December 12th - Gi (A Matter of Time)

David taught class last night and the theme was the guillotine.  David does a pretty good job making the warm up difficult and we do a lot of different drills.  I especially like the 5 Judo 5 Wrestling takedowns as a part of the warm-up.

I've decided that I hate having the guillotine practiced on me.  My neck and adam's apple were very worn out at the end of the class. We did most of this from Guard or sprawl position.  We finished the class with the 8 minute drill.  I had Brian as a partner.  He is tough to deal with when back mount is concerned.  With his long limbs I have a hard time maintaining hooks and hand fighting.  When I was back mounted he crushed my insides with a body triangle.  Otherwise we were both pretty even for the most part.

For open mat I rolled with Ken first.  We had a war with me on top for most of the beginning.  I took his back, had side control, gift wrap.  There was a moment that I felt close and got that feeling that I was going to get a sub.  I just couldn't finish.  Like usual I eventually gassed and Ken got on top and he was able to get me into an Americana.  We talked about how he hip escapes from side mount and I kind of like it.  I'm going to try it out when the situation arises.

I went with David next and was still a little tired from Ken.  My main goal was to try to misdirect and not use much strength against David.  I felt like I was doing a good job and I actually had a little bit of confidence.  There were a couple of times when I worked from half guard and was able to do my thing to get on my side and guard from his arm.  I regained half guard and at one point was able to get to my knees and get topside using the guillotine that we just worked on.  However the stupidest thing happened to me when David locked up both of my arms with overhooks and had me with a double armbar.  I verbally tapped probably too soon, but I'm not interested in getting hurt with something like this that I can't tap from.  I believe in our second match David took my back from turtle and choked me out.  Later on we discussed what to do with double underhooks on the legs and I think my roll to turtle was good, I just need to get out of turtle more quickly.  It's only a matter of time before I submit David.

December 11th - No-Gi (Deflating my Cranium)

Conan taught class yesterday and the theme was single leg takedown and half guard stuff.  I really liked working on this even though I'm not particularly good at it.  We started out with getting the single leg a cool way by arm drag to a sitting position.  Then a couple of other single leg variations.  Probably the coolest technique we did was to defend a single leg and then roll into a knee bar.  We did some further stuff from there in case they defended that.

I really hate the feeling that I've had in the last couple of classes.  Usually I can do most techniques with confidence.  But with some takedowns, judo throws, and different types of guards I find myself not being able to make it work.  It's very frustrating.

During open mat I rolled with Conan first.  I felt pretty good about my guard passing with him.  I kept pressure where I needed to and didn't lose balance like I usually do with him.  It just seems like I can never get completely past his guard, there is always another foot or knee or hand in the way.  I don't remember too much after that except defending from bottom side control.  We went twice and I was submitted twice.

I rolled with Mike next and it was a lot more difficult than the last time we rolled.  I had a terrible time passing his guard and when I did I wasn't able to finish any of my submissions.  He got me with a heel hook and a triangle.  While doing the triangle he used a little modification from a video that Conan posted the other day, pushing on the knee which worked great...for him.  I made the mistake of going into this role more confident than I should have been, due to recent events.  I wasn't pissed that I lost to Mike, I just have to remember that I need to keep getting better and that we all have good and bad days.

December 8th - Gi (de la Riva is hard)

Conan taught a small class yesterday and our focus was the de la Riva guard.  This is pretty much where your opponent is standing and you wrap their close leg with yours and while grabbing their ankle you put your other foot on their hip.  We worked on a sweep from their and then worked on reverse de la Riva kind of switching the position of the feet and grabbing the ankle with the other hand.

I had a really tough time with this.  Probably mostly because long legged Brian was my partner.  It was a lot to think about and I had trouble getting my legs and hips in the right place along with controlling my partner's sleeve.   I'm glad we only did a couple of different techniques.

During open mat I went with Adam first.  He pretty much had his way with me trying submission after submission and not allowing me to get out of his side mount.  I got to my knees a couple of times but wasn't really able to improve.  I was able to keep him from submitting me for quite sometime but it was very frustrating not being able to get out. 

