Tag Archives: wrestling

Monday Night Kumite

We had an unusual class last night.

We warmed up, then drilled the single leg dump for a while. I paired up with Cole, who seemed new.

After a while, Tim picked Brady and Long, and had them do a pick ’em to make two teams. I ended up on Brady’s team, with Gil, Cole, Jimmy, Johnny, and Anna. Tim paired everyone up for a 3 minute match, first take down wins. Loosing team does burpees. My team did a lot of burpees. My match was vs Meli. Things were going well until I tried to duck behind her and she hip tossed me pretty good.

Tim then kicked things up a notch. 3 minute matches, starting standing. I had Wrestler Josh, Meli again and Long. I went the distance with Josh, but lost on points. Both Meli and Long armlocked me.

Our team ended up down in matches something like 17-6. So we got more burpees at the end.

In the Groove

Wow, does it feel nice to be feeling well again. I was sick so long, I forgot how nice it is to breath through my nose and go 5 minutes without coughing.

We had a very small no gi class last night. We did the Circle of Death to warm up, and then spent all of our drilling time doing a single leg setup. JR mentioned it in passing last week. The real “trick” to getting a take down is closing the distance. If we’re both far apart, then a takedown is impossible because we both have time to react, either stepping back or sprawling. So our setup was to step left and circle, step left and circle, keeping the distance constant, then step left and cut the angle, step right and suddenly we’re on top of the guy. Secure the single and proceed normally. Darryl and were drilling together, and both sucking at it. But we gradually figured out our problems and by the end of our time, appeared that we had some idea of what we are doing. Needs a lot more practice however.

For rounds, we did three 10 minute rounds. I had Darryl, then Justin twice. Did good with Darryl. It felt nice to be able to go at a good pace and keep it up. I got off a nice kimura half guard pass. I didn’t quite get to the back from there, but got on top for the kimura attack into an armlock which I did finish.

Justin is new, this may have been his first class with us. He was wearing a blue rash guard, and from his questions during class and his rolling, I’m certain he’s had some wrestling experience. He out weighed me by a good chunk, so I was nervous starting off with him. He was active, but not overly spazzy. I hit the same kimura pass, kimura attack into armlock combo I did with Darryl, but his grip was pretty impressive. Rather than fight it, I switched to a triangle and finished that. Later I hit a seat belt during a scramble, and rolled to his back and got RNC. In our second round, we were both pretty tired. He stayed active, in bursts. I was never really in any bad spots with him. There were some times were he could have done some things, like attack and arm triangle, but never did. Makes me think his jiu jitsu experience is low. Seemed like a nice enough guy though.

Felt sore after class, but exhilarated at a good night of training.

Sit Out & Clock Choke

It’s always tough coming back after a break. No way around it, just have to go and keep moving as best as I can.

The first part of the lesson last night was the sit out. This commonly occurs after a failed take down. You’re turtled, and your opponent is sprawled out on top of you. Sitting out allows you to get out and end up on top of them. It’s probably one of the first fives technique that you’d learn in wrestling. Ron and I drilled it, alternating back and forth.

Next, we attacked with the clock choke. We did three variations. The basic one, one where they post on their outside foot, and then another where they fall to their side and end up in a cradle. Drilled it more with Ron, then switched up to Officer Jason.

For rounds, I think I drew the short straw. Dr. Chuck & Zig to start, but then Garrett and Ron. Strangely, I got on the backs of everyone, but never finished anyone. I had the most success with Garrett, which is understandable, since he’s a white belt. Plenty of opportunities with a triangle and on his back, but he defended well enough. It was a little frustrating.

Leg Attacks

I arrived at the gym last night in the middle of a torrential downpour. Bad enough that there were several of us sitting our cars, waiting for a break in the storm to run in. It came and we all sprinted in, still getting pretty wet. The rain made for some serious humidity.

I barely got changed before Damian drafted me to assist with the fundamentals class. I had to demonstrate the drop seoi nage throw a few times with Ron, and then roll with Blue Belt Tim for a bit. Haven’t seen him at a night class in a while.

Our warm up was…let’s just call it “extended”. We ran and shuffled, our usual stuff, with some sprawls thrown in for good measure. Then we did a 10 minute stretching and mobility routine. Most of us left little sweat angels on the mat. Damian then broke us into groups of three for a little wrestling drilling. Middle guy had to slap hands then break fall and stand up, then rotate 180 to face the other guy who would swipe at his legs, simulating an attempted takedown, and he’d sprawl. Stand up, rotate 180, repeat. Next drill was shoot a single, rotate, shoot a double, repeat. Next was swipe, sprawl, then immediately get up and shoot a double on the other guy. It was exhausting.

Lesson of the day was a lasso sweep, for when they stand up. It was similar to the dump sweep, except you reverse shrimp in, insert your knee, and basically trip them over your torso. We started just going to side control, but then added a triple leg attack…all of which are illegal in most competitions until brown/black belt level. Too high of a chance for injuries. We did a reverse heel hook, a toe hold, and then a knee bar. We went slowly and carefully. No need to blow out someone’s ACL.

We switched partners and did it again. I was able to do everything with JR pretty easy. But then I got Little Seth. And couldn’t get the sweep to work at all. It’s not like he was resisting much, maybe he just had better balance? Damian helped me some, but I still had some issues.

