Jeff had a dream. A dream where himself, me, and Mark VT would get together before class saturday for an hour and roll. We fulfilled this dream today.
We came an hour early and did lots of live rolling. We started with no-gi takedowns, constantly rotating in the fresh guy. We then switched to short 3 minute no-gi matches. You would do two in a row, then sit out out. After this we put on our kimonos, and continued rolling for the remainder of the time. It was a tough workout before class even began!
Class was run by the big dawg. It was pretty much cardio for 2 hours. We did a lot of running, sprinting, shrimping, and swimming. We then switched it up and played "the ring of fire" . We started with guard passing until everyone was done, then switched being up/down and played through the second round.
We then ran a couple more ring of fire sets...starting in different positions including mount, half guard, and side control. This was a grueling, effective lung burning, edurance building session! There is no rest for the crabnation, and we immediately transitioned after this to live rolling. We did 6 minute matches, with short bursts of cardio in between.
Class finished up with partner ladder pushups, up and down from 10. Mitch and I were spent after pushing through our sets.
Only one week until NAGA! I am feeling a bit beat and sore. I have obviously been overtraining, but now is the time to be smart. I may take tomorrow off to heal up a little. This would give me 2 days off before my last classes Tues, Wed, and Thurs before the Arnolds. We shall see how I feel. I'm so pumped!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Comp Class- 1 week until Arnolds!
Tonight was competition class. It was just myself and Brandon, along with George Chezem watching in street clothes, and Doug came over later after kids class. This proved to be a very valuable class as Mr. Hyde gave a lot of individual attention.
We started with the obligatory conditioning. We did HIIT sprints, followed by more conditioning work, and finishing up with...well...more sprints. I was quite winded. I've been noticing that I've been getting VERY out of breathe at the beginning of class, and then as class goes on I'm fine. Hyde said something that your body is learning to process lactic acid better once, and I'm thinking he's a smarter man then I.
We then did a series of live rolling drills for most of class. We would have one guy be "in" starting in random positions. We would roll for one minute, then the fresh guy would come in. We would then switch who was "in". We did this for like 45 minutes, and got some awesome rolls in.
Hyde then started a Q & A session, asking us about our games, and what we thought were our strengths and weaknesses. This was very cool, and insightful. I told him my strengths were takdowns and bottom half guard sweeps. Some of my weaknesses are holding good side control (not letting them re-guard after I pass), and finishing from the back. Hyde walked through some answers to remedy these situations. We then finished our positional live rolling game, going in our weakest positions. Hyde was right there giving on the spot feedback and pointers.
This was an exceptional class, and very helpful for me and I think for Brandon as well!
We started with the obligatory conditioning. We did HIIT sprints, followed by more conditioning work, and finishing up with...well...more sprints. I was quite winded. I've been noticing that I've been getting VERY out of breathe at the beginning of class, and then as class goes on I'm fine. Hyde said something that your body is learning to process lactic acid better once, and I'm thinking he's a smarter man then I.
We then did a series of live rolling drills for most of class. We would have one guy be "in" starting in random positions. We would roll for one minute, then the fresh guy would come in. We would then switch who was "in". We did this for like 45 minutes, and got some awesome rolls in.
Hyde then started a Q & A session, asking us about our games, and what we thought were our strengths and weaknesses. This was very cool, and insightful. I told him my strengths were takdowns and bottom half guard sweeps. Some of my weaknesses are holding good side control (not letting them re-guard after I pass), and finishing from the back. Hyde walked through some answers to remedy these situations. We then finished our positional live rolling game, going in our weakest positions. Hyde was right there giving on the spot feedback and pointers.
This was an exceptional class, and very helpful for me and I think for Brandon as well!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Jiu Jitsu of the Brazilians/8 days until NAGA
Thursday night class was run by lovable Chris Crampton and the Dawgfather when he finished kicking the MMA guys asses. I was like 15 minutes late due to work (I had to drive pretty much to Indiana and back). I was kind of tired from all the driving, and was worried I wasn't going to have a productive class.
Luckily my great instructors don't allow class not to be productive! I jumped right into cardio, where Chris had us running, shrimping, swimming, seal walking, and other crazy motions all over the mat.
Today we focused on passing half guard from the top. Crampton showed two of our main passes. The first being the "grind your head into the guys chin, prop up, get your knee through, and slide out" pass. The next was the "grab under the guys neck and give him the shoulder of pain while grabbing the guys knee and sliding you bottom knee into his ribs until you pull your leg out or he opens his guard up" pass. I know both these passes, but passing half guard on a good opponent is something I struggle with.
We got a chance for some dynamic repetition when we played the "groups of 3" game again. We did 10 minute rounds of having to pass the half guard from top. Every 30 seconds...fresh guy; you know the drill! I had the great Dan-O and Jorge in my group, so I knew I was in for no easy task. I went first at the 10 minutes was definitely challenging. I faired pretty well. I escaped a few times, but was close or bettered myself many times in the fight. A few times I got pwned, but what you gonna do?
After this drill we had a couple rounds of live rolling, finished up with a quick sprint, and that was all she wrote!
I weighed 191.4 after class, which puts me in good shape for weigh ins next friday. I'm entering the 180-189 blue belt and intermediate divisions.
Luckily my great instructors don't allow class not to be productive! I jumped right into cardio, where Chris had us running, shrimping, swimming, seal walking, and other crazy motions all over the mat.
Today we focused on passing half guard from the top. Crampton showed two of our main passes. The first being the "grind your head into the guys chin, prop up, get your knee through, and slide out" pass. The next was the "grab under the guys neck and give him the shoulder of pain while grabbing the guys knee and sliding you bottom knee into his ribs until you pull your leg out or he opens his guard up" pass. I know both these passes, but passing half guard on a good opponent is something I struggle with.
We got a chance for some dynamic repetition when we played the "groups of 3" game again. We did 10 minute rounds of having to pass the half guard from top. Every 30 seconds...fresh guy; you know the drill! I had the great Dan-O and Jorge in my group, so I knew I was in for no easy task. I went first at the 10 minutes was definitely challenging. I faired pretty well. I escaped a few times, but was close or bettered myself many times in the fight. A few times I got pwned, but what you gonna do?
After this drill we had a couple rounds of live rolling, finished up with a quick sprint, and that was all she wrote!
I weighed 191.4 after class, which puts me in good shape for weigh ins next friday. I'm entering the 180-189 blue belt and intermediate divisions.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Knee Spreader Knightmares
Wednesday is no-gi night, starring the amazing Mr. Hyde.
We did a tough HIIT sprint workout followed with Hydes torturing strength exercises. We then did our series of kneebar flow drills and "new school" triangle drills with a partner.
He then showed a bunch of cool, crazy moves I've never seen before. The first was the "knee spreader". It's going to be a little challenging to describe this one. When you are in an opponents butterfly guard or similar...you thread your left arm (for illustrative purposes...obviously can be your right) through his leg from the outside in. You then throw you left leg over his thigh as you are falling to your side. You can RNC grip with your hand holding your own ankle, or you can figure four your legs. You squeeze his leg together in a calf crusher motion, pulling your arm towards you. I'm sure this doesn't make sense, but I promise what we did spreads the knee apart, causing submission.
The next thing we learned was Hydes straight ankle lock. He showed a very basic entry from open guard. You want your middle leg tucked by the guys cup in between his legs, and your outside leg curled onto his stomach (so you can push if he sits up). Hyde uses the bone side of his arm and positions it under the calf muscle. He gable grips and leans back. This should be done while on your side so you can pull back farther.
