Open Mat
Rolled With: Roland, Jerad, Henry, Adam, Tim, David, Austin
Game Plan: Look for Back Control, Attempting More Hip Escapes in Bottom Side
Had a lot of great rolls today and felt like I was on my game. A couple things happened repeatedly, the north/south choke presented itself multiple times and I also found myself in unorthodox armbar positions from mount. I won't go into too much detail with every roll, because with so many rolls I don't remember a lot or it all muddles together.
Roland: He's gained some skill since the last time we rolled. He was a lot more difficult to push around.
Jerad: Had a great couple matches. I felt like I had some new answers for some of the things Jerad does to me on a regular basis. I'm shrimping a lot more and attempting to bridge more. I was able to pass his guard on our second roll and went from side control to the north/south lapels under armpits back take. I made sure I got my bottom hook in and fell but I also should have secured my under hook on the opposite side because he was able to escape after that.
Henry: Had an interesting exchange with him. I feel like in general my dealing with wrestler types has improved. I'm at least adjusting to the side control escape. There was a point where I had his back and went for a bow and arrow, he was able to defend that but I moved to what could be called a side triangle that gave an option for an armbar.
Adam: We started out with a battle from butterfly and half guard with him on bottom. I surfed as much as I could and prevented a couple sweep attempts but eventually I ended up on the bottom. My new side control escapes are still no up to par to escape his but I did see some things to improve on. I believe he submitted me with an americana or kimura
Tim: He is here for school and did some MMA/BJJ in Minnesota. We did no gi and he had some pretty good movement and defense.
David: We also did no gi which we determined was a mistake soon after because we were slipping all over the place and not able to get a good hold on each other. We started off pretty slow in my full guard and we kind of felt each other out with neither of us wanting to make mistakes. I ended up in an armbar position with him, but had a hell of a time trying to get his arms apart. I ended up in a triangle position still trying to go for the armbar. I couldn't get the arm free or finish the triangle, although after we finished the roll he said I was very close to finishing the triangle.
Austin: Our roll was over fairly quickly if I remember correctly. Nothing really sticks out as being notable.
I tried to help Alejandro with some standup practice but was pretty tired out by that time. Had a good discussion with Ray about Uchi Mata, it's good to have him back.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
August 28th 2015 - Gi All Levels
Theme & Techniques: Standing Guillotine Defense Against Wall to Neck Crank, Kneeling Guard Break, Double Under Pass
Partner: Morgan
I did a couple quick reps on uchi mata before class started with Dave. I've got to actively seek someone every class. Conan had us do some different warm-ups like last week with partner situps, guard standing and lifting, and monkey boy. I felt sorry for Morgan and did the situps with Zac instead.
Morgan was much better with the guillotine escape than Tuesday. He didn't let up with his posture at all. We played around a little bit with hand fighting or riding up the leg on the closed guard break. At the end of the drilling portion, Conan went over some double under defenses that I think everyone appreciated.
Rolling: Closed Guard (4 x 4 min), Free Rolling (4 min)
Rolled With: Morgan, Ethan, Dave
Good training today. I resorted to the standing guard break after the kneeling would fail, but still wanted to try it. From the bottom, I played cross guard or 2 on 1 pretty successfully. I ended up hitting some hip bump sweeps in transitions where my cross guard failed as they struggled to remove the cross grip, this is new thing for this game.
Morgan's long legs are something that I have to deal with. Just try to keep my elbows in. I showed him later that he may have some success with pulling a hand across and looking to take the back or sweep.
Ethan was pretty tough, this was the first time I rolled with him so I didn't know what to expect. He was pretty decent at finding the moment to scramble just when he was about to be put on his back. I had to work hard to stay ahead of him a couple times to complete a sweep. He was able to catch me in a single leg one of the times.
Had a good free roll with Dave. Afterward we went over some guard passing starting with toreando and then leg drag. Then I found out he had not done an armdrag before so we worked for a while on that. We did it from standing and then from butterfly guard and then came back to the leg drag. Hopefully not too much info for one day.
