Tuesday was good, Thursday was OK, today was rough.  Jiu-Jitsu has a way to hoist you up and bring you right back down.

Things I did well this week:

- I improved my top half-guard game, mostly by really paying attention to controlling the neck and face with my shoulder

- I learned how to stay tighter on top half-guard, and base out better when the sweep is coming

- I developed a better sense for when I am about to get swept (which does not always mean I can prevent it)

- I took a few backs while rolling this week, and got a few hooks…need to work on better finishing…mostly hip positioning and using leverage away from the body to finish collar chokes (the opposite of mata leao (RNC), where you want to be closer).

- I had a better posture when in Dante’s guard this week.  I will write more about Dante in a future post, but this was a goal of mine, as he had been folding me like a lawn chair every time he had me in guard.

Things I did not do well this week:

- My guard felt very weak and inefficient.  When I got passed, I was unable to react quickly to either sweep, try an armbar, or, if those things failed, getting a good, sideways, curled up position from which to hip-escape side control.

- I was a lot worse at escaping someone having my back than I had been before.  I have been experimenting with Saulo Ribeiro’s concept of “scooping out.”  I found that this works a lot better against taller opponents.  I tried this approach with “Sandoval,” a shorter, quicker opponent, and he really made me pay for it by finishing a few collar chokes.

- Saturday I could not buy a break…I went mostly against blue belts and got throughly dominated. Kyle continued his amazing streak of arm-barring me very very quickly. My big victories consisted of a handful of sweeps and a couple of guard passes, but I was generally pretty ineffective.  After class, I told Master Sapao that I was aware that I made about 75 mistakes rolling today…which one did he think was the most egregious?  He said I really needed to focus on posture then playing in guard…bring the fight to my stature, don’t fold down to my opponent’s….in other words, apply what I learned earlier this week against Dante with all my rolls.

- I really need to work more on beginning positions and takedowns…I feel somewhat lost more often than not, and I think my lack of understanding of the leverage points when first engaging is really hurting my initial positioning.

New insights:

- Sakuraba (Matthew Kurose) shared with me that you really want to keep your arms on their side…meaning do not cross your arm to the other side of your body.  If you are going to separate your elbow from your body in a defensive position, make sure you are not crossing the half-way point.

- I need to work more on anticipation…If I am getting passed, be ready in an advantageous position on my side to be ready to escape side control

This is the first in a series of post about students at Ocean Beach Barra Brothers whom I admire.  I try hard to learn something new from everyone I roll with.  I go out of my way to thank people for teaching me that day…and I say that to everyone, from white belts to black belts…because I truly do learn something from each and every one of them.

I first met Dustin in my first week or two of Jiu-Jitsu.  He looks like a very friendly guy…but man, he is a quick grappler with some killer submissions.  He was a white belt when I first met him, but got promoted to blue belt shortly thereafter. When I first grappled with him and saw he was still a white belt, it dawned on me how difficult it is to get promoted in BJJ.

Dustin was my inspiration to sign up for my first tournament, the U.S. Open this past October.  We talked about how we like the feeling of having competed, but how when you actually step onto the mat, we tend to ask ourselves “Why are we doing this?’  I find that a lot of other things in life are like that, such as when I did the GoRuck Challenge.

After I entered the tournament, I felt really good, even though I lost to the eventual champion on points.  One of the things I had trouble with was escaping the guy’s mount, as he was about 6’4” or 6’5” and was basing out all of my upa attempts.  

I shared this with Dustin, and he went way out of his way to teach me a few different mount escapes (mashing up my wrist in the process…hahaha).  

I am thankful to have Dustin at Ocean Beach Barra Brothers, and look forward to continuing to learn from him.

I have been keeping notes that I take afte every Jiu-Jitsu class….and I will slowly share those here.

Some of these things will seem completely obvious to people who do BJJ, but they sure as heck were not obvious to me when I first ran into them…and I still sometimes have to be gently reminded.

- Keep your friends close and your elbows closer!

- If you are in someone’s guard, always have BOTH arms in or both out…one and one makes for….a triangle choke!

- When getting smashed…keep breathing…deep….slow….steady…this does two things…it keeps you calm, and it frustrates the person who thinks they are putting you in a really bad spot

- 1-2 inches can make a HUGE difference in terms of how far you can move and how much force you can exert on someone….leverage is everything

I am a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu white belt under Master Carlos Sapao at Ocean Beach Barra Brothers in San Francisco, CA.

Today, while rolling with a blue belt, Master Carlos saw that I was in an awkward position under mount trying to make the best of it by flipping him over…

…Master Carlos came up, asked us both to freeze, and promptly asked ” Sakuraba” to put me in a triangle…boom!

Sapao then told me to focus on the fundamentals….I am not allowed to start inventing stuff until I know what I am doing…he said:

“This is Jiu-Jitsu, not Pablito-Jitsu”….Pablito is my nickname…ironic given that it means “little Pablo” and I am 6’2” and 215 lbs.

I thought that line was amazing…so here is the world of Pablito-Jitsu…and my journey with the gente art.