On the Mat Day 223: More Guard Passing

I trained again this morning. I was the first there and the first to leave. The time the class ends usually varies. If there are many of us training, then he let's us go on for a bit longer...maybe until 1pm. Today I left at 12.45 but usually leave at 12.30 so I can get home and do stuff with the kids or family chores. Today I had to get a wheel off the bicycle for the wife. I'm a bit of a handy man around our house now. I'm suprised that none of the neighbours pop round to ask me to do things.

We went over guard passing using our knees to fold in the opponent's knees. I'm not too good at it and it doesn't come easy to me this type of passing. I try but generally fail to use any because I have been shown too friggin many variations that by the time I try to do one they are all a muddle in my head. I'm slowly figuring out one or two that I might use but they aren't concrete in my head yet.

Omiyagi-san (sp?) was there today. He likes to come hard at me because I think he feels he is about ready for promotion to blue, which he is. His escapes are getting much better, it was quite a suprise to see him move so well on the ground. I almost got a nice choke I've been working on from side mount where I use my own lapel and spin forward to finish. Sparring with Tete who is a brown belt I caught him with an achilles tendon leg lock which was cool. I was like "No way," "I got lucky I guess" and he just said that it was good and that he thought he could reverse the situation by leg locking me before the pain got too unbearable. I have up until now never submitted him even once. I guess I am on a roll now. I realize though that submitting a higher grade than me in class means nothing. Doesn't mean I am better than him. They kick my arse on a regular basis anyway. However, what it does mean to me is that the technique I applied worked correctly. If it didn't then they would not have tapped. This gives me a great indicator as to which techniques I should be using to either finish a fight or apply in competition to win. The ones that work on higher belts should work on people of my own grade right?

F-sensei was encouraging me during sparring to give no space when attacking. It enforces into my head that jiu-jitsu is a game of space. You and your opponent are constantly battling to either make space or take it away. At it's heart that is what I believe jiu-jitsu is and to master that ability is the best thing you can do.

Sparring time: 5 x 6 = 30 mins

Notable moments: Yoshida catching me with a really nice spider sweep that he did immediately. No hesitation after moving into the guard. That is what I must aim for.