Thursday:
At 11:30 we had a HUGE class. Drilled the same half guard pass that we did yesterday – nice to get more reps in with that one. I even managed to do all right with it live! Yay! I was planning to sit out from rolling since we had odd numbers and lots of big white belts – but I managed to snag two smaller guys for a couple of rounds. Yay!

Went back that evening at 5 for sparring. I managed to get a deep half guard locked in – haven’t used that one for a while. The guy was perfectly happy to sit on top of me until I bumped him up and shot my hand under to grab the back of his gi. It’s very satisfying to get an involuntary “oh shit!” Out of your sparring partner.

The last 3 rounds I did in class were pretty rough! I had sweat pouring into my eyes and had to keep my eyes closed, and I gassed pretty hard. Vision was going gray and could hardly stand – but I made it through and didn’t quit! Success! So glad I had my oatmeal and recovery powder stuffs with me!

By the time 7:15 came around, I was feeling recharged and ready to roll. Coincidentally, we worked on the coolest counters for deep half guard! One was a nasty shoulder lock for if they hook your foot; the other, a back take for if they keep their knees together. It was awesome!

Sparred some more, had fun! Got aggressively straight ankle locked by someone a bit overzealous, I had to ice when I got home.

Coach rolled a bit with me. He started by saying “oh this is gonna be easy! I just nudge you and you’ll dump yourself on your butt!” Of course, than meant I had to stay off my butt! Did ok for a couple mins – then, of course, I got dumped on my butt. At least I lasted longer than usual!

Friday:
I just went to the 6:30 class this morning. It was myself and a brand new white belt (2nd class). We drilled half guard smash pass, and the cut through. Coach “tossed me around” a bit more. He said it was a good warmup for him.

Got some warm fuzzies too! One of our purple belts (teaches Judo at another school) came in for a private lesson right at the end of class. Coach told him I’m “tough as shit” and that he’ll probably have to start using his weight on me when I reach purple belt – or maybe even blue. I asked him if I could just stay a white belt forever – he laughed. Don’t think I was taken very seriously.