With apologies to Michael Ondaatje, here's the latest "trick with a knife I'm learning to do" for 2023.
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Showing posts with label X guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label X guard. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Training Day: Saturday
A very hard training session today, conditioning-wise. I hadn't planned on getting the chance to train today, but when the opportunity popped up, I couldn't help but jump at the shot.
Led by Prof. Rodrigo, we started off with arm drags against a standing opponent, using the hip split to throw your legs to the outside and then "climbing" up the guy's arm and leg. I was finishing in a back drop/high crotch position most of the time, with my head on the outside. But I really liked using the hip split to both get the legs out of the way and to set up the "stand" that helps you come up to the top.
Getting back to your feet from the guard was the theme of today's training. We worked next on a butterfly sweep to what I used to call a Cobra guard stand up. I had some trouble getting enough space to adjust my leg back for the standup, so that's something I'll have to work on.
The last technique that we worked on was getting into X-guard from butterfly, using a deep underhook on the leg. This was a very nice one for me, and something I'll probably use when I get in the very inside.
We did several rounds of specific training, focusing on attacking with the butterfly guard for six minutes at a time while taking on fresh (or relatively fresh) passers. Good work here. And we finished up with some Live Training, me getting in 8-min rounds with Ron, Prof Rodrigo and Prof. Carlos.
With Saturday being my last training of the week, I got in my HICT (high intensity continuous training) with a five-minute session of technical lifts followed by a five-minute session of hipscape laps. Both were fairly brutal - my quarter-minute HRs were above 40 after both sets. But it's the kind of thing I can build up over time into something that will be very, very beneficial to my overall conditioning.
158.8 on the scale, post-train.
Led by Prof. Rodrigo, we started off with arm drags against a standing opponent, using the hip split to throw your legs to the outside and then "climbing" up the guy's arm and leg. I was finishing in a back drop/high crotch position most of the time, with my head on the outside. But I really liked using the hip split to both get the legs out of the way and to set up the "stand" that helps you come up to the top.
Getting back to your feet from the guard was the theme of today's training. We worked next on a butterfly sweep to what I used to call a Cobra guard stand up. I had some trouble getting enough space to adjust my leg back for the standup, so that's something I'll have to work on.
The last technique that we worked on was getting into X-guard from butterfly, using a deep underhook on the leg. This was a very nice one for me, and something I'll probably use when I get in the very inside.
We did several rounds of specific training, focusing on attacking with the butterfly guard for six minutes at a time while taking on fresh (or relatively fresh) passers. Good work here. And we finished up with some Live Training, me getting in 8-min rounds with Ron, Prof Rodrigo and Prof. Carlos.
With Saturday being my last training of the week, I got in my HICT (high intensity continuous training) with a five-minute session of technical lifts followed by a five-minute session of hipscape laps. Both were fairly brutal - my quarter-minute HRs were above 40 after both sets. But it's the kind of thing I can build up over time into something that will be very, very beneficial to my overall conditioning.
158.8 on the scale, post-train.
Monday, January 30, 2012
3 February Transitions from the Half
Half to deep half to Homer/Stack
Deep half to half to Gordo/Twist Back
Deep half to X to Technical Lift/Back
Deep half to half to Gordo/Twist Back
Deep half to X to Technical Lift/Back
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Training Day: Saturday
I got to training a little late, but more than made up for lost time by rolling with a lot of good guys - top of the list being a roll with Rodrigo. I've noticed that both Profs. Rodrigo and Carlos both like to attack the guard from standing from time to time, which on Saturday gave me a great opportunity to work the single X. I didn't get much farther than the cross guard before Rodrigo passed. But it was nice to feel myself almost instinctively flow into the positions I wanted to be in. That's what I need to do more of.
The most important detail of the day has to be keeping my balance during the first stage of my half guard pass series. Both Jeremiah and Clint were able to reverse me backwards as I put pressure on the lower leg of their 1/2 guard lock and wedged my free knee inside. I think a little more control over the upper body is what was missing and what led to getting reversed. I'll need to check back in with the Saulo DVD to see if this is the detail I'm missing.
Still working the 2 on 1. I need to make sure that I move in for the kill the second the guy becomes distracted by trying to free his wrist. That's an excellent ""take the lead" opportunity that I need to look for more often. I also need to look to bail out into deep half, not just half, when things are getting dicey. That's the kind of thing that will give me confidence to continue to train from the bottom against bigger guys and when I'm tired.
157.8 on the scale post-train. Sunday officially starts Pre-Week: 3 weeks out from the Seattle Open and 9 weeks out from the November Revolution.
The most important detail of the day has to be keeping my balance during the first stage of my half guard pass series. Both Jeremiah and Clint were able to reverse me backwards as I put pressure on the lower leg of their 1/2 guard lock and wedged my free knee inside. I think a little more control over the upper body is what was missing and what led to getting reversed. I'll need to check back in with the Saulo DVD to see if this is the detail I'm missing.
