Trials of lskandar

[aydemirbeslenay]

I've had my fair share of listening to the excuses lol

[lskandar]

I've had my fair share of listening to the excuses lol

yeah, it's crazy. Today I escaped mount then a gi choke and afterwards the guy made sure that I knew I only escaped because we bumped into the pair next to us
I'd already made the escape by that point but that's people for you. Bruised ego's are everywhere in the gym.

My boxing has come leaps and bounds. I feel like I'm ready to fight, but there's no events until next year.
About to buy a new gi, new pair of shorts, rashie, sparring and mma gloves and some wrasslin' headgear. This sport is too expensive man. :P

Lifts are weak but getting there. I'm way more technical now that I come in to class exhausted from lifting and cardio. Relying on strength or w/e is just asking for bad habits, of which I have several.
I'm taking the time to relearn a couple of basic principles and it's paying off. As long as you're a little bit better than the day before you can't go wrong.

[lskandar]

Got demolished today. Actually tapped 3 times in one round, all with gi chokes. One from inside my own guard which sucks but I just didn't have the energy to defend.
Last year I might have been miserable about it, but now I welcome it. I swear that the progress comes faster when you're getting your ass whooped on a daily basis.
I've had a whole week of ass whoopings. The good news is I have conceded zero takedowns and executed plenty so my standing game is doing okay. That said this is Australia so I don't have too much to worry about in that department.

Open mat and heavy lifting tomorrow then training resumes as normal next week. Been mainly in the gi recently due to upcoming competitions.

[lskandar]

Training has gone great this week so far. Nothing too much to report. My wrestling is improving at a solid pace.
Coach fixed up my double leg form so I just gotta drill the right habits again. I am working on a few different guards and maintaining good top control.
Having a lot of success with the kimura from top side control and half guard. Also made a few tweaks to my triangle and have hit it twice this week. First time I've subbed someone from guard in a looooong time.
Hit a nice gi choke as well that i started in mount and finished from guard.

Back to heavy sparring next week. Should be fun.

[lskandar]

Injured, sliced my right hand on some glass. Had surgery, will be back in a few weeks :P

[AbuLouHarris]

Hey man any updates on this?

[MAC250]

Updates????

[lskandar]

Hey man any updates on this?

Updates????

Whats up fellas, thanks for following.

Some interesting updates.
My work situation has changed around quite a bit. Had surgeries, physio, doctors appointments, mechanical problems, but I'm finally crawling out of the hole.

Still broke but I can support myself and train so it ain't so bad. I dived straight into training when I got back. I got thrashed proper but I studied a lot of tape on my time off and took it very seriously, so it wasn't long before I was improving again and was winning local comps. In May I got my blue belt thrown at me before class Surprisingly though, while it reminds me how far I've come, I didn't really care. It certainly hasn't changed my game.
Its taken me 2 years, and if I've learned anything it's that all that matters is skill. I don't know if I deserve it, but I've seen so many undeserved promotions that it's all a bit ridiculous to me now. I can't believe I actually gave a **** about it... lol.

I've been testing the waters with striking again, and now I'm doing MT and MMA sparring frequently. It's starting to come together, but I don't think I'll fight any time soon to be honest. I still have plans to go overseas and hone my skill set, so that's my main priority. I'm gonna build myself up and then fight.

I'll keep this log updated each morning with training, instructional videos, rants w/e, until my overseas trip.

[lskandar]

Bench Press
100x10
145x5
165x5
185x5
210x5
230x5
215x8

20 reps round kick each side.
55 burpees finisher.

Goal is 100 burpees in 5 minutes.

[lskandar]

Grading practise in jiu jitsu, so I just drilled stuff I wanted to work on.

Got in some good rolls. Cardio is excellent at the moment. Can work non-stop for 3x5 minute rounds.

Took today off. Needed to give the place a good clean and had an early start to work.

Going to lift tomorrow after work and then head to BJJ.

[MAC250]

Updates and why don't you plan on fighting amateur

[lskandar]

Updates and why don't you plan on fighting amateur

Not a very good amateur MMA circuit here. If there is something good I might take it, I'll be doing some smokers overseas during my travels anyway.

___________________________________________

Jiu Jitsu on weds night. Drilled passes. Helped a kid with his basic white belt moves. Realized I need to work on my open guard more.

Managed to make it to Jiu jitsu last night... just. Drilled various escapes from mount, back, and side control. Worked on passes and sweeps.

