BJJ 8.12.2009

Pappa held the Tuesday practice as we've come to expect. Technical sparring for warmup, which was nice. We were supposed to take it easy in the beginning and then increase the effort round by round. Which I kind of did, but adjusting to the appropriate strength levels is not always easy. Warm I was.

Throw or takedown of the day was for the situation where you're already firmly grabbed from the side. Hold the punching arm and fall on your arse while lifting the agressor's leg high up so you'll free both your arms. Get to side mount and finish with an armbar. I am yet to be convinced to try these submissions in real self-defense situations, but I guess the takedown part might work. Luckily I rarely find myself in such street fights.

The main bout of the evening was passing the guard Fabio Gurgel style. One hand on the chest, other holding the opponent's same side arm from the sleeve (Never put your thumb inside, or it might pop out. Ouch!). Quickly stand upright and push the guard down with your free arm. Get your knee over the leg, and you are most likely to end up in the half guard. From there you should get your hands around him behind the neck and the other armpit. Push his head with your shoulder in a way that allows you to grab his pants with your lower arm. Wiggle your further leg closer and at the same time push his knee down with your elbow. You should be able to get your knee over his leg. Keep his hand from pushing the knee back and turn his head facing the other way. That will give you enough room to free your foot and get yourself to mount. Juha emphasized the importance of getting the opponent's head and legs facing opposite directions. Defending anything from that position is extremely difficult.

As there is good chance to end up defending halfguard we also practiced simple sweep from there. If you notice that the attacker has his further leg quite close to your foot, you can try to get your leg over his shin and do a bridge to roll over. Positions are inversed, hurrah!

In the end we had another round of grappling. My imagination was very lacking, but I did manage to sustain the open guard for a fairly good period. Keeping the angle straight helps for sure. But no cool submissions originated from me, and I was choked once again in the very end.