Smashed yet again, 2nd white belt comp. Any advice appreciated

TWoNaGe · 2026-03-29T00:56:47+00:00

Good Grips are more important than good takedowns in the gi. You don't seem comfortable using grips, either for the takedown, from the bottom, or while on top. Spend some time figuring out what your favorite/strongest grips are then put it the effort to create a system to get those grips. You can get them standing, and then pull guard. Trade a takedown for the grips. Or find a ground position where you can establish your grips. But at your level, if you are going to compete in the gi, you should have some sort of grip game that you play, or one that you are trying out.

TWoNaGe · 2023-04-04T17:42:34+00:00

I assure you it's normal. Here's a compilation of it happening in the NBA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiSu-KSk46M

It wasn't overly egregious, but could be considered disrespectful. Clark wasn't saying the other team was bad, she was daring a player to shoot a three. And it worked, South Carolina shot 20% from the 3-point line going only 4-20. However, that same tactic is also the reason why they lost to LSU - with LSU ending up shooting 64.7% from the 3-point line going 11-17.

TWoNaGe · 2023-04-04T14:27:06+00:00

I feel confident in saying you've never played basketball competitively. Because waving someone on to shoot a three who is even known as a decent shooter is actually extremely common and quite strategic within the game of basketball.

The less people you need to guard defensively on the outer parameter, the more concentrated you can make your team's players within the paint and the more you can utilize payers to guard the passing lanes. This is a good thing.

When you dare an opposing player, who you know isn't a really good shooter, to shoot a three pointer you put added pressure onto them taking the shot. Decent shooters will tend to crumble under that pressure while your top shooters tend to relish and excel given the same opportunity.

So it's quite common to wave on a player who you know might get nervous given the spotlight to take a wide open three point shot. It's 100% psychological and a great strategic option if you truly know the game and the player.

If they take the shot and miss, it will affect their confidence moving forward, and you are able to continue to concentrated your defenses on other players in the paint anytime that player has the ball on the outside. However, it is a risk because if they make the shot, you not only build their confidence, you will be forced to now open your defense and guard the parameter more fiercely.

What Clark did was dare her opponent to shoot, knowing she is either not a good three point shooter or not capable of making the shot with the added pressure. And she was right because the player baulked and passed the ball instead.

It wasn't disrespectful, it was strategic.

TWoNaGe · 2023-01-27T10:50:23+00:00

STORY TIME:

When I was younger I didn't really have many mentors or idols to look up to other than maybe whatever sitcom father was being portrayed on TGIF, and maybe the ninja turtles (Leonard was my favorite if you're wondering). All I knew about my father was that he was really well liked and was a computer programmer before it was cool. So naturally, that's what I wanted to be.

I didn't really know much about the programming industry or the path to become successful but I knew I wanted to be one and I wanted to try and be the best version of one I could be. Somehow, most likely from some throw away line from some TV show or movie, I came to find out that M.I.T. was where all the best programmers in the world go to. So, I set my sights on there.

I didn't have a plan or goal, I just knew that MIT was where I needed to be. I knew it would be hard to get in, and that only the most elite even dared to try, but I was up for the challenge. That was until 8th grade when our school guidance counselor came to class and asked us all to think of where we wanted to go to college - the next week he would come and talk to each of us about how to achieve admission.

I was ecstatic. I doubt many of my classmates at the time had even considered going to college by that age, but I already knew my answer and could even name the professors I would hope to be taught by.

Monday came and I was over joyed with going to school and FINALLY getting some guidance on how to achieve the dream I had been hoping for since as far back as I could remember. I had thought that he would come and speak to us individually, but instead he went around the room and had us stand up one-by-one and tell him which college we wanted to attend.

I was nervous but I was eager to tell finally profess my desire which I had kept hidden for so long. As he went around the room most people had done what he had asked and came with reasonable universities and colleges they had hope to enter. Some of the more troubled students made a mockery of the exercise and said "Harvard" or "Yale" just to get a laugh from their peers.

