Do not let go of the pants

The energy is always there within reach. It is a fire that doesn’t always burn in the open, but under the skin the coals are always lit. Anyone sensitive enough can feel the vibration. As soon as you enter a room, right away you perceive who is an individual from head to toe and who has never listened to the voice of the body. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path


Evening BJJ at Gracie Bellevue. I was going to go to "all levels" in Seattle instead, but I couldn't get motivated on time to beat the commute. Almost worth it just to see how happy Carlos was, again, to see me for the second time in one day. Again he made a big deal out of it and called me out in the lineup like everybody was supposed to applaud me or something. He also informed the entire class that not only was I here twice today, I would be in Seattle tomorrow lunchtime as well. He went on to suggest I show up for the 8am open mat. :) While all this is a little embarrassing, I guess in a way it gives me an out if I perform poorly- everybody knows I'm tired!

Takedowns- that is one good thing about "advanced" class. Lapel & elbow grips, jerk partner fwd, slide rt foot behind hir left foot (on the floor- not at the knee- I always want to hook behind the knee whenever I do a takedown of this type). If s/he steps that foot back out of your takedown, shoot that same foot over to hir other leg to hook THAT ankle. I remember Henrique liked this combo.

Same entry, but instead of the second ankle hook, turn around and hip throw. This works better if you don't rush it too much and take enough time to get your butt positioned correctly before you try to throw. Variation- you can also get down on both knees and still throw hir over your shoulder.

Guard pass- you are kneeling in partner's butterfly guard. Pull your rt knee back momentarily. Push partner's rt leg to mat (DO NOT LET GO OF THE PANTS! Gawds, I'm gonna have that tattooed on the backs of my hands!), underhook hir left leg with your rt arm (if you failed to pull your right knee back at the beginning, the opponent's foot catches you here). Scoot forward quickly and end with your rt knee at hir crotch, the toe hooked over hir right leg to trap it, and your left leg stuck straight out to the side with the foot on the mat. (This was the hardest part for me. That scoot forward into that position was very slow and clumsy. If I can get to class early enough tomorrow, I'm gonna ask Prof Carlos to troubleshoot that part for me) The remainder is obvious. Do not attempt to sit out. ("Right, Keetsune?" said Carlos as he was demo'ing what NOT to do... since I had done that very same idiot thing this morning) DO NOT LET GO OF THE PANTS- either leg of 'em- till you get all the way to the side.

5-min rolls. First with Kelly. I spent about the first 4 min trapped in her closed guard. She kept breaking down my posture. I wouldn't let her sweep me, by God- or straight-armbar me by trapping my hand in her armpit, which she also tried to do numerous times- but she's really strong, and when she holds me down on her chest, there's really nothing I can do but wait for her to let me up. That's how we spent most of the time. When stronger people just hold me in certain positions and sit there, I can do nothing (well, nothing within the rules of sport BJJ) and must simply wait till they move to try for a sub. Struggling fruitlessly in some Hulk's closed guard or front mount while they just sit there like a frog on a log accomplishes nothing but to exhaust and frustrate me. Anyway, once I finally got outta closed guard, after a brief struggle I found myself under her front mount, which was not a heck of a lot better. At least she didn't sub me- and she was throwing them out left and right- but that girl tools me positionally every time, which is a bit frustrating.

Then Ron, which if you've been reading my blog for a while you already know that this one's gonna go no better. He did some inverted guard on me, some interesting sweeps (he is like Cindy- a tiny little person that somehow you just can't lie on top of for anything- you just find yourself continually thrust into the air somehow), and a baratoplata- which I recognized as I was tapping, but have not had enough people work it on me for me to recognize it being set up. He also did a new choke involving wrapping my own gi around my neck. Note that if you do not watch carefully where you put your feet while playing spider guard with Ron, you will find yourself putting YOURSELF into a footlock.

I pulled Jamie off the wall for the last couple min of the final round "Wanna sub me a few times?" I managed to use my small size to squirt past his knees a couple of times, but never did make it to a full guard pass in a controlling position. His feet seemed GLUED to my knees while I was trying to pass his guard standing up. I kept trying to shake them off, jerk them off, pry them off, pull my own leg back... nothin'. I groaned when he KOB'd me, and he got up right away. I said, "That was frustration, not pain- but thank you. Frustration is in a lower octave."