Highlights from Open mat Saturday:
Jerad: Started off on top with Jerad attacking as much as I could while it lasted. I feel like I did a great job passing and keeping away from his stiff arm reversal, but I couldn't seem to set anything up sufficiently and eventually got swept. We rolled a couple times and he submitted me both times.
Robert: It's been a little frustrating dealing with Robert the last couple times. While I seem to get to the positions that I want to, I am unable to finish. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with the RNC, because I can't seem to dig it in deep enough. If I feel like it is, he's able to attack my other hand as I try to hook up to my bicep. So, there's room for improvement there.
Ray: I know he's been trying to improve his standing passes and I'm happy to be the dummy for that. I don't recall too much more of our match.
Greg: I feel like I'm getting worse instead of better going up against Greg lately. It seemed like his goal during this particular roll was to go for back mount over and over again. And, he did. If I prevented that then he went to mount or side mount and then got back after that. It was pretty ridiculous.
It was very humid Saturday which didn't help. My Gi was soaked and I felt pretty wiped out. We got on the topic of hydration as I was struggling to get changed. I actually thought I was drinking plenty of water per day but apparently not. So I'm more than doubling my intake and it seems like I've tripled my bathroom visits for the day. In fact, typing that made me have to go again.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
June 13th - No Gi
Kind of a small class last night for no-gi, not too many stayed after the beginner class. It was cool to see some new guys training when I arrived. I'm looking forward to our school growing and I'm excited to get in on the ground floor.
After our warm-up we worked on a wrestling take-down that resembled an ankle pick. We started this from a collar tie grip and then get them to bend over by going to your knees. From there we lifted their ankle and pushed them to their butt and then prepare for guard passing. Bauer and I worked together on this. I didn't have any problems with it, but I was a little hesitant to practice it.
The meat and potatoes of the class was the armdrag from butterfly guard. I've worked on this quite a bit so it felt pretty natural for me on both sides. From there we also did a couple of responses to someone defending the armdrag. The first was if they push you to your back which puts them into a position to butterfly sweep them. The second was where they lift their leg, we would then kick our way into x-guard.
For the end of class we rolled with 7 minute rounds and everyone in class partnered with everyone else. So 28 minutes of rolling amongst the 5 of us. I feel like I did pretty well. Got submitted 2 or 3 times. Bauer and I neutralized each other and had a good back and forth. I watched Jordan do a great job of maintaining and recovering guard against Bauer, he's really progressing. I also had to work hard to pass his guard. Mike caught me with a slick armbar early but after we continued I was able to take his back for a while but I didn't have my hooks in. I held onto his back for a good portion of the rest of our roll but wasn't able to finish anything. I kind of took Greg's back as well but as soon as he rolled I ended up in kneebar danger that I had to escape from. After that Greg put on a clinic of attacking the guillotine choke to taking side mount to attacking the guillotine to avoid my half guard to taking mount and then start over.
After our warm-up we worked on a wrestling take-down that resembled an ankle pick. We started this from a collar tie grip and then get them to bend over by going to your knees. From there we lifted their ankle and pushed them to their butt and then prepare for guard passing. Bauer and I worked together on this. I didn't have any problems with it, but I was a little hesitant to practice it.
The meat and potatoes of the class was the armdrag from butterfly guard. I've worked on this quite a bit so it felt pretty natural for me on both sides. From there we also did a couple of responses to someone defending the armdrag. The first was if they push you to your back which puts them into a position to butterfly sweep them. The second was where they lift their leg, we would then kick our way into x-guard.
