jump to navigation

And I’m spent… November 9, 2009

Posted by leslie in Training Log.
Tags: , ,
5 comments

I woke up Sunday and could hardly walk down the stairs — inside of my legs and my hammies, ow. Then later in the day, my arms got in on the soreness. And today, my shoulders and quads joined.

Adam led class tonight. He likes crazy warmups. We did crazy warmups.

And I was done at jogging. Uh oh. This is gonna be a long night. (At least Will and Jesse were feeling it, too.)

Jogging, high knees, butt kicks, side-to-side, alligators… Alligators?! Around. The. Whole. Mat. Crap. Then to bear crawls. That is one tough transition. Then to army crawls. Then I’m a little mixed up. Maybe: circled up, jogging with high knees, sprawling when he called it; eventually stayed down and did mountain climbers; then stayed in that position while, one at a time, ran around the circle and jumped over everyone else. … Yeah, that sounds good.

Somewhere in the alligators/bear crawls, I think, I landed oddly on my left wrist. It was not happy all night. Really not good during the holding position part of that last one. Also, shoulders were really complaining by then.

Then partnered up on the wall, pistol-grip the sleeves, and gi drags. When I got home, the inside of my fingers was all cut and scratched up; it must be from this. An odd number, so I sat out the first rounds and then dragged Will when he was done. I did one trip, and ohemgee so tired. I wanted to stop then, but Adam said, “C’mon, one more,” and the guys started cheering for me. Ack. Must do. Got him down, turned around, and couldn’t get the momentum to get going again; he had to help me by pushing with his legs. So. Tired. Collapsed. Finally got up; legs were shaking.

Rolling. Adam said I could sit out… except, oh, wait, one of the guys can’t roll yet (he had LASIK a few weeks ago), so I’m in. Seriously? I mean, sure, I got technique, but I still at least have to be able to move around.

Rolled with Will. He just swept me around and could do nearly anything he wanted to. He caught something, I can’t remember what. I flopped like a fish all night. So bad. But so tired. I think I had moments of pretending like I could play spider guard, but my legs couldn’t keep up any pressure at all.

On the wall for shrimping.

Then a round with Big Tom. Adam started calling out 30-seconds bursts during the round, where you both went as hard as you could. Erm… yeah, this is all I got. Then at the end, he called out “Submit and done!” Sudden death. Loser owed pushups. Tom wasn’t pressing nearly hard enough; he should’ve finished me much sooner. He’s too nice. He went to catch a kimura and accidentally dropped his elbow in my temple instead. So I didn’t tap out, I nearly got knocked out. We stopped, though.

I think we drilled next. Gi choke from side control. Pull out far lapel; bring it under their arm and behind their head. Come up to knee-on-belly; switch hands on that lapel. (They’ll probably bridge in to you and drop you on your knee next to them.) Reach across with the now free hand and grab on their shoulder. If they didn’t bridge and drop you, drop your knee for yourself back down on the near side, right by their ribs. Pull your elbows to your hips and try to drop all your weight on their face. Walk around a bit toward their head if you need to, to finish.

More rolling. Guillaume first. And… nothing. A few moments of control. Possibly a sweep? I think I mostly flopped on him in half guard. Saw mount for a little bit, but couldn’t finish the armbar. Several other near finishes, but just had no energy or strength for that last bit.

Then we did partner lifts. You start in guard and grip their belt; they grip your lapels. Bring one leg up, then the other, and then lift. 10 each. I could barely hold my guard around Guillaume, and then I could hardly get any lift on him. I could get a good base and pretended I was deadlifting and could feel my muscles straining, but he didn’t budge.

One last round. Got Scotty. More 30-second bursts. He was going harder in those, but still letting me work. So much tired. He said I’d rolled good, but I’m not really sure I what I did, if anything. I think I tried some spider again, though it did nothing for me.

Nearly everyone crawled off the mats, which made me feel a little better. At least it’s not just me thinking that was a hard workout.

