Last night was the grand opening of the Lincoln Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center and I was happy to be a part of it. I went back and forth all day trying to decide if I should throw my gi on and train with everyone. I even brought my bag in case I decided to train. I ended up not training, I didn't want to risk it although I'm feeling decent but I still have some pain when I'm kneeling due to swelling.
The first class was an advanced class which was reserved for any student that was a colored belt or had been around for a while at Roseberry's. I got to help distribute the waver and personal information forms to everyone that came in. Greg's dad was there and took some pictures of class and the group picture below.
Greg started off class with answering some questions which I was very happy with the answers to. Some of the highlights: New students get a week free trial, there is a discount for if we refer anyone that signs up, future classes possibly include kids and morning or day classes, and the tuition information.
They went through a warm-up of hip escapes and then started working on Shawn Williams' guard to triangle and omma plata. At that point I was glad I didn't participate because neither of those techniques would have worked for my knee. I left shortly after that. I can't wait to get back to training.
I had hopes of staying up and watching the surgery take place. Unfortunately or fortunately the meds they put in my IV and the oxygen knocked me out pretty well through most of the procedure. I came to and the doc held up a quarter sized piece of my meniscus. The rest of the afternoon is a little fuzzy. I went home spent most of the weekend on the couch. I got around okay on crutches but did have some issues with stairs. On Sunday I started testing out how much weight I could put on my leg and quit the meds. I was able to stagger into work on Monday and I feel like it's been progressively getting better since then.
I went to my first physical therapy session today which was a little later than I was supposed to. The therapist (Claire) was impressed with my range of motion for just having surgery, while I thought it was one of my problems. Through some exercises and stretches she determined that my quad is not firing as well as it could be. We went through several exercises from just tensing the muscle to squats and some balancing. Probably the most difficult was when I had to walk over a step and then easing my heal down and kind of doing a one legged squat. I'm happy I went, as I was considering skipping it. I have 2 other appointments scheduled for Wednesday and Friday.
Finally Greg, Conan, and Jerad have announced that they are opening their Jiu-Jitsu school soon. I've been excited for this for a long time but unable to talk about it. The new school will be located around 40th and O st. I am hoping the grand opening will coincide with my recovery. I'm looking at it as a new beginning.
In light of this I visited Roseberry's dojo Thursday to return his key and I watched the end of class. As I watched them drill side control, I really wanted to get out there but obviously couldn't. It felt a little awkward there, like everyone was on edge. That just may be a false perception as I felt awkward there sitting next to Mr. Roseberry. I tried to thank him for allowing me to train at his school but I'm not sure if I got my message across. It may be the last time I set foot in that dojo for a long time.
Saw the doctor this morning and I got what some good news. We talked for a bit and the doc moved my leg around and asked if it hurt certain places. He said that it wasn't severe and that I haven't caused any permanent damage to my knee. I tried to look up what he told me, but I should have had him write it down because I can't remember for the life of me. He made it clear that it wasn't anything major and I could live with it, but would probably continue to experience the swelling if I took it too far. It will be an outpatient arthroscopic surgery where they will go in and snip off the torn piece. Then I'll be on crutches for a couple of days and then around a month to recover.
I can't help but feel a little excited and relieved. Never thought I'd say that about having surgery. I'll post again post surgery and hopefully be back on the mats in a month or so.
I had a back and forth internal argument Sunday and Monday. I'm trying to stick to my guns and stay away from Jiu-Jitsu for a while. I have an appointment with the orthopedist next Tuesday to figure out what's going on with my knees. I feel pretty good right now although I can still feel the injury sometimes.
Too many thoughts go through my head like, "what if I had taken a break right away after the first injury, would I be fine now?", "Will I take this time off and then just hurt it again?", "Will my knee ever be the same?"
Until recently I have been ignoring Fuji's jabs about me having an addictive personality. Not so long ago he, Greg, and I we were comparing Jiu-Jitsu to addiction to drugs and chasing a high (which is hearsay for me as I don't know what that is really like). We all agreed that unlike drugs there isn't really a tolerance built up to where the high is more difficult to reach. In fact it seems like the highs get better as you progress. However, like drugs there is a withdrawal factor which I am experiencing now.
I will still roll with my Hapkido group once or twice a week which is good. I can control the pace of the class and take it pretty easy. That subsides some of the feelings of emptiness and fulfillment (I'm kidding, kind of).
