speed and power drills are always done first. Students are sweaty and puffing by the time the new stuff rolls around. Even the fit individuals will be trying to learning with brains full of the wrong chemicals. At best they will require more time to absorb the same amount of learning.

It is also the wrong order if the instructor's timing is a bit off. Let's say 20 minutes were going to be dedicated to the new material, but the review drills went a little long. Only 10 minutes are left to learn the new concepts. A bad idea. Or what if all 20 minutes are available, but the tired students just need a few more minutes to understand.

Put the new stuff first, and it can't be short changed. If extra time is needed on the new concepts, nothing is damaged by stealing a bit of time from the repetitions of old material.

This over simplifies things, of course. Part of class time needs to be used for some kind of warm up.

It is important before any strenuous activity to get the old body moving, to loosen up joins, and to stretch muscles a bit. This should be something like some light jogging, or lose non-focused kicks. Let's use an example. If you were about to run an 800 meter distance competitively, how would you warm up? It should be exactly like that; an injury preventer.

It would not be the time to try and stretch muscles to a new extremes, nor to engage in large numbers of sit ups or push ups. It should all be light and relaxed and last maybe five or ten minutes, tops.

So, of course, this is not what happens in Martial Arts. The so called warm up typically consist of up to half an hour of hard calisthenics and extreme stretching. Students are already fatigued before the actual class begins at all. Most instructors are proud of how gruelling their warm ups are.

This is counter-productive. Let's make another example; a traditional one-hour class is planned for 20 minutes of callisthenics, 20 minutes of maximum effort review movement, and 20 minutes of new material. The first section goes 2 minutes over, and everybody's fatigue level is already moderately high. The second section also goes 2 minutes over, and everybody is now bathed in sweat and very tired. Now they all try to learn the new stuff while physically and mentally fatigued, and with 4 minutes less than expected.

This example lesson could be done much better. A light warm up of 5 minutes is planned, followed by 20 minutes on the new material, and the rest of the class for vigorous review, and a/or a callisthenics component. The warm up ends, and goes over by 2 minutes. Everybody is ready to start. The new stuff is explained and practised while nobody is tired in any way. The groups seems to need a few extra minutes on the new material, and this segment goes 5 minutes over. 35 minutes are left for hard training of some kind. Part of this time could go towards push ups and uber stretching.

At our recent Martial Arts Expo, there were five classes. For the first, my own instructor spent the first ten minutes in a group warm-up. It was the right kind of warm up movement, but the funny thing is, we don't do that in class at all normally. We have a technique review period of about ten minutes. Nobody is moving fast yet, so there is no risk of injury, and by reviewing recent material the muscles are all prepared to move fast during class.

Not a problem, as all the other Martial Artists present might have been shocked if there were no warmup at all.

So we finished that session, and went right into the second. The first ten minutes of that class were also warmup exercises. We were all fully warmed up after an hour of training, but the second instructor felt some kind of peer pressure to start his class with another one.

I didn't stay for any more classes, but wonder how many of the remaining three also had a warm up.



Saturday, 16 August 2014

Two Of Five

Today was an interesting martial arts day around here. There was a special event hosted at our Jiu-Jitsu school.

Five local instructors each taught a one hour class featuring each of their five different arts. It started with my instructor, then went on to a Shitu-Ryu Karate sessions, then to Aikido, a Russian thing called Systema, and to a Japanese form of Jujutsu. There was a nominal attendance fee which all gets donated to the local food bank.

Interestingly, the only people that attended were members of the five clubs, along with some members of a non-represented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu group. All were middle level to advanced practitioners.

I only stayed for our school's presentation, and for the Karate session that followed immediately after. Both were very good classes, aimed to illustrate principles rather than to teach specific techniques. This is a good approach for such a diverse group.

Why didn't I stay longer? Honestly, I have no interest in learning Aikido, Systema, or Japanese Jujutsu.

