It's late, and I went to see INCEPTION (again) after class and before writing this post, so I'm basically guaranteed dreams that are really, really long and intricate with Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon Leavitt and guns and tops and falling buildings and exploding crates and---honest to god---a mid-air, zero gravity arm triangle. So I've got that going for me.
Tonight we drilled more single-legs, worked on how to take the back after passing to the back of the knees, and then did a bit of closed guard work. After class, I rolled with Kyle, then Andy, then Jeremy. With Kyle, I showed him the whizzer grip---the secret to my success---and how to both get it and use it. To be fair, I don't know how to use it all that well yet, but it gives me a sense of further control when I have someone in my guard, and I like that. It slows the game down to the pace that I dictate. Something strange happened to my left knee, too. On the outside, it felt like it was burning for a bit. So I threw an icepack on it for a few minutes and then went back on the mat. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, but it didn't bother me after that.
Andy and I had our usual back and forth. The first roll I finished with a kimura, the second ended very quickly with a platform armbar, and the third was a marathon that I ended with a technically-wanting armbar. Whenever I need to work my half-guard escapes, I should roll with Andy. He clamps down onto my leg like I just kicked his dog. I went through all three at some point during our roll, so it made me feel good in that I was able to notice when each was appropriate and shift my approach accordingly.
Jeremy, of course, wrecked me. Armbar after armbar. I was much better about capitalizing on openings with Jeremy tonight than I was all last week. I made him work for mount, and then I was able to get out of it at least once, maybe twice, I can't really remember. I kept him from choking me, but he swept me at will and made me work to survive. Basically though, Jeremy was fulfilling the need in Klint's academy for someone other than Klint to beat the crap out of me. One pass I basically gift-wrapped for him. I also made a conscious effort to try to attack on the top rather than pull guard and look for sweeps. This was for two reasons: (1) I'm fairly certain that Jeremy knows all the sweeps I know and the counters to them, and (2) if I can get anywhere near comfortable attacking Jeremy for top position, I should be comfortable attacking almost anyone for top position. It's funny how looking at my rolls tonight, I come to the same basic critiques: keep patient, keep moving (even though those seem counterintuitive), break the grips, and don't sacrifice your posture. Of course, I wasn't successful in most of those tonight and so I am sore and appreciating my dinner. At 1 am. It's the way my schedule works out, and for anyone who's thinking that's a bad time to eat because my body won't digest it while I sleep, I dare you to train 4 days a week and try to keep weight on. it's awesome, and I eat like a bastard. If I really wanted to get in pristine shape, I would stop drinking beer. But God how boring does that sound?
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