My body is so ready to be done with jiu jitsu. If I hadn't committed to going with some friends I wouldn't have gone this morning. Almost definitely not doing the no gi class tonight.
Odd mix of people today, with some of the regulars out of town and others off of work/school. We went over passes, which was great because I need a lot of work on those. An awful lot. I could tell that both my mind and body were a little bit off b/c I was struggling a bit with the technique.
Rolls with Rachel, Nate, Ben, Clayton. Rachel was dominating the first part of the roll but I was able to rally out of a head-arm choke and eventually got to mount. Somehow I passed Nate's guard but wasn't able to stay on top for very long. Ben was doing a good deal of crushing but couldn't capitalize. I felt bad, but I just relaxed at one point when he had mount b/c he's a heavy guy and I was pretty fatigued. He tried to work on a submission and when an opening came I escaped. I did that a couple of times with him. I don't want to do that too often, but my body wasn't a fan of constant motion today. Clayton was dominating the roll as well, and at one point I took my focus off of the choke he was setting up and it resulted in me tapping. I think he wanted me to move around more but I just didn't have it in me today. Sorry guys.
Manny got his fourth stripe, yippee! It is very well deserved. There's no way he should be left out of the Sunday advanced class. I'm really looking forward to having time to drill the techniques that I want to work on over and over again. Starts the first Sunday in January.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Thursday Evening
Everyone was kindof zoned out and either comatose from food or dazed from family interactions.
Rachel came tonight. I think she's going to try it for a week and see how it goes. Would be great if she joined b/c she's a very strong blue belt and has a great no gi game. We're about the same size and weight, and she is a smash type of player.
Three half guard passes. Nothing too extreme, but I was still a bit catatonic and was making everything much more difficult than it needed to be. Also, Rachel had some quality time in a heavy pressure situation in which I could feel my vertebrae realigning one by one. Made it a tad difficult to concentrate on doing the movement myself after that.
Rolls with Rachel, Colt, Nando's sister, Keith, and Jason (p). I was off tonight. Not by a lot, but enough that I felt like I was just getting smashity smashed over and over again. Did fairly well with Rachel. Colt had a couple of sub attempts but I was able to barely escape. I let Nando's sister have top side control for most of the roll. Keith did really well against me tonight. Can't remember if he got a sub, but he dominated the roll. Jason did his usual smash smash smash.
Thursday Morning
Was feeling out of it emotionally and probably shouldn't have gone. However, I knew it was going to be my last chance for to roll with the valley guys for awhile, so I went anyway.
Flow drills from a side control escape to guard, other person passes, you escape again into top side-control. Repeat ad nauseum.
One particular detail that I picked up today was when doing the drive-the-bus escape from side-control, you can easily trap their arm over your shin if they post out to stop the escape. They kept referring to the drive-the-bus escape as the "harpoon sweep", which was putting me on mega tilt because you were initiating it from bottom side-control, not a guard position. Anyway... I was feeling every ounce of Gary's 200lb when he was doing the double-under stack pass.
Rolled with Gary and Damon. Felt like my roll with Gary went forever. I was going for an arm-drag to the back at one point and he just gave up his back. I called him on it, and he said he wanted to work his back escapes. I secured a bow and arrow for his trouble. Later on I was able to lock in and finish a triangle from guard. I'm getting a little better about securing posture first and then getting the leg positioning second.
I tried to work a bit of open guard and Damon immediately went for a foot lock. I did a pretty good job of defending, although if he had a mind to hip into it and arch his back I would have had to tap. He was purposefully letting me work my way out of it at one point. Later he got a knee-bar that he was able to finish. He went for a kimura that I was able to defend against. I take it as a compliment that he immediately goes for leg and foot locks against me as opposed to arm/shoulder locks or chokes.
Had a headache and was feeling so-so by the time class was over. Had planned on running a bunch of errands, but decided to go home and eat lunch and pound some water instead. I already promised several people that I'd be at class downtown tonight and I don't want to be exhausted, hungry and dehydrated before I get mauled again.
Flow drills from a side control escape to guard, other person passes, you escape again into top side-control. Repeat ad nauseum.
One particular detail that I picked up today was when doing the drive-the-bus escape from side-control, you can easily trap their arm over your shin if they post out to stop the escape. They kept referring to the drive-the-bus escape as the "harpoon sweep", which was putting me on mega tilt because you were initiating it from bottom side-control, not a guard position. Anyway... I was feeling every ounce of Gary's 200lb when he was doing the double-under stack pass.
Rolled with Gary and Damon. Felt like my roll with Gary went forever. I was going for an arm-drag to the back at one point and he just gave up his back. I called him on it, and he said he wanted to work his back escapes. I secured a bow and arrow for his trouble. Later on I was able to lock in and finish a triangle from guard. I'm getting a little better about securing posture first and then getting the leg positioning second.
I tried to work a bit of open guard and Damon immediately went for a foot lock. I did a pretty good job of defending, although if he had a mind to hip into it and arch his back I would have had to tap. He was purposefully letting me work my way out of it at one point. Later he got a knee-bar that he was able to finish. He went for a kimura that I was able to defend against. I take it as a compliment that he immediately goes for leg and foot locks against me as opposed to arm/shoulder locks or chokes.
Had a headache and was feeling so-so by the time class was over. Had planned on running a bunch of errands, but decided to go home and eat lunch and pound some water instead. I already promised several people that I'd be at class downtown tonight and I don't want to be exhausted, hungry and dehydrated before I get mauled again.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Monday: Part III
Oh epsom salts, where art thou?
More people than I expected in class tonight. We went over sweeping your opponent from shin guard. I was working with Joyce, who had a sore shoulder. She assured me that the forward rolls were going to be ok. They were, until she rolled on the wrong shoulder for what we were doing...and then that was that. From then I let her work all of the sweeps.
Rolls with James, Jason (p), Van, Manny and Joey. Don't remember much about the rolls, except that Manny was submitting me all over the place. He needs to get his fourth stripe asap. Jason manhandled me as per usual. At this point, I think I'm mentally defeated before I even start rolling with him. I switched it up and worked some spider guard against Van, and that seemed to keep her at bay.
Came home to a crap ton of water in the driveway. Combination of melted snow and rain. So much so that I felt compelled to shovel it into a bucket and transport across the front yard. It required many, many bucket fillings to get the water down to an appropriate level. Apparently 4hrs of jiu jitsu wasn't enough activity for me today.
More people than I expected in class tonight. We went over sweeping your opponent from shin guard. I was working with Joyce, who had a sore shoulder. She assured me that the forward rolls were going to be ok. They were, until she rolled on the wrong shoulder for what we were doing...and then that was that. From then I let her work all of the sweeps.
Rolls with James, Jason (p), Van, Manny and Joey. Don't remember much about the rolls, except that Manny was submitting me all over the place. He needs to get his fourth stripe asap. Jason manhandled me as per usual. At this point, I think I'm mentally defeated before I even start rolling with him. I switched it up and worked some spider guard against Van, and that seemed to keep her at bay.
Came home to a crap ton of water in the driveway. Combination of melted snow and rain. So much so that I felt compelled to shovel it into a bucket and transport across the front yard. It required many, many bucket fillings to get the water down to an appropriate level. Apparently 4hrs of jiu jitsu wasn't enough activity for me today.
Monday: Part II
First class at the Valley in 3 or 4 months. Very happy to see the guys with their purple belts. It was just Scott, Damon and I.
They've been working on a flow set of side-control escape, pass, and another side-control escape. This was excellent for me b/c bottom side is definitely my weakest position. We a basic regain guard by bridging into them and getting a knee in, a spin out underneath, weaving your arm for a far-side underhook while bellying down and then coming up for the legs, and finally bridging into them and getting your bicep to the side of their head and elbow to their near-side hip and collapsing back and over to the other side.
Roll with Scott and Damon at the end. Had good control of Scott for the majority of the roll. Had his back and worked non-stop for a bow and arrow. Finally was able to get my body positioned, but the grip was too low on his lapel. Transitioned to an arm-bar had too much of a pause and he was able to escape.
Damon got past my guard and threatened me with several submissions and bad positions. I was able to escape and we ended the roll in a neutral position.
Was great to roll with those guys again. Will hopefully get out there again on Thursday.
They've been working on a flow set of side-control escape, pass, and another side-control escape. This was excellent for me b/c bottom side is definitely my weakest position. We a basic regain guard by bridging into them and getting a knee in, a spin out underneath, weaving your arm for a far-side underhook while bellying down and then coming up for the legs, and finally bridging into them and getting your bicep to the side of their head and elbow to their near-side hip and collapsing back and over to the other side.
Roll with Scott and Damon at the end. Had good control of Scott for the majority of the roll. Had his back and worked non-stop for a bow and arrow. Finally was able to get my body positioned, but the grip was too low on his lapel. Transitioned to an arm-bar had too much of a pause and he was able to escape.
Damon got past my guard and threatened me with several submissions and bad positions. I was able to escape and we ended the roll in a neutral position.
Was great to roll with those guys again. Will hopefully get out there again on Thursday.
Monday: Part I
What better way to spend a vacation day that cramming in three jiu jitsu classes. I'm certifiably nuts.
First was the morning class downtown. We did single leg X sweeps. I'm getting the first couple of techniques confused already. I think the first one we pulled the leg across our body and then dumped them down. The second one we pinched our knees together and dumped them to that side. The third I think was a stand in base with their leg on your shoulder.
Rolls with Dennis, Van, Julio, Antone, Brian and Jason (b). I did really well with Dennis, as I was able to take his back and work superior positions for most of the roll. Van is getting really, really good at passing my guard. She is absolutely relentless about getting my elbow off the mat and driving her head into my chest. I was able to eventually take her back, but I think she was able to complete a pass. Julio was going at a pretty fast and hard clip, which is unlike his rolling of the past couple of weeks but closer to his norm. I can't tell if I was legitimately escaping submissions or if he was letting them go. Antone's knees are still bothering him, and he seemed to let me work a little more than usual. I fended off the bolo pretty well. Brian and I had a good back and forth roll. We have similar body types and both roll very controlled. I had him in an omoplata but didn't finish it, partly b/c I couldn't ease the shoulder where I needed it to go. It was either put all my weight in one direction or give it up, so I gave it up. I made a ridiculously poor decision early on in my roll with Jason. I had completed a pass, and had decided that I was going to go for some crazy choke. I didn't know what I was doing, but I thought the lapel grip was legit and would end in success. Nooooooooooooo. I went from a top side-control or half guard position to pulling him on top of my in bottom side control? Wtf? He worked several submissions and eventually got me with an arm-bar.
First was the morning class downtown. We did single leg X sweeps. I'm getting the first couple of techniques confused already. I think the first one we pulled the leg across our body and then dumped them down. The second one we pinched our knees together and dumped them to that side. The third I think was a stand in base with their leg on your shoulder.
Rolls with Dennis, Van, Julio, Antone, Brian and Jason (b). I did really well with Dennis, as I was able to take his back and work superior positions for most of the roll. Van is getting really, really good at passing my guard. She is absolutely relentless about getting my elbow off the mat and driving her head into my chest. I was able to eventually take her back, but I think she was able to complete a pass. Julio was going at a pretty fast and hard clip, which is unlike his rolling of the past couple of weeks but closer to his norm. I can't tell if I was legitimately escaping submissions or if he was letting them go. Antone's knees are still bothering him, and he seemed to let me work a little more than usual. I fended off the bolo pretty well. Brian and I had a good back and forth roll. We have similar body types and both roll very controlled. I had him in an omoplata but didn't finish it, partly b/c I couldn't ease the shoulder where I needed it to go. It was either put all my weight in one direction or give it up, so I gave it up. I made a ridiculously poor decision early on in my roll with Jason. I had completed a pass, and had decided that I was going to go for some crazy choke. I didn't know what I was doing, but I thought the lapel grip was legit and would end in success. Nooooooooooooo. I went from a top side-control or half guard position to pulling him on top of my in bottom side control? Wtf? He worked several submissions and eventually got me with an arm-bar.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Open Guard All Day
Got to class an hour and a half early to work with James on DLR options. I feel like I've been stuck and only know how to do one thing from the position, which is the back-take. I was anticipating being able to spend time on guard passing too, but just working a few sweeps sucked up the hour pretty fast.
Small class today, which is to be expected with the holidays. We did even more open guard work...I was in heaven. This time we did a shin guard variation and used that to move to a tripod sweep or as a transition into X guard.
After technique we did two people down on the mat. Person off the wall tries to pass the guard, person on the mat tries to retain guard. Person on the mat stays down for 5min while they get a fresh opponent every minute. I remember enjoying this and doing well last time, but I bombed it today. I think I had too much technique in my head...plus I was tired.
After that I had rolls with Van, Brian and Jay and James. I was dog-tired by the end of the rolls. Was frustrated that I wasn't effectively using my techniques. I'll need to snag someone next week to drill them. Feeling old today.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Didn't See that Coming
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Kendra came to class today. I competed against her in a local tournament in no gi four years ago. I'm not sure, but she might have been the first woman I was able to compete against after a long string of dudes. She stuck with no gi for awhile, and then school got in the way, and now she's back and doing gi. I don't know if she is going to be training against us full time, but I hope so. She'll be a solid addition to our blue belts.
We worked L guard today. One sweep where you load them up and one where you shoot your leg behind their head. If you can't dump them over for the sweep, you can try for the inverted triangle (finally got some tips for finishing that). If that doesn't work, keep the far arm and head locked up and attack the near arm with americana, wrist-locks and a kimura.
KOTH. Oh. boy. Started off that you had to sweep or pass. Person off the wall could choose whether to start in guard or in other person's guard. I decided this was a good opportunity to work passes, so I tried and failed many, many times. It just so happened that I ended up against Dennis and Jason quite a bit. I'm was constantly stalling out mid-pass and gave up some easy sweeps. I'm not breaking grips, I'm not establishing grips of my own and I'm not moving forward. I can't be too surprised at the result. That said, I wasn't beating myself up too much about it. Just tried to focus on fundamentals and try again.
After awhile we switched the KOTH to submissions or back-mount. James is such a jerk, b/c I feel like I get close to back-mount, then he does some wizardry and I suddenly find myself fighting off a submission from a terrible bottom position. He's very good at baiting me with underhooks. Hmpf. I did better at this version of KOTH. Jason and I had what felt like an epic roll. He had me in a mounted triangle but I was able to squirm out of it somehow. He kept attacking for arm-bars and omoplatas but somehow I got out of all of it. He had been down for most of the time to this point, so he was getting a bit gassed. I had him in closed guard and was able to get an arm-drag and after some shenanigans I flattened him out and took his back. Felt like a 30min roll but was probably closer to 10min.
The final version of KOTH was the lower belt got to start on the upper belt's back and wins were by submission only. I had Van at this point. I was able to get out of back-mount, into guard, sweep, pass and was working from mount when time was called.
At the end of class, we lined up and Jason got his fourth stripe. He really deserves and I was very happy for him. Jason, Dennis and I are the stalwarts of the morning classes and have a lot in common. Much to my surprise, I got my fourth stripe too. Was shocked, as I just got my third a couple of months ago. I really, really don't feel like a 4-stripe blue belt. However, it's probably just as fruitless to worry about the advancements you want as the advancements you don't think you're ready for.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Big Fish
Another one of those weird classes where I was one of the higher ranked belts.
James took requests for technique, and for once...FOR ONCE...we did my request. :) We went over the same techniques from yesterday, which was using the 93 guard as an entry for deep half, knee-bar and/or a sweep. I don't think he's a big fan of repeating something two days in a row, but for something that was that complex, I was really grateful to get more reps on it. Was able to incorporate more details, which is kindof the whole point.
Rolls with C, Tom, Aaron, Savannah, Keith and James. Don't have much detail on them other than I had deep half on C multiple times and he was able to turn it into an arm-bar and/or get on top each time. I couldn't figure out why until James did it too, and I asked him what I was doing wrong. Apparently, there is a good reason why you put your head on their leg that is bent. That was an epiphany for me and a good lesson learned.
Body is feeling great. It's encouraging to be one of the oldest ones on the mat and to be the least winded at the end of rolling.
James took requests for technique, and for once...FOR ONCE...we did my request. :) We went over the same techniques from yesterday, which was using the 93 guard as an entry for deep half, knee-bar and/or a sweep. I don't think he's a big fan of repeating something two days in a row, but for something that was that complex, I was really grateful to get more reps on it. Was able to incorporate more details, which is kindof the whole point.
Rolls with C, Tom, Aaron, Savannah, Keith and James. Don't have much detail on them other than I had deep half on C multiple times and he was able to turn it into an arm-bar and/or get on top each time. I couldn't figure out why until James did it too, and I asked him what I was doing wrong. Apparently, there is a good reason why you put your head on their leg that is bent. That was an epiphany for me and a good lesson learned.
Body is feeling great. It's encouraging to be one of the oldest ones on the mat and to be the least winded at the end of rolling.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
You Can't Shatter Dreams
The same cannot be said for my Pan Ams shadowbox. Apparently they were playing a version of dodgeball in the kids classes and an errant throw resulted my box crashing to the mat. The medals are intact, which is what I'm most concerned with. And none of the kids were hurt. Of course. :p
We had a rack of purple belts on the mat today. Good to see guys in the daytime class that you normally don't see. We did what seemed to be a ridiculously difficult entry into knee-bars, a sweep and deep half. Jason and I were working together, which was apt for two of the longer limbed people to work together on something that required a great deal of body scrunching. It was tough to figure out the angle for the knee bar b/c it's done strictly with your legs and you can't see what you're doing. I had a hard time getting a feel for where his leg was in relation to mine, so I wasn't sure if it was bent or straight. I liked entry to deep half once I got the hang of it. The sweep from the knee bar was somewhat confusing as it relied on a lot of switching around which hip you were sitting on.
