9/30 - Downtown
The Valley school changed their BJJ days from Tu/Thu to Wed/Fri. Direct schedule conflict with the downtown school, and since I pay for the downtown school and don't pay for the Valley, the decision is pretty clear. Hopefully this new schedule won't last too long...
Today we had a roomful of blue belts....and one brand new guy. I didn't envy the new guy. We all have to start somewhere though...
Side control submissions, with a lot of time for drilling while James helped the new guy. I was working with Sol, who is about 180lb and has a fine understanding of how to apply pressure from top side. I figure if I can survive with him on top then I can survive pretty much anything. One of the subs was an arm-bar on the far-side arm. I was doing a little bit better on isolating the elbow, but still struggling. Sol recommended starting on the upper forearm and sliding the blade of your hand up until you find the elbow. Move past it toward the armpit for another inch and then roll and apply pressure. Seemed to work ok, but need more work on it.
Rolls with Sol, Nate, Manny and Blaine. Sol got me with a pretty slick brabo from bottom half. I knew he was setting something up, but wasn't sure what and backstepped right into disaster. Nate was scrambly but I was able to regain guard consistently. Manny got me with a foot lock, maybe something else. Good roll though. He was in top side most of the time. Blaine was hanging out in my guard, so I tried everything I could to arm-drag to back-mount. I came close several times, and had full back-mount at one point. Eventually lost it.
After class, I rolled with Dennis without a clock. It was a super fun roll. Lots of transitions with both of us trading top positions. I passed his guard and almost got to mount, but couldn't complete it. He passed my guard and I think from top side went for an arm-bar. I was able to yank my elbow to the mat before he could lock it up which allowed me to slowly inch my way out of it and escape. At some point I had him in an arm-wrap in my guard and transitioned to an omoplata. We battled a bit, and then he stood up while I had the omoplata fully locked on. The only thing I could think of was the photo of Clark looking suave as hell in a similar position. We had a bunch of people watching us since we were the only ones rolling, and someone recommended that I back roll to get a sweep. I did it all wrong though and ended up losing position. I figured we'd go until someone got a tap since there was no clock, but we decided to call it then. I don't know how long our roll lasted, would've been an interesting tidbit. It was really fun, mainly b/c we had a lot of back and forth and we were both trying out some different parts of our games instead of our go to movements.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Spiderguard & DLR Hybrid
9/27 - Downtown
James is traveling for a tournament tomorrow, so four of us were left to our own devices. We went over a spiderguard-to-triangle and then a spiderguard sweep, and then Jason showed us a spiderguard/DLR hybrid that he picked up from Leandro Lo. We did a basic sweep from the position that seemed effective, but it was difficult to maintain top position instead of having it devolve into a scramble because at the end of the sweep your torso is close to their feet and your legs are extended forward.
We did three rounds of flow rolling, then three rounds of not flowing rolling. I got Jason in a far side shoulder lock via the omoplata that I picked up from the Buchecha seminar. It was extremely gratifying to be able to put something from the seminar to use.
Energy was pretty low today, likely due to skipping dinner last night and breakfast this morn. I have zippy appetite even though I've picked up my activity level in the past 24hrs. It'll fix itself sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, as I tripped on the mats during warm-ups and fell right over. That's not something that generally happens when I have all of my faculties.
James is traveling for a tournament tomorrow, so four of us were left to our own devices. We went over a spiderguard-to-triangle and then a spiderguard sweep, and then Jason showed us a spiderguard/DLR hybrid that he picked up from Leandro Lo. We did a basic sweep from the position that seemed effective, but it was difficult to maintain top position instead of having it devolve into a scramble because at the end of the sweep your torso is close to their feet and your legs are extended forward.
We did three rounds of flow rolling, then three rounds of not flowing rolling. I got Jason in a far side shoulder lock via the omoplata that I picked up from the Buchecha seminar. It was extremely gratifying to be able to put something from the seminar to use.
Energy was pretty low today, likely due to skipping dinner last night and breakfast this morn. I have zippy appetite even though I've picked up my activity level in the past 24hrs. It'll fix itself sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, as I tripped on the mats during warm-ups and fell right over. That's not something that generally happens when I have all of my faculties.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Back in the Valley
9/26 - Valley
Today was a run through a variety of techniques that Damon is working on for his purple belt test. I would have thought that I've seen everything on the test, but there were a couple of new wrinkles today. One involved chucking your opponent over your head from butterfly guard and wrapping yourself around their legs to eventually get mount. Felt good about all of the techniques.
More importantly, energy level felt ok until the first roll. I thought I might have been overdoing it, but felt fine after a couple of rolls. Had a challenging roll with Damon in which he tapped me several times, twice with footlocks when I tried to play open guard. Dang it. I was able to fend off an arm-bar for a small piece of time, but eventually tapped. Another arm-bar I successfully defended and came up into his guard, so that was a small bit of progress.
I would probably be better served by taking the entire week off from BJJ, but at this particular point in time I need it for my emotional well-being. If I'm dragging ass tomorrow morning I'll skip it, otherwise I'm hoping that the two days of complete rest earlier in the week is enough.
Today was a run through a variety of techniques that Damon is working on for his purple belt test. I would have thought that I've seen everything on the test, but there were a couple of new wrinkles today. One involved chucking your opponent over your head from butterfly guard and wrapping yourself around their legs to eventually get mount. Felt good about all of the techniques.
More importantly, energy level felt ok until the first roll. I thought I might have been overdoing it, but felt fine after a couple of rolls. Had a challenging roll with Damon in which he tapped me several times, twice with footlocks when I tried to play open guard. Dang it. I was able to fend off an arm-bar for a small piece of time, but eventually tapped. Another arm-bar I successfully defended and came up into his guard, so that was a small bit of progress.
I would probably be better served by taking the entire week off from BJJ, but at this particular point in time I need it for my emotional well-being. If I'm dragging ass tomorrow morning I'll skip it, otherwise I'm hoping that the two days of complete rest earlier in the week is enough.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Fatigue
I assume it's a mono flare-up, due to being very active the past couple of weeks. Le sigh. Didn't do class yesterday or today. Will play it by ear tomorrow. Stupid tired virus.
Monday, September 23, 2013
More KOB
9/23 - Downtown
Mood was a bit sour and I wasn't sure that going to class was a good idea, but I kept my head down and didn't have high expectations. Ended up doing well in the rolls, so it was a good choice.
More KOB, specifically KOB to mounted triangle, KOB to gi choke, KOB to d'arce and then the gi choke and d'arce from guard just for fun.
