Sunday, April 29, 2012

April 29th - No Gi

There was a possibility that I would be the senior student today, so I had some things planned for class. Maybe a little half guard, maybe a wrist lock or two. However, we ended up with more senior people than usual with Ken, Fuji, Mike, Adam, and Tate.

Ken lead class with a focus on judo. We had a pretty good warmup using some matts as steps. After that we did some fitting in with bands and then a partner and a few throws. I would have prefered to do more ground stuff today but I know Ken probably wanted to teach what he's more comfortable with.

We did the guard passing/sweep/submit drill and switched top and bottom with 3 minute rounds and then change partners. I was pretty tired getting toward the end, I really noticed the change to 3 minutes rather than 2 like we usually do.

After we bowed out I worked with Mike on some standing passes. This has caught my interest right now as I hardly have any of these techniques in my arsenal. I think I'll try to get Jerad or Greg to go over some in tomorrows gi class.

April 27th - Open Mat (Guillotine Day)

People were still rolling when I got there Friday.  I hate being late but it's better than not going at all.  I rolled with Mike first.  He said he wanted to go with me so he could be mentioned in my blog, so here you go Mike.  He made me defend two triangles and a guillotine that had all worried me a little bit, I think I would have tapped to them earlier in my Jiu-Jitsu career but I kept trying to improve my posture and pull my head up.  I also got him in one and I thought for sure he was going to tap.  It was so deep and against his jaw I thought for sure it was done but he eventually worked himself free.  We covered a lot of distance because every time I tried to pass his guard he'd shrimp away.  Which led us to later talk about standing passes. 

I rolled with Tate next and I was quickly armbared in our first match.  But, our second match lasted a lot longer.  Tate has a little different style than a lot of the guys at our school.  He likes to do a lot of the 10th planet moves.  I felt like I was able to get underneath him a little easier than I can others and get into deep half or come out the back door.  During one of our scrambles I was able to sink in a guillotine really tight.  It sounded like he was going to tap but he weathered it and got out.  He stacked me once and get me into the beginning of the twister position.  I was able to get my legs free and ended up in half guard.  He finished me soon after with a darce choke. 

Will and I rolled for a little while as well.  I find him to be very deceptive.  I don't remember much from our match I think I spent most of the time trying to pass his guard and then when I did he would regain it.  Once he was on top he pretty much went to north-south position.  I can't remember if he submitted me or not because we had to get off the matt for the kids class.

April 26th - Gi Class (Good Training Partner)

Conan was our teacher yesterday.  I arrived a little late and missed whatever they did for a warm-up.  The theme was dealing with knee on belly and side control from the bottom.

I ended up working with Mike for the entire class which actually went pretty well.  On most reps we would try the technique and then kind of ad lib a little bit.  We played with moderate resistance and maybe went a little overboard a couple times but would just start over again.  It was refreshing because sometimes drilling seems kind of flat, with this I felt like I was getting a workout and I had to try harder to make things work.

For open mat I rolled with David.  I got guard really early and maintained it fairly well but had a hard time with David's forehead on my sternum.  I don't remember how it happened but I eventually ended up in top side control.  It didn't last very long and I ended up in David's guard.  He did a great job controlling my collar and posture, I tried my best to break his grip but was unable to.  It ended with the inevitable triangle.

Conan and I rolled three or four times after that.  He kicked my butt pretty well.  I feel like I did some good things but was really no match for him.  About the best that I can hope to do is defend smartly for as long as I can.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

April 25th - Morning Open

Attendees: Ken, Robert, Erik, James

Wow, a good morning of grappling.  I didn't really think about it but James commented on how impressed he was since I went like 12 rounds and was always going.  With all of the Jiu-Jitsu and swimming I've been doing it seems like my cardio is finally picking up.  Ken and Erik used the time for boxing mostly so I didn't roll with either of them.  So, I took turns getting submitted by Robert and James.

We started from standing for most of the rounds so I got some wrestling practice in.  I didn't do well from standing but most of the time I ended up in guard or half guard when I was taken down.  They both gave me pointers and something that really stuck is that I need to keep my posture and lead more with my hips and break the plane between their feet with my knee.  I'm moving in with my shoulders too much and getting stuffed easily.

There were a couple of times when I felt like I put Robert in trouble.  I was able to gift wrap him then flower sweep him into mount, from their I was able to take his back.  However, he grabbed my hooks and just jumped out of back mount.  That was probably my success story of the day.  Otherwise I was getting destroyed or fighting off my back the rest of the time.  I was doing better at fighting for and keeping the underhook from half guard which helped tremendously. 

