October 17th 2013 - No Gi

Theme and Techniques: Takedowns, Guillotine Choke setup from Side Mount

We did some fit-ins first with groups of three techniques.  I worked with Jerad for this part and we both worked on a combination technique of a throw attempt to a knee tap.  It's very slick and I can see it becoming a part of my stand-up game, just got to put in the reps. 

We then did kind of an up/down/out with stand up going for the takedown.  Jerad was the floater going from our big group to the small guy group.  I felt a little better about my performance today than I have in the recent past.  Adam still had to remind me to keep my front hand down to prevent shooting on my front leg. 

The guillotine was setup from them using the underhook escape from side mount.  Allowing them to get to their knees and then locking up the choke and using the forearm over the shoulder to make it suck for the other guy.  This is a great technique but it's hard on the throat to practice.

Rolling: Shark tank for Alec, Free Rolling

Alec is back on leave for a little while from the Air Force and to welcome him back Greg had him attempt to pass each of our guards in turn as we swept him over and over again.  A shark tank is usually an exercise where one person has to roll with everyone in class without a break.  He's pretty fun to work with as he's a very light guy, flexible, and difficult to pin down. 

Had several good rolls during free rolling.  Rolled with Jerad, Mike, Robert, and Alec.  I had great rolls with everyone.  The highlight of the night was a waiter sweep that I had just learned from a video that I was able to setup from deep half guard on Robert.  Without any prior practice.  He did help me complete it as I had the angle wrong the first time I attempted the sweep part, but getting there was very cool.

Jerad and I worked on it a couple of times after class with some help from Greg.  I'm really liking this technique, and after watching some videos during lunch at work I have a few other things I want to try in the gi.  This is shaping up to be a fruitful experiment.