Wednesday, November 30, 2016

November 30th 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Standing Headlock Escape to Hammerlock, Mount: Armbar, Elbow Escape
Partner: Jess, John

Didn't even realize it until I was writing this entry, but today was an all "J" class, having Jerad, Jess, John, and Josh in class.  Jerad and I played around with our new clock timer, it's awesome and we used it to time our rounds.

Jerad gave some good details on both techniques and we added an extra armbar technique for John and I to break the grips apart. A couple of quick tips for the techniques of the week.
  • Headlock Escape: A huge part of this is when you get a hold of their wrist, push it into your body instead of trying to pry it off.  
  • Armbar: Take your time with the mounted armbar and don't fall to your back without having stepped over their head and you have control over their arm.  You shouldn't have your back on the mat trying to pull their arm down.
  • Elbow Escape: Once you get your elbow in place it should be treated as a point that you are going to shrimp away from.  Originally I thought you were supposed to shrimp and also push with your elbow, but it's much more effective to shrimp away from it. 
Rolling: Mount, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Jerad, Jess, John

I always enjoy mount position training as it's tough to escape and I've been on a quest to make the top a good place to finish.  One thing that I need to work on more is transitioning to the shin across belly down armbar when I encounter a big bridge.

I had a couple good rolls with Jerad during and after class.  At one point we were stalemating each other with grip fighting and while it may not have looked like much to someone from the outside I was looking for a certain knee grip and he kept denying it or stripping it.  He made the comment afterward that whoever won that battle for that grip would have determined the outcome of the roll which is an interesting thought.  In a different roll I had snuck in a loop choke from half guard.  I felt pretty good and solid about it but he did a great job of keeping me from freeing my legs.  I kept trying to get my butterfly hook free but when we talked about it later I should have put my foot on the mat and backed my hips up and it probably would have freed it.  I just had tunnel vision on trying to get it free, but I think I learned an important lesson.

John asked about butterfly guard and we had a lengthy discussion about many facets of it.  We covered posture, not reaching with your feet, being on one hip or side rather than being straight on, and grips and stuff.  It was a cool little mini-chat session that got pretty technical without doing too much technique.  Great stuff!






November 29th 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Front Headlock: Movement to Side Turtle, Anaconda, Recover Guard
Partner: Jess, Frank

I got jammed up at work for a bit and missed the warm-up and I'm okay with that. Anaconda is one of those techniques that I understand and can teach but have rarely ever hit rolling.  I feel like my arms are too short or I don't always feel strong when I'm grabbing my bicep.  During drilling it's fine and I'm effective with the choke, but while rolling I can't make the connection.

Rolling: Front Head Lock Position, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Jess, Gavin (New Guy), Daniel, Mike

Gavin came to us with some wrestling experience and he seemed a little out of sorts that he didn't exactly know the goals during the rolling portion.  Mike and I both did our best to set him at ease that his wrestling gives him an advantage and he would just have to make some minor adjustments.  At the end of class he thanked everyone for helping him out.

Mike wore his MMA gloves as we rolled and asked if we could shadow strikes.  It was fun and exhausting to have to think about also defending getting punched.  My instincts are still there as I've done some of this training in the past and I think I avoided quite a few blows with my open guard and covering up movements. 

Office Hours Partner: Jess

We rolled a few times because I had to get back to work.  He's pretty good at going to turtle which helped me work on attacking it to take the back. I also had to improvise getting RNC from some unorthodox positions while trying not to lose position. This felt like a good training day for me.



Sunday, November 27, 2016

November 27th 2016 - No Gi Beginner

Theme & Techniques: Chair Sit to Back Sequence
Partner: Chris C

Got in to work off some turkey along with 16 other guys. Biggest class I've attended in a while.

We worked on going to a chair sit when they turn away to turtle up from side control then a few defenses and contingencies.

Rolling: Up/Down/Out Side Control

Had some challenging rolls but did well.  I generally escaped with an underhook to half guard but didn't feel like I was able to come up to dog fight. From the top I attacked with N/S choke, kimura, and farside armbar.

Office Hours Partner: Henry, Tom, Mike

Had a good roll with Henry my goal was to defend against kimuras and guillotines and I did well for quite a while.  He was mostly on top of my half guard or scrambling.  I think I need to make an effort to focus on wrestling again because I was not winning those battles. I had a great deep half to waiter sweep but felt like once I got to the top I couldn't hold him down long enough to pass the guard may need to seek out some details about possible passes after the waiter.  He finally caught me with a kimura in the end.

