I became a fan of full or closed guard very early on. We would get paired up for drilling and I must have looked much heavier than I was since I tended to get the larger partners.Keeping my partner in full guard became a way to stay safe from getting smashed and as I continued led down a road of finding a lot of attacks and sweeps. 

Dealing with a flexible partner who has longer legs. They often like to you that leg to trap an arm while still keeping 1 leg around you. 

While it may take away 1 hook they then have 2 hands to attack an arm or the neck. 

Opening Closed Guard by Robert Drysdale. 

Explore all things leg lock. 

Standing or being in closed guard. 

I start with a collar grip when I stand. In closed guard I like to use the lapel grip and hip control as I’m opening the closed guard in gi. 

Thomas Rozdzynski I think visual demonstrations are best on this one to really understand the hooking of the heel and the leg control so it doesn't slip out. Also very interesting is the boom of popularity that really seemed to happen around 2015 to 2018.

Opening Closed Guard by Robert Drysdale. So much history that we don’t normally hear about. 

This program gave me a behind the scenes look at how everything we see when we show up runs. So often we show up and don't consider what lead up to what we are seeing and doing. After going through this program I realized how unprepared I would have been to teach a class. The lessons learned can transfer off the mats too. It gives a different view on how to present information to teach to a group. The instructor program simply presents a different view and organized way to present information.

For me it is 2 fold and I see this more and more the longer I train and get to work with new people.

The first 3-6 months feel like learning to walk all over again. Everything feels foreign if you've never done anything like jiu jitsu. For many its feels uncoordinated and I can say this was my feeling too.

The other thing I see is an almost frustration sometimes when you have a partner that makes the moves look effortless. This can be great when they are helping you, but at the same time it is frustrating when you are trying to take everything in and are alredy nervous. Having a welcoming partners helps with this one.