5:20 to 7p

5:20-5:30p: Stretched a bit, but Aaron (Blue) grabbed me and asked me to show him what I've been learning. Showed the north-south escape Professor Matthias taught Monday. He based out so it wasn't quite as effective. Showed him Roger Gracie's cross choke from mount. He worked it on me. Showed him a couple variations that Saulo teaches. Then demonstrated a knee push sweep from reverse de la riva that I've been working on. He grabbed the back of the gi and pulled up to prevent the sweep. Hadn't seen that defense before... He also stepped to the outside. At first I didn't know what to do, then remembered what Saulo showed in Revolution 1 to turn that into a different sweep. Mike (Purple) jumped in and demonstrated a de la riva variation that allows you to take the back. Professor Doc Eddie jumped in... Fun stuff. Wish I had more time for that sort of meeting of the minds.

5:30-5:45p: Warm-up / standard drills. Louis (Blue) led. Twas ok. Hardly breathing at the end though. Doc Eddie pulled me out of line to work the double leg teg down drill. I've always struggled with this drill. My toes feel like they are going to dislocate. Not sure what's going on. But it was good to see the details with someone in front of me. Simulating that take down with a phantom opponent has been tough. I plan to slow it down and work on the steps while avoiding (as best as possible) the odd pressure it seems to create on my toes.

5:45-6p: Sweep / pass the guard. Missed some of this while working with Doc Eddie. Stepped into John's (Blue) guard. Eventually passed. Took a while though. Steve (White) stepped up. Professor Matthias has encouraged us to work open guard, so I released and began to switch to open when Steve stood up and back. Couldn't recover points of contacts. Passed. Bleh.

6-6:30p: Flow technique. Stack pass to side control. Partner gets underhook and switches hips and comes to knees. Top guy bases out, cross-faces, and moves around to set up to take the back. Then rolls to insert hooks and secure a standard two lapel grip choke. Also learned an escape that usually results in half guard. A second escape was too complex for me...too much in my brain for one night.

6:30-7p: Crowded mats tonight. Groups of 3. 6 minute rounds. Got Steve (White) and Lance (White). Both guys outweigh me. Lance is a few inches taller and perhaps 35-50lbs heavier. I thought I was in for a rough time. Fortunately...I guess...Lance and Steve went at it first while I made sure they didn't collide with anyone. And boy did they go at it. Looked like a furious and exhausting battle. Gassed both guys. I didn't think either of them would be up for another roll. Although we rolled, they didn't really have much left to offer. No problem. Transitioned between positions and played lots of catch and release (with a few keepers). After two back-to-back 6 minute rounds, I was hardly breathing. Again. Hmmm...

Forgot to stretch. Probably not a big deal though since I didn't exert myself much tonight. But that's a cop-out. I need to stretch.