Saturday

I'm basically a zombie. Very busy weekend. One of those that I'll be happy when Monday rolls around.

Had 8-10 people for the Fundamentals class. Covered side-control escapes. Felt like I did a pretty decent job. Several blue belts in the class which was pretty cool. Had Rachael back as a demo dummy, which was also very cool.

Noon class consisted of straight up rolling. Not too many upper belts present, so it wasn't quite as rough as it could have been. Rolled with Rachael, Laurie, Russ, Daniel, James and can't remember who else. I tried hard to stay active in my roll with James, and it paid off. I had several almost good positions. He was def letting me work a bit, but not to the point that I felt like he was out-and-out giving me everything. He got me once with an arm-bar. Almost got a wrist-lock too, but I cursed my way out of that one.

Rest of the rolls were pretty good. I tried to let the lower belts work from good positions without compromising too much on good principles to allow them to get there. 

Watched Worlds in the afternoon. Was bummed that Mackenzie lost in the absolute semi-final, but happy she made it to the final of her weight division. She was totally crushed in the semi by a heavier opponent who crowded her severely with her hips.

Planning on watching the finals Sunday afternoon after advanced class.

White Belt

It's been a very hectic couple of days, and it's going to continue through the weekend. That's my excuse for forgetting to pack my belt for class this morning. I figured I'd just go without it, but I didn't like the jacket flapping around. I grabbed an extra white belt and felt much better. It was a kids belt, so I could only wrap it around once, but whatever.

Technique was passing from half guard to mount and then mounted arm-bar. Or americana. James showed us a way to use your chest to help finish the americana if they were especially flexible, but I was doing something wrong b/c it felt like the submission was more difficult to finish. You could eventually turn it into a wrist lock if they were especially flexible.

Rolls with Sarah (twice), Rachael and Lori. I tried to transition Lori through a bunch of different positions. She thought it was no gi today so she didn't have a gi, but she was using my gi for grips. I didn't mind though. 

I could tell that Sarah had a rough couple of days, but she and I had a pretty good couple of rolls. She got me into 50/50 more than once and finished an armbar at the end of our second round.

I managed to stay out of Rachael's side-control and I think I may have got to her back. We started standing but I chickened out and pulled guard. It was partly attributed to the fact that it was a packed mat and I didn't want to step on anyone. Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

Got some tips after class from James on bottom side-control escapes that I'm going to use tomorrow.

Wednesday Night

A friend of mine asked me this weekend to do a Spartan race with her in mid-June. I said yes, and then when I looked up what it entailed, decided that I *have* to get back to lifting. And doing some bit of running. So I ran a mile last night and followed it up with 5 rounds of Cindy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats per round). Something to get started back into lifting. Turns out we may not be doing the race after all, but my legs were still plenty tired today anyway.

So.....between the workout last night and class this morning, my legs were shot for evening class. My energy was ok but not stellar. Same technique as this morning. 

Rolling KOTH, win by sub, mount or back-control. I started down with Rachael as my first opponent. I stood up with her for about a second and then pulled guard. She passed pretty quickly and I suffered in bottom side-control for awhile. She very nearly got mount, back-mount and a number of subs. I was getting my ass kicked, but stayed patient. She went for an arm-bar from top half or top deep half or almost back-control (I can't remember which). I was able to escape, get to a top position and eventually mount. My patience paid off.

After that was Rachel B. I let her transition through a variety of positions before eventually getting to mount.

Finally it was white belt Kyle. He's come to a couple of my classes, and I've overheard him giving good instructions to his wife, who also trains. We started from the knees, and I did something way wrong with an omoplata attempt and got passed. I have *got* to fix people running over the top of me on omoplatas. I know the defense for it, but I never implement it in time. He got top control and had all kinds of subs he was working. Triangle, arm-bar, you name it. He was able to finish with an arm-bar from triangle. So yeah, tapped out by a white belt. Not the first time it's happened at purple, and I suspect it won't be the last. 

Rolled with Rachael for awhile after class, she pretty much kicked my ass again. Was good to have her back on the mat.