Didn't go much better today than yesterday. A little bit, not a lot. I had people warm-up by doing a half hour of drilling their choice of techniques, then 45min of rolling.
Rolled with Manny, Ian, Kelly, Ben, Shaun and Julio. The one thing that really stuck out in my mind is that both Ben and Kelly used a kimura grip when I had top positions (side-control and half-guard) and were able to effectively escape/sweep. I tried the counter that we learned last week by grabbing my own arm and stepping over the head but I think I was mixing up the steps for half guard and top side. I did my best rolling with Ian, but I still got my guard passed at least once.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Sunday Night Open Mat
Open mat at 7pm. A little late to roll on Sunday, but it's not going to be much of a week next week anyway. Rolls with Julio, Jamie, Opal, Kevin, Jason W., Kelly and Christopher. Not very impressed with my technique or timing, but a week off will do that I suppose.
Monday, December 22, 2014
Monday Morn
Huge class for a weekday morning, around 20 ppl.
Body still tired, but good enough for class. Got through this morning ok and now there's just night class. After that, I'll have at least three days without any rolling.........unless I cave and go to no gi tomorrow night.
Today's format was similar to Sunday advanced. I worked shin guard -> single leg X -> 50/50 -> leg drag, DLR -> RDLR -> DLR and then the rest of my time was spent on the over/under pass. It finally struck me today that the over/under is a pressure pass, and I found it ironic b/c I'm not a big pressure person. I've been kindof diving into it from loosely established half guards, which may not be a wise course of action. I need to have both of my knees above their knee, which means I need to pinch them together. Sol was doing a good job of pushing my elbow away on the "under" side, so I need to focus on keeping my elbow in tighter. I gained a lot of insight on the pass working with him.
Rolls with Savannah, Sol and then drilled again with Sarah. Nothing remarkable from the rolls. Just when I think I'm sortof out of the woods in an omoplata escape with Sol I get wrist-locked. Trying to pass his half guard was awful. He's really, really good at exposing elbows.
Signed up for Pans today...
Body still tired, but good enough for class. Got through this morning ok and now there's just night class. After that, I'll have at least three days without any rolling.........unless I cave and go to no gi tomorrow night.
Today's format was similar to Sunday advanced. I worked shin guard -> single leg X -> 50/50 -> leg drag, DLR -> RDLR -> DLR and then the rest of my time was spent on the over/under pass. It finally struck me today that the over/under is a pressure pass, and I found it ironic b/c I'm not a big pressure person. I've been kindof diving into it from loosely established half guards, which may not be a wise course of action. I need to have both of my knees above their knee, which means I need to pinch them together. Sol was doing a good job of pushing my elbow away on the "under" side, so I need to focus on keeping my elbow in tighter. I gained a lot of insight on the pass working with him.
Rolls with Savannah, Sol and then drilled again with Sarah. Nothing remarkable from the rolls. Just when I think I'm sortof out of the woods in an omoplata escape with Sol I get wrist-locked. Trying to pass his half guard was awful. He's really, really good at exposing elbows.
Signed up for Pans today...
Sunday Advanced
Body feeling ok except kinda tired.
Today's drill session went much better for me than last week. I tried transitioning from a knee slice to knee over pass and back again, but a) I was doing poorly and b) it was very uncomfortable for Russ. Since I wasn't sure if I was doing it right, I decided to work the lasso sweep to hammer sweep transition, the over-under pass (which I'm really enjoying) and can't remember what else.
Rolls with Russ, Kasey, Jason W., James and Antone.
I was able to get into the over-under pass position with Russ but couldn't complete the pass. He had strong frames with his hands and I wasn't able to kick my leg out. I think it's b/c I didn't walk him flat, so he still a lot of play in his leg. I felt like I was stalling out in the position, so eventually moved back into a more traditional top half guard.
Kasey went for a leg lock rather quickly. Aside from that, he let me work top side a bit. I stayed out of closed guard but couldn't really get grips to do anything worthwhile in open guard.
Jason also went for several leg locks. I was able to roll out of a toe hold. Can't remember much else about that roll.
I was looking forward to rolling with James but don't think I did all that well. I did feel like I tried some new things instead of old things that have the same (bad) predictable result.
Antone pretty much kicked my ass and I was starting to feel a little bit sorry for myself but managed to keep it in check.
Today's drill session went much better for me than last week. I tried transitioning from a knee slice to knee over pass and back again, but a) I was doing poorly and b) it was very uncomfortable for Russ. Since I wasn't sure if I was doing it right, I decided to work the lasso sweep to hammer sweep transition, the over-under pass (which I'm really enjoying) and can't remember what else.
Rolls with Russ, Kasey, Jason W., James and Antone.
I was able to get into the over-under pass position with Russ but couldn't complete the pass. He had strong frames with his hands and I wasn't able to kick my leg out. I think it's b/c I didn't walk him flat, so he still a lot of play in his leg. I felt like I was stalling out in the position, so eventually moved back into a more traditional top half guard.
Kasey went for a leg lock rather quickly. Aside from that, he let me work top side a bit. I stayed out of closed guard but couldn't really get grips to do anything worthwhile in open guard.
Jason also went for several leg locks. I was able to roll out of a toe hold. Can't remember much else about that roll.
I was looking forward to rolling with James but don't think I did all that well. I did feel like I tried some new things instead of old things that have the same (bad) predictable result.
