Lex DeVille's: One Thread For All My Genius, Unhinged, Mostly Really Bad Ideas

[Private Witt]

Best of luck on your relocation.

Will you have access to train the same combat arts in Missouri and is the competition on the same level, or better/worse?

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Best of luck on your relocation.

Will you have access to train the same combat arts in Missouri and is the competition on the same level, or better/worse?

I'll have better access actually. There's a good fight gym. The price to train is lower and they have a broader variety of classes, including nogi BJJ, and several MMA classes at different levels. They even have a family BJJ class, so my daughter and I can train together. The gym is an affiliate of Zak Cummings, UFC fighter out of Kansas City. They teach his striking system. In terms of competition, the gym has a BJJ tournament team, and they also have cage fighters.

There are BJJ tournaments and MMA fights locally as well as opportunities if I drive to Kansas City or St. Louis. Surrounding states like Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Illinois also have opportunites within driving distance.

In terms of training, MO is the better option, but it'll be hard to leave my gym. The brotherhood I've become part of and the friendships I've built through endless pain and progress will be tough to leave. On the flip side, I'll expand my training opportunities and make new friends, so it is what it is.

 

[Lex DeVille]

The Date
We officially set a date in early March for our return to MO. We've got about a month and a half to get ready. I'm in the process of selling my rental home in MO and plan to use the profits toward a home in Springfield where we're moving.

Rental Properties
One goal I intend to fulfill is purchasing more rental properties. MO is better for it due to housing being a lot more affordable. Over the past year, my first rental property generated around $7,000 in passive income in addition to covering the mortgage payments. Going forward, I intend to manage properties myself instead of handing them over to a management company. In time, I may build this out into my own management company.

BJJ Wins
I went to two classes yesterday. I'm starting to notice major improvements in a few key areas.

Breathing: My breathing improved significantly to the point that I barely break a sweat even during intense classes. During rolls, people comment on my energy. In the past, that would've meant I was being spazzy. I don't think that's what they mean now.

Movement: Movements under pressure have improved and I can sense when my opponent's weight shifts even a little. I use these shifts to escape their pressure or sweep them into a better position. For the first time since I started BJJ, I successfully landed sweeps on almost everyone I rolled with yesterday.

Improvised Attacks: I'm starting to notice opportunities for attacks I haven't drilled. For instance, last night, I threw a triangle on a heavy blue belt from closed guard. I couldn't wrap my legs around his big body, so I switched and attacked and armbar. He pulled his arm free, but I adjusted my legs and captured his other arm. Even though it wasn't one of my practiced armbars, I could feel the attack mechanics and knew how to finish. The result was one of my first legit tap outs on an experienced blue belt. Afterward, we reset and he choked the shit out of me lol.

 

[Timmy C]

So I will have finished my cycle of BPC-157 & TB-500 within a couple of days, now obviously this is anecdotal but I am convinced.

When I started I was suffering from the following:

Knee pain - (I have chondromalacia patella grade 2 and an MCL tear)
Lower back pain
Shoulder pain
Neck pain

The first week the only side effects i could report is feeling drowsy, so I started to take them at night and inject myself before bedtime. These side effects went away completely after another week however.

By the second week I cant say I noticed them doing anything at all and was doubting that they would work. Other side effects is some bruising at the injection site, but it was rare and didn't happen again after week 2.

By week 3 onwards I noticed a big difference, and my injuries progressively got better and I had noticeable measurable improvements.

So how is my body now?

I would say I am about 90% recovered at this point and to get all the way I might need a another 4 weeks of treatment, but I am not willing to fork out more money for them as they are quite cost prohibitive, and am comfortable letting my body do the rest of the healing on its own time.

My knee pain is gone completely.
My lower back pain is 80% gone
my shoulder pain still persists, but it has Osteoarthritis in the AC joint and I didn't expect the peptides to help with that anyway. (however I do have Pentosane Polysulfate Sodium coming for that in a few weeks )

My neck pain is also 90% gone.

Overall I would see it as a success, and I would recommend it to others if you are struggling with chronic issues that just wont budge no matter what you do, and if it just seems like you are spinning your wheels despite doing rehab.

