November 25th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Seoi Nage, Cross Collar from Back, Bow and Arrow, Guillotine from Guard
Partner: Chris

Mike and I decided to teach 2 weeks at a time so we would each get a throw and a self defense technique to teach.  For Seoi Nage I decided to focus more on the drop version as I've had more success with that in rolling.

My gag reflex really bothered me during practicing all of the chokes.  Being demonstrated on can kind of suck at times as you can sit there with the choke half way applied while the teacher explains some of the finer points, it's not always comfortable.  I stopped using the bow and arrow for a while and I feel like I lost a step in it a little bit, but it didn't take long to get it back. 

Rolling: Back Mount (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling
Rolled With: Chris, Ben, Bhuvana

Rolling went by like a flash and for some reason I don't remember much of what happened today.  I felt pretty good about attacking the back and maintaining harness grip. Ben made the comment that we helped improve his back mount last week in class.

Office Hours Partner: Mike

Mike and I rolled probably 4 times and there was a lot of back and forth.  Quite a bit of it ended up being ankle lock and 50/50 centric.  He's feeling a little beat up from all of the training with us bigger guys so be let me have a few things he normally wouldn't. I told him afterwards that he is solely responsible for improving my leg lock game. Hopefully I can return the favor to someone else.

November 24th 2015 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Butterfly Guard: Arm Drag, Hook Sweep, Knee Tap
Partner: Jordan A

Always good to have a butterfly guard refresher, especially since it's one of Greg's best positions.  I have some success with the position as well.  Some tips:

•  Arm Drag: don't try to pull your opponent or pull yourself do both and adjust to which ever happens.  If you start taking the back focus on getting the harness grip and then pulling them down and hip escaping instead of crawling on top of their turtle.
• Hook Sweep: trying to hang off my opponent has been the most recent thing that I learned that helps from this position.  I do tight shoulder pressure and try to hang in the direction of their base out leg so they can't lift it.

Rolling: Free Rolling (4 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Jordan, Greg, Morgan, Ben

Rolling has felt better than ever lately.  I feel like things are really clicking and I have a sense of urgency.  Competition prep has been pretty good to me this time around.  I got to roll with Greg and was able to keep him from submitting me but it was only because we were close to the wall and the time ran out just as he was working on a head and arm choke. 

In my other rolls I felt like half guard and guillotines are kings of my no gi game.  I can use guillotines to help me get better positions and to submit while half guard from the bottom to recover and sweep.  I've also had some success with the over/under pass in no gi even though I have to modify it because of the lack of pant grips.  I also got to attack the back a little today and work on hand fighting from there.

Office Hours Partner: Greg

I got a huge pointer on the spiral armbar after class.  I've had many people escape while I'm setting up the submission.  Greg showed me to step up a little higher and them put some inside knee pressure and start to turn the corner.  This will help a lot because when I get some of the better guys in this position they've been able to get their shoulder back to the mat.

November 21st 2015 - Kids & Open Mat

Kids Class
Technique: Bridge to Tripod, Single Under Guard Pass
Rolling/Game: Guard, Side Control

Kids had a good day. Greg has been mixing up the warmup with some different obstacle course type exercises and some partner stuff.

The tripod movement was a little difficult for them but they did improve.  They did well with the single under pass. Working on the techniques of the week at home is helping.

Jayden surprised me and Greg by pulling off an omoplata sweep, it was awesome but I don't think he knew what he accomplished.

Open Mat
Rolled With: Mike A, Fuji, Anthony, Mo, Gina, Jordan H
Game Plan: Work for top position, A Game

I was so sore and beat up from competition class yesterday.  It was a lot of hard work and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. I feel like I'm transitioning a little faster and have a little extra get up and go.

Mike: More and more Mike is challenging me with positions and attacks that others don't. It's good to have him around because I can see my defenses improving especially with ankle locks and back takes.