Still working the 2 on 1. I need to make sure that I move in for the kill the second the guy becomes distracted by trying to free his wrist. That's an excellent ""take the lead" opportunity that I need to look for more often. I also need to look to bail out into deep half, not just half, when things are getting dicey. That's the kind of thing that will give me confidence to continue to train from the bottom against bigger guys and when I'm tired.
157.8 on the scale post-train. Sunday officially starts Pre-Week: 3 weeks out from the Seattle Open and 9 weeks out from the November Revolution.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Training Day: Monday
A goodly sized class to start things off on Monday. A couple of very new folks that Brock ended up working with, and some not so new folks that Lindsey took down stairs for training.
Upstairs with Rodrigo we worked takedowns and X-guard. The takedown drill was a variation on the fireman's carry/kata guruma takedown I remember Rodrigo working on with us late last year. I remember working with Reuben one Friday and having a terrible time getting it right. Working with Benny (the Blue) Tuesday, I was able to do a much better job. I'm glad, because this takedown along with the others that Rodrigo has been working on with us all go together very well: the collar drag to Jacare ankle pick, or to seoi nage and now to kara guruma.
We also worked on some X-guard entries from the sitting/butterfly/Cobra guard. Here you have a behind the back grip and a knee grip out of the guard and, as before, you dive under the leg to get into position below the hips. Dive with your knee grip hand leading, and use your front hook to lift the guy up. You will be driving down a bit in the direction of your knee grip (knee grip shoulder dipping first).
If you can't get the leg high enough with your front hook, or if you just don't have the hip dexterity, you can slide your outside leg through so that both knees are away in the sort of Double X guard position Bravo shows in his first book. But with the right lift with the hook, it shouldn't be too hard to get into the position.
The other variation we worked on was entering the X-guard from standing. Here, you go to double sleeve control with feet on hips. Then switch to a cross guard. Get an underhook on the leg of the sleeve grip side and use your cross guard hook to help create the space necessary to slide the other leg/hook inside.
A very bruising training. We did some specific sparring where we rotated from partner to partner after about two minutes. I went with Benny, Casey, Nate, Lindsey and Lance. Very grueling. I did a little specific sparring afterwards but I, like most people who attended both classes, was pretty much spent.
A horrifying 163.2 on the scale post-train. That at least explains why I've felt so fatigued and sore. My "cardio" per se doesn't feel especially poor - but the extra six pounds, I think, are having a bad effect. I should be closer to 155 than 165 - especially after training. We'll see what the numbers look like after Tuesday.
Upstairs with Rodrigo we worked takedowns and X-guard. The takedown drill was a variation on the fireman's carry/kata guruma takedown I remember Rodrigo working on with us late last year. I remember working with Reuben one Friday and having a terrible time getting it right. Working with Benny (the Blue) Tuesday, I was able to do a much better job. I'm glad, because this takedown along with the others that Rodrigo has been working on with us all go together very well: the collar drag to Jacare ankle pick, or to seoi nage and now to kara guruma.
We also worked on some X-guard entries from the sitting/butterfly/Cobra guard. Here you have a behind the back grip and a knee grip out of the guard and, as before, you dive under the leg to get into position below the hips. Dive with your knee grip hand leading, and use your front hook to lift the guy up. You will be driving down a bit in the direction of your knee grip (knee grip shoulder dipping first).
If you can't get the leg high enough with your front hook, or if you just don't have the hip dexterity, you can slide your outside leg through so that both knees are away in the sort of Double X guard position Bravo shows in his first book. But with the right lift with the hook, it shouldn't be too hard to get into the position.
The other variation we worked on was entering the X-guard from standing. Here, you go to double sleeve control with feet on hips. Then switch to a cross guard. Get an underhook on the leg of the sleeve grip side and use your cross guard hook to help create the space necessary to slide the other leg/hook inside.
A very bruising training. We did some specific sparring where we rotated from partner to partner after about two minutes. I went with Benny, Casey, Nate, Lindsey and Lance. Very grueling. I did a little specific sparring afterwards but I, like most people who attended both classes, was pretty much spent.
A horrifying 163.2 on the scale post-train. That at least explains why I've felt so fatigued and sore. My "cardio" per se doesn't feel especially poor - but the extra six pounds, I think, are having a bad effect. I should be closer to 155 than 165 - especially after training. We'll see what the numbers look like after Tuesday.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
More Saulo
I didn't ask Saulo exactly how he crawled into the half guard as a way of getting the guy flat - the only way to properly pass the half guard. Saulo had made an interesting point about the brabo choke on Saturday, alluding to the fact that the development of the brabo choke from the top in half guard was an evolution based on persistent, and persistently failing, attempts to deal with someone in the half guard who is able to get to his side.
I also didn't ask him what his thoughts were about preparing for competition. Although his reputation as a great teacher will undoubtedly grow, he is also jiu jitsu's greatest competitor, being a six-time world champion. With two major local tournaments coming up in early November and mid-December, I thought it would be great to hear how he prepared for competition, how he developed a strategy, whether he did outside conditioning or focused mostly on skill-enhancement. But there never really seemed to be an opportunity for that kind of Q&A.
