Free Seminar (Fundraiser) at my gym. Gracie Humaita Austin. Paolo (owner) is a 6th degree blackbelt, so whomever is putting on the seminar must be good.

Casey is a friend of mine, actually from the same hometown, apparently having some health issues.

any Tap Out Cancer competitors here?

There are a few from my gym that are going to be in it. The Austin tourney.
Purple belt, a blue & a white belt. I'll probably go if I don't have anything else going on to support them.

lazuras_dc said:

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.... but also it would be cool to do some tournaments

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Day of the tournament you'll be like..."this isn't cool". During the match you'll be like, "this really isn't cool". But afterward you look back and think it was cool.

For kids I assume tourneys are broken up to belt/age ? Or size ?

How is it set up for adults?

lazuras_dc said:

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For kids I assume tourneys are broken up to belt/age ? Or size ?

How is it set up for adults?

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Kids and adults are largely the same. Belt/age/weight class, with the intent to match people up in similar ways.

For kids there are more restrictions regarding submissions, time limits, etc. but pretty much the same. Different organizations use different rules, but the IBJJF rule set is pretty standard and widely used.

Anyone have any back issues? I stood up about 3-1/2 weeks ago and had a sudden pain in my lower back.
It has persisted despite daily stretching & several deep tissue massages.... I'm thinking it could be more serious than a pulled muscle in my back. I don't have any shooting pains down my leg however.

Not training is killing me.... I've never had any sort of back issues before & it is very demoralizing.
Scheduling a Dr. appt. now. The "wait awhile & maybe it'll go away" isn't working fast enough.

Apache said:

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Anyone have any back issues? I stood up about 3-1/2 weeks ago and had a sudden pain in my lower back.
It has persisted despite daily stretching & several deep tissue massages.... I'm thinking it could be more serious than a pulled muscle in my back. I don't have any shooting pains down my leg however.

Not training is killing me.... I've never had any sort of back issues before & it is very demoralizing.
Scheduling a Dr. appt. now. The "wait awhile & maybe it'll go away" isn't working fast enough.

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I have had back issues here and there.

I will say one adjustment I have made is I just tap anytime I get stacked. I could get out of the position, but I will pay for it. Just not worth it to me.

Before I started BJJ I found out I had C5-L1 Disc Degredation. I try to stay on top of my weight lifting in order to keep my core/back strong to combat it. I believe keeping my core/back strong has kept me from back issues.

Apache said:

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Anyone have any back issues? I stood up about 3-1/2 weeks ago and had a sudden pain in my lower back.
It has persisted despite daily stretching & several deep tissue massages.... I'm thinking it could be more serious than a pulled muscle in my back. I don't have any shooting pains down my leg however.

Not training is killing me.... I've never had any sort of back issues before & it is very demoralizing.
Scheduling a Dr. appt. now. The "wait awhile & maybe it'll go away" isn't working fast enough.

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My recent back/hip issue went away with rest and daily stretching, I concentrated on stretching the hips which really helps with lower back tightness. I think it was almost two full weeks off from training but that did the trick for me. I had x-rays done and they were able to rule out disc issues and said it was just inflammation but steroids didn't do anything to help. I didn't lift weights or roll during that time which I hated because I don't like being sedentary, and exercise helps my stay sane. Fingers crossed it's nothing significant, since it's your back you're making the right decision getting it checked out.

Apache said:

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Not training is killing me.... I've never had any sort of back issues before & it is very demoralizing.
Scheduling a Dr. appt. now. The "wait awhile & maybe it'll go away" isn't working fast enough.

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Understand this, after trying for about 6 months to avoid surgery I finally decided to get my shoulder fixed. In the end it will be about 18 months of being off the mats, sucks. But it is either get it fixed or never do it again. About a month ago when I took my kids to class I asked one of the professors to roll with me about half speed to see how it felt, within 30 seconds there were several times with sharp pains so I called it quits.

I found mobility drills or yoga to help me but those were for sure muscle issues

I'm getting over my neck/shoulder issue, so am starting to get back into rolling and turning up the speed a bit. But it's a slow process.

So far it's just been a couple open mats, and it's been a mixed bag during live training. Doing some good stuff (sweeps and leg locks), and doing some dumb stuff (terrible guard passing). Feeling very rusty and out of shape overall.

Also, some of the 'stuff' people are throwing at me is not what I'm used to....berimbolo, K-guard entries, leg entanglements, heel hooks, etc.). So bad fitness, rusty technique, and just a general level of unfamiliarity with some of the styles is pretty frustrating at the moment.

Stiffness in my lower back that I do a lot of stretching & foam rolling for.

Upper back/neck to the point where my left arm tingles full time.

O.G. said:

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Stiffness in my lower back that I do a lot of stretching & foam rolling for.

Upper back/neck to the point where my left arm tingles full time.

