Trials of lskandar

[lskandar]

Kickboxing was good. Worked our knees, something I seriously need to put some time into. Kept it basic, worked up a good sweat.

I didn't have much left for BJJ but I did okay. I got handled in the last round by a guy I should have no problems with and I think I know the issue.

Since I've come back I do too much thinking while rolling. I need to get back to the point where I know exactly what I'm going to do and react instead of spending all my time thinking 'man I'm losing', 'how did he get out of that position' etc.
I can do all that AFTER training then work on it.

We drilled some basic grip breaks. A lot of this gi stuff is useless for MMA but I love the sport on it's own, so it's no problem. I also got shown by one of the older blue belts a nice triangle where your arm actually does the choking. Definitely throwing it in the toolbox. It's easy to set up too.

There is a comp in another state in September. Two actually, so I'm thinking about going down for a couple weeks. I'll probably get worked over but it will be a mad experience! We'll see how my training goes, because when I come back it's right into grading again.

[lskandar]

Still thinking about the upcoming comps in september. Turns out there are 3 of them. There is also a Muay Thai camp on the 30th that goes for 3 days I want to go to that is run by a famous kickboxer. If I can't come to an agreement at work, I might have to move on and look for work elsewhere, because I really don't want to miss these.

Yesterday worked on gi chokes off our back. I hate gi chokes, I gotta be honest lols. I hate setting them up, I hate finishing them, I hate when people try to use them on me.

3 rounds of wrestling. I was exhausted. From farmers walks, to conditioning, 2 hours sleep, work all day, lack of food, I was running on empty. Still managed to pull off a monumental effort against a guy who has tooled me twice. I was going for all sorts of submissions and props to him, he defended well and was actively trying to pass my guard for most of the round. When it ended my forearms felt like there were rocks in them.

The last round I wrestled my buddy who is improving and managed to take my back for a short moment until I shrugged him off and took his back, working for the choke. It was impossible to secure it because my forearms were so dead.

Kickboxing was elbow focused. I can't say I'm a huge fan of elbows but I now know they're a definite weak point of mine. Going to practice them when the grazes and bruises on my arms heal .

Not sure if I'll go to sparring and BJJ tonight, I'm feeling pretty lacklustre and I have a lot of things to sort out. Overall, training this week has been good. Glad to be back in the swing of things.

[lskandar]

Day 5 of infinite intensity.

I'm working through the program pretty haphazardly and I've added in an extra strength day, but I'm still getting used to all the volume on top of my regular training. I'll settle down into some semblance of a routine eventually.

AM workout.

GPP - Perform this circuit 5x with no rest.
30 seconds burpees
30 seconds jumping jacks
30 seconds dumbbell high knees(10kg dumbbells in each hand)
30 seconds shadowboxing

Kicked my ass, especially the high knees, wow.

PM workout.

Strength workout #2
2-dumbbell split snatch - 1 set x 3 reps 10kgs in each hand. 4 sets x 3 reps 15kgs each hand.
2-dumbbell push press - 1 set x 3 reps 15kgs in each hand. 4 sets x 3 reps 20kgs each hand.
1-arm dumbbell bench press - 4x5 15kgs each arm.
Plyometric push ups - 4x8 reps.
Wall Squats - 4x60seconds static hold.
Squat jumps - 4x10 reps.

Finisher - Dumbbell Swings. 1x15 reps each arm.

I want to get to the point where I can do 3 sets of that finisher. I was gone by then.

My comp prep started today. I have roughly 4 weeks of prep. Gonna stock up on food and plan out my training.
Not sure if this week I'll be able to go to tuesday and thursday mornings BJJ as I still have to sort out car and employment issues, but I plan to get in 50 hours of bjj between now and comp day.

[lskandar]

Worked on getting out from underneath a guy who is trying to hold you down during a comp to keep his advantage.

Pretty easy drill. Then we attempted using it against a partner for 3 2 minute rounds. I have a few good ways of getting out now.

