Roll 12

This is one of the most significant rolls of all; it's against my 9-year-old daughter!

*Hey, wanna roll?*Sure*Surprise Attack*

Yep, my daughter surprise attacked me while I was playing with my other daughter.  She took my back and was holding on tight, but she didn't have her hooks in.  I easily slid out the back door, and my daughter fell to the ground with a light thud.  I took side control being careful not to crush her like a little girl.  She said something about not  knowing that we were starting; blah, blah, blah.  I swooped in for a kimura.  I don't go all Frank Mir on her, though.

I transition for an armbar.  It was tight; in fact, I could have snapped her arm like a chicken bone.  Instead, I teach her the hitch-hiker escape which she hits.  Now, she's in my guard.  I check her base, because she lets it slip a little.  This time, she's solid but not too solid for me to hit a perfect flower sweep.  She goes over like a 9-year-old little girl, and I'm on full mount--baby!

I feel her will depart.  She's done.  She pretty much gives up.  She does, however, muster the strength to remind me not to be too heavy on her.  I'm feeling charitable, so I flop to turtle.  To turtle from mount.  Oh well, it's jiu-jitsu.

My daughter eases in for an attack.  I fall to my side; she takes the gift and goes into MMA mode dropping hammer fists on my head.  Ug.  I go to my back, and she takes mount and boasts that I won't be able to get her off.  But, I do.

I'm in her guard after and bump and roll.  I pass it like butta.  I'm on side control.  There's a little back and forth, but I eventually hit a wrist lock.  She taps!  I win, but we play around a bit more before it's all said and done.

Roll 11

*Slap*Bump*

I rolled with Mr. quite triangle. He's sitting as usual. I grab his ankles and work to pass. I kill the legs nicely. He pushes my head and tries to escape out. I'm still holding on, but more and more of his legs are getting out.

I hurry my pass and establish side control, but it's not tight. I bug his neck as I try to isolate an arm. My opponent is small and nimble, and he manages to get a knee in. This soon leads to my being in his open guard.

I attempt to pass again. He must have popped up and created a scramble. I grab his leg and work a take down. He attempts a guillotine. I'm easily surviving it, but he's using it to get up. He ends up on top in side control.

My opponent settles in to a head-and-arm triangle. It's not fun, but I'm surviving. Then, he does something weird with my trapped arm--almost like a wrist lock. I could hold out longer, but I'm got good. I tap as the round ends.

Bonus Round:
I rolled with cool blue, and that joker caught me in a wild armbar multiple times. He cross-grabbed my elbow (almost like a classic armbar set up). He, then, rotated my arm and (sometimes) used his other hand as reinforcement. That move was cool. He hit it from a lot of places. He was looking for my arm to straighten. He was cool and let me drill it on him. He smashed me in the roll, though.

Roll 10

*Deep Bow*Hajime*

This one is against big black again. We position and grip fight; I remain calm. I even throw an attack, or two (nothing major).

At some point, I end up on my back thanks to his perfect foot sweep. We scramble on the ground. He ends up in a North/South pin. It's a tight hold, and he's in control. I try to roll him, etc. I don't normally to a ton when in North/South: I defend and bide my time until there's an opening. The thing is, that's a pin that could in the match in Judo, and that's exactly what happened here.

Dudes who train to pin are wicked heavy on top--lesson learned.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I believe his North/South pin turned into an inverted, top-side triangle. Highlight reel move; too bad I was on the wrong side of it.

Roll 9

*Deep Bow*Hajime*

This Judo match was against a huge, camo gi wearin dude. We grip fought for a bit, and my man is winded, big time.

We exchange foot slaps, but no body moves. Eventually, he hits a tai otoshi on me. He probably got this because I was hoping around too much, but I give him all credit.

He lands on top of me in side control. I lock up half guard before being pinned (in Judo you have 25 seconds). We are soon stood up. Dude comes in for a throw, and I counter with a rear throw of my own. He goes down hard, and I'm on top. I hear him huffing and puffing, and I even ask if he's okay (thinking the fall might have actually hurt him; he's okay, just gassing).

I don't do much on top. I think I end up on his back. My man is breathing hard. Time is called. We both scored a take down, and I was more comfortable on the ground. Good roll, all-in-all.

