Today we did the same sweeps as Wednesday but Sean made some biomechanical oberservations that I didn’t remember from the last time.

For the sweep where you slide down the outside of your opponent’s thighs, it’s really important to pop up, scooping your opponent’s knees with your pelvis so his thighs are stacked against his chest. When you swing your leg over, you want to engage your hip drive. If your head is past your hips too much, it’ll be hard to stick this move.

For the flip-over pass, we did it slightly differently today. We did the flip with our hands at our sides, and then locked them around the opponent’s legs with a gable grip after completing the flip. Then we yanked the opponent’s legs up and back so they were resting on the top of our thighs, thereby isolating his entire lower half. Cool!

Today Sean Flannery taught the gi class at HBJJ.  We started the class with conditioning.  Basically Sean’s conditioning is a circuit-type drill.  We lapped the mat a bunch of times and then did pushups, cross-chokes, squats, hip twists on the back, leg raises, hip twists on all fours about a minute each.  Sean does a relatively intense workout at the beginning of the class and then generally drills all the way to the end of class.  I kind of like to drill the entire class, because I need a lot of reps.

Anyway, today was all about passing butterfly guard and it was an incredibly valuable day for me, since I didn’t know a single one of these butterfly guard passes.  Although the setups are all different there are some common themes in all of these passes.

• Maintain heavy pressure on your opponent while passing
• Scoot your body as close to your opponent’s pelvis as possible so his legs are compacted by your body weight
• Go crazy with super-exaggerated hip-drive

Over-the-knee pass to Mount
This is a fairly athletic pass that should be done explosively.  The goal is to prevent your opponent from tracking you with his knees so you have to forcefully press his knees downward and explode over his knees using maximal hip drive.  This might not be the best move if your opponent is postured up.

1. Keep downward pressure on opponent’s knees using your hands
2. Kickstand onto the balls of your feet
3. Pop up while driving your hips out and over your opponent’s knees
4. Slide your butt down the tops of his thighs
5. Sprawl forward and plant your hands on the mat

Step-over pass to Side Control
This pass requires a lot of coordination and multiple points of control.  Positioning is very important because you can end up giving up back control if you don’t finish correctly.

1. With left hand keep downward pressure on opponent’s knee
2. With right hand secure a collar grip and push down so your opponent can’t posture up.
3. Drive forward so opponent’s hips are off the ground and he is partially stacked
4. Swing your right leg over your opponent’s head.  This will rotate his hips so they are perpendicular to the mat.
5. Release both hands and slide down the outside of opponents thigh while keeping your body heavy on his.
6. Pummel for a deep underhook with your right hand

Crucifix pass to Side Control
This pass is also fairly athletic requiring coordination and multiple points of control.  This one is good for when your opponent has postured up and you are trying to break him down.

1. Opponent will posture up and try to control your upper body
2. Reach under his legs with your right hand and grab his right pant leg
3. With your left hand get an overhand grip on your opponent’s collar.
4. Explosively step backwards with your right leg while
5. Extending opponents legs with your right hand
6. Smashing opponent’s torso onto the mat with your left hand.
7. Hip out and secure side control

Flip over pass to Side Control
Sean made the point that this is not a flash move.  You are maintaining extremely heavy pressure on your opponent the whole time which prevents a counter or sweep.

1. Reach under both opponent’s legs and secure pant cuffs
2. Drive forward and plant your right ear on opponent’s right hip ( you will have to get between his knees )
3. Spring forward into a back flip landing diagonally so that your feet land over your opponent’s left shoulder
4. Step your left foot over towards your opponent’s legs.

I noticed that when I did this move I ended up with my hands controlling my partner’s legs.  From this position I could have transitioned to the Mount Variation 4 – Counter Hip Escape + Transition to Arm Triangle  that we studied on 11/27.  In this case I would have hooked my left leg over his knees and carved my right elbow up his body and over his face to secure the arm triangle.

Today Sean Flannery taught the lesson. Sean is the first teacher I had at Hollywood BJJ. When I first started at HBJJ Shawn Williams was in New York so I had a week of classes with Sean. Sean is a very high-energy teacher. When we roll after class, he stands over you coaching you and it really amps up the action. He’s a really good fight coach and I find if I just relax and do what he says, I can generally beat people. Also, he coaches to my level (the level of an utter ignoramus) so he never yells at me to do something I have no idea what to do.

Anyway today we did four mounts. Sean broke down the bio-mechanics of getting your leg across your opponent’s body in a way I’ve never heard before. Basically he said the order is foot, knee, hips, chest, head. In other word, don’t just fling your body across your opponent. In an ordered and methodical way, bring your foot across, then your knee etc.

I’ve never seen this mount setup before and I liked it very much because it relies on body sensing. You have no visibility what’s happening because all of the action takes place beneath the field of vision. Basically the setup is the same for all of these mounts. This mount setup is different than the head-crank Greg Nelson taught on November 14, but it is to the same end result which is to isolate your opponent’s near arm between your thigh and elbow.

Mount setup

1. Start in side control with a gable grip
2. Walk your tail-side knee down your opponenent’s body and using your knee crank their hips over so their lower torso is facing away from you. This has the effect of elevating your opponent’s shoulder.
3. Quickly walk your head-side knee up your opponent’s side and underneath his arm so that it is isolated between your thigh and elbow

Mount Variation 1 – Knee on Belly + Arm Crank

1. Slide your knee across your opponent’s belly
2. With a very tight gable grip crank your opponent’s far-side elbow up towards his ear while driving your head way past your opponent’s head. Basically your chest will be on top of your opponent’s face grinding it into the mat and your body will be coiled like a spring
3. Uncoil your tail-side leg and whip it across your opponent’s body
4. Stabilize with hands spread on the mat

The following three mount variations all build upon the last mount setup but add a twist.

