SATURDAY, 27 JULY 2024

I injured my left elbow and right pinky on Wednesday, so I was not an active randori participant today.

Today's class had me, Tony, Duy, Sam, and Chad.

I taught a sweep from butterfly guard (review), two entries to back takes from butterfly guard, and then an entry into the initial sweep based on an opponent's defense and also Kimura from another defense.

Rather than free rolling, I had positional/situational sparring.  So, the first was guard passing vs. holding guard/sweeping/submitting the opponent.  These were 1:30 rounds, with the same break, and then the guys switched.  It became taxing since they switched partners twice, being guard passer and guard holder three times.  I then had them do this for back mount (but only 1:00 on the clock). Finally, I finished off with side control escapes vs. holding position for 0:45, but only for one round.

The consensus is that the above is MUCH worse than free rolling.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- Prof, myself, Tony, Duy and Chad all present. Eddie was missed and LB, after discussion in an official kangaroo court, had his absence approved (but neither accepted nor praised).

Tony was so bored today with class that he went to sleep in the middle of it. I will leave that right there. 

We practiced sweeps from butterfly, escapes from back mount, and chokes from back mount.  NOTE: it was during this time period that Tony got bored and fell asleep). 

We experienced positional sparring,  with 14-16 short rounds rotating from partner to partner. The sparring was very taxing and we were all pretty whipped by the end of it. 

We discussed places to get good Vietnamese food as well as Fat Boy Fried rice (local food truck).

 

Prof was not a participant today with the ukes he only taught and tortured us. 

All and all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 4

Josh M. (blue-2) = 12

Duy (white-3) = 19

Sam (white-3) = 1

Eddie (white-1) = 27

Chad (white-1) = 18

Caleb (white) = 5

WEDNESDAY, 24 JULY 2024

Today was just a rolling session.  I trained with Sam from 9:00 am to 10:00 am so he could depart and participate in "official UPS business" with the new operations manager.  I remained another hour so Josh and Eddie could get time in.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- Prof was kind enough to come in early to thrash me. 9x in all today and two wrist locks I believe. He is my witness that in between rolls with both of us 3ft away, the fan fell to the floor. We can only blame Eddie for that and rightly so.

I was happy to earn a third stripe today, or did I? Sadly, no tape.  

Josh Moss asked me sadly if I was staying to roll when it was just he and I and Prof there. I knew intuitively what he was saying or in this case not saying. If you don't know, I will explain, he was saying are you leaving me to roll with D1 prof alone on a no gi day? 

I need to crowd source and ask if there is anything that needs to be added since I left early, so in the words of Ferris Bueller's teacher, "anyone...anyone?"

All in all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 12

Duy (white-3) = 18

Sam (white-2) = 40 = promoted to three stripes

Eddie (white-1) = 27

Chad (white-1) = 17

Caleb (white) = 5

TUESDAY, 23 JULY 2024

Today was a no gi training session with me, Jason, and Josh M.  Josh got in three, five-minute sessions with me, and three five-minute sessions with Jason.  Jason and I had seven rounds against each other. I hurt his left foot and he hurt my right foot (toe hold vs. straight foot lock).

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 11

Duy (white-3) = 18

Sam (white-2) = 39

Eddie (white-1) = 26

Chad (white-1) = 17

Caleb (white) = 5

MONDAY, 22 JULY 2024

Today's class had me, Sam, Eddie, and Chad.

The focus of class was side control escapes and tying together principles rather than techniques, though we did drill four different escapes.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- Prof, myself, Chad, and Edward.  

Edward now has three gis, one of which belongs to Prof, and it finally occurred to me on the way home why he wanted it. He is going to tell everyone he was on Renzo Gracie's elite Jiu Jitsu team and then say, "But I really don't want to intimidate anyone at Gracie Barra, so I just brought my white belt to roll with tonight."

Speaking of Edward, we did guard passes during the free practice session and he passed my guard almost every time. I think I passed his once, and we were civil about it. 

