First point of interest: I have my first little bit of cauliflower. I don't even know how it happened since I went easy the first day. But I have it nonetheless. Luckily, it's very small and not even noticable unless I point it out.
The class schedule was swapped today so that the beginner class was first and the advanced class was second. The beginner was nogi and the advanced was gi. I noticed there were very few if any blue+ belts in the beginner class. Rader taught side control escapes which is always a good thing to drill, regardless of level, I think. At least it seems to always be something I need work on anyway. We only had enough time to drill each technique about six times before switching to the next, which is very different than what I'm used to. The focus here is much more on open mat than technique drilling. This is particularly emphasised when there is even very little sparring done during the allotted class time, either. Because of this there are always a lot of people who stay after class to spar, which is great. And now I am beginning to understand when people who say they are in the gym for three hours can do it.
Advanced class techniques were a drop seio nagi and three open guard sweeps. I imagine there must be a day where standup is actually practiced but these two days I've been here I have yet to see anyone stand up. The drop seio nagi kuzushi was really cool since it begins with a double lapel grip. I think it will work great as a followup to the footsweep I've been drilling. Surprise! Just as coach suggested! Why do I even consider questioning him?
The open guard sweeps were also very good. The first was the common set up of having your near foot in the opponent's hip while also controlling his near hand and ankle, with your far foot hooked into his knee. You pull the ankle and knee while pushing his hip then pop up and cut through.
The second and third sweeps were from a sitting up guard. You begin similar to the first although your far foot pushes the opponent's knee instead of pulling. While keeping your foot there to keep distance you sit up (with your head inside) and pass his near hand from your right to your left hand, between his legs. Now, take your free right hand and grip his far pant leg. At this point you need to bring your hips/body under him and roll to your left, bringing him with and over you. Then pass.
The third sweep is actually a half guard variation. When you do the roll from the second sweep and it fails, you just roll back up to your knees into a single leg or drive thru.
Rolling was great. I got smashed hardcore by a couple bigger guys and my awareness of creating distance and not letting a person lean his weight on me was made more evident as each minute went by. I also got to roll with Rader, which was cool to do since I've seen many of his matches online. He, of course, decimated me, but it was a great experience anyway.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Lovato
For a couple personal reasons I've driven to Oklahoma and am staying here for a full week. One of the highlights of this trip is that I get to spend a lot of time at Lovato BJJ.
I had actually dropped by the school once before almost two years ago when they were in a much smaller location than they are now. The new school is very nice and Sr.'s office is almost comically elegant. It is like the den of a Lord or Baron. I was shocked when I walked in there (to sign my waiver) by how nice it was. Without having been to every gym in the country I'm going to go ahead and say this is the coolest gym office in America and possibly the world.
Anyway...a little about the school:
The classes are structured so that there is a beginner and advanced class most days. On Thursday there is a special curriculum/review/technique class (from what I gather) and on Friday is boxing with open mat afterwords. Also, their belts are such that there are white belts with four stripes, then orange, yellow and green (I don't know the order) belts, and then blue. I've never seen this before so I'm not entirely sure yet what level the in-between colored belts represent. It may be that their blue belts are just very good and that one of the other colors is the level most other schools would first promote to blue.
It can be hard to get a solid answer sometimes on whether a class will be gi or nogi walking into it. They seem to structure more around the beginner/advanced than the gi/nogi, which is different for me. I've been told to always bring both just in case. There's a lot about this school I do not yet understand.
Now, the training:
Despite coming forward with how confusing this has been so far for me there is one thing that is very clear: the training is great. Jr. actually teaches the advanced classes and Rader (a rising brown belt star) teaches the beginner classes. I would be curious to see just how many top level black belts still teach regularly. I would bet it's not much.
Tonight began with the advanced class and started off strong with a very tough conditioning circuit. We began with a typical warmout (shrimps, walkouts, shots) and then on to armbar, triangle and omoplata drilling for a couple minutes each and then a tough ab workout. The ab workout was what killed me. All of this is done in an almost eerie silence. The little stereo off to the side is only barely showing life and people seem hesitant to talk or make any noise outside of huffing and puffing.