Antone pretty much kicked my ass and I was starting to feel a little bit sorry for myself but managed to keep it in check.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Sat Fundies and Nooner
Rachael was back, so I had my preferred demo dummy for the Fundamentals class. Surprised with a good-sized turnout (8) before the holiday week. I'm pretty sure that I talk too fast and too much. I need to chill out a bit. Did the hip bump sweep, flower sweep and double-ankle sweep. It was gratifying to have a couple of guys say that the details I showed made the technique seem more effortless then when they've tried it before.
Had a nice mix of people for the noon class. About a third purple, a third blue and a third white.Technique was passing the seated guard, either by stepping in and back-stepping, or stepping to the side and spinning them down. These work fantastic in theory, but almost never during rolling (at least for me). We also did the very debasing pull-their-sleeves-up-and-shove-your-hips-in-their-face-and-slide-to-mount pass.
Rolls with Rachael, Clayton, Tucker and Nick. I was able to get to Rachael's back with one hook in and spent the majority of the roll working to get the second hook in and harass for chokes. Came close on a bow and arrow variation, but couldn't finish and she defended well and was eventually able to get me off her back (though I quickly got back on).
I was more competitive with Clayton than usual, though he still pretty much dominated the round. He had top position, but I was able to stay out of bad trouble and tried to work (unsuccessfully) from bottom half guard.
This was Tucker's third class (Fundies was his second) and he did well for it being his third class. I worked (predictably) from guard and did several catch-n-release submissions. Swept to mount, moved off to side-control, then let him finish from top side. He said at one point that he felt like he was mouse being toyed with by a cat. Made me chuckle. I told him that we all start out that way, and that's how I feel when I roll with James.
Nick has been working his spiderguard, which is good b/c not too many people play pure spiderguard at the gym. I totally forgot the defense that I was going to practice though, so I was stuck in it for awhile until I was able to get through his guard, pass to side control and tap with a kimura. Reset and he started his spiderguard again. I really need to figure what defense I'm going to use against that.
Feeling better about jiu jitsu, but body is dead tired. Hopefully I'll feel refreshed for drilling tomorrow. Looking forward to having a couple of days off next week.
Had a nice mix of people for the noon class. About a third purple, a third blue and a third white.Technique was passing the seated guard, either by stepping in and back-stepping, or stepping to the side and spinning them down. These work fantastic in theory, but almost never during rolling (at least for me). We also did the very debasing pull-their-sleeves-up-and-shove-your-hips-in-their-face-and-slide-to-mount pass.
Rolls with Rachael, Clayton, Tucker and Nick. I was able to get to Rachael's back with one hook in and spent the majority of the roll working to get the second hook in and harass for chokes. Came close on a bow and arrow variation, but couldn't finish and she defended well and was eventually able to get me off her back (though I quickly got back on).
I was more competitive with Clayton than usual, though he still pretty much dominated the round. He had top position, but I was able to stay out of bad trouble and tried to work (unsuccessfully) from bottom half guard.
This was Tucker's third class (Fundies was his second) and he did well for it being his third class. I worked (predictably) from guard and did several catch-n-release submissions. Swept to mount, moved off to side-control, then let him finish from top side. He said at one point that he felt like he was mouse being toyed with by a cat. Made me chuckle. I told him that we all start out that way, and that's how I feel when I roll with James.
Nick has been working his spiderguard, which is good b/c not too many people play pure spiderguard at the gym. I totally forgot the defense that I was going to practice though, so I was stuck in it for awhile until I was able to get through his guard, pass to side control and tap with a kimura. Reset and he started his spiderguard again. I really need to figure what defense I'm going to use against that.
Feeling better about jiu jitsu, but body is dead tired. Hopefully I'll feel refreshed for drilling tomorrow. Looking forward to having a couple of days off next week.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Fri Morn No Gi
Ehhhhhhhh...... rolling is sliding into that not very fun realm this week. Drilling is going well and I'm enjoying that aspect, but I feel like the upper belts are just toying with me and it's making it decidedly un-fun. Today, Kelly decided to calf slicer me several times before moving on to something else. Granted, I wasn't adapting enough to stop him from doing it, but come on.
I feel like the worst grappler in the room, which is a really unpleasant place to be. Especially when I really start boo hooing it...five years in, and still the worst.
I'm tempted to just teach Fundies tomorrow and skip noon class, depending on who's there and how I'm feeling.
On a more positive note, my lifting has been going well. I've been doing it consistently three times a week and have been adding in metcons. Following CFFB for the Mon/Tue/Thu workouts.
I feel like the worst grappler in the room, which is a really unpleasant place to be. Especially when I really start boo hooing it...five years in, and still the worst.
I'm tempted to just teach Fundies tomorrow and skip noon class, depending on who's there and how I'm feeling.
On a more positive note, my lifting has been going well. I've been doing it consistently three times a week and have been adding in metcons. Following CFFB for the Mon/Tue/Thu workouts.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Wed Night
Body was tired but mind was willing for another class.
Submission escapes, which made me quite happy. I've been looking forward to doing some for quite awhile.
We really only worked two, b/c we had quite a few white belts in class. Arm-in and arm-out versions of the guillotine from guard escape, escaping a kimura from top-half guard and escaping a kimura from top side-control. Drilled with Russ and everything felt pretty good. We should have split up and drilled with the white belts though.
Rolls with Russ, Joyce, Opal and Missy and then a couple of rounds with Nando after class. Russ was letting me work a bit, but not too much. It seemed like a pretty competitive roll. I gave some feedback after each roll with the women, which they seem to appreciate.