Chad looked a bit worn out from the Saturday sort and what I was most proud of was that I exhibited extreme self control by being asked to hold Prof in side control without dropping my weight. 

All and all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 10

Duy (white-3) = 18

Sam (white-2) = 39

Eddie (white-1) = 26

Chad (white-1) = 17

Caleb (white) = 5

THURSDAY, 18 JULY 2024

Today was just me, Jason, and Josh getting in a training session during Jason's lunch hour.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 10

Duy (white-3) = 18

Sam (white-2) = 38

Eddie (white-1) = 25

Chad (white-1) = 16

Caleb (white) = 5

MONDAY, 15 JULY 2024

Today's class had me, Josh M., Sam, and Chad.  We focused on reviewing standing guard passes and then moved to escaping being pinned in the bottom half-guard.  We drilled several submissions from the escape, as well.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- Prof myself, Josh and Chad all present. 

Fun time. Went through half guard escapes from headlocks and a whole sequence of things we can go to. Really good stuff.

Josh was kind enough to show me how to tie my belt properly, I mean it's only been 51 weeks we have been at it, it would have come eventually. 

I did not roll and will have to crowd source a bit. 

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 9

Duy (white-3) = 18

Sam (white-2) = 38

Eddie (white-1) = 25

Chad (white-1) = 16

Caleb (white) = 5

SATURDAY, 13 JULY 2024

Today's class had me, Duy, Sam, and Caleb.

I demonstrated methods of guard retention and had the guys drill them without resistance.  Then, I had them do it live against each other for minutes on end.  They cycled through each other, so each person worked guard passes and retention on every person.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- Prof, Duy, Caleb and I were there at start time of class. We missed Chad and Edward and Josh.

I forgot my belt, just to go ahead and get that out there. 

Guard retention was the topic of the day. Why is it whenever guard retention is taught it is bitter sweet? We absolutely learned new things, but we paid dearly for that knowledge.  Two minute positional guard retention rolls were conducted and I believe we had four or five of them. Thinking I was done mentally I began thinking if I was up to mowing grass when I got home or not, when out of the corner of my eye, I spied a former D1 wrestler, current 3rd degree black belt and resident dirty, sneaky, bastard coming for me to fill out my dance card. Well, I don't have to tell you how that went.  

All and all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 8

Duy (white-3) = 18

Sam (white-2) = 37

Eddie (white-1) = 25

Chad (white-1) = 15

Caleb (white) = 5

FRIDAY, 12 JULY 2024

Today's class had me, Josh M., Sam, and Chad.

I taught four half-guard passes, three guard passes, and reviewed arm locks from side control.  

Sam's Recap:

Recap- Prof. Chad, Josh, and I were all present. We missed Edward and Duy. 

Guard passes were the order of the day as well as methods of escaping half guard and the family of arm breakers (kimura, Americana and arm bar) from side control. A lot covered. 

Three rolls today for me (two with Prof and one with Chad). Surprisingly, Prof defeated me. Alas, it was bound to happen eventually. 

Chad was a handful and spent most of our roll on top of me. Sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes you are the nail. I think I was the nail today but I did get to work on my escapes, and they need more work. Finally, the owner of AFR came by and dropped off a new fan, said something about it being Eddie proof. 

All and all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 8

Duy (white-3) = 17

Sam (white-2) = 36

Eddie (white-1) = 25

Chad (white-1) = 15

Caleb (white) = 4

WEDNESDAY, 10 JULY 2024

Today was a no gi open mat session with me, Josh M., Sam, Eddie, and Chad,

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 7

Duy (white-3) = 17

Sam (white-2) = 35

Eddie (white-1) = 25

Chad (white-1) = 14

Caleb (white) = 4

MONDAY, 8 JULY 2024

Today's class had me, Josh M., Sam, Eddie, and Chad.

My focus today was to review north-south attacks and escapes from Saturday (or teach those who were not in attendance).  I neglected to review mount escapes on Friday, so we reviewed the "Pedro Sauer" and foot drag escapes.  A few rounds of free roll practice were provided.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- Prof, myself, Josh, Chad, and Edward were all in attendance.

