Maybe that Friday class was too good, insofar as it blew me out of blog posting for days. I have been training, three times this week so far with another appearance scheduled for Friday. And I do think that I've got a gameplan that is coming together.
Instructionally, Rodrigo has been focusing a great deal on standup/takedown conditioning and guard passing. Just what the doctor ordered, pre-competition, as far as I'm concerned. In particular, Rodrigo has us working on a leg underhook pass, one of the classic passes, with a caution to remember to keep the other elbow tight to avoid the triangle.
One thing that I have really been struggling with during this competition week has been passing the half guard. With the Royler pass, my mistakes include not sprawling my free leg out before I pike up, and not stiff-arming the leg. I suspect that the free leg sprawl is the biggest problem. And, fortunately, I'll get an opportunity tomorrow to work on it a little bit.
The watchdog half guard pass is something else I need to tighten up. Here, the mistake was more specific, but more crucial, as well. I need to remember that when passing the half guard (a) do not pass unless he is flat and (b) it is the hips/bottom leg that have to be pinned, not the top leg.
Monday and Tuesday classes were very intense. Monday Lindsey had us working on rear mount escapes for an hour, and then Rodrigo started the advanced class. Tuesday was all levels starting out with a bang with standup conditioning, guard passing and then some specific work before sparring.
Tuesday was the session in which I was really struggling with the half guard. I need to slow down and remember the technique and execute it. I was also having a hard time escaping rear mount - another instance where patience would help execute the proper technique.
Missed most of Wednesday's class after getting stuck in unbelievable downtown traffic. It took me almost 45 minutes to get from Eastlake to SoDo. I knew I'd be a little late, but leaving Eastlake around 5:45, should have been at the Academy a little after the top of the hour.
That said, I was able to get in a roll with Tommy and a roll with Stephen. I worked mostly the Flat Pass and the #1 half guard sweep with Tommy and some sitting/open guard stuff with Stephen who was playing me standing up a lot.
Like I said, it is nice to have a gameplan, a real front-to-back idea of what I want to do the day after tomorrow. I'm realizing that I've had a lot of half-efforts and half-notions about what I'd try and accomplish. But little that had been completely thought-through - to say nothing of drilled endlessly during training.
There are still more holes to fill than I'd like - and the calorie restriction that I've been using to get down to my target weight has me feeling pretty damn wiped out at the end of training. But it's really good to have a plan.
