Master Traven, take two

School's out!  We took one last trip to Atlanta to see my parents before they take off for parts unknown (well, sort of unknown - they've joined the Peace Corps and are supposed to go to South Africa in a couple of weeks, read all about it here).  We decided to take advantage of their location (not to mention the babysitting!) to stop in for a class with Master Traven at Unit 2 Fitness.  Fun class, full of nice people.  Really, BJJ people are some of the nicest people around! 

We learned a sweep from side mount to side mount - as in, if someone is holding you in side mount, you can switch to holding them in side mount.  It all made sense at the time, but it slipped away from me, as so many things do.  The part that stuck was the part where you can have your shoulders against your opponent's thighs while they are on their knees (possibly with their chest on your back?), you reach between their thighs, grab their pant leg and pull while pushing with your shoulder.  Suddenly, they are flat on their back while you claim side mount.  Here's what it looks like:

Here I am, going for a leg

Now I've got the leg, and I'm grabbing the pant leg, while pushing with my shoulder

It all makes perfect sense now, right???  Anyway, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of reaching in and grabbing a pants leg, pushing with my shoulders and suddenly not being on the bottom. 

Thumbs up for not being on the bottom!

It was a great visit, even if it didn't all sink in.  Their warm-up is a LOT faster paced than ours has been - nothing new, and probably even shorter distances for the run and drills, but I really had to hustle to keep from getting run over.  I made the mistake of mentioning this to my instructor, and guess who's hustling a lot now???  I've taken to doing bear crawls around the living room on my off days so that I won't be humiliated when we have to do them in class.  Ugh!  I like to think that it's harder because I'm so short, and it probably is, but I think it would be a lot easier if I were just in better shape.  Speaking of being short, look how shrimpy I look standing under Master Traven!

Just a couple more years and I'll be back, once my babysitters/place to stay are back in town!