Day 35: Progress

I was excited for training today. I had been visualizing in my idle minutes today, thinking of triangles, of the satisfying thwack of my thigh against an unprotected neck and the dovetail of my foot into the back of its companion knee. The focus at class today...armbars.

Nevertheless, after an uncharacteristic cardio warmup, we went into drilling the armbar from mount. I worked with some heavyweights, Jason (350+) and Mario (230). Since we had just worked it on Saturday (Roger had Larry and I do 50 reps each), I was feeling pretty good about the move. Even so, Jason and Mario helped me sharpen my technique by having me concentrate on getting uke on his side when pulling the attacked arm from the shoulder.

Subsequent to drilling, we worked some positional sparring from the mount. I was able to work my arm trap upa escape successfully a few times, even against Craig. My attacks were less successful.

In free sparring, I worked with Mario on his preparations for the Machado tournament next weekend. He has short legs so can't easily play closed guard; I suggested he try an open guard, specifically, spider guard. We started from there and had some spirited rolls. I took advantage of some of Mario's mistakes and was able to apply the armbar from mount a few times. My confidence was high and I also had the moxie to try the triangle from mount twice. I couldn't lock it in (damn visualization!) but with Jack's sideline coaching I was able to transition to the armbar. I didn't get that either, but using a submission chain was a first! I even had a chance to go for an omoplata which I ended up turning into an armbar later on.

Rolling with Mario was a big confidence boost. I had been forgetting, in the midst of rolling with vastly superior opponents, what it was like to roll with someone who is just starting out. And I realized that I am just starting out, in one of the hardest sports around. And I've come a long way in a short amount of time.

Huzzah huzzah, Foos, there's still a long way to go.

Day 33: Half Empty or Half Full

With all of the holiday craziness beginning to take hold, I was very grateful to be able to make it to a training session today. The lesson plan was a cohesive one, beginning from the knee-slide open guard pass.

From the standing position, get inside grips on the knees of your uke. If you are heading to your left, step out with your left foot, and bring your right foot between uke's legs and nearly under his right cheek. Get a sleeve control with your left hand on his right, and then drive your knee to the mat as you drive your head into uke's chest to keep him pinned. It's important to keep your hips in line with your knee as you slide through. Unhook your foot from his leg, then shift your base into side control. Typically you;ll want your right hand posted on the opposite side of uke's body from the leg you're passing through, which transitions to the underhook if he catches you in half guard as you are sliding across.

It was just this scenario we practiced next. If you get the knee down but your ankle is trapped, you have several options. You can simply try and free it by continuing your knee slide action, remembering to keep your hips in line with your knee. However, I found this unsatisfactory as it allows uke to come up very far on his side and it made me feel vulnerable to having my back taken. Alternately, you can work transitions from within his half guard. You can move your knee from his right side to his left, and then with the right underhook in place you can use your free leg to strip his locked legs and go directly to mount. Or perhaps you would prefer to swing your left (free) leg over uke's body, and then control his knee with your hand, subsequently stripping his legs from your ankle with a combination of your hand and free leg. If this transition doesn't work straight away, you can flip back across and try to pop the leg free, again into the mount.

After dead-pattern drilling and some live positional sparring, I rolled with Jack a few times. As always, he had some helpful nuggets for me, wrapped in glistening cauls of pain. Most importantly, he showed me an escape from omoplata when your opponent has not controlled your belt or opposite shoulder. It's easy to just roll on the trapped shoulder and poof! you're out of trouble. Be quick though, as soon as you are rolled down into the omoplata, or your opponent will immobilize you and kill your roll.

My penance is done in advance...gluttony awaits.

Day 30: Milestones

I've been remiss in updating my training diary. Since there is scant possibility of a readership for these notes, I'm only hurting myself. Which, as it turns out, just makes me feel worse.

I started training around two months ago, and I've made it to 30 training sessions. That's a pretty good rate, I think, and a pretty good value for my unlimited training contract. I'm motivated to continue at a comparable rate.

Also: Kahlil got his brown belt today. His emotional response was touching to see.

As for me, I'm the low man. The survival blues are doing their thing. I feel like I'm learning, but the ass-kickings have not decreased in frequency, they just take a little longer. Being able to intellectually grasp that this is the way it is supposed to be, and simultaneously being unable to suppress the emotional response to repeated strangulation and joint locks offers a lovely bit of cognitive dissonance. That's the name of the game in jiu-jitsu, apparently. Maybe it's a microcosm of life in that respect, a lesson in resisting the pull of the animal and striving for rationality. Or maybe I should quit being philosophical and just train.

Roger was at class, presumably for the purpose of awarding Kahlil his promotion. We kept it simple with some guard-passing circuits for quite a long time. I had some ups and downs, getting annihilated by Jack and swept quickly by Del as well. However, I hit the hip bump sweep on Christian and was able to block Damon's triangle attempt, stack him, and pass. Aris took some time to explain the importance of posture when you are in someone's guard, showing me how to get a wide base with my knees, keep my back straight and keep my head up. It is way easier said than done.

By the time we wrapped up circuits I was nice and tired, but Jack must have sensed my malaise as he slithered over for a roll. My confidence was nicely smashed by the time I tapped to his Americana. I guess one needs to choke down some nasty medicine to get better.

Day 26: Sometimes you eat the bar

I took a few days off for a restorative journey into King's Canyon national park with a few comrades over the weekend. Much grandeur was observed and much fun was had.

