More half guard work today with TO. Was seeing a hip bump type of sweep from far half guard that I hadn’t seen before. If I’ve got his right leg locked up with my left knee against his right hip, I need to simply switch my hip to perpendicular while getting some type of wrist/sleeve control on his right had. Can also cup the left foot as well to get some more leverage.
Played some closed guard as well. Went for an armlock on right arm with sweep as a threat.
Wanted him to get arm out so I could switch to triangle which I did, but then spent the next four minutes trying to finish from that position.
Really think that I should just hold more loosely and work on the correct angle or see about armlocks, kimuras or sweeps from there. This has happened to me a few times and I get total tunnel vision. There may have been an angle that I just couldn’t feel or see but my legs were completely toast at the end and that’s not how I want my jiu jitsu to be.
Felt a little bummed out after that, feeling like I wasn’t learning the lessons presented to me.
Wanted to get back in tonight, but can feel all the signs of overtraining right now, so I’m going to get some extra food and some rest.
But all that will pass.
The lessons on the far half guard I’m feeling so far are as follows.
1) Constantly check his base.
2) Stay on your side.
3) Create space with forearm under chin in order to get knee onto his hip.
4) If he leans in to grab your far side wrist, switch hips into a triangle.
5) If he leans back you can switch hips into the Roger sweep variation.
6) If you can get control of his crossfacing arm you can sweep that over your far shoulder to sweep him
7) If he backs off too far, your outside foot can go on his hip to control him.
8) Constantly look for collar chokes.
9) If he tries to pry his leg out, grab his ankle and bridge and roll to that side
10) The pendulum sweep can still work from half guard.
11) Foot on the hip can lead to a far leg knee bar as well.
12) Inverted Roleta type sweeps are always a possibility as they come around on the non trapped side.
What I am liking about the half guard as I’m finally bridging together sweeps and submissions and feel like it slows down my opponents.
What I’m not liking is that I’m f’ing exhausted after drilling the positions. Now granted my training partners are the best guys in the school, so it’s no surprise. But I think the newness of this attack mindset is still making me not see the path of least resistance at every moment.
Worked with my instructor as well. Similar to the lesson we worked on before, it seems like attacks from the top can be as simple as isolating an arm and waiting for the opponent to react.
Even from top of half guard I can pin the bicep with my free leg and head and arm control.
From there it’s a matter of keeping pressure on the far shoulder and keeping his chin turned. Eventually the leg pinning the bicep can go over the head as keeping him stretched out in the shoulder will prevent him from balling up.
From here, there is a loose lock reverse triangle.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
5/18/09 training thoughts
Rolled with BE and C today. Didn’t like the way I felt with either one. Could feel excess muscle tension and kept giving into the temptation to force moves that weren’t there. Really didn’t feel like there was any flow.
Felt myself backtrack in terms of my open guard. Strange that all the stuff I liked last month on preventing them from basing, is now just a small asterisk. It still works to a degree, but it also means that I’m out of position and not really presenting a viable attack. I felt the need to test the system but it felt wrong. It felt as if it was a joke that I used to find funny or a girl I used to like. It simply didn’t resonate at all as it was still not at the core of the problem I had before, which is reacting rather than being proactive.
I was also making the mistake of being in mid range with essentially no handles in open guard.
Feel a little overtrained, but there’s still no reason or excuse for this. I was lucky to not have it completely blow up in my face today, but it should have.
I felt really tired afterward, which I think is a combination of conditioning weakness and this forcing mentality that I felt. I’m still looking for mental exercises to do when I feel this way as it always frustrating when that sense of flow and purpose just isn’t there.
Tomorrow may take day off due to conditioning workout scheduled but will see how I feel that night.
Felt myself backtrack in terms of my open guard. Strange that all the stuff I liked last month on preventing them from basing, is now just a small asterisk. It still works to a degree, but it also means that I’m out of position and not really presenting a viable attack. I felt the need to test the system but it felt wrong. It felt as if it was a joke that I used to find funny or a girl I used to like. It simply didn’t resonate at all as it was still not at the core of the problem I had before, which is reacting rather than being proactive.
I was also making the mistake of being in mid range with essentially no handles in open guard.
Feel a little overtrained, but there’s still no reason or excuse for this. I was lucky to not have it completely blow up in my face today, but it should have.
I felt really tired afterward, which I think is a combination of conditioning weakness and this forcing mentality that I felt. I’m still looking for mental exercises to do when I feel this way as it always frustrating when that sense of flow and purpose just isn’t there.
Tomorrow may take day off due to conditioning workout scheduled but will see how I feel that night.
