Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Sparring

So last night I returned to sparring after not going for a few weeks. It was nice to see 3 or 4 new guys there as that meant I could have a test dummy instead of being the test dummy.

The sparring class lasts for 2 hours; I made it 1. It wasn't bad considering how tough the sparring classes are. Fighting takes alot out of you and fighting someone that has much better technique than you (ie. blue belts, purple belts, etc...) requires alot of speed and strength to overcome. Unfortunately I don't have much of either so I spent the night struggling with the advanced students. Basically I was just holding on for dear life grabbing their collar and not letting go. After 30 minutes of that I could barely make a fist.

After being schooled over and over again I got to spar with a couple of the newbies which meant a little time to relax and experiement. It is so much easier to relax against a less skilled opponent as nothing they do suprises me too much, which is what makes fighting them easier. It makes it easier to understand how the advanced students can submit you over and over again without breaking a sweat, its the same principle. So I worked on my sweeps quite a bit and a few side control submissions which all went well. My technique is still pretty poor and I pulled off one of the worst looking armbars of the night but what can I say, I'm a newbie to. All in all though it was a good time that was injury free which is always nice.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Technique Class

Well the lesson of last night was to keep my head off the mat. Easier said than done after working from the guard for an hour.
The head leads every movement from the guard and if your head is on the mat it cuts the speed of all movements from the guard. Keeping my upper back and head off the mat definitely made a big difference with the ease of execution of arm bars and triangles but was challenging to do after holding my head up for an extended period of time. I have said it before but I will mention it again, from the outside Brazilian Jiu Jitsu moves look so simple but to execute them correctly is very challenging as the small details are what separate success from failure. If any part of your body isn't properly placed the movements become challenging to execute or you make it easy for your opponent to escape or defend the technique.

My forward progress has felt very slow of late. I just don't feel like I have been improving very much of late, hopefully that will change.