Greg had us work on the bullfighter pass last night. I've been lucking out lately as we've been doing the techniques that I've been wanting to work on, except for that day we did turtle. Like most guard passing classes we start off with breaking the guard open. The technique we used was to grab the sleeve and two lapels with a straight arm and then standup. From there, switch sleeve hands and break the guard by pushing just below their knee. This is the number one thing I picked up yesterday, instead of grabbing on top of the knee I needed to grab below the knee so there wasn't much play in the pants and I could push on the shin, that made the technique so much easier.
From there we did the bullfighter part. I'm noticeably better on my right side than my left. I felt pretty good with my timing of pushing and then moving to the side and slipping in to knee on belly. Adam and I worked together for most of the day and he really whipped me around with the bullfighter motion.
We did up/down/out guard passing with three groups. Our only stipulation was to only use standing passes. I utilized the new guys to their full potential last night as I got to work through some things that I wouldn't have got to try with the more advanced guys. I was able to use some of the passes from the videos that I've been studying lately as well as a few bullfighter passes. I was especially impressed with how well the Leandro Lo's face crank pass was working for me. It's something that I'm going to keep drilling and try to perfect.
These sessions have seemed a lot longer lately than they were at the old dojo. I felt like a cold was coming on yesterday before class and questioned if I should
go in to class or not. I'm glad I went
but as soon as I changed out of my gi all of my powers were lost. During our after class discussion we got onto the topic of relating Jiu-Jitsu to having a girlfriend/wife, those of you that were there know the punchline.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
May 18th - Open Mat
I really should write these posts right after class because I've probably
forgotten a lot of what happened. My goal for the weekend was to get
some practice with guard passing above all else. Which worked out well because Jerad and Ray both played guard and gave me a chance to do some standing passing. I attempted to incorporate a lot of what I learned from the youtube videos I've been watching. Mostly keeping my elbows connected to my knees, keeping one foot in front, and then side stepping and using my grips to push their knees the other way. I felt like my timing improved and that I wasn't as much of a spaz trying to pass as I usually am.
Another thing that improved was my confidence in my knees. Part of standing passing requires knee bending and changing directions to pin their leg with my shin or knee slide to complete the pass. I really didn't feel any discomfort and later that day I felt pretty good instead of my leg feeling fatigued.
I got a chance to roll with Conan, Jerad, Bauer, and Ray. I got submitted by everyone to varying degrees, but I feel great about the improvements that I made to my guard passing. I think I'm going to continue on this way, taking a piece of Jiu-Jitsu and work on it for a while.
Another thing that improved was my confidence in my knees. Part of standing passing requires knee bending and changing directions to pin their leg with my shin or knee slide to complete the pass. I really didn't feel any discomfort and later that day I felt pretty good instead of my leg feeling fatigued.
I got a chance to roll with Conan, Jerad, Bauer, and Ray. I got submitted by everyone to varying degrees, but I feel great about the improvements that I made to my guard passing. I think I'm going to continue on this way, taking a piece of Jiu-Jitsu and work on it for a while.
Friday, May 17, 2013
May 16th 2013 - No-Gi
Was very excited to make it to class last night. I have researched guard passing videos for the past two days and wanted to see if I could apply any of the concepts that I learned. Easier said than done, especially since a lot of what I was studying depends on having a gi, but also because it's difficult to learn things from videos.
Fortuitously Greg taught guard passing as our theme for class. We did two passes using the same guard break of hands on the biceps, standing up and then fitting the knee into their guard to kneel and then open it up. From there it was underhook and knee slide. One pointer that Greg gave me was I needed to put my head down on the floor on the opposite side of my underhook. Then if they were to block that path we'd go over the other leg and keep the guard open by bringing the knee up. From there we had 3 different paths of just pulling the leg out, a double knee slide (not sure how to describe it), and windshield wiper.
We rolled to finish off the class. I trained with Adam, Jordan, Mike, and Greg. I had fun with everyone, except Adam crushed me a bit and kept me in side control/north south for quite a while. Mike also gave me a lot of trouble as we spent most of the time in his guard and nothing that I tried worked. I did change a few things though which I think helped. I made sure to connect my elbows and knees a little more to prevent an arm getting isolated. Mike said that I need to get in close if I'm going to pass his guard. I was able to get to deep half on Greg but not do anything with it, other than that he mounted me the rest of the time.
