Miss a few classes, and the mats remind you immediately

Last evening’s class — what can I say? I can’t say I’m satisfied, but I’m not completely dissatisfied either.

I haven’t been very consistent with my classes over the last two or three months due to work travel and family obligations. But that’s out of my control, and it’s simply how it is when you start your BJJ journey at 57.

Still, here’s what we did yesterday. After a short warm-up with a lot of forward and backward rolls (and I wasn’t as bad as I usually am), we worked on takedown techniques. After that, we practiced submissions from the half-guard position. In the end, I had four rounds of free rolling, each 5 minutes.

That was the part where I struggled. The old problems came back — not enough energy, not enough sharpness. I notice this every time I miss a couple of sessions. Even though I’ve been doing some biking, walking, and stretching, it’s simply not enough to stay in proper shape for rolling.

My shoulders are sore again today. I really need to do more resistance band exercises — they seem to help the most.