Silva

This weekend contains Superbowl Sunday, but how can anybody really care about that compared to what is happening Saturday.

The UFC is presenting UFC 183. The supporting bouts are unusually compelling, but it is all really about the main event.

Andersen Silva will be squaring off against Nick Diaz.

Silva is the former Middleweight champion, and is considered the best fighter to have fought in mixed martial arts...ever...in any weight class.

As recently as July 2013, he looked to be invincible. He was fighting a worthy contender, Chris Weidman. In the middle of the second round, Silva stood within punching range, dropped his hands to his knees, and started dodging his head around. He was daring Weidman to hit him; just fooling around. Weidman landed a bomb, and took Silva's title away with a knockout.

The consensus was that it was a fluke, and that Silva would take the belt back in the rematch, which was held the following December.

Silva came out dead serious, and oozing confidence, but so did Weidman. The end came again in the second round. Silva launched a devastating round kick, that Weidman checked with his own shin. Shinbone met shinbone at a 90 degree angle and Silva's leg snapped. By the time he hit the floor, screaming, the bottom half of his lower leg was sticking out in a direction it was never meant to take.

Two losses, but they were both weird. Was Andersen Silva done, or was he still Andersen Silva? He is 39 years old, after all.

First, he had to heal, which took a long time. Now, a little over a year after his leg snapped, he is going back into the ring.

Who is he facing? Nick Diaz is a decent fighter who has seen better days. He seems to be just legitimate enough on paper to make a respectable opponent. In reality, he's hand-picked to lose.

Diaz is significantly skilled in Jiu-Jitsu, and has turned himself into a nasty striker. He hasn't got one-punch knockout ability, and moves slowly. He also sucks at the one thing that Silva has always had trouble with; take-down ability. He is also from the next smaller weight division, and has never fought at Middleweight.

Silva is the most accomplished puncher and kicker in the world. Standing, he should be able to avoid anything Diaz tries, and should batter him with ease. Diaz is dangerous on the ground, but there is no way he should ever be able to get Andersen down. Silva is also dangerous on the ground.

If both men were at their peak, Silva would destroy Diaz. It would be a horrible mismatch. On top of that, Diaz is small. It hardly seems fair.

If Silva loses, it will be proof that his career is over. Even if he wins, but doesn't look fantastic it will also be a very bad sign.

Sadly, even a sloppy, split-decision win will probably get Silva in line for an immediate third fight with Weidman.

Even if he kicks the crap out of Diaz, and puts him away early, it is such an uneven match-up that it won't be any kind of proof that he's as good as ever.

What would I like to see happen? I'd love it if Silva still has the spark, and shows it. For me, that would mean a knockout within the first half of the first round. If he can get around Diaz's guard, like he used to with far better opponents, and ends it early then the tiny flame of hope will be lit.

Then he'd get his title shot. I bet they'd make it happen before his 40^th birthday in April. I'd love to see him win that one in any fashion whatsoever. I'd also like to see him immediately retire afterwards.

How can a football game hope to match all of that?

Looking at results

Recently, I did an analysis of our Jiu-Jitsu school's Gracie University exam results.

It was only material from one level, called BBS1, but it could be expanded later.

Shawn, our instructor, thought it was a good idea, and gave me access to the pertinent test videos and grading reports. It all went pretty fast, as we've only ever had 5 students perform the exam in question.

The goal was to find out if there were any common flaws. This could lead to improvement in instruction, and general improvement in all of our students' performance. Not only potential improved test results, but better Jiu-Jitsu in general.

So I went through all of the technical drills by the 5 students, and correlated all of the negative comments. Overlapping errors would be a strong indicator of a potential problem. Single error comments would be idiosyncratic errors of the student who received them.

It seems that we might have a few generally weak techniques amongst the 180 or so variations the exam covers.

1)-Three of us had errors on (Guard) Posture Prevention-Emergency Punch Block. I know Shawn teaches the correct movement, so perhaps something like more drill would be helpful here.

2)-There was another 3-person error on (Guard) Butterfly Guard-Strong Side Sweep regarding the over-hook arm control.

3)-In the two, highly-related sweeps in (Guard) Spider Guard there were a total of five errors. Something to catch here perhaps.

Interestingly, there were the 4 significant errors I have listed above within the Guard/Half-guard segment of the exam. All of those 4 errors occurred in the Guard chapter, and none in Half-guard.

The Mount/Side-mount segment had zero significant errors.

There was only a single significant error in the Back-mount/Leg Locks/Standing segment. It was in Leg Locks.

4)-This was a 3-person error in the last movement of (Leg Locks) Knee Locks Primary Counter-Triangle Get-up. I consider this the least significant of the group's errors. These negative comments were all received by our 3 students who took the exam early in 2012, and not repeated by the 2 students from late 2013 tests. This would indicate we longer perform this movement in the negatively-received manner.

If these results are correct, a little more attention devoted to the 3 troublesome techniques indicated could improve future BBS1 exam scores by several points.

Pretty good information garnered from a couple of hours of time invested.

60 year old

So why don't I rant and rave about class counts and months-in-rank anymore?

Simple. The die are already cast.

My instructor has said that I will receive my rank just before we leave for our upcoming wee holiday. That sets that promotion date quite nicely. When that long-awaited third stripe will arrive on my Blue Belt will, in turn set up the earliest that I can hope for the final number four.

