Monday, July 30, 2012

July 29th - No Gi (My Aching Knee)

Conan asked us what we wanted to work on today and I stupidly suggested sweeps from half guard.  It is what I want to work on, but I could have picked several other things that would be way more knee friendly.  I probably shouldn't have even gone to class but I was hoping for some insight into what I did right or wrong in my matches yesterday.  My knee is really tight and feels swollen inside.  I've been icing it and stretching as much as it will allow. 

We worked on the lock down, getting the underhook, and then several different sweeps from there.  I wore my knee brace and babied it as much as I could.  I've made sweeps my major area of focus right now so it was very appropriate.

I rolled with Adam very lightly.  He dominated me like usual but I felt much more helpless.  He submitted me a couple of times and I eventually moved on to Jerad.  I fought off my back and did a lot of open guard and de las rivas.  He was right in pointing out that I don't really try for sweeps like I should. 

Now I'm on a quest to figure out the most proficient way to improve.  I'm going to go on a hunt for sweeping videos and insights into how to complete a sweep.  I've got a little time since my knee isn't going to allow me to train for a few days.  Hopefully only a few days.

July 28th - Cornhusker State Games 2012 (Videos Included)

Me and my sons after my No-Gi Matches
I competed in the 2012 State Games, held at Lincoln High School, and I received my money's worth.  I weighed in at 196; I could have cut down to 189 if I thought it would have helped, but in the other tournaments when I've cut some weight it didn't matter and I ended up going against people that were bigger or smaller than me just to make a good division.  No worries that's just the way it goes.

Luckily the gym was air conditioned.  Rumors had been circulating that it might not be, so I was happy that my wife and boys could come and not be uncomfortable.  The tournament was run smoothly and once we had the rules meeting and the brackets had been created, the matches went non-stop.

David, Mike, Ken, Claire, Tate, James, and Fuji all fought yesterday and from what I saw everyone represented the school well.  However, I felt like I had a little bit of tunnel vision throughout the day and spent a lot of time focusing on my matches.

I was put into brackets of 3 in both of my no-gi and gi.  I won't go into too many details because you can see in the videos how I did.  I didn't catch everyone's name and I wish I would have.

No-Gi Highlights:
1st Match Win by points 7-2: I pulled off an arm drag to single leg.  After spending a little time on my back I got a reversal and finished the match on top trying for a north-south choke. 

2nd Match Loss by knee bar: It lasted less than 30 seconds.  He pulled deep half and then rolled to a knee bar and slapped me in the face.  I tapped as soon as I realized I was in big trouble. Inacio was his name and apparently he is a brown belt that competed in worlds

3rd Match Win by points 2-0: Same guy from match one.  The maintaining guard practice that I've been doing really paid off.  I was able to get the takedown and from there we had quite a few scrambles but he never passed my guard.

4th Match Loss by Armbar: Inacio again.  Lasted a little longer this time and I actually got takedown points and we had a nice little scramble. 



Gi Highlights:
1st Match Win by Darce: I was stuck in top half guard for 90% of the match which really injured my leg.  My leg still hurts.  The only way I found to get out of the lockdown was to slap the darce on.

2nd Match Loss by Anaconda Choke: I spent a good portion of this match in half guard and then went to deep half.  I almost got the reversal but he sprawled on me and the choke followed.

3rd Match Win by points 8-0: Tough match.  Same guy from gi match #1.  I spent most of the match hunting for his back.  I did not want to end up in his lock-down again.

4th Match Loss by Americana with the legs: I don't like watching this match.  There were a few times that I felt like quitting, especially when he had me in kesai gitama.  I let him pass my guard much too easily.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

July 25th - Morning Open (Oh No)

Started off this morning feeling pretty good.  I got there a little early and was ready to roll.  In attendance besides me were Ken, James, Claire, and Craig. 

I rolled with Craig first.  He and I have known each other since I first started Taekwondo back in 1991.  We've been doing groundfighting and Hapkido together for a couple of years now.  We started from the feet and I was surprised how well the arm drag was working for me against him.  I guess we'll have to work on this the next time we roll.  I was able to get his back and takedown and then end up in side control fairly consistently from there.  From there I went to knee on belly and as he was pushing me away I used the shin stuff on the far arm that Jerad showed us on Sunday.  It was working great.  Craig and I used to be pretty even on the ground before I started training Jiu-Jitsu, but I've improved exponentially in a year.

