Got in early as normal and luckily some other folks did for some early sparring. Was feeling good and my last post refers to my performance in this fridays lesson.
So me and long time training partner Chris got rolling, been quite keen to work my passing game and did well. Chris made it difficult but I tried to keep him pinned and straight to reduce his mobility. Cranked on an armbar should of squeezed it on with more control. Ive noticed a lack of confidence in putting on some submissions where Im convinced they will escape. But this results me in cranking it on abit to hard. Worked some half guard as well which as a gap in my game is steadily coming up to par with the rest of my positions.
Did alot of throwing work in this lesson which was really good. Started with seoi nage and then went on to any throw we fancied, finishing the throw by knee riding them and falling back into the armbar. Gave me a good chance to properly practise drop seoi nage and hara goshi. As your throwing them from such a low level I thought drop seoi nage wouldnt hurt very much. But it packs a big unexpected punch!. I am exploding abit more into my throws which I feel is helping them as itmeans I am commiting more to the throw. Andy wanted to correct some people one their breakfalls so asked me to throw him. I stood in mild shock for abit with the class looking on, then took even longer trying to think of an appropriate throw. A part of me wanted to try a mega WWE style throw as it might be the only chance I get to throw him. Went for a normal seio nage in the end as I didnt want to mess up what he was demonstrating.
We then did the baseball choke from the knee on belly position. Sticking both arms deep into their collar, try and get them enarly touching. Dont cross them over like the cross lapel choke. One hand will face in and one will face out, resembling like your holding a baseball bat. You then put your far leg over their head and twist your body so your kneeling in a north south position over their head. Put your head to the ground on the side you crossed over on, this will block them turning into you and make the choke tighter. Comes on very tight!.
Dont really like this vid but couldnt find a better one.
We then did some sparring. One of the newer guys Ive been facing recently always dives straight in for a triangle/armbar attempt, everytime. I block, pass, crush, mount and submit. Gave me a good chance to put the baseball bat choke into practise and it worked a treat, definitely gonna use it more often. The kid never loses heart though and is eager for more each time. So I take the chance to work more on my half guard (sweeps and taking the back) as well as experiment with a few things.
Sparred my new favourite partner again with his HCK (pain in the ass to choke gi). And here is where I felt my new found passion really help. I was alot tighter and more focused on trying to take him out of his game. This guy loves combat base (one knee up) and is very good at using it to pass by blocking the hips. But being more comfortable in half guard now I hooked my leg underneath the leg that was up so my foot was curled round his thigh. This really helped in neutralising the position and getting him off balance. Kept tight in side control and worked to mount, put in a cross collar choke and squeeeeeeeeezed it on. There were some sounds and his face was going dark, but he held out for a long time and I thought it might not of been fully on so I let go. Turns out it was on! so I really need to put more faith into my moves. No tap though so we continue but I was far more dominant than usual which made me very happy as I find this guy one of the hardest guys currently training. He will probaly kick my ass next time we roll but thats how these things go.
Andy asked if anyone fancied a spar and I jumped at the chance. Although he always take it quite easy I get alot out of sparring him. As it makes bad habits and mistakes easier to see. As a result of him capitalising on them, or just plain telling me. Worked to pass and put in better showing than usual, although I never managed to fully pass I put on alot more pressure than usual. And minimised oppertunities to get subbed. Got done in by a shoulder crank ive never even seen before, I was belly down with his legs curled round my arms which was pulling at my laterals and shoulder. Played a little guard and got put into half guard, Andy corrected me on my underhook which I kept on putting on the wrong side enabling him to take my back. Always on the same side as the leg your trapping!.
Sparred some other guys and generally felt very good with passing and control, really feel I am on the rise now with alot of things falling into place.
Sparred Nick in our post class ritual, accidently spinning elbowed him in the face!. Sorry dude!.
Saturday:
No BJJ for me Im going caving in Somerset for the weekend (Cheddar)!, which is something Ive never done. First cave was slippery and very small and tight. Not trusting my wellies for grip I was crawling on my hands and feet like a spider. The advantage of this is it meant I was actually quite mobile and able to essentially play open guard with all the formations and rocks in my way without slipping. Some parts got tight enough where we couldnt move our head and had to shimmy our hips to get through. Luckily for me I was quite happy with shrimping and snaking so was through there like a shot. In some areas we had to chimney climb over crevases, this was hard for some as it required steady pressure in a small space whilst moving for space. To me this just resembled guard passing. Some of the passages we went down were called "Bloody tight" and "Hellish tight"!. We all survived and got the beers in after.
Sunday:
This cave was harder and more dangerous with the added bonus of it being a live WET cave. Not wet as in abit damp, we are talking flowing streams and waterfalls. Loud enough that it was impossible to hear the others at times. Oh yeah and it was snowing. I was wearing 1 shirt, 2 fleeces, 1 fleece body suit, 1 caving body suit, marigolds, 2 socks, diving socks, and wellies. And they guaranteed me I would still be absolutely drenched and freezing. Cave water is not warm, and the snow didnt help it... . The entrance was very forbidding, the size of a large cushion with a rabid stream underneath. Who in their right minds would think it was a good idea to explore this when it was first discovered!. So straight in we had to crawl army style through this stream and then had to crawl up through a U bend style tunnel. Had to crawl down a waterfall that was spraying everywhere. Chimney climb a few bits whilst butt scooching my through. Towards the end the instructer asked me if Ive ever climbed a ladder. I said of course. A caving ladder?. No.. . But it couldnt be to different. A caving ladder is a very small wire ladder, and it was under a waterfall. To climb it properly you had to climb with your leg round it with your heel and the other foot in front, so it kept straight otherwise you went straight into the waterfall. You mean De la Riva guard!? no problemo!. On the way back up however it was abit harder and I got soaked.
We then realised we were gonna have to climb back up all the streams and waterfalls we had just passed. Which was difficult, getting quite wet and providing an interesting climbing challenge. Nature wasnt done with me yet though as it through a formation called the "toilet bowl" into the works. Myself having to climb up out of the toilet bowl with nature effectively waterboarding me. Then spiderman crawling through the stream. As predicted we were soaked and pretty cold. Nothing a pint of somersets finest cider couldnt cure though. Great fun weekend. And if you fancy getting a workout for jiu jitsu I highly reccomend it, VERY similar movements with alot of grip training.
Crikey! Ive actually found a vid of the cave we went in on Sunday, although without my awesome jitsu moves obviously. And Im adding a BBC link as well (embedding disabled)!
BBC video
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