Office Hours Partner: Morgan, Zac
Morgan and I rolled a couple times and I went pretty light and tried to flow as much as possible.
Zac wanted to cover the north/south choke as I have become the goto guy for that. He seemed to like how it worked and setups and follow ups that I use. We also talked about back mount and not putting the top hook in if the bottom hook is out. I showed him using the butterfly hook to roll them away to regain that hook.
I saw the video below earlier today and was really surprised at how Marcelo Garcia uses his hooks differently and sometimes not at all. His upper body control and harness are so strong and impressive. This video reinforces my thinking of the standard hooks for back mount not being as important as I thought. The legs still do stuff and that's what I need to investigate but I don't necessarily have to have both hooks in all the time to have a successful back attack game.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
August 26th 2015 - Gi All Levels
Theme & Techniques: Standing Guillotine Defense Against Wall to Neck Crank, Kneeling Guard Break, Double Under Pass
Partner: Ben
Just me and Ben today taking up all of the personal attention. Part way through the floor exercises we decided instead of walking back to the other side of the room to start the next lap we would just turn around and continue. This saved a lot of time, but damn if we weren't breathing a lot harder by the end without the walking rest breaks.
A couple bits of advice that I picked up on or seemed to help Ben were:
Rolling: Guard Position (4 x 3 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Ben
I did my best not to give anything up. There were a couple close calls and Ben is no slouch. I'm pretty happy with my closed guard game even though I haven't been working on it for a while. Breaking the closed guard on the other hand seems like a lot of work to me right now, I'd rather they just opened their guard for me.
Probably the most frustrating thing during the free rolling was making it to mount and being unable to get through his defenses to get a submission. This may be a turning point because I should be finding ways to make my opponent make mistakes for me to capitalize on. Now I seem to depend on them making mistakes on their own to a certain degree.
Worked a bit on the uchi mata. I'm hopefully going to get some reps in with every class if I can find a willing partner. Right now I'm working on getting my feet in the right place. It seems difficult to do with slow fit-ins.
Partner: Ben
Just me and Ben today taking up all of the personal attention. Part way through the floor exercises we decided instead of walking back to the other side of the room to start the next lap we would just turn around and continue. This saved a lot of time, but damn if we weren't breathing a lot harder by the end without the walking rest breaks.
A couple bits of advice that I picked up on or seemed to help Ben were:
- When putting your knee on the sit bone to the point of doing the guard break keep your thigh as vertical as possible to prevent them from riding up your leg.
- It may feel stronger to grab higher up on the leg to break the guard but if you're elbow is not on the inside of their thigh or knee you may have a bad time.
- The double under pass may seem more brute force than technical, but there is a technique to it. Don't push forward from the start pull them back and up onto your legs. Raise their hips up high enough so their legs can no longer affect your arms.
Rolling: Guard Position (4 x 3 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Ben
I did my best not to give anything up. There were a couple close calls and Ben is no slouch. I'm pretty happy with my closed guard game even though I haven't been working on it for a while. Breaking the closed guard on the other hand seems like a lot of work to me right now, I'd rather they just opened their guard for me.
Probably the most frustrating thing during the free rolling was making it to mount and being unable to get through his defenses to get a submission. This may be a turning point because I should be finding ways to make my opponent make mistakes for me to capitalize on. Now I seem to depend on them making mistakes on their own to a certain degree.
Worked a bit on the uchi mata. I'm hopefully going to get some reps in with every class if I can find a willing partner. Right now I'm working on getting my feet in the right place. It seems difficult to do with slow fit-ins.
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
August 25th 2015 - Gi Beginner
Theme & Techniques: Standing Guillotine Defense Against Wall to Neck Crank, Kneeling Guard Break, Double Under Pass
Partner: Robert, Morgan
Before class I had Zac help me with some Uchi Matas. I decided to research this throw and see if it's for me. The video at the bottom of this post has been pretty helpful so far. I'm really interested in finding some more stand-up techniques because I often don't feel confident with my takedowns.
