Wednesday

Ecstasy is not a faraway, unreachable dimension. It is right here, just a few feet away from the sleep of  the senses. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path

Monday Form Of the Day: Frolic Of the Five Animals.

WIP: Huge plot breathrough. I mean **H*U*G*E**. I have had this creative logjam for nearly a YEAR trying to figure out how to make X do Y without Z and have it be plausable and interesting, and I had an idea today- by Jove I think I have it. One of those "I cannot _believe_ how freakin' brilliant I am" breakthroughs. So excited right now.
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Tues FOD: Black Crane 1 (both ways)
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Wednesday lunchtime BJJ at Gracie Seattle.  Saw Steve tying on his stiff new purple belt, and teased, "Is it still a jarring sight?" He said that he is really feeling a pressure to Bring It when he walks on the mat wearing that thing.

Same single leg takedown that we have been doing for a month- *with* the takedown. Carlos likes us to finish it in KOB. Steve  was finishing in a squat. Rather than say anything, I started grabbing for his ankle once he had me down. He got the message and started sticking that other leg out!  Carlos suggests that we *not* pinch the leg between our knees, because we might end up in half guard once we go down. He suggested taking a big step in front of the opponent with the leg on the same side that we have the opponent's leg, then doing the twisting takedown. This worked really well- you can even trip the person over your shin if you need to add that detail.

You are in opponent's closed guard, s/he is clasping your head to hir chest. Stick your "L" hands in hir armpits, loop your head out, posture, Press hir hands to hir belly, Push knee down (the KNEE, not a handful of the pants... I am still grabbing fabric too much; maybe I would be better at no-gi if I could break myself of this habit). Do not scoot the butt back at this point, which is what I always want to do for some reason. Don't lean way over, either. Turn the torso a bit to the side. Put your hand on your hip and stick your ELBOW under the knee. You have to hurry now, because the opponent is now figuring out that you're going to try that side instead of the side you just opened. Shrug the knee up on your shoulder. You are lifting with the tricep, shoulder, and ideally your entire back- not just your arm, which is weak and will lose. Grab that collar. Stack, turn your shoulder violently, shed the leg, pass to side control.

Steve asked me a couple of times if I was okay while he was drilling, and I said "Yes, I'll tell you if you're going too hard," I can definitely tell that he's turned it up a couple of notches now that he has that new belt. A few reps later, he said with concern, "You're making a crinkly-face whenever I do the pass on the right." I cracked up and said, "I'm making a crinkly-face because when you pass on the left, you grab my pantleg just above the knee and pin it to the mat... and every time you do it on the right, you grab the pantleg right *ON* the knee and grind your knuckles into the side of the joint!" He observed himself the next two reps and said, "You're right, I *DO* do that just on the one side!" I said, "In tournament, do it like you're doing it on the right- because that really hurts!!!"

Steve nitpicked at my side control, and I was listening hard, because I was noticing today that he feels as heavy as Bryan (who is one of the tiniest guys in the whole school and yet feels the heaviest). UUUUgh, my poor ribs! When I really committed (which I shrink from doing, cuz I kinda feel less mobile that way), I could get a lot heavier.

Some positional sparring from closed guard, pass vs sweep, switching frequently.

Steve notes that he can "see me thinking too much". He suggests that I need to commit to something and work faster.

One of the specific things he would like to see me try is to pull the opponent down onto my chest in my closed guard, and then use the momentum of the person posturing back up to ***QUICKLY*** try for a scissor sweep or a kimura.

When Steve and I got up to bow to one another as we ended the positional sparring, we clunked our heads together.

One roll with Bryan.  He had jumped me from behind just before class began, and once again I responded by rolling onto my back. I have *GOT* to stop doing that.