Laser Focus

[shesprints]

Back home and hit the gym again.

Calories: 1830, 226C/142P/46F
Workout:

5 min jog
Dynamic Warm up
Deadlifts 65 x 10, 95 x 5, 115 x 5, 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 175 x 5, 185 x 5, 4, 3
Chin ups 5 x 3
Split squat 45 x 5, 65 x 5, 85 3 x 5
Pushups 5 x 10
Crow pose 3 x 45 seconds
Toes to bar x 5/leg raise x 5 3 sets

Quad stretch
Foam roll


It's cool that I can do toes-to-bar and five sets of 3 chinups now. My next goal is a towel grip pullup, because of the carryover to BJJ. All of my friends and family are commenting on how ripped I am. I think a real six-pack is gonna happen for me next year. I have good momentum and my eating feels on a great habitual track. You guys. I'm so excited.

[shesprints]

I took two days off this weekend, mostly because I walked a LOT on Saturday, which aggravated my knee again. I also realized that I've been slowing the healing by doing things like squatting. I read some sources on bursitis that say to strictly avoid bending my knee, along with the icing and anti-inflammatories. So I will do that for the next few days.

I did go to the gym today regardless to focus on shoulders. I felt oddly weak and tired given I had two days off, not sure why.

Calories the last two days were 1850 and 1810. Today...

Calories: 1785, 225C/122P/50F
Workout:

Assisted pull ups decreasing assistance 3 x 8, 2 x 5
Push ups 5 x 12
Pull ups 10 x 1
BB OHP 45 x 10, 50 x 8, 55 x 6, 60 x 5, 65 3 x 3
Standing IYT raise 5lb 8 each x 3
Toes to bar x 5/hanging leg raise x 5 3 sets
Handstand against wall hold
Straddle sit holds x 3


I basically invented straddle sit holds by thinking of something I could do that was similar to crow pose but didn't involve bent knees.

A random very ripped dude smiled at me in the gym today. Either my form was good or I look cute. I'll take either I guess. I do feel like I'm looking good, and have bought new clothes, including crop tops, now that I am pleased with my emerging abs.

Sets of 12 push ups today! Very happy. I would like to get up to sets of 20-25.

[shesprints]

Still aggressively resting my knee. Icing a lot. Anti-inflammatories. I did swim, which was... fun given my shoulder workout yesterday. My arms legitimately would not move as quickly as I wanted them to.

Calories: 1740, 207C/127P/50F
Workout:
Swim 2400 yards
400 warm up
4 x 25 build
2 x 200 pull
400 base pace
4 x 100 on 2:10 (1:31 each)
8 x 50 on 1 min (42 each)
4 x 50 breathing every 5, 7, 9, then 1 breath and 0 breaths per 25
100 cool down


I'm feeling okay but depressed due to not training BJJ. Hopefully being really strict with my knee will get me back sooner.

[shesprints]

Yesssss good bench session today due to going in right after breakfast. Was a little bloated during abs but I'm glad I am basically back up to my pre-cut bench weight for reps.

Calories: 1740, 191C/152P/46F (high protein thanks to a whole 7 oz of steak at dinner)
Workout:

Battle rope 5 min
Pushups x 10
Bench press 45 x 10, 65 x 10, 75 x 8, 85 x 6, 95 3 x 5
Chin ups 3 x 3
Dips 3 x 5
Dumbbell 21's 12lb x 3 sets
Toes to bar x 5/leg raise x 5 3 sets
Straddle sit hold 3 x 3

Really busy workday but a good day. My belt keeps getting looser, which I enjoy; I am also pleased with how well straddle sit holds are improving the second time I tried them. I could really keep my legs up and hovering for some time! I would like to get from there straight into a handstand at some point:



I really want to work on my shoulders a lot more. Plus handstands, obviously.

[shesprints]

Calories: 1745, 225C/135P/42F
Workout:
Swim 2400 yards
600 warm up
4 x 75 as 50 free/25 IM drill
4 x 50 free/kick IM order
4 x 25 IM

4 x 25 fly
150 IM order no fly

4 x 25 back
150 IM order no back

4 x 25 fly (couldn't do breast)
150 IM order no breast

4 x 25 free
150 IM order no free sub fly for breast

200 cool down breathing every 3, 5, 7, 9

I genuinely hate swimming but it is the only cardio I can do right now and it's marginally less bad when I get used to the temperature of the water. At least it's movement. I bribe myself through it by reminding myself that the next day will be a lift day.

