December 15th 2015 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Side Control Tripod Escape to single leg or half guard, Farside Armbar
Partner: Abdul

Did my best to help Abdul through the technique portion of class.  The tripod escape is a little difficult especially for someone that hasn't really experienced being on the bottom of a strong side control before.  The half guard was a little more troublesome because he kind of fell over a few times when I didn't want him to and it's difficult to relate what he's supposed to do from the bottom when this happens.  So it was kind of slow getting him started but I think he understood the techniques we were working on in the end. 

Rolling: Side Control (4 x 3 min), Free Rolling (2 x 5 min)
Rolled With: Abdul, Tom, Will, Greg

During rolling in side control I attempted to use the escape that we used today most of the time.  I feel like my bridge to help escape side control has come a long way and I'm getting better at timing it rather without telegraphing with my breathing. 

Had some good rolls with both Tom and Will.  It's been quite a while since Will and I rolled, hopefully he'll be back regularly.  I felt like I had some opportunities for armbars with both of them but in no gi it seems pretty easy to slip out of.  I wanted my spiral armbar setup but it just never seems to happen any more.  Will was looking for some ankle locks but was hesitant and gave me some time to prevent them.

I had a great roll with Greg where I felt more competent and more aggressive than I'm used to.  I had some opportunities to go to deep half and almost pulled off a guard pass.  Hopefully I made him work a little more than I usually do.

Office Hours Partner: Morgan

Morgan stayed after and rolled a bit.  I was able to pull off a couple armdrags on him, but each time I must have been lazy because I pulled his knee right into my balls.  I was supposed to turn off to the side to start taking the back but instead I kept my shoulders and hips square and probably since he has longer legs hit me just right.  So a good lesson to be learned there.