15 months July 3, 2009
Posted by leslie in Ramblings.add a comment
Fifteen months of BJJ today.
I’ve been playing around with my blog, as usual. The Blogroll page is updated. I updated the blog bundle; right-click the the OPML file link and click a “save” option to download it as an XML file. 119 blogs!
I also added a Women Resources page to hold links for blogs, interviews, etc. by and for women.
(Amusingly enough, I am currently listening to “Frontline” by Pillar as I publish this one, too.)
Frontline (Pillar) July 2, 2009
Posted by leslie in Training Log.Tags: armbar, bump sweep, guillotine, nogi, pass, RNC, sweep, triangle
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Can’t think of a post title. So that ^^ is what I’m listening to right now.
Move of the Week: Double-under guard pass
Small class. Me, Justin, Mark, Yoshi, and Guillaume and three other new guys.
Rolling to warm up. Started with Mark. (Rolled with him again later, in the same spot, and as usual I’m getting them mixed up.) He had a couple of armbars and a kimura, I think. At some point I did slide around to his back with him facedown. Couldn’t finish the RNC because he pulled my arms off and tucked his chin down and put his forehead on the mat. Finally postured up a little to give him space; he came up to try to turn in, but that gave me room to slide the arm in and catch the RNC. He said after that that he really wanted to catch a triangle; he hadn’t caught one in several months. He tried next to get it on me and nearly had it — I would have had to tap soon — but then time was called.
Next with Guillaume. Again he went right for the wrestler’s squeeze that Renzo showed a defense for, and again I used that technique — though ridiculously slowly and with lots of extraneous movement — and got the reverse armbar. Had trouble finishing it. You’re supposed to come over their arm with your top arm, above the elbow, and pull down, but I couldn’t seem to get that; switched to the bottom arm over and pulling with the top one. That finally got it. Grr. Need to work the positioning on that one. Had a few sweeps. I love when sweeps work properly — the guy gets suddenly insanely light, and you can sail him right over. From mount once, worked on isolating an arm for a while (his defense is getting better); finally got the arm and locked up the armbar. From inside my guard later, he swept himself to under mount and ended with one arm in and one arm out. Once I figured out which was where, I had the triangle locked. Pointed out what he’d done after.
Drilling. Double-under pass first. Then north/south kimura. Caught a tip from Justin: instead of worrying about pinching your knees in (which is what I’ve been doing, and where I’ve felt like I wasn’t heavy enough or would get swept easily), instead get their arm positioned and then come up high enough that their head is catching under your hips. Then finish.
Next roll with Yoshi. Had a few sweeps. Caught a few guillotines, but couldn’t finish them. I think they weren’t deep enough to start with. He was trying the guillotine defense from awhile back, but his shoulder was on my shoulder instead of in my chin/throat. The first one, I held for a while. Finally decided to just move on since I obviously wasn’t going to finish it, but first took one more shot at it. Right as I did, he finally got his shoulder in my throat; opened the guard and let him out. He said that whatever I’d done right there at the end had been tight, and I pointed out that his shoulder placement that had let me stay there. The next caught guillotine (I wasn’t looking for them; he was just sticking his neck out), he had the defense quicker.
Second roll with Mark. He went for an armbar, but I got both my knees up between his legs, curling up like a cannonball. He couldn’t get his other leg over my head; while he was trying, I slid one leg over his further leg and slid up and over to side control. He said, “What pass was that?” I said, “I dunno; I made it up.” Soon after, he had an attempt at a north/south kimura that ended with both of us rolling. My arm got quickly twisted around in an unexpected direction during that scramble; my shoulder felt like it was going to rip right out. Had to verbally tap, loudly and quickly, so it was more of yelp. (Saw all the other guys stop and look.) Was okay; it was just fast and painful. He felt bad, so he didn’t go for anything after that and just let me work off side control. He let me work the Big Poppa/Jeff Monson choke (Justin was working it on him before class), and then I caught the anaconda choke that Renzo showed. He sat up and said, “What was that?! Show me!”
