Movin' On Up

To the East Side (yeah we movin' on up).  [You were singing it in your head, I just put it to words.]

ADCCs are streaming in front of me on the television (thank you PS3), my wife is still asleep, my dog is curled at my side, and the coffee is still hot.  This is a good morning.

I trained five and a half times this week.  Half because I got to open mat pretty late on Saturday, and I only got to work for about fifteen minutes with Dumi.  Mind you, this is still fifteen minutes of good work with a purple belt that I would not get at my own academy, and Dumi has a super smooth game that requires constant attention and careful technique.  We weren't rolling hard, and he was working his inverted guard, so I concentrated on passing, top half-guard, and grip control.  If I could change only one thing about my academy, it would be the number of training partners we have.  I'm lucky to have the school across town with a stable of guys who want to train every day, and I'm lucky to have an understanding wife who understands my need for physical release and exercise.  So when possible, I get to travel cross-town for some serious work.  Friday, though, was fairly light, which is actually what I wanted.  I just wanted more time for it.

Saturday morning with Gina's class was good.  I keep working one takedown setup with options to go to a single leg, an uchi mata, or and knee tap.  Klint has me focusing on this one setup for two reasons:  1. I'm not generally comfortable with takedowns and we don't have the guys to constantly work them (especially since our guys keep getting hurt); and 2. it keeps my head out of trouble when working for the takedown.  So I'll have to put more time into that, slowly upping the intensity.  JD has said that he's more than willing to work with me on it, which is good because he's bigger than me.  So if I can work it on him, that bodes well for tournament utility.  I'll be in the 175.5 lbs division, and if some guys cut serious weight, it's not outside the realm that they would be JD's size.  Good things all around.

Then Klint's class was again good, working on defenses--triangle and armbars.  After class, he tested me for and awarded me my first stripe on my blue belt.  Had to demonstrate a few techniques from the set curriculum, and then rolled with the three guys twice through, live the first time and starting in disadvantageous positions the second time through.  I was pretty tired by the end, and Klint said a few very nice things, we bowed, and that was the day.  So now I'm a one-stripe blue belt.  Is that any different from the beginning of the week?  No, not so much.  I had some people come watch my promotion from white to blue, and Brenna asked if I was going to do the same anytime soon.  I think not until purple.  That's the next big step.  Everything until then is like "What About Bob":  baby steps.  And I have a lot of baby steps to take before then.  So that starts with training on Monday.

Tournament date:  October 15
Weight class:  175.5
walking around:  177-82
Should be easy enough to make that.