WEDNESDAY, 28 DECEMBER 2016

Today's session had me, Jason, John, and Ryan.

It may sound extremely simplistic, but I went over my mount control "secrets" with the guys. We drilled holding the position with a struggling opponent to gauge its effectiveness, though I will be rather reticent to allow them to start in full mount against me any longer. I rolled with Ryan and Jason at the end of class.

SATURDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2016

Today's class had me, Nick, Jason, John, Ryan, Tommy, and Rebecca in attendance. Rebecca baked Christmas goodies for everyone (even Ross, who did not come). My family also baked Christmas items for everyone, though only Nick, Jason, and John partook since the other three left early.

For our annual Christmas Eve session (which coincided with a regularly scheduled class this year), we went over a series of kimura escapes that I discovered in the course of a few months of attempting to see what is available if everything goes wrong while rolling. A special thanks to John and Ryan for taking the bait and helping me out. Following our drills, we practiced a few other items and then rolled.

SATURDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2016

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

We worked on a modified kimura from guard, a reverse arm bar from the modified kimura, and then moved to the triangle choke from the reverse arm bar. I rolled for over an hour following the drilling session.

SATURDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 2016

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

The first hour and 15 minutes consisted of wrestling takedowns and drills.

We made the transition to ground items. Nick taught how to achieve, secure, hold, and attack from S-mount. I taught a modified Americana (and John taught Ross the basic Americana as a building block into my technique). As always, we rolled for at least 40 minutes.

SUNDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2016

Sunday BJJ. It was me, Jason, and John. We worked on wrestling takedowns, and I had eight 5-minute rounds as they cycled in against me.

SATURDAY, 12 NOVEMBER 2016

Saturday morning BJJ. In attendance were me, Nick, Jason, John, Tommy, and John's friend, Samuel.

We started with an hour of wrestling takedowns and moved to three half-guard passes. Lastly, we rolled for an hour to finish class. I hope Samuel learned something and had a good time.

JASON EARNS A BJJ BROWN BELT

SATURDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2016

Saturday morning BJJ. We had me, Nick, Jason, John, Ryan, Rebecca, and Ross in attendance. We went over the X-pass, chokes from the back, my modified smash pass, and other basics.

Rebecca, John, and Ryan each received a stripe on their respective belts.

More importantly, Jason moved up a belt to brown!

SATURDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2016

Today's class had me, Nick, John, Ryan, Rebecca, and Tommy. The techniques of the day were side control escapes and drilling double and single leg take downs.

SATURDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2016

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

Cross-collar guard chokes were the techniques of the day. We went over three and even threw in a "loop" reverse arm bar. We also drilled double leg take downs before getting a little roll time.

SATURDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2016

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

We did a modified scissor sweep, a hip bump sweep (l call it the Rickson sweep), a basic arm bar from guard, and a front headlock take down to near knee. As always, roll time was included.

Following class, all of us met up for lunch at Moe's.

SATURDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2016

Lots of training occurred over the summer. Alas, I have been lax and failed to check in and update the blog appropriately.

Today's training was just me, Nick, Jason, and John. Ryan G. came in after we were finished to say hello, but he never intended to participate today due to possible illness (or allergies).

I spent 90 minutes teaching and drilling three take downs from opponent defenses. Following that, we went over two leg drag passes and a way of opening a stubborn opponent's guard.

WEDNESDAY, 18 MAY 2016

In training for me as well, we drilled four half-guard attacks/passes. One technique was simply recognizing the knee bar. The second was a pass. The third was fancy since it was a rolling back take. The fourth was moving into knee slide from half guard. I got in good roll time today, too.

SATURDAY, 14 MAY 2016

Nick, Jason, John, Ryan, and I made up today's class. One blue belt is MIA, and one white belt is injured. We covered a series of lasso-guard escapes, reworked the isolation of arm/back take from guard, and worked simple wrestling take downs.

TUESDAY, 10 MAY 2016 JUDO

I trained judo tonight with my instructor, Greg Difranza. Though there were "only" six of us, it was a good time. We had lots of kumi-kata, and we used the crash pad quite a bit. In addition, the situational training drill Greg introduced is something I will be adding.

http://winfirst1.wix.com/fckj

HAMILTON, AL SEMINAR: SATURDAY, 7 MAY 2016

Jeremy Booth had me up to teach a seminar for his crew in Hamilton at Ideal Fitness, though several people from Cobra BJJ Tuscaloosa I had not met made the drive to attend the seminar. I must admit that it makes me feel great to know that those folks would base their training time and spend their money to drive that far on a Saturday morning for a 9 a.m. start time when they had never practiced with me before. It must mean that Cole D. and Meghan S. talked me up well (THANKS!).