 

[Bones81]

Sorry to see you leave Utah. My carpet cleaning and restoration business is up in Centerville, would have been cool to meet up sometime.

 

[Lex DeVille]

So I will have finished my cycle of BPC-157 & TB-500 within a couple of days, now obviously this is anecdotal but I am convinced.

When I started I was suffering from the following:

Knee pain - (I have chondromalacia patella grade 2 and an MCL tear)
Lower back pain
Shoulder pain
Neck pain

The first week the only side effects i could report is feeling drowsy, so I started to take them at night and inject myself before bedtime. These side effects went away completely after another week however.

By the second week I cant say I noticed them doing anything at all and was doubting that they would work. Other side effects is some bruising at the injection site, but it was rare and didn't happen again after week 2.

By week 3 onwards I noticed a big difference, and my injuries progressively got better and I had noticeable measurable improvements.

So how is my body now?

I would say I am about 90% recovered at this point and to get all the way I might need a another 4 weeks of treatment, but I am not willing to fork out more money for them as they are quite cost prohibitive, and am comfortable letting my body do the rest of the healing on its own time.

My knee pain is gone completely.
My lower back pain is 80% gone
my shoulder pain still persists, but it has Osteoarthritis in the AC joint and I didn't expect the peptides to help with that anyway. (however I do have Pentosane Polysulfate Sodium coming for that in a few weeks )

My neck pain is also 90% gone.

Overall I would see it as a success, and I would recommend it to others if you are struggling with chronic issues that just wont budge no matter what you do, and if it just seems like you are spinning your wheels despite doing rehab.

Really good to see this report.

I wonder if there are benefits to continued use after the pain is gone and your body feels healed.

I've been fortunate to not have injuries recently. The worst things were a couple of self-inflicted rolled ankles from improper foot position for triangles.

The next time I get a more serious injury, I'll give pick some up and give it a try.

Thanks for sharing your experience on this!

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Coach Says...
When I talked to him about my first tournament, he said, "It's good to lose." For my second tournament, he said "the Kimura will serve you well" and "each tournament is good experience." When I talked to him Thursday about the February tournament, he said, "you can win."

BJJ Wins
After focusing on sweeps and back escapes for the last several weeks, I'm catching sweeps on people regularly. A black belt helped tighten up my hip bump sweep the other day and I used it on several people to go from closed guard to mount. The one time it didn't work, I transitioned into Kimura grip. When someone takes my back, I have no problem escaping and getting to a more dominant position. It is really hard for people to rear naked choke me now.

I'm also less reliant on the Kimura. I'm catching more armbars, especially from transitions. I'm catching north-south kimuras then switching to armbars, and also catching armbars from triangles when I don't have the triangle locked in all the way. Less experienced blue belts are starting to have serious trouble with me.

Except for Saturdays, I'm mostly rolling Gi, even against nogi opponents. I've spent a lot of time in Gi to learn to break grips and where I can grab when I'm in the Gi. Still don't like it, but I hate it less than before. I've learned a few Gi chokes, but I mostly use cross collar attacks as a distraction so I can attack body locks.

Business
I still want to start a business that involves fighting. I'm considering something similar to Combat Corner, but with a local spin kind of like Duluth Trading Co. So...high-quality fight gear, equipment, and apparel wrapped up in a Midwestern town fight brand.

Home Gym
Planning some serious upgrades to my home gym after relocation. Those will start with thick roll-out matts for BJJ training, reflex and speed bags, and probably some sort of wooden indoor cage to hang my heavy bag from instead of the stand it uses now. I'd like my new home gym to be appealing for training partners when they come over.

Training Hours
By tomorrow, I'll reach 150 hours of total training time, with 90 hours of BJJ. Pretty cool milestones. I completed 127 hours in 2024, so my average monthly training time is up quite a lot for January. This month, I should reach 36 - 40 hours total for the month.

 

[AceVentures]

Business
I still want to start a business that involves fighting. I'm considering something similar to Combat Corner, but with a local spin kind of like Duluth Trading Co. So...high-quality fight gear, equipment, and apparel wrapped up in a Midwestern town fight brand.

