Master B's Web log

Over ten years ago I had my first Brazilian Jiu jutsu experience. It was just a short time after the first UFC and I got a chance to train with Rickson Gracie. I felt like a beginner again. It was cool and scary as he swung me into an arm bar. Yes, I tapped immediately! Here it is years later, BJJ is mainstream and I am completing my preparation for blue belt testing. Sometime this coming year Kristin Duethorn, David Salisbury and I will be testing for our blue belts under David Meyer a Machado BJJ Black Belt. I have had many instructors over my 35+ years of training but I still think of my first teacher Jose Deguzman. He passed away a few years ago but I hope I am still making him proud of me. Thank you Sensei for instilling a love of martial arts in me. Always a student....

We just promoted seven new students to First degree Black Belt. During the last few months we put them through lots of training, enduring the physical parts of the training but also feeling the emotional and mental stress of this achievement. Some nights after these classes I occasionally felt like we may have been too tough. Yes, there were the usual bumps bruises and dings. Sometimes some tears and frustration too. I came across this story and thought it would be appropriate to pass it on here. The cocoon story A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat transfixed for several hours as the moth struggled to force its body through that little hole. But it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could go. It just seemed to be stuck. So the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the r

Seems like you have someone around you for a long time, you can take them for granted. One of our senior instructors, Mr. Salisbury (third dan) has been a student for many years and is being considered for ko dan ja (master teacher) promotion. He always leads from the front, trains hard, and teaches as many classes as he can. He is fundamental in all aspects of our school development. I guess I can say he was always there for the students but I was not always there for him. So I decided to give senior Black Belts private training each month as sign of appreciation and to continue to develop the people who really want too to be great, not just good. We spent quality training time together and I saw some great changes come over him. To Mr. Salisbury- Keep up the great work!

There are a lot of reasons why I continue to train. I love the respectful, positive atmosphere at the school. It's something I think the world could use a lot more of. I enjoy working with the other students and I love the way we all interact--respectfully, supportively, helping each other meet our personal challenges and goals. I've made some great friends through your school, and I enjoy the people I regularly train with, like Mrs. Harris and Mr. Huber. There is even some fear involved (which I think is a good thing since the challenges we are given are carefully selected and related to our skill level), and being able to confront our fears (often with the help of others) is very important for a lot of different reasons (only some having to do with karate/for me they are related to life skills and developing a positive outlook on the challenges I face each day in life). I have called on the courage I have developed at your school in all sorts of ways, most recently last su

Even after many years in martial arts teaching, I still love learning. Recently we had a chance to travel to North Carolina to train with Master Sgro. Master Sgro is a long time martial artist and has a deep knowledge of Tang Soo Do. As a forms aficionado he has great details of all hyung as well as the history, breathing and application knowledge. During our trip Master Sgro moved his school to a new location, video taped his curriculum, put on a tournament, did gup testing, dan testing and Master level testing, hosted a demonstration and trained over a dozen Black Belts all week long. Multi tasking does not even begin to describe his week. Some days we began training at 8am and some nights it was 10pm when we changed out of our uniforms. The days just flew by. I have a need for more depth of knowledge and Master Sgro can deliver. He makes learning fun and training with a huge group of Black Belts who just want to get it right gives everyone energy and motivation to keep plugging a

Spring is here. It seems with every one of New England's four seasons our training encounters some changes too. Last week when the weather heated up our advanced class slowed down. Many students were MIA- I think they were a little nervous about the higher temperatures. I know it takes me a little adjustment getting used to higher temp's too. Little by little our bodies will accomodate the extra heat. Just like in the cold of winter we need a little more time to warm up, the spring and summer heat takes a little getting used to, so we don't melt away with a high level of training. I personally feel more motivated to train harder in the warm weather. It's easier to jump start a workout without a prolonged warm up. Train Hard, be loyal and dedicated!

Sunday we began our 5 hours of mid term testing for Blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jutsu. Black Belt David Meyer has flown in for the weekend. Mr Salisbury, Mrs Duethorn and I have been logging many hours in preparing for this testing. In the last 2 weeks I have trained around 20 hours of BJJ in preparation. Any chance I got I had a few extra reps of practice in. Mr Meyer can do it and teach it. Not only is he a world class competitor but his teaching is some of the best I have seen. He had us go from the basics to the advanced, working all the details and giving feedback. We have been grappling for many years but have never had such a high level of expectation from a teacher. I think he demands a high level of performance but he does it in a way that makes you want to excel and be the best you can. Five hours later, after lots of positions and submissions, after we took a break (and all wrestled him during the rest period), we passed the testing. He had some nice praises for us and encou

Here we are training nearly daily in Brazilian Ju Jutsu. I am preparing to take my mid term evaluation for my blue belt rank. I gave been training, training, training. Dozens of techniques, each with its subtleties. Every time I do a technique I fell like I know it a little better. I am very happy to be learning and honing these techniques. After being in martial arts for 36 years it is easy to become stale. I remember a few years back when I felt like I wasn't learning anything new. I knew there was more to learn but between working and life there was not much time and sometimes not enough motivation. I am happy that the Black Belts have given me pressure (although maybe not intentionally) to learn new material. This has been good for me, good for the students and good for the philosophy of the school. Many thanks to all, who in many ways, have helped.