ATM hit its sixth week in a row today. That streak may or may not be broken next weekend, with the Memorial Day holiday and all. Then again, there's a halfway decent chance that I'll take the early class on Monday (if its available). Lindsey said tonight that the Monday evening class will be an open mat, probably starting around 5 p.m.
The instructional part of today's class had us working on three different counters to the single leg. The first was the turn and kick counter. The second was the figure four lock and stomp, where you reach into the space between his arm and your leg with your inside arm (all the while stiff-arming the back of the guy's head with the far arm). Hook your inside arm on the back of the wrist of your stiff-arming arm and, with that lock intact, stomp down with your trapped leg as you pull up with the lock.
The third move was my weakest. Here, Lindsey had us use the trapped leg to do a sort of uchi mata throw. I've never been good with the uchi mata, and this exercise actually helped show me why. I never swing my leg high enough backward with the uchi mata. In Gene Lebell's book, he talks about even going up on your toes to get all the elevation you can. I also remember someone else saying that your uchi mata "kick" should be so deep and high that the top of your body, your head, should swing toward the mat, almost like the top of a pendulum.
I remember when I first sparred Sauleh years ago he caught me with an uchi mata. He put so much of himself into the throw that we both tumbled to the ground. The uchi mata isn't a sacrifice throw. But when executed at full force, with the full pendulum action, a lot of movement can take place.
Tatame wasn't bad. I rolled with Benny and Lindsey. The biggest thing out of the tatame was my crossover sweep from half guard, which worked when I had an opportunity to use it today. It is definitely a keeper and going right into the "competition game plan", as the kids call it.
160.8 on the scale. It could have been 158.8 if I had another 5-10 minute roll, I suspect. All in all, not a terrible Monday weight for the beginning of Week 3 of a 10-week training camp.
