Ray taught class yesterday and we worked on some reverse de la rivas. I worked with Julian for some of the warm-up. He is an MMA fighter and has a really great attitude. We did some transition drill with reverse de la rivas/x-guard/butterfly guard. We worked on a lot of the same de la rivas things we've been working on lately, the back take, and the sweep. We finished with a couple of variations for the bow and arrow choke.
I rolled with David first for open mat. He pointed out that I shouldn't be laying flat on my back in guard so I tried a little bit to get off to a side and attack more. I was able to half way sweep him and put him into guard and got the opportunity to see what he does from this position. He does a really good job of putting my arm in danger making me concentrate on other things rather than escaping his guard. I will make this my goal to improve my movement and activity in guard. I can't remember how he submitted me, it might have been an armbar from guard.
Jared was next, and like usual I had a difficult time with his guard. I defended some of his sweep attempts and the kimura that he's caught me with from half guard a couple of times. Eventually he was able to get me on my back in guard. He recall him standing up to break it and I felt like I didn't know what to do. I finally tried to get my feet into reverse de la rivas but failed. The rest of the time I spent defending side control either the far side armbar or the darce. It seemed that whatever I tried was met with some type of submission attempt. He eventually got me with an armbar.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
January 11th - Morning Open
Had to start a little later this morning since David ditched us and Ken get's off work around 7. Still got in a good workout. It was Robert, AJ, Ken, and I. AJ and I were ready first so I decided to start in half guard and try to work some of the things I saw on this video yesterday, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUMLNDO32zw. Some of the stuff I picked up on seemed to be pretty helpful, especially controlling their leg more. I really want to try the butterfly half as I think this may be something different than most people do. I have also never seen "the waiter" done before and I think that would be interesting.
Unfortunately, I let AJ take my back. He was doing a good job holding me but I was eventually able to mess with his hooks and get free. Once I got to side control I could see that he wasn't aware of my new love of the north-south choke and he put his arm under me allowing me to slip right into it. There is really something different about my attitude going against him as I know I can beat him so I don't get as concerned when he has me in a bad position. I know that he can still tap me but I just have a little bit more experience on him. I wish I could have this attitude with every roll because it really helps to conserve energy.
Ken and Robert had a war and went for like 20 minutes back and forth. Eventually Ken got tired first but they both had some really good submission attempts throughout.
I went with Robert next and using a wristlock got him into side mount right away. I was able to get him into the armbar position but he stacked me and passed. I worked a lot of half guard and got to my knees a couple of times and eventually side control and back. I was eventually returned to side control and he got me in an Americana.
I finished the morning out with Ken. Again I used some of the new half guard stuff I've been working on. To a fault though as I lost position a couple of times while trying something. I guess that how I learn. We switched places a couple of times and he eventually got me into mount. He slapped an armbar on and I had to tap.
Unfortunately, I let AJ take my back. He was doing a good job holding me but I was eventually able to mess with his hooks and get free. Once I got to side control I could see that he wasn't aware of my new love of the north-south choke and he put his arm under me allowing me to slip right into it. There is really something different about my attitude going against him as I know I can beat him so I don't get as concerned when he has me in a bad position. I know that he can still tap me but I just have a little bit more experience on him. I wish I could have this attitude with every roll because it really helps to conserve energy.
Ken and Robert had a war and went for like 20 minutes back and forth. Eventually Ken got tired first but they both had some really good submission attempts throughout.
I went with Robert next and using a wristlock got him into side mount right away. I was able to get him into the armbar position but he stacked me and passed. I worked a lot of half guard and got to my knees a couple of times and eventually side control and back. I was eventually returned to side control and he got me in an Americana.
I finished the morning out with Ken. Again I used some of the new half guard stuff I've been working on. To a fault though as I lost position a couple of times while trying something. I guess that how I learn. We switched places a couple of times and he eventually got me into mount. He slapped an armbar on and I had to tap.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
January 9th - Gi
David warmed us up with some basic stuff with some ab work. We also did the front shrimp partner drill that I'm both glad and sorry that I introduced to the class.
