6-7p: Self defense class. Started with grip response drills. Partner approaches and grabs you any way they want (front shirt, shoulder, wrists, etc.) and you are supposed to implement the proper technique. Some of the techniques create space. Others result in shoulder, elbow, or wrist locks, or throws. Instructor Rusty showed a technique when aggressor grabs the shoulder and pushes (intending to push you up against a wall or knock you off balance). Response = grip attacking wrist with two hands, palms and thumbs up, then use attacker's moment to turn back/butt to him/her while pulling attacking arm through and over your shoulder to create fulcrum and break attacker's arm. 2nd technique involved disarming someone who is pointing a gun at your face with both hands. Quickly grab one hand with palm up while thrusting upward and away from face. Then quickly reach up through opponents hands (consider popping attacker in the jaw with the elbow while at it), grab underside of gun and spin it toward attacker. Twisting action will remove attacker's grip.
7-7:15p: Warm-up / standard drills. Felt pretty good. Only 20 push-ups (10 normal / 10 wide). Did all correctly (i.e., not from knees). Finished 95% or so of the core work.
7:15-7:30p: Drills. 20 arm bars from mount. 20 arm bars from guard. Guard pull drill. Worked with Ricky - 215lbs but felt much heavier. Struggled to keep posture.
7:30-7:40p: Sweep / pass the guard. Started with Ricky (White Belt), who didn't have much trouble breaking down my posture. Couldn't pass his guard. He eventually passed my guard. Got a smaller Blue Belt next. Maintained guard for most of the drill, but he eventually passed. Kept him in guard for quite a while, but he passed and I quickly recovered half guard. Spent final 30 secs of drill in deep half, working for a sweep. Never got there.
7:40-8p: Technique. Professor Marco showed two sweeps from closed guard that responds to standard knee in butt crack guard break technique. First involved gripping gi pant of knee while in butt crack. Grip outside sleeve. Thrust hips out and twist while holding knee and pulling outside sleeve. Tough to describe (and tough to execute at first), but it works well with proper leverage. Liked second sweep better. Position hips on outside of butt crack knee, break posture, and sweep to dead angle. Pretty easy to execute if you can break opponent's posture.
8-8:30p: Rolls. Not sure how long, but we got three in with a minute or two break between. Got Gavin (4-stripe Purple Belt), Ricky (White Belt) and Patrick (White Belt). Roll with Gavin went ok. Felt like I had to use too much energy / explosiveness at times to escape continuous attacks. Managed to twist out of a bow and arrow choke attempt. Got caught in a couple arm bars. Think he choked me as well, but don't recall. Other rolls went well too. Felt good. Made lots of mistakes, including taking way too long to pass guard, sloppy transitions and allowing deep collar grips that gave me posture problems and forced me to defend against chokes. Some moments too. Got a gi choke from side control that I learned at UNIJJ last week. Also got a tap from a step over choke, but sparring partner said it felt more like a crank than a choke. Need to figure out what I'm doing wrong there... I'd hate to use that move in competition and get DQ'd because the "choke" turned out to be a "crank." Other sparring partner said he almost tapped to the step-over, but he managed to peel my leg/ankle off the neck for the escape. Need to study up. Back to the books...
Overall: Great to be back in New Orleans and seeing everyone again after 2.5 months away. Lots of comments about my weight loss and a few about improvements in my game. Professor Matthias said the weight loss seems to have contributed to my speed. Oh! Adding kick boxing to the regimen. Twice per week, 1.5 hrs each session after 1.5 hours of BJJ. Should start on Thursday, or perhaps next week. Still settling into my hotel and work this week...
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