Tuesday, January 31, 2012

January 30th - Gi (Attitude Adjustment Required)

I was feeling pretty sluggish yesterday before class but was okay once we got started.  The class consisted of the bow and arrow choke from a couple of different positions.  I worked with Ken on most of the drilling with this.  At the end we did some position Reverse, sweep, submit drills from Back, Mount, and guard with various partners.  One thing I'm proud of from that exchange was a Shoalin sweep that I sort of pulled off on Mike.  Probably wouldn't have done it to someone as big as me but I'm getting the technique down.  I feel like I'm coming up with solutions when my half guard game gets shut down.

During open mat I rolled with David first.   This was the beginning of my frustration.  Like usual David handled me.  While I know I'm doing better against David than I have done in the past I was getting pissed to end up in the side control again.  To work to get half guard and then end up back in side control.  I believe he got me with an armbar or a triangle in the end.

I went with Ken next and my attitude continued to sour.  I made several mistakes and I wasn't trying my best, at one point I could tell Ken was trying to help me by allowing me to sweep him and it actually made me angry because of the mindset I was in.  He was telling me to sweep him and I told him to stop it and just roll.  Not cool I know.  He pressed me to not quit and we eventually reached half guard with me on bottom and he gave me pointers to submit him in a reverse armbar.  We worked on that technique for a little while getting the arm and body positions right.  I felt a little better after that.  I need to get put my ego or self esteem in check when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu.  We talked about some wrist locks and I showed him how I taught the gooseneck.

I finished the night by getting tapped out by Jerad a couple of times.  The first time I did my best to defend against the bow and arrow choke, which I succeeded in, however it allowed him to setup an armbar instead.  I guess preventing him from doing what he wanted to do is counted as a win for me.  The next match I wasn't as lucky as he was a little more sneaky and quick with the bow and arrow. 






Monday, January 30, 2012

January 29th - No Gi

Good class on the topic of leg/foot locks conducted by Ray yesterday.  To make it simple everything that we did started from the top in our partners guard.  Once the guard was broken we'd isolate the leg and sit back and do the lock.  We worked on Achilles, heel hook, toe hold and knee bar. We were able to do a lot of reps with each and the setups were the same throughout except the knee bar so we got a lot of practice.

During open mat I rolled with Adam first.  At one point I was playing some open half guard and attempted a guillotine.  It must have been decent because I was able to turn it into a sweep and I ended up in mount.  I wasn't able to finish the choke from mount but I kept the position for a while.  Once he got out of that I ended up in side control for a long time.  I can't remember how we ended.  I think we might have just quit but he could have made me tap too.

I went with Ken next and I was so close to catching him.  I was half guard and went for the kimura on his far arm.  I rolled into top position but he was able to shrimp away from me and get his elbow free.  However, I was able to take side control after this.  He eventually caught me with an armbar or americana later on. 

I started rolling with the new guy Bosier (sp?) but we had to bow out and get off the mat before the next class.  He was very rigid like before and stiffened his arms quite a bit.  I think I said this last time but I must learn how to capitalize on this.  It was good to see a couple of new people in class.


Friday, January 27, 2012

January 26th - Gi

Got to class yesterday and it seemed like most people were already there working on something.  I think their coming in a half an hour early on Thursday and I'm a little jealous because I can't leave any earlier from work.  Conan taught with the theme of side control escapes.  It was a good review as I think I've done all of these before.  There was one where that when you hook your near leg over theirs and they turn their hips and get out of it into side control.  There is some timing involved to bump them on your hips and take them across your body.  That one was a little difficult for me but I like the idea of it and hope to get better at stuff like that.

