Passing the Guard

Last night Ben and Mario made us do some pretty funny warm up drills. In one, we had to jump into guard on a partner who was standing up and climb all the way around to their back and then to the front again, only breaking guard for a few moments to shift out hips. They also made us do sit-ups hanging from guard while the other person balanced our weigt.

It ended up coming in handy for the position we worked on. It was a guard pass that involves standing up and actually picking someone up off the ground, kind of sitting on an invisible chair and using their weight as a balance. Then you break the guard and pass.

We worked a couple variations of that pass, to be used depending on the situation. I like that about the positions we learn. We usually only work one type of position, but cover several variations of it. It's easier for me to remember and it makes me think about the types of grappling situations in which I would actually use them.

Grappling went fairly well. Went against two pretty good guys and I was on defense most of the time. With the first guy, I was happy that he only passed my half guard once. And, as has been my goal, I was able to get out from under him and back to a neutral position several times. I didn't try many submissions except for a few triangles that I couldn't finish. But then again he didn't submit me either so I must have been doing something right.

The second guy was a different story. I had a much harder time keeping him from passing my guard. In fact, he was trying to help me and to make me pass his guard (from starting out) over and over again, and I got frustrated because I wasn't passing effectively at all. I think I've gotten too reliant on my one pass. I need to branch out and try other pass techniques.

Good night, but I think I'm going to take a day to rest. My body is feeling worn down and beat up.

Fabio

I got to roll with Fabio tonight for the first time since I've started coming to his school. There is only one word to describe how he grapples: effortless. Everything he does is smooth, nothing is forced. He just goes with whatever I do and reacts.

Ben always says Jiu-jitsu is like a chess match and with Fabio I can really see it. Every move I make, he gets the most advantageous position, moving me into a more disadvantaged position until I am in a submission. It was really cool.

We worked on more half guard sweeps, focusing mainly on making space in order to get in position to do the sweeps. But after class, he took aside me, Steph, Jen and a younger girl named Haleigh and taught us a sweep to get out of mount when a guy is holding down both of our wrists. The sweep also leads conveniently into a heel hook. Very helpful.

Rolling tonight wasn't that eventful. I went with all smaller or newer girls (we've had a lot showing up lately). I did get to roll with Jen, which is always a good, solid learning experience. But I've noticed the last few classes, I keep getting put with the small girls and I basically let them work submissions while I work defense.
I know that is what all the higher belts do for me and I actually enjoy helping the new girls learn what little I have to show them, but I left wishing I had gotten one or two good, challenging rolls, you know? I also wonder if Fabio is putting me with them because he thinks I can't handle the guys. Don't know the answer to that one.

Anyway, good class. Now I'm tired and disgusting. Shower then bed. :)

House of Pain!

A word of advice: Any time a Marine tells you that he's planning to put your BJJ class through the "House of Pain", take him at his word.

This past Saturday, when I came into class, the whole atmosphere was different. Neither of our instructors wore their gis. And Mario, who is normally soft spoken and friendly, was in Marine mode. He was all business.

I smelled something burning. When I asked Mario, what it was he smiled and said, "It's the heater." We live in Florida and, even though it's October, there has been no heater-worthy weather yet this year. It wasn't until my other instructor, Ben, told Mario to turn it up a little higher that I realized why.

House of Pain.

They had stations set up all around the room with a boxing ring taped into the middle of the mat. Mario went over the few strikes that we know: lead hand jabs, rear hand punches, upper cuts, hooks, etc. Then he explained we would be going through the circuit and taking turns boxing in the center for two minutes each against him. There would be no head shots, only body shots, and we would be wearing gloves and protective gear. The House of Pain would go until everyone had been through the whole circuit and had their two minutes against Mario OR until someone hit Mario hard enough to end the House of Pain. If anyone at any of the stations got caught flaking out on their assigned station, 30 seconds would be added onto the clock for the guy in the middle and everyone else on the circuits.

Everyone was intimidated. Mario isn't a big guy, but he is definitely tough. Especially when he has his game face on.

They turned off most of the lights and then we started. I was surprised that Mario was yelling at the people in the ring. "Come on, Fighter! Hit me! Come on!" I got to see most of my team mates go before I did. Mario was obviously not going all out, but he was still taking shots. I think everyone got the wind popped out of them at least once.

My turn was no different. I wanted to give it all I had, so I came out aggressive. It was my first experience with this sort of thing and it was weird to have Mario yelling at me and punching me. Once, he popped me hard right in the gut. Boom. Couldn't breath. Mario's yelling at me. "Can you keep fighting, fighter? Can you fight?" As soon as I said yes, the fight started again.

I was both surprised and disappointed by how fast I got winded. We only went for 2 minutes. By by the end of the first minute, I was gassed. It gives me a new appreciation for boxers! Not only did I get winded fast, but all the technique Mario taught us about punching went right out the window. I was trying to think about what I was doing, but everything was going so fast. That's what practice and muscle memory are for, I guess!

After everyone had gone through, Mario turned the lights and the AC on (that you Lord) and had us all sit down. He read us a story about a Marine who led men throughout the night defending an area against an enemy attack, despite several serious injuries to himself. The guy went on fighting even after he was tired because he knew his own life and the lives of him men would be ended if he quit. He also reminded us that we are a team. Everyone who trains together should be working to help each other, not competing against one another.

