I've spent the last couple of nights railing Ari. He's on an unreal winning streak and I don't expect it to subside anytime soon. The constant pressure, professionalism, outright aggression, and finesse is at the highest levels I've seen. Ari's off to Atlantic City the next couple of nights to play in a deep stacked $1,500 event.
On the student front...a student of mine chopped a $500 tournament at The Bellagio this week. We're all gearing up for the Dream Team Poker Tournament being held at Caesar's Palace starting at the end of this month. I'll be spending Passover in Texas with my family the first week of April...alongside traveling for another 12 days between Miami and New York (Brooklyn...Flatbush...11210!) where my mtt roots originally were spawned.
I'm going to continue playing mtt's on Lock Poker throughout the month. I recently won my first mtt on the site, a $10 multi with 85 entrants. Started out heads up with a 3 to 1 ish deficit and went on to ground and pound out the win. I really believe Lock Poker and the Cake Network have the easiest fields to beat compared with the other sites as a whole.
I'll be keeping everyone updated as to my plans and travels. Wishing you all well.
An interesting article about fighting paralleling well with the game of Poker, from the pages of the March 2009 edition of Inside Kung Fu, titled, More Than Meets The Eye:
A friend who is taking jiu-jitsu asked me why it's not coming as easily to him as he expected. He was surprised that he still felt stuck in a position during his Gracie Combatives course. It felt like there was no way out. He wanted to know what he was missing; why couldn't he see the easy escape? I explained that it boils down to flying time. Being in that position enough times and experiencing that first-hand will allow you to be more sensitive with it, and then little by little before you know it, you see the opening, it is like playing chess; the more you play, the better you can read the adversary's mind.
Over the years we've come across a lot of people with the attitude that they can use strength to power out of some of these moves. Although some people are so strong that they may be able to muscle their way out of some positions, we can not forget that the only reliable techniques are the ones that work without strength, because you could be the weaker of the two. Practice the correct techniques and they will work for you. Which is why, from the garage days until today, I still have a business where the weak become strong - the moves work.
In time, as you gain experience, unless it's a locked-up finishing move, you should be able to figure out how to get out of any position. It may even require for you to just wait, especially if the opponent is holding too tight, because then chances are he can't do much, either. That is why it is important to focus on the relaxation aspect, so that you can "see" better without the stress of having to fight to survive. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is so logical that if you have a problem and you work aat it, over and over, believe me you will develop the knowledge that will help solve the problem.You having a hard time is directly related to you not having enough experience to improvise.
Many years ago, a student said to my father, " Master Helio, I want to have private lessons with you." My father asked, "Why"? "Because I roll with your sons and although they are only 14, 15, and 17 years old, they always do well against me. And I want you to train me so that I could beat those kids." And my father said to the student, "I'll be glad to teach you some classes and some techniques, but if I show you how to pass their guard today, if you try it again tonight, you probably will not succeed." Intrigued, he asked, "Why not?" "Because in spite of their young age, they have enough hardwired input in their brains that they can improvise faster than you."
When I first started teaching ju-jitsu here in America in my garage, I had to convince a lot of other martial arts students and instructors by letting them put boxing gloves on and trying to hit me. They'd throw a punch and then, in a very friendly manner, I'd embrace the guy and take him to the ground. I'd do it again...a couple more times, and pretty soon they'd sa, "What the heck..." My opponent wouldn't know exactly what was going on but he saw the result. He couldn't touch me and I knew it was frustrating. What was I doing? Basically nothing. But I know the right time to get in, the right way to hook the leg, the right way to hold him down, how to stay mounted, when to squeeze my knees, when to spread my hands, and loosen up the hands, when to put the hand on the collar, how deep; there's all these little body movements that a person doesn't see. You don't see it, but it's there. There's much more than meets the eye.
Rorion Gracie