March 13th 2017 - Gi Advanced

Theme & Techniques: Deep Half Waiter Sweep!
Partner: Henry

I'm on a bachelor's week with my wife and kids out of town for their spring break. I really miss advanced classes.

Greg has been teaching deep half lately and tonight was waiter sweep.  Henry sought me out to be his partner and said I might have some things to share.

A couple of small suggestions that make a difference are:

• During the entry protect against the cross face until your head can get to their hip.
• After that extending your arm to move under them instead of pulling them over you.
• During the sweep direct your pressure toward their knee

Rolling: Half Guard KOTM
Rolled With: Henry, Ben, Adam, Greg, John, David, Jerad

Rolling was tough, everyone was dangerous and had a chance to sweep or pass. I had quite a few close battles. Unfortunately I didn't go for deep half very much, I was looking more for the z-guard, knee shield twist sweep, and loop choke.  I had some successes and some learning experiences.

I probably will keep most of the posts short this week as I need to get more rest than usual to do a couple classes a day. Oh and I swept Greg today, so there's that.

December 28th 2016 - Gi Advanced

Theme & Techniques: Straight Ankle Lock Series to Leg Drag
Partner: Clint

Mike showed a sequence of the basic straight ankle lock to switching their leg to the top side.  Then if we couldn't get the tap there move to a leg drag position.  This showed another use of the butterfly guard walk motion.  Leg drag is still something I need to put some time into as I know it works on me, I just haven't found entries that work for me yet.

Rolling: KOTM Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Mike, Clint, Patty, John, David, Henry

Class kicked my ass tonight.  It's been a while since I attended an advanced class and I'm not used to all of the talent.  I'm going to have to go a little harder when I roll in the all level day classes to challenge my cardio and get back my edge.  Not to say that I did poorly in class, I think I rolled pretty well, but I did gas toward the end.

Grip fighting was probably the most noticeable difficulty and my fingers are feeling it.  So I will be focusing on that a little more, getting the grips that I want and going for it.  I also found myself in de la riva a few times and I might need to narrow down a few go to techniques from there because I feel like I pause when I get to the position.

July 18th 2016 - Gi Advanced

Theme & Techniques: Neon Belly: Farside Armbar, Kimura
Partner: Josh M

Haven't been to a knee on belly class in a while and enjoyed the techniques although my NS Choke wasn't covered. One small detail that Greg showed for the armbar was instead of directing it to bis shoulder he kind of put his elbow on the wrist to kind of lock it in place. I think I was doing this but didn't realize it.

Rolling: KOB, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Josh, Lucas, Mike, Henry, Adam

Didn't have my best class today rolling wise. Not much I did worked.  I hate leaving class feeling this way, questioning if I'm any good and not knowing where to put focus to improve. Am I tired from 7 days in a row sometimes multiple classes in a day? Am I expecting too much out of myself when rolling with the killers in advanced class?

All that being said it wasn't a total disaster. I avoided quite a few submissions, regained guard a few times, won a few battles for top position. Hell if I can figure out what the difference is between a good class and a bad one in my head.

Ugh, okay positive thoughts.  Days like this are good for lighting the fire. Making me search tournament footage and instructionals to solve the problems I'm experiencing.  All I can do is trust that as long as I stick with it, I'll get better and a good day is around the corner.

Apologies to anyone reading this far hopefully that didn't sound like a request for pity. Just didn't feel like a play by play of everything. This is like my therapy and I already feel a little better.

July 14th 2016 - No Gi Advanced

Theme & Techniques: Darce Choke, Japanese Necktie
Partner: Jellybean

Haven't practiced the Darce for a while, It'll come up during rolling every now and again but it's not something I setup on purpose.

I think the Japanese Necktie may be my new favorite choke.  It was a little deceptive as when I've seen it done it looked like it was difficult to control. It seems perfect for my shorter arms.

Rolling: Side Control, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Adam, Mo, Mike, Jerad

Side control with Adam was challenging from top and bottom, at least in gi I feel like I have a little more control. It's good for me though and I need the adversity to get better.

With Mo I found a new north/south setup off of the armpit cross face, can't wait to try it a few more times and show it to Greg.

With both Mike and Jerad had some opportunities to sweep with x-guard but failed miserably. Mike and discussed it after class.

We had a couple of wrestlers visit class today and it was a pleasure for a few of us watching Henry getting taken down after class. Seemed like some good guys that would be good additions to the class.

July 13th 2016 - Gi Advanced

Theme & Techniques: Passing Spider Guard: Split Pass, Leg Drag
Partner: Shane

Spider guard is something I haven't worked a long time and it really showed today.  I enjoyed working the split pass especially the leg drag variation.  The thing that I needed to work on most was posting my rear leg out as that felt the most unnatural.

Rolling: Spider Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Shane, Darijo, Lucas, Adam, Mike

Super tough class for me. I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time concentrating on spider guard. Lasso helped a little as I have some go to techniques from there.

From the top I felt like I should have attempted the passes that we worked on with more initiative, but I felt like that would be expected. I didn't do much better with the other passes that I know. Besides making my way to being able to pressure or get to half guard.

June 6th 2016 - Gi Advanced & Beginner

Quite an eventful day for my last day of bachelordom 2016.  I got Conan and Fuji interested in the Back Buddy Jr. I should probably get a referral bonus.  Then I think I startled everyone when I used my Marine voice at the end of advanced class and shouted at Derek, "ON YOUR FEET, MARINE!"  Not sure if Greg appreciated that but I think I surprised a couple people that perceive me as the soft spoken guy.  

Advanced
Theme & Techniques: Omoplata Finishing triangling the legs under the arm or under the leg
Partner: Mark

Greg had us start the omoplata from shin on bicep guard.  One key thing that I forgot about setting up the omoplata from this guard is that both arms go to the side of the arm that you are going to do the technique on to control posture.  Then the techniques were in response to them basing out with either their far hand or leg and weaving the outside leg under them.  It kind of turned into the same pressure that I use when doing the crucifix omoplata. Great topic for me!

Rolling: Closed Guard KOTM, Free Rolling

I feel much better about my performance today than last Wednesday.  My back not being as tight was a huge improvement.  I played some cross guard of course and hit some omoplata sweeps and submissions.  One of the coolest things I hit was a barata plata.  I was trying to get the triangle and didn't feel like I could close my legs properly.  I set up the arm correctly and stepped over the head and it was right there.  I think I might use this as a goto for big guys that I get to triangle position in but have no chance of securing the legs.