Rolled with Jimmy and had the upper hand for part of the roll. Had another fun roll with James, although he got me with a wristlock b/c I gripped the lower part of his lapel like an idiot. That's twice in two days that I've left my wrist out for easy locks. I kept trying to sweep when he was in a sort of top half guard reverse kesa gatame and either I finally got it or he gave it to me. Rolled with Julio and desperately hoped that he wouldn't crush the life out of me. The roll started with crushing, but at one point while I was regaining guard I went for a pretty decent arm-bar and then followed it up with a loop choke. Sol helped me with the loop choke on Saturday and apparently his advice was solid. Also rolled with Jason, who had a dominant position most of the time. He has an open guard that is difficult to deal with b/c he has long legs and does a great job of maintaining the push/pull with his feet and grips.
Mood was a bit sour and I wasn't sure that going to class was a good idea, but I kept my head down and didn't have high expectations. Ended up doing well in the rolls, so it was a good choice.
More KOB, specifically KOB to mounted triangle, KOB to gi choke, KOB to d'arce and then the gi choke and d'arce from guard just for fun.
Rolled with Jimmy and had the upper hand for part of the roll. Had another fun roll with James, although he got me with a wristlock b/c I gripped the lower part of his lapel like an idiot. That's twice in two days that I've left my wrist out for easy locks. I kept trying to sweep when he was in a sort of top half guard reverse kesa gatame and either I finally got it or he gave it to me. Rolled with Julio and desperately hoped that he wouldn't crush the life out of me. The roll started with crushing, but at one point while I was regaining guard I went for a pretty decent arm-bar and then followed it up with a loop choke. Sol helped me with the loop choke on Saturday and apparently his advice was solid. Also rolled with Jason, who had a dominant position most of the time. He has an open guard that is difficult to deal with b/c he has long legs and does a great job of maintaining the push/pull with his feet and grips.
KOB
9/21 - Downtown
Felt a resurgence of mono this past week. Feeling lethargic and normal tasks took an extraordinary effort to initiate. Utter meh. Hoping it passes soon.
Big class on Saturday, relatively speaking. About 12 people or so. Subs and transitions from KOB. Near side arm-bar, far side arm-bar, baseball bat choke, and transition to back-mount. Felt pretty good with most of them, although I was struggling a bit with getting my grips for choke. I think it's b/c I'm impatient and don't make an effort to loosen the jacket and/or I get a death grip with the first hand before the second hand is secured.
Rolls with Nathan, Antone, Savannah, Manny and Sol. Nathan is growing a monster beard, which looks interesting on his lean frame. The highlight was a escape or sweep on Manny. I don't remember the exact position we were in, but in the midst of a scramble I was able to get to top-side control. It's a good day when I can get to top position on one of the higher blues. Or any blue belt for that matter.
Felt a resurgence of mono this past week. Feeling lethargic and normal tasks took an extraordinary effort to initiate. Utter meh. Hoping it passes soon.
Big class on Saturday, relatively speaking. About 12 people or so. Subs and transitions from KOB. Near side arm-bar, far side arm-bar, baseball bat choke, and transition to back-mount. Felt pretty good with most of them, although I was struggling a bit with getting my grips for choke. I think it's b/c I'm impatient and don't make an effort to loosen the jacket and/or I get a death grip with the first hand before the second hand is secured.
Rolls with Nathan, Antone, Savannah, Manny and Sol. Nathan is growing a monster beard, which looks interesting on his lean frame. The highlight was a escape or sweep on Manny. I don't remember the exact position we were in, but in the midst of a scramble I was able to get to top-side control. It's a good day when I can get to top position on one of the higher blues. Or any blue belt for that matter.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Arm-Bar Escapes
9/20 - Downtown
James took pity on me and went over arm-bar escapes. One was especially harsh on the body, b/c you bridge into them...and then walk your legs in the opposite direction that you're bridging. Neither Antone nor I could even do it the first couple of times we tried it, which is saying something b/c we are both pretty flexible. I eventually sortof got it, but definitely not my first option.
Rolled with Antone, Dennis, Oello (sp?), Taylor and James. I wasn't expecting Antone to turn up the heat in his first roll for the week. He bolo'd me about a dozen times, and when I tried to figure-four my legs at one point he immediately put on a calf slicer. It turns out that a figure four isn't a good solution. Other than he kept bolo'ing me and I kept trying to regain a semblance of guard so that he could pass and bolo me again.
Dennis and I had a pretty good back and forth roll. He had a head and arm triangle that was pretty tight, but I was able to keep him from getting the second leg all the way over so he wasn't able to finish it.
Oello did his first class today. Big Hawaiian dude, at least 200lb. He seemed to do ok during class, and I assumed that he didn't know any BJJ. The very first thing he did was grab my leg and fall back for a foot-lock. I couldn't believe it, and tried to shove my foot farther through. I was worried that big dude slamming on a foot lock would turn out badly for me, but shoving my foot farther through worked, and I was able to work my way around and free my leg. Ok, so lesson learned. I worked my guard game after that, going for arm-drags and arm-bars. I took his back at one point and then let him escape and restarted from guard. I really did not want him on top of me. It appeared that while he seemed somewhat versed in foot locks that he didn't know much about passes or escapes. At one point he grabbed three of my fingers, which was kinda weird as I don't recall anyone grabbing fingers before. I thought that was a white belt myth, but apparently not. He was a nice dude though, and he'll probably be back.
I let Taylor work from a variety of positions. I realized that even as I was letting her work that I was making some fundamental mistakes with my bottom side-control. It's amazing that I spend so much time there and don't seem to learn my lessons, or at least I'm learning them very slowly.
Pulled guard with James, and I fell to the correct side but I don't think I kept my leg extended. From there it was a fair amount of pass and sweeps on his part. He had a head and arm triangle at one point too, and even though he tried to americana the hand that I was using for the telephone defense, I was able to stave it off (or he wasn't trying quite as hard as he could have). Either way, he abandoned it after awhile. I wasn't as much in the flow as I was on Monday, but it was still a fun roll.
James took pity on me and went over arm-bar escapes. One was especially harsh on the body, b/c you bridge into them...and then walk your legs in the opposite direction that you're bridging. Neither Antone nor I could even do it the first couple of times we tried it, which is saying something b/c we are both pretty flexible. I eventually sortof got it, but definitely not my first option.
Rolled with Antone, Dennis, Oello (sp?), Taylor and James. I wasn't expecting Antone to turn up the heat in his first roll for the week. He bolo'd me about a dozen times, and when I tried to figure-four my legs at one point he immediately put on a calf slicer. It turns out that a figure four isn't a good solution. Other than he kept bolo'ing me and I kept trying to regain a semblance of guard so that he could pass and bolo me again.
Dennis and I had a pretty good back and forth roll. He had a head and arm triangle that was pretty tight, but I was able to keep him from getting the second leg all the way over so he wasn't able to finish it.
