I don't know what caused it, but my back is pretty pissed off. I think I slept on it wrong the night before last, b/c yesterday it was fairly obnoxious. I figured a good night's sleep and it would be all better today. It was better, but not all better. I could tell in the warm-ups that I'd be doing a lot of wincing in class if I didn't sit out. Of course, I chose not to sit out. It didn't hurt all the time, just during some twisting movements. It wasn't a spasm, but a soreness like someone hit me with a bat. I figured that since it wasn't in spasm that I wasn't in much danger of making it worse.
Dennis taught today and went over guard breaks and the tripod sweep. Breaking the guard and passing felt fine, but when Nate did it to me I was scared silly. He did a really good job of not stacking and twisting me around, which I was very, very grateful. I thought falling back from tripod sweep would hurt but that was surprisingly ok.
I asked Nate to do a flow roll with me after technique. Moving from one side to the other or being flat on my back at any point in between was not happiness. I didn't feel comfortable pulling my torso and knees together, so that pretty much made me useless when I was in a bottom position. I was worried about transitioning positions, so called it a day after that. Rolled my back and stretched while everyone else rolled. Hoping another good night of sleep fixes it.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
While the Cat is Away
James left for Vegas this morning, so Jason (b) and I breathed a big sigh of relief when Antone walked into the gym. That meant that he would be on the hook for teaching class instead of us.
Antone asked us what we wanted to work on, and I requested a pass that he uses frequently against me. The gist of it is that you crowd into them, get their knee trapped between your thighs, and either ride their hips for a pass or free your leg and do an x-pass. So step in with R foot, R hand on their L lapel and L hand controlling their R knee. Crowd them so they're on their back. With their R knee above your thighs, squeeze your knees together and put your hands on the mat above their head. No matter how much they move, you should be able to ride on top. Get an underhook on their L side with your R arm, step your L leg out to the side and slide your R knee the rest of the way through for the pass to the L, picking up their R arm from the mat as you go.
You can also put your R foot back on the mat instead of riding on their hips, stuff their R knee into your R armpit, turn your L foot like your stomping out a cigarette and point your knee towards the R (perpendicular to them). Before your knee hits the ground, sprawl and shoot into their legs. (Sprawl and shoot at the same time...? I know, I know) Anyway, the idea is that you end up sprawled on top of their legs. This was far and away the most difficult one.
If they don't cross one of their legs over the back of your R calf, move your R hand to their L shoulder and push down on their shoulder as you kick your R leg straight up (NOT back). L hand stays on their R knee and pushes it to the R for an x pass to your L.
I'm going to drill them on Sunday, as I think it's very effective.
Rolls with Kayla, Ryan, Blaine, Antone and Dennis. I harassed Kayla with guard submissions and then worked on transitioning through top positions. Ryan has visibly progressed, and I had a more difficult time playing open guard on him. He was breaking grips like crazy. With Blaine, he spent half the round on a guard pass and I spent the other half on a pass of my own. I was doing a good job with a standing guard pass and crowding him with my hips, but I wasn't controlling the leg on the way down so he was able to reguard. Antone was in good form and got me with an omoplata and a couple of other subs. I was able to wriggle out of a few more and successfully stopped a rolling back attack but otherwise he dominated handily. Dennis passed to top-side but I eventually escaped and spent the remainder of the round in top side.
Antone asked us what we wanted to work on, and I requested a pass that he uses frequently against me. The gist of it is that you crowd into them, get their knee trapped between your thighs, and either ride their hips for a pass or free your leg and do an x-pass. So step in with R foot, R hand on their L lapel and L hand controlling their R knee. Crowd them so they're on their back. With their R knee above your thighs, squeeze your knees together and put your hands on the mat above their head. No matter how much they move, you should be able to ride on top. Get an underhook on their L side with your R arm, step your L leg out to the side and slide your R knee the rest of the way through for the pass to the L, picking up their R arm from the mat as you go.
You can also put your R foot back on the mat instead of riding on their hips, stuff their R knee into your R armpit, turn your L foot like your stomping out a cigarette and point your knee towards the R (perpendicular to them). Before your knee hits the ground, sprawl and shoot into their legs. (Sprawl and shoot at the same time...? I know, I know) Anyway, the idea is that you end up sprawled on top of their legs. This was far and away the most difficult one.
If they don't cross one of their legs over the back of your R calf, move your R hand to their L shoulder and push down on their shoulder as you kick your R leg straight up (NOT back). L hand stays on their R knee and pushes it to the R for an x pass to your L.
I'm going to drill them on Sunday, as I think it's very effective.
Rolls with Kayla, Ryan, Blaine, Antone and Dennis. I harassed Kayla with guard submissions and then worked on transitioning through top positions. Ryan has visibly progressed, and I had a more difficult time playing open guard on him. He was breaking grips like crazy. With Blaine, he spent half the round on a guard pass and I spent the other half on a pass of my own. I was doing a good job with a standing guard pass and crowding him with my hips, but I wasn't controlling the leg on the way down so he was able to reguard. Antone was in good form and got me with an omoplata and a couple of other subs. I was able to wriggle out of a few more and successfully stopped a rolling back attack but otherwise he dominated handily. Dennis passed to top-side but I eventually escaped and spent the remainder of the round in top side.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Think Before Answering
The last class that I'll have with James for a week or so b/c he's going to visit his family for a week.
Today we started off with with conditions, working as pairs at five different stations. I was dreading this on a Monday, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm still getting over whatever illness I had, and mornings are pretty bad. Once I'm horizontal for an hour or so I feel better.
Technique was arm-drags from seated guard, other person on their knees. A couple of notes on the arm-drag that will help me be more successful: Once you get perpendicular to them, expand your chest into their side and let go of the arm. When doing arm-drags lately I've been holding onto the arm far too long, which is an invitation for them to pull me back down into guard. Also, push on the opposite knee or hip (if you can) and really pull them down and into the space you're vacating. Don't climb up to them, pull them down.
We also worked the head and arm choke if they try to reguard in the midst of taking their back. I really like James' approach to the head and arm. Hips as flat as possible, gable grip hands, shoot head low and forward and then look around the corner.
