This morning I was rolling with one of the Samurai. He's the one who started about the same time I did. He was on top, and set me up for an armbar. He had difficulty keeping me rolling out of bottom from side control, and moved fast. He accidentally drove his elbow into my ear, rolled back to open my arm up. I didn't let go of my arm defense, so my arm was bent. He tried to get his big foot into the little space there was between my arms, and shortly after the strike to my ear I felt extreme pain as his ankle struck my nose from the front. There was no bleeding, although my nose is now bruising up a bit. We stopped and I checked myself out. I have been practicing rolling through these kinds of strikes, which happen all the time when you roll fast, but today I wasn't in the mood.
FC would always say I couldn't take a punch. Of course, he made this assessment by punching me in the most compromising of places. During sex, punch away, I'm ready for you. Or in the ring (although I don't like MMA classes that much), bring it on. The first time FC did his evaluation was when we were changing in the locker room of his gym, in one of those super huge locker rooms that seem to exist in every gym on the west coast. I was exhausted after a lot of squats, and was putting on my shorts slowly. He struck me with a really hard punch to the ribs, and I said "OWWW". I told the other samurai this and they agreed it is a funny way to make that assessment. We joke about it a lot.
The other Samurai, the one who has competed several times and who will undoubtedly bring our competition team's win curve up (hopefully enough to counterbalance my undoubtedly sucky performance), has coached me to roll rougher. He is concerned that in a competition fight, when my opponents will not be nice or concerned with my well-being, I will choke the clutch, so to speak. So last night I rolled with a guest at the school, someone my level who comes from a school of guys who are pretty aggressive. I chose to roll as if I was in a tournament. I tapped him in a few minutes. Took his back from full guard, and tapped him with double collar choke. My teacher asked me this morning how many points I scored on him before that. The answer was 10 to his 0. I have been unconcerned with my roughness in tournament. I played on a rugby team where you get lightly concussed on a regular basis, and then have to get on your feet and drive forward anyway. I can deal. So I brought it to this guy last night and didn't let up.
What I didn't tell the Samurai was that the last time I saw FC I kicked his ass as payback for his punching remark. It was at his MMA gym. We rolled with gi, because I told him if I was afraid to take a punch he was equally afraid of getting his ass kicked with a gi on. We sparred from standing. I pulled jumping guard, where you grab one sleeve, one collar, and jump at them diagonally, wrapping your legs around their back (far above their hips). I hit this, and I leaned back with all my weight. However he wasn't ready for it and just fell on top of me. So instead of my awesome follow up breakdance sweep and submission, we just plopped down, he in my full guard. He drove his elbow into my throat, because we love each other, and I just pushed his arm to his side, at the same time shifting so that I could shimmy on his back, my legs still wrapped around him. At this point unless you've been training in a gi for a long time, or are phenomenally stronger than me, you are toast. FC was toast. I thought of it like that as I took his back. It was like a reward for eleven months of hard work. It was candy. It was him being owned. Mine. But I knew he usually had surprises, so I went for the easy choke. Grabbed his collar around his neck, with the other hand went under his arm and behind his head. I got both hooks in as I pulled him back and I pulled his collar, lifting my hips up. I didn't play-pull. I pulled to take him out. He didn't tap, and I thought asshole just tap already you aren't going anywhere. And he didn't tap more. I relaxed a tad and he had gone limp. I let go immediately and took his mouthguard out. He had passed out in about two seconds of a rear collar choke. He wheezed and coughed and woke up in a few seconds. He looked at me and smiled, the smile you give someone when you wake up from being put to sleep. Ha ha what a funny joke, covering up holy shit there was nothing I could do about that.
And that was the last time I saw him. There was really nothing more for us after that.
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