A journey. A return. Probably tired.

Month: May 2024

  • Open Mat Reflections – Saturday May 25, 2024

    The black belt head instructor was rolling with me and proceeded to dominate, as expected. At the end of the roll I said his pressure was amazing. He said it’s all in balance, pressure, and connection. I will try and explain what he said to me.

    For example, if you’re in Mount you want to catch your balance first, so they don’t sweep you. Then you want to put pressure on them to make it hard on them to move. Then you want to start making a connection to a limb for a break or their neck for a choke. It seems simple, and it probably is but it’s hard to execute.

    The more I think about it, it seems like these concepts of balance, pressure, and connection when added together, equal control.

    So how did the rest of my rolls go today?

    My ability to dominate white belts continues to impress. My ability to get dominated by higher belts also continues to impress.

    What can I say? I’m an impressive blue belt with one stripe.

  • Open Mat Reflections – Saturday May 4, 2024

    After rolling with a black belt today at open mat, he said I’ve gotten a lot better. He said that him and another black belt have been watching me from the side of the mat and have noticed I’ve been improving a lot and that my flow is looking really nice.

    He also said since I’m a quiet guy, a lot of people are sleeping on me, meaning I’m unsuspecting and they wouldn’t know how good I actually am until they roll with me. I thanked him and said that means a lot coming from him.

    Now I’m gonna have a giant smile on my face all day.