Rolling No-Gi with Casey!

I guess everyone was super hungover from Saturday night because no one else showed up! That wasn't my excuse though. Their loss anyway, because I got some great practice in rolling with Casey.

I went over some tips on how to secure the rear-naked choke when your opponent is fighting tooth and nail to keep your arm off their throat. Pretty much, I'm going to need to AGGRESSIVELY slide my arm across their neck if I want the choke. I guess I'm too complacent. The RNC is a super important, bread and butter submission and I want to work on making it high percentage for me. This means going for it whenever I have the back. Nothing else. No collar chokes, no armbar transitions, just being patient and fighting for it. Some tips included trapping their arm, which I'm capable of doing but I need to do it more often. Monkey-pawing the non-choking arm and keeping it out of the way, then forcing your knuckles across their throat and looking for the palm-to-palm or bicep grip. Also remember that if necessary, you can pull the non-choking arm out and look for the choke that way. Finally, if they try to slide out of back mount over your choking arm, you can lock arms, let them slide out and pull around for the arm-triangle.

Rolled for over an hour and just felt super smooth, technical and dynamic. No injuries and my mind felt clear. Played a lot of butterfly and De La Riva and actively looked for the hook and sickle sweeps. Tried some X guard but I'm pretty incompetent there. Overall it was a great night of rolling and I definitely see a difference rolling with Casey now. Biggest thing: not as intimidated and not feeling nearly as out of my element as I was a year ago.

In related news, this all took place at the all new Megalodon MMA in Watkinsville. Yep, our own gym. We have the ring set up, dressing rooms, locker rooms office space and a kiddie area. It's awesome and in prime location in the heart of town. Definitely gonna get some high school wrestlers in there to choke and armbar. Can't wait! Zebra mats should be coming in today, and I'm sure my knees will be less bruised in the long run. Super excited to never go into Athens Tae Kwon Do again. Stigma! "It's not a TKD gi, I actually use it to choke people!! I train in a real, practical martial art! I swear!"