Enjoying Inverted Guard

10-11a: Private with Professor Matthias. Reviewed the open guard sweeps and subs shown in the latest Gracie Mag. The first straight arm lock is about all I'll try to incorporate into my game for now. Worked guard passing most of the session. I have only rare success with the basic pass techniques during live spars. Will keep working on it. Finished with inverted guard from north/south. Looked at a few options for inverted triangle. One results in a triangle finish. Another uses the triangle to lock the opponent while I attack the arm with straight arm lock or kimura. Also played around with open guard recovery from inverted.

11-11:20a: Warm-up/standard drills. Finished about 75-80% of the push-ups from knees. Painful.

11:20-11:30a: Sweep / pass the guard. Sweeping machine today. Think I had 9-10 sweeps. Flower, De la Riva, Sweep off a Pass, and several others I don't have a name for. Guard passing was so-so. I passed both attempts, but they were sloppy passes against smaller Whites. I really should have been tighter.

11:30a-12p: Technique. Review from Thursday with minor variations. Basic stack pass, triangle when stacker is sloppy, arm bar from triangle transition when stacker postures to defend the triangle, and closed guard recovery in response to stack attempt.

12-12:30p: Rolls. 6 minute rounds. Got a first day White and two Blues. Worked the stack pass technique with the new guy. The rounds with the Blues went well. Did some things well but could have done other things better. Had a real solid open guard with the first Blue and one pleasing sweep. Got a sub too from guard. Had to have been an arm bar. I'm really out of shape because I was nearly gassed after the roll.

All I remember about the second Blue was the awkward execution of a reverse triangle from modified inverted guard. Locked in the reverse triangle, but his inside arm wasn't across his body so I couldn't finish. He stacked and twisted too so both subs i worked on before class were unavailable. Worked for a kimura, but that wasn't happening. Set up a wrist lock and started to apply pressure, but remembered one of our guys broke a poor visiting gal's wrist a while back... Never practiced a wrist lock before so I didn't want to be "that guy" who tries a sub the first time in a roll and hurts his training partner. Let it go and finally angled my body properly for the arm bar. Utterly gassed though when Professor called time.

I'm really starting to like inverted guard. Funny because I transition to inverted guard most often from under north/south. As my side control prevention got better, training partners would go north/south. Inverted guard to guard recovery became my go-to escape from north/south. Now I'm not only comfortable with being under north/south (err...with some training partners that is...), I actually look forward to the opportunity to work out of the position.

12:30-12:35p: After class roll with Brown. Uh...that would be stretching it. I was fully gassed and had nothing. I couldn't do anything right. He basically said I was rolling like a White Belt. Agree...it was a poor showing. Exhausted and demoralized I turned down an offer from a Purple to roll. I hate doing that. Need to get as much time with upper belts as possible. Bleh.