A week has come an gone without partaking in Jiu-Jitsu. It's been a depressing turn of events as I've been playing more video games, sleeping in, and eating more junk food. I'm kind of looking at it as a break and that I should enjoy it, but I would enjoy getting back to Jiu-Jitsu so much more. Before my injuries I was getting up early and swimming or doing Jiu-Jitsu as well as attending Jiu-Jitsu classes 4-5 times a week. After I hurt my right knee I tried to keep it up, but that was a terrible idea. I didn't think that I would cause the same injury to my other leg.
What's worse is that I went to the Creed concert on Friday (which was awesome) and stood for 4 hours. Saturday I was pretty much worthless and couldn't get around the house without some kind of support. Thankfully my wife wasn't too mad at me, or at least didn't show it, and allowed me to stay in bed all day. I've been wearing a knee brace to work this whole week and using the elevator. Today the knee brace was bothering me a little so I took it off and I've felt a lot more mobile. There's still a long road to recovery but there is a little glimmer of hope there. My right knee has been doing a lot better, there is still some tightness and some loss of range of motion but no pain. There is still a possibility that I'll need surgery on both or either knee, which I would be willing to do assuming it's better for me in the long run.
To quell some of my Jiu-Jitsu desires I've ordered the book "Jiu-Jitsu University" by Saulo Ribeiro due to recommendations of my Jiu-Jitsu brethren. Too bad it won't get here for another 5 days. I'll probably make some type of book review once I've given it a thorough once over. I may purchase Andre Galvao's book, "Drill To Win" next as I like the concept of a book that gives you drills for an entire year. After thumbing through it at Barnes and Noble I picked up a few drills that I can do now while I'm injured.
Well, I guess I'm not invincible. I thought I could just take it easy and train through this injury and eventually it will be okay. I am now forced to take some time off. I injured my other knee today, most likely because I've been over compensating with it. So I think it is a good idea if I take some time off and try to heal.
Drew and I were the only ones for a little while until Ken showed up. This was somewhere around Drews 6th class so I took it easy on him and explained things as we went along. I didn't do so much explaining specific techniques but some concepts like what to do in someone's guard, where to put your arms etc. I felt pretty smooth and in control when I wanted to be. The learning curve in Jiu-Jitsu is amazing.
Ken was ready to roll as soon as Drew needed to leave. Ken and I rolled and I just went to my back and tried to play butterfly. I didn't attempt to maintain guard too hard and we went from position to position. He would get me in side control for a while and then I would escape, I'd try to pass his guard and the would figure out how to prevent it. Then there was one point when I was going for a knee over pass and a pain shot through my left knee. Something was wrong. I rolled to my back as he got on top of me I pushed a little bit and there was more pain with my left knee. I told Ken I was done. I could barely stand on it.
Dammit! A lot of things went through my head about how long I'd have to take off or if I need surgery on both knees, how am I going to get to work today, etc. I got a couple more knee braces which seem to help with walking. Now I gimp on both legs. I had to take the elevator up to my office. I'm especially dreading not being able to participate in Jiu-Jitsu; what am I going to do with myself? I'll keep you posted.
I competed in the 2012 State Games, held at Lincoln High School, and I received my money's worth. I weighed in at 196; I could have cut down to 189 if I thought it would have helped, but in the other tournaments when I've cut some weight it didn't matter and I ended up going against people that were bigger or smaller than me just to make a good division. No worries that's just the way it goes.
Luckily the gym was air conditioned. Rumors had been circulating that it might not be, so I was happy that my wife and boys could come and not be uncomfortable. The tournament was run smoothly and once we had the rules meeting and the brackets had been created, the matches went non-stop.
David, Mike, Ken, Claire, Tate, James, and Fuji all fought yesterday and from what I saw everyone represented the school well. However, I felt like I had a little bit of tunnel vision throughout the day and spent a lot of time focusing on my matches.
I was put into brackets of 3 in both of my no-gi and gi. I won't go into too many details because you can see in the videos how I did. I didn't catch everyone's name and I wish I would have.
No-Gi Highlights:
1st Match Win by points 7-2: I pulled off an arm drag to single leg. After spending a little time on my back I got a reversal and finished the match on top trying for a north-south choke.
2nd Match Loss by knee bar: It lasted less than 30 seconds. He pulled deep half and then rolled to a knee bar and slapped me in the face. I tapped as soon as I realized I was in big trouble. Inacio was his name and apparently he is a brown belt that competed in worlds
3rd Match Win by points 2-0: Same guy from match one. The maintaining guard practice that I've been doing really paid off. I was able to get the takedown and from there we had quite a few scrambles but he never passed my guard.
4th Match Loss by Armbar: Inacio again. Lasted a little longer this time and I actually got takedown points and we had a nice little scramble.
