December 23rd 2015 - Gi All Levels

Theme & Techniques: Half Guard Knee Slide Pass, Kimura from Bottom Half Guard Attack and Back Take
Partner: Mike, Morgan

Before class I was asking Mike about attacking the kimura and taking the back.  I've been getting the kimura grip lately but unable to finish it or improve my position before they posture.  I've also had others like Alejandro control me quite a bit with the kimura and turn it into an armbar or back take.  Part of my problem is that I haven't yet grasped when I need to push it away from me or hold it in and how much torque I need to put on at any given time.  Mike demonstrated it and I could feel it, but it's going to take some experimentation to figure it out.

We did the half guard pass for a little while with using the free leg to hook their thigh and then knee sliding.  The thing that we focused on the most was moving our head across away from the underhook and grabbing the elbow.

I think we were supposed to work on the granby roll next but since it was such a small class Mike had us work on kimura from half guard.  Some really good details came out of this. 

• The first being when they defend by hiding their hand on their thigh and posturing up.  I usually lose the kimura here.  Mike showed us hip out and then step all the way over to their opposite hip, this provided a lot of leverage to pull their hand out.
• Next we worked on the back take if they stay down.  The major new thing with this was getting the butterfly hook to help push away.  Then Morgan and I both had trouble keeping our legs close to the floor and tight together.  So this gave me some things to work on and perfect.

I think I found a new focus to put some effort into.  The kimura grip is something that I'm finding myself in lately which I can finish often the standard way from the top with either the normal way in side control or by transitioning into armbar but anywhere else I don't feel confident.  So I'm excited to see a new path open up.

Rolling: Half Guard Position (6 x 3 min)
Rolled With: Mike, Morgan

We each took our turn on the bottom.  One thing that stood out, pertaining to the theme of the class, was I was able to get the kimura grip at one point on Morgan and swept with it.  I was still in half guard and instinctively let the kimura go to push on the knee to pass the guard as Mike was telling me not to let it go.  After class he showed me to put my free knee on his hip to help pry my leg out while I keep the grip.  Mike and I had some great exchanges when we rolled, some koala guard, some attacking the back, some inverted half guard, etc.  It was great fun and really cerebral fast rolling makes my day.