Note to self: do NOT partner with Edward on the north/south escapes. I think I now know how the north beat the south. They grabbed their ass cheeks and startled them. Maybe, maybe not, but it is certainly what Eddie did to me. I am still startled in fact. 

We worked on the Pedro Sauer escape, the aforementioned north/south position and some arm bars that can arise from those positions. 

Edward kicked over the fan, promptly left, and received ZERO harassment about not rolling. I was pressed for time and did an obligatory roll with Prof only to have him duct tape me with my gi and then submit me. I didn't care for that very much. 

Chad seemed to have a good roll going and again I had to leave so.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 6

Duy (white-3) = 17

Sam (white-2) = 34

Eddie (white-1) = 24

Chad (white-1) = 13

Caleb (white) = 4

SATURDAY, 6 JULY 2024

Today's class had me, Duy, Sam, and Chad. 

Strangely, Eddie still managed to knock down the fan, and he also heroically removed a popcorn kernel from a child's ear.  Now, on to BJJ.

I called upon Sam and Chad to teach some of the items from Friday's class.  I tasked Sam with butterfly guard items and Chad with the modified pendulum sweep.  I have typically asked purple and above to do so, but I experimented in order to "test" comprehension and my own teaching from the previous day.

Duy asked for north-south items, so I taught the most proper method for holding the position with a gi, moving to side control for arm bar or bread cutter choke, and also the north-south choke.  I also taught escapes from the position, along with principles to help with scrambles from there.

I rolled with everyone, and for a public shout out, I was pleased as an instructor with how Chad was positioning and dropping his weight (not so pleased as a recipient, though).

Sam's Recap:

Recap- good group today with Prof, Chad, Duy, and me.

We missed Edward, Josh, and Caleb.

We reviewed yesterday's techniques and Prof asked me to teach one and Chad to teach the other. I could not remember what my name was and had to be continuously cued on what was next during my turn while Chad on the other hand did a good job with it. Oh well, it came to me on one on one drilling.  I just had a mind cramp or a senior moment when put on the spot.

 

We had some very light flow rolls and Chad regaled us with stories of a "Code Brown" at the hospital.  Like the Garfield and Jimmy John's stories, I couldn't do it justice to try to explain so you will just have to ask him. 

It came time to roll, at which point I announced I was not formally rolling today after the long week of BJJ. I thought all was well and that I could video others until I heard an exchange between Prof and Chad about a smell in the dojo. Intuitively I knew they were talking about me, but didn't know what they meant. I had not farted and seemed to smell like my normal self. So, I inquired and found out they smelled fear on me.

 

Well, I bit and was hooked, I put my gi back on to go with Prof and the roll went pretty much like most of my rolls go with Prof, but at least I dispelled the fact of whether or not I was afraid. Let it be said I never fear an ass whipping and have grown accustomed to receiving them.

All and all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 5

Duy (white-3) = 17

Sam (white-2) = 33

Eddie (white-1) = 23

Chad (white-1) = 12

Caleb (white) = 4

FRIDAY, 5 JULY 2024

Today's class had me, Jason (black), Tony (purple), Josh (blue), and three white belts (Sam, Eddie, and Chad).

I taught two sweeps from butterfly guard and a modified pendulum sweep where the far leg is attacked, along with the arm bar.  Josh and Eddie did not roll live due to injuries.

Sam's Recap:

Recap pretty much a full house today.  We were missing Duy.  We had some OGs there with Jason and Tony and Josh.  Chad was back, along with Edward, Prof, and me.

We worked on sweeps from butterfly and some nifty things to do to break grips with our legs. I know we covered more but my mind is drawing a blank. Prof, I will have to depend on you to recap all the techniques we drilled (I need a little help). 

