Today another blue belt asked me to roll before class started. I need to not Roll before class starts, because it takes a lot of energy out of me and then when I go to do warm-ups I have no more energy. We started on our knees. He went for my sleeve cuff and I went for his leg cuffs. I was able to spin him around and get to side control. He got to his side and turtles up. We went back and forth trading dominate positions. In the last scramble, I fell into a triangle, with my arm too deep in. I was not able to get my inside arm to a good enough position to create enough space to defend. I tapped to the triangle.
Today we drilled guard recovery from the mount as well as attacking the opponent in the turtle position. My training partner today was a 41-year-old in the active reserves. He weighs 30 pounds heavier than me and is about a foot taller than me. When warmups where done, professor called us to the center of the mat for a roll. He came in for a takedown, but I sprawled to neutralize then went for a takedown of my own. I got the takedown, but ended up in his guard.
I was able to pass his guard, get to side control, then get him in a scarf hold. I tried attacking the near side arm from the scarf hold position, but he was able to get out of that position. As he was coming up, I went for an arm bar. He was able to fight out of the arm bar then he tried to stack me. I heard professor yelling out Russian arm bar, but I could not find the angle I needed to finish that move.
I scrambled and got to his side. I went for a second arm bar attempt, but this time I was too low. He was able to get his arm back and move from side control to mount. I was so tired, I barely fought back. I did not realize he had the Ezikeal choke on me. I tapped to both exhaustion and the submission.
I did not get any submissions today, but I felt like it was a good day for me. I was dominant for most of my matches up until I got submitted. It was a great humbling day for me. OSS
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Blue Belt +3
Back on the mat today. While waiting for class to start, a purple belt asked me to roll. He had to leave early. We rolled for about 10 minutes. I don't think we was really going for any submissions. He tried a couple times, but I was able to get out of it, or he let me out of it. The roll ended when he go to the mount position and crushed me with his pecs. I tapped to pressure.
He then rolled with another blue belt while I went to drink some water. When I go back , he called me to roll again. Just as we started tangling up, Professor asked one of the students to start the class in warm-ups.
The purple belt to the student running the warm-ups that he and I were going to roll for warm-ups. We went to the back corner and rolled for a while. I ended up tapping again to the same top pressure. Professor came and told me to warm up so he could roll with the purple belt.
After the warmups, we drilled recovering the arm-bar when being stacked. We drilled that until the first hour was over. Then we took a water break before finding partners to flow/roll. I paired up with a female blue belt that was close to my weight.
I tried to flow more than rolled. I didn't want to put too much pressure on her. I actually almost got her in a couple arm-bars and a rear collar choke, but instead of finishing them, I just held them to allow her to fight out of them. I never felt like I was in danger from any of her attacks. We went back and forth taking dominate positions.
When we finally looked up to the clock, 45 minutes had passed. I guess because I was not going all out, I was able to last a long time without gassing out.
It was a quit uneventful night of training. Professor had a visiting couple that he spent a lot of time speaking to. They eventually signed up.
He then rolled with another blue belt while I went to drink some water. When I go back , he called me to roll again. Just as we started tangling up, Professor asked one of the students to start the class in warm-ups.
The purple belt to the student running the warm-ups that he and I were going to roll for warm-ups. We went to the back corner and rolled for a while. I ended up tapping again to the same top pressure. Professor came and told me to warm up so he could roll with the purple belt.
After the warmups, we drilled recovering the arm-bar when being stacked. We drilled that until the first hour was over. Then we took a water break before finding partners to flow/roll. I paired up with a female blue belt that was close to my weight.
I tried to flow more than rolled. I didn't want to put too much pressure on her. I actually almost got her in a couple arm-bars and a rear collar choke, but instead of finishing them, I just held them to allow her to fight out of them. I never felt like I was in danger from any of her attacks. We went back and forth taking dominate positions.
When we finally looked up to the clock, 45 minutes had passed. I guess because I was not going all out, I was able to last a long time without gassing out.
It was a quit uneventful night of training. Professor had a visiting couple that he spent a lot of time speaking to. They eventually signed up.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Blue Belt + 2
My second day on the mat after receiving my blue belt. Today we drilled the de la Riva to armbar and de la Riva to bow and arrow. I drilled with a slightly more senior blue belt that is shorter and lighter than me. He is also about 10 years younger.
