Theme & Techniques: Back Mount basic escape, RNC
Once again, we had a good crew for our sole weekly early morning class. Brian and Ross as well as new guys Austin and Mike. I ended up working with Mike on the technique stuff. He's had some training so we were able to get some good reps in with me having to help him out a few times.
Rolling: Back Position, Free Rolling
My objective in both positional sparring and free rolling was to complete the RNC. It turned out to be more difficult than I had hoped. I have even more respect for Greg's ability to secure this technique. I did feel like I was figuring out what tricks work for me when trying to secure the choke. As Fuji says, I just need to be meaner, it's not a who can be gentle contest. Although I wanted to I didn't resort to the bow and arrow and kept working for the RNC.
Highlights from free rolling included a few butterfly sweeps, played a little single leg-x guard and pulled off the sweep we worked on, hit a kimura, got a guillotine, hit a omoplata sweep, and took a few backs. I'm not sure how to feel about things seeming to go so well on the mats lately. I've been so used to writing how much I get crushed every class that the blog is becoming difficult to write and be truthful but not sound like I'm bragging. I guess I'll need to partner up with Henry, Jerad, Ray, Fuji, Mike, Conan, and Greg tomorrow and get my ass kicked.
I rolled with Brian last roll and on our third roll I decided to start in the sprawl position. I attempted to sit-out which almost worked but then he took my back and we fought from there until time ran out. I think I'm going to do this more often since it was very easy for him to take my back from there. I must stamp down the ego and work through this piece of my game.
Friday, February 14, 2014
February 13th 2014 - No Gi
Theme & Techniques: Pummeling, Granby Roll from Turtle
Had a pretty good session today and got some good training in. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bauer back decked out in his new unicorn rash guard. He said that his schedule was clearing up so hopefully he'll be around more often. I ended up working with him on the pummeling and technique.
Rolling: Up/Down/Out Turtle, Free Rolling
We had 3 groups and 8 people so there wasn't much rest before you had to go again with a new partner. Turtle position goes pretty fast anyway you either escape or get put into a bad position after a quick scramble. Had some successes and got caught a couple of times. It is a position I need to improve upon as Ray has pointed out where I usually lose is when I'm out wrestled. So I think that is going to be my focus, trying to improve on the turtle/sprawl position. Maybe look into the switch, sit-out, and guillotine.
I rolled with Will, Bauer, and Henry. My main concern with Will was to stay out of his guard. I've found him to be rather dangerous their and I know he's been working on the armbar and has caught me a couple times. So as soon as he opened his guard I postured as much as I could. I did better against Bauer than I ever had before. I worked a lot from mount which was odd, normally I feel much more comfortable in side control. I didn't have much confidence in my mounted triangle but I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere with anything else so I decided to try it and was able to pull it off. Battling with Henry was another story. He took it to me as usual and I had a hard time keeping up. I think being a little out of breath and knowing that Henry is a beast messed with my head a little bit and I probably gave up on a few things I shouldn't have. I avoided his guillotines but he did pay me back for Bauer with his own mounted triangle. Rolling with Henry really solidified my need to improve my wrestling...and cardio.
Had a pretty good session today and got some good training in. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bauer back decked out in his new unicorn rash guard. He said that his schedule was clearing up so hopefully he'll be around more often. I ended up working with him on the pummeling and technique.
Rolling: Up/Down/Out Turtle, Free Rolling
We had 3 groups and 8 people so there wasn't much rest before you had to go again with a new partner. Turtle position goes pretty fast anyway you either escape or get put into a bad position after a quick scramble. Had some successes and got caught a couple of times. It is a position I need to improve upon as Ray has pointed out where I usually lose is when I'm out wrestled. So I think that is going to be my focus, trying to improve on the turtle/sprawl position. Maybe look into the switch, sit-out, and guillotine.
I rolled with Will, Bauer, and Henry. My main concern with Will was to stay out of his guard. I've found him to be rather dangerous their and I know he's been working on the armbar and has caught me a couple times. So as soon as he opened his guard I postured as much as I could. I did better against Bauer than I ever had before. I worked a lot from mount which was odd, normally I feel much more comfortable in side control. I didn't have much confidence in my mounted triangle but I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere with anything else so I decided to try it and was able to pull it off. Battling with Henry was another story. He took it to me as usual and I had a hard time keeping up. I think being a little out of breath and knowing that Henry is a beast messed with my head a little bit and I probably gave up on a few things I shouldn't have. I avoided his guillotines but he did pay me back for Bauer with his own mounted triangle. Rolling with Henry really solidified my need to improve my wrestling...and cardio.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
February 11th 2014 - Gi Noon & Evening
Noon
Theme & Techniques: Osoto Gari defense for choke, Basic Back Mount Escape, RNC
I was joined in class by Bhuvana, Fuji, and Tim. It's possible that we'll be focusing on backmount this week. I played the instructor role a little bit as I walked Bhuvana through the back escape and then through the choke. In the end she made some progress. I suggested she try the choke your own knee exercise to practice her RNC.
