S Mount plus

Class began with a standing guillotine choke defense. Gain wrist control, and put your free hand over your attacker's shoulder. Hop to that side and effect the take down.

From the downed position, we worked a kimura attack. If the kimura is defended, you can take full mount (which you might want any way).

In mount, we transitioned to S mount when bottom makes the mistake of pushing up with his arms.

In S mount, we drilled the 3 common finishes:
1. Okuri eri jime
2. Armbar
3. Fall back, take your opponent's back choke him out...help him up; send him home. (I added that last part because H told of training with Royce as he prepared for early UFC. So cool!)

112911ww#199

A Significant Goal Reached

A while back, I planned to get a new gi and accrue 200 classes before our professor's year-end seminar.  I got a bit of help as the seminar was planned for the first week of December instead of mid November.  With the seminar a few days away, I can say done and almost done.  (I only currently have 198 classes, but I'll get those last 2!)

I recently got my blue belt, and felt very happy about the accomplishment.  With my full-time-job, family-having self, I figured stripes should come no sooner than 50 classes.  Adding a pinch for good measure, I may need 500 classes to get my purple belt.  I have 200, and I am focusing on the remaining 300.

I don't control the color; I don't obsess about it, either.  I can control the 300 allowing enough soak time to let things sink in (i.e. attending 9 classes in 3 weeks could be better for me than attending 9 classes in 2 days because neither my mind nor my body moves fast enough to process 9 classes in 3 days).

In 2012 I want to attend at least 160 classes.  This blog began to track my attendance.  Let the journey continue.

Attacking the Turtle

When your opponent turtles beneath you, you have to try to grab his belt and collar and lift him in order to sink in your hooks.  Stay tight on his back.  If he rolls you, hang on for the ride (tuck your face to prevent injury).
If your opponent stays turtled with you on his back, you can pull him backward.  (I used to fear this move because of the pressure I thought it put on the turtle's knees, but it wasn't back actually.)


112811#198

Self Defense Class

This class began with an armbar drill.

We moved into coverage of several self defense moves.
1.  If someone grabs you around your neck from behind, you may be dragged back a few steps.  Go with it.  Take your leg and move it behind your attacker's leg that corresponds to the arms he's grabbing you with.  Turn your body and bow down.  You will be doing a type of osoto gari.
2.  If someone grabs you around your neck from behind and attempts to pick you up, you will need to grapevine your leg around his.  This will thwart his attempt to slam you, and he will have to put you down.  Take that chance to base out and grab his ankle taking him down.  You have a kneebar there, too.
3.  If someone grabs you from behind around your arms, you will need to shimmy you hips one way (to create space) and, then, the other way this time stepping behind your attacker.  You can, then, cup his knees and take him down.
4.  If someone grabs you from behind under your arms, you can lock up a kimura.

112811#197

S Mount

Class began with elbow-knee escape drills. As bottom attempts the escape, top may transition to S mount.

If you have your opponent in S mount, okuri eri jime is a good finish. Armbar finishes are also common from S mount control.

112811#196

My Last Supper

Last night I over ate again.  I ate late and planned it all around my tv viewing.  These are the things I've got to stop.

The sad thing is, I've eaten so much lately that last night's dinner didn't stand out that much.  (If I would have eaten that way during one of my healthier kicks, I would be sluggish and miserable.)  I really do notice a difference when I eat better foods, but the junk just tastes so good.  :)

Last night needs to be my last supper like that.

Shoulder Walk

This escape walks bottom's shoulder to create space to turn in and reguard.  It looks easy and effective.

I Gots Goals, Son!

With several days of eating what I want when I want and only stopping if I want, I decided to work on some goals for 2012.

1.  I want to compete in at least 3 tournaments.  One of these will be the Michigan Open (which is usually around October).  There are some tournaments happening in Ohio around March and April.  I hope to do a Judo tournament in Lodi in September.

