08.31.10 - Training

Open Guard w/ cross collar grip

- ankle pick (opposite foot comes up)
- leg sweep (same side foot comes up)
- collar drag (when opponent tries to run around)
- loop choke (if opponent keeps head in)

F*cked up my neck today.  I'm praying I won't be out for too long.

De La Riva and Open Guard

Open Guard revisited:

- never over extend
- want knees at a 90 degree angle
- do not get stacked
- continue to circle (egg beater)
- always return to 90 degree

De La Riva notes:

- cross grip (preferred method)
- wrist control to wrist (same side) and collar control (think tomanagi)
- use shoulder to bridge to get deeper
- always keep them off balance by kicking leg away
- always control ankle

DLR sweeps:

1. Taking the back

- cross grip
- kick leg away
- drive leg deeper
- finish w/ the slide

2. Tomanagi sweep

- wrist control or wrist and lapel
- kick leg away
- use their momentum (when they step back into you) to sweep them
- make sure foot is on hip
- bring their wrists to their waist

3. Cobrinha to Waiter sweep

- cross grip
- rolle polle
- key is to get your head in between their legs
- will typically get stuck, but a matter of shifting to get the sweep
- insert knee for the waiter sweep

Feeling pretty good

Went to the gym at lunch and rolled with Mike, Dustin and Roger. Felt good rolling...I felt good about my escapes, my timing felt good and my movement was good.

One move I've been studying and tried today is the Peruvian necktie. It's a perfect compliment to the brabo and anaconda choke. This is a pretty good tutorial on it by Keith Owen.



One tip Mike gave me today when applying this is if my opponent rolls, I have to roll with them and try and finish from the top or work the top.

Other notes:

- guard passing. Need to watch my arm placements. Been trying to hug their body, which is probably better when you've broken them down and are actually passing. When playing in their open or butterfly guard my hands should more on the hip, using my elbow to track their thigh and push it down. Mike's on an omoplata trip and was working them non stop.

- open guard. Need to work against standing opponents more. Look to cross ankles and pinch legs when opponent tries to push the knee through.

Things to work on

Went to the gym to train with Mike. It was a very good session. After getting my back taken and tapping to a rear naked choke I would pick Mike's brain about certain aspects of my game, then roll again only to tap to a rear naked choke (again) then pick his brain again. As usual he was very insightful on things I need to work on.

Things to work on:

Guard Passing

- very predictable. Need to threaten w/ more than just the smash the legs pass.
- look for knee slide.
- also look to hop over aka "hip drop". Remember to pin leg then drop hip and swing over.
- work combinations of smashing the legs to knee slide to hip drop to over the shoulder pass. Must threaten and not be so predictable.

Open Guard vs Standing Opponent

- gauge distance. Don't let them close dictate what's going on. Scoot away and shoot.
- pull them into you. Look for an arm or leg.
- watch knee pass. Defend knee and push it.
- need to play with this position more.

Rear naked choke

- use chin to lock in choking arm. Use free arm to push off other arm.
- down, in and up to finish.

Mount escapes

- keep elbow in tight. Don't let elbow go past my own belly button.
- push up and out. Get weight off.

Last thing to think about is staying committed to moves and going for them.

1st day back

So I went back to gym to roll today. Felt very nervous with my elbow. When I rolled with Mike I noticed my left arm doesn't feel as strong.

One thing we worked on was trying to control from the guard:

Tripod

• From the open guard
• Grab their lead leg
• Same side leg goes into their hip
• Opposite arm grabs their arm (same side that your leg is on)
• Other leg hooks behind their ankle
• Extend leg and pull arm and ankle to off balance

Seems like a very good position to try and control. Has openings for the x-guard, omoplatas and triangles.

Guillotines

Worked on the ten finger guillotine.

• Bend of wrist in neck
• Crunch body and have chest sit on their head / neck
• Grab arm that's in
• Sit to the side and pull up

Had problems w/ my guillotines when to go w/ which grip.

Other notes

• Mike mentioned that I need to work combinations. Often I find myself going and working for one set up rather than working from an arm drag to guillotine and back to guillotine.
• Key is to get your opponent to react
• Gotta focus in on my guard and controlling opponents.
• Another thing to think about is not sitting and waiting for a reaction but making your opponent react.
• Focus on driving your opponent's arms into them when working from open guard.