For the end of class we rolled with 7 minute rounds and everyone in class partnered with everyone else. So 28 minutes of rolling amongst the 5 of us. I feel like I did pretty well. Got submitted 2 or 3 times. Bauer and I neutralized each other and had a good back and forth. I watched Jordan do a great job of maintaining and recovering guard against Bauer, he's really progressing. I also had to work hard to pass his guard. Mike caught me with a slick armbar early but after we continued I was able to take his back for a while but I didn't have my hooks in. I held onto his back for a good portion of the rest of our roll but wasn't able to finish anything. I kind of took Greg's back as well but as soon as he rolled I ended up in kneebar danger that I had to escape from. After that Greg put on a clinic of attacking the guillotine choke to taking side mount to attacking the guillotine to avoid my half guard to taking mount and then start over.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
June 11th - Gi (Spent)
It was a rough night last night. It was a little humid when we got started so I was already sweating a little. Mike showed me a spider guard variation that was used in the Metamoris event which eventually turned into some light rolling. We went right into warm-up and stretching after that. I'm starting to get used to the neck exercises which I dreaded before.
The theme of the class was the guard recovery technique from side control that I mentioned in last Thursday's post. So everyone can thank me or hate me for all of the times that we drilled it. The technique is performed when there is a little space before the top person has sunk into side control. You shrimp out slightly and then go for an armbar and your other knee slides across their belly. From their you recapture guard by bringing your leg to the other side of their head and then making space to bring your other leg around into guard or triangle.
First we worked on it as a defense where we would reset each time and perform the escape. Then Greg had us treat it as an ongoing drill to escape and then the top person tries to pass on the other side and we would then do the technique on the other side rinse and repeat. This got to be pretty difficult. I didn't have too much problem with the bottom except for my timing probably not being perfect. However, the top killed me. It was very knee intensive with a lot of movement around my partner's legs. We did this drill 2 times with 2-3 (it felt like a long time) minute rounds.
Then we did king of the mat, with a new caveat. If you swept or submitted your opponent from guard, before your next partner you had to do push-ups. Then the push-ups multiplied starting with 5 the first time and then 10 the next until you reached 25. So it was a way to test the kings a little bit more and it seemed to work. I ended up having to do a total of 10 push-ups. I believe Jerad and Mike also completed some push-ups, but Greg took the cake by reaching the 25 and ultimately completing 75 push-ups. I was probably quite a sight at the end. My gi was soaked through with sweat and I could barely move. I didn't quit but I wanted to a couple of times.
There was a point when the new guy (Brian?) had me in a weird kind of crucifix situation. Pride took over a little bit and I didn't allow him to get a better position. Now if it had been Adam or someone else better than me I might have just gave up and accepted the perceived inevitable outcome. Probably need to restructure my thinking in these situations or else I'm always going to make it easier on my betters and we can't have that.
The theme of the class was the guard recovery technique from side control that I mentioned in last Thursday's post. So everyone can thank me or hate me for all of the times that we drilled it. The technique is performed when there is a little space before the top person has sunk into side control. You shrimp out slightly and then go for an armbar and your other knee slides across their belly. From their you recapture guard by bringing your leg to the other side of their head and then making space to bring your other leg around into guard or triangle.
First we worked on it as a defense where we would reset each time and perform the escape. Then Greg had us treat it as an ongoing drill to escape and then the top person tries to pass on the other side and we would then do the technique on the other side rinse and repeat. This got to be pretty difficult. I didn't have too much problem with the bottom except for my timing probably not being perfect. However, the top killed me. It was very knee intensive with a lot of movement around my partner's legs. We did this drill 2 times with 2-3 (it felt like a long time) minute rounds.
Then we did king of the mat, with a new caveat. If you swept or submitted your opponent from guard, before your next partner you had to do push-ups. Then the push-ups multiplied starting with 5 the first time and then 10 the next until you reached 25. So it was a way to test the kings a little bit more and it seemed to work. I ended up having to do a total of 10 push-ups. I believe Jerad and Mike also completed some push-ups, but Greg took the cake by reaching the 25 and ultimately completing 75 push-ups. I was probably quite a sight at the end. My gi was soaked through with sweat and I could barely move. I didn't quit but I wanted to a couple of times.
There was a point when the new guy (Brian?) had me in a weird kind of crucifix situation. Pride took over a little bit and I didn't allow him to get a better position. Now if it had been Adam or someone else better than me I might have just gave up and accepted the perceived inevitable outcome. Probably need to restructure my thinking in these situations or else I'm always going to make it easier on my betters and we can't have that.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
June 8th - Open Mat
A good crowd of Greg, Conan, Jerad, Ray, Fuji, and Robert were in attendance at open mat yesterday. Not too much out of the ordinary to report. I'll sum it up with the highlights per roller.
