Oy. What a couple of weeks it’s been. First I got an ugly sinus cold which laid me up for a couple of days. And just when I was feeling well enough to return to jiu jitsu or Crossfit, it was time to head out on vacation. Needless to say, I’ve been itching to be back in action again.

Crossfit in the AM…things are starting to warm up. Won’t be that long until we can be outside running!

I arrived for the beginners class and changed. Came out and saw Tim and Ron chatting…and Ron sporting a brand new blue belt. Huh, some things changed while I was gone! I gave him a well deserved congratulations, and soon after it was time for class to get going. We warmed up, and then drilled the self defense haymaker block, t-position, takedown (either hip toss or knee tap) sequence. Brady led the main lesson, which was the spin around armlock and the kimura from the same position. Stuff we’ve done before, but I did pick up one detail. The position of your opponent’s arm dictates the appropriate submission. If it’s on the bottom side of your head, armlock. High side of your head, kimura.

Damian came in at the end of class, lined us up, and then pulled a blue belt out of his gi. It took me a second to realize he was talking about me when he started talking about how someone was supposed to be promoted at the same time as his training partner, but “he had to go and catch malaria and then leave the country for a week!” So yes, I got promoted to blue belt last night.

Very happy about it. It’s been a journey, but (mostly) an enjoyable one. Lots of congrats, back slaps and handshakes….but even though I was the one being promoted, everyone worked together to allow it. I couldn’t have done it without my training partners and friends.

We started up the advanced class. Did a little conditioning work for the warm up (pushups, squats, situps), then instead of shrimping down the mat a couple of times, we partnered up and did actual escapes. Ron and I escaped escaped escaped. Which was good, because recently we re-learned this move, and I need the practice. And twenty minutes later, good and sweaty, we moved on. Now, some takedown drilling. Ron and I drilled the double over and over.

I was getting pretty tired by the time we actually got to the lesson of the day. A continuation of the previous week, so it was new to me. A new wrestling take down. Start by weaving an underhook, but a “high underhook”, over the top of your opponent’s shoulder.

Pull it down, then shove your forehead up against his neck to prevent him from turning into you. Control his other arm (if you can). From here you have pretty good control over his movement and posture, and can yank him around a bit.

For the actual takedown, yank him towards you, and get him to step. Shove your underhooking arm out, like you’re shot putting, and reach for his opposite knee to block it.

I really like this takedown, and told Ron as much when we were drilling. It makes sense and seems devastatingly effecting. At the end of class, we started doing it with some resistance, and following it all the way down. Took me a couple of tries to figure out how to land, so that I’m not either in guard, or going to end up armlocked. But good stuff.