Do Meatheads Dream of Iron Sheep?

Violent yoga. Going to remember that phrase.

Me too!

@twojarslave
Dude, you’re letting her live with u another month, really? Wow, that’s interesting and scary. I couldn’t do it cause I’d inevitably be looking to hit it, and that would create more problems for all.

I enjoy reading this thread. Interesting.

Do I understand that you’re going to tend bar vs bouncing? The bar scene work must be interesting and entertaining. The good thing is you’re (apparently) big and strong & can handle yourself if things get out of order as they do in such places.

Strength and Honor dude!

Yes. I’ll be fine. We’re both adults.

No. I’m out of the bar business for now. I was offered a job tending bar but that is an even later gig. I need the time more than the money. I do fairly well with my career. I need to spend my time more effectively, not scrape up more cash on the weekends.

All makes good sense. Wish to hell I could scrape up cash any day personally. Being on a fixed income can be such a pain.
Problem is there’s no need for the things I’m qualified to do on a part-time basis, and since I am not able to do my thing full time options are non-existent. Maybe if I get ripped enough I can do the gigilo thing lol. Problems with that would be
(A) i ain’t that good looking
(B). I’m married
(C) it’s illegal
(D) i have my standards
Bwaahahahaaaaa

Hey @twojarslave
Dude sorry to jump into your thread.
I posted a new topic here about Hot Rox-wondering if YOU ever tried it?
Sorry, if I had the means to PM I wouldn’t trash your thread with such an amateur question :wink: And no that’s not a request.

No worries. Sorry, I have not tried Hot Rox.

K thx bro. Carry on

Thursday 8/24/17

BJJ 90 min

One of our guest instructors returned, a two-stripe black belt who was my instructor’s very first instructor. We did the same 8 step guard series from last week, just with more drilling between different positions. Omaplata to armbar, back and forth, over and over.

Left sleeve grip.
Fast armbar
Keep left hand on sleeve, grab collar with right
Both hands on sleeve, hip up and push hand over right shoulder
Both hands on sleeve, hip up and push hand over left shoulder, keeping grip with my right hand, underhook with my left hand, cable grip, shift to side.
Omaplata
Failed fast armbar to flower sweep
Failed Omaplata to Omaplata sweep

We also learned the shin choke, which is a nasty choke you can pull if someone posts an arm to stop your omaplata.

We learned an armbar from the same position too. You basically triangle the arm with your legs, get your foot under their chin and pop goes the arm. This worked well for me and my legs are big/strong enough to not even need to get a good foothold. A good example of how strength can get the job done in the absence of solid technique.

I only rolled once, and it was with the two stripe white belt who is a pretty even match for me physically, even though I have about 20-25 pounds on him. He’s 10 years younger and strong as fuck. This guy murdered me when I first started, but all of our recent rolls have been draws. We actually haven’t rolled that much, since he missed a lot of classes for a few months and skipped a lot of rolls.

Began on knees, he got me on my back and I pulled guard. He passed pretty fast, played side control for a bit but couldn’t get anything going. I made the escape with a roll when he took a dumb position, which turned into a scramble. Got him in a locked-the-fuck-in Guillotine choke. I’m definitely doing Jiu Jitsu! I got him in side control next and gave him 100% pressure, which he didn’t seem to like. He rolled and I took Russian mount. I was trying to bait him into an arm by going for a choke, but he got saved by the bell!

Definitely feeling good about getting that submission.

2 Likes

Wow, so it’s been a while since I dropped by.
BJJ aplenty and not much barbell love of late (is the latter a good or bad thing!?).
Good things happening here regardless.
Trust all is going well.

@raven78 Hey man good to hear from you. I’m totally hooked on BJJ right now, but barbells will be making a comeback. I actually deadlifted a little before class yesterday but only worked up to a single at 405. I was teaching one of my BJJ training partners how to pull on the absolute worst barbell I’ve ever deadlifted with.

I could barely hold on to 405 with mixed grip! Humid air, sweaty hands, no chalk and very little knurling on that barbell, but its all he has to work with in the little gym that our dojo is attached to.

I strongly advised straps!

Friday 8/25/17

BJJ 90 min

Open mat at the four-stripe brown belt’s house. Nobody else showed, so I got a private lesson again.

