Last training day of the month. Out of a total possible 21 days in March(Saturdays and Sundays excluded), I managed to hit the tatame 12 times. That's an average of four times every seven days.
I had a very nicely intense week from the 17th to the 21st, when I trained four times for the first time in many months--if not ever. I felt a little beat up come Friday. But that likely had as much to do with the relief of the workweek ending as anything else. I've thought about alternating 3x/week with 4x/week. We'll see. That would make this a 4x week.
I managed to get to the academy in time for the open mat. Actually I was there early enough to do some of the specific sparring from the guard. I could have made it to class sooner. But there was no way that I wouldn't be late. I've decided that if I can't get there on time, then I'm just going to try and time it so that I arrive in time for the sparring.
At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I don't want to set a bad example by coming to class late all the time. If I can make full classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then maybe it won't be a big deal to just spar on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It might also cut down on the wear and tear that much training would inevitably produce.
I think I've finally made a key work adjustment that will allow me to do this much training. The thing I love about writing for a living is that you can figure out how to be as efficient as possible and get rewarded on productivity rather than maintenance, so to speak. I've thought that I had it all figured out before, so all of this is subject to change. But given the fact that I've just had my first pair of 4x/3x training weeks in many moons, I'll take what's working so far.
Some quick notes:
Collar choke from mount: Keep working on it. I got rolled instantaneously when I went for the choke today. But that's fine. I just need to keep going for the move and work on maintaining my balance (and switching to the double attack!)
Half Guard Pass: A bit better with the Watch Dog pass. Do whatever it takes to create some space.
Side control escape: I'm starting to get a little sloppy on this, relying on body rolls instead of the basic THROAT / SWIM / WALK / KNEES / PULL / BOOM ...
I need to figure out what I want to do with the open guard. Something in me continues to resist the butterfly guard as a real attacking guard--which means my butterfly guard is a complete disaster right now. I've got to decide whether or not I'm going to commit to it, or pick another open guard to work. I've been doing some lazy half and some general Pe de Pano style open guard. But there's no focus. With the next gi tournament still more than three months away, this is the perfect time to develop an open guard game.
