Out of the blue, I had a notion and went ahead and signed up for a summer class, right after I said it was something I would never do. “Research Methods for Informatics” is presenting me a solid challenge, but like I’ve learned from past classes and Jiu-Jitsu, just keep moving and it should come together. I’d have preferred not to take class over the summer, but the faster I get the degree the better off I’ll be. This course will once again impede my time at Jiu-Jitsu, but the only thing I can do is pass the course so I don’t waste time as well as money.

Speaking of jiujitsu, I went and trained in Julie’s class this past Sunday. She is both a solid instructor and possesses some top notch jiujitsu, easily giving me more than I can handle when we spar. We started off with some drills, person on the top knee slice passes to the side, while the person on bottom recovers guard but making space and squaring up. From here we moved on with the person on top knee slice passing to loose side-control, when the person on bottom starts to recover, the person on top long steps to the back forcing the bottom person to change direction for the guard recovery. Both techniques are very useful when executed correctly in sparring. Understanding proper guard recovery mean you will not be panicking when your guard is inevitably passed and also demonstrates how important it is to control space between you and your opponent. After our drills we got a few good rounds of sparring in before calling it a day.

Aside from technique, another thing which I took away from today was an observation from one of my teammates, John. Roughly speaking, he pointed out that I fell into his traps when I pressed the action, either because I was gassed or because he used my aggression against me. He then observed that when I took my time and was purposeful, he wasn’t able to set things up or take advantage of my aggression. His thoughts meshed into things I have been thinking about in the past year or so. Sometimes it’s easier to admit to concepts when they are pointed out by an unbiased observer.

My game has been predicated on aggression, and being in excellent shape. Regarding aggression: You can always be aggressive, but personally I have to learn to be a bit more discerning about when to use it. You can’t always go beast mode. High level jiujitsu practitioners rarely go beast mode, if they do it was because there probably was an opportunity to greatly advance their position. Regarding being in excellent shape: Age and injury has precluded this from being the case lately. Even when I was in that position, there was and has been someone in better shape. The sum of those two parts equals this: It’s time for me to really focus on the details of Jiu-Jitsu. I have to make a fundamental change to my thinking and actions, by being more analytical and technical rather then physical. That means I have to apply technique in a more deliberate manner while training. That might just be the only way to progress towards becoming better at and being able to enjoy jiujitsu for longer.