Fortuitously Greg taught guard passing as our theme for class. We did two passes using the same guard break of hands on the biceps, standing up and then fitting the knee into their guard to kneel and then open it up. From there it was underhook and knee slide. One pointer that Greg gave me was I needed to put my head down on the floor on the opposite side of my underhook. Then if they were to block that path we'd go over the other leg and keep the guard open by bringing the knee up. From there we had 3 different paths of just pulling the leg out, a double knee slide (not sure how to describe it), and windshield wiper.
We rolled to finish off the class. I trained with Adam, Jordan, Mike, and Greg. I had fun with everyone, except Adam crushed me a bit and kept me in side control/north south for quite a while. Mike also gave me a lot of trouble as we spent most of the time in his guard and nothing that I tried worked. I did change a few things though which I think helped. I made sure to connect my elbows and knees a little more to prevent an arm getting isolated. Mike said that I need to get in close if I'm going to pass his guard. I was able to get to deep half on Greg but not do anything with it, other than that he mounted me the rest of the time.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
May 14th 2013 - Gi (Ninja class)
Everyone except Greg and Jordan were wearing black gis last night; it probably looked like ninja class to anyone walking by. Greg added a new exercise to our warm-up, it was like a half Homer Simpson walk on one shoulder and then rolling to the other shoulder all the way down the floor. It was pretty good for keeping pressure while in side mount or passing.
The theme of the class was passing the closed guard with the double under pass. We started out with breaking the guard open using the double lapel grab along with the pants grab then turning sideways. If that didn't work we would grab the pants with both hands and step back again. From either of these spots we would pull the elbows in to get double under grips on the belt and then pulling them onto our thighs. From here to complete the pass we used our exercise from earlier to put pressure on their legs while walking around into side control position. One key thing that I took away from this is how important it is to keep your elbows tight to their legs otherwise they will be able to counter the pass by grabbing your sleeves.
We trained from the closed guard with king of the mat. Greg and Adam were crowned kings as they spent a majority of the time out there. I felt like I was pretty close a couple times with Adam, but eventually he was able to get to his knees and I don't have an answer to his wrestling from that position. My goto was the armpit grip to standup and try to shake them off or pass from there. Greg and Jerad swept me a couple of times. Greg really frustrates me with his spider guard and more people are starting to use it as well. I rolled with Gina at the end of class and she noticed that I was doing my best not to crush her. Greg showed her a cool way to remove my grip on her pants with kind of an RNC motion and grabbing the gi. I will be adding this to my repertoire. After that she was able to effectively use spider guard on me as well.
I am diverting my attention to the study of passing the guard and finding answers to the spider guard. I watched a few videos last night and I'm going to continue to immerse myself with videos and drilling until I understand it a little better and become a true guard passing ninja.
The theme of the class was passing the closed guard with the double under pass. We started out with breaking the guard open using the double lapel grab along with the pants grab then turning sideways. If that didn't work we would grab the pants with both hands and step back again. From either of these spots we would pull the elbows in to get double under grips on the belt and then pulling them onto our thighs. From here to complete the pass we used our exercise from earlier to put pressure on their legs while walking around into side control position. One key thing that I took away from this is how important it is to keep your elbows tight to their legs otherwise they will be able to counter the pass by grabbing your sleeves.
We trained from the closed guard with king of the mat. Greg and Adam were crowned kings as they spent a majority of the time out there. I felt like I was pretty close a couple times with Adam, but eventually he was able to get to his knees and I don't have an answer to his wrestling from that position. My goto was the armpit grip to standup and try to shake them off or pass from there. Greg and Jerad swept me a couple of times. Greg really frustrates me with his spider guard and more people are starting to use it as well. I rolled with Gina at the end of class and she noticed that I was doing my best not to crush her. Greg showed her a cool way to remove my grip on her pants with kind of an RNC motion and grabbing the gi. I will be adding this to my repertoire. After that she was able to effectively use spider guard on me as well.
I am diverting my attention to the study of passing the guard and finding answers to the spider guard. I watched a few videos last night and I'm going to continue to immerse myself with videos and drilling until I understand it a little better and become a true guard passing ninja.
