29 Oct 09 - Swim

Good swim today. I need to work on how my arms are cutting into the water though. My shoulders were tired very quickly until I started concentrating on how my hands entered the water, and my "question mark" pull in the water.

2 x 100 meter freestyle buoy

3 x 100 meter freestyle buoy and hand paddles

5 x 100 meter freestyle

1 x 500 meter breast stroke

28 Oct 09 - Tigers, Wolves and Bears Oh my....and a little jiu jitsu to boot!

Workout: Weight training, core workout w/ kettle bells

Cardio: 30 minutes on bike

BJJ: I didn't make it to regular class tonight. I was with Hunter at his Pack meeting for Cub Scouts instead. My little man received his Bobcat Trail Badge tonight. I'm so proud of him! He has worked really hard on learning all the requirements for this one. Now he can't wait to start earning achievement beads and he even started naming off the ones we were going to work on this weekend :)

This is Hunter and I right before they handed out the badges. The "Akela" had to pin it on the Tiger cub.

My little man sporting his new badge :)

Okay, so I went to open mat after Hunter's pack meeting. I was looking forward to hopefully getting at least a couple rolls in since I didn't get to drill. Well, I got Christmas early again! Coach called me over to roll shortly after I got on the mat and we stayed there for around 40 minutes. Let me tell you...they were loooooooooong minutes for this guy - HA! I am exhausted...and coach didn't break a sweat! Anyway, I attempted my back control work again tonight and had a lot of fun learning from all of my mistakes that were so obvious when rolling with coach. He did give me some great pointers again though that I will continue to use. One of the big ones is "don't give up the armbar when defending the choke." Yeah, I was that guy tonight :) Basically it boiled down to me getting fixated on working back and forgetting that my opponent is still trying to crush me too. He also wants a "better Bobka."

So, in the end looking back at a month of back control work (tonight was my last training day for this month) I have learned a lot. One, have a plan from the scramble to get the back, don't just wait around for it. Its much easier to take it in the beginning and keep it than it is to try and get there during the fight. Two, body triangles ARE your friend! Use them, learn to set them up properly and learn to use your subs from them. Three, how convenient, work in three's. Make sure that you have a plan for a flow when your chosen technique doesn't work, or he/she zigs when you thought they were going to zag. My friend Luis gave me the idea (and he's a pretty damn good grappler so I take his advice) back in 2008 and I've been trying to incorporate it much more lately. Yeah I know...I'm a slow learner.

Anyway, there's a hundred other things I've learned this month from the RIGHT way to defend a bow and arrow choke, to how your hips are your best friend even in back control...but I'll leave it here for now. Next month is the "month of half guard" so I need to go start mentally preparing myself for the beating I'm about to receive over the next 30 days :)

27 Oct 09

Swim: 1,000 meters of drills

2 x 100 meter freestyle warm up
3 x 100 meter buoy freestyle
4 x 100 meter breast stroke
1 x 100 meter freestyle fin swim with one breath at turn around

It was a good swim and I felt really great afterwards. This is my second 1,000 meter day so Thursday I'm going to bump it up to 1,500.

26 Oct 09

Workout: Weight training, Core Workout w/kettle bells added (this is a new addition for me I started last week and they are kicking my butt right now!)

Cardio: 30 mins elliptical

BJJ: Tonight Coach brought Christmas to me early! It was all about back control - which is convenient for me :) First, we began with a little position reversal from all-fours. Basically, when your in in all-fours position and your partner has the harness grip you slide your outside leg back, drop your hips and reverse your opponent so that you are in reverse scarf hold. I like this one from all fours and have been using all month during the "month of back control." Next,Coach drilled the Ezekiel Choke. We started with the basic version from mount using an in-cuff grip to setup the bottom hand and sliding the top tight around the neck. Second option was the basic choke from back control with both arms over the shoulders, ensuring that you stay tight to your partner and not create a lot of space. Last option, and my personal favorite, was the Ezekiel from harness (which I have been trying to sneak in all month!). The key again was keeping your opponent close to you, switching your hips to the outside like a bow and arrow choke, and then cinching it in.

