Hi!
I started training at Nunez BJJ with Coach Joe last Monday. I made it to Monday and Tuesday class, as well as Friday open mat. I did something to my right knee on Monday. It's not bad, but it's sore. And over the weekend I did something else to my left thumb. It doesn't always hurt, but every now and then I'll do something (like button my shirt) and a sharp pain will go through my thumb. I have my knee in a light compression sleeve and my thumb was taped last night.
Enough about injuries though...
Last Monday, we drilled arm bars from closed guard, sit up sweep from closed guard and arm drags from butterfly to taking the back. I worked with Josh on these.
Last Tuesday was 10-round Tuesday.
This Monday (yesterday), we drilled a bottom half-guard escape and sweep to side control and to taking the back. This one starts in bottom half-guard. Turning yourself towards your partner, using your outside leg to hip up and your (same side) top shoulder to create space for your top arm to make a frame, passing across their face and holding the bicep area. Your bottom arm braces the bottom of the frame by grabbing the forearm area. One key movement that I've taken from this move is the addition of your outside knee creating the knee shield by sliding into the armpit of your opponent. Your elbow of your top arm should be touching your knee as well to strengthen your frame. From there, I feel pretty safe as far as not getting smashed anymore.
Now that you're relatively in a good position, I use my knee shield leg to bump my opponent forward and slide my top arm under their armpit to control their hips. My head should still be under their belly area. The bump moves them forward and tends to lift their free leg. My left arm goes between their legs to grab the ankle of their free leg. I pass the ankle to my outside arm, pull my inside arm from between their legs, and grab the knee of their free leg. I switch my legs so my outside leg is now blocking their trapped leg (whereas previously my inside leg was hooked to their trapped leg). Then, pull the leg and push the hips...and take side control.
If your head manages to come out when you use the knee shield to bump your opponent forward, you can take the back by grabbing their belt to control their hips and pull them into you (scooting away to create space as needed). You can also "ride the leg" by reaching over their hips and grabbing your own pants leg (of your hooked leg) from underneath. I'm not too sure how to use this one yet.
There was one person I rolled with last night that was just super rough. Crushed my ears and was jumping all over the place, rolling us all over the place. I was doing my best to defend and not roll us into other groups. I felt as though he felt like he had something to prove because he is new. Or maybe he was just rolling rough that night. I have no idea unless I ask him, but he was definitely not as rough last week, the first time I rolled with him. I hope it's not something petty (since I submitted him last week). Petty things are...petty... I train to learn, have fun, and be fit. I'm not trying to injure anyone, including myself, so I don't appreciate the people who are particularly rough.
Any who....one big thing I want to work on is turtle guard. I end up there a lot, and I defend it alright, but someone who is good at taking the back will most likely destroy my turtle. I'm also not so good at attacking or sweeping from there. I just have a tendency to go to turtle a lot. I need to either fix the hole that I'm using turtle to patch, or I need to get good at turtle.
Here are some videos for me to check out later:
Sweep From The Turtle Position: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg9YMq8fOFE
Turtle Reversal Hotdog Roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq3l5V8Y8eQ
Oh! and I started the Gracie Women Empowered self defense DVDs with my bff Jessie. We went through the first few lessons on the first DVD on Saturday. This included the combat base, wrist releases, and trap and roll sweep. I showed her some hip movement drills to do on her own as well to help get her used to moving her hips and using her core and body. And, of course, I showed her the RNC.
Til next time.
Mous3
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Monday, May 16, 2016
Keeping Up with Solo Drills
I haven't been to another open mat since the last one, but I have been doing solo drills when I can just at home.
I've mostly been following these 7 drills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz3GMFc9AHU
This Sunday, I set my timer to 2 minute rounds, with 30 second rests between each round. I drilled each of the 7 drills for 2 minutes each. Tonight I'm hoping to do the same, and also incorporate some ground bag drills. Probably just knee-on-belly drills for now until my body gets back in the groove.
I'm still trying to get my hands on "Drill to Win". I found they have it at the library in Los Angeles, but I probably can't check it out for a whole year!
For now, I will continue with my solo drills and conditioning...
Peace,
Mouse
I've mostly been following these 7 drills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz3GMFc9AHU
This Sunday, I set my timer to 2 minute rounds, with 30 second rests between each round. I drilled each of the 7 drills for 2 minutes each. Tonight I'm hoping to do the same, and also incorporate some ground bag drills. Probably just knee-on-belly drills for now until my body gets back in the groove.
I'm still trying to get my hands on "Drill to Win". I found they have it at the library in Los Angeles, but I probably can't check it out for a whole year!
For now, I will continue with my solo drills and conditioning...
Peace,
Mouse
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
2016-04-25 Open Mat
Location:
Gracie South Bay
Sparring Partners:
- Mitchell
- ??
