Theme & Techniques: Footlock Defense for straight ankle and heel hook
I've been hoping for a footlock class for a while and Greg thought it would be a good time to refresh defenses before the tournament. Things to remember included: don't try to spin out of a straight ankle; don't move in straight on a heel hook; get rid of their foot on your hip. Adam and I were both a little tentative because we don't like having ankle locks done to us. Will was our third partner and he helped me out a couple times when I wasn't getting up to my knees properly.
Rolling: Takedown sparring, free rolling
The guys competing on Saturday drilled and did more safe activities to be fresh for the tournament. Greg, Adam, Jordan, and myself did some resistance training. During standup I tried to setup the Russian tie but rightly so it wasn't happening with Adam or Greg. I had a little more success with Jordan but still probably over-thought my game too much.
During free rolling Adam and I had quite the half guard battle that went back and forth. I may need to take Fuji's advice from last Saturday and be a little more mean with my crossfaces and pressure. I executed my game pretty well with Jordan and was able to maintain back mount for a while using a gift wrap entry. Greg schooled me pretty well, however I was not falling into some of the traps that he was setting for me. There were a couple of pauses where I knew he was expecting me to use a deep underhook so he could setup his monoplata armbar whatsit. I guess I'm unconsciously picking up things not to do with Greg, so I got that going for me. He did end up submitting me with an RNC from back mount.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
December 10th 2013 - Gi Noon & Evening (Fingers had it Rough)
Noon
Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Guard - Hip Bump sweep & Kimura
Attendance is starting to pick up at the Tuesday noon class; there was 5 of us plus Greg. Ross who was on his second class, Bearded Josh, Jordan, Air Force Brian, and me. I ended up working with Josh due to matching pretty closely size wise. He kept questioning if he was doing the hip bump correctly, maybe because it felt too easy. Of course that technique heavily relies on timing and the other person's posture to be effective in rolling. Hard to simulate during drilling. Greg and I both tried to assure him it was correct
The kimura from guard has always been difficult to setup for me. I think it's because where you put your arms is so important for the top guy that in the words of Kurt Osiander if you get put into a kimura from guard, "you fucked up a long time ago, bro!"
Rolling: Guard Position, Shark Tank for Brian
This was the start of my finger pain. I did so much gi gripping today that they feel like they were rubbed with sand paper. Went with Josh and the question of how do I roll with new people ran through my head. He hasn't gotten the basics down of grips and posture so I do my best to make my techniques as smooth as possible using the most leverage. Eventually I give him some pointers describing what I'm trying to do and how he can defend it. Greg was next and I feel like I did some good things. I had a few sweep attempts that I chained together but it wasn't enough to bring him down.
To give Brian some extra tournament prep, Greg had Jordan and I take turns rolling with him under tournament rules for 4 rounds of 5 minutes. Like I always say, he's doing great for how new he is to BJJ. We put him through the ringer and he came out pretty well. I was able to setup the farside armbar from side control twice and told him afterwards to not put his arm on that side of my neck.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Competition prep reps
Brian returned for the evening class for more prep. Class was run similar to the Saturday competition class, which I'll be sad to see go. We did 4 minute rounds of working on our guard technique (omoplata) guard pass (over/under), and our #3 (Arm Drag to Single Leg). I worked with Adam on all of these and he helped me out quite a bit with the over/under pass. He does a few things slightly different that I'm going to start incorporating into this technique.
Rolling: 8 Minute Drill, Tournament rules matches
I worked with Adam again for the 8 minute drill and I'm happy with my performance. I was able to escape every position except side mount, he is a boss at that position. There were a few times that I could feel his strength and size being a helpful factor in him escaping.
I did matches against Adam, Brian, and Moe. Between the matches Greg had the guys competing do some calisthenics to make rolling a little more difficult. I felt bad just watching them, but not too bad. I kept Adam in guard for quite a while but eventually he got ahead of me and I remained in side control for the rest of the round. Brian almost made the same mistake as earlier and I reminded him of the far side arm bar. Later on somehow the kimura from guard presented itself disproving my earlier assumption that I suck at setting it up. Moe pulled guard as soon as he got grips but he wasn't able to lock it up and fell pretty hard on the mat. It probably looked like I slammed him. I took it easy on him due to him being worn out and made him work to escape my mount when he wanted to give up.
Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Guard - Hip Bump sweep & Kimura
Attendance is starting to pick up at the Tuesday noon class; there was 5 of us plus Greg. Ross who was on his second class, Bearded Josh, Jordan, Air Force Brian, and me. I ended up working with Josh due to matching pretty closely size wise. He kept questioning if he was doing the hip bump correctly, maybe because it felt too easy. Of course that technique heavily relies on timing and the other person's posture to be effective in rolling. Hard to simulate during drilling. Greg and I both tried to assure him it was correct
The kimura from guard has always been difficult to setup for me. I think it's because where you put your arms is so important for the top guy that in the words of Kurt Osiander if you get put into a kimura from guard, "you fucked up a long time ago, bro!"
Rolling: Guard Position, Shark Tank for Brian
This was the start of my finger pain. I did so much gi gripping today that they feel like they were rubbed with sand paper. Went with Josh and the question of how do I roll with new people ran through my head. He hasn't gotten the basics down of grips and posture so I do my best to make my techniques as smooth as possible using the most leverage. Eventually I give him some pointers describing what I'm trying to do and how he can defend it. Greg was next and I feel like I did some good things. I had a few sweep attempts that I chained together but it wasn't enough to bring him down.
To give Brian some extra tournament prep, Greg had Jordan and I take turns rolling with him under tournament rules for 4 rounds of 5 minutes. Like I always say, he's doing great for how new he is to BJJ. We put him through the ringer and he came out pretty well. I was able to setup the farside armbar from side control twice and told him afterwards to not put his arm on that side of my neck.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Competition prep reps
Brian returned for the evening class for more prep. Class was run similar to the Saturday competition class, which I'll be sad to see go. We did 4 minute rounds of working on our guard technique (omoplata) guard pass (over/under), and our #3 (Arm Drag to Single Leg). I worked with Adam on all of these and he helped me out quite a bit with the over/under pass. He does a few things slightly different that I'm going to start incorporating into this technique.
Rolling: 8 Minute Drill, Tournament rules matches
I worked with Adam again for the 8 minute drill and I'm happy with my performance. I was able to escape every position except side mount, he is a boss at that position. There were a few times that I could feel his strength and size being a helpful factor in him escaping.
I did matches against Adam, Brian, and Moe. Between the matches Greg had the guys competing do some calisthenics to make rolling a little more difficult. I felt bad just watching them, but not too bad. I kept Adam in guard for quite a while but eventually he got ahead of me and I remained in side control for the rest of the round. Brian almost made the same mistake as earlier and I reminded him of the far side arm bar. Later on somehow the kimura from guard presented itself disproving my earlier assumption that I suck at setting it up. Moe pulled guard as soon as he got grips but he wasn't able to lock it up and fell pretty hard on the mat. It probably looked like I slammed him. I took it easy on him due to him being worn out and made him work to escape my mount when he wanted to give up.
Monday, December 9, 2013
December 7th 2013 - Kids & Competition & Open Mat
Kid's Class:
I've been going to the kid's class every Saturday and a few Mondays, and it's been a blast to be able to be on the mats with my boys. I've had some worries that they wouldn't like it or lose interest, but now that more kids have been joining they seem to like it even more. We've had our struggles with shrimping and crab walks being hard and not wanting to partner with other kids but it's getting better. They love the games foot tag, blob tag, sumo wrestling, sprawl ball, and crab walk soccer, which all have applications to BJJ.
They've covered several actual techniques as well: scissor sweep, side control to mount, upa from mount, o-soto gari and a couple others. We even worked on scissor sweep and escaping back mount at home last night. My wife was so proud (she was being half sarcastic).