Just remembered: Before class, I was talking to the new kid that Nick and I drilled with last night. He also did Perry’s kickboxing class last night. He said he was sore from classes last night and could hardly move his arms this morning. Somehow we got to talking about the warmups, and I said that often when we have arrogant new guys (which he was not, btw) that the warmup is evil until one of the new guys pukes. He asked how I would rate the warmup from last night, and I said that it was really light. He said that he was in trouble, then, because it had kicked his butt.
He’ll only get to train with us for about another month before high-school football starts; he’s using us to stay in shape for football. After tonight, though, he was saying that, after football, he wants to give up basketball (he only plays because he’s so tall) and come back here to train. If he doesn’t get in to college for football (which apparently is actually a good possibility), then he says he wants to train BJJ. It’s so easy to get hooked, isn’t it? Some of his family & family friends have their kids in the TKD class, and they got him to come over and sign up.
Someone googled “bjj frustration” and found me today. Darlin’, you’re in the right place. We have lots of frustration running around here. The bad news is, you’re going to get frustrated. The good news is, it’s normal. Not that that makes it much better or any easier to plow through.
Of the four pictures I put up last week, the one that’s gotten the most hits has been Bob Gracie’s. And I hear the as-yet-unasked comment: I’ve never heard of a Bob Gracie…
Bob’s name is really Bob, but he isn’t a biological Gracie; his last name is something entirely different. He’s not even Brazilian, but rather a good ol’ Virginia country boy. But Renzo gave him the nickname “Bob Gracie” many years ago — I still don’t know the story — and it stuck. (And has perpetuated and grown — and most people meeting him think he actually is a Gracie… and then give him a few sideways looks.) He used to live up here and got his blue belt with Tim.
A funny moment from Karate College that Clifton and Nick mentioned last night at the cookout: They had been watching Renzo’s seminar from the bleachers in the rec center. I’d dashed over to them at the end to tell them to come meet Renzo before he went to teach the kids and that I had my camera if they wanted pictures. (I figured they wouldn’t have brought one, and I was right.) So they slowly, slowly made their way over to Renzo, who as usual was getting mobbed for autographs and pictures after the seminar. I took a picture of them with Paul while we waited for the crowd to thin around Renzo.
When he was free, I called him over with a casual, “Hey, Renzo, come meet these guys. They train with me at Tim’s.” They were both apparently in abject hero worship at this point and were completely amazed at how at ease I was in calling him over. But I’d met him last year — and spent more time with him then — and he’s the nicest guy and is laid-back and totally cool, so I thought nothing of it. (I haven’t met any more of the family, but Renzo is my favorite. 
) And he came over and talked to them and let them get pictures before he was rushed out to teach the kids. I waved at them and ran after him. They apparently stood there for a few minutes in shock both over meeting Renzo and over the way I was interacting with him. They said last night, “We could barely get two coherent words out, and here she’s telling him what to do!”
Nick’s Last Night July 2, 2009
Posted by leslie in Training Log.Tags: armbar, nogi, RNC, triangle
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Tonight was Nick’s last night, at least for a while.
I was early, as usual, and Perry wanted to roll some. He pins my wrists and ankles a lot (all that Krav Maga stuff), and I can’t move well. He made a comment while we were rolling about me getting strong; I said that I felt so weak; he said nope, definitely strong. Huh.
An actual warmup today. (We did have a new guy. And several of the kids.) A little light, compared to normal, though it was still too much for him. Then to technique. Well, actually, Justin said, “Find you a partner,” which is usually the signal that we’re rolling. Nick and I went for each other. Then Justin said, “Double-under pass drilling.” Doh. The new guy worked in with us. He’s tall. High-school football player.
Then Justin showed an armbar from the back. So you get their back with an over/under grip, and you’re going for the RNC (or you’re just faking it to get this armbar), but the guy grabs on your over arm with both hands. Change the under hand’s grip to grab on his closest wrist. Slide your over arm around his head, and then replace your first hand with this hand; transition the first hand over to grab your own wrist. So now you have both arms on one side of their head, kimura-gripping one of their wrists. Move both feet to the far side of their body (one over, one under). Move the under leg out, toward their head, letting them fall in the hole to the ground. Bottom leg comes over to pinch their neck; sit back for the armbar.
