Takedowns I Don't Hate

Lots of drilling last week, not much rolling. I was helping Sarah and others prep for their purple belt tests. They smashed the test. One of the purple best tests that I've witnessed thus far. It was awesome to see James get choked up talking about his wife. I had a feeling that he wanted to say more but was unable to get the words out. Great stuff.

I was part of the shark tank for Chris, and holy cow did he suffer. He had Kelly twice. Kelly did a particularly brutal KOB for an extended period of time. I think I stayed away from KOB, moreso stayed on top side, mount or harassed him from the back. I don't think he was prepared for the savagery of it. 

Seminar with Victor was terrific. He started with takedowns, to which I was thinking "Uggggghhhh takedowns...".  But this stuff clicked. Like...immediately clicked. I'm sure there's a fancy Japanese term for it, but basically your opponent has a cross-collar grip, so you get a grip under their arm (if they have a cross-grip on your right lapel with their right hand, you get a grip on their right lapel under their arm with your left) and then do some fancy shit from there. My favorite was a roll-under technique, but the very best part is that I felt relatively competent at most of them.

He also did some top half guard passes, including a back-step variation that completely flew in the face of the way that I've learned and taught it. I think if you're Victor, the variation will work well. If you're me, probably not so much.

Rolled on Thursday night and Friday morning, pretty much got my ass handed to me. Didn't get terribly discouraged by it though, just a bit. Still can't believe that people can take months off at a time, multiple times a year and still manhandle me. I'm such an egalitarian, but I need to quit thinking about jiu jitsu like that.

Was feeling kindof poo poo today so no advanced class.