Lunchtime BJJ in Seattle. I really wanted to make an appearance at Cindy's this afternoon- but I had a 2pm scheduled with CK, and Gracie Barra Seattle has what Cindy's unfortunately does not: a SHOWER. I look/smell so foul after a BJJ class, I don't even want to stop for GAS without a shower first, so there is no question of going to a second class in that state.
Even more unfortunately, the condition of my car necessitates an overdue trip to the car hospital.... which will make it impractical to go to Cindy's tomorrow lunchtime either. Working Friday and Monday. I might be able to make it to Cindy's lunchtime next Tuesday, assuming the car is repaired by then. She probably thinks I've died.
Anyway- same techniques as last night. I got to work with Steve, a small-size 4-stripe blue who is great to work with.
I had to be reminded to keep that gable grap during the clinch- and also during the scarf/headlock reversals. I also had to be reminded to keep my head/posture up when doing the clinch so that I don't get guillotined.
Problem: during the scarf/headlock rollovers, I whacked my ulnar nerve ("funnybone"), not just once but multiple times. I slapped some jow on it when I got to the community center with CK, but it's still pretty tender- and radiating funky weirdness all along that arm. (My right arm, of course- my sword arm, when I had a class scheduled with CK, drattit.)
King-of-the-mat positional sparring from headlock/scarf. I last about three seconds in this position on top of a big guy. After several rounds of immediately getting rolled over, I started switching to side control the second we said "go"- whch is kind of cheating the whole "positional training" concept, but heck, that was just not working out for me.
Timed spar with Marc. Very competitive. He has unexpectedly flexible hips, and is really good at making a little space and replacing guard when you don't think he'll be able to pull that off. All of a sudden, there's a leg between you- and it's like, "Damn- where did that leg come from?" and there you are in his guard again. Every time he put me back in guard, I cursed softly.... after four or five times, we were both laughing about it. He's good at triangles, too- which is fortunate for me because I get to work my triangle defense/escape, which still is wanting. I got out of one by stacking him hard and then shoving his thigh aside and passing. Escaped a couple more by quickly underhooking both his thighs. But I had to be pretty quick.
Open mat- I challenged Bree, but she was having asthma issues and had to bail. So I jumped Marc again. Another good competitive roll. Because I felt challenged by him- but not hopelessly, helplessly overmatched- I was consciously doing a little better at getting out of my game-plan rut and trying some different tactics once I observed that he was using the same set of techniques successfully against me multiple times. I finally managed to tap him out with an armlock. I had to work for a while to get it. I was perched on top of his shoulder, but he kept shoving away the ankle I was trying to park beside his head. Once I managed to accomplish that, I grabbed for his pantleg to try to bow him (that was an unusual tactic for me to experiment with). I had to let go of the pants, though, to keep the arm. He gable-gripped his hands to try to defend the armlock, but I wrapped his wrist by grabbing my own gi lapel. It wouldn't have worked against a big gorilla- and for a while I didn't think it was going to work on him- but I kept at it for a bit, and wore him down, and he eventually lost the gable grip and had to tap. I hardly ever tap Marc any more- and he really makes me work for it when I do- so I was pleased with myself.
Jamie just started yoga. He said wonderingly, "Some of those women in there are so flexible that thay can stand with their feet apart, put their heads right down on the mat, and go up into headstands!" So I had to show him that I could do that. Gracefully. When I was upright again, I glanced down the line, and all the guys were watching me with identical gawping expressions. LOL. Someday I'll walk on my hands for them, and then they'll REALLY think I'm Hot Stuff.
Later.........
Tai chi with CK. I asked her to show me the new form that she wants to teach me next. It's a jian form. Pretty cool. She thinks it has a lot of Dragony energy in it. I can't really tell by watching.
We did some more Catherine Dao, some more Cannon Fist. More moving-from-the-center, more alignment. It is a bit frustrating that the second I stop focussing on the pelvic alignment, it slides right back into it former bungled state. I mean IMMEDIATELY. I literally have to say it to myself every twenty seconds. CK says that it is a process of actually changing PHYSIOLOGY as well as posture, so it's not unusual for it to be that much work.
I got to work apps from Catherine Dao, involving grabbing the enemy by the hair (I had to grab CK by the collar instead, as she currently has a buzz cut), chopping her head off, and then swinging the severed head around in a wide circle as you make the next turn. The blood splashes in a lovely arc- nothing is untouched.
One correction she made on me was the spot where I was puling the dao back across my belly for a rechamber before a stab- I was turning the edge outward as I pulled it back and then twisting the sword on the stab so that the edge was inward again at extention. She wanted me to keep the dao in place and remove all the superfluous twisting. I tried it, and immediately objected because that put the edge toward my stomach on the rechamber. I argued that in a melee situation, that would put me in danger of someone falling or pushing against me and causing me to open my own gut with my own sword. That is always embarrassing. She ran the technique both ways and exclaimed, "Huh!" I was enormously pleased that I actually had a practical martial reason for the alteration that I had apparently made on a subconscious level... and even more pleased that CK appreciated my deviation enough to consider it valid. We compromised, and decided to turn the edge downward on the drawback. She further suggested that we both present a united front in insisting to SK that that was the way it had always been. (hee hee)
Whenever CK comes to Seattle, she visits a Chinese bakery and gets these EEEEEEEVIL custard pastry things that probably have a zillion calories in them. Today she also fed me a coconut tart from the same bakery. I said I'd try a small piece... wow, it was yummy- Next thing I knew, I had gorfed the whole thing. Good thing- in that aspect- that CK and her baked good are leaving tomorrow morning. The ten lb I dropped for the November Revolution, I've kept it off throughout the holidays.
While in the International District, she also bought a pair of ceramic cups with a traditional design in nice earthy green and beige- Tigers on one and Dragons on the other. Those being our respective Shaolin styles; she gave me the Tiger and kept the Dragon.
I had hoped to get to evening BJJ tonight in Bellevue as well, but my malfunctioning car put the kibosh on that. I feel bad flaking out on Angela yet again for no-gi.
(pic- Doug's black belt promotion)
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