Super tight.

I rolled on Sunday with a teenager and got to experience what it must be like for most of my training partners to roll with me. He was smaller, lighter, and yet tough... he ate chokes for lunch (perhaps I flatter myself here). The whole experience made me wonder if the development of my sweep game wouldn't profit from drilling more with him. I get the sense that sweeps will work just fine against bigger stronger people *if my technique is solid* and until it's solid, I'm stuck. The only problem is, he's not a great uke, because his defensive instincts haven't developed- his base is floppy and he overextends his arms. Oh well. This means I should be rolling/drilling more with our female purple, who is about my height but lighter by about 20 lbs. I also wonder if his gi is an issue-- he still uses the light cotton taekwondo gi and I feel like lapel chokes aren't as successful.

Also on Sunday, rolled with a really friendly whitebelt guy. Class was mellow, focusing mainly on mount escapes and attacks from guard, and I had plenty of energy. Normally I won't roll too much with whitebelts at the start of open mat, preferring to wait till they're pooped out... but this time I felt brave. Unfortunately, I discovered more of what Christy calls "tacky jiu jitsu"-- he was working for a cross-collar choke, but my chin was down tight so his arms were across my face. His solution was to shake me front and back vigorously, causing his knuckles to bang into my lips/teeth over and over. Much like getting rabbit punched in the face, it sucked. I finally squawked and he quit-- so is that cheating? Should I have tapped? or given in and lifted my chin to get choked?

Monday morning I rolled with a purple who trained in Brazil a while. His game is so tight, I felt like I was a too-big foot in a too-small shoe. I'm making the mistake of going to guard more than I should-- he passed, got side, and sucked me up and in so I felt vacuum-sealed. I think I defended well, but wasn't making any headway on an escape-- resolutely kept getting my knee in but his grips were rock solid and I wasn't effective at making space. I eventually tapped -- he was transitioning to a N/S position and hunting the kimura, but the bottom curve of his cup was spang in the middle of my eyesocket. Blech.

I'm sore again-- sore fingers from gripping, sore wrists from defending armbars, sore traps/lats from fighting for a cross-collar choke. But it's the kind of sore I wouldn't trade for anything.

In another morning class, been working a sweep series beginning from the lockdown. I think I'm grasping the biomechanics of sweeps better. Dammit, I should be, as that's about all I think of. Reassuringly, I was able to get several different sweeps against a much heavier opponent who is really brand new... hooray. Perhaps progress peeks around the corner.

I skipped class last night and am home sick today-- allergies. It's bloody hot outside, what can possibly be alive enough to cause allergies? Hopefully I'll feel better in time for tonight's class.