Mizblog

I came in feeling structurally unsound. I remembered my knee pads at least. Tested that out early, and the knee seemed fine. I started warming up on the small mat until Christian took the Krav Maga class in there. After that, I swept the big mat until Greggo started the class with a running warm up, then shrimps across the mat, then reverse shrimps, then somersaults, then fall breaks, then shoulder rolls.

After that, Christian suited up and had us do the transitions from side control bottom to half guard to open (butterfly) guard to full guard, then back to butterfly guard, then back to half guard on the other side and let the top person pass to side control. I don’t yet have a reflex to grab the underhook in half guard, but I was able to do the transitions pretty well. EDIT: I met Archie again, but kept forgetting his name! I kept thinking “Aaron, Andrew, A…” but couldn’t come up with “Archie” until it finally popped back into my head the next morning.

The next drill was to go from closed guard to open guard with feet on the hips and gi grips. I did this okay but was not good at scooting my own butt back so that it was behind my own shoulders. I need to work on this.

The last drill was to go from closed guard to half guard before your opponent opened your closed guard. I ended up working on this a lot during the subsequent rolls, and I discovered that I really suck at half guard.

Anyway, rolls. Started rolling against TJ and he tapped me about 3 times with some arm bar submissions he learned last Sunday at the JJ seminar. Humbling.

Next roll was with Cosmo, who tapped me with an Americana from side control top (I maneuvered him from half guard to side control with a stupid improvised technique that turned out to be a bad idea) and a Kimura from half guard bottom. He also cracked my neck with a cross face, and surprisingly my neck felt better leaving than when I went in! Hope it stays better!

I sat out the round after that, then came back and rolled with Matt, who I tried real hard to gi choke off the jump, but gave up when he didn’t tap. That gassed me out, and I ended up on side control bottom with no energy to move at all.

Last roll was with Dave, and that was a fun one. We each got sweeps, and I almost finished an arm bar on him from mount, but he wiggled out. I need to establish my control of the arm a little earlier and a little better in the future.

805 rash guards are coming in tomorrow!

Dragged myself in a little early because I felt very crappy, but wanted to train anyway. When I got there, I realized that I forgot my knee pads. I warmed up in the small room until Christian took the Krav class in there and kicked us out onto the main mat. Chris and I did some light rolling before class to sort of warm up. He complimented me on my good defense, and impressed me with his variety of attacks from below. He helped me clean up my bow and arrow choke, which I sunk for the first time on him.

Class started, and Greggo warmed us up by running us around the mat. We warmed up until the Krav folks got changed and joined the class. Then Christian taught us Osotogari, and a cheating hopping version. It’s very difficult to execute successfully. We did about 15 1-minute rounds of randori (takedown sparring) and I didn’t hit it once. I got a couple decent takedowns (mostly on Matt) and I got taken down a few times (once spectacularly by Matt, with a hip toss) and mostly I defended myself pretty well. I did try a few single leg takedowns, and bruised my knee on the mat (no knee pads).

Then we did arm bar drills. I teamed up with Dave, and my key insight was that I need to locate my pelvis at the elbow of the arm to be barred. Also, keep your stepping-up knee close to the controlled arm.

Then we rolled.

I rolled with Dave first. My knee was keeping me on my back, and I tapped to a kimura that I couldn’t defend without hurting my knee worse. Other than that, I did alright. Maintained guard longer than I used to.

I rolled with Aaron next. I did some good guard stuff. Stayed very active, broke his posture, and tried attacking with sweeps, but was rebuffed by my bruised knee. I sat out the last round with ice on my knee, then changed and went home. Nobody bowed out of class. TJ and Greggo were left on the mat, going over techniques, when I left.

Pam taught this Saturday morning class. Started with shadow boxing, mixing in push ups, squats, sit ups, lizard push ups, crunches and leg raises with the shadow boxing. Then we started going across the mat with inch worm push ups, lunge/knee thrusts, and side lunges. I was pretty fast and pretty tired. I pushed the pace.

