Missed a couple of classes this week. I've decided to temporarily suspend Wednesday advanced classes to spend more time with my family. Friday morning however, I either turned my alarm off in my sleep or it didn't go off. I was pretty upset about that.
I returned to the gym to swim a couple days this week and it felt pretty exhausting.
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Head Lock Escape Leg Hook to Armbar, Turtle Turnover to Side and Back Mount
Partnered and Rolled With: Harvey, Bhuvana, Nic, Brian (Backdraft), Anthony, Ray, Sam, Greg
Bhuvana had a little trouble using the technical standup to get to the armbar
in one move. Apparently many did because Greg stopped us and
demonstrated that part again. Probably the most important thing that I showed her though was to focus more on the pulling lower shoulder under our bodies when trying to get the elbow on the floor. Then being willing to twist multiple times until the elbow is free.
For attacking turtle, I showed
her my trick for grabbing the near side lapel and then switching sides.
I don't know why everyone doesn't do this. One thing that was missing from this back take from turtle was I wasn't rolling them up a bit to free my bottom leg to be a hook. I would generally just end up in side control or a half assed back mount that could be escaped.
We did some up/down/out from turtle and Anthony was the only one person that was able to escape my turtle with a granby and got to guard and I was
like "good job, totally legit." Otherwise I granbied my way out of
most turtles or pulled guard. I have a lot of trust in the granby now
especially after seeing Greg do it so much and succeeding. I was
telling other people to have more faith in the technique and heard that Bhuvana and Harvey both were able to complete it a couple of times.
Ray and I had a good bout where I almost
took his back. He tried to leg lock me, to which I attempted a bow and
arrow that I thought was close. I ended up in closed guard in the end
after a failed stacked armbar but would have liked the tap or back mount instead.
After class, I
showed Nic how I usually stop the granby roll by mostly
holding the far hip and keeping ahead of them. I
realized that the room was silent and everyone was watching us. I guess I was
instructor like at that time but didn't plan on being the center of
attention.
Zack and I did another shark tank for Greg. We started from standing with 6 minute rounds. I fought as hard
as I could and surprised myself with a few things. I don't think I ever
scored any points though. I regained guard a few times though. The
first round I held off being submitted until the final seconds, he
caught me with a straight armlock. I was trying to be funny and ask if
the clock was going to run out but Ray and Zack thought I was trying to
tap and panicked a little.
A couple of cool things that I did were: Regain
half guard to butterfly half guard to full butterfly but he was able to
pass it soon after. Regain half guard from mount to deep half but
wasn't able to complete the sweep. Greg pulled guard at one point and I
fought pretty hard to pass but I couldn't get out of his spider. Otherwise he used spider guard, single leg-x, and butterfly to sweep me and then attacked a lot from side mount.
Open MatRolled With: Jerad, Dwight, Ben, Fuji, Mike
Jerad: We slow rolled for a while in the beginning and messed
around a little bit. Mostly he dominated me like usual but I had my moments. I passed his guard and fought from the top for quite a
while and came close with a darce choke. I think I messed up when I went for a mounted triangle. Then I
was on the bottom for the remainder. I ended up in the torque sweep
position a couple times but couldn't seal the deal. He knows
what I'm trying to do because Greg has been doing it a lot lately. One
thing that he did was to use a brabo grip to pass my guard in place of
the underhook because he said that it is difficult to get the underhook
against me. I'm having a hard time remembering what submissions that he
got on me. I know one was an americana that he hit during a scramble
where I made a huge mistake of pulling his arm up over my head.
Dwight:
He doesn't bring his gi to open mat to I went no gi with him. I was a
little concerned that I'd have a hard time with him but it turned out
not being that bad. We rolled for a good 20 minutes. I usually started in butterfly on the bottom and there was also a lot of half guard. I mostly dominated the matches or at least kept him out of good positions.
Ben:
He was having calf cramps and looked tired. I guess Bauer gave him a
run for his money and sucked out some of his soul. I mostly played
guard until I could sweep. I was a little lackluster and he was able to
pass my guard a few times and I eventually got back to guard. I
eventually caught him with the omoplata using the new finish trick.
Fuji:
He asked me if I wanted to roll or do the side control stuff and I just
said roll. I was way too sloppy and loose while trying to setup my
cross guard omoplata and he stacked and I gave up guard. He
worked his way to the brabo (which translates to mean) and after
several feeble attempts to escape he finally choked me. We discussed my
guard and got Mike involved a little bit in discussing my options and
how to deal with Fuji's attack. The baratoplata seems like a pretty
good option but I also need to not be so sloppy with my technique.
Mike:
He drilled some berimbolo stuff before we rolled and it was very
technical. He was able to pull it off during our roll as
well. Somehow I was eventually in the guard passing position on top. I
made it to quarter guard and did a rolling back take but only went to
side control. I went for another rolling back take and finally
succeeded in somewhat taking his back. I attacked bow and arrow and
then armbar. I made it to mount and started to work toward the baratoplata and we had a little laugh when he realized what I was trying to do. Somehow from there I ended up putting him in an inverted triangle
(inverted isn't the right word but I'm not sure of the triangles name where your body is above and behind them).
