Chicken wing

It is important that when a new activity is being introduced, the practices that immediately precede it are well known to the student and the general movement pattern is similar to the new skill. The advantage of this strategy is that the student is confident in his own ability and has a starting point to work from. Having an existing frame of reference makes any demonstration or presentation  of a new technique all the more effective for the student, because he can quickly relate it to his own existing range of skills. With similar movement patterns, the rate of learning is much faster than with different ones, because part of the skill is already known.  Tony Gummerson, "Teaching Martial Arts"


Thurs  lunchtime in Bellevue.

All five-minute flow rolls, rotating partners. Chrisanne points out that this is more aerobic than ACTUAL rolls.


Fri Evening in Bellevue. Carlos made Chrisanne and I split up and work with white belts. It was also Pick-On-Kitsune Night.... he was all up in my grill criticizing all my details. I know that this is a good thing- it helps me get all the little kinks out of my technique, and I am also aware that if he didn't care about my progress, he wouldn't bother to nitpick at me... but it does give me the Performance Anxiety Sweaties. If he picks on me too much, I start panicking and getting really frustrated and frantic and sloppy. Note: two or three times recently, Carlos has looked at my technique and indicated displeasure, leading me to ask, "What am I doing wrong?" He doesn't like that word. It's not wrong, it's an opportunity to improve. Anyway- need to find a different phrasing to ask what the problem is (I'll bet he won't like "problem" either... okay, I need to ponder that....)

Standup: judo grips. Moving around. Stop with feet square to opponent. Let go of elbow grip. Grab your own lapel and jerk your torso to the side to free opponent's grip (do NOT step back, and do not turn so far that you are facing away from the enemy). Slide your lapel hand down and place your free hand above it. Jerk opponent downward. S/he will try to posture up. Step in with the foot that is on the same side as your grips. Use the hand on the OPPOSITE side to grab the leg. Lots of places here for me to get confused with right/left.

Armbars from mount. When I do these, I like to put my hand on the mat on the same side of the head as the arm I'm attacking, yank the person aggressively up on hir shoulder, and pin hir there with my knees.  Carlos made me place my hand on the opposite side of the head as the arm I'm attacking (which makes me feel off balance, leaning there with my arms crossed) and leave hir back on the mat. This is very different from what I am used to doing. Also (and I didn't remember this until afterward), I continue to be sloppy about pinching my knees together on the arm.

This was new: From mount, you try to do the armbar and the opponent defends by wrapping the arm around your hip/waist. You trap the arm between your bicep and thigh. Note that the arm must stay bent to finish this. I had to mess around a bit to find the right angles, but it's essentially a kimura. If it isn't working, you can scoop your arm back and chicken-wing the opponent's arm out further. Or do a wrist lock.

One great, competitive roll with Chrisanne. I was working hard to keep her out of turtle; and she got me in side control a few times, but I was trying mightily to stop that as well. This forced us both out of our customary games and made us both try some new things, which was exciting.