Beginner
Theme & Techniques: Kesa Getami Leg Over Head to Armbar, Turtle Turnover to Side and Back Control
Partner: Angie

Felt bad for Angie as my gi was already damp with sweat.  She said she didn't mind.  I'll probably save my tips on the techniques of the week for Wednesday's post.  This was the first time I worked with Angie and besides a few pointers seemed like she knew the techniques pretty well.

Rolling: Turtle
Rolled With: Angie, John


Angie did pretty well from the top position with giving pressure on my hips and searching for the grips.  I surprised her a few times with the granby.  John was all over me from the top threatening the back.  We had some good exchanges where I really had to scramble to keep him from taking my back. 

Office Hours: Brian M.

Brian asked me to go over the hip switch guard pass again since we touched on it Friday morning.  I showed him the basics of the position and then went off on all of the possibilities that I like to go into from there.  Kimura to submit or to help with the pass, Push on the knee and Back Step, Go to Quarter Guard, Back to Knee Slide, or attempt EZKill Choke, etc.  I could see that it was getting to be too much.  So I told him to just keep it simple and get to the position for now and then work to get his foot free.  The other stuff will come with time. 

June 2nd 2016 - Gi Beginner & No Gi Advanced

Gi Beginner 
Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Half Guard Knee Slide Pass, Turtle Granby Roll
Partner: Henry

Gonna make this a quick one. Had a good time working the techniques with Henry. After the guard pass we transitioned into either the quickest or the coolest submissions we could think of.

Rolling: Half Guard, Turtle
Rolled With: Henry, Wes

During my roll with Henry I move to a double leg and when I pushed with my head my upper back got super tight. So I dealt with that the rest of the night.

Did turtle with Wes who I hadn't met before, apparently he switched places with Ross. Seems like a friendly guy.  He did a pretty good job from the top of turtle with messing with collar grips.

No Gi Advanced 
Theme & Techniques: Guillotines from Headlock position and Closed Guard
Partner: Mark

Got to work with our visitor Mark and I think he had a pretty good time with the class. After class he said he was impressed with Mike and Jerad.

I had worked on the first technique a couple of weeks ago so I was familiar with it. I felt great about getting into position with my shin.

The second was new to me. We got an underhook and off to the side. If they grab the bicep we bring the arm over to hand it off to the overhooked hand. From there we release the guard and sit up into the guillotine. I like it.

Rolling: Closed Guard KOTM, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Quite a few people

Rolling is a bit of a blur. Just trying not to injure myself further and take it easy. I did some good things and got passed and swept a few times.  Had some good rolls with Jerad, Charles, and Cat.

June 1st 2016 - Gi Advanced

Theme & Techniques: Hip Bump to Triangle
Partner: Henry

Had a rough time tonight it was already hot in the school when I got there and the warm-up was super tough.  My gi got soaked and I was probably dehydrated from how much sweating I did from this class and the 10 am class.  I'll have to plan a little better tomorrow to make sure I get plenty of water and sustenance.

The triangle transition was fun.  Instead of bringing the arm over the shoulder we grabbed the back of the collar instead and invited them to post out during the sweep attempt. From there we climbed up the back and brought the leg out and over their arm to lock up the triangle. Omoplata was also a valid option from what I saw.

Rolling: Closed Guard KOTM, Shark Tank Tournament goers
Rolled With: Mike, Tyler, Adam, Derek, Henry, David, Justin

I started as one of the first out and did pretty well the first 3 rounds, then I had a pretty bad cramp under my rib. It took a while to recover from that plus feeling exhausted didn't help and I made some mistakes that I shouldn't have. Tyler especially surprised me a few times.

I was going to stay for the beginner class but felt too wiped and a little discouraged from my performance in advanced class and decided to go home.

July 20th 2015 - Gi Advanced & Beginner

Advanced
Theme & Techniques: Rolling Back Take
Partner: Jordan, Jerad

This will be my last evening class for a while so I figured I'd do both of them to finish off my tough week of training.  Greg took my suggestion from earlier in the day to heart and we worked on some back take stuff.  I agree with him that doing the rolling back take from quarter guard is a great way to learn it.  It's the way I have the most success with using it during rolling anyway. 

I focused mainly on grabbing the foot during the roll and the switching of grips.  Sometimes I'm a bit lazy and don't replace the hip grips as efficiently as I think I should. 

Rolling: Quarter Guard Position (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (3 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Jerad, Henry, Alejandro, Gina, Jordan

Rolling starting from quarter guard was difficult.  Sometimes when we start from an advantageous position I feel a little guilt that I have the upper hand and give the other person the first move.  This will get me into trouble.  If I got there during the course of a roll I feel like I'll fight harder to keep the position.  Regardless I had some success even attempting the rolling back take a few times.  From the bottom, I had some success with getting to deep half.

I got to roll with our new brown belt, Alejandro for the first time.  It was very interesting.  I didn't feel much resistance to start with, he more like led me down a path kind of making me put myself into trouble.  I was able to go to deep half a couple times to escape.  I attempted a sweep and thought I might succeed but he was able to beat my grip and put me into a triangle.  The other thing that I noticed was that he controlled my knee quite a bit in side control, instead of going for the underhook.  I hope to roll with him more in the future.

Beginner
Theme & Techniques: Head Lock Escape to Armbar, Turtle Turnover to Side Mount & Back Mount
Partner: Helped teach

A couple of tips for the techinques:

• When freeing the elbow it's okay to use your legs multiple times, also move the shoulder away underneath you instead of just spinning in place.
• For the turn over most students didn't pull tight and down to the hip once they got the grip across the belly.  It's so important.
• When going for backmount make sure you only roll a little bit to get the bottom hook in and then roll back to that side.  The underhook side should be the up side in back mount.

Rolling: Turtle Position (4 x 2 min)
Rolled With: Henry, Brian (Firefighter), Phil

My back attacks are feeling pretty good lately.  I feel like the concept of the bottom hook being the most important has improved my back mount exponentially lately. 

Greg worked with me a bit on attacking the turtle by getting to the crotch lock and roll as Ryan Hall teaches by grabbing the far ankle and then getting my hook in and then maneuvering their other leg into a hook.

July 16th 2015 - Drilling Open Mat & No Gi Advanced

I'll make this post quick since I have to be up to teach in the morning.  I'm feeling pretty good after these 3 days of enhanced training.  It was great to get some no gi in as well.  