First round wrestled. I felt kind of bad after this. I thought this guy was around my level, but no matter what he did I caught him in something. Guillotine, armbar, kimura, triangle, you name it I caught him with it. With 30 seconds to go he looked so dejected and just said 'I give up'. I told him that it's just training and this is how you learn. Lit a fire under his ass and he came hard for the rest of the round.

Second round I got tooled. I was basically done by the end of that first round for some reason. I have no idea why I faded. Just got positionally dominated by the same guy who last time I thought I'd finally caught up to. Then he popped on the armbar. When we reset I managed to sweep him and pass to side before the round ended.

Third round was vs someone I easily handle every time. I don't think he had ever submitted me. Was dead by then. Armbar, triangle, he caught me in it. I turned on my game face towards the end and kimura'd him. Was a little frustrated with how I did but I was more tired than anything. I'm not sure if it's something in my diet. I really have no idea why that happened.

One thing I am having good success with is the arm-in guillotine. I played around with it a little bit and I get some good leverage on it, even from half. It's a go to move now.

At kickboxing just worked blocks and checks. My stance and style is starting to show itself a bit now, whereas before I was all clumsy and raw. Now I'm clumsy but a more controlled.

[lskandar]

Did 6 400m intervals on the exercise bike @ 3 resistance.

BJJ - went over sweeps. I'm really going to practise these over the next 4 weeks. I want to have 4 solid sweeps from guard - before today I only had 2, so I'm going to work the shiet out of all of them. My half-guard game needs work too. Youtube is going to get a heap of hits on half-guard videos this month. Wrestling today was okay. Take downs were average. Guard game is coming a long way but sweeps like mentioned, need a lot of work.

Notes - when you have a guillotine, pull guard. Don't let them move to side control you idiot. I had a standing one I probably could have finished, I decided to take it to the ground, didn't lock up my guard and he moved to side control. I can't finish from there.
I realize the most important thing is mat time. I'm getting a little down since I'm not performing like I know I should, I'll just keep grinding and I know I'll get back into the flow.

I'm competing on the 3rd of sept and the 16th. Have an engagement on the nationals weekend so I can't make that but the following one is all good.

[lskandar]

I'm a bit disillusioned at the moment. This week my progress has seemed to go backwards.

I think I'll see a doc this weekend and get myself checked out. I have been sleeping only a couple of hours a night, even less than usual, so maybe something is off.

I took an inventory, joints are sore, back is all knotted up, grazed, bruised, feeling sick during and after training. I think more focus on recovery is important. I'm gassing out way too quickly, endurance is not there, strength is not there. That's what happens when you take a month off then dive right back into 4 days a week I guess.

We just drilled sweeps again. Nothing major to note, I just need to practice 'em. The hip sweep and back sweep(via grabbing the ankles in guard when your opponent is standing). One of our blue belts hit a slick one in competition, where he pulled guard and as he dropped back, took the ankles, swept his opponent onto his back and went straight into full mount. It looks amazing when pulled off correctly.

[lskandar]

So I'm all good to go down to Melbourne for pan pacs. I'm competing on the 3rd, grading on the 12th then heading down and competing again.

I'm on 'competition diet'. Eating the best I ever had, going to see how I feel because I'm training more than ever and competing twice in 2 weeks on top of grading and competition practise. I fasted monday because I felt horrible and had gone through every kind of fast food there was, then I broke fast with maccas... lol. On track now though. Not sure what division to compete in. I could get into the 74kg division but barely, so I think I'll just compete at 79 again. I'm at around 164lbs now. Lost a lot of weight due to training and poor eating habits.

My discipline is improving ever so slightly, I still have low points but overall my schedule and routine are a lot cleaner and are only going to get better.

Training was simple. Standing guard pass drills. Wrestled well. Happy with how I went considering I was fasted. Kick boxing - basically I am going to work the shiet out of my push kicks.

Barely ate today, but I'm well hydrated and I feel good. Plenty of fruit and water. I have all my meals prepared for tomorrow. Protein brownies, spinach salad, beef and rice with veg, steak, veg 'n' taters and some eggs and oats.

