One of the things I notice about training with veteran black belts is how they rarely are playing a specific type of guard in the way that we learn "the guard" as students: closed guard, half guard, spider guard, etc. It really becomes using angles and your legs and grips the same way a boxer uses his or her angles and shoulders and forearms and fists to defend and attack.
The physics, at least to me, are as different (and not so different) as comparing steam engines to jet propulsion. But I'm convinced that the more I see the guard as "the guard", more like "en garde" than "closed guard, half guard, spider guard, etc.", the better my guard will be.
Training a lot with Prof. Casey lately. In the same way that I got to train with guys (and gals) like Stephan, Steve, Cindy, and Lance for extended stretches of time over the years, it's been great to again spend so much time training with a specific, superior, training partner.
162.3 on the scale post-train. 2012 weights will be in the gi to provide an additional visual-freakout incentive to get closer to featherweight. I'd like to knock about five pounds off that +160 number on the Monday 30 days from now.
