2/27 - Downtown
Today was a mix of passing drills and omoplata reversals. I really wish I would have taken notes, b/c James doled out quite a few good nuggets from various positions. Will try to remember as best I can.
Right arm felt really weird, like a tendon was out of place (best way I can describe it) on the inside of the elbow. Made the lower arm feel weak and generally not quite right. Feels better tonight, so hopefully just a temporary thing.
Technique
1. Very basic standing pass: If your opponent is laying flat on their back (by some freak of nature) with their legs up and you are standing in front of them, grab their ankles and pull toward you. Shake a bit side to side and then throw their legs in one direction as you pass to the other. Important to keep your posture and head up so that you don't take an accidental foot to the face. This is probably more of an MMA scenario.
2. Regain guard from #1: If you are the one getting passed in this manner, keep your inside leg on the mat and bring your outside leg to the hip that is closest to your head. For example, they throw your legs to the L. Let your legs be loose and hit the mat, as it will allow you to recover faster. Plant your R leg, cup the back of their L ankle with your R hand as you turn back into them and put your L foot on their L hip. As you face them again and regain contact with your R foot on their L hip and move L foot to their R hip.
James made a point here to not shrimp away from your opponent. This creates space and can often lead to your opponent gaining the upper hand in the pass. Better to maintain contact and face them again. This was a good nugget.
3. Omoplata Escape: Assume you are on your knees and opponent is on their back. Your R arm is under their L thigh and wrapped around the front of their R thigh. If your R forearm is turned back toward their chest you're in trouble. But if you can get it turned towards their legs, you can turn the corner around their R leg and pass. They may be likely from this position to transition to an arm-bar, especially if you have your L knee in a combat stance. They could hook their R foot under your L thigh and start to do awful things to you. If they do move their foot in that direction, catch it and put it on top of your neck and pass under their R leg. Key is to pivot around the leg, think of peeking/turning around the leg. Need to stay tight to make this work. If they try to reguard using #2 above, swim your L arm through the other leg and pass to the other side. Again, stay tight, keep upward pressure on their legs and turn the corner.
Rolls
Rolled with Chris first, he does such a good job of using his hips and applying pressure to get to side-control and stay there as long as he wants. I tried to regain guard but wasn't doing so hot. Rolled with Cory who got me with something, I don't remember, maybe an arm-bar? I got a triangle variation on him, didn't quite have it locked up but it was good enough. Had a collar grip too and I think that's what did it. Antone and I had a pretty interesting roll, I pulled off the oddest defense to date. He had top side-control and was yanking out his gi top out for some dirty choke. I was in a bad spot, but had enough of my hand free to get a grip on the fabric of his gi to keep him from doing whatever he was trying to do. He tried it on both sides and both times I was able to get enough of the fabric to stop him. I'm pretty sure he got me with something at least once (though not with the gi!). Rolled with Sam, don't remember much about it. Pretty sure he got me at least once and of course dominated position the entire time. Don't remember much about my roll with Manny either, other than I think it was somewhat competitive. Rolled with Julio last (tears in heaven) and he crushed and submitted.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Half Guard and KOB
2/26 - Valley
Just the two of us, so we went through a hodge podge of techniques. Got some good details out of techniques that have been giving me trouble lately.
1. Half Guard Pass: Bring your trapped knee up. If their leg is over the top, that's fine. Push/slide it off and get your knee to the ground. You can then airplane their head in the opposite direction, which, if done long enough, will result in freeing the rest of your foot if you're caught in quarter guard.
The lesson to note here is airplaning. I'd forgotten about this and need to keep it in mind when I get in mount or quarter mount.
2. Half Guard Pass: Pass the arm the closest to their head over their far side shoulder and turn your hips toward their hips (your body away from their head). Post your free leg straight back behind you (perpendicular to them) and then shrimp toward their near side armpit to free your trapped leg. I found this worked best when I got my butt to the ground to sweep their near side arm up against their head.
3. Half Guard Pass Reverse: If, while doing the above, the person attempting to pass bends their leg so that the person on the bottom can reach their foot, the person on the bottom can reverse by pulling their opponent's foot into the back of their calf and bridging toward their opponent.
4. Half Guard Sweep: If they have your L foot in half guard, pinch your legs and bridge to the R to get their weight off of their R foot. As their weight comes off, use your L hand to push their R knee back, then drive the bus to your L.
5. Ezekiel from Half Guard: Assuming your R leg is trapped, get your L forearm under their head and either grip your R sleeve and choke with your R hand or make a fist with your R hand, push against their neck and cup the outside of your wrist and upper palm with your left (no gi option).
I've been missing the detail of moving to the opposite direction first and pushing the knee back on this one. Kindof a big detail to miss.
5. KOB Escape: L hand on their R hip and R hand gripping their L pants on the outside of the knee. Shrimp away from the knee and keep L arm straight and stiff as you come up and ankle pick their R leg with your R hand. The key here is to keep pressure against their hip. If you do so, it makes it difficult for them to arm-bar or do anything else. I'd forgotten this detail.
6. KOB Escape: Bring your R knee through so it's in front of their L thigh. Leg doesn't need to be all the way through, just the knee in front. Grip their R sleeve on the upper arm and pull down as you kick your R leg up and over to your L.
7. KOB Escape: Push their knee back if necessary and cup/trap their R foot with your L ankle. Bring R knee through and finish same as #6.
8. KOB Escape: Same hand set-up as #5. Use your R hand to pull yourself under them. Grip their belt in the middle of their back with your R hand and the bottom of their L leg gi pants with your L hand. Pull them over the top of you, and then swing them in an arc to your R, driving your L arm around so that you end up in side control instead of ending up facing their feet.
Quick 5min roll with Gary. Finally pulled off a sweep that I've been trying unsuccessfully downtown (sleeve grip, foot on hip, other foot behind their other knee and cupping near side ankle). Got caught in some sort of choke, don't know what it was.
Just the two of us, so we went through a hodge podge of techniques. Got some good details out of techniques that have been giving me trouble lately.
1. Half Guard Pass: Bring your trapped knee up. If their leg is over the top, that's fine. Push/slide it off and get your knee to the ground. You can then airplane their head in the opposite direction, which, if done long enough, will result in freeing the rest of your foot if you're caught in quarter guard.
The lesson to note here is airplaning. I'd forgotten about this and need to keep it in mind when I get in mount or quarter mount.
2. Half Guard Pass: Pass the arm the closest to their head over their far side shoulder and turn your hips toward their hips (your body away from their head). Post your free leg straight back behind you (perpendicular to them) and then shrimp toward their near side armpit to free your trapped leg. I found this worked best when I got my butt to the ground to sweep their near side arm up against their head.
3. Half Guard Pass Reverse: If, while doing the above, the person attempting to pass bends their leg so that the person on the bottom can reach their foot, the person on the bottom can reverse by pulling their opponent's foot into the back of their calf and bridging toward their opponent.
