From 19 to 20 months


As I start this entry, it's at the start of my 19th month (August 2014).  A lot of the guys at the school tell me that I am getting better, harder to sweep, that my balance is much better, but I know that even if some of that is true, some of that is courtesy.  I thank them for that, they're simply the best.  If indeed I am getting better, it is because every person that I roll with helps to make me better.

First week of August, I go to a Saturday class.  Saturday is an open mat day (until September, when Syl comes back to full attendance after summer break).  That day we were a small class of 5 or 6 guys.

I was feeling the usual shoulder pains while warming up, but they were a touch less than usual, and I liked that feeling.  It's strange, but the body can get used to pain so that you can live with it on a day-to-day basis and still be functional in normal life.  The fact that my pain dropped a little was enough for me to notice it right away.

That day I had a bit of an upwards swing and the guy that I was rolling with had a bit of a downward swing caused by a minor nagging injury (stretched abductor).  The result is that I came close to tapping a good blue belt... twice.  The first time they made a minor error and I was able to take their back and apply a bow-and-arrow choke.  My one hand was secured hard on the lapel around their neck, but my other hand should have been securing the leg and I let it slip, causing him to get away... but it was CLOSE.  The second time, I was on the bottom of a side-mount and they tried getting all fancy and wanting to cartwheel out and I caught the arm, followed the body up with my legs, locked in an arm bar and held it in very tight, tighter than I ever have before.

I felt the elbow was bent so I raised my hips and felt the elbow lock out... no tap... I then slowly raised my hips some more, felt the arm go really tight and normally if this is me on the receiving end, at that point, this is where I would tap out, and so in my head I was thinking "enough, we don't want anyone hurt, let it go"... so I let it go.  The response I got made me laugh... the blue belt asked me why the heck I let the armbar go before he tapped!  We laughed about it, but the lesson was there.  If I have the submission on a more advanced person than I am, I must learn to trust them to tap before I hurt them.

This is hard... someone who is a higher belt may not want to tap out to a lower belt because of pride, and cause injury.  I don't want to hurt **anyone** even if I am in the right, so to speak.  In the end, I know I screwed up the first submission, but that I had the 2nd one locked in tight and it was a good sub in my favor... even if I let it go before they tapped.

I'll learn.


This is where I will stop this entry.  Te next post is available at the link bleow.

Post #8 is HERE