Had an exhaustive training session with TO on Monday and needed a few days off to deal with some injuries and just general overtraining.
Still thinking about the concepts of staying off my back. I’ve been watching some Saulo footage and thinking about the concepts of his running escape. It seems like many of those moves are predicated by a bridge then whipping the far leg over in the direction you want to go. There’s a lot of power in that structure and it makes it hard to pin someone.
It’s interesting as a few months ago I was working on a lot of offense from being flat on my back. I still like those half guard sweeps and the finesse involved. But it’s still ultimately a passive game. And while it’s good to be calm when crushed and flat on your back, it’s probably a better idea to develop systems for rarely getting to that point to begin with.
I like the structured use of the shin and knee from the shin guard. From the sword guard it’s my forehead underneath the guy’s chin along with my arm pushing his collar bone. From the transition from almost getting past, it’s elbow to knee, looking at my watch and extending up. More and more I’m seeing how the far arm when the opponent is passing is the one to focus on. If I can get a shin or even a hand on that I can start to get space.
If I’m head and arm side controlled, I’m going to start exploring the running pass. I feel confident in my back control defense and think it’s a better option than being pinned.
This style is a little more tiring than some of the other methods I’ve been using but it also tires out my opponent much more. I’m using more methods to make the other person uncomfortable and motivated to move. It’s then a matter of figuring out where he will move and what I will do when he gets there. If I time this right I’ll be reacting to his reaction which should always give me the jump.
All of this advice was given to me many times by my instructor and as always it takes time to really listen.
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