Monday, October 31, 2011

October 30th - No Gi (No Key)

I arrived at the dojo yesterday, excited to get in a good no-gi class, only to find Fuji and Mike standing outside in the street.  Adam showed up soon after.  After several text messages and a phone call from Conan it was determined that no one with a key was coming.  So, once again I invited everyone to train at the school that I train Hapkido at.  

We didn't have anyone really lead the class but had some good discussions and training.  We started out with partners and taking turns escaping/maintaining side control. We didn't feel like there was enough room for two groups to roll so we did the 8 minute drill instead changing partners with each position.  We discussed some leg locks and worked on a few.

One of the cool things about our little group was that we all had different body types.  It was good to work the different positions and have to use different tactics with each person.

Earlier in the weekend I attended my first live MMA show.  I've only trained with one of the guys that fought and he (Rob Bieber) did an awesome job.  It was quite an experience, but I think I'm spoiled by watching UFC where the guys are more experienced.  I applaud all of the guys that had the courage to jump in there and do it.  Every once in a while I get the desire to get in there and try it.  Then I think about all of the time training, the time away from my kids, and the chance of losing in public.  Still I don't want to have any regrets, ARG!

Friday, October 28, 2011

October 27th - Gi

Jerad taught class yesterday and there were only a few of us.  The main theme was side control escapes.  I ended up switching between Fuji and Gina because the lower belt always rotates, so I didn't get to work with the new guy Darrin, who I knew from working at the jail/detox a long time ago.  I didn't feel like I was really into the class I don't know if it was because I got there late and missed the warm-up

During open mat I only rolled with David because I had a trick or treat thing to get to with my kids.  It seemed to go the same as usual lately.  He passed my guard and almost took my back.  We changed positions a lot and ended up rolling for quite a while.  We eventually got an audience and Mike and Fuji kept trying to tell me what to do.  I got demoralized a couple of times because I would regain guard only to have it passed again.  I guess Darrin and Fuji had a pretty good bout that I missed.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

October 26th - Morning Roll

David, Bauer, AJ, and Ken all had a good time rolling this morning.  We pretty much just did open mat and would work on little things here and there. 

I went with David first.  I started in guard and tried to prevent him from passing.  I did better than usual against David but he eventually got me in a triangle I think.  I thought I had him in a pretty good arm triangle but just couldn't seem to get the right pressure.  I kept readjusting and he eventually weaseled out of it.  Then he showed me what I was doing wrong.

I got Bauer in a guilitine fairly quickly from guard.  Then we went again and while I felt like I was doing well with my movement and reversals he caught me in a kimura that he turned into a straight armlock from half guard.

AJ and I went and I think we ended up stopping in the middle and working on half guard stuff.

We broke for a while and worked on the X-guard sweep.  I'm still having trouble figuring out how to come up from there.  I think I'll ask Greg about it next time I see him or look for a good youtube video.


David and Bauer took off and Ken showed up.  We did some guard passing drills and then rolled.  We had a pretty good roll with a lot of position changes.  Of course with his crazy legs I always think I'm about to get into a good position only to be denied or for him to regain guard soon after.  I also saw in both me and AJ that when we were getting passed that there was an obvious breaking point where we knew that Ken got side control so we just laid down into the position and giving up.  I've got to work on never settling for a bad position, but it is difficult.

We plan on continuing these Wednesday workouts and anyone is welcome.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

October 24th - Gi

Jerad taught last night.  Our warmup consisted of partner drills with takedowns and judo throws.  We worked on a progression that started with pulling guard.  I made a mistake my first time trying it with David and his knee pretty much crushed my cup into my groin.  After getting over that I figured out that it was easier to sit on his thigh and ride it down to one side.  We then worked on the scissor sweep and a hip heist if that failed.  We then worked on a kimura and a different version of the hip heist.

During open mat I rolled with Adam first.  It went about the same as our previous 3 or 4 matches.  We took a while to get any type of position.  He was able to pass my guard fairly easily two times, I've got to figure out what I'm doing wrong.  There was a point where he had me in an armbar but I was able to twist out of it.  I eventually got to x-guard and did the sweep but I wasn't able to follow through again.  He eventually got me in an inverted armbar.

I rolled with David next.  I think we had a pretty good roll.  He had me in side control like usual but there was a point when I thought his weight was a little high, instead of immediately going the way that I felt his weight was, I decided to push the other way and then bridge as smoothly as I could.  It worked and I ended up in a north/south almost choke.  I couldn't finish it though.  He eventually got me in guard and got me with a weird armbar that was more pressure on my shoulder.

Ken and I rolled last.  I didn't have much energy at this time as Monday is usually a long day for me.  I was on top for a while but made a pretty crucial mistake that put me into his mount.  I was pretty gassed by then and I think he just kimuraed me.