Not much to say about techniques this week. Just want to point out that when defending the guillotine I like to think about scraping them up the wall and getting posture. Bring your chest forward and up and don't use your neck to push against their arm. Once you break the choke keep your posture because if you look down again they'll be able to pull you back down.
Rolling: Guard Position (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (4 min)
Rolled With: Morgan, Greg, Robert
It feels like it's been a while since I trained in the closed guard and I enjoyed it. Morgan did a good job from bottom with getting collar grips and attempting to break me down. When I was on bottom I felt very comfortable and started playing my cross guard and 2 on 1. I feel like I have a lot of options from here and maybe I should focus more on getting back to full guard.
Had an almost did something good with Greg situation. I went to cross guard but he put a wall up and got my leg out of the space that I wanted. He started to do a standing pass and somehow I ended up with a kimura grip. I attempted to do the rotating back take technique but got stuck. I went for half guard but I probably shouldn't have. From the top Greg got me in 2 on 1 and eventually led into a triangle.
Office Hours Partner: Robert
Did the last roll with Robert and than another 5 minutes after class. Like usual I ended up in half guard a lot. I was able to use a butterfly hook a couple times to regain butterfly guard but he seems proficient in defending butterfly, maybe need to revisit that position soon. I went to deep half a lot, but didn't feel confident in the position with him. He seems to be able to beat it. I ended up in side control at one point and was able to implement some of things that Conan worked with me on this past week. Greg said he saw some pretty good stuff from both of us during our rolls.
Partner: Robert, Morgan
Before class I had Zac help me with some Uchi Matas. I decided to research this throw and see if it's for me. The video at the bottom of this post has been pretty helpful so far. I'm really interested in finding some more stand-up techniques because I often don't feel confident with my takedowns.
Not much to say about techniques this week. Just want to point out that when defending the guillotine I like to think about scraping them up the wall and getting posture. Bring your chest forward and up and don't use your neck to push against their arm. Once you break the choke keep your posture because if you look down again they'll be able to pull you back down.
Rolling: Guard Position (4 x 2 min), Free Rolling (4 min)
Rolled With: Morgan, Greg, Robert
It feels like it's been a while since I trained in the closed guard and I enjoyed it. Morgan did a good job from bottom with getting collar grips and attempting to break me down. When I was on bottom I felt very comfortable and started playing my cross guard and 2 on 1. I feel like I have a lot of options from here and maybe I should focus more on getting back to full guard.
Had an almost did something good with Greg situation. I went to cross guard but he put a wall up and got my leg out of the space that I wanted. He started to do a standing pass and somehow I ended up with a kimura grip. I attempted to do the rotating back take technique but got stuck. I went for half guard but I probably shouldn't have. From the top Greg got me in 2 on 1 and eventually led into a triangle.
Office Hours Partner: Robert
Did the last roll with Robert and than another 5 minutes after class. Like usual I ended up in half guard a lot. I was able to use a butterfly hook a couple times to regain butterfly guard but he seems proficient in defending butterfly, maybe need to revisit that position soon. I went to deep half a lot, but didn't feel confident in the position with him. He seems to be able to beat it. I ended up in side control at one point and was able to implement some of things that Conan worked with me on this past week. Greg said he saw some pretty good stuff from both of us during our rolls.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
August 23rd 2015 - Beginner No Gi
Theme & Techniques: Side Control Escape to Single Leg
Partner: Darijo
Couldn't make it to open mat yesterday but was fortunate enough to make it no gi today. Conan had us do a couple partner warm-ups that I enjoy with the switch sides armbar from guard drill, sit outs, and armbar from mount and recovering mount.
This was similar to what we worked on Friday, but Conan really wanted to bring home the addition of an extra shoulder twist to defend the crossface. This made a huge difference in what I thought this move was as there have been many times when I've gotten close to escaping side control only to be put back flat by a crossface. It also got me focusing on bridging with the intent of knocking them over. Doing this seems to cause a lot more openings.
