April 4th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Passing Butterfly: Guillotine Step Around, Knee Slide
Partner: Ben

Great class today.  Not that I need to say it because I rarely have a bad class at Jiu-Jitsu.  Although as many know I dislike classes based around kesa gatame. 

The first pass that we did often ended up in north/south choke for me, which I enjoy.  Greg did point out that I wasn't controlling the chin as much as he wanted me to.  I really enjoy the knee slide pass and was able to give Ben a few pointers.  I think everyone's first inclination it to smash the other person's leg down during the pass.  It's not really necessary, you just need to get your knee to the ground and turn your hips through.  I found myself having my head up more than I should of too often and need to keep an eye on that. 

I found a video instructional that is very similar to what we practiced today.

Rolling: Butterfly Partner and Up/Down/Out
Rolled With: Bob, Ben, Sam, Richard, Jess

I hit quite a few guillotines today and it mostly had to do with the other person's posture and hand fighting.  Keep your head up in butterfly, both top and bottom.  Or think of it like keeping your head above your hips in alignment.  I also used the kimura a couple of times, once to pass with the front roll sort of motion and once for the spin around back take. 

Office Hours Partner: Ben, Jess

Gave Ben some tips on deep half with the shin sweep and preventing kimuras.  Shin sweep has become one of my gotos although I haven't drilled it too much.  Had a few good rolls with Jess and after catching some guillotines we discussed the grip that I was using.  He thought my one arm guillotine grip felt strong so I tried my best to explain the concept of pulling into your body. 

With many grips like defending the harness in back mount or defending a guillotine I'm not trying to use muscle to pull their arm away, rather I'm pushing their wrist into my body.  This goes for sleeve grips as well.  Find a way to use your body to support your grip or your frame.  If I'm on the bottom of side control against someone stronger I try to bring my elbows into my body.  When someone tries to isolate my arm I move in a way that they push against my body instead of just my arm muscles.  Of course I don't have it all figured out because I still get caught, I get my arm isolated, I lose guillotines, but I feel like I'm figuring it out.

March 28th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Butterfly Guard: Arm drag, Hook Sweep, Knee Tap
Partner: Richard (new guy), Nate

Worked with 2 of the new guys as they were partnering up with each other and would have been pretty lost left to their own devices.  So I would do each technique to each of them to show what it feels like and then I coached them through doing the techniques to each other.  One of the difficult things with new people is to not overwhelm them with too much details but still get them to do the technique generally correct.  They did fine for their first time with butterfly.

Rolling: Butterfly Gaurd
Rolled With: Greg, Bob, Richard

Felt pretty good about some of my attempts to pass and sweep Greg, although I didn't accomplish much.  There was a deep half waiter attempt that was close and a few over/under passes that were almost there (or were they). 

Bob gave a good couple of rolls.  We had some good back and forth and he said he liked rolling with me in no gi better because it was more forgiving. 

Rolled with Richard last and after sweeping and passing a few times I helped him out with some things that he should do.  He thanked me for helping him out today.  

Office Hours Partner: Greg, Justin

Greg asked if I'd do another round of butterfly and of course I would.  It went a lot worse for me than our earlier rounds.  He heel hooked me most of the time.  There were a couple of times where I thought I was getting somewhere but it just led to the ankle lock positions.  Asked a quick question about crucifix and they suck your leg up.  Greg told me to triangle when that happens which isn't something I thought of before. 

Rolled with Justin a few times and he didn't kick me in the head today.  We had some good exchanges and I found myself in positions to do rolling back takes.  I didn't succeed at them all but felt good about my timing.  He wanted to work on some half guard and did well from there.  I gave him some tips on working with his legs a little more instead of just locking them up. 

March 21st 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Escape from Back Mount & Granby from Turtle
Partner: Ben

We worked on 2 things that I feel like I'm relatively good at.  Escaping back mount had a few different details for no gi.  Since we can't stiff arm the leg, Greg had us do a kind of a half guard on the leg that we didn't smash to the floor.  Then we would use our knee and foot to slowly pry it out once we were in a good upper body position to move to side control. 

I tried to give Ben all of my tricks for doing the granby roll as he started out rolling forward a little too much.  Things like try to kiss your knee, try to get the back of your shoulder on the floor as quickly as possible, try to fold under yourself.  I feel like he improved on this a lot today.

