6 Weeks.....

Went to a physio today in the city. It seems I've done the medial collateral ligament (MCL) on the inner side of each knee as well as bruised (at this stage) the cartilage in my right knee. 3 - 6 weeks to get better!!! Bugger

Future Champions

I took my eldest son Grant to Judo training last night with Dave and his kids Harry and Charlee who both train as well. They train with the Mormington Judo Club in Vale Street, Mornington and Grant has been training for a month or so now. The coach there is Michael Picken - 5th Dan black belt who has a fantastic ability to teach his young students. Both Grant and Harry were graded last night to yellow belt. Harry being older and training longer then Grant, went back to white belt (he had a birthday) then got graded to an older yellow belt if that makes sense. Both did very well and it was fun to watch them both rolling with each other, Harry getting Grant in his guard and trying to sweep him while Grant was trying to posture up... Now where did they learn these skills??? Give these kids another 5 years and they'll be twisting and cranking and throwing us around I'm sure!!!! I look forward to Wednesday nights to see my boy training and to discuss Tuesday nights training with Dave. I'm sure some of the other parents stare in wonder at these two Dad's rolling around on the stage.....

Grant showing some nice form

Competition Debrief

Had a great training session last night. Reviewed what was required for the gradings next week and then rolled for about half an hour. Jeroen then gave Nyal and myself a debrief from our comp. He talked about our posture and what was wrong with it and why it was so difficult for us to guard pass. Again it's the little mechanics of the body that make all the difference. Silverback not Grannyback!!!!

Here's Nyal's second roll and victory....

How to get Guillotined in 40 seconds!!!

Live and learn... And to think, Jeroen put a fantastic defence to guillotine choke on his blog that I did watch, but should of reviewed Friday night!!!

THE NYALINATOR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nyals won his first ever competition roll last Saturday at the Dominance MG Spring Tornament in Richmond. Well done mate. Do you want me to put the one on where you beat the girl as well????

First Victory.....

Finally got it to work.... Thanks Steve I'll upload Nile's fights tonight and one of the purple belt fights that I filmed as well. It's a newly promoted female purple belt, Maryanne (I dont know her last name sorry) who won the blue belt Mundials this year, against one of the male purple belts. Her work rate, strength and jiu jitsu skills were evident and very impressive.

Popped Our Cherries!!!!!!!!

We came, we competed, we survived!! Not to mention learning heaps and enjoying the day with like minded competitors. Niles picked me and my oldest boy, Grant, up in the morning and off we headed to Richmond for the 2007 Dominance MG Spring Tournament. There were about 40 people competing including two girls. The divisions were broken up into lightest to heaviest in groups of 5 starting at the lightest and going up. Niles was in the 67 - 72kg division and apart from the girl in this division he was the lightest. I lucked out in the 77 - 88 kg division weighing in (fully clothed) at 87.5 kg. Niles was up first and won his first ever competition roll. Well done mate. He went on to lose, win and then lose for a very good first time out. I videoed all of his fights and like mine, we will be looking forward to a debrief from Jeroen.

I on the other hand lasted about 40 seconds in my first comp roll when I got caught in a very nice guillotine and had no choice but to tap out. I went on to win the next two, with my third match going into overtime. I managed to sweep and guard pass and ended up the winner. Video to follow.....

The best laid plans........

Not a pretty sight I know and quite painful to boot!!! This was yesterday at it's worse and thanks to Jeroen's magic ARNICA cream, ice and a couple of Neurophen, today it is almost pain free, and less swolen. As you can my wedding ring is restricting the swelling making the healing process that much harder. I'll be right tomorrow though, I'll tape it to the next finger and be as mindful of it as I can when competing! Jeroen tells me Bernie Jenkins from Ringwood Extreme will be there with one of his students so I'll introduce myself and do my best to represent our club well.

1ST COMP COMING UP.....