Greg taught the remainder of the class with the theme of defending the double underhook pass. It was pretty informative as it is a place that I end up often. I was surprised to hear at the end of the class that at the high levels of Jiu-Jitsu this pass isn't done because the elbow defense makes it so easy to foil it. Some of the defenses were pretty tough since my abs were already a little fatigued. There was a lot of pushing back and walking the shoulders away. We finished class by drilling from this position and it was surprising how often the defenses worked after just learning them.
Robert and I were partners throughout the class and we also rolled together for open mat. There were several times that I felt like I was going to finally have him but he was always able to weasel out and I would get fatigued. I was using the gi to the best of my advantage as he's not used to it yet. I was even able to pull of the elbow push side mount escape that we just worked on in class. He was still able to get me with a couple of armbars after much struggling.
I went with Ken next and somehow we got into a weird donkey half guard back take kind of position. It took us a while to get untangled. He eventually wormed his legs into a reverse armbar. I was just waiting for him to put me in an Omma plata so I could do the roll defense but in waiting for that he finished the armbar. I should have dealt with the armbar instead of depending on him going to that other technique.
I went with Jared a couple times to finish the night out. He's been doing a lot more standing up in my guard and when he has side mount on me lately. I'm not sure if it's what he's currently working on or if it's something that he's doing against me specifically but I need to take advantage of the given space more. Even though I knew he was working towards it, he still was able to set up the bow and arrow choke twice.
Hopefully we can roll tomorrow morning at 7. Ken let me know if you are still planning on being there.
Greg taught the remainder of the class with the theme of defending the double underhook pass. It was pretty informative as it is a place that I end up often. I was surprised to hear at the end of the class that at the high levels of Jiu-Jitsu this pass isn't done because the elbow defense makes it so easy to foil it. Some of the defenses were pretty tough since my abs were already a little fatigued. There was a lot of pushing back and walking the shoulders away. We finished class by drilling from this position and it was surprising how often the defenses worked after just learning them.
Robert and I were partners throughout the class and we also rolled together for open mat. There were several times that I felt like I was going to finally have him but he was always able to weasel out and I would get fatigued. I was using the gi to the best of my advantage as he's not used to it yet. I was even able to pull of the elbow push side mount escape that we just worked on in class. He was still able to get me with a couple of armbars after much struggling.
I went with Ken next and somehow we got into a weird donkey half guard back take kind of position. It took us a while to get untangled. He eventually wormed his legs into a reverse armbar. I was just waiting for him to put me in an Omma plata so I could do the roll defense but in waiting for that he finished the armbar. I should have dealt with the armbar instead of depending on him going to that other technique.
I went with Jared a couple times to finish the night out. He's been doing a lot more standing up in my guard and when he has side mount on me lately. I'm not sure if it's what he's currently working on or if it's something that he's doing against me specifically but I need to take advantage of the given space more. Even though I knew he was working towards it, he still was able to set up the bow and arrow choke twice.
Hopefully we can roll tomorrow morning at 7. Ken let me know if you are still planning on being there.
Monday, January 9, 2012
January 8th - No-Gi
None of the regular instructors showed up yesterday but we still had a relatively big class. Luckily the Kobudo guys were there so the door was open. Adam had us do some wrestling drills which were good. I always want to improve on those.
For the remainder of the class we worked some reverse de la rivas with the help of Mike's expertise. Bauer and I helped the new guy (can't remember his name) with some regular guard passes and stuff until Will showed up and then I worked with him on the stuff everyone else was working on.
For open mat I went with Will first. I think I did pretty well, at least he hadn't submitted me before he had to go. He did dominate the majority of the time though. I regained guard a couple of times and got to my knees from side mount.
I went with Adam next and I think I surprised him when I used one of my legs to pull his other leg out. Can't remember the technical term but I basically used half guard to sit back up and pull his leg out straight. I guess I almost got him into an unintentional knee bar. We quit to discuss the shaolin sweep and never finished our roll. So I'll count not getting submitted twice as two wins in my book.