Which was too bad, generally and selfishly. Saulo is very good spokesman for jiu jitsu, and I suspect he would have been more than happy to answer a question or two - especially one that might relate to a lot of people there attending the seminar.
Sunday was no gi. As you might imagine, Saulo places a minimum on "training" no gi. He tends to see no gi the same way that I do: as a sort of recreation, a "day off" from regular jiu jitsu, like those days late in the summer back in elementary school when they let you have class outside. He made a lot of interesting points on no gi or submission wrestling, pointing out that the only one that has established submission wrestling as anything other than no gi jiu jitsu is the sheik who funds Abu Dhabi. Every other no gi / submission wrestling even merely borrows the point system from jiu jitsu - adding, of course, some wrinkles of its own.
Techniques. We started with a step back move off the clinch, pinching down on trapped elbow by leaning in with shoulder pressure, a sort of whizzer move. From here, swing around and get the front headlock with your free arm, reaching under to connect with a gable grip. Before cinching the grip, push the arm in as if going for the anaconda. If nothing else, it will set up a very tight guillotine as you drop back into half guard.. You would to use your inside leg to also help keep the pushed-in arm to the inside, instead of relying on your grip alone. If you have the grip, all you need to do is stretch the legs to get the submission.
Thai plum escape. Turn. Hug. Shoulder Pop. Dip. Single. Double.
General standup tips. Don't attack the head for the colllar tie. Instead, attack the bicepts, working for inside control. When he rotates to combat your inside control, pop his elbow in and attack. You can shoot, move for the back, whatever. The point is that by pushing his elbow in, you've got a clear shot to his side before he can react by bringing it back and putting it in front of you as some kind of block.
Saulo talked about an attack from the back from one of his Abu Dhabi fights. From the back standing, with a body lock, reach over and do a sort of inverted high crotch grab around the thigh. Insert hook behind his leg with the outermost leg, planting the inner leg for leverage, and take him backwards for the sweep.
Shin-pin sweep. Against standing opponent. Left hand around knee, left shin against lower shin. Rock to inside and lift with shin-pin. Underhook other leg and rock ALL THE WAY back the other way. Reset legs for Eddie Bravo style double-X guard and roll back in other direction.
Escape front headlock. Protect the neck. Reach behind back to butt with other hand. Step up with leg on protect/neck side . Sit back/Sit through. Turn into guy toward legs, reaching across body with protect/neck grip.
Guard pass: Crab pass and 1 on 1. Fight legs with legs and arms with arms. Get close with no gi. Crab pass = inside control: Block one side. Smash, Cut, Scoop or Skirt other leg. 1 on 1 = one leg in and one leg out. If knee goes wide, look to get to Crab pass. If knee comes in, pinch with outside knee just enough to cross center line, then use your body weight to press leg down and pancake the legs to the side. There's also a Cut option to the other direction.
I've been wanting to attack the guard more to guy's left side ever since hearing Saulo make the point that the fact that Demian Maia was left handed made his especially tricky to deal with. I still like my Flat Pass to the right. Even if it is most guy's stong side, it's my strong side, too, so it's iron against iron and I've got to always be willing to go with that. But the new guard pass approaches from this weekend are new enough - or feel new enough - that I can start trying them (Shield and Sword for gi; Crab Pass and 1 on 1 for no gi) to the left - or both - immediately. I'll take guard pass ambidexterity over guard pass hit-or-miss-riocrity any day.
Another thought on the half guad pass and leaning the legs toward you as you back out of the half guard. This one from Saturday works because you are in crossface watchdog and are forcing him to look away while bringing the knees toward you. Unable to face you, he can't turn.
An excellent weekend. I could have spent a week like this, especially that long session on Saturday. I was a little surprised at how few Gracie Barra folks there were - I think there were maybe three of us on Saturday and and only two of us on Sunday. In any event, it was an incredible experience. And I'm openly hoping that this experience has provided me with just the base camp I need to launch the next leg of the ascent.
I also didn't ask him what his thoughts were about preparing for competition. Although his reputation as a great teacher will undoubtedly grow, he is also jiu jitsu's greatest competitor, being a six-time world champion. With two major local tournaments coming up in early November and mid-December, I thought it would be great to hear how he prepared for competition, how he developed a strategy, whether he did outside conditioning or focused mostly on skill-enhancement. But there never really seemed to be an opportunity for that kind of Q&A.
Which was too bad, generally and selfishly. Saulo is very good spokesman for jiu jitsu, and I suspect he would have been more than happy to answer a question or two - especially one that might relate to a lot of people there attending the seminar.
Sunday was no gi. As you might imagine, Saulo places a minimum on "training" no gi. He tends to see no gi the same way that I do: as a sort of recreation, a "day off" from regular jiu jitsu, like those days late in the summer back in elementary school when they let you have class outside. He made a lot of interesting points on no gi or submission wrestling, pointing out that the only one that has established submission wrestling as anything other than no gi jiu jitsu is the sheik who funds Abu Dhabi. Every other no gi / submission wrestling even merely borrows the point system from jiu jitsu - adding, of course, some wrinkles of its own.