The Heavy Leg
I’ve been working on some standup wrestling with DS over the last few weeks. His takedown philosophy is geared around the inside single. And the timing of this takedown is based on an idea of the “heavy leg”. Basically he looks for, or really at this point just senses, when the opponent gets most of his weight on one leg. The moment that happens is the moment he’s shooting. I’m guessing he actually starts shooting before this happens and actually makes impact the moment the leg is heavy.
It reminds me of some of the concepts I was working on a month back like the ab wheel, where the opponent is stumbling to get back in position while I’m moving in that position already. This is almost the same idea but from a standing position.
One concept that DS showed me was something he said he saw John Smith do. The idea is to shoot when he saw the heavy leg, but anticipate that the opponent is going to sprawl. So the initial shot needs to be well timed, but you actually don’t want to fully commit so you’re underneath the guy when he sprawls out. What you’re waiting for is the guy to stand up and back away. So when the initial shot is made, you stay in there. The moment the guy starts to pick himself up, boom, that’s when you do your “real” shot. When most people stand up, they put all their weight on one leg.
What I really like about DS’s approach to takedowns and to how he’s teaching me, is the simplicity. There’s one takedown: the inside single and one time to do it: when the opponent’s leg is heavy.
Of course there are an infinite number of ways to get there, but having simple goals makes it much easier for me to keep my head in the moment rather than being overwhelmed by information.
Now I have no illusions about becoming a great wrestler or even a great takedown guy, but I think this training is really important for several reasons.
First off, it helps me know what a good takedown guy is looking for in his attacks. The better I can get at these attacks, the better I can get at defending them. While I may have a decent sprawl already, that is only going to help me against a very unsophisticated line of attack.
Secondly, while I may still not be able to get the opponent down even with a perfectly timed shot, getting that clinch can allow me to transition to an open guard position or a leg lock attack. I won’t be able to outwrestle a good wrestler, but by learning this timing and sensitivity I can bring my attacks to them.
It always makes me cringe seeing a jiu jitsu guy do a telegraphed shot from way outside that is stuffed, then they try to pull guard and the opponent just walks away. While the jiu jitsu guy may have initiated the action, he still gave his opponent the option of walking away. I want to eliminate that option whenever possible.
I want to know how to get the match to the ground, regardless of whether that means I’m on top or not, and to also ensure that I’m the one dictating the action.
Additionally I want to be able to coach my teammates better from the standing position. While they may still need to pull guard if they’re not practicing their standup, I can at least give them better advice on how and when to do that.
The training is very fast paced and really fun. DS is an awesome teacher and I can tell he enjoys doing this type of training as do I. In the past, the wrestling I’ve done has been very discouraging as I was taught what to do but not when.
And even if I was taught when, I was never taught how to make the “when” happen. DS is showing me this in terms of concepts so I can begin to recognize this in the heat of the moment, which is especially important in takedowns, as the pace is much faster.
As always I’m amazed at how little I know and happy that there are people willing to teach me more.
It reminds me of some of the concepts I was working on a month back like the ab wheel, where the opponent is stumbling to get back in position while I’m moving in that position already. This is almost the same idea but from a standing position.
One concept that DS showed me was something he said he saw John Smith do. The idea is to shoot when he saw the heavy leg, but anticipate that the opponent is going to sprawl. So the initial shot needs to be well timed, but you actually don’t want to fully commit so you’re underneath the guy when he sprawls out. What you’re waiting for is the guy to stand up and back away. So when the initial shot is made, you stay in there. The moment the guy starts to pick himself up, boom, that’s when you do your “real” shot. When most people stand up, they put all their weight on one leg.
What I really like about DS’s approach to takedowns and to how he’s teaching me, is the simplicity. There’s one takedown: the inside single and one time to do it: when the opponent’s leg is heavy.
Of course there are an infinite number of ways to get there, but having simple goals makes it much easier for me to keep my head in the moment rather than being overwhelmed by information.
Now I have no illusions about becoming a great wrestler or even a great takedown guy, but I think this training is really important for several reasons.
First off, it helps me know what a good takedown guy is looking for in his attacks. The better I can get at these attacks, the better I can get at defending them. While I may have a decent sprawl already, that is only going to help me against a very unsophisticated line of attack.
Secondly, while I may still not be able to get the opponent down even with a perfectly timed shot, getting that clinch can allow me to transition to an open guard position or a leg lock attack. I won’t be able to outwrestle a good wrestler, but by learning this timing and sensitivity I can bring my attacks to them.
It always makes me cringe seeing a jiu jitsu guy do a telegraphed shot from way outside that is stuffed, then they try to pull guard and the opponent just walks away. While the jiu jitsu guy may have initiated the action, he still gave his opponent the option of walking away. I want to eliminate that option whenever possible.
