Went to a no-gi randori this afternoon. Did well. Was working on my arm drags and I got a blue and a 4x white several times (to the back) with them. Yesterday went to the RMBJJF tournament events and got lots of cool video.
Too tired to write more.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Purple belt class
Went to the purple belt class tonight. Had intentions of staying for randori, but yesterday I think I tweaked my elbow lifting weights and after the purple belt class was over, it was pretty sore. It went away later in the evening, so maybe it's not injured bad or anything, but I'm getting more and more conservative in my training because every time I get injured, it ends up costing me like 3-4 days where I can't go train because I'm recouperating.
Purple belt class was basically the same as Monday. Finnie taught. Worked on arm drags and lots of knee on stomach stuff. I'm starting to feel a little better about that position. Last half of the class was basically guard passes and then we had a small 5 minute randori with our partner. I got my guy, I forget his name, in a triangle choke and he armbarred me once, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. One thing that's nice about the purple belt classes is that they are basically randoris for the last half...or at least, they are like 'near-randoris' ...usually we roll, but maybe we roll with some conditions attached (like we have to start from guard) or something. Finnie had us basically starting from knee-on-stomach and doing some 50% resistance before we kicked off the full randori-style stuff, so even though I didn't do randori, I still got in some good rolling, which is always cool.
If I'm counting right: 7 classes, 2 randoris since 3rd stripe. 41 more classes and 28 more randoris (at least) until my Blue Belt. :)
Purple belt class was basically the same as Monday. Finnie taught. Worked on arm drags and lots of knee on stomach stuff. I'm starting to feel a little better about that position. Last half of the class was basically guard passes and then we had a small 5 minute randori with our partner. I got my guy, I forget his name, in a triangle choke and he armbarred me once, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. One thing that's nice about the purple belt classes is that they are basically randoris for the last half...or at least, they are like 'near-randoris' ...usually we roll, but maybe we roll with some conditions attached (like we have to start from guard) or something. Finnie had us basically starting from knee-on-stomach and doing some 50% resistance before we kicked off the full randori-style stuff, so even though I didn't do randori, I still got in some good rolling, which is always cool.
If I'm counting right: 7 classes, 2 randoris since 3rd stripe. 41 more classes and 28 more randoris (at least) until my Blue Belt. :)
Monday, November 13, 2006
Blue and Purple Belt Class Tonight
Went to the 6:30 blue belt and 7:30 purple belt classes tonight. Did some guard passing drills with a guy named Shayne (WB2S) and jacked up my back, basically being stubborn and letting him stack me up and just take it. I don't think it's a bad tweak, but it's sure sore tonight, I can barely bend over. Finnie said I should work on pushing my shoulders out of it when that happens and believe me, I won't forget. :)
Before that, I was working on the knee-on-stomach position. I've never really been shown what do to from there (Nick said that's something they teach in the purple belt class), but it's a really stable position and Shayne was having a tough time getting me out of it. Finnie kinda had a grin on when he told me that if I got to there, we could reset because that was good enough (we were technically told to be working on passing someone's guard, so I was assuming I had to get to mount or side control).
Purple belt class was cool. Worked with Colin (BlueB) a bit on guard passes and learned a good 'go to' stand-up guard pass that would probably work pretty well about 90-percent of the time, so long as I can keep good posture doing it. Not spending much time standing before going to pass would be a good way to up the percentages a bit, but that will require some practice.
Then played a bit of 'up, down, and back' for about 30 minutes. It's a passing the guard drill where you start out in someone's guard, then try to pass while basically they try to sub you or sweep you. No matter who wins, the guy who started in the guard (in the 'up' position), goes to having the next guy in line in his guard ('down'), then no matter who wins or looses, that guy rotates out (or 'back' to the wall.) Up. Down. Back. Kinda cool. One cool thing about it is that you always get a break, even if you do well. In King of the Hill drills, you keep rolling only if you win...so basically the better you do, the harder it gets. :)
Spent all the drills in the purple belt class today working on a technique I read about last night, the "rubber guard". Details here:
http://www.grapplearts.com/Rubber-Guard-Setup-1.htm
Just wanted to see if I could break someone's posture and while they were down there put that leg up there to keep them down and set up a triangle choke like that. Worked twice and I got it stuffed a few times, once with Collin (who just barely made it out...I basically gave up because my back was hurting), and Ben stuffed it twice but the third time we rolled, I got him with it too. It's definitely going into my toolbox. Wanted to try a cool choke I learned from side mount, but didn't get the chance.