4. Half Guard Sweep: If they have your L foot in half guard, pinch your legs and bridge to the R to get their weight off of their R foot. As their weight comes off, use your L hand to push their R knee back, then drive the bus to your L.
5. Ezekiel from Half Guard: Assuming your R leg is trapped, get your L forearm under their head and either grip your R sleeve and choke with your R hand or make a fist with your R hand, push against their neck and cup the outside of your wrist and upper palm with your left (no gi option).
I've been missing the detail of moving to the opposite direction first and pushing the knee back on this one. Kindof a big detail to miss.
5. KOB Escape: L hand on their R hip and R hand gripping their L pants on the outside of the knee. Shrimp away from the knee and keep L arm straight and stiff as you come up and ankle pick their R leg with your R hand. The key here is to keep pressure against their hip. If you do so, it makes it difficult for them to arm-bar or do anything else. I'd forgotten this detail.
6. KOB Escape: Bring your R knee through so it's in front of their L thigh. Leg doesn't need to be all the way through, just the knee in front. Grip their R sleeve on the upper arm and pull down as you kick your R leg up and over to your L.
7. KOB Escape: Push their knee back if necessary and cup/trap their R foot with your L ankle. Bring R knee through and finish same as #6.
8. KOB Escape: Same hand set-up as #5. Use your R hand to pull yourself under them. Grip their belt in the middle of their back with your R hand and the bottom of their L leg gi pants with your L hand. Pull them over the top of you, and then swing them in an arc to your R, driving your L arm around so that you end up in side control instead of ending up facing their feet.
Quick 5min roll with Gary. Finally pulled off a sweep that I've been trying unsuccessfully downtown (sleeve grip, foot on hip, other foot behind their other knee and cupping near side ankle). Got caught in some sort of choke, don't know what it was.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Pulling Guard
2/25 - Downtown
I'm in the midst of writing up notes from the seminar, but truthfully, I didn't put myself in a good position to take many notes and I'm probably going to forget most of what we learned. Hopefully not.
Yesterday was belt testing. So proud of the guys that got promoted. They earned it, unequivocally.
Today we did a couple of guard pulls. One was into DLR and then following it with a tomo nagi. The second was a fake guard pull to single ankle pick.
1. Fake with non-dominant hand (L) for a low lapel grip. When they fend it off, shoot your R in for a grip on their L lapel (mid-chest height). Get a sleeve grip on their R side with your L hand and pull them down and/or into you. This will pull them off balance and instinctively they'll want to pull up/back. When they do, post your R foot on their L hip and fall to your L side. Then rotate to your R side and feed your R foot under their L thigh for the DLR hook. Maintaining your grips, pull them into you, and ensure that your R hand is on the inside of your R knee. When you pull your R knee in toward your chest, it will help draw them in instead of just using your arms. Bring their body weight over you, get them off the ground, then roll them over your L (??) shoulder.
I really struggled with this one. All aspects. I kept wanting to fall to the L instead of the R b/c I thought that would be a more efficient way to get my R hook in, but no. I also had a hard time balancing people b/c I could never quite get my R foot in a position where it was helping to bear their weight.
2. Same set up as above, but fake putting R foot on their hip and step into them instead. Drop R knee to the ground, straighten your L arm to keep them off balance as you ankle pick their R leg with your L hand.
Rolled with Lilly, Russ, James, Antone. Antone got me back for yesterday's choke pretty quickly. :) Russ and I had a pretty good go round. We went again after class, and during one of those rolls I tried a berimbolo for the first time and almost got it. I seemed to have the set-up right anyway. James had me start standing with him and gave me some good tips on not sitting down as soon as I get a lapel grip. That's a dead-giveaway that you're going to pull guard. I need to stay balanced and not give them that hint.
I'm in the midst of writing up notes from the seminar, but truthfully, I didn't put myself in a good position to take many notes and I'm probably going to forget most of what we learned. Hopefully not.
Yesterday was belt testing. So proud of the guys that got promoted. They earned it, unequivocally.
Today we did a couple of guard pulls. One was into DLR and then following it with a tomo nagi. The second was a fake guard pull to single ankle pick.
1. Fake with non-dominant hand (L) for a low lapel grip. When they fend it off, shoot your R in for a grip on their L lapel (mid-chest height). Get a sleeve grip on their R side with your L hand and pull them down and/or into you. This will pull them off balance and instinctively they'll want to pull up/back. When they do, post your R foot on their L hip and fall to your L side. Then rotate to your R side and feed your R foot under their L thigh for the DLR hook. Maintaining your grips, pull them into you, and ensure that your R hand is on the inside of your R knee. When you pull your R knee in toward your chest, it will help draw them in instead of just using your arms. Bring their body weight over you, get them off the ground, then roll them over your L (??) shoulder.
I really struggled with this one. All aspects. I kept wanting to fall to the L instead of the R b/c I thought that would be a more efficient way to get my R hook in, but no. I also had a hard time balancing people b/c I could never quite get my R foot in a position where it was helping to bear their weight.
2. Same set up as above, but fake putting R foot on their hip and step into them instead. Drop R knee to the ground, straighten your L arm to keep them off balance as you ankle pick their R leg with your L hand.
Rolled with Lilly, Russ, James, Antone. Antone got me back for yesterday's choke pretty quickly. :) Russ and I had a pretty good go round. We went again after class, and during one of those rolls I tried a berimbolo for the first time and almost got it. I seemed to have the set-up right anyway. James had me start standing with him and gave me some good tips on not sitting down as soon as I get a lapel grip. That's a dead-giveaway that you're going to pull guard. I need to stay balanced and not give them that hint.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Takedowns
2/22 - Evening - Downtown
Second class of the day. I was pretty tuckered by the time class ended.
Tonight we did takedowns using the bottom of your opponent's lapel. As usual, it was an awkward process for me because I don't practice nearly as much as I should.
1. Use R hand to grip bottom of the L lapel and pull it up and toward you. Likely, they will pull back. Use that momentum to close the distance, and move to their R side (your L) as you pull their lapel behind them and switch it from your R hand to your L hand. At this point, you can hip throw them forward (get your feet in front of their feet, facing same direction and throw over your L hip) or backward (get your feet behind their feet and take them down.
2. If you use the latter takedown, keep your grip on their lapel as you move into side control. You can then use it to pull it away from you and pizza roll them onto their stomach. Other option is to keep a grip on it while you step your R foot by their head and then pull them into a triangle in your guard.
3. Assuming you are in side-control on their R side and don't yet have a grip on their lapel, use your R hand to grip the bottom of their L lapel and pull it away from their body so it's taut. Feed it under their L armpit as you feed your L hand under their head. Transfer lapel from your R hand to your L. Move into a more N/S position and be on your knees instead of flat. Idea is to give them some space to turn into you. As they do, take their L arm for a straight arm-bar or if their wrist isn't against your neck, step over their head and arm-bar.