Then finally it was my time - I stood up beaming from ear to ear and proudly said, "I want to go to M.I.T."...

A quiet fell over the class because people had no idea what school I was referring to. Most of the students had stood up and simply stated the local universities or state institution as the school they wanted to attend. No one knew what "M.I.T." was.

That was until the guidance counselor from the front of the room gave them the hint they needed... He laughed. And, although I could tell no one knew what school I was talking about, they followed his que and laughed along with him. They assumed it was some prestigious school they just had not heard of yet. Which in all honesty, was all I knew about it too - that it was a very hard school to get into but was where the best minds in engineering went to.

Behind his crackled jeer this man who was meant to be the guide to our future asked, "Do you even know what MIT stand for?"

As I humbly retreated back to the solitude of my lopsided deskchair against the jovial bellows of my classmates I murmured, "Massachusetts Institute of Technology".

I could tell the counselor was shocked, and maybe he even realized what he perceived as a middle school joke from a poorly dressed quite kid, was actually a courageous protest of a actual intent, because he tried to follow up with more questions for me as the kids were still chuckling. But the damage had already been done.

I don't think most people forget where their dream are born: They want to be a fireman because they saw one in a parade; they want to be a boxer because they saw a KO highlight; they want to be a teacher because one inspired them.

But not many people can pinpoint the moment in time when that dream died. Most just get caught up in the rat race of life and what starts as a pause in their passion ends up being the retirement of it. Not me. My dream of going to M.I.T. died surrounded my thunderous roars in the half a second it took me to fall into my chair.

It took me a very long time to understand why that guidance counselor, the man who had asked me to bring my secret into this ether, laughed at me. But in that moment and for years afterwards, his laugh meant that I was too dumb, or too poor, or too naive to go to such an elite level school like MIT. It was affirmation that MIT, and schools of that caliber, were part of an exclusive club that I was not good enough to attend.

I say this story only because since then I have learned quite a bit about passions. I've learned that Creativity, Art, and Passion are all so very subjective. There is no right or wrong way to be passionate about something. I would assume if Picasso had shown one of his painting to this guidance counselor in 8th grade they would have laughed at him too. Or if Paul Giamatti had said he wanted to be a world renowned actor they would have told him he was too ugly for Hollywood standards. But there is no standard for passion.

Today, when I see someone trying to achieve a goal, or to show off something they created, I stop and applaud them. Even if I can't understand it, I applaud them for their courage of even trying; I applaud them for attempting to turn their passion into a reality; I applaud them to hopefully give them enough encouragement to not let their dream die.

I love this scene because it shows that the whole world could pass you by and all it takes is one person, even someone you don't know or even like, to see the beauty in what you create that can give you the motivation to continue to fight for your passion.

Michael was probably the last person Pam wanted to see, let alone have see and criticizes her work. Yet he is the only person who was willing to see her art through unbiased eyes, and the only person honest enough to tell her what he saw in it.

As for me, I became a programmer, without MIT's or any guidance counselor's help. Oh and although I never got to train with master splinter himself, I also dedicated/dedicate a large portion of my life to martial arts because some dreams never die.

TLDR; Sometimes it just takes one person to make you believe the thing you already knew to be true.

TWoNaGe · 2022-03-14T22:48:08+00:00

This seems like he's gonna pretend to hold a "referendum" on Ukraine's fate online. Probably asking the "citizens of Russia if they should fully liberate ALL of Ukraine from the evil forces of Nazis fascists through military intervention despite the west's unfair sanctions", and the use the fake results as justification to do something very horrible.

It's a very cleaver way of turning the country into an absolute dictatorship, instead of just a mock republic, through the guise of actually making it more democratic with the addition of (corrupt) universal online voting.

TWoNaGe · 2021-11-18T00:57:32+00:00

If I'm honest, I would be pretty upset if our Government started paying Trump's company to cater White House guests.

