Mapping the Future

Class last night was good, working more 1-2-1 combinations.  Go for a hip bump sweep, if your opponent posts his outside hand, lock in the kimura.  If he drives forward, scoot back and sink i that painful guillotine.  If you want to go for distraction, do the hip bump sweep and put the arm over the other side of your opponent's head rather than the far side, and when he posts to keep from falling, sit back into the triangle.

Zach apparently re-tweaked his hand during 50/50s near the end of class.  So that left me, Andy, and Vanessa, with Klint running class.  Rolls were decent; before Zach got hurt, I was able to work my sweeps again.  With Andy, it was another back and forth.  I was able to sweep and control the top, so that was nice.  My top game is developing, but I don't have the control of far-side armbars that I used to think I had. Of course, I haven't drilled them in a while, so that's probably the basis for that.

Afterwards, I tried getting out from under Klint's side control.  That was more than an uphill battle; it was an impossible task for where I am right now.  I was able to get back to half-guard a few times, but he would of course slice through that and get me back in a painful spot.  It was a good exercise, and a welcome change of pace to open rolling.  I was inches from escaping an armbar for the first time---the standard escape where you look away and roll that exposes you to a triangle but evades the immediate danger---and then he just slapped the armbar and pinched his knees.  I literally screamed like a little girl.

One thing that I want to find the time to do is to map out the standard positions and the transitions from one to the other.  I forget where I read it (no I don't, it was here), but I remember seeing Rickson's own jiu jitsu map, his diagram of positions and the transitions he preferred.  He was a big fan of the mount.  This morning I was diagnosed with my annual sinus infection, so I have at least a few days to work the cerebral end of my game without getting caught up in avoiding chokes and moving my hips.  I do wonder whether I would be getting ahead of my skill level by plotting specific paths and combinations long before I've come close to perfecting (or even mediocre-ing) any of them.  I doubt that will stop me.  It's addictive in a way that I am unable to explain.  Sure, the submissions are sexy and the throws and takedowns are exciting.  Beyond that, though, it feels like I get to learn more and more about myself every chance I get to roll.  Whether it's a white belt whose belt still isn't broken in or the black belt instructor or a purple belt cop who has trained for ten years.  Strangely, it even makes me feel more confident in my legal work and analysis because it gives me a tangible thing that merits comparison.

Not knowing where this post is going or even whether it's long past where it should have stopped, I'm going to call it for now.  Hopefully this makes sense to someone; whoever you are, feel free to explain it to me at your convenience.