On the Mat Day 398: Obon Club Gathering

I usually don't go on Monday nights but wanted to go because several local clubs came to train at our gym as a sort of celebration for the Obon holidays. There was around 30 people showed up in the end. F-sensei was worried that not many from our club would join up and said he was happy to see me there, I was the first to arrive, but later a good few from our club turned up so he did not have to worry. Usually it is the same guys who come to these events and they are usually very good or big into the competing aspect.

There were quite a few black belts, two of which I asked to spar because I've not had the chance in the past. Nomura-sensei, a friend of my instructor, was very heavy with pressure passing on me. It was the first time I've sparred with him and he has a similar style to my instructor having learned from Marco Barbosa.

It was hard to get a constant flow of sparring done because there were so many people on the mats and many of them know each other so its easier for them to go ask for a roll. I'm usually passive and wait on the side lines for someone to roll but I got tired of waiting. At the end I sparred with a highly competitive blue belt who caught me in a triangle twice which I escaped but damn if I didn't feel stupid. I know its a hole in my game which I have not fixed for so long, simply because most guys at my dojo play top and I seldom go against good guard players. I kind of wish I could train at other schools now again like Teo who is a black belt and seems to wander around dojos training.

Anyway, it was an interesting night and I learned a couple of things and felt a lot of glaring weaknesses.