On the Mat Day 221: Sunday Morning BJJ

This was my first lesson with F-sensei for a while. We wished each other a happy new year and then got down to the warm up. Unfortunately, there was only the 2 of us but I prefer to see the glass half full. It was a great opportunity to ask questions. Apparently about 12 people had attended class on Saturday night which explains the low numbers.

The class was mainly around passing double hooks. When I am standing I have to pull their knees, close my legs and take their legs to one side and put pressure on them with my stomach so they cannot shrimp away. I find the pressure part the hardest because I just want to get up and run around their legs, which never works.

We sparred for 3 rounds with 1.5 minute intervals. I actually caught F-sensei with a triangle then switched it to an armbar. He tried to pull free but I left him no space and was quite suprised to hear him say "Stop". Of course, I know if he went 100%, they'd have to scrape me off the floor at the end. But catching him on Sunday and K-sensei on Thursday really gave me a boost of confidence.

Afterwards he asked me if I had any questions and I asked him about when the opponent has S-mount on me. I usually try to escape by underhooking his posted leg with both arms and shrimping out but they tend to kick their leg over my head and come back down to side control. He told me that I should shrimp so my backside is going away from them so that I will face them. It's hard to actually explain in words but what he said made sense and I will try it next time. I asked him if he had any pointers and he told me to give less space when attacking and take more space when defending. I think that I am apt to give too much space when on top and I don't have the correct pressure down at all. I asked him if he had problems as a white or blue belt doing bjj because it can be tough at the start. He mentioned that he did judo and never really had problems but relied too much on his judo. He believes, that from his experience of watching judoka transition to bjj, they generally don't improve fast because they rely on their judo to defeat their opponent. I tend to agree because I see judo guys at our club and they very rarely sit out to work bottom. However, he said because of their base they get very good at passing.

Sparring time: 3 x 6 mins = 18 mins