This past week has been very trying. I missed jiu-jitsu last night because I was slammed at work. I was slammed again today. Though I cannot complain about being busy at work (I own my own business so busy is great) everything seems to have been much harder than it needed to be. I have only three Christmas presents for the wife and we're leaving to Middle-of-Nowhere, Tennessee tomorrow. Today I made the responsible choice and decided to go Christmas shopping...after jiu-jitsu.
I stumbled into class about 5 minutes late. Everyone was sitting on the mat and we got ready to start the warm-up. Donny made fun of me for still wearing my watch. I had completely not noticed. I never wear my watch while at jiu-jitsu. I could tell this night was going to be as rough as the rest of the week has been. So, the evening progressed as we all lined up to bow in. Donny announces that he has something to say to us before we get started.
After some joking and some jiu-jitsu wisdom he begins to talk about a certain person and how the first time he saw them he thought, "This guy is going to pay for a month and never come back." He then announces that tonight there will be a belt ranking.
I knew immediately that it was for me. I know, it's a bit pretentious of me to assume that out of all the awesome guys there, I'm the only one to be promoted but I just knew it was me. Sure enough, he calls the Awesome Possum to the front and presents me with my blue belt. I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked. I knew I was close but I didn't know I was that close.
I'm honored that Donny thinks that highly of me and I hope I can do him proud. I haven't had the best competition record and I'm glad that he can see past that. Though I don't think I deserve it, I completely trust Donny and I will be the best damn blue belt I can be. It's amazing how much your game is stepped up just by placing that blue piece of cloth around your waist. My only regret is that the wife wasn't there to see it but I'm sure she'll be there for the purple. Thanks to everyone for the support. I especially need to thank my training partners because without you guys (and girls) I would never have gotten this far.
Here's to another safe and healthy new year.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Preparing for Victory
I'll admit, I wasn't in the mood to be doing anything that didn't involve me sitting in front of the tv. However, I had to take my own advice and know I would feel better after rolling.
We started with a Peter run warm-up sponsored by Corey. It consisted of jogging, push-ups, and tons of ab stuff. It wasn't necessarily the amount of exercises we did it was more so the exercises themselves. Not to bore you with the details but let's just say my legs felt like rubber.
So after our...energizing warm-up, we worked passing the guard. This was mainly for the new meat but it never hurts to review. Simple guard break with the knee in the butt, your far leg over theirs, underhooks, and pass. Simple, effective, often messed up.
I rolled with everyone except the new people. I didn't plan it that way that's just how it worked out. I did roll with Katie, Chris, Christian, Peter, and Corey. Corey and I rolled no gi and had fun doing it. I did end up latching onto his neck and felt like a douche afterward.
Nothing really out of the ordinary happened tonight. We're starting to enter tournament mode for the NAGA in Boca November 21st. I'm sure if I can just keep from doing something stupid I'll have a good shot at winning.
Possum out.
GracieFernandina.com
We started with a Peter run warm-up sponsored by Corey. It consisted of jogging, push-ups, and tons of ab stuff. It wasn't necessarily the amount of exercises we did it was more so the exercises themselves. Not to bore you with the details but let's just say my legs felt like rubber.
So after our...energizing warm-up, we worked passing the guard. This was mainly for the new meat but it never hurts to review. Simple guard break with the knee in the butt, your far leg over theirs, underhooks, and pass. Simple, effective, often messed up.
I rolled with everyone except the new people. I didn't plan it that way that's just how it worked out. I did roll with Katie, Chris, Christian, Peter, and Corey. Corey and I rolled no gi and had fun doing it. I did end up latching onto his neck and felt like a douche afterward.
Nothing really out of the ordinary happened tonight. We're starting to enter tournament mode for the NAGA in Boca November 21st. I'm sure if I can just keep from doing something stupid I'll have a good shot at winning.
Possum out.
GracieFernandina.com
Friday, October 23, 2009
Tonight we begin with a bit of a recap. You are now officially reading the blog of a 4 stripe white belt. I'm pretty stoked about it too but please hold your applause until the end. I would also like to take this opportunity to use the relative safety of the Internet to mock our blue belts who never managed to get 4 stripes on their white belt. Sorry guys keep training though, it will come.