Drilled with Nick again. Then rolling with your drilling partner. We kept having to move because everyone was spazzing all around the mat. He caught an armbar, but mostly we were just moving around. But the rounds weren’t nearly long enough.
Then we switched — Justin grabbed Nick for one last roll — and I rolled with Guillaume. Fell on a triangle. And forced a little to get an omoplata later. (He had seen Justin submitting someone with one last week and had asked what it was. I had tried to pull it off that round to show him, but he wouldn’t go near the position. When we sat up tonight, I told him that was what he’d asked about.) This round was longer because Justin and Nick rolled over the timer and stopped it.
After class, some of us went over to one of the guys’ place for a farewell cookout for Nick.
From last night:
 |
| Justin, Nick, & Adam |
They read my mind again…
I just realized, I’d said last week that I wanted to just drill lots of basic stuff. And now we’re working a “Move of the Week.” Awesomeness.
At the cookout tonight, one of the guys told me a story from his first night. He’d rolled with Scott (then blue, now purple), and Scott had completely dominated him. After the round, this guy made an off-hand comment to Scott along the lines of “Wow, I felt like a little girl out there.” He said Scott got real serious and in his face and said, “You see Leslie over there? She’s in here every day, working just as hard as the guys. Don’t give me any of this ‘girl’ crap.”
Aww, I heart my boys
I am stuck in long boring meetings today — thank goodness for laptops! — so I’m filling the time with lots of post writing. (Goes right along with the procrastinating bit. Long posts generally mean I’m avoiding something else!)
Belts
This probably won’t make much sense. I’m still trying to figure it out myself…
I overheard a couple of the white belt guys talking last night. They’re all confident that the blue belt is coming any day now for them. They’ve been training for a few months. One of those guys was talking to me tonight at the cookout, and said that me, him, and the other guy were probably the next in line for blue belts. I said I think I still have a long time.
People are starting to talk about me turning here soon, usually right after they ask how many days a week I train and how many months I’ve been training. (During Karate College, even Renzo mentioned having a talk with Tim about that. [Six days a week, 15 months. What are you now, purple? Blue? White?! What's wrong with Tim?"] !!! But even if Renzo himself were ready to hand me a blue belt, I don’t want it until Tim says I’m ready.) It’s not that I want — or don’t want — my blue belt. It’s just that I don’t feel ready. Of course, if it’s up to me, I’ll never be ready; there will always be something else to work on or to fix or to improve in. I would happily be a hard-working white belt for years more.
And yet at the same time, I have this nagging impatient voice in my head. Why don’t you have it yet? How long have you been doing this? Look at all these other people getting promoted. Look at all these girls getting promoted. What’s wrong with you? Certainly doesn’t help on the feeling better about myself front. Give me a few more months, and I’ll have had my white belt longer than Justin, Adam, and Nick were white belts combined. Most of my brain wants to tell me that means I’m horrible at this and should find a different hobby. And yet there’s that deep-down, stubborn part of me that hangs on. My teeth are sunk in, and they aren’t letting go.
I’m not fishing for sympathy or encouragement or anything. I’m just trying to get out what’s in my head, hoping that someday someone who’s going through the same thing will read it and say, “Oh, look, I’m not the only one.”
Ups and Downs
So, my own blog taught me a lesson today about ups and downs in training. I’m currently sitting in a meeting about some documents (see below for funny meeting story — also very glad we didn’t have to drive to their location just for this ridiculous meeting), and it’s above my head, so I’m bored. So I’m trying to find small things to do to distract myself. Started looking over my blog stats. Here it is, with day-to-day, then week-to-week, and then month-to-month:
blog stats
Day to day, there are ups and downs. Some days, it looks like no one is reading at all. Discouraging. Even backing out to the weekly view, some are up and some are down. Still doesn’t look like anything is happening. It isn’t until you get all the way out to the monthly view that you can see there is progress — the line goes up and up and up. (Until the month starts over, and then it plummets and tries to ruin my object lesson 
)
My view is too close. I only see the daily frustration, the missed passes, the gasping for air, the knees to the ribs. Even reading back over my blog and looking for signs of progress, everything is fuzzy and easily dismissed as going nowhere. Yet there is hope that the unseen upward and increasing progress is occurring.
