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It is 3 pm right now, around this time I start to get nervous about class. All of the things that can go “wrong” start playing in my head. I missed last Thursday because it was really smokey out and I didn’t feel right after I had my blood drawn. I would have been fine but I think it was also 100 degrees Fahrenheit again.

I have been using the treadmill a lot, doing HIIT walking and running for up to 30 minutes at a time. I am still pretty overweight (6’ , 275 lbs – down ~30 lbs since starting (4 months)) , so this is a good amount of movement in my opinion for now. 

I walked 4 minutes then ran 1 minute total to get my body moving before class. 

I have been getting partners that I don’t even know , which is not a bad thing because some of them are totally different than Charlie (the person i’ve partnered with the most in class)

Some people are more talkative, some tire out faster, some of them are smaller and some of them have a lot more energy than myself.

I watched a video about a form of Japanese Jiu Jitsu. It is very different from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. They have punching and kicking , deadly neck breaking, finger breaking, many things. Not as much grappling as BJJ. When the (bjj) content creator got on the ground though, he would dominate his opponents. 

I also was watching a video about a Japanese school for BJJ and the guys there are very flexible and agile on the ground, they make it look so easy.

7/20/2026 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Class 22

Teacher: Allie

Partner: Austin

Today, we started by one down in closed guard and the one sitting up. We were drilling breaking out of closed guard by standing:

1. Put your hands on the bottom person’s armpits or biceps.
2. Step up with one leg, then the other.
3. Put one knee on tailbone and the other to the side
4. Break out of closed guard.

The next sequence was similar:

1. Put hands on the bottom person’s armpits or biceps.
2. Step up with both legs.
3. Step forward with one leg.
4. Twist and break the guard opposite of the leg you step to their side with.

We practiced pigeon sweep , when the top person stands:

1. You bring knees together and down. Or you put your feet on their hips.
2. You grab outside of their feet. 
3. You push them backwards ( I had to grab their sleeve / arm to pull myself up as my partner fell back.)
4. In order to score in BJJ you must secure a position above them, so pull yourself up and over them.
5. You can back away and stand up if you want.

We did a stand up drill:

1. When they stand up in your closed guard put feet on their hips
2. Push them away and put foot on their chest and push them farther if they push in.
3. When they are pushed away , if they back up, you do a technical stand up (One leg on foot , post one hand on ground, push yourself up and keep hands in front of body/face to defend and back up.)

Then we did a knee and hand post on their body to get back into closed guard.

1. When the person stands up in your closed, you turn arms and legs to the side
2. If they come in and trap one leg in half-guard, you put the opposite knee up to their chest
3. You put one hand on their clavicle and one on their bicep.
4. You make space with the knee and arms and free the trapped foot.
5. Put the newly freed foot on their hip.
6. Pull them into closed guard or push them away and get other positions.

Lastly, we rolled 5 minutes down 5 minutes up. Austin pretty much crushed me. I started closed guard, and I completely went blank (I was exhausted) on what to even attempt. He told me not to reach with my arm at one point, but I wasn’t sure what it meant. 

I did a pigeon sweep one time and pulled myself up on top of him.

He pigeon swept me at least once. He broke my closed guard a bunch of times.

When I was on top, I tried to break his closed guard, and ended up in half guard 2-3 times. He would then knee and hand post on me and regain closed guard.

Austin did a few things that I forget or can’t currently comprehend, and was really good at applying what we learned. I need to remember to ask what they did sometimes after I lose a round.

I had to take a bunch of breaks today. I was sweating a lot and my knees were tired. The compression braces sort of make it hard to bend the knee into some of the moves, but I am getting used to it. I think my legs get tired faster with them on , but it doesn’t matter because I would rather protect the knees than get injured. Once, my knee got squeezed or flexed and I felt a bit of pain, but it went away quickly.

Today was a tough class. I am glad that I attended and learned many things.