Oello did his first class today. Big Hawaiian dude, at least 200lb. He seemed to do ok during class, and I assumed that he didn't know any BJJ. The very first thing he did was grab my leg and fall back for a foot-lock. I couldn't believe it, and tried to shove my foot farther through. I was worried that big dude slamming on a foot lock would turn out badly for me, but shoving my foot farther through worked, and I was able to work my way around and free my leg. Ok, so lesson learned. I worked my guard game after that, going for arm-drags and arm-bars. I took his back at one point and then let him escape and restarted from guard. I really did not want him on top of me. It appeared that while he seemed somewhat versed in foot locks that he didn't know much about passes or escapes. At one point he grabbed three of my fingers, which was kinda weird as I don't recall anyone grabbing fingers before. I thought that was a white belt myth, but apparently not. He was a nice dude though, and he'll probably be back.
I let Taylor work from a variety of positions. I realized that even as I was letting her work that I was making some fundamental mistakes with my bottom side-control. It's amazing that I spend so much time there and don't seem to learn my lessons, or at least I'm learning them very slowly.
Pulled guard with James, and I fell to the correct side but I don't think I kept my leg extended. From there it was a fair amount of pass and sweeps on his part. He had a head and arm triangle at one point too, and even though he tried to americana the hand that I was using for the telephone defense, I was able to stave it off (or he wasn't trying quite as hard as he could have). Either way, he abandoned it after awhile. I wasn't as much in the flow as I was on Monday, but it was still a fun roll.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Tie Your Pants
9/19 - Downtown
I wasn't in the best of moods, but knew that class would be a good thing for me. Many times going to class when I'm not in a good mood is a recipe for disaster, but I managed the hell out of my expectations before class and it worked out for the best.
I asked James before class what we were going to work on today. His response: "I'm not sure...maybe mount...why, is there something you'd like to work on?" I've been baited into this trap before, where he asks me what I want to go over in class and then he does something completely different. But much like Charlie and the football, I cannot give up. So I said that I'd like to work on arm-bar defense from both inside the guard and from mount (or side-control or however your opponent got on top).
So what did we learn today? Mount. *sigh*
It took me several tries to get the techniques working, but I felt fairly comfortable with them.
Rolled with Dom, Kelly, Jimmy and Sol. Dom is about 12y/o, maybe younger (I'm terrible with ages). It was fun rolling with him, as it really, really made me focus on using very little strength. I let him work a lot of top positions and back-mount, and I wanted to give him a feel for all of the positions. He's a yellow belt, but has competed on several occasions and can move fairly well.
You had to do a penalty of 10 jumping jacks each time your opponent got you in mount. The penalty had to be paid after time was up. Neither Jimmy nor I got mount. I think most of our roll was in some weird 50/50 variation.
Kelly swept me pretty quickly and then worked the entire time to get mount. I didn't do the 3sec count, but I assumed that he had it at least once if not twice. He disagreed, but I did the jumping jacks anyway. Unfortunately, I didn't check to see if the cord was still tied on my pants before starting on the jumping jacks. Let me just say that compression shorts are the bomb.
Rolled with Sol after class. I worked hard to keep him from getting side-control, but he eventually did and gave me good top side-control pressure. He's one of the few guys that I roll with regularly that can make top side-control feel truly awful. I went for a baseball bat choke but didn't get it. At the end I combined an escape and arm-bar attempt. I'm not even sure how I ended up there, but it seemed legit.
I wasn't in the best of moods, but knew that class would be a good thing for me. Many times going to class when I'm not in a good mood is a recipe for disaster, but I managed the hell out of my expectations before class and it worked out for the best.
I asked James before class what we were going to work on today. His response: "I'm not sure...maybe mount...why, is there something you'd like to work on?" I've been baited into this trap before, where he asks me what I want to go over in class and then he does something completely different. But much like Charlie and the football, I cannot give up. So I said that I'd like to work on arm-bar defense from both inside the guard and from mount (or side-control or however your opponent got on top).
So what did we learn today? Mount. *sigh*
It took me several tries to get the techniques working, but I felt fairly comfortable with them.
Rolled with Dom, Kelly, Jimmy and Sol. Dom is about 12y/o, maybe younger (I'm terrible with ages). It was fun rolling with him, as it really, really made me focus on using very little strength. I let him work a lot of top positions and back-mount, and I wanted to give him a feel for all of the positions. He's a yellow belt, but has competed on several occasions and can move fairly well.
You had to do a penalty of 10 jumping jacks each time your opponent got you in mount. The penalty had to be paid after time was up. Neither Jimmy nor I got mount. I think most of our roll was in some weird 50/50 variation.
Kelly swept me pretty quickly and then worked the entire time to get mount. I didn't do the 3sec count, but I assumed that he had it at least once if not twice. He disagreed, but I did the jumping jacks anyway. Unfortunately, I didn't check to see if the cord was still tied on my pants before starting on the jumping jacks. Let me just say that compression shorts are the bomb.
Rolled with Sol after class. I worked hard to keep him from getting side-control, but he eventually did and gave me good top side-control pressure. He's one of the few guys that I roll with regularly that can make top side-control feel truly awful. I went for a baseball bat choke but didn't get it. At the end I combined an escape and arm-bar attempt. I'm not even sure how I ended up there, but it seemed legit.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Spiderguard Sweeps
9/18 - Downtown
I took yesterday as a rest day since the Valley doesn't have classes this week. Also, my body was displeased with life in general, so no lifting either. Instead, I spent part of the evening watching Buchecha and Rodolfo highlight videos. During one of them I saw the single leg X pass that Buchecha taught on Saturday. Those vids never, ever get old.
Today was a focus on spiderguard subs/sweeps on a kneeling opponent. I don't think I've seen any of them before, and they were relatively easy to execute.
Two rolls with Jay, one with Jason (b) and one with James. I was getting the better of Jay in the first roll by maintaining top position. He had the upper hand in our second roll and was in the midst of an arm-bar when time was up.
Jason pretty much pummeled me and got an arm-bar midway through. I tried to keep him at bay with an open guard but to no avail. The second he gets a grip on my legs I'm cooked.
Had a really fun roll with James. Even though he was letting me work to an extent, I could tell that my movement and decision-making were better than usual. My focus on grips, underhooks and hip control were especially on point. There was one ah-ha moment when I was in top side-control and scooting my butt toward his head to clear his near-side arm while controlling his hips. Small thing, but it felt good. He commented after that he felt it was a good roll too.
Hopefully my energy levels will stay up so that I can get a decent lift in tonight.
I took yesterday as a rest day since the Valley doesn't have classes this week. Also, my body was displeased with life in general, so no lifting either. Instead, I spent part of the evening watching Buchecha and Rodolfo highlight videos. During one of them I saw the single leg X pass that Buchecha taught on Saturday. Those vids never, ever get old.
Today was a focus on spiderguard subs/sweeps on a kneeling opponent. I don't think I've seen any of them before, and they were relatively easy to execute.
Two rolls with Jay, one with Jason (b) and one with James. I was getting the better of Jay in the first roll by maintaining top position. He had the upper hand in our second roll and was in the midst of an arm-bar when time was up.
