My Goal and my path to become a good bjj bluebelt!

[Graciebarra 847]

December 23,2010


Today I attended the advanced classes and we went over the single leg takedown and a defense for a rear collar choke from the back. My standup sucks and I will probably look at a youtube instructional to look over single leg takedowns.

The defense from the rear naked chokes has 6 points.

1. Tuck chin
2. Grab opponents wrist
3. Fall away from opponents elbow
4. Hand on opponents tricep
5. Get head to floor
6. Turn and push against opponents tricep at the same time.

As far as the rolling portion goes I gassed a little more than usual. I have been eating so many christmas treats at worked and it showed on the mats as far as my cardio goes.

My first opponent was a bluebelt who weighs in the 170's that does judo and lifts weights. I jumped guard on him and from there went into my deep half guard (been trying to work this position). I put him in deep half and ended up getting the top position. I didn't do anything textbook I just kind of turned into him and ended up on top. I am not sure if I swept or if he just went with it. I was on top and ended up in side control. From there he was defending pretty well and I stayed in side control for a while. He did a good job of preventing me from getting the cross face from side and ended up retaining half guard!

From there he got in the lockdown and I had the cross face for much of the match. I went for an ezequiel a few times, but he defended well. I had problems breaking the lockdown and he did a good job of stalling with it. I did have a good opportunity to pass at one point but was not able to. I never at any point in the roll felt in danger of being submitted.

My second opponent was a 4 stripe whitebelt 6"3 and probably at least 275 pounds if not 300. I jumped guard on him and had him in my closed guard. Basically he was giving me the triangle all day because whenever he opened up my guard. The only problem is he was so big that even if I caught a perfect triangle I wouldn't finish him. I actually went for an armbar against him and than we ended up in a scramble and I got on top of his turtle.

From there he put me in halfguard and I passed to mount! I had a deep mount on him and went for an americana and he bridged and put me back in his guard. From there I tried to hip bump him a few times but the guy is just too big. I feel if he was 50 pounds lighter I would have had him. I got to back to feet from the guard against him one time. This is very important being that If I ever am in a tournament against a strong opponent I would look to get back to my feet.

My 3rd roll I went up against a brown who dominated me. Caught me in a collar choke from mount after sweeping me from spider guard. Caught me in an armbar after taking my back. And caught me in a toe hold while he was standing up in my guard. Didn't have any grips and left my foot out there!

I wasn't happy with my performance because to me it seemed like I was breathing harder than my first 2 opponents despite being fairly relaxed. My diet has officially started right after I got out of that class. I weigh about 200 pounds now and will look to get down to 185 pounds!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

December 24th 2010.

Today I hit a 5X5 workout.
Deadlift
135X5
185X5
225X5
275X3
225X5

I felt a little pain in my back when doing the deadlift and didn't want to push it! My wrist is also not 100%. Will go heavier next workout.

Seated shoulder press
95X5
135X5
155X5
175X5
135x5

Wanted to do standing but the gym was busy today and all the racks were taken.

Machine rows
5X5

I am starting to try to eat healthy with a diet high in protein and low on carbs! Hopefully it won't weaken me!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

December 27,2010

Squat
135X5
185X5
225X5
225X5
185X5

Bench Press
135X5
225X5
235X5
235X5
235X5


Rows
I attempted to do Rows but my wrist still hurts when I attempted them. Did 1 rep with 135 and felt my wrist in pain and stopped.

5X5 assisted pullups instead. I can't wait till my wrist heals.

 

[Graciebarra 847]

December 28,2010

Today we went over the Omoplata submission! We went over some drills and setups.

A good setup for the Omo plata is when the patient postures up you cross grip there sleeve and with your free hand you cuff there pants. From there you kick in to there shoulders.

THere are many ways to finish it and we went over one armbar variation. Make sure you turn into opponnent and be patient. Also it is important to flatten opponent out!

Today in sparring I rolled with 3 different opponents!

First opponent was a 2 stripe blue smaller than me and I dominated the match the whole time positionally! Side control, Northsouth, Mount, Rear mount. The guy had good defense and escape toward the end. Got into the deep half toward the end and turned into him and could have gotten triangled but escaped. Need to get a hold of Glover and Hall dvd ASAP being I find myself in this position alot!