This sounds like a fun project. I think this approach to extending your interest in fighting is way more creative and fruitful than trying to make money with fighting directly.

Home Gym
Planning some serious upgrades to my home gym after relocation. Those will start with thick roll-out matts for BJJ training, reflex and speed bags, and probably some sort of wooden indoor cage to hang my heavy bag from instead of the stand it uses now. I'd like my new home gym to be appealing for training partners when they come over.

I have these 10x10 dollamur wrestling mats that I would recommend. They have other configurations/sizes and the material is top notch.

You can also readily hang gymnastics rings from ceiling joists. Another cheap and accessible home gym upgrade.

I've been building out my own studio in the garage for a little over a year now and it's been so much fun. Hope you enjoy the process too.

 

[Lex DeVille]

This sounds like a fun project. I think this approach to extending your interest in fighting is way more creative and fruitful than trying to make money with fighting directly.



I have these 10x10 dollamur wrestling mats that I would recommend. They have other configurations/sizes and the material is top notch.

You can also readily hang gymnastics rings from ceiling joists. Another cheap and accessible home gym upgrade.

I've been building out my own studio in the garage for a little over a year now and it's been so much fun. Hope you enjoy the process too.

That's the kind of mats I want. At least an inch thick. The ones I use now are maybe a 1/4 inch, and I think they fill an 8x8 space. Better than nothing, but leaves my body kinda sore after drilling on them, and they're the puzzle style so they come apart depending on the moves I work. Definitely not good for take downs or anything that involves going from standing to rolling over a shoulder.

 

[Private Witt]

Coach Says...

Maybe he will make this command at the next tournament for sure victory.

 

[Timmy C]

Really good to see this report.

I wonder if there are benefits to continued use after the pain is gone and your body feels healed.

Yeh I was happy with it, as it got pretty dark for me for a while prior to deciding to take them.

Yeh, I am not sure if it will provide more benefits, but as it's still in the research phase, i don't really see the need to take it long term as it's still experimental. But in saying that I think it's fairly safe, it's just strings of amino acids.

The next time I get a more serious injury, I'll give pick some up and give it a try.

Thanks for sharing your experience on this!

Yeh give it a try, everyone says it helps.

Not a problem man.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Fight Business
Looking more into this. I see ways to enter the market and have a creative spin for the brand. The longer I train, the more I compete, and the more I establish in the community, the more viable this becomes. In my head, the brand has a core line of fight products in old school styles that center around the fantasy of a old midwestern gym.



A company already sells this style of fight gear, and they charge a higher price, but they also make vintage-style products for many sports. Not only does their site come across as being for hoity-toity wannabes, there's a good chance their products are just imports with a brand name slapped on them. I doubt we'll see them sponsoring fights anytime soon.



A quick search of their brand returned mixed reviews about their products from reddit. The first person here says the quality of their golf gloves was trash. The second person liked their heavy bag. But it's hard to know how it held up over the last 4 years. Plus, who knows if they were an actual fighter who put serious mileage on the bag. Either way, I would aim for consistent quality across my products.



I'm not against imported items. The more I participate in combat sports, the more I see little flaws in my gear that can be improved on with minor adjustments to things like stitching or reinforced material or whatever. For instance, a thin layer of material on cheap shinguards that's replaced by thick padding at the ankles on quality shinguards is worth the $80 difference alone.

Once a core line is established, then the brand could expand into other products and styles (like t-shirts, rash guards, etc.) that would carry the general vibe. Eventually, I could sponsor fighters, events, all kinds of shit. Ultimately, the brand should rival Combat CRNR in price and quality, and become a staple of status for combat sports veterans, and newbies should aspire to purchase our gear.

 

[Lex DeVille]

An Important Day in My Journey as a Fighter
It's been six months since I started training. I paid in advance so I'd give it a real go. At the beginning of month six, something changed. My kickboxing and jit-jitsu improved a lot. I think if me from six months ago fought me today, he would get absolutely destroyed.

