Classes 346 & 347...

First up was an open mat No-Gi class in which I was comprehensively leg locked all over the place by all the senior belts. I am slowly understanding how not to get leg-locked quite so much but it will take time against good people. It was nice to be back, though, after a week and a half off. I am continuing to experiment with Williams guard, half guard and butterfly guard and this is going sort of OK. 

I also sought some advice of getting past legs. One answer according to a very good competitor was to se the leg wrap pass. This seemed really obvious as I use this pass all the time in gi. But, like an idiots, I hadn't made the translation to No-Gi. D'oh!

The second class was a dinner-time Gi class and we did quite a bit of positional drilling. We worked on the following sequence: 

Leg drag to knee on belly: opponent on his back and you have his gi trousers held at the knee and his feet are on your hips; pick a leg to leg drag by picking keeping the hand on the knee and scooping under the ankle with the opposite hand; then diagonal leg steps into hip of opponent; other leg steps back and brace. 

Torreador to knee on belly: opponent on his back and you have his gi trousers held at the knee and his feet are on your hips; push his legs back then to one side; then diagonal leg steps into hip of opponent; other leg steps back and brace. 

We then did a drill where you establish knee on belly using one of the above drills, then you ride your opponent to switch knee on belly sides. Your opponent turns into you so you step with your base leg over his head, then spin around and switch your hips so you end up on the other side of the opponent.

We also did a drill involving the granby roll from turtle when your opponent is on your side and back. This allows you to recover guard or hit a triangle. 

Sparring was OK. I hit a couple of nice chokes and did some positional recovery moves. I need to attack with more weapons than Ezekiel chokes, loop chokes and wrist locks, though. I may well ban myself from using those techniques for a few weeks and only allow myself to hit omoplatas, armours, triangles and guillotines.

Things to remember: drills to pass legs; granby roll from turtle.

Class 345...

A bits and bobs class reviewing some improvements for tightening techniques.

Tightening Rear Naked Choke: pulling connected hands under armpit of opponent to protect hands and ensure choke bites deeper.

Then:

Armpit hand grabs hand of opponent and employ hand to shoulder choke.
Gable grip choke with choking arm hand on top and palm of other hand facing up with fingers out.

Move hands into rear naked choke position.

If opponent buries his head, got to rear naked choke position and apply jaw crank.

Finishing Triangle When Apponent Hides Hand: switch legs on triangle, then fish for hidden hand and apply straight armbar or kimura lock. 

Side Control Escape: key tip is to keep frame and use pressure between the hand on the hip and the knee to clamp opponent and probe for opening to recover guard.

Electric Chair from Half Guard Lockdown: swim arm under leg of opponent and swing legs to generate momentum to sweep opponent. Keep his leg on your shoulder and apply pressure. 

Sparring was OK. I hit a nice rolling wrist lock and a guillotine. I am also getting better at avoiding the legs of opponents and my tactic of moving into surfer stance to set up knee cut is the right thing to do. I just need to pull the trigger faster. 

Things to remember: steps to securing neck choke, use knee and arm to probe for openings to recover guard.

Classes 343 & 344...

A gi class working on different guards. The drill saw us transitioning from butterfly with double unders, sitting out from butterfly into the butterfly sweep position, then transitioning to half guard and hip escaping to full guard, then getting wrist control and placing feet on hips for spider guard, then spinning under for single X guard and moving into the X guard sweep position.

We then worked on the single X sweep into achilles lock. This went something like this:

Single X Achilles Lock: Man swoops under legs of opponent; nearest arm wraps ankle; outside leg foot goes onto hip of opponent and knee wraps around opponent's leg; other leg closes in on same knee and foot goes under bum of opponent to create pressure on trapped knee; apply pressure on knee to take opponent down, then apply achilles lock. Tip on achilles lock: you can apply a figure four grip to apply guillotine lock on achilles. 

Defending Achilles Lock: Attacked man holds onto gi to prevent opponent extending, puts boot on to protect leg, remove foot on hip, hop over leg and come up on top. 

Sparring was OK and I was fine against people at my level. I am also attacking for more omoplatas, which was an ambition this month. 

