Month: April 2022
She Kissed Me – Second Night Back -Jiu Jitsu Class
Man, it feels so good to be able to do what I love! This was my second night back since my injury. I helped with the coaching of the kid’s class first and it was packed. There were 16 children there tonight, according to Storm, and you could feel the energy. A lot of new faces tonight too.
The kids were doing F2 tonight, which is:
Guard (pull person close -they posture)
Hip bump sweep
Americana (person defends by using the other arm to pull arm back)
(Soul crush armbar) to
Arm bar
A funny thing happened in class as well. Storm asked all the children to get in a circle and used me as an uke to demonstrate how to get out of mount. When he flipped me over onto the mat, I fell right in front of my daughter, and she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, and everyone laughed. Now, how sweet is that.
For the adult class, we were working on the B Series (Hail Mary’s). Storm showed a few new entries from the shin-on-shin. For instance, switching to the opposite side for the ashi garami if you meet too much resistance. He also showed some variations at the point where we do the Marcelotine such as using the Hindulotine and using varying grips (using the okay grip).
For the positional battles we started off on shin-on-shin and then from bad positions (in turtle with the person having an over under wrap on you). That sucked trying to get out. I also realized I really need to work on my shin-to-shin (using it and defending it). But that is why positional battles are so good. It points out your weaknesses and lets you work on things you never would.
Doing roll time, I rolled with Wes, Solomon and Storm. With Wes I tried working on a Quarter Nelson when the person tries to wrestle up and you have sprawled. I was able to push his head down and connect for the grips, but I forgot what direction I was supposed to spin in and so it only half worked. I’ll keep working on it.
When rolling with Solomon, I tried working my buzzsaw pass, but he has caught onto it (Wes has too) and I couldn’t work my foot placement for entry. At the end of our roll, I tried to jump into a toehold on Solomon from his Z guard and almost immediately regretted it. I usually play a conservative game with him as he has about 40 pounds on me. Let’s just say I won’t try the toehold on Solomon when it places him in a position to slap it on me too.
With Storm, I tried to work on my shin-to-shin entries. I don’t know why I always try new stuff on him. However, at the same time you get to see how it can be shut down and learn what you are doing wrong almost immediately. He told me after our roll that I need to either pull the leg in immediately (like Danaher), lean on the leg (like Sean Applegate) or push on the opposite leg with the free hand (like Firas Zahabi). You can defend it, by leaning in and pressing on the near side hip and then pummeling your leg.
All in all, it was a good session, and my back is feeling good. I need to make sure I keep stretching and massaging it.
Peace!
You can read Bakari’s books: Grappling 101: How to Avoid being Bullied on the Mat, Psychology of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Grappling Games: BJJ & Submission Wrestlers, 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.
It’s Good to be Back (After Two Weeks Off)…
Man, it felt great to be back on the mats again after sitting out for two weeks. I have still been coaching during that time though. That has been helpful as I have had to nurse little aches and pains as of late and serving as a coach for the kid’s class keeps me close to grappling even when I can’t be on the mats.
Last night, I assisted Nel in coaching the Kids’ class as Storm and his daughter couldn’t make it.
After that, Marc came in and coached the adult class. We started off with a wrestling move I asked about that I have been trying to work on (the Fly by). It’s a move where both opponents have collar ties on each other, and one person shucks the other past him. Once this happens you can take the back and get an easy take down.
From there we worked sit-outs, a basic sit, sit out to a submission and a sit out from being slammed from behind. We also worked on funky ankle locks – a last resort ankle lock when the other person has you in ashi garami where you take the toes and place them under your armpit and then heel hook the other person. Following that we had positional battles starting from ashi garami (from standing).
When it was time for rolls, I felt good. I rolled with Richard, Wes and Marc. Richard is relatively new, but is 6ft and 300 lbs. I was worried about wrestling after just returning so I sat down. Mistake! I tried to work a shin on shin entry with a Reverse De la Riva and I couldn’t budge his leg. He ended up passing to my side and I spent the next two minutes framing and shrimping until I could get enough space to get up and get on top. I ended up working my Kesa gatame and holding him down when he escaped and turtled up.
With Wes I continued working on my Andrew Wiltse Buzzsaw pass and of course the Kesa. I also tried to work on my Kimura from topside, but he was able to reverse it and sweep me. We had a couple of transitions and it led to a good roll.
I tried the Buzzsaw pass on Marc too, but landed hard on his stomach and we had to stop for a second. The Buzzsaw pass is quick, so I need to make sure I do it smoothly as Wes kneed me in the head a few weeks ago while I was passing his guard. Anyway, I eventually switched to Kesa on Marc and he quickly flipped me over and worked me over until he was able to get the tap by pressing my nose bone into his body. When I asked him how he did it, he said something to the effect of, “I don’t know. I just knew you were uncomfortable, and I squeezed.”
It was good to be back on the mats!
You can read Bakari’s books: Grappling 101: How to Avoid being Bullied on the Mat, Psychology of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Grappling Games: BJJ & Submission Wrestlers, 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.
Jiu-jitsu 365 