Over the past few weeks, others reinforced my beliefs. First it was coach saying I can win BJJ tournaments. Then cage fighters commented on my head and foot movements in sparring. A few days ago, I overhead coach tell a fighter I'm gonna be a "beast" at jiu-jitsu. Then today, I sparred with a fighter who said the same thing. "Once you make these improvements, you're going to be an absolute beast in the cage."

So six months passed, and today I reflected on my journey. I went from knowing nothing about fighting to medaling in tournaments and throwing hands and rolling with pro cage fighters, kickboxers, jiu-jitsu fighters, and even bare knuckle fighters. My last spar in kickboxing this morning was against a former NFL Tight End / Half Back for the Miami Dolphins and heavy weight Bellator / Bare Knuckle fighter.

After class, I sat in my car with the music up, thinking about the journey and how wild its been. For six months, when people asked me if I wanted to fight in the cage, I replied with, "I like to think I would" or "I'm training as if I might someday." But in that car, in that moment...it just clicked and the answer changed...

I am going to become a professional cage fighter.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Fighter Ears
Check it out, I have cauliflower ear! This is before I started fighting and a pic taken this morning.

Side note: the hair isn't from fighting. That's all natural. 😀

 

[Andy Black]

Fighter Ears
Check it out, I have cauliflower ear! This is before I started fighting and a pic taken this morning.

Side note: the hair isn't from fighting. That's all natural. 😀

View attachment 62901

Hold on... which is the cauliflower ear?

 

[Lex DeVille]

Hold on... which is the cauliflower ear?

The one on the right. Fighting is making me prettier lol (until the cartilage reforms all weird).

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Friday Night MMA
Last night's class was tough. I came home a bloody mess. When I looked in the mirror, I didn't see myself, but a fighter staring back.



If there's one thing that's changed since I started, it's that fighting added a deep sense of purpose that was missing before.

Oh and my left ear is really jacked after taking small glove punches last night. Those hurt bad. I may have to let the doc drain the blood to reduce the swelling and pain.

 

[Private Witt]

Friday Night MMA
Last night's class was tough. I came home a bloody mess. When I looked in the mirror, I didn't see myself, but a fighter staring back.

View attachment 62944

If there's one thing that's changed since I started, it's that fighting added a deep sense of purpose that was missing before.

Oh and my left ear is really jacked after taking small glove punches last night. Those hurt bad. I may have to let the doc drain the blood to reduce the swelling and pain.

This thread becomes more gold by the post.

Yes, putting self at physical risk, but the taking of serious action, stretching to the limit, exposing business ideas, molding into peak physical condition at mid 30s, turning kid and self into complete badasses, making life long friendships with people with similar interests, future cage fighting champion, inpiring others and so much more.

 

[Lex DeVille]

19 Days
The countdown to the next tournament is on. With the exception of a minor lower back strain, I feel more ready than ever. I've got escapes, sweeps, and a solid foundation of submission options from every position.

Back Takes
Over the last week, I started to notice opportunities to take backs. From bottom side-control, I used the spinning Kimura back-take to go from underneath into a rear-naked choke that got the tap. Another opponent was in my closed guard and I took the underhook, shrimped out, and took his back. From the knees, I grabbed a third opponent's wrist and elbow for an arm drag back take.

A Lot of Rolls
Over the past two weeks, I've done 60 - 70 rolls. Most were 5-minutes, but some were 3-minutes. These provided many chances to test ideas, escapes, attacks, sweeps, etc. and I discovered a lot of what works, and also a lot of what takes me from getting tapped in one position to getting tapped by something else.

Darce Choke
This is my primary submission of focus this month. I love this choke because it's really versatile. For instance, I've been in bottom side-control, spun out from underneath and straight into the Darce for the tap. Currently, I'm working on catching the Darce after someone takes my back. I love that my opponents think they've got me because they're in back mount, but suddenly, they're fighting for their own survival.

Kimura to Armbar
Usually, nobody attacks Kimuras on me, but eventually it'll happen. If someone attacks it on me from side-control, I just sort of lift up, turn, and drop into an armbar with it. TBH, I'm surprised nobody has done this to me.