Rolling: 8 Minute Escapes
Rolled With: Greg

We did the 8 minute drill and I was ecstatic that Greg asked me to be his partner.  I started on defense and was actually able to escape a few times from each position except for back mount.  From turtle the first time I was able to use the granby roll to get back to guard.   

Attacking was a different story, I didn't submit him although I was able to go from turtle to side control once.  I did take note of some of Greg's escapes from mount, he's great at getting his knee in for SLX.  Mount was where I felt like I couldn't do anything to him.  Regardless, I feel pretty good about my performance and he told me that did a good job.

Office Hours Partner: Mike

We discussed some half guard kimura stuff and we had a good discussion on positives and negatives from transitioning shin across from turtle.  He had some good arguments to avoid the position and won me over in the end. 

We had a couple of good rolls that were fast paced.   I ran into my waiter sweep then attacked his standing leg to attempt an ankle lock again that he was able to roll out of.  We discussed this after and I have some things to think about.  He had a great idea of an alternate leg position that I should use while doing this to prevent the roll.  We also discussed the truck and who is winning or in control of the truck by who is closer to the opponent's knee. 

March 14th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Side Control: Arm Triangle Choke, Tripod Escape to Half Guard
Partner: Jess, Mike

Got a good detail about the arm triangle today.  I've been having a hard time getting their arm in the right position before going over.  Mike helped me figure out the angle and how to push with my head to get their arm up.  Feeling good about it.

Rolling: Side Control, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Mike, Bob, Jess

Good rolls by all.  Mike and I had a "Leg Lock Bonanza" (his phrase, not mine).  He caught me a couple times although I'm feeling like our leg lock battles are becoming more involved and I'm sort of keeping up although behind the curve.  During our last exchange I was in a position to waiter sweep but he stood up.  I went to the other leg with single leg x and he turned and I attempted to setup a knee bar but wasn't sure which

Office Hours Partner: Greg, Mike

Mike and I did a couple of standup rounds for Greg.  I have some congestion and found it hard to breath through my rounds.  I did some good things, had a good series where I got around his back and attempted valley drop.  I got him down but I couldn't get to the top, eventually I tried to drag him into back mount but didn't respect his kimura grip and he locked that out.  I was feeling okay about my posture and my hands but he also completed his favorite takedown 3 or 4 times on me.

March 12th 2017 - No Gi Beginner

Theme & Techniques: Crucifix: Setup from Turtle, Armbar, Choke
Partner: Chris C

I requested crucifix since I've been working on it lately.  It's nice to get some different approaches from others.  Chris hadn't worked on the position before so I got to help him learn it a bit.

One thing that we worked on was recovering the crucifix if they rolled over while in the seat belt.  I think the key to this is staying a bit ahead and keeping a tight harness.

Rolling: Turtle Up/Down/Out, Free Rolling
Rolled With: A lot of people

Huge class today and we had the mats full while rolling.  Everyone was super tight defending against the crucifix. I did go for the back when they hide their arm.  I did attempt and fail at the recover after getting rolled over, might need to work on that.

Had some good rolls with Chris and Matt.  I told Matt afterward that he was driving forward too much in my guard, which wasn't helping him pass. So we talked about posture and breaking the guard open before passing.

Office Hours Partner: Matt, Conan, Henry, Mike

Rolled quite a few times with Conan and felt good about some of the things I did.  We got into an arm drag battle early on that I came out on top of.  I attacked some guillotines and N/S chokes. We both took turns starting from the bottom of side control.

I joined Henry and Mike who were training with strikes from guard.  I'm really getting the hint that I don't know the best thing to do in situations with striking. Some stuff that I do is fine but there are some bad habits that get me punched in the face. The best thing that happened was when I got Mike to turtle and setup a crucifix. I wasn't able to finish but it was cool.

I asked Mike about the finer points of kimura from half guard. He gave me some good tips about getting butterfly hook or knee shield first. If they start to move over my knees then I have to push my hips out from under them.  A lot of good stuff.

March 7th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

EBI Slap-Jitsu Champ: Nick Honstein

Nick participated in the first Combat Jiu-Jitsu 4 man tournament in EBI 11 and came home with the belt.  He won both of his matches the first in over time by RNC and the second with a Twister after one of his awesome double legs.  This is huge for Nick and our school. 

https://www.facebook.com/UFCFightPass/videos/1109269439195480/

Theme & Techniques: Half Guard: Underhook Pass, Regaining Underhook from Bottom
Partner: Daniel

Greg showed the pass that he seems to always do to me when we roll.  He seems to always be able to blow through my half guard.  So I have a lot more to learn about this pass as I don't even come close to passing people as smoothly with this pass.  I think my knee pads also affect my success with this pass.