Claire was doing an especially good job of regaining guard today.  She seems to be improving pretty steadily.  I should have started out with her in a dominant position so she could work on her top game, I guess I was being selfish. 

Ken and I rolled once and then worked on standing takedowns.  One of the highlights of today was I was able to do one of the sacrifice throws that I've been working on.  Today felt like a little different roll.  I guess I never made it to deep half or spent much time in half guard period so that is probably why.  I did pass his guard once which I was shocked at.  However, he ended up submitting me while I was attempting another over/under guard pass by catching me in a belly down armbar.  This is a place where I get into trouble often lately so I've got to watch out for that.

James and I had some really great matches.  Our first lasted 10 minutes.  The highlights for me were that I got to x-guard for a little while and I also mounted him although I never submitted him.  There were several times where we both setup kimuras but they were defended. 

During my last match with Ken I ended up in his guard and as he was pushing forward and started to stack me I felt a twinge in my back.  I felt it out a little bit to decide if I should continue and thought it was best to call it a day.  It's not serious but it makes me really cautious.  It doesn't hurt too bad but I know it's there lingering.  I just hope it doesn't affect my performance on Saturday.  So I'm getting up from my desk at work every hour and stretching and I'm about to go pick up an ice pack.  I've just got to take it easy until Saturday.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

July 23rd - Gi (Butterflies)

Nerves for the upcoming tournament are starting to get to me.  Have I prepared enough?  What's my game plan going to be?  Will I lose my first match and have a bad showing?  Worrying doesn't help and it's going to happen the way it's going to happen and I should go out and do my best. 

I've improved greatly since the last tournament. Ray gave me some good advice in the classes immediately following that set me on the path to improving my half and deep half guard.  Greg met with me for private lessons which I have seen major improvement from.  Other people like Jerad, Mike, Ken, Adam, and Fuji have also been a huge part of my improvement.  I started swimming 3 times a week and changed my diet helping me drop 15 lbs.  All this amounts to me being able to beat the shit out of my former self. 

Mike asked me to roll before class and we had a nice little exchange.  I was actually able to pass his guard for a few seconds but then he furiously regained it.  I was playing a dangerous game with over/under sweep and double unders which comes with some danger of a triangle at times especially against him. 

Jerad began class by discussing rules for the tournament.  Then we had some tournament style matches with myself and Mike continuing our battle from earlier.  He pulled guard right away and we worked from our normal positions, he almost swept me but I miraculously recovered but it gave him an advantage which he stayed ahead with until the end.

I fought David next, who pulled guard right away.  I was able to open his guard with the vertical shin escape but I still wasn't able to escape.  He was able to accumulate an advantage and some points for sweeping me.  I then swept him back to tie up the points but he still won by an advantage (if I'm remembering correctly).

After that I rolled with Adam and then James.  I didn't do anything spectacular in those matches that I can remember.  Adam smashed me and kept me in north/south and then submitted me with an Americana which hurt a little.  James got me in a strange kimura setup when he had my back.  It was nice.

Ken and I worked with Bryan a little bit on some collar chokes.  Not my strong suit, but I do like the loop choke that Mike does.  He eventually came over and showed us how he does it, which helped me learn some of the finer points of it.

Finally I rolled with Jerad a couple of times and discussed game plan and shin sweep afterwards.  I kept trying to get x-guard but he was preventing it well.  I had an opportunity for the shin sweep but wasn't able to get him over due to one issue that we worked on afterward.  He got me with the triangle from mount the same way I tried to get him Friday.  He got me with something else too but I don't recall. 

Mike, Ken, and I talked after class about the tournament and game plans and Mike reassured me that I should have confidence in my abilities.  We had a pretty good conversation about the book that I'm reading (Talent is overrated) as well.

Monday, July 23, 2012

July 20th & 22nd - Open Mat/No-Gi Class

As usual I arrived late to open mat and everyone was already hot and tired. 

I rolled with Jerad first and due to him being exhausted and me being fresh I started out dominating him right away.  I went from knee on belly to mount and was able to trap an arm and move to mounted triangle.  Mike started coaching me from there.  I rolled to my back and locked up the triangle the best I could.  He had his hand in which probably ultimately saved him.  I kept trying to pull his head down and keep him from stacking me but I wasn't able to choke him and he got free.  I learned later that I should have pushed with my leg across his neck more instead of pushing my thighs together.  He stayed on top and eventually submitted me but I can't remember what with.

