Progress

I'm still terrible at jiu-jitsu, of course, but today's free rolling time was rather enjoyable. On a usual Sunday, I spend a lot of time jockeying for positions; lately, I can usually get dominant positions some of the time and maintain them for some time; usually, though, I never quite land any submissions at all. Today, though, I managed two—the cross-collar choke I go for so often from guard, but never actually pulled off before; and, when the guy was about to open my guard, an armbar (upside down relative to the way I usually do them). Also managed to threaten with enough kimuras (a shoulder lock that judo people call ude garame) to keep my opponent busy.

Of course, my opponent was a very great deal less experienced than me (a couple of months to my effective eight or nine); I never pull these things off on people with comparable experience. That's not the point, though; it's not whether I improve at a certain pace, but that I improve relative to myself. Being caught up with and surpassed is frustrating, but chiefly in that it makes me doubt my progress—but I know I wouldn't have been able to do, a few months ago, what I did today.

Funny that I only ever seem to pull off attacks from closed guard, rather than dominant positions like top or side control. Oh, well; I expect that'll come, too—eventually.