Fuji: He pulled guard both times we rolled and I was able to do some standing passes. I then struggled to try and submit him using brabo grips and attempted the new choke Jerad showed me last week. During that time I had to make sure he didn't get up through a combination of cross facing and switching sides. He inevitably got me over and smashed me and submitted me, but I feel like I did a little better than usual before that.
Conan: He started off playing possum and let me try to pass his guard like usual. Eventually he got bored with me trying to submit him and swept and submitted me.
Robert: We had quite the battle. I was wearing a gi and he was in shorts and a t-shirt, so I started off with a little disadvantage that way, but he did a good job of avoiding gi grips. I had him a couple of times from back mount but he did a good job of defending chokes. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't finish from the back.
Greg: I really didn't have anything for Greg. He pulled off the reverse dlr back take that turned into a sweep and then side control and mount. There are so many times that I try things that work on other people but Greg has a better answer for. I've just got to tighten up my game. We also drilled a spider guard pass but I was pretty wiped at this time and didn't complete as many reps as he did.
I didn't get a chance to roll with Jerad or Ray, they seemed preoccupied with each other for most of the session.
Fuji: He pulled guard both times we rolled and I was able to do some standing passes. I then struggled to try and submit him using brabo grips and attempted the new choke Jerad showed me last week. During that time I had to make sure he didn't get up through a combination of cross facing and switching sides. He inevitably got me over and smashed me and submitted me, but I feel like I did a little better than usual before that.
Conan: He started off playing possum and let me try to pass his guard like usual. Eventually he got bored with me trying to submit him and swept and submitted me.
Robert: We had quite the battle. I was wearing a gi and he was in shorts and a t-shirt, so I started off with a little disadvantage that way, but he did a good job of avoiding gi grips. I had him a couple of times from back mount but he did a good job of defending chokes. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't finish from the back.
Greg: I really didn't have anything for Greg. He pulled off the reverse dlr back take that turned into a sweep and then side control and mount. There are so many times that I try things that work on other people but Greg has a better answer for. I've just got to tighten up my game. We also drilled a spider guard pass but I was pretty wiped at this time and didn't complete as many reps as he did.
I didn't get a chance to roll with Jerad or Ray, they seemed preoccupied with each other for most of the session.
Friday, June 7, 2013
June 6th - No Gi (Thanks to the Newbies)
Once again I had to sit through the end of the beginner gi class and watch while everyone had fun training. Apparently it was the largest class so far, from memory there had to be at least 14 students. They finished the class with up/down/out guard passing. For only an hour class everyone seemed to get a pretty good workout.
We had our regular warm-up and I feel like I improved a bit with the hand walking. I'm at least going in the right direction now. The technique of the class was north/south choke which is one of the few techniques I consider my own. I made a few improvements working my bicep into the choke a little more. Adam seems to be my go to partner lately when we are both in class and we choked the crap out of each other over and over again. The second part to the technique was if they tried to roll away and escape we would convert it to a modified tight guillotine choke. This was awesome especially if you could take it all the way to guard.
We trained starting from side control and then rolling from there for 3 minutes, then we switched who was on top and went another 3 minutes. I rolled with Greg, Mike, Roland, Adam, Bauer, and Robert. Adding that up 36 minutes of good rolling went by fast.
I came to the realization last night that I'm thankful for all of the new guys that have been coming in. My teammates that are better than me make me better by putting the pressure on me and submitting me over and over again. The new guys allow me to work on new things. I can practice something and screw it up and then reset and try again. The catch is that I don't want to always smash them and use my "A" game. To utilize their full potential I usually try to do what we worked on in class or something I'm not good at but want to be. Lately I've been mimicking Greg's game a little by trying to setup guillotines from top half guard as well as do some fancy foot work. I also pulled off a couple north/south chokes last night.
