Monday night's class was about chokes again: lapel half nelson, RNC and double lapel from the rear. We also went over the points that make up a good seat belt grip and how to effectively control someone from side mount using shoulder pressure.
To get the chokes from the rear, we looked at the transition from side mount to back control. I like the name for this transition: the boat ramp. I must admit I struggle with this, and I always end up with my partner stuck too much on one side. Something I'll need to perfect. However, as most people are heavier than I am, I'm not fond of pulling them on top of me, even to get to back control, and I'd probably be inclined to attack from side mount instead.
For a change, we had another female being on the mat for the night, and aside from a a few drills which were part of the warmup, I was partnered with her.
After the drills, we rolled from harness grip on in side mount start to submission. Well, we had fun. We didn't giggle, we laughed. She is a bit rusty with her stuff, so I could have pushed for submissions, but instead, I set stuff up and then let it go so she could work some as well. I was in stitches though, whenever she lost a position, she would say "Oh crap!" or "Oh No!" several times in a row and we would laugh. It was nice to not have to go balls out and just enjoy the roll. Ok, that happens when I roll with some of the senior guys, too, but with them it's not so cruisy for me, and I can't make mistakes, or they'll have me... So this was good fun as well a leaning for both of us. At the end, someone started to count down from thirty seconds to go. I'd just let her pass my guard and she had scarf hold. So we turned on the juice. And to the sounds of "oh no!", I got my elbow to the floor, took her back and went for an armbar :-). With 3 seconds to spare! The worst part was breathing while laughing.
And at the end, our instructor commented on everyone doing good work and how good it was that people were enjoying themselves, for BJJ should be fun. And fun it was :-))
Showing posts with label lapel half nelson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lapel half nelson. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Friday & Saturday
Friday evening's class was mostly just wrestling.
It was good, I had lengthy rolls with a couple of the senior guys. I managed a couple of hooking sweeps and had the opportunity to hunt for things. I spent a lot of time escaping and defending, but at least it was mostly successful. I feel that I am making progress.
I fared less well with a very large white belt guy (he's nearly blue). He hasn't been in for a while, and it was good to see him back for a change. With him, my game is defense only. However, he had to work longer and harder to catch me than what I remember from earlier days. He said that, too. So that is progress as well.
Saturday's class was very small. There were four of us on the mat only, and one guy watching from the sidelines with an injured thumb. I took the warm up. I amused the guys with asking for more complicated hip movements than simple circles. And then confused/amused them further with arm exercises that move all the joints, with to them looked like crazy dancing moves :-). I find they do my shoulders and neck good and lubricate the joints before activity.
We worked on chokes again: the cross lapel choke from mount and guard and the lapel half nelson from side mount. Also, the RNC. For something different, we practiced the RNC from standing, and then letting our partner down slowly and gently. Like you would if they really went out and you didn't want them to fall forward and hurt themselves.
After that, we looked at some takedowns from clinch. Starting position: he has his hands on my lapels, I have my left hand cupping his right bicep (or grabbing his gi behind his elbow), and my right hand is cupping his neck. From there, I push his right elbow across his centreline and push his neck to his right (my left). I step back and to my left and this breaks his posture and makes him fall to his right. Ideally, I hold on to his right arm and can go straigth to knee on belly position. An alternative, if he resists having his elbow pushed across, and he pulls away from my trying to posture up: I hold on to his right elbow and move my right hand off his neck to his left shoulder, palm out. I shove on his shoulder while pulling on his right arm. This also off balances him and he falls the same way as in the first type of takedown.
We drilled that a few times, including going to kneeride and straight to a submission. My partner (largish new whitebelt) didn't know armbar from knee ride so he did the lapel half nelson from side mount. I alternated between the choke and the armbar.
It was good, I had lengthy rolls with a couple of the senior guys. I managed a couple of hooking sweeps and had the opportunity to hunt for things. I spent a lot of time escaping and defending, but at least it was mostly successful. I feel that I am making progress.
I fared less well with a very large white belt guy (he's nearly blue). He hasn't been in for a while, and it was good to see him back for a change. With him, my game is defense only. However, he had to work longer and harder to catch me than what I remember from earlier days. He said that, too. So that is progress as well.
Saturday's class was very small. There were four of us on the mat only, and one guy watching from the sidelines with an injured thumb. I took the warm up. I amused the guys with asking for more complicated hip movements than simple circles. And then confused/amused them further with arm exercises that move all the joints, with to them looked like crazy dancing moves :-). I find they do my shoulders and neck good and lubricate the joints before activity.
