I couldn't help but feel a little demoralized after training today. My cardio is just not where I want it to be, at all. I've backed way off my off-mat conditioning, focusing on just the Muscle Endurance Program (pushups) and the 3T jiu jitsu drills. But I'm not sure. Maybe the weight I gained over the past few days put that much of an extra toil on my conditioning. It's hard to say.
I'm also frustrated with my guard passing. To be sure, there's every reason to believe that a month from now my guard passing will be significantly better and that by the time the next Revolution event arrives in early July, I might actually be (shudder) happy with my guard passing. But right now, it just feels like a war zone of confusion and wasted effort. I go from the 101 to the handcuff to the Saulo to the wedge to the Tozi ... never really sure of where that point is in a guard pass (as is the case with sweeps for example) where you halfway feel like your effort is too much and the other half of you feels like you are just about to pull it off in another moment or two.
The trick is to figure out one basic pass, a variation or two, and then just attack with it over and over again. That's how I got my half guard up to speed. The same thing should work for guard passing - or so I hope.
Instruction was the same as Tuesday night, single legs, the counter/escape and the counter/takedown. One thing about coming early enough to take the beginner classes is that you get to work on some of these things over and over to see how they might fit into your game. Sure, by the time it comes to sparring, I'm often running on fumes. But I'm hoping that too will pay off in the long run.
That's it for now. Props to Nate, by the way, for bringing home the bronze on his first trip to the Pan Ams. Apparently, Athena got a concussion a few days before the event and wasn't able to compete. Jeff Bourgeois from Foster BJJ also did well, picking up silver in the Masters division purple belt featherweight.
A C session. I need to focus on the "parts" of passing the guard, the fundamentals ... that and be patient. If I work it, it will come.
Oh, 157.2 on the scale after training. Much more like it.
