SATURDAY, 26 DECEMBER 2015

Today's class had me, Nick, Jason, Cody, and Rebecca.

Our first order of business was judo throws. We worked ippon-seio-nage and sumi otoshi. Yes, we took out the crash pad.

On the ground, we worked a tomoe nage sweep and also a de la Riva sweep.

SATURDAY, 19 DECEMBER 2015

Today consisted of me, Jason, Ryan, Nick, and Rebecca. I covered side control escapes, half guard maneuvers, and take downs. There was nothing extraordinary to report other than the sheer number of side control items I went over.

SATURDAY, 12 DECEMBER 2015

Today's class had me, Jason, John, Tony, Eric (John's co-worker), and Rebecca.

Warm-up consisted of standing grip fighting. I did not transition to foot sweeps or throws.

Today was a revisiting of basics, which has been a theme for a bit. We practiced cross collar chokes from guard and also from the mount. We moved on to the seven basic chokes from the back (three RNC variations and four gi chokes). Lastly, we worked on holding side-control, transitioning from side control to kazure kesa gatame, from kuzure kesa gatame back to side-control, and from side-control to ichiro kesa gatame.

While the positional transitions are "basic," they are not simple. Even with a purple belt, I was able to assist him with new insights to prevent the opponent from getting an elbow in during the transition from kuzure back to side-control. The more we go over it, the more that items stick in the muscle memory of each student.

Due to time constraints, we only rolled for about 20 minutes. I practiced with Jason the entire time and worked on my guard work while attempting a new arm bar set-up.

FRIDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2015 = BLACK BELT VS. BLACK BELT

Today was just a training session with me and Nick. All we did was roll against each other. I wish I could tell you more, but there is not much to tell in terms of excitement. It was two BJJ black belts practicing with each other for 75 minutes. Lots of technical stuff went on.

SATURDAY, 5 DECEMBER 2015

Today's class consisted of an hour of takedowns at the beginning. John worked on harai goshi. Ryan worked on ippon seio nage. I had all of us work on the Russian series (ankle pick & double legs).

On the ground, I taught a couple of controls I learned in wrestling all those years ago and have reapplied to BJJ. I also retaught and reviewed two techniques from half guard (guard replace and sweep if that one is blocked).

I rolled with Jason at the end. Nick rolled with Rebecca and Ryan. John departed after technique was over.

FRIDAY, 4 DECEMBER 2015

Today's training session was at the PD, and I was the only non-police officer there! Attendees were me, John. Ryan G. (my blue-belt student), Ryan L. (a purple belt that we've trained with before, the most time being on 3 July of this year), and two of John's detectives at the PD (Eric & Cody). I rolled with each person in attendance multiple times for a total of 90 minutes for me.

SATURDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2015

Today's class had me, Nick (plus his visitor, Rebecca), Jason, John, & Tony (plus his cousin, Francesca).

I made all folks drill the Russian series, with the finishes being ankle picks, single legs, and double legs.

We went back over items from the half-guard and worked the loop choke from butterfly guard.

I was able to roll with Tony and Jason.

FRIDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2015

Today was simply a post-Thanksgiving workout to help people get rid of any excess calories consumed on Thursday. In attendance were Nick, Jason, John, Nick's visitor (Rebecca K.), and me.

Nick, Jason, and Rebecca went through basics while John and I rolled for 90 minutes.

21 NOVEMBER 2015: NICHOLAS NIX = BJJ BLACK BELT

21 NOVEMBER 2015

Today marks the day where I can say that I have trained someone from white belt all the way to black belt in BJJ. Nick was promoted by Charles Dos Anjos following a self-defense seminar that he, Ryan, Tony, and I attended.

So, the academy has two black belts (me and Nick), a purple belt (Jason), two blue belts (John and Ryan), and a white belt (Tony) currently in residence (Josh Moss is in Thailand at present, but he is, of course, a member of Wolfpack BJJ Orange Park). It will be a while before we have "rainbow belts" on the mat since we are without a brown belt.

Nonetheless, Nick's accomplishment in earning the BJJ black belt is top notch. As a BJJ black belt holder, I think it is the most difficult to earn, but I do not have any other martial arts black belts, so I am a bit biased.

FRIDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 2015

John, Ryan, and I trained at the PD on this date. I covered the Russian series and single leg takedowns. In addition, I focused on redirecting when someone attempts a front face lock. I rolled three times against each of them at the end.

SATURDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2015

Today's class was me, Nick, Jason, John, and Tony. We had a "rainbow" of belts, with each rank being represented.

Butterfly sweeps and passes were the flavor of the day. Tony, Jason, and I worked on some throws (o-uchi-gari to hane goshi, and harai goshi). I rolled with Tony and Jason today.

FRIDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2015

Today's training session consisted of me, John, and Tony. We reviewed some of the half-guard items from October and moved into a butterfly sweep to back take. Of course, we rolled at the end of class. I stayed in the middle and rolled a few rounds with each of them.

FRIDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2015

Today's class was just me, John, and Ryan. I made it a "basics" class.

Arm bar from guard (warm-up).

Loop choke from seated guard/butterfly guard (warm-up).

Arm bars from S-mount (warm-up).

I then worked them on holding kuzure kesa gatame, and moving from side control to kuzure kesa gatame, back to side control, then to ichiro kesa gatame, and then to full mount.

We then moved to my favorite escape from kuzure kesa gatame before focusing on the bread-cutter choke. After drilling the bread-cutter choke, I taught the best escape I know to it and had them drill it before having them roll with each other.

HALLOWEEN 2015

The scariest thing about today's class was that everyone bugged out before 10 a.m. Oh well with dedication and all of that.

Nick, Jason, John, Tony, and I made up the class, as far as I can remember. I revisited half-guard items and moved on to butterfly guard items, which I intend to make the flavor of the month for November and December.

WEDNESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, and Ryan.

The first things we practiced were take downs. I focused on arm drags to the correct positioning for single legs, but then changed it up to allow for us to go into double legs from arm drags.

On the ground, I continued half-guard sweeps by focusing on three techniques. The final half guard sweep incorporates elements of the basic Garcia X-guard sweep, which I intend on transitioning into from butterfly guard in November.

As always, I allowed plenty of time for the guys to try their techniques against moving, thinking opponents (each other).

SATURDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2015

There were five people in today's class: me, Nick, Jason, John, and Ryan (or "Carl," as is now the inside joke). Tony decided that we are not cool enough and went to compete at the NAGA event in Jacksonville. I will update his results at the bottom of this entry when I receive them.

I went over six (6) half-guard sweeps in today's class. Two were review, two were utilizing methods we have learned from de la Riva guard, and the final two were new. We drilled these techniques for 90 minutes and rolled for 30 minutes. I practiced with Jason and Ryan, and we called it a day.

TONY'S UPDATE:

Tony took gold in the no-gi and silver in the gi at today's NAGA. He won both of his matches in the no-gi via submission (arm triangle & americana from kesa gatame following a great koshi garuma) and won via Ezekiel choke in one of his gi matches. GREAT job.

SATURDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2015

Saturday's class consisted of me, Jason, John, and Tony. We went over three additional half-guard sweeps and covered a full guard opening in case you have to deal with the strong, stubborn guy who will not open his guard for any reason.

In addition, Jason earned the third stripe on his purple belt and Tony earned the third stripe on his white belt.

SATURDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2015

In what is an ongoing theme for October, I covered more half-guard items in today's class. I allowed ample time for drilling the techniques before moving on to a couple of butterfly guard techniques. At the end of class, Nick & Jason rolled while Ryan & I did the same.

FRIDAY, 9 OCTOBER 2015

John & I lifted weights (BACK: pull-ups, cable press-downs, & dumbbell rows) and then drilled half-guard recoveries and sweeps. Due to both of us being sick for about a week, we did not roll in this practice.

SATURDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2015

Saturday's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, and Tony. The flavor of the day was half-guard sweeps and recoveries. Jason and I rolled for about an hour at the end just to check and see how his neck is progressing.

BJJ LINEAGE

Just in case it has not been posted before, mine goes like this:

Jigoro Kano -> Mitsuyo Maeda -> Carlos Gracie -> George Gracie -> Jurandyr Moura -> Charles Dos Anjos -> Kristopher Williams

SATURDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER 2015

Today marked the last training day for Josh M. before returning to Thailand on Tuesday. The class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, Tony, and Josh.

