Training Log -- 5/29

Worked on defending and securing armbars in the fundamental class. Main class involved the whizzer you get when your opponent tries to use a popular side control escape. One possibility is the D'arce choke, one is a VERY tight armbar which involved you swinging your far leg over the neck, and another option is an arm-in guillotine/finger choke using one butterfly hook and the other leg to prevent your opponent from flipping over.

Things to work on:

1. Breaking down opponent from guard. Too often I attempt to secure sloppy armbars and I throw my leg up for triangle chokes and get my guard passed way too much. This is a rookie mistake and there is no excuse for garbage submission attempts from guard anymore. In fact, I'd say out of all the times my guard is passed, 95% is because I'm trying to triangle a postured opponent. NO MORE!

2. Securing position before advancing for a submission or changing positions. Almost had a nice arm-triangle from north/south but like a buffoon I neglected to actually lock my hand to my bicep before shifting from side control. There is no need to scramble for position when it can be avoided by actually doing something correctly. 

UFC 130 Predictions

Tonight should be a decent card. Some quick predictions:

Santiago TKO
Alves TKO
Browne Decision
Nelson Decision
Hamill Decision

Bonus: Mighty Mouse over Torres via wrestlefuck. 

Love my boy Mir but I think he's gunshy as of late and Roy has a granite chin. I just see Roy pushing the pace more and ultimately being more aggressive. Alves should be able to school Rick Story on how to strike, and I think Browne will prove to be a more experienced and mature fighter by outpointing Struve.

Hamill will control 'Page with takedowns and should be able to outpoint for a UD.

Updates: 5/22, 5/25, 5/27

Had some computer problems for the past week, so updates were not high up on the priority list. Had some time off for the past couple of weeks and Sunday was my day back.

5/22:

Rolled with Josh at the fundamentals class and went over the blue belt requirements. Feeling pretty good about everything so I don't think I'll have too hard a time passing the test. Casey was on vacation with his family, so Josh taught some butterfly stuff. One was an over/underhook sweep using one butterfly hook to lift your opponent toward their overhooked arm. Second sweep was double overhooks (usually a bi-product of losing a bid for underhooks) with the same leaning motion to lift your opponent over. Last was a "power" guillotine from double overhooks.


5/25:

Did some leg locks with Coe, which means the material didn't sink in much...I recall some interesting stuff regarding X-guard, ankle lock opportunities and heel hooks. Josh went over a sweet counter to 50/50 guard which he got me with. It sucked pretty bad but definitely a great move to remember for the guys who love leg locks. Rolled with the 205'er Mark and couldn't do too much with him except keep him some what neutralized.

5/27:

Big fundamental class so Josh went over some of the blue belt requirements. All the kids and Steven were largely ADD-ing all over the gym, so it wasn't a huge success for everyone. Went over some hip throws with Casey, triangles from guard and armbar grip breaks. Also went over an armbar --> triangle transition and nasty bicep crusher from juji gatame. Rolled with Josh and Grant, who's only in BJJ on occasion as he's more of a muay thai guy. Josh mostly rolled over me, but I did great against Grant with a few armbars and a sweet pendulum sweep to mount with an armbar finish.

All in all, I'm feeling ready for my blue belt. I think my biggest problem is still a lack of patience; that is, patience in knowing when to secure a position and patience when in a less-than-dominant position such as side control. I guess I'll calm down and be able to think things out as time passes, so no worries there.

Hermes Franca: Rapist

Damn Hermes Franca.

Looks like the guy is being brought up on charges in Oregon stemming from sexual assault of a female minor at a BJJ academy where he taught. He turned himself in and is facing a MMS of 6 years. As of today, MFC cut him from their roster.

RIP Franca's career.


Source

Royler Gracie Being a Bitch

Days after the announcement that Royler would have the opportunity to avenge his loss to Eddie Bravo at the 2003 ADCC, Royler is being a bitch. He is now demanding $50,000 just to show, plus $25,000 if he wins. Seems to me like he's ducking Bravo. This makes me very angry, and if he doesn't have his way, there will be no rematch and I will rage on something.

Source

Training Log 5/4

Started with some turtle techniques, including the "fatboy roll" which I'm already familiar with, pulling them back into your guard, and 2 types of rolls, one of which is a cool kneebar where you reach down and grab their leg (if it's in between yours) before rolling out.