Did the king-of-the-hill rolling again since we had 20+ people in attendance. Had a brief roll with Nando but he didn't go long b/c he had an long, long roll with another guy. Rolled with James M twice. One roll with Michael, who got blood on my white new Shoyoroll (!!!!), Sonny once and James once. Did ok on the rolls.
Second class of the day. I was pretty tuckered by the time class ended.
Tonight we did takedowns using the bottom of your opponent's lapel. As usual, it was an awkward process for me because I don't practice nearly as much as I should.
1. Use R hand to grip bottom of the L lapel and pull it up and toward you. Likely, they will pull back. Use that momentum to close the distance, and move to their R side (your L) as you pull their lapel behind them and switch it from your R hand to your L hand. At this point, you can hip throw them forward (get your feet in front of their feet, facing same direction and throw over your L hip) or backward (get your feet behind their feet and take them down.
2. If you use the latter takedown, keep your grip on their lapel as you move into side control. You can then use it to pull it away from you and pizza roll them onto their stomach. Other option is to keep a grip on it while you step your R foot by their head and then pull them into a triangle in your guard.
3. Assuming you are in side-control on their R side and don't yet have a grip on their lapel, use your R hand to grip the bottom of their L lapel and pull it away from their body so it's taut. Feed it under their L armpit as you feed your L hand under their head. Transfer lapel from your R hand to your L. Move into a more N/S position and be on your knees instead of flat. Idea is to give them some space to turn into you. As they do, take their L arm for a straight arm-bar or if their wrist isn't against your neck, step over their head and arm-bar.
Did the king-of-the-hill rolling again since we had 20+ people in attendance. Had a brief roll with Nando but he didn't go long b/c he had an long, long roll with another guy. Rolled with James M twice. One roll with Michael, who got blood on my white new Shoyoroll (!!!!), Sonny once and James once. Did ok on the rolls.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Turtle Escape to Arm Bar
2/22 - Downtown (Afternoon)
We worked a fair amount on warm-ups, primarily moves that would improve hipping out ability. I thought I'd be good at these, but, no, not so much.
The main technique we focused on was getting to a straight arm-bar from turtle. Opponent is on your L side. Invite them to take your lapel by guarding L side of neck with R hand while L hand is on the mat or in front of you. Idea is to bait them to feed their hand under your L arm and take your R lapel. When they do, reach over the top of their L arm with your L arm, turn to your L side and keep their arm straight out as much as possible. Pin their wrist to your neck, and move your ear toward your shoulder to help keep their wrist locked in. Gable grip above their elbow and arm-bar.
If they roll to get out of the arm-bar, roll with them. You should end up perpendicular to them, with head planted on the mat and feet on other side of their arm. Tops of feet should be pushing into their chest near their arm-pit and on their neck. Get their wrist to your neck and hands gripped together between their elbow and the floor. Pull up for arm-bar.
Rolled with Chris, Julio, Dennis, Daniel and Saul. Good roll with Chris, he got me with a head and arm type choke. My goal when rolling with him is to stay out of bottom side-control. So far pretty unsuccessful. Julio smothered me. I tried to take his back once to no avail. Dennis and I had a pretty good back and forth. I had a triangle set up but couldn't finish (shocker). He got me with something, can't remember what. Saul swept me another dozen times. I wasn't happy with how I did, b/c I did a bunch of dumb things when trying to pass. Meh.
Another class tonight with my new gi. Boom!
We worked a fair amount on warm-ups, primarily moves that would improve hipping out ability. I thought I'd be good at these, but, no, not so much.
The main technique we focused on was getting to a straight arm-bar from turtle. Opponent is on your L side. Invite them to take your lapel by guarding L side of neck with R hand while L hand is on the mat or in front of you. Idea is to bait them to feed their hand under your L arm and take your R lapel. When they do, reach over the top of their L arm with your L arm, turn to your L side and keep their arm straight out as much as possible. Pin their wrist to your neck, and move your ear toward your shoulder to help keep their wrist locked in. Gable grip above their elbow and arm-bar.
If they roll to get out of the arm-bar, roll with them. You should end up perpendicular to them, with head planted on the mat and feet on other side of their arm. Tops of feet should be pushing into their chest near their arm-pit and on their neck. Get their wrist to your neck and hands gripped together between their elbow and the floor. Pull up for arm-bar.
Rolled with Chris, Julio, Dennis, Daniel and Saul. Good roll with Chris, he got me with a head and arm type choke. My goal when rolling with him is to stay out of bottom side-control. So far pretty unsuccessful. Julio smothered me. I tried to take his back once to no avail. Dennis and I had a pretty good back and forth. I had a triangle set up but couldn't finish (shocker). He got me with something, can't remember what. Saul swept me another dozen times. I wasn't happy with how I did, b/c I did a bunch of dumb things when trying to pass. Meh.
Another class tonight with my new gi. Boom!
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Jumping Guard
2/21 - Downtown
The Valley class was cancelled. Worked out ok though, b/c I went to the downtown class. Our instructor's instructor is here for the next couple of days. A bunch of people showed up tonight, probably ~25 or so. We did jumping into guard, jumping into guard and transitioning to DLR, and then sweeping with DLR if they get their inside leg out.
I decided to get the white SYR gi. Wore it to class tonight, couldn't help myself. Probably should have washed it first, but as soon as I tried it on with my belt, I couldn't take it off. By the time we were done rolling it was pretty foul. Especially since there isn't much of an air current in the school and we had so many people. Mmmf.
1. Jumping guard: Aim for their upper chest and you'll land on their hips.
2. Jumping guard to take down: Jump guard, get underhooks on both sides and gable grip your hands together. Drop R foot behind you and stay on your toes as you also drop your L foot, which should be positioned behind their R foot (your L leg wraps around the front of their R leg and your L foot is in the back). Drive into them and move to side-control.
3. Jumping guard to DLR: Jump guard, pull yourself a bit to their L side and drop down. Feed your L leg behind their R leg and then foot across their L hip (top of foot should be pressing against their hip). The deeper you can get this the better. R leg is across the front of their R leg and your L foot is hooked behind their L knee. R hand is on their R lapel and L hand is holding the back of the ankle. If you are doing push/pull you should have pretty good control of them and they shouldn't be able to pass.
4. Same as above, but they get their R leg free and pass to the L of your L leg. Drop your R foot to behind their L ankle, keep R foot on their hip, replace grip with L hand on behind their R ankle. Sweep L leg forward (parallel to mat), push with R leg and keep them from moving their R foot with your L hand. Once they come down, you should be in position to foot lock by sliding L arm under their ankle, gripping your R side lapel and arching back. Walter made a good point of turning the wrist so the blade of the wrist is flush with their ankle calf.
