Training: 5 sessions
Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sat
Conditioning: 3 sessions
Sun: aerobic capacity (ground)
Tue: tempo training
Thu: threshold training
Mon post-train weight: 158.4
Final day post-train weight: Sat 159.4
I traded the planned Saturday conditioning session for training, which is always a substitution I'm willing to make.
A very good start for the 8 Weeks Out leading up to the July Revolution. At a minimum, I need to get in four training sessions and three conditioning sessions each week. So arguably, I'm a half step ahead of the game on that basic accounting.
That said, I want to make sure that I'm feeling and seeing some conditioning improvements over the next 2-3 weeks. There are some other adjustments in terms of nutrition and rest that will probably help - as well as minimizing the lycanthropy. Hopefully a bundle of that will be what I need to feel a little more as if I've got another round in the tank at session's end.
Technically, a few things are evolving. The Skeedaddle out of the closed guard surprised me, and is a direction I'm going to continue to pursue over the next few weeks (the Skeedaddle comes from something BJ Penn shows in his book, The Book of Knowledge. Pages 196-197 if you've got a copy). Though the goal is to make the move less of a move to standing and more of a sweep.
While I don't want to sound impatient, there are a few aspects of the guard that I'm trying to implement that are just not sticking like they should. Of my guard "sets", King Crimson (guillotine, crossover sweep, kimura) is doing a lot better than Scissorshands (choke, scissor sweep, armlock) and my basic half guard game - which increasingly feels in desperate need of upgrade. Guy LaFleur is also working relatively well from the guard. But more and more I see Guy LaFleur as the beginning of some decent work from the guard rather than THE sweep from that position.
So the next two weeks will have me deciding what I want to do from the guard for the next five. There is a huge temptation to really start focusing on the King Crimson set now, along with Skeedaddle, which very much fits into that set, and continue to evolve Guy LaFleur. One thing I need to do with Guy LaFleur is learn how to transition to a more conventional sitting hooks guard. I've struggled to pull off the main Guy LaFleur sweep with heavy guys (one blue belt in particular has been thwarting this sweep very effectively this past week). Converting to a more conventional butterfly guard may help keep that weight off of me.
From the top, there's been some definite progress in passing the guard from standing. Credit to the constant specific training that Rodrigo has been throwing at us. Friday and Saturday in particular I was doing the vast majority of my work from standing. By Saturday, I was managing to hop straight to my feet from good guard posture and drop right into the combat squat pretty effortlessly. That's going to be something to keep up.
The trick is to really squat down. I've been staying too high and making my legs to more work than they should to support. A full deep squat makes it possible to take a lot of that effort away. Then, make the step back move (Stagger Lee!) a part of the general move up back into actual break the guard mode.
I've also been working the Roger Gracie with the sleeve, standing in the more traditional 1-2 fashion. I'm not as coordinated here as I'd like to be. But this is a Pass That Works and I know that with another week or two, it will be something I can start to count on.
Inside control is key from standing. Scoop, Smash or SSS (Sprawl/Step/Shoulder).
Half guard passing remains ugly. We've actually worked on passing the half guard this week, and I need to do a much, much better job of putting those lessons to work this week.
This is a key issue because it is one area where you can really have a massive edge. A lot of guys will let you get to half guard when you are working to pass even if they don't have much of a half guard game themselves. It's better than being passed. So the idea is to have a better than average game in an area that for many people is just average and not their main focus. This was part of my idea in focusing on the half guard when I was a blue belt.
So I need to be tighter on the half guard passing. I've got plenty that are solid passes - the Knee Wedge/Royler/Cross Wedge series probably at the top of the list. I just need to spend the next two weeks figuring out which are going to be the ones to take with me.