Jason pretty much pummeled me and got an arm-bar midway through. I tried to keep him at bay with an open guard but to no avail. The second he gets a grip on my legs I'm cooked.
Had a really fun roll with James. Even though he was letting me work to an extent, I could tell that my movement and decision-making were better than usual. My focus on grips, underhooks and hip control were especially on point. There was one ah-ha moment when I was in top side-control and scooting my butt toward his head to clear his near-side arm while controlling his hips. Small thing, but it felt good. He commented after that he felt it was a good roll too.
Hopefully my energy levels will stay up so that I can get a decent lift in tonight.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Teaching. Sortof.
9/16 - Downtown
I figured that I'd be showing some of the techniques from the seminar, but wasn't prepared to be on the spot before warm-ups. The invitation wasn't quite to teach the class, but more like show-us-something-cool. I showed the spider guard pass, the half guard pass, the half guard sweep and the omoplatas. When I was demo'ing them I was thinking "Geez...these aren't that hard. Why was I struggling on Sat?". Not that I was doing them flawlessly during the demo, but that they weren't as complicated as they first seemed. I felt a little sheepish, as I was expecting to blow my coach away with something. Unrealistic expectation on my part. I had forgotten the single leg X guard pass in the beginning of class and showed him at the end. He seemed duly impressed with that. I hope that I didn't look like a total tool when I was demo'ing the techniques.
James stayed with the omoplata theme since that was the last technique that I showed before warm-ups. He showed his variations of the set-up, and then options if your opponent rolls. I realized that I've been doing a defense to the roll way wrong, which would explain why it hasn't been very successful for me. Culprit was confusing two (very) different scenarios. Oops. He showed us a particularly painful way to force the omoplata if you don't care about your opponent's shoulder health. Between that and practicing the crucifix, our shoulders got pummeled today.
First roll was with James, which was a rarity. We got into some 50/50 nonsense, omoplata, and I can't remember what else. One of the things that I love about rolling with him is that he'll give you time to think through your next move and start down the path before he squashes it.
Roll with Sarah, and I did pretty well. Took the back a couple of times and mostly stayed out of 50/50.
Roll with Joyce where I let her work different positions. I discovered that I have an awful habit of being more concerned about using my arms to control my opponent's legs when they are passing my guard instead of preventing the cross-face or fighting for underhooks.
Roll with Jason, who was dominant for most of the roll and got an arm-bar from side-control or mount. After ~4yrs of training, I still get confused as to which way to roll to escape the arm-bar. Hmpf.
I figured that I'd be showing some of the techniques from the seminar, but wasn't prepared to be on the spot before warm-ups. The invitation wasn't quite to teach the class, but more like show-us-something-cool. I showed the spider guard pass, the half guard pass, the half guard sweep and the omoplatas. When I was demo'ing them I was thinking "Geez...these aren't that hard. Why was I struggling on Sat?". Not that I was doing them flawlessly during the demo, but that they weren't as complicated as they first seemed. I felt a little sheepish, as I was expecting to blow my coach away with something. Unrealistic expectation on my part. I had forgotten the single leg X guard pass in the beginning of class and showed him at the end. He seemed duly impressed with that. I hope that I didn't look like a total tool when I was demo'ing the techniques.
James stayed with the omoplata theme since that was the last technique that I showed before warm-ups. He showed his variations of the set-up, and then options if your opponent rolls. I realized that I've been doing a defense to the roll way wrong, which would explain why it hasn't been very successful for me. Culprit was confusing two (very) different scenarios. Oops. He showed us a particularly painful way to force the omoplata if you don't care about your opponent's shoulder health. Between that and practicing the crucifix, our shoulders got pummeled today.
First roll was with James, which was a rarity. We got into some 50/50 nonsense, omoplata, and I can't remember what else. One of the things that I love about rolling with him is that he'll give you time to think through your next move and start down the path before he squashes it.
Roll with Sarah, and I did pretty well. Took the back a couple of times and mostly stayed out of 50/50.
Roll with Joyce where I let her work different positions. I discovered that I have an awful habit of being more concerned about using my arms to control my opponent's legs when they are passing my guard instead of preventing the cross-face or fighting for underhooks.
Roll with Jason, who was dominant for most of the roll and got an arm-bar from side-control or mount. After ~4yrs of training, I still get confused as to which way to roll to escape the arm-bar. Hmpf.
Buchecha
9/14 - NSJJ Buchecha Seminar
I decided to save money on a hotel room by driving to Seattle for the seminar and returning on the same day. That seemed like a wise and efficient solution right up until 4am on Saturday morning. After a very full cup of coffee, I had breakfast, got my bags together and was on the road by 5am. The drive over was largely uneventful. Early sun on the Wild Horse monument and a couple of hawks along the way were the highlights. I reached the outskirts of Seattle at 9am, and was surprised that there were already traffic problems, although none in the direction that I was going. I thought that 9am on a Saturday morning would be a safe time to travel the highways, but...no. The gym was a couple of turns off the highway and easy to find, and after getting gas for the trip back I was on the mat at 10am, which was an hour early. I was very happy to have an hour to unwind and let the road buzz fade.
Predictably, Buchecha (or the guys that were driving him around) was on Brazilian time, so we didn't get started until a quarter after. There were ~40 ppl in attendance, and there was just enough mat space to accommodate everyone. He tried to start the warm-up with jogging, but people went in different directions which was an amusing cluster. He bagged the running after shaking everyone's hand, and then we did three lines of forward rolls, backward rolls, triple jump to handstand (or whatever sad variation I put on it), sit-outs, shrimp, etc.
When he first walked into the room, I was in awe. I had seen him in person at Pans, but this was an entirely different experience. He was there to teach me (and 39 other people) technique. The sense of awe dissipated quickly though, b/c I had to put all my brain power on the techniques.
I was happy that he chose several different positions of focus. Spiderguard pass, half guard pass, x guard pass, half guard sweep, omoplata to mount, omoplata to crucifix. He showed relatively large chains of movement, which is why I had to focus so much on the technique instead of oogling him. For example, the spiderguard pass was relatively simple in and of itself, but it was three-step grip break, plus a couple of variations of the actual pass, plus different transitions into side-control. He explained everything well and gave reasoning behind his philosophy of movement. He would also often drop that he used a particular technique because Rodolfo would do this or Bruno would do that.
Since I was the outsider at the gym (I think there were only a couple of non-Checkmat ppl), I paired up with a white belt. He said he'd only been doing BJJ since January, but he seemed better than that. He was understanding the techniques and executing them fairly well. We helped each other along and all in all he was a good partner. Buchecha came along and corrected our technique a couple of times over the 3hrs. At one point he was helping my partner under the head and arm triangle mechanics, and used me to demonstrate. I'm not going to lie, I popped back into fan-boy mode and thought that getting choked by Buchecha was pretty awesome.
