Friday 15 June 2012

On the Mat Day 273: Nogi Sparring

I travelled to Tsurumai dojo last night. Only myself and Fuji turned up with K-sensei teaching. I missed training on Tuesday because of a cold. He taught us spider guard defence and removal. I saw the moves on Sunday so it was a good recap.

Before the lesson I expressed interest in competing in the Nogi tournament in early July. Tete told me he was going to enter but K-sensei said he may go to a gi tournament in Tokyo. If he enters the nogi one I will go with him. If not then I'll just pass. I don't really want to go on my own. I prefer to have someone in my corner who can give me advice or watch out for when I am up to go on the mat. Plus I like to watch teammates go at it.

With this in mind we started sparring with the gi but after 2 rounds I asked if they wanted to try with the top off. It's the first time Fuji has done nogi but he was ok. A little lost on his feet because he plays judo grips but on the ground his game was the same. Crushing, looking for Darce/Guillotine chokes. I dropped to half-guard at one point and he caught me in a Darce choke. I caught him in a rear naked later on, something which I can never do in the gi. The sweat and lack of friction in nogi really makes it easier to get chokes. In fact I can see why people say to train in the gi first because chokes are so much easier to slip into when in nogi.

It was a couple of fun rounds with a little nogi mixed in to lessen the boredom of seeing the same 2 partners over and over again :) Unfortunately I managed to smack K-sensei in the mouth with my knee in X-guard and hurt Fuji-san's knee when I was in half-guard looking to sweep. I felt so bad. I feel like a newb when that happens. Still I do recall many times getting my own chops smacked by a knee or elbow from a higher belt than myself. It happens.

Sparring time:    
4 x 6 mins = 24 mins (with gi)
2 x 6 mins = 12 mins (nogi)

Notable moments: Really thinking about back attacks and escapes.

No comments:

Post a Comment