I tried to make it tighter but was unable eventually I trapped one of
his arms in a kimura and got the tap. We went over the rolling back
take and he gave me some pointers on going to the truck position.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
February 8th 2015 - Weekly Review
Focus of the Week: No Mind
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Half Guard Pass, Turtle Escape - Granby Roll
Partnered and Rolled With: Josh (New), Jeff, Zack, Anthony, Conan, Bhuvana, Greg
I had a little trouble with this half guard pass on Tuesday. During drilling it was fine but during rolling I didn't feel like my foot could get on their thigh to push down for the initial knee slide. Friday I did feel better about it and figured out my major problem was keeping good pressure on their thigh and moving my hips way to the side. Previously I thought we were doing more of the tripod pass during this week of the curriculum but Greg seems to favor this one.
Zack manufactured a friendly rivalry between us during the teaching portion of Friday's class. He made a comment while Greg was teaching the granby that I was getting the better of him while rolling from the turtle and asked some specific questions on how to make the roll work. I was a little flattered but played it off by saying that it helps that I knew the technique he was going to try. He also requested that Greg put me with him during the turtle portion again.
Greg is preparing for Pan Ams and asked Zack and I to shark tank him. We did 4 x 6 minute rounds alternating with little rest in between for Greg. I decided to take a really aggressive mindset and throw caution to the wind and just attack at a fast pace. I feel this did a couple things for me. First I turned my brain off and didn't over think things. I just kept trying to move and insist on whatever I wanted. Next I went for things that I don't normally go for like ankle locks. I don't know how much Greg got out of it but I got a lot and I hope we do it more often in the coming weeks.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Fuji, Jeff, Mike (Tumbleweed), Brian (AF), Bhuvana
Had some good rolls on Saturday and I felt faster than usual. I think the tournament prep for Greg helped me loosen up quite a bit and not think as much.
Fuji: He wanted to resume his pure side control defense that we did a while back. Which was great for me as well but I felt a little guilty for all of the smashing that I did on him. No fuck that, he's smashed me more than I could return the favor in the past. I focused on my knee on belly and kept constant movement and tried to stay ahead of him. I feel pretty good about the improvements that I made from previously.
Jeff: I worked with him on some half guard knee shield stuff that we talked about on Friday and he seemed to take to it pretty well. The shaolin sweep is still something I'm trying to perfect but I showed him what I knew of it. Then just using the knee shield to kick and get the underhook was good info to share too. We may have only rolled once but I stayed pretty light with him and after passing with a over/under he kept trying to push my head into the inverted triangle but I wouldn't allow it. We went over setting up the kimura after that from side mount and some guard stuff too like omoplata.
Brian: He asked me if I used any tricks to remember things for my blog. I said no it just got easier over time and I would make mental notes in class about the things that I was going to write about. He's thinking about writing his own blog or a training log. Our first roll went pretty quickly and I caught him with an wristlock after an omoplata sweep. Then he jumped around me and on my back and almost got me with a bow and arrow. I grabbed my own gi and held it away from my neck and weathered the storm. I told him after the roll that he should have went for the armbar because my arm was in the right position but he had tunnel vision for the choke. After getting out of the choke I recovered deep half and swept to side control. I worked my way to north/south choke but he had a hand in. I started to work back to side control when he made a huge attempt to escape and brought his hand out. I went right back into the north/south and finished it.
Mike: We did some barato plata work but I didn't feel great about it. I'll have to review some more info. However, I felt great going up against Mike rolling-wise and I attribute this to the rolls with Greg this week too. He was attempting to pass standing and I was all over his legs and went to deep half. I was able to get a double unders pass and went right into side control. From there I worked for the kimura but settled on the armbar. John made a comment that he'd never seen Mike submitted before and was surprised that it happened. Mike said something like he's never seen him go against someone better before to which I said thank you! In our second roll I started dominating as well. I prevented some ankle locks and worked my way to a north/south choke but Mike timed his escape well. He submitted me with something but I don't recall what.
Bhuvana: I attempted an omoplata on her first off and she defended it well with posture. I went for a triangle instead and she kind of pulled me into mount to escape it. Somehow I made my way to her back and she panicked a little bit and looked like she was preparing to tap. I talked her through the escape and tried to calm her down a bit. I then had her work to submit me with an americana from mount. We went over the back mount escape and found some solace in realizing that she wanted to escape toward the underhook side.
Esteemed Collegues and Honorable Mentions:
A few of our guys competed last week in Circle of Iron and all placed. Mike took 2 silvers, Jerad took silver and bronze, and Brian took silver. Great job guys, way to represent! There would have probably been more hardware but there was a pretty bad snow storm.
Ray returned for a few classes this week and his ankle seems to be treating him well so far. It was awesome to see him back and hopefully he returns to full strength soon.
Henry had an exciting grappling match Saturday night in Missouri. Henry dominates the match but it must have been submission only because they call it a draw: Grappling Match
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Half Guard Pass, Turtle Escape - Granby Roll
Partnered and Rolled With: Josh (New), Jeff, Zack, Anthony, Conan, Bhuvana, Greg
I had a little trouble with this half guard pass on Tuesday. During drilling it was fine but during rolling I didn't feel like my foot could get on their thigh to push down for the initial knee slide. Friday I did feel better about it and figured out my major problem was keeping good pressure on their thigh and moving my hips way to the side. Previously I thought we were doing more of the tripod pass during this week of the curriculum but Greg seems to favor this one.