[phoenix4444]

Love the variety in your training.

[shesprints]

Love the variety in your training.

My knee is still stupid af so I need to entertain myself somehow. Training gymnastics movements insofar as I can will only help my BJJ. I am also trying to target abs and shoulders, which are historically weak areas on me. That said, I plugged my lifts into symmetricstrength.com and I'm 96% symmetrical, which is AMAZING and so much better than I used to be! I used to be so much stronger in my lower body than my upper.

That said, my weakest lift is overhead press but I'm freakishly strong at dips, apparently? I can do at least 6, probably 8-10, with strict form. Not sure why I'm so good at dips. I don't even practice them a lot.

OK, today!

Calories: 1710, 207C/149P/41F
Workout:
Prone handstand posture with stick pulses 3 x 10 and hold
Hollow hold 3 x 30s
Push ups x 10
Assisted pullups 2 x 8
Plyo push ups 5 x 5
Pull ups 5 x 2
Toes to bar x 5/hanging leg raise x 5 3 sets
OHP 45 x 10, 50 x 8, 60 x 5, 65 x 3, 70 x 2, 1
Single hand switch hangs
Oblique hanging leg raise 3 x 10 (both sides count as 1 rep)
Standing IYT with 5lb plates 3 x 8
Face pulls blue band 3 x 15
Straddle sit hold 3 x 3

That felt really good! I may try to get three reps of pullups on Sunday if I'm feeling good. We're doing a pancake breakfast with my dad on Sunday, and I do plan on having a couple of those, so that should be good fuel for my workout.

[shesprints]

Yesterday was a day off:

Calories 1610, 177C/119P/49F

Today was slightly higher on calories because of chocolate chip pancakes. To be quite honest I would not eat them again. I hated feeling sugar-high afterwards and would rather just have some dark chocolate and peanut butter as a treat if I want one.

Calories: 1950, 243C/132P/57F
Workout:
Battle rope 5 min
Assisted chin ups x 8,5
Chin ups 5 x 3
Push ups 5 x 13
BB rows 65 x 10, 75 x 10, 85 2 x 8
DB stiff legged deadlifts 27.5s x 10, 30s x 10, 35s x 10, 40s x 10
Calf raise 85 3 x 25
DB 21's3 sets at 12
Toes to bar x 5/hanging leg raise x 5 3 sets
3 x 3 straddle sit hold
Battle rope max 3 x :30

I'm getting better at the straddle sit holds. I really like battle rope. But I may have pushed it too much with this workout as my knee is still swollen and I can feel the fluid inside.

I'm frustrated by how long my knee is taking to heal. I may need to break down and see a doctor about it.

[shesprints]

Ate some extra fruit and vegetables at a dinner with my parents, just a lot of volume because I didn't have a dense carb source. I'm trying not to beat myself up for feeling rather full.

Calories: 1830, 221C/150P/47F
Workout:
2400 yards swim
500 warm up
300 kick drill swim IM
200 drill swim IM
100 IM
200 stroke free IM
300 stroke free stroke IM

2 sets of
5 x 50 free slow med fast med slow
4 x 25 free fast

100 cool down


I'm pretty down lately. I don't like my eating routine being disrupted and for the past couple of days it has been. The good news is that I definitely find it easy to keep eating healthily when I'm on that track and prefer the feeling of being a little hungry to being overly full. I think that's a good change from this cut.

[shesprints]

I think I was just bloated from eating a lot of volume last night, because I felt pretty hungry today, as well as tired. I didn't sleep well. I was going to do a full upper body day but decided to do push/pull days this week so I just did push exercises today.

Calories: 1830, 226C/129P/50F
Workout:
Prone Superman holding stick pulse x 10 hold 10
Hollow hold 3 x :30
OHP 45lb x 8, 50lb 5 x 8
Dips 5 x 8
Pushups 5 x 10
DB standing front/diagonal/side raises 7lb 2 x 8, 6lb 2 x 8, 5lb x 8
Handstand against wall x 3

I worked really hard on overhead press form today, keeping core and glute tension and using bulldog grip for the first time. It really helped. Sometimes my back will hurt after OHP but it did not at all today, and I felt more powerful in the move, too. In a sense, it was like practicing handstand posture, but with a bar. I think working hard on my shoulders will ultimately improve my handstands.

