805BJJ Class 33: Kesa Gatame revisited

What was this? My third BJJ class in the last 6 months? First roll in 6 months?

Anyway, I skipped the Krav Maga class to hit the BJJ mat afterward. Krav Maga leaves me gassed and tired, and then I’m not ready for BJJ rolling. So to get back into it, I’m going to have some days devoted to just BJJ, even if it’s just once a week to get started.

Warm up was slow and easy. We practiced some grips. Learned that while standing, you don’t normally want to go for a cross collar grip. Other than that, I felt fairly retarded and unpretentious. Standard windshield wipers and eggbeaters. Did some yoga ball sprawls and knee balances.

The technique of the day was Kesa Gatame a.k.a. Scarf Hold. This went back to my early days of training, so I felt like I was just sharpening old skills. Practiced transitioning from side control to Kesa Gatame (or “Kesa” for short) and keeping chest pressure. We also learned the arm lock and Americana from Kesa, and I sharpened the detail of getting your lower leg under the joint you’re attacking.

When we rolled, we started from side control. I rolled with Brandon (who is so heavy and unshakeable that he almost tapped me from knee on belly, almost tapped me from forearm across skull, etc.), Dave (twice), and Josh. All those guys are better than I am, but I survived without serious injury! Got a bruise on my face and a bruise on my shoulder, but nothing else has shown up.

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