On Tuesday, Daniel came in for a special class. He wanted to drop in on us before he started his training tour to prepare for the Worlds. While there, Donny, Gracie Fernandina's lead instructor, received the 4th stripe on his purple belt. It was well deserved, coming off a gold medal finish at the No-Gi Pan Ams in NYC. Even better considering he's never competed no-gi. Obviously his amazing skill is due, at least partly, to Possum's awesome guard and menacing top game. Congratulations Donny we're all proud.
Tonight is the real highlight of the week, however. Wednesday night, as I was getting ready to watch a (finally) new Mythbusters, I received a Facebook message from Corey to give Donny a call because he needed someone to cover Thursday's adult class. I'll admit, I was as excited as a little girl. I couldn't dial the number quick enough. Turns out, Corey wasn't playing a mean yet admittedly awesome joke on me. Shortly after being sworn in by Donny, I began to let the power go to my head. This was going to be a long, long 24 hrs...for Ashley (She was commanded to address me as Professor Possum).
We started off class with a Peter led warm-up. I believe he read my mind and found every exercise I did not want to do that night and made us do it. If there's one thing I've learned though is never, ever, complain about the warm-up. So after toting around someone on my back and about 10 leap frogs we settled down for some technique.
Since most of the guys were fairly green, I mentioned the scissor sweep. This was completely spontaneous...ok it totally wasn't. I had it planned 10 seconds after hanging up the phone with Donny. So we started demonstrating the sweep and it goes a little something like this:
Good guy is on his back with the bad guy in guard. You hip out and rest on whichever hip you choose. In this case I choose the right. I bring my left leg across his belt and hook with my foot. My right leg sits on the floor against his leg. Your left hand grips his lapel on the same side as your free leg and your other hand grabs his sleeve. Yank them forward and scissor your legs. Simple. My slight variation involves grabbing the triceps instead of the wrist or sleeve. This also forces me to sit up a little and when I fall back it adds a little more umph to my yank (grow up!) forward.
The second sweep is a sort of half butterfly/ half full guard thing. With the bad guy in guard, your left leg goes between his legs like a butterfly hook. Your other leg comes down and traps their other leg. Sometimes, instead of just putting my free leg down to trap their leg I will place it on the back of their knee to keep them from standing. Either way, trap an arm on the opposite side of the butterfly and sweep to that side. It's important to be on your hip to do this. I've been able to do it from flat on my back as long as I can still move my hips.
Overall I had fun teaching. I tried to keep it short and even had everyone do a drill that helps set the scissor sweep into your brain but the guys weren't feeling it. I really hope I have the opportunity to do it again. I will be ordering all their black belts next week. Blue belts, let the ass whoopin begin. The rest of you, thank you for your patience, begin your applause.
Gracie Fernandina
On Tuesday, Daniel came in for a special class. He wanted to drop in on us before he started his training tour to prepare for the Worlds. While there, Donny, Gracie Fernandina's lead instructor, received the 4th stripe on his purple belt. It was well deserved, coming off a gold medal finish at the No-Gi Pan Ams in NYC. Even better considering he's never competed no-gi. Obviously his amazing skill is due, at least partly, to Possum's awesome guard and menacing top game. Congratulations Donny we're all proud.
Tonight is the real highlight of the week, however. Wednesday night, as I was getting ready to watch a (finally) new Mythbusters, I received a Facebook message from Corey to give Donny a call because he needed someone to cover Thursday's adult class. I'll admit, I was as excited as a little girl. I couldn't dial the number quick enough. Turns out, Corey wasn't playing a mean yet admittedly awesome joke on me. Shortly after being sworn in by Donny, I began to let the power go to my head. This was going to be a long, long 24 hrs...for Ashley (She was commanded to address me as Professor Possum).
We started off class with a Peter led warm-up. I believe he read my mind and found every exercise I did not want to do that night and made us do it. If there's one thing I've learned though is never, ever, complain about the warm-up. So after toting around someone on my back and about 10 leap frogs we settled down for some technique.
Since most of the guys were fairly green, I mentioned the scissor sweep. This was completely spontaneous...ok it totally wasn't. I had it planned 10 seconds after hanging up the phone with Donny. So we started demonstrating the sweep and it goes a little something like this:
Good guy is on his back with the bad guy in guard. You hip out and rest on whichever hip you choose. In this case I choose the right. I bring my left leg across his belt and hook with my foot. My right leg sits on the floor against his leg. Your left hand grips his lapel on the same side as your free leg and your other hand grabs his sleeve. Yank them forward and scissor your legs. Simple. My slight variation involves grabbing the triceps instead of the wrist or sleeve. This also forces me to sit up a little and when I fall back it adds a little more umph to my yank (grow up!) forward.