For open mat I went up against Mike.  It's been a while since we rolled and from the beginning we seemed pretty even.  He was doing a lot of his de la rivas and we had a lot of back and forth.  Our size difference is in my favor and there were a couple of instances where he would have had me in a much worse position but I was able to get out of it.  He had me almost in the new 10 finger guillotine but I saw it coming and was able to keep his hands from connecting. At one point he had me in knee on belly and was setting up the baseball bat choke, but I was able to put him on his back and tried to stay low and control his elbows so he couldn't get the choke.  I attempted an armbar from open guard when he was standing and couldn't finish it.  I eventually got him into side control and then somehow worked into an inverted triangle.  I tried my best to get his arm free for the kimura but I might have been pulling up too much and not pushing in the opposite direction to break the grip first.  I eventually abandoned it and then slid down to north-south choke and with some work got him to tap.  We probably rolled for 15 to 20 minutes and it wore us both out.

Afterwards Mike gave me tips on how I could have beaten him sooner.  One thing that I want to work on is going for the far leg when they stack an armbar.  I've always thought that underhooking the close leg was the best thing to do, but this is much better.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

January 25th - Morning Open (Feeling Good)

Had a good session this morning. I wish I could figure out the formula for when I leave the dojo with a positive attitude as opposed to feeling negative and down on myself.  It's really not as much about losing as I let on.  I think I just need to accomplish something that demonstrates my improvement.  If during open mat I get stuck in half guard and I'm not able to move and I just defend for 10 minutes I feel it's a lot worse than if I get submitted in 2 minutes but completed a guard pass that I just learned. 

Greg asked me to drill some things with him again, which I would not refuse.  It was pretty much the same things that he drilled Monday evening.  I also drilled the reverse de la rivas sweep.  We went over the guard pass that we worked on Monday and I felt more confident about it. 

I rolled with Ken and we had one of our back and forth battles.  He allowed me to take side control right away.  I tried several submissions but couldn't get anything to work.  We went back and forth with guard and half guard side control and I had his back for just a little bit.  Eventually I ended up mounted and he put me into an americana.  After that he showed me some wristlocks that he's seen on a Roy Dean DVD.  I was liking it and maybe this will spark some wristlock research between the two of us.

I rolled with Greg next and I was hesitant as usual to commit to anything.  I was pretty amazed at how he uses his hips a lot to pass the guard and get around knees and limbs.  There was one point where I was in bottom half guard and I went for the shaolin sweep.  I felt like I almost had it but I just didn't get him over.  I could tell that his goal was to get me in the new guillotine choke, he was grabbing my chin a lot and controlling it (which I hate) but the gi helped to defend the choke.  He ended up submitting me with the cross choke to armbar that we worked on Monday.  The second time around he set up a baseball bat choke from side control.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

January 23rd - Gi

Greg taught class yesterday and the theme was techniques starting with a cross collar choke from mount.  We did a pretty good warm-up with some jogging and up and down the floor shrimping and rolling.  I used to have a really hard time with the front shrimp but now it's become something that I excel at and one of my favorite things to do.

I worked with Fuji for the majority of the class.  We started out doing the cross collar choke.  We practiced one of several versions of this choke.  For this one it was palm up and deep into the neck and the other hand is the same on the other side of the neck going under the first hand.  Usually when I've done this it's one hand deep and one hand on the collar.  From their we worked on things to do if they defended like an armbar if they tried to hip escape or moving into the z-mount.

For open mat I rolled with David for about 15 minutes.  I felt like I was doing better than usual, but it could have been that David was working on something specific to improve his game.  From the start he allowed me to get side control and then worked on escaping.  I tried several things from knee on belly to putting him on his side to get a kimura.  Which allowed him to get to his knees.  I'm still not completely sure what I should be doing when this happens.  I was in side control for a while and eventually got half guard and then guard.  I was working hard to keep my guard and then butterfly guard.  Somehow I was able to get his back for a little while.  He did a very good job of keeping my arms in his arm pits and I was unsuccessful in doing anything from there.  He mounted me for a while and after I defended as best I could he eventually locked up my arm and put me into the gift wrap allowing him to take my back.  This position sucks as David likes to do the body triangle.  I was almost able to get out at one time but he sucked me back in and made me tap with a face/neck crank.

Mike showed me a standing guard pass that he likes to use and we worked on that for a couple reps.  I liked it except it was a little complicated.  It involved grabbing the pants and pushing them to the side and then switching the grips again and a little push pull.  I'll have to have him go over it with me again.

