Dun-nuh nuh-nuh nuh-nuh nuh-nuh, Dun-nuh nuh-nuh nuh-nuh nuh-nuh...Cat Maaaaan

For me, one of the worst things about joining a new group is names. I'm HORRIBLE with names, and I'm in that period where it seems like pretty much everybody knows my name, but I only know the people that I've spoken to relatively regularly. Awkward.

I was watching this one blue belt today. I've rolled with him twice before. The first time I felt like I was rolling with a human vice grip. The second time I swear he was just spinning on top of me in circles, pulling and bending my limbs however he liked. I finally spent some time watching him from the outside and the man moves like a cat. Incredibly smooth and on all fours. It's nuts.

 

We went over an escape from half guard today, which I've done once before. Thankfully I was paired with a blue belt that's amazingly good at explaining details and picking out errors...in a good way. The knee placement is so crucial...it's going to take me a few more sessions (or a lot of times getting swept) to learn instinctually where I need to place my knee so that I don't leave too much space, but also not so close that I'm not left asking to be swept. I had a hard time remembering to apply pressure to the hip when first freeing the leg. Between that and the timing in grabbing the tricep, I feel like the move is brand new. My first roll was with the bluebelt I went over the technique with and he had me just try things, resetting everytime I got swept. It was a great way to make me hyper aware of my weight placement.

 

My second roll was with another white belt and since she was having some trouble passing my guard, I decided I wanted to try an armbar. I couldn't get it to feel right though and now realize it's because I wasn't centering her arm on my torso. Something tells me I still could have pulled it off, but it didn't feel "right" so I didn't even try...hesitation. I switched to a choke we learned about a month ago and that failed miserably. I still don't see how people pull them off.

 

My last roll was with a purple and while I felt like I was running the entire time, some of the general principles I picked up from The Guard helped out immensely.

 

The last few times we've been running, I've felt an old, familiar tightness in my chest. It's been years...decades since I've had a full on asthma attack or even felt close to one, so feeling my lungs closing in, even slightly, makes me pretty anxious. I still carry an OTC inhaler just in case. I

 

I gotta learn to stop making so much noise. I think I'm like the loud person in class. I let out grunts in pain and discomfort and a couple of times, people have pulled back on submissions/pressure even though I was fine. I guess I'll get used to being squashed eventually and won't be as...vocal.

 

I find myself getting caught in side control less, and when I do, I'm defending against the cross-face better. Woo.