Friday, February 29, 2008

Some standing practice

AM class

techniques-

-double leg from standing- reaction and anticipation to opponent trying to grab gi

-double leg with leg trip- switch head and pass to side you tripped

-ankle pick from standing- pull across and drop knee closest to ankle

-tip- opponent grabs high on lapel- suddenly turn body and pull sleeve across, grab across back for the throw.

practicing a lot of takedowns for pan ams. not sure if i'll do it yet. i'll have to see how i feel once the deadline approaches.

rolling-

-counter to triangle defense with hand in armpit- get hips under, overhook arm, hit the arm lock

-review- elbows in when passing

-review- brabos from everywhere

-review- arm in guillotine, ten finger guillotine

-counter to leg on shoulder pass- leg below elbow, hook thigh. maybe attack the collar or some guillotines. prepare for them to switch sides or go over the leg.

-still practicing spider guard combos.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Getting murdered with the double under pass and leg on shoulder pass

Was out for a few days due to a strained knee.

Feeling much better, though.

Today's techniques-

-single leg takedown- circle away, change directions, scoop up leg, run the pipe to takedown.
-from takedown- knee slide guard pass
-from guard pass- same side armbar

-went over knee slide guard pass details and counters with my partner. one point that was brought up was shin tension for the counter. same technique can probably apply to spider guard. you apply maximum tension, they react and move, you use movement to switch tension, create leverage, and hit the sweep.

-working a lot on omoplatas. the sweep once they stand up and you entangle their legs and sweep them over is eluding me.

rolling-

-passing- worked on passing posture (switched sides cuz of hurt knee). worked well with the patience. attacked kimuras as they opened up. had one persistent kimura that i might have been able to finish if i hit it properly, but wasn't clean with it.

-guard recovery- tried some experimentation with establishing posture and letting this one dude pass. he struggled to pass and i replaced, eventually leading to a scissor sweep to knee on belly to baseball bat choke. popped up from the choke, readjusted, and got the automatic tap once i sunk it in and spun to n/s.

-other guard recovery- got MURDERED by ricardo and his double under and leg on shoulder pass. i couldn't pummel well with my legs cuz of my knee, but i still got dominated and got shut down. recognized one particular move that mike also does- to flow over nearside arm from side control if they're defending tightly, get hip off ground and make them support your hip with their wrist. use to collapse posture and start attacking. another strategy that killed me- attacking one side of the posture and then killing the other side once i concentrated too hard on defending the other.

definitely need to work on stopping the tight under passes. can do pretty well vs. the passes over the legs, but i get shut down by people (ricardo, mainly) that have dominant, tight, controlling under passes. need to have quicker reaction time and be able to flow/switch between defending both sides.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

SMEs

some loose tips from this weekend at SH

-side mount escapes- posture and bridge to hip escape, penetrate knee and regain half guard, guard.

-SME with underhook- come to knees, takedown from knees. get to side. grip- outside arm grabs over calf, inside arm cups knee (switch to opposite knee), pressure with shoulder causes them to give up takedown.

-arm in guillotine- from top- allow them to come up and go directly into choking themselves. must be on side, crunched up, with head trapped with guillotining arm on ground (not in air). can be finished easily from half guard. remember grip.

-figure out n/s guillotine- combo with arm in guillotine, ten finger guillotine, brabo choke

Friday, February 22, 2008

Over/under pass

AM class

-ankle pick- tug towards using lapel grip while stepping back. keep elbow bent in as you drop knee and scoop the ankle.

-over/under pass- under leg- grab belt for better grip. over leg- grab outside knee for control, or weave underneath and grab lower leg near calf area. tripod up (shoulder in mid-stomach- belly button area), hit leg out (leg stepped over) with arm and hip switch while planting foot backwards. switch hips and control.


review- brabo counter to knee slide pass. reviewed brabo details for some classmates.

rolling- was leaving too much space when passing, which got me wiped out! not the best rolls today, but i hung in there.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Some Knee on Stomach, another paragon half guard variation

AM class-

rolling-

worked a lot from passing the guard and side control. was able to shut down the paragon guard (much different with a gi!) with kimuras. was able to test out some of the side control stuff to good effect.

