Back on the mat this afternoon ... Monday's have been the easiest days to train, in part because I can get a jump start on the workweek on Sunday night. Happiness is finishing a few hours of afternoon jiu jitsu training, going to the locker room and NOT finding a message on my cell phone from The Office.
Rodrigo managed to bundle up a variety of things in today's lesson, which was nice and simple. We moved from a guard opener, to a guard pass, to a clock-type choke from the back--all in one process.
The Guard Opener
The guard opener was Rodrigo's wedge opener: control the collars with one hand, put one knee under the hip (not quite "in the middle" as Saulo warns), one knee out perpendicular to the side, and wedge out.
The add to the wedge is to use your free hand to slide up and under the leg to break the legs open. This is a Perfect Invitation for a Triangle Choke UNLESS you keep your collar-controling elbow tight and low.
The Guard Pass
After you open the legs with your free hand, you want to scoop the leg and, reaching over, up and across the guy's body, grab the opposite collar near the neck.
Take your collar-controlling hand and put it under his butt. It's a basic stack pass: roll him over his far shoulder and come around to the side that your free arm is on.
The Choke
The choke applies if you are able to roll the guy over--which he might prefer as opposed to having his guard passed. If so you want to reach over his back and yank the collar on the far side down . You can grab the collar about midway.
The reason you do this is so that you can reach under with your inside arm and access the collar easily right under the neck.
Once you get the choke set, be sure to reach under to control the guy's far arm at the wrist as best as possible.
There are two ways to finish the choke. The first is the traditional clock choke, where you step up and through with the inside leg and sit on the shoulder.
The second version Rodrigo showed us was different insofar as you put your weight on the back of the guy's neck and lean into the choke. Rather than stepping up and through, you step around with your outside leg and keep the pressure on his head as you pull up to finish the choke.
