Daily Submission

After a really long couple of weeks which saw me spend 6 days in Yakima Training Center in Washington state with the Army, I finished up the week at the open gym period on Friday night. I rolled with a fellow soldier who is a member of the Canadian Special Operations regiment. They are very similar in to the US Army rangers/ Special Forces Teams. They are highly trained and incredible tough guys. He was a little smaller than me (maybe 10 pounds) but in incredible shape. I would have to say his BJJ was a little better than mine, technically. He was a really tough roll but very good for me. We went back and forth a few times. He tapped me early on with an interesting bicep slicer from inside the guard. I probably could have fought it and in a competion, I may have but the only way I would have got out of it was to brute force it and I usually tap to that kind of stuff in the gym. As a general rule, if I can't get out of it was a technique of some kind, I chalk it up to a learning experience, tap and move on.

He was really tough and constantly moving, so I had to stay real tight with my transitions. After that first sub, there were no more submissions. I almost got a kimura from top side, (which I have been focusing on) and he almost got me in an armbar from guard, but we both managed to reverse them at the last minute. We rolled for about twenty minutes. It was a great roll. My cardio held up, which is good. Every time I take a break from training, I have to re build my cardio.

I also got some tips from one of our blue belts on defending the deep half guard. Once I have it down a bit more I will post it here.

On a side note, my gym is really starting to attrack some great athletes. I recognized Dustin Oliphant, who I did judo with years ago at the gym on friday. Dustin won a bronze at the 03 national judo championships. We also have tarek gebali, who is now 3-0 in MMA who competed at the National level in Judo. We also have at least 1 national level wrestler whose name I can't remember for some reason. It is great having these elite level athletes at the gym.