King-of-the-hill rolls at the end b/c we had so many people. I rolled with Felicia, Wayne, Andy, James and Walter. The last two rolls were pretty brief b/c they wanted time to roll with everyone.
The Valley class was cancelled. Worked out ok though, b/c I went to the downtown class. Our instructor's instructor is here for the next couple of days. A bunch of people showed up tonight, probably ~25 or so. We did jumping into guard, jumping into guard and transitioning to DLR, and then sweeping with DLR if they get their inside leg out.
I decided to get the white SYR gi. Wore it to class tonight, couldn't help myself. Probably should have washed it first, but as soon as I tried it on with my belt, I couldn't take it off. By the time we were done rolling it was pretty foul. Especially since there isn't much of an air current in the school and we had so many people. Mmmf.
1. Jumping guard: Aim for their upper chest and you'll land on their hips.
2. Jumping guard to take down: Jump guard, get underhooks on both sides and gable grip your hands together. Drop R foot behind you and stay on your toes as you also drop your L foot, which should be positioned behind their R foot (your L leg wraps around the front of their R leg and your L foot is in the back). Drive into them and move to side-control.
3. Jumping guard to DLR: Jump guard, pull yourself a bit to their L side and drop down. Feed your L leg behind their R leg and then foot across their L hip (top of foot should be pressing against their hip). The deeper you can get this the better. R leg is across the front of their R leg and your L foot is hooked behind their L knee. R hand is on their R lapel and L hand is holding the back of the ankle. If you are doing push/pull you should have pretty good control of them and they shouldn't be able to pass.
4. Same as above, but they get their R leg free and pass to the L of your L leg. Drop your R foot to behind their L ankle, keep R foot on their hip, replace grip with L hand on behind their R ankle. Sweep L leg forward (parallel to mat), push with R leg and keep them from moving their R foot with your L hand. Once they come down, you should be in position to foot lock by sliding L arm under their ankle, gripping your R side lapel and arching back. Walter made a good point of turning the wrist so the blade of the wrist is flush with their ankle calf.
King-of-the-hill rolls at the end b/c we had so many people. I rolled with Felicia, Wayne, Andy, James and Walter. The last two rolls were pretty brief b/c they wanted time to roll with everyone.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Arm-Wrap
2/20 - Downtown
We worked on submissions from an arm-wrap from guard today. I was really thrown, b/c I did arm-wrap from guard yesterday, but the set-up was totally different. Doesn't take much to rock my world, apparently.
The arm-wrap set-up was to pull your opponent into you using your legs, and with a grip on their R sleeve, pass their arm across your body to your upper R shoulder. Duck your head and L arm under and through, and then arm-wrap their R arm with your L.
From there, we did the choke, then arm-bar (almost a shoulder lock of sorts depending on where your knee is coming down on their arm), then an omoplata variation and finally a straight arm-bar. Lots of options, depending on how they try to defend.
The omoplata variation was assuming you have the wrap and have attempted an arm-bar with your L leg on their arm/shoulder. If they curl their hand around to your thigh, release the lapel grip and use your L hand to slide under their R hand. Bring your R hand over the top of their elbow and gable grip your hands. Pull their elbow toward your head. Nasty little lock. If they try to defend by straightening their arm back out, you should be in a good position for a straight arm-bar.
Speaking of which, I really struggle with those. Primarily b/c a) I can't seem to find their elbow and b) I can't tell which way their arm is rotated even if I do find the elbow. Almost makes me want to take up no gi. Almost.
Good rolls today, but felt like I was just flailing about and making the same mistakes over and over near the end. Had an interesting roll with Saul in which he clearly wanted to work sweeps from open guard. We must have reset close to ten times during the five minute roll, each time with me trying to think of another way to attack his open guard. One thing I never tried was standing up. Rolls with Nando, Antone, Julio, Chris and Saul. That awesome sweep that I hit over and over during drilling yesterday? Not so much today. I mean, not even close. Dudes weren't budging. I really must have been doing something wrong. Back to the drawing board...
Oh, and I registered for Pan Ams today. Kinda excited. :)
We worked on submissions from an arm-wrap from guard today. I was really thrown, b/c I did arm-wrap from guard yesterday, but the set-up was totally different. Doesn't take much to rock my world, apparently.
The arm-wrap set-up was to pull your opponent into you using your legs, and with a grip on their R sleeve, pass their arm across your body to your upper R shoulder. Duck your head and L arm under and through, and then arm-wrap their R arm with your L.
From there, we did the choke, then arm-bar (almost a shoulder lock of sorts depending on where your knee is coming down on their arm), then an omoplata variation and finally a straight arm-bar. Lots of options, depending on how they try to defend.
The omoplata variation was assuming you have the wrap and have attempted an arm-bar with your L leg on their arm/shoulder. If they curl their hand around to your thigh, release the lapel grip and use your L hand to slide under their R hand. Bring your R hand over the top of their elbow and gable grip your hands. Pull their elbow toward your head. Nasty little lock. If they try to defend by straightening their arm back out, you should be in a good position for a straight arm-bar.
Speaking of which, I really struggle with those. Primarily b/c a) I can't seem to find their elbow and b) I can't tell which way their arm is rotated even if I do find the elbow. Almost makes me want to take up no gi. Almost.
Good rolls today, but felt like I was just flailing about and making the same mistakes over and over near the end. Had an interesting roll with Saul in which he clearly wanted to work sweeps from open guard. We must have reset close to ten times during the five minute roll, each time with me trying to think of another way to attack his open guard. One thing I never tried was standing up. Rolls with Nando, Antone, Julio, Chris and Saul. That awesome sweep that I hit over and over during drilling yesterday? Not so much today. I mean, not even close. Dudes weren't budging. I really must have been doing something wrong. Back to the drawing board...
Oh, and I registered for Pan Ams today. Kinda excited. :)
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Sweeps
2/19 - Valley
Registration opened for Pan Ams today. I'm giddy. On the inside.
Went over quite a few sweeps today. I'm going to try to incorporate one of the simplest into my rolls this week. It's just too easy. With a tight, high guard, bring their posture forward with your legs. As their momentum comes over your hips, bring L leg down and scissor their R leg as you pull up on their L knee with your R hand. Too easy.
Another variation is to pull them forward with your legs, and then grapevine their R leg with your L, get sleeve control on their R side and pull their L knee up with your R hand.
I would dearly love to hit one of the sweeps for a mount position in a tournament.
No rolling today.
Registration opened for Pan Ams today. I'm giddy. On the inside.
Went over quite a few sweeps today. I'm going to try to incorporate one of the simplest into my rolls this week. It's just too easy. With a tight, high guard, bring their posture forward with your legs. As their momentum comes over your hips, bring L leg down and scissor their R leg as you pull up on their L knee with your R hand. Too easy.