Rolling: Side Control (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Darijo
Despite talking himself down a little Darijo did great and challenged me from the top and bottom. I don't have nearly as many attacks in no gi so I felt like I had to move a lot more and switch sides. My hand was constantly trying to check the hip. He did seem a little susceptible to the kimura grip so he may want to look into keeping his hands closer to his chest. When I was on the bottom it took a while before I found the right moment to attempt to escape and then I felt like I gave a half assed attempt at what we drilled. I just don't feel strong in my bridge from there but I feel like it was a good week to start focusing on side control escapes.
Office Hours Partner: Chris (?), Mo, Dave, Jeff
This doesn't usually happen, I always try to commit everyone's name that I'm going to mention in the blog to memory. I think his name is Chris, this was the first time we rolled, but I've seen him in open mat quite a few times. After our first roll he asked about what he should be doing when starting from the knees. I'm very confident in what I have to say for this in the gi, but no gi without pant grips I'm often lost when I'm attempting to pass the someone that knows what they're doing. I have a few tricks but would much rather be in the gi.
Had a good roll with Mo, he attacked me with a couple things that I did not expect. I made it a point to put him into deep half a couple times since he's interested in it. I also ran my N/S to guillotine series that he was able to fend off. I noticed a couple times that I was probably putting too much weight on him since I'm quite a bit bigger. While in top quarter guard, I figured I'd go for a rolling back take and as I began my roll he stuck his hand on my shoulder and was able to reverse the position on me and take my back. What!? I wasn't even aware of this movement but he told me he's hit it on a couple other people and it's legit if timed right. To make up for this I did a rolling back take from twister side control later on.
Rolled with Dave and was surprised at how much better he's gotten since last we rolled. He felt stronger but I think that had a lot to do with having a better base. One of the goals that I have is to get better at a triangle and never skip the opportunity to attack one on the white belts. Like usual he was able to defend it through posturing up against my stubby legs.
I had seen Dave rolling with Jeff previously and noticed that he had back mount without hooks and was trying to put the top hook in. Later on I showed him why it was a bad idea and why I've been focusing on getting the bottom hook lately. I also showed him and Jeff my interpretation of Greg's seat belt grip. It seemed like they both appreciated it.
Partner: Darijo
Couldn't make it to open mat yesterday but was fortunate enough to make it no gi today. Conan had us do a couple partner warm-ups that I enjoy with the switch sides armbar from guard drill, sit outs, and armbar from mount and recovering mount.
This was similar to what we worked on Friday, but Conan really wanted to bring home the addition of an extra shoulder twist to defend the crossface. This made a huge difference in what I thought this move was as there have been many times when I've gotten close to escaping side control only to be put back flat by a crossface. It also got me focusing on bridging with the intent of knocking them over. Doing this seems to cause a lot more openings.
Rolling: Side Control (2 x 4 min)
Rolled With: Darijo
Despite talking himself down a little Darijo did great and challenged me from the top and bottom. I don't have nearly as many attacks in no gi so I felt like I had to move a lot more and switch sides. My hand was constantly trying to check the hip. He did seem a little susceptible to the kimura grip so he may want to look into keeping his hands closer to his chest. When I was on the bottom it took a while before I found the right moment to attempt to escape and then I felt like I gave a half assed attempt at what we drilled. I just don't feel strong in my bridge from there but I feel like it was a good week to start focusing on side control escapes.
Office Hours Partner: Chris (?), Mo, Dave, Jeff
This doesn't usually happen, I always try to commit everyone's name that I'm going to mention in the blog to memory. I think his name is Chris, this was the first time we rolled, but I've seen him in open mat quite a few times. After our first roll he asked about what he should be doing when starting from the knees. I'm very confident in what I have to say for this in the gi, but no gi without pant grips I'm often lost when I'm attempting to pass the someone that knows what they're doing. I have a few tricks but would much rather be in the gi.