Rolling: Back Mount Position, Free Rolling
We only had time for one round of positional rolling. When Bhuvana said she couldn't escape my back mount Greg made a comment to the effect of "if you could escape that would mean Josh sucks." Which put some extra pressure on me to not let her escape. She did seem to panic a was a little spazzy which is understandable.
I rolled with Fuji a couple times after class and he dominated me sufficiently. He was nice enough to not use his brabo choke at first but eventually got frustrated enough to resort to it. Later on I had him in half guard and Greg pointed out that I needed to prevent his crossface before I started reaching for the underhook. I am just leaving my head out there to be smashed. There was also a point when I was in his half guard but was so worried about his lasso that I didn't do the right thing to flatten him out. I also had an omoplata setup at one point but couldn't get my head to the other side. Later Greg told me I should have used it to reclaim guard when I got stuck.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Basic Back Mount Escape, RNC
This was probably the worst training experience I've ever had with Adam. Escaping the back mount was fine, but when it came to working on the Rear Naked Choke it was awful. He had a real hard time getting his muscly arm into the right position to lock up the choke. Several times I wanted to tap way earlier from pain but I also wanted to wait for him to get the technique correct. Of course there's no hard feelings, but it turned out to be a hard day on my neck.
Rolling: Back Mount Position Up/Down/Out, Free Rolling
I performed as expected during positional sparring. Got some bow and arrows and completed some escapes I also got bow and arrowed and RNC'd. I rolled with Jerad for a five minute round and he was able to beat me rather handily the first time with mounted triangle. The second roll I was a little more aggressive and was on top for a little while. I think I focused so much before on trying to do the perfect correct response which would often cause me to hesitate and then be a step behind my opponent. This change in strategy has been a very positive experience. Jerad ended up hurting his neck when trying to base out on his head during one of my sweeps, hopefully it's not too serious.
Mike and I went over some new thing called the pancake guard that he saw on a Keenan Cornelius video. It seems pretty interesting. We also talked about how to prevent Fuji's lasso guard. Somehow we ended up rolling and I had a great time. When we roll, we end up in so many obscure positions that I don't get into with anyone else. The best things I did were getting to deep half but not being able to do much with it. We went over a sweep that uses the bottom of the gi skirt to establish grips. I may drill that the next time we have a choose your own drill.
I think I may focus on back takes for a while and try to improve my back mount in general as my next project. I put the question out to Greg if there was anything he thought I should focus on, so I'll see what he says.
Theme & Techniques: Osoto Gari defense for choke, Basic Back Mount Escape, RNC
I was joined in class by Bhuvana, Fuji, and Tim. It's possible that we'll be focusing on backmount this week. I played the instructor role a little bit as I walked Bhuvana through the back escape and then through the choke. In the end she made some progress. I suggested she try the choke your own knee exercise to practice her RNC.
Rolling: Back Mount Position, Free Rolling
We only had time for one round of positional rolling. When Bhuvana said she couldn't escape my back mount Greg made a comment to the effect of "if you could escape that would mean Josh sucks." Which put some extra pressure on me to not let her escape. She did seem to panic a was a little spazzy which is understandable.
I rolled with Fuji a couple times after class and he dominated me sufficiently. He was nice enough to not use his brabo choke at first but eventually got frustrated enough to resort to it. Later on I had him in half guard and Greg pointed out that I needed to prevent his crossface before I started reaching for the underhook. I am just leaving my head out there to be smashed. There was also a point when I was in his half guard but was so worried about his lasso that I didn't do the right thing to flatten him out. I also had an omoplata setup at one point but couldn't get my head to the other side. Later Greg told me I should have used it to reclaim guard when I got stuck.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Basic Back Mount Escape, RNC
This was probably the worst training experience I've ever had with Adam. Escaping the back mount was fine, but when it came to working on the Rear Naked Choke it was awful. He had a real hard time getting his muscly arm into the right position to lock up the choke. Several times I wanted to tap way earlier from pain but I also wanted to wait for him to get the technique correct. Of course there's no hard feelings, but it turned out to be a hard day on my neck.
