Light crowd for a Saturday. Perhaps everyone is busy with life, as I have been for the past month or so.

No warm up, just a light round to start with. And Aria was standing next to me when it was announced, so away we went. Then Morgan and Nick, and then…a break.

I did one more hard round and then worked with some lower belts and took a break now and then. Had one round with (new) Tall Josh and was pretty surprised at how well he did. It’s not like I’m 100%, or razor sharp, but he was a handful never the less. And it wasn’t just me, he went with a larger blue belt that I don’t know and did well with him too.

Nice open mat this weekend. Warmed up, felt okay. Groups of 3 with Nick and Bri.

8 minutes in, 4 out, starting wherever you wanted and resetting at each point scored. Did okay with Nick. Bri is frustrating, but by doing the same thing over and over, I could correct my mistakes.

Rounded the day off with a round each with Bald Josh, Marcus and Dom. Dom and I had a good one, and I got a lucky triangle off of a pass mistake Dom made.

Saturday. Solo this time, without my daughter.

We had a small group, so an unusual warm up. Pick a partner, then do 5 minutes of takedowns, either full or just setups. I landed with Popsicle, and did the arm drag double. He gave some nice feedback. At the buzzer, we switched and I ended up with a newer guy, Jose, who was doing a basic chop ‘n shoot single. I gave him some feedback too.

Rounds were 3 minutes with a 90 second break, self paired. Started with Nick, which was a stalemate. Next was Brian, who I was happy to stymie for the round. Then, Popsicle again….who tapped me 3 times in the 3 minutes. He did tell me I should play with lapels. Mixed feelings about that. It’s indisputable that my technique needs work, but I’m not sure that learning new things is the low hanging fruit.

I took 4.5 minutes to gasp and rest, then had Brie, Mike, Jose, Max, Jo, and others. I didn’t die, but I didn’t get much going on any of them.

Fatigue makes cowards of us all.

Typical Saturday, but I really wasn’t feeling it, and it showed.

I had Nick, Alex, Isiah, Tom, and one other. Never got much going, so I was on defense nearly the entire time. Decent defense mostly, but defense never the less.

And I had to bail a few minutes early to boot.

Man i feel out of shape. Both Saturday and tonight were kinda rough. I’ve got a new stretching app, so I’ve been working on that every day.

Saturday, we started in headquarters, sweep or submit vs pass. I had Paulie and Nick. Pretty low key, though my highlight of the day was an omaplata sweep vs Paulie during a scramble. We did round out the day with a few rounds, I had Mike and Army Josh.

Tonight we practiced the long step pass. Drilled with Mike and Nick. Rounds with Mike, Gavin, Jo, and another guy, twice each.

And I’m feeling it already!

The last month has been a combination of busy and surreal. The net result has been no jiu jitsu. However, that ended this weekend.

Big group including most of Club 37. Warmed up, the. Groups of 4. 9 minutes in, starting with collar and sleeve. I had Vee, Paulie, and Nick. Good rounds, despite my cardio.

wrapped up practice with 2 five minute rounds. Hit a great lasso sweep in one of them.

Uff. Kid wrestling ended, so I thought I’d get some more mat time in. But no. Spring Break. Sickness. Back acting up. And other stuff.

We had a lighter group on Saturday. Broke up and did 5 minute rounds, 2 in and then 1 out. I had Mick, Nick, and Mike, which was a nice mix. I took it easy most of the time, given my streak of inactivity. After all of that, we split into 3 big groups and ran a chipper starting in HQ. Sweep/submit vs pass.

Tim handed out a bunch of stripes at the end of class too.

A different kind of openat this week. We warmed up with some take down setups. Then groups of 4, starting standing and going until someone scored.

I had Nick, Brian and Marquees. Good groups and we mostly pulled. Group next to us was going HARD. Was entertaining to watch.

Did a round with Nick, Max and Alex afterwards.

Small group for a Saturday. We did have a few stragglers show up later though.

Groups of 5, 1 minute rounds, you do 4 in a row, then rotate out. I had Trevor, Monique, Marquis, and Dan. Spent a lot of time being squished.

And finished class with another round with Trevor, one with Cheng and one with Nick.

i forced myself over the mental hump and went to class last night, to the surprise of everyone there.

We drilled a leg drag pass with an odd reverse head control finish. Felt awkward on both sides. Just not something that make work I think.

Rounds were 8 in and 4 out with Dom and Ray. Both were going hard. I managed to keep up most of the time too. Success all around.

It felt good.