With that all pretty well settled, the only possible question is when might a leap to Purple occur.

There is no set time or attendance to move from 4-stripe Blue to Purple, but I certainly don't want to rush it. I think we'll be doing a month or so in LA about 3 months and 60 classes after my receiving my fourth stripe. That seems tight to me.

The next possible visit would be the next fall, or maybe late winter. That would turn 3 months and 60 classes into somewhere between 13 months with 220 classes and 17 months and 275 classes. Somewhere in this range is my target date. My computer painlessly figures these things out for me.

It also says that I'll be a mere kid of 60.

With this road all paved, I've had time to wonder on other topics.

The first of these is when might I do the ugly, BBS2 exam. I am already getting asked about it. It contains 60 techniques, each with many variations. We've been going through it in class a little too fast for me to digest. Also, in the year or so that it's taken us to cover, I've been off travelling for about 1/3 of the classes.

My current level of readiness is just not there. Best do the cycle again. That should do it. We should be done that a year from this coming spring. That will be a good project for a 4-stripe Blue Belt to be working on.

I've also been wondering how good of a tutor I'm being to people preparing for their BBS1 exams. Just how well do I know that exam, and how we are doing on it?

My next blog entry will be about that, which is a whole other kettle of fish.

Than's Finger

We currently have about a dozen Blue Belts attending class.

Normally, everybody is fine.

Recently, Tawha hurt her knee while rolling. She's had to start wearing a knee brace.

Tobias has a bum knee, too, but I don't know how it happened.

My own knee has been fine, but now I've hurt my hand and watch from the sidelines.

Elizabeth hurt her shoulder and back again. She's been on the mend and feeling really fine. She is describing it as a, “setback.” She's still training, but being extra careful.

Tonight was our most dramatic recent injury. Than ended up with a finger joint pointing 45% in a way that it isn't supposed to go. He headed off to the emergency room to get it x-rayed and straightened out again.

Altogether, that's two knees, one shoulder, and two hands. That's pretty bad considering how low our injury rate usually is. It isn't as if anything we've been doing anything unusual in class. It must just be a statistical blip.

A painful blip.

Orbit

The way that I am experiencing is chock full of cycles.

My local school runs on a weekly system that runs 5 days a week. Tuesday is a White Belt combatives class, followed by a Master Cycle session for Blue Belts. Wednesday is similar, but the White Belt class is only for those approaching promotion, and is called Reflex Development. Thursday is exactly the same as Tuesday. On Friday there is no class, but the place is used for an open mat session. Saturday morning has another open mat time. It all then starts up again the next Tuesday.

I really like this. One of the few flaws with retirement is that people frequently lose track of what day it is. My week is so structured that this never happens to me.

We also experience cycles on a much larger scale. Our curriculum is divided into 7 chapters. We work our way though Mount, Sidemount, Guard, to Halfguard, then to Back Mount, Leg Locks, and finally Standing. Even within each chapter there is a structure.

When we finish the entire rotation, it's right back into the whole thing again starting with Mount. Since getting my Blue Belt a little over 2.5 years ago we've been through the cycle twice, and are about to start a third.

Our promotions run on a cyclical system, too. After receiving a Blue Belt, a student is on track for their next promotion. They have an attendance card where they accumulate classes towards the minimums needed for the next advancement.

They gather at least 100 classes of specific types. Classes of the wrong type, or in a category that has already been completed don't count. There is also a mandatory minimum of 8 months required. After all of that, they are then awarded a stripe on their belt, and the process starts over.

A weekly cycle, and a much longer cycle for promotion, and a still longer cycle through the curriculum. We are cycling all the time.

Strangely, it makes me feel grounded, rather than dizzy.

Contact

Progress in Jiu-Jitsu progresses at an even, and predictable pace.

The only irregularities are the positive contacts that individuals have with the Gracies.

For our school, the contacts that our instructor has with the big boys has an effect in several ways. Of course, he gains ideas, tips, and motivation, but also his level of promotion authorization.

Let me explain. Our instructor is authorized to do local promotions, based on Gracie criteria. He can promote up to one level beneath his own. His own promotions come from direct evaluation by the Gracies. He cannot award new belt colours, only stripes. Only the Gracies give belts.

That means that the highest he can can currently promote to would be Blue Belt 4 stripe, as he is a Purple Belt. He received that rank around June of last year.

He expects to train briefly in LA next month, at a seminar in Seattle in May, again at the summer camp, and a 4th time at instructor training in July. They will certainly promote him somewhere in there, but the question is, “how far?”

If he were an average student training in LA and had received a Purple Belt in June of 2014 he would be due for a first stripe next month, and another in October. As an instructor he is so much more than an average student.

I would assume he will receive somewhere from one to three stripes. We shall see.

For myself it doesn't matter much. I won't be looking for a local stripe promotion beyond what he can provide until very late in 2017. That's a very long way off. By then his level will be much higher, and so will his authorization to promote.

We do have folks that might just run into a roadblock. I'm sure that Scott is hoping for a Purple Belt much sooner than I am. He might run into a ceiling a year earlier than me, in late 2016. It is all theoretical, as that is about 2 years away.

Anyhow, that's instructor contact.

I am the student from around here who is the luckiest when it comes to Gracie training.

