mustache vs cancer » Steve's BJJ Blog

Update and Closeout of the Mustaches vs Cancer campaign

Dec 082009

First, I want to thank everyone who checked out my mustache website, and a special thank you to all of you who donated some of your hard earned cash to the pediatric department at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

The campaign as a whole earned just under $50,000, a considerable sum. I feel very good to have been a part of the campaign and had a great time growing my mustache for 8 weeks, even if I looked a little funny… well, funnier than normal.

My back is feeling better. Not good, but better. I’m still a little crooked, but am sleeping better now, waking up only once or twice a night instead of every hour. I was hoping to get back to class tomorrow, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think a more realistic goal will be Sunday. I miss it pretty bad and am really looking forward to getting back on the mats. I’d love to be in good enough shape to get through warmups and technique and maybe some very light rolling. We’ll see. I’m taking it slow for now.

Big thanks to everyone who’s gotten in touch with me over the last several days. It means a lot. The comments here, on Facebook, as well as the emails and phone calls really made me feel good. I can’t say enough about that. So, thanks to you all. You guys are awesome and I feel lucky to have you guys around.

Class updates and Mustaches Vs Cancer

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Nov 032009

At the Eric Estrada Stage.

I want to thank you guys again for your continued support during my Mustaches vs Cancer campaign on behalf of the pediatric department at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. So far, we’ve got $70 in and I can’t thank you enough for it. Overall, the Mustaches vs Cancer campaign has raised over $22,000 for the kids at MSKCC.

But we’re only halfway through the campaign. My stache is growing and I’d really like to at least double the number of contributions in the second half. They make it very easy to donate. You can use PayPal or just give them a call.

In jiu jitsu news, I’m looking forward to Saturday. I was 187 on the scale this morning. I’ve been so busy, this post was actually started on Friday and I’m only now getting back to it. Brown Belt Thad ran class that day and I picked up a couple of good tips that I don’t want to forget.

The first is a simple one. Just widening the knee out when you’re finishing the armbar from the top. It’s a basic thing that I feel like I should have known, but… well, there you go. I didn’t know it. When I’m finishing an armbar, I’m so focused on heels back, knees tight and all of that, I’d never thought about whether I was actually giving my opponent space to counter. So, when I’m moving to armbar from mount, I’m going to think about widening my outside knee out to pin his head and keep him from being able to turn in.

The other tip was one of those things where it completely shifts how you move. I’ve always been like an uncoordinated oaf when trying to transition to S Mount. It’s been pathetic. Thad told me to forget about the back leg and just concentrate on driving the front knee up and around so that it’s right behind my opponent’s head. Focusing on the lead knee made a huge difference in how I moved around. It felt a lot better, and the trailing leg seems to slide right into place, putting a lot of pressure on my opponent’s diaphragm.

Sunday class was led by Bobi, who showed us a couple of defensive takedowns from a blocked single leg. So, a person shoots for a single leg on me, my first step is to block him by framing the arm on the same side as the trapped leg to keep him from climbing that leg and getting the leverage he needs for his takedown. From there, depending on his grips, I would have two options.

The first, if he’s gripping in a way that I have space to take his arm, I would get a figure-four, kimura grip on the arm inside, take a little hop in to get my hips closer to his and then basically drop and do a backward roll while using the leverage from the kimura to take him with me. Keeping the grip, I should end up in either mount or a position to finish the kimura (depending upon how the roll goes). Bobi also shared a tip for finishing the kimura. Where someone has grabbed his belt or pant leg to defend, you can bring the same side knee up and then use that as a fulcrum, levering your own forearm up so that it easily breaks his grip (if that makes any sense at all.)

The second take down is, from the same shallow single leg position (remember, I framed up and kept him lower on my leg), I’ll work to get his head on the outside where I can either chinstrap or get a lapel grip. From here I’ll take a hop in so I can grab his leg behind the knee, or his gi pants at the knee if it’s gi. The take down is, in one motion, driving my trapped leg back while using my grips to take him down.

Sunday Class and Mustaches vs Cancer Update2

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Oct 122009

Class was great yesterday. I got lots of time rolling with Bill, which is scary. He thoroughly kicked my butt. But it was pretty fun. I also had a good roll with Dr. Sean, who was beating himself up a little. Sean went up to the Gracie Barra inter-club tune up and didn’t perform up to his exceedingly high personal standards. I wish I had a little more of Sean’s competitive spirit.

Was wiped out by the time I went a long round with Ethan, who’s guard is getting pretty scary. Then I finished up with a good 10 or 12 minutes with a white belt who’s crosstraining in Judo. Very cool, although I’m not sure quite what to make of him. He’s a very nice guy, never complains and doesn’t talk much. But he’s just so… passive. Sure, I understand that BJJ isn’t about strength, but there’s a certain amount of… what? Commitment? Something… aggression? I don’t know. Just haven’t quite figured him out yet.

Update 2

On the mustache front, I’m five days behind the rest of the pack, but it’s starting to come in. With my red facial hair, it’s going to be a good week or so before my magnificent mustache begins looking totally awesome.

But in the meantime, I want to thank those of you who have taken a few minutes to check out the Mustaches vs Cancer website, as well as the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Please consider making a donation. Paypal will show up right away on the site, but if you prefer, you can make a payment directly to the MSKCC. If you do send decide to go directly to the Cancer Center, please let them know that your donation is for Mustaches vs Cancer and you’re sponsoring Stevebjj.

Mustaches vs Cancer

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Oct 092009

At class tonight, Dr. Sean mentioned something called Mustaches vs Cancer, a 2 month mustache-a-thon in which donations are given to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

The idea is, I start clean shaven, which is something my coworkers can attest is a rarity for me. My poor skin is rebelling even as I type this blog post. Then, as I cultivate a magnificent mustache (no beards, no goatees… only 100%, 1970′s era goodness here, folks) I convince people to kick in a few dollars to help the good people at MSKCC in their work to research cures and treat cancer. In return for your kind hearted, charitable donation, I will continue to grow this mustache, posting regular pictures (at least weekly) and probably looking pretty damned silly in the process.

If you do consider donating, I’d appreciate it if you did so under my name (although, honestly, it’s for charity, so as long as you’re doing it, I’m cool). Now, if I do win, I get a custom made bobble head of myself with my awesome mustache. And lots of money goes to people who can use it.

Questions about the donations can be found here, including information about tax deductions and stuff like that. Other questions, and more information can be found here, and also by simply googling the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Cancer is a killer. It’s taken several lives and forever changed many more in my family. My MIL is a breast cancer survivor who was told that her cancer is “treatable but not curable,” whatever that means. I have several cousins who have died from cancer and several more who continue to battle it as it recurs. I know that most, if not all of you share similar stories. So, seriously, please consider a few dollars toward the cause, and if you get a laugh out of my pathetic mustachio, more’s the better. Maybe I’ll try to work out the handlebar mustache….