Rolls with Jason (b), Antone, Wayne, Manny and Jason (p). I think this is the first time I've rolled with blue belt Jason and purple belt Jason in the same class. When blue belt Jason is promoted I'll probably have to use initials or some other common sense way of differentiating between the two. I did pretty awful against Jason (b) today. I continued with my pass-to-the-right strategy, but it did me zero good. I realized as I was walking back to work that I'm half-assed committed to the pass. I step in, and then I freeze b/c they get grips and I'm caught in no-man's land. If I'm going to step in, I need to commit and keep moving forward. It might not be the right strategy, but I need to do something different.
Antone wanted to do a flow roll today b/c he had a bunch of achy parts. It was a fun roll, as neither of us were really going for subs. Just rolling around in bolos and who knows what else.
First time I've rolled with Wayne in at least 3-4 months if not longer. I did well, and was even able to secure and finish a triangle.
Manny and I had a good roll. He was generally in better positions, but I did well in transitions and kept myself out of really bad positions. Neither of us got a sub. I have a habit of threatening a cross choke from bottom side...which has never worked, but I find myself doing it anyways. Not sure how or why it happens. Sometimes I switch my hands to the baseball bat choke, but I've never been able to finish that one either.
The roll with Jason (p) was the usual **** show. At least he didn't go for toe holds today. He was content to get to side control and then mount attacks on my far-side arm. He got me with arm-bars and kimuras several times. I did a slightly better job of defending in the latter half of the roll.
We had a rack of purple belts on the mat today. Good to see guys in the daytime class that you normally don't see. We did what seemed to be a ridiculously difficult entry into knee-bars, a sweep and deep half. Jason and I were working together, which was apt for two of the longer limbed people to work together on something that required a great deal of body scrunching. It was tough to figure out the angle for the knee bar b/c it's done strictly with your legs and you can't see what you're doing. I had a hard time getting a feel for where his leg was in relation to mine, so I wasn't sure if it was bent or straight. I liked entry to deep half once I got the hang of it. The sweep from the knee bar was somewhat confusing as it relied on a lot of switching around which hip you were sitting on.
Rolls with Jason (b), Antone, Wayne, Manny and Jason (p). I think this is the first time I've rolled with blue belt Jason and purple belt Jason in the same class. When blue belt Jason is promoted I'll probably have to use initials or some other common sense way of differentiating between the two. I did pretty awful against Jason (b) today. I continued with my pass-to-the-right strategy, but it did me zero good. I realized as I was walking back to work that I'm half-assed committed to the pass. I step in, and then I freeze b/c they get grips and I'm caught in no-man's land. If I'm going to step in, I need to commit and keep moving forward. It might not be the right strategy, but I need to do something different.
Antone wanted to do a flow roll today b/c he had a bunch of achy parts. It was a fun roll, as neither of us were really going for subs. Just rolling around in bolos and who knows what else.
First time I've rolled with Wayne in at least 3-4 months if not longer. I did well, and was even able to secure and finish a triangle.
Manny and I had a good roll. He was generally in better positions, but I did well in transitions and kept myself out of really bad positions. Neither of us got a sub. I have a habit of threatening a cross choke from bottom side...which has never worked, but I find myself doing it anyways. Not sure how or why it happens. Sometimes I switch my hands to the baseball bat choke, but I've never been able to finish that one either.
The roll with Jason (p) was the usual **** show. At least he didn't go for toe holds today. He was content to get to side control and then mount attacks on my far-side arm. He got me with arm-bars and kimuras several times. I did a slightly better job of defending in the latter half of the roll.
Monday, December 16, 2013
It is NOT a Berimbolo
James has everyone convinced that I was a berimbolo machine at the tournament. I don't how to bolo. I try to defend against it in class, and am only intermittently successful. Apparently I did something against two different guys that strongly resembled a bolo. It's going to be a whole thing now. :p
Today we worked on an leg drag to back take that no one outside of James or Antone really understood. Jason and I did finally start to get the hang of it near the end. So many legs flopping around in the air. Between the two of us, there's only four legs, but it seems like six. That's partially due to the technique and partially to the fact that Jason and I have especially long legs.
Rolls with Jason, Julio, Sol and Antone. I'm doing this whole pass-to-the-right thing lately and it's definitely throwing people off just enough for me to have a chance at passing people that I normally can't pass. I don't remember much about my roll with Jason other than it was very competitive (i.e. equally matched). He did lock up a triangle at one point, but I was able to wriggle my arm out and get free. I don't think either one of us got a submission.
Julio is still letting me work my game. I worked closed guard and tried to get a back take. I didn't get my hand on the mat and he was able to pull me back down. I worked diligently for loop chokes, arm-bars, triangles, omoplatas, everything. He defended well, but I think it was a good roll for him too.
Sol got into top side-control and that was pretty much that. *sigh*
Antone tapped me with a wrist lock about 30 seconds into it. We reset and I protected my limbs better the second time around. He was definitely in control for the majority of the roll, but there were a couple of times where I was able to keep him off balance and get very close to a reversal. I gave him a good match, and near the end went for a kimura from top half. Terrible idea, as he was able to reverse it quickly, but the buzzer went off before he could finish.
Very happy that Antone is attending morning classes more often.
Today we worked on an leg drag to back take that no one outside of James or Antone really understood. Jason and I did finally start to get the hang of it near the end. So many legs flopping around in the air. Between the two of us, there's only four legs, but it seems like six. That's partially due to the technique and partially to the fact that Jason and I have especially long legs.
Rolls with Jason, Julio, Sol and Antone. I'm doing this whole pass-to-the-right thing lately and it's definitely throwing people off just enough for me to have a chance at passing people that I normally can't pass. I don't remember much about my roll with Jason other than it was very competitive (i.e. equally matched). He did lock up a triangle at one point, but I was able to wriggle my arm out and get free. I don't think either one of us got a submission.
Julio is still letting me work my game. I worked closed guard and tried to get a back take. I didn't get my hand on the mat and he was able to pull me back down. I worked diligently for loop chokes, arm-bars, triangles, omoplatas, everything. He defended well, but I think it was a good roll for him too.
Sol got into top side-control and that was pretty much that. *sigh*
Antone tapped me with a wrist lock about 30 seconds into it. We reset and I protected my limbs better the second time around. He was definitely in control for the majority of the roll, but there were a couple of times where I was able to keep him off balance and get very close to a reversal. I gave him a good match, and near the end went for a kimura from top half. Terrible idea, as he was able to reverse it quickly, but the buzzer went off before he could finish.
Very happy that Antone is attending morning classes more often.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Gauntlet IV
I signed up for both gi and no gi, assuming there'd be at least one woman in each. Nope. I was the only one to sign up. I mean, I know this isn't a metropolitan area, but good grief. James figured I wouldn't roll at all if there weren't any women, but to hell with that. I decided against no gi, b/c after taking a look at the guys that were there, I wanted no part of that. It was submission only, and I know how guys spaz out when there's 10 seconds left and they're relatively close with a sub. I figured I'd be safe in gi, so gi with dudes it was.
Me and three guys in a bracket. It was a round robin tournament, which was a bummer b/c one of the guys was a teammate. I was matched with him first, which was good b/c he was a known quantity. To the surprise of no one on my team, I pulled guard. I automatically started working DLR but ended up closing my guard when he tried to pass and I didn't know how to counter with a sweep. I started working a back take and realized that I was in a position to start a bow and arrow. I've never started a bow and arrow from there, but decided to go for it. I secured the collar grip, rolled him, pulled his leg and got the choke.
Second guy I pulled guard and worked DLR hard. I wanted to go for the basic back take but couldn't quite finish it. I was close enough that I was able to collapse his legs and get a sweep. The remainder of the time I worked to pass his guard. I think at the very end I finally got all the way around, and with the final seconds I attempted an odd sort of triangle thing from top side. Don't ask. Won on points.
Third guy.....I pulled guard. Again to DLR. He tried to pass and was relatively close to getting the points. I was able to keep my knee in and after a piece of time I regained full guard. He started to set up what I swear was going to be a collar choke from within my guard. WTF. As soon as I saw that coming, I said screw that, it's arm-bar time. I got the arm-bar on tight. He postured up, and then tried to roll out of it. I stuck with it through a tough scramble which ended with him on all fours and me still with his arm. I adjusted, re-adjusted, and finally got the tap.
I've been working DLR so much in class that it was second nature at the tournament. Closed guard is my most comfortable position, but if I can establish a good DLR with the guard pull then I'll take it. Looking back on it, I'm surprised that I tried to work the DLR so much, but happy the work in the gym is paying off.
Me and three guys in a bracket. It was a round robin tournament, which was a bummer b/c one of the guys was a teammate. I was matched with him first, which was good b/c he was a known quantity. To the surprise of no one on my team, I pulled guard. I automatically started working DLR but ended up closing my guard when he tried to pass and I didn't know how to counter with a sweep. I started working a back take and realized that I was in a position to start a bow and arrow. I've never started a bow and arrow from there, but decided to go for it. I secured the collar grip, rolled him, pulled his leg and got the choke.
Second guy I pulled guard and worked DLR hard. I wanted to go for the basic back take but couldn't quite finish it. I was close enough that I was able to collapse his legs and get a sweep. The remainder of the time I worked to pass his guard. I think at the very end I finally got all the way around, and with the final seconds I attempted an odd sort of triangle thing from top side. Don't ask. Won on points.
Third guy.....I pulled guard. Again to DLR. He tried to pass and was relatively close to getting the points. I was able to keep my knee in and after a piece of time I regained full guard. He started to set up what I swear was going to be a collar choke from within my guard. WTF. As soon as I saw that coming, I said screw that, it's arm-bar time. I got the arm-bar on tight. He postured up, and then tried to roll out of it. I stuck with it through a tough scramble which ended with him on all fours and me still with his arm. I adjusted, re-adjusted, and finally got the tap.
I've been working DLR so much in class that it was second nature at the tournament. Closed guard is my most comfortable position, but if I can establish a good DLR with the guard pull then I'll take it. Looking back on it, I'm surprised that I tried to work the DLR so much, but happy the work in the gym is paying off.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
A Method to Combat Fear
'We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.'
-Archilochus (Greek Soldier, Poet)
-Archilochus (Greek Soldier, Poet)
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Flat Tire
I leave work to go to class and....rear tire is almost flat. Fortunately there's a tire shop a few blocks from my parking lot, so I drove there, dropped off my truck and credit card while Sarah came to pick me up for class. Not happy about buying a couple of new tires, but they probably have at least 50,000 miles on them so I shouldn't complain.
Arm-bar from mount today. Breaking the grip, transitioning to a straight arm-bar, kimura and monoplata. Felt good about all of them except the monoplata. Sometimes I ended up on my side instead of on my back, which wasn't right.
Rolls with Sarah, Sonya, Jason, Kelly, Tyrone. Sarah and I had a very even, back and forth match. I told her mid-roll that I was steering clear of her 50/50 but I got sucked in anyways. It was her first class and Sonya was watching us, so I tried to be especially smooth and controlled so that she could see that jiu jitsu can be a gentle art. There was a fair amount of grunting and people flying around on the rest of the mat, so I hope it was a good perspective. Rolled with her next and told her that her goal was to get on top using any means necessary. She wasn't timid at all and moved forward well. I'd say she has great potential, just from that.
It was Tyrone's third class. I worked exclusively from guard. Tried a couple of sweeps, but more so wanted to work on setting up subs from my favorite position as practice for the tournament. I did catch and release, and felt happy with the way that I was flowing from one to the next.
Jason worked to pass my guard and I worked to keep him out of it. Tried a baseball bat choke at one point but am doing something wrong with my grip. It was still enough to distract him so I could regain guard. He had top position most of the time, and eventually got me with something that I don't remember. He commented that it was difficult to flatten me out, so...progress.
Kelly had top side-control for the majority of our match. I defended subs fairly well. With 10sec left he went for a wrist lock but ended up doing a finger lock instead. I think it was a the-round-is-almost-over-and-I-need-to-secure-at-least-one-tap sortof thing. I should have mentioned something about the finger lock, since that isn't allowed and he probably thought he had the wrist.
Looking forward to taking the next couple of days off. The tournament is round-robin, but I'm not sure how many people are going to be in my divisions. I'm doing gi and no gi, so am expecting a lot of matches either way, especially in no gi as that seems to be more popular with the women around here.
Arm-bar from mount today. Breaking the grip, transitioning to a straight arm-bar, kimura and monoplata. Felt good about all of them except the monoplata. Sometimes I ended up on my side instead of on my back, which wasn't right.
Rolls with Sarah, Sonya, Jason, Kelly, Tyrone. Sarah and I had a very even, back and forth match. I told her mid-roll that I was steering clear of her 50/50 but I got sucked in anyways. It was her first class and Sonya was watching us, so I tried to be especially smooth and controlled so that she could see that jiu jitsu can be a gentle art. There was a fair amount of grunting and people flying around on the rest of the mat, so I hope it was a good perspective. Rolled with her next and told her that her goal was to get on top using any means necessary. She wasn't timid at all and moved forward well. I'd say she has great potential, just from that.
It was Tyrone's third class. I worked exclusively from guard. Tried a couple of sweeps, but more so wanted to work on setting up subs from my favorite position as practice for the tournament. I did catch and release, and felt happy with the way that I was flowing from one to the next.
Jason worked to pass my guard and I worked to keep him out of it. Tried a baseball bat choke at one point but am doing something wrong with my grip. It was still enough to distract him so I could regain guard. He had top position most of the time, and eventually got me with something that I don't remember. He commented that it was difficult to flatten me out, so...progress.
Kelly had top side-control for the majority of our match. I defended subs fairly well. With 10sec left he went for a wrist lock but ended up doing a finger lock instead. I think it was a the-round-is-almost-over-and-I-need-to-secure-at-least-one-tap sortof thing. I should have mentioned something about the finger lock, since that isn't allowed and he probably thought he had the wrist.
Looking forward to taking the next couple of days off. The tournament is round-robin, but I'm not sure how many people are going to be in my divisions. I'm doing gi and no gi, so am expecting a lot of matches either way, especially in no gi as that seems to be more popular with the women around here.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Baked Chicken
No gi class tonight. Went over defenses to double-under guard pass. One was the baked chicken, where you keep your legs low, get your feet on their hips and walk your butt back and sit up. Pull up on their triceps while you push down on your legs. It is a terribly unflattering position to be in if it is being done to you. We also did the shoulder lock with two legs on one side and sliding one leg across and hooking on their hip for the shoulder lock instead of having both feet under them.
Rolls with Julio, C, Savannah, Jason (p) and then C again after class. We started standing and I tried to pull guard but was doing a pretty awful job of it. I'd get a smidge of a grip on their wrist and then sit back, but the problem is that I would fall back on to my back b/c I didn't have a strong enough grip. I don't know what I'm going to do at the tournament. I might actually try to take someone down.
Julio let me work a bit. He seemed to have his foot off the gas tonight, which was nice for a change. C and I had a mildly scrambly roll. He kept rolling for bolos or some other back take. I was able to fend them off, and got to top side at one point. The second time we rolled I got to top half or quarter guard and was able to isolate his arm for an americana. Think that's the first time I've tapped him.
Savannah was dragging. Probably had a draining Muay Thai class just beforehand. I was able to easily defend her guard passes and was able to get on top. I think I got a sub but don't remember which one.
Jason was intent on getting as many toe holds and calf slicers as he could possibly rack up during the 5min roll. It's not at all enjoyable to roll with him, mainly b/c he doesn't take it down a notch and I'm worried he's going to apply something too quickly and injure me. The only good thing that I did of note was defend a knee bar, which was awesome b/c I didn't even know he was going for a knee-bar at the time. I thought he was doing a calf slicer.
Will get one more class in this week and then take it easy for the couple of days leading to the tournament.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Deep Half
The heat in the gym has been fixed, much to everyone's joy. It was 61F when we started class.
I was feeling a tiny bit nauseous when class started for no apparent reason. Fortunately it went away once we got into the techniques.
Worked deep half sweeps. One was simply continuing through the roll until you come up on top. Trap their far leg and dump them down. Another was taking them into deep half, elevating their leg, spinning into them and then standing up with their leg to complete the sweep. Finally single leg X, where you pull their leg across, get sleeve control, dump them down and move into side control. I thought I'd struggle mightily with the last one since X usually leaves me befuddled, but I did ok.
Rolls with Sarah, Sol, C (twice), Julio and Jason. I immediately tried out the deep half techniques on Sarah and I think I had success with the first one. Also tried to get the single leg X to work but couldn't finish it. She was trying to work them too, which made for an especially good roll. Nothing quite beats trying out recently drilled techniques (and their counters). Her legs got twisted up without me knowing and as I was trying to pass her guard she tapped b/c they were too cattywompus. I also got a kimura from guard at some point.
Sol passed my guard and that was that. About 4.5min of him crushing me from top side control. He tried some sneaky gi chokes but I was able to defend ok. He wasn't giving his all, and in fact looked a little green around the gills.
C and I had great rolls both times. In the past couple of weeks I've felt like he's been spazzing out in a sortof controlled way during our rolls, which generally doesn't bode well for me. Spaz may not be the right word. Explosive? In any case, I was able to match his intensity better today. At times I tried to slow him down, and at others I scrambled to avoid bad positions. He liked our rolls as well.
Julio was going easy today, not sure why. Usually he crushes the life out of me, at least for the first four minutes of the roll. Today he was chillin, letting me work my guard game, sweeps and passes. Totally uncharacteristic. He had a couple of subs that I'm not sure if I legitimately escaped or if he was going easy there too.
Jason had top position most of the time, but I did at least stay out of awful positions for the most part. I tried for an ezekiel from top half. Don't know how smart that is (didn't work), but thought I'd give it a go.
Overall, my game felt much better than it has over the past couple of weeks. It felt like everyone had their foot off the gas today though. Can't tell if it's me or them. Fake it til you make it, right? In any case, it's a good start to a tournament week.
I was feeling a tiny bit nauseous when class started for no apparent reason. Fortunately it went away once we got into the techniques.
