I flew in on Thursday, and the train broke down, so I left the station and briefly dropped in to Unit 2. I saw Traven and said hello, but didn't get to see him for the remainder of my time there, as he had a superfight in Ohio that weekend.
I managed to get some open mat time in with Victoria on Friday. She's a blue belt who won Pan Ams AND Worlds this year, so it's always a time when I get my butt handed to me. We did ten minute rounds for about an hour and then called it quits. I think I held my own a little better than I normally did, but it's tough to say. I used the time to try a couple techniques I'd been playing around with in class, but still need to work on hitting them at a higher percentage.
Saturday morning I rolled up to women's BJJ in the morning, and at least one of my teammates was surprised. I was glad to have such a warm reception and to roll with some of my friends again. There was one new student which was good to see- I'm convinced that Unit 2 has one of the most consistent women's programs around. One of Traven's purple belts taught the class and all the girls did about an hour of nogi rolling after that. They are getting ready for a big tournament so they've definitely increased the amount of nogi they do.
After having been back in Atlanta and trained for a little bit, I see the importance of switching up your training partners. When you roll with the same people all the time, you get used to their game and base what you do off of how your same few teammates roll. When I came back to NJ, I could definitely feel a difference in how my new teammates rolled. It also showed me some of my weak points and what I need to work on.
I wish I could have stayed in Atlanta a little longer, but there are cover letters to be written and resumes to be mailed out!
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