Fuji and I had two battles, the first one ending very quickly with the same head and arm choke as last Wednesday.  For our second match somehow I was able to take his back and keep it for quite a while.  I wasn't able to do much with it as he wasn't allowing me to get a good choke position and I couldn't get into armbar position either.  Eventually he escaped and I believe he submitted me with a straight arm lock.

My last bout of the night was with James.  I don't remember much from this match either except that it was pretty intense and he submitted me with a heel hook.  I'm glad I was able to make it since I had to skip Thursday night class.  I'm jittery thinking about the state games.

We relocated our class Sunday to the Taekwondo school that I used to teach Hapkido at.  Myself, Claire, and Jerad were in attendance.  We pretty much talked about game plans and worked on some passing the guard.  We then worked on guillotine and a cool transition from a failed north-south choke to a guillotine that I may add to my game. 

We finished the day with guard passing drill and switched partners after someone passed.  I was unable to pass Jerad or prevent him from passing me.  So, I have some work to do. 

I've put my private lessons with Greg onto a cd and I'm going to try to listen to them this week while a work.  Maybe some things will sink in.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

July 18th - Morning Open

In attendance: Ken, Fuji, Carlos, Claire and me.

Carlos and I tried to roll first and failed. He was nice and allowed me to get a hold of a single leg.  As I was trying to switch to a trip he collapsed and said that his knee was hurt.  Apparently a recurring injury to his ACL.  So I felt pretty bad about that.  Hopefully he recovers quickly.

I rolled with Claire next and saw some good things from her.  She did a good job of regaining guard.  I had to work to pass her guard and then take mount from there I was able to get gift wrap and go right to the back.  Then made her tap from a RNC in a body triangle.

Fuji destroyed me several times after that.  He got me down with double legs a couple of times and then quickly side mounted me.  I'm making the same mistake over and over again when I try to escape by putting my arm across my body.  He takes that easily and puts me into a arm triangle.  He puts down so much pressure that there isn't anywhere for me to move.  I was able to get him into full guard and half guard in our subsequent matches but was in trouble as soon as he stood up to break my guard and then pass.  In our final match he had my back and saw my foot and slapped on a toe hold. Damn, I'm going to have to work a lot harder if I'm ever going to hold my own against Fuji.

Fuji went and helped Claire with some things and I spent the rest of the time with Ken.  Our focus was mostly on standup.  We did a couple of rounds where we just went to takedown and then stopped and started from standing again.  I think Ken took it a little easy on me half way through and let me complete some throws as well.  He was doing a great job with a lot of trips.  I tried to limit my throws to the few that I've been working on lately.  Mostly they are the valley drop throw and the two sacrifice throws I just recently learned, then the single leg as well.  It seems like we keep falling into the same fight from the ground.  Either I'm defending from half or deep half guard on the bottom or I'm trying to pass his guard and he's using his crazy legs.  He was able to tap me with 2 armbars today.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

July 16th - Gi

Felt a little sluggish last night.  At the end of class my body didn't want to cooperate, I soon figured out why when I took off my gi top and it probably weighed 10 lbs. 

We had a quick warmup and then worked on the sacrifice throw that Ray taught Thursday.  It's looking more and more likely that this might become a part of my arsenal.  Ken showed me another similar throw after class that I may experiment with as well. 

Jerad taught class with the theme of someone standing up in your guard to break it open.  We did the star sweep, putting the feet on the hips and kicking out, then the backward roll to one side for the ankle pick.  Mike also showed me the waiter sweep.  Probably the most difficult part about all of this was the getting to mount after the takedown.  If you weren't able to follow them up with momentum immediately you may have a scramble on your hands.  I did like the armbar that we did from there if they grab your collar.

We did the king of the mat drill from there starting in open guard and trying to sweep/pass/submit.  There were quite a few people so there were a couple more opportunities to take breaks in between each match.  Over and over again these exercises are a clear indication of who is the most skilled in class.  While belts tell us this, it's good to see the ranks of skill displayed consistently. 

