Rollin' rollin' rollin'.......

Monday was Richard ’s session again and we covered some self defence moves – defending against attacks from the rear, either someone running in with a rear choke, or running in with a bear hug. The momentum of the attacker was important in this technique, as it was this that was effectively used to “roll” the attacker either over the top, or round the shoulder…almost like a shoulder throw, but much less of a throw than simply yielding to the energy of the attacker. A nice easy technique…not nearly as hard as it looked and very effective (as you can see in these photos - Roubel being Richard's willing assistant!).

Then it was just rolling from knees. Usual story here, particularly against the blue belts and more experienced white belts. Just trying to stay aware of where the gaps are and what I need to be doing, but it’s so hard as there are very few opportunities given to you. Having a pretty tender neck from Sunday didn’t help either, so the chokes were extra painful. I rolled with Craig, a white belt who’s been training a little while longer than me. Craig’s a slight guy so really has to work his technique, so it was a good opportunity for me to do the same. We were just rolling pretty lightly, just exchanging positions – it was pretty useful...cheers Craig. A few times, I brought on the strength, but managed to stop myself most of the time. One move I was particularly pleased with was an escape from x-side – I managed to start to try and secure half-guard, but as Craig pushed back to counter, I took his weight and rolled him the other way – just what Richard has been trying to get across to me for some time now. Cool…but whether it was a one off, or whether I could do it to a bigger opponent remains to be seen. For now, that I even felt the opportunity is enough. Still can’t get x-collar chokes though! And another mental note to self – what options have I got when trying to pass guard and the guy moves backwards into open or “X” guard – at the moment I just seem to sit there and think “what now?” Anyway, here's a few photos from Monday for you: (1&2) Si and Richard battle it out (3) Fraternal rolling with the Mckelvie brothers:-

No other training this week. Big Dean’s away with work. Si offered to come down and train, but it would most probably have been only him and me, which would be great for me in terms of 1 on 1 tuition but I don’t want to take Si’s time up when he really doesn’t have to. Much better for him to have some time at home with his new bairn. And for me for that matter… it is tough balancing training with being at home, but in the long run, I think I’m a whole lot more bearable at home when I’ve trained. It’s also good to have a break once in a while. I train pretty consistently and you do get these times when you just feel sooo damn tired and your aches and pains just don’t seem to go away…at these moments, a night off and an early night is a good option. It’s one of the most misunderstood things, recovery. I found out all about it on a course I did recently…I’m pretty certain I’ll talk about it another time, but part of it was all about diet, hydration, nutrition, and, importantly, recovery. Never underestimate how hard you need to work at recovery as well as active training.

With a Bank Holiday coming up I might see if Neil’s up for some rolling “Al Fresco”, but other than that, that’s me for this week.

I close this entry with some shocking news. I just heard that one of the guys at Tonbridge, a recently promoted Blue Belt, had a stroke on Sunday night. I hear he’s lost some movement on one side, although to what extent I’m not sure. Also not sure to what extent it’s permanent or not, but I hear he’s making good progress. I was rolling with him on Sunday and he’s a dedicated guy, around my age. Just shocking. Stuff like this always puts things into focus. Here’s sending positive thoughts for a quick and full recovery….