Wednesday's Class

Good luck to all of our guys going to the PanAms in California. We've got five guys headed down, including Coach Foster. They've all trained so hard, and they looked ready to go. I pity anyone who has to compete against Bill.

Class warmups were light... mostly stretching. We went into technique a bit early and got lots of sparring in. The technique covered was a baseball bat choke from side control, knee on belly and from mount.

In any position, the choke is performed by gripping the lapel on one side of the neck with four fingers in, then gripping on the other side of the neck with the thumb in. Same way you'd grip a baseball bat. The "fingers in" side is going to come across the throat while the other arm is going to remain straight. Once I get the grip, I'll put my weight on my arms so that I can swing around to where my legs are pointed in the opposite direction of my opponent's. Keeping my "thumb in" arm straight, I'll bring my others arm across the throat, driving both my head and my elbow on that side to the floor for the choke. This is a fast move and a good choke, but I get the feeling that it's got to be spontaneous, as any warning will give the guy on the bottom a chance to get an arm in, or bring their head up.

I tried this in sparring. I thought I had it pretty tight, but I couldn't keep my opponent from turning. So, after doing a few tandem Curly circles on the floor, I went back into side control and worked the Americana setup we went over last week. This first match I was paired up with one of the newer students, a good guy. I also spent a lot of time trying to be patient in guard, working my sweeps and playing a little with rubber guard. I almost pulled off an omoplata right off the bat. I got the arm up and over, but forgot to control my partner's belt to control him, and ended up letting it go. I worked some scissor sweeps into mount, and just tried to control my partner from guard.

My second and third matches were with bigger guys, and I did okay. I ended up tapping to an Americana, but didn't tap to body pressure. I tried to keep working to my side and working to improve my position any time I was on the bottom. I also worked on side control in both of these matches, which seems to be my strongest control position. I kept trying to isolate the near side arm with my knee, controlling the head with my knee/elbow and working for different submissions (while I was on top).

Oops... I missed a day

Looks like I didn't every write up Friday's class. Well, I'm sure it was, as the kids these days say, "totally rad." Wait, I'm being told now that kids haven't said that in 20 years. Ah well.

We worked all week on the Americana, details regarding side control and the setup to the... arm lock/reverse armbar thing. Not sure what that's called.

On a side note, my back is killing me. Has been for several weeks. It's fine once I get it warmed up, but when it cools off, it's just sort of inflamed. Not a terrible pain, like when my disc was bulging and it was really bad, but still not good. I'm trying to stretch, and I'm hoping that continued fat loss, shrinking the beergut, and strengthening my core will ease up the pressure on my spine. We'll see. I don't think anything I'm doing is making it worse, even if it isn't make it better.

Class yesterday was great, though I may have overdone it a little. Class itself was relatively light, with a light warmup and technique drills. We did some sparring. The highlight of the entire weekend was our honored guest, Juliano Prado. Juliano is the black belt who gave James Foster his black belt. It was nice to meet him and watch him roll. Also hilarious was seeing him, at 5' 8" (or so), standing next to James at 6'5".

I did a lot of rolling yesterday. Big Rick crushed the life out of me. I still get freaked out on the bottom sometimes, so Big Rick (all 290 or so lbs of him) kept moving from position to position. The part of me not ready to keel over could see the comedic potential. As he would crush me, he'd say, "This is not a submission. I have nothing from this position. Get your arms in and think. Make space for yourself and breathe. This is not a submission." Gasp, gasp.

But I did appreciate the help, and I asked him if he'd be willing to work with me some more. I know that if I can breathe with Rick on top of me, I can handle anything.

I also worked a lot on breaking down posture from my guard. I got a lot of help with that. Tips like keeping your hips mobile, targeting the elbows, etc. One great tip was to work on the elbows, pulling them out and up over my own shoulders. After working this for a while, my opponent will really make a point of keeping them in, which is when I can bring my guard up and lock their arms up inside. This will be much easier to do on a smaller guy. Chris, the person showing me this stuff, is a good 40 or so lbs heavier than me.

He also showed me some strategies to use when stuck under side control, particularly against someone who has good shoulder pressure and control.