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Get that checked out, hopefully just a pinched nerve or a stinger. One of our guys had something similar and ended up being a fractured vertebrae.

I have had issues with tingling/numbness for years and turns out I had a lot going on in my shoulder. PT helped it not come back as often but still does.

I don't know if lifting weights is stressed enough in bjj. Doing squats and deadlifts will strengthen the back and core and certainly translates to bjj. Often times guys in class tell me they don't lift, especially don't lift heavy, because they'll lose flexibility. That's ridiculous.

P.U.T.U said:

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O.G. said:

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Stiffness in my lower back that I do a lot of stretching & foam rolling for.

Upper back/neck to the point where my left arm tingles full time.

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Get that checked out, hopefully just a pinched nerve or a stinger. One of our guys had something similar and ended up being a fractured vertebrae.

I have had issues with tingling/numbness for years and turns out I had a lot going on in my shoulder. PT helped it not come back as often but still does.

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Yeah, I had a compression of the C6-C7 causing nerve issues (shoulder, arm, thumb/finger numbness) for months. Went to an orthopedic surgeon who referred me to a neck/spine PT, and he got me back to normal, but it took several months.

Looking back, it was probably all the time I spent trying to use flexibility and inversion rather than managing my position and opponents base more effectively. Getting stacked and staying there isn't good BJJ and it isn't good for the neck.

2girlsdad said:

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I don't know if lifting weights is stressed enough in bjj. Doing squats and deadlifts will strengthen the back and core and certainly translates to bjj. Often times guys in class tell me they don't lift, especially don't lift heavy, because they'll lose flexibility. That's ridiculous.

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There's about a 50/50 split at my gym in terms of who lifts and who doesn't. At the beginning I stopped lifting because I thought I was getting enough exercise just going to class but I figured out fairly quickly that I was getting weaker so I added weights back into the mix so I lift 3X a week and go to class 3X a week. I wish I could lift heavy but I just can't anymore because of how my joints feel at my age, but I try to hit all the major muscle groups every week so I can at least maintain. I've had to adjust a lot of my lifting due to pain specifically in my knees and shoulders. I will say that muscle mass does actually hurt some of the guys I roll with because they're too bulky and it impacts how they move, and they tend to use strength to compensate. I'm not strong but I'm a lot more fluid than some of those guys that are bigger and stronger and they also tend to get tired faster than I do too. I think it's about finding balance, I agree that eliminating strength training is counterproductive.

Anyone training BJJ should spend as much time on flexibility as they spend on cardio and lifting. Without flexibility, everything is much more difficult.

Has anyone had to drain their ear? I definitely have a case of cauliflower ear. I really didn't know that it was something that can just happen quickly. I thought it was something something that was just very slow and gradual.

One of my ears is swelled up pretty noticeably and has been for a while now. I know it seems dumb but it's been this way for a couple of weeks and I didn't really even think about it until now. It doesn't hurt and I don't ever remember feeling anything happen in class, but later I was randomly rubbing my ear for some reason and I noticed it felt really thick and squishy and very slightly tender. I honestly know I noticed it weeks ago, but I never even noticed it in the mirror until now. Now it's quite obvious when I look at myself straight in the mirror.

Somebody told me to drain it with a needle. I have no problem doing that. I just hope it will still work after a few weeks. I'm running to H-E-B to see if the pharmacy sells needles, but I have a feeling they do not.

If I can't get a hold of a needle, I think I'll try a razor blade

You can drain it, but it may just swell backup. I have used these in the past to stop the swelling after draining.

https://www.caulibuds.com/

After 5 years I still have normal looking ears thank goodness

Cauliflower ear? Nice! I'm so proud of you.

Should I just retire now as a two-stripe white belt with cauliflower ear? That was my main goal anyway. I could save a lot of time and money now.

So I got a hold of some 30 gauge needles, but they are too fine to drain this. I ordered some 18 gauge off of Amazon so when those get here, hopefully I will have better luck. I also borrowed some ear magnets from somebody that you're supposed to wear once it is drained to keep it from swelling again.

Does anyone have experience with these magnets? Should I wear them constantly for a while?

bam02 said:

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Should I just retire now as a two-stripe white belt with cauliflower ear? That was my main goal anyway. I could save a lot of time and money now.

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If you quit now you are just an ugly guy who can't fight! Gotta keep pushing to become an ugly guy who can fight!

bam02 said:

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Should I just retire now as a two-stripe white belt with cauliflower ear? That was my main goal anyway. I could save a lot of time and money now.

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Cauliflower ear are the real stripes.

After 16 years of training I have only a little bit of cauliflower ear on my right ear (from takedowns mostly).

Worst ear damage I ever got was in a Macy's in Chicago. Split my right ear in half (top/bottom) and had to have it stitched back together by an ER surgeon. People assume it was BJJ so I just go with it. The Macys story is too embarrassing anyway.

