Mizblog

Christian’s Tuesday morning class. Saranya came with me and sat at a table in the front, because Sangeeta was off running in Moorpark and didn’t make it home before I had to leave for class.

Our black belts went to a Ralph Gracie seminar last Sunday and they were really excited to bring back some of the ideas they picked up there. So we did a warm up where we were starting from an open guard position, and the top person would scoop a leg and try to go for an over-under pass, while the defender would get heavy on that leg (preventing the pass) and then transition into a sweep. Next we did a drill where we’d do a kick sweep on one side, then a scissor sweep on the other side when they got back up.

Then we did a standard stretching sequence before getting down to the lessons.

And the lessons today were centered around kesa gatame, which I first learned a freakin’ year ago (sort of). We did modified and standard, and I had the most trouble transitioning to the standard kesa. Giving up that far side underhook was difficult. I had a relatively easy time getting the arm bar and the americana, as I’d seen them a bunch of times.

We did sparring, and I started rolling with Chad (whose wife ran with Sangeeta this morning in Moorpark) and of course today we started in side control. I started on bottom. It was a good roll. I managed to sweep him but he recovered guard. He locked onto my collar, but I got 2 hands on it and would not let go, at the same time maintaining pressure and trying to pass so he couldn’t move around to a solid submission. That lasted to the end of the roll. I survived!

Second roll was with Em. It was a little scrambly, and I was able to muscle some stuff, but she was able to recover guard a lot. I did manage to get half guard on her a few times, and mount once, but no subs of course. We had a funny conversation mid-roll.
Em: You have hair like mine.
Me: You mean on your stomach?
Em: No, on your head.
Me: Gray?
Em: No, long and curly. It’s annoying.
Me: At least yours is falling out slower than mine is, so you’ve got that going for you!

Next I rolled with R/N whose name I had to keep practicing. I was able to easily sweep him once I let him get into kesa, because his base was awful. I had him restart on top again and coached him to have a more solid base.

After that I rolled with Dave, and that was an adventure. I was able to mount him and go for a gi choke, and when he defended that I latched onto his arm and went for an arm bar in a crazy roll that saw him keep going belly down and stacking me to try to get out. I never did get it, and ended up tapping when he dove for an arm bar while my fingers were tangled up in his gi. I was hoping the dive would dislodge them, but they remained stuck and I verbally tapped. I fixed my belt for the remainder of the roll.

Last I rolled with Aaron, who was suffering with a bruised knee. I found him impossible to hold down, and kept ending up under his north-south pressure. At the end, I was turtled and managed to roll under him, but his arm was trapped and he both wrenched his shoulder and hit his head. I was actively trying not to hurt him, but it didn’t work out that way. Poor guy. Hope he recovers quickly.

Brandon taught this Saturday morning class. Started with a circuit of jumping jacks (ouch shoulders), push ups, and sit ups. Then we did running in place with sprawls, fast feet, high knees, and butt kicks. Very tiring. Then it was shoulder tag and knee tag for a few rounds. Antonio, Dano, Dave, Richard (who I used to think was named Victor) and eventually Ray.

I was the demo dummy for most of the class. Holding pads for straight punches. I partnered up with Ray, holding pads for him first. Brandon switched us after a couple minutes. I did okay, but I felt I was overextending my stance on the low punches. Something to work on.

Next was the turning back hammer fist. Look over your shoulder, step the foot on the side you’re looking to the outside of their foot while you throw your hammer fist punch horizontally as your body turns. Follow up with a punch or elbow, depending on your range.

Next was a back kick. I always felt awkward recoiling these to a good position, so I really focused on that a lot today. I also found it awkward that you step in with the foot opposite where you’re looking. I screwed that up on the very last kick, but other than that I was doing fine.

After that we did choke from behind, 2-hand pluck. Ray and I practiced it on both sides. He was a lot less proficient on his off side, but I was comfortable both ways. I always try to be smooth and technical on the defense, but I did start speeding up as I got a feel for the move, and it went well. We finished class with a mixed partners drill of the same. Dave was the only guy who gave me any problems, but I powered through with aggressiveness when my pluck was minimally effective, and that did it.