2.   There are 52 weeks in the year; if I train 3 times per week, my total will be 156.  If I train 4 times per, my total would be 208.  I have to think conservatively here and allow for vacations and being busy or sick.  I hope to train a minimum of 160 times in 2012.  That's roughly ever other day.  (I honestly think I can beat this number, but attending 160 classes will be a challenge, so 160 it is.)

3.  I want to attend at least 2 seminars.  One will be a given at my home gym.  I've seen that Royce Gracie conducts seminars in neighboring states.  A true bucket list item would be to attend a seminar featuring da man.  Maybe 2012 will be the year.

4.  I keep thinking of doing 90x or some such program.  I'm not committing to it, but this may be the year I do it.

5.  I expect of myself to train consistently without injury and without injuring anyone.

6.  I also think it would be cool to train while on road.  :)

Robert Follis teaching a nasty armbar setup!

From side control, get your top knee onto bottom's neck area (whew).  An arm will likely come up to defend even if you do this nicely as I likely will.  With bottom's arm up, take it and armbar that mug.

Armbar Triangled in Front

I like this as it doesn't seem to require a great deal of hip escaping.  Bottom's right leg comes across top's trapped arms (which are in bottom's wrist control).  Bottom's left leg crosses over top's far shoulder.

Judo Tournament Observations

I noticed the following from my recent Judo tournament.

1.  Judo posture is no joke.  Regular Judo players have a rigidity that other grapplers don't often see.

2.  The roll-with-the-flow mindset didn't help me.  (This may be a winning game plan for some, but it wasn't for me this time.)  I noticed more strength being used by average players.  Sure, the higher-level guys made it look effortless, but a good many players looked like they were exerting a lot of strength.  When my matches went to the ground, a lot of muscle was used by my opponents.  This seems to be the natural because Judo allows pins.  Knowing that victories could be awarded via pin, made being on bottom particularly stressful.  In a recent BJJ class, H talked to me about being on bottom.  "Top guy is not threatening; there is in no real danger.  Ride out the storm, and stay patient," he said.  While I need to be more active on bottom, this can serve me well in BJJ--but not Judo, obviously (unless, of course, I have my opponent in guard).

3.  Judo throws can be tough on ya.  I planned to use ouchi gari in my matches, but I got scared of what could put my leg in bad positions, so I abandoned that plan.  I saw some wicked seoi nages:  one lady landed on her face; one dude landed on his head/neck, twice.  (He actually got counted out, and the doctor wouldn't let him compete in any of his other matches.)  There were also a couple of folks whose shoulders got jacked up by seoi nage.  Yikes!  Now, most matches were conducted with no injury, but the ones that went array were scary.  There's no real worry, here.  I'm sure the same is true with BJ tourneys.

4.  I really had a blast.  My performance stunk, but I didn't have high expectations.  I watched a lot of matches; I enjoyed seeing the kids compete, and I would like my daughter who does BJJ to enter a Judo tournament.

BJJ Guy in a Judo Tournament

Well, I'm not entirely a BJJ guy.  Before training in BJJ, I did Judo work for a while and earned the rank of Yonkyu.  Also, my BJJ instructor is a Shodan, and we drill a good many Judo throws as a staple in our work.

I was lumped into an open division with older players of all sizes and experience levels.  That, of course, didn't bode well for me, but I was there for the experience points.  (Judo actually gives points for entering competitions, and such is a factor for promotion.)  Plus, this tournament was nearby and cheap, so Mission Experience and Takedown Focus was a go.

My first match was against a dude that I thought I was stronger than.  He was like a rock and surprised me with his Judo core strength.    (I was nervous, again, and hadn't adequately warmed up; blah, blah, blah.  No excuses, though.)  After a bit of grip fighting, we ended up on the ground as a result of no particular throw.  My opponent took North-South.  (This move has no real point value in BJJ, although passing the guard to get to this position would earn the passer some points, but my opponent did not start in my guard.)  I lost via pin.  It stunk, and I felt pretty badly.  My go-with-the-flow approach didn't work in this case.