I liked going from standing today and hopefully I'll make more opportunities to work on it.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

April 23rd - Gi Class

Jerad theme for last night's class was knee on belly.  It was a good theme even though I had Robert's and Adam's knees on me for most of the class.  We went from holding and posturing up in the position for points to techniques to do if they're trying to push your knee off of them.  We did sliding over to mount, kimura, and far side armbar.  I don't really think of the kimura too much from here while rolling but it seems like a good possibility. 

I rolled with Adam for open mat.  It went the same as usual for the most part.  We work for a while on trying to get a good position, we do some foot fighting and he tries to put me into butterfly guard.  I end up getting swept eventually and then I go from half guard to side mount to half guard to full guard.  I was attempting to attack a little bit more and I had a few good guillotine attempts but I wasn't able to lock my hands up.  He finally had me in mount and was punishing me with cross faces and trying to isolate my arms or roll me over to take my back.  Alas I fell into the same trap that I have been.  When he passes my guard I have my hand up behind his neck he takes advantage of that and does a farside armbar.  I'm glad he pointed it out to me, otherwise it would have continued to happen.

Monday, April 23, 2012

April 22nd - No Gi

Conan taught class yesterday with the theme of the single leg takedown at my request.  There were only six of us and I ended up on the senior side.  We went over a single leg and took each other down.  I'm starting to feel some confidence in my technique.  All of the important things I told and showed one of the new guys yesterday from keep their head up and on the correct side to make sure that they step the correct way and pull the opponent's leg between their legs and finally push with their head.  From there we did the single leg from a couple of ground positions with the opponent in combat base or standing.  One of my favorites was when we held the opponent's wrist under his leg and took him down where he didn't have a base. 

We also did a little bit on pushing the head when someone is moving up into side control.  From there the approach of the guy on top is to do a head stand and put his feet and hips on the other side.  The principle is that you can't pin someone unless your head and your hips are on opposite sides of their body.  It's always fun to work on this but it got me to thinking about how often we go over a particular subject.  Then I started to think about how many classes I miss by not being able to make it on Tuesdays.  How many things have I not learned because I wasn't there at a particular class.  Of course classes aren't run in a vacuum and we often work on things multiple times in the same week or someone will drill something with me that they worked on the other day. 

I rolled with Claire a little bit during open mat.  I made her work on maintaining guard and escaping mount.  If I passed her guard I'd work for mount, once I was there I coached her through the escapes that we worked on as a warm-up.  Then once she was in guard I'd start all over again.  I also showed her the triangle setup from an overhook but we didn't work on it very much. 

I rolled with Adam for a while.  It didn't go too much different than usual.  He got me with a far side armbar with a nice setup.  He locked my elbow out on his shoulder before he switched to the other side.  This turned my body making it hard to defend the step over.  I rolled with him again and Conan coached me a little bit, the thing that helped the most was that he had me push him to his back while in butterfly guard, something that I hadn't thought to do or thought I could do.  He still ended up submitting me with an americana regardless.

Conan and Adam rolled for 10 minutes after that.  There was no clear victor however, Adam was able to escape side control twice with an underhook and rolling to his side and then to turtle.  This is what I have experienced from him before, it's like there's no stopping him from there.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

April 21st - Private Lesson (#1)

I met Greg early this morning for a private lesson.  We had been in discussions for the past couple months and we finally figured out a time when we could get together. 

Luckily when I woke up this morning I had this bright idea to pack my video camera.  It will really pay off because I've already forgotten a few of the things we worked on this morning.  We decided on 4 separate sessions each with their own purpose.  My main goal out of all of this is to be more effective off of my back.  So today's focus was preventing the guard pass. 

He warned me before we started that this would be more conceptual and theory rather than just working on straight techniques.  We first talked about the three different types of passes: Over the leg, under the leg(s), or around the legs.  Then addressed some strategies and techniques from each area.  There was quite a bit that I didn't know so all in all well worth the money.  Now I'll just have to go back and review and then encorporate what I was taught into my game.

