Warmups were a bitch today! Holy crap. And then we drilled the mount escape and a couple variations. We have a new student today. A blue belt with several (someone said 13?) pro MMA fights. He showed us a variation on the high mount escape to guard were were working on. It involved pushing back to low guard, then bumping up and actually holding the hips so that you can bring your legs right up underneath. Slick move if you're strong enough to do it... which I am... if the person in mount is very small... which the guy I was working with isn't.
Anyway, that was good. We drilled for a while and I actually benchpressed the guy I was drilling a few times for long enough to actually make the move work.
Sparring was my downfall today. By the end, I really felt nauseous... which I was told is the sign of a good workout. Yikes. I laughed when he said that, but inside, I was crying in the fetal position! I started off against a guy I hadn't seen before today. He's really strong, and I'm guessing that he's got a strong wrestling background. The high point was when he took my back the first time and I fended off the RNC... then he transitioned to an arm bar. I didn't panic, rolled with it, stacked him up and eventually countered the armbar. I even had side control for about 2 seconds. That was the high point. The low point the other 4 minutes. I think he averaged about one submission per 40 seconds after that. I kept giving up my back. Actually, he just kept taking it, and I was so tired at the end that I could hardly keep my mouthguard in my mouth.
After that I went with another guy, a blue belt, who is really big... significantly bigger than me. I have got to figure out how to stay up on my side. Part of it is stamina, but there's a technical element that I just don't have yet. My arms were weak, and he got me flattened out where his weight was right on my diaphragm. This was where I started to get tired. Fortunately, he was taking it easy on me.
So, it was a relief to take my last 5 minutes against another relative beginner. I was able to get side control and eventually mount. I even... almost... got a straight armbar. What's really funny about this is that I haven't really learned how to do it yet, so it was probably like the keystone cops to anyone watching. I posted up on my left foot, and took his right arm. I've seen it done several times, so I sort of knew what to do. Another guy was talking me through it as I went... and I almost pulled it off. I stepped over with my right foot, but I didn't end up with my hips close enough, so I didn't have any fulcrum for the armbar. I gave it up and got side control again. That was exciting. I wish I could have pulled it off. I also tried for an arm triangle at a different point, but didn't make it work, either. Ah well.... It'll come.
Anyway, that was good. We drilled for a while and I actually benchpressed the guy I was drilling a few times for long enough to actually make the move work.
Sparring was my downfall today. By the end, I really felt nauseous... which I was told is the sign of a good workout. Yikes. I laughed when he said that, but inside, I was crying in the fetal position! I started off against a guy I hadn't seen before today. He's really strong, and I'm guessing that he's got a strong wrestling background. The high point was when he took my back the first time and I fended off the RNC... then he transitioned to an arm bar. I didn't panic, rolled with it, stacked him up and eventually countered the armbar. I even had side control for about 2 seconds. That was the high point. The low point the other 4 minutes. I think he averaged about one submission per 40 seconds after that. I kept giving up my back. Actually, he just kept taking it, and I was so tired at the end that I could hardly keep my mouthguard in my mouth.
After that I went with another guy, a blue belt, who is really big... significantly bigger than me. I have got to figure out how to stay up on my side. Part of it is stamina, but there's a technical element that I just don't have yet. My arms were weak, and he got me flattened out where his weight was right on my diaphragm. This was where I started to get tired. Fortunately, he was taking it easy on me.
So, it was a relief to take my last 5 minutes against another relative beginner. I was able to get side control and eventually mount. I even... almost... got a straight armbar. What's really funny about this is that I haven't really learned how to do it yet, so it was probably like the keystone cops to anyone watching. I posted up on my left foot, and took his right arm. I've seen it done several times, so I sort of knew what to do. Another guy was talking me through it as I went... and I almost pulled it off. I stepped over with my right foot, but I didn't end up with my hips close enough, so I didn't have any fulcrum for the armbar. I gave it up and got side control again. That was exciting. I wish I could have pulled it off. I also tried for an arm triangle at a different point, but didn't make it work, either. Ah well.... It'll come.