Saturday lunchtime class only saw three of us turn up. The other two are fairly new. And so keen :-))
I took the warm up again and served as the grappling dummy. We started off with a bit of light rolling. The two guys are my size and smaller. One of them I can actually muscle around. Wow. Not that I want to!!
The only time before where I was going easy and steady was when we had the odd girl or lady turn up for training. Or with a brand spanking new guy. All the guys, after a few classes, tend to go hard and fast (sigh), so I really don't see a point in going easy on them. Coming back to the two guys on Saturday... For the first time ever, despite the fact that they both tried really hard, I didn't have the urge to either just protect myself, or go hard for a sub. I had a bit of a play with my guard attacks, but then eased back to allow them to work stuff. That in itself was a revelation. I really felt like I was in a position to be generous. I don't mean that to sound condescending at all. I know that when I started, the senior guys did it for me all the time. And now the time has come that I can return the favour. Click!
We then did a drill working on using hooks to sweep our partner from side to side. The boys went off to practice, and I practiced on our instructor. That one on one time is gold. I've neve had much luck with hooks for sweeping. Hooks, yes. Using them for sweeping, no. But now I know where I've been going wrong. I wasn't using the hook at the end of the lever in all cases AND I was pushing back instead of pulling forward with them. What a difference that made!! Click!
Then we had a roll. I was all gung ho and went straight for an arm drag and on his back. Got one hook in, a cross collar grip and managed to grab the other collar low down. Posted my head on the floor and went for the choke. Nada. Then thought maybe I better get the other hook in. In case he starts rolling over. Nope. But then he wanted to know what I was trying to do. Hmm. I explained and we deconstructed the situation. Turned out that all I needed to do was put weight on his other shoulder and/or roll over. I tried the roll over. Choke!! Click!
Then we called the boys over and we drilled the hooking sweep if the person posts a leg to pass guard. I realise that one reason I'd made hard work of this sweep in the past is incorrect technique. I made the same mistake the boys made. When I open my legs, and rest my thigh on his posted leg, I do not want to hip escape towards that side. Instead I want to move up in relation to him. So it's a shuffle up which works because my weigh is supported by his posted leg and by me pulling on his collar. Then I'm lined up well for getting the hook in, pull him down and flip him over. I knew exactly what we were talking about, but I could see the boys had trouble seeing the difference. Well, they, too, will figure it out when they are ready. There is only so much the brain can absorb, and stuff escapes me all the time. When we revisit a technique later, I then have the Eureka! moment. I jokingly asked when we finish learning something new about a "basic" technique. Click!
The boys went to practice that some more and I had more rolls with the instructor. Most of them involved me being on the bottom. Needless to say, the armdrag setup didn't work a second time... I absolutely refused to ball up and turtle, and paid for it dearly in side control and knee ride. So heavy. But I got out several times. Once I actually rolled out and disengaged completely. What a change from the usual systematic squashings. And the subs I was caught in weren't his standard fare. He said after that I gave him nothing, he had to deviate from his usual game to find things, and he had to really work for it. And that my escapes are very good, too.
Then, when we lined up after class, he complimented the guys on being "squirrely". To me he said I'm wrestling at blue belt level. And that it is time to tee up an assessment with John Will, either at the comp in September or another time, with a view to going for my blue belt. Shock! But.... whoohee!!
CLICK!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
a week of sticking to a plan
It's been an interesting week for me. It didn't have the best start because one of my cats got under a car, and I thought I'd lose him. A trip to the vet confirmed a fractured pelvis, but legs ok. So we were sent home with analgesics and anti-inflammatories and instructions to confine him and watch for his plumbing to work properly. He's doing great. Obviously, he hasn't used up his nine lives yet..
In training on Monday, we went over sweeps again, then we did some free guard passing and a bit of rolling. Nothing special came out of it. I know my closed guard is not a place people like to be :-) I'm concentrating on getting angles and setting up stuff.
Wednesday lunchtime, there were only three of us. I took the warm up. I got to roll with the newish guy. He's a reasonably big boy and he is quite fast and aggressive. Lots of backyard wrestling with his mates.... He's all muscle, not much technique yet, and I have to admit that I felt a bit sluggish and had nothing to put up against him. A bit sad, really. I think all that I managed was some attempts from closed guard, but as soon as I opened to go for a triangle, he powered out and passed. Then I had a roll with our instructor and just got flattened. The only good thing which came out of it was that I resisted the temptation to turtle a couple of times, and put up with being flattened in side control. Side control bottom with him really sucks, too. At one point, he got my back, not because I gave it up, but he took it. He completely controlled my balance, I went this way and that at his mercy. Never mind I defended his chokes for a bit, after being toyed with, he caught me with his favourite lapel half nelson. I felt totally hopeless. However, I reminded myself strongly of my new motto (shut up and train!), and focussed on being successful in resisting the urge to turtle or give up my back.
Wednesday evening we had another small class. The newbies were taken aside to learn some stuff, the other three, including myself, went and rolled in turns. Again, put up with side control or mount rather than turning my back, and found I managed several side control escapes, and got guard. Had a fair crack at attacking from closed guard, going from choke to armbar attempt to triangle attempts. I feel they were getting closer to working than what I usually manage. I had a long roll with one of the purple belts at the end which gave me a lot of chances to change positions, try attacks and escape stuff. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing :-)
Thursday open mat was a small affair again. It started off with someone showing an escape from switch back side control, which is what he did to me on Wednesday, so it was good to figure how it's done. It involves bridging up and bringing a knee under his hip. Then bridge up again and push into him to sweep him backwards. Works a treat, even on a bigger guy. Much easier than the escape where I grab around his waist, walk into him and then bridge him toward my far shoulder.
Rolling on Thusday followed the same theme as before: avoid turtling, avoid giving up the back. And if I end up in turtle anyway, get the hell out. With one of the big whitebelts this resulted in getting him back into my guard (inbetween getting flattened in side control our mount), and having a chance at some attacks. I succeeded in breaking him down and came near some armbars. Inside his guard, I passed when he attempted to triangle me. As I went to side control, we went to practicing the side control escape. Several rolls with the other white belt guy went similar. I complimented him on his fantastic tight game. He just smothers me. I don't have a real answer to him, but I am making inroads in threatening him. Feedback from both is that I'm hard to pin in bad positions and and that it's hard to get a sub. I used to worry about their weight and getting stuck on the bottom. I still get flattened, but now using my energies to avoid or reverse the situation instead of moping about it and getting frustrated. Later on, I had the chance to show one of them the turtle escape I learned last Thursday. Finally, I had several rolls with a purple belt. He corrected my loose knee when I attempted mission control. Once that was fixed, I was much more successful. He did roll out of my omoplata attempt, and then we went into a discussion of what attacks are open from there. Great rolls. He is slow, methodical and tight. If I do something right, I get near getting it. If I do it wrong, I get into trouble :-) He doesn't steamroll me, but I have to work my arse off.
He also reminded me that it's a good idea to try new things on the less experienced people, to allow it to work. If I try new stuff on the senior guys, I won't pull it off and then I'll never learn it properly or I'll think it won't work.
Friday night we did single and double leg takedowns and a wrist grab to get a two on one hold on an arm. From there, we can go to single or double or take the back. It's weird how I still get the willies when I think of takedowns... But it was actually a great practice session. I scored a good partner to drill with and a few things fell into place in my head. It's not like I've never drilled takedowns before, but something of the new info, combined with what was already embedded in my brain made sense, and drilling felt good.
In training on Monday, we went over sweeps again, then we did some free guard passing and a bit of rolling. Nothing special came out of it. I know my closed guard is not a place people like to be :-) I'm concentrating on getting angles and setting up stuff.
Wednesday lunchtime, there were only three of us. I took the warm up. I got to roll with the newish guy. He's a reasonably big boy and he is quite fast and aggressive. Lots of backyard wrestling with his mates.... He's all muscle, not much technique yet, and I have to admit that I felt a bit sluggish and had nothing to put up against him. A bit sad, really. I think all that I managed was some attempts from closed guard, but as soon as I opened to go for a triangle, he powered out and passed. Then I had a roll with our instructor and just got flattened. The only good thing which came out of it was that I resisted the temptation to turtle a couple of times, and put up with being flattened in side control. Side control bottom with him really sucks, too. At one point, he got my back, not because I gave it up, but he took it. He completely controlled my balance, I went this way and that at his mercy. Never mind I defended his chokes for a bit, after being toyed with, he caught me with his favourite lapel half nelson. I felt totally hopeless. However, I reminded myself strongly of my new motto (shut up and train!), and focussed on being successful in resisting the urge to turtle or give up my back.
Wednesday evening we had another small class. The newbies were taken aside to learn some stuff, the other three, including myself, went and rolled in turns. Again, put up with side control or mount rather than turning my back, and found I managed several side control escapes, and got guard. Had a fair crack at attacking from closed guard, going from choke to armbar attempt to triangle attempts. I feel they were getting closer to working than what I usually manage. I had a long roll with one of the purple belts at the end which gave me a lot of chances to change positions, try attacks and escape stuff. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing :-)
Thursday open mat was a small affair again. It started off with someone showing an escape from switch back side control, which is what he did to me on Wednesday, so it was good to figure how it's done. It involves bridging up and bringing a knee under his hip. Then bridge up again and push into him to sweep him backwards. Works a treat, even on a bigger guy. Much easier than the escape where I grab around his waist, walk into him and then bridge him toward my far shoulder.
Rolling on Thusday followed the same theme as before: avoid turtling, avoid giving up the back. And if I end up in turtle anyway, get the hell out. With one of the big whitebelts this resulted in getting him back into my guard (inbetween getting flattened in side control our mount), and having a chance at some attacks. I succeeded in breaking him down and came near some armbars. Inside his guard, I passed when he attempted to triangle me. As I went to side control, we went to practicing the side control escape. Several rolls with the other white belt guy went similar. I complimented him on his fantastic tight game. He just smothers me. I don't have a real answer to him, but I am making inroads in threatening him. Feedback from both is that I'm hard to pin in bad positions and and that it's hard to get a sub. I used to worry about their weight and getting stuck on the bottom. I still get flattened, but now using my energies to avoid or reverse the situation instead of moping about it and getting frustrated. Later on, I had the chance to show one of them the turtle escape I learned last Thursday. Finally, I had several rolls with a purple belt. He corrected my loose knee when I attempted mission control. Once that was fixed, I was much more successful. He did roll out of my omoplata attempt, and then we went into a discussion of what attacks are open from there. Great rolls. He is slow, methodical and tight. If I do something right, I get near getting it. If I do it wrong, I get into trouble :-) He doesn't steamroll me, but I have to work my arse off.