Competition Class:
This was the last comp class before the tournament next week. Greg took it pretty easy on us partly because attendance was the lowest we've had. Robert Rojas had fought the night before and I guess it went pretty late. Apparently the fight went very fast and Robert won in the first round by TKO.
I worked with Fuji starting with drilling side control escapes and then did a couple of interesting drills. The first was to implement our ideal game with little resistance. Off the top of my head I used 2 of my three techniques that we've been drilling. Arm drag to Single leg, over/under pass to side control, to far side arm bar.
The second drill was to deal with someone stalling in full guard. The opponent would just lay their head down and keep their elbows tight. This was to simulate that the person on top is ahead by 2 points and you need a sweep or submission to win before time runs out. Both were great exercises to prepare for a tournament.
Open Mat:
Not very many people stayed or showed up for open mat. Jerad had to take off for work so we got a couple rolls in quickly. I'll have to look back and count how many times he's handed my ass to me and then add 2 more to the count. I did well in the beginning of our second match as I passed his guard and attempted some submissions from side mount. Once he escaped it was a lot of the same. He is one of the few people that likes to attack from mount.
I spent the rest of the session with Jorge. We rolled a couple times where I spent most of the time on top in side control. He is very difficult to submit. After that we went over side control escapes mostly focusing on the tripod with underhook. In our last roll I focused on knee on belly as I haven't been doing it that much lately. He really made me work to keep control and maybe I need to take Fuji's advice and be a little more mean with my positions.
I've been going to the kid's class every Saturday and a few Mondays, and it's been a blast to be able to be on the mats with my boys. I've had some worries that they wouldn't like it or lose interest, but now that more kids have been joining they seem to like it even more. We've had our struggles with shrimping and crab walks being hard and not wanting to partner with other kids but it's getting better. They love the games foot tag, blob tag, sumo wrestling, sprawl ball, and crab walk soccer, which all have applications to BJJ.
They've covered several actual techniques as well: scissor sweep, side control to mount, upa from mount, o-soto gari and a couple others. We even worked on scissor sweep and escaping back mount at home last night. My wife was so proud (she was being half sarcastic).
Competition Class:
This was the last comp class before the tournament next week. Greg took it pretty easy on us partly because attendance was the lowest we've had. Robert Rojas had fought the night before and I guess it went pretty late. Apparently the fight went very fast and Robert won in the first round by TKO.
I worked with Fuji starting with drilling side control escapes and then did a couple of interesting drills. The first was to implement our ideal game with little resistance. Off the top of my head I used 2 of my three techniques that we've been drilling. Arm drag to Single leg, over/under pass to side control, to far side arm bar.
The second drill was to deal with someone stalling in full guard. The opponent would just lay their head down and keep their elbows tight. This was to simulate that the person on top is ahead by 2 points and you need a sweep or submission to win before time runs out. Both were great exercises to prepare for a tournament.
Open Mat:
Not very many people stayed or showed up for open mat. Jerad had to take off for work so we got a couple rolls in quickly. I'll have to look back and count how many times he's handed my ass to me and then add 2 more to the count. I did well in the beginning of our second match as I passed his guard and attempted some submissions from side mount. Once he escaped it was a lot of the same. He is one of the few people that likes to attack from mount.
I spent the rest of the session with Jorge. We rolled a couple times where I spent most of the time on top in side control. He is very difficult to submit. After that we went over side control escapes mostly focusing on the tripod with underhook. In our last roll I focused on knee on belly as I haven't been doing it that much lately. He really made me work to keep control and maybe I need to take Fuji's advice and be a little more mean with my positions.
Friday, December 6, 2013
December 6th 2013 - Gi
Theme & Techniques: Back Mount Escape, Rear Naked Choke
It was a bitter cold morning but Air Force Brian and Bearded Josh ventured out to attended 6 AM class. Nothing really new, but reps are always useful. We practiced the back mount escape in both directions (going towards or away from the choking arm). Greg then went over the basics of the RNC.