Pretty rough night of rolling. I was in a four man group with Ankur, JC, and a newer/semi-regular white belt Mark who weighs 205lbs. I pretty much launched zero offense, as Ankur was able to pass my guard a couple times. JC defaulted to his secondary mode of attack, ankle locks, which he attempts if he can't get a hold of my collars. Largely avoided them but his crappy gi always tangles up my leg so it was pretty anticlimactic as usual. I tried working spider guard with Mark, but he just stacked the shit out of me and kept me defensive the whole time. Whenever he senses his arm in a precarious position he jolts it out with all his might and pretty much disengages, which makes it hard to do much. Tried the bicep slicer sweep but he used his weight to remain mostly static and careful. Almost had an armbar but he pulled out hard and stepped back. He nearly passed my guard off a failed spider guard sweep, but I turtled and avoided the proverbial loss of points.

Not feeling too bad considering Ankur said he was unable to sweep him too. I'm not sure if spider guard is the best technique for guys with 55 pound advantages on me, so I'm gonna work on more traditional closed guard with him next time and try out using butterfly hooks. See how that works.

I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that playing a lot of spider guard means I'll be taping my fingers up for the rest of my life. LOL. Ice and athletic tape ALL DAY LONG.

Training Log -- 5/1

Rolled with Josh at the 6:00 class and did pretty well for no-gi. I was able to prevent guard passing for the most part, so big ups there. Tons of leglocks throughout the night, the occasional triangle, guillotines etc. Got hit with a sweet omoplata too.

Main class was pretty unique in that we did 3 Jujitsu techniques. A couple involved a guy grabbing your shirt and you locking his arm and driving him to the floor and the third was a counter to a full nelson.

Rolled with Ankur, Josh and JC and largely held off submissions aside from the occasional ankle lock. Also kind of neutralized Ankur which is an accomplishment. Overall, good night with some great no-gi rolling action.

Training Log -- 4/30

Arrived at the 6:00 class but Josh didn't show. Watched the Hapkido idiots flail about in the opposite gym and then Brian arrived. He ended up convincing me to hit some pads around, so I worked on some Muay Thai kicks and knees.

Main class we worked on some spider guard escapes and grip breaks. One was shifting back and grabbing under your opponent's calf and jolting them up, pressing their knees and legs back to their ears (without forcing them to turtle). Then you take side control. Another one was stepping over with a leg and sitting down to take side control, and the final was shifting them to one side while you're standing and stepping one leg all the way over and sitting down. Looked like there was a variety of armbars/kneebars, etc from here so it looked cool.

Rolled with Antony and Cam, who's a 200lb white belt with Gracie Combative training from the army. I wasn't sure how much this would help him, but it translated to above average armbar defense. I worked on a bunch of submissions from guard and was able to attempt at least 5 armbars, only one of which he failed to defend. Hit the bicep slicer sweep into mount, framed a triangle and rolled back for a triangle finish. Also hit a nice sit-up sweep and went for a modified bow & arrow before the round ended. Antony was awesome tonight. He swept me a bunch and kept me scrambling. I was unable to pass his guard tonight but held my own and wasn't in any immediate danger of being subbed.

Also, today is the 30th, which marks the 1 year anniversary of me beginning BJJ. Hurray!

Training Log -- 4/27

Worked on more spider guard (yay). Techniques today included a scissor sweep variant for when your opponent is still on their knees, one for when they post one leg out, and one for when you're trying to work a triangle and they're defending. This final one involves you lacing your foot under their knee and scissoring the other leg for the sweep.

Worked a ton of that bicep crusher sweep and I must say, it's pretty awesome. I love how you're all set up for a mounted triangle once you complete it. There was a video I saw a while ago that discussed what to do if your opponent won't give you their leg. I think it was tornado-ing under after switching sleeve grips (cross sleeve) and bam, there's a triangle. I must further explore this.

Casey mentioned I'll be testing for my blue belt sometime toward the end of May. I am super excited because, to reiterate, being a white belt sucks.

Swole Train

Started weight training (for realz) on Saturday with the help of my strength and conditioning roommate. Haven't sweated that much from lifting in forever. Actually, ever. It was hardcore. We're gonna see where this goes, but I don't want to OD until I'm a little more acclimated to weights. My quads were seriously busted and are still bordering on crippled, but this will only be good. We got a hold of a weight vest which should be great for overall strength and will certainly translate to increased agility on the mats.