Let me illustrate with Japanese Jujustu. It is an art with throws, small-joint manipulation, and with striking. I've spent 30 years in Karate, which is striking personified. It has an incredibly sophisticated and evolved repertoire of hitting of every type. I think I've got that part covered. As to throwing and small-joint locking, my Gracie Jiu-Jitsu instructor teaches an art based on those aspects of combat called Hapkido. If I wanted to work on those things, I could attend Hapkido classes on my home mat.

A person only has so much effort that they can realistically devote to martial arts, unless they're a nut case I already attend 8 Gracie Jiu-Jitsu classes a week. I've actually quit Karate training so that I could devote that time and effort to Jiu-Jitsu. Let's say I wanted to attend a couple of Aikido classes a week. Where would the time come from? It would come from my Jiu-Jitsu efforts.

I am focusing my effort into an art that is both the most beneficial for me, and is the most fun.

In fact, the only martial art other than Jiu-Jitsu or Karate that I would even consider studying would be Judo. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu has throws, as does Hapkido, Aikido, and Japanese Jujutsu, but Judo leaves them all in the dust in that single aspect.

In Karate, I have a very fine stand-up striking art. With Jiu-Jitsu I am studying the king of ground grappling systems. Karate has a few minor take downs, and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu a fair number more. Judo would effectively strengthen this weakest aspect of my game, not that I'm actively pursuing instruction in Judo. To study Judo would require both effort and time, part of which would come out of Jiu-Jitsu.

Do I sound like an elitist snob? I don't think I am. Besides Karate and Jiu-Jitsu, I've dabbled in Japanese swordsmanship for a summer, practised western fencing for about a year, done 3 or 4 months learning Tai Chi, attended a handful of Judo classes, and been involved for several years in coaching high school wrestling. Plunk that on top of 3 years of Jiu-Jitsu and 30 years of Karate, and I think I can say I'm qualified to decide what kind of arts I should be interested in.


I'm a knowledgeable elitist snob.


Friday, 15 August 2014

GlovesAndSuch

It is my contention that UFC rules favour strikers over grapplers.

I'm not going to complain that having the fighters start far apart is unfair. It has to start someplace, and being at distance is more representative of real fighting. I pretty much assume that should always be the determiner.

So they start, and what are they wearing? They have on a pair of shorts, a pair of gloves, and a mouthguard.

The mouthguard is to protect everybody against striking damage. In that it favours grapplers more than strikers.

The bare chest and shorts greatly favours strikers. The fighters are sweaty and very slippery. Imagine the advantage to grapplers if both participants had to wear the traditional gi uniform. Plenty of handles to grab. Instead, there are none.

If fighters were even permitted to wear shirts, it would significantly shift the balance to grapplers. A wise grappler wouldn't go bare chested, or even in a slippery rashguard. The added friction that would result between the fighters that even a simple cotton garment would give the grappler much greater control and make it harder for people to slip away.

The biggest garment advantage to strikers is given by the gloves. Unlike boxing gloves, the fingers are free for grabbing. This is the concession to grappling. In every other respect they function to the benefit of strikers.

They are not made to absorb impact to protect the target. They are thinly padded, and covered with a very firm material. If I had a choice of being hit by a bare fist, or by a UFC glove, I'd rather be hit by the bare hand. The entire structure is solely to protect the striking fist. This lessens the chance of damage to the strikers, and actually allows them to throw with greater power, confident that the gloves will protect their hands even if the clunk into solid bone.

So let's say a grappler gets passed the swinging fists and their hand-protecting gloves, manages to grab his sweaty, slippery, and almost naked opponent, and gets him down on the ground. He now starts to work on achieving a submission. Again, the gloves are against him.

Rolling around in Jiu-Jitsu class, one of the most successful submissions is called the Americana. To do it, you pin the opponent's wrist to the floor, slip your other hand underneath it, and twist; threatening a shoulder dislocation. With gloves on, it is just about impossible to slip the second hand underneath the opponent's arm to secure the position. As a result, the Americana is almost eliminated altogether. Out of 67 submission victories scored in the UFC in 2013, 9 were to armbars of all kinds. That includes all armbars of every type. I would be surprised to discover that more than one or two were Americanas. It might have been none at all.