For sparring I started with Chelle and, once again, she did a good job of fighting me when I stepped up the pace with her. Next, I rolled with Billy S. (white belt...and friend that I got hooked on Jits). I didn't get to his back during the roll (which was odd), but I did get a chance to work the Ezekiel from several other position like mount, high mount, and guard...which in the end is good I guess since that's what we drilled tonight. Last, I rolled with Darrell P. (white belt AND another friend I got hooked - hee hee). Darrell has a bum shoulder right now so we took it slow and just worked position and posture with him...with a little sub attempts sprinkled in. I did take Darrell's back during the roll and had to really focus on setting the body triangle tight because he's so friggin' huge...serioulsy...he's a giant muscle. Anyway, I focused on setting chokes from the harness but didn't sink any because he couldn't lift his right shoulder to defend. It was a good roll with a much bigger, and stronger guy though.

Good night overall. This is my second to last class during the "month of back control." I have gotten a lot of good feedback from friends in clas and Coach has really helped me a lot to focus on some great setups, escapes, and re-establishing back control. I certainly see the pay off of "rolling with a goal" for the last 30 days. Starting in Novemeber its the "month of half guard", which scares me to death since I am HORRIBLE there. If all goes as planned though, I'll have some positive comments about it at the end of the next 30 days......that is if I survive the mat :)

Defensive Tactics - 25 Oct 09

Today we worked combatives with ISR. It was a chance to see how to use the helmet when transitioning the fight from combatives to clinch fighting. Today we covered:

360 Defense drill (using lazy hammer's, hooks, upper cutts and and straight punches)

Push kicks with body shield

Leg kick (aka round kick) with body shield

Jab/Cross with mitts

Jab/Cross/Round kick with mitts

Jab/Cross/Round kick/double 360 defense with mitts

Jab/Cross/Round kick/Double 360 defense/Helmet in/Under hook and pike

- From here we added the "triple threat"take down from headlock attempt and ended in S position.

Great training today. Next Sunday we'll work from combatives again and add in two more take downs from the "triple threat".

23 Oct 09

Workout: Weight training, core workout

Cardio: 20 Elliptical

BJJ: None

Family history

Okay, so this isn't about training, swimming or hiking, but its pretty cool to me none the less. I have ben looking into my families genealogy for the last year now. There has always been a lot of conjecture and speculation about my paternal lineage by everyone in the family because no one really took the time to speak with there parents to learn about it. All anyone really new was that we were French by lineage and that at some point in the late 1800's we immigrated into the US from Canada. It was my Great-Great Grandfather Henry Sian that was the first one in my paternal line to come to America. It was believed that his name was Henri Sequin. My parents were close. Come to find out it was Bernard Henri Seguin....and its a pretty cool family name. Henri Sequin descends from the House of Seguin in France. He is a descendant of Francois Seguin who came to Quebec around 1670 with the Carnignan Regiment. The House of Seguin produced another memorable Seguin....one Colonel Juan Seguin (a descendent in Mexico through his line back to France) who founded Seguin, Texas.

Anyway, I thought it was awesome to be able to see on paper my paternal lineage AND to find out that it is from a house that was made nobility by Emperor Charlemagne in 778 AD.

Here is the family crest:

22 Oct 09 - Just keep swimming

Today was my first swim in 8 months. I really don't have a good reason why I didn't continue my swim routine when I came out here, it just fell of the radar when school started. It was much easier to get back in the water than I thought. I used my pool time to work 50 - 100 meter drills for 1000 meters. I did have to buy a new pair of goggles but that is a small price to pay to get some laps in!