Car update: My car is fixed! It’s also still in Philly. But, my best friend, who lives near Richmond, is in North Carolina on a business trip and is coming back this way on Thursday night. And, because she’s super awesome, she volunteered to drive me to Philly to get my car, provided I go back to RVA and spend some time with her on Saturday and Sunday, since we missed that last time. So, if this wild and crazy adventure works out as it should, we’ll drive up on Friday, possibly spend the night with a friend of hers or drive back to Richmond; then she has plans Saturday morning so I’ll go train with Chrissy, leaving us Saturday afternoon/evening together; and then Sunday, church, maybe, followed by more jiu-jitsu. And I hear there are lots of girls coming in for the weekend. Sweet!

Emily Kwok seminar, 10-31-09 November 1, 2009

Posted by leslie in Seminars.
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
6 comments

So, I did in fact get my butt in gear and to Philly for Emily Kwok’s seminar on Halloween. (Well, to Richmond (3hrs) on Friday, and to Philly (5hrs) on Saturday.)

I also got lost 3 times on the way to Philly, so arrived a little late (though they weren’t started yet). And then on the way home, while following Tori out of the city, I had my first ever car accident when some idiot driver stopped on the On ramp, which caused the car behind him to slam on his brakes, which caused Tori to slam on her brakes, which caused me to slam on my brakes, which wasn’t done quite quickly enough — and wasn’t helped by the wet roads — and I rear-ended her. Her little Honda came out better than my SUV and just had a little dent. We pulled over on the teensy-tiny shoulder, noticed that my car was spewing red fluid all over the road, decided that was probably a bad sign, and started the round of calling parents, insurance, tow trucks, and police. The tow truck driver said red fluid was probably transmission fluid. So my car is currently sitting at a dealership somewhere in Philly. Sad.

Tori offered me a ride back to to her home in Maryland, near D.C., and graciously put me up for the night and fed me breakfast. We didn’t get to her place until about 2:30 a.m. Thank goodness for Daylight Savings Time — an hour of extra sleep! We did get to talk a lot on the way back (2.5 hours!). My sister lives in D.C., so she came over in the morning and picked me up; we drove to meet our parents, who brought me back here. (I do have a great family, too.)

Tori and I have decided, however, that next time we’re going to carpool on purpose.

There were about 20 girls there. Anne (“E”) came from Ontario (I think), but actually had a shorter total drive than I did. But Jessica wins — she flew in from Omaha, Nebraska, just for the seminar! (That’s half the country!) There was also a girl there for her very first day of jiu-jitsu ever. Very good beginning.

When I got there, there was a girl who looked familiar; when we all introduced ourselves in the beginning, even her name was familiar. We talked during the break, and she was who I thought — Shannon had trained with me back in the first few months that I did jiu-jitsu. But she’d moved back home to the other side of the state. (Shannon is on the left in the front row.)

Emily wrote up a set of notes for us, which is really helpful now that I’m trying to remember (especially since jiu-jitsu was pretty much knocked out of my head for the last while).

First we worked on securing side control and north/south, just working through different hand/arm positions. Emily also mentioned not to commit too much to a grip if you don’t really have control with it, else when they move they’ll trap your hand or arm without even meaning to. (Happens to me a lot, so…) Side control: knee/elbow, knee/elbow (both elbows down by their ribs toward the ground and pinching in toward your knees); top hand under head, bottom hand under far arm, palm to palm, shoulder pressure; then top hand under head, shoulder pressure, bottom hand on near hip. North/south, all gripping the belt and pinching the elbows back: over/over; under/under; over/under. We drilled these briefly with our partners, moving between the three control positions for each position.

Then a hip movement drill. (I think they did this at the Women’s Grappling Camp in August?) Start in side control. Sit through to front scarf hold. Back to side control. Sit through to backward scarf hold. Leg over to mount. Walk hands around to the side you were just on, and dismount to the other side, through reverse scarf hold to side control. Sit through to front scarf hold. Turn your hips over to come up to north/south. Walk around just a little toward the other side, then sit through to front scarf hold. We drilled that with our partners for a while.

