Thursday, April 10, 2008

Thursday night rolling

Thursday roll day is usually a pretty tough night. Rolled against some very good opponents today. Wasn't feeling my best, but had a fairly successful night.

Tried to roll loose and technical (a la Terere), didn't try to tap people all over the place- mainly tried to improve position and flow.

For the first few rolls I was able to hit the x-guard and butterfly sweeps pretty accurately. My opponents weren't too familiar with what I was doing, but I was able to test out some entries and defenses that worked pretty well. Once I swept, I was able to pass with either the scissor pass or leg on shoulder (trying a lot lately). Trying to have a very fluid game. Gotta have a fluid pressure game, though. Right now I'm alternating between one of the two- fluid or pressure. Gotta blend them both.

Hit a stumbling block vs. this massive purple belt. Tried to pull butterfly and x-guard, but he controlled my pant knees and started to smash pass on me. I was on the defensive for most of the fight- he didn't want to fight from his back. When I did get him on his back, I passed but got put in some wack reverse triangle. Tapped a few times, and I felt my conditioning not as strong as it usually is. Defending a smashing pass style took a toll on me. Next time should probably just try to take the back vs. larger/more powerful/somewhat aggro opponents. An x-guard counter I noticed was the driving knee on chest. I countered it by kicking out his base on the far leg, which worked well. Need to use that to sweep.

After that, rolled with a blue belt that I get matched up against often. Did well with the sweeps and passes, but did get caught in a triangle at one point. Had my knee up and didn't drive it through- just wasn't defending well. Was worn down at this point, but next time I need to defend the triangle more efficiently.

Rolled with a beastly purple belt after that, and did decent. Managed to get past certain points I was stuck on before- de la riva guard while passing. Managed to get to half guard and somewhat flatten him, but he escaped and foiled my attempts. From my guard I was able to hit some footlock x-guard entries and x-guard entries, defending his torianis decently. Tried the spider guard vs. the toriani. Gotta use that and quickly move to something else. Gotta be more aggressive vs. him, but he is a lot better than me. I feel like I am gaining ground from where I was, though.

Rolled again with the blue belt from before, and sort of had an ego moment where I decided to pass quickly and tap him as many times as possible. I got him a few times during the session and felt like I vindicated the earlier triangle. Kind of stupid, but I got caught up in the moment. Gotta lay the ego to rest. Nevertheless, felt very strong and felt a second wind come through.

Rolled with a blue belt that is back after some time off. Hit some clean butterfly sweeps and locked up some nice x-guard sweeps. Passed nicely from top. Transitioned well. Tried to open my game up and see how he would react.

Last roll was vs. an older purple belt. Hit some spider guard sweeps and played a mobile knee on stomach top game. Found a combo in kimura from n/s, arm bar from side control, and bow and arrow choke. Stayed fluid and worked my game.

Had some bad moments today, but overall feel like I'm improving. I suppose it's good that some people were actually able to endanger me from my guard, as it doesn't happen as often lately now that my guard is getting better. I'm starting to get used to running over people, so when it doesn't go that way I get annoyed. Probably not the best attitude to carry.

Checkpoint-

-butterfly guard is getting better. need to remember to start with the forward lean (sim seminar) should try to arm drag right away if they try to engage and control my legs/knees. otherwise should try to either butterfly sweep or x-guard. otherwise, the guillotine and kimuras could be worked in somehow once i figure out the sweep game. footlock x-guard should be thrown in as well.

-half guard is really becoming a stopping point before i try to get to butterfly/half butterfly/x-guard. i'm getting better at blocking the crossface, which is preventing a lot of problems i used to have.

-spider guard- the mobile spider guard is the way to go. combo with de la riva, tripod, butterfly, x-guard, etc. should be hitting omoplatas and triangles from here once i get more adept.

-passing is getting better. the knee up and knee/elbow together is stopping a lot of problems i used to have. gotta continue to work on it. mobile pressure is the key. destroy the legs.

-half guard top is getting better as well. gotta recognize sweep setups and stop them. the kimura is critical from here. need to figure out when to crossface and when to kimura. two separate half guard games, but i need to find a way to blend them. the brabo/darce needs to make a comeback.

-side control is getting better. combo with knee on stomach is working out for me, as i'm able to set up more transitions and attacks. gotta figure out my pressure game more- the floating ribs are key.

-knee on stomach is coming back in the mix. gotta continue to develop it. baseball bat choke must be perfected.

-mount is not as good as i'd like it, but it's improving. i'm actually able to attack here to some degree, but i need to work on it more. need to prepare to s-mount and go knee on stomach when i recognize escape attempts.

-back mount is getting good. control is good, escape prevention is good, attacks are good. probably one of my strongest positions. gotta continue to master it.

-escapes are okay if i catch them in transition (wrestler's switch is becoming clutch), but once i am locked down i have lots of trouble. must put myself in danger vs. lower belts, but that's probably for another time (post tournament season?)

-standup needs to be practiced, period.

-tendency is to sweep from guard and then finish from top. submissions from the guard are not coming as often, as i'm electing to not play closed guard during training as much.

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