SARASOTA TRIP

FRIDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2012

A small group from Wolfpack BJJ Orange Park made a "pilgrimmage" down to Sarasota to receive instruction from my instructor, Charles Dos Anjos.  It was my first trip to the main academy since receiving the black belt last week. 

We worked De la Riva guard (opponent on the ground and standing), standing from guard against an overly defensive opponent, and I learned a new addition to the classic clock choke.

I had the opportunity to roll against a few of Charles' purple belts, and I think that my folks did okay in their exchanges with those who train daily with Charles.

 

NEW BLACK BELT IN ORANGE PARK

That would be me.  Charles Dos Anjos promoted me to black belt in BJJ yesterday.  Wish me luck as I travel this new road.

 

BREAKING THE LOCKDOWN

Saturday 1 September 2012

I taught three different ways of dealing with the Bravo lockdown in this morning's BJJ class (Greg canceled judo, so I moved the class to this morning so some people could watch Gator football this afternoon).  Strangely, I also got a tap on Ethan with a gogoplata...I have NEVER used a gogoplata.  I guess Eddie's "rubber guard" materialized in my soul today.

ROBERT SANTIAGO (1974-2012)

Our judo training partner, Robert Santiago, died on Monday, 6 August.  Jason, David, Greg, and I attended his funeral on Saturday, 11 August at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Orange Park.  The reality of Robert's death is tragically horrible for his wife, Sarah, and their young son, Benjamin (Benji).  I wish them peace.

Ἀμήν.
Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος Ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς.
Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος Ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς.
Ἅγιος ὁ Θεός, Ἅγιος Ἰσχυρός, Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς.
Δόξα Πατρί καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι.
Καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεί καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰώνας τῶν αἰώνων, Ἀμήν.
Ἅγιος Ἀθάνατος, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς.

WOLFPACK BJJ TUSCALOOSA SEMINAR

Charles Dos Anjos' Tuscaloosa/McCalla affiliate, under the direction of purple belt Clint McJenkin, hosted me for a seminar on Saturday, 4 August.  I got to share some of the techniques I've learned or discovered over the years with a group of excited and dedicated BJJers.  I look forward to training with them again. 

SATURDAY, 14 JULY 2012

We had five people in class for BJJ tonight.  It was nice to see Josh M. return to BJJ training.  We covered one of the standing passes from last week's BJJ seminar with my instructor, and I went over two half guard techniques not covered during that seminar.

In judo, we had a full mat with eight people.  Josh stayed for judo, and Daniel & David A. came in.  We went over basic ippon-seio-nage, kumikata, and we were permitted to do footsweeps during a modified randori.  In the "actual" randori session, due to three novices on the mats, we modified the rules and did only ippon, but without the throw.  It was a good learning session.

CHARLES DOS ANJOS SEMINAR 7 JULY

My instructor, Charles Dos Anjos, made a trip up here to Orange Park for a seminar with Orange Park Wolfpack and Smiley's Combat Athletix.  A special thank you, again, to James Smiley, BJJ black belt and owner of Combat Athletix, for hosting my instructor for a second time.  James Smiley has provided a welcoming environment to me, my students, and my instructor, and I value his friendship and thank him for helping me in my BJJ journey.

I was actually sore after the seminar for two days.  We convered a lot of drills to assist with passing and holding guard from a standing position, and worked on three techniques from the half-guard (a weakness of mine).  16 people attended the seminar, so thank you to them.  I trust that everyone took something away since I, as a 4-stripe brown belt, took a couple of principles that will help my game.

Special thanks to Tony T., a Wolfpack BJJ black belt, for coming from Sarasota with Charles and rolling with me so I can see where I stand at this point in my development.