Guro is going to start teaching at the UFC Gym in Rosemead

I showed up to Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) training at 10:30, but Guro and I played "tag" for an hour trying to look for a new student named Matt (obviously not to be confused with my long time homie, Matt). A million people at the park for Memorial Day complicates finding someone.

GURO: I totally forgot about the Memorial Day holiday.

Now that's a shocker since Guro's a former Marine and so this is supposed to be his type of holiday.

We had to relocate to the Greek Theater. Training went well. Matt works in security and has a Martial Arts background (i.e. Boxing). And for my own boring reference:

• We drilled the X-pattern with sticks.
• Then did angles of attack 1-5 with knives, checking each angle with the empty hand first and then slicing it. (Mental note: Don't cross hands when one has a knife.)
• Countering angle 1 into a shoulder break (trankada cirriculum).

Then the majority of class was countering the counter of the shoulder break:

• Push (pak) them off as soon as they block my knife (angle 1) before they can turn it into a shoulder break.
• Push them off when I get their back as soon as they almost lock in the shoulder break, simultaneously "bow-and-arrowing" my knife across their throat.
• Hip-bumping them off, thus disrupting their balance, as soon as they almost lock in the shoulder break.
• Hip bump (as described previously) with sweep.
• Align hip to hip, and bend my knee into the rear of their knee to make them kneel.
• Use their momentum to - before they completely counter my knife into their shoulder break - counter it into a knife-lock against their wrist.
• Before they can lock in the shoulder break, grab the bottom of their tricep and compress their arm into a sort of figure-4 lock. Simple leverage of twisting my hip gives the illusion of throwing them.
• And my favorite: just kick their groin from behind as soon as I get their back when they go for the shoulder break.

End boring reference. Oh, and Guro is going to start teaching at the UFC Gym in Rosemead.

I stayed extra longer at the gym to work out both my upper and lower body since my gym membership expires tomorrow and I'll need to wait a few days before renewing it.