Also, fun news: the woman I beat in the semifinals of my last tournament just got her purple belt. So I defeated an almost-purple belt! Aha!

[shesprints]

My grandmother died today. I don't really want to write much about it but it's not as sad as it could be because she had dementia and didn't have a good quality of life anymore. It's still sad.

Anyway, notes for today.

Calories: 1850, 213C/132P/54F

Workout:

Assisted pull ups x 10, 8, 6
Pull ups 5 x 2
Mid back seated cable row 50 x 10, 70 x 10, 85 3 x 8
Single arm lat pull down 25 x 10, 40 2 x 8
Toes to bar x 5/leg raise x 5 3 sets
Straddle sit hold 3 x :10

Just a really short workout today, busy and just got home after being with my parents.

[phoenix4444]

I am so sorry. My heart goes out for you and your family.

[shesprints]

I am so sorry. My heart goes out for you and your family.

Thank you, phoenix. I've been trying to be there for my mom (and to a lesser extent my dad). Today I went to her house and helped her plan the whole funeral and lunch afterwards and went through a ton of pictures to get some good ones for a slide show at the memorial. It was really nice, actually, seeing a lot of old pictures of my grandmother having fun with us when we were kids. She was a terrific grandmother and definitely is one of the reasons I'm so fierce and killer. She once stabbed a man for flashing her in a movie theater. And she had an incredible sense of humor. She claimed to get out of jury duty by pretending to be wildly attracted to the defendant. And she was an amazing cook and we made delicious (and messy) recipes together in her kitchen all the time.

So yeah. I miss her. But at the same time, like I said, her terrible quality of life and dementia in recent years means that it's probably for the best that she passed away. She said so herself in a lucid moment toward the end.

Whew. Okay.

Anyway, today was a really busy day, between helping my mom with arrangements and work, but I did get to the pool to swim during midday practice. I needed the cardio as a way of adjusting my mental state. I don't even like swimming, but any cardio makes me feel better mentally afterwards. Breathing hard and exerting effort in that way just acts as catharsis.

Calories: 1745, 218C/138P/43F
Workout:
Swim 2600 yards
400 with paddles
400 swim
300 pull
200 kick
4 x 100 descending
400 pull
2 x 150 negative split
200 cool down

[shesprints]

I've done well being there for my mom. I headed over there after dinner and we finished all the planning for our eulogies + powerpoint with pictures of my grandmother. I also wrote my eulogy, which I think came out really well. I was able to bring together all of my best memories. I'll post a link to the video of me giving it on Sunday since some of you guys would probably like to see that.

I swam again today in order to use the cardio for mood improvement. I'm looking forward to lifting tomorrow, and then, perhaps, I may get to go back to BJJ next week. We'll see how my knee feels.

Calories: 1750, 223C/128P/42F

Workout:
Swim 2400 yards
700 warm up
4 x 100 odds kick/back, evens swim fast
3 x 100 pull
6 x 50 kick
3 x 75 pull
5 x 25 kick fast
2 x 75 fast with 5 seconds rest
200 cool down

Lifting tomorrow. Genuinely cannot wait. Chin ups. Push ups. Biceps. Maybe some handstand practice.

[shesprints]

Just finished watching UFC 245 with my friends and Rachel. She made cupcakes--I had two (small ones). Ate light the rest of the day.

Calories: 1910, 243C/132P/51F

Workout:
Sumo deadlift 65lb x 10, 115lb 3 x 8, 135lb 2 x 6, 155lb 3 x 4
Chin ups 6 x 4
Push ups 5 x 15
Reverse hyper 20lb x 10, 50lb 3 x 10
Toes to bar x 6/hanging leg raise x 6 3 sets
Handstand hold w one foot on wall :30 x 3
Dumbbell 21's 15lb 2 sets
Straddle sit hold x 3 

Messing around with sumo deadlift today. Definitely easier on my back! Not sure I love it in general, though. We'll have to see. I got rep PRs for chinups and toes to bar, really happy with that.

