I was so tired, at times I actually thought of not doing the test, but thanks to my training partners I did it and with good grades!!
I want to highlight that we were 5 women grading for different black belts and it made me so happy seeing the growing number of women in Jiu jitsu, I hope we keep it up
Years ago, I wrote that MMA is traditional martial arts distilled for a specific purpose. I still believe it to be true — and today I came across a mind-blowing example of why that is.
The first picture is an engraving in the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. Over 1,000-years-old, it depicts a rear naked choke and body triangle.
Even the defense in the engraving is in line with contemporary wisdom: The man defending the choke is pulling down in the crosswise arm, and pushing up on the arm behind his head.
It’s another reminder that the evolution of martial arts is a process of rediscovery. As long as we have two arms and two legs, there are only so many ways we can move.
Some photos taken by a friend of all the fancy holds/submissions i know :-)
Names of all the positions are in the alt text, except for the first, which I’ve seen under a bunch of different names. If anyone’s got a better source for where its from (besides Pancrase-era Bas Ruten) please lmk
So as you’ve noticed I’ve been missing for a long time. I got a lateral release surgery done to my right knee and afterwards my leg atrophied. I’ve spent the better part of 2.5 years working on rebuilding my strength. I’m at about 80% now.
The goal was to get good enough to test for my fourth degree, and that was achieved last month! So now it’s to keep working on the strength and hopefully get into the competitive sphere again :)
Before I forget, thank you all for watching fights with me this year. It’s been fun talking about all different aspects of the sport. So I wish you all a happy new year and I look forward to watching all types of stuff with you all next year.