Comparing Training

I was thinking what I wrote about last night how I hoped that my love for BJJ won't fade like it did with karate. I know that I could have been more committed with Sensei Villa. I think that it's going to last for a long time because I'm blogging about it. I was looking through my blog for any entries about my experiences at Spokane Karate Center. I discovered that there are just a few entries compared to the amount of entries I wrote about my evil dojo. I'm just thinking about what how hard my training was at my evil dojo compared to my old dojo. I remember getting home late at night and being all sweaty. I loved the training because it pushed me hard. With Sensei Villa, we worked more on technique. The only cardio we was when we sparred. We didn't run around in circles like my evil dojo. We didn't to ten million kicks. The Goju-Ryu we practiced in my evil dojo was a lot harder compared to my old dojo. Testing days reminded of the type of training that I did in my evil dojo. I remember that they were always good workouts.

I think this is why I love Roberto's dojo. We get to work on technique and cardio. He intentionally makes us tired so we can use our techniques without much force. The more I think about it, the more I think that I'm attracted to soft arts. I know that Roberto teaches BJJ as a soft art. I think that Micheal Pease teaches harder techniques that use more force. I remember going to Aikido in Spokane and really missing Goju-Ryu. I wasn't attracted to that art at all. However, I'm more attracted to that art then Shotokan. I wouldn't want to learn all of that kata. That's why I like Goju-Ryu. We can concentrate on a few, get really good at them, and understand everything to that kata instead of trying to blow through tons of kata and not understanding any of them.

Like I said, I loved last night's training because it was non-stop. Another thing about Roberto's dojo is that we get to train for three hours instead of an hour and a half. My training time is double from what I got at Spokane Karate Center. I forget how long we trained for at my evil dojo. At BYU, I trained at least two and a half hours. It was mostly three though because I would stay after class and practice. We stretched a lot in my old dojo which took time away from learning. I heard that one stretches easier after one is warmed up. Last night, in Roberto's dojo, we did some hardcore stretching which made us cry with pain. He'd come over to us and push our legs out to stretch them. It really hurt. He always told us to relax because it didn't hurt as bad if we didn't.

Then, we learned practiced more from the side position which I really need to practice on. Then we learned three chokes, two of them which I haven't seen before. For some reason, I tapped out a lot longer than the others. Roberto said it's because I have strong neck muscles. Roberto's way of doing the rear naked choke is a lot easier than Coach Pease's way. Coach Pease taught that we angle the elbow down to the chest while going up. Roberto's way is take a deep breath so one can expand the chest while driving the shoulders back. We got to practice the rear naked choke standing up. Then, we practiced the other choke in mount. Finally, I only watched Roberto only do the third choke.

The last hour, we worked on cardio. We did sit-ups for two minutes without stopping. We have to hold our gi near our neck while doing them. At first, I did that and then, I started grabbing my legs to help me to do the sit up. Roberto said that I need to have my arms near my chest. So, he said that I can do crunches instead. That killed my abs. Then, we did push up for two minutes. I asked him that I could do them on my knees and he said yes. I even had a difficult time doing those. Then, we did a type of exercise that looks like lunging, but we jump instead, switch our feet, and stay in place. Plus, we have to do it while our hands are on the back of our head. Everyone did four sets of 16. I did only 3 sets because I'm horrible at them. It's hard for me to launch for me to jump and then I have to watch my balance when I land to make sure I won't fall over. The last part every one went against everyone one at a time. Roberto took away my glasses and gave them back when we were done. I wanted them because I wanted see more clearly while the others sparred.