NAGA Prep

So, Friday we started really getting ready for NAGA, did some gi choke work from side control, working on a baseball bat choke that combos well with the arm triangle I use. I was dehydrated and exhausted by the time class started due to work issues, but I remember doing about 1.5 hours of class, some drills, and some rolling, then 15 minutes of conditioning. Then I did a couple of bonus rounds, one Gi and one No-Gi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtomJpvzrs0
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lcxUxeP9vU

I picked these guys because they are both in good shape, both skilled, and both guys that I usually have an edge over when we're both fresh. With me tired they really exposed some weaknesses I had. I also threw in a heelhook from the Saddle for Zapruder. All of us are competing at NAGA, so the more mat time we get the better.

Tonight was more of the same, but we did Guillotine and RNC escapes at the beginning of class. The guillotine escape involved armover the shoulder, then working to the side and kind of sweeping the opponents legs out from under them and taking side control. I had a thought "could I scoop him up WWE style and drop him in side control?" and the answers was a resoundingly awesome YES.
After that, some rolling. I rolled with the whitebelt who caught me with a kimura last time, I was in competition mode, so he got subbed a lot, mercilessly. After that I rolled with Courtney, threw her around and subbed her bunch. Then more conditioning, then I did a bonus round with Coe who CRUSHIFIED me and spent a large portion of the time working a guillotine on me which I finally had to tap to. A good night though, working my conditioning should pay off I hope.

Energy Legs!

In preperation for class today I took 2 aspirin and this thing called a Stress Tab. The stress tab has like 100mg of caffeine and a billion tons of B12 and B6 and stuff. The consequence was that I was PACKED FULL of energy the entire class. We did some side control escape drills to start off with, then I broke off to help the Noobs work on Americana and Kimuras, Both Jenn and Courtney caught on pretty quick to both of those, but the straight armbar we were doing was a little more complicated and they had a harder time with that.
For drilling we started under side control and had to escape while the guy on top had to sub. I starte with Ankor on top and eventually swept him and escaped, then I rolled with Coe, started out on top and held him there for a while before he finally go a hand in my armpit and a fistful of gi and stiff armed me over. After that I rolled with... asian dude whose name I can't remember, I started on the bottom and got a little too lazy, he got mount and americanad me.
After that we rolled, I started with Ankor in Gi and we did some back and forth, I was trying to be super aggressive and so gave up sacrificed some defense, we tapped each other a few times. After that I rolled w/ one of the new guys. I threw him around and subbed him a bunch, he was enjoying it. After that I did a round of No-Gi with Ankor, got the Crucifix Kimura a couple of times, a triangle from the back, a standard Kimura, and an armbar as I recall. He got me with a freakin body triangle from the back and I think a kimura, and possibly a straight armbar... A good roll for both of us.
Next up I rolled with Courtney for a few minutes and threw her around and subbed her a bunch, then the same with Chad.

All in all a good class and I still felt packed with energy afterwards, even now! I'm going to start taking those stress tab thing before class every time I think.... And for sure before NAGA.

Be my Butterfly

We played with butterfly guards and butterfly transitions to X-guard today and I got some practice lifting 250lb people up in the air, which I need. After that we did some drilling, I swept a bunch of folk including this one kid who is the kind of wrestler that clamps down on your head and just sits there right now. He locked down onto my head and wouldn't let go forever, eventually I managed to get enough space to omoplata sweep him and take side control.

After some butterfly drilling we rolled and the kid who called me out a week or so ago passed to side control and managed to americana me, which he was very happy with. I won't be letting that happen again. My goal tonight was to play with the crucifix and I got to do that quite a bit on a couple of people, I was able to transition to it and get the kimura, I had trouble with the hell strangle because I kept needing both arms on theirs to maintain the position, I think I'll want to transition to scooping the arm behind my "top" arm and hooking it there in the future. I tried to take the RNC from there once, but couldn't get the right leverage so I had to give it up. It worked pretty well as an option from the back for me though.

My final roll was against one of the college wrestlers in the class who is built like a 55 gallon drum full of bricks. It's like trying to grapple with a very acrobatic bowling ball. I was able to sweep him a couple of times though from half guard when he tried to darce/choke me. I was able to defend against his RNC and avoid several other subs, but he pretty much ran me over.

A good class, somehow I dropped 3.5 lbs in the last 2 days though, weighed in at 141.5 this morning. That means I should be able to cut to 139 for NAGA without any trouble.

