Class 8/24/13

I always enjoy training on Saturdays. There are never many people, and you really get to cut loose.

Yesterday we started out learning the baseball bat choke, from several different set ups. It is an excellent and versatile choke that has applications from many positions. We also learned a few side control defense moves. Those are always good.

We started doing side control positional drills, with one man in the middle. Once you got out of side control, next person was up. I learned how dangerous a position side control can be. I actually prefer to be mounted, I think. Especially when somebody has like 100 lbs on you. Good training.

Afterwards we did a few rounds of sparring. I started off sparring paul, our purple belt beginner's instructor. He's a badass, even though he's small. I had a good roll with him, and he focused on setting me up for a couple submissions. It was awesome.

My next roll was against Curt, our big guy. He's roughly my skill level. When I'm on m game, I can handle him pretty well. When I'm not, he man handles me. The roll started off that way, he tapped me out like three times in three minutes. Finally, I was able to take his back and I got hold of his collar. He tried to roll out, but I popped my knee into his back and rode him down to the ground. It was definitely on of my most dramatic chokes ever.

Finally rolled against Justin, a wiry cage fighter blue belt. He tapped me out a couple times, but towards the end I was able to get him in the baseball bat choke we'd just learned. At first I thought he gave it to me, but I think I actually got him. This is kind of a big deal for me, because it marks progress for me...and its the first time I've ever gotten him in anything.

On another note, I haven't been training as much. Things keep coming up. I promised my niece I'd go to as many of her basketball games as possible. Then my truck blew up on the way home from work on Wednesday. Luckily, I was able to get a new car, but it kind of messed with my training schedule for a couple days.

 I have a friend who is interested in training with me. He's a judo black belt, so I can learn a lot from him.

I'm hoping to start doing three session a week, but we'll have to see how that goes. When I have classes like yesterday's it reinvigorates me, but the grind of the week sometimes robs me of that enthusiasm.