Theme: Takedowns, Drilling, Conditioning
Tonight was not one of my finest moments. I woke up this morning with a head cold and a little bit of a sore throat. I felt better throughout the day and thought that I might be okay to attend class.
We did 10 fit-ins for double legs, single legs, and then our choice from a collar tie. After that we did fought for the takedown. My wrestling is poor compared to everyone else in attendance and not to mention my feeling of weakness from my head cold. It was pretty frustrating, but it's all the more reason to keep working on it.
Greg had us pick what we wanted to drill and had us go to it for 7 minutes. Adam chose the half guard sweep we did the other day and I chose the leg drag again. I was having a little more success on my right side than the other but finally figured out that I was putting the incorrect knee down.
Rolling:
During free rolling I tried my best not to over exert myself. I was able to do that with everyone except Henry. I gassed out after dominating for a little while, but my body decided I was done once he mounted me. I should have just defended like I had done with everyone else but maybe this was a little ego coming out. I felt pretty good just defending with everyone else. I kept my arms in tight and threatened half guard when I could. I spent most of the time in side control. Greg had everyone start out in side control so I did play a little offense, but it never lasted very long. Man, I need to learn how to do that.
I've decided not to make the trek into class tomorrow morning and get some rest.
WHOYA: September 26th 2012 - Morning Open
Sounds like it was a pretty good session for me. I was able to pull off some decent techniques and transitions against Ken and James who have more experience than me. I make mention of not being able to wait until I was completely healed. If only I had known that I would require surgery. But it goes to show that I was still improving at least a little bit at a time while injured.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
September 24th 2013 - Gi Noon and Evening
Noon Beginner Class
Theme: Scissor Sweep
I was surprised by the turnout this morning. Fuji, Jordan, Sara, and Kori were all in attendance. The technique was to secure a collar and sleeve grip and then attempt the sweep. From there we added the cross collar choke, which I've always had trouble with. Ultimately the problem was how I twisted my forearm, I was using the flat part more than the blade like I should have been.
Training: Pass/Sweep/Submit from Closed guard
I trained with Fuji, Jordan, and Kori. I felt pretty good about my technique and completed a flower sweep, tried some spider guard, and some leg drags. Unfortunately the class only lasts for an hour which seems to go by way too quickly.
Evening All Levels Class
Theme: Half Guard
I partnered up with Adam and Will. One thing that stuck out for me was the diamond starting position. I was putting my hands in the right place, but I wasn't nearly framing my elbows enough to keep the crossface or underhook at bay. We worked on getting the underhook and taking the back and then replacing the guard if they blocked the back take.
We also worked on passing the half guard by getting the underhook and putting our head down on the other side, then do the skinny jeans shake until the knee is free. I had some problems with this until Greg pointed out that the more I stepped my foot up and straightened my leg the easier it was. That solves that recurring problem for me. I just had to think about it a different way.
Training: King of the Mat and Free Rolling
We did KOTM from half guard starting with the diamond posture. I actually became king and held the position for a while. I had great rolls with everyone. I ended up getting a side stitch after a good exchange with Mike. I had a couple over/under pass completions as well as being able to recover full guard a couple times.
Greg partnered me up with Henry to roll with. I started off in guard and did my best to sweep and/or submit. I felt pretty wiped at this point but I wasn't going to make it easy on Henry, so I did my best to overcome the stitch.
WHOYA: September 24th 2012 - Gi (Counter the Counters)
Conan taught Omaplata counters in this class. However, I don't think I had taken much of a shining to the technique at this point. It looks like I did quite a bit of free rolling getting my butt kicked by Mike, Conan, and Ken. Not sure if I can glean much more from this post.
Theme: Scissor Sweep
I was surprised by the turnout this morning. Fuji, Jordan, Sara, and Kori were all in attendance. The technique was to secure a collar and sleeve grip and then attempt the sweep. From there we added the cross collar choke, which I've always had trouble with. Ultimately the problem was how I twisted my forearm, I was using the flat part more than the blade like I should have been.
Training: Pass/Sweep/Submit from Closed guard
I trained with Fuji, Jordan, and Kori. I felt pretty good about my technique and completed a flower sweep, tried some spider guard, and some leg drags. Unfortunately the class only lasts for an hour which seems to go by way too quickly.