Oh, one cool thing I actually got to work today was a wrist lock. Now, in class, they aren't really frowned on, but they are like 'dude, you have to be careful with them'. I got Ben with one and he was just like dumbfounded. He was like, "What was -that-? Is that 'legal'?"
Heh heh. It sure is. Helio Soneca actually taught me a wrist lock from the closed guard that I've tried a couple of times to use when rolling, but haven't been able to make it work just right yet. Still, I felt a little bad, like I was pulling something that was frowned on in BJJ or something, so I was talking with Nick about it and he was like
"Oh yeah, it's a totally legit move. It's a good one, but just do it carefully in here...*a pause* Did he tap?"
"Yeah"
"Nice".
Before that, I was working on the knee-on-stomach position. I've never really been shown what do to from there (Nick said that's something they teach in the purple belt class), but it's a really stable position and Shayne was having a tough time getting me out of it. Finnie kinda had a grin on when he told me that if I got to there, we could reset because that was good enough (we were technically told to be working on passing someone's guard, so I was assuming I had to get to mount or side control).
Purple belt class was cool. Worked with Colin (BlueB) a bit on guard passes and learned a good 'go to' stand-up guard pass that would probably work pretty well about 90-percent of the time, so long as I can keep good posture doing it. Not spending much time standing before going to pass would be a good way to up the percentages a bit, but that will require some practice.
Then played a bit of 'up, down, and back' for about 30 minutes. It's a passing the guard drill where you start out in someone's guard, then try to pass while basically they try to sub you or sweep you. No matter who wins, the guy who started in the guard (in the 'up' position), goes to having the next guy in line in his guard ('down'), then no matter who wins or looses, that guy rotates out (or 'back' to the wall.) Up. Down. Back. Kinda cool. One cool thing about it is that you always get a break, even if you do well. In King of the Hill drills, you keep rolling only if you win...so basically the better you do, the harder it gets. :)
Spent all the drills in the purple belt class today working on a technique I read about last night, the "rubber guard". Details here:
http://www.grapplearts.com/Rubber-G
Just wanted to see if I could break someone's posture and while they were down there put that leg up there to keep them down and set up a triangle choke like that. Worked twice and I got it stuffed a few times, once with Collin (who just barely made it out...I basically gave up because my back was hurting), and Ben stuffed it twice but the third time we rolled, I got him with it too. It's definitely going into my toolbox. Wanted to try a cool choke I learned from side mount, but didn't get the chance.
Oh, one cool thing I actually got to work today was a wrist lock. Now, in class, they aren't really frowned on, but they are like 'dude, you have to be careful with them'. I got Ben with one and he was just like dumbfounded. He was like, "What was -that-? Is that 'legal'?"
Heh heh. It sure is. Helio Soneca actually taught me a wrist lock from the closed guard that I've tried a couple of times to use when rolling, but haven't been able to make it work just right yet. Still, I felt a little bad, like I was pulling something that was frowned on in BJJ or something, so I was talking with Nick about it and he was like
"Oh yeah, it's a totally legit move. It's a good one, but just do it carefully in here...*a pause* Did he tap?"
"Yeah"
"Nice".
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Gah...sick today...
Couldn't go to my purple belt class. I think I'm coming down with something. Going to get some rest and hopefully it will be gone in time for tomorrow's purple belt (gi) and randori.
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
No-gi Randori
Went to purple belt class and a no-gi Randori today. Very fun.
The purple belt class was over arm drags, arm drags to takedowns, and then we went to the ground and did some armbar counters to some bad form knee-on-stomach defenses. Then we did up-down-and-out drills for the last half of class from side control.
I suck at side control...holding it and escaping it both. Need to work on that.
