on a roll...

I had another great session tonight. Just open mat. Worked on some of the deep half guard stuff we've been doing in class during the week. Also worked back control, which is my current goto position.

Things have been going well. Not too long before the two comps in September. I'm feeling very positive and I'm getting in enough tough classes that I know I'll be fit enough to compete.

With MMA classes starting up in town, I had my first standup session in over two years. Ah yes, a few things came back, about footwork. I still remember the differences between a jab, cross, hook and uppercut :-) And I still know how to turn the heel for a roundhouse kick. But yes, it's all a bit rusty.

That was a tough night on Tuesday. After an hour long BJJ session (which in itself was quite a challenge with a solid warm up, drilling and plenty of timed rounds of rolling), we did a bunch of striking/kicking drills and then ended with one minute rounds. These alternated between the hanging bags, the ground&pound bags and some Thai clinch work.

I sure slept soundly that night!

The Saturday before, there were Karate black belt trials at the dojo. A couple of us BJJ types were invited to come in and help, as the school has grappling as part of the Karate curriculum. So in order to make sure there were plenty of people for all the candidates to roll with, we were asked if we wanted to come in. Sure we did :-) And we all had fun.

What else is new.. Oh yes, I'm teaching all the Wednesday day classes until at least the end of the semester. I'm taking that in my stride now. It has become routine so I no longer stress about it. I do my best to pass on some knowledge to the guys, even if I sometimes don't feel totally adequate for the task. But wiser people than me said that if we wait with teaching until we are perfect, then we'll never teach. So I just do my best. And we all have fun.

The Girls in Gis day camp is next weekend. It seems like they got 30 girls/women and it's now closed. I just received my info pack (which is pretty comprehensive and the whole thing seems to be pretty well planned and pre-organised). According to the organisers, about half the attendees are white belts, there are ten or so blue belts and a couple of purples and one brown. And ages range from 17 to 47. Haha, guess who's the oldest ;-)

Anyway, I'll report back on that. It will be rather strange to roll with women ;-) But it might be a good prep for the comps. In any case, a day long BJJ event sounds awesome, and the chance to roll with people I don't know is fantastic. I'm really looking forward to it!