The second sweep is a sort of half butterfly/ half full guard thing. With the bad guy in guard, your left leg goes between his legs like a butterfly hook. Your other leg comes down and traps their other leg. Sometimes, instead of just putting my free leg down to trap their leg I will place it on the back of their knee to keep them from standing. Either way, trap an arm on the opposite side of the butterfly and sweep to that side. It's important to be on your hip to do this. I've been able to do it from flat on my back as long as I can still move my hips.
Overall I had fun teaching. I tried to keep it short and even had everyone do a drill that helps set the scissor sweep into your brain but the guys weren't feeling it. I really hope I have the opportunity to do it again. I will be ordering all their black belts next week. Blue belts, let the ass whoopin begin. The rest of you, thank you for your patience, begin your applause.
Gracie Fernandina
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sunshine State BJJ Open
Saturday marked the 2nd annual Sunshine State BJJ Open in Jacksonville, FL. Six of us from Gracie Fernandina entered while Donny and Daniel went to New York to compete in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No Gi Championships. When I say Donny and Daniel went to compete what I really mean is that they went to completely dominate their divisions. No surprise when you consider Daniel is a jiu-jitsu deity and Donny has been chewing through brown and black belts in competition. Tonight's post, however, is not about the relentless beat downs being offered by Gracie Fernandina's instructors. No, tonight is about those six (Christian, Ashley, Possum, Patrick, Katie, and Caid) who decided to open up a can of whoop ass at this local tournament.
Luckily for us Patrick filmed most of the matches however; unfortunately, there was some sort of mishap that occurred that erased most of the fights. There is a silver lining to this otherwise bleak situation, I, Possum, now get to describe in detail what went down. Consider it a behind the scenes look. Let us begin.
First to fight was Christian. He was in the super heavy division. Amazingly there were two others in the same weight class. His first fight was against a guy about his height but a bit lighter. He wore a orange and green belt and ridiculous hair cut. Before the fight I told Christian that there is no way in hell he will lose to someone with a hair cut like that.
Artist Rendition
The fight started and they tied up. Christian did a good job of keeping his balance. The other dude tried for a sweep and Christian capitalized. They both went down like the Titanic. Christian landed on top. From there he secured side control. After getting his points I yelled out "Cock the shotgun!" and he immediately popped to knee on belly. The kid escaped out of it and christian went back to side control. Shortly after he tried KOB again and this time it stuck. From that point on Christian proceeded to make an imprint of that boy's spine on the mat. The round only lasted four minutes but for the vast majority of that time Christian was introducing his knee to the mat via this kid's soft tissue. He won his first match with no points or advantages scored against him. Christian's highlight of the day was making this kid cry. Way to go buddy!
His second fight was against what I believe to be a 24 year old BJJ instructor from Brazil. This guy was supposed to be 14-15 years old but had a 5 'o clock shadow. The match started right after he put out his cigarette, and told his kid to get him another beer. They tied up but this kid was obviously not new to the game. He got the take down. Christian gained half guard. The man then went from half guard to full mount. There he stayed the whole match. Christian lost to points but put up a good fight and didn't get submitted. Took second place. Phenomenal for his first competition.
Next to fight was Katie. Katie seemed nervous for this fight and thought she needed a cool nickname like Possum. Using my incredible wit I dubbed Katie, Gumby.
The "officials" called for Katie's coach, so I went to see what they needed. They offered to let her fight all girls but they out weighed her by 30lbs or she could fight in her weight against boys. Never passing up a chance to make a boy cry in front of a hundred people we decided to fight the boys.
Katie tied up and it quickly went to the ground. She ended up in half guard. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs for her to "take the back" and she did. Once she took this kid's back it was over. She was making attempts to choke him but hadn't quite locked it in. Before we knew it this kid tapped. Katie didn't really have a choke but I suppose what matters is he thought she did. Either way Katie did what she had set out to do. Win a match? Nope. Make a boy cry in front of his friends, family, and tons of strangers? Yes!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see her second match but I believe it was a stalemate and they were stood back up. The boy got a take down and won on points. She ended up with the Bronze. Not bad for a girl.
