a.k.a. Mr. Johnson's Jiu Jitsu
How about a little something for ATM six weeks in a row? Maybe the habit has finally stuck ...
A typically tough warm-up with extra emphasis on abs/core work ... I'm starting to be convinced that my difficulties with a lot of what Lindsey and Cindy have us do by way of warm-ups has less to do with weak abs and more to do with weak hip flexors. Any type of leg extension seems especially difficult compared to the other, "purely" abs-oriented work like chokes/crunches and even obliques.
It would make sense, insofar as I don't have very good hip flexibility at all. At one point, Lindsey was showing us during a hip strech how he would sit in guy's guard nice and low. Pete made the point that he couldn't sit as flat as many and I had to agree. I think I'm getting there with the stretching I'm doing most evenings. But I'm a long way from where I'd like to be.
The instructional focused on maintaining position in the mount. Lindsey made a great point of squeezing with the ankles in mount, not with the knees. His point was that keeping your knees locked to the guy's body made you that much more vulnerable to being rolled. Keeping the knees relatively loose also makes it easy to move and transition to S-mount for example.
I'm still working on my mount issues. But it was interesting to hear Lindsey's take. I've got a pretty good defensive mount. But it is predicated on using my knees for control and my hands for stability. Lindsey's approach might be the key to freeing up my hands for the choke, while still maintaining top control. Insofar as I have been working on finishing from the top, this will be a big part of what I'm trying to figure out from the mount over the next several weeks.