I want to know how to get the match to the ground, regardless of whether that means I’m on top or not, and to also ensure that I’m the one dictating the action.
Additionally I want to be able to coach my teammates better from the standing position. While they may still need to pull guard if they’re not practicing their standup, I can at least give them better advice on how and when to do that.
The training is very fast paced and really fun. DS is an awesome teacher and I can tell he enjoys doing this type of training as do I. In the past, the wrestling I’ve done has been very discouraging as I was taught what to do but not when.
And even if I was taught when, I was never taught how to make the “when” happen. DS is showing me this in terms of concepts so I can begin to recognize this in the heat of the moment, which is especially important in takedowns, as the pace is much faster.
As always I’m amazed at how little I know and happy that there are people willing to teach me more.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
not jiu jitsu related
but I just started another blog
http://fisktales.blogspot.com/
The first one is about a man named T'ai Merion, who I would like the world to know, sadly, if only in hindsight.
http://fisktales.blogspot.com/
The first one is about a man named T'ai Merion, who I would like the world to know, sadly, if only in hindsight.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Touch and patience
Noticing rolling with GC and DS that there are two things that are becoming increasingly important to me: touch and patience.
With GC, especially in no gi, realized that there is a world of difference being in sword guard on my side and having as many handles in place as possible, verses not. By handles, I mean grabbing, holding or even lightly touching with my feet, knees, shoulders, elbows, hands and head in as many places as possible. I’m never going to be fast enough to react to someone moving before I do and someone as fast and skilled as GC drills that into my head.
But if I can be clinched up with as many handles as possible, the sensation of touch leads to many things. I can first feel his movement. I can feel where his weight is shifting. At times, it almost seems like you can sense a man’s intentions. This is part of the solution that I’m looking for in developing a game that can overcome speed, size, strength and conditioning. I realized that to not be in some type of clinch, even a loose one, will invariably lead to me trying to use those attributes I’m trying to battle against just to catch up. And in my mind this is something that cannot be sustained and will get worse with time.
The second lesson that’s starting to come into focus is patience. I’m seeing this in some of the more customary control positions like closed guard on bottom and side mount on top, but I think it can be applied almost anywhere.
I’m realizing how impatient I’ve been in my jiu jitsu. At times it feels like I’ve been a nervous teenager who won’t stop talking because he’s afraid of silence. While forcing the action can be good in certain circumstances, it can also quickly hurt you against the wrong opponent.
DS is the perfect example of this as given his intelligence for the game along with his wrestling, size and strength forcing a game against him will simply not work. If I do try to force it, I"m not being honest with myself on the reality of that moment. It's like I'm talking rather than enjoying the silence.
So lately I’ve been trying to catch myself forcing anything, especially in closed guard. While this may be looked at as stalling, I’m beginning to realize I need to explore the concept of stalling and how that can lead to frustrating people. I’m never going to be the strongest, biggest, most athletic or youngest guy out there so I need strategy. And part of strategy is the mental battle. And part of the mental battle is learning how to frustrate the opponent.
With GC, especially in no gi, realized that there is a world of difference being in sword guard on my side and having as many handles in place as possible, verses not. By handles, I mean grabbing, holding or even lightly touching with my feet, knees, shoulders, elbows, hands and head in as many places as possible. I’m never going to be fast enough to react to someone moving before I do and someone as fast and skilled as GC drills that into my head.
But if I can be clinched up with as many handles as possible, the sensation of touch leads to many things. I can first feel his movement. I can feel where his weight is shifting. At times, it almost seems like you can sense a man’s intentions. This is part of the solution that I’m looking for in developing a game that can overcome speed, size, strength and conditioning. I realized that to not be in some type of clinch, even a loose one, will invariably lead to me trying to use those attributes I’m trying to battle against just to catch up. And in my mind this is something that cannot be sustained and will get worse with time.
The second lesson that’s starting to come into focus is patience. I’m seeing this in some of the more customary control positions like closed guard on bottom and side mount on top, but I think it can be applied almost anywhere.
I’m realizing how impatient I’ve been in my jiu jitsu. At times it feels like I’ve been a nervous teenager who won’t stop talking because he’s afraid of silence. While forcing the action can be good in certain circumstances, it can also quickly hurt you against the wrong opponent.
DS is the perfect example of this as given his intelligence for the game along with his wrestling, size and strength forcing a game against him will simply not work. If I do try to force it, I"m not being honest with myself on the reality of that moment. It's like I'm talking rather than enjoying the silence.