To be honest, I do not recall what "new" items I covered in this class other than the basic warm-up, though we added the knee-slide pass to the mix this time. I know that we went over harai goshi and ippon seio-nage during the judo portion. I rolled with Tony and Josh.

FRIDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2015

First, I lifted weights with John J. (CHEST: flat bench press, weighted dips, cable crossovers). It was a rapid-fire workout (32 minutes). Then, we met up with Ryan G. for BJJ. I went over basic half-guard items (recovery of full guard, a sweep, a back take). At the end, I rolled with both of them.

SATURDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Jason, Tony, and Josh. After the typical warm up of "basics" like arm bar from guard and cross-collar choke, I covered some of the material that I went over with John the night before. I focused on an escape from "Fat-boy mount" and why some that I have done in the past are very difficult to accomplish.

We spent a good amount of time using the crash pad in the class. O goshi and o-uchi-gari were the throws of the day.

FRIDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER 2015

John J. and I worked out chest tonight (flat bench press, weighted dips, cable crossovers). After the weight workout, we went over an escape from fat-boy mount and how to open the closed guard. I did not time us, but we probably rolled for 40 minutes or so.

TONY M. = GOLD & SILVER AT LUIZ PALHARES' TOURNAMENT

Tony M. received a gold (no gi) and silver (gi) in Master Luiz Palhares' fall tournament on 12 September. Grappling a person many years his junior (same guy in the final of both categories), Tony represented Wolkpack BJJ Orange Park very well.

Tony now has the competition bug and is looking to compete again soon.

SATURDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER 2015

This day saw the addition of a new blue belt student to my little academy (Ryan G.).

As is now normal, we drilled basics at the start of class (arm bar from guard, cross collar choke, arm bar from S-mount, etc.). I focused on teaching a couple of techniques from the butterfly guard. One is a reverse armbar when the opponent pulls their arm back to avoid being swept. The second assumes that the opponent pulls back the arm, but instead of going for an armbar, we follow the person up to a combat base and take them down.

FRIDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER (EVENING)

I traveled to Gainesville and met up with a couple of people I used to train with.

Dan Lowman, who came and visited me a few weeks ago when I taught in North Port at Nokido Jiu-Jitsu, has his own Filipino martial arts academy in Ft. Myers but was in town for the U.F. football game the following day.

Keith Gulledge has his own Tracy's kenpo academy in Gainesville at the Gainesville Dojo, and this was the second time in a few months that he and I have trained together.

The format was as a mixed seminar. Dan taught for about 40 minutes and focused on his strengths. I taught for about the same, focusing on simple head lock escapes on the ground. Keith then took over and focused on some techniques from the Tracy's curriculum, allowing me to choose what he taught from their technique name guide.

After the teaching session was over, Dan and I rolled on the ground for a few minutes. All in all, I had a good time.

FRIDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER (MORNING)

John and I met at AFR for a morning workout. We took out the crash pad and worked harai goshi for about an hour. After practicing the throw, we did a live roll on the ground for about an hour as well.

SATURDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2015

Today's class was me, Nick, and Josh at AFR. We ran through the basics (arm bar from guard, cross collar choke from guard, arm bar from S-mount, etc.) and had a few round-robin rolling sessions.

FRIDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2015

Today's practice was just me and John. We met at the town hall, where we did a chest workout. I did a few sets of incline barbell bench press, cable crossovers, and dumbbell pullovers. After our weight workout, he and I rolled for about an hour.

FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST 2015 IN SARASOTA

The five of us (me, Nick, Jason, John, and Tony M.) had a private lesson with Charles at 10:00 a.m. As an added bonus, my long-time friend Tony T., one of Charles' 1st degree black belts, came and joined us for the private lesson at Tony Spain's boxing gym (www.tonyspain.com), which is next door to Charles' academy. Tony and I rolled following the private lesson (after moving over to Charles' academy). It is nice to train with an experienced black belt in the sense that I have to keep everything in mind and "be serious" at all times. Following our roll, I taught one technique (modified smash pass) for the group class at 11:30 a.m. and Nick also taught a technique (De La RIva sweep). The other four guys rolled with Charles' students while Charles and I talked. It was a good time overall and I look forward to the next trip we take to Sarasota.