Wrestled decent. I got the takedown every round, went like 8/9 of TD attempts. Got caught with a choke, just a stupid mistake on my part.
Managed to take the back in each round, but I need to spend some time working on maintaining it. Kinda injured my knee, nothing major but I'm going to be careful with it.

Training tonight. Plan is to drill passes then wrestling. Training is very grappling heavy at the moment - trying to land a coaching gig so I need the experience.

[lskandar]

Good training today. Coming off a small cold on the weekend. Stamina didn't diminish at all though and rolled a solid half hour.

I'm getting really good at the tornado guard position. Once I get that collar grip I can get upside down on almost anybody.
I hate de la riva and anyone who plays it :P but I've started incorporating it into my open guard. Gotta evolve with the competition.
I can pass it really well due to having a couple of training partners who are sick at it.

No training tomorrow night, so I'm going to do some heavy lifting, a tough conditioning session before work then a solid 10 or so rounds on the heavy bag afterwards.

[blazinbeast]

Loved reading this... I don't know how you train so many disciplines at once. I am just doing MT right now, for about 6 months and improving so greatly...trainer thinks I'm ready to fight.

You sound as obsessed as me haha. I always said though that I wanted to get really good at one discipline and then branch off but looking forward to BJJ. Striking scares me the most so decided to put all my energy into it. All I think about is training now... Good luck bro keep it up .

[lskandar]

Loved reading this... I don't know how you train so many disciplines at once. I am just doing MT right now, for about 6 months and improving so greatly...trainer thinks I'm ready to fight.

You sound as obsessed as me haha. I always said though that I wanted to get really good at one discipline and then branch off but looking forward to BJJ. Striking scares me the most so decided to put all my energy into it. All I think about is training now... Good luck bro keep it up .

Glad that you're enjoying it, thanks for following. That was a good idea for you to work on what worries you the most. Facing your fears and targeting your weak points always brings out the best in a person, especially in the martial arts.

Training consumes my life man, I'm always thinking about fighting and conditioning and new techniques. I can't imagine myself doing anything else, it's the best form of competition in the world.
___________________________________________

Felt a bit off today, not quite over my cold yet I guess.

Military Press AM
45kgx5
55kgx5
65kgx5
70kgx5
75kgx5

Short intense conditioning session.
20 burpees
20 push ups
20 squats
20 seconds rest

Repeat 3 times. Was a painful 10 minutes, especially with a leaky nose.

Jitz and boxing tomorrow.

[blazinbeast]

Glad that you're enjoying it, thanks for following. That was a good idea for you to work on what worries you the most. Facing your fears and targeting your weak points always brings out the best in a person, especially in the martial arts.

Training consumes my life man, I'm always thinking about fighting and conditioning and new techniques. I can't imagine myself doing anything else, it's the best form of competition in the world.
___________________________________________

Its hard for me to explain to people what I am doing...they just don't understand. I've been an athlete my whole life but when I tell people I have a fight coming up they get all worried and I can only imagine what they are thinking. Only a select few have been really supportive of me doing this, no one else. But its something I've dreamt of since I was 15 and I am sacrificing a lot to train but it makes me happy.

Especially being 23 now, I don't know where this can lead me, but I just need to do it, I don't know why. I figure the only way for people to accept it is for me to get a couple quick wins lol. I don't want to tell anyone I know about my first fight, just in case. Do you have this problem too or do you just not care what people think?

[lskandar]

Its hard for me to explain to people what I am doing...they just don't understand. I've been an athlete my whole life but when I tell people I have a fight coming up they get all worried and I can only imagine what they are thinking. Only a select few have been really supportive of me doing this, no one else. But its something I've dreamt of since I was 15 and I am sacrificing a lot to train but it makes me happy.

Especially being 23 now, I don't know where this can lead me, but I just need to do it, I don't know why. I figure the only way for people to accept it is for me to get a couple quick wins lol. I don't want to tell anyone I know about my first fight, just in case. Do you have this problem too or do you just not care what people think?

I've given up trying to explain jiu jitsu to people, lol. As far as support, I get very little of it to be honest. Friends and a select couple of family members are down with it, but most people recoil in shock when they hear that you 'do ufc'.