Zack manufactured a friendly rivalry between us during the teaching portion of Friday's class. He made a comment while Greg was teaching the granby that I was getting the better of him while rolling from the turtle and asked some specific questions on how to make the roll work. I was a little flattered but played it off by saying that it helps that I knew the technique he was going to try. He also requested that Greg put me with him during the turtle portion again.
Greg is preparing for Pan Ams and asked Zack and I to shark tank him. We did 4 x 6 minute rounds alternating with little rest in between for Greg. I decided to take a really aggressive mindset and throw caution to the wind and just attack at a fast pace. I feel this did a couple things for me. First I turned my brain off and didn't over think things. I just kept trying to move and insist on whatever I wanted. Next I went for things that I don't normally go for like ankle locks. I don't know how much Greg got out of it but I got a lot and I hope we do it more often in the coming weeks.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Fuji, Jeff, Mike (Tumbleweed), Brian (AF), Bhuvana
Had some good rolls on Saturday and I felt faster than usual. I think the tournament prep for Greg helped me loosen up quite a bit and not think as much.
Fuji: He wanted to resume his pure side control defense that we did a while back. Which was great for me as well but I felt a little guilty for all of the smashing that I did on him. No fuck that, he's smashed me more than I could return the favor in the past. I focused on my knee on belly and kept constant movement and tried to stay ahead of him. I feel pretty good about the improvements that I made from previously.
Jeff: I worked with him on some half guard knee shield stuff that we talked about on Friday and he seemed to take to it pretty well. The shaolin sweep is still something I'm trying to perfect but I showed him what I knew of it. Then just using the knee shield to kick and get the underhook was good info to share too. We may have only rolled once but I stayed pretty light with him and after passing with a over/under he kept trying to push my head into the inverted triangle but I wouldn't allow it. We went over setting up the kimura after that from side mount and some guard stuff too like omoplata.
Brian: He asked me if I used any tricks to remember things for my blog. I said no it just got easier over time and I would make mental notes in class about the things that I was going to write about. He's thinking about writing his own blog or a training log. Our first roll went pretty quickly and I caught him with an wristlock after an omoplata sweep. Then he jumped around me and on my back and almost got me with a bow and arrow. I grabbed my own gi and held it away from my neck and weathered the storm. I told him after the roll that he should have went for the armbar because my arm was in the right position but he had tunnel vision for the choke. After getting out of the choke I recovered deep half and swept to side control. I worked my way to north/south choke but he had a hand in. I started to work back to side control when he made a huge attempt to escape and brought his hand out. I went right back into the north/south and finished it.
Mike: We did some barato plata work but I didn't feel great about it. I'll have to review some more info. However, I felt great going up against Mike rolling-wise and I attribute this to the rolls with Greg this week too. He was attempting to pass standing and I was all over his legs and went to deep half. I was able to get a double unders pass and went right into side control. From there I worked for the kimura but settled on the armbar. John made a comment that he'd never seen Mike submitted before and was surprised that it happened. Mike said something like he's never seen him go against someone better before to which I said thank you! In our second roll I started dominating as well. I prevented some ankle locks and worked my way to a north/south choke but Mike timed his escape well. He submitted me with something but I don't recall what.
Bhuvana: I attempted an omoplata on her first off and she defended it well with posture. I went for a triangle instead and she kind of pulled me into mount to escape it. Somehow I made my way to her back and she panicked a little bit and looked like she was preparing to tap. I talked her through the escape and tried to calm her down a bit. I then had her work to submit me with an americana from mount. We went over the back mount escape and found some solace in realizing that she wanted to escape toward the underhook side.
Esteemed Collegues and Honorable Mentions:
A few of our guys competed last week in Circle of Iron and all placed. Mike took 2 silvers, Jerad took silver and bronze, and Brian took silver. Great job guys, way to represent! There would have probably been more hardware but there was a pretty bad snow storm.
Ray returned for a few classes this week and his ankle seems to be treating him well so far. It was awesome to see him back and hopefully he returns to full strength soon.
Henry had an exciting grappling match Saturday night in Missouri. Henry dominates the match but it must have been submission only because they call it a draw: Grappling Match
Monday, February 2, 2015
February 1st 2015 - Weekly Review
Focus of the Week: Maintaining Half Guard Frame and No Inches Given
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Standing Guillotine Defense, Bottom Half Guard to Back or Full Guard Recover
Partnered and Rolled With: Brian (Backdraft), Bhuvana, Harvey, Austin, Zack, Greg, Conan, Anthony
It is kind of weird to work with people that aren't familiar with the position and don't realize how important the underhook and the whizzer are. I remember it being a huge epiphany at the time and for quite a while everything was about the underhook.
Greg was having us push them forward with our back leg once we had the seat belt grip to knock them over before getting the hooks in. I don't recall if we did it this way last time or just pulled them to the side, but I do like this. For the guard recovery he shared another tidbit that when switching the feet we could put them together instead of crossing them. I was getting my feet tied up during that part so it helped.
During Rolling Greg surprised me with some tricks from bottom half guard to acquire the underhook. He was using the twist sweep as a way to open me up to base out. Then he was moving right into the torque sweep. I didn't feel like I had a chance of keeping him from getting the underhook.
