Day 14 and 15 - Half Guard

Just got back from Ninja Training about an hour ago... This was my first time to do two Ninja Lessons in a row, but I have been cooped up in the house all day not studying for my last Ninja Final, so I really needed to get out of the house. And as I am paying for the highest level of Ninja Training, I figure that entitles me to show up whenever I want. So let's talk about Monday -- it was a long Ninja Session anyway since I didn't go to Ninja Training on Saturday (due to finals). Ninja Master was not there, so Ninja Chief Instructor was teaching us. Like I think I've said in the past, Ninja Chief Instructor and Ninja Master are both VERY good at what they do, they just have slightly different styles. That means instead of starting with running some Ninja Laps and having a brief discussion on Ninja Leadership, we just went straight into Ninja Techniques.

In Masters class, we have spent the past week on these half-guard escapes and are just learning slight variations on what to do depending on what position you find yourself in. I know I'm saying that alot about these lessons, but that is what it has been -- pretty close to the same moves, just highly dependent on what your Ninja Opponent wants to do. These moves are all well and good, but it takes some serious skill to 1.) Find yourself in a position that you can use the stuff you've learned, 2.) Actually remember how to pull of the technique, or 3.) Physically be strong enough to do the move. Now, all 3 factors are HUGE roadblocks, but #1 seems to be my biggest challenge right now. Generally, I find myself in one of 2 positions... flat on my back (in a Mounted Position) or on my knees tangled up in my opponent's legs (Closed Guard). I am told that we are going to learn how to escape those positions in Ninja Basics. And I have been asking the older, wiser, and more experienced Ninja Students what to do during our Sparring (or, to use some Ninja Vernacular... rolling) sessions. All of them have been extremely helpful in giving me pointers as to how to get out of the defensive positions. Which brings me to problem #3.

During Technique time (and also when Rolling with Ninja Students trying to teach me), the object is to kinda help your buddy out so that you and they can master the moves. But when you are sparring, the object is to NOT let your opponent do what they want to. So yeah, in theory, you can pull your knee in here, and grab the wrist there and WHAM-O... submission. But in actual practice, you're dealing with 250 lbs on the sternum and a very slippery wrestling buddy... makes doing textbook moves kinda tough. So you improvise. But improvising can lead to bad consequences when you leave yourself open to allowing the more experienced opponents to put you in submissions you didn't even know existed, much less know how to defend against.

So, to summarize that mini-rant... Ninja Techniques are great if you can overcome the Three Obstacles. I'm told that as I progress, I will be able to use more and more, but then advance to full-time Masters lessons when I will not be able to use them as easily for awhile. But that is a bridge that must be crossed in the distant future. In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing -- a little move called "Fetal Position." I'd also like to share a bit of advice that I was given by a student we'll call Ninja Professor (named because he is a professor at our local University). First a bit of a back story -- I have a genetic condition called a "benign familiar tremor," which is a fancy (and I'm convinced made up medical term) term for a shakey hand. My hands shake when I'm nervous, tired, stressed and/or hungover. And apparently after working out. At it's worse, it's a pretty significant tremor... at it's best, hardly noticeable... no matter what though, I don't eat much soup.

Anywho, back to Ninja Professor's advice. After a 5 minute "Rolling" session, he noticed the Benign Familiar Tremor. He suggested that while sparring, I should just relax because getting so tense doesn't really add much to the Ninja Experience, except to just wear oneself out. I won't lie -- at first, I was a bit defensive about my shake. But then, I got to thinking what he said. It did seem to make sense -- by relaxing a bit, maybe I wouldn't get so tired so quickly! So I gave it a shot yesterday (and today) during our sparring sessions. Believe it or not, Ninja Professor is definitely on to something with his relax philosophy. Don't get me wrong, I was definitely tapped out quite a few times over the past 2 days, but it was fewer times than last week... a definite improvement! And that, my friends, is why I'm doing this.