In this coming year, I have two contacts happening. I will be down in LA for a couple of weeks of training pretty soon, and will be at the Seattle seminar in May. This has nothing to do with rank, but with knowledge and motivation.

I get to train and roll with many students outside from of my usual, little circle. I also get to train on technique of every level imaginable. My brain gets really, really full.

It's truly great, and I get to go to Disneyland.

100%

I have just played around with some data relating to our Jiu-Jitsu school.

It has produced a total of 24 Blue Belt students since it started in 2009.

Of the 13 who received their rank in the years 2009 through 2011, only 2 still train regularly, and 1 other who does so irregularly.

About half of the of 10 old timers who have quit did so by choice, not circumstance.

In comparison, out of the 11 who earned their Blue Belts from 2012 until now, only 2 have stopped training. Even the 2 who quit didn't want to.

What does this all mean? It may seem pretty random, but there is actually a pattern.

Every one of the 24 Blue Belts listed enjoyed the activity enough to go through considerable training, and to have gone through a difficult process of examination to earn their Belts.

There were 13 of them from 2009 to 2011. Of these, only 15% are still training, and half of those who quit did so without any apparant significant cause.

There are 11 from 2012 to 2015. Of these 82% are still training, and both of those who stopped would far have preferred to continue on the mat.

Something changed between these two groups.

For the original group, there was absolutely no structure for progress beyond Blue Belt.

This started changing early in 2012. That's when the first Gracie University exam was released, making it possible to progress farther. It was possible, but very daunting.

Early in 2014, this was significantly overhauled, making regular process something that all students could expect. The exam process is still available, and was even expanded in 2015, but it is no longer mandatory.

The difference for these two groups is what turned a 15% retention rate into one of 82%.

Of course, we still lose people. We did lose one when her family moved to Alberta, and another to health concerns. This type of thing will continue. For example; we will be losing another in the fall as he heads off to University.

That's a fantastic retention rate for any activity. Every single Blue Belt we've produced recently is either still training, or wishes they were. I call that 100%. I seriously doubt even the HQ Gracie school in Los Angeles can make that claim.

I wonder if we can improve on 100%.

(Helping)+(Helping me)

I have figured out how to up my game at Jiu-Jitsu.

The way I used to max out my learning was to do lots of extra homework. Typically, we'd do one technique and its sub-slices each week. That meant three classes devoted totally to it. On the weekend, I'd commit two open mat sessions to pounding it into my brain and body even deeper.

Sometimes it would be review time in class. That's when I'd get a private lesson to cover another technique, and devote all the open mat time to that.

So one way or another, I covered new one technique per week.

I like learning that way.

Now, we go much faster. The association's goal has moved away from trying for mastery.

Now we do chunks, usually over two weeks. Consider the first such chunk in the current cycle. It consists of four techniques. This is very typical. Instead of one technique in one week, we do four techniques in two. Sometimes there is more to cover, and sometimes less, but it averages out at about twice the rate of the old system.

I liked the old system. We now learn much less deeply. I guess it's not better or worse, just different.

So what is this upping of my game mentioned at the start of this blog?

Our instructor is preparing himself to take the comprehensive exam covering the higher-level of the material we've been covering. At the same time, Ryan is working on the exam that covers the lower half of the curriculum.

I'm a nice guy, so I'm always there to help both; at least that's what everybody thinks. In reality, I'm secretly as selfish as hell.

I've done the test that Ryan is working on, but that was over a year ago. By helping him I am being forced to re-learn it all myself. It is a sparkling way to review. Not only to I have to remember the nuances myself, but I have to be able to articulate them to Ryan. I have to know it better than I did for my own exam.

At the same time, I'm helping Shawn with the higher-level material. Sometimes I'm his partner, but usually that role is done by Scott. It's my job to read them the technique names, and to watch, and to offer suggestions for better performance. This is forcing me to recall material that we rushed through in class at the newer pace. Although I usually don't lift a finger, I am learning at a deeper level than I did when we covered this stuff in class.

They all think I'm helping them, and I am, and it is my primary focus.

The beautiful side-effect is I am getting better at my own Jiu-Jitsu.

Vote of Confidence

There are two kinds of validation of knowledge in the martial arts.

Both are wonderful to witness when they happen.

The first and most obvious is that given by an instructor or examining board. This can take the form of a compliment of skill, or perhaps by an elevation in rank. It is the one that is periodically expected as one trains along the path.

The other is quite unpredictable, and is done by one's peers.

I am the only student here to have completed the first level of examination of the Gracie's curriculum. I am also the only one to have trained with the Gracies for any period of time.

For these reasons, I was awarded a rank stripe by Gracie University. That felt pretty nice to receive. Later, I received a second stripe from my own instructor. It was a wonderful surprise, and an expression that my teacher respected what I'd accomplished.

However, it has been the second type of validation that has been the most heartwarming.

In Jiu-Jitsu, students are always working with partners. They can choose based on any criteria, but due to the nature of the activity, usually pick someone they can learn with or from.

I don't usually select my partners. I let the others pick. Somebody always immediately grabs me. They then act as if I'm an instructor and use me to learn the technique. I am honoured by this. It is a vote of confidence by my peers that I know what I'm doing and am able to teach it.

Students often come to me for help if they don't understand a movement, or if they've been away, or if they are preparing for an exam. They could go to another student, and sometimes they do. Very often the come to me.