Fuji: He's challenging himself with bottom side control and trying to escape with better technique. We went a few rounds then worked on some half guard and deep half entries.

Anthony: We rolled no gi and he surprised me with his posture and positioning.  There were a couple times when we stood up and all I did was sit back down, not sure if I should have attempted to fight a little bit from standing or not.

Mo: Had some good rolls, he said he felt a little off his game though after taking some time off.  He came close to getting deep half and I gave him a few pointers mostly focused on moving himself instead of trying to move me. Then we drilled Homer Simpson several times.

Gina: Went as light as I could with Gina because of size difference.  Luckily I didn't hurt her this time.  We ended up in half guard and we discussed arm placement and avoiding the arm drag.

Jordan: I mostly played top and had to resort to half guard to pass. We talked about defending the hip switch and I gave him some tips on attacking from open guard.

November 20th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: HeadLock Escape to Tani Otoshi, Basic Escape from Backmount, RNC
Partner: Andrew

Conan's back and we got to roll a little bit today!  This was Andrew's second time visiting and he did pretty well.  He has a bit of a background in martial arts and wrestling so that helped.  Felt pretty good about trapping the hand today, I need to work it more but I feel like I'm starting to figure it out.

Rolling: Back Mount (4 x 4 min), Free Rolling
Rolled With: Andrew, Conan

Rolled a few times in backmount and gave Andrew some pointers.  He was doing what most beginners do with the position by clamping down tight and trying to hold me in place.  After Conan told him to let the other guy move a bit and just try to stay under him he improved.

Conan and I rolled after that and he gave me a lot of trouble.  A good reminder that often he's not rolling to his full potential with me.  We'd roll for a while then discuss the good and bad things that happened and then roll again. 

November 19th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: HeadLock Escape to Tani Otoshi, Basic Escape from Backmount, RNC
Partner: Bhuvana, Ben, Robert

Bhuvana had a little trouble with the takedown at first but by the end it all came together.  Dealt with escaping to the overhook side since I usually go to the underhook side when drilling.  Worked a little more on trapping the arm during the RNC.  Robert was having a little trouble with getting around my shoulders to hook his feet together. 

Rolling: Back Mount (2 x 2 min), Shark Tank 8 minute Hell Drill
Rolled With: Robert, Ben

Robert and I rolled back control and I felt pretty good about both my escapes and attacks.  Then Bhuvana had to take off so Greg had Ben and Robert start with me on the bottom of mount, back mount, side mount, turtle and then a roll from the knees.  I was able to keep from getting submitted and only felt in trouble of one once.  I was escaping back mount but Robert transitioned into an arm triangle, however I was able to get half guard and pry myself out just barely.  I noticed my breathing quite a few times but felt like I kept up the pace pretty well.  My main objective was to get on top as efficiently and as quickly as possible.  Not very easy to complete with Robert.

November 18th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Basic Escape from Backmount, RNC
Partner: Tom

Mike taught today and had some good insight on the techniques.  Some tips on the techniques:

• Escaping, head control is huge.  I like to drive with my head in the direction that I want to escape to.
• Backmount in general, harness grip is more important than hooks.  Bring your wrist up higher more across their neck and use your elbows more to press against their shoulder and ribs. Use your chin on their shoulder.
• RNC, this is not an easy submission in the gi but it is one of the most used in MMA to finish.  The part that I'm focusing on right now is getting under the chin and keeping it as I grab the shoulder.

Rolling: Back Mount (2 x 2 min), Shark Tank Free Rolling
Rolled With: Tom, Dave, Ben

Had some great rolls.  I focused on going after what I wanted and being a little more aggressive with trying to get to the top position.  Cardio held up pretty well.  Mike and I rolled together after class and there were some 50/50 position moments that I felt lost with, but it's good practice. 

November 17th 2015 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Hip Bump Sweep, Double Under Pass
Partner: Derek

Derek came back and says that he will possibly join and is looking for a gi.  Always good to get some more big guys to roll with.  We trained together again as I was the closest to his size. 