Rolling: Up/Down/Out Half Guard
Rolled With: Mike, Frank, Daniel, Jesus, Bob

Greg had us start the first several rolls with the top person having an underhook. Attempted the pass a several times but ran into some lockdowns or leg entanglements that prevented it.  From the bottom it was business as usual with knee shields to underhook to deep half.  Mike gave me the most trouble and we ended up in some leg lock battles.  One of our rolls was at a pretty intense pace for 2 minutes. 

Office Hours Partner: Bob, Justin, Mike

Greg and Bob worked on a half guard pass where you knee slide through a knee shield.  I drilled it a few times too and thought it was a pretty good pass that I'd like to incorporate.  We took it past the pass a few times and he complimented me on being smooth.

Rolled with Justin and he gave me a hard time in a few places.  There were times when I had him and due to no gi and his explosiveness he'd get out of a bad position.  It was a nice roll for me to get in some extra cardio.  I was hunting for crucifix but missed my chance in the scramble.  Hard to work on the position when I haven't figured out how to get to it.

Mike drilled an outside single leg that I liked.  Then we discussed some leg lock stuff.  I feel like I'm focused too much on getting my hands right for the submission and need to get to the leg lock position first before securing the heel hook or toe hold. 

February 28th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Back Mount: Chair Sit, RNC
Partner: Frank

Good info on the chair sit position and transitioning to the back.  It's such an important movement that I use anytime to get to the back or regain control as someone is escaping.  We did the standard arm trap by controlling the underhooked hand and pushing the other hand into a leg trap.  Apparently on my left side I wasn't lining up the elbow properly or getting the choke deep enough.  Made some small adjustments and will watch that side in the future. 

Rolling: Backmount Up/Down/Out
Rolled With: Mike, Daniel, Ben, Frank

Our first round we started from the harness grip with the goal of getting to the back.  Great exercise and I feel like I excel there from offensively and defensively.  Offensively I find a tight harness in combination with my butterfly hooks to be very important.  Defensively I try to bridge into my opponent and get my back flat to the mat and get off to the side.  During that process I monitor my arm to watch for the head and arm choke and I start looking for half guard. 

During the up/down/out portion Mike and I had some tough exchanges.  There was a point when he had my arm trapped in his legs and he started to work on my other arm.  I saw a chance to escape and stack but an armbar came on fast and I had to yell "tap!".  I hate it when that happens as I want to avoid injury at all costs and sometimes things change in a split second.  Everything is fine though.  Later on there was a point when I was on his back and was able to get the cross wrist grab and went right for the RNC.  We fought grips for a while and I almost swallowed some of his hair but eventually I got the choke locked in.  For a while I was over his face and he said he likes to bring the choke down to the chest when that happens to kind of lock their jaw in there. 

There was another situation where he was escaping and I started with an arm triangle and somehow transitioned to a guillotine from half guard.  I fell to my side which felt like the right thing to do but it helped him escape. 

Office Hours Partner: Mike

Mike and I discussed the guillotine from top half after class and he gave me some ideas for how to finish it.  I should be using it to pass more rather than fall to the bottom.  Also when he put on the marcelotine as a demonstration I was miserable. 

We had some good rolls after class with a lot of transitions and him coming out on top.  His positions were solid and he kept himself just out of reach of where I feel my strengths are.  It was a good reminder that I still have a lot to learn.  We had a few leg lock entanglements are more attacking for the back. 

After rolling I asked to drill some crucifix and I felt pretty good about my transitions from armbar to choke.  He seems to favor the choke where I have been focusing on the armbar.  He gave me a tip on controlling the far arm at the hand more and also using my knee more to separate the arm from under them to help get the position.  I think my leg control over the arm is coming along very well. 

We discussed our individual improvement over the last year with our additional training per week.  

February 21st 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Half Guard: Clothesline Sweep, Get Underhook, Knee Slide Pass
Partner: Jess

Justin brought his dog into the school today and he went around getting petted by everyone during the session.  Scoob was our mascot for the day.