22 Oct 09 - Day one without the awesomeness of caffeine

Well, I've got one word to describe not having caffeine in my body - "SUCKS!" Seriously, this is tough. I love my leaded coffee in the morning. If I don't run in my head into a wall at some point today I may survive this until tomorrow...and then we'll see again :)

21 Oct 09

Workout: Weight training, core workout

Cardio: 20 minutes on elliptical

BJJ: I went to class tonight to try things out since my back was feeling good during my earlier workouts. Tonight Coach worked us on sweeps. We started with the basic scissor sweep with our partners. After 5 reps each we were able to work on any sweeps that we wanted. I chose the pendulum, open guard hooking/shin on belly sweep, and grab under from half guard. Chelle worked the scissor,pendulum, and open guard hooking/shin on belly sweep. After practicing our sweeps we position sparred out of guard with your opponent needing to pass your guard and you needing to sweep or submit them. This one is obviously my favorite as guard is where I have worked for a long time :)

Next Coach showed us how to pass a scissor sweep set up. First you need to weave an arm under the top of the leg your opponent has across your stomach and grab the bottom sweep leg, controlling both their legs and their hips. Next you sprawl out and use your free hand to grab their collar deep behind their head. Next you walk around the legs and take side control.

Coach also showed a variation of this pass when the when your opponent puts their knee at a higher angle. The only difference is in the beginning of the pass. You need to weave through and grab the bottom like before, but use your free hand to control the top leg. Next you raise your chest up above the knee and then sprawl to pin the legs. You have to make sure you rise up high enough to get above the knee to pin it. After that everything is the same.

Sparring was okay. I took it really easy though. I sparred with Chelle first and we just worked on breaking posture and submitting from guard. Next I rolled with Ryan (white belt) and he wanted to work grips and strategy from the scramble. Lastly I got a brand new white belt and put him in my guard (which was easier for my back) and let him try to workout out of it.

All in all it was a good workout day. I felt solid at the end of the night. I think the worst is past :) I should get good news about my back on Friday at my follow-up at the Doc.

20 Oct 09

No hiking, running, or biking today because of the healing that is going on with my body. I still feel a little stiff today so I know that my swollen disc is given me a bit of trouble. We'll see how I feel in the morning.

19 Oct 09

I worked out in the gym today after my Chiro appointment. It was a heavy workout though. It was light with medium reps just to work motion. It felt okay, but not well enough to push it tonight.

Workout: Strength training, core

Cardio: none

BJJ: None. I took the Docs advice (for once) and kept it easy for my back. I miss not being on the mat and training with everyone else but I know from experience that pushing to hard puts me out of training for much longer. At this point in my life I need to listen to what the professionals say. Otherwise I'll have to hang my skeleton up for display pretty soon :)

"OH my back...I'm just kidding I don't have a back"

Okay, so all kidding - and Monsters Vs. Aliens quotes - aside my back is the issue today. I've been dealing with sore back since Thursday of last week. My Friday workout put me over the edge I think and I've been suffering ever since. So much so that I had to make an emergency appointment with the Chiro today. He was none to pleased when he found out that I had been moving around with an out of place lower back and swollen discs since Friday. Yep...I'm stupid. So, he threw me around a bite today, did his kung fu on my back and told me to rest up and ice it tonight. I have another appointment with him on Friday for a followup.

This sucks though. I was really looking forward to training tonight and implementing some of the back control stuff that coach showed me last week. I really hate not being on the mat when I know everyone else is! Stupid body!

ISR Matrix

This is for any of you LE guys near San Marcos, TX in November (18th - 20th). My buddy Johnny Guerrero is teaching an ISR LE course there. You DO NOT want to miss this opportunity to train with Johnny and get the introduction to ISR concepts and techniques! Take a look at what you'll be getting :)

Also, here's a peek at some great ISR Clinch Cloth fighting from a seminar in San Antonio, TX. Enjoy!

16 Oct 09

Man am I glad this weeks over. My body is DONE! All I want to do is lay down on the floor and stay there for a couple days :) Its been a long week and I'm looking forward to the recovery this weekend.

Strength Training, core workout

Cardio: 20 minutes on the elliptical

15 Oct 09 - Tianna's Hike to Rocky Ridge Point

Well, today I took Tianna on a hike in Garapata State Park to earn her Hiking Badge for Girl Scouts. We planned this hike last week and picked Rocky Ridge Point as our goal. The trail up to Rocky Ridge Point is the tougher of the two main trails in Garapata and is a steady (sometimes very steep) incline all the way to the Point which sits at 1435 ft above see level. We got a bit of a late start, but finally hit the trail at 10am. It took us 1hr and 20 minutes to hit the top of the Point. We took two five minute breaks on the way up so that Tianna could cool of and bring her heart rate down, and 20 minutes at the top for lunch as we sat on the ledge over looking the bay eating our sandwiches. The descent took us another 40 minutes because of the steep declines on the way down. She did awesome today! I am so proud of her. She packed her own day kit, made the lunches and even did some map and compass work twice on the ascent to find our spot. She really earned her badge today!

