Week 73: Outward arm action

Clinch grappling warm up with Phil then Milzy. This is one of the best ways to warmed up quickly, especially if you do it with someone who has a major size and strength advantage. It is a great way to build some resilience and tenacity.

Takedown from shoulder control: You are deep in their space, your knee is behind theirs, your torso pressure is on them so there are no gaps when you bump the knee and pull the shoulder down to collapse their structure. This works when you have opposite legs forward.
Knee trip and shoulder take down: I sat out of this one as my knee is still sensitive to the slightest lateral pressure but sometimes it is good to watch and see how other people move and apply themselves. The trip is simply a barring action (the hand on the side of the knee) so that the leg has nowhere to go. The arm in shoulder control straightens from the bicep and the ‘bowls’ as the trip happens acting as a fulcrum. This technique works when you have the same leg forward as the partner.

The two above techniques can then be used in combination when pressuring the opponent and can be chained or switched between each other meaning if he changes legs then either can be attacked.

Boxing rounds with Milzy and my Josh Barnett nose.: Whilst the above was happening I was doing boxing rounds with Milzy and realised my nose is like that of Josh Barnett. If you hit it, it bleeds. It is still sore 3 days on! Either my nose is made is brittle china or Milzy does not know his own strength. On a deeper level and if looking at it from an out of body experience this highlighted my still reluctance to firstly be an attacking fighter as I primarily rely on counter attacking. Secondly is the double jeopardy habit of going backwards when under attack and covering up. Going back and watching the videos of the higher level lads in the class they all do what I know I should do; circling and footwork to evade.

Outward arm manipulation from side control: Worked on securing the arm by wrapping as well as looking for it without losing control of his base and simply fighting to gain control of his arm.

Upward shoulder rotation from side control: From control we can start to look for submissions. The worst case scenario is that you don’t get the sub but his arm is now depleted and thus a less effective tool for him. Best case is a submission. If you have control of his arm then take your time with this, rushing will create gaps and errors. When you have wrist control, use the head high knee against his head and same side elbow



This image shows the correct arm position but he appears to be in top control. Now you drag the back of his hand along the mat towards his hip which will put considerable pressure on the elbow and the shoulder. No need to rip it off as he could escape, keep it tight, controlled and precise.

Elbow extension from side control: As he fights to escape by straightening the arm you can now look at the elbow extension. Make sure his elbow is off the floor as this adds to the pressure and the sub will come on a lot quicker.

Switching between the two above: Similarly to the takedowns at the start of the class, these two submissions depend on the energy he is giving you, plus you can switch between the two. Again if they don’t come off, he has a very tired arm.

Striking whilst controlling in side control: To compound his misery you can attack the arm with elbow strikes to do nothing other than cause pain and frustration to him. You can dig the tip of the elbow into the head of the deltoid muscle which will be tense and thus cause lots of pain. Joe and I endeavoured to take the pain but it felt like a reflex reaction to it. Horrible.

Clinch grappling with no grip and eyes closed with Seb and Charlie: Apart from being rag dolled around at will by both Seb and Charlie it showed me the potential of what can be and how devastating the clinch position is when you are in control. Mostly I was defending and defending and trying to keep to their tempo. Both are excellent at changing levels, consistent pressure and constant movement making you second guess and not take the lead.

3 for 3 then 2 for 2 striking with Ivan: Trading movements and strikes, making sure the strikes were linked mechanically and not in isolation susch as 3 jabes.

Free form grappling with Chris: All others did freeform from standing but don’t trust my knee to hold out against the takedowns so started on the ground with Chris.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIGzEs3Mfuw

As you will see there is lots of great stand up going on plus ground work. High quality work from all.

Week 59: the last 10 seconds

Charlie has a fight coming up so the focus has changed slightly as he is more experienced in the fight game. The session tonight was looking at the last 10 seconds of the round with an eye to entertain the crowd and to try do something high risk in terms of success percentage rate. So tonight we look at lower leg submissions.

Ankle extension:

Starting from an open bottom control position, he has one foot one your hip so this is ankle you are going to attack. Wrap the forearm under the calf as you step up to have both feet close to his hips and as you sit your hips go close to your heels. As you lie back squeeze the knees together and allow the forearm to slide down his leg. You should feel the bridge of his foot against your lat or top of the shoulder. Make sure that forearm bone (radius) is nice and tight and the bottom of the calf muscle. Look behind and over yourself to complete the ankle extension.

We then looked at a defence to this and that is as soon as they start to lie back you need to relax the leg, shoot the foot behind him and sit up by pulling on his neck for anchorage. Maintaining the neck control you can pass to the side or either with a crushing knee on belly control.

Calf compression from side control:

Naturally they should have the cross leg defensive position to prevent your attempts to move to top control and then want to slide the knee into your centre to begin escaping from side control. This is the bait. Allow their knee to come inside, as it does insert your forearm around and behind the knee. An overhook rather than an underhook, a tight one. Now for the tough part. Step over and insert your foot between his legs and close to his hips. It is hard because it require swift dexterity. It also means his leg is tightly wrapped. From here use the forearm bone on the outside of his calf for the pain. 2 days later I still have a 50p coin sized bruise on my calf where Neil successfully closed off his submission attempts.
This is a high risk move because it is a pain only submission as not much will break or tear.

Scissor takedown into ankle extension:

From the standing clinch look to perform a hip throw. If he does not defend then complete the throw. However if he defends by straightening his posture attempt the entertaining. From the hip throw your backside should be against his thigh. Drop to the floor and scissor him down, top leg attacking high and front and the lower leg low and behind. Do not let your lower leg hit the floor. From here you can clasp his leg with your knees and perform the ankle extension as outlined earlier on.

Lots of free form rounds starting standing then to the ground if it went there. I worked with Neil, Edgar, Ptas, Ivan and Angel. Angel gave me the dead leg I still have. A rather juicy knee being the bearer of good news.

Ended the session with a few rounds of grappling with Ptas.

Week 46: leg locks

No Lee tonight so Pete took the class.

Despite the soaring temperatures outside we started with the no grip grappling drill.

Leg lock from the open guard position. Start is if going to pass with shin over their thigh and make sure that the foot is placed deep under their thigh. When you look to pass with the shin it will be much deeper and have an opening of the hips preventing him from escaping easily to another position. Instead of passing hold the high leg and sit back as you come under his leg with yours. You are essentially clasping his leg between yours. Now that you have his leg clasped you can begin to work on the lower part of his leg for the submission. We looked at 2:

Achilles compression: With his toes under your armpit insert your inner forearm bone against his tendon to apply pressure.



Heel hook: this is a much more devastating submission due to the potential long term injury the leg can suffer. With his toes under your armpit roll towards them lifting the far side shoulder off the floor. This will allow you to sink his heel into the elbow crease of your arm. He is now seconds away from a 2 month limp.

Free form grappling

Free form with Seb and came away with a left black eye lid.