We only did one round of sparring, as it was already time for class to be over. I had Little Seth. Went okay for a few minutes, but then he swept me over the top of him, using his knee on my sternum as a lever. I heard a few little clicks and couldn’t breathe for a bit. Hurt to move, breathe, rotate or pretty much do anything, so that was the end of my round. Better this morning, but still pretty tender.

Squeezed in two runs over the holiday weekend. Mudder is two weeks out. I feel mostly ready, as long as this sternum thing clears up.

The Pain Train

Uff. What a night we had. Brady warmed us up, and then it was Circle of Death time. One round of only ab exercises, one round of general conditioning.

…and then Damian had us drill double legs for 12 minutes.

…and then we did ten 1 minute live take down rounds with a 30 second break. I was partnered with Ron. He got the better of me most of the time, but I did get in a few. In any case, it was exhausting.

So what did we do next? Roll. Ron, Will, and I. We did a reverse ladder style. Start in guard, and work to improve your position. If you do, switch guys, and start in a WORSE position. IE, if you sweep from guard, then you start under side control. And if you escape that, then you start mounted. I had a good run where I d’arce choked Ron from side control top, swept Will, then got back to guard under Ron’s side control, and Will’s mount. All I had to do to “win” was escape Ron’s back control. But I didn’t.

To round out the evening, we did one round of just regular rolling. I had Will. We had a good back and forth for a bit, and then I got an overwrap on his arm. He defended the choke, but I switched to a triangle. He defended well, I couldn’t finish it. The buzzer rang as I was trying the new technique Damian showed us a couple of weeks ago.

Up and Down. Repeat.

Circumstances prevented me from my usual Monday night class, but on the flip side, allowed me to go on Tuesday.

Brown Belt Matt was leading class. And he kicked it off with 45 minutes of wrestling drills. Ugh. We did 2 minutes per partner. Single setups. Singles. Then singles into a guard pass. Singles into a different pass. And more. Take down, stand back up. Repeat.

The next 45 minutes were 8 minute rounds. I had Greg, Renato, Paul, a break, and then Renato again. I started too hard with Greg and the first couple of minutes with Renato, and paid for it for the rest of the night. Not my greatest night of rolling either, I felt sluggish and was in bad positions for most of the time.

Cauliflower Factory

Last night started as an “off” night for me. During the warm up, I just wasn’t feeling it. I was feeling slow, tired and weak.. I trudged through it though.

Brady led the class, teaching the Russian tie from head and arm control, into a single leg, a double leg. The drawback of drilling this technique, is that we’re head to head the whole time. Seems pretty easy to grind and blow up your ear.

We also did a variation where instead of turning to grab 2-on-1 the arm, you use your shoulder to shuck his arm past you. Then you’re perpendicular to his body and set for numerous take downs.

For rolling we did 5 minute rounds. I started off with a murder’s row of Brady, Dumi, and Marc. Tough rounds. JR and Shane rounded things out.

I had a interesting situation come up with Shane. I had him in half guard, and I was going for an over wrap on one arm. He started to pull his arm out to prevent me from getting it. I took my outside leg and moved it up on his back, working for the clamp position. I still had a grip on his arm, so I started a reverse or inverted americana. I wasn’t sure I was going to get it, but I knew if he pushed his arm back into my arm pit to defend I could transition to a kimura or elbow crusher. He ignored it for a second, then realized how much trouble he was in and jerked it loose. We played with it after class some, and I think it’s a viable attack.

Wrestling and Rolling

Tiny little class last night, only six of us. Must be the holiday week. Even Damian is gone. Brady was teaching, so that meant wrestling. We did some standing arm drag drills, and then drilled two take downs. The first was a combination arm drag, and steping through and falling back. It’s a movement like pulling half guard and baseball slide together. The second was the chin drop take down we’ve done before.

For rolling, we did 5 minute rounds, round robin. I had good rounds with Dan, Long and Aria. Aria is getting to be pretty tough. She had me in half guard and was very heavy with her pressure and locked me up tight while passing. Then in side control, she was the same way. Nolan and I just flow trained. You know it’s a weird night when I’m the second biggest guy there. Brady crushed me. He had me mounted, and worked up high on my chest. So high my arms were basically above my head, which is a horrible horrible spot to be in. We had time for one more round and I drew Ten Ton Aria again.

It was a good night of training. Though, given how much I’ve been in class recently, ANYTHING would be good!

Wrasslin’

My respect for wrestlers grows every time we do a wrestling focused technique. Tonight it was a variation of the Russian tie. This is a two-on-one control position, and we used it to transition into both a single leg takedown and a double.

We drilled for a while, then went live. I was paired up with Jen and we did two rounds with each of us having the tie for 3 minutes. I had some success with it, though I prefer the arm drag double.

We then rounded class out with a single 20 minute round of rolling. Nothing was easy tonight.

Tuesday Takedowns

Damian and a few others are down in Sao Paulo training for a couple of weeks at Alliance HQ. As such, classes are being led by various people. Brady was last night.

The lesson was drilling the double leg takedown. Wrestling never has been, and never will be, my strong suit. And I greatly prefer the single leg takedown. In any case, we drilled it for a while, then mixed it up with some general takedown drills.

We then ran some 100% drills. 45 seconds, takedown wins, loser does pushups. I started with Shane, and got smoked, but he has a wrestling background. I ran out the clock with Ron, and almost did vs Dan.

Rolling for the night was 4 minute rounds, starting in a set position. With Ron, we started in mount. With Renato, side control, and with Dumi, in guard. Good stuff.