I was nervous about trying to get back into the groove of regular class last night. Damian is out of town, traveling back from the Pan Am championships this weekend. Because of that, I suspected we might just have a night of sparring…and I wasn’t sure I was up for that.

Tim led class, and we did some drilling of two variants of a sit up sweep. But with an odd entry. We started in RDLR, with a spider guard hook on one arm. Then kicked them over us and sat up to grab the leg. Then we did the usual pretzel sweep, and a variant where they rip their arm away and you get the lapel instead.

Then we rolled. 7 minute rounds. I drew Wade, James, Evan, Tim, a break, and then Joy. I did good with Wade and James, and surprised myself with how I felt. I had submission chances with both, but lacked something each time. I kept up with Evan.

Tim promised he’d go slow, and he did…but he was like a slowly rolling boulder, impossible to resist. And I noticed I had a strange mental attitude with him, and I’m not sure I liked it. At times I felt like it was pointless to try anything, as it was just going to fail. I did try a few things, and had varying degrees of success, but he still basically had his way with me.

The break provided a chance to think about this. I used the round with Joy to slow down some. After class I asked Tim about an armlock position I had with Evan and diagnosed my mistake, and options from the position I landed in.