Drilling Open Mat
Partner: Henry
Techniques: Deep Half Position, Head Lock Turtle Position

Deep half felt pretty good.  The waiter sweep is being a little elusive, I thought I was getting good at it but sometimes I get stuck with it not able to complete the sweep.  I helped Henry with taking the back a bit.  Then he helped me with dealing with wrestlers a bit.  He made the comment that I was probably trying to maintain side control too long and instead sometimes it's better to accept that turtle is happening and transition to deal with that.  We went over some headlock stuff as well and I found it all very helpful. 

Theme & Techniques: Butterfly Guard Arm Drag, Hand Fighting to Hook Sweep, Kneeling Knee Tap
Partner: Adam

I feel pretty good about my hook sweep in general, but there were times that it didn't feel right against Adam.  Not sure if it's because he's so wide or because he's heavier than most that I roll with.  The knee tap was a little difficult for me, but I think that is mostly because I wasn't hanging off my opponent like Greg told me after class. 

Rolling: Butterfly Guard (4 x 3 min), Free Rolling (3 x 5 min)
Rolled With: Adam, Caroline, Henry, Mike, Greg

Had some good rolls with everyone.  I ended up in some interesting leg lock positions with Mike and after some back and forth he submitted me with a knee bar.  My roll with Greg probably stands out the most.  It's amazing how easily he was putting me into the smash pass position when I thought I was in a decent guard.  He submitted me with head and arm choke twice, not sure if that is something he's working on now or something that I'm being more susceptible to.

Office Hours Partner: Greg

I asked Greg about the underhook in butterfly guard and why people are able to stand up in my guard some times.  He helped me with some minor adjustments on the position.  One thing was that he is kind of hanging off of his opponent or falling to the side once he gets the underhook.  This is something I could feel, I'll try to replicate when I get a chance to work on the position again.

July 15th 2015 - Gi All Levels & Gi Advanced

Morning Class
Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Half Guard Knee Slide Pass, Granby Roll from Turtle
Partner: Mike, Brian (Back Draft)

My lower back was a little tight this morning but felt better after the warm-up.  Had some trouble with the knee slide and I think it had mostly to do with my knee pads.  I keep forgetting to hold the sleeve.  We did some trying to power through if they got the gi grip and it was a little tough. 

Rolling: Half Guard (4 x 2 min), Turtle Position (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (5 min)
Rolled With: Mike, Morgan, Greg, Austin, Brian

I felt better with regaining guard or half guard from turtle rather than granby rolling.  Although I did make some attempts.  From the top I had some success with getting the bottom hook in while attempting the Judo turnover.  Mike had shown me a little trick yesterday that worked well for me where instead of placing my knee and pulling them over, I get on the toes of that foot and pull them over my leg and then the hook can pop right in. 

Office Hours Partner: Brian, Mike

I worked with Brian on the shaolin sweep variation and he seemed to like it.  Hopefully I don't share it with too many people before I get good at it.  I think I just need to get it to a point where I get my grips and then can pull them into it.

Mike and I had a conversation about position and submission and how they don't have to necessarily be separate things.  He used Greg's back control as an example how it starts as back mount position and then it just gets worse and worse until you have to tap, but there is no point where you would say okay now he's going for the choke it's more of a process.  I'll have to gather my thoughts on it more.

Advanced 
Theme & Techniques: Spider Guard to Single Leg X against Combat Base
Partner: Adam

It was great to get to an advanced class and work on something outside of the beginner curriculum.  Had a few problems with this at first.  To get a butterfly hook on their up leg I had to shrimp out more.  I also had some trouble getting my other leg into x-guard.  After that we would end in the split pass.

Rolling: Spider Guard (6 x 3 min), Free Rolling (5 min)
Rolled With: Adam, Gina, Robert, Henry

Had some success with spider guard from top and trying to pass it.  I felt like a few times I was putting myself into the double ankle sweep.  Probably the best thing I did was a lasso sweep with Robert.  Mike was watching and made a comment about what Robert could have done to defend to which I said something like "come on, can't you put it in a positive way and say good job for me?"  Only joking of course.  Henry whooped my butt pretty good in free rolling. 

After class I went over a few deep half things with Henry mostly concerning hooking the foot.  He's been watching the Ryan Hall DVD so anything that I can share I will.  Hopefully I get him to help me get better at defending wrestling.

March 1st 2015 - Weekly Review

Focus of the Week: Preventing Opponent's Grips, Back Takes

Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Standing Headlock Defense Hammer Lock RNC, Elbow Escape From Mount, Armbar from Mount
Partnered and Rolled With: Anthony, Dave, Zack, Greg, Conan, Robert, Jeff, Zack


I think I realized for the first time this week that the objective of the elbow escape is to get them to lift their leg.  I always thought I was trying to shrimp out between their knees and if they came up that was a plus.  Kind of silly now that I think about it.

Helped my partners with a couple things here and there.  Like for the headlock defense to not go down to your knees too soon.  If they're not down yet they may be able to push against you and gain some leverage.  For the mount escape, my partner wasn't always covering my calf before freeing the first leg.  I caught myself doing this a couple times too.

On Friday to make this go faster we added in the scissor sweep.  So once we did our escape we would go right into scissor and the other person would be in mount.  2 techniques for the price of one.
During mount positional sparring I felt pretty good about my mount escapes but not so good on my mount attacking.  I got some upa escapes and the elbow escape but mostly went to half or deep half.  From the top I wasn't getting any good collar grips and even if I did I don't have much faith in the cross choke.  Ezekiel is always there but people have been doing better at blocking it lately.

Advanced: Turtle farside single leg counter - Leg americana, Roll to Reverse Omoplata, Switch Reverse Omoplata
Partnered and Rolled With: Adam, Mike, Brian (AF), Will, Henry

Ido Pariente was in town and came and taught class Wednesday night.  It was a pretty tough warm-up.  I got through it all so I guess I'm still in okay shape, but don't get me wrong I was huffing and puffing at the end.  We did some jogging and various animal walking and Jiu-Jitsu type movements down the floor.  Some of the guys were having trouble with the cartwheels and other more gymnastic like motions.  I need to improve on my back roll to hand stand.  One exercise that he made clear was important was a four point movement where you turn 90 degrees four times going from bear crawl to crab walk.

