pushing myself

There's this guy about my size I've been partnering with lately. While I was gone because of my knee, he won first place in a regional BJJ tournament. I congratulated him, and didn't feel so bad about losing against him. So do lots of people, apparently. When we rolled, he was much more aggressive about going for submissions than he used to be. Confident, I suppose.

I've focused more on positioning, for a long time. I don't like being that aggressive, and my success has always been limited anyhow. When we rolled last week, he tapped me out repeatedly. It was a little frustrating.

It occurred to me that I've been focusing on positioning so much, I've hardly been going for submissions at all anymore. This week, I made it difficult for him to do much of anything, constantly trying to crank an arm or set up an armbar. Eventually I succeeded.

Then we rotated partners and I went up against this very young guy, about half a foot taller than me, way more energy. It didn't go as well. I had to take a break to avoid puking from exhaustion. Apparently, at my age I can't slack off on cardio at all or it nosedives pretty severely.

Then I did the muay thai class. Had to take a break halfway through that, too. And again fifteen minutes later. I was partnered with the same young guy. He was punching and kicking circles around me. I've got to work on this.