VISIT FROM WOLFPACK BRANDON INSTRUCTOR

FRIDAY, 19 APRIL 2013 & SATURDAY, 20 APRIL 2013

Roberto L., a Charles Dos Anjos black belt, and Bryon W. (not Byron, but Bryon), a purple belt under Roberto, made a special trip up here to the Jacksonville area and trained with me and my classes over two days.

On Friday, Roberto and Bryon participated and taught with me at Smiley's.  I was able to get in a good 15 minute practice session with Roberto so I can gauge myself against a seasoned black belt.  I have things to work on to improve and I thank him for exposing those areas so I am better aware of them.

On Saturday, Roberto and Bryon came for my BJJ class at AFR (as did Jonathan G. from Smiley's).  It was an open mat session where specific questions were answered and we were able to roll.  I had Roberto assess Jason C. for me in order to get a second opinion on his progress and see if I have missed anything.  I also had the opportunity to roll with Bryon.

In judo, Roberto sat out due to a previous back injury that he aggravated earlier in the day.  It was a packed house, with Greg, Jack, me, Nick, Jason, Kyle, Bryon, and a new person named Scott (8 in all).  We practiced our favorite throws, or started learning throws, with Bryon working extensively on o-goshi.  In randori, I went against Bryon and hit him with ko-soto-gari on one occasion, and also took him down off of his attempt at a single leg.  All in all, it was a good training session.  I trust that all of us took something away.

It was a cool experience having fellow Wolfpack guys make the trip to train, assess, and hopefully bring a good report back to the folks farther south.

Kris

LESSON 36 AT SMILEY'S COMBAT ATHLETIX

WEDNESDAY, 17 APRIL 2013

I taught lesson 36 of Smiley's "Roadmap to BJJ Blue Belt" curriculum at Combat Athletix this morning.  Lesson 36 consisted of escaping the cross collar choke from the guard, escaping the armbar from the guard, and defending against punches from being full mounted (and achieving a trap arm/trap leg escape). 

There were 4 students in class today, and I got to practice with a non-white belt in the class for a little change (Cedric T., a 4-stripe blue belt).

All in all, I was pleased with this class this morning.

LITTLE BIRD LEAVES THE NEST

MONDAY, 1 APRIL 2013

In what is not an April's Fools joke, I have to announce that Ethan E. has flown away and is now at boot camp in Great Lakes, IL, after joining the U.S. Navy.

Ethan started training with me in March 2009 and has put up with my shenanigans for nearly four years (he has taken 2013 off, probably to avoid injury and prolonging his boot camp departure date).  I have watched him grow up, from the 9th grader who started over at First Coast Full Contact to the adult who wears a  2-stripe blue belt.

I look forward to Ethan's success in the Navy and hope to be able to train with him again.

Kris

CHARLES' IN HOUSE TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY, 30 MARCH 2013

Jason C., my 4-stripe blue belt, traveled to Sarasota on Saturday and competed in Charles Dos Anjos' in-house tournament.  In what amounted to an open weight category, Jason won a match and lost a match (which happened at the very end, on points, due to his opponent achieving a guard pass).

I am glad that he had a good time, performed well against people who train all the time with Charles, Dave G., Roberto L., Pat M., Nyantu B., and other long-time friends and training partners of mine.

Kris

SATURDAY NIGHT BJJ

SATURDAY, 23 MARCH 2013

There were just four of us in BJJ/judo class on Saturday night (me, Nick, Jason, Kyle).  I went over triangle choke defenses and escapes (from prevention to Triage).  I taught two specific escapes for when the triangle choke is actually set in and you start to see little stars and need to tap or take a nap.

After drilling these techniques, we then rolled for about one hour fifteen minutes.  In addition, we had a visitor who may be a potential student for Greg (Scott M.).  He watched during the rolling session, and I spoke to him for a few minutes so everyonce could catch their breath.

WEDNESDAY AT COMBAT ATHLETIX

WEDNESDAY, 20 MARCH 2013

I had a very interesting class this morning at Combat Athletix.  There were just four white belts in the class, so I did not teach to a large audience.  The techniques for the day (elbow strike to throw from opponent's double lapel grab and arm triangle from mount-Lesson 23 in Smiley's syllabus) are not too intellectually strenuous.  What was interesting was two students that I taught.

Two students are regulars.  The other two were first-timers for me; they are a husband and wife team.  Ana does not speak English fluently; Robert is BLIND.  Yes, that's right.

I found myself breaking the techniques into the smallest constituent parts, carefully explaining each movement as colorfully as I could, both visually and verbally.  I then demonstrated the technique on Robert so he can feel how it is supposed to go.  Then I carefully reviewed and assisted in hand placement/foot placement on the throw and the choke. 

In all honesty, I think I learned more than any of my students did on Wednesday.  Rather than simply saying "Watch me do this," I had to make sure that I explained and demonstrated each small step.  I think this made my own understanding of the techniques better as a result.  Thanks Robert and Ana!  I look forward to your continued attendance so I can teach MYSELF how to get better.

Kris

SATURDAY NIGHT BJJ AND JUDO AT AFR

SATURDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2013

For BJJ tonight, it was me and Jason for the first 55 minutes.  In effect, Nick showed up 35 minutes early for judo rather than 55 minutes late for BJJ.  I spent my time with Jason helping him develop his guard. I tied my feet to force me to do smash passes and help him develop a "leg circle" defense as I tried to pass.  Since this is the same method that I used with Nick, I feel confident that it will help Jason and help me in my smash passes and side control when I do pass.

I rolled, without my legs tied, with Jason.  Nick also rolled with Jason.

For judo, Jack (judo sandan) attended again.  There were, thus, five people in attendance (me, Jack, Nick, Jason, and Greg).  We covered our favorite throws and even added a little newaza for some perspective.