As my son would say, “Grrrrr.”

I’m not really a complainer, but I had an annoying and frustrating night. We warmed up, and then Danny lead the lesson. We did a baseball slide pass from DLR guard. First annoyance, Danny talks fast. Add in the noise and music from the Crossfit side, and it was hard to follow what he was saying. Corey and I drilled together, which is a little unusual.

We did a few variations of the pass, ending with a very specific situation where the defender stiff arms you to prevent the pass, and we can step over and armlock.

We split into groups of 3 for rounds. 10 minutes in, 5 minutes out. I had Danny and Dumi. Wonderful, I get the two toughest guys in class. And I had a tough 20 minutes (10 starting on top, and 10 starting on bottom). In one five minute span I popped both my knee and hyper extended my elbow. In the later, I had turtle rolled Danny, landing right in a crucifix. I was worried about my neck and escaping, while Danny was using his legs to armlock me.

While I was in the thick of it, I was a little angry. Why did I get stuck with the tough guys? Why couldn’t they go a little easier on me? Why is nothing working? It worked out that I was out for the last 5 minute round. And these were the thoughts going through my head. It’s easy to make excuses. But as I sat there, aching and mad, I realized that I can’t get better unless I’m pushed. I depend on others to provide that challenge, that resistance, and they, in turn, depend on me to push and challenge them. They certainly did their part last night. It’s up to me to do mine, both for myself, and for them.