THURSDAY, 27 AUGUST 2015 IN NORTH PORT

We traveled from Sarasota to Earl Delvalle's academy (www.nokido.net) in North Port for the 7:00 p.m. adult class. I taught two different approaches to achieving Americana and one for kimura. For my efforts, Earl provided me with a foot sweep tool that I have been longing after for a long time. It will help us in judo immensely. I had a great time while teaching Earl's highly disciplined and respectful students. As an added bonus, my long-time friend and fellow martial arts practitioner Dan Lowman (www.kmofflorida.com) came up from Ft. Myers to hang out before and after the class with me. He and I will be getting together in a couple of weeks to train.

THURSDAY, 27 AUGUST IN SARASOTA

My entire crew (me, Nick, Jason, John, Josh, and Tony) traveled down to Sarasota to get a private lesson with Charles. Each student came prepared with items they wanted to cover, and it was their responsibility to remember what they asked so we can work on it as a group when we have our next group class. Josh returned home after the private while the remaining members checked into two hotel rooms to continue the festivities.

SATURDAY, 22 AUGUST 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, and Josh. I started the class off with harai goshi for John. We moved into some shot drills for wrestling and I taught how to deal with wrist control from standing. I then had the guys pair up and roll. The main techniques for BJJ were defenses against the Ezequiel (sleeve) choke from mount and from inside guard. I spent a while having them drill the two main defenses just so they do not get caught by this. I then had them roll again after switching partners. I rolled with Jason at the end since I was the odd man out.

SATURDAY, 15 AUGUST 2015

This class consisted of me, John, and Josh. Half of the class consisted of drilling arm bars from guard, cross chokes from guard, arm bars from mount, and guard passes. We moved on to some wrestling take downs to complete the session.

SATURDAY, 8 AUGUST 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, and John. We spent an hour drilling basics (arm bar from guard; cross-collar choke from guard; cross-collar choke from mount), an hour drilling two De La Riva sweeps, and an hour drilling take downs (Russian series to ankle picks and double legs; neutral position double legs; single legs). It was a productive practice, complete with "come-to-work" basics, a few combinations of basics, and some advanced items.

SATURDAY, 1 AUGUST 2015

There was not much to report for this day. Nick, John, Tony, and Kyle joined me for our early morning session. I forced everyone in attendance to do repetitive drilling of basic stuff on the ground: ten basic arm bars from guard on each arm; ten cross collar chokes; ten arm bars on each arm from S-mount. We then rolled. Following that, we moved to standing. I have Kyle and John work on wrestling take downs (basic double legs; basic single legs; Russian series). I had Nick and Tony work on judo. I moved in with each group.

SATURDAY, 25 JULY 2015

Jason, John, Tony and I trained this morning. We warmed up by reviewing "basics" to the tune of doing 10 arm bars (both sides), ten cross-collar chokes from the guard, and ten arm bars from S-mount (both sides). The techniques of the day were submissions from top side control (an Americana and Ezequiel choke with the opponent's lapel). We then rolled for two rounds (one switch in partner). We then moved to standing techniques, focusing on the Russian to ankle pick series and then adding the fireman's carry to the options. I briefly touched on "judo" throws without the gi and even addressed a few items from self-defense/Muay Thai situations.

FRIDAY, 24 JULY 2015

Today's training session had me, Jason, John, and Josh in attendance. I was the odd man out since my name does not start with a "J."

SATURDAY, 18 JULY 2015

Today's class had me, Nick, Jason, John, Tony, and Josh. We went over three headlock escapes while on the ground (headlock only, no kesa-gatame) and then had a rolling session. After that, we went to the feet where I taught an ankle pick from Russian tie-up, along with two variations in the event that the opponent counters or is not in a perfect position. Again, we then rolled after practicing the techniques. In addition, Darrell G. visited us again, though he did not participate in class. It is nice when someone who lives in Tampa drops in to say hello when he is in town.

FRIDAY, 17 JULY 2015

Today was simply a training session with me, Jason, John, Tony, and a (different) friend of John's named Ryan (blue belt as opposed to purple belt). We did a round-robin session for about two hours without technique and drilling involved.

SATURDAY, 11 JULY 2015

Saturday's class had me, Jason, John, Tony, & Josh in attendance. I went over two lasso guard sweeps with our opponent remaining on the ground and then covered a couple of armlocks from knee on belly. I had the four students sycle through each other in two rolling sessions before we vacated AFR due to a promotion ceremony.

