I first felt something strange after Thursday's no gi training. I couldn't pinpoint when it happened, but by the end of the night my vision was blurry in my left eye and it was tearing up a bit. I didn't remember getting poked specifically, but by the time I got home it was clear that something was up. The usual photosensitivity, watering and feeling that "something was in there" reminded me of when my cornea was cut a few months ago. Fortunately, over the course of the evening the sensation went away.
But after last night's practice, the sensation is back--if not with a vengeance then at least with more than a little bad intent. I vaguely rememeber rolling with somebody--probably Jeff the White--and feeling gi material whip past my face during a scramble. I think that's how I got my cornea cut the first time rolling with Angela. Sitting here, my left eye still sees a little blurry and I'm not about to be smiling into any flashbulbs soon. But hopefuly by day's end things will be back to normal.
There's not a lot you can do to protect your eyes when you're rolling. After the first time, Rodrigo mentioned that it has happened to him a few times, so I'm not going to feel like some colossal outlier or anything. And I'm not going to pretend that there are other injuries I'd rather have (though I'd settle for anything I could tape up instead). It will be nice to have the night off to give my eye a chance to get its act together.
Last night's class was a C for me. We did a new takedown drill where everybody lines up and you take down each person in turn. I'm still paranoid about throwing people after that guy I threw who ended up with a torn ACL, so I compensated by being over aggressive with double legs and low singles. A lot of guys were throwing people, including some big time shoulder throws, and I'll admit that I'm almost surprised that nobody got hurt. About 50% of my takedowns in retrospect were more like tackles than proper form takedowns, but at least people were landing on their asses not on their shoulders as was the case with some of those throws I was watching last night. I was out for weeks because of a groin injury from a bad breakfall, and I kept thinking this drill was the "best" chance to reinjury my abductors in a long time.
Anyway, lessons for the next time: ease up on the Ray Lewis routine. Try the osoto gari (large outer reaping) throw and maybe the arm drag (Tommy put on an arm drag clinic during his turn). Mamazinho seemed to like it when I tried the snap down set up with the sleeve and collar, and following it up with the double leg. I just need to be more under control--and to learn how to avoid falling into guard with the takedown.
New techniques included a sweep from the closed guard and a take-the-back from the closed guard. Then we did some specifics. I worked with Michelle on the new techniques and with Jeff the White for the specifics.
The sweep from closed guard was a little tricky. You set it up like a scissors sweep, but instead grab the oppposite cuff and pull the guy across your body. As you do this, you roll your hips and put your legs in the scissors sweep position. Keep a hold of the cuff, but take your collar/choke hand and reach back behind the guy and grab the belt. Here's where it gets interesting. As you pull the guy toward and on top of you, you want to lift your inside leg (the one that has the shin pressed against the guy's chest) and open it out while pulling the guy over. He should land "behind you" in a sense. Keep control of the cuff/sleeve the whole time.
The take-the-back variation is for when the guy's base is too strong, or if the guy maybe is too heavy to lift with your leg. Here you set up the position the same way as the above sweep. This time, you take your lower leg and kick out the nearby knee of the guy while simultaneously taking your inside leg and hooking it over their back as they collapse to the mat from the kickout. Keep control of that cuff to help stretch the guy out as you move to the back.
Sparring wasn't bad ... nothing great. I was able to pass Jeff's guard once or twice, mostly by waiting for him to open his guard and then underhooking the far arm, pressing down on the knee on the other side and working to half-guard first. When Jeff was in my guard, I really couldn't do much. I need to look back on my notes. I've been so focused on my inadequacies with regard to passing the guard and finishing the match from the top, that I've neglected work on my guard game.
I need to make the spider guard triangle/omoplata combo that Tommy showed me a default. I've had a hard time breaking down guy's posture and opening up the guard will give me more opportunities to attack. From the closed guard, I need to work on my four basic setups from long ago.
Rolled a little with Jim the White, who was game but pretty exhausted. My keylock was working pretty well last night in general--it really has become my "pocket" submission (though I need to work on different ways to set it up from different angles), especially against bigger guys with stiffer, less flexible shoulders (Bruce and Joe, for example, have been especially hard to catch with the americana). Rolled a little with Tommy after class and typically, was too tentative. I need to stand up against his open guard and work some of the techniques Rodrigo showed us months ago to pass the knees. With Tommy, I feel like a fish on a line when I try and pass his guard on the ground. It's only a matter of time before I'm flopping around on the deck, reeled in and ready for the fillet knife.
