For the first loud mapper post I guess it is best to give some background information on myself and what this blog will focus on. My name is Spencer and I’m 27 years old. I live in Vancouver BC, Canada and recently got my first job in the IT/software development industry. As I navigate through the IT industry, I will post as I learn new concepts and tools that help me do my job. Hopefully this will benefit any aspiring technology professionals as well as allow me to better articulate the technical intricacies that are involved in the world of information technology.
Somewhat related to this, and perhaps more importantly, is HOW I got my job. I never intended to end up in this industry. In fact, for the longest time I wanted to join a police force. For various reasons, that didn’t work out. Towards the end of my Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Geography at SFU, I realized that if I didn’t get some technical, hands on experience in SOMETHING, I wouldn’t have too many career options available to me and funds were quickly running out. I bit the bullet, took out another student loan, and signed up for 9 more months of school by enrolling in the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Advanced Diploma at BCIT. Unfortunately, after completing my schooling, I still felt strongly that I didn’t have the necessary technical skills to succeed in the workforce. I had a good grasp on terminology and some specific pieces of software, but more technical skills like coding and any in depth analysis were still a struggle to comprehend. Perhaps this was as all in my head more than anything else. Ever since high school I struggled with math and avoided any logical problem solving courses like the plague. As coding requires some problem solving skills to be thoroughly adept at it, I always felt like I didn’t have what it took to make a career out of it, despite enjoying it and being fascinated by it. Luckily, I pursued coding by accepting a practicum as part of my BCIT education which focused on learning to code and was able to land a job due to my experience in a seldom used programming language which is very similar to both Java and Python.
Despite my career in IT, my true passion lies in martial arts. Although I have about 5 years experience as an amateur boxer, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is what I prefer to focus on now. I’m currently a three stripe blue belt under De La Riva blackbelt Don Whitefield. I haven’t competed yet as a blue belt and only twice as a whitebelt. My first competition saw me get eliminated in my first match by points. My second tournament I got silver. Despite the lack of competition experience up to this point, I plan on competing a lot before I get my purple belt. The main things that have stopped me from competing as a blue belt have been school and then the weight gain that came with it. I’d like to compete in the heavyweight division (Between 195 and 208 pounds) and currently have about 20 pounds to lose before I’ll be able to make that. It shouldn’t be too difficult as I’ve lost that weight before, but the stress and lack of discipline during school caused me to gain it all back.
If I had to describe my game, I’d say that I’m a guard passer who, although comfortable off my back, prefers to pass and attack from knee on belly. Despite my size (~6’1″ and 220 lbs), I focus on mobility/speed/timing and don’t use a lot of pressure passing. My A game utilizes X-Pass and Toreando (bull fighter) pass a lot. When playing guard, I prefer a spider/DLR (de la riva) combination but if that fails, closed guard is always a good option for me. I rarely get a submission from the bottom, but as I do my best work from a top position, that suites me fine. I’m usually able to sweep my opponent and pass his guard and then move into a submission. I’ve always been a firm believer in the saying “position before submission” and I’ve developed my game around that. Rather than attack from the bottom, where I have to worry about strikes (in MMA or a street fight ) or getting my guard passed, I’m always looking to get my opponent off balance and sweep him in order to give myself the positional advantage. To this end, one of my highest percentage moves from guard is the omaplata. I rarely finish the submission, but it always leads to solid position and when my opponent defends (by rolling or stepping over my head) I almost always get the omaplata sweep and end up on top with his arm trapped where I can work a variety of submissions (my favorite right now is the wrist lock).
The biggest holes in my game that can I can identify right now are as follows:
-Attacking off of my back
-Pressure passing
-Takedowns
-Opening up extremely defensive opponents who would rather keep their elbows tight and their chin tucked than actively try to escape/ work to pass.
To this end, as I grow throughout my bjj journey, I’ll post new concepts and techniques that work for me as well as help explore any ego/mental/ thought provoking issues that I think would apply to others who want to get into the martial arts.
Anyway, that’s the general overview for my first post. I’ll get into more detail re: jiu jitsu techniques and experience next time.
loudmapper 