MMA and me; day 192

Two weeks away from the gym felt like a lifetime! I hopped right back into two classes, starting with a great warm up at the end of the previous class. After getting a nice sweat going, we hopped right into boxing. First, we did punch ups. Three rounds, three minutes apiece. We focused on keeping a low stance, hands high, and punching up. Also, it's very important to keep a wide, but not too wide stance, while also tucking your chin. We next moved on to combos and foot work. This was where I need a lot of improvement by the way. First was a simple jab-straight-roll out. You have to keep your distance, and utilize your step and reach to land the jab, turn your shoulders for the straight, then roll out and move. Your rear foot shouldn't move, and you absolutely need to keep your hands up. Next we added a stiff jab onto the previous combo after the roll. It's important to remember to step hard and really make the jab sting, before sliding back and out of the pocket. Next was the always popular jab-straight-hook. Fairly simple in premise, but very difficult to perfect. We also had a roll under a right hand thrown after we had thrown the hook, threw another hook, then rolled back in the opposite direction, turned around to the side, and threw a straight, aiming for their ear. We finished off with several rounds of touch sparring, which I liked quite a bit, as it allows me to focus on technique, make adjustments when necessary, and I don't get pummeled. After the touch sparring, Reagan put us through some killer ab work outs, and then it was on to jiu jitsu.

Jiu jitsu was a very mellow class, focusing on technique, and fluidity. First, we got our shadow grapple on, for quite a while. Forward shrimping, backward shrimping, shoulder rolls from knees and from butts, roll and re rolls, front and back rolls, technical rises, back falls, spinning on hips, shots for take downs, and on and on. We then worked very diligently on our forward shrimping, making it much more explosive, and scooting across the mats with frightening quickness. Lastly, we worked on transitions, and maintaining pressure during those transitions from top control. We started in side control, moved to high judo, making sure to get a far side under hook and posting the outside leg on its foot with the boot on, and keeping the other leg straight up next to the head, with the toes pointing at the ceiling. From there we moved to head mount, then to side control on the other side, side control, low judo, and from there we achieved the mount by swinging the outside leg over their legs, and digging the heel into the side of them, and pulling yourself into mount. From there, keeping your weight on the chest, press down on the chest with your hands, and swing your legs forward, then dropping your butt back down. From here, you can swing one of your legs over their face for an S pass, and if their arms are straight up (which they likely will be), you can push their arm across their neck, and drop down for a howdy, a variation of an arm triangle choke. The main focus here, was maintaining pressure on your opponent at all times during these transitions. You can wear someone out like this, and make submitting them that much easier. I was exhausted at the end of class, but I got some goals I am going to reach, and it starts today. Happy New Year everyone!