Friday

Cluster of a week.

No class Sunday or Monday b/c it was a holiday weekend.

No class Wednesday b/c my friend got rear-ended on her motorcycle. Wasn't hurt, but the bike is a hot mess and may need some major repairs. Spent some quality time in the ER and got home around 1am. My dept has been under a tight deadline at work, so between no sleep and lots of work I skipped Wed class. Was able to get enough sleep and work done to go this morning.

We worked on one of my favorites, DLR to RDLR transitions and sweeps. The first was the not-quite RDLR transition where you yank them over your head and then dump them on their butt. Then it was the DLR to RDLR tripod. Then RDLR to DLR back-take. Then some time spent just transitioning through all of those.

Rolls with Sarah, Jason (p), Blaine, Dennis and Ben. Sarah was feeling a little out of sorts today. I was able to positionally dominate the roll, moreso than usual. 

Jason rolled waaaay different than usual. He didn't smash me in top side-control, but rather let me work from guard (futilely) on submissions. I eventually got to his back at one point. I was in a state of mild shock during the roll, b/c he never, ever does that. I wonder if someone chatted with him, namely a particular someone that I was talking to last weekend about how hard Jason rolls. It was somewhat refreshing, but I hope he doesn't dial it back quite that far all the time. I talked to him after class and he said that he keeps seeing the same openings and taking advantage of them, and he wanted the roll to go a little different.

Blaine and I had a bit of a war, though he was positionally dominant. He has a slightly unorthodox side-control (relative to how most people in school) and I was a bit perplexed as to how to escape. He went for arm locks at several points but I was able to defend.

Dennis and I had a very evenly matched roll, and I was oh-so-close to getting an arm-bar from guard but he slipped out. I tried to get an omoplata instead but it was too late. He had top control for a piece of time and eventually got a kimura from side-control. I think I was able to work awhile from guard after that.

I was able to pass Ben's guard rather easily the first time but after that I ran into problems. Couldn't stay on top and couldn't pass his guard a second time.

I have waaaaaaaay more food than I will have people at the house this weekend to watch World's, but whatever. Looking forward to watching the matches and really hoping the stream is smooth and high quality. 

EDIT: I forgot to mention... At the end of class, we lined up and Ben and Dennis received stripes. I tried to use a Russian tie to single leg for my takedown and failed oh so miserably the first time. I didn't even get him on the ground, and had to to do it again. So embarrassing in front of the entire class.