Worked deep half sweeps. One was simply continuing through the roll until you come up on top. Trap their far leg and dump them down. Another was taking them into deep half, elevating their leg, spinning into them and then standing up with their leg to complete the sweep. Finally single leg X, where you pull their leg across, get sleeve control, dump them down and move into side control. I thought I'd struggle mightily with the last one since X usually leaves me befuddled, but I did ok.
Rolls with Sarah, Sol, C (twice), Julio and Jason. I immediately tried out the deep half techniques on Sarah and I think I had success with the first one. Also tried to get the single leg X to work but couldn't finish it. She was trying to work them too, which made for an especially good roll. Nothing quite beats trying out recently drilled techniques (and their counters). Her legs got twisted up without me knowing and as I was trying to pass her guard she tapped b/c they were too cattywompus. I also got a kimura from guard at some point.
Sol passed my guard and that was that. About 4.5min of him crushing me from top side control. He tried some sneaky gi chokes but I was able to defend ok. He wasn't giving his all, and in fact looked a little green around the gills.
C and I had great rolls both times. In the past couple of weeks I've felt like he's been spazzing out in a sortof controlled way during our rolls, which generally doesn't bode well for me. Spaz may not be the right word. Explosive? In any case, I was able to match his intensity better today. At times I tried to slow him down, and at others I scrambled to avoid bad positions. He liked our rolls as well.
Julio was going easy today, not sure why. Usually he crushes the life out of me, at least for the first four minutes of the roll. Today he was chillin, letting me work my guard game, sweeps and passes. Totally uncharacteristic. He had a couple of subs that I'm not sure if I legitimately escaped or if he was going easy there too.
Jason had top position most of the time, but I did at least stay out of awful positions for the most part. I tried for an ezekiel from top half. Don't know how smart that is (didn't work), but thought I'd give it a go.
Overall, my game felt much better than it has over the past couple of weeks. It felt like everyone had their foot off the gas today though. Can't tell if it's me or them. Fake it til you make it, right? In any case, it's a good start to a tournament week.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Cold, With a Chance of Critical
12/7
It's still butt cold outside. Probably didn't get above 15F today, despite the fact that it was sunny. Weak sauce sun. Didn't want to venture out, but had to get in there b/c of the tournament next weekend. We had once guy from another gym and a guy with his kid who was doing his second or third class. Went over KOB, specifically transitioning from side-to-side. Then submissions: far side arm-bar, near side arm-bar and then pulling them to apply a mounted triangle.
Worked with Brian, who was from the other gym. Very nice guy, about my size and skill level. Good to work with, picked up and applied the details well.
Rolled with Brian, who is a technical and controlled. I don't remember the details of the roll, but I do remember that it was a decent back and forth. I think he had the upper hand, but I wasn't too far behind. Rolled with Levi, the son of the new guy. Kid was probably 12y/o, wasn't wearing a gi and had guillotines for days. If you got your head anywhere near his arm, he'd try to lock it in. Scary stuff.
Rolled with Russ, who got me with an ezekiel. I defended for awhile, but not very well. He was trying some new techniques, some of which had me flummoxed.
Roll with Manny that had some back and forth. I worked out of an escape into a triangle. I kept his posture broken but he wouldn't let me get the angle I needed to finish. Frustrated that I couldn't finish, but I should be happy with getting the angle.
I tried like hell to pass Jay's bottom half guard but never quite made it. I ended up sitting on his head a couple of times. Felt bad about that.
Overall I'm still not very happy about my game. I think I need to shake things up, but I'm not sure how. It could be due to the looming tournament, which tends to make me more critical than usual.
It's still butt cold outside. Probably didn't get above 15F today, despite the fact that it was sunny. Weak sauce sun. Didn't want to venture out, but had to get in there b/c of the tournament next weekend. We had once guy from another gym and a guy with his kid who was doing his second or third class. Went over KOB, specifically transitioning from side-to-side. Then submissions: far side arm-bar, near side arm-bar and then pulling them to apply a mounted triangle.
Worked with Brian, who was from the other gym. Very nice guy, about my size and skill level. Good to work with, picked up and applied the details well.
Rolled with Brian, who is a technical and controlled. I don't remember the details of the roll, but I do remember that it was a decent back and forth. I think he had the upper hand, but I wasn't too far behind. Rolled with Levi, the son of the new guy. Kid was probably 12y/o, wasn't wearing a gi and had guillotines for days. If you got your head anywhere near his arm, he'd try to lock it in. Scary stuff.
Rolled with Russ, who got me with an ezekiel. I defended for awhile, but not very well. He was trying some new techniques, some of which had me flummoxed.
Roll with Manny that had some back and forth. I worked out of an escape into a triangle. I kept his posture broken but he wouldn't let me get the angle I needed to finish. Frustrated that I couldn't finish, but I should be happy with getting the angle.
I tried like hell to pass Jay's bottom half guard but never quite made it. I ended up sitting on his head a couple of times. Felt bad about that.
Overall I'm still not very happy about my game. I think I need to shake things up, but I'm not sure how. It could be due to the looming tournament, which tends to make me more critical than usual.
Friday, December 6, 2013
One Technique
12/6
So. F'n. Cold. The gym was 57F degrees when I walked in. Sad panda. I planned ahead and brought a hoodie to wear under my gi during warm-ups. That worked well for my torso, but my feet were another matter. Numb by the time warm-ups were over. I have poor circulation to my extremities, and it's most noticeable in the below 60F range.
I wore the Koral that I got from a deep Black Friday discount and absolutely love it. Should've washed it first, but I couldn't wait. It's an A2 that fits almost exactly like the A3 that I got from Tatami. Lightweight, seems durable, and the front flap of the jacket wraps around better than any gi I have. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the drawstring on the pants as opposed to a cord, but I can live with that. I wish that I would have gotten two of those instead of a Tatami, but oh well.
We worked one technique b/c we had several newer guys that needed a lot of help. Closed guard to triangle or omoplata or if they defend the omoplata, arm-bar. Relatively basic, but there's so many details in such a simple thing like breaking their posture that I wasn't complaining.
Rolls with Savannah, Dennis, Jason, Antone and Gary. Savannah did a great job of pressuring and passing my guard. She got her fourth stripe on her white belt last night and deserves it. Dennis and I had a good roll. He let me take his back at one point and I worked on a paper cutter and bow and arrow. I was close on the latter, but he timed my transition well and escaped. Jason got me in a baratoplata. Again. Apparently that is the new fancy in our world. Antone tried numerous bolos and rolling back takes but wasn't able to capitalize on a submission. I almost had his back at one point but he exploded through and avoided it. One of my better rolls with him of late. Gary wants to smash, smash, smash, but he's so new that he doesn't have enough technique to do it effectively. He was using a lot of old man strength, so I did my best to keep my distance from my guard. He passed at one point, tried to get a kimura (typically of guys that want to hulk smash), lost it and I ended up in top half. Eventually passed into mount and took his arm home with a few seconds to spare. That was strangely gratifying. He mentioned at one point mid-roll that he was getting tired. I suggested that he chill a bit, and he replied that he didn't know how. He truly does not know how to chill while rolling.
I moved the power rack in the house earlier in the week and did my first lift last night. Very, very happy.
So. F'n. Cold. The gym was 57F degrees when I walked in. Sad panda. I planned ahead and brought a hoodie to wear under my gi during warm-ups. That worked well for my torso, but my feet were another matter. Numb by the time warm-ups were over. I have poor circulation to my extremities, and it's most noticeable in the below 60F range.
I wore the Koral that I got from a deep Black Friday discount and absolutely love it. Should've washed it first, but I couldn't wait. It's an A2 that fits almost exactly like the A3 that I got from Tatami. Lightweight, seems durable, and the front flap of the jacket wraps around better than any gi I have. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the drawstring on the pants as opposed to a cord, but I can live with that. I wish that I would have gotten two of those instead of a Tatami, but oh well.
We worked one technique b/c we had several newer guys that needed a lot of help. Closed guard to triangle or omoplata or if they defend the omoplata, arm-bar. Relatively basic, but there's so many details in such a simple thing like breaking their posture that I wasn't complaining.
Rolls with Savannah, Dennis, Jason, Antone and Gary. Savannah did a great job of pressuring and passing my guard. She got her fourth stripe on her white belt last night and deserves it. Dennis and I had a good roll. He let me take his back at one point and I worked on a paper cutter and bow and arrow. I was close on the latter, but he timed my transition well and escaped. Jason got me in a baratoplata. Again. Apparently that is the new fancy in our world. Antone tried numerous bolos and rolling back takes but wasn't able to capitalize on a submission. I almost had his back at one point but he exploded through and avoided it. One of my better rolls with him of late. Gary wants to smash, smash, smash, but he's so new that he doesn't have enough technique to do it effectively. He was using a lot of old man strength, so I did my best to keep my distance from my guard. He passed at one point, tried to get a kimura (typically of guys that want to hulk smash), lost it and I ended up in top half. Eventually passed into mount and took his arm home with a few seconds to spare. That was strangely gratifying. He mentioned at one point mid-roll that he was getting tired. I suggested that he chill a bit, and he replied that he didn't know how. He truly does not know how to chill while rolling.
I moved the power rack in the house earlier in the week and did my first lift last night. Very, very happy.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Wednesday Morning
12/4
James asked what we wanted to work on, and I made the mistake of requesting that we work on the same 93 guard sweeps that we did on Monday. Pfffft. I usually don't bother piping in with a request b/c he never does it anyway, but I thought I had a chance today. It's a running joke, and he doesn't shoot me down on purpose, but whatever I want to work on is seemingly never a good option. So we did top side-control submissions instead b/c Parker is competing in a couple of weeks and wanted to work on that. Sooo....
Cross choke using bottom of skirt, gi d'arce, stepping over their head and going to a straight arm-bar and then moving into a more guard like position to either continue attacking the straight arm-bar, kimura, wrist lock or omoplata. Felt pretty good about all of the techniques. Good detail when switching from top side-control to kesa gatame. Keep your weight on them while switching your hips and scoop into them as you bring the leg through.
Rolls with Sarah, Dennis, James, Parker. I spent the entirety of the 5min round trying to pass Sarah's guard. I'd get close with the pass and then she'd reguard. We didn't do too much of our 50/50 nonsense, but it was a bit of a stalemate as she couldn't quite get the sweep and I couldn't get the pass. I should have tried mixing it up by passing to the right instead of the left.
Dennis and I had a good back and forth roll. I vainly tried for the inverted triangle again, but he had a foot on my near side bicep so I could move around enough to set it proper. I did well with passes and did so-so with maintaining top positions.
I think James was going for a waiter-sweep type of movement when I decided to crowd his head and not let my weight get near his hips. Thought I might be able to lock up a triangle variation but was gi d'arced for my trouble. I fended it off for awhile but he was finally able to get it under my chin for the finish. That is a wicked hard choke to escape.
I did well against Parker. Didn't get a sub but controlled the positions and threatened triangles, arm-bars and was working an omoplata when the buzzer went off. He was able to pass to top-side, but I was able to reguard and harass him with my guard.
After class Russ tackled me and we rolled for about 15min. He came in at the end of class so I figured he wanted to flow. I kinda sorta flowed at the beginning, but I was strangely reluctant to let him have a good position. I did a poor job of flowing. I did let him get all of his grips set up for passes, and then I'd stuff the pass as best I could. I took his back several times, though again, I think he was more into a flow roll than going all out.
I've slightly improved my open DLR/RDLR guard by ensuring that I'm controlling a leg in addition to a sleeve/lapel. James still slices right through it though.
James asked what we wanted to work on, and I made the mistake of requesting that we work on the same 93 guard sweeps that we did on Monday. Pfffft. I usually don't bother piping in with a request b/c he never does it anyway, but I thought I had a chance today. It's a running joke, and he doesn't shoot me down on purpose, but whatever I want to work on is seemingly never a good option. So we did top side-control submissions instead b/c Parker is competing in a couple of weeks and wanted to work on that. Sooo....
Cross choke using bottom of skirt, gi d'arce, stepping over their head and going to a straight arm-bar and then moving into a more guard like position to either continue attacking the straight arm-bar, kimura, wrist lock or omoplata. Felt pretty good about all of the techniques. Good detail when switching from top side-control to kesa gatame. Keep your weight on them while switching your hips and scoop into them as you bring the leg through.
Rolls with Sarah, Dennis, James, Parker. I spent the entirety of the 5min round trying to pass Sarah's guard. I'd get close with the pass and then she'd reguard. We didn't do too much of our 50/50 nonsense, but it was a bit of a stalemate as she couldn't quite get the sweep and I couldn't get the pass. I should have tried mixing it up by passing to the right instead of the left.
Dennis and I had a good back and forth roll. I vainly tried for the inverted triangle again, but he had a foot on my near side bicep so I could move around enough to set it proper. I did well with passes and did so-so with maintaining top positions.
I think James was going for a waiter-sweep type of movement when I decided to crowd his head and not let my weight get near his hips. Thought I might be able to lock up a triangle variation but was gi d'arced for my trouble. I fended it off for awhile but he was finally able to get it under my chin for the finish. That is a wicked hard choke to escape.
I did well against Parker. Didn't get a sub but controlled the positions and threatened triangles, arm-bars and was working an omoplata when the buzzer went off. He was able to pass to top-side, but I was able to reguard and harass him with my guard.
After class Russ tackled me and we rolled for about 15min. He came in at the end of class so I figured he wanted to flow. I kinda sorta flowed at the beginning, but I was strangely reluctant to let him have a good position. I did a poor job of flowing. I did let him get all of his grips set up for passes, and then I'd stuff the pass as best I could. I took his back several times, though again, I think he was more into a flow roll than going all out.
I've slightly improved my open DLR/RDLR guard by ensuring that I'm controlling a leg in addition to a sleeve/lapel. James still slices right through it though.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Stop Wearing Pants in No Gi!
12/3
Energy level was great heading into class tonight. I looked around and noticed that aside from James, I was the highest ranked player in the room. Weird. I went in with the mindset that I wasn't going to worry about technique when rolling. I think I'm getting too caught up lately in thinking of and executing specific techniques during rolls instead of just letting things flow.
Passing the butterfly guard if you can collapse the legs, passing the guard if you can't collapse the legs, and the double-under stack pass. I felt comfortable with all of these, especially the stack pass. However, it occurred to me after we moved on from the stack pass that I had neglected to keep my arm across their lower belly and cup their hip. Details, details.
Rolls with Savannah, C, James and Grant. I was supposed to have a fourth roll with Matt, but his ankle acted up 10sec into the roll so we both ended up sitting out.
I went more on the offensive with Savannah. Established a good top position and got to mount. She worked to pass my guard several times, and got through at least twice. Very good and strong cross-face pressure. Not in an asshole way, but in a controlled way.
C annihilated me. Dude loves to roll, scramble and move around. Sometimes I can slow him down in gi, but little chance of that in no gi. He got a sub on me but I don't remember what it was. I think it was a RNC. Meh. I felt sluggish during that roll, almost like I was mentally defeated. Not cool. I did try to work the dummy sweep and kindof had it setup but forgot a few key details and he was able to step out of it easily.
Grant also schooled me. It's ok to be schooled by him b/c he's so humble and nice. I was in a weird position where I had tried to go for his back but didn't quite make it. He grabbed a hold of my foot and was trying to bend it over his arm. I don't remember exactly what the position was, but I had my hand ready to tap to the toe hold while I worked to squirm out of it. He eventually let it loose. He got me with something too, but I don't remember what. Humbling to be the highest ranked player and attend more frequently than the new blues I was getting schooled by. There's a lot of factors that play into it, and rank isn't everything, and so on. But still. The feeling that you aren't making progress is a terrible one.
Roll with James was fun, especially toward the end. He let me work the 93 guard sweep that we did on Monday. I tried to get to his back but couldn't establish any hooks. I anticipated fairly well throughout, and tried to be fluid and not force anything that wasn't there. He said afterwards that my anaconda choke had him worried. Shamefully, I didn't even know it was an anaconda choke. I just saw an opportunity while he was in top side or top half to go for a guillotine-type choke. No idea what I was doing. Should probably look that one up.
I have got to do something about being more aggressive during rolls. Especially no gi. I feel somewhat comfortable with submissions, but don't feel like I can sweep or defend passes very well. Eh. Not a fan of tournament pressure.
Energy level was great heading into class tonight. I looked around and noticed that aside from James, I was the highest ranked player in the room. Weird. I went in with the mindset that I wasn't going to worry about technique when rolling. I think I'm getting too caught up lately in thinking of and executing specific techniques during rolls instead of just letting things flow.
Passing the butterfly guard if you can collapse the legs, passing the guard if you can't collapse the legs, and the double-under stack pass. I felt comfortable with all of these, especially the stack pass. However, it occurred to me after we moved on from the stack pass that I had neglected to keep my arm across their lower belly and cup their hip. Details, details.
Rolls with Savannah, C, James and Grant. I was supposed to have a fourth roll with Matt, but his ankle acted up 10sec into the roll so we both ended up sitting out.
I went more on the offensive with Savannah. Established a good top position and got to mount. She worked to pass my guard several times, and got through at least twice. Very good and strong cross-face pressure. Not in an asshole way, but in a controlled way.
C annihilated me. Dude loves to roll, scramble and move around. Sometimes I can slow him down in gi, but little chance of that in no gi. He got a sub on me but I don't remember what it was. I think it was a RNC. Meh. I felt sluggish during that roll, almost like I was mentally defeated. Not cool. I did try to work the dummy sweep and kindof had it setup but forgot a few key details and he was able to step out of it easily.
Grant also schooled me. It's ok to be schooled by him b/c he's so humble and nice. I was in a weird position where I had tried to go for his back but didn't quite make it. He grabbed a hold of my foot and was trying to bend it over his arm. I don't remember exactly what the position was, but I had my hand ready to tap to the toe hold while I worked to squirm out of it. He eventually let it loose. He got me with something too, but I don't remember what. Humbling to be the highest ranked player and attend more frequently than the new blues I was getting schooled by. There's a lot of factors that play into it, and rank isn't everything, and so on. But still. The feeling that you aren't making progress is a terrible one.
