This week has been a bit more slacker-like than usual. On Tuesday, attendance to wrestling class was invigorating as I was able to discover a gameplan for my wrestling. A massively frustrating aspect of my wrestling occurs when I attempt a shot and it becomes immediately stuffed. The frustration I discovered is derived on the basis of attempting shots on the opponent's legs when the leg I am attacking is at a distance far too large to cover, thus I have to attempt the shot when my knee is nearly parallel with my opponent's knee. Furthermore, Jimmy elucidated how it is quite common for me to club the head and bring my opponent's leg forward and at that point I set myself up for an easy pick of the front leg and a snap into the single leg take-down. Upon hitting the single leg takedown it is best to consider it from the basic Jimmy method of driving my head into my opponent waiting for him to push back then moving forward to institute his usual method of the single leg takedown. Wednesday was treated as a rest night but I did manage to get in some swimming in which proved to be beyond exhausting as new muscles were being actively utilized. Thursday was a basics session whereupon Lucas introduced his understanding of hitting the leg drag. The leg drag according to him must be done with the knee on the side of the leg being dragged going down immediately to my opponent's hip, and from that point the collar can be gripped and the guard can be easily passed. Additionally, Lucas showed a way of hitting the leg drag by pushing the opponent's knee forward then driving the shin across the opponent's lower shin and hitting the leg drag. Needless to say the Luca's training session was filled with thought-provoking and enthralling stuff.
   The tournament performance was as usual not too good. First round match had me clinched with my opponent as I struggled for a take down. I wasted a lot of effort striving to get the take-down and miserably failed. And when I failed, I begun to realize that I should become offensive with my guard and work my guard attack.Often when I fail a takedown, I fall back to turtle which is a position that entitle to lack of tenacity and a set-up to attack; consequently, that's my learning lesson.
  Sunday was fantastic with a seminar from Rigan Machado. Within the seminar, he illustrated a method of hitting a guard passing via gliding the passing leg downward over my opponent's leg as the opponent strives to set up a delariva guard, unfortunately, the technique is too deep and complex for me to surmise in writing. Rigan also illustrated a method of attacking the gogoplata from spider guard and then also reverting to the armbar sweep. Finally, Rigan showed a way of achieving a choke via pressing my opponent's head down into my chest and then positioning my non-choking arm on the ground and moving forward. An additional variation of this push-down technique was illuminated by pushing my opponent's arm inside, dipping my head into the little hole opening, flipping myself over and then getting the tap via choke. Rolling was good and Joel's roll proved to be the most eventful as I realized I need to continually develop my Judo skills with an eye to the uchi-mata along with the basic foot sweep. Further learning was also realized in my rolls with a big guy named Gerrick as he had a very strong knowledge and prowess for utilization of the lower lapel grip which can in turn lead to the worm guard set-ups. Learning is always continual.

This week was vibrant and I had the chance to be continually inculcated with new knowledge. Monday's class was a review of Andre's emphasis on the paramount characteristics of gripping. One one way of looking at is to think of grips in number grade terms. 4 points for gripping the very upper collar, 1 point for the lower collar and 2 points for grips on sleeves and pants. Additionally, as illustrated through Mark later in the week, the grip on the sleeve can be strengthened through spatula gripping it then turning it over and breaking the grips can come via gripping the fiber of the hands then pushing outwards. Wrestling was back to normal with Jimmy teaching class. I did not do very well in the stand up rolling sessions but I was able to learn that when catching the single leg, I must drive my head upwards towards my opponent's chest and push forward, and through this process I can prevent my neck from being snatched and choked. Furthermore, Jimmy illustrated that the ankle pick can essentially be caught anywhere and not just at the point when the foot steps forward rather it can come when any weight is established on the lead leg stepping forward. Wednesday was BJJ class with joel's judo and BJJ instruction. First, instruction of the circling foot sweep was conducted, then upon following the sweep on the ground attacking the over under sweep then when the opponent pushes switching to the other side (AKA 'transferring onto the 405'). Once in sidemount position, an explanation of the kimura was given. One method of breaking it was via conducting two small grip breaks then one gigantic strong grip break to break. Thursday was devoted to rest but I had the opportunity to watch a video about competition from Travis Stevens and how important it is to think when you are training and not just go through the sessions on autopilot, thus I need to be an active learner on the mats whenever possible.