We got a lot of reps in on each of the techniques. It allowed us to work out the kinks ourselves, as we didn't get much individualized attention. It also helped me to remember everything we did, as I only had time to write down the names of the position/submissions. There were no breaks, so after class I sat and fleshed out the details of each movement. It's the first seminar I've attended where I've been able to capture the vast majority of the material in good detail.
At the end he did pictures with participants, and of course I took advantage.
The experience was interesting on many levels, but the most fascinating to me was how the seminar put it into perspective to me that he is just another BJJ practitioner. Albeit a really, really good one. He was humanized for me, made into a real person instead of a highlight superhero.
All in all, it was a great experience. It was a bucket list type item to train with him and/or Rodolfo. I'd recommend his seminars, especially for advanced blues and ups. I think white belts would get something out of the experience, but with the long series of movements that he does, I don't think newer white belts would be able to follow very along well. The NSBJJ guys were very chill and welcoming, and said I was welcome to come back for the Buchecha and Cavaca seminars.
The drive back went faster than the 4.5hrs. There was a backup on south 405, but once I got back on the 90 it was easy. I did voice notes that were similar to my written notes, but figured it was good to go over it again while it was fresh.
I decided to save money on a hotel room by driving to Seattle for the seminar and returning on the same day. That seemed like a wise and efficient solution right up until 4am on Saturday morning. After a very full cup of coffee, I had breakfast, got my bags together and was on the road by 5am. The drive over was largely uneventful. Early sun on the Wild Horse monument and a couple of hawks along the way were the highlights. I reached the outskirts of Seattle at 9am, and was surprised that there were already traffic problems, although none in the direction that I was going. I thought that 9am on a Saturday morning would be a safe time to travel the highways, but...no. The gym was a couple of turns off the highway and easy to find, and after getting gas for the trip back I was on the mat at 10am, which was an hour early. I was very happy to have an hour to unwind and let the road buzz fade.
Predictably, Buchecha (or the guys that were driving him around) was on Brazilian time, so we didn't get started until a quarter after. There were ~40 ppl in attendance, and there was just enough mat space to accommodate everyone. He tried to start the warm-up with jogging, but people went in different directions which was an amusing cluster. He bagged the running after shaking everyone's hand, and then we did three lines of forward rolls, backward rolls, triple jump to handstand (or whatever sad variation I put on it), sit-outs, shrimp, etc.
When he first walked into the room, I was in awe. I had seen him in person at Pans, but this was an entirely different experience. He was there to teach me (and 39 other people) technique. The sense of awe dissipated quickly though, b/c I had to put all my brain power on the techniques.
I was happy that he chose several different positions of focus. Spiderguard pass, half guard pass, x guard pass, half guard sweep, omoplata to mount, omoplata to crucifix. He showed relatively large chains of movement, which is why I had to focus so much on the technique instead of oogling him. For example, the spiderguard pass was relatively simple in and of itself, but it was three-step grip break, plus a couple of variations of the actual pass, plus different transitions into side-control. He explained everything well and gave reasoning behind his philosophy of movement. He would also often drop that he used a particular technique because Rodolfo would do this or Bruno would do that.
Since I was the outsider at the gym (I think there were only a couple of non-Checkmat ppl), I paired up with a white belt. He said he'd only been doing BJJ since January, but he seemed better than that. He was understanding the techniques and executing them fairly well. We helped each other along and all in all he was a good partner. Buchecha came along and corrected our technique a couple of times over the 3hrs. At one point he was helping my partner under the head and arm triangle mechanics, and used me to demonstrate. I'm not going to lie, I popped back into fan-boy mode and thought that getting choked by Buchecha was pretty awesome.
We got a lot of reps in on each of the techniques. It allowed us to work out the kinks ourselves, as we didn't get much individualized attention. It also helped me to remember everything we did, as I only had time to write down the names of the position/submissions. There were no breaks, so after class I sat and fleshed out the details of each movement. It's the first seminar I've attended where I've been able to capture the vast majority of the material in good detail.
At the end he did pictures with participants, and of course I took advantage.
The experience was interesting on many levels, but the most fascinating to me was how the seminar put it into perspective to me that he is just another BJJ practitioner. Albeit a really, really good one. He was humanized for me, made into a real person instead of a highlight superhero.
All in all, it was a great experience. It was a bucket list type item to train with him and/or Rodolfo. I'd recommend his seminars, especially for advanced blues and ups. I think white belts would get something out of the experience, but with the long series of movements that he does, I don't think newer white belts would be able to follow very along well. The NSBJJ guys were very chill and welcoming, and said I was welcome to come back for the Buchecha and Cavaca seminars.
The drive back went faster than the 4.5hrs. There was a backup on south 405, but once I got back on the 90 it was easy. I did voice notes that were similar to my written notes, but figured it was good to go over it again while it was fresh.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Tournament Vids
Watching my own matches is not a lot of fun, regardless of the outcome. Ugh. Two of the matches weren't captured on video, but they went very similar to Match Two and the beginning of Match Four.
A couple of things off the top. My posture during the stand-up is poor. I should be keeping a neutral spine and bending my knees instead of rounding my back. My guard pull is atrocious.
I should concede bad positions, but I give these women credit. They had excellent top pressure and hip control. I gave up side-control, KOB and mount way too readily though.
It's funny...in the first match, my coach was yelling for a kimura/sit-up sweep. I know exactly what that is and have used it often. However, I had NO IDEA what he was talking about when he told me to do it. After the match he was trying to explain it and it was not computing. The brain does funny things during competitions.
Any comments, advice, criticism etc is most welcome.
First Match (Win via Bow and Arrow):
I probably shouldn't be looking at my coach so much, but I was having trouble understanding him. I feel fairly confident when someone is kneeling in my closed guard that they aren't going to go anywhere.
Second Match (Loss via Points):
Third Match (Win via Points):
I'm not gonna lie...I stalled in the latter half when I was up on points. Not proud of it, but my coach told me to do it and there was no way I was going to open my guard up for a pass.
Fourth Match (Win via Arm-bar):
At one point, the camera goes to a teammate who was competing next to me, and then goes back to my match around 3:30 or so.
A couple of things off the top. My posture during the stand-up is poor. I should be keeping a neutral spine and bending my knees instead of rounding my back. My guard pull is atrocious.
I should concede bad positions, but I give these women credit. They had excellent top pressure and hip control. I gave up side-control, KOB and mount way too readily though.
It's funny...in the first match, my coach was yelling for a kimura/sit-up sweep. I know exactly what that is and have used it often. However, I had NO IDEA what he was talking about when he told me to do it. After the match he was trying to explain it and it was not computing. The brain does funny things during competitions.
Any comments, advice, criticism etc is most welcome.
First Match (Win via Bow and Arrow):
I probably shouldn't be looking at my coach so much, but I was having trouble understanding him. I feel fairly confident when someone is kneeling in my closed guard that they aren't going to go anywhere.
