Team Lloyd Irvin Comin’ for No Gi Worlds (last major practice tonight)

Last night brought another blistering combat gold jiu jitsu class in preparation for the No Gi world championships in California on Sunday.

Class began with Master Lloyd separating us into four groups for the guard passing game.  There was a catch, though: the No Gi worlds competitors chosen to start at the bottom (with a goal of either sweeping or submitting the top person) would remain on the mat the entire time, even if the top person passed guard.

After this came sparring, with all of us partnering up.  I was out there with KG the entire time, with neither one of us gaining a submission, but he definitely had the advantage, getting my back a few times, trying desperately to sink in the rear naked choke.

Then the real fun started as Master Lloyd had the vast majority of the class sit in the stands as he’d call out people to spar for about a minute with the rest of us in the stands cheering on.  The matches started on the feet and were exciting, especially at the higher levels (JT Torres and DJ Jackson had an awesome battle).

Master Lloyd called me to the floor for a match-up, and right as it began I got a single leg takedown and ended up right in a guillotine.

There were probably forty seconds remaining on the clock and I was thinking that I wouldn’t tap and would just go to sleep if worse came to worst.  So the guillotine was on, tight, and Master Lloyd offered instructions to us both.

“Lift your butt up David,” he said, so I did and my position was improved.  I heard Master Lloyd say “fifteen seconds,” and wasn’t sure if I’d make it through.  At what was probably the five second mark, on the edge of consciousness, I could feel the grip loosen ever so slightly and I was able to force my head out with maybe a second to go.  Master Lloyd called time and I got up and walked back to the bleachers.

The class ended with a big, LOUD team huddle.

Tonight’s the last intense advanced class before No Gi worlds on Sunday.

I’ve seen how hard FamLI’s been training and it’s going to pay off with a Team Lloyd Irvin gold rush in California on November 7.

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