Last training before going out of town for a few days. Lindsey had us work on a lot of takedown/takedown defense, particularly with the single leg. This is all basic building block stuff, the kind of thing that I will be grateful for drilling over the weeks and months to come. If my single leg defense had been better at the last GB Seattle Invitational, I might have won my match against Jeff.
Lindsey has shown us the uchi mata counter to the single leg. But tonight he added a double leg follow-up if the uchi mata doesn't get the takedown. It's a little awkward, and you'd want to drill your footwork pretty intensely so that the odd stepping you have to do (your penetration leg in the uchi mata is also your penetration step for the double leg.
Tatame wasn't bad. I got caught by a nice sweep from a visiting blue belt when trying to pass in the half guard. I'm not a fan of north-facing half guard passes, at least not as initial attacks. And I got caught with my free knee up too high, making it vulnerable for the underhook and the sweep. Not only was it good to see a weakness in my north-facing half guard pass game, but also I've picked up something else to add to my pretty solid war chest of half guard sweeps.
In other news, I turned 42 today. I've got a goal of getting my black belt by the time I'm 45 (or, rather, in my 45th year, so I guess that means before I turn 46 ...). Bringing home some tournament hardware this year (summer or fall) would make me feel that I am at least on pace.
