August 19th 2014 - Gi

Noon
Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Half Guard Tripod Pass, Granby Roll from Turtle
Partner: Mike (Lawyer)

Big takeaways from today.  During O-Soto Gari, Greg did an initial upward pull before the bus turn.  It seemed to help a lot with off balancing while trying it, I also recently watched a fit-in video for this technique that gave me some pointers.  During the half guard pass, I was raising my butt while attempting to cross my instep over the leg.  Greg told me to move over and pull their leg out more which worked like a charm.  I still felt like my butt was a little high at times, but this was a big improvement.  I felt really good about my granby roll, I remember having a problem with knowing which shoulder to roll over and having confidence and waiting too long before going for it.

Rolling: Up/Down/Out Half Guard & Turtle, Free Rolling Post Class
Rolled With: Mike, Sam, Harvey, Tim, Jordan (Wrestler)

Felt good during this portion of class.  From the bottom of half guard I was able to reach full guard most of the time, I think everyone was more concerned with getting swept or their back taken than keeping tight on the leg.  With Greg I was able to make it to butterfly but left too much space and he ended up passing with a knee slide on the other leg, felt pretty good about it nonetheless.  From the top I generally weaved my arm and grabbed their bottom leg or did the switch hip pass. 

For top of turtle my grip fighting felt decent, I had to switch sides a couple of times and I was even able to setup the clock choke that Greg and I talked about the other day.  From the bottom my granby rolling was strong and I found that going for it quickly from the beginning ensured a lot more success.  Greg did an awesome trick that I will be implementing Friday morning.  He grabbed my ankle which made me react and open up allowing his hook to come in, pretty simple and effective.

Tim and I rolled after class.  We've been starting from stand-up lately and he has been getting more confident with it over time.  In our second roll I was able to catch him with a drop shoulder throw and we ended up working on it for a while after.  Greg gave us some pointers and I realized that I wasn't even close to getting far enough under the legs.  He also showed us a couple of techniques to get them to move their legs farther apart to setup the throw.  I had Tim in back mount a couple times and tried to relax more and go with the flow.  I think I've expended too much energy in the past.  My hook control and transitioning and regaining back mount seem to be getting easier.