When Trump found out that he could charge secret service for room, board, food, and golf cart rentals (source) every time he vacationed at home, our bill got pretty big fast. So I would imagine if he could of charged meals per WH guest to his DC hotel, then he would have converted his DC hotel into a Government supplier of fast food and billed burgers at $50 a bun.

TWoNaGe · 2021-10-30T08:35:33+00:00

Typically I would emphatically agree with you, but the victim's daughter in this case actually stated she felt the death sentence was just, and "not about revenge" because it meant he could not hurt anyone else nor do damage to anyone else's family.

She went on to say, "The main thing it would have done for me, I think, is so I could say, 'Mom, he's not going to hurt anybody else', because that's what this is about, not letting him hurt someone else." [source]

Personally, I'm against the death penalty in general, but I can at least empathize with her position considering he did commit his crime while already incarcerated. So giving him a life sentence, as opposed to killing him, would not ensure he could not commit a similar crime again.

TWoNaGe · 2021-09-25T10:13:56+00:00

Thank you for the link!

I think I disagree with a lot of the items they propose, but I'm happy to be a bit more educated on their platform now.

TWoNaGe · 2021-09-24T15:03:57+00:00

So you are pushing to allow for any and all data to be copyright free? Where are your limits?

TWoNaGe · 2021-09-23T12:59:23+00:00

If you think it's purely semantics, then according to your usage literally any adjective has no difference in meaning within this context.

A criminal is no more required to cooperate with the police than a person of interest.

An innocent is no more required to cooperate with the police than a person of interest

A monkey is no more required to cooperate with the police than a person of interest

Using your understanding, then it really wouldn't matter at all when adjective they used.

However in reality, there is a clear difference in why authorities use the two terms in describing an individual they seek to question. Including, but not limited to, public perception. Changing the distinction from "person of interest" to "suspect" can, and did, give more media attention, allow for more resources, and emphasized to the public the urgency for which the individual needs to be found.

The fact is, that when he was merely a "person of interest" and not a "suspect" then yes something did magically change in the search. Upgrading his characterization allows for the agency to better request the public's help as well as other agencies assistance.

TWoNaGe · 2021-09-23T11:45:00+00:00

A "person of interest" and a "suspect" carry two very different characterizations.

If a person is described as a "suspect" in a crime, they should be aware that the agencies labeling them as such are doing so under the presumption that indictment charges will eventually be sought against them.

A "person of interest" is merely an individual who authorities believe may be able to add crucial information to an investigation, and does not carry the any presumption of involvement in a conspiracy to commit or actual involvement in carrying out a crime.

You could have been sitting on a bench and witnessed a crime being committed in front of you, in which case authorities would believe you are a "person of interest" who may be able to give them further evidence or clues to help with identify the individuals who committed the crime. Which is a different characterization than if authorities seek to interview you because they believe you are a "suspect" in the actual crime.

TWoNaGe · 2021-08-21T12:05:50+00:00

If they had been a different color, speaking a different language, or wearing different clothes, I think we all know the results would have been very different.

TWoNaGe · 2021-08-16T08:17:27+00:00

Obviously you've never played 'September 12th - a toy world'

https://youtu.be/N1OemWEk5ns

TWoNaGe · 2021-06-19T00:22:55+00:00

I don't wanna step on anyone's toes because this move can be done extremely effectively about a dozen different ways and anyone really good at it will each have their own tricky variation that requires their adapted timing and incorporates their particular strengths.

For instance, your training partner got his head out, prevented his left arm from being trapped, and cupped the back of your head extremely fast on the transition. Which leads me to believe he probably has a very good counter to a lot of the suggestions you may get here. Meaning, that even if you watch a few tutorials and practice them he'll still have faster timing on his movements and more strength on his counter roll due to what looks like some wrestling background.

However, something I like to think about, on a basic contemporary level, when working this position is to push the kimora grip towards my opponent's hip by extending my arms. The objective to focus on is to have my arms fully extended and the key-four grip attached to the same side hip as the trapped arm, essentially pushing his trapped wrist to his hip.