Roll 8

With spazzy white belt, but I don't hate.  I might have been there before, too.  (I say that to be nice.  I know that I was never as spastic as this dude.)

*Slap*Pump*

*Punch*

Yep, that's right--a punch.  Mr. Spaz came thundering forward to yank me into his guard.  In the process, I get a stiff lil punch to the face.  (Might I insert a suggestion here?  If you want me to be in your guard, just ask:  "Hey, man, will you start in my guard?".  It happens all the time, and most folk--including myself--are totally cool with it, but I digress.)

So, I'm in spazzy's guard, and I hunker down:  hands on his biceps; elbows tight; head tucked down.  This allows me time to ponder things.  I think about the punch.  I think about being a white belt.  I think about karma--I kinda avoided partnering with this dude for class.  Now I'm caught in his spaz trap; karma's probably having a nice chuckle at my expense.

I stay hunkered down for a while...an uncomfortably long amount of time.  My opponent is gassing out from all his spaztastic attempts at crazy stuff.  He attempts chokes and a lot of other power plays.  Soon enough, I decide to join the party, and I open and pass his guard.

I hold him in side control for a  while.  I, then, bare some of my own weight.  My opponent crawls away as if it's a scene from Friday the 13th. He lunges on my back and flops back pulling me down with him.  My man isn't even calm when he's got my back.  Whew.  I defend all his flails.

Time is up, and karma releases me from its hold.



Bonus Round:
I'll include a review of another roll from this day.   This roll was with a nice, advanced blue dude.  From the start, I get out of position, and I'm playing catch up the entire roll.  My opponent threatened with legit stuff. My shields were up, though.  I defended stuff that I usually don't (or can't) defend.   He attempted a few clock chokes, and they weren't bad.  I just managed to get wrist control and ride out the storm.

We changed positions a bit, but he was in control the whole match.  I was defending chokes and armbars galore.  I was totally dominated.  At one point, it felt like my opponent was bouncing on my back.  Not real sure what happened or why.

Of course,  I knew that I was getting out-pointed, but I also knew that I was surviving.  That gave me confidence.  Lately, I've been thinking  bit more about the Gracie way.  The ability to survive (and in the event of the spazzy white belt, conserve my energy as he runs through his) is a key to winning an actual altercation.

I'll remember these rolls for different reasons.  My jiu-jitsu journey continues.

Roll 7

This roll was with bald four stripe blue before class.

I ask for a warm-up roll; he accepts.  I totally thought this roll would be medium force, but after the first few moves, I learned that this roll would be light (nearly zero) resistance.  I shifted mental gears immediately, and what followed was a 10-12 roll of back-and-forth transition, catch-and-release, and beautiful flowing.  I certainly would like to think the roll was a nice demo of jiu-jitsu.

I would like to think it was something like this.

I'm sure it wasn't as beautiful as I imagine, but it was a good roll that allowed me to focus on some of things I've been working on.

Roll$ 6

I rolled a lot and with a variety of folks.  In fact, I rolled for about 40 minutes before class. This post will lump several rolls into one review.

I rolled nicely.  I hit the sweep that coach and I worked on from half guard.  I also killed the legs of several of my opponents and worked a better than normal (for me) top game.  When I went to my back, I was up often working for underhooks, etc.

I didn't suck, but I wasn't a killer.  All-in-all, I would consider that progress.

Roll 5

*Deep Bow*Hajime* 
Yep; here's another one of the Judo matt.


My opponent is big bad black.  He's good, and he's taking on the entire line.  I try to be cool.  I manage to get a grip or two that I like.  I throw out some foot sweeps.  He doesn't budge.  He fires off some sweeps on his own.  I stay on my feet.  Sure, I may look a little like bambi on ice, but I actually stay on my feet.  


Just as I think about dropping down for an armbar/guard pull, he does it to me!  This made me think that the idea was at least a good one.  We go down, but his armbar isn't perfect.  I pass and land in side control and work to free an arm.  Time is called in this short match, but it was a real confidence boost.

Roll 4

*Deep Bow*Hajime*
You see this roll takes place on the Judo tatami.

I grip fight with my much larger opponent.  He outweighs me by at least 50 pounds.  We exchange attempts at foot sweeps. Nothing doing.