He also reminded me that it's a good idea to try new things on the less experienced people, to allow it to work. If I try new stuff on the senior guys, I won't pull it off and then I'll never learn it properly or I'll think it won't work.
Friday night we did single and double leg takedowns and a wrist grab to get a two on one hold on an arm. From there, we can go to single or double or take the back. It's weird how I still get the willies when I think of takedowns... But it was actually a great practice session. I scored a good partner to drill with and a few things fell into place in my head. It's not like I've never drilled takedowns before, but something of the new info, combined with what was already embedded in my brain made sense, and drilling felt good.
the end of last week roundup
I was busy doing bookwork and preparing stuff for tax returns, so I couldn't be motivated to update my blogs. I still went to training, and I still wrote up my training diary, but writing something witty or relevant here was too much of an ask :-)
Anyway, after all the general insights of last wee, the Friday and Saturday I tried to put all that into action.
I was lucky in that we spent a lot of time on working from guard last Friday night, so I had lots of practice at beaking down postures and setting up angles with a view to armbars or triangle. On Saturday, we did sweeps: the simple sweep and the leg grab rollover sweep.
Wrestling on Friday was ok and I felt I did a few things right. A good long roll with one of the purple belts allowed me to again work on my guard attacks. I managed a tight mission control and attempted the omoplata from there, but first he blocked my bottom foot and then he postured out of it. But I went for the triangle and that worked. It's nice to see that I can now consistently think of alternatives.
Wrestling on Saturday wasn't so much of a success. I new white belt had a grip in my collar I couldn't dislodge, until someone showed me a different way. Then I nearly passed his guard and wasted time fighting a grip of his which was irrelevant, because it wasn't a threat. I felt disappointed that I needed such basic pointers. The good thing that came out of it was I learned a new pass. I started off low in his opened guard and had managed to secure his right arm to the floor, with my left knee pinning his right knee to the floor. His left hand was in my collar, but my right arm was free to reach across him. So the guard pass is to jam his right hand against his hip and attempt to feed it underneath him to my right hand, while keeping my hips low and facing down, and left elbow needs to be against the left side of his head, to stop him rotating with me.
I was a bit disappointed leaving on Saturday, but I think the resolutions I made earlier in the week are working. The disappointment faded and I concentrated on thinking about the new bits learned.
Anyway, after all the general insights of last wee, the Friday and Saturday I tried to put all that into action.
I was lucky in that we spent a lot of time on working from guard last Friday night, so I had lots of practice at beaking down postures and setting up angles with a view to armbars or triangle. On Saturday, we did sweeps: the simple sweep and the leg grab rollover sweep.
Wrestling on Friday was ok and I felt I did a few things right. A good long roll with one of the purple belts allowed me to again work on my guard attacks. I managed a tight mission control and attempted the omoplata from there, but first he blocked my bottom foot and then he postured out of it. But I went for the triangle and that worked. It's nice to see that I can now consistently think of alternatives.
Wrestling on Saturday wasn't so much of a success. I new white belt had a grip in my collar I couldn't dislodge, until someone showed me a different way. Then I nearly passed his guard and wasted time fighting a grip of his which was irrelevant, because it wasn't a threat. I felt disappointed that I needed such basic pointers. The good thing that came out of it was I learned a new pass. I started off low in his opened guard and had managed to secure his right arm to the floor, with my left knee pinning his right knee to the floor. His left hand was in my collar, but my right arm was free to reach across him. So the guard pass is to jam his right hand against his hip and attempt to feed it underneath him to my right hand, while keeping my hips low and facing down, and left elbow needs to be against the left side of his head, to stop him rotating with me.
I was a bit disappointed leaving on Saturday, but I think the resolutions I made earlier in the week are working. The disappointment faded and I concentrated on thinking about the new bits learned.
Friday, July 16, 2010
general insights and the week so far
A few things are coming together for me. My brain is turning data into useful information and I'm slowly but surely working out a game plan. I'm also seeing where I've been going wrong and why. In addition to that, I've had some really great feedback this week which reinforces that I'm thinking along the correct lines. These talks and specific instruction have also been very motivating.
During rolls, these lessons have yet again been reinforced, and thanks to the fabulous guys at my school, I feel like I might actually one day turn into a bit of a grappler.
Where I've been going wrong is in several areas. First and foremost, I have been making too much use of going to turtle. I assume it started because I discovered that it's a place under the bigger guys where my breathing isn't impeded, and I could survive. I became very good at defending it, too. But of course, it's not a position with a lot of options, and certainly not a position for attacks. And what's the point of stalling? Oh, and lately, we have all been learning a lot of turtle attacks, so it's getting harder and harder to defend..
From this flea I got in my head about going to turtle as soon as I wasn't on top, I developed a habit of turning away from people. That often gives up my back. Oh, and defending my neck when someone has my back, that I'm pretty good at, too! I even escape from there regularly. But it's obviously not a good spot to be in, and if I escape, I often escape to turtle. Basically, it's a dead end.
Now, since I discovered that one of my favourite positions is guard (preferably closed), and especially since I discovererd that I can hold it well and it's feared in the school (hihi!), that's where I want to be. I am again working on that particular armbar from closed guard, and making some progress. And of course that leads right into several other submissions.
Last night during open mat, one of the blue belts pulled me up twice and gave me a big pep talk, when I turned away. He is quite right. What I want is turn in and get the guy in my guard. Even half guard. He pointed out that the worst thing that can happen is that I end up in side control. Well, that means I'll have to perfect my side control escapes. That also feeds right back into another problem I have: when I have closed guard, I'm hesitant to open for an attack, because I fear to lose it and they pass to side control. Hence my open guard sucks, because I don't use it often enough.
Ironically, I'm no longer that scared of side control, although when I end up under one of the bigger guys, it's ain't no fun at all... I have relatively good defence, and with more work on my escapes, I won't care if I end up there.
To get better side control escapes, I need to pay more attention to using my hips. I think I've mentioned that before :-) . Ah yes, the hips.... The good news is that in recent times, I have been working on that, and I know that my bumps and shrimps and hip escapes are getting more effective.
So it's all related.
Other comments that came out of the last few training sessions are positive. Hands and feet are working simultaneously, I'm stringing some stuff together, my side control is nice and tight, and generally, I'm making the guys work when we are rolling. The other thing that someone said last night was that there are two places where people go wrong when they train. One is that they don't like to tap (now that's NOT my issue), the other is that they beat themselves up too much over stuff (he wasn't looking at me, but I KNOW he was talking to me!).
Therefore I have my work cut out for me. The plan is:
make a detailed game plan
practice side control escapes
practice the armbar from hell and at least two gotos/alternatives
don't turtle, learn to fade back to open guard BEFORE they weigh me down
don't turn away from people, instead hip escape and go for guard
shut up and train (= no comparisons, no self bashing, no saying "I can't ")
I think that'll keep me busy for a while!
So what did I actually do this Wednesday & Thursday?
Wednesday lunchtime we had a tiny class. I took the warm up and then served as grappling dummy to show the other two guys some chokes. They then went off to practice those and I had some one on one time with my instructor. We worked on the armbar from hell. I still had problems with it. So we ended up deconstructing it, and working on each bit separately. I finally figured the bits where I'd gone wrong and I ended up with a working version. So happy!! We had a very brief roll after that. I did some things right, but as usual, I turtled, then had my back taken etc. I attacked his ankles, but for my troubles I ended up tapping to a lapel half nelson from some weird place he maneuvred me to. Haha, that's his favourite game.
Wednesday evening was mostly rolling. I scored one of the spazzy white belts. He caught me in an armbar and with the speed I felt it come on, I snarled at him. That did have the desired effect, he let go and he later apologised. We had another roll and he armbarred me again after a long time, this time in a more civilized fashion. Third roll he suggested to start from the bottom of side control, to work on his escapes (this was the first time I thought he is growing up and becoming a training partner!). In fact, he did have a lot of trouble getting out of my side control and sort of got stuck in switchbase. I took that as a good opportunity to show him ways of getting out. So for the first time ever, rolling with him ended in an excellent note.
I had a long roll with a purple belt. He did let me work a bit, and I had his back, had sidemount, even mount. Tried for all sorts of stuff without success. I maintained mount longer than I thought was possible so that was a plus. I tried my fancy armbar from guard, but he's wise to people angling off, so I couldn't get the setup. All in all a really good roll. There were a couple of rolls with the king of triangles. Strangely, lately, I seem to avoid his triangles pretty good. But he gets me in armbars instead. On the other hand, I know he just loooves my closed guard, and I got in lots of practice at grip fighting, breaking him down and attempting chokes. Just couldn't get near that armbar... But good stuff.
Thursday night's open mat was small, only four of us. We all had a few good rolls, but we also worked on specific stuff, and discussed various things. I had a go at trying out my armbar on one of the big blue belts. Once he postured out of it, but once I got it locked in and finished it. Yeah!! Of course, if he'd used all his strength, he might have exploded out of it. But he said it was very tight, and I did in fact end up with both his arms where I wanted them, giving me the option of armbar on the bottom arm, and cutting armbar on the bottom one. I also had a chance to go from lockdown and attempt the electric chair sweep. He thought I was trying for twister and bailed. Fast :-))) And we re-engaged from open guard and on we went... He commented on various parts of my game and made a lot of useful suggestions.
The big white belt who's been the bane of my life over recent months helped me with working on my turtle issue, and I had a chance to practice the fade back to guard and an escape out to the side if he grabs my middle when we are head to head. But somehow, I also had more success in keeping him off me, using open guard. He's a really nice guy. I know he's irritated me in the past, but hey, I irritated him as well. The only answer he had to my tight turtle was to turn me over by force. But he is aware of how much more he weighs, too, and he's never been unduly rough.
The other guy armbarred me a few times :-) But he didn't get the triangle. Not once.
I think the guys at my school are fantastic. Oh yes.
