[Frodo]

6-2-2006

Went to Pitt BJJ Club (really Judo). We went over for nagewaza:

• Ippon seoinage, blocked, uke counters with tani otoshi.
• Ippon seoinage, blocked, tori combos with kouchi gari makikomi (wrap around uke's attacked knee).

Then for newaza, we did:

• Omoplata.
• Omoplata to crucifix.
• Pressure point turtle cracker.
  1. Uke turtled. Tori on one side.
  2. Tori puts weight on uke's back.
  3. Tori grips uke's collar and puts elbow in back. Pulls up. This pressure point helps uncrack the turtle.
• Kataha jime from turtle.
  • Try pressure point turtle cracker to lossen uke up.
  • Grip near side arm. Tori puts leg between uke's arm and head.
  • Tori reaches in (above shoulder) and grips opposite side collar.
  • Tori pulls uke across as he slides other leg around for hook. (?)
  • Tori finishes with Katahe jime (half nelson choke).

Then we rolled for a little bit before alling it a day.

[Frodo]

6-3-2006

Went to SCMA. We went over a few spider guard techinques (all new to me!):

• Sweep like bicep sweep except your foot is on his hip. Will explain better later.
• Bicep sweep
• Triangle from spider guard

Then we rolled for a bit. It was a fun day and I learned a lot. Mike and Greg were promoted to orange belt from yellow belt (kids bjj ranks). I'm never going to be anything but a 1-stripe white belt...

[Frodo]

6-4-2006

Went to MAC Fitness for their fitness carnival. Missed grappling, but I got one match. Easy. Saw some boxing and some new exercises. Donny is a LOT stronger than he looks - he can deadlift the 150 pound "stone" (rubber ball thing). Got a free tee, which is what it is all about.

[Frodo]

6-5-2006

Went to Master Kim's for judo with Randy. Ben (shodan from Pitt's Judo Club) began class with warmups and ukemi. We did mainly nagewaza today:

• Ouchi gari.
• Ouchi gari to kouchi gari.
• Ippon seoinage

Then we did randori (I randoried with Ben and two other kids) and then shiai. Randy did real well against Ben. Unfortunately, Master Kim didn't assign me someone to kill. Afterward, we did some cooldown and I asked a brownie to go over uchi mata. Kinda pissed I didn't get a good sweat. Sometimes judo is too easy...

[True2KungFu]

thats why you should do judo at master eugenes

[Frodo]

Unfortunately, I would need a 50% reduction in price to make up for the gas and time required to get to Cranberry and back. I don't even what to ask him to make that kind of exception for me. I don't want to insult him or his father. Oh well... :-(

BTW, Master Eugene's student Ronny got 1st place at a tournament in NY the day after I was grappling at the KC. Way to go Ron!

[True2KungFu]

ha yeah, if i do the tournament on saturday ill have to explain to him that thats why im not there.......itd be 80 bucks a month in gas..

[Frodo]

6-6-6

Evil day. Went to Shrader's MMA with J.D. to train with Mike Nesto. It was MMA day so we used da MMA gloves. After jumping rope to warm up we did some drills today:

• Punch combo to takedown.
• Clinch to takedown.
• Defending from guard.

We doubled up on those drills, changing partners each time. Then we rolled for a while. Mike is a slippery devil... Afterwards, he showed me how to do a figure-four toe hold. It was a good practice: I had to wear my kimono home as my shirt was too wet! (Yuck!)

BTW, strange toe hold...

[Frodo]

6-7-2006

Went to SCMA. Santino instructed, and Brian led warmups again. We covered some guard submissions:

• Kimura. To set it up:
  1. If uke's arms on on your chest, slide same side hand (as one you're attacking) under his wrist. Grip your hand with other hand over top uke's other arm. Open guard and bridge while sliding his grip free. Now uke's arm is on mat (approx).
  2. If uke's arms on on your belt, grip collar/behind on back. Pull him into you. Uke will break to prevent a wristlock.
• X collar choke.
• Sneaky X collar choke:
  1. Grip like a baseball bat on one side.
  2. Shrimp out that way. I like putting my leg on his hip.
  3. Top hand loops around uke's head Space I created with shrimping makes this easier.
  4. Finish choke. If uke resists, put both feet on his hips and sit up/extend uke.
• 6-point armbar from sneaky X collar choke defense:
  1. You attempt sneaky X collar choke.
  2. Uke pushes elbow using opposite side hand (as you started with your baseball grip) on same-side arm (now gripping opposite collar) as defense. Not a smart defense.
  3. Trap uke's arm with your knee by bringing same-side leg onto uke's hip like in the armbar. This is the sneaky part.
  4. Let go of the choke with opposite-side hand (gripping same-side collar) Go under your other arm and grip his trapped elbow. This is the sneaky part too. Pull it in.
  5. Uke's in danger. Finish armbar.

Then we rolled for a while. It was a good practice all in all.

After practice, I rolled with Sheldon (big strong blue belt) from standing. I think he was a little confused when I started from standing, but he out-muscled me on takedowns. We were rolling for a good 10-15 minutes without a tap either way. Sheldon though Santino was kicking us out, be he was wrong. We stood back up, and I decided to try setting up Randy's standing armbar (video). Here's a technique analysis pictures of it (not from me). Sheldon tapped and it worked for the first time while sparring for me!

Then we rolled some more. I tried it again, but he countered this time. I think Sheldonwas a little embarassed. We rolled for about 10 more mintues before Santino kicked us out. Maybe it isn't impressive to most, but I'm proud of myself. I still have to work on my spazzing and pacing. Dammit I thought I had that licked. It might have been because Sheldon was a lot bigger than me, but that's no excuse. I have to work even harder on not spazzing out I guess...

P.S. Here is an interesting choke.

[Frodo]

6-8-2006

Went to Master Kim's for judo with Randy. After warmups and ukemi, we did mainly nagewaza today:

• Osoto gari.
• Ippon seoinage.

I did most of my nagekomi (practice) with a brown belt named Chuck. He has been doing judo for 12 years (since be was 6), and Chuck is very good at it. Then we did randori then some rolling. I accidently kicked a dan in the head (oppse) when doing an armbar. We finished with atemiwaza (striking tech) and some pulling the air.

Afterward, the dans, Randy and I stayed for a while. Randy showed a big dan how to do a triangle choke. Shouldn't judoka be experts at it by now? Randy is the man, though. Then we did some TKD kicks after practice:

• 10x stepping into rear leg roundhouses (L&R).
• 10x front fast kicks (L&R).
• 10x spinning back kicks (L&R).

Learned the three parts of a throw: kuzushi (off-balance), tsukuri (entry), kake (execution). Also learned not to count in German in judo... only Korean please.