I saw the new guy was just watching so I asked him if he wanted to roll. Like most people that walk into the Dojo he's had previous martial arts experience. He said he did Korean Karate back in Pennsylvania and they did some ground grappling. He definitely knew what the positions were and where he didn't want to be. He also used a lot of strength in trying to fend me off and it was working to an extent. I had to try a little harder than I thought I would to pass and to get him on his back. He liked to do a lot of forearm to the neck as well which made my throat hurt last night. I was eventually able to get around him into side control and started locking up a darce until he tapped. We went a second time and instead of pulling guard I put him in a wristlock and got side control. Much more preferable for me. He had both arms way low inviting me to put on the North-South which I've been having the most perceived success with lately.
I went with Ken next but it didn't turn out to be one of our epic battles. He set me up in an armbar that I couldn't weasel out of. I don't really remember too much else.
Unfortunately David won't be able to open the Dojo up on Wednesday mornings for a while. I don't know of anyone else with a key that wants to come that early. I'll have to replace it with swimming or find someone to do Hapkido with me or roll at the Taekwondo school.
For the remainder of the class we worked some reverse de la rivas with the help of Mike's expertise. Bauer and I helped the new guy (can't remember his name) with some regular guard passes and stuff until Will showed up and then I worked with him on the stuff everyone else was working on.
For open mat I went with Will first. I think I did pretty well, at least he hadn't submitted me before he had to go. He did dominate the majority of the time though. I regained guard a couple of times and got to my knees from side mount.
I went with Adam next and I think I surprised him when I used one of my legs to pull his other leg out. Can't remember the technical term but I basically used half guard to sit back up and pull his leg out straight. I guess I almost got him into an unintentional knee bar. We quit to discuss the shaolin sweep and never finished our roll. So I'll count not getting submitted twice as two wins in my book.
I saw the new guy was just watching so I asked him if he wanted to roll. Like most people that walk into the Dojo he's had previous martial arts experience. He said he did Korean Karate back in Pennsylvania and they did some ground grappling. He definitely knew what the positions were and where he didn't want to be. He also used a lot of strength in trying to fend me off and it was working to an extent. I had to try a little harder than I thought I would to pass and to get him on his back. He liked to do a lot of forearm to the neck as well which made my throat hurt last night. I was eventually able to get around him into side control and started locking up a darce until he tapped. We went a second time and instead of pulling guard I put him in a wristlock and got side control. Much more preferable for me. He had both arms way low inviting me to put on the North-South which I've been having the most perceived success with lately.
I went with Ken next but it didn't turn out to be one of our epic battles. He set me up in an armbar that I couldn't weasel out of. I don't really remember too much else.
Unfortunately David won't be able to open the Dojo up on Wednesday mornings for a while. I don't know of anyone else with a key that wants to come that early. I'll have to replace it with swimming or find someone to do Hapkido with me or roll at the Taekwondo school.
Friday, January 6, 2012
January 5th - Gi
Conan taught class yesterday and we did several different things with some focus on standup and then sweeps. Our warmup consisted of the standard falling routine. We worked on some Kazushi and fitting in. It was a pretty good drill as I'm still not that comfortable with the concept. I think it helped.
We did some sweeps from butterfly guard and then half guard. The first butterfly guard sweep (one underhook one over) was pretty cool and fun. The second sweep we worked on I have been familiar with because I have it done to me frequently. It's especially used when someone tries to pass your butterfly guard and you kind of kick them off to the side. For the rest of the class we worked on the Shaolin sweep that Greg taught us. I really like this too and was glad to get several reps in with it.
For open mat I went with Adam first. Of course I ended up on the bottom once we actually engaged. I was able to get to my knees a couple of times but never had a good position. I feel like I defended well throughout. We both tried a couple of the sweeps that we worked on yesterday. Conan ended up having us stop and change partners before a submission was to be had.
I went with Conan a couple of times after that. In our first match he was messing with isolating my arms and messing with them quite a bit from side control. There was one point where I surprised him with a timed reversal from side mount that put me in side mount for a few seconds. Which was cool. In the end he tapped me out with an americana from a top crucifix position. We then talked a little about getting my arms free when they are trapped.
