Comical BJJ Compliments

You know your game is stepping up when your training partner tells you that being in your side control is like being underneath 350 pounds.  Additional side note, you know that the demons, otherwise known as the long standing mental issues with weight, are truly beginning to shrink when you discuss your weight as a tool, to be used, gained, lost, or manipulated, to achieve a goal.  Megan (Tangled Triangle) talked about this recently and I soooo wholeheartedly agree with her.  To have weight made into your servant to which you dictate your will, is freeing.  

But about side control...

The other day one of my training partners, Bill (purple), said to me after class, "Let's go one more, you are the only 350 pound woman I know, and I need to work on my escapes."  This comment elicited laughter and a 'thank you' from me, as well as a few heckles from classmates.  "Dude! Did you just SAY that to her?!"  But I was pleased and proud as side control has now become a bit of a signature position for me.  I used to achieve the position, and then, and then...and then nothing!  My offense was MIA.

Now, side control is my gateway to a bevy of arm locks, mount, fake to mount to get an arm lock, north-south to a bread-cutter,  fake north-south to get the back...  In short, the work I started last year on offense is paying off in dividends.  I am currently working on my sweeps from spider guard, and guard passes, so that I can get to side control.

Another classmate, Eric (blue) and I had a long conversation about aggression three weeks ago.  He told me  he could see the clean technique and fluid movement in my game, but when it came to down to crunch time, I faltered a little.  "Crunch time" could be a larger opponent, a more skilled opponent, a tournament opponent.  He told me he could see me giving up too easy.  Eric said he had seen my more aggressive nature before in class, but only in flashes.  He encouraged me to fight for position like I want it, like I want to win.  

I was extremely thankful for this observation, as I believe aggression, when properly cared for and fed, is a formidable ally.  Aggression is something I have to work to bring to the surface, and the sensation is...just...strange.  More on that another day. I have a solid intimate relationship with the wisdom that comes from losing in competition, and I feel comfortable adding a dose aggressive, I-am-going-to-rip-your-arms-off medicine to my game.

Two days later, husband and I talked about the concept of being a predatory.  He said, don't just go in being only aggressive.  Be a predator.  Be cold.  Plan.  Play the chess game.  And you know, duh, I mean we all sit around and talk about how BJJ is a chess game, but I had never thought about the chess game as having an aggressive, predatory angle.   This was an epiphany.  The two seem almost opposite, aggression is very emotional, but being predatory is so utterly stoic.  I suspect if I am able to weld these two, perfect my technique and keep my movement skills on the fluid fast-track, my game will begin to shine.

In food related news,  if you are attempting or thinking about attempting Paleo, go now and buy a food processor.  I bought a Hamilton Beach 10-cup workhorse and I love the thing.  I throw in various combinations of spinach, broccoli, kale, celery, tomato, bell pepper, etc, hit the button, and voila'!  Vegetable mix.  I add one tablespoon of pesto and a protein source, and sometimes I add a carbohydrate source, if I am eating before or after a workout.  I was inspired by Tabouli salad, which is a very healthy, very simple to make Mediterranean salad, but all the chopping became very tedious.  The food processor makes the elaborate food prep required for Paleo much faster and flavorful (for me anyway).

That is all.

Train well.  Train often.

Dag