Thursday 21 October 2010

On the Mat Day 110: Sweeping Standing Opponent after Closed Guard Breaks

I don’t know what it is about doing BJJ but the following day after training I always feel wide awake and pumped even though I only get 6 hours sleep because training goes past 10pm and I have an early start for work. In contrast, following a night of non-training, when I have had adequate sleep (8 hours), I feel sluggish and non-energetic. I guess it is something to do with the feel good chemicals in my brain firing into action.

We worked on sweeping the opponent when they have broken your guard and they stand up. Starting with the basic sweep of catching his ankles and pushing forward with the legs in the air like a see saw. This went onto countering when the opponent grabs your lapels to keep his balance or posts one foot further back. It was a good session but I forgot my damn notebook so didn’t have a list of things I wanted to focus on.

During sparring I worked on breaking the front lapel grip and pulling the opponent into a 2-on-1 grip or Russian as samboists call it. I’m going to try to work a throw into this, perhaps a Sumigaeshi or a trip. Anyway, the break and transition to 2-on-1 was very effective. I also went for a north-south choke but was blocked by a more experienced blue belt who pushed up on my chin and cranked my neck back so I had to let go and got reversed. I was told to keep my head down and to the side, looking away from the opponent to prevent this counter.

There was only 1 white belt guy and he left early. The rest were blue and F-sensei commented earlier on Sunday about the number of blue belts increasing but not many white belts joining the club. That doesn't mean that nobody comes to check out the dojo because they do. I meant to ask him what percent of those people actually end up joining. It doesn’t seem that many. I can only think that it’s because there are so many judo clubs around that are much cheaper. I pay 10,000 yen per month to train and I think it is worth it. I pay by direct debit from my bank account, which keeps me wanting to go back for my money’s worth, but also makes me kick myself when I have been lazy and haven’t gone for a week. In fact, the dojo is open every day and potentially I could attend 13 classes per week if I had no job and had the regenerative ability of Wolverine. But sadly the only thing I share with that superhero is my last name and I am lucky to attend 3 classes a week, what with the kids, wife, job and decorating the new house.

Sparring time: 6 rounds x 6 mins + 1 round x 4 mins = 40 mins total

Sumi-geashi throw


No comments:

Post a Comment