So last Thursday the Instructor was demonstrating a triangle choke. As I tried to escape he finished it, but complained that I clubbed him over the head with my foot. I said I thought it was his point, that even as I tried to escape he could finish it. He said he was just not going to call me to assist him with demonstrations any more. The other guy he called wasn't resisting. Later, after I went really light with some of the guys, he called me to his office and said he didn'

I stayed for stretching class this Saturday. One of my training partners, Mr. Anderson commented that I am well on my way to the full split, as he pressed his palms on top of my knees in a butterfly stretch. I returned the favor presently, except I didn't push as hard. Mr. Raj after giving me his very firm handshake said don't mess with Arthur, he is a grappling expert! When class was over, Mr. Raj introduced me to his young son who is going to be attending classes at Whit

Today at the gym I pulled off some good sweeps from closed guard and got complemented about it by the instructor. I definitely wanna avoid bad feelings, though. So that's why after a scissor sweep to mounted triangle finish I let the guy (he was a bit younger than me) take my back. Once he was on my back I thought I could get him off easily, but got choked. I still feel pretty good. Never-the-less, there are still White Dragon members for whom getting me in a sub is stil

Since I didn't go to White Dragon today, but I want to be in shape, I covered five miles tonight - walked four, ran one. Had a bunch of teenagers smoke me; they were running full speed for several miles. I am far from satisfied with my conditioning, which is why I am gonna make it a goal to be able to run three-to-five miles once or twice a week. I also did some jumping jacks and a little shadowboxing. Nothing to brag about, but this is my blog, so I am putting the informatio

So we finally met up with Sonya's family tonight, because yesterday things didn't work out. Dad's coworker, an older but attractive woman and Sonya's Grandma is flying back to Russia, so this was our farewell dinner. I had some soup with meat-balls and then salad with fried meat-balls and then cake. As for Sonya, the little brat shot me from a semi-imaginary lego gun so I had a chance to play dead. We also played a bit of hide and seek, and then watched How to Train Your Drag

Yesterday's Kung Fu and Kicking classes took their toll, it's now 12:48 of the next day and I am still lying on the floor in my sleeping bag. But I think I am starting to get the hang of the downward block and keeping my eyes on my opponent, even when he is behind me. The opponent behind me is the instructor with the shield-pad, of course, I am not doing any striking sparring yet - gotta wait for my yellow sash and to get in shape. Today, my Dad, my Mom, and I are supposed t

I used to read a ton when I was a kid and later, a teenager, but in adulthood reading is a chore. Still, Steven King said that those who can't read can't write either, so if I fancy myself an author, I have to read art least once in a while. So the book I read is called Nerve by Dick Francis. That translates to Russian as courage or inner drive. I thought of translating it verbatim, since Russian does have the word "nerv" (transliterated here) in it, but my Mother said no. An

I had a training hour during which no one got hurt. I feel over the Moon about it, so excited, feeling like a beginner. It's ironic that the best jiujitsu coaching happens at a Kung Fu school. No one was submitted, nobody tapped to me and I didn't tap either. I'm so used to rolling hard and life or death struggle for survival with my former coaches and having a target on my back as the best student that rolling without using attributes like speed and power felt exceptionally