Nando had a more difficult time passing my guard than usual. He's also hasn't been consistent with attendance...in fact, I can't remember the last time he was in regularly. I was definitely doing a better job of leg weaving though. He got me in N/S and was about to sink a choke when my calf started cramping badly. I had a bunch of bananas and water yesterday but probably not enough sodium. We rolled for awhile longer and then he showed me an escape from N/S.
Submission escapes, which made me quite happy. I've been looking forward to doing some for quite awhile.
We really only worked two, b/c we had quite a few white belts in class. Arm-in and arm-out versions of the guillotine from guard escape, escaping a kimura from top-half guard and escaping a kimura from top side-control. Drilled with Russ and everything felt pretty good. We should have split up and drilled with the white belts though.
Rolls with Russ, Joyce, Opal and Missy and then a couple of rounds with Nando after class. Russ was letting me work a bit, but not too much. It seemed like a pretty competitive roll. I gave some feedback after each roll with the women, which they seem to appreciate.
Nando had a more difficult time passing my guard than usual. He's also hasn't been consistent with attendance...in fact, I can't remember the last time he was in regularly. I was definitely doing a better job of leg weaving though. He got me in N/S and was about to sink a choke when my calf started cramping badly. I had a bunch of bananas and water yesterday but probably not enough sodium. We rolled for awhile longer and then he showed me an escape from N/S.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Wed Morn Defeatism
So-so day of training. I can't decide if it's a blessing or curse that I'm planning on doing night class as well.
Technique was straight-forward enough. Spiderguard to a lasso from opposite arm sweep and transitioning to a hammer sweep if the lasso doesn't work. Picked up quite a few details on both of those that will hopefully help me be more successful.
During rolls, I tried to focus on the passing fundamentals from Ryan Hall that I watched last night. I was interested mainly in trying to make the knee over (split) pass work. I had some success with Sarah, and noticed that I was naturally keeping my head low and using it to help pin her down. I had to really work for it, as she wasn't going to just let me lock her hips down. I was patient, stuck with it and eventually got the pass. I was really, really happy that I was methodical and (hopefully) technical. Keeping my hips towards the mat was *not* intuitive.
Then a roll with Antone, where I tried to do the same thing. Much less success, as I couldn't or wouldn't get my hips down. He ended up sweeping and immediately getting to some awesome top position. He might tapped me with something, don't remember. I think we restarted and I tried to fall to the side (just like Ryan Hall) when he sat up with a DLR hook but that didn't work out well for me either. He went completely inverted, and I tried to pin one side down but he wasn't having it.
Rolled with Kelly, who was just toying with me while he was trying to get a lapel guard sweep to work.
This is probably what started the deterioration in my mood, which was not helped by a roll with Ben (not teacher Ben). He passed by quickly stuffing my knee, smashed to side-control and then smashed to mount. Once in mount, he worked and worked for a submission, which he eventually got with some sortof choke. I could tell he was getting somewhat frustrated by the fact that I was in pure defense mode and not trying to escape. Fair enough, but I decided I'd rather wait for him to (hopefully) make a mistake during a submission instead of spend a lot of energy trying to escape. I had tucked my chin deep, so the submission was mostly a matter of him smashing my chin into my throat, which was totally on me, not him. He has technique for sure, but he also muscles the shit out of everything and has a significant size/strength advantage. It's frustrating, b/c I got into that zone where I was like screw it, just get your sub already so that we can reset. I really dislike when I have that defeatist attitude, but it is what it is. When we reset I let my frustration out a bit by going harder than usual, but the round was almost over so not much happened.
He complemented me after the roll that my elbows were hard to isolate, which was nice and all, but it sounded a lot like a I-just-kicked-your-ass-but-I'm-going-to-complement-you-because-you're-clearly-pretty-frustrated.
Technique was straight-forward enough. Spiderguard to a lasso from opposite arm sweep and transitioning to a hammer sweep if the lasso doesn't work. Picked up quite a few details on both of those that will hopefully help me be more successful.
During rolls, I tried to focus on the passing fundamentals from Ryan Hall that I watched last night. I was interested mainly in trying to make the knee over (split) pass work. I had some success with Sarah, and noticed that I was naturally keeping my head low and using it to help pin her down. I had to really work for it, as she wasn't going to just let me lock her hips down. I was patient, stuck with it and eventually got the pass. I was really, really happy that I was methodical and (hopefully) technical. Keeping my hips towards the mat was *not* intuitive.
Then a roll with Antone, where I tried to do the same thing. Much less success, as I couldn't or wouldn't get my hips down. He ended up sweeping and immediately getting to some awesome top position. He might tapped me with something, don't remember. I think we restarted and I tried to fall to the side (just like Ryan Hall) when he sat up with a DLR hook but that didn't work out well for me either. He went completely inverted, and I tried to pin one side down but he wasn't having it.
Rolled with Kelly, who was just toying with me while he was trying to get a lapel guard sweep to work.
This is probably what started the deterioration in my mood, which was not helped by a roll with Ben (not teacher Ben). He passed by quickly stuffing my knee, smashed to side-control and then smashed to mount. Once in mount, he worked and worked for a submission, which he eventually got with some sortof choke. I could tell he was getting somewhat frustrated by the fact that I was in pure defense mode and not trying to escape. Fair enough, but I decided I'd rather wait for him to (hopefully) make a mistake during a submission instead of spend a lot of energy trying to escape. I had tucked my chin deep, so the submission was mostly a matter of him smashing my chin into my throat, which was totally on me, not him. He has technique for sure, but he also muscles the shit out of everything and has a significant size/strength advantage. It's frustrating, b/c I got into that zone where I was like screw it, just get your sub already so that we can reset. I really dislike when I have that defeatist attitude, but it is what it is. When we reset I let my frustration out a bit by going harder than usual, but the round was almost over so not much happened.