Jess and I got quite a few reps in as we rolled from one side of the mat to the other then switched half guards and rolled back the other way.  Because once you sweep, you end up in the same position so the person on the bottom can do the same sweep.  Then if they were to base out, they should make enough space for you to base out.  Finally we worked on passing with the key of putting our head on the other side of theirs to flatten out for the knee slide.

Rolling: Half Guard
Rolled With: Jess, Mike, Greg, Justin

We started our half guard rolls with the head and arm control.  I didn't have many problems from top or bottom half guard.  I did move to the double underhooks pass at one point and like the control, but haven't passed using it much.  From the bottom in this position, my goto is to get a butterfly hook in.

I felt like I did a pretty good job against Greg in the beginning.  I transitioned between guillotines and even had a kimura locked up for a second.  Didn't matter he turned the kimura around on me and went for an armbar that I had to escape.

Mike wore some MMA gloves and threw some shots whenever he was in a position to.  I tried to respond accordingly and did put myself in trouble a few times I wouldn't have if we were just grappling.  I did grab a kimura in the process and us it to sweep to the top.  I also went for the heel hook from half guard but botched it up. 

Office Hours Partner: Frank, Jess

Frank has been working on the butterfly sweep with me the last couple of times we've rolled.  He's getting there but still has the problem with using the underhook to control my posture so I've been focusing on him improving that.  We rolled a few times after that.

Jess and I rolled and it seemed like he was trying to put me into straight ankle lock position and I just didn't want to deal with defending it.  He did use it well though as he was able to pass to side control at one point.  Otherwise I was mostly in control.


Asked Mike and Greg about the half guard to heel hook setup and got more details on it. Mike helped me with finishing the heel hook.  The major takeaway was my wrist on their achillies tight was important.  I was too high on the forearm. 

February 14th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Collar Tie Snap Down: Front Headlock to Turtle, Guillotine, Jump to Guillotine
Partner: Josh J

Just me and Josh today and Mike had a tough time giving us coaching advice while we were rolling.  "Josh get an underhook" or "Josh, don't let him do that" usually I assumed that he was talking to Johnson. 

We worked mostly from standing with the snapdown.  I felt like I was doing pretty well while drilling the move.  We controlled the chin and the bicep and tried to snap them into the headlock position.  Once we started sparring from that position it seemed pretty easy for both of us to strip the chin grip off.  Sparring from the position was good for me and we had some good back and forth scrambles.  I'm shit at no gi takedowns and mostly jumped on guillotines when they presented themselves.  I think I just need to put myself out there a little more and try and fail and single and double legs, I just always feel like I'm too far away when I attempt them.

Josh wondered how we were good at remembering and recalling what occurred during rolls.  In the process of writing this blog I've gotten very good at making mental notes while rolling to talk about later in the blog.  Sometimes I struggle and can't even remember everyone that I rolled with during open mat.  I definitely remember my failures more than my successes unless it's something that I'm working on to improve specifically. 

February 7th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Side Control: Tripod Escape to Half Guard, Darce from Top
Partner: Mike A

Got to work with Mike for the first time in a long time.  We improved our darce technique today as we both were doing it more neck cranky.  Greg was having us push on their shoulder with our body where I was primarily pushing down on their head with my ribs to push their neck into my arm.  Mike and I were choking each other pretty well by the end and didn't have to fall onto our sides as much as I thought.  The other great thing about working with Mike was that we would play during techniques, maybe give each other a little resistance here and there and respond to it naturally.  Obviously a newer person isn't going to be able to do that well.

Rolling: Side Control, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Mike A, Mike G, Daniel, Jess

Aquila and I had some good rolls from side control.  I started out with a choke series going from NS to guillotines but never able to get the tap...maybe if he had a bigger neck.  He gave me a lot of props for the exchange and transitions.

Most of my side control escapes ended up in half or deep half guard, I'm getting better with taking the back from them stepping over in DH but I could use a rewatch of Ryan Hall's DVD.

I got to crucifix position with Jess and felt like a bull rider trying to maintain it and not get thrown off. I couldn't quite get my hand in the right spot for the RNC though.

Office Hours Partner: Jordan

Rolled with Jordan H several times.  We had trained quite a bit together when the school first opened and we were both working on cross guard.  I was pleasantly surprised that he maintained some skills since he's been out injured for quite a while.  I had a hard time passing his guard.  I did however look at it as a way to attempt leg locks since he's a fellow blue belt. I felt like what Mike must have when I wasn't any good at defending heel hooks, and I'm trying to figure out how to attack them.

