Wednesday, February 29, 2012

February 29th - Morning Open

Greg drilled a reverse de la rivas sweep with me from the opponent in combat base.  You push their sleeve in between their legs and then do kind of a backwards roll into side control.  It was a pretty cool move.

There were 5 of us today so we used a timer to switch out and have one person on break.  I rolled with Erik, Robert, Ken, and Greg.  We only did 4 minute rounds so there weren't too many submissions.  I felt really slow and low on energy this morning. 

Erik seemed to jump in skill recently which is good to see.  He was able to hold me in side control a lot better and I ended up being on the bottom for most of the time with him.  It's tough to play half guard with him because he's big and long and now that he's figuring out how to put pressure on me and I'm having a hard time getting low.  I played some guard and tried a few guillotines but neither of us were able to submit the other.

With Ken it seemed like he was a little too quick for me this morning.  Maybe the combination of my back and low energy I just couldn't keep up with him.  He got me with an Americana even though I've been specifically trying to prevent that technique.

I was able to dominate Robert pretty well our first match.  Mostly because I was able to get top first and I have been getting better at keeping side control when I get it.  I had him in the north-south choke but it was really hard to tell in the gi if I had his neck in the right place.  I kept trying to get it tighter but he eventually was able to escape. 

While rolling with Greg I was doing my best to pass his guard and not allow him to get any kind of spider.  I worked my way into the over-under pass position but I soon realized that this is exactly where he wanted me to do the technique that we drilled earlier.  I may need to watch the over-under pass video again to see what I'm doing wrong or if this is a potential flaw in the pass.  He eventually got me with a bow and arrow.

Greg and I drilled a back take from side control when they turn away from you.  You take the seatbelt grip and move your knee close to their shoulder and bring the opposite knee up.  Then step over their body and fall back to your other side.  Then put the hooks in.  There were some important details like putting the hand that's under their arm over your other hand and putting your foot across both legs to prevent them from pushing it between their legs.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

February 27th - Gi

Greg taught last night's class with focus of escaping side control.  We worked a lot on bridging and getting the knee in or bridging and moving to the tripod position.  I could have done without the sore back last night as all of that bridging definitely caused some discomfort.  I worked with Erik for the majority of the class.  I had a couple of problems with the tripod and my head running into his knee.  I think I got this straightened out at the end of class.

We drilled side control with partners and I went with Greg, Adam, Erik and a new guy Devon.  It is so tough to get out of Adam's side control, it's like trying to get a moving side of beef off of me.  Greg has a completely different game and the way that he moves his hips allows him to keep my knee from getting in between us.  I helped Devon out quite a bit, if he sticks around it will be cool to see him improve and learn how to keep a position, he has a great attitude but he doesn't really understand positions yet.

Due to my back I only went with Ken for open mat.  I was all over him and came close with several submissions but Ken wouldn't tap.  I got him in a baseball bat choke, I felt like I had it but he just squirmed his way out of it.  I worked my way to a bow and arrow choke from side mount, I thought it was tight but he squirmed his way out of it.  I took his back and almost had a rear naked choke, I couldn't sink it in though.  At this point I was kind of gassed and as he was pushing into me it was bothering my back a bit.  Eventually I ended up in guard and automatically went for a cross sleeve grip and underhooked his leg and got him in an omma plata.  I wasn't able to hold onto his legs though and he stepped over my head.  Eventually he was sitting on me and the pain was too much and I kind of gave up.  In the end I had him in half guard and he tricked me with a paper cutter choke.  I wasn't concerned because I thought with half guard I could always get out of it.  I found out later that he was just holding on barely and I probably didn't need to tap.

I think Ken has replaced David as my main rival, at least for the time being.

Monday, February 27, 2012

February 27th - No Gi

Had to skip last Wednesday and Thursday due to a combination of lower back pains and having a cold.  I'm not sure but I think those arm drags from last Monday might have tweaked my back.  The pulling and then twisting to the back maybe, not sure, but anytime I sat for a while and needed to get up it was a painful process.  This also meant that I missed the free in-house tournament on Saturday.  Apparently there would have been some competition for me there so I'm a little bummed about that.

Sunday class was taught by Ray and it was centered mostly around half guard mistakes that he saw at the tournament.  During some warmup shrimping Ray noticed that I was wincing or at least not enjoying my jaunt down the floor.  He had us do some yoga like stretches that made my back feel a ton better and helped me continue through class.

