A more creative title this time.

Took James and hit up the noon class today. Topic of the week was passing DLR guard. We did a nice one today. Twist your foot in to prevent being stretched out, break the grip, shuck the guard, then pin the DLR shin and back step over. Either finish the pass, or if they frame, pin the shin again and back step the other way.

I drilled with a new guy, the into the rounds. We did 4 top/bottom starting in DLR. I had the new guy, Nate, and Alex. I had a couple of good moments against Nate, all were close, but no cigar scenarios. But I’ll take that against him.

Kids, sports, vacation, etc etc etc.

But, there was an opening last night so off we went. I knew that Wednesday was no-gi night, so we left our gi’s behind…got half way to the gym and realized that the fundamentals class was still gi….so back we went. Ended up only a few minutes late.

Warmed up with the gang. Then, grip breaks and a basic single leg setup. I was drilling with V, who’s back again. She’s happy to drill with someone who she knows and knows isn’t going to hurt her.

No gi, we drilled/warmed up with some single leg X entries, basic, and then a shin on shin butterfly sweep one. Then, time for rounds.

I had Tom, Morgan, James, New Guy Jessi, and Max.

Had a fun moment with Morgan. He’s kicking my ass, as expected, but I scrambled and managed to turtle roll him. He’s trying to re-guard, and I see an opening to do a rolling back take. Which would be epic to pull off against the rolliest guy in the gym. But he’s seen a thing or two and counters immediately. Tim/Morgan and I all had a good laugh about it.

Pretty achy today, as one would expect.

Friday nooner. Tim is on his way out as I’m walking in….so Alex led the class.

Short warm up, and then into a cool throw. Tailor made for jiu jitsu as well. We grab the collar and pull them in, which baits them to single leg us. We reach over the back with one hand and under to grab their far arm. Shuffle to the side and dump. Or if they drive into us we can sit and do a tome-nage like sacrifice throw.

Then we did some rounds. I had Gene, Nate, Steph (twice), and ACG.

In comparison to Saturday, a tiny group. Only 8 of us daytime warriors.

New week, new lesson. We did a standing variation of the credit card pass. Tricky part for me was keeping my feet staggered so they didn’t get grabbed.

For rounds, we did 3 minutes, starting in closed guard. Pass vs sweep/submit. I had Tim and Steph and ran through 4 or 5 times, alternating top and bottom. Good stuff.

Steamy morning. And a big group. I didn’t count, but the mats were full.

I ran the warm up, then we split into groups of 4 or 5 and ran a shark tank. First guy up does 3 minutes with everyone else in the group, then the next guy is in the barrel.

I had Mick, Alex, Pete, and Marquis. Good rounds, even though I never got my chance in the barrel, we ran out of time.

Back felt normal afterwards too.

After no ill effects on my spine Monday, back at it on Friday.

Same lesson, the over/under stack pass. Tim put me with a brand new guy, Aaron, who was on his second class. I let him drill it most of the time.

For rounds, I had Dom, Andrew, Mick, and a guy from M-Theory who’s name I didn’t get. Did fine. A bit sore afterwards, but within my normal post-class state.

So yeah, back was off. Really off. So, time off, work with the new chiro, rest, stretching, etc. And it’s doing much better.

Went back to class on Monday to test it out. Lesson was an over/under stack pass. Drilled it carefully, and then did some light rolls. Dom, Andrew, Gene and Steph (twice).

Felt fine afterwards too!

Back was still “off” for a lack of a better description. I hit up a new chiro, one recommended both Tom and Tim. Seemed like a good guy. Knew exactly what was going on after my brief description. A few pops later and I’m doing better. Tender, but less pain.

Hit up the noon class today. More of the down blocking, making space, and re-guarding. I started drilling with Aria, and Tim told us that instead of re-guarding, we should go right into an attack. So we experimented some. Triangle, omoplata, kimura, etc. All viable options.

For rounds, I had Aria, Dom, and Andrew, 3x each. Tried to take it easy. Stiff this afternoon. We’ll see if I can make it tomorrow or not.

The stars align again. Huzzah. Solo trip this time, and it’s still sticky hot.

Back is still tender and sensitive to some angles.

No warm up, just a preview of next week’s technique. When we’re on the bottom being leg dragged, we have to pop up on one hand, and down block their advance with a collar tie. That prevents our hips from being squished. Then we can pop our hip and shove their head enough to create space to re-guard. Nick and I drilled.

For rounds, I got Monique and Karen for some easy, risk free rounds.

Welcome to summer.

A rare (for this time of the sporting seasons) Saturday where we were completely open. So, packed the kids up and off we went.

Skylar led the warm up, and everyone knew it was going to be a sweaty day. I was grouped up with Tim, Kevin, Isiah and Jamil. So, no slouch of a group.

I purposely started off slow and deliberate with Isiah. And was doing just fine. About half way through our first round, I got a weird twinge in my lower back. I ignored it, until the next time I bridged, and then I realized it was more than just a random pain. That sounds serrious when I write it out. I finished out the day by continuing to be slow, deliberate, and generally passive.

That afternoon and Sunday, I was sore, but not in any pain.