Ichiban MMA - Asheville, NC

Trained no-gi today at Ichiban Mixed Martial Arts in Asheville, North Carolina. Good instruction from Erick Jordan, one of the only black belts in Western NC. Learned some submissions from Kesa-Gatame (袈裟固). 

Royler Gracie San Diego

Trained at Royler Gracie San Diego in Kearny Mesa. 10-15 students in class. Rolled three, 10-min rounds with a blue, purple and brown belt. Fantastic instruction, welcoming students, great time.

Learned a couple of knee passes

Brown belt taught me a nice move. As OP is trying to pass and their knee is in the center of your chest/stomach, grab underneath OP and get their belt / Gi, then slide your inside knee out and get to OP's back.

Carlson Gracie BJJ Chicago

Taught by Daniel Wanderlay, 2nd degree black belt. Fantastic instruction

Knee bar time

After a year of training, i finally landed a knee bar.

Knee-bar

Missed two days of BJJ due to travelling in Vegas. Longed to roll...

Got caught twice in a knee bar tonight during no-gi. The guy put one foot between my legs, rotated outwards while lifting up my leg and hugging it with the outside arm, then sat down to secure the lock. Nice move...two times in a row

A submission, finally

I'm getting tired of simply surviving rounds with other blue belts and, more importantly, of being in that mentality of surviving and defending. Tonight, after who knows who long, I finally sub'd a blue. I have no clue what the choke is called, but here is a rough description:

1) From north-south, slide your R hand underneath the OP's armpit and grab the back of their collar

2) use your L hand and grip the inside of the OP's lapel on the far side

3) make sure that the L forearm is on top of the OP's throat, then open your elbows so that your L forearm is pushing the OP's face away and the R forearm is pulling the OP's lapel from underneath their armpit

I learned this at Bay Jiu Jitsu from Stephan Goyne in San Francisco.

Where's your weight?

50+ ppl in class tonight.

2 stripe Blue reminded me always think about where my weight is. Small, important detail.

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Bay Jiu-Jitsu

I currently train at Marcelo Garcia's in New York. Whenever I go to San Francisco for business trips, I always roll at Bay Jiu-Jitsu. From my experience training in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong, I have to say that Stephan's instruction is some of the best that I have ever received. He is knowledgeable and clearly articulates his instructions. This is my go-to gym in San Francisco.

We practiced some fundamental guard and half-guard passes Monday night.

http://bayjiujitsu.com/

Just 30 minutes

I got off work around 6:45pm, ran to Fight Club Hong Kong to begin rolling at no-gi open mat, then I hit the showers at 7:45 to get ready for an 8pm dinner. I guess I'm addicted to this sport

Hong Kong Jiu Jitsu Feb 17, 2012

Trained tonight at Hong Kong Jiu Jitsu in Kowloon, owned by Professor Makoto Aramaki, who trained under Japanese BJJ pioneer Yuki Nakai. There were about 10 students in class, the place was impeccably clean and the instruction was quality. Some of the students were clearly trained in judo and I experienced that first hand. I would highly recommend this place for anyone wanting to train in HK.

Class began with the typical warm ups, but then the instructor focused on multiple fundamental drills. I've found this now at a couple of other gyms, particularly in San Francisco at Gracie affiliated places, and its been extremely helpful in breaking down the basics.

After rolling at various gyms in San Fran and Hong Kong, I'm starting to see gaps in my fundamentals and I'm realizing that I need to hit the books and break down the white belt fundamentals. Strength, good defense and mat time got me from zero stripes on my white to a blue belt in July 2011, five months after really picking up BJJ and starting at Marcelo's. Now, however, I just beginning to understand the huge, fundamental gaps in my game. I need to spend time drilling.

Fight Club Hong Kong

Rolled last night at Fight Club Hong Kong and learned a thing or two from getting owned by two brown belts

Create a frame faster

Open mat on Saturday. Rolled with two Whites (one landed a nice triangle choke on me), two Blues (no subs either way), one Brown (innumerable amount of sub's delivered to me).

I landed 3 guillotines and 1 N-S choke on same White.

Brown belt told me I needed to create a frame much faster when an opponent is trying to pass my guard.

Bay Jiu-Jitsu

Trained at Stephan Goyne's Bay Jiu-Jitsu in San Francisco's Japan town. I was very impressed with the quality of Stephan's instruction. He has an excellent ability to break down moves into clear parts that students can piece back together into a comprehensive technique.

I enjoy methodology and analyzing my game, and Stephan seemed very structured not just in this class, but also in that he ties classes together, giving a strong sense of continuity between them. Another thing I liked is how he has a belt test for beginners. This is incredibly helpful for newbies who need structure, need to understand their knowledge level and need to know the differences between themselves from more advanced students.

Notes:

From SC, put OP far arm between your two heads and grab your collar. 1) pull op on side and move op head between your knees / legs, go to kimura or arm bar, 2) keep op arm locked and grab hips while moving N-S, slide hand not holding OP head underneath OP back and grab the collar, return to SC and let go of other hand to switch to a collar choke

Maybe side control is better for me

Open mat was on Saturday. I asked Josh about some ideas for submissions from mount. Instead of spending time on that, however, he suggested that I focus on transitioning to side control because it is a better fit for my short and stocky body type - like Marcelo. He said mount tends to work better for taller people.

I didn't get sub'd on Saturday after rolling with 4 people, which is good, but I also didn't sub anyone. The first 6-9 months of training was largely about learning how to defend myself and now I need to be thinking more proactively and think about attacks.

Some people like having the opponent attack from above and they can quickly turn the tables with a sweep. I want my game to be different. I enjoy attacking from top and I seem to have a natural ability to control my opponent. The big problem I have now, though, is converting the control position into a submission.