[Team Dragonfire]

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

NICE day off yesterday... I just ate lots of food and didn't lift anything or go to practice. I'm starting to understand how necessary rest is. Back to it today though.

Lifting:

• Deadlift 5x5 (175, 190, 200, 245, 270).. 2min. rest
• Stiff Leg Deadlifts (8x155, 8x175, 5x185, 5x200) .. 1 min. rest
• DB Rows 3x8 (75lbs.)
• High Pulls 4x6 (125, 130, 140, 140)
• Double Axe Chops3x10/10 (25lbs.).. 1 min. rest

**NOTE** I wore my OLD lifting gloves today for the entire workout and they made the bars seem much bigger (same effect as wrapping towel around the bar). I believe that this may help with grip strength and I'll be wearing them from now on.

[Team Dragonfire]

Monday, March 19th, 2007

Had to stay home and put priorities straight. Job > Jiu-Jitsu. Gonna catch some Zzzzsss and get up early tomorrow morning.

[Team Dragonfire]

Tuesday, March 20th, 2007

Jiu-Jitsu (nogi):

• Takedown from opponent standing up in guard
• Kneebar from opponent standing up in guard
• Sweep from opponent's knee on belly

Rolling:

Went with Jason (I totally gassed during this... very frustrating), then with Marshall and did great trying to pass his half guard and ended up getting caught when I let up on the pressure. Gotta work on conditioning much much more. Nobody wanted to roll with me once I finished with them so Stewart and I drilled double-leg takedowns and setups for the usual 5-10 minutes at the end of class. Again, I need to go slow and not get sloppy.


Lifting / GPP:

Didn't do these this morning so once I got home it was time for some work... again.

• 3x 10/10 Double Axe Chops
• 3x10x HC/FS/PP (75lb.)
• 100x Leg Lifts

[Team Dragonfire]

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

Lifting:

• Bench Press 5x5 (135, 145, 155, 170, 185)... 185 gets easier and easier every time
• Close Grip Bench Press 3x8 (135, 155, 6x165)... still moving up on these
• Dumbell Incline Bench Press 3x12 (60lbs).. these are too easy.. gotta find some other assistance here
  
  Power (Really trying to work a bit more on my upper body power so we'll see how adding these exercises changes things):
• 1x Medicine Ball Circuit (10x Left Hand on Ball, 10x Right Hand on Ball , 10x Both Hands on Ball)
• 2x50xMedicine Ball Throws from Back
• 3x20xIncline Depth Pushup These will be the finishers to my bench day from now on....

[bacon]

I drilled double-leg takedowns and setups for the usual 5-10 minutes at the end of class. Again, I need to go slow and not get sloppy.

I can't stress enough how important that statement is.

Here's some shit I posted in the grappling forum awhile back.

The importance of setting up a shot can NOT be stressed enough. Especially on a seasoned grappler. Changing levels fluidly, hand control, head shucks, arm drags etc....can all be used to set up a shot. Also, if you're going to shoot on someone, you should be able to touch them on the haed or shoulder with a bent arm. If you can't do this, you are too far away.

If I had to teach one takedown to a first year wrestler, it would be the double leg. Change levels, keep your head up, get good penetration (drop step), snake the legs, hip in, head in the side and turn the corner at 100mph.

Armdrags, duckunders, firemans are good takedowns too, but the double is fundemental.

The reason I stress double legs is because a lot of first year kids take superman shots at singles and they end up being the bottom half of a spin drill. Doubles stress the importance of penetration. If you do end up with one leg, suck it in tight and finish at the ankle (slip one hand to the ankle and sweep it towards you in a circular motion. This will straighten the leg and put your opponent on his butt). Good luck

And

Option A) If you're strong enough, you can lift your opponent off his feet (see matt Hughes) and half him on the way down. I coached a kid at 140 that could half you, lay you over his knee and let only your shoulders touch the mat. He was strong as hell. This option would be ideal and it looks great for the spectators/camera, but it isn't realistic for most people.
To drill for this, get a partner close to your size (preferably heavier) and shoot a double as slow as you need to get it right, at this point, your partner should stand up on his toes and lean over your shoulder to assist the lift. Then you drive your hips in and up finishing in the standing position with you partner over your shoulder. Do this drill to BOTH sides! Shouldering sandbags, squats and DLs will help this as well. Increase the speed of the drill until you can do it in one deft move.

