Larptastic

Had an open gym today so I worked mitts and the bag, doing singles, combos and recapped the defensive drills from the previous week. It's a constant struggle to keep my footwork correct, especially when moving.

Did some kendo for the first time in a while. We did our regular drills (suburi, targetting, kiri kaeshi) and then took turns doing _ with everyone in class.

A few notes :
* Relax shoulders. Yeah, been hearing this one forever.
* Do combos rather than single strikes. The first one will probably be blocked but it can leave them open for a followup.
* Tai atari should be at waist level not high up, to prevent someone from overpowering or from slipping in a do strike.

Due to the holiday and the way we've been drilling, it's been a few weeks since I've actually rolled with anyone. That changed tonight, and after rolling 4-5 people I was ready to puke. I'm amazed that I could lose conditioning that quick, even though I've been doing some cardio (30-45 min on bike) outside of class a couple times a week.

During warmup we did a new drill where one person goes to the ground in a turtle position, then the other person puts their (own) arms behind their back, puts their chest on their partners back and rotates around them. The point is to keep your weight on them all the time, if you don't you tend to slip off. A couple minutes of this is extremely tiring.

We then drilled escapes from cross-body.

Cross Body Escape I
* One forearm under their throat
* Other arm at their waist
* Upa, keep space open when body comes down
* Turn onto hip and spin into them
* Transition into half-butterfly, half-guard or full guard

Cross Body Escape II
* Underhook their armpit
* Other arm at waist
* Upa and use underhook to pull out behind them
* Transition to back

Did 12 minutes of jumprope, then decided to wrap my hands so I could throw heavy. Took me a good 10-15 minutes to remember how to wrap the damn things but I think I have it down now. Did a bit of shadowboxing, then spent the rest of the class working the bag.

Mostly did jab/cross, because I'm obsessed with my basics, but I also did a bit of kicking as well. I seem to be able to throw a decent rear leg and even combo it with a jab, but I have a lot of trouble with a lead kick. Trying to pair it up with a cross was disastrous, so I need to spend a lot more time working the lead leg till I'm able to get power behind it and not lose my balance after throwing it. Then maybe I can start mixing it in with other things.

Coach showed us some basics of controlling from the guard and transitioning into a submission and had us drill it.

Basics of Control
* Control their head
- Hand on back of head, not neck
* Control an arm
- Have a wrist or elbow controlled, elbow is better

Armbar 1
* My outside arm holding their outside arm
* Opposite arm holding their head
* Leg on same side of held arm posts on their hip
* Rotate and throw free leg high across their upper back
* Hand holding head pushes it down
* Posted leg comes up and over head
* Legs do not cross, toe points down

Armbar 2
* My outside arm holding their opposite arm
* Other arm holding their head
* Leg on same side of held arm posts on their hip
* Rotate and throw free leg high across their upper back
* Hand holding head slides around to other side and pushes it down
* Posted leg comes up and over head
* Legs do not cross, toe points down

Turned up early for the new beginners class which unfortunately got pushed back a month. After waiting around an hour I left and came back 30min later for the regular class. We drilled some passes from cross body and mixed in some mount and cross body escapes as well.

Cross Body to Mount 1
* One arm under the head
* Other forearm goes along their waist
* Slide knee across their belly, guiding it along inside of arm
* Keep everything as tight as possible

Cross Body to Mount 2
* Switch arm from head to around their shoulder and under arm (reverse Kesa Gatame)
* Lift leg up and over them

We worked clinch, elbows and knees. Coach wasn't there so a senior student (one of our fighters) led the class and ran us through several clinch drills.

The Lever
* Take one arm and put it over their near arm and under their farm arm
* Take other hand and push up on arm like a lever to wedge arms apart
* Helps to splay fingers out

The Shoulder Slip
* If they're in tight, turn body sideways in order to slip arm in

Slap and Under
* Push upwards on one of their elbows
* Slip under their arm and take the back

We also worked elbows, which I need a lot of work on.

Elbow Tips
* For uppercuts, palms should be facing me
* For crosses and overhands, palms should be facing outwards
* The overall motion should be like the 'karate kid' waxing motion

This was my second Judo class, so the sensei started me out with some rolling breakfalls, then had the other 3 guys take turns throwing me.

After getting thrown 20-30 times, he took me aside and started showing me my first throw. He broke it into 3 steps : Entry, Off-Balance & Execution

Ippon Seo Nage
* Start out in standard grip (one hand on lapel, other above elbow)
* Can be standing still, walking forward or walking backward
Off-Balance
* Pull on their arm to either stop their movement or to pull them off balance
Entry
* Right foot goes in front of their right foot
* Right arm comes up under their arm, around their bicep in a V
* Ass goes up against their right leg/hip
* Rotate 180 degrees on right foot
* Bring left foot in close beside right foot
* Knees should be bent, feet splayed outward
Execution
* Straighten legs, rotate and look at left wall
* They should go flying over the right shoulder

The main thing I had trouble with was my foot positioning at the end. I wouldn't bring my left leg back far enough and it would rob me of a lot of power. Another issue I had was keeping close in to them (my ass on their hip) and also keeping them off balance.

Did 12 minutes of rope, then wrapped my hands and rotate in on some mitt work. We did jab/cross with a little bit of movement. On my jab/cross I need to make a slight adjustment on range so that I'm a bit farther out, I still have a tendency to crowd. I also need to focus on getting the rotation correct; a friend suggested I exaggerate the movement when working the mitts so that I do it correctly when actually sparring/fighting.

When it wasn't my turn I did some kicks on a heavy bag. I think my rear kick is decent but my lead is really inconsistent. It'll take some work before the shuffle step feels comfortable.

Drilled some more armbar and triangle from guard. Got a few tips from a senior student on how to make it tighter.

* When holding their arm, hold arm along the centerline at your bellybutton
* When trying to push their head down to clear space for your leg to go over (for armbar), use the blade of the arm along their temple/ear/neck. This hurts like hell and will help to move their head out of the way.

After drilling I rolled a few times and was able to get an armbar from mount on one of the newer guys, which is a first for me. I know it was pretty sloppy, but I haven't really been taught any submissions from mount yet so I guess anything I can pull off is a bonus.

Buddy of mine gave me some tips on escaping the tight-ass triangle he threw on me as well. If I try to stack them, I need to rotate away from the arm that's trapped and locking on to their head with my free arm will help to hold them in place while I'm moving away.

We worked on guard passes and a pass to mount from x-body.

Cross-Body Pass
* Start from side control
* Go to reverse Kesa Gatami
- Arm goes from around head to outside, under shoulder/arm
- Other arm goes to block their knees
* Slide knee up on stomach, using elbow/arm to guide