spider and Lasso guard

Late as usual, but I still got to do most of the warm-up.  In guard break drills tonight, the rule was, start from spider guard.  This didn't work out too well for me.  Passed twice on a fellow blue belt who, like me, doesn't play much spider.  Did I sweep anyone?  I think i got one, but it wasn't too technical.  

Technique tonight was setting up lasso guard, the sucker sweep from lasso, and couple of arm drags.  The first arm drag involves scooting further away, circling the foot out from under his arm, pulling the arm in to your belly and the mat as you kick out and sit up.  Go to seat belt or take the back.  2nd arm drag occurs when the guy passes towards the side not getting lasso'd.  Abandon the lasso, and use that foot in the guys bicep to stretch the guy out, then replace with the other foot.  Swing the lasso foot out to create momentum, and drag the arm on the left.

Not enough rolls tonight!! Only got two, what kind of business is that?  I felt like Bob Sapp in that Japanese promo where he yells "The Beast is always hungry!!!" and slams his fist down on the table full of terrified Japanese reporters' recording devices.  First up was one of the four or five blue belts named Chris.  Passed his guard with the fist in arm pits, butt in air, knee in ass pass, to knee on belly.  He scrambled for half and got it easily.  We went back and forth with him digging for sweeps and me cross facing.  At some point he turned over and i took his back.  Got a bow and arrow choke.  God thats such an easier finish than fighting for the rear naked.  We reset from my guard, and i tried to play open, which i think he passed. Time.

Next was big white belt Jamie, who's getting to be quite a handful.  Got my first ever stepover arm bar, and it was technical so I'm happy about that,  more that I can see the opportunity for those than that i landed it.  I want to diversify my attacks, especially from side.  We reset, and he was so close to getting a sweep that i stopped and started teaching. I did it again when he was real close to another sweep. He didn't seem to mind, which is good, because sometimes it drives me crazy when people do that.  I guess you just have to ask yourself whether stopping and teaching will help them considerably or just make you feel good about how much you know.  Anyway, I like rolling with him a lot.  

After class, reviewed some sweeps from guard when the guy stands with Vaughn.  Pretty helpful.  Basically just collapse into a "V" and the push in with the knees while you grab the ankles.  He also showed me a variation of the pendulum sweep where you block the guy from being able to base with your body, instead of just grabbing his hand.  Will have to give this a try.

Wylian finally got his freaking Blue Belt!  LOOOONG overdue, IMHO.

Song of the night: Gf playing Redemption Song and Closer to the Heart.

A lovely Friday NOGI class

Small class as usual, which is part of the charm. Myself, Oldman Steve (new purple) and Vaughn (visiting 4 stripe blue), as well as Collin and Gavin.  All escape from sidemount stuff tonight.  Fight the cross face with a hand on the bicep, then flare the elbow and push his elbow waay to the other side.  Keep it pushed, sit up using the other hand, the shrimp away. 

Rolls:  Got Vaughn first.  He really thwarted all my offense tonight.  We neutralized each other pretty good, but he hit another awesome sweep, grabbing both ankles then pushing against my hips.  Really clean.  Fun roll.

Next was Gavin, who I did alright against, but who still had position on me basically throughout the roll.  I seem to remember tapping to something, oh wait, it was a rear naked.  How he got there I have no idea, because he was in my half guard when he started setting it up.  So awesome.  Should  have asked him about it.  Still, I felt like I moved better against him than I usually do. 

Next was Collin.  I swept him earlier in guard pass drills, so I thought I'd try it again.  Nothing doing.  It turns out that Collin's not actually a tadpole, and has a memory that lasts longer than 15 seconds.  That sweep was doomed.  DOOMED!!! However, the rest of the roll was not too bad.  The only 2 thing I really remember were trying to get that deep half guard from knee on belly and being shut down, and doing a decently technical escape from a mounted armbar.  He set it up, i somehow got both of my wrists behind his leg, then bridged wound up on top, then snuck a knee in to put pressure on his elbow to escape.  He later told me that only works from some grips. 

Fun night, although too short for me...  Where was Charlie?

New sweep: the Collin

In Drills today, I realized I basically don’t know how to shrimp.  My shrimping looks horrible next almost everyone else in there, and I don’t know if the way I practice it is functional in sparring.  Gavin (4stripe purple) taught tonight, which is always awesome.

Guard pass drills; worked a bunch of open, started playing that half butterfly, half de la riva sweep (henceforth called "the Collin"), with mixed and interesting results.  Playing open requires so much less body strength. 

Swept three guys, then Alex (purple) got an easy pass.  Passed some 2^nd day white belts guard, then triangled a white belt when he fed me his arm. Time.

 We drilled some self-defense stuff which I forgot instantly, then worked more mount escapes.  One arm across the guy’s hips to keep in from coming up, other on the knee to put pressure.  Plant right foot high, straighten left leg(I screw this up a lot).  Do a few normal shrimps, maybe one big one.  Then switch to Tran’s shrimp: one hand on hip, one on knee, push hard and stick butt out. Combining this with normal shrimp is gonna revolutionize mount escape for me.  Worked another escape where you stuff the guys leg into half guard and immediately switch hips and get the underhook.  Don’t know if this will work as well for me. 

