2024 - 03 - 04

This week started and ended with some mild mobility, though it was targeted towards my areas of need (spine, hips, ankles). It was also a reminder to “have fun and play a little” on the mats. That is, experiment and explore without an inherent goal, objective, or agenda to progress.

That’s about 260 lbs. flying through the air.

Summary:

On a long enough time span, rest day are inevitable, either because they’re planned with wisdom, or a forced correction by injury. This is my “de-load” week where I’ll only be grappling as I transition to a new strength and conditioning program.

This week’s training log will therefore be short in comparison to others, but the (physical) down time will allow an opportunity to make sure regular free and premium content keeps flowing.

Spoiler: The March Newsletter will introduce monthly downloads (think mini-courses, cheatsheets, videos, etc.) for premium subscribers.

Contents:

• Wednesday: NoGi BJJ - leglock control and wrestling entries
• Thursday: NoGi BJJ - wrestling scrambles from bottom
• Saturday: NoGi BJJ - foot sweeps and leg entanglements

3/6/24: Sport, Level 2

Intention:

It was my original intent to participate in regular class, but one of our Brown Belts who is preparing for a major competition asked for my help troubleshooting some things he’s been working on.

Additionally, I had been watching content to polish up my low-singles — a preferred takedown for my style — from one of the best to ever do it.

That lead me to stringing together some rough beta for the following calf crush / bear trap / ham sandwich finish:

The intensity obviously wasn’t difficult this session, and the movements weren’t anything I hadn’t worked before, but there was some nuance and frustration, and a lot of discussion and review… a good creative day.

3/7/24: Sport, Level 1

Intention:

This week marked the conclusion of the wrestling block I was teaching. We spent about 2-3 weeks each on upper body connection, lower body connection / off balance, follow through, and scrambles.

The Granby Roll is a fundamental technique and is great defensively to create scrambles and set up counter attacks.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any video of the footsweep technique I showed, but it was similar to this, and I’m pretty sure I got it from JFlo if you check out his page.

jflojudo

A post shared by @jflojudo

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
Overall I’m very happy with my own wrestling development and the development of my students over the past 8-10 weeks. I think that “warming up” with the mini-drills from the previous classes in the series really helped prime the tank and solidify concepts.

What didn’t work and why:
Speaking for myself, there’s always more to learn. Wrestling is its own sport so you could spend a lifetime getting better at just that. I know that I’ve had to play more patiently and learn to not force takedown attempts; which may look like wearing on my opponent until they make a mistake, or really emphasizing my own movement and setups.

Plan for next time:
For the next “as long as it takes” I’ll be reviewing my leglock curriculum; also for my own interests to keep that sword polished.

3/9/24: Sport, Level 2

Intention:

This was another fun day where I got to play around with some new concepts and get good drilling / play-pace rounds in. However, there were some harder rolls that I used to try to stay focused on the last couple wrestling things I wanted to touch on for myself.

Warm Up:

3 x very light rolls (5 min ea.)

Work:

6 x 5 min rounds
4 x 5 min rest rounds
2 x 5 min coaching rounds

Result:

Focus: 63% (5/8 rounds)
Density: 60% (6:4 work:rest)

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The hip-hold foot sweeps I mentioned above worked really well. It also paid great dividends to remain patient wrestling when wear, heavy, on my partners.

What didn’t work and why:
It would be much too complicated to explain in words, but I got caught in a predicament from top-side control versus the bottom players Octopus Guard. I ended up having a counter, but the reason for the problem was my over-commitment to how our legs were entangled. On the other hand, between two black belts and a brown belt, we found a super simple solution to the whole ordeal!

Plan for next time:
Tomorrow I will try to implement a mobility session and iron out the details of how I want my next training block to look. I’m not sure if I want to run 3 or 4 BJJ days or add some striking for “Zone 2” or things like that.

3/10/24: Strength, Level 1

Intention:

I didn’t want to feel totally lazy, so while enjoying the sun and some dog-time, I added this mobility session. It’s “not for time”, so break up the sets throughout the day if you want.

Work:

7 rounds of each:
10x Behind the Neck Press (clean grip, experiment with split stance)
10x OHS (experiment with snatch-contact)
10x Chair-Cow stretch (thoracic CARs)
90 sec Deep Squat

Notes:

Plan for next time:
Tomorrow begins the the Free Fall Program!