During rolls, these lessons have yet again been reinforced, and thanks to the fabulous guys at my school, I feel like I might actually one day turn into a bit of a grappler.
Where I've been going wrong is in several areas. First and foremost, I have been making too much use of going to turtle. I assume it started because I discovered that it's a place under the bigger guys where my breathing isn't impeded, and I could survive. I became very good at defending it, too. But of course, it's not a position with a lot of options, and certainly not a position for attacks. And what's the point of stalling? Oh, and lately, we have all been learning a lot of turtle attacks, so it's getting harder and harder to defend..
From this flea I got in my head about going to turtle as soon as I wasn't on top, I developed a habit of turning away from people. That often gives up my back. Oh, and defending my neck when someone has my back, that I'm pretty good at, too! I even escape from there regularly. But it's obviously not a good spot to be in, and if I escape, I often escape to turtle. Basically, it's a dead end.
Now, since I discovered that one of my favourite positions is guard (preferably closed), and especially since I discovererd that I can hold it well and it's feared in the school (hihi!), that's where I want to be. I am again working on that particular armbar from closed guard, and making some progress. And of course that leads right into several other submissions.
Last night during open mat, one of the blue belts pulled me up twice and gave me a big pep talk, when I turned away. He is quite right. What I want is turn in and get the guy in my guard. Even half guard. He pointed out that the worst thing that can happen is that I end up in side control. Well, that means I'll have to perfect my side control escapes. That also feeds right back into another problem I have: when I have closed guard, I'm hesitant to open for an attack, because I fear to lose it and they pass to side control. Hence my open guard sucks, because I don't use it often enough.
Ironically, I'm no longer that scared of side control, although when I end up under one of the bigger guys, it's ain't no fun at all... I have relatively good defence, and with more work on my escapes, I won't care if I end up there.
To get better side control escapes, I need to pay more attention to using my hips. I think I've mentioned that before :-) . Ah yes, the hips.... The good news is that in recent times, I have been working on that, and I know that my bumps and shrimps and hip escapes are getting more effective.
So it's all related.
Other comments that came out of the last few training sessions are positive. Hands and feet are working simultaneously, I'm stringing some stuff together, my side control is nice and tight, and generally, I'm making the guys work when we are rolling. The other thing that someone said last night was that there are two places where people go wrong when they train. One is that they don't like to tap (now that's NOT my issue), the other is that they beat themselves up too much over stuff (he wasn't looking at me, but I KNOW he was talking to me!).
Therefore I have my work cut out for me. The plan is:
make a detailed game plan
practice side control escapes
practice the armbar from hell and at least two gotos/alternatives
don't turtle, learn to fade back to open guard BEFORE they weigh me down
don't turn away from people, instead hip escape and go for guard
shut up and train (= no comparisons, no self bashing, no saying "I can't ")
I think that'll keep me busy for a while!
So what did I actually do this Wednesday & Thursday?
Wednesday lunchtime we had a tiny class. I took the warm up and then served as grappling dummy to show the other two guys some chokes. They then went off to practice those and I had some one on one time with my instructor. We worked on the armbar from hell. I still had problems with it. So we ended up deconstructing it, and working on each bit separately. I finally figured the bits where I'd gone wrong and I ended up with a working version. So happy!! We had a very brief roll after that. I did some things right, but as usual, I turtled, then had my back taken etc. I attacked his ankles, but for my troubles I ended up tapping to a lapel half nelson from some weird place he maneuvred me to. Haha, that's his favourite game.
Wednesday evening was mostly rolling. I scored one of the spazzy white belts. He caught me in an armbar and with the speed I felt it come on, I snarled at him. That did have the desired effect, he let go and he later apologised. We had another roll and he armbarred me again after a long time, this time in a more civilized fashion. Third roll he suggested to start from the bottom of side control, to work on his escapes (this was the first time I thought he is growing up and becoming a training partner!). In fact, he did have a lot of trouble getting out of my side control and sort of got stuck in switchbase. I took that as a good opportunity to show him ways of getting out. So for the first time ever, rolling with him ended in an excellent note.
I had a long roll with a purple belt. He did let me work a bit, and I had his back, had sidemount, even mount. Tried for all sorts of stuff without success. I maintained mount longer than I thought was possible so that was a plus. I tried my fancy armbar from guard, but he's wise to people angling off, so I couldn't get the setup. All in all a really good roll. There were a couple of rolls with the king of triangles. Strangely, lately, I seem to avoid his triangles pretty good. But he gets me in armbars instead. On the other hand, I know he just loooves my closed guard, and I got in lots of practice at grip fighting, breaking him down and attempting chokes. Just couldn't get near that armbar... But good stuff.
Thursday night's open mat was small, only four of us. We all had a few good rolls, but we also worked on specific stuff, and discussed various things. I had a go at trying out my armbar on one of the big blue belts. Once he postured out of it, but once I got it locked in and finished it. Yeah!! Of course, if he'd used all his strength, he might have exploded out of it. But he said it was very tight, and I did in fact end up with both his arms where I wanted them, giving me the option of armbar on the bottom arm, and cutting armbar on the bottom one. I also had a chance to go from lockdown and attempt the electric chair sweep. He thought I was trying for twister and bailed. Fast :-))) And we re-engaged from open guard and on we went... He commented on various parts of my game and made a lot of useful suggestions.
The big white belt who's been the bane of my life over recent months helped me with working on my turtle issue, and I had a chance to practice the fade back to guard and an escape out to the side if he grabs my middle when we are head to head. But somehow, I also had more success in keeping him off me, using open guard. He's a really nice guy. I know he's irritated me in the past, but hey, I irritated him as well. The only answer he had to my tight turtle was to turn me over by force. But he is aware of how much more he weighs, too, and he's never been unduly rough.
The other guy armbarred me a few times :-) But he didn't get the triangle. Not once.
I think the guys at my school are fantastic. Oh yes.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
closed guard
In Monday night's class, we did a flow drill and then some rolling. It was a pretty relaxed medium sized class. For a change, there was another woman, and we were partnered for the drill and the first roll.
The drill started with our partner in mount. We escape from mount by trapping one of his feet with our opposite heel to get to half guard. From there we go to lockdown with underhooks and do a whip so that our head comes out the side opposite to his trapped leg. Then we push against his armpit to get to electric chair, but instead of finishing that, we sweep to side control, making sure we take the leg with us and holding it while we establish a tight side control. Then we let go of the leg, take mount and repeat with the partner doing the relevant moves.
I had several rolls and it seemed that I had excellent energy (mental and physical!). Someone even commented that I was "aggressive", but it was more that I was in an excellent frame of mind and really went for it. I had the whiff of success and wanted mooooaaare! So I had a lot of fun. I seemed to hit closed guard and boy, did I make people pay for being in there :-). I hit a sweep but aside from that, most other attempts failed. I think the problem I have is that 1. I'm too comfortable there. And 2. I hesitate to open my guard (which I need to do for most attacks) because I fear to lose the position and get passed. That's stupid, of course. It limits my progress. I don't want guard as a stalling position, I want it to attack, so I need to attack more. And what of it if I lose it? But oh well, another thing to work on.
The good part of the evening was that I came away feeling good. Instead of focussing on my shortcomings (not capitalizing on solid closed guard to attack), I looked at what I did right (successfully break people down in guard, transition to open guard and back to closed, goal-oriented mindeset etc).
The drill started with our partner in mount. We escape from mount by trapping one of his feet with our opposite heel to get to half guard. From there we go to lockdown with underhooks and do a whip so that our head comes out the side opposite to his trapped leg. Then we push against his armpit to get to electric chair, but instead of finishing that, we sweep to side control, making sure we take the leg with us and holding it while we establish a tight side control. Then we let go of the leg, take mount and repeat with the partner doing the relevant moves.
I had several rolls and it seemed that I had excellent energy (mental and physical!). Someone even commented that I was "aggressive", but it was more that I was in an excellent frame of mind and really went for it. I had the whiff of success and wanted mooooaaare! So I had a lot of fun. I seemed to hit closed guard and boy, did I make people pay for being in there :-). I hit a sweep but aside from that, most other attempts failed. I think the problem I have is that 1. I'm too comfortable there. And 2. I hesitate to open my guard (which I need to do for most attacks) because I fear to lose the position and get passed. That's stupid, of course. It limits my progress. I don't want guard as a stalling position, I want it to attack, so I need to attack more. And what of it if I lose it? But oh well, another thing to work on.
The good part of the evening was that I came away feeling good. Instead of focussing on my shortcomings (not capitalizing on solid closed guard to attack), I looked at what I did right (successfully break people down in guard, transition to open guard and back to closed, goal-oriented mindeset etc).
Sunday, July 11, 2010
shut up and train
Those are words of wisdom. More of that can be found in a post titled "This is fun?" at SteveBJJ.com .
Yes, I did print that post out, and I've read it several times since then. But I think I need to read it DAILY!!
I had another one of those evenings at training on Friday. I drove home after class, questioning anything and everything I did. I was yet again on the bottom for most of the duration of a long roll with a white belt. Then I had an ordinary roll with a blue belt (my fault, not his!!) and a reasonable one with a purple belt. Well, that's how I felt, anyway.
The truth of the matter is that I'm still keeping on comparing, and having some expectations of how I should be going, rather than just .... shut up and train.
After some thinking about it, really, I didn't do that bad. I was pissed because I made a couple of stupid mistakes, but at least I'm aware of where I went wrong. In fact, the last roll with the purple belt guy was great. I actually shut down his current favourite pass, a low, hugging, tight sort of a pass which I previously couldn't prevent. During the whole roll I seemed to have time to think, time for small adjustments, time to threaten his arms or attempt a choke. Sure, he didn't go full on, but he doesn't give me much, either. He caught me in a combination he taught us a couple of weeks back (cutting armbar from guard to armbar on other arm), so we laughed about that. He's about my size, and very technical, so I love rolling with him. I always learn so much.
Aside from rolling, we drilled the armbar to omoplata to triangle transitions. I like those types of drills because the hammer into my brain and muscle memory the need to string stuff together and move.
So why on earth would I be disappointed coming out of class? Ok, by the time I'd fuelled up the car on the way home, I had come to decide it had been a good class. But really, I need to stop being so negative. And the only way that'll happen is if I stop trying to measure, compare and be upset about a perceived lack of performance.
