Taking the mount from side control was the focus of training tonight. Rodrigo had us work three moves from the hips-switched position, with the "shoulder of justice" as Frodo calls it, firmly applied.
Another detail he added to the "shoulder of justice" was gripping the far shoulder material in your four fingers and pulling toward you. I found that it was a great way to control the upper body when you were transitioning from one type of hip block to another.
#1 was the basic leg up and over from the hips-switched position. #2 had you go through a very low, tight knee on belly first, knife the knee all the way over to the mat and pivot in the direction you are moving to bring your hips down and keep your legs free. #3 was a version that looked a lot like Eddie Bravo's "Jailbreak" side control escape in which you grabbed your foot, pulled it in tight and then sort of shoved it across to the other side of the guy's body as you took the mount.
Good basics to keep working on - one reason why I plan on continuing to take the "beginner's class" for as long as I train.
For the no gi open mat afterwards, I got in one good long session in the gi and then rolled with Animal no gi for a regular sized session. During the gi roll, I got to work on Rap Star far, far more than I have all year, which was great. Nothing special in terms of submissions or sweeps, but it was very nice to start to try and get the feel of the position better.
Still not going after the twist sweep out of half guard like I should be. With two weeks before the GB Friendly Invitation event - let alone the Revolution event two weeks after that - there's plenty of time to get that groove back. But it needs to start happening on Monday. The tackle sweep, which I have been obsessively trying t perfect, still isn't half as effective as it can and should be without a fully developed and ready to go twist sweep if the guy gives me the momentum. Arguably, more than anything else, feeling as good with the twist sweep as I did back in December (and as I do with the tackle sweep right now) is an early February priority.
