Category Archives: Gi

July 14, 2011

Learning to Fly (And Not in a Good Way)

Monday, 6/11:

For class today we practiced the full motion of the hip-throw. This is actually practice for both students: The one performing the technique, naturally, gets to practice the full motion. The one being thrown gets the chance to get acclimated with falling. I can safely say it’s going to take me a few dozen more lessons of this sort before I can say I’m getting “acclimated” to falling.

For the day’s technique we practiced standing up to open the guard via one of the techniques I’ve mentioned in previous posts (at least, I think I have). Then, step back while gripping the gi pants at your opponent’s ankles. Pulling the legs to one side, step out to the other. Keep your grips as you bring your near leg towards your opponent’s hip, placing your knee on top of it. The other leg stays posted out to keep the pressure on. Bring your arm around and under your partner’s head to control the upper body, then bring both your knees down to the ground to assume the side control.

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Filed under Escapes, Gi, Guard, Log, Takedowns

July 6, 2011

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

So I’ve complained before that training in the outer small mat room is akin to running a 10k in a sauna. Well, if I thought that was hard, last night’s instructor had something worse in store for the white belt class. Continue reading →

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Filed under Gi, Guard, Joint locks, Log, Media, Pictures, Sweeps

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July 5, 2011

Grapplers Quest – June 18th, 2011

Finally getting around to writing this post. I decided to scrape some money together and go compete at Grapplers Quest in Morristown, NJ on June 18th. This was my first BJJ competition, but I wasn’t very nervous going in. It wasn’t because I was incredibly confident in my skills. Quite the opposite, in fact. I went in completely expecting to get my world rocked. Hey, if you expect the worst, you can’t be disappointed, right?

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Filed under Competition, Gi, Media, Pictures, Videos

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July 4, 2011

Off the Face of the Planet

Wow. Where’d the week go? I was so busy this past week, I didn’t even realize I hadn’t been writing here until Thursday night. I made it to class on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Let’s see what I can still recall. I’m just going to throw my bits of memory out there, I have no idea what happened on what day.

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Filed under Drills, Escapes, Gi, Guard, Log, Musings, Sweeps

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June 25, 2011

Basic Guard Break

Friday, 6/25:

Nothing new really here. And I’m fine with that. We trained osoto-gari and the hip throw, and I’m starting to see these techniques in a new light. Small adjustments here and there are making them tighter and more accurate every time I drill them. Following this we worked on guard and side-control training. From the guard I managed to land the armbar transition from the failed triangle.

The technique we worked on was breaking the guard and standing up. I just realized I’ve never documented this one, so here goes. Start off holding both lapels with one hand, and one of your opponent’s sleeve on the same side with the other. Stand up, with a wide base. Transfer the sleeve cuff to the hand that was holding the lapels. The free hand pushes down on the knee on the same side, until the guard opens. Immediately step back with the foot on the same side as the knee you pushed on, to make sure you don’t get swept. Keep your posture the whole time!

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Filed under Escapes, Gi, Guard, Log

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June 24, 2011

Basic Sweep From Spider Guard

Wednesday, 6/22:

Class began with warm-ups and takedowns, the usual. Osoto-gari, double-leg. We did some guard-specific training afterward.

Technique for the day was a spider guard sweep. With your opponent standing, and you controlling the cuffs of both sleeves, place one foot on a hip, and the other on the opposite bicep. Next, transfer your hand that’s on the same side as the foot on the bicep to the other cuff. The hand originally on that cuff comes down and cups the back of the same-side heel. The foot on the bicep moves down to behind the same side knee, hooking it. Next, hold the heel, back of the knee, and arm in place as your foot on the hip pushes out. As your opponent falls back, use his momentum and his arm to pull yourself up, tucking the foot on the hip underneath you so you don’t end up in half-guard. You should have one knee up and one down, inside your partner’s open guard.