[shesprints]

The funeral went really well. Rachel came to support me, and so did my friend Adam and his new girlfriend, who seems awesome. My brother, mother, and I all spoke, and we all only started crying at the very end of what we said. Our speeches were received very well as a tribute to my grandmother.

There was all kinds of food at the lunch afterwards--we had sushi and Chinese delivered, and people brought absurd amounts of dessert. Luckily, my mom ordered plain steamed vegetables with chicken and shrimp, zero sauce, and brown rice, so that's what I ate. I also had two pieces of cucumber-wrapped sushi. Nothing else. Considered the massive piles of chocolate-covered pretzels coated in candy, tiramisu cake, panettone, and chocolate. Obviously chose not to eat any of that stuff because it would have made me feel worse ultimately. Also, the previous night I'd eaten some of Rachel's cupcakes at our fight party! So I had already had a nice treat and didn't want or need more.

Calories yesterday: 1820, 205C/147P/46F

Calories today: 1750, 210C/126P/49F

and I went back to BJJ! My knee's a lot better and I wore a knee pad that seemed to really help.

BJJ 2 hours
Level 2 nogi
Takedown cup arm and push up, then grab opposite knee/ankle
Live rounds from standing
Live rounds from guard
Live rounds from seatbelt
2 x 5 min regular training
Got a nice few guard passes and a kimura from top side control.

Advanced 1 gi
Breaking closed guard with an underhook on one side, then stand and push down leg to half guard.
Live rounds from closed guard and regular training
Interesting rounds. White belt fell on me. Ribs hurt. Decent guard passing and stacking, got to deep half and was able to transition to butterfly hook from half at one point and used it to actually sweep! Hurt thumb a bit from grip break but iced afterwards, hope it heals fast.

Been icing the thumb. I can use it now, it's just sore. We'll see. Probably going to swim tomorrow and lift the day after. I think I can hold a barbell fine, will just use false grip.

[shesprints]

Lot has happened!

We had belt promotions at BJJ today and I got TWO stripes, which is a big deal given how long I've trained. Marcelo doesn't give out stripes lightly, so I was amazed. At first, when I heard them calling all the names for one stripe and I didn't hear mine, I was resigned to getting nothing. Getting two shocked me.

Afterwards two instructors told me that it was an easy decision for them, they clearly all agreed I deserved more than one stripe; another instructor had rolled with me and said I moved better than most of the guys; and that my competition and poise in competition mattered as well. I love competing and am so glad it gets recognized at the academy. I'm also glad they see my hard work and joy in the sport.

In other news, my right hand is in a brace because my thumb thing is a small tendon tear. Very minor, 3-4 weeks in the brace, and can still use all of my other fingers so I worked out today...

Calories: 1745, 223C/132P/41F

Workout:
Run 1 mile 8:15 (half jog half 6:40 pace)

Tempo squats slow down explode up 65 x 10, 95 4 x 5
Jump squats 95 2 x 5
Chin ups 4 x 3
Knuckle push ups 4 x 10
Toes to bar x 5/leg raise x 5 3 sets

So yeah, I can even hang from the bar as long as I do false grip. No big deal. I'm working around it and can even train BJJ wearing the brace for protection, says my doctor. So that's all cool.

Great day.

[HomeGymChains]

Congratulations!!!

[shesprints]

Congratulations!!!

Thanks bro! BJJ has been treating me well this year. Here's to next year being healthier.


Calories: 1650, 206C/123P/41F
Workout:
BJJ 2 hours
1 hour drill
Half guard to butterfly
THEN if they stay back grab under their other leg and kick forward beneath them OR collar drag them forward to do the same
If backstep in half, grab pant leg and hook ankle. Come up, grab collar and pants, and roll into back take.
Matheus Diniz reversal (bump and use biceps to push, then try crowbar, at the very least they post and give underhook)
Jedi Mind Trick to get a back take as they start to backstep. Need to be fast and get that far hook in.

Advanced 1 nogi
Bunch of drills to warm up--knee cut pass, closed guard into start of kimura, butterfly hook lifts, single x entries.
7 x 5 min live rounds
Great rounds even with hand in brace! I used a granby thing/hip rollover to escape a pass attempt and recover guard, great as I struggled with that prior. Finished a nice arm bar on a guy. Worked on knee shield passing to North South. Played some half and back takes. Need to try better choking with my left arm!

