On the Mat Day 655: BJJ and Judo thoughts

With my appetite for stand up whetted by my once a week judo I have been playing around with half-guard again as of this week. It's a position I feel comfortable in since it was my survival position at white belt but now that I have more experience I have more time to think and analyze the position. For instance, at a glance, I consider how far my opponent's leg is in my half guard (is the knee poking out or are my legs around the thigh), do I have an under hook? I then start to see branches off in my mind leading to sweeps or the next technique. For some reason, experience and staying calm allows me to think more carefully about what the opponent is doing and act with the best move. It doesn't always work out but now that I can do this in my mind, after class or a day later, I can review what went wrong more easily and think about a countermeasure. I wish judo was like this for me but right now it's just a flurry of arms and legs then I'm on my back.

I'm feeling a little beaten up (probably judo) and the heat is taking its toll. I can train about 3 times a week right now and its my limit. I know that given cooler weather where my heart rate isn't already high even before sparring, I could train 4 to 5 times a week for sure. I went out and bought some Protein the other day because the aches are taking so long to go away. I think it's helping, along with all the chicken breasts. I'm down to around 71.2 kg right now. I haven't been lower than 72 kg for many years. It's probably a lot of water content as well as the hard workout that judo brings.

Right now I am really enjoying training in both bjj and judo. It makes me feel like a more complete grappler. I'm also able to ask F-sensei about counters in Judo and he gives me good advice. Like today he told me how to better drill ko-uchi-gari and also how to counter ippon seio nage since just stepping around was not enough as my opponent simply adjusted his angle and continued with the throw. Grappling is like a big jigsaw in which more pieces keep getting added to the table as you are about to complete it. It's frustrating but it occupies my mind so much.