We worked on chokes again: the cross lapel choke from mount and guard and the lapel half nelson from side mount. Also, the RNC. For something different, we practiced the RNC from standing, and then letting our partner down slowly and gently. Like you would if they really went out and you didn't want them to fall forward and hurt themselves.
After that, we looked at some takedowns from clinch. Starting position: he has his hands on my lapels, I have my left hand cupping his right bicep (or grabbing his gi behind his elbow), and my right hand is cupping his neck. From there, I push his right elbow across his centreline and push his neck to his right (my left). I step back and to my left and this breaks his posture and makes him fall to his right. Ideally, I hold on to his right arm and can go straigth to knee on belly position. An alternative, if he resists having his elbow pushed across, and he pulls away from my trying to posture up: I hold on to his right elbow and move my right hand off his neck to his left shoulder, palm out. I shove on his shoulder while pulling on his right arm. This also off balances him and he falls the same way as in the first type of takedown.
We drilled that a few times, including going to kneeride and straight to a submission. My partner (largish new whitebelt) didn't know armbar from knee ride so he did the lapel half nelson from side mount. I alternated between the choke and the armbar.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
just chokes
Small class Monday night. Was paired with one of the newer guys, who is the only one lighter than I am. Not that it mattered.
We did cross lapel chokes from mount. And as you are likely to get bridged and rolled, we went over that also. The main things that came out of it: if you are the choker, make sure there is a knee is on a shoulder, and that the opposite arm is well posted once the first hand is in the collar. And when committing the second hand, it has to be done quickly. The danger time is between removing the post and getting the grip on the opposite collar. Once the grip is in, it doesn't matter if we get rolled, as we can finish the choke from guard.
The important thing for the person on the bottom is to bridge up straight. What we want is to stretch them out above us as far as possible. And we don't want the hand that posts across our centre line. The more I bridge up, the less chance of that happening. This way, his support is an uneven sided triangle, with the longest side being between the posted arm and the opposite leg. That will give him least stability when I roll that way after the bridge. In the past I'd been under the impression that we should bridge and roll over our shoulder on the side where he doesn't have the post. But bridging up straight really does make his position more unstable for the roll.
Then we drilled cross lapel choke from guard and half lapel nelson choke from side mount.
We did cross lapel chokes from mount. And as you are likely to get bridged and rolled, we went over that also. The main things that came out of it: if you are the choker, make sure there is a knee is on a shoulder, and that the opposite arm is well posted once the first hand is in the collar. And when committing the second hand, it has to be done quickly. The danger time is between removing the post and getting the grip on the opposite collar. Once the grip is in, it doesn't matter if we get rolled, as we can finish the choke from guard.
The important thing for the person on the bottom is to bridge up straight. What we want is to stretch them out above us as far as possible. And we don't want the hand that posts across our centre line. The more I bridge up, the less chance of that happening. This way, his support is an uneven sided triangle, with the longest side being between the posted arm and the opposite leg. That will give him least stability when I roll that way after the bridge. In the past I'd been under the impression that we should bridge and roll over our shoulder on the side where he doesn't have the post. But bridging up straight really does make his position more unstable for the roll.
Then we drilled cross lapel choke from guard and half lapel nelson choke from side mount.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
attacking the turtle
I went to both the lunchtime and the evening class today. We went over the same things:
double underpass to side control
double underpass and flip over to turtle
attack turtle with rolling lapel half nelson choke
attack turtle with clock choke
attack turtle by rolling to crucifix
I'm having a bit of trouble getting the roll to crucifix right. We looked at two methods, and I think the only one I "get" is where I walk my legs close with his trapped arm, and roll forward over my shoulder, bracing off the arm nearer his head. But that certainly needs more work.
The chokes I liked, and I consistently hit the right grips. The rolling lapel half nelson choke really appeals to me. Once I had the knack of sticking my head in under my partner far enough and swinging my legs, it really flowed. I often had him tap before I finished rolling and certainly before I brought my leg up behind my hand.
It was great repeating the same thing in the evening. Different partner, same stuff, more reps.
double underpass to side control
double underpass and flip over to turtle
attack turtle with rolling lapel half nelson choke
attack turtle with clock choke
attack turtle by rolling to crucifix
I'm having a bit of trouble getting the roll to crucifix right. We looked at two methods, and I think the only one I "get" is where I walk my legs close with his trapped arm, and roll forward over my shoulder, bracing off the arm nearer his head. But that certainly needs more work.