After drilling for the first hour, Professor called me to the center of the mats with a senior blur belt in his 20's. He is taller and heavier that me, but probably by on 10-20 lbs. My back was hurting, so I did not go for the takedown, he shot in and grabbed my left leg. He drove forward and pulled me in to get the takedown, but I quickly reversed it to get to side control.
He scrambled to get out, but I ended up in North-South position. As I started to make my way back to side control, Professor called and end to our roll. He went through the roaster of people there pairing them up by what he felt would be a good match.
After that, he had us pair up and roll. I paired up with a younger white belt that is known to be a grinder. Right from the bump, he came at me hard and fast. I was able to get to side control, then moved to his back. He is one of those guys that does not like to tap. I moved from his back to a belly down armbar, but he was not tapping so I let it go and ended on my back with him in side control.
I was able to scramble out and get into an S-mount position. I came under his neck and grabbed the lapel. I through my bottom leg over his body and grabbed his pants by the knee with my left hand. I finished with the bow and arrow that we drilled earlier today.
We started going again whe Professor called time and had us find new partners. One of the purple belts that haven't been around for a while picked me. He flow rolled for what seemed to be a long time with me on top, then him on top, then back to me and then him again. I tried attacking his arms a few time, but we ended up in the 50/50 and he starting attacking my ankle. I went for an heel hook, but I let it go and just tapped because I didn't want to get hurt and I didn't know how to really finish the heel hook.
We went again and the same thing, a lot of back and forth. I was starting to think he was just flowing with me. He ended up catching me in another submission, but I don't recall what it was. We went again, and this time he turtled up and I was able to roll him onto his side and went for the arm bar. This time he tapped, and Professor just happened to be watching and called an end to class.
Professor told us to get a drink and circle up. He talked about a female that just received her blue belt earlier this week and me. He told the class about how proud of us he was. We both compete to push ourselves, and for our own reasons. I guess he was happy with what he saw of us today.
At the end of class, I rolled with another blue belt that can over from the Krav Maga school I trained at. A couple time I almost got hi, but he ended up getting the better of me. At the end he said I went harder than he wanted. Made me feel bad. When I am tired, I end up in a fight or flight mode and can not control my flow. That's something I will be working on. OSS
After drilling for the first hour, Professor called me to the center of the mats with a senior blur belt in his 20's. He is taller and heavier that me, but probably by on 10-20 lbs. My back was hurting, so I did not go for the takedown, he shot in and grabbed my left leg. He drove forward and pulled me in to get the takedown, but I quickly reversed it to get to side control.
He scrambled to get out, but I ended up in North-South position. As I started to make my way back to side control, Professor called and end to our roll. He went through the roaster of people there pairing them up by what he felt would be a good match.
After that, he had us pair up and roll. I paired up with a younger white belt that is known to be a grinder. Right from the bump, he came at me hard and fast. I was able to get to side control, then moved to his back. He is one of those guys that does not like to tap. I moved from his back to a belly down armbar, but he was not tapping so I let it go and ended on my back with him in side control.
I was able to scramble out and get into an S-mount position. I came under his neck and grabbed the lapel. I through my bottom leg over his body and grabbed his pants by the knee with my left hand. I finished with the bow and arrow that we drilled earlier today.
We started going again whe Professor called time and had us find new partners. One of the purple belts that haven't been around for a while picked me. He flow rolled for what seemed to be a long time with me on top, then him on top, then back to me and then him again. I tried attacking his arms a few time, but we ended up in the 50/50 and he starting attacking my ankle. I went for an heel hook, but I let it go and just tapped because I didn't want to get hurt and I didn't know how to really finish the heel hook.
We went again and the same thing, a lot of back and forth. I was starting to think he was just flowing with me. He ended up catching me in another submission, but I don't recall what it was. We went again, and this time he turtled up and I was able to roll him onto his side and went for the arm bar. This time he tapped, and Professor just happened to be watching and called an end to class.
Professor told us to get a drink and circle up. He talked about a female that just received her blue belt earlier this week and me. He told the class about how proud of us he was. We both compete to push ourselves, and for our own reasons. I guess he was happy with what he saw of us today.
At the end of class, I rolled with another blue belt that can over from the Krav Maga school I trained at. A couple time I almost got hi, but he ended up getting the better of me. At the end he said I went harder than he wanted. Made me feel bad. When I am tired, I end up in a fight or flight mode and can not control my flow. That's something I will be working on. OSS
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Blue Belt +1
Today was my first day on the mat since receiving my blue belt last Thursday. As always, I was not feeling it today. I was tired from work and hungry. I don't typically eat after lunch on days I know I will be training. I made that mistake once and almost threw up from drilling knee-on-belly. The stars always seem to align in the worst ways for me. One time I was having neck pain, and of course that day we worked clock chokes.
