April 7th 2017 - MMA

Theme & Techniques: Controlling the Center of the Ring
Partner: Fuji

We did a couple of drills with trying to step on our partner's foot kind of like thumb war. Pretty fun.  This was Fuji's first session and it was nice partnering up with him again.

Then Nick got out the small cones to represent the center of the ring for each group.  We then worked on maintaining the center or attempting to take the center. He also emphasized the FU Grip as a safe spot to control.

Sparring: Controlling Center Games, Stand-up Sparring
Sparred With: Will, Mike, Jerad, Fuji, Nick, Henry

We did some up/down/out style sparring trying to take the center.  Then we padded up and it got more serious. I think I need to use more control on my front and side kicks as I'm still a bit rusty.

We worked a takedown by sliding in behind their leg. Didn't feel that good with it.  We sparred a few rounds and I was exhausted.  I did some good things and made some mistakes. I'm getting better at keeping my hands up but I have noticed that I drop my hands when I attack.

March 24th 2017 - MMA

Theme & Techniques: Thai Pad Combos
Partner: Mike

I don't have much experience holding pads especially the Thai variety. I felt bad for Mike as I had difficulty timing strikes and putting the pad in the right position.  I did get better toward the end.  It's pretty amazing when Henry and Nick do some.

We did some jabs into an elbow strike followed by knees and finally a round house.  Mike was good at pushing off after the knees.  I could improve my timing and distance control quite a bit.

Sparring: Simulated Matches, Stand-up Sparring
Sparred With: Clint, Mike, Cody

Cody and Mike did 2 rounds each with a couple opponents and I was Mike's 2nd round.  Unfortunately he wore MMA gloves and I wore 16 oz ones so when we hit the ground I couldn't do shit.

After that we did a few rounds.  I let loose a few times and tried some more dynamic kicks, but also had some moments of fatigue where I needed to guard up.

February 24th 2017 - MMA (G & P)

Theme & Techniques: Stance Work, Ground and Pound: Guard break, Working to technical stand-up
Partner: Clint

I had asked about doing ground and pound type stuff at the end of last class and my request was fulfilled.  We did some movement stuff on the feet avoiding being in a side stance and kept our posture in an athletic stance.

Then we did a standing guard break by popping up to the feet and using our knee to open the guard and throw some strikes and finally pass.  It seemed to be natural for me to move to neon belly.

From the bottom our objective was to control the elbows and climb up and pull them down in close.  Then work to make space kick away and technical stand-up.

We also did a super secret technique that I will not divulge.

Sparring: Guard
Sparred With: Jerad, Mike, Will, Nick, Henry

Rolling was more stressful any bad mistake results in getting punched in the face repeatedly. I did some good things but also made some critical mistakes.  There were a few times I should have tried to stand up rather than attempt submissions from the bottom.

February 17th 2017 - MMA

Theme & Techniques: Punch & Kick Combos

Rough night of training, we mostly just sparred.  I'm really not sure if I can sustain the 6:30 Am class along with this one because I was suffering throughout.  Had some new faces to the class with Henry, Jerad, Mike, and Mo. Clint and I were the returning customers.

Sparring: Back and Forth Combos, Light Sparring

We did a few rounds of trading off 2-3 punch combos and a kick, then we set the timer for 2 minute rounds and 1 person would sit out while everyone partnered up and sparred.

I did some things well had some good kicks and punches. There were times that I froze and flinched.  Several times I couldn't keep my hands up.  I probably sat out the most of anyone and felt terrible about that.

Besides cardio, I have goals to improve my footwork and head movement.

February 10th 2017 - MMA

Theme & Techniques: Roundhouse
Partner: Richard

I can already tell I'm going to be sore tomorrow.  Today was all about the roundhouse and to add insult to injury we did several laps of different types of lunges.
Nick taught the roundhouse a little different than I'm used to from my Hapkido days. The kicks that he has taught so far are more straight legged where most of my past kicks were done with a tight chamber.  I have to relearn some things.

We did some back and forth with 1-2 combo to clinch to shoulder push to hook, then kicking the legs, and adding in checking the kick.

We ended up not sparring but did 5 times up and down the mat with roundhouses and it was super tough cardio wise.  Robert helped me out with some encouragement.

February 3rd 2017 - MMA

Theme & Techniques: 1 through 6 punch combo, Teep Kick
Partner: Will

We had 8 in attendance to start off our first LBJJC MMA class.  I was excited but also wasn't sure what to expect.  We did some movement drills to get started (lunges and rolls). The one I need to improve on is the back roll to handstand to standing thing.

We got our gloves on and were moving the majority of the class.  He emphasized level changes and switching between Muai Thai and wrestling stances.  A huge point that Nick made was to make our elbows support our arms in a fighting stance. That's going to be important for me because keeping my hands up was the toughest thing of the class.

Sparring: Attacker/Defender, Light Contact, Just the Body
Sparred With: Will, Richard, Patty

Just defending was tough for me, might have been because I wasn't taking Will's reach into account at first. The teep was different than kicks that I'm used to as we did it with a straight leg, but knowing when to throw it was still there.

During the body shot sparring, Richard got me pretty good making me lose my wind for a moment. It was a good reminder that I need to breath and tighten my stomach with each strike.  A couple of other take aways were: I need to keep my chin down, relax more, and work on head movement.  It's definitely a different workout.