Had a good roll with Mo, he attacked me with a couple things that I did not expect. I made it a point to put him into deep half a couple times since he's interested in it. I also ran my N/S to guillotine series that he was able to fend off. I noticed a couple times that I was probably putting too much weight on him since I'm quite a bit bigger. While in top quarter guard, I figured I'd go for a rolling back take and as I began my roll he stuck his hand on my shoulder and was able to reverse the position on me and take my back. What!? I wasn't even aware of this movement but he told me he's hit it on a couple other people and it's legit if timed right. To make up for this I did a rolling back take from twister side control later on.
Rolled with Dave and was surprised at how much better he's gotten since last we rolled. He felt stronger but I think that had a lot to do with having a better base. One of the goals that I have is to get better at a triangle and never skip the opportunity to attack one on the white belts. Like usual he was able to defend it through posturing up against my stubby legs.
I had seen Dave rolling with Jeff previously and noticed that he had back mount without hooks and was trying to put the top hook in. Later on I showed him why it was a bad idea and why I've been focusing on getting the bottom hook lately. I also showed him and Jeff my interpretation of Greg's seat belt grip. It seemed like they both appreciated it.
Friday, August 21, 2015
August 21st 2015 - Gi All Levels
Theme & Techniques: Throw Kuzushi, Side Control Escapes
Partner: Zac, Conan
Small class today but informative all the same. We practiced using stepping back to pull the our opponent into the throw. I practiced a mixture of throws and have been thinking about uchi matta lately. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but I like the idea of the throw.
Similar to the tripod escape but instead of bringing the butt up he would more bump himself down the leg. It seemed similar to what I've seen wrestlers do to me. We also talked about the concept of controlling one arm which Conan does a lot. This doesn't make him worry as much about getting trapped or submitted and often when I am in side control with him there are times when I don't feel like I'm the one in control even though I'm in the dominant position.
Rolling: Side Control Position (4 x 4 min), Free Rolling
Rolled With: Zac, Conan
Both of them were difficult to deal with today. I didn't feel good about my performance from top or bottom but I think I discovered an issue with defense. I kept pulling Conan and Zac higher up on top of me. Which in turn pushed my arms up and I can't move. I've noticed that I've been in this spot with Conan many times before and started to realize I'm doing it on purpose. It feels like I'm trying to do something that I would do in half guard to get lower but without any control on their leg it's really bad news. So good realization that I'm going to work on preventing.
Some things of note I was able to do the elbow push successfully a few times. I had some success from the top with switching sides a la Ryan Hall. I had a very quick roll with Zac where he got an arm drag off the bat and attacked from half guard to top half guard and then got me in a collar choke. I'm getting better at defending these from him, but he's still got some tricks up his sleeve. Zac helped me with the basic side control escape and noticed that I wasn't moving my hips away like Conan was. I'm pretty much bridging straight up and down. This is another game changer hopefully.
Partner: Zac, Conan
Small class today but informative all the same. We practiced using stepping back to pull the our opponent into the throw. I practiced a mixture of throws and have been thinking about uchi matta lately. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but I like the idea of the throw.
Similar to the tripod escape but instead of bringing the butt up he would more bump himself down the leg. It seemed similar to what I've seen wrestlers do to me. We also talked about the concept of controlling one arm which Conan does a lot. This doesn't make him worry as much about getting trapped or submitted and often when I am in side control with him there are times when I don't feel like I'm the one in control even though I'm in the dominant position.
Rolling: Side Control Position (4 x 4 min), Free Rolling
Rolled With: Zac, Conan
Both of them were difficult to deal with today. I didn't feel good about my performance from top or bottom but I think I discovered an issue with defense. I kept pulling Conan and Zac higher up on top of me. Which in turn pushed my arms up and I can't move. I've noticed that I've been in this spot with Conan many times before and started to realize I'm doing it on purpose. It feels like I'm trying to do something that I would do in half guard to get lower but without any control on their leg it's really bad news. So good realization that I'm going to work on preventing.
