I'm on a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule this week, it seems - though there's a pretty good chance that I'll be swinging by the academy either early or late tomorrow on Friday.
A Cindy class for the first time in a while, which was nice. Now that it's warming up and competition prep time has arrived, I'll be making Thursday's a regular training session (adding Tuesday and swapping out Wednesday for a four training week).
Many of the same techniques from Tuesday night, of course. Cindy extended them somewhat, as Rodrigo does, adding a knee on belly and armlock to the hip throw counter to the front choke, for example. I've been trying to really take my time and get every little detail. Jesse, who stopped by tonight, made some interesting points about that, about attentiveness, after class that I found very interesting and worth remembering. They definitely reflect my thinking on the topic of late.
It also parallels something I've picked up in a book I got earlier today, The Inner Game of Tennis, which is a sort of classic of sports psychology, namely the vital role of not just mental stillness (very Zen), but also of focus (which has its Zen characteristics, as well). More about that later in a separate post.
A good training night tonight. I still feel like my guard passing is embarassingly paleolithic any time I'm doing anything other than the Flat Pass. But I've got some time to work on it before I'll need those skills in spades. So there's no reason to freak out about it now. But it remains a bit of an annoyance; the sooner addressed the better on that score.
One of the things I think I'm appreciating most from this week's lessons (other than the chokes) is the technique for getting out of guard. The lift method - the same as "technical standing" comes into play a million times in jiu jitsu, and this technique for taking the back after the arm cross - or of getting up from guard and attacking (as I was able to do successfully once tonight) - is really, really worth coding into your jiu jitsu circuitry.
161.2 on the scale, post-train. Not great, but acceptable this far out. I'll admit, by the time Cindy called "time" I was convinced I'd weigh-in closer to 155. Well, maybe not quite that much. But you get the point. Calories were burned.
