Tap #13

Class #20: Just Jack and I. He sweeps me a few times and gets me in a Baseball choke. Tap #13.

As a White Belt, I really need to work on:

• Mount escapes
• Side escapes
• Back escapes
• Guard passes
• Guard attacks

In that order. k

Taps #11 & 12

Class 19: Rolling with Instructor Purple Jack. He gets side control and says, "Don't give me that elbow; I'm just seconds away from an armbar." Then he arm bars me. Tap #11.

We roll again and he chokes me. Tap #12.

There was a new guy. Came in for his intro free first class. He had about 60 lbs on me. We rolled and I'm thinking like the Big Bad Wolf ... "My what a nice flimsy karate gi you have! Better to choke you with. "

I thought he would spaz and use his strength, but he didn't. And I gently as I could swept him a few times and made him tap three or four times. It's good rolling with lower belts than me because I encounter new situations like him trying to choke me from the bottom mount, or trying to choke me from inside my guard. And of course, all the while, inside my head the neon sign is flashing, "PBS PBS Position before Submission!!"

Anyway, I hope he wasn't too frustrated and does come back. If not, c'est la vie.

Speaking of frustration. I thought I was gaining ground on White Patrick but last time I rolled with him, same deal: I kept up with him, stayed level, with slight advantage to him. Here's the story on White Patrick: we started about the same time. He's younger, stronger and faster. I know a little more and I try to be more efficient.

Here's what usually happens: he gets dominant position on me and can't tap me because he doesn't know any subs or doesn't know them well enough to get through my defenses. He'll get side control on me, then mount and we'll stalemate there. Or his speed will get him to my Back and he can't sub me through my defenses.

I try to train once maybe twice a week. What I just found out was that he comes five times a week. So he should be dominating me but he's not. So I don't feel so bad anymore.

I wholly believe in the "Escalator theory" of BJJ. If you start now, you've just got on the escalator and all those who got on before you are higher and better and will sub you. That's the fact. My little bro was Blue belt when I started 10 years. I stopped after about six months, but he stopped and started and stopped and started and just recently got his Brown belt. I just recently got back into it.

But it's the journey and I feel fit and I like the rolling.

Tap #10

Class #17: Late for class, thought I'd miss only the warm-ups, but ended up I was the only show. So got private lesson from Black Ernie and Purple Jack. Lesson was really good and customized because B.E. asked me, "What's your best Guard Pass, then what do you do in Side, then what do you do in Mount, etc."

It really fixed a few holes in my game. In the passing Guard, I'm successful with the wrapping the knees and getting past but get stuck if they block my hips with their hands and if they sit up. Solution: Lift their knees, put my knee under them to keep them elevated, my head needs to move up their body; to counter the hand block, my elbow in their armpit and circle up to their head.

Rolling with Purple Jack, he gets a double leg pass on me; side then mount; I can't escape and but he can't sub me either: I defend choke and all arm bar attempts; he gets me on the back and same deal - defend chokes and arm bar, and finally gets an arm bar. Tap #10. Feels he expended more energy then necessary.

Also, in this journey/process of Bjj, I'm definitely in the acquisition of DVDs/books phase, which I have read about in blogs and which I'm sure is very familiar to people getting into Bjj. Ha.

Tap #9

Class #16: Rolling with Instructor Purple Jack. He gets North-South on me and pulls me up by pants onto my back. I defend chokes; he gets my arm and switches to arm bar; I defend by giving him the elbow rather than the arm, but eventually he muscles it another angle before I can attempt the escape (which i need to review.) Tap #9.

Also, need to review Side escapes. White Patrick muscling me around and passing my guard and getting to side at will and when I had side, I couldn't hold that position.

Review: Guard and passing guard.

Roy Harris says

as a beginner, I should be spending 50%-80% of my time on these four areas for the first five years:

• Sidemount escapes
• Guard control
• Guard passing
• Sidemount control

"To begin your journey, focus on learning how to escape

from inferior positions and control from your guard. Don’t

worry about the submissions. They will come in time."

- Roy Harris

Tap #8

Class #15: I just can't win: Frustrated with rolling with higher belts, but when I roll with lower Whites, it was just not that satisfying beating up on them. I just can't win.

This class, neither White Patrick or Blue Scott was there. They are the closest in skills to me; that's why they like to roll with me, I guess. Instead, there were two lower Whites.

Class notes: We worked on Pulling Guard and going to Palm up/down chokes and Palm up/up chokes from the Guard.

Details: Pulling Guard - right side, same collar grip, other hand, under elbow sleeve grip; big right step, PAST HIS KNEE; curl my other knee as I fall back and close Guard.

on the choke: swivel to right, get deep, deep, cross collar grip (my ELBOW DOWN, AGAINST HIS CHEST); swivel the other way and grip over shoulder, try to connect my hands.

Rolling: so rolling with the lower Whites, they pull Guard because we just worked on that. I easily pass by wrapping both their legs, side, then mount; same deal with the other White who's a virgin (this being his first class). When I get top mount, he defends the chokes well and I get ready to sit down and for the arm bar when time expires and I let out a loud, "Ahhhh mann" of disappointment.

Well at least with the lower Whites, I can track my progress.

With Purple Jack: I'm going to keep track of sweeps now because Jack sweeps me about four times in every roll: goes like this, sweep; we reset. Sweep. Repeat. He says he's going to sweep, then does. He's got long legs, and gets his hooks in; or he controls my sleeves and kicks out a knee. I have to constantly defend the hooks and the sleeve control at the same time; also watch my base and posture - keeping it not too high or too low.