We started late, with a small class and self-warmup. Em just got her wisdom teeth out. She tried to do class anyway though.

We started with an illustration of the guard perimeter. Approaching the open guard, you put your hands on the knees or feet and hold them solid while you move around them. You have to immobilize the hips, then drop a knee next to their hip to secure the side control position. If they get a wide open guard, you can get motorcycle grips inside their knees, push their knees to pin them down, then pull their feet to the ground and put the knee into the hip for the pass.

I rolled with Jen first. She’s really good at open guard where she eliminates an arm. It was fascinating to try to do moves I knew only to get stuck because I couldn’t use one of my arms. I took her back once from turtle but coach Mark coached her out of it. I was able to use the move of the day on her twice.

I rolled with Dave next. He wore the pink belt of shame today because he forgot his belt. I was able to do pretty well against him.

After that was coach Greggo. He left me openings, leading to an S-mount arm bar. He walked me through the details at the end to finish it. Thanks coach! :D

Following that, I took an extra minute to catch my breath and then rolled with Rick. He smelled like ammonia. He got me in an arm bar, but walked me through the escape rather than finish it. Thanks, Rick!

I took the last roll off and talked with coach Mark. I told him I can’t do back-to-back Krav and BJJ yet because my conditioning isn’t up to snuff, and the Krav tires me out too much so I don’t get enough out of my BJJ class other then injuries. We talked about book publishing too.

Woke up with my left big toe joint swollen and sore to walk on. I had leftover gout meds so I took a dose of a Colchicine pill and an Indomethacin, then another Colchicine an hour later. By the end of the day, no discomfort remained in the joint!

Christian’s Tuesday morning BJJ class started for me in the small room, flow rolling with Chris. He taught me that defending the guard pass will involve me curling up pretty tightly (more tightly than I was used to). After that, I tried sweeping the mat when the Krav class took over the small room, but I only made it halfway across before I had to put the broom away and line up.

Greggo started us on the warm up while Christian changed into his gi and talked to Darla about Krav. Then we went over passing half guard. Avoiding the lockdown starts with hiding your foot if you’re on top of half guard. Turn the foot out and away from the bottom guy’s feet. Cross face to turn their head away, and apply some chest pressure to flatten them. Without moving your upper body, put your forward knee into the hip while sitting down sideways and sliding your lower foot to the butt, your lower shin vertical now. This makes it difficult for the bottom guy to hold your leg with his. Grip his shoulder with your cross face arm, and grip the inside of his far knee with your other arm to force his legs open. Whip your leg out and swing it way back to establish your base, then drive it forward and into his hip to secure your side control.

Sometimes though, you find you’re unable to separate the legs. In those cases, you release your cross face and move the elbow to the far side of the head, under the shoulder. Use your lower hand to pull that far arm’s wrist out and down, low enough that your other arm can grip it in a kimura grip. This is a solid threat and a skilled practitioner will recognize it and release the half guard to defend it. As soon as you feel that release, you can pull your leg out and secure side control. Otherwise, continue and finish the kimura submission by pulling the elbow up while inching the hand toward the shoulder.

Rolling started with Chris. We had fun. He messed up in the half guard and let me mount him, but he reversed pretty well. At the end, he got me in an arm bar, but it was a competitive roll.

I rolled with visitor Amos next. He was a twitchy little white belt, and he submitted me twice with gi chokes, but I did manage to reverse him several times. I never seriously threatened him.

I rolled with black belt Eric, and he went through everything really slowly and methodically. I was able to recognize a lot of what he was doing, but I was unable to stop him. It was brilliant. I felt like I was improving in my pattern recognition, even if I didn’t have the vocabulary to participate in the dialog fully.

I rolled with Yas, and he’s so passive and soft. I had to coach him to keep me from getting on top if he could. I put some pressure on him so he’d understand why.

There was another roll too, but I forgot who it was or what we did.

I got through without injury and feeling like I’ve improved!

Pam taught this Saturday morning class. It started with jumping jacks, squats, push ups, and sit ups. Two rounds. The shoulder tag in between the sets for another round.

We did a circuit of ground and pound on a kick shield, alternating with stomps to said kick shield. 3 rounds. 2 minutes total.