I rolled with Bryan first after class and I feel pretty good about my performance although it was exhausting.  I did a good job of staying away from his legs, he's caught me too many times where I've misjudged the length of his legs and he would throw one over my head.  By using the gift wrap I was able to take his back and hang there for a while.  He did a great job of defending the RNC and preventing me from getting the bow and arrow grip that I wanted.  He escaped my back mount once and got into my guard and then passed.  From there I was able to get half guard and then somehow I got back to his back.  I was a little discouraged from the first time so I conserved my energy a bit.  I finally got a decent grip on his collar and I went for the bow and arrow which he defended, I was then able to slip into an arm bar from there which worked out nicely.  I jokingly gave him a little shit for taking a long break from class.

Rolling with Ken was the same as usual except for me not having any gas in the tank.  He mostly stayed on top and I did a lot of half guard and deep half.  He submitted me from straight armlock from half guard.

Friday, July 13, 2012

July 12th - Gi

Busy at work today so I have to cut this short.  Ray taught class yesterday with an emphasis on going from stand-up to ground; It was for my benefit no less.  We started with shooting and sprawling then we moved to take the back.  We did a defense and counter against a throw after that.  Finally we worked on pulling guard and trying to sweep from there.

For open mat we did king of the mat with 3 groups.  I started off with David who was able to hold me into his closed guard until he put the smackdown with a triangle, my only saving grace was that it took him a long time to do it. 

I felt like I was almost going to pass Ray.  I used the knee guard break that we've been working on on Mondays with Greg and it worked great until he was able to clamp down on me with his legs while I tried to pass.  I tried to pass from top half guard for a while but was not able to and he swept me.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

July 11th - Morning Open

Just three of us this morning.  Thanks for showing up Carlos and Claire.  I can't wait until Robert comes back to see how much he's improved.

We did 5 minute rounds of rolling.  With Claire I let her start in side mount and mount and worked with her on isolating an arm, submissions, or position switching.  We also worked on maintaining side mount especially using a cross face when they start to turn into you.

Carlos and I finally finished a match with him tapping me out with a guillotine.  He has been threatening it on me quite a bit lately and usually I can do a good job of defending but he sunk it in early this time.  He destroyed me with wrestling, every time he figured out some way to trip me up.  Besides that we seem to be pretty even where he'll pass my guard and I'll regain it and get closed guard.  It seems like closed guard works better for me with him.  Triangles and omma platas are somewhat presenting themselves.  With my open guard he seems to smash my legs and pass easier than he should. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

July 9th - Gi

Before class Mike and I discussed bullfighter pass a little and he showed me some things.  Jerad started us off with a warmup of shrimping and partner exercises.  Before turning it over to Greg we worked on some mount escape drills.  I had a little trouble with the second one which ended up being a shin sweep.  For some reason my right leg was not cooperating and allowing me to get to the kneeling position. 

When Greg took over we revisited the guard pass from last time with wedging the knee to break the guard.  From there we slid the knee to the same side and brought our other leg up to prevent the opponent from locking in half guard.  That was pretty much the only thing we worked on.

From there we did the position ladder drill.  Ken was my partner and I had a heck of a time holding him down in mount.  He's so difficult to keep down, it's crazy.  We both had our fair share of escapes and our different styles were evident. 

Next we did the king of the mat with guard passing/retention.  I had some good matches with Carlos, Jerad, and Greg but I was not able to pass anyone but came close a couple of times or at least I did some good things.  I was a little successful with the over/under pass, but it was a fight to get there with Greg.  I attempted to do the bullfighter pass with Jerad but wasn't able to pull it off.

I was really out of it after class and really didn't feel like rolling.  No one else really did either.  Ken talked me into working on a few throws.  We did the same throw that we worked on Monday with Ray.  It was a sacrifice shoulder throw that I may add to my arsenal for the State Games.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

July 8th - No Gi

Ray was in charge of class this morning and naturally when he asked what I wanted to work on I said ankle locks.  Particularly setting them up from the leglock guard position.  We started from a failed sweep from the butterfly guard and then kicked our leg through and then hooked the hip while the inside leg went up into their crotch area.  From there we worked a few takedowns by extending or turning their knee depending on how they stepped.  The final technique we worked on was how to get out of it from the top guys perspective.  Which amounted to standing up to put the foot on the floor then controlling their leg to keep their hips down at the same time and eventually stepping over into mount.

During open mat I went with Tate first.  It was a very active roll with lots of scrambles and transitions and no one really getting the upper hand.  I pulled off a really awesome toe hold at one point but he fought like a madman to get out of it, after that he turned up the heat a little more and put a lot of pressure on me.  From there he had me in side control and then when I went to turtle he got me with an armbar. 

