Damian was back. He gave us an update on how everyone that went to Pans did. We got a silver, a bronze, and Black Belt Pat won double gold. He talked a bit about upping the intensity of our training. Not necessarily the speed or harshness, but being more tenacious about not accepting a bad position.

In that vein, we did a very simple combo sweep. From closed guard, break a grip, pass that slightly past your mid-line, then kick up and grab their belt over their shoulder. Under hook their leg and pendulum them over. If they post with their leg to prevent the sweep, butterfly that leg, comb your hair to isolate their other arm, and sweep the other way. You can go back and forth between the two, and if you’re persistent, and setting the pace, getting him to react to you…then you’ll get one or the other eventually.

Wade and I drilled the two for a while. Then we did a series of four 5 minute rounds, alternating top and bottom. Top guy had to avoid being swept. No passing, just maintaining top position. Bottom guy had to sweep. No submissions, no back takes, just end up on top. It was tougher than you’d think. Wade started just hunkered down, gripping my belt, head down, and pinning my hips with his elbows. I had to fight to get enough space to get my feet on his hips or to butterfly. I got a few sweeps over my two rounds on bottom, but had to work hard for each. On top it felt so odd just sitting there, effectively stalling.

We then did one regular round. I was paired up with Brandon. Started off on top, and got to half guard pretty quick. Stalled out there for a bit trying to finish the pass. I got swept, mounted, back taken, escaped two chokes and an armlock before the buzzer ran out. He commented that my defense was good. I’ll take that.