Settling dust..

It's been a week since Rodney was at the gym and his departure marks the last seminar event I will be hosting until next year.

What have I learned since our last contact?
The Monkey Jits is one aspect that I'm very interested in. As you can see in the Monkey Jits logo, my game is like the picture. The basic framework is there but there are lots of bits missing that would otherwise form a more complete picture. At the moment I'm still slowly digesting the chunks of information that I've gleaned over the years and it's exactly this stuff, the stuff of learning and growth, that keeps me motivated and pushes me to improve.

The Jits game is closely related to the ground game where strikes are employed and I enjoy the technicalities of this due to it's relative simplicity as much as the complexities of a straight-forwards submissions-only ground game.


On the CMD front, the vastness and depth of the stand-up game is constantly being refined to a point where there is no stasis. Things are always moving forwards as changes are initiated and techniques, strategies are improved on.

Sparring with Yuri CMD Advanced Trainer (Indonesia)

Enveloping the functional skills is the philosophy, the internal voice of reason that gives cause to the dedication and determination of the "why", nicely complementing the "how" of the CMD.

I have lots of things to work on personally, as well as for the group classes and this keeps things very interesting and fun to do.

For a while though it wasn't fun. There were simply too many things to work on, to learn, mistakes to overcome and to relearn new, and more effective habits. I was thinking the other day that we never really "break" old habits, just replace them with new ones. The old ones are still there, lurking in the depths of your mind, waiting for the next opportunity to re-appear and the constant struggle in knowing that we don't have to be dependent on them anymore, keeps training fresh and exciting. Having spent more time boxing, training Monkey Jits and teaching the same has definitely helped me to grow as a person, athlete and instructor/teacher.

Of course, the scope of my responsibilities span beyond the confines of the mats. I am also a mentor to some CMD Trainers, sharing my version of "the Journey" to provide a dollop of remedy here and there. Acting as a sounding board has it's merits and downsides too but I enjoy it all.

My responsibility also includes shaking up the dust lest it settles too quickly. Things are and always in change. I have to lead the way to show people how to embrace the change rather than to turn away in fear. It is a fearful thing, change, as much uncertainty that it brings it also carries with it opportunities.

The dust is like the bits of information that floats about your mind in a random, chaotic manner. There are no filing cabinets in your mind! The information floats about, some falling, some rising while other bits seem to hang in the air, defying gravity, all of it instantly responding to the slightest disturbance. The dust that finally settles to the ground can be trampled on, but with each step, other particles are stirred up and re-energized like memories carried in a box of old photographs. I love that!

Shake up the dust!