Good points from the purple belt class. Well, I decided to really work on tapping earlier and sticking to what I knew today...and really to focus on that. So I tapped a lot and didn't expend a ton of energy just holding onto shit I didn't have anything to do with...which is a real temptation. I worked on some technique improvement, because, I don't know if I've said this or not, but I suck at side control. Anyway, because of that, I managed to stay really fresh and never really get winded throughout the whole class. When randori started, I was like just getting warmed up and some of the guys who were really going 100% were much more tired than I. :)
As a result, I did pretty well. I busted my lip open on one of the guys I was rolling with's head. It was just a stupid confluence of movement...I was moving north and was moving south and bam. Oops. Oh well, no big deal. I lost a lot, as is to be expected, but I got in a few good shots: I almost got a blue belt in an electric chair (at least, I think I did.) I got one of the biggest guys in the place (I think he's a blue belt who is competing this weekend) in three separate subs (an armbar, followed by an omoplata that I just found myself in and went for it, followed by just a -sweet- textbook kimora). A super nice (though enormous and scary-looking) purple belt helped me out in the last round by a. not breaking me in half, and b. by actually showing me some refinements instead.
Overall, a great class. My only injury was a busted lip. One thing I learned was that since I messed up my back last week getting stacked, I no longer forget to try and shoulder walk out of that situation. I escaped a really hideous stack today and it just came very naturally. I think that paying close attention to 'not getting injured' is going to help me train more and get a lot better.
The purple belt class was over arm drags, arm drags to takedowns, and then we went to the ground and did some armbar counters to some bad form knee-on-stomach defenses. Then we did up-down-and-out drills for the last half of class from side control.
I suck at side control...holding it and escaping it both. Need to work on that.
Good points from the purple belt class. Well, I decided to really work on tapping earlier and sticking to what I knew today...and really to focus on that. So I tapped a lot and didn't expend a ton of energy just holding onto shit I didn't have anything to do with...which is a real temptation. I worked on some technique improvement, because, I don't know if I've said this or not, but I suck at side control. Anyway, because of that, I managed to stay really fresh and never really get winded throughout the whole class. When randori started, I was like just getting warmed up and some of the guys who were really going 100% were much more tired than I. :)
As a result, I did pretty well. I busted my lip open on one of the guys I was rolling with's head. It was just a stupid confluence of movement...I was moving north and was moving south and bam. Oops. Oh well, no big deal. I lost a lot, as is to be expected, but I got in a few good shots: I almost got a blue belt in an electric chair (at least, I think I did.) I got one of the biggest guys in the place (I think he's a blue belt who is competing this weekend) in three separate subs (an armbar, followed by an omoplata that I just found myself in and went for it, followed by just a -sweet- textbook kimora). A super nice (though enormous and scary-looking) purple belt helped me out in the last round by a. not breaking me in half, and b. by actually showing me some refinements instead.
Overall, a great class. My only injury was a busted lip. One thing I learned was that since I messed up my back last week getting stacked, I no longer forget to try and shoulder walk out of that situation. I escaped a really hideous stack today and it just came very naturally. I think that paying close attention to 'not getting injured' is going to help me train more and get a lot better.
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
BJJ Fort Collins (2 hr)
Spent 2 hours at BJJ Fort Collins. Did some rolling vs. no-gi guys (subbed one with an Ezekiel!) and with the instructor, a brown belt. Obviously trounced by the BB, but did well vs. everyone else.
Monday, November 6, 2006
2nd Purple Belt Class + First Randori
Same purple belt class as yesterday.
First Randori. Ten 6-minute rounds (I sat out one).
Did okay.
First Randori. Ten 6-minute rounds (I sat out one).
Did okay.
Sunday, November 5, 2006
First Purple Belt (Kimono) Class
First purple belt class.
Worked on:
* Single leg takedowns.
* Sweeps (bad posture, over the top)
* 30 mins King of the Hill Drill (passing the guard)
Worked on:
* Single leg takedowns.
* Sweeps (bad posture, over the top)
* 30 mins King of the Hill Drill (passing the guard)
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