Again?

Three weeks ago missed work due to a stupid cold. Even worse, I missed a night at Jiu-Jitsu.

I have yet another stupid cold. This one is worse, and I predict a mess of lost training. I was at work today, but won't be tomorrow. I'm too sick for martial arts, either. This will likely cost all three of the week's technique classes. That's a pain.

I'm going to go tonight. This is the day when we get the movements all explained and demonstrated. I can't train, but can certainly sit in a chair and watch. If I stayed home, I'd just be sitting in a chair watching TV. This is the by far the worst night of the week to miss.

Wednesday and Thursday will likely be shot, too. Those are drill days and I'll stay home.

We soon go into three weeks of review. I can likely do the necessary drill on this week's techniques during that time.

We won't be returning to this particular material until the summer of 2014. Certainly wouldn't want to have to redo it then. Best to learn it now and move on.

I was really fortunate last year, and managed to push through the White Belt curriculum without any time lost to colds, flu, or such nonsense. No such luck this time around.

Teachers pick up a lot of viruses from work. Schools are breeding grounds. Tons of people packed into overcrowded rooms. That's certainly one aspect of the profession that I won't miss when I retire. That's still months away.

The Hardest Thing

I sometimes get asked what the hardest thing is in martial arts.

The answer might surprise you. Many of the things are very difficult.

The very first thing I learned was Karate's basic punch. I've been working on it for over 30 years, and it still needs work.

The stances need constant monitoring and correction.

Kicking is difficult.

Miss a block and you're screwed.

Grappling is no simpler, and there are many more movements to learn.

None of that is the hardest element.

The hardest part is the uniform. It ain't like any other clothing you've ever experienced.

The easiest way to tell a beginner is by the belt, and I don't mean the colour. It's the knot.

Even belts tied perfectly will often come undone in the midst of training.

I've started tying mine in a manner specific to some grapplers. Most people use the usual, self-undoing variation, but there is another way. I've started doing mine the fancy way, too.

It works really well. My belt hasn't come undone since at Karate, and only rarely when rolling at Jiu-Jitsu.

The knot's difference is hard to detect to an observer, and nobody has asked me about it.

Bet you didn't know there was even an issue.

　

　

How far?

The material I have to learn for my next test is divided into 7 units or chapters. It has been all chapter one since the start of September. There is one more week to complete, and then we go into a few weeks of review.

After that it's on to chapter two. I won't see chapter one again for a year and a half. At about that time I'll be expected to test.

I won't have done some of the techniques in a very long time.

Not really true, as I'll be using them when rolling around, but I won't see them in a formal class setting.

I plan on getting them down pat before we start the next chapter. When we do review again at the end of chapter two, I plan on reviewing everything in every chapter I've covered. I want to do this during each subsequent review period.

When it's all done, I want to be ready to test the very next day. I want it all tight. I want it all solid.

My age definitely works against me. A young guy needn't think about it, but we all only have so many good years. I want to get as far as I can. A Purple Belt is about 5 or 6 years away and is a realistic goal. A Brown Belt is just as far away again.

Will I still be rolling around like this a decade from now? I hope so, but I'll be in my late sixties. A Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt for me is a long shot.

I enjoy the learning itself, and the techniques, and all the sparring around.

The training is currently no problem for an old dude. My body is holding up well, and I can roll with any of them. Nobody seems to avoid the old guy, and some actively seek me out as a partner. I don't see anybody taking it easy on me. I take this as a compliment.

The instructor enjoys rolling with me, too. This is an even bigger compliment. My repertoire is still very limited, but I'm pretty good at making things hard for him. I think I present him with puzzles that he enjoys solving. He always gets me eventually, and then we keep on going.

I wonder how far I can go.

　

　

Gender Balance

Today it was weird at Jiu-Jitsu. Not crazy weird; just a little different.

There were four White Belts guys there. There were also four White Belt girls. The class was exactly gender balanced.

This is unusual. It required every one of the ladies to attend, and for a lot of the guys to be away. Regardless, we were gender balanced.

I am being a little selective in my count. The instructor is male as are both of the Blue Belts who were there to help out, but it's really the White Belt's class.

Martial arts classes almost always have significantly more men than women, and I suspect this is even more true in grappling classes.

My Karate club is pretty balanced. There are ten of us, and four are female.

Neither Jiu-Jitsu nor Karate is better for either gender physically.

In Karate you strive to do the best strikes, kicks, and blocks possible with the body that you have. A big, strong person hitting hard, but with only 75% of their potential is doing less well than a smaller person who hits with less force, but who is performing at 95%.

