Class 38 was a mixed ability dinner-time class and after the usual gruelling warm-up we started doing drills about gaining control from half-guard and passing to side control. A lot of this was way over my head but the main points I did pick up were if I can control my opponent's head then I have a much better chance of dictating where the rest of him is going. Also if I can get an underhook with his head also controlled I have a much better chance of passing guard.
This was a tough class as I wasn't quite sure what I was doing and when, but martial arts is sometimes like that. Lessons sometimes take a while to sink in. You sometimes have to learn things where you're ready to learn them.
We only sparred for one round at the end of the lesson and I got paired with a very good white belt. I managed to fend off a few of his attacks but his movement was superb and much slicker than mine.
Class 39 was a free mat session and I got paired with a very helpful purple belt who showed me a new guard pass.
This involves the man in full guard getting both his arms under the legs of his opponent, then getting one hand on the inside of the opponent's opposite lapel in a palm-down and thumb-facing-down grip. Imagine you are trying to choke him with the blade of your wrist across his throat. From here you stack the opponent and start to turn away from the side of the lapel grip until his legs have base and you can collapse him and go into side control.
The other really good tip he showed me was about closing space down in side control. If you have side control on an opponent then always base out and bring your knee to his hip so there is no space for him to re-establish guard. If you're then intending to go to north-south you have to use your arm to replace the knee to prevent him from re-establishing guard.
I also got to roll with a very good white belt and, although I got tapped quite a bit, I held my own for long periods and nearly pulled off an omo-plata and used the Americana control to nearly get a tap.
Finally I got the chance to roll no-gi for 10 minutes. This was my first experience of doing this and it was hard work as I was having to work out where my grips were going. On the plus side I did recognise where the dangers were coming from and successfully fended off several wrist locks and a few leg locks but it was very hard work. But very enjoyable, too.
LESSON FROM TODAY: Drill the new guard break; close the space and keep it closed.
