November 11th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Double Leg, Upa Escape, Cross Collar Choke from Mount
Students: Cassey, Tom, Andy, Jordan

Mike felt under the weather so I taught this morning.  I added a few warm-ups like shooting

A couple of tips on the techniques:

• Double Leg, controlling the grips in the gi is going to be key.  If you can't do that it's going to be difficult to shoot
• Upa Escape, a tidbit that I gave today is to think about it like a back roll.  You turn your head to the opposite side so you can get a bigger bridge.
• Collar Choke, I like to tell people to use the princess wave to get the second grip deeper, seems to help.

Rolling: Mount Up/Down/Out
Rolled With: Cassey, Tom, Andy, Jordan

I had them roll with their original partners for the first 2 rounds then I got bored of sitting and had us do some up/down/out with only one person out at a time.  I attempted the cross choke as much as I could and completed it once.  I was able to upa a couple times as well. 

Gave some pointers to Casey for mount.  I think he was trying to hold his opponent down too much and needed to float a little more.  If you hold them too tight with your legs it makes it easier for you to get rolled over.

Office Hours Partner: Tom, Andy

We discussed some collar choke variations and then rolled a couple times.  I gave some pointers to them as they rolled.  I'm finding myself watching out for collar chokes from Andy.  He's giving me some of the alarm bells that Zac would.  Hopefully Zac comes back soon.

Novemeber 10th 2015 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Upa Escape Mount, Arm Triangle Choke
Partner: Derek (Visitor)

In an effort to spread the word of our fine sport, Bhuvana brought another coworker to Jiu-Jitsu.  Although, Derek wasn't completely a newbe because he had wrestled for a significant portion of his life from a early age.  We got quite a few reps in and he seemed like a pretty good guy.

Some tips from the techniques:

• For the Upa Escape, when I've had Greg do it to me it's a sudden explosion, where he takes out my base arm and bridges at the same time pretty violently so I've been trying to develop that timing.  I would say first develop it with the steps but realize that the explosion is probably the way to go. 
• For the arm triangle a big mistake is that people often push too high on the arm where they should be focusing their pressure on the shoulder.  Keep the elbow on the floor on one side and put your head on the floor on the other side.

Rolling: Mount (6 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Derek, Robert, Mike A, John

Had a good day of rolling and got a compliment from Mike on my mount escaping.  I do feel pretty good about getting to deep half from mount as I really only need quarter guard and then an arm under their leg.  I had a heck of a time with Derek when I was on top of mount, any time I tried to make a submission happen and shifted my weight up high he was able to buck me forward and get free, and I'm not confident in going to armbar from there. 

There was some half guard stuff with Robert and Greg even witnessed me hit a Jedi mind trick out of nowhere but as I was coming up I almost got guillotine choked.  John and I free rolled and he defended quite well.  Greg had to tell him not to sit to his butt once I got deep half guard.

With Mike it was a leg lock fest and I am starting to feel confident in my defenses.  I still tap as early as I can when I feel a hint of trouble but I'm triangling my legs better, hand fighting, or going for my own leg locks to help me escape.  We had a couple of cool exchanges and even went for a rolling back take. 

Office Hours Partner: Mike

We went over a couple leg lock things and I showed him a technique from Tinguinha's DVD with the crossguard. 

November 7th 2015 - Kids & Open Mat

Kids Class
Technique: Recover Guard from Half Guard, Hip Bump Sweep
Rolling/Game: Side Mount Position

Greg was busy signing a new student up so I led the warm-up.  Fun as usual but I got a warm-up as well.  Kids have been doing better with the techniques as we work on them before bed almost every night.  Jayden is still disappointed in his sparring but he is getting better.

Open Mat
Rolled With: David K, Chris, Mike, Adam, James, Jerad
Game Plan: A Game techniques, being more assertive

Drilled some techniques with David before rolling. I mostly played guard during rolling and almost finished an armbar. David's ear started bleeding and we cut our roll short.

Went over hip bump and attacking the back with Chris before rolling.  He's coming around with understanding positions I think.

Mike is definitely getting the better of our exchanges lately. He's taking my back or going for ankle locks and I feel like I'm constantly on the defensive. It's really good for me but a little frustrating.

I felt pretty good about my performance with Adam. I didn't sweep him or come close to submitting him, but I did regain guard way more times than normal.  Still working on dealing with his butcher technique.

James and I rolled no gi and it was interesting as he has a little different style than I'm used to. Which is a great thing the more different types of grapplers I can roll with the better I'll be.  I was able to catch him once and he caught me the second roll. He said I felt a lot stronger since we last rolled which was at least 2 years ago.

I had nothing for Jerad.  He systematically got past my defenses. I kept looking for him to make a mistake that I could capitalize on but I never saw one. Before I knew it he was in mount.

November 6th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: RNC Defense to O-Soto Gari, Kneeling Guard Break to Single Under Pass
Partner: Craig

Always fun to work with Craig.  I don't think I treated him very well with the pass though but helped him do it better so he could get me back.  Definitely want to reiterate when doing this pass go straight forward and put them on both of their shoulders, then turn 90 degrees.