My next match also ended in loss but was better.  I felt myself being more calm (not to mentioned warmed up after the first match).  We grip fought a bit, and my opponent (whom I know was a higher rank than I) managed to trip me up and gained top control.  Osaekomi was called, so I had about 25 seconds to escape.  I did so pretty easily and locked up guard on my opponent.  He hunkered down, and the ref stood us up.  I was feeling pretty comfortable on the ground, so I pulled guard and managed a decent scissor sweep, but my opponent based out, and we were soon stood up.

At this point, I felt like I should make more of an effort on my feet, and I put together my best stretch of offense of the whole day.  I went into the day thinking that I would limit my offense to a few basic moves:  ashi harai, ouchi gari, and o soto gari.  I told myself that I would do other throws as they presented themselves, but these would constitute my attacks.  As I watched the day's Judo, I got a little freaked out  with where I saw player's legs ending up.  I abandoned the idea of attacking with ouchi gari.  I feared shooting my leg in between my opponent's and being stuffed and pushed backward putting my knee in an awkward position.  (I'm going to write a separate post about general observations for my Judo experience.)  So, with kouchi gari off of my list, I attacked with a number of ashi harais, and I pushed and pulled nicely.

I pulled guard, but my opponent remained standing; I quickly stood and attempted a couple more attacks before before time ended.  My opponent won with a fractional point from the first trip.  I felt much better about this match.

Slightly Better Bread

I rolled twice in class.

The first was with a beginner, and it was complete charity (as I think was fitting; folks surely have given me plenty).  I coached my beginner partner into getting me in a variety of bad spots including submissions (including the kimura set up we worked on in class).

The second roll was with the big guy I ducked earlier in the day.  I resolved to be calm in this roll, and I think my calmness transferred to him.  (That plus the fact that we had already trained once in the day, and he was sticking around for another class after the beginner's class.)  I didn't stay on my back the whole match, but when I was on bottom, the big guy caught me with a slick modified ezekiel choke.  (As it turns out, this is a favorite move of his, so I don't feel terrible.)  When I was on top (in his guard, but still on top), he forced a kata juji jime.  My head was out of my gi because of his wild set up, but he kept on going.  (Just as a note:  if I am in situations that clearly aren't working the way they're supposed to, I abort.  I would never pull a dude's gi over his head and act like I'm working a legit kata juji jime.)  Oh well, I put my head back through the top of my gi that he removed.  Of course, that put me right in his choke which my adjustment made tight.  I tapped, but I also pretty much choked myself all things considered.  I didn't feel terrible.

Also, the second dude was complementary of me.  Of course, I appreciated that, but I began to wonder if he really meant what he was saying or just trying to be nice.  He said things to me that I have said to others when I was trying to be nice.  I've also said those things when giving very legit complements, too.  I can tell that this fellow will be a good test for my confidence and progress.  I'm glad I get to train with him and others.

Beginner's Class

Tonight after my child's class, I stayed for the beginner's class.  We began with self defense.  Uke grabs from behind with your arms in.  Base out; shimmy to one side then the other stepping behind the attacker.  Grad his knees and dump him.

Another grab from behind under the arms can be defended by basing out and grabbing your attackers leg and throwing him back.  From this position and knee bar is there for the taking.

When your attacker grabs you from behind under your arms, you can also strip the hand and lock up and kimura.  By spinning out, your attacker can be taken down.

The downed opponent gave us the chance to talk about a more classic set up of the kimura.  We also drilled an armbar for when the kimura is defended.

111711#195

Bad Rolls

I'm feeling the pressure to improve when things go live, and I have a short list of things that I need to begin to accomplish in rolls.

Today wasn't good, and it was a bad day in a bad week, so my the knowledge from breaking down my rolls begins now.

#1 I worked with big p, so he was my first roll.  He's about my same height, but much stronger than I.  He uses his size well, and I found myself out of position most of this match.  I go to bottom too much, though I can often sweep.  In this no-gi class, however, the big guy didn't move.  At one point, I turned into him.  He had good base and took my back and rode for a while.  I defended the rear-naked pretty well and shoulder escaped once.  From there, he took mount which turned into back mount.  After some hand fighting, I tapped to a less-than-perfect rear naked choke.  I'm taking nothing away from him.  I tapped, and even if I would have fought off longer, he had position on my almost the entire match.  I hated it.

