guard passage and more guard passage ... or not

Tonight's class was really fun. I had a good time anyway - it gets 3.5 stars, only because it consisted of a warm up followed by 50 (!) minutes of King-of-the-Hill guard passage and finishing with 30 minutes of sparring. No techniques. As usual with King-of-the-Hill I do not last long with any partner and spend far more time on the wall than on the mat, but as last time, I had fun with it and everyone was being very technical and relaxed - friendly and gentle actually - hey, maybe I should be offended! 

Sparring was good and I worked with many of my favourites. I kept thinking that I should be trying harder after the feedback last week that I give things up too easily. I am not sure what is going on there - I am sure it would behoove me to put some effort into thinking more strategically and building speed and strength to pull off some of those techniques but I do not want to jeopardize having fun by getting down on myself for not being more disciplined. I think it will come and I will do those things, but in a way that compliments my enjoyment of the sport instead of making it a means of self torment.

After class I sparred with a couple people (made up for all that down time on the wall earlier in class) and got tapped repeatedly by my first partner - it wasn't disheartening - I seem to really be just getting pure enjoyment out of BJJ these days - it is a most welcome relief after months of feeling plain crummy about it. My second partner was more of a teaching session than sparring and I got a lot out of it - not that I can relay it all here but principally, what I brought away from it was a few things: (1) I should be aware of what I've got on my opponent and not give it up if it is good - think about what to do next while I've got a good position (the more techniques I get down solid the easier this will become); (2) when working for side control from my opponents half guard, base out with my free leg and push my hips forward to release my trapped leg; and (3) finally an answer to what I asked Gustavo about last time but couldn't remember (or at least more detail on a related series of moves): when my opponent has broken my guard I put my left foot on her right hip, hold her right lapel with my left hand, hold her left sleeve with my right hand, push her left leg out to the side (not directly away from me but to the left) and sweep her over to the left ending in mount position.

Though I promised my brother I was going to start today to do the resistance and cardio he's laid out for me, I am going to work it in gradually; starting tomorrow! I will do a spinning class and the resistance series he's given me. I'll get to being a complete workout fanatic - but in baby steps thank-you-very-much. I imagine it will help my jiu jitsu - better endurance, more strength and speed. Perhaps at some point I should work some flexibility into the game plan.