The first hour consisted of several ways of doing the Americana and a couple of wrist locks. I then had everyone roll for 5 minutes.

The second hour was how to break the grips of opponents when you are threatening the arm bar and they have their hands clasped in a Gable grip. Again, I had everyone grapple for 5 minutes (Jeremy was my rolling buddy this time).

The third hour was takedowns. I taught the Russian series to double and single leg and showed Cole a rolling takedown from the Russian to arm lace.

In question-and-answer time, I showed Jeremy how to do a triangle choke (short legs are not an excuse anymore) and gave Meghan S. a new option when it comes to holding back control on someone. Roll time at the end was easily 30 minutes.

SATURDAY, 30 APRIL 2016

Today's class was just me, Nick, John, and Rebecca.

We did a DLR sweep, a triangle choke from that DLR sweep when the opponent posts, the "Superman" guard opening, and two butterfly passes.

SATURDAY, 23 APRIL 2016

Today's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, Ryan G., Rebecca, and Ryan L. (purple belt). You can check on here, but Ryan L. has trained with us on two previous occasions.

We reviewed three spider guard passes since there were four people who had not gone over the series as presented on Wednesday. We also covered the X-pass and basic knee slide pass.

As always, there was ample roll time. I practiced with both Ryans for a total of about 45 minutes.

WEDNESDAY, 20 APRIL 2016

Tonight's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, and Tony. John and Ryan had SWAT training; Rebecca went to the hospital to meet a friend's newborn.

We went over two spider guard passes, one butterfly and/or half guard pass, and had lots of roll time.

SATURDAY, 16 APRIL 2016

Saturday morning BJJ with me, Nick, Jason, John, Ryan, and Rebecca. We covered the triangle choke in detail and moved on to things to do in case it does not work (arm bars and wrist locks).


The throw of the day was sasae tsuri komi ashi. Jason & I also practiced o soto gari from a blocked sasae attempt.

SATURDAY, 9 APRIL 2016

Everyone (me, Nick, Jason, John, Ryan, Tony, & Rebecca) was in attendance today.

The big news for today was Tony M.'s promotion to blue belt. I do not award belts lightly, and after lots of tournament success so far, Tony has shown that he is prepared to step into the blue belt arena, where I expect him to continue getting better while terrorizing his competitors.

SATURDAY, 2 APRIL 2016: REBECCA'S FIRST TOURNAMENT

Rebecca K., after less than six months of training with us, competed in the MMAC tournament in Orlando. Rebecca won both of her matches via submission (arm bar and Ezequiel choke) on her way to a first place finish.

SATURDAY, 26 MARCH 2016

Today's class had me, Nick, Jason, John, Ryan, Tony, and Rebecca. In short, it was a full house. We covered a standing guard opening and then reviewed the standard knee-slide pass. The knee-slide pass led to a reverse arm bar, two collar chokes, and even the Darce.

FRIDAY, 18 MARCH 2016: TUSCALOOSA TRAINING

I had the opportunity to train with some friends up in Alabama. The flavor of the day was foot-sweeps, which was focused on de ashi harai. We also spent time on o-uchi-gari, ko-uchi-gari, and even o-soto-gari.

Special thanks to long-time friend Cole D. (purple belt)and Ashley C. (who did not hold any resentment against me for using de ashi against her in January). Also, shout out to Nick L. for coming out early to train with us, despite a slightly wet gi.

SATURDAY, 12 MARCH 2016

The big news of the day was Tony Martinez's tournament performance.

Tony took gold in the gi (white-belt) division, which included victories via Ezequiel choke and Americana from kesa gatame. He also took home bronze in the no-gi intermediate (all other competitors were blue belts).

WEDNESDAY, 9 MARCH 2016

Today's session had me, Nick, Jason, John, Ryan, and Rebecca.

I spent time on the foot sweep tool before moving to wrestling takedowns.

We worked a back take from the guard and two turtle attacks before rolling (three different partners).

SATURDAY, 5 MARCH 2016

Today's class was sparse with only three attendees. To those who did not attend...you'll be sorry.

We went over an arm-drag back-take from butterfly guard and practiced two submissions once we took the back. As an added bonus, we drilled a sneaky arm lock from that same set-up. To finish off, we worked an escape from back mount that leads directly to a Darce/Anaconda choke (that I cannot hit but John can).

SATURDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2016

Today's class had me, Nick, Jason, Ryan, Tony, and Rebecca. We worked on two half guard passes before a systematic review of three de la Riva passes. To add some confusion, we drilled a reverse de la Riva sweep. To finish up, we used the foot sweep tool and worked on ko uchi gari again.

SATURDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2016

Today's class consisted of only me, John, and Rebecca.

