Larptastic

We worked on several moves from cross body. I was grouped up with two other people, which worked out well because we were able to roll every round instead of every other and got a bit of extra work in.

Kesa Gatami 1
* One arm under far shoulder
* Pull on arm to get leg underneath near shoulder

Kesa Gatami 2
* One arm under far shoulder
* Slide leg underneath near shoulder

Pass to Mount
* Turn towards their legs
* Slide ass into their armpit
* Put arm on far leg, with elbow on near leg to prevent knee to face
* Knee on stomach
* Pass to mount

Things to Remember
* Don't sit up, weight should be on them
* Legs should be splayed out in order to prevent a sweep, sort of like a h

On Passing a Closed Guard
* Have to control hips or they can push away to keep you from flattening them

Got to class a little late, so I just jumped some rope and shadow boxing. I got to watch my coach put on some gloves and bang with a couple of the guys who are getting ready for competition, which was cool. I also watched some guys do clinch work, which I haven't really done yet in a stand-up/striking context.

Didn't drill anything, just rolled with a few folks. I continue to submit the new guy quite a lot, but I still see huge holes in my game where I see an opening but I'm unable to capitalize on it due to lack of technique. I also rolled with a more experienced classmate and was able to hold him off for over 10 minutes, till we both decided to stop due to fatigue. We both played a very defensive game, so it made it hard to get any submissions going.

I really need to work on my base. I occasionally find myself off balance when I shouldn't be and I open myself up for sweeps way too often.

Base
* Sitting on feet
* Legs wide
* Correct posture
* Weight on ass

Worked on the open guard tonight. My partner (new guy) had injured his leg, so he took off after the light rolling warm up, but not before he slammed the hell out of me. I got paired up with two other guys who are more experienced than me, which was a nice change to all the newer folks I've been rolling with recently.

Moving from closed to open :
* Wait for good opportunity to make space
* Push on shoulders with arms, hips with legs

Things to remember :
* If feet are flat, back is up
* If back is flat, feet are up
* Don't square hips with opponent, too easy to stack
* Stay on one hip
* If they make distance, pull in to grab on their leg for sweep
* Control their hips with your feet
* Control arm/arms with your arm

We rolled afterwards and I was able to get a submission on someone that I hadn't been able to before which was nice. He was fatigued, so it slowed him down enough for me to shoot a triangle on him. My other partner pulled me into a spot where I didn't know what to do, and it was quickly over after that. I need to do some work on re-establishing a base when I get put into a spot that I'm unfamiliar with. A classmate suggested a turtle, so that I'm not on my back and getting flattened out.

Did some pad work (jab/cross/hook/cross, cross/uc/cross/hook/cross), defensive drills (jab, jab/cross) and sparring today.

Jab
* Turn body
* Arm should be almost straight, but not locked

Sparring
* My footwork seems to be better when sparring than drilling
* I throw a lot of jabs, but they don't have a lot of power
* I need to get better at moving when on the defensive, I cover up well but don't get out of the way

Open gym, so did 15min of jump rope, some shadow boxing and mitt/thai pad work with a classmate.

A few notes :
* Backup after combos, don't just stand there or I'll get hit
* Work on lead kick, especially when part of a combo
* More power, I'm way too tappy when sparring, need to put more force behind my hits
* Jab defensively to keep opponent from moving in on me at will

Open gym - rolled with a few classmates, and drilled a couple side control escapes with a classmate on our own. I had to call it a day when the side that I got slammed on last week started hurting in a more than soreness sort of pain.

Room for improvement
* I need an escape from N/S, so far all I've been able to do is wait them out and then try to get out when they make a move. A friend suggested I get an underhook in, then bump and try to swivel out. I'll have to try that next time.
* Move from half-guard. Once I have someone in half-guard I tend to get stuck. I need to try out a couple escapes from my Rubber Guard book to see if any of them work for me.
* Escaping xbody. Having a little better luck, but when wrestling with someone a lot heavier than me (as most folks are) it's quite a strain to get them off me.

Was in pain from my rib all weekend, seemed better this morning but came back with a vengeance around lunchtime. After already being told by the wife that I wasn't going to class tonight to fuck it up worse, I figured there was nothing lost in having a doctor check it out.

No broken but bruised, he told me to take a break for a week or two and told me to use Aleve, Bengay and a heating pad as needed. I hate missing class, but he told me in the condition I'm in now I'm more likely to break it.

Pain continued all last week and seemed to be getting worse, so I went back to the Dr. on Saturday. He said to give it more time and gave me a prescription for a muscle relaxer and a anti-inflammatory. They seem to be doing wonders, the pain is very mild and seems to be fading. I think I could do some BJJ today, but I'll take it safe and wait till Wed to start training again.

Finally got the pictures off my camera. At least one of them came out okay, showing the new koshirae with the blade.

First day back, so I took it easy. Jumped rope for 15 minutes, then alternated shadowboxing with bagwork. Still trying to pay close attention to my footwork as I seem to lose it when put under pressure. Some notes :

* When kicking, pivot on ball of foot and turn hips. When combining a rear leg kick with a jab/cross I had a habit of throwing the kick flat footed.
* Relax shoulders when punching

Took it easy trying to feel out the condition of my rib. Had a little pain but I think it's just about healed. However, it's amazing what 2 weeks out will do to a body, going to be sore as all hell for the next couple days.

I paired with a classmate who wanted to work on her back defense, so she turtled and I got on top of her and let her try to dislodge me. We didn't watch the clock but I think we rolled for a good 10 minutes before she decided to stop. I wasn't able to really get a good choke in, but she was never able to get me off her back either. She told me that she normally has no problem getting someone off her back but smaller guys are a lot harder to remove. Apparently we leave a lot less open space to move around in.

This being the case, I need to work on some transitions to back to see how it improves my game. When she was able to get one of my hooks out, I went to a body triangle which seemed to work pretty well. Several times she tried to dislodge it with her hand which gave me an opening on her neck.

At the end of class, coach gave us a little talk.

* He does not teach just jiu-jitsu, he teaches ground as an overall part of a fight game
* If your opponent wants something, deny him it - if he pulls, you push
- Once he responds to this, use it to your advantage to put him where you want him
* Take the path of least resistance
- Don't just sit and wait for him to come in again
- Don't be afraid to stand up

First real class in two weeks and boy did I feel it. We did a quick warmup then rolled half on/half off the entire night. I guess I rolled 6 or 7 times, I had time for more but had to take a couple breaks because I'd lost some conditioning. Hopefully I'll be able to regain it quickly.

Few things I learned :
* Kimura from guard doesn't really work on someone stronger than you unless you really surprise them on it
* Folks expect the guillotine, so I should just use it to set something else up
* Body triangle from guard is a dick move
* When using triangle from guard PULL ON THEIR DAMN HEAD
* I need to work on my sweeps
* I can hold someone's back pretty well, but need to work on submissions from there