Then, I sweep him--he goes down.  He's pretty much on his side, so I take a loose version of side control.  He pushes and presses to get up.  No biggie to me; I go to my back and trap him in my guard (which barely fits around the hoss).  Soon after, I scissor sweep him and hear the oohs of the few on-lookers.  I'm on mount; I hop to side control and work to isolate an arm.  I don't exactly get what I want, so I pop to knee-on-belly.  Bottom is struggling, so I pull him into my guard to let him on top.  My charity soon runs empty, and I attempt another scissor sweep.  This time he bases out, so I take my bottom foot and kick out his knee.  He's flattened, and I'm climbing on his back.  From there I give a half-heart attempt at a rear naked choke.  My opponent buries himself in until we are stood back up.  When we are stood up, our match is over.

Roll 3

Bad Ears Blue and I were the last two, so we rolled.  I'm a good bit bigger than him, but whatchya gonna do?

*Slap*Bump*

I lay back, not wanting to over use my size.  I turtle up, and he is on top. It seems that he moved all around but didn't find any openings, so he returns to the front and attempts a choke.  I sit out, and there is a scramble.  He ends up in my guard.  I think I even pull out the rubber guard and clear the neck to chill dog.  I kung fu move him out before realizing that his hand isn't on the matt.  Doh!

He passes whatever mess I made of that and is in side control.  He's no real threat as he really is smaller than I.  At some point, I reguard him and hit a nice scissor sweep.  I didn't just pile onto him after the sweep because I am so much bigger.  I actually end up in a sloppy side control.  He quickly and easily gets quarter guard.  I had both of my knees under me.  I attempt a kata juji jime.  I'm putting little of my weight on him, so he reguards me and time is called.

Roll 2

*Slap*Bump*

We fight for grips, but in a calm, cool kinda way.  My opponent's hands are everywhere, but not in a bad way.  In the hustle, I get scratched pretty good.  That, honestly, took me out of the roll for a moment.  My opponent tripods above me as I lay in turtle.  I even check to see if I'm bleeding from the scratch; I just knew I would be, but I wasn't.  Okay; cool, game on.

My opponent didn't have his knees on the ground, and I could not escape this hold.  I tried sitting out.  I reached for his leg; blah, blah, blah. Nothing was working.  He just had a really good position.  He wasn't threatening in any way.  He seemed content to hold his position.  I tried to escape, but I didn't want to make things worse.  I kinda felt like the pressure was on him to improve his position by taking my back, forcing me to my side, etc., etc.  My opponent definitely didn't feel the same way, and 5 minutes later, we were done. 

At the beginning, I thought I would stay in turtle for a while.  About mid-way through the roll, however, I wanted out but couldn't escape.  My opponent did nothing besides hold me down.  That might have been his game plan.  Oh well.  They can't all be great.

Looking back on it, I should have sat to some kind of guard against Chase's dad.  I had the space to do so; it just didn't enter my mind. That's why I want to keep track of these rolls.  :)

Roll 1

"Hey, wanna roll?"
"Sure, let's go light."
"Fine with me," I say, since it was the first activity I'd had all day.

*Slap*Bump*

He's seated and working some kind of open guard. I ease in. I post a foot, and he flops to his back. I love this! Sure, I'll go easy, but I'm going to stay on top.

But my opponent was working some crazy off-balancing stuff. He didn't sweep me, but I never really felt settled on the top. That was a bummer.  I want to spend more time on top, but this guy's making it awkward.

I worked to isolate an arm or sink in a choke, but he's using his feet like hands to push me away.

At some point I consider an ankle lock. He acts like he just might do the same. We both react and end up in a not-exactly 50/50 guard before each getting to our knees.

We are neutral, and I wade in for the kill. My opponent goes to his side, and I take side control. He hooks me up and a quarter guard. I bug his neck, and he reguards me.

Professor Blue and I call it a day and get straightened up before class begins.

12 Rolls

I got my new gi and my 200 classes.  Now, it's upward and onward to my next goal.

I am going to track 12 rolls this month.  Sure, 12 rolls isn't a lot, and there is nothing new about tracking one's sparring, but that's what I'm going to do.  I really hope to gain some insight into the state of my game.

I will likely roll more than 12 times this month, so I will pick and choose the ones I spotlight.

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.

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.