Flying Sidekick

This is the video from my midterm for 2nd degree TKD blackbelt, I left TKD shortly after this was filmed. I'm breaking 2 boards with the flying sidekick and then 2 boards with an upset knifehand strike.



If you watch the video and pause it at the 15 second mark you can see that I should have had my non-kicking leg tucked up a little tighter. Also, the distance I ran was more for visual effect than out of necessity, I've done the same break with only 2-3 steps.

Competition Videos

I dug through all of my video links and have pulled them out in chronological order for anyone interested in checking them out:

First ever grappling match 2007
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1071241798571137899

Later that year, NAGA
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3548201218593477837
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2224045126269133779
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-788920203550747355
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-415686111276980243

2008 NAGA
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2070345299862448585

2008 Casca Grossa
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3123214915948448823
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-99204263708741123

2009
No-Gi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYt45pKaZ48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJYsRQJeBg

Gi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI8k3-OSEA4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egkJMfABa_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKKytXmraDA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mmcB5530hA

Not all of my matches got video taped, my second match at that very first Casca Grossa was missed, I lost via armbar about 90 seconds in.
My First match at the 2008 NAGA was missed, which was very disappointed because I got A HUGE takedown at the beginning and just dominated the guy from start to finish.

I think those are the only two that have been missed. Other than that every single match in my competitive career to this point is recorded and on the internet for everyone to see.

My Guard, It Is Impassable, Unless You Have Elephants

I was on a roll again today, we worked on some attacks against the turtle using the clock choke, as well as counters to the clock choke. The primary counter was actually the "Fat Boy Roll" that I use from wrestling already, so that was good since I'm already good at that. Also learned how to properly apply the clock choke, whoot. Another Gi sub in my arsenal now.
After that we did some drills from turtle, hijinks ensued, then time to roll.
I started out rolling with a guy who was new to class, he was somewhere around 6 feet tall and maybe 180 lbs, and apparently had wrestled for a while. I have no idea how long. He was completely unable to pass my guard, but was very very active. He fought off a tight triangle for a while, constantly worked to get by my guard, but eventually was swept and mounted. I hung out in mount until time ran out since by then there were only 30 seconds or so left and I was tired.
After that I rolled with one of th guys whose name I constantly forget, he actually called me out this time which was fun. I arm-barred him, RNCed him, swept him a few times and generally had my way with him. He's learning though.
After that I rolled with another guy whose name I can never remember but who is another 190ish lb guy who is very strong and active. He was also unable to pass my guard and I eventually swept and mounted him also.
I practiced getting collar grips and breaking him down into my guard over and over and over again as well as working on holding him down. Next step will be to work on feeding the different collar chokes from there.

All in all, a good night, though my lack of sleep lat night hurt my endurance and left me too tired for a bonus round.

Ugh, ate a brick...

So I had a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs friday before class, not the most brilliant idea.
Felt like I was grappling with a bowling ball in my gut.

We warmed up with takedowns and sprawls, then worked on guard passing and did guard passing drills, I did ok...

After that we rolled, I rolled with a very athletic 180ish pound guy who is VERY intense. Forces me to go 100% against him. I subbed him with a heel hook then held him in my guard for a while because I felt like crap.
After that I rolled with JC who is lanky and my same weight, but like 6'2". I damn near fell asleep while rolling with him and he ezekieled me.
After that I got a bit of a second wind and rolled with one of the much newer guys, swept and subbed him a bunch. Then rolled with one of our ammy MMA fighters for a while. Heel hooked him, and he returned the favor.
Finally I rolled with my resident blue belt nemesis, but by that point my left arm was numb and I was barely awake and he crushed me in dominant fashion.

All in all, not my best day at class. I shall strive to avoid consuming heavy meals right before class in the future.

BJJ, It's like a Magic Trick

So the tips I got from Zapruder are continuing to pay off in a big way. Wednesday I pretty much ran a clinic on everyone under 180lbs in the gym. Sweeps were on point, subs were happening, finally hit a triangle in Gi. Even rolled with one of our Ammy fighters and passed his guard and stayed on top of him for most of the roll. Went for the "Saddle" heel hook and couldn't secure it and he ended up on top in halfguard, where we stalemated.
After that I did a No Gi bonus round with a kid that just started Jits but has been doing Muy Thai for a while. RNC and Triangle+Armbar for the win. I was never really in any danger of being subbed by anyone except for Ankhor who landed a super tight triangle that took me forever to fight out of. Eventually he was just too exhausted to keep it locked on and had to let go.
Over all I feel really good about my Jits and I think I have a shot at a solid performance against the blue belts at NAGA. If everything goes well I'll take 1st and feel ready to take a stab at Purple belt.

