MMA Submission Hero of the Week: Carlston Harris

 

Attribute Oriented Jiu-Jitsu: Leveraging Length

Did a wingspan measurement this evening after doing some research on bicep/tricep hypertrophy strategies. Turns out that at 65" tall, I have a pretty outsized reach at 71". 

This has me thinking about some additional adjustments to my post-pandemic jiu-jitsu game. With regard to submissions, I'm a lot more interested in arm triangles than I used to be and am looking forward to spending a little time studying Ryan Hall's work in this regard.

There are also some interesting implications for passing. I've been inclined lately toward a tripod-float-smash hybrid / Demian Maia + Murilo Santana / wide base game. I don't see myself departing from that anytime soon. But the idea that I might have the attributes to incorporate a torreando-style passing attack a la Leandro Lo is pretty attractive. I'd been very interested in Lo back in the fall of 2019, but focused more on the ferocity of his attack than its technical merits. May be time to bring his beat back.

Submission Hero of the Week: Mitch Clarke

The fact that every week does not feature a submission hero of the week is the fault not of the stars, but of ourselves, who are often not paying close enough attention to the jiu-jitsu-in-mixed-martial-arts-magnificence that is all around us.

So congratulations to Mitch "Danger Zone" Clark for a great Jeff Glover-esque darce choke finish in the UFC Saturday night!

Training Day: Wednesday

Double legs from the snap down. Armbars from the "microwave" mount. Taking the back counter to upa escape from the "microwave" mount.

And Live Training. Versus half-guard. Working the lapel. Working the bicep, cross-carotid control. Working the head wedge. Working the pass.

WITStolo.

Mendes on Monday: Guilherme's Brabo Choke

Brabo Counter to the Royler Half Guard Pass

When it comes to the half guard, the Royler pass is the one pass that I have the most difficulty defending.

So many thanks to Jeff Glover for this excellent counter to the Royler half guard pass--a counter the results in a brabo/anaconda choke.

I'm going to be posting a lot more of Jeff Glover over the next few days. There are a few things in his game--namely, his half guard and brabo/anaconda choke attacks--that I think I can integrate into my game fairly easily.

Coursework: Side Chokes

It probably has something to do with the fact that the next local tournament is no gi, but Rodrigo had us working on no gi chokes Monday afternoon. We did the baseball choke, no gi style and he showed us how to transition to the brabo choke if your opponent got the underhook on you and began a proper escape. Last, he showed us a transition to guillotine (with a sort of faux brabo grip).

The no gi baseball choke comes from the crossbody. You want have your northside arm behind the head with the blad of your forearm along the back of the opponent's neck. You want to bring your southside arm up tight, with your hand on your ear, to prevent him from getting the underhook. You can even disguise your bringing up that southside arm as just trying to block his underhook.

Catch your southside hand in your northside hand and apply the choke by dipping your southside shoulder and squeezing your elbows together.

The brabo comes if the guy gets the underhook on you and starts to escape. The trick to getting the brabo is the angle. You want to work yourself back behind the guy, not just back off. For one, you want to keep the connect. For two, by getting behind the guy's shoulder (moving to the south) you can get a longer reach under the guy's arm and neck with your inside brabo arm.

The other trick is to push down on the guy's head to help get your brabo arm through. You should be able to cup the guy's neck easily with the hand of your brabo arm. The locking arm is almost (almost!) just a detail.

The guillotine transition comes if you can't get the good reach with the brabo arm. Shorten up the brabo reach and attack the neck with a guillotine. With the other arm, reach under the guy's arm (between his head and shoulder) and reach under the shoulder and across the lat. It's sort of a brabo-ish guillotine. Drop back into guard--preferably closed guard--to finish.

I've got to say that this is a huge sequence for me. When you throw in the Anaconda choke and the d'arce, you're looking at five different choke attacks from the side control/side control escape or all fours position. I'm here a lot when rolling, so these chokes would be a great addition to my attacking repertoire.