29 June 2007 -- No-gi: half guard sweep

instructor S___.

Warm up: mat laps, grappling drills, calisthenics

Begin with Op in your half guard, under hook Op's free leg and opposite side arm, bring in outside knee to Op's hip frame out space, with outside arm shuck Op up and over to create space, sit up quickly and with outside arm gain hip control of Op. From this point extend guardwhile simultaneously shifting and turning so that you are now on your other hip. You should almost be out the back but completely under Op disrupting his base. From here hook Op's shin with your far leg and post to the mat the other leg. Extend guard and sweep to opposite of leg you posted. End up on top with a double under pass, collapse and pass guard, gain side control.

Sparring

28 June 2007 -- No-gi: Half guard sweep

instructor: N___.

Warm up: grappling drills

Begin with Op in your half guard. Under hook Op's free leg, under hook Op's arm with your outside arm, Shrimp out to create space, get butter fly hook in with outside leg, shrimp back in to make half guard compact. Extend guard and break Op's base, sit up toward Op's far leg and simultaneously post up on elbow and get to feet or knees. Ankle pick or knee pick for take down. from there gain combat stance in Op's guard and pass guard.

Sparring

Video: Kimura counter to arm bar

26 June 2007 -- Gi: butter fly guard pass

instructor D.T.

Technique:

1. Start in Op's butter fly guard. Posture up, pull Op's knees together and pressure down with grips while simultaneously pressuring Op's feet together with knees. Posture up to feet keeping OP's knee pressed between your own, thrust hips forwards and sit into mount.
2. Same as above except when you posture up to feet your separate Op's knees, step one leg into guard, thrust hips forward into mount. At this point your feet will need to clear Op's guard. You can do this by transitioning to knee on belly or side control.

26 June 2007 -- No-Gi: butter fly guard pass

instructor D.T.

Warm up:

• run on mat
• medicine ball pressure drill two 2 minute rounds
• stationary mat drills
• triangle drill

Technique:

1. Knee cut across butter fly guard drill from combat stance. Emphasis on posting on Op's torso, flattening one knee and hopping guard into side control
2. Submission: in side control, post far side arm to mat, shoot inside knee up toward Op's head, hook top of foot into arm pit, maintain control of Op's near side arm, move hips forward but keep weight on Op's torso, bring outside knee even with the inside knee thereby controlling arm with both knees and an arm. There's the lock, now just apply pressure by leaning back to get submission.

30+ minutes positonal sparring

25 June 2007 -- Muay Thai

Warm up:
jumping jacks x 100
toe touches x 100
sit ups x 100

Kicking shield, low round kicks:
Rear leg kick to Op's front leg, 3 minute round
Front leg kick to Op's front leg, 3 minute round

Thai pads, combination 1:
Jab-Cross-Hook(L) > round kick to body, 3 minute round

Thai pads, combination 2:
Jab-cross/jab-cross > thai clinch > 4 knee strikes > push off > round kick to body, 3 minute round, last 30 seconds drill knees

Focus mitts:
3 minute round of straight punching drill, emphasis on speed, rhythm and body mechanics

23 June 2007 -- P.T.

• run hills x 8
• push ups x 8
• rows x 8
• step ups x 8

repeated circuit three times

Video: Simple arm bar clarity

push face/neck. use non-posting leg to break Op's posture. it's not always necessary to plant swing leg on hip--it can be just as effective posted on the ground. the avantage of planting it on hip allows you to keep Op's trapped arm from easy escape.

23 June 2007 -- P.T.

• run hills x 8
• push ups x 8
• rows x 8
• step ups x8

repeated circuit 3 times

21 June 2007 -- No-gi: guard pass from combat stance

Warm up with grappling drills

Technique:

1. In combat stance within Op's guard. Knee cut across to pass Op's leg, plant on mat, under hook far arm when Op attempts to posture to 1/2 guard, over hook near arm, keep constant pressure on Op's torso. Plant head on matt, post outside leg perpendicular to Op, sit out to kesa getame.
2. In combat stance within Op's guard, take the up knee cut across Op's leg on same side while simultaneously posting same side arm on Op's shoulder/chest, as you plant knee on mat controlling Op's torso under hook his neck, apply cross face with shoulder. Take a giant step back with trailing leg to clear guard, sit back in to gain side control
   

20 June 2007 -- P.T.

Monkey bars:

• triceps dips x 8
• chin ups x 6
• push ups x 8
• inverted rows x 8
• step ups x 8

Circuit repeated three times

19 June 2007 -- Gi: Kimura counter from within Op's 1/2 guard

Technique:
Start in Op's 1/2 guard. Op gains two-on-one control via kimura. Immediately drive shoulder into Op causing him to flatten, apply pressure with shoulder to face or slightly stack Op on his neck/head. This should cause him to release the lock or at least compromise his grip enough so that you can free your arm. Gain side control and retain control of Op's arm, step over and sit into arm bar.

Note: make sure to keep control of Op's torso with proper placement of legs, also use knees to control Op's arm.