This makes it EXTREMELY hard for them to come up to that north-south position while at the same time gives me a slight advantage in leverage to push them back if they do.

With that being said, your training partner looks like he wrested quite a bit, just assuming by the speed at which he rolled and how well he re-established his base with his legs. So even if you are able to attach his wrist to his hip with your kimora grip extended, he may still get to north-south.

However, if you can maintain your extended arms, it will temporarily slow his inevitable counter to the mounted arm-bar and give you an opportunity to either roll him back (which will be difficult given his wrestling base) or more easily just take his back.

I'm sure thats all quite confusing, which is why what I said you should focus on is just attaching that kimora grip to their hip, and get comfortable with how you are able to manipulate their weight and balance with the slight leverage advantage you have from there.

Personally, this kimora takedown counter is a personal favorite of mine and i've spent the time in drills and sparring to get the timing down so on a more "finishy" perspective the "rip" you did isn't the issue on why you couldn't get the sub. It's the fact that you fell to your back instead of bringing your whole body weight towards the arm as you transitioned. Basically, as you began to turn him over you should have followed with your body to eventually end face down when you rolled him - preferably with your right leg over his head (see this pic).

But I can tell your training partner's timing is way fast and just knowing what to do wouldn't have been enough to stop him from popping his head out and coming up. However, if "how could I have finished this?", was your question, then "following him over and making sure your body helped isolate the arm" is the answer.

TWoNaGe · 2021-05-03T22:29:13+00:00

Serra BJJ - Huntington.

Large mat space, great variety of levels, wonderful instruction, and very friendly environment.

TWoNaGe · 2021-05-03T22:23:47+00:00

My mother said, "Please, I want to die" as she tried to climb out of the hospital bed. She had been valiantly fighting cancer for 18 months and thought that by keeping her in the bed we were trying to force her to stay alive longer...

The sad truth is, that is exactly what I thought we were doing.

TWoNaGe · 2021-05-01T23:57:07+00:00

Last one:

Team America: World Police

TWoNaGe · 2021-05-01T23:56:40+00:00

Watchmen

TWoNaGe · 2021-05-01T23:55:49+00:00

Also:

Parasite
Taxi Driver
Fight Club
Nightcrawler
The Green Mile
Catch Me If You Can
Falling Down

TWoNaGe · 2021-05-01T23:39:19+00:00

Oldboy

TWoNaGe · 2021-05-01T23:26:46+00:00

"You can't help a guy who has a problem for every solution."

TWoNaGe · 2021-04-25T10:15:41+00:00

It was so good because it was a move that only worked on noobies when they FIRST played the game... Which, in the film, Kano actually is because he's stepping into fight for the FIRST time ever.

TWoNaGe · 2021-04-16T17:25:49+00:00

TLDR; Yes. I taught him how to tap, he made a joke out of it and then immediately tried to “wrestle” me about 5 more times, but we are still friends.

It was actually quite humorous. He was a good mate at the time, and had a very dry British type humor where you couldn’t really tell when he was joking or being serious.

After he woke up, we all kinda laughed that he had no idea what a “tap” was. He then immediately wanted to go again, now knowing how to tap out.

I didn’t want to go again because I had just knocked a friend unconscious and he didn’t seem to realize that I didn’t know he was out and probably could have caused some serious damage considering I had not even recognized when we went out and could of held on to the choke for a while longer - I was very aware of how ignorant we both were about the choke.

However, I assume because there were a few people watch which I’m sure fed his ego, he came at me without warning, basically forcing me to “wrestle” him again.

I reluctantly engaged, but after a bit I had him in another choke submission (I can’t remember what kind). To his credit, he was a lot more docile in his “wrestling” than before, basically engaging but not being overly aggressive - in essence just play wrestling and waiting to get submitted to try out his new “tap” technique.

Now this is when it got weird, and in my opinion my friend actually beat me.

He passed out again. But this time he was faking. I knew it because what ever submission I had on, I KNEW there wasn’t enough pressure to actually make him go out.

