Casey didn't make it to class today, so Coe was teaching. We worked on some side control escapes.
I'm going to diverge for a moment into more technical discussion than I normally do because this particular set of techniques really didn't mesh well with my normal way of doing business so I'd like to get it written down so I can contemplate it later.
For the initial escape your opponent has standard side control and your arms are out, wrapped around your opponent. Your NEAR arm, the one closest to their body, you work in first and grip your opponents bicep on their top arm, the arm closest to your head. NEXT you bring your far arm across and clasp your hands together and use them to frame, bridge, and swim for the farside underhook up high so that it extends their arm. Once you have the farside underhook you bridge and reach while pulling on the bicep to twist your opponent and make it easier to escape.
Now, I have no problem with the last half of that escape, but the FIRST half I take issue with. When you swim your nearside arm through first your opponent can switch to Kesa Getame with their arm under your head and your elbow pulled up VERY easily. It's almost an automatic reaction. Once that happens you have no chance of bringing leverage into them to execute the escape and you have to switch to Kesa escapes.
Swimming the nearside arm through first also traps that arm. Once you have the bicep and before your arms are joined your opponents weight is pinning that arm leaving your far arm unsupported and vulnerable to attack.
My preferred method of building a frame is to lock my hands together above my opponents head and then use the strength of both arms to wedge my forearm or elbow across my opponents face until my far arm is braced across his throat, then wrap my hand over the back of his shoulder. Next I turn into him and pressure up with my elbow to force him to loosen up and I swim my nearside arm through.
At no point were my arms ever in danger, and with the farside arm already in and me already on my side he can't switch to Kesa.
After that you have the same option. Bridge, farside underhook, escape.
I just greatly prefer that entry to the series because I feel that it provides more consistent defense.
We drilled several stages of that escape, including when your opponent goes to north south and you push their armpits and pull your knees up, catching your knees in their armpits and dumping them forward. I showed Kris this one a couple of weeks ago, it's an awesome escape that I've rarely made work rolling. You have to catch your opponents armpits early before they start to slide down in N/S.
Did some position sparring from side control which reminded me why I have the kind of guard game I do. Those people are HEAVY. Everyone got to Kimura me, I escaped a few times, fun times.
We rolled continuously with no breaks for 21 minutes after that, 7x3 minute rounds, switching partners every round with no breaks. I rolled with Brian, Ian, and one of the 220lb cops whose name I can never rembmer, which made for some insanity. And once for a minute with Coe where I played tornado guard while he airplaned around on top of me for about 2 minutes, which was fun.
In trying to up the intensity of my game I was going for a lot more submissions, especially guillotines. On this group of guys I usually just make it about 75% through the setup for armbars and triangles and then they power out of it and I go back to guard. I've been working my guillotine game to help give me some more options. I'm still having trouble finishing them, but I feel a lot better about going for them now than I did before. Mostly I just tried to keep moving the entire time, attacking, working for sweeps, and maintaining a solid guard. It was a good class and I think I'm coming up on another epiphany about my guard sparked by my use of tornado/upside down guard and the recovered flexibility in my back.
Hopefully it will hit before Lutador and I'll make another skill jump. I love those.
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