Rolling: Back Mount Position Up/Down/Out, Free Rolling
I performed as expected during positional sparring. Got some bow and arrows and completed some escapes I also got bow and arrowed and RNC'd. I rolled with Jerad for a five minute round and he was able to beat me rather handily the first time with mounted triangle. The second roll I was a little more aggressive and was on top for a little while. I think I focused so much before on trying to do the perfect correct response which would often cause me to hesitate and then be a step behind my opponent. This change in strategy has been a very positive experience. Jerad ended up hurting his neck when trying to base out on his head during one of my sweeps, hopefully it's not too serious.
Mike and I went over some new thing called the pancake guard that he saw on a Keenan Cornelius video. It seems pretty interesting. We also talked about how to prevent Fuji's lasso guard. Somehow we ended up rolling and I had a great time. When we roll, we end up in so many obscure positions that I don't get into with anyone else. The best things I did were getting to deep half but not being able to do much with it. We went over a sweep that uses the bottom of the gi skirt to establish grips. I may drill that the next time we have a choose your own drill.
I think I may focus on back takes for a while and try to improve my back mount in general as my next project. I put the question out to Greg if there was anything he thought I should focus on, so I'll see what he says.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
February 8th 2014 - Open Mat
I stressed all day about how I was going to write this post. Too many good things happened today while rolling that I didn't want to sound like I'm bragging. As I've said before, It's so much easier to talk about all of the things I did wrong. However, I feel like if I talk too much about the things I did right, it could be perceived as boasting at the expense of others.
This also got me thinking about what I discern as a good day and a bad day in BJJ. To be honest I feel the best after class if I complete some submissions, especially if I submit someone that usually gets the best of me. It doesn't have to be submissions, I'm happy with a good butterfly sweep or a guard pass. I think the most bummed I get is when someone submits me that I feel shouldn't have. I realize this isn't good and completely driven by ego but I'm only human.
I showed up a little early to get some extra rolling time with Jerad before he headed off to work. I felt like I was a good match for him today as we both submitted each other a couple of times. He caught me with a bow and arrow choke and a mounted triangle. I caught him with a north/south choke and I attempted another one that turned into a no-arm darce guillotine type of choke neck crank. We also did some very productive guard position rolling.
I worked with new comer Austin next. He trained at another school in Omaha for three months and mentioned that we move differently than they did. I didn't delve deeper into that so I'm not sure what he meant by that exactly. After we rolled a few times I helped him out with some mount and back mount escapes, pretty much showing him what I like to do. I was impressed to still see him on the mat at the end of the session.
As usual Ray gave me the most trouble. I spent most of the time in his side control preventing submission after submission. He felt very heavy from top and took up all of the space. The one time I was doing good, I took his back but he foot locked one of my hooks for my trouble.
Tim warned me that he is brand new off the bat. He seemed to know names of positions and basics like that. I rolled with him once or twice but ended up mostly teaching him guard breaking and the knee slide pass. Hopefully it helped.
Wes and I had several good rolls. He's getting a lot tougher to deal with. I definitely don't want to be on the bottom with him and I prevented his guard passing pretty actively and hit a couple sweeps. Wes said he was tired of being in bottom side control with everyone and I pretty much told him to join the club. We went over some of the side control escapes that have been working for me lately.
After setting up a couple north/south chokes on Darijo, I went over the defense against the choke with him. I'm finding he has a great attitude toward Jiu-Jitsu. I think he will be a great addition to our team along with the other new guys.
This also got me thinking about what I discern as a good day and a bad day in BJJ. To be honest I feel the best after class if I complete some submissions, especially if I submit someone that usually gets the best of me. It doesn't have to be submissions, I'm happy with a good butterfly sweep or a guard pass. I think the most bummed I get is when someone submits me that I feel shouldn't have. I realize this isn't good and completely driven by ego but I'm only human.
I showed up a little early to get some extra rolling time with Jerad before he headed off to work. I felt like I was a good match for him today as we both submitted each other a couple of times. He caught me with a bow and arrow choke and a mounted triangle. I caught him with a north/south choke and I attempted another one that turned into a no-arm darce guillotine type of choke neck crank. We also did some very productive guard position rolling.
I worked with new comer Austin next. He trained at another school in Omaha for three months and mentioned that we move differently than they did. I didn't delve deeper into that so I'm not sure what he meant by that exactly. After we rolled a few times I helped him out with some mount and back mount escapes, pretty much showing him what I like to do. I was impressed to still see him on the mat at the end of the session.