PM class-

techniques-
-overhead butterfly sweep from standing
-baseball bat choke from KOS, baseball bat choke from KOS to N/S
-two KOS escapes- push foot to half guard, scissor underneath and roll

other techniques-
-counter to knee slide pass- get underhook as they pass, hit them with knee to butt to make them overshoot landing, take back or get the sweep.
-paragon half guard variation- stay tight, bridge and roll off back foot (trap over knee with front foot).

Monday, February 18, 2008

More teaching stuff

PM class

I got to teach a mini class on open guard again, and I went over more theory than moves.

We did an open guard drill with each person in the class, and we were able to diagnose what was causing them to get passed all the time.

I think I was able to share a lot of information about mental jiu jitsu that will hopefully help raise the level of the students at our school.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Leveling up

Some critical insights this weekend at The Stronghold.

Half guard top-

problem- was getting reversed too often when attempting to pass.

solution- don't sit on the hip without being ready to base out. probably better to just go with more stable positioning.

chest to chest, pressure farside arm, rip head to side w/crossface, stiffarm on leg to open up.

common issue i had- putting the free leg up too early, getting hooked.
solution- crossface and sprawl hip. or, keep legs pinched/use free leg to pry open legs (or lockdown)

Passing the guard

problem- getting de la riva'ed too often, getting out of passing posture vs. some people

solution- keep elbows in tight to body- more power this way. drive with knees. don't extend arms far in without having passed with legs as well. only straighten arms and break passing posture when fully ready to go to a pass. drive with knees. control pants at inside knee or at ankles. patience with passing.

Side control

problem- difficulty in getting past the frame (clearing nearside arm and forearm in throat), difficulty finishing from here, getting reversed sometimes

solution- flow under frame and break posture (use leg move and hip pressure to face), or flow over and smash down wrist (like americana- force them to underhook).

clear forearm in throat by moving with shoulder to pin arm next to head. can set up possible arm triangle.

use crossface/pressure on farside arm.

favor elbow across body rather than just crossfacing. if they bridge after you've flowed over the arm, drop ribs or hip on head so they just mess themselves up.

anchor self on farside shoulder/head/whatever and pull self deeper into side control. flow under arm and start breaking down their posture. pressure from everywhere.

use ribs/hips on face from n/s.

once they give you something, suck it up and don't give them back anything. pressure until they have no other options to move, and then finish them.

pop back up to knee on stomach if they are bridging crazily- use to take the back. or hand in collar and choke- if they bridge, they choke themselves.

Mount

problem- they are tucking and protecting too tightly, can't finish them

solution- get one lapel, drive fist to ground, drive elbow to move head at 45 degree angle and drop weight on them. they will move and you can do whatever. back will often open up (push arm across and take it)

Half guard bottom

sweep- counter to arm weave- spider sweep. timing is important.

frame up opponent and prepare to pin arm to hip. or catch the underhook arm and pin to hip before they settle weight. replace guard from there.

Butterfly guard to footlock x-guard transition

rock up, hands in armpits, kick leg through, hand off to other side, push opponent away and pull towards footlock via thigh. lock the footlock position, put foot on hip, pinch knees. rotate knee and sweep opponent or prepare to foot lock them or move to x-guard.


Half butterfly


control crossface arm (around wrist), get on side, lift hook and pull arm out (towards you) so they can't base. sweep them if they don't react. if they base, move to x-guard. if they base with the other leg, x-guard opposite side.

remember for x-guard- control arm that could potentially grab head. push opponent away and towards legs by armpit/lat.

x-counter- grab head and peel arm off leg with other arm.

Friday, February 15, 2008

No gi- open guard

no gi class

I got to teach class tonight, and I chose to focus on open guard.

This is an important part of my game, as it has allowed me to be more confident in opening up my guard and trying new things.

Techniques taught-

-open guard theory- parallel theory, following your opponent, hooks on instep, control positions with hands

-countering the leg on shoulder pass- push away arm, hip away, pummel leg in. theory- develop counters for guard passes that you encounter regularly.

-butterfly guard basics (main open guard from opponent on knees)- active hooks, following the opponent, sitting up, etc.