We did tombstone punches, old school. 5 jabs, then 5 crosses, then 5 1-2’s. Then we did the same drill but 3x, ending each one with a 20sec flurry of punches. After that, front kick to the groin, 5 each side. Then front kick and 1-2 punch. All the way across the mat. I was in a 3 person group with Susan and Dave, and the odd person out for that drill had to do squats the whole time! Lots of squats.

After that drill, we covered the choke from the front defense with a 2-handed pluck. Susan much preferred the 1-handed pluck variant, so she kept doing that instead. Whatever, huh? Her kid was teaching the class, so I guess she felt a certain freedom to disobey. Anyway, I did well on that one. I’m usually pretty good with the side control and angling off to make space and separate. I could be better though, I’m sure. I gave Dave a few pointers.

Then we did 360 defenses against high or low attacks. I Susan’s reflexes were to throw the simultaneous strike. I had to fight that to just keep my off hand up to block punches, like Pam instructed for the lower levels. That felt super awkward for me. I advised Dave that throwing his strikes palm forward to be blocked by 360 defenses would be less painful than simulating a knife strike, where the block would land on his bone and cause more pain and bruising.

Then we went for a run around the speed bump in the back alley. When we came back, we had all the heavy bags pulled out. We’d create a gauntlet for folks to go through. So after sprinting to the speed bump and back, we’d have to walk slowly down between the bags, and our classmates would attack us, either with a choke from the front, or an overhand or underhand strike, or they would hold a pad for us to punch or kick. We’d do the defenses or blast away until we made it to the chair and were safe. I went second, and screwed up defending Ray’s overhand strike (I did a cross body 360 defense, doh!) but did the rest fine. I didn’t want to get out of the chair once I was done, but I did.

To end the class, we did 2 more minutes (3 rounds) of ground and pound, then stomping on the kick shields.

Coach Mark was recovering from a cold (just like me!) and didn’t participate much in the class. He got us started running around the mat and then turned the warmup over to TJ. We did basic stretching and then we just rolled.

I noticed there were a bunch of kids in the class. Skyler and Aiden, Desi, Joshua and some other guy I didn’t recognize.

My first roll was with Tom, the new blue belt. He went real easy on me and I was able to get good positions on him.

Next I rolled with coach Greggo, whose open guard I was unable to pass. He was able to wreck me consistently.

Next I rolled with Dave, who worked me hard.

After that, I had to take a round off.

I rolled with Matt and showed him a couple of side control bottom techniques to try.

I took another round off.

I rolled with Cosmo, who kneed me on the top of the head and submitted me twice.

I rolled with Andrew, and we had a good, even, competitive roll. I twisted my ankle a little but didn’t stop.

I found I was getting to turtle instead of having my guard passed, which is a huge improvement over previous rolls. Now I need to learn a bunch more stuff to do from turtle, because the stuff I knew how to do was super ineffective when I was planted to the ground with the top guy’s weight.

Last Wednesday I started feeling sick. I went home a little bit early. Thursday it got worse, but still not bad, but it was still worsening, so I took Friday off and stayed home. Good thing I did! Friday night was horrible, and when I woke up Saturday morning I felt like I was dying by choking on thick phlegm. It took me quite a lot of effort to feel like I had coughed it all up. I took Saranya to BJJ, where she was awarded her BJJ yellow belt. I went home and suffered, trying to distract myself from the awful congestion.

Saturday night was worse. I slept for an hour and woke up choking. I decided I was done trying to sleep at night. I stayed up and played Minecraft, Empire, watched Youtube videos, watched a movie. I was cold but I didn’t want to wake Sangeeta up by running the heater so I just wrapped myself in my bathrobe. I did get a couple hours sleep in the morning, but Sunday was another awfulness. Sunday night I got another hour of sleep.

Monday, again, no work. I slept 3 hours in the morning. Starting to feel some improvement in the congestion! Stayed up until about 8pm, when I finally crashed out. Woke up at midnight, still congested but not dying. Went back to sleep at almost 4am and slept until almost 8am, so that makes two stretches of 4 hours each.

