Wednesday was all about deep half guard - another position that is going to be a fundamental part of my guard game. Rodrigo focused on getting deep, your head should be on or under the hips, to avoid the crossface. This is something that I've struggled with from time to time with my own half guard: letting the crossface get through.
For the most part, I've been blocking the crossface with the sticky paw grip. The sticky paw is also a great entry for the sweep I'm calling Aesopian, even though I don't know if he uses it. Actually, the set-up kung fu move is the Aesopian, the actual sweep is still the crossover.
I want to keep evolving away from the toe grab sweep. I don't want to lose that sweep, but I want to make sure that I've got a couple of other nice sweeps from the half guard as well: the twist back, the crossover, deep half to the back, kimura sweep ...
Some nice Tatame tonight. I tried to get that brabo choke with the collar going in my roll with Rodrigo (guard/pass guard specific) but, unsurprisingly, it didn't work out so well. I should have tried it on some of the other guys I rolled with. I was trying to avoid going to half guard as much as possible since I ended up rolling with a couple of white belts and have promised myself to work on broadening my game whenever I'm rolling with white belts: traditional closed guard, open guard, spider guard, even butterfly guard. Anything that I'd be terrified to do in a tournament, basically.
Feeling increasingly comfortable with the Flat pass (Rodrigo actually turned the tables and passed to half guard with that pass on me!). It's still a very new pass for me, so I'm giving myself a little leeway in trying it on white belts. But it is getting better. I'm doing a better job of getting to the side and staying there after the dive. One weakness is that I'm still "wrestling" the ankles open instead of using my legs the way that Justin Garcia shows in his absolutely vital Flat pass instructional.
Another technique of note was the crossover sweep from the full or closed guard. I was reading a point that Saulo made in his book that he likes to attack with the crossover at the elbow rather than at the shoulder. This adds a little whip to the sweep, which I liked when I attacked with it today. It also seems to require a little less control over the guy, meaning that it is easier to set-up without telegraphing your sweep.
My Zeke choke was working well tonight, very well in at least one instance. I want to make sure that my Zeke choke is as clean as possible. Nothing but blood. I can't think of a faster way of becoming THE asshole on the tatame than by hitting guys with trachea Ezekiel chokes ...
A good night. I'm in a weird drifty mode with the next tournament still a month away (the next GB Seattle Invitational on June 20th). And I'm not yet at the nervous stage about my appearance at the L.A. Trader's Expo (the weekend of the Mundials - and my birthday). This is the time when I think I can make some stealth gains: tightening up my toe grab sweep, bringing the crossover up to speed, developing some go to attacks from the mount and maybe, just maybe, developing a coherent guard passing game - before the final month leading up to the July Revolution event. A little focus now may go a long way.
158.6 on the scale. Not bad. I had a breakfast of leftover cod with tomatoes and green olives and a cheese quesadilla, about 6 ounces of chicken and an arugula salad for lunch. Some snacking on walnuts and almonds during the day. That's about the speed I want to maintain. With the cardio back on line starting tomorrow (my right quad was fine tonight in training), I should see the south side of the 150s on a consistent basis before too long.
