I got two stripes today, a little under six months after training.
It was a nice event. Alex, the Asian blue belt from Ballard, got a deserved purple belt. Abel got two stripes added to his purple. Tom got his blue belt, as I thought he would.
Griff and Arnell also got two stripes added to their white belts. Jesse got three added to his. I suspect Jesse will be the next blue belt from the Southside if he continues his current training pace. The guy from Lake Stevens that he beat to win first place in the last tournament was there with his new blue belt.
And Joe got a blue belt. That has got to be huge for him. I don't think he's training with anywhere near the frequency he'd prefer (but who is?), but this is a nice milestone after a lot of work.
I'd been against stripes. But it's kind of nice to look over and see that belt with the black patch with two white stripes hanging from the weight bench. I'm using it as a motivational tool.
I suspect that some of the guys who weren't there, like Mike, Mario, maybe Brian would have gotten stripes. Maybe they'll get them the next time they show up in class.
I'm spending a little Saturday early evening time with Cesar Gracie's Instructional. Volume 2 is all about attacking from the guard, and insofar as that's my weakest area, I thought I'd see what Cesar had to say.
The biggest thing I've picked up is about the step on hip issue--which has been plaguing me for weeks. What I'm finally starting to realize is that in large part, the stepping on the hip is part of a multi-part plan to do at least two things:
--contribute to the trap of the arm on that side, specifically to prevent him from pulling his arm back once it's been trapped.
--provide leverage in a pivot: hips toward the step side, upper body toward the other side. Most of the time, you'll also be bringing up the opposite leg to pummel the underside of the arm, forcing his body over toward the step side.