The chokes I liked, and I consistently hit the right grips. The rolling lapel half nelson choke really appeals to me. Once I had the knack of sticking my head in under my partner far enough and swinging my legs, it really flowed. I often had him tap before I finished rolling and certainly before I brought my leg up behind my hand.
It was great repeating the same thing in the evening. Different partner, same stuff, more reps.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
the rest of the week
Friday evening was another smallish class. Aside from one brand new guy, we were all four stripes plus, so for a change, I was very much on the left side of the line up.
We revised the heart attack sweep from open (hooks in) guard. I worked with one of the bigger guys. That ensured I did it right, for otherwise... he no move! Done right, it feels very easy :-)
Then we worked on a sequence. Again, starting in open guard. We get double underhooks and stretch him out. Then we go for a cutting armbar by grabbing over his left shoulder with a gable grib and wriggling upwards. His reaction will be to turn his hand and retract his arm, which brings his elbow down our centreline. At this time, we cup this left elbow with our left hand, hip out to the right and get his left elbow to the floor on our left side. The we reach over the top with our right arm and grab his chin. Really, we want a gable grip on his chin, but we may need to lift/move our hip to get the left arm free to do so. We need to pin him down on us tightly and then hip out two or three times to the left until we feel that he is "over the hill". From here, it's easy to sweep him over to our right and move to side control.
Landing there, we go straight to a gable grip around the bottom of his neck and under his left arm and pin him to us. From here, there are a couple of options to go to armbar. We experimented with this a bit, and depending on body size and the size of the guy on the bottom, it might be easier to step over his middle with our left foot while controlling the head with our elbow (and then step over the head) or possibly to step with the the foot over the head first and the leave the left foot against his side.
We also discovered that if you can snare his left lapel with your right hand, you can pull him over with that instead of by his chin. That's nearly a choke in itself, but as he's swept over, he's in a perfect position for a lapel half nelson choke.
After class, some free wrestling. I watched the new guy spazz on one of the blue belts. Scary.
Then I was lucky enough to be able to spend a fair bit of time with one of the blue belts. He gave me some openings, so I worked on my attacks. Managed some nice transitions and actually felt semi-competent :-). I always can think of an attack now. But chokes seem to come the easiest. I should be working on armbars, but I guess if I attack with chokes, that opens up elbows and that might lead to armbars.
A little later one, that exact point was proven. He was hunting for armbars, and as I'm getting pretty good at defending and protecting my elbows (beware his underhooks!), he then went for chokes. Although I knew I would expose my elbows, I still had to defend the chokes. So I was armbarred :-)
But that really helped make stuff sink in.
The Saturday midday class consisted of myself and three fairly new guys. I took the warm up.
With a grading coming up in a few weeks, they needed to work on their four basic drills. I was the grappling dummy for demonstration purposes. Then, in turns, I ended up working with each of the guys. Oh, they tried so hard to do it right, and they use so much strength. Well, less than two years ago, I was just as tense, and it is good to be reminded sometimes. I did my best to help them get good base, correct positioning and transitions. And I reminded them to breathe, smile and relax :-).
Every time I see something "basic" demonstrated, I see some little thing I've missed before (or which I've forgotten about). Today, it was another simple little thing: someone has mount on me and I want to bridge and roll. I want to catch their right arm to remove their chance of posting. The most effective way to catch it is to get an overhook and trap their elbow. To get space to move my left arm up and over their arm, I move my head across towards my right (towards their left arm). That small movement really makes it easier to move my left arm.
I also use running through the basic drills as an opportunity to polish my moves and to really work on good hip movement. There was a time when I was disappointed if I had to do basic drills instead of being allowed to wrestle. But I have realised there is much below the surface. There is so much room for improvement in the moves that make up those drills. So I apply myself fully and instead of resenting the drills, I welcome the chance to improve my technique.
We revised the heart attack sweep from open (hooks in) guard. I worked with one of the bigger guys. That ensured I did it right, for otherwise... he no move! Done right, it feels very easy :-)
Then we worked on a sequence. Again, starting in open guard. We get double underhooks and stretch him out. Then we go for a cutting armbar by grabbing over his left shoulder with a gable grib and wriggling upwards. His reaction will be to turn his hand and retract his arm, which brings his elbow down our centreline. At this time, we cup this left elbow with our left hand, hip out to the right and get his left elbow to the floor on our left side. The we reach over the top with our right arm and grab his chin. Really, we want a gable grip on his chin, but we may need to lift/move our hip to get the left arm free to do so. We need to pin him down on us tightly and then hip out two or three times to the left until we feel that he is "over the hill". From here, it's easy to sweep him over to our right and move to side control.
