Pay attention to 5:54 where Yip passes and gets KOB. See how MG escapes and sweeps. I get into that position a lot with Danny.

Watch 3:11 single x-guard to back take

Learning from your mistakes

In order to succeed I must fail hard. I think I am too much of a perfectionist at times. I am always worried about the impression I give off to other people. I think about it so much it has hindered me in many ways, especially socially. In order to cope with this anxiety I started to develop a behavior where I avoid that which I am afraid of. I fear because I do not know. If I keep going down this road I will eventually make my own bed. Instead now I see that our beliefs are really all in our heads. You assume one thing about people yet more than likely they don't even care because everyone has their own issues. No one is perfect and without worry. Instead of creating panic in my mind and avoiding that situation in the future I need to embrace it and take it for what it is. I won't improve unless I am able to change the outcome of it. This can only happen by thinking about what happened and looking for a way to improve. It's a time to learn every time I do not get the results I want. Life is about learning and becoming wiser with age so I need to embrace the good and the bad.

Actually jiu-jitsu has made me realized I can overcome any obstacles placed in front of me. When I first began bjj I developed a guard and I became comfortable playing it. I did not like working on my top game because I was horrible at it. I would get swept, submitted, and manipulated like a rag doll so I always played guard and "avoided" playing a top game at all cost. As I did more competitions I realized I needed to be good at both guard and passing in order to be a complete grappler. This has led me to force myself to work on my top game. In the beginning I hated it because I made so many mistakes but I kept forcing myself to stay on top. Now I am actually seeing results and I can see that I am improving and will continue to improve as long as I keep making mistakes and learning from it. Instead of running away and avoiding it I am getting good at it and I am enjoying it.

Life is a lot like bjj. If I don't try to learn from my mistakes and improve my position I will never be able to better myself. If I keep avoiding what I am unfamiliar with I will never enjoy the benefits of the unknown. As a result of bjj I can see that correlation now. Practice and perseverance will evolve you into a more competent and complete individual. I actually pick things up pretty well when I decide to dive head first into whatever I am tackling.

I am only hurting myself if I avoid taking on the unknown. This creates fear. I need to change the way my mind is wired like when I decided to stop playing guard and focus on the top.

Eating Right

Amazing breakdown of Passing the Guard



- passing butterfly
- passing spider
- passing lasso

It's all about creating the angle and getting the legs to one side, killing the legs so the opponent can not turn into me.

SMASH THE GUARD

I need to focus my efforts on passing the guard and understanding it. Need to work on cardio in order to go the distance. I need to pace myself in tournaments so I don't expend all my energy at once.

Danny: GUARD PASS *********************************************

Grab a fistful of your opponent's left pants and punch it to the ground then fall on top of it with his left leg between my knees. I should have opponent's right leg on top of my left shoulder and my left hand should be gripping the opponent's opposite lapel collar. Make sure my weight is forward smashing my opponent so no space is created and that I am still controlling his pinned down leg with my right hand. Now I left go of his pant leg and I use my right arm and hug around his shoulder in order to cross face my opponent. Now break my hips to the left to free my left leg, release opponent's collar with my left and hold the pant of my opponent's outside left leg. Finally push the opponent's leg to the opposite side of me while crushing his face with my shoulder and get into side control.


Danny: GUARD RETENTION *********************************************

-When someone attempts to pass my guard I can push the head

-When someone attempts to pass my guard I can bring my leg in for the lasso and recompose my guard


Observation: *****************************************************

Mendes brother will get their arm around their opponent's neck with right hand and the opponent will try to recompose their guard. Mendes brother gets into like a tripod and works his way around their legs to the side. The use of the left hand controlling one of the opponent's legs also helps. He also goes into north south at times to escape the opponent's legs completely. I saw he kept going for the knee on the belly like Danny.

FBJJF Championship (Kississimee)

This past weekend I competed in the Florida State Championships. I lost about 5 lbs of weight weighing in at 137 without the gi and 141 with the gi. I won my first match but lost my second match. Much of it had to do with the fact that I was fighting on an empty stomach and I was not as hydrated as I should have been. After the first match I started to get dizzy and I had to sit down to recompose myself. When I got ready for the second match I was still exhausted. I went the second match knowing I would probably lose due to the condition I was in. From now on I will not cut weight in order to compete. I barely have any body fat so I have no reserves for fat so that translates to my body not being able to burn the necessary energy it needs in order for it to operate if I don't eat. My metabolism is so high it burns through whatever I intake quickly so the next time I compete I need to carb up and stay hydrated so I have something to convert to energy. It was a bad decision on my part to cut weight but at the same time I learned a great deal about dieting and healthy foods and what I did right/ wrong, etc. This ordeal really took a toll on my body as I am not 100% back to my self prior to cutting in terms of strength.