Roll with James was fun, especially toward the end. He let me work the 93 guard sweep that we did on Monday. I tried to get to his back but couldn't establish any hooks. I anticipated fairly well throughout, and tried to be fluid and not force anything that wasn't there. He said afterwards that my anaconda choke had him worried. Shamefully, I didn't even know it was an anaconda choke. I just saw an opportunity while he was in top side or top half to go for a guillotine-type choke. No idea what I was doing. Should probably look that one up.
I have got to do something about being more aggressive during rolls. Especially no gi. I feel somewhat comfortable with submissions, but don't feel like I can sweep or defend passes very well. Eh. Not a fan of tournament pressure.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Monday Morning
12/2
Had two meals yesterday and no breakfast before class this morning. Oops. My energy level was ok, but not fantastic. We did 93 guard for the technique portion of class, which was fine until it was time to invert from RDLR. Inverting isn't usually a problem for me, but today was a downright struggle. I had one rep of the back-take that was decent, but the rest were pretty woeful. I didn't get the RDLR to X guard transition once. It doesn't help that I'm almost completely ignorant of how X guard works. By the end of class I think I figured out which leg is supposed to go where.
Rolling was a trainwreck. I escaped a couple of times, but otherwise Nate was passing my guard, holding me side-control, mount, etc. No subs, but my positioning was godawful.
Same story with Jason (b). He had top side and mount for the entirety of the roll. I got his back at the end, but I could tell he was letting up a bit. Repeated again with C. Smash, smash, smash. Savannah also passed my guard at will, or at least got to top quarter guard. I was able to reverse a couple of times, but I had zero offense today. No technique, nothing.
After class Dennis asked if I was up for another roll. My instinct was to decline. In fact, after the first roll I thought about heading out since I was feeling so crappy about my game. But something told me to give it a go, b/c honestly it couldn't have gone worse than my earlier rolls. Also I haven't rolled with him since he got his purple. So we hit the mat and had a ~10min roll. I did much, much better than I had earlier in class. I was either on his back, attempting to pass his guard (which I did successfully a couple of times) or seriously threatening from bottom side. I had an inverted triangle locked up but once again couldn't quite noodle how to finish it. He said that it was close, so I'm not too far off. To be fair, he hasn't been to class for a week and has been working a lot, so he probably wasn't at the top of his game.
Even so, I'm really, really glad that I had a good roll with Dennis. My game has felt like garbage the past couple of days.
It's supposed to get butt cold this week, with lows in the single digits. Think I'm going turn my office into a weight room tonight. Cannot get psyched to go lift in the cold garage.
Had two meals yesterday and no breakfast before class this morning. Oops. My energy level was ok, but not fantastic. We did 93 guard for the technique portion of class, which was fine until it was time to invert from RDLR. Inverting isn't usually a problem for me, but today was a downright struggle. I had one rep of the back-take that was decent, but the rest were pretty woeful. I didn't get the RDLR to X guard transition once. It doesn't help that I'm almost completely ignorant of how X guard works. By the end of class I think I figured out which leg is supposed to go where.
Rolling was a trainwreck. I escaped a couple of times, but otherwise Nate was passing my guard, holding me side-control, mount, etc. No subs, but my positioning was godawful.
Same story with Jason (b). He had top side and mount for the entirety of the roll. I got his back at the end, but I could tell he was letting up a bit. Repeated again with C. Smash, smash, smash. Savannah also passed my guard at will, or at least got to top quarter guard. I was able to reverse a couple of times, but I had zero offense today. No technique, nothing.
After class Dennis asked if I was up for another roll. My instinct was to decline. In fact, after the first roll I thought about heading out since I was feeling so crappy about my game. But something told me to give it a go, b/c honestly it couldn't have gone worse than my earlier rolls. Also I haven't rolled with him since he got his purple. So we hit the mat and had a ~10min roll. I did much, much better than I had earlier in class. I was either on his back, attempting to pass his guard (which I did successfully a couple of times) or seriously threatening from bottom side. I had an inverted triangle locked up but once again couldn't quite noodle how to finish it. He said that it was close, so I'm not too far off. To be fair, he hasn't been to class for a week and has been working a lot, so he probably wasn't at the top of his game.
Even so, I'm really, really glad that I had a good roll with Dennis. My game has felt like garbage the past couple of days.
It's supposed to get butt cold this week, with lows in the single digits. Think I'm going turn my office into a weight room tonight. Cannot get psyched to go lift in the cold garage.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Smash Saturday
11/30
Just. Got. Crushed. I should have known I was in trouble when I was feeling winded during the warm-ups. It's amazing how you can have ample energy for one class and then crap for the next one. I've been needing to get back to lifting and bodyweight conditioning, a theory which was reinforced when I was puffing along today.
Worked pulling guard with the dummy sweep, dummy sweep to single-leg, tripod to sickle, tripod to X guard back-take. Did ok with the techniques, but did not come up correctly a single time with the sickle sweep and ended up in a bastardized 50/50. Simply couldn't noodle how to back my leg out. Other than that, the technique portion was fine.
The rolls weren't so fine. First with Antone, who tied me up in knots, bolo'd me, and discovered a neat sweep to bolo combination that he was pretty excited about. Then Clayton, who just crushed, crushed, crushed. Top side-control, KOB, rinse and repeat. At one point, I was wondering if he was returning the favor for my part in the shark tank from the previous week. Then Russ wanted to drill the arm-bars from Walter's visit. That wasn't so bad. Then James had top side-control and gently but thoroughly crushed. Finally Sol and crush crush crush from top side control. Ugh.
Felt utterly ineffective today. Hate days like that. Granted, I was rolling exclusively with purple belts and above, but still.
My neck started feeling better before class and didn't bother me at all during.
Have a local tournament coming up in a couple of weeks, which probably didn't help with my expectations of myself during the rolls.
Just. Got. Crushed. I should have known I was in trouble when I was feeling winded during the warm-ups. It's amazing how you can have ample energy for one class and then crap for the next one. I've been needing to get back to lifting and bodyweight conditioning, a theory which was reinforced when I was puffing along today.
Worked pulling guard with the dummy sweep, dummy sweep to single-leg, tripod to sickle, tripod to X guard back-take. Did ok with the techniques, but did not come up correctly a single time with the sickle sweep and ended up in a bastardized 50/50. Simply couldn't noodle how to back my leg out. Other than that, the technique portion was fine.
The rolls weren't so fine. First with Antone, who tied me up in knots, bolo'd me, and discovered a neat sweep to bolo combination that he was pretty excited about. Then Clayton, who just crushed, crushed, crushed. Top side-control, KOB, rinse and repeat. At one point, I was wondering if he was returning the favor for my part in the shark tank from the previous week. Then Russ wanted to drill the arm-bars from Walter's visit. That wasn't so bad. Then James had top side-control and gently but thoroughly crushed. Finally Sol and crush crush crush from top side control. Ugh.
Felt utterly ineffective today. Hate days like that. Granted, I was rolling exclusively with purple belts and above, but still.
My neck started feeling better before class and didn't bother me at all during.
Have a local tournament coming up in a couple of weeks, which probably didn't help with my expectations of myself during the rolls.
No Gi Black Friday
11/29
I sent a text to James in the morning to see if someone was going to host an open mat. I felt like I had put on 10lb in the past week that I've been sick. No open mats though, had to wait until no gi in the evening.
There were seven of us: James, Jason (p), Joey, Savannah, Cory and Ben. It was an hour and a half of rolling, with one person sitting out. We started out flow-rolling, and I was paired with Savannah first. She must have been saving up some aggression from Thanksgiving family get-togethers, b/c she went immediately into smash mode. I squawked "flow roll!!! flow roll!!" from underneath her cross-face. It was all in good fun.
Taking a week off and coming back to no gi was a bit rough as far as timing and executing technique was concerned. On the positive side, my body felt great and I had cardio for hours. I've also dropped the habit off blindly reaching for gi grips. Now I just sit there and try to noodle out what to do. I tried a work a bit of spider guard by holding the triceps. I was able to maintain it, but couldn't do anything with it. I also tried to work the DLR back take, but without gi grips I was wholly unsuccessful. I really, really need to learn something other than the back take from DLR. Such a one trick pony.
Had a fun roll with James. Tried to take his back to no avail. I didn't feel like I was particularly on, but still did well enough that it was fun.
Jason smashed me. When he wasn't smashing, he was rolling into toe holds or trying to apply chokes that were sortof blood chokes but moreso uncomfortable/painful forearms on the side of my neck. I'm assuming that caused the re-tweaking of my neck. I'm going to have do a fair amount of targeted stretching before class today. :(
I sent a text to James in the morning to see if someone was going to host an open mat. I felt like I had put on 10lb in the past week that I've been sick. No open mats though, had to wait until no gi in the evening.
There were seven of us: James, Jason (p), Joey, Savannah, Cory and Ben. It was an hour and a half of rolling, with one person sitting out. We started out flow-rolling, and I was paired with Savannah first. She must have been saving up some aggression from Thanksgiving family get-togethers, b/c she went immediately into smash mode. I squawked "flow roll!!! flow roll!!" from underneath her cross-face. It was all in good fun.
Taking a week off and coming back to no gi was a bit rough as far as timing and executing technique was concerned. On the positive side, my body felt great and I had cardio for hours. I've also dropped the habit off blindly reaching for gi grips. Now I just sit there and try to noodle out what to do. I tried a work a bit of spider guard by holding the triceps. I was able to maintain it, but couldn't do anything with it. I also tried to work the DLR back take, but without gi grips I was wholly unsuccessful. I really, really need to learn something other than the back take from DLR. Such a one trick pony.
Had a fun roll with James. Tried to take his back to no avail. I didn't feel like I was particularly on, but still did well enough that it was fun.
Jason smashed me. When he wasn't smashing, he was rolling into toe holds or trying to apply chokes that were sortof blood chokes but moreso uncomfortable/painful forearms on the side of my neck. I'm assuming that caused the re-tweaking of my neck. I'm going to have do a fair amount of targeted stretching before class today. :(
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Out
Not surprisingly, I have a cold. I knew I was pushing my body hard and making it susceptible to the gunk that everyone else had. It's all upper respiratory though, so it should pass quickly. I was bummed to miss James' first class as a black belt yesterday. A forced break is good for me though, as my body needs it.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Walter: Part IV
11/23
Felt like absolute death when I woke up. Probably partly the mono and partly simple exhaustion. The thought of shark-tanking my peers later in the day was most unpleasant. I figured my body was close to its limit, so I had breakfast and went back to bed. Woke up, did dishes, back to bed. Sat on the couch and watched a football game. Did absolutely nothing all day. I had to be at the gym at 5pm, and it was very lucky for me that the belt testing was a late afternoon affair instead of a morning affair. I started to feel more human around 4pm, and on the drive over I felt more confident that I was going to have energy to get through it.
Four guys were testing for purple, and they were on the last couple of positions when I arrived. There were about 15 people who showed up for tank. We did 7 people per guy, with James and Walter as the last two to go. No submissions, only dominate positions. I went with the first group for Clayton, and was the 5th to go. I had no intention of trying to take him down whether he was tired or not, so I pulled guard and immediately went for a sweep. Missed the sweep, but he came forward enough in my guard that I was able to get back-mount. I don't remember the rest, except that I was on top for the majority of the time. I did well, and heard someone comment behind me that I turn into an animal during tankings.
Other groups went with Dennis and Russell, and then Walter put me first against Sol. Sad panda for me. Again I pulled guard, and as I went for a scissor sweep he passed my guard and sat in side-control. I tried to escape, but was wholly unsuccessful. If someone gets a dominant position they can just chill, and that's what Sol did to conserve his energy. I was mad at myself for not being able to escape, but it's not like I ever have much success against his top side-control. Wasn't happy with my performance. He ended up getting mauled by everyone else, so it was good that he had a minute of not mauling from me.
I've never looked kindly upon hazing, but there's something about the rite of passage associated with the tank that is appealing. Your peers are trying to destroy you, while simultaneously cheering and letting out throaty roars when you stand up one more time after Walter has hip tossed you into the ceiling. For all of the participants, there is absolutely nothing else going on in the world other than watching and exhorting the attempt to survive--and for the very strong of heart and body--thrive. I can make peace with the tanking ritual b/c it isn't just mindless abuse...it's an exhibition of the sport itself. The belt gauntlet on the other hand...
After the tank the guys went through the belt gauntlet, and they got absolutely pummeled. I never think it's that bad until it's happening. The noise is the most alarming part. No, not true. Watching Walter wind up is the worst part.
I'm so proud of those guys.
Felt like absolute death when I woke up. Probably partly the mono and partly simple exhaustion. The thought of shark-tanking my peers later in the day was most unpleasant. I figured my body was close to its limit, so I had breakfast and went back to bed. Woke up, did dishes, back to bed. Sat on the couch and watched a football game. Did absolutely nothing all day. I had to be at the gym at 5pm, and it was very lucky for me that the belt testing was a late afternoon affair instead of a morning affair. I started to feel more human around 4pm, and on the drive over I felt more confident that I was going to have energy to get through it.
Four guys were testing for purple, and they were on the last couple of positions when I arrived. There were about 15 people who showed up for tank. We did 7 people per guy, with James and Walter as the last two to go. No submissions, only dominate positions. I went with the first group for Clayton, and was the 5th to go. I had no intention of trying to take him down whether he was tired or not, so I pulled guard and immediately went for a sweep. Missed the sweep, but he came forward enough in my guard that I was able to get back-mount. I don't remember the rest, except that I was on top for the majority of the time. I did well, and heard someone comment behind me that I turn into an animal during tankings.
Other groups went with Dennis and Russell, and then Walter put me first against Sol. Sad panda for me. Again I pulled guard, and as I went for a scissor sweep he passed my guard and sat in side-control. I tried to escape, but was wholly unsuccessful. If someone gets a dominant position they can just chill, and that's what Sol did to conserve his energy. I was mad at myself for not being able to escape, but it's not like I ever have much success against his top side-control. Wasn't happy with my performance. He ended up getting mauled by everyone else, so it was good that he had a minute of not mauling from me.
I've never looked kindly upon hazing, but there's something about the rite of passage associated with the tank that is appealing. Your peers are trying to destroy you, while simultaneously cheering and letting out throaty roars when you stand up one more time after Walter has hip tossed you into the ceiling. For all of the participants, there is absolutely nothing else going on in the world other than watching and exhorting the attempt to survive--and for the very strong of heart and body--thrive. I can make peace with the tanking ritual b/c it isn't just mindless abuse...it's an exhibition of the sport itself. The belt gauntlet on the other hand...
After the tank the guys went through the belt gauntlet, and they got absolutely pummeled. I never think it's that bad until it's happening. The noise is the most alarming part. No, not true. Watching Walter wind up is the worst part.
I'm so proud of those guys.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Walter: Part III
11/22 - Evening Seminar
The evening did not start off well, as I my dog decided to ditch me at the end of our hike and damned near gave me a heart attack thinking she was lost as the bitter cold and dark descended. I got to the top, turned around and headed back down. After a few minutes she came hauling ass up the trail, which allowed me to resume normal cardiac operations.
I had a master plan of brewing fresh coffee before class to give me a kick, but forgot and ended up nuking some coffee from the morning and rushing out the door. It didn't help much b/c I was dog tired for the entire seminar. Dragging a whole lot of ass. Lots of appropriate euphemisms. We started off with a takedown that would put you immediately in a kimura. I'm not sure if it would constitute as a takedown for competitions. Pretty slick though. I did ok drilling this one. We also worked crucifixes from turtle and a butterfly to X to footlock. I didn't fare so well with the butterfly to X, partially b/c I was working with Jason. He outweighs me by 50lb+, and elevating him is no small feat. He was good to work with though, b/c he was patient and gave good feedback. We had also both done the morning class, so we were equally exhausted.
After the planned techniques, we sat and Walter asked if we had specific questions about any positions, submission, etc. It was a cool forum, as he could discuss principles instead of details. We don't do that often, but I love it when we do.
KOTH and Walter was rolling with everyone that he hadn't rolled with already. I came off the wall and got Manny first. It was working out ok until he got my back and ended it with some sort of choke that I don't remember. I think I went with a couple of other people but the details have escaped me. Went with Dennis twice. The first time he got me with a kimura...I think. The second time we were rolling and time was called. I was really, really happy about this, b/c I was hoping that I would get to be the last person to roll with him as a blue. I did earlier in the day, but b/c of his knee I wasn't expecting him to roll tonight. That was cool.
We lined up, and Zack received the fourth stripe on his orange belt. Then Walter surprised him with a green/white belt. It's a transition belt to green, and he could possibly go straight from green to purple when he turns 16y/o in a year. Depends on how he progresses.
Then......
Just awesome. I've never seen someone receive their black belt before, and it was a truly inspiring experience. No fluff, nothing contrived. Walter started to give a bit of a speech, got emotional, and pulled a black belt out of his gi. It was really something to watch the belt go around James' waist. He almost lost it a little bit, and as much as he tried to downplay it this week, there was no playing cool about it when the time came. I've only known James as a brown, so it's going to take a bit to get used to the black. He absolutely deserves it, and I'm really, really glad that I was able to be able to witness it.
He did the belt gauntlet and ended up with some wicked welts. Last time he'll have to endure that though......
The evening did not start off well, as I my dog decided to ditch me at the end of our hike and damned near gave me a heart attack thinking she was lost as the bitter cold and dark descended. I got to the top, turned around and headed back down. After a few minutes she came hauling ass up the trail, which allowed me to resume normal cardiac operations.
