BJJ Session # 24 - Rinse, Repeat

Since I’m really only able to attend classes twice a week, aside from the occasional open mat, the ideal set up would be if the first class would be on either Tues/Wed and the second on Thur/Fri.  The reason is that the Tues/Wed classes are the same lesson plan, as are the Thur/Fri classes. So, when life (read: kids) conspires against the ideal schedule, I end up going to both the Thursday and Friday classes and repeating the same lesson.  I can only speak to my experience so far, which is that any class, even a repeated one, is better than no class. I imagine it would be the same for the majority of people regardless of their experience or belt. For me at three months into BJJ, I could argue that the repetition is maybe better for me than moving on to a new variation or technique. It’s not like one hour drilling 2-out-of-hundreds of half-guard options is going to lead to me releasing my own half guard DVD instructional. With all that being said, it’s interesting how the same lesson and drills can seem so different 24 hours later.Really, most of the difference came in the drill where you from bottom half > hip escape > out the back door to back control.  Overcoming the three advantages seemed to make more sense the second day, and I had an easier time doing all three at more or less the same time. The bridge to hip escape first, quickly followed by simultaneously blocking the cross-face, getting my outside knee on his hip and reversing his under-hook to grab his belt at the back. One of the differences in this class was we spent a little time on working a really tight cross-face off by finding a little gap, digging your hand in and wedging it around until you have some control of it.

Also, controlling his hip as I move out the back made more sense, along with keeping contact between my chest and his back. In general, Jiu-Jitsu is one of those things that doing one little thing better leads to the next little thing being easier to do. That’s one thing I’m guilty of quite regularly; trying to go too fast and not dialing in the fine detail.  A better bridge = easier hip escape. A better hip escape = easier knee shield and more access to defeat his under-hook and grab his belt at the back. Better chest-to-back contact and hip control = better access to back control and less chance of him escaping during transition.

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