# The grappling matches that I have online



## Kforcer (Feb 3, 2010)

These aren't all the matches I've had, but these are pretty much all the ones that I have video of:

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I try to affect a style similar to the sort employed by Japanese shoot-style professional wrestlers, both in professional wrestling and MMA. I don't know that I am the best at employing the style, but I like the idea of doing something that in competition that is fun, so that I have a good time, win or lose.


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## Jenny_in_Chico (Feb 3, 2010)

Good videos! Who are these guys? The guy in the grey rash guard in the first clip has an awesome shooting style...really fast and slippery. Is it the same guy in the first and 3rd clips?  

And it it a truism that everything in life can be improved with the addition of cowbell.


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## Kforcer (Feb 3, 2010)

Thanks! That's me in all three clips...

I didn't go for the normal sorts of rolling shots I usually try for against the guy in the 3rd clip...for some reason, I came out a little more tentative than usual. I guess because I respected his abilities. 

The guy in the white t-shirt in the first video, I came out for the rolling attack right away because his wrestling was very good and I was so intimidated I figured, "Do my best thing right of the bat and pray it works..." He also seemed to have a very strong positional game, which is not necessarily my strong point. For some reason, in both cases, I was intimidated and reacted to it in opposite ways.


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## Kforcer (Feb 3, 2010)

And the cowbell indeed makes everything better! I love classic metal, so when I saw that Youtube offered some selections of theirs for legal use, I was pretty pumped.


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## Jenny_in_Chico (Feb 3, 2010)

Hah, you look different in that second clip, I didn't recognize you! You're like an octopus in that first clip, dude. Good job! I have no grapplin' skillz (yet) so I admire people who can do it.


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## Kforcer (Feb 3, 2010)

Chronologically, the second clip was the oldest one...it was actually the second submission grappling tournament I went to, and, after reading the event flier, I wasn't exactly sure how I was supposed to dress...they had specific rules about the sorts of shorts you could wear, etc.

Oh, and I actually had hair.

On my end, I have no striking skills whatsoever, though I don't necessarily like to broadcast it...too loudly anyway...


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## Jenny_in_Chico (Feb 3, 2010)

Excellent news. If I ever feel threatened by you, I'll distract you with a cowbell and then knock your melon right off your shoulders.

It's always good to have a plan.


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## Kforcer (Feb 3, 2010)

LOL....that's why I don't like to broadcast it...


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## Steve (Feb 4, 2010)

Good stuff.  You attack the leg in some ways I haven't seen.  Very cool.  Some of those techniques would be illegal in all but the advanced no-gi divisions around these parts.  When you're doing your straight ankle lock, as soon as you bring your outside leg across, you'd be dq'd.  Straight ankle locks are legal in all divisions including beginner no-gi and white belt gi, but the way you do it isn't.

I'd love to be coordinated enough to shoot into a kneebar!   Thanks for showing those vids.


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## Kforcer (Feb 4, 2010)

stevebjj said:


> Good stuff.  You attack the leg in some ways I haven't seen.  Very cool.  Some of those techniques would be illegal in all but the advanced no-gi divisions around these parts.  When you're doing your straight ankle lock, as soon as you bring your outside leg across, you'd be dq'd.  Straight ankle locks are legal in all divisions including beginner no-gi and white belt gi, but the way you do it isn't.
> 
> I'd love to be coordinated enough to shoot into a kneebar!   Thanks for showing those vids.



Thank you!

Actually, I had that very experience in my first grappling tournament experience, at the Arnold Classic's no-gi grappling tournament. The notion of not being able to close my leg's around my opponent's in some fashion was totally radical to me at the time.

Its funny, due to fear of running into leglock regulation, I just decided to start off doing Advanced division--I'd be wrestling all my life anyway and had been training, informally or not, for long enough that it would've been sandbagging not to do it any how--but nowadays, they seem to be legal in almost all the no-gi divisions. In fact, I was neck-cranked a bit at my last tournament(I figure if neck-cranks are legal, everything practically must be).

I will say, looking back maturely, the regulations I ran into on leglocks actually are a good thing, in that it forces you to figure out how to make the lock work without X, Y and Z. For example, how to make a leglock work if you can't wrap your legs around your opponent's leg. You have to pinch your knees together and then get into a position where he's cut off from sitting up on you, such as belly down.


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## Kforcer (Feb 4, 2010)

BTW, I was always curious when I heard people talk about "straight" ankle locks.

I thought perhaps they were distinguishing between same-side, i.e., tucking the leg underneath the same-side armpit, or cross-body, i.e., tucking the leg underneath the armpit across the body.

Now, based on what you said, I'm thinking, it means, "straight" as in, an ankle lock that doesn't involve twisting....?


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## Carol (Feb 4, 2010)

Cool clips!  I don't know enough about grappling to offer much for constructive feedback, but I enjoyed watching them very much.


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## Steve (Feb 4, 2010)

Kforcer said:


> Thank you!
> 
> Actually, I had that very experience in my first grappling tournament experience, at the Arnold Classic's no-gi grappling tournament. The notion of not being able to close my leg's around my opponent's in some fashion was totally radical to me at the time.
> 
> ...