We worked on what to do from top half guard mostly trying to keep the other guy flat on his back or going for a kimura.  It was very informative and it also helped me realize some of the things that I need from the bottom position.

To end class we had a quasi-king of the mat having three people rotate through the rest of the group trying to pass guard or sweep or submit.  While I feel I'm improving in this area I have some fundamental weaknesses there.  Like I've been told several times already, I open my guard too easily and without a purpose and I give up on some things too easily as well.  With 9 of us rotating through this ended up taking the rest of the class time.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

February 20th - Gi

Wore my new gi for the first time yesterday. I'm very happy with the top it feels like it fits my chest just right. However, the pants don't fit me so well. I might have to lose some of my butt cause it's really tight in that area. I didn't have any problem when we were rolling so maybe I just need to get used to them, but I also don't want to split them.

Had a pretty good class yesterday with Jerad as the instructor. Our main focus was off of an arm-drag and then working for the back from there. I think the arm-drag is the next thing I want to drill until it's incorporated into my game. I just need to work on the timing of when to go for it, because when I've tried it in the past it's failed just from the other person pulling their weight back. We did some techniques to help get the hooks in, some chokes, and what to do if they avoid both hooks. We then drilled from the back with several different partners for 3 rounds.

During open mat I went with Jerad first. He kept me on my back the whole time I was able to get to turtle a couple of times but then just regained half guard or he went back to side control. He submitted me 2 or 3 times, once with a bow and arrow that he set up nicely by faking that he was going for gift wrap and then with a darce choke I think.

I rolled with Ken last and I asked him if we could start with me in bottom turtle position. We had a good scramble in the beginning for his back and I ended up in half guard and it was pretty much the same as usual from there. I was starting to feel drained and frustrated and I wanted to be off my back more than anything. He did a good job of setting up the armbar but then changed it at the last second into a gooseneck.

My focus and goals for improvement for the next couple of weeks is going to be improvement in Arm-Drags and bottom turtle.

Monday, February 20, 2012

February 17th Open Mat & 19th No-Gi

Went to no-gi open mat right after work Friday. I was a little concerned that everyone would leave and I'd have no one to roll with but I had a full dance card once I was there. I rolled with Adam, Ray (several times), Mike, and David. I didn't do too well against anyone. I spent a lot of time in the bottom in half guard like I'm used to. It was still good training and I'm glad I showed up. Just got to keep putting in the mat time. Ray gave me some pointers. Mostly about me giving up on things too easily. I need to cause more scrambles and fight for positions instead of accepting that I've lost one. In my head I'm thinking that I want to use more technique over strength.

Saturday I worked out with Craig and Mike at the Taekwondo school. The focus of what I taught them was the butterfly guard sweep and then eventually x-guard techniques. It was good to get some extra reps in. My progress really shows when I roll with them. While Mike is very strong and agressive I am more relaxed with him and know that I will eventually get in a good position and submit him. Craig is the more technical but we outweigh him by a bit. I know our ground fighting sessions have gotten a lot more organized and productive since I've started taking Jiu-Jitsu. So hopefully they're gaining from my experience as well as me getting some extra reps.

Sunday, Conan came in and opened the door for us cause he was sick. As we were warming up we noticed several blood spots on the floor and soon reallized they were spread across the entire mat. After we cleaned that up Mike took on the teaching role with some guard passes. Then we worked from turtle and finally a de la rivas sweep.

For open mat I took on Adam first. We had quite a roll but ultimately I was on the bottom the whole time. He finished me with a north-south choke. He gave me pointers on how to make my half guard better by putting my head lower into his chest and getting lower in general. I rolled with Ken next and he put it to me. I had some good positions and sort of took his back for a while but he eventually worked me into a triangle. So he got me with something different than the usual americana.

Friday, February 17, 2012

UFC Omaha and February 16th - Gi

Went to the UFC event in Omaha Wednesday and had a great time. I was accompanied by several fellow Jiu-Jitsu fighters from our dojo. My only regret for the night was that I didn't bring binoculars like a few other people that I saw. We had decent seats none the less as we could see over the cage and there were also jumbo screens in the four corners of the arena. While people may have had a better view at home there is no way they could have felt the energy from the crowd, especially during the Ellenberger vs Diego main event. All in all there were some pretty good fights that night. I sat next to David for majority of the event and him and Conan would try to pick the winners while Ray always went with a Brazilian fighter.

