BJJ Class 124
Skipped my mid-week training session to finish up my last requirements for the fall term at school. Finally the term is done and school is over for the year. Now I can fully enjoy my unemployment!!
Today’s class was no-gi. I arrived early and managed to stretch my shoulder a bit, which is good as it’s still hurting from the training a few weeks back. Class started with a bunch of grappling specific stretches and warm-ups, then we paired off to do the single-leg underhook guard pass shrimp defense. Technique was following up the defense with an arm-drag to get the back.
Afterwards was pass the open guard rolling, with both partners taking turns passing guard and playing defense, sweeping, and looking for submissions. There was two sets of those then a long round of regular rolling.
What I did right:
I figured that I shouldn’t keep trying to go for the “control both legs together” pass and I can use it to setup underhooks to pass another way. I wasn’t successful with the legs together pass, but I managed to pass whenever I switched to get an underhook and either stacked or pinned the leg close to me and thus control the hips. So that’s good. When playing bottom I think I played a good active open guard and got comments on how my hips and legs were active and how my knee always managed to sneak in to get half or full guard. I also kept looking for sweeps. In the bottom I did a good job of pummeling my arms in for defense.
What I did wrong:
I tried for a sub from guard and immediately got passed. That is definitely a big weakness of mine. I managed to isolate a single leg a few times for a knee bar and a heel hook. I didn’t do the subs but I should definitely work on those especially since I saw and managed to take advantage of those openings. Whenever I setup the legs together pass, I would keep going for it even if I’m unable to proceed with it, I should just transition to another pass technique. When doing the regular roll, I didn’t focus on working on my pass techniques too much, and worked off my back more. Focus man, I should work on my goals, not avoid them. I also didn’t get to roll with anyone heavier than me. There was only one of them, but there wasn’t enough rolling time to allow it.
During the regular roll, I was going for a half-guard sweep and had my hand under my opponents thigh and started to push up on it to roll him over. He switched his base and pushed down on the leg, which managed to pull my pinky all the way over backwards causing me to scream and tap. It was shaking at first and it feels stiff now. Taped it together and continued rolling. I didn’t feel so great after that and I played a passive bottom game afterwards. I felt a bit light headed when we restarted the roll, but I think it was just me wanting to stop and rest some more.
Anyway, class was good overall and I learned something about my passing game. So, cool!!
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