He complemented me after the roll that my elbows were hard to isolate, which was nice and all, but it sounded a lot like a I-just-kicked-your-ass-but-I'm-going-to-complement-you-because-you're-clearly-pretty-frustrated.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Monday - Jiu Jitsu in My Sleep
Soooooo....it turns out I do jiu jitsu in my sleep. It's possible that I was framing someone in the face that was next to me in the middle of the night. Oops.
My body felt fine, but apparently my brain was not all there for morning class. We were doing half guard sweeps from 93, and they were mostly ones that I haven't seen before (or have forgotten if I have). I was making a bunch of small mistakes, like gripping the fabric instead of using a monkey grip, not gripping the leg, etc.
Finally seemed to get it together, but none of the sweeps felt like I was doing them well.
Rolled with Sarah, Tyrone, Julio, James and big Mike.
I think I was using my weight too much with Sarah. It's hard for me to tell if it's my technique, weight or both. It's probably both.
Tyrone said he wanted to do something a little different, so I tried to get in a passing position instead of a guard position immediately after the fist bump. I came close and had top turtle in a head-to-head position, but I lost it and he passed....right into my inverted triangle from bottom side. I had his far arm (which I usually never get) and he tapped. We restarted and I harassed him from guard (our normal roll) the rest of the round.
Julio accidentally smashed my jaw early on, but no real harm done. He passed my guard like butter and I was having a tough time in his side-control.
I tried again to get a sweep on James after he did a back-step, but I did quite a few things wrong and didn't get as close as I did yesterday. He gave me some advice after class and I'll give those a whirl next time.
Big Mike didn't have a lot of energy left, and I really, really did not want him to lay on top of me in side-control. I managed to stay in guard and work for chokes and taking the back. Never quite got to the back, but did ok otherwise.
My body felt fine, but apparently my brain was not all there for morning class. We were doing half guard sweeps from 93, and they were mostly ones that I haven't seen before (or have forgotten if I have). I was making a bunch of small mistakes, like gripping the fabric instead of using a monkey grip, not gripping the leg, etc.
Finally seemed to get it together, but none of the sweeps felt like I was doing them well.
Rolled with Sarah, Tyrone, Julio, James and big Mike.
I think I was using my weight too much with Sarah. It's hard for me to tell if it's my technique, weight or both. It's probably both.
Tyrone said he wanted to do something a little different, so I tried to get in a passing position instead of a guard position immediately after the fist bump. I came close and had top turtle in a head-to-head position, but I lost it and he passed....right into my inverted triangle from bottom side. I had his far arm (which I usually never get) and he tapped. We restarted and I harassed him from guard (our normal roll) the rest of the round.
Julio accidentally smashed my jaw early on, but no real harm done. He passed my guard like butter and I was having a tough time in his side-control.
I tried again to get a sweep on James after he did a back-step, but I did quite a few things wrong and didn't get as close as I did yesterday. He gave me some advice after class and I'll give those a whirl next time.
Big Mike didn't have a lot of energy left, and I really, really did not want him to lay on top of me in side-control. I managed to stay in guard and work for chokes and taking the back. Never quite got to the back, but did ok otherwise.
Wrasslin & Advanced Class
Sat Fundies:
Had 6 people, all of them fairly inexperienced. That is a good number for me to give individual attention. Went over arm-bar, omoplata and triangle from guard in no gi.
Sat Noon:
Wrestling seminar which I had been dreading. Turned out to be a good learning experience and I daresay fun. I'm not going to double-leg an opponent anytime soon, but I enjoyed the exposure to something a little different. Worked with Joyce, and we both had an explicit agreement that we were not going to let each other get injured.
After class I rolled no gi with Jerry, who was back after a multi-month lay-off. I kept trying to weave my arm between his legs while he had half guard so I could smash his legs down for the pass. I was arm-barred repeatedly.
Sunday:
I was wiped Saturday night but woke up with a surprising amount of energy on Sunday morn. Was too rushed doing tasking stuff before class though, and got a bit worn down. Also didn't have time to plan my drilling, so it was hit and miss. Tried to work the RDLR passes and met with a lot of fail. Tried several different techniques and really nothing felt very good.
Rolled with Russ, Jerry, Kelly, Shaun, Jason S., Jason W. and James. I was pretty happy with my rolls overall. James can't work from his back b/c of a tattoo, so if you could get a sweep you would win. I came very, very close to getting him on his back after he back-stepped but alas I couldn't quite finish.
Had 6 people, all of them fairly inexperienced. That is a good number for me to give individual attention. Went over arm-bar, omoplata and triangle from guard in no gi.
Sat Noon:
Wrestling seminar which I had been dreading. Turned out to be a good learning experience and I daresay fun. I'm not going to double-leg an opponent anytime soon, but I enjoyed the exposure to something a little different. Worked with Joyce, and we both had an explicit agreement that we were not going to let each other get injured.
After class I rolled no gi with Jerry, who was back after a multi-month lay-off. I kept trying to weave my arm between his legs while he had half guard so I could smash his legs down for the pass. I was arm-barred repeatedly.