As usual Ray gave me the most trouble. I spent most of the time in his side control preventing submission after submission. He felt very heavy from top and took up all of the space. The one time I was doing good, I took his back but he foot locked one of my hooks for my trouble.
Tim warned me that he is brand new off the bat. He seemed to know names of positions and basics like that. I rolled with him once or twice but ended up mostly teaching him guard breaking and the knee slide pass. Hopefully it helped.
Wes and I had several good rolls. He's getting a lot tougher to deal with. I definitely don't want to be on the bottom with him and I prevented his guard passing pretty actively and hit a couple sweeps. Wes said he was tired of being in bottom side control with everyone and I pretty much told him to join the club. We went over some of the side control escapes that have been working for me lately.
After setting up a couple north/south chokes on Darijo, I went over the defense against the choke with him. I'm finding he has a great attitude toward Jiu-Jitsu. I think he will be a great addition to our team along with the other new guys.
Friday, February 7, 2014
February 7th 2014 - Gi
Theme & Techniques: Upa From Mount, Cross Collar Choke
Had to miss last nights class but was up and at em this morning. We had good group of 5 with 1 new guy. I ended up working with Darijo for the majority of the class. For once I felt like I could tell how good the collar choke was going to be before I applied it where usually it either works or it doesn't and I wasn't sure why.
Rolling: Mount position (4 rnds x 2 mins), Free Rolling (1 x 5 min rnds)
I worked with Darijo first from mount. He did a pretty good job defending submissions. I miraculously escaped Greg's mount to half guard, that doesn't happen often. He got me back a little later with one of my moves by going to deep half and completing a waiter sweep. I free rolled with Ross to finish out the class. My main objective was to complete butterfly sweeps. I had to work a little bit but I was able to complete a few. I setup a farside armbar and I had a little trouble getting around Ross's arm but attempting a collar choke helped in the end. Greg went over some other possibilities to deal with the arm after class.
Had to miss last nights class but was up and at em this morning. We had good group of 5 with 1 new guy. I ended up working with Darijo for the majority of the class. For once I felt like I could tell how good the collar choke was going to be before I applied it where usually it either works or it doesn't and I wasn't sure why.
Rolling: Mount position (4 rnds x 2 mins), Free Rolling (1 x 5 min rnds)
I worked with Darijo first from mount. He did a pretty good job defending submissions. I miraculously escaped Greg's mount to half guard, that doesn't happen often. He got me back a little later with one of my moves by going to deep half and completing a waiter sweep. I free rolled with Ross to finish out the class. My main objective was to complete butterfly sweeps. I had to work a little bit but I was able to complete a few. I setup a farside armbar and I had a little trouble getting around Ross's arm but attempting a collar choke helped in the end. Greg went over some other possibilities to deal with the arm after class.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
February 4th 2014 - Gi Noon & Evening
Noon
Theme & Techniques: Double Leg Takedown, Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke
Had a rather large class which was a welcome change. A couple new guys Nic and Ben as well as Fuji, Back Draft Brian, John, and Bhuvana. Bhuvana did really well with the double leg for it being her first exposure to it. They were mostly pertaining to where to put the knee down and what direction to finish the takedown. I also worked with her on removing the collar grip after the upa and then wrist rotation on the choke. It can get pretty uncomfortable coaching someone when they almost have the choke but just need a little tweak to it.
Rolling: Mount Position, Free Rolling
Bhuvana got really excited when she realized that I had armbared her, because she knew what it was. I partnered with Fuji next and didn't do too bad. I wasn't able to escape his mount but also kept him from submitting me. There was one time when Fuji was escaping my mount and I transitioned into an armbar but kind of kicked him a little bit with my ankle bone on the way around.
John and I rolled after class and he has improved a lot in his guard passing since the last time we rolled. I had to work a lot harder to prevent my guard from getting passed. In the end I was able to over come and reach the top position and work from there for a couple of chokes, but it was cool to see someone change and learn something.
Fuji and I rolled after that and he played his game perfectly. I had a little hope that I was going to escape his lasso but I wasn't able to reach the other side and he eventually swept me into side control. I fought valiantly from the bottom but there was no getting out of his brabo grip because I fucked up a long time ago.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke, Drilling Technique of Choice
Due to bad weather our class was rather small for a Tuesday and the atmosphere was a little more light than usual. I worked with Adam for the majority of the class. We reviewed the stuff from earlier in the day or what Greg called the "beginner stuff for the week." Following that we did 12 minutes of drilling the technique of our choice. Adam and I both chose the one legged-x and we got a lot of work in. Some things started to click with the setup and sweeps but it still needs a lot of work.