Another variation is to pull them forward with your legs, and then grapevine their R leg with your L, get sleeve control on their R side and pull their L knee up with your R hand.
I would dearly love to hit one of the sweeps for a mount position in a tournament.
No rolling today.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Half Guard Passes
2/18 - Downtown
First class back after a week off from laryngitis and who knows what else. Of course, we started off with circuits, joy. Was able to get through them, felt a little more tired than normal, but not too bad. We did a couple of variations of half guard passes and then a few rolls. Was great to be back and not feeling death.
Set-up: Opponent has you in half guard and has their feet together with toes stacked and they're laying on their R side and have your R leg in half guard.
1. Smash Pass to Side Control: Put R hand between their legs and place on the ground. Place L hand on ground farther out and dive your R shoulder toward the ground and turn it away from their legs. This should open their feet. Bring your R leg straight out on the ground to your R and then lift it up and back over the L (windshield wiper). Once you clear your leg, sleeve grip their bottom hand (R) and pull it toward you so they can't get on their elbow and dive your head into their R shoulder to drive them back. Get clear your legs and get your butt on the ground, then work your butt and legs back toward their hips to clear their legs. Move into side-control.
2. Step Over: Opponent has an underhook and is trying to take your back on your R side. Post out with your L hand and step back over the top of them with your L foot and then your R. Presumably they will still have control of your R leg. To prevent them from sweeping you (using their R foot to hook under your R ankle and grabbing your L lapel and rolling you over the L), get your knee up to their L thigh, as they need to get their L leg on the ground to complete the sweep. You can also underhook their L leg with your L arm. Once you have prevented the sweep, if they have a grip with their R hand on your R leg you can break it, and then elbow off their L knee with your L elbow. Pop your leg free and either move into side control or mount.
3. From bottom half guard, if your opponent gets you into #2 but they aren't on their toes after they've established position on your L side, you can shoot your arms and legs up to your upper L (release any hook you have their leg) and roll over the top of them to get side control. Pretty pimp move.
Rolled with Sara, Nando and Manny. Good rolls all of them. Went inverted a couple of times with Nando but didn't know what to do with it so ended up in danger of being back-mounted. Manny was doing a great job of sprawling out and keeping his weight on me while passing guard. I tried to close a triangle on him but just couldn't finish it.
First class back after a week off from laryngitis and who knows what else. Of course, we started off with circuits, joy. Was able to get through them, felt a little more tired than normal, but not too bad. We did a couple of variations of half guard passes and then a few rolls. Was great to be back and not feeling death.
Set-up: Opponent has you in half guard and has their feet together with toes stacked and they're laying on their R side and have your R leg in half guard.
1. Smash Pass to Side Control: Put R hand between their legs and place on the ground. Place L hand on ground farther out and dive your R shoulder toward the ground and turn it away from their legs. This should open their feet. Bring your R leg straight out on the ground to your R and then lift it up and back over the L (windshield wiper). Once you clear your leg, sleeve grip their bottom hand (R) and pull it toward you so they can't get on their elbow and dive your head into their R shoulder to drive them back. Get clear your legs and get your butt on the ground, then work your butt and legs back toward their hips to clear their legs. Move into side-control.
2. Step Over: Opponent has an underhook and is trying to take your back on your R side. Post out with your L hand and step back over the top of them with your L foot and then your R. Presumably they will still have control of your R leg. To prevent them from sweeping you (using their R foot to hook under your R ankle and grabbing your L lapel and rolling you over the L), get your knee up to their L thigh, as they need to get their L leg on the ground to complete the sweep. You can also underhook their L leg with your L arm. Once you have prevented the sweep, if they have a grip with their R hand on your R leg you can break it, and then elbow off their L knee with your L elbow. Pop your leg free and either move into side control or mount.
3. From bottom half guard, if your opponent gets you into #2 but they aren't on their toes after they've established position on your L side, you can shoot your arms and legs up to your upper L (release any hook you have their leg) and roll over the top of them to get side control. Pretty pimp move.
Rolled with Sara, Nando and Manny. Good rolls all of them. Went inverted a couple of times with Nando but didn't know what to do with it so ended up in danger of being back-mounted. Manny was doing a great job of sprawling out and keeping his weight on me while passing guard. I tried to close a triangle on him but just couldn't finish it.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Weight Class Woes
2/13
No training today. Laryngitis, or something that very closely mimics vocal cord failure. Yesterday I was rockin the sexy sick voice, today I sound like a barely functioning human.
Anyway, I'm checking out some events, trying to figure out how much I want to compete this year. Looking at results from past events, it seems like the 152-163lb weight class is a kindof purgatory for women. Either you're under 152lb or you are way over 163lb. I think that I'll have competitors at my weight class at Pans, but likely all masters and seniors will be combined, if I'm reading the results from last year correctly. Which is fine, as I'm just barely in the Senior 1 category anyway.
But for the smaller tournaments, it makes me consider cutting weight just to be able to be guaranteed a decent number of matches at my level. I'm still loathe to cut, as I worry about the stress of cutting on top of tournament stress. I prefer to go into matches feeling at full strength if possible. I had a clean diet and didn't eat much the day before the last tournament and I think I was at ~154lb (with gi) or thereabouts. So maybe it wouldn't be that big of a deal to get there. I really don't want the added stress though, especially with the potential to be DQ'd if you don't make weight.
Decisions, decisions...
No training today. Laryngitis, or something that very closely mimics vocal cord failure. Yesterday I was rockin the sexy sick voice, today I sound like a barely functioning human.
Anyway, I'm checking out some events, trying to figure out how much I want to compete this year. Looking at results from past events, it seems like the 152-163lb weight class is a kindof purgatory for women. Either you're under 152lb or you are way over 163lb. I think that I'll have competitors at my weight class at Pans, but likely all masters and seniors will be combined, if I'm reading the results from last year correctly. Which is fine, as I'm just barely in the Senior 1 category anyway.
But for the smaller tournaments, it makes me consider cutting weight just to be able to be guaranteed a decent number of matches at my level. I'm still loathe to cut, as I worry about the stress of cutting on top of tournament stress. I prefer to go into matches feeling at full strength if possible. I had a clean diet and didn't eat much the day before the last tournament and I think I was at ~154lb (with gi) or thereabouts. So maybe it wouldn't be that big of a deal to get there. I really don't want the added stress though, especially with the potential to be DQ'd if you don't make weight.
Decisions, decisions...
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sweeps
2/12 - Valley
Today we took a break from north/south and worked sweeps instead. I've gained a lot from the focus on n/s, especially during live rolls at the other school. Was nice to look at something else for awhile though.
I noticed this morning that my voice was froggy at work and my throat didn't feel awesome. The situation got worse during warm-ups, but was fine after that. One quick roll with Gary at the end.