Those were the matches I got to see that we don't have video on. I was trying to coach as many people as I could but those disorganized bastards, in their infinite wisdom, decided to have multiple Gracie Fernandina fighters go at the same time. I have video for the no gi matches of Patrick and Katie, and the Gi matches for Possum and Ashley. I'll post it as soon as I get it on the computer. Look for our next installment of the Sunshine State BJJ Open.
Gracie Fernandina.com
Luckily for us Patrick filmed most of the matches however; unfortunately, there was some sort of mishap that occurred that erased most of the fights. There is a silver lining to this otherwise bleak situation, I, Possum, now get to describe in detail what went down. Consider it a behind the scenes look. Let us begin.
First to fight was Christian. He was in the super heavy division. Amazingly there were two others in the same weight class. His first fight was against a guy about his height but a bit lighter. He wore a orange and green belt and ridiculous hair cut. Before the fight I told Christian that there is no way in hell he will lose to someone with a hair cut like that.
Artist Rendition
The fight started and they tied up. Christian did a good job of keeping his balance. The other dude tried for a sweep and Christian capitalized. They both went down like the Titanic. Christian landed on top. From there he secured side control. After getting his points I yelled out "Cock the shotgun!" and he immediately popped to knee on belly. The kid escaped out of it and christian went back to side control. Shortly after he tried KOB again and this time it stuck. From that point on Christian proceeded to make an imprint of that boy's spine on the mat. The round only lasted four minutes but for the vast majority of that time Christian was introducing his knee to the mat via this kid's soft tissue. He won his first match with no points or advantages scored against him. Christian's highlight of the day was making this kid cry. Way to go buddy!
His second fight was against what I believe to be a 24 year old BJJ instructor from Brazil. This guy was supposed to be 14-15 years old but had a 5 'o clock shadow. The match started right after he put out his cigarette, and told his kid to get him another beer. They tied up but this kid was obviously not new to the game. He got the take down. Christian gained half guard. The man then went from half guard to full mount. There he stayed the whole match. Christian lost to points but put up a good fight and didn't get submitted. Took second place. Phenomenal for his first competition.
Next to fight was Katie. Katie seemed nervous for this fight and thought she needed a cool nickname like Possum. Using my incredible wit I dubbed Katie, Gumby.
The "officials" called for Katie's coach, so I went to see what they needed. They offered to let her fight all girls but they out weighed her by 30lbs or she could fight in her weight against boys. Never passing up a chance to make a boy cry in front of a hundred people we decided to fight the boys.
Katie tied up and it quickly went to the ground. She ended up in half guard. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs for her to "take the back" and she did. Once she took this kid's back it was over. She was making attempts to choke him but hadn't quite locked it in. Before we knew it this kid tapped. Katie didn't really have a choke but I suppose what matters is he thought she did. Either way Katie did what she had set out to do. Win a match? Nope. Make a boy cry in front of his friends, family, and tons of strangers? Yes!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see her second match but I believe it was a stalemate and they were stood back up. The boy got a take down and won on points. She ended up with the Bronze. Not bad for a girl.
Those were the matches I got to see that we don't have video on. I was trying to coach as many people as I could but those disorganized bastards, in their infinite wisdom, decided to have multiple Gracie Fernandina fighters go at the same time. I have video for the no gi matches of Patrick and Katie, and the Gi matches for Possum and Ashley. I'll post it as soon as I get it on the computer. Look for our next installment of the Sunshine State BJJ Open.
Gracie Fernandina.com
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
It's a compound.
It's been a while so I apologize however tonight's update is a good one. I'll put the technique in italics so those who aren't interested in the moves can still get a good story. You are welcome.
Monday began the new jiu-jitsu schedule at Gracie Fernandina. Monday (7:00) Tuesday (7:00) Wednesday (6:30) and Thursday (6:30). I'm totally looking forward to a minimum 4 days a week. We still have open mat on Sunday and perhaps I may be able to make it to Jacksonville on Fridays. Still, I'm not going to say I'll do 6 days a week but I will try.
Last night we reviewed a butterfly pass that a few of us saw on Friday. It starts with the bad guy in butterfly. When he gets his under-hook, for the basic butterfly sweep, you take your hand and grab the pant leg of his opposite leg. Sounds confusing, I know. I'll attempt to dummy it down a bit. Bad guy has under-hook, the arm that he has the under-hook on goes under both legs and grabs his pant leg on the side that doesn't have the under-hook. Anyway, as the bad guy falls to his side to sweep you smash his legs with your hips while pulling on his pant leg. Give it a try, trust me it works.