I'm not going to post blow by blow of every fight or anything like that. I enjoyed watching Stefan Struve, he started slow but it just seemed like he built momentum throughout the fight and then finally came alive. Although the finish was a little lackluster. The Ellenberger fight was awesome. Jake dominated the first 2 rounds. Every time something happened in the fight the crowd went crazy. Jake ended up winning by decision after a quick burst where Diego had his back in the end of the 3rd round. I was a little disappointed at the constant booing of Diego. He's a great fighter and has been a part of the sport for a long time. However, he did make a mistake using an injury as an excuse for losing.

Yesterday's class ended up being pleasantly different from usual. Conan and I had discussed at the fights what we should work on and I suggested stuff to do from the back. Conan started off teaching a few things like controlling and going with the flow. He then taught an armbar from the back. After that we went from lowest to highest rank each teaching a single technique from back mount. I went third and chose the twister to teach. From there everyone was worried that someone else was going to take the technique that they were going to teach. There was some pretty good stuff a lot of variations on the gi/bow and arrow type choke. Probably wouldn't have been a successful class without the gi.

So no open mat yesterday and many were sad :(

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

February 15th - Morning Open

Even numbers are always good on Wednesday mornings. That way no one is sitting around while everyone else is rolling. Unfortunately no Greg today.

I rolled with Robert first, he was breaking in his new gi this morning for the first time. He was strong as usual. My half guard seemed to be failing me this morning as his new pants just kind of slipped out from in between my legs again and again. We went for quite a while I was able to turtle a couple of times and prevent him from taking my back. Luckily he doesn't know that many gi chokes yet. I think he eventually got me with an americana but I don't remember for sure. The second time we went no-gi and I spent most of the time on the bottom with him except for a time when I had his back. I couldn't make anything happen though which was frustrating. I'll have to ask someone about some options from back with no-gi.

When I rolled with Ken I felt pretty sluggish. I don't remember doing that much offensive this time. He's probably making up for that triangle I almost got him in Monday. He got me in a very strange paper cutter choke with me in bottom half guard. Thinking about it afterwards I should have been able to get out of it but I was so surprised by it that I tapped.

Again with Erik I spent most of the time on the bottom but felt more confident with him. The first time we rolled I attacked a lot from guard and tried trapping his arm. Somehow I worked myself into a triangle position but it wasn't meant to be and he passed into side mount. Later on I was working the cross sleeve grip and underhook that Greg showed us. This worked really well to off balance him and work the omma plata. I tried for a triangle first and when that was defended put my leg around his head. We were stuck for a while but I started straightening his arm and he tapped. I'm really like the cross sleeve grip and I think I'll play with it some more. The second time we rolled I was able to get side mount on him. While working for an armbar I bent his wrist in a gooseneck and he tapped. Probably surprised him with it because it really didn't feel that strong.

Can't wait for tonight, in 5 hours or so I'll be in Omaha finding my seat to watch my first live UFC event.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

February 13th - Gi (Execute what we Learned in Class)

It was a smaller class yesterday than usual. Jerad taught some x-guard on Mike's request. I really like the x-guard however, I question it's usefulness in self defense. We worked off of a butterfly guards and when the opponent stepped we'd pull ourselves into the x. Then we worked on the sweep with and without the ankle and then a knee bar. We finished with someone breaking our guard from standing and doing a backward roll into the ankle pick. Class seemed to go by pretty fast and it didn't seems like we worked on that many different things.

For the remainder of the class we did a mini king of the mat with just 2 groups with 6 of us cycling in and out trying to pass open guard. I feel like I did pretty well. I lost some and won some. However, there were 3 highlights that I'm pretty proud of. One was when I was in Mike's half guard and I used the free knee on his stomach, then once he bridged into me I was able to switch my hips into side control. The other one was later on when I was on the bottom of Mike and somehow gained the x-guard and then getting the sweep with the ankle. Finally in the last match I was on the bottom against Jerad, he stood up in my guard and I thought what the heck and went over one side to the knee pick we just worked on. Somehow we ended up in a scramble standing up and I went for a guillotine fell back into guard and then we rolled over into me on top with mount. So cool when something works out after just working on it in class.

Mike asked me how I became so good lately and made some comment about we must be doing some good training on Wednesday mornings. It did feel good and I do feel like I've jumped in skill level quickly recently. I'm just going to ride the wave because I know it's only a matter of time before I plateau again. Mike and I talked about that pass that I did as well as the over under pass which I've got to drill more because I can see it coming up a lot for me.

