Martial Vitality

It's been a while since I blogged, incidentally about returning to Jiu-Jitsu  in January, but I have good news -- today I passed the test for my blue belt. I began studying at Professor Pedro Sauer's headquarters school in January 2017. I began mostly with the Gracie Combatives system, then switched to the Pedro Sauer fundamentals classes by the end of the year. In May of 2018 I essentially stopped training BJJ to focus on my Krav Maga studies, finishing with my G1 grading in December 2018 . With G1 accomplished, I switched attention back to BJJ and resumed training in January 2019. Not all BJJ schools require testing to advance in rank. Prof Pedro Sauer believes that tests are an opportunity to demonstrate required skills. The core of the blue belt test is a set of over 80 techniques that must be successfully demonstrated on your training partner, one after the other as the instructor calls them out. The test also includes positioning rolling (i.e., start with your partner in ...

Last night I returned to Jiu-Jitsu training at One Spirit Martial Arts , the HQ for Professor Pedro Sauer's association. I had suspended my membership in August last year in order to concentrate on my KMG G1 grading . It was very good to be welcomed back to OSMA. Several of my old training partners and instructors were there, and it was good to catch up with them. We started the class with some functional movement drills. We started in cross-mount, then moved to mount, then moved to cross-mount on the other side. We then moved to the opposite side in a reverse motion. The goal was to be as technically correct as possible and capture all the details that make life difficult for the person on the bottom. For techniques, we worked a standing self-defense move against a thumbs-down grip, transitioning to a standing arm bar. On the ground, we worked on the arm bar from the guard. My partner was a blue belt who helped me with the movement mechanics for transitioning from the guard to a p...

2018 was my third full year practicing martial arts, since my  return in January 2016 . About a year ago I posted my  2017 Martial Arts Year in Review , reporting some statistics on my training and how I spent that time. Krav Maga In 2018 I began my third year of training at First Defense Krav Maga in Herndon, VA. I started the year as a P4. Prior to my P5 test in March, I participated in 29 formal Krav Maga classes. (I had trained 58 hours since my P4 test.) Between my P5 test and my G1 test in December, I participated in 91 Krav Maga classes. After my G1 test and through the end of December, I participated in 3 Krav Maga classes. That is a total of roughly 123 hours of regular Krav Maga classes, down from 130 in 2017 and 144 in 2016. In addition to regular classes, in July I attended a seminar with Master Eyal Yanilov on countering active shooters. That is a total of roughly 3 hours of special events, down from 93 in 2017 and 73 in 2016. Combined with my formal classes, I sp...