Greg asked me if he could work some techniques on me.  They were mostly from reverse de la rivas and pretty interesting.  As a trade off he gave me some pointers on the guard pass that he taught us a while ago. It's where one arm is straight and holding together both lapels and the other hand is on the pants.  Then after breaking the guard, come over their leg with the knee and post the other leg then underhook their far arm and the other arm goes behind their head to escape to side control.  I did about 10 or so reps of that.  Two things that were pointed out to me was that my weight was too far forward and I need to sit back and when I go to move my knee into their butt that I need to hold pressure down on them with my straight arm.  I'm going to follow Greg's advice and practice this 5 times or so before or after each class.  Maybe until I use it a couple of times during rolling without having to think about the parts of it.

Friday, January 20, 2012

January 19th - Gi (Stupid Triangle)

Ray taught class yesterday and it was a pretty awesome class.  My gripe about not drilling enough was answered.  We started off with some animal walking and other calisthenics.  With a partner we did sweeps, throws, and wrestling takedowns.

For the rest of the class we did several position drills just trying to escape, sweep or improve.  We did mount, guard, open guard, butterfly, half, sprawl position, and maybe a few others I've forgotten.  We kept up a pretty good pace.

During open mat I went with Brad, who I haven't rolled with in a while.  I was kind of hoping that enough time had passed that I would blow him away but that wasn't really the case.  I did well for the most part but in our first match I made the mistake of getting sucked into his triangle.  He did a really good job of holding my sleeves and pulling me into position while wrapping his legs around my head and shoulders.  I hung on for a while but had to eventually tap.

During our second roll I was able to take top position off the bat and kept him in side control for a while.  He wasn't really guarding the north-south choke so I took special care to control his head and not let him turn in and I slunk down into position pushing forward on his shoulder.  His chin was digging into my ribs a little bit but I felt like I still had it locked up pretty well and I steadily applied pressure until he tapped.

We went a third time for a tie breaker and I thought I was doing well.  I had him in the reverse arm triangle for a while but eventually lost it trying to make it tighter.  Later on I was doing the basic guard pass with my shin across his leg and I kind of got stopped.  Instead of continuing to go forward I thought it would be more clever for me to go around his leg to the other side of his body.  Big mistake as this freed his other leg and I was put in his stupid triangle again.  We hung out there for a long time and soon everyone was congregated around us telling us both what to do to submit/defend the triangle.  My sore neck tells me that I probably should have tapped sooner because I eventually had enough and tapped.  So, I'll be working triangle defenses as soon as possible.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

January 18th - Morning Open (Need More Reps)

Had some trouble getting out of bed this morning, but it was worth it.  I appreciate Ken coming in despite not feeling well.  Luckily Greg and Robert showed up. 

Since there were three of us we did some drills first working on the guillotine that we did on Sunday.  I'm pretty sensitive to these types of chokes, anything on the throat bugs me quite a bit after a while.  However, I really like to do this choke because it seems to be so much more effective than the traditional guillotine.  Hopefully I'll be able to incorporate it in to my game (or lack there of).

We did some 2 minute drills with side mount alternating partners.  It was a good reminder that I need to do a lot more work.  Greg escaped at will and was able to stick a knee in between us easily.  When I was on the bottom I was constantly getting a knee on my stomach.  As expected I fared a little better against Robert but still had my share of mistakes. 

A couple of pointers that Greg gave was to use the close hand and walk away from knee on belly.  If I push with the far hand I'm just asking to get armbared.  Which I knew but I didn't see a better way to get out of it, I just try to snatch it away if they start going for the armbar.  Also I need to frame better and use my far leg to hip escape side control and get my knee in there.  I currently try to push into them instead of make space like I should.  I also don't frame with my arms enough.

Robert and I are pretty evenly matched, uh well except for his never ending stamina and strength.  Like usual I do several decent things against him but I usually end up on the bottom in half guard getting smashed.  I didn't feel like I did very well today though.  I don't think he made me tap but I know I was in a bad position for most of the matches.  I know I made some obvious mistakes too.

