Today we did a cool sequence.

1. Crucifix pass
2. Mount at legs
3. Arm triangle
4. Hula hoop to back mount with body lock
5. Rear naked choke

I know I haven’t described the hula hoop before. Basically you make a big circle with your arms and spin your opponent’s kneck around inside the circle so their body whips around. One second they’re facing you and the next moment their neck is in the crook of your arm. It’s wild. When Sean demoed this sequence I was all “WTF, how did he do that?” I struggled with the hula hoop but I got it eventually. I couldn’t really get the figure four around my partner’s body with my stubby legs, so I just closed my legs at the ankles.

During the conditioning portion of the class we did pushups and I noticed that I had produced a pool of sweat on the mat the size of a dinner plate. I tried to wipe it up with the tail of my t-shirt but I just pushed it around on the mat. For some reason, I’m the only one who sweats like a pig during warmups. It’s totally embarassing.

Nate taught this no-gi class. This sequence starts from half-guard and relies on body control via good under hooks. I had a lot of trouble with these sweeps because my hip-drive is weak and I wasn’t able to get any power behind my bridge. I need to work on my conditioning and overall strength because I’m a total candy-ass.

Overhook sweep

1. Grapevine opponent’s leg and stretch him out and down
2. Secure over and under hooks
3. Bridge up and towards the over hook side
4. Land in mount or side control

Ankle Sweep variation

If your opponent tries to counter the overhook sweep by posting his hand you can try this variation

1. Switch overhook to underhook by forcefully driving elbow under posted arm
2. Reach down with your other hand and grab opponent’s ankle
3. Reverse bridge direction to complete sweep

Nate Homme taught us this sequence at a no-gi class at MMAA. All of these moves have the same setup. Basically after a scramble you’re behind your opponent but not in back control. First you get over and under grips around his torso. Then you yank his body up so you’ll have room to get a foot between his legs and secure a figure-four around his near-thigh. I had a lot of fun with this sequence.

Wrestler’s Neck Crank (The Twister)
This is a nasty submission. It’s not a blood choke or an air choke but a straight-up bone choke that hurts like a mother.

1. Get over-under control of opp’s body
2. Pull opp’s torso up and sink in a hook
3. Pull opp onto side while securing a figure-four on opponent’s leg
4. Scramble up so you are sitting up and can reach in front of opponent’s body
5. Secure head lock and lean back while keeping opponent’s leg secure
6. Twist opponent’s hips in a different direction than their head

Calf Crank variation

1. Once you have a good figure-four on opponent’s leg, sit up and grab his ankle
2. Secure opponent’s ankle in crook of your elbow and crank his calf against your shin

Step over to rear-naked choke variation

1. Reach under opponent’s body to grab post arm
2. Release figure-four and spring over opponent’s body pulling him down and onto his back
3. Controlling his legs with your hooks, secure a rear-naked choke

Banana Split variation

This is a crazy move, and it’s pretty hard to explain how to do this. Also, it might not work if your opponent is very flexible. Then you’re kinda screwed because the guy’s on top of you.

1. Reach over your opponent’s hips and grab his far leg.
2. Forward roll over your opponent’s hips without releasing your figure four so he ends up in the splits with one of his legs secured by the figure four and his other leg secured by your arms.
3. Pull your opponent’s legs apart

After a brutal conditioning workout, Andy Grahn taught us this sequence of guard attacks. This sequence is unique in that it doesn’t require collar or sleeve control. These moves work just as well with no-gi. I had a lot of trouble with the Kimura and the Guillotine because I have short legs and sometimes I was barely able to touch my heels around my opponent’s body.

Sit up sweep
This works best if your opponent is posturing up. Remember to attack opp’s base with your leg.

1. Sit up
2. Get an overhook across your opponent’s body
3. Drive your hips up into his torso while rotating your body
4. On the same side as the overhook, attack your opponent’s base with your leg

Kimura with a belt-line hook
If you can’t get the sweep shown above, you can try for a Kimura because you have isolated your opponent’s arm. Your opponent will try to counter with a forward roll so it’s very important to lay your leg across his belt-line.

1. Scoot your hips off to your opponent’s side
2. Lay your leg across opponent’s beltline and close your guard if you can
3. Lock in the kimura and lean into it to make it more painful

Guillotine
Sometimes you can’t isolate the arm and set in the Kimura. If this happens you can scoot backwards and attack your opponent’s head with a guillotine. If you can’t get the neck, then you can try a collar choke. If you open guard, your opponent will counter by stepping across your body, so try to keep your guard closed.