During rolling he told me that this was his last class with us as he's moving away.  Just when he was making a return to LBJJC too.  It's always tough when fellow students move away and become part of our extended family.  The upside is that I'll have some place to train if I visit New Mexico.

January 31st 2017 - No Gi All Levels (Deep Thoughts in Deep Half)

Theme & Techniques: Closed Guard: Break to Double Unders, Stacking Variation on the Pass, Kimura from Guard
Partner: Justin

My nuts had a tough time during the guard break today.  Usually I don't have any issues but this particular guard break was uncomfortable every time. 

Greg gave an alternative way to stack for the double under pass where you grab their shoulder to keep them from shoulder walking and then stack and get way under them. I'll have to play with it more but I think it has some potential.

Rolling: Closed Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Justin, Jeff, Morgan, Ben

My goal from top was to complete a tozi pass and I didn't complete any of them.  I had a hard time keeping my head in place next to theirs. I don't consider it a wasted effort though.

From the bottom I played some Z-Guard and hunted for triangles.  I also setup a few kimura traps and ended up in 50/50 and other leg entanglements.

While stretching I spaced out a bit contemplating what to tell Ben about defending the kimura from deep half. Greg noticed and we got off on a tangent about deep thoughts with Jack Handy.  I guess Deep Thoughts from Deep Half with Josh Cather would be a decent podcast title.

January 24th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Side Control: Tripod Escape, Arm Triangle Choke
Partner: Jeff (New Guy), Jess

Was glad I got to escape train today, as I'm a little stressed from work.  I like how BJJ can put things into perspective and clear my head but I am a bit of a bitch if I miss a workout.

The new guy, Jeff, has the build of a wrestler but he said that he runs Ironman races and stuff like that though so he'll probably be a terror after he learns some technique. 

I worked on perfecting my tripod and trying to find the best way to get to my head and shoulder and maintain my bridge.  For the arm triangle I focused on keeping my head on the floor and copying the way that Greg did it to get their arm in place.  Helped out both Jess and Jeff a lot with some basic side control things aside from the techniques of the day.  They both had pretty tight arm triangles by the end of the session. 

Rolling: Side Control Up/Down/Out
Rolled With: Jess, Jeff, John, Morgan, Daniel, Ben

My North/South choke was delivered plentifully today as many of my brethren left their necks unprotected in side control.  I explained to a few people how to defend it but pushing my chin to make me look away which helps make space for them to turn their head.  I also had some success with the waiter sweep today, feeling especially good about coming up after the sweep.

Had some good rounds.  Jess was hard to hold down in side control as usual and I was transitioning from side to turtle, trying to take the back, trying to get crucifix, then eventually got an arm in guillotine using the method that Greg showed us a couple of months ago.  He is so difficult to control in no gi.

Office Hours Partner: John, Morgan

Rolled with both John and Morgan and experimented with some single leg-x and full-x.  I looked for more leglocks on John, but had some trouble finding good technique to finish the heel hook.  Probably have to go over that with Mike or Greg again. 

There was a point with Morgan where a toe hold presented itself and I put it on to kind of show him it was there and for my own muscle memory.  From his office Greg said, "Are you toe holding a white belt" to which I let it go and responded "NO! I was just um...showing him it was there."

January 17th 2017 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Shawn William's Guard: Armbar, Omoplata
Partner: Jess

Felt good about drilling the SW guard like usual but am still not good at using it during rolling.  I'm happy that Greg had us start in the position while rolling.  I don't feel the best about doing the omoplata from here either, not sure if it's flexibility or if I'm not making space correctly. 

Rolling: SW Guard Up/Down/Out, Closed Guard KOTM
Rolled With: Mike, Darijo, Ryal, Jess, Daniel, Bob

I didn't have many problems with passing the SW, I was able to get over their free leg most of the time.  The best thing I did in class was setup the triangle from SW, which surprised Greg.  I guess he hasn't seen me complete many triangles.

Had a battle from guard with Mike where I defended quite a few ankle locks and knee bars.  He gave me some props for it after that.  I am feeling more competent in keeping myself out of locks now by triangling my legs at the right time or hand fighting at the right time.  Something that I recently felt oblivious to has turned around for me.  Now I need to gain some attacks.   

