Big class. Brady led the warm up. Damian made the groups.
I had two white belts, Stu and Jimmy. 4 in, one guy out. Advance your position and stay in.
It was a good mix, and a quick turn over between guys. Every 10 or 15 minutes Damian would stop everyone and set up 3 matches for everyone to watch. First point wins. The back to the chipper.
I started my random day off with the morning class. Always a good mix of guys there. Damian led.
Lesson of the day was passing half guard when he’s got a good position. He’s on his side, has the underhook, and is looking to bump us and take our back or start a scramble. We back off and secure his hip. When we’re read, we shift our base, grabbing his back, so our lat is up high on his body, on his face almost. Walk our trapped foot up, push to clear our knee, then switch to 3/4 mount. From there, we use the “rude boy” crossface and go to mount. Then trap his head and Ezekiel choke.
For rounds, I had Tyler (holy cow is he big), Derwin (who was going hard!), Daryl, and Schwartz.
Nooner today. Half the class we drilled headlock escapes, because there’s no school like the old school. The other half we did one spider guard pass to the back…which is a decidedly new school guard. I drilled with Zach.
For rounds, we did 3 up, 3 down, starting in spider guard. I had Zach again.
Uff. Saturday I was still sore from Wednesday night. The warm up helped, but then…
The Chipper.
Groups of eight. 6 in, 2 out. Starting sitting. Top guy needs to pass. Bottom, sweep or submit. Winner stays. Looser goes to the end of the line and a new guy comes in. An hour straight, with no more than 30 seconds of a break at any given time.
I had Tim, Brown Belt Chris, Dumi, Morgan, Nik, Wade, and Blue Belt Tyler. Black, brown, brown, purple, purple, blue. Tough group.
Happy New Year.
My 2016 BJJ ended with a big whimper. It has been impossible for me to keep a steady schedule going with the life changes that are ongoing. Work isn’t consistent enough to allow me to go during the day. I had about a 6 week long head cold that made me shudder at the thought of going to roll and I really didn’t want to share with any one even if I did.
I did get get to class last Thursday. Bob the Monster warmed us up, and then we skipped the lesson and when right into rolling. I had Charlie, Philip, Megan, Meli and George. Once around, plus an extra round with Charlie. I felt decent. Glad I went. Sad that I don’t know when I’ll be back.
My boys started you wrestling recently. Fun to see them learning. Interesting to see the difference in culture between that and BJJ.
My BJJ anniversary is coming up fast. Time flies.
Noon class feels like a hit and run. Rush there, and hop right in. Duck out a bit early, rush back to work. But still, some jiu jitsu is better than no jiu jitsu.
Lesson of the day was two passes of DLR guard. We reviewed and drilled, then into rounds. I had James and Rafa. One round on top, trying to pass, one round on bottom, trying to sweep or submit. I did great with James on top of me, sweeping most of the time. I did horrible on top of Rafa, getting swept every time.
A quick review of breaking our oppenent down from closed guard, transitioning to the Clamp, cross choking and then if they defend, armlock, and if they defend, pendulum sweep.
For rounds we did 3 minutes on top, 3 on bottom, closed guard. Pass vs sweep or submit. I had Phillip and another guy, and only could squeeze in one round with each.
Still hot. Still humid. Small class.
We warmed up with the Circle of Death with the Phase 1 class. Then drilled a standing collar drag into a single leg, immediately followed up with a folding smash pass. Wade and drilled away together.
Rounds were groups of 4, 3×3 minute rounds in, then 2×3 minutes out. We went through 3 times total. I had Mongoose, Long and Tim.
I had some rounds where I did good in. I got stuffed a take down vs Mike, spun to the back, grabbed an arm, and rolled him over for an arm lock. In another round I had a great scramble with Long and got on his back.
I had some rounds where it was all I could do to keep moving. But I moved.
Mike popped my elbow with an armlock. Tender this morning, but it’ll be okay.
Vacation is nice. Jiu jitsu is nice too.
I came back to a Saturday mat full. We did 3 minutes on top/3 on bottom, starting in closed guard. Pass or take the back vs sweep, submit, or take the back. I had Long, Danny, and Stu in my group.
I did okay with Long, mostly because he was working the tozi pass the whole time. Danny always smashes me, but did so with an interesting two-on-one grip from his closed guard. I kept pace with Stu, but didn’t have much success.
It’s been hot the past few days, but thankfully cool for no gi last night. Small group too, only 10 of us.
We skipped warming up and went right into take down drills, our choice. I drilled the ankle pick variations we did a couple of weeks ago, and the arm drag double. Tim pointed out a problem with my double, and took a minute to explain my mistake to everyone. Then we all drilled it together.
For rounds, we did 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 minute rounds. I had Derwin, Wade, Daryl, Mason and Colin. Felt pretty good and did decently with everyone.