I had never seen dismount actually explained and so found that the best part of that drill. :P To dismount: first walk your hands to the same side. Then stretch the leg on the other side out and drop that hip to the mat. Open your hips to bring your leg over; now you’re in reverse scarf hold. Come up to side control.

Then two submissions. North/south to shoulder lock: First pinch your elbow in on one side, sliding the arm up until your hand meets the fabric along their torso; grab. Now, similar to the end of the previous drill, sit through from north/south to the side you’ve trapped, but this time, to reverse scarf hold (so post out on one leg and swing the other through the hole, with this leg going straight along their body). Your hips should point to the ceiling and you should still have their arm tight. Take your inside leg over and then down between their legs. Arch your hips up (not toward them, which is the tendency) to finish the shoulder lock.

Scarf hold to armbar: From side control, sit through to scarf hold. Slide your hand up to their wrist, then sneak your inside knee over their bicep, then sneak your whole leg over. Keep control of their wrist. Pinch their arm between your legs, being sure that their elbow stays above your legs. Good control position here (and they think “What in the world is she doing? She’s got nothing.” Ha!). Secure that trapped arm however you like your armbars, then push off them and spin your feet over their face to assume the armbar position. Feels a little weird, and so needs some practice, but a nice unexpected armbar setup.

One more control/position drill, this time when wanting to come up to knee-on-belly or when someone tries to push in to you from under side control. Emily talked about finding the “points” on your partner’s body that you can use to control their entire body. So, to get up to knee-on-belly, put one hand on their near shoulder and one on their far hip. Drop your weight through your hands as you pop up. Then, when you have side control and they’re trying to turn in, instead of trying to wrestle them in place, place one hand on their far shoulder and one on their far hip. As before, drop your weight through your hands.

Then king-of-the-hill sparring. Six or seven ladies (the highest belts — one brown, a few purples, and then blues) started out there and could sweep or submit. Those of us going out started in side control and had to mount or submit.

We took a short break and then came back for the second half of the seminar.

Emily started by talking about how to train: training with the right partners and having a plan/focus when you train to get better faster/more steadily. One suggestion that came up (from Jessica) was to train without arms, since our upper bodies aren’t comparable to the guys’ (and Jessica was actually bigger and stronger than most of the rest of us, and she said the guys still overpower her all the time). Emily also said that you’re only as good as your biggest weakness, so work on your weaknesses.

Then she talked a bit about visualization: how, if you want to float on someone, imagine that you’re a feather or a cloud, or if you want to be heavy, imagine that you’re a tree or a rock. Or if you’re trying to keep someone in close, imagine that you’re a vacuum cleaner. :P

Then back to drilling. Open and spider guard. Started with an individual drill, in Sit-up Guard (never knew it had a name), and then just moving around as she called out commands: “Forward,” “Backward,” “Left,” “Turn right,” etc. Then with a partner — one partner working the Sit-up Guard (with either a quick cross lapel choke or a sliding/clock choke, though from the front), and the other attempting to pass.

Next drill was using your feet to re-guard. Partner started standing in side control; reach your outside foot to their farther hip (toward your head); use that to turn back to square. That on both sides. Then partner stood in north/south; cross your legs and swing them over your head; get your feet on the outsides of their legs; then push off their legs to uncross yours and swing back to square.

Next drill was switching between positionings for the hook sweep and sickle sweep. (I actually didn’t know either of these coming in.) Start on your back, with your partner standing in front of you. One foot on their hip, the other behind their knee. Keep the foot on the hip; turn to the other side, dropping the foot from behind their knee to behind their opposite heel and grabbing the outside of the other ankle with your hand. Back to foot on hip, foot behind knee. Switch feet. Do the same thing on the other side.

Then we actually did the sweeps. Hook Sweep: One foot on their hip, the other behind their knee. Get sleeve control on the same side on which your foot is behind the knee. With the other hand, grab behind the ankle on the other side. Push on their hip, pull on their knee. Follow their momentum over to top half guard.

