Class 9...

Today we learnt three basic sweeps. These were:

Scissor sweep variation one from back with opponent in guard:
pistol grip opponent's right gi sleeve with left hand; grab the bottom of the opponent's gi trousers (left leg) with your right hand; open guard and drop your left leg to the floor and drive your right leg under his armpit; then scissor your legs and pull his arm to your left as your right leg kicks under his armpit and you lift his leg ending up in full mount.

Scissor sweep variation two from back with opponent in guard:
pistol grip the right gi sleeve of the opponent with your left hand; drive your right hand under the collar of his gi on the same side as you are grabbing with your left hand; open your guard and shrimp out so you flatten your left leg against his right leg and and your left knee is under his left armpit; then drag his arm to your left as your bottom leg scissors his right leg and the knee drives through and rolls him over ending up with you in full mount.

Scissor sweep variation three from back with opponent in guard:
pistol grip opponent's right gi sleeve with your left hand; grab the bottom of the opponent's gi trousers (left leg) with your right hand; the opponent breaks this grip so go under his body and between his legs and secure the right trouser leg of his gi; open guard and drop your left leg to the floor and drive your right leg under his armpit; then scissor your legs and pull his arm to your left as your right leg kicks under his armpit and you lift his leg ending up in full mount.

There is also a way of dragging the opponent forward on all three of these techniques but I couldn't quite figure it out but I'm pretty sure it happens before the scissor to get the opponent moving. I'll pay attention to this next time and make sure I get it down in more detail.

We also did another sweep when you are on the bottom and your opponent is in your guard but pinning your arms apart and keeping a low base to cage your hips. This involved opening you guard but keeping your knees pinched and shrimping your hips away from your opponent. Then attack one of his arms and drag it in front of his face and hold it in place. With your other hand you reach around his back and latch onto his gi at the armpit and pull yourself onto his back. If he posts out with his free hand then you simply roll him and you end up in full mount. That sounds a bit convoluted. I'll come back to this when we next do it in class and refine the description. It's essentially a back climb from open guard with the opponent on top.

In sparring today I held my own against a more experienced white belt and even managed a bridge and roll escape at one point but I got tapped a few times escaping a triangle and getting caught in an armbar by other white belts. I also got caught in a kimura twice and I had no idea how to defend it. I’m pretty sure it was because I reacted too late and he’d got it sunk in but I’ll review some notes on this. I'm still not too worried about getting tapped this at the moment, though, as I know this is going to be a long journey. I'm just getting used to the positions and trying to recognise what's happening and getting my body used to rolling.

In other sparring news I also got to roll with a purple belt today, who was a very slight woman, and the way she moved was wonderful. There was a point she stopped trying to move me and just started creating bits of space and moving herself. It was brilliant to watch... until I realised she was setting a choke up and she started applying it.

LESSON FROM TODAY: drill your basic sweeps; read up on armbar and triangle escapes; read up on chokes.