Brian helped me work out the torque sweep under Greg's supervision a little after class Tuesday. I was missing a couple of things that make it immensely easier. Grabbing the leg and stiff-arming the knee is a necessity and then doing a roll over the head like the kesa getami escape is also very helpful.
I have a note not to mention submitting Conan with a north/south choke on Friday ;). I think I'm breaking through to the point where he'll take me more seriously. In our second roll he went more on the offensive. I made it to x-guard but he had his knee on the ground and I couldn't do anything about it. Greg gave me some pointers the following day.
Advanced: Alternatives to Triangle - Armbar, Twisting Armlock, Americana, Stacked Armbar
Partnered and Rolled With: Adam, Conan, Jerad, Gina, Sara, Jordan
Adam and I were pretty okay with this class since we normally don't get the triangle anyway these were options for us. Conan received a crash course on the techniques before Greg left for the night. I kind of wish we had gone over the barato plata but I know that wasn't on the agenda.
We did some guard king of the mat which I always enjoy. I was really impressed with Jordan's guard. He was relentless with his grips and his push/pull felt strong. Hopefully he feels like he's back at 100% since his injury. I had a couple of wars with Adam. I came so close to passing his guard but he was able to get to his knees and double leg me. It's good because it makes our technique better but it can also be frustrating.
I got very close to sweeping Conan. I threw out a lot of tricks attempted scissor sweep went for omoplata, he defended and then I went for it again and I started doing the new submission setup but somehow he got free. At one point I attempted to do the back roll escape when he stacked me but it failed. I think I need to drill this again as it seems to be the thing that makes me fail the most. I also think I need to be a little more rough with this submission when I attempt it on someone standing. I go too easy and am not acting confident enough in it.
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Standing Guillotine Defense, Bottom Half Guard to Back or Full Guard Recover
Partnered and Rolled With: Brian (Backdraft), Bhuvana, Harvey, Austin, Zack, Greg, Conan, Anthony
It is kind of weird to work with people that aren't familiar with the position and don't realize how important the underhook and the whizzer are. I remember it being a huge epiphany at the time and for quite a while everything was about the underhook.
Greg was having us push them forward with our back leg once we had the seat belt grip to knock them over before getting the hooks in. I don't recall if we did it this way last time or just pulled them to the side, but I do like this. For the guard recovery he shared another tidbit that when switching the feet we could put them together instead of crossing them. I was getting my feet tied up during that part so it helped.
During Rolling Greg surprised me with some tricks from bottom half guard to acquire the underhook. He was using the twist sweep as a way to open me up to base out. Then he was moving right into the torque sweep. I didn't feel like I had a chance of keeping him from getting the underhook.
Brian helped me work out the torque sweep under Greg's supervision a little after class Tuesday. I was missing a couple of things that make it immensely easier. Grabbing the leg and stiff-arming the knee is a necessity and then doing a roll over the head like the kesa getami escape is also very helpful.
I have a note not to mention submitting Conan with a north/south choke on Friday ;). I think I'm breaking through to the point where he'll take me more seriously. In our second roll he went more on the offensive. I made it to x-guard but he had his knee on the ground and I couldn't do anything about it. Greg gave me some pointers the following day.
Advanced: Alternatives to Triangle - Armbar, Twisting Armlock, Americana, Stacked Armbar
Partnered and Rolled With: Adam, Conan, Jerad, Gina, Sara, Jordan
Adam and I were pretty okay with this class since we normally don't get the triangle anyway these were options for us. Conan received a crash course on the techniques before Greg left for the night. I kind of wish we had gone over the barato plata but I know that wasn't on the agenda.
We did some guard king of the mat which I always enjoy. I was really impressed with Jordan's guard. He was relentless with his grips and his push/pull felt strong. Hopefully he feels like he's back at 100% since his injury. I had a couple of wars with Adam. I came so close to passing his guard but he was able to get to his knees and double leg me. It's good because it makes our technique better but it can also be frustrating.
I got very close to sweeping Conan. I threw out a lot of tricks attempted scissor sweep went for omoplata, he defended and then I went for it again and I started doing the new submission setup but somehow he got free. At one point I attempted to do the back roll escape when he stacked me but it failed. I think I need to drill this again as it seems to be the thing that makes me fail the most. I also think I need to be a little more rough with this submission when I attempt it on someone standing. I go too easy and am not acting confident enough in it.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
January 25th 2015 - Weekly Review
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Koshi Guruma, Standing Guard Break, Toreando Pass
Partnered and Rolled With: Harvey, Ben, Jeff, Riley, Anthony, Greg, Zack, Ty, Adam, Dave, Mike (Lawyer), Austin
I was surprised at how many people I got the chance to train and roll with this week. Good stuff!
One thing that Greg mentioned during the teaching portion was taking short steps back as you push their knee down. This is something I've struggled with in the past as I wasn't sure if I should take a big step back instead. One thing I noticed a couple people doing was moving the front leg towards the free arm too much. I tried to let him know that's where I can get an omoplata or sweep. I noticed after that Greg's leg was never close to the free arm while he was practicing. In the Friday class we went off on a bit of a tangent to deal with someone grabbing the ankle.
