Monday night intermediate Gi training with Peter Straub

I originally set out to take the black belt Gi class last night, but then got there plenty early and decided to start out with the intermediate group. We were working from half guard, and this is an area where i need a lot of work so I decided to stay with the intermediate class rather than switch out when the black belt class assembled.
Coach Peter has a really good way of breaking down technique. Not only does he go through the motions, but he also makes a point of explaining the "why" of the motion. ex: when you go from an underhook to a pummel your palm should be facing away from an opponents back- why? It has to do with how the arm bends. If you have palm down, it is easy for your opponent to clamp down with his elbow and render your pummel ineffective- but if you have palm up it makes the arm rigid against the opponents elbow and allows you to maintain leverage, and is more difficult to defeat. I've been training for nearly 2 years now, and I never understood that. It's the little things that change the game.

I feel like I am at a bit of a crossroads right now, like I need to do something differently than I have been for the past few months. I'm thinking that has to be getting my ass into the Black Belt classes again. Starting this week I am committing to at least one black belt class per week. Come februaray I will have been training for 2 full years, so at that point it will be about getting to 2 Black belt classes per week. i'll need to consult with Shannon as to how I can do that, but I feel like it needs to be done.