I rolled with Carlos next in a glorious back and forth battle.  He's getting pretty wise to my deep half guard and whenever I go there he's slipping a kimura in.  I feel like I'm starting to get the underhook on him more and more but he still has the experience to get it when he needs it.  I tried several submissions that did not finish him (North/south choke, darce, toe hold, and a triangle).  I felt like the triangle was so close.  I set it up from closed guard and kept an overhook while I continually tried form the jumprope.  I finally got it after several attempts and some omma plata attempts as well.  It seemed tight but he eventually was able to get his arm free and I ended up in side control.  Once I regained guard and told him that I thought this wasn't going to end so we agreed to quit.  I'd like to know how many points we each scored.  He might have beat me on points as I went for several submissions I think he might have passed my half guard several times more than I had sweeps from deep half. 

We had a little powwow after that with several of us talking about my game plan for the state games.  The main focus was a best - worse case senario of possible outcomes from the feet.  Ray's opinions differed from mine in a couple of cases where I thought my open guard is very strong and maybe pulling guard would be where I want to be he assured me that I should strive to be on top and keep top.  I think I find the guard more fun and facinating is why I kind of like the idea of fighting from there.  I'm going to really be focusing on my gameplan for the next 20 days until the tournament.

July 6th - Open Mat

I had to make it to open mat yesterday after missing two Thursdays in a row.  Work has been a little hectic lately.  I still get there late and have to roll with guys that have been fighting in the heat for an hour already.  Didn't help me that much though.

I started out with Carlos and insisted that we stand up.  He didn't show it at first but he was pretty tired already.  He still took me down rather easily but gave me some compliments on a couple of the things I was doing well with my wrestling.  After a little bit of back and forth I was able to pass his guard he said he was gassed and we quit.

I rolled with Ray 5 or more times next.  He schooled me all over the place.  We started from standing as well and I didn't feel like I could do anything to get him down.  He took me down with a few well timed sacrifice throws.  Towards the end I was trying to pull out every bit of Judo that I know to get him down but he would just step away from everything.  I don't recall all the ways he submitted me and in what order but there were several foot/leg submissions.  There was this one time that I had a glimmer of hope that I might get him into a triangle but it wasn't meant to be. 

One of my major problems was with my takedown.  I'm still not changing levels well enough and diving in with my torso too much instead of dropping to a knee or making them step to me.  So right away when I started with Mike I went straight to my front knee and got the takedown, exept he pulled a flying triangle in the process.  I was able to get out of that and then from their we played our I'm on top trying to pass his guard while he prevents me from passing.  I fell for his leg lock setup from butterfly guard and I stood up to try to prevent it.  He took me down and then started to work on the straight ankle.  I tried my best to hand fight and stop the submission while Ray was yelling at me to go for his foot which was right there in heel hook position.  I turned to go for it and as I did my foot got free and I went for a toe hold and got it before Mike could recapture my foot. 

We talked about passing and takedowns for a little while after that, which inspired me to work on bull fighter pass this morning with Craig.  I was really getting it to work for me and I think I'll make it the next thing to add to drill and add to my game.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

July 4th - Morning Open

Had a good morning of rolling yesterday morning.  In attendance was myself, Adam, Claire, and James. 

Adam showed up first after a quick slow roll we got down to business.  I didn't feel as crushed as I did on Monday, I'm assuming not being exhausted and not having a gi on helped a little with that.  While my wrestling has been improving I'm no match for Adam especially since most of what I know about wrestling, I've learned from him.  Once he took me down, it seemed like butterfly guard is what we fought for the most.  We each try to get good foot positions and then go for arm drags or the butterfly sweep.  I don't remember being dominant too much, but I don't feel like he smashed me either.  I recall getting him in a reverse heel hook, but that might have been when we were just slow rolling because I think I would be a lot more excited about it had it been during a real match.

Like usual with Claire I usually take the fight to her in the beginning and then we'll work on a specific defense.  Something that just occurred to me is that she may need to work on submissions more.  While it seems like now she's focused on defending against these bigger guys that she will never have to face in a tournament.  I know I felt that way a few times in the beginning months, that whenever I'd get a dominating position I wouldn't know what to do from there because I spent so much time defending up until then.  I still do a lot of that now.  Maybe more of the dominant position drills will help her.