Sickle Sweep: One foot on their hip, the other behind their knee. Get sleeve control on the same side as the foot on the hip. Keep the foot on the hip; turn to the other side, dropping the foot from behind their knee to behind their opposite heel and grabbing the outside of the other ankle with your hand. Push on their hip while sweeping through with the bottom leg. Follow their momentum over to top half guard or side control.

Next we played with Spider Guard. Emily talked about never letting your four points of control — both hands and both feet — be in the same plane at the same time, else it’s too easy to break through. It’s like playing with a marionette — keep him moving.

First we just played Spider Guard with our partners. Then we worked an outside-in sweep: push one arm/hip point away. Pull the other leg out and wrap it over their arm and under to hook their triceps with your foot. Pull that leg in to collapse them. Move the other leg down, putting your ankle in front of their ankle, at the same time that you drop the other hand either under their leg or to the outside of their leg to grab the fabric. Drive your legs to the far side to sweep them, coming up to knee-on-belly.

We finished with a quick re-guard from a single spider guard hook (one sleeve/same leg) (for when the sneaky fast guys think they’ve passed), and then a simple palm-smacking duh! actual pass for when someone has a single spider guard control (one sleeve/same leg)… which I’m not going to mention yet because I think this one, more than anything else at the seminar, is what most girls are taking home to spring on their training partners. I’ll tell you after I get it multiple times in class this week.

Then we did a few more rounds of king-of-the-hill sparring followed by 3 three-minute rounds of full sparring. I got to spar with Liz (orange gi), Anne, and Shannon.

Dinner afterward, at an Italian restaurant a few blocks away, then followed Tori until I rear-ended her car. But she took me home with her and fed me. Definitely worth going.

Also, check out BJJEdge. They were recording parts of the seminar and said they would post some later.

Oh, right. I had to wash my belt. It reeked after being trapped in my bag for so long. Sadness.

Whee!!! October 12, 2009

Posted by leslie in Training Log.
Tags: , , , ,
3 comments

1 - Scotty’s back!

2 - Fred, who used to train with my team (but before me), and his girlfriend, Rachel Demara (who’s recently won at least her weight class and the absolute at Pan Ams, her weight class nogi and third in absolute at Grappler’s Quest, and her weight class and absolute in gi and nogi at Sub Only IV — probably more) stopped in tonight on their way back to NOVA and trained with us. Sweet! I admit to being a bit star-struck. :P

Work flew by today for some reason. Just the right spacing of meetings or something. As usual, felt good and fine before class, and then lost all energy during the warmup. Pooh.

I think this is the first class I have ever been to where the colored belts outnumbered the white belts — 1 brown, 1 purple, 6 blues (counting Fred and Rachel), and 3 whites. Craziness. And then 2 of the white belts had to drop out of class because they’re coming back after being sick.

Also a class where I was very willing to roll with everyone (once the 2 spazzy white belts pulled out).

Rolling next. I got to roll with Rachel. Too excited by having a real live girl — who knows what she’s doing!! — to roll decently. Trying to watch everything she did. Ended up leaving space around my elbows, so she took home 2 armbars. I roll with girls like this and feel their jiu-jitsu, and I think, “Yeah, okay, I can do this. This isn’t so difficult. I’m just making it hard on myself.” We were both going light, though, because it was the first roll. She could have easily smashed me — so fluid and so precise. I wanted to roll with her again later, but once the guys figured out she was good, they stole her.

Next with Will. My energy had lifted briefly while rolling with Rachel, and then plummeted again when starting with Will. Very sorry rolling from me. Mostly trying to pass his open guard or defending under half guard. (Also, Rachel murdered Yoshi during this round. Saw glimpses of it while defending under Will. [He had a better view, and said that, yeah, she was getting him good.] I need to start rolling like that. And then all the guys realized she’s really good, and then they all wanted to roll with her.)

Drilling. One of the gi chokes from Saturday. Rachel was excited because it’s not one she’s seen before, so she wants to go spring it on her training partners. So I can’t tell you what it is yet.

