I don't usually train open guard. But when I do, I train tripod sweep.
That's how I felt during today's training. After a few sessions feeling out of my element (especially the closed guard work last week), it was nice to find myself in a pretty comfortable pedagogic space: training and drilling the open guard pull and switch to the tripod sweep.
Several months ago I developed a little coordination drill to help me move quickly from orthodox grips and feet on hips to the cross grip, ankle hook, and ankle grip of the tripod sweep. And while I've never made the transition to the sickle sweep alternative to the tripod sweep defense with any fluidity, the drill has given me an open guard sweep that I'm pretty comfortable with - something that was not likely to emerge whole from my permanent half guard campaign.
Got a lot of opportunity to work on said open guard during an extended open guard King of the Hill. It was also a great chance to work on passing open guards, getting rid of the hooks and securing the grips you want in order to pass. Professor Carlos has been especially big on emphasizing open guards - sweeping and passing. Today was a good example of getting that work in.
A little chubby 160.7 on the scale post-train. For a Monday, and with only one sparring session in Live Training (though I did some pre-class conditioning including a matwork round, a pair of aerobic power rounds, sprints, straddles, throws, trips, and takedowns ...), I'm going to give myself a break.