After that we gloved up and paired up and got focus mitts. I was in a 3 person group with Corey and Susan. We switched off with the bag for the lonely 3rd, and I was fine with that. I was very awkward with the focus mitts, and I think I don’t give enough resistance to the punches when I’m holding mitts. I felt awkward with Susan holding pads for me, but I did alright. I also didn’t know the 3-punch counters after a bob or weave (hook straight hook after a bob/weave, straight hook straight after a slip)

After that we put the gloves and pads away, and we did 360 defenses. Susan was again trouble. Always a discussion and some awkwardness. I had real trouble with a right block and left strike. I always get the hands mixed up. I really need to practice 360 with simultaneous counters. Maybe Saranya will help me with it tomorrow.

Moving on from 360 defense, we did knife defenses. Block with a 360, then transition to a wrist grab, push it behind the attacker’s back while counter attacking, ending in a wrist lock take-away. Again, Susan proved difficult. She preferred the wrap technique, and indeed, that’s also my habit.

At the end of class, we did a gauntlet walk through the heavy bags, with attackers coming out at us from all angles.

Woke up Thursday feeling a tiny bit sore since Tuesday’s class, but not too bad. Went early to get gas at Costco.

Coach Mark came, but his knee was messed up so Greggo taught most of the class. After warm up, we did the alternating arm bar spins drill, then arm bar from the guard finishes, then sweep arm bar, then triangles. Then we rolled.

First roll was Cosmo, who got straight from the knees to side control and smashed me. I kept trying to recover guard but he persisted really well, eventually tapping me from pressure.

Next roll was with Phil. I jumped onto his back and was doing alright, but he got me in a kimura grip and was able to use that to get back to guard, and the round ended before he could turn it into a finish. Coach Mark admired his use of that grip. He said I looked good and had lost weight. I maybe lost some fat, but the scale still reads 227.8 lbs. or so.

Next roll was with Dave. He asked what weight class I was in. I told him the 227 number was without the gi, but lean I’d probably be about 175 lbs. He said that was the same as him – he used to weigh 225 lbs. but he’s dieted down to 178 lbs. now. He had a strained back, and our roll started out in unlit territory (I had him in my butterfly guard) and I was thinking of flipping him over his head but didn’t because I didn’t know if it would hurt him. Anyway, I eventually got on top and threatened attacks until the end of the round.

Next roll was with Cosmo again. He again got me down and straight into side control. He again started crushing me mercilessly. But this time he made a mistake in going for a submission, and I got on top and into side control. I then crushed him mercilessly. It eventually forced him to turn away, and I was able to get mount. He tried a collar choke from below, and I was pursuing submissions until the end of the round.

I took the next roll off and talked with Chris a little bit. Then we rolled during the next slot. He started in seated guard, and was able to sweep me and submit me pretty quickly. Then I was able to push him down and throw his feet to the side, and we fought for side control until the end of the round.

At the end of class we did 80 crunches, lined up, and I was awarded my 2nd stripe on my white belt. The first stripe took me 21 classes, and the 2nd one took me 33 classes. At this rate, I should be a blue belt in another 2 years.

I had a dream this morning. In it, Saranya and I were visiting a house in the valley. It was like Greg’s house, kind of. Across the street, there was a jet airplane pulling up. They were gunning the engine like a hot rod after driving it through the valley streets from the airport.

Inside the house, Saranya and I had to do a quest. We had to go out the back and through a dark alley. Guarding the way was a statue with a spear. I grabbed the spear and was able to pull it, but the statue kept its grip and walked around me. When I pulled the spear into the light, it came free and the statue disappeared. That’s when I realized that the statue was really the Bogey Man. It was only visible in low light. It was invisible in darkness, and was incorporeal in bright light.

Across the alley was a lantern store, and Saranya had the bright idea of going over and lighting a bunch of lamps. That lit up the alley, and we could go down a ways. But Saranya was sloppy, and left a bunch of dark areas. I tried calling her back (I was too scared to go into the dark with her, apparently) but she was off doing her own thing for a bit. Eventually she came back, but by then a dining crowd had come to the alley and were sitting outside a restaurant next to the lantern store. She made her way through the crowd, and then started going the OTHER WAY through the alley, into pitch blackness! I was petrified. I could see footprints being formed in the dirt on the dark hill next to the alley. I ran out to get Saranya and get her turned around, but when we turned, we saw the shape of a short, bearded caveman guy rushing us at the edge of the illumination from the lantern store. Saranya surprised me again by launching into a flying side kick, which knocked the Bogey Man sideways and made him stagger. I jumped in and cut into his neck with my khukri.

