Training with martial arts legends in NY (part 4)
For Part 1 click HERE…for Part 2 click HERE…for Part 3 click HERE
To recap, it’s our 3rd day of training at Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan and so far the trip has been INCREDIBLE…and EXHAUSTING!
Yesterday’s lunch class with John Danaher was pretty cool so I wanted to share a little more about it…
We arrive, begin stretching and loosening up and wait for class to begin. John is sitting with his back against the wall, watching everyone stretch, warm up and flow. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he’s just zoning out…but he’s actually studying. Sitting there on the side, watching like a hawk…that’s John’s usual position in class. He’ll demonstrate a technique, watch while everyone reps it and then occasionally stop and give feedback based on what he’s seeing people do incorrectly. Always watching, always studying…John Danaher truly is a master student of the game.
It’s a gi class and, true to fashion, John grabs a gi top and belt and puts them on over his usual rashguard/Tokyo Five board shorts combo. It’s rare to see John in anything but a rashguard (after all, this is the guy who wore a rashguard to Matt Serra’s wedding…though it was, in John’s words, “a particularly nice rashguard”, so I’m sure it looked quite eloquent!), but make no mistake, this man is a genius when it comes to the gi game! We start with some grip breaking and move from there into a few takedowns once the grip is broken, ending with a sweep from butterfly guard. We then work escapes from turtle position and he discusses some theory about hip position when in turtle.
I’m loving the learning…but hating the fatigue! In fact, after lunchtime class on day 2, Chase and I were both loving and hating life all at the same time…
But we’re getting a chance to roll with some of the best grapplers in the country and learn from the top instructors out there, so no complaints here!
RGA – Day 3
After our sushi-slack-off evening last night, no excuses this morning! We’re up and out the door by 7am headed to John Danaher’s morning class!
This morning is no-gi and as usual, there are a good number of big wrestlers who give me problems. My biggest regret from high school is that I chose basketball rather than wrestling! Oh if I could go back and do it all over again! In all the no-gi classes at RGA you start from standing and takedowns are by far the weakest part of my game. My body is so sore and unresponsive that whenever someone muscles their way into a sub I don’t bother fighting it. I tap fast and tap often.
When I go with guys closer to my size, I do okay. I even manage to get a few takedowns on a purple belt…though at the last second he hits me with, you guessed it–a triangle/armbar finish!
Our last round rolling I get to go with one the handful of gals in the class. She’s about my size and is a brown belt. She’s no joke either! We slap hands and after a few seconds of feeling out, she shoots in for a takedown. I manage to land with her in half guard and since her head is on the outside I wrap my arm around for a guillotine. She does a good job defending at first, but I quickly remember that Silver Fox had given me tips on finishing my guillotines the day before and I adjust my grip and body positioning accordingly. I make an intentional note to stop using mostly arm strength and switch to corkscrewing my body while maintaining a tight grip on my wrist rather than my hand.
It works!
I’m pretty excited on the inside (though I don’t dare show it outwardly!), not just that I hit a sub on a higher belt, but that I actually remembered a specific detail that paid off in the heat of the moment!
My victory however is VERY short lived. We slap hands again and within less than a minute I’m tapping to an armbar…while defending the triangle! Dangit!!
After class it’s back to the apartment to grab something to eat and get ready for the evening class.
This evening’s class no-gi and for some reason (actually, I think it’s because we were running late due to having to do laundry again!) we decide to jog the 12 blocks to class. Now, Chase is 16 years old, a solid high school wrestler with gorilla strength, and a high level blue belt who competes against purples and holds his own…but he HATES running! Sensei and I arrive at RGA and wait in the elevator lobby as he hobbles in after us, silently cursing these two thirtysomethings who decided that it would be a good idea to jog to class! We can’t help but laugh as we see him on the security monitors walking towards the building like a 90 year old man.
And to add insult to injury, in tonight’s class the warmup is 20 mins of jogging with sprints, pushups, situps and high-stepping interspersed! Haha!
The upside is that everyone on the mat is required to have an RGA rashguard or t-shirt according to their rank. I left my brand new blue RGA rashguard back at the apartment…and I’m glad I did. The instructor tells us to just go ask the front desk for a blue t-shirt. So we both ended up getting free RGA NY t-shirts that night. Sweet!
It’s not all fun and free shirts though…the t-shirt over my long-sleeve rashguard acts as a sauna suit and 5 mins in I’m already drenched!
After warmup, we’re split up according to weight (170lbs and under on one side and 170+ on the other) and do king-of-the-hill takedown drills. Since it’s all guys my size I actually do okay this time, coming out about even on my takedown to taken-down ratio.
Next up we do 2 rounds of free grappling. After that, we work on breaking guard, standing and passing. I’ve never been more fatigued in my life (not even after running a marathon 2 years ago!) and I’m basically walking through the motions at this point.
The class ends with 3 more rounds of free grappling and the last round is one that Derek will never let me forget…
[to be continued…]
Categories: Arts and Culture, Blog, Martial Arts