-butterfly guard sweep- basic hook sweep

-arm drag from butterfly guard

In retrospect, I missed some details that I could have taught, but I believe that I gave some important tools and insights to the class. Gotta concentrate on main ideas of positions, application, etc. Should probably have live drilling also.

I'd like to teach more, because it helps me organize my thoughts about my game and figure out what REALLY makes certain moves and positions work.

rolling notes-

-gooseneck guillotine control is good
-brabo from top- definitely refining it, gotta keep on pushing
-having trouble with mark's de la riva guard. getting spread out with arm grabbing heel and foot on hip. must react more quickly.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sparring session

I feel like I'm probably at 80% cardio of where I was a few weeks ago.

Technique-wise, I'm returning to form. I was able to pass the guard, apply pressure, and maintain side control effectively for the most part.

Some problem areas came when I was on half guard top and transitioning to pass. Particularly, when I would plant my elbow over the head and turn my back to them while trying to pry the legs open with the free leg, I got reversed three times by three different people. The smashing shoulder pass, however, is solid. Gotta work on the Marcelo half guard pass to expand my repetoire. Half guard top base needs to be worked on. Especially must defend when they bridge into me. That's the most often position where I get reversed.

Another area that needs to be worked on is attacking from side control. My main attack sequence involves attacking the farside arm for bent armlocks, but if they are aware of my intentions, it makes it much more difficult. Gotta work on breaking down the posture more (remember- leg move to tricep, wiping the hip, etc.) Gotta keep constant pressure at all times from the top. Must punish opponents and grind them down, and then pass.

I need to slow down my guard passing in order to differentiate techniques. Nowadays I'm just out-racing my opponents, but I'm sure that my technique is not perfect. Must concentrate on smashing, slow, tight passes. Gotta force myself to do it, or my game will not develop like I want to.

Guardwise, I'm beginning to attack omoplatas aggressively, which opens up sweeps and other submissions. Also, I'm trying to mess with rubber guard control. I realize that overhooks from this position definitely changes the control in my favor- there are so many options from there- omoplata, triangle, sweep, etc.

Overall, my head is getting much more in the game. I'm starting to get back to that "white belt mentality" that helped turbocharge my progression a few months back.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Some Paragon Half guard insights

PM class

techniques-

-pull half guard from standing
-half guard pass- knee slide
-half guard sweep- belt grab bridge

rolling-

-felt a step behind today. just a little rusty.

-need to get back to guard passing domination- mobile pressure

-nice combo- arm-in guillotine to brabo

-need to perfect butterfly guard pass to half guard

-need to practice getting out of straight arm locks

-overall, i feel my conditioning coming back after the small break.


some paragon half guard things-

-can be set up from when they stuff a butterfly hook- go directly into paragon half
-the clasped hands around leg makes a big difference- hold TIGHT and apply pressure- pinch elbows together
-if they sit back, go over the leg. if they react correctly- go back door.
-back door- option- use arm harness and shuck them over your head instead of lifting the outside hook.
-can't let them settle weight- must react right away in order to hit sweeps

Monday, February 11, 2008

Day one, again

Today was my first day back on the mat in almost two weeks.

I felt like the technique was still there, but the cardio definitely has some catching up to do after being in bed for a week!

Today's techniques-
-judo headlock hip throw
-spinning arm bar- hand in collar
-spinning arm bar- 2 on 1
-triangle from guard

A few things I noticed-

-pushing/pulling motions in guard give subtle advantages that allow sweeps, submissions, better position, etc.
-half guard- have to get opponent off balance and not let them settle their weight. rocking back and forth, front and back, etc. to get them to base and rebase while trying to hit sweeps or simply replace guard.
-something i saw from cobrinha- from shin spider guard- kick one leg through and clamp knee down on shoulder, setting up omoplata.

just gotta get back on the mats and get the cardio/timing/technique down better.

goal- one week from today, i want to be back in fighting shape.

next time i feel a sickness creeping up, i have to take care of my body!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Sick

I think that I overdid it last week.

I was exposed to sick kids all last week, and I happened to overtrain.

I ended up feeling sick Thursday night, and had to call in sick Friday. I spent most of the weekend asleep, and I took today off as well.

I'm hoping that I am able to get back to training by this weekend if possible, or at least by next Monday.

Can't forget to rest and recover!