Originally posted by: reverend boltron
What school do you train at man? I used to train with Jason Lugtu in Elite, and I trained up at Jeff Currans school for about a week, heh. Where were the NAGA's at this year? I know that Bob Schirmer hosted them a year back or so. Have you ever gone to the Combat Do tourneys?
I train at a carlson gracie school in indiana under a carlson gracie brown belt. They held NAGA at the cisero high school. The next one near here is in Ohio then back in chicago in august. This was my first BJJ competition. Before that I was into judo and aikido and had done a few judo competitions. I got into bjj because I want to get into MMA and my ground work sucks. I'm doing a ton of competitions this summer in both bjj and judo (chicago, indy, east chicago, ohio, etc). I've never been to any Combat Do tourneys, but if I see one, I'll most likley go. I love competition.
As for whats going on in the pic's. In the very bottom right pic, I'm in control of his arms and about to attempt an armbar. In the pic above that I was down on points and making a really stupid attempt to choke from the guard. The picture to the left of that has a guy sweeping me. The rest are perty self explainitory.
As for the Judo/hopkido/bjj link thing. Judo like wrestling can help greatly when making the transition to submission wrestling competitions. At lower levels you dont have to worry about leg locks and neck cranks (well in white belt gi competitions) so its almost exactly like judo (except for you can't win with one good throw). I really suggest everyone at some point take judo. Its a great sport and will teach you a lot about self defense, falling safely, and what real martial arts training should resemble (aka lots and lots of randori). Add some no-gi throws and some striking and your a very well rounded fighter. As for the you can't do that in judo remarks, eventually you will find some guys who are willing to bend the rules now and then for fun. I know a lot of judo guys who like to roll with leg locks, wrist locks, and spine/neck cranks. And the best thing about judo is its the cheapest martial art ever! Most judo schools are half the cost of other martial arts.
NAGA submissons and rules vary depending on the competition and skill level (gi or no gi, novice begninner, advanced, etc). In no-gi divisions all submissions are legal except grabing fingers or toes (less then 4 at once), eye gouging, sticking any part of you into any hole, cut or orafice of your opponent (this includes chin in eye), and groin strikes. Gi rules where a little different with white belt being restricted from doing leg locks, ankle locks, and neck/spine cranks. After competiting in judo I found the ruleset refreshing.
I highly suggest you give it a try. Win or loose you are going to learn a lot and have a great time.
Oh and I can't say I've ever had dreams about killing people or fighting. Although I fell alseep on my way home from NAGA and had dreams that I was still waiting to compete (the wait was horrible, I waited from 8am to 6pm for my first fight. They had over 800 competitors.). I tipically train 4 days a week about 3 hours a day. 1 and 1/2 hours bjj and 1 and 1/2 hours mma (kickboxing, takedowns, throws, cardio/str training, sparing under mma ruleset). I really just started the MMA training though. Every now and then I get together with my judo friends and work throws and judo style randori.
I have to say I love my current training more then my past training. I've always hated the dont question your sensi mentallity of most martial arts. I hated the strict rules and being forced to learn words in other languages and call people sir. Its a false sense of respect. I didnt join martial arts to pretend i'm in a military. But with my current training there is none of that, we are all just like friends hangign out in a gym. We show up, get down to buisness, and then hang out afterwards. Nobody cares if I dont know the portuguese for rear nakid choke, its not going to hold me back from getting my next belt (I hated the judo tests. I mean who cares if you know 4 10th degree black belts names). So for anyone who has always wanted to try a martial art but was turned off by the yelling, and the yes sir no sir mentallity, try picking up jiujitsu, boxing, mma, kickboxing, etc. You might just be surprised.
Back on subject, does anyone have an recomendations for a cheap digital camera or digital camcorder that would be better for taking these kind of pictures (or recording the fights) in the future?