The other move we learned was sort of the same except you don't wait for the dude to grab under-hooks. From his butterfly guard, you take, in this case, your left hand go under his legs and grab his left pant leg. Same set-up. Put your head in his chest your free arm grips his back. Here's where it can get tricky so read closely. You post up on the leg on the same side of the arm that is gripping the pant leg (in our case here it's your left leg). All you do from here is pull your arms straight with a bit of a rotating motion and your opponent should spin to a side control position, proceed with elbows to the face.
Tonight we didn't really learn anything new. Mainly it was review of the exact sweep mentioned above except now you're the bad guy trying to sweep. I'm not going to explain that here because you can go to youtube, search butterfly sweep, and be up to you earlobes in content. No, tonight was about injuries. We started off all stretching when Donny comes behind me and puts on a good collar choke. I, like a complete moron, attempt to flip him over my head. Consequently he lands on my head still with the collar choke. He says something along the lines of "Is it tight yet?" I responded with some smart ass comment. There's a pretty good reason I can't tell you what that comment is. Was it bad words? No. Was is politically incorrect? Don't be retarded. It was because I cant remember. The next thing I know, I'm sitting up asking everyone if I passed out. No one seemed to be able to give me a straight answer however due to my lack of memory I think it's a safe bet I took a nap.
So things are going good after individual warm-ups we trained technique and started to roll after that. I got Mark. One of the newer guys. He's big but not generally a huge problem for me right now. Once he gets some technique under his belt he'll be a bigger threat. Anyway, I digress. Mark and I are rolling and out of nowhere I hear...(kids earmuffs!) "SHIT!" followed by a series of Oh my god's and...I CAN SEE THE BONE! Let that sink in, he could freaking see the bone. No, worse is WE could see the bone. Poor Jimmy attempting a pass on Peter "Bone Crusher" Dikun landed on the most perfect one-in-a-million spot to completely pop his BONE OUT OF HIS SKIN. Steve ran to look at it and probably still in amazement of how freakish the whole thing was said, "Yeah, it's a compound alright. Bone's poking out." We wrapped his foot up, debated over to call an ambulance, which would cost him more but save him having to fill out paperwork, or driving him ourselves, which would save him the cost of the ambulance ride but will invariably result in him having to fill out a mountain of paperwork. Jimmy told us to drive him so we helped him to the car and Mark drove him to the hospital.
Luckily we got word after about an hour that the bone was not broken but was dislocated and it was his knuckle that had ripped through the skin. This is good news since all the doctors had to do was pop it back into place (presumably with enough painkillers to choke an elephant) and sew him up. I'm so glad he doesn't have to have surgery and months of rehab. Good luck Jimmy.
GracieFernandina.com
Monday began the new jiu-jitsu schedule at Gracie Fernandina. Monday (7:00) Tuesday (7:00) Wednesday (6:30) and Thursday (6:30). I'm totally looking forward to a minimum 4 days a week. We still have open mat on Sunday and perhaps I may be able to make it to Jacksonville on Fridays. Still, I'm not going to say I'll do 6 days a week but I will try.
Last night we reviewed a butterfly pass that a few of us saw on Friday. It starts with the bad guy in butterfly. When he gets his under-hook, for the basic butterfly sweep, you take your hand and grab the pant leg of his opposite leg. Sounds confusing, I know. I'll attempt to dummy it down a bit. Bad guy has under-hook, the arm that he has the under-hook on goes under both legs and grabs his pant leg on the side that doesn't have the under-hook. Anyway, as the bad guy falls to his side to sweep you smash his legs with your hips while pulling on his pant leg. Give it a try, trust me it works.
The other move we learned was sort of the same except you don't wait for the dude to grab under-hooks. From his butterfly guard, you take, in this case, your left hand go under his legs and grab his left pant leg. Same set-up. Put your head in his chest your free arm grips his back. Here's where it can get tricky so read closely. You post up on the leg on the same side of the arm that is gripping the pant leg (in our case here it's your left leg). All you do from here is pull your arms straight with a bit of a rotating motion and your opponent should spin to a side control position, proceed with elbows to the face.