Office Hours Partner: Jess, Mike

Had a great roll with Jess.  I kept thinking I was going to submit him and then he'd shrug me off or bridge really well.  I had him in side control, he turtled, I started setting up crucifix and got him stuck for a bit but eventually he shrugged me off, I went for an armbar and he stacked it, eventually I ended up in a triangle.  Mike seemed impressed with my transitioning into the next thing when something was thwarted.  Jess did a great job of keeping me from submitting him.

Mike and I talked about setting up the reverse kimura and barata plata.  We both didn't feel as confident with the barata plata from the top which is something I've been thinking about looking into as another mount attack.

January 3rd 2017 - No Gi All Levels & Review of 2016

2016 Quick Review

I trained by far more classes last year than any previous year.  A lot of that has to do with being able to attend multiple day classes a week and it was common that I trained 6 days a week.  My growth feels pretty steady and I don't feel like I spend too much time on a plateau.  I had a lot of fun teaching and watching people use techniques and positions that I showed them.

2016 Improvements:

• I got in a lot more no gi training this year since we started the noon Tuesday class last November.  Here is where I've dipped my toes (ha ha) into leg lock positions and submissions mostly with the help of Mike but also because I've felt like his dummy for him to practice on.
• I had a huge push to get better at dealing with athletic people.  I've improved my attacking, aggression, wrestling, and ultimately my attitude when rolling.  
• With the inclusion of Judo Bob earlier in the year, I've also come a long way with Judo throws and have narrowed down my focus to Tai Toshi, Drop Seio Nage, and foot sweeps which I'll continue to work on. 
• I've continued to improve my "A" game with cross guard, omoplatas, deep half, over/under pass, north/south chokes

Looking ahead to 2017

• Continue with leg lock stuff
• Improve my back control and finishing
• Feel comfortable with the Judo throws that I outlined above
• Flowing during transitions from sweeps and guard passes

Theme & Techniques: Tripod Escape from Side Control
Partner: Bob

Got some good drilling in and got some good resistance from Bob.  We got off on tangents a few times but it was better than just being a push over.  The most important detail that I worked on today was during the pass and moving to smash pass/dope mount.  I didn't totally get it figured out, but could feel what Mike was doing when demonstrating it on me.  The twist of their spine is important.

Rolling: Free Rolling
Rolled With: Bob, Mike (Visitor), Justin

I took the attitude of attacking from butterfly guard, but it didn't work as well as expected.

Nonetheless, I performed fine and eventually ended up in good positions.  Bob and Justin both presented similar challenges with their strong base and their ability to put pressure effectively.

Mike was pretty good at keeping posture and had some strong positional work.  Never know what to expect with a visitor especially since I didn't know what belt he was or how long he trained.  I had a good deep half waiter sweep but in the transition from sweep to pass he got his knee free, will need to figure out how to prevent this.

Office Hours Partner: Justin, Mike A

Mike and I discussed butterfly in no gi and how my approach to butterfly was crap. I should just hand fight with good posture and be patient like MG.  So I'll work on that.

I attempted to apply the butterfly stuff with Justin as we rolled and it took some mental effort to avoid bad habits.

Rolled with Mike and he mostly whooped me, but I'm happy with an exchange that we had with 50/50.  We were there for quite a while as I attacked heel hooks and toe holds. I applied a lot of what I've picked up from the 50/50 DVD like "rule of thumb" and pushing the free leg away. He also commented that my choices for when to attack and defend were feeling more natural.

December 27th 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Knee Bar Setup from Half Guard & Defense
Partner: Henry

Mike disiminated some good information today on the knee bar.  Some details that I liked were:

• Grab the heel as soon as possible and put it by your head
• Once in the seated position, you can go in any direction 
• If it goes south maintain the seated position and look for a crossface and start passing guard.

Rolling: Knee Bar Sitting position, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Henry, Jess, Andy

Starting from the position was tough. I ran into some trouble attacking a few times as I didn't feel confident in inverting. Defending went pretty well, I'm doing better at keeping my feet out of danger.

Office Hours Partner: Tom

We rolled a lot since I'm on vacation today.  We ended up in a lot of different situations, he had my back for a while at one point. He mentioned to someone else that he has yet to submit me. I thought he had, but it may not be too much longer before he does.

We did some deep half entries, the waiter sweep, and some rolling back takes. A lot of the practice was about shucking and getting under the opponent.  I think he was picking it up at the end.