Second Match (Loss via Points):
Third Match (Win via Points):
I'm not gonna lie...I stalled in the latter half when I was up on points. Not proud of it, but my coach told me to do it and there was no way I was going to open my guard up for a pass.
Fourth Match (Win via Arm-bar):
At one point, the camera goes to a teammate who was competing next to me, and then goes back to my match around 3:30 or so.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
X Guard Woes
9/11 - Downtown
It's ridiculous how much I struggle with X guard. It looks relatively simple, but the initial transition doesn't click for me. Get them off balance on one leg while you position yourself under the other leg. No problem, except that it feels crazy awkward every time I do it. I was working with Sarah, so it's not that I was struggling with elevating a bigger person. Once I get into the position I do ok. We did the stand-in-base sweep and the dump them on their butts sweep. I struggled in transition to the double-under on the latter as well.
Rolled with Sarah twice, Blaine, and Jimmy. Sarah and I kept ending up in some nutty 50/50 variant, and at one point I swear we were both on our backs and doing our best to elevate each other's legs to prevent a pass. I felt like we were a pair of bugs that have been put on their backs and are flailing about in vain trying to right themselves. Blaine rolled tough and snagged an arm-bar early. I kept trying to arm-bars and triangles from guard to no avail. At one point he tried to do some neck crank thing, but I was able to forward roll out of it and come up on top into side-control. Jimmy was a tough roll. My plan was the same...arm-bars and triangles. He was trying out the X guard we had just worked on, so I did my best to stay tight and not get extended out.
James came over mid roll at one point and showed me exactly where I was collapsing my legs from open guard. Often when I try to the tripod sweep and it fails, I don't square back up on my opponent and commit the cardinal sin of not keeping my hips in line with theirs. Same thing with failed DLR sweeps. I stay on my side and it's easy for opponents to pressure pass over the top of my legs or knee slice through them. Lots and lots to work on with the guard retention.
It's ridiculous how much I struggle with X guard. It looks relatively simple, but the initial transition doesn't click for me. Get them off balance on one leg while you position yourself under the other leg. No problem, except that it feels crazy awkward every time I do it. I was working with Sarah, so it's not that I was struggling with elevating a bigger person. Once I get into the position I do ok. We did the stand-in-base sweep and the dump them on their butts sweep. I struggled in transition to the double-under on the latter as well.
Rolled with Sarah twice, Blaine, and Jimmy. Sarah and I kept ending up in some nutty 50/50 variant, and at one point I swear we were both on our backs and doing our best to elevate each other's legs to prevent a pass. I felt like we were a pair of bugs that have been put on their backs and are flailing about in vain trying to right themselves. Blaine rolled tough and snagged an arm-bar early. I kept trying to arm-bars and triangles from guard to no avail. At one point he tried to do some neck crank thing, but I was able to forward roll out of it and come up on top into side-control. Jimmy was a tough roll. My plan was the same...arm-bars and triangles. He was trying out the X guard we had just worked on, so I did my best to stay tight and not get extended out.
James came over mid roll at one point and showed me exactly where I was collapsing my legs from open guard. Often when I try to the tripod sweep and it fails, I don't square back up on my opponent and commit the cardinal sin of not keeping my hips in line with theirs. Same thing with failed DLR sweeps. I stay on my side and it's easy for opponents to pressure pass over the top of my legs or knee slice through them. Lots and lots to work on with the guard retention.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Fixing Details
9/9 - Downtown
First class back, and we started off by rolling. I think we rolled for the first 45min or so, and then James tried to show us some technique. That's almost always a losing proposition, especially if it's something out of the ordinary like a calf slicer set up from a guard pass. The rolls went well, although Julio was pretty amped up from the tournament and knocked out my contact within seconds of our first roll.
My last roll was with James and was just plain fun. He helped me significantly in two areas that hurt me in the tournament. The first was my guard pull. If you're going to pull guard in every match, you should probably do it correctly. I wasn't doing it correctly, and my opponents were set up for their knee slide pass from the jump. I pussyfoot after I establish grips but before I pull, I don't keep my leg extended and I fall to the wrong side. So much fail. I didn't practice my guard at all beforehand, so yeah, lesson learned.
He also helped me with the knee slide pass. Don't let them get control of the elbow that is closest to the ground. First option is to get that elbow on the ground and use it as a brace to prevent their knee from coming through. If that fails, let their knee come over the top of your arm, then cup the top of their thigh from the inside and start walking your legs toward their legs. This should dump them down and result in a sweep. You can also create a scramble from this position by bringing your other knee up to their butt and then shrugging them off, but I wasn't too clear on that one.
A few more rolls at the end when James realized that the technique was a losing battle. :)
First class back, and we started off by rolling. I think we rolled for the first 45min or so, and then James tried to show us some technique. That's almost always a losing proposition, especially if it's something out of the ordinary like a calf slicer set up from a guard pass. The rolls went well, although Julio was pretty amped up from the tournament and knocked out my contact within seconds of our first roll.
My last roll was with James and was just plain fun. He helped me significantly in two areas that hurt me in the tournament. The first was my guard pull. If you're going to pull guard in every match, you should probably do it correctly. I wasn't doing it correctly, and my opponents were set up for their knee slide pass from the jump. I pussyfoot after I establish grips but before I pull, I don't keep my leg extended and I fall to the wrong side. So much fail. I didn't practice my guard at all beforehand, so yeah, lesson learned.
He also helped me with the knee slide pass. Don't let them get control of the elbow that is closest to the ground. First option is to get that elbow on the ground and use it as a brace to prevent their knee from coming through. If that fails, let their knee come over the top of your arm, then cup the top of their thigh from the inside and start walking your legs toward their legs. This should dump them down and result in a sweep. You can also create a scramble from this position by bringing your other knee up to their butt and then shrugging them off, but I wasn't too clear on that one.
A few more rolls at the end when James realized that the technique was a losing battle. :)
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Oregon Open
9/7/13 - Oregon Open
Where to start? Perhaps with the inauspicious beginning of the trip, when a rock pummeled my windshield while we were going over a bridge. An odd place for a rock, or whatever it was. The damage is going to require a complete replacement, so that'll be a fun start to my Monday while I try to wrangle money from the insurance company.
On to the stuff that people actually care about. My bracket was scheduled to be called at 9am, along with purple belt men. We got to the site in plenty of time, and one of my teammates that was competing later was nice enough to roll with me for a bit. Warm-ups make a huge difference when competing, and being able to roll is the best way for me to prep for a match. However, I don't think we were called onto the mat until 10am or so. Trying to be in the right place mentally and physically for a tournament that isn't running on time is very challenging.
