Tonight was the 1st class at Dave's new academy in Pleasanton.  The mats were pretty crowded with about 20 guys showing up, about half of which I had trained with at my bjj club.  It was great to see a bunch of friendly faces.  All in all, pretty good for a first day with no marketing.  That says a lot about Dave's reputation - This is gonna grow fast.

We started the class with some standard warm-ups.  Light jogging, forward rolls, snake moves, jumping jacks and more.  After about 10 minutes, we moved on to Jiu-Jitsu 101.  This is a progression of moves that compose a simple cycle of mount escape, guard opening, guard passing, mount and repeat.  It allows each person to work the progression in a smooth flow.  As much as I had already done this, I still picked up some great little details, as follows:

• When mounting, keep upper body pressure on your opponent.
• When controlling from side control, face the legs to strengthen your posting leg base.
• In taking mount, control an elbow to enable a climb to high mount.
• When bridging to escape mount, use the off hand to drive a high underhook.

After working this sequence, Dave moved on to explain the 50/50 drill.  This is essentially isolation training a specific position and working with limited resistance.  The goal is for each person to gain confidence while working slow enough to notice the movements of their partner. 

With the drill explained, we worked two positions.  First was escaping mount.  Second was opening and passing the guard.  I love these drills and it always reminds me how far I have to go in this art.

To close the class Dave talked a bit about his philosophy and his idea that "Control is the ultimate expression of Jiu-Jitsu" really hit home with me.  Whenever I find myself flailing around trying to work a technique I'll remember that statement, slow down, and think.

Overall it was a big day.  I learned a lot and can see that a new door opened for me and my training partners.  There will be new techniques, a new philosophy, new challenging partners, and a new environment.  This will make all of us stronger - without a doubt. 

Looking foward to Thursday when we will cover side control...