When your worst fear aint so bad...

I got choked out tonight. A second stripe white belt choked me from in my guard. It happened pretty fast, and I didn't react properly at all. He had both hands occupied for the choke, so I should have used my legs and swept him, but I panicked a little and pulled him in tighter with my legs- big mistake. Looking back on it now I should have kicked his base out from underneath him and rolled myself up into a mount. I didn't do that though, he just surprised me. It was a forearm choke- he had the blade of his forearm across my neck, with his elbow on the mat and had his other hand applying pressure at his wrist.  I should have broken his base on the elbow side and rolled him, but instead I tried to control him with my guard, next thing I know I felt a headrush, and then a loud noise as I came back out of it.
It wasn't so bad being choked out, but next time I'll have a better plan to get out of it. Rookie choke, and a rookie mistake to get caught by it.

The rest of class was Americana, Armbar, Kimura from side control. Pretty standard stuff and this isn't my first time through the curriculum. I was pleased to see one of my favorite coaches return to instruct both the Fundamentals, and Intermediate classes. I inquired about setting appointments for private sessions and he told me to just get in touch and we can meet up to roll. He is a purple belt, and purple belt sessions go for $70 an hour. his price? Free.

I think I'll take him up on it!

Good news was that I was able to successfully employ a halfguard escape learned from my rubberguard book. This, along with some very helpful instruction from classmates helped me gain some confidence in my ability to escape from that position. One key is to get up on my side, and another it to make sure my top shoulder is in front of my bottom shoulder creating a stable base to hip out from. Using my hands to push off, preferably from his arm, or knee.

From the rubberguard book I learned to walk around with my feet and hook a leg to get halfguard and destroy their base for a sweep.

It all works, just need to keep practicing to find what works best for me.