Class 143...

My first class of the new year and an early-morning class at that. And I was pretty worried about going back, fearing my muscle memory would be shot, my techniques would suck and my cardio would be awful. 

All the above fears were, of course, totally justified and my sparring was way off the pace of the mediocre but resilient white belt level it had crawled to towards the end of last year. It was fab to be back, though, particularly with visiting black belt and multiple world champion Michelle Nicolini taking the class. 

We worked on two techniques during the class. Both positions were from full guard.

Leg Triangle: 
Man on top postured up in closed guard of man on bottom; man on bottom collapses posture of man on top y grabbing back of elbows and using legs to move him forward; man on bottom wraps the opponent's right arm with left and confirms the grip by holding onto his own gi collar to secure the collapsed opponent; man on bottom opens his guard and hip escapes onto his right hip; this creates space for the man on the bottom to bring his right leg through and throw it over the shoulder of the man on top to set up a leg triangle.

Single Hook Sweep 

Man on top postured up in closed guard of man on bottom; man on bottom collapses posture of man on top by grabbing back of elbows and using legs to move him forward; man on bottom wraps the opponent's right arm with left and confirms the grip by holding onto his own gi collar to secure the collapsed opponent; man on bottom opens his guard and hip escapes onto his right hip; this creates space for the man on the bottom to bring his right leg through and throw it over the shoulder of the man on top to set up a leg triangle; man on top blocks this movement so man on bottom instead moves up and inserts his right foot as a hook, then lifts the opponent with the hook and sweeps him to his right. 

Things to remember: triangle set-up, plus hook sweep.