We rolled for 6 minutes rounds next and went twice with everyone.  Being in Greg's guard is definitely a mental exercise.  I have to be sure not to over extend myself or get my arms all tied up and at the same time try to pass.  I usually fall on my butt mid-pass.  Then there was more knee on belly.  He got me in an armbar, a triangle, the new guillotine choke, and the baseball bat choke.

Afterward, Greg mentioned that he was interested in coming to Wednesdays more often.  Which would be really cool.  I also asked him about drilling because I think something that will improve my game is more reps of the basics.  While I really enjoy Jiu-Jitsu class, I don't feel like I retain as much as I should.  I know it might be boring to some people, but I would like to do 20 reps on each technique.  So my plan is to either find someone before class and do some guard passes or maybe before open mat and review everything we worked on.  I think that would be good.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

January 16th - Gi

Jerad taught class last night and he taught his catch wrestling technique class.  It is a series that starts with a kind of reverse arm triangle (Their arm is in your armpit) from side control.  It was a good refresher since we haven't done these in a while.  We were just about to do some drilling when I interrupted the class and reminded him of the neck crank that we usually end with.

I did the side control drill with Adam and then Josh.  Adam just crushes me and makes it difficult to move.  Probably the worst part was when he had me in knee on belly and holding my collar.  Josh was a completely different experience.  When I'm on top in side control it's almost like I'm touching the ground, so I have to stay a little lower to hold him down.  He's also very quick where I try to be slow and methodical. 

For open mat I went with Robert.  It was a good back and forth role.  As usual I get close to getting something right away but I'm not able to finish it.  I kept telling myself not to get discouraged and give up.  I did some good from guard and half guard and had top position on and off.  Eventually I started having stitches in my side and found it hard to breath and I decided to tap.  We figured we'd been rolling pretty rigorously for 20 minutes.  So he didn't submit me but I had to quit due to attrition.

After some rest I went with Ken and kind of took it easy.  I must have been in a daze because I really don't remember that much.  He had me in a mounted triangle close to the end and I think he got me with an armbar or something.  I was dead to the world last night after getting the kids to sleep and just curled up in bed and played some ps3 while drinking Gatorade.

Monday, January 16, 2012

January 15th - No Gi

Jared taught class yesterday with some wrestling help from Adam.  We worked on Adam's single leg stuff that he usually teaches.  I like that he shows us the same thing over and over instead of trying to show us a different series every time. 

I worked with Fuji for most of the class and like usual he was giving me crap about this blog.  Him and David are both worried about ending up in here after the day that I submit them.  Well it didn't happen yesterday, but I did accidentally rack Fuji during one of the single leg takedowns.  I wouldn't have put that in here but he told me to.

Joking aside, knowing that people are somewhat concerned about what I'm going to write about them later is a reason I question continuing to contribute to this blog.  I'm always concerned about my tone and how I portray the events of class, especially if I win in open mat.  I have to remind myself that I wouldn't mind if someone posted about me losing.  Maybe that's because I tap all of the time.  I hope by reading this that no one thinks I'm a braggart by any definition of the word.  I'm saving all of my bragging for when David taps out.

Jerad had us do some stuff that he was currently working on.  We worked on ten finger guillotine, X-Guard, butterfly sweep, shin sweep.  Pretty good stuff.

During open mat, I went with Fuji first.  It feels like I'm improving against him.  Being on the bottom of his side control is still awful, but I was able to weasel out a couple of times and even had side mount for a while but I couldn't finish anything.  My usual technique to try when they turn into me is the darce but whenever I try this on Fuji he's able to get to his knees and out.  I almost got him in a North-South but he was able to blast out of it.  He finally got me with a kimura from half guard.

I rolled with Ken next and we had a pretty lively roll with several scrambles.  I spent the majority of the time in my goto half guard position.  Toward the end I was in a mounted triangle but kept my hands clasped.  He rolled to his back and I got my head out but left my arm in.  I wasn't in a good position to roll out of it and he caught me with an omma plata.