The techniques were pretty cool although I don't end up in the position too often.  It's when you are attacking from top turtle and they grab the far (wrong) leg.  The first movement was to make a knee strike motion to their elbow so the other leg could scissor the arm for the americana type motion.  I got Adam pretty good the first time and I think it scared him a little bit.

The second move we did the windshield wiper type motion to switch their hand to be under the other leg.  Then take the outside arm and feed it under their leg to grab their pants near the knee.  Then rolling.  At first only half way to see if they roll or not.  If they don't you can get the tap there.  If they do you follow them switch hands on the knee grip and put your other hand in their armpit.  Then taking the legs back to the side.

The alternative was mostly for bigger guys like Adam and I.  Instead of rolling after switching the arm we reached across to the opponent's leg for a switch type grip.  Then putting belly pressure down on the back of their head.  Also effective but I had a little trouble connecting my hands.

Ido tried to roll with everyone that he could, unfortunately I wasn't one of them.  I did have some great rolls regardless.
Adam: I struggled to keep my guard and felt like I made some good moves.  Eventually he passed and I dealt with quite a few butchers and was never able to get any semblance of guard back.  I kept him from submitting me but it sucks being on the bottom.

Mike:  I sat guard and we had a decent exchange as I played some de las riva and deep half guard.  He finally passed my guard when I was in deep half and he got his leg free.  Eventually I regained before the round was over.

Brian: I wasn't able to submit Brian this time, he did a good job defending.  I was mostly on top in side control and mount.  I attempted to setup the rolling back take but I think he was wise to my scheme.  I was working on isolating arms trying to pry them off while dealing with his monster bridges.  I'm feeling pretty good about my mount control lately but not about my submissions.

Will: I haven't seen him for quite a while.  He gave me a little bit of trouble as I was passing his guard.  What finally worked for me though was the back stroke to knee grab and push that I saw Greg do a couple Tuesdays ago.  I think this may be one of those times when something is automatically enveloped into my game.  I ended up keeping him in mount for a while.  He attempted his inverted escape but I was just barely able to get low enough to stop it.  I ended up in technical mount after attempting a bow & arrow and switched to an ezekiel that I slipped in without him being able to defend.

Henry: I kept him at bay today.   My half guard control is working much better against him and I think the aggression that I'm putting into it to keep the space is helping.  I went to deep half guard a couple of times and felt like I had good control although I never was able to sweep him yet.  I went from turtle to deep half.  Even though I had an underhook he kept pushing me back down with his overhook.  He did pass my guard at one point but I was able to regain it back. 

Open Mat
Rolled With: Austin, Ben, Bauer, Tami

Got in some drilling time with Greg between the kids class and open mat.  He was drilling some back take stuff.  I drilled the Rolling back take from mount first.  Some of the big takeaways were putting the second leg over their shin before rolling.  Controlling the arm or hip after kicking their leg over.  The second thing I worked on was the back roll from the omoplata when they posture.  The big thing Greg suggested was to be more explosive with it.  I also need to keep a hold of the wrist as I'm going over.  The last technique I worked on was the basic butterfly sweep.  I thought I had this down pretty well but he gave me some valuable pointers.  I wasn't squeezing their arm enough on the overhook arm.  Then I was trying to get out of the way when doing the sweep.  Greg actually wants me to push into them more and this made a huge difference but it was only a little different movement.

Austin: He did a good job of defending my armbars today.  There was one point when I had him in an omoplata and he initiated the roll.  I decided to roll again for good measure.  I was trying to work on my butterfly guard, but he kept standing up so I went to x-guard.  He said that kept happening to him, duh if you try to stand up in someone's butterfly you get put in x-guard. 

Ben: I hit a mounted triangle from side mount that I was surprised worked out so well.  I did miss putting his arm high into my hip.  I think after last week he's enjoying going a little harder with me and not holding back.  Not that I'm being mean but the thing that I won't let him have is grips of any kind.

Bauer: Always a pleasure testing myself against him.  From technical mount I fed his collar to my under hand and then controlled his head.  It was kind of a bow and arrowish choke.  In our other roll I went to single leg-x at one point and did the technical standup sweep.  I was able to submit him with kimura from north/south.  I attempted an omoplata from mount at one point but couldn't figure out how to put my leg over his head for the twisting armbar. 

Greg showed him an escape from the hip switch half guard escape and Bauer and I drilled it quite a few times.  You grab the belt and use your elbow to keep them from getting too high on your chest.  Then wrap the leg and attempt to move to mount, if they push back you go to back mount.  Bauer also worked on the gordo sweep and the triangle choke.  I gave him some pointers on pushing the knee that I saw in the video to make the triangle tighter.  He was having trouble keeping bigger guys' posture down when transitioning to the side.

Tami: She is very good at defending.  I was surprised at how well she defended her neck and kept her arms in.  I attempted some collar chokes that she got out and fought her turtle a little bit.  We rolled a couple times and I gained some respect for her defenses since this was the first time we rolled together.

February 1st 2015 - Weekly Review

Focus of the Week: Maintaining Half Guard Frame and No Inches Given

Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Standing Guillotine Defense, Bottom Half Guard to Back or Full Guard Recover
Partnered and Rolled With: Brian (Backdraft), Bhuvana, Harvey, Austin, Zack, Greg, Conan, Anthony

It is kind of weird to work with people that aren't familiar with the position and don't realize how important the underhook and the whizzer are.  I remember it being a huge epiphany at the time and for quite a while everything was about the underhook.

Greg was having us push them forward with our back leg once we had the seat belt grip to knock them over before getting the hooks in.  I don't recall if we did it this way last time or just pulled them to the side, but I do like this.  For the guard recovery he shared another tidbit that when switching the feet we could put them together instead of crossing them.  I was getting my feet tied up during that part so it helped.

During Rolling Greg surprised me with some tricks from bottom half guard to acquire the underhook.  He was using the twist sweep as a way to open me up to base out.  Then he was moving right into the torque sweep.  I didn't feel like I had a chance of keeping him from getting the underhook.

Brian helped me work out the torque sweep under Greg's supervision a little after class Tuesday.  I was missing a couple of things that make it immensely easier.  Grabbing the leg and stiff-arming the knee is a necessity and then doing a roll over the head like the kesa getami escape is also very helpful.

I have a note not to mention submitting Conan with a north/south choke on Friday ;). I think I'm breaking through to the point where he'll take me more seriously.  In our second roll he went more on the offensive.  I made it to x-guard but he had his knee on the ground and I couldn't do anything about it.  Greg gave me some pointers the following day.