More rolling. Pounced on Scotty. He got to train a few times at Renzo’s over the summer, but not much, and said he hadn’t rolled in a month or two (I think). Mostly in top half guard on him, as he lets me play from there. Passed once, though he swept me immediately. After, he said I’m rolling like I did during the warmups at the NAGA in February and that I’m very tight and patient. He said that was good.

Sat out the next round because we had an odd number. Watched Rachel and Buddy roll. I gotta roll like that…

Then rolled with Fred. He let me play a lot. Mostly again in top half guard, though couldn’t pass.

Last roll with Big Jesse. (His first night back [I think] since getting married! I knew he was engaged; didn’t think the wedding was so soon, though.) Problem there is my ribs are still bruised from the jokers on Thursday (I also have lots of bruises elsewhere from them), and Jesse likes to play knee-on-belly now. Owowow. He also has a heavy side control. And I hate being a whiny little girl and asking them not to put pressure on my ribs, so I don’t say anything. (Am not too bright sometimes.) Tried a bit of spider guard, but not so good when he’s over 200 lbs and has arms longer than my legs. Yeah…

Then lots of sitting around and showing off moves to each other, especially Justin and Fred going back and forth. Justin showed his half-guard sweep (and I think I might have finally figured out the parts I always screw up [Note to self: write them down tonight!]), and Fred showed a half-guard pass that’s very similar to what I’ve been working toward when I go to the inside on that single-leg pass. I’ve been stalling out there and trying to go toward a half-guard pass that I already know; Fred’s pass, which is really his friend’s pass, is just what I need to take that last bit. Should work well. Will start practicing.

Mexican after to celebrate Scotty coming back.

Reading Recently

  • Frustration and Struggle
  • Mental Revelations of the Progressing Grappler

    While strength, power, speed, and fortitude to hold someone in a given position play a role in submission grappling, there is a revelation that occurs wherein the progressing grappler learns that techniques when applied with the appropriate strategy, tightness, and timing can easily force a stronger, faster, more powerful opponent to submit. This is the Revelation of Technique over Strength and Speed. A student who is truly realizing this will advance in perspective. A burden will lift from his/her shoulders. They no longer have to match their opponent’s physical abilities! The battle now is to utilize the best technique, at the right time, in the right manner.

If I had a time machine, I would… October 8, 2009

Posted by leslie in Training Log.
Tags: , , ,
6 comments

…go back somewhere quiet and take a nap. And then come back here and keep going.

The topic came up at work as part of a multi-tasking discussion. And my first response was “I need more sleep,” which probably says a lot about how tired I am right now. Hmmm…

Once I got to class, though, I changed my answer. If I had a time machine, I would go back to last night’s class and wait through half the kickboxing class to when they were doing light sparring on the mat, and then when the idiot kid who doesn’t want to lose to a girl throws a spinning heel kick and hits the new BJJ girl in the head on her second night of kickboxing with the regular class, I would have separated his head from his body.

Justin and Brandon were there. Said she went out cold. When she came to, she was hyperventilating and crying. Took a while to get her calmed down and taken care of. Had a lump on her jaw where he hit her. She didn’t come back tonight.

It’s a good thing I don’t have a time machine.

He was thoroughly chewed out by the assistant instructor, was worked over good by one or two of the good kickboxers, and will probably get both from Perry next week; his football coach has been told (the assistant instructor’s wife is a teacher at his school) and was not happy; and nearly all the BJJ guys know and are not happy. (Several warmed up before class by knocking the snot out of the heavy bags, which they don’t normally do.)

Oooo, makes me so mad!

(I suppose a time machine would also allow me to step in and stop her from getting kicked in the first place, which might be a better scenario all around.)

Tech (maybe Radford, too) is on break starting tomorrow, so most everyone probably left today. Small class, though several came in at or after the start of class, so we ended up with more than we thought we’d have. Short and easy warmup, though I was once again exhausted so quickly. Only one run on squat jumps (lost my squat jump mojo, pooh) and on forward/backward rolls.