Leaving for training soon. I want to get this journal filled with some life. Expect pics and videos and maybe some color. Thanks to all those who follow and rep me. I'll get you back when I can.

[lskandar]

Aug 25.

Gotta work my armbar defence. Got caught twice. Escaped one but the second one got me. I know how to escape but I kinda went blank, will practise it today.

Went over basic drills. Wrestled. Then we worked our boxing. I need to spar more, once a week isn't doing it for me. Sparring tonight, I could have gone this morning but I gotta be honest, I was exhausted.
My buddy is fasting for Ramadan, when that's finished we'll start going to all the MMA classes.

I need some new gear. Will order it all when I get paid next week. I'm thinking a new gi, another pair of gloves, wraps, and some head gear for BJJ. Cauliflower ear puts the fear of god in me.

Notes - It's time to start putting in extra work outside the gym regarding technique.
- I'm going to stick with strength training only in my own time when it comes to physical training. The endurance and cardio in the gym on top of my own work outside of it runs me down.
- I need to eat more.

[lskandar]

So I didn't have my gear ready for sparring. This is what happens when you don't prepare properly... I was pretty bummed on the way to BJJ because I haven't sparred in a while. My head wasn't in it, went through the motions during the drills and didn't really care too much about training. Now I couldn't be more happy I went.

First round was up against my buddy, who early on, went for the gi choke while I was in his guard. I had shietty posture which exposed me to it. He was cranking my jaw so hard that it was preferable to give him the neck because it hurt so bad. He sinks it in and squeezes like he's trying to decapitate me. I just held on, muscled out of it as his arms got tired. Took mount, worked for position trying to get a hold of his arm. He kept it straight, but he made a mistake, I locked in the figure four, rolled him into guard and finished with a couple of seconds to go. I've never hit the figure four like that, so I was happy with how it went. Glad I defended the choke, while being so close to tapping and happy with my positional game. I do outweigh him but he's slippery and hard to finish.

2nd round I got my breath back. Then the 3rd round I was up against a 4 stripe white who rag dolled me like it was nobody's business. He would've been 100-110kgs and just positionally dominated me. My side control escapes have improved immensely however, and he never got the chance to finish me.

4th round, another big guy, at least 120kgs. We worked for grips, staying in the standing position for a good minute - minute and a half. His leg was close, I grabbed a hold of it, shoulder in his stomach, head up and drove him into the mat. Huge thud. I was pretty happy with that. I went to side control, full mount, then had side back for a minute. I went for the armbar from his back but he reversed me into guard. I was going for the triangle, which I shouldn't have, which let him pass and dominate in side control. I managed to escape a couple of times but these big guys wear you out and soon enough he basically had the arm triangle and was working his way to the other side to finish it. I knew he was going for it but I was powerless to stop him. He had it in pretty tight but I kept breathing and the buzzer sounded. Was glad I didn't get submitted.

5th round, probably the biggest guy at the club. Not that advanced, but just a behemoth. I'm guessing 6 foot 4-5 at least. I ended up pulling guard, attempted the arm bar. He passed, I managed to reclaim half guard, as he tried to pass again I rolled and his knee came down hard on my right calf muscle. Stopped me in my tracks and he managed to get mount. I nearly bridged him a couple of times, I was so close on the first attempt, but he was simply too big. He didn't really get anything but his weight on top of my torso was intense. Afterwards I found out he was 135kgs. Only a 60kg weight difference :P .

Was a real productive session. Got in some stretching and a little bit of grading practise afterwards then headed home to eat.

Notes - My single leg works, I will use it more.
- My double leg is pretty shiet, I will practise it more.
- Stop throwing up submissions just for the hell of it, because it has lost me position too many times.
- Get your gear ready.
- Posture in guard. Remember to break their posture when you pull guard.

[lskandar]

Basics class. Worked kimura's from side control. Wrestled very well today. Tooled a guy that has been better than me for a long time. Felt good.

Spent Muay Thai working the clinch. Yes, I suck in the clinch. My ears hurt now too.

