Monday was a great class. I was running a little late because of the dogs. As soon as I got in, Mamazinho asked how I did at the tournament (he was at another mat). So I told him the story. He said something about working on a counter, and I was pretty appreciative that he asked.
So we get into training. Mamazinho has us working some basic stuff from the guard. First, a sweep that involves hooking the leg when the guy tries to stand and sweeping him in the opposite direction. He also showed us an armbar that goes right along with the sweep. Mamazinho likes to control behind the elbow, at the tricep with the opposite hand when setting up the armbar. I’d been planning to start focusing on armbars from the guard after the tournament and, once again, Mamazinho seemed to be reading my mind in showing us this technique.
From here, Mamazinho shows us another variation. Sometimes when you try and sweep the guy using this technique, the guy will reach behind your head to try and maintain his balance. If the guy tries this, then you want to roll your body into and over that arm, clasping your hands right above the elbow for the inverted armbar. It’s not quite an inverted armbar, but calling it that helps focus on turning your body.
Then, a really classy move from Mamazinho. He told everybody that I’d had some trouble in the tournament and he wanted to show everybody how to deal with it. He had me come out in front of everybody and explain how I got caught in the armbar. Stefan the Brown worked with us on this one. I explained how I got caught and then Mamazinho showed everybody what to do. The keys are to first keep the guy from being able to extend his legs and body by stacking him and crunching him in tight. At pretty much the same time, you want to protect your arm by grabbing your collar. With your free arm, wrap around the guy’s head as you bring your inside knee up under his butt to keep him tipped over and stacked. Stack him good and tight.
Now, you are going to want to yank your arm free, BUT when you do this it is crucial to keep the rest of your weight on the guy to keep him stacked tight. Otherwise he will extend his body and might still be able to armlock you (which is what happened to me). Once you’ve pulled your arm free, work quickly to pass to side control or even to use B.J.’s technique to roll the guy into getting his back taken (I’ll post that technique a little later).
Like I said, really good stuff and I felt really appreciative that Mamazinho would stop class to show everybody what happened. I had a good attitude coming into class, and that just put me over the top. I was very, very grateful for that.
In other news, I worked hard on standing up to pass guard. Some mixed success, but I’m going to force myself to work on standing guard passes if it kills me. As I wrote recently, I can’t expect myself to do something in a tournament that I haven’t practiced regularly and persistently in class. So if I’m going to improve my standing guard pass, I’ve got to try it at least ten times in sparring. Hell, I should even look for opportunities to get into guard just for the opportunity to practice it.
Tommy sent me a nice article from Gracie Mag that also hits on some themes that have been holding me back. Essentially the article is about developing a predator psychology, the sort of cold, calculating aggression that we see out of natural predators like sharks and tigers in the wild. The article also hit on a point that I think has been a particular problem for me:
“Many athletes go into such detail that their thinking becomes paralysis by analysis. The mental predator must remember to keep things simple and in perspective. No attack by the shark or the lion is ever bigger in their mind than any other. We as athletes often make the mistake that an event is too important. This self-increased pressure on an event again adds to indecision, stress and opens the door for an opportunity for defeat.”
The article was by Martin Rooney, conditioning coach for Team Renzo Gracie. He’s got a website at parisischool.com that I should check out. In any event, you only have to read some of my pre-tournament posts to see what some of my psychological flaws in this area were. I think that ironically some of the positive things Rodrigo said awhile back got in my head, making me think that I had to perform in outstanding fashion to live up to what he thinks my potential is. That’s the kind of thing I have to be careful of—not to get too far ahead of myself.
But the main thing is the specific technical work day-in and day-out at Tully’s. I’d give myself a “B-“ for Monday night’s training—mostly on the basis of my improved guard passing attack. I need to make sure I make the most of the practice over the next three to four weeks so that I’ve got the confidence and lack of indecision I’ll need to perform well at Copa 8 on November 11th.
