An early morning class followed by a brutal Thursday dinner sparring session.
The early morning class focused on an x-guard sweep from deep half guard, which was similar to a de la RIva sweep from previous classes. We then went into sparring where I struggled against a few decent blue belts and a couple of much bigger and stronger white belts.
The dinner sparring session was OK. I was pretty comprehensively manhandled by higher belts and a few fellow white belts were too mobile and fast and strong for me. I did OK against a few people, but it wasn't a great week on the mats.
Things to remember: Retain frame and attack at all times. I was too slow off the mark this week.
Thursday 28 April 2016
Wednesday 20 April 2016
Classes 211, 212 & 213...
My BJJ rolling has been on something of a roll as far as class attendance is concerned in recent weeks. The cancellation of my regular midweek hapikdo class has certainly helped and, with me struggling to make other hapkido classes, any additional BJJ classes have become my default option.
First up was a sparring class. It was also my 47th birthday and I thought this would be a good way to begin the year. It was, but an hour of six-minute rounds with minimal rest was also exhausting. I did OK, though, and tried to defend against the higher belts and attacked against my white belt peers. If nothing else, it was a good exercise in getting into an attack mentality.
The next couple of classes were early morning affairs and there was some drilling, based on the trinity of armbar, triangle and omaplata, and holding position with underhooks in butterfly guard and an overhook in closed guard, then it was sparring.
We worked on specific positional sparring from these positions before we went into straight sparring.
I did OK at sparring and I defended OK against the blue belts I was paired with and even threatened a few submissions. I did better against my white belt peers and successfully attacked with back climbs, omaplatas, triangles and kimuras. I feel like I'm getting nearer to blue belt status at the moment, but I'm still running into very good white belts who run over me. I'm doing OK, though, for a bloke who's giving somewhere between 10 and 20 years to a lot of opponents.
Things to remember: Attack is the best from of defence, so always look for attack options.
First up was a sparring class. It was also my 47th birthday and I thought this would be a good way to begin the year. It was, but an hour of six-minute rounds with minimal rest was also exhausting. I did OK, though, and tried to defend against the higher belts and attacked against my white belt peers. If nothing else, it was a good exercise in getting into an attack mentality.
The next couple of classes were early morning affairs and there was some drilling, based on the trinity of armbar, triangle and omaplata, and holding position with underhooks in butterfly guard and an overhook in closed guard, then it was sparring.
We worked on specific positional sparring from these positions before we went into straight sparring.
I did OK at sparring and I defended OK against the blue belts I was paired with and even threatened a few submissions. I did better against my white belt peers and successfully attacked with back climbs, omaplatas, triangles and kimuras. I feel like I'm getting nearer to blue belt status at the moment, but I'm still running into very good white belts who run over me. I'm doing OK, though, for a bloke who's giving somewhere between 10 and 20 years to a lot of opponents.
Things to remember: Attack is the best from of defence, so always look for attack options.
Tuesday 12 April 2016
Classes 208, 209 & 210…
With work
stupid busy, I’ve only made an open mat and two early morning classes in the
past three weeks.
The open mat session was brutal and consisted of me sparring for about 70 minutes with a couple of decent blue belts and a couple of white belts. I did OK for the opening 40 minutes and was tough to tap and even threatened a kimura and a footlock at one point, but then I gassed and I was essentially cannon fodder for the rest of the time.
It was a decent test of my cardio, though, which remains OK, despite me feeling like I had collapsed before crossing the line.
The two early morning classes both focused on the front guillotine choke and drilling the entry, then getting the tap from guard or using it as a sweep. The key points of the entry from standing are to push the head down and to swim the arm around so the blade of the wrist is under the throat of the opponent. The hands connect in a cup and saucer grip, then the top arm pulls the blade of the wrist up to secure the choke.
The sweep essentially relies on securing this technique, then falling back into guard. Keeping everything tight, you insert a foot hook on the opposite side of the choking arm, then drop back and roll the opponent to the side as your hook lifts him in the air. You then come on top to secure the choke or a better position.
There’s also a variation where you can use the guillotine to pretty much flip your opponent over 180 degrees, too.
In specific drilling, my attacking from a seated position against a standing opponent was OK, but my using the guillotine to attack for position from standing was less good.
In sparring, I had some success with the Ezekiel choke, which is rapidly becoming a go-to move for me. But I also got ruined by a couple of blue belts that I can sometimes cause a few problems.
But it’s good to be on the mats and there’s some slow signs of progress. I’m also booked in for a tournament in May and a tournament in July, so I have a few things to work towards.
The open mat session was brutal and consisted of me sparring for about 70 minutes with a couple of decent blue belts and a couple of white belts. I did OK for the opening 40 minutes and was tough to tap and even threatened a kimura and a footlock at one point, but then I gassed and I was essentially cannon fodder for the rest of the time.
It was a decent test of my cardio, though, which remains OK, despite me feeling like I had collapsed before crossing the line.
The two early morning classes both focused on the front guillotine choke and drilling the entry, then getting the tap from guard or using it as a sweep. The key points of the entry from standing are to push the head down and to swim the arm around so the blade of the wrist is under the throat of the opponent. The hands connect in a cup and saucer grip, then the top arm pulls the blade of the wrist up to secure the choke.
The sweep essentially relies on securing this technique, then falling back into guard. Keeping everything tight, you insert a foot hook on the opposite side of the choking arm, then drop back and roll the opponent to the side as your hook lifts him in the air. You then come on top to secure the choke or a better position.
There’s also a variation where you can use the guillotine to pretty much flip your opponent over 180 degrees, too.
In specific drilling, my attacking from a seated position against a standing opponent was OK, but my using the guillotine to attack for position from standing was less good.
In sparring, I had some success with the Ezekiel choke, which is rapidly becoming a go-to move for me. But I also got ruined by a couple of blue belts that I can sometimes cause a few problems.
But it’s good to be on the mats and there’s some slow signs of progress. I’m also booked in for a tournament in May and a tournament in July, so I have a few things to work towards.
Things to remember: Snap the head down when using the guillotine to attack from standing; continue to drill footlocks and the Ezekiel choke.
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