Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Shifting gears

A few weeks ago, my cousin told me something that really changed how I looked at my path.

He said that I was on the road to becoming a good blue or purple belt, but I was veering off the path of becoming a good black belt.

What that means is that I am entirely too focused on submissions and tapping people out rather than learning how to resist and defend submissions and escape from inferior positions.

I have been on a tear lately in terms of tapping people out, even those who have been training for much longer than I have.

However, my defense isn't as solid as I'd like, and I can easily be dominated when in an inferior position. The point is, once I rise up in the ranks, I am going to have a big hole in my game if I don't begin focusing on defense.

I look at my cousin who is an advanced purple belt, and I don't think I've ever seen him get tapped. Even when a submission is fully locked in, he always seems to be able to escape.

I feel that if if I change my focus and allow myself to get caught in inferior positions, I'll actually learn a lot more.

The ego needs to take a back seat, for real.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Feeling strong

Ok, so I didn't wake up early enough to go jogging, but I did end up going to three classes today.

For whatever reason, I was able to catch people in submissions all over the place- Triangles, RNC, armlocks, and all that.

I think with the upcoming competition, I'm starting to try and run over people rather than allow them any openings at all.

The cardio is good, the guard passes are good, the pressure game is decent, the open guard is getting better, and the sweeps have improved a great deal over the last couple weeks.

Practicing open guard the past month has REALLY improved my game- my sweeps are waaaay better and my guard is much more difficult to pass. Also, I happen to just fall into armlocks and triangles all the time. Fine tuning one aspect of your game is much better than just learning random moves!

Gotta keep it up!

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Rocky style

There's a tournament coming up next week that I'm competing in.

It'll be my first tournament, so I'm naturally anxious about it.

I know that I'm quite skilled for my level, so if I can control my nerves I will be able to do well.

Tomorrow- running in the AM, class at noon, class at 6, class again at until 9ish.

Gotta make sure I stay injury free!