I'll be 23 soon too and there's lots of doubts as to how far I'll get, but I know that if I keep up my dedicated training until I hit my 30's, I'll really be at a high level. I don't tell many people about my matches. I like to keep it as a sort of 'me' thing. I used to care a lot more about what people thought regarding the sport and my aspirations but now I really couldn't care less. It is what it is. It sounds cliche, but life is waaayyyy too short to spare time trying to please others. People don't like me or what I do? No worries, there's 7 billion other people to talk to.
__________________________________________________ __________________________

Felt like shiit but went to joo jeesu anyway. Drilled chokes and arm locks. I found a couple of things I was doing wrong and tweaked them so those moves are a lot tighter and secure now.

3 rounds.
First just worked on playing guard. Maintaining, looking for sweeps, subs. Was with a really tough guy who is hard to finish so I just looked for opportunities as they presented themselves.
I'm getting decent at inverting to reset after losing my guard.
2nd round just got my ass beat, but managed to come back at the end. Kept getting in close ankle lock situations.
3rd round just trying to pass my opponents dela riva/spider. Got swept a couple of times, but I sorta let it happen because I wanted to go for the sweep. Got passed pretty easy and had my back taken.

Lots of training required.

[blazinbeast]

^Cool man, I feel the same way. I love being around other people who train and fight because it makes me feel normal. There really is nothing that gets me more excited then discussing anything to do with it tbh.

BJJ sounds challenging as phuk, the mental and physical game is just crazy. Like a chess match. I missed training 2 days in a row, I had to rest shoulder yesterday but today I worked overtime and was really tired....napped but set my alarm to AM instead of PM by mistake and slept in. Don't even know who I am any more missing 2 days in a row LOL.

Sorry if I missed this part, but do you plan on having any fights in the near future aside from BJJ competitions? Any thai fights? Looks like you want to travel and train / do some fights around the world? Pretty epic.

[lskandar]

I'm with you man. BJJ is harder if you struggle with your ego. It's fun to be the hammer but if you wanna progress then sometimes you gotta let yourself be the nail. A lot of guys don't get as good as they could be because they stick with what makes them comfortable. This is a no-no.

Don't sweat the missing days too much man, just don't make a habit of it :P. Every day you don't go is a missed opportunity, but every time you show up is an investment. Keep going and eventually you're gonna cash out big.

As far as fights go, I'm keeping an eye out for a good amateur show but there's not a great scene out here for it. I'm not gonna travel cross-state to fight. I'm definitely going to have a couple fights while over in Thailand and hopefully in Cuba if I do end up going there. By the time I get back I'll be a lot more well-rounded/experienced and I'll take a serious look into making my pro debut. I'm not rushing into anything though, I'm gonna do this the right way and build myself up properly.
__________________________________________________

Training today, was there for 2 hours just rolling.

Played guard mostly, dela riva/spider variations. My inspiration:


I'm not a huge fan of dela riva as it feels too sport BJJ and has no real practicality in MMA but I play a lot of butterfly and closed guard so I'm not neglecting that aspect. I do have sport BJJ goals though and the technical aspects of gi BJJ are good to know.

Caught a purple belt in a couple of chokes. Pretty happy with my finish rate from the back, I like to constantly threaten chokes while looking for the armbar as they escape.
My main goal for the next 6 months is develop a sick guard. Going to work hard at it. I'm expecting to get smashed and passed constantly for months. My ego is peppered.

[humanpuck]

Don't sweat the missing days too much man, just don't make a habit of it :P. Every day you don't go is a missed opportunity, but every time you show up is an investment. Keep going and eventually you're gonna cash out big.

I'm not a huge fan of dela riva as it feels too sport BJJ and has no real practicality in MMA but I play a lot of butterfly and closed guard so I'm not neglecting that aspect. I do have sport BJJ goals though and the technical aspects of gi BJJ are good to know.

I couldn't agree more with these statements. Also on the explaining what it is that I do...I came close to giving up, but now I describe it like this. "It's like a Olympic wrestling, but you're trying to break bones or choke them too, and punch them in the face."

[lskandar]

That's a pretty good description ^

Back on the mats. Rolled decent. Just pulled guard. Didn't get passed and got a couple of sweeps.
I want to practice last ditch submission escapes, because sometimes you just have to give up a limb to escape a choke. I want to be able to make a good escape attempt after it's locked up.

Finished with some stretching. Back to full sparring and MMA soon.

[lskandar]

Drilled passes and armbars/chokes during the transition.

Rolled decent. Hit a nice back take from halfguard, still not sure how I managed it.

Had to listen to every excuse in the book from one of my partners. I'm sore, I'm tired, haven't been here for a few weeks, I have an injured arm.

