The support system that is Team Jiu Jitsu Fighter

With our sensei, Conan, in some strenuous training of his own with LPD, the class has relied this week on the teachings of and by each other. On Thursday I was fortunate enough to have the honor of leading the class in that day's teachings. But, as the Beatles once sang, "I get by with a little help from my friends." It was in my opinion a very productive class, and by no means did it go as smoothly as it did without the guidance of a few veterans of the Dojo. Sensei Dave and Jerad were there to lean on and I was very happy to see the return of Shawn to the class. Shawn went over sweeping from the bottom while Jerad pitched in and taught the class some of the finer points of achieving the Triangle Choke. To anyone given the opportunity to lead the class, please, do not be afraid to show what you have learned. Even though I am a fairly new yellow belt, I really felt as though I was giving good, sound advise. We had a handful of new guys in class and I really tried to cater the class to them. A few guys came in to learn the basics of Jiu Jitsu because they had an upcoming MMA fight. I thought, what would these guys be able to retain quickly if needed? So the basic closed guard position was what I came up with. We practiced from both top and bottom positions. You never know which side of the guard you are going to end up in, but you can dictate for how long you will be in the position. I do apologize to the vets of the class that have gone over this about 100 times already, but like Shihan says, "Do it once, good, now do it 3000 more times."

I figured that the class would be a lot of fun, and an unsuspecting class didn't realize I was taping. So in appreciation to everyone who helped teach the class, this is a short video of what we went over.

Conan, we can't wait for you to get back to teaching us, but know that we are following your lead and doing all we can to set each other up for success.