They say that you never know how good it was until it's gone. I'd argue that you never know how good it was until it's gone--and comes back ...Last night was my first time back on the mat in about three months. That was the longest hiatus since I began training in August 2005. And, by most counts, I'd argue that the return was a successful one.
My conditioning was not nearly as bad as I'd feared. To be sure, after my fourth five-minute round I was flat on my back, ventilating my gi jacket like an exotic bird. But given the worst I've seen of guys (especially new blues and lower) coming back after layoffs, I don't think I fared too badly.
What I liked? I hit three windmill sweeps. My neck is actually sore because of all the time I spent working from the guard and craning my neck up. Rodrigo's warmups have always included neck work, and last night was another example of why.
I got caught in two basic cross chokes and a triangle. The triangle was tight, but other than protect my arm from an armbar transition, I just didn't have the gas to fight out of it. Or, rather, I didn't have the gas to make my mind command my body to move the way I know how to move.
Not to make a big deal of it, but I want to distinguish clearly between those instances where I am in a situation where I have no clue what to do and those instances where I am in a situation where I simply feel too fatigued to do what I know I should do.
Fortunately, I'm finding myself more often in the latter category. That means a little more conditioning and time on the mat should help.
It also underscores why timing is so important. If you are "on time", then you don't have to be fast or strong. You are in the right place at the right time, taking advantage of an opponent's mistake.
Reminds me of my favorite line from Rickson Gracie: "During fights there comes a moment when an opponent makes a mistake. That moment cannot be missed." There are smaller moments, when you are trying to escape from side control or knee on stomach, and greater moments, when an arm or a neck is left unprotected and the opportunity to finish the fight is at hand.
But the point is the same. As long as you have the clarity of mind and the ability to move your body, you can do the right thing: escape, attack, submit ...
I still have a terrible time passing guard. My mind was getting scrambled by the time I was doing some serious guard passing last night. My problems fall into two categories: passing the legs and sealing the pass. The passing the legs problem had a lot to do with mental fatigue. I simply forgot to try the "bear hug" pass that I'd been studying on B.J. Penn.com. My mistakes in not blocking the hip on the few occasions I did manage to get an advantage on the legs were also in evidence last night.
The instructional for the evening was the kimura from side control, and a transition to straight armlock when the guy tries to defend the kimura by straightening his arm.
With regard to side control, I tried to make sure my chest-to-chest was solid, and that I was up on my toes to keep the pressure on. I think that is a huge thing that a lot of guys don't do that can make your side control just misery on the other guy.
With regard to the kimura, the key detail for me that Rodrigo mentioned was getting your elbows on the ground as you are applying the lock. When you hook your north side arm over the guy's head and under his bicep, you want that elbow on the mat. When you secure the wrist with the other hand and are driving the arm back toward the mat, you want to have that elbow on the mat also.
I was having major problems finishing the kimura from side control this spring before the time off. I want to focus on this in the next few sparring sessions, particularly the elbow placement. It seems to me that one way to know if you've got proper chest-to-chest is whether or not you can put both elbows on the mat on the far side of the guy's body. If you can't, then you probably don't have enough pressure on him in the first place.
There was some great "After School Special" with Rodrigo, Lance and a new, multi-stripe blue belt (Steve?) who I rolled with twice (he was the one who caught me in the multiple chokes!). I'll talk about that "After School Special"--which focused on Rodrigo's De La Riva guard variations--in an upcoming post. Great gi stuff.
