6:15-8:30p

6:15-6:40p: Stretched for quite a while as MMA class wound down. Got done with stretches and went to grab my gi top. Hmm... no gi top. Looked around. Nowhere in sight. I finally asked the Professor if I could borrow a community gi top. I told him mine got up and walked away. Charlie (purple belt) said, "Was it over there on the red bag?" Yeah. He thought someone moved his from his bag to my bag. Sort of funny. Charlie had drenched it by then, so he found his gi top (hidden under his bag) and gave it to me. Must have had purple belt fairy dust because I had a fairly strong showing tonight.

6:40-7p: Charlie asked if I wanted to roll a bit before class. Not sure if it was because he wanted to or if he felt bad about the gi mix-up. Who cares? How often do I get to roll with a purple belt? My goal was survival. Pure and simple. At some point he set up for an omoplata and I rolled out. Later he shifted to seated mount (probably to set up an arm bar or choke) and I escaped by pushing the dead angle. That's the time I've tried that technique on a purple belt, both successful. In fact, the only time I've failed at that escape was later tonight in my roll with Niel. I don't recall getting submitted, but I doubt he tried too hard. Mostly he was putting me in difficult positions and letting me work out. Good opportunity.

7-7:15p: Warm-ups / standard drills: Still had NOTHING for the pushups. Probably less than 50% from knees.

7:15-7:30p: Pass the guard from stand up with bottom person taking sleeves and full or partial spider guard. Passed Charlie's guard. I've never passed a purple belt's guard during this drill. Charlie almost always sweeps me (like most purple and blue belts). Passed Nick's guard as well (16-17yr old four-stripe white belt). Peeled off the spider, shoved knees to the floor, locked the arms to keep them down, shifted my hips around the knees, and fell into Reverse Kesa Gatame. He was a bit miffed. Said, "What am I supposed to do to stop that?" Oh...had my guard passed several times. Keeping opponents in guard for a full minute is a challenge.

7:30-7:45p: Straight ankle lock technique. Ashton (two-stripe white belt) has caught me with this a few times. He learned it in Rusty's self-defense class. Tonight we both learned that white belt's aren't supposed to do straight ankle locks in sports jiu jitsu. Not sure if that's a GB thing or a larger BJJ federation tournament rule. Regardless, we worked the technique (slowly) for 15 mins.

7:45-8p: Heel hook escape technique. Learned that heel hooks are banned for all belts in BJJ federation competitions. However, since MMA and some non-BJJ federation competitions allow the submission, Professor Doc Eddie thought it was important to practice the heel hook set up (but not hook itself) so we know when it's coming to time a roll/kick escape.

8-8:30p: Rolls. Professor Doc Eddie matched everyone up and I was the odd man out. So we rolled. Never rolled with him before. I'm sure he recognized me, but hadn't really spoken much before tonight's class. The roll went well. He got in my guard and asked me what I know. Showed him some basic posture breaking techniques then Omoplata, arm bar, and a seriously flawed triangle attempt. Doc Eddie said "Ok good, let's roll." I don't remember a lot about the roll, only that I focused on survival and guard recovery as much as possible. When time ran out, he asked how long I'd been training (2 mos). Then asked if I had a wrestling background (no). Said I had kept everything nice and tight. Didn't leave many opportunities for him to work and said, "That's not something you can teach." Thanks Professor!

Doc Eddie lined us up and instead of letting the upper belts select partners and matching the white belts, he let the white belts select partners. I picked Dr. Steve (3-stripe white belt, 30yrs old, 6'2" or so, probably 190lbs). Dr. Steve should be a blue belt (my opinion). He destroys all the white belts and gives most blue belts a run for their money. I think he isn't a blue belt yet because he's bounced around from school-to-school for the past couple years. I like working with Dr. Steve. He's really nice and respectful, but knows how to pour on the pressure. I struggled to survive the entire roll and he finally submitted me by arm bar (right arm). Can't recall what I did wrong exactly, but for the most part I think I did well. I got another compliment on the tight game. Since I know Dr. Steve's skills and know he was pouring on the pressure, I think only one submission in the roll, I don't think he was paying lip service.

Last roll was with a blue belt named Neal. An inch or two shorter, a bit lighter. In much better shape. Had him start in my guard. Asked him to put on the pressure. He spent a while breaking guard, then passed. The roll was a bit of a blur, but I know he ended up passing and taking mount. I recall attempting a sloppy upa, but I rushed it and the timing was all wrong. He transitioned to seated mount to set up the arm bar. I attempted the seated mount escape, but his base was solid. It didn't work...first time for that! Attempted an arm bar escape, but timing was all wrong and had to tap. He said it was a good escape attempt.

Ditching class tomorrow night. Life interrupts. An old college buddy is coming to town for the weekend. Have to give him the "First time to New Orleans" treatment. Hopefully I'll make Saturday morning class at 11am...