Partner Got Injured
One of the worst things that can happen in jiu-jitsu happened Saturday. We were shark tanking side-control and we didn't have many people. I got paired up with a girl 3 times. She was like 100 - 120lbs. I did my best to avoid using strength, and to keep weight off her, and focused on using technique to control her. Her movements were good, and she swept me a couple of times.

We had no problems until our third pair up. I started on bottom. She went from side-control to mount as soon as we started. From mount, she grabbed my arm and thrust it to the floor attacking a submission. That's when I grabbed her arm, caught her leg, and bridged her over. She did sort of a forward roll, and about halfway through it, I heard a squeal and saw pain in her eyes. I pulled away immediately. I'm not sure what the injury was. Maybe I had too much weight forward, or maybe she just landed on her neck weird. Either way, I felt F*cking terrible and I hope she heals fast.

Going forward, I'm not sure what the answer is for rolling with smaller people. Do I just say "no"? If I roll with them, they risk being injured even if I'm careful, and if I don't, then I feel like a dick for singling them out based on their size. It's conflicting because each person has a choice. It's as much my choice to roll as it is theirs. I roll with people who are 75 - 100lbs or more heavier than me and I'm aware of the risks because I got injured by rolling with a heavier guy early on, yet I still do it all the time. But injuring a partner sucks bad.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Injured Partner is Okay
She came to class yesterday and her neck was fine. Seems like it was just a freak accident. We even shark tanked a round together and all is well again.

Back Strain
The pain in my lower back kicked up a notch throughout the week, but it's subsiding now. I went to BJJ Tues morning and to both classes Thursday. For some reason, my back felt better during and after BJJ.

Cauliflower Ear
I think I'm gonna drain my ears. They're really painful to the touch, and people smash them a lot in BJJ.

Almost Went to Sleep
I rolled with a Brown Belt yesterday and he choked me out so hard that when I tapped, the room was spinning, and everyone's voices echoed around me for like 30 seconds. That's the closest I've come to going to sleep.

Tournament
We're closing in on the 22nd. I'm really excited for this one and can't wait for the opportunity to level up again. I'm going into the adult under 170lbs division (so 18 - 29 year olds mostly). If I do Gi and NoGI, I'll have a lot of rolls. Normally, I just do NoGi, but my Gi game is good enough to survive and win.

Tournament Prep
My submission transitions are good. I have more sweeps than ever. I'm landing tapouts, even on blue belts and cage fighters. I almost always survive rolls with white belts, even if I don't finish a submission in a round. Some white belts from the morning class started coming to the night class because they think it's my secret to fast improvement, but it's only one small piece.

Locking in the Darce
Last night I was dead tired in class. A white belt took my back. I escaped his choking arm, grabbed his neck while he was still mounted to my back, and locked up a Darce choke for the tap. The Darce and Darce to Guillotine transition have become a real asset to my game. I've finished people with both of these attacks this week.

Going Forward
My biggest concern for the tournament is energy management. I need to continue to work on my breathing so I don't gas out with so many rolls. Beyond that, I have 15 days to drill my primary attack transitions and sweeps, takedown counters, and submission counters (e.g. Von Flu, turning their Kimura into my Armbar, etc.).

 

[Lex DeVille]

Cauliflower Ear Draining...
Nogi class was good this morning, but like every BJJ class lately, my ears got smashed, squished, smacked, etc. and they were painful by the end of class because of the cauliflower ear. It makes the ears so sensitive I can't sleep on them.

So today I decided to drain the fluid. I started with a 20g needle on a 3ml syringe. It worked for my right ear, but not for my left. So I used an 18g on the left. I should've went with the 18g from the start because it was less painful and worked way better, especially considering how hardened the left ear had become.

It took a full syringe for each ear to get all of the fluid out.

Spoiler: Caution: Graphic images involving blood and needles. You have been warned.

The draining instantly took my ears from being puffed out, disfigured freakshows, back to a much more normal shape and size.



