More work on chokes. More work from the mount. Today we focused on getting the Ezekiel choke from the mount, and then the S-mount transition. From the S-mount transition, we worked on the triple attack: collars choke, bow and arrow choke and armlock.
Tomorrow is no gi night. I have to admit that while it will be fun to be rolling around without the gi, a part of me would rather have one more training in the gi this week. That's probably a normal feeling after three days in a row of training in the gi. Tatame was very good in a couple of respects. But maybe the best lessons came, unsurprisingly from rolling with Jason/Garcia who was attacking my Tozi pass with a very, very tight omoplata/gogoplata type counter. I managed to avoid the submission twice (though he turned it into a sweep both times), but he caught me with the third attempt. It might have been a combination omoplata/kimura. But his attack on my right shoulder finally paid off.
I think my mistake was that I wasn't far enough over with my head - it should almost be on the floor. All I have to do to pin the upper body is my arm. It is the "dive" part of the pass that pins the hips. I think I've been trying to do both with my arm and shoulder pressure, instead of focusing on the "dive" and really driving the attack side leg to the mat. That, plus getting my head all the way over to the pass side, should help me get to the next level in my Tozi pass.
Still working harder than I'd like to pass the half guard out of my Watchdog position. The "ballerina" pass is still my move of choice - but I have to remember to switch sides more often. My guard passing from standing isn't great, but I like what I'm doing with the Royler/Viera sprawl pass, dropping into half guard and working the pass from there.
I still want to work in the leg rope pass, especially the pass to the back. There were a few times when I was trying to pass the half guard and got caught in a lockdown that I moved back low on the legs to relieve the pressure and counter his counter. A leg rope pass would work perfectly then, with the guy's legs likely extended. It would arguably also be a good time for the lay out toreano (aka "The Butler") or the inverse grip toreano from Jean Jacques Machado's Championship Techniques book (pages 122-123).
Watching UFC Fight Night and hoping that they show the Almeida/Horwich fight which was one of the prelims. Cole Miller choked out Junie Browning, which was nice to see. Now Tyson Griffin and Rafael dos Anjos are working their way through the last minute of round three.