     
Friday was a Judo session with Mark and I had the opportunity to have Mark pretty much do a one on one with me. I asked for instruction on the Uchi-mata, but instead received instruction on the foundation of the throw and something I can build my skill level towards. Fortunately, I was able to garner the principle of when initiating a throw to off-balance my opponent and if the throw occurs following through on it 100 percent and not holding back. Additionally, I now have knowledge of solo drills to practice during the week; therefore, 10 minutes each day will be devoted to just shadow boxing the throw.
 Saturday was an vivacious and exciting open mat. I had the opportunity to roll with a very strong Atos competitor and learned that when full mounting an individual when the guy hips up to push his face the other way and in that direction not just turn the opponent's chin but grab the shoulder that is in the direction of the opponent's face. Daniel taught me another method of hitting the triangle from the back by letting my arm go under my leg control his side arm and from that point he will roll into my triangle, it can be left unsaid that this technique is difficult to illuminate with the usage of words alone. Lastly, in rolling I had the opportunity to get beat up by a renowned Judo competitor named Justin Flores, and facets learned from the roll can pertain to being very active attacking and establishing a good base which can come about through many rounds rolling.

 Sunday was the usual open mat at Barum and it was enlightening as my old training partner Mike instructed me on a method of hitting an S-mount arm bar. Joel also elucidated on the way Justin was able to take me down left and right whereupon the opponent grabs my inside collar and I turn his arm in a steering wheel fashion and smoothly take him. Rolling was decent and I am coming to realize that I often get caught in half-guard. Therefore, I must develop a strong base of attacks from this position. It was indeed an eventful week

  This week's rolling was eventful in the sense that my routine was altered slightly. Monday began with Andre's absence from class and Joel took over providing instruction on a delariva sweep which I have been performing for about the last two months; additionally, Joel illustrated a method of attaining a triangle from that position as well. Learning came about in the rolling session as Paulo demonstrated the importance of ascertaining that my hand and arm does not cross the center of my opponent's chest, and how through conduction of this action will lead to an easy back-take as well as a slick sweep. Tuesday's class was substituted by Lucas and the class was less than effectual, however, I nonetheless was able to take away from the session an immensely easy and fluid throw whereupon I armpit clamp my opponent's arm and grab an underhook on the opposite side. I clamp down the underhook and wait for my opponent to post upwards and when the opponent posts upwards I sacrifice myself throwing my farside leg out and allowing myself to fall down, moving to turtle position and accomplishing the throw.
 Feeling the tinge of burn-out, I decided to take Wednesday off and rest. Thursday proved to be provoking as I was able to roll at Barum's and learned of a new method of defending the darce where I clamp my opponent's arm which has hit my neck then I grab his knee and roll inside upon him, and from there the opponent will flip over my side and I establish dominance in a sidemount position. Rolling proved to be a good learning session in that I was able to understand that when being sidemounted, it is of integral importance to keep the hands tight and not fling them all over the place, and use my body to shrimp outwards. Friday was the Judo session and progression was felt as I am now able to fully appreciate Judo. In my mind Judo can bear strong similarities to boxing as I was able to comprehend the importance of when attempting a throw to fully utilize all energies towards its execution; consequently, I have begun to realize that when attempting a throw, I must utilize every bit of confidence encompassed in me towards the execution of the it and half measures will avail me nothing. Saturday, I varied my routine and headed to the Clark Gracie academy where more judo was practiced and I had the additional opportunity to roll with my friend Harryson. I, unfortunately, was tapped numerous times and Harryson exuded strong dominance upon me, but I was able to understand that I still need to devote energies towards stopping the berimbolo and more research and work must be devoted to this area. The week ended on Sunday with a no-gi rolling session at 10th planet. Overall, I discovered through the session that my no-gi skills are improving but nonetheless work and research must be conducted in this area. While in the gi, my guard passing skills are near optimal, I realized though in the no gi session that my guard passing in no-gi could stand to sustain a bit of improvement, so yet another area that needs work and emphasis. Unto the next week of rolling, training and having fun.

Rolling this week was eventful as I have been able to develop a new perspective for Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Beginning this week, I participated in Andre's class and I became instantly enamored with his explanation of grips and how the importance of grips can never be underestimated. The key points I took from the class is the hierarchy of grips with the grip on the top collar near the head being of foremost importance while the grips on sleeve and leg of less importance while the lower collar grip being deemed as the lowest on the rung of grip importance. When I applied the grip importance viewpoint, I was rewarded in both being able to pull off my moves very successfully along with being able to enjoy and appraise BJJ matches in great detail. Rolling was decent as I was able commit much more submissions than usual as well as pull off moves that are simply in the experiment stage since I devoted steadfast focus to grips.