I ordered some of these ear magnets from Amazon to keep my ears compressed over the next few days. These are neat from an entrepreneurial perspective since they solve a very specific problem for a lot of people.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Ear Magnets
Monday, I reluctantly went to KB class. I was gonna take the day off to let my ears heal, but it's is usually just speed drills and pad work. Well guess what...not this Monday. We sparred close quarters and my ears got pounded...ugh. By the end of class, they were swole up and sore again. The magnets arrived later. I re-drained my ears, and put the magnets on. I'm supposed to wear them for 24 - 72 hours.



Darce From Everywhere
I'm preparing Darce attacks the same way I prepared Kimura attacks for the Dec. tourny. I won half my matches (1 of 2) with Kimura. I can Darce from almost any position now, even from standing, so my focus for the next few days will be to work Darce escapes, and transitions between Darce, Anaconda, and Guillotine to tighten things up. Secondary, will be a focus on breathing and not gassing out.

Tourny Opponents
My divisions have a lot of participants - 7 in Gi and 9 in NoGi. It's supposed to be Round Robin, but I think due to the number of people it will be double elimination until the finals, then it will be single elimination.

Mom Doesn't Like Fighting
Showed mom the ear magnets yesterday. She said it's a sign I need to stop fighting, and commented that "you have a child to raise." I laughed it off, but then she followed up with "Really." I was annoyed by the suggestion that combat sports = bad parenting. My kid is way ahead of where she's supposed to be for her age. She's smart, fit, well-behaved, disciplined, can read, write, and do math, has experience surviving and overcoming discomfort, has friends, goals, is outgoing...and she knows how to fight.

Meanwhile, I got a picture of their new television... 86" of screen. Congratufuckinglations.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Ear Problems...
Started magnets on the 11th, but they hurt so bad I wasn't consistent. By the 13th, I thought my ears healed. Then I went to night class and nearly got an ear ripped off. So I drained them again. I used big magnets on and off between Fri and Sun, then switched to small magnets, and slept without them. By Tues, my ears were full again... So I drained them and put magnets on. I skipped training this week to let my ears heal, and put gauze pads between the magnets to relieve the pressure so I could sleep. Hopefully they heal by Sat.

Tournament Updates
The tournament is Sat. I bumped up to the -185lb weight class instead of -170. My weight hovered at 175 last week. This week was my birthday, so 170 was a stretch. Currently, I have 3 opponents for Gi and 4 for NoGi. No medals by default this time.

Rolling Comments
Last week I rolled with a blue belt who said I have attacks from everywhere and it forced him to play defense. A purple belt commented similar and said I'm on the verge of a major breakthrough in my BJJ (he still destroyed me in rolls tho lol).

Tournament Strategy
My strategy is largely offensive/counter-offensive. For standup, I plan to counter attack. On the ground, I'll defend/escape/counter bad positions, then start a series of transitional attacks to overwhelm them until they run out of defense memory. My goal is 100% submissions.

Future Tournaments
Instead of learning more submissions, I need to tighten up attacks, and work on countering opponents' counters to stay multiple steps ahead of them all the time. That's my focus going forward.

Measure of Progress
I haven't been tapped out by a white belt in over a month, but I regularly land submissions on white belts, and every once in a while on blue belts and cage fighters.

Relocation
Less than two weeks until the big move. I got an extra dose of testosterone when I replaced tires, changed oil and fluids, and installed a hitch receiver and trailer wiring on my car. As of this morning, we're officially travel ready. Hopefully, the weather cooperates.

 

[EngineerThis]

combat sports = bad parenting. My kid is way ahead of where she's supposed to be for her age. She's smart, fit, well-behaved, disciplined, can read, write, and do math, has experience surviving and overcoming discomfort, has friends, goals, is outgoing...and she knows how to fight.

I love how normalized it is to think that a Dad is living his peak life drinking beer, watching football, and hiding from his wife and kids in his "man cave".. As opposed to being mentally and physically disciplined, demonstrating for your kids that they can do anything and excel if they apply themselves, and most importantly having your kids KNOW that their Dad CAN and WILL protect them from danger. My parents are the same way lol, and I also have a baby daughter (Who will learn to kickass just like daddy).

