March 29th 2014 - Gi All School Training and Rank Promotion

We had a special class this morning with everyone of all ages invited to come train.  Naturally I brought my boys.  We had a packed house with quite a few adults and kids.  They split the room to separate us from the kids with good reason.  After some shrimps and other exercises and calisthenics we worked a few techniques each taught by a different instructor.  I worked with Tim for this portion of class. 

Jerad taught arm triangle from back mount first, something that he's got on me a couple times. Although it probably didn't seem like it to him, Tim did pretty well for his first time with this technique.  I know it took me a long time to figure out where to put my head and arms and how to apply pressure to get this technique right. Conan taught an arm bar variation from butterfly guard.  This is something that I did often in Hapkido from standing so I didn't have any problems doing or teaching it as it does take some finesse.  Greg taught standing guard break knee slide pass.  This is something we do quite often so I just worked on doing it smooth without much thought. Adam taught double leg takedown which we didn't have room for but managed by taking turns in large groups.  We finished the class with Up/Down/Out from closed guard.  

I looked over at the kids a couple times and saw that they did a lot of the regular class stuff all of the games as well as a new game.  Looked kind of like sumo + flag football as they tried to pull the flag off of their opponent.

Greg gave out stripes for all of the kids with my boys getting 4 since they had been there since the beginning of the kids program.  I could see true joy as Jayden and Jace both smiled ear to ear after Greg put all that tape on. 

Henry, Robert, and Jordan received their blue belts.  All three of them are well deserved.  I received my first stripe on my blue belt.  My lovely wife, Jennifer, asked me several questions that I don't know the answer to like when I would be testing next.  I doubt I'll be testing for purple any time soon and I'm perfectly fine with that. 

March 28th 2014 - Gi

Theme & Techniques: Scarf Hold Escape, Roll Over from Turtle to Side or Back Mount

In attendance this morning were Air Force Brian, Darijo, and Cesar drove in from GI.  Being the closest in weight I worked with Cesar. While working on the lap belt turnover from turtle I showed Greg that I had been grabbing the near side lapel and then jumping to the other side when I couldn't reach the normal way.  When we worked on taking the back I had some trouble with Cesar being able to return to turtle as I attempted to slide my knee in.  Eventually I figured out I could go straight for my hook because of the way he was getting up was leaving a lot of space.

Rolling: Scarf Hold Position (2 x 2 min)  Turtle position (8 x 2 min), Free Rolling

I had some trouble getting out of Cesar's scarf hold at first.  By the end I figured out some ways to move out of it, but it is definitely not a position I like to be stuck in.  I also decided that I don't like to be on top of the scarf hold.  Sure, I can make it uncomfortable for the other guy, but once the position is lost I'm almost assured a bad spot.

Had some great training from the turtle.  My main objective from bottom was the granby roll.  It got me into trouble a few times but worked out a few times as well.  Kudos to Brian who caught me with a bow and arrow choke while trying to prevent his back mount.  I had to step up my game a bit to prevent that from happening again.

I also had some awesome scrambles with Greg.  One of them starting with me on bottom, I went to roll and he countered with double unders, I then was able to stiff arm his sleeve and almost get to butterfly, then he leg dragged and I shrimped.  Then another time when I started from the top I headed off his granby roll and was able to do a leg drag of my own, to which he stiff armed my elbow and I wasn't able to gain any traction as he recovered guard.  Later on I told him that I think I would have done better if I hadn't been celebrating in my head every time I did something good against him.  Maybe celebrating isn't the right word, but I remember thinking things like "Wow, I can't believe that worked!"

I rolled with Cesar after class and he seemed immovable at first.  I tried to work butterfly but was unable to get the leverage or the underhook I needed.  I also worked the deep collar grip but couldn't get under his chin or collar grab him.  Eventually I got him to move enough to get underneath him in x-guard.  From there technical stand-up is my best friend.  Once on top I moved to knee on belly and work for the for the baseball bat choke from there.

