Wash, rinse, repeat.

The Warrior is not afraid of being afraid. He accepts it, looks it in the eyes, and challenges it.  Refusing to be a hostage in the hands of one’s fears is the act of a Warrior. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path


You know you've had a good workout when you wake up the next morning feeling like you've been run over by a semi.

I felt a little better about that when Carlos confessed that he was really sore this morning as well.

While waiting for class to begin, I was whining to a couple of people on the mat about all the del a Heevas (yeah, I'm never going to get tired of that... sorry) we'd done yesterday and how sore I was. One of the purple belts- whose name I'm blanking on an the moment- asked me to demo it, so I did, on one of the blue belts. Then guess what was on the menu today: Another class of del a Heeva's.

While my body was not very pleased to be doing another batch of these babies, it worked out well for me on the mental front.  I grabbed that same blue belt guy, and my pre-class demo was the first he's ever seen of this. I remember the first time I saw this. It tied my brain in a knot. It has a lot of steps in it- in fact it may well be the most complex thing I've seen in here to date. This week is (IIRC) the fourth time this has come around in the rotation for me, and only now do I feel reasonably proficient with it. So I was able to coach the blue belt through it... which helped him (I think it also helped him that I'd demo'ed it on him before class), and also helped me cement it better in my own mind by teaching. He grasped it pretty well (a lot better than I had the first time I saw it).

At this point, when we drill a technique in class, it is almost always something I have seen a few times before. I can usually do it proficiently by the end of the drill session, even if I may need a couple of detail-repairs at the beginning. But then it tends to vanish back into the churning morass that is the ocean of BJJ that I do not yet own. It tends to take about four rounds of "ok, THIS again" before I can start trying it in live sparring and feeling as if I "own" it- it can be part of my game. It also really helps this process when I can hit multiple classes in succession going over the same technique, as I did this week with the del a Heeva's. With each repeat, I can see and incorporate a couple more details, and also feel comfortable enough with the whole thing that I can see the big picture instead of a running mental loop of "Omigodwhatstepcomesnext??"

I really wanted to go to Sleeper tonight, but- so tired. Pretty sore as well- but it's the "tired" that really sinks my ship. I know that I won't notice the "sore" much once I'm warmed up on the mat. The "tired", however, just gets worse.

 I am trying to figure out why I always feel like I weigh about six hundred pounds while I'm dragging around the mat at Cindy's. I didn't feel this tired last night while getting in line for my fourth class of the day. I guess that I am underestimating the cumulative effect of four classes on Thursday + 1 on Friday afternoon = exhaustion Friday evening. I am going to try a little experiment: skip class tonight *and* skip Saturday lunchtime class (boo hoo), and see how my energy level feels for Saturday 2pm no-gi at Sleeper. I will attempt to be well-rested, well-hydrated and sufficiently caloried when I show up for class, and would like to see myself more effective physically and mentally on the mat.

Pic: This is Angus. Look at his opponent's face. I laughed my butt off when I saw this photo, because I know from COPIOUS experience that that is indeed exactly how it feels when Angus breaks your guard. Angus has so many hard pointy parts.