I did a lot of this during the open mat time after class. Probably the best part of the entire class was at the end when I tried starting from standing up for the first time ever. That went pretty well, actually. I didn't attempt any of my own takedowns, but I worked on sprawling strong and getting down low. I guess those crazy sprawling drills Bill has us doing during warmups work, because I didn't really even think about it.

All in all, I had a really good weekend, both Friday and Sunday classes were really productive. I've still got a lot to learn, but as long as it's fun, I don't mind at all.

Americana details and an armbar setup

Wednesday's class was pretty big, but not as big as some. We have several people getting ready for the PanAms.

The lesson plan for this week is offensive and defensive combinations. We started today by doing some details on the Americana from side control. Coach explained today that the basic side control position with one leg up to block the hip and the other leg back for base is exactly that, a control position. In order to execute any kind of submission, I'll need to bring the other leg up as well. Pretty straightforward.

I've got side control on my opponent. I'm on his left side, and my right arm is closest to his head. I'll bring my right knee up and under, tight against his head with his arm up close. I'll move my right arm to the other side of his head and pinch his head between my elbow and knee for control. At this point, he is likely trying to create space by keeping his arm in tight and in my neck so that he can sit out. I'll push his elbow toward his head with my left arm only to create enough space to get my right arm positioned for the Americana. Then drive it to the floor, using my head if necessary for a little more push (but not leaving it there, as it compromises my base, making to too far forward). Turn my wrists like I'm revving up a motorcycle and then pulling his arm flat and down. Coach said that if you're pulling more than a few inches, you're doing something wrong... maybe not turning your wrists, maybe the elbow's too high.... something.

The second setup was an extension of this. If I get the above American, great. If not, a common defense is to shoot that hand up and try to control my head. If my opponent does this, I'll trap his arm, either by pulling my left arm to my ear, or by reaching across and grabbing my lapel. Then, put some pressure on the arm... it's trapped and chances are, if he made the mistake of putting it up there, he'll react by trying to get it back out. Then, loosen up to give him room to pull it down... into my right arm which is waiting for the Americana. This is a very slick manuever.

The third setup was an alternative to the above. Instead of waiting for the gimme Americana, I'll trap the arm as I did above, and then post on my right arm, swing my right leg around his head and my left leg up tight, then sit into a sort of reverse arm lock.

Sparring went well. I sparred with a newer student and tried to work with him. I worked a lot on controlling guard. I kept him low as he tried to post up and then attempted a triangle, but couldn't quite get my hips around. He stood up, and when I tried to swing over into an armbar he got out (I'll get this eventually... someday, I'll be able to write about actually locking in an armbar from guard). He remained standing, so I controlled his arms and pulled him a little forward, then grabbed his ankles and rode him over into mount. From here, he got some help from one of the blue belts. The blue belt was helping him with one of the basic reversals, so he trapped an arm and leg and eventually rolled me back over into my guard. I worked my closed guard up high again, locked down his shoulder and tried to position myself to roll into an omoplata. That didn't work, so I went for a simple, scissors sweep, going over into mount, then side control and then the Americana that we'd been working on. When we started going again, I pulled him into mount. I've been replaying this in my mind, because I've been thinking that sweeps from side control and half-guard are an area where I need to work. I pulled guard, and as I was working around for another triangle attempt, he managed to get my leg pushed down and moved into half guard. His base was wonky, though, and I swept him over. I don't really know how I did it, but this is an area I need to work on. Anyway, I was in his half guard, passed to side control and then the Americana.

Second round was with spider guard guy. I'm glad, because I enjoy trying to get around this guy's guard. He's very limber and every time I move into side control, he upas, shrimps or otherwise creates enough room to get back to guard. It's challenging and I think it's really good for me to try and work on passing guard, controlling side mount and setting up submissions. It took almost the entire 5 minute round to get into a position to work on the Americana and I did so from a sit out control position, rather than from the knees in tight position Coach showed us. I found that on this particular guy, every time I'd pull my knees up and try to clamp him down, my hips would elevate just enough to give him room to wiggle.

On another note, my back's been aching more than usual for the past few weeks, but it seems to be feeling a little better. It hasn't really affected my training, but it's irritating.

By George, this BJJ stuff Works!

At least, when you do it right. Sunday class we don't see much of Coach. He's training hard for the PanAms. So, we did our warmups, drilled the armbar from guard for a bit, then worked our counter to a stack.

