Training session's this week were resoundingly more active than usual. On Monday, two sessions were held by Andre where he thoroughly elucidated upon the elements learned at the Cobrinha seminar. Namely, he expounded upon the emphasis that must delegated to firmly holding onto the kimura grip from the back and how your chest needs to be firmly planted against the back tricep while simultaneously pushing the face down then going in for the arm bar.  Tuesday, was the Leo Viera seminar and Viera displayed a dazzling method for pressure passing the guard. The technique worked on the basis of doing a pushup with both hands upon the opponent's de le riva leg then hooking the ankle with my palm hand and from there swimming my arm inside to grip the outside lapel, simultaneously the other arm pushed behind the leg in the knee pit while the grip on the outside lapel pulled inside. Constant pressure is utilized and the pass is conducted.

    The counter to the Viera movement can be readily seen when the opponent makes the decision to roll back onto his shoulders and from there I put down my knee next to his head underhook with my arm on the knee side, then I put my leg into his armpit fall to the side while basing on my elbow then using my elbow on the inside of his arm to move inside his and achieve sidemount. Wednesday held day classes with Andre reviewing the Viera pass concept, while the night session had Joel instructing upon a basic choke from kneemount. Thursday's day session held a no-gi roll where I continually strived to take Lucas down but to no avail, wrestling will continually necessitate improvements, the night session was decent but the only thing really noticeable was the S mount armbar coming off the failed cross choke from fullmount. Saturday was a fun and long open mat roll session where I was able to learn of a new judo technique where I drag the opponent forward then move to my right and initiate the basic foot sweep.Sunday was a dismal rolling session where I thoroughly got beat up though the big lesson to take away from it is when the opponent is sinking in an arm bar I must roll into the opponent and not away and from there can take away the fulcrum needed for the arm bar.  Additionally, I learned that when I conduct the capoiera pass I must ascertain that the opponent is  pinned upon the mat so as to prevent him from bucking me over. Any endeavor worthy of challenge necessitates commitment, and what defines the commitment is continually moving forward irregardless of setbacks and demoralizations which will continually manifest; however, within this struggle true happiness is found.

 The sessions this week proved to be progressive and bountiful. On Tuesday's wrestling session, Jimmy illustrated two fundamental aspects that can be entered into my wrestling skillset. First, upon the entry for the single leg there is the point of dragging the arm downwards and then fully conducting the attack of the single-truly awesome set-up. Second, there is the point having my head chucked down while opponent grasps my chin and from that point I specifically grab the opponent's four fingers, pinch the opponent's elbow, straighten the arm and circle out, then from this point onwards, I wait for opponent to circle out around me and when he comes around I attack underhook leg or for the ankle pick. Wednesday had me doing a morning class with Joel followed by a very long roll session. In the technique section,Joel illustrated a simple technique of moving the opponent's knee's over then switching my hips, falling on my opponent's thigh/hip area and initiating the pass. In rolling, I rolled with Jon for about a good 40 minutes whereupon I learned of some points with the closed guard break which constituted keeping my head directly centered upon the opponent's midsection and allowing myself to work my arms upwards and break the close guard. Thursday held a midday no-gi rolling session with nothing much to report other than I got to work on keeping on top with smoother jitz and continually ascertain methods of stopping the back attacks. Friday, I learned of more Judo techniques with Mark and learned of strategies for continually hitting the Tai-Otoshi. Most transparent method can come about through a point when the opponent bends down in avoidance of the throw then you sidestep inside while arcing the inside elbow upwards into the armpit whilst snapping the sidearm upwards at the same time. Additionally, the formidable Tai-Otoshi throw can be sought via as the opponent steps around an initial attack and from there a final successful attack can be rendered. Saturday, was another rolling session whereupon I learned that my stand-up is improving but I additionally learned of the importance of waiting for the opponent's reaction before going to attack and is especially pertinent with the inside sweep from the butterfly guard.Sunday, was a hard rolling session, where I learned of my weakness in hitting the leg drag,perhaps more research is needed. Furthermore, through rolls with David, I was able to learn that when I am in advantageous positions or positions where escapes may occur, I must explode with a significant degree of ferocity and escape from the disadvantageous position.I also had the additional honor of rolling with Paul Silva and he absolutely murdered me, so I have a lot of things to work on.

This week's sessions were great and rich in knowledge. Andre taught on Monday how to achieve solid arm bars from the back and why it is of importance to use the opponent's arm which is succumbing to the kimura and press it into the opponent's face and from there the arm bar can be taken. Tuesday's wrestling session was mildly exhilarating as Joel and Jimmy instructed upon taking the back after a weak shoot by the opponent and is reminiscent of a recent performance of Gary Tonon. In the conduction of the technique, I will allow my weight to fall upon the shoulder and from that point will move to take the back and/or go for the twister. The seminar with Joao Miyao was great as it was inspirational to see him move ever so fluidly but unfortunately I could not for the life of me remember much of the techniques he showed other than the first initial one which consisted of a back take from the berimbolo set-up. Key emphasis for the technique is on shrimping outwards first from the delariva position and then bobbing around the opponent to taking the back. Thursday was Luca's class and he went over the arm drag from half-guard then the back take whereupon you anticipate the opponent will roll while you are taking the back and you roll with him and end up in the fearsome back-take position. Friday was a rest day and Saturday was my no-gi worlds competition where I unfortunately lost. Within the first 30 seconds of the match, my opponent immediately pulled guard. In the closed guard, I struggled to break free and from that point my clever opponent managed to revert to my back and I struggled to escape fruitlessly. Going back I need to stress breaking the closed guard as well as development of escaping the back. Live and learn and keep moving on forward.

Training this week was quite eventful. Monday had Andre reviewing the things Cobrinha went through including the efficient and strong back take. Tuesday, at the wrestling session where I got further work and reinforcement of my arm drag skills as well as my ankle pick. Later on in the session, Joel came in and went through techniques about taking the crucifix. Wednesday had Joel teaching and he went through his interpretation of the gi collar choke from the back, all back to basics. I learned again that my guard is a bit weak still. Thursday had Lucas teaching and he went through taking the back from half-guard via the arm drag. Lucas also went through the knee thread technique as opponent moves to turtle from being side-controlled. In Friday's Judo session, I learned that my uchikomi is weak and needs work with more emphasis on getting the squat down before the throw. Saturday entailed more no-gi training with Dustin and getting mangled by him and the biggest take-away I can derive from the session is the necessity of the mario sperry guillotine choke and how I must work to fend off the crucifix attacks. Sunday had me participating in a rolling session at 10th planet. My submissions are weak but my guard passes and side-mount is strong which will bode well for IBJJF competition. I was able to ascertain from the tournament that my attacks will be focused primarily on Darce but in equal measure emphasis may be placed on the crank from side-control. I also learned from Geo as well to swim my hand in when getting rear naked choked and this is a characteristic that cannot be under-emphasized. It was another great week of training.