#2  This one was against warrior jav.  I'm a little taller and bigger than he is, but this dude is intense, and he's a competitor with a tournament upcoming.  We started from sitting, and I wasn't going to go to my back, but he grabbed my heels and pushed me to my back.  This single, starting move took a lot of fight out of me because I did not want to be on my back.  Oh well.  I stayed calm against the smaller guy who is very good.  I gained half guard; he made it to mount.  I defended most of his attacks.  He moved from position to position on top.  I should have sat up, but I wasn't being threatened with a whole lot.  In one of his transitions, he hooked an arm and went for the armbar.  I was defending by holding my hand together.  I felt strong here.  Of course, he had the better position.  He was working hard and doing a lot right.  I unlocked my hands and tapped to his armbar.  It was a good get.  Fighting it longer would only take away more productive roll time.  At this point in the class, I'm feeling totally defeated, but we have time for one more roll.

#3  My purple belt bud and I rolled.  We are very even in size, and we keep similar pace (i.e. a bit slower and more technical than many).  I was seated; he was on his knees, until he ran around my legs and landed in side control, of course.  I'm on bottom again and against a guy who rarely gives up top position.  His side control turned into mount.  I threatened his posture and gave him a few things to think about with elbow/knee escape attempts.  I gave him too few things to think about apparently, because he locked up a top side kinda triangle thingie.  It wasn't perfect; one whole side of my neck was open, but I tapped to it eventually.

With that I was done.  I felt like a fish out of water, and I simply have to improve.  Strangely, putting those rolls into works (as opposed to leaving them on the matt as I normally do) is already starting to help. This may be a good move for me.

Roll Goals

I want/need to get better in live situations; period.  I've decided to track my rolls.

Here's what I want to do.
1.  I want to be on top half of my roll time (not necessarily half the time in each match but half of my total roll time).
2.  I want to make a serious attack in each match.


The time of feeling victorious by just surviving is over.  Of course, in some cases surviving is the name of the game (i.e. against a better opponent, etc.).  Other than those cases, I need to push a plan.

when shots fail

When a shot gets stuffed, you can sit to butterfly or half guard. A sweep and reverse armbar from butterfly were discussed.

111711#194

Why oh Why

Today we drilled  a few Y escapes from being underneath someone's side control.  Things to remember include:
   1.  Push the elbow; not the armpit.
   2.  No one can really explain why this is called a Y escape.  :)


111611#193

Small class

It was me, H, and a purple belt. Class began with some round-robin flow rolling. I was told that my technique was good.

I was given a nice tip on shrimping out when mounted.

I froze up when H asked me about head-lock defenses. There was a bit of terminology problems on my part and a little forgetfulness too. I did get some good review.

H and purple belt scored some major giving back points for working on my level.

111511ww#192

Someone Standing in Your Guard

With someone standing in your open guard, you can grab his/her sleeves and put your feet in the hips and elevate your opponent.  From this position, you can do the helicopter armbar or roll your opponent over your head into mount. You could also pull one of his/her arms across and flip them down and take the back.

There are also a couple of sweeps from this position.


111411#191

Leg Locks, Son!

Straight ankle lock (aka guillotining the ankle)

Toe Hold (aka wrist locking the foot)


11311#190

Side control and mount escapes

Under your opponent's side control, bump up, get the under hook, and get wrist control. From here, you can pick the arm and sweep.

If your opponent wizzers your underhook, you can duck through and apply a kimura.

When doing the elbow/knee escape, you can often use your free foot to pry your opponent's heavy leg.


11211#189

Taking the back from guard

With your opponent in your guard, elevate your hips and push his arm while escaping in that direction. There is an arm triangle choke chance from here.

With your opponent in your guard, you can arm drag him. From here a couple of armbar chances exist.

11111ww#188