I had a master plan of brewing fresh coffee before class to give me a kick, but forgot and ended up nuking some coffee from the morning and rushing out the door. It didn't help much b/c I was dog tired for the entire seminar. Dragging a whole lot of ass. Lots of appropriate euphemisms. We started off with a takedown that would put you immediately in a kimura. I'm not sure if it would constitute as a takedown for competitions. Pretty slick though. I did ok drilling this one. We also worked crucifixes from turtle and a butterfly to X to footlock. I didn't fare so well with the butterfly to X, partially b/c I was working with Jason. He outweighs me by 50lb+, and elevating him is no small feat. He was good to work with though, b/c he was patient and gave good feedback. We had also both done the morning class, so we were equally exhausted.
After the planned techniques, we sat and Walter asked if we had specific questions about any positions, submission, etc. It was a cool forum, as he could discuss principles instead of details. We don't do that often, but I love it when we do.
KOTH and Walter was rolling with everyone that he hadn't rolled with already. I came off the wall and got Manny first. It was working out ok until he got my back and ended it with some sort of choke that I don't remember. I think I went with a couple of other people but the details have escaped me. Went with Dennis twice. The first time he got me with a kimura...I think. The second time we were rolling and time was called. I was really, really happy about this, b/c I was hoping that I would get to be the last person to roll with him as a blue. I did earlier in the day, but b/c of his knee I wasn't expecting him to roll tonight. That was cool.
We lined up, and Zack received the fourth stripe on his orange belt. Then Walter surprised him with a green/white belt. It's a transition belt to green, and he could possibly go straight from green to purple when he turns 16y/o in a year. Depends on how he progresses.
Then......
Just awesome. I've never seen someone receive their black belt before, and it was a truly inspiring experience. No fluff, nothing contrived. Walter started to give a bit of a speech, got emotional, and pulled a black belt out of his gi. It was really something to watch the belt go around James' waist. He almost lost it a little bit, and as much as he tried to downplay it this week, there was no playing cool about it when the time came. I've only known James as a brown, so it's going to take a bit to get used to the black. He absolutely deserves it, and I'm really, really glad that I was able to be able to witness it.
He did the belt gauntlet and ended up with some wicked welts. Last time he'll have to endure that though......
Walter: Part II
11/22 - Morning
James taught class while Walter walked around the gym. We went over the same arm-bar from last night, so nothing new. It clicked better today, and I avoided the dumb side like the plague. It's a very simple concept, which is probably why I like it.
Technique was relatively short, which left about 45min for rolling. Antone was first, as apparently it's a thing for us to pair up on Fridays for technique (which is pretty much the only day he can come to class). He passed my guard with ease as per usual, but I had some success fending off the bolo attempts. I've been trying to roll through as they roll and have had mixed success. Overall I was pretty happy well with how it went.
Roll with Dennis, my last one with him as a blue belt. His knee got all wonky earlier in the week so he wanted to flow today. We did kinda flow, and I was trying to let him finish the movements that he's practicing for his test but I think that threw him off more than if I had just kept moving. It's funny what you get used to.
Roll with Walter. Last time he was here, he made a point of saying that everyone was too timid with him. No one came forward...pretty much everyone pulled guard. I kept that in mind, and have been thinking about how I was going to approach this roll for awhile. No elaborate plan, but I wanted to make sure that I was moving forward and on the offensive (as much as I could be anyway). We bump fists, and I immediately go to pass his butterfly guard. I attack his neck, his arms, pretty much anything I can get a hold of. I pretend that he isn't a 3rd degree black belt that outweighs me by at least 50lb. He let me work a bit, way more than I expected. I wasn't going a 100%, but probably around 90%, which is more intense than usual. I tried to get that stupid shoulder lock from bottom-side control but he shrugged his arm out after I got the position. He got on top side-control and finished with a straight arm-bar. At another point he had my guard seriously stacked and I was close to tapping, but stuck with it and survived. He didn't try to kill me with pressure in top side-control which was really quite nice. Fun roll, was happy with how I did.
Rolled with Jason, and I was mostly able to keep space and not get in too many terrible positions. I was dragging a little bit, but I didn't think he landed a submission.
James didn't let me work as much today, probably b/c of all the smack talk that's been going back and forth between us on fb. He got me in the crucifix at one point, and I thought was being all clever by scooching down to get a bend in my arms and prepare for a back roll escape...as soon as I back rolled, he did something and was all over my back. I got dominated, but I still think I did ok.
After class, Antone and I did 3min of my trying to pass his guard and 3min of him passing my guard. I had very little success in either scenario. I tried all standing passes, and did mix up which foot I had forward to see if that would throw him off. I could see that he was cogitating about how to do movements from the other side, but it didn't flummox him for too long. He gave me some great advice on open guard for a standing opponent. I have a bad habit of trying to control both of their sleeves instead of one sleeve and one leg. I leave both of their legs free quite a bit, which is one of the reasons why it's so easy to pass my guard. He also showed me hand positioning for transitioning from DLR to RDLR. I've been trying to kindof shoot to an X guard when my DLR is no longer feasible, but I don't have enough control and end up losing everything.
I feel like I'm a bit on auto-pilot as far as jiu jitsu goes. Two weeks of seven classes is taking its toll. My body is generally tired and sore, but not in a debilitating way. I seem to have plenty of energy for the rolls, and don't feel like I'm gassed or heavily exerting. It's weird...my mind thinks that I should be tired, but if I resolve to buck up and get more intense with a roll my body has the energy for it and I'm fine. My mind tells my body to do it and the body obliges. I hope this lasts through the seminar tonight. I know that I'm going to sleep like the dead afterwards.
Cannot wait to see James get his black belt tonight!!!!
James taught class while Walter walked around the gym. We went over the same arm-bar from last night, so nothing new. It clicked better today, and I avoided the dumb side like the plague. It's a very simple concept, which is probably why I like it.
Technique was relatively short, which left about 45min for rolling. Antone was first, as apparently it's a thing for us to pair up on Fridays for technique (which is pretty much the only day he can come to class). He passed my guard with ease as per usual, but I had some success fending off the bolo attempts. I've been trying to roll through as they roll and have had mixed success. Overall I was pretty happy well with how it went.
Roll with Dennis, my last one with him as a blue belt. His knee got all wonky earlier in the week so he wanted to flow today. We did kinda flow, and I was trying to let him finish the movements that he's practicing for his test but I think that threw him off more than if I had just kept moving. It's funny what you get used to.
Roll with Walter. Last time he was here, he made a point of saying that everyone was too timid with him. No one came forward...pretty much everyone pulled guard. I kept that in mind, and have been thinking about how I was going to approach this roll for awhile. No elaborate plan, but I wanted to make sure that I was moving forward and on the offensive (as much as I could be anyway). We bump fists, and I immediately go to pass his butterfly guard. I attack his neck, his arms, pretty much anything I can get a hold of. I pretend that he isn't a 3rd degree black belt that outweighs me by at least 50lb. He let me work a bit, way more than I expected. I wasn't going a 100%, but probably around 90%, which is more intense than usual. I tried to get that stupid shoulder lock from bottom-side control but he shrugged his arm out after I got the position. He got on top side-control and finished with a straight arm-bar. At another point he had my guard seriously stacked and I was close to tapping, but stuck with it and survived. He didn't try to kill me with pressure in top side-control which was really quite nice. Fun roll, was happy with how I did.
Rolled with Jason, and I was mostly able to keep space and not get in too many terrible positions. I was dragging a little bit, but I didn't think he landed a submission.
James didn't let me work as much today, probably b/c of all the smack talk that's been going back and forth between us on fb. He got me in the crucifix at one point, and I thought was being all clever by scooching down to get a bend in my arms and prepare for a back roll escape...as soon as I back rolled, he did something and was all over my back. I got dominated, but I still think I did ok.
After class, Antone and I did 3min of my trying to pass his guard and 3min of him passing my guard. I had very little success in either scenario. I tried all standing passes, and did mix up which foot I had forward to see if that would throw him off. I could see that he was cogitating about how to do movements from the other side, but it didn't flummox him for too long. He gave me some great advice on open guard for a standing opponent. I have a bad habit of trying to control both of their sleeves instead of one sleeve and one leg. I leave both of their legs free quite a bit, which is one of the reasons why it's so easy to pass my guard. He also showed me hand positioning for transitioning from DLR to RDLR. I've been trying to kindof shoot to an X guard when my DLR is no longer feasible, but I don't have enough control and end up losing everything.
I feel like I'm a bit on auto-pilot as far as jiu jitsu goes. Two weeks of seven classes is taking its toll. My body is generally tired and sore, but not in a debilitating way. I seem to have plenty of energy for the rolls, and don't feel like I'm gassed or heavily exerting. It's weird...my mind thinks that I should be tired, but if I resolve to buck up and get more intense with a roll my body has the energy for it and I'm fine. My mind tells my body to do it and the body obliges. I hope this lasts through the seminar tonight. I know that I'm going to sleep like the dead afterwards.
Cannot wait to see James get his black belt tonight!!!!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Walter: Part I
11/21
I was almost late for class b/c I was in a catatonic state on the couch and let the time get away from me. Made it just in time though. I was expecting a ginormous class but it was pretty reasonable with about ~15 ppl.
Relatively quick warm-up, then Walter showed arm-bar from guard variations. I like them quite a bit, as it works well for my game and it keeps their arm ridiculously tight to your body. I could not for the life of me get it with any degree of smoothness from my right side though. It was the epitome of "dumb side". We also did a type of sit-out from butterfly guard that sets up for an omoplata. I liked this one a lot too.
Walter and James were rolling while the rest of us did KOTH. I was part of the first group down, and I had Sarah first. I got off to a good start and finished with an arm-bar from mount. After that was Savannah. She is very, very difficult to finish with a submission, but after multiple attempts I finally finished a triangle. Then Michael. I was doing ok, until we ended up in a weird 50/50 situation. He started going for foot locks, abandoned that and then put on a toe hold. Whaaaaaaaaaaa? We normally don't adhere to competition rules as far as which submissions are allowed at a particular belt level, but this took me by surprise. So off I go, and a short while later I'm paired up with Grant. He had me in one terrible position after another, close to submitting me several times. Time was called before a submission was obtained, so I gave myself a moral victory for surviving. He does a fantastic job of getting into positions and he has an idea of what to do for the finish but isn't 100% sure. He's definitely going to deserve his blue belt on Saturday.
After class I chatted with Sarah a bit, and then Nando asked me to roll. I had the impression that he wanted to show off to Walter, and sure enough, he went 100mph. In no time I was back in Terrible Position Land and trying to fend off chokes, kimuras, arm-bars.... Again, he was close with several but I was able to defend. I finally kicked up my intensity near the end and battled to a neutral position. The one thing I have going for me is that my grappling cardio is very, very good. He was exhausted, partly due to cardio and partly b/c he doesn't pace himself.
Body is sore tonight, apparently I did something to piss off my hip flexors. Looking forward to a bit of a break next week with the holiday.
I was almost late for class b/c I was in a catatonic state on the couch and let the time get away from me. Made it just in time though. I was expecting a ginormous class but it was pretty reasonable with about ~15 ppl.
Relatively quick warm-up, then Walter showed arm-bar from guard variations. I like them quite a bit, as it works well for my game and it keeps their arm ridiculously tight to your body. I could not for the life of me get it with any degree of smoothness from my right side though. It was the epitome of "dumb side". We also did a type of sit-out from butterfly guard that sets up for an omoplata. I liked this one a lot too.
Walter and James were rolling while the rest of us did KOTH. I was part of the first group down, and I had Sarah first. I got off to a good start and finished with an arm-bar from mount. After that was Savannah. She is very, very difficult to finish with a submission, but after multiple attempts I finally finished a triangle. Then Michael. I was doing ok, until we ended up in a weird 50/50 situation. He started going for foot locks, abandoned that and then put on a toe hold. Whaaaaaaaaaaa? We normally don't adhere to competition rules as far as which submissions are allowed at a particular belt level, but this took me by surprise. So off I go, and a short while later I'm paired up with Grant. He had me in one terrible position after another, close to submitting me several times. Time was called before a submission was obtained, so I gave myself a moral victory for surviving. He does a fantastic job of getting into positions and he has an idea of what to do for the finish but isn't 100% sure. He's definitely going to deserve his blue belt on Saturday.
After class I chatted with Sarah a bit, and then Nando asked me to roll. I had the impression that he wanted to show off to Walter, and sure enough, he went 100mph. In no time I was back in Terrible Position Land and trying to fend off chokes, kimuras, arm-bars.... Again, he was close with several but I was able to defend. I finally kicked up my intensity near the end and battled to a neutral position. The one thing I have going for me is that my grappling cardio is very, very good. He was exhausted, partly due to cardio and partly b/c he doesn't pace himself.
Body is sore tonight, apparently I did something to piss off my hip flexors. Looking forward to a bit of a break next week with the holiday.
Throw the One Legged Man
11/20 - Evening
I'm probably over-training. I've been rolling ok the past couple of days, but I feel like I'm missing a ton of opportunities and that I'm not being smooth. Not sure if it's a real problem or a perception problem. Doesn't matter, b/c Walter is flying in today and will be here for tonight's class, tomorrow morning and tomorrow night.
Last night was prep for the guys testing. Everyone pair up and do 2min of as many techniques as you know from a particular position. I did ok with this, but as usual my KOB escape repertoire was a little suspect.
Rolls with Tien, Savannah, Sarah, Opal, Julio, Christine, Nando. Everything was fine until Nando got me in a triangle. I let me ego get involved here, b/c Nando hasn't been training much since July. He was out completely from July-Sep and has been sporadic in the past couple of months. How is he catching me in a triangle? It kindof ticked me off, b/c I've been training my ass off and he hasn't. That's all ego though. Need to let it go.
We lined up after class and James gave Ian a stripe. That's great. But then he decided that we should all still throw Ian, even though he has a broken foot and is wearing a cast. Just let him down easy, he said. *sigh* Everyone did mellow throws, and I decided that an ankle pick on his good leg would dump him (gently) on his ass. Well, no. He ended up hopping around on his cast and I looked like a complete idiot. Meh. I apologized profusely while everyone laughed. Meh. Meh.
Rolled with Julio after class, as much to get myself away from the stink of that situation as to actually roll. I did especially well against him during class, which surprised him. He did a lot of sitting back and not engaging in my guard, which flummoxed me. Although it wasn't difficult to flummox me after the debacle of post-stripe throws. He showed me a easy sweep from the leg lasso that I've had done to me quite a bit but haven't drilled for myself in quite awhile. He was very much in the teaching mood, which was fine by me.
Body is generally a little sore and tight all over, but not too bad.
I'm probably over-training. I've been rolling ok the past couple of days, but I feel like I'm missing a ton of opportunities and that I'm not being smooth. Not sure if it's a real problem or a perception problem. Doesn't matter, b/c Walter is flying in today and will be here for tonight's class, tomorrow morning and tomorrow night.
Last night was prep for the guys testing. Everyone pair up and do 2min of as many techniques as you know from a particular position. I did ok with this, but as usual my KOB escape repertoire was a little suspect.
Rolls with Tien, Savannah, Sarah, Opal, Julio, Christine, Nando. Everything was fine until Nando got me in a triangle. I let me ego get involved here, b/c Nando hasn't been training much since July. He was out completely from July-Sep and has been sporadic in the past couple of months. How is he catching me in a triangle? It kindof ticked me off, b/c I've been training my ass off and he hasn't. That's all ego though. Need to let it go.
We lined up after class and James gave Ian a stripe. That's great. But then he decided that we should all still throw Ian, even though he has a broken foot and is wearing a cast. Just let him down easy, he said. *sigh* Everyone did mellow throws, and I decided that an ankle pick on his good leg would dump him (gently) on his ass. Well, no. He ended up hopping around on his cast and I looked like a complete idiot. Meh. I apologized profusely while everyone laughed. Meh. Meh.
Rolled with Julio after class, as much to get myself away from the stink of that situation as to actually roll. I did especially well against him during class, which surprised him. He did a lot of sitting back and not engaging in my guard, which flummoxed me. Although it wasn't difficult to flummox me after the debacle of post-stripe throws. He showed me a easy sweep from the leg lasso that I've had done to me quite a bit but haven't drilled for myself in quite awhile. He was very much in the teaching mood, which was fine by me.
Body is generally a little sore and tight all over, but not too bad.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Where Nobody Knows Your Name
11/20 - Morning
Tiny class. Started with take-downs as warm-ups. Russian tie to uchi mata to single leg pick. Russian tie, they push your face and try to face you. Throw their arm(s) up and drop for a double-leg.
Top side-control, breaking a death grip from the bottom by getting knee to sternum and taking it to a arm-bar. If they face away from you, you have the option of a straight arm-bar, a kimura or an arm-bar on the other arm. So slick.
Rolls with Dennis, Parker, and guy who's name I can't remember. We started the rolls from standing, and I almost fell over when Dennis pulled guard. Wuuuuuuuuuut??? We had a kindof a weird roll. Neither of us were in our groove, so there were several points of unintentional stalling while we tried to figure out what to do next.
I think Parker had the advantage early, but I worked him over for the remainder of the time. It not-so-secretly feels really good to work over someone who is twice your size. He picks up technique fast though, and it's going to be hard to keep him at bay once he gets the fundamentals down. I had mount at the end and was trying to figure out how if it was possible to finish an omoplata and maintain mount.
Guy who's name I don't remember was gassing out pretty hard. I took a loop choke opportunity b/c I've been trying it on higher level partners with no success. I maintained a mount or top side-control position for the remainder of the roll.
A quick minute with James at the end. He got me with a couple of silly (i.e. made me feel silly) sweeps. Near the end he went for a rolling back take and I made it a point to roll hard into it. I didn't get a superior position, but he didn't get my back either.
Tiny class. Started with take-downs as warm-ups. Russian tie to uchi mata to single leg pick. Russian tie, they push your face and try to face you. Throw their arm(s) up and drop for a double-leg.
Top side-control, breaking a death grip from the bottom by getting knee to sternum and taking it to a arm-bar. If they face away from you, you have the option of a straight arm-bar, a kimura or an arm-bar on the other arm. So slick.