Rolling: Free Rolling
I rolled with Brian, Mo, and Adam. This is a different Brian than the others I've written about, he has some kids that attend class with my boys. He's still pretty new but seems to be picking things up so far. Mo was working on bottom half guard, so we kept starting from there or I tried to put him there. Later on Greg and Jerad gave him some pointers on what to do if they switch hips that I paid attention to as well. I felt a little more confident with Adam and kept off the bottom a little longer than usual. My goal was to try to control the distance a little more and not get too sucked into his half guard. I ended up on the bottom towards the end but didn't get submitted.
Theme & Techniques: Double Leg Takedown, Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke
Had a rather large class which was a welcome change. A couple new guys Nic and Ben as well as Fuji, Back Draft Brian, John, and Bhuvana. Bhuvana did really well with the double leg for it being her first exposure to it. They were mostly pertaining to where to put the knee down and what direction to finish the takedown. I also worked with her on removing the collar grip after the upa and then wrist rotation on the choke. It can get pretty uncomfortable coaching someone when they almost have the choke but just need a little tweak to it.
Rolling: Mount Position, Free Rolling
Bhuvana got really excited when she realized that I had armbared her, because she knew what it was. I partnered with Fuji next and didn't do too bad. I wasn't able to escape his mount but also kept him from submitting me. There was one time when Fuji was escaping my mount and I transitioned into an armbar but kind of kicked him a little bit with my ankle bone on the way around.
John and I rolled after class and he has improved a lot in his guard passing since the last time we rolled. I had to work a lot harder to prevent my guard from getting passed. In the end I was able to over come and reach the top position and work from there for a couple of chokes, but it was cool to see someone change and learn something.
Fuji and I rolled after that and he played his game perfectly. I had a little hope that I was going to escape his lasso but I wasn't able to reach the other side and he eventually swept me into side control. I fought valiantly from the bottom but there was no getting out of his brabo grip because I fucked up a long time ago.
Evening
Theme & Techniques: Upa Mount escape, Cross collar choke, Drilling Technique of Choice
Due to bad weather our class was rather small for a Tuesday and the atmosphere was a little more light than usual. I worked with Adam for the majority of the class. We reviewed the stuff from earlier in the day or what Greg called the "beginner stuff for the week." Following that we did 12 minutes of drilling the technique of our choice. Adam and I both chose the one legged-x and we got a lot of work in. Some things started to click with the setup and sweeps but it still needs a lot of work.
Rolling: Free Rolling
I rolled with Brian, Mo, and Adam. This is a different Brian than the others I've written about, he has some kids that attend class with my boys. He's still pretty new but seems to be picking things up so far. Mo was working on bottom half guard, so we kept starting from there or I tried to put him there. Later on Greg and Jerad gave him some pointers on what to do if they switch hips that I paid attention to as well. I felt a little more confident with Adam and kept off the bottom a little longer than usual. My goal was to try to control the distance a little more and not get too sucked into his half guard. I ended up on the bottom towards the end but didn't get submitted.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
February 1st 2014 - Kids & Open Mat
Kids:
Both my boys did well today. They completed all of the exercises and Jace was even willing to partner up with another boy. We played both foot and blob tag for our games, and somehow I managed to jam one of my toes in the process. I roll around with guys my size trying to submit me and I end up hurting a toe playing tag with a bunch of ankle biters. The technique they worked on was opa escape from the mount. As long as they're actually paying attention, I'm always surprised at their ability to remember the details of the techniques that Greg teaches. Some of them do have quite a few steps.
Open Mat:
I didn't really feel like coming in today, which is very odd for me. It was more like I didn't feel like I was going to be able to give it my all. My main goal for the day was going to fight to prevent my opponent from getting into side control. Primarily fighting until the position until I was no longer able to and not settling for it
I rolled with Jerad first and we had a few accidents between the two of us. First the finger that has been bugging me got twisted while I was trying to pass his guard. I taped it up a lot more and we continued. I then was playing half guard and in the process of reaching for a collar grip I almost poked him in the eye. Finally he attempted a rolling back take from quarter guard and as we rolled around I ended up elbowing him in the nose. Other than that he caught me with an armbar and a mounted triangle.