Work Stories
So for one company, we maintain an intranet. They wanted to add a new section that’s linked from the main navigation menu. Easy, done. This new section would have Child pages coming off of it, that would be linked off the section page. With the way the site was originally designed (not by us; we just took over), there’s no internal navigation back to the section page; you just use the browser buttons. They decided they needed a way to link back from the Child pages to the main Section page. Is no problem; we can do that. But then they wanted anything that was linked to to have a “link back” link… including other websites like Google and the software systems that some of their stuff links to. Er, we don’t have access to edit google.com. And we can’t edit a software program that isn’t part of the intranet. If you put up a link that doesn’t link within the intranet, we can’t control the end link. Took a while to explain that…
Another company — we had a meeting today to go over some documents. The documents originated with them, came to us for comments, and then went back to them for comments on our comments. So we were meeting today to go over the comments from everyone. The lady in charge of the meeting brought up her first point to us: why did you change the second bullet point? And our answer is: We didn’t; you did. We had the same question for you. (The change had her initials on it, too.) Thank goodness for conference calls.
Pop, bang, boom, pow June 29, 2009
Posted by leslie in Training Log.Tags: gi, guard, pass, triangle
2 comments
That is not a warmup roll. That is a you-killed-my-father-prepare-to-die roll, without the accent, the sword, or Andre the Giant or anything even remotely amusing.
Small class. Muscle sharks, me, Nick, and Justin. Rolling to warm up. I get “the MMA guy.” Lovely. Did alright moving around for the first half of the round, but then he slung me around and passed to side control and stayed there. He kept trying to rip an arm out, though I think I was keeping track of them decently. Elbowed and kneed a few times.
Then another spazzy guy. He wanted to stay in my guard and fling me to one side. Actually had the setup and went for Paul’s armbar from Karate College. He stood up with me and slammed me down. Not far, but far enough. Thanks, that was just what I needed. Really it was. And later he started pulling on one ankle. He knows no leg attacks, and I know this. I moved in to him, to get my own weight over my leg; he tried to side kick me. Pfft. Wake me up when you start doing some jiu-jitsu.
Although, with both rounds, I was slightly amused that they were huffing and puffing and squeezing and all that racket, and I was barely breaking a sweat and hardly breathing hard. (Which, you could almost argue, is exactly how a warmup round should be — except in most warmup rounds, I don’t think that my parnter is trying to hurt me. These both were.) Was not at all amused by the slamming and all that.
[Edit: I just got out of the shower, and I have finger-sized bruises up and down both arms and around my ankles. Am not a happy camper.]
Drilling was the double-under pass, and then a counter that ended with a triangle. Justin said we’re going to start having a “Move of the Week” that we work around each week so we get lots of reps. I like that idea a lot.
Grabbed Guillaume to drill. On the triangle, you’re supposed to push off their hip and pivot… except my leg fully straight reached from his hip to his shoulder. Was no push. Funny, though — Nick said he usually can’t get his leg on their hip to push, either, except his is because his legs are so long and he can’t scrunch in enough.
Rolling with Guillaume next. He is rapidly leaving his days of rolling slowly and not trying to muscle everything and is heading down toward the dark side. Was held down and squeezed for most of the round. Did have one sweep, from guard to side control, but was again held down and squeezed. Passed to mount; he tried to roll me, but I let go and slid on top when he turned on his side. Wanted the choke from up there, but his hands were in the way. Knew I could get the armbar with a little work, so looked for something else. Thought I saw a head and arm choke, so went for it. He tapped eventually, and I asked what that was doing; he said nothing, just squeezing, though he’d exhausted his options for escape and so had just tapped. Rats. Back to side control later, and tried the front anaconda choke that Renzo showed. Hard to do when someone’s flailing their arms around. Meh.
Grabbed Nick for the last one. (As in, walked to the other side of the mat, grabbed his jacket, and pulled him down. Wanted at least one decent roll.) We played. We both do lots of “hey, that’s my lapel — you can’t choke me with that” or “hey, that my leg — give it back.” I was trying for the choke from Karate College that he always tries on me, but I couldn’t get on top. I showed it to him afterward, and then we played with a few of the other techniques that Renzo taught.