Greg showed us the guard break that Tinguinha showed us at the first seminar that he put on at our school a few years ago.  Instead of trying to control their hips you turn to the side and then put both hands under their legs.  From there you break to double under position.

For the double under pass, Greg gave us the option of using the sit through instead of smashing.  I liked it but we had some trouble with finishing by putting the elbow on the far side of their body.  I'll have to look into that version more.

Some tips on this weeks techniques:

• Hip bump sweep, make sure you grab or control low on the wrist.  If you go above the elbow they may still be able to base
• Guard break, get under their ribs and hide your elbows.  You won't get much time because it's easy to prevent this in no gi
• Double under pass, I say this everytime but pull them back into you instead of trying to move forward into them.

Rolling: Guard (4 x 2 min), Shark Tank from Bad Positions
Rolled With: Derek, Mike, Jordan, Robert, Morgan

Derek was pretty good at keeping me from doing what I wanted to do.  I kept guard and just barely swept and passed right before the time was up.  Mike and I had a good roll from guard.  I was trying to setup the barato plata but he used posture to prevent it.  He ended up catching me with a heel hook.  From the top I ended up getting to the double under pass to which Mike scrambled and ended up in half and then deep half to which I slowed down with a cross face.

Greg had Jordan, Robert, and Morgan shark tank us from bad positions until the end of class.  I've been a little under the weather the last couple of the days so I'm not sure how much being tired or dealing with that affected my performance.  I was able to keep from getting submitted but didn't do too much from the top.  I felt like my guard was passed a little too easy a couple times and discovered that I'm not used to no gi anymore. 

I'm considering not competing in no gi this time.  I think with the longer time limits and my conditioning isn't the best right now maybe I should just focus on one.  Then I'll focus a little more on no gi and try to get more in shape for the next tournament.

November 14th 2015 - Open Mat

We had a bit of a situation Friday morning that I avoided talking about until I had more information. We had to call an ambulance to take Conan to the hospital for a minor stroke event.  Craig and I were there getting warmed up when I went to ask Conan if he was feeling okay. He was having trouble finding some words and was not himself.  Craig called the ambulance while I stayed with Conan. Help came fairly quickly and took him within a half an hour.

I heard from him a few times throughout the day as they ran tests and discovered he had a hole in his heart. When I saw him today he seemed like himself again.  He said that they were going to get his heart taken care of in a couple weeks and and that I could let people know what happened.

Open Mat
Rolled With: Bhuvana, Craig, Bauer, Mike A, Jordan
Game Plan: Cross Guard Stuff

I helped teach kids class today but my kids weren't able to attend. After class Bhuvana and I rolled a bit.  She took me a little by surprise with a little aggressiveness and I had to scramble to stay ahead a bit.  We went over turning a kimura from the bottom of side control into a farside armbar.

I rolled with Craig and spent some time attacking in mount.  We spent some time on mount defense after that.  Told him to keep his elbows in and use them as much as possible.

Bauer and I drilled several techniques to prep for submission challenge. I gave some pointers on what I could and worked on some cross guard.  We had quite a roll with a lot of position changes and was at a decent pace.

Had some good rolls with Mike.  I ended up in deep half a couple times and waiter sweep is really coming together for me I just need to work on finishing it.

Jordan's back after recovering from knee surgery. Hopefully for good this time. He's interested in working on half guard so maybe I can assist him with that.  We rolled and he was a little rusty but still knows his stuff.

November 12th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Double Leg, Upa Escape, Cross Collar Choke from Mount
Partner: Ben

Techniques felt fine today, nothing out of the ordinary.  We worked on some of the alternate setups to the upa.  Greg gave the advice that if their arms are above your head then pull it down onto your chest.  If their arms are off to the side grab the sleeve and put it down on your hip before bridging.  We also worked on the s-mount choke variation that Andy showed the day before.