- Emilio
- Sal
> Training with Mitchell was very interesting. He's a white belt, and a lot taller than me. I ended up in turtle a lot and was able to defend all of Mitchell's attacks on my turtle. Every attempt to sweep him didn't go so well. It felt like a lot of it was my own lack of technique. His longer limbs definitely helped him out and my shorter limbs definitely helped me defend my turtle. He couldn't knock me over or get any grips, but I couldn't do very much from turtle. I had him in half guard a couple times, but was unable to take that anywhere. I need to work on more sweeps and attacks from half-guard.
> Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the second guy I sparred with. He was a blue belt, also bigger than me. He seemed to be letting me try different things and wasn't sparring very hard. I don't remember how this one went very well. I remember going for an arm bar and feeling silly that I totally missed the opportunity to get a barataplata. I need to work on guard passing.
> Emilio was a lot closer to my size; a white belt. He got my back a few times, but I blocked all his choke attempts and escaped each time. Just before the round was up I almost had an arm bar. I need to work on escaping side control more. I'd also like to explore the flower sweep more.
> After sparring with Sal, I realized that I had sparred with him before at Nunez BJJ during their 1st anniversary celebration. He's a pretty tall purple belt and Joe Nunez's brother. I asked him if we could slow roll since I was pretty beat by this point. He was cool with it. We slow rolled from one position to the next. I felt like I was getting tumbled around, not in control of the match very well, until I tried for an omoplata and found the barataplata. I had my left arm around his right arm, but I couldn't remember how to submit from the barata when I first got it. I held on tight while Sal attempted to get out of it and I attempted to remember what to do next. Eventually, I got my leg on his hip and pushed away from him, toward his head, getting the tap. Talking to him about it afterward, he said he was trying to figure out how to get me off, rolling around, but I held on well.
Overall:
I had a great time. I'm out of shape. I got light-headed a couple times and was seeing spots, but I walked it off and got back on the mat when I was ready. I'll be coming back to Gracie South Bay, possibly joining the classes. We'll see...
Roll on,
Mouse
Gracie South Bay
Sparring Partners:
- Mitchell
- ??
- Emilio
- Sal
> Training with Mitchell was very interesting. He's a white belt, and a lot taller than me. I ended up in turtle a lot and was able to defend all of Mitchell's attacks on my turtle. Every attempt to sweep him didn't go so well. It felt like a lot of it was my own lack of technique. His longer limbs definitely helped him out and my shorter limbs definitely helped me defend my turtle. He couldn't knock me over or get any grips, but I couldn't do very much from turtle. I had him in half guard a couple times, but was unable to take that anywhere. I need to work on more sweeps and attacks from half-guard.
> Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the second guy I sparred with. He was a blue belt, also bigger than me. He seemed to be letting me try different things and wasn't sparring very hard. I don't remember how this one went very well. I remember going for an arm bar and feeling silly that I totally missed the opportunity to get a barataplata. I need to work on guard passing.
> Emilio was a lot closer to my size; a white belt. He got my back a few times, but I blocked all his choke attempts and escaped each time. Just before the round was up I almost had an arm bar. I need to work on escaping side control more. I'd also like to explore the flower sweep more.
> After sparring with Sal, I realized that I had sparred with him before at Nunez BJJ during their 1st anniversary celebration. He's a pretty tall purple belt and Joe Nunez's brother. I asked him if we could slow roll since I was pretty beat by this point. He was cool with it. We slow rolled from one position to the next. I felt like I was getting tumbled around, not in control of the match very well, until I tried for an omoplata and found the barataplata. I had my left arm around his right arm, but I couldn't remember how to submit from the barata when I first got it. I held on tight while Sal attempted to get out of it and I attempted to remember what to do next. Eventually, I got my leg on his hip and pushed away from him, toward his head, getting the tap. Talking to him about it afterward, he said he was trying to figure out how to get me off, rolling around, but I held on well.
Overall:
I had a great time. I'm out of shape. I got light-headed a couple times and was seeing spots, but I walked it off and got back on the mat when I was ready. I'll be coming back to Gracie South Bay, possibly joining the classes. We'll see...
Roll on,
Mouse
Monday, April 25, 2016
Why BJJ?
Why BJJ?
BJJ is the one "hobby" that I picked up and keep picking up over and over. I do so many things from crochet to skateboarding to slack-lining. I own a bunch of musical instruments (including guitars, a piano, and ocarinas) that I've learned just enough to play Ode to Joy or Twinkle Little Star on and maybe a couple popular songs. Most of my hobbies get love for a couple months and then collect dust for a few months or years before I pick them up again. BJJ is the one I come back to every day. It's like my second lover (my bf being the first of course).
How did it get to be "the one"?
The first time I heard of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I was 13 years old (2003) and my dad just happened to show me women's bjj on tv. I really wanted to do it, but life just kept happening and, by high school, I forgot all about it. Long story short, I never ended up doing any martial arts until 11 years later (2014), taking yoga classes at 24 hour fitness, when a coworker told me about krav maga classes she was taking. I started looking into different schools in the area and ended up on Alliance MMA's website, put my email and number in for more info and was on the phone with them that night, signing up for a trial class.
