Outta sight!

Something amazing happened in Jiu-Jitsu yesterday! Skyler had me in kesa gatame (scarf hold), which is usually the most difficult of her pins for me to escape from. She had a good hold of my arm and head, but I realized that her weight was too high, and that she wasn't blocking my hip very well. Something told me that if I did a back roll, I would be able to escape, and it actually freaking worked! Amy said "That was awesome!", and I was like "I know, right?!" I didn't roll straight back, but at a diagonal towards her, so I was also able to establish side control after I escaped.

Now, this is not something I ever remember being taught on the mat, or practicing. I'm not sure how it got in my brain, but my best guess is that I saw it in one of the many videos that I've watched. Or maybe no one has ever done it before, and I just created a new scarf hold escape...I will call it "The Cinnamon Roll"!  Ha, I know that's not the case.  It isn't something I would usually even think of doing, yet somehow I was able to figure out that it would work at that particular time, and successfully pull it off during a live roll.

It caught Skyler totally by surprise, and she had no idea what had happened, so I explained it to her, and then I had her pin me again with her weight properly distributed. I still almost managed to escape, even though this time she knew exactly what I was going to do. She'll never be able to hold me in kesa gatame again!

The reason I think it's so exciting is because I found this without even looking for it, it just revealed itself. Normally I wouldn't have been able to see it unless someone pointed it out to me, but I am really starting to be able understand body mechanics, and feel what I need to do. I can't wait to find all the other things out there that have been hiding in plain sight!