I need to .... shut up and train :-)
Yes, I did print that post out, and I've read it several times since then. But I think I need to read it DAILY!!
I had another one of those evenings at training on Friday. I drove home after class, questioning anything and everything I did. I was yet again on the bottom for most of the duration of a long roll with a white belt. Then I had an ordinary roll with a blue belt (my fault, not his!!) and a reasonable one with a purple belt. Well, that's how I felt, anyway.
The truth of the matter is that I'm still keeping on comparing, and having some expectations of how I should be going, rather than just .... shut up and train.
After some thinking about it, really, I didn't do that bad. I was pissed because I made a couple of stupid mistakes, but at least I'm aware of where I went wrong. In fact, the last roll with the purple belt guy was great. I actually shut down his current favourite pass, a low, hugging, tight sort of a pass which I previously couldn't prevent. During the whole roll I seemed to have time to think, time for small adjustments, time to threaten his arms or attempt a choke. Sure, he didn't go full on, but he doesn't give me much, either. He caught me in a combination he taught us a couple of weeks back (cutting armbar from guard to armbar on other arm), so we laughed about that. He's about my size, and very technical, so I love rolling with him. I always learn so much.
Aside from rolling, we drilled the armbar to omoplata to triangle transitions. I like those types of drills because the hammer into my brain and muscle memory the need to string stuff together and move.
So why on earth would I be disappointed coming out of class? Ok, by the time I'd fuelled up the car on the way home, I had come to decide it had been a good class. But really, I need to stop being so negative. And the only way that'll happen is if I stop trying to measure, compare and be upset about a perceived lack of performance.
I need to .... shut up and train :-)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
bjj and women
There is a fantastic article at grapplearts.com about attracting women to and keeping them going in BJJ.
I personally really don't care whether I wrestle guys or girls. Right from the beginning, I had no issue about being the only woman in class most days. But it's sad that there aren't a whole lot more women involved in BJJ. There are just so many good things things that come from training, and there are so many women who would benefit tremendously.
The article addresses a lot of the issues and makes excellent practical suggestions. Hopefully, if more schools put some of those recommendations into practice, there will be an increase in the number of women joining and staying.
Our school is only small, and women's only classes would be hard to justify. Aside from myself, there are only very sporadic showings of females. I guess if I could see that there are some interested ladies, I would happily volunteer to be assistant instructor, to help get some newbies through the first few tough months.
I personally really don't care whether I wrestle guys or girls. Right from the beginning, I had no issue about being the only woman in class most days. But it's sad that there aren't a whole lot more women involved in BJJ. There are just so many good things things that come from training, and there are so many women who would benefit tremendously.
The article addresses a lot of the issues and makes excellent practical suggestions. Hopefully, if more schools put some of those recommendations into practice, there will be an increase in the number of women joining and staying.
Our school is only small, and women's only classes would be hard to justify. Aside from myself, there are only very sporadic showings of females. I guess if I could see that there are some interested ladies, I would happily volunteer to be assistant instructor, to help get some newbies through the first few tough months.
I watched a purple belt grading
Last Saturday, we had a grading. I just went along for the fun. A few white belts got their first stripe. What was fun to watch was someone testing for purple belt.
He had to work hard, there were countless rounds of wrestling and then more and then some more... His technique is obviously good, as despite fatigue, he did really well. It really was impressive to watch. I was so pleased for him, too. He is one of the nicest guys in our school.
On the one hand it scares me to see what's expected, on the other hand, it's something to aspire to. Not that I need to worry about getting to that level for a few years yet....
I've been to four other classes.
Last Friday we warmed up as usual, but did some standing pummeling as well. Then we worked on the transition from lockdown to whip up to dogfight. Then attacks from dogfight, mainly electric chair and taking the back.
I had a couple of rolls. One with a heavy blue belt who tends to let me work instead of smashing me, but I have to work, so he's a great partner. The other roll was with a young guy who goes 110% every time. He doesn't seem to care for technique, it's all about forcing things with strength and speed, and he's always rattling on about some fancy killer technique he saw on youtube.... Gah. As one of the other guys said, thankfully Mr.110% doesn't come very often. I made a mistake, he got my back, and rather than having my jaw crushed, I tapped to his rnc. Before going home, I watched one of the blue belts taking him down a peg.
On Monday, we drilled four attacks from closed guard: armbar, triangle, take the back and a cross lapel choke. The choke setup is to overhook one arm and grab the far lapel. With this, we can control the posture of the person in our guard and the collar is anchored down. Also, he loses the use of one arm. With the other hand, we can then reach into the opposite collar and go for the choke.
Wednesday lunchtime, we also did cross lapel chokes. I worked with one of the very new guys, who was a bit timid and unsure to grab hold of my collar properly and choke hard. I assured him that I'd tap if it works, but he was still being super careful, when the instructor came over and gave him the "you should not be NICE to her" and "she will choke YOU" lectures :-) . After that, his chokes weren't bad. In all, we drilled the choke from mount quite a bit, then we did three variations of grips for the same choke from closed guard.
On Wednesday evening, we worked on rubber guard and drilled the transition from mission control to chill dog (bleh, I hate those stupid names!) and then jiuw claw. We also looked into how we can get an armbar from mission control or chill dog. And how to get the triangle from mission control. I'm getting the hang of this stuff and it helps to have long legs and reasonable flexibility. The only issue I have sometimes is that due to the length of my legs, it can be hard to get my feet on their hips. But maybe I'm just not in a good position, maybe I need to adust by scooting up a bit first. Of course, having broken them down, it's hard to move myself, being sandwiched between mat and my partner's body. I think this needs a bit more work. But I have had success with rubber guard, so I'll keep working on it.
I had a couple of rolls. One thing I saw in some instructional the other day was to deflect people's arms as they are passing one's guard, this denies them the abiltiy to settle and gives me room to hip escape and regain guard. I tried that when the opportunity came up, and I had partial success. So that's something else I'm going to work on.
I've also been watching Rigan Machado's instructional on triangles, and without being aware of it, I started buggerising around with open guard, spider guard even and looked for a triangle. Then my partner laughed and said: funny, that looks like a Rigan move. Well, he's the guy who lent me the dvd :-)
He had to work hard, there were countless rounds of wrestling and then more and then some more... His technique is obviously good, as despite fatigue, he did really well. It really was impressive to watch. I was so pleased for him, too. He is one of the nicest guys in our school.
On the one hand it scares me to see what's expected, on the other hand, it's something to aspire to. Not that I need to worry about getting to that level for a few years yet....
I've been to four other classes.
Last Friday we warmed up as usual, but did some standing pummeling as well. Then we worked on the transition from lockdown to whip up to dogfight. Then attacks from dogfight, mainly electric chair and taking the back.
I had a couple of rolls. One with a heavy blue belt who tends to let me work instead of smashing me, but I have to work, so he's a great partner. The other roll was with a young guy who goes 110% every time. He doesn't seem to care for technique, it's all about forcing things with strength and speed, and he's always rattling on about some fancy killer technique he saw on youtube.... Gah. As one of the other guys said, thankfully Mr.110% doesn't come very often. I made a mistake, he got my back, and rather than having my jaw crushed, I tapped to his rnc. Before going home, I watched one of the blue belts taking him down a peg.
On Monday, we drilled four attacks from closed guard: armbar, triangle, take the back and a cross lapel choke. The choke setup is to overhook one arm and grab the far lapel. With this, we can control the posture of the person in our guard and the collar is anchored down. Also, he loses the use of one arm. With the other hand, we can then reach into the opposite collar and go for the choke.
Wednesday lunchtime, we also did cross lapel chokes. I worked with one of the very new guys, who was a bit timid and unsure to grab hold of my collar properly and choke hard. I assured him that I'd tap if it works, but he was still being super careful, when the instructor came over and gave him the "you should not be NICE to her" and "she will choke YOU" lectures :-) . After that, his chokes weren't bad. In all, we drilled the choke from mount quite a bit, then we did three variations of grips for the same choke from closed guard.
On Wednesday evening, we worked on rubber guard and drilled the transition from mission control to chill dog (bleh, I hate those stupid names!) and then jiuw claw. We also looked into how we can get an armbar from mission control or chill dog. And how to get the triangle from mission control. I'm getting the hang of this stuff and it helps to have long legs and reasonable flexibility. The only issue I have sometimes is that due to the length of my legs, it can be hard to get my feet on their hips. But maybe I'm just not in a good position, maybe I need to adust by scooting up a bit first. Of course, having broken them down, it's hard to move myself, being sandwiched between mat and my partner's body. I think this needs a bit more work. But I have had success with rubber guard, so I'll keep working on it.
I had a couple of rolls. One thing I saw in some instructional the other day was to deflect people's arms as they are passing one's guard, this denies them the abiltiy to settle and gives me room to hip escape and regain guard. I tried that when the opportunity came up, and I had partial success. So that's something else I'm going to work on.
I've also been watching Rigan Machado's instructional on triangles, and without being aware of it, I started buggerising around with open guard, spider guard even and looked for a triangle. Then my partner laughed and said: funny, that looks like a Rigan move. Well, he's the guy who lent me the dvd :-)
Friday, July 2, 2010
open mat
Only four of us turned up for open mat, and the instructor was around for a while.
One of the blue belts is due to be tested for for his purple belt on Saturday, so he was keen on honing his skills. At the begining, he had a few rolls with the instructor which I watched (and to prevent them from rolling into a steel beam..). Then they talked about turtling and how that can be counterproductive. They then worked on how to fade right back and look at establishing guard, instead of going to and staying in turtle, say if he's escaped from sidemount.
As I view turtle as a go to position at the moment (my defence is very good from there), and have questioned the wisdom of this already, I followed that exchange with interest.
Also, we are learning a lot of turtle attacks at present, and I won't be so safe there from now on :-) . So it might be time for me to start thinking of turtle less as a safe position to hang out, and more of a transition only position. Food for thought.
I had a number of rolls with our (soon-to-be-purple) blue belt. I was ah.. choked and armbarred quite a few times in a few minutes. He actually apologised, because usually he gives me some time to work on my stuff. I said hey, it's your grading, you need to work YOUR game, work to your heart's content!! I was only sorry I couldn't challenge him more :-) . I absolutely don't mind being "cannon fodder" for someone who helps me so often, and is so technical.