Back at home, there was training to do. I felt very fresh and ready to work as I arrived, and after a very quick warm-up I dove right into a circuit training session focused on passing the open guard. From the top I did pretty well, avoiding getting my sleeves gripped and trying to control both of my opponent's pants cuffs with one hand by reaching under one leg to grab the opposite cuff. From the bottom I did not do as well. I allowed my opponents to get sleeve grips and was slow in tracking their movements and I found myself in side control often. Not surprisingly, my bottom game still trails my top game.

Rod stepped in for Kahlil and taught an excellent series of moves from the "baseball slide" open guard pass. Uke is sitting up, legs wide and arms extended to defend, while you are standing. Get his right sleeve with your left hand, and get a thumb-out deep grip inside his collar with your right hand. Aim to grab the label of his gi. Step deep between his legs with your right leg, and pull the grips toward you as you slide your right knee over his right leg. Pass to side control, where you should have your right collar grip deep. Now reach for his lapel or shoulder with your left hand as close as you can to your right hand, and drop your elbows and squeeze for a nasty modified baseball-bat choke. Alternately, if he defends the choke, push, then pull the defending arm across his body and drop your weight down on it as you squeeze the collar grip for another choke.

After we finished working the drill, "little" Larry showed me the bow-and-arrow choke, which is, in the parlance of Aesopian, totally awesome.

Finally I had a chance to roll with Omar, who is one of my favorite training partners at the moment. He Kimura'ed me twice, though I did work hard for a sweep escape from kesa gatame. I worked some half guard specifically and Omar had some good pointers. Since you must keep your elbows in to guard against armlocks, use your legs to create your mobility. Get on your side. Push your opponent away. Shrimp to guard.

Overall, a very good session that found me recharged, rejuvenated, and ready to improve.

Day 24: Survival Blues

I left work late and got to the gym around 7. There were only a few guys around; all the regulars were there.

No drilling, just sparring tonight. I drew Jack right off the bat. I played a bit at passing his open guard, working my hand under one leg to get the opposite ankle and try ing to collapse both legs for the pass. I had a small measure of success, but soon found myself swept and fighting off the choke. Jack is a crafty player and is always giving me something to worry about. When he has the mount I have tons of trouble working escapes because he constantly threatens the Ezekiel choke and forces me to defend it. If I get sloppy with my elbows defending the choke, that's an instant keylock or some other painful destination.

I shouldn't be discouraged about getting mauled by Jack. He's a very good blue belt who gives the purple belts a hard time, every time. Nevertheless, it's hard to get my mind in the right place, to drop the remnants of my ego and those useless concepts of "winning" and "losing". I'm trying. It's going to be a long road, and I hope that I've grown enough to enjoy the ride.

Day 23: Slippery When Wet

Nogi today. I went with a new long-sleeved rash guard to minimize my exposure to the mats, with drug-resistant staph causing all sorts of hysteria. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. Ringworm sucks too.

I got started with some informal drilling with Ian. We worked triangles, then some sweeps. I liked the hip bump sweep. Open your guard, then sit up (on an elbow if necessary) and get your same-side arm behind uke. Then bridge towards him and twist your torso to sweep. Finish in mount. We also worked the hook sweep from butterfly (including the leg-slide variant). We started to roll lightly (Ian's a little guy) but my nose started bleeding again. Damn you, dry, soot-filled air!

After staunching my flow, Damon and I lined up for a go. It was a pretty good one. I showed some mobility and even had a chance to work my new triangle escape-- and it worked! Later, Damon went for the D'Arce/Brabo grip when I was turtled. In response, I went for the Kimura try that Omar showed me but I couldn't get it to go. Eventually he nailed me with a Kimura of his own but I think I did a pretty good job.

At the end of the session Jack was game, so we rolled a bit. He triangled me several times, which sucked. However, I did manage to escape his side control (he probably let me) and get full guard. He broke my guard pretty quickly, but let me in on a good insight, one that I am slowly coming around to. He scooped my leg, which to him was an instant "signal" for triangle. Moves have signatures, templates perhaps, that demand their application. That is how we "flow with the go"; by reading the signals our opponent sends and the templates he cycles through. For example: uke in your open guard, one arm out = triangle. Hand flat on the mat = Kimura. You can short-circuit the decision making process, achieve "no mind," by using the template positions as triggers. I'll be on the lookout for more of these as my training progresses.

Day 22: Escape from Jitsu Island

Yesterday and today were similar, so I'll mash them up together.

We've been working controls from the spider guard, specifically the arm wrap. Get sleeve grips ("joysticks") with your knees inside uke's arms and your feet on his hips. Then you can escape your hips and wrap the arm you escaped away from. Return your hips and get that foot back on uke's hip. From there you can control the other arm with foot-on-bicep. You can bicep sweep from here, or go for the triangle.

If you lose control of the unwrapped arm, stay with it. Turn on your side and use your knee to keep uke from coming around. Recover to your knees, taking his arm with you. Then adjust your angle to go back to spider, or pull him in for full guard. If you're good you can roll for the omoplata, but I'm not, so I didn't.

Both days we worked on using and passing this guard. I had some mixed results. I caught Damon with the bicep sweep, which got me pretty stoked. Craig got his knee in between my legs and broke my grip, and it was downhill from there.

During Jack's daily ass-kicking, he showed me a neat escape from the triangle. Immediately after it gets slapped on, slam your body (and uke's leg) down on the mat to the side of the leg that is right on your ear. Then you can hop your legs over uke and twist out and escape. It sounds tough but it's not.