On the Mat Day 362: Jiu-Jitsu Makes Me Happy

Me, Jiu-jitsu happy

I was so euphoric after training yesterday. The kick I get out of doing jiu-jitsu has increased the over the years. Usually at this point I'd be sick of doing the same sport for so long but BJJ is a different animal.

Today, I feel like my batteries have been depleted. I've been training more frequently than I usually do but I think it's more to do with sleep than anything and the lack of a real holiday for some time (I need to walk down a sandy beach and hear the drift of the Ocean at night). After training yesterday I came home and slept for exactly an hour but had trouble sleeping later that night. I've read that before the invention of the light bulb people used to sleep at sundown, wake up around 12 then sleep again until dawn. That sounds good to me. Modern life can be so draining. That's why in a few months I plan to quit my job and work freelance as a translator. I want to work on my terms. Hopefully, I can also do more jiu-jitsu as well as train in the morning when I would be normally commuting to work.

Yesterday's lesson was a set of new moves for the week. They all revolved around using the legs to turn the opponent to take the back. It's basically a twister setup, roll over and either take the back or apply the twister. Both I and Dmitri had trouble with the body angle after turning onto our shoulder so that it was hard to switch legs mid-roll. K-sensei suggested to be more parallel with the opponent because I was over-rolling. We did the back take from feet-facing half guard pass, standing versus reverse de la Riva hook, twister side control and half-guard with the opponent flattened out. I need lots of practice with this technique because I am often in the setup position.

Some of this but at night

At the end of class I asked F-sensei about finishing the triangle. Sometimes the opponent will clutch his hands and make a frame with his elbow against my hip. He told me to hug my arms between the opponents back and my legs and straighten my legs. This forces his arm to move across my torso when I pull him down to me again, at which point I figure four my legs again and finish. It seemed to work. Also, when the opponent is on their side in my triangle I should extend my legs straight and pull on the head. The bones of my inside knee are pushing against his arteries to make the choke.

Sparring time: 6 x 6 mins = 36 mins (also got in some nogi which was fun)