19 June 2007 -- No-gi: butterfly guard pass

Warm up
Medicine ball 3rd point pressure drill, two 2 minute rounds
Posture to feet in Op's closed guard/break guard drill, 2 minute round
Hip sweep from closed guard drill, 2 minute round

Technique:
Start in Op's butter fly guard. Flatten Op to prevent him from getting double under hooks. Shift weight back to hips and control Op's legs with elbows, place pressure on their hips. Choose a side, gain control of Op's ankle by reaching down to his guard, post opposite arm to mat right under Op' arm pit, post head to mat on same side where you have control of ankle. Press yourself into head stand and pass the guard coming down to side opposite the ankle control and head post to mat. Land in side control or kesa getame.

40 minute positional sparring, man on mat pulls butter fly guard, must sweep or submit. The challenger tries to pass the guard.

18 June 2007 -- Muay Thai: elbows, round kicks

Instructors J__ & V___

Warm up: 100 jumping jacks, 100 toe touches, 100 sit ups

Thai pad drills:

• elbow strikes, L/R, 1-2 combination (3 minute round)
• straight punches, jab/ cross, 1-2 combination (3 minute round)
• jab/cross > L elbow (3 minute round)
• jab/cross > L/R elbow combination (3 minute round)

Kicking shield drills:

• Weak side low round kick (2 minute round)
• Strong side low round kick (2 minute round)

Conditioning:
Weak side round kicks to body > 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 12, 10, 7, 5, 3
Strong side round kicks to body > 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 12, 10, 7, 5, 3

15 June 2007 -- No-gi: Butter fly guard

Instructor: S__.

This technique began with Op on your butter fly guard. Double under hook Op's torso, roll to back pulling Op over while shoving him forcefully to one side. Simultaneously pivot your own torso to opposite side. You can assist yourself by under hooking Op's leg and pull yourself perpendicular to Op's torso. Meanwhile the other hook stays in place. Take your own leg (on the same side to which you pivoted) release hook and shoot it through Op's legs while maintaining under hook on Op's leg. The leg you just shot through, weave it over top of Op's thigh and plant foot on the inside of his hip while keeping pressure on his far inner thigh with your other hook...

An aside: from this position you could very well apply an inverted heel hook or even transition to a knee bar.

The next part is predicated upon the event that the Op tries to come back toward you to stabilize his base. At this point, while you far leg is still hooked, you un-weave your near leg from over top Op's thigh and shoot it through to far leg establishing the X guard (at this point you could extend and destabilize Op's base for a take down/sweep but the next part is predicated on Op seeing what's happening and trying to step out of your X guard. When this happens extend your X guard and sit up simultaneously while still controlling Op's near leg with under hook. As you sit up and extend post free arm to mat and get to feet. While the Op is trying to pull away you should still have full control of his trailing leg which you cand drag down to the mat and then transition to take Op's back.

• 30 minutes submission grappling free sparring
• shoulder rehab, free weight training
• 30 minutes aggro submission grappling sparring with a fight team member preparing for tournament
• Mitt drill focusing on straight punches and left hook combinations
• light intervals of round kicks on thai bag
• heavy bag work focusing on "lazy" jab followed by left hook and right cross
• 15 minutes conditioning with calisthenic interval training
  

15 June 2007 -- P.T.

Body weight exercizes, monkey bars:

• tricep dips x 12
• chin ups x 6
• push ups x 10
• inverted rows x 12

circuit repeated 3 times

14 June 2007 -- P.T.

30 minutes stationary bike

Shoulder rehab:

• elbow judo push-ups
• external shoulder rotations
• elastic band

12 June 2007 -- Gi: Transitions from half guard

Instructor: D.T.

Half guard sweep: Starting with Op in your half guard gripping your lapel. Frame out with knee, break grip by pulling arm and arching back, pull Op's arm to mat, over hook Op and grip belt or Gi, shrimp out, bring leg back in to sink hook, pull Op forward and then to roll to side for sweep, gain side control.

Half guard to take back: Starting with Op in your half guard gripping your lapel. Frame out with knee, break grip by pulling arm and arching back, pull Op's arm to mat, over hook Op and grip belt or Gi, pull self up to take Op's back.

Half guard to reversal: Starting with Op in your half guard gripping your lapel. Frame out with knee, break grip by pulling arm and arching back, Op immediately postures up, use their momentum to post up with free leg and drive up and forward taking Op to mat and gain side control.

• 30 minutes free sparring: cross face is good counter to lapel choke when in Op's closed guard.

12 June 2007 -- No-Gi: half guard pass

• Warmup
• Triangle drill
• Mount to arm bar drill
• Mount to S-mount to arm bar drill

Instructor: D.T.

Technique: In Op's half guard, passing the half guard. This particular pass was predicated by the Op shrimping out and bringing knee back in to frame out space after he was flattened to the mat. A binding pass was used to control Op's base, a sprawl and hip pressure was used to collapse the half guard. Apply cross face and advance to side control.

• 30 minutes of positional sparring

11 June 2007 -- P.T.

Supplemental body weight training on the monkey bars.

• Tricep dips x 12
• Chin ups x 6
• Push ups x 12
• Inverted rows x 12

Repeated this circuit four times.