Landing there, we go straight to a gable grip around the bottom of his neck and under his left arm and pin him to us. From here, there are a couple of options to go to armbar. We experimented with this a bit, and depending on body size and the size of the guy on the bottom, it might be easier to step over his middle with our left foot while controlling the head with our elbow (and then step over the head) or possibly to step with the the foot over the head first and the leave the left foot against his side.
We also discovered that if you can snare his left lapel with your right hand, you can pull him over with that instead of by his chin. That's nearly a choke in itself, but as he's swept over, he's in a perfect position for a lapel half nelson choke.
After class, some free wrestling. I watched the new guy spazz on one of the blue belts. Scary.
Then I was lucky enough to be able to spend a fair bit of time with one of the blue belts. He gave me some openings, so I worked on my attacks. Managed some nice transitions and actually felt semi-competent :-). I always can think of an attack now. But chokes seem to come the easiest. I should be working on armbars, but I guess if I attack with chokes, that opens up elbows and that might lead to armbars.
A little later one, that exact point was proven. He was hunting for armbars, and as I'm getting pretty good at defending and protecting my elbows (beware his underhooks!), he then went for chokes. Although I knew I would expose my elbows, I still had to defend the chokes. So I was armbarred :-)
But that really helped make stuff sink in.
The Saturday midday class consisted of myself and three fairly new guys. I took the warm up.
With a grading coming up in a few weeks, they needed to work on their four basic drills. I was the grappling dummy for demonstration purposes. Then, in turns, I ended up working with each of the guys. Oh, they tried so hard to do it right, and they use so much strength. Well, less than two years ago, I was just as tense, and it is good to be reminded sometimes. I did my best to help them get good base, correct positioning and transitions. And I reminded them to breathe, smile and relax :-).
Every time I see something "basic" demonstrated, I see some little thing I've missed before (or which I've forgotten about). Today, it was another simple little thing: someone has mount on me and I want to bridge and roll. I want to catch their right arm to remove their chance of posting. The most effective way to catch it is to get an overhook and trap their elbow. To get space to move my left arm up and over their arm, I move my head across towards my right (towards their left arm). That small movement really makes it easier to move my left arm.
I also use running through the basic drills as an opportunity to polish my moves and to really work on good hip movement. There was a time when I was disappointed if I had to do basic drills instead of being allowed to wrestle. But I have realised there is much below the surface. There is so much room for improvement in the moves that make up those drills. So I apply myself fully and instead of resenting the drills, I welcome the chance to improve my technique.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday class
Only four of us on the mat today, me being the most senior. I took the warm up. And a warm up we needed, it had been rather a chilly morning...
Two of the three guys there are very new, one of them only having his second class. I worked with him for the whole of the class, except when I was the demo dummy for Sensei.
We did the lap drill (side control to mount to side control, go around the top via north south to side control, etc). A simple drill it is, but it includes some fundamental moves.
Then we looked at how use shoulder pressure to smear the bottom person's forearms away from his chest, with a view of being able to attack it. This also helped the new guys be more aware of how to use their weight while on top. Another alternative is to get under the elbow while going from side control to north south.
We looked at scenario where the bottom person in mount grabs around the middle of the top person. And how we can profit by going to side control to break the grip and trap the arm across their neck. That led onto the head arm choke. We drilled that a few times. I was also shown an alternative to breaking the grip. Say the guy on the bottom is very strong and I can't break his hands apart. In that case, when I'm already in side control, I bring my top leg up and step over his head. That breaks his grip and turns him on his side. From there I can step over to get sidemount. My options are an attack on his top arm, especially if I trapped it around his neck. Otherwise, I can sneak my hand in his top lapel, let go of his arm, and then quickly pass the lapel to my other hand. As his arm comes up, there is a lapel half nelson choke. Neat.
Didn't do any wrestling, but I really didn't mind. Helping a new guy through some techniques is another way to deepen my understanding of them. Not just having to explain how to do a technique, but to explain it from different angles, and to troubleshoot if they have questions or problems. This makes me analyze how I do things and in turn raises questions I need to resolve.