Rolls with Nate, Jason (b), Tyrone and Aaron. I maintained guard better with Nate than normal. During the technique portion, James mentioned how the knees should be up and apart. I've been doing better about not letting them get collapsed, but I still get caught like a fair amount. It was fresh in my head when I rolled with Nate, so when I was feeding my feet around in open guard I tried to keep my knees up regardless of where my foot was going. He did pass my guard and was really, really high up in a reverse kesa gatame. I should have rolled him in the other direction but didn't think of it at the time. He went for multiple rolling back attacks and I was able to get his back in the process once or twice. He nailed it the last time.
Jason kicked my ass. He had a tight arm-bar, and I escaped it right into a triangle that he finished quickly. Never saw it coming.
I worked guard quite a bit with Tyrone. He stuffed my triangle and arm-bar attempts, but I threw them up fast and furious anyway. At one point he was standing in my DLR and I hit the sweep where you get a super deep hook, pull them into you and dump them off to the side. I've drilled it a fair amount, but never hit it during a roll, so that felt good.
Aaron was a bit limp noodly. I worked top positions and back-mount for awhile and then let him work from top side-control.
After class, James asked me if I wanted to do the gauntlet when it was time for my purple. At our school, gauntlet means belt whipping. Like an idiot, I said yes. Dammit.
Today we started off with with conditions, working as pairs at five different stations. I was dreading this on a Monday, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm still getting over whatever illness I had, and mornings are pretty bad. Once I'm horizontal for an hour or so I feel better.
Technique was arm-drags from seated guard, other person on their knees. A couple of notes on the arm-drag that will help me be more successful: Once you get perpendicular to them, expand your chest into their side and let go of the arm. When doing arm-drags lately I've been holding onto the arm far too long, which is an invitation for them to pull me back down into guard. Also, push on the opposite knee or hip (if you can) and really pull them down and into the space you're vacating. Don't climb up to them, pull them down.
We also worked the head and arm choke if they try to reguard in the midst of taking their back. I really like James' approach to the head and arm. Hips as flat as possible, gable grip hands, shoot head low and forward and then look around the corner.
Rolls with Nate, Jason (b), Tyrone and Aaron. I maintained guard better with Nate than normal. During the technique portion, James mentioned how the knees should be up and apart. I've been doing better about not letting them get collapsed, but I still get caught like a fair amount. It was fresh in my head when I rolled with Nate, so when I was feeding my feet around in open guard I tried to keep my knees up regardless of where my foot was going. He did pass my guard and was really, really high up in a reverse kesa gatame. I should have rolled him in the other direction but didn't think of it at the time. He went for multiple rolling back attacks and I was able to get his back in the process once or twice. He nailed it the last time.
Jason kicked my ass. He had a tight arm-bar, and I escaped it right into a triangle that he finished quickly. Never saw it coming.
I worked guard quite a bit with Tyrone. He stuffed my triangle and arm-bar attempts, but I threw them up fast and furious anyway. At one point he was standing in my DLR and I hit the sweep where you get a super deep hook, pull them into you and dump them off to the side. I've drilled it a fair amount, but never hit it during a roll, so that felt good.
Aaron was a bit limp noodly. I worked top positions and back-mount for awhile and then let him work from top side-control.
After class, James asked me if I wanted to do the gauntlet when it was time for my purple. At our school, gauntlet means belt whipping. Like an idiot, I said yes. Dammit.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Advanced Class
On more than on occasion, I wondered to myself why I picked this particular sport. The drilling portion was awesome, but I felt like it was one of those days where I was getting completely crushed during the rolls. Literal and figurative crushing. I got bopped in the nose so hard at one point that I was certain that it was going to result in a bleeder, but fortunately that didn't come to pass. My head was taking most of the beating today.
I didn't feel very on during the rolls. I caught myself a couple of times doing really, really stupid things. I guess there's some achievement in the fact that I know they were stupid. It's frustrating, but that's part of the process of learning.
I drilled a leg drag and diving under the leg for passes but most of the time I spent on using a leg lasso for omoplata, triangle and sweep. I had intended to do more side control escapes but didn't.
I'm still not 100% healthy but I'm having no problems during the rolls. It might be contributing to me doing stupid things but probably not. I feel good even after going about 2.5hrs yesterday and 2.5hrs today.
I didn't feel very on during the rolls. I caught myself a couple of times doing really, really stupid things. I guess there's some achievement in the fact that I know they were stupid. It's frustrating, but that's part of the process of learning.
I drilled a leg drag and diving under the leg for passes but most of the time I spent on using a leg lasso for omoplata, triangle and sweep. I had intended to do more side control escapes but didn't.
I'm still not 100% healthy but I'm having no problems during the rolls. It might be contributing to me doing stupid things but probably not. I feel good even after going about 2.5hrs yesterday and 2.5hrs today.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
No Governor
Additional rolling after class and going in early tomorrow to drill probably aren't smart for my recovery, but whatever. I don't have a governor.
James asked me to warm up the class, which was a bit of a surprise. He then asked me what topic to cover, again, color me caught off guard. I decided on side-control escapes, b/c that's far and away where I'm weakest.
He went over some great details on the simple bridge to re-guard and both arms under that I'm going to drill. Also did a transition to d'arce and then one that was a bit more complex that I was having a hard time understanding.
Rolled with Rachael, Savannah, Allana and Clayton. Rachael pretty much kicked my ass. Savannah passed my guard but I got her in a very tight triangle but somehow couldn't finish it. I think I applied too much pressure too quickly instead of doing so by increments. I could tell that she was really, really determined not to tap. Allanah was a bit of a limp noodle, which is to be expected of a youngster. Clayton mauled me.
After class, rolled once or twice with Rachael in gi and once with Nando. He kicked my ass. Then Rachael and I rolled no gi for around 45min or so. We tried to suss out the NAGA point system between rounds and didn't have much success. I might have committed to coming to the Tuesday night no gi classes, but am not sure as I was tired at that point.
James asked me to warm up the class, which was a bit of a surprise. He then asked me what topic to cover, again, color me caught off guard. I decided on side-control escapes, b/c that's far and away where I'm weakest.
He went over some great details on the simple bridge to re-guard and both arms under that I'm going to drill. Also did a transition to d'arce and then one that was a bit more complex that I was having a hard time understanding.
Rolled with Rachael, Savannah, Allana and Clayton. Rachael pretty much kicked my ass. Savannah passed my guard but I got her in a very tight triangle but somehow couldn't finish it. I think I applied too much pressure too quickly instead of doing so by increments. I could tell that she was really, really determined not to tap. Allanah was a bit of a limp noodle, which is to be expected of a youngster. Clayton mauled me.
