MMA and me; day 71

So each day this week I went in for an extra hour. Yesterday it was for the jiu jitsu class with gis. I don't have one (yet) but one of the coaches let me borrow his. Rolling with a gi is so much different. You have to slow down, because there is so much more you have to pay attention to. There are more holds from lapel grabs, sleeve grabs, grabbing anywhere on the gi! We grappled for a bit, and then the coach went over some technical instruction. First, was an armbar from mount. You slide your right hand up the inside of their right lapel, grabbing it firmly so the back of your hand is against the inside of their neck. Next, push their right arm across their body, and pin it in place with your chest, while you slide your left knee up to their head, and post up on your right foot, just inside their stomach. As you post up, it forces your opponent to turn to their left side, and as they do, you swim your left arm under their right arm, and grab your own lapel on the right side. Release your grip with your right hand, and reach out to post it on the mat, leaning way over so you can bring your left leg around over their face, and from there it just a matter of leaning back, pinching the knees, and pulling their right arm back for the submission. Next was a mount to rear naked choke. From the point where you have them on their side, with your left knee by the head, and right foot by their stomach, you swim your left arm around their head instead of under their arm, and grab their right lapel. Flick your left foot in towards their body, and roll to your butt, propping them up so you can slide your left leg around their waist and take their back, and releasing your grip with your right hand to grab their left lapel. With your left hand, reach across their neck, and grab your right shoulder (here's an example of grabbing your own gi) and turn your right shoulder slightly away. This is to create space so you can pull your right hand out, and slide it in behind their neck and over your left arm. Slip your left hand over your right bicep, slowly shrug your shoulders, and wait for the tap. All in all, I really enjoyed gi grappling, but until I get my own, I will only be doing it occasionally.

I sat out boxing class because my coach wanted to put me through some training exercises to help me get ready for my submission grappling tournament coming up. First, he had me run some sprints, and then I worked on some Turkish get ups, which involve holding a kettle bell over your head with one arm, dropping to your but, and then to your back, and then back to your feet all while your arm is kept straight with the weight. Three minutes each side, and then it was on to the swing presses. Knees bent, weight between your legs, swing it up, lower it under control, and repeat, also for three minutes per side. Next, was bridging drills with a medicine ball. First bridging straight up, and pressing the med ball up, then it was bridging to the shoulder and pressing the ball up, alternating shoulders. Three minutes of that, and then five minutes of shrimping in place. I ended with the class doing a round of plank position, and flutter kicks. A very tough hour to say the least.

Lastly, jiu jitsu started out with stretching, and then we got into more guard passing. First was the lunge pass, where you posture up, lean over with a locked out elbow on their hip, stick a knee in their butt, lunge the other leg straight out behind you, and turn towards that side until their guard has been passed. From there, it's a simple matter of pushing the leg down on the side you're facing, stepping over with the leg that is behind you, and then sitting back on their leg. If they try to sit up, push them down, and simultaneously slide your arm across their chest, and roll to your hip, pulling your leg that was in their backside over behind you, to end in high judo, and then quickly shift into side control. Lastly, we lined up everyone into two lines, with the first person on their back. For two minutes, everyone in the line would attempt to pass their guard, if they succeeded, or ended up in the guard, they'd be done, and the next person would go. This took up a majority of the rest of the time, as there were 12 people. It was exhausting, but fun!

A great day of classes, and now I'm sore and tired, but happy. Love this stuff.