The Twist
After setting up the mount as shown above

1. Move your head-side hand over your opponent’s head and pin his head to your knee with your elbow
2. Move your tail-side hand across your opponent’s body and grab his hip
3. Hip out so that your head-side leg is flat on the ground
4. Scooch your butt back driving your opponent’s near arm way up over his head so that it is isolated

Mount Variation 2 – Counter mount-defense

1. If your opponent tries to defend against a mount by squeezing his knee into your side
2. Push his knees away
3. When he resists your pushing, in one fluid motion release your pressure on his knees so his hips flop over while whipping your leg over and stomping the ground across your opponent’s body

Mount Variation 3 – Pull foot over
This is a great mount because your opponent will feel no rotation in your torso. A good grappler will know when you’re going to mount because he will feel your torso begin to rotate. This mount happens so fast that it’s extremely difficult to counter. In addition to taking away your opponent’s body-sensing ability, he won’t be able to see what the hell’s going on because you have his head totally isolated.

1. Lean back so your torso is perpendicular to the ground and grind your back into your opponent’s face
2. Lift your foot with your hand and pass it across your opponent’s body
3. Finish mount by transitioning your knees, hips and then head into the mount.

Mount Variation 4 – Counter Hip Escape + Transition to Arm Triangle
Sometimes your opponent will try to push you down his body towards his legs. If he does, this mount comes in handy.

1. Move your elbow down your opponent’s body and guard his far-side hip.
2. Pull your opponent’s knees together and towards you
3. Whip your leg across your opponent’s knees and hook them
4. In one fluid motion, torque your hips over to get your heels hooked around your opponent’s legs and run your elbow up your opponent’s body, under his far arm, across his face and under his head to get a head and arm choke.
5. Secure a gable grip and and tighten the head and arm choke

Today while we were drilling I had two moments when I recalled things that Shawn Williams taught me. Sometimes I learn better from flashbacks.

First we were drilling arm bars. I was letting my tail side leg hang low on my partner’s back and Willy, a blue belt and MMA fighter told me to keep my leg high and reminded me that it’s more important than the head-side leg. This caused me to flashback to a class at Hollywood BJJ where Shawn Williams said to drive your shin high up into your opponent’s armpit before shifting your hips and planting the head-side leg. This was the exact same bio-mechanic that Willy was reminding me of. I watched Willy do his armbar drills and I realized another thing i was doing wrong. He was thrusting his hips up the same way you do with a triangle. So his hips were elevated way higher than his shoulders and his entire body was engaged in the arm bar.

Second we drilled standing guard passes and there was a sequence where you scoop your hands between your opponent’s thighs to get him stacked. In Shawn’s class we studied a sequence where you’re stacked but your thighs are very low on your opponent’s arms. From this position you can get an arm crank or a collar guillotine or even a belt sweep. But Greg taught us a counter that will neutralize these moves by keeping your opponent’s legs high on your shoulders. Basically after you scoop you pull your opponent’s thighs forcefully towards your chest so he can’t wiggle back and weigh down on your arms with his thighs.

Today’s drills depend on the following bio-mechanics

• Keep your elbows in and low at all times. Do NOT let your opponent inside your elbows.
• Keep your knees close
• Forcefully push down on opponent’s torso as you stand to pass

Standing Guard Pass

1. Pin opponent’s biceps
2. Posture up
3. Grab both lapels at solar plexus
4. With other hand, pummel to capture sleeve
5. Pull your elbow in tight to your belt line with sleeve wrapped in your fist
6. Pushing down on opponent’s stomach and solar-plexus, step up
7. Keep your knees and elbows close together and wedge between opponent’s knees

Thigh Pin Pass Variation

1. Opponent will try to pull you to one side to sweep
2. Use opponent’s momentum to pin his leg under your shin
3. Scoop under his head maintaining heavy pressure on his chest and maintaining sleeve control
4. With chest-on-chest pressure flop your other leg back behind you
5. Grab under the thigh of the opponent’s near leg to counter a sweep
6. Forcefully throw it over the other leg while pulling your resting leg under and through
7. You are now in side control with the tail side hand pinning opponent’s near leg to the mat and his head scooped in your arm

Stack Pass Variation

1. Dip your hands between opponent’s legs
2. Forcefully pull his thighs towards your chest
3. Reach across and grab the top of your opponent’s far pant leg
4. Reach under and grab opponent’s lower back
5. Drive and stack
6. Lift your head so opponent’s legs flop past your face
7. You are now in side control with head side hand pinning your opponent’s leg to the mat.

Leg Lock Variation
If you have your opponent stacked, sometimes you can whip their thighs to the side. One leg will be crossed over the other. If you reach under the bottom leg and grab the top leg your opponent will be hog tied.

I am learning that part of my game has to be figuring out and adjusting to my opponent’s game. Today I rolled with Nick who is a big heavy guy who overpowers people with leg drive. Even though I want to practice technical moves, I need to adjust my game to the person I’m rolling with. If someone is relying on brute strength to drive through you, it’s not the right time to be thinking about fancy set ups.

I am also learning that it’s probably better to roll with blue belts because they are all so much more technical and tend to not rely on strength. I can learn much more from them, though I have no hope of submitting any of these guys.

Finally, I am observing how much one’s mental attitude affects training. Today I had a terrible day at work and it carried over into training. I wasn’t able to compartmentalize the misery of my job and when I hit the mat I had all of that mental baggage with me. As a result, I wasn’t able to focus and gave a half-hearted effort at best. I need to get better at getting my head in the game.