Here are a few pictures of the trip:

Tianna before we started.

Pointing the way :)

Taking a minute to appreciate the view half way

up.

Just keep hiking...

She did it!

Dad and Daughter right before the descent.

Tianna leading the way back down.

14 Oct 09

Okay, so yesterday their wasn't any hiking. It rained cats and dogs all day long and we even lost power for about six hours. Sooooooo, we'll try again on Thursday.

Workout: Strength training, core workout

Cardio: 20 minutes of circuit plyo drills w/ Kaelyn

BJJ: Tonight Coach worked us out of side control. First our partner went to knee ride and we worked the far side armbar. Next, we worked the the Kimura from side control, and even tried the variation with your partner up on their side (in the position of a half far side armbar attempt). Lastly, he tied in a paper cutter choke to a failed Kimura position when your partner grabs their belt. With this one the key was to trap their Kimura'd hand (the one grabbing the belt) with their skirt and slide your other hand down to grab their collar. Next you moved to their back and take a side control position sinking the paper cutter choke.

Rolling went great. I started with Chelle (who is getting meaner by the class - hee hee). After that I rolled with Justin (white belt) and he asked a lot of questions about defending high mount, so I worked with him about keeping his elbows in and getting to the point of an elbow escape. For the last roll I had Dev K (blue belt). Dev is competing at the US Open this weekend so we went all out. It was a great roll and I tried to take back several times. He has a really good defense and when I ended up with him in my guard it became the beginning of the end.......for me :) He passed, I tried for neutral, he went to spider guard....and then pulled off one of the coolest sweeps ever when I went to spike pass him and get the mount. I went over like a rocket! It was pretty awesome actually and we spent about 30 seconds on the mat after he pulled it off just laughing...and me telling him that I didn't like him anymore :) Thanks Dev!

The money for tonight came after class was over and I stayed for open mat. While getting a drink of water Coach walked over and said "Are you waiting for me Mike?" Of course I am :) Who's going to turn down a beating by Coach!?! We rolled for about 6 or 8 minutes and I asked several questions about my position choices, but again, the money came when I told him that October is officially "back control" month for me. I have been gaming my rolls each time to end up there and work subs from harness. Once he new that the flood gates opened and he began to show me several positional do's and don'ts as well as transitions. I've worked a lot on the "bow and arrow choke", sliding collar choke, and chicken wing choke. I have also tried the body triangle and transition to an armbar...but not with much success. Tonight Coach showed me great strategies for setting up good armbar from the body triangle as well as how do properly set the "bow and arrow choke." He said that if the armbar doesn't set and your opponent defends and stacks you then just shuck and take his back again. Man...why haven't I ever tried that yet!?! Transition, transition, transition! In addition I got a good lesson on how to properly defend the "bow and arrow" and get to all fours. I CAN NOT begin to tell you how bright the light bulb was when it finally came on :) It was a HUGE night and I cannot thank Coach enough for taking the time to work with me when there was plenty of other people on the mat. The good thing is that I still have two weeks left in "back control month" and I'll be putting these lessons to good use :)

Words of wisdom from Coach: "Go for the better Bobka!" (come on Sienfeld fans!)

12 Oct 09

Workout: Strength training, core work

Cardio: 2.5 mile run. Yes, I know it isn't where I was two months ago but I'm happy to at least be back on the road putting miles on my shoes! It felt great to be out there. Like I said before, running has always been my escape, my zen time.

