3/23/09 bjj training notes

Had a good session with T and M today. Both are super tough and present some very interesting challenges. With T it’s constantly looking out for his knee bars from the bottom of half guard as well as his reverse triangle. M just has such an innovative game and any moment I feel aggressive it ends up with me flailing around, burning energy and getting nowhere.

Really finding a home with the sword guard with my head next to theirs. It really limits their passing options and gives me many opportunities to sweep and arm drag.

Having some troubles finishing triangles as they are almost falling on their back and using that to create some space and escape. I may need to get back to basics with grabbing my own shin and having my other foot on their hip.

Also still getting stacked in triangles and that would be a solution as well to keep that control and spare my neck.

Only went inverted once on what ended up being a transitional move. I think that’s okay as it’s when I sit there that I get stacked or dragged and that is just no longer worth it.

Things done well
1) Sitting guard. Head position and keeping in ball make hook sweeps, x guard and arm drags very accessible. The head position also makes any sort of pin and pass very difficult as my head’s in the way and it makes them want to back up.

2) Triangle set ups. Got some wrist control from closed guard as well as a simple popping the hips up from open. Was not able to finish which needs to be broken down and analyzed.

3) Ezekiel choke. This is turning into a good distraction from bottom and finish/ armbar setup from the top. Also good in closed guard when they have a hand on the mat.

4) Feet on hips. Not as much today but this control, awareness and mobility is allowing me to get omoplatas without pulling on my foot at all which is a big plus

Things to work on

1) Getting an angle on mount attacks.
a. I’m too straight on when going for collar chokes, armlocks etc. and this is allowing them better defense. Really need to remember the fundamental of sliding into “S mount” with knee by head on opposite side of where I’m initially grabbing the collar. Much harder to get rolled that way and it also misaligns their body and allows me to work chokes sliding into armlocks.

2) Getting the over under too quickly in back attacks.
a. I didn’t break down T’s hips at a 45 degree angle and instead held the over/under with no hip control. It limited my control and allowed him to roll underneath. Wrestlers would most likely use it to throw me over their shoulders as well. Either way there’s no control. Hip controls first, then torso, especially if they’re bigger.

3) Triangle finishes
a. It feels like all the principles I’ve been thinking about in open guard suddenly go out the window with the triangle. As a result they’re throwing their legs over, falling over and stacking me while I just desperately hold onto the figure four for dear life. I need to continue the mindset of off balancing and attacking. The arm that’s outside can be elbow locked, kimura’d or Segaled. I can hook the leg and work the sweep. Or shoulder shimmy back causing them to ab wheel.

4) Armlock from triangle
a. First off I need to remember that I can use this finish as many of the times when the triangle isn’t there, this is.
b. Second when it ends up being a cross body armlock position, I need to secure the arm and grab my collar, but I also need to either push away their far leg or hook the near leg and grab the far foot. M was able to throw his leg over my head and counter my triangle with one of his own. My own arm that was trapping his felt like it was going to break if I moved the wrong way, which made me panic. This leads to…

5) Composure.
a. This always comes and goes but while today was decent, there was still moments of panic. I actually feel that this more structure oriented game I’m working on helps as it’s more efficient and doesn’t rely on me moving faster than the opponent. If I can move faster than a bigger opponent in the past I would be discouraged.
b. I still felt, even when mounted on T that I was rushing my attacks. The pace was fast but not as precise as it needed to be. Working on angling off might be a good step to keep my head clear.