Monday, October 24, 2011

October 23rd - No Gi (No Class?)

I was excited that I got to go to a Sunday No-Gi class.  It's always difficult with family stuff to be able to make it to this class.  Unfortunately no one with a key showed up and it ended up being me and Justin waiting around.  As Justin was about to take off I suggested that we go to the school where I teach Hapkido occasionally.  While it's a little bit of a drive from downtown it is better than not working out at all.

We ended up working for a good solid hour, first on guard escapes/retention, then we both went through  the 2x8 minute drill, and finally we rolled.  He was more experienced than me and seemed to be a step ahead most of the time.  Hopefully I was still a challenge for him.

We also spent some time talking about his MMA fights, martial arts in general, and how we both liked the atmosphere at Roseberry's. 

Friday, October 21, 2011

October 20th - Gi (I suck at Judo)

Ray started us out with a warmup and then we did some stretching.  Hopefully we'll start doing this more often.  Conan taught the rest of the class and we worked on some different Side control escapes/reversals than usual.  The first one was in response to a knee on belly to mount by turning and then gaining half guard.  I kind of liked it and I'll see if I can use this next time it happens.  The next one was going off of an armlock attempt with the shoulder.  When they bend their elbow going north/south and rolling them over.  The last one we worked on was kind of a Judo throw from the ground where you hold their shoulder and turn away from them keeping their weight high and rolling them.

During the Judo portion the theme was Randori or sparring.  We did a progression from just fitting in to taking turns throwing to actually competing with each other.  Going against Fuji was pretty tough.  His size is something to deal with in itself but he also has experience with Judo and is pretty good at setting up throws in my opinion.  I didn't feel like I was doing a good job at all.  He threw me really well a couple of times and the last time my foot kind of got stuck on the floor and it twisted my hip a little bit.  It was okay but I had a little hitch in my get along after that.  One of these days I'll figure out kazushi with throws.

For open mat I went against Ray.  He seemed hard to move and really solid like usual.  I did feel a little more comfortable with him than I have in the past.  He did a good job of keeping me from passing his guard one thing I took note of was he grabbed my sleeves and kind of pulled me into his knee that was on my chest; this was difficult to deal with.  I can't quite remember how he submitted me.  He got me in an armbar one time and almost a triangle but I kept myself wide enough for a while.  There was a point when I went for my deep half guard sweep but he was able to counter it.  Later he told me that I needed to control the leg more if that was going to work.  I realized that I wasn't thinking about my legs as much as I should have.

Conan went to Shihan with me and got us permission to workout at the dojo on Wednesday mornings.  So if anyone is interested, let me or David know.  I think what we will do is communicate through text messages on Tuesday nights to make sure someone with a key will be there as well as enough students to make it worth while.  The time will probably be from 6:30-7:30ish.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

October 17th - Gi (Feelin Good)

Conan was there last night in a pretty cool different looking Shoyoroll gi.  The theme was chest pressure movement drills from being on top.  We did a far side armbar first then worked on switching sides in side control and turtle position.  Then we took back from turtle.  I'm getting pretty tired of not being able to see during class.  Hopefully I can wear my contacts to class again in 2 weeks.

During Open mat I rolled with Jerad first.  I worked my way into top position early on and was able to keep it for a while.  Although I was controlling him and keeping him in side control and mount I found myself at a loss for what submission to try and go for.  I just felt like everything I tried he knew what I was going to do before I did it.  My downfall was when I went for an arm triangle choke and was going to step over to the other side which gave him a window to reverse me and roll me over.  He eventually worked me into a very nice bow and arrow choke.

We rolled again and I was able to get him into x-guard which I thought was awesome until I executed the sweep.  I didn't follow through and use the momentum to get up and he was able to reverse it.  He didn't submit me this time only because we were stopped to bow out.

I rolled with Adam next and I felt surprisingly good.  I could still feel his strength and he did grab my sleeves and bully me around a bit.  We spent a lot of time kind of pass fighting where neither of us had position and we kept trying to pass the others guards.  I eventually was in guard and tried some of the omaplata stuff that we did last week.  It didn't workout too well but at least it was some attacks and didn't put me in a bad position.  After a tough battle for me he passed my guard and eventually took a north/south sitting on my head and submitted me with a kimura.

Ken and I had a war as usual.  We were all over the place and I eventually had him in side control and then the gift wrap.  Instead of trying to take the back I slid my arm further around his neck and went for the arm triangle.  I was pretty confident with it, but Ken became a flopping fish and eventually worked his way out of it.  I was able to get my current favorite deep half guard sweep but I got stuck in a triangle that turned into a teepee.