11 June 2007 -- Dr.'s appointment

I had another follow up appointment with the doctor and my blood pressure is now stabilized to a normal reading. It was 116/75, at 68 b.p.m. So, that's good. It looks like the current cocktail of hydrochlorothiazide and lisinopril will do the trick. I have to schedule an appointment two months from now for follow up.

10 June 2007 -- P.T.

Supplemental free weights training.

• incline dumbbell curls x 8
• barbell french press x 8
• incline dumbbell rows x8

Repeated circuit 3 tmes.

9 June 2007 -- Noel Loban : world class wrestling seminar

This Saturday afternoon from 1:00pm - 3:00pm we had the privileged to train with coach Noel Loban. He was NCAA division 1 freestyle wrestling champ, 190 lbs from Clemson University and winner of the light heavy weight (90 kg.) freestyle wrestling bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics representing Great Britain.

• 10-15 minute calisthenics warm up
• Duck under drill: emphasis on inside tie control of Op's arms. ducking under and driving Op on a backward diagonal.
• Duck under to take Op's back and gain two-on-one control of Op' arm opposite initial duck under penetration.
• Duck under to two-on-one to take down. From backside two-on-one control pinch Op's near leg between knees and drop weight down to mat.
• Duck under to two-on-one control to take down to submission. Get Op flattened to mat trapping one arm to mat then transition to arm lock. Coach Loban suggested straight arm bar but I found it more comfortable to transit on to a nort-south fat boy mount in order to lock the kimura.
• Practiced an arm-drag drill
• Practiced arm drag to two-on-one control to take down to submission (arm lock)
• Practiced a shoulder throw: starting in over-under clinch, step toward over hooked arm, release under hook, weave that arm under Op's over hooked arm, pivot 180 degrees and drop knees to mat dragging Op over shoulder resulting in throw. This was good fall break practice also.

At the end of class we circled up and had a critique session where each of us had to perform the throw with our partner. I didn't quite understand it as Coach Loban intended. It turns out that I was initiating the throw too early and therefore too high. Luckily my training partner was an accomplished judoka. I felt kind of embarrassed about this because the whole class was like OMG! WTF? but in a humorous/constructive way. It was interesting watching the more advanced students and classically trained wrestlers perform the throw because they did it very smoothly with seemingly very little effort and perfectly achieved the intended result.

8 June 2007 -- P.T.

Supplemental weight training (free weights), interval circuit.

• arms
• back
• shoulders

Video: Half guard to butterfly guard transition

What to do when your half guard is totally shut down. It'll be interesting to see if this is effective in a no-gi context.

7 June 2007 -- No-gi: standing butterfly guard

Instructor N.

This evening we trained the standing butterfly.

Technique 1 : OP standing, your hooks in transition to X guard by under hooking one leg with arm and pivoting hips while crossing shin of inside leg across the other leg. With under hook grip above knee, then extend X guard out until OP's posture is destabilized, then with free arm pop OP's under hooked leg sweeping him backward, posture up to combat stance with arms outside OP's guard and one knee inside the guard.

Technique 2 : Same as above except OP falls forward and posts arms on mat. With free arm gain wrist control of OP's far arm, pull toward you head causing OP's torso to torque while simultaneously sweeping with X guard. After OP is swept roll up to knee-on-belly mount.

5 June 2007 -- Gi: Half guard pass

Instructor D.T.

This was basically the Gi version of the No-gi half guard pass except for emphasis on lapel grips. The submission setup was a transition from kesa getame to knee-on-belly mount, switching grips on collar to form choke with blade of forearm and OP's own arm being pressed down across his face, applying pressure with chest/belly on the elbow. A variant choke was covered but due to my inexperience I was content with simply working with the first choke (blood chokes).

Transitioning from kesa getame to knee-on-belly mount is a motion worth practicing. My transitions felt awkward. I wasn't exactly sure how to post but I am now imagining that posting on the inside elbow, driving all weight down upon OP is the proper way in order to maintain constant 3rd point pressure (thereby preventing escape or reversal).

5 June 2007 -- No-gi, half guard: a sweep and a pass

Instructor D.T.

Started with warm up drills
Technique drills: S mount drill and Hip sweep from full guard drill

Techniques:
1. Half guard sweep: From bottom position. Emphasis on staying on hip/side, switching leg lock down from triangle, creating space by shrimping, pummeling to maintain underhooks, pummeling to pick OP's free foot > pulling it through and driving in causing OP to virtually sit-out, gain side control.

2. Half guard pass: From top position. Shoulder cross face OP applying 3rd point pressure. Keeping free arm posted on OP's outside hip to prevent bridging or shrimping. Sink in hook with free leg. Bring free leg knee down to OP's inside hip. Still maintaining cross face sit back to hip. This should weaken OP's half guard and torque their torso. Walk foot of lock leg up. Slip the guard. Post up to knee cut across. Sit out to kesa gatame.

4 June 2007 -- P.T.

Interval training--circuit repeated for 35 minutes with one minute rest between each cycle.

dumbbell press x 10
flys x 10
nose busters x 10
compund lift: incline > curls to dumbell press x 10
decline rows x 10
deltoid raises x 10