Rolling: Mount (6 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Ben, Megan, Robert, Morgan

Made a concerted effort at the cross collar choke but couldn't pull it off today, I just can't get the second grip, but I'll keep working on it.  Maybe I'll watch some Roger competition footage to see how he sets it up.  Free rolling was fine and spent some time in deep half.  It seems like the waiter sweep is really coming along for me. 

I rolled with Megan for the first time and switched between trying to set stuff up slowly to walking her through a couple techniques.

Office Hours Partner: Robert

I rolled with Robert twice during class and then we did a 10 minute round after class.  He is very difficult for me to roll with, his pacing, strength, and technique makes him very difficult deal with.  Exactly what I need to prepare for the competition.  I attempted a star sweep but couldn't complete it but ended up in half guard.  I also ended up in deep half a lot and was able to sweep once.  From side control I was able to pull off the elbow push escape back to guard, but I never got much offense going and Robert was on top most of the time.

We did the overtime rounds after the 10 minute rounds and he was able to submit me there.  I burned out my forearm trying to bow and arrow choke him and then went right into the armbar position and couldn't hang on.  So something to think about for the overtime rounds.  The biggest thing that Greg said I need to work on is my conditioning.  I need to challenge myself in upcoming classes and do some extra workouts before then.

November 11th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Double Leg, Upa Escape, Cross Collar Choke from Mount
Students: Cassey, Tom, Andy, Jordan

Mike felt under the weather so I taught this morning.  I added a few warm-ups like shooting

A couple of tips on the techniques:

• Double Leg, controlling the grips in the gi is going to be key.  If you can't do that it's going to be difficult to shoot
• Upa Escape, a tidbit that I gave today is to think about it like a back roll.  You turn your head to the opposite side so you can get a bigger bridge.
• Collar Choke, I like to tell people to use the princess wave to get the second grip deeper, seems to help.

Rolling: Mount Up/Down/Out
Rolled With: Cassey, Tom, Andy, Jordan

I had them roll with their original partners for the first 2 rounds then I got bored of sitting and had us do some up/down/out with only one person out at a time.  I attempted the cross choke as much as I could and completed it once.  I was able to upa a couple times as well. 

Gave some pointers to Casey for mount.  I think he was trying to hold his opponent down too much and needed to float a little more.  If you hold them too tight with your legs it makes it easier for you to get rolled over.

Office Hours Partner: Tom, Andy

We discussed some collar choke variations and then rolled a couple times.  I gave some pointers to them as they rolled.  I'm finding myself watching out for collar chokes from Andy.  He's giving me some of the alarm bells that Zac would.  Hopefully Zac comes back soon.

Novemeber 10th 2015 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Upa Escape Mount, Arm Triangle Choke
Partner: Derek (Visitor)

In an effort to spread the word of our fine sport, Bhuvana brought another coworker to Jiu-Jitsu.  Although, Derek wasn't completely a newbe because he had wrestled for a significant portion of his life from a early age.  We got quite a few reps in and he seemed like a pretty good guy.

Some tips from the techniques:

• For the Upa Escape, when I've had Greg do it to me it's a sudden explosion, where he takes out my base arm and bridges at the same time pretty violently so I've been trying to develop that timing.  I would say first develop it with the steps but realize that the explosion is probably the way to go. 
• For the arm triangle a big mistake is that people often push too high on the arm where they should be focusing their pressure on the shoulder.  Keep the elbow on the floor on one side and put your head on the floor on the other side.

Rolling: Mount (6 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Derek, Robert, Mike A, John

Had a good day of rolling and got a compliment from Mike on my mount escaping.  I do feel pretty good about getting to deep half from mount as I really only need quarter guard and then an arm under their leg.  I had a heck of a time with Derek when I was on top of mount, any time I tried to make a submission happen and shifted my weight up high he was able to buck me forward and get free, and I'm not confident in going to armbar from there. 