Even so, he gets me in a Brabo choke, i think, from Side but my fingers are trapped and I tap before he can finish the sub because my fingers are smashed as they are and I don't want to injure them any worse. Tap #8 and total sweeps #12.

Also, I've been thinking of trying my "game" plan: so I'll pull and break posture and hold tight like I'm gonna Rubber Guard (if i was flexible enough); hold on to left sleeve; when he pulls back, go for the Hip Bump Sweep, which I've never been able to pull off yet.

I think it'll work for Blues and lower. We'll see. But I've got to start developing my "game" as Roy Dean says.

Tap #6 & #7

Class #14. Just Purple Jack and me. Jack really wants me to bring a notebook and take notes, but I keep forgetting. So I'll jot some stuff here. In class we worked on: 1. Scissor Sweep from guard to mount to the armbar; failed Scissor Sweep to arm bar.

Key details: in the Triangle, getting tight and finding that sweet spot of his shoulder bone; 2. on the Scissor Sweep, I had learned to pull the guy with the cross collar grip -- that makes him light just before I sweep with the legs; Jack says to scoot out, away, then sit up with the grip and fall back down; as I'm falling, I'll bring him to me. Then do the leg motion. 3. Also, it's not a Scissor, he says; more a kicking/stamping.

On to rolling: Jack gets me in a triangle (he loves to do that); left arm half tucked in and caught; right arm is in the triangle; I'm defending well, but can't quite get the angle for the escape; then I try to brace that right hand, going for the collar grip to pressure his neck; but he straightens that arm and gets the armbar. Tap #6.

Toward the end of class, I get his back and he let me try a choke, saying I have to decide collar or rear naked because I was kind of trying both, but I go for the Rear Naked because I just heard Eddie Bravo talking about how awesome Marcelo Garcia's rear naked choke was and how one must practice the Squeeze. Of course, I couldn't quite finish and gave up because I was using too much strength.

We reset and he got my back and got me in kind of collar crucifix and I tapped. Tap #7. But I think about it and it was almost a revenge ego sub because I almost got him it that rear naked. But it proves that Purple Jack is human.

Tap #5

Against Blue Scott again. I'm in his guard and he's trying to arm bar my right arm, and I'm defending well and I have the correct angle so he can't finish, but both my arms are inside his legs. He topples me over and I escape my right arm. Unfortunately, my left arm is caught under his groin; he's riding it like a horse and I've never really seen an escape for this armbar, and I give it a second, then tap. #5.

Taps #3 & #4

Belt: White

At class #10, two months into my Bjj journey. I rolled with Purple Jack. He gets me in a triangle. I escape. He gets me in another triangle, and I've got my trapped front arm on his neck, and we have to restart because we're too close to some others rolling nearby.

When we restart, his triangle is a little tighter and I can't quite get my escape in time. Tap #3. And I've been thinking since that class ended, maybe I could have gotten a choke with my forearm on his neck and stacking him with my other hand on his belt. Hmmn. Maybe. Is that possible? A choke when you're caught in a triangle?

Same class, and I roll with new guy, Blue Scott. He's got Samba experience and skills, and he's a Blue, and he trains MMA. I trap his knees and try to pass but my heads up there near him and he goes for a Guillotine choke, which I escape improperly, luckily.

He gets me in an arm bar from his guard; I escape. He gets my mount, goes for a choke, then transitions into an arm bar and I can't quite remember the second half of the escape. I tap. Tap #4.

Tap #2

Status: White.

At my fourth or fifth class, a new guy, White Pat, comes in. He works out here, but this is his first Bjj class. It's true what they say: you usually get hurt with the Whites. Higher belts can hurt you, but won't. Whites have no control, no knowledge and will end up hurting you.

We rolled and and I end up reversing White Pat a couple of times but he's all strength and no technique and he ends up bruising the hell out of me. He stands my in guard, squeezes my biceps for control, crushes my biceps with his knees.

He tries a choke and ends up squeezing, squeezing my chin, rather than getting under my neck. Towards the end, he's in side control and smothering me and I'm exhausted and I tap.

Tap #1

Tap #1

Belt: White.

Summer 2010. I'm visiting my little bro, the Brown belt in San Diego, and he takes me to train at his regular Friday night class. It's taught by instructor Leticia, who I later find is a world champion, and oh, there's a photo of her in my copy of Saulo's book, Jiu Jitsu University.

Anyway, it's a traditional, old school class, meaning they're warm-ups and post-warm-downs are killers. I do the drills with my little bro, and roll with him. He goes easy on me. Then I roll with another White, and hold my own, even though I've only been to a couple classes back home.

But eventually, she gets me in a stupid, simple, arm bar from her guard and I tap. Tap #1.

Intro

I just saw a Keith Owen video yesterday where he says the road to a Black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is paved by not submitting people, but by tapping 10,000 times.

I started Bjj in Beverly Hills. I received my one stripe as White belt after a couple months, then I hurt my knee, moved, got married, got a mortgage, had two kids, and forgot all about Bjj.

Flash forward 10 years: my little bro, who first introduced me to Bjj, just got his Brown belt. This got me thinking: I should get back into it. Then I discovered Saulo Riberio, Roy Dean, "flow" of Bjj, and 10,000 taps concept.

I told my current instructor, Purple Jack, about it and he said it's just another way to measure "mat time." Not that I want to be a Black; I like being a White. Purple Jack said the same, saying his best times were as White because he had "no responsibilities." Afterwards, he had to represent the Blue and now the Purple and couldn't just let any ole lower belt submit him.

I don't wholly agree. That's his ego talking. Hey, if a lower belt submits me, then he deserves, earned the submission.

Anyway, here are my taps ...