This is equally true of other submissions. There was only one successful Kimura in all of that year. It is another move that the gloves render almost impossible. Chokes are also effected.

If a grappler were offered the choice between fighting with gloves under current rules, or being allowed to fight with no gloves they would always pick bare hands.

Suppose each competitor could pick for themselves; either no gloves and being unable to hit with their hands, or with gloves and punching allowed. Every striker would pick gloves, and every grappler would want bare hands. This doesn't mean the grappler couldn't hit. There are still kicks, knee strikes, and elbows.

Anyhow, this is just my two cents for today. If it were up to me, I'd do away with the gloves altogether, and allow fighters to wear shirts if they want.




Thursday, 14 August 2014

Balance

Last night it looked as if we'd have the usual gentlemen students on the mat. There was Scott, and me, Ryan, Tobias, Rob, and Owen. Than and Cosme were missing, but it was a very typical number for an ordinary advanced class.

Our two regular ladies were present as well. Elizabeth and Tawha are almost always present.

But what was this? Koko was home from University, and stepping onto the mat.

And who was that? We had a Blue Belt visitor from a Gracie school in Alberta. Her name is Andrea.

That made four ladies in uniform. I can't remember the last time we had so many.

Giddy runs the front desk, and is also a Blue Belt, but has not suited up for months. She has a few medical problems that she has to take it very easy with. She was so inspired by the female turnout that she suited up, too.

That made five. Out of a total of 11 students on the mat.

Pity that it will be a one-time thing. Andrea will have gone home. Koko will be here for a couple of weeks, then back to school. Giddy will be here, but likely not training.

We'll be back to Elizabeth and Tawha. Can't see this changing soon.

We have about a dozen White Belts, and all of them are male. Half of these guys will soon transition to the advanced group.

On a percentage basis, we're going to get increasingly male dominated.

But who knows. September is traditionally when most people decide to take up martial arts. Maybe we'll be joined by a couple of ladies at that time.


Tuesday, 12 August 2014

NoOlympic

Jiu-Jitsu people are crazy. It seems that there is a movement afoot trying to get this martial art accepted as an Olympic sport.

This is NOT going to happen anytime soon. To be considered for acceptance there are standards that have to be met that are, at best, difficult, and are sometimes impossible.

First off, a sport must have professional-level officiating and refereeing. Jiu-Jitsu pretty much takes anybody who is willing to help out. Usually these are somewhat experienced practitioners, but it varies greatly.

Judo is an Olympic sport. In order to officiate in that sport, one would have to qualify through a series of coursework, as well as rigorous practical examinations. There is an entire system of qualification that has to be not only earned, but also kept up to date.

Karate has been trying for decades to earn a spot as an Olympic sport. They have a structure for officials similar to Judo's. I earned my Karate Black Belt in 1986. If I were to arrive at a tournament, and try and get involved in officiating, I'd be met with a blank stare. I have not completed even the lowest level coursework, which would be required for me to be allowed to sit at a table adding up scorecards. It would likely take me years to work my way up to being a corner judge, and a decade to earn a spot at a match referee.

There are also exacting standards for things such as apparel for officials. Both Judo and Karate insist upon shirt, tie, and jackets for all officials. They must be of the correct official colour. No t shirts, shorts or gis for these sports.

There are also precise standards for the rules. I tried reading the rules of one of the large sport Jiu-Jitsu organizations. They kept referring to both the ring official and to the corner judge as being the “referee”. At one point they stated that the “referee” has the last say in all matters. Interesting, but which referee do they mean. At one point they said it was the referee's responsibility to “punish” rule infractions. Punish? Is that really the right word to use? Punish?