Rolling: Guard (4 x 4 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Criag, Josh, Dave

Rolling went well I went for the single under pass when I could and hit it a couple times.  I'm also trying to do more of my A game to prep for the tournament.  I'm also trying to be the initiator instead of the counter fighter that I usually am.

Office Hours Partner: Andy, Conan

After class Conan and Andy were working on the pendulum sweep and I showed him my cross guard stuff and we rolled for a bit.  He seemed to appreciate it because it was similar to what he was already doing.

Conan and I had a heck of a roll. I spent most of the time on top trying to pass guard, sometimes succeeding only to be put back in guard again.  It was both physically and mentally tasking but also fun.

Competition Class

I came back at 5:30 for our competition class to prepare for submission challenge. I won't go into the details but we worked on some rule specific things concerning the overtime rounds and then some submissions, sweeps, and guard passes that we wanted to drill. I'm pretty sore from this entire week.

November 5th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: RNC Defense to O-Soto Gari, Kneeling Guard Break to Single Under Pass, Over/Under Pass
Partner: Fuji

Have to make this post quick.  We spent most of our time with the over/under bonus technique that Greg had us do.  Gave Fuji some advice with that and eventually he was doing it pretty well and my guts can attest to that.  I've noticed this in the past but I'm pretty comfortable with my arm entry into this pass and it seems to be something difficult to grasp for many at first.

Rolling: Guard (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Fuji, Robert, Shane

Really tested myself today and it was a little discouraging because I got very worn out.  I'm going to try to force myself to be the aggressor in my rolls to get a good workout with whomever I roll with.  I think usually I'm a little too laid back.  Fuji and Robert are both good for me as if I accomplish anything it's got to be with good technique.  

November 4th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: RNC Defense to O-Soto Gari, Kneeling Guard Break to Single Under Pass
Students: Mike A, Tom, Austin, Daniel

Mike and I started our first alternating teaching collaboration today.  Him and I are switching off teaching the Wednesday noon class and I got the first one.  Went pretty well, we were a little worried as the start of class approached and no one was there but eventually a few straggled in.

Did a warm-up progression with practicing the double leg, then sprawling, and finally sitout doing some reps with each exercise.  Some tips for this week's techniques:

• When moving to the position to throw with O-Soto Gari, hold their arm tight to your shoulder and be leaning forward as you make the short steps
• For the single under pass, your arm with your elbow on the inside is your triangle prevention arm.  Pay special attention to it and make sure they don't get under your elbow in the process to triangle you
• I like to think of angles during this pass.  When you are under their leg push straight forward and go to a plank position.  Once their hips are off the floor then turn 90 degrees.  Then push forward again to bring their legs to the floor.
• The elbow of the reaching hand is also important as there are some easy escapes if you flare that elbow when grabbing the gi collar.

Since we had some extra time Mike and I showed the split pass.  There were some pieces that Mike helped with that I didn't know like windshield wiping over the knee, so I'm glad we worked on it. 

Rolling: Guard (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Austin, Mike

First couple rounds I observed.  I was impressed with Daniel as I had no idea how much experience he has and I made the comment that "he has some skills."  He had to sit out at the end of a roll with Austin so I jumped in and had a quick roll.

I rolled with Mike after that and it was a leg lock defending back take battle for me.  He had my back when the time ran out and gave me some pointers about how I could have escaped during the rolling back take.

Office Hours Partner: Tom, Mike

Tom asked about retaining guard and Mike and I gave him quite a bit of information.  I recognized his problem as something that I got over not too long ago.  He was laying on his back trying to use his legs to prevent getting passed.  We went through sitting up, breaking grips, getting grips before laying back again or scooting under.  We also talked about shin to shin guard for entry into single leg x. 

November 3rd 2015 - No Gi All Levels (Put Out)

Theme & Techniques: Double Leg, Cross Body Straight Ankle Lock
Partner: Andy

Had a good turnout for our first noon no-gi class.  Greg gave a little speech about how ankle locks would be more emphasized and who was allowed to do what.  Great, while I'm not good at ankle locks I've been wanting to focus on them and have taken a special interest lately. 

Double leg felt decent, I'm still working on improving the penetration step but feel good about turning the corner.  I feel like I'm gaining confidence with the straight ankle.  I think Greg explaining where to put the toes has made a huge difference. 

Rolling: Guard (2 x 2 min), Side Control (2 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Andy, Fuji, Ben, Mike

Well it had to happen sometime, Andy choked me unconscious today for the first time in BJJ.  I was in the process of passing his guard when he grabbed his hands around my neck and setup a no-gi baseball bat.  I remember thinking that I just need to posture and keep my head up, oh wait maybe I should tap, but then I woke up with Fuji slapping me on the chest.  I'm pretty sure I said something like, "what happened?"  It took a while for me to remember what had occurred.  Oh well life goes on and hopefully I'll defend that better next time.

Had some other good rolls and went on as usual.  Fuji with side control and free rolled with Ben.  Had some ankle lock fights with Mike and while I did okay and almost caught him in one but he actually caught me with 2. 

Office Hours Partner: Mike

We went over some ankle locks and discussed defending the choke Andy put on me.