Another variation of the Hyde ankle lock (if the guy doesn't tap), is to switch to a RNC grip on the opponents calf. Your hand should by just below the guys knee. This is brutal and will definitely finish anyone not named Nick Kolk.
We got about 20 minutes of live rolling in after all the technique. I got the pleasure of rolling with Ryan, who made me his bitch.
We did a tough HIIT sprint workout followed with Hydes torturing strength exercises. We then did our series of kneebar flow drills and "new school" triangle drills with a partner.
He then showed a bunch of cool, crazy moves I've never seen before. The first was the "knee spreader". It's going to be a little challenging to describe this one. When you are in an opponents butterfly guard or similar...you thread your left arm (for illustrative purposes...obviously can be your right) through his leg from the outside in. You then throw you left leg over his thigh as you are falling to your side. You can RNC grip with your hand holding your own ankle, or you can figure four your legs. You squeeze his leg together in a calf crusher motion, pulling your arm towards you. I'm sure this doesn't make sense, but I promise what we did spreads the knee apart, causing submission.
The next thing we learned was Hydes straight ankle lock. He showed a very basic entry from open guard. You want your middle leg tucked by the guys cup in between his legs, and your outside leg curled onto his stomach (so you can push if he sits up). Hyde uses the bone side of his arm and positions it under the calf muscle. He gable grips and leans back. This should be done while on your side so you can pull back farther.
Another variation of the Hyde ankle lock (if the guy doesn't tap), is to switch to a RNC grip on the opponents calf. Your hand should by just below the guys knee. This is brutal and will definitely finish anyone not named Nick Kolk.
We got about 20 minutes of live rolling in after all the technique. I got the pleasure of rolling with Ryan, who made me his bitch.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Big Dawg Nights
I am updating this way too late, so some of my memory has faded from this wonderful day of training.
Clint ran class, so needless to say it was a great workout. I feel like I'm kind of starting to get sick, so my goal is to get better...and to pass on my sickness to Jeff Wenstrom.
Today was Big Dawg focused on the half guard position from the bottom. He showed us proper technique when playing half guard; you have to be on your side with your paws up to fight his crossface. You can't let him break you down flat on your back are it's game over.
We learned a cool half guard sweep I've never seen before, from the deep half guard position. Assuming you have your right arm underhooking the opponents leg.... You pull out the mans far lapel with your left hand. You then move it behind him with your right hand threading under his leg. You pull tight. This keeps him from being able to base up. You then grab his near side lapel with your right hand and pull down. Now he really can't base up. With your feet, you thread under his leg (kind of like one footed x guard) and toss him over you to the side. He goes flying. You move easily to side control.
I realize there is no humanly way possible to understand what I wrote without seeing it, but this blog is for me after all =)
We then did the exciting "groups of 3" drill. We took 8 minute turns playing bottom half guard. Every 30 seconds a fresh man from the group would come in. You had to sweep the guy in the allotted time. If you didn't you got to do pushups as a reward. The drill continues until all 3 guys have had thier 8 minutes in the hot seat. Half guard is one of my better positions, so this was a fun drill for me. Despite my exhaustion, I swept the guy maybe half the time. I could have done better, but it was a good workout and I got to refine my technique a little more.
Class ended with live rolling for 6 minute sets. I got some fun rolls in, and was spent.
Clint ran class, so needless to say it was a great workout. I feel like I'm kind of starting to get sick, so my goal is to get better...and to pass on my sickness to Jeff Wenstrom.
Today was Big Dawg focused on the half guard position from the bottom. He showed us proper technique when playing half guard; you have to be on your side with your paws up to fight his crossface. You can't let him break you down flat on your back are it's game over.
We learned a cool half guard sweep I've never seen before, from the deep half guard position. Assuming you have your right arm underhooking the opponents leg.... You pull out the mans far lapel with your left hand. You then move it behind him with your right hand threading under his leg. You pull tight. This keeps him from being able to base up. You then grab his near side lapel with your right hand and pull down. Now he really can't base up. With your feet, you thread under his leg (kind of like one footed x guard) and toss him over you to the side. He goes flying. You move easily to side control.
I realize there is no humanly way possible to understand what I wrote without seeing it, but this blog is for me after all =)
We then did the exciting "groups of 3" drill. We took 8 minute turns playing bottom half guard. Every 30 seconds a fresh man from the group would come in. You had to sweep the guy in the allotted time. If you didn't you got to do pushups as a reward. The drill continues until all 3 guys have had thier 8 minutes in the hot seat. Half guard is one of my better positions, so this was a fun drill for me. Despite my exhaustion, I swept the guy maybe half the time. I could have done better, but it was a good workout and I got to refine my technique a little more.
Class ended with live rolling for 6 minute sets. I got some fun rolls in, and was spent.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough
12 days until the Arnolds!
I decided to do both gi and nogi classes back to back today! I was doing housework (shut up!) before class, and lost track of time a little bit. I forgot to eat lunch before I had to leave for the 1:30pm gi class. No big deal, right? More on that later.
I showed up to class a few minutes early and got to play around with some new moves I had picked up from my buddies Robson, Damien, and Marcelo. Nothing revolutionary or worth mentioning...just a de la Riva counter, a hyde-oplata entry, a new gi choke from side mount, and possibly another secret move or two.
Class began, and it was pretty busy for a Sunday class. There were probably 15 people there. Crazy Crampton ran cardio first and put us through 10 minute HIIT sprints in 30 sec intervals. We then did some twisted versions of pushups, situps, and a bunch of shrimps were thrown in there somewhere. After this we did a 3 man drill sweep drill. Each partner took 7 minute turns as being "it". You had 30 seconds to sweep your man, starting in guard. If you failed you had to do pushups. Every 30 seconds the fresh man in the group would come in your guard for you to start over and try and sweep him. Once 7 minutes passed, you switched to another guy on the bottom. I really like these style drills. They are great, intense cardio, help you develop "go to" moves, and mimic competition situation.
Chris then had us work some x-guard. He first went over how to obtain x-guard form the half guard. You just need to shrimp out to make room, then put your outside leg in as a butterfly hook. He then showed us 2 sweeps. The first one was one that JG showed us at his last seminar. Once you have the man in the x-guard with his leg secured next to your head, you underhook this leg and grab right by the knee. You then sit up and as you are sitting you extend your legs. This forces the opponent to lose balance and put all his weight on the far foot. You then stand up in base, and end up holding his leg up in the air. You then just sweep his foot (you may have to walk him around a little if he has great balance). The next sweep Crampton showed was from the x-guard, you take out your top leg (not the one on his knee). You use this free leg to pendulum sweep the man forward. You use your x hook to knee lead pass immediately through the guard. Good stuff!
We finished class with a bunch of live rolling for 6 minute sessions. I got some fun rolls in.
After gi class was done I worked on some white belt half guard passing with Brandon. He has a crushing control from top half guard and side control, and I just showed him how I pass the half guard from what Clint and Chris had taught me.
Before you knew it, no-gi class was upon us. Crampton rallied the minions (no-gi is the devil) together, and we started cardio round #2. Most everyone was smart and went home after gi, other then a couple soldiers including America's most eligible bachelor...Iggy.
Cardio was a lot of running, shrimping, and strength excercising. About 20 minutes into Cardio, Big Dawg came! He stepped right in and made sure this was a tough workout. We began sprinting, doing partner pushups, and using constant movement to maximize our burn. Holy shit. This aint easy for an old fat guy.