We spent 90 minutes at the start of class doing judo. We used the foot sweep tool to get used to the motions necessary to perform ashi-waza. Our techniques were o-uchi-gari and o-soto-gari. We then moved to the crash pad and worked on our favorite forward throws. Rebecca worked on ippon-seio-nage. John worked on harai-goshi. I worked on both of those throws.

We reviewed several half-guard techniques (bottom) in order to reduce an opponent from crushing us and also to allow us to sweep them to the bottom.

TUESDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 2016 JUDO PRACTICE

I got to practice some judo on Tuesday night with Greg. Since he moved his school extremely close to where I work, I can spend my lunch time there.

Anyhow, there were only three of us there, and the techniques of the night were o-uchi-gari and ko-uchi-gari. We spent a good amount of time using the foot-sweep tool in order to gain some muscle memory on what to do. There was no randori since, again, there were only three of us and one is currently a white belt.

SATURDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2016

Today's class consisted of me, Nick, Jason, John, Rebecca, and Cody. We went over (and drilled) four leg lasso passes before working on single and double leg take downs for about an hour. I was able to roll with Cody, John, and Jason in the final hour of class.

JOSH MOSS RETURNING?

Rumor has it that our wayward Muay Thai son, Josh Moss, will be returning early from Thailand within the week. We wish him safe travels and trust that he will soon rejoin his BJJ family here.

SATURDAY, 30 JANUARY 2016

Today's class had me, Jason, John, Ryan, Tony, Cody, and Rebecca.

The first order of business was covering de ashi harai. I firmly believe that BJJ folks are suckers for foot sweeps, and I want to make sure that my students can do them and, more importantly, know when they are being set up.




On the ground, we covered a couple of mount escapes before live rolling for about twenty minutes. Interestingly, two students were put to sleep thanks to the clock choke. To one...welcome to the club. To the other...I did not feel the tap and apologize.

NEWBREED NEW YEAR OPEN TOURNAMENT

Saturday, 16 January 2016

Though only two members of Wolfpack BJJ Orange Park competed, they each took two medals in their respective divisions.

Ryan G. won bronze in no-gi intermediate and gold in gi (blue belt). Tony won gold in no-gi and gi.

SATURDAY, 16 JANUARY 2016

Today's class was small, consisting of me, Jason, John, and Cody. Two folks, Ryan and Tony, competed in the local tournament (see above).

We went over two mount escapes and a couple of guard openings before rolling.

AGNES DEAN: 7 MAY 1929 - 6 JANUARY 2016

I traveled to Alabama on Friday, 8 January, met with some BJJ folks for a bit, spent the night with my Nanny, and met with my sister and her husband on Saturday morning. The entire purpose of the trip, however, was to offer support to the extended family on my dad's side by being there for Agnes' funeral in the Troy area.

Agnes, who is my grandfather's baby sister, will always be the "crazy" great aunt. Though completely sane, she was able to say what was real about events without being crude, rude, or insensitive. She made me laugh at the funeral home for my grandmother (her sister-in-law) with a well-timed joke that only she and I could hear, called and talked to me for extended periods following two painful/stressful life events (first brain surgery; daughter's premature birth and stay in the NICU), and thanked me for remembering her with Christmas cards.

The posted picture, according to Agnes' daughter, is her favorite. I think it is fitting and is how I will choose to remember her.


http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Agnes-Dean&lc=1507&pid=177180339&mid=6747021

FRIDAY, 8 JANUARY 2016

On a family-related trip in which I drove up to northern Alabama to see my grandmother (see previous post), I was able to stop for a couple of hours and train/hang out with Cole D., Meghan S., and Ashley C. I appreciate them helping me break the monotony of eight hours in the car. I also hope that they were able to get a nugget or two to add to their BJJ games in the process.

Apparently, surveillance footage shows me being evil to Ashley and hitting her with a mean de ashi harai.

SATURDAY, 2 JANUARY 2016

In addition to promoting John to purple belt, we had a regular class. One of the original members of Orange Park Wolfpack, Ethan E., is on leave from the Navy, attended today, contributed to the class, and has now trained with us twice. As always, I am happy to have him in town and training like "the old days." In case I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ethan on Monday (4 January.

We went over "palm-up/palm-down" chokes from the guard, a cross-collar choke using the bottom of the lapel into a "palm-up/palm-down" choke, a transition to an arm triangle from the previous choke, and threw in a smash guard pass variation.

NEW PURPLE BELT!!!

After nearly two years of training with me, I promoted John J. to purple belt in BJJ this morning. If you ask me, purple belt is the toughest BJJ belt, so while being halfway to black belt is a great thing, it is also rough since everyone guns for you (white and blue come at you full blast; brown and black do not go easy).