FRIDAY, 10 JULY 2015

Tony M. & I made a trip to Gainesville, FL to train with Keith Gulledge and four of his Tracy's Kenpo students at the Gainesville Dojo on Friday evening. Starting at 5:00 p.m., I covered a method of escaping from the back, how to hold back control with the "seatbelt" correctly, and the proper way to do the Americana. Tony & I then rolled with each of the participants for about an hour, allowing them to cycle through us. I had a good time and look forward to doing it again, perhaps with a self-defense approach (i.e. with punches involved).

SATURDAY, 4 JULY 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Jason, John, & Kyle. Some went to Ichetucknee; others stayed home. One brown belt = I do not know. Regardless, stage one in the class consisted of reviewing the knee slide pass in depth again. We then split up and rolled. Stage two consisted of some closed guard ideas, followed by a rolling session. Lastly, we went over the ankle pick (my favorite take down) and some modifications.

FRIDAY, 3 JULY 2015

Today was a training session only at the PD. It consisted of me, Jason (my purple belt), Ryan (John's friend, also a purple belt), John (my blue belt), Tony (white belt, but ikkyu in judo), and Josh (white). Today marks Josh's return to us from training Muay Thai in Thailand, so it was great to have him on the mats. We trained for 90 minutes. I was able to roll with everyone for at least five minutes. On a side note, today marks my grandfather's 90th birthday. I spoke to him via telephone and he is still kicking.

SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 2015

Class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, and Tony. I did something new in terms of teaching methodology to see if it has a greater didactic effect on my students. Judging by responses later in the day, there was a positive effect. I first taught two turtle attacks. The first was a modified spiral ride designed to take the opponent's back. The second technique led to achieving a chicken wing that could quickly move into a kimura. After having the students practice these techniques, I had them live roll for 10 minutes. I then reviewed the "basic" smash pass, stressing pressure application throughout the technique. I then had them switch partners and roll again. We then moved on to judo, where we worked on o-goshi onto the crash pad, each of us cycling and throwing a few dozen times. We also worked on modifications and had the uke attack throwing punches, which encouraged tori to resort to self-defense techniques to close the distance and achieve the throw. Again, there were positive reviews with the new structure, and I wish to test it further to see if greater learning occurs.

FRIDAY, 26 JUNE 2015

Jason, John, and I met at 4:30 p.m. and did a round-robin rolling session. Each of us tried out items that we have been practicing over the last few weeks and months on each other, to varying degrees of success. I think that I had the least amount of success in applying what I was thinking, but I learned a few things and will reapply my thoughts.

SATURDAY, 20 JUNE 2015

Saturday's class consisted of me, Jason, Tony, and Darrell G. (see yesterday's post for who Darrell is). I went over several methods of escaping knee-on-belly and reviewed several series of grip breaks to secure arm bars. I rolled with Darrell (now a blue belt under Rob Kahn) and Tony, who is getting ready for September's local competition.

FRIDAY, 19 JUNE 2015

Today's class was a drilling session with me, Jason, and John. We covered the leg drag pass again in detail. A former student of mine at Smiley's who now trains with Rob Kahn at Gracie Tampa, Darrell G., dropped in. He and I chatted at the end of the class while Jason and John rolled.

SATURDAY, 13 JUNE 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Nick (late), Jason, and Tony. The flavor of the day was kimura. I showed three variations of kimura from side control and how to move into an armbar from the last. In judo, it was me and Tony doing light randori and a few throws onto the crash pad.

SATURDAY, 6 JUNE 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Nick (late), John, and Kyle. The main thrust of the class was clinch work and transitions to advantageous positions while standing. On the ground, I went over various whizzer and 3/4 nelson positions that are, technically speaking, not BJJ, but have applications. I practiced with John and Kyle (as did Nick). Jason dropped in but did not participate, and Tony was MIA due to a family BBQ.

FRIDAY, 5 JUNE 2015

Jason & Nick both bugged out due to various work issues, so Friday's session was just me and John. It was simply a workout, with a few pointers being given here and there. John did, however, get a 4th stripe on his blue belt, so that is worth recording.