Had a good time rolling with Tom.  We both thought our rolls have been going longer and longer as we're used to each other's techniques.  I was able to hit another waiter sweep in the process.

I asked Mike about the quarter guard spiral armbar position and he gave me a few options like going for an omoplata, one handed kimura, or doing a gift wrap to stretch them out.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

November 23rd 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: O-Goshi, Back Mount: Wing Choke, Bow and Arrow Choke
Partner: Frank, Drew

I was happy to get in a workout before three days off due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  Small class as per usual on a Wednesday but everybody was there to put in the work.  Tips on techniques from this week:
  • O-Goshi: My main focus with throws has been working on the off balancing.  Working on looking at the watch keeping posture and using the elbow to kind of raise them up before getting my hips under them.
  • Wing Choke: I prefer this choke from technical mount rather than back mount.  So if you are having trouble getting this particular choke try it from that position.  Jerad showed it this way today.
  • Bow and Arrow: Probably the biggest piece of advice I give with this technique is the thinking of turning your hips like an armbar and it should feel like a trap door for your opponent when the leg is no longer under them. 
Rolling: Back Mount
Rolled With: Frank, Drew, Jerad

From the bottom my goal was to get to deep half and sweep with waiter and I accomplished it a couple of times.  One thing that I'm not sure about is if I'm letting people get their knee on the floor while I'm in deep half (kind of quarter guard with my arm inside).  I usually recover from this back to deep half but sometimes someone good will improve their position at this point or at least a scramble occurs.

Office Hours Partner: Frank

We went over wing choke a few times and then rolled some. 

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

November 22nd 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Half Guard Twist Sweep
Partner: Bhuvana

Twist sweep was a tough technique for me to learn.  I remember several instances where Greg tried to teach it to me and I couldn't get the leg configuration down to complete it.  I think it's finally starting to become a viable technique for me but I don't get into a situation to use it very often.  It is a little different movement in that you have to close your elbow and clamp your knees together at the same time and push your butt and your knees to the side.

Rolling: Half Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Bhuvana, Greg, Mike, Tim

I hit the twist sweep a couple times and got stuck there a few times.  I think of my half guard as being pretty good but Greg is on a different level and I don't even know what he's doing differently than me. I had more success from the bottom than the top due to being able to get to deep half.

Fun roll with Mike. I have to work really hard to keep him in front of me, protect my feet, protect my neck, and try to initiate my own attacks. He consistently pays me compliments after our rolls, like today he said he couldn't prevent my granby from turtle.

Office Hours Partner: Bob, Tim

Did a couple tia toshis with Bob no gi and they felt pretty good. I've got to remember to lift the arm as I am doing the footwork to setup the throw.

Tim asked me about the hip switch pass and we went over some other half guard stuff.

Thoughts

An interesting thing that I've noticed is how compliments have affected my personal game.  There have been several times when someone that I respect told me I was good at a technique or position. A seed was planted and I would start researching that thing and feel more confident using it while rolling.  So be kind to a white belt and throw them a bone by paying them a compliment.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

November 19th 2016 - Open Mat

Open Mat
Rolled With: Tyler, Bob, Conan

Tyler: Another complex roll with Tyler. More than a few times I feel like I'm past his guard and he's able to wedge a knee in, then I have to start over or deal with his DLR to berimbolo. I'm looking at that as a new challenge to learn how to defend it.

Bob: Spent the majority of open mat with Bob. We went over clock choke from turtle and took it from there with different contingencies from turtle to side control usually asking what I'd do or if he did something well.

We then worked on fit ins and throwing with tia toshi.  I'm working on my posture, looking at the watch, stepping into the top of the triangle. I may try to drill this at home.

Conan: It was a standard roll between the 2 of us. I spent some time on the bottom of side control where he pinned my wrist and crossfaced me with his body.

We discussed this a bit after how I can take my time to defend side control against people that I'm not as worried about submitting me. But with someone as good or better than me I'll get into trouble waiting for my moment. I determined that I should start escaping side control earlier and use some energy up front to prevent it.

Friday, November 18, 2016

November 18th 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Kesa Getami Escapes
Partner: Craig

Every time this position comes up I mention how much I hate it and hate working on it both top and bottom.  Then I qualify it with, yes some people do it well and it's important to learn how to defend it, blah blah blah.  But not this time, I'm going to avoid saying anything negative about this stupid position.  But seriously, Fuck Kesa Getami, I hate it.  

