On the Mat Day 178: Opening the Closed Guard

I felt excited about going to class last night. I think it was the combinations of seeing how I would fare after a week of workouts and also being able to pick up my new kimono (gi). I actually thought the Rev Abs workouts this week would make me have less energy but it had the opposite effect. I felt like a wind up toy ready to go. The weather has cooled dramatically so that will also be a factor. I had some really good rolls.

We worked on breaking out of closed guard, mainly maintaining a good base to prevent chokes and armbars. Then moving that to knee into the arse and using the hips to break the legs apart. We also did standing breaks and one which I prefer where you grab one arm and stand then break his legs to let him fall off you. I have had a problem with this because I step forward with the leg the opponent can catch but after seeing it properly last night I now know where I was going wrong.

Sparring was really good. Apart from Kawai who is major heavy and so hard to get off. I actually bruised a rib near my breastbone because of his weight. This is an old injury which I got when doing submission wrestling long ago when a guy who had way more skill than me decided to crush his knee into my sternum to produce a crack. I'll never forget that. It would be nice to meet up with that guy again and see how I fare. Perhaps I can return the favour. For reasons like that I will never go overly hard with new beginners. Although some of them go balls out to kill you lol. One kid last night, who did really well at escaping, at one point caught me between his legs and began to squeeze as hard as possible, it could have been a good triangle leg submission from the side but he didn't know the technique. He just hung on for dear life and wouldn't let go. So I decided to do reverse knee on belly to shake him. He still kept it up so I switched my knee to his neck and he released. Some people may think that was a dick move but I like to think I did it right. Slow progression to a more painful move when the opponent is not letting up. I also caught the kid in an armbar but did not push my hips up to finish. I'll never do that to someone unless they really want to hurt me. He would not tap. His other arm just kept coming over to try grab the trapped one. I see this a lot with beginners. They mistake kindness for "this guy can't submit me because my arm is so strong." This can be dangerous thinking, especially in a competition.

Sparring time: 7 x 6 mins = 42 mins

Oh, my one leg shoot in is getting good. Caught F-sensei with a single leg takedown. Being practising with a medicine ball doing shoots is paying off.

I picked up my Vulkan gi last night and I am very happy with how light and comfortable it feels compared to my old cardboard gi. The color black is new for me, too.