During rolling it seemed like Greg was on a mission to do the Sao Paulo pass to everyone. I was inspired and tried it a few times as well. It was actually a perfect thing to do against people that keep their guard so tightly closed with strength. Greg attempted the pass on me and I kept him from finishing it a couple times by keeping his head away. He eventually got it though. He showed me a couple tips on breaking the guard open that I'll have to practice.
We did king of the mat for rolling Friday morning and I had quite a few challenging rolls with the likes of Adam, Ty, and Zack. Ty actually puzzled me the most because I put him into a couple of omoplatas and he countered by grabbing my collar with his free hand. It's not something that anyone else has done to defend my omoplata so I shall ponder.
Kids' Class
The boys went to their first older kids class and they did great. It was pretty similar to an adult class and they jumped right in. The hip escapes and front and back rolls were no problem but there were a few things they weren't used to like walking break falls, alligator walks, and bird dogs.
The technique of the day was the double leg. Not my personal best technique but I could give some pointers to the kids. The boys did some rolling from the knees and it was very rough. Jayden is not very aggressive and Jace is a little too aggressive. I kept trying to tell them that they wanted certain positions like guard and mount but they had tunnel vision on each other. They finished the day with the other kids doing rolling starting from standing but my boys did sumo and foot tag instead. They both said that they would like to go back next week but that it was difficult too.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Fuji, Jerad, Ty, Bauer, Felipe (New), Kat
While Friday was all about omoplatas I may have only done one Saturday, strange. I had quite a bit of interaction with Fuji because he wanted to work on bottom side control. That sounded great to me after he crushed me in his side control. Mike gave me some advice about my knee on belly that I'm going to look into this coming week. I was keeping my back knee on the floor too much and too close so it could be grabbed. I also wasn't really trusting the position.
Bauer and I had an epic roll as usual but this time in no gi. We went back and forth several times he even foiled my north/south choke at one point. A couple times I got to mount and realized that I did not have many submissions in my toolbox for no gi. Sure there's armbar, americana, and mounted triangle but what else? So a future research project may be no gi submissions from mount.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
January 18th 2015 - Weekly Review
Personal Focus of the Week: Back Takes, More Aggressive Guard, Beginnings of the Barato Plata
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Technical Stand-up, Closed Guard - Hip Bump Sweep & Kimura
Partnered and Rolled With: Bhuvana, Mike (Lawyer), Riley (New Guy), Ben, Greg
I haven't had much confidence with the hip bump sweep lately. I've tried it off and on during rolling but I must be telegraphing too much because I seem to get shut down pretty easily. I think the creating space part is the hardest for me. I don't want to give that space up but I need it to get the leverage. I just need to go for it with a little confidence. I may try to incorporate it more as it is different from the stuff in my usual game.
Kimura is fine and it comes every so often for me, more so from half guard. I watched a video of passing the half guard with the kimura that gave me some ideas that I tried during rolling a couple times this week.
After class Greg gave me some details on the omoplata finish that he learned from Tinguinha. Grab their pant leg and stiff arm. Next hip out away from them driving them down and making yourself heavy. Reach up with the free hand and grab the far hip. Then pull them over. I did it once or twice this week and it's an instant add to the game.
Advanced: Triangle Setups: Basic, Overhook, Scissor Sweep
Partnered and Rolled With: Conan, Adam, Greg, Fuji, Gina
Had some good things happen in advanced class, working on the triangle with Adam wasn't one of them. I just couldn't find an angle that would allow me to lock it up. I still got him to tap but that wouldn't have happened if he was resisting. Conan I could lock up and he said a couple times that my triangle was very tight. Pretty much because I have no choice with my short legs. I prefer the overhook setup to the others at least that's what I've practiced the most. Greg said we'll be working on the triangle for 6 weeks so I have that to look forward to. Hopefully we cover the mounted triangle at some point because that's something I can do.
My crowning achievement was when I passed Adam's guard during king of the mat. The first time I almost did it but he was able to get up to turtle and then take me down. I attempted a guillotine but it was all for not. I think I need to be a little more aggressive with my guillotines. The second time we rolled I avoided some wrist locks that he tried and waited for him to open his guard. I attempted the over under but got sucked into his half guard. I avoided his lock down by keeping my heel tight to butt. I went back and forth from the hip switch to the tripod pass and eventually I isolated his arm and was fighting for the kimura. It allowed me to get my leg free and I just had to keep good pressure so he couldn't get up. Yes! Although I expect it to be much more difficult next time.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Ross, Ben, Jordan
Didn't roll with too many people yesterday, but not on purpose. I ended up giving out a lot of advice and help to my partners. The competition class is screwing up my flow. After it was over people just kind of sat around, even guys that weren't in the class. I posted myself in the middle of the mat and waited for someone to look interested in rolling. I could tell Conan and Gina were talking about me because after peering at me and talking Gina came over and said that she was going to leave and come in for no gi Sunday. Eventually I just said, "is anyone going to roll today?" and Ross volunteered.
I emphasized my aggressive guard with all of my partners by going for grips and staying up instead of just falling back and waiting for them to come to me.
I assisted Ross with 2 on 1 stuff and how to take the back and some of my strategies for the top half guard position. I helped Ben with some advice on how to make good pressure in side mount. He was using his chest way too much and not connecting his knee to my hip. I also walked him through the butterfly guard and the hook sweep. I was a training dummy for Conan and Zack while they worked on the arm triangle.
