18/04/2015 - Open Mat

Class #638
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 18/04/2015

I went through what I did over the week with Tracey, to recap some of the classes she wasn't able to attend. I also had a play with some gi chokes, which highlighted that on my favoured one from side control, I shouldn't pull it too tight or it can make it difficult to get the arm across their neck. Armbars from scarf hold were something I covered with Steve a while ago, so I went through that again for those who hadn't seen it before.

Also, with the armbar I've been teaching this week from s-mount, I practiced grabbing my ankle, which felt easier this time. Possibly I got more rotation in my body so it was more secure? Either way, that isn't something I talked about much for the armbar, so I should think about it next time I teach the armbar.

I was able to get in some sparring too, with Steve. It proved useful, as I think my mount escapes have gotten sloppy: although Steve is big, I should still have been able to generate more space and been more wary of my back getting controlled. When I do escape from the mount, I have this frustrating habit of ended up chasing the legs: the same thing happened with Matt earlier this week. I'm keen to get more video of myself sparring so I can analyse it: that's something I want to start doing when I get the chance. I'll see if a low quality vid from a propped up phone is good enough, but I might need to look into tripods if that doesn't work.

From turtle I wasn't getting much in the way of escapes either. I repeatedly went for his arm, to try and lock that and roll them over. It could have been the size difference, but either way that wasn't getting anywhere. I should have moved on to some other turtle escapes, like the 'wing' stuff I went through a few months ago when we focused on the turtle for a month. It would be worth bringing in turtle next time I do a month on the back (next month is side control).