On the May Day 201: Wilson Reis Pass

This is a pass I am not very good at and have been put off from attempting because in the past whenever I tried it, I would get put in a bad situation. I did not of course have correct form and the opponent could transition to omoplata or sweep me. F-sensei taught us a lot of variations on this pass. I am astounded by his database of knowledge and it was very helpful that he told us how to stop the opponent from countering. I will get some notes down on these when I get time. He basically told us at the end of drilling that we should try the passes even if we get swept. Persistent is key was his message. Just do it until it starts to click. It is a damn good pass if done right and with confidence.

Sparring was with 2 white belts and Kawaii who is now brown, also F-sensei. One of the white belts uses strength and spazzes quite a bit. If I am not careful with my head placement I can sometimes eat a knee. The other white belt is F-sensei's friend up from Osaka, he trains at Paraestra Osaka. He is getting much better and he felt very relaxed during sparring, using little strength but thinking more of technique. I told him after sparring that I was impressed with his ability to relax and not use strength. Now that I can see the difference in some white belts I wish I had this hindsight when I was white. If I could go back, I would relax more and think only of technique. Never try to muscle until the point of escape. I think the reason that I got such a spanking each time I sparred at white belt was because I was too aggressive with little technique. Technique with slow calculated movements would have been much better.

With the Japanese yen so strong now, $1=about 80 yen I have been buying stuff from amazon. I received my copy of Marcelo's x-guard book the other day. F-sensei has a copy which I read through from time to time but I just had to have my own. It was basically the cost of 2 glossy magazines - a bargain! I love the x-guard and see so many opportunities now to transition to it.

Sparring time: 5 x 6 mins = 30 mins

Notable moments: Getting into x-guard a hell of a lot. Sweeping Kawai with x-guard scissor sweep (Pg 218 of Marcelo's book if you have it).