 Wrestling class was of course quite eventful. One goal I took from the class is to attack the arm drag with stronger consistency, therefore, whenever standing up I will always attack it and from that point shoot and attack the single leg. With a sense of gratitude, Lucas illustrated a method of properly attacking the deep half while maintaining proper defense, the major concept is protecting and being defensive until the deep half is sunk in. Conversely from being deep half'd emphasis must be granted towards driving my leg close to my opponent's hip and from there I can hit a deep chin choke. Alas there is much to learn.

  Wednesday was devoted to rest and then Thursday was a truly amazing class with Bill Cooper. Cooper explained a fundamental method of landing the darce which mimic'd to an extent an upper cut from standing. Cooper then moved on to show a way to pass the butterfly gaurd via grasping the opponent's head and driving the elbow to the floor while simultaneously switching the hips and pushing the knee back. Cooper also illustrated a method of achieving the triangle while sidemounting the opponent where I allow the opponent to extend his arm inside and I pull on the arm and lay from that point into the triangle. Friday was followed with more Bill Cooper stuff in which he showed a way of acheiving Darce from full mount by grasping the head pressuring the wrist, getting the opening and snaking my arm inside then from that point switching my hips over and falling into the darce set-up. Lastly, Cooper showed a method of achieving the gi collar choke by sidemounting the opponent and using the gi collar while keeping the opponent oblivious and from that point switching hips to chest on chest, handing the gi collar over to the arm clasping the opponent's head and getting the choke via straightening my arm. It was a fun class.

  Saturday followed with a gi session and for an unfathomable reason I was really tired but made note of a problem in that I am having a massive amount of difficulty passing the Z guard. Sunday then followed with no gi rolls at 10th planet which was awesome as usual as I had the chance to perform 10 rounds of rolling followed with a little boxing at the end; consequently, a lot of progress was made. As on Saturday, I did notice that my offense against the Z guard needs improvement, so I must put forth research towards this area. Geo also noted a tip for the capoeira half-guard switch where I must grab the opponent's knee pit on the underside and from there I can initiate a switch pass. If I don't perform this step, very negative things can occur such as the opponent easily grasping back control. It was a good week rolling and learning.

As usual the week began with Andre's class which entailed with me being immensely enamored with his techniques. He again illustrated two ways of passing the half-guard with the first technique coming via crossfacing while pulling the arm and sending the knee backwards. The next technique involved underhooking the triangular area that develops when the opponents sits up in half-guard then sprawling the hands outward then performing the tripod half-guard stack pass with the knee slice. Upon completing both of these passes and landing in sidemount, the basic triangle from sidemount can be successfully performed via trapping the wrist or wrapping the arm and bringing the leg over.

  The rolling after class good and I am feeling better after my dismal loss at my last tourney.I had the opportunity to roll with MMA fighter Cat Zingano and I noticed that while I was working with her, my guard game is not that fantastic. Therefore, I could use some time and emphasis to develop this area, more drilling will be necessary and direction should be found.
  The Tuesday wrestling session was great as usual as Jimmy further reviewed last weeks eventful session with Darryl, however, I was enlightened upon a weak area in my game as I often make the mistake of achieving the single leg and rather than going for it in the basic manner I try and attack the outside. This mistake must be stopped if I want to develop a formidable single leg takedown.

 Joel went about and taught the Wednesday class and it was a review of basics. Basic guard break to the stack pass and a new movement was learned via letting the opponent move towards turtle and at that point I can revolve my arm into a darce position. It was a very nice move to say the least. The rolling session proved to be long and hard as I discovered I am weak at passing the Z guard but discovered the vast importance of gripping the gi strongly and cleverly as this proved to be pivotal in directing my opponent's balance and weight.

  Thursday was relegated for rest as I implemented my new BJJ calisthenic program. Friday was judo night and I realized a strong defect inherent in my Judo habits as I tense up profusely when thrown, thus I must devote some time towards development of losing my fear of being thrown; however, I did learn very effective Judo concepts I must take notice of the space between me and my opponent and go for the throw when he is moving forward and there is adequate space between me and my opponent. Open mat rolls on Saturday and Sunday proved to be progressive but I did take explicit notice that I was more tired than usual and was not able to roll as hard. The big problem I took notice of was attacking the inverted guard along with being careful to not actively escape being pinned in my turtle guard when my opponent has one of my legs trapped. Big things to make note of in BJJ learning within the open mat session came about with Aaron's illustration of underhooking the leg and going for the take down from the backside as well as hitting the same underhook move from the Delariva position. I have a lot to learn and I will keep training diligently as  possible