Meditation/Mentality/Energy Levels

[Johnny Drama]

Hi Josh,

When Balance members came for their belt promotion, your teacher Phil taught a seminar. It was really good. He taught an interesting takedown and a way of combining the oma plata/triangle. It was good training with all the Balance guys. Very tough.

I know Erik, and train with him often. His guard has gotten really good since I first started training with him. Really nice guy too.

Yeah, I really value the brief time I had with Marcelo. I wish I could study now with my new understanding of Jiu Jitsu, but hey. Thats life.

Maybe we'll train together one day. Good talking to you.

[mrtoes]

JD: Thanks for the information on what you do, and how it relates to your IMA experience. It makes me want to check out the local bjj school and see what it's about. It's good to know your school has an emphasis on standing grappling, that really would be a strong requirement for me. I can't imagine in a street fight I'd want to spend much time on the floor (more than one opponent and trouble) but knowing what to do when you end up there has to be useful.

I really like the idea of continuous sparring as part of practise. Like most IMA guys I don't do any as part of my current practise, and I really want to, whether that's striking or grappling. I think I have reasonable speed, power and structure for how long I've been practising (which isn't that long), but not much idea how that would translate into real use. Of course I have no delusions about how quickly I'd get wiped out as soon as I hit the mat - It sounds like a whole different work out. But I'd really hope that if I cross trained the two practises would complement each other, else I think it would be too much for me. It's funny how you can build up your strength in one area (hsing i/bagua plus cycling for me) then you try something a bit different, and you're out of breath in seconds. I guess the tension of trying something new has a lot to do with it but that's certainly not the only thing.

[Butterball]

Hi Josh,

When Balance members came for their belt promotion, your teacher Phil taught a seminar. It was really good. He taught an interesting takedown and a way of combining the oma plata/triangle. It was good training with all the Balance guys. Very tough.

I know Erik, and train with him often. His guard has gotten really good since I first started training with him. Really nice guy too.

Yeah, I really value the brief time I had with Marcelo. I wish I could study now with my new understanding of Jiu Jitsu, but hey. Thats life.

Maybe we'll train together one day. Good talking to you.

Sounds good! Good talking to you too!

[Johnny Drama]

JD: Thanks for the information on what you do, and how it relates to your IMA experience. It makes me want to check out the local bjj school and see what it's about. It's good to know your school has an emphasis on standing grappling, that really would be a strong requirement for me. I can't imagine in a street fight I'd want to spend much time on the floor (more than one opponent and trouble) but knowing what to do when you end up there has to be useful.

I really like the idea of continuous sparring as part of practise. Like most IMA guys I don't do any as part of my current practise, and I really want to, whether that's striking or grappling. I think I have reasonable speed, power and structure for how long I've been practising (which isn't that long), but not much idea how that would translate into real use. Of course I have no delusions about how quickly I'd get wiped out as soon as I hit the mat - It sounds like a whole different work out. But I'd really hope that if I cross trained the two practises would complement each other, else I think it would be too much for me. It's funny how you can build up your strength in one area (hsing i/bagua plus cycling for me) then you try something a bit different, and you're out of breath in seconds. I guess the tension of trying something new has a lot to do with it but that's certainly not the only thing.

Its a really good feeling to know how to grapple. Even if you like stand up, grappling is so important because it gives you the confidence to stand up without worrying about being taken down. That was my main motivation at one point, but then it became something more and I just love grappling for what it is. And yes, the continuous sparring is really amazing. Keep us posted if you try it.

A little update on me.

I've been meditating fairly consistently. I'm doing more standing meditation, specifically Zhan Zhuang. My reasoning for that is it seemed to connect directly to my emphasis of standing up in my opponents guard. I've found its given me a deeper sense of confidence in my standing when I am breaking open my opponents guard or they are going for sweeps and Braulio armbars. I'm also just standing up out of armbars and oma platas more. My posture is improving quite a bit, standing or not. I know everyone echos posture, but I'm really starting to live it while I spar, and it just shuts down so much offense.

Another thing I have noticed is how my intention affects the outcome of the match.

Because I've been doing this zen meditation, I've been trying to be in the moment above all else. But, I noticed I am complacent. Now, I am not sure if this was an effect of the meditation, or the meditation has made me aware of this. I suspect the latter. But, my attitude/intention is making a big shift from "wait and see" to "attack, attack". Right now, I think this is the best style.

