Back to business!

It was back to business tonight after two week lay off due to injuries and the a serious war with the flu.

Although I felt sluggish, fatigued, and lost, I enjoyed every single minute of tonight's session.

We covered a load of techniques from takedowns, to positional control while the opponent is in turtle positions, how to better your positions if you are caught in turtle position, full mount escapes and control, sweeps, and guard breaks.

It sounds like a lot, and it was, but all of this was focused on preparing us for competition on January 8th.

This will be my first BJJ tournament in almost a year which is nerve wrecking yet exciting.

I am looking forward to applying some of the techniques I have been working on at the competition level. My goal is not to win any medal, but to gauge my process. Winning is cool and I know a lot people pride their themselves on winning, but I have realized that at this stage of my training, it is more of a gauge for me. If I come out on top then al-hamdulillah, its all good, but its not my main focus at this point.

One might say, its a poor attitude and you should focus on winning. I agreed, but I also disagree. I think the winning will eventually come. At this point, its all about developing my game and working it in a live setting.

One thing I have learned over the past 18 months is that BJJ is such a methodical, detailed, and lengthy process. There will be time, insha'Allah, for medals and podium pictures, but at this point in my training I see myself is just like the picture above - A baby who is learning how to crawl.

So right now, my goal for 2011 is to drill the basics and make specific techniques part of my every day game. Once I perfect them, then I will move on. Right now my brain is full of techniques I have learned, some basics other advanced and I can't focus on one technique at a time. I feel overwhelmed in the amount of techniques I have learned and feel that I can't focus on moved that work for me.

So right now, the first order of business is to identify which techniques I feel comfortable with, write them down, set a sequence of moves by visualizing the game, and drilling them over and over again.

I believe once I accomplish this stage, my game will be much more solid and I'll begin to take those baby steps to earning my Black Belt.

How long did it take you to master the 540?

Today, I received an email from one of my most motivated and talented students masha'Allah tabaraka Allahu.

He asked me:

Student:

"Salamualaikum Br. Hernan I wanted to ask you a few questions about martial arts pertaining to the 540 if you would answer them please. How long did it take you to master the 540?"

My answer:

"540 took me several months to get. The most important part aside from the technical aspect was the confidence to do it.

Once I visualized myself being capable of it and knowing and understanding the technique I started hitting it.

Like I mentioned before, it's not a kick you are going to flat out land. I still have to work on my balance for example. You need to work on the basic kicks first. Round kicks, front kicks, side kicks, hook kicks. All of these will help loosen your hips which makes the kick easier.

In addition, the person trying to land the 540 needs to work on their air time so plyometric exercises are highly recommended. You need to work on your calf and thigh muscles.

It takes time, remember be patience when trying this kick it will come after some time. Practice its basic moves, focus on the technical part. How to jump, how to land, which foot to jump off, when to rotate the hips, balance. Once you get these things down, the you can start trying to actually kick, each time raising your leg higher and higher and leaning back more and more.

Before you know it, you are hitting the 540.

So patience, practice and you'll see progress insha'Allah.

Cool!"

-End


I definitely haven't mastered this kick (yet) let alone the art as I consider myself a humble student of the art; however, I wanted to share with everyone general advice from my own experiences and view on the subject.

Hope you all benefit even an ounce.

Happy kicking!

540 Round Kick

The other night we were at the Dojang and Sah Bom Nim Muhib pulled out the FLIP to record action shots for out upcoming demo video which will premier at the Dar-us-Salaam Fundraising Dinner on Dec. 18th.

We were doing some amazing kicks which you will only be able to see if (1) you join our class or (2) you attend the dinner and see our video, buuuuuuut I wanted to share just one of the cool kicks we were doing.

This is known as the 540 Round Kick or 540 Tornado Round Kick or the One-Legged Tornado Round Kick.

Whatever you want to call it, here it is! Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think!