I found that I was being paired with a white belt in the > 163lb division instead of the blue belt in the < 163lb. Not my preferred choice, but c'est la vie. The white belt in this instance turned out to be a very fit and seasoned grappler. I pulled guard and she immediately started with a knee slide pass that was very well executed. I can't remember if I conceded side-control or not then, but I'm sure I did at some point. Her top pressure and hip control were very, very good. I asked her later if she wrestled and she said no, which surprised me. I tried for quite some time to regain guard, and eventually did. I tried to set up sweeps and subs, but she was diligent about repeatedly breaking grips. Again, not something you see often from white belts or even blue belts. I finally got her loaded up enough for a modified pendulum sweep into mount. From there, I was able to maintain position enough to set up and execute a bow and arrow for the submission.
Next match went similarly, except that I didn't get the sweep and she racked up points by passing my guard and getting to side-control and I think KOB once or twice. Both my coach and I could tell that she was really efforting, and the plan in the 3rd match was to not let her pass (ha!) and to outlast her cardio. I don't remember much from the 3rd match except that somehow I got to mount which put me up on points. She escaped and then I kept her in my guard for the remainder of the match for the win. I had finally realized at this point that my feeble attempts at DLR were not working.
I eked a 2-out-of-3 win for gold.
I was lucky in that James was able to coach me for all three matches. We had a lot of competitors, but no else happened to be competing at the same time.
I had around 3-4hrs before absolute, so I went outside in the sun for a bit while I took in food and water and tried to mellow out. Came back in and cheered on teammates, and half-wished that I wasn't competing again so that I could relax and really take in the experience of my team.
In absolute I had an opponent that seemed like she wasn't too far below me in size. I'm guessing around 152lb. Once again, winner would have to do 2-out-of-3. First match I pull guard and it turns out that she was also very adept at the knee cut through pass. She got to side-control quickly, and I did a poor job in defending my neck, which resulted in some sort of quick and very tight choke (a d'arce maybe?). Next match I again pull guard and did a better job of keeping her in it. I can't remember the bulk of the match, except at one point she postured but left her arm in, so I decided to go for an arm-bar and sunk it in tight and fast. She tapped immediately and starting shaking her arm out after I let go. I realized I probably put it on too fast. I apologized, but she said she wasn't hurt and she was ok to do the final match. Last match went the same as the first. I can't remember if she won by submission or points, but either way I couldn't keep her in my guard or sweep.
Silver for absolute.
We had a big contingent travel for this tournament, and I really did not want to lose to a white belt in front of the entire team. As much as I'm a proponent for taking ego out of jiu jitsu, I simply can't help myself in this regard. Especially when my team tries to hype me up beforehand by reminding me that I won gold at Pans. That is pressure.
I learned that my DLR is godawful. My side-control escapes are decent, and my patience and survival in bad positions is relatively good. With the exception of maybe one match out of the six, I was in bottom side-control. Not ok. If I'm going to pull guard, I must get better at retaining it and executing sweeps. I made an effort not to concede bad positions, but not enough. I also didn't scramble enough. I never, ever get arm-bars from guard in class, but I they seem to work for me in tournaments.
My cardio was ok. I don't think I had a big adrenaline dump in my matches, but I did have a nervous stomach all day. I must be more diligent about warming-up when I'm standing by the mat waiting to compete. I think double-dipping on classes on the Wednesday prior was a bad plan. I also probably shouldn't have rolled for a full hour on Friday. I know my cardio is good, but I don't take into account the energy drain of travel, sleeping in a hotel with a bunch of dudes, not getting a full night's sleep, poor nutrition and hydration, etc.
I am frustrated again by the lack competition at local tournaments. The competition I had was very good, but of the three regional tournaments I've done this year, I've had exactly one opponent for each division. The medals seem somewhat hollow when you are guaranteed a silver just for stepping on the mat. One of our white belts had 18 guys in his division and had 5 or 6 matches to get gold. He also had long waits between his matches, whereas I had no more than 10min between rolls, which was enough to catch my breath but still be warm. It is what it is...
Speaking of teammates, I loved watching them compete. Even the guys who weren't able to get a win were really fighting and giving it their best. We had three guys travel with us just to watch, which was very selfless.
Overall it was an excellent learning experience. It really opened my eyes to the fact that I'm not as good as I think I am. If I want to compete at Worlds next year as a blue I'm really going to have to fix some major holes in my game. If I got my purple before Pans I was considering doing the master's division, but now I'm not so sure. I need more confidence in my game before dropping that kind of $$ to compete again.
Where to start? Perhaps with the inauspicious beginning of the trip, when a rock pummeled my windshield while we were going over a bridge. An odd place for a rock, or whatever it was. The damage is going to require a complete replacement, so that'll be a fun start to my Monday while I try to wrangle money from the insurance company.
On to the stuff that people actually care about. My bracket was scheduled to be called at 9am, along with purple belt men. We got to the site in plenty of time, and one of my teammates that was competing later was nice enough to roll with me for a bit. Warm-ups make a huge difference when competing, and being able to roll is the best way for me to prep for a match. However, I don't think we were called onto the mat until 10am or so. Trying to be in the right place mentally and physically for a tournament that isn't running on time is very challenging.
I found that I was being paired with a white belt in the > 163lb division instead of the blue belt in the < 163lb. Not my preferred choice, but c'est la vie. The white belt in this instance turned out to be a very fit and seasoned grappler. I pulled guard and she immediately started with a knee slide pass that was very well executed. I can't remember if I conceded side-control or not then, but I'm sure I did at some point. Her top pressure and hip control were very, very good. I asked her later if she wrestled and she said no, which surprised me. I tried for quite some time to regain guard, and eventually did. I tried to set up sweeps and subs, but she was diligent about repeatedly breaking grips. Again, not something you see often from white belts or even blue belts. I finally got her loaded up enough for a modified pendulum sweep into mount. From there, I was able to maintain position enough to set up and execute a bow and arrow for the submission.
Next match went similarly, except that I didn't get the sweep and she racked up points by passing my guard and getting to side-control and I think KOB once or twice. Both my coach and I could tell that she was really efforting, and the plan in the 3rd match was to not let her pass (ha!) and to outlast her cardio. I don't remember much from the 3rd match except that somehow I got to mount which put me up on points. She escaped and then I kept her in my guard for the remainder of the match for the win. I had finally realized at this point that my feeble attempts at DLR were not working.
I eked a 2-out-of-3 win for gold.
I was lucky in that James was able to coach me for all three matches. We had a lot of competitors, but no else happened to be competing at the same time.
I had around 3-4hrs before absolute, so I went outside in the sun for a bit while I took in food and water and tried to mellow out. Came back in and cheered on teammates, and half-wished that I wasn't competing again so that I could relax and really take in the experience of my team.