I picked up a new side control escape yesterday that I hadn't worked on previously but I've had it done to me a lot. It's basically making a little bit of space and then fitting your knee in between and kicking your leg over for an armbar. If you get the armbar, great! If not you should be able to shrimp away into butterfly or open guard. I know it's pretty basic but I think it's something that will work well my other escapes.
My ribs are still sore from Tuesday. It's more of a muscle thing not a cartilage or bone problem so I'll get over it, but it made it uncomfortable to get to sleep last night. I've been working on a new website idea with the help of Greg. It will be a repetition tracker where students can log their reps of certain techniques. I'll post more about it soon and ask for thoughts on what to include in the site.
We had our regular warm-up and I feel like I improved a bit with the hand walking. I'm at least going in the right direction now. The technique of the class was north/south choke which is one of the few techniques I consider my own. I made a few improvements working my bicep into the choke a little more. Adam seems to be my go to partner lately when we are both in class and we choked the crap out of each other over and over again. The second part to the technique was if they tried to roll away and escape we would convert it to a modified tight guillotine choke. This was awesome especially if you could take it all the way to guard.
We trained starting from side control and then rolling from there for 3 minutes, then we switched who was on top and went another 3 minutes. I rolled with Greg, Mike, Roland, Adam, Bauer, and Robert. Adding that up 36 minutes of good rolling went by fast.
I came to the realization last night that I'm thankful for all of the new guys that have been coming in. My teammates that are better than me make me better by putting the pressure on me and submitting me over and over again. The new guys allow me to work on new things. I can practice something and screw it up and then reset and try again. The catch is that I don't want to always smash them and use my "A" game. To utilize their full potential I usually try to do what we worked on in class or something I'm not good at but want to be. Lately I've been mimicking Greg's game a little by trying to setup guillotines from top half guard as well as do some fancy foot work. I also pulled off a couple north/south chokes last night.
I picked up a new side control escape yesterday that I hadn't worked on previously but I've had it done to me a lot. It's basically making a little bit of space and then fitting your knee in between and kicking your leg over for an armbar. If you get the armbar, great! If not you should be able to shrimp away into butterfly or open guard. I know it's pretty basic but I think it's something that will work well my other escapes.
My ribs are still sore from Tuesday. It's more of a muscle thing not a cartilage or bone problem so I'll get over it, but it made it uncomfortable to get to sleep last night. I've been working on a new website idea with the help of Greg. It will be a repetition tracker where students can log their reps of certain techniques. I'll post more about it soon and ask for thoughts on what to include in the site.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
June 4th - Gi (Dig Deep)
Last night was quite a class. Warm-up and stretching as per usual. We've been finishing the warm-up with hand stand walking down the floor lately and I've been getting better at it. Sometimes it's a little tough to go forward but I'm learning how to balance myself better. My wrists ache a little bit after it and I'm not sure what that's about.
The focus of the class was on the knee slide pass. Greg demonstrated it with more details than I'm used to. I usually like to do it exclusively with an underhook but he had us start from open guard and get a good lapel grip and then work our way to the knee slide position and put pressure on their hip with our elbow. I had a little trouble making my body get low and use my knees the way they are supposed to. Mostly from habit and a little fear, but I'm not having any pain so I should just get over it. I worked with Mike and new Jerad through this version and then we did the half guard tripod to knee slide which did use the underhook.
After that we trained hard. Greg had us partner up in 4 groups. I was designated to play butterfly guard, while the others in my row Fuji: spider, Adam: half, and Mike: closed guards. We did 3 minute rounds of trying to sweep or pass and then the other row would rotate. So I got a lot of butterfly guard practice. I was amazed at how many basic butterfly sweeps I was able to complete. I just kept going for the underhook, head under their chin and then overhook the other arm. Once I got there I could complete it. There were a few times I had to go to the other side and just switch my overhook. It worked great until I was sitting across from Greg, then it all stopped worked. After we went through the whole row, we switched sides and now I was the guard passer against the different types of guards. As Greg suggested, I tried my best to incorporate the knee slide where I could. I also did a few half guard side pass (I don't know what it's called but I use it a lot).
