Day 21 and 22: Preparing for My First Tournament

I had been off of my training schedule because of the birth of my second beautiful daughter Aven Nalani Ebuen. Unfortunately she and her mother are back in Virginia indefinitely. To keep my mind off missing them Brian presented me with my first challenge: The Grappling X No Gi tournament. This will be my first tournament and will allow me to get my feet wet as I prepare for Grapplers Quest. The tournament is coming up quick so I completely dedicated to going to West Coast Jiu Jitsu every night possible. My goal is not only to get experience in competition but to win the tournament.

Day 21: I took the No Gi class at West Coast but didn’t wear a gi. I want to focus my mat time on no gi since that is what I will be competing in. Brian begins instructions on an Ankle Take Down. When shooting in you cup your opponent’s ankle with both hands (one over the other) leaning forward with your shoulder in their shin just under the knee it forces them down.

Next, Brian instructs the class on several gi chokes from the Mount. I practice the chokes on Miko (since he’s wearing a gi) and another student in class. After practicing the chokes several times, Brian puts 12 minutes on the clock and everyone partners up. Since I’m not wearing a gi, I get to partner up with Brian. This is not only great because Brian is about the same size as me, but I won’t be facing anyone at his skill level in this tournament…so if I can try to hang with Brian, I think my chances with other white belts will be pretty good.

I practice the Ankle Take Down on Brian and shooting in with the single. 10 minutes with someone like Brian (who can basically do whatever they want to you and deny anything you try on them) is a constant uphill battle. Awesome experience for me though and I learned a new choke from the Sprawl so that was a good thing. Well, at least I learned what it feels like and what to try to avoid in competition.

Day 22: Showed up at the No Gi class tonight. Mervin, the official photographer of Dojo Fightgear and One Man’s Quest, met me there so I knew he would get some good shots tonight.

I knew it would be a good training session tonight when I walked in and saw Todd and Martha (Professional MMA Fighters fighting for West Coast and Team Dojo…and of course One Man’s Quest trainers) there warming up. I hadn’t seen either of them in a while so I was pleased they made it there too.

The choke from the Sprawl that Brian did on me on Day 21 (about 4 or 5 times mind you) was the first lesson of the day. From the Sprawl, you put all your weight on them by leaning your hip into their shoulder. Using your outside hand, you slide your arm under their neck and reach for their shoulder. The further you reach the tighter the choke the sooner they tap. Todd and I partner up and practice.

Let’s say your opponent is blocking the choke attempt. That leads us to Step 2: Sliding your inside leg under his arm and locking it in a Leg Triangle. Again you attempt the choke now that they can only block with one hand.

Now let’s say your opponent continues to block. Step 3: By reversing your Leg Triangle you now set your opponent up for an Arm Lock by moving the arm away from his body with your legs and pushing your hips forward.

Your opponent tries to avoid the pressure by rolling over. Step 4: Roll with him and lock in the Seat Belt Grip. The arm is still trapped. position your top foot as close to your buttocks as possible. Get on your toes and arch your hips forward. This is even more painful than Step 3. Brian confirmed this is the position you eventually want to force them into.

10 Minutes on the Clock: So now we roll for 10 minutes straight with our partners. I get to roll with Todd who I hadn’t rolled with in a long time.

This was another great training experience for me. Todd is very slippery opponent and when he balls up, its almost impossible to get any kind of hooks in. I try to maintain the offensive with Todd and shoot in for some take downs. After 10 minutes straight with Todd, he submitted me twice. And one was at the very end…so that shouldn’t count. (Just kidding Todd).

Overall, another great great class. Can’t wait for Day 23.

Lesson of the Day: Unfortunately Martha was seriously injured tonight. As usual, Martha was rolling with some of the guys in class and judging by the picture (see below) was teaching them a thing or two. At one point, Martha went for a move from the standing position but slip off her opponent and fell hard to the mat. She suffered a separated shoulder.

This was a reality check for me. That serious injuries can happen to anyone at any time. This sport is for real for anyone that doubts how intense and/or extreme it is. I knew the risks going into this and I am prepared to go balls out and hopefully…HOPEFULLY…avoid injury.

Brian Espinoza’s West Coast Jiu Jitsu: Kids Welcome

Brian overseeing Todd’s Technique

Arm locked and Rear Naked in Full Effect

Rolling with the Reign Man

Trying to keep offensive with Todd

See? Told you Martha doesn’t mess around.

Todd choking the shit out of me.

Todd choking the shit out of someone else

Todd Me and Martha listening to Brian’s instruction.

This entry was posted on 6. April 2010 at 22:20 and is filed under From Don. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.