I also reached a big goal today and did a pistol squat right after training. Really cool. Love mastering this bodyweight stuff.

SO yeah things are going well.

And Rachel's parents are coming in to have dinner with my parents on Sunday. Exciting.

[shesprints]

Damn hungry today.

Calories: 1830, 240C/115P/51F

Workout:
Run 5 min (.59 miles)
Pistol squats 5 x 1 each leg 2 sets, 2 x 2 and 1 x 1 each leg 2 sets, 5 left leg and 2 x 3 right last set
Pull ups 3 x 2, 2 x 3
Knuckle push ups 5 x 10
Toes to bar x 5/hanging leg raise x 5 3 sets

Bodyweight stuff ON POINT. I have never done more than one pistol squat in my life, but today I busted out five like it was easy, plus set a rep PR for pull ups (dead hang, too). Three reps! I have a feeling I'll crush my next year's goal of achieving more than 5, ideally 10.

[shesprints]

Feeling draggy and hungry again today so went with it.

Calories: 1835, 223C/132P/51F

Workout:

BJJ 2 hours

Drill 1 hour
Same half guard stuff as last time
Butterfly lift from arm drag--> back take by removing hook on the side of dragged arm
Butterfly "baseball slide" sweep.
Half guard tip from Paul: push hip if they whizzer so you can limp arm out off their reaction
Berimbolo

Open mat 1 hour
Tested out some butterfly hook stuff and berimbolos. Working well. Not having a grip on the right side is a bit annoying but OK. Got some good guard passes. Tip on reverse triangle: pull the OTHER arm, the one behind my butt--it's a reverse triangle not a regular one, leave the other arm alone! Watch Braulio Estima reverse triangle video.

[shesprints]

Good training today and REALLY nice three-hour-long dinner with my parents, Rachel's parents, and Rachel. Our parents got along as well as I had expected and my mom served a legit feast. I went easy on everything but calories were a bit higher.

Calories: 1910, 229C/126P/57F

Workout:

BJJ 2 hours
Drill 1 hour
Butterfly
Half
Reverse x saddle entry sweep
Lasso

Advanced 1 gi
Guard pull to sweep
Lecture on having a backup plan or trick with first sweep
Live from standing
Good rounds. Got leg bundle sweep on brown belt. Reverse x sweep and flower sweep on white belt woman. Good movement and inversions today.

Productive drilling lately. I'm very pleased with how well new concepts are clicking for me lately--I've reached a point where I know the basics and can easily assimilate new ideas.

[shesprints]

BJJ today ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED ME. I guess I'm not used to hard training since taking two and a half weeks off! We did a great deal of live training that left me extremely hungry, and also constituted a significant calorie burn, so I ate more. Mostly in the form of an 8 oz grass-fed steak at dinner--everything else was the same. That was a damn good steak.

Calories: 1970, 224C/163P/53F

Workout:
BJJ 2 hours
Level 2 nogi
Mount escape to: half, slx, butterfly
Live training positional 2 x :40, 2 × 1:00, 2 x 2:00
Regular training 3 x 5:00
Good rounds w female purple and crushed a male white belt.

Advanced 1 gi
Just live rounds!
Got lasso to omoplata to arm bar!!!
Slx a lot
Some full x
Need faster reverse x
Lots of inversions and leg entanglement with female black belt

Friend's comment: "your jiu jitsu has improved sooooo much since the last time we rolled. It's night and day."

Also, Hana, the wife of one of the instructors, a new black belt herself, asked me how many stripes I had--she thought I had four! That she even figured that might be reasonable was kinda cool given how recently I got my belt.

So yes, very good day.

[shesprints]

Short workout today and a really nice Christmas eve gift exchange with Rachel. She gave me a beautiful humidifier/diffuser that looks like an elegant vase, lights up, and turns colors! It's exactly what I wanted (my apartment gets very dry). Her mom also got us matching pajamas. I got her a sleepwear kimono and a scarf and a set of bracelets.

Calories: 1945, 235C/144P/53F (did some Lindt truffle sampling after dinner to celebrate)
Workout:
Run .55 miles 5 min
Pistol squats 5 x 1, 2 x 3/2, 2 x 5
Chin ups 5 x 3
Knuckle push ups 5 x 10
Windshield wipers 3 x 3
Toes to bar x 5/hanging leg raise x 5 3 sets
Box jumps 36" 3 x 3

Merry Christmas everyone!