Still preparing for Melbourne. I think the time is coming for me to cut down on work, perhaps find a more casual job and really up my training time.

Will have to have a long think about my next move. It's going to be a big commitment.

[lskandar]

31/8/11 Wednesday

Competition this saturday.
I'm feeling really overtrained at the moment. Lack of sleep is getting to me. Taking the day off tomorrow to eat, rest and recover, then going to spar and do my last competition practice in the evening.

A couple of things to work on
-armbar escapes
-guard passes
-sweeps.

My takedowns have been real good this week. Very happy with them for now, unless they jump guard on me I should be able to rely on the takedown for some early points. My gameplan going in is get the TD, pass the guard and just hold top control. I'm not going to compromise position for subs unless I really think I can get it. If they pull guard on me, hopefully pass and get side control/mount.

After this comp I'll be spending a full week on grading practise with very light rolling, before grading on the 12th and heading down to melbourne for pan Pacs.

Plan for tomorrow is sit in my buddies guard and get him to spam armbars so I can practise my escapes. They are a weakness of mine(on top of everything else).

Time to sleep.

[lskandar]

Comp tomorrow. Had work then just chilled, been eating and watching BJJ DVD's. Feeling pretty confident, I wish I had more rest but overall I know I'm several times better than I was at the last competition.

Ready to get it done.

[lskandar]

Damn, what a crazy day. I was up early getting my sheit together. Still sore as hell, from lack of sleep and work. Had breakfast then headed out to pick up teammates.

Got there early, watched the matches, warmed up. My buddy(who is real new) was competing. Got armbarred. My match was over an hour late.

I watched my other friend get armbarred as I waited. My opponent didn't show and I got my second win via DQ. I'm good at that.

I get shown my opponent and I'm feeling pretty confident. Nerves aren't too bad, the dude is around my height, but he was definitely sandbagging. He'd easily been training for over 2 years, so I knew this was going to be rough. I was just keen to get in there and show my improvements.

We square up, he pulls open guard and I nearly pass a couple of times. He gets the back sweep and goes into side control. I escape before he gets his points, roll out and scramble back to my feet. We tie up again, working for grips. I should have gone for the underhook but I was too busy waiting for him to try another guard pull or throw. That was my inexperience showing. He pulls me back into open guard, I throw my legs over and move to half. My posture is good. I'm working for the pass before he manages to roll me and get on top in side mount. He can't get control so he doesn't get his points, but he passes into full. With a minute to go, I'm gassed out badly, what can I say. I was too tense and dumping adrenaline. My escapes are weak, but I nearly get a knee through as I try an elbow escape.
As I'm leaning on my shoulder, he gets in the grips on my gi and goes for the choke. It's around my jaw, so I let him work it down to my neck because it fking hurts. I bridge once, he posts with his elbow. I'm going out, so I try to slip a hand in. No luck. Bridge again, he nearly comes off but holds his control and I'm done. Tap tap.

He looks pretty relieved. We're both exhausted. I'm annoyed I got finished but pretty glad with how I performed. The guy who beat me goes on and places, so there's no real shame there.

Right after I went over to go and watch another guy who started around the same time as me win gold (he only had to win one match due to small weight class) and that ish was awesome. He won with a gi choke.

Watched one of our blue belts get silver, then left. Was a good warm up to pan pacs. Can't wait to go. I know I'm going to get pumped but the rush is the best and I know that I've improved heaps.

Some sidenotes
-Now have a boxing AND wrestling school to start visiting. Going to sort out an intense training schedule when I get back from Melbourne.
-My confidence is a lot higher now that I know I can hold my own with these high level whites now.
-This log has kept me on track and disciplined with training. I'm definitely going to keep it up.

[lskandar]

I came to a few conclusions over the weekend.

The main issue is rolling in class. I believe I've toned down the ego a lot lately, and fully accepted that I suck and that I'm nowhere near where I thought I was.

