For Saturday, June 4th:
Finally got a chance to take a Saturday class. It was rough, waking up at 9:00AM on the weekend to make the 10:45AM class. I’m not a morning person at all. But let me tell you, waking up early for this class: 110% worth it.
Turns out the white belt class gets the big mat room on Saturdays. I was surprised by this, but I was even more surprised when I saw over 25 white belts show up for the class. Most of the classes I take during the week have at most around 20 students, usually more like 10-15. So it made sense that we got the big room.
The warm-up was as usual, though now with plenty of more space I was able to run faster. Takedown drilling involved the single-arm hip toss. My partner was quite tall, at least 6′ 4″, so I got to practice my throws from a standpoint I don’t often get to work on. Following this the instructor demonstrated a double attack from guard.
Normally when you have guard (at least at my level), your opponent will use a hand on your chest, holding both lapels closed, to help stabilize her posture. Let’s say the opponent is using her right hand in this example. Using both hands on the cuff, quickly pull the hand up, and then across your body. With your right hand on her wrist, use the left to open the lapel, then slip your right hand inside. As usual, grip the collar as deep as possible. Your hand should be palm up, four finger inside the gi, thumb outside. With the left hand, cup the elbow of her right arm to keep her posture down. From here, place your left foot on her hip and turn your body so your head slides counter-clockwise, towards her left knee. At the same time, swing your right leg up and across her back, to help pin her down. Use your left hand to get a tight grip on the material of the gi over her left shoulder. From here you have the two options of the double attack:
- Twist back so that you are in front of your opponent. Pull down with your arms, keeping your elbows in tight, to apply the collar choke.
- Using the forearm or hand of the left arm, push your opponent’s head away from you as you swing your left leg around to lock in an armbar on her right arm.
This technique lead to guard-specific training, followed by side control training. I got swept a couple of times when I was inside guard, but I also landed a triangle when I had guard, and a breadcutter choke when I had top side control.
After class was over the submission grappling class got control of the large mat. Fortunately the two smaller mat rooms were free, so some of the white belts went in there to train. I stopped to say hello to Prof. Codella, a Renzo Gracie 2nd degree black belt and owner of Codella Academy, a BJJ school on Staten Island. I’ll be stopping by there next week for a no-gi seminar being taught by the renowned Prof. John Danaher (Georges St-Pierre’s wrestling coach). I then went to join the students for another hour of training, which involved some free rolling and a few technique tips. One technique I would really like to incorporate into my game is a new armbar approach from side mount:
Beginning in side mount, switch your hips to isolate the arm. Wrap your upper arm around the same-side arm, which you will attack. Step your top leg over your partner’s head, keeping it close so he does not have space to more. Post your lower hand tight against your opponent’s opposite hip, leaving no space for movement. Twist your hips back and slide your lower knee up, getting your shin across your opponent’s body. Your ankle should be buried in your opponent’s same-side armpit. Keep everything tight. Sit back in a controlled manner to apply the armbar.
Weight after class and open mat time: 188.4 lbs. With my weight goal achieved, I now need to start worrying about maintaining this weight and not dropping too much further. The idea is to be near the top of my weight division.