Tuesday Night Class: Epic Roll

Went to class last night and had a really good time. We started off with a lengthy warmup (jogging, side skips, running backwards, duckwalks, spidermans, shrimps, and slugs). We then did the "swimming" drill and drilled a couple of takedowns. We then reviewed a little armbar defense and then we rolled. I was a bit tired last night, so I decided in advance that one roll was going to be it for me. But, what a roll it ended up being.
I rolled with Tony, who, as I have mentioned in previous posts, outweighs me by 50+ pounds. It was gi night. We started off on knees and I pulled guard. He pulled the tail of my gi up and attempted the "baseball bat" choke which I was able to evade. I then grabbed his gi and pulled it up and over his head, in an attempt to both impair his vision and his ability to breathe.
He passed into side control and tried to mount me but I was able to transition instead into half guard. At that point, his gi is still over his head. I began to attack his left shoulder, working to try to lock in a kimura. Tony has very flexible shoulders, so the kimura wasn't doing much to him. He finally yanked the gi off his head (at this point the gi top came completely off) and slipped out of my half-guard and back into mount. I bucked and turned and inadverantly gave him my back.

He then tried to work an arm under my chin to set up for the rear naked choke. I grabbed his wrist and blocked his other arm. I was then able to turn into him and recompose half-guard. We then jockeyed for position for awhile. He finally got hold of my head and began to try for a guillotine choke. I tried posting up on a leg to take some of the pressure off, which was a fatal mistake. He swept me at that point and really was able to sink in the choke. I quickly evaluated the situation, realized there was really no way out and tapped.

Eleven and a half minutes had passed, which was a LONG roll (at least for me). Although I didn't "win", I more than held my own with a bigger, heavier, stronger opponent for a long time. That, supposedly, is what BJJ is all about, so I am very pleased. Little victories! Roll on.