Best part of tonight's training was my post-train weigh-in: 154.4. That's half a pound below where I need to be on July 11th.
My performance on the mat tonight, however, was pretty damn far from where I needed to be. Although doing a better-than-average job of standing out of my closed guard and getting the reverse a couple of times, very little of what I tried to do worked.
I wasn't training against chumps. Both Benny (the one not from San Diego) and Clint are tough training partners, and I am grateful for anything I am able to get on them. Tonight, however, there was precious little need for gratitude.
There were a couple of factors working against me tonight, I suppose. I banged my big toe during the takedown conditioning drills and was a little preoccupied with it all night, particularly if I was looking to put any weight on my left foot. And while I put in 2 1/4 miles on the treadmill earlier in the day, I really don't think that had a lot to do with it. I got a little leg cramp once, but still managed to finish the position (a move to mount). And the fatigue wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
I suspect/fear that it is a case of hitting a plateau. I'm noticing it especially in my half guard passes, which seem to be neutralized like never before. I know that part of it has to do with backing off my watchdog ballerina pass in favor of trying the Royler and Cross Wedge passes. And I will be trying to put the half guard pass that Rodrigo showed me (getting low on the legs, bear hugging them and kicking your trapped leg straight back) - one that Clint has been using to pretty good effect against my half guard. But a part of it just feels as if the edge I had a few months ago has faded - or is starting to fade. And that I'm going to have to do some work to get back ahead of the game.
Not my favorite set of thoughts going into a tournament weekend - though it is just an invitational AND there is the additional news that the event will really be a glorified open mat, with Rodrigo saying that they want to have the competition start at 10 am and end at 11:30 am (instead of 1:30 or later as has been the case in most previous events) so that at least a few hours can be dedicated to an open mat. It half makes me not want to attend; I would love a weekend without any obligations whatsoever. But the fact of the matter is that I've already carved the time out of the day and, perhaps more importantly, I need all the practice I can get.
So a C- effort on the tatame tonight. No submissions. Very few sweeps and my guard passing was horrible. "Plateau" may be putting it kindly.
