Wednesday's class with Stefan was small, but it gave me a nice opportunity to work guard openers against two ideal opponent types: one size up and big MF.
In the first case, it's good to work guard openers against someone who is maybe a weight class above. I'm pretty strong for my weight class, and when I'm struggling with a technique I have to admit that I rely on that strength advantage more than I should. At my level, a little bit of technique and a lot of strength can go a long way against comparable or less experienced competition. (And therein lies the temptation ...)
In the second, I get called on any BS. With someone whose got a major strength advantage, my technique has to be on point or there's no way I'm going to be able to use the "escape hatch" of superior strength or explosiveness.
The emphasis Stefan put on tonight's take on guard openings was not just getting the knee up and in the middle after successfully opening the guard. But in getting tight and not allowing any space for the guy to reset his guard. It was the "follow-through"--for lack of a better word--that was the focus.
As usual, I struggled to open the guard against a determined closed guard. One thing I need to do is to think of three different guard opening techniques: the Saulo ground pass, the Gracie Barra standing pass, and the Jayhawk pass (which is the one we've been focusing on that looks to create space to bring the knee up in the middle)--as techniques in combination, that lead to the other. I haven't figured it out yet, but I'd like my guard opening attack to be as tight as that stand-up game combo that Marcio Feitosa taught us (ouchi gari to uchi mata to ankle pick) in the seminar ...
One thing that might help, that came up after class, was looking to open up to my right instead of my left. I'm not sure how or why I got stuck in a rut of opening up to the left to open the guard. But I need to try the right side as a way of dealing with my right ankle's lack of motion. I was able to sit it flat after class, probably because I was so warmed up. We'll see what happens going forward.
Sparring went better than I'd anticipated in some ways. I'm working more effectively out of the half guard lately, mostly due to the Twist sweep. I got caught up in a triangle choke attack after losing mount at one point. The problem was that I was just maintaining position in mount and not going forward with an attack. That just gave him time to prepare for his reversal.
With regard to the triangle, I really need to start working my escapes with more effort. There's a huge difference between not tapping out and escaping and getting into dominant position. I've got two very solid triangle choke escapes: C.C. Grinder and Midget Slam. I need to use them.