For the technique portion of class, Clint showed us two moves to break down turtle. Both involve proper posture of putting your weight on the enemies hip. Never go straight behind the man, and never give him your arm so he can suck it in and roll you. The first move you step your foot up on the ground right in front of the guy, baiting him to take it. He will. It's like when you take out a fish, a seal will run over and dance, then eat it. Once the guy grabs your leg, you immediately swing your leg (and his arm)back down towards his hip and fall down to your side. You want to initially not put your top hook in , but put it under his knee pushing up for control. Surprise! You now have the guys back PLUS you have one of his arms pinned in your leg. You then put your bottom arm under his chin and push his head towards the ground. Finish the RNC and put your hands in the air.
The second move Big Dawg showed for attacking turtle is when the guy does grab your arm and puts it under his body. You can't let him yank it too far under or you will get rolled (or if you are going against Hyde you will have your arm ripped off your body). What you do is stay TIGHT. You walk around the guys butt, and push up on his arm (reversing his kimura lock). You then take one BIIIIG step over on the other side of his body and sit down for the far side armbar. You want the guys shoulder off the ground. Knees tight, arch back....tap tap tap.
After working these moves for a bit it was time for more sprinting and running. Then live rolling. Then sprinting, then live rolling, etc. I started feeling like shit at this point, but I figured I'm just old and tired. No worries. I got to roll with Clint. I almost had him a few times, and I think I was starting to intimidate him. Oh wait, that was someone else. I was submitted like 13 times in 6 minutes. We finished class with more sprinting in pushups. I could barely physically do it.
I drank almost a gallon of water during the 5 hour duration of workout...but I felt sick. I picked up some gaterade on the way home. About half way home I broke out into a cold sweat and started shaking really bad. My joints starting hurting and my leg and shoulder muscles were cramping. This isn't good. I got home and stumbled in the door. I was shaking and my teeth were chattering . I took a very hot shower and finished the gatorade. I dried off and layed down on the couch with my special blankie. I was shaking like a ghetto girls booty. My wife made me a steak with beans (nom nom) which I reluctantly ate. At one point I thought I was going to either die or go to the hospital but slowly I started feeling better. I think I was dehydrated combined with not having any protein or carbs in me. Remember when I didn't eat lunch? BAD IDEA. Proper eating and drinking during overtraining is crucial! I got a call from Big Dawg later in the evening making sure I wasn't dead, which I thought was pretty awesome.
Anyways, Monday is a day off which my old ass needs. Tuesday, I'm gonna kick some ass.
I decided to do both gi and nogi classes back to back today! I was doing housework (shut up!) before class, and lost track of time a little bit. I forgot to eat lunch before I had to leave for the 1:30pm gi class. No big deal, right? More on that later.
I showed up to class a few minutes early and got to play around with some new moves I had picked up from my buddies Robson, Damien, and Marcelo. Nothing revolutionary or worth mentioning...just a de la Riva counter, a hyde-oplata entry, a new gi choke from side mount, and possibly another secret move or two.
Class began, and it was pretty busy for a Sunday class. There were probably 15 people there. Crazy Crampton ran cardio first and put us through 10 minute HIIT sprints in 30 sec intervals. We then did some twisted versions of pushups, situps, and a bunch of shrimps were thrown in there somewhere. After this we did a 3 man drill sweep drill. Each partner took 7 minute turns as being "it". You had 30 seconds to sweep your man, starting in guard. If you failed you had to do pushups. Every 30 seconds the fresh man in the group would come in your guard for you to start over and try and sweep him. Once 7 minutes passed, you switched to another guy on the bottom. I really like these style drills. They are great, intense cardio, help you develop "go to" moves, and mimic competition situation.
Chris then had us work some x-guard. He first went over how to obtain x-guard form the half guard. You just need to shrimp out to make room, then put your outside leg in as a butterfly hook. He then showed us 2 sweeps. The first one was one that JG showed us at his last seminar. Once you have the man in the x-guard with his leg secured next to your head, you underhook this leg and grab right by the knee. You then sit up and as you are sitting you extend your legs. This forces the opponent to lose balance and put all his weight on the far foot. You then stand up in base, and end up holding his leg up in the air. You then just sweep his foot (you may have to walk him around a little if he has great balance). The next sweep Crampton showed was from the x-guard, you take out your top leg (not the one on his knee). You use this free leg to pendulum sweep the man forward. You use your x hook to knee lead pass immediately through the guard. Good stuff!
We finished class with a bunch of live rolling for 6 minute sessions. I got some fun rolls in.
After gi class was done I worked on some white belt half guard passing with Brandon. He has a crushing control from top half guard and side control, and I just showed him how I pass the half guard from what Clint and Chris had taught me.
Before you knew it, no-gi class was upon us. Crampton rallied the minions (no-gi is the devil) together, and we started cardio round #2. Most everyone was smart and went home after gi, other then a couple soldiers including America's most eligible bachelor...Iggy.
Cardio was a lot of running, shrimping, and strength excercising. About 20 minutes into Cardio, Big Dawg came! He stepped right in and made sure this was a tough workout. We began sprinting, doing partner pushups, and using constant movement to maximize our burn. Holy shit. This aint easy for an old fat guy.
For the technique portion of class, Clint showed us two moves to break down turtle. Both involve proper posture of putting your weight on the enemies hip. Never go straight behind the man, and never give him your arm so he can suck it in and roll you. The first move you step your foot up on the ground right in front of the guy, baiting him to take it. He will. It's like when you take out a fish, a seal will run over and dance, then eat it. Once the guy grabs your leg, you immediately swing your leg (and his arm)back down towards his hip and fall down to your side. You want to initially not put your top hook in , but put it under his knee pushing up for control. Surprise! You now have the guys back PLUS you have one of his arms pinned in your leg. You then put your bottom arm under his chin and push his head towards the ground. Finish the RNC and put your hands in the air.
The second move Big Dawg showed for attacking turtle is when the guy does grab your arm and puts it under his body. You can't let him yank it too far under or you will get rolled (or if you are going against Hyde you will have your arm ripped off your body). What you do is stay TIGHT. You walk around the guys butt, and push up on his arm (reversing his kimura lock). You then take one BIIIIG step over on the other side of his body and sit down for the far side armbar. You want the guys shoulder off the ground. Knees tight, arch back....tap tap tap.
After working these moves for a bit it was time for more sprinting and running. Then live rolling. Then sprinting, then live rolling, etc. I started feeling like shit at this point, but I figured I'm just old and tired. No worries. I got to roll with Clint. I almost had him a few times, and I think I was starting to intimidate him. Oh wait, that was someone else. I was submitted like 13 times in 6 minutes. We finished class with more sprinting in pushups. I could barely physically do it.
I drank almost a gallon of water during the 5 hour duration of workout...but I felt sick. I picked up some gaterade on the way home. About half way home I broke out into a cold sweat and started shaking really bad. My joints starting hurting and my leg and shoulder muscles were cramping. This isn't good. I got home and stumbled in the door. I was shaking and my teeth were chattering . I took a very hot shower and finished the gatorade. I dried off and layed down on the couch with my special blankie. I was shaking like a ghetto girls booty. My wife made me a steak with beans (nom nom) which I reluctantly ate. At one point I thought I was going to either die or go to the hospital but slowly I started feeling better. I think I was dehydrated combined with not having any protein or carbs in me. Remember when I didn't eat lunch? BAD IDEA. Proper eating and drinking during overtraining is crucial! I got a call from Big Dawg later in the evening making sure I wasn't dead, which I thought was pretty awesome.