Some details regarding this technique that were shared today included keeping your heels in at all times... pulling the opponent in tight. Another was to hook the leg if possible to counter a possible reversal. And a tip for stacking was to keep your arms in to avoid other possible elbow locks and a potential omoplata. Neato!

I'm starting to really sift through the online training and picked up some tips from the JJ Machado online training that I really wanted to work on. I've decided that part of my problem is passivity, so I came into sparring today determined to work an active guard game. So, armed with some great techniques for breaking down posture and working it from there, I went for it.

Of course, in my first match, I paired up with a guy who's also very, very active. He's a bit lighter than me, but I think has a lot more technique. I was talking to my wife about killer instinct. I don't really have it. I've spent a lifetime trying not to hurt people. That'll have to change! Muwahaha... *cough*. Anyway. So, I was sparring with Josh and that was about the funnest 5 minutes I've had. Josh has the killer instinct. With 15 seconds left, he locked in a deep guillotine. It was so deep, I thought I was going to sleep before I could tap. I had so much fun that I wasn't even disappointed that I got sucked into that choke.

In my next match, I paired up with Bruce, and got cut. But I was able to begin trying out the guard techniques. I broke down his posture, locked his shoulder down with my left leg up high and my right arm. He reacted by trying to drive my right leg to the floor. I just brought it up and around and eventually got him to tap from a triangle. Pulled guard again, and this was funny. I tried to get up high, but he drove my thighs to the ground and it hurt like hell. I said ow, and he stopped. I told him I was fine... he just got the muscle going and all was good. So, he passed, got mount and I reversed him. Somewhere along the way, I got a small cut on my cheek... but got back in with about a minute to go. So, I pulled guard and again began working my legs up high and breaking down his posture. This time I was able to really isolate his right arm with my left leg and right arm. I controlled his arm with my left, grabbed his belt along his back with my right and rolled him into an omoplata. I think I had it in tight, but time was called.

I stayed after and rolled with another one of the white belts. We just kind of went until we got tired.

I had a great class and feel really good. As the title says, this BJJ stuff really works... if you can figure it out.

One other thing, it occurred to me that the big think Josh and others in the school have going for them is that they commit to every technique expecting it to work. I need to do more of this. Today, when I was rolling, I tried to commit to the techniques, rather than expecting them to not work because I'm not advanced enough to make them work. This, like the killer instinct thing, is just something I don't have. I think it's coming with confidence, and as I experience more successes, I'll get there.

Late post about class on Friday

Well, I realized today that I never posted my thoughts on Friday's class. HOT! Oh man, I was a sweaty mess.

I got there a little early and one of the other guys and I worked on a basic sweep before class. I like this sweep because it starts a lot like the setup for an armbar from guard. Get one leg up high, trap the opposite side arm, then swing that side's leg out wide. At this point, bring it in sharply while at the same time pushing/pulling with your arms and hips to sweep right into mount.

Class was all about armbars again. We worked the same armbar counter detailed on Wednesday, as well as a new one. This newer technique will be difficult to describe without pictures, but I'll try. Starting with a basic armbar from guard. I trap his right arm with my right arm, and pull his left shoulder down with my left arm to keep him from posturing up. Then bring my right leg up high on his left shoulder, scoot my hips out to my left and swing my left leg around the head to secure the armbar. At this point, he will stack me up.

So, from here, he's got me all stacked up and unhappy. I can't extend my hips and his goal is to pull his right arm out of danger. As he frees his right arm, I am going to trap his left arm and then drop and turn my left leg so that my shin/ankle/foot is cupping his head/neck. Then I'm going to swing my right leg all the way around to the other side so that I'm trapping and working the armbar on his left arm. It's cool, and seemed to flow very well.

Sparring was exhausting, but fun. I started from guard for the first match against a guy I know is strong. It went okay. My problems against him are in breaking his posture. Many of the things I want to work on rely on breaking down my opponent's posture, so I need to do this. I picked up a few details that I think will help.

I worked after class with another one of the students, the one who likes his spider guard. We just basically worked until I passed guard and then reset. There were so many students on the mat, we didn't have a lot of room to roll. With him, I just concentrated on keeping either both arms in and driving his legs apart or both arms out and driving his legs together, then passing accordingly.