After class, rolled once or twice with Rachael in gi and once with Nando. He kicked my ass. Then Rachael and I rolled no gi for around 45min or so. We tried to suss out the NAGA point system between rounds and didn't have much success. I might have committed to coming to the Tuesday night no gi classes, but am not sure as I was tired at that point.
Friday, February 21, 2014
You Smell Nice
I have this new thing where I can't fall asleep at night. Being off the routine for a week and not doing any sort of working out has really messed up my system. Even after Wed's class. Not cool.
Today we worked half guard sweeps from both the 93 guard (twist sweep) and being smashed down (drive the bus, twist sweep and regaining guard if they sprawl their free leg. I worked with Kayla, who I met at the first women's open mat that I attended in Dec. She didn't have a gi, but that wasn't a problem as James showed modified grips for no gi when needed. In the midst of drilling, she said "You always smell nice!". That's an especially good thing to hear in jiu jitsu class.
Rolled with Kayla, Dennis, Jason (b) and David. Another roll with Dennis after class. Kayla stood to pass my guard so I started to work my DLR. I think that's when our previous rolls from the open mat clicked for her, b/c she said "Oh, I remember this." I primarily worked transitions and even had a chance to use the technique of the day.
I don't remember much about the first roll with Dennis, except that I wasn't refacing very well from guard. I was getting my legs in bad positions which predictably led to passes. At one point he went for a sneaky arm-bar (I thought he was focusing on the other arm) and he came very close to finishing. He had top position most of the time. I went for the stupid inverted triangle (I can't help it) and a pretty useless choke from a bottom side position while he was in mid transition. I did get a pass (popped out his DLR hook and dove under the non-hooking leg), so there's that. Drilling paid off there.
Jason mauled me as usual. Started once with him in guard and once in his guard. Didn't matter. He got me with a wrist-lock from an omoplata position and generally had top position for the majority of the roll.
I had David's back for most of the roll but couldn't capitalize. I had a successful double-under pass, which may be the first time I've ever gotten that to work. Also had a deep triangle and am befuddled as to why I wasn't able to finish it.
The second roll with Dennis was awesome. Early on he was in my half guard and facing away from me. I got a hold of his top arm and used it to wriggle to his back, where I stayed for the rest of our roll. He almost popped me off a couple of times, but I was able to regain my hooks. He defended his neck really well though, and I didn't feel like I was ever in a good position to transition to anything else. That is one of the best experiences I've had in maintaining back mount.
There's an open mat that I really want to go to tonight but that would probably be too much for my recovering body. :(
Today we worked half guard sweeps from both the 93 guard (twist sweep) and being smashed down (drive the bus, twist sweep and regaining guard if they sprawl their free leg. I worked with Kayla, who I met at the first women's open mat that I attended in Dec. She didn't have a gi, but that wasn't a problem as James showed modified grips for no gi when needed. In the midst of drilling, she said "You always smell nice!". That's an especially good thing to hear in jiu jitsu class.
Rolled with Kayla, Dennis, Jason (b) and David. Another roll with Dennis after class. Kayla stood to pass my guard so I started to work my DLR. I think that's when our previous rolls from the open mat clicked for her, b/c she said "Oh, I remember this." I primarily worked transitions and even had a chance to use the technique of the day.
I don't remember much about the first roll with Dennis, except that I wasn't refacing very well from guard. I was getting my legs in bad positions which predictably led to passes. At one point he went for a sneaky arm-bar (I thought he was focusing on the other arm) and he came very close to finishing. He had top position most of the time. I went for the stupid inverted triangle (I can't help it) and a pretty useless choke from a bottom side position while he was in mid transition. I did get a pass (popped out his DLR hook and dove under the non-hooking leg), so there's that. Drilling paid off there.
Jason mauled me as usual. Started once with him in guard and once in his guard. Didn't matter. He got me with a wrist-lock from an omoplata position and generally had top position for the majority of the roll.
I had David's back for most of the roll but couldn't capitalize. I had a successful double-under pass, which may be the first time I've ever gotten that to work. Also had a deep triangle and am befuddled as to why I wasn't able to finish it.
The second roll with Dennis was awesome. Early on he was in my half guard and facing away from me. I got a hold of his top arm and used it to wriggle to his back, where I stayed for the rest of our roll. He almost popped me off a couple of times, but I was able to regain my hooks. He defended his neck really well though, and I didn't feel like I was ever in a good position to transition to anything else. That is one of the best experiences I've had in maintaining back mount.
There's an open mat that I really want to go to tonight but that would probably be too much for my recovering body. :(
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Back
I probably could have waited another day or two to get back on the mats, but the inactivity was driving me crazy. I figured if I was well enough to go back into the office, I was well enough to go to class. That was mostly true.
Was able to work with Sarah, which was nice because I wasn't looking forward to drilling with a behemoth while I was getting my legs back under me. Felt fine during warm-ups and techniques. We were doing positional transitions: back-mount escape to side-control, transitioning from side to side, KOB, side to side KOB and then back-mount. I'm not very good at any of the side to side transitions. Today I felt a little more lost than usual, which I expected.
Rolled with Sarah, Ryan, Tyrone and Sol. I took a break after Tyrone b/c I was feeling a little gassed and didn't want to push too much. Lower belt got to start with back-mount, both hands under. I did fairly well with Sarah and Ryan, although Sarah and I got into an utter stalemate twice. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity. I was able to get a guard on Tyrone and came close to triangle but couldn't seal the deal. He passed, I regained guard and had a pretty decent omoplata when time ran out. After sitting out a round, I went with Sol. I was able to keep his back for a piece a time, but he eventually escaped and passed my guard. We spent the remainder of the round with him in top side-control. I defended pretty well, but couldn't mount much of an escape at all.
Had a terrible calf cramp when rolling with Ryan. Neglected bananas and didn't drink enough water over the past week. Pretty tired, but unless I feel like death when I wake up tomorrow I think I'm going to be ok.
Was able to work with Sarah, which was nice because I wasn't looking forward to drilling with a behemoth while I was getting my legs back under me. Felt fine during warm-ups and techniques. We were doing positional transitions: back-mount escape to side-control, transitioning from side to side, KOB, side to side KOB and then back-mount. I'm not very good at any of the side to side transitions. Today I felt a little more lost than usual, which I expected.
