Pass the toilet roll...

Really quiet week this one…only four of us training on Monday and three on Wednesday. C’mon guys – there’s plenty of you out there. Come train!

Anyway, Monday we covered some submission combinations from the mount. Richard started us off with the Ezekiel choke – a nasty little bastard that I’ve been caught with loads of times (usually by Big Dean). It was good to understand the mechanics of it. Then we looked at how this can be used to set up armbars, chokes, taking the back and all manner of other things. For me, it was all a bit beyond where I’m at, but the thing I took most from it was the mindset of not just setting up one option and investing all your effort into that one move. By doing this, if the move doesn’t come off, that’s it – it’s all you’ve got, game over. However, setting something up with two or three other possibilities always means that you’ve got several options open that you can switch between. Rather than get too bogged down in thought I spent a while practicing the movement for the armbar – I often get the position but can never finish it, so with some good pointers from the other guys I managed to iron out a few creases. It’s still not perfect, but slowly slowly…. One thing I really need to work on for this is my control – just need to develop some core strength.

Wednesday was just me, Si and Lee. We went through a reminder on keeping base in standing – a useful reminder ahead of the weekend. Then we worked on a bit of standing sparring. It was useful to do this with Lee, him being a big guy. I think I’ve worked out from this that I need to either be out of the way of my opponent or in really close – clinch range. At least at this clinch range, even if the other guy goes for a take-down, there’s a 50/50 chance that I can end up on top. I don’t want to be anywhere where the other guy can work a throw on me. So that was useful. We worked on guard for a bit – just positional training, which again, was a useful thing to do, re-capping the basics, then just rolling. Si had me tapping like a type-writer – I think nerves are getting the better of me and I was making my movements too big – just need to keep calm and go back to what I’ve been doing in recent weeks. Overall a really useful session – just to get a few things straight before Sunday.

Like I’ve said before, I’ve got no expectation. Most of the time I don’t think too much about it, but when I do, I’m bricking it. I know I’m gonna be really nervous on Sunday – it’s a real step into the unknown. As far as strategy goes, I’m just gonna start out for a clinch and go from there, work for the mount. I’m not too fussed about loads of positions, I just want to submit the opponent as soon as possible. I just need to try and stay calm and keep good technique and work with what the opponent gives me. I’m gonna be rolling with big guys. It’s going to be tough. But hey, whatever will be will be.

I’ll post Sunday night to let you know how I got on…..