Spending the next few weeks on calisthenics and mobility work. I have a plan of action leading up to my next competition.

[BenT]

nice training bro keep it up!

When's your next competition then?

[lskandar]

nice training bro keep it up!

When's your next competition then?

thanks man. Next one is August 17. I might be taking an ammy kick boxing fight soon after too by the looks of things.

______________________

Got in a solid hour of drilling at the gym. Warmed up and worked on passes and chokes, switching every few minutes with my partner.

Rolled a couple of rounds. My passing was okay, but I was getting shut down against our best dela riva guy. I nearly had the pass a couple of times but missed my opportunities.
Just need to keep putting in time on the mats.

There are a few guys that get together at open mats to spar, I think I'll be joining them soon and I have some extra boxing sparring with a friend 2x a week now. Will be making some strong progress.

My goals by 13 Aug:
100 burpees < 10 minutes
30 full hang pull ups
Fix my tight ankles and get full rom on my pistol squats
10 one arm push ups

After my next comp I'll be going through another strength cycle. I want to compete at 82kg so I have to drop about 4kg(9lbs) this month.

[willysmilly]

How does one get started with MMA?

[lskandar]

How does one get started with MMA?

Find a good gym (take your time, this is important), walk in. They should offer a trial lesson. If you like it, sign up and keep showing up. Simple as :P

Be prepared to budget accordingly, the sport ain't cheap.

[lskandar]

Barely made it to the gym last week, pathetic really.

Just working lots of DLR and RDLR/spider guard. Always looking to get butterfly hooks in. I am managing to get the sweep a lot as they jump over to pass. I catch the leg with a hook and tuck their posting arm.

Been getting smashed though, not used to playing these positions as much. It's good though, I have needed this.

[BenT]

That's part and parcel of training though. That's awesome you're expanding your game, working new positions.

Where would you say you're most comfortable with? Top or fighting off your back?

[lskandar]

Back to training every night. Working on mixing up strikes and take downs. I'm trying to refine it to that point where I flow from a strike into a shot or a throw.

As far as jiu jitsu goes, nothing unusual to report. Just doing stuff I wouldn't normally do against tough guys. Having success with the back take from DLR. Also a half guard - tornado guard sweep.
I expect to be getting smashed for weeks/months to come while I'm out of my comfort zone. The hardest part is refraining from using your best moves, since it's so drilled into your system.

Burpee test today.

That's part and parcel of training though. That's awesome you're expanding your game, working new positions.

Where would you say you're most comfortable with? Top or fighting off your back?

Cheers man. It's tough but the pay out will be so worth it.

I'm pretty comfortable pulling guard and fighting off my back, I like deep half in MMA since I can work for the sweep/back and avoid a lot of punches.
I would have to say I'm more comfortable in top position though, since I have good balance and my opponent has less opportunity for offense.

What about you?

[BenT]

Back to training every night. Working on mixing up strikes and take downs. I'm trying to refine it to that point where I flow from a strike into a shot or a throw.

As far as jiu jitsu goes, nothing unusual to report. Just doing stuff I wouldn't normally do against tough guys. Having success with the back take from DLR. Also a half guard - tornado guard sweep.
I expect to be getting smashed for weeks/months to come while I'm out of my comfort zone. The hardest part is refraining from using your best moves, since it's so drilled into your system.

Burpee test today.


Cheers man. It's tough but the pay out will be so worth it.

I'm pretty comfortable pulling guard and fighting off my back, I like deep half in MMA since I can work for the sweep/back and avoid a lot of punches.
I would have to say I'm more comfortable in top position though, since I have good balance and my opponent has less opportunity for offense.

What about you?

As a white belt, my preferred position is the closed guard. I feel like I have the most control in that position, and like to either work for the sweep (hip bump or scissor sweeps being my favourites), or go for the triangle if possible. That said, this usually only work for fellow white belts, so I have been trying to get away from my comfort zone and develop the other areas of my game too. Especially my top game, my base is pretty appalling actually, and get swept or reversed way too easily.

Also, another thing I have been doing these days is to roll at a higher intensity, to roll hard but with control, à la the following quote from a thread on sherdog:

Jujitsuka should keep it playful the way wolves keep it playful. The only thing you hold back on is tearing flesh or otherwise ripping each other's throats out once a dominant position is acheived.

(http://forums.sherdog.com/forums/f12...79/index6.html)