Advanced: Alternatives to Triangle - Armbar, Twisting Armlock, Americana, Stacked Armbar
Partnered and Rolled With: Adam, Conan, Jerad, Gina, Sara, Jordan

Adam and I were pretty okay with this class since we normally don't get the triangle anyway these were options for us.  Conan received a crash course on the techniques before Greg left for the night.  I kind of wish we had gone over the barato plata but I know that wasn't on the agenda.

We did some guard king of the mat which I always enjoy.  I was really impressed with Jordan's guard.  He was relentless with his grips and his push/pull felt strong.  Hopefully he feels like he's back at 100% since his injury.  I had a couple of wars with Adam.  I came so close to passing his guard but he was able to get to his knees and double leg me.  It's good because it makes our technique better but it can also be frustrating.

I got very close to sweeping Conan.  I threw out a lot of tricks attempted scissor sweep went for omoplata, he defended and then I went for it again and I started doing the new submission setup but somehow he got free.  At one point I attempted to do the back roll escape when he stacked me but it failed.  I think I need to drill this again as it seems to be the thing that makes me fail the most.  I also think I need to be a little more rough with this submission when I attempt it on someone standing.  I go too easy and am not acting confident enough in it.

January 18th 2015 - Weekly Review

Personal Focus of the Week: Back Takes, More Aggressive Guard, Beginnings of the Barato Plata


Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Technical Stand-up, Closed Guard - Hip Bump Sweep & Kimura
Partnered and Rolled With: Bhuvana, Mike (Lawyer), Riley (New Guy), Ben, Greg

I haven't had much confidence with the hip bump sweep lately.  I've tried it off and on during rolling but I must be telegraphing too much because I seem to get shut down pretty easily.  I think the creating space part is the hardest for me.  I don't want to give that space up but I need it to get the leverage.  I just need to go for it with a little confidence.  I may try to incorporate it more as it is different from the stuff in my usual game. 

Kimura is fine and it comes every so often for me, more so from half guard.  I watched a video of passing the half guard with the kimura that gave me some ideas that I tried during rolling a couple times this week. 

After class Greg gave me some details on the omoplata finish that he learned from Tinguinha.  Grab their pant leg and stiff arm.  Next hip out away from them driving them down and making yourself heavy.  Reach up with the free hand and grab the far hip.  Then pull them over.  I did it once or twice this week and it's an instant add to the game.

Advanced: Triangle Setups: Basic, Overhook, Scissor Sweep
Partnered and Rolled With: Conan, Adam, Greg, Fuji, Gina

Had some good things happen in advanced class, working on the triangle with Adam wasn't one of them.  I just couldn't find an angle that would allow me to lock it up.  I still got him to tap but that wouldn't have happened if he was resisting.  Conan I could lock up and he said a couple times that my triangle was very tight.  Pretty much because I have no choice with my short legs.  I prefer the overhook setup to the others at least that's what I've practiced the most.  Greg said we'll be working on the triangle for 6 weeks so I have that to look forward to.  Hopefully we cover the mounted triangle at some point because that's something I can do.

My crowning achievement was when I passed Adam's guard during king of the mat.  The first time I almost did it but he was able to get up to turtle and then take me down.  I attempted a guillotine but it was all for not.  I think I need to be a little more aggressive with my guillotines.  The second time we rolled I avoided some wrist locks that he tried and waited for him to open his guard.  I attempted the over under but got sucked into his half guard.  I avoided his lock down by keeping my heel tight to butt.  I went back and forth from the hip switch to the tripod pass and eventually I isolated his arm and was fighting for the kimura.  It allowed me to get my leg free and I just had to keep good pressure so he couldn't get up.  Yes!  Although I expect it to be much more difficult next time.

Open Mat
Rolled With: Ross, Ben, Jordan

Didn't roll with too many people yesterday, but not on purpose.  I ended up giving out a lot of advice and help to my partners.  The competition class is screwing up my flow.  After it was over people just kind of sat around, even guys that weren't in the class.  I posted myself in the middle of the mat and waited for someone to look interested in rolling.  I could tell Conan and Gina were talking about me because after peering at me and talking Gina came over and said that she was going to leave and come in for no gi Sunday.  Eventually I just said, "is anyone going to roll today?" and Ross volunteered.

I emphasized my aggressive guard with all of my partners by going for grips and staying up instead of just falling back and waiting for them to come to me.

I assisted Ross with 2 on 1 stuff and how to take the back and some of my strategies for the top half guard position.  I helped Ben with some advice on how to make good pressure in side mount.  He was using his chest way too much and not connecting his knee to my hip.  I also walked him through the butterfly guard and the hook sweep.  I was a training dummy for Conan and Zack while they worked on the arm triangle.

January 11th 2015 - Weekly Review

Focus of the Week: Back Takes


Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Seoi-Nage, Cross Choke from Back Mount, Guillotine from Guard
Partnered and Rolled With: Brian (Backdraft), Gina, Will, Anthony, Dave, Bhuvana, Harvey, Greg


It was nice to work with Brian on the throw and watch his footwork.  It's hard to describe but he steps very lightly when getting into position.  He was also getting very low.  I never really have any problems drilling the throws but I would like to get a better feel for setups. 

During the cross choke I practiced the grip break that Mike showed me last Friday in conjunction and got Brian to do it a few times too.  For the guillotine I did my best to make space efficiently.  That part feels a little sluggish so I will continue to experiment with that.

Greg helped me a bit with a key detail to his seat belt from back mount after class on Friday.  When he did it to me he was saying that he wanted to keep my body more canted and not bring me all the way to the side.  When I practiced it I asked if I should pull down more on the opposite shoulder and he realized that was a big part of it.  Keeping them off the ground but turned is huge.  I also noticed his seat belt was high on my neck at that point and that is another thing that I will change.  

Advanced: Standing Guard Break to Knee Over Pass, Over/Under Pass, Smash Pass
Partnered and Rolled With: Jerad, Fuji, Greg, Brian (AF)

The standing break was a little different than the norm in that we didn't switch the hand grab like we normally do and went push down the opposite leg.  This fed right into the knee over pass position.  I need to keep my elbow in close as I was having trouble remembering to do that.  The follow up knee slide from here was brilliant when they got some type of half guard.  I am starting to see the knee slide being available more often that it was before.