I had several rolls with my fellow four striper afterwards. I've been thinking of how I can beat his evil crushing pass and how I can avoid having my limbs trapped. I'm not there yet, I had my limbs trapped and got passed the crushing way :-). BUT. I'm finding chinks in his game.
Now it springs to mind that I shouldn't let my arms be trapped to begin with. But it's his thing, he grabs hold and pins down and reels in. At some point, I need to use my arms, and it's as though he's just waiting to snatch something. It's his game. I know he does it and I'm starting to find ways to break his grips, before it's too late and sometimes I see it before it happens. Basically, I need to ensure I don't enter into his game. But it's difficult to put into practice. Ha, I'm working on it!
We had one long roll in particular where it felt more like I had some clue of what I was doing, instead of just getting smeared across the mat. Of course I have no complete recollection of the roll, but I do remember that I swept him a couple of times. He was too busy concentrating on something to notice he had no base on the other side, and I felt it. I escaped out the back door on one occasion. I passed his guard, using a knee through pass, much to my surprise. I had side control a few times but was unable to do attack his arms. I had mount, too, and nearly succeeded in getting his elbows up to attack an arm. And stayed there for a bit, too, while he seemed unable to escape. In the end, I tried for an armbar but he sat up and I lost it. I also nearly collar choked him from guard at some point. So it was back and forth lots of time. I had to tap out in the end to a body lock or something, but I didn't care.
He told me I was awfully close with several of my subs. But I was most pleased with the way I managed to negate some his his tight squeezy controls and passes. I also found I could break him down in guard and getting to his back isn't out of the question. I did it once and nearly did it again.
I know, I know, it's small unimportant stuff. It is just that his style of wrestling negates most of what I do, and I generally feel powerless to get the initiative, let alone work anything on him. But last night, I finally made some inroads in how to deal with those specific challenges. That, for me, was a big win. Now that I know I can do it, I can do it more often :-)
One of the blue belts is due to be tested for for his purple belt on Saturday, so he was keen on honing his skills. At the begining, he had a few rolls with the instructor which I watched (and to prevent them from rolling into a steel beam..). Then they talked about turtling and how that can be counterproductive. They then worked on how to fade right back and look at establishing guard, instead of going to and staying in turtle, say if he's escaped from sidemount.
As I view turtle as a go to position at the moment (my defence is very good from there), and have questioned the wisdom of this already, I followed that exchange with interest.
Also, we are learning a lot of turtle attacks at present, and I won't be so safe there from now on :-) . So it might be time for me to start thinking of turtle less as a safe position to hang out, and more of a transition only position. Food for thought.
I had a number of rolls with our (soon-to-be-purple) blue belt. I was ah.. choked and armbarred quite a few times in a few minutes. He actually apologised, because usually he gives me some time to work on my stuff. I said hey, it's your grading, you need to work YOUR game, work to your heart's content!! I was only sorry I couldn't challenge him more :-) . I absolutely don't mind being "cannon fodder" for someone who helps me so often, and is so technical.
I had several rolls with my fellow four striper afterwards. I've been thinking of how I can beat his evil crushing pass and how I can avoid having my limbs trapped. I'm not there yet, I had my limbs trapped and got passed the crushing way :-). BUT. I'm finding chinks in his game.
Now it springs to mind that I shouldn't let my arms be trapped to begin with. But it's his thing, he grabs hold and pins down and reels in. At some point, I need to use my arms, and it's as though he's just waiting to snatch something. It's his game. I know he does it and I'm starting to find ways to break his grips, before it's too late and sometimes I see it before it happens. Basically, I need to ensure I don't enter into his game. But it's difficult to put into practice. Ha, I'm working on it!
We had one long roll in particular where it felt more like I had some clue of what I was doing, instead of just getting smeared across the mat. Of course I have no complete recollection of the roll, but I do remember that I swept him a couple of times. He was too busy concentrating on something to notice he had no base on the other side, and I felt it. I escaped out the back door on one occasion. I passed his guard, using a knee through pass, much to my surprise. I had side control a few times but was unable to do attack his arms. I had mount, too, and nearly succeeded in getting his elbows up to attack an arm. And stayed there for a bit, too, while he seemed unable to escape. In the end, I tried for an armbar but he sat up and I lost it. I also nearly collar choked him from guard at some point. So it was back and forth lots of time. I had to tap out in the end to a body lock or something, but I didn't care.
He told me I was awfully close with several of my subs. But I was most pleased with the way I managed to negate some his his tight squeezy controls and passes. I also found I could break him down in guard and getting to his back isn't out of the question. I did it once and nearly did it again.
I know, I know, it's small unimportant stuff. It is just that his style of wrestling negates most of what I do, and I generally feel powerless to get the initiative, let alone work anything on him. But last night, I finally made some inroads in how to deal with those specific challenges. That, for me, was a big win. Now that I know I can do it, I can do it more often :-)
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.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Fuji Kassen gi and gis in general..
After much back and forth and roaming the net, I decided on a Fuji Kassen. Here in Australia, we don't have such a huge choice available. We can, of course, order from USA or Europe, but the cost of postage for a gi is approximately USD40, and that adds significantly to the total cost. It also depends on the exchange rate, and can turn into an expensive way of buying a gi.
What I have in the way of gis:
- size 5 judo gi (Jols) which was my first when I didn't know better. It is way too big and marked for ebay.
- A2 Padilla & Sons Gold weave gi. Sadly, too small after shrinkage and marked for ebay.
- A3 Atama (single??), bought 2nd hand on Oz ebay. Feels like armour, terribly stiff as I air dry my gis, but good fit. However, I hate the seam on the back. My comp gi to date, but is starting to show some worn patches on the collar. Otherwise, holding up well and getting used 2-3 times/week
- A3 Fuji single weave gi. Bought new in OZ. Not quite as nice a fit as the Atama, but next nicest. No seam on the back. Holding up really well getting used 2-3 times/week
- A3 Gameness single weave gi. Bought second hadn on Oz ebay. Hate it because it doesn't fit me well and the material is very thin. That together with the stiff as a board collar is a recipe for making it fall off while I wrestle, although the fit is good. Don't like the pants at all. Marked for disposal on ebay
-A2 Shoyoroll gi. Batch 6, blue. Am not yet allowed to wear it (have to wait until blue belt :-( ). Wanted a white one, but my size was sold out too fast, so bought this on spec. Much longer in the sleeves than some of the others, had to wash it on 60deg.C to get them to shrink so I can wear it. The pants fit nice and I wear them sometimes (I figure if we are allowed black pans with a white gi top, I can wear blue ones). So I haven't battle tested this Gi yet.
As I have three gis which are all but useless to me and one I can't wear yet, I decided to get another so I have three in a rotation. As I train 5 or 6 times per week (twice on Wednesdays), I really need the three.
I was lusting after several nice looking gis, but with overseas postage, conversion rates and the longer wait I decided against it at this point in time.
So I ordered and received the A3 Fuji Kassen. It's available in OZ, so the postage cost is ok. And the white gi with the moderate patches looks pretty good. I love black and red, so the patches appeal to me and they are not over the top. The A3 Kassen is pretty much the same size as the A3 single weave Fuji, except that the sleeves are still a bit longer. It's had a wash at 30 and a wash at 40 deg.C. So they may shrink a touch more yet, which is fine. The pants did shrink a bit, too, but are fine. I've replaced the cloth ties on the pants with cotton string as I can't stand cloth ties. It needs a musclebound contortionist to do them up.
The pants have reinforcement all the way down and feel very robust, a bit like armour. One minor bitch I have is that the stitching at the edge at the top (where the string passes through) has let go on one side. So I need to fix that with the sewing machine. But I consider that minor. The fit is good for me.
The jacket feels nice, and the collar is just right. I've only had one roll in it, and that was after the first nearly cold wash, so the jacket was still a bit big then. It looks as though it has shrunk just a tad more so I think it will fit well now. The weave is supposed to be some kind of pearl weave. Looks and feels good, and I do like it better than the single weave.
All in all, this gi seems pretty nice. I will take some photos and measurements shortly and post them.
What I have in the way of gis:
- size 5 judo gi (Jols) which was my first when I didn't know better. It is way too big and marked for ebay.
- A2 Padilla & Sons Gold weave gi. Sadly, too small after shrinkage and marked for ebay.
- A3 Atama (single??), bought 2nd hand on Oz ebay. Feels like armour, terribly stiff as I air dry my gis, but good fit. However, I hate the seam on the back. My comp gi to date, but is starting to show some worn patches on the collar. Otherwise, holding up well and getting used 2-3 times/week
- A3 Fuji single weave gi. Bought new in OZ. Not quite as nice a fit as the Atama, but next nicest. No seam on the back. Holding up really well getting used 2-3 times/week
- A3 Gameness single weave gi. Bought second hadn on Oz ebay. Hate it because it doesn't fit me well and the material is very thin. That together with the stiff as a board collar is a recipe for making it fall off while I wrestle, although the fit is good. Don't like the pants at all. Marked for disposal on ebay
-A2 Shoyoroll gi. Batch 6, blue. Am not yet allowed to wear it (have to wait until blue belt :-( ). Wanted a white one, but my size was sold out too fast, so bought this on spec. Much longer in the sleeves than some of the others, had to wash it on 60deg.C to get them to shrink so I can wear it. The pants fit nice and I wear them sometimes (I figure if we are allowed black pans with a white gi top, I can wear blue ones). So I haven't battle tested this Gi yet.
As I have three gis which are all but useless to me and one I can't wear yet, I decided to get another so I have three in a rotation. As I train 5 or 6 times per week (twice on Wednesdays), I really need the three.
I was lusting after several nice looking gis, but with overseas postage, conversion rates and the longer wait I decided against it at this point in time.
So I ordered and received the A3 Fuji Kassen. It's available in OZ, so the postage cost is ok. And the white gi with the moderate patches looks pretty good. I love black and red, so the patches appeal to me and they are not over the top. The A3 Kassen is pretty much the same size as the A3 single weave Fuji, except that the sleeves are still a bit longer. It's had a wash at 30 and a wash at 40 deg.C. So they may shrink a touch more yet, which is fine. The pants did shrink a bit, too, but are fine. I've replaced the cloth ties on the pants with cotton string as I can't stand cloth ties. It needs a musclebound contortionist to do them up.
