MMA and me, day 145

Started boxing off with jump rope and shadow boxing before getting into the burst drills focusing on head movement and footwork. The drills were the same as Tuesday, so I'll focus on the things I worked on yesterday. When slipping, it's important to not slip back, but instead slip forward. You don't want to end up on the end of a punch, which is what you do if you shift to the side and back. Cut the punch off when you slip, and you wont allow your opponent to line up his next punch as easily. Keep your eyes up and chin down at all times, and when you roll, don't take your eyes off your opponent. Bend at the knees, don't lean with your back, or you're just asking to get tagged on your way up. We finished with five minutes of flutter kicks, and five minutes of bicycle crunches before moving on to jiu jitsu.

We worked on a couple of chokes we covered Tuesday and Wednesday (clock choke and loop choke) so I will instead focus on the chokes that we learned last night that are new. First was the baseball choke. From a knee ride position on their right side, using your left hand, grab a hold of their right lapel, near their ear, with your thumb tucked underneath. Grab across to their left lapel with your right hand, this time with your four fingers tucked underneath, and your thumb exposed. If you have the hands positioned properly, you should have a grip very similar to how you hold a baseball bat. Slide your knee ride off their body towards you, and at the same time, walk your hips around to north south position, which will cross your arms over their throat. As you walk around, flare your left elbow out above their chin, so when you slide to north/south, all you have to do is bring both elbows to the mat, sprawl your feet out behind you, and motorcycle grip your hands until they tap. We also learned a belt choke, which is very cool. From having an opponent in your guard, climb their right side lapel first grabbing it with your left hand, then further up with your right, pulling them in tight. Open your guard, and shrimp out to try and sit up, so you can reach over their back with your left hand to grab their belt in the middle of their back. Close your guard back up as tight as you can, and then pull your hands apart, while twisting your hips to the right, and your shoulders to the left until they tap. I had trouble with this at first because I was trying too hard to extend their body with my legs, instead of imploding and twisting, which will get a tap much quicker. Lots of cool stuff!