Second oppononet was a bluebelt who looks to be 6"3 230 pounds! He pulled guard and the match went from me passing to half guard, him regaining full guard, and I coming really close to passing. I actually passed a few times but couldn't flatten him out! He got his full guard back and went for an omoplata I stayed heavy on him and ended up getting side control top.

Stayed there for a while and than went to north south and as I was going to north south he reversed me and got on top of me north south. This is when the embarrasing moment happens I bucked hard for about 35 seconds to try to get out and got claustophobic and ended up tapping. I am a claustophobic person being that I can't even have an MRI done. I know there is a video of Rhadi Ferguson on Claustophobia and will look that up online. He talks bout using a wet towel over your head to deal with it. That is something I don't ever want to do again. This is the second time this has happened to me in North South with bigger opponents.

My 3rd opponent wanted to flow. The only thing I can say is I found myself in deep half and tried the homer simpson and was almost triangled coming up. I know I am missing a key detail and will look into it. If this guy was 6"0 or up I would have never escaped the triangle.

For the newyear I will make points out of everything I need to improve on in my journal!!!!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

December 30,2010

Today we went over the same thing as tuesday which was the omo-plata. It really was a great class!

My first opponent was a 3 stripe blue. We started standing and I jumped guard. He than pulled me into his butterfly guard. His butterfly guard was good and I had alot of trouble passing. Whenever I felt like I was going to pass he kept retaining the position. He went from butterfly guard to an x-guard he basically had a hold of my foot, and I felt uncomfortable and felt like I was going to get swept. I notice that he was being lazy with his legs and I rolled for a kneebar, I missed it but somehow grabbed his other leg and kneebarred him from there.

We went at it again and I jumped half guard. I tried to get into deep half but he did a really good job of stuffing me. I did a pretty good job of preventing the cross face. He got a good hold of my collar and tried to choke me from my half guard. He was not able to and the last 2 minutes of the match was him in my half guard with me fighting off a collar choke!

My other 2 rolls were 1 with a bigger 3 stripe bluebelt controlling me in side control,mount, back. Basically he dominated the whole match.

My other roll was against a 2 stripe purple that was competitive but he did pass my guard to side control.

My next step is to list everything I want to work on and my weaknesses!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

My bjj and workout goals for 2011 are.

1. Get 4 stripes on blue belt.

2. Stay consistent in training even if it's 2 days a week make sure that you don't take any weeks off.

3. Get stronger in all my major lifts. Bench press, Squat, Deadlift.

4. Eat healthy

5. Stay injury free!


As far as bjj goes the things I need to improve on.
1. DHG-work on this position. I have used this position a little bit and it seems like I may actually be good at it!

2. Claustophobic- I need to work on not being claustophobic when caught in bad positions with guys that weigh 240 plus. I have tapped twice to bigger guys getting me in North south from panicking.

3. Work on my guard especially open guard. Work on good guard grips!! Work on taking the back from closed guard!!!

4. Work on my mount and holding it! I want the type of mount were once I get you in it, it's game over! I need to work on my collar chokes. The only choke that is effective for me from mount is the ezeqiel choke!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

Today I hit a 5x5 workout. Did chest and back first because all the squat racks at the gym were taken.

Bench

135X5
225x5
245X5
225X5
225X5

I felt like I tweaked my neck on of the sets. Has been sore all night.
Pulldowns

I can't wait to start doing Rows and pullups. MY wrist is still not 100%. Pulldowns are not a replacement but it's better than nothing.

Squats
135X5
185X5
135X5
135X5
135X5

Decided to go light on squats.


I have a bad neck now and a bad wrist. Hopefully I recover very soon. I don't know what it is with these injuries lately.

 

[Graciebarra 847]

Today I rolled with a brown belt, purple belt, blackbelt and a visiting bluebelt.

We worked on going to the tripod sweep straight from standing. We also went over a cross collar grip sweep from when your opponent stands up in guard!!

Will check some youtube video clips on these to really hammer it home.

As far as rolling goes I didn't do to well on my rolls! I played a lazy game today. I was somewhat happy with my first roll with the brown but other than that I got stuck in turtle for a while against the blue and against the purple I played a lazy game! The blackbelt totally took pity me!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

5X5 workout.....

