Missed training on Friday so last week was only a three-timer. Funny how training three times a week now seems more like a minimum than a goal.
Monday's training was more specific oriented. After one of Lindsey's typically rigorous warm-ups - especially where core muscular endurance is concerned - we went straight into rear mount/escape rear mount, mount/escape mount and half guard sweep/half guard pass. Writing this Tuesday before training, I can't remember if we did closed guard or not.
I always love specific training. So often you don't find yourself in a position often enough to really work on your specific escape pathways. Specific training means that you'll get to work on all of the toughest spots directly, without having to hope that you'll get a chance to work on them.
My escapes are so so. I'm doing a good job getting the Scoop posture when escaping rear mount, but my Mount survival posture (as Saulo calls it) could use some work. I'm not turning on my side enough and I'm not getting my frame set properly with my down elbow tight against my body. I also need to do a better job of keeping my one leg flat.
The Tatame was pretty good. I rolled with Benny for about 20 minutes. As I told Lindsey afterwards, Benny always pushes me and makes me work hard every time. He's got great scrambling and wrestling ability, and if I slip for a second he's either escaped or taken a dominant position on me. Suffice to say that the fact I was able to roll with him for 20 minutes without having my heart explode is probably the highlight of the night.
Other nice notes included some good work with my crossover sweep from half guard. There were, of course, a number of mistakes that I need to fix. For one, I need to remember not to pull on the leg when transitioning from turtle to half guard. Instead, stiff arm the leg, shoot your leg on that side back and make your turn.
Two: be sure to re-center yourself before going for the kimura sweep. You can't get the momentum if you stay at a near perpendicular angle to the guy (as you would if you were trying to finish the kimura).
Three, not really a mistake, but I'm having a hard time getting arm and collar drags with my left pull so I need to switch to dragging with my right arm. This will also make it easier to transition to half guard on my better side if the arm or collar drag fails.
Four, I need to work the moth guard sweeps into my half guard game. I think that in the intermediate term, this will be the best way to get these sweeps into the mix - by working on them as part of my half guard set. Drive into him then, when you feel the pressure come back, dive and go for the sweep.
Five, Benny did a great job of re-centering his hips when I went for the Flat Pass. I need to make sure I dive far to the side and put that leg I want to trap on the mat with my weight on it. It's still a balancing act getting the Flat Pass to work right. But Benny seemed to have too easy of a time adjusting and countering the entry.
Six, on that score, let's work the 101 pass into the mix more. Now is the time to see what I can do with standing passes before the pressure of deciding on a go-to pass for the tournament will be arrives in about a month. Experiment now so that it will be easier to decide later.
All for now. Despite hitting the scale at 161.4 after training (173.6 in the gi before), it was a pretty good Monday on the mat.
