I just got back from class and man do I have to blog about this day! Fun, fun, fun! I rolled with about 6 of my teammates about 2 rolls per person for approximately 3 minutes a match (were preparing for a tournament 2 weeks away) and I've got to say each one was really exciting in it's own way. Nothing but scrambles, transitions, reversals, and submissions! And did I mention sweeps!!
The class starts with our instructor Steve Del Castillo getting us started with a bit of a warm-up. We jogged for a while till he noticed some of my teammates were slacking off. (I won't name names!) So he decided to just jump straight into the rolling. I was pumped to skip the warm ups today since I had eaten a chicken sandwich a few minutes earlier and I could feel that it was not agreeing with me. Not my best decision, but I blame the establishment. They should know better than to build a Carl's Jr. right down the street from the gym! Any-who he went into an explanation of the importance of keeping score. Apparently last year a couple of his students didn't know how to keep score and lost because of that (don't know why the judges didn't keep score 0_0). So he aims to change that this time around. We drilled self point keeping in case of that same situation happening again.
The class starts with our instructor Steve Del Castillo getting us started with a bit of a warm-up. We jogged for a while till he noticed some of my teammates were slacking off. (I won't name names!) So he decided to just jump straight into the rolling. I was pumped to skip the warm ups today since I had eaten a chicken sandwich a few minutes earlier and I could feel that it was not agreeing with me. Not my best decision, but I blame the establishment. They should know better than to build a Carl's Jr. right down the street from the gym! Any-who he went into an explanation of the importance of keeping score. Apparently last year a couple of his students didn't know how to keep score and lost because of that (don't know why the judges didn't keep score 0_0). So he aims to change that this time around. We drilled self point keeping in case of that same situation happening again.
2pts-
3pts-
4pts-
- Take downs
- Sweeps
- Knee On Belly
3pts-
- Passing The Guard
4pts-
- Mount
- Taking The Back
Now that were all up to speed let me explain what happened already before I start giggling like a school girl from excitement again.
My first roll was with a friend of mine named Ryan. So we started off a little slow as we always do. I got a deep bite on his collar and managed to get control of his sleeve. We roll often so he knew that I was going to pull guard so instead I went with the half guard (need to practice this position) from there I kept control of his right sleeve, then shot my right arm and under hooked his left leg, and from there I worked a little jitz magic and got the sweep. I kept my shin on his leg because I didn't want to get tied up in his half guard. Keeping heavy in side control I went to knee on belly, then mount from there. I wanted to get him with a cross collar choke but he defended well and kept me uncomfortable with a bit of his patented thrashing so I hooked my feet under his hips to keep me in place and decided to bait him with an Ezekiel choke (which is probably my worst submission in my arsenal). As he brought his right arm to defend his neck I got a grip on his sleeve and whipped on an arm-bar for the tap (reminder: buy cup!). We reset on our knees and I tell myself that I need to work on my double leg but good ol' habits are hard to break haha I end up pulling guard. He see's it coming and goes to stand but I get a grip on his collar and get him down into my butterfly guard, and as he put it "No, your not flipping me over this time!"and he was right lol I went for the sweep and he defended it well so I opted to dump him to his side instead of the usual over the top toss. We had a mad scramble for the top position and i end up in side control as Castillo sounds the end of the match. I'm feeling surprisingly fresh after that roll so maybe I should eat chicken sandwiches more often!
Next up was a guy I'd seen around but never talked to. His name was Danny, and he had a very nice, slightly faded black Koral, which I find awesome. Something about a faded gi that makes you feel grizzled and tough. I was officially jealous! So we start off with us clinching up and bumping heads a bit, I think he wanted to shoot which was fine with me since I was aiming to pull guard...again (REALLY gotta work on my double). He's looking to pass but I keep my hand on his knee to prevent it. Eventually he get's into my half-guard and works to pass. I feel his weight shift slightly to my left and use the momentum to flip him over and into his half-guard. We pause for a little verbal exchange "Danny: nice, Me: Thanks" From there I'd like to say it was a systematical breakdown of his defenses but alas it didn't work out that way. As I get past his half-guard he creates space with his hands and shucks his hips out so I can't reach them. I try to at least get him to turtle up on me but he's a quick little bugger and he manages to get up to his feet. Right on cue coach blows the whistle and it's the end of that round. Let's see if I'm counting right I got a sweep (+2) and i passed the guard but not long enough to gain the points so I won that one 2-0. He was nice enough to give me some instruction on a certain technique he uses that he learned from his wrestling days. Something about keeping your opponent uncomfortable by driving your head into there temple while your clinched up (so that's what he was doing..ouch) I'll be sure to try that out. Thanks for the heads up Danny!
