I had told myself before the Saulo seminar that I could use some jiu jitsu wisdom. What I got, in addition to a couple of techniques that I'm looking forward to trying out in training, was not quite wisdom so much as attitude in the "frame of mind" Suzuki sense of the word (the Western sense of the word has connotations of obedience that I don't sympathize with). It was a calming down, a "remember to breathe," a think-in-short-elemental-movements kinds of wisdom Saulo imparted, something along the lines of presence, maybe, or what people are always saying after getting the opportunity to train with Rickson Gracie. You can definitely feel the Zen in it - an interesting sensation for a non-Zen Old Testament Buddhist like myself - and I think it's actually making it easier to do just about everything I've been doing at home at GB Seattle. Even in the midst of trying to get back my conditioning, I could find myself at peace in the luminous whirlwind of jiu jitsu.
There were a few good instances of this - though the best might have been with a relentless white belt who flew around my guard Connor-style. Getting back to guard and to sweep took awhile, and I felt myself processing at a pretty good pace, taking incremental step after incremental step to improve the situation until I was in a position to try and take the advantage. It was some good training.
Rodrigo has got us in competition mode, three weeks out from the Revolution (more like two and a half) and about eight or nine weeks out from the Interschool Tournament That Needs a Good Name. The pace is hard, but Rodrigo typically knows just how to bring us to the threshold. I'm doing better than I thought I would.
The instructional, by the way, was the double bicep side control escape. I was dragging through this drill late, but again, I wasn't alone in that regard (Charlie).
Some good work with the Twist Back tonight. With the tournaments coming up, I'm giving myself the "all clear" to work with my competition gameplan type moves from now until December 14th. I'd like to work in the slingshot and the armdrag from half - and the success I had with the Fowler Series 3 from the latest Gracie Magazine tonight means I'll likely be adding that to my top half game.
But the name of the game is still takedowns and guard passing. I'm feeling fine enough about the former, and the latter is coming rather than going. Clint is among the guys doing a really good job of testing my Flat Pass, and I'm starting to get the nerve to go left as well as right. Shield and Sword with Stephen turned out to be a stalemate (I should have gone for the Leozinho!), but I want to continue to work it as the opportunities arise. My suspicion, though, is that I'll either end up relying on the Flat Pass or the Leozinho if I find myself in guard at the Revolution (or if I get lucky off the Leozinho, the Butler or the Jack Pass).
