Saturday, May 11, 2013

May 9th - Gi and No-Gi (Aches)

For better or for worse I got the chance to attend both classes last night.  Of course it was more better than worse, but I felt like a zombie at the party afterwards.

The first class was a gi beginner class.  Dave Ossian joined us after taking 2 years off from martial arts.  He also brought a buddy and we were joined by another David that I've seen around at tournaments and the dojo.  The beginner class wasn't much different than an advanced class, we just did less exercises and reps during the warm-up.  The focus of the class was on the turtle position.  We worked on regaining guard using a forward roll first to give an idea of the position, then we worked on pulling them into side or back mount.  The turtle still isn't my favorite position, I can't get as low as I want to and that is important for defense in this position.  At the end of class we drilled the position with both people trying to get to a better position.

Switched to no-gi and started the process over again.  Shrimping is actually easier in no-gi, but 2 sets of neck exercises is exceedingly tough.  I got to show off my handstand ability before class, I knew trying to learn capoeira on my own would come in handy someday. 

During the technique portion we focused on back mount with one escape and some ways to complete the RNC.  The escape was new to me and specifically for no-gi.  We would shrimp downward and break the seat belt grip, free a leg, and then put both of our arms under one of their hooks.  This would turn into a slick double unders pass.  For the attack portion we first worked on trapping one leg.  This was really awesome as it was a different way than I was used to.  We would grab the knife edge with the underhook hand instead of the wrist and then use the overhook arm to push their arm under our leg.  This left our overhooking arm totally free to do the choke.  Then we worked on some nasty stuff like using our knuckles and a forearm flick to get under their jaw. 

We trained from the position and I had quite a few successful defenses.  It must be my wide shoulders that helps keep me from getting choked.  However, I didn't have as much success attacking.  Regardless of the outcome,

We had a fun little get together at Lazlo's afterwards.  Both old and new Jiu-Jitsu practitioners were in attendance.  Unfortunately there were also some missing.  Conan was doing his best to talk some of the former members to come back.  Eventually the group dwindled down and we had a nice discussion until closing.  I did my best to keep it together as I was tired and aching from class.


No comments:

Post a Comment