Second day at ZUMA and more butterfly work. As I said in my previous post, my butterfly guard isn't that great so more work is a good thing. Adam seems to like transitioning to the back from the guard. This isn't a game that I think will suit me. I am 5'8" with about a 29" inseam. To say I have short legs is a bit of an understatement. But if I only worked on things that suited me, I would be doing myself a disservice. If nothing else I can prepare for those lanky bastards.
On aspect that I did like was a move that starts off the cross lapel grab with the feet on the hip and knee. Basically, from a stalemated position, you post the opposite arm, push off with that leg and bring the leg back until you transition to a knee. You then pull the lapel toward you until you get the opponents head under you arm. At this point you have a front headlock with a grip on his opposite side collar. The finish is essentially a reverse kata ha jime for those of you that know judo. Adam finished with a roll similar to an anaconda choke but a strong wrestler could also just power the opponent to his back.
When it came time to roll, I decided to work my half guard game. Previously, my half guard was a defensive gesture at best. In Judo, I would just stall and wait for the restart. In MMA, enough things are happening that I could normally get room and scramble to a single or back to guard. Lately, I have been looking at Eddie Bravo's half guard material as well as Saulo Riberio's. Both have very offensive Half guards. Eddie's especially calls to me because it is so wrestler friendly. To his end, I gave my rolling partner my half guard, secured lockdown and started to work. First, I managed Old School. Next, I managed an Electric chair sweep. The third time, I attempted to sweep him in a manner more like what Saulo shows on his Freestyle Revolution series. It was a little harder and although I managed to sweep him, it was a power move and all I did was throw him off me and we ended up in a neutral position with both of us on our knees. I plan to dedicate some serious time to my half guard game.
I also had the chance to roll with one of Adam's Blue belts. He was pretty solid. He passed my guard like a bad case of herpes. Now, my guard isn't amazing or anything but I have a fairly solid defensive guard. He just slowly took it apart using patience, control and solid positioning. I managed to scramble a bit and regain guard a few times but not for long. He tapped me about 4 times in the 10 minutes we rolled. I have heard that Marcus Soares' Blue Belts are very solid and I can say I agree.
On a positive note, I made it all the way through practice today although those last ten minutes were brutal. There were a few times when I was rolling with the blue that I felt that a good explosive bridge or turn would have saved me but I had nothing. Well it is a good time to concentrate of technique then.
More later.
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