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.