Anyways, Monday is a day off which my old ass needs. Tuesday, I'm gonna kick some ass.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sabado Gigante
Clint had a small group of warriors ready for action saturday night. We did a 40 minute workout to start things off. This included running, sprinting, partner back carries, partner pushups, ab work, and more.
Clint then showed the fundamentals of the standing guard pass. This is always good for me, as I need as much practice on this pass as I can get. I picked up a great new detail as well. When standing up, you always start with your foot that's on the same side of the arm you are controlling (the other hand is holding both lapels). As you stand up you want to walk forward a step or two, so that his hips are over his head more. This detail makes the pass much easier as the guy is more immobilized since he can't move his hips.
Big Dawg then showed a counter for when the guy hooks your leg when standing. You want to tuck your near arm immediately inside his leg (to avoid omaplata sweep). Then you put your near knee on his belly (or neck....whatever). You should then have enough control to switch and put your far leg into the prototypical knee on stomach position.
The Crabfather finished off by explaining proper posture, and showed the "sargeant" sweep from bottom. When the guy stands up you hook the near leg then open your legs. You kick your free leg to give you momentum to roll your body into turtle position right behind the guy, but with your arm around his ankle/bottom leg (backwards). You push back into the opponent who falls over. Face him and start to pass his guard.
We finished class with alternating cycles of 6 minute rolls and running laps. I love saturdays! Not too many people come, and you get a lot of great black belt instruction from Big Dawg!
PS. I found a cool website http://ratemybjjinstructor.com/. I encourage those who read this to take the time and rate their instructor. The BJJ communicty is self policing. This gives a chance to give positive or negative (I think both are important) on instructors you have dealt with.
Clint then showed the fundamentals of the standing guard pass. This is always good for me, as I need as much practice on this pass as I can get. I picked up a great new detail as well. When standing up, you always start with your foot that's on the same side of the arm you are controlling (the other hand is holding both lapels). As you stand up you want to walk forward a step or two, so that his hips are over his head more. This detail makes the pass much easier as the guy is more immobilized since he can't move his hips.
Big Dawg then showed a counter for when the guy hooks your leg when standing. You want to tuck your near arm immediately inside his leg (to avoid omaplata sweep). Then you put your near knee on his belly (or neck....whatever). You should then have enough control to switch and put your far leg into the prototypical knee on stomach position.
The Crabfather finished off by explaining proper posture, and showed the "sargeant" sweep from bottom. When the guy stands up you hook the near leg then open your legs. You kick your free leg to give you momentum to roll your body into turtle position right behind the guy, but with your arm around his ankle/bottom leg (backwards). You push back into the opponent who falls over. Face him and start to pass his guard.
We finished class with alternating cycles of 6 minute rolls and running laps. I love saturdays! Not too many people come, and you get a lot of great black belt instruction from Big Dawg!
PS. I found a cool website http://ratemybjjinstructor.com/. I encourage those who read this to take the time and rate their instructor. The BJJ communicty is self policing. This gives a chance to give positive or negative (I think both are important) on instructors you have dealt with.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Mounted Thunder
Thursday I showed up like 10 minutes late due to one of the main distractions I have from my BJJ game (work). I jumped right into the conditioning where "Crazy" Chris Crampton had us doing a variety of modified pushups and situps.
We then went into top mount escapes. Chris demonstrated the proper shrimping technique, followed by a small variation where you take your "up" leg over your "down" leg to lift up the guys foot. You then push his knee straight back to half guard position. You then switch your hips and finish with a final shrimp (with your top hand on his shoulder and bottom on his knee) to escape to full guard.
We then did an escape drill with a group of 3. This is similar to the drill Clint made us do last week with back mount escapes. One person stayed in on bottom and the two partners took turns in 30 second shifts mounting them. The goal for the bottom guy was to escape full mount. If he couldn't, then he had to do 5 pushups. Each of the three guys on the team had their turn for 7 minutes straight. This was more merciful then the 15 minutes Clint made us do, but still was a great exercise. My preferred mount escape is to start shrimping then hook the guys foot to lift it up and push his knee so I'm back in half guard. This was more effective for me in the times I did escape.
We finished up with live rolling. I didn't roll the greatest, but got to work on some guard stuff and had fun.
I am so very addicted.
We then went into top mount escapes. Chris demonstrated the proper shrimping technique, followed by a small variation where you take your "up" leg over your "down" leg to lift up the guys foot. You then push his knee straight back to half guard position. You then switch your hips and finish with a final shrimp (with your top hand on his shoulder and bottom on his knee) to escape to full guard.
We then did an escape drill with a group of 3. This is similar to the drill Clint made us do last week with back mount escapes. One person stayed in on bottom and the two partners took turns in 30 second shifts mounting them. The goal for the bottom guy was to escape full mount. If he couldn't, then he had to do 5 pushups. Each of the three guys on the team had their turn for 7 minutes straight. This was more merciful then the 15 minutes Clint made us do, but still was a great exercise. My preferred mount escape is to start shrimping then hook the guys foot to lift it up and push his knee so I'm back in half guard. This was more effective for me in the times I did escape.
We finished up with live rolling. I didn't roll the greatest, but got to work on some guard stuff and had fun.
I am so very addicted.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The kimono-less night prowler
2 classes in one day? Why not! I went to Dr. Hyde-oplata's no-gi tech factory, and I was ready to get my learn on.
Class started out with tough conditioning as always. We did the 30 second HIIT cycle followed up strength exercises involving modified pushups and situps. It took me a little while to get my sweat on...but as soon as the last HIIT sprint was done and we did the plank position immediately after, you could see the water shooting from my pores.
We are in a nice routine, practicing the kneebar flow dril and triangle drills. I had a newb from GVSU as my partner, so I had to walk him through the movements a few times but he caught on very quick. He's going to be fighting at PLF at the intersection so go check him out.
Hyde showed us a cool reverse triangle counter when a guy shoots an inside leg single. You can find a Mcdojo showing the position here. It's difficult to finish the triangle from here, but there are armlocks galore from the position, and you can also grap the guys near or far knee and pull it towards you to get extra torque which will finish the choke.
We finished with some live rolling. I got some nice sweaty rolls in with almost all 7-8 guys there. Awesome!
Class started out with tough conditioning as always. We did the 30 second HIIT cycle followed up strength exercises involving modified pushups and situps. It took me a little while to get my sweat on...but as soon as the last HIIT sprint was done and we did the plank position immediately after, you could see the water shooting from my pores.
We are in a nice routine, practicing the kneebar flow dril and triangle drills. I had a newb from GVSU as my partner, so I had to walk him through the movements a few times but he caught on very quick. He's going to be fighting at PLF at the intersection so go check him out.
Hyde showed us a cool reverse triangle counter when a guy shoots an inside leg single. You can find a Mcdojo showing the position here. It's difficult to finish the triangle from here, but there are armlocks galore from the position, and you can also grap the guys near or far knee and pull it towards you to get extra torque which will finish the choke.
We finished with some live rolling. I got some nice sweaty rolls in with almost all 7-8 guys there. Awesome!
Daywalkers 17 days until the Arnolds
I did the day class with Charles aka "Cthulhu".
After some warmup we got into guard passing and troubleshooting common problems with the knee lead pass. This is a continuation of what he has been working with us on for the last several weeks.
If the guy puts his knee up into Z guard, you smash the leg down with your chest.
If the guy puts his foot on your hip, you need to sit out (baseball slide style) while keeping proper posture with the top half of your body. This exits the foot of your knee and you can start the long process over again.
