Floppy, Dead Fish.

Paul, a brown belt at Fabios, spent some extra time after class last night working with me on passing guard from a neutral position. I grappled with him twice during class and during those rolls and while he was working with me after class, he quickly discovered that I have a dismal base. He can flop me around like a dead fish.

So, he tweaked some of my problems and gave me some more passing-guard pointers. I feel like he showed me several things that I will actually be able to remember while grappling.

It's awesome when a higher belt really takes extra time to look at a newbie's game and help them out. I know we can be spastic and annoying, but I find that I learn the most when I have someone watching exactly what I'm doing, stopping me and showing me what I did wrong and why it matters. Thanks to all you higher belts for having patience with us lowbies!!

During actual class, we worked yet another half guard sweep. I LOVE it when our classes all link together like this. If I can't get a sweep from half guard at this point there is something wrong with my brain. We've also been working on some sweeps from mount and a few from guard. So, I feel much more confident in my knowledge of sweeps. My ability to apply them mid-grapple is another matter entirely. :) We'll see how it goes.

The De la Riva cup is coming up on the 7th of November (http://www.delarivacup.com/) and I am getting excited. Also, I only have 3 more pounds to lose so I can drop into the next weight class for N.A.G.A. on the 21st. The only concern I have is that I might injure myself at De la Riva and then miss out on N.A.G.A. I already have a knee injury--one of my ligaments in my right knee got stretched when a kid did a take-down on me. I talked to my instructors about it and they showed me a couple of take-downs that will protect my knees.

Alright. Guess I'll return to the real world. Taking my son to a Trunk or Treat thing tonight. He is dressing up as Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. :)