Class notes: creative takedowns, chaining escapes and submission attacks from your back.

2 takedowns to counter the single leg:
As inspired by the recent Invicta 10 card, we looked at a couple of takedown when the opponent is initiating a single leg takedown.

scissor leg takedown:



Sit and roll:



Chaining escapes from side control:
hip up: block an arm/elbow, thrust your hips up as you push him up and away. Essentially create a gap between you and him.

knee replacement: get those hips moving and slide a knee in for a half butterfly bottom control (guard).

pummel under for lat grab: create the space to come under his arm with your head to reach around and grab the lat to get to side back control.

spin out: the following might sound complicated but is much easier in practise... You need to watch the third escape on this video:

http://www.howcast.com/videos/501860-How-to-Do-3-Side-Control-Escapes-MMA-Fighting

Chaining submissions from bottom control (guard)

downward shoulder rotation (double wrist lock) to
leg and shoulder suppression (triangle) to
elbow extension (arm bar)

Head and torso positioning is key to being successful in these submissions. My partner Craig reported that things were much tighter, especially the elbow extension when I was perpendicular to him.

Free form grappling: Tried to 'let go' tonight and not go for my favourite attacks - leg and shoulder suppression (triangle), bicep and shoulder suppression (head and arm choke). Instead I was trying to be more creative. I found the shin choke (gogoplata) after failing to secure the elbow extension. Something in me clicked as I remembered a video Lee had posted about that very technique.



Mine was slightly different in that I slid the shin across the neck as moving to centre control (mount) and then cradled the back of my partner's head to create a compression style finish. I also managed to get an elbow extension from what felt like no where. I also played with attacking the legs to create a scramble. True to form, myