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.
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