Self-defense and Roberto
I posted this comment on David's blog when he said that people don't need to take self-defense.
"I agree with Jorge. I think that people still need to learn self-defense. Of course, they will will know how to punch and kick. However, everything they will do will be an accident instead of on the mark. You commented on how a person couldn't mount someone when they are kicking their legs. Depending on how good in shape they are and how fast they are kicking, I'll just wait until they are done kicking. Or I can move to their side, dive, and get into side mount. Or if they are kicking pretty slowly, I can grab hold onto their leg. Then, I'd move it to the side and mount them. Probably, he's be inexperienced so he will try to push me off with his arms. So, I'll arm bar him.
The average person may know how to strike, however they don't know how to grapple. They don't know how to do any type of joints locks or chokes. Thus, they can only strike while on the ground. Plus, the average person will expend way too much energy when grappling and probably when striking as well. The average person against the average person will be even if they are in the same shape because they will be flailing and expending the same amount of energy. However, if a person knows not to flail and knows the counters to flails, that person will win.It takes tons of experience to know what works for you and how to use it against the other guy. The average person doesn't know that. When I'm on the ground, I'm mostly defending because I grapple against guys. I have to use really good technique to out last them.
If a woman is attacked by a guy, she will not know how to conserve her energy and strike at the weak points without getting tired first and hurting herself. She will just waste energy flailing. What if the guy hits back hard?? Probably, the lady will freeze and get scared. People need to learn how get hit so that doesn't happen. Most people think that they need to strike to end a fight or escape. Roberto says otherwise and I trust him on that point. The average person won't know how to do that."
Today, I learned that I'm a fighter. I didn't really realize it because I don't see BJJ as fighting in a sense. However, it is fighting because you are trying to submit another person. Everyday when I spar, I get bruises. If that doesn't tell you that I fight, nothing will. I didn't practice fighting in karate. I only just practiced kata and did techniques. The only time I got bruises was when I blocked punches with my forearms and body conditioning. BJJ is a lot more painful than karate.
Roberto says that teachers cannot think that they are better than their students in any way. They can't have any ego at all. If that happens, they will start caring about themselves instead of their students, like Sensei Chinen. Roberto wants to create students who are better than him. I really never heard of that before. I thought that teachers will be always be better than the students they will have more experience. Plus, they will be always learning and growing too. I have to ask Roberto on that one because a teacher shouldn't stop learning about their art.
I learned that Roberto was taught BJJ as a kid. I think he started when he was five years old. If it took him twelve years, he'd be 17 years old when he got his black belt. I need to ask him about that too. I know that he started MMA fighting when he was sixteen years old. I don't know how long he did that. Then, he took an eight year brake. Now, he's starting again by opening his own school and teaching. He's trying to remember everything that he was taught. He said that it's pretty much riding a bicycle because one never forgets. Probably, he was taught how to teach before he got his black belt.
2 comments:
There are many things, many depths a person cannot truly understand, and these things are left to the person to find and for God to reveal when that person is ready.
In the grand scheme of things, you, me, Chinen, Roberto, Villa, we're all beginners, we know nothing, we are nothing more than children in the hands of the cosmos.
My eyes have been opened to many more things recently and self-defense seems like a trivial thing, something so extremely basic that it is a hindrance because we become stuck on it, attached to it, it becomes an addiction, an end instead of the means.
An exchange between two people is truer than words could ever be; straight to the point.
When that person is flailing, certainly they are at a lower level of training than yourself, but would you underestimate them then you fall to an even lower level than them.
Certainly you could grab a leg and try to mount, but what if you get kicked in the head anyway? What was the point of that? To win? What is winning or losing and what does it really prove?
I respect your Teacher, he sounds like a good Teacher, humble to remember that he is still a student, that is how it is.
A Teacher always hopes that their students become better than they, otherwise they are not truly teaching, they are just stroking the illusion they call their 'ego.'
I would love to see your BJJ become more internal, less about the physical, but at the present state, you need to learn the physical in order to get beyond the physical.
Good luck in your training, we're both on the same path.
I am terribly proud to see how far you have come in your journey since we first started talking and since we trained together for a little while.
I am sad to hear your report of Karate in your experience with Villa and Chinen, I understand your feelings and identify with them.
I feel that if you had experienced some of the things I have in the Karate world you would not look down on it and would see it as an equal component of what you now study.
Unfortunately that is not the case.
Labels are labels though, regardless which way a person looks at it, and they truly are unimportant.
Whether Karateka or Jujutsuka, we're all Budoka and should strive beyond the confines of 'system' or 'style' in which we place ourselves, strive to grow to our full potential, and strive to help others do the same.
Thanks David. I have grown up so much when I first started martial arts. I don't know if I would be doing BJJ right now if I didn't get started with Sensei Chinen and continued my training with Sensei Villa. I don't mind always working with the guys because I grew up working with him. I think that I always worked with in Chinen's dojo too. Now, I'm the only girl who does BJJ in my dojo. If I was just starting, I would be comfortable about it. Now, I don't care. I trust the guys and know they won't hurt me.
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