Every Time I Think I'm Getting Better............

I just got home from my 11:30 am Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class at Roberto Kaelin BJJ in Keller, TX. I had a busy weekend and then travelled for business Monday and Tuesday so this was my first class since Friday. I was extremely excited to go. After class last Friday morning I was flying high thinking I had really improved. I had the best rolling session since starting BJJ in January and my cardio felt great. I did not get submitted and dealt three or four submissions of my own. I was sure I was on my way. After class today I think I was wrong.

After the normal warm-up and technique practice session it was time to roll. This is my favorite part of class so I can see how far I've come. Well, today I felt like I took a few steps backwards. I was rolling with a guy who is new to gi training but has trained no-gi for a couple years. I've rolled with him a few times before and performed decently. Today was a nightmare. He submitted me over and over and over again, almost at-will. Neck crank, arm bar, triangle, rear naked choke, and to top it off another neck crank. All the while I was getting more frustrated after each submission. Luckily for me, he had to leave to go pick up his daughter. I say lucky for me because I'm stubborn and would have kept rolling forever if he could have stayed until I finally submitted him once.

Okay, I'm known to be hard on myself and expect to be an expert at everything I try. I realize that he has about two years experience on me. The thing is, the first time we rolled a couple weeks ago we each submitted each other one time. I thought I had improved a lot so I expected to give him an even better match today. One thing went wrong, he tore me up. I'm going to try to chalk it up, at least in my mind, to jet lag and getting out of my normal routine. I'm going to regroup, eat well, get some rest, and look forward to rolling with him again Friday morning. I'll be sure to report how it goes.