No break for you!

The first step to unlock the doors of perception and sniff the scent of the Secret is to awaken the five senses from the numbness that normally surrounds them. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path


Lunchtime BJJ at Gracie Seattle.

I don't hurt at all from yesterday- coolness.   :)

That evil, evil man... another 20 min of that same single-leg setup (I'm doing that thing in my sleep) followed by ANOTHER 100 TRIANGLE FROM GUARD REPS. And that's not even the worst part... this time it wasn't you do 10, partner does 10, you do ten- this time it was you do 100, then partner does 100. And if you start getting exhausted and sloppy around the 80 mark... "Keetsune! Close guard after eech rep! Thees ees not spider guard!"

He did not make us do the armbars as well (thank you God). A big white belt guy almost passed out on the mat just from this much. It was really hot in there today, especially in gi.

Some positional sparring with light resistance from closed guard, sweep vs pass. Cornelia and I made each other work a bit for the sweeps, but let each other get some. I told her that she's great to work with and that she should move here permanently.   :)   She can't really afford that at this time, but would like to continue to visit yearly if possible.

I was feeling really tired after this class, and decided to not stay for competition class this time. I was pretty sure I would not be able to drag myself to Sleeper if I did that.
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NO-gi at Sleeper. Cindy had a new preteen wrestler my size for me to work with. I was having some contact lens issues, so had to fight blind tonight. I did better with that than I expected, although standup was intimidating.

Basic guard break, "seatbelt" gable grip at lap, stack and pass to side control. Get opponent's elbow up and your head in there. Take a moment to snug your near arm in really tight, and your head temple to temple. Vault your feet over to the opposite side (do not do an anemic hop that will allow opponent to catch you in guard or half guard). Put your hand on your bicep and squeeze the head-and-arm choke. YOu can also sit through if you need to.

The wrestler kid did really well on the choking part, and- being very new to BJJ- took my tips on the pass to heart, and I got him pressuring down and snugging up good and proper.  :)

Then I sparred the wrestler kid, which was a lot of fun. I was able to get a couple of sweeps on him. He made me work, though. I actually got a triangle from guard (this is very unusual for me). I think Eric was almost as excited about it as I was. He kept high-fiving me and congratulating me (and on the sweeps as well). He has a good idea of the challenges I face.

Then I was really tired and asked for a break, but Cindy was like, "NO, no break for you," and made me spar one of her adult female students. This woman boxes and weightlifts and I don't know what else- she is strong and fights hard.

Then I was REALLY REALLY tired (it was also hot as an oven in there today), and said, "I really, seriously need a break." No, no break for me, now I had to fight CINDY!!!!  I did pretty awful- seriously, I was so exhausted by then I could barely move- but I got in there and tried. It's good that she pushes me like that, I think I need that at times.

Cindy told me that she'd visited Gracie Barra recently and rolled with Kelly- and made her cry twice. "Does she always do that?" "Ah, yeah, sometimes, I think mostly out of frustration." I think that was definitely true in this case, from the story I heard- Kelly came out aggressive, like she does (which is good, that's one of her strengths, one I wish I could emulate better)- but if you come out aggressive at Cindy, she is gonna sling aggressive back atcha- and, my friend, you are going to get rightously humbled. It sounds like Kelly got frustrated and overwhelmed. It also sounds like she started giving Cindy a little bit of attitude (again, probably out of frustration)- and yeah, that is just *not* going to go anywhere pleasant for you, trust me. It's too bad that they got off on such a poor foot, but it does seem that Kelly (as good as she is- and she really IS) has some issues she needs to grow out of as she progresses. This story made me wonder if some of the guys at GB Bellevue are going too easy on her. She mostly trains there, and there are almost never any other women there, and those guys don't seem to go particularly gentle on *me*.... I dunno.

I think I also forgot to mention that I got that "breakdance" standing pass of Cindy's on a guy at GB this week.... he didn't know what hit him, he'd never seen it before. This is one of the advantages of crosstraining with Cindy, especially now that GB is on a pretty strict curriculum of basics.