Judo, 6/24/15

Tonight we worked on chokes and joint locks from the yellow, orange, and green belt requirements.

Hadake jime - Rear naked choke. This one's easy. Tonight we worked on a variation I don't normally do, with a different grip and different angle.

Koshi jime - Hip choke. This is sort of like a clock choke, and I was getting it better than I did last time we drilled it. I need to remember to keep my non-gripping arm close to uke's neck.

Juji gatame - Cross arm body lock. Another one I've had some experience with. I need to remember to scoot in close to uke's shoulder, glue his arm to my chest, and squeeze my legs together during the arm bar.

Tsukikomi jime - Thrust choke. This is a new one for me, and for an orange belt choke, it was a little challenging. It's a collar choke with both hands are on the same side. I'm not sure why it's included in the curriculum, as it's ridiculously easy to escape, and the black belt working with us tonight said it won't work against anyone higher than a white belt. In any case, I need to work on it more.

Sode garuma jime - Sleeve wheel choke. It's the same as BJJ's Ezekiel choke. Black belt's tip: start with both hands facing each other - turning the hands finished the choke easily.

Ude garami - Entangled arm lock. It looks like this can be in either direction - like an Americana or Kimura. We practiced the Kimura variation from the bottom as well as the side mount.

Nami juji jime - Normal cross choke. Again, one I've done for a while.

Ude gatame - Arm or shoulder arm lock. Sort of like juji gatame but without turning uke over.

Lastly, we rolled. My first round was with the same yellow belt I rolled with last week. I submitted him once with an Americana, and nearly got him to tap from a diaphragm choke (squeezing the air out of him with my tight closed guard). Between pressure on his abdomen, and collar choke attacks, I kept him pretty busy.

My last round was with the black belt that worked with the yellow belt and me tonight. I tapped a lot. I did pass his open guard a couple of times, but he was undoubtedly dialing it back for my sake.

Another good workout. My left shoulder has been hurting every time I leave class. The kind of pain you'd expect from not tapping to an Americana. But I do tap, early and often, so as not to take chances on injury. I don't know what the deal is, maybe I just need to get conditioned to this stuff again, or maybe it's injury-prone now. Turning 40 hasn't been a picnic!