I then worked with C on defending guard pulls from standing, dropping right into the knee lead pass. This was very helpful, and i was able to get practice from a variety of angles.
This was a great class, and it was great to get out during the day for my first time. Unfortunately with my job, it's not too conducive to daywalking. I gotta figure something out as these are such great classes!
After some warmup we got into guard passing and troubleshooting common problems with the knee lead pass. This is a continuation of what he has been working with us on for the last several weeks.
If the guy puts his knee up into Z guard, you smash the leg down with your chest.
If the guy puts his foot on your hip, you need to sit out (baseball slide style) while keeping proper posture with the top half of your body. This exits the foot of your knee and you can start the long process over again.
I then worked with C on defending guard pulls from standing, dropping right into the knee lead pass. This was very helpful, and i was able to get practice from a variety of angles.
This was a great class, and it was great to get out during the day for my first time. Unfortunately with my job, it's not too conducive to daywalking. I gotta figure something out as these are such great classes!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Back Escape Madness
18 days until the Arnolds
It was a smaller then usual Thursday class, there were maybe 15 guys that showed up. The first 45 mins was devoted to Clints Killa Cardio. It was actually somewhat reasonable tonight, although still a great workout. We mixed in sprints and partner drills with lots and lots of lemon garlic shrimping.
I went with the regular class tonight and Clint decided it was back escape day. He asked the peanut gallery of white and blue belts the proper way to escape the back that Clint teaches. After several somewhat correct (but incomplete) answers, Clint broke down his awesome back escape.
The main detail everyone missed was the first and most important thing when being back mounted. This is to protect your neck with both hands immediately. Keep the elbows in and block both sides of your neck with your hands. You can then work the escape by scooting your butt down the floor, which with your elbow will cause one of the opponents hooks to be forced out. You then literally keep scooting until you are lying on the floor. Pin the enemies leg to the ground and turn over staying TIGHT.
We then got a little bit of practice in this position. Cough Cough. We went in groups of 3. The first guy (me in our group) got to be backmounted by one of the guys for 30 seconds. The goal was to go hard for 30 seconds and escape with full resistance. Immediately afterwords, the fresh partner would jump in and start a new 30 second set with the same guy trying to escape. Each guy had to do 15 minutes (30 sets) in a row of escaping. If you failed to escape you had to do 5 pushups each time, which switched to 10 crunches towards the end of the drill. Each guy took his turn in the hotseat and this was a brutal but effective drill!
We finished class by doing......................SPRINTS! Big Dawg switched it up a little this time though. We first had to do 2 laps (there and back, there and back) acrossed the length of the mats. This was timed and we had 36 seconds. If ANYONE on the team didn't make it, we would have to re-do the sprint. Everyone made it with like 12 or 13 seconds to go.
The next round we had to do the same thing but had to do 3 laps (there and back x 3) in the same 36 second time. This was a struggle, but you could see everyone sprinting with all their might trying not to be the one guy not to make it. The whole team again made it with a couple seconds left.
We did one last round of 3 laps and that was the end. Clint said he'd stay a while if we wanted to live roll, but everyone was busy wheezing from these sprints still so we packed up and called it a night.
It was a smaller then usual Thursday class, there were maybe 15 guys that showed up. The first 45 mins was devoted to Clints Killa Cardio. It was actually somewhat reasonable tonight, although still a great workout. We mixed in sprints and partner drills with lots and lots of lemon garlic shrimping.
I went with the regular class tonight and Clint decided it was back escape day. He asked the peanut gallery of white and blue belts the proper way to escape the back that Clint teaches. After several somewhat correct (but incomplete) answers, Clint broke down his awesome back escape.
The main detail everyone missed was the first and most important thing when being back mounted. This is to protect your neck with both hands immediately. Keep the elbows in and block both sides of your neck with your hands. You can then work the escape by scooting your butt down the floor, which with your elbow will cause one of the opponents hooks to be forced out. You then literally keep scooting until you are lying on the floor. Pin the enemies leg to the ground and turn over staying TIGHT.
We then got a little bit of practice in this position. Cough Cough. We went in groups of 3. The first guy (me in our group) got to be backmounted by one of the guys for 30 seconds. The goal was to go hard for 30 seconds and escape with full resistance. Immediately afterwords, the fresh partner would jump in and start a new 30 second set with the same guy trying to escape. Each guy had to do 15 minutes (30 sets) in a row of escaping. If you failed to escape you had to do 5 pushups each time, which switched to 10 crunches towards the end of the drill. Each guy took his turn in the hotseat and this was a brutal but effective drill!
We finished class by doing......................SPRINTS! Big Dawg switched it up a little this time though. We first had to do 2 laps (there and back, there and back) acrossed the length of the mats. This was timed and we had 36 seconds. If ANYONE on the team didn't make it, we would have to re-do the sprint. Everyone made it with like 12 or 13 seconds to go.
The next round we had to do the same thing but had to do 3 laps (there and back x 3) in the same 36 second time. This was a struggle, but you could see everyone sprinting with all their might trying not to be the one guy not to make it. The whole team again made it with a couple seconds left.
We did one last round of 3 laps and that was the end. Clint said he'd stay a while if we wanted to live roll, but everyone was busy wheezing from these sprints still so we packed up and called it a night.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Just no-gi sunday
20 days until the Arnolds!
I just did no-gi today. I should have done both, but I'm trying not to overtrain. It's not working but I cant stay out of the gym.
Mr. Hyde opened up with HIIT sprints and several alternating pushup/situp based strength and conditioning drills. I had a good sweat going.
We then did our kneebah and triangle drills. It then started to get a little crazy and turn into kneebar day. Ryan and Matt showed kneebars from all over the place. When a guy stands up...kneebar. When you have 93 guard....kneebar. When you are in half guard but don't the opponent won't let you do the knee on belly to kneebar...kneebar!
In the midst of all the kneebar craziness Hyde also showed an effective sweep from deep half guard. It's stupid simple but effective. This is a gem as Mr Hyde does't like this position. You grab the guys hand and put your top knee into his shoulder, pulling his hand. You use then rock him forward like a pendulum sweep.
I got some fun rolls in after this and before you know it they made me go home. Great class!
I just did no-gi today. I should have done both, but I'm trying not to overtrain. It's not working but I cant stay out of the gym.
Mr. Hyde opened up with HIIT sprints and several alternating pushup/situp based strength and conditioning drills. I had a good sweat going.
We then did our kneebah and triangle drills. It then started to get a little crazy and turn into kneebar day. Ryan and Matt showed kneebars from all over the place. When a guy stands up...kneebar. When you have 93 guard....kneebar. When you are in half guard but don't the opponent won't let you do the knee on belly to kneebar...kneebar!
In the midst of all the kneebar craziness Hyde also showed an effective sweep from deep half guard. It's stupid simple but effective. This is a gem as Mr Hyde does't like this position. You grab the guys hand and put your top knee into his shoulder, pulling his hand. You use then rock him forward like a pendulum sweep.
I got some fun rolls in after this and before you know it they made me go home. Great class!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday the 13th. 22 days until Arnolds. GVSU adventure.
I got a message from Kiely that Clint was going to run the GVSU grappling/mma class. Being that its 10 minutes from my house I thought I would mix things up a bit and go check out this no-gi experience.
Clint ran a typical version of his intense cardio. The young tough co-eds groaned and winced as we sprinted, squatted, shrimped, and strength trained. It felt good (being old and fat) to run by most of the kids smiling. My cardio and endurance is definitely improving throughout all of these grueling workouts.
