Looks like RCJ Machado Pasadena is going to be my new base. What’s so great about the school is that its atmosphere reminds me very deeply of my school back home, Williamsburg Mixed Martial Arts Academy. Everyone is pleasant, polite, no ego on the mats when somebody gets submitted or humbled, we shake hands before and after a roll; I might be the only one that bows before and after a roll but that’s out of habit from WMMA, one which I don’t think I’d like to break.
Last night was my second class at RCJ but my first official class as a new registrant. Learned a good side control escape and got to drill with a fellow blue belt student who had trained at the Pasadena school for over 4 years. After drilling for a while, professor Roger Machado had me roll comfortably with a couple of his advanced white belts, who were both very solid students; one had amazing gi grips and strong long legs while the other student had great top position pressure and very scrambly. Both seemed very eager to test their skills against me. I even overheard professor reminding the tough white belts to relax. One of them bested me in a scramble for position, and so I got put on my back while he kept heavy pressure from side mount. Trying to apply the new escape technique that o was taught, I caught myself thinking mid attempt, giving my partner enough time to strangle me with my lapel. Feeling my ego trying to convince myself not to tap, I quickly ignored the ignorant voice and gave my partner a few quick firm taps. He put on an extraordinary choke hold, one that I’ve only experienced once when rolling with a brown belt at my old school.
It was humbling but I was very impressed. After the round we shook hands, i thanked him for his time, moved on to my next partner. The second advanced white belt was an older thicker bodied gentleman than the first and very strong. Immediately he went for spider guard with an incredibly strong grip on both my sleeves. Tough to break. But using his tight guard play, I was able to use weight pressure to flatten him out and gain side control, then eventually top mount where I slowly worked my grips for a cross choke while maintaining position. After a long moment of playing grips, he found an opening to sweep me, but his movement gave me an opening to get a deeper grip on his back collar while simultaneously grabbing the other side of his lapel to finish the choke from my back. After resetting positions, we basically repeated the actions and play from our first go-round; tight spider guard, weight pressure, side to top mount, but in the end, I finished with an armbar. Afterward, we shook hands, I thanked him, and the class came to an end.
I’m looking forward to more training at this dojo, seeing how it strongly reminds me of my old school, how well I’m getting along with the students, and how well I’m taking instruction from professor Machado.