Noobs and Collar Chokes

So I brought a fleet of noobs (Well, 3 today, probably a couple more next Sunday) up to Casey's to join the crew. The roster included my fiance Jenn, our friend Chad, and our other friend Courtney. Now, Chad and Courtney represent completely opposite ends of the human spectrum, Chad is 270lbs, farmboy strong, monster huge dude. Courtney is 120 and built like a leprechaun, so we had a great time with that.
I paired up with Jenn to work collar chokes, kimura's, and arm triangles. Chad worked with the purple belt, Darnel, and courtney paired up with Falsto to work. Pretty basic stuff, Jenn caught on right away and enjoyed making my eyes bug way out with a couple of deep collar chokes.
After that I did some rolling with Jenn and Courtney having them start in my guard and work to pass and so on. After sweeping them a few times I showed them how to posture and break guard to pass. We worked on that for a bit then the two of them worked together. Courtney is a little spastic, and very energetic, Jenn is a lot more methodical. Both of them were catching on quick though.
While this was going on Chad had been fed to the lions on the other side of the class. He was working with Darnel which at least meant he got a lot of good advice.
After that we split up to roll, I rolled with Chad first which was a blast. I was able to apply all of the stuff that Zapruder and I had been talking about and kept him in the air and off balance the entire time. I swept him and subbed him about every 30 seconds for 7 minutes. Which he thought was awesome.
After that I called out Coe for the obligatory blue belt ass whipping. He was showing a little less mercy this time after I asked him if he scuffed his knuckles punching old ladies... I made him work for the pass and tossed off a few more remarks about a failed collar choke before he got a good grip and throttled me. I was briefly able to pass his guard, but before I could lock side down he got a hand in my armpit and pushed me off, I spun to his back but couldn't lock that in either before he dumped me back down and I had him in my guard again. A couple of times I had to tap to the CRUSHING WEIGHT of knee on ribs, but a fun time indeed!
Last I got a bonus round with Darnel. Up until tonight he had actually not subbed me rolling. First up he managed to get me with a goofy wristlock while I was defending the americana, it wasn't even the normal knuckles on the ground wristlock either. I think he got me with something else as well then I tried to 50/50 sweep him so I could get a heel hook. His base was just too good and he slowly crushed through my guard and armbarred me though.

Still feeling REALLY good about my skills now. I'm not having anywhere near the kind of problems with WEIGHT that I used to. Coe and Darnel are still destroying me, but not as much with weight as with superior skill in using that weight. The less experienced heavy guys are far less of a problem now.

A New Era

So it's been 6 months since my last update. A lot has happened in that time. For one thing the blog is going public again.

Early this year due to work scheduling issues and financial concerns I had to stop attending HCG. It sucked and I was out completely for almost two months. Luckily I found out in March that Casey Baynes from Alliance in Atlanta was sharing space with one of my old TKD schools and teaching Jits 3 days a week. The class times were a better fit for my work schedule and the classes were less expensive. It's mostly a Gi class, but that's fine. HCG is still the best MMA gym outside of Atlanta, and a good argument can be made that they are the best MMA gym in the state, but my focus has never really been on MMA so I was never using those resources to their full potential anyways.

So for the last 4 months I've been doing Jits with Casey and the guys there. I competed in the white belt Gi division at NAGA and got 2nd, I took 3rd in Intermediate No-Gi. I've been progressing nicely and now really feel like I'm ready for my blue belt test which should be coming up in October.
In september I'm going to compete at NAGA again, this time as a blue belt in Gi just to test the waters.

Most recently I've been working on collar chokes and balling up under huge guys trying to crush me and last night I had an epiphany. A bunch of stuff that Zapruder from bullshido had been telling me clicked together and I was able to keep a 220lb white belt suspended in the air for most of a 7 minute round. I really feel good about it and I'm confident I'll easily pass my blue belt test. After that I think I can wait a year and probably get my purple belt next summer.

Now that the blog is public again I'll try to post up some videos from class when I have them. I'm picking up a 4gb memory stick for the camera next month, which should let me record the entire class if I want to, but mostly I'll just be posting me rolling with various folks so I can get some comments on it.

Now time to clean the house, exercise the horses, and go for a trail ride.