August 12th - Gi Class Vendetta Finished but the war goes on

Conan taught class yesterday and the theme was side control escape.  I decided to wear my rash guard under my gi just to see how it was.  I liked it until we started to work on Judo later and it rolled up on me.

Side control is still my #1 hated position to be on the bottom of.  I'd rather be mounted or back mounted than put into side control.  I know, I've complained about all of this before.  I'm planning on starting a supplemental workout plan to focus on improving my bridging, going into tripod position and shrimping.  I hate the feeling of helplessness when I can't get out of people's side control.  We worked on a couple of escapes/reversals that I didn't know.  I just wish I could put them into action.

For the Judo portion of class I got partnered up with Aaron.  Definitely good to be partnered up with someone who does Judo when working on Judo.  We worked mostly on Osoto Gari from being pushed away with straight arms.  From there we worked on a counter if we couldn't bend their knee and went into a different throw.  Aaron really helped me with the kazushi part of the throw and getting the opponent to move the way you wanted them to so you could throw him.  Having him throw me is different than anyone else that I have been thrown by except for Ray.  Hopefully I'll eventually be able to understand why.

The only thing I don't like about doing Judo on Tuesdays is that it takes away from open mat time.  Bauer and I got to roll finally and it pretty much went the same as our tournament match.  I was able to reverse him and get on top very quickly.  I wasn't really able to do anything from the top though and I eventually ended up in half guard.  We went from half guard to guard a couple of times and then eventually ended up in side mount with him on top.  I couldn't get out of it from there, after all of the techniques that we worked on I couldn't make space and get him off me.  He eventually got me with an Americana.

While it didn't go well for me it has fueled my fire a little bit more.  Made me want to train harder and work on side control escapes.  Also I need to relax more and pace myself so I don't gas out.  Whenever I go against someone stronger than me I try to use my muscle too.  I don't last as long using Muscle as I do when I use good technique.  Hopefully Bauer stays with Jiu-Jitsu and I can use him as a benchmark for progress as we both improve.  I foresee us having some epic battles.