Rolling: Back Mount Position (2 min rnds)
We partnered up round robin style and each got a chance to attack each others back. I probably should have insisted on the rear naked choke that we worked on in class. Instead, I went for bow and arrows and succeeded a few times. It probably wasn't fair to Josh because he hadn't seen the bow and arrow yet and according to many BJJ practitioner it's better to go for the techniques that we cover in class to solidify the instruction in the memory banks. I was able to use the defenses that we worked on a few times although they are much more difficult when the other person is resisting.
WHOYA: December 6th 2012 - Gi
After reading through this, I'm surprised at how many techniques were covered in one class. We did 3 De La Riva techniques and 3 omoplata defenses. The structure of the classes has changed so much since the new school opened. It used to be an hour of instruction, usually several techniques, followed by half an hour of free rolling where you pick your own partner. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this and was still learning a lot.
Now We work on 2 (sometimes 3) techniques in one night and rolling is always structured. Greg picks the match-ups and we usually do some form of positional sparring whether it's king of the mat, up/down/out, or the 8 minute drill or free rolling. It seems a lot more efficient and I've seen everyone improve immensely in this short amount of time.
It was a bitter cold morning but Air Force Brian and Bearded Josh ventured out to attended 6 AM class. Nothing really new, but reps are always useful. We practiced the back mount escape in both directions (going towards or away from the choking arm). Greg then went over the basics of the RNC.
Rolling: Back Mount Position (2 min rnds)
We partnered up round robin style and each got a chance to attack each others back. I probably should have insisted on the rear naked choke that we worked on in class. Instead, I went for bow and arrows and succeeded a few times. It probably wasn't fair to Josh because he hadn't seen the bow and arrow yet and according to many BJJ practitioner it's better to go for the techniques that we cover in class to solidify the instruction in the memory banks. I was able to use the defenses that we worked on a few times although they are much more difficult when the other person is resisting.
WHOYA: December 6th 2012 - Gi
After reading through this, I'm surprised at how many techniques were covered in one class. We did 3 De La Riva techniques and 3 omoplata defenses. The structure of the classes has changed so much since the new school opened. It used to be an hour of instruction, usually several techniques, followed by half an hour of free rolling where you pick your own partner. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this and was still learning a lot.
Now We work on 2 (sometimes 3) techniques in one night and rolling is always structured. Greg picks the match-ups and we usually do some form of positional sparring whether it's king of the mat, up/down/out, or the 8 minute drill or free rolling. It seems a lot more efficient and I've seen everyone improve immensely in this short amount of time.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
December 5th 2013 - No Gi (Just Takedowns)
Theme & Rolling: Takedowns with KOTM and Partner
After our warm-up we went right into takedown sparring for the majority of the class. Eat your heart out Henry. I felt more confident during stand-up sparring than I ever have. I realized later on that this is the result of my reps with the arm drag to single leg in the competition class. I actually completed a few takedowns. Greg mentioned that I didn't look lost while standing up and I heard a few "nice arm drag attempt". I focused the most on keeping my front hand down by my knee at all times. I also felt a little better about pummeling although I need some more go to options.
Adam instructed us in using the Russian to transition to a double leg. I had been attempting to get to the Russian position all evening but it never worked out. After the confidence I've gained from working the arm drag to single leg, this may be something I focus on and add to my reps. The double was a little awkward at first but once I figured out how to get deep with my shot, it worked a lot better.
I received Tinguinha's Cross Guard DVD yesterday and I've seen bits and pieces of it. I can see some value in it already as it relates to my current game quite well. It is providing answers to the problems that I've had with the position and broadening my horizons with stuff I would have never thought of. I'll try to do a full review in the future.
After our warm-up we went right into takedown sparring for the majority of the class. Eat your heart out Henry. I felt more confident during stand-up sparring than I ever have. I realized later on that this is the result of my reps with the arm drag to single leg in the competition class. I actually completed a few takedowns. Greg mentioned that I didn't look lost while standing up and I heard a few "nice arm drag attempt". I focused the most on keeping my front hand down by my knee at all times. I also felt a little better about pummeling although I need some more go to options.