I understand the importance of technique over strength and I am now a much more relaxed and much less stubborn training partner. However, I still spend far too much time worrying about the outcome, even just wrestling in class. I have it ingrained in me that losing is bad, when I get dominated it does get me a little down, when I get caught it can upset me.

I am now pledging my focus 100% to not giving a sheit whether I win, lose, get submitted, positionally dominated, rag dolled, taken down, trapped in guard. I am only going to focus on the game itself. What to do in each position, what do I need to work on, what can I do here, how can I help my training partner. I sometimes get afraid to try something new in case my partner gets the advantage. It's ridiculous. From now on I will refuse to do this. I go to training to TRAIN. Not to WIN.

There is no prestige, no medals, no honor, no glory on the training mats. I have to pay my dues before all that. I will dedicate myself 100% to the pursuit of mastery, not gym victory. It will be a little difficult, since I know we do tend to keep track of who we submit and who we lose to, but I will run that notion into the ground. I'm glad I've come to this point, I feel like I've grown a lot as a fighter in a short amount of time.

/rambling

Got a week of solid training then grading before heading out to pan pacs. Let's see how my mentality affects my game within the next week or so.

[lskandar]

Real busy week.

Been working on grading techniques most of the time. 2nd stripe on Monday. I don't think I'm ready for Pacs, my game hasn't been that good lately, but I'm competing anyway for the hell of it. Once I get back I'll be kicking training up another notch and really going for broke. Either keep my white belt and try and win the Pan Pacs next year or get my blue before I'm 22 and dive right into MMA. I feel like fighting is more important to me but I've caught the BJJ bug badly and want to do well in it. We'll see how my training goes.
My knee is pretty screwed up. Gonna wrap it and try not to ruin it further. Toe is badly sprained. The joys of training.

My shopping list sits at
-New gi
-ear guard
-another pair of 16oz
-another pair of thai shorts
-more wraps
-ankle sleeves

Been working my ass off lately so it's good to be able to pick up some new gear.

[lskandar]

18/9

Just got back yesterday. Exhausted from the week.

The comp was way bigger than I expected. Packed out + literally thousands of competitors.
To be honest I wasn't really nervous. I'd eating badly all week, been out late at night, hadn't trained at all, hadn't even been thinking about the comp, but I think that is why I was so pumped and ready to go!

The bad part is we were running behind, so while I originally thought I wouldn't have to rush for my flight back, it turns out I would have to, and definitely wouldn't be able to go to the finals.

My match was close.
Most of it was spent on the feet. This guy was always one step ahead as far as grips were concerned. I'm not that good with grips on the feet and I could tell this guy was miles in front with positioning.
He attempted several takedowns and throws with no success. I tried a throw, he didn't go down. He managed to get a gi choke from standing. It wasn't in too deep and as I broke his grip he went in for the takedown. He nearly got it and I did go down but I brought him down too. I scrambled to half guard and as he tried to pass I got my knee in and went to full. He broke away and stood up and I followed him up.

I went for the single but he sprawled out of it. With 30 seconds to go we both went to the mat. He nearly had side control but I rolled and grabbed a hold of his knees for the double. I lifted and turned but he posted, threw his leg over and was in mount. He immediately went for a forearm choke. I rolled onto my back, he went for hooks but I scrambled to grab a hold of his leg. Buzzer went.

He won by a single advantage! Man was I disappointed. I knew it was 0-0 with a minute to go and I know that I lost focus. I was thinking 'man I'ma be late'.... 'man this is going to go to a 2nd round and I'm getting tired' and I don't think this was the right frame of mind.

Needless to say he was a step ahead the whole time and won fairly. I had respect for how he tried to finish instead of riding out a points win. I have so much to work on that I'm excited just thinking about it. The confidence from this match was great though, because I mixed it up with a strong white belt at a huge competition.

I'm getting tired of losing though! Back to the drawing board.

[lskandar]

Haven't slept for 48 hours.

Worked basic side control escape. Got dominated by smaller guy during roll lols. Quit after that, didn't even bother going to kickboxing.

