Very nice to get back on the mats after relapsing into my summer cold over the weekend (and missing training on Monday). We worked guard replacements from the turtle (sprawl defense and side attacks against the turtle), which provided a good opportunity to work on mechanics, as well as a good workout.
Live Training was also good. I have to say, the past several sessions training with Coach Angela have been especially productive, giving me a chance to focus almost exclusively on open guard passing, movement, and technique. I'm getting a chance to work on not only the Effing Pass, but also some toreano passing, which is another major priority for my guard passing game. I'm also able to train the double under/double drop pass that Brian and I worked on a week or two ago.
The focus for me today was not letting anyone put their weight on me, going chest to chest, in half guard. It's one of my worst habits, making my work a hell of a lot harder. So with arm frame and knee shield, I did a much better job of controlling range and setting up my entries to sweeps. Also on this score, from a half guard passing game, I had some great early success with one of the passes that Rodolfo Viera shows in the latest edition of GracieMag, especially helpful against the knee shield half guard, where you overhook the top leg, fight for the cross face, and then squeeze your arms together while kicking your trapped leg free.
158.8 on the scale, post-train. Anything under 160 is gold.
