On the Mat Day 270: Mundial Absence

So Koyama-sensei went to the Mundials in Los Angeles. He competed at black belt in the Pena weight bracket. His first match was with Baret Yoshida who did not show. The 2nd match I am not sure about but he went through to meet Rafael Mendes and lost. Rafael Mendes went on to win the group. K-sensei got into the best 8 so we are all happy about that. F-sensei is holding a welcome home party on Saturday which I unfortunately cannot attend.

K-sensei versus Rafael Mendes 1/4 Finals

Because of K-sensei's absence, classes from 2 locations were merged. That meant a lot of people training last night. No purples, 1 brown and a room full of white and blue. I felt very low on stamina after sparring with some of the tougher guys at blue belt. I held my own but afterwards and today really feel beaten up. Probably a side-effect of a busy week digging the garden and getting over the stomach bug that has went through my house.

During sparring, I have basically tried to adopt the advice of the emails I am receiving for the 40 plus year olds. That is don't remain flattened down and try not to use guards such as de la Riva, but instead use sitting guard and butterfly so that it is harder to flatten me to the floor should I get passed. I am also using arm drags more versus bigger, stronger opponents. These work well for me to take the back. I am still crap at finishing from back mount though. I had an "oh shit!" moment during sparring too. I was in half-guard, thinking about a sweep, moved my right leg out and heard or felt it pop. It didn't hurt so I carried on. Today it feels stiff and a little unstable. I think it is probably some damage to the tendon. maybe I should get it checked.

Sparring time: 7 x 6 mins = 42 mins

Notable moment: side control to knee in escapes are getting better, I just need to better hook my far leg inside instead of just trying to push with it.