Footwork was the name of the game today. We started with the basic notion that you want to keep 50/50 weight distribution on both of your feet, which was news to me. Then he showed me some basic stances for different situations, including grappling (hand down to defend the takedown), choke defense and punch block. Head movement was covered as well, and he showed me a drill I can do at home or work. Draw a diamond on the wall at head-height, and move my head from corner-to-corner.

Another drill we covered was grip fighting. With right foot forward, grab collar with left, grab lower part of gi with right, yank out and open the collar, grab collar as hard as deep as you can with left. Opposite/foot hand drill as well. This can also work with just a t-shirt, if necessary. Grab as much material as possible.

Next we worked a Judo throw, and he showed me the drill I can do by myself to train. He was nice enough to suggest that I video him doing all of the solo drills from today, so I can refer to it later. Goldmine.

We got a few rolls in. He’s definitely working harder, but still got several taps on me, plus he stopped the escape I pulled off on him last week. He spotted a tendency I have to give up my back when passing guard. He’s the only one exploiting it, but BJJ seems to be a game of plugging the holes, and this was a hole.

So we did guard pass drills to make sure I’m not giving up my back. If he has my right arm, pin his thigh with my left shin. When he goes to take the back, get my left elbow over the far side of his head. Put weight on him. Keep the thigh pinned, move my right leg around. Drop to my hips and take kaza-katami. Squeeze the head.

Then more guard passing drills with me standing and him in guard. The idea was to switch sides when feeling the resistance.

Drill drill drill.

I like having two teachers, and from different Gracie lineages to boot.

My main instructor seems okay with me supplementing, but I think he worries that I might leave his school. I go to every class and open mat he offers though, so this is just extra credit. I’m sure he understands that I just want to train more often than he’s able to teach.

Happy weekend everyone!

1 Like

Thursday 8/31/17

BJJ 90 min

Our guest instructor returned for the third Thursday in a row, and we built off of the same grip series from closed guard I’ve logged for the last two Thursday classes.

New moves added this week were trapping the arm with an overhook, grabbing the far side lapel with the arm that’s also trapping their arm, then pulling their head down to defend the punch. From there a choke is available by grabbing the back of their gi and sliding your hand back around to the near side of their head, then sink the choke.

If they try to drive into you to defend the choke, you can let go of the gi, grab the leg and sweep them into Russian mount or mount, depending on how the roll goes.

We also drilled the omoplata to fast armbar, side-to-side, over and over.

First roll was with our senior purple belt, just back from an Army reserve deployment. I spent most of the time on my back while he worked various knee-on-belly stuff. I eventually rolled him, passed his guard and got him in Russian mount, but couldn’t get anything going. 5 min draw.

Next roll was with the one stripe white belt/Judoka brown belt. Started on the bottom, got him in side control somehow and baited him into giving me his arm. Submission by Americana. He got the better of me for the rest of the round, tapping me twice. One by smothering me with his shoulder and another with a choke. This guy is a really good matchup for me.

Next roll was with a new white belt. I let him feel a little pressure and did a gentle armlock on him. Not so bad, eh? Then I let him take mount, coached him into a simple choke and rolled him. He kept working the choke from his guard and I gave him the tap. Then I had him do the same thing from mount.

Last roll was with our senior blue belt. I started on bottom, rolled him and passed his guard. Took Russian mount and went for the armbar, which he defended exactly the same way he’s done every time I get in that position with him. Next time I’m going to trick him and go for the choke! He also tapped me with the armbar I was trying to get on him. This guy still has my number for sure, but I think he’s tappable for me in the next few months if I get smarter. I’m getting in good positions he just knows exactly what I’m doing and how to defend.

I’m pleased to be escaping the bottom and getting into dominant positions. I want to get good at BJJ in general, but I want to get really, really good at escapes.

1 Like

Sounds like you’re having fun and getting better dude :slight_smile:

I checked with my doctor who takes care of my morphine pump about doing the BJJ-he says no way. Seems the catheter from the pump up my spine could get easily disconnected and that would dump a ton of morphine into me - sudden death type thing.
So I’ll live vicariously through you looks like haha.

@s_afsoc Good thinking!

Thursday 9/7/17

BJJ 90 min

Another guest instructor was on the mats. The topic of the day was a sequence that started from standing with basic Judo grips. Keeping one hand on the collar of the gi, dip down and grab their ankle with the other hand. Drive your head into their chest while pulling the ankle up and pushing with your hand on the gi.

Next up was a guard pass to side control where you fold their arm over the face. Choke is avaiable there, move on to armbar if not.