March 27th 2014 - No Gi

Theme & Techniques: Half Guard Gordo Sweep #1, Wrist grab Roll Back to Defend Darce

We had a return visit from Eric from Colorado.  He had been here back in July 6th 2013 Open Mat.  The cool thing is that he gave me some pointers that got started with the cross guard to omoplata sweep which I've expounded upon and is a huge part of my game now. 

I worked with Adam on the half guard stuff.  The takeaway today was that Greg mentioned that the elbows need to be at 90 degrees or more while in the diamond position.  I think that is why I get smashed every now and again in half guard.  The second technique was great.  I've seen it in the gi before but haven't tried it during rolling.  I think the hardest part is the grabbing of the wrist/sleeve and at the end Greg showed us a little trick to make it a little easier.

Rolling: Free Rolling (3 x 10 min)

Although we did 10 minute rounds the time seemed to fly by.  I was able to keep Adam from submitting me and I felt like I was able to maintain guard longer than usual, but side mount was inevitable.  I was able to escape once with an underhook back to butterfly.  He kept doing what he called the butcher every time I tried to turn into him.  I've got to figure out how to prevent that.

I rolled with Mike next and we had a good exchange.  His guard is very difficult to pass and I believe he eventually swept me using a guillotine.  He spent some time in mount until I was able to reach deep half.  From there I took the advice he's been giving me and swung to my knees.  I then ended up with my own guillotine and he went into side control to defend.  I had to keep low but keep attacking.  I attempted a north/south choke, guillotine, kimura, I thought about armbar but felt I would probably lose it and sat him up into back mount instead.  Select for spoilers Finishing with an RNC!

Jerad was last and while I spent some time on top it was short lived.  It seemed like he was going to go to deep half for a second which would have been the first time I've seen him there but decided against it.  I spent a lot of time in his mount as he eventually setup a triangle to armbar.

March 25th 2014 - Gi Noon & Evening (On Fire?)

Noon
Theme & Techniques: Scarf Hold Escape, Roll Over from Turtle to Side or Back Mount

Worked with Bhuvana today and after a little pep-talk I got her to complete the scarf hold defense.  It was using a frame and then hipping out to throwing a leg over the head to sweep them in a pendulum motion and then finish with an armbar.  I think she was hesitant at first because it seems like it requires a lot of flexibility but it has more to do with hip position.  She did the turtle techniques very well following.

Rolling: Turtle position (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling

I got to work with Robert today.  He's been out since he broke his hand.  I've always admired his positive attitude and the way he's always smiling. 

I rolled with Ben a few times after class.  He's very strong and has some good pressure which I found out later was due to rugby and football.  I went over some guard passing basics using pants grips since it seemed like he was much more focused on trying to grab my sleeves.  It seems like I've gone over this with a few new people lately, I may have to look back at my blog to see when I started using pant grips to pass guard, because I know it was a turning point?  

Evening
Theme & Techniques: Scarf Hold Escape, Lap Belt Turnover from Turtle to Side or Back Mount

I worked with Ray on this portion.  Luckily he didn't put me in his real scarf hold, because of his Judo it is virtually impossible to get out of.  Greg changed the name of the "Judo Turnover" to something like "Lap Belt Turnover" on the blue belt requirements sheet.  Which I like better because it's more descriptive.  I did have to ask Ray to take it easy on the turnover part because every time he yanked me I could feel it in my spine.     
   
Rolling: Turtle position Up/Down/Out, Guard Gauntlet (2 min rnds)

Greg split us up into a big guy group and a small guy group with the cut off being 185 or something like that.  The smaller guys seemed happy to have enough wee people to segregate themselves from us. I felt pretty good about my performance.  There were only a few times that I was put into side control or where my partner recaptured guard.  At one point Ray made the comment that I was "on fire!"  I was able to use the Lap Belt Turnover to back mount a few times but would have some trouble getting both my hooks in.  From the bottom I usually ended up in half guard.