So lately I’ve been trying to catch myself forcing anything, especially in closed guard. While this may be looked at as stalling, I’m beginning to realize I need to explore the concept of stalling and how that can lead to frustrating people. I’m never going to be the strongest, biggest, most athletic or youngest guy out there so I need strategy. And part of strategy is the mental battle. And part of the mental battle is learning how to frustrate the opponent.
Monday, April 27, 2009
The importance of arm control in leglocks.
One of the most important things I”ve learned with straight armlocks in the cross body position, is the importance of far shoulder control. For a long time I believed it was strictly close side leg control. And while I still think that’s useful, especially for control someone wild, I think control of the far shoulder and bicep is essential to actually breaking the grip and straightening the arm.
I’ve been focusing on my leglock attacks over the last few training sessions. I want to get better at leglocks themselves, but I also want to see how they’ll lead into other attacks. I’m beginning to already see more sweeps, armlock and triangle opportunities simply by going for the knee bar. But I’m also seeing how the knee bar and the ankle lock need the element of arm control.
One of the things my training partner MS did very well on me was controlling the same arm that he was knee barring. Not only did this make it harder to grab my own leg in defense, but also it made it easy for him to sweep me back and for me to not be able to base out and come up on top.
He and I talked about this as well as pushing the opponent’s armpit or his elbow in a kimura type position. This seems to give the right amount of distance to straighten their leg out and the arm control position makes it very difficult for them to get on top again.
I’m curious to mess around with this tomorrow and see where it leads.
I’ve been focusing on my leglock attacks over the last few training sessions. I want to get better at leglocks themselves, but I also want to see how they’ll lead into other attacks. I’m beginning to already see more sweeps, armlock and triangle opportunities simply by going for the knee bar. But I’m also seeing how the knee bar and the ankle lock need the element of arm control.
One of the things my training partner MS did very well on me was controlling the same arm that he was knee barring. Not only did this make it harder to grab my own leg in defense, but also it made it easy for him to sweep me back and for me to not be able to base out and come up on top.
He and I talked about this as well as pushing the opponent’s armpit or his elbow in a kimura type position. This seems to give the right amount of distance to straighten their leg out and the arm control position makes it very difficult for them to get on top again.
I’m curious to mess around with this tomorrow and see where it leads.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Great Equalizer
A long time ago my instructor told me I should start incorporating more leglocks into my game but as always, it takes me entirely too long to listen to good advice. I’ve gone through phases where I’ve done that but for the most part I would do them in isolation then go back to my normal game. I felt like they interrupted the flow and took away from my attacks. But after Wednesday’s session, I realized that if I’m going to only attack the upper body, especially no gi, I’m going to have to either work inverted guard or rubber guard.
I like both of these guards, but my body doesn’t, especially when dealing with much bigger training partners. So in my mind to really round out the no gi game, and actually to improve my armbars and triangles, I need to attack the legs.
Today was day one of really incorporating leglocks into my whole game. Now granted I was actively looking for kneebars and ankle locks, but I was also looking to see how they could enhance, rather than distract from my whole game. One of the mistakes I’ve made in the past is to “over isolate” a particular move to the point where I ignore what going for that move gives me. It is always hard to incorporate the rest of my game from that, so now I’m always trying to have “black dot focus” rather than “white dot focus”.
I had some great training partners today who gave me a good energy and chance to work some of my new attacks. I really like what I’m seeing and feeling so far even though some of my knee bars are at a bad” boy band” level right now. One thing that I noticed, is the best way to set up kneebars from the guard is to attack the arms and neck. This leads to posture and posture leads to leaving the legs out there.
Of course the opposite quickly becomes apparent as well, when once you attack the legs, they lean in and grab. I realized this might be one of the best ways to get wrist control to work for a triangle as most people aren’t thinking triangle defense when they’re dealing with a knee bar. They’re reaching out.
The flip bar is another project that will take some work but definitely made me like being sprawl passed better. The threat is there and I always do much better when I have an attack to focus on rather than the idea of “not getting passed”.
I’m going to write about this idea more later, but for now, it seems to me that trying to make something as big and broad as a pass “not happen” is overwhelming. There are so many ways to pass that trying to stop everything feels impossible and for me personally always makes me panic a little.
But if I focus on an attack and feeling what attack is there, I don’t worry about the pass as preventing the pass, miss aligning them and off basing or submitting them is all part of the attack.
So today was very exciting to me in that regard because I am seeing leg attacks in positions where normally I get a “scramble” or even “don’t let him pass” feeling. A lot of these locks rely on them pushing the pass and even the concept of getting that clinch and the handles from open guard is inherently taken care of.