Deadlifts
135X5
225X5
285X5
225X5
225X5

Shoulder press
95X5
135X5
155X5
175X2
135X5

Pulldowns
5X5

Didn't have any neck pain and my wrist is at 90-95%. Felt minimal discomfort in the deadlift and shoulder press. No discomfort doing pulldowns!!!!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

January 10,2011

I attended the fundamental bjj class and we basically went over some basic things such as breakfalls, Sciccor sweep,modified sciccor sweep and Collar choke.

The key detail in the sciccor sweep is to pull opponent in toward you and to look away and to your side while sweeping.

We sparred minute rounds of positional sparring and I went up against a blue who got his 2nd stripe after class. I felt good in the sparring and he never got close to passing my guard.

After class I was showing a 4 stripe white belt basic techniques so he could become successful. After that me and him rolled with me going 60% and I actually caught him in a reverse triangle from mount to guard. First time I ever hit a reverse triangle in my life!

I was supposed to go to the advanced class today but woke up with bad neck pain. Hopefully it goes away and I will be in class tomorrow!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

January 10,210

Hit a 5X5 workout.
Squats
135X5
185X5
235X4
135X10
135X10

Bench
135X5
225X5
250X3
185X10
185X10

5X8 of assisted rows.


Will get spotter on my heavy lifts on bench from now on. This will help me get through sticking points.

 

[calvus]

My bjj and workout goals for 2011 are.

1. Get 4 stripes on blue belt.

2. Stay consistent in training even if it's 2 days a week make sure that you don't take any weeks off.

3. Get stronger in all my major lifts. Bench press, Squat, Deadlift.

4. Eat healthy

5. Stay injury free!


As far as bjj goes the things I need to improve on.
1. DHG-work on this position. I have used this position a little bit and it seems like I may actually be good at it!

2. Claustophobic- I need to work on not being claustophobic when caught in bad positions with guys that weigh 240 plus. I have tapped twice to bigger guys getting me in North south from panicking.

3. Work on my guard especially open guard. Work on good guard grips!! Work on taking the back from closed guard!!!

4. Work on my mount and holding it! I want the type of mount were once I get you in it, it's game over! I need to work on my collar chokes. The only choke that is effective for me from mount is the ezeqiel choke!

Good Luck with your goals! I'm a 2-stripe Blue Belt at GB Huntington Beach - where do you train?

 

[Graciebarra 847]

Good Luck with your goals! I'm a 2-stripe Blue Belt at GB Huntington Beach - where do you train?

Thanks I train at GB Chicago!

I attended the fundamental and the advanced classes over the last 2 days. We went over pulling closed guard from standing, the hip bump sweep and the kimura! We did some positional sparring and I actually got tapped by a smaller blue with a cross choke in his closed guard. I let him get deep in the collar and didn't protect my neck. I rarely get caught by collar chokes in someone's guard and it was a good learning experience for me.

Protect your neck always!


In the advanced class we went over how to defend the foot lock from the open guard. The key is to always have your grips and keep your foot in safe spots such as opponent's hips and arms. If he goes for a foot lock than you have a better chance to finish it.

In Rolling I did pretty good. I got dominated by a bluebelt and almost tapped to a very tight body triangle but was able to endure it. He was on top turtle and took my back. He passed my guard and instead of accepting side control I went to turtle.

My next 2 rolls were against bluebelts and I was pretty happy with the way I did. I need to get better at guard retention however.

Also have been looking for omo-platas and it seems like I can never set them up. Maybe I will pick up Kesting's omo-plata dvd!

 

[Corrosion]

Great training and write ups. I like this log.

 

[calvus]

I agree - great log! I took some inspiration from you & have trained BJJ 3 times this week, today should make it 4.

I'm a big, slow meathead on the mat, but for some reason, omoplatas work well for me occasionally. To set it up, I break my opponents posture from closed guard, but break it to the side instead of right on top of me. then I can kick my leg over & hip out, like Frank Mir in this video:



If my opponent leaves the arm near my head, or doesn't bend their arm, and tries to posture out of the omoplata, there is a nice armbar that I've hit a couple of times from that position as well. Here's a nice video from Marcelo Garcia on omoplata:

 

[Graciebarra 847]

I agree - great log! I took some inspiration from you & have trained BJJ 3 times this week, today should make it 4.

