September 19th 2015 - Kids & Open Mat

Kids Class Technique: Armbar from Mount, Elbow Escape from Mount 

Rolling/Game: Mount Position, Belt Grab Game

I did a different warm-up for the kids on Wednesday and the kids asked me to do it again today.  My intention was to mix it up a bit but I'm not sure I want to have to go through it every kids class.  Basically it's the old Jiu-Jitsu warm-up of running around the mat, then shuffling, some rolls, push-ups, etc.  I add in a couple things of my own with "On your feet, on your back, on stomach" exercise.  Then we did a partner falling exercise called the lawn mower, and finished it in a circle with sprawl ball.  I'll have to come up with some different stuff to keep it interesting. 

Both boys are doing great with the armbar.  I guess working on it for so many classes paid off.  I saw Jayden show a little more drive while rolling to get on top.  Jerad had them play a new game at the end of class where they raced from various positions to see who could get a belt first.  Pretty fun and can see how it relates to Jiu-Jitsu.

Open Mat
Rolled With: Fuji, Jerad, Alejandro
Game Plan: Uchi Mata, Guard Retention

Fuji: My kids left with my parents and Fuji showed up a little early.  We spent some time with the uchi mata with a little bit of success until Ray showed up and told us not to work on it the way we were.  He advised me to spin more which helped tremendously and had Fuji do a snapdown.  Fuji and I rolled again later on and I felt okay about my performance.  I defended and recovered from a couple things that I normally don't but I still had trouble with his brabo grip and he eventually worked his way into a choke.

Jerad: We had a great roll as usual.  My knee shield half guard was working well, but when he got passed it I had to deal with his hip switch and eventually got passed.  I know I've commented on this a lot lately but my ability to make space really shows itself when rolling with him.  He's still able to capitalize on my mistakes and find a way to get ahead of me. 

Alejandro: We rolled no gi when he first arrived and then gi later on.  I was able to move a little more in no gi but I still felt completely outmatched.  When he was on bottom I couldn't help but get put into single leg x, I really need to research avoiding this position.  In the gi he paid me a compliment on defending his de la riva.  I had researched it a bit and asked Greg about basic defense.  Pretty much boiled down to stepping and crouching to remove the hook and control the free foot.  The only other good thing I did was defend a collar choke by getting to deep half and then using the waiter sweep.  But from there I ended up in 50/50 and eventually got ankle lock.  Alejandro and Ray both gave some good pointers on the position afterward.  One bit of advice was that I should have gotten up when my foot was on the other hip in a type of leg drag position.