Transitional Drilling

As I posted previously, the grant for my job in NYC ended, so I've been training at Jason Scully's school until I can find another job.  Jason's a great teacher and incorporated a really cool drill this past week that I'd like to keep doing.

He didn't have a name for the drill, but it consisted of each person doing two different movements against the other person and alternating back and forth.  For example, if two people start from the knees, one person might grab the collar (one) and then grab the pants leg (two).  The person would respond by kicking their leg out to break the grip (one) and try to get an underhook (two).  If you fail to break/establish a grip or position, it still counts as one movement.  It's a good way to see how you do your transitions.  I know that personally when I roll, it's tough for me to remember why I was swept or what led to me being submitted.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to find someone else who is interested in doing this drill at Jason's or Shaolin's open mat.

Additionally Jason had us roll for 45 minutes straight yesterday.  He said that if at any point you got tired you could take a quick sip of water and come back, but for the most part it should just be straight rolling.  Each person stayed with the same person the entire time.  I was paired up with a 6-month white belt girl, and to my knowledge, is the only other girl who trains at Jason's school.  I like training with her because everything she does is somewhat calculated; there's no random pushing, flailing, or movement without any thought behind it.  Even when she makes a mistake it's not a frustrated and tense attempt to get out of something.  Additionally, we have similar competition games so it's nice that we work on the same weaknesses and have similar strengths. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some more cover letters to write, the GRE to study for, and a personal statement to write. AHH!