Half Guard and progress

Starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of things a bit better, switching hips, moving position and developing a bit more of a strategy. I've been working a lot more on position than anything else and I think that if I tend to focus more on that than getting a submission, it actually makes the game a lot more fun.

Anyways, a couple of things that we worked on recently include passing half guard position from the top (that is, one of your legs is trapped between their legs).

Half guard pass 1 - You get the underhook
Seek the opposite underhook and post your head on the other side of their head so you have a stronger base. Work your trapped foot up towards their butt so your hips are raised (like a tripod) and once your knee is through, switch your hips so that your knee hits the floor. Keep your hips low and close to theirs and transition through to side control. Keeping your hips low is really good at stopping them from inserting their knee back in to regain the half guard or the guard.  Keeping the hips close to them as well is much more effective than trying to keep your knee near their hips.

Half guard pass 2 - You get the underhook
Similar to the above, instead  of  creating a tripod, set up like before, underhook and head on opposite side and step to the side with your free leg. This creates a better angle to move your knee up past their thighs and pass the half guard.

Half guard pass 3 - You can't get the underhook
If you can't get the underhook, control their head by catching it with the original underhooking arm and push your shoulder into their neck/jaw and proceed to pass the guard like the first half guard pass described.

Half guard pass 4 - They have the underhook
If they get the underhook from below, control their head like above and instead of following through like in the first guard pass, step your free leg back and over their body to the opposite side of their body. From there, keep your butt to the floor and hip escape up towards their head to shift your trapped leg higher. Keep the free leg a bit bent to make sure they can't sweep you either way. From there, you can also use your free leg to push their leg and free your trapped leg. Shift into side control.

Half guard pass 5 - Neither of you can get the underhook
If you can't get the underhook, an option is to reach down and grab their belt on their opposite side. So if your right leg is stuck, using your left hand, grab their belt on their left side with your elbow in their arm pit. Sink your weight down on your butt and work your leg free and move into side control.

Hip bump sweep
Another thing I've been really working on and getting is my hip bump sweep. I'm actually really surprised how well it works and I seem to get a lot of people with it really easily. I find that when they're breaking my guard, if I sit up and cross reach over their opposite shoulder, grab their arm or just tuck it close to my body and hip bump, I can get the sweep a majority of the time. I think I've been pretty lazy with my guard so being active and getting these sweeps is really encouraging, especially as I don't seem to be able to hit the scissor sweep too often.I need to tell myself constantly that not having them in my closed guard is fine and playing an open guard is a lot more dynamic and fun, regardless of if they pass.But definitely been hitting this sweep, at least 5 times tonight!

Breaking out of Guard
I've been finding this is starting to get easier, as long as I have proper grips on their gi, their sleeve and my elbows are in the right place. Putting my hand under their leg isn't so much of an issue, as long as my arm is controlling their other leg. Still a lot to work on here though.


Kenpo wise, I should be going for my grading on the 30th August. Need to work a lot on some of the reference techniques and come up with theories of push drag, 60 second functional fitness exercises as well as memorise the creed. So much to do!

Hip Bump Sweep and Back control defense

Wow, it's been a while since I last updated...haha...Not Diablo 3 related...I swear!

The other night we learnt the hip bump sweep. I must admit, I found it quite difficult to pull off, and I suppose it’s most likely due to being unfamiliar with it. There were alot of aspects to consider with it and though it seems fairly simple, pulling it off in wrestling seems like it’d be difficult unless done incredibly quickly.

Hip Bump Sweep

1. From a closed guard position, break down your opponent’s posture bringing them down with your legs and a grip on the lapel.
2. As your opponent tries to posture up, follow him and cross grab his arm in an overhook opening your guard. So with your right arm, sit up, going up on your left hand and reach over his right arm (diagonally opposite). Your left arm will be supporting from the hand (not the elbow).
3. Control their arm with the overhook, keeping your body close, and bump your hip (pushing hard with your leg) into their torso to sweep and reverse the position into you in Mount.

You need to control their arm to stop them from posting out and to assist in the sweep.
Submissions 101 breakdown. He makes it look so easy...

 

The main thing is to control that arm and push hard with that leg to get the momentum.

The alternative to this is if your opponent pushes you down, sensing you were going for the sweep, you can scoot your butt away a bit so you’re sitting, push the overhooking arm down over their neck (like a guillotine) and under their opposite arm. Clasp your hands together and if you can get a leg hook in, you should be able to sweep them over you.

Back control defence

Someone also gave me some tips for defending when someone has you in back control.

1. If with back to floor, push your legs off the floor and try to work your head higher than the person controlling you from behind. This will allow you to relieve the pressure of an attempted choke and make it harder for them to finish.
2. Roll to the opposite side that they are attempting to choke you from. So if they are trying to choke with their right, roll onto the left. This can trap their other arm and stop it from completing the choke.
3. From point 2 above, making small incremental shifts of their leg with a grip on their pants to remove the hook and under your body can improve your position and allow you to turn around.
4. Always defend your neck.

Important point, From back control, never lock your feet in front of your opponent as you’re just asking for an ankle lock.

Front Sweep, Back Sweep and variations

Last night we learnt the front sweep, the back sweep and a couple of variations.

These all start from you pulling guard position on someone who is standing up. So say both of you are standing, you grab their gi and jump into guard with them standing.

Back Sweep
1.    From Guard (and your opponent standing), you drop down onto your shoulders, letting your legs go.
2.    As your knees pass their torso, bring them together and keep your feet on their back, toes facing inwards. This essentially means that they are trapped between your knees and feet.
3.    Grab their legs behind the ankle (thus trapping them) and thrust your hips up (therefore pushing your knees into them).
4.    This should make them stumble backwards and fall onto their back. Once they are on their back, grabbing their lapel and drag yourself up into Mount position.
This works exactly the same without the Gi. I’ve noticed that this one is really good as well for when people are trying to stand up in your guard, you can usually get them in the transition period and reverse the positions.

Front Sweep
1.    From Guard (and your opponent standing), grab your opponent’s gi sleeves and drop down onto your shoulders, letting your legs go.
2.    Bracing your feet on their stomach (toes in or out), pull their weight over you with your grip and flip them over your head.
3.    Maintain grips and follow them as they fall over onto their back so you end up in Mount position.
This one seems to rely more on Gi, though you could probably do it with grabbing wrists, it would be difficult, especially as everything tends to be slippery.


Variation sweep 1 – Hand stand sweep
1.    From Guard (and your opponent standing), drop down onto your shoulders. Slightly lower yourself by loosening your legs a bit, but don’t let them go. Your hip should be approximately in line with their knee. 
2.    Hook your right arm behind their left leg from the inside so the inside of your elbow is on their ankle.
3.    Put your left hand next to your head with fingers facing down and push to the side. This will force their knee to bend and trip them onto the floor.
4.    Grab their lapel and drag yourself into Mount position.

Variation Sweep 2 – Knee binding sweep variant
1.    From Guard (and your opponent standing), grab your opponent’s gi sleeves(?) and drop down onto your shoulders, letting your legs go.
2.    Allow your legs to spread into a V as you drop and bring them together again in closed guard at a point just above their knees, forcing their knees together.
3.    From there, it’s just a matter of tripping them down to the side. Use your legs around their legs to move up to Mount position.

Practice practice practice!