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Technical Stand-up, Closed Guard - Hip Bump Sweep & Kimura
Partnered and Rolled With: Bhuvana, Mike (Lawyer), Riley (New Guy), Ben, Greg
I haven't had much confidence with the hip bump sweep lately. I've tried it off and on during rolling but I must be telegraphing too much because I seem to get shut down pretty easily. I think the creating space part is the hardest for me. I don't want to give that space up but I need it to get the leverage. I just need to go for it with a little confidence. I may try to incorporate it more as it is different from the stuff in my usual game.
Kimura is fine and it comes every so often for me, more so from half guard. I watched a video of passing the half guard with the kimura that gave me some ideas that I tried during rolling a couple times this week.
After class Greg gave me some details on the omoplata finish that he learned from Tinguinha. Grab their pant leg and stiff arm. Next hip out away from them driving them down and making yourself heavy. Reach up with the free hand and grab the far hip. Then pull them over. I did it once or twice this week and it's an instant add to the game.
Advanced: Triangle Setups: Basic, Overhook, Scissor Sweep
Partnered and Rolled With: Conan, Adam, Greg, Fuji, Gina
Had some good things happen in advanced class, working on the triangle with Adam wasn't one of them. I just couldn't find an angle that would allow me to lock it up. I still got him to tap but that wouldn't have happened if he was resisting. Conan I could lock up and he said a couple times that my triangle was very tight. Pretty much because I have no choice with my short legs. I prefer the overhook setup to the others at least that's what I've practiced the most. Greg said we'll be working on the triangle for 6 weeks so I have that to look forward to. Hopefully we cover the mounted triangle at some point because that's something I can do.
My crowning achievement was when I passed Adam's guard during king of the mat. The first time I almost did it but he was able to get up to turtle and then take me down. I attempted a guillotine but it was all for not. I think I need to be a little more aggressive with my guillotines. The second time we rolled I avoided some wrist locks that he tried and waited for him to open his guard. I attempted the over under but got sucked into his half guard. I avoided his lock down by keeping my heel tight to butt. I went back and forth from the hip switch to the tripod pass and eventually I isolated his arm and was fighting for the kimura. It allowed me to get my leg free and I just had to keep good pressure so he couldn't get up. Yes! Although I expect it to be much more difficult next time.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Ross, Ben, Jordan
Didn't roll with too many people yesterday, but not on purpose. I ended up giving out a lot of advice and help to my partners. The competition class is screwing up my flow. After it was over people just kind of sat around, even guys that weren't in the class. I posted myself in the middle of the mat and waited for someone to look interested in rolling. I could tell Conan and Gina were talking about me because after peering at me and talking Gina came over and said that she was going to leave and come in for no gi Sunday. Eventually I just said, "is anyone going to roll today?" and Ross volunteered.
I emphasized my aggressive guard with all of my partners by going for grips and staying up instead of just falling back and waiting for them to come to me.
I assisted Ross with 2 on 1 stuff and how to take the back and some of my strategies for the top half guard position. I helped Ben with some advice on how to make good pressure in side mount. He was using his chest way too much and not connecting his knee to my hip. I also walked him through the butterfly guard and the hook sweep. I was a training dummy for Conan and Zack while they worked on the arm triangle.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
January 11th 2015 - Weekly Review
Focus of the Week: Back Takes
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Seoi-Nage, Cross Choke from Back Mount, Guillotine from Guard
Partnered and Rolled With: Brian (Backdraft), Gina, Will, Anthony, Dave, Bhuvana, Harvey, Greg
It was nice to work with Brian on the throw and watch his footwork. It's hard to describe but he steps very lightly when getting into position. He was also getting very low. I never really have any problems drilling the throws but I would like to get a better feel for setups.
During the cross choke I practiced the grip break that Mike showed me last Friday in conjunction and got Brian to do it a few times too. For the guillotine I did my best to make space efficiently. That part feels a little sluggish so I will continue to experiment with that.
Greg helped me a bit with a key detail to his seat belt from back mount after class on Friday. When he did it to me he was saying that he wanted to keep my body more canted and not bring me all the way to the side. When I practiced it I asked if I should pull down more on the opposite shoulder and he realized that was a big part of it. Keeping them off the ground but turned is huge. I also noticed his seat belt was high on my neck at that point and that is another thing that I will change.
Advanced: Standing Guard Break to Knee Over Pass, Over/Under Pass, Smash Pass
Partnered and Rolled With: Jerad, Fuji, Greg, Brian (AF)
The standing break was a little different than the norm in that we didn't switch the hand grab like we normally do and went push down the opposite leg. This fed right into the knee over pass position. I need to keep my elbow in close as I was having trouble remembering to do that. The follow up knee slide from here was brilliant when they got some type of half guard. I am starting to see the knee slide being available more often that it was before.
Greg had us chose a kneeling and a standing pass to drill with our partner. So I chose Over/Under which I'm already quite good at and the x-pass/smash pass as I'm still working on them. Jerad chose to do the over/under as well and I gave him a few pointers on keeping his head tight and keeping his butt down both things I had a problem with when I first started them.