Conan had us do a couple of escapes besides the one from this week.  Focusing on getting under their ribs and using other ways to get our elbow to the floor or control their far arm.  He also showed a submission that I didn't know about from when they are trying get under your ribs, you can kind of kimura them by hooking their elbow. 

Rolling: Kesa Getami
Rolled With: Craig, Jess

Felt decent about my bottom game, was able to keep my arm safe and maneuver my way around to eventually escape.  Maybe some day I'll experience Ray's Kesa again to see how awful it can be.  From the top I did fine, but when I started to lose the position I felt like there was no good way to recover besides trying to hang on to the position and get back to it. 

Office Hours Partner: Jess, Conan

Had a good roll with Jess.  One key thing that I took note of was at a point I had him in turtle and handed off his wrist to my other hand and basically did the lap belt turnover using his hand to take the back. 

Had quite a fight with Conan with quite a struggle from deep half.  He's been focusing on my free arm a lot I was able to sweep to top position but he eventually got me into his butterfly and swept me.  Then he was really mean to me and eventually got me to tap out with an armbar.  I asked him why he was being so mean afterwards and he basically laughed and said, "yeah I was being kinda douchey"


Wednesday, November 16, 2016

November 16th 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Headlock Defense Leg Over Head, Lap Belt Turn-Over: Side Control, Back Mount
Partner: Tom, Jordan

Once again don't have much time to write today and will give my take on the techniques of the week tomorrow.  One thing that Jerad brought up during the turnover from turtle was you can go in 2 directions either direct to the side or in a circular motion.  I believe I've seen Ryan Hall demonstrate this in his back take dvd. 

Rolling: Turtle
Rolled With: Jerad, Tom, Jordan

Had to leave early today due to a meeting at work so I only got to do some rounds of turtle.  I remember writing in this blog at one time that turtle gave me a lot of trouble but lately I'm feeling pretty good about top and bottom.  The front head lock position is another story...for now. 

Probably the biggest thing that I worked on today was to try to setup the RNC or collar choke during the transition of taking the back.  It worked a couple of times but I think I need to ask Greg about things to do to recover from them grabbing your choking hand.





Tuesday, November 15, 2016

November 15th 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Front Headlock Position: Sit out, Arm in Guillotine
Partner: Bhuvana

Not my favorite position from top or bottom, but it's always good to work on things that I'm not the most versed in.  This position happens a lot more when working with takedowns and wrestling so it's understandable why I haven't had as much experience with it.  When sparring I usually protect my neck and then wait for my opportunity to get back to guard or sit out. 

The guillotine version that we did was a little difficult for me to control their inside arm.  I think I saw Greg grabbing both his hand and triceps when demonstrating the technique.   

Rolling: Front Headlock Position
Rolled With: Bhuvana, Mike, Bob, Ian, Jess

Great training with every roll being from head lock position.  From the bottom I was able to prevent being choked but was caught in an ankle lock by Mike after a pretty dynamic scramble.  From the top I had the most success with controlling their chin and setting up the Marcelo Guillotine.  Mike gave me some good advice to push down on their head as you are changing hand positions.

Office Hours Partner: Jess

We had quite a few rolls after class.  He's a good partner for me for when I get into a wrestling type position if I'm not tight enough he can get the upper hand positionally but I'm then able to recover and try again.  I went for crucifixes a few times today but not much came out of it.



Saturday, November 12, 2016

November 12th 2016 - Open Mat

Open Mat
Rolled With: Josh J, Marlie, Austin, Dave, Jess, Tyler, Nick, Bhuvana

Lots of good rolls today and I'm already feeling sore in my fingers and legs.

Josh: I practiced a few crucifix setups that I've been working on. I helped him with some cross guard specifics. During our roll I made it to crucifix position but couldn't make anything happen from there.

Marlie: She is the wife of our new black belt, Nick and this was her first time training at our school.  She did a great job for only training a year. She did her best to prevent me getting grips and moved around very quickly.

Austin: I'm not sure what changed but he has improved greatly since I rolled with him several months ago. I think he's being more persistent and direct with his guard passing.

Dave: When I saw Dave on the mat I tackle hugged him since it's maybe been months since I trained with him.  After rolling we worked on a spider guard pass that he asked about.

Jess: He's starting to become a regular at our school and doing pretty decent for a new guy.  Hopefully it keeps his interest going forward.