Rolls.  First with another first day white belt.   Pretty good, had a wrestling background.  Mostly a teaching roll.  Tapped him once, with a triangle/armbar.  He moved well. 

2nd, rolled with Ken (purple). Good roll, my first non boring roll against this guy( I usually take guard and get too scared to do anything).  I passed to half and he swept me easily.  He played around from side then set up a beautiful baseball bat choke where he used his leg to kill my arm so I couldn’t resist the choke barely at all.  Very slick.  We reset, and I moved okay, I might even have passed at some point.  I swear I had side when time was called, but that might be wishful thinking.

3^rd rolled with Tran.  This roll was awesome.  The most back and forth I’ve ever had with him.  He definitely was playing, I was trying to keep the pressure high. Two botched triangles that I don’t think were very close. Some okay escapes from him having superior position.  Good, fun roll, wish I got to roll m ore with him.  He probably thinks I’m a muscly spazz and he might be right about that.

4^th.  Rolled with white belt named Lev.  I think this dude was exhausted.  He said he wanted to work guard passes, so I let him in my guard, and got him with several sweeps, including “the Collin.”    Fun to drill the sweeps, but felt bad that he didn’t really get to work passes.  Oh well, next time I see him we will.

Stuff to remember:  Tran’s mount escape shrimp technique!!!!

Review of Tran mount escape: Tran showed to a tech. escape from mount where you place your right forearm across the guy's waist, and left on the guy's thigh/knee.  Put your left leg straight, and use right to bridge. Use this to get up on your side.  Once your hips are in sideways and in between the guy's legs, he'll probably pinch tightly with the knees, making it difficult to shrimp normally.  Here's when you do the Tran Crazy Mount Escape shrimp.  Both legs straight, one hand at the knee, other at the guys waist, push and pull your butt up and stick it out.  Alternating this shrimp with the other should make mount escapes much easier.

Mount Attacks and Open Guard

Warmed up, then straight in to Guard pass drills.  I sat down as one of the four initial guys, which i hate doing but don't know why.  First up was Henry (white belt), who i swept with open guard.   Truth be told he kind of gave it to me, i didn't feel like i nailed the sweep.  He'll be a good guy to train open with, because its really hard for me to break his posture.  Then I got Big Steve (new blue belt), who i got with another open guard sweep, i think.   Next up was a purple belt whose name i don't know.  Broke him down ok, but he kept good posture, so I switched to open.  Then i chickened out and  and tried to hip bump, which he kind of just stepped over.  Its ok, tho, because I tried it from a position I don't normally go for it from.  I definitely need to open up and try different moves during guard drills, that's something I'll try to work on. 


Technique was more working from mount.  Worked on setting up technical mount.  When the guy tries to go to his side, bring your foot tight to his chest and sit on his side, facing the same direction he is.  It also looked like Marco was flaring his knee out towards the guy's hips to trap them in place as well.  Could be some deep black belt technique, or i could be totally overthinking it.  Next was a bow and arrow choke from technical mount.  Had a bit of trouble with this one: it involves getting a grip for an armbar, then feeding the collar on that side to the opposite hand,, which goes BEHIND THE GUYS HEAD (the part i screwed up).  Then you bring your legs up over his grip, and give up the armbar grip to get a good grip on his pants at the knee, and lean back, pulling on the knee.  Pretty freaking cool, will have to remember to try it.  Then we reviewed armbar from technical mount, which i basically understand, i think. 


First roll was with Vaughn, a four stripe blue belt from another school.  Got him with the good old triangle/armbar from guard, then again with a guillotine from a scramble. Third time we went from his guard, and I'm so glad we did.  His style is so different, he traps the arm differently, puts his knees different places, just totally had a unique style.  He nailed me with a beautiful sweep, but i scrambled back to neutral.  Very eager to try to pick up some of his guard game.


 Next was a huge white belt who i think was also named Steve.  Being a Steve, he quite naturally had a very strong game and new how to move and use his weight.  I subbed him once, I forget with what, and then decided to take a break.  Bad move.  I threw up a lazy sub and he got the pass.  I then wound up in my personal hell: Side mount from a big guy when I'm tired.  I resigned myself to possibly puking, and then committed myself to trying to get the heck out of there.  Mixed results.  He got to mount, then I got a  knee in a tried to work some half guard.  Not so great honestly, still have a lot to learn from this position.  Some how swept him and passed his guard, had knee on belly when time was called.  SUCKED.  Stuff that this roll reinforced:  Figuring out escapes from side needs to be a huge priority in the coming weeks, and getting a solid half guard just as much, if not more so. 