Option B) Turning the corner is probably the most common method. You basically lift the leg (the one between your legs at this point) chop the outside leg, and drive your ear into your opponents hip. Finish with a half or take the back and work from there. If you're doing freestyle, you can set up a leg lace and score pretty quick.
When the shot is done, you should have made an L shape. Shoot, hip in, drive 90 degrees to Left or Right depending on which side you shot on.

Option C) Is the straight through tackle. The setup is the same, but the finish is head up hands behind knees, lift, pull the knees in and drive into the ground. A word of caution, if you use this method in wrestling, it is best to get both of you legs between your opponents legs. Otherwise you may get a knee to the groin. If you use it in MMA and you're looking to pass guard, keeping your legs on the outside might be a better idea.

On a side note: For wrestling, you'll want to get your opponent off balance or off his feet ASAP or you'll get your face taken off via cross face. For MMA, I don't recommend keep your head your opponents hip for too long, if you do be ready to defend a guillotine.

A good shot takes hours upon hours upon years of drilling, visualization and repitition, but a well executed double leg takedown is a thing of beauty. Good luck

[Team Dragonfire]

It was funny the other day... he and I drill and drill over and over.. and we were drilling and he defended a little bit and I suddenly went back to the Royce Gracie BJJ shot of bending at the waist and running forwards... Ridiculous.

[Team Dragonfire]

Thursday, March 22nd, 2007

Only one class of BJJ this week as I'm focusing very much on the job search for next year. Still have a little time before bed to lift though.

Lifting:

• Pistols 5x5+15lbs... these are outrageously hard, but oh so rewarding
• 3x10xSquats (115, 135, 145).. again, no rack so just doing sets of 10 and seeing how high I can go.. I do know that I can clean 145 pretty easy though...
• 3x15 DB Walking Lunges (40lbs.)

[Team Dragonfire]

Friday, March 23rd, 2007


GPP:

3x Crossfit's 'A Fight Gone Bad' (5 min. rounds)
1min. x Wall Ball Throws (30, 28, 29)
1min. x Deadlift High Pulls (25, 22, 23)
1min. x 20" Box Jumps (19, 18, 20)
1min. x Push Press (30, 25, 30)
1min. x Sumo Deadlift High Pull (Instead of Machine Rowing) (31, 27, 34)

Comments: First round was ok, second was awful, and third i decided to man up and push it. Worst round total was 114, best was 139. Gotta improve that worst.

[Team Dragonfire]

Sunday, March 25th, 2007

I know, I know, we all hate Crossfit around here, but it was too damn nice outside NOT to get out and do somethin outside. Maybe some heavier lifting later tonight.

GPP:

3 Rounds of Crossfit's 'Michael'

• Run 800m
• 50 good mornings (15lb. bar; subbed these in for back extensions)
• 70 leg-up crunches (subbed for 50 sit-ups)

Round 1: 5:40
Round 2: 5:56
Round 3: 6:02
Total: 17:38

** Fun, but I could've pushed harder. Not bad for my first try at it. Definitely enough left in the tank for some lifting later.


Lifting:

• Deadlift 5x5 (175, 190, 200, 230, 255).. went a bit light on these, but also switched my grip to under/over instead of double over... made it a lot easier than i remember

Figured the 150 good mornings I did earlier were good enough for assistance so I went heavy and threw down some core work.

[Team Dragonfire]

Monday, March 26th, 2007

Jiu-Jitsu (Gi):

Sweep 1 from knee guard pass -
Sweep 2 from knee guard pass -
Butterfly sweep from knee guard pass -
Take back from knee guard pass -

Rolling:

Rolled with Ludwig, Manny, Manny, Rob (for two seconds before I got toe held) and Miguel. Overall a fun night of rolling. Didn't get beat up too bad.

Junk Stuff:

3x 10/10 Double Axe Chops