Monday, November 3, 2014

November 2nd 2014 - Weekly Review

Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Basic Open Guard

This is only the second time working on this particular position as it was new to me last May when we worked on it.  I have used it in rolling off and on since then but the major thing that was impressed upon me from the last time was the importance of the push/pull concept in open guard.  I'm also happy with the submissions and sweeps available from there.  Triangle (which I've been making an effort to improve on), scissor sweep, sickle sweep, and of course omoplata.  Had some great rolling sessions with all of my teammates and the open guard served me well.

Advanced: Half Guard Gordo Sweep, Wizzer Sweep

It had been a while since I worked with Fuji and I was glad to see him back on Tuesday.  He still didn't roll but hopefully he'll be back in at full strength soon.  Training with him was really good for me as at the beginning I was having a problem with getting into a good position to complete the sweep.  With his help and Greg's I became a little more comfortable with rolling him over me a little to get down low enough to get the sweep.

I had some great rolling throughout the rest of the class.  I rolled with Bauer, Conan, Greg and Jordan and left feeling great.  I feel like my regular half guard is back on track.  A while ago I thought half guard bottom was my thing but then that feeling went away and people started smashing it, shutting it down, and I was constantly getting passed from there.  I feel like my options have increased along with my confidence from the position.



My major takeaway from rolling was to search for videos for some ideas concerning dealing with someone covering up really well in mount.  I had Bauer in mount and as much as I tried I wasn't able to isolate an arm or get any kind of a choke.  I haven't really found anything noteworthy yet or at least anything that I wasn't already familiar with.

Esteemed Colleagues and Honorable Mentions

Fuji: Currently his name in my phone is Fujitsu.  He's been there since the beginning of my journey and a constant resource for Jiu-Jitsu related links and that which interests him on Facebook.  He's also known for his fantastic cooking.  Like many of the other blue belts I feel like he respects and appreciates Jiu-Jitsu as much as I do.

During lunch the other day he mentioned that he didn't submit anyone for a whole year when he first started and it wasn't until I showed up, that he started submitting people, namely me.  From my perception he's always been better than me and on par with most of my seniors.  In the recent past he's been destroying me with his lasso guard and repeatedly brabo choking me. 

He also mentioned that he and Mike would laugh about my persistent fake rivalry with Bauer, which was interesting to me.  It was mostly about how we match up physically and technically.  This gave me a little bit to think about, mostly concerning being in my own head and wanting my technique to be so perfect that I sometimes don't act timely or at all.  There are times when I need to stop thinking so much and just do.




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