In absolute I had an opponent that seemed like she wasn't too far below me in size. I'm guessing around 152lb. Once again, winner would have to do 2-out-of-3. First match I pull guard and it turns out that she was also very adept at the knee cut through pass. She got to side-control quickly, and I did a poor job in defending my neck, which resulted in some sort of quick and very tight choke (a d'arce maybe?). Next match I again pull guard and did a better job of keeping her in it. I can't remember the bulk of the match, except at one point she postured but left her arm in, so I decided to go for an arm-bar and sunk it in tight and fast. She tapped immediately and starting shaking her arm out after I let go. I realized I probably put it on too fast. I apologized, but she said she wasn't hurt and she was ok to do the final match. Last match went the same as the first. I can't remember if she won by submission or points, but either way I couldn't keep her in my guard or sweep.
Silver for absolute.
We had a big contingent travel for this tournament, and I really did not want to lose to a white belt in front of the entire team. As much as I'm a proponent for taking ego out of jiu jitsu, I simply can't help myself in this regard. Especially when my team tries to hype me up beforehand by reminding me that I won gold at Pans. That is pressure.
I learned that my DLR is godawful. My side-control escapes are decent, and my patience and survival in bad positions is relatively good. With the exception of maybe one match out of the six, I was in bottom side-control. Not ok. If I'm going to pull guard, I must get better at retaining it and executing sweeps. I made an effort not to concede bad positions, but not enough. I also didn't scramble enough. I never, ever get arm-bars from guard in class, but I they seem to work for me in tournaments.
My cardio was ok. I don't think I had a big adrenaline dump in my matches, but I did have a nervous stomach all day. I must be more diligent about warming-up when I'm standing by the mat waiting to compete. I think double-dipping on classes on the Wednesday prior was a bad plan. I also probably shouldn't have rolled for a full hour on Friday. I know my cardio is good, but I don't take into account the energy drain of travel, sleeping in a hotel with a bunch of dudes, not getting a full night's sleep, poor nutrition and hydration, etc.
I am frustrated again by the lack competition at local tournaments. The competition I had was very good, but of the three regional tournaments I've done this year, I've had exactly one opponent for each division. The medals seem somewhat hollow when you are guaranteed a silver just for stepping on the mat. One of our white belts had 18 guys in his division and had 5 or 6 matches to get gold. He also had long waits between his matches, whereas I had no more than 10min between rolls, which was enough to catch my breath but still be warm. It is what it is...
Speaking of teammates, I loved watching them compete. Even the guys who weren't able to get a win were really fighting and giving it their best. We had three guys travel with us just to watch, which was very selfless.
Overall it was an excellent learning experience. It really opened my eyes to the fact that I'm not as good as I think I am. If I want to compete at Worlds next year as a blue I'm really going to have to fix some major holes in my game. If I got my purple before Pans I was considering doing the master's division, but now I'm not so sure. I need more confidence in my game before dropping that kind of $$ to compete again.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Too Much of a Good Thing
9/4 - Downtown (Morning & Evening Class)
Looks like someone signed up in the weight class below me, so I'm guessing that we'll be paired up for a best two out of three match scenario. Very happy if this is the case, as I'll have someone roughly my experience level and size.
Thought that doing two classes today leading up to the tournament would be a good idea. Help get me in groove, pumped full of BJJ knowledge... The morning class went fine. Rolled against upper belts and even though I was getting crushed I fended off most if not all submissions. Our technique was basic half guard sweeps, nothing fancy.
The evening class was 2min of alternating drills between partners, with you choosing whatever you wanted to work on for the 2min. I liked this format as a change-up, and decided to go with an arm-bar from KOB and scisscor sweep. Basic stuff that I know but is good to brush up on before a tournament.
The rolls were another matter entirely. I went with a couple of white belts and a couple of purple belts. The white belts gave me fits, although I had a nice arm-bar locked up on one of them. The should have had a dominant position with the other one but I couldn't get there. The purple belts mauled me, although I was able to fend off many sub attempts (but not all). I rolled with one other blue belt, but he rolls very light with no strength and very little explosion (even though he is jacked and could mop up the floor with me if he wanted to). He let me get an arm-bar and work on positioning.
Overall I didn't feel like I had an opponent that was anywhere near comparable to the size/skill level I'll see at the tournament. This is a common frustration I have and I need to trust that if I have an opportunity to use my top game or guard game that it will be good enough.
Looks like someone signed up in the weight class below me, so I'm guessing that we'll be paired up for a best two out of three match scenario. Very happy if this is the case, as I'll have someone roughly my experience level and size.
Thought that doing two classes today leading up to the tournament would be a good idea. Help get me in groove, pumped full of BJJ knowledge... The morning class went fine. Rolled against upper belts and even though I was getting crushed I fended off most if not all submissions. Our technique was basic half guard sweeps, nothing fancy.
The evening class was 2min of alternating drills between partners, with you choosing whatever you wanted to work on for the 2min. I liked this format as a change-up, and decided to go with an arm-bar from KOB and scisscor sweep. Basic stuff that I know but is good to brush up on before a tournament.
The rolls were another matter entirely. I went with a couple of white belts and a couple of purple belts. The white belts gave me fits, although I had a nice arm-bar locked up on one of them. The should have had a dominant position with the other one but I couldn't get there. The purple belts mauled me, although I was able to fend off many sub attempts (but not all). I rolled with one other blue belt, but he rolls very light with no strength and very little explosion (even though he is jacked and could mop up the floor with me if he wanted to). He let me get an arm-bar and work on positioning.
Overall I didn't feel like I had an opponent that was anywhere near comparable to the size/skill level I'll see at the tournament. This is a common frustration I have and I need to trust that if I have an opportunity to use my top game or guard game that it will be good enough.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Open Mat
9/2 - Downtown
Open mat for 2hrs. Awesome. I was being careful as hell with Julio b/c he likes to go full speed, especially when I have a tournament coming up. I was terrified that my knee was going to get ripped into four or five different pieces. Rolls with everyone else went really well. Dominated Zack, which is unusual. Surprised that he was conceding guard. Competitive with Manny. He got an arm-bar or two, but we had some excellent scrambles. Also did very well with Keith, and had back control on him multiple times. Tried but could not finish bow and arrow. One roll with Dennis and he crushed and passed my guard easily. A roll with Kyle, who haven't seen in awhile. He would go for kimuras or arm-bars fast, but I was able to counter successfully. I can tell he's been out for awhile.
Overall, a great start to the week. Very happy to get this much rolling at the beginning of the week.
Open mat for 2hrs. Awesome. I was being careful as hell with Julio b/c he likes to go full speed, especially when I have a tournament coming up. I was terrified that my knee was going to get ripped into four or five different pieces. Rolls with everyone else went really well. Dominated Zack, which is unusual. Surprised that he was conceding guard. Competitive with Manny. He got an arm-bar or two, but we had some excellent scrambles. Also did very well with Keith, and had back control on him multiple times. Tried but could not finish bow and arrow. One roll with Dennis and he crushed and passed my guard easily. A roll with Kyle, who haven't seen in awhile. He would go for kimuras or arm-bars fast, but I was able to counter successfully. I can tell he's been out for awhile.
Overall, a great start to the week. Very happy to get this much rolling at the beginning of the week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)