On the Mat Day 177: Half-Guard Passes

I got to the dojo last night a little later than usual but there was only Kamiya (blue) and a new white belt there. You can never tell how many people are gonna turn up. Last Wednesday was bustling with people. We went over half guard passing and I wish we could do this more because I find it hard to remember the variations. The day after I am usually asking myself where this hand or foot goes. I should keep notes I know but with my busy schedule that is hard to do. I do keep a notebook handy to write things down if I remember them well and I think they could work for me.

F-sensei has decided to put up a picture board of all the people who come to the gym. I think this is a great idea and always meant to suggest it to him in an online version because I am always talking about people in this fashion: "Hey do you know that big purple belt, the one who uses deep half a lot and ...what was his name again?" It's rather embarassing especially to a person like me who can't remember names well. The name and pic board is a great idea! We are order into belt colour with black at the top of course!

Sparring was ok. I didn't try for anything specific except single leg takedowns and DelaRiva to the back. Failed both but God loves a trier. Kamiya keeps going for Kimura on the outside when I am in his half-guard. It is the only thing he does - ever. I usually stuff it but it is annoying because it prevents me from working on the pass. I need to get this counter sorted. I managed to get into x-guard once. Move to back from DelaRiva twice but in both cases the opponent shuffled backwards and sat his arse back down onto my chest. I guess my legs are not positioned correctly. I also need to work on solid passing from standing. I feel like I have nothing except the bullfighter and most guys above white can stop it easily. Almost caught F-sensei in omoplata as he was moving to an over-under pass. He kept his elbow too loose and I pulled it out and flipped my leg over for omoplata. I shrimped out to the side to bring his shoulder to the floor but he somehow still escaped. Tete-kun (brown) is pushing me every time to escape from side control. I really appreciate him setting up the position in sparring and egging me on to escape from it. He gave me pointers at the end.

I have noticed that going into competitions makes the guys you train with take you more seriously. They give you more of their time to work on weaknesses you displayed during the competition. This is the biggest merit you get from attending a competition in my opinion.

Sparring time: 7 x 6 mins = 42 mins (pushed some extra mileage tonight)

P.S. Order a new gi made by Vulkan because I need a lightweight one for summer. I conned the wife into believing it would be easier to wash in the tub so she was happy for me to spend some cash muhahaha.