Looks like April 28th will be my first tournament. I'm at 192-193 right now, so I shouldn't have any problem making weight at ~185.

Congrats to Cameron!

I forgot to mention in my post that Cameron was promoted to Blue Belt! Way to go. He did exceptionally well in the tournament last weekend and Coach Foster felt that it was time.

Congratulations!

Wednesday Class

Wow... It's been a while since I've been to class! Last Friday, to be
exact. Tonight was a good class... Big. Seems like there are more
people at class all the time. I guess with Summer coming up, everyone
wants to get back into training. I know I'm working to get into that
Speedo! (Or is that too much information?)

Anyway, enough about me, and get to the good stuff. Class started with
a light warm-up, and then into Armbar counters. We worked on a counter
to the counter to the armbar from closed guard. Whew. So, I've got my
opponent in my closed guard and am going to execute an armbar to his
left arm. I trap that arm, pull my left leg up high on the shoulder,
push his head away, elevate my hips so I can pivot on my back and bring
my other leg around the head to an armbar.

At this point, my opponent will try and stack me up. If he does this
and I can't get my hips extended, I'm in trouble. So, at this point
I'll switch hands so that I can reach through with my arm... All the way
through so that I can swing my head around and end up face down.
Keeping control over his arm and rolling over will force your opponent
onto his stomach, stretched out (hopefully) and in a very weak position.

I didn't get a chance to try this technique out in sparring. I was
working with one of the big guys that I tend to get paired up with.
He's also a white belt, and he has about 50 or so lbs on me. We agree
to start from guard, so I pulled him into my guard. I try to take as
many opportunities to work from the bottom that I can. At least, I'll
do so until I actually start making stuff happen from there.

I'm going to really start doing some studying and focus on sweeps from
guard. I'm just not able to make it happen, so I'm surely doing
something wrong. I worked on controlling his arms and keeping him low.
He's a bruiser, so that was a struggle all on its own. I really wanted
to get his arms in tight so that I could try that kimura/goose neck we
learned last week. Nothing doing. I could put some pressure on this
guy, but I wasn't able to get his arms low enough or pull him forward.
Eventually, he came around into side control. I tried to hip escape,
but he flattened me out and just started grinding into my diaphragm,
where I ultimately tapped. I was and am irritated that I did that. I
hate that I tapped from something as stupid as that.

We reset and I worked from guard, passed using basic guard pass #2 (knee
through the middle and over the opposite side leg into side control). I
had good control and was working toward an Americana when time was
called.

I went against another one of the newer guys in the class in a second
round of sparring. That was among the most grueling 5 minutes I've had
in a long time. I was exhausted at the end. It started off poorly for
me, as he got me down on my back in half guard. I was trying to execute
a sweep that didn't work. He took mount, but I was able to immediately
reverse into his guard. I can't remember everything that happened, but
I was working back control by the time the round ended.

I spoke to Coach about competing. I've been thinking about it a lot,
and I think it's an important part of training, and integral to the
program, to compete. While I've always been a competitive person, I've
never really participated in one-on-one sports. So the thought of
measuring up in a ring is a little nerve-wracking to me. But I consider
that all the more reason to do it. I told Coach yesterday that I'd like
to come up with a plan, as if I'm going to do this, I want to do it to
win. So, that'll be something for me to work on.

Awesome Friday Class

I wish I could have stayed for open mat. But even without that, today was a good day. We have a tournament coming up tomorrow (http://www.myspace.com/libertyevents)that's being organized by Liberty Events, a company run by one of the guys who trains at my school. Weigh-ins were being done tonight and so there was a lot of energy in the place. Lots of guys going in and out, lots of guys who obviously hadn't seen each other in a long time saying hi and just a generally good vibe. If you're in the Seattle area and want to watch, I think it's like $10 at the door. Should be a blast!

Our class was good, too, for those of us not competing tomorrow. Because we had some guys who just can't keep themselves from throwing on the gi and going to class even though it's the evening before the tournament, warmups were light. Then Coach basically kicked those guys out, so they could rest up.