Won't be able to train in the morning tomorrow since I have to organize a bunch of sh-t, including but not limited to luggage, phone contracts, training, funds, job/education dramas.

Going to eat super clean this week though.

[lskandar]

Training has been going a little better. Had a good session on tuesday, wrestling much bigger guys and handling them. Worked on my guard.

Wrestling on wednesday was good too, my guard passing needs so much work but everything else I'm quite happy with. Got tooled pretty badly by a 3 stripe with a lot of experience, but I didn't tap to his chokes and held on the whole round. Was proud of that in a way because I'm really testing the limits of what I can handle and knowing your limits is good. It was a silly mistake that ended with him on top in side control which I will try not to make next time.

[lskandar]

Had a good sparring session. Went 5 rounds. I haven't really sparred for a while so I was a bit hesitant but I quickly got my confidence back and put in some good practice. My boxing has really come a long way and my kicks aren't too bad either. I threw mostly hands, but did use the push kick, leg kick and round kick to the body on occasion. One thing I need to work on is not backing up in a straight line, not turtling up when they turn the pressure on so I can counter and keeping my eyes on my opponent. That will come back to me in time though.

At BJJ worked face down and face up back escapes. Wrestled 4 rounds. Mainly worked my guard, I have a nasty kimura off my back, caught a few people with it. Didn't really get to wrestle any blue belts though.

I've come to realize aches and pains come with the sport. I will need to see someone about pins and needles in my back, but I'm really going to focus on mobility and stretching. I think I'll take a short break from strength and conditioning, and keep it mainly bodyweight orientated for a while. My body is still getting used to all the skill training. I'll make use of one legged squats/push ups/pull ups etc and I also have some goals I can work towards like the one arm chin up and push up so it should be interesting.

Most likely won't compete again til next year, but I plan on having a full competition schedule throughout 2012, including Muay Thai and BJJ. Will have to play around with my schedule to see what fits as far as wrestling and boxing is concerned.

[lskandar]

26/9
Basics class. Kimura and guillotine from guard. Me and a couple partners practiced escapes.

Wrestled okay. Mondays and wednesdays are usually my worst days due to lack of sleep and work all day, but I wasn't too bad.

One guy kept using the standing pass on me and grabbing my wrist, so I couldn't back sweep him. Was frustrating, he passed several times that way. He tried it again and I threw my leg over and armbarred him while he was standing. Was lulz, but I guess I know one of the ways to counter the standing pass now. My guard game has improved. My guard passing needs work. Lots.

Its good to not have the pressure of competition on my mind, so I can spend the next 3-4 months really working on my game and putting on some size and strength so a) I'm not one of the smaller guys in the weight class. b) I can move up into the weaker 85kg division .

[lskandar]

Whats up.

Been training real hard lately. Working on more advanced tech and keeping busy with the basics class. Have since learned the straight ankle lock, heel hook and a toe hold, the clock choke and its variations, fixed the flaws in my anaconda and d'arce chokes. Worked on different finishes for the armbar and triangle, practiced x-guard and a sweep from that position(which I have since hit in free rolling on an advanced white belt) as well as spider guard and the sweeps from that position.
When I'm on my game, I've really advanced ahead of my usual training partners and I owe it being dedicated and consistent. Living and breathing BJJ/MMA. Still getting my ass kicked regularly though which keeps me humble the fire burning. Got bow and arrow choked the other night which was awesome because I've never seen it used until I got caught with it out of nowhere.

Muay Thai is getting intense. Tonnes of focus on footwork and counter punching/defence. I've been sparring more than ever, especially against advanced guys, including two undefeated MMA pro's. Been getting my licks but I'm getting used to being punched and my chin has definitely been tested. Surprised nose is still intact. I'm still useless in the clinch and I got pretty flustered when I was sparring a particularly good counter puncher. What I found was beginning to work to my favour was getting on the inside and going to the body but he was sick with his angles and landed consistently when i didn't expect it.

