Mizblog

Came in sweaty from KM38. Jumped into the end of shrimping warm up. Got plenty more warm up and stretching.

Learned to go from side control to mount, and then back to side control.

Learned to go from under side control to half guard, and from there back to guard. The key is to move the hips away.

Then we did some situational rolling. I got paired with cops a lot. Three big burly Oxnard PD cops were guests for the class, and they kind of spas’d out. Then we did 2 free rolls (both with cops again) and got my neck solidly cranked. Still, except for that neck strain (and a mild quad strain) I came out feeling pretty good.

As I was getting ready for class, transitioning from KM37 to this class, Christian told me how to use my hand wraps to tie my thumb to my hand and pad it up. It really helped!

I guess on Friday they had another school come in and roll, and it showed up that our students were really vulnerable to the arm bar from guard. So we went over the arm bar setup from guard and how to do that, and then how to defend it and use it to pass the guard. I felt pretty good at doing that.

Then we rolled a bunch of times. I rolled with Tom, who had trained for a year (about 2 years ago) and was real rusty. I was able to take his back a couple times, and Mark had to stop us to show Tom how to get out of it. I wasn’t able to get a good choke because my hand was mummified.

I rolled with Daniel a couple times. He tapped me once with a crucifix Americana. Good work. Early on I was able to hit a half guard sweep on him every time, but he cleaned that up by the end and I was stuck. His side control was tough too. I learned a bunch.

I sat out the last roll. Mark was understanding. “Listen to your body.” He won’t be back until next Thursday.

I think Christian took my other hand wrap after showing me how to wrap it.

Just 3 in the class today: me, TJ and Daniel. So we did a bunch of quick drills of top/middle/out where two would start in a position while the other watched. First it was full guard, and later it was full mount, then prone, then prone with a choke. I hurt my jammed thumb, jammed my right big toe, and got hit in the mouth. Learned some good practicals, like mount escape and don’t trust your neck. TJ had to leave early so Daniel and I rolled for 6 minutes.

My rib held up fine, but my thumb and toe are dinged.

Mark was glad to see me come back. He even brought in some weight plates to show me an exercise to strengthen my upper core (awesome!).

We first covered tipping the turtle. Instead of going knee-to-knee and rolling the turtle guy over, instead we took a wide base and pulled the turtle over hard, then pulled them up onto our lap, got the upper hook, and then rolled over to make it the lower hook. The lower hook is the key to controlling the hips and putting them on the rack.

Then we learned some guillotine techniques. Standing guillotine, north-south stand-up guillotine, double-leg takedown guillotine.

I didn’t roll at the end of class, but Mark stayed for a minute to show me the exercise he wants me to do every warmup. Take a plate and circle it around your head (both ways) while keeping your head in a neutral position.

Afterward, my rib feels a little tender. Good thing I get to rest it until next Tuesday.

Covered the side control escape with the far side underhook again.

Then we rolled. I started with Rick, and within the first 4 minutes I’d tapped 3 times and finally had my rib pop, ending my class participation for the day. I got to sit with Mark and apply ice to my ribcage. Very disappointing.

Jumped in at the last second for this one. There were a lot of advanced students, including a guest black belt whose name I forgot. Chris? Anyway, Rick was there. He’s that 6’4″ monster from Krav Maga, but today I found out that he’s also a purple belt in BJJ. NOT FAIR! He’s too awesome.

We started with some hip scoots and my left glute was screaming at me. The hyperextended left elbow was just a constant ache. The sprained finger was fine though, and no twinges whatsoever from the calf!

So the whole class we drilled defense from side control. Rotate for the underhook. Paste it to the back, turn in, get to the knees, and sweep/pass/pull guard. I paired with Josh again, and he was a good training partner.

After all that, it was live rolling. I had to leave early so I only did 2 rounds. First round was with the new black belt whose name I forgot already dammit. He showed me how to retain guard, starting guard passes and letting me try to recover. That was awesome. I learned a lot.

Second and last round was with Rick the, well, monster purple belt. I tried to keep him in my guard using all those techniques the black belt showed me, but eventually he got past and submitted me with a couple of neat moves. First an arm bar, and second a fist in the neck. After that I had to leave to get Sangeeta and Saranya from school, and take them to get Sangeeta’s car out of the shop.

After KM31 I swept the mat and the visitor area and the merchandise area and the entry mat until TJ took over from me.

Class started when Mark lined us up. I took junior position. We began with shrimping to warm up. Then we got into smash guard passes, where you put both hands under the guard holder’s legs, lift one onto your shoulder, stack them and press that leg’s knee into their face while gripping their gi collar and smashing your forearm into their throat to be really mean and make them feel real uncomfortable, then ease around and let them out of it into side control.

The next pass he taught us is the belt stack, where you reach under the guard with both hands and grab the belt, then lift them vertical to pass. I practiced this with Larry and he got his neck crinked when I lifted him. It was his own fault for not moving his head to the side, but I felt bad anyway. My 2nd biggest fear in these classes is that I’ll hurt my training partner. He powered through though. That guy’s got more dings than anybody, and he just ignores them and keeps training. I’m not sure I want to get where Larry is, but I can sure respect and admire his toughness.

Next we learned to turn a failed stack pass into a smash pass. Then we learned to toss the legs aside in a scramble pass.