He started arguing with me about the effectiveness of cutting the Bogey Man, so I cut his head entirely from his body, which then started stumbling around reaching for me. I did the Black Knight thing and cut off the arms and one of the legs to render him harmless.

Then I woke up.

Coming back from a week and a half off felt pretty good. Warm ups were so easy that I barely broke a sweat. Just slow motion guard passing. Once all the slowpokes from Krav suited up (TJ and Aaron) we bowed in and got right into closed guard pass defenses stemming from the elbow seam grip.

If your opponent is in your closed guard and they move their knees to start to open your guard, that’s when you get your chance to sweep them. Pull their elbow down toward the ground and pinch them with your knees to scissor them over toward your elbow-grip hand. Once you’ve got them going over, separate your feet to continue the scissor and end up in mount.

If your opponent bases up on one foot (away from the elbow) you can (again) pull them down with the elbow grip while turning to underhook their posted leg, pulling them down onto your hamstring. You can then pendulum them over and mount them.

If your opponent stands up and lifts your hips up, you can lower yourself and then sharply pull them down with your closed guard legs and the elbow grip to break their posture. Then you can overhook their foot (away from your elbow grip) and lever them down as you come on top.

After we drilled those things (I didn’t get a chance to drill the knee pass scissor) we rolled, starting from guard. I started with Aaron, who had a hurt neck and was going 50%. I refrained from grabbing his neck. Easy roll. Focused on technique and base rather than winning, and it set the tone for the whole day.

Then I rolled with TJ, who had a tweaked back. He passed my guard and tried to get me in a crucifix, but I kept getting my arm out. He thought I’d seen the technique before but I just knew my arm was in peril and brought it back to safety.

I rolled with Rick next, and was immediately uncomfortable in his butterfly guard. I again took a measured approach, and only got tapped out 2 or 3 times.

Then I rolled with Greggo, and he walked me through an arm bar.

Next was Dave, who I was able to almost finish with an arm bar (he escaped), and again almost finish at the end with a collar choke. He coached me on the finish but we ran out of time.

At the end I rolled with Ryan, and though I went easy on him, I was able to dismantle him. He was so dead tired, and had no technique, so he was basically a talking grappling dummy.

I got out of the class feeling pretty good, with no serious injuries.

Curtis started this Saturday morning class a couple minutes early, with running. I was dying after 5 minutes, but we went about 7 minutes. My cardio is embarrassing after a week off due to a twisted (sprained) knee. We transitioned into some mat crossing movement exercises like lizard walk with push-ups, crab walk, etc. Then we started shoulder tag, alternating rounds with exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, mountain climbers, etc. Again, I was dying.

After that, we had a little dynamic stretch, then broke for water and gloves and focus mitts. Dave teamed up with me and I was first striker. I did okay, I guess. He was holding the mitts far to the side of his head, and it was awkward punching them 1-2, because he’s so wide anyway. Then I held mitts for him, and he’s got a lot to address. His footwork is awkward, and he has awkward habits with is hands (lowering them before punching). Curtis spent a lot of time coaching him, and I put in some pointers too. He needs to put in some effort to break his bad habits.

At the end, we did stick defenses, and for the stress drill we put a boxing glove on our non-stick-holding hand and threw punches once we did the stick defense.

Brandon taught this Saturday morning Krav class. I came in with a sore rib and sore feet. I also took a couple of sports legs supplement pills for muscle energy.

We started with jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, and shadow boxing in a circuit. Then a bit of shoulder tag. Then we got a kick shield and did ground and pound for 45 seconds followed by shadow boxing for 45 seconds, in a circuit, for 3 rounds. Once that insanity was done, we got a drink of water and came back with our boxing gloves on, and pulled out our own heavy bag.

We did long rounds (3:45) of punches, then kicks on the bag to warm up. Then more water and gloves off. We did turning hammer fist strikes on the bag, then side kicks, then turning side kicks, then round kick recoiling back to a turning side kick the other way. Pretty cool, but exhausting.

