June 13th 2014 - Gi

Theme & Techniques: O-Soto Gari, Basic Side Control Knee Escape, Paint Brush (Americana)

Had a good group this morning as usual. After going through O-Soto Gari with Mike (Lawyer) we added Dave to our group to work on the side control escape.  Then Austin showed up and said he was late because something about his alarm and his cat, so I worked with him the rest of the time.  I felt pretty good about the techniques and gave Austin some pointers along the way.

Rolling: Side Control Position (6 x 2 min), Free Rolling (2 x 4 min, Post Class)

Greg set aside enough time so we had the opportunity to roll with everyone.  With Austin, Darijo, and Ross I tried my best to implement the basic side control escape but it didn't work as well as in practice, but it did open up opportunities for the use of other escapes.  Most often what would happen is I'd have a good bridge and get my knee in across their belt but from there they would put on some pressure and I would end up snaking my other foot to get to butterfly guard.  I played it pretty tight from top position and went to knee on belly when I could.  I used the kimura setup that we worked on a few weeks ago, it's slowly working it's way into my repertoire. 

To finish off class, I rolled with Dave and Mike.  Lately my objective with newer guys is starting off pulling butterfly guard and fighting for the cross collar grip and looking for the loop choke.  I still haven't figured out the timing of the knee push and the technique completely depends on it.  If the loop choke doesn't happen then I move on to going for the butterfly sweep.  Mike gave me a few problems.  I had to work pretty hard to get passed his guard.  I also setup a farside armbar but he was able to lock his arms in and rotate his body to stacking me.  Usually I don't have that problem and may need a backup plan for when that happens.  

After class I rolled with Austin and had a good time.  A highlight was that I completed the pass Greg showed me last week to deal with the knee shield half guard and it worked like a charm.  Most of the role I played around with the cross guard position mostly trying to feel out the setup for the armbar instead of going straight to the omoplata.

I finished out the morning with Ross.  He's getting tougher and I underestimated him a bit because he was able to pass my guard at one point.  My objective with him was to play the open guard from 2 weeks ago and I got to the position a few times, I don't think I got a submission out of it but usually setup a sweep or went to close guard. 

I'm starting to be reminded of the things that I had trouble with when I first started.  I'm seeing guys ignoring collar grips when attempting to pass guard.  I feel like I was told to deal with grips by my seniors but not really knowing how to do it.  Now grip fighting is very important to me and I feel like I'm getting pretty good at it.  Another thing that came up today was I caught Ross with a reverse arm triangle from side control which used to happen to me a lot.  I told Ross that I wasn't sure how to prevent it but suggested that there are very few reasons to straighten your arms out from the bottom of side control.  I setup a couple kimuras today and questioned if I used too much energy/strength to break their defense.  I may ask Greg about this tomorrow.