Putting in Work! (Summertime Jiu-jitsu)

I’ve been quietly ‘putting in work’ at my academy. It’s summertime and I don’t teach at the college during the summer, so I’m averaging three times a week. I am really enjoying being able to go as much as I have.

Today, we worked on half guard escapes, sweeps and submissions. It felt like a mini-seminar and I liked the way Prof taught the class. There were not that many black and brown belts today so when the professor left class I ended up being the senior student. I ran rounds and kept an eye out to make sure every one stayed calm.

There was a relative new guy today and so I tried to keep an eye on him. I rolled with him first and asked him to roll at 50 percent. In my roll with him I pulled guard and and he leaned into my chest. I pushed him to the side and put him in a head and arm triangle and he said, “Hey, that’s not 50 percent. You’re strong.” When I pushed him to the side I did it slowly and barely used strength, but I went ahead and let him go. When I say 50 percent I usually mean speed, as I try not to use strength. Yet, I can see how he could see it differently. He stayed calm until I swept him and put him in side control. That’s when he started ‘bucking.’ I had to start using a clamp defense so he wouldn’t hurt me or hurt himself. Finally, I just slowed it down and started to give pointers so he wouldn’t go ballistic from being controlled.

I also had a roll with Jeff. Jeff is about 6’3 or 6’4 and 250 pounds and he is solid. As a White belt he was easy to control, but now that he is a Blue belt controlling him is a chore. I can no longer trade positions with him because when he gets in mount it feels like a truck is on my chest. When I had him in mount, today, he just grabbed me and rolled me over even though I had him grape-vined. Holy Sh@$! I shrimped and made space and then swept him. After that I held him in side control where I could be safe until the buzzer sounded. Whatever!

Everything else was pretty uneventful.

Until next time!

Check out my grappling books on Amazon: Tapmonster: Ideas about Grappling for BJJ and Submission Wrestlers, Grappling for Newbies, 20 Ways to Increase Grappling Skills off the Mat, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Grappling and much more.

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