Last night I saw a huge vote of confidence aimed at another student. I got to watch from the sideline due to an injury.

The advanced group of about a dozen were working on a second day in the leg locks chapter. They had all started one day earlier, but Luke had been away. He had never even seen the type of material being covered, let alone done it. He was sitting next to Rob.

Only Rob, Elizabeth, Scott and Ryan had been around when we'd covered leg locks a year ago. All four of them have done the entire chapter. Luke was lucky to be right next to Rob.

Just before it was grab-a-partner time, Rob leaned over to Luke and told him to grab Ryan, which he did.

So why did Rob tell him to grab Ryan? What was happening was that one of the four who knew the material was telling Luke which of them would be the best choice for a tutor.

Luke moved like a cobra, snagging Ryan, who calmly and skillfully showed him step-by-step what was covered the day before. It was like getting a complete mini lesson. Ryan was the perfect choice. Rob knew it, and now Luke does, too. Peers pretty quickly sort these things out.

A huge vote of confidence, worth as much as any promotion.

Just another young guy

I started Jiu-Jitsu at the ripe old age of 55, earned my Blue Belt at 56, and am currently 58.

Our school was the only Certified Training Centre in Canada, so I was the oldest Gracie student to start training in our country. I was also the oldest to ever get a Blue Belt. Up until this week, although there are now more Certified schools, I was probably the oldest person training at all.

That has all changed. Two of our new beginners are stealing my thunder. One is 59, and the other is 62. I am no longer the oldest person in Canada to have ever started training. They have also knocked me cleanly out of being the oldest person of any rank currently on the mat.

Assuming they both stick around, and that it takes them about a year to get to Blue Belt, my oldest-person-in-Canada-to-get-a-Blue Belt record will also fall.

All of my firsts will have fallen.

I don't mind.

Where does it go?

What happens when you decide to lose weight?

Well, first thing that happens is that you have to start using up more calories than you consume. That, and you keep weighing yourself.

If you're like me, you get confused by some of the things your scale shows you. The patterns just don't seem to make sense.

It helps to know a few of your body's basics, like where does the weight go when you lose fat?

I read an article where a bunch of people were asked that question. One of the most common answers was that the fat was converted into energy, so you weigh less. That's very wrong. Your body is a chemical engine, not a nuclear one. You can't destroy matter, except on a theoretical level. To create all the energy your body uses in a lifetime, it would require the destruction of far less than a single gram of matter. Far, far less.

So where does it go?

Another surprisingly common answer was that you poop it out. Really? Your digestive system is self contained, and is a one-way route INTO your body. Quite a bit doesn't get absorbed, but that has nothing to do with elimination of waste from inside the cells of your body.

That must mean you pee the weight out. In part, yes, but only a small percentage.

Think of your body like a fire. Even the metaphors we use do that; we say we “burn” fat. What happens when fire burns? If you start with ten pounds of wood, you end up with just ounces of ash. Where does the rest of the wood go?

It burns. The carbon in the wood combines with the oxygen in the air, and it flies away.

In your body it's more complex. The formulas for the various components of your fat all look more or less like the one for Linoleic Acid; C18 H32 O2. I don't know if Linoleic Acid is actually fat, but I Googled the formula for fat and got a page of chemistry that all looked just about exactly like it. I just picked a typical one. None had anything other than hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon.

Break the bonds of that apart with lots of oxygen around. The oxygen in the acid just joins the party. The hyrdogen links up with some of that oxygen and turns into water, which will eventually end up leaving the body through the kidneys, or possibly as sweat or some such.

The carbon also links up with oxygen, forming carbon dioxide. How does the body get rid of carbon dioxide? That's right. It leaves through your lungs.

Interestingly, the carbon in the acid molecule makes up 80% of its weight. If you lose 10 pounds of fat, about 20% of it turns into water and 80% into air.

Knowing that makes the silliness of the bathroom scale make a little more sense.

Gi

Everybody seems to have strong preferences when it comes to gi; you know, uniforms.

I have a total 5 types and brands of grappling uniforms.

Just about the least suitable is a super stiff gi for Judo, and the two I have in that pattern have been retired. They are just too darn rigid.

That leaves 4 types that I rotate through.

The most expensive are my least favourite. They are done Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu style, which means close to the body. I prefer a wider fit even though I'm pretty narrow. That, however, isn't my big issue. The pants are cut with a very low rise, which means the wearer is usually displaying about 4 inches of their underpants. It isn't just me being a weird fit, as everybody who wears this type displays their panties. A silly style. I now wear the jacket with other pants and leave the stupid ones at home. I am disappointed with this model, as it is put out by the Gracie Store, and their stuff is usually really good.

I also wear another Gracie style that has been discontinued. No stupid pants here. These ones are fine, but a little snug in the body even though I'm considerably smaller than this type is supposed to fit. I like the way they carry Gracie cresting, but in an understated way. They seem very durable. I award this type a Bronze Medal.

The cheapest gi that the Gracie's sell is called the, “Classic.” It is also minimally crested, but seems to wear out faster. This is my second favourite gi, as the fit is just a little looser, and the pants have an extra-long draw string. It is my oldest gi, and it shows, but it is still good after over four years of wear.

My Gold Medal gi is a Judo uniform, which means that the cut is generally baggier than a Brazilian type even at the same size. This allows freer movement, which I really like. It is the least adorned of all of my gis, carrying no crests at all.