Adam instructed us in using the Russian to transition to a double leg. I had been attempting to get to the Russian position all evening but it never worked out. After the confidence I've gained from working the arm drag to single leg, this may be something I focus on and add to my reps. The double was a little awkward at first but once I figured out how to get deep with my shot, it worked a lot better.
I received Tinguinha's Cross Guard DVD yesterday and I've seen bits and pieces of it. I can see some value in it already as it relates to my current game quite well. It is providing answers to the problems that I've had with the position and broadening my horizons with stuff I would have never thought of. I'll try to do a full review in the future.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
December 3rd 2013 - Gi Noon & Evening
Noon
Theme & Techniques: Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke from mount
Bearded Josh joined us again, he has signed up and hopefully will stick around for a while. The most significant thing about practicing the escape was that Greg noticed I was taking a short pause at the top of my bridge. Changing that made a big difference.
I think I made some improvements on the cross collar. Instead of trying to bring my opponent down to me I would try to pull myself into them. This seemed to keep my elbows from flaring as much. This is a technique that I constantly struggle with and I'm always striving for any improvement.
Rolling: Mount Position (4 x 2 Min Rnd), Free Rolling
Worked with Greg and Josh and they couldn't have been more diametrically opposed experiences. Greg easily turned my mount into some type of guard several times and then didn't give me a chance to do the same. So naturally I did the same to Josh, but gave some pointers when he asked.
I rolled with Jordan after class with the objective of maintaining guard as long as possible and looking for sweeps. He was able to pass it once so I got to work on my side control escapes as well. He did a great job preventing north/south choke; I was looking for it but he kept his hands in the right places that I didn't make an attempt.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Closed guard armbar and pendulum sweep
For some reason several toes on my right foot felt swollen. Not sure if it was my gout acting up or if I hurt them in the noon class. Thankfully, they're okay today. It affected me a few times but once we started rolling I was able to ignore it.
I am confident with the armbar we practiced, setting it up is something I need to work on. The pendulum sweep from being stacked was very informative. Previously I thought the sweep had to be at a 90 degree angle but from the armbar position we sent them at a different angle that wouldn't allow them to base out. Genius!
Rolling: Guard Gauntlet, King of the mat from closed guard
Didn't make the cut to be on the guard side of the gauntlet, but hopefully I gave the other guys a run for their money. Jerad gave me the worst time. His butterfly guard is difficult to deal with. I did go into it with the goal of standing up to pass which seemed to help.
During KOTM, I had some successes and a few times, not so much. One lesson to come out of today is that I need to work on my posture and grips more from inside the closed guard.
WHOYA: December 3rd 2012 - Gi
It looks like this was the introduction to up/down/out. Greg taught and went over some spider guard. I think during this period Greg started introducing a lot of new things that would be used in our new school (warm-up, up/down/out, etc). I also make mention of showing off some of the techniques from the Jeff Glover DVD, which I still need to return.
Theme & Techniques: Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke from mount
Bearded Josh joined us again, he has signed up and hopefully will stick around for a while. The most significant thing about practicing the escape was that Greg noticed I was taking a short pause at the top of my bridge. Changing that made a big difference.
I think I made some improvements on the cross collar. Instead of trying to bring my opponent down to me I would try to pull myself into them. This seemed to keep my elbows from flaring as much. This is a technique that I constantly struggle with and I'm always striving for any improvement.
Rolling: Mount Position (4 x 2 Min Rnd), Free Rolling
Worked with Greg and Josh and they couldn't have been more diametrically opposed experiences. Greg easily turned my mount into some type of guard several times and then didn't give me a chance to do the same. So naturally I did the same to Josh, but gave some pointers when he asked.
I rolled with Jordan after class with the objective of maintaining guard as long as possible and looking for sweeps. He was able to pass it once so I got to work on my side control escapes as well. He did a great job preventing north/south choke; I was looking for it but he kept his hands in the right places that I didn't make an attempt.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Closed guard armbar and pendulum sweep
For some reason several toes on my right foot felt swollen. Not sure if it was my gout acting up or if I hurt them in the noon class. Thankfully, they're okay today. It affected me a few times but once we started rolling I was able to ignore it.