My rolls with James were very eventful.  I picked up on a few wrestling things that I want to add to my arsenal that he showed me.  One was a kind of an arm drag but with the hands reversed and then you tie them up in kind of an escort position.  One of the things that makes arm dragging slower for me is I'm always trying to grab with the correct hand on their wrist.  With this it's possible to grab with either hand with the same motion.  James submitted me 3 or more times.  Twice with a kimura (which shocked me) and once with rear naked choke which I'm always surprised at his skill once he has the back.  However, the last match went to me.  We were in the middle of a scramble when I took an opportunity to go for a leg lock and he defended it which put him on his back, I moved into side control and took the north/south choke. 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

July 2nd - Gi

I know I wasn't going to mention how hot it was anymore this summer, but damn.  I had weighed myself yesterday at the gym and was at 195 when I weighed myself this morning I was at my goal of 190, but I think it was just water weight that I was missing.

The theme of the class was techniques from knee on belly.  We started with the baseball bat choke but from the top side mount position instead of guard.  Fuji gave me some good pointers on how to make the choke work if I couldn't get the first grip deep by using the other hand to pull the collar across the back of their neck and make it tighter.  It's a simple things that just hadn't occurred to me.  We were also doing it with the breadcutter motion and pushing the elbow across the chest which helped with getting the legs around to north/south which was a previous problem for me.  We rotated around and worked on some various other techniques from knee on belly (Armbar, reverse armbar, and a back take).

We did the 8 round position drill ladder with Mike as my partner.  I defended first which turned out to be a good choice.  It was really rough, I haven't felt like quitting during drilling that much in a long time.  I'm amazed at how easily Mike can recapture guard or go inverted and get his legs in the way when he needs to.
For open mat, as if I wasn't beat down enough, I rolled with Adam.  My claim to fame for this match was that I reached deep half and swept him and then pulled off the over/under pass.  After all of that hard work I wasn't able to hold him down.  From there on out besides a few times of me regaining half guard I was smashed by cross-faces in side control and north south.  There was a brief moment where I thought I might tap from exhaustion but I talked myself out of it and kept defending.  It was a losing battle and I eventually was submitted by kimura.

After laying on the mat for a while in agony, I noticed Carlos was without a training partner so I decided to don a rashguard and go another round.  It was a repeat performance of Sunday except he seemed to have the upper hand for most of the battle.  He threatened kimura quite a bit whenever I would go to deep half.  He also almost had me in a triangle choke but I was able to posture through it and I tried the knee escape that we learned from Greg last week.  I think I picked the wrong knee though.  I had him in a north/south choke but it wasn't complete because he kept me in half guard and I couldn't get my leg free to finish the choke.  At the end I had regained guard and was exhausted and I asked if he wanted to call it a day and he agreed.  Not sure how tired he was.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

July 1st - No-Gi

Conan had Carlos go over some wrestling.  We went up and down the floor practicing our shot.  Then got together with partners and worked on single leg with a couple variations.  We finished with sprawling.  Normally I just sprawl with my hips straight but today I observed some of the other guys going to one hip or the other.  I may have to practice this more as it seemed like I was able to roll myself up to standing faster.  Conan had us work on triangle chokes and some plan b techniques if they failed.  We transitioned to kimura, armbar, various wrist locks, and oma plata. 

For open mat I rolled with Mike first.  I must have been off my leg lock defending game because he got me with 2 or 3 of them.  He was doing a really good job of stepping out whenever I went for x-guard which was a little surprising for me.

I went with Claire next but it seemed like we got side tracked a couple of times.  I put her into a couple of bad spots and I submitted her a couple of times and then we'd work on the defenses for those things.  Will came over and helped her with defending the anaconda choke and we quit rolling after that.

I went over to Carlos and Mike to see if I could get one more in before we had to quit.  Carlos and I had a pretty good match.  It was good to see my improvement against someone that I hadn't rolled with for almost a year.  Before it seemed like he would easily get me in back mount and choke me out or control me with wrestling.  But, today I was able to at least play the game I wanted to play.  I never finished any submissions but I came semi-close with a north-south choke. I was able to pass his guard a couple of times and sweep him from deep half.  However, he did a good job getting the underhook from half guard and getting back to his knees.  Mike and I talked about what to do after I lose the underhook.  My usual response is to try to hold them down, when I should be trying to regain the underhook or switching sides or cross facing.