Adventures

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

My old log’s not full, but I feel like I’m starting over so I thought I’d start over. (Old log http://tnation.tmuscle.com/free_online_forum/sports_boxing_fighting_mma_combat/pch2s_adventures_1?id=2346396&pageNo=34 ) If you’re not used to me, I tend to ramble in my log, you’ve been warned.

I feel like my BJJ technique is coming along well, but I’m not comfortable in my skin and think some accountability is a good idea. The people in my life are way too forgiving, and you all tend to have just enough asshole in you to keep me on par. Currently I’m a chunkster, and I really need to do is keep track of what I eat, and find my way back into the gym. Also, writing about how rolling felt helps me realise what I need to work on.

Currently for BJJ I’m doing gi on M,W,TH,Sa and no-gi on Tu,Su. For the last month I’ve been doing MT once a week, but I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m also taking a pole dancing class once a week, it’s not really a workout at this point just an hour of me realizing how not coordinated I am. Since this is combat sports you know most of it is learning technique which is mentally taxing, but I only roll hard for maybe 30 min a day.

So yesterday was no gi BJJ. The class isn’t at my regular school, but at an MMA school, the guys are all pretty green. They have good/ok wrestling, but almost no submissions so it gets interesting. We did escapes from side control; where you oompa and recover guard and where you turtle and go for a single.

The guy I was working with was a wrestler so as I tried to turtle he sprawled on me immediately with all his weight. I haven’t had anyone do that to me while drilling and initially couldn’t get to my knees, it turns out that you really need to keep one leg up to create a frame and keep him completely off of you. It was the highlight detail of the day.

After class I rolled with a guy from my regular school, he kept sitting up in closed guard and then I’d push him out of frustration and he’d get my arms. I just need to be patient there. Then I rolled with two girls, but it was their second class so it just turned into questions.

I drilled the scissor sweep, and a guard open. I’ve been leaning forward during my opens and then they easily break my posture, so lately I’ve been focusing on moving laterally to make my legs light enough to stand. For the scissor sweep I keep getting thread passed and it’s because my top leg is being collapsed since I forget to angle it upward into their chest.

I’ve got BJJ tonite, and am going to fit some sort of cardio in before.

2

Glad you have this up. WHy don’t you post up your basic template in the MMA Training hub so people can get a look at it too?

3

Ok, so I ate shitty today, it’s a lack of planning. Tommorow has been planned for, and will be fine.

I went to the gym and did 30min on the eliptical. I hate the eliptical but I need some metal fortitude, and boxers seem to use steady state cardio to teach themselves to suffer. I cheated thought and read Saulo’s book. It’s got some interesting information. White belt is all about survival. Oh boy is it.

Then I did YTLW. I’m noticing my shoulders are getting tighter and that’s not good. At the end of my set some guy came over and asked if I was reading a BJJ book. I showed him the cover and he invited me to a school one of his friends had just opened. The guy said he was a blue belt, but hadn’t heard of any of the local guys, so I’m not sure what’s up.

The class is friday, and my coach doesn’t care if I go, so I’m thinking about it. Coach said he’d come with me, but I think I may do this without a security blanket. What’s the worst that could happen?

I sucked in BJJ today. We did more escapes from side control, and a headlock escape. When the guy on top of me is heavy my oompa blows. Then we rolled five 5 min rounds, and nothing worked. I spent almost all of my time just not getting submitted. I didn’t keep enough tension in my spider guard, you’re supposed to push and pull! I didn’t control the hips properly while trying to open.

I forgot to protect my face and got crossfaced. I couldn’t find the right time to sit to guard and hid in turtle for a long time. There is so much I need to work on!

4

That’s okay, pch2, you are working on it, you will get better. It sounds like you’re just having a bit of an off period. The dancing class might be a good brain & body break from what you’ve been doing, too. Looking forward to hearing your experience at the new school! And I second Irish’s suggestion to make some posts in the training hub.