Tonight we didn't really learn anything new. Mainly it was review of the exact sweep mentioned above except now you're the bad guy trying to sweep. I'm not going to explain that here because you can go to youtube, search butterfly sweep, and be up to you earlobes in content. No, tonight was about injuries. We started off all stretching when Donny comes behind me and puts on a good collar choke. I, like a complete moron, attempt to flip him over my head. Consequently he lands on my head still with the collar choke. He says something along the lines of "Is it tight yet?" I responded with some smart ass comment. There's a pretty good reason I can't tell you what that comment is. Was it bad words? No. Was is politically incorrect? Don't be retarded. It was because I cant remember. The next thing I know, I'm sitting up asking everyone if I passed out. No one seemed to be able to give me a straight answer however due to my lack of memory I think it's a safe bet I took a nap.
So things are going good after individual warm-ups we trained technique and started to roll after that. I got Mark. One of the newer guys. He's big but not generally a huge problem for me right now. Once he gets some technique under his belt he'll be a bigger threat. Anyway, I digress. Mark and I are rolling and out of nowhere I hear...(kids earmuffs!) "SHIT!" followed by a series of Oh my god's and...I CAN SEE THE BONE! Let that sink in, he could freaking see the bone. No, worse is WE could see the bone. Poor Jimmy attempting a pass on Peter "Bone Crusher" Dikun landed on the most perfect one-in-a-million spot to completely pop his BONE OUT OF HIS SKIN. Steve ran to look at it and probably still in amazement of how freakish the whole thing was said, "Yeah, it's a compound alright. Bone's poking out." We wrapped his foot up, debated over to call an ambulance, which would cost him more but save him having to fill out paperwork, or driving him ourselves, which would save him the cost of the ambulance ride but will invariably result in him having to fill out a mountain of paperwork. Jimmy told us to drive him so we helped him to the car and Mark drove him to the hospital.
Luckily we got word after about an hour that the bone was not broken but was dislocated and it was his knuckle that had ripped through the skin. This is good news since all the doctors had to do was pop it back into place (presumably with enough painkillers to choke an elephant) and sew him up. I'm so glad he doesn't have to have surgery and months of rehab. Good luck Jimmy.
GracieFernandina.com
Monday, August 10, 2009
Where's the other sock?
Open mat on Sunday was unusually busy. We had about 7-8 guys we don't normally train with. This is in addition to Corey, Donny, Peter, Myself, and Ashley. We started off by lining up against the wall and giving the visitors the opportunity to call us out.
My first fight was against a guy who's name escapes me (actually I'd pretty much forgotten their names immediately after they told me, sorry.) This guy was wearing gi pants and a tank top. I figured this guy might have some experience and though I couldn't be sure, I though I had rolled with him before. Anyway, so we set up I'm on my knees and he comes walking over. I notice he only has one sock on. I quickly think of some funny joke to account for his missing sock until I realized, he's not missing a sock, he's only wearing one sock! Now let this simmer a minute, what I'm getting at is that he intentionally is only wearing one sock for a reason. His lack of foot coverings is not due to some wacky series of events that would hilariously unfold over a cold beer, but due to a jock itch, athlete's foot, ringworm causing fungus. The first and only reason I can fathom at this point is that he has a case of athlete's foot and feels "It's okay...I put on a sock." Now perhaps he didn't have any problem like that. However, even if he pulled off his sock to expose a golden foot with diamond toenails and carried on to explain that he didn't want to have to polish it again I couldn't believe it. As far as the match goes, nothing eventful happened. He couldn't gain position on me and I submitted him with a choke.
The next match I was paired up with "Bear." I remember thinking this guy may not have any experience but due to his size he probably has done some wrestling in his day. Well, we started and immediately he passes to side. I thought to myself, "This dude is going to hurt me if I lay her and play possum." I seemed to be able to turn it on with him. He tried to hold side but ended up getting swept. He couldn't hold me in his guard and I spent most of my time in side control. I couldn't submit him but that wasn't my focus at the time. I was more worried that him not being my normal training partner that he would attempt to beat me at all costs. After that match Corey and I spoke and he said I was a different person rolling with him. He went on to say he wished he could be like me and that I was extremely good looking (I am paraphrasing a bit).
I rolled a couple more times once with a guy who had some experience but after getting swept three times with the same move I think he got pissed. There was another guy who was about Ashley's size who after his first roll seemed to gas out really bad. I rolled with him for about 45 seconds until he gave up.
We ended the night with the shark tank. I was paired up with the "Bear" again. We started on the knees. They called start and this dude rushed me elbowed the holy hell out of my head and went on to spend most of the two minutes in my half guard. I was pretty dizzy after the elbow and if I would have had the extra three minutes that I'm used to I could have done something (I was working an armbar when they called time) instead of losing by points.