There was some half guard stuff with Robert and Greg even witnessed me hit a Jedi mind trick out of nowhere but as I was coming up I almost got guillotine choked.  John and I free rolled and he defended quite well.  Greg had to tell him not to sit to his butt once I got deep half guard.

With Mike it was a leg lock fest and I am starting to feel confident in my defenses.  I still tap as early as I can when I feel a hint of trouble but I'm triangling my legs better, hand fighting, or going for my own leg locks to help me escape.  We had a couple of cool exchanges and even went for a rolling back take. 

Office Hours Partner: Mike

We went over a couple leg lock things and I showed him a technique from Tinguinha's DVD with the crossguard. 

November 7th 2015 - Kids & Open Mat

Kids Class
Technique: Recover Guard from Half Guard, Hip Bump Sweep
Rolling/Game: Side Mount Position

Greg was busy signing a new student up so I led the warm-up.  Fun as usual but I got a warm-up as well.  Kids have been doing better with the techniques as we work on them before bed almost every night.  Jayden is still disappointed in his sparring but he is getting better.

Open Mat
Rolled With: David K, Chris, Mike, Adam, James, Jerad
Game Plan: A Game techniques, being more assertive

Drilled some techniques with David before rolling. I mostly played guard during rolling and almost finished an armbar. David's ear started bleeding and we cut our roll short.

Went over hip bump and attacking the back with Chris before rolling.  He's coming around with understanding positions I think.

Mike is definitely getting the better of our exchanges lately. He's taking my back or going for ankle locks and I feel like I'm constantly on the defensive. It's really good for me but a little frustrating.

I felt pretty good about my performance with Adam. I didn't sweep him or come close to submitting him, but I did regain guard way more times than normal.  Still working on dealing with his butcher technique.

James and I rolled no gi and it was interesting as he has a little different style than I'm used to. Which is a great thing the more different types of grapplers I can roll with the better I'll be.  I was able to catch him once and he caught me the second roll. He said I felt a lot stronger since we last rolled which was at least 2 years ago.

I had nothing for Jerad.  He systematically got past my defenses. I kept looking for him to make a mistake that I could capitalize on but I never saw one. Before I knew it he was in mount.

November 6th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: RNC Defense to O-Soto Gari, Kneeling Guard Break to Single Under Pass
Partner: Craig

Always fun to work with Craig.  I don't think I treated him very well with the pass though but helped him do it better so he could get me back.  Definitely want to reiterate when doing this pass go straight forward and put them on both of their shoulders, then turn 90 degrees.

Rolling: Guard (4 x 4 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Criag, Josh, Dave

Rolling went well I went for the single under pass when I could and hit it a couple times.  I'm also trying to do more of my A game to prep for the tournament.  I'm also trying to be the initiator instead of the counter fighter that I usually am.

Office Hours Partner: Andy, Conan

After class Conan and Andy were working on the pendulum sweep and I showed him my cross guard stuff and we rolled for a bit.  He seemed to appreciate it because it was similar to what he was already doing.

Conan and I had a heck of a roll. I spent most of the time on top trying to pass guard, sometimes succeeding only to be put back in guard again.  It was both physically and mentally tasking but also fun.

Competition Class

I came back at 5:30 for our competition class to prepare for submission challenge. I won't go into the details but we worked on some rule specific things concerning the overtime rounds and then some submissions, sweeps, and guard passes that we wanted to drill. I'm pretty sore from this entire week.

November 5th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: RNC Defense to O-Soto Gari, Kneeling Guard Break to Single Under Pass, Over/Under Pass
Partner: Fuji

Have to make this post quick.  We spent most of our time with the over/under bonus technique that Greg had us do.  Gave Fuji some advice with that and eventually he was doing it pretty well and my guts can attest to that.  I've noticed this in the past but I'm pretty comfortable with my arm entry into this pass and it seems to be something difficult to grasp for many at first.

