(no subject)
Today we started a 3-week study of retaining open guard. One of the things the teacher told us was how white belts tended to throw their opponent's legs to the side to be able to pass the guard. Good technique involves guiding/controlling the legs, and stepping through to get past them to attack the upper body. I got to do drills with a new person in our club (British girl). She was really nice, and a very similar size to me, so perhaps a good partnership coming up if she continues to come.
After drills, before rolling rounds, we played a passing game for a bit, where the person on the mat had to hold guard, preventing the other person from passing, bonus points if one got to sweep their opponent. I got to hold guard first, and the first person to come up to me was the dude who I'd injured my knee with in the past. I decided I would watch him carefully, and proceed with caution (because my knee popped while trying to block him from passing guard the last time we played that game). The first thing he did was side step and dive onto me like it was a rugby tackle, and then he continued to move in a spazzy way around my legs. I quickly asked him to please take it easy, to which he replied yeah or something, and then he threw my legs with a lot of force onto the mat. It hurt a little bit, I mean, not a lot, it was mostly annoying. I get it, it's not crocket, there is physicality involved in jiu jitsu, there are elements of speed and strength to go alongside technique, but this was just so shocking considering I had literally just asked him to take it easy on me on account of my bad knees. I managed to hold him off for the rest of the one-minute round, but I was actually scared most of the time, of my body positioning, and of what he might do if I resisted too hard, so it was a very uncomfortable 45 seconds...
I kept away from him for the rest of the game. At the end, the teacher explained that the aim of the rolls to come was not to submit or smash or overpower one's opponent, but to try to use the techniques that we've been learning. I feel like it's good that he gives this reminder once in a while, but I also dislike that he has to in order for people to control themselves? I had three nice 5 minute rounds with the new chick, my other teacher, and another white belt dude who is newer than that other guy, yet generally more gentle and less hectic. At the end of class, this guy, and my female teacher both got new stripes on their belts. I was a bit miffed, not because the guy was getting a stripe, but because the teacher said it had been nice to have seen him use technique rather than strength when he rolled with him. I thought "with you, maybe!". It's good if he was able to correct himself at some point, and go gentler on his other opponents; but it's also bullshit that he perpetually feels the need to try to "beat me" in two seconds every time he gets a chance. What is he trying to prove? That he can over-power the 5 feet tall girl? Congratu-fuckin-lations, I suppose? I don't want to talk about him in class to my teachers anymore, because I feel it's just not my concern, and I don't need to get involved; that's just how he is. But I don't feel safe with him either, so I'm going to avoid him as much as I can from now on. It's a shame because there was a brief period when our teacher thought we would be good training partners, but I just can't now. I don't want to seem all precious and entitled, but I do feel it's a bit disrepectful of my boundaries that he's done this shit over and over.
Bottom line that just adds fuel to my fire to train harder and get better.