 

[Lex DeVille]

Pre-Tournament Drills
The numbers are in. I'll have at least 8 matches today. My kid will have 6. I ate well yesterday and rested. In the evening, I drilled with kiddo to lock in some of her techniques.

She has 4 main attacks - the Americana, Kimura, Armbar, and Rear Naked Choke. Her Armbar and RNC are her best attacks, but her Americana is good too. We also drilled transitions from the Americana to Armbar when they defend the Americana.

She has trouble with Kimura from top side-control, but she's good at it from standup, closed guard, and north-south. She showed muscle memory of the figure-4 lock last night when she intuitively grabbed it to secure an armbar on me.

Her RNC is really good. She choked me to the point of coughing and tapping.

We've drilled a lot of escapes. Side-control and mount, armbar escapes, and defending the RNC. She lost her last two matches by RNC and armbar, but we barely drilled escapes last time, and we didn't drill RNC defense at all.

As of now, I don't think kids her age can submit her with the RNC. She's very good at defending it. She's also really good at escaping armbars. Those are the go-to attacks for kids her age, so unless a kid dominates on points, I expect she has an excellent chance to get some wins today.



Belt Promotion
My kid's BJJ game has radically transformed over the last two months. She's gone from getting mounted and sat on until she broke down in tears, to dominating everyone she rolls with (girls and boys) in the gym, including the girl who sat on her before.

Thursday night, she rolled with her coach. I could see how pleased he was with her progress. Later that night, he told me he's giving her a belt promotion next Thursday!! I'm so excited and proud of her!!

Gordon Ryan and Kade Ruotolo Matches
Started watching ADCC matches. From Gordon Ryan, I took away ideas about pacing. He never looks fatigued, and I think it's that he only moves explosively when the time is just right. The rest of the time he's slow and calculated. I haven't watched much of Kade's matches, but I picked up a half-guard escape using an overhook. It transitions to an Anaconda or Guillotine. I worked it into my mount escape game yesterday, so if I get mounted, I can escape to half-guard, then use half-guard to secure a submission.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Tournament Day
This was a tough one for both myself and my daughter.

Kid's Matches
She had 4 matches with a single opponent. He was a lot bigger than her. She did really well handling herself and him, but kept getting caught in armbars. We've drilled armbar escapes a lot. The problem was the ref ended the match as soon as the kid fell backward with the arm and didn't give her a chance to attempt an escape, even though she didn't tap in any of the matches. Her opponent attempted an RNC in one match, but she defended, escaped, and took dominant position on him.

Even though she lost her matches, she scored points, and still had a lot of fun. She got two silver medals. A lot of people we didn't know told her how impressed they were with how she did against a boy his size, so that was really cool.



Lex's Matches
A lot of things went right in my matches, but a few things went really wrong, and those few things ended with me losing. Some of those things were out of my control, so it is what it is.

Match 1

My first match was NoGi and while I was on the mat, I was called over the intercom for my Gi match... That's shitty planning by the organization. So on top of the match pressure, I was concerned about losing my other match by forfeit because they had them double booked.

In the first match, the guy was huge. He made me look like a dwarf. I expected he was a wrestler. What I didn't expect was for him to pull guard. He pulled me straight into a triangle which happens to be my single worst position to escape.

In reviewing the video, I realized I should've drove him out of the mat so the ref would've stood us up and recentered us in the middle. That would've been a close call, but not an instant loss.

Match 2 (Video coming later)
As soon as match 1 ended, I had to put my gi on, walk across the room, and straight out onto the mat for my first Gi match...no break in between for recovery. My opponent was fresh, so I started at a major disadvantage. I survived a lot longer in this match. I escaped at least one armbar, and I think I got a couple of sweeps, but I don't really remember. What I can tell you is that it ended with me getting caught in another triangle.

Match 3

This match was one of my best and showcases some of what I've been training. I escaped bad positions, blocked his mount, escaped an armbar, passed his guard, went to Kesa, attacked an Americana submission under my leg. The submission failed because I didn't notice that his arm wasn't bent when I put it under my leg. When I realized what happened, I switched and went for a Bas Rutten crunch. Unfortunately, he felt the momentum of my reach and used it to sweep me. After that, I ended up back on bottom, working from side-control to half guard. From half-guard I used a butterfly hook to sweep him. That tied us up on points. As soon as I swept him, I drove forward to take the dominant position, but he spun around on his back, and I charged straight into...a triangle.

