NEW SCHEDULE!
We’re excited to announce the addition of two evening No Gi classes and one additional evening Fundamentals class. We have been wanting to add evening No Gi classes for a while, but didn’t want to sacrifice any of the Fundamentals or Advanced Gi classes. We hope you can all make it to more/additional classes! The new weekly schedule is as follows:
HYGIENE
We’ve been a little lax with this recently so I am now making it mandatory that sandals/flip-flops must be worn any time you step off the mats. This is a requirement for training. If you don’t have flip-flops, you cannot train. If you accidentally step off the mats without wearing your flip-flops, you will need to sanitize your feet before stepping back on the mats. As an academy we do a lot to keep the surfaces of our gym clean, and we ask that students also do as much as they can to help protect their training partners from infection. In addition to wearing flip-flops, you must have freshly laundered training gear, trim finger and toenails, and no open sores/rashes. If you have any questions or concerns about these rules/guidelines, please reach out to me.
GUEST INSTRUCTOR SERIES, VOL. III
Carsten Carlsen of Renzo Gracie Des Moines will be teaching a No Gi Octopus Guard clinic THIS Friday, October 20th in lieu of our regular Fundamentals and Competition Class, from 6 P.M. to 8 P.M. This event is FREE! to all Sanctuary and RGA Des Moines members. Non-members will pay the standard $25 drop-in fee. Carsten is a great guy that has been to several of our Open Mats and No Gi classes and truly has some of the most beautiful, efficient, effective, and strong Jiu-Jitsu I’ve ever felt.
I’m really excited for this clinic and really grateful that Carsten is making the trip to share his Jiu-Jitsu with us.
Fundamentals: the last two weeks in Fundamentals we spent studying the Kimura from various positions and then moving on to studying a progression from Half Guard to Side Control to Gift Wrap & the Back, and also the Katagatame (Head & Arm Choke) submission. For the Kimura series we learned how to isolate and attack the arm from the Closed Guard and Side Control position, respectively. We also learned a basic Omoplata and Escapes from the Closed Guard. The following week we drilled a progression taking us from Half Guard to Side Control by way of the Knee Cut pass, utilizing the Double Underhooks to turn our partner in order to expose their back to enter into the Gift Wrap position. We studied both taking the back and finishing the Katagatame choke from the Gift Wrap position. On the last day in the cycle we studied escaping the Back by switching sides, escaping our hips, and finishing with a Single Leg reversal.
Advanced: in Advanced class these last two weeks we studied the passing the De La Riva guard by underhooking our partners De La Riva hook and executing a variation of the Leg Weave (or Smash) pass. The following week we drilled taking the Back from Turtle, finishing the Clock Choke, and jumping over to the Bow & Arrow Choke when our partner defends.
No Gi: in No Gi we drilled the Arm-In Guillotine transitioning to the D’Arce Choke – that is also part & parcel of our Gi Fundamentals curriculum, and the following week we studied the K Guard including the primary attack of entering into Backside 50/50 and attacking the Heel Hook as well as transitioning to X Guard and 70/30, respectively, when our partner defends the Backside 50/50 entry.
The first week in Kids’ Class we worked on the Kimura submission from both Closed Guard and Mount.Once you understand the end point of a position, it can be easier to find a path there. This is why both instruction and experimentation are important in Jiu-Jitsu.
The following week we worked on getting back to Guard from bottom Side Control and also on escaping the Back. We reinforced what we learned by doing positional drills from Side Control and Back position. Learning how to defend yourself and get out of uncomfortable positions in Jiu-Jitsu is hard work, but it is an important element of training.
The kids did a great job exercising control and communicating with their partners. We also talked about different levels of being assertive when tapping and why that is important. Etiquette in the gym is important. A lot of rules at the gym, like respecting the tap or wearing footwear when you aren’t on the mat, are for our safety. Please reach out if you have any questions or haven’t seen the gym etiquette. This is a great topic to reinforce at home.
Congratulations to Gabe, River, Ryanna, and Felix for earning their next belt. They all enjoy the game, have a great attitude, and work hard during class. Special shout out to the twins for studying and learning outside of class! Congratulations to Hazel, Anna, Miles, Toree, Netta, Ramiro, and Esmay for earning their next stripe. While stripes and belts aren’t the reason we train, it feels good to recognize everyone’s progress.