Notes of the various sweeps:
1. Double-ankle: Scoot your body under them more if you're too far away and it's not working.
2. Handstand: Keep a hold of the leg that you initially lock onto until you've completed the sweep. It'll keep them from running away from you.
3. Hook Sweep: Get knee high, almost on their shoulder. This will make it more effective than being on their stomach or lower chest. Also remember to pull them into you before scissoring them over.
4. Overhead Sweep: When I was being swept I felt like I was too much on my neck. Might have just been my extra sensitivity b/c of the oncoming cold. Never, ever feel comfortable with this.
Today we took a break from north/south and worked sweeps instead. I've gained a lot from the focus on n/s, especially during live rolls at the other school. Was nice to look at something else for awhile though.
I noticed this morning that my voice was froggy at work and my throat didn't feel awesome. The situation got worse during warm-ups, but was fine after that. One quick roll with Gary at the end.
Notes of the various sweeps:
1. Double-ankle: Scoot your body under them more if you're too far away and it's not working.
2. Handstand: Keep a hold of the leg that you initially lock onto until you've completed the sweep. It'll keep them from running away from you.
3. Hook Sweep: Get knee high, almost on their shoulder. This will make it more effective than being on their stomach or lower chest. Also remember to pull them into you before scissoring them over.
4. Overhead Sweep: When I was being swept I felt like I was too much on my neck. Might have just been my extra sensitivity b/c of the oncoming cold. Never, ever feel comfortable with this.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Spider Guard
2/11
Some rather basic techniques from spider guard.
Set-up:
You have grips on both sleeves and feet are on hips of kneeling opponent. Opponent puts their R knee up in combat stance.
1. Spider guard to Triangle: R foot goes on the inside of their L elbow. L shin comes across their R shin with knee off to the L. Push them back and to the R with your R foot while you hook on the inside of their R foot with your L foot. Pull it up and to your L (clearing the knee). Put L foot on their R hip, shoot R leg over their back/neck and lock triangle with L leg.
2. Spider guard to Omoplata: Same set-up as above to the point where the knee is cleared. Wrap your L leg around their R arm and hook their back. Face them dead-on (don't be on your R hip, otherwise they'll be able to unwrap their R arm), let go of the sleeve with your R hand, reach over and grip the elbow of their R arm, kick leg straight, let go of sleeve with L hand and use that to grip the back of their elbow too as you turn into them for omoplata.
3. Spider guard sweep to arm bar: Opponent does not have knee up. R foot on inside of their L elbow. L foot to their knee. Push R foot up and straighten L leg. You are trying to straighten your body, not push them over. They should end up on their back. Keep R foot on their L arm, post with your L hand for an arm-bar on their R arm. Or, slide your L knee under their arm and use L foot under their head to the lift them up and bring them closer to you for the arm-bar. I much preferred this method, but I was working with Sara and she weighs about 30lb less than I do. :p
Notes:
Rolls:
Sara, Kevin, Gabe, Manny. Good rolls today. Gabe is a bigger dude and got in side-control and wasn't much I was able to do. Kevin let me work on spider guard a bit. I tried to get back-mount on Sara and she almost got a deep half guard pass. Manny and I had a good roll. At one point we restarted and he let me get top side-control, and then proceeded to bench me off of him over his head. Felt like he was benching me anyway. :)
Some rather basic techniques from spider guard.
Set-up:
You have grips on both sleeves and feet are on hips of kneeling opponent. Opponent puts their R knee up in combat stance.
1. Spider guard to Triangle: R foot goes on the inside of their L elbow. L shin comes across their R shin with knee off to the L. Push them back and to the R with your R foot while you hook on the inside of their R foot with your L foot. Pull it up and to your L (clearing the knee). Put L foot on their R hip, shoot R leg over their back/neck and lock triangle with L leg.
2. Spider guard to Omoplata: Same set-up as above to the point where the knee is cleared. Wrap your L leg around their R arm and hook their back. Face them dead-on (don't be on your R hip, otherwise they'll be able to unwrap their R arm), let go of the sleeve with your R hand, reach over and grip the elbow of their R arm, kick leg straight, let go of sleeve with L hand and use that to grip the back of their elbow too as you turn into them for omoplata.
3. Spider guard sweep to arm bar: Opponent does not have knee up. R foot on inside of their L elbow. L foot to their knee. Push R foot up and straighten L leg. You are trying to straighten your body, not push them over. They should end up on their back. Keep R foot on their L arm, post with your L hand for an arm-bar on their R arm. Or, slide your L knee under their arm and use L foot under their head to the lift them up and bring them closer to you for the arm-bar. I much preferred this method, but I was working with Sara and she weighs about 30lb less than I do. :p
Notes:
- Use your hips a lot to position yourself in spider guard. Especially to clear the knee in techniques #1 & #2. Fortunately, this is one thing that comes naturally to me. Also, there was no way I was getting my L shin in front of their R shin without hipping around.
- Always, always keep pressure and moving in spider guard to keep them off balance.
- If someone has you spider guard and has a foot on your bicep/elbow, do NOT put up the knee on that side. You're begging to be swept.
- To finish the omoplata, don't grab their hip. Try to get an underhook on the far side arm or grip over their back on their lapel. I need to remember this, b/c people roll out of my omoplatas all the time b/c I'm trying to hold down their hips.
Rolls:
Sara, Kevin, Gabe, Manny. Good rolls today. Gabe is a bigger dude and got in side-control and wasn't much I was able to do. Kevin let me work on spider guard a bit. I tried to get back-mount on Sara and she almost got a deep half guard pass. Manny and I had a good roll. At one point we restarted and he let me get top side-control, and then proceeded to bench me off of him over his head. Felt like he was benching me anyway. :)
Catch Up
Not doing a good job of keeping up with this. Yesterday I finally felt like my body was caught up with sleep and food.
2/7
BJJ 1hr - Valley
North/South escapes. No new techniques, but some variations and chaining techniques together.
2/8
BJJ 1.5hrs - Downtown
Scissor sweep, reverse scissor sweep, triangle from scissor set-up.
2/9
BJJ 1.5hrs - Downtown
Improving top turtle position. Nothing new from what we've worked on before, but there's so much detail needed (not to mention timing) to make them successful. We did two minute drills to escape/improve turtle. Nando recovered guard almost every single time, very quickly. It took me a bit, but when it was my turn to start from bottom I was eventually getting to at least half guard fairly well.
Had a good roll with Nando, lots of transitions. Tried to get Colt into a weird almost inverted triangle which I couldn't finish. Should have gone for an omoplata instead. Think I had a roll with James, and a couple of others.
Rolls are going well lately, I'm not getting frustrated like I was a couple of weeks ago. I think I put too much pressure on myself before the comp.
2/7
BJJ 1hr - Valley
North/South escapes. No new techniques, but some variations and chaining techniques together.