The pants have reinforcement all the way down and feel very robust, a bit like armour. One minor bitch I have is that the stitching at the edge at the top (where the string passes through) has let go on one side. So I need to fix that with the sewing machine. But I consider that minor. The fit is good for me.
The jacket feels nice, and the collar is just right. I've only had one roll in it, and that was after the first nearly cold wash, so the jacket was still a bit big then. It looks as though it has shrunk just a tad more so I think it will fit well now. The weave is supposed to be some kind of pearl weave. Looks and feels good, and I do like it better than the single weave.
All in all, this gi seems pretty nice. I will take some photos and measurements shortly and post them.
back control techniques and other stuff
The Monday night class started with the pre grading speech. There will be a grading on Saturday, and there are half a dozen white belt guys going for their first stripe, and a couple for their second and third. And one of the blue belts is to be put through his paces with a view to purple. That should be fun to watch and participate in :-). It will be the first grading for me where I don't have to perform, I'm nowhere near a coloured belt yet, and already have four stripes, so I'm not up for testing and I can just enjoy. I can help put the rest of them through their paces!
So there was much going over basic drills for the four white belt guys, and the rest of us did the same, but mixed it up with a bit of rolling, starting at the drop of a hat from whatever position we happened to be in. That's always good fun.
For a change, there was another woman in class. She's a karate black belt and has four stripes on her white belt in BJJ, but hasn't trained for about a year or so. We were partnered up. I helped her chips some of the rust off, and we had a good time. I shamelessly worked my top game, too :-)
At some stage we did a few reps of armbar from mount. Then we spend some time on back control. What makes a good seat belt grip, and why correct hand positioning is so crucial for getting chokes. We were shown several ways of changing grips when the opponent tries to peel your hand off. Finally, we did a drill on maintaining back control. If my partner rolls to one side to get his back to the floor or to roll over away from me, generally I lose my bottom hook. Instead of fighting for it and risk losing my chest attachment to his back, I push off that bottom leg, to drive the top knee forward. Then I use the back of the knee like a hook to pull him back on top of me wich allows me to get the second hook in. It looked complicated, but feels good. As I have always had a lot of problems maintaining back control, I think this may help a lot.
So there was much going over basic drills for the four white belt guys, and the rest of us did the same, but mixed it up with a bit of rolling, starting at the drop of a hat from whatever position we happened to be in. That's always good fun.
For a change, there was another woman in class. She's a karate black belt and has four stripes on her white belt in BJJ, but hasn't trained for about a year or so. We were partnered up. I helped her chips some of the rust off, and we had a good time. I shamelessly worked my top game, too :-)
At some stage we did a few reps of armbar from mount. Then we spend some time on back control. What makes a good seat belt grip, and why correct hand positioning is so crucial for getting chokes. We were shown several ways of changing grips when the opponent tries to peel your hand off. Finally, we did a drill on maintaining back control. If my partner rolls to one side to get his back to the floor or to roll over away from me, generally I lose my bottom hook. Instead of fighting for it and risk losing my chest attachment to his back, I push off that bottom leg, to drive the top knee forward. Then I use the back of the knee like a hook to pull him back on top of me wich allows me to get the second hook in. It looked complicated, but feels good. As I have always had a lot of problems maintaining back control, I think this may help a lot.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Z-guard sweep, armlock and armdrags
Saturday lunchtime class only consisted of a bluebelt, myself and three of the very new guys.
The threesome were taken to one side to work on guard passing and some basic attacks from guard.
We were introduced to Z-guard. I'd only seen in in pictures and seeing I'm busy with plenty of other guard types which I have yet to master, I had never given it much of a second look. So we worked on the basic position and what it's control points are. It is really a subset of halfguard, and a pretty open version. The leg that's across the belly is in certain danger of leg attacks, so that's something to be mindful of.
We started learning a sweep. Say my partner is kneeling in front of me. I have Z-guard on him with my right hip on the floor, my right leg hooked behind his right knee and my left shin across his belly with me left foot on his right hip. I need to grab his left sleeve with my left hand so he can't post. I reach for his left pant leg with my right hand, so I can stop him from bracing out. Using my left hook against his right hip pushing to his left (the way I'm facing) and my right leg to pull his right leg to his right, I unbalance him to his left. This felt a bit awkward at first, and it took a few reps to get the hang of it.
Next we learned that if he braces with his left hand, we can attack with a figure four armlock. To start that, I need to grab his left wrist with my right hand to secure it. I need to shoot my left leg through (straighten it), so my knee is no longer between him and myself. At the same time, I sit up into him, to attach my left shoulder to his left shoulder and reach over with my left arm. This allows me then to fall back and as I do that, I grab my right wrist with my left for a figure four.
Then we were shown two variations of an arm drag to get to the back. One was a basic arm drag. I grab his right sleeve with my left, cup under his bicep with my right, pull and attach myself to his right shoulder and go for a seatbelt grip. The second variation is for where he has a grip with his right arm or he is leaning into me hard. I grab his right sleeve with me left hand, push him up with my right and insert my knee into the crook of his right elbow. Holding onto his sleeve, I can use my knee to push his arm away from his body. This creates a gap under his armpit. Into this gap, I push my right hand. I pull up with my right while using my shin and my left arm to elevate his right arm. Then I straighten my legs and duck under his arm to get his back. That sounds complicated, but is actually quite easy to do.
The rest of the class, we took turns from Z-guard, trying for the sweep, the armlock or one of the armdrags.
I've found myself in Z-guard a few times by accident, usually when someone was starting to pass and I gut my shin across. While I don't think I'm ready to successfully implement a Z-guard game, it gives me a few options if I'm in that position. If nothing else, I can threaten my opponent, so he will have less chance to pass my guard, and it might open something up. But I'll give it a crack, as I think the armdrag might work on some of the bigger folks, and the open guard is something I want to spend more time with anyway.
The threesome were taken to one side to work on guard passing and some basic attacks from guard.
We were introduced to Z-guard. I'd only seen in in pictures and seeing I'm busy with plenty of other guard types which I have yet to master, I had never given it much of a second look. So we worked on the basic position and what it's control points are. It is really a subset of halfguard, and a pretty open version. The leg that's across the belly is in certain danger of leg attacks, so that's something to be mindful of.
We started learning a sweep. Say my partner is kneeling in front of me. I have Z-guard on him with my right hip on the floor, my right leg hooked behind his right knee and my left shin across his belly with me left foot on his right hip. I need to grab his left sleeve with my left hand so he can't post. I reach for his left pant leg with my right hand, so I can stop him from bracing out. Using my left hook against his right hip pushing to his left (the way I'm facing) and my right leg to pull his right leg to his right, I unbalance him to his left. This felt a bit awkward at first, and it took a few reps to get the hang of it.
Next we learned that if he braces with his left hand, we can attack with a figure four armlock. To start that, I need to grab his left wrist with my right hand to secure it. I need to shoot my left leg through (straighten it), so my knee is no longer between him and myself. At the same time, I sit up into him, to attach my left shoulder to his left shoulder and reach over with my left arm. This allows me then to fall back and as I do that, I grab my right wrist with my left for a figure four.
Then we were shown two variations of an arm drag to get to the back. One was a basic arm drag. I grab his right sleeve with my left, cup under his bicep with my right, pull and attach myself to his right shoulder and go for a seatbelt grip. The second variation is for where he has a grip with his right arm or he is leaning into me hard. I grab his right sleeve with me left hand, push him up with my right and insert my knee into the crook of his right elbow. Holding onto his sleeve, I can use my knee to push his arm away from his body. This creates a gap under his armpit. Into this gap, I push my right hand. I pull up with my right while using my shin and my left arm to elevate his right arm. Then I straighten my legs and duck under his arm to get his back. That sounds complicated, but is actually quite easy to do.
The rest of the class, we took turns from Z-guard, trying for the sweep, the armlock or one of the armdrags.
I've found myself in Z-guard a few times by accident, usually when someone was starting to pass and I gut my shin across. While I don't think I'm ready to successfully implement a Z-guard game, it gives me a few options if I'm in that position. If nothing else, I can threaten my opponent, so he will have less chance to pass my guard, and it might open something up. But I'll give it a crack, as I think the armdrag might work on some of the bigger folks, and the open guard is something I want to spend more time with anyway.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
lots and lots of rolling
After two days on the road and an exam in the morning, I was ready for a good roll on Thursday.
It was open mat, and there weren't very many people there. I had the chance to learn a new sweep I hadn't seen, one of the blue belts was practicing it and he needed a body. Of course he showed it to me and we both had a few reps, adding increasingly more resistance. I think they called it a pendulum sweep.
I really wish I could remember more details of individual rolls, but it all seems to become a blur soon after, especially if we have several rounds in a row. And we rolled for the best part of an hour and a half.
I still don't have an answer for one of the solid white belts. He crushes me. He grabs on tight, whichever body part he can get hold of (but he likes arms), and then it's usually curtain time for me. Hey, I might get his back, but he still hauls me in. Any time I attack him this happens. He has the shoulder from hell and really good crushing pressure when on top. He is one of the few people who I don't like in my guard because he bears down and drives his shoulder into me with a smashing pass. So I have made it my goal to keep distance, stay out from under him and break his grips. I succeeded partially, but still got smashed mostly. At one time, my gi collar slipped down onto my right shoulderblade, where a fold dug into my back while he was crushing me from the top. Ouch :-) . This guy frustrates me endlessly, but it is forcing me to think of alternatives.
I had several good rolls with more senior guys. As always, they leave me some little holes and if I find them, I can work on my top game. I'm more mindful of using my hips now when I'm on the bottom, and as a result, I get out of side control more often. I've progressed from just defending to escaping. At one point, I went for an armbar from sidemount, and I managed a textbook grip break, the way John Campbell taught us at the seminar. And it worked :-)
Other than that, I'm much more weary of underhooks. The only way one of the blue belts managed to get my elbows exposed enough was to go for chokes. Sure, I defended all the chokes, but at some point, he got under my elbow and that was a one way street to an armbar.
So that was Thursday. I had a fantastic workout and felt I'd wrestled reasonably well.
Friday night, our instructor decided that we should just wrestle, and everyone thought that was pretty cool. We did five minute rounds, then had a minute off and changed partners.
