There was only me turned up last night so I got a 2 teacher to 1 student lesson - cool! After doing the warm up drills, F-sensei asked me if I had anything I wanted to work on. I said that I didn't know where to start and that there were so many things. I eventually told him that my passing skills are poor so that would be good. We recapped on last weeks guard passing from the closed guard which was good since I only saw the technique once and had forgotten most of them. F-sensei said they were based on the pass Marco Barbosa had taught him and had often used. I have also been drilling the armbar from closed guard and really like how it makes it possible to get the submission even though the opponent knows what's coming.
Tsuzuki(purple) and Kawai(brown) turned up for sparring so it was tough. It always is with Tsuzuki-san. I tried standing with most of them last night. I only really have Sumi-nage which I do without thinking about it. They all know I use this throw exclusively but I still pull it off ok. They are better at scrambling than me though so I lose any advantage from the throw. I'd like to develop the grip across the back I get before doing this throw to lead into other moves.
At the end of class Kawai asked me if I know Fabio. It was a wtf moment in which I didn't know what he was talking about. I suspected he was talking about a sweep. It turns out this is what the Japanese call the standard butterfly sweep to the side which leads to transitioning to kesa-gatame then side control. He taught me how to do it from my half-guard position. Since I use the knee in stomach a lot (Z-guard), he said I should use this sweep. I will try it next lesson on someone less experienced. He also mentioned that I drop that blocking knee too far in half-guard and it makes it easy for people to crush my legs down and pass. There it is I thought. Positive criticism at last. I wish F or K-sensei would tell me weaknesses like this. Why don't they? I could ask them but it can be hard to see yourself through new eyes. I would only end up asking, "What can I do to not get smashed?" It would never have been specific like, "Do you see me making any mistakes in half-guard?" Because I am not that good at analyzing myself and asking specific questions that would lead me to a breakthrough. Perhaps I should after each roll ask my opponent where he felt that I went wrong in the roll. It' s worth getting feedback I think. Tete-kun will give me feedback from time to time which I think is great. I keep an open mind when people give me criticism about BJJ.
On a different note I have started to learn the guitar. Which conflicts with BJJ in that I am not cutting my nails so I can play the strings easier. I didn't like the feel of a pick. This got me wondering what BJJ guitar players usually do. I considered taping the ends of my fingers. I've had snagged nails before and it hurt a lot. I do hate long nails on guys though, same goes for hair. This is just an experiment really.
Sparring time: 6 x 6 mins = 36 mins
Notable moments: Taking Kawai-sans back from x-guard but not having the power to pull him down into me.
Breaking Closed Guard -
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