Da Funk
On Thursday last week, when I was sitting around with myself (while Jerry miraculously got the few guys who showed up [they of the ram-headbutt-rolling style] to actually drill the entire time!, which even Tim can’t get them to do), I noticed that my rash guard stunk to high heaven. It was bad. So I got home and started sniffing the rest of my clothes. All the rash guard-type clothes — that is, anything polyester and/or spandex — absolutely reeked.
So I spent Friday morning looking up what to do about smelly workout clothes. Finally found a few answers online and tried them out. First one said to use about 1 cup of vinegar in the wash. I tried that, and it didn’t work. Then I found another that said to use the vinegar in hot water. Drat, had used cold. So washed everything again, only I’d run out of laundry detergent and had to open a new bottle. The new one also included baking soda, which I’d seen somewhere else (and which was going to be Option #3). My clothes did come out smelling good, though — but now I don’t know if it was the vinegar, the baking soda, or the combination thereof.
Made my day moment: Someone I knew years ago from TKD found me on Facebook. We were online at the same time, so we started chatting. When I told him I’d started BJJ — grappling — he said:
Yeah, I figured you for a grappler, actually.
You’ve got that sink your teeth in mentality.
You’re not the type to stand back and go for long range attacks.
Made me cry moment: Facebook always suggests that I add Max as a friend. I started Facebook that day, to find everyone and make sure they were all okay because the phones were overloaded. Today, I read her wall.
Tag, you’re it June 28, 2009
Posted by leslie in Ramblings.add a comment
Eh, I’ve never been tagged before… so we’ll see how this goes…
What is your current obsession? BJJ. That’s why I’m here…
What is your weirdest obsession? I have to quote grappledunk because I couldn’t say it any better: “I voluntarily…no, I happily roll around on sweaty wrestling mats with sweaty, smelly dudes and sweaty not so smelly ladies who are trying to rip my arm off while I try to return the favor.” Except for other BJJ people, everyone I know thinks I’m crazy.
What is the weirdest sub-obsession of the weird obsession you just described? I love seeing my arms pumped up and veiney.
Coffee or tea? Coffee. And more coffee. Did I mention coffee?
What was the last really exiting thing you bought and the next exciting thing you plan to buy? My Atama’s women’s gi. Serious love. Wasn’t so thrilled before getting it since it does have pink, but now it’s my favorite gi to wear. I often buy things on impulse, though, so I don’t have anything on a plan right now. (Well, a house, I hope, in the not-too-distant future…)
What are you listening to right now? Pillar, Toby Mac, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Christafari.
What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla. (Just please remind me next time that I’m semi-lactose-intolerant. I always forget and don’t take my pills…)
What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you? I’ve never actually met her, but grappledunk may be crazier than me. Not only does she happily roll around with people who want to tear her limbs off, she also purposely gets in water deeper than a bathtub and swims long distances in it.
Which language do you want to learn? Besides all of them, Greek and Japanese.
What is your favorite color? Judging from my wardrobe, it’s probably blue. Though purple has been coming on strong recently. (I just realized, those are the next two BJJ colors. *snort* But the colors were there before BJJ.)
What is your least favorite color? Pink. Though I seem to be wearing more of it lately — on my gi, my mouthpiece, and my toenails.
What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? I seriously had to go look… A blue tank top I got last summer — it shows off my guns
What is your worst habit? Procrastination, though the long and frequent posts here appear to indicate otherwise. I should, in fact, always be doing something else (usually sleeping, but also cleaning, cooking, finally getting around to watching Lost, or, occasionally, working!) when I’m writing posts.
If you had $1,000 now, what would you spend it on? A netbook and a desktop PC — my laptop is reaching the end of the line, I think.
Describe your personal style. Whatever’s clean. Which is generally slacks, flat shoes, and button-up shirts. Or a gi or shorts.
What is your favorite fruit? Whatever’s ripe and within reach. (Are coconuts fruits? I hate coconuts. I’ll eat anything else, though. But coconut = gag.)
What inspires you? Underdogs who pull it off anyway. And beautiful paintings — they always make me want to go off and write a story that fits the setting.