I went with Brian next.  I tried for an armbar right away from kneeling.  Then he used his long legs and tried an armbar on me I was able to bend my arm and keep it from getting pulled in.  I got side control after that and started working for an Americana.  I thought I had it and it seemed too easy.  It was, out of no where a leg circled my head and kind of triangled me.  Really it seemed quite impossible from where I was and I was kind of embarrassed that I said "holly shit" rather loadly.  I was able to eventually get out of it luckily.  I tried several submissions  from there which took a while.  I eventually was able to get a darce and using the advice from the other day I just kept shoving my arm in there.  Once I was able to reach my bicep I fell to my side and that was all she wrote.

We went a second time and I was able to get top position again.  I had him in a north/south on his side and was trying to do the kimura.  Ray coached me to get my foot under his armpit (which I didn't know about) and then try to triangle my legs and sit on his head.  I felt like he was giving me the kimura so instead of sitting down all of the way I tried to pull his arm out (using too much strength).  I should have listened to Ray and tightened up my legs more. I eventually had to abandon the kimura and switched to an armbar.  Unfortunately I didn't have him locked down good enough and he was able to situp and put me into side mount.  We quit after that.

December 7th - Morning Open (Twice)

My tootsies were cold this morning.  Luckily Ken came in a little early and turned the heat on, although it never really got that hot. 

I rolled with Ken first and it was a back and forth battle.  There were a few times where I had his back or we were in side control.  I kept trying to attack without success.  There were also a couple of time where he had me in side control and I was able to get to my knees but not be able to do much with the single leg.  However, I'd improve by ending up in half guard.  I eventually got really winded and Ken had me in a straight armlock and I gave up.  Yes Mike, I gave up.

I rolled with Jerad next and it went very quickly and he got me in a farside armbar rather quickly. 

Robert and I went next and it felt like a battle too.  There was one point when I had the beginning of a darce.  Jerad kept trying to coach me into getting my arm through and I just couldn't get my arm through to lock it up.  I can't recall what else happened but he eventually got me in a choke, whether it was a darce, guillotine, or arm triangle I can't remember.  I do remember that it made me gag a bit and almost puke. 

I went with Jerad again for the last match and I fared far better this time.  We were in a strange half guard position for a little while with me on the bottom.  I had his leg kind of locked up.  It allowed me to mess with a kimura on the other arm.  We eventually rolled a bit and switched positions to me in top side control with him on his side because I had a hold of his other arm still kind of kimura'd (hard to explain).  I used the opportunity to take the armbar and after some hand fighting to break his grip I got it and he tapped. 

Now I'm having trouble figuring out how to react to this.  Can I be happy/excited about it?  I know Jerad is much more knowledgeable and skillful than I (concerning Jiu-Jitsu anyway).  I know this isn't a competition and we are rolling to get better and try different things.  But to me, submitting a purple belt in our school was an impossible feat before this.  I think it taught me that my mind can get in the way sometimes.  While I was working towards the submission I kept thinking "I'll never get this, Jerad is too good."  I've got to get this type of thinking out of my head.

The only thing that I can say is that I won't be truly happy until I feel David Kluthe's sweaty hand tapping.

December 5th - Gi (Witty title that infers that I tapped out a purple belt)

Jerad taught class last night and asked me what I wanted to work on.  I didn't have anything in mind but I came up with gift wrap and the flower sweep.  The main point that Jerad was focusing on was to get your partner loaded up on your hips kind of pulling them on top of you.  We did several sweeps like this from guard.  We also did a couple of cool ways to get to oma plata and a reverse oma plata. 

During open mat I went with Josh first.  He is new to our school from Kansas and has done BJJ for somewhere around a year.  I outweigh him quite a bit (like 80 lbs).  At first I had some problems with how he was grabbing my gi and using his legs to keep me in his guard.  I eventually took guard instead and swept him with the low half guard sweep and eventually got to side control.  I was able to go north/south and pull off a kimura.  He does have some skills and a little bit of a different style than I'm used to. 