Evening All Levels Class
Theme: Half Guard
I partnered up with Adam and Will. One thing that stuck out for me was the diamond starting position. I was putting my hands in the right place, but I wasn't nearly framing my elbows enough to keep the crossface or underhook at bay. We worked on getting the underhook and taking the back and then replacing the guard if they blocked the back take.
We also worked on passing the half guard by getting the underhook and putting our head down on the other side, then do the skinny jeans shake until the knee is free. I had some problems with this until Greg pointed out that the more I stepped my foot up and straightened my leg the easier it was. That solves that recurring problem for me. I just had to think about it a different way.
Training: King of the Mat and Free Rolling
We did KOTM from half guard starting with the diamond posture. I actually became king and held the position for a while. I had great rolls with everyone. I ended up getting a side stitch after a good exchange with Mike. I had a couple over/under pass completions as well as being able to recover full guard a couple times.
Greg partnered me up with Henry to roll with. I started off in guard and did my best to sweep and/or submit. I felt pretty wiped at this point but I wasn't going to make it easy on Henry, so I did my best to overcome the stitch.
WHOYA: September 24th 2012 - Gi (Counter the Counters)
Conan taught Omaplata counters in this class. However, I don't think I had taken much of a shining to the technique at this point. It looks like I did quite a bit of free rolling getting my butt kicked by Mike, Conan, and Ken. Not sure if I can glean much more from this post.
Monday, September 23, 2013
September 21st 2013 - Open Mat
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| My little Jiu-Jitsu Guys |
I showed up again later for open mat. It didn't turn out to be my day, as I spent almost all of my time on the bottom. I rolled with Ray, Greg, and Mike and didn't do much with any of them in the way of offense. Ray was very difficult to deal with as usual, he puts on a lot of pressure and doesn't let up. Greg was very different and much more fun to roll with, he allows me to move and always seems to be springing a trap for me. Mike had my number yesterday. At one time I thought we were on equal ground, but his technique has exceeded my size advantage as of late. He mentioned that I need to get more escapes from mount and side mount in my repertoire because I try the same few over and over.
The whole session brought me down a little bit. I didn't really feel like did anything particularly well, which is different from the way I feel after class lately. I have to remind myself that Jiu-Jitsu is a marathon and I'm in it for the long haul. I'll have good and bad days, but I just need to keep moving forward.
Friday, September 20, 2013
September 20th 2013 - Gi (Start the morning off right with half guard)
Theme: Half Guard
As usual I feel like I got a good number of reps in with each technique that we worked on. We did taking the back, recapturing guard, and what Greg referred to as Gordo sweep #1. The last one was the reaching deep under their shin, then exchange hands grabbing around their leg and sweeping to side control. I have always had a little trouble with the last part of this technique. I have a problem figuring out the angle that allows my hand to reach their foot. This used to be one of my go to moves but it hasn't worked well for me in quite a while.
Greg joined us for training in the half guard after that. Bryan hasn't had much experience with this position, but I think now that he's gotten a feel for it that may start playing with it. Of course this is just going off of my own personal experience since I fell in love with the position for a while. The hardest part of Greg's half guard was dealing with his knee shield. I don't have a good answer for that yet.
All in all, the class was worth getting up for. The only bad thing about it was, having to sit in a meeting room the rest of the work day.
WHOYA: September 20th 2012 - Gi
Apparently this was the first and one of a very few times that I worked on berimbolo. I've dabbled with it a little, but I've never been able to encorporate it into a real roll.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
September 19th - No Gi (Time Flies)
Drilling: Leg Drag
Greg had us do 8 minutes a piece of drilling a technique of our choice. This must be why it felt like the class went by so fast. Who better to practice leg drags with than Jerad, as he gave me a lot of pointers. By the end I felt smoother with the technique, mission accomplished. Greg said we are going to do this a lot more and I approve, I just need to have some go to techniques on hand.
Theme: Triangle from Side Mount
This was a brand new technique to me, which hasn't happened in while. I actually thought that it wasn't a possibility from side mount but the set-up turned out to be quite slick. We would trap the near side arm in our hip and then threaten mount with a knee on belly. If they blocked the knee on belly with the other hand, then we would grab it like a kimura and swing our leg around like a mounted triangle. From there I usually practiced the armbar option, which I can't wait to try on someone that wasn't there for the class.