December 20th 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Closed Guard: Double Under Guard Pass, Hip Bump Sweep, Kimura
Partner: Bhuvana

Small class for a Tuesday.  We had Caleb returning from last week and he brought in his friend Mike who has some wrestling experience.  Greg showed the guard break that I usually go for if I can't open someone's guard in no gi.  Make enough space to fit both hands through to break the guard.  The bottom guard stuff wasn't much different than the gi class.  The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone on the hip bump/kimura is work on sitting up and putting your hand where your shoulder was for stability.  This is something you can work on by yourself and the faster you can get at getting that post the better.

Rolling: Closed Guard Up/Down/Out
Rolled With: John, Mike (Visitor), Caleb, Bhuvana

Some good rolls.  John was able to sweep me today so I will have to prevent that from happening again.  Mike was pretty strong and was good at pressure, but I don't think he understands how to pass the guard yet.  There were a couple of times that both Caleb and Mike got to double unders but I was able to widen out my knees enough to prevent the class.  I also ended up in some triangle situations but had a hard time completing them and moved on to something else.  Talked to Greg about it afterward, his advice was to grab my ankle and then push myself away with my foot on their hip.  I was doing that but I was trying to push them back instead of myself.

* Added later: Forgot that I got a bloody nose while rolling with Mike. Wasn't a big deal but it wouldn't stop bleeding. We also did some stand-up. He took me down the first 2 times but I was able to turn them into better positions for me. The last roll I went for an arm drag and turned into a drop shoulder throw. I guess it made Greg message Bob since he missed it.

Office Hours Partner: John

John helped me drill some 50/50 stuff from Ryan Hall's DVD.  We did a defensive drill where they attack straight ankle lock, heel hook, or Texas clover leaf (which we kept calling different names like Texas Flywheel, Texas Chainsaw, Texas Sharpshooter, etc).  We would then defend with the appropriate responses of RNC grip, pushing the bicep with the foot and triangling or crossing our feet.

We rolled a few times after that, and we had some back and forth.  He had my back for a while and was able to trap my arm with his leg.  I was impressed by how he set this up and we practiced it a few times after rolling.  I was able to setup my Shelving NS choke setup, some day I may have an instructional DVD on it.

December 13th 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Mount: Armbar with Breaking grip options
Partner: Bhuvana

Mike taught setting up the armbar by going off of their reaction to an americana attempt from mount.  We went to technical mount while maintaining a grip on their wrist until we could step over the head.  From there we dealt with them clasping their hands and the bicep grab defense.

One of the biggest things that I worked with Bhuvana on was to sit first instead of falling back too soon and creating momentum for them to get up and stack.

Rolling: Mount
Rolled With: Daniel

The best thing that happened in the roll from the top was my reaction to his bridge where I transitioned right into shin across neck armbar (I've got to figure out a better name for this). From the bottom I escaped to deep half a few times.

Office Hours Partner: Mike

Had some high intensity rolls with Mike, which is what I needed. We finished with some takedown sparring. A couple of good details came out of this.  With the arm in guillotine I was trying to pull up uniformly on his neck and arm, he made one adjustment of keeping my choking hand higher and using the elbow and it made a huge difference.  The other was a single leg defense with a kimura to kind of a butterfly sweep or Judo throw.

December 6th 2016 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Shawn William's Guard: Armbar, Omoplata
Partner: Jess, Ben

Good training session on SW guard.  I have yet to do this position effectively in rolling and I'm not sure why.  Might be because I'm usually not in closed guard that often in no gi.  It was nice to work on an omoplata technique during regular class as that doesn't happen often.  We had a little trouble at first getting our legs in the right position to complete the armbar but it had to do with straightening our bottom leg to get their elbow to raise and then move the hips around to get the leg around the head. 

Rolling: Closed Guard, Free Rolling
Rolled With: Jess, Mike

Had 2 rolls with Jess and did my best to take it to him.  I think I'm going to start using him to improve my wrestling, aggression, and pressure game.  He gives pretty good resistance and I do well playing guard with him, but I think it would be good for me to play more toward his strength to learn from it.

Mike is fight ready and we had a lot of scrambly type stuff with some light punching mixed in.  He was especially hard to hang on to today.

Office Hours Partner: John

Great roll with John and he gave me more trouble today than he has in the past.  There was a point when he was attempting to escape my side control and Mike kept telling me to heel hook him, but I didn't know what to do.  He showed us the setup from the basic side control recover.  I really need to get better at my leg locks.  Mike showed us After rolling I showed him some of my north/south choke specifics and he seemed to like it.

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.

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.