After that, we worked 3 similar sweeps to use when someone stands up, holding onto your legs. I don't remember if there's a specific name for when someone does that. ;) Then we grappled. Because of the House of Pain, we only got two grapples in, but I was happy with how they went.

Safe to say I was exhausted by the end of the class.

Since When Did I Start Wanting to be Heavy?

We only worked one technique tonight: a half-guard pass to side control tonight. A lot of it hinges on driving your weigh forward and keeping it on the person while you perform the pass. This whole keeping-my-weight on people has been a challenge for me.

I guess it's my instinct not to want to keep my body plastered onto someone or to put my full weight onto them, but that is exactly what I have to do. I've been striving to learn to keep all my holds tight and to keep my body weight driving into the other person the whole time. Still, my instructors are constantly having to tell me, "Keep you hips low," or "Don't rest on your elbows," etc, etc.

Still, tonight I got a compliment after a grapple that made me laugh. "Hey, you were really heavy on me that time." If anyone said that to me outside of Jiu-jitsu, I'd probably cry. But I was really happy to hear that I made someone uncomfortable with my body weight. Haha! It's funny to me how Jiu-jitsu is changing the way I think about my body. I no longer want to be stick thin. I want to be strong and in shape. No, I don't want to be mannish. But I want to be lean and strong.

After working on the guard pass, we spent the entire rest of class grappling. Fabio had us going for 7 minutes each grapple and I was happy to find that I wasn't terribly winded at the end of each one. Of course, I went with several high belts who were trying to help me, so I wasn't going all out. They were trying to help me learn to transition between submissions. "You lost the arm bar, go for the triangle. Now transition to the uma plata." I'm still really slow at seeing the transitions. I think I broadcast what I'm about to do hours before I actually do it. ;)

One small victory tonight was that I did see a transition during a grapple that I usually miss. I was going to an arm bar they did a gable grip and so I tried to do a wrist lock. I was surprised that it actually worked!

Overall, good night tonight. Can't wait to do it again tomorrow morning!

Feeling a Little Smothered.

I grappled a guy yesterday afternoon who was relatively new to BJJ (I think. I have no idea how long he's been training) and who just locked me up and tried to beat me up with his weight the whole time while were grappling. He wasn't getting any submissions because either he didn't know how or wasn't trying to. And the positions he was locking me up in weren't working towards submissions either. Whichever way I moved, he just latched onto me and slammed his body down on top of me. If we were being scored, he probably would have won because of the fact that he was in a dominant position most of the time. Though I was able to keep him from passing my guard until the last few minutes. I kept catching him in half guard, but for some reason I couldn't sweep him and eventually he busted through my half guard and got in side control, where he remained for the rest of the grapple.

The thing that frustrated me so much was that I lost control of my emotions while I was grappling. He was being rough, but I should have been able to handle it. At one point I almost started crying. I kept telling myself not to freak out, to relax and just think. He had me locked up, but apart from slamming his body weight into me, he wasn't actually hurting me. I felt like I couldn't move under that guy's weight. He was pinning me down and locking me up and I knew I needed to sweep him, but I felt like I couldn't move. I guess I was so worked up and frustrated that my game went down the crapper.

On the upside, I did well in my other grapples. Though, I was still on defense the vast majority of the time since I went against almost all higher belts. That doesn't bother me. I expect to be on defense against higher belts. What bothered me so much was that I lost my cool, you know?

Oh well. I'm sure I'll have another chance to grapple that guy and next time, I'm going to relax and let him tire himself out locking me up. I just need to stay cool and look for an opportunity to sweep or hip out.

It was really frustrating.

Dropping Weight

So, NAGA is fast approaching and I'm trying to make some decisions. Right now, I weight around 138-139, depending on the day. As it stands right now, I will be at the very bottom of the middle weight class (135lbs and above). The next weight class is only 3-4 pounds away. 5 to be on the safe side. The question is, should I bust my butt to lose another 5 pounds? OR should I not worry about that?

Class last night was awesome. We worked mainly on sweeps from half guard. I was able to use one in a grapple, but I need to be looking for them more. I'm way to comfortable being on the bottom, working from guard. I'll keep working!

Today, I have two classes, one in the afternoon and one tonight. I'm wondering if I might be training too much. Lately, I've been going to four classes a week, plus grappling outside of class with friends at my house. I'm loving every minute of it and I don't feel sore or injured. But I do kind of feel like I have trouble remembering all the different techniques I learn during the week. The steady grappling is really helpful, though.

Also, I found out there is another small competition coming up on the 5th of November in my area. It's a small name competition, but I'm considering competing. It would be a way to get my feet wet and maybe get some practice in for NAGA. Only thing is, I'm worried I could get myself injured in this small competition and then miss NAGA. And that would be really frustrating.

Decisions, decisions. :)

Going Mental

I had a great afternoon today. Fabio has a Thursday afternoon class and it's usually much smaller than the evening classes. Today, only myself and one other guy showed up. So I basically got a private with Fabio. Which is pretty much awesome.

We worked a lot of stuff--armbars from about every position imaginable, mount escapes, taking the back from half guard--but the most helpful thing that I am taking away from today's lesson is that I roll so much better when I'm not worrying about how good or bad I am doing. If I just relax and move and focus on what I am doing and stop thinking about what everyone else is thinking, things go so much easier!

Things are coming along. It's slow progress, but steady, I think. :)