Henry was next, my main goal was to not gas out and go with the flow. It worked pretty well at first, he turtled and I used the judo turnover to take his back, which he started to escape and I locked up a arm triangle. Our next roll he took it to me and I did end up eventually gassing. He had caught me in a arm triangle for a little while trying to return the favor, but he gave up on it.I did some good things especially pulling off an omoplata sweep. In the end he was able to take my back and eventually pulled off a bow and arrow choke.
Wes surprised me today from the top position. I made the mistake of attempting a baseball bat choke and giving up my guard from the start. From there he had great pressure and made it difficult for me to move. I eventually worked my way into deep half and then x-guard and finally did the technical stand-up sweep. As tired as I was there was no way I was going to let him get back on top. I eventually setup a baseball bat choke from knee on belly which took a few tries to get right.
I went no gi with Ray and was feeling pretty confident for a little while attacking from top half guard. Until he was transitioning and caught me in an accidental knee bar with his legs. It probably wasn't tap worthy but I panicked due to my previous injury. In our second roll I started in guard but couldn't get much of anything going. I can't remember how it ended, must have been a kimura or something. Afterwards I asked him to go over some ankle lock stuff which was very helpful. We looked at the one legged-x guard as well as an entry from knee shield half guard which I didn't know about.
Fuji told me that he was having a good time reading the blog from the beginning. He said there were several times that he recalled being there for. He also reassured me that he's gone through many of the same emotions and stumbling blocks that I've gone through and written about. He also made the comment that I've been through so much but still think I suck. I attribute this to a couple of reasons. I have a hard time with boasting to the point of self deprecation. I don't want any of my teammates to feel bad that I write about submitting them, which is why I keep reporting my submissions to a minimum. In the end it is all about keeping the ego in check.
Both my boys did well today. They completed all of the exercises and Jace was even willing to partner up with another boy. We played both foot and blob tag for our games, and somehow I managed to jam one of my toes in the process. I roll around with guys my size trying to submit me and I end up hurting a toe playing tag with a bunch of ankle biters. The technique they worked on was opa escape from the mount. As long as they're actually paying attention, I'm always surprised at their ability to remember the details of the techniques that Greg teaches. Some of them do have quite a few steps.
Open Mat:
I didn't really feel like coming in today, which is very odd for me. It was more like I didn't feel like I was going to be able to give it my all. My main goal for the day was going to fight to prevent my opponent from getting into side control. Primarily fighting until the position until I was no longer able to and not settling for it
I rolled with Jerad first and we had a few accidents between the two of us. First the finger that has been bugging me got twisted while I was trying to pass his guard. I taped it up a lot more and we continued. I then was playing half guard and in the process of reaching for a collar grip I almost poked him in the eye. Finally he attempted a rolling back take from quarter guard and as we rolled around I ended up elbowing him in the nose. Other than that he caught me with an armbar and a mounted triangle.
Henry was next, my main goal was to not gas out and go with the flow. It worked pretty well at first, he turtled and I used the judo turnover to take his back, which he started to escape and I locked up a arm triangle. Our next roll he took it to me and I did end up eventually gassing. He had caught me in a arm triangle for a little while trying to return the favor, but he gave up on it.I did some good things especially pulling off an omoplata sweep. In the end he was able to take my back and eventually pulled off a bow and arrow choke.
Wes surprised me today from the top position. I made the mistake of attempting a baseball bat choke and giving up my guard from the start. From there he had great pressure and made it difficult for me to move. I eventually worked my way into deep half and then x-guard and finally did the technical stand-up sweep. As tired as I was there was no way I was going to let him get back on top. I eventually setup a baseball bat choke from knee on belly which took a few tries to get right.
I went no gi with Ray and was feeling pretty confident for a little while attacking from top half guard. Until he was transitioning and caught me in an accidental knee bar with his legs. It probably wasn't tap worthy but I panicked due to my previous injury. In our second roll I started in guard but couldn't get much of anything going. I can't remember how it ended, must have been a kimura or something. Afterwards I asked him to go over some ankle lock stuff which was very helpful. We looked at the one legged-x guard as well as an entry from knee shield half guard which I didn't know about.
Fuji told me that he was having a good time reading the blog from the beginning. He said there were several times that he recalled being there for. He also reassured me that he's gone through many of the same emotions and stumbling blocks that I've gone through and written about. He also made the comment that I've been through so much but still think I suck. I attribute this to a couple of reasons. I have a hard time with boasting to the point of self deprecation. I don't want any of my teammates to feel bad that I write about submitting them, which is why I keep reporting my submissions to a minimum. In the end it is all about keeping the ego in check.
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