We trained from side control for a couple rounds. I went with Jerad and then Adam, who were both frustrating, but in a good way. We did free rolling after that where my partners were Greg and Henry.
WHOYA: September 19th 2012 - Morning Open
The thing that really stands out from this post is this phrase: "Sometimes I feel like I get stuck in a loop though and keep going to the same techniques over and over." I no longer experience this but remember the feeling. I'm not sure if it's an illusion and I just have more options now to repeat or if that was a natural phase in BJJ.
Got to call it a night. I'm looking forward to the first 6 am class.
Greg had us do 8 minutes a piece of drilling a technique of our choice. This must be why it felt like the class went by so fast. Who better to practice leg drags with than Jerad, as he gave me a lot of pointers. By the end I felt smoother with the technique, mission accomplished. Greg said we are going to do this a lot more and I approve, I just need to have some go to techniques on hand.
Theme: Triangle from Side Mount
This was a brand new technique to me, which hasn't happened in while. I actually thought that it wasn't a possibility from side mount but the set-up turned out to be quite slick. We would trap the near side arm in our hip and then threaten mount with a knee on belly. If they blocked the knee on belly with the other hand, then we would grab it like a kimura and swing our leg around like a mounted triangle. From there I usually practiced the armbar option, which I can't wait to try on someone that wasn't there for the class.
We trained from side control for a couple rounds. I went with Jerad and then Adam, who were both frustrating, but in a good way. We did free rolling after that where my partners were Greg and Henry.
WHOYA: September 19th 2012 - Morning Open
The thing that really stands out from this post is this phrase: "Sometimes I feel like I get stuck in a loop though and keep going to the same techniques over and over." I no longer experience this but remember the feeling. I'm not sure if it's an illusion and I just have more options now to repeat or if that was a natural phase in BJJ.
Got to call it a night. I'm looking forward to the first 6 am class.
Sometimes
I feel like I get stuck in a loop though and keep going to the same
techniques over and over. - See more at:
http://joshjiujitsujournal.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-19th-morning-open.html#sthash.AzbqIxaw.dpuf
Sometimes
I feel like I get stuck in a loop though and keep going to the same
techniques over and over. - See more at:
http://joshjiujitsujournal.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-19th-morning-open.html#sthash.AzbqIxaw.dpuf
Sometimes
I feel like I get stuck in a loop though and keep going to the same
techniques over and over. - See more at:
http://joshjiujitsujournal.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-19th-morning-open.html#sthash.AzbqIxaw.dpuf
Sometimes
I feel like I get stuck in a loop though and keep going to the same
techniques over and over. - See more at:
http://joshjiujitsujournal.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-19th-morning-open.html#sthash.AzbqIxaw.dpuf
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
September 17th - Gi (Got My Reps In)
The first Tuesday noon class was today and it was a pleasure to attend. The only downside to the noon class is that I don't have enough time or the means to shower afterwards. However, it's an awesome break from the workday.
My boys also participated in their first kids class. They ended up being the only kids there but they had a good time. Greg got them interested by playing a foot tag game that tricked kids into learning the basics of how to shoot. They also worked on some shrimping, rolling, and mount escapes. They are excited about the next class on Wednesday, so we'll see where this goes.
Noon Theme: Sweeps against an opponent standing in guard
Greg was finishing up a private class with a perspective student when I arrived. Fuji was already there and we worked on some spider guard stuff until class started. Fuji and I ended up being the only ones who attended. We did some stand-up fit-ins with hip throw and Osoto Gari. I'm glad we only did fit-ins because Fuji's Osoto Gari is brutal.
We did two sweeps from someone standing in guard. First a double ankle grab and putting our knees together and bridging into them. From there we pin their leg, grab the lapel and work our way around one side in a circle to mount. The second technique was the sickle sweep. We drilled both techniques for several minutes each.
Rolling:
We did two 3 minute rounds attempting to pass the guard with a stand-up pass. I didn't fair too well especially from the bottom. He was pretty much killing my guard. I did get one omaplata sweep.