Monday, May 13, 2013
May 11th 2013 - Open Mat (Mike's Advice Corner)
Showed up to find Bauer at the school already Saturday morning. It's been a quite a while since we rolled together and I was confident that I would tap him out. I ended up being wrong. I got stuck on the bottom both times we rolled and couldn't do anything from half guard. I was using too much strength which was not the thing to do against him. He ended up submitting me twice with americanas. It was no big deal to lose but I was surprised that before we started that I had the feeling that I would defeat him easily. I may have to reassess my attitude.
After that I rolled with Greg, Mike, Jerad, and a couple of visitors. I was noticeably slow and felt a little fatigued. I think the strength that I used against Bauer might have had something to do with that; I also haven't been sleeping very well lately. I got some deep halfguard pointers from Greg and some standing pass pointers from Mike. Maybe I should have a weekly section called Mike's advice corner or something.
This week on Mike's advice corner we talk about not reaching out for knee pants grips when attempting a standing pass. Keep your arms in and elbow on your knees then move your body in until you can get your grips. If you don't you will most likely get caught in spider guard or de la riva or some combination of the two.
After that I rolled with Greg, Mike, Jerad, and a couple of visitors. I was noticeably slow and felt a little fatigued. I think the strength that I used against Bauer might have had something to do with that; I also haven't been sleeping very well lately. I got some deep halfguard pointers from Greg and some standing pass pointers from Mike. Maybe I should have a weekly section called Mike's advice corner or something.
This week on Mike's advice corner we talk about not reaching out for knee pants grips when attempting a standing pass. Keep your arms in and elbow on your knees then move your body in until you can get your grips. If you don't you will most likely get caught in spider guard or de la riva or some combination of the two.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
May 9th - Gi and No-Gi (Aches)
For better or for worse I got the chance to attend both classes last night. Of course it was more better than worse, but I felt like a zombie at the party afterwards.
The first class was a gi beginner class. Dave Ossian joined us after taking 2 years off from martial arts. He also brought a buddy and we were joined by another David that I've seen around at tournaments and the dojo. The beginner class wasn't much different than an advanced class, we just did less exercises and reps during the warm-up. The focus of the class was on the turtle position. We worked on regaining guard using a forward roll first to give an idea of the position, then we worked on pulling them into side or back mount. The turtle still isn't my favorite position, I can't get as low as I want to and that is important for defense in this position. At the end of class we drilled the position with both people trying to get to a better position.
Switched to no-gi and started the process over again. Shrimping is actually easier in no-gi, but 2 sets of neck exercises is exceedingly tough. I got to show off my handstand ability before class, I knew trying to learn capoeira on my own would come in handy someday.
During the technique portion we focused on back mount with one escape and some ways to complete the RNC. The escape was new to me and specifically for no-gi. We would shrimp downward and break the seat belt grip, free a leg, and then put both of our arms under one of their hooks. This would turn into a slick double unders pass. For the attack portion we first worked on trapping one leg. This was really awesome as it was a different way than I was used to. We would grab the knife edge with the underhook hand instead of the wrist and then use the overhook arm to push their arm under our leg. This left our overhooking arm totally free to do the choke. Then we worked on some nasty stuff like using our knuckles and a forearm flick to get under their jaw.
We trained from the position and I had quite a few successful defenses. It must be my wide shoulders that helps keep me from getting choked. However, I didn't have as much success attacking. Regardless of the outcome,
We had a fun little get together at Lazlo's afterwards. Both old and new Jiu-Jitsu practitioners were in attendance. Unfortunately there were also some missing. Conan was doing his best to talk some of the former members to come back. Eventually the group dwindled down and we had a nice discussion until closing. I did my best to keep it together as I was tired and aching from class.
The first class was a gi beginner class. Dave Ossian joined us after taking 2 years off from martial arts. He also brought a buddy and we were joined by another David that I've seen around at tournaments and the dojo. The beginner class wasn't much different than an advanced class, we just did less exercises and reps during the warm-up. The focus of the class was on the turtle position. We worked on regaining guard using a forward roll first to give an idea of the position, then we worked on pulling them into side or back mount. The turtle still isn't my favorite position, I can't get as low as I want to and that is important for defense in this position. At the end of class we drilled the position with both people trying to get to a better position.
Switched to no-gi and started the process over again. Shrimping is actually easier in no-gi, but 2 sets of neck exercises is exceedingly tough. I got to show off my handstand ability before class, I knew trying to learn capoeira on my own would come in handy someday.