An example would be my last two days of sparring. On Monday I sparred two guys. Strong guys, decent technique. I'd say they beat me on points, but I wasn't counting. My mindset was basically blank when I fought them. I tried things, but didn't force anything and just went with whatever was happening. I was acting and reacting, but not setting the pace. On Tuesday, I had a fierce intent to positionally dominate and finish. Thats exactly what I did with both guys. It was like night and day.

A few friends of mine competed in grapplers quest, and their results were mixed (on a side note, congratulations, Josh. I heard you won your division, that is fantastic. I also watched a video of one your matches, and it helped me with posture when passing). The thing they all took away though was how they got blitzed by people. The level or technique of jiu jitsu wasn't necessarily higher, but they got caught off guard by the aggressive, go for broke attitude of the average competitive player.

I've experienced that before in tournaments and certain sparring matches against competition minded people. Its not necessarily a faster pace, although the speed definitely plays a part. That being said, I see a lot of "slow" competitive styles. So, I feel its much more a mental attitude of boldness/awareness/focus as opposed to one of complacency.

Speaking for myself, I see how complacency has ruled my life for quite some time. I've begun making changes in my life this past year and taking control of things more, or at the very least becoming aware. I feel that the meditation is just one of the turning points, but it is clearly making a difference in my jiu jitsu.

In my 5th sparring match of the night I trained against a guy who had lost GQ, but had taken away the attitude of attack, attack. I think he killed me on points, but he didn't submit me. There was nothing friendly about this match, it was totally competition speed. There were a ton of subs that could have finished me, but what kept me alive was finding a place inside during the lack of air and being cranked where I was totally calm. I would mentally affirm "don't give up, keep going". And, it worked. I want to change that to "don't give up, win". But, one step at a time.

Now that I think of it, all my favorite fighters like Marcelo Garcia, Rocky Marciano, had this attack, attack mindset. I've been reading a lot of "Best Judo" lately by Inokuma, and the end pieces on mentality are really good. Inokuma was the first Gold medalist in Judo I believe, and he recommended attacking nonstop and a bold intention as the mindset of choice. Again, I don't believe this to mean being faster than the other guy, even though many aggressive fighters are. For example, Marciano was not a particularly fast fighter, but he always set the pace because he never gave the other guy a chance to hold the ball. One young standout in Jiu Jitsu I trained with who won the mundials and pan ams in his division this year was actually what I would call slow, but he would submit most anyone he fought, and quickly. He played his game and forced the other guy to.

Inokuma also stresses belief in yourself, regardless of the circumstance or situation. That really helped me last night when my training partner was beasting on me. It would have been very easy to give up a submission like I've done in the past. But, the difference in mentality coupled with more awareness from meditation gave me strength.

So yeah, intention is my big thing now. I'm trying to find the line between fierce intention/zen and not trying to hard.

[Josealb]

Hey sebas, if you start digging intention...you might find yourself practicing xingyiquan again more often.

In the beginning xingyi tend to overbuild the "attack...attack" mentality...but afterwards it sort of calms you and you feel a bit like a mouse trap. Guy doesnt do anything you dont do anything...guy touches you and you go SNAP.

[Butterball]

Nice post JD and thanks for the kind words! Jacare Cavalcanti from Alliance has a book out called Bjj Strategies or something like that that is similar to what you were talking about with aggressive styles vs. slower competitor styles, etc...The book has alot of interesting theories about different styles of bjj and how one style can match up strategically against another style, etc... Sort of a rock paper scissors kind of thing. (that's simplifying it of course). There are also tons of great interviews with his actively competitive students and their thoughts on strategy and preperation, etc...You might enjoy it, here's the link:

http://www.budovideos.com/shop/customer ... ource=base

You might be able to find it even cheaper on Amazon or Ebay, though.

[Johnny Drama]

Hey sebas, if you start digging intention...you might find yourself practicing xingyiquan again more often.

In the beginning xingyi tend to overbuild the "attack...attack" mentality...but afterwards it sort of calms you and you feel a bit like a mouse trap. Guy doesnt do anything you dont do anything...guy touches you and you go SNAP.

Yeah, I was thinking about starting up my Hsing I again. Mainly San Ti. I'm about to go do some now. I really think it will benefit me. Regardless of what style I end up using, as long as I'm not complacent. A more martial type meditation might be good for me.

Josh, thank you for the book recommendation. That looks fantastic, and very much the type of thing I am interested in. I'll get it asap.