Rolled with Sarah, Ryan, Tyrone and Sol. I took a break after Tyrone b/c I was feeling a little gassed and didn't want to push too much. Lower belt got to start with back-mount, both hands under. I did fairly well with Sarah and Ryan, although Sarah and I got into an utter stalemate twice. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity. I was able to get a guard on Tyrone and came close to triangle but couldn't seal the deal. He passed, I regained guard and had a pretty decent omoplata when time ran out. After sitting out a round, I went with Sol. I was able to keep his back for a piece a time, but he eventually escaped and passed my guard. We spent the remainder of the round with him in top side-control. I defended pretty well, but couldn't mount much of an escape at all.
Had a terrible calf cramp when rolling with Ryan. Neglected bananas and didn't drink enough water over the past week. Pretty tired, but unless I feel like death when I wake up tomorrow I think I'm going to be ok.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Getting Worse Before it Gets Better
I don't know what I have, but it seems to be really kicking my ass. On Friday I thought I'd be able to get back to activity as usual by Monday, but no chance. It seems like I'm getting close to laryngitis or something similar. As an added bonus, I was awakened in the wee hours the other morning by godawful cramps, which is a rarity for me. My body is displeased on many different levels.
On the positive side, I've been able to watch quite a bit of the Olympics and read the Sunday NY Times. I don't know who originally thought that going head first down a sheet of ice where it's possible to reach speeds of 80mph was a good idea. You have to be some kindof special crazy to compete in some of these events.
On the positive side, I've been able to watch quite a bit of the Olympics and read the Sunday NY Times. I don't know who originally thought that going head first down a sheet of ice where it's possible to reach speeds of 80mph was a good idea. You have to be some kindof special crazy to compete in some of these events.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Just Watching...Mostly
Two days of being at home sick and I'm bored out of my mind. I stopped by class after my haircut to watch. Just to watch. Didn't bring my gi or any gear. Just going to watch. The class warmed up, James showed the first technique...and they had an odd number of people. Soooo...I pulled a gi jacket from the back and was a demo dummy for Savannah. I am so weak willed.
James went over the scissor sweep, omoplatas if they post and a triangle/arm-bar option if you're having a hard time getting the knee into their chest. And of course, the reverse scissor sweep.
After drilling I hung up the jacket and left. No use tempting fate. I almost feel good enough to do class tomorrow, but am probably going to wait until Saturday.
James went over the scissor sweep, omoplatas if they post and a triangle/arm-bar option if you're having a hard time getting the knee into their chest. And of course, the reverse scissor sweep.
After drilling I hung up the jacket and left. No use tempting fate. I almost feel good enough to do class tomorrow, but am probably going to wait until Saturday.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Sick
I had to open my big mouth and brag to someone just the other day about how I haven't been sick in forever. :(
Worked from home in the morning, and then ended up sleeping part of the afternoon. Apparently post-mono, I don't get sick in the usual sense. I get a sore throat and really, really sleepy. The dog is bored of my presence. Looking forward to watching the Olympics tonight, especially the women's downhill.
Worked from home in the morning, and then ended up sleeping part of the afternoon. Apparently post-mono, I don't get sick in the usual sense. I get a sore throat and really, really sleepy. The dog is bored of my presence. Looking forward to watching the Olympics tonight, especially the women's downhill.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Because You're Not a 15y/o Russian Figure Skater
Temps have climbed out of the subzero cellar, but it managed to dump a couple of inches during class. And now there's a flood warning through Saturday. Seriously?
James was feeling a bit goofy today. One of our warm-ups consisted of pulling our leg to our chest, and during this he mimed pulling his leg behind his head. Of course, several other people had to try it too, and I was reminded of the 15y/o Russian figure skater that blew everyone else off the ice in the Olympics last night. She was doing a straight legged spin while holding her other leg almost completely vertical to her chest. The mind boggles.
Today was some relatively basic back-takes from spiderguard. If they post, arm-bar. If they don't post, rotate them over into technical mount. Also the basic spiderguard sweep that looks deceptively easy. I might drill that next Sunday.
Rolls with Savannah, Julio, Jordan (twice), James and Julio again after class. I did a relatively good job of establishing a push pull and grips to prevent Savannah from passing. We had several scrambles, and I was on top several times. I felt like I was brute forcing some things though, so tried to stop doing that. She got one complete pass and was close on several others.
I tried and tried and tried to use the spiderguard sweep on Julio to no avail. I also set up the leg lasso, but when he stood up I was in mortal danger of a footlock. I'm sure there's something I should be doing as he transitions to standing, but I couldn't noodle it. I bailed on the leg lasso. I also tried the sweep with absolutely no luck. He passed several times and I ended up fighting off an arm-triangle for what seemed several minutes.
I worked from guard with Jordan. I did many catch and release arm-bars and triangles. I swept to mount, tried to secure an omoplata from there (I really have no idea why, just b/c I could) and let it go back into guard. Afterwards, I gave him some tips on what to do when he's in someone else's guard. I rambled so long that we missed our opportunity to pair up with other people, so we rolled again. He did a better job of keeping his elbows tighter to his body when he was in guard.
I knew James was going to go for his modified bolo, and sure enough, that's the first thing he did. Dang it. He got me around but at least I didn't give him my back. He eventually got me with an arm-bar. I was working my ass off to get sweeps or at least come up on top when we were both in a neutral position and I couldn't do jack. He bolo'd me several more times and I kept him off my back but he went right to a tight leg drag. I was able to stave off submissions for the rest of round. Overall I don't feel like I did very well.
Another roll with Julio after class. We were going at it pretty good as well. I was fighting to get top positions that I couldn't quite establish. He got me with several wrist-locks. The setups were a little different than what we usually do.
James was feeling a bit goofy today. One of our warm-ups consisted of pulling our leg to our chest, and during this he mimed pulling his leg behind his head. Of course, several other people had to try it too, and I was reminded of the 15y/o Russian figure skater that blew everyone else off the ice in the Olympics last night. She was doing a straight legged spin while holding her other leg almost completely vertical to her chest. The mind boggles.
Today was some relatively basic back-takes from spiderguard. If they post, arm-bar. If they don't post, rotate them over into technical mount. Also the basic spiderguard sweep that looks deceptively easy. I might drill that next Sunday.
