Road to the American Cup 2

Tonight's training was intense! We started the practice of with the usual wrestling type warm up and  then proceeded to do some grip-fighting excercises.

We went over a guardpass with some unique details that Marcos pointed out. For my game plan and style of BJJ which I am starting to call  Big Man Jiu-Jitsu, I was able to modify Marcos' technique to suit my body type. After repping the guard pass for a while we moved on to drilling.

We drilled the Morote Gari or double leg take down. The Morote Gari was my throw when I started Judo back in 2007, before the rule change after the 2008 Olympics. I love the Morote Gari, the power if the throw as well as the ability to completly pick your opponet off the ground and take and then bring them back with force and power. That is what Big Man Jiu-Jistu is about! We pulled out the crash pad and Team Yemaso put in serious work. Uke stood in a standard stance and Tore shoot in and took them down. We drilled non-stop for a minute and a half.  We cycled through our group until we each had a chance to drill twice. My lungs were on fire and my heart rate was through the roof, but I felt strong and powerful.

After that we hit the mats for some Newaza randori and rolled for about thirty to forty minutes. We bowed out to end class and then our usual crew of guys stayed after to get in a few more rounds of No-Gi Randori.

I feel strong and my game is slowly improving. I have been working on maintaning  guard and setting up sweeps to gain side control. I feel my guard game is improving greatly and I know I will bring a greatly improved game to the American Cup this year and I am hunting for a repeat Gold Medal.

OUUUUUSSSSS!!!!

Road to the American Cup

Sorry for not be able to write for a while.My school work had kept me busy, but we are in the middle of the semester and I am now able to write.


Due to my lack of funds I have not been able to compete as much as I projected I would for this year. The American Cup 2010 was my first Jiu-Jitsu tournament and I won gold as a white belt. I hope to repeat that success this year again at this years American Cup as a Blue Belt. This will be my first time competing as a Blue Belt so I am looking forward to the challenge of new competition at the higher level.

I have come very far in the last year in terms of not only technique but also strength, power, and mental fortitude. I have excellent training partners and feel I am in a even better position to win gold gain this year in not only my division but also in the absolute.