Class 123...

An intermediate class and more work on De La Riva guard with two more sweeps for the man pulling guard. These went something like this:

i) Man on top is standing, while man on his back on bottom has De La Riva guard, which here is left hand grabbing opponent’s right ankle, left foot hooking outside of opponent’s right knee, right foot on opponent’s left hip and right hand grabbing opponent’s left sleeve. Opponent drives in with his right leg to nullify the hook and steps back twice to nullify the foot on the hip with his left leg; your right leg switches legs and creates inside hook with left leg going on floor foot down to create momentum; left hand grabs collar on opponent’s left side and hips pivot 90 degrees away from opponent. Then you drive his still-grabbed hand between his legs and pull his collar down and keep moving to collapse the opponent into the space you have created on your right. Move into side control.

ii) Man on top is standing, while man on bottom has De La Riva guard, which here is left hand grabbing opponent’s right ankle, left foot hooking outside of opponent’s right knee, right foot on opponent’s left hip and right hand grabbing opponent’s left sleeve. Opponent drives in with his right leg to nullify the hook and steps back twice to nullify the foot on the hip with his left leg; your right leg comes to attack his right leg and sits across his shin on the floor with your left leg going on floor foot down to create momentum as you scoot back then sit up; your right hand passes his grabbed sleeve to your left hand underneath his right leg. Then your right hand reaches up and grabs the belt or the back of his gi over the back and you collapse him into the space on your right. Move into side control.

This is quite complex stuff but the principles seem to be similar to hip throws in the way you use the diagonals to collapse and move an opponent.

We then did some sparring where the goal was not to get your guard passed and I did quite poorly. But I know this needs work. On the plus side, I am starting to attack more, rather than waiting for something to happen and just react. And I’m at least trying to use the half-guard sweep and the kimura a bit more.

Things to remember: Defend your guard as it means points in a tournament; pass your opponent’s guard as it means points in a tournament. Work on both. And everything else.