April 20th - No Gi Open Mat (Feelin Beat-Up)

Made it to the end of open mat again yesterday.  I wish I could be there for the full class, but alas priorities.  After a little stretching, Ray called me over.  He was going to have me roll with James Nakashima, apparently they were working on some certain things and he wanted to see if James could put them into action.  I spent the match in pretty much three places, all on the bottom: half guard, full guard, and sprawl.  Right away he snapped my head down and put me into sprawl position.  I soon came to realize what they were working on as he tried to put me in the anaconda. 

Once I was able to get to half guard then he started to try and force a darce on me every time I went for the underhook.  So after that, I only went for the underhook when I felt like I could get out from underneath him which was rare.  The times I was able to get the underhook I came up and attempted a single leg but James was having none of that.  I gained full guard a few times but I was never really on the offensive although I felt like I controlled his posture okay. 

He was able to take my back from the sprawl position.  I was able to hand fight successfully and weather the storm but not from a lack of trying on his part.  Ray was telling him to relax and take it slower and I think that would have helped him.  In the end I survived without getting submitted but I was dominated.

We deliberated a little about what he could have done better and Ray scolded me a bit for not continuously fighting for the underhook, and he was right.

Before leaving I rolled with Mike a couple of times and I told him it was okay to do some skcol gel on me.  Only blue belts and above are supposed to do skcol gel while rolling.  Apparently he's been working on them because he set them up really well and caught me 3 or 4 times.  I tapped quickly because it's easy to injure something if you let it go too far.  We had a few great rolls and got in some technical situations.  I actually had him mounted for a little bit.  I feel like I did a really good job of maintaining the position which is an improvement.  Especially since he's so small and I usually allow some space between me and him.  After several submission attempts he finally got a knee in between us and got me with another kcol gel.

This past week has been pretty rough on me with the new diet and working out every day.  Hopefully I'll see some results in the coming weeks.  I felt so sore after class that I could hardly get up after playing legos with my son.

Friday, April 20, 2012

April 19th - Gi

Class was instructed by Conan yesterday and the theme was guard passing.  It seems like there are more variations on how to pass the guard than any other part of Jiu-Jitsu.  There are some common themes like getting an underhook and keeping them from locking up their feet but beyond that I think we worked on probably 4 or 5 passes.  It was a fairly large class and I was able to partner with a lot of people. 

It seems like Adam is becoming my exclusive Thursday rolling partner.  He only tapped me once with a Kimura yesterday but of course he dominated most of the match.  I felt like I was doing a lot better at maintaining and regaining guard against him than usual.  I picked up a few pointers from what Mike does to piss me off when I'm trying to pass.  I guess I frustrated Adam enough that he resorted to his old stand by of the kimura.  We rolled again after that but cut it short to talk about a half guard sweep that he likes to do to me.


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

April 18th - Morning Open (Shed lbs and other goals)

In attendance: Ken, Robert, Erik, Claire.  I applaud Claire for her willingness to jump in there on a Wednesday morning with a bunch of guys much bigger than her.  Erik has been training for a charity boxing match so I believe he rolled once and then boxed with both Ken and Robert.  I rolled with Ken, Robert, and Claire. 

With Claire I tried to work with her on the concept of maintaining guard and centering up.  Then went into some of the ways that people would pass and what she needs to watch out for.  Hopefully she learned something.

Ken and I had a little five minute battle but I can't think of anything that stands out from it.  Robert gave me a pretty difficult time.  We had quite a few scrambles and it seemed like we'd go from sprawl to half guard often with me on the bottom mostly.  There were several almosts where I'd almost take his back but he'd have me in a tight headlock and he'd push me into side control.  We talked about the sitout and he showed me a cool way to use the sitout from the turtle that I'm going to try to integrate into my game.

For the past week I've been using an app on my phone to keep track of calories.  It's been quite an experience as it has really caused me to focus on my snacking habits and what I've been eating as well as encouraging me to exercise more.  My goal is to drop down to 190 lbs.  I've weighed somewhere between 210-220 since I got out of the Marines and I'm motivated to get rid of the gut.  I've already seen some dramatic results as I weighed myself on Wednesday morning at 211 and Monday morning I weighed 206.8.

I've been swimming a lot more as well as doing some martial art workouts on my own.  Another part of my goal is to prepare for the State Games.  I'm thinking about competing in more than one martial art and depending on the cost and timing, all 4 arts (Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, Judo, and Karate) offered.  I'm definitely doing Jiu-Jitsu.  Taekwondo would probably be my second choice as I have the most experience with it.  After that comes Karate because it's most similar to TKD (although I have some concerns about kata etc).  I put Judo last on my list just because I'm still unsure about several rules and I feel like there is the most potential for injury. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

April 16th - Gi (Don't Let Go)

David started out with a warm up and then handed the class over to Greg.  We started from closed guard and moving into a cross sleeve grip and underhook on their leg.  From their we did an omoplata and a few armlocks.  We also worked on completing the omoplata and flattening them out. Adam was my partner throughout.