I do know that Jason reverse arm barred me AGAIN. Prof applied the usual bread cutters and wrist locks and I think we got in 5 rolls, maybe it was six. Eddie knocked over the fan. Chad didn't ring anyone's bells and someone shoulder blocked me in the parking lot as I was just trying to put my Gi up. 🤔 tomorrow promises to be even more fun.  

All in all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 3

Josh M. (blue-2) = 5

Duy (white-3) = 16

Sam (white-2) = 32

Eddie (white-1) = 23

Chad (white-1) = 11

Caleb (white) = 4

WEDNESDAY, 3 JULY 2024

Today's session was a no gi open mat.  Josh, Sam, and Eddie joined in for training time.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- first things first.  Even being 30 minutes late didn't stop Edward from knocking over the fan. 

Everyone got in 5-6 rolls. Edward and I worked on guard passing, and his guard retention is a lot better than mine but it does give me something to shoot for. 

We missed Chad and the question has to be asked if he has become a Comcast BJJ participant. I hope not because he makes it a little more fun when he is there and he also is good for telling me what I am forgetting during drilling when my kind draws a blank sometimes. 

Thankfully, no bread cutters today. Ok, so it was a no gi day.

We did discuss women in leadership and Edward was less than charitable and he scratched my nose and drew blood. I think it was right after he knocked over the fan. 

All in all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 2

Josh M. (blue-2) = 4

Duy (white-3) = 16

Sam (white-2) = 31

Eddie (white-1) = 22

Chad (white-1) = 10

Caleb (white) = 4

TUESDAY, 2 JULY 2024

Today was a training session with me, Jason, and Sam at Casa de Compton.  There were a total of ten, five-minute no gi rounds between the three of us.  

Sam's Recap:

Recap- the closest I got to a submission was getting out of the car to walk into Jason's garage. 

Both Prof and Jason had bad intentions for me at least in the first couple of rolls. I can now sympathize with hamsters that are fed to boa constructors or sheep fed to lions or.... well you get it, any predator that likes to play with its food before eating. 

In the first two rolls I was submitted inside the last 10 seconds first with a toe hold or heel hook, not sure which and then Prof got me in something or another only after both of them had given me 4:50 of false hope. 

I would like to say it got better after that and maybe there were moments but I will sum it up by saying sometimes you have to simply back away and respect the color of the belts.  They are black belts for a reason. 

All in all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 2

Josh M. (blue-2) = 3

Duy (white-3) = 16

Sam (white-2) = 30

Eddie (white-1) = 21

Chad (white-1) = 10

Caleb (white) = 4

MONDAY, 1 JULY 2024

Today's class had me and Sam.

We reviewed arm bar from guard, the pendulum sweep, and two mount escapes (foot drag and foot lift). I will need to review these again. I introduced the baseball bat choke from the guard and am happy with the progress.  We had a total of five, five-minute rounds today.

Sam's Recap:

Recap- great to get on the mats again. I had great aspirations to hold off prof as he was passing  my butterfly guard and even told him as much. Well we will come back to that later. 

We truly missed Duy, Chad and Edward. We worked on escapes from guard and sweeps and worked the baseball choke in. Lot of good stuff covered. 

I was excited about rolling and practicing butterfly guard.  I had even worked some things out in my head during my 16 hours of driving that would help me fend Prof off and hold him at bay. I was looking forward to him slapping the mat in disgust and saying, "I just can't get past you." 

Well reality set in during the first roll that me holding him off was not to be, so I settled on just trying to slow him down a bit and well....that didn't work out so well either. If I have to tell you how it ended each time he passed my guard then you have never read the recap before and I don't have time for you today.

  

In the end, I settled on the fact that I had just tried and figured out about 5-6 more things that don't work while rolling with Prof. 

Prof had to settle on a wrist lock. I thought it was a moral victory for white belts everywhere. 

All and all another good day of BJJ.

Tony (purple) = 2

Josh M. (blue-2) = 3

Duy (white-3) = 16

Sam (white-2) = 29

Eddie (white-1) = 21

Chad (white-1) = 10

Caleb (white) = 4