Still Can't Pass His Guard!

5:20-5:30p: Stretched.

5:30-5:50p: Warm-up / drills. I led. Didn't push it too hard. Incorporated a few gynastica natural moves and odds and ends I picked up from UNIJJ.

5:50-6p: Sweep / pass the guard. Started on bottom. Big White stepped in. When I say big, I mean big. 300+ lbs? Mid 30s. Apparently he trained at the gym a year or so ago and decided to come back out after finding this blog. Wow. Really? So cool to know this training tool may be making an impact in our gym. Anyways... He crushed my guard. Bailed to turtle to prevent the points. Prevented points but for the purposes of the drill I was done. Stepped into a White's guard next. Passed via sloppy knee/hip slide. Sloppy. A bit embarrassed actually. Remember getting a sweep next, but don't recall the details. Time.

6-6:30p: Technique. Self defense included punch defense to a throw with arm bar finish. Then went to classic arm bar from guard and a triangle from guard.

6:30-7p: Rolls. 5-6 minute rounds. Crowded mats. Groups of 3. Got a Blue and a White. Blue .... ARGHH.... Can't pass his guard. Rolled with him a couple weeks agp. Same story. Spent entire roll in his guard. He almost swept me a couple times via scissor variation. Tough time. Still can't pass his guard! White. Wow. Man Dime has improved a ton. Even the other Blue acknowledged. His guard felt solid. Grips too. Fantastic hip movement. His recent 4th stripe promotion = well deserved! A Brown called me over to roll in between Blue and White. Geez. Some of the tightest guard passing I've ever encountered. He had complete control over my hooks and hips. Passed and secured side control with ease. At one point I had a front gi choke set from guard. Didn't have it deep enough and held on far too long. Burned a lot of energy and he turned it into a pass. Swept him twice. So he says... I recall only one sweep. Escaped an arm bar from turtle. Saulo's trusty escape continues to pay dividends.