GUEST INSTRUCTOR SERIES VOL. 2
This week I announced the latest in our Guest Instructor Series. We’re really excited to announce that Matt Morin of Freeform Jiu-Jitsu in Milwaukee will be teaching a Double Sleeve Guard Clinic on August 11th at 6:00 P.M., in lieu of the Fundamentals and Advanced class that evening. Matt was kind and gracious enough to offer to teach this clinic on a donation basis. All donations will go to the Dane County Humane Society (DCHS). This clinic is completely free to all Sanctuary and Freeform members, with a donation encouraged (you can donate as little as $5!) but not required. Non-members will be required to make a $25 minimum donation to the DCHS. Sanctuary will be matching up to $500 in donations.
I will be announcing this to the point of being annoying, but we would really like to pack the mats for these events and show some love to the instructors who are coming out to share their Jiu-Jitsu with us.
For this clinic, you will need to register beforehand here. Again, if you are a member, a donation is not required but registering for the clinic is … so sign up sooner rather than later! I really hope to see all of you there!
WOMEN’S OPEN MAT
Every third Sunday of the month we hold a Women’s Open Mat. This last Sunday we had ten women on the mats from three different academies. This is something that we’d like to see grow and flourish, so spread the word to your friends at other academies. This event is open to all teams and affiliations and is completely free. The next Women’s Open Mat will be on August 20th!
JIU-JITSU 101
We started our first Jiu-Jitsu 101 program during the first week of July. This program is a four week course that is designed to get all participants fully acclimated to the movements, positions, concepts, and techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the ground up.
I want to continually remind everyone that this is completely FREE! to all members, and you can jump in at anytime and take away valuable information that will greatly aid your progress in Jiu-Jitsu. I strongly recommend that all members who have been training for less than 6 months attend this course. We will be running this program again in August, so spread the word!
Fundamentals: continuing our study of Half Guard, on Monday we worked on clearing the knee shield and getting our partners back on the mat so we can achieve head and arm control and pass using the Tripod to 3/4 Mount to Mount. On Wednesday we studied switching our own hips to prevent the replacement of the knee shield, moving to 3/4 Mount from the hip switch, and passing to Mount when our partner frames our hips. On Friday we learned a modified version of the hip switch, planting our hand on the outside of our partners body instead of hugging the head and passing by extracting our leg or going to 3/4 Mount should our partner defend. In all of these variations, the goal is to systematically and linearly defeat the knee shield, remove our knee, and then our ankle thus passing the Half Guard.
Advanced: in our Advanced Classes this week we reviewed the techniques taught by Joao Miyao in his seminar the previous weekend. We studied an easy Baratoplata entry with an emphasis on the finishing mechanics, a Baratoplata from the Sleeve Drag in Closed Guard, a Baratoplata transition from when our partner defends the Armlock, a Baratoplata from when our partner is attacking the Double Under from Open Guard, and finally a Baratoplata entry from a modified Lapel Lasso position.
No Gi: this week in No Gi we studied attacking the Outside Heel Hook from the Single Leg X position, transitioning to outside Ashi Garami, rolling through, and attacking the Knee Bar or Calf Slicer when our partner more adequately defends.
This week in kids’ class we tested our cognitive load by stringing together some familiar warm-ups. The kids did great! We also engaged drills that emphasized the power of the underhook, acting decisively, and controlling our partner from standing. We continued to study the Half Guard position with an emphasis on controlling the hips and passing the knee shield.
Huge shout out to Charlie for earning his next stripe and to Lena for leveling up her belt. Well deserved!