August 22nd - Grip
The back is still a hosed up today so i worked with my CoC grippers
Guide - 10 reps
Sport - 10 Reps
Trainer - 2 Reps
Really stoked with closing the trainer. This is the first time I actually got that one closed.
La’
1 Like
August 24th
Skipped BJJ last night because of the back. Woke up feeling pretty good today. Still a little stiff, but better. I think if i can get thru today without it seizing up again I’ll be good to go.
Got a light body weight and bands workout in today just to keep moving
Shoulder disconnects and Pull aparts
10 X Red bands (15 Lbs)
10 X Red bands (15 Lbs)
10 X Red bands (15 Lbs)
Push ups
5 x 10 x Body weight
Band Laterals
10 X Red bands (15 Lbs)
10 X Red bands (15 Lbs)
10 X Red bands (15 Lbs)
La’
1 Like
August 26th
worked with my CoC grippers
Guide - 10 reps
Sport - 10 Reps
Trainer - 2 Reps
2 Likes
Saturday August 27th
Took the day to run to a local BJJ tournament to support one of our older kids at his first tournament. He had the best attitude the whole day. Loose, having fun, not taking it real seriously. He said “I’m going to go out there, have fun, and learn”.
He ended up taking silver in Gi and silver in NoGi. I’m really proud of the dude and now I’ve really got the bug to compete.
La’
2 Likes
Sunday August 28th
Opened the gym for Sunday Coffee and Chokes. We had a wandering brown (!) belt pop in for a visit. Got to spend 2 hours picking his brain and him giving us little tips and details on what we were working on. Great guy.
La’
2 Likes
August 29th to 31st
3 day business trip to Vegas. One day on the ground. Glad to be back home today. BJJ tonight.
La’
2 Likes
Thursday September 1st - BJJ
Little kids class - Had a great little kids class teaching how to take mount from side control. The head coach did a really nice job of breaking it down and leading them step by step.
Big kids class - only had 2 students tonight so they basically got a private from the head coach. The other blue belt and I drilled stuff we were working on.
Adult all belts class - We’re starting mount month in September. Had some new students so we started with the Upa/trap a roll. For the upper belts we worked Upa from a cross collar defense and some other more advanced concepts. Good rolls tonight. sometimes the hammer, sometimes the nail.
La’
2 Likes
Saturday September 3rd - Deadlift
Finally got back to it today. I focused on a good reset between DL reps and solid form. I went back and redid the DL workout that i didn’t complete, so i’m back on cycle now. Felt pretty good. Also went up on the SB Squat and GM assistance work.
Warmups
5 min treadmill
Agile 8
Deadlift
80X5
100X5
120X3
130X5
150X5
170X7
SB Squat
100X10
100X10
100X10
100X10
100x6
Good Mornings
100X10
100X10
100X10
100X8
100X6
Weighted Situps
10X10 (forgot it was supposed to be 12)
10X12
10X12
10X8
10X8
Good workout and I’m happy to be back
La’
2 Likes
Current Playlist
The Misfits
Horror Business
Hybrid Moments
Where Eagles Dare
Danzig
Tired of Being Alive
Evil Thing
Soul on Fire
Not of This World
Pantera
Becoming
Slipknot
Psycosocial
Spit it Out
Duality
Before I Forget
Seether
Remedy
Rollins Band
Alien Blueprint
Monster
Get Some Go Again
Remy Zero
Save me
Motorhead
No Voices in the Sky
100 Demons
Repeat Process
Akira the Don/Joe Rogan
I don’t wanna Hear That
Rob Zombie
Foxy Foxy
Volbeat
Marie Laveau
Seal The Deal
Black Rose
Upon A Burning Body
King of Diamonds
Sin City
Royal Blood
You Can Be So Cruel
Loose Change
RATM
Renegades of Funk
Jay Z
On To The Next One
Ghost
Square Hammer
Bush
MachineHead
Avatar
Hail The Apocalypse
Chevelle
I Get It
Cake
Going the Distance
La’
1 Like
Ever listen to Pantera 10s?
I love duality! That was the first Slipknot song I ever listened to before falling down into a rabbit hole.
I have not. I missed The Great Southern Trendkill. I’ll have to pick that one up.
Duality is a great song. I was lucky (and old) enough to start listening to them when they just started to make it big. (Sic), Wait and Bleed, Spit It Out, all blew my mind.
La’
1 Like
Since this is an MMA/BJJ themed journal, have you ever seen the video to Chevelle’s “I Get It”?
Tell me if you recognize anyone…
La’
1 Like
Sunday - September 4th
Opened the gym for Sunday Coffee and Chokes. Drilled my scoop/flower sweeps and the wing sweep. One of our white belts who’s a former high school wrestler then showed us the Fireman’s carry, Super Duck, and the hip sag. Strangely enough I feel more comfortable with wrestling takedowns I’m learning from him than the Judo takedowns and throws that are part of our core curriculum.
Had another attempted drop in. Totally different experience than the brown belt who came last time. Dude drops in at 8:40 (we close at 9:00) and asks about open mat. We tell him it’s not open mat, it’s drill class. He says he’s looking for rolls. We say “No Rolls, but you’re welcome to drill”. He says “I drove all the way from New York. I train at Renzo’s. Anyone want to roll?” At that point we basically asked him (politely) to leave. Dude had no self awareness. He then sat in the parking lot for 10minutes on his phone. Not sure if he was looking for another school or if he was leaving us a bad yelp review. Either way, there are a ton of rules to dropping in to a school when traveling to make sure you have a good experience and he did none of them. I may drop my list of rules in the combat section.