Greg had us chose a kneeling and a standing pass to drill with our partner.  So I chose Over/Under which I'm already quite good at and the x-pass/smash pass as I'm still working on them.  Jerad chose to do the over/under as well and I gave him a few pointers on keeping his head tight and keeping his butt down both things I had a problem with when I first started them.

The x-pass is always fatiguing on the legs as I have to squat quite a bit to get it done.  Jerad gave me some good pointers on going for the mount if I don't get a good underhook off of the smash pass.  He showed me from there you either get the mount or they raise their arm to block and you get the underhook, seemed to work like a charm.  
Open Mat
Rolled With: Conan, Brian (AF), Andrew, Darijo, Jerad

Had a decent day in open mat with some challenging rolls.  It seems like Brian has jumped in skill recently and he's defending some of the things I would catch him with a lot better.  Jerad really has my number lately and it's really making me want to train more to catch and keep up with him.  Conan was nice to me the first part of our roll but turned it up towards the end. 

I was able to get to back mount a few times and tried to work.  I've been reviewing Ryan Hall's back take instructional as well as some of the deep half guard back take stuff.  I think I'm going to cool it on deep half guard for a while and let it happen when it happens.  I'll pick it up again in a few months fresh.

Mike gave me a quick instructional on baratoplata and I worked on it a bit today.  I'm liking it but need some more time to commit it to muscle memory.   

December 21st 2014 - Weekly Review

Focus of the Week: Deep Half to Double Under Pass, Triangle (Yes, Really)

Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Double Leg Takedown, Upa Escape from Mount, Cross Collar from Mount

I enjoyed the double leg practice and really tried to smooth out the steps.  The penetration step is probably the piece that gives me the most trouble.  The cross collar choke works well during drilling but I feel so clumsy trying to get my grips deep enough.  I tried it during rolling a few times but pretty much abandoned it. 

I've been trying to setup triangles as much as I can lately and I think it's bearing some decent fruit.  My biggest problem was controlling their posture when I grab my shin and I feel like I'm tightening that up a little more. 

Robert stayed after class Tuesday for some great rolls.  We had the battle of the north/south chokes and expressed admiration for each others skill.  I went for deep half a few times and he threatened a guillotine which stopped all of my momentum.  I discussed it with Greg later and he said that I should just continue through it to deep half, so I will try that next time.

I rolled with Ben and Ross Friday morning during office hours.  I showed Ben some of the finer points of the arm triangle which he seemed to appreciate, so look out everyone.  Ross' guard passing is getting a lot better.  I'm starting to play more of an aggressive guard with him rather than the more flowy lazy guard that I'll play when I'm trying to be cool.  We talked about darce a little bit and how to defend it.

Advanced: Half Guard Leg Torque Sweep and Variations

This is a sweep that Greg has been drilling quite a bit lately and I'm starting to like it too.  We had a blue belt visitor (Tony) from Houston come in and I got to work with him on the drilling portion of class.  I'm always stoked to work with someone from another school and get a feel for how they do things differently and the same.  We did king of the mat from half guard.  Here are some highlights as I don't remember everything.

• Greg was amazing at getting the underhook from the bottom.  There were a few times that he made me feel like I knew nothing about the half guard.  I hung on a couple times but every time he swept me very smoothly using the torque sweep.
• Mike and I had a few battles.  I was trying my best not to use strength on him but it felt really limiting.  I hit a waiter sweep on him but wasn't able to get up from it.  A different time I had him in a guillotine and as he was getting out of it I recovered full guard.  He was able to sweep me with a tornado sweep that was pretty slick. 
• I screwed up a deep half guard sweep with Jordan and he was able to free his leg and go right into north/south.
• I think I only fought Henry from the bottom and I did a good job both times, but he eventually passed.  Still working on my Henry game plan.

Mike showed me a good deep half guard transition if someone steps over my head.  Usually I would struggle pretty hard to take the back but this was so simple that I just needed to come up and shoot for the underhook.  It takes a little timing, but it is so much more efficient than what I was doing.  Mind blown!

Open Mat

I did some drilling with Greg and he was doing some more half guard sweeps.  Looking back I think I need to focus on some of these.  Deep half is good, but if I can't get there I need something to fall back and I need to work on how to get there too.  I drilled the sweep from deep half that Mike helped me with on Wednesday and Greg approved.  Then I drilled the sweep to double unders and got it pretty well figured out on both sides.  I think I'm going to look into the back takes as well as review the entries next as the sweeps seem to be coming together. 

Our friends Andrew and Adam visit from North Platte.  I only rolled with Adam and he ended up challenging my ego a bit.  We've rolled before and I think we're pretty even for the most part but if he gets on top he's very difficult to roll back over.  We had 2 good rolls where he ended up grinding me out into half guard and then side mount and mount and then submitted me.  I did some good things during the rolls with an omoplata setup and I was in side mount for a while and attempted a baseball bat choke. 

I was a little disappointed in my rolls with him, but I thought about it on the drive home and I really have no reason to be.  I was thinking I should beat him because I just assume that he doesn't train as much as me or with as good of people as I do.  I really had no evidence to base that on; also, who the hell am I.  I'm not so awesome to have the expectation of submitting every visitor.  This does make me want to train harder and diversify the techniques that I focus on.  In the end this is just a game and learning from losing is the best type of learning.  He won the game yesterday and hopefully I will play it better next time.  From now on I need to limit the expectations I put on myself and just roll.  As I write this, I may be blowing my feelings out of proportion a little bit.  I hold no ill will toward Adam or anyone else that submits me but pride can mess with me from time to time.

I rolled with Kat, who was visiting from Lincoln MMA.  She had some good technique and was competent.  I did my best to keep from smashing her though as I don't want to be that guy.  She moved well and had me in side control a few times.  The thing I probably tried the most during our rolling was putting her in x-guard because she kept leaving her combat base leg out pretty far.  We had a good couple of rolls and I hope she returns.

December 14th 2014 - Weekly Review

Focus of the Week: More Deep Half, Over/Under Pass

Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Head Lock Defense w/ Tani Otoshi, Kneeling Guard Break, Single Under Pass

With these particular techniques I'm working on speed and minor details.  My guard break is pretty solid once I get the first hand position on the chest.  For the single under pass I focused on weight distribution and made sure my head never went too high.  I also did some experimenting with immediately going into the Rickson Choke off of the single under pass since the hand is already in the correct position on the collar.  While I didn't have too much of a problem with the throw, during the last couple of reps I discovered I should have been doing more of a circular stepping.

