More good training tonight. In some ways, competition training is a lot like the training Rodrigo used to do more often back when GB Seattle was a mile or two further south in the Tully's Building. Although the conditioning is no joke, I really wouldn't mind if we did more of it. Between that and the emphasis on specific training (especially guard/pass guard), it's been some really good training over the past few weeks.
The instructional was more of a drill on the underhook pass. It's a guard pass I really ought to attack with more. Rodrigo had us do a nice drill where the guard player provides movement, but not so much as to totally impede the pass. I'll take some of this kind of training every week (if not every day). You really get to WORK the pass, instead of being ready to transition to something else the second you get resistance as is often the case when you are sparring. It's a little more live than regular drilling, but far from a specific. Good stuff. We also worked against the spider guard in the same way. I worked both the basic toreano with the step back, the toreano with the twistover - hipstepping up and folding the legs over to the far side and passing toward the back - and the little hand jive pass where you swim the wrist to free the grip, grab the opposite leg at the cuff with the newly-freed hand and attack with the Jack Pass.
One note about the Jack Pass. Stiff arm the leg and pull on the sleeve. If you pull on the leg and the sleeve - as I did with Alex - you're not as likely to get to his side because you are bringing the leg toward you. It's a lot like that half guard replacement from turtle - which I also wasn't able to get with Alex, or with Jesse the night before - you want to just hold the leg in place and move your body, not try to move his leg.
I've got a lot of confidence with the Flat Pass going into next weekend. The fact that it's not a very common guard pass - though everybody's heard of it in some other name - gives me a nice edge. Even with teammates who know it is coming, I'm able to be competitive.
What I need to improve is my half guard pass - a particular point of shame given my fidelity to the half guard. Rodrigo showed us a version of Crossface Walkback where you get a lapel wrap under the far arm and around the head toward you as a way of getting even more leverage with the Shoulder of Justice as Frodo calls it. My guess right now is that I just need to pick a half guard pass and stick with it for awhle. And Crossface Walkback is as good as any. Saulo even touched on it at the seminar when Marcelo Alonso asked a question about dealing with the knees (Saulo's tip? As you walkback and block with the shoulder, pull the knees toward you instead of away from you. That creates a bad body dynamic for the half guard player because he is looking away from you because of the Shoulder of Justice, while his knees are pointing toward you.)
154 after training, which is another 2.5 or so off Tuesday night's weight. This is about where I want to hang out, with the limit being 154.9. I'm sure I'll drop a little lower as I continuing training - assuming I don't blow up over the weekend. I'd like to spend more time training at 152-154 and less time getting down to that range.
