MMA and me; day 84

Back in the gym after the weekend always feels good, and my crankiness has subsided. Kicking, punching, and wrestling for three hours can really wear you out, but it's damn good for the soul.

In MMA, we worked on sweeps from the bottom. First from side control, you pummel in for a top side under hook, shrimp onto your hip on the opposite side from the under hook and post up on your elbow. From there, just drive straight into your opponent, and you will end up in side control on the top. For the next sweep, pummel in for an under hook around their mid section, and then turn your hips hard away from the side you have under hooked, and you'll pop right out into a seatbelt grip on their back. Pretty slick!

We worked on a couple of half guard sweeps next. If your opponent attempts to raise up to throw a big punch, you quickly reach up to grab an under hook on the same side of their body that you have the half guard on, and from here we worked two different options. First, keep your head in tight to their stomach, and post up on your other hand as you slowly work your hips out to the side. Eventually, you'll get far enough out that you can swing your hips over and take their back. The second option, is if they throw an over hook on you when you post up. Dive your hand that you were posting up on under their far side leg, and roll backwards, bringing them across yourself, and kicking your leg out of their guard on the way, to end up in side control. I liked both of these a lot.

In kickboxing, we worked on a lot of knees and combos with knees. First, just throwing a simple straight knee to the mid section. As you lunge the knee forward, lean back and bring your hands across your body to your hip. Simple. Next, we added a jab-jab then the knee. I had a hard time with bringing my hands up and telegraphing the knee, so I need to work on that. Lastly, we added a jab-straight-hook before the knee. I had a much easier time keeping my hands down and not totally telegraphing the knee with this one. I think because after throwing the hook, my hands were already over to the side, making the movement shorter and quicker. A fun class for sure, and it was nice to do punch/knee combos. We finished with leg raises, partner ab drills, and planks. I better have a damn six pack by summer time with all the core exercising we do!

Jiu jitsu was a day for working on defending submissions. First, defending the rear naked choke. The first thing you do is tuck your chin, and turn your head towards the choke. Next, work on isolating the top arm (not the one under your chin) and pinning in under your arm as you roll to that side. From there, use both hands to pull the other arm out from under your chin and bring it to the other side of your head. Lastly, reach down with your top side arm, and grab their top side foot on the outside edge. From there just drive your elbow into their shin, and turn into them, ending up in either half guard or side control. The other option for the RNC, is if they do manage to sink the choke in, you need to keep calm, and do your best to tuck your chin while pushing up on the arm around your neck. Next, try and separate their legs, and slip your hips off to the side of their body that the arm under your neck is on. To finish the escape, turn hard into them and now you're on top!

We worked defending a guillotine next, and it's pretty simple. If your opponent sinks the choke in and jumps guard, you need to post up on your feet, and drive your shoulder into their chest as you hand fight to prevent them from sinking the choke. Do your best to separate their hands, and once you do, push down on the arm under your chin, until you pop your head out and you end up in their guard.

Lastly, we defended the D'Arce choke. You want to get your arms up around their legs so you can push them over onto their back, and swing your hips out to the side, taking the pressure off your neck, and putting you in side control. It's tough because the pressure from the choke may make it feel like you can't do it, but you can. Just like any submission defense, the key is to remain calm, and start working through your options.