We trained king of the mat from the closed guard.  We split it into two weight classes this time and I ended up on the large side of the class (190+ lbs) of course.  Will and I had an epic battle where I kept him in my guard for probably five minutes doing a lot of various things from playing really high to spider guard to the cross guard that we worked on.  Eventually I got an omoplata and swept him over.  Fuji passed me pretty easily next.  Later on I almost passed Adam with the pass that I've been working on but I guess I didn't pin him because he kept a hold of my pant leg and eventually sucked me back in and side mounted me. 

I later went up against Greg and he put me in the cross guard this turned out very difficult to deal with.  I went as far as to ask him how to defend it because we worked on counters to the obvious defense of grabbing the far leg, what I ended up somewhat having success with was trying to get the knee of the cross armed side onto his leg.  In the end he swept me with the omoplata, I rolled and ended up in bottom half guard losing. 

I finished off the drill with Mike we ended up in donkey guard off the mat at first.  We reset and started over and I made the mistake of being too squared up while trying to bull fight and he swept me.  Mike is quickly becoming my new nemesis. 

Most people left during open mat, in fact Ken and I were the only two to stay.  Fuji and Mike stayed but just sat on the bench talking about how cool it is to be bouncers.  Ken and I started rolling, I was in my gi still and he had switched to a t-shirt.  I don't remember how it all went down exactly, I believe I was in open guard or butterfly.  He inadvertently stuck his head out there and I was able to put it into a guillotine choke.  I was able to clasp my hands and although I had an arm in I knew it was tight.  However, Ken was not just going to give in and tap.  He got out from my legs so I pulled him into half guard.  We rolled over and I held on I heard him gag a bit.  I got to my knees and then fell back and pulled him into half guard again.  During this whole time I was thinking if he's not going to tap out for me I'm going to choke him out, I wasn't going to let go.  He finally tapped!  The first thing he said after that was that "Now he had to look forward to reading it on my blog."  That's right, and David, watch out cause you're next.

Ken and I rolled again I got his back right away but I wasn't able to complete the choke.  He eventually escaped and he dominated for the remainder of the role.  I was able to get to deep half but didn't know what to do from there.  Fuji and Mike were yelling at me to roll back and forth but I couldn't move him at all.  Eventually Ken submitted me with an americana.  Later Mike showed me what he was talking about from deep half and I understand it a little better now. 

Monday, April 16, 2012

April 15th - No-Gi (How to Roll with New Guys?)

Conan's theme for class was chokes mostly focusing on the north-south choke.  This was good for me since it's been my high percentage technique as of late.  I fell into the senior group with this class so I mostly worked with new guys.  I've found this technique more than most is difficult to talk someone through.  For one your face is in their armpit so it's hard to talk and instruct and two there are some little eccentricities with this technique that make it work.  I've put this technique on several people and had a hard time finishing it at times.  Just a little movement in the right way by the guy on the bottom can make a huge difference in their defense. 


I rolled with Jerad first.  He didn't allow me to get into deep half with what Greg showed us on Friday.  I avoided the darce choke from Jerad several times but he eventually set it up really well when I was turtled by grabbing my neck under my armpit and dragging me down right into the choke. 

I then fought with Adam which was really tough.  There was a lot of movement and I even was able to roll him to his back at one point.  There was a lot of position changes during our roll and eventually he caught me with a kimura. 

I also rolled with Garrett and Jordan.  I'm used to going up against people that are better than me so when I roll with a new person I'm not sure how I should roll.  Should I try and submit them as soon as possible?  Should I give them opportunities to try things we just worked on?  Should I try to instruct them on what they're doing wrong?  I want everyone to get better and I know what it feels like to always get beaten repeated and like I have no chance.  I also know what it's like when someone isn't taking me seriously and just playing with me.  Yesterday, instructor mode kicked in and I gave them both some advice on what to do and what not to do.  They were both perceptive and tried to do what I was showing them.  When I submit a new guy I feel like I need to reassure him that with hard work and practice it will get better, but then I feel like a patronizing prick. 

