The Switch

Even more tournament prep tonight. We kicked things off with some take down drilling, 5 for 5 with our partners.

For the bulk of class, we divided into two groups, the big (more than 180 pounds) and the small (less than 180). The small team actually got a couple of big guys thrown in too to balance them out. Then the drill was this: Two guys on their backs, two challengers come in and start in guard. Guy on bottom has to sweep, submit, or stand. Guy on top has to pass. Winner stays. If the bottom guy wins 3 times, both are replaced.

We cycled through the team a few times. My first two tries were against Purple Belt Tim, which quickly resulted in me returning to the line. I did pass (and later sweep) Ron, which allowed me to be the “King of the Hill” for a bit. The first guy up (who’s name I don’t know) was the biggest member of our team and a blue/white belt. I kept him broken down and started hunting for the armlock, went for it, he pulled out and I switched to the triangle. Took me a bit to work it and get the tap, I was worried about loosing it while getting the right angle, but I got there eventually.

We broke for a drink, then repeated the game, this time starting from half guard. I got a nice sweep off on Ron, and nearly passed White Belt Tim, but rushed it and got rolled.

Ron was kicking himself tonight, for subconsciously being willing to release an advantage. It seemed to me as I watched that he’d start to loose his position, and he’d kind of give up on it and start either scrambling or transitioning to defense. While normally that’s a good thing, tonight the drill ends as soon as he lost the position. I told him that it’s more important to keep the position than be ready for the next one.

It’s pretty cliche, but often times you’ll hear about fighters that “flip the switch” when it’s fight time. And sometimes just watching, you can see the change in their face or behavior. When it’s go time, it’s go time. And it’s that kind of “killer instinct” (which I don’t think I have) that leads to tenacity (which I DO have), that leads to fighting to keep whatever advantage one has.