So Tuesday morning dawns and I’m feeling slightly congested but rested and optimistic. The scale says I gained about 5 pounds during the cold, and I’m not sure what that’s about. Probably all the salt from soup and pretzels.

Coach Mark was back and teaching this one. I got on late because KM97 went long (thanks Christian). I changed quickly in the back room, doing a pants swap very fast while Em was changing in the bathroom. The black rash guard was very hard to don over so much sweat. Finally I jumped on the mat in time for some torso twists, then shrimps, then shoulder rolls.

Coach Mark then taught us the body lock takedown. Don’t do a body lock with both underhooks, because you’re going for a ride if your opponent knows how to suplex. Trap at least one elbow to their body, get an S-grip in their lower back and snug them up, then you can just turn them and they’re going down. We did it standing on the crash pad too, only there you slip your opposite leg between theirs and use it to remove their base on the side away from where they’re going down (because then they have to shift their balance the way you want them to go down, in order to not go down the other way sooner) and twist them down, securing side control at the bottom. Then we went back to doing it on the knees, only basing out our opposite leg for extra leverage.

We learned that if they resist too hard going down the way we start taking them initially, we can take them down the other way easily because they’re already helping us. When we were drilling this, I gave Chad a half-assed resistance by posting my foot out, but he kept taking me down the same way, and I rolled my ankle and bent my toe back as I fell. Noooo!

After that we rolled. I paired up with smooth headed Matt and we started. I was wiped out but he was fresh, and he used the body lock takedown on me. I rolled him over from side control after I felt my ribs complaining from Krav and from all the falls I’d already taken in the class. He got out and we scrambled to our knees, where he got me AGAIN with the body lock takedown. I realized I was scared to push off my sore ankle or to fall on it or mess it up, so I was just going down. Side control bottom again. Rolled him over me again. Scramble again, this time to his guard. Stood up, hands in his armpits, and he pulled them out by the sleeves just as the round ended.

I left the mat, took off my gi, dressed for the street, and went home dejected.

I got in early, and Christian gave me fair warning that we were going to start hot. Great. I knew right away I was in trouble, but whatever. I talked with Dave about how did he knock out Matt

We started with basic front kick + 1-2 combos across the mat. No big deal. Then we did over-under drill, where one did push up position while the other went under, then plank while the other jumped over. We had a group of 3 so we rotated, but we made Dave do most of the drill because we didn’t switch. To be fair, Christian was unclear. First failure of the day.

Then it was front kicks and 1-2 combos across the mat.

Then it was sit ups with legs interlocked, then while squeezing the legs inward (outward for the other partner) we did 20 seconds hold, 20 seconds sit ups, and 20 seconds Russian twists. My performance proved that I was not capable of doing as instructed. Second failure of the day.

Then it was 2x elbows and 2x knees across the mat. Dave said my knees were murderous, but they didn’t really move him back. That dude is so solid.

After that, we did our stretching, and then the leapfrog drill. Dave squatted and I leapfrogged over, then he stood with legs apart and I crawled back through. For a minute, then we switched.

Drink water, mouthguards in, and level 1 chokes with ACTUAL CONTACT on the combatives! We were supposed to be controlled but use good form and pick actual targets. Dave and I got through without hurting each other.

Then we did a round robin where everybody was hitting one person and periodically someone would lay on a choke and the middle person would have to do the defense and combatives. I took a really solid elbow in the head from someone I can’t remember (Jeff or Dave) but everything else went okay.

Finally we got to gun defenses. Gun from the front. Gun to the left side of the head. Same defense. Gun from the back. Gun from the left behind the the elbow. Same defense. Really two defenses for 4 threats. We practiced them with increasing resistance. Jeff and I were cracking each other up with our resistance. I was making “woop” sound effects as I tried to pull the gun out of his reach. He called me the worst mugger ever. Touche.

The class finished with a drill where half of us had guns and half didn’t, and the ones with guns had to threaten the ones without guns, and the threatened folks had to do gun defenses. Then we were restricted to half of the mat, then a quarter of the mat, then a wide elevator sized patch of mat. I did not have any real problems, but others seemed to.

Class finished 7 minutes late, and I quickly went to change into my gi for 805BJJ45.