Gi Highlights:
1st Match Win by Darce: I was stuck in top half guard for 90% of the match which really injured my leg. My leg still hurts. The only way I found to get out of the lockdown was to slap the darce on.
2nd Match Loss by Anaconda Choke: I spent a good portion of this match in half guard and then went to deep half. I almost got the reversal but he sprawled on me and the choke followed.
3rd Match Win by points 8-0: Tough match. Same guy from gi match #1. I spent most of the match hunting for his back. I did not want to end up in his lock-down again.
4th Match Loss by Americana with the legs: I don't like watching this match. There were a few times that I felt like quitting, especially when he had me in kesai gitama. I let him pass my guard much too easily.
It was kind of an open de la Riva workshop class yesterday. Just myself, Conan, Ray and David. I felt like I was getting a little better at the position, my feet, hands and hips were working together well in switching positions and trying sweeps. The sweeps are still difficult but better than last week. We also did a couple of back takes including one where you go between their legs upside down.
During open mat I rolled with both David and Ray. I had a really tough time with both for obvious reasons but also because I've had a little pain in my neck and shoulder all day yesterday. And while getting crushed in side control and cross faced, it made it a lot worse. I even had trouble breathing and standing up straight after class.
After getting submitted by both Ray and David. Ray and I stayed after a bit and talked about some Judo. He gave me some food for thought about what grips I personally liked best and we talked about entries into a couple of throws. All of this time I didn't really contemplate that you don't have to grab the sleeve and collar stand face to face like when we first learn throws. I need to figure out where I feel most comfortable in Judo standup because straight on probably isn't my thing.
So the wife and kids took off for Alliance Nebraska yesterday morning and left me to fend for myself. I'm trying to get in as much martial arts and relaxation time as I can. Each day I'm going to take my gear with me to work and try to make it to a martial art's class or two.
Yesterday I worked out at Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo taught by Mike Catron. It's been a while since I've done TKD and I wasn't disappointed. We worked on some things that I haven't worked on in a while like twist kick and backfists. Backfists were the theme of the night and it shows in my knuckles as we were hitting paddles repeatedly. I also worked on a form with Shawn that was very difficult and interesting. In the second class we worked on sparring drills and ended up doing some point sparring. While I'm not a fan of point sparring I still get a rush when competing and Shawn has really good defense. I haven't done kicking drills like that in a while; my legs felt fatigued afterwards but this morning I was okay.
Some of my possibilities for classes are: Thursday: Jiu-Jitsu 4-5:30, Judo 6-7:30 Friday: Jiu-Jitsu 4-5:30 (If I can make it) if not TKD 6:30-7:30 Saturday: Hapkido 9-11:30 There is also a Judo class at 11:30-1 and a sparring class at Roseberry's from 1-2:30. Or could do TKD from 11:30-1. So many choices. Sunday: No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu 11-1 and Daito-Ryu 1-2:30 Monday: Jiu-Jitsu 8-9:30 Tuesday: ???
I probably won't make it to all of these classes but I'll do as many as I can.
I got to Jiu-Jitsu a half hour late on Friday for open mat. It seemed like I missed the good stuff because everyone was sweaty and sitting around talking. I got ready really quick and got out there. Mostly they were talking about the tournament that would occur the next day. I rolled with a couple of people got beat a couple times and won a couple of times against a blue belt. I was really surprised and thought he's just messing with me. No way I beat him so easily.
I was also surprised to find out that wristlocks are legal in Jiu-Jitsu stand up as long as they stay away from the fingers. I'm going to work harder to execute them and maybe get people interested in Hapkido. Ray was trying to talk me into competing in the tournament but I had to teach class and I wasn't really mentally prepared. Might have been better that way so I didn't psyche myself out.
I had my Saturday morning class this morning. Only Mike Catron showed up, but we worked hard nonetheless. We worked on the chokes that I worked on in Jiu-Jitsu on Monday. I was even able to get a darce during sparring. I can really see a differences in my game from just these few classes. I think the thing that's made me stronger is that I have to fight so much harder for position at Jiu-Jitsu.
After we ground fought we put the pads on and did some stand-up sparring. Mike was mostly having the best of me, but I got more relaxed as we sparred and landed a couple of shots. We were wearing helmets so we could hit to the head and face without as much worry. I took a punch that turned the mask on my face. It felt strange. As soon as I took my helmet off I could see the small but deep cut over my eyebrow. I pulled the skin apart and it started to bleed a little bit more. There was a little leather stitch inside the helmet that had scratched me.
Mike patched me up and I ended up having to get stitches at Lincare later on. Now I have to be careful with it for 3 weeks. I'm not sure what I'm going to do but I don't want to stop training.
