Saturday came and went.  The day didn't go how I'd envisioned but that's fine, it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last.  I will learn from my mistakes.  My first match started off well.  I pulled and then started working my game.  Things were going OK until he exploded out of my guard when I tried to collar drag.  I wasn't able to recover guard and he passed went to mount before taking my back and getting the tap by a clock choke I believe. .  Lessons?  Make sharp movements within your game because those movements have been practiced to fluidity.  And recover guard a bit better...

The 1st round bye set me up for 3rd place and a spot in the Absolute Class.  Once again my opponent came from the Ultra Heavy Weight class and was probably 320-350 lbs while I weighed in at 167.  I managed to keep him off me for a bit by using spider guard, but he managed to pass and crush me, I mean get to side control.  I framed and escaped his side control getting back to spider where I swept him.  Here is the critical point of the match.  Afterward Brian said I should have retained the mount and got the points, which I didn't do and here was my exact thought process from that exact moment:  I didn't/make a solid attempt at mount as I felt that, from previous experiences with larger opponents and training partners, my center of mass rests too high to give effective pressure and maintain stability due to their shape (barrel chested/stomached).  Instead as he started to bridge and turn I grabbed his arm for the armbar but he ripped it away.  It was all downhill from there as he literally flopped on me for the remaining time while I struggled to frame and bridge.  In retrospect Brian was right, I should have made a better attempt at the points as it would have changed the whole perspective of the match, 4 points to 3 in my favor.  Lesson?  Not every similar situation is as similar as they appear, small changes in the initial conditions lead to drastic changes in the results.

On the way home, Sunday and today I asked myself, where to go from here?  And if there was anything I could do to maximize my mat time in order to improve.  You walk a fine line trying to maintain a balance in training between fun and focus.  Have I done a good job with it? Is there an aspect I could improve upon?  You can't go balls to the wall all the time, nor can you goof off and not take training seriously.  Neither extreme will do you or your training partners any good.  How can I achieve a blend of each though?  Here is what I came up with...

While drilling: Set up a routine for new things that play into your game and for things you already to do; do this, then that, then that. Every time. 

With lower belts: Work the technique you have been drilling, on them. 

With the fat/big guy: Focus on one aspect, re-Guarding for example or framing and hip escaping.

With higher belts: Be attentive to what options you are giving them and try to anticipate their movement.