Rolls with Dennis, Parker, and guy who's name I can't remember. We started the rolls from standing, and I almost fell over when Dennis pulled guard. Wuuuuuuuuuut??? We had a kindof a weird roll. Neither of us were in our groove, so there were several points of unintentional stalling while we tried to figure out what to do next.
I think Parker had the advantage early, but I worked him over for the remainder of the time. It not-so-secretly feels really good to work over someone who is twice your size. He picks up technique fast though, and it's going to be hard to keep him at bay once he gets the fundamentals down. I had mount at the end and was trying to figure out how if it was possible to finish an omoplata and maintain mount.
Guy who's name I don't remember was gassing out pretty hard. I took a loop choke opportunity b/c I've been trying it on higher level partners with no success. I maintained a mount or top side-control position for the remainder of the roll.
A quick minute with James at the end. He got me with a couple of silly (i.e. made me feel silly) sweeps. Near the end he went for a rolling back take and I made it a point to roll hard into it. I didn't get a superior position, but he didn't get my back either.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Four Arms
11/18 - Evening
Kelly was teaching since James was out, so he went over submissions from bottom side-control. Which submission did he choose? The one that yours truly attempts all the time. Trap their far side arm between your legs, weave your foot through and shrimp out to shoulder lock. Lucky me had a brand spanking new white belt to shepherd through this rather complicated move. To his credit, he picked up on it pretty quick. We also worked the inverted triangle and a transition to d'arce. A fairly complex set of movements for a novice crowd, but it is what it is.
Tried to explain flow rolling to the new guy, and then did a round of rolling with him. Again, he did well for being so new. Rolled with Parker (twice I think), C, Russ and Karey. Might have been one more in there that I don't remember. C worked me over pretty good. I was little ticked that he was able to get a submission on me. Nothing of note from anyone else. Energy was great, especially considering it was my second class of the day. Parker said that I have a second set of arms b/c of how I use my legs. Pretty sure it was a compliment. He's a big dude, probably over 6' and 200lb+.
After class I was a demo dummy for Russ to go over some techniques. I think he was getting a little impatient with me b/c I couldn't read his mind as to how he wanted me to set up positions. I try not to take it personally though, as he's getting a bit stressed about testing on Saturday.
Kelly was teaching since James was out, so he went over submissions from bottom side-control. Which submission did he choose? The one that yours truly attempts all the time. Trap their far side arm between your legs, weave your foot through and shrimp out to shoulder lock. Lucky me had a brand spanking new white belt to shepherd through this rather complicated move. To his credit, he picked up on it pretty quick. We also worked the inverted triangle and a transition to d'arce. A fairly complex set of movements for a novice crowd, but it is what it is.
Tried to explain flow rolling to the new guy, and then did a round of rolling with him. Again, he did well for being so new. Rolled with Parker (twice I think), C, Russ and Karey. Might have been one more in there that I don't remember. C worked me over pretty good. I was little ticked that he was able to get a submission on me. Nothing of note from anyone else. Energy was great, especially considering it was my second class of the day. Parker said that I have a second set of arms b/c of how I use my legs. Pretty sure it was a compliment. He's a big dude, probably over 6' and 200lb+.
After class I was a demo dummy for Russ to go over some techniques. I think he was getting a little impatient with me b/c I couldn't read his mind as to how he wanted me to set up positions. I try not to take it personally though, as he's getting a bit stressed about testing on Saturday.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Takedowns That Don't Go Horribly Wrong
11/18 - Morning
This is shaping up to be as busy as last week, if not more so. Walter is coming on Thursday. Seminar on Friday night and belt testing on Saturday. I couldn't be more thrilled that I'm not testing, b/c those dudes are stressed out. I want to do my part to help them, so I told Russ I'd come to the evening classes this week so that he could drill. Sooooo.....it's looking like seven classes for me this week.
My heart dropped a bit when James said we're doing takedowns today, but I should have known better. He is not a brutal takedown hip-throwing guy. He really embodies the gentle art. So we did Russian tie variations (at least I'm pretty sure they were Russian tie-ish). The first one I really liked, as you simply sit at your opponent's feet and then sweep their leg out. Easy peasy.
Rolled with Todd, Jason, Nate, Dennis. Focused on establishing a solid DLR, since that's what I want to work on with James when I have my private lesson(s). (Trade for making nice medal boxes)
I don't recall any successful sweeps coming off of DLR, but otherwise it went ok. I tried the back-take several times and was close on one. I controlled a good portion of the roll with Todd and was really happy with my guard work. I was finally understanding the importance of holding the ankle that is hooked.
I had a surprisingly good roll with Jason. Nothing special to note, but I felt like I neutralized his DLR and was able to at least force some scrambles instead of being swept.
Wasn't able to keep guard on Nate well. He's so ridiculously scrambly. I had him dead to rights with a double-ankle sweep and he went down as expected but didn't stay put long enough for me to come up. I didn't reach for the sleeve grip as he went down, so I wasn't able to use his momentum to help bring me up. At one point I had the inverted triangle from bottom side-control but I had no idea which way I needed to angle myself to finish it.
Dennis and I didn't have one of our usual barnburners, probably b/c he was getting over from being sick. He was out all last week and still sounded a bit froggy. I think I was working guard for the most part. Ready to get back at it tonight...
This is shaping up to be as busy as last week, if not more so. Walter is coming on Thursday. Seminar on Friday night and belt testing on Saturday. I couldn't be more thrilled that I'm not testing, b/c those dudes are stressed out. I want to do my part to help them, so I told Russ I'd come to the evening classes this week so that he could drill. Sooooo.....it's looking like seven classes for me this week.
My heart dropped a bit when James said we're doing takedowns today, but I should have known better. He is not a brutal takedown hip-throwing guy. He really embodies the gentle art. So we did Russian tie variations (at least I'm pretty sure they were Russian tie-ish). The first one I really liked, as you simply sit at your opponent's feet and then sweep their leg out. Easy peasy.
Rolled with Todd, Jason, Nate, Dennis. Focused on establishing a solid DLR, since that's what I want to work on with James when I have my private lesson(s). (Trade for making nice medal boxes)
I don't recall any successful sweeps coming off of DLR, but otherwise it went ok. I tried the back-take several times and was close on one. I controlled a good portion of the roll with Todd and was really happy with my guard work. I was finally understanding the importance of holding the ankle that is hooked.
I had a surprisingly good roll with Jason. Nothing special to note, but I felt like I neutralized his DLR and was able to at least force some scrambles instead of being swept.
Wasn't able to keep guard on Nate well. He's so ridiculously scrambly. I had him dead to rights with a double-ankle sweep and he went down as expected but didn't stay put long enough for me to come up. I didn't reach for the sleeve grip as he went down, so I wasn't able to use his momentum to help bring me up. At one point I had the inverted triangle from bottom side-control but I had no idea which way I needed to angle myself to finish it.
Dennis and I didn't have one of our usual barnburners, probably b/c he was getting over from being sick. He was out all last week and still sounded a bit froggy. I think I was working guard for the most part. Ready to get back at it tonight...
Michael Grows Up
11/16
Michael received his blue belt at the start of class b/c it was his birthday, so no more orange belt for him. We shark-tanked him at the end of class, and I went about as hard as I could go for my minute. Did fairly well, although he was able to reverse at one point. Tried for an arm-bar but couldn't finish. Felt good to just go all out for a minute and see what I could do.
For the technique portion of class we went over spiderguard on a kneeling opponent to the omoplata and finishing with an arm-bar if they don't roll out of the omoplata. I don't remember what else we did, as I didn't take notes after class.
Roll with Antone, Michael and not sure who else.
Rolled with Antone again after class for awhile. I tried to get the bottom side-control shoulder lock on him and I think it was relatively close. He tried to toe hold him while I was applying it. We were both close but no cigar. He had me in a fairly bad position with an arm-bar and I was able to work my way out of it. I was proud of that one. Other than that, he got a ridiculous number of shoulder locks on my right side. Felt jacked up for most of the rest of the day. A day or two later and it's feeling good. So glad the joints/bones/muscles/tendons are so resilient....
Michael received his blue belt at the start of class b/c it was his birthday, so no more orange belt for him. We shark-tanked him at the end of class, and I went about as hard as I could go for my minute. Did fairly well, although he was able to reverse at one point. Tried for an arm-bar but couldn't finish. Felt good to just go all out for a minute and see what I could do.
For the technique portion of class we went over spiderguard on a kneeling opponent to the omoplata and finishing with an arm-bar if they don't roll out of the omoplata. I don't remember what else we did, as I didn't take notes after class.
Roll with Antone, Michael and not sure who else.
Rolled with Antone again after class for awhile. I tried to get the bottom side-control shoulder lock on him and I think it was relatively close. He tried to toe hold him while I was applying it. We were both close but no cigar. He had me in a fairly bad position with an arm-bar and I was able to work my way out of it. I was proud of that one. Other than that, he got a ridiculous number of shoulder locks on my right side. Felt jacked up for most of the rest of the day. A day or two later and it's feeling good. So glad the joints/bones/muscles/tendons are so resilient....
Friday, November 15, 2013
Moura Guard
11/15
Scott and Damon got the purples last night!!! I was bummed that their test was in Boise so I wasn't able to attend. I'm really happy for them. It's too bad that I don't get to train with them anymore, but such is the way of conflicting schedules. Hopefully we can get together on a Saturday.
Felt like a truck hit me when I woke up this morning, but a large cup of coffee fixed that. Caffe d'Arte drip dark from Seattle. Coffee elitist, yesssssssss.
Today we went over the Moura guard. I love this guard, even though I'm not particularly effective with it. Setting it up, triangle or arm-bar if they break the leg grip, arm-bar if they try to block the free leg.
Rolls with Antone, Todd, Jason, James, Ed. Another roll with Antone after class. Overall was really happy with my rolls. I was able to execute the DLR back-take successfully on Todd. Swept Jason, which almost never, ever happens. Did not let Ed pass. Got a couple of subs, but really should have focused on sweeps. I can't help it against big guys though. Antone manhandled me in our first roll, as did James. I thought I was getting good position on James and he'd get a toe hold from god knows where. He pulls ridiculous moves out of his arse and there were several times when I said (muffled through the mouthguard), "You've GOT to be kidding me." I sortof got a sweep, but I think he gave it to me.
Roll with Antone after class. I damn near had an arm-bar in the midst of a transition but it was an odd angle (I was sortof inverted) and I couldn't noodle how to finish it. Fridays are like a treat since it's the only day that I get roll with him.
Was pleasantly surprised with how much energy I had today. It's supposed to snow tonight, so I'll probably forego the no gi class and dive under the blankets.
I asked Walter if he'd bring old Portuguese books/magazines next week and he said he would. The grammar books I ordered earlier in the week arrived last night, and I'm looking forward to poring over those this weekend.
Can't believe James is going to get his black belt next week. He's being very, very low key about it. He's such an amazing, humble guy. I see enough stuff on the interwebs to know that I'm very lucky to have an instructor that is so passionate about the sport, runs 9 adult classes a week and makes it very affordable.
Scott and Damon got the purples last night!!! I was bummed that their test was in Boise so I wasn't able to attend. I'm really happy for them. It's too bad that I don't get to train with them anymore, but such is the way of conflicting schedules. Hopefully we can get together on a Saturday.
Felt like a truck hit me when I woke up this morning, but a large cup of coffee fixed that. Caffe d'Arte drip dark from Seattle. Coffee elitist, yesssssssss.
Today we went over the Moura guard. I love this guard, even though I'm not particularly effective with it. Setting it up, triangle or arm-bar if they break the leg grip, arm-bar if they try to block the free leg.
Rolls with Antone, Todd, Jason, James, Ed. Another roll with Antone after class. Overall was really happy with my rolls. I was able to execute the DLR back-take successfully on Todd. Swept Jason, which almost never, ever happens. Did not let Ed pass. Got a couple of subs, but really should have focused on sweeps. I can't help it against big guys though. Antone manhandled me in our first roll, as did James. I thought I was getting good position on James and he'd get a toe hold from god knows where. He pulls ridiculous moves out of his arse and there were several times when I said (muffled through the mouthguard), "You've GOT to be kidding me." I sortof got a sweep, but I think he gave it to me.
Roll with Antone after class. I damn near had an arm-bar in the midst of a transition but it was an odd angle (I was sortof inverted) and I couldn't noodle how to finish it. Fridays are like a treat since it's the only day that I get roll with him.
Was pleasantly surprised with how much energy I had today. It's supposed to snow tonight, so I'll probably forego the no gi class and dive under the blankets.
I asked Walter if he'd bring old Portuguese books/magazines next week and he said he would. The grammar books I ordered earlier in the week arrived last night, and I'm looking forward to poring over those this weekend.
Can't believe James is going to get his black belt next week. He's being very, very low key about it. He's such an amazing, humble guy. I see enough stuff on the interwebs to know that I'm very lucky to have an instructor that is so passionate about the sport, runs 9 adult classes a week and makes it very affordable.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
More Rolling, Less Thinking
11/14
I was feeling pretty good energy-wise, which was fortunate b/c it was another class of rolling. Started off with flow rolling, and I was once again amazed at how flow rolling is art that very few people are adept at. Or how much "take" there is with relatively little "give". I'm not genius at it by any means, but I think that I have a better grasp of it than most white and blue belts.
Anyway, many rounds of flow rolling, which transitioned into regular rolls. All in all, I rolled with C, James, Fernando (w), Tom, Joey, Jay, Savannah, and Sarah twice. None of the rolls felt spectacular, and overall I felt a bit off my game. Like I was winging it and making dumb mistakes. They weren't terrible rolls, but I didn't feel like I had my mojo.
We rolled for about 45min or so, and then it was KOTH. Win by mount (front) or submission. Winner stays, loser goes to the wall. I started down, and lost early on to C. We had a long back and forth roll. He had an arm-bar deep that I was able to fend off, but along the way my fingers started to hurt oddly and the second time he got the arm-bar I let him have it.
I went to the wall thinking that I was the worst pound-for-pound blue belt at the school, it was going to be another night of ego smashing, etc., etc. Got paired up with Jay and we had a lengthy roll. I finally got him in an inverted triangle and I think finished it with an arm-bar. After that, I kept my space on the mat for the remainder of the time (20min or so). Granted, I was going up against white belts and newer blue belts, but still. A couple of times I pulled off a really weird arm-bar from a mostly omoplata position. I didn't feel like it was a finishing move, but my partners said it was a legit arm-bar. I was getting arm-bars right and left, and even an omoplata.
Neck didn't bother me at all during class and is only a little stiff but not too bad a couple of hours after. Very happy that it's not going to be a lingering thing.
I feel a bit flummoxed about my game, but I think that's par for the course when I attend 5+ classes a week. I get my head too involved.
I was feeling pretty good energy-wise, which was fortunate b/c it was another class of rolling. Started off with flow rolling, and I was once again amazed at how flow rolling is art that very few people are adept at. Or how much "take" there is with relatively little "give". I'm not genius at it by any means, but I think that I have a better grasp of it than most white and blue belts.
Anyway, many rounds of flow rolling, which transitioned into regular rolls. All in all, I rolled with C, James, Fernando (w), Tom, Joey, Jay, Savannah, and Sarah twice. None of the rolls felt spectacular, and overall I felt a bit off my game. Like I was winging it and making dumb mistakes. They weren't terrible rolls, but I didn't feel like I had my mojo.
We rolled for about 45min or so, and then it was KOTH. Win by mount (front) or submission. Winner stays, loser goes to the wall. I started down, and lost early on to C. We had a long back and forth roll. He had an arm-bar deep that I was able to fend off, but along the way my fingers started to hurt oddly and the second time he got the arm-bar I let him have it.
I went to the wall thinking that I was the worst pound-for-pound blue belt at the school, it was going to be another night of ego smashing, etc., etc. Got paired up with Jay and we had a lengthy roll. I finally got him in an inverted triangle and I think finished it with an arm-bar. After that, I kept my space on the mat for the remainder of the time (20min or so). Granted, I was going up against white belts and newer blue belts, but still. A couple of times I pulled off a really weird arm-bar from a mostly omoplata position. I didn't feel like it was a finishing move, but my partners said it was a legit arm-bar. I was getting arm-bars right and left, and even an omoplata.
Neck didn't bother me at all during class and is only a little stiff but not too bad a couple of hours after. Very happy that it's not going to be a lingering thing.
I feel a bit flummoxed about my game, but I think that's par for the course when I attend 5+ classes a week. I get my head too involved.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Unbaffled
11/13 - Evening
The downside to training twice a day is that your body hates you a little bit. The upside is that you're able to revisit techniques and clear up misunderstandments while they're still fresh in your mind. We went over the same techniques from this morning, and it became clear to me what James meant about the two different "sides" of reverse kesa gatame in half guard (if there is such a thing). It boils down to which leg is trapped in the half guard.
Big class tonight, around 15 or so. Drilled the technique with Sarah, and of course it takes one little hip bump to make a technique about a billion times more effective.
Rolled with Sarah, Ben, Kelly and Sol. I'm getting a little bit better at not just sitting back when I'm in combat stance and someone gets me a bit off balance to sweep. But not really. I still flop over way to readily. I did work tonight on trying to keep my balance, but that often involved me trying to keep my balance after they establish grips, a hook, and were well on their way to the sweep.
After class rolled with Kelly. No clock, but I'm guessing we went about fifteen minutes or so. I think he was letting me work a bit, but even so I did fairly well in not letting him bolo me all over the mat. I genuinely surprised him at one point with a sweep. He gave me some constructive advice midway through our roll, namely that I extend my legs a fair amount when I don't have a contact point on my opponent's body whilst trying to retain guard. He recommended that I keep my feet closer and knees bent. Solid advice.
Body is feeling tired, neck is sore but not unbearable. Hardly felt it when rolling, but hours later it's stiffening up.
I had to wear the Atama tonight b/c Ian had my SYR, my new Tatami is at the tailor getting patched and my Koral is retired as of today. I haven't worn the Atama in a couple of months, and I didn't miss how damn short it is in the pants AT ALL. It's like wearing capris (which I don't wear). Not ok. If there are any good black Friday deals on gis, I think I'm going to pick up another one.