2/8
BJJ 1.5hrs - Downtown
Scissor sweep, reverse scissor sweep, triangle from scissor set-up.
2/9
BJJ 1.5hrs - Downtown
Improving top turtle position. Nothing new from what we've worked on before, but there's so much detail needed (not to mention timing) to make them successful. We did two minute drills to escape/improve turtle. Nando recovered guard almost every single time, very quickly. It took me a bit, but when it was my turn to start from bottom I was eventually getting to at least half guard fairly well.
Had a good roll with Nando, lots of transitions. Tried to get Colt into a weird almost inverted triangle which I couldn't finish. Should have gone for an omoplata instead. Think I had a roll with James, and a couple of others.
Rolls are going well lately, I'm not getting frustrated like I was a couple of weeks ago. I think I put too much pressure on myself before the comp.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
De La Riva Sweeps
2/6 - Downtown
I think this was my first time working with DLR. That is both awesome and embarrassing.
Was a little apprehensive about class, hoping that my funk from the previous couple of weeks was fully gone but wouldn't know for sure until we started rolling.
Set-up: You have spider guard on an opponent who has their R knee up.
1. Slide your L leg behind their R knee and all the way through til your foot is across their L hip. Push their L knee back with your R leg to help get you up.
Crap. I have no idea what happens after this. We worked on several variations and they're all jumbled in my head. I knew I should have taken notes after class.
Rolls
First roll with Blaine, who eventually got me with some sort of choke. I tried hard to stay out of side-control, but to no real avail. Then Joe, a pretty new white belt that I got with a triangle and omoplata. I really, really ought to work sweeps instead of subs on new white belts, but I can't help myself. Then Keith, who I felt pretty evenly matched with. Kept trying to take his back and/or arm-bar or omoplata. Final roll was with Antone, who got me several times, once with a wrist lock. RRRrrrrr. I thought I came close to getting his back at one point but couldn't finish it off.
Overall, very happy with first class back. Colt got another stripe on his belt and will be testing for blue at the end of this month, which is very well deserved with his solid performance at the tournament.
I think this was my first time working with DLR. That is both awesome and embarrassing.
Was a little apprehensive about class, hoping that my funk from the previous couple of weeks was fully gone but wouldn't know for sure until we started rolling.
Set-up: You have spider guard on an opponent who has their R knee up.
1. Slide your L leg behind their R knee and all the way through til your foot is across their L hip. Push their L knee back with your R leg to help get you up.
Crap. I have no idea what happens after this. We worked on several variations and they're all jumbled in my head. I knew I should have taken notes after class.
Rolls
First roll with Blaine, who eventually got me with some sort of choke. I tried hard to stay out of side-control, but to no real avail. Then Joe, a pretty new white belt that I got with a triangle and omoplata. I really, really ought to work sweeps instead of subs on new white belts, but I can't help myself. Then Keith, who I felt pretty evenly matched with. Kept trying to take his back and/or arm-bar or omoplata. Final roll was with Antone, who got me several times, once with a wrist lock. RRRrrrrr. I thought I came close to getting his back at one point but couldn't finish it off.
Overall, very happy with first class back. Colt got another stripe on his belt and will be testing for blue at the end of this month, which is very well deserved with his solid performance at the tournament.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
North/South - Maintaining and Escapes
2/5 - Valley
Just Gary and I, and we went over maintaining N/S and refining escapes. I tried the over/under top position and didn't like it very much. When I'm rolling I feel like I ought to be able to pull off the escapes but people are too good about not letting me get the space to work them. Gary and I did discover that an advantage to fishtailing your legs around to get to half-guard (or even to do the roll-to-the-back) is that if your opponent blocks one side, you have the momentum to go to the other and they probably won't be able to get there fast enough. Will have to try it out during rolls to see how it works.
We rolled for a bit, really good back and forth. I tried to work triangles, arm-bars and omoplatas while he caught me repeatedly with a leg that was way out of position. Fun to roll with him, it's been awhile.
Fun to roll in general. I feel like a lot of pressure is off, and if I get crushed this week it's not going to feel like crushing. At least that's the hope. Just take it as a learning experience, and try to do as much as I can between now and Pan Ams to have a solid game plan and the skills to implement it.
Just Gary and I, and we went over maintaining N/S and refining escapes. I tried the over/under top position and didn't like it very much. When I'm rolling I feel like I ought to be able to pull off the escapes but people are too good about not letting me get the space to work them. Gary and I did discover that an advantage to fishtailing your legs around to get to half-guard (or even to do the roll-to-the-back) is that if your opponent blocks one side, you have the momentum to go to the other and they probably won't be able to get there fast enough. Will have to try it out during rolls to see how it works.
We rolled for a bit, really good back and forth. I tried to work triangles, arm-bars and omoplatas while he caught me repeatedly with a leg that was way out of position. Fun to roll with him, it's been awhile.
Fun to roll in general. I feel like a lot of pressure is off, and if I get crushed this week it's not going to feel like crushing. At least that's the hope. Just take it as a learning experience, and try to do as much as I can between now and Pan Ams to have a solid game plan and the skills to implement it.
Gold
2/2 NW BJJ Regional Championship
Traveled to Portland, Oregon for the tournament with the team. First travel with this team and had an absolute blast. Left on Friday, arrived in the evening. I think we had 6 people in a 2 bedroom hotel suite on Friday night and 6 people in a single on Saturday night. We travel cozy (and inexpensive).
Food was an issue, primarily b/c I didn't give much thought to it until I was hungry and not in a position to obtain nutrients. I brought a light lunch/dinner for Friday and that was it. I wasn't trying to cut weight, but just making sure that I could maintain safely at several pounds under. I thought we'd all go out to breakfast on Saturday morning, but a bunch of teammates were cutting and we were cutting it close with scheduling, so some instant oatmeal and banana was it. For 12hrs.
Also didn't handle water very well, in that I probably drank half a glass of water all weekend.
That said, we got to the tournament and I ended up with one person in my bracket that was a weight class above me. She was also a white belt. Gar. Of course, I find this out before the rest of my bracket is even called to the bullpen, and I was not ready nor warmed up. I got called up, they explained what was going on, and then we were hitting the mat. Best two out of three matches wins the bracket. I don't think she was much heavier than I was...20lb, if that. We had talked game plans the day before on the drive over, and mine was this: pull guard, work submissions, sweep, mount, submit. So I executed my plan...I pulled guard, I worked a triangle which I couldn't finish (gaaaaaaaarrrr), then transitioned to an arm-bar which I was able to finish. I felt pretty happy with the arm-bar b/c the way we were positioned, I couldn't really see what I had but it felt legit, so I went for it (gently).