A lot of other people like to go extra fancy with gi decoration. They also seem to like the close-to-body Brazilian cut. About half like the underwear-displaying pants, and the other half hate them.

Uniforms come in strange sizing.

All of my current ones are sized for people supposedly 5'9” to 6'1” and 175-210 pounds. I am currently 5'10” and 173 pounds. Even so, they are not loose enough.

My next purchase will likely be another Gracie “Classic.” To get a more freedom of movement, it will probably be sized for 6'-6'4” and 200-250 pounds. I'll need to get the sleeves and pant legs hemmed, but that should do the trick. Some manufacturers do half sizes, which would be even better, but that is usually reserved for extra-heavy and expensive uniforms. I don't want that.

Year back and forth

It must be time to play, "where was I a year ago, and where will I be in a year?"; with subdivisions.

A year ago, it was January 18^th, 2014. Helen and I were down in Los Angels. It was a Saturday, and I had completed the 2^nd of 8 weeks training with the Gracies. I was comfortable by then, and deeply immersed in Jiu-Jitsu, Disneyland, and LA. My instructor was coming down in another week for a short visit at the academy, and I was hoping he'd remember to bring the Gracie University belt stripe that I'd earned a month earlier. I was a one-striper, but hadn't yet received it, so my belt was naked.

Six months ago, it was July 18^th, and I was still babying a knee injury, which was just starting to come around. Our lives were running in comfortable, home mode.

Three months ago it was October 18^th, and we were just a few days away from flying off for a month-long vacation in Florida.

Three months from now, it will be April 18^th, and the weather here will be getting really nice. By then I am confident that I'll have a third stripe on my Blue Belt. We will have spent a bit of time between now and then playing in the desert.

Six months in the future it will be July 18^th. We don't travel in the summer like we used to as working teachers. As retirees we spend the best months at home.

A year from now will put us just inside the beginning of 2016. I should have maxed out my Blue Belt with four stripes, and be looking ahead at earning a Purple Belt. That's like getting a Black Belt in most other martial arts. I should know, as I already am a Black Belt in Karate. There won't be a rush to get evaluated, as I intend doing that at another big, winter Los Angeles trip maybe a year later.

That's about it; a year into the past and into the future....

Letting Go

I have received 3 promotions at Jiu-Jitsu so far, and am close to a 4th. Of those 4, all but one have had a time pressure involved. I hate that kind of thing.

The first promotion was that to Blue Belt. Before my wife and I retired, we always did big trips in the summer. That meant no training for two months. Around the Christmas before, I figured out that I would just miss promotion before summer hit. That would have caused a delay in getting a Blue Belt by much more than the two months of summer break. Being off of training that long would have meant probably a two month refresher period. That suddenly looked like an unreasonable period of time. Either I'd get it by the end of June after a total of 9 months of training, or I'd miss and get promoted in maybe November, after a total of 14 months on the mat. I opted for the former.

This meant I had to get everything done quickly. I took extra private lessons, and practised on my own.

I made it.

My second promotion was to a one-stripe Blue Belt under the old rules. I was facing maybe two years of training before getting there. I did the math, and figured out that I could do it in a year and a half. The reason that I cared was that I'd decided to spend two months training with the Gracies at the main school, and the date for that was set to start just after New Years of 2014. It was a vanity, but I wanted to go with a little decoration on my belt.

This bumped my training up quite a bit in intensity. In the time that the rest of the class covered 4 chapters, I did 7. After that, it was a couple of months of test prep and execution. That was all wrapped up in 18 months instead of taking over two years. I only managed with a lot of help from my instructor, and by having a training partner for the test prep and actual exam.

I made it, and had my one-stripe Blue Belt when we went south.

My third promotion was the only one that came without any time pressure. I got home, and was totally surprised to receive one of the first locally-issued promotions under the new Gracie system. That made me a two-stripe Blue Belt.

I think I liked that one the best.

The promotion I am currently waiting for now is number four, and is to three-stripe Blue Belt. Helen and I are soon going again south again. This time it's only two weeks training with the Gracies. I'd prefer to go as a three-stripe Blue Belt but that isn't the issue this time. The big plan for the following fall is to do yet another LA training trip for a full month. For that one I want to have a full set of four stripes on my belt. That would announce my status as somebody preparing for his Purple Belt evaluation. It would make a difference as to the way I would be treated. To get that four-stripe promotion on time, I have to get this three-stripe one soon. Every day that goes by without my receiving a third-stripe promotion makes things tighter for getting my fourth; perhaps too tight.

I don't like the uncertainty.

Helen has been wonderfully supportive about all the LA training, but she'd really prefer doing a European trip this fall, rather than a return to LA.

I am feeling like I should just go ahead and book Vienna and Venice, and cancel LA for the fall. That would make the timing on a fourth Blue Belt stripe irrelevant, which in turn would make the timing on the third stripe that I'm waiting for right now also irrelevant.

Promotion would happen whenever, and I'd do our upcoming two-week trip south wearing either 2 or 3 stripes. No problem if I am a 3 stripe or 4 for the fall either if there isn't a big LA trip looming.

I don't think they care in Salzburg what kind of belt I have hanging on the wall back in Canada.

No test

There is a lot of talk around here about doing the two Gracie University technical exams.

