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.