The x-pass is always fatiguing on the legs as I have to squat quite a bit to get it done. Jerad gave me some good pointers on going for the mount if I don't get a good underhook off of the smash pass. He showed me from there you either get the mount or they raise their arm to block and you get the underhook, seemed to work like a charm.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Conan, Brian (AF), Andrew, Darijo, Jerad
Had a decent day in open mat with some challenging rolls. It seems like Brian has jumped in skill recently and he's defending some of the things I would catch him with a lot better. Jerad really has my number lately and it's really making me want to train more to catch and keep up with him. Conan was nice to me the first part of our roll but turned it up towards the end.
I was able to get to back mount a few times and tried to work. I've been reviewing Ryan Hall's back take instructional as well as some of the deep half guard back take stuff. I think I'm going to cool it on deep half guard for a while and let it happen when it happens. I'll pick it up again in a few months fresh.
Mike gave me a quick instructional on baratoplata and I worked on it a bit today. I'm liking it but need some more time to commit it to muscle memory.
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Seoi-Nage, Cross Choke from Back Mount, Guillotine from Guard
Partnered and Rolled With: Brian (Backdraft), Gina, Will, Anthony, Dave, Bhuvana, Harvey, Greg
It was nice to work with Brian on the throw and watch his footwork. It's hard to describe but he steps very lightly when getting into position. He was also getting very low. I never really have any problems drilling the throws but I would like to get a better feel for setups.
During the cross choke I practiced the grip break that Mike showed me last Friday in conjunction and got Brian to do it a few times too. For the guillotine I did my best to make space efficiently. That part feels a little sluggish so I will continue to experiment with that.
Greg helped me a bit with a key detail to his seat belt from back mount after class on Friday. When he did it to me he was saying that he wanted to keep my body more canted and not bring me all the way to the side. When I practiced it I asked if I should pull down more on the opposite shoulder and he realized that was a big part of it. Keeping them off the ground but turned is huge. I also noticed his seat belt was high on my neck at that point and that is another thing that I will change.
Advanced: Standing Guard Break to Knee Over Pass, Over/Under Pass, Smash Pass
Partnered and Rolled With: Jerad, Fuji, Greg, Brian (AF)
The standing break was a little different than the norm in that we didn't switch the hand grab like we normally do and went push down the opposite leg. This fed right into the knee over pass position. I need to keep my elbow in close as I was having trouble remembering to do that. The follow up knee slide from here was brilliant when they got some type of half guard. I am starting to see the knee slide being available more often that it was before.
Greg had us chose a kneeling and a standing pass to drill with our partner. So I chose Over/Under which I'm already quite good at and the x-pass/smash pass as I'm still working on them. Jerad chose to do the over/under as well and I gave him a few pointers on keeping his head tight and keeping his butt down both things I had a problem with when I first started them.
The x-pass is always fatiguing on the legs as I have to squat quite a bit to get it done. Jerad gave me some good pointers on going for the mount if I don't get a good underhook off of the smash pass. He showed me from there you either get the mount or they raise their arm to block and you get the underhook, seemed to work like a charm.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Conan, Brian (AF), Andrew, Darijo, Jerad
Had a decent day in open mat with some challenging rolls. It seems like Brian has jumped in skill recently and he's defending some of the things I would catch him with a lot better. Jerad really has my number lately and it's really making me want to train more to catch and keep up with him. Conan was nice to me the first part of our roll but turned it up towards the end.
I was able to get to back mount a few times and tried to work. I've been reviewing Ryan Hall's back take instructional as well as some of the deep half guard back take stuff. I think I'm going to cool it on deep half guard for a while and let it happen when it happens. I'll pick it up again in a few months fresh.
Mike gave me a quick instructional on baratoplata and I worked on it a bit today. I'm liking it but need some more time to commit it to muscle memory.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
January 4th 2015 - Weekly Review
Focus of the Week: Back Takes, Deep Half, Keeping It Playful
I've started studying some back takes as my next focus and this was the perfect week for it. With the RNC this week and I've been reviewing the deep half back takes from Ryan Halls DVD. I also have his back take material so I'll be perusing that soon as well.
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Standing RNC Defense - O-Soto Gari, Back Mount Escape, RNC from Back Mount
Tuesday noon was a very small class with only Bhuvana and I. Friday there were only four of us and I was told that two of them were there because of the Facebook post that I made the night before.
Maintaining back control has become more and more of an elusive problem for me. I can feel that when Greg has my back how different it is, but I'm not sure what specific things he's doing. We discussed it a little bit Friday morning and he said that while the position is pretty dominating it is different than side control and mount because your weight is not on top of the opponent. That made me feel a little better about it and I've been contemplating what I'm missing in my control.
I had a couple of takeaways from these classes. The first was a grip break that Mike used on me during rolling to free my wrist grab. You take your underhook hand and reach through grabbing the choking hand. Then twisting in a way that makes them remove their baseball bat type grip.
The other was we talked about them pushing back or being on one side or the other. Generally they want to move to the underhook side to escape but Greg said that he felt that this side was easier to do the arm trap from and get the choke. The final part was having to roll up a bit to get the underhook arm free to complete the choke. From the other side he would trap the underhook arm with his legs instead.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Fuji, Mike (Tumbleweed), Ross, Henry, Conan, James
I rolled with Fuji quite a bit and felt pretty good about how I did. I did some attacking for once but there seems to always come a time where I'm stuck and unable to move until he submits me. I did do one pretty cool move when we were next to each other in turtle and I rolled for an omoplata with the sleeve grip that onlookers seemed to appreciate.
