Rock Climbing

[Craig Murray]

I hear boulering with a harness really makes your boulering better for MMA

It's tradition bro, don't disrespect. Rock Climbing is a very serious art and you are being disrespectful if you don't wear the harness.

And don't give me that shit about being outside a club and suddenly having to climb a wall, but not having my harness.

[Greg W]

It's tradition bro, don't disrespect. Rock Climbing is a very serious art and you are being disrespectful if you don't wear the harness.

And don't give me that shit about being outside a club and suddenly having to climb a wall, but not having my harness.

That is funny. The climbing world went through the same thing in the 1980's with the bolt wars. People said it wasn't climbing if you pre placed fixed bolts on a climb. Real climbing involved placing you own removable protection on lead.

[Greg W]

Hope we can get out together sometime!

LOL, only if we go to the Gunks and run 5.5's for the day. You would have to stuff me in a haul bag and haul me up EL Cap. I trained and worked my ass off to climb 5.12 in my prime.
For all you that don't know, Singer was a Black Belt in climbing. And an "of the couch" black belt at that.

[Mario Lopez Alvarez]

Yeah, rock climbing is a blast! Been going to Hueco Tanks since i was about 13. If any of you climbers are in the area hit me up! You all can do a jiu jitsu / climbing tour if El Paso.

[singer]

LOL, only if we go to the Gunks and run 5.5's for the day. You would have to stuff me in a haul bag and haul me up EL Cap. I trained and worked my ass off to climb 5.12 in my prime.
For all you that don't know, Singer was a Black Belt in climbing. And an "of the couch" black belt at that.

Thanks, Greg, but the analogical truth is closer to having been a decent purple who was firmly dedicated to dying before tapping to anything. I had zero fear of cratering. That attitude makes free soloing 5.11 cracks or pulling off A5 hooking completely effortless. Leo told me once that he hated people like me because I forced actual good climbers into stuff they wouldn't normally do. I'm actually terrified of falling and have whipped on lead less than five times in my life. I don't think I ever even led a 5.12 sport route, so you were actually the better climber!

[NameLikeNoOther]

I used to rock and ice climb a lot, I just don't have the time these days. But I find there are many correlations to Jiu-Jitsu, especially the psychological side in dealing with fears and anxiety, also the mindset of sometimes flowing and other times mechanically moving forward slowly. I find Dean Potter's climbing to be very inspiring for my Jiu-Jitsu. In his words: "I am trying to flow with the dream, and instead of dying I am flying."

[Greg W]

Thanks, Greg, but the analogical truth is closer to having been a decent purple who was firmly dedicated to dying before tapping to anything. I had zero fear of cratering. That attitude makes free soloing 5.11 cracks or pulling off A5 hooking completely effortless. Leo told me once that he hated people like me because I forced actual good climbers into stuff they wouldn't normally do. I'm actually terrified of falling and have whipped on lead less than five times in my life. I don't think I ever even led a 5.12 sport route, so you were actually the better climber!

Interesting, I have a healthy dislike for heights and Cratering. I always had to overcome a lot while climbing, especially big multi pitch routes, yet I have taken way more than five screaming whips on lead. I would never free solo willingly. You always seemed in the upper crust of climbers, always in the magazines, doing limit pushing routes. I on the other hand was a nameless, faceless, dime a dozen, run of the mill 5.12 climber. Sorry, but I have to disagree with you, free soloing 5.11 and A5 is some zen master shit. From where I sit, only black belts climb stuff on Baffin and live. There is more to being a black belt than just crushing a big number. Taken as a whole group of BJJ practitioners, a very small percent win ADCC. If you win ADCC you are probably a black belt, even if the strap around your waist is a different color. Taken as a whole group of climbers, very few people do what you did/do.

[Greg W]

I used to rock and ice climb a lot, I just don't have the time these days. But I find there are many correlations to Jiu-Jitsu, especially the psychological side in dealing with fears and anxiety, also the mindset of sometimes flowing and other times mechanically moving forward slowly. I find Dean Potter's climbing to be very inspiring for my Jiu-Jitsu. In his words: "I am trying to flow with the dream, and instead of dying I am flying."

I am really shocked that Dean is still alive.

[Amir Allam]

In the past year and a half I've started climbing consistently. I do almost exclusively indoor top-rope climbing, though I have followed on some easy (~5.6) routes in Yosemite. It is difficult for me to isolate variables since I'm almost always doing something new and/or weird to work out, but I would say climbing hasn't helped me in any special way. I have certainly become stronger as a climber (I can do some 5.9 routes); I have noticed specifically that my grip endurance and weight distribution awareness are much improved. However, these don't seem to help much in nogi; we don't rely on static strength in very many positions. It is certainly better to climb than to sit on your ass eating potato chips, but don't expect big jiujitsu gains. Maybe dancing is better for jiujitsu (e.g., Geovanny)?

For me, uphill cycling and sprints of all sorts (swimming/running/cycling) have plugged one of the biggest holes in my game. I used to gas all the time, but now I never get tired. I found that crossfit didn't really help me that much compared to the time it took. Distance swimming and distance running seemed completely useless and didn't affect my grappling cardio at all. Even consistent yoga oddly didn't seem to help my flexibility, and I tore both of my LCLs at a time when I had been doing yoga 3x/week for 6 months.

In summary, if you want to be a better grappler, grapple. If you want to do fun things that are also active and help keep you fit, do those too. Life is too short not to have fun.

[gregarius]

Holy schit Singer! I grew up following your adventures! I feel the same way as an off-the-couch climber, heading to joshua tree every other weekend or so to dork around on fun classics. BJJ is plenty of fitness to maintain and continue progressing even 4 or 5 days a month. I think the move would be to do some hangboarding after a light drilling/training session once or twice a week and maybe throw in a campus board - you can still get wicked strong with that program and focus almost 100% on BJJ. "Matt Time" in climbing is important, up to a point. Looking to get out to Zion and the big stone more often as it appeals more to my shitty body LOL