September 24th 2013 - Gi Noon and Evening

Noon Beginner Class

Theme: Scissor Sweep

I was surprised by the turnout this morning.  Fuji, Jordan, Sara, and Kori were all in attendance. The technique was to secure a collar and sleeve grip and then attempt the sweep.  From there we added the cross collar choke, which I've always had trouble with.  Ultimately the problem was how I twisted my forearm, I was using the flat part more than the blade like I should have been.

Training: Pass/Sweep/Submit from Closed guard

I trained with Fuji, Jordan, and Kori.  I felt pretty good about my technique and completed a flower sweep, tried some spider guard, and some leg drags.  Unfortunately the class only lasts for an hour which seems to go by way too quickly.

Evening All Levels Class

Theme: Half Guard

I partnered up with Adam and Will.  One thing that stuck out for me was the diamond starting position.  I was putting my hands in the right place, but I wasn't nearly framing my elbows enough to keep the crossface or underhook at bay.  We worked on getting the underhook and taking the back and then replacing the guard if they blocked the back take. 

We also worked on passing the half guard by getting the underhook and putting our head down on the other side, then do the skinny jeans shake until the knee is free.  I had some problems with this until Greg pointed out that the more I stepped my foot up and straightened my leg the easier it was.  That solves that recurring problem for me.  I just had to think about it a different way. 

Training: King of the Mat and Free Rolling

We did KOTM from half guard starting with the diamond posture.  I actually became king and held the position for a while.  I had great rolls with everyone.  I ended up getting a side stitch after a good exchange with Mike.  I had a couple over/under pass completions as well as being able to recover full guard a couple times.

Greg partnered me up with Henry to roll with.  I started off in guard and did my best to sweep and/or submit.  I felt pretty wiped at this point but I wasn't going to make it easy on Henry, so I did my best to overcome the stitch.

WHOYA: September 24th 2012 - Gi (Counter the Counters)

Conan taught Omaplata counters in this class.  However, I don't think I had taken much of a shining to the technique at this point.  It looks like I did quite a bit of free rolling getting my butt kicked by Mike, Conan, and Ken.  Not sure if I can glean much more from this post.