La’
3 Likes
Tuesday September 6th - Bench
Warmups
5 min on Treadmill
3 x Shoulder Disconnects and Pull Apparts
Bench
55x5
70x5
85x3
95x3
110x3
125x6
Press
50x10
50x10
50x10
50x10
50x10
Increase weight on next rotation
Chins
5X1
5X1
Blue bands x3
Blue bands x3
Blue Band x2
Ab Wheel
10 x bw
10 x bw
6 x bw
5 x bw
5 x bw
La’
2 Likes
Tuesday September 6th PM - BJJ
Little Kids - had a huge class. lots of little ones on the mats. Covered mount takes from side control and the beginnings of the Upa, until they ran out of attention span.
Older Kids - Had a new member trialing today, so we covered the basics of shrimp, breakfall, stand in base, and the basic Upa. She seemed to have a good time. Hopefully she sticks with it.
Adult Class - Advanced
Covered advanced concepts in mount takes, when to take mount, what mount take is appropriate based on your opponents position, and a couple of advanced mount takes beyond what’s on our blue belt test.
Had a good roll with one of our purple belts. I defended well and surprised him with an X-Guard sweep when he stood in and I couldn’t balloon sweep him. He’s very good at keeping his hips heavy and he basically deflated my balloon. 
When he came back down I got into X and swept him. I didn’t care how the roll ended after that.
La’
2 Likes
Wednesday September 7th - Grip
More Captains Of Crush
Guide - 10 reps
Sport - 10 Reps
Trainer - 3 Reps
one step closer to using a numbered gripper
La’
2 Likes
Sunday September 11 - AM BJJ and Squat
Opened up the gym for Sunday Coffee and Chokes. Worked on the wing sweep again, then the John Wayne Sweep and Old School Sweep from Half Guard. Then drilled the takedowns from last week’s session. Helped one of our white belts with his Koshi Garuma. No crazy drop ins today.
My main drilling partner and podcast cohost was tired after work (he gets off at 0600 on Sunday Mornings, then comes straight to the gym), so we postponed recording till Tuesday so he could get some rest.
Had some extra time on my hands, so I decided to make up for being a little bitch Saturday and sleeping in and skipping the gym. I had an hour so I abbreviated the workout a little, keeping the main lift, one accessory, and abs. Didn’t warm up too much since I just came from BJJ
5 min treadmill
Squat
75X5
90X5
110X3
130X3
145X3
165x5
SLDL
105X10
105X10
105X10
105X10
105X10
going up next session
Hanging leg raises
BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10
La’
1 Like
Monday September 12th - Conditioning
Rereading 5/3/1 I realized that I’ve been skipping the conditioning. yes, i do BJJ 3 times a week, minimum, but I can still add some conditioning per Wendler.
Today was a walk at good pace for 2 miles. Total time - 45min 17sec.
Wednesday I may add a ruck and then Saturday may be sprints. we’ll see how tomorrow goes after legs yesterday and this walk today.
La’
2 Likes
Tuesday September 13th - BJJ
I didn’t sleep for shit Monday night. Couldn’t get comfortable, legs ached, just generally miserable. Went out and slept on the couch so I didn’t keep my wife awake all night. I finally got to sleep around 3am. My alarm went off to head to the gym at 4:30 and i just couldn’t do it. I’ve got to figure out how to get this one back this week.
Little Kids - Another great huge class. We continued mount work and reviewed the beginnings of the Upa and the hip mechanics and why of the bridge, until they ran out of attention span.
Older Kids - The new female member came back! Continued mount by reviewing the basic trap and roll variants and then moved on to the cross collar choke from mount.
Adult Class - Advanced
More mount theory and drilling at a “Thinking Speed” focusing on taking mount with purpose, isolating an arm during the mount take, and recovering back to side control if the Uki defends.
Good rolls. Rolled with the purple belt again and still defended well. Rolled with coach and fell for his loop choke trap from top side. he’s soo sneaky.
La’
BJJ
2 Likes
Thursday Sept 15th - BJJ
Little Kids - Little kids class is getting so big coach is talking about only accepting two new students. That’s a good thing. We got deeper into the trap and roll/Upa. Almost have them all the way thru it. My co-instructor is doing a great job in breaking down the material in a way the kids can understand and retain the info. yea, it takes us 3 classes to get thru the material, but the kids are remembering it from class to class.
Older Kids - The new female member came back, AGAIN! Reviewed the Upa/Trap and Roll then went on to Knee/Elbow escape.
Adult Class - All Belt Levels
Coach discussed how the upa feeds into the knee/elbow and vice versa. Also showed another mount escape that just happened to be something that I was working on in Sunday Coffee and Chokes. We did a mount/upa king of the hill, with myself and two other upper belts being the anchors. I stayed in there till the last rotation when our school wrester came in and kept me from escaping in the 1 min time limit. Sister school came up to visit again. Great rolls. Got smashed a couple time, did a little smashing. Worked my standup/take downs quite a bit. This is an area I need to focus on. Worked with some of the sister school’s white belts on some basics and got invited to teach a fundamentals class at their gym. Another great night with a great team.
La’
1 Like