November 21st 2015 - Kids & Open Mat

Kids Class
Technique: Bridge to Tripod, Single Under Guard Pass
Rolling/Game: Guard, Side Control

Kids had a good day. Greg has been mixing up the warmup with some different obstacle course type exercises and some partner stuff.

The tripod movement was a little difficult for them but they did improve.  They did well with the single under pass. Working on the techniques of the week at home is helping.

Jayden surprised me and Greg by pulling off an omoplata sweep, it was awesome but I don't think he knew what he accomplished.

Open Mat
Rolled With: Mike A, Fuji, Anthony, Mo, Gina, Jordan H
Game Plan: Work for top position, A Game

I was so sore and beat up from competition class yesterday.  It was a lot of hard work and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. I feel like I'm transitioning a little faster and have a little extra get up and go.

Mike: More and more Mike is challenging me with positions and attacks that others don't. It's good to have him around because I can see my defenses improving especially with ankle locks and back takes.

Fuji: He's challenging himself with bottom side control and trying to escape with better technique. We went a few rounds then worked on some half guard and deep half entries.

Anthony: We rolled no gi and he surprised me with his posture and positioning.  There were a couple times when we stood up and all I did was sit back down, not sure if I should have attempted to fight a little bit from standing or not.

Mo: Had some good rolls, he said he felt a little off his game though after taking some time off.  He came close to getting deep half and I gave him a few pointers mostly focused on moving himself instead of trying to move me. Then we drilled Homer Simpson several times.

Gina: Went as light as I could with Gina because of size difference.  Luckily I didn't hurt her this time.  We ended up in half guard and we discussed arm placement and avoiding the arm drag.

Jordan: I mostly played top and had to resort to half guard to pass. We talked about defending the hip switch and I gave him some tips on attacking from open guard.

November 20th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: HeadLock Escape to Tani Otoshi, Basic Escape from Backmount, RNC
Partner: Andrew

Conan's back and we got to roll a little bit today!  This was Andrew's second time visiting and he did pretty well.  He has a bit of a background in martial arts and wrestling so that helped.  Felt pretty good about trapping the hand today, I need to work it more but I feel like I'm starting to figure it out.

Rolling: Back Mount (4 x 4 min), Free Rolling
Rolled With: Andrew, Conan

Rolled a few times in backmount and gave Andrew some pointers.  He was doing what most beginners do with the position by clamping down tight and trying to hold me in place.  After Conan told him to let the other guy move a bit and just try to stay under him he improved.

Conan and I rolled after that and he gave me a lot of trouble.  A good reminder that often he's not rolling to his full potential with me.  We'd roll for a while then discuss the good and bad things that happened and then roll again. 

November 19th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: HeadLock Escape to Tani Otoshi, Basic Escape from Backmount, RNC
Partner: Bhuvana, Ben, Robert

Bhuvana had a little trouble with the takedown at first but by the end it all came together.  Dealt with escaping to the overhook side since I usually go to the underhook side when drilling.  Worked a little more on trapping the arm during the RNC.  Robert was having a little trouble with getting around my shoulders to hook his feet together. 

Rolling: Back Mount (2 x 2 min), Shark Tank 8 minute Hell Drill
Rolled With: Robert, Ben

Robert and I rolled back control and I felt pretty good about both my escapes and attacks.  Then Bhuvana had to take off so Greg had Ben and Robert start with me on the bottom of mount, back mount, side mount, turtle and then a roll from the knees.  I was able to keep from getting submitted and only felt in trouble of one once.  I was escaping back mount but Robert transitioned into an arm triangle, however I was able to get half guard and pry myself out just barely.  I noticed my breathing quite a few times but felt like I kept up the pace pretty well.  My main objective was to get on top as efficiently and as quickly as possible.  Not very easy to complete with Robert.

November 18th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Basic Escape from Backmount, RNC
Partner: Tom

Mike taught today and had some good insight on the techniques.  Some tips on the techniques:

• Escaping, head control is huge.  I like to drive with my head in the direction that I want to escape to.
• Backmount in general, harness grip is more important than hooks.  Bring your wrist up higher more across their neck and use your elbows more to press against their shoulder and ribs. Use your chin on their shoulder.
• RNC, this is not an easy submission in the gi but it is one of the most used in MMA to finish.  The part that I'm focusing on right now is getting under the chin and keeping it as I grab the shoulder.

Rolling: Back Mount (2 x 2 min), Shark Tank Free Rolling
Rolled With: Tom, Dave, Ben

Had some great rolls.  I focused on going after what I wanted and being a little more aggressive with trying to get to the top position.  Cardio held up pretty well.  Mike and I rolled together after class and there were some 50/50 position moments that I felt lost with, but it's good practice. 

November 17th 2015 - No Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Hip Bump Sweep, Double Under Pass
Partner: Derek

Derek came back and says that he will possibly join and is looking for a gi.  Always good to get some more big guys to roll with.  We trained together again as I was the closest to his size. 