Techniques. We started with a step back move off the clinch, pinching down on trapped elbow by leaning in with shoulder pressure, a sort of whizzer move. From here, swing around and get the front headlock with your free arm, reaching under to connect with a gable grip. Before cinching the grip, push the arm in as if going for the anaconda. If nothing else, it will set up a very tight guillotine as you drop back into half guard.. You would to use your inside leg to also help keep the pushed-in arm to the inside, instead of relying on your grip alone. If you have the grip, all you need to do is stretch the legs to get the submission.
Thai plum escape. Turn. Hug. Shoulder Pop. Dip. Single. Double.
General standup tips. Don't attack the head for the colllar tie. Instead, attack the bicepts, working for inside control. When he rotates to combat your inside control, pop his elbow in and attack. You can shoot, move for the back, whatever. The point is that by pushing his elbow in, you've got a clear shot to his side before he can react by bringing it back and putting it in front of you as some kind of block.
Saulo talked about an attack from the back from one of his Abu Dhabi fights. From the back standing, with a body lock, reach over and do a sort of inverted high crotch grab around the thigh. Insert hook behind his leg with the outermost leg, planting the inner leg for leverage, and take him backwards for the sweep.
Shin-pin sweep. Against standing opponent. Left hand around knee, left shin against lower shin. Rock to inside and lift with shin-pin. Underhook other leg and rock ALL THE WAY back the other way. Reset legs for Eddie Bravo style double-X guard and roll back in other direction.
Escape front headlock. Protect the neck. Reach behind back to butt with other hand. Step up with leg on protect/neck side . Sit back/Sit through. Turn into guy toward legs, reaching across body with protect/neck grip.
Guard pass: Crab pass and 1 on 1. Fight legs with legs and arms with arms. Get close with no gi. Crab pass = inside control: Block one side. Smash, Cut, Scoop or Skirt other leg. 1 on 1 = one leg in and one leg out. If knee goes wide, look to get to Crab pass. If knee comes in, pinch with outside knee just enough to cross center line, then use your body weight to press leg down and pancake the legs to the side. There's also a Cut option to the other direction.
I've been wanting to attack the guard more to guy's left side ever since hearing Saulo make the point that the fact that Demian Maia was left handed made his especially tricky to deal with. I still like my Flat Pass to the right. Even if it is most guy's stong side, it's my strong side, too, so it's iron against iron and I've got to always be willing to go with that. But the new guard pass approaches from this weekend are new enough - or feel new enough - that I can start trying them (Shield and Sword for gi; Crab Pass and 1 on 1 for no gi) to the left - or both - immediately. I'll take guard pass ambidexterity over guard pass hit-or-miss-riocrity any day.
Another thought on the half guad pass and leaning the legs toward you as you back out of the half guard. This one from Saturday works because you are in crossface watchdog and are forcing him to look away while bringing the knees toward you. Unable to face you, he can't turn.
An excellent weekend. I could have spent a week like this, especially that long session on Saturday. I was a little surprised at how few Gracie Barra folks there were - I think there were maybe three of us on Saturday and and only two of us on Sunday. In any event, it was an incredible experience. And I'm openly hoping that this experience has provided me with just the base camp I need to launch the next leg of the ascent.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Thursday Training
I took Wednesday off to let my ankle heal up a little. I tweaked it at some point during Tuesday training and given that it wasn't in the best shape to begin with, I thought a break made sense.
It certainly helped cardio-wise. I felt like I could roll all night on Thursday. I was a little muscle fatigued during the first part of class when we were doing pummeling with calisthenics (pushups, choke crunches, sit outs, squats, sprawls) mixed in.
My MEP program is definitely making pushups easier. I can hit about 20 sitouts at a good clip before faltering. And sprawls are sprawls ... they are just killers. One of these years, I'm going to do that 100 burpee challenge and get my sprawls set up right ...
Nice work. I worked with Michael the blue belt during the pummeling circuits and the instructional, which was the same X-guard sweep we worked on Tuesday night. This time, Rodrigo emphasized more of an X-guard posture than a "double X" like on Tuesday. He also emphasized the sweep where you do that sit-to-stand dropstep move (also a pretty good solo drill, BTW) and drive into the guy and take him down.
Good tatame, as well. Still focusing on the Flat Pass and had some pretty decent success. I also got a nice reaffirmation that my tackle sweep from low half is solid - especially against guys who aren't used to fighting it all the time. I also think I'm doing a better job of anticipating the knee cross pass attempt - though I've still got a bad habit of giving up the crossface and having to work out of a flat posture.
A couple of very quick americanas, submission-wise. There really isn't a whole lot I feel comfortable with when attacking no gi - at least, outside of chokes. There was a rear naked Ezekiel that wasn't too bad. And I liked the way I looked for ways to let the guy turn when mounted in order to try and take the back.
Casey was in tonight which was nice to see, having not seen him for awhile. And I got to give him a warm-up roll. Big Mike the blue belt was there - another guy I don't see as much as I used to - as was Stephen W., who ended up missing Subleague with a last minute cold.