This Saturday 20/10/07 at the Dominance MMA club in Richmond is the Dominance MG (Mixed Grappling) Spring Tournament. Divisions are decided by experience and weight
in a round robin style of competition. it will be a good ice breaker for the lead up to the Pan Pacs for an idea of competition rolling, etc. The Nileinator and I will be flying the flag for Mornington Extreme and I'm really looking forward to it. Had a roll with Jeroen and Jason yesterday and understandably it was like Bruce Lee playing with Chuck Norris, however, I always learn something and did so on this occasion. The lesson I learnt was don't try and pass Jason's guard (or anyone's for that matter) by holding onto his gi pants UNLESS you have an extremely good grip on said gi pants. Apart from the obvious reasons for having a good grip, when he kicked his leg to release the grip, my fingers got wrenched apart and (just like my toe) my ring finger is now the size of a small watermelon!!!! Live and learn.... So lots of ice, drugs and tape between now and Saturday and I'll be right! Photos to follow.... See you on the mat!

Back To The Hard Stuff.....

Brother IZ

Life is full of surprises isn't it? Most surprises come early when you're young and growing up and I suppose everything is a surprise then. My kids are constantly surprised with the basic things we as adults don't think twice about. But the joy you get in the amazement your kids exude is a surprise and a pleasure combined! As we grow up and learn to accept and embrace our emotions (stay with me here) and loosen the chains of embarrassment, we open ourselves up to surprises that we may have otherwise turned our back on. Now without wanting to sound like a complete poofter here, the surprises I love the most are the ones that move me emotionally. To me they are the best because you can't fake an emotion to please yourself only others. For example the birth of my first child had me crying with joy and worry at the same time. Joy when I heard his first cry and worry for my wife who did it pretty tough. The sudden and unexpected death of my father that still makes me cry now when I think of him.... So true surprises the older you get are few and far between. Brother IZ is a true surprise!!! The following clip is a tribute to this 38 year old Hawaiian singer who died in 1997. I first heard of him a couple of years ago and was honestly truly surprised by the emotion he brings out in you when he sings... To look at this huge overweight man wearing a straw hat with flowers and holding a tiny ukulele in his meaty hands you can't help but think "spare me" then he plays the damn thing and sings and bugger me if the world is not a better place!!!! Surprises I love them!

Biorythyms Go Up......

Great training session today. My knee was still a bit niggly during rolling but held up well. I managed to get Rick in side control then north south and pretty much kept this position throughout (thank fuck!!!) Rolled with Wes next (welcome back mate) and then Marco. I was happy with howI moved and managed to make a good account of myself. I'm concentrating on moving quicker from position to position and looking for legs to grab on to and it worked for me today. The MMA class was great and I picked up a valuable footwork tip from Dave. Thanks mate. I gotta get some new gear!!! I've had my 16 ounce gloves since I was 17 and the laces are a pain in the arse.... Thank fuck the boys got me a set of knee pads as they make a huge difference when rolling and training. Cheers again!

How do I feel???

Great question. It's funny I seem to go from one extreme to the next... At the start of training full of beans, eager to get amongst it, get a sweat up, burn some calories and learn something usefull at the same time and then at the end of training, squashed, twisted, cranked, yanked, bruised and battered!!! Did I mention squashed?? Now as silly as it sounds, this is all a very good thing. I'm not a spiritual person by any stretch of the imagination but I would say that these physical extremes strengthen your inner core. (Hope I'm not sounding like a wanker here??) That is to say it has always been my experience that when pushed physically where pain is involved more so than fatigue, the fight or flight response really kicks in. In an environment where there really is no escape from pain, ie: on the mat, you have to deal with it (borrowed from Jeroen). Now I'm not talking about tapping out (or being put to sleep) because if your at that stage, effectively you have lost the fight so the point is moot. What I am referring to is, as an example, someone significantly heavier and more experienced is knee riding your chest and although you believe at any moment your ribs will implode, you still have options! Now to the point of my ramblings. The more you experience this position the more comfortable, acclimatised, used to dealing with it you become. If you take "flight" in these situations, ie give up when you still have options, then it will be that much harder to "fight" when the pressure is on and therefore a number of things can happen. You'll get your arse kicked, you won't learn how to defend pain compliance attacks, you may lose the respect of your training partners but more importantly you will lose self respect as ultimately the truth is inside. A question I ask myself in a lot of situations is "what have I got to lose?" and the answer usually is, "it depends on what the wife says!!!" See you on the mat...