I rolled with Mike right after class, and I think I was a little too over confident. I was doing a good job of controlling him once I passed his guard I made several submission attempts. I just made the mistake of letting him get me back to guard and allowing him to get 2 grips on my collar. He hit a collar choke that he's been trying to do to me lately and it was tight. After that we talked some more about over under pass, because I saw the opportunity but hesitated and that's when he got the choke.

Ken and I finished the night out and I was robbed. It all happened pretty fast and I'm not sure I remember all of what happened. Somehow I had Ken in a triangle but I was just a little high on the far shoulder. I was then able to sweep him kind of but I was worried about him hitting his head. Eventually he got free and then passed my guard. I vested so much into that triangle that when he broke out of it I didn't have really anything left. While I still tried to fight, I felt a lot slower. He eventually tapped me with an americana.

Monday, February 13, 2012

February 12th - No Gi (New Guy Day)

Conan taught a class on various chokes from side control and turtle yesterday. We worked on the paper cutter from side control, with today being the first time I figured it out. Two major things I was doing wrong was clasping my hands upside down and then feeding my arm under their neck too far. Once I got that, it came a lot easier. We then transitioned into the darce from there which is a pretty common technique that I use. Finally we attempted to do the Peruvian necktie from the turtle position which ended up not working out so well. Instead of getting the choke we ended up always taking the person's back, which is fine but not what we were going for. Conan seemed a little flustered and asked if I ran into this while teaching, to which the answer was in the affirmative. There have been several times that I've tried to explain something while teaching Hapkido and for whatever reason it's just not working out the way it should. I eventually worked it out a little bit and then when Mike showed up he showed me a few other pointers to get it to work.

There ended up being 4 new guys in the class, I think 2 of them on their first day of class. How refreshing, some people that I can teach and also easily tap out. Unfortunately it's too easy. I wonder if the likes of Jerad, David, and Ken thought this about me when I first started? Although I did have some concept of what the positions were and where I wanted to be, I know I've also come a long way. During open mat I worked with a couple of new guys and tried to coach them through stuff while we rolled. Some were more difficult than others to work with. Conan saw I was doing this I think and had me switch out a couple of times with the other new guys.

After we bowed out I rolled with Mike. Another epic roll. He started out really fast and I had to struggle to keep up and keep him from passing my guard. There was a point where I had him in a reverse armbar that was really tight but he didn't tap. I had a pretty good scissor sweep as well. Once I was on top I was able to dominate but it was still a lot of work to keep him down. I had him in the north-south for a while but he snuck a hand in. Finally I got him in a darce choke. Mike always says he likes to roll with me because I don't use my strength as much as other guys my size. From my training in Hapkido I realized that technique is most important and that I'd rather win with good technique than not. Or, maybe I'm just not that strong.

Friday, February 10, 2012

February 9th - Gi

After a brief warm-up of the usual stuff, Greg had us go right into Spider Guard again. We reviewed mostly everything from Monday and then did a new one in the case that they blocked the scissor sweep by going to combat stance. It was kind of like a single leg position with feeding their hand under their leg. Which was pretty cool. It reminded me of some of the Hapkido techniques that we do.

We did the king of the mat drill again with open guard. I was one of the first ones to start on the bottom and I held my position for maybe 4 or 5 people in a row. First I was able to reverse David, which was surprising, usually he gets past my guard. Then Mike and I had a rematch in reversed roles. A battle as usual but eventually he ended up on the bottom in turtle and I asked "We're done right?" to which he said, "no we're in turtle" to which I said, "yeah, but it's your turtle." and laughs were had.

I was finally passed by Spencer. I was able to get a single leg and stand up but he put me in a guillotine and made me tap. I got kind of confused as I couldn't decide to go for the single leg or defend the choke, I tried to do both and failed.

I went up against Greg a couple of times and both times I made a stupid mistake and just kind of easily fell over. He also used the spider on one arm and when I thought I was passed he would just regain guard. I did a good job against Ray and passed him once when I'm sure he was tired. It was a little bit of a fluke too. He came back later and passed me I had him in a crucifix position in turtle and he kind of shrugged me off and put me in side control.