We had a ton of new guys, learned a couple of sexy submissions from within closed guard, and had a great time sparring. Class tonight was basically run by one of our purple belts, as Coach was busy doing a good job of controlling the chaos in the school. Since there were so many white belts and brand new guys, he talked a little about closed guard. It's a safe place and he said that he totally understands the desire for newer guys to stay in or return frequently to closed guard. As a result, he showed us pretty much the only submission he knows from a closed guard: a reverse kimura.

The reverse Kimura basically works like this. I've got my opponent in my closed guard, and he's probably trying to posture up and work out. Well, I know I want to break down his posture. This sub works particularly well on guys who are tired or who are stalling in guard. I'll start by controlling one of his arms. Chances are that I'm doing this anyway... or trying to. As such, this isn't going to raise any real red flags for him. I'm not going to pull it across or be overly aggressive, such as if I'm going for an armbar or triangle. I'm just controlling the arm. Then, at some point I'm going to get my closed guard up a little higher... high up so that I'm blocking his arm with my leg. So, for example, I'm going to work on my opponent's left arm. At this point, I'm going to reach under with my left in a reverse grip, then bring my right arm over and into a basic Kimura grip. Then work the submission as I would any Kimura.

The key to making this submission work is surprise. And fear. Fear and surprise are the two keys to making this submission work. And keeping the wrists straight or even bent forward... definitely not back. This is a key to any Kimura, he says, and it really puts a lot more pressure on the joint. It's the difference between a one inch motion to tap and fighting for four to six inches and using a lot of energy.

Oh, there is one more key. That's to keep the elbow ON YOUR STOMACH. If I let my opponent's elbow slip down my side, it's going to be very difficult to torque his joint enough to get the submission. If it does slip down, I can pull it back up onto my stomach if possible, or open up my guard, readjust and then close my guard again. So, let me start again. The four keys to making this submission work are fear, surprise, wrist position, keeping his elbow on my stomach... and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope.

Okay. So, that's the Kimura. He taught us a variation for those guys who, even though you're doing everything right, just won't tap. The variation is a goose-neck submission. Painful, but not overly damaging. A guy with flexible wrists and a high tolerance for pain can muscle through this one. That said, it's pretty painful and will surprise a lot of people. Basically, if I can't get the Kimura (presuming the same side I was just working), I'll slide my left hand up a little onto my opponent's hand, with my thumb underneath, along the wrist. I'll slide my other hand up my own forearm a bit to make room for the submission and then do a basic wrist lock, pushing his hand down. I try to imagine pushing my opponent's knuckles straight through the crease in his wrist. This seems to get a lot of pain fast.

I damn near snuck this one in during sparring. The cool thing about these subs is that, even though they're relatively low percentage, they're very safe and you can keep working them over and over with little chance for repurcussions. They're also sneaky. I locked in the figure four position on my sparring partner and could immediately tell that I didn't have the Kimura, so I switched over to the wrist lock and almost had it. I think that, had we not just drilled it, I would have been successful. His eyes got big and I could tell that he didn't see it coming.

Speaking of sparring, I had a great time tonight. I started off class feeling a little off, but I'm glad I stayed. As usual, I'm working on my guard, sweeps, passing guard and all of my basics. I got a nice reversal from guard into mount on one of my partners and took his back. I couldn't stop smiling after class.

Sparring in yesterday's class

I've been mulling over yesterday's class a little more. We have a lot of guys competing on Saturday, so our coach was emphatic that they not spar, rest up and just work on their gameplans with no resistance.

I'm not competing, so I got to spar. When I first started class, there was a guy who just killed me. He worked a spider guard that killed my arms and just controlled me the entire time. I couldn't pass his guard, and if I remember right, got triangled, too.

Well, he took a few months off and came back yesterday, and I got a chance to go 5 minutes with him. It was great. While he's certainly a little out of shape and practice, I felt really good about the progress I've made. I moved through his guard with relative ease, even when he used the spider guard. I never got into mount, but I worked side control. I'm really focusing on keylocks right now, so from side control I just tried to methodically trap his nearside arm and isolate the far side arm. I had pretty good success with the Americana.

When you roll with the same guys in class every day, and as you improve they are also improving, it's difficult sometimes to see how much progress you've made. That became clear last night. I'm sure this guy will get his form back, and it won't be long before he's once again applying the triangle on me at will, but it was really gratifying to see further evidence that I'm actually getting better (He can be taught!!). It also made it clear to me that I really need to get into a tournament so that I can see where I'm at. I'm not sure how I'll do, but I can see how important it is. Whether I win or lose in a tournament, I think it will be motivational.