Had something odd happen recently.

I've been traveling, working a lot and can only be in my home gym on the weekends, so I did a drop in at a gym in Corpus. One of the Gracie gyms, not the same lineage of the one I attend. (I'm Gracie Humaita, this was a different one)

I wore the gym's Gi, at their insistence of wearing theirs (they said to make sure that staph wasn't brought in), and took my place at the end of the line, below the white belts. Shook hands, did the bump fist thing with everyone and kept my head down.

The instructor (two stripe black belt) explained the move/technique of the day, went into detail etc, then demonstrated on a brown belt....all normal so far.

Then he called me out on the mat, and did the same thing. Sort of a modified half guard with pressure, nothing that was super out of the ordinary. There was some pressure, but I could breathe and it wasn't that bad.

This is where it got weird...he said, "at this point you should be feeling clausterphobic".

The thing was, I wasn't . I've had WAY more pressure put on me by others before & I read Rickson Gracie's book, Breathe and it resonated with me. While it wasn't comforatable, I wasn't by any means in a panic either.
He finally let me up and asked me how much pressure it had been & I was really trying to be respectfull and mindful of my "place" being the drop in guy etc. I told him it was good pressure and I was legit trapped (which is true).
So, he talked to the class about it, then called me back out on the mat and did the same thing, again. The grip was tighter, the pressure increased but still, I could breathe. More out of annoyance, I tapped because this had gone on a while and he let me up. He seemed to be trying to make a point, but whatever the "point" was, it was lost on me.

We got up, did the move of the day with training partners, then did some live rolling, all of the students were respectful and asked me to come back etc.........but the instructor, was weird. Showed everyone his abs and all of that.....weird. I paid for my drop in, shook everyones hand and left. Maybe he didn't like that I came from Humaita, I don't know, but it was odd.

I've rolled with everything from first day white belts to Royler Gracie, dropped into multiple gyms, and I've never seen anyone act like he did. Your thoughts?

Quote:

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I've never seen anyone act like he did. Your thoughts?

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Did he try a take down using only his "Chi"? That's when things get weird.

Personally, I haven't had anything happen like that with black belts.

I would chalk it up as to you just being a badass.... and try a different gym next time in Corpus.

Apache said:

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Quote:

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I've never seen anyone act like he did. Your thoughts?

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Did he try a take down using only his "Chi"? That's when things get weird.

Personally, I haven't had anything happen like that with black belts.

I would chalk it up as to you just being a badass.... and try a different gym next time in Corpus.

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haha....I'd never seen it before either with blackbelts either. It was like he was trying to prove something, oh well.

I did find a Humaita gym in Corpus. Lead instructor is an elderly Brazillian gentleman, Master Matos & he has a Coral belt. I've been to one of his seminars, he's a cool old guy.

That's crazy! I know two guys who own schools in CC (GBCC and RGCC) but they are 4th and 3rd degree respectively and that doesn't sound like either of them from what I know. But who knows these days!!

O.G. said:

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This is where it got weird...he said, "at this point you should be feeling clausterphobic".

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This was the wierdest for me. Why would you expect a seasoned BJJ guy to feel clausterphobic. Yeah I have sadly tapped to a diaphragm choke here and there, but in general its not clausterphopia in the least bit. Don't tell me how to feel.

i've tapped from claustrophobia. But this was a really big dude on top of me.

Moral High Horse said:

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i've tapped from claustrophobia. But this was a really big dude on top of me.

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I have as well, but dude was huge...we have a guy in the Austin gym that is north of 400.....THAT will make you feel clausterphobic

O.G. said:

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Moral High Horse said:

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i've tapped from claustrophobia. But this was a really big dude on top of me.

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I have as well, but dude was huge...we have a guy in the Austin gym that is north of 400.....THAT will make you feel clausterphobic

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Yeah I can imagine being clausterphobic dealing with that!

As a 170lbs guy, I won't roll with a guy over 270lbs if I don't know who he is. Don't need to get injured for my pride.

O.G. said:

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Moral High Horse said:

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i've tapped from claustrophobia. But this was a really big dude on top of me.

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I have as well, but dude was huge...we have a guy in the Austin gym that is north of 400.....THAT will make you feel clausterphobic

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We have a white belt with a few stripes that is north of 350 and I am not sure how far north, I did a dumb move by thinking I could get him over me. Almost worked, tweaked my neck with that one. And not rolling with that guy again, don't like big boys that spaz out.

Our gym has several purple and brown belts over 250 that roll heavy, I understand the want to tap and I did once or twice when they were putting a lot of strain on my neck. The next time they did it I had them stop and teach me how they would get out of those certain positions, or not let them happen, which helped a ton.

These are the same guys doing some insane moves when rolling against higher belts, stuff that people that size should not be able to do. Dang I miss rolling