Sadly, I allowed a horse-related matter to really upset me, and I couldn't get it out of my head all afternoon. I was still grizzling about it on the way to training in the evening. Not sure why, it wasn't such a big deal. Maybe I was more stressed than what I thougth with exams, watching an old friend having to disperse his horses and worrying about my own lot back home. Usually, I can compartmentalise and put negative stuff to one side. Martial Arts training really has helped me focus and be more mentally disciplined. But Friday, I was angry about some things and I couldn't shake it. And we all know we shouldn't bring baggage to training!
I had my favourite training partner for the first round. Being a little bit absent mentally, I walked straight into his usual trap, was swept like a newbie and generally felt like a klutz. Lik.. three time in a row. I felt my anger coming up. Not at him, at myself. I was allowing my baggage to ruin my training and I was getting angry. Then, my good sense kicked in, I called myself a stupid fool, reset and went at it. From then on it was fantastic. I gave him some grief before it was time out.
Next I had the tall guy who likes rubber guard. I pulled guard, broke him down and got mission control. I changed hand to the other side of his head and started to feed my foot through under his face, when he postured up. It was only on Monday when I drilled rubber guard stuff with him, that he told me that there are things like gogoplata and locoplata. So he was more than surprised when I grabbed my toe and choked him with my foot. I guess that was a gogoplata :-) . We had another roll which was fun until time was up.
Two of the rounds were with very new guys, they've only been wrestling for a few weeks, and it was their first proper roll. One is my size, the other is smaller. What a pleasant change!! Anyway, both impressed me with not spazzing but using the moves they've learned so far. Tense yes, spazzy no. I choked, armbarred and figure four'd to my heart's content. I swept and did all the things I'm supposed to be doing. But honestly, they were good because they didn't ego trip and they didn't spazz, which is more than I can say for a lot of other beginners. I told both of them they did really good.
I had a round with another blue belt who gave me a puzzle. I pulled guard and he hunkered down, elbows clamped down, head on my belly. Nothing to attack or sweep. Then I rememberd that I can push on the head. So I did and bingo! Correct answer. And he said so. From there things opened up and I tried for the sweep I've been working on while I had him broken down. Nope, no go. Then I tried my recently learned armbar setup. I succeeded in getting the knee over his shoulder and I had his arm where I wanted it, but I needed to angle off. And as he knew exactly what I was up to (he even said so - and laughed, the bastard), he wouldn't let me come across and get the right angle and eventually I lost it. He passed after a bit and then I went to my standard defenses. His comment was (yet again) that those defenses were irritating. Then it was time out. I figure if I can irritage an experience blue belt, I must be doing something right ;-) .
And last of all, I had a round with a purple belt. He's got a favourite pass he calls the loving pass. Not sure exactly what he does, but he hugs you tight and just keeps coming. What is incredible to feel with him is how he sits and chills (as he calls it) and saves energy. If I make any move, it's like he's been switched on, and he clamps tight. The only room to move is the move he wants you to make. And everytime you wriggle, bounce, try to upa, move the hips or whatever, he just clamps on that bit tighter, removing more of your space. All while using a minimum of his and a maximum of your energy. Until he's in the right spot from where he just goes for peeling out an elbow and that's the end of it. He is only about my weight. But phantastic pressure and top control. Second roll I don't remember too well. He had a go at mission control, but I managed to get out of that and pass his guard. He rolled over and I had turtle top. Couldn't attack his neck and then he swept me I think. Then it was time out.
Afterwards, a few of us stayed on for a little longer and I scored another long roll with him. It just went on and on with half a dozen changes from top to bottom, escapes, sweeps and the whole deal. I worked my arse off, but at least I wasn't squashed on the bottom very often. At one point, he threated to choke me with my own belt. We had a few laughs. Especially when he turtled and I tried to jerk him up, but he dropped down and hit the mat with his forehead. Oops :-) . I rolled out of an omoplata attempt of his and escaped an armbar. But I had a chance at all sorts of things and it flowed and went places, so it was fantastic. And he didn't have to hand me everything on a silver platter.
I'm always mindful when rolling with the senior guys, that THEY need a chance to work their stuff. I don't want to be the one getting all the benefit from it. So the better I wrestle, the more of a challenge I can be for them, the more they can pressure test their stuff.
And by the end of the night, I was in a fantastic frame of mind, the mental cobwebs blown away. Tired in body, happy in mind. Isn't BJJ a wonderful thing?
It was open mat, and there weren't very many people there. I had the chance to learn a new sweep I hadn't seen, one of the blue belts was practicing it and he needed a body. Of course he showed it to me and we both had a few reps, adding increasingly more resistance. I think they called it a pendulum sweep.
I really wish I could remember more details of individual rolls, but it all seems to become a blur soon after, especially if we have several rounds in a row. And we rolled for the best part of an hour and a half.
I still don't have an answer for one of the solid white belts. He crushes me. He grabs on tight, whichever body part he can get hold of (but he likes arms), and then it's usually curtain time for me. Hey, I might get his back, but he still hauls me in. Any time I attack him this happens. He has the shoulder from hell and really good crushing pressure when on top. He is one of the few people who I don't like in my guard because he bears down and drives his shoulder into me with a smashing pass. So I have made it my goal to keep distance, stay out from under him and break his grips. I succeeded partially, but still got smashed mostly. At one time, my gi collar slipped down onto my right shoulderblade, where a fold dug into my back while he was crushing me from the top. Ouch :-) . This guy frustrates me endlessly, but it is forcing me to think of alternatives.
I had several good rolls with more senior guys. As always, they leave me some little holes and if I find them, I can work on my top game. I'm more mindful of using my hips now when I'm on the bottom, and as a result, I get out of side control more often. I've progressed from just defending to escaping. At one point, I went for an armbar from sidemount, and I managed a textbook grip break, the way John Campbell taught us at the seminar. And it worked :-)
Other than that, I'm much more weary of underhooks. The only way one of the blue belts managed to get my elbows exposed enough was to go for chokes. Sure, I defended all the chokes, but at some point, he got under my elbow and that was a one way street to an armbar.
So that was Thursday. I had a fantastic workout and felt I'd wrestled reasonably well.
Friday night, our instructor decided that we should just wrestle, and everyone thought that was pretty cool. We did five minute rounds, then had a minute off and changed partners.
Sadly, I allowed a horse-related matter to really upset me, and I couldn't get it out of my head all afternoon. I was still grizzling about it on the way to training in the evening. Not sure why, it wasn't such a big deal. Maybe I was more stressed than what I thougth with exams, watching an old friend having to disperse his horses and worrying about my own lot back home. Usually, I can compartmentalise and put negative stuff to one side. Martial Arts training really has helped me focus and be more mentally disciplined. But Friday, I was angry about some things and I couldn't shake it. And we all know we shouldn't bring baggage to training!
I had my favourite training partner for the first round. Being a little bit absent mentally, I walked straight into his usual trap, was swept like a newbie and generally felt like a klutz. Lik.. three time in a row. I felt my anger coming up. Not at him, at myself. I was allowing my baggage to ruin my training and I was getting angry. Then, my good sense kicked in, I called myself a stupid fool, reset and went at it. From then on it was fantastic. I gave him some grief before it was time out.
Next I had the tall guy who likes rubber guard. I pulled guard, broke him down and got mission control. I changed hand to the other side of his head and started to feed my foot through under his face, when he postured up. It was only on Monday when I drilled rubber guard stuff with him, that he told me that there are things like gogoplata and locoplata. So he was more than surprised when I grabbed my toe and choked him with my foot. I guess that was a gogoplata :-) . We had another roll which was fun until time was up.
Two of the rounds were with very new guys, they've only been wrestling for a few weeks, and it was their first proper roll. One is my size, the other is smaller. What a pleasant change!! Anyway, both impressed me with not spazzing but using the moves they've learned so far. Tense yes, spazzy no. I choked, armbarred and figure four'd to my heart's content. I swept and did all the things I'm supposed to be doing. But honestly, they were good because they didn't ego trip and they didn't spazz, which is more than I can say for a lot of other beginners. I told both of them they did really good.
I had a round with another blue belt who gave me a puzzle. I pulled guard and he hunkered down, elbows clamped down, head on my belly. Nothing to attack or sweep. Then I rememberd that I can push on the head. So I did and bingo! Correct answer. And he said so. From there things opened up and I tried for the sweep I've been working on while I had him broken down. Nope, no go. Then I tried my recently learned armbar setup. I succeeded in getting the knee over his shoulder and I had his arm where I wanted it, but I needed to angle off. And as he knew exactly what I was up to (he even said so - and laughed, the bastard), he wouldn't let me come across and get the right angle and eventually I lost it. He passed after a bit and then I went to my standard defenses. His comment was (yet again) that those defenses were irritating. Then it was time out. I figure if I can irritage an experience blue belt, I must be doing something right ;-) .
And last of all, I had a round with a purple belt. He's got a favourite pass he calls the loving pass. Not sure exactly what he does, but he hugs you tight and just keeps coming. What is incredible to feel with him is how he sits and chills (as he calls it) and saves energy. If I make any move, it's like he's been switched on, and he clamps tight. The only room to move is the move he wants you to make. And everytime you wriggle, bounce, try to upa, move the hips or whatever, he just clamps on that bit tighter, removing more of your space. All while using a minimum of his and a maximum of your energy. Until he's in the right spot from where he just goes for peeling out an elbow and that's the end of it. He is only about my weight. But phantastic pressure and top control. Second roll I don't remember too well. He had a go at mission control, but I managed to get out of that and pass his guard. He rolled over and I had turtle top. Couldn't attack his neck and then he swept me I think. Then it was time out.
Afterwards, a few of us stayed on for a little longer and I scored another long roll with him. It just went on and on with half a dozen changes from top to bottom, escapes, sweeps and the whole deal. I worked my arse off, but at least I wasn't squashed on the bottom very often. At one point, he threated to choke me with my own belt. We had a few laughs. Especially when he turtled and I tried to jerk him up, but he dropped down and hit the mat with his forehead. Oops :-) . I rolled out of an omoplata attempt of his and escaped an armbar. But I had a chance at all sorts of things and it flowed and went places, so it was fantastic. And he didn't have to hand me everything on a silver platter.
