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.