Classes 176, 177 & 178...

Three very good morning classes in quick succession and I'm slowly starting to feel like I'm getting back up to speed. 

The first class was with a guest teacher and we did some work on a sweep against a standing opponent. 
i) The man on the bottom has his feet on the hips of his opponent, with the right hand on the opponent's lapel and the left arm trapping the opponent's right leg; the bottom man then hip escapes out and hip escapes back in in so his knees are trapping the right leg of the opponent; your left foot then goes onto the hip of the opponent and your right foot drops to the right knee of the opponent and stretches him out into a sweep.
ii) If the opponent moves in to break leg pressure, let go of the collar grip, pinch knees together and roll onto left side to take opponent over; pass trapped leg and pin onto your right hip; then technical stand-up and leg drag before passing into side control.  

In the next morning class, we worked on a sweep when the opponent tries butterfly guard. 
i) Your head on shoulder of opponent; grab foot same side as head and grab back of opponent's collar with other hand; pull down with collar, pull up with leg and move own legs out to create space then drive for side control. 
ii) The choke from this position involved moving to knee on belly, extending arm at collar to apply pressure, then releasing left hand and going deep with palm up and pinky to opponent's neck, then turning to apply choke. 

In the third morning class, we then worked the same 'steering wheel sweep' as an attack into side control from no contact. 

Sparring was fab and I was mainly paired with fellow white belts. I caught one opponent in a head and arm choke and a couple of other opponents in kimuras. I also rolled with a very good blue belt and defended myself for a decent amount of time before falling into an armbar when escaping a bad position. 

It's good to be back and it's better to feel like I'm picking up full fitness again. 

Things to remember: the steering wheel sweep from butterfly guard.

Competition No.5...

Today, I was supposed to be competing in the Surrey Open, which was supposed to be my third BJJ tournament of the year. But I'm still recovering from injury, so, like the last one, it was a non-starter, making it a disappointing one out of three for the year so far.

A couple of my pals were fighting, though, so I went along to see what was what.

The first thing to note was that it a very well run event, with mat times and fight schedules running pretty much exactly as advertised. One of my friends picked up a deserved bronze after winning one fight, then losing the next. The guy he lost to looked much bigger and my mate had a damaged hand, so he did well not to get submitted. My other friend fought a guy who quite simply looked like an ogre, and he was eventually submitted, despite battling on very bravely against what looked like a brutal leg triangle attempt.

It was good to watch them in action, though. I then went to watch the people in the category I would have been fighting in. If fully fit, I think I'd have done OK. 

The one thing I did do, though, was to make sure I was on weight for this event. Even if I couldn't compete, I did at least get that part of the preparation right.

But I'm slowly coming back to training and competing in the London Open in October is now the goal.

Class 175...

Another open mat session and a bit of light sparring. 

My injuries are healing up and my body is slowly returning to normal, but I'm off the pace with movements and recognising basic positions and threats. 

I did some gi sparring and got shown a really useful escape from on the bottom in scarf hold, which involved dropping onto my shoulder so I'm sort of back to back with my opponent, then connecting my hands around the waist of my opponent, and rolling over so I end up on top. 

I also did a bit of no-gi. This was fun and I'm slowly working out what to grab and what submissions I can use without the gi. It's fun but it's quite fast-paced. 

Sadly, I'm  unlikely to compete at a tournament I've entered this week. My ribs are so-so, but a knee injury has recurred, and it's hard enough competing when I'm fully fit never mind when I'm half fit! 

This is annoying but I have to take the long-term view. There's no point competing when I'm half fit and risking a re-injury and being out for another six to seven weeks. It's good to be back on the mats, though.

Things to remember: The escape from scarfhold.

Class 174...

This week, I finally returned to rolling in an open-mat session and I enjoyed a bit of light sparring. 

The ribs are about 80 per cent healed, but the recurring knee injury is still pretty fucked. It was still OK, even though I may have to miss the competition next week if I'm not fully fit. 

I rolled with a couple of blue belts and did OK, but they were taking it easy. I did get to try some positions out, though, and my full guard was working OK. 

I also got shown a nifty guard passing strategy for if you get caught in your opponent's full guard. This involved stuffing one of the man on the bottom's hands behind his back, then passing on your side because it's undefended. 

It's nice to be back. Even if I'm not firing on all both barrels yet. 

Things to remember: Use the hand behind the back to pass the opponent's full guard.