BJJ: Coach had us work a sweep from guard tonight. It is one of my favorites. Some call it the flower sweep, some call it the pendulum sweep. Basically, you break your partners grip while at the same shrimping out a little to make space to cross body their arm. Next you sit up and grab over their back into the opposite armpit and pin your opponents arm against your chest. Next you plant and roll to the pinned shoulder side for the sweep. The basic sweep works very well when you opponent pushing back into you so you can use their momentum to execute. Next Coach showed a variation of the sweep in case your opponent sits back and bases out when you pin their arm. The variation is that when they base out you reach under their leg with your free hand and use that to break their posture and execute the sweep.

Rolling was great again tonight. I started with Chelle after we drilled. Once again I thought she did awesome and I can feel her getting better all the time and not giving me any slack :) Next I rolled with Coach. Yeah, once again I was fighting for my life. I did not like my performance in the roll though. He will feed you some stuff to see if you pick up on it and tonight I just didn't pick up what he was throwing down. I felt I was pretty pathetic at the end of it. I got WAY to fixated on my "position of the month" (back control) and couldn't really see the forrest for the trees. Next I got Billy (white belt) and had fun working positions and subs with him until his nose started bleeding out of the blue and we had to scrub the roll about 2 minutes before the bell. Lastly I rolled with blue belt Sergio. Once again I wen tot the back and tried to work my back control game. I came close several times to some subs but he's got such a good dang defensive game! We both had a good laugh after the roll and he said "you still haven't choked me yet, good luck next time." Man, I love rolling with him!

At the end of class we got to witness something really cool. Dev Kostal was awarded by his blue belt tonight. He'll tell you he doesn't deserve it, but everyone else will disagree! He is such a great jits guy, with amazing "mat-atitude". He's strong, technical, and a great mentor for others. Congrats bro!

11 Oct 09

DTs:

Another great end to the week. I had Billy S. and John T. in for training today. It was John's first day training so we spent the hour and a half covering some basics.

4pt drill

Armdrag

Dive

Helmet

Underhook and Pike

Harness

Drills - Armdrag to Harness, lazy hook/dive/move off X, lazy hook/dive/another hook/helmet, lazy hook/dive/another hook/helmet/Underhook and pike/harness.

9 - 10 Oct 09, Big Sur Adventure

This weekend we went to Big Sur National Forrest with Tianna and Hunter (Kaelyn was on a school field trip to see an Opera) for some camping and hiking. It is a beautiful area for a family weekend. We got a campsite down by Big Sur river and set camp the first night. There was much hotdog cooking and smores eating before bed! Next morning we had cubbed steak and eggs for breakfast over the fire, broke camp and then went for a 2.5 hour hike with the kids up Mt. Manuel Trail. The kids did great! They even learned a little map and compass work, how to use a GPS, and I went over some basic first aid (bandaging, splints and slings). We're planning another trip soon!

9 Oct 09

Workout: Weight training, core workout

Cardio: None

After the kids got home at 2:30pm today we headed out to Big Sur State park for a camping/hiking two day adventure. Picture are coming soon! :)

8 Oct 09

Today I went for a short 2 mile hike with lazy dog Dutchess. It wasn't anything spectacular, but at least I was able to get our lazy dog out of the house for a bit :)

7 Oct 09

Workout: Strength training, core

Cardio: 3.0 miles on the elliptical

BJJ: Tonight coach worked from the standup position. We started by both people taking a mirror grip on the lapel and elbow. The technique he showed was the "sit down to guard". The important parts he focused on were maintaining your grips, putting the "elbow grip side" foot in their hip and then sitting down on your other heel when you go to the ground. The variation he covered was how to deal with your partner dropping their weight to a squatting position so that you cannot bring them into your guard. To deal with that we used the single leg hooking sweep when your partner is standing.

Sparring tonight I started with Chelle - as tradition dictates :) We worked her back control again and positioning. She's getting pretty dang good their so now I have to watch myself even more! Next Coach paired me up with Dylan (amazing purple belt) and as we were walking away Coach said "you can thank me afterwards Mike!" Yeah, thanks Coach - ha ha ha ha ha :) As always though it was a great roll and after about 4 minutes of beating the crap out of me he let me ask several questions about passing his sit out guard. Last roll I was paired with another newb. As usual it was trap shooting then questions, which is an easy way to end a night :)

6 Oct 09

Today I worked endurance by taking a 3 hour hike in Garapata State Park. I completed the 4.7 mile loop which takes you up to about 1850 feet. Its not the highest point there, but Doud's peak takes another two hours to get up to. It was a great hike through the park though, with lots of moderate ascents and descents.

