Arrived at about 157 and left at 153.8, a full pound under.
Teh sickness has hit Gracie Barra hard. Pat, Nate and a couple of other guys who were slated to compete tomorrow are now out due to illness. And Rodrigo himself was dressed like a civilian for the Friday class, saying that he felt as if he might be getting a touch of it as well. Allegedly, we have a bona fide case of H1N1, the swine flu. Having missed two and a half weeks over the past two months due to illness, the idea of getting the damn swine flu is almost enough to make me laugh. Almost.
Lindsey taught the class and had us working on half guard control from on top. Lindsey likes to triangle the leg from the top, sort of countering the bottom guy's tendency to lock up the leg triangle. A good crossface and turning your body almost perpendicular to his (if you can put your face on the mat you're in good shape) were also parts of getting this tight control from the top.
The submission he showed was the arm triangle, planting your hand on the mat near the far hip for leverage and either popping the elbow through if the bottom guy extends the arm or using your head to wedge the arm higher. There's also Saulo's strategy from the mount of walking your hand up under his forearm to elbow to upper arm to keep in mind here.
One key detail Lindsey mentioned was using your head to keep the arm triangle in place. It's a great position to have, so why give it up readily?
To transition to the mount, open your leg triangle from the top and use the top of the foot on your outside leg to lever the half guard player's leg triangle open. When the guard opens, be sure to keep your hooks (the tops of your feet as hooks) in place to make the transition to the mount more solid.
To finish up, we did "king of the half guard" drills. My half guard was in tournament mode, so I was able to spend a good amount of time on the hill. There were more than a few instances with some big white belts where I felt especially crushed. But I was able to remain patient and keep working my game until an advantage appeared. It was very good training - maybe harder than I would have preferred the day before a tournament. But then again, I did lose the few pounds I was looking to lose - and gained some additional confidence in my half guard game in the process.
Talked with Brian a bit after training. I want to definitely look out for him to help him warm up before his matches. Having only recently discovered how critical that is, I'm more than happy to spread the wealth.
Should be an interesting day. I'm trying to remain very "zero point" about it, not getting excited, or anxious or anticipatory. I just want to tap into my resources when different situations develop. Brian called it "connecting the dots" and I couldn't agree more. It's the same concept as the "circuitry".
Weighed in at 152.0 officially at the Comfort Suites in Renton where they moved it for this event. Almost three pounds under. As usual, I overdid it with today's fast - especially with the liquids. But at this point it is all good. Ran into a couple of GB guys at the weigh-in, which is always nice. Now I'm fed - if not totally rehydrated - and ready for another 30 minutes of chill-ation before hitting the sack.