Greg showed us the guard break that Tinguinha showed us at the first seminar that he put on at our school a few years ago.  Instead of trying to control their hips you turn to the side and then put both hands under their legs.  From there you break to double under position.

For the double under pass, Greg gave us the option of using the sit through instead of smashing.  I liked it but we had some trouble with finishing by putting the elbow on the far side of their body.  I'll have to look into that version more.

Some tips on this weeks techniques:

• Hip bump sweep, make sure you grab or control low on the wrist.  If you go above the elbow they may still be able to base
• Guard break, get under their ribs and hide your elbows.  You won't get much time because it's easy to prevent this in no gi
• Double under pass, I say this everytime but pull them back into you instead of trying to move forward into them.

Rolling: Guard (4 x 2 min), Shark Tank from Bad Positions
Rolled With: Derek, Mike, Jordan, Robert, Morgan

Derek was pretty good at keeping me from doing what I wanted to do.  I kept guard and just barely swept and passed right before the time was up.  Mike and I had a good roll from guard.  I was trying to setup the barato plata but he used posture to prevent it.  He ended up catching me with a heel hook.  From the top I ended up getting to the double under pass to which Mike scrambled and ended up in half and then deep half to which I slowed down with a cross face.

Greg had Jordan, Robert, and Morgan shark tank us from bad positions until the end of class.  I've been a little under the weather the last couple of the days so I'm not sure how much being tired or dealing with that affected my performance.  I was able to keep from getting submitted but didn't do too much from the top.  I felt like my guard was passed a little too easy a couple times and discovered that I'm not used to no gi anymore. 

I'm considering not competing in no gi this time.  I think with the longer time limits and my conditioning isn't the best right now maybe I should just focus on one.  Then I'll focus a little more on no gi and try to get more in shape for the next tournament.

November 14th 2015 - Open Mat

We had a bit of a situation Friday morning that I avoided talking about until I had more information. We had to call an ambulance to take Conan to the hospital for a minor stroke event.  Craig and I were there getting warmed up when I went to ask Conan if he was feeling okay. He was having trouble finding some words and was not himself.  Craig called the ambulance while I stayed with Conan. Help came fairly quickly and took him within a half an hour.

I heard from him a few times throughout the day as they ran tests and discovered he had a hole in his heart. When I saw him today he seemed like himself again.  He said that they were going to get his heart taken care of in a couple weeks and and that I could let people know what happened.

Open Mat
Rolled With: Bhuvana, Craig, Bauer, Mike A, Jordan
Game Plan: Cross Guard Stuff

I helped teach kids class today but my kids weren't able to attend. After class Bhuvana and I rolled a bit.  She took me a little by surprise with a little aggressiveness and I had to scramble to stay ahead a bit.  We went over turning a kimura from the bottom of side control into a farside armbar.

I rolled with Craig and spent some time attacking in mount.  We spent some time on mount defense after that.  Told him to keep his elbows in and use them as much as possible.

Bauer and I drilled several techniques to prep for submission challenge. I gave some pointers on what I could and worked on some cross guard.  We had quite a roll with a lot of position changes and was at a decent pace.

Had some good rolls with Mike.  I ended up in deep half a couple times and waiter sweep is really coming together for me I just need to work on finishing it.

Jordan's back after recovering from knee surgery. Hopefully for good this time. He's interested in working on half guard so maybe I can assist him with that.  We rolled and he was a little rusty but still knows his stuff.

November 12th 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Double Leg, Upa Escape, Cross Collar Choke from Mount
Partner: Ben

Techniques felt fine today, nothing out of the ordinary.  We worked on some of the alternate setups to the upa.  Greg gave the advice that if their arms are above your head then pull it down onto your chest.  If their arms are off to the side grab the sleeve and put it down on your hip before bridging.  We also worked on the s-mount choke variation that Andy showed the day before.

Rolling: Mount (6 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Ben, Megan, Robert, Morgan

Made a concerted effort at the cross collar choke but couldn't pull it off today, I just can't get the second grip, but I'll keep working on it.  Maybe I'll watch some Roger competition footage to see how he sets it up.  Free rolling was fine and spent some time in deep half.  It seems like the waiter sweep is really coming along for me. 

I rolled with Megan for the first time and switched between trying to set stuff up slowly to walking her through a couple techniques.

Office Hours Partner: Robert

I rolled with Robert twice during class and then we did a 10 minute round after class.  He is very difficult for me to roll with, his pacing, strength, and technique makes him very difficult deal with.  Exactly what I need to prepare for the competition.  I attempted a star sweep but couldn't complete it but ended up in half guard.  I also ended up in deep half a lot and was able to sweep once.  From side control I was able to pull off the elbow push escape back to guard, but I never got much offense going and Robert was on top most of the time.

We did the overtime rounds after the 10 minute rounds and he was able to submit me there.  I burned out my forearm trying to bow and arrow choke him and then went right into the armbar position and couldn't hang on.  So something to think about for the overtime rounds.  The biggest thing that Greg said I need to work on is my conditioning.  I need to challenge myself in upcoming classes and do some extra workouts before then.