The downside to training twice a day is that your body hates you a little bit. The upside is that you're able to revisit techniques and clear up misunderstandments while they're still fresh in your mind. We went over the same techniques from this morning, and it became clear to me what James meant about the two different "sides" of reverse kesa gatame in half guard (if there is such a thing). It boils down to which leg is trapped in the half guard.
Big class tonight, around 15 or so. Drilled the technique with Sarah, and of course it takes one little hip bump to make a technique about a billion times more effective.
Rolled with Sarah, Ben, Kelly and Sol. I'm getting a little bit better at not just sitting back when I'm in combat stance and someone gets me a bit off balance to sweep. But not really. I still flop over way to readily. I did work tonight on trying to keep my balance, but that often involved me trying to keep my balance after they establish grips, a hook, and were well on their way to the sweep.
After class rolled with Kelly. No clock, but I'm guessing we went about fifteen minutes or so. I think he was letting me work a bit, but even so I did fairly well in not letting him bolo me all over the mat. I genuinely surprised him at one point with a sweep. He gave me some constructive advice midway through our roll, namely that I extend my legs a fair amount when I don't have a contact point on my opponent's body whilst trying to retain guard. He recommended that I keep my feet closer and knees bent. Solid advice.
Body is feeling tired, neck is sore but not unbearable. Hardly felt it when rolling, but hours later it's stiffening up.
I had to wear the Atama tonight b/c Ian had my SYR, my new Tatami is at the tailor getting patched and my Koral is retired as of today. I haven't worn the Atama in a couple of months, and I didn't miss how damn short it is in the pants AT ALL. It's like wearing capris (which I don't wear). Not ok. If there are any good black Friday deals on gis, I think I'm going to pick up another one.
Half Guard Bafflement
11/13 - Morning
I really wanted to do the no gi class last night, but my neck objected. It felt better today, but not 100%. I should take the rest of the week off and let it heal completely. However, it feels well enough that I don't think rolling is going to make it worse.
Relatively small class today. Went over half-guard sweeps if opponent is in reverse kesa gatame. I was understanding it fairly well until near the end and tried to over-think it. I thought I was being clever by tying another technique in and ended up confusing the hell out of myself. Sad for me. I didn't take notes at the end of class, but I should have.
Rolls with Todd (twice), Jason (twice), Jeremy, James. I was leery of my neck, but aside from some warning signals it sent every now and again, it was fine. After a couple of rolls it felt pretty limber and didn't bother me at all. Seemed like Todd was letting me work back mount positions today. I set up a chain of submissions from back-mount, mount, guard that I was particularly happy with. Jason used DLR to take my back the exact same way at least three times in a row. I kept thinking my strategy was sound but not to much. Once I really started controlling one of his legs I had a bit more success. He still pretty much tooled me.
I kept Jeremy in my guard for most of the roll. I felt bad about not initiating more, but he's still looking for his grappling cardio so it probably wasn't such a bad thing. Also, he might have close to 100lb on me, so I wasn't about to risk too much and end up under him.
Wasn't expecting much with my roll with James since I didn't feel like I was really on today, but it still turned out to be pretty fun. I think I legitimately escaped a calf slicer, which had me damned near ecstatic. He was applying it slowly though, so not sure how legit it was. I don't remember much else, other than enjoying the roll.
This was probably the last roll for my Koral. At least the pants. :(
I really wanted to do the no gi class last night, but my neck objected. It felt better today, but not 100%. I should take the rest of the week off and let it heal completely. However, it feels well enough that I don't think rolling is going to make it worse.
Relatively small class today. Went over half-guard sweeps if opponent is in reverse kesa gatame. I was understanding it fairly well until near the end and tried to over-think it. I thought I was being clever by tying another technique in and ended up confusing the hell out of myself. Sad for me. I didn't take notes at the end of class, but I should have.
Rolls with Todd (twice), Jason (twice), Jeremy, James. I was leery of my neck, but aside from some warning signals it sent every now and again, it was fine. After a couple of rolls it felt pretty limber and didn't bother me at all. Seemed like Todd was letting me work back mount positions today. I set up a chain of submissions from back-mount, mount, guard that I was particularly happy with. Jason used DLR to take my back the exact same way at least three times in a row. I kept thinking my strategy was sound but not to much. Once I really started controlling one of his legs I had a bit more success. He still pretty much tooled me.
I kept Jeremy in my guard for most of the roll. I felt bad about not initiating more, but he's still looking for his grappling cardio so it probably wasn't such a bad thing. Also, he might have close to 100lb on me, so I wasn't about to risk too much and end up under him.
Wasn't expecting much with my roll with James since I didn't feel like I was really on today, but it still turned out to be pretty fun. I think I legitimately escaped a calf slicer, which had me damned near ecstatic. He was applying it slowly though, so not sure how legit it was. I don't remember much else, other than enjoying the roll.
This was probably the last roll for my Koral. At least the pants. :(
Monday, November 11, 2013
Necks aren't Optional
11/11
Finally found out some of the results from my team. Savannah got gold in her division, Jimmy got silver...not sure about the rest. Really excited for them, especially Savannah. She's really improved her game in the past three months or so.
Apparently one of the bow and arrow attempts from earlier today made my neck unhappy. It felt a little off while I was at work, but by the time class started I knew I was in trouble. I tried to stretch it this and that, to no avail. We did an open mat for the first hour, and then a bit of technique at the end. I couldn't turn my head to the right, and any impact near my upper back, especially around my left shoulder was painful. I was grimacing quite a bit, and James asked me several times if I was ok. We were at odd numbers with him, and after a couple of rolls I sat out a round. It seemed to be a little bit better so I jumped back in. It inhibited my movement a bit, but it was more distracting than anything.
Rolls with Savannah (twice), Melissa, Michael, C, Colt and James. Nothing noteworthy, other than trying to grit my way through it. I knew I was doing some stupid things, but I gave myself a pass b/c of the pain. Hoping that I wake up tomorrow and it's all better. Positive thinking...
Finally found out some of the results from my team. Savannah got gold in her division, Jimmy got silver...not sure about the rest. Really excited for them, especially Savannah. She's really improved her game in the past three months or so.
Apparently one of the bow and arrow attempts from earlier today made my neck unhappy. It felt a little off while I was at work, but by the time class started I knew I was in trouble. I tried to stretch it this and that, to no avail. We did an open mat for the first hour, and then a bit of technique at the end. I couldn't turn my head to the right, and any impact near my upper back, especially around my left shoulder was painful. I was grimacing quite a bit, and James asked me several times if I was ok. We were at odd numbers with him, and after a couple of rolls I sat out a round. It seemed to be a little bit better so I jumped back in. It inhibited my movement a bit, but it was more distracting than anything.
Rolls with Savannah (twice), Melissa, Michael, C, Colt and James. Nothing noteworthy, other than trying to grit my way through it. I knew I was doing some stupid things, but I gave myself a pass b/c of the pain. Hoping that I wake up tomorrow and it's all better. Positive thinking...
Morning Open Mat
11/11
Open mat this morning. A couple of rolls with Julio, a couple with new guy Jeremy, one with Todd, one with Kelly and one with Ben. Only stayed for an hour so that I could get off work early enough to hit the night class too. Nothing remarkable about the rolls, except that I panicked at one point when Jeremy had my arm for an arm-bar and I realized that this might be the guy that heel-hooked Sol. Apparently a new guy claimed no knowledge of BJJ and then wrenched Sol's heel and wouldn't let go even though Sol was tapping, yelling, and finally punching the guy to get him to let go. Didn't seem to do permanent damage, but caused quite a stir. The guy claimed he couldn't hear Sol and wasn't trying to be a d. James didn't say anything about kicking the guy out, so I assume he was free to come back.
In any case, he didn't rip my arm off and I was able to escape.
I stepped on the scale and noted that I'm 6lb over my normal weight w/ gi. I'm not participating in tournaments anytime soon, so it's not a problem as far as that's concerned. However, to be 6lb over before the holidays even arrive is a bit alarming. Time to get back to lifting. Especially if I have the chance to do Pans and/or Worlds next year. I do not want to cut a couple of weeks out.
Open mat this morning. A couple of rolls with Julio, a couple with new guy Jeremy, one with Todd, one with Kelly and one with Ben. Only stayed for an hour so that I could get off work early enough to hit the night class too. Nothing remarkable about the rolls, except that I panicked at one point when Jeremy had my arm for an arm-bar and I realized that this might be the guy that heel-hooked Sol. Apparently a new guy claimed no knowledge of BJJ and then wrenched Sol's heel and wouldn't let go even though Sol was tapping, yelling, and finally punching the guy to get him to let go. Didn't seem to do permanent damage, but caused quite a stir. The guy claimed he couldn't hear Sol and wasn't trying to be a d. James didn't say anything about kicking the guy out, so I assume he was free to come back.
In any case, he didn't rip my arm off and I was able to escape.
I stepped on the scale and noted that I'm 6lb over my normal weight w/ gi. I'm not participating in tournaments anytime soon, so it's not a problem as far as that's concerned. However, to be 6lb over before the holidays even arrive is a bit alarming. Time to get back to lifting. Especially if I have the chance to do Pans and/or Worlds next year. I do not want to cut a couple of weeks out.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Drill, Drill, Drill
11/9
Teammates were competing this weekend, so it was just Russ and I. There were plenty who weren't competing though, but no one shows up on Saturdays if James isn't there. I don't understand the philosophy behind this, b/c open mat is awesome. Apparently no one else agrees with this theory. In any case, Russ wanted to work on his purple belt test, so I was his dummy for an hour. Our purple belt test test requires five techniques from each position:
Subs from mount
Transitions to mount
Subs from back-mount
Back-mount escapes
Transitions to back-mount
KOB subs
KOB escapes
Top side-control subs
Bottom side-control subs
Bottom side-control escapes
Top half-guard subs
Top half-guard passes
Bottom half-guard subs
Bottom half-guard sweeps
Breaking open a closed guard
Passing guard
Guard sweeps
Guard subs
Turtle escapes
Turtle subs
Takedowns
Takedown defense
Of course some are easier than others to come up with techniques. The bottom half-guard subs and bottom side-control subs are some of the most sketchy. We rarely work bottom half guard subs, which is probably why.
We rolled for 15-20min after an hour of drilling. It was good back and forth, although I could tell that he was giving up some positions so that he could work on specific techniques from bottom positions.
I need to be more active when I'm in bottom positions but I can't quite figure out how to make myself do it. I'm a little too relaxed when I'm in inferior positions and waiting for my opponent to move so that I can capitalize on their change of position. I can't force things, but I'm a little too chill.
Teammates were competing this weekend, so it was just Russ and I. There were plenty who weren't competing though, but no one shows up on Saturdays if James isn't there. I don't understand the philosophy behind this, b/c open mat is awesome. Apparently no one else agrees with this theory. In any case, Russ wanted to work on his purple belt test, so I was his dummy for an hour. Our purple belt test test requires five techniques from each position:
Subs from mount
Transitions to mount
Subs from back-mount
Back-mount escapes
Transitions to back-mount
KOB subs
KOB escapes
Top side-control subs
Bottom side-control subs
Bottom side-control escapes
Top half-guard subs
Top half-guard passes
Bottom half-guard subs
Bottom half-guard sweeps
Breaking open a closed guard
Passing guard
Guard sweeps
Guard subs
Turtle escapes
Turtle subs
Takedowns
Takedown defense
Of course some are easier than others to come up with techniques. The bottom half-guard subs and bottom side-control subs are some of the most sketchy. We rarely work bottom half guard subs, which is probably why.
We rolled for 15-20min after an hour of drilling. It was good back and forth, although I could tell that he was giving up some positions so that he could work on specific techniques from bottom positions.
I need to be more active when I'm in bottom positions but I can't quite figure out how to make myself do it. I'm a little too relaxed when I'm in inferior positions and waiting for my opponent to move so that I can capitalize on their change of position. I can't force things, but I'm a little too chill.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Pulling Guard
11/8
I better eat a bagel, quick. I felt slow today too. I didn't get as much sleep as usual, and doing a night class followed by a morning class is probably partly the problem. Today we went over one of my favorite techniques...pulling guard. :p I've definitely improved in this area, as I had godawful technique during my matches and that's one of the reasons why I lost my absolute match at Pans. I didn't extend my leg and establish enough of a push/pull to control my opponent.
We did a basic guard pull to hook and sweep, guard pull to elevate and sweep, and fake pull to single leg ankle pick. If/When I compete again, I'm going to drill the hell out of pulls and takedowns instead of taking that aspect for granted.
Rolls with Antone, Jimmy, James, Manny and Jason. Antone had me tied up in knots and got a bow and arrow. Boo. Jimmy had great position at one point and was going for all kinds of submissions, but I was able to fend them off and eventually get top position. Was proud of myself for that roll. James must have done the back-step from half guard at least five times, and each time I tried to elevate his leg for the sweep but it shut it down every time. I asked him about it later and he said that he was starting off in a better position and that when I tried to elevate his leg I was doing it from under the calf instead of the knee. Manny had me in some bad positions, and while I was able to eventually escape I never got a good position. I tried to keep Jason in guard and did a so-so job. He passed and got a wrist-lock from some top position, probably side-control.
I had very little mojo today, and found myself taking deep breaths in the middle of rolls. I wasn't out of breath, just didn't have energy.
I better eat a bagel, quick. I felt slow today too. I didn't get as much sleep as usual, and doing a night class followed by a morning class is probably partly the problem. Today we went over one of my favorite techniques...pulling guard. :p I've definitely improved in this area, as I had godawful technique during my matches and that's one of the reasons why I lost my absolute match at Pans. I didn't extend my leg and establish enough of a push/pull to control my opponent.
We did a basic guard pull to hook and sweep, guard pull to elevate and sweep, and fake pull to single leg ankle pick. If/When I compete again, I'm going to drill the hell out of pulls and takedowns instead of taking that aspect for granted.
Rolls with Antone, Jimmy, James, Manny and Jason. Antone had me tied up in knots and got a bow and arrow. Boo. Jimmy had great position at one point and was going for all kinds of submissions, but I was able to fend them off and eventually get top position. Was proud of myself for that roll. James must have done the back-step from half guard at least five times, and each time I tried to elevate his leg for the sweep but it shut it down every time. I asked him about it later and he said that he was starting off in a better position and that when I tried to elevate his leg I was doing it from under the calf instead of the knee. Manny had me in some bad positions, and while I was able to eventually escape I never got a good position. I tried to keep Jason in guard and did a so-so job. He passed and got a wrist-lock from some top position, probably side-control.
I had very little mojo today, and found myself taking deep breaths in the middle of rolls. I wasn't out of breath, just didn't have energy.
No Bagel, No Bueno
11/7
I was feeling tired at the start of class, likely due to neglecting my afternoon bagel. Good-sized turnout, mostly lower blues and whites. It's so weird being an "upper" belt in a large class. Worked with Sarah, who was also feeling groggy, so we made a good pair. We worked on the basic flower sweep and a few variations to an arm-bar and triangle if they defend the sweep by posting.
KOTH with tournament competitors on the mat regardless of the outcome. Submission or mount ends the roll. I started with Savannah and after several minutes had to stop b/c my calf was cramping so badly. I had a truckload of water during the day and a banana, but I neglected the sodium component and paid for it. Also got to roll with Jesse, a big white belt. The trick is to not let him get on top. I kept him at bay and passed his guard, but let him get on top and he eventually got an arm-bar. Clayton finished me off rather quickly, as we had transitioned from sub/mount to 4 points for a win. He got a pass, followed by KOB. Ian and I went back and forth for awhile. I had him near the end, so he was pretty tired and I was able to secure an arm-bar.
Wasn't happy with the outcome of my roll with Jesse. I try to be as colorblind as possible when it comes to belt colors, but sometimes it gets to me that I'm a "weaker" blue belt. I feel like I need another year or so at blue, b/c it's going to be even rougher emotional hurdle at purple. I know that I'm doing the best that I can, but it still kinda sucks. I make up stuff in my head as to what the guys are thinking, which is dumb. "I subbed an advanced blue and Pan Am gold medalist, but it's a female so....." It stings on multiple levels b/c it's not like I'm an "average" female. I'm in pretty damned good shape. I have great rolling cardio and have an especially strong upper body. I have a hard time believing that the physical differences are that significant, but apparently they are.
I was feeling tired at the start of class, likely due to neglecting my afternoon bagel. Good-sized turnout, mostly lower blues and whites. It's so weird being an "upper" belt in a large class. Worked with Sarah, who was also feeling groggy, so we made a good pair. We worked on the basic flower sweep and a few variations to an arm-bar and triangle if they defend the sweep by posting.
KOTH with tournament competitors on the mat regardless of the outcome. Submission or mount ends the roll. I started with Savannah and after several minutes had to stop b/c my calf was cramping so badly. I had a truckload of water during the day and a banana, but I neglected the sodium component and paid for it. Also got to roll with Jesse, a big white belt. The trick is to not let him get on top. I kept him at bay and passed his guard, but let him get on top and he eventually got an arm-bar. Clayton finished me off rather quickly, as we had transitioned from sub/mount to 4 points for a win. He got a pass, followed by KOB. Ian and I went back and forth for awhile. I had him near the end, so he was pretty tired and I was able to secure an arm-bar.
Wasn't happy with the outcome of my roll with Jesse. I try to be as colorblind as possible when it comes to belt colors, but sometimes it gets to me that I'm a "weaker" blue belt. I feel like I need another year or so at blue, b/c it's going to be even rougher emotional hurdle at purple. I know that I'm doing the best that I can, but it still kinda sucks. I make up stuff in my head as to what the guys are thinking, which is dumb. "I subbed an advanced blue and Pan Am gold medalist, but it's a female so....." It stings on multiple levels b/c it's not like I'm an "average" female. I'm in pretty damned good shape. I have great rolling cardio and have an especially strong upper body. I have a hard time believing that the physical differences are that significant, but apparently they are.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
A KOTH I Actually Like
11/6
Took a couple of days off from training. No particular reason, other than it seemed like a good idea. Body felt good today, though I was sucking a fair amount of wind during the first part of positional sparring.