Big Dawg started out showing everyone a cool takedown. When someone grabs your head, you drag their arm off your head by bowing and pushing with your same side arm cupping their elbow. You push their elbow forward. You then go for an ankle pick on their near leg. You will rarely hit this pick on anyone with any reasonable ability. More likely they will sprawl their near leg back. This leaves the back leg WIDE open for the pickens. You pick their ankle while PUSHING with your hand still cupped on the guys elbow/tricep. SWEET.
Clint then showed what to do after the takdown. He showed to move towards the guy (like your going into his butterfly guard) REALLY tight. You need to pin his feet on his ass. He will likely push your head to one side and its pretty easy to just jump over the enemy's knees into side control.
We then did the opposite point of view, if you have butterfly guard. Clint showed a sweep he had shown GRBJJ before. where you wrap your arms around the guys head and arms high, then roll back and extending your legs. You then finish by easily rolling right or left into full mount. I learned a while back drilling this move that you can spine lock the shit out of the guy during this movement if you want to. This is unfortunately illegal in pretty much all grappling competitions =(
We finished up by live rolling. I had a very fun roll with Abbie, and a couple other GVSU guys. What they lacked in refined technique, they made up for in youth, power, and energy. My old tired body had to use all of the BJJ I learned to control these guys. Abbie on the other hand simply kicked my ass and armbarred me like 4 times.
This was a fun time! I am SOOOO sore though. My thighs are burning...not just from tonight, but from all the last couple of weeks workouts. I am going to listen to my body and skip tomorrows regular class. I don't know if it's normal to feel guilty for ONLY going to 5 classes this week, but I do! I can't risk injury though with only 3 short weeks until my destiny calls.
Clint ran a typical version of his intense cardio. The young tough co-eds groaned and winced as we sprinted, squatted, shrimped, and strength trained. It felt good (being old and fat) to run by most of the kids smiling. My cardio and endurance is definitely improving throughout all of these grueling workouts.
Big Dawg started out showing everyone a cool takedown. When someone grabs your head, you drag their arm off your head by bowing and pushing with your same side arm cupping their elbow. You push their elbow forward. You then go for an ankle pick on their near leg. You will rarely hit this pick on anyone with any reasonable ability. More likely they will sprawl their near leg back. This leaves the back leg WIDE open for the pickens. You pick their ankle while PUSHING with your hand still cupped on the guys elbow/tricep. SWEET.
Clint then showed what to do after the takdown. He showed to move towards the guy (like your going into his butterfly guard) REALLY tight. You need to pin his feet on his ass. He will likely push your head to one side and its pretty easy to just jump over the enemy's knees into side control.
We then did the opposite point of view, if you have butterfly guard. Clint showed a sweep he had shown GRBJJ before. where you wrap your arms around the guys head and arms high, then roll back and extending your legs. You then finish by easily rolling right or left into full mount. I learned a while back drilling this move that you can spine lock the shit out of the guy during this movement if you want to. This is unfortunately illegal in pretty much all grappling competitions =(
We finished up by live rolling. I had a very fun roll with Abbie, and a couple other GVSU guys. What they lacked in refined technique, they made up for in youth, power, and energy. My old tired body had to use all of the BJJ I learned to control these guys. Abbie on the other hand simply kicked my ass and armbarred me like 4 times.
This was a fun time! I am SOOOO sore though. My thighs are burning...not just from tonight, but from all the last couple of weeks workouts. I am going to listen to my body and skip tomorrows regular class. I don't know if it's normal to feel guilty for ONLY going to 5 classes this week, but I do! I can't risk injury though with only 3 short weeks until my destiny calls.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday. 23 days till the Arnolds!
The pace is quickening as we approach the Arnolds. Our famous purple belt, Mr Hyde, ran the class while Big Dawg was kicking ass with the MMA fighters.
We ran HIIT sprints along with several inhumane strength excercises for warm up. See previous blog entries for descriptions of how tough of workouts we are having lately. This was no different. Clint says he is putting together a "team from hell" for the arnolds, and he's not messin' around.
We worked triangle drills for much of the class. Mr. Hyde showed his preferred method, which is throwing your top leg immediately into triangle position, positioning it parrallel along back of the opponents neck and shoulders. You keep your ass off the ground, forcing the enemy to carry all of your weight on the back of the neck. Ideally you also use the momentem of this thrust to move your body to the side of the opponent (looking at their ear). This is different then a lazy triangle where you attack straight on, have to break your man down, have to open your legs to get to the side, then try and finish. Hydes method does all the hard work in one step. We've been doing it in no-gi class, and I enjoyed working it.
The next variation that Ryan showed was AWESOME for me. It is a counter when the opponent escapes the triangle by moving his head on the outside of your leg. You can switch to a inverted armlock from this position pretty easy. Its pretty tough to describe using words for me, but basically you go to an almost omaplata position (and in fact you can get an omaplata from here as well).
We finished class with live rolling, with running in between and some sprints at the very end.
I LOVED this inverted armbar and need to practice it to have a transition off of a failed triangle that I never had before.
We ran HIIT sprints along with several inhumane strength excercises for warm up. See previous blog entries for descriptions of how tough of workouts we are having lately. This was no different. Clint says he is putting together a "team from hell" for the arnolds, and he's not messin' around.
We worked triangle drills for much of the class. Mr. Hyde showed his preferred method, which is throwing your top leg immediately into triangle position, positioning it parrallel along back of the opponents neck and shoulders. You keep your ass off the ground, forcing the enemy to carry all of your weight on the back of the neck. Ideally you also use the momentem of this thrust to move your body to the side of the opponent (looking at their ear). This is different then a lazy triangle where you attack straight on, have to break your man down, have to open your legs to get to the side, then try and finish. Hydes method does all the hard work in one step. We've been doing it in no-gi class, and I enjoyed working it.
The next variation that Ryan showed was AWESOME for me. It is a counter when the opponent escapes the triangle by moving his head on the outside of your leg. You can switch to a inverted armlock from this position pretty easy. Its pretty tough to describe using words for me, but basically you go to an almost omaplata position (and in fact you can get an omaplata from here as well).
We finished class with live rolling, with running in between and some sprints at the very end.
I LOVED this inverted armbar and need to practice it to have a transition off of a failed triangle that I never had before.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
No-gi
Today was no-gi wednesday with Mr. Hyde. There was a decent turnout for class, like 10 people I think.
We started out doing the new advanced HIIT workout after a few minutes warmup. This was followed by a few minutes of cool down and then strength training for upper body and core. Yes that means really hard pushup variants and really hard situp variants. The cool thing is the whole conditioning was done in 30-40 minutes, but it is proven, effective method that leaves you with a great full body workout.
After conditioning we went to the kneebah to kneebah to heel hook flow drill. We then did the new version of Hydes triangle drill. It focuses on shooting your top leg laterally across your oppoenents neck immediately. You have your hips in the air and have your body weight on his neck. This makes the finish much less of a fight and puts your weight on the enemy instead of vice versa.
For the technique portion of class Ryan showed moves from the crucifix position. We learned entries from a head outside single shot and from attacking turtle. We then learned a few finishes including an armbar on the arm trapped between his legs, and the more common choke. The choke you just finish with one hand (grabbing the collarbone or shoulder) as you don't want to lose the immobilization of the opponents hand. The video below shows the turtle entry and a gi choke, although for no-gi you don't use the gi (duh). Oh yeah, it's in french.
We finished class with a few rounds of live rolling. Another great class!
