Trying to put ATM back on track with some Monday night training. Some judo to start off things with: osoto gari (major outer reap) to ashi barai (foot sweep), then Rodrigo showed us a way to take the back from half guard when the guy on top reverses on you (watchdog position or kimura attack from top).
The keys here were to trap the near arm at the shoulder as he reaches over to reverse, and then to do the basic half guard reguard where you switch the legs, grip the pass side leg at the knee, drag the far side leg wide to shift the guy's weight on top, then slide your pass side leg to the side and begin to climb around and take the back.
We spent a good amount of the class training specific, a lot of half guard and full guard. Good hard training and having done some serious conditioning at the home gym, I didn't have anything left for the Live Training afterwards.
That was the first time that has happened in years - if ever. And I do factor in Monday's cardiac output work has having a lot to do with it. But it was still a little unnerving, with that creeping feeling that I'm aging at double speed these days.
A very nice 160.1 on the scale post train. Even nicer were the five laps of hipscapes I managed to pull off after training for some HICT work. Nicer still? Nicer even than having the discipline to do my complete stretching routine after all that?
I'll call it "The Master Class." After a heroic Live Training session (two rounds, 16 minutes and 14 minutes), Prof Rodrigo and Abel and Lance started talking guard passing. I wish I could better translate all that Rodrigo had to say and show about the importance of angles and dealing with grips and fundamental tactics and strategies that apply to just about any type of guard.
It was absolutely incredible. It was a reminder of why it is so important to train when I've got TIME to train - which especially includes time AFTER training. As much as I love training during the day, too often I'm in a rush to leave. And that means that I'm missing out on some of what is often the most interesting material of the day - when the black belts start to show some of what they have been thinking about and working on regardless of the curriculum.
Back on the mat Wednesday night.
