MMA and me; day 190/191

With the past few days jiu jitsu classes having been so small, we have been focusing on more specific techniques, and their applications. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we did a lot of work on the knee shield. It's very similar to the action guard, but it is it's own animal entirely. With your opponent in your half guard, take your bottom foot and bring it over their inside leg, so your knee is on the ground, and the foot is propped up with the shin resting on their calf. Bring your top side leg over and step on the blade of your bottom side foot, while bringing your topside knee in tight on the point of their outside hip bone. By pinching your knees together, pressing down on your own foot, and extending your hips, you can control your opponent very well, and they will have a tough time passing your guard. Now, with your bottom side arm, post the elbow to the mat, and frame up the other arm by grabbing it with the bottom side hand. There is no need to push hard, or relax completely, because the whole point of framing up your arms is to prevent your opponent from bowling you over with pressure, and keeping them at bay. As the push into you, bring your top side knee all the way up into their arm pit, and then pummel the same side arm in for an under hook. After claiming the under hook, extend the top side leg, and slip out to back control, keeping the bottom side leg hook in. From back control reach around their back and under their stomach to get both arms around their far arm, suck it in tight and drive them over to the side where there arm was posted, while circling around behind them into side control. From here, you can grab a gift wrap (arm under their head to grab the wrist of their own arm that is wrapped around their neck) and lift them up to a seated position, and rolling them over your posted leg to get back control, and rolling them over your body, back and forth to fully center your chest on their spine, and get both hooks in. You can also get wrist control on their outside arm, pull it away from their body, and then snake your bottom side leg around their neck to set up a triangle by swiveling your hips around to the other side of their body,

We also worked a position if the knee shield gets passed, and they end up in a modified low judo/half guard position on top of you. With your legs still around their now top side leg, and their back facing you, swim your foot under their top side leg and set the hook by putting your boot on, and twisting your leg so the toes are pointed straight up to the ceiling. From here, you have some options; if they base their legs out wide, you can lock your hands together around their body, lift your hooked leg straight up and roll them over your body to either take their back, or clear your bottom side leg, then swing on your hips back away from the leg you cleared and land a triangle. Or, if they don't base out wide, and instead under hook your top side leg, as you swim your foot in to set the hook, reach around their body and gran their wrist that is under hooking your leg. You can use this in a very similar manner to the body lock, but you can also lift the hook up high, and roll them directly backward over yourself to land in a perfect set up to a mounted triangle.

We also worked a great deal of gi chokes which we have gone over before. The main thing to focus on with gi chokes is getting the proper grip, maintaining pressure, and revving the motorcycle grips. Gi jiu jitsu is particularly nasty with chokes, because you can just get totally stuck, and you HAVE to be very meticulous and precise with your movements or you're toast. Well, I'm pretty beat after this week, and I will perhaps be in for a class or maybe two next week, but if I don't make it in, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year everybody!