We remained in our size groups during the guard gauntlet.  I was assigned closed guard.  I think the person that gave me the most problems was Wes.  He's doing pretty well at opening my guard and keeping me down.  I feel like my last line of defense is starting to be figured out as well.  Often I'll catch someone's ankle as they try to pass knee over and then get the underhook.  From there I can sweep or get to turtle, but now people are fighting my underhook a lot better.  I may need to work on preventing this position sooner because without the underhook it's nothing.

March 22nd 2014 - Kids & Open Mat

Kids' Class

My boys had a good time as usual in kids class this morning.  There were only four kids in attendance which is a lot less than usual.  My youngest is always hurting himself at home and there were a couple of times during class I had to add more tape to a little scrape on his thumb. 

They played sumo for their first game and although they had fun, I wish I was able to help them get better.  I've tried going over some moves that they could try like push pull type things but it seems for now they just want to try to push.  Eventually through training they'll pick it up on their own and I don't want to be too critical of them and make it all about winning while they're having fun.  Since there was so few of us Greg had the adults go with the kids too and I ended up battling both of mine at the same time in 2 on 1 sumo.  They really enjoyed that.  We then worked on the scissor sweep and finished the day with some blob tag.

Open Mat

I was feeling a little blah again today; everyday can't be great.  I got quite a few good rolls in regardless.  I feel like I spent a lot of time in quarter guard off to the side with an underhook.  I can usually make a scramble out of the position but it's not anywhere I can attack from.  My main goal was to just go with the flow today and always be moving.  It worked to some extent

Fuji: I felt like I did a little better defending from the bottom than usual.  I did my best to try to fight off his brabo grip before it's established but I've still got a long way to go.  There was one point in our roll when he attempted the quarter guard back take but without securing my leg before he rolled, which worked out well for me to fight his turtle.

Jerad: It's always a highly technical roll with him and he's been capitalizing on my mistakes.  The thing that he gets me with the most is the leg drag pass which I've been trying to add to my game.

Mike: We also have very technical rolls and end up in some pretty crazy positions often.  There was one point when he was close to locking up a triangle and I was able to tuck his shin between my legs to prevent the submission.  I tried to use it like an over/under pass but without my arm under his leg it didn't work. 

Wes: He and I had a very long match.  Some of it was a little repetitive.  He's be passing my guard, I'd trap him in quarter guard and get an underhook I'd regain guard and start all over.  He was able to pass a couple times and I tried to keep my cool and just keep moving.  It was tough because I spent most of the match on the bottom in half guard.  After several sweep attempts I finally hit one and after that I was going to do my damnedest to keep the top position.


 Henry: He's been a hard nut to crack lately.  I did some good things in our roll but predominately felt behind the game.  I was able to pass his guard and had him in side control momentarily, he turned away and I went to take his back from turtle.  He ended up shrugging me off and it went down hill from there.  I've got to figure out how to deal with that.

Austin and Tim: Had a couple of short rolls with both of them.  Focused on my 2 on 1 techniques but didn't get as much practice as I would have liked. 

At some point during the session I heard Ray and Fuji talk about my blog a little bit.  Good things I think, but I'm unsure of the specifics.  Recently I have thought about discontinuing this blog.  I kind of feel like it's become a little repetitive and maybe served it's purpose.  I've been trying to get away from posting submissions that I've completed and focus more on things in a general way to avoid hurting anyone's feelings.  Then I think that I've written a post for every class that I've attended in 3 years of Jiu-Jitsu and now is not the time to stop.  If my view statistics are accurate, I'm getting more and more people reading it with every post.  So I ask if anyone is willing to respond and help keep me motivated.  You can either comment on the blog, on Facebook, or send me an email HapkidoJosh@yahoo.com.

What do you like about this blog?