A good night on the mat, the kind of training that makes you want to do little more than eat, sleep and train. Speaking of "eat", I was 160.2 on the scale after training, which is pretty heavy for Thursday. I decided against doing my LSD cardio earlier today because I was concerned about my ankle and wanted to make sure that nothing got in the way of my training on Thursday. With any luck, I'll get back on the mat Friday, have a nice LSD session on Saturday and be ready to roll on Monday.
It certainly helped cardio-wise. I felt like I could roll all night on Thursday. I was a little muscle fatigued during the first part of class when we were doing pummeling with calisthenics (pushups, choke crunches, sit outs, squats, sprawls) mixed in.
My MEP program is definitely making pushups easier. I can hit about 20 sitouts at a good clip before faltering. And sprawls are sprawls ... they are just killers. One of these years, I'm going to do that 100 burpee challenge and get my sprawls set up right ...
Nice work. I worked with Michael the blue belt during the pummeling circuits and the instructional, which was the same X-guard sweep we worked on Tuesday night. This time, Rodrigo emphasized more of an X-guard posture than a "double X" like on Tuesday. He also emphasized the sweep where you do that sit-to-stand dropstep move (also a pretty good solo drill, BTW) and drive into the guy and take him down.
Good tatame, as well. Still focusing on the Flat Pass and had some pretty decent success. I also got a nice reaffirmation that my tackle sweep from low half is solid - especially against guys who aren't used to fighting it all the time. I also think I'm doing a better job of anticipating the knee cross pass attempt - though I've still got a bad habit of giving up the crossface and having to work out of a flat posture.
A couple of very quick americanas, submission-wise. There really isn't a whole lot I feel comfortable with when attacking no gi - at least, outside of chokes. There was a rear naked Ezekiel that wasn't too bad. And I liked the way I looked for ways to let the guy turn when mounted in order to try and take the back.
Casey was in tonight which was nice to see, having not seen him for awhile. And I got to give him a warm-up roll. Big Mike the blue belt was there - another guy I don't see as much as I used to - as was Stephen W., who ended up missing Subleague with a last minute cold.
A good night on the mat, the kind of training that makes you want to do little more than eat, sleep and train. Speaking of "eat", I was 160.2 on the scale after training, which is pretty heavy for Thursday. I decided against doing my LSD cardio earlier today because I was concerned about my ankle and wanted to make sure that nothing got in the way of my training on Thursday. With any luck, I'll get back on the mat Friday, have a nice LSD session on Saturday and be ready to roll on Monday.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Tuesday Training
A solid warmup with sitouts added for extra measure.
The coursework was sweeps out of the X-guard as a counter to a blocked hook sweep from the Cobra guard (one knee up and one down in attacking butterfly guard mode). The prompt is when the guy steps out with his leg to avoid getting swept from a basic hook sweep.
To start the sweep, dive under the step out leg with an X-guard style underhook under the knee. At the same time, lift up with your hook. Assuming that you had your other arm around the back grabbing the belt, transfer that grip to the ankle of the leg that you are foot-hooking and hold that lock Fugitive style.
Rodrigo emphasized this point. The sweep you use depends on where the guy's weight is. If you get a good hook and underhook, then there's a chance that the guy will fall forward more than remain standing. In this case you want to help him keep moving forward.
To do this, you bring your inside knee in - sort of a double Fugitive on the leg. Bring your lower leg up and step on the leg, so that you have a stomp on one side and the hook from your top leg's foot on the other, with both feet putting pressure on the leg. Stretch the guy out by extending your legs and posturing - lifting your underhook farther away.
To finish the sweep. Put your free arm on the ground. Take your hook off and plant that foot on the mat. Bring your other leg back underneath (a sort of reverse sit out) you as you stand up on your plant foot and drive into the guy's leg with your underhook.
The other sweep was for guys with good balance or if your dive and hook doesn't move him very much (bigger guy, for example). Here, since he is likely sitting a bit to keep his balance, it will be easier to take him backwards..
From the double Fugitive position, you want take your bottom leg and hook it behind his leg at the ankle. I'll need to ask Rodrigo about the positioning of your top leg, if you just use the knee to keep pressure or remove that leg in preparation for the move to the top. Like the kimura sweep, you want to recenter your body so that you aren't on your side. This will also make it easier to transition to the top.
In any event, from here, with the guy stretched out, it should be fairly easy to kick that leg out from under him with your bottom leg. As he falls back, sweep that leg aside (to the inside) and move to the pass.
I'd like to work on it some more - a lot more. The guy I was working with had a hard time maintaining his balance, so I didn't get as much of a chance to work the second version as I'd like. That said, I like these X-guard type of sweeps a lot. They go well with sitting guards. I'll be sure to get a refresher tomorrow.
Tatame was short but sweet. I rolled with a blue belt Ben who was very tough out of the half guard, especially with his lockdown. I've really been struggling to pass the half guard lately, but I still think I'm only a week or two from getting on track with my basic pass series of the knee cross, watchdog wedge, and cross wedge. But I need to reverse engineer the lockdown, which is joining the crossface as my major nemesis (nemises?) in the world of the half guard.