April 13th - No-Gi Open Mat (Roll w/ Purpose)

Friday Open Mat:

Friday I hurried from work to class.  I'd like to make it every Friday but it get's difficult to ninja out of the office at a decent time.  Luckily there were still 6 or 7 people rolling.  I rolled with Ray, Jerad, and Mike.  Each were difficult to deal with in their own way.  Whenever I was on the bottom with Ray he would mess with my neck and spine to get me to move.  He submitted me twice.

I went with Jerad next.  The major thing I took away from that was when everyone was telling me to go to deep half guard and I wasn't able to do it.  After Jerad submitted me, Greg showed us all instead of pulling someone into deep half or x-guard to shrimp ourselves underneath the opponent.  It would have helped me get the position but I don't know much to do from deep half so I'm not sure how successful I would have been beyond that.

Finally I rolled with Mike and we had a great couple of rolls.  He got me with an armbar from the belly which was very impressive.  Most of the time we were fighting for position and me trying to pass his crazy guard.  I did have some success with a single leg towards the end but I still never got passed his guard.  We talked about his progress and what has been helping him get better so quickly.  He said that he's started "training with purpose" and using some ideas from a book that Greg lent him.  I may ask to borrow that book next.

Friday, April 13, 2012

April 12th - Gi (No Issues with Gloating)

Pretty large class yesterday taught by Conan.  I ended up somewhere in the middle of the rank line.  I told Mike that I felt like the king of the white belts.  He said "That's what your gold belt is for."  Much laughter was had and I've decided to be a gold belt instead of a yellow belt hence forth.

The theme of the class was omma-plata from guard.  We worked a couple of entries with overhooks and underhooks and how to finish it.  Nothing really new for me but some good practice was had. 

During open mat Will accepted my challenge to roll first.  Will was doing a lot with collar grips and sleeve grips.  We switched positions quite a bit from turtle to guard and half guard but I was not able to pass his guard before Conan stopped everyone and had them switch partners.  We discussed collar grabs later on and he said that I should focus on getting the grip off of my collar more and showed me a couple of ways to do it.

While looking for a new partner Bauer caught my gaze and the challenge was accepted.  Like usual I did not do well fighting from my knees and even allowed him to take my back.  It took a while of hand fighting and rolling back and forth.  Then when I finally rolled into his guard I spent a lot of time there as well not able to open his guard.  Eventually he went for an armbar and I didn't allow him to lock his feet back up again.  I was able to pass to side control.  We fought there for a little while and I was worried I'd lose the position, I went to mount.  I tried a few chokes and tried to move higher onto his chest.  He started to roll me over and I went for the armbar as I rolled over on my back.  He was able to pull his arm out and automatically I went to omma-plata and with a little bit of a struggle I got him to tap.  I felt really good about this roll, not because I tapped him but because I progressed and didn't go backward in position.  I guess I almost went backward in position when he rolled me over.  I wonder if I should have fought to keep mount more instead of going for the submission.

Bauer and I talked a little bit about the north-south choke and one of my setups to get it after that.  Probably shouldn't have shared that with him.  I don't want him defending it next time we roll.

I read in Gina's blog: Ginger Snaps that she doesn't like to write about mat especially her wins.  I've struggled with this as well and feel much more comfortable mentioning when I lose than when I win.  This blog is mostly for me, I like to read back on my old posts and see how I've changed over time.  I hope that I don't offend anyone with the way I write. However, when I tap out David and Ken you can guarantee that I'm gonna rub it in their faces.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

April 11th - Morning Open

Had a big group of 6 today: Myself, Ken, Erik, James, Robert, and Fuji.  Ken's cauliflower ear was bothering him so he didn't roll but we did some judo fitting in and throwing together.  I think I got equal rolling time with everyone else.

Ken and I worked on the neck hip throw and Soto Makikomi using the side stance in no gi.  We also worked on the dropping shoulder throw.  Felt pretty good about them, but I seem to get tired a lot quicker doing throws.

Two things of note this morning. While rolling with Robert I was getting punished whenever I got to turtle position.  He made the comment that I'm not committing on my shots and said that I should bring my knees up more and sit back on my feet to get more power.  I'm too extended.  So I will think about that next time I'm in that position.  I really need to figure out a way to get on top more.

