Every bluebelt has his/her signature attacks and the paper-cutter choke, the
Dan-Camarillo armbar, and the scarf-hold, all from cross-side, are mine. March
3, for the first time, I tapped James, a two-stripe bluebelt, with the choke.
He didn't say "great job" as I would when submitted by my partner. Looking
rather disappointed, he retreated to a corner afterwards, and sat there and
watched others grapple.
We all have to deal with it at some point, I guess, i.e., being submitted by
someone who came later or an experienced lower-rank. It is a bitter pill. Often
the lightest on the mat, I get caught by whitebelts from time to time. I fought
it early on but nowadays just tap and it doesn't bother me at all. I have started
to live the BJJ cliche "leave your ego at the door."
Another video shot by Brenda of Adam and me revealed the gap between me and the
champion purple belt. Adam stayed on top 90% of the time, no matter how many
attacks I launched or escapes I attempted from the turtle bottom position. It
was amazing to see. I wanted to be as good. One thing my friend L pointed out,
when I showed it to him when we chatted at work, was that I paused from time to
time. From the video it was clear but I had no clue what to do at those moments.
Reviewing the film, I think I should move, i.e., to shrimp, turtle, or just get
a leg up, whenever Adam tried to make a "connection." At my level, I only spot
certain obvious opportunities. Improvement will come as I keep training.
As I keep rolling, I am getting better at finding space and as a result, I have
become harder to control. It was a great feeling, knowing a big but less
experienced guy couldn't do anything to me. Two more encounters with Stephen, the
one who caught my arm in the last video, left me un-scored on. More escapes led
to more chances of getting on top and submission follows.
Professor Weiqi (who's a professor outside the gym, too) taught the nuances of
the guillotine choke. It was very impressive. I kept forgetting using it,
though. What I did was to practice Henry's knee-collapsing defense which caught
a few people and made me very happy.
Brenda announced her retirement, which came as a shock to me. It's hard to
imagine the place without her. The 65-year-old had suffered hip injuries for a
while. "It's not replacement-worthy but certainly surgery-worthy," she said.
"You do plan to come back?" I asked. "Definitely when you get your blackbelt."
She smiled.
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My right hand, especially the bottom of the index finger started to hurt every
morning for the first 10 seconds when I make a fist. Weiqi told me it was overuse
induced osteoarthritis and advised me to do no gi and change grip with the gi.
