Free training

Free training class.

Rolled with a few people, did very well.

Tried to focus on passing the guard using the Marcelo smash pass to half guard with great success.

Main reactions I saw-
-they try and hip escape out to replace full guard. block by underhooking their leg and driving them onto their back (drive with head). if you separate the half guard, you can kick your heel through and establish side control.

-attempt to use the high knee half guard to stop my progress. could possibly sprawl out and go around. or sprawl out completely, weave your arm through and pass like scissor sweep block.

-attempt to throw the open leg over my head to stop my progress. could switch to leg on shoulder pass or double underhooks.

-possible kimura if i don't tuck my elbow

-another guard pass that's probably just sitting there- shoulder plant once you step over the leg and underhook the other leg.

once in half guard-
-some difficulty establishing the crossface if they are obsessed with blocking the arm- can be dealt with by killing the arm with the knee near head.

once passed to side control-
-the head lockdown/neck crank reversal caught me today. gotta figure that one out. possibly knee on stomach, but the base is still disrupted enough to be swept.

-they form frame to get back to half guard. use arm drag type moves combined with hip attacks.

my side control has jumped up a few levels in the past few weeks. starting to combine the saulo hip attach with the bridge smash and hip attacks. flowing to face smash works well too. i'm now able to hold down people much larger and stronger than me, so i am quickly developing a solid top game.

one thing that went well was my ability to stay in trouble spots longer. i managed to escape some tough situations by recognizing how to alleviate the technique just enough to bear it, and i stuck it out until i was able to survive and escape.

got tapped a few times by a blue belt, but i think a lot of it was due to being winded.

one insight- once swept or reversed, it is often possible to re-sweep or reverse again by throwing the momentum towards the reversal.

another insight- the longer someone stays in your guard and defends attacks, the more tired they get. the longer this goes on, the more likely you are to be able to sweep them or submit them. the initial attacks might just be like jabs to wear them down before they get sloppy and get reversed or tapped.

yet another one- better open guard= better closed guard. all the best closed guard attacks require you to open, so you won't feel as insecure when you open to attack if you know you can recover easily.

going back to a few weeks ago- the longer you punish someone on the top game, the less likely they are to want to resist you. break the will and then finish! lol.

possible combo to keep an eye out for- spinning arm lock to omoplata on opposite arm. very often just sitting there.