Rolling: Guard (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Fuji, Robert, Shane

Really tested myself today and it was a little discouraging because I got very worn out.  I'm going to try to force myself to be the aggressor in my rolls to get a good workout with whomever I roll with.  I think usually I'm a little too laid back.  Fuji and Robert are both good for me as if I accomplish anything it's got to be with good technique.  

November 4th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: RNC Defense to O-Soto Gari, Kneeling Guard Break to Single Under Pass
Students: Mike A, Tom, Austin, Daniel

Mike and I started our first alternating teaching collaboration today.  Him and I are switching off teaching the Wednesday noon class and I got the first one.  Went pretty well, we were a little worried as the start of class approached and no one was there but eventually a few straggled in.

Did a warm-up progression with practicing the double leg, then sprawling, and finally sitout doing some reps with each exercise.  Some tips for this week's techniques:

• When moving to the position to throw with O-Soto Gari, hold their arm tight to your shoulder and be leaning forward as you make the short steps
• For the single under pass, your arm with your elbow on the inside is your triangle prevention arm.  Pay special attention to it and make sure they don't get under your elbow in the process to triangle you
• I like to think of angles during this pass.  When you are under their leg push straight forward and go to a plank position.  Once their hips are off the floor then turn 90 degrees.  Then push forward again to bring their legs to the floor.
• The elbow of the reaching hand is also important as there are some easy escapes if you flare that elbow when grabbing the gi collar.

Since we had some extra time Mike and I showed the split pass.  There were some pieces that Mike helped with that I didn't know like windshield wiping over the knee, so I'm glad we worked on it. 

Rolling: Guard (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Austin, Mike

First couple rounds I observed.  I was impressed with Daniel as I had no idea how much experience he has and I made the comment that "he has some skills."  He had to sit out at the end of a roll with Austin so I jumped in and had a quick roll.

I rolled with Mike after that and it was a leg lock defending back take battle for me.  He had my back when the time ran out and gave me some pointers about how I could have escaped during the rolling back take.

Office Hours Partner: Tom, Mike

Tom asked about retaining guard and Mike and I gave him quite a bit of information.  I recognized his problem as something that I got over not too long ago.  He was laying on his back trying to use his legs to prevent getting passed.  We went through sitting up, breaking grips, getting grips before laying back again or scooting under.  We also talked about shin to shin guard for entry into single leg x. 

November 3rd 2015 - No Gi All Levels (Put Out)

Theme & Techniques: Double Leg, Cross Body Straight Ankle Lock
Partner: Andy

Had a good turnout for our first noon no-gi class.  Greg gave a little speech about how ankle locks would be more emphasized and who was allowed to do what.  Great, while I'm not good at ankle locks I've been wanting to focus on them and have taken a special interest lately. 

Double leg felt decent, I'm still working on improving the penetration step but feel good about turning the corner.  I feel like I'm gaining confidence with the straight ankle.  I think Greg explaining where to put the toes has made a huge difference. 

Rolling: Guard (2 x 2 min), Side Control (2 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Andy, Fuji, Ben, Mike

Well it had to happen sometime, Andy choked me unconscious today for the first time in BJJ.  I was in the process of passing his guard when he grabbed his hands around my neck and setup a no-gi baseball bat.  I remember thinking that I just need to posture and keep my head up, oh wait maybe I should tap, but then I woke up with Fuji slapping me on the chest.  I'm pretty sure I said something like, "what happened?"  It took a while for me to remember what had occurred.  Oh well life goes on and hopefully I'll defend that better next time.

Had some other good rolls and went on as usual.  Fuji with side control and free rolled with Ben.  Had some ankle lock fights with Mike and while I did okay and almost caught him in one but he actually caught me with 2. 

Office Hours Partner: Mike

We went over some ankle locks and discussed defending the choke Andy put on me.