After all of that I was dragging ass. I had to really dig deep to complete my last 3 minute round with Greg and then we did 10 reps of a sweep of our choice. I thought I was going to lose my dinner, but I made it through despite moving a little slow to reset for each new rep. I haven't felt this way for a good while. It was like my body didn't want to cooperate with my mind.
Greg, Mike, and I talked about a lot of things after class. From how to learn new techniques in Jiu-Jitsu to college experiences to politics. It was quite informative but I was a little out of it and didn't contribute much. One positive to last night was my knees did not ache like they usually do after class. They actually felt strong and normal!
The focus of the class was on the knee slide pass. Greg demonstrated it with more details than I'm used to. I usually like to do it exclusively with an underhook but he had us start from open guard and get a good lapel grip and then work our way to the knee slide position and put pressure on their hip with our elbow. I had a little trouble making my body get low and use my knees the way they are supposed to. Mostly from habit and a little fear, but I'm not having any pain so I should just get over it. I worked with Mike and new Jerad through this version and then we did the half guard tripod to knee slide which did use the underhook.
After that we trained hard. Greg had us partner up in 4 groups. I was designated to play butterfly guard, while the others in my row Fuji: spider, Adam: half, and Mike: closed guards. We did 3 minute rounds of trying to sweep or pass and then the other row would rotate. So I got a lot of butterfly guard practice. I was amazed at how many basic butterfly sweeps I was able to complete. I just kept going for the underhook, head under their chin and then overhook the other arm. Once I got there I could complete it. There were a few times I had to go to the other side and just switch my overhook. It worked great until I was sitting across from Greg, then it all stopped worked. After we went through the whole row, we switched sides and now I was the guard passer against the different types of guards. As Greg suggested, I tried my best to incorporate the knee slide where I could. I also did a few half guard side pass (I don't know what it's called but I use it a lot).
After all of that I was dragging ass. I had to really dig deep to complete my last 3 minute round with Greg and then we did 10 reps of a sweep of our choice. I thought I was going to lose my dinner, but I made it through despite moving a little slow to reset for each new rep. I haven't felt this way for a good while. It was like my body didn't want to cooperate with my mind.
Greg, Mike, and I talked about a lot of things after class. From how to learn new techniques in Jiu-Jitsu to college experiences to politics. It was quite informative but I was a little out of it and didn't contribute much. One positive to last night was my knees did not ache like they usually do after class. They actually felt strong and normal!
Monday, June 3, 2013
June 1st - Open Mat
I know I say this a lot, but you have no idea how excited I get before going to Jiu-Jitsu class. I could almost describe myself as giddy, but I won't. It must seem pretty weird for people that don't do Jiu-Jitsu to read my blog because it probably seem like I'm getting beaten all the time and never have the satisfaction of winning.
I actually do a lot of thinking about that. How can I get better more efficiently? Should I focus on one technique or a group of techniques, or just hang back and keep my head down while I trudge on class after class? There is no perfect answer, but I know I am getting better and due to my recent injury I'm just enjoying the process of recovering and improving. My major focus right now is preparing for a visit from Tinguina (Greg's instructor), who will be here some time in July for a testing and seminar. So fundamentals are on my mind.
I rolled with everyone that was there: Eddie, David M, Jerad, Fuji, Ray, Bauer, and Adam. I don't think I'm forgetting anyone. I had some good moments and some bad. I won't go into any details, but it was a great session with some great training partners.
I actually do a lot of thinking about that. How can I get better more efficiently? Should I focus on one technique or a group of techniques, or just hang back and keep my head down while I trudge on class after class? There is no perfect answer, but I know I am getting better and due to my recent injury I'm just enjoying the process of recovering and improving. My major focus right now is preparing for a visit from Tinguina (Greg's instructor), who will be here some time in July for a testing and seminar. So fundamentals are on my mind.
I rolled with everyone that was there: Eddie, David M, Jerad, Fuji, Ray, Bauer, and Adam. I don't think I'm forgetting anyone. I had some good moments and some bad. I won't go into any details, but it was a great session with some great training partners.
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