Last roll was with my sadistic mentor Charlie (purple).  I was pretty gassed, so i threw up a desperate sub basically the minute i had okay grips, and caught him.  Weird.  I basically had my standard cross-collar and left sleeve grip.  He started standing with his right leg, then i switched grips to right sleeve, pulled like hell, and threw my legs over for the armbar, which somehow landed.  Its funny, Charlie's always telling me to pull the trigger on subs, to really commit to them, especially against good guys.  I guess if you expect it to fail, it probably will.  Maybe he's finally getting through to me.  Anyway, we reset with me in his guard, and he swept me from a position that i thought i was secure from.  He has an amazing knack for doing that, and its yet another thing i want to steal from his game.  He finished me with a variant of the move Ed finished me with on Monday, but it was more armbar and less choke.   Awesome.  Have so much to learn from this guy. 

After class, Charlie, Henry and I talked with Collin (brown) about his recent trip to Mundials.  He showed us an awesome sweep from half de la riva, half butterfly.  Its useful for when some one tries to put up a knee in your guard.  You basically get the de la riva hook with your left leg, a butterfly with your right, then break their posture down( i.e collar and hand grips) pull them over you and kick the guy over your head.  I am sooo excited to try this out.  Cant wait till guard pass drills!

Intense Night.

Got to class just in time for warmups.  Fairly light warmups tonight, which was fine as the humidity has sucked all the life out of me.  Once the blood got flowing, I felt alright.  Guard passed drills:  Swept instantly by Marco (black belt).  Passed Charlie's guard (purple belt), by doing exactly as he instructed in earlier sessions-  Keep good posture, and bring your hips forward as you pass the knee over your opponent's thigh.  Swept Mike (blue belt) and Jamie (white belt), then Charlie passed my guard ( I think).  Maybe Jamie passed, I can't remember.  After guard pass, we partnered up and worked on maintaining/escaping mount.  I went with Charlie, who's mount attack gives me fits.  He bumped me once or twice, and I couldn't escape him at all.  Then we switched partners and went for subs.  Someone sat out, so I went with Marco.  I actually was able to escape to half twice, and never got subbed.  My mount was so easy for Marco to dismantle that it was sort of embarrassing.  Not really though, the guy just really, really knows what he's doing. 

In the technique portion of class, we reviewed ezekiel choke (aka the old testament throat punch) and proper maintenance of the mount.  Drilled with Charlie, who gave more helpful pointers about switching to S mount if the guy rolls to the side.  Whichever direction he rolls toward, bring your foot tight to his chest to trap him there.  Then it was time for rolls.

First got Richard, a monstrous white belt who moves very well.  I believe he mentioned he's done some MMA training.  Like rolling with him, he's intense but friendly.  He did a great job moving me around, and had two unorthodox passes when i shot up sloppy triangles.  Caught him with a keylock from guard when he twisted out of a kimura.  One of those rolls where he'd have been way up on points if anyone would have been scoring it.

Next was Jamie, another monstrous white belt.  He's really figuring things out, and has gotten a lot better quite quickly.  Its definitely worth it to roll with big guys, because you need to know what to do when you can't just break someone down in your guard.  This roll reinforced my idea that I need to play more open guard, because although I got a couple of subs, he was doing a great job of neutralizing my offence from closed.  Last roll was with Ed (black belt).   Before we began I told him my mission was going to be to not give up once he got side control on me.  We began, and he broke my guard open, and grabbed my legs, giving him the option to pass to either side.  I desperately picked a side and guillotined.  Unbelievably, I picked right, and somehow caught him.  He tapped, and told me that he'd been going out from the choke.  Unbelievable.  Always feels awesome to catch someone that good, but if I'm being honest with myself it was mostly luck.  At this point, Ed was done taking it easy on me, and caught me with his trade mark choke from sidemount, which is conceptually pretty simple, but for some reason I am unable to describe properly.  Right as we set up to go again, time was called.  He then took a couple of moments to show me how to fine-tune some of the baseball bat choke setups I'd been working on.  Sometimes those post roll reviews of technique can be just as rewarding as an entire class.

I got one more roll in with Charlie, where once again I was able to pass his guard and actually get to sidemount after avoiding several sweeps from his half guard.  I killed his arm with my body weight (again, as he showed me), then started working the baseball bat choke.  Man I thought I was close, but Charlie's defense is impeccable.  He turtled up, then easily single legged me in to side mount.  Mercifully, Marco told us to clear the mats for the Ladies class.   I'm glad that I picked tonight to start blogging, as I did pretty well against several high quality opponents. 

That's something I've been thinking about that I love about jiujitsu. Charlie basically showed me how to neutralize and in some cases beat his game.  The pay off for him is that it forces him to get better and deepen his knowledge of technical escapes and set ups.  It also gives him a better training partner.  The pay off for me is that I can apply these lessons to whoever I roll with, and hopefully make my game a little more complete.  I just like the idea that in jiujitsu, by making one person get better, everyone gets better.

1st

So, this is my training blog, where I will recount my jiujitsu adventures, brag about the awesome moves I've been able to pull off, and furiously make excuses for myself on my bad days.  I'm a two stripe blue belt, 31 years old with one competition under my belt.

P.S. Thanks to my lovely girlfriend for helping me get started