Scarf hold escape. I’ve got the right idea about getting my hips under the other guy’s hips. But I’ve not executed that step as well lately as I was months ago. The Abhaya instructor (Rowan?) points out that one way to accomplish this is to bridge into the top guy somewhat. This will not only get his hips off the mat, but also it will encourage him to put his weight against you to resist the bridge. As soon as you feel his pressure, you want to transfer your weight to your other shoulder and do the roll. I’ve been trying to “slide” my hips underneath and it just doesn’t work very well. So I’ll be focusing on the bridge aspect of the escape/reversal from here on out.
Underhook = taking the back. Pretty much anytime you’ve got an underhook from the bottom in half guard, you’ve got a good shot at taking the back. I’m starting to develop a bad habit of relying on the lockdown from half guard. The lockdown is just a stop-gap to help set up the next move—it is a “part” of the deal, not the whole of it.
Pendulum sweep/Rodrigo’s cradle. I was working on this as a “kata” last night at home. Mostly, I wanted to practice escaping the hips out to the side, stretching out the mat leg and then scissors-ing it back and swinging the upper leg over. Even without resistance, I could feel myself rolling in good form. I need to incorporate this into my warmup—just to get the motion right. The sweep is all about hip and leg movement (like most everything in jiu jitsu, I suppose …). If you move your legs right, then you almost can’t help but land in the right position.
Don’t be a lazy ass. Monday night I was in that bulldog position (probably not the right name for it, but that’s what I’ll call it for now) where I’m turtled (more or less) and the other guy is in front of me grabbing around my chest with his head on my back. ESCAPING THIS POSITION WAS ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS I EVER DID IN JIU JITSU. So don’t be a lazy ass. Use the wrestler’s escape to sit out with the leg opposite the escape side. Remember to throw the escape side elbow back, and then spin into the guy as you move to take the back.
Improve your position. This one kind of belongs with the “Don’t be a lazy ass” admonition above. I’m spending more time in side control on the bottom than I want to. I know what I need to do to improve the position, whether it is the roll, transition to half-guard or whatever. But don’t just lie there thinking, “well, I’m not in any trouble.” I read an interesting thing over at the jiu jitsu gear forum about Mario Sperry. Apparently, Sperry’s attitude in competition was to rack up points early with position dominance. I think his idea was that once you get ahead of a guy (in points or in psychology) he is more likely to make a mistake that will leave him vulnerable for a submission.
PTMU. ‘Nuff said. Not bad last Monday. But faded a little toward the end of training as fatigued started to set in (and the weight of my sparring partner increased). Tough. PTMU anyway. You’ll be glad you did.
Inside knee down. Outside leg up. One thing I noticed in the ADCC fights a while ago that I stopped focusing on in recent months was the best stance for dealing with the open guard. I noticed this also in some of the Mundial competition footage I was watching last night. It is sort of the opposite of the combat base (it needs a nickname). You want to put the inside knee on the ground and your outside leg stretched out to the side. The straighter that outside leg can be the better. If it is bent at a right angle, then it will be easier to hook and attack. Maybe I’ll call it the “lunge base” or something, because it looks a little like an exaggerated lunge …
Remember the Sit-in! If the sit-out has you going from “face-down” to “face-up”, then the sit-in—or the bridgeback2belly”—has you going from “face-up” to “face-down”. This is the step that is crucial in some of Bravo’s half guard work, as well as in Marcelinho’s side control escape. Basically, as a drill, you want to lie flat on your back, then move your hips as if going into an elbow escape only you take the inside leg (not the one you push off with) and bring it all the way under you so that you can go flat or come up on your knees. Alternatively, you can go to your stomach (“bridgeback2belly”). This, too, should be part of my warm-up (see “New BJJ Complex” below).
Open that Guard. This is especially important when guys stand up in my guard (usually the bigger guys). I need to stop sitting there with my legs wrapped around the guy’s waist and go for something. I should always try the double ankle underhook push sweep, but also be ready to open up and try some of the Marcelinho guard moves that Mamazinho was showing us a while back where you lead the sleeve through the legs, pull on the collar and drag the guy down face first …
New BJJ complex. So I was working on still yet another BJJ complex. I’ll try this out a few times over the Thanksgiving holiday and if it seems to work, I’ll make it part of the regular routine. One set as a warmup. Three sets as a routine in and of itself.
Crunches / Elbow escapes / Marcelinhos /
Bicycles / Sit-outs / Hip switches /
Leg lifts / Bridge back2 bellies / Pushups
