First official day of Gracie Barra 3.0. In some ways, and for most of us, there wasn't much different Monday night from the past few nights. We did have our laminated class cards. But other than that, you couldn't really tell the difference from Monday's class and the classes from the past several weeks as the transition began.
Once I get the official names for the moves, I'll start using them instead of my own feeble attempts to describe the techniques of the day. That will help when it comes time to review what was learned on a certain day - and hopefully make it easier to post in general.
Fundamentals Class:
1A: Mon am/pm, Wed pm
1. Breakfalls and technical standing ("the lift")
2. Scisssor sweep
3.Palms up choke from closed guard
Notes: (1) Be sure to post with the same side as the extended leg. Also be ready to back up to create space in order to stand. Keep your blocking hand a closed fist, not open fingers. (2) Make sure to bring the top knee across and into the armpit. Don't pull too much on the collar. Let the scissoring action - especially with the lower leg block against the knee - do most of the work. (3) Use the elbow of your initial choking arm to lift up the chin and create space for the second grip.
Advanced Program:
1. Alternating takedowns at 10%
2. Armlocks from the guard drills
3. Guard/Pass guard light specific at 30%
4. King of the Guard specific (6 minutes in the guard with fresh guard passers)
5. Live training (10 minutes)
A good first start with the new program. I needed the armlock work - and the takedown work, too, insofar as I was completely uncoordinated with what used to be my favorite Jacare ankle pick. Fatigue started to set in by the time we got to the King of the Guard drill (particularly when my six minutes arrived), and my live training with Lance was pretty abyssmal. Considering that I had been training for 90 minutes by that time, maybe I shouldn't be so distracted by it. But given the fact that I've spent the past six weeks doing off-mat conditioning in order to last longer during training, Monday's late performance was a bit of a bummer.
Of course, Lance's skill and impassable inverted guard probably had something to do with it also.
With two weeks to go until the Revolution, I'm making the executive decision to stop most of my off-mat conditioning - at least on a training day. I'm planning to train every day for the next two weeks, and I want whatever energy I've got devoted to my preparation on the mat. We'll see how that works, but given that I'm doing to probably start some modest caloric restriction by mid-week, I don't want to overdo it at the "home gym."
Good to see Casey back - as well as Angela who is sidelined while recovering from cornea surgery. It was also interesting to see Fabiana from GB Yakima, who is in town preparing for the Pan Ams a month from now and teaching alongside Rodrigo.
161.2 on the scale post-train. Not great, but my lowest Monday/Tuesday post-train weight since January 4th (160.8).