During the technique portion we focused on back mount with one escape and some ways to complete the RNC. The escape was new to me and specifically for no-gi. We would shrimp downward and break the seat belt grip, free a leg, and then put both of our arms under one of their hooks. This would turn into a slick double unders pass. For the attack portion we first worked on trapping one leg. This was really awesome as it was a different way than I was used to. We would grab the knife edge with the underhook hand instead of the wrist and then use the overhook arm to push their arm under our leg. This left our overhooking arm totally free to do the choke. Then we worked on some nasty stuff like using our knuckles and a forearm flick to get under their jaw.
We trained from the position and I had quite a few successful defenses. It must be my wide shoulders that helps keep me from getting choked. However, I didn't have as much success attacking. Regardless of the outcome,
We had a fun little get together at Lazlo's afterwards. Both old and new Jiu-Jitsu practitioners were in attendance. Unfortunately there were also some missing. Conan was doing his best to talk some of the former members to come back. Eventually the group dwindled down and we had a nice discussion until closing. I did my best to keep it together as I was tired and aching from class.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
May 7th 2013 - Gi
Was really excited to go to class last night. It was a hell of a workout throughout. Warmed up with shrimping and rolling down the floor followed by some abs and neck exercises.
For the main portion of the class we worked from guard on the concept of pendulum sweeps. I felt like I was doing pretty well with this as this sweep is something that I already incorporate into my game. Although I usually only do it if I have the giftwrap. We set this up by wrapping their gi around their back instead. Then we load them up onto our legs and make a huge armbar motion and then sweep the leg back and use the momentum to rock them over. I ended up practicing this with Adam and Patrick as there was an odd number of students.
We followed up that up with two submissions. The armbar which was difficult for us big guys to get our leg around their head from the pendulum position. Then we worked on a collar/darce/arm triangle choke thingy which was really cool. I had it demonstrated on me several times and almost went out because it was so tight. We used the gi around the back to switch to a cross grip then pull their elbow across and bury it under our bicep. From their we just pull down on our head making a very tight choke.
We spent the rest of the class with training guard passing up/down/out. It really kicked my ass and it seemed like everyone got pretty tired. One cool thing that happened was I pulled off a cross grip to omaplata on Greg which I wasn't able to finish or sweep but it seemed to surprise him and he gave me some kudos afterwards. I had a lot of problems with Jerad in my guard standing up and then leg dragging me. Greg gave me three options of going to dlr (de la riva) or reverse dlr or spider guard. I am in the process of researching dlr as I don't know much to do from there.
I love that we stretch now after class. I think that it is going to help a lot as workouts get harder. Regardless I felt so wasted after class last night. Went home and had a big glass of chocolate milk and vegged out for a while with my ice packs and feet up.
For the main portion of the class we worked from guard on the concept of pendulum sweeps. I felt like I was doing pretty well with this as this sweep is something that I already incorporate into my game. Although I usually only do it if I have the giftwrap. We set this up by wrapping their gi around their back instead. Then we load them up onto our legs and make a huge armbar motion and then sweep the leg back and use the momentum to rock them over. I ended up practicing this with Adam and Patrick as there was an odd number of students.
We followed up that up with two submissions. The armbar which was difficult for us big guys to get our leg around their head from the pendulum position. Then we worked on a collar/darce/arm triangle choke thingy which was really cool. I had it demonstrated on me several times and almost went out because it was so tight. We used the gi around the back to switch to a cross grip then pull their elbow across and bury it under our bicep. From their we just pull down on our head making a very tight choke.
We spent the rest of the class with training guard passing up/down/out. It really kicked my ass and it seemed like everyone got pretty tired. One cool thing that happened was I pulled off a cross grip to omaplata on Greg which I wasn't able to finish or sweep but it seemed to surprise him and he gave me some kudos afterwards. I had a lot of problems with Jerad in my guard standing up and then leg dragging me. Greg gave me three options of going to dlr (de la riva) or reverse dlr or spider guard. I am in the process of researching dlr as I don't know much to do from there.
I love that we stretch now after class. I think that it is going to help a lot as workouts get harder. Regardless I felt so wasted after class last night. Went home and had a big glass of chocolate milk and vegged out for a while with my ice packs and feet up.
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