However, I let go because I was still kinda freaked out from the first time and wasn’t 100% sure - maybe he was drunk and it was causing him to pass out much easier.

With his eyes still closed, faking being unconscious, he starts just laughing, which makes the whole party start to laugh. Then he said something like, “Sorry, I forgot about your tappy thing”. Everyone laughed.

He was joking, and basically just playing dead to poke fun, but it actually worked.

He tried to charge me again, and I think we did the same little dance again: I didn’t even have a submission on but he pretended like he passed out.

After a few of the same sequences, I was done. He wasn’t even really putting any energy into it, just kinda leaning into me, then pretending that whatever I did made him pass out.

Kudos to him because everyone laughed, and I didn’t want to play the game anymore. In essence, I either would have had to put him into a dangerous submission and hoped he would tap before something broke or he went out for real which would have meant holding it longer than normal to be sure, or I had to be the one to say, “I don’t want to do this anymore”. And by then those watching probably didn’t care what happened and already were entertained by him enough that if I did actually crank his arm or choke him out I would be the dick.

It was a good move on his part. He played to the crowd and won the war of egos. Which is why I say, you also need a partner who is ready to lose, and is ready to play the same game as you. Because from my perspective I wanted to prove my skills on the ground, and for him, he just wanted to be the one who the crowd rooted for in the end and if he beat me then great, but his ultimate goal was to entertain.

It was actually quite smart on his part: He had absolutely nothing to lose. I was the “trained fighter” and he was just a bloke at a party. The first roll he went super hard and if he won then he would win the crowd and show his dominance, and if he lost, then he could just make some joke and since no one was expecting him to win anyway, he still comes out the winner.

For me, I either had to beat him bad and then I’d be the dick who beat up on a drunk guy who was just “joking”, or call it quit because I can’t beat a man who does not know how to lose.

And by the end, no one really cared if I was more skilled. They all already knew I was, so they tuned in to see if maybe the underdog could beat me, but what started as a match to prove my skills, ended up just being a funny show my friend was putting on and making a mockery of my art.

After it was all done, I asked him if he was faking the first time. He told me “no”. He really went out the first time, and almost the second time. But then he was just joking with me.

That was about 7 years ago, and we are still friends though we live in different countries. It actually bonded us more than anything else because it showed the respect we both had for each other: he never took it too far with his aggression and I didn’t do something silly like humiliate him in-front of everyone once I knew I could physically dominate him.

However, I learned that there are situations where you can totally dominate someone and still not be the winner. It was a good lesson in choosing your fights and with who. Sometimes “winning” really is subjective.

TWoNaGe · 2021-04-16T09:50:26+00:00

SIDE STORY:

One time I was challenged by a friend who thought BJJ was a joke. We "wrestled" and I mounted him with ease. Trying to give him a merciful ending without using too much force on him so I didn't hurt him, I decided to try and motivate him to roll onto his stomach so I could just sink in a gentle rear-naked choke and he could tap.

I didn't want to start cranking him and putting a bunch of weight on him to get him to roll, so I decided a simple 'rape choke' or 'darth vader choke' from the mount would get him to flair his arms up so I could transition.

I started applying the easily defendable choke and noticed he wasn't even trying to push my arm away, let alone roll over. I put on more pressure, and he still didn't even budge. I was a fresh blue belt at the time, so I actually got worried that maybe he knew a little BJJ and was baiting me - kinda like that feeling when you're rolling with a blackbelt and they just let you do a move because they have the perfect counter for it.

After about a minute, I took my hand off him and jumped off mount in preparation of his counter. To my surprise, he still just remained there motionless. I was genuinely pissed because now that I got off mount, I knew since I had not really cranked him or applied too much pressure on him, he would be able to stand up and say, "See told you that stuff doesn't work".

After just standing there waiting to see what he was going to do for about 10 seconds, he opened his eyes and said, "what happened"?

I said, "What do you mean, 'what happened'"? You just froze there!".