Some things of note I was able to do the elbow push successfully a few times. I had some success from the top with switching sides a la Ryan Hall. I had a very quick roll with Zac where he got an arm drag off the bat and attacked from half guard to top half guard and then got me in a collar choke. I'm getting better at defending these from him, but he's still got some tricks up his sleeve. Zac helped me with the basic side control escape and noticed that I wasn't moving my hips away like Conan was. I'm pretty much bridging straight up and down. This is another game changer hopefully.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
August 19th 2015 - Gi All Levels
Theme & Techniques: Koshi Gueruma, Side Control Tripod Escape, Side Control Kimura
Partner: Alejandro
Not too much to report on the technique side of things. I got to work with Alejandro which is always a pleasure. There were a couple times where we didn't quite stick to the techniques that we were working on and went to some different guards or submissions. He was pretty light and gentle with the kimura and didn't ever take it all the way to the tap.
Rolling: Side Control (6 x 2 min), Free Rolling (4 min)
Rolled With: Alejandro, Fuji, Greg, Tom, Casey
Alejandro started out with the switch grip side control but modified it a bit to include an oil check. That was a little uncomfortable but I fought through it. He submitted me once with an armlock but I don't remember which one. From the top I don't remember doing much. Fuji and I were both able to regain guard on the other. This hardly ever happens for me, so it's worth mentioning.
I regained guard on Greg! I believe he was stepping over into amount and I caught his leg with a butterfly hook. I was able to sweep but as I came up I got a knee to the chin for all of my hard work. He played it off like it was an accident but I know better. Just kidding, he felt pretty bad about it. Luckily the mouthpiece saved the day again. From the top he regained guard quite easily but I don't remember much else.
Had some good rolls with Tom and Casey. My latest goal during rolling is to focus on guard retention and not letting anyone pass. After that I focused on controlling from side control trying to emulate the way Alejandro does it. I attempted the kimura that we worked on a couple times, I wasn't able to complete any but I ended up with an armbar and a north/south choke. I also played around with the double lapel backtake from north/south with very little success with various people today.
Office Hours Partner: Tom
Rolled with Tom a couple times after class. I ended up tricking him into the NS choke again. So we went over some defenses for it. I also went over some guard playing and passing strategies that I use when starting a roll. He seemed to appreciate it and he may turn into my regular Wednesday office hours partner since I don't really have one right now.
Partner: Alejandro
Not too much to report on the technique side of things. I got to work with Alejandro which is always a pleasure. There were a couple times where we didn't quite stick to the techniques that we were working on and went to some different guards or submissions. He was pretty light and gentle with the kimura and didn't ever take it all the way to the tap.
Rolling: Side Control (6 x 2 min), Free Rolling (4 min)
Rolled With: Alejandro, Fuji, Greg, Tom, Casey
Alejandro started out with the switch grip side control but modified it a bit to include an oil check. That was a little uncomfortable but I fought through it. He submitted me once with an armlock but I don't remember which one. From the top I don't remember doing much. Fuji and I were both able to regain guard on the other. This hardly ever happens for me, so it's worth mentioning.
I regained guard on Greg! I believe he was stepping over into amount and I caught his leg with a butterfly hook. I was able to sweep but as I came up I got a knee to the chin for all of my hard work. He played it off like it was an accident but I know better. Just kidding, he felt pretty bad about it. Luckily the mouthpiece saved the day again. From the top he regained guard quite easily but I don't remember much else.
Had some good rolls with Tom and Casey. My latest goal during rolling is to focus on guard retention and not letting anyone pass. After that I focused on controlling from side control trying to emulate the way Alejandro does it. I attempted the kimura that we worked on a couple times, I wasn't able to complete any but I ended up with an armbar and a north/south choke. I also played around with the double lapel backtake from north/south with very little success with various people today.
Office Hours Partner: Tom
Rolled with Tom a couple times after class. I ended up tricking him into the NS choke again. So we went over some defenses for it. I also went over some guard playing and passing strategies that I use when starting a roll. He seemed to appreciate it and he may turn into my regular Wednesday office hours partner since I don't really have one right now.
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