Sunday:
I was wiped Saturday night but woke up with a surprising amount of energy on Sunday morn. Was too rushed doing tasking stuff before class though, and got a bit worn down. Also didn't have time to plan my drilling, so it was hit and miss. Tried to work the RDLR passes and met with a lot of fail. Tried several different techniques and really nothing felt very good.
Rolled with Russ, Jerry, Kelly, Shaun, Jason S., Jason W. and James. I was pretty happy with my rolls overall. James can't work from his back b/c of a tattoo, so if you could get a sweep you would win. I came very, very close to getting him on his back after he back-stepped but alas I couldn't quite finish.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Friday
I might have committed to doing both 2015 Pans and Master Worlds last night. -.-
Technique was a bit on the complex side today, consisting of passing someone who is in the midst of inverting while in RDLR. Also a response to the lockdown and then a somewhat related pass off of a backstep.
KOTH with the goal being a pass or sweep only. Person down starts in seated guard.
I was very quickly swept by everyone with whom I was matched. Swept, on the wall. Swept, on the wall. Humbling, but good. In hindsight, I gave up on a lot of the attempted sweeps instead of fighting and clawing to keep my ass off the mat. If I'm going to be spending a truckload on competitions next year, I need to get out of them mindset.
Come to think of it, I need to get out of this mindset, regardless of how much competing (or not competing.
I finally got a pass on Shaun and was able to stay down and play guard the rest of the time.
Tomorrow's noon class is going to be strictly wrestling. FML.
EDIT: Wanted to mention a couple of things that I did well during the KOTH rolls. I've drilled getting rid of butterfly hooks (standing) a la Ryan Hall, and I was able to use that once during an attempted pass. I did a pretty decent job of breaking grips, especially in my first roll with Jason S. I also got a knee slice on two different people by taking my knee across their shin instead of across their thigh.
Technique was a bit on the complex side today, consisting of passing someone who is in the midst of inverting while in RDLR. Also a response to the lockdown and then a somewhat related pass off of a backstep.
KOTH with the goal being a pass or sweep only. Person down starts in seated guard.
I was very quickly swept by everyone with whom I was matched. Swept, on the wall. Swept, on the wall. Humbling, but good. In hindsight, I gave up on a lot of the attempted sweeps instead of fighting and clawing to keep my ass off the mat. If I'm going to be spending a truckload on competitions next year, I need to get out of them mindset.
Come to think of it, I need to get out of this mindset, regardless of how much competing (or not competing.
I finally got a pass on Shaun and was able to stay down and play guard the rest of the time.
Tomorrow's noon class is going to be strictly wrestling. FML.
EDIT: Wanted to mention a couple of things that I did well during the KOTH rolls. I've drilled getting rid of butterfly hooks (standing) a la Ryan Hall, and I was able to use that once during an attempted pass. I did a pretty decent job of breaking grips, especially in my first roll with Jason S. I also got a knee slice on two different people by taking my knee across their shin instead of across their thigh.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Mumbling Wednesday
I mumble waaaaay more than I would like, especially in class. I have the impression that people can hear me when they can't, and that's WITHOUT the mouthguard. Note to self to speak up and clearly.
Got through a nice lift and cardio session last night, so figured my body was in good enough shape for morning class. Slept godawful, but still felt decent.
Technique consisted of the DLR dump sweep, rolling underneath if they break the far side grip, and using their elbow to forward roll them if you can't get a sleeve grip on either side. Techniques all felt pretty good. Ideally for all of these you have a shin guard instead of the DLR hook dropped on the floor, but getting my shin in front isn't intuitive. That will take a lot of drilling to change.
Rolls with Sarah, Richard, Antone, Russ, Jason S. and Ben.
Did well against Sarah, though in her defense she apparently had a crappy night of sleep as well. I had good top pressure and was patient about getting to mount.
Richard looked beat, but really came after me trying to pass my guard. I maintained guard but it was a struggle. I can't remember if I got a sub or not.
Fun roll with Antone. He went for a back attack and I worked hard to try to get the shallower hook, but he was better at it and eventually was able to get my back off the mat. We had quite a few transitions and quite a bit of variety.
I came out of the gate with Russ with the intent of pressure passing and stayed focused on that. I think I eventually did get the pass. Most of the round was me trying to get the pass and flattening him out.
I didn't have much left for Jason or Ben. Jason got that lapel/spiderguard and was a step ahead of me the entire way. I was barely able to avoid getting in really bad spots, but barely. Ben toyed with my closed guard for a bit, passed using the super annoying trap-your-arm-behind-your-back method then finished a head/arm choke from mount.
Got through a nice lift and cardio session last night, so figured my body was in good enough shape for morning class. Slept godawful, but still felt decent.
Technique consisted of the DLR dump sweep, rolling underneath if they break the far side grip, and using their elbow to forward roll them if you can't get a sleeve grip on either side. Techniques all felt pretty good. Ideally for all of these you have a shin guard instead of the DLR hook dropped on the floor, but getting my shin in front isn't intuitive. That will take a lot of drilling to change.
Rolls with Sarah, Richard, Antone, Russ, Jason S. and Ben.
Did well against Sarah, though in her defense she apparently had a crappy night of sleep as well. I had good top pressure and was patient about getting to mount.
Richard looked beat, but really came after me trying to pass my guard. I maintained guard but it was a struggle. I can't remember if I got a sub or not.
Fun roll with Antone. He went for a back attack and I worked hard to try to get the shallower hook, but he was better at it and eventually was able to get my back off the mat. We had quite a few transitions and quite a bit of variety.
