February 4th 2014 - Gi Noon & Evening

Noon
Theme & Techniques: Double Leg Takedown, Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke

Had a rather large class which was a welcome change.  A couple new guys Nic and Ben as well as Fuji, Back Draft Brian, John, and Bhuvana. Bhuvana did really well with the double leg for it being her first exposure to it.  They were mostly pertaining to where to put the knee down and what direction to finish the takedown.  I also worked with her on removing the collar grip after the upa and then wrist rotation on the choke.  It can get pretty uncomfortable coaching someone when they almost have the choke but just need a little tweak to it.

Rolling: Mount Position, Free Rolling

Bhuvana got really excited when she realized that I had armbared her, because she knew what it was.  I partnered with Fuji next and didn't do too bad.  I wasn't able to escape his mount but also kept him from submitting me.  There was one time when Fuji was escaping my mount and I transitioned into an armbar but kind of kicked him a little bit with my ankle bone on the way around.

John and I rolled after class and he has improved a lot in his guard passing since the last time we rolled.  I had to work a lot harder to prevent my guard from getting passed.  In the end I was able to over come and reach the top position and work from there for a couple of chokes, but it was cool to see someone change and learn something.

Fuji and I rolled after that and he played his game perfectly.  I had a little hope that I was going to escape his lasso but I wasn't able to reach the other side and he eventually swept me into side control.  I fought valiantly from the bottom but there was no getting out of his brabo grip because I fucked up a long time ago.

Evening
Theme & Techniques: Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke, Drilling Technique of Choice

Due to bad weather our class was rather small for a Tuesday and the atmosphere was a little more light than usual.  I worked with Adam for the majority of the class.  We reviewed the stuff from earlier in the day or what Greg called the "beginner stuff for the week." Following that we did 12 minutes of drilling the technique of our choice.  Adam and I both chose the one legged-x and we got a lot of work in.  Some things started to click with the setup and sweeps but it still needs a lot of work.

Rolling: Free Rolling

I rolled with Brian, Mo, and Adam.  This is a different Brian than the others I've written about, he has some kids that attend class with my boys.  He's still pretty new but seems to be picking things up so far.  Mo was working on bottom half guard, so we kept starting from there or I tried to put him there.  Later on Greg and Jerad gave him some pointers on what to do if they switch hips that I paid attention to as well.  I felt a little more confident with Adam and kept off the bottom a little longer than usual.  My goal was to try to control the distance a little more and not get too sucked into his half guard.  I ended up on the bottom towards the end but didn't get submitted.