Mind and body felt much better today than yesterday. I was a little skeptical going into class, but was able to roll no problem. It helped that I went against lower belts.
Pretty balanced class today as far as belt levels. One new guy, a couple of inexperienced white belts, and a mix of blues and purples. A couple of the new guys didn't have gi tops, so we did half guard sweeps using the bury your head and control the hip method. I've seen this once before, and I liked it quite a bit. There so many little details to it that I'll happily just work on the entry for it during rolling for the next month or so. You can go to a knee-bar, complete the sweep and then knee-bar, or go to deep half.
Rolls with Rachael, Savannah, Dustin, Mike and Aaron. I did well against Rachael and Savannah, maintaining top positions or passing/sweeping at will. It wasn't easy, but I was able to dictate the matches. I can't remember if I've rolled with Dustin before. He's relatively new but has a pretty decent open guard game. I was able to pass but really had to work at it. Aaron a month or so in and I worked more top game than I should have with him. I didn't go for submissions, so at least I wasn't being a total ass.
Mike was brand new, a big guy, probably 230lb+ and possessed Old Man Strength. He didn't have a gi, and he immediately came at me like I had stolen his kids' lunch money. I had a hard time keeping him in my guard b/c I didn't have grips, and also because he was tossing me around like a rag doll. At one point he threw my legs to the side and dived on top of me. I definitely had an "oh shit" moment when he did that, and I was looking around to see if anyone was paying attention to the fact that I might get mauled in the remaining four minutes and to please have a phone ready for the ambulance. He got in top side control, stepped over and went for a kimura. I was able to wriggle out of that and finally got back to a guard. I was getting a little pissed at this point, because he was just doing the big guy spaz thing and I'd had enough. I threw up a couple of armbars and triangles, but he was so thick and strong that he was able to rip out of everything. At one point I had a somewhat decent omoplata and he ripped out of that too. I tried for the sit-up sweep several times, but the second I'd come off the mat he'd smash back into me. Near the end he was trying to choke me from inside my guard, and I wish like hell I could have finished the arm-bar from there. It's almost offensive when someone tries to choke you from inside your own guard. Looked like he signed up after class, so I'm looking forward to the next I get to roll with him and he's wearing a gi.
It's been awhile since I've rolled with a big spazzy guy, and I don't miss it at all. I did feel validated that my jiu jitsu is good enough so that I can at least survive those scenarios.
2 comments:
With those spazzy aggressive guys, I like to play ultra-relaxed and just act like I'm in a hammock with a lemonade and a good novel while they strain away. It drives them nuts when you place one hand lazily on their elbow to prevent them from finishing the choke, and sigh deeply. Keep a very small smile on your lips and ever let the eyelids go above half-mast. You don't have to sub them to make them see the point.
I like that approach quite a bit, but this guy was way too fast and strong. My defense is pretty good, but not _that_ good. Yet. :)
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