Throwing & Being Thrown as a Workout

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My Protein Power Shake Breakfast

I'm not a nutrition freak by any stretch of the imagination. I only follow a few loose suggestions that my trainer, Louis Sargeant, has offered. 1) Eat a healthy breakfast as soon as you get up. and 2) Avoid carbs after 3pm (except on evenings when I'm training, in which case I can have them before I train).

The healthy breakfast gets taken care of by my trusty protein power shake that gives me a solid start to my day. It's tastes reasonably good if you don't mind protein powder. I'll share the recipe here.

Ingredients:

1 scoop of vanilla-flavoured protein powder
1 small banana
2 handfuls of berries
1 tablespoon of flax seed oil
2 tablespoons of ground flax seed
Milk

Directions:

Add all ingredients except milk to blender. Add milk until mixture reaches a total of 3 cups. Blend until smooth. Drink immediately after blending or else ingredients will settle and the drink will become "blech-y."

This is what I usually eat for breakfast, but I'm not so stuck on it that I won't go for breakfast with friends and break my routine every so often. My philosophy toward eating is that one should try to eat healthy but still enjoy food, which in my case, means splurging once in a while.

How to Get Your Gi Really Clean

After you've used your gi for awhile, you may notice that the arm pits and other key areas start to discolor from use. Today, I was introduced to the solution to this problem: OxyClean (no-name variants are fine too).

Now that I have 3 martial artists now staying under the same roof, my white wash is entirely for gis. One of them extolled the benefits of OxyClean for getting out those unbecoming discolourations, so I thought it worth a try.

You do your wash as usual and add a scoop of this stuff (2 for heavily soiled gis) and it works like a charm. It's not chemical-based so it's safe on pretty much any material. If you have any major stains, just give a scrub with a mix beforehand. It's inexpensive too.

So if you're tired of hiding those awful pit stains and such, give this stuff a shot!

First Day at a New Dojo

Last night, I attended my first class at the BCIT Shorinji Kan Jiu-jitsu dojo. The first class of anything is usually a little stressful in that there are always new training methods and patterns of behaviour to learn. It was a bit easier for me though due to my several previous experiences training in this style.

Kevin, the usual instructor, unfortunately, was not available to teach last night so Chris (my right hand at my own dojo) and Jon, his old Sensei from Ottawa who just recently moved to Vancouver, took over the class.

Since it was the start of a new semester for the dojo, there were a handful of new students starting for the first time. Some were naturally a little tentative and nervous, having never trained in a martial art before. But I remember my first time stepping on the mats as a newbie. If it's anything like what it was like for me, there was also an underlying excitement.

Beyond the techniques themselves, new martial arts students are exposed to a different, very foreign seeming type of etiquette and code of conduct. The training environment in the martial arts, particularly traditional schools, is usually very different from anything they've ever experienced.

Myself, I always enjoyed the dojo training atmosphere, which emphasizes discipline and mutual respect, something that is absolutely required when doing potentially harmful techniques on each other. If there is no trust, there is no learning.

For me, of course, none of this was new, though there were slight differences to the formalities. It was still satisfying to put on my dirty, old white belt and absolve myself of instructive responsibilities, looking out only for my uke's and my own personal safety. The only thing I have to do there is train. What a great feeling, even if it was the last 1.5 hours of a 6-hour training stint. :P

Extra Training with a BJJ Purple Belt

This morning I woke up with a few extra aches and pains. This was the result of my grappling session with a new training partner, Jennifer, whom I met at the 10th Planet seminar a couple of weeks ago. The photo here shows her grappling at last year's Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Pan-ams. She took the gold.

I didn't know what to expect going in. I knew that she had trained for 7 years, mostly in gi grappling. I knew she would likely dominate me, but that's about it. But her technique was so amazing that she just completely owned me. She is also incredibly flexible and can put it to good use on the ground. I imagine she'll do quite well at the Pan-ams, the tournament which she is currently training up for.

It's no wonder she is so good at what she does. We talked in detail about her training regimen after class. She is a consummate athlete. She trains pretty much every day, often as much as 5 hours a day. She does weights, yoga, trains at multiple BJJ schools, and she maintains a strict diet. And all of this she tracks in complete detail in a training journal.

Jennifer has an excellent attitude towards training with other people, completely devoid of ego and attitude. She was quite open and willing to teach me anything that would help. She believes she can get something out of training with anyone, no matter what their skill level. Lucky for me since I see there is much I can learn from her. Being around the same size as her, she says she is able to practice moves on me that she wouldn't necessarily be able to use on the men that she usually trains with, so even though I'm not as experienced as her, she sees our training time as beneficial to her goals. I just hope that I can pick up everything she teaches me so I can be a better match for her eventually.

Anyway, I'm very pleased at how our session went. I'm even bringing her in as a guest instructor to teach a grappling class for my students on Sunday, Feb. 1. I'm certain that everyone will really enjoy it and learn a lot from her.

Dealing with a Nose Bleed? Give it the Finger!

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Cross-training in Shorinji Kan Jiu-jitsu

Having Chris as an instructor at my dojo has brought a lot of cross-training opportunities in his other style of Jiu-jitsu, Shorinji Kan. I've enjoyed it thoroughly and have incorporated much of what I've learned into my repertoire. But part of me wants more. That's why I've decided to take up the regular study of this style in my weekly training regimen.

I've decided to train at the BCIT Shorinji Kan dojo once a week, in addition to using open mat time to get additional practice in this style. It's nice because I now not only have Chris training at my dojo (who is a brown belt in the style). Kevin, the instructor at the BCIT dojo has taken up weekly training at my club to help him ramp up for his 1st Dan grading. Also, Chris's former instructor from Ottawa, Jon Jamnik (a Nidan), is also moving to Vancouver this weekend with the intention of training with us too. So with all these great opportunities to learn, it only makes sense to make use of them.

I had the opportunity to meet Andy Dobie Sensei, the head of their style in Canada, who came and trained with us just before Christmas. He even made some complementary remarks in a recent Jitsu Canada newsletter about the day he trained with us.

By becoming a student of Shorinji Kan, I will also get the opportunity to go to the upcoming International Shorinji Kan conference in Spartanburg this August. This will be a great opportunity to meet Jiu-jitsu practitioners from all over the world. It looks like it'll be a great event, so I'm planning to go.

Overall, I'm very much looking forward to putting on my white belt again and learning a style from the ground up. It's very different than just learning a few things here and there. Actually committing to learning everything in a style, practicing it regularly, and getting belted in it, well, it's a process I've come to love.