Rolls with Savannah, Julio, Jordan (twice), James and Julio again after class. I did a relatively good job of establishing a push pull and grips to prevent Savannah from passing. We had several scrambles, and I was on top several times. I felt like I was brute forcing some things though, so tried to stop doing that. She got one complete pass and was close on several others.
I tried and tried and tried to use the spiderguard sweep on Julio to no avail. I also set up the leg lasso, but when he stood up I was in mortal danger of a footlock. I'm sure there's something I should be doing as he transitions to standing, but I couldn't noodle it. I bailed on the leg lasso. I also tried the sweep with absolutely no luck. He passed several times and I ended up fighting off an arm-triangle for what seemed several minutes.
I worked from guard with Jordan. I did many catch and release arm-bars and triangles. I swept to mount, tried to secure an omoplata from there (I really have no idea why, just b/c I could) and let it go back into guard. Afterwards, I gave him some tips on what to do when he's in someone else's guard. I rambled so long that we missed our opportunity to pair up with other people, so we rolled again. He did a better job of keeping his elbows tighter to his body when he was in guard.
I knew James was going to go for his modified bolo, and sure enough, that's the first thing he did. Dang it. He got me around but at least I didn't give him my back. He eventually got me with an arm-bar. I was working my ass off to get sweeps or at least come up on top when we were both in a neutral position and I couldn't do jack. He bolo'd me several more times and I kept him off my back but he went right to a tight leg drag. I was able to stave off submissions for the rest of round. Overall I don't feel like I did very well.
Another roll with Julio after class. We were going at it pretty good as well. I was fighting to get top positions that I couldn't quite establish. He got me with several wrist-locks. The setups were a little different than what we usually do.
Advanced Class
I was stiff and creaky when I woke up Sunday morning. I had rehydrated myself the night before and was able to sleep in so I wasn't as bad off as I could've been. I took the dog out to the ridge in the morning before class, and by the time I got back I was feeling back to normal. I figured I'd at least do the drilling portion and skip out on the rolls if my body wasn't up to it.
Better attendance than last week but still fairly small. I started off drilling the leg drag (DLR), diving under the DLR, DLR back-take, and leg lasso techniques from earlier in the week. I tried to do the waiter sweep a couple of times and the sickle sweep but those were disasters. I can't believe I had an entire private lesson on those and I'm still completely lost.
I picked up a couple of good details on the leg drag and leg lasso which I think will really help me actually use them during rolls.
Rolled with Clayton, Jason (p), Dennis and Russ. I don't remember much about any of the rolls other than Russ and Jason were pretty dominant. I did better against Clayton than I usually do, so I had that going for me. I had Dennis' back at the end of the round, but I'm not sure it was a completely legitimate back-take.
Better attendance than last week but still fairly small. I started off drilling the leg drag (DLR), diving under the DLR, DLR back-take, and leg lasso techniques from earlier in the week. I tried to do the waiter sweep a couple of times and the sickle sweep but those were disasters. I can't believe I had an entire private lesson on those and I'm still completely lost.
I picked up a couple of good details on the leg drag and leg lasso which I think will really help me actually use them during rolls.
Rolled with Clayton, Jason (p), Dennis and Russ. I don't remember much about any of the rolls other than Russ and Jason were pretty dominant. I did better against Clayton than I usually do, so I had that going for me. I had Dennis' back at the end of the round, but I'm not sure it was a completely legitimate back-take.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Saturday Class and Women's Open Mat
Class
Three and a half hours of continuous jiu jitsu. My body hates me right now.
Technique in class was attacking submissions from half guard. Or more accurately, passing half guard and then attacking submissions. Not surprisingly, attendance was higher than normal. Funny how guys that you haven't seen in months (literally) come out of the woodwork when they know that a women's open mat is going to follow. Hmpf.
Anyway, the technique portion was good. I paired up with one of the visiting women for drilling. She was nice. I think she drove over from Seattle just for the open mat, which is quite a bit of dedication for an open mat. She was a four stripe white belt, but I think she had recently taken some time off from classes so was a bit rusty.
Rolls with Josefina (?), Zack, Manny, Sol and Nando. Another roll with Nando after class. Nando and I had fun rolls both times. He said that my game has jumped up a notch lately, which was nice to hear. He was trying to pass my guard and work a top game. I worked a weak quarter guard game but was able to create solid enough frames that I could fend him off and regain a better guard.
Zack and I had a pretty back and forth roll. I got my inverted triangle from bottom side, couldn't finish but did use it to work my way to the top.
Manny passed my guard and I got that stupid inverted triangle AGAIN and came very close to finishing him. He said he was close to passing out, but I didn't know how close it was and didn't want to hang on to a submission past the point of viability. I let it go and moved onto something else. When I finally figure that stupid thing out, everyone better be ready. :p
Sol tried to pass my guard but I had decent frames. I can't remember if he eventually got past or not. We reset at one point and I tried to pass his guard. He had excellent grips and was trying to do his favorite sweep of late but I was able to stave it off until the end. I am not doing a good job of managing grips though, especially with him.
Open Mat
We had 8 women for the open mat. I think I had two rolls with Rachael in gi, several rolls with her in no gi, several no gi rolls with Katie, Jenny, Kim, and Josefina. Only one roll each with Joyce and Stephanie.
I was most challenged by Rachael. For one of the rounds, it took me most of the 5min round to pass her guard. What a grind. Our no gi rolls were pretty even affairs.
Jenny and I had really fun rolls. She is small and very, very scrambly. She can get to your back in a hot second if you aren't careful. We had a fair amount of back and forth. She is entering a bench press competition and her upper body is strong as hell. I was being cautious about not using my size to my advantage (I have about 40lb on her), but I'm not that much stronger than her. I stayed out of her guillotines, and she was able to neutralize my guard game.
Great day of jiu jitsu. I'm trying like mad to rehydrate before tomorrow's advanced class. Not really looking forward to that.
Three and a half hours of continuous jiu jitsu. My body hates me right now.
Technique in class was attacking submissions from half guard. Or more accurately, passing half guard and then attacking submissions. Not surprisingly, attendance was higher than normal. Funny how guys that you haven't seen in months (literally) come out of the woodwork when they know that a women's open mat is going to follow. Hmpf.
