Rookie on the Mat

Showed up to class 10mins early to stretch and work on balance.  (BTW, stood up on the large round ball twice!)  Saulo was working with two other blacks, two browns, and a purple, all visiting from other RJJA academies.  At the start of class another two purples joined.  I was the rookie on the mat.  We drilled two options from reverse de la riva guard.  First was "the wrong way" but can work if you're late.  Second required spinning under your opponent to take his back.  Both felt good and are right in line with my open guard game.   Next up was sweep / pass the guard from half.  4min rounds then switch top/bottom and switch partners.  Finished with a 10min round with a seasoned Purple.  He had my back most of the time.  Caught me with an arm bar after defending choke attacks for 5+ mins.  Caught me with another arm bar  from guard off a triangle.  Not the greatest performance but I didn't feel like dying after 1.5 hrs of almost continuous grappling.  202.4 after training.  A week in Hawaii and I didn't really gain a pound.  Nice.