A relatively modest sized class today - given the turnout on Monday. There were also about three new (pre-gi) folks and a purple belt visiting from Ralph Gracie's academy who I did drills with (but did not get to roll with).
The instructional started with the Machida takedown from standing. Here, we just focused on the entry, without taking the guy all the way to the mat. As my partner from Ralph Gracie pointed out, the Machida provides entry for the Jacare (and vice versa, I'd add). The funny thing is that I had just seen that combination done in on Arte Suave, which I just got in the mail from Budo Videos.
The rest of the instructional was focused on sitting guard. We've been working on sitting guard - both for the gi and no gi - for the past week. Here, Rodrigo had us palm the mat relatively deep between the sitting guy's legs. With your other hand, you stuffed the other leg at the knee and dropped to put your chest on the outside of the knee, pressuring in. We drilled it going both ways - unsurprisingly, my better side was going to my left.
We did some specific sparring - guard/pass guard - and then some general sparring. I got to roll with Scott, Benny and Lance - as well as a talented blue belt I've seen around but whose name I can't recall. I feel like I might be leaving one roll out. But it was a pretty full night all thing considered. I had plenty of cardio left at the end of the night, which is a testament to the conditioning routine I've been on for the past month and a half.
155.6 on the scale post-train. A perfect number with more than two months to go. My assumption is that if I can stay within 2% of my target weight (which would mean a maximum of 158), then the simple increase in activity during my training camp will take care of any weight issues. My thinking is that I should be regularly "making weight" after every training session once the 8 weeks starts (September 13).