SATURDAY, 30 MAY 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, and Kyle (26). I went over four items from half-guard, had the four students drill, and then placed them in round-robin rolling sessions. I was able to practice with John and Jason at the end of class.

SATURDAY, 23 MAY 2015

Today's class consisted of me, Jason, John, and Tony. We drilled ippon seio-nage, o-goshi to o-uchi-gari, and single leg take downs. On the ground, we reviewed and drilled the basic leg drag pass and revisited the Torreando pass.

FRIDAY, 22 MAY 2015

John, Tony, and I met at the PD and trained for a couple of hours. It was just a training session where we did round-robin rolls, though I did introduce a choke defense.

SATURDAY, 16 MAY 2015

Today's session was a true class. There were four attendees; me, Jason, John, and Kyle (23). We went over a few spider-guard sweeps, and a couple of submissions from the TOP of half guard. We then rolled for a bit.

FRIDAY, 15 MAY 2015

Today's session was me, Nick, and John. It was merely a workout session. We did a round-robin session with each other. I rolled with John and Nick twice (and they rolled with each other twice). We trained two hours, did not take breaks, and got in a good session.

SATURDAY, 9 MAY 2015

The class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, Tony, and Kyle (21). We spent a lot of time on single leg takedowns (treetop version) and slide-by singles.

FRIDAY, 8 MAY 2015

This was a training session in the evening with Jason, John, and Tony. It was merely a rolling session, with each of us grappling with the other for about 30 minutes each.

SATURDAY, 2 MAY 2015

Saturday's class started off with me, Kyle, and Jason. Kyle had to leave about 30 minutes into the class itself, so it was just me and Jason. He and I rolled a long time (nearly two hours), but the big technique of the day was a back defense vs. a lapel choke.

SATURDAY, 25 APRIL 2015

Saturday's class consisted of me, Jason, John, and Kyle (19). We went over single and double leg takedowns and reviewed Americana.

FRIDAY, 24 APRIL 2015

Today was just an impromptu training session with me, Jason, and John. I went over a few gi chokes from side control (even learned one myself) and reviewed single and double leg takedowns with them. I rolled for about 20 minutes with John (Jason had a doctor's appointment). It was a good session for me.

SATURDAY, 18 APRIL 2015

All of my available regular students were in attendance today. Nick, Jason, John, Tony, & Kyle (17) joined me this morning. We went over arm drags from standing, which set up single leg takedowns, and then transitioned the technique to the ground and applied it to guard work. After that, we moved to kesa gatame escapes. I showed two and had the guys practice them. Unfortunately, AFR had testing this morning, so we did not roll for a long period. Next time!!!

SATURDAY, 11 APRIL 2015

With Jason hanging with Mickey Mouse in Orlando, Tony recuperating with a sore back, and Nick (?????) not in attendance, this Saturday left me, John, Kyle (15), and John's friend Ryan. Ryan hails from South Florida and holds a purple belt under Roberto Traven's local affiliate in Jacksonville. With just the four of us in attendance, I opened the floor to questions. We ended up revisiting the lasso-sweep and bicep slicer from a few weeks ago and also reviewing the seven basic chokes from the back (three naked, four with the gi). We then had a rolling session. I practiced with all three at some point. We did not do judo since Kyle left early.

SATURDAY, 4 APRIL 2015

Saturday's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, Tony, and Kyle (14). The technique of the day was same-side arm bar from guard and the flower sweep (as a follow-up to missing that arm bar). In judo, we worked on sumi-otoshi, though we are not proficient with it at present.

SATURDAY, 28 MARCH 2015

This Saturday saw me, Nick, Jason, John, Kyle (13), & Tony. We covered a closed-guard arm-lasso choke and transition to armbar in case the first does not work. In judo, we went over ko-soto-gake and transitions to single leg.

SATURDAY, 21 MARCH 2015

This Saturday consisted of me, Nick, Jason, Ben, and Kyle (11). Kyle picked up a concept while visiting Charles earlier in the week, and I took the concept and expanded it for the group. We went over the "Lasso-guard" sweep series, combined it with a bicep slicer submission, and also went over Torreando passes again. As always, we got roll time in to complete our session. Ben departed before judo began. The four of us who hold ranks in judo randoried for an hour, though we should have drilled a few techniques before. We will remedy that next class.

