Not a bad class tonight. In sparring, I managed an escape to half-guard from side control just as Peligro showed it. I also managed to hit that guard replacement move that Mamazinho showed us (another one that is in The Essential Guard) when sparring Robert, the tall blue belt.
I want to focus on that in particular. I didn't have guys take my side much tonight compared with the past few weeks. If I can get that guard replacement switch down, that might keep them at bay.
I did too much lay and pray against Jeff. He finally reversed the pin, but I had top control on him for much too long without making an effective attack. I kept going for the choke, but he was wrapped up tight. I even had mount for a period of time and couldn't get anything done. There was a brief flash where I could have grabbed an arm and armbarred him again. But I watched that flash rather than become it.
Reminds me of that point Rickson makes about "great fights" being those fights in which one fighter spots a weakness in his opponent, exploits it immediately and wins the fight decisively. A moment happens. And greatness is the ability to seize that moment. Guys who train with Rickson often say the same thing: they roll around for awhile, many times long enough for the guy to probably start feeling pretty good about himself. Then Rickson "starts submitting" him. Over and over and over as if he'd figured out "the trick" to defeating the guy and the guy doesn't even realize it. He just knows that he's being killed on the mat.
What's so cool about Rickson's approach is that it puts a premium on technical knowledge. And that knowledge is the exploitation of leverage. If ever something were to be called "the force" for real ...
At any rate, for all the moments I spend on top, I still need to work on my guard. That part of the gameplan is really lagging. I've still not yet tried a full-hearted crossover sweep ...
Remember. From the guard, cuff out collar down to set up the omoplata. Alternate with cuff in collar down to set up arm-stuff triangle or even scissors sweep toward the stuffed side. If you can't break the posture, then tug hard on the collar as a posture-breaking feint, then drive him backward with the crossover sweep.
