Managed to get in some mat time late on Friday for about 20 minutes. I got a chance to spar with JM, Bruce and Andrew (I think that's right) the white belt who is impossible to keylock.
Tried to work some moth guard, as I did with Clint the other evening. Still not sweeping with it, but I'm seeing how it can be an option out of the half guard when the guy on top is pressuring me. When guys are in my closed guard, they tend to sit way back. But in my half guard, they tend to go for a smash game. I should learn how to transition out of closed and half guards into the other guards - the sitting guard and butterfly guards in the first instance and the moth guard and Rap Star in the second - that will allow me to maintain an advantage with techniques I'm comfortable with.
Got a little stalemated in the closed guard at one point. I need to be more willing to transition to a standing pass if things start getting too tight in the closed guard. For now, I'm going to chalk it up to "warm up week". But it's been a bad habit in the past. I don't want to bring it forward into 2009.
Post train number was great, 158.8. I've been losing weight on a little more caloric restriction than I should. But if I can get my diet back in place and remain below 163.4 for the next six weeks or so (5.5% above the 154.9 limit at the Revolution event), that should be fine.
A good week of training. Getting in a Friday session every other week or so will be a nice way to get an edge over my previous training efforts. Going from a constant struggle to average 2.5 times a week to a more consistent regimen of 4 times a week should pay big dividends in a even a few month's time.
In a year, someone who trains 2.5 times a week trains about 125 times. Someone who trains four times a week trains 200 times. To catch up in mat time, the one who trained 2.5 times a week would have to train another 25 weeks, another six months.
I also think there is a multiplier effect that makes it even better to train as often as you can. The crucial patterns become ingrained that much faster because they always remain just a day or two away.
I've always thought that the stretch from Thursday to Monday, three consecutive days off the mat over the weekend, was the worst thing in my jiu jitsu week. By making sure that I get in some time on Friday or Saturday, I keep the gaps to a two-day maximum.
To steal a line from the late great Richard Pryor, when it comes to jiu jitsu, "yesterday, is about as back as I want to go to remember it."
