Class 62...

A relatively gentle warm-up then straight into two techniques.

The first technique was a leg triangle choke from guard. This went something like this:
i) Opponent is in your closed guard and postured up; collapse his elbows with your hand grips and use your closed guard to collapse him so he comes forward.
ii) Swim your left arm under the opponent's right armpit to tightly secure the underhook and secure the underhook by gripping the left collar of the opponent's gi, then using your right arm to grab the opponent's belt.
iii) Get wrist control using your right hand to grab the opponent's left hand; then open your closed guard and hip escape onto your left hip with your left foot on the opponent's right hip; stuff the opponent's left hand so you can bring your right leg inside the opponent's arm then chop it down on the back of the opponent's neck.
iv) To secure the leg triangle, bring your left leg to lock the right leg in place; to close the space you need to angle out and tighten the choke around the opponent's neck so you need to hip escape onto your right hip; to close the leg triangle, pull the trapped arm across his neck and pull his head down.

The next technique was a sweep from an unsuccessful leg triangle choke from guard. This went something like this:
i) Opponent is in your closed guard and postured up; collapse his elbows with your hand grips and use your closed guard to collapse him so he comes forward.
ii) Swim your left arm under the opponent's right armpit to tightly secure the underhook and secure the underhook by gripping the left collar of the opponent's gi, then using your right arm to grab the opponent's belt.
iii) Get wrist control using your right hand to grab the opponent's left hand; then open your closed guard and hip escape onto your left hip with your left foot on the opponent's right hip; at this point, though, the opponent tries to escape but you get him into half-guard
iv) Ensure your right leg hook is tight then flatten your left leg against the floor with your left foot pushed tight against the opponent's knee.
v) From here, use your right knee to sweep the opponent over onto your left side so you end up in a sort of sitting up side control; with the opponent's right arm trapped and his left arm at your mercy there are options such as a straight armbar, an Americana or an omoplata.

In sparring I did OK and I was pretty relaxed. I struggled to control one white belt who today was just much faster, stronger and better, but after this I rolled with one of my blue belt friends and defended myself OK and did the same with one of the purple belts, too. I was still tapped all over the place but I felt I was at least doing the right things some of the time.

Highlight of the day, though, was doing a spot of no-gi rolling with an MMA fighter. He was just so calm and controlled and fluid and he also emphasised the importance of the underhook when we were both operating from half-guard.

LESSON FROM TODAY: Drill triangle chokes; remember the underhook as it's hugely important.

Class 61...

Today was an open mat session and, after a thorough warm-up and stretch, I found myself paired with the first of three blue belts.

I’ve rolled with the first blue belt a bit before and he’s ridiculously fluid and graceful on the ground. But we rolled for dominant position and defence rather than submission and I actually did OK. I’m obviously aware he’s trying new stuff out and pretty much taking it easy, but whenever he put me in trouble I escaped or rolled out or found a suitable defence. I escaped several armbar and triangle attempts and recovered guard a few times, too. These were minor victories. Against somebody who wasn't trying very hard.

The second blue belt has just qualified for the worlds but was injured and also taking it easy. We had a gentle roll but I was so far out of my class it was unreal. One thing he did very well was to disrupt my base and sweep me with very little effort. I take the lesson with humility. I need to spend more time stabilising my position before attempting any form of submission.

The third blue belt is somebody I roll with much more and he’s also very good but this time we were going at it a bit more and I ended up tapping quite a lot. I was trying to do all the right things (recover guard, not leave an arm isolated, hip escape, stabilise my base, grip fight for a good opening position to avoid his guard) but he was just too fast and too drilled.

On the plus side, I felt like I was understanding a few things and putting them into practise but I know I’m still a long way from any form of competency. More mat time needed. But I already knew that…

LESSON FROM TODAY: Spend more time stabilising position before attempting any form of submission.

Class 60...

A two and a half week lay-off thanks to injury so a tentative but welcome return to class today.

The warm-up was based on technique, drilling a single-leg takedown, then doing some cardio work, then drilling the technique again. The key points to remember from the single leg from a sort of loose wrestler's clinch were everything happens on one side: so the left arm lifts the opponent's right arm up to create space for your body to drop down into position; then the left arm wraps around the back of the opponent's right knee and your left ear attaches to the belly of the opponent as your right arm pulls his left arm down to disrupt his balance before driving in.

We then did some work from half-guard.

The first exercise saw the man on the bottom up on his left hip with his hands controlling the opponent's right arm; the bottom man's right knee was pointing towards the opponent's face with his foot under the opponent's left armpit; the right leg then kicks up to create space and the man on the bottom drives forward to secure a right underhook with his right ear to the opponent's chest; the left grip collapses the opponent's right post arm to set up a sweep.

The second exercise saw the man on the top defend this attack by driving forward and securing his own right underhook and driving forward to flatten the opponent, before escaping the half-guard.

The final exercise involved the man on the top stepping over backwards and taking the opponent's knees with him, then pushing the knees down to achieve mount before escaping the half-guard. This was more complex than the previous two escapes but I sort of got it.

In sparring I was paired with a good blue belt and got tapped all over the place, then I was paired with a newish white belt who'd obviously done something before. He was very good and escaped some bad positions before tapping me with an armbar that I wasn't fast enough to stack and escape. The second time round I had him in a good position but I just ran out of time.

It was fab to be back, though. I even remembered some basics today as well, such as two arms in or two arms out, and connecting the knee to the elbow to create a barrier, or using my weight to drive into an opponent to secure position. It's slow but it is progress...

LESSON FROM TODAY: When in half-guard fight for an underhook to sweep or secure the opponent.