Evening Theme: Sweeps against an opponent standing in guard
We ended up working on the same techniques from the noon class with one addition. Adam was my partner. We did a simpler version of the sickle sweep by just blocking the back of the knee and pushing on the hip with the other leg. My usual difficulty with these types of sweeps is pulling my legs back at the right time to get the momentum to come up, but I think I did pretty well today.
Rolling:
We did up/down/out with guard passing from open guard standing. I felt pretty good about my performance here as I was even able to hit a modified sickle sweep with some help from my spider guard. There were quite a few new people in attendance, so I tried my best to work the techniques that we worked on during class as usual.
WHOYA: September 17th 2012 - Gi
It was one of the few classes where Will was the teacher. He had us work on Shawn William's guard which is something I don't explore too often. We also did a king of the mat and I rolled with Will. I complain about my knee a bit which was pretty common.
At the end of the post, there's a little bit about the desire to get my blue belt. I talk about how things would change and not change. All in all, I think the attaining of the blue belt has been a good experience for me. I'm right where I should be. I feel like I represent the school well when new people or visitors come in and I'm feeling confident in taking my game to the next level. There is a little bit of an overwhelmed feeling of how much I could be working on, but I know the best way to focus on little chunks.
My boys also participated in their first kids class. They ended up being the only kids there but they had a good time. Greg got them interested by playing a foot tag game that tricked kids into learning the basics of how to shoot. They also worked on some shrimping, rolling, and mount escapes. They are excited about the next class on Wednesday, so we'll see where this goes.
Noon Theme: Sweeps against an opponent standing in guard
Greg was finishing up a private class with a perspective student when I arrived. Fuji was already there and we worked on some spider guard stuff until class started. Fuji and I ended up being the only ones who attended. We did some stand-up fit-ins with hip throw and Osoto Gari. I'm glad we only did fit-ins because Fuji's Osoto Gari is brutal.
We did two sweeps from someone standing in guard. First a double ankle grab and putting our knees together and bridging into them. From there we pin their leg, grab the lapel and work our way around one side in a circle to mount. The second technique was the sickle sweep. We drilled both techniques for several minutes each.
Rolling:
We did two 3 minute rounds attempting to pass the guard with a stand-up pass. I didn't fair too well especially from the bottom. He was pretty much killing my guard. I did get one omaplata sweep.
Evening Theme: Sweeps against an opponent standing in guard
We ended up working on the same techniques from the noon class with one addition. Adam was my partner. We did a simpler version of the sickle sweep by just blocking the back of the knee and pushing on the hip with the other leg. My usual difficulty with these types of sweeps is pulling my legs back at the right time to get the momentum to come up, but I think I did pretty well today.
Rolling:
We did up/down/out with guard passing from open guard standing. I felt pretty good about my performance here as I was even able to hit a modified sickle sweep with some help from my spider guard. There were quite a few new people in attendance, so I tried my best to work the techniques that we worked on during class as usual.
WHOYA: September 17th 2012 - Gi
It was one of the few classes where Will was the teacher. He had us work on Shawn William's guard which is something I don't explore too often. We also did a king of the mat and I rolled with Will. I complain about my knee a bit which was pretty common.
At the end of the post, there's a little bit about the desire to get my blue belt. I talk about how things would change and not change. All in all, I think the attaining of the blue belt has been a good experience for me. I'm right where I should be. I feel like I represent the school well when new people or visitors come in and I'm feeling confident in taking my game to the next level. There is a little bit of an overwhelmed feeling of how much I could be working on, but I know the best way to focus on little chunks.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
September 14th 2013 - Open Mat
My goal was to work on deep half guard today and I was able to get some practice in with it. I also have been working on a way to bridge that I heard about on a podcast from a Rickson Gracie black belt. Basically you bridge straight up and then turn you head. It seemed to really help today.
Free Rolling:
Brian: I felt like I had really good control of Brian today. However, I wasn't ever in a position to go to deep half, I was on top most of the time and prevented his escapes. Watching him improve though inspires me to keep on the ball and progress.
Adam: I need to come up with a new strategy when facing Adam. For now he starts off our rolls in butterfly guard until he can do some type of sweep and end up on top and then grind me out in side control until he can set something up. My only real hope is to pass his guard before any of that happens. Today he submitted me with what seemed like a combination of the Rickson choke and a brabo grip. It was pretty surprising to both of us, how well it worked.