I came out of the gate with Russ with the intent of pressure passing and stayed focused on that. I think I eventually did get the pass. Most of the round was me trying to get the pass and flattening him out.
I didn't have much left for Jason or Ben. Jason got that lapel/spiderguard and was a step ahead of me the entire way. I was barely able to avoid getting in really bad spots, but barely. Ben toyed with my closed guard for a bit, passed using the super annoying trap-your-arm-behind-your-back method then finished a head/arm choke from mount.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Sat Fundies and Nooner
My Fundamentals class is dwindling. Only four people this week. There are plenty of newish white belts that attend the noon class. Maybe some of them can't make 10:30am, but I suspect it's more a matter of them not wanting to attend as opposed to not being able to attend, for whatever reason.
I covered top side-control, which I'm becoming more comfortable teaching. The Ryan Hall Passing series has really helped me think and teach some aspects of the top game more conceptually. Hard to say if I'm applying during rolling, which is where the rubber really meets the road.
The noon class focused on back-mount escapes. Escape to the good side, escape bad side. I think the last was escape using deep half if you can't free the top hook.
Rolled with Naomi, Nick and Zack. May have had one more, don't remember. No submissions, mount or back-mount only. I needed a light day b/c I could feel that I was coming down with a cold bug. I let Naomi work a bit, but she was legitimately doing well pushing the action and staying on top when she got there. I got mount at some point. Zack worked a fair amount from top half. I tried in vain numerous times to use the 93 guard and extend the leg for a sweep. I think I got him on his butt once.
Nick's spiderguard game is really coming along. I don't know if he got a sweep, but he was making it very tough for me to make any forward progress. I hate being in someone's spiderguard, but I'm really glad we have some people at the gym that are using it. I eventually got to mount or back-mount near the end of the round after finally passing his guard.
I spent a good portion of Sunday morning and Sunday night watching Worlds 2011. I thought it was odd that they interviewed the winners, b/c I don't recall them doing that the past several years. As I was watching the interviews for the women's finals, I figured out why they probably stopped doing that. During Leticia's interview, she made a statement that the Federation needed to start steroid testing b/c it was clear that some people were using. Later on, Gabi responded in a torrent of Portuguese, which made me wish I would really buckle down and make it a priority to learn it. Her translator probably gave a sterilized version of her response.
Anyway, watching jiu jitsu makes me want to do jiu jitsu, but alas, not feeling good. No Monday class for me. :(
I covered top side-control, which I'm becoming more comfortable teaching. The Ryan Hall Passing series has really helped me think and teach some aspects of the top game more conceptually. Hard to say if I'm applying during rolling, which is where the rubber really meets the road.
The noon class focused on back-mount escapes. Escape to the good side, escape bad side. I think the last was escape using deep half if you can't free the top hook.
Rolled with Naomi, Nick and Zack. May have had one more, don't remember. No submissions, mount or back-mount only. I needed a light day b/c I could feel that I was coming down with a cold bug. I let Naomi work a bit, but she was legitimately doing well pushing the action and staying on top when she got there. I got mount at some point. Zack worked a fair amount from top half. I tried in vain numerous times to use the 93 guard and extend the leg for a sweep. I think I got him on his butt once.
Nick's spiderguard game is really coming along. I don't know if he got a sweep, but he was making it very tough for me to make any forward progress. I hate being in someone's spiderguard, but I'm really glad we have some people at the gym that are using it. I eventually got to mount or back-mount near the end of the round after finally passing his guard.
I spent a good portion of Sunday morning and Sunday night watching Worlds 2011. I thought it was odd that they interviewed the winners, b/c I don't recall them doing that the past several years. As I was watching the interviews for the women's finals, I figured out why they probably stopped doing that. During Leticia's interview, she made a statement that the Federation needed to start steroid testing b/c it was clear that some people were using. Later on, Gabi responded in a torrent of Portuguese, which made me wish I would really buckle down and make it a priority to learn it. Her translator probably gave a sterilized version of her response.
Anyway, watching jiu jitsu makes me want to do jiu jitsu, but alas, not feeling good. No Monday class for me. :(
Friday, December 5, 2014
Fri No Gi
The first rashguard that I've purchased in over 5yrs arrived last night, just in time for today's no gi class. I love the fit and feel, except that I'm not used to a tight collar and felt like I was being choked. Aside from that though, I love it.
Back is feeling better. A little tight, but didn't limit me too much until I was in bottom side-control.
Technique of the day was sweeps from the 93 guard, one of my favorite. Elongate the leg to a knee-bar or take them over for a sweep, knee-bar, or move to side-control. If they try to knee cut, trap their cutting leg (R) with your L, step to the R with your R foot and use your R hand under their L knee to punch up while you pull their hips into you (assumption is that you have the underhook. If they hover, pull your bottom leg out and dump them into full guard and a potential back-take.
Last ditch effort if they get the underhook on the knee cut is to do the Telles roll into them and grab their inside knee with your inside hand, transitioning to their far hip to prevent a crucifix as you plow them over.
Rolls with Sarah (twice), Chris, Jordan and Jason S. I got a nice sweep on Jason, but otherwise I was in quite a bit of trouble. I had to hold out at the end for in arm-bar triangle combo that he was working. Chris had good top control and guard, and was giving me sweeps. Not sure how I feel about that. I worked Jordan over pretty good with multiple submissions. I admonished him at one point as he reached his arm back and under my leg to try to break open my guard. He did use a kimura grip from a bottom position to start an escape, but let go of it too soon.