David and I talked and he said he's intrigued with my "secret move". I didn't use it yesterday although I thought about it a couple of times. I'm going to practice it tomorrow when I workout with my Hapkido guys.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

February 8th - Morning Open (Secret Move)

Like usual, we had a good training session this morning.  I started out practicing some spider guard with AJ.  I didn't let him know that I wanted to drill and it turned into a sparring match after a while.  The cool thing was that I almost got one of the sweeps that we worked on Monday.  I at least got him off balance and put him on his face for a little bit.  But, he quickly learned not to let me put my knees in and get to the spider guard position.  We ended up rolling normally and he put me in sprawl position quite a few times.  I'd sit-out or regain guard and then I'd end up there again.  Eventually I got the upper hand by getting a single leg and taking side mount.  For the rest of the time I worked from knee on belly and then attempting the north-south choke when he got my knee off.  I tried a few times to get the baseball bat choke, but I think he was hip to it.  He mentioned that he felt like I was tiring him out which was allowing him to make stupid mistakes.  Not soon after that he allowed me to get hold of both sides of his collar.  I put my knee over his bicep and was able to move into the choke and it worked!

Erik showed up and him and I had quite a roll.  I spent the majority of it on the bottom in half guard.  I didn't feel like I was in too much danger except a couple times when he attempted the darce.  I attempted kimuras, the shaolin sweep, and guillotines but his strength did very well against me.  I spent some time in closed guard as well and was able to sweep him with kind of a pendulum sweep up in his armpit.  I hung on to the top position for dear life even when he pushed me way off I was able to squirm back.  I had him in gift wrap for a little while and attempted to pull him into back mount but he wouldn't go.  I could tell he was getting a little winded and I was able to make him tap on my second attempt at an americana.

The rest of the time was spent drilling.  I drilled the straight arm guard pass and the reverse de la rivas shin sweep with Erik.  Then Greg practiced some spider guard sweeps on me.  He seemed to have an aha moment and figured out a variation on a sweep that he wasn't that confident in before. 

I then practiced something that I will dub as my secret move until a later date.  The problem with this blog is that people that I train with read it.  And when I say I'm getting good at a certain submission or that I'm going to try to use it when I roll with somebody like David or Fuji tells me that they read my blog and is already ready for me to try my newest move.  But I don't know that they know.  So they'll laugh at me when I attempt it and say, you shouldn't have wrote that in your blog. 

So I'm going to conduct an experiment and see if I can practice my secret move and keep it secret until I've drilled it enough that I can use it while rolling.  Then I'll report back if it worked or not.  Now I have to figure out how to drill it without letting on.

On another note, I'm on the lookout for a new Gi.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.  I'm mostly concerned with getting the right size.  Those charts just aren't made with me in mind.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

February 6th - Gi (Raw Fingertips)

Good class yesterday.  Greg had us train in the spider guard.  We didn't do very many different things but it is a difficult position to get accustomed to so more repetitions on the basics is perfect.  We started with getting into the spider guard from closed guard, then the spider guard scissor sweep (kind of like a pendulum sweep motion), then if they prevent the sweep doing like a backward shoalin sweep (very cool).  I was working in a group of 3 with David and Jerad which was cool because we got to watch each other do it and we would switch out partners with each rep.

We then did some drilling with the position with 2 minute sets and the person on top would rotate to the next person.  It turned into a 20 minute exercise with 5 groups rotating and then switching top and bottom.  This position is very tough to maintain, especially with the limited amount of practice that everyone has had.  I almost got one of the sweeps that we worked on I'd say it was close enough I just didn't get all the way up.  In the end my fingertips were raw and they are still a little numb.  It's really difficult to maintain the 40% grip strength that we're supposed to try and do.

During open mat I went with Erik first.  It was a pretty tough battle but I had a little bit of confidence that I could submit him as I have before.  He had me down for a little bit of the time but for the most part I dominated.  He did a good job of keeping my weight off of him and whenever I put too much weight forward he'd try to take me in that direction.  There was one time when I almost had the kimura from north-south but when I started to triangle my legs up he turtled up and I lost it.  Eventually I was in closed guard and it wasn't too difficult to trap his arm and get off to one side.  I could hear Greg saying "Josh go for omma plata" from across the room.  I couldn't tell if he was talking to me or the other Josh because he had been giving him some advice too but I was in the right position so I went for it.  It took a while but I was able to secure his hips and keep him from rolling out of it and worked my way up to the submission and he tapped.

Exhausted I still rolled with Jerad and then Ken.  Jerad got me with an armbar very quickly, while Ken kind of let me take it to his a little bit.  I had him in a bow and arrow from side control and I should have finished it but he wormed his way out of something once again.  He eventually finished me with an arm triangle.