Match 4 (Video coming later)
Again, no break in between because they were already calling my name while I was in match 3. So I put my Gi back on and went over for my next match. By this point, I was really pissed off about all these triangles, so as I walked across the room, I Googled "how to escape a triangle" and skimmed a quick article.

In this final match (which I didn't know was my last match at the time), I attempted a Kimura lock from standing. My opponent broke out of it and dropped straight down into mount. He scooted forward and started setting up a collar choke. I defended the choke and tried to escape out between his legs, but it didn't work. So I trapped his arm and leg and bridged him for the sweep.

At one point he took my back and tried a rear naked choke, but I defended and escaped into a more dominant position. But then he locked me in closed guard and pulled me into...a triangle. I thought it was all over, but, with a briefly skimmed blog article fresh in my mind, I countered his triangle and managed to escape it! Unfortunately, I somehow ended up back in another triangle, and lost the match a few seconds later.

The tourny organization is supposed to provide video. I hope they do because I don't remember most of this match. It was a blur. What I can tell you is that it ended with...a triangle.

In the end...
I lost all of my matches by triangle. That was disappointing, but it reinforced what I already knew, that I need to work triangle escapes. On a bright note, the reason I got triangled was because I was getting to top position. This is something I've rarely done in my previous matches. With the exception of the triangle, everything else I've trained worked well. All of my defenses and escapes worked. Nobody could RNC me. Nobody could armbar me. I caught several sweeps, scored points, attacked submissions. I did the best I could with what I had and took away some valuable experiences for future matches.

 

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[Simon Angel]

That's a total win. You know exactly where to improve now and the gains will be exponential.

 

[piano]

Alright, @Lex DeVille ...

So, this sport is just about grabbing dudes and rolling around, huh?

I was kinda hoping there’d come a part where, you know, some women also get involved... guess I’ll just stick to piano then

edit: Rereading this comment, I realised it sounds like I'm making fun of your sport, I'm not. It's pretty cool. This joke just sounded funny in my head

 

[Lex DeVille]

That's a total win. You know exactly where to improve now and the gains will be exponential.

Yes, I'd describe that as the result of each tournament. It's the main reason I love them. It doesn't matter if I lose every match. What I gain is insight that leads to massive growth.

In the gym, some guys question why they don't see the progress I see. At first, they commented about my speed/strength/flexibility/energy when they'd get submitted. Then they showed up to more classes and comment about "consistency" as the key.

Tournaments aren't the "ONE SECRET," but they offer a boost for those who suffer through reviewing their losses, breaking them down failure by failure to learn what to fix.

The other part comes from the environment. Until you feel the pressure and intensity of rolling with those who seriously want to win, you can't really know what it's like, and it makes regular gym rolls feel like a pillow fight. Pressure testing is one of my favorite ways to improve at stuff.

I try to motivate gym mates to do a tournament so they can experience the difference. Even if they do it once, it's worth it. Still, nobody signs up but kids. I think adults are too afraid of failure.

I liked this coach's hoodie the other day. It revealed the truth about tournaments that only BJJ competitors realize.

So, this sport is just about grabbing dudes and rolling around, huh?

I'd say that describes the sport of wrestling moreso than jiu-jitsu. In jiu-jitsu, it's that, plus trying to break bones and choke people unconscious. But yes, it's mostly cuddling with sweaty dudes lol.

I was kinda hoping there’d come a part where, you know, some women also get involved... guess I’ll just stick to piano then

There are plenty of women. I don't roll with them often because it's not fair due to the size and strength difference. In our night class, they end up rolling with smaller guys because coach splits us into groups - those who weigh less than 145lbs and those who weigh more.

 

[Private Witt]

There are plenty of women. In our night class, they end up rolling with smaller guys.

No wonder this lil guy loves to go to combat class.