Got to the gym a little later than I would have liked today, which meant not a lot of time to stretch. Only seven guys in the inner training room, so we had plenty of space. Had a good jog, was able to keep a faster pace thanks to having more space than usual.
More hip tosses and osoto-gari for takedowns. This particular instructor likes these two. Practice makes perfect, so I don’t mind the repetitiveness.Next came specific training from guard. I was tripled up, so we went semi-king of the hill. All was going well until I ended up with my partner sprawled on me. I had one leg, grabbed for the other and got it. Barely. As I started driving for the take down I must have bent my head the wrong way against his hip. I kept driving, sure I was getting this takedown. All of a sudden I felt/heard something that sounded like *SCRUNCH* and a hot pain shot from the right side of my neck down to my shoulder. I tapped on the spot and managed to roll over. The sharp hot pain continued for a few minutes, but it wore down after the instructor got me an ice pack which I gratefully accepted.
Unfortunately this meant I missed out on the armbar from guard drill. Oh well. I got to watch others practice and kept an eye out for mistakes, to help tweak my game. Squeeze the knees as soon as you get the second leg around your opponent’s head. Drive both feet down towards the mat.
By the time everyone else was halfway through specific training from side-control I was feeling much better. So, of course, I jumped back in. Stupid idea, I know, but this is my last class until Tuesday, and I’ll be having withdrawals by Sunday night.
Almost landed an armbar from side-control, but I distributed my weight badly when sitting back after spinning. Need to train this one more. Also should have considered switching to North/South Kimura. I knew my partner was expecting the armbar.
With my other partner I had a breadcutter choke set up, but he wouldn’t tap. I realize now what I did wrong: didn’t walk my elbow up as I should have. Must practice this more, as I said in yesterday’s post. Would like to make this a go-to technique.
Weight after class: 190.2 lbs.