Today one of the brown belts that has been away for the majority of the summer lead the warm-ups. He like to have us do forward and backward rolls as well as cartwheels. Professor doesn't have us do those. Once professor came on the mats, we went into dilling the Lasso to Omoplata. During the warm-ups, one of the higher ranking blue belts that is about 60 lbs of muscle heavier than I ask if we can drill together. I never turn anyone down, so I said yes.
Because he is so muscular, his technique is modified from how Professor shows us. He is a really nice guy, even though he is a Marine and could probably fold me in half with just his arms. After a few slow detailed attempts, I give him a little more resistance to test him. Like I said, his technique is not perfect, but he has adapted it to his body and it's effective.
From there we dill a sweep from closed guard and a recover from a transition to side control. The key to the sweep is to maintain control of the sleeve during the transition. For the transition to side control, the key is to control the head and drive it towards the mat using my far arm with the near arm on the bicep.
While drilling, Professor saw us flowing the omoplata so he called us over to show us how to sit onto the arm of a rolling opponent to trap the arm for an armbar or triangle choke. After the first hour, we paired up and rolled. My first partner was the larger more experienced ble belt I drilled with. He was being very patient with me and did not push to hard.
Right about the time he was able to mount me, Professor called time and had us switch partners. I'm not sure how long we flow rolled, but I think Professor saw that I was in a bad spot and sent me a lifeline.
My next partner was a white belt that just received his first stripe today. I was just flowing with him, but he made some fatal errors in his movement, so I capitalized and got the armbar on him. We went again, and I gave him a dominant position, but we rolled into a position that allowed me to get the kimura on him using my body parallel to his and lifting his elbow while his forearm was stuck in my hip area.
I moved to my next training partner. He is probably a full foot or more taller than me, but not that much heavier. We went at it for awhile before he was able to lock the triangle on me. I was able to hold off tapping for a while and I tried to move around to a North-South position, but as I was doing that, he managed to get the arm that was in across his body. I could pull it back and I didn't want to pass out, so I tapped. We went again, but this time I was able to get an armbar. I rolled him to his side as I tried to get to the s-mount position. When I got my leg over his head, he raised up and started to stack me. I reached for his leg and was able to get him flat on his back. He raised his far leg up and over my head (he is so long) but when he pushed me down I brought his arm down with me and he tapped.
After that, I looked up and it was 9:30p. The others were starting to pack up, so I went to pack up and leave also. There was about 12 people there tonight. I think I got some good rolls in. Not to bad for a day that I almost wanted to skip. Right now I have back and shoulder pain, but that is what I get for being old. OSS!
Today one of the brown belts that has been away for the majority of the summer lead the warm-ups. He like to have us do forward and backward rolls as well as cartwheels. Professor doesn't have us do those. Once professor came on the mats, we went into dilling the Lasso to Omoplata. During the warm-ups, one of the higher ranking blue belts that is about 60 lbs of muscle heavier than I ask if we can drill together. I never turn anyone down, so I said yes.
Because he is so muscular, his technique is modified from how Professor shows us. He is a really nice guy, even though he is a Marine and could probably fold me in half with just his arms. After a few slow detailed attempts, I give him a little more resistance to test him. Like I said, his technique is not perfect, but he has adapted it to his body and it's effective.
From there we dill a sweep from closed guard and a recover from a transition to side control. The key to the sweep is to maintain control of the sleeve during the transition. For the transition to side control, the key is to control the head and drive it towards the mat using my far arm with the near arm on the bicep.
While drilling, Professor saw us flowing the omoplata so he called us over to show us how to sit onto the arm of a rolling opponent to trap the arm for an armbar or triangle choke. After the first hour, we paired up and rolled. My first partner was the larger more experienced ble belt I drilled with. He was being very patient with me and did not push to hard.
Right about the time he was able to mount me, Professor called time and had us switch partners. I'm not sure how long we flow rolled, but I think Professor saw that I was in a bad spot and sent me a lifeline.
My next partner was a white belt that just received his first stripe today. I was just flowing with him, but he made some fatal errors in his movement, so I capitalized and got the armbar on him. We went again, and I gave him a dominant position, but we rolled into a position that allowed me to get the kimura on him using my body parallel to his and lifting his elbow while his forearm was stuck in my hip area.