At the end of class we did bear hug from the front, arms trapped. It was lame.

Got on the mat and bowed in with coach Greggo, anticipating coach Mark would arrive and take over the class. We warmed up doing alternating guard arm bar swings. Wheee!

Mark didn’t show, so Christian suited up and taught us the very basics of guard passing and posture.

Basic guard posture involves squeezing your legs next to the bottom person’s hips. Grip the lapels and take off the slack to minimize your opponent’s ability to move. Your other hand should find the hip bone, and line up the elbow with their thigh bone. Christian had the bottom person test the top person’s base stability.

Breaking the guard involves keeping the hips on the ground, getting a knee into the butt while you shift your base to one side, then bending your back to extend it and break open the guard. I should have mentioned that the hand you have on the chest is on the same side as the leg you move in to anchor the butt.

From there, you raise your butt-knee off the mat, press the hip-hand-side leg down as you staple it down with the butt-knee. Then you pass the stapled leg, going for an underhook on the far side, lift the close side arm and slide the stapling leg through to kesa gatame.

After practicing that for a bit, we went to the small room to practice the sweep single leg takedown on the wrestling dummies. One of them punched me in the face and left a mark. Anyway, the takedown involves pulling down from the grip and holding them bent over while you do a drop step to the outside, elbow hook one knee, turn 90 degrees into them with your head touching their torso, get back to your feet and drive through them to finish the takedown. You can also turn them more to get them off balance and finish the takedown.

Then we did takedown sparring, which I loved. I took Dave down with a sacrifice throw, and I almost got the single leg of the day on a couple people. Not quite, though.

Regular rolling started thereafter. I rolled with Dave first, and told him my rib was sensitive, so if it hurt I’d just tap. He went easy on me, but it was just too painful to continue. I sat out most of the rolls thereafter.

Feeling fragile and apprehensive, I came into the studio a little early. Christian was sitting at the desk and reminded me about the women’s self defense seminar on Sunday. TJ was teaching Krav and they were doing light sparring with a 2-on-1 component. Very entertaining. I had planned on doing some warm ups on my own, but this was too interesting to look away from. Dave, Andrew, and Josh were putting on a show. During this, Christian came over and explained his lesson plan ideas to Greggo. Eventually, the Krav class lined up and bowed out, and we hurried onto the mat and lined up.

Our warm up was technical upa mount escapes followed by sloppy guard passes to mount. It was a good warm up, and gave me some excellent practice at an escape that I’ve done successfully in the past but not slowly or technically.

The next drill was guard recovery from mount. Getting the mount low over the hips, framing with the elbow, getting your legs inside the feet of the mounter so they can’t hook on, and either get a butterfly hook or an outside hook to recover guard. It was complicated and ugly, and both Christian and Greggo struggled to articulate how they decided when to switch from one mount escape technique to the other.

Then we rolled. Every roll was to start from the mount.

I started with Victor, and I did well. We both survived. He’s getting better. I could still tap him though.

Next I rolled with newly minted blue belt Dave. He started on top and I managed to sweep him, pass his guard, and mount him. I think. All I remember from that roll was attacking him with arm bars, Americanas, etc. The gi grip was the trigger for the upa sweep in the drills, so I only threatened that grip to open other things. I stayed on top for the rest of the roll, and Dave complimented me on my top control.

Next I rolled with Andrew, and that was hard. He got me in kesa gatame and crushed my ribs until I tapped from his pressure. Ouch! But I seem to be okay afterward. Other than that, I held my own against him. He had good defense once I was mounted, and I got too attached to the grip so he upa’d me just like I wouldn’t let Dave do. D’oh!

After that I rolled with TJ. He’s got a very good guard, especially against a tired old man like me. Unfortunately for him, he got a cramp and had to abandon the roll just as he was about to lock in an arm bar. I didn’t feel I did very good against him, as he was able to break me down in his guard pretty reliably.

The last roll, I again was paired up with Victor. He started on top, I recovered guard and got him in an arm bar. Then he started on bottom and I got him in an Americana and an arm bar and a gi choke. We were both so tired.