Do you collect something? Cool pens and other office supplies. I used to collect stamps and coins, and I still have those stashed away somewhere.
What are you most proud of? I can do 5 chin-ups & 1 pull-up and can flip the 200-lb+ tire & swing the sledgehammer with the guys. My latest non-BJJ proud moment was last week at work: both the managers were out, and I handled a couple of major issues from one of our biggest clients on my own and also came up with a solution to one of their problems that my supervisor later called “brilliant.”
Cats or dogs? Both, though I’m allergic to kitties. 
What’s your biggest fashion mistake? I used to think I was size M/L when I was in fact a Small. (Not as small as now, but still definitely not a medium.) I wore clothes that were too big for me for over 10 years.
More Renzo June 27, 2009
Posted by leslie in Seminars.Tags: choke, Paul Creighton, Renzo Gracie, takedowns
1 comment so far
Can never have enough Renzo. I went back today for his 3rd seminar. Nick and Clifton showed up to watch and meet Renzo and Paul.
First, a takedown with two different lead-ins. One, they’re behind you and have wrapped both hands around your waist (they’re trying to do what we worked Wednesday). Two, they’re behind you and trying to RNC you from standing. Both of your hands grab on one of their arms (in the RNC variation, grab the arm around your throat); shoot your hips forward. Step one leg through, around, and back (opposite leg from the side you’ve grabbed on). Then drop to the front knee, put the same-side hand down if you need to, too, and then roll over that shoulder. You land in side control.
Second, the papercutter (I think) choke when someone tries to take you down with a single leg. They shoot in with their head on the outside. Slide the hand that’s on the side their head goes to under their chin and cup it; use that hand to drive their head into the center of your stomach. Now slide the other hand behind the first hand. Pinch your elbows in. Now rotate your wrists toward you (so the tops of your hands are turning up toward the ceiling) to finish.
Third, a roll from top half-guard to a toe hold/ankle lock finish. When you’re in top half guard, they have their legs wrapped around one of yours, the one that’s further away from their head. Take that leg and rotate it under your body, toward their head, and then sit down heavy on it, trapping their bottom leg. Now rotate your upper body around and toward their feet and roll over your shoulder to the other side of their body. You want them to go almost-but-not-quite to their stomach. Both of your knees should be controlling their top leg. On their other leg, grab their toes on the little toe side with your top hand; get a kimura-type grip with the other hand. Turn their toes back toward their head.
Also, if they try to return the favor and toe-hold you in return, use your other leg as a brace to help keep your foot straight.
Fourth, an anaconda choke from side control. From top side control, reach under his head and bring your hand up at a 90-degree angle with your top hand. Use your face to push his face back toward your shoulder. Reach as far toward the far side of his head as you can with the other elbow, and then slide that hand around your upright fingers and toward your other armpit (the one his face is smashed toward). Once the arm is in as deep as it can go, make a fist with the inside hand and grab the opposite bicep with the hand that’s at 90 degrees. Squeeze. (I don’t think I described that very well at all… It looked very much like a front/side RNC.)
Renzo told us during this technique that he’d used this on a guy in a fight — I forget which one he said — and the guy tapped, so Renzo let go. And then the guy kept fighting. So Renzo kept fighting back. Said he made the guy tap 3 times before they finally said Renzo had won.
Worked again with one of Bob’s guys, Seth. After the seminar, Nick and Clifton came over to meet Renzo and Paul and get pictures with them.
Then Renzo and Paul went to teach the kids. I was going to leave, but somehow got dragged along with them. Glad I went; it was fun. I wish I’d taken my camera, though. Renzo and Paul were both great with the kids. Renzo showed the kids the far-side kimura, the spinning armbar from mount, and a side headlock escape, and then a double-leg takedown. He was playing with the kids while showing them how to do them, letting them work on him. Then he set up an extra padded mat and let them do the takedown on Paul, on him, and on Seth. The kids thought that was absolutely great. Then he set Paul and Seth up as grappling dummies and put the kids in a line and let them do the earlier techniques on them. Finally, he had kids go out one at a time against either Paul or Seth to do the takedown, to pass the guard, and to do one of the finishes; Paul and Seth played back a little to make it more fun.