Henry: I stayed as relaxed as I could against him. I payed for it a couple times as he was able to pass my guard and put me into side control. I made a few attempts at deep half, but ended up having to defend a kimura from foolishly leaving my arm dangling. We went back and forth several times with my new bridge method helping regain guard.
Greg: It's getting more and more fun rolling with Greg. While I most definitely lose every time, I am allowed to move and try things and he plays off of my mistakes more than trying to force me into something. He submitted me with an americana, which Fuji made fun of me for, and an armbar that he set up with an underhook that I gave him.
Jerad: Today, I felt completely owned by him. My guard retention is what really bothers me. It doesn't seem like I have any good answers for his guard passing. He set me up with a funky armbar after I made a miscalculation with my deep half guard
Drilling:
Greg asked me if I would drill with him and of course my answer was yes. He and I did several reps with a spider guard pass. Greg ran a timer on his phone to determine when we would switch. The technique was to bring your elbows close together and pull them so they can sit up. Then circle one hand around and get a controlling grip on the pants, then A couple of things occurred. I got really sore in my back and neck. This technique required a lot of bent knee squatting movements. Then being in the spider guard, even though I tried my best not to, I was probably pulling too hard because my fingers were screaming.
Greg also did some reps with a single x-guard setup. This hurt my shins a little bit, but was very cool. Instead of doing some reps with this I asked for some pointers on my deep half and did some reps with that sweep. More drilling needs to be done.
WHOYA: September 13th 2012 - Gi
My knee was bothering me during this class and working on butterfly guard didn't help. It's great to be healthy now. Mike taught the cross choke from mount which I have used a little bit, but I think it's something I can revisit as I usually go for armlock submissions from mount but when that isn't available the back-up should be some type of choke. It's funny because I remember this class well as I had just bought a new gi.
Free Rolling:
Brian: I felt like I had really good control of Brian today. However, I wasn't ever in a position to go to deep half, I was on top most of the time and prevented his escapes. Watching him improve though inspires me to keep on the ball and progress.
Adam: I need to come up with a new strategy when facing Adam. For now he starts off our rolls in butterfly guard until he can do some type of sweep and end up on top and then grind me out in side control until he can set something up. My only real hope is to pass his guard before any of that happens. Today he submitted me with what seemed like a combination of the Rickson choke and a brabo grip. It was pretty surprising to both of us, how well it worked.
Henry: I stayed as relaxed as I could against him. I payed for it a couple times as he was able to pass my guard and put me into side control. I made a few attempts at deep half, but ended up having to defend a kimura from foolishly leaving my arm dangling. We went back and forth several times with my new bridge method helping regain guard.
Greg: It's getting more and more fun rolling with Greg. While I most definitely lose every time, I am allowed to move and try things and he plays off of my mistakes more than trying to force me into something. He submitted me with an americana, which Fuji made fun of me for, and an armbar that he set up with an underhook that I gave him.
Jerad: Today, I felt completely owned by him. My guard retention is what really bothers me. It doesn't seem like I have any good answers for his guard passing. He set me up with a funky armbar after I made a miscalculation with my deep half guard
Drilling:
Greg asked me if I would drill with him and of course my answer was yes. He and I did several reps with a spider guard pass. Greg ran a timer on his phone to determine when we would switch. The technique was to bring your elbows close together and pull them so they can sit up. Then circle one hand around and get a controlling grip on the pants, then A couple of things occurred. I got really sore in my back and neck. This technique required a lot of bent knee squatting movements. Then being in the spider guard, even though I tried my best not to, I was probably pulling too hard because my fingers were screaming.
Greg also did some reps with a single x-guard setup. This hurt my shins a little bit, but was very cool. Instead of doing some reps with this I asked for some pointers on my deep half and did some reps with that sweep. More drilling needs to be done.
WHOYA: September 13th 2012 - Gi
My knee was bothering me during this class and working on butterfly guard didn't help. It's great to be healthy now. Mike taught the cross choke from mount which I have used a little bit, but I think it's something I can revisit as I usually go for armlock submissions from mount but when that isn't available the back-up should be some type of choke. It's funny because I remember this class well as I had just bought a new gi.
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