Jiu Jitsu Training Log - January 27th-February 2nd

I'm starting this log to keep track of what techniques I've been learning.  I think this will be helpful because sometimes I try to think back about what I learned at last week's classes and I have trouble remembering.  So, maybe the act of writing it down and thinking about it will help.

Monday: Advanced Class
We started standup with a takedown, using Kouchi Gari to get our opponent to move his leg back and then switching to an Ouchi Gari on his opposite leg (where his weight should be now).  I don't remember anything specific about where I was gripping during this takedown sequence, but I do like the idea of stringing together multiple takedown attempts.

On the ground, we worked several escapes from rear naked chokes with our opponent on our back with his hooks in.  This is a bad position to be in, so it's nice to have some options.  The point I took away from these escapes, is there is always the possibility of escaping from a bad position, even if it's really bad.  As long as you can keep your chin tucked and your hands pulling on the choking arm, you can buy yourself some time to either bridge onto your opponent and start moving to the other side, or to turn into the choke while bringing your knee up to remove the hook.  The important thing is to stay calm:

Wednesday: Advanced Class
Standup was a kind of a variation, I think, on Kouchi Gari.

We started with our opponent with a strong grip on our collar that we can't break.  Then we re-grip on the inside of his grip on his collar, grab our own collar where he's gripping and step back and turn.  Once the grip is broken, we use our grip to move him and get his weight on the same side leg.  Then, we did a deep Kouchi Gari trip with our free arm wrapping around the outside of the same leg we are tripping.  It felt awkward the first couple times I did it.  But, I started to like it the more I did it.  The important thing to remember is to swim your free arm out and around your opponents waist once he starts falling, or he could end up taking your back.

On the ground, we again worked the several escapes from rear naked chokes from Mondays class.  You can never drill too much.  It's good to build up that muscle memory!

Friday: No gi
We started with a takedown using a guillotine and wrapping their chin, then dropping our level and grabbing their ankle with our free hand.  Pretty neat takedown, I think the hardest part will be snapping someone's head down, breaking their posture, so you can get the initial guillotine grip.

On the ground, we worked an arm drag drill for speed.  And then stayed with the arm drag and some sweeps for when your opponent posts on the leg on the side you are arm dragging.  The last variation had us sliding under the posted leg and setting up X guard and then doing a technical stand to a sweep or back take.  Steven made a point about the arm drag, that you really shouldn't be pulling your opponent toward you.  Instead, you should keep the arm tight to your chest and sit up into your opponent as you're scooting your hips out.  That's an important detail, because I was always doing it the other way, almost laying on my back while dragging the arm.

Saturday: GBO Cup III - In House Tournament
I'll have a separate post on my experience at this tournament.  It was pretty fun, I only had one match though and lost by an advantage point.  But, overall, it was a great experience and I had a great day with my brothers and sisters from GBO Oviedo.