I remember the horrible bruises I’d get when I first started jiu jitsu. On my wrists, biceps and triceps, and occasionally on my legs. Thankfully I’m a bit more resistant to them now, but I have some good ones from last night.

Tim led class. We started off drilling a series of take down. First up was a fake guard pull to a single and dump. Then we faked a guard pull, but ended up falling back with our foot on their hip. And then we did the same, but shot our hips up for an armlock. Lastly, we transitioned into a sweep if they yank their arm out.

We spent the majority of class training. 7 minute rounds. I ad Meli, Garret, James, Tim, Will, and Zig. Did good with Meli, though she’s about a flexible as Gumby is. This was the first time I’ve rolled with Garret, he’s a newer white belt. He went all out on a head lock from within my guard. He held it strongly enough to prevent me from hipping out to take his back. I ended up sweeping to top half guard, getting half mount and cross choking at the buzzer.

I did good with James too. No submission, but I was moving well and in good positions the whole time. Tim went as usual. I reach for something, he pulls and triangles or armlocks that arm. I don’t reach, and he pushes it and triangles me anyways. There’s a fine line there that I need to discover. I did have one moment of “success”, where I escaped an armlock, and the followup omoplata, only to end up triangled. He’s always two steps ahead.

Will and I were both pretty tired, but we plodded through a round together. I was slow in picking a partner for the last round, so I ended up with Zig, the Russian Bear. He was tried too, so we went slow, but damn if he doesn’t weigh a lot.

IBJJF Chicago Open this coming weekend, and we’ve got a lot of people going. Everyone seems to be ready and on weight.