Day 3

My last email to Naps (well, at least about BJJ). From here on out he can read the blog.

Naps:

I thought about training all day today. It's like being a kid again: sitting in class, my mind wandering, already done with my assignments and just waiting for football practice. Except there's so much less bullshit than with football or even rugby practice. That's something I appreciate at my advanced age. Let's just get to it, fuck the rah-rah stuff.

Today: lots of work on the triangle choke from the spider guard, some work on side mount positioning, escapes from side mount, and also work on linking moves together in a sensible way. I got another good bunch of lessons from tall, wiry Jack, and from Craig, "Crime Scene". Again I was denied the "forbidden moves".

Having a blast,
Foos

Naps replies:

Foos,

You have to realize that everyone wants to be there. Football and rugby has minimal costs, it's a team sport, and if you want to get lost in the shuffle, no problem. Dropping $200 a month and risk injury to fight other dudes isn't something you show up to half-hearted. Most guys in my school have shitty jobs and making the $150 a month is a big sacrifice for them.

Keep working those basics. My ground basics are pretty poor because my stand up and top game are dominant. Being a complete, well-rounded fighter is much better and at this point I probably rely too much on my conditioning and intensity. I have plenty of holes in my game to fill but I'm lucky enough to make up for it in other ways.

I trained tues and will be hitting it thurs, fri and sat. Friday's are the toughest because me and another guy run the open mat. We do conditioning circuits and lots of situational grappling. Steve designed this week's program and I think he's a little overzealous. He sent me an email, here's the plan:

Warm-up (total 16 min)
2 min each

* pummeling drill
* hand fighting (one person in guard)
* posturing up (one person in guard)
* standing hips forward (one person in guard)

Repeat

Grappling (total 15 min)
5 min each
3 rounds changing partners


Workout Routine (total 15 min) will require partner
1 min each
3 rounds

* fireman's carry
* medicine ball circle, throw and sprawl
* box jumps and ladders
* crab walk
* sit-up weighted ball toss


End session with "King of the Hill" take down round (open weight and rank)


This is our tournament prep. I will usually only BJJ 2 or 3x's a week normally. Keep working it bro and we'll have a showdown next time we get together.

I replied:

Naps:

Believe me, I appreciate that everyone wants to be there. I have never done an individual sport before so I was surprised by the difference.

That conditioning circuit looks very challenging. In fact, it looks a bit insane. Just regular drilling is enough to use me up at this point, alas. It's motivating me to improve!