Simple stuff and we had several new students tonight, so it was a good lesson to cover.

Lots of drilling, rolling was brief.

First up was one of our new white belts. I let him have mount to begin, as well giving him the collar choke to work. I tapped him several times, but gently! Turns out he’s an FBI agent and crossfitter, and he was very gracious in his praise for me and the school in general. Apparently it was an eye opener for him to get dominated by a big chubby dude with a stripe on his belt. He’s got a great attitude and I hope he sticks around. It won’t take him too long to turn the tables on me.

Next up was a three stripe female white belt from our affiliate school in NH. She was a sturdy gal and we had a great flow roll session that was pretty dynamic. I was just working on trying to flow roll, making escapes and working whatever techniques presented themselves while keeping my pressure dialed way back. Definitely a fun roll!

I also brought a barbell buddy to his first class tonight, and it seems like he really enjoyed it. This dude will be a beast if he sticks with it.

@twojarslave. I have to ask: specifically y was the roll with the female so fun?

It was dynamic. Lots of escapes from us both, lots of different positions, lots of movement. Much more fun than, say, being crushed for 5 minutes, unable to make any escape.

Friday 9/8/17

BJJ 60 min

Open mat. Only me, my injured instructor (who couldn’t train) and our four-stripe brown belt friend showed up, so I got another private lesson.

The two of us mostly just rolled, but I had a bit of instruction on both side control escapes and knee-on-belly escapes, which was a new subject for me. Highlight of the rolls for me include…

Winning a takedown, gaining side control, maintaining side control and coming somewhat close to a figure 4 arm lock. It was there I just needed to rotate his arm somehow. Might have had the kimura too, but I didn’t think to go for it at the time.

Lots of improved defenses of his attacks. I’ve rolled with this guy a fair number of times now, so I’m learning his tendencies. This just makes him shift from his A-game to his A-minus-game, but it is still progress for me.

A successful knee-on-belly escape.

I was probably choked out five times, and caught in various arm locks 3 or 4 times. I was complimented on my ability to handle pressure and stay in the fight. It has been an ongoing fantastic opportunity for me. Almost half of my training time has been one-on-one with high level guys.

The fog is beginning to lift. Patches of clarity are popping up here and there where I understand what’s going on and what I should be doing. Those don’t last long with a four-stripe brown belt, and I quickly find myself back in the fog where I don’t know what’s happening.

This takes time.

Happy weekend!

@s_afsoc p.s. None of what I did today would be “fun”. Rolling with a very strong, very fit, very flexible high-level player is more like fighting for your life and failing miserably. I’m totally smoked after an hour of that.

Yesterday’s roll with the three-stripe female white belt, by contrast, did not involve any shins across my face, knees on my belly, smothers across my face, heels in my armpits, or getting choked with my own arm. We were both still doing BJJ, but without the really nasty pressure and discomfort-generating techniques involved when you’re rolling hard.

Not much fun was had today, except for the gratification of taking another step forward.

1 Like

Yeh those things do not sound like fun at all. But the “taking a step forward” part is definitely a good thing :slight_smile: Like anything else at which you desire to excel, stay at it bro!

Monday 9/11/17

BJJ 90 minutes

Our instructor is back in his gi teaching class, although he couldn’t demonstrate as much as he would like. After warm ups we got a short speech from him. He wanted to let us know that he’s making some changes to the curriculum and wants to renew the focus of his jiu jitsu on self-defense first. He never really drifted too far from that, but he believes Rickson Gracie is correct in that jiu jitsu needs to be for the streets first, competition second. Or, as another instructor from the area puts it…

make-jiujitsu-violent

So we spent the whole class on two takedowns.

Cross side ankle pick
Forget the other name. You get real low and drive your shoulder into the inside of their leg.

Over and over.

First roll was with my favorite training partner, the guy who is almost as big, almost a strong and more experienced than me. I gave him side control to start. This guy lets me know what I feel like to other people. He got mount, then he got rolled real fast. Guard passed easily, side control on him, quickly submitted him with an Americana. Next roll he basically held side control on me the whole time. Good medicine.

Next two rolls were with our “grey belt”. I learned that term tonight, which means someone who is a BJJ white belt, but high-level in another discipline with carry-over. In his case, Judo brown belt, BJJ one-stripe white. We just did flow rolling. We were tired. I learned a few good techniques for rolling people in my side control that I need to work on more.

Great class, great to have my instructor back teaching.

This can only be a positive…?