We started out doing the new advanced HIIT workout after a few minutes warmup. This was followed by a few minutes of cool down and then strength training for upper body and core. Yes that means really hard pushup variants and really hard situp variants. The cool thing is the whole conditioning was done in 30-40 minutes, but it is proven, effective method that leaves you with a great full body workout.
After conditioning we went to the kneebah to kneebah to heel hook flow drill. We then did the new version of Hydes triangle drill. It focuses on shooting your top leg laterally across your oppoenents neck immediately. You have your hips in the air and have your body weight on his neck. This makes the finish much less of a fight and puts your weight on the enemy instead of vice versa.
For the technique portion of class Ryan showed moves from the crucifix position. We learned entries from a head outside single shot and from attacking turtle. We then learned a few finishes including an armbar on the arm trapped between his legs, and the more common choke. The choke you just finish with one hand (grabbing the collarbone or shoulder) as you don't want to lose the immobilization of the opponents hand. The video below shows the turtle entry and a gi choke, although for no-gi you don't use the gi (duh). Oh yeah, it's in french.
We finished class with a few rounds of live rolling. Another great class!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday "Face the Pain" Night
Tuesdays have been epic. This was no different.
I don't know if it was on purpose, but the heat in the gym was set on like 85 degrees. I seriously broke a sweat just putting on my gi. Clint ran cardio; and it was an intense, non stop 45 minutes of sprinting, strength drills, conditioning drills, shots, sprawls, neck bridges, and more. I could barely do the neck bridges because of the massive amounts of sweat shooting out of my head. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. A new guy puked to add to the excitement.
We then split to regular class and basics class. I did basics class this time, as I wanted to continue the guard passing theme Charles is working. I think this has been very helpful, especial used in conjunction with my improving standing pass. Charles worked on troubleshooting common problems when you have the knee lead in. We started with a drill of getting a guys foot off your hip when you are in his guard. You scissor your legs out, while keeping the top of your body square to avoid being swept. We then moved on the recounters to the z guard.
The first thing we worked on is when the opponent puts his knee into your chest (z-guard or 93 guard some people call it). The remedy is to do the smash & pass. Push the guys top leg (the one in your chest) down to the floor (this can be a fight). Keep ALL your weight pressed on the guys legs/hips and walk around to pass the gwuard.
The next counter we worked on was when the guy stuck one butterfly hook in. I have worked this before with Clint in class. The first thing to do with any butterfly defense is to scootch in TIGHT to the enemy. You want to trap his hooked foot right up against his ass. Remember to mainain good posture throughout to prevent him from coming up off his back. You then take your hand and reach underneath and grab his hooked foot. If he has his right foot hooked, you would take your right hand. Grab the foot, sprawl out...and smash and pass. We finished up after drilling dead reps in each position to going to active resistance. This was good, and I need some more work on it.
We finished the last 30 mins of class by alternating running with 5 or 6 minute rolls (can't remember which). After we were done with a live roll, instead of resting we would run. This was TOUGH. You could tell on peoples faces they were close to hitting the wall. I got to roll with an exhausted Crazy Bob which is always a blast, as well as Brandon and Tim.
We finished class with more interval SPRINTING with Big Dawg yelling to keep working hard and upping the intensity.
It was an awesome class! I came home and ate chicken for dinner and literally passed out at like 10pm. I can't wait for the Arnolds!
I don't know if it was on purpose, but the heat in the gym was set on like 85 degrees. I seriously broke a sweat just putting on my gi. Clint ran cardio; and it was an intense, non stop 45 minutes of sprinting, strength drills, conditioning drills, shots, sprawls, neck bridges, and more. I could barely do the neck bridges because of the massive amounts of sweat shooting out of my head. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. A new guy puked to add to the excitement.
We then split to regular class and basics class. I did basics class this time, as I wanted to continue the guard passing theme Charles is working. I think this has been very helpful, especial used in conjunction with my improving standing pass. Charles worked on troubleshooting common problems when you have the knee lead in. We started with a drill of getting a guys foot off your hip when you are in his guard. You scissor your legs out, while keeping the top of your body square to avoid being swept. We then moved on the recounters to the z guard.
The first thing we worked on is when the opponent puts his knee into your chest (z-guard or 93 guard some people call it). The remedy is to do the smash & pass. Push the guys top leg (the one in your chest) down to the floor (this can be a fight). Keep ALL your weight pressed on the guys legs/hips and walk around to pass the gwuard.
The next counter we worked on was when the guy stuck one butterfly hook in. I have worked this before with Clint in class. The first thing to do with any butterfly defense is to scootch in TIGHT to the enemy. You want to trap his hooked foot right up against his ass. Remember to mainain good posture throughout to prevent him from coming up off his back. You then take your hand and reach underneath and grab his hooked foot. If he has his right foot hooked, you would take your right hand. Grab the foot, sprawl out...and smash and pass. We finished up after drilling dead reps in each position to going to active resistance. This was good, and I need some more work on it.
We finished the last 30 mins of class by alternating running with 5 or 6 minute rolls (can't remember which). After we were done with a live roll, instead of resting we would run. This was TOUGH. You could tell on peoples faces they were close to hitting the wall. I got to roll with an exhausted Crazy Bob which is always a blast, as well as Brandon and Tim.
We finished class with more interval SPRINTING with Big Dawg yelling to keep working hard and upping the intensity.
It was an awesome class! I came home and ate chicken for dinner and literally passed out at like 10pm. I can't wait for the Arnolds!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sundae
I just did no-gi today, on account of I'm old and sore from getting my ass kicked this past week.
For warmup we jogged for a couple minutes, then did sprint/jog intervals for cardio exactly like this:
Hyde then switched to drills for a bit and we did the kneebar/kneebar/heel hook flow drill for a nice long while. Hyde then showed his bicep slicer/armdrag series where you can submit with the slice from full guard, or change off to take the back (or sweep if he leans into you). The sweep is just like a gi technique clint taught and made perfect sense. I love it when stuff comes together.
We finished with live rolling and I got a couple good rolls in with Hyde, Crampton, Bronson, and others. I am SO fortunate to have such KICK ASS training partners!
I could barely walk a couple hours after practice...my legs hurt so bad. Obviously this HIIT stuff works. It's going to be good fun to outwork the blue belts at the Arnold and watch their dejected faces as they lose to a white belt =)
For warmup we jogged for a couple minutes, then did sprint/jog intervals for cardio exactly like this:
Hyde then switched to drills for a bit and we did the kneebar/kneebar/heel hook flow drill for a nice long while. Hyde then showed his bicep slicer/armdrag series where you can submit with the slice from full guard, or change off to take the back (or sweep if he leans into you). The sweep is just like a gi technique clint taught and made perfect sense. I love it when stuff comes together.
We finished with live rolling and I got a couple good rolls in with Hyde, Crampton, Bronson, and others. I am SO fortunate to have such KICK ASS training partners!
I could barely walk a couple hours after practice...my legs hurt so bad. Obviously this HIIT stuff works. It's going to be good fun to outwork the blue belts at the Arnold and watch their dejected faces as they lose to a white belt =)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Lemon Garlic Shrimp
It twas' a very small class today. I dont know what better plans you could have on a saturday night, but I got my BJJ on!
Clint put us through another sadistic journey into pain. He focused on ab workouts for the first hour of class. Yes HOUR. We did countless sets of situps, flutter kicks, hello dollys, and a new one where we opened our legs and pretended to go up and get a cross collar choke on a guy from our guard. My abs were burnin good.
