Class 316...

An open mat session and a chance to do some light rolling, which was massively enjoyable. 

I'm still badly off the pace at no-gi, but I feel I'm making less stupid mistakes. I am also (badly) persevering with butterfly guard and I am having some success keeping my hooks active when attacking standing opponents.

I hit a couple of wrist locks when rolling from turtle and I nearly hit a triangle from an escape from side control. I am also remembering to use frames much more as well. 

It's not exactly getting better, but it getting a bit less worse.

Things to do: work on butterfly guard and side control attacks; revise attacks from overlooks full guard as I am securing the position but not getting the finishes.

Class 315...

A return to gi this week and a class on single and double leg takedown and killing the butterfly hooks. 

We kicked off with some single and double leg takedown drills, which then chained together. 

We then did some work on killing butterfly hooks: push opponent attacking with butterfly hooks back, shuffle forward to trap opponent's feet, go low and spread his legs, then gable grip around the legs to lock them in place, apply pressure to pin his movement, kick leg up and step hips back and go stomach up, then bring leg and hip back with stomach down, move into side control, secure position.

Other butterfly kill set-up, push opponent back, move in, grab around knee, then reach around other leg to grab ankle and ruin his hooks, then step out pass as before.

Sparring was OK. I did OK against white belts and secured a couple of good positions and scissor sweeps. I also got ruined by a young, long, slick blue belt. It wasn't a great return but I wasn't out of my depth either.

Things to remember: butterfly kick out to guillotine works, overhook guard works but more offence from it is needed.

Classes 313-314...

Another two no-gi sessions and four hours well spent getting to grips with new and sort-of-new stuff.

In the opening class, we spent time learning the dark arts of leg locks and heel hooks. We worked on several techniques and entries and these included:

Heel hook entries from single x: from takedown, grip foot under armpit, same side leg hooks under top knee of opponent, pinch knees together so bottom knee is under opponent's knee and apply pressure, roll onto heel hook side, swim arm out and clamp on heel, gable gårip and attach hands to chest, stretch out and turn into opponent.

To defend, hold onto top knee to close distance, put boot on, pass over opponent's bottom leg and attack for top position.

Other entries: guard opening, knee slide, move back catch other leg with hands and drop back to heel hook attack positions, same side leg underhooks leg of opponent.

Straight foot lock from single x.

In the second class, we did some work on takedowns and a defence-attack chain. These went something like this:

Single leg takedown: step back leg into position so you are 90 degrees from opponent when you underhook the leg, pull leg tight to chest using gable grip and close elbows to shut down space, head tight in to avoid guillotine. 

Single leg defence: move trapped leg to outside of opponent's leg, push off with your hands on head of opponent, then release leg. 

Counter to leg defence: before trapped leg disappears, attack back and gable grip hands around opponent, head on opposite side, close down all space, ensure low leg is inbetween opponent's leg and you have a solid base. 

Defence against counter: create frame with hands and push down against gable grip to break lock and escape. 

Sweep from back attack to counter: keep hold of gable grip, then base outside leg outside and place inside leg close to opponent's leg, push him forward so he pushes back, then use that momentum to trip him and take him to side control.

From there, step over and pass his leg under you arm, then go to knee slice and secure head and arm control, then pass to mount and set up armbar. 

Sparring felt better in both sessions. I am still a long way off the pace and I am getting ruined by the better people there. But I am slowly getting better at defending and understanding positions and holding guard when I can find it. It will all take a while, though. I'm better with a gi because I've done more in a gi, but I will eventually learn to control an opponent without gi handles. 

Things to remember: attach hands to body, create a unit, then attack. 

Class 312...

Today was my second open mat no gi class and I felt a little bit more up to speed. The pace seemed a little less daunting and I was better at keeping my hooks active when people were trying to pass my guard.

I'd also worked on a couple of triangle defences, which sort of worked. The first was a stack and spin defence, which involved posturing up and putting my trapped arm on the opposite side of my opponent's head, then putting my knee in and spinning to mangle his posture and break his legs apart. The other involve getting control of a wrist and placing a foot in the armpit, then stretching out to break the leg lock.

I also tried a triangle from a bad hip bump sweep. This involved attacking from guard for a hip bump sweep without securing the arm, allowing the opponent to defend his base with that arm, then keeping the pressure on his arm and bringing the leg through for a leg triangle.

It was a decent class and I felt I had some success in least holding position in my overlook closed guard. My attempts at butterfly guard are still pretty poor, though, and there's still plenty of work to do before I even reach a basic level of competence at no-gi.

