Monday, October 6, 2008

BJJ Gi Class - 10.6.2008

It was great being back on the mat after more than a week of no jiu-jitsu. I've read on other peoples blogs how difficult it is coming back after taking a break when sick or what not, but never thought that after only a week off it'd be that much of a difference. I got burned out way too fast heh Matt led the class tonight since Mel was going over some stuff with those who are competing at the Oregon Open this weekend. We worked on techniques all starting from full mount. One big tip to keep in mind while in mount is to never come up nose to nose with your opponent. Meaning you want to have your upper body leaning towards one side or the other, with that same side arm posted out. This'll make it more difficult for your opponent to sweep/roll you. On to the techniques...

Cross choke from mount - Starting with your weight leaning towards your left, usually with your forehead into the mat to keep that weight down. With the right hand, get a deep 4-fingers-in grip on their lapel on the right side of their neck. Reach under your right arm with your left and get hold of the other lapel with a 4-fingers-in grip. Shift to a chest to chest position, rotate your hands towards you, and "squeeze a walnut between your shoulder blades."

Variation of cross choke from mount - After you get the grip in with your right hand, instead of reaching under your right arm from that position....rotate your upper body from leaning to the left to leaning to the right. Then reach down with your left hand and grab fabric on the left shoulder. Then squeeze the choke as said above.

Bread cutter - Instead of putting in a 4-fingers-in grip with your right hand, get a thumb-in grip. Reach under the right arm with your left and get a grip on the lapel just like before, then put in the squeeze. It gets its name from the way your right forearm lays across your opponents throat with the thumb-in grip.

Bread cutter to armbar - So you've got the thumb-in grip with the right hand, but they're defending that left hand from coming under and gripping the other lapel. As you slide your left knee up into their armpit, you're going to pull up with your right hand and shift 'em onto their left side. As you shifted them to their left side, a few things should happen: your left knee should be up behind their shoulder or even behind their head; your right leg should've shifted from being down on that knee to standing on the foot, and you'll want your right foot tight into their side to keep them from shrimping out and creating space; and you'll have wrapped your left arm around their right arm, holding it to your chest. This is the arm you're going to attack. Then you'll do what they call "sit and spin". Sit down onto your opponents side and lean forward a bit. As you do this you'll swing your left leg around over your opponents face, then roll back to your butt. Make sure their thumb is on top, squeeze your knees together, and lift your hips.

I rolled with a guy whose name I can't remember at the moment. To say the least, it was very frustrating to roll with him. He's a fellow white belt with not a whole lot of experience. And instead of taking it 50% or so to concentrate on technique, he straight went balls-to-the-wall 100%. The guy was bigger than I (my estimate is about 30lbs more than I, but I've never been good at estimating people's weight), and after he passed my guard and secured side control, he'd go belly down on my face. I thought in my head that this would be a good time to work technique on an opponent who was bigger than I and using all strength...until he did that. Then I couldn't think straight at all. I was able to escape side control and get to his back and submit him with a gi choke. When we started again he went straight for side control and proceeded to lay on my face again. He sandbagged until I couldn't take anymore and submitted me with an Americana. It was at this time he admitted to being "tired of losing." *rolls eyes* I wanted to say something, but I had to nurse a major headache. Luckily Matt did.

Until next time... :-)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know the feeling. I used to roll with a guy who outweighed me by at least 60lbs. He was also 6'6 and a former wrestler. His one aim would be to establish side control and slap on an Americana. No variation from the theme.

It was hard to advance in skill when rolling with him because it was so one-dimensional. It became a death match not to be placed in his side-control. I had begun to do panic tap-outs because of the weight and claustrophobic feelings.

But I stuck with it and now I am never bothered by people trying to smash me from the top.

Mike O. said...

Yeah, that's exactly how I felt. It's not a fun feeling at all, and I'm hoping with time I too can get over it. Well, either that, or just never get into that situation again haha