Henry and I had an awesome no gi match. I feel good about my gas tank as in the past I've been submitted by him due to giving up from exhaustion. I went to deep half a lot in this roll but had a little trouble controlling him from any position. I escaped many submission attempts by him mostly because I could slip out of them without the gi. Eventually he caught me with a guillotine during a scramble.
Mike and Conan were both tough to keep it playful with. Conan took me apart piece by piece and asked if I was tired after rolling because I didn't seem like my usual self. Mike caught me with some good things and danced around me quite a bit from side control. I was a little nervous with grabbing his legs at a few points because I didn't want to get put into a crucifix. He caught me with a couple things.
I attempted quite a few back takes with Ross but he did a good job of escaping whenever I got close, but I'll count it as good practice. He asked me for help with his single leg and I tried my best to assist. Mostly I commented on his head placement and posture.
James is a new guy that I don't know much about. Greg and Fuji were going through some basics with him and eventually I was put as his partner to work on the side control escape. We worked on the side control escape as well and he did fine with that with a few pointers but used quite a bit of strength at first. Then we rolled and he turned it up to 11 right away. I was still in lazy mode and recovering from my other hard rolls and tried to take it in stride but he did worry me a little bit. I eventually got to full guard but he was trying to cross collar choke me. It was rough and strong and I wasn't able to swing for an armbar or anything. I kept my cool but thought I was maybe going to have to tap. I used my legs on his hips to keep him down and then he let go and said he was tired and asked what he should have done. To which I said he should try to pass the guard but I didn't feel like explaining how at that time. At the time I wished he hadn't have quit so I could have swept him to top position.
I've started studying some back takes as my next focus and this was the perfect week for it. With the RNC this week and I've been reviewing the deep half back takes from Ryan Halls DVD. I also have his back take material so I'll be perusing that soon as well.
Theme & Techniques
Beginner/All Levels: Standing RNC Defense - O-Soto Gari, Back Mount Escape, RNC from Back Mount
Tuesday noon was a very small class with only Bhuvana and I. Friday there were only four of us and I was told that two of them were there because of the Facebook post that I made the night before.
Maintaining back control has become more and more of an elusive problem for me. I can feel that when Greg has my back how different it is, but I'm not sure what specific things he's doing. We discussed it a little bit Friday morning and he said that while the position is pretty dominating it is different than side control and mount because your weight is not on top of the opponent. That made me feel a little better about it and I've been contemplating what I'm missing in my control.
I had a couple of takeaways from these classes. The first was a grip break that Mike used on me during rolling to free my wrist grab. You take your underhook hand and reach through grabbing the choking hand. Then twisting in a way that makes them remove their baseball bat type grip.
The other was we talked about them pushing back or being on one side or the other. Generally they want to move to the underhook side to escape but Greg said that he felt that this side was easier to do the arm trap from and get the choke. The final part was having to roll up a bit to get the underhook arm free to complete the choke. From the other side he would trap the underhook arm with his legs instead.
Open Mat
Rolled With: Fuji, Mike (Tumbleweed), Ross, Henry, Conan, James
I rolled with Fuji quite a bit and felt pretty good about how I did. I did some attacking for once but there seems to always come a time where I'm stuck and unable to move until he submits me. I did do one pretty cool move when we were next to each other in turtle and I rolled for an omoplata with the sleeve grip that onlookers seemed to appreciate.
Henry and I had an awesome no gi match. I feel good about my gas tank as in the past I've been submitted by him due to giving up from exhaustion. I went to deep half a lot in this roll but had a little trouble controlling him from any position. I escaped many submission attempts by him mostly because I could slip out of them without the gi. Eventually he caught me with a guillotine during a scramble.
Mike and Conan were both tough to keep it playful with. Conan took me apart piece by piece and asked if I was tired after rolling because I didn't seem like my usual self. Mike caught me with some good things and danced around me quite a bit from side control. I was a little nervous with grabbing his legs at a few points because I didn't want to get put into a crucifix. He caught me with a couple things.
I attempted quite a few back takes with Ross but he did a good job of escaping whenever I got close, but I'll count it as good practice. He asked me for help with his single leg and I tried my best to assist. Mostly I commented on his head placement and posture.
James is a new guy that I don't know much about. Greg and Fuji were going through some basics with him and eventually I was put as his partner to work on the side control escape. We worked on the side control escape as well and he did fine with that with a few pointers but used quite a bit of strength at first. Then we rolled and he turned it up to 11 right away. I was still in lazy mode and recovering from my other hard rolls and tried to take it in stride but he did worry me a little bit. I eventually got to full guard but he was trying to cross collar choke me. It was rough and strong and I wasn't able to swing for an armbar or anything. I kept my cool but thought I was maybe going to have to tap. I used my legs on his hips to keep him down and then he let go and said he was tired and asked what he should have done. To which I said he should try to pass the guard but I didn't feel like explaining how at that time. At the time I wished he hadn't have quit so I could have swept him to top position.
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