Thursday, November 22, 2013

Last night was Thursday, which means it’s the second gi practice of the week with the club. We showed the roll from half guard to back, then the roll from turtle to back. Then I showed the Gerbi choke, named after Yarden Gerbi, a female judoka. It’s essentially a Peruvian Necktie, using the gi. From the top sprawl or turtle position, you get a deep underhook then open up your gi. Pull the lapel in front of their neck to your other hand and pull tight, then rotate out to the side that you have the underhook. Just like the Peruvian Necktie, put the crook of your knee on the back of their neck, then your other leg over their lower back. Kick out with the leg over their head to finish. After that we moved on to free rolling. I rolled with Adin, one of the other coaches and blue belts, first. I passed his guard and went for a paper cutter choke then a cross choke. The paper cutter was close, but after I let it go I got swept. I recovered guard and swept back, then passed again. I ended up finishing with a bow and arrow from side mount. Then I rolled with John, and Chris, a big wrestler. I got a bunch of cross chokes and arm triangles and mounted armbars.
On a more embarrassing note, I ate 9 donuts yesterday, which is funny, because I lost weight. I also went to the gym for the first time in several months yesterday morning. I did some cleans and deep squats, then some arm exercises with a 45 pound plate that we used to do for wrestling. I did 5 different ones, two sets of ten or ten each way, depending on the exercise. All of this means that I’m pretty sore today, so I’m glad that there are no classes today. Unfortunately there are no classes at my gym until Monday, because one of the fighters from my gym is fighting in Bellator today, and Mike, the black belt from my gym, and Rod, the Muay Thai instructor, went to corner him. Rod is also a brown belt, and a tiny guy, so it’s awesome to see what he can do. The guy from my gym is Keith Bell, and he’s fighting a Bulgarian sambo guy, Blagoi Ivanov. Ivanov is undefeated, and seems very well-rounded from what I’ve seen of him, so it’ll be a tough test for Keith. I’m excited to see it, as it’s the first big promotion anyone from our gym has made it to.