Monday, February 6, 2012

February 5th - No Gi (Look Ma I'm on Youtube)

Due to the mass amounts of snow that we recieved over the weekend I was concerned that no one would show up to Jiu-Jitsu.  But, as usual a little bad weather can't keep us away.  There ended up being a standard Sunday class size with Conan as the instructor.  We did a lot of different things from side control and turtle position.  I've done most of it before except when we messed with the opponent's leg from side control.  I might have to try that sometime.  We ended the class with a series that ends up with the Twister which Conan made a video of after class also starring me.

For open mat I rolled with Adam and it felt pretty good.  There were a couple of instances where I had mount or top quarter guard but couldn't finish anything.  I was able to almost get a guillotine again but settled for rolling into top position.  Now I just have to learn how to keep it while I'm working on a submission.  I almost went for a mounted triangle at one point but he was able to escape through the back door.  He crushed my face a couple of times from mount with a cross face and it was very uncomfortable.  He went for the darce a couple of times and he also did the annoying hand on the jaw to control me.  In the end I think he got bored with me defending and put me in a Americana.  He made the comment that I was doing really well.  It helps to hear these kinds of things but I wish I could finish some submissions. 

After making the below video Jerad and I rolled a little bit.  I got to spend some time on top with him too using the same entry of guillotine to mount. I couldn't figure out anything to do from there though.   There was a point where I almost had his back but it was kind of weird with me having his leg hooked with my legs and then reaching around his back I had control of one of his arms.  We were a little stalemated there and I didn't want to let go for fear of losing it but I had to do something.  In the end he got me with the same americana as Adam.

So I feel good about my performance yesterday but I'm reminded of feeling like crap a few weeks back.  The emotional ups and downs with this are weird.  I just need to ride the wave and not let the down times get to me and maximize on the good times.  Yeah Josh, good luck with that.

Here is the video that Conan made demonstrating a couple of leg locks and the twister on me.  You can tell that it's a very compromising position.




Friday, February 3, 2012

February 2nd - Gi (King of the Mat)

Got to class early yesterday and David and I did some slow rolling.  I didn't feel like I flowed as much as I could of.  Maybe I was trying to too hard to do certain things.  Greg taught class and the focus was on the butterfly guard sweep.  I worked with David for the entire class and it ended up being a great class.  One thing that was pointed out that I've been missing was scooting my butt back a little bit before I try the sweep.  Whenever I would try this I would just pull people on top of me.  Another thing is how I place my head, I need to have my forehead against their chest and not the top of my head.  We did a couple of counters as well if they try to defend the sweep from a knee pick to sweeping the other way which I had a little trouble with at first.

Instead of open mat we did a drill called king of the mat.  We set up 4 groups of partners and one person tried to pass guard and the other tried to sweep or submit.  Whoever improved stayed and another partner came from the front of the line.  Mike and I started with me on top.  I tried and tried but could not pass his guard.  At the same time he couldn't sweep me.  From what I could see from the other groups we went far longer than anyone else before changing partners.  There were a couple of times I almost had it but he was able to go to turtle.  Then we would go back to guard or half guard.  There is a video of it below as well as me going with Conan a little later on.  I went with several other people as well and didn't win that often.  Everyone was pretty tired at the end of this drill.  Thanks for putting the video together Gina!




Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Feburary 1st - Morning Open (Drilling is Good)

This morning it was it ended up being Greg and I as partners the whole time.  Ken and AJ were there too but it just didn't work out to switch partners at any time.  We started off with drilling and I worked on armbar from guard and Sean Williams Guard to triangle, then the guard pass I'm working on and finally the shin sweep from reverse de la rivas.  It actually turned into quite a workout for me.  My abs and thighs were really feeling it.  It was good training though.  Greg worked on mostly the same reverse de la rivas stuff that he's been working on.

I felt pretty good as we rolled.  I did some good things but for the most part got dominated.  Some of the good things I did was hit the shin sweep but wasn't able to finish.  I tried for the reverse de la rivas to the back but left my foot dangling, I would have been submitted with a toe hold.  I defended the 10 finger guillotine. There were a 2 times where I had half guard and had his arms to one side.  However, he was constantly slipping out of my half guard, afterward he showed me how I should be fighting for that underhook with my elbow first instead of my hand.  I got choked with baseball bat from knee mount and a bow and arrow choke, there were a couple of armbars as well.