What I find quite difficult is to keep my instructions simple and concise. It's hard to teach something I'm passionate about :-) . I have a tendency to go into too much detail, show them all the ins and outs. The problem is that all that information may be too much, there is only so much most of us can absorb at any time. I'm afraid I'm not a very good teacher. Something else to learn!
Two of the three guys there are very new, one of them only having his second class. I worked with him for the whole of the class, except when I was the demo dummy for Sensei.
We did the lap drill (side control to mount to side control, go around the top via north south to side control, etc). A simple drill it is, but it includes some fundamental moves.
Then we looked at how use shoulder pressure to smear the bottom person's forearms away from his chest, with a view of being able to attack it. This also helped the new guys be more aware of how to use their weight while on top. Another alternative is to get under the elbow while going from side control to north south.
We looked at scenario where the bottom person in mount grabs around the middle of the top person. And how we can profit by going to side control to break the grip and trap the arm across their neck. That led onto the head arm choke. We drilled that a few times. I was also shown an alternative to breaking the grip. Say the guy on the bottom is very strong and I can't break his hands apart. In that case, when I'm already in side control, I bring my top leg up and step over his head. That breaks his grip and turns him on his side. From there I can step over to get sidemount. My options are an attack on his top arm, especially if I trapped it around his neck. Otherwise, I can sneak my hand in his top lapel, let go of his arm, and then quickly pass the lapel to my other hand. As his arm comes up, there is a lapel half nelson choke. Neat.
Didn't do any wrestling, but I really didn't mind. Helping a new guy through some techniques is another way to deepen my understanding of them. Not just having to explain how to do a technique, but to explain it from different angles, and to troubleshoot if they have questions or problems. This makes me analyze how I do things and in turn raises questions I need to resolve.
What I find quite difficult is to keep my instructions simple and concise. It's hard to teach something I'm passionate about :-) . I have a tendency to go into too much detail, show them all the ins and outs. The problem is that all that information may be too much, there is only so much most of us can absorb at any time. I'm afraid I'm not a very good teacher. Something else to learn!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
this last week
As much as I enjoyed the Vics and all, it's great to be back to familiar face in regular classes. And it was nice to hear that I've been missed :-)
On Monday, we worked on chokes. Firstly the half lapel nelson from side mount and then a variation. Say he is with this right side up I can't get his right arm isolated so that I can put my top hand behind his head (he might clasp his hands or grip onto his gi) to get the choke. If I stick my left shin behind his neck, to the inside of left arm (my left hand has his right collar) and sit down, I can add the push of my hip against my left arm to get the choke. Whether he lets his right arm go or not.
Then collar choke from turtle top. From head to head, I grab his right lapel with my left hand and pass it to my right (hand inserted over his shoulder). My left hand shoves his right elbow across towards his centreline quickly and comes out behind his head, pushing on in while I insert my head into the gap between his right elbow and hip. Then I roll over my left shoulder and under him and end up holding him in an upside down collar choke. Ha, that one will take some work....
Finally we worked on how to roll into a crucifix when the bottom person is turtled and how to set up collar chokes from there, using either his left or right collar. If the choke doesn't come on, I can put my leg over his head for extra leverage.
On Wednesday and Friday, we did some rubber guard stuff. I will say I hate the names because they bear no resemblance to what we are doing. Some of it is working for me, for example the lockdown from half guard bottom and the whip up. Other stuff.. hmm. But to be fair, I have not had enough time to properly assimilate and try these things out. My flexiblity is good enough, and it's good to learn some extra options. Some of the setups seem very complicated though, and for now I think that I would specifically work for some of those positions. If, however, I found myself in stoner control (!), I guess I'd know what to do from there :-) .
Some of the stuff we worked on was a transition from armbar from guard to jiu claw and then omoplata. It works if the guy in your guard turns aside to pull his trapped arm out and leaves his other arm exposed.
Another thing we learned which I think might be useful to me is a half guard sweep. Instead of lockdown (say if I can't get double underhooks), I overhook his right arm tightly (assuming his right leg is trapped) and put my right arm on his left hip. I need to use my left leg to bend his right leg and bring his right foot to the mat on the outside. His body has to shift to his right to follow the leg. As his weight shifts, I swing my right leg right and then in an arc which sweeps him. If he is swept, we clear our left leg and go to side control. If (which is more likely), he counters the sweep by posting out with his left leg and coming back over, I keep my right leg out wide and take him back in my full guard when he lands. Of course there is a name for this, but I can't remember it :-)
The assorted wrestles I had during classes varied considerably. Early in the week, I escaped every armbar attempt, but on Friday I was caught by several guys. Hmmm. The consistent underlying theme of the week was how good my defence is and how bad my retention of top positions and attacks. Though I did score a triangle a couple of timess, an armbar and a figure four. I am making some small improvements on regaining guard.
