Mizblog

Mark was so impressed with the Krav Maga drills that TJ put his class through in the previous class, that he taught us how to get up from a body lock, and how to defend against a body lock takedown. Basically, get a whizzer on the side opposite his head, then use that as leverage to put him down. If he doesn’t let go or give up, get your close knee in and twist him forward onto his back.

Mark came in congested and slow. We bowed in, warmed up, and got right into the guard drills. We did closed guard retention, open guard establishment, back orientation, back salvage, then back to closed guard. There were only 5 people in the class (including Skyler) so we basically did 2 pairs with an odd one out. It was a good practice.

I lost my old mouthguard, so I boiled my new Venum mouthguard and shaped it. Took me two tries because it was too wide the first time and I didn’t properly align it to my molars. The second time it came out pretty good, and I’m much happier with it than with my previous mouthguard. It stays in better.

I had a hard time getting to this Thursday morning class. Work had me scrambling until after 10am, when I decided to walk out on it and try to get to class. I got dressed up, packed my stuff, got my water, and left. Got all the way to the freeway before realizing I forgot my wallet, so I got off at Sunset Hills and went back home. Got the wallet and phone, and headed back to class. Got there late, only to find that there were no coaches. TJ told me he was planning to do just top-middle-out with me, him, and Dave. Fine by me! While I was getting dressed, though, Mark showed up. We warmed up while he was getting dressed, and during this time Andrew also showed up.

We started the class with Mark showing us a hopping osoto gari option if we fail the harai goshi. That’s why Mark said to get comfortable with that half man, leg blocked position. You can use your lower leg block to then hop around their leg and hook it out from under them. It’s not a heavy throw, but it’s effective.

We paired up to do a light, semi-cooperative randori. I went with Dave to the back half of the class, and we took turns taking one another down until I jammed my right big toe between the mat squares. It hurt so bad that my foot felt cold. That’s the lingering effect of the injections, I bet. No telling what the long term effects of this injury will be, but it’s not good. Didn’t stop me from training though. No sir.

After that, we did a 1-2-3-4 series of drills. Starting with one person on the back, the other with their hands on the feet, starting free rolls. First, person 1 rolls with 2, then 1-3, then 1-4, then 2-3, then 2-4, then 2-1, then 3-4, then 3-1, then 3-2, then 4-1, then 4-2, then 4-3. 1-4 were Dave, TJ, Andrew, and me.

Next we started with full mount. We did a couple rounds, and Mark told us that when someone pulls an S-mount, you can double underhook that lifted leg (one hand behind the butt, the other behind the knee or ankle) and hip heist out the back. Nobody got it during rolling, so we got extra instruction later.

Next we started face down with our opponent standing at our feet, and we had to turn and establish guard.

Next we started face down with our opponent straddling our hips, and we had to avoid having our back taken. I got a good mount reversal, and I got a double bump heist of TJ off me where I lifted him with my hips, continued lifting his hips with my arms, and tucked my knee into the gap. He was surprised I was able to do that. (I learned it from Youtube).

Last we started standing, and had to do a takedown and grapple from however we landed, whether we got the takedown or not.

EDIT: I got a nice back strain after this one, probably when Andrew stacked me after I pursued a triangle way too long. Lesson learned!

Coach Mark taught this Tuesday morning class, and he followed his theme of judo takedowns for BJJ. Today we learned Harai Goshi, which is a technique where you pull your opponent in while turning your back on them and blocking their outside leg just below the knee with your lower leg, then twist your body to dump them over your blocking leg. We practiced this first from the leg blocking position, then with the entry. Oh yeah, the entry. Starting from half-man with an over-the-shoulder back grip. Your front foot should make an equilateral triangle with your opponent’s two feet. Replace your front foot with your back foot (pointed away from them 180 degrees) while turning your back (obviously, otherwise you couldn’t turn your foot 180 degrees), pulling them close to the side of your chest, and sticking out your former front foot so that it blocks the outside of their leg just below the knee. From there, you just need to twist your upper body to pull them over your blocking leg and dump them down to the ground.

Then we rolled. I started with TJ and he arm barred me, but lauded my defenses. Next was Dave, who I asked to start on mount top so I could practice. I reversed him once, then got stuck and just survived the round. After that was Matt, who was trouble but we had a good roll. Then Jen, who tied up my arm and wouldn’t give it back. We had a fun moment when we were both weakly choking one another. After that was Andrew, who wrecked me. Then for the last 47 seconds of the last round I played with Skyler but we didn’t get much done.

Coach Mark brought us through this one solo. He had TJ warm us up, and then we got into it.

The first pass was the one I do ALL THE TIME! Cross your far elbow over their body and put it down in their armpit. Put your free knee into their hip and sit down next to their near arm, so you’re facing their legs. You can then wiggle your leg out from between their legs, or even break their legs apart (holding their chest down with your knee on their hip makes it hard to keep the legs together) and go on to pass.

