Working Out the Demons

Small class again last night--Andy, Brian (fierce purple who scares the living hell out of me), Beard John, new Jeremy, and myself. John and I paired and Andy and Brian paired to go through a thread for the first forty minutes while Klint got Jeremy through Jiu Jitsu 101 and a few submissions. We focused on arm-dragging to the back and the sit-up sweep opportunity in case they pull away from you. Then he had two of us doing positional 50/50s while the other two drilled seoi-nage throws on the crash mat. First time doing judo throws on a crash mat, and it proved to me two things: (a) judo classes would be insanely fun; and (2) judo classes would be insanely tiring for the first month. Judo grabbed my attention a few months ago, and I remember reading that very fit people would go to judo classes the first few weeks and just gas after 20 minutes. Some old saying was, "The only practice for judo is judo." Those old Japanese men suddenly became much more bad-ass.

I had a rough day. I was expecting a call that didn't come, and so a job I really wanted is unavailable to me. So class was my pressure-release valve. Seeing class in that light, though, seems like it could be counter-productive. Instead of keeping myself in check and focusing on technique, it can easily become me using strength and fighting to get some sweat working. Looking back, I think I kept myself in decent check. There were a few times when I caught myself trying to use big movements when small would be better in every way. That I noticed is a good thing.

John and I got one roll in before he left--had my first experienced consciously trying the triangle-omoplata-triangle combination. I love it. Definitely going to keep that one in my bag of tricks. Andy and I worked for a while after that. He said himself that he had a shit day, and rolling with me when I need to work out some aggression was probably not the best way to end the night. He makes me work for everything I get, but I usually end up getting it. It also gives me opportunities to test new things, but I can't get lazy. He said he always feels a step or two behind me. It's nice to hear that, as it's how I feel when rolling with blues (and a fraction of what I feel when rolling with purples). It tells me that I'm doing some things right and putting in good mat time.

I'm hitting open mat tonight and class tomorrow. Brenna is going to the MN State Fair three times this weekend, so I'll have some time to burn.