We then learned the Americana from side control. My lats are super sore so just bringing my elbow down to my side made me tap a couple times. TJ practiced this with me, and he didn’t even have to start lifting my arm for me to have to tap. I felt it in my back! Mark did it to me and I felt it there, but it turns out it wasn’t that bad and I got to where the shoulder itself complained. I’m just a wimp and I can’t really tell if I’m being injured or just having my sore muscles stretched. Duh.

Finally we rolled. Started with TJ and he pretty much wrestlefucked me. I maintained guard for a while but he ended up mounted on me.

I sat out the second roll, then came back to roll with Chris. He’s pretty good, and maybe as heavy as me. He made me tap with a north-south collar choke that I still don’t understand. The next roll he managed to maintain guard, and after we were done he exclaimed that I’m really strong. Ha! I’m just heavy. But then again, my push ups are like bench pressing 180 lbs.!

After that I rolled with Ray. He started on top, I swept him and got the Americana. Then I started on top, passed, and got the Americana. Then I started on bottom again, tripped him during his pass attempt, mounted him, and got a mounted Americana. He was exhausted and he’s not that heavy, but he’s also new and doesn’t know lots of tricks. Anyway, it was a confidence building way for me to end the class. I know a few tricks. :)

After KM30 I was sweaty, but jumped right in for the line up and warm up in BJJ. Warm up went fine.

The first drill was using a kick shield to get the high side control knee slide under the upper arm, then transition around to the other side and do it the other way. Exhausting. We worked on leg grips (on the gi, inside or outside the knees) and then using that to pass guard into side control. Then we worked on breaking the closed guard, and then transitioning into the pass to side control.

The big thing I got from the class was how big a weight advantage I have over Jenn. She’s tiny, and I was able to pass her guard a lot. I used last Saturday’s technique of cross grip and arm grip, pull, scoot, and take the back. She didn’t give up her back but I did get side control a lot. She was really frustrated even though I went easy and didn’t crush her with all my 229 lbs. We stayed after class to talk to Christian about it, and she didn’t realize that it wasn’t all just muscle, and I was doing real sweeps and BJJ techniques. Hope she doesn’t blame me for all her frustrations.

Tuesday morning. Calves and ankles still sore from last Sunday’s hike. Driving my rental car while mine’s being repaired in the shop. Lost my sunglasses. Already starting out to be a weird day.

But BJJ! I got there early and started warming up and stretching in the small room while the Krav Maga ALL class was happening on the big mat. Felt good.

Start of class, Christian moved me up to the head of the line and I had to do the “Doske Re” ceremony. Warm ups again but these were easy. I’m way better at shrimping than any of the other guys who did the warm up (Josh and Brandon). Another thing that felt good!

Christian started us out to do the guard manipulation drill again, but Mark saw our “Algebra Eyes” and decided to break it down into simpler parts because we clearly didn’t understand all the positions. So instead we focused on butterfly guard, and more specifically on the over/under grip (or body lock) that the seated person should achieve.

So we all stood up and practiced body locks, over/under, and pummeling. Then we had a nice little greco wrestly tournament where the 2 smallest people would go into the black area of the mat and, starting with body locks, try to push the other person out of the black area. I first got eliminated by Eric (new blue belt) and then I eliminated Chad (other blue belt), and then Chad eliminated me. It was fun.

Then we did situational rolling where we started in a butterfly guard position. I was almost always able to get to side control, but it’s probably because I outweigh every other person in that class. Except maybe Eric, who was crafty and big and strong and didn’t let me do much besides defend.

This Thursday morning class was mostly a repeat of my first class, last Tuesday morning. We had a good warm up before Mark arrived, and then we got into the turtle riding position again. I first partnered with Leo to practice just the choke. I switched to partnering with Christian II, who was so new he didn’t have a gi yet and was wearing Mark’s gi top.

From the basic choke, we went to the turtle tipping. Starting with Leo. He kept tipping me and rolling me to the wrong side. I’m probably really heavy compared to these littler guys. They weigh like 150 lbs and I weight 230 lbs. That’s about half again what they weigh. Anyway, doesn’t matter with the collar choke. Wish I had shaved before.

Next I partnered with Josh, the little devil. His collar choke was insanely tight, and he was not reluctant to bruise the shit out of my neck in sinking it in tight. Very Krav Maga. Can’t say I didn’t appreciate it though. He shared his secrets with me, and I hope I got better by the end.

Finally I partnered with Chad. Found out he’s 45 years old, so I’m still the old man but not THAT much older than the rest of the guys. He’s a blue belt from another school and he’s trying to un-learn all the stuff he got from there until Mark and Christian teach it here.

At the end of class we did some free rolling. I started with Leo, and he’s crafty but my weight advantage kept him from doing a lot of what he wanted to do. He knew enough to know what he wanted to do though, and that’s more than could be said for me. I find that my size and weight advantage is actually a disadvantage when it comes to learning BJJ. I can get away with awful technique and I don’t have to learn from it. My goal is to still try to learn from it.

After the first roll, I was left without a partner so I went to watch Christian teach Christian how to pass the guard. It was the original closed guard break and pass that Jimmy taught us at UCLA so many years ago, but I had completely forgotten it. Hopefully it will come back quickly. I’m going to try it in my next few rolls.

Next week, Christian is going to bring me knee pads.