You can also do a little tripod and then knee slide through.

Rolling was all about energy conservation. I rolled with Leo, and he kept recovering guard on me. I rolled with Ray, and he hip bump swept me to mount and I again couldn’t reverse or escape. I rolled with Jose and got my only submission of the day – a sloppy north-south choke. Jose has gotten a lot more calm, and didn’t give me as much as he used to. Then I rolled with Nolan, who was a new guy who’d done judo before, and he was pretty sound positionally. I did reverse him once with a single leg takedown, but he managed to reverse me too. Again, I wasn’t going too hard, and he commented on his luck in getting me after a bunch of hard rolls. I told him not to be so sure about that. Really, I was just about as soft on roll #2 of the day.

Another morning class taught by 3 black belts. Mark said that for the next month or two, we’re going to focus on stand up techniques, drilling throws and takedowns.

We did osoto gari again, with a machine gun line for the drill on the crash pad.

We did hip toss again.

We did hopping osoto gari too. Reach over the back with your sleeve grip hand (from standard grips) to defeat the stiff arm. Hook your near leg behind the opponent’s far leg (away from the back grip), then hop toward your knee, pressing them off balance with your chest. Once they’re sufficiently unbalanced, sweep the leg and land on them.

We drilled the combo of back grip hip toss, back out, then enter for hopping osoto gari.

We did a light, cooperative randori. I teamed up with Andrew and we took turns setting each other up for throws. He walked me through the fireman’s carry throw, which I’ve learned before a couple times, but he brought me up to speed quickly.

Then we did live sparring starting on the feet. I started off with Mike the purple belt. I held my own and didn’t get destroyed. Survived a few submissions from the bottom. Next I went with Mark, and he laid on top of me in kesa gatame and showed me what can be done with the position. The pressure was so intense that I wanted him to choke me out just to escape the pressure. Last I went with Christian, who tripped me a couple times and I locked him up in my guard a bit until he passed and the round ended.

It was a very small class today. Just me, Andrew, and Matt as students, with Mark, Christian, and Greggo as instructors. Pretty good instructor to student ratio!

We started with an informal bow-in (just a circle of hands and 1-2-3-Oos!) We then did a couple of 8 minute flow rolls. First was with Greggo, and he coached me a bit on getting the over-under when securing the back. Next roll was with Andrew, and he walked me through the butterfly guard sweep.

After that, we did a few rounds standing, with maybe 30 seconds max on the ground before standing back up. I started with Matt and we actually went kind of hard. I was bad at cooperative randori. I found this out when I next went with Mark. He described it as “holding mitts” for me. He chastised me for playing an outside game. Instead, he said I should just get some grips and work with those. Of course I didn’t take him down once, but I did make him laugh when I attempted a makikomi. I guess he likes those.

Then we did some drills with the hip toss. We all lined up on the crash pad and took turns hip tossing everyone twice. That was fun. You’re really just squatting their hips and then rolling them off the side of your hips.

After that, Christian taught us Osoto Gari. We practiced that a few times, then we did another drill with the elbow and over-the-shoulder back grips, where we would first do kazushi and then osoto gari, then with the same grips we’d do the hip toss. You can get the grip and do them in combination, too!

Four black belts on the mat today. Mark, Christian, and Greggo taught. Pat participated. We started with a slow job for a few laps and then a 10 minute flow roll. I rolled with Dave. I think we’re getting better at flowing.

The lesson was an intervention into Cowboy and his addiction to slinky Jiu Jitsu, and an emphasis on taking the back. So we focused on pulling turtles onto their back.

Rolling went okay. We always started in turtle. I rolled with Dave and we were even. I rolled with Christian and he gave me some half guard pointers. I rolled with Tom and he bow-and-arrow choked me, then I tried to take him down with a clock choke and failed. Then I rolled with Cowboy and he got me in a weird arm lock, but complimented me on being able to switch from one submission attempt to another that became available.

I came out with an even more aggravated thoracic back muscle, and a broken left pinky toe and smashed big toes from all the wrestling.

First class as a blue belt! I went in early to try to replace my size A-2 blue belt with a more size-appropriate A-4. Coach Greggo obliged, and I belted up and got ready for action.

We had a long, slow warm up before getting into the action. First, we got tight on a single leg, with a gable grip or a grip/hook combo. Just lean that leg to the outside to plant them on the side of their butt. You also plant your head on the mat next to their hip, and heist your hips over to the other side. When you land, you roll your hips up toward their midsection while maintaining a hold on their leg. You then grab the back of the pants and hold them down to the mat while you switch your hips down and then switch your arms to a standard cross face grip as you work your way up their body.

