November 2nd - Morning Open Mat

Had a good group this morning of Ken, David, Fuji, and Bauer.  We pretty much just ran it as an open mat and rolled and switched partners every now and then. 

I started out with Ken.  I felt like I did a good job of not letting him pass guard as much as he usually does.  I was able to get a foot on his leg or hip where most of the time I couldn't.  We had a good back and forth battle it seemed like.  He eventually got me in some type of a triangle in no mans land.

I went with Fuji next and couldn't get out from underneath him.  I'd have half guard and he'd pass, I'd regain it and he'd pass again.  I got to my knees but didn't act fast enough to do a sit out and ended up in half guard again.  He was eventually mounting me and had me in position for a topside triangle.  The pressure on my chest and neck was a little too much for me to handle so I tapped.  I probably shouldn't have because it wasn't a real submission but man was it uncomfortable.

I went with Ken again while Fuji and Bauer rolled.  There was one time where I had him in an arm triangle from guard but I couldn't do anything with it.  I felt like I was attacking well from the guard and just kept at it.  Ken eventually led me into a north/south and position and helped me get the kimura.  I wish I could say that I earned it.

Finally Fuji hyped up a match between me and Bauer.  We started from standing and I was able to get the upper hand with a standing guillotine.  I shucked him down a little bit but unfortunately he was able to secure a single leg and eventually worked me into half guard.  We spent most of the rest of the match from there with me regaining full guard once or twice.  I've got to figure out how to keep my top arm from getting isolated in this position, this was ultimately my downfall.  He was eventually able to get me in a straight armlock.

I'm glad we started doing this, the extra mat time is going to be good for me.  I'm actually a little sore this morning, but it's a good kind of sore.