Mondays are going to be beginner classes followed by an open mat format if I'm understanding Rodrigo and the new schedule correctly.
I'm actually writing this up on Saturday and I can't remember what we worked on Monday - though I remember rolling with Jesse and Saud, a blue belt who was traveling through the area. Good rolls. I was able to fight off Jesse's Royler pass for longer than usual thanks to that twist move that Saulo emphasizes in his new book. Saud was a very good guy to roll with, a little bigger than Benny but strong and hard to sweep. He did a good job of sprawling out of my half guard tackles (like Benny) which helped me see the need for adding a counter to the sprawl against the tackle.
There were a lot of interesting observations on my jiu jitsu that I picked up Monday night, some of which I'll probably write something about and some not. I'm still very risk-averse when rolling, and 1000x more when rolling with new people. I don't think it's a fundamental lack of confidence in my technique. Now that I've started to develop my half guard, I feel I have a "safe place" to resort to - or escape to - when things get difficult. But there is a certain lack of assertiveness that while only annoying in training, makes competition all the more difficult. Maybe it's time to brush up on that Rooney article Tommy gave me years ago, "The Mental Predator."