Tyler: He was on point today and was frustrating to roll with.  Everytime I felt like I was past his guard he was able to get a leg in the way and make space. He's getting good at DLR to berimbolo and I don't have a good answer for it now besides trying to be heavy and smash.  I may have to take him more seriously.

Nick: Great tough rolls as usual. I felt like I was doing well with my over/under pass. He caught me with a nasty collar choke, I had to leave the mat while I avoided puking.  In the following roll he caught me in a spiral armbar position as I was going for deep half. I think my underhook was too deep as I needed it under his leg instead of his armpit.

Bhuvana: Had a good discussion on grip breaks and loop choke.  She's going through the stages of learning a technique, almost getting it during rolling and then troubleshooting and correcting mistakes.

Friday, November 11, 2016

November 11th 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Half Guard Stuff
Students: Morgan, Jess

As part of the warm-up I had them do a few of the partner exercises that I like.  Standing guard break to situp, side control 180 rotations with and without arms, and using harness grips and butterfly hooks to kick them to the side and regain back mount.

Just the three of us this morning so we worked on some other half guard stuff per Morgan's request.  I showed some stuff from Ryan Halls Deep Half DVD. 
  • Use the knee shield to to get an underhook.  
  • Knee shield twist sweep
  • Knee shield twist sweep to arm drag
  • Hip switch pass from the top
They seemed to appreciate these different techniques that I have success with in half guard and they both got a lot of good reps in.

Rolling: Half Guard, Free Rolling

Had some great rolls round robin style and we each got a round on top and bottom with each other.  I saw both of them successfully attempt the hip switch pass which has been one of my highest percentage half guard passes. 

I free rolled with Morgan a few times after class and almost got caught in a triangle that he threw up.  I showed him a defense for over/under pass as I used it a couple of times during the day. 


Thoughts:

It's becoming more apparent to me that my game is relatively unique within our school.  Not a lot of people attempt deep half guard, cross guard, attack from knee on belly, and do north/south choke.  Greg and the purple belts have been helpful in me developing these positions and techniques but ultimately I've been in control of my progress and forming my game. 

This is a major difference I've observed between BJJ and other martial arts that I've practiced in the past where it seemed like everyone stuck to a curriculum and wanted to look the same as the instructor.  A lot of it has to do with being required to make things work for you in sparring.  You're going to naturally gravitate to those techniques that work for you or solve problems that you have during the Jiu-Jitsu journey.

Of course the fundamentals that we learn in beginner class are the most important to understand and get down first, but I'd say after 2 or 3 times through the curriculum a student should start to form their own game.  Don't wait for anyone to tell you what you need to work on. 

Thursday, November 10, 2016

November 10th 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Half Guard Knee Slide Pass, Granby Roll from Turtle

I kind of hung back today and didn't partner up but helped a lot of people during the drilling portion of class.  Here's some of the pointers I gave today:

  • O-Soto Gari: Your first step is very important, your foot needs to be next to them so you can line up your hips with theirs as you sweep.
  • Half Guard Knee Slide: Greg gave a good detail that I don't think I've seen him taught previously, he backed away so they would chase him a bit with their frame making it easier to karate chop into the underhook.
  • Granby Roll: Try to avoid rolling forward and roll under yourself, makes it difficult for them to stack you.  If you are having problems with this technique please find me and I'm sure I can help you. 
Rolling: Half Guard Up/Down/Out, Turtle position
Rolled With: Jordan, Jess, Daniel, Tom, Ben, Shane, Ian

Half guard was business as usual for me.  I gave people a couple of pointers.  One of my biggest ones lately has been for top half guard to keep your elbow on their hip.  If your elbow comes to the inside an armdrag is pretty easy for the bottom person.

From turtle bottom I was killing it with the granby, I have even more confidence with this than before.  I did have tough rolls with both Jordan and Ben.

I've also gained confidence in my lasso guard recently.  I think this is my open guard (if you don't count cross guard as an open guard).  I think I'm going to be researching this for the foreseeable future.

Office Hours Partner: Jess, Tom

Had a good roll with Jess and talked a bit about passing guard after.  I tried to get him to focus more on technique rather than the always stack and move forward that he's good at from prior experience.  I think it sunk in today.  Tom and I also had some good rolls and discussed mount escape and deep half afterward.


Wednesday, November 9, 2016

November 9th 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Half Guard Knee Slide Pass, Granby Roll from Turtle
Partner: Ben, Tom

Had a good session today but not a lot of time to write so I'll talk more about techniques of the week tomorrow.  Jerad had us do the o-soto a little differently by making them step forward to help off balance them.  I got to show off my granby skills since Jerad's neck is bothering him a bit.  We both hit on that a huge part of the technique is believing that you can do it with someone on you giving you pressure.