5

pch2

that is a heavy rotation of Bjj, nice work.
It takes time, each of the little details you are talking about usually don’t come all at once.
Work on one thing at a time, fix one thing a time, Your doing good!!

kmc

6

Hooray! You’re logging again! :slight_smile: Glad you’re back and keeping a log…

7

Thanks guys.

In that time when you get back from just having your soul/body crushed everything seems like it’ll always suck. Those are usually the times I write the mopey woe is me posts. The next day after sleep nothing seems all that bad. Of course I’m being crushed by purple and blue belts.

The only one that actually bothers me is Brendan, he started a few months before me, we know all the same stuff, when I roll with him we fight. All the books say you should roll with people worse than you and better than you, but not at your same level. This pretty much holds true here. While I was hiding in turtle he actually started elbowing me in the ribs, I called him on it, but whenever we roll it starts with learning and ends in competition.

I’m supposed to dance today, then BJJ, but I just got a ‘you want to go to a Jeff Monson seminar tonite?’ text so I think I’ll move things around and do that. We don’t really get that many seminars in the area, so I probably shouldn’t pass up the opportunity.

8

Jeff Monson is huge. When he just shoots for the double leg, you just want to fall down and tap to avoid being crushed.

I went to the seminar. It was an MMA seminar, so not all of it was relevant to me, but I learned a few cool details. It was 3 hours long and I’m wiped! We did two takedowns, a guard open, an escape from side control, a submission from half guard, and a choke from north south. The north south choke was a lot of neck cranking, so I’m going to keep this short in deference to my poor neck.

Little things I need to remember:
If you’re going to shrimp away create some sort of frame with either your arms or legs.

When he has you in side control, don’t put your leg up on the other to prevent mount. It requires you to flatten your spine and you should never do that.

During the single leg where you throw his leg between yours, use the wrist grab grip since it allows you to straighten your arms easier.

Ok, my head is pounding so that’s it.

Today’s food was ok, but I can do better.

9

My neck killed all day, and I still have a bit of a headache. (My own fault for not speaking up that it was a bad hurt.) I didn’t do anything MA related instead I went to a cardio kickboxing class at the gym. An hour of hopping around and throwing your arms in the air. It suited my mood perfectly and got some blood flowing to help with my DOMS.

Then I sat in the sauna and read some more of Saulo’s book. I think all BJJ people should at least skim it, he talks about interesting little details and it’s really funny at times too.

So, my forearms are really tight, from both the pole and spider guard. Anyone have a good link to some sort of forearm soft tissue work? I’ll look but if I can be spoon fed it would be great.

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Sounds like you had fun, at the seminar…

this is some Ok stuff for the extensors
but the chic is spooky granola

kmc

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[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
Sounds like you had fun, at the seminar…

this is some Ok stuff for the extensors
but the chic is spooky granola

kmc[/quote]

Spooky granola? I was in Ann Arbor for 4 years, you’ll have to do better than that :slight_smile: Thanks for the vid though, it does feel good.

12

I had a very undergrad like weekend. I left my apt on Sat and got back last night. I’ve gotten used to the idea that when I leave my apt, I don’t really know when I’ll be back, so I carry my gi, gym bag and extra clothes everywhere. I should probably throw a tub of MD in my trunk too since I make poor food choices otherwise. Which I did all weekend, I ate crap. I’m not a big drinker but did manage to get trashed for the fights. Despite drinking and not eating normally, BJJ has become pretty ingrained into me. If only everything else was too.

Saturday we did acquiring the overhook from closed guard. It’s a gi class so a lot of it was based around grips. To know what to attack I need to be more aware of if the application of pressure is from the elbow or the wrist. It can’t be both. I’d also never thought to just hook under my knee to control the shoulder if I can’t get the whole underhook. It’s something I’ll have to play with no gi, there’s just too much fabric for me to do it in the gi.

