Stop Wearing Pants in No Gi!

12/3

Energy level was great heading into class tonight. I looked around and noticed that aside from James, I was the highest ranked player in the room. Weird. I went in with the mindset that I wasn't going to worry about technique when rolling. I think I'm getting too caught up lately in thinking of and executing specific techniques during rolls instead of just letting things flow.

Passing the butterfly guard if you can collapse the legs, passing the guard if you can't collapse the legs, and the double-under stack pass. I felt comfortable with all of these, especially the stack pass. However, it occurred to me after we moved on from the stack pass that I had neglected to keep my arm across their lower belly and cup their hip. Details, details.

Rolls with Savannah, C, James and Grant. I was supposed to have a fourth roll with Matt, but his ankle acted up 10sec into the roll so we both ended up sitting out.

I went more on the offensive with Savannah. Established a good top position and got to mount. She worked to pass my guard several times, and got through at least twice. Very good and strong cross-face pressure. Not in an asshole way, but in a controlled way.

C annihilated me. Dude loves to roll, scramble and move around. Sometimes I can slow him down in gi, but little chance of that in no gi. He got a sub on me but I don't remember what it was. I think it was a RNC. Meh. I felt sluggish during that roll, almost like I was mentally defeated. Not cool. I did try to work the dummy sweep and kindof had it setup but forgot a few key details and he was able to step out of it easily.

Grant also schooled me. It's ok to be schooled by him b/c he's so humble and nice. I was in a weird position where I had tried to go for his back but didn't quite make it. He grabbed a hold of my foot and was trying to bend it over his arm. I don't remember exactly what the position was, but I had my hand ready to tap to the toe hold while I worked to squirm out of it. He eventually let it loose. He got me with something too, but I don't remember what. Humbling to be the highest ranked player and attend more frequently than the new blues I was getting schooled by. There's a lot of factors that play into it, and rank isn't everything, and so on. But still. The feeling that you aren't making progress is a terrible one.

Roll with James was fun, especially toward the end. He let me work the 93 guard sweep that we did on Monday. I tried to get to his back but couldn't establish any hooks. I anticipated fairly well throughout, and tried to be fluid and not force anything that wasn't there. He said afterwards that my anaconda choke had him worried. Shamefully, I didn't even know it was an anaconda choke. I just saw an opportunity while he was in top side or top half to go for a guillotine-type choke. No idea what I was doing. Should probably look that one up.

I have got to do something about being more aggressive during rolls. Especially no gi. I feel somewhat comfortable with submissions, but don't feel like I can sweep or defend passes very well. Eh. Not a fan of tournament pressure.