I moved to my next training partner. He is probably a full foot or more taller than me, but not that much heavier. We went at it for awhile before he was able to lock the triangle on me. I was able to hold off tapping for a while and I tried to move around to a North-South position, but as I was doing that, he managed to get the arm that was in across his body. I could pull it back and I didn't want to pass out, so I tapped. We went again, but this time I was able to get an armbar. I rolled him to his side as I tried to get to the s-mount position. When I got my leg over his head, he raised up and started to stack me. I reached for his leg and was able to get him flat on his back. He raised his far leg up and over my head (he is so long) but when he pushed me down I brought his arm down with me and he tapped.
After that, I looked up and it was 9:30p. The others were starting to pack up, so I went to pack up and leave also. There was about 12 people there tonight. I think I got some good rolls in. Not to bad for a day that I almost wanted to skip. Right now I have back and shoulder pain, but that is what I get for being old. OSS!
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Blue Belt
Today I was awarded a blue belt by my professor. In typical fashion, we were in the middle of warm-ups when he stops everyone and looks at one of the other students. He tells her to take off her belt. Then he tells her to stop, and turns to me standing next to him and tells me to take off my belt.
I began my Jiu-Jitsu journey just over 18 months ago. In those 18 months, I had four gout attacks to my big toes, achilles issues on both legs, shoulder, rib, finger joints and neck issues. I competed in three tournaments as a three stripe white belt, getting one gold, two silver, and one bronze metal. In one of the tournaments, I competed in gi and no-gi. Taking the silver in gi and bronze in no-gi.
Before you say wow not bad, the gold and bronze I earned, the two silvers were consolation prizes for losing in a two man division.
More important for me, was the friendships I have mad along the way. A few of the guys I train Krav Maga with came to train BJJ at the academy. Lots of people came and left. Overall, I would say that everyone I have meet at my academy are nice decent people.
The girls at my academy are the competitors. Except for one of the purple belts and one of the guys I trained Krav with that I talked into competing, most of the consistent competitors are female. They are the ones that bring home the gold for my school.
I find it hard to motivate myself to go to class sometimes. Especially when I take my girls there for their class at 6 and don't get home from my class until 10p - 10:30p sometimes. It's a lot of sacrifice that I would not be able to do if it was not for my wife. On those training days, she picks up the girls and had to feed them, have them finish their homework, shower them, then get them into bed. And sometimes thats after she has worked a 12 hour shift at the hospital as a nurse.
Today I rolled with my professor, but I feel he gave me the submission. I rolled with a 150 yellow belt that I got three submissions on. I rolled with a single stripe white belt that I got three submissions on. I rolled with another blue belt that we each go a submission. Overall, it was a good night of Jiu-Jitsu. OSS
I began my Jiu-Jitsu journey just over 18 months ago. In those 18 months, I had four gout attacks to my big toes, achilles issues on both legs, shoulder, rib, finger joints and neck issues. I competed in three tournaments as a three stripe white belt, getting one gold, two silver, and one bronze metal. In one of the tournaments, I competed in gi and no-gi. Taking the silver in gi and bronze in no-gi.
Before you say wow not bad, the gold and bronze I earned, the two silvers were consolation prizes for losing in a two man division.
More important for me, was the friendships I have mad along the way. A few of the guys I train Krav Maga with came to train BJJ at the academy. Lots of people came and left. Overall, I would say that everyone I have meet at my academy are nice decent people.
The girls at my academy are the competitors. Except for one of the purple belts and one of the guys I trained Krav with that I talked into competing, most of the consistent competitors are female. They are the ones that bring home the gold for my school.
I find it hard to motivate myself to go to class sometimes. Especially when I take my girls there for their class at 6 and don't get home from my class until 10p - 10:30p sometimes. It's a lot of sacrifice that I would not be able to do if it was not for my wife. On those training days, she picks up the girls and had to feed them, have them finish their homework, shower them, then get them into bed. And sometimes thats after she has worked a 12 hour shift at the hospital as a nurse.
Today I rolled with my professor, but I feel he gave me the submission. I rolled with a 150 yellow belt that I got three submissions on. I rolled with a single stripe white belt that I got three submissions on. I rolled with another blue belt that we each go a submission. Overall, it was a good night of Jiu-Jitsu. OSS
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