Whipped by Whitman

So there's this guy named John Whitman who comes around to Fit and Fearless a couple of times a year to teach us. He's a 4th degree black belt in krav, a former president of our system, & many, many of our drills and exercises come from him. I hope I can remember what we did yesterday to tell you properly - as usual after a good training session my body is buzzing so much I can't sleep that night. I finally got up at 1 a.m. & took an ambien, and this morning my brain is a bit fuzzy.

We started with the focus mitts, moving in with a right hook for an initial strike, eventually adding other combatives to the mix. One of the interesting things we did was after warning our attacker to move away a couple of times, we'd attack with a right hook, then assess to see if they were leaving us the hell alone, moving in for strikes, or shooting in for a takedown. John had me demonstrate the takedown during the exercise - I suspect its largely for the visual effect, as my partner was a 6'4", 230 pound wall of a man, and I'm me. The first time he went for the takedown he got me! I landed on my back with a resounding thud & flailed around like a cockroach trying to get his massive body into my guard. The next time I got the sprawl & he didn't take me down - whew! The general is so much fun to partner with, he is constantly drilling me to improve on every little thing, which helps, and he's so big I don't have to hold back, I can just strike.

Next John talked about when to be the first person to strike, about the importance of making a decision now - right now, in class - about where your line in the sand is drawn. I was hoping we'd cover this again, as I think its so important. In On Combat, Col. Grossman tells us that interpersonal conflict is the universal human phobia. Its true, and often we will resist acknowledging that a threat is real until its too late, because that thought is so scary to us. The time to make the decision when you will strike is now, not when adrenaline and fear are blasting through your body & short circuiting your brain. Taking it seriously and drawing my own line in the sand during the last Whitman lecture on this subject has saved my butt in the past. I'm grateful and I hope he always covers the subject.

Later we worked weapons, handgun & stick. I've never worked with sticks before, and was happy to discover it came naturally to me & felt really good. It didn't feel really good when I got whacked hard in the head with the stick a couple of times because my defense wasn't strong enough. That's freaking negative reinforcement of the highest order, so I fixed it pretty damn fast.

Next we did standing sweeps, which I didn't want to do because my fall breaks are weak. Of course, standing sweeps are exactly what I need to be doing! Everything went great until I allowed myself to feel tired & lost my concentration for a moment, when Miss M slammed me into the ground with the force of a tsunami. My head didn't actually slam into the ground but I had such a hard whiplash that now my neck feels like concrete. Stupid girl. Me, I mean.

I get so much out of John's visits! You know, if he looked like Brock Lesnar, or Rambo coming in here, I don't know that I would be as motivated or learn as much. John just looks and acts like a normal, friendly, polite human being. He's a normal-friendly-polite human being who can hit you so fast and hard that all your arms and legs fly off your body, that's the cool part.
Because he looks and acts like someone you can relate to, he makes you feel like you can do it, too. That's the kind of teacher I hope to be some day.

Day 2 starts in a couple of hours!

Released!

After sitting all day in an investment seminar to learn to make my family's investments stop hemorrhaging I was about to explode. I almost knocked everyone else down getting out the door at the end muttering, "gottahitabag, gottahitabag". Turns out I'm not that good at sitting in a chair all day.

First I met the Library Lady and since Big Daddy J is away we took turns teaching each other techniques. We played pick-a-card-any-card from my stack of technique flash cards & let fate decide our...well, fate, I guess.

2nd hour! A level 1 class with The Gentleman, paired with The Goddess of War. She has come so far in the past year! From the very beginning she's had good aggression, but she's getting the technique to back it up. It felt so good after being cooped up all day to just unleash! Hammerfist! Elbows! Chokes! God, I feel so good now.

The Late Show

Oh, its very late. My husband is in bed asleep & I have to get up early in the morning, so I'll be brief. First hour of training was a private lesson with Miss C & the Gorgeous Bastard, who was looking particularly gorgeous today, and being more charming than bastardy. What a great hour! We did lots of footwork & looked like goobers doing it because we (I) have lead feet. Then we rolled around on the ground - forward rolls, backward rolls, running (trotting) into a roll, rolling forward & whirling around before you can stop & rolling backward & rolls that end in fall breaks. Fun!

2nd hour was level one with Mighty Mouse, who has mighty kicks. Miss C & I paired up again, first time in a long time for level one, and Crazy L worked in with us. Lots of strikes & 3 person drills. Crazy L hits the bag so hard that for a minute there I thought Miss C was going to hit her back. I held the bag for Mighty Mouse during demonstrations & have to ask myself, "how can someone so tiny deliver so much power?" Actually, I have to ask her, because I don't know. I'm "power" hungry though, so I really will ask.

3rd hour was level 2/3 with Relentless. I was getting pooped by this time, but rank test is coming up in January, so I may as well get used to fighting through it now. 360's & outside defenses, numbers 1-5. I don't know if there are any numbers past 5, but that's what we did. I like them, they feel natural and effective.

New Friend

So, I get to my one-on-one session with Big Daddy J & there's a surprise: there's someone else studying to go to Phase (teacher training) & its someone I really like! Studying with a partner is fun, and the Library Lady is going to be great. Today we "taught" each other plus Big Daddy J & Spike, who is always helpful. He will let you punch him, which is a quality I always look for in a man.