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Filed under Gi, Log, Spider guard, Sweeps

June 23, 2011

Two Classes

Tuesday, 6/21:

Here’s something I haven’t done in a while: taken two classes in one day. True, I’ve been pretty tired lately, but mostly the reason is because I get home so late when I take two in a row. 9:45 is the best I can hope for if I do the 8 o’clock class, though 10:00PM is more likely. Those days when I can convince myself to hang around for Round 2 are infrequent, but worth it.

This time both classes were pretty full. For the first class we started with osoto-gari and double-leg takedowns. This was followed by around 20 minutes of King of the Hill training, a popular resort when the class is packed.

The technique taught afterwards was the baseball choke. It’s similar to the cross-collar choke from knee-on-belly, but requires less fiddling with the collar. While getting ready to jump to knee-on-belly, make sure your hand is deep in the back of the collar, behind your opponent’s neck, thumb inside. Once you pop up, slip your other hand, palm up, deep into the collar on the opposite side. The closer your thumb on your first hand is to touching the pinky on your second hand, the tighter the choke will be. Next, come off knee-on-belly and circle your way toward your opponent’s head. Drop your head to your opponent’s side, on the same side you started on, and squeeze for the choke.

Second class involved more King of the Hill. For the life of me I can’t remember what technique we went over this class. One thing for sure: I was dead tired by the end.

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Filed under Chokes, Gi, Knee-on-stomach, Log

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June 21, 2011

Motivation Renewed

I’m behind on my posts. Trying to catch up. Here’s Monday, 6/20:

The articles and forum threads I’ve been reading about BJJ competition are true: it really does put things into perspective regarding your weaknesses. I went to Grapplers Quest on Saturday, and my experience there made me resolve to step up my game. There’s an upcoming post dedicated to the event (including pictures and videos), once I get a chance to write it. Stay tuned.
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Filed under Escapes, Gi, Log, Side control

June 16, 2011

One Step Closer

Had a feeling this was going to happen, though I’d sort of decided I didn’t want it to happen this week. Maybe that’s the secret: once you decide you don’t want something, you get it. Some variant of Murphy’s Law? I’ve decided: I don’t want to be a billionaire.

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Filed under Escapes, Gi, Log, Media, Mount, Musings, Pictures, Promotions

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June 15, 2011

Got Me Some Swag

In anticipation of the no-gi seminar that was this past Sunday and the tournament coming up on Saturday, I ordered/bought some gear last week. And here it is:

I bought a pair of FightCo grappling shorts for last weekend's no-gi seminar. They got back-ordered.The backside to my new grappling shorts.Renzo Gracie Academy rash guards are functional and very stylish.

I’m really happy with my purchases so far. The shorts I bought off NJFightShop.com, and although they were back-ordered, once they got them in I had them within 1 day! Will definitely order from these guys again.

The rashguard is the white belt top for no-gi at RGA, and I personally think the design is totally badass. It’s also rather comfortable, made of a mesh with small holes that let the sweat out so I end class surprisingly drier than with other rashguards. Now my sweat is my opponent’s problem. Muwahahahaha!

Ok, so now for class yesterday:
Typical warm up. Osoto-gari and hip toss for takedowns. About 20 minutes of King of the Hill. Fun as always, even if I wasn’t doing great. I blame the mouthguard, still not used to that, though it’s getting better 🙂 I started on bottom. Neither my opponent nor I could get an advantage. After playing stalemate for about 5 minutes, the instructor stood us up and put us both at the end of the line. On my next turn I passed guard, which put me on bottom. I got spider guard on my next opponent and went for the sweep, but couldn’t land it and got passed. For my next opponent I almost had his back, but he was much shorter than me so my center of gravity was very high on his back. I got swept and passed.

Technique for the day was the key lock or Americana from across-side position. This was followed by side control training.

After class one of my friends went over the spider guard sweep with me. The trick is to fake my opponent into thinking I’m pushing him away from me. Then when he pushes back at me, I have to use his momentum to roll him over. Got to drill this, I really like this sweep and want to get it right.

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Filed under Gi, Joint locks, Log, Media, Pictures, Side control

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