 Yeah, it's clear you've got some wrestling background and you're built like a friggin fireplug.  That can't hurt!  I'm very jealous of how smooth you are, particularly for someone as big as you.  

But regarding leglocks, bringing that leg over actually puts a lot of lateral pressure on the knee.  And you're exactly right, the lock can actually be looser if instead of blocking with a foot on the hip and squeezing the knees, you swing your leg over.  It depends, of course, but the point again is that as soon as you bring your knee over, it's no longer a straight ankle lock.  



> Now, based on what you said, I'm thinking, it means, "straight" as in, an ankle lock that doesn't involve twisting....?


Exactly.  Straight ankle lock is essentially an achilles lock.


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## Kforcer (Feb 4, 2010)

Thank you so much--it means a lot to hear someone say I look smooth, because those leglock entries are something that I've definitely spent a whole, whole lot of time drilling and also studying, through watching tons and tons of hours of Japanese shoot-style professional wrestling, technical professional wrestling, early Pancrase, Combat Wrestling, and basically the Japanese catch wrestling stuff I could find and all the instructional material I could afford on it...

Its a different approach than a lot of people advocate, so there were a lot of people who found the whole endeavor a little silly. So positive feedback really means the world to me!

Actually, when I wrestled, my lack of coordination was sort of a running joke amongst my teammates...lol...and my coaches as well.


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## Nolerama (Feb 4, 2010)

Good stuff. I like the knee bar/ankle lock entry at :50 of the first vid. Smooth!

Do you train anywhere or have training partners?


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## Kforcer (Feb 4, 2010)

Carol said:


> Cool clips!  I don't know enough about grappling to offer much for constructive feedback, but I enjoyed watching them very much.



Thanks Carol! That means a lot!


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## Kforcer (Feb 4, 2010)

Nolerama said:


> Good stuff. I like the knee bar/ankle lock entry at :50 of the first vid. Smooth!
> 
> Do you train anywhere or have training partners?



Thanks a lot! Right now, I train at this athletic club I work at, semi-secretly, because I'm not sure if I'm really supposed to be...

...but I'll grab some of the mats they have there and throw them in one of the back rooms and train with my older brother when the club is relatively empty. I've got a friend with wrestling mats in his basement, and I will train there as well, though we fell out of contact recently. They are both awesome training partners, though.


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## Jenny_in_Chico (Feb 4, 2010)

I just showed my sister (who hates MMA) your clips and she happily watched all three. She said "Now I find that fascinating...and there's no hitting!"


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## Nolerama (Feb 4, 2010)

Kforcer said:


> Thanks a lot! Right now, I train at this athletic club I work at, semi-secretly, because I'm not sure if I'm really supposed to be...
> 
> ...but I'll grab some of the mats they have there and throw them in one of the back rooms and train with my older brother when the club is relatively empty. I've got a friend with wrestling mats in his basement, and I will train there as well, though we fell out of contact recently. They are both awesome training partners, though.



Nice! Find training partners and invite them to roll! If you're near a university, there's bound to be a MMA/BJJ/Sub grappling club around. 

Good luck on your journey.


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## Kforcer (Feb 5, 2010)

Nolerama said:


> Nice! Find training partners and invite them to roll! If you're near a university, there's bound to be a MMA/BJJ/Sub grappling club around.
> 
> Good luck on your journey.



Once I can get back into contact with my friend who has mats in his basement--I don't have a cell phone at the moment--I'm going to try and get as many people together down there as possible! Noriaki Kiguchi, the founder of Combat Wrestling, started out in his basement, so I hope similar good fortune is in store for this particular basement!


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## Kforcer (Feb 5, 2010)

Jenny_in_Chico said:


> I just showed my sister (who hates MMA) your clips and she happily watched all three. She said "Now I find that fascinating...and there's no hitting!"



Wow! That's awesome to hear! I think a lot of people who don't necessarily like MMA could potentially enjoy submission-grappling...


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## Nolerama (Feb 5, 2010)

My training group started out as a few buddies. Now, we've got a ton of people with backgrounds in a variety of MAs. Just keep your growing gym  genuine, train alive, and focus on finding that happy medium between live training and your training partner's safety.


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## Kforcer (Feb 7, 2010)

This was one I put together just of my leglock entries, which is, no doubt, a bit silly. But I'm kind of a silly guy. I'm big into role-playing games and video games where you can make your own character, and I get that same sort of feeling doing this kind of thing. Somehow, putting myself behind music I like has this feeling of giving myself super-powers:

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"My training group started out as a few buddies. Now, we've got a ton of people with backgrounds in a variety of MAs. Just keep your growing gym genuine, train alive, and focus on finding that happy medium between live training and your training partner's safety."

That's really cool to hear. Sometimes, I feel like people have this...issue with people starting their own thing in the martial arts. Have you ever seen 'No Retreat, No Surrender'....? I honestly feel like it captures something real in the way the main character runs into a hard time for incorporating the fruits of independent study into his game.


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