Jiu-Jitsu is similar. The biggest and strongest people have the hardest time. They are used to generating force through muscle power. In grappling this is a big disadvantage. They are the ones who push too hard when we are rolling around. It just doesn't work. A person with better technique can avoid what the big guy is attempting. The big person then pushes harder, and it still won't work. In no time at all they are exhausted and become easy prey. They have to unlearn their lifelong habits.

In both these martial arts the idea is not to be able to defeat a larger attacker. The way to do this is to work at maximum efficiency.

Efficiency is not a gender determined trait.

Not fair fights

It is quite a fall season for the heavier weight divisions of the UFC, but all the title bouts are very one-sided.

In September the UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Jon Jones defeated Vitor Belafort in the 4th round. Nobody thought the challenger had any sort of chance. The only surprise was that Jones ended it with an armbar. He usually beats his opponents to a pulp.

In October the Middleweight champion Anderson Silva took on Stephan Bonnar. This time it was impossible to claim Bonnar was anything other than a tomato can. Silva is the most dominant champion ever in the UFC, and Bonnar is nothing more than a second tier fighter. He's never had a title fight before, and had already decided to retire when the call came to fight Silva. Silva toyed with him until there were only 20 seconds left in the first round. He then turned it on and crushed Bonnar with ease.

The UFC used to be known for putting on balanced bouts. I don't know what has happened.

It doesn't really get any better for the upcoming Welterweight title fight between George St. Pierre and Carlos Condit. I've seen both fight, and Condit doesn't stand any chance at all. The only interesting element at all is that St. Pierre has been off for over a year and a half due to injury. Has he become an old man? Has he forgotten how to fight? If he hasn't, then Condit is mere cannon fodder.

In December the Heavyweight division has the only interesting big-man fight. It is a rematch between current champion Junior Dos Santos and the man he took the title from, Cain Velasquez. Dos Santos is the favourite, but Velasquez has a good shot.

I think the problem is that with St. Pierre, Silva, and Jones the Champions are just too good. All have already defeated every legitimate contender.

Jon Jones, for example, has had the shortest reign of the three champions just named. Other than the Belafort mismatch, he has had just 4 title fights. In all of them he faced excellent men who were all former champions.

He knocked out Rua, choked out both Jackson and Machida, and earned a unanimous decision over Evens. After breezing through that granite-hard field there is really nobody available to offer a serious challenge.

For Silva and St. Pierre it's even worse.

This isn't happening at Heavyweight, as Dos Santos has only had one title defense so far.

Maybe all the competitive fights will have to come with the lighter weight categories. They have yet to develop dominant champs.

　

Strange lens

I tend to forget stuff. Usually, it's the small items.

Can't even begin to list the number of times I've ended up someplace without my glasses. They aren't needed for driving, but without them reading isn't going to happen.

My old solution, if you can call it that, was to have cheap, drugstore reading glasses scattered liberally about. That way if my real glasses weren't to hand, I could still get by. The problem was that my safety net only worked half of the time. The spares tended to migrate as I moved about.

Yesterday, I was waiting at a restaurant for Helen. My glasses were a coupleof blocks away parked inside my car. There were no spares in my bag.

I did have my iPad with me, and it came to the rescue. The camera is good enough I could point it at the printing, and then stretch the image nice and big.

Granted, I looked like a geek using a tablet device to read a menu. I couldn't use my less noticable phone, as its camera is just not up to the task. Helen's iPhone would be dandy.

I've known for a long time that this was possible. I've use my iPad to record documents photographically several times, but this was the first time I've done it "live".

I could imagine going to Vancouver solo for Karate sometime and forgetting my glasses.

Bet I'd have my iPad.

Small Group

Attendance at Jiu-Jitsu today was low. It happens. Sometimes the place is packed, and sometimes it isn't. Tonight it wasn't.

At the White Belt class there were only seven of us. This total included the instructor, and two Blue Belt assistants.

The training was grand, but when the class ended there were only three of us left for the Blue Belt class, including the instructor.

No problem, we just forged ahead. It was a little tricky, as I'm working at the lowest level of Blue Belt, and they are both at one level above me.

I was presented with a mini-review of my material and a short drill with the other student as my partner.

After that, they worked on their material. I scooted off to the side and played my techniques over and over solo. This isn't an ideal situation, but it works for me. I always need lots of drill to get things down pat.

With about half an hour left, we got back together and rolled in five-minute rounds. First it was me and Sterling, then I rolled with Shawn. After that, Sterling and Shawn had at it. Then we did the cycle all over again.

By the end we were all sweaty, and had gotten a lot of good practise. It was fun.

I'm glad the attendance was so light, at least for the one evening.

I like the big groups, too, but this was a nice change of pace.