Second match, she comes out and pulls guard right away (it's called coaching adjustments, and she had a good coach) and went for a collar choke. She did a great job of breaking my posture. The collar choke got very tight, and had I been in class I would have tapped. However, I let ego get in the way and really did not want to tap to a white belt in competition. So I rode it out, and eventually I think her grip got tired and I was able to survive. Finally got posture, passed her guard, got to side control, then mount, then finished with a fog choke. I don't remember many of the details, I hope someone got it on video.
Gold.
I'm happy for it, but don't really feel like I deserve it. I'm not knocking my opponent in any way...she almost got me with the collar choke and was a good match. Just want to feel like I really earned a gold at the blue belt level, and I don't.
In any case, I missed the call for absolutes, so my chance to roll with other blue belts was wasted. Pretty sad about that.
The team celebrated that night by going out and (eventually) finding a place to eat. Had a little food and a lot of drinks, then went to Voodoo Donuts to get some really funky pastries.
Woke up with a hangover for the first time in probably a year, walked down to Powell's books in flip flops (I left my shoes at the gym where the tournament was held, and still don't have them back) and spent part of a paycheck buying awesome books. Drove home, and ate like a pig and slept like a baby.
Traveled to Portland, Oregon for the tournament with the team. First travel with this team and had an absolute blast. Left on Friday, arrived in the evening. I think we had 6 people in a 2 bedroom hotel suite on Friday night and 6 people in a single on Saturday night. We travel cozy (and inexpensive).
Food was an issue, primarily b/c I didn't give much thought to it until I was hungry and not in a position to obtain nutrients. I brought a light lunch/dinner for Friday and that was it. I wasn't trying to cut weight, but just making sure that I could maintain safely at several pounds under. I thought we'd all go out to breakfast on Saturday morning, but a bunch of teammates were cutting and we were cutting it close with scheduling, so some instant oatmeal and banana was it. For 12hrs.
Also didn't handle water very well, in that I probably drank half a glass of water all weekend.
That said, we got to the tournament and I ended up with one person in my bracket that was a weight class above me. She was also a white belt. Gar. Of course, I find this out before the rest of my bracket is even called to the bullpen, and I was not ready nor warmed up. I got called up, they explained what was going on, and then we were hitting the mat. Best two out of three matches wins the bracket. I don't think she was much heavier than I was...20lb, if that. We had talked game plans the day before on the drive over, and mine was this: pull guard, work submissions, sweep, mount, submit. So I executed my plan...I pulled guard, I worked a triangle which I couldn't finish (gaaaaaaaarrrr), then transitioned to an arm-bar which I was able to finish. I felt pretty happy with the arm-bar b/c the way we were positioned, I couldn't really see what I had but it felt legit, so I went for it (gently).
Second match, she comes out and pulls guard right away (it's called coaching adjustments, and she had a good coach) and went for a collar choke. She did a great job of breaking my posture. The collar choke got very tight, and had I been in class I would have tapped. However, I let ego get in the way and really did not want to tap to a white belt in competition. So I rode it out, and eventually I think her grip got tired and I was able to survive. Finally got posture, passed her guard, got to side control, then mount, then finished with a fog choke. I don't remember many of the details, I hope someone got it on video.
Gold.
I'm happy for it, but don't really feel like I deserve it. I'm not knocking my opponent in any way...she almost got me with the collar choke and was a good match. Just want to feel like I really earned a gold at the blue belt level, and I don't.
In any case, I missed the call for absolutes, so my chance to roll with other blue belts was wasted. Pretty sad about that.
The team celebrated that night by going out and (eventually) finding a place to eat. Had a little food and a lot of drinks, then went to Voodoo Donuts to get some really funky pastries.
Woke up with a hangover for the first time in probably a year, walked down to Powell's books in flip flops (I left my shoes at the gym where the tournament was held, and still don't have them back) and spent part of a paycheck buying awesome books. Drove home, and ate like a pig and slept like a baby.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Night Before
It's the night before a regional tournament, and I'm feeling pretty good. Long drive, but good companions. Settled in the hotel, everyone else is out eating. I brought my lunch and dinner for the day, and lucky for me the room had a microwave so I didn't have to eat my meatloaf and sweet potato cold.
Earlier today I went to class with the instructor and one other person (someone else joined halfway through) and we went over random techniques. No warm-ups, more of a discussion with some show-and-practice but very light. Learned a new wrinkle on the arm-bar and triangle. Hips up on the arm-bar earlier to keep them from stacking you. If they posture in the middle of your triangle, drop your legs around their torso and trapped hand, break their posture toward you by holding the back of their head, get your shoulders back, foot on hip and ankle in FRONT of the knee, then knee over the ankle.
Feeling strangely empty about tomorrow...maybe empty isn't the right word. I'm not too focused on stressing out, I guess would be more apt. I had to move from senior to adult b/c there weren't enough competitors, and I think there are either 3 total or 4 total in my weight class at adult. That's all I know, and that's plenty. On the ride over we talked game plans a bit... mine is to pull guard, attempt subs, if that doesn't work, sweep, pass, mount, submit. I don't think I'm nervous, although I typically don't get too bent out of shape the night before. I think traveling with other competitors really helps in this regard. Most everyone is fairly calm about everything except food. Every billboard along the way that touted food was brief torture. Even the McDonald's 40 nuggets. I wouldn't eat at McD's for any reason, but when you are trying to make a weight class, every damn bad thing sounds good. Speaking of weight, I'm 2lb under fully dressed, and weight is w/o gi, so I should be in excellent shape.
So we'll see what tomorrow brings!
Earlier today I went to class with the instructor and one other person (someone else joined halfway through) and we went over random techniques. No warm-ups, more of a discussion with some show-and-practice but very light. Learned a new wrinkle on the arm-bar and triangle. Hips up on the arm-bar earlier to keep them from stacking you. If they posture in the middle of your triangle, drop your legs around their torso and trapped hand, break their posture toward you by holding the back of their head, get your shoulders back, foot on hip and ankle in FRONT of the knee, then knee over the ankle.
Feeling strangely empty about tomorrow...maybe empty isn't the right word. I'm not too focused on stressing out, I guess would be more apt. I had to move from senior to adult b/c there weren't enough competitors, and I think there are either 3 total or 4 total in my weight class at adult. That's all I know, and that's plenty. On the ride over we talked game plans a bit... mine is to pull guard, attempt subs, if that doesn't work, sweep, pass, mount, submit. I don't think I'm nervous, although I typically don't get too bent out of shape the night before. I think traveling with other competitors really helps in this regard. Most everyone is fairly calm about everything except food. Every billboard along the way that touted food was brief torture. Even the McDonald's 40 nuggets. I wouldn't eat at McD's for any reason, but when you are trying to make a weight class, every damn bad thing sounds good. Speaking of weight, I'm 2lb under fully dressed, and weight is w/o gi, so I should be in excellent shape.
So we'll see what tomorrow brings!
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