[shesprints]

Really good Christmas at Rachel's grandparents' house. It was great going there again and her whole family, even older relatives, seems totally accepting of her having a girlfriend. I ate my usual breakfast before going there and we had Christmas lunch out. I stayed pretty straight-and-narrow there: small cup of chicken soup (broth-based), small plain salad no dressing, just lettuce and a few small pieces of pineapple and strawberry, and for the main course, two duck thighs (took off skin) with side of steamed broccoli/asparagus and roasted carrots. That was it. Later I had two small cookies, and dinner was at home--canned tuna on lettuce and some vegetable soup.

Estimated calories: 1790, 205C/128P/53F

Back to BJJ training tomorrow.

[shesprints]

Calories: 1960, 254C/149P/45F
Workout:
BJJ 2 hours

Level 2 gi
Seated guard, they grab collar, foot on hip on that side, grab sleeve/wrist and pop off grip, they pull arm back, move in for underhook on other side and move foot to butterfly hook, grab other elbow.
If they grab your pant leg and stand, grab that side sleeve at wrist and kick leg OUT to the far side. Swing back to feet on hips or spider/lasso/etc.
6 x 2:30 pass or sweep and reset
3 x 5:00 regular training
Got that leg entanglement from reverse x. Good rounds generally. Played around with white belt woman whose guard is pretty good. Fun back takes. Lot of x guard sweeps. Got butterfly sweep as well, though still need to work on it.

Advanced 1 nogi
Just regular training
Got to n/s on purple belt woman but couldn't finish. Got some back takes and an arm bar. Doing better with head pressure for folding pass. Got nogi berimbolo, fun.


My knee is a little cranky so I'm icing and will take tomorrow off BJJ, then go back this weekend.

[shesprints]

Knee is still not 100% so did a back/chest/bicep day.

Calories: 1745, 212C/126P/50F

Workout:

Pull ups 6 x 2, 1 x 3
Push ups 5 x 18
BB row 45 x 15, 65 3 x 12
Lat pull downs 55 x 10, 70 x 10, 85 3 x 10
Single arm lat pull downs 40 3 x 10
Low back row 75 3 x 10
DB 21's 12lb 3 sets
Toes to bar x 5/leg raise x 5 3 sets
3 x straddle sit holds


Pretty proud of 5 sets of 18 push ups. I've never done that before. My goal has been 5 sets of 20 for awhile; I'll probably move that up to 4 sets of 25 next year, or even a full 100 in a row.

I may swim tomorrow if I'm not up to BJJ, but hope to be back on Sunday.

[shesprints]

Swim today, going to be easy on my knee and NOT train tomorrow in the hopes of coming back OK after we go away on vacation (that'll be Thursday).

Calories: 1720, 220C/116P/46F

Workout:

2200 yards
800 paddles breathing 3/5/7/5
200 w/o paddles
5 x 100 ez/100 fast all paddles
Fast in 1:28, 1:27, 1:25, 1:24, 1:22
200 cool down w/o paddles

[DCSpartan]

Injuries just took me out of the BJJ game. My joints are healthier now than they were 5 years ago though .

Some people just never slow down with BJJ mishaps. I wasnt one of them.

[shesprints]

Injuries just took me out of the BJJ game. My joints are healthier now than they were 5 years ago though .

Some people just never slow down with BJJ mishaps. I wasnt one of them.

Yeah, it's a tough sport on the body for sure. Here is a short interview with one of my BJJ instructors (I just took a private lesson with him yesterday!) on the topic if you're interested: https://rynobjj.wordpress.com/2010/0...aul-schreiner/


Anyway! I went away for a few days with Rachel and my parents and we did a LOT of exercise, almost too much to track--so I'll just move on. We did a cool rowing class and Rachel and I won the two-minute race portion at the end, though there was also a former Harvard rower in the class. Granted he was out of shape but still! And I taught her to squat and bench and she is REALLY strong--she got 140lb for 3 reps on squat and 95 for 3 reps on bench. We also went on a bunch of hikes and took an unconventional strength class with sandbags, kettlebells, and clubs, which are actually excellent and commonly used by grapplers. I think the variety of movement was really good for my knee, as well.