I'm always mindful when rolling with the senior guys, that THEY need a chance to work their stuff. I don't want to be the one getting all the benefit from it. So the better I wrestle, the more of a challenge I can be for them, the more they can pressure test their stuff.
And by the end of the night, I was in a fantastic frame of mind, the mental cobwebs blown away. Tired in body, happy in mind. Isn't BJJ a wonderful thing?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
played with rubber guard
Monday night, we played around a bit with rubber guard stuff. I was partnered with one of the tall white belt guys who actually uses mission control a lot during wrestling.
It's been a little while since we did go over RG moves and it was pretty much a refresher on the whole progression of moves from mission control via zombie to new york. I always forget all the other crazy names, but the next step is to feed the foot under his neck and go to jiu claw and omoplata.
It's funny how two people remember different bits when they see a demonstration. I remembered some details which my partner had forgotten, and he helped me with bit I didn't recall. Between us, we did pretty well :-). In the end, we did the sequence against a little bit of resistance and just got some reps in.
We did a little bit of rolling at the end. Without remembering many details, I know I certainly didn't set the world on fire.
I didn't get to the Wednesday classes because I was away for two days, looking at horses. I also had an exam for uni first thing on Thursday morning, so while I could have maybe made it to the Wednesday evening class, I chose to stay home and brush on on the subject.
It's been a little while since we did go over RG moves and it was pretty much a refresher on the whole progression of moves from mission control via zombie to new york. I always forget all the other crazy names, but the next step is to feed the foot under his neck and go to jiu claw and omoplata.
It's funny how two people remember different bits when they see a demonstration. I remembered some details which my partner had forgotten, and he helped me with bit I didn't recall. Between us, we did pretty well :-). In the end, we did the sequence against a little bit of resistance and just got some reps in.
We did a little bit of rolling at the end. Without remembering many details, I know I certainly didn't set the world on fire.
I didn't get to the Wednesday classes because I was away for two days, looking at horses. I also had an exam for uni first thing on Thursday morning, so while I could have maybe made it to the Wednesday evening class, I chose to stay home and brush on on the subject.
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.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
open mat fun
Thurday night open mat was a small affair with only four of us turning up.
There were two heavyish/strong guys and a young fast one, so I was pretty much expecting to get steamrolled the whole time.
I think I can't claim a single sub for the whole evening, but I succeeded in lots of escapes, I had good positions several times and I certainly attempted numerous submissions. I came close with several of my chokes. I didn't spend the whole evening mounted or turtled, which made a nice change. Sure, I still got manhandled, and I had to endure the indignity of the famous turtle turnover maneuver. But I repaid him by escaping out the back door and while he scambled away, I went after him and then snapped him down to turtle. So all in all I enjoyed myself and came away with a few new ideas on how to give the boys a hard time next time.
I tried to get the armbar setup from guard a few times. With the big boys I find it hard to pin them down to me, but I'm getting closer to getting it right. Once I actually succeeded, only to have the guy power out of it right at the end (I made a mistake). But that was success in a way as I usually find it harder to get myself in position and maintain pressure all the way than the actual technique.
I also frustrated the hell out of the young guy by keeping elbows and knees in and giving him nothing. He's a young and explosive and very competitive, but out of condition (had time off due to injury..), and half way through the second roll, when I wore him down in guard, he quit. Well, he had spent a ton of energy earlier trying to pass my closed guard by standing up and yanking and pulling. I see that loads of times with the less experienced guys, they try to power out of everything. Sometimes they get away with it, but until they learn to used technique instead of brute force, it's a hit and miss affair.
Yeah, interesting evening :-)
There were two heavyish/strong guys and a young fast one, so I was pretty much expecting to get steamrolled the whole time.
I think I can't claim a single sub for the whole evening, but I succeeded in lots of escapes, I had good positions several times and I certainly attempted numerous submissions. I came close with several of my chokes. I didn't spend the whole evening mounted or turtled, which made a nice change. Sure, I still got manhandled, and I had to endure the indignity of the famous turtle turnover maneuver. But I repaid him by escaping out the back door and while he scambled away, I went after him and then snapped him down to turtle. So all in all I enjoyed myself and came away with a few new ideas on how to give the boys a hard time next time.
I tried to get the armbar setup from guard a few times. With the big boys I find it hard to pin them down to me, but I'm getting closer to getting it right. Once I actually succeeded, only to have the guy power out of it right at the end (I made a mistake). But that was success in a way as I usually find it harder to get myself in position and maintain pressure all the way than the actual technique.
I also frustrated the hell out of the young guy by keeping elbows and knees in and giving him nothing. He's a young and explosive and very competitive, but out of condition (had time off due to injury..), and half way through the second roll, when I wore him down in guard, he quit. Well, he had spent a ton of energy earlier trying to pass my closed guard by standing up and yanking and pulling. I see that loads of times with the less experienced guys, they try to power out of everything. Sometimes they get away with it, but until they learn to used technique instead of brute force, it's a hit and miss affair.
Yeah, interesting evening :-)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
armbars - I shall own you!!
No class on Monday because of the Queen's Birthday holiday.
Wednesday, I went to the lunchtime class only, as I decided to stay home in the evening and study for my Thursday exam.
So, Wednesday... We had a small class with only three there, including a "slightly damaged" blue belt. For me: more armbar practice. I'm still making adjustments to tighten things up, and the small classes gives me plenty of one on one time to really get this right.
The third guy there is very new and is busy learning the basic drills. However, it seems he's been doing a bunch of wrestling with his friends, so far from being a puppy on the mat, he can move. I know this first hand, as I was given him for a free wrestle for a bit. I wasn't sure whether the idea was to throw me to the sharks or him ;-)
He fast. He strong. But he leave lotsa gaps :-) . First roll, I snapped him down and got a collar choke from the top. Second roll. Not so lucky. As usual, cannot remember the details. I did have in my guard at some point, but when I opened for an attack, he was through. I easily got out of his side control, and he couldn't keep mount, and all his attacks didn't succeed. But like all the young guys, he's so damn fast! Anyway were called to stop. But it had been fun and I really enjoyed it.
Then we both did an armbar from mount drill on our obliging blue belt. And to my surprise, my spinning armbars, the bane of my life on previous occasions, didn't feel too bad. I might just be able to do this thing now. I might even be tempted into trying it on the mat some day. Worst case, I fail and end up on the bottom.
So that was a good class for me and I'm back to thinking that one day, I might be better than useless on the mat :-)
Wednesday, I went to the lunchtime class only, as I decided to stay home in the evening and study for my Thursday exam.
So, Wednesday... We had a small class with only three there, including a "slightly damaged" blue belt. For me: more armbar practice. I'm still making adjustments to tighten things up, and the small classes gives me plenty of one on one time to really get this right.
The third guy there is very new and is busy learning the basic drills. However, it seems he's been doing a bunch of wrestling with his friends, so far from being a puppy on the mat, he can move. I know this first hand, as I was given him for a free wrestle for a bit. I wasn't sure whether the idea was to throw me to the sharks or him ;-)
He fast. He strong. But he leave lotsa gaps :-) . First roll, I snapped him down and got a collar choke from the top. Second roll. Not so lucky. As usual, cannot remember the details. I did have in my guard at some point, but when I opened for an attack, he was through. I easily got out of his side control, and he couldn't keep mount, and all his attacks didn't succeed. But like all the young guys, he's so damn fast! Anyway were called to stop. But it had been fun and I really enjoyed it.
Then we both did an armbar from mount drill on our obliging blue belt. And to my surprise, my spinning armbars, the bane of my life on previous occasions, didn't feel too bad. I might just be able to do this thing now. I might even be tempted into trying it on the mat some day. Worst case, I fail and end up on the bottom.
So that was a good class for me and I'm back to thinking that one day, I might be better than useless on the mat :-)
Sunday, June 13, 2010
room for improvement
The Wednesday night class was mostly free guard passing and then rolling. Same as during open mat Thursday night, there wasn't anything special. I felt a bit ordinary and consequently, my wrestling was sub par. Got stuck under some of the bigger guys, and even if not stuck, didn't seem to be able to move my hips. But even from better spots, I was just being muscled around.
I did surprise myself by sinking a few collar chokes, both from back control and turtle top. The ridiculous thing was that I wanted to work on armbars and sweeps. Sadly, there weren't too many opportunities, and I missed the few I had. But the chokes just appeared and I too them. So I guess that was something good, even if that wasn't the goal I'd set myself.
The Saturday class consisted of myself, a two striper and two really new guys. Basically, we worked on basic drills with the new guys. I had a chance to work on my armbars from guard for a bit and I've figured what was giving me so much trouble before. I wasn't pushing off his hip with my foot enough. With that in mind, further drilling showed a bit more promise.
At the end of class, had a short wrestle with the two striper. I distinguished myself by losing my right hand inside my sleeve when he pulled on it while I was in his guard, and not being able to get it back. Having totally diasabled my right arm, he wrapped the sleeve around my neck. No, I didn't get choked, but damn, I could not get out of his guard. It was sooo embarrassing, because it was time just as I was making some progress. I felt such a dork.
So the whole latter half of the week seemed a bit of a blur with an overwhelming feeling at the end that I need to improve. A lot.
I did surprise myself by sinking a few collar chokes, both from back control and turtle top. The ridiculous thing was that I wanted to work on armbars and sweeps. Sadly, there weren't too many opportunities, and I missed the few I had. But the chokes just appeared and I too them. So I guess that was something good, even if that wasn't the goal I'd set myself.
The Saturday class consisted of myself, a two striper and two really new guys. Basically, we worked on basic drills with the new guys. I had a chance to work on my armbars from guard for a bit and I've figured what was giving me so much trouble before. I wasn't pushing off his hip with my foot enough. With that in mind, further drilling showed a bit more promise.
At the end of class, had a short wrestle with the two striper. I distinguished myself by losing my right hand inside my sleeve when he pulled on it while I was in his guard, and not being able to get it back. Having totally diasabled my right arm, he wrapped the sleeve around my neck. No, I didn't get choked, but damn, I could not get out of his guard. It was sooo embarrassing, because it was time just as I was making some progress. I felt such a dork.
So the whole latter half of the week seemed a bit of a blur with an overwhelming feeling at the end that I need to improve. A lot.
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