First roll with Sarah was pretty back and forth. I was showing my back A LOT, way more than I should have. Sometimes she was able to capitalize, and got at least one sweep and pass out of it. In the second roll I didn't show my back as much, and had a good grip on the arm for an arm-bar but my legs were trapped.
Really enjoyed no gi for a change of pace, and am in love with the rashguard. Wish I would have got two while they were on sale. :(
Back is feeling better. A little tight, but didn't limit me too much until I was in bottom side-control.
Technique of the day was sweeps from the 93 guard, one of my favorite. Elongate the leg to a knee-bar or take them over for a sweep, knee-bar, or move to side-control. If they try to knee cut, trap their cutting leg (R) with your L, step to the R with your R foot and use your R hand under their L knee to punch up while you pull their hips into you (assumption is that you have the underhook. If they hover, pull your bottom leg out and dump them into full guard and a potential back-take.
Last ditch effort if they get the underhook on the knee cut is to do the Telles roll into them and grab their inside knee with your inside hand, transitioning to their far hip to prevent a crucifix as you plow them over.
Rolls with Sarah (twice), Chris, Jordan and Jason S. I got a nice sweep on Jason, but otherwise I was in quite a bit of trouble. I had to hold out at the end for in arm-bar triangle combo that he was working. Chris had good top control and guard, and was giving me sweeps. Not sure how I feel about that. I worked Jordan over pretty good with multiple submissions. I admonished him at one point as he reached his arm back and under my leg to try to break open my guard. He did use a kimura grip from a bottom position to start an escape, but let go of it too soon.
First roll with Sarah was pretty back and forth. I was showing my back A LOT, way more than I should have. Sometimes she was able to capitalize, and got at least one sweep and pass out of it. In the second roll I didn't show my back as much, and had a good grip on the arm for an arm-bar but my legs were trapped.
Really enjoyed no gi for a change of pace, and am in love with the rashguard. Wish I would have got two while they were on sale. :(
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Wed - At Least the Dog was Cozy
Monday night, the dog gives me the sad eyes and wants to sleep in the bed. Well...fine. The problem is that this 50lb pooch crowds me to the edge of the bed as night wears on, so I wake up preztelfied and my back is seriously unhappy.
Tuesday it was bad and very stiff after sitting in the office for 10hrs. I did a light lift workout Tuesday night to try to stretch it out. It felt sortof better and sortof worse.
Felt better this morning, but still areas of unhappiness. Probably shouldn't have gone to class, but I told myself that I was going to take it really, really easy.
Had a bit of a rough go of it during warm-ups, as pummeling was fine but fighting for the underhooks was dicey. Stretching felt good but some of it was somewhat uncomfortable.
Started off with a half guard sweep that I was fine as the top person but not so much on the bottom. It involved on halfway inverting on the shoulder, which was kindof fine, but kicking the leg out not so much. I wasn't a great training partner for Sarah. :(
Everything I tried felt at least somewhat uncomfortable. I was able to show a DLR back-take fairly well though, so there's that.
Wasn't going to roll, but felt ok so flowed with Sarah, Chris, Shaun and Jason S. If someone got to side-control I punted b/c bridging was out of the question. Working from the top was ok, until I got into top side-control and tried to attack the far arm for an americana. Nope. Guard was ok to maintain, sweeps were tricky.
I probably could have stayed away to let my back chill, but I think stretching and movement was good for it.
Tuesday it was bad and very stiff after sitting in the office for 10hrs. I did a light lift workout Tuesday night to try to stretch it out. It felt sortof better and sortof worse.
Felt better this morning, but still areas of unhappiness. Probably shouldn't have gone to class, but I told myself that I was going to take it really, really easy.
Had a bit of a rough go of it during warm-ups, as pummeling was fine but fighting for the underhooks was dicey. Stretching felt good but some of it was somewhat uncomfortable.
Started off with a half guard sweep that I was fine as the top person but not so much on the bottom. It involved on halfway inverting on the shoulder, which was kindof fine, but kicking the leg out not so much. I wasn't a great training partner for Sarah. :(
Everything I tried felt at least somewhat uncomfortable. I was able to show a DLR back-take fairly well though, so there's that.
Wasn't going to roll, but felt ok so flowed with Sarah, Chris, Shaun and Jason S. If someone got to side-control I punted b/c bridging was out of the question. Working from the top was ok, until I got into top side-control and tried to attack the far arm for an americana. Nope. Guard was ok to maintain, sweeps were tricky.
I probably could have stayed away to let my back chill, but I think stretching and movement was good for it.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Monday Morn
I promised Sarah that I had some epic deep half sweeps that I was going to try out on her today. That turned out to be a lot of hot air on my part.
Omoplata set-ups and alternative finishes today. Felt pretty good with them, overall. The switch to arm-bar when if they try to snaggle your far leg didn't feel quite right, probably b/c I wasn't getting my hips all the way around.
The response to when they throw their leg over felt a little dicey too, but it was mostly b/c I wasn't using their momentum to bring me up. It also has to be a realistic jump over on their part. I liked the back-rolling option too. It feels like you get stuck midway through, but once you get your hips turned toward the mat you're well on the way home.
Rolls with Sarah, Jason S., Sol and then Sarah again. Sarah let me pull deep half. I got partly through a sweep, didn't hip heist like Kelly told me yesterday and blew it. I wasn't all there mentally that first match and made a lot of mistakes.
