I Kind Of Like The Pain...

Just stepped off the mat and I'll feeling good, bit stiff and sore but good. Glad to be over my sickness and back training hard.
Monday nights session at Caloundra was tough going. We just did hard sparring. I think we would have done about 10 or 12  6min rounds with a rest round about every 6 rounds so it put the cardio to the test. I moved ok and worked a lot on my closed guard techniques and setting up my submissions from all the top positions focusing on the north south position that Portugese showed my team mates at the seminar.
The level of guys on the mat Monday night was very decent. All though I was the only blue and our coach the only purple all the white belts are really putting in and pushing the pace, which is excellent preparation for the comp. Sometimes I feel a bit flat after training with the higher belts due to getting totally owned and not being able to pull off any techniques. But rolling with the lower belts allows me to get some reps in of some techniques. It reminded me of the importance of being a part of a good team and having lots of different level guys to roll with.

I trained over the weekend at home. I did a strength and cardio session on Saturday arvo after work which consisted of squats, kettlebell presses and crunches. I also got in to my garden and dug up some weeds and spread some mulch which got a bit of a sweat going. On Sunday after work I got a decent session in with some mates here in town. We worked some technique then did some hard drilling. Then I rolled with my mate the blue belt for 4x5min rounds. He really pushed me. I am very fortunate to have such a good training partner here in my home town. BJJ is still very much an underground sport in rural Australia and blue belts in small towns like mine are as rare as rocking horse shit. So I'm very grateful to have access to such an excellent training partner.

The soreness I'm feeling at the moment isn't all bad. My upper legs have got some soreness from all the squats I did Saturday and my shoulders and hips are sore from all the hard sparring. I kind of like that pain. It lets your body now that you are putting in some hard work. I take a few supplements to try to keep my old footy injuries at bay and so far so good. (touch wood) I also try to do some yoga when I get the chance to keep loose and flexible.

My team mates here in town seem to be enjoying the training and techniques I'm showing and I'm seeing some rapid improvement in them all. Feels good to be spreading the good word of the Jiu-Jits!!
C u on the mat!
Rex