Tonight I introduced Grant to the juguluar notch takedown, inner wristlock takedown, and outter wrist lock. From the inner wrist lock, we followed up with all of the afterthrows that I've covered with Grant so far as a review. The outter wrist lock started from a static position and we worked it up to entering from a straight punch. after the lock was applied we transitioned to an arm bar and then to an arm pin (uke is face down).

we finished off with some bear hug and throat grab timing exercises.

Tonight I worked on outter reap takedowns. This allowed us to review all of the yellow belt hold escapes, but to use the outter reap. I also covered a few afterthrows: rowing the boat, arm bar turn-over, as well as twist shoulder lock, knees on ribs and BPO, and cross armlock.

we then spent about 20 minutes played with the two ground techniques that I learned on Friday and finished off the class with overhead club defense.

Tonight was a review class in kicking. side and roundhouse kicks from defensive and horse stance as well as back kicks. we then finished off the warmups with a bit of light sparing with jabs and crosses and roundhouse, side, shin, and knee kicks.

We then worked on the standing crab (takedown to the rear) takedown. First from a rear attack, then from a wrist grab, and then finally from any attack. I like to pick a specific takedown and have the students work on any technique they want but they have to finish with that specific takedown. it makes them more aware of their body positioning and transitioning into the takedown from a starting point that might not make that an obvious choice.

We finished off by cycling through a series of afterthrow techniques.

Reviewed bear hugs and nelsons with Trevor. Worked on various take-downs, hip and body drop throws, as well as various after throws. Did some skipping and a quick round of overhead throws, power punching, and shadow boxing at the end of class.

More high stress drills tonight. After we worked on some randori-style tai sabaki drills and inner wristlock takedowns with afterthrows.

Another small class tonight.

Helped Sensei Mariedke out with the juniors again doing adult defense. Then worked wrist grabs from behind (1 hand on each wrist near and far) and worked on 2 variations. reviewed hip and body drop throws as well as afterthrow controls. Classes have been pretty small lately. Things should hopefully pick up in the fall.

Sensei Krista was visiting and was at class tonight.

Tonight we did 2 hands on the throat from the front, left, right, and rear. for all but the left side, we gained release and then executed a hip throw or takedown. from the right side, i showed them how to get into the twisting arm lock.

After the juniors class was finished we played around in a jiu jitsu circle (Sensei Mariedke, Sensei Krista, Trevor and me) and had some fun.

We first started off reviewing kicks: shin, knee, and roundhouse. I then went over some combinations with Trevor: jab, cross, roundhouse. jab, cross, knee. i wanted him to go thru the punching and kicking together *slowly* to start to develop some coordination between the brain, hands, and feet.

After we worked on hip and body drop throws with afterthrows from any rear attack. we reviewed all of the afterthrows at yellow and orange and I showed him a counter to the supine arm bar (turn your arm so the thumb is pointing as if you were hitchhiking. if needed, use your free arm to push tori's leg that is closest to your waist away to gain some space. then, twist your body 180 degrees so your feet are where your head was. from here, you escape from the arm bar and end up in tori's guard.)

We finished off the class with some prone and supine figure-4 type leg locks.

class was awesome tonight. We got some new focus mits and muay thai pads so I put them to good use.

Ran through breakfalls 1-6, and 8.

We then shifted to boxing. 4x2min rounds, jabs, crosses, hooks, upper cuts.

Using the thai pads, we did front kick both legs and knee kicks.

We then worked bear hugs from the front, over and under arms, and lifting.

I then got Colby and Trevor doing hip throws. Once the hip throws were flowing relatively smoothly, we started with uke throwing a hook, tori defends with a high forarm block, steps in for the hip throw, knee drop, stamping kick, and then into the supine arm bar.

Tonight was just Trevor and me. We started off with some breakfalls and going over some new takedowns: collar takedown (both grabbing collar and hooking over shoulders as well as pushing knee forward and sweeping at the tibial nerve), inner wrist lock takedowns from the front and side, and jugular notch.

After working on the inner wrist lock takedowns, I started incorporating them into wrist-grab hold escapes as variations. I also showed Trevor a few new afterthrows: shoulder lock and a turnover into the handcuffing position. Later we did another turnover, the "rowing the boat" armbar turn-over using your shin and finishing with an arm pin.

To finish off class we reviewed the hip throw and started on the body drop throw from a hook punch.

Lastly, I played around with some more grappling moves: if Uke is in Tori's guard:
1. uke scoops tori's knee to pass the guard into side control
2. tori counters by a) turning to his side and planting his leg on the ground and trapping uke's hand between the leg and mat or b) Tori allows uke to scoop his knee and uses that lift to pop his knee up onto uke's shoulder and execute a triangle choke.
3. counter to 2a) if uke is scooping tori's right leg with his left arm and gets it trapped, uke will bring his toes up to tori's thigh and put his shin on tori's anterior femoral and come across to put his knee on the mat "stepping over" the leg and has his right hand on the mat around tori's left hip for balance. if uke doesn't leave his toes on the mat and use his foot to lock tori's leg, tori can counter this by grabbing the hand that uke is using for balance and execute an arm lock like we worked on on Monday.

Grappling is like a human chess match. you have to goad and lure your opponent into doing something that you want them to do, but not having them realize that you tricked them into it.

Small class tonight compared to Monday. I worked with Trevor reviewing his requirements for his upcoming yellow belt exam. He did really well and did most of the techniques with minimal hesitation or brain stalls.

For the last 15-20 minutes of class we reviewed the valley throw and then Sensei Mariedke showed me two new afterthrow control.

1. Uke is in the usual position. Tori takes his right leg and steps over uke's arm so uke'as arm is between toris leg. Tori shoots his right foot back, under uke's head and hooks the foot over uke's left shoulder and into the armpit to secure the left side. Tori then leans back compressing uke's neck between the calf and the hamstring. Meanwhile, tori grabs uke's right wrist with his right hand and hooks his left arm under uke's forearm and grabs his right wrist (figure 4-type lock). Tori then scoops the wrist down and locks up both the wrist and shoulder.

2. Tori take his right leg and moves it around the outside of uke's arm, over the shoulder, and then back. This twists uke's arm and forces it to bend at the elbow. Tori brings his foot back beside uke's ribs so that when tori kneels on his right knee, the patella will apply pressure to the bicep nerve. If the foot is too close to the armpit, Tori will end up putting his shin on the bicep which will work, but the pain doesn't come on as quick.

Tonight was my first class back on the mats after contracting a viral throat infection and an ear infection.

It was a small class tonight; I worked one on one with Trevor and Kyle went with the juniors and then joined us when the juniors class was over.

Tonight I worked on inner wrist-lock and outer reap takedowns with Trevor. After he got the hang of the takedowns, I started going over some after-throw controls: shoulder lock, knees on ribs/neck with wrist lock, arm pin, and a prone arm-bar.

This was a great class. I felt energized and Trevor was absorbing everything like a sponge.

I am out of town next week, so I won't be able to get back on the mats until March 10.

Worked on teaching breakfalls 1,2,3,5,7 to Trevor, a new student.

Worked on wrist grabs; 1 hand on 1 wrist, 2 hands on 1 wrist, 1 hand on each wrist. knee-ankle takedowns, osoto-gari with arm-bar after-throw.