Anyway, the technique portion was good. I paired up with one of the visiting women for drilling. She was nice. I think she drove over from Seattle just for the open mat, which is quite a bit of dedication for an open mat. She was a four stripe white belt, but I think she had recently taken some time off from classes so was a bit rusty.
Rolls with Josefina (?), Zack, Manny, Sol and Nando. Another roll with Nando after class. Nando and I had fun rolls both times. He said that my game has jumped up a notch lately, which was nice to hear. He was trying to pass my guard and work a top game. I worked a weak quarter guard game but was able to create solid enough frames that I could fend him off and regain a better guard.
Zack and I had a pretty back and forth roll. I got my inverted triangle from bottom side, couldn't finish but did use it to work my way to the top.
Manny passed my guard and I got that stupid inverted triangle AGAIN and came very close to finishing him. He said he was close to passing out, but I didn't know how close it was and didn't want to hang on to a submission past the point of viability. I let it go and moved onto something else. When I finally figure that stupid thing out, everyone better be ready. :p
Sol tried to pass my guard but I had decent frames. I can't remember if he eventually got past or not. We reset at one point and I tried to pass his guard. He had excellent grips and was trying to do his favorite sweep of late but I was able to stave it off until the end. I am not doing a good job of managing grips though, especially with him.
Open Mat
We had 8 women for the open mat. I think I had two rolls with Rachael in gi, several rolls with her in no gi, several no gi rolls with Katie, Jenny, Kim, and Josefina. Only one roll each with Joyce and Stephanie.
I was most challenged by Rachael. For one of the rounds, it took me most of the 5min round to pass her guard. What a grind. Our no gi rolls were pretty even affairs.
Jenny and I had really fun rolls. She is small and very, very scrambly. She can get to your back in a hot second if you aren't careful. We had a fair amount of back and forth. She is entering a bench press competition and her upper body is strong as hell. I was being cautious about not using my size to my advantage (I have about 40lb on her), but I'm not that much stronger than her. I stayed out of her guillotines, and she was able to neutralize my guard game.
Great day of jiu jitsu. I'm trying like mad to rehydrate before tomorrow's advanced class. Not really looking forward to that.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Friday Morning
In addition to being really cold, it snowed last night too. I'm really looking forward to seeing 20F again.
Half guard passes today (assuming your opponent has a 93 guard) into a sortof kesa gatame. This was a different approach than I've seen before, and I was having a bit of hard time getting it to all work together. From the kesa gatame variation there's a wrist lock. If they get their arm all the way out, teabag them and go to s-mount for wrist-locks, straight arm-bar or americana on far arm or arm-bar near arm. We also used the teabagged position to roll them up and take the back. Lots of knowledge bombs dropping all over the place.
Rolls with Savannah, Jason (b), Tyrone and Jordan. Savannah is really, really good at the knee cut through pass. I fended it off for awhile and was able to reverse. Later on during a scramble she got the knee cut through pass position again and was able to complete it.
Jason and I had a fairly competitive roll. He got my back at one point after a rolling back attack, but was I was able to get out of it and attempt a pass on top when time was called. He's working leg drag passes and they are very, very tight. It's amazing how everyone's passing game seems to have gone up several notches of late.
Tyrone made another comment about triangles today. I wasn't purposefully going for them, but he got stuck in a couple anyway. I wasn't going all out to finish them, but moved on to arms for arm-bars and omoplatas. He was able to yank his arm right out of several arm-bars, so I'm doing something wrong when I'm transition into the arm-bar and not securing the arm or breaking posture or...something.
Jordan is new and has been training for a couple of weeks. I worked primarily from guard, looking for sweeps and doing a fair amount of catch and release. Worked top mount, top side, really just trying to transition around a fair amount and let him get a feel of different positions.
Talked to James briefly at the end of class about the fundamentals class. He asked me how I planned on running it, and seemed open to whatever ideas I had as long as I had some sort of plan. Looks like we'll start doing it when he gets back from Vegas (mid-March). So now I need to come up with a plan...
Half guard passes today (assuming your opponent has a 93 guard) into a sortof kesa gatame. This was a different approach than I've seen before, and I was having a bit of hard time getting it to all work together. From the kesa gatame variation there's a wrist lock. If they get their arm all the way out, teabag them and go to s-mount for wrist-locks, straight arm-bar or americana on far arm or arm-bar near arm. We also used the teabagged position to roll them up and take the back. Lots of knowledge bombs dropping all over the place.
Rolls with Savannah, Jason (b), Tyrone and Jordan. Savannah is really, really good at the knee cut through pass. I fended it off for awhile and was able to reverse. Later on during a scramble she got the knee cut through pass position again and was able to complete it.
Jason and I had a fairly competitive roll. He got my back at one point after a rolling back attack, but was I was able to get out of it and attempt a pass on top when time was called. He's working leg drag passes and they are very, very tight. It's amazing how everyone's passing game seems to have gone up several notches of late.
Tyrone made another comment about triangles today. I wasn't purposefully going for them, but he got stuck in a couple anyway. I wasn't going all out to finish them, but moved on to arms for arm-bars and omoplatas. He was able to yank his arm right out of several arm-bars, so I'm doing something wrong when I'm transition into the arm-bar and not securing the arm or breaking posture or...something.
Jordan is new and has been training for a couple of weeks. I worked primarily from guard, looking for sweeps and doing a fair amount of catch and release. Worked top mount, top side, really just trying to transition around a fair amount and let him get a feel of different positions.
Talked to James briefly at the end of class about the fundamentals class. He asked me how I planned on running it, and seemed open to whatever ideas I had as long as I had some sort of plan. Looks like we'll start doing it when he gets back from Vegas (mid-March). So now I need to come up with a plan...
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Wednesday Morning
It is damned cold outside. Wind chill last night was around -15F. Not ok.
Today was a dose of attacks using the leg lasso. (Is there such thing as an arm lasso? Whizzer?) So...anyway, leg lasso. I felt good with all of them, except for one of the sweeps. There's an option to backroll into a KOB on their far-side instead of just dumping them over into side-control. I could NOT noodle how to initiate the backroll for myself. I probably won't pursue it for the time being.
I was drilling with someone who shall remain nameless, and noticed his fingernails and toenails were waaaaaay too long. I was on the fence about saying anything, but they were so long that I was truly concerned for the rest of us. So I mentioned to him quietly before rolling that it would be appreciated if he trimmed them back. I was secretly hoping he'd do it before we rolled, but he didn't. James keeps clippers at the gym, but he probably didn't know that.