The other note worthy part was a couple of compliments from James, he mentioned that since he took a break either I've gotten a lot better or he got a lot worse since he took a couple month break.  We agreed that it was probably a little bit of both.  I've always had a hard time accepting compliments or even acknowledging them especially when he still kicked my butt.  During our last match I could tell toward the end he was questing for an ankle lock.  I was thinking in my head "should I tell him I'm a yellow belt and not supposed to do them?"  I decided to let it go and see what happened.  He began to put me into a toe hold but I moved toward him and got out from between his legs.  I then saw the opportunity to do one to him and put it on, but he ended up rolling out of it but it freed up my leg in the process.  Later when I mentioned that I'm not supposed to do them yet he said that I was at blue belt skill wise anyway so not to worry about it.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

April 9th - Gi (Goto Move)

Jerad taught class yesterday and the theme was mount per my request from last week.  It was very informative as I often get to mount and while being a dominant position I don't have a wide repertoire of techniques from there.

We started with how to move up higher onto the chest and into the armpits.  This is what I've been missing.  Most often I get stuck down by the hips and I'm not able to move up.  We also defended against a buck by cowboying up and moving our hips forward.  Then if they rolled to one side or the other we would sit on their side and go to gift wrap.  We did the big three from there: take the back, armbar, and the bow and arrow choke.  All good stuff.

We then trained from mount with several partners with 2 minute rounds trying to submit or escape from mount.  I did pretty well and didn't get submitted very often.  Adam was probably the most difficult for me to keep into mount.  If he could get an arm under my leg then he was escaping...very frustrating.

During open mat I went with Anthony twice.  I wasn't very confident in knee wrestling, since I know he has a Judo background, so my main objective was to not get mounted or side mounted.  The first match wasn't too bad for me.  I ended up on the bottom at first but I was able to pull off the half guard sweep and move to the top.  I went to knee on belly and as soon as his hand came down I shifted into north-south choke and got it.

Our second match was not as fun for me.  I spent most of the time on the bottom and Fuji was helping coach Anthony.  I was in side mount, I'd recapture half guard, he'd flatten me out, I'd work for an underhook, can't get it, go for full guard, got it.  We went back and forth a couple of times I attempted an armbar and the omma platta from the cross grip.  Eventually I ended up in guard again and from there I was able to complete a modified flower sweep.  I moved once again into knee on belly and right into north-south choke.  I went as far to proclaim to him that it has become my goto move.  We went over it a couple of times and the defense since he wasn't familiar with it.  We also went over a darce choke.  So, until it doesn't work anymore or I find something better the north-south choke is my goto.


Friday, April 6, 2012

April 5th - Gi (Unsatisfied)

Conan taught class yesterday.  James Nakashima (a college wrestler) participated in class as well and Conan had him go over some wrestling stuff.  We pretty much just went over single leg probably because there were a lot of white belts in class.  It was pretty much everything that Adam has taught us in the past with a few minor differences.  Still was good practice, as I know my wrestling needs a lot of work.  I think my biggest problem is that I don't feel confident enough to commit to the shot.

The rest of the class we worked on armbar from guard.  I ended up being on the senior side of the rotation today so I was doing a lot of teaching.  My biggest problem with this technique is I'm not utilizing the leg that goes into their armpit enough to break their posture.  Otherwise I feel pretty comfortable with it.  However, the most difficult part with any technique is setting it up without letting the other person know what you're doing it.  Once the technique is learned and in muscle memory it's all about how and when you set them up.

I rolled with Mike a couple of times during open mat.  First I tried to bum rush him and complete the over under pass but he put me into a triangle right away.  So much for being confident about the over-underpass.  He ended up tapping me from an armbar on his belly.  The next match I spent the majority of the time in his guard.  His guard is getting impossible to pass and very frustrating (not as frustrating as Ken yet mind you).  He was able to put me into the triangle again but this time I framed up as best I could and my size won out.  It was still very bad that I was there in the first place. 

We ended up in 50/50 for a while which I have no experience with.  I really just wanted to get out of the position, apparently I don't know the rules very well because I reaped the knee in my attempt to untangle us.  When we were free we both tried some dlr stuff.  He almost got me in the loop choke a couple of times.  He definitely was on the attack more than I was.  I almost passed his guard right at the end but he turtled up and Conan called us all to bow out.

I've been feeling unsatisfied after Thursday classes.  With the kids Judo coming up right after our class we have to get off the mat right away.  Unlike Monday when we stay an hour after class and have an opportunity to roll with 3 to 5 people.  It's motivated me to try to make it to Friday open mat more often.