I tried boxing first, but I didn't like the idea of being punched in the face. Haha! Then the next hour was the women's MMA class which focused on BJJ that day. I didn't have a gi yet. The people were nice. I had fun and I was excited for the next time I got to go to class.
Fast forward a bit, I competed for the first time. A month later, I earned my blue belt and then life happened again. Training started slipping away as I started working all hours when classes were held. I bought myself a 5'x10' rollup Dollamur and kept buying gis (I think I have 5 now) and other gear. Then at some point I started doing solely calisthenics since I could do that anywhere at any time. Work days ended with pull-ups at the park at 10pm. BJJ would have to wait until my hours were back.
Fast forward some more, I don't feel worthy of my blue because I haven't trained in so long and I've lost a lot of the technique I had that got me the blue. I was working too much to want to do calisthenics at night. Then, I start going to open mats whenever I could. Working all Friday, and waking up Saturday mornings just to be on the mat. I just wanted to be on the mat. I felt the techniques coming back. I felt better about my blue. I realized everything will come back in time.
Finally, this past weekend, I made it to a Gracie open mat. I met Leticia Ribeiro. I watched a couple BJJ documentaries and Chris Haueter said something I've heard plenty of times before for many things (especially when learning a new language), but not yet for BJJ. "10 years from now, I'm gonna be somewhere. Why not be a black belt too?"
So that's it pretty much.
TL;DR?
I fell in love with BJJ.
Roll on,
Mouse
BJJ is the one "hobby" that I picked up and keep picking up over and over. I do so many things from crochet to skateboarding to slack-lining. I own a bunch of musical instruments (including guitars, a piano, and ocarinas) that I've learned just enough to play Ode to Joy or Twinkle Little Star on and maybe a couple popular songs. Most of my hobbies get love for a couple months and then collect dust for a few months or years before I pick them up again. BJJ is the one I come back to every day. It's like my second lover (my bf being the first of course).
How did it get to be "the one"?
The first time I heard of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I was 13 years old (2003) and my dad just happened to show me women's bjj on tv. I really wanted to do it, but life just kept happening and, by high school, I forgot all about it. Long story short, I never ended up doing any martial arts until 11 years later (2014), taking yoga classes at 24 hour fitness, when a coworker told me about krav maga classes she was taking. I started looking into different schools in the area and ended up on Alliance MMA's website, put my email and number in for more info and was on the phone with them that night, signing up for a trial class.
I tried boxing first, but I didn't like the idea of being punched in the face. Haha! Then the next hour was the women's MMA class which focused on BJJ that day. I didn't have a gi yet. The people were nice. I had fun and I was excited for the next time I got to go to class.
Fast forward a bit, I competed for the first time. A month later, I earned my blue belt and then life happened again. Training started slipping away as I started working all hours when classes were held. I bought myself a 5'x10' rollup Dollamur and kept buying gis (I think I have 5 now) and other gear. Then at some point I started doing solely calisthenics since I could do that anywhere at any time. Work days ended with pull-ups at the park at 10pm. BJJ would have to wait until my hours were back.
Fast forward some more, I don't feel worthy of my blue because I haven't trained in so long and I've lost a lot of the technique I had that got me the blue. I was working too much to want to do calisthenics at night. Then, I start going to open mats whenever I could. Working all Friday, and waking up Saturday mornings just to be on the mat. I just wanted to be on the mat. I felt the techniques coming back. I felt better about my blue. I realized everything will come back in time.
Finally, this past weekend, I made it to a Gracie open mat. I met Leticia Ribeiro. I watched a couple BJJ documentaries and Chris Haueter said something I've heard plenty of times before for many things (especially when learning a new language), but not yet for BJJ. "10 years from now, I'm gonna be somewhere. Why not be a black belt too?"
So that's it pretty much.
TL;DR?
I fell in love with BJJ.
Roll on,
Mouse
Start
Hi! I'm Donasia, aka Mouse. I started this blog to log all of my notes, thoughts, ideas, and anything else I can think of having to do with BJJ.
I started training Brazillian Jiu Jitsu at 23 years old at Alliance MMA in Chula Vista, CA on July 1st, 2014. I earned my blue belt from Wilson Reis on February 12th, 2015. Since then, I did some travelling for work and things started picking up at work, so I haven't been training very much. Recently I started going to open mats when I can on the weekends. I started a Training Sheet that will be linking to the posts in this blog. I'm hoping I'll keep up with it :)
Roll on,
Mouse
I started training Brazillian Jiu Jitsu at 23 years old at Alliance MMA in Chula Vista, CA on July 1st, 2014. I earned my blue belt from Wilson Reis on February 12th, 2015. Since then, I did some travelling for work and things started picking up at work, so I haven't been training very much. Recently I started going to open mats when I can on the weekends. I started a Training Sheet that will be linking to the posts in this blog. I'm hoping I'll keep up with it :)
Roll on,
Mouse
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