One Technique

12/6

So. F'n. Cold. The gym was 57F degrees when I walked in. Sad panda. I planned ahead and brought a hoodie to wear under my gi during warm-ups. That worked well for my torso, but my feet were another matter. Numb by the time warm-ups were over. I have poor circulation to my extremities, and it's most noticeable in the below 60F range.

I wore the Koral that I got from a deep Black Friday discount and absolutely love it.  Should've washed it first, but I couldn't wait. It's an A2 that fits almost exactly like the A3 that I got from Tatami. Lightweight, seems durable, and the front flap of the jacket wraps around better than any gi I have. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the drawstring on the pants as opposed to a cord, but I can live with that. I wish that I would have gotten two of those instead of a Tatami, but oh well.

We worked one technique b/c we had several newer guys that needed a lot of help. Closed guard to triangle or omoplata or if they defend the omoplata, arm-bar. Relatively basic, but there's so many details in such a simple thing like breaking their posture that I wasn't complaining.

Rolls with Savannah, Dennis, Jason, Antone and Gary. Savannah did a great job of pressuring and passing my guard. She got her fourth stripe on her white belt last night and deserves it. Dennis and I had a good roll. He let me take his back at one point and I worked on a paper cutter and bow and arrow. I was close on the latter, but he timed my transition well and escaped. Jason got me in a baratoplata. Again. Apparently that is the new fancy in our world. Antone tried numerous bolos and rolling back takes but wasn't able to capitalize on a submission. I almost had his back at one point but he exploded through and avoided it. One of my better rolls with him of late. Gary wants to smash, smash, smash, but he's so new that he doesn't have enough technique to do it effectively. He was using a lot of old man strength, so I did my best to keep my distance from my guard. He passed at one point, tried to get a kimura (typically of guys that want to hulk smash), lost it and I ended up in top half. Eventually passed into mount and took his arm home with a few seconds to spare. That was strangely gratifying. He mentioned at one point mid-roll that he was getting tired. I suggested that he chill a bit, and he replied that he didn't know how. He truly does not know how to chill while rolling.

I moved the power rack in the house earlier in the week and did my first lift last night. Very, very happy.