Ken helped me with guard a little bit afterwards.  We did several drills and he gave me pointers along the way.  I saw a lot of possibilities that I hadn't noticed before but I've had them done to me.  This might open up a new addition to my game.

Friday, January 13, 2012

January 12th - Gi

Ray taught class yesterday and we worked on some reverse de la rivas.  I worked with Julian for some of the warm-up.  He is an MMA fighter and has a really great attitude.  We did some transition drill with reverse de la rivas/x-guard/butterfly guard.  We worked on a lot of the same de la rivas things we've been working on lately, the back take, and the sweep.  We finished with a couple of variations for the bow and arrow choke.

I rolled with David first for open mat.  He pointed out that I shouldn't be laying flat on my back in guard so I tried a little bit to get off to a side and attack more.  I was able to half way sweep him and put him into guard and got the opportunity to see what he does from this position.  He does a really good job of putting my arm in danger making me concentrate on other things rather than escaping his guard.  I will make this my goal to improve my movement and activity in guard.  I can't remember how he submitted me, it might have been an armbar from guard.

Jared was next, and like usual I had a difficult time with his guard.  I defended some of his sweep attempts and the kimura that he's caught me with from half guard a couple of times.  Eventually he was able to get me on my back in guard.  He recall him standing up to break it and I felt like I didn't know what to do.  I finally tried to get my feet into reverse de la rivas but failed.  The rest of the time I spent defending side control either the far side armbar or the darce.  It seemed that whatever I tried was met with some type of submission attempt.  He eventually got me with an armbar.




Wednesday, January 11, 2012

January 11th - Morning Open

Had to start a little later this morning since David ditched us and Ken get's off work around 7.  Still got in a good workout.  It was Robert, AJ, Ken, and I.  AJ and I were ready first so I decided to start in half guard and try to work some of the things I saw on this video yesterday, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUMLNDO32zw.  Some of the stuff I picked up on seemed to be pretty helpful, especially controlling their leg more.  I really want to try the butterfly half as I think this may be something different than most people do.  I have also never seen "the waiter" done before and I think that would be interesting.

Unfortunately, I let AJ take my back.  He was doing a good job holding me but I was eventually able to mess with his hooks and get free.  Once I got to side control I could see that he wasn't aware of my new love of the north-south choke and he put his arm under me allowing me to slip right into it.    There is really something different about my attitude going against him as I know I can beat him so I don't get as concerned when he has me in a bad position.  I know that he can still tap me but I just have a little bit more experience on him.  I wish I could have this attitude with every roll because it really helps to conserve energy.

Ken and Robert had a war and went for like 20 minutes back and forth.  Eventually Ken got tired first but they both had some really good submission attempts throughout.

I went with Robert next and using a wristlock got him into side mount right away.  I was able to get him into the armbar position but he stacked me and passed.  I worked a lot of half guard and got to my knees a couple of times and eventually side control and back.  I was eventually returned to side control and he got me in an Americana.

I finished the morning out with Ken.  Again I used some of the new half guard stuff I've been working on.  To a fault though as I lost position a couple of times while trying something.  I guess that how I learn.  We switched places a couple of times and he eventually got me into mount.  He slapped an armbar on and I had to tap.


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

January 9th - Gi

David warmed us up with some basic stuff with some ab work.  We also did the front shrimp partner drill that I'm both glad and sorry that I introduced to the class.

Greg taught the remainder of the class with the theme of defending the double underhook pass.  It was pretty informative as it is a place that I end up often.  I was surprised to hear at the end of the class that at the high levels of Jiu-Jitsu this pass isn't done because the elbow defense makes it so easy to foil it.  Some of the defenses were pretty tough since my abs were already a little fatigued.  There was a lot of pushing back and walking the shoulders away.  We finished class by drilling from this position and it was surprising how often the defenses worked after just learning them.

Robert and I were partners throughout the class and we also rolled together for open mat.  There were several times that I felt like I was going to finally have him but he was always able to weasel out and I would get fatigued.  I was using the gi to the best of my advantage as he's not used to it yet.  I was even able to pull of the elbow push side mount escape that we just worked on in class.  He was still able to get me with a couple of armbars after much struggling.