These are all standards demanded by the Olympic committees. Jiu-Jitsu could likely achieve all of this in a decade or so. I still doubt they could become an Olympic sport. The final hurdle is the one Karate never could surmount. Judo did.

Judo was already centralized under the Kodokan in Japan. They worked as one body seeking admission. Karate has no such centralization. The largest body boasts 167 member countries, but in many of those they are not the sole governing body. At the time of the last serious attempt to find unity back in 1990, it was really down to two groups.

One was the major body, then called WUKO. The other, significantly smaller but still substantial body was called the ITKF. Depending on who you listen to, it was either due to an attempted coup by the leadership of the smaller organization, or due to fundamental differences as to what sport Karate should all be about. Unity never occurred, and Karate has still never been accepted as an Olympic sport.

The fragmentation in Jiu-Jitsu makes Karate's political structure look simple in comparison.

There are a number of sport bodies, none of whom can really claim to be world wide. There are several world championships put on every year by the different groups. Some are prestigious, and some are not. Equal in significance to any of them is a big event put on in Abu Dhabi. It exists solely due to the support of a single, wealthy patron.

None of this will fly with the Olympic folks.



Sunday, 10 August 2014

Metamoris 4

Yesterday there was a big Jiu-Jitsu competition called Metamoris 4. It is the brainchild of Ralek Gracie, and is an attempt to purge sport competition of its point-related inconsistencies.

In point tournaments, whoever gets an early lead tends to do nothing more than to prevent their opponent from scoring. To do so, they refuse to take any risks. Nobody scores again, and nothing interesting happens. This happens again in the next match, and the next, and the next. It all becomes a game of snatch the early lead and then sit on it.

At Metamoris, there are no points. You can only win by submitting your opponent. He can only win by doing it to you. Anything else is a draw. Fights like this can take time, so a very generous 20 minute time limit is in effect. The rest of the rules are the same general type as normal tournaments. No hitting, for example.

This time there were six, invitational matches in the event.

In the first, out came two highly-successful Jiu-Jitsu competitors. This match was no-gi, which meant that they were wearing shorts and rashguards instead of the traditional gi. It was a very entertaining and fast moving bout, ending with a submission about 4 or 5 minutes in.

Entertaining, but not real-world at all. It was all technique that would only ever work in a grappling contest.

In the second match, the two guys wore gis. It nicely illustrated why so many hate competing in the traditional uniform. One guy spent all his time using his opponent's own gi against him. He would wrap up the other guy's wrists with his own jacket.

As long-time points fighters, they just didn't seem to be unable to shake off their old habits. Neither was willing to ever let the other guy have the dominant positions. When Jiu-Jitsu people roll without points they willingly do so, as there are just as many submissions possible from underneath as from above. This one went to the time limit and ended in a draw. Most of the 20 minutes were dull, with moments of excitement. They never got anywhere near a submission.

Match three had the contestants again in shorts and rashguard shirts. These guys also fought in a very sport-only style. Within seconds, one guy just sat down. As the other guy started to work his way into a dominant position, the sitter started rolling around upside down. Try that against in a real fight. It ended in another draw.

Fight four was the “secret” match. The participants were unknown to the audience until they were announced, and also unknown to each other. One guy wore regular no-gi gear, while the other wore what looked like black pantyhose, and no shirt at all. Ewww.

The first guy fought in a recognizable manner, but Mr. Shirtless fought like a boneless grappling savant. A lot of weirdness was going on. A draw.

Fight five was really big guys. One was wearing even less than Mr. Shirtless from the last bout. He had on a speedo of sorts, which caused all sorts of muffin tops. These guys were equally good, but speedo was a lot larger. He won with about 10 seconds left in the match.

The last match was the most intriguing. One guy is arguably the very best Jiu-Jitsu competitor in the world. His opponent was a serious amateur wrestler, who has had considerable success in the UFC. He isn't a really Jiu-Jitsu guy, but he is a top level grappler. He's spent all of his prep time working with top-notch Jiu-Jitsu coaches. Like some of the earlier athletes who fought earlier, he was strutting about topless. It seems to be a trend.

