Good training this week. Warm-ups continue to be more active and more-skill based which is a great way to get into the training mode - and to cover some technical ground, as well. Both days, throws made up most of the warm-ups, though on Wednesday Prof. Carlos added a few other wrinkles like old school armbars from the mount.
Wednesday's skill session was focused on the scissor sweep and the front collar choke. Plenty of nice little details, especially with the choke, involving a more full rotation of your body to the side to get access to the neck with the second grip, and then back to the center to help tighten. Much like the triangle choke, there is a "lock and latch" aspect to the finish that is worth remembering as you look for opportunities to attack with the choke, as you are setting it up and as you are working toward the finish.
Prof Carlos also had another way of referring to it: the knife and the punch.
He also showed us a variation, the palms-up choke that Helio always preferred. Training with Brian again on Wednesday, Brian talked about how Lindsey was one of the few guys he knew who liked to attack with the palms-up front choke - anchoring the initial choking grip (the knife) and then working to create motion and movement enough to distract before sneaking in the second hand.
Good training today. I've got a thousand half guard sweeps rattling around in my head these days - to say nothing of the deep half guard options. Over the next few weeks, I'd love to finally hammer out just what sweeps I want/need to add to my half guard to make it more complete and more challenging for my opponents. I don't need many. But there are some holes I want to fill before the spring begins.
164.4 on the scale post-train, everything but the coat. The pounds just can't quit me.
