Training Day: Thursday

"Swimming is not a sport. Swimming is a way to keep from drowning."
--George Carlin

These days, training jiu-jitsu is less a way of getting better and more a way of avoiding getting worse.

When I compare the hours spent on the mat, before class, during class, after class, watching instructional videos, watching competition videos, taking notes, creating drills, breaking moves down into the most elementary particles possible ... when I compare that with on my actual on mat performance, I weep like a pre-Socratic philosopher. It is hard to describe the sense of slipping, almost like accelerating on ice, and the panic of not knowing whether to apply more force, more energy to the system or to back off entirely for fear of spinning out of control and winding up in some ravine somewhere.

I've pretty much made my peace with the fact that I'm not getting any younger, faster, stronger or that much smarter, for that matter. But the feeling that my technique has not improved significantly in months is like a waking nightmare - and yes, the fact that the months in question are the few months with a black belt in my gear bag only makes it that much more bitter to taste and difficult to digest.

Some good techniques in Prof Rodrigo's class. And were I a better man, I'd probably spend a little time talking about them.

161.7 on the scale, post-train.