My next roll was with a guy iv rolled with a couple of times yet i still haven't exchanged pleasantries with him so we will call him Mr. X for now. Before we started I just had to give him props on his choice of gi. He was wearing a blue Padilla & Son's gold weave! That has been on my hit list for several months now, in black of course. Anyway the roll. He's a big guy so I didn't want to play in my guard with him but i knew that he had a great double leg. So instead of letting him set the pace I took control of the situation. I pulled guard and worked for a scissor sweep, he defended and stepped his left leg over my right intending to pass but getting caught in my half guard (ending up in HG a lot today). Like before I got control of his sleeve and shot my arm under and hooked his ankle, planted my foot, and torqued my body left, using my left foot as a lever to get him over my shoulder and onto his back (can you tell I'm trying to practice this sweep lol) From there I managed to mount him and began working for an Ezekiel choke when I noticed he kept bringing his arm up to defend it so i stuck my head under his armpit and locked my arm that was under his head to my bicep, but before i could jump into side control he bridged and rolled me over and into his guard. This happened last time I tried this technique on him but this time I was a little better prepared. I kept it locked in and used my hips and feet to turn myself like a clock until he tapped. We slapped hands and went for a water break as Castillo calls time. Another fun roll with another nice teammate, with another great gi (I'm a gi whore BTW).
To shorten this up I'll skip to my favorite roll of the day. This one was with a teammate named Ivan. Another big guy that I roll with often who always manages to get me winded haha. He's a pretty technical guy who has a very heavy top game and I believe were developing a friendly rivalry, with us tied so far in wins and loses with each other. Good guy, who's always looking to give out a tip or two, much respect to him. Any who, we begin with Ivan shooting for a take down. I grab hold of his lapel and get him in my guard. He gets his elbows deep into my legs working hard to break my guard. This usually doesn't work on me since id like to think that iv got pretty strong legs =p but it opens momentarily and I try take advantage of an opening i see. I shoot my leg through the pocket between his head and should and lock up his shoulder. He postures up to avoid my triangle and instead I switch my hips and kick my leg over his head and try with the arm-bar. He defends perfectly, wedging his hand between my leg and his arm, and eventually gets his arm out of danger. Instead I try to be sneaky by trying for the triangle again but he's privy to my attempt and we end up in the guard again. I believe he was trying to break my guard again but as he did so I chose that time to hit him with a sloppy scissor sweep which of course failed but I used it to at least get him off balance which eventually lead to me sweeping him and mounting. We were both pretty tired at this point (you could hear us gasping for air from across the room lol) but being the tough white belts that we are we continued on. I wanted the arm bar but he kept threatening to sweep me if I lifted my hips even slightly. He reached down and under hooked my leg which i liked because i was practicing the triangle from the mount and i was hoping to get it. Sadly as i tried for it i felt him turn into me and almost escape my mount so instead I based out and switched my hips around (iv gotta admit, it felt pretty cool doing it) and got into side control for a moment until he went to hip escape I believe. Using a bit of athleticism i got around him and took his back. I was GASSED by now, and struggling to hold the position, i even made the mistake of crossing my ankles at one point. A big NO NO as he tried for the ankle lock but i managed to slip it out and uncross them, lucky me. Let me tell you know, just because someone's big doesn't mean they are easy to hold on to. He was slippery and eventually worked out of my back control and into my guard which he then passed and into my half guard he went. From here on it became a battle of attrition. With him trying to get his foot out of my control and working for chokes, while i worked to keep his foot stuck in there, defended his attempts to choke me, and tried to get the sweep id done all day lol Doesn't get any better than this! The round ended and I was a bit disappointed that i gassed at the end there, but a friend of mine pointed out that if i had been keeping track of the score in that match that i would have noticed that i had swept him (+2) Mounted him (+4) and had his back (+4) which meant I had won (10-2). Cool.
And of course Ivan was a good spirited after that great role while we chatted a bit about the competition coming up (ill post something up about that soon)
My first roll was with a friend of mine named Ryan. So we started off a little slow as we always do. I got a deep bite on his collar and managed to get control of his sleeve. We roll often so he knew that I was going to pull guard so instead I went with the half guard (need to practice this position) from there I kept control of his right sleeve, then shot my right arm and under hooked his left leg, and from there I worked a little jitz magic and got the sweep. I kept my shin on his leg because I didn't want to get tied up in his half guard. Keeping heavy in side control I went to knee on belly, then mount from there. I wanted to get him with a cross collar choke but he defended well and kept me uncomfortable with a bit of his patented thrashing so I hooked my feet under his hips to keep me in place and decided to bait him with an Ezekiel choke (which is probably my worst submission in my arsenal). As he brought his right arm to defend his neck I got a grip on his sleeve and whipped on an arm-bar for the tap (reminder: buy cup!). We reset on our knees and I tell myself that I need to work on my double leg but good ol' habits are hard to break haha I end up pulling guard. He see's it coming and goes to stand but I get a grip on his collar and get him down into my butterfly guard, and as he put it "No, your not flipping me over this time!"and he was right lol I went for the sweep and he defended it well so I opted to dump him to his side instead of the usual over the top toss. We had a mad scramble for the top position and i end up in side control as Castillo sounds the end of the match. I'm feeling surprisingly fresh after that roll so maybe I should eat chicken sandwiches more often!