Rolling. With Will. Couldn’t pass his open guard. Then under side control and half guard and completely ineffective on everything. Then with Adam. Didn’t matter what I’d try, but he’d do something — no clue — and catch a neck crank. Oww. Then went with Guillaume for a round. During and afterward, he asked if I was okay, said he expected to have to work a lot harder than that while rolling with me. Trying to cheer me up. So tired I thought I’d break down crying on the mat, and for no reason that I know of except that I’m tired.

Drilling. Standard guard break and pass first.

Then this other thing. It made perfect sense when Justin showed it — start like a half guard, with one hook in, but sitting up and going as if you’re doing the elevator sweep. When they whizzer, bring your hand in front of their chest, grab their whizzered wrist, and chicken-wing down on it. Now shoot like you’re going Old School, continuing the roll to bring them across and over. Pass to side control. — but I absolutely could not get my body to do it. My brain knew what was going on but just could not get anything down to my body. Adam even tried showing it to me several more times, and I just could not do it. Nearly cried again.

More rolling. An odd number, and both Justin and Adam were going to roll, so I went to sit out, but then Adam waved me in to roll with his partner. One of the “MMA guys.” One of the ones I avoid. No, really, I’ll sit. I’m tired and moody and cranky– Oh, fine, fine. Could not get off my back again, holding on with half guard or hooks. At one point, he tried to fling his legs up and over to the other side; I caught half guard. He laughed and said that he wanted to try it, that Tim always tells him not to try to jump like that; I said that well, that’s why. His arms are more than long enough to wrap around me in any position, so often he’d just bear-hug and squeeze. When I didn’t tap (because it didn’t do anything), he’d laugh and say that he had no idea what he was doing. Yeah, I noticed.

While I was rolling with this guy, a new wrestling guy was trying to bum-rush Justin. Last night, this guy rolled with Tim and started throwing elbows; caught Tim in the eye, lots of bleeding then, lots of bruising today. Tonight, I heard this guy choking a lot as he tried to outlast submissions.

Next round, this guy comes after me. I tried to get out again, but Adam sent me right back in. *pout* I no likey youse guys no more. He was slower at first with me than he had been with Justin, but he got frustrated very quickly when he couldn’t pass my half guard or, when he finally did after slamming me around, when I’d recover to half guard or butterfly, and then he started trying to slam me around even more. I guess he was trying some wrestling holds on me, because he’d pretzel me around pretty good and then squeeze, but none of it was ever threatening at all. Sit there a moment to find the open side and then pop out, easy peasy. Wish I’d had energy to sweep him or even submit him, but was just floppy. Wanted to try the sweep from tonight, if my brain could work it out, but he must have heard that elbow-in-throat is the way to go. Meh.

Also, I’ve ripped off a good portion of my left big toe nail (ouch); the middle toe on my right foot is doing funky things; my back hurts (I know, that’s bad); my ribs hurt from the floppy guys; and I have more bruises than usual everywhere. The smart, intelligent, and sane response would be to take a break. Instead, while I’m not going to Open Mat tomorrow (might not be anyone there anyway), I am going in early on Saturday.

Girl sighting October 1, 2009

Posted by leslie in Training Log.
Tags: , , , ,
add a comment

The girl did actually come tonight. I was figuring she wasn’t, since it was already 7 and she wasn’t there, but she came a few minutes after; we were running late tonight, though, so it didn’t matter.

Before class, Brandon and I were goofing around on exercise balls. He tried flat-out jumping up on one; looked like a cartoon character: his feet bounced off and flew straight up, he fell to one side, bounced sideways on the ball again, and then hit the floor. Then we rolled for about fifteen minutes. I triangled myself once or twice; didn’t defend quite right when he tried for the double-armbar from guard. Wanted to work the floating from Tuesday, but only saw the top once. Mostly defending a slow set-up north/south kimura — he’d get the grip when I was still on my back, and then would try to pull me up and get his legs around, but that gave me too much space and time. Pointed that out afterward.

