Training BJJ with Team ROC in Raleigh

So I was up in Raleigh for work and we finished up the work we had to do today early enough for me to hit up Forged Fitness for some trainin! Max (Who people may remember as 'Crossfit' from the last time I went up to Raleigh) was there and was happy to roll with me for about 2 hours and then give me a ride back to my hotel. mad props to him!
Got to roll with him and a couple of other guys, I'll hit him up and get their names and edit this later, but for now I just want to say that Team ROC is awesome. Max would be a purple belt at almost any other school but he's still a blue out there. It was great to get yet another perspective on different rolling styles. Max has a very tight pressure style and was very good at trapping my hooks. It took me a long time to figure out how to work them free, I ended up playing a lot of modified overhook guard with a single butterfly hook and hipping out hard to free the leg and work. The entire roll was very back and forth, a lot of positional movements and good transitions. I kept getting caught in arm triangles which he couldn't finish, and I would say he actually out positioned me on average. His fitness level is just INSANE. Completely INSANE.

Second guy I rolled with was taller than Max, but had a similar game. He was working a lot of single leg transitions so I showed him the halfguard bump to single leg as something he could play with. Same kind of deal with him, a lot of transitions. Both him and Max were extremely difficult to hold positions against, which resulted in a lot of great fun.

Third guy was enormous and strong, I managed to pass his guard early on, and work my way to his back, but while I was trying to work hooks in he dumped me and got on top and from there I spent like 10 minutes just defending submissions and working on escaping to anywhere that didn't involve being in a submission.

Fun times!

I got the opportunity to work a lot of DLR since both Max and the second guy like to stand up to try to pass. I was able to spin through to the 50/50 sweep a few times, I also hit some sickle sweeps that I couldn't capitalize on. I realized I need to work a LOT more guard passing against the long range half guard, I still have trouble getting by it when my main pass gets blocked. Gotta get a second pass against it that works.

All in all I rolled for about two hours with about 5 minutes worth of breaks. It was an absolute blast and I hope to make it back to Forged Fitness for another session at some point in the future and they are always welcome at Megalodon in Athens!

Also, good luck to Max and the other Team ROC guys who have fights coming up!