Rolling was great on both days with some guard positional and some free rolling.  Still the classes are too short and I'm glad Ross, Harvey, and Brian (Backdraft) were all willing to roll with me after class.  I attempted the Sao Paulo pass a couple of times that Conan had shown the week before.  I did get stuck in the bottom of half guard a few times which slowed my momentum.  I'm thinking I need to readjust how I frame and maintain space from the half guard.  I often give up too much ground and then have to fight to regain it.

Advanced: Drilling: Deep Half Waiter, X-Pass, Baseball Bat Choke, Sacrifice Shoulder Throw

It was a relatively small class Wednesday night so Greg had us drill techniques of our choosing instead of the normal way.  We did 4 minutes each with a guard technique, guard pass, a submission, and a take down.

I did deep half to waiter with Adam as my partner and even though we were just drilling, his weight and solidness were still something I had to deal with.  The techniques still went well I just need to focus on using my free leg to help pendulum a little more.

My legs were killing me for the x-pass.  My posture felt a bit off and Greg and I both agreed that I was leaning forward too much.  It killed my thighs by the end with all of the squatting and back kicking I had to do.  The posture thing is something I'll have to pay attention to, but I think it also has to do with looking at my grips which I'll have to get over.

The main focus for the baseball bat choke was to get my hands as close together as possible and I think I got some good reps doing that.  My problem may be that I usually just settle with getting my thumb in their collar near the back somewhere before going north/south but touching my hands together made a huge difference during drilling.

Conan complimented me on my sacrifice throw.  It's one that I hit from time to time but I can also put myself in a nasty position if it fails.  The major thing I focused on was being tight on the shoulder before dropping and then paying attention to hip connection.  If I leave too much space or if they are able to sprawl the hips away I'll end up in the bottom of side control and that is no good.  The hip connection thing was a pretty big realization that I'll explore further. 

We finished the class with some great rolling with Adam, Gina, and Greg.  Adam twice which turned out to be very tough, but I think I'm learning how to deal with his butcher technique.


Open Mat

Had a lot of fun in open mat.  Got to roll with Mike (tumbleweed) after he's been out with some injuries.  We had an awesome roll and I really felt confident in my guard in the beginning.  I passed his guard once and worked for a north/south choke for a while but didn't complete it.  I went for the baseball bat but had a hard time getting around his arms and constantly defending his legs from inverted guard.  He eventually got back on top and we ended up in a kimura position.  I was defending well but I decided to tap because he had me.  This paragraph doesn't really do the roll justice, there was a lot of movement and a lot of technical stuff.

I don't remember much about rolling with Conan, so I'll put the same thing that I put for every Conan roll lately.  I did pretty well in the beginning but I eventually fucked up and got put into side control.  Conan grinded me out and took away my limbs one at a time until he got a submission.  I might as well save that to my template.  He was complementary at the end and said that I did well.

Jerad and I had another epic couple of rolls.  He also complimented me after rolling even though he pretty much dominated.  Our first match he caught me with a crucifix after I fought hard for some type of takedown.  I thought I was doing well until my arm got locked between his legs and he went over my back.  I said some thing like "Stupid!" and Mike chimed in that he has some videos of me saying funny shit while rolling.  I am known for shouting "Nooooo!" or "Fuuuuck!" when I get caught with something that I see in advance but can't seem to stop.  It's never in anger but more pissed at myself.  The other two rolls there were a lot of back and forth and a lot of half and quarter guard.  There was one point where we were scrambling and he stood up, I had a sleeve grip and was able to sweep him with and omoplata, that felt great.  He submitted me with a mounted triangle the last time.

December 7th 2014 - Weekly Review

I didn't post last week because I was very busy with work and only ended up attending 2 classes anyway because it was Thanksgiving week and I didn't feel there was much to report.  We did go over farside armbar and Scissor Sweep in the beginner class and reviewed a few of the gi chokes from the seminar.  

Focus of the Week: Baseball Bat choke, Deep Half Guard, Over/Under Pass, Nothing New 

Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: O-Goshi, Guard Techniques - Cross Collar Choke, Armbar

Cross collar choke is among the triangle in techniques that I rarely attempt.  I do the technique fine during drilling, but never feel like I can get my hands in the right place during rolling.  Armbar from guard felt great and I did attempt a few during rolling this week.

Conan showed up to Friday morning class and we ended up having a great roll.  He sat and I started from the knees.  He let me get pant grips and I stood and bobbed weaved to complete the toreando pass.  I made sure to prevent any type of butterfly hook as he can work magic with them.  I did it!  I made it to side control.  I went to knee on belly and started attacking the baseball bat choke.  He used his shins effectively to almost regain half guard a few times, I went to north/south choke but he turned his head.  I went back to side control and knee on belly.

Finally I made a mistake or he caught up to my movement and timing and was able to secure an arm under my knee on belly shin and grab the back of my gi.  He then reversed me and during that process I said something to the effect of, "this shouldn't be happening" or "how could this happen!"  I defended from side control for the rest of the five minutes.  Thinking about it now though I might have won if that was a tournament match because he wouldn't have gotten any points for that reversal.  It's a stupid rule.  He showed me the reversal after class, but I may have him show me again next time I see him.

Conan showed a closed guard pass after class that I'm still not sure about the name of.  From within the closed guard you take an underhook and then walk to the opposite side smashing their leg and then unhooking their ankles to escape guard.  I think Will was working on it for a while.


Advanced: Distant Belt Grab Pass - To North/South, w/Foot on Hip, Start of Lasso

I liked these techniques when we did them in the seminar but I realized that I don't run into this situation during rolling too often.  I'm hardly ever standing without any grips already.  I had some great rolling during up/down/out.  We did sitting guard against standing opponent and dealing with this situation has come a long way for me.  I primarily have Mike and Jerad to thank the most for that.  I rolled with quite a few people and I'm so happy with being able to attend this class for the material and my fellow blue belts that kick my ass.    


Open Mat

I only rolled with 4 people this past open mat.  I used to average 6 or more.  Of course they were quality rolls including Jerad and Greg so I'm not complaining but there were a few times that I was sitting wanting to roll and no one was available. 

Brain AF did a pretty good job of defending, I can see some improvement and he's getting dangerous with his inverting, going to turtle, and backtakes, however weak at north/south choke defense.  Bhuvana asked to work on some guard passes.  I showed her the knee over pass and the one that Conan shared the day before.  I rolled with Jerad the most and we went back and forth quite a bit.  Greg did some pretty cool backtake setups and just shut me down in general.

