Wednesday night doesn't seem to be very popular. I was late arriving to the dojo (about 8.10 pm) because I have just bought a monster 42-inch TV that arrived during the day which I had to set up. It took longer than expected so I had to dash to the dojo. I needn't have bothered really because they hadn't started. There was only 1 guy there who is a blue belt, big guy with judo experience who goes balls to the wall but has low stamina.
We started off with flower sweeps and were shown lots of variations. To be honest I feel it's a bit of information overload. I usually remember the first move shown but by the time we get to the end I get mixed up with hand or foot placement and the moves all roll into one. I sort of wish there was a beginners class in which we could just drill the same technique many times. But because of the mix with higher belts there is always a rush to get to the next technique. There's no doubt that my instructor is knowledgeable but I sometimes wish that he would give consideration to the way he teaches - perhaps this is how all schools do it. I just want move time to drill each move, say 10-20 goes at one move then move on, instead of the 2-4 times then moving on. At my age, I know the importance of repetition and don't get bored easily like many of the young guys at the gym. Ok rant over. The flower sweep was pretty cool. Very little effort required to sweep when it's done correct. I will definitely work on adding this to my repertoire.
During sparring I was dominated the whole night, which can be very frustrating. Tsuzuki-san (who until now I have been calling Suzuki-san) and Tete-kun showed up later. They are all higher grade than me or either bigger than me, so I guess I should expect to be taken apart. It's just annoying even after 9 months to be stuck in side control or mount. Some nights you win, some you don't. One high point of the night was the blue belt who has over 10 kg on me easily had me in an armbar but couldn't get my arm. He gave up eventually and said that I was strong. I have good defense against that attack now. Actually, I feel like my ability to prevent submissions has come a long way but I am poor at sweeping or getting into dominating positions (against blue belts and up or people larger than me at least).
I asked Tete-kun at the end about doing ankle pickers and single-leg takedowns. He was helpful in both cases and I will try these moves some more.
Areas I particularly want to improve: Back escapes
Total sparring time: 6 x 6 minutes = 36 mins
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