Toward the end, this one little kid came in. He’d been out in the hallway watching through the window but hadn’t come in. His dad got Renzo’s attention and whispered (right in front of me) that the kid was shy. Renzo picked the kid up and carried him out to the middle of the mat, talking to him and trying to get the kid to smile. Renzo laid down on his back and started juggling the kid above him with his feet. (Oh for a camera!) The kid finally smiled a little. Then when Renzo set him down, he told him to go after Paul to do the takedown and to finish. And that little kid suddenly became a mat monster! Great double-leg takedown. Paul played a little defense, but the kid passed his guard, got a good side control, slide to mount, and did the spinning armbar quite nicely. Those of us on the sideline were laughing so hard — shy little kid’s got some mat skills!
Tried to leave again, but they were going for dinner and a few games of pool (Renzo loves pool, and he’s good, too) and insisted I come along. Not that I needed much urging… We went to a nearby bar so Renzo and Seth could play pool. After dinner, they headed off to shower and change for the closing ceremonies for Karate College; I finally headed home.
Karate College ‘09 June 26, 2009
Posted by leslie in Seminars.Tags: ankle lock, armbar, armbars, guard, MMA, Paul Creighton, Renzo Gracie, Seminars, side control, technique
2 comments
The guys first decided we would leave this morning (Friday), then decided today to leave Saturday morning instead. So, after talking to them this morning, I headed over to Karate College to see if I could get in for a little bit.
They’d moved Paul Creighton around a bit, so he only did 1 session last night (instead of both of his, like last year) and 1 this morning… which was finishing up right as I got there. I did get to watch the last technique and worked in a little bit with Bob Gracie’s guys.
Armbar from guard. Slide one hand up between theirs and control their head. Other hand controls same-side elbow. Pivot just a little. Open your guard and ride a high guard, far leg coming over their shoulder. Drop the hand from behind their head to control their wrist; shift the other hand up to the near side of their face. A little push with your hand, and bring the leg from their shoulder over their face. Raise hips to finish.
Then Paul, Bob, and Josh went off to pick Renzo up from the airport. His sessions are tonight.
Went back tonight for Renzo’s seminars.
First hour:
First, a reverse armbar off a wrestler-type trying to squeeze your head from inside your guard; he’s reached foward and wrapped one arm around your head and is squeezing for dear life. (Secret wohoo!) Use your hips to push against his hips and give you some space. Take the hand on the inside and brace it across their throat; take the other hand over their wrapped arm and grab your other wrist. Use the second hard to stabilize the first. Brace them away from you as you get your hips out to the open side; they fall in the hole, and their now-trapped arm should be propped across your shoulder. Bring your knees up, one under their near shoulder and one over. Blade of your top arm just above their elbow, and turn.
Second, a guard pass to ankle lock. A little advanced, probably, considering most of the people there hadn’t done any ground work before, but I still at least like the pass part. So you’re in your opponent’s guard, and your posture is broken down. Stay down, but get your hands on their biceps. Stay relaxed, he said, and wait until you feel them relax or breathe. Jump up on your feet and turn about 45 degrees, stepping in to them. Continue to follow that angle, walking your hands around and driving with the knee that turned in to roll them over their shoulder and on to their stomach. You end up in reverse back mount, with them flattened; you’re sitting on their hamstrings with their legs bent and their ankles in your armpits. (They’re now at 90 degrees to where they started.) Reach one arm around a leg and through to trap it, then drop your forehead to the mat. Step the opposite knee over their leg so it’s between theirs; reach the other hand up and hold the first hand. Now slowly spread your knees apart, like you’re doing a split, while slowly turning your body toward their foot.
This one was a little tricky, and we were having trouble with it. Renzo demonstrated on me for one of my partners, and it felt like an ankle lock. Paul demonstrated it on me again later, and it felt like an Achilles lock. (And both my partners kept turning it into a calf pinch.) I think it depends on the placement of the arm when you shoot it through: Renzo got my ankle locked in deeper, while Paul went a little further down on my leg. Anyway, the roll-’em-over part was fun.