For the techinique portion of the class everyone sits along the wall and Jr. demos a technique, then we pair off and drill. We drilled taking the back two different ways, neither of which work with the style of back I play, but they are both very good techniques that I will have to work in when I can't get to where I prefer to play. They both begin from over-unders and you are more off the person's side. Jr. showed how to open and get one hook and then pull the onto you to finish the choke or finish the other hook. There may have actually been a third technique that I just can't remember. I don't think there was, though.
With only a little time left in the class we were split into two groups. The blue belts and above stayed out on the mat to spar and all below moved to the side to keep drilling. We only did one match before the class was over, unfortunately. Fortunately, it seems like all the upper belts don't do the beginner class and instead use that time as open mat. It's really great that there are so many people staying to roll although I personally like doing beginner classes too since I need work everywhere. But rolling with new guys is a little more important and I'm sure I'll get around to taking a beginner class soon enough.
Their guys are very good and I had four or five good matches. Except one where I was 100% ruled but even that is a good experience too sine I get to see my faults and another person's use of technique. He's very good. Maybe I'll have more luck against him in the gi...but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm very, very excited for the rest of the week.
I had actually dropped by the school once before almost two years ago when they were in a much smaller location than they are now. The new school is very nice and Sr.'s office is almost comically elegant. It is like the den of a Lord or Baron. I was shocked when I walked in there (to sign my waiver) by how nice it was. Without having been to every gym in the country I'm going to go ahead and say this is the coolest gym office in America and possibly the world.
Anyway...a little about the school:
The classes are structured so that there is a beginner and advanced class most days. On Thursday there is a special curriculum/review/technique class (from what I gather) and on Friday is boxing with open mat afterwords. Also, their belts are such that there are white belts with four stripes, then orange, yellow and green (I don't know the order) belts, and then blue. I've never seen this before so I'm not entirely sure yet what level the in-between colored belts represent. It may be that their blue belts are just very good and that one of the other colors is the level most other schools would first promote to blue.
It can be hard to get a solid answer sometimes on whether a class will be gi or nogi walking into it. They seem to structure more around the beginner/advanced than the gi/nogi, which is different for me. I've been told to always bring both just in case. There's a lot about this school I do not yet understand.
Now, the training:
Despite coming forward with how confusing this has been so far for me there is one thing that is very clear: the training is great. Jr. actually teaches the advanced classes and Rader (a rising brown belt star) teaches the beginner classes. I would be curious to see just how many top level black belts still teach regularly. I would bet it's not much.
Tonight began with the advanced class and started off strong with a very tough conditioning circuit. We began with a typical warmout (shrimps, walkouts, shots) and then on to armbar, triangle and omoplata drilling for a couple minutes each and then a tough ab workout. The ab workout was what killed me. All of this is done in an almost eerie silence. The little stereo off to the side is only barely showing life and people seem hesitant to talk or make any noise outside of huffing and puffing.
For the techinique portion of the class everyone sits along the wall and Jr. demos a technique, then we pair off and drill. We drilled taking the back two different ways, neither of which work with the style of back I play, but they are both very good techniques that I will have to work in when I can't get to where I prefer to play. They both begin from over-unders and you are more off the person's side. Jr. showed how to open and get one hook and then pull the onto you to finish the choke or finish the other hook. There may have actually been a third technique that I just can't remember. I don't think there was, though.
With only a little time left in the class we were split into two groups. The blue belts and above stayed out on the mat to spar and all below moved to the side to keep drilling. We only did one match before the class was over, unfortunately. Fortunately, it seems like all the upper belts don't do the beginner class and instead use that time as open mat. It's really great that there are so many people staying to roll although I personally like doing beginner classes too since I need work everywhere. But rolling with new guys is a little more important and I'm sure I'll get around to taking a beginner class soon enough.
Their guys are very good and I had four or five good matches. Except one where I was 100% ruled but even that is a good experience too sine I get to see my faults and another person's use of technique. He's very good. Maybe I'll have more luck against him in the gi...but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm very, very excited for the rest of the week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