Rolling: Turtle Up/Down/Out
Rolled With: Ben, Tom

Had some great turtle battles and was surprised a few times by both of them.  My strategy from the top was to get to the back after getting some grips.  One of the big parts of this is that the bottom leg is the more important hook to get in.  From bottom I spammed trying to granby every time and got it a few times but had to resort to half guard the other times. 

De La Riva came up at one point and Jerad showed us some details to the back step pass that I kind of liked and didn't know about.  I may look into this further although not many people at the school play DLR.

Office Hours Partner: Tom

We worked on some cross and spider guard and I showed him the lasso version of the shin sweep which I prefer to the spider guard version.  We rolled a few times where I used the lasso and a modified cross guard a few times.  


Tuesday, November 8, 2016

November 8th 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Attacking the Back: RNC, Kimura Grip to Armbar
Partner: Jess

Great class on something that I'm always striving to be better at.  I'm getting there as I do feel more in control in back mount and I'm able to transition and keep a dominant position if they start to escape.  I'm not quite there yet with the hand fighting and arm trapping aspects of it.  The kimura grip to armbar was very solid and is a much better version to armbar than what I was doing before which was pretty much just framing against side of their head as I kick my leg over. 

Rolling: Back Mount, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Jess, Mike

Was able to control and escape pretty well from back mount today but didn't come very close to finishing.  I think it has mostly to do with my partners being able to control my attacking hand so I have to think on what I'm doing to allow this.  Butterfly hooks from back mount have become a staple in me keeping a dominant position and am glad that I attended those classes where Greg showed the transitions to maintain back mount.

Office Hours Partner: Mike, Jess

Frank and I did a shark tank for Mike and apparently we're going to be doing this more often until his fight next month.  I did the stand-up rounds with him and Frank started in top positions on the ground.  We worked hard to wear him out and I think we succeeded.  I reinforced my belief that I suck at takedowns which is kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. 

However, Mike gave me some pointers to attempt more wrestling takedowns from a clinch rather than try to shoot from too far away.  This finally sunk in because I've had it wrong in my head for a long time.  I felt like I had to attempt shots if I was at a distance and then go for Judo type throws if I was clinched up.  We talked about the duck under and arm drag and I'm feeling some inspired about doing no gi stand-up next time.

Practiced the waiter sweep with Jess and showed Mike that I'm changing the direction I take it to direct the my leg more toward the knee.  This should prevent the ankle lock positions I've been falling into while performing this sweep and also makes it easier to sprawl into the over under pass.  Rolled with Jess a little after that with a focus on trying to catch him in a trap and being more flowy (also being a little lazy). 



Sunday, November 6, 2016

November 5th 2016 - Open Mat

Open Mat
Rolled With: Andy, Derek, Brian G, Craig, Austin, Henry

Almost forgot to write this. I had a good day of rolling but didn't feel very strong or aggressive.

I had my very tough rolls with Henry and Derek. I was a little more relaxed with both of them than usual.  I think it helped and I need to find a happy medium of how much energy I use during different parts of the roll.

I did a lot of coaching through the other rolls and gave a few peaks into things that I do or techniques that other people catch me with.  Brian said that he appreciated it which is nice to hear as I also want to avoid being patronizing.

All in all it was kind of a blah day. I'm questioning if I should continue using waiter sweep as it seems to be putting me into leg lock positions with people known to do those techniques. The shin sweep may be the more valid attack for me.

Friday, November 4, 2016

November 4th 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Standing Guillotine Defense to Von Flue, Half Guard with Underhook: Take the back, Regain Guard

Since there were uneven groups and I'm a big time important instructor, I didn't really partner up today but helped with the techniques.  Probably the detail I helped with the most was pulling their body across to help with getting back to full guard. 

Rolling: Half Guard, Full Guard, Open Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Craig, Morgan, Jesus, Jess

I tried to be flowy today and also played a bit of lasso guard. 

Morgan just recently returned and I was impressed that he still knows stuff.  He still has some guard skills and did a good job avoiding my passes and hunting triangles. 

I was playing some loose open guard with Jesus, and he jumped on a nice straight ankle lock.  I was in trouble but he just didn't have my toes in the right place and putting the boot on saved me.  I will have to take him a little more seriously going forward.

