Thursday, January 31, 2008

WOD

Roy Harris said that the KB swing and turkish getup were the two most relevant exercises that built up functional strength for the grappler/mma fighter.

I decided to use this as my workout today-

21-15-9

KB swings- 35lbs
Turkish getup- 35lbs

15:37

those left handed turkish getups are strenuous!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Some more insights

PM class

techniques-

1. roll under takedown
2. collar tripod sweep

rolling-

-bf guard- must butt scoot towards opponent and get underneath them to be able to lift them. hard to get double underhooks right away, though. must figure ways.
-once you rock them up, you probably only have one chance to hit the duck under or footlock x-guard (unless they don't know what they're doing)
-hand fighting- can use overhook armlocks to get opponent to react, and then sweep them over with hook
-x-guard- should focus on entering this from all open guard positions
-footlock x-guard- good, but need to practice it some more

-x-guard- don't need to even have it fully locked on all the time. can obtain underhooked leg and kick out knee and stand.

-half guard passes (shin across)- the arm weave/shoulder smash is very good. club head, heel to butt, sprawl, walk around. driving into opponent's chin with crown of head is also good here. switch to arm control and rotate wrist on other hand and drive to flatten opponent. also remember the wrestler's cradle option. remember foot pry and shin to shin as well.

-half guard bottom- best way to stop submission attempts- rock them and get their weight off center. don't let them settle again.

-side control- that collar is right there, probably. try some chokes.

-triangle escapes- posturing with both hands seems to work decently, at least to buy time. need to figure out step two.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Toriani

today's focus was toriani passes and counters. very useful stuff, and i'll have to revisit it soon enough.

techniques-

-toriani pass to kos
-toriani pass counter- sit up, hand in collar (stiffarm punch), break grip (better w/whole arm), sit out and yank collar down (slamming face into mat!) to take back
-toriani counter to ankle pick
-ricardo kick over pass- from toriani control- trap one leg and underhook opposite leg. keep pants grip on knee for trapped leg. grab belt line or belt on underhooked leg w/ head down tight. kick over and replace knee to hip, and finish securing the guard.

rolling-

-felt pretty invincible tonght- very quick and accurate with things. my balance is improving, my submissions are better, and my butterfly guard/open guard is getting better.
-looks like the bf guard/open guard is going to be my focus for the next few weeks. must sweep and then work off of the knee slide pass series. it's going to be fun.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Testing the footlock x-guard

AM class

techniques-

1. from guard- take back off 2 on 1 w/ cross grip
2. hip bump sweep from #1 with fake choke attempt

rolling-

-the footlock x-guard is tremendously good, just need to work on it and fine tune it.
-i have yet to try out the 101 pass series. should be excellent.

-new developments- clock choke off of crossface/sprawl; omoplata clock choke!

PM class

techniques-

1. pendulum sweep
2. spinning arm lock from guard

looks like i'm going to be trying out x-guard for the next few weeks. also gotta pass solely off the knee slide again. woo hoo sim!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Sim Go Seminar @ the Stronghold

I've been looking forward to the Sim Go seminar, because his open guard game is very similar to what I'd like to try to accomplish. I learned quite a few excellent techniques and subtleties from him this weekend.

Quick Recap-

Bottom Game

BF guard- butt scoot towards them, push triceps up and rock up, locking S grip
*active hooks
*45 degree angle to start

-they cross feet-
duck under, take back and choke
*over/under harness

-they cross feet option 2- foot lock x-guard
kick leg through, footlock x-guard- finish lock or sweep off it

sweeps from footlock x-guard-
1. knees to chest, grab ankle
2. they base, you ankle trip while rotating knee

passing off footlock- from marcus avellan
sit up and sumo step 101 pass

back control-
*stay with your head at or before plane of their head, don't go beyond or you're too far
*take to side of choking arm-use instep on knee, throw them like medicine ball

hand fighting-
-1 on 1
-baseball bat grip break

power half-
use to break them down and take them over to side

as you're taking their back from duck under- they react by falling to half guard
-you lock up head + arm choke

Paragon half guard-
from knee across- stop knee from hitting mat
brace with frame across neck to make space
underhook leg
kick leg straight, go all the way around

outside hook- go underneath and take back
front hook- go over

watch for kimura and knee bar

Top Game

Guard pass- knee slide (they counter with shin across half guard)
weave arm and grab opposite knee, smash legs down, club head, walk around

-they cross feet- grab head, smash legs down with shoulder
uncross feet w/ free leg, shin to shin, pass

they underhook and come to knees-darce
punch arm, rotate hips,

darce setup- side control- they ball up tight
KOS and make them react, come to knees
lock darce scissors (low shoulder in armpit)- cinch them over to side, not back
no thumbs
lock up choke

-you can't darce them over- sit out + uppercut punch through
walk leg over leg

they walk with you- roll them over head
look to side where you're taking them to avoid rolling them over your face

darce/brabo- shrug shoulders, pinch elbows, drive

guillotine- forearm blocks shoulder

arm in guillotine- gooseneck- grab chin
touch elbow to knee, crunch in

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Frustration

AHHH!

I'm really frustrated from something that happened on the mat today.

Part of it is my ego is getting to me and telling me that such and such person shouldn't have tapped me, but I DID slip up and get caught today.

It's time to turn up the intensity, especially against people who are coming at me full force.

Gotta chalk it up and make sure that I learn from it.

I think my main issue today was-

1. being lazy/underestimating someone
2. not having proper passing posture
3. letting someone close the guard on me after it was already open
4. not reacting right away once the hand was in the collar
5. not defending the cross choke properly

Gotta clean it up!

Attacking the turtle

PM class

techniques-

-clock choke
-bow and arrow choke
-crucifix choke
-kick over fall back collar choke

rolling-

Generally, I'm being too passive. Not really "in the zone," partially because my stamina is down from the outside conditioning.

I am letting some opponents advance too far, and generally am letting them put me in disadvantageous positions.

Can't let opponents grab me anymore. Gotta break right away and grab back. Can't let them get the deep De La Riva guard. Gotta go back to that guard passing posture BEFORE they get set up.

I will NOT get straight collar choked from someone's guard for awhile. When the hand goes in, I'm "answering the phone."

Also, I have to finish more relentlessly when I have the submissions in.

Lots of tuning to do, but I'm headed in the right direction. Just a bit frustrated today, but it's all in the learning process.