The New Normal

Still feeling a bit gimpy, but the knee felt good enough to give it a go today. Approached class with a new attitude. I've decided to slow down my game - A LOT. Like half of my pre-injury intensity. Use as little muscle and force as possible. Don't force things to happen. Wait or work slowly for opportunities. Patience. Technique. If I don't find many opportunities during a roll...no problem. Just keep looking for them. Basically I plan to do everything I should have been doing all along. I'm in this for the long haul, so rolling smarter is my only option. Plain and simple. It's my new normal.

5:35-5:45p: Warm-ups / standard drills. Professor Matthias had me lead warm-ups. First time I've done that. Forgot leg/hip stretches, but did push-ups. What was I thinking? Not sure.

5:45-6p: Pummeling and take down set up drills. I'm not a good dancer. Henry (White Belt) pushed me all over the place. Stand up is tough. I managed to surprise a Purple Belt with a few leg sweep set ups I learned at the Rolles Gracie seminar. Quite effective if timed right.

6-6:10p: Take down drills (full speed). I sat out. Didn't want risk the knee. I really need to work take downs and guard pulls though.

6:10-6:15p: Tournament Q&A. The Gracie Barra Compnet tourney is coming to New Orleans on October 23rd. I've registered. Masters, Heavy division. Asked lots of dumb questions like why does one guy wear the green/yellow stripe belt? What's a neck crank? Cervical lock? Etc. Professor Matthias went over scoring. Good stuff. Oh...speaking of the tournament. I weighed 198lbs this morning. Haven't weighed under 200lbs since high school. I plan to drop to 195 by next weekend. That gives me a 6-7lb cushion. I'll eat well (but smart) and hydrate the week prior to the tourney. That's the plan anywhoo.

6:15-6:35p: Rolls. 6 minute rounds. Got Chad (White Belt), Henry (White Belt) and David (White Belt). Played a lot of defense and waited for escape and sweep opportunities. But my priority was keeping my knee safe. Had a couple of scares. Got pushed on my back while on my knees. Fortunately I shifted to my side and freed my weak leg before he came down on me. Another scare was my fault. One of my sweep attempts stalled. Almost had the sweep. Thought I could force it over. It worked...but that's not the point. Risked injury instead of resetting and looking for another sweep.

But it wasn't all bad news on the sweep front. My favorite was a transition from butterfly learned from Saulo's Jiu Jitsu Revolution Series 1. Set up for standard butterfly sweep. Training partner posted his left knee. I shot my right leg through the space, retained the left butterfly hook, trapped posted leg between the knees, pulled his left heel out so his leg was straight between my legs (his left foot near my right shoulder), then stood up while pushing the straight leg back, which forced him on his back. Stoked. Had a couple solid deep half guard escapes too. Had a light bulb moment. I've been stuck too often in deep half, unable to complete the sweep. Realized that I can create the space I need by shucking down the leg. Worked like a charm. Nice! .

Attempted a cross choke set up from mount, but didn't have control. Switched to seated mount to avoid getting reversed and set up for the arm bar. Couldn't finish the arm bar. Need to work on hand fighting to get good control and remember to secure the position before submission. Also attempted a clock choke. Set up for the choke was by the book, but something fell apart in the execution. Saulo says I don't need to walk around my training partner; only need to place the hip/weight in the right spot. I clearly didn't have the right weight distribution and I lost the critical hip lock. After 20 seconds or so without a tap, I gave it up and moved on. It was the first time I'd ever tried a clock choke. Will have to study up and hopefully I'll get another opportunity soon.