May 28th - Gi

It was dark and cloudy but also hot and humid last night.  I was sweating before class even started.  Jerad and I also slow rolled a bit before Greg had us go through the warm-up. Before the technique portion of the class we did a few minutes of fitting in with a throw of our choice.  I chose to do the sacrifice shoulder throw which is a little difficult to do as a fit-in.

The theme of the class was collar chokes from the back.  Starting with the basic cross choke which I have some problems finishing.  I got it right a couple of times but still don't have full confidence in it.  Then we moved on to the bow and arrow which is one of my favorite techniques and probably my highest percentage in the gi.  I worked with Mike and Roland on the technique and some variations on how to get it.  Greg showed us an entry into the bow and arrow from standing but I didn't feel I was ready to try it or have it tried on me.  We also did a variation that was an add on to a couple of weeks ago where we trapped the arm first in back mount, that's getting added to my repertoire.

We trained with partners from the back with 2 minute rounds.  I had some good escapes and a couple of submissions.  I'm especially proud of catching Jerad with an Ezekiel choke, but he got me back later with an arm triangle.  When we were finished Greg showed us some pointers to help defend against the arm triangle.

I rolled with Mike and Roland from the knees to finish out the class.  Mike was all over me like usual and we ended up in an awkward donkey mount at one point and neither of us could get out.  I eventually had him in a reverse triangle but couldn't finish it.  With Roland I tried to focus on getting to the back and working set-ups to the bow and arrow.  I really love that technique.

After class my gi felt several pounds heavier from sweat, it felt good to shed it.  I really love the cord style draw strings in my new gis, they are so easy to loosen when my gi is soaked.  We chilled for a while after class, it seemed like everyone was pretty warn out.  Greg mentioned that he liked seeing everyone trying new things while rolling instead of just playing safe.  That's definitely been the philosophy that I've been trying to implement.  The only way I'm going to get better at new techniques is if I keep trying to incorporate them into my game.