MMA and me; day 292

We worked on a couple of really cool moves on Thursday. The samurai roll, and the berimbolo. The roll is an odd mix of simple and complex. From inside your opponents half guard (on their right leg for the purposes of explaining) cross your feet underneath their right leg, to help control the roll. Swim your right arm to the mat on their right side, rolling over your shoulders, and as you do, extend your hips and kick your legs to lengthen out their body. As you finish your shoulder roll, uncross your feet, and throw your left leg around their left side to take their back. It was the first time I drilled the move, so I am still working on it, but it is a very nifty way to pass the half guard, and end up in a very dominant position. It has to be executed quickly, and it also is something that can be tacked on to the end of an old school sweep from half guard bottom, which actually can help with the momentum and make the roll even quicker.

The berimbolo can be done from many positions, but we worked on it from a sitting position, with a seated partner. With your left leg under their right leg, and your left foot on their left hip, reach under your left leg, to grab their right heel, or a hunk of their pant leg near their right heel. Tucking your head as close in to their right hip as you can, roll across your shoulders, bringing your right shin across their belt line, and kicking them over as you finish the sweep. Shift your hips to line up with their back, and grab their belt, a hunk of their jacket, or whatever you need to bring your chest up to their back, and sink your left hook in to secure the position. Like I said, it can be done from SO many positions, X Guard, De La Riva, half guard. The key is quickness, and momentum. Both of these moves are pretty new to me, so I am going to be working them a lot, so here is to more new stuff!

MMA and me; day 291

Tuesday we were back at our usual warm up, and then went right into our inverted guard drills. For our warm ups, I specifically focused on shoulder rolls, as they  provide an excellent work up to the inverted guard. For the drills, we stayed simple, just starting from the behind, straddling the right leg of a standing partner, reaching under the inside (right) leg with the inside (right) hand, and sliding the back of the hand to the outside of the leg being straddled. From there, you roll to your inside (right) shoulder, using your inside leg to get a hook on their right leg knee pit, as you bring your left leg over, and secure a hook under their left leg knee pit. At this point, you are upside down, on your shoulders, with your feet (boots on) in the knee pits of your opponents legs, with your right foot in their right knee pit, and left foot in left knee pit. From here, disengage your right foot, sweep it out and around while using your left foot as leverage, bring your right shoulder off the mat to roll over your left shoulder, and swing around to a seated position similar to how you started, except straddling their left leg. Now you can repeat this process in reverse, and go back and forth in front of your partner, or you can go around the world and turn the corner when you get to one side and continue around behind them. You really just want to make sure you keep your opponent in your guard, which is in between your legs, upside down or right side up. A few things to remember; as you are upside down, make sure to get both hooks in firmly, before you disengage and roll back to your behind. Also, as you turn the corner, it is very helpful to sweep the leg straight out, that you just pulled out of the knee pit, to help your momentum as you swing around to the back (or front) side. The more fluidly you can do this, the better.

A great class, followed up by another killer fighters training with Coach Jayce. Can't wait for tonight, and more of the same!

MMA and me; day 289 and 290

Quick word on last weeks classes before I head off to teach bjj. We've been working a lot on the inverted guard, and the X guard. When I first got into this sport, I thought they were a bit gimmicky, and way too situational. Now, with a bit of experience under my belt, I can now see them for what they are; progress. Just like in any sport, or in fact, life in general, these aspects of bjj are signs of growth, and some peoples brilliant innovations into an already beautiful martial art.I love that there are outside the box thinkers that see where advantages are to be taken, and are not afraid to leap at the opportunity to take a chance. Tomorrow I will go into more detail on these concepts, but I just wanted to briefly talk about how thankful I am to be able to work with great coaches and students, I am having a ball!!