Rolls with Nate, Dennis, Tyrone, Jason (b), Antone. Nate is being a less scrambly and more technical. I can't remember much about the roll, but it was pretty controlled. We ended the round with me attempting to pass his guard.
Dennis pulled guard before I could. I jokingly told him that he was doing it wrong, because I was supposed to pull guard. I don't remember much about this roll either, except that he attempted a bolo that I was able to more or less stuff.
Antone had top position for most of the roll BUT he didn't get a submission (even though he was definitely trying). I consider that progress. I had a pretty good idea of what he was going for before he hit it, so that while I wasn't able to prevent him from getting the position, I did stay out of the worst positions. At one point, I defended an arm-bar where I was on my back by rotating so that I was side-to-side with him instead of perpendicular and getting one of my legs across his head. I should have asked him if it was a crank, b/c it sortof felt like one. He let go of the arm, and during the ensuing scramble I almost passed his guard, which would have been quite a feat.
Before we started the roll, Tyrone said "No triangles from you today!". I asked him to clarify..did he want me to go for something besides triangles, or was he setting a goal of not getting trapped in a triangle? He said trapped in a triangle. Challenge accepted. Within a minute I had a triangle locked up, but I didn't have my hips up high enough and he was able to escape. I went for a couple of more, and found an arm-bar and collar choke along the way. I felt a little bad about tapping him out with submissions, b/c he's a one stripe white belt and still pretty new.
Jason was intent on doing his latest leg-drag-to-rolling-back-attack techniques. At one point he didn't have his feet set correctly when going for the rolling back attack and I was able to come out on top with a hook in and him turtle. I got full back mount and went for numerous chokes, including a bow and arrow that I thought was pretty tight but apparently not tight enough. He worked his way out those, eventually got on top and went for some submissions of his own. He wasn't able to finish anything either, which I'd also consider progress for me.
Today was a dose of attacks using the leg lasso. (Is there such thing as an arm lasso? Whizzer?) So...anyway, leg lasso. I felt good with all of them, except for one of the sweeps. There's an option to backroll into a KOB on their far-side instead of just dumping them over into side-control. I could NOT noodle how to initiate the backroll for myself. I probably won't pursue it for the time being.
I was drilling with someone who shall remain nameless, and noticed his fingernails and toenails were waaaaaay too long. I was on the fence about saying anything, but they were so long that I was truly concerned for the rest of us. So I mentioned to him quietly before rolling that it would be appreciated if he trimmed them back. I was secretly hoping he'd do it before we rolled, but he didn't. James keeps clippers at the gym, but he probably didn't know that.
Rolls with Nate, Dennis, Tyrone, Jason (b), Antone. Nate is being a less scrambly and more technical. I can't remember much about the roll, but it was pretty controlled. We ended the round with me attempting to pass his guard.
Dennis pulled guard before I could. I jokingly told him that he was doing it wrong, because I was supposed to pull guard. I don't remember much about this roll either, except that he attempted a bolo that I was able to more or less stuff.
Antone had top position for most of the roll BUT he didn't get a submission (even though he was definitely trying). I consider that progress. I had a pretty good idea of what he was going for before he hit it, so that while I wasn't able to prevent him from getting the position, I did stay out of the worst positions. At one point, I defended an arm-bar where I was on my back by rotating so that I was side-to-side with him instead of perpendicular and getting one of my legs across his head. I should have asked him if it was a crank, b/c it sortof felt like one. He let go of the arm, and during the ensuing scramble I almost passed his guard, which would have been quite a feat.
Before we started the roll, Tyrone said "No triangles from you today!". I asked him to clarify..did he want me to go for something besides triangles, or was he setting a goal of not getting trapped in a triangle? He said trapped in a triangle. Challenge accepted. Within a minute I had a triangle locked up, but I didn't have my hips up high enough and he was able to escape. I went for a couple of more, and found an arm-bar and collar choke along the way. I felt a little bad about tapping him out with submissions, b/c he's a one stripe white belt and still pretty new.
Jason was intent on doing his latest leg-drag-to-rolling-back-attack techniques. At one point he didn't have his feet set correctly when going for the rolling back attack and I was able to come out on top with a hook in and him turtle. I got full back mount and went for numerous chokes, including a bow and arrow that I thought was pretty tight but apparently not tight enough. He worked his way out those, eventually got on top and went for some submissions of his own. He wasn't able to finish anything either, which I'd also consider progress for me.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Monday Morning
James was back, and we had a big-ish class. Around 13 or so people. I wasn't feeling exactly perky as a result of the three beers I had the night before while watching the Hawks pummel Denver. I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. I drank a lot of water well before class, but the headache hit after I was already on my way to class and without advil. It wasn't a bad one, but I was off my game.
Sarah was there, so we partnered up for drilling. Today was passes, all of which were ones that James had covered in our private lesson from the week before. That was perfect, as I was just assimilating detail with my addled brain and not taking in something entirely new.
Rolls with Sarah, Jason (b), Julio, Ryan and Xavier. Sarah had a good day against me. Passed my guard and dumped me over for several sweeps. Even if I had been feeling better she still would have done well. I did get one sweep. I don't remember exactly how, but it was one of those things where I was operating on implementing a concept instead of trying to execute a specific technique.
Jason dominated our roll for the most part. Quickly got a sweep, passed my guard and finished with a triangle. We reset, and he was mid-way through passing my guard again. The clouds parted, a ray of light hit his arm and I realized there was an arm-bar for the taking, so I took it. I slapped it on, and he tapped immediately. I was incredulous that I got it, b/c it was completely unplanned. We reset again and I'm pretty sure he was on his way to getting on top again when time ran out.
Julio sat back in my guard and was letting me work the initial entry to various positions and then shooting them down. I tried a scissor sweep (he smashed it down), arm-drag (he pulled me back around into guard), arm-bars (shrugged out of them), triangle (postured up and passed). I feel like I barely challenged him.
I went for a couple of subs on Ryan but caught myself in time to not finish them. I let him work from some different positions, including inside my guard and top side-control.