With three minutes left I went with Greg. It seemed to be a little different going with him than before. I don't know if he was trying something new but he felt really light and didn't really use any pressure on me. It seemed like a scramble the whole time with me getting half guard and losing it over and over. Finally he was in side mount and had both his hands near my collar. I knew too late what was coming when he put on the baseball bat choke from the top.
We did some sweeps from butterfly guard and then half guard. The first butterfly guard sweep (one underhook one over) was pretty cool and fun. The second sweep we worked on I have been familiar with because I have it done to me frequently. It's especially used when someone tries to pass your butterfly guard and you kind of kick them off to the side. For the rest of the class we worked on the Shaolin sweep that Greg taught us. I really like this too and was glad to get several reps in with it.
For open mat I went with Adam first. Of course I ended up on the bottom once we actually engaged. I was able to get to my knees a couple of times but never had a good position. I feel like I defended well throughout. We both tried a couple of the sweeps that we worked on yesterday. Conan ended up having us stop and change partners before a submission was to be had.
I went with Conan a couple of times after that. In our first match he was messing with isolating my arms and messing with them quite a bit from side control. There was one point where I surprised him with a timed reversal from side mount that put me in side mount for a few seconds. Which was cool. In the end he tapped me out with an americana from a top crucifix position. We then talked a little about getting my arms free when they are trapped.
With three minutes left I went with Greg. It seemed to be a little different going with him than before. I don't know if he was trying something new but he felt really light and didn't really use any pressure on me. It seemed like a scramble the whole time with me getting half guard and losing it over and over. Finally he was in side mount and had both his hands near my collar. I knew too late what was coming when he put on the baseball bat choke from the top.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
January 4th - Morning Open (Ups and Downs)
A little bit of a repeat from last week. David and Robert joined me for some early morning partner drills. Today our positions were mount and guard. I felt like I did pretty well in both positions from top and bottom. We did 2 minute rounds and switched out partners so we all were in each position with each partner.
David had to go to class, so he took off. I rolled with Robert about 5 times in a row. While I did some good things and got top position or back a couple of times he pretty much dominated me the whole time. He got me with a couple of armbars I identified some of my mistakes right as they happened. I'm still not sure how to rectify them but identifying them is a step in the right direction. It mostly has to do with how I use my legs in open or butterfly guard.
I was a little discouraged this morning after that. I should be used to being submitted all of the time by now but it can really get to me. The thing that probably bothers me about it the most is due to how long I've been in martial arts. I got used to being considered the best student when I took Taekwondo, the best student in Hapkido class, and then finally a Hapkido instructor. I know it has helped me progress faster than most new white belts and I don't want to take away from my brothers' skill at the dojo. But dammit, after 20 years of martial arts and having been a Marine I should be better than I am.
Oh well, a week from now I'll probably do something cool while rolling and be on the opposite side of the spectrum again.
David had to go to class, so he took off. I rolled with Robert about 5 times in a row. While I did some good things and got top position or back a couple of times he pretty much dominated me the whole time. He got me with a couple of armbars I identified some of my mistakes right as they happened. I'm still not sure how to rectify them but identifying them is a step in the right direction. It mostly has to do with how I use my legs in open or butterfly guard.
I was a little discouraged this morning after that. I should be used to being submitted all of the time by now but it can really get to me. The thing that probably bothers me about it the most is due to how long I've been in martial arts. I got used to being considered the best student when I took Taekwondo, the best student in Hapkido class, and then finally a Hapkido instructor. I know it has helped me progress faster than most new white belts and I don't want to take away from my brothers' skill at the dojo. But dammit, after 20 years of martial arts and having been a Marine I should be better than I am.
Oh well, a week from now I'll probably do something cool while rolling and be on the opposite side of the spectrum again.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Starting Off the New Year Right
I attended No-gi on Sunday taught by Conan and Gi class last night taught by Jerad.
