Class 89…

Tonight was an intermediate class and we worked on strategies for maintaining and breaking guard. 

Standing guard break from top in guard: grab opponent's hand, drag his hand to opposite side; stand up on side of grabbed hand; stand other leg up; switch hands and hold onto hand; then use free hand to push down on knee on safe side; pass knee over and secure side control with seatbelt control.

Sitting guard break from top in guard: grab belt, elbows in thighs of opponent on inside; knee in arse; other leg extended back to side and twist hips to open guard; then pass knee over and secure side control with seatbelt control.

Attacking opponent trying break guard bottom: secure sleeve control; one foot on hip with other leg wrapping round back of knee and going into sweep.

We then did some sparring and I was paired with somebody on the same belt level as me. He was stronger and faster than I was but I did OK. I was constantly defending but I escaped some pretty tricky positions and didn't get tapped. A minor victory. 

Things to remember: Utilise attacking options from both bottom and top; it pays to be proactive rather than reactive or 'Attack is the best form of defence'.

Class 88…

A beginners class and some work on off-balancing and closed guard positions.

The basic rule of defending your position on top in closed guard is maintaining good posture, with your weight balanced and one hand on the opponent’s gi and the other on his hip, with elbows tucked inside his legs, ready to break guard when the opportunity arises.

The man on the bottom who has guard has to collapse the man on the top’s posture to move or sweep him. This involves collapsing his arms at the elbows, confirming grips on his gi and using your legs to pull him forward.

One of the sweeps from this position involves grabbing one sleeve at the wrist and grabbing his opposite side trouser leg. The same side as the grabbed trouser leg sees your nearest leg chop into his side and your opposite leg plant on the floor to generate the leverage, then you use the wrist grip to collapse his other side and ensure he can’t post. The grip on the gi trousers helps move him over as you follow his trajectory and end up on top.

Another option is to open you guard and get your feet on his hips and, with sleeve control, off-balance the opponent and set up a sweep from there.

Things to remember: Off-balancing and attacking posture of opponent from guard; maintaining balance and posture from in guard.