Rodrigo is still in Hawaii. I won't pretend not to miss him at the academy. But wishing someone returned early from a vacation is one cardinal sin I'm not going to commit.
In his absence we've had some solid jiu jitsu 101 (and 201) from Cindy and, tonight, Jesse. Jesse worked on side control escapes, both a full escape with the basic forearm-swim-back2belly and a guard replacement that was set up pretty much the same way.
We also covered a mount escape that Jesse's caught me with more than once. In this escape, used when the mounted guy is very high up with his knees in your armpits, you grab the hips, upa him forward and kick your legs back over your head aiming to put your feet in his armpits. I found that it was easier for me to pick a side and work to get at least one foot in the armpit as I did the backroll.
I got completely smashed in the side control drill we did afterwards. My side control from the top was very good and I did well where I should have done well. On the bottom, though, I didn't get a single escape. I came close in one situation. But I wasn't able to fully get away.
Rolled with Stephen afterwards and received additional smashing. Rolling with Stephen in 2008 reminds me of rolling with Casey in 2007. I lose all sense of what I'm supposed to do except for the most elemental "don't do that!" My goal is get to the point where I'm at least able to execute a losing gameplan.
Nice number after training of 159.6. I had pizza for lunch so I'm grateful for being lower by any amount.
Looking to get back on the mat tomorrow night. My shoulder has been acting up and I wonder if the time off was actually a bad thing for my shoulder recovery. If I can make it through tomorrow intact, then it will be nice to rest it up over the weekend. Ibuprofen and ice tonight. We'll see how things feel tomorrow.
