End of March? Really? Huh. How did that happen?
This month, I've had fairly steady training. I got some more tattoo work done in the middle of the month, so I had to take a week off there; but aside from that, it's been a steady three-a-week. Sadly, Sunday mornings have fallen apart. The space we were using got leased out, and I'm still looking for a new place to get people together.
Life as a four-stripe blue belt is kind of strange. As would be expected, I place probably excessive expectations on myself, wanting to be to white and blue belts what brown belts are to me. Realistically, I still don't have the ideal training partner setup. I don't have a slew of people to actively drill things on, I don't have a handful of people to battle with on a regular basis....if I want it, I have a few people to just thump me and thrash me all over the mats, so that part is covered. And if I'm honest with myself, part of it is probably that I'm not disciplined enough to 1) recognize what I need in my training at a particular moment, and B) do only those things instead of keeping myself entertained all the time. I know it's a balancing act, but I'm not good at "eating my greens" on the mat.
Klint wants me to compete a few times this year, and as usual, he's most likely right. It will be valuable to get some more experience, and I need to compete without pulling guard at least once. If I intend to keep improving, I need to put myself in uncomfortable positions under pressure, not just while training. My last competition was just straight-up bad. It would be good to vindicate that, so long as I stay true to the utilitarian philosophy rather than the competition mindset. Jumping guard isn't a self-defense strategy, it's a competition strategy. Takedown, pass guard, mount, submit; or, if taken down, either submit or sweep, pass guard, mount, submit.
I watched some of the matches from the Pans. Nothing really jumped out at me; of course the athleticism and technique of the top black belts was impressive, but it's still winning by points and advantages. I didn't see anyone out there hunting for the finish at the possible expense of positional security. And that is what makes jiu jitsu entertaining to watch. Thankfully, another Metamoris event is coming up in May. I hope they get some good matches, because the last one totally lived up and set the stage for future events.
This has been a pretty rambling post; I have the NCAA tournament on in the background, and I'm pretty damned tired, so my concentration and drive are noticeably lacking. I trust you'll be lenient in your criticism.