Relentless taught level 3/4 tonight. Lots of combos on the focus mitts. We did this one drill I always enjoy: get into groups of 3, and Jewel is holding the mitts & calling out combo numbers for me to strike, while Mighty Mouse is standing behind Jewel & extending either her left or her right hand. So, I am responding correctly (ha!) by striking with the right combination on command, while watching Mighty Mouse & shouting out "left!" or "right!" based on which hand I see extended. Of course by the end of the exercise I'm shouting out "what?!" "Auuuugh!" and "french fry!" like I'm a tourette's victim. We also did the drill where you cover up, close your eyes & get the crap beaten out of you by your partner, who is using focus mitts to pound you with. When your partner claps the mitts together, you attack them with combo #4 & cover up again to take your punishment. These are two of my favorite drills & I'm not kidding. We ended the class with constant chokes from 2 attackers. I have a whole new respect for Mighty Mouse. She is tiny. She is sweet. She will hand you your ass on a platter.

I'm not (!) a morning person, so I always struggle in the first saturday morning class, but I've been working out more outside of krav, & was happy to see it seems to be paying off already. I didn't wish I was dead in the first 10 minutes of class. I partnered with Crazy L, holding the bag for that girl is a workout in itself, she is SO strong, and she's game for anything, which makes her fun. Also, I got to demonstrate techniques in front of the class while Relentless taught them, and was happy to discover I wasn't nervous anymore! Maybe because I was panting so hard from the previous exercise, I was just trying too hard to remain standing & couldn't bother to be nervous. Whatever works, man.

Level 2/3 we did some great exercises - my favorite was one when I had to throw combos, say, jab/cross to Kicky Jen's focus mitts, then immediately move out of the way to avoid the same shot coming quickly at my head. Footwork has been on my mind a lot lately, as my feet stay too glued to the ground, and this was a great exercise for overcoming that. I hope we do it more often. Unfortunately, like a big goober I later hyperextended my knee by kicking too soon at an advancing target. Knee hurts now. Doofus.

Hour 3 was groundfighting. Crazy L stuck around for her first class, taught by Young R doin' a good job. It was just she & I so we introduced her to all the basics: this is guard, this is mount, etc. I am more committed than ever to lifting weights after working with her. Even with her lack of experience, her superior strength makes her a tough one to work with. Fear the muscles!

Martini Agony

If you are considering having that martini the night before you have a morning krav class, please don't do it. Don't be like me and miss your first class altogether, then bitch and burp your way through your second class because you are so nauseated you wish someone would choke you into the sweet release of death.

But by the third class I was fine. The Professor taught us a couple of arm bars and one cool technique where you are on your back and you sweep your standing opponent by flipping them over you. Beginner's luck: I nailed it perfectly the first time I did it and then never again. Then I rolled lightly with the Professor, always a pleasure, though for him I'm sure its like teaching a one week old puppy to tap dance. I've learned that my inexperience in rolling causes me to think defensively instead of offensively, which must change if I'm to progress. At the end, the Professor & I were the only ones rolling & my training buddies were all yelling different advice at once, while I'm yelling "Shut Up!" because I can't pick out one voice. Then Young R yelled out the best advice I'd had all day, "Parker, stop losing!"

Warning: Long Post!

Last night started with a one-one-one with Big Daddy J. He had me do headlock on the ground with Spike as my attacker. Better every time, but still not perfect. Then I "taught" him 360 defenses, which were, meh, okay, but I need to study them & do them again, plus inside defenses as well. Plus work on voice more - much more.

2nd hour was level 2/3 with Relentless. Oh, I was mad at myself!! The first half of the class I gassed out on everything! Nobody's fault but my own - I've almost completely stopped working out outside of krav. I used to be very dedicated to lifting weights & running hill sprints, but that just kind of faded away as I increasingly became "too busy to go to the gym". Ha. Its affecting my krav performance, so vacation is over. You know in Crossfit, I'm happy to work hard (in spite of my protests), but I don't care how I do in relation to everyone else. I don't care about coming in last, I don't care where my name falls on the board - if it even makes it up there at all. That issue just does not exist for me. I want to do the exercises properly and complete the workout, but that's it.

But if I do anything poorly in krav it eats at me without mercy until I correct it. I don't want to be last, I want to be first. I don't want to just get the job done, I want to kick its ass. I know I did fine in the 2nd half of Relentless's class, but in the first half I was struggling just to keep up. This morning the first thought that popped into my head when I opened my eyes, before the images of my dreams had even completely faded away, was to create a plan to address that poor performance and demolish that weakness immediately. Krav is a cruel master, but I've become its willing slave.

3rd hour was Mudslide's MMA class. I started watching this class to learn a few things from the Gorgeous Bastard's performance in there. He's always telling me in private lessons to move more, move around, tuck your chin, blah blah blah. He never shuts up. I knew they'd be sparring in Mudslide's class so I stuck around to see if GB put his money where is mouth is, and I have to say he damn sure did. I was impressed. So watched a few more times & started to get the itch to join in but its such a testosterone fest in there, I didn't want to be an interloper. Some of those guys are so advanced, I didn't want them to be held back by working with someone as inexperienced as me, but Mudslide told me he has a plan to prevent that, so in I went. It was fun! I worked with Miss M, who terrifies me, & Miss V, who was having a first class. Miss V has a great attitude & isn't afraid to work hard, so she was fun. We worked sidemount, mount, & keylocks. I also got to roll with the Professor, who is the most generous teacher ever. He could submit me (and everyone else) with his hands tied while drunk and on Xanax and reciting Shakespeare's sonnets. But he never does that. He just rolls. I can do the techniques well when we're practicing them, but in rolling I can't seem to pull them off. I think next time I'll concentrate on a certain technique & keep trying to get that from different angles instead of letting my head swim with all the different options.