Class 266...

A class working on escaping the de la Riva guard when standing. 

De la Riva escape: turn trapped leg and knee outward; keep other leg at distance to prevent opponent grabbing it; control leg on hip with arms and leg drag it off to opposite side; base down and secure collar grip (arms x crossed); secure side control.

If opponent turtles from here, use the clock choke.

In sparring, I got tapped all over. But I am operating with injuries and other people are getting better. I'm also quite vulnerable as I'm trying to add butterfly guard to my game. There are still few other places I would want to be, though. 

Things to remember: de la Riva pass, clock choke mechanics.

Classes 264 & 265...

First up, a class about passing from on top in half guard. 

The takehome here was establish head control and exert shoulder pressure, and to ensure the opponent's bottom arm is controlled to prevent him from posturing up to attack. Also ensure his other arm is trapped by pinching it between your thigh and other arm.

The second class showed a sweep from the bottom: from double wrist control with butterfly hooks in, establish a foot wrap on the arm; use the other foot to post; bring the opponent in and use hook to kick opponent over. End in side control.

We then worked on using an opponent's lapel to trap the arm, then attacked by moving to mount and using ezekiels and step over triangles.

I did ok at sparring against a few decent blue belts and some good white belts. I was a bit second-best to everyone, but my survival mode kicked in most of the time.

It's good to hit two classes in a week for the first time in ages.

Private Class No.16...

A private class working on butterfly guard and the basic butterfly sweep. The techniques went something like this:

Basic butterfly sweep: right leg flat and hooking opponent's inside thigh; left leg up to give other attacking options; underhook right arm under opponent's shoulder and grab low at waist; clamp head looking left to opponent's chest; stuff his right arm into his chest so he cannot base out when swept; also place own left elbow behind left knee to help avoid rolling onto elbow instead of shoulder; move left under to switch hips as right hook lifts opponent and drop 90 degrees onto shoulder or ear; if opponent resists, keep driving and complete the kick; follow opponent over and secure mount or top quarter guard; then knee slide into side, secure head and block hips.

There are also options if the opponent secures an underhook first, which is to secure overhook then launch same attack from there.

The same thing can be applied from  half guard, but secure left leg underhook and tripod out on right.

We also played with guillotine and loop choke attack, and with the arm drag and collar drag. The latter involves a cross grip with one hand and slide out opposite leg; then pull opponent in and attack back.

Things to remember: underhook and hooks are always on opposite side of direction opponent is falling; triangle with elbow behind leg; fall onto shoulder as driving leg drives; hip switch and tripod.

Classes 262 & 263...

A class on escaping half guard from on top then securing side control. 

The key point involved using one arm to pin the opponent's chest to the mat so he can't move onto his hip, then using the other hand to grab his near arm at the elbow of the gi and driving it into the opponent's rib cage. 

Using the handles on the opponent to twist and secure his body in this way makes it easier to escape the trapped leg then slip into side control. 

If the opponent posture up, you can swap hands and go deep on his gi collar with your arm along his chest, then grab the back of his shoulder and sink down for a choke. 

I wasn't too clever at specific positional sparring today, but I did OK in normal sparring. I set up a nice choke and a nice wrist lock and I escaped a full mount and a turtle position. 

Things to remember: Arm across chest to set up choke.

Classes 260 & 261...

Two classes working on some half guard passes from on top in side control. 

Half guard on top to side control: pinch knees to keep opponent's trapped leg and secure head control by grabbing opponent's shoulder; pass opponent's lapel to head control hand; drive in with shoulder pressure and move base so knees face opponent; use shin of bottom leg and hand driving knee to break half guard; escape leg and move into side control.

Tripod version of this: underhook; head on opposite side of opponent's head; leg out to form base; grip break; shuck leg out to point where knee can place on floor; then use other leg to kick top leg of half guard away; move into side.

We also did some specific drilling in positional escapes. There weren't supposed to be any submissions, but I managed to get kneed in the balls and choked unconscious by an over-enthusiastic opponent. 

In the second class, we worked on the same techniques but more emphasis was put on shoulder pressure, and using your free arm to isolate the opponent's blocking arm, then turning it into an attack.

In sparring I did OK and defended well against a decent purple belt. I'm also persevering using wristlocks to annoy better opponents. It's sort of working a bit, too.

Things to remember: active toes and shoulder pressure when op top in half guard.

Class 259...

We did more work on the armbar from side control. The takehome from this was to pinch knees together to trap the arm as you squat up for the kimura. I also hit a wrist lock from this position, too. 

We then did some specific sparring from side mount, then we did line drilling with one-minute rounds and I hit a pretty cool wristlock during transition from a sweep. 

I'm also trying out other wristlocks, including one from guard and gift wrap.

Classes 257 & 258...

A couple of early morning classes working on armbars from the top in side control. The techniques went something like this:

Armbar from on top in side control: right hand grabs opponent's gi at collar to pin his back to the floor; left hand secures bicep of arm that is furthest away; base out using other hand and move onto toes and pull bicep up, then swivel 180 degrees so left leg goes over head of opponent and goes under his rib cage on other side; then drop back and apply armbar. 

Armbar from on top in side control: right hand grabs the opponent's gi at collar to pin his back to floor; left hand secures bicep of arm that is furthest away; move onto toes and pull bicep up, then swivel 180 degrees so left leg goes over head of opponent and goes under his rib cage on other side; if opponent defends by using hand on hip, then grab own gi collar to secure opponent's arm; base up on feet and other arm then lock arms together, and sit up and apply armbar from seated position. 

Sparring was OK. It was my first time back for a while and I rolled with white belts and wasn't spectacular, but I escaped a couple of tricky positions and threatened some submissions. I then rolled with with a bigger and stronger blue belt, and I used wrist locks to threaten attacks and used them to move into better positions. 

The second class featured a couple of chokes from side mount. These involved passing the gi collar of the opponent under his neck, then swapping the gi from one hand to the other and then choking the opponent out. 

It's good to be on the mats.