I went with Ken next and somehow we got into a weird donkey half guard back take kind of position.  It took us a while to get untangled.  He eventually wormed his legs into a reverse armbar.  I was just waiting for him to put me in an Omma plata so I could do the roll defense but in waiting for that he finished the armbar.  I should have dealt with the armbar instead of depending on him going to that other technique.

I went with Jared a couple times to finish the night out.  He's been doing a lot more standing up in my guard and when he has side mount on me lately.  I'm not sure if it's what he's currently working on or if it's something that he's doing against me specifically but I need to take advantage of the given space more.  Even though I knew he was working towards it, he still was able to set up the bow and arrow choke twice.

Hopefully we can roll tomorrow morning at 7.  Ken let me know if you are still planning on being there.

Monday, January 9, 2012

January 8th - No-Gi

None of the regular instructors showed up yesterday but we still had a relatively big class.  Luckily the Kobudo guys were there so the door was open.  Adam had us do some wrestling drills which were good.  I always want to improve on those.

For the remainder of the class we worked some reverse de la rivas with the help of Mike's expertise.  Bauer and I helped the new guy (can't remember his name) with some regular guard passes and stuff until Will showed up and then I worked with him on the stuff everyone else was working on.

For open mat I went with Will first.  I think I did pretty well, at least he hadn't submitted me before he had to go.  He did dominate the majority of the time though.  I regained guard a couple of times and got to my knees from side mount.

I went with Adam next and I think I surprised him when I used one of my legs to pull his other leg out.  Can't remember the technical term but I basically used half guard to sit back up and pull his leg out straight.  I guess I almost got him into an unintentional knee bar.  We quit to discuss the shaolin sweep and never finished our roll.  So I'll count not getting submitted twice as two wins in my book.

I saw the new guy was just watching so I asked him if he wanted to roll.  Like most people that walk into the Dojo he's had previous martial arts experience.  He said he did Korean Karate back in Pennsylvania and they did some ground grappling.  He definitely knew what the positions were and where he didn't want to be.  He also used a lot of strength in trying to fend me off and it was working to an extent.  I had to try a little harder than I thought I would to pass and to get him on his back.  He liked to do a lot of forearm to the neck as well which made my throat hurt last night.  I was eventually able to get around him into side control and started locking up a darce until he tapped.  We went a second time and instead of pulling guard I put him in a wristlock and got side control.  Much more preferable for me.  He had both arms way low inviting me to put on the North-South which I've been having the most perceived success with lately.

I went with Ken next but it didn't turn out to be one of our epic battles.  He set me up in an armbar that I couldn't weasel out of.  I don't really remember too much else.

Unfortunately David won't be able to open the Dojo up on Wednesday mornings for a while.  I don't know of anyone else with a key that wants to come that early.  I'll have to replace it with swimming or find someone to do Hapkido with me or roll at the Taekwondo school.

Friday, January 6, 2012

January 5th - Gi

Conan taught class yesterday and we did several different things with some focus on standup and then sweeps.  Our warmup consisted of the standard falling routine.  We worked on some Kazushi and fitting in.  It was a pretty good drill as I'm still not that comfortable with the concept.  I think it helped.

We did some sweeps from butterfly guard and then half guard.  The first butterfly guard sweep (one underhook one over) was pretty cool and fun.  The second sweep we worked on I have been familiar with because I have it done to me frequently.  It's especially used when someone tries to pass your butterfly guard and you kind of kick them off to the side.  For the rest of the class we worked on the Shaolin sweep that Greg taught us.  I really like this too and was glad to get several reps in with it.

For open mat I went with Adam first.  Of course I ended up on the bottom once we actually engaged.  I was able to get to my knees a couple of times but never had a good position.  I feel like I defended well throughout.  We both tried a couple of the sweeps that we worked on yesterday.  Conan ended up having us stop and change partners before a submission was to be had.

