Last training before the tournament tonight. We worked on two basic triangle set-ups: one from half spider guard by way of moth guard and a traditional collar/sleeve attack. The half spider setup had you extend the spider legged arm and pull the other arm into the center in your lap or between your legs. As you do this, shoot the spider leg inside his arm, a sort of slide-by on the arm, and use it to attack the neck for the hook of the triangle choke.
We also worked on some attacks from mount: a take-the-back by way of S-mount and an Ezekiel choke.
One detail I liked with the take-the-back move is that you can grab inside on the biceps as well as the collar with your outside grip as you come around. I found that it gave me a little more control over the guy's body than grabbing the collar, which was still decent control. The key is keeping chest to back connection, not allowing the space that will make you have to pull with your arms instead of just holding him in place and having him controlled by your weight and body movement.
The details with the Ezekiel choke were about controlling the head. Rodrigo showed us how to use your biceps to attack the neck, using your shoulder to get under the chin and using your head to keep his head in place. The guy's head should be almost immobilized.
By pressing against the side of the neck with your free hand, you can create a very effective choke. Of course, you can always slide your hand around in a blade and get the traditional Ezekiel choke. What is most important is keeping everything tight (especially the head) and staying with the choke even if you get rolled back into guard.
After training, Rodrigo showed us an Ezekiel variation on the rear choke. In this one, you've got the harness but are having a hard time getting the choking arm around the neck. Reach as deep as you can with the crossbody arm. You want to be able to touch the opposite shoulder near the neck - lean in the direction of the arm if it helps to get more length. Then with your crossbody grip grab the cuff of your other arm and do an Ezekiel against the back of the neck. Fade to get your body behind the choke (i.e., if your slicing hand is your right, then fade to your left).
There's a lot of leverage in that choke. Rodrigo said it was the one that was used to finish Telles in a recent fight (I didn't recognize the name of the guy who did it).
Tomorrow is hungry thirsty day. I couldn't have asked for a better number after training: 156.4, only a pound and a half over with 24 hours to go. I need to get a haircut, and should probably get the oil changed before the drive to Bonney Lake also. And that will likely be the limit of my physical activity for the day. Martell says that the Friday before weigh-ins should be a no glycogen burning day.
That also means I'm going to be doing a lot of sweating it out while I'm working. In that, it sure doesn't hurt to work from home. I'll layer up and swap out when things get a little too productive. Martell recommends a sauna. This should do given where I finished tonight.
I don't like how fatigued I've felt over the past three weeks or so, more or less coinciding with the final three weeks of my 8-week training camp. And the fact that I don't feel more energetic in these final two weeks having stopped doing two-a-day workouts is all the more alarming.
A part of this is cutting down on the calories, I'm sure. And maybe even not getting the water intake up higher earlier. Apparently, future Revolution tournaments are going to move to an IBJJF standard where we weigh-in right before the match, which if nothing else will end this weight-cutting madness of mine once and for all. And it will not be missed.
Tatame was fair. Nothing spectacular except being able to do some decent wrestling - though late in the training I was able to get that Saulo style baseball choke from side control to work a time or two. That and the Ezekiel are going to be keepers, for sure.