I've finally figured that I need to play a different game altogether with one of the guys who uses a lot of unorthodox positions and has a horrible habit of grabbing hold of various bits of my anatomy and then slowly but surely bulldozes over me. I need to make sure I don't expose bits of my anatomy, I need to play more open guard and keep him off me.
I had some positive comments from our senior guys, but all too often I make dumb mistakes. Sometime it seems that I make a few little steps forward in some area, just to find out that in most other areas, I have no skills at all. But I figure that the rolls that leave me most embarrassed are probably the ones that contribute the most to my learning experience. And if I can roll with one of the hot shot young guys and make him work hard, and we can both be amused, then I guess it's not too bad ;-)
On Monday, we worked on chokes. Firstly the half lapel nelson from side mount and then a variation. Say he is with this right side up I can't get his right arm isolated so that I can put my top hand behind his head (he might clasp his hands or grip onto his gi) to get the choke. If I stick my left shin behind his neck, to the inside of left arm (my left hand has his right collar) and sit down, I can add the push of my hip against my left arm to get the choke. Whether he lets his right arm go or not.
Then collar choke from turtle top. From head to head, I grab his right lapel with my left hand and pass it to my right (hand inserted over his shoulder). My left hand shoves his right elbow across towards his centreline quickly and comes out behind his head, pushing on in while I insert my head into the gap between his right elbow and hip. Then I roll over my left shoulder and under him and end up holding him in an upside down collar choke. Ha, that one will take some work....
Finally we worked on how to roll into a crucifix when the bottom person is turtled and how to set up collar chokes from there, using either his left or right collar. If the choke doesn't come on, I can put my leg over his head for extra leverage.
On Wednesday and Friday, we did some rubber guard stuff. I will say I hate the names because they bear no resemblance to what we are doing. Some of it is working for me, for example the lockdown from half guard bottom and the whip up. Other stuff.. hmm. But to be fair, I have not had enough time to properly assimilate and try these things out. My flexiblity is good enough, and it's good to learn some extra options. Some of the setups seem very complicated though, and for now I think that I would specifically work for some of those positions. If, however, I found myself in stoner control (!), I guess I'd know what to do from there :-) .
Some of the stuff we worked on was a transition from armbar from guard to jiu claw and then omoplata. It works if the guy in your guard turns aside to pull his trapped arm out and leaves his other arm exposed.
Another thing we learned which I think might be useful to me is a half guard sweep. Instead of lockdown (say if I can't get double underhooks), I overhook his right arm tightly (assuming his right leg is trapped) and put my right arm on his left hip. I need to use my left leg to bend his right leg and bring his right foot to the mat on the outside. His body has to shift to his right to follow the leg. As his weight shifts, I swing my right leg right and then in an arc which sweeps him. If he is swept, we clear our left leg and go to side control. If (which is more likely), he counters the sweep by posting out with his left leg and coming back over, I keep my right leg out wide and take him back in my full guard when he lands. Of course there is a name for this, but I can't remember it :-)
The assorted wrestles I had during classes varied considerably. Early in the week, I escaped every armbar attempt, but on Friday I was caught by several guys. Hmmm. The consistent underlying theme of the week was how good my defence is and how bad my retention of top positions and attacks. Though I did score a triangle a couple of timess, an armbar and a figure four. I am making some small improvements on regaining guard.
I've finally figured that I need to play a different game altogether with one of the guys who uses a lot of unorthodox positions and has a horrible habit of grabbing hold of various bits of my anatomy and then slowly but surely bulldozes over me. I need to make sure I don't expose bits of my anatomy, I need to play more open guard and keep him off me.
I had some positive comments from our senior guys, but all too often I make dumb mistakes. Sometime it seems that I make a few little steps forward in some area, just to find out that in most other areas, I have no skills at all. But I figure that the rolls that leave me most embarrassed are probably the ones that contribute the most to my learning experience. And if I can roll with one of the hot shot young guys and make him work hard, and we can both be amused, then I guess it's not too bad ;-)
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