Wednesday, April 4, 2012

April 4th - Morning Open

Attendees included myself, Ken, and Robert.  We did 5 minute rounds just straight up rolling with 20 second rests and partner switches in between.  So after 2 matches you get to sit for 5 minutes.  I wasn't impressed with my performance but I did some good things.

My scrambling seems to be improving, I'm still weak in a lot of places and I'm on my back way too much.  I need to find my aggressiveness and go on the attack because I'm defending too much. 

I did notice today that some of my arm movements and defenses were automatic.  I've been americana'd so many times that I can spot when someone is thinking about it and moving my arm or hand just a little bit will prevent it.  I'm getting the impression that defense can be learned from just rolling but sweeps and offense needs to be drilled.  Yes I can keep myself out of danger for quite a while but to turn the tide and start putting the other person in trouble is something that needs more practice and dedication.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

April 2nd - Gi (Jumping Back in the Pool)

Jerad taught class last night with a progression from an underhook in guard.  It seems like a great place to be and we did an armlock, omma plata, flower sweep (I wanted to type flour sweep), a back take, and then how to center up when you're on top. 

When we started to drill this position became a lot more difficult to maintain than I thought.  We started in the position and most of the time I was able to get my elbow back inside and center up.  Adam and Jerad did do a lot better job in the position than most.  I had a difficult time keeping the position from everyone else as well.  I may need to research it and figure out what I can do to improve it.  We each ended up partnering with everyone else in class which turned out to be 7 matches each lasting 2 minutes on top and 2 minutes on bottom.

I only had the strength to roll twice during open mat.  Seemed like most everyone else was worn out too as there were only 4 of us left. I rolled with Jerad twice.  He caught me the first time with an armbar from the belly but I don't remember what happened the second time or if we finished. 

I did get the over under pass position a couple of times throughout the night but still wasn't able to complete it against the good guys.  I went over it with Jerad and he thought I was raising my butt too high, which is what I thought I was supposed to do.  So, I'm going to try to change that and push more forward instead of tripod to high up. 

I also asked Mike about his loop choke that he likes to do.  I think I'm going to try to incorporate that more because the standard gi choke hasn't worked for me, but I've been tricked by his choke before and it's very tight.

We were talking about cutting weight before leaving and I blurted out that I wanted to get under 200 pounds and be at 190 this year.  I guess since I said it it's now a goal.  I've gotten back into the pool 3 times in the past week and it feels great.  I'm thinking about training with a snorkel for a while to take breathing out of the equation, and see if I can get more of a cardio workout.  Sometimes I feel like I can do more but my breathing gets all messed up. I've been thinking about my diet as well and I've been tapering off my pop consumption.  I welcome any advice to get this weight off as healthy as possible and keep it off.


Monday, April 2, 2012

April 1st - No Gi (Unbalanced Ranks)

There were quite a few new people in class yesterday.  It seemed like there was a potential that I'd be teaching class yesterday as no one that usually teaches showed up.  It was okay since I've taught plenty of martial arts so I wasn't that worried.  Finally Ken and Adam showed up so I was off the hook.  For this reason we started pretty late.  I ran everyone through a warm-up while Ken had one of the new people sign a waver. When Ken came back he has us go through the basic falling stuff that I've been through oh so many times.

Most of the class from there consisted of a judo tripping throw.  I worked with Anthony who is a Judo brown belt that has visited our class previously.  After some drills with this throw we got out the crash pad and switched out partners with this throw over and over.  There were 4 big guys in our group and we did quite a few reps.

From there Ken had us work some open guard where the other person is standing.  Most of it was trying to sweep or trip the opponent.  We progressed from there doing all free form and not focusing on any technique in particular.  I worked with one of the new guys that does Karate.  I feel sorry for my partner because I was sweating like a pig at this time.

During open mat I rolled with Erik.  It was so slippery and difficult to get a hold on each other.  I don't remember of being in danger of being submitted although we switched who had the dominating position several times.  I eventually worked him into an omma-plata from guard and got him to submit.  I actually asked him to tab because I didn't want to take the lock any further.  We rolled again and I inadvertently had his back for a while, but with his turtling and us both being slippery I lost it.  We quit after that.

I helped out a new guy for the rest of the time.  I showed him a guard pass first and then rolled with him.  I was surprised that he had a little wrestling skill but I was eventually able to take his back and put him in an RNC.

Hopefully we keep up the new guy attendance so I don't continue to feel like the noob in class all of the time.