Saturday's class was a solid one, with the main event being a new technique for escaping from mount to getting the mount guy in your half guard.
The move is not an escape or a reversal, which I have to remind myself. It is simple a way to get out from under the full mount--preferably before the referee has awarded the guy four points for achieving the mount position.
Here's the basic move as I remember it, though I'd like to see it at least one more time. You have been mounted. You've got to get out of this position quickly--essentially in three seconds--before the ref awards him the points.
I'll talk about the position from one side, though obviously you want to be ready to work it from whichever side is most advantageous.
Again, you've been mounted and you've got three seconds to get out of it into something better. That "better" is half-guard. How do we get there?
1. Grab the pants by the calf on one side. With the other hand, dive it between your body and his thigh and underhook the other leg/thigh.
2. Draw your feet up under your butt and upa ("bump") with a bias in the direction of the pants-grab. If you can bump him good straight up, that will probably be enough. But directional bumping is a good habit to get into, I think.
3. As you are getting near maximum altitude on the bump, you are going to put the pants-grabbed leg between your two legs--essentially slipping him into your half-guard. As you do this, use the underhook on the opposite side to tilt him further in the direction of the pants-grabbed (i.e., "trapped") leg that you are grapevining.
4. His body should be directed over the shoulder that is on the trapped side. Rodrigo pointed out that you want your head to be close to the knee of the underhooked leg. I think this is because it will (a) keep him from falling on your head when he comes down from the bump (this kept happening to Arnell when we worked this technique together on Saturday), and (b) help keep your hips from being under the guy as you work for a sweep from the half-guard.
Like I said, I want to see this one more time to make sure I'm right about the head near the knee part. I specifically remember him mentioning that was where your head was supposed to be. But I'd like to see it just one more time to make sure I've got the body motion down accurately.
Miscellany
When doing the crossbody half-guard pass that Rodrigo showed us months ago, I need to be very, very careful to keep my upper body on the guy's chest. I've got a tendency to throw myself over--which is fine--but I need to make sure that I keep my weight on the guy. Otherwise, it is very easy for him to roll me over. I want to kick my leg back, almost like doing a front split, and pull my trapped leg out as far as possible. But my upper body needs to stay chest-to-chest as much as possible.
When defending the rear mount, remember the three steps: first, block the choke. Do this using Saulo Ribeiro's technique of grabbing your own collar, thumb-first. Second, dump a hook. I think the easiest way to do this is to kick out your leg straight. The thing is that if you don't make a move after you do this, the guy will just put the hook back in--and this time he'll be more ready for the kick out. So, what you want to do is kick out with the leg that is on the same side the choke is coming from. If he is choking you with his right arm (i.e., right arm across your neck from behind), then you want to block the choke with your right hand and kick out with your right leg.
As you kick out, you want to get as small as possible inside his body. Technically, you can get small after you kick out, but it has to be almost immediate. As you get small--and assuming you've effectively shaken off the hook on your right side--you want to spin into him, turning to your left (again, assuming a choke from the right). The spin should be tight, and you should be lower than his shoulders so that you are essentially turning in his chest, not against his shoulders where he was more leverage to keep you from turning.
Check Saulo Ribeiro's video excerpt at GroundFighter.com for a primer on escaping rear mount.
Sparring in today's class was fine enough. We started standing and I rolled with Arnell, Jesse the Blue and Tommy. I wasn't too impressed with my takedown game, at all. But it's been a little while since we've worked takedowns, so I'll forgive myself for being a little rusty--especially against Jesse the Blue.
Rodrigo (and Arnell) did point out another standing guard pass that I need to try. You stand up in good posture (emphasis on good posture), grab the sleeve with one hand and step back with the leg on the other side while pushing the guard-leg on that side down at the knee. As Saulo points out, the stepping back of the leg is what provides the leverage, and the hand on the knee should be a little more than a compliment.