One higher level guy kept dropping his hands against me, his girlfriend was there so I guess he wanted to perform. I didn't want to disrespect him by really hitting him with a big straight or a left hook, so I just kept the jab in his face til he decided to put his hands back up. Took a big knee to the body from the same guy. I'm pretty sure if most of them wanted to they could finish me in pretty devastating fashion. That only makes me wanna train harder.

I'm not sure what my style is really, and I guess I won't know til I've been sparring for longer. Sometimes I'm counter punching, sometimes I'm all about using my reach, sometimes I'm the aggressor. I feel like such an idiot for not realizing the sheer depth of the striking game. It is literally as intricate as grappling. I truly underestimated it.

Weight training is back on the menu now that I'm adapting to the work load. Running ftwrestlers program - it rocks. Been lifting for 2 weeks now. I'm also drinking close to a GOMAD so the weight is coming on easily too. Just really enjoying the routine of training. I hope to God I don't get injured because I'm improving at a great rate.

I'll be back on track with the updates.

[lskandar]

Yesterday was basics class. Today worked on different kimura finishes. Wrestled decent. Still suck.

[BRO_v]

One higher level guy kept dropping his hands against me, his girlfriend was there so I guess he wanted to perform. I didn't want to disrespect him by really hitting him with a big straight or a left hook

lol!

idk about you, but logging helps me stay focused and is a great reminder for what I did each day as the days tend to blur together during training. Love reading it, keep it up! Yours is definitely motivating me to start my own soon.

[lskandar]

lol!

idk about you, but logging helps me stay focused and is a great reminder for what I did each day as the days tend to blur together during training. Love reading it, keep it up! Yours is definitely motivating me to start my own soon.

awesome man, really glad to hear it. It's been such an insane journey already that I'm glad I've recorded it somewhere. I have been sidetracked lately so logging has taken a back seat but I will continue to update whenever I can. I appreciate the feedback.


Tapped my first (male)blue belt the other day. He was kinda gassed and I was wrestling really well. I nearly got the armbar, then the suicide choke, then I had him in guard and isolated his arm. Threw on the kimura and got the tap. Was glad to get that out of the way. I got ankle locked by another dude today which is kinda against the rules since I only have 2 stripes lols, but I let him go for it since I wanted to see if I could escape. I couldn't and he got the tap but that has given me a wake up call to watch out for it now. I'm going to be careful about throwing my legs around when I play guard. We worked cross lapel chokes. I finally know how to do them properly after that class. I had crappy collar chokes, now they're something new I can look out for when playing guard or when I'm in mount.

Still looking for a good wrestling gym.

Thinking about getting a grappling dummy, not sure if it is worth the investment but I'm going to do some research. Might be trialling intermittent fasting for a while since eating at work can be difficult.

[lskandar]

Worked on our wrestling today!!!! I was freaking excited since I've been really wanting to work takedowns for a while now. Worked on double and singles and set ups for them. Was good fun, I finally got to practise break falls too. Never been picked up and slammed so much in my life.

Wrestled good today, but both guys were smaller and there aren't many tough guys there on basics class days. One guy told one of the others that he doesn't want to wrestle me at the moment since I beat him too often... I'm not sure if he has left his ego at the door because getting beat will make you better than winning all the time.

Going to get in some tough practise today against the blue belts. A couple of our guys have fights coming up so hopefully I can roll with them no gi.

[lskandar]

Good week of training. New diet, plenty of energy, rolling well. Guard passing has improved, 3-4 sweeps from guard I'm landing consistently. Lacklustre with strength training, focusing on improving that.

This week we went over mount escapes, back escapes and side mount escapes. I am going to start preparing for grading soon, I want to have fully mastered the 3 stripe syllabus and possibly most of the 4 stripe syllabus. I had a particularly good round with a strong 4 stripe who had easily handled me previously so I'm really pushing for a step up. I am being patient but I'm 21 years old and I want to make a serious run at this MMA thing so the faster I can learn and the stronger the competition I face the better my chances of succeeding.