Choke From The North South Position - lockflow.com

Side Control

Marcelo Garcia begins the position with the

guard already passed, pinning his opponent

in side control.

Begin attack

Marcelinho begins the attack (by starting to)

positioning his left arm at the hip of the

black belt Fabio Clemente.

Hip control

Notice how the Aliance star's hip is low

and his legs are pulled in, bent at the knees.

Arm reach

In the next step, Marcelinho passes his

right arm in front of Fabio Clemente's face

until he fits his armpit into his opponent's

neck. With that done...

hips

Garcia puts his legs back, with the angle

wide open. In this position Marcelinho

has an excellent base and still has all his

weight concentrated on his friends chest,

to make it even more difficult for the one

on the bottom to move.

Hip positioning

Next, Marcelinho positions himself

sideways, resting his hip on the ground,

From here, Garcia moves in the direction

of Clemente's head as though he were the

hand of a clock and, in so doing, ....

Grip

opens up room to pass his arm through

till his left hand meets his right wrist

Choke

Upon carrying out the choke hold,

Marcelo puts pressure on the torso of the

Machado brother's black belt, while

exerting pressure with his arms. Fabio

can only give up.

Some Pretty Cool Quotes

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class." -Hong Hi Choi, Founder of Taekwon-Do

"The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in battle."-Navy Seals Motto

"We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling. I slipped through his grip." -The Return of Sherlock Holmes

"In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble."-Yun-men

"The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer."-unknown

"Children never give wrong answers, they merely answer a different question." - Unknown

"I have learned - that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something." - unknown

"I have learned - that you can keep going long after you can't." unknown

"Karate is a form of martial arts in which people who have had years and years of training can, using only their hands and feet, make some of the worst movies in the history of the world." - Dave Barry"

"Judge me by my size do you? Size Matters Not."-Yoda

"Go to Safeway, buy a six pack of 'harden up' and drink the fucken lot!" - Paul Smith

Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injuries of the Thumb

Sorry Jeroen I can't help myself....... Hope I got it right this time!

Introduction

Injury to the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb is fairly common. This strong band of tissue is attached to the joint at the bottom of the thumb where the thumb connects to the palm of the hand.

Anatomy

The joint that is affected at the bottom of the thumb is called the metacarpophalangeal, or MCP, joint. Any hard force on the thumb that pulls the thumb away from the hand (called a valgus force) can cause damage to the ulnar collateral ligaments. When the thumb is straight, the collateral ligaments are tight and stabilize the joint against valgus force. If the force is too strong, the ligaments are damaged. They may even tear completely. A complete tear is also called a rupture.

When the collateral ligaments tear, the MCP joint becomes very unstable. It is especially unstable when the thumb is bent back. If one of the ligaments pulls away from the bone and folds backwards, it won't be able to heal in the correct position. When this happens, surgery is needed to fix the ligament.

F*#%@EN INJURIES!!!!!!!

Just when you think you're rolling along training hard and making some progress (not to mention loving every minute of it!) BAM, something gives!!!!! The ligament on the inside of my right knee has been giving me grief for about 2 weeks now. Training today went well however. Took it easy with the knee but still felt soreness when it was in a particular position, defending a guard pass attempt! I must have been going to well defending Rick's attempts to pass my guard as he decided to squash my previously injured left thumb with his arse!!!! Bloody WOFTAM.....

Which leads to my favourite saying: "Go to Safeway, buy yourself a six pack of Harden Up and drink the fucken lot!!!!"

Oh by the way, thanks guys for the knee guards!