Monday, October 20, 2008

Gracie class 10/19/08

Class started with 2 hours of self-defense techniques, which Phil explained are requirements for your black belt. We covered responses to lapel grabs, bearhugs from behind (under and over arms), side grabs, and wrist grabs. Whereas kajukenbo focused on the striking/kicking elements, of course jiu jitsu emphasized joint locks. I drilled with Leila and had a great time.

The most intriguing technique to me: DON'T grab someone's lapel without getting sleeve control! Because whether your arm is bent or not, they can create some interesting shoulder and/or elbow and/or wrist cranks out of it. A big thank-you to Josh, a visiting brown from the Relson school in San Antonio, for his excellent explanations.

Towards the end we were released to roll, so Leila and I paired up. Her guard is super strong and she's tough to take down regardless if you start from feet or knees. It's ridiculously difficult for me to pass either her closed or open guard. However, with effort I was able to reverse her; I am reduced to muscling out of americanas, so I need to focus on technique instead. I was having a hard time passing her half guard, but I guillotined her using some of the tips from Giberson the other night. I almost got an Achilles on her as well, but her darn feet are so little and I was so loose, she slipped out. I need to rewatch Kesting's dvd on the subject and try again.

After she left, I hung around hoping for more rolling, chatted with Christy a bit about my thoughts on Soneca's moves, and watched/listened to the visiting 4-stripe brown, and watched Scott and Richard roll. Mitch arrived around 1:00 and we left without me getting any other sparring in. Mitch's rowing all this week to get ready for his race on Saturday.

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