It was a great hike! The weather was beautiful the whole time and the view was spectacular. I burned around 1,400 calories for the trek as well. Not bad for a Tuesday morning :)

5 Oct 09

Workout: Strength training, core

Cardio: 3.o miles on the Elliptical

BJJ: Tonight we worked on the pendulum sweep from guard. This is one of my favorite sweeps so I was pretty excited in class when he showed it again :) Tonight he focused on breaking posture properly before attempting the sweep. To do that we did a two on one cuff grip for our opponents arm and then took it out to the side FIRST before bringing it back across our chest and pulling in with our knees. I love the little details! The variation he showed was how to feed your opponents skirt across their arm and use that to anchor it before breaking their posture.

Sparring was good tonight. Started with Chelle again and we worked on her control from back. The next three rolls I got new white belts. Coach wants me to roll with them hard for the first two or three minutes and then let them ask questions. So, thats what I did :) I did not crush them by any means (cuz thats not me), but I did "trap shoot" subs and positions so they understood what happens in bad spots.

Running

Man, I am really struggling with running lately. To be honest..and I have to be because its right here on this blog, its been two weeks since I've laced up my running shoes. I'm not sure what my problem is. It used to be that running was my zen time. It cleared my head and made me feel amazing. Outside of martial arts it was my "thing". Now, I don't even care to look at my shoes. I'm not sure if this is just a phase or something has changed with me. I do miss it though.

Its not like I don't have the time for crying out loud. My training schedule has it locked in for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning...yet I haven't done it. I really hope this turns around.

I guess on the positive side I can say that I'm entering my second week without consuming processed sugars. It has been pretty easy actually. I do have times where I'd like to eat a big bowl of frosted flakes or snitch a candy bar but thats easily avoided for the most part. I have increased my fruit and veggie consumption like a million fold though! Rachelle is being a real soldier about it as well and I KNOW it was much harder for her to kick the white powder - hee hee. Our goal is to make it until 1 November. We'll create some great nutrition habits along the way so I know it is all worth it.

4 Oct 09

DTs:

Another great end to the week. I only had one guy show up (Billy S.). It was his first day training so we spent the hour covering some basics.

4pt drill

Armdrag

Dive

Helmet

Underhook and Pike

Harness

Drills - Armdrag to Harness, lazy hook/dive/move off X, lazy hook/dive/another hook/helmet, lazy hook/dive/another hook/helmet/Underhook and pike/harness.

He did great and because it was just us I actually got to drill as well. You can't beat a day like that!

2 Oct 09

Workout: None. Spent all day helping my friend Billy move into his new pad near Laguna Seca. That was enough of a workout!

1 Oct 09

BJJ at DLI:

Trained with Jason today. We didn't really drill this time, just spent a lot of time rolling and then critiquing our performance with each other. I had a great time though and he's an awesome partner...as usual!

30 Sept 09

Workout: Strength training, core training

BJJ:

Tonight coach worked us out of the guard. He focused mainly on using the front sweep from open guard when your opponent attempts to pass open guard. We start by practicing loading our partners for the front sweep (aka monkey roll....or the "Captain Kirk" flip) and finishing in the mount. Next we worked a back sweep variation if your partner squats to base out when you try to roll them. Lastly we covered a single leg hook sweep if your partner goes one leg in and one leg back. Great sweep night...mainly because I love all three of those!

Rolling went well tonight. I rolled with Chelle first and she worked on her positions again (mainly back control). Next I rolled with Mark (purple belt) and pulled off two sweep and a couple choke attempts, but he was on his game tonight and it ended as a draw. After that I got two new whites belts (one after the other) and worked my "trap shooting" for the first couple minutes then moved into answering some of the questions they had (as Coach D has asked me to do with newbies).