Next up was a wresting class in which we worked on single leg takedowns and tips for completing single legs. 

Single leg from underhook side: Pummel and secure undertook on one side and hand or head control on the other. To attack for single leg: side step to same side as underhook, use the undertook arm to point to the ceiling, bump the opponent off-balance with your head to inside, then grab the off-balanced leg. 

We were then shown a few different methods of finishing the single leg if running the pipe doesn't work. These options were: 

Back Hand Trip: From the single leg position, the front hand wraps the leg, the back hand reaches round and wraps the front of the opponent's other leg to trip. Drive forward.

Front Hand Trip: From the single leg position, the back hand wraps the leg, the front hand reaches round and wraps the back of the opponent's other leg to trip. Drive forward.

Khabib Trip: Gable grip hands to hips of opponent, outside foot wraps near leg of opponent, drive forward and pull hands in and take opponent down. 

Backwards lateral drop from back control: Head in middle of opponent's back, hands gable gripped around waist, pull him back and step out to side with leg extended so he falls over it. You end up in side or mount. 

Sparring was OK. I was ruined by better fighters but I held own with everyone else.

Things to remember: Single leg takedown extensions, achilles lock, keep trying to by pass legs of opponent when sparring.

Class 342...

Another no-gi class and some amendments to help finish a rear naked choke. These were:

Amends to rear naked choke: hand under armpit pulls choking hand closer to armpit, so when opponent strips hand, there is more of the choking arm to sink in under he neck. Even if opponent buries chin, there is still a neck crank to apply from rear naked choke position.

Triangle set up from shin guard: secure head with left arm, then open guard and place right foot on opponent's hip while other foot goes into shin guard position against opponent's bicep. When ready to attack, kick through shin guard, then circle in to beat opponent's arm and clamp on triangle choke.

If opponent defends by hiding arm, then switch triangle leg lock position; then hip out to attack the other arm with kimura or arm bar. When opponent brings in other arm to defend, then clamp that into position to finish the triangle.

Other option is to do a tee pee, which is loosening legs into loose triangle then gripping hands being own legs and applying squeeze to choke opponent.

We also worked on a triangle from overhook setup and a triangle from mount.

Sparring was OK. I didn't get tapped quite as much today by senior folk, but I still fell for a few leg locks. I tried to be more methodical getting past the legs of opponents.

Things to remember: triangle set ups and guard passing to beat legs.

Class 341...

A no-gi class with some kimura set-ups from guard positions. These went something like this:

Kimura from Guard: Move up to close space on opponent and grab own shin across back of opponent on a diagonal. Pull opponent down and let him base himself with his hands. Attack arm of opponent by shoving armpit over armpit of opponent and securing a kimura grip. Then lock guard back up, shrimp out and lock up kimura. 

Kimura from Hip Bump Sweep: Open guard, close space on opponent and aim for hip bump sweep. Let opponent base himself with his hand. Attack supporting arm of opponent by shoving armpit over armpit of opponent and securing a kimura grip. Then drop back down, lock guard back up, shrimp out and lock up kimura. 

Kimura from Half Guard Bottom in Knee Shield: Man on bottom pushes knee shield through to collapse opponent, then you attack the arm he braces himself with. Lock up kimura grip, shrimp out and lock up half guard, then apply pressure to finish.

Kimura from Butterfly with Double Unders: Butterfly hooks are in and you have double unders on the opponent. Swim arm in over opposite armpit of opponent, secure kimura grip, then use opposite hook to sweep to side control. Apply pressure to finish.

Sparring was sort of OK. I got murdered by the higher belts and I did OK with people at my level. I also successfully stuffed a couple of lockdowns, which is a position I struggled with a few weeks ago.

I then stuck around to do a 90-minute MMA class. This was all boxing rounds. My hands were OK, but I haven't done straight boxing for a few years, so I was a bit off the pace when it came to light string and defending. The more tired I got, the worse my defence got, too. I am also not tight enough with my left hook when throwing it.

Things to remember: Attacking for kimuras and lockdown defence.