Hit the Ground Rolling

6/28/2012

I've been at the UFC gym for over a month now. Still think the place is awesome. There's so much to do and so many classes to take, just have to remember to register two weeks ahead of time because they fill up fast. I've taken a few of the fitness classes and a boxing class but my favorite remains jiu-jitsu.

In the past few weeks I've run into a lot of people I used to train with at Gracie Barra and some of us were able to meet up to do our own small training session when the mats were open. Good fun, learned a few new techniques, and also learned that I'm really really rusty. It's like my mind remembers I used to know a technique, sweep, or submission attack but my muscle memory went blank.

The gym holds a few jiu-jitsu classes geared for people brand new to it. It was pretty slow at first but each class I took got progressively more involved and today we did some sparring. Still felt really rusty though, but whatever, I figured the best way to get back into it is to dive right in and hit the ground rolling.

During sparring today I was paired up with a guy I know from Gracie Barra, he's a higher ranked blue belt than me. He controlled most of the positions but at least I wasn't caught in a submission. Next I rolled with a very eager and energetic white belt. I immediately pulled guard and he exerted a lot of effort and tried to muscle his way out of the guard. It was kind of uncomfortable because he kept digging his elbows into my legs. I switched to an open guard to lessen the discomfort and the chances of getting hurt in case he tweaked my knee or ankle trying to power his way out. He tried to leap out of my guard and I easily moved with him. I decided to just go with the flow and let his momentum put him in a bad spot. It wasn't long before I had his back and applied a rear-naked choke.

Although he used a lot of muscle and not so much technique, rolling with that guy was helpful. I was caught in a few uncomfortable positions that I should not have gotten myself into so now I know I need to be aware of that (all part of shaking the rust off I guess). But I also maintained my composure, avoided getting myself into any real danger of being submitted, and worked my way out of those bad spots.

The third guy I rolled with was brand new and as soon as he saw my belt he told me he just wanted to learn from my technique. I helped show him how to break the guard and he got into side-control. Eventually I reversed the position and went to knee-on-belly, which has been one of my go to positions ever since I learned it. The cool part is that while in that position the guy was asking me questions about what was going on and I answered as best I could. Then I told him to stop pushing his arms out so much and he asked why. I decided to answer by demonstrating and proceeded to put him in an armbar. I liked rolling with him. Reminded me that even though my technique is rusty I still have enough knowledge to help out the new guys, which I enjoy doing.

At the end of class the Professor/Coach announced that this was his first class at a more advanced level. Awesome! I can't wait to get more consistent and advanced roll sessions in. Gotta shake the rust off!