Also tried to work some old school armlock from the guard. I managed to get a weird reverse crossover sweep out of it. But what was really nice was playing with the attack, getting the arm attack, the stomp on the hip ... I did a horrible job of taking an angle. But it was the most aggressive that I've ever been out of the basic closed guard. I need to keep at it. I might end up with a closed guard game after all.
167.4 in the standard gi before class. Just at the IBJJF limit for lightweights (167.5). 158.0 after training without the gi.
The coursework was sweeps out of the X-guard as a counter to a blocked hook sweep from the Cobra guard (one knee up and one down in attacking butterfly guard mode). The prompt is when the guy steps out with his leg to avoid getting swept from a basic hook sweep.
To start the sweep, dive under the step out leg with an X-guard style underhook under the knee. At the same time, lift up with your hook. Assuming that you had your other arm around the back grabbing the belt, transfer that grip to the ankle of the leg that you are foot-hooking and hold that lock Fugitive style.
Rodrigo emphasized this point. The sweep you use depends on where the guy's weight is. If you get a good hook and underhook, then there's a chance that the guy will fall forward more than remain standing. In this case you want to help him keep moving forward.
To do this, you bring your inside knee in - sort of a double Fugitive on the leg. Bring your lower leg up and step on the leg, so that you have a stomp on one side and the hook from your top leg's foot on the other, with both feet putting pressure on the leg. Stretch the guy out by extending your legs and posturing - lifting your underhook farther away.
To finish the sweep. Put your free arm on the ground. Take your hook off and plant that foot on the mat. Bring your other leg back underneath (a sort of reverse sit out) you as you stand up on your plant foot and drive into the guy's leg with your underhook.
The other sweep was for guys with good balance or if your dive and hook doesn't move him very much (bigger guy, for example). Here, since he is likely sitting a bit to keep his balance, it will be easier to take him backwards..
From the double Fugitive position, you want take your bottom leg and hook it behind his leg at the ankle. I'll need to ask Rodrigo about the positioning of your top leg, if you just use the knee to keep pressure or remove that leg in preparation for the move to the top. Like the kimura sweep, you want to recenter your body so that you aren't on your side. This will also make it easier to transition to the top.
In any event, from here, with the guy stretched out, it should be fairly easy to kick that leg out from under him with your bottom leg. As he falls back, sweep that leg aside (to the inside) and move to the pass.
I'd like to work on it some more - a lot more. The guy I was working with had a hard time maintaining his balance, so I didn't get as much of a chance to work the second version as I'd like. That said, I like these X-guard type of sweeps a lot. They go well with sitting guards. I'll be sure to get a refresher tomorrow.
Tatame was short but sweet. I rolled with a blue belt Ben who was very tough out of the half guard, especially with his lockdown. I've really been struggling to pass the half guard lately, but I still think I'm only a week or two from getting on track with my basic pass series of the knee cross, watchdog wedge, and cross wedge. But I need to reverse engineer the lockdown, which is joining the crossface as my major nemesis (nemises?) in the world of the half guard.
Also tried to work some old school armlock from the guard. I managed to get a weird reverse crossover sweep out of it. But what was really nice was playing with the attack, getting the arm attack, the stomp on the hip ... I did a horrible job of taking an angle. But it was the most aggressive that I've ever been out of the basic closed guard. I need to keep at it. I might end up with a closed guard game after all.
167.4 in the standard gi before class. Just at the IBJJF limit for lightweights (167.5). 158.0 after training without the gi.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Half to X, Half Sweep, Half Counter
Going into Week 3, I want to start working on transitions from half guard to X guard. Over the past two weeks I've been working to get deeper and deeper into half guard, which is good preparation for the next move to X guard.
I need to remember to use my far leg (left) to stretch the guy's leg out to make it easier to insert the inside leg hook (same side as X guard leg underhook arm - the right, in my case).
I'm looking forward to working on this for the next four weeks, adding some sweeps as soon as possible.
At the same time, I don't want to get too sloppy with my basic half guard sweeps (Old School and Twist Back). I'm noticing that I'm forgetting to use my outside leg as the primary hook when I'm attacking with either of those two keep sweeps. It is important in both but critical in Twist Back. With Old School, you just get in your own way. With Twist Back, not using the outside leg means that you'll get your guard passed as soon as you open up for the sweep.
I also want to tighten up my Watch Dog half guard "ballerina pass". Head down and tight against his leg. Weight on his hips but my hips on the mat. Rolling with Jaime on Thursday, he figure out a crossover sort of counter to that pass. But my mistake was simply in not putting my weight on him and starting to sit up. I still like the pass, a lot.
The best counter I've seen to it is the one that Saulo shows in his DVD set - a counter that is pretty similar to the one I remember Rodrigo showing Clint one night when we were sparring. Basically, you want to come up on your outside elbow as soon as the guy reverses into Watch Dog. With your inside arm, you want to reach between you and his back and grab his belt or pants below the waistline.
Trap the half guard with your outside leg.
