I would tell myself to thoughtfully consider what concepts the techniques I'm learning are demonstrating. Like with cooking, you can certainly follow a good recipe and have satisfactory results. However, its nice when you understand what the ingredients are meant to do for the dish so that making modifications based on your resources is easier. 

I will sometimes practice on my partner at home! Or just work on visualizing certain positions I struggle with. Recording myself and picking apart things I could have done better also keeps my mind engaged. 

I'm excited to work on double leg takedowns with the teens! It will be another great addition to their arsenal of techniques in getting their partner to the ground. 

Probably some kind of armlock or wrist lock 

I have been a victim of the wristlock as well... Thanks to Regis lol

Lately, I am usually aiming to get to top control. Doesn't always workout but I feel like I am learning a lot about all of the transitional positions on the way.

I think having a lot of trust in my training partners allows me not to panic. Talking to my partner about a position I have a lot of difficulty with is a big help too. In the past couple days I have been working on mount escapes with some larger gents. I know it's not going to be easy, so I ask them to let me work on thinking my way through the escape, and giving me technical challenges rather than just smashing me. 

One takeaway I would want to leave our students with is to not let perfect be the enemy of good. Instead of getting frustrated about not understanding a technique or not executing it flawlessly the first time, I would like them to understand that mastery is a process and that showing up and giving it their true best is half of the battle. From there, we can break the trickiest parts into manageable pieces until things begin to fall into place. I believe our students are capable of handling everything we throw at them. 

Yes! I look for good connection off the jump. Either from the first call I make to the gym or my first interaction there. Good experiences all around so far!

I’m excited to talk about guard retention in the teens class this week! Using the legs as a tool to manage the distance between you and another person is a great tool in competition and for self-defense. This will help lay the foundation for the future study of more complex guard types like the things we explored with Professor Simplicio last night!