Valeries and new developments

Tuesday:

Back to training!. Andy has just added a childrens class and a beginners class to Tuesday. So I decided to get in extra early just after the childrens class as I reckoned some people would fancy some extra training. There was an hour gap inbetween the childrens class and the beginner class so myself, Lee, Andy and another guy fancied a little workout. We started with doing press ups using olympic rings. Doing 3 sets of ten, keeping them stable and straight really added another dimension to the press up exercise. We then did 3 sets of 5 Turkish get ups using kettlebells, Im quite unfamiliar with kettlebells so used a 12KG one. Quite a tricky exercise engaging alot of muscles. Lee is abit of a demented fireman with some army experience so he then subjugated us to something called a Valery. Which was doing a burpee with a pushup and then jumping to a crossbar or beam and doing a pull up!. We did 2 sets of 5 and then 3 sets of 6 of those which were abit of a killer!. We then went to our newly attained running machine but it was having some issues so didnt get a go on that. As Im writing this my upper body is still aching!

I then did some rolling no gi with Lee, who is one of those rare strong guys that doesnt like to use his strength against smaller guys like myself. We had a fun roll and his alot more patient and thoughtful now, working position first. He caught me once or twice and I got him with an armbar. Using a setup I saw in a "The ultimate fighter" episode!. From mount you curl your leg around the arm you are attacking so your shin goes across their throat. This forces the arm up and sets up the armbar. It also puts pressure on the neck to keep them there. If they do come up its also setup for an omoplata!. That was my first experiment with it, think I need to get abit slicker with it but the surprise factor is worth its weight in gold.

Sparred some no gi with Andy and I found it alot harder without my grips, need to work on my no gi properly at some point. And I got taken apart in a variety of ways. My one small victory was a half guard sweep but that was aided by someone knocking on the door and Andy stopping and having a look to see who it was.

Beginner class was good and I fancied it as some extra training with a chance to work on my fundementals. Did some hip throw work to armbar, then worked on the rolling escape out of the armbar if they dont control the wrist.



To counter this we control the wrist and use our thigh to put pressure on the elbow wherever it moves. Did some mild sparring from this point to work the escape and the armbar. Then moved onto some sparring where we had to keep mount but wernt allowed to submit. Escaping wasnt to hard although I need to be more carefull about offering my back. Holding it wasnt to bad either but without subs it was easy to keep control. We then added subs. Escaping became a little harder and I did actually get caught which twinged my arm a little. On top my sub attempts wernt that great and I found it harder to keep mount (did lose mount once or twice)but my cross choke is getting more devious. So good session overall but need to work on a more solid mount.

Onto the next class! - Feeling a little bit tired so I sat out most of the warm up as I was pretty warm anyway and the mat was looking busy.

First techniques were side control escapes. Keep your arm against his neck so your arms resemble a T-rex's. Putting them away from him just helps him in attacking it, as you cant defend with your other arm. Important note here was to bridge and get your head out from his arms so he cant control your head to straighten you out. Then you do the thai block, bringing in your knee and elbow and replace guard using a shrimping movement. The other escape was similar but instead of replacing guard you grab his inside leg and walk around so you end up on top. The walk around is very important as it does all the work in putting him on his back. Other wise you will just end up turtled as he sprawls. I noticed something abit strange from drilling this move a few times, everyone prefers the first escape!. Even though it only gets you guard and the other one gets you side control!. Maybe as its abit easier and more gracefull, but I know I would rather end up on top even if it is slightly riskier.

Heres a great theory vid from Demian maia, looking at position from underneath side control.

We then did a side control attack that I remember Ollie showing when he was down a while ago. Based on the side control situation where your opponent is linking his arms on your back, keeping you close. The arm against his ear swaps to his other ear, slightly hooking underneath his arm. Your arm that was on his far side comes over and underneath yourself. If you rock up you can then grab the lapel closest to you from underneath. It may seem awkward but I find it a very good pin, as it completely controls his shoulder your on. Then taking your other arm that you moved earlier, grab his far lapel with your fore arm across his throat and press your elbow to the ground. Which will crush his larynx and give you the tap. If he resists move your elbow up to open up his neck more. If he moves his neck to the side it will then become a choke. Strong submission this, once you get the grips.

From the same setup before we then did another attack. Holding onto his far arm you push yourself forward to break his grip and to flatten his arm straight on the ground. You also move your leg closest to his head, over it (similar to a kimura setup). You then hold his wrist with one hand and swim your other hand under to grab your own arm. So again similar to the kimura but his arm is straight. Important part is to be underneath his elbow so then when you push down with your hands and raise your upper body you achieve an armbar effect and get the tap. Its a little tricky but a worthwhile option to have when they straighten their arm to avoid the americana or kimura.

Sparring went well, one of our guys who recently injured his spine was back. I went for top control as Im really feeling comfortable there but I took care not to put to much pressure on his spine. Although I could tell he wasnt 100% confident yet, Im sure he will be back to form soon now that his back to training.

In another sparring match I managed to land a reverse triangle from underneath side control, but I also got kneebarred and triangled. I kept on getting top position but my mount is just abit flimsy at the moment. And I dont like doing the single lapel choke on training partners, despite making it alot easier for me to balance I feel its unnecessary. Better time spent getting the cross lapel and other subs in.

Sparred no gi with an mma guy, he was quite active so I decided to let him have top and Ill work a sweep from underneath. But my no-gi gap haunted me yet again. Went for lots of things but just couldnt keep the control I needed. He couldnt pass my guard but he managed to block alot of my moves just using his head. Which is awesome!, he didnt realise he was doing it but using your head as another hand seems like a really good idea. I think with no gi I am under utilising my mobility abit, not realising that whilst I dont have alot of grips, neither do they.

Me and Nick then had our post lesson roll ritual as normal, went well. Concentrated on his guard passing with me threatning lots of sweeps. Gave me the chance to practise my open guard abit, looking at hooking underneath his leg and using it to unbalance. Definite improvement in his passing, much better idea on what Im going for and what he has to defend. He even passed at one point but his base wasnt there so I rolled him over from underneath side control.

A few posts ago I mentioned how I was really getting revved to fight Ross Nickols again, as he was a good target to aim myself at. However a spanner has been thrown in the works!. He just got given his blue! - Big congrats!. A shame though as I wont be fighting him in Hereford now, unless I make him roll with me. But its nice to start getting to that point where familiar faces in my division are getting their blues.

So I needed inspiration!, and fate smiled on me yet again and delivered this:

Cant embed so heres the link:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zvxc8S5ybS4

No one gets to complain EVER again.

The other new developments are:

RGA Charity interclub comp sometime in December

Decent chance I might be doing some traveling in Brazil

Gonna start doing some reviews

Muay Thai classes have started at the club!