A whole lot of getting my butt kicked by Alecia, interspersed with one very delicious moment.
But first: Tai Chi.
After the standing meditation, we did the sideways walking (with one arm only, scoop-and-pull-across), then review of all the other stuff, then sideways walking again- because that relates to the next move in the form. I explained the whole don't-hit-with-your-hand, hit-with-your-center/entire body concept... and we hit each other lightly with elbow strikes using JUST the arm versus elbow strikes with the entire body behind them.
Again, I was getting really good, instantaneous chi buzz off the "bubble" exercise, as well as the standing med. I hope that now that I'm being more regular about this, the chi will become even more reliable.
Seeing that LD was still having a little bit of a flying-elbow problem, I walked sideways behind her with one hand on her shoulder and holding the other palm out where I wanted her elbow to stop. A lot of stiff people will get even stiffer when you touch them, so I wasn't really wanting to do it that way, but I didn't know what else to do to try to fix it. She's improving- picking up the techniques okay, no slower than I do- just really stiff. She also tends to speed up, and when she speeds up she gets even stiffer. I need to make sure to keep slowing her down.
Then another move of the form. This one is one of the trickier moves, but she did fine. Several reps.
Then off to Cindy's. There was no Cindy today. Lamont was walking people through an escape from half guard, then pairing people up to spar. With a scoreboard. Gulp. He asked me, "Are you doing the Revolution?" I stood there silently, till he and everyone else in line started laughing. Then I said archly, "Maybe."
Lest you think I am being a bit too hard on myself when I write my blog, I gotta lay out the hard evidence: Alecia creamed me 21 to zero. Oh excuse me- 21 AND AN ADVANTAGE to zero. Heh. I was on the bottom almost the whole match, and she apparently did a bunch of position changes (side control to mount, etc) to get all those points. She then slammed an armbar at the very end, with a few seconds to go. Lamont said, "Tap" and she let go. I said, "I didn't tap! But I was gonna."
Then I went with Daniel, who likewise sat on top of me the entire time. Lamont was making us start in standup, which was intimidating (especially against Alecia, and Daniel (who is very large)). I did not pull guard. Considering that once I'm on the bottom, I tend to stay there- I do not want to pull guard. In fact I might even be better off letting the opponent get a takedown as opposed to resorting to pulling guard. Lord knows I've been hurled hard to the ground often enough that I can recover instantaneously- I have a decent chance of scrambling to some marginally better position than guard, unless they land right on top of me in good positioning with all their weight.
Alecia did get the takedown, but I made her work for it. We danced around for a decent time, and I actually tried a few things. They didn't work- but hey, I tried, which is better than I usually do against Alecia- who simply completely overwhelms me.
Then George- who once again, was toying with me and leaving gaping holes which I still couldn't do crap with. Trying to take him down was like trying to uproot an oak tree. (I finally muttered to him, "You're a BITCH to take down!" Which made him laugh.) I did get to try several things, though- since he was letting me- and eventually I took him down twice. He let me get a tap with an RNC... and yeah, although he allowed me to take his back, he DOES fight back in earnest when you start to slap a sub on- so if you actually get one, you know you did a decent job at it.
Then Lamont. Then Alecia again, in gi this time. She didn't want to put on the pants, but I made her put them on. More dancing around; I got to try some more stuff, she obviously was a little awkward with the whole collar and sleeve grip thing. Then I went for the fall-on-your-butt, plant-feet-in-her-hips and toss-her-over-your-head thing. Worked like a charm. Man, that throw only works once- and really only against inexperienced (in gi) people- but when it works, it's damn pretty. I lost my hold on her as she went down, but I scrambled on top before she could recover. Takedown points for me. Hey look, I got points against Alecia! Delicious.
I actually managed to stay on top for most of the round, although I didn't get a sub. I got a KoB that I got points for. I think I also got a front mount that I got points for, but Lamont informed me that I had thrown away some points by failing to wait the full three seconds in side control before going for the mount. Alecia got a leglock on me once that I had to tap to. I don't know *any* leg stuff yet- either offensive or defensive. If I go up against somebody who does a lot of that stuff, I'm going to be in big trouble. I wish somebody would teach me some leg stuff. This would have been a good thing to work on in those small lunchtime Cindy classes- if only they still existed. Sigh. I haven't seen any leglock instruction at Gracie's in my entire two years- they don't want to teach it in front of the white belts.
Alecia asked me how I thought she would do in gi, and I advised her to not let them get grips, and force them to play her game.
Then George asked Alecia and me to go two-on-one on him. I thought we'd handle him, but we ended up kind of getting in each other's way. Lamont made us stop because it was getting a little out of hand.
Somehow we got on the topic of Lamont being old and frail (huh). I then told them, to their shock, that I am older than Cindy, older than Leilani, and at *least* as old as Lamont. He opined that I look so well-preserved because I "haven't had any trauma". I lay there on the floor and laughed till I was out of breath.
Icing my left elbow right now. It's the one Alecia armbarred, but it had seemed controlled- so I'm not sure, something else might have done it. I hope it'll be okay. Sprained finger twinging a bit. Wrist wound finally healed. Bet it's gonna scar, though. I'm glad it's on my right wrist instead of my left, where it might have messed up my tattoo.
I'm enjoying the Tai Chi with the BJJ chaser. I feel like the Tai Chi does favorable things to my body and mind and puts me in a better zone for the BJJ. Maybe I should try to do a little Tai Chi at the tournament while I'm waiting for my matches.
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