Xavier is visiting from Florida. He came to several classes last week and will be here until Wednesday. He's a short, compact guy and I was curious to see what his game was like. No surprise, he went straight into butterfly guard. I eventually got the pass and then back-mount. I tried to work some chokes but his defense was pretty good. He didn't seem to be doing anything to get out of the position though and at that point I was backed up to the wall so we were stuck. He had a two-on-one grip on my right arm and kept trying to pull it lower. I thought, is this guy going to straight arm-bar me from this position? I let it play out a bit, and sure enough, that's exactly what he was attempting. He came pretty close, but I was able to get a bend in my arm and retrieve it. I told him after the roll that it was a pretty slick set-up.
Sarah was there, so we partnered up for drilling. Today was passes, all of which were ones that James had covered in our private lesson from the week before. That was perfect, as I was just assimilating detail with my addled brain and not taking in something entirely new.
Rolls with Sarah, Jason (b), Julio, Ryan and Xavier. Sarah had a good day against me. Passed my guard and dumped me over for several sweeps. Even if I had been feeling better she still would have done well. I did get one sweep. I don't remember exactly how, but it was one of those things where I was operating on implementing a concept instead of trying to execute a specific technique.
Jason dominated our roll for the most part. Quickly got a sweep, passed my guard and finished with a triangle. We reset, and he was mid-way through passing my guard again. The clouds parted, a ray of light hit his arm and I realized there was an arm-bar for the taking, so I took it. I slapped it on, and he tapped immediately. I was incredulous that I got it, b/c it was completely unplanned. We reset again and I'm pretty sure he was on his way to getting on top again when time ran out.
Julio sat back in my guard and was letting me work the initial entry to various positions and then shooting them down. I tried a scissor sweep (he smashed it down), arm-drag (he pulled me back around into guard), arm-bars (shrugged out of them), triangle (postured up and passed). I feel like I barely challenged him.
I went for a couple of subs on Ryan but caught myself in time to not finish them. I let him work from some different positions, including inside my guard and top side-control.
Xavier is visiting from Florida. He came to several classes last week and will be here until Wednesday. He's a short, compact guy and I was curious to see what his game was like. No surprise, he went straight into butterfly guard. I eventually got the pass and then back-mount. I tried to work some chokes but his defense was pretty good. He didn't seem to be doing anything to get out of the position though and at that point I was backed up to the wall so we were stuck. He had a two-on-one grip on my right arm and kept trying to pull it lower. I thought, is this guy going to straight arm-bar me from this position? I let it play out a bit, and sure enough, that's exactly what he was attempting. He came pretty close, but I was able to get a bend in my arm and retrieve it. I told him after the roll that it was a pretty slick set-up.
Advanced Class
Three people showed up for the Sunday advanced class. Russ, Dennis and myself. James and crew were still driving back from the tournament, so I expected a low turnout but this was kindof ridiculous.
We did 5min rounds of drilling, switching one person out each round. I drilled the leg drag passes from the private last week. Those went fairly well. I spent one round drilling the bolo. Became a bit more comfortable with it. Not sure if it's something that I want to focus on or not. I'm thinking not for the time being. I'm hoping that having a basic understanding of it will help me defend it better though.
Also worked standing passes if opponent doesn't have any grips. I don't know when I'll ever be able to make that happen, but whatever. The pass is stepping off to the side, grabbing their back from over the top of their shoulder and driving your head into their far shoulder as your other arm has a grip on their knee. It works great, but you're pretty much cooked if they get a frame up....which of course they will. The next step is to drill it when someone starts to put up a likely defense and see what I can do with it.
No rolling at the end. Just an hour and a half of drilling. I didn't even work up much of a sweat.
We did 5min rounds of drilling, switching one person out each round. I drilled the leg drag passes from the private last week. Those went fairly well. I spent one round drilling the bolo. Became a bit more comfortable with it. Not sure if it's something that I want to focus on or not. I'm thinking not for the time being. I'm hoping that having a basic understanding of it will help me defend it better though.
Also worked standing passes if opponent doesn't have any grips. I don't know when I'll ever be able to make that happen, but whatever. The pass is stepping off to the side, grabbing their back from over the top of their shoulder and driving your head into their far shoulder as your other arm has a grip on their knee. It works great, but you're pretty much cooked if they get a frame up....which of course they will. The next step is to drill it when someone starts to put up a likely defense and see what I can do with it.
No rolling at the end. Just an hour and a half of drilling. I didn't even work up much of a sweat.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Berimbolo Against My Will
James is at a tournament in Oregon with a small group of our team, so Antone ran class. As usual, when James isn't teaching, attendance falls in the toilet. Antone, myself and Ryan were there for all of class. Manny and Xavier arrived about a half hour into it, and Chris left after 45min or so.
We started with flow rolling, and then Antone showed a tripod sweep to berimbolo combination. We drilled that quite a bit, and Manny helped me with just getting the bolo down from a loose 50/50 position. I've been resisting the urge to work on anything bolo related save for a defense or two, but today I just couldn't help myself.
Flow rolled with Chris, Antone and Ryan several times. Regular rolls with Ryan, Manny and Antone. Antone and I had a longish roll at the end, probably 15-20min. There were a few points where I had a difficult time judging if he was giving me the position or if I was earning it. I think I surprised him a few times, so I'm happy with that. He did that obnoxious kimura thing where he gets me positioned in such a way that he can just lift my arm up my back and I'm screwed. He doesn't even need to get the traditional grips for the kimura.
Manny and I had a fun roll. He was in top position for the most part, but I was doing a decent job of defending his submission attempts and staying out of really bad positions.
I don't miss the stress of travelling, but I am a little bummed that I'm not competing with the team.
We started with flow rolling, and then Antone showed a tripod sweep to berimbolo combination. We drilled that quite a bit, and Manny helped me with just getting the bolo down from a loose 50/50 position. I've been resisting the urge to work on anything bolo related save for a defense or two, but today I just couldn't help myself.
Flow rolled with Chris, Antone and Ryan several times. Regular rolls with Ryan, Manny and Antone. Antone and I had a longish roll at the end, probably 15-20min. There were a few points where I had a difficult time judging if he was giving me the position or if I was earning it. I think I surprised him a few times, so I'm happy with that. He did that obnoxious kimura thing where he gets me positioned in such a way that he can just lift my arm up my back and I'm screwed. He doesn't even need to get the traditional grips for the kimura.
Manny and I had a fun roll. He was in top position for the most part, but I was doing a decent job of defending his submission attempts and staying out of really bad positions.
I don't miss the stress of travelling, but I am a little bummed that I'm not competing with the team.
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