My sparring this week was okay. I have to put more into my jab, I'm sort of pawing a bit softly with them and as a result people get confident and bullrush in. A stiff jab should change their mind so I'll focus on putting some sting on my ranged punches.
Leg kick defense definitely needs work, but I guess getting leg kicked over and over will sharpen up that aspect of my game real quick. I'm decent at not getting hit clean but my offensive output hasn't been that great. I haven't sparred in a couple weeks or even gone to any Muay Thai classes for that matter so I'm not too surprised I haven't made much improvement recently as far as striking is concerned. I will have to put in the extra time at home on not just on the heavy bag, speed bag etc but also on stretching, conditioning, footwork and even mental exercise. Meditation and more technique study will be added to my training.

[lskandar]

31/10

Drilled takedowns from knees. It is rare I'll use these but it is good to have them in the bag of tricks. Was so fried from strength training yesterday + 2 hours of sleep but rolled 4 solid rounds against tough guys including a blue belt.

Some things I could have done better, ie set up the sweep with posture breaks/submission attempts instead of giving my opponent time to counter and pass to half guard. I also need to defend the figure four armlock better, I used my last resort escape first when I had several other options like straightening my arm and slipping it out. Giving up side mount in the first place was an unfortunate mistake.

Guard passing was successful today, as well as maintaining open guard. I also took the back a few times but was unable to mount any significant offense which is no surprise because I don't often find myself on someones back.

Ordered a bunch of gear. I should have all I need for training 8x a week. Still waiting on the Shoyoroll Batch 11!!! No gi and MMA specific classes incoming.

Weight: 172lbs and rising.

[lskandar]

3/11
Competition training all week. Plenty of wrestling and takedowns. I'm not competing but we have a heap of guys who are so the training has all been comp focused - it is one of the last big comps of the year. There are not really any white belts around my size anymore who can push me in training, so I've just been focusing on wrestling the bigger guys and preparing the people competing. Getting ragdolled quite easily by a few of the bigger ones but rolling with these guys also means my technique has to be tight or it simply will not work. There are a few extra people around my size but they're all relatively new so I'm going to dedicate a few rounds each week to helping these guys with their game.

Submissions have been successful, defence is good, my sweeps have been a little messy but they're working 90% of the time.

Worked elbows for a good hour yesterday, I hate the things but they're definitely something I need to work on. I have a relatively small reach as is(71 inches) so the only time elbows are really viable is when I'm inside, but that is where I like to throw bodyshots and upper cuts. Maybe I can mix elbows into the combos when I get inside, another thing to practice on my own time.

Good news is I can probably get 4 hours open mat worked into my schedule on friday with a couple of training partners. This will give me plenty of time to drill, drill, drill the rest of the white belt syllabus to bring my game to that next level.

One minor problem is the wrestling place I was going to attend has conflicting hours so I'll have to see what I can do in regards to that.

[lskandar]

4/11
Sparred 5 rounds. Head movement was good, I was slipping the jab and the right hand consistently, didn't get hit cleanly with anything except for a couple of leg kicks which I blame on my footwork. Was landing the left hook to the head and body basically every time i threw it, as well as the right hand to the body which I was setting up with the double jab. Didn't really get any time in against the killers but I'm pleased with how I went. Could definitely use more rounds per week.

At BJJ we continued with the competition training. Drilled takedowns, sweeps and guard passes. The double leg doesn't seem to be to best takedown for gi wrestling due to the grips but I was having good success with the single leg takedown and a sweep I learned from the Cormier-Bigfoot fight.



@ 5:08. Sick sweep.

I was pretty exhausted by the time we wrestled but I still got in my 3 rounds so all is well. Going to head off to do some more drilling tonight with a couple buddies.

[lskandar]

5/11

Drilled sweeps and takedowns for a few hours last night. I've got them all written down and will be going over them every day next week. Drilling takedowns showed me how bad my technique is, it was astounding all the flaws that were pointed out to me as I worked on it. Practised running the pipe and transitioning to double leg from a single leg defence which I found particularly difficult.

Considering buying a 7 foot heavy bag to work on combo's at home. Expensive but should definitely be worth it.