November 23rd 2014 - Weekly Review

Focus of the Week: Deep Half Waiter Sweep, Tinguinha's Baseball Bat Choke setup, Over/Under Pass

I've been keeping with the theme of deep half and got a chance to study the Ryan Hall Deep Half Guard DVD set some more with a particular focus on the waiter sweep.  I didn't get it in rolling this week but there were a couple people that were nice enough to let me drill it on them.  I've also been hitting the switch side baseball bat choke setup that Tinguinha taught us at the seminar.  I was trying to incorporate that technique anyway but this way has solved the grip problems I was having.  My new problem is working my knee cut over their defending arm. 

I didn't purposefully focus on the over/under pass but it came up a lot this week.  I think after seeing Tinguinha do it to Greg several times while watching them roll put it to the forefront of my subconsciousness.  I have been playing with switching my hips a little more in the progress and It's been serving me well.  Also during open mat Jerad shared his techniques to prevent this pass. 

Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: O-Soto Gari, Side Control Escape, Paint Brush

O-Soto Gari feels good in practice for me.  I'm getting down the timing of the lift and turn with my arms, however I would like to get more confident with setting this (and other throws) up during rolling.  I'll have to tap my judo player brethren for advice. I feel like I can do a lot of throws really well, but the setups and closing the distance seems beyond me at the moment.

I felt better about the side control escape after drilling it this week.  Greg mentioning that we bridge to bring their elbow off the floor to make the hip escape possible really sunk in this time as the main purpose.  Greg also added hooking the ankle during the escape to help prevent the smash pass.

Nothing really to report on the americana.  I focused on pushing with my whole body to get their arm into position.

During rolling I found the hip shovel escape was working well for me from the deep half dvd, so I was transitioning to that if the basic escape didn't work.  From the top I practiced the baseball bat choke every chance I got and maybe threw in some north/south chokes in there if my partner was asking for it.

One thing that struck me this week was that I saw some waning confidence in some of the white belts that I rolled with.  There were a few defeatist remarks and a few partners I felt tapped early or were hesitant to engage.  I had a discussion with Greg about how important confidence is.  I considered if I do this with anyone now like Greg or Conan.  I'm going to pay attention to this when going up against people that tap me out on a regular basis.  Greg also gave me some awesome news that I will share in the future when it comes to fruition. 

Advanced: Lasso: Sweep when far leg is up, Stand-up sweep, Turtle to Omoplata

The first sweep was something I didn't feel good about at the seminar, but it made a lot more sense after Wednesday.  I don't think my butterfly hook was down on the ankle as much as it needed to be.  Was happy to review the turtle to omoplata although I haven't gotten it to work much during rolling like I thought I would have.  I've tried it a few times but usually end up in guard so I think my angle is off on my roll. 

I always enjoy the advanced rolling sessions because I get my mind challenged and my ass kicked.  Matt really put a lot of pressure on me and gave me a lot to think about.  I think I gave up the inside space too easily and once it was gone it was very difficult to get it back.  I really need to focus on my controlling the space and not allowing my opponent to get me to a point to where I have to regain ground.  Then I have to expend extra energy to undo what has been done to get back to even.  I think I need to expend more energy to keep good position instead of being lazy until the position is lost and it's too late.

Open Mat

Was able to drill the waiter sweep with Jerad and Greg and felt good about it.  Greg drilled a new half guard pass that was very effective.  After that we rolled and I felt like I had nothing for him except prolonging whatever submission he was going for.  I think he submitted me 3 times at least.

Jerad and I had a long match where I was defending most of the time.  I'm back to getting stuck in quarter guard with him.  I do have a few more avenues that I can pursue once there, but I should probably be a little more active in preventing it in the first place.  He attacked with a deep collar grip from mount a lot and eventually was able to submit me with it.

Fuji and I had a little back and forth and it was good to roll with him again.  Still submitted me like always, but I did some good things.  I also rolled with Brian (AF) and Ross and was able to work on some of my deep half stuff. 

November 16th 2014 - Weekly Review

Theme & Techniques
Beginner: Head Lock Escape Roll Over Back, Straight Footlock Submission and Kick Over Defense

Straight footlock in the gi is not my technique.  I'm glad Greg added it into the rotation because it's something that I don't feel confident with it at all.  My biggest problem is the timing with the hands and leaving enough room to get under their ankle appropriately.  I felt like my angle was off on the Achilles as well.  I made my partner tap, but I didn't feel like it really clicked.

Rolling was great especially since Greg rolled with me after class.  My guard passing felt pretty strong.  I had a lot to deal with though as he went to spider guard whenever he could and then there was x-guard and single leg x.  My over/under felt pretty good as well and I think I had some confidence in seeing Tinguinha do it to Greg.  I was able to hit a smooth omoplata during a transition.  I hung out there for a while not able to finish the sub.

Advanced: Lasso Sweep from Knees and 1 Leg Up 

Greg wanted to work on some of the stuff from the seminar while it was fresh in our minds.  One thing that he stressed that I haven't been doing while executing this sweep is to push them away to get the slingshot kind of action as they try to move into you to not lose their balance.  I felt a little bit better about the technique at the end, but my slingshot motion does need some work. 

Rolling starting from lasso was not easy on either end for me.  Everyone's expecting the sweep so there was a lot of dealing with pressure.  However, I do feel like the turtle to omoplata that we worked on in the seminar is something that I'll be trying to work into my game. 

One thing I always enjoy about advanced class is that we roll a lot and it's always challenging.  I rolled with Justin, Gina, Brian, Henry, and Greg.  I did have a bit of a scary moment with Henry where I was defending as much as I could against everything that he was throwing at me, but he caught me very quickly with a kimura during a transition.  I was a little shook-up that it went so fast and I could have been injured and I thought about how that would affect my life currently.  But all was well and I may have overreacted a bit.

All Levels: Side Control: Brabo Baseball Bat, Bread Cutter w/ My Gi, Escape Pin Arm and Grab Belt to Roll Over

Conan gave everyone a glimpse into one of the things that he constantly does to me. Smashes my near arm and takes it out of play and then does what he will to submit me.  While training I felt like I was getting better at it, by maneuvering my body to get over the arm and then smash it to the mat and then under my shin.  I enjoyed the baseball bat setup and I think I may look into it more the next time I roll.