Purple Haze

A lot of little insights tonight. I think I'm one of the few green belts that hasn't yet been invited to join the advanced class, and seeing a friend there today...I gotta admit...it stung just a teeny bit. I really know though, that it doesn't matter. I'm getting good exposure to higher belts in my class and if I want more advanced technique, I can just go to the all levels class on Friday. Ego man...ego.

I'm starting to manage rolling with much smaller people better. I can tell what wouldn't work out if someone were bigger and stronger and where I'd have ended up on my back or submitted with a larger person.

I got to roll with a purple that I've been wanting to spar with for...months. Apparently he was thinking the same thing because when we got paired up, the first thing he said was "finally...". We'd been paired up...maybe twice before, but then switched out at the last second. The roll though? It was great. The smoothness/softness is really something. I learned a valuable lesson about keeping base during open guard passes. I'd never been swept before while passing open guard. I don't think anyone had even tried. VERY educational and fun roll.

We covered triangles today (I do love going over the basics). A nice contrast and compliment to last week's armbar/omoplata/triangle flow. I'm generally able to go straight into a lock without adjusting, but I'm finding that really depends on the size and strength of my opponent...or maybe I just need more practice. Either way, I was paired with a good sized white belt during drilling, and I couldn't get straight to the lock without forcefully tossing him to the side, so I worked on adjusting. I figure it'll come in handy one day. 

I'm starting to get why you should "keep moving". Before it seemed pointless, because I honestly had no idea WHERE to move, but it's making sense now.