One thing I need to be careful is not to slip into inverting too much as my neck doesn’t forgive me for that position. Although thinking about it, I really should be shifting from my shoulder to my forehead to my other shoulder anyway.
The leg attacks are also leading to another type of guard that I’m experimenting with. I’m not sure what it’s really called but it really is normally just a guard recovering technique where one shin is across their belt line and the other leg is over their head. Let’s say it’s my right leg across their belt and my left leg over their head.
I’m finding that if I control their right arm with my left hand and hook their left leg with my right arm I have a decent amount of control. This position also works, maybe even better, if my right leg is in between theirs in a half guard position.
I see some knee bar attacks on their left leg if they move to their left. If they force the pass to my right there is a good reverse triangle as well. It needs more practice, of course, but I see some definite potential with that.
Also I’m realizing how much the knee bar and cross ankle lock/inside heelhook tie in. I saw that when I was working on controlling the knee bar where we’re both essentially on our backs and I have my instep in the crook of their knee. I’m thinking that grabbing their heel may be a way of preventing them from spinning , but even if they do, the inside heelhook/footlock is there. I also need to adjust my body position and have my back towards them as well.
Overall I’m really excited about this next step and look forward to seeing how these setups work in a no gi situation. Additionally I want to see how I can implement leglock entries starting from standing. I think this may be a good way to initiate an attack on good wrestlers.
I like both of these guards, but my body doesn’t, especially when dealing with much bigger training partners. So in my mind to really round out the no gi game, and actually to improve my armbars and triangles, I need to attack the legs.
Today was day one of really incorporating leglocks into my whole game. Now granted I was actively looking for kneebars and ankle locks, but I was also looking to see how they could enhance, rather than distract from my whole game. One of the mistakes I’ve made in the past is to “over isolate” a particular move to the point where I ignore what going for that move gives me. It is always hard to incorporate the rest of my game from that, so now I’m always trying to have “black dot focus” rather than “white dot focus”.
I had some great training partners today who gave me a good energy and chance to work some of my new attacks. I really like what I’m seeing and feeling so far even though some of my knee bars are at a bad” boy band” level right now. One thing that I noticed, is the best way to set up kneebars from the guard is to attack the arms and neck. This leads to posture and posture leads to leaving the legs out there.
Of course the opposite quickly becomes apparent as well, when once you attack the legs, they lean in and grab. I realized this might be one of the best ways to get wrist control to work for a triangle as most people aren’t thinking triangle defense when they’re dealing with a knee bar. They’re reaching out.
The flip bar is another project that will take some work but definitely made me like being sprawl passed better. The threat is there and I always do much better when I have an attack to focus on rather than the idea of “not getting passed”.
I’m going to write about this idea more later, but for now, it seems to me that trying to make something as big and broad as a pass “not happen” is overwhelming. There are so many ways to pass that trying to stop everything feels impossible and for me personally always makes me panic a little.
But if I focus on an attack and feeling what attack is there, I don’t worry about the pass as preventing the pass, miss aligning them and off basing or submitting them is all part of the attack.
So today was very exciting to me in that regard because I am seeing leg attacks in positions where normally I get a “scramble” or even “don’t let him pass” feeling. A lot of these locks rely on them pushing the pass and even the concept of getting that clinch and the handles from open guard is inherently taken care of.
One thing I need to be careful is not to slip into inverting too much as my neck doesn’t forgive me for that position. Although thinking about it, I really should be shifting from my shoulder to my forehead to my other shoulder anyway.
The leg attacks are also leading to another type of guard that I’m experimenting with. I’m not sure what it’s really called but it really is normally just a guard recovering technique where one shin is across their belt line and the other leg is over their head. Let’s say it’s my right leg across their belt and my left leg over their head.
I’m finding that if I control their right arm with my left hand and hook their left leg with my right arm I have a decent amount of control. This position also works, maybe even better, if my right leg is in between theirs in a half guard position.
I see some knee bar attacks on their left leg if they move to their left. If they force the pass to my right there is a good reverse triangle as well. It needs more practice, of course, but I see some definite potential with that.
Also I’m realizing how much the knee bar and cross ankle lock/inside heelhook tie in. I saw that when I was working on controlling the knee bar where we’re both essentially on our backs and I have my instep in the crook of their knee. I’m thinking that grabbing their heel may be a way of preventing them from spinning , but even if they do, the inside heelhook/footlock is there. I also need to adjust my body position and have my back towards them as well.
Overall I’m really excited about this next step and look forward to seeing how these setups work in a no gi situation. Additionally I want to see how I can implement leglock entries starting from standing. I think this may be a good way to initiate an attack on good wrestlers.
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