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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.

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Wednesday nights class was pretty solid. Adam like to show some fairly advanced moves in class. Considering his highest ranking students are a couple of blue belts, I kind of wonder at that approach. I think it hurts a lot of the less experienced guys because they are being taught basics, like how to properly pass guard. However, maybe he cycles through basics and some harder stuff and I just have happened to be there for the harder stuff. Who knows? Only time will tell I guess. The long and the short of it is that some of the techniques are ones that I am merely filing away for later after I get back up to speed in my grappling. I drill them when he shows them, file them away and then work on the things I know I need to work on. Like my half guard.

Half guard is really becoming one of my favorite places to be. I nailed another guy with the electric chair sweep but I didn't tap him this time with it this time. This guy was new to me but I think he has been going during the day mostly since I have been there. Probably the closest match to my skill level, and weight, I have rolled with since I have been with. It was nice to roll with a guy that I didn't dominate yet didn't dominate me. I did fairly well, with the sweep and I manged to take his back. I screwed up the swim move armbar again and ended up in guard. I went back to half guard and used my lockdown to control his leg. He could not escape my halfguard no matter what. eventually he grabbed a kimura and while he wasn't able to isolate it, I didn't want to give him the time. I manged to sweep him but he held on to the kimura and secured guard. I tapped pretty soon after that. He had me, no need to risk my shoulder.

I also worked with my powerlifting buddy, Damien. Damien tapped me for the first time since we started rolling. He managed an americana from inside my half guard. Last time he tried it, he couldn't lock it up, so I showed him how to bring the elbow down to ribs in order to secure the lock. This time he did it right and with his power, there was nothing I could do. While the competitive part of my likes to win these rolls, the teacher in my likes it when I can help some one progress. I did manage to armbar him once though :). Working with Damien has been great because I have been forced to really tighten up my technique. I just can't over power him and if I am a little sloppy he makes me pay. I tried 3 armbars from the guard against him and each time I was too slow extending. He stacked me and I had to release the technique.

I did manage to hurt my knee some time during the practice, so I am laid up a bit right now. I think I am going to give the knee an extra days rest and roll no gi on tuesday. We will see how that goes. Oh and I will be posting breakdowns of some of the fights for the upcoming UFC 84.

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Last nights class was run by one of the blue belts while Adam is away in Edmonton, cornering one of the guys at HCF on Friday. We worked three options off of an over hook while grabbing the opposite side lapel. The first was hiza gatame, and two gi chokes. My partner today was massive. He outweighed me by 45 pounds. I couldn't even get a true closed guard on him. I think I could cross my big toes, HA! He was just come back off a layoff after surgery. He tore up both his shoulders practicing for strongman competitions.

Because he was pretty out of shape, we didn't go all out. That suited me fine, it was hard enough work just moving the weight. As has been my pattern lately, I pulled half guard and worked from there. I secured lockdown and used my legs to push him up to get double under hooks and whip up to my side. I was very surprised just how easy that was. When you try to use your arms alone it is next to impossible but with the legs it was very easy. I managed a few sweeps and to take is back a couple of times. Even going at a fairly low intensity, I was tired as hell. Just moving the weight was a good work out. Towards the end of the roll, I ended up turtling. He reach over my back and under my arm to grab my collar and start working for a choke. A lot of the time people do this, they over commit and I can wrap their elbow, then I can sweep. The sweep I use looks a lot like Soto makikomi, just from the turtle. I wrapped his elbow and I think I could have said out loud, "This could hurt" and went for the sweep. This particular sweep has all his weight over your back for awhile. It took a lot of energy. You know how sometimes you will give a yell to get the last little bit of power? Well, not only did I do that, it was loud enough that every one in the gym pause to look over at us. Good thing I don't embarrass easy. We had to call it quits shortly after that because he cramped up. Couldn't blame him because a few weeks ago I felt the same way.

My half guard game seems to be revolving around a few options at this point: Old School, a driving sweep, plan B, the electric chair sweep and taking the back. I think I will stay with those options for awhile and just drill the hell out of them until I get nail them all high percentage.

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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.