Small class; short warmup, though we repeated shrimping and single-legs a lot while Justin worked with the new girl. Both runs on squat jumps, though, and actually good jumps! On the second run, my legs even felt stronger than on the first. I think I was getting deeper and/or extending more. Or something.

Then to rolling. Justin put me with the new girl, but she doesn’t know anything at all yet. So I decided to just show her positions instead. After a few minutes of that, Justin looks over at me and asked what we were doing, then he switched with me and I went over to drill with Sundance. He had to have surgery on his finger (it’s been a long while ago now, too) for a tendon, and is out for another 4-6 weeks. Geez, and I spaz when I have to miss just 1 week. We worked a few armbars on his non-injured hand, and then he let me work D’Arce from half guard. He pointed out that once I suck their head in, I should let go of half guard and then sink my top hip. Practiced that a few times; he was tapping fast and said it was tight.

Justin continued working with the girl for the next round, so I got to roll with Buddy. Had some good things, like D’Arce defenses; triangled myself again, though. And then he caught some sneaky reverse triangle/double kimura thingy; even he said it was sneaky. Still on the bottom, though, or against his open guard.

Drilling was knee-elbow escape from mount. (I call this one the “scrape” version.) Bridge and get them down to your hips. Brace on one of their hips to turn to one side. The leg that’s closest to the ground stays flat; the other leg crosses over the bottom one and hooks on the outside of their leg on that side. Scrape their leg over your bottom leg so now their shin is on top of your bottom thigh. Use your bottom elbow for leverage on their knee while bringing the knee of the bottom leg under their leg and up to meet your elbow. Plant that foot on the ground and hip escape to that side. Lock up half guard. Either start playing half guard or continue to full guard, which is what we did tonight. Elbow of the bottom arm leverages against their knee (now the opposite knee from before). Unlock the half guard and bring the bottom knee through to meet the bottom elbow. Plant that foot on the ground and hip escape to that side. Circle that foot out and square up to guard.

I worked with the girl. Did it a couple of times on her so she could see it again and feel it and then let her work. Justin came around and helped walk her through it, too. Mostly just let her work.

More rolling. Started with the girl. Going super easy. Mostly just gently swept her and went to mount, then let her work the escape; when she got back to guard, broke the guard gently and did knee-through pass to mount again. After I’d passed a couple of times, she figured out the scissor sweep position all on her own (though she didn’t know what it was) to block my pass, so I’d move around for a different one and go back to mount. Afterward she was asking about the way I was always keeping some pressure somewhere on her while moving. (And I was using light pressure and only in a small place, like my forehead on her hip, and was keeping distance to make sure I wouldn’t accidentally hit her.)

Justin worked with her one more time while I went with the little 14 year old, so not much harder than the last round. Did tip him over, er, sweep him once and took mount; he started thrashing around. I finally clamped down on him and said, “We just drilled this.” “Oh. Right.” Little spazzy and needed some walking through it. He jumped away from guard and went for another no-chance guillotine. I came up in his guard at another point, and he was grabbing for arms and letting them go, half coming up for bump sweep then dropping down; I didn’t even have to defend anything because he was all over the place on his own. Afterwards, I told him that he needed to slow down when he rolled and to try to work the techniques that we drill in class, that they do work when you do them right and not when you try to rush through them. I also showed him the guillotine from guard, which I’d meant to do on Tuesday. He was very surprised that the correct position is from full guard; he’s tried it from every other position.

I was going to hang around to talk to the girl, but she went over to join Perry’s Krav class. (I do think she may have gotten the impression that jiu-jitsu is indeed the “gentle art” from working with just me and Justin. She mentioned something at one point about it being so much slower than she expected… So she may be back, but with expectations that aren’t going to be met for much longer. Hrrrmm…)

Spin-the-Wheel Pizza after. Brandon and I were both one space away from a free pizza; Justin and Guillaume both won zeppolis. My heros ;) (But with two of them on the table, we couldn’t finish it all!)