I am confident with the armbar we practiced, setting it up is something I need to work on. The pendulum sweep from being stacked was very informative. Previously I thought the sweep had to be at a 90 degree angle but from the armbar position we sent them at a different angle that wouldn't allow them to base out. Genius!
Rolling: Guard Gauntlet, King of the mat from closed guard
Didn't make the cut to be on the guard side of the gauntlet, but hopefully I gave the other guys a run for their money. Jerad gave me the worst time. His butterfly guard is difficult to deal with. I did go into it with the goal of standing up to pass which seemed to help.
During KOTM, I had some successes and a few times, not so much. One lesson to come out of today is that I need to work on my posture and grips more from inside the closed guard.
WHOYA: December 3rd 2012 - Gi
It looks like this was the introduction to up/down/out. Greg taught and went over some spider guard. I think during this period Greg started introducing a lot of new things that would be used in our new school (warm-up, up/down/out, etc). I also make mention of showing off some of the techniques from the Jeff Glover DVD, which I still need to return.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
November 30th 2013 - Competition & Open Mat (Bad Day?)
Competition class
Missing a few people again today but we had even numbers which helps Greg out. We skipped our usual conditioning and went right to drilling:
We finished the class with tournament matches and I was partnered up with Henry. I was doing quite well in the beginning and was in side mount for a majority of the first half. Somewhere along the way I lost top position and ended up in guard then half guard and then he passed. Eventually he was way ahead on points and I wanted to give up.
Open Mat
Conan gave me some pointers from bottom half guard. The position hasn't been working as well for me lately and it's been bugging me.
I rolled with Mike for a while and he smoked me pretty well. It feels like he's got me pretty figured out and I'm going to have to expand my game if I'm ever going to challenge him again. He spent most of the time in side control where I felt like there was no chance of escape.
Conan felt immovable. Everything I tried felt like running into a wall. He beat me fairly easily a couple times.
Dwight showed up with 30 minutes left and Mike and I rolled with him no-gi. I felt pretty good in the beginning working some butterfly guard and half guard. The most progress I made was with an overhook from guard otherwise I wasn't very offensive. Everything was going well until he went for a heel hook.
So if you haven't noticed this post was pretty negative. Although I know that there are ups and downs in BJJ and this is definitely a down, I'm having a tough time getting over it. I've just got to stick this out train through it. Looking back on some posts from last year, I'm at least thankful to be able to train without hurting.
Missing a few people again today but we had even numbers which helps Greg out. We skipped our usual conditioning and went right to drilling:
- Drilling guard pulling back and forth
- 4 rounds 4 minutes of guard pulling with Henry and Adam
- 4 minute rounds of our guard technique
- 4 minute rounds of our guard pass
- 4 minute rounds of our 3rd technique (single leg)
We finished the class with tournament matches and I was partnered up with Henry. I was doing quite well in the beginning and was in side mount for a majority of the first half. Somewhere along the way I lost top position and ended up in guard then half guard and then he passed. Eventually he was way ahead on points and I wanted to give up.
Open Mat
Conan gave me some pointers from bottom half guard. The position hasn't been working as well for me lately and it's been bugging me.
I rolled with Mike for a while and he smoked me pretty well. It feels like he's got me pretty figured out and I'm going to have to expand my game if I'm ever going to challenge him again. He spent most of the time in side control where I felt like there was no chance of escape.
Conan felt immovable. Everything I tried felt like running into a wall. He beat me fairly easily a couple times.
Dwight showed up with 30 minutes left and Mike and I rolled with him no-gi. I felt pretty good in the beginning working some butterfly guard and half guard. The most progress I made was with an overhook from guard otherwise I wasn't very offensive. Everything was going well until he went for a heel hook.
So if you haven't noticed this post was pretty negative. Although I know that there are ups and downs in BJJ and this is definitely a down, I'm having a tough time getting over it. I've just got to stick this out train through it. Looking back on some posts from last year, I'm at least thankful to be able to train without hurting.
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