The move is explosive. You want to pull on the belt or pants with a ripping, arm drag like pull. At the same time, you want to hipscape/switch from being on the one hip to the other. You are opening your hips up to the same side that you are pulling with the drag.
At a minimum, the move will give you the opportunity to re-establish half guard. At best, you'll be able to take the guy's back (which he has essentially given you by going to Watch Dog).
*
Another point about passing from the Watch Dog position. Remember that when you pass with Watch Dog and move to mount, there's a good chance if the guy is sharp that he'll work to put your other leg in half guard. Avoid this by doing up on one knee, planting the foot of the "other side" (other than the "step over into mount" side). When the coast is clear, switch back into regular mount.
I need to remember to use my far leg (left) to stretch the guy's leg out to make it easier to insert the inside leg hook (same side as X guard leg underhook arm - the right, in my case).
I'm looking forward to working on this for the next four weeks, adding some sweeps as soon as possible.
At the same time, I don't want to get too sloppy with my basic half guard sweeps (Old School and Twist Back). I'm noticing that I'm forgetting to use my outside leg as the primary hook when I'm attacking with either of those two keep sweeps. It is important in both but critical in Twist Back. With Old School, you just get in your own way. With Twist Back, not using the outside leg means that you'll get your guard passed as soon as you open up for the sweep.
I also want to tighten up my Watch Dog half guard "ballerina pass". Head down and tight against his leg. Weight on his hips but my hips on the mat. Rolling with Jaime on Thursday, he figure out a crossover sort of counter to that pass. But my mistake was simply in not putting my weight on him and starting to sit up. I still like the pass, a lot.
The best counter I've seen to it is the one that Saulo shows in his DVD set - a counter that is pretty similar to the one I remember Rodrigo showing Clint one night when we were sparring. Basically, you want to come up on your outside elbow as soon as the guy reverses into Watch Dog. With your inside arm, you want to reach between you and his back and grab his belt or pants below the waistline.
Trap the half guard with your outside leg.
The move is explosive. You want to pull on the belt or pants with a ripping, arm drag like pull. At the same time, you want to hipscape/switch from being on the one hip to the other. You are opening your hips up to the same side that you are pulling with the drag.
At a minimum, the move will give you the opportunity to re-establish half guard. At best, you'll be able to take the guy's back (which he has essentially given you by going to Watch Dog).
*
Another point about passing from the Watch Dog position. Remember that when you pass with Watch Dog and move to mount, there's a good chance if the guy is sharp that he'll work to put your other leg in half guard. Avoid this by doing up on one knee, planting the foot of the "other side" (other than the "step over into mount" side). When the coast is clear, switch back into regular mount.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday Night Training
As Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say, it's always something."
Tonight - and most nights these days - it's my shoulder acting up. Things got really hairy toward the end of last week. But going into training tonight I was feeling pretty top notch. A few hours later, I'm aching again.
I'll have a better sense tomorrow. It wouldn't be the first time I came home after training aching somewhere only to wake up the next morning feeling close to if not at 100%.
In any event, tonight's training was solid. I had actually been hoping to do some mount/mount escape work and tonight that's exactly what Rodrigo delivered. The emphasis was on getting your elbows tight, your hands on the hips (I was grabbing the pants at the top or the belt with underhand grips) and giving a good strong upa before escaping your hips BACK.
Back. Back, back, back, back, back. Another point of emphasis was this good strong hipscape as far back as you can drive your hips. Otherwise, all you're doing is turning on your side beneath his mount.
This is a good reminder of why it's a bad idea to half-ass your hipscapes. I've been working on them on my home mat, trying to get smaller and deeper (just like with the half guard). It's a little more extra effort. But the rewards of a good, deep hipscape are huge. And it's worth making them a habit.
A good time in sparring. I got my first omoplata submission in months if not years, and a nice omoplata to rear-mount transition that I remembering seeing Ryan Hall pull off (though he was en route to a heel hook or something). Can I tell you how nice it is to get a submission that ISN'T a keylock/americana?
I made a nice transition from the Cobra guard to X-guard - another move I haven't done in years. It took me awhile to get the inside hook in - and I spent a little too much time "working the guard". But it was nice to feel myself slip into that opportunity - however awkwardly.
There was also some nice work overall in half guard,a nice patient twist back sweep. Out of sitting guard, I'm being much more aggressive about controling the wrists. I need to move that to the next step of turning wrist control into armdrags. But so far so good.
I was trying a lot of my toreano guard passes with Rodrigo. For one, I think that will be my main weapon of attack when trying to pass the guard because so many of the guys I compete against have very active open guards.
The other reason was that I have had trouble against standing guard passes myself - particularly when I'm in my sitting/Cobra guard. Standing against Rodrigo gives me an excellent look at some of the options that I should consider when I'm on the bottom against a standing opponent.
While I'm on the subject, one thing that Rodrigo did was that patented Gracie Barra move that I've seen Pe de Pano do in the Pan Ams, where you attack one leg and sort of do a hip split around it after capturing the arm. That's not a great description. But I'm going to do a lot more standing against Rodrigo's guard to see more options that I can use when I'm in that spot.