[mrtoes]

Hey JD, I checked out the local jiu jitsu class on Monday. I thoroughly enjoyed it actually, and as expected it was pretty different to anything else I've done before. After a brief warmup we started running through drills on the ground. I like how we'd go through the exercise without resistance and then do it again afterwards but with the opponent trying to get out of it. I was pretty uncomfortable with having so much weight on my chest, my ribs just aren't used to having 70kg lying on them! My partner laughed when I asked if not being able to breathe was normal, and said it was something you got used to.

One thing that surprised me was how my strength level was reasonably adequate for what I was doing. I was practising with white belts who had been doing it about a year, but with some exceptions I was about a similar strength level. I think the coiled movements of bagua help with wrapping up and escaping, I don't think the forward movement of hsing i really translated to movements used on the ground though I could be wrong. I also have strong legs from cycling which helped. Nothing really ached the next day, except my ribs. What I was much weaker at was grip strength, and odd things like using the head to press in and tighten up head locks. I also suspect I lack the explosive power necessary to shake off someone who is lying right on top of you, which seemed to be important from what I saw. Of course when it came to actual sparring I didn't have a chance and was owned immediately! I had to duck out of sparring after a few minutes because I felt some sharp pains in my upper ribs, and I was wary of cracking them, though it turned out just to be bruising from having shoulderblades raking across my upper chest. Quite a few marks and bruises around the upper chest and arms the next day. I think there's a whole world of toughening up you have to do to be able to stand having a heavy weight constantly pressing down on your ribcage! What do you do to prepare for that? More jiu jitsu?

The only downer for me was they didn't do any standup work in the class, everything started on the ground. They do a judo class there once a week as well so maybe they keep it for that, but I was really hoping they would go from standing to takedown and wrap the opponent up afterwards. It's a very much a sport MMA centered gym though, so perhaps having the extra emphasis on the groundwork is important? Anyway I think I'll leave it for the moment while I check a few other things out. If I already had a good standup and grappling basis, or if they did 50% standby and 50% groundwork I'd probably take it further right away. I don't really have a basis for comparison not having ever done wrestling/groundwork before, but I really liked what they did. It reinforced to me how little chance I would have against a wrestler who managed to take me to the ground - surely not hard given my inexperience in grappling.

Here's the place I checked out, it's the Carlson Gracie center in Hammersmith, London:

http://carlsongracieteam.org.uk/index.p ... &Itemid=26

Now, there's a bao ding shuai jiao class I want to check out next

http://www.kuoshu.co.uk/Central%20London.htm

[Johnny Drama]

Hey Mrtoes,

Good work on your first class. Its a tough thing to step into a completely different environment.

That school you listed, Carlton Gracie has an amazing rep. There is actually a guy from there who posted this amazing thread about grappling experiences-

http://www.efnsports.com/forum/index.ph ... pic=2811.0

Also, there is a school called Budokai I think..its supposedly one of the best Judo schools in the world, and lots of famous guys train there. You should check it out. I'm sure it has great ground and standup.

[everything]

I've been meditating fairly consistently. I'm doing more standing meditation, specifically Zhan Zhuang. My reasoning for that is it seemed to connect directly to my emphasis of standing up in my opponents guard. I've found its given me a deeper sense of confidence in my standing when I am breaking open my opponents guard or they are going for sweeps and Braulio armbars. I'm also just standing up out of armbars and oma platas more. My posture is improving quite a bit, standing or not. I know everyone echos posture, but I'm really starting to live it while I spar, and it just shuts down so much offense.

Another thing I have noticed is how my intention affects the outcome of the match.

Because I've been doing this zen meditation, I've been trying to be in the moment above all else. But, I noticed I am complacent. Now, I am not sure if this was an effect of the meditation, or the meditation has made me aware of this. I suspect the latter. But, my attitude/intention is making a big shift from "wait and see" to "attack, attack". Right now, I think this is the best style.

JD, this is a great post. Thanks for the update. Gives us something to think about and work on. One question: do you do zhan zhuang in traditional style, i.e., literally standing, and/or have you tried it standing on your knees? Any tips on variations and incorporating this ima training into bjj appreciated, as I'm trying to do the same thing but am way behind you.

Also, on the attack attack not being fast - I don't have the experience here but clearly control of the rhythm works in basketball and other sports. No reason to think it'd be different here.