Several folks are planning on doing the first test soon, and one of those people wants to go right into the second as soon as possible. Our instructor, Shawn, did the first exam years ago, and is partway through number two. I have also done the first test.

I keep getting asked about when and if I will do the second test.

As I am not an instructor, it is not mandated that I ever do the second exam.

I would if I felt ready, but I'm not at that point. Our group has been covering the appropriate material only since the spring. Currently, we are just finishing off the 5^th of the 7 chapters that it covers.

If I wanted to test, I would not be able until we go over those last two chapters. Those will be covered starting next week, and go on for a couple of months.

So will I be ready when the class is finished the end of chapter 7? Nope.

In the year that the entire cycle will have taken us, I will have missed a lot of class time due to travel.

Five times in that year we've gone away for single-week trips. A bigger issue comes with the two consecutive weeks up in Alaska, and with the month in Florida. Throw on top of all that is month and a half in Arizona and California. That adds up to about 4 months of missed curriculum.

That doesn't make ready. It will probably take me another complete run through the cycle. That will take another year. Let's call that the spring of 2016. That works for me.

By then, I'll be wearing four stripes on my Blue Belt, and I'll be aiming for promotion to Purple Belt the following winter. I'll be in an in-between kind of time, and a Gracie University exam could fit in.

Might do it then. Might not.

Now? I think not.

Finger

It's been a long time since I've had any sort of injury, but that had to end.

I got a couple of bangs during the first couple of rolls last night, which would be noteworthy in itself. Nothing serious, and then my hand got jammed into the mat under a rapidly falling partner's body. Hurt like stink, but there's not much positive action you can take in a situation like that, so we kept rolling.

Didn't use that hand at all, which made me a pretty lame duck.

Interestingly, for the next roll our instructor called for everybody to tuck an arm under their belt, and to roll one armed. This was perfect for me. Instead of my getting dominated, Tobias and I were on a level field. It's hard as hell to get a submission under those circumstances, and it was mostly a fast-moving laugh fest.

Got the damaged digit on ice, and taped it to minimize swelling. This morning I unwrapped it. It's swollen, but not scarey big. There is also blue around a couple of the joints. I guess it didn't like getting crushed head on.

Training for a while will be a bit stunted. Best not roll at all, or do anything vigorously. I bang the stupid thing enough just navigating the day.

Bang it out

Three of our Blue Belts have now officially started their exam process. It was the first night of video recording. I don't know if all three finished the first test segment, but at least one of them did. He messaged me, and seemed pumped.

He did it on the first attempt. That means he was properly prepared.

I've been helping the Blues prepare and have two roles. I'm the only student in the club that's done the exam. Of course, our instructor has, but he has many other commitments. Job one is to show how the test the techniques should be performed. My other role is that of drill sergeant. Mostly, I say, “Good, do it again.” I say that a lot.

The plan is to start getting preparing for the second of the three segments tomorrow.

That will be tough. People work during the day, and kids classes cover the mat until 6pm. From 6 until 8 it's adult group classes.

The only real free time to get much accomplished will be after that. By then everybody is pretty bagged out, so I think only a limited amount can be achieved.

Anyhow, we'll start doing the drills on the first test segment's final techniques and work our way backwards towards the start.

The one we'll be working on is the killer of the three technical test segments.

There are 62 technique variations, and they are the most difficult and complicated that need to be demonstrated.

I'm hoping that we'll maybe cover 20 of them after class tomorrow. Quite likely we won't, but less than 10 would almost be not worthwhile doing.

Let's say we work well tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday. That would have things nicely lined up for the weekend. Anything left to review can be worked on, and some videoing done.

With a good push, nasty part two can be gotten out of the way. Another solid week of effort after that, and part three as well.

That would leave only the three sparring videos. Those don't require any particular preparation. All our candidates are quite able to bang those out at will.

If can all be done and submitted before January ends.

This is important as one of our three candidates will be moving away at the start of February, and he really wants to pass this test before he goes.

A reasonable goal, and we're on it.

Measure

A friend of mine will be leaving town soon. He's a great guy, and I'll generally miss him, but I'm also loosing a valuable yardstick.

After I got my Blue Belt back in mid 2012, there was a long gap during which nobody else made that jump. The first that did was my friend, Ryan. This gave me 11 months of training in the advanced class before he joined us there.

He's about 50 pounds bigger than me, and it isn't fat. He's a very strong chap.

At first, of course, I could easily dominate him in free sparring if I chose to. It is in the nature of martial arts training that juniors catch up to their seniors.

For example, on Ryan's first day of rolling, I had been doing so for about 125 or 150 classes already. I had about 12,500% as much experience as he did.

The a week my advantage would have dropped to about 4,500%, and in a month to 1,200%.

After 11 months, it I only had double his experience, and has been dropping steadily ever since. I now have only 37% more rolling experience than he has.

It sounds as if I should still be able to control him, but that has stopped being the case on several different occasions.

The Gracies say that if somebody is bigger than you it's as if they are one belt higher for every 20 pounds. That would make Ryan be the same as a Brown Belt my size. They also say every 10 years is worth a belt. That would easily bump him up to some kind of Black Belt. Maybe they don't add together, so he's merely a Brown Belt two different ways.

Ryan started regularly kicking my butt in the fall of 2013.