Office Hours Partner: Jess, Conan

Rolled with Jess a couple times and my goal is to break him of his always move forward in his opponent's closed guard to stack.  I think it works for him a little bit against white belts as he's decent at stacking but it would serve him a little better to work on breaking open the guard with posture. 


Conan and I had a couple of good rolls.  I tried to relax a little bit and look for stability in framing.  I had a pretty well timed side control escape that he was impressed with.  In the process of attempting to pass his guard at another point he turtled up and had control of my far arm and we had a circular battle trying to get top position.  I ended up gassing soon after that. 

Just saw a totally awesome deep half to calf cutter that I can't wait to try.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH59psgDiBV/

Thursday, November 3, 2016

November 3rd 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Standing Guillotine Defense to Von Flue, Half Guard with Underhook: Take the back, Regain Guard
Partner: Ben

Before starting class I went over some posture control from closed guard with Daniel.  I think I gave him a few pointers that I like to use while playing closed guard.

Apparently my left shoulder is better at Von Flue than my right.  Ben kept saying I was choking a lot better on that side.

Ben noticed that I was going for the RNC during the transition to back mount instead of securing the position first and then going for the choke.  I helped him work through that to and we figured out that you kind of let them fall into it as you are hip escaping. 

Rolling: Half Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Ben, Frank, Daniel

Had some good rolls from half guard and tried to be as diverse as possible and attempt some different things.  I made it to deep half a few times and was able to use the shin sweep effectively.

From the top I avoided the hip switch and wanted to transition to x-pass or smash pass more.

Office Hours Partner: Frank

He asked about possibilities to defend my x-pass setup to which I showed some de la Riva.  Greg saw us working on it and asked if I was becoming a DLR guy kind of excitedly which makes me wonder if I should dabble in it a bit more.  Most of what I know about it came from Alejandro.

November 2nd 2016 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Half Guard with Underhook: Take the back, Regain Guard, Plan B Sweep
Partner: Jess, Daniel

One of my favorite weeks in the beginner curriculum, mostly because we get to do positional sparring from half guard.  Some pointers on half guard bottom in general:
  • Always control the inside space
  • Avoid being flat on your back
  • Monitor their cross face arm
  • Always be searching for an underhook with your elbow
  • When getting an underhook try to get their armpit over your shoulder
  • Use your legs, don't just triangle your legs and try to hold them in place.  Use your legs to move your opponents around.

Rolling: Half Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Jerad, Tom, Daniel, Ben

Jerad and I both gave each other a hard time. He joked that 2 minutes may not be enough time to pass my half guard.

With the other rolls I did my best to play a pretty straight forward game from top and bottom and didn't resort to deep half.

I showed Daniel how to get to butterfly half a d saw a light bulb form over his head when he I showed him that I plant my foot and move their leg over the top of it.

Office Hours Partner: Tom

We rolled a few times as I attempted to setup lasso guard and he didn't let me.  I continued to be in open guard until setting up an arm drag. His sife control defenses are getting quite good and I had to use an unorthodox method to finish my baseball bat choke with my knee to assist.

We worked on cross guard for a while and to help him get the omoplata I had him exaggerate the movement a lot to get his hips up high enough to push the wrist into place.


Tuesday, November 1, 2016

November 1st 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Standing Guard Break, Split Pass, Lumberjack Sweep
Partner: Bhuvana

Great class today.  I'm slowly working my way into doing split pass while rolling.  It's not completely a part of my game unless I just find myself there.  There was quite a bit of concern with standing to break guard and avoiding the double ankle sweep. The lumberjack sweep is not my favorite.  I seem to have a hard time keeping my guard closed through the whole technique.  I especially focused on that today.

Rolling: Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Bhuvana, John, Mike, Tom

Had a couple of things in mind while rolling. On the bottom if half guard occurred I was going to attempt Krab guard first and go to deep half if it failed. Then waiter sweep.

On top I wanted the guard break of the day or tozi pass.

Office Hours Partner: Mike

We played around with krab guard for a while and I showed him my idea of going to it from a failed scissor sweep.  I think it's doable.

We rolled a couple of times but it all seems to run together from rolling earlier.  At some point I hit a shin sweep from deep half and turned it into single leg-x.  I lost position when attempting to switch to full x-guard.  He showed me that I should have reaped the knee to go for a heel hook or during the transition I should have pulled on his knee to keep him from back stepping.

There were a couple times when we were rolling in guard that a sweep happened but we didn't notice because we lost a sense of it from fighting for leg locks.