The topless UFC guy, Chael Sonnen, was quickly on top, inside his opponent's guard. He seemed totally content to stay there. While looking offensive, his game was totally defence. I can't see any attack that would logically follow this situation. He wasn't trying to reach a better position, or to attack from where he was. I guess he just wanted to make it through the twenty minutes.

His opponent, Andre Galvao, kept trying to come up with something, but Sonnen's defence was pretty solid. About halfway through the time, Andre managed to get a bit out from underneath, and kept inching around. About four minutes later he was on Sonnen's back, working to sink in a choke. This took several more minutes, but he eventually got it in, and got his submission win.

Recapping the entire event; there were six matches with 12 athletes. Two wore uniforms, 7 dressed no-gi, and 3 went topless. Nobody was topless in any of the other three Metamoris events. I hope this isn't a trend. Three matches ended early with submission wins, and three ended in draws.

Jolly fun.











Friday, 8 August 2014

Memorial

The other day we were in the cute little town of Enderby for a bit of river rafting.

While driving about, I noticed something very common in towns all across Canada. Standing silently off to one side, in a little green park, was a memorial to the community's war dead.

In a big city, such a memorial pretty much vanishes. In a tiny town, they do not hide. They are always present.

These sad stone cenotaphs were erected across the country between the two World Wars. Originally, they held names of the local Great War dead. Later, those from the Second World War were added, as were those of later conflict.

For Canada, the greatest impact came during that first, Great conflict. More Canadians died in those four years of misery than died in all of Canada's other wars combined. This, at a time when Canada's total population was considerably less than 8 million.

Over 600,000 Canadians served, and 60,000 never came back. That seems as if 3/4 of one per cent of the country died in that war, and in a way it did. A far more accurate way to look at it is to remember that almost all of those 60,000 dead were males of military age. That works out to being about 6.3% of that unfortunate group. About twice that many returned home physically damaged, not to mention the psychological trauma.

European nations went to war over the weakest or reasons. For Canada, there was really no cause for involvement at all. The war was thousands of miles away. The boys left, full of enthusiasm. Most returned greatly changed, and many didn't return at all. Equally sad is the fact that almost all of those who died were those who willingly went to serve their country.

As stunning as a loss rate of 6.3% was to a tiny population, in the little hamlet of Enderby it was far worse. Their town had 12 names to inscribe on their memorial. That works out to over 12.7% of their young men, with a further 20-30% of them returning wounded.

Today, I did my early morning bike ride along quiet country roads. I reached what used to be the town core of the area known as Coldstream. Back in the time of the First World War, it was even smaller than tiny Enderby. I stopped at their cenotaph. It held the names of 14 lost in that war; a price of almost 16.5%. Clearly the war was a costly thing in these little Okanagan towns.

My curiosity was now fully engaged. The nearest place of any size nearby is Vernon BC. Back during the war years, it had a population greater than twice the combined population of Enderby and Coldstream. I looked at the names on Vernon's memorial.

That cenotaph holds the names of 123 young men who never came home. That works out to 27.8% of the war generation. Likely 50-60% returned with physical wounds.

Vernon truly experienced the loss of a generation.



Sunday, 3 August 2014

Vernon

Vernon is a sleepy, little town situated in the Okanagan region of BC. It is also a hotbed of activity.

They have just about every kind of martial art you can think of.
 
An example would be Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Not many places the size of Vernon have a large, successful Jiu-Jitsu school? Not many. Vernon doesn't either. They have three.
 
Two of them are located in the very center of town, across the street from one another.
 
There is also Tae Kwon Do, Karate, and the oldest continuously running Judo club in Canada.
 
The town also seems to function the same way with other types of leisure activity. Everything thrives here, from lawn bowling to quilting. It is a place of festivals and concerts.
 
Restaurants? Tons of restaurants.