Next up was a guy I'd seen around but never talked to. His name was Danny, and he had a very nice, slightly faded black Koral, which I find awesome. Something about a faded gi that makes you feel grizzled and tough. I was officially jealous! So we start off with us clinching up and bumping heads a bit, I think he wanted to shoot which was fine with me since I was aiming to pull guard...again (REALLY gotta work on my double). He's looking to pass but I keep my hand on his knee to prevent it. Eventually he get's into my half-guard and works to pass. I feel his weight shift slightly to my left and use the momentum to flip him over and into his half-guard. We pause for a little verbal exchange "Danny: nice, Me: Thanks" From there I'd like to say it was a systematical breakdown of his defenses but alas it didn't work out that way. As I get past his half-guard he creates space with his hands and shucks his hips out so I can't reach them. I try to at least get him to turtle up on me but he's a quick little bugger and he manages to get up to his feet. Right on cue coach blows the whistle and it's the end of that round. Let's see if I'm counting right I got a sweep (+2) and i passed the guard but not long enough to gain the points so I won that one 2-0. He was nice enough to give me some instruction on a certain technique he uses that he learned from his wrestling days. Something about keeping your opponent uncomfortable by driving your head into there temple while your clinched up (so that's what he was doing..ouch) I'll be sure to try that out. Thanks for the heads up Danny!
My next roll was with a guy iv rolled with a couple of times yet i still haven't exchanged pleasantries with him so we will call him Mr. X for now. Before we started I just had to give him props on his choice of gi. He was wearing a blue Padilla & Son's gold weave! That has been on my hit list for several months now, in black of course. Anyway the roll. He's a big guy so I didn't want to play in my guard with him but i knew that he had a great double leg. So instead of letting him set the pace I took control of the situation. I pulled guard and worked for a scissor sweep, he defended and stepped his left leg over my right intending to pass but getting caught in my half guard (ending up in HG a lot today). Like before I got control of his sleeve and shot my arm under and hooked his ankle, planted my foot, and torqued my body left, using my left foot as a lever to get him over my shoulder and onto his back (can you tell I'm trying to practice this sweep lol) From there I managed to mount him and began working for an Ezekiel choke when I noticed he kept bringing his arm up to defend it so i stuck my head under his armpit and locked my arm that was under his head to my bicep, but before i could jump into side control he bridged and rolled me over and into his guard. This happened last time I tried this technique on him but this time I was a little better prepared. I kept it locked in and used my hips and feet to turn myself like a clock until he tapped. We slapped hands and went for a water break as Castillo calls time. Another fun roll with another nice teammate, with another great gi (I'm a gi whore BTW).
To shorten this up I'll skip to my favorite roll of the day. This one was with a teammate named Ivan. Another big guy that I roll with often who always manages to get me winded haha. He's a pretty technical guy who has a very heavy top game and I believe were developing a friendly rivalry, with us tied so far in wins and loses with each other. Good guy, who's always looking to give out a tip or two, much respect to him. Any who, we begin with Ivan shooting for a take down. I grab hold of his lapel and get him in my guard. He gets his elbows deep into my legs working hard to break my guard. This usually doesn't work on me since id like to think that iv got pretty strong legs =p but it opens momentarily and I try take advantage of an opening i see. I shoot my leg through the pocket between his head and should and lock up his shoulder. He postures up to avoid my triangle and instead I switch my hips and kick my leg over his head and try with the arm-bar. He defends perfectly, wedging his hand between my leg and his arm, and eventually gets his arm out of danger. Instead I try to be sneaky by trying for the triangle again but he's privy to my attempt and we end up in the guard again. I believe he was trying to break my guard again but as he did so I chose that time to hit him with a sloppy scissor sweep which of course failed but I used it to at least get him off balance which eventually lead to me sweeping him and mounting. We were both pretty tired at this point (you could hear us gasping for air from across the room lol) but being the tough white belts that we are we continued on. I wanted the arm bar but he kept threatening to sweep me if I lifted my hips even slightly. He reached down and under hooked my leg which i liked because i was practicing the triangle from the mount and i was hoping to get it. Sadly as i tried for it i felt him turn into me and almost escape my mount so instead I based out and switched my hips around (iv gotta admit, it felt pretty cool doing it) and got into side control for a moment until he went to hip escape I believe. Using a bit of athleticism i got around him and took his back. I was GASSED by now, and struggling to hold the position, i even made the mistake of crossing my ankles at one point. A big NO NO as he tried for the ankle lock but i managed to slip it out and uncross them, lucky me. Let me tell you know, just because someone's big doesn't mean they are easy to hold on to. He was slippery and eventually worked out of my back control and into my guard which he then passed and into my half guard he went. From here on it became a battle of attrition. With him trying to get his foot out of my control and working for chokes, while i worked to keep his foot stuck in there, defended his attempts to choke me, and tried to get the sweep id done all day lol Doesn't get any better than this! The round ended and I was a bit disappointed that i gassed at the end there, but a friend of mine pointed out that if i had been keeping track of the score in that match that i would have noticed that i had swept him (+2) Mounted him (+4) and had his back (+4) which meant I had won (10-2). Cool.
And of course Ivan was a good spirited after that great role while we chatted a bit about the competition coming up (ill post something up about that soon)
No comments:
Post a Comment