Calories have been quite moderate the past few days. 1350, then 1650, 1565, and 1670 yesterday. So in a deficit after the whole Christmas season.

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a BJJ lesson with the aforementioned Paul Schreiner. Amazing.

Workout:

BJJ 3 hours (1 just lesson)
Private lesson 1 hour

Notes:
1. For butterfly sweep, you can create connections in many ways, including double collar grab, outside sleeve grab, or head club (works if switching sides... incidentally, going side to side for butterfly sweep attacks is something I will need to work on as I progress). The one we focused on was underhook plus c-cup elbow. Grab sleeve at elbow. Or grab tricep, which means you can pincer their elbow with yours and kind of drag it in if they post; however, why bother? You can ALSO overhook and wrist control (like Wardzinski) but then you flip them overhead rather than to the side.
As for the hook, keep knee pointing out so they can't collapse it. Also, hook in toward their hip really far. You can readjust/scoot that higher up as you go. You can also hop on your bottom foot until they go down--like judo. A drill to practice is to scoot forward until your heel is really at your butt, hinge over onto your shoulder, and kick up, then follow through with a Granby roll. HARD! Need to practice.
2. Butterfly half connection. John Wayne/crowbar/twist sweep setup and then QUICKLY hip out and get that hook in. You can grab their bicep and pull it in toward you overhand.
3. Half guard generally. Get comfortable transitioning between knee shield, half, and rdlr. Shoulder wedged way into them. Bottom shin HEAVY on their calf and toes to the floor. Then do the same with both legs. Keeping their knee pinned as a fulcrum is essential. Then underhook AND SHUCK AT SAME TIME. If they whizzer, grab under far thigh and roll. If not, grab their foot. If not THAT, then simply hop in a circle until they collapse.
4. Butterfly meta: scissor sweep. Scissor sweep is basically what you do if you have collar-sleeve and closed guard and they post up with the wrong leg. Gustavo Batista has been using scissor sweep at a high level. So, shin goes along their waist and HIPS are what moves them. Then pull their sleeve and your upper body goes back and they almost naturally fall. Similar to butterfly but in butterfly shin goes under the thigh, not across the top.
5. Random note on underhooks--press INTO their back as you raise your elbow. This feels very hard but how did I miss it? Random note on getting the underhook from butterfly--grab their hand and twist it internally until they have to open their shoulder.
6. Notes on butterfly entries: can do double collar grab, outside sleeve grab, or head club (works if switching sides... incidentally, going side to side for butterfly sweep attacks is something I will need to work on as I progress).
7. Note on butterfly counter: keeping hips BACK and sprawling HARD can prevent them from elevating you. Keep hips level and way back. Otherwise, you will fall once your leg goes past being straight up.

Post-lesson notes: I got FAR more sweeps. I swept a visiting blue belt woman with butterfly from crowbar sweep setup, and I got the sweep that counters the whizzer on Alicia. It ties well into the over-under pass, so I should probably drill that. I still feel quite mean grabbing the hand as an underhook entry. Also note that I need to break a grip before doing that and wonder how to tie it in more naturally. Overall, I feel as though I just downloaded about two months' worth of knowledge and feel incredibly inspired. I'm also going to watch a lot of Bia footage on Flo.

Level 2 nogi
Sprawl on a shot, seatbelt, jump onto back and pinch knees as opponent rolls.
Live positional training. Live rolls. Good rolls. Smashed white belt woman but hopefully helped with move of the day as well. Then got smashed. Noted Paul's lesson not to roll only with people who smash me, but to roll half the time with people I can "beat."

Advanced 1 gi
MARCELO BUTTERFLY LESSON!
Perfect tie-in to the private lesson.
Practiced the entry to the basic sweep. Then double collar grab, elevate, they counter with sprawl, scoot in and elevate again, then go under for full x.
Positional and regular training. Rolled with Nicky, who is back from injury! Fun rolls. Got stuck in 50/50 with another guy... really need to work on that. Good rolls with Alicia that turned into real battles and another good one with visiting blue belt lady.


Paul also told me that I should start studying the best in the world at my weight to improve further, not just look at winning blue belt comps. That, plus the two stripes I got, have made me feel both ambitious and scared.

I also vowed to drill at least once weekly in the new year. I also still want to keep working on my bodyweight movements.