Sunday (ok I was a bit still drunk/hung over) we worked from north/south. I’m not very comfortable in north/south, it’s not really a postion I’ve thought a lot about until recently. I really just prefer side control to mount, but I can’t always make that happen. So, rather than forgoing everything, I need to think about north/south. I find it difficult to keep pressure and move between the two postions. Huh, I should ask about that next class. Anyway, we did arm bars from north/south, and then the choke Jeff Monson showed us.

Monday we worked on holding kids down in side control. What to do when they oompa, get the under hook, etc. I worked with a guy that’s got maybe 80lbs on me. At that point I tend to wonder - why bother. Am I actually going to ever be able to hold this guy down if he really tries? Wouldn’t he be dictating the whole interaction? Why should I bother trying to pin him down? Isn’t that when BJJ turns into just survival? With enough skill, I’ll be able to survive against him, but will I ever be able to win against him? Thoughts?

Then I rolled a bit. I’ve been working on an open and when I drill it’s worked just fine, rolling it hasn’t. If I do everything perfectly, shouldn’t it work? So, I got a bit frustrated while rolling, stopped and went and asked what was wrong with my open. Apparentlly I’m not sitting back enough, and trying to use my arms too much. I drilled that a bit. Drilling occasionally turns into rolling, and as part of this drill/roll thing I also worked on keeping my posture. I feel like I get broken down way too easily, and it’s a matter of getting a feel for it.

I’m going home for my Mom’s birthday, so I’m not sure about BJJ this week, but will be in the gym for sure. Maybe I’ll see if I can find anything at home to try.

13

I am sorry , Ann Arbor is pretty low.

North south, is different, but its great for kimura, collar chokes arm triangles
and yes neck crank type stuff, although we dont get to do those too much in judo.
lots of fun stuff.

learning to use your weight, to become “heavy” takes a while- even if you dont have allot of bulk
I know with you and much larger type its hard.

you can make yourself heavy
you can try to widen your legs- and drive into your heels or toes depending on how your facing.

how physical a player are you?
without being too rough, how bout some dirty tricks?
lots of ways to “persuade” with out really hurting anyone or being a jerk.

kmc

14

Good to see you back, even though I have no idea what a scissor sweep is!! (^:

You will be back to your old self before you know it.

15

[quote]tootles27 wrote:
Good to see you back, even though I have no idea what a scissor sweep is!! (^:

You will be back to your old self before you know it.[/quote]

Thanks!

A week at home flew by, I’ll eat then update.

16

Ok, longest meal ever? I’ve got an hour till class so…

[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
I am sorry , Ann Arbor is pretty low.

North south, is different, but its great for kimura, collar chokes arm triangles
and yes neck crank type stuff, although we dont get to do those too much in judo.
lots of fun stuff.
[/quote]

I don’t know that I’ll be too comfortable with submissions from the north/south for a while, but I need to soon get comfortable with using it to keep side control. Too often I see myself losing side control and then get greedy and go for mount. That doesn’t always work though, so north/south should be where I go rather than losing everything.

Yeah, I went to a black belt seminar once where he kept everyone in side control with just chest pressure, and they were allowed to do whatever. The black belt was maybe 150/160 and he kept big guys down easily. I should probably work on that too. Ah, so much to do.

I’ve actually been thinking about this lately. Causing pain just to cause pain rather than have it be part of a motion. I do it on occasion as a knee jerk reaction, but was starting to think it’s just white belt assholeness. I’ve been playing with not being too rough, but I’m not really sure about it.

17

I left off last Tuesday. I wasn’t going to No gi at the MMA school but I got a frantic ‘I need a ride’ call and so went.

I drilled and rolled with their girl. She has a fight next month, and after rolling with her I’m afraid for her. I talked to coach about telling her she’s not ready and to not do it. I’ve seen her in MT and she’s ok/good there, on the ground she’ll get killed. She’s green enough that after class I had a conversation with her about what base was, since she still has that floppy girlness that women have when they first start. She kept sweeping herself. I’m no MMA fighter, but if you can be punched letting yourself be put on your back doesn’t seem like a good move.

