Class 309...

Another gruelling dinner-time class, but it was massively enjoyable as I was partnered with an old friend and there was quite a bit of drilling basic techniques involved. These included kimuras, omoplatas, armbars and triangles. Note to self: I should use triangles a lot more as I have long legs and I should employ these offensively. 

We were shown a couple of techniques and one of them was a basic leg triangle set-up for open guard that I really liked. It went something like this: 
Ensure opponent's hands are inside of guard and his elbows are down; secure collar and arm control one side of opponent; open guard and bring opposite knee across in a sort of z guard; kick z leg up to beat arm and attack for triangle. 

I got murdered in sparring. I ended up on bottom in side control against a couple of bigger and stronger white belts but I managed to fend them off, I even swept one of them at the end. I then got roundly murdered by two good purple belts. One of them has a side control that is exhausting to try and escape. I got a chance to relax against a junior white belt, but I could tell he's going to be good and causing me issues within three months...

Things to remember: Attack for triangles; triangle set-up from knee shield;  work on side control escapes.

Classes 307 & 308...

First, I threw myself into a 90-minute lunchtime class and it was gruelling. But I survived.

The two techniques we worked on involved a takedown from a trip/leg block, then a sweep on a standing opponent that moved into an armbar. These went something like this:

Takedown: you are standing facing an opponent; you have collar and sleeve control and so does he; you angle out and pull down his sleeve control side so he reacts; then you drag his collar side down and step back to 90 degrees but your same side collar leg blocks the movement of his leg; continue the rotation and drop back and down to complete the circle for the throw; to make it easier, you can use your other leg to hook inside his other leg and sweep.

Sweep into inverted armbar: This involved  moving from an open guard to moving into some type of single leg, then tipping the opponent over and dropping into an inverted armbar. I tried to take notes but this sort of ultra connected technique is so far out of my skill sets and competencies that I can't recall most of the details. 

We then did some specific sparring. I sucked at this. We then did proper sparring and I rolled with three good purple belts and a black belt. I was exhausted by this time, so I put up very little resistance.

The major mistake I kept making was not having the foot in the hip when trying to pull guard. This cost me time and time again. I also kept getting my half guard smashed before I had time to put my frame in place. 

The one thing I did get right, though, was using a lockdown escape that I chanced upon yesterday.

It was good to be back. And I survived.

Following on, I did an open mat and I did OK against sparring against higher belts. The threat of my wrist locks does buy a bit of time and I need to use that threat to set up other things. 

I am currently persevering with the half guard and the butterfly guard because I want to develop a more open and offensive guard. The full guard and the overhook guard I rely on are OK and I have options with them, but I need to give myself some more offensive and sweeping options. Sadly the type of tight clamping guards I favour don't really offer this, so I need to expand and try to learn, even though it will make me even more vulnerable to savvy opponents for a bit. 

Things to remember: get frame in place when using half guard; work on guard pulls with foot in hip.