Was too beat up to train Thursday night - and was also anticipating a rip-roarin' Friday class. At it turned out, Rodrigo turned it up, but not overwhelmingly so (i.e., a minimum of sprawls). I got a good workout without feeling too overwhelmed.
We did some hipscapes, jumping jacks, squats, pushups and chokes to warm-up. Then the new takedown warm-up/conditioning/pre-tournament routine wear you maintain the gi grips. I'm still looking for ways to attack the legs around the stiff-arm of the gi grip (without popping the grip), so it is nice to get the work.
The instructional was the double biceps side control escape, which we did at a pretty good pace. Rodrigo also had us work on the Cross Guard move where you get a cross grip on one side, then attack the leg on the other side with a hook and cuff control as you spin around under him and kick the hook leg forward to off-balance. I tried this a little bit in the guard/pass guard specific drill - the trick is to remember the cross. It was nice working the drill with the new white belt I was paired with and helping him complete the steps really did a great job in helping me remember them.
I have to say that I love the fact that I've really only worked on two different positions this week: the side control escape and the Cross guard. In my perfect jiu jitsu world, I would train twice a day for four days a week and learn about 2-4 positions over the course of the week - so this pace (training once a day four times a week) of two moves a week is ideal for me.
I also love training the basic/beginner classes. I almost miss the drills we used to do - the armlocks from the guard and mount, for example. One day when Gracie Barra Seattle expands enough to do two day classes every day, I'd love to teach/lead a jiu jitsu conditioning/circuit-building class that is all drills: 360 drill, armlocks from the guard, hook sweeps, my matwork routine, armlocks from the mount, Rodrigo's takedown drill, then all specific sparring mount/mount escape, side control/crossbody escape, guard/guard pass - hell, maybe even some ginastica natural, while I'm at it.
Got to work some Flat Pass during tatame. I'm thinking I'll get a chance to use it at the Revolution given the fact that some many guys rely on the closed guard. I had some success today going the other way - though I really need to keep working it develop a sense of stability and surety. At the same time, I want to make sure that I'm working both Shield and Sword (I might rename that the Saulo) as well as the Leozinho, which I almost went to Wednesday as well as Friday.
Also fun was working with Glen on a couple of things: low mount and the Ezekiel, high mount and the armlock. We also went over the two main side control escapes: the double biceps and the swim-to-belly. I can't even say how much fun that was: going over basics, living somewhat vicariously through someone else's tournament prep.
A good week of training. Including the two hours of training on Sunday at the Saulo seminar, I managed to get in a second consecutive four-training week. I can really feel the difference when I'm training at this clip and it is really motivation to do what I can to stay off the illness list and on the mat. One thing I'm hugely grateful for is the fact that I've been injury-free for quite awhile it seems. Annoying as the headcolds and rhinovirii are, I'll take them over a 6-week whack due to a bad shoulder or worse.
Next week, as I go into "Fight Speed" until tournament time, I'll be back on my regular schedule. There is a huge temptation to take the early classes for the next two weeks to try and condition myself to train at the same time of day that I'll be competing at. It hugely tempting - and would probably contribute toward getting the rest I really need - but we'll see if I can pull it off.
I'm still in the Saulo glow - even after hearing a few stories (one from a teammate and one from the Intertubes) that didn't necessarily portray the man in the most magnanimous light. But seeing my heroes as mistake-making human beings actually is a prerequisite for pedastal-hood. If I don't see flaws in the work, then I'm inclined to believe I'm looking at a fake.
Without going on and on about any more than I already have, the Saulo seminar seems to have helped chill me out: about competing, about training, about "accomplishing" things in jiu jitsu. There are times when I start to treat training like work, like an obligation in order to get to where I want to be. And while that's understandable, ultimately that's not right. I'm not training to become a jiu jitsu black belt. I'm training because jiu jitsu is one of my favorite things in the world and I can't quickly get over how fortunate I have been to have a top-notch Gracie Barra academy less than 30 minutes away from home for the past four-plus years. While "enjoy the journey" tends to have a bit of an "eat your vegetables" quality to it, it really is the truth: you've got to enjoy the path, the process, in order to get the most out of both becoming and being.