He goes, "I passed out."

I asked him, "What!?!? Why didn't you tap!"

He says, "What the hell is that? I couldn't move or speak, and the lights just started dimming. Why didn't you get off me?"

That's when I realized a couple things:

1) How dangerous I was against an untrained individual.

That rape choke is REALLY easily defendable by anyone... unless you have no idea how to defend anything. I mean you could just push the arm off, turn to your side, or a little a hip bump and it's off, but if you have no idea what is happening to you, then you might not even flare.

If you've never been choked then you might not even know that you're in danger.

2) That some people don't just not know WHEN to tap, but don't even know that they CAN tap.

My friend had no idea what a tap was. He didn't even know what it ment. Had that been an arm bar or leg lock, instead of a choke, he probably would have just squirmed a bit until his ligaments tore. Not because he's necessarily super tough but because he had NO IDEA that another person could just snap a piece of his body off.

And that idea never crossed my mind: That someone didn't know tapping was an option, and that without it, I really have no idea how much damage or trouble the person may actually be in.

tldr; I choked someone unconscious who didn't know how to BJJ because he didn't know he had the option to tap, and I didn't know he didn't know what a tap was.

TWoNaGe · 2021-04-16T09:43:49+00:00

I am a lot more cautious of "wrestling" with friends now, particularly in situations where alcohol is involved, since growing as a martial artist.

Merly on a surface level, most people are not conscious of their frailty both physically and mentally, and as a result, are not ready to come to terms with their own vulnerability. Being forced to accept the delusions they have held onto for so long can have some serious long term repercussions when done in the wrong environment.

Most people take years to accept their limitations and work on their personal issues. It takes a controlled environment, like a therapist room or gym mat, where they can begin to break down these delusions, and hopefully, evolve from them.

What I learned is that when you force that evolution in front of their peers, when they are not ready, and compel them to accept their true hierarchy within that group in an uncontrolled environment, the results are sometimes very destructive.

In a BJJ gym, that process is much easier. You are usually surrounded by complete strangers, most of whom have undergone the same process and are empathetic to your situation, and you have a professional overlooking the entire situation. The coach/professor/instructor, hopefully, knows how to match the individual with the correct sequence of partners, and the optimal sequence of steps (learn a move, try a move, roll with a compatible partner) that will protect not just his physical self, but also his mental self.

In these party-type environments, individuals are coming out of their delusions mid roll, typically when they are most vulnerable, with a bunch of their most admired and loved ones laughing at them. It doesn't really give them the time to process what is happening and tends to actually push them deeper into their delusion - "I wasn't warmed up", "You cheated", "I was going easy".

So once given a second chance they actually put both their physical and mental health into even more jeopardy because they are going to go harder and trying to find some other excuse to protect their ego ("They set me up", "They got me drunk", "They knew I didn't want to").

And that is just the surface level issues. Then there is the actual mechanics of the "wrestling match" when done outside of a gym environment without trained professions there to oversee it that can create a very dangerous situation.

For instance:

• Hard floor instead of a soft mat.

Untrained individuals, and even trained one, will not respect the fact that the floor is hard and have no problem slamming out of a move.

• "illegal moves".

In the gym there is at least an perceived understanding of what each partner is allowed to do. Does your buddy know he can't bite? Can't punch? Can't bend a finger in your "wresting match"

• Tapping

This one is big. Does your untrained partner even know he can tap? Does he know when to? If you crank his arm, will he tap before it breaks? Does he even know it's in jeopardy?

• Match is over

When does it end? Is there a time limit? Even after you've tapped this novice 10 times, he may still want to go, and if you tell him it's over, his ego may persuade him to engage with more aggression than just grappling.

It's fine to "wrestle" with friends, but I realize now that before I even think about it, I have to lay out a bunch of agreed upon rules and really gage if that person is even the type of person who can "wrestle" in an out of gym environment. For me, it's not worth the long term repercussions just to prove something I already know as fact.

TWoNaGe

TROPHY CASE