Monday 16 June 2014

On the Mat Day 502: Sweating Buckets

I was expecting some work to come in this afternoon so attended the morning class at the club. I didn't expect many to come because of the heat. Luckily Furukawa came so I had at least someone besides sensei to spar with. It is incredibly hot on the mat now. It's still not the height of Summer heat but hot enough to make me feel it.

F-sensei taught us closed guard attacks which ranged from attacking omoplata to flower sweeps. While the other guys were sparring, Tanaka, one of the older guys who trains at our club, asked me to drill the move of the day with him. He was confusing the techniques and it really solidified that we are taught too many techniques at once. It is very hard to keep a track of them in my head especially when they are variations of each other. I feel that learning with a clear distinction between techniques would be better. For example, teach a takedown, a pass, a sweep and a submission. Cover all the bases and make sure they are all so different from each other that the students have less chance to mix them up.

I sparred a couple of times with F-sensei and Furukawa. Furukawa had lost his match at the West Japan tournament a couple of weeks ago so I really put it to him and have him no breaks. After each submission I got on him, I kept pushing him to get back up and come at me. A sort of friendly nudge to make him work harder. I told him after it that I was rough on him because he lost his match. We rolled again and I played defense. I really want him to do well because he has improved so much since returning to our club after a 2 year hiatus. I think tournament nerves got to him though.

At the end of class I opened my gi lapels and saw in the mirror a crazy amount of sweat just dripping down my chest. I think I lost about half a kilo in water. My pee was yellow when I got home so I made sure to drink plenty of water.

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