What do you dislike about this blog?

Are there any topics that you'd like to hear more about?

Are there any topics that you'd like to hear less about?

Do you feel like I treat my fellow Jiu-Jitsu brothers and sisters with enough respect when writing about them? 

March 21st 2014 - Gi

Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Half Guard Tripod Pass, Granby Roll from Turtle

Pretty small class this morning with myself, Mo (who seemed very tired), Brian (of the Sweeney Todd variety), and Shawn.  Shawn trained at Roseberry's before my time and until this past week hasn't been training with us, but I'd see him every now and again at tournaments or events.  It's very cool to see people return to Jiu-Jitsu after a break.  I feel for them too because I'm sure it's difficult to kick the rust off and get back to the level you were at.

I ended up working with Shawn on the technique portion and we got quite a few reps in.  His technique and pressure felt pretty good.  I was still having a little trouble with holding the overhook and doing the knee slide on the half guard pass, letting go to post makes it so much easier.  Greg observed that since he started making a theme per week he has to teach a lot at the beginning of the week but by the end he's pretty hands off just correcting minor details.  I think the change has been great.

Rolling: Half Guard Position (4 x 2 min), Turtle Position (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling

Felt really good about my performance this morning.  I didn't have much luck with the half guard pass.  I did try the double unders to complete the pass, which worked a little.  As I've said before my most successful pass is the hip switch, however it seemed like everyone was working knee shield today.  With turtle I used a lot of movement and went for the cross gi grab around the waist and then attempted to take the back.  From the bottom I did more pulling guard than the granby roll. 

During free rolling I mostly played open guard.  It lead into single leg x a few times which also led into full x-guard.  I'm a little unsure about the best way to go about generating the proper leverage to complete the sweep from single leg x, I'll have to ask about that tomorrow.  No cross guard or omoplatas today, which was weird.  I also hit a rare sickle sweep. 

March 20th 2014 - No Gi

Theme & Techniques: Take Down Fit ins, Takedown Up/Down/Out, Rolling Backtake from quarter guard

I had planned to not workout tonight because my beautiful caring wife had texted me that she wasn't feeling well.  She is weeks if not days away from having our third child.  Mentally I was prepared to stay home, so when she told me to go anyway I was a little unsure if I should.  I ended up going but I felt a little guilty.  All through warm-ups I was disconnected as everyone was having conversations and talking about Jiu-Jitsu related things.  I went went about my business feeling oblivious.

Takedown sparring felt good today.  The overly awkwardness has gone away.  I'm still not good at shooting but I think my stance is coming along.  I ended up in the big guy group with Adam and Henry and Greg would cross over to both groups.  Everyone there is way ahead of me wrestling wise which is fine, all the better to learn from them.  I had some good moments of sprawling and escaping a couple takedowns as well as locking up some guillotines and a very close sacrifice shoulder throw.  I didn't do too much offensively.   

Adam and I worked through the rolling back take and while it looks fancy, there really isn't too much to it.  The only thing that still gets to me while rolling is I'm hesitant as to which side I'm supposed to roll over.

Rolling: Free Rolling (6 x 5 min)

I got a chance to roll with everyone (Greg, Mike, Henry, Will, Adam, Jerad).  My main focus was the leg drag which I attempted quite a few times.  I'm still having trouble completing it and I think the main reason is that I'm trying to throw it by instead of connecting it to my hip.  The highlight of my day is that I was able to get to single leg-x transition to full x guard and then completed the technical standup sweep.  I also ended up in deep half a few times but I keep stopping there in the position to get my bearings.  Mike keeps reminding afterwards that I need to be off balancing from there.  I think my problem is that I want techniques to be perfect that I miss opportunities when I'm trying to choose the best response instead of just acting.  Henry had me in a pretty good guillotine that I rolled out of but in the process my neck popped pretty loudly and Henry was concerned.  It turned out to be a good pop so no big deal.