[mrtoes]

JD,

Thanks very much pointing me to that thread - great reading. Also for telling me about the Budokwai, it had slipped past my Google trawl somehow! Sounds like it has quite the reputation, would be be very interesting to check out in comparison to the Shuai Jiao school. One attractive thing about Judo is that, like bjj, it has the whole sparring and competition thing going from the word go so you know exactly where you're at. There again maybe Shuai Jiao does as well. I just really don't want to take up anything that makes me do stances and foundation work for months/years before they will let me spar. I feel I have more than enough material I need to work on with regards to foundation with my existing practise

I'm off work for a couple of months from next week and am planning to go and check out all these places. I'll probably also head back to the Hammersmith Dojo and check out their Thai boxing there, since I've never tried that before either. I'll say it again I was really impressed by what I saw there, it was totally new to me but I trust my intuition when it comes to checking places out. I just really want to work from the top down (standing to ground), rather than leaving a big hole between striking and ground work. I notice the chap who was posting on the thread you linked to advocated adding judo rather than just working on bjj for ground work.

With relation to your original topic, I've got back into more meditation recently, spending much more of my practise time doing standing and san ti. I'd previously been working pretty hard at my forms (five elements and linking form) because I just love the workout, but noticed I wasn't really getting more "content" in there, even though the movements were crisp and I was able to hit with them fine. Over the last couple of weeks I'd often practise my standing for 15-20 minutes (which btw is more than I usually do) and do san ti before doing forms, and it felt much more fluid inside and the movements were clearer. I notice something similar when I did my bagua before practising hsing i, since I'm more in the habit of practising my bagua slower than my hsing i, and I feel that with the slow circle walking I get some of the benefits of standing. Plus the spirals in bagua are so much more explicit than those in hsing i, it allows me to bring some of that across as well.

[Johnny Drama]

JD, this is a great post. Thanks for the update. Gives us something to think about and work on. One question: do you do zhan zhuang in traditional style, i.e., literally standing, and/or have you tried it standing on your knees? Any tips on variations and incorporating this ima training into bjj appreciated, as I'm trying to do the same thing but am way behind you.

Thanks man, sorry for the long wait to reply.

I do Zhan Zhuang in the traditional way. I've been meditating more and more. As well as just throwing myself into training. I am training more often and harder then I ever have, and its making a huge difference. Its a simple truth, but just working it every day, sometimes twice a day when I feel so tired, it makes a HUGE difference. I'm also doing a rowing machine program, which really works the endurance. The Zhan Zhuang is still a core part of my training though. Being in the moment I find is everything, and I am performing far better when I take a few moments before sparring and just concentrate on my breathing so I am in the moment as much as I can be.

As far as tips go, the best I can recommend to you is setting the goal of standing. Break the grips of your opponent in guard and stand. I am shutting guys down by just breaking the grips. Even the really tenacious ones with limitless energy, they can do nothing to you if you break their grips. I also find it helps if you have a friend telling you to stand. I find I still hesitate and/or freak out and go back to my knees when a sweep is coming, instead of standing my grounding and keeping posture to break the sweep and pass. Having someone telling you "stand, stand!" is a huge help.

On another note, I've begun taking wrestling to compliment my Jiu Jitsu. I've said it before, but I wanted a more attack, attack style. I figured wrestling would help very much,a nd it just so happens clases started at my school around that time. I have to say, I have taken to wrestling very well. To me, it feels far more natural than BJJ, where you are manipulating the body in such counter intuitive ways it takes a period of time to become well adjusted.

I also find wrestling to really, really coexist with IMA. I've been doing very well in the sparring, especially sumo style sparring where a circle is made and the guys fight under sumo rules. This helps train balance and posture, weight distribution under stress etc. This is essentially push hands, and I basically ran the whole group tonight with just uprooting people. Even Judo people or people with wretsling experience I managed to push out of the circle. It was all from going lower then the other guy and uprooting them. When people got hip and started going low, I would pivot on the side they were favoring and send them out. A lot of the concepts mirrored what my old IMA teacher, David Bond Chan (who had great respect for wrestling by the way) used to say. The concept of staying inside, the elbow knee connection, uprooting the other guy, and the both feet pointed forward, the stance was actually very, very similar to the stance Chan used in his style of Hsing I.

I feel the aggressive nature from wrestling will only further my jiu jitsu, and the connection between it and IMA will strengthen me as a martial artist big time.

On a side note I'm off to Toronto to train for a bit. I'll be at TorontoBJJ over the next four days (in between site seeing).

Hope your doing well with your training, Mrtoes.

