Evening class today. Jeremy covered a self defense technique that I'm having trouble remembering. He also taught some sidemount escapes. I was drilling with Charles and he gave me some good pointers.
-the importance of hooking something with your top leg as soon as you drive a knee into the empty space; this prevents your opponent from moving clearing the knee
My first roll was with Charles, and I generally felt pretty good about it. I fell into a brabo choke from half-guard bottom because I did not make space when I noticed that he was underhooking. Beyond that, I pulled off a pretty slick escape from under north-south by framing his hips up above my head and rolling back to get my hooks. I did not manage to take the back, but I did escape a bad position. In particular, I did a poor job of retaining my guard. Specifically, I did not do a good job of maintaining an appropriate distance, keeping my hooks, and breaking posture.
I spent most of my second roll trying to pass, which I also managed to do poorly. My hips were not heavy, my pressure was bad, my posture was bad, and I did not do a good job of controlling his hips. I was trying to use my regular passing strategy, but he continually shrimped away, which tells me that I was not doing a very good job of controlling his hips. Moreover, he played a lot of z-guard, and I did not do a very good job of smashing his legs together; for whatever reason, I did not use the leg rope as I usually do, and I paid the price. The solution to that observation is simple: don't be a dumbass and use the leg rope before you try to smash and pass. I also felt off balance throughout most of the roll. Not a good day.
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My final roll also went rather poorly. First, I was trying to play some open guard, but I failed in two critical regards. First, I did a miserable job of keeping him from hipping into me. I really need to start working on controlling the sleeves from open guard before I focus on anything else. Second, I did not create angles very well. The roll thereafter was an odd scramble that I have a hard time analyzing. I did discover one positive, though: I am rather good at defending straight ankle locks.
I think that the main reason that today's sparring was shit is because I've been feeling too good about myself; too good in the sense that I have lost my edge and drive to do well. I've been so focused on not using strength that I've also lost my drive to put effort into my rolls period. I must not let that continue happening. Keep advancing without forcing.
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