David swarmed me and extended a challenge to see what Conan showed me to help defeat him.  My plan was pretty simple just get my forearm in Davids throat to prevent him from bullying me with his forehead.  It did help in neutralizing his head, however he still passed my guard and I had to defend from side control for a while.  There were a couple of scrambles I was mounted, in his guard, back mounted, and in half guard.  He got me once with a cross collar choke from guard that I thought I could defend by grabbing his lapel in the stomach and straightening my arm.  Once he bent my elbow it was over.  The other time he got me with a triangle from no mans' land.

My last partner was Jerad.  I was able to pass his guard (I think he kind of let me) and took side control.  We had a few scrambles and I took mount for a while.  We switched positions more and during a scramble I saw an opportunity to put him in a reverse arm triangle (not sure of the name but it's like an arm triangle where his arm is in my armpit).  It felt pretty tight but it didn't feel like I completely had it right.  I got a little excited with the chance of submitting Jerad.  He squirmed and I felt like I was going to lose it, I saw an opportunity to go for a far side armbar and I went for it.  Switching to the other side over his body I got my leg around his head as soon as I could, he stood up and I extended my hips and held onto his sleeve straightening the arm.  He tapped.  YES!!

It was a very strange thought process that I went through during this exchange I felt doubt in being able to submit someone like Jerad, but I also knew that I had something.  The transition felt very smooth, natural and right.

Of course it will not be this easy with Jerad again.  It is a good feeling to know that I will be taken more seriously by him in the future.  The two other rolls that followed I was not nearly as successful.  There was one point when I was trying a side control escape that can end up in a darce. However he had me in an Americana that caused my arm to straighten and made me tap.  So, don't try that again. I don't recall the other way he submitted me.

December 4th - No Gi

Conan taught class yesterday and we did some techniques post passing guard.  Unfortunately I showed up late, but my good excuse was that I take my youngest son, Jace, swimming every Sunday morning that I can.

We did several pass guard or half guard into a darce, armbar, we did a no-arm darce, and a north/south choke.  My darce chokes seemed very tight when practicing it with a partner.

During Open mat I rolled with Mike first.  This roll took a while and had a lot of back and forth.  Now that I've gotten a little bit better our weight difference is really starting to be an advantage for me with him.  Plus I was a little confused that he made a joke earlier in class that I am known for giving up that fueled me a little.  I almost had him in a north/south choke at one point but he was able to wiggle himself out of it.  We eventually called it a draw.  We can partially be seen in the darce video that Conan and Ray shot yesterday:



After bowing out, Conan asked me if I had time to roll.  I felt better against him than I usually do.  At one point I was even able to get side control.  Whether he was just letting me or not I do not care to guess.  He used a cool side control escape that we had worked on in a previous class but had yet to see in action.  I think I will try it next chance I get.  He submitted me with an Americana.  Conan showed me the side control escape and we worked on it, we also worked on a few other escapes from half guard and mount.  He also showed me some pointers with how to deal with a thing that David does.


I think I'm going to have to start making these blog entries right after the class because I find myself not able to remember a lot of the specifics as far as how open mat went and what techniques we worked on.

December 1st - Gi (The other half of half guard)

Conan taught class yesterday and the theme was passing half guard.  I believe this was the first time I've worked on some of these, most of what I've done from half guard has been from the bottom.  However, I now realize I've had many of these done to me.

I had problems with a few of them where we were required to tripod and then place our free knee onto the opponents belly.  It was just a little awkward for me.  I think I need some more practice time on some of these.

During open mat I went with Ray.  As soon as he got me off my back I was not able to improve my position again and he maintained side control.  I was able to defend a lot of his sub attempts but he eventually went knee on neck which took me out of my game.  I think he armbared me after that.



Ken showed up and we practiced some throws and Randori for a while.  I actually felt good about a few of the throws that I did.  Beggs and a Judo green belt were observing the mistakes that I was making.  Beggs gave some pointers on the sweep that I was attempting.  I'm all about doing things right and receiving help but it seemed like there was a communication barrier there because he kept showing me little variations and saying their Japanese name and asking if that was what I was trying to accomplish.  I really didn't see that much of a difference in what he was showing me.  I didn't know there were so many variations and I was just trying a technique that I've done before.  I guess that's what I get for being a casual Judo practitioner.