We did tons of shrimp drills in between sets, and many of us had poor technique. Clint then broke down proper shrimping, along with the reasoning behind it. We then went to live resisting shrimping with a guy mounting us. We did the elbow knee escape first and then did the upa escape. Clint talked about using escapes in conjuction with one another and to avoid being mounted immediately.
We then alternated sprinting with live rolling, grabbing new partners each time. I rolled with bigger guys and worked on movement in my gwaurd. I did so so. I was definitely fatigued from all the cardio. It sucks being old. We finished class doing interval sprints well past scheduled class time.
Tomorrow I am just going to go to no-gi as I don't know if 4 hours would be a great idea after busting my ass this week after my vacation.
Clint put us through another sadistic journey into pain. He focused on ab workouts for the first hour of class. Yes HOUR. We did countless sets of situps, flutter kicks, hello dollys, and a new one where we opened our legs and pretended to go up and get a cross collar choke on a guy from our guard. My abs were burnin good.
We did tons of shrimp drills in between sets, and many of us had poor technique. Clint then broke down proper shrimping, along with the reasoning behind it. We then went to live resisting shrimping with a guy mounting us. We did the elbow knee escape first and then did the upa escape. Clint talked about using escapes in conjuction with one another and to avoid being mounted immediately.
We then alternated sprinting with live rolling, grabbing new partners each time. I rolled with bigger guys and worked on movement in my gwaurd. I did so so. I was definitely fatigued from all the cardio. It sucks being old. We finished class doing interval sprints well past scheduled class time.
Tomorrow I am just going to go to no-gi as I don't know if 4 hours would be a great idea after busting my ass this week after my vacation.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Comp Class
Comp class was just me, Justin "Tommy Speer" Reynolds, and Hydomatic. We did a new "pro athlete" interval warmup for cardio, which was a short but intense series of sprints and jogs.
We then rolled comp style. I rolled pretty well. My gward is getting more and more dynamic. I swept both guys and had pretty good movement. Life is getting better.
I played around with this move which seems like it could work well. It's a little hard to thread your arm under the guys leg with him spazzing around, not enjoying being in the armdragged position; but it's do-able.
We then rolled comp style. I rolled pretty well. My gward is getting more and more dynamic. I swept both guys and had pretty good movement. Life is getting better.
I played around with this move which seems like it could work well. It's a little hard to thread your arm under the guys leg with him spazzing around, not enjoying being in the armdragged position; but it's do-able.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Livin' la vida choka
Thursday night mayhem. I was 25 minutes late to class =( I missed a chunk of conditioning, but was told it was run by Hyde and was primarily strength training based (plank pushups? zomg!?) I luckily made it in time for pass the guard "ring of fire". This is where everyone lines up with their partner in a circle, and you do one minute of trying to pass the guys guard. After that, the top guy moves clockwise to the next guy in the circle. You do this until you have completed the entire circle, then trade and take your turn on the bottom.
Proudly, the Dutch Assassin didn't have his guard passed the entire time. I concentrated on using good hip movement, and breaking down the opponents posture. White belt, nor blue belt, nor purple belt passed this time around (although I told Hyde I was gonna wristlock his bad hand if he tried..hwahahaha).
Second time around it was my turn for the top, and I did pretty good. I am trying almost exclusively to work my standing pass, and it is actually evolving a little bit. I am getting more dynamic when the guy inevitably moves to open guard, and I can beat him to the punch.
For the technique portion of the class, Clint showed the ezekiel choke from full mount. This was good as I "know" the move, but haven't drilled it in a long time and forgot some details. Clint showed a cool way to pass from side control to full mount when the opponent does the "figure four your legs" defense by taking your outside foot with your hand and moving it acrossed his stomach to the other side. Despite my non nimble nature, I was able to do this pretty easily. I like it and need to work on this in the upcoming weeks. Once mounted you want to place one arm under the guys neck, and force his head to one direction using the SHOULDER OF PAAAIN. You then use your head to force his head back the other way, so it's like his head is in a vice between your shoulder and your head. This opens the neck for the choke. Grab your sleeve thats under his head and place your fist in the socket to the side of the adams apple. KEY POINT: Don't just muscle the fist in, but use your whole body weight to push your fist into his neck...pushing with your shoulder against the fist.
We finished up doing some with free rolling, followed by some interval sprints until we were forced off the mats by the wrestlers. Awesome class
Proudly, the Dutch Assassin didn't have his guard passed the entire time. I concentrated on using good hip movement, and breaking down the opponents posture. White belt, nor blue belt, nor purple belt passed this time around (although I told Hyde I was gonna wristlock his bad hand if he tried..hwahahaha).
Second time around it was my turn for the top, and I did pretty good. I am trying almost exclusively to work my standing pass, and it is actually evolving a little bit. I am getting more dynamic when the guy inevitably moves to open guard, and I can beat him to the punch.
For the technique portion of the class, Clint showed the ezekiel choke from full mount. This was good as I "know" the move, but haven't drilled it in a long time and forgot some details. Clint showed a cool way to pass from side control to full mount when the opponent does the "figure four your legs" defense by taking your outside foot with your hand and moving it acrossed his stomach to the other side. Despite my non nimble nature, I was able to do this pretty easily. I like it and need to work on this in the upcoming weeks. Once mounted you want to place one arm under the guys neck, and force his head to one direction using the SHOULDER OF PAAAIN. You then use your head to force his head back the other way, so it's like his head is in a vice between your shoulder and your head. This opens the neck for the choke. Grab your sleeve thats under his head and place your fist in the socket to the side of the adams apple. KEY POINT: Don't just muscle the fist in, but use your whole body weight to push your fist into his neck...pushing with your shoulder against the fist.
We finished up doing some with free rolling, followed by some interval sprints until we were forced off the mats by the wrestlers. Awesome class
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Rasslin' with danger
WOOOHOOO! The dutch assassin is back from vacation. My rested body had little time to relax as Clint put us through another long, intense cardio session. Everything is being done in intervals with "active" rest, so there is literally no time for your muscles to be lazy. Needless to say I was sore after this one.
For technique today, Clintao had us drill a couple takedowns. The first was a firemans carry from a same side lapel grip. The key to this move is to move laterally to get your opponent off his base. You use his momentum stepping forward to attack the leg in a high crotch motion, then rolling down and throwing your opponent over your shoulder/head.
The 2nd takedown we learned was also from the same side lapel grip, but is an armspin throw. This move is more effective when the enemy is not letting you close to him, keeping his arm stiff and base back. The mechanics are similar to the firemans carry throw, except instead of going with a high crotch shot, you shoot your arm (like an uppercut motion) under the oppoents arm. You stay upright during this "uppercut". You then throw him over your shoulder/back while rolling to the ground. I hit this throw a couple times this week in free rolling and it's deeerty.
Awesome class! I am excited to be back.
For technique today, Clintao had us drill a couple takedowns. The first was a firemans carry from a same side lapel grip. The key to this move is to move laterally to get your opponent off his base. You use his momentum stepping forward to attack the leg in a high crotch motion, then rolling down and throwing your opponent over your shoulder/head.
The 2nd takedown we learned was also from the same side lapel grip, but is an armspin throw. This move is more effective when the enemy is not letting you close to him, keeping his arm stiff and base back. The mechanics are similar to the firemans carry throw, except instead of going with a high crotch shot, you shoot your arm (like an uppercut motion) under the oppoents arm. You stay upright during this "uppercut". You then throw him over your shoulder/back while rolling to the ground. I hit this throw a couple times this week in free rolling and it's deeerty.
Awesome class! I am excited to be back.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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