While I didn't win any matches last night I felt good about the techniques I pulled off and how much more comfortable I was.  However, I'm pretty sore this morning.


Friday, October 14, 2011

October 13th - Gi

Ray taught class yesterday and it was nice to have a change in the warm-up.  We did some reps of takedowns and throws which I always enjoy working on.  The theme of the class was the anaconda choke and we did it from a couple of ways and then practiced some Darce chokes.  One thing I have a problem with is doing the darce from half guard with the guys arm in an underhook.  It's pretty difficult for me to hook it up.  We finished with the position drill for 1 minute instead of the usual 2.  I worked with a guy named Tim who had some issues with stamina/not puking.  He was doing pretty good holding me from side control but after that he had to sit out a couple of times.  Seemed like a pretty decent guy hopefully he sticks around.  One thing that is a kind of pet peeve of mine is when people reek of cigarette smoke when I'm rolling with them.  Yuck.

During the Judo portion of class Sensei Beggs had us work on grabs.  Starting off with a grabbing belt kind of game and then grabbing the collar and then throwing with a shoulder throw or osoto gari.

During open mat, I rolled with David.  I had a few good moves where I rolled him out of side control.  I also had him in spider guard for like 10 seconds but didn't know what to do with it.  He eventually got me in an inverted armbar and we went over how I could have prevented it better.

I rolled with Will next who I don't roll with that often.  It amazes me how we have like 4 or 5 purple belts and they each have their own different style that works for them.  I'm assuming it has to do with body type, personal preferences, and countering the other purple belts' skills.  Will took control fairly quickly and as I passed at one point I didn't keep the underhook like I should have and he almost had my back.  Eventually I ended up in half guard and I was able to pull off my half guard sweep, but he was able to get his knee free during that and I wasn't able to pass.  I eventually ended up in turtle position and he caught me in an armbar from there.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

October 12th - One on One with David

I asked David the other day if he'd be willing to do an early morning class on Wednesdays.  We met at my Dojang at 6:30 and had a pretty good workout.  We pretty much rolled the whole time, starting out pretty slow and putting more resistance into as we went, stopping every now and then to work on something specific and then continuing.  A lot of my issues were with when to have an underhook and where to keep my weight.  I'm still struggling with side mount escapes but I'm getting a little more confident in what I can do. 

Hopefully we can make this an ongoing thing and it will help me progress quicker.  Thanks for the class David.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

October 10th - Gi

Jerad was instructing last night and the theme was taking mount.  There were a couple of visitors from Rob's school Lincoln MMA.  Seemed like pretty good guys.

We did two passes from side mount: one from knee on belly and the other from kinda twister side control.  After practicing these with quite a few reps we did some partner drills by trying to take the mount and then trying to retain the mount.  I felt like I did a pretty good job here of escaping or keeping my opponent in the position for the most part.

During open mat I rolled with Mike and we probably went to 7-10 minutes.  He eventually got me with a triangle.  During our roll there were several times that he put me in north/south and I was stuck.  After we were done we talked about some ways to get out of that and what to do from there.

I rolled with David a couple of times and he took my back the first time rather quickly and submitted me.  He was pretty aggressive the next roll and bulldogged me to my back and he eventually got me in an Americana.  His strength is really hard to deal with.  I'm going to have to work really hard if I'm ever going to submit him.

Monday, October 10, 2011

October 7th - Open Mat with Mike

I ended up getting to the dojo just as everyone was leaving.  Luckily Mike was willing to stay and we had some good rolls and some good conversation.  At first he started out kicking my butt tying me up and submitting me rather easily a couple of times.  He was using his upside down guard which is cool but I would need to get a lot more flexible and comfortable on my neck to use something like that.

I seem to get caught in his triangle quite a bit which is something I need to work on preventing.  I get my posture broken really easily so I need to improve my neck strength and keep my arms and hands in the right places.

I think my submissions on him were both chokes. I was able to get a north/south choke and an arm triangle.  While he got me in a triangle, a rear naked choke and a Peruvian necktie.

We also broke for a while and talked about several things like bullies and fighting, MMA, tournaments, etc.  Because I had my glasses off I couldn't keep track of the time but we ended up hanging out until around 6:30.  Luckily my wife wasn't mad when I got home.

Friday, October 7, 2011

October 6th - Gi Class

Conan was instructing and he asked me what I wanted to work on again.  I couldn't really think of anything off hand so I chose what to do when you have back mount besides the rear naked choke.

We started with armbar.  One key thing that I wasn't doing previously with this technique was clasping my hands and framing their neck until you can get your leg around their head.  I used to just get the underhook and try to throw my leg over their head.  Usually I couldn't get my leg around and they would turn into me and stack me.

