More work on the pendulum sweep today, which was great insofar as I can already feel my sweep getting smoother compared to my efforts on Monday. As I said to Brian during the drilling, I could train the same technique all week. With something as technical as jiu-jitsu, repetition is definitely some kind of solution to learning, if not mastery.
Today we added another armlock to the sweep, as well as a variation in case the guy steps up with one foot, but keeps it too far out of range for you to reach it. Here, you reach under your lower back - almost as if you were "handcuffing" yourself - in order to block the guard passer's near knee. If you can sweep the knee, so much the better. But likely all you'll need to do is block it in order to carry out the same pendulum sweep. The armlock for today also dealt with that same posture on top from the guard passer. Here, the key was to pull on the foot of the near leg (again, under you), in order to initially break the base. Done correctly, the guard passer almost falls into perfect position for the armlock.
Very vigorous Live Training today, with two 8-10 minutes sessions with Chaim. There may not be a more difficult guy for me to spar than Chaim in many ways, not the least of which is that we have similar styles ("three yards and a cloud of dust"). It can be a sobering experience. But I'm trying to focus on how much benefit this kind of training will be over the longer-term, as I am forced to adapt to a bigger, stronger "opponent" with the same sort of positional goals that I have.
Still no new battery for the scale, so my post-training weight is a mystery for a second session in a row. I was about 153 before class this morning, so I'm guessing that I might have even tipped below 155 (without the gi) by the time Wednesday's time on the mat was done. It's a tricky balance. But if I can stay around these lbs, and gradually bring my consumption back up, that would be ideal.