I went with Conan a couple of times after that.  In our first match he was messing with isolating my arms and messing with them quite a bit from side control.  There was one point where I surprised him with a timed reversal from side mount that put me in side mount for a few seconds.  Which was cool.  In the end he tapped me out with an americana from a top crucifix position.  We then talked a little about getting my arms free when they are trapped.

With three minutes left I went with Greg.  It seemed to be a little different going with him than before.  I don't know if he was trying something new but he felt really light and didn't really use any pressure on me.  It seemed like a scramble the whole time with me getting half guard and losing it over and over.  Finally he was in side mount and had both his hands near my collar.  I knew too late what was coming when he put on the baseball bat choke from the top.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

January 4th - Morning Open (Ups and Downs)

A little bit of a repeat from last week.  David and Robert joined me for some early morning partner drills.  Today our positions were mount and guard.  I felt like I did pretty well in both positions from top and bottom. We did 2 minute rounds and switched out partners so we all were in each position with each partner.

David had to go to class, so he took off.  I rolled with Robert about 5 times in a row.  While I did some good things and got top position or back a couple of times he pretty much dominated me the whole time.  He got me with a couple of armbars I identified some of my mistakes right as they happened.  I'm still not sure how to rectify them but identifying them is a step in the right direction.  It mostly has to do with how I use my legs in open or butterfly guard.

I was a little discouraged this morning after that.  I should be used to being submitted all of the time by now but it can really get to me.  The thing that probably bothers me about it the most is due to how long I've been in martial arts.  I got used to being considered the best student when I took Taekwondo, the best student in Hapkido class, and then finally a Hapkido instructor.  I know it has helped me progress faster than most new white belts and I don't want to take away from my brothers' skill at the dojo.  But dammit, after 20 years of martial arts and having been a Marine I should be better than I am. 

Oh well, a week from now I'll probably do something cool while rolling and be on the opposite side of the spectrum again.


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Starting Off the New Year Right

I attended No-gi on Sunday taught by Conan and Gi class last night taught by Jerad.

It was just myself, Patrick, and Conan to start off, then Ken and Adam showed up later.  Our focus was pretty much working on defenses for things that Patrick and I thought of.  We started with Darce defense and moved to North-South and other chokes.  We did some attacks from mount mostly chokes using grapevines.  Then we did the defenses for those chokes and an exercise trying to move the opponent's elbows just enough to relieve the pressure.

I had a battle with Ken that lasted a long time.  I don't remember many highlights but I remember that I had some good moments and felt like I implemented some of the recent changes to my game successfully.  I rolled with Adam next and he basically crushed me.  I also felt okay about my performance here but being in his side control is just awful. 

Last night Jerad's theme was the turtle position.  I'm pretty sure I've practiced all of the techniques that we did but I haven't been using them.  There were a couple of ones that went from the opponent trying for a single leg and some ways to handle that, I get put in single legs often from this position.

I rolled with Robert first with him having a gi on for once.  I was able to get him into an armbar position, but with everything I tried I couldn't break his grip.  There were a couple of times when he had me in side mount that I wanted to tap from being suffocated by his gi.  His strength is definitely an obstacle to overcome.  He eventually got me with a belly down armbar.

I rolled with David next and was able to implement some of the new things that I learned against him.  It wasn't long before I made a mistake and he had side control.  I used the arm triangle defense that he showed me last week by pushing down on him with my triceps.  Which worked but he eventually isolated my arm and got me into an americana not too long after.

By this time I was feeling pretty crappy and drained.  Jerad asked me if I wanted to roll and I couldn't refuse.  While I did some good things in attempt to pass his guard I made a big mistake right away and I got caught in a Kimura because I left my front hand too far back.  We went again and I tried my best to just go with the flow.  He eventually took my back and had my collar, I started to get out of it but then turned the wrong way right into the bow and arrow.

I'm going to take tonight to recover.  I worked out 4 days in a row and helped my brother-in-law move some heavy stuff over the weekend.  I was pretty sore last night after class, so after the kids went to sleep I curled up into a ball under several blankets and moved as little as possible and watched some tv.