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.
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