Elli came to visit from Australia and we drilled and rolled. A slender girl in
her 30s, she was wiry and strong. Like Amy, she was a purple belt, agile, and
aggressive. She caught me in rear naked chokes a couple of times and I had a lot
of fun defending and escaping.
From Rickson's online courses, I learned one effective butterfly-killer and had
been enjoying passing my opponents' guards ever since. I also drilled his
four-point position reverse when my partner pushed from the side. I had a few
successes and was determined to make it, like the trap and roll from turtle, my
weapon. The move has some nuances, e.g., raising the hips a bit before swinging
the leg through, but is not complicated. One key is to understand when not to
use it. When my partner is not pushing from the side, I need to be smarter and
bait him.
Bad news cropped up on Facebook that master Rickson, 64, was diagnosed of
Parkinson's disease two years ago. It felt like a punch in the stomach. I have
idolized him, listening to his stories and subscribing to his classes. I
couldn't imagine someone so disciplined with his health falling in the clutch of
the devil.
I didn't know what to think and I didn't read through the June 23 BJJ News post
until a week later. The article attributed the disease to his 1000 vale tudo
fights. "I don't see it as a surprise, but as another gift from God to see what
I'm going to do about it" the master said. I'll keep a close eye.
After three months, 65-year-old professor Brenda King came back from hip surgery
(not a replacement) on Jul 10. Still recovering and on crutches, she taught
guard-passing and attacking the turtle. I pulled turtle a lot, it was my go-to
move when I was on the bottom, and I especially loved the hip-bump and
guard-recovery from that position.
I could feel my progress, especially in learning to use my legs to defend and
attack. The idea came from John Danaher (and Wei-chi explained it to me, too, in
his way) and was planted in my mind. For months, I had been doing 10 reps of
toes-to-the-bar every morning after yoga and focused on elbow-knee connection
when sparring. Not only I defended better, I also caught people in triangles
more. I realized that transitioning to the fetus by curling up would be an
alternative to turtle.
Anthony found a good way to trap one arm with his leg which made attacking from
the back so much easier. I got caught several times and he explained what he
did. He controlled my arms with his hands grabbing the wrists and extended his
arm to expose a hole at my elbow to insert his heel. Very impressive.
I revisited a few Danaher videos on BJJ Fanatics and intuitively realized the
importance of shadow-grappling. I think what some call visualization is the same
idea. It is a great concept and I should practice.
Toward the end of the month, I decided to take a break from the Redwood City
gym. Tim and I have been coming here for about five years and we made friends
and felt comfortable. But Tim has stopped and for a long time, I would like to
explore a standing martial art, e.g., kickboxing, while keeping doing BJJ. One
local gym offers both and one big plus is that it takes only 10min by bike.
Let's see.
Our brown belt coach Matt was leaving, too, to open a dojo in Truckee. In the
past year, he showed many ingenious attacks on the turtle. To me, he was very
patient. I loved his teaching and wished him good luck.