Early in 2014 I trained hard with the Gracies in Los Angeles for two months. In those two months I did 8 months worth of training. When I got home, I was again able to beat Ryan.

This lasted a few months, and he again pulled ahead. I still get him sometimes, but am almost always on the defensive.

I measure myself against him. He is skilled, and one of our faster learners, is big, and strong, and fast, and twenty years younger than me. I am proud that I can roll with him competitively at all.

So my measure is going away.

He will be moving over to Vancouver Island to the small community called Sooke. He intends to keep training there; maybe starting a new group.

This is great news for me, just as his leaving here is not.

I often travel to Vancouver Island to visit family. They all live in Victoria, which is about a 45 minute drive from Sooke. That will give me someplace to go and train while I'm there.

Three Rules for Testing

I've gone on and on about how difficult the Gracie exams are, but that could be managed with proper preparation.

It's funny how little people understand about how to attack something like that.

I am a retired school teacher, and also a long-time Karate instructor. All this essay does is to apply proven educational technique to the difficult process of the Gracie's exams. What would be the best way to teach for the test?

So let's say a team of people want to do the first exam, called BBS1. Let's look at them getting ready for the first of the three technical exam video recordings.

The test preparation group's first rule should be that whenever possible candidates work with the same partner. It should be the person that they plan on testing with. This might not always be possible, but it should certainly be the goal. In a way, the test is like a complicated dance, and sticking to one partner would be best. No surprises that way.

So they go over the list of technique that must be demonstrated. This is broken into small groupings of about 3 to 5 related variants. They work together to make sure everybody knows what the test expectations are.

The very first set of related techniques is pretty short. It consists of;

---Super Hooks

-----1 Full Hips

-----2 Tuck and Shoot

-----3 High Hooks

-----4 Emergency Hooks.

Let's say “Bill” knows the techniques well, but needs to see the precise testing sequence shown to him. He then tries to do it himself, and makes a mistake. The error is explained to him, as is the correction. Keeps trying, and is fully successful on try #4. He announces, “got it,” and moves on to the next sequence.

This is exactly the wrong thing to do. Bill has just practised the test material four times. Our bodies and minds learn through repetition, but they only learn what actually gets repeated. Bill practised correctly only once, and wrong three times. It's like a baseball player learning to hit home runs. He won't improve by trying until he smacks one, and then goes for lunch. He needs to hit the ball correctly over and over.

What should happen after Bill gets his successful attempt on try #4 is that he should continue to drill the technique sequence again correctly for a half a dozen more repetitions, exactly in the fashion that he intends to do while testing. This would take under five minutes and would be incredibly valuable later.

This should be the test preparation group's second rule; repeat the material correctly.

So anyhow, Bill made it through the first sequence and starts on the next. He goes step by step through all 16 sequences. Could he then perform the exam successfully? Maybe, but I seriously doubt it. Probably, he and a partner will then do a few run throughs of the entire exam. This might help a bit.

Keep in mind that during a real test recording, any serious error will cause the attempt to abort. It is erased, and everything is reset to the beginning. It would make sense to try to be the most comfortable and competent with the last material to be performed. A mistake on the very first move is a cause for laughter, and the loss of a few seconds of effort. An error on the last move is not funny at all, and 15 minutes of intense effort gets wasted.

Here's how I would structure the test preparation for students who already know the material well. The test would be divided in to manageable chunks, of let's say two sequences each. Unlike Bill's method, “Michael” and his partner start at the end of the test, rather than the beginning.

They go over these final 6 moves and variants just like Bill did. However, once achieving success, Michael and his partner continue training until they are able to perform it all flawlessly for a set number of repetitions in a row, let's say three. Any mistake at all, and they have to do it three more times. They are not blowing through the repetitions. Each must be done as focused practice.

Once successful, they now move on to the second to last test set of 7 moves. They do it just like they did the other. When they finally make it through the the last of their three flawless repetitions, they do not stop, but rather continue on into the 6 moves of the sequence set they mastered earlier. If they screw up in this, they keep repeating all 13 of the movements until they get a perfect run through.

They then move to the third set of movements, get them right three times in a row, and then carry on through all of the material done earlier. If they can't make it through all of this, they keep repeating it until they can. At this point they are effectively drilling more than the entire final third of the exam.

They continue through the test towards the beginning.

This way even the bare minimum number of repetitions that a team will go over the early part of the test will be three times, while they will have done the final material ten times. As they will have made many mistakes along the way the actual total will be much, much higher.

Why do it this way? As they work through the actual exam and recording, they will be constantly moving into material with which they are more familiar. The test will be getting easier as they go along. For most people this is not true. As fatigue sets in it becomes harder and harder.

This should be the test preparation group's third rule; drill the exam from the end to the beginning.

So three rules; train and test as partners, keep training each sequence after mastery is achieved, work from the back of the test to the front.

So are there any benefits beyond the actual testing procedure? I certainly think so.

I stated earlier that the first part of the exam might get repeated only 3 times, and the ending 10, but these are minimums. Likely the first part will have 5 or 6 repetitions and the end more like 20. If the test can be considered more practise, and if success takes three tries, that would add 3 more repetitions to the start of the early repetition count, and 1 more to the end.

That's a lot of drill in addition to regular training. The end result will be an understanding of the material deep in the student's mind, bones, and muscles. In this way the exam actually becomes a teaching tool, and a powerful one at that.

