I'll backfill with some technical stuff from recent classes, including another way of getting an armbar from the mount and a key lock from the mount follow-ups to a choke attack. But here's the latest update:
***
A week out from the Pacific NW Jiu jitsu championships ... I've been doing a pretty poor job of keeping side control updated ... As well as filling in notes on my progress with the Q2 Grappling Gameplan.
I'm coming along. I can't help but wish this tournament were in May rather than next week. I don't feel as if I'm making the progress I should be making--or, at least, that I'd like to be making. Here are the things I'm doing wrong that I don't like.
1. When starting from knees during sparring, I do a very poor job of pulling guard. This leads to more Mighty Joe Young stuff, which wastes energy and does get any learning accomplished.
2. I've been letting guys get to my side, and then into side control. I don't mind working side control (and mount) escapes. But I don't like the way Arnell and Jeff from Demon JJ got to my side Monday and Wednesday.
3. My guard work is still bad. My biggest problem is in not breaking the posture. Both Arnell and Jeff sit WAY high up in the guard, which makes them hard to attack with the omoplata/triangle/armbar combination.
4. My guard passing is pathetic. Seven months of training and I still don't have a consistent approach to passing the guard. Unlike Arnell and Jeff, I am too low in the guard. Against better guys, it makes me vulnerable to triangles. Against equals, it just makes for a lousy guard passing game.
There are plenty of other things that I'm not doing as well as I'd like. I'd like to be more effective from the mount--both in having a more stable base and in being able to finish with the choke or armbar. I also need to remember not to "hang out" in X-guard, but to use it to take the back. I'm also making the mistake of being flat on my back when in half-guard, instead of on my side.
Here are some solutions to the four forementioned problem areas:
1. To pull full guard, grab the sleeve and the collar. Drop back and put the foot in the hip that is on the same side as the collar. Pull on the sleeve to keep the guy in the middle and to not allow him to roll around your foot to your side. Roll over toward the collar-grip side--that will also prevent the guy from taking your side.
2. The best way to avoid having somebody take your side is to lie on your side. I bet most of the time this happens, it happens because I am flat on my back OR sitting up but not using hooks or grips to control the guy. If the guy is trying to take your right side, then lean over so that you are lying on your right side. If he gets too low, then you'll be in position to take his back.
3. Use the Bravo set up for Mission Control to break posture: open guard, reach up and underhook both arms, then either pull him down or use the underhooks to stand or sweep. Mission Control is really a technique worth trying out in practice. Also, high posture guys are vulnerable to the hip bump sweep since their weight is already back. Tommy's used the hip bump sweep on me well when I've postured too far back. The gameplan series, by the way, is to set up the hip bump with the guillotine or the kimura--especially the kimura.
The arm drag to cradle sweep or take-the-back is also a posture breaking option ...
4. Ugh! To speake of the woe that is guard passing ... I adamantly refuse to use the Loiseau. So I've got to come up with something different. Both the Saulo and Cindy passes have me nervous because I don't think I've got a good base when I attempt either of these. With regard to the Cesar, once I've hoisted the guy up, I need to move my hips ("shake the tree") while pushing on the knee. With regard to the Gracie Barra, I'm just not sure. I'm still having a hard time getting the guard opened up. Maybe more "tree-shaking" ...
One thing though, if the guy moves to put a foot in your hip then HIS FUCKING GUARD IS OPEN!!!! I have got to capitalize on that moment when the guard opens to either underhook the leg (scoop-leg) or pass my knee over and pin the leg. As hard of a time as I have getting out of guy's guards, I MUST MUST MUST take advantage of these moments when they come.
I have been doing relatively well with baiting the triangle, and when the guy opens his guard to attack my neck, scoop legging his attacking leg and grabbing the opposite collar as I pass. Two things: (1) I've got to move quickly so that he doesn't get his legs clasped in the over/under around me, (2) the wrist of my other hand can be no higher north than his waist (also to avoid the triangle), and (3) I've got to keep my hips low and working higher north until I get beyond his thigh and can slip into side control. You want to move his attacking leg away from you because it is the only thing that stands between you and side control.