We drilled ankle locks. In our academy while rolling, it’s pretty much anything goes, so when I get a foot I am much more comfortable with heel hooks. Unfortunately, they’re not free game for white belts, so I guess I have to be more comfortable with the ankle lock. I just find that it’s hard for me to get the proper arm positioning. We did do an ankle lock from a situation where you are on your back and they are standing that I really liked. Even if the ankle lock doesn’t work, the basic movement of curling your legs around his leg to sweep him felt useful.

18

Then I didn’t do anything until Sunday. There was one trip to the Y with my brother, but it was mostly dicking around in the weight room. He found some fat loss complex on here he wanted to work the kinks out of so we played with it.

Sunday’s class was super cool. There must have been football or baseball or whatever because class was only five people. So, coach said it would just be an open question class. I’m not a very timid/quiet person thus, it was me asking questions the whole time. I got a lot of little details cleared up.

I’ve been having issues clearing feet on my hips ie when he’s about to go for an arm bar and has you tight with a foot on the hip. It turns out you basically swim your hip around. Simple things I don’t think about!

Continuing with the whole armbar escape, I get into the position where they are on their back, and I’m stacking them arms in RNC grip, but can never actually get my arm free. We end up struggling there until I have a huge bruise across my forearm and they give up on it. it turns out I need to think about moving my free elbow down while pulling the trapped elbow up.

I’ve been having trouble with the Hickson escape. I’ve been thinking about pulling my hips out, I should be thinking about pushing them to the side, and causing his legs to spread and lose base.

I get trapped in technical mount a lot, which then turns into that arm bar situation! We did a technical mount escape. It’s all about affecting the knee that’s over you to lighten the ankle and push it to a deep half guard.

Overall it was a class that helped a lot.

19

I’ve fallen way behind, so quick 'n dirty catch up. Speaking of which, I’ve really been enjoying the podcast Quick & Dirty Tips: Grammar Girl http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ She sounds hot, and the tips are interesting. Most kids need a grammer refresher too.

Monday - I went to class, but currently have no idea what we did. This is why I should keep better track.

Tuesday - MMA place no gi. Hip bump sweeps. Then the guillotine from the sweep if they push into you. I was having trouble keeping my frame while scooting back and trying to get the choke. It turns out I’ve been going to my elbow, rather than my hand to scoot back with. Also, to finish the choke it helps to be a little on your side in order to have a slightly larger range of motion.

Then I rolled with one of their guys. He did odd things that the guys I’m used to rolling with don’t do. We started in my closed guard, and his first move was to muscle my wrists to the ground. We spent about 2 min of the five min round with him pinning my wrists and me pummeling.

I wasn’t really sure of how to safely open my guard with my wrists pinned above my head, so I guess it was mostly stalling on my part. It made an interesting lesson in wrist control though. I finally got bored with it though, and one of the times he stood up while pinning only one wrist to the mat I opened my guard and put my feet on his hips.

He had one arm on the mat and one arm was back trying to open my guard by pressing on my fett. So I could see the triangle, but wasn’t quite sure how to get there. I just hopped my legs to it, and so then I missed and was defending side control. I got my guard back, but missing the triangle sucked.

After the round, I asked about the triangle. I needed to move one foot to the hip before jumping the other leg up. I drilled it a few times after so that doesn’t happen again.

20

Wends- we did escaping the mount. The Hickson escape, and clearing the grape vine when he traps your legs with it.

My arm pinning escapade hadn’t gone unnoticed, so we were then shown how to deal with it. You don’t have to have you arms free to move ahead. You just kinda pummel your knees in and move to an open guard. So easy, yet I would have never thought of it on my own. I suppose that’s why my last name isn’t Gracie.

He also pinned my wrist when I had an underhook from closed guard and tried to take his back. He’s able to to get my wrists because I don’t put it far back enough, he shouldn’t even be able to reach it. If he does get it, all I need to do is put my palm to the ground and swim it away. See, more simplicity.

Then I mindlessly rolled, because sometimes that’s what you need.