Right now we have Scott, Cosme and Ryan who want to do the BBS1 exam as soon as possible, and Robert and Elizabeth who are starting to display interest.

How much would it take to get them all ready in a focused, 3-rule manner?

I have crunched the numbers, and if an intense atmosphere can be maintained, I would say that a one-hour session should see the group completing the last half of the exam material easily. A second hour should see half of the remainder done, or more if the group has learns as well as I think they will. They might have finished it all.

I think as a group they need to commit to 3 one-hour sessions. The test camera should be present at all times, and if there is time anywhere in there, testing should begin.

If all goes very well, the final hour will be for tests. If not, it will all be used for test preparation. In an hour, two people should produce successful recordings.

Either way, they will be ready for their first video, even if none can be recorded in those three hours. Unfortunately, there would still be two technical test videos to prepare for.

Shawn's Level Two Exam (Part 1)

People seem sceptical when I tell them that the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu online curriculum exams are the hardest I've ever been involved with.

So far I've only done the first exam. Right now our instructor, Shawn Phillips, is working his way through the second in the series.

Keep in mind that he already knows the material really well. He's been teaching it to all of us.

Last night we did the first of the six videos required.

There is a 20 minute limit on the first video, during which 67 techniques need to be performed correctly. It must be done as one, single, continuous shot. They don't want any funny business with creative editing.

Shawn has been going over this one part of the exam for the past month. His son Scott has been working on it with him.

Last night I was the technique caller, Shawn the candidate, and Scott his opponent. We tried and tried, with 9 failures. In fact, we didn't even make it half way through.

At that point we only had time for one more attempt. Success. They made it all the way through. Shawn wasn't excited about it, but a certain number of minor errors are permitted. Even if we had more time, there is no way there could have been another trial, as both of them were physically and mentally exhausted.

Shawn got home and received an email from headquarters. It informed him that so far 4 instructors have submitted their second-level exams, and that only 2 passed, and those just barely. The email was an admonishion to get everything as perfect as possible. Shawn decided to keep trying for a better performance.

Tonight, he made another attempt at the end of training. About a dozen people stayed to watch.

One attempt, and the test recording was significantly better than the one produced the night before.

Shawn's plan is to study for another month before trying to record the second of the videos. This sounds realistic to me.

The only good part about these tests is that they are optional for everyone other than instructors. For them they are mandatory. So far, only the first two exams are available. Level one was released early in 2013, and level two came out at the end of 2014. This might just mean that a new level will be ready every two years or so. The big plan is that there will eventually be 12 such exams.

The Gracies certainly look at the future in a long-term sort of way.

This Week in Milestones

This is a week of tiny, little milestones.

First off, my Jiu-Jitsu instructor is determined to complete the first of 6 recordings that are needed to complete his next level of curriculum certification. I've been training with him, and he'll certainly be ready. Considering the sizes of the various test components, he'll be about 25% finished.

Also in Jiu-Jitsu, and on a more personal note, I will have completed the requirements for a third stripe promotion for my Blue Belt. This doesn't mean I'll be instantly promoted, but it will become possible at the discretion of my instructor. This will have taken me ten months to complete, since my last promotion early in 2014.

I have been on a bit of a weight-loss kick. My weight had snuck up during our numerous, fabulous trips over the past year. My goal had me shedding a total of 17 pounds. I've been keeping track of my progress using a high-tech scale, phone app calorie and activity counters, a heart-rate monitor, and computer software. This junk says that I should be done by about Friday. I'll be a svelte 173 pounds.

This is also the start of my wife's official retirement. Her last day was during the Christmas Holiday on December 31^st. She's been on a leave for a while to see if she likes living a life of leisure. It turns out that she does. We did all the annoying paperwork a month or two ago, but now it's all kicking in. Since starting at age 20, she's put in a 35-year teaching career.

So is anything coming up that isn't exactly a milestone, but is that hasn't happened in a long time.

Well, we're going into Vancouver for no real reason at all. We haven't done that in a while. Technically, we're getting a routine servicing done on our Prius at a dealership. We could do that nearer to home, but sometimes we go to the source. We'll be visiting with a dear friend, and shopping, and eating fancy. We like going to the City, and I wonder why we don't do it more often.

I think that's it. Shawn's testing, my rank qualification, weight goal reached, Helen's retirement, and we're going to the Big City.

A fine week indeed.

The Holidays

Christmas has been hard on this old fellow.

For one thing, I ate lots. Lots and lots.

And then of course, I didn't run very much. Circumstance and weather conspired to make it hard to hit the pavement. It was 12 days, and I think I managed to do it three times. I did respectable distance each time, but it didn't really add up to much. If I'd been home I might well have run every day, or almost.

Lastly, there was no Jiu-Jitsu at all. In the same period I would normally have trained for a total of 16 hours. That alone would have burned two pounds of body fat off of me. I can't complain too much, as our Jiu-Jitsu school was shut down for all of that time for the holiday.

Anyhow, there I was eating lots, not training, and only running a little bit. Today we got home, and it was weigh-in day. The good news is that my weight is only up by exactly one pound.

So now I'm back home, and all regular patterns will re-establish themselves. I'd been on a weight loss kick and now have about 3.2 pounds to shave off to achieve my goal. This should take me less than 2 weeks.

Not so awful.