[everything]

JD - wow, excellent. I'll give the zhan zhuang and standing a try, though passing from standing - I'm not sure yet how I'll like these passing techniques vs. others as I'm too new to bjj. The sumo wrestling story is just great. I wish my judo, bjj, or taiji groups would give that a try, just for fun. I think the taiji folks especially could learn something instead of just pussyfooting around. Oh well. Great reports on your progress.

[Johnny Drama]

An update on my progress.

Its been interesting. I've been meditating fairly consistently. The books I've been reading about meditation are the linked mindfulness in plain English and another book called "Zen mind, Beginners mind". Basically what the meditation is doing for me is making me more aware.

At first I thought meditation would unlock some new, hidden power within me and make me more energetic. In a way it has, but it really hasn't. What its done is made me aware of the reality of what am I doing. Its...

Made me realize how hard I actually have to train in order to have the cardio vascular level necessary to compete with quality athletes.

Made me realize that sparring is actually that, and I should not shy away from any partner.

Made me able to recognize my thoughts and just let them pass me by while I stay in the moment.

Say I've sparred two hard rounds and have a new partner who is very tough and I begin to think "I will get submitted, he is to strong and I am very tired". I'll just let this thought pass me by while I focus on my breathing. It only takes a few seconds, but the positive effect is noticeable.

I recognize positive and negative thoughts as distractions more than anything. I just train hard and focus everything I have into it. I don't care who is watching. My girlfriend shows up at the gym, I don't care. I don't care if my coach is watching. I just train hard.

Of course the feeling to want to do well is always there. I've had to avoid gaining a "sunken mind". Thats as bad as the "monkey mind" where you think nonstop. Its like that line from "The legend of bagger vance when Matt Damon starts playing well again. "He learned how to stop thinking without falling asleep".

Basically I've become a lot less self conscious by just observing my thoughts and just acting. Again I hate to butcher dialogue from movies, but in the dark knight the Joker says something a long the lines of "I don't have plans, the schemers do, and I show them how pathetic their schemes really are. I don't think about it, I just do things". Of course his philosophy is a lot more nihilistic then where I am coming from, but their is a big similarity there.

Meditation and taught me just to observe, and to throw myself into whatever I am doing when I do it. So, while there is a definite increase in energy from me not burning myself out mentally and emotionally from my thoughts, the real cardio boost is just from my awareness of making the decision I want to be a great athlete and training hard enough to complete that goal.

So, its both a physical and mental thing. It just teaches you how to experience reality, to accept it. I used to take that as laying down and accepting circumstances, no matter how bad. I don't anymore. I work for change and accomplishing goals, but there is less sense of desperation or fear of judgment/failure.

On the physical side, I've said how meditation has made me more aware of the reality of sparring. I've thrown myself into it where I don't look at the clock anymore. I'm training about 5-8x a week. I've started a rowing program for additional stamina. I'm hitting weights harder. I've also fixed up a lot of personal problems, and gotten my sex life under control. This has been a huge help in terms of endurance (who would have thought, huh?).

Technique wise I'd say two things strike out at me. I'm less inclined to try desperation submissions, I will just work positioning until the other man gives me something there is no uncertainty about or they gas out from exhaustion. I do a lot more knee on belly in order to tire the other guy out. I used to hate this position, fearing it was unstable. I watched both my coach and an amazing Brown Belt named JT Torres use it very, very well. A training partner or mine has also become a master of it, and I've realized what a rewarding and efficient position it is. Far less fighting to establish then side control against big guys, and I can just hop around them and tire them out. Assuming everything goes well of course.

But yeah, I definitely think the increased feeling of security and stability from meditation has given me the confidence to work on this position.

So, there is no real secret. Just train like a madman, don't think to much about it.

Oh yes, I'll be competing at the no gi pan ams this October.

[kreese]

What Johnny Drama wrote about meditation and complacency is brilliant. All too often the focus on stillness, listening, and waiting can lead to a lack of an offensive game plan. Even if your game plan is to react, you better be ready to follow up with at least three moves and counters. This is the sort of big insight that can come from meditation. When you can change to a proactive mind from a reactive mind, people will notice in all areas of your life.

JD wrote about zhan zhuang improving his standing game. I would add that meditation in the pushups position and even on your back, even rolled back on your shoulders (think yoga), along with lots of slow mobility drills with breathing (qigong) from those positions, makes sense in terms of rounding out your comfort, structure, power, and mindfulness in all the positions you'll find yourself in.