Things to remember: Work on butterfly, defending leg locks and triangle defence. 

Classes 310 & 311...

Today saw a new start at a new gym after leaving work in London last year. It's also a chance to change a few things up, so I'm doing just that. I'm aware I don't hit enough armbars, omoplatas or triangles, I want to work on my speed and stamina, and I want to be less reliant on gi grips. So I've decided to try no-gi for a while.

I also want to get some competency at this as I'm terrible at it.

Class one was an open mat and a chance to roll with everyone and get a feel for the place. The gym I've joined has a lot of footlock specialists, so I got footlocked lots, particularly as I have no gi to grab hold of to keep in close proximity to my opponent and defend myself.

I also fell victim to a couple of d'arce chokes, too.

Attacking from guard was also tough as there is less friction with no gi, so it was tough to clamp down on people, control them and hold them before working for a position.

There is so much to learn for even basic competency at this.

Next up was a beginners class, which led into an advanced class, and the format was pretty much the same structure as a gi class, with running around, roll falls, shrimps, press-ups, etc.

We then did some drilling of armbars and the hip bump sweep, plus a a granby roll from turtle into guard or triangle. I've never really got the latter before so learning this was a win! We then did a spinning armbar drill from a weak kimura attack and some single x guard stuff, leading to a sweep.

The advanced class was all straight rounds rolling and I got murdered and tapped to more leg locks, chokes, back attacks and triangles. It's all very fast and dynamic, with constant movement and attack.

I am awful at this. But I always am when I start anything new. I'll do some research and get a handle on grips and handles, then work out frames and escapes. It will get worse before it gets better.

Things to remember: everything must be active; use granby roll to escape and attack from position and submissions. 

Class 309...

Another gruelling dinner-time class, but it was massively enjoyable as I was partnered with an old friend and there was quite a bit of drilling basic techniques involved. These included kimuras, omoplatas, armbars and triangles. Note to self: I should use triangles a lot more as I have long legs and I should employ these offensively. 

We were shown a couple of techniques and one of them was a basic leg triangle set-up for open guard that I really liked. It went something like this: 
Ensure opponent's hands are inside of guard and his elbows are down; secure collar and arm control one side of opponent; open guard and bring opposite knee across in a sort of z guard; kick z leg up to beat arm and attack for triangle. 

I got murdered in sparring. I ended up on bottom in side control against a couple of bigger and stronger white belts but I managed to fend them off, I even swept one of them at the end. I then got roundly murdered by two good purple belts. One of them has a side control that is exhausting to try and escape. I got a chance to relax against a junior white belt, but I could tell he's going to be good and causing me issues within three months...

Things to remember: Attack for triangles; triangle set-up from knee shield;  work on side control escapes.

Classes 307 & 308...

First, I threw myself into a 90-minute lunchtime class and it was gruelling. But I survived.

The two techniques we worked on involved a takedown from a trip/leg block, then a sweep on a standing opponent that moved into an armbar. These went something like this:

Takedown: you are standing facing an opponent; you have collar and sleeve control and so does he; you angle out and pull down his sleeve control side so he reacts; then you drag his collar side down and step back to 90 degrees but your same side collar leg blocks the movement of his leg; continue the rotation and drop back and down to complete the circle for the throw; to make it easier, you can use your other leg to hook inside his other leg and sweep.

Sweep into inverted armbar: This involved  moving from an open guard to moving into some type of single leg, then tipping the opponent over and dropping into an inverted armbar. I tried to take notes but this sort of ultra connected technique is so far out of my skill sets and competencies that I can't recall most of the details. 

We then did some specific sparring. I sucked at this. We then did proper sparring and I rolled with three good purple belts and a black belt. I was exhausted by this time, so I put up very little resistance.

The major mistake I kept making was not having the foot in the hip when trying to pull guard. This cost me time and time again. I also kept getting my half guard smashed before I had time to put my frame in place. 

The one thing I did get right, though, was using a lockdown escape that I chanced upon yesterday.

It was good to be back. And I survived.

Following on, I did an open mat and I did OK against sparring against higher belts. The threat of my wrist locks does buy a bit of time and I need to use that threat to set up other things. 

I am currently persevering with the half guard and the butterfly guard because I want to develop a more open and offensive guard. The full guard and the overhook guard I rely on are OK and I have options with them, but I need to give myself some more offensive and sweeping options. Sadly the type of tight clamping guards I favour don't really offer this, so I need to expand and try to learn, even though it will make me even more vulnerable to savvy opponents for a bit. 

Things to remember: get frame in place when using half guard; work on guard pulls with foot in hip.