Next we worked on going with the flow like when someone tries to roll over or escape not to hold them too tight but to let them move and move with them.  We also did some with the hooks under their legs to control that way.

Next we went to twister entries starting from the back.  We also did the Twister from side control and turtle position.  Then we did some of the other finishes like crotch ripper and calf crushes.

For open mat I rolled with Ken a couple of times.  We did some stand up Randori first.  I didn't feel very good about it because I couldn't get any throws to work.  Just have to keep working on it.  I didn't feel good about my ground fighting either with Ken.  There were a couple of times where he told me how to get out of something.  While this is helpful it's also a little frustrating.  I'd kind of rather have him submit me instead of helping me reverse him or get to a submission of my own.

Next time I'm asked what I want to do for class I'm going to pick the bottom from the turtle position.  I'm not really sure what I should be doing there when I get there.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

October 3rd - Gi Class

Greg taught class again tonight and the theme was the omaplata.  We worked on some very cool setups that I didn't know.  We started from guard with shins on their biceps and a hand on their tricep and the other hand on their colar.  To get the omaplata we would then kick the leg straight up and wrap it around their shoulder.  From there we worked on some sweeps if they defend.

To finish class we did the retain/pass guard drill and I worked with Nick.  He seemed a little frustrated during this, I'm not sure why because it took me the whole 2 minutes to pass his guard. 

During open mat I rolled with David a couple of times.  He was having a good time by smashing me with his head.  It was very annoying but I did feel more comfortable rolling with him than I usually do.  I can't remember how he submitted me the first time but the next time he got me in a colar choke that we were fighting back and forth with forever.

I rolled with Ken next and it was a pretty good match.  I had his back a couple of times but he defended well.  I'm having a terrible time passing his guard, his legs just keep getting in the way.  For some reason I can't remember how our match ended.  I know it didn't end with me submitting him though.

October 2nd - No Gi

Was able to make it to No-gi class again yesterday and I'm glad that I did.  We warmed up with the 2x8 minute drill.  I was with Fuji for that which was pretty tough.
Greg taught and the theme was based on breaking the arms apart when going for an armbar.  Funny, it seems lately I've gotten to pick what we work on in class pretty often.  Several of them I had done but there were just little tweaks to them that made them work a lot better for me.  I worked with Will for most of the class.  The techniques we did were:
  • Put their wrist into your elbow pit and grabbing your own shoulder and then falling to the head side
  • Grabbing their knee and letting them up a bit and then kind of kicking their head back down
  • Pulling the far arm in and then hooking your feet around their shoulder
  • Hooking your foot inside and then when they come up put them into a triangle.
  • If you don't think you're going to get the armbar hooking behind their head and then rolling over and taking their back
During open mat I rolled with Mike probably 4-6 times and it seemed like we were actually pretty even.  I don't remember all of the submissions that we did to each other, I'm pretty sure that he got me in a triangle.  I was able to pull off the below technique from the video that I just watched the other day. 

I was about to leave when Greg asked me to roll.  Of course I won't miss an opportunity to do that.  It's hard to tell how good I did because he's probably taking it very easy on me.  He did an awesome transition into x-guard.  He had my side/back at one point and was holding my chin.  Besides it being really annoying and very controlling, it was also hurting me.  I got a really bad cramp in my jaw muscle that was so bad that I had to tap.  The cool thing is though that my jaw feels a lot better now than it has the last few weeks. 

Saturday, October 1, 2011

September 30th - Open Mat

I had to hurry to reach the dojo by 5:05 yesterday. 

There was about 3 groups of people rolling when I got there.  I rolled with Jerad first.  It lasted longer than usual and I sensed that I might have frustrated him a little bit somewhere during our scrambles.  That could just be in my head though.  One thing that I did that I'm pretty proud of was when he was just about to pass my guard and instead of just laying my back down and accepting side control I rolled over to turtle and then to half guard.  So often I think I just accept that my guard is going to be passed and I just kind of fall into it.  However, when I was on top in side control I felt like I didn't have very many options.  Every move I made it seemed like he knew what I was going to try and then he took it away.  Then when I thought I had an arm triangle he rolled me over because my center was too high.  In the end he got me in a wrist lock from side control against his body that seemed very smooth, but he said that he just kind of fell into it.

I rolled with Ken next and we started standing up.  Ken's ability to weave his legs and come up with different half guard positions is impressive and annoying.  That's something I have to get better at too.  I was able to get the half guard sweep on him which has been pretty high percentage for me lately, which makes me think it's something I should cultivate and focus on this month.  He finally submitted me when I was trying to pass his guard I believe and I ended up with his legs up around my chest.  I thought I was in an okay position to get free and stack but he worked a triangle out of it.  After that we sort of rolled but also worked on some wristlocks from the guard like the gooseneck.