All in all a good day. I hope a few of the guys who said they were going to start actually show up. Though once they end up with Ashley mounted on them they may not want to come back, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Graciefernandina.com
My first fight was against a guy who's name escapes me (actually I'd pretty much forgotten their names immediately after they told me, sorry.) This guy was wearing gi pants and a tank top. I figured this guy might have some experience and though I couldn't be sure, I though I had rolled with him before. Anyway, so we set up I'm on my knees and he comes walking over. I notice he only has one sock on. I quickly think of some funny joke to account for his missing sock until I realized, he's not missing a sock, he's only wearing one sock! Now let this simmer a minute, what I'm getting at is that he intentionally is only wearing one sock for a reason. His lack of foot coverings is not due to some wacky series of events that would hilariously unfold over a cold beer, but due to a jock itch, athlete's foot, ringworm causing fungus. The first and only reason I can fathom at this point is that he has a case of athlete's foot and feels "It's okay...I put on a sock." Now perhaps he didn't have any problem like that. However, even if he pulled off his sock to expose a golden foot with diamond toenails and carried on to explain that he didn't want to have to polish it again I couldn't believe it. As far as the match goes, nothing eventful happened. He couldn't gain position on me and I submitted him with a choke.
The next match I was paired up with "Bear." I remember thinking this guy may not have any experience but due to his size he probably has done some wrestling in his day. Well, we started and immediately he passes to side. I thought to myself, "This dude is going to hurt me if I lay her and play possum." I seemed to be able to turn it on with him. He tried to hold side but ended up getting swept. He couldn't hold me in his guard and I spent most of my time in side control. I couldn't submit him but that wasn't my focus at the time. I was more worried that him not being my normal training partner that he would attempt to beat me at all costs. After that match Corey and I spoke and he said I was a different person rolling with him. He went on to say he wished he could be like me and that I was extremely good looking (I am paraphrasing a bit).
I rolled a couple more times once with a guy who had some experience but after getting swept three times with the same move I think he got pissed. There was another guy who was about Ashley's size who after his first roll seemed to gas out really bad. I rolled with him for about 45 seconds until he gave up.
We ended the night with the shark tank. I was paired up with the "Bear" again. We started on the knees. They called start and this dude rushed me elbowed the holy hell out of my head and went on to spend most of the two minutes in my half guard. I was pretty dizzy after the elbow and if I would have had the extra three minutes that I'm used to I could have done something (I was working an armbar when they called time) instead of losing by points.
All in all a good day. I hope a few of the guys who said they were going to start actually show up. Though once they end up with Ashley mounted on them they may not want to come back, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Graciefernandina.com
Thursday, July 23, 2009
OOWW!
We began class last night with a good warm up that consisted of the normal jogging, push ups, and crunches. We learned three knee on belly(KOB) attacks, an armbar, kimura, and a choke.
The kimura was one I had not seen before. It looks like it could be good since it's something you don't expect. You start off KOB, the unlucky dude (or dudette) tries to push your knee off with his left hand (in this case I am on his right side). As he places his hand on your knee you quickly cup his wrist. When he hips out you come around his head and trap it. It's important to note that your right leg should end up in the bottom guy's armpit area. This is important for the next step, you slide your available hand to grab your other hand for the kimura. As you do that you slide your right leg back, this puts the guy on bottom in a really bad spot. From here you can finish your kimura like normal.
The next was the classic armbar from KOB. I know this one well. I know it so well in fact that it's one of the very rare times I actually keep my elbows in. Anyway, it goes a little something like this:
Start KOB as the person attempts to push your knee away but this time leaves their elbow up as they do it. You then reach with your right hand through the space they made, grab the back of their arm, and as a nice option put your elbow in their ribs (As a side note I don't suggest doing this to someone you don't want to piss off). You finish by swinging around their head, grab their pants and armbar.
That brought us to our final KOB attack. Again the dude on the bottom tries to push your knee off however, this time your left hand is deep under their neck. You simply baseball grip your hands together, get your left forearm under their chin and come down from KOB. In a perfect world you want your legs to spread out like a clock choke. I found it doesn't require all that if you have it right.
So after drilling these techniques it was time to roll. I started off with Ashley. She's been improving a lot lately. I do know, all innuendo aside, I don't want her on top. She's amazingly heavy.