It was just myself, Patrick, and Conan to start off, then Ken and Adam showed up later. Our focus was pretty much working on defenses for things that Patrick and I thought of. We started with Darce defense and moved to North-South and other chokes. We did some attacks from mount mostly chokes using grapevines. Then we did the defenses for those chokes and an exercise trying to move the opponent's elbows just enough to relieve the pressure.
I had a battle with Ken that lasted a long time. I don't remember many highlights but I remember that I had some good moments and felt like I implemented some of the recent changes to my game successfully. I rolled with Adam next and he basically crushed me. I also felt okay about my performance here but being in his side control is just awful.
Last night Jerad's theme was the turtle position. I'm pretty sure I've practiced all of the techniques that we did but I haven't been using them. There were a couple of ones that went from the opponent trying for a single leg and some ways to handle that, I get put in single legs often from this position.
I rolled with Robert first with him having a gi on for once. I was able to get him into an armbar position, but with everything I tried I couldn't break his grip. There were a couple of times when he had me in side mount that I wanted to tap from being suffocated by his gi. His strength is definitely an obstacle to overcome. He eventually got me with a belly down armbar.
I rolled with David next and was able to implement some of the new things that I learned against him. It wasn't long before I made a mistake and he had side control. I used the arm triangle defense that he showed me last week by pushing down on him with my triceps. Which worked but he eventually isolated my arm and got me into an americana not too long after.
By this time I was feeling pretty crappy and drained. Jerad asked me if I wanted to roll and I couldn't refuse. While I did some good things in attempt to pass his guard I made a big mistake right away and I got caught in a Kimura because I left my front hand too far back. We went again and I tried my best to just go with the flow. He eventually took my back and had my collar, I started to get out of it but then turned the wrong way right into the bow and arrow.
I'm going to take tonight to recover. I worked out 4 days in a row and helped my brother-in-law move some heavy stuff over the weekend. I was pretty sore last night after class, so after the kids went to sleep I curled up into a ball under several blankets and moved as little as possible and watched some tv.
It was just myself, Patrick, and Conan to start off, then Ken and Adam showed up later. Our focus was pretty much working on defenses for things that Patrick and I thought of. We started with Darce defense and moved to North-South and other chokes. We did some attacks from mount mostly chokes using grapevines. Then we did the defenses for those chokes and an exercise trying to move the opponent's elbows just enough to relieve the pressure.
I had a battle with Ken that lasted a long time. I don't remember many highlights but I remember that I had some good moments and felt like I implemented some of the recent changes to my game successfully. I rolled with Adam next and he basically crushed me. I also felt okay about my performance here but being in his side control is just awful.
Last night Jerad's theme was the turtle position. I'm pretty sure I've practiced all of the techniques that we did but I haven't been using them. There were a couple of ones that went from the opponent trying for a single leg and some ways to handle that, I get put in single legs often from this position.
I rolled with Robert first with him having a gi on for once. I was able to get him into an armbar position, but with everything I tried I couldn't break his grip. There were a couple of times when he had me in side mount that I wanted to tap from being suffocated by his gi. His strength is definitely an obstacle to overcome. He eventually got me with a belly down armbar.
I rolled with David next and was able to implement some of the new things that I learned against him. It wasn't long before I made a mistake and he had side control. I used the arm triangle defense that he showed me last week by pushing down on him with my triceps. Which worked but he eventually isolated my arm and got me into an americana not too long after.
By this time I was feeling pretty crappy and drained. Jerad asked me if I wanted to roll and I couldn't refuse. While I did some good things in attempt to pass his guard I made a big mistake right away and I got caught in a Kimura because I left my front hand too far back. We went again and I tried my best to just go with the flow. He eventually took my back and had my collar, I started to get out of it but then turned the wrong way right into the bow and arrow.
I'm going to take tonight to recover. I worked out 4 days in a row and helped my brother-in-law move some heavy stuff over the weekend. I was pretty sore last night after class, so after the kids went to sleep I curled up into a ball under several blankets and moved as little as possible and watched some tv.
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