Fun, fun, fun class today!

Tonight was a good class. We have a lot of guys competing on Saturday, so the warmup was relatively light.

We worked two techniques tonight around butterfly guard. Two passes and some general advice for avoiding getting swept.

The first technique was a pass that hinges on being able to get one arm inside. If my opponent has one underhook on my left side, I get my head into his shoulder on that side and with my right hand control his right leg either at the knee or ankle... wherever I can. Then I drive to that side while stepping out and over with my right leg. I'll use my control of his leg to keep him from hooking me. I should then be able to turn into side control.

The second technique was another butterfly guard pass. In this case, my opponent has secured two underhooks and he's up tight, making life very difficult for me. First, I'll drive my arms straight down to the ground inside his knees. Then I push back to break his grip (if he's got one behind my back with his underhooks). Then pull my legs back, bring my knees together and then slide my knees right back between his legs into his open guard. At this point, I'm in very good shape to pull him up and in while clasping my hands together and passing into side control.

Some details he pointed out. If the grip is strong with the underhooks and I can't break it I can exert a lot of pressure on my opponent's arms by crossing my arms. This will encourage my opponent to break his grip and give me room to drive my hands to the ground, or even swim them inside.

Sparring was good. I have to keep working on my hip escapes from mount... but that's not going to change for a while.

Friday Class

Okay... I wanted to get this post done now, because I'm not sure if I'll get another chance tomorrow. Lots of stuff on the agenda.

First, I had a great time at class. I'm still fighting with this cold. I had to assure Coach that I'm not contagious anymore. I'm just fighting with that bone weary fatigue that comes after fighting off an illness. It's like my energy level just isn't there.

But that aside it was a good class. Warmups were pretty good today. We sprawled on the bags and sprinted and did all sorts of other stuff. I'm actually kind of enjoying the sprawls now. I try to get in at least 4 or 5 sets of 5 whenever I see an empty spot each go around. As a result I ended up doing a total of around 45 sprawls today. They're a heck of a lot easier to do now than when I first started. Sprinting still kicks my ass, though.

Ultimately, as a result of the warmups, I was sweating like Fat Bastard in a sauna even before we started our technique drills. Technique today was working on the same ones we covered Wednesday. I don't really have anything to add. Oh, one thing wasn't clicking for me. It was one of those things that I just couldn't wrap my head around, but once Coach explained it to me it was very simple. On the technique where I'm on the bottom in north/south, and my arms are trapped. I move one arm to the other side of my opponent's head and pull his head back, breaking the grip. My question was about what happens next. I'm supposed to post my other arm on his hip and spin around, bringing my knee in, ultimately if all goes well, back into guard. But, what about when I don't clear his arm out of the way, or he's intentionally posting it to block my hip. I can't get my knee in. Coach said that if he does that, he's actually just giving me his back. Of course.

Sparring was a blast today. I got an effortless sweep from guard to work. It was great. I did forget something fundamental... I was in mount at one point and he wasn't budging. I can typically hook a leg and arm and bridge up strong enough to roll... but that wasn't working. I was bumping him and getting him off balance, but I completely forgot what we just finished working on... shrimping out and pulling my legs through. Gah!

A little later, I actually passed guard pretty well. I was working to isolate his arms, move into mount and keep a good base. Eventually, he goofed, I got one of his arms out and into a keylock. I also tried to work from guard and that was going pretty well. I kept my guard up high, tried to work for an armbar (couldn't get there) but was giving him a hard time, too. I'm learning that if I'm a little more aggressive in guard, it's helping to keep my opponent's attention occupied on defense, rather than on passing guard.

Tomorrow's going to be fun! At least a few of us are going to visit a school down in Olympia, WA. I've never trained with anyone else. I haven't even seen any other schools, so this is going to be an adventure for me. I'm looking forward to it.

We're also going to watch the UFC tomorrow. Looks like a good card.

Body Fat %

Not something I've ever really thought about until today. While at the gym, I mentioned that I've been losing weight and would like to get down to 185 lbs. The person who runs the place asked me if I'd ever had my body composition calculated.