Third, a can opener defense to armbar. (Yay for more wrestling defenses!) Renzo said he used this one in Pride 8 because he knew the Japanese guys like to do can openers, so he actually stuck his head up there so the guy would grab it! So, from inside your guard, the guy reaches forward, gets both of his hands behind your head, and tries to can-opener you. One arm shoots to their far bicep; forearm stays parallel to the floor, with your elbow under their ribs. As they try to pull you in, this arm braces against their chest and gives you distance. The other arm goes to the opposite side of their head to control their neck. So your arms are crossed in front of you. Now swing around to the armbar, pushing their head away with that hand and controlling the arm you’re taking with the first hand.
In this seminar, I worked in with Bob Gracie’s guys again. Technically, you’re supposed to pick a group (A or B) and then do all the seminars for A or B; you’d get to at least of everyone that way. But I stayed on Renzo’s mat for another session. One of Bob’s guys left to go to the Krav seminar with Mike Lee Kanarerk on the other side, and Perry came over from doing the previous Krav seminar. And he told me that he’d knocked a guy out in that one. The guy had for some reason tried to kick Perry in the crotch as hard as he could. Perry deflected it just enough that the kick hit his inner thigh, but still high and hard. (And if Perry said it was hard, then it was pretty hard.) So he threw a kick in response, right at the guy’s jawline and using his foot. He said if he’d really meant to knock the guy out, he would’ve used his shin… But the kick must’ve caught the fellow just right because his eyes rolled back and he stiffened and dropped backwards. And that side of the gym doesn’t have mats, so his head bounced off the concrete. Um, ouch. They had to call an ambulance and cart the guy away to the hospital.
Perry also came over bearing actual bad news: Adam’s fight is off. The guy backed out at the last minute. As of then, we have no explanation for why he backed out. And the promoters couldn’t find another fighter in time. So we won’t be going down tomorrow at all. The other guys already know. (I’ve been learning to text all weekend. I stink at it. But it’s apparently what all the kids are doing, so I’m having to learn to keep up with them.)
Renzo’s second seminar:
First, a neck crank from side control. Be sure you clear the guy’s inside arm and get your knee behind his shoulder. Next, reach around and under his head with your top arm. Slide around to about 11 o’clock and grab the reached-under hand with your other hand. Sit through toward his legs, and then step over toward mount with the far leg. Now turn your upper body toward the ceiling.
Second, an armbar from side control. Clear the arm again and stay tight. Slide your bottom knee up as if going to knee-on-belly and tuck your top leg further up under his shoulder and along his ribs. Fall back at about a 45-degree angle from his shoulder, sliding along the arm you’ve trapped and hooking around the arm with your top arm. Your knee-on-belly knee slides up to their shoulder/side of their face. The finish is a reverse armbar. When you’re doing this one for reals, you do it fast. Renzo did the first time, and made Paul wince and jump. But with partners, you take it slow so you don’t rip their arm off.
From here, if for some reason their arm turned and you can’t finish the reverse armbar, bring your top leg across their neck and pivot your hips out to the opposite side. Finish the armbar there.
Third, the choke that Nick’s been trying on me for weeks! I think it’s called the “Big Poppa” choke, but I’m not sure. Anyway, from side control again; this time the guy has his arms in pretty tight and you can’t isolate one. Reach around and under his head with your top arm. Take that same-side leg and shoot it straight backward, then turn onto that hip, being sure to turn your body with it. The turn helps get your shoulder in front of and under their chin. Now walk back to about 11 o’clock and grab the reached-under hand with your other hand. As you walk around, you should feel their face being pushed away from you; you can use your ribs to make that happen even more. You want them looking away from you. Once you’re to about 11/12 o’clock, completely relax your lower body. Hold your arms where they are, but let your body weight press in to their neck; don’t try to crank it.
And I got pictures!
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- Me with Renzo
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- Me with Paul
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- Bob Gracie, Dr. Beasley, & Renzo Gracie
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- Me and Bob Gracie
No class June 25, 2009
Posted by leslie in Training Log.add a comment
Class was cancelled tonight, though I didn’t find out until I’d gotten back home. Meh.
Also, I am a terrible texter.