I'm a big, slow meathead on the mat, but for some reason, omoplatas work well for me occasionally. To set it up, I break my opponents posture from closed guard, but break it to the side instead of right on top of me. then I can kick my leg over & hip out, like Frank Mir in this video:



If my opponent leaves the arm near my head, or doesn't bend their arm, and tries to posture out of the omoplata, there is a nice armbar that I've hit a couple of times from that position as well. Here's a nice video from Marcelo Garcia on omoplata:

Thanks for the link on the videos! How do you like GB huntington beach? Are there alot of upper belts there?

As far as training goes I was supposed to do a 5X5 strength training workout but I skipped it! (spent time with family)

I plan on attending the fundamental and advanced classes tomorrow morning, and hitting a 5X5 on Sunday!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

Missed bjj today but I hit a 5X5 workout.

Deadlifts
135X5
225x5
295X4
245X5
245X5

When I hit the 295 I felt that the weakest link of my deadlift was my grips.

Seated Shoulder press
95X5
135X5
185X3
155X5
155X5

Rows
I attempted Rows but my wrist hurts whenever I do them. It's odd because I really didn't feel it in my deadlift attempt. So I did machine assisted Row and some pulldowns. Hopefully my wrist heals soon so I could chinups and Rows.


My Newyears goals were to get stronger in all my lifts(Hopefully I could get to 1000 pounds combo of deadlift,Squat,Benchpress.

Also my goal is to average 3 days a week of bjj.
Week 1. 1
Week 2. 3

If I go 5 times next week I would have averaged 3 days for the 3 weeks.
If I go 4 times the next 2 weeks than I will average 3 times a week for the first 4 weeks of 2011. I really need to stay on track.

 

[calvus]

Thanks for the link on the videos! How do you like GB huntington beach? Are there alot of upper belts there?

I'm really happy with GB Huntington Beach. Its a really nice relaxed vibe there - the head instructor is super nice & humble, but *really* good - Filipe "Jerry" Oliveira. The school is relatively young, so only a few purple belts, lots of blues & whites. There are 2 black belt instructors & we have a brown belt from Brazil in town right now helping out as well. But the nice thing here in So Cal is that we're only about 20 minutes from GB headquarters in Irvine, and there are tons of advanced belts there.

 

[Graciebarra 847]

Today I attended the fundamentals class and we went over a basic self defense move from the standing front choke.

In the ground we went over the armbar!
*Right hand to right Elbow and pull arm to middle of your body.
*Left hand grips collar
*Left foot on opponent's right hip.
*Get angle
*Leg over
*Pinch knees and hips up while using your hand to frame against neck!

Triangle and Triangle variation.
If you are unable bring RT foot behind left knee than go to this variation!
*Arm across
*Pull opponents head down
*Stretch legs out like your doing a leg press while keeping them crossed.

It was a quick tap when me and my partner were doing it to each other!

I would love to get in a situation to try this in sparring.

We did positional sparring from sidemount and I was pretty happy with how well I did. If a situation ever happens on the street I am very confident I can defend myself against 95% of the population!

 

[Graciebarra 847]

Jan 18, 2011.

Today I attended the advanced class and we went over a judo throw. We also went over a pass from the closed guard when you are in someone's closed guard and they try to sweep you with the waiter sweep.

In rolling today I did pretty well.

Pulled guard the whole time. Was able to establish closed guard on all my opponents and was not passed once! Rolled with 3 blues and a 4 stripe white!

First opponent stayed in my guard the whole roll. ( I didn't let him pass my guard which was positive).

Second opponent I hit a nice omo-plata sweep! And ended up choking him out from full mount! I used trumpet's dan's video to set him up for the collar choke. This was one of the first collar chokes I ever got from mount. ( Sad being I am a 2-stripe blue belt but I think I think something clicked for me today with collar chokes from mount) The only bad thing is I got the first hand in deep and the second hand I got it in but ended up kind of face crushing my opponent to get the tap instead of a clean choke!

3rd opponent I swept with a waiter sweep when he stood up in guard and ended up taking his back.

4th opponent I hit a hip bump sweep.

I am very happy with this being that I did an excellent job of sweeping from my guard being that I am not a guard player. I am also happy being that I was able to hit a cross choke from mount.

Very happy with my performance today!