My mount has grown by leaps and bounds just from being trapped in Rodrigo's mount and seeing what I had the hardest time with. That's where I got the idea of alternating between locking my ankles underneath the hips when I needed maximum control of the hips (for example, to deal with the upa), and grapevining the legs to make hipscapes harder.
If I can improve my basic approach to guard passing the way I improved my mount, then this will be a very productive second half of 2008.
Tonight - and most nights these days - it's my shoulder acting up. Things got really hairy toward the end of last week. But going into training tonight I was feeling pretty top notch. A few hours later, I'm aching again.
I'll have a better sense tomorrow. It wouldn't be the first time I came home after training aching somewhere only to wake up the next morning feeling close to if not at 100%.
In any event, tonight's training was solid. I had actually been hoping to do some mount/mount escape work and tonight that's exactly what Rodrigo delivered. The emphasis was on getting your elbows tight, your hands on the hips (I was grabbing the pants at the top or the belt with underhand grips) and giving a good strong upa before escaping your hips BACK.
Back. Back, back, back, back, back. Another point of emphasis was this good strong hipscape as far back as you can drive your hips. Otherwise, all you're doing is turning on your side beneath his mount.
This is a good reminder of why it's a bad idea to half-ass your hipscapes. I've been working on them on my home mat, trying to get smaller and deeper (just like with the half guard). It's a little more extra effort. But the rewards of a good, deep hipscape are huge. And it's worth making them a habit.
A good time in sparring. I got my first omoplata submission in months if not years, and a nice omoplata to rear-mount transition that I remembering seeing Ryan Hall pull off (though he was en route to a heel hook or something). Can I tell you how nice it is to get a submission that ISN'T a keylock/americana?
I made a nice transition from the Cobra guard to X-guard - another move I haven't done in years. It took me awhile to get the inside hook in - and I spent a little too much time "working the guard". But it was nice to feel myself slip into that opportunity - however awkwardly.
There was also some nice work overall in half guard,a nice patient twist back sweep. Out of sitting guard, I'm being much more aggressive about controling the wrists. I need to move that to the next step of turning wrist control into armdrags. But so far so good.
I was trying a lot of my toreano guard passes with Rodrigo. For one, I think that will be my main weapon of attack when trying to pass the guard because so many of the guys I compete against have very active open guards.
The other reason was that I have had trouble against standing guard passes myself - particularly when I'm in my sitting/Cobra guard. Standing against Rodrigo gives me an excellent look at some of the options that I should consider when I'm on the bottom against a standing opponent.
While I'm on the subject, one thing that Rodrigo did was that patented Gracie Barra move that I've seen Pe de Pano do in the Pan Ams, where you attack one leg and sort of do a hip split around it after capturing the arm. That's not a great description. But I'm going to do a lot more standing against Rodrigo's guard to see more options that I can use when I'm in that spot.
My mount has grown by leaps and bounds just from being trapped in Rodrigo's mount and seeing what I had the hardest time with. That's where I got the idea of alternating between locking my ankles underneath the hips when I needed maximum control of the hips (for example, to deal with the upa), and grapevining the legs to make hipscapes harder.
If I can improve my basic approach to guard passing the way I improved my mount, then this will be a very productive second half of 2008.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Rigan's X Guard Sweeps
Here's a quick look at a pair of sweeps by Rigan Machado using the variation on the X-guard.
Rigan's variation has him put both knees pointing on the front side. He then uses his hand to check the guy's leg since he doesn't have the Marcelo Garcia style "one on top/one on bottom" to pin the leg.
The sweeps look nice and are very fundamental. To get the front sweep, he monkey foots the one leg, extending it out, and just rotates his body forward. Rigan trapped the guy's southmost arm (the one nearest to his legs) to keep him from bracing against the sweep, which is something to watch for.
To get the back sweep, it looks like he lifts at the ankle while pulling the leg with the underhook. Then as the balance is lost, finishes off with the higher hook under the thigh.
A lot of the basic X-guard rules still apply: the guy's leg needs to be on your shoulder, not just under your arm. Also you want to extend your body as the main way of keeping him off-balance. Rigan uses the higher hook under the thigh as a way of upseting the balance of his opponent here.
Rigan's variation has him put both knees pointing on the front side. He then uses his hand to check the guy's leg since he doesn't have the Marcelo Garcia style "one on top/one on bottom" to pin the leg.
The sweeps look nice and are very fundamental. To get the front sweep, he monkey foots the one leg, extending it out, and just rotates his body forward. Rigan trapped the guy's southmost arm (the one nearest to his legs) to keep him from bracing against the sweep, which is something to watch for.
To get the back sweep, it looks like he lifts at the ankle while pulling the leg with the underhook. Then as the balance is lost, finishes off with the higher hook under the thigh.
A lot of the basic X-guard rules still apply: the guy's leg needs to be on your shoulder, not just under your arm. Also you want to extend your body as the main way of keeping him off-balance. Rigan uses the higher hook under the thigh as a way of upseting the balance of his opponent here.
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