Long story short, she did two different tests. The first was a bioelectric thingamajigger test. Essentially, she plugged in some salient figures, I held onto the machine for a moment and then voila! The other was a 3 point skinfold test. Both were pretty much the same. I'm at 21% fat, so I've got some room to drop some more weight. It also looks like 185 is a good target for me. I'm gaining muscle, but I'm not lifting for strength or mass, so I shouldn't gain all that much. If I can get down to about 17% body fat, I'll be right in my target area. Woohoo!

300 the Movie

Our school going to see this as a group next week after it comes out. From all of the reviews I've read, this movie is a feature length ass-kicking, and I can't wait to see it.

North South

What to do when someone's got you in north/south. We learned a couple of techniques that will help escape from here and get to a better position.

The first thing Coach mentioned about North/South is to get your arms in and protect yourself from double underhooks that tie up your arms. In both techniques, we learned methods of freeing up the arms first.

So, first thing to do if I find myself in this position is to widen out my elbows, bridge up strong and at the same time drive my elbows to the mat. This will hopefully free up my arms and keep me from being in immediate danger of submission. Now that my arms are free, I need to bring them in and down to my opponents hips to control his weight and make some space. If he's got a belt, great, and if not use his hips with thumbs inside. Now, I should have some space to breathe. Next thing to do is to move one arm all the way across to the other body while at the same time rolling to my knees in that direction. So, if I'm on the bottom and want to roll to my left side, I'll take my right arm and hook my opponent's left leg, and then roll to my knees. The next detail is critical. At this point I need to get my entire forearm down on the mat behind my opponent's leg. This is going to put pressure on his knee and give me the leverage I need to drive into side control. Or if you insist on passing to the wrong side like I do, straight into his guard!

While drilling this, I paired up with a guy who's strong, and I noticed that when he really locked in on my arms, it was very difficult to break the grip. Fortunately, the next technique addressed this very issue. In the second technique, I've tried to break this grip and can't, so instead of bridging up and trying to drive my elbows to the ground, I'm going to move one arm across... to the other side of my opponents head. Begin to spin around, using leverage from my arms to break the grip, controlling the hip with the same side arm and getting a knee in. This one's hard to describe, but it involves basically using him as the basis for spinning around and getting a knee in to control his hips. At that point, I can move all the way into guard or go up and over, trying to take his back.

Sparring. Oh man. I sparred again with a guy who's big and strong. It was fun. I'm going to start researching half guard and side control sweeps. I was working to get out of half guard, but since I didn't really have any technical options, he eventually passed into side control. I was keeping him busy there, but again, I don't know any side control passes. So, eventually, I baited him into mount and reversed it right away. I seem to have a lot of success with this particular move.

The second match was a bit surreal. I was paired up with a guy I'd never met. I've seen him in the other classes. So, we introduced ourselves and I asked him how long he'd been training in bjj. He said about 4 years off and on, but that it's been a while. Okay. So, I'm thinking that if it's been a while I don't want to go balls out, so I go to pull him in my guard... I'm moving at about 3/4 speed. Whammo... he's jumped my guard straight into side control. He then starts moving around into north/south, then side control on the other side, then back over. I eventually catch a leg and get into half-guard, but in the meantime he's isolated one of my arms and starts working on an arm triangle (I think...). I did manage to roll him to his back, but it was deep. It wasn't a choke in any way, but it was putting a lot of pressure on my neck, and when I felt my neck crack about 3 times I tapped before my neck got cranked in a bad way.

So, we started again, this time he asked if we could start from his guard, so I did. Side note here, I really need to stop getting into triangles. I know intellectually what to do, but I keep making the same mistakes and I really just need to figure this out. I got ahold of his pants at the knees and I think I was doing a pretty good job of driving his legs to the floor. But at some point I got one arm out and one in. I had the other arm back in, but eventually I tapped out to a triangle.

But the best part, or at least other than being irritated that I keep making the same mistake, even though my energy level was very low and I just felt fatigued, the other guy was so tired he didn't finish the 5 minutes. He was totally gassed. So, yeah, I sucked and made to big mistakes, but dammit, I didn't gas out! I know it's not much of a silver lining, but I'm grasping for straws!