SATURDAY, 14 MARCH 2015

In a replay of last week, only two people showed for class on Saturday. John J. & Ben H. received a semi-private lesson. We went over my version of kimura from the guard, a few ideas on how to attack for kimura when the opponent grabs the inside of their thigh as a block, and a few ideas from passing the guard. We did a round-robin rolling session since there was belt testing at AFR, so our time was a little compressed.

SATURDAY, 07 MARCH 2015

Saturday would have been my dad's 62nd birthday, so consider this my brief "in memoriam" to him. Nonetheless, Saturday's class only had two attendees: John & Kyle (8). In essence, they received a semi-private lesson. Some of the time was spent on defending against chokes from the "fat-boy" mount, but the vast majority was spent on passing guard correctly. "Simple" smash passes were covered, and we transitioned to a standing leg-drag at the end of the drilling session. We then had a spirited half-hour roll session where we did a round-robin trade out.

SATURDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2015

Our collective excitement this week was a drop-in visit by Wolfpack Brandon purple belt Bryon W. Though he did not participate in class, he did commit to training with us when he is in the area due to a change in his job function. With his experience, he will add much to our class. Ben H., a blue belt whom I instructed quite frequently in the morning classes I taught at Combat Athletix in 2013 & 2014 while he was a white belt, dropped in and took class. All told, the class consisted of me, Jason, John J., Ben, Tony, and Kyle. The three prodigals (Nick, David, & Paige) had varying reasons for their absences. I covered my "go to" escape from kuzure kesa gatame, along with two escapes from kesa gatame. I then tied together a straight arm lock from side control when the opponent is twisting their arm back and forth from attempts at Americana and kimura. In judo, Kyle, Tony, and Ben practiced sasae tsuri komi ashi with me, making use of the crash pad for dozens of throws on each body shape.

SATURDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2015

Saturday's attendance consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, Paige, and Kyle. Apparently, one overslept and another was at work. I taught the "traditional" clock choke on a turtled opponent, stressing pressure on the same side shoulder of the opponent and walking to create pressure on the neck. I showed a quick modification of that choke in case one is not able to reach across the opponent's body and grab the lapel under the arm. We then choked each other for a long period of time. We also went over a slight modification of the bread cutter choke, and answered a quick question regarding pressure maintenance and weight distribution when one tries kimura from side-control. We then practiced our techniques in live roll sessions, with at least 3 changeovers of opponents.

SATURDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2015

BJJ had me, Nick, Jason, John, Paige, Tony, and Kyle in attendance. We went over omoplata and also covered a sweep from the omoplata position in case something goes wrong. The six students got in about 20 minutes of rolling time before transitioning to judo. In judo, Kyle, Tony, and Jason hung around while we went over o-uchi-gari. Kyle bugged out early, so the three remaining folks continued with o-uchi-gari and then moved into ko-uchi-gari. There was no standing randori focusing on tachiwaza, though I did take on Tony in a few rounds of newaza only (starting from the ground).

SATURDAY, 31 JANUARY 2015

On Saturday, we had good turnout. Tony, Paige, John, David, Jason, Nick, and I were in attendance. The main technique taught was the so-called "bread-cutter" choke. I went over the nuances of this particular technique, what typically goes wrong, and how to make sure that you avoid those mistakes.

FIRST WORKOUT OF 2015

SATURDAY, 03 JANUARY 2015 Today marks the fifth year that we've been training at AFR. In an odd turn of events, the original group is mostly intact despite long hiatuses by some. Nick, Jason, and Dave are still here; Ethan is up in Virginia. When we started at AFR, I was a brown belt, Nick was a blue belt, Jason was a white belt, Dave was a white belt, and Ethan was a white belt. Today, I have a "seasoned" black belt professor; Nick is a three-stripe brown belt; Jason has two stripes on his purple belt; Dave has four stripes on his blue belt; I think Ethan has two stripes on his blue belt. We've also added a couple of people, lost some, added some more, and lost some. All in all, I am pleased with how we've progressed here. That being said, there were a total of seven (7) people in class on Saturday; Nick even brought a visitor to add to our group (Jason, John, Dave, and Paige). The topics of the day were escape from reverse kesa-gatame and escape from mount.