Daily Submission

Yesterday we worked on a few different things. We learned an Octopus guard like move from half guard. I really like Octopus guard and I have a feeling it will start to show up more and more in my game. I also learned a sweep from half butterfly guard which is kind of cool. Essentially it is exactly the same as a typical butterfly sweep but you do it from half butterfly. Half Butterfly is simple when you take the outside leg from half guard and hook it inside his leg like a butterfly hook. I found that I could do it easy with my right leg then my left. I think this has to do with my left knee still being weak from the injury. Finally, Adam showed the Electric Chair sweep, or as he calls it the hog tie. Why the Hog tie? Apparently, he was witness to an argument between Marc Laimon and Eddie Bravo as to who invented it. He chose a side and it wasn't Eddie's. In my opinion none of them invented it. The lockdown is old school judo, Eddie himself says he learned it from Judo Gene Lebell. Other than the lockdown it is simply a half guard rollover sweep into a groin stretch or banana split. To prevent confusion I am going to simply call it varredura da separação de banana which is Portuguese for Banana Split Sweep (at least according to Babelfish). Or whatever I feel like calling it an that particular moment.

During free roll, I worked my sitting guard and my turtle guard a lot. My background is wrestling and judo. When I scramble I tend to turn to my stomach and get to my knees. Unlike most pure BJJ guys, I haven't developed that natural roll to guard. I am not sure I want to. In the gym or a tournament pulling guard is fine but my main focus is outside the gym. Ideally, I want to be able to secure that leg and transition to a takedown. I working at hit those faster. Since, I turtle anyway and feel comfortable there, I figured why fight it. I have been watch some video of Eduardo Telles who is a turtle guard master (he is also the Octopus Guard guy) as well as a lot of wrestling videos from that position. I am going to really work it for awhile.

The first time I transitioned to turtle, I did it when he started to pass my guard. I let him and just turned into him and came to my knees. I had a deep cross grip on his lapel and as I rolled I ended up throwing him over my shoulder like a seoi nage. I use a lot of judo like throws from turtle. I also hit my armspin about 4 times in a row. It was nice to work it against a guy who knew it was coming. I gained some confidence to continue with the sit out even if it feels like it isn't there. I have also been finishing better lately. A lot of it has come down to just smoother transistions and little things like a tighter squeeze with my knees.