Today we went over half guard passes. I was doing fine on the techniques, except that I really had no idea what to do with my hands. I mean, I knew what to do, but it still felt wrong. I think the problem is that I get too many different principles of passing mixed up in my head and I freeze like a deer in the headlights.
After the technique we did something a little new with the positional sparring (King of the Hill). For five minutes, two guys are down, starting in seated guard. Fresh opponent off the wall tries to pass their guard for a minute. If pass/sweep occurs, players reset in same position for the remainder of the minute. No one can go for submissions. No closed guard and no stalling. Guy on the bottom doesn't have to sweep, he just has to keep the top guy from passing. After a minute, a fresh opponent off the wall and no breaks for the bottom guy. We cycled through with everyone taking a turn at the 5min of guard retention, and I was part of the last pair to be down. I did much better than I thought I would in both the passing and retention aspect. Usually the positional sparring that focuses on passes distresses me b/c I'm so awful at it. However, I think having the minute of guaranteed sparring helped me be more aggressive and led to more successes. It's funny how subtly changing the rules can affect performance.
Took a couple of days off from training. No particular reason, other than it seemed like a good idea. Body felt good today, though I was sucking a fair amount of wind during the first part of positional sparring.
Today we went over half guard passes. I was doing fine on the techniques, except that I really had no idea what to do with my hands. I mean, I knew what to do, but it still felt wrong. I think the problem is that I get too many different principles of passing mixed up in my head and I freeze like a deer in the headlights.
After the technique we did something a little new with the positional sparring (King of the Hill). For five minutes, two guys are down, starting in seated guard. Fresh opponent off the wall tries to pass their guard for a minute. If pass/sweep occurs, players reset in same position for the remainder of the minute. No one can go for submissions. No closed guard and no stalling. Guy on the bottom doesn't have to sweep, he just has to keep the top guy from passing. After a minute, a fresh opponent off the wall and no breaks for the bottom guy. We cycled through with everyone taking a turn at the 5min of guard retention, and I was part of the last pair to be down. I did much better than I thought I would in both the passing and retention aspect. Usually the positional sparring that focuses on passes distresses me b/c I'm so awful at it. However, I think having the minute of guaranteed sparring helped me be more aggressive and led to more successes. It's funny how subtly changing the rules can affect performance.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Multiple Open Mats
11/2
There is an open mat for women that's held at a nearby gym, so I checked that out today. It was mostly no gi, but fortunately I knew that going in. Five other women there, and only one of them hasn't come to our gym at least once. Friendly group, and after some chit chat we got into it for well over an hour. No gi was fun, although a couple of pro MMA girls gave me the business with guillotine chokes. I don't know why I act so flummoxed during no gi, b/c it's not THAT different. It's like my mind goes completely blank and I just sit there like an idjit. I was doing relatively well once I got on top, which was reassuring. I like doing no gi b/c it encourages me to scramble more, which is something that I find lacking in my game. Overall lots of good rolls. I need to figure out how I end up leaving my neck out though.
Drove straight over to my gym for the second open mat. Got a few rolls in with Ian and Jason. One roll with Kelly. The guys who aren't testing soon were pretty chatty, and the guys who are testing soon were focused on techniques. So I didn't end up getting that many rolls in, but I did help the guys who are testing by being a demo dummy. I like helping them out. Between the rolls and being a dummy I got choked quite a bit today and my neck is more tender than usual.
The life of a fighter. :p
There is an open mat for women that's held at a nearby gym, so I checked that out today. It was mostly no gi, but fortunately I knew that going in. Five other women there, and only one of them hasn't come to our gym at least once. Friendly group, and after some chit chat we got into it for well over an hour. No gi was fun, although a couple of pro MMA girls gave me the business with guillotine chokes. I don't know why I act so flummoxed during no gi, b/c it's not THAT different. It's like my mind goes completely blank and I just sit there like an idjit. I was doing relatively well once I got on top, which was reassuring. I like doing no gi b/c it encourages me to scramble more, which is something that I find lacking in my game. Overall lots of good rolls. I need to figure out how I end up leaving my neck out though.
Drove straight over to my gym for the second open mat. Got a few rolls in with Ian and Jason. One roll with Kelly. The guys who aren't testing soon were pretty chatty, and the guys who are testing soon were focused on techniques. So I didn't end up getting that many rolls in, but I did help the guys who are testing by being a demo dummy. I like helping them out. Between the rolls and being a dummy I got choked quite a bit today and my neck is more tender than usual.
The life of a fighter. :p
Friday, November 1, 2013
Backmount Escapes
11/1
Antone was there, which was great for me as we haven't been on the mat at the same time in a couple of weeks. Started off with flow rolls, then did back-mount escapes for the technique. One I hadn't seen before is if you are on all fours while they have hooks and seatbelt grip. Kick your left leg back to free the hook, then bring your left knee behind their right ankle. That motion alone may be enough to shake them off if they aren't low and super-tight to your back. If they do stay tight and on your back, grab their right shin (gi) with your left hand and their right tricep with your right hand. Let your shoulder go dead, then shrug hard to the right to shake them off. Hard to explain and hard to do, but effective if done correctly. Even if you don't get them all the way around with the shrug, you can keep working it slowly and at least get out of backmount.
Rolls with Antone, Manny, Dennis, Jason. I saw shooting stars when Antone got a bow and arrow especially tight. I knew it was tight but didn't realize it was that far along. He complimented me after the roll and said that I improving, which is always nice to hear. With both Manny and Dennis I was in the situation where I almost had their backs, but couldn't quite get there. I think they were both off of escapes and I started pretty low on their body and tried to work my way up. I had little success in stopping Jason from getting his deep and tight DLR hook. Overall the rolls felt good. I'm really liking the fact that I am controlling my opponent's limbs more naturally when coming up into side-control or half guard (usually from escapes).
Antone was there, which was great for me as we haven't been on the mat at the same time in a couple of weeks. Started off with flow rolls, then did back-mount escapes for the technique. One I hadn't seen before is if you are on all fours while they have hooks and seatbelt grip. Kick your left leg back to free the hook, then bring your left knee behind their right ankle. That motion alone may be enough to shake them off if they aren't low and super-tight to your back. If they do stay tight and on your back, grab their right shin (gi) with your left hand and their right tricep with your right hand. Let your shoulder go dead, then shrug hard to the right to shake them off. Hard to explain and hard to do, but effective if done correctly. Even if you don't get them all the way around with the shrug, you can keep working it slowly and at least get out of backmount.
Rolls with Antone, Manny, Dennis, Jason. I saw shooting stars when Antone got a bow and arrow especially tight. I knew it was tight but didn't realize it was that far along. He complimented me after the roll and said that I improving, which is always nice to hear. With both Manny and Dennis I was in the situation where I almost had their backs, but couldn't quite get there. I think they were both off of escapes and I started pretty low on their body and tried to work my way up. I had little success in stopping Jason from getting his deep and tight DLR hook. Overall the rolls felt good. I'm really liking the fact that I am controlling my opponent's limbs more naturally when coming up into side-control or half guard (usually from escapes).
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Open Mat
10/31
James wasn't expecting much of a turnout b/c of Halloween, so he made tonight into an open mat. We had ~10 people, which was a pretty good showing, considering. It was great, as I had close to an hour of half of just rolling. People were pooping out right and left, but I had energy to burn. We were doing rounds over 8min long, which probably contributed to the drop-out rate. I've added a bagel as a mid-day snack and the carb shot has really helped my energy levels.
Rolled with Kelly (twice I think), Michael, Savannah, Ian, C (twice), James, Clayton, Nando. I tried rolling with Kelly's berimbolo attacks and it more or less worked, except that he was able to cinch it up a little bit tighter each time until I couldn't roll out of it anymore. The first roll he pretty much demolished me top side control, but in the second roll he seemed to ease up and let me work.
Michael was doing well in the first part of our roll and then petered out and left with a couple of minutes to go. He just gave me a couple of submissions which is unlike him. He said something about being sick yesterday.
Savannah has been doing better with guard passing, but hasn't been staying diligent with her posture and I was able to use that to my advantage tonight. I went for an arm-bar for the finish again, which I told myself I wasn't going to do with her. Catch and release.
Ian's been doing well and is getting ready for the tournament next weekend. He's going to be wearing my SYR, so I'll be there in spirit. :) I told him about leaving his far-side elbow flopping around when he's in reverse kesa gatame. I've been able to use that to my advantage with a lot of the guys recently. I'm excited for him to compete and wish I was going to be there to watch.
C and I did our best Miyao v. Cornelious impression in our first roll. It was 8min of messing around in 50/50 guard while he was going for a foot lock. It felt like an interesting chess match but probably would have been terribly uninteresting if anyone had been forced to watch it. He had my foot wrapped up but never went for the lock. Either I was doing a good job of protecting it or he wasn't quite sure how to finish. We didn't have those shenanigans the second time around. He kept trying to pass my guard from combat stance or standing and I kept trying to sweep him.
I felt like James and I had a pretty fun roll. One thing that I really enjoy about rolling with him is that he lets me work all different positions. At one point I inverted at exactly the right time to maintain guard, which felt good. I think he got me with one or two subs early on, but let me work for the latter half. He had me in a bad but not awful position with 10sec left, so I started counting down the time and of course he found a way to wrist lock me before the buzzer went off. Damn it.
Clayton worked top game to start and then seemed to let me work top game a bit. We were sortof-not-really-flow rolling.
I coerced Nando into rolling even though he was tired. Told him I'd take it easy, and we started off kindof flow rolling and then he jumped into full speed. And he got tuckered out pretty fast b/c he doesn't have his cardio back. I was trying to make sure I wasn't putting pressure on his knee even though he says that it's good to go. He was doing well, but just didn't have the juice. I told him to bebe more agua throughout the day.
James wasn't expecting much of a turnout b/c of Halloween, so he made tonight into an open mat. We had ~10 people, which was a pretty good showing, considering. It was great, as I had close to an hour of half of just rolling. People were pooping out right and left, but I had energy to burn. We were doing rounds over 8min long, which probably contributed to the drop-out rate. I've added a bagel as a mid-day snack and the carb shot has really helped my energy levels.
Rolled with Kelly (twice I think), Michael, Savannah, Ian, C (twice), James, Clayton, Nando. I tried rolling with Kelly's berimbolo attacks and it more or less worked, except that he was able to cinch it up a little bit tighter each time until I couldn't roll out of it anymore. The first roll he pretty much demolished me top side control, but in the second roll he seemed to ease up and let me work.
Michael was doing well in the first part of our roll and then petered out and left with a couple of minutes to go. He just gave me a couple of submissions which is unlike him. He said something about being sick yesterday.
Savannah has been doing better with guard passing, but hasn't been staying diligent with her posture and I was able to use that to my advantage tonight. I went for an arm-bar for the finish again, which I told myself I wasn't going to do with her. Catch and release.
Ian's been doing well and is getting ready for the tournament next weekend. He's going to be wearing my SYR, so I'll be there in spirit. :) I told him about leaving his far-side elbow flopping around when he's in reverse kesa gatame. I've been able to use that to my advantage with a lot of the guys recently. I'm excited for him to compete and wish I was going to be there to watch.
C and I did our best Miyao v. Cornelious impression in our first roll. It was 8min of messing around in 50/50 guard while he was going for a foot lock. It felt like an interesting chess match but probably would have been terribly uninteresting if anyone had been forced to watch it. He had my foot wrapped up but never went for the lock. Either I was doing a good job of protecting it or he wasn't quite sure how to finish. We didn't have those shenanigans the second time around. He kept trying to pass my guard from combat stance or standing and I kept trying to sweep him.
I felt like James and I had a pretty fun roll. One thing that I really enjoy about rolling with him is that he lets me work all different positions. At one point I inverted at exactly the right time to maintain guard, which felt good. I think he got me with one or two subs early on, but let me work for the latter half. He had me in a bad but not awful position with 10sec left, so I started counting down the time and of course he found a way to wrist lock me before the buzzer went off. Damn it.
Clayton worked top game to start and then seemed to let me work top game a bit. We were sortof-not-really-flow rolling.
I coerced Nando into rolling even though he was tired. Told him I'd take it easy, and we started off kindof flow rolling and then he jumped into full speed. And he got tuckered out pretty fast b/c he doesn't have his cardio back. I was trying to make sure I wasn't putting pressure on his knee even though he says that it's good to go. He was doing well, but just didn't have the juice. I told him to bebe more agua throughout the day.
Wrist Locks All Day
10/30
There were only three of us plus James. We started off going over the same technique as the no gi class from the night before. At some point it morphed into maintaining top position in deep half guard. Anytime you're holding their elbow to you, you've got keep your own elbow to your hip. When trying to maintain top deep half, I've just been pulling their elbow up instead of pinning it to my hip. Hopefully this mod will help me be more successful in that situation.
Rolls with Dennis, Todd and James. Dennis had great top position. I tried getting his arm over my shin in bottom side-control but the guys are getting wise to that move. I was able to use it once to help me shrimp away, so it wasn't for naught. Todd and I had a good back forth. I had his back at one point and was able to maintain long enough to finish a bow and arrow. James got me with at least one wrist lock b/c I grabbed his lapel like an idiot. How many times must I make this mistake? I can't help but curse and laugh each time he gets it. I spent most of the roll trying to pass, with little success.
Walter is coming in three weeks. I've been a bit more consistent with my Portuguese studying, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to exchange pleasantries and maybe have a discussion about colors and numbers. :p
There were only three of us plus James. We started off going over the same technique as the no gi class from the night before. At some point it morphed into maintaining top position in deep half guard. Anytime you're holding their elbow to you, you've got keep your own elbow to your hip. When trying to maintain top deep half, I've just been pulling their elbow up instead of pinning it to my hip. Hopefully this mod will help me be more successful in that situation.
Rolls with Dennis, Todd and James. Dennis had great top position. I tried getting his arm over my shin in bottom side-control but the guys are getting wise to that move. I was able to use it once to help me shrimp away, so it wasn't for naught. Todd and I had a good back forth. I had his back at one point and was able to maintain long enough to finish a bow and arrow. James got me with at least one wrist lock b/c I grabbed his lapel like an idiot. How many times must I make this mistake? I can't help but curse and laugh each time he gets it. I spent most of the roll trying to pass, with little success.
Walter is coming in three weeks. I've been a bit more consistent with my Portuguese studying, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to exchange pleasantries and maybe have a discussion about colors and numbers. :p
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
No Gi, No Grips
10/29
It's been awhile (couple of months?) since I've done a no gi class, so I decided I'd give it a whirl tonight. I forgot that James likes to use the no gi class for conditioning. We had a fairly rigorous warm-up (by our standards), and then worked open guard. Specifically, flaring out their elbow and latching on for straight arm-bars or transitioning to omoplatas. I had an uber flexible drilling partner, so it was difficult to tell if I was doing it right. The arm looked completely jacked up, so I must have been doing something right.
At the start of the roll I was once again flummoxed b/c there were no sleeve grips, no collar grips...nothing. I started with Savannah, which gave me a chance to ease into it a bit. I worked position and got a couple of arm-bars. I should have just stuck with transitioning through positions, but I wanted to see how my submission game was in no gi. Then Sol, who pretty much dominated in top side control for most of the match. I had one semi-legitimate escape, if that. Then a women who I haven't seen before but who is somewhat seasoned. I fared well and truly went for just positions instead of submissions. After that was Grant, who had top side for 90% of the match. I finally escaped when he went for something. He gave me props for continuing to fight for the escape, but he gets all the credit for keeping me down the entirety of the match. If it was point scoring he would have kicked my ass.
Last two rolls were with Julio and Jason. Just shoot me. Both of them were going for calf slicers. At one point Jason had my leg trapped and was falling backwards to further sink in whatever awfulness he was doing to my leg. I squawked out a rather loud verbal tap, b/c I was fearful for the health of my leg. Turned some heads, and I explained that everything was fine, just skerred. Some guys can kick my ass and I have little to no worry of injury. Other guys can kick my ass and I'm fearful everytime I roll that I'm not going to come out whole.
It's been awhile (couple of months?) since I've done a no gi class, so I decided I'd give it a whirl tonight. I forgot that James likes to use the no gi class for conditioning. We had a fairly rigorous warm-up (by our standards), and then worked open guard. Specifically, flaring out their elbow and latching on for straight arm-bars or transitioning to omoplatas. I had an uber flexible drilling partner, so it was difficult to tell if I was doing it right. The arm looked completely jacked up, so I must have been doing something right.
At the start of the roll I was once again flummoxed b/c there were no sleeve grips, no collar grips...nothing. I started with Savannah, which gave me a chance to ease into it a bit. I worked position and got a couple of arm-bars. I should have just stuck with transitioning through positions, but I wanted to see how my submission game was in no gi. Then Sol, who pretty much dominated in top side control for most of the match. I had one semi-legitimate escape, if that. Then a women who I haven't seen before but who is somewhat seasoned. I fared well and truly went for just positions instead of submissions. After that was Grant, who had top side for 90% of the match. I finally escaped when he went for something. He gave me props for continuing to fight for the escape, but he gets all the credit for keeping me down the entirety of the match. If it was point scoring he would have kicked my ass.
Last two rolls were with Julio and Jason. Just shoot me. Both of them were going for calf slicers. At one point Jason had my leg trapped and was falling backwards to further sink in whatever awfulness he was doing to my leg. I squawked out a rather loud verbal tap, b/c I was fearful for the health of my leg. Turned some heads, and I explained that everything was fine, just skerred. Some guys can kick my ass and I have little to no worry of injury. Other guys can kick my ass and I'm fearful everytime I roll that I'm not going to come out whole.
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