The next technique was taking them down the other way with a double leg takedown. You gable grip their single leg and pull it into your chest, then let go with one leg and reach across to the far leg. Press their midsection with the side of your head, tipping them over the far leg that you’re blocking. Once they’re down, you get a grip on their hips, facing away from their head, by doing basically a hip heist with your shoulders. From there, you can switch your hands and work your way up their body.

Next technique was a defense to these leg grab takedowns. You get butt control as you drive a mean cross face across their eyes and nose, then sprawl out on them to break their grip before solidifying your top position.

From there, we went to the clock choke. Far hand feeds the far side lapel to the close hand across the neck, then takes a grip on the near side lapel. Walk forward around their head with your hips turned skyward to tighten the choke. You can also reach under to pull the far hand, collapse them onto their far shoulder, and do a one-handed clock choke by sitting forward and walking around their head.

Then we rolled. I started with Andrew, who just got done running a desert marathon in Nevada. He got me down, I got guard, he passed and set up kesa gatame. Greggo was yelling “Oh no, look out!” but I reached across Andrew’s back to grip his belt, then hipped into him to align our bodies before pulling him over me and getting out on the other side for side control top. Greggo yelled “Wow, where’d you learn that move?” but I couldn’t answer. Andrew turtled and attacked me with the move of the day, and got me down before I could sprawl. I slipped out the side and he turtled again. This time I tried to take his back, and that’s how we ended.

My next roll was with Matt. I got him in my guard and sat up to hip bump sweep him. He recovered guard. I passed. I did the shoulder heist move too, to the delight of coach Mark. Ended on top.

Next round I sat out.

Next I rolled with Ed, and I mainly coached him on breaking base. Greggo counter-coached him to recover guard. I like my way better. I was giving him sweep opportunities but Greggo told him to shrimp out and recover guard.

After that I rolled with Daniel. I got on top of him and was attacking. Low mount Ezekiel choke attempt got stuck on his chin, but he was in some trouble. He had good defense and my offense is not that sharp, so no submissions.

Next I rolled with Skyler in the back corner. We were both sore so we took it easy on each other.

After that it was 320 sit-ups and bow out.

We had all 3 black belt coaches on the mat today, along with Professor Pat. We had a quick warm up.

Coach Greggo taught the kimura from guard again, with extra emphasis on the wrist throttling. Same as earlier this week. I paired with Ray for the drills.

Next was again kimura from bottom half guard, with emphasis on the wrist throttling and also pinching their trapped leg between your legs to control their hips. Also, it helps if you stretch them out by pulling their elbow away from their body while keeping the 90 degree bend and wrist throttling down.

Next was the sweep as they pass to side control. Ray had trouble with this, but I helped him by pointing out that you need the north-south angle to align your rotational axes and that makes the roll easier.

Next we learned how to finish the kimura from side control. It involves pressing the arm to the mat as you roll them onto their back, but also keep your weight on them by rolling your hip onto them. Step over their head with your top foot to keep them from sitting up, and lift their shoulder to get the tap.

The last trick we learned was if they’re gripping their gi and you can’t separate it, you can lift their head and windshield wiper your same-side leg under their neck. Put your top leg above their neck and fall to your side, crossing your feet and scissoring your knees together on their neck. You use your kimura grip to pull against your scissor grip on the neck to pull the head away, so they feel it in the neck and the shoulder, and they’ll tap to whichever hurts worst first (usually the neck).

After that we rolled.

My first roll was with Ray, who started in guard, scrambled away from my guard pass attempt, got in my guard, and passed to mount, where he stayed for the entire round.

Next roll was with Curtis. He also got on top of me, but I eventually reversed him and got on top, where I finished the round going for the kimura.

Next roll was with Desi, which was mostly her defending my half guard pass.

Coach Mark called for gi-tops off, and no-gi rolling (no pants grips). I rolled with Steve for the first time ever, starting in his guard. I managed to pass to half guard, then scrambled to mount, where I grapevined his legs and got heavy. Then I slid off to side control and got the kimura grip. He defended pretty well, and even knocked me over and got on top, but I used the sweep of the day to get back on top. I got my knee on his free arm to pin it down, and that allowed me to get the tap from the kimura.

Next I rolled with Coach Greggo, and he coached me through the move of the day a couple of times before finishing the round with me in a D’Arce setup.

Next I rolled with Corey. I passed his guard, got mount, got heavy, got a guillotine, and flattened myself out on him for the tap. Then in his guard I swept him with a hip bump, got the kimura grip, and finished with the move of the day.

Next I rolled with Anna, who mostly defended my half guard pass the whole round.

Last round was on the feet with the gi on, and I paired up with Cosmo. He got me up against the wall before flubbing a takedown and I ended up in half guard top. He tried for the kimura but I postured up and started to turn it into a kimura of my own before he let go. I finally got to side control and was working for the move of the day when the round was over.

Coach Mark then had us circle up and got the Rosales family up front, and complimented them on their recent promotions to blue belt. Then he called me up and promoted me to blue belt as well!