After that I rolled with Patrick. We started and somehow he ended up in turtle (presumably from my sheer awesomeness but I wont dwell on it). I started slowly making my way to his back. He then grabbed my leg nearest to his head. I trapped his arm with my legs and then, are you ready for it? Bam! A crucifix. Holy Moly! A freaking crucifix. Unfortunately for me I got a bit too excited and forgot about the arm I had trapped with my legs. He ended up getting his arm free but I had a deep collar grab on him. We stayed in that position for a while until time was called.
I rolled with Christian and I can see he is improving a lot.
So that brings us to the end of the night. Corey Vs. Donny. So they roll for a while all the time Donny is talking in his goofy Brazilian accent. At one point near the end, after Peter had taken all but four of the mats, it happened. We all saw it. Cory had Donny in a straight armbar. Yes folks you read that right COREY had DONNY in the armbar. Donny then (still in his goofy Brazilian accent) says OOWW! That hurts. Now call me crazy, I'll wait...when someone says OOWW! that means tap. Of course Donny went on to say it hurt but it wasn't a tap. Please allow me to present exhibit A; From article 5 of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Rules:
7-) When an athlete is under a submission position and he screams or say "Aï" , will be the same as if he taps
Corey, my friend, it seems you were robbed of yet another submission victory.
To avoid being too long winded, I will say I have seriously been neglecting the blog and for that, fellow internet people, I apologize. I'll try to keep up with it from now on. No, seriously.
The kimura was one I had not seen before. It looks like it could be good since it's something you don't expect. You start off KOB, the unlucky dude (or dudette) tries to push your knee off with his left hand (in this case I am on his right side). As he places his hand on your knee you quickly cup his wrist. When he hips out you come around his head and trap it. It's important to note that your right leg should end up in the bottom guy's armpit area. This is important for the next step, you slide your available hand to grab your other hand for the kimura. As you do that you slide your right leg back, this puts the guy on bottom in a really bad spot. From here you can finish your kimura like normal.
The next was the classic armbar from KOB. I know this one well. I know it so well in fact that it's one of the very rare times I actually keep my elbows in. Anyway, it goes a little something like this:
Start KOB as the person attempts to push your knee away but this time leaves their elbow up as they do it. You then reach with your right hand through the space they made, grab the back of their arm, and as a nice option put your elbow in their ribs (As a side note I don't suggest doing this to someone you don't want to piss off). You finish by swinging around their head, grab their pants and armbar.
That brought us to our final KOB attack. Again the dude on the bottom tries to push your knee off however, this time your left hand is deep under their neck. You simply baseball grip your hands together, get your left forearm under their chin and come down from KOB. In a perfect world you want your legs to spread out like a clock choke. I found it doesn't require all that if you have it right.
So after drilling these techniques it was time to roll. I started off with Ashley. She's been improving a lot lately. I do know, all innuendo aside, I don't want her on top. She's amazingly heavy.
After that I rolled with Patrick. We started and somehow he ended up in turtle (presumably from my sheer awesomeness but I wont dwell on it). I started slowly making my way to his back. He then grabbed my leg nearest to his head. I trapped his arm with my legs and then, are you ready for it? Bam! A crucifix. Holy Moly! A freaking crucifix. Unfortunately for me I got a bit too excited and forgot about the arm I had trapped with my legs. He ended up getting his arm free but I had a deep collar grab on him. We stayed in that position for a while until time was called.
I rolled with Christian and I can see he is improving a lot.
So that brings us to the end of the night. Corey Vs. Donny. So they roll for a while all the time Donny is talking in his goofy Brazilian accent. At one point near the end, after Peter had taken all but four of the mats, it happened. We all saw it. Cory had Donny in a straight armbar. Yes folks you read that right COREY had DONNY in the armbar. Donny then (still in his goofy Brazilian accent) says OOWW! That hurts. Now call me crazy, I'll wait...when someone says OOWW! that means tap. Of course Donny went on to say it hurt but it wasn't a tap. Please allow me to present exhibit A; From article 5 of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Rules:
7-) When an athlete is under a submission position and he screams or say "Aï" , will be the same as if he taps
Corey, my friend, it seems you were robbed of yet another submission victory.
To avoid being too long winded, I will say I have seriously been neglecting the blog and for that, fellow internet people, I apologize. I'll try to keep up with it from now on. No, seriously.
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