Jason started that lapel guard nonsense. I might have tried to pick a poor time to bolo. I was in a bad spot for a piece of time, as he came close to get full back-control. He was setting up for a bow and arrow, but I was able to get the choking arm off. I then ended up in a kimura or americana grip that seemed tight but he didn't or couldn't finish. Transitioned to arm-bar that I was able to fully escape.
Sol had top side-control for most of the time, though I did a fairly decent job of defending submissions and ending up in really crappy side-control.
Second roll with Sarah I tried to bolo from a weird spot and she was able to completely reverse it. Awesome for her. It was fun to try to work my way out of it get the shallow hook.
Omoplata set-ups and alternative finishes today. Felt pretty good with them, overall. The switch to arm-bar when if they try to snaggle your far leg didn't feel quite right, probably b/c I wasn't getting my hips all the way around.
The response to when they throw their leg over felt a little dicey too, but it was mostly b/c I wasn't using their momentum to bring me up. It also has to be a realistic jump over on their part. I liked the back-rolling option too. It feels like you get stuck midway through, but once you get your hips turned toward the mat you're well on the way home.
Rolls with Sarah, Jason S., Sol and then Sarah again. Sarah let me pull deep half. I got partly through a sweep, didn't hip heist like Kelly told me yesterday and blew it. I wasn't all there mentally that first match and made a lot of mistakes.
Jason started that lapel guard nonsense. I might have tried to pick a poor time to bolo. I was in a bad spot for a piece of time, as he came close to get full back-control. He was setting up for a bow and arrow, but I was able to get the choking arm off. I then ended up in a kimura or americana grip that seemed tight but he didn't or couldn't finish. Transitioned to arm-bar that I was able to fully escape.
Sol had top side-control for most of the time, though I did a fairly decent job of defending submissions and ending up in really crappy side-control.
Second roll with Sarah I tried to bolo from a weird spot and she was able to completely reverse it. Awesome for her. It was fun to try to work my way out of it get the shallow hook.
Sat & Sun
Fundamentals on Saturday consisted of side-control escapes. Small class of 5, including Rachael and a visiting blue. Not a lot of questions, and I felt like I prattled on rather excessively.
We had several drop-ins for the noon class, including pretty much the entire stable of the Inland NW's UFC fighters. One of them sat out the first round of rolling, and then proceeded to try to rip my arm off from various positions. An arm-bar submission was obtained near the end of the round, as I found that my stacking pressure wasn't sufficient to fend it off.
A couple of other rolls, including one with Tyrone where I gently chastised him about leaving his arms dangling in my guard. I got an interesting Mir type submission from there but sadly can't remember exactly how it worked.
Sunday advanced class had an odd number of people, so one person had to sit out each drilling and rolling round. I was looking forward to class, but was rushing to finish some tasking beforehand. I don't think my head was quite in it, as my drills didn't seem as productive as I would have liked. Started with the butterfly hook removal, then deep half sweeps where I got a good tip from Kelly on using the hip heist. Top side control transitions from cross-face, kesa gatame, N/S, kesa gatame, reverse kesa gatame. Jason W gave me a pointer but I couldn't understand what he wanted from me, even though he went over it a couple of times.
Rolled with Kelly, Jason S., Jason W. and Shaun.
During my roll with Kelly, he attempted a bolo. I stopped his far hip and focused on keeping my back on the mat. We fought for the shallow hook and I was able to hang with him for a bit until he got the angle and flipped me over. I was happy with being able to at least slow down the sweep and really make him work for it.
Jason S. worked lapel guard with success. Our roll was different than usual b/c we transitioned through more positions and I think I tried the inverted triangle from side-control with little success.
Jason W. mainly smashed me from top side-control.
Shaun got to mount, worked an ezekiel which I escaped but I left an arm hanging out and was arm-barred for my trouble.
We had several drop-ins for the noon class, including pretty much the entire stable of the Inland NW's UFC fighters. One of them sat out the first round of rolling, and then proceeded to try to rip my arm off from various positions. An arm-bar submission was obtained near the end of the round, as I found that my stacking pressure wasn't sufficient to fend it off.
A couple of other rolls, including one with Tyrone where I gently chastised him about leaving his arms dangling in my guard. I got an interesting Mir type submission from there but sadly can't remember exactly how it worked.
Sunday advanced class had an odd number of people, so one person had to sit out each drilling and rolling round. I was looking forward to class, but was rushing to finish some tasking beforehand. I don't think my head was quite in it, as my drills didn't seem as productive as I would have liked. Started with the butterfly hook removal, then deep half sweeps where I got a good tip from Kelly on using the hip heist. Top side control transitions from cross-face, kesa gatame, N/S, kesa gatame, reverse kesa gatame. Jason W gave me a pointer but I couldn't understand what he wanted from me, even though he went over it a couple of times.
Rolled with Kelly, Jason S., Jason W. and Shaun.
During my roll with Kelly, he attempted a bolo. I stopped his far hip and focused on keeping my back on the mat. We fought for the shallow hook and I was able to hang with him for a bit until he got the angle and flipped me over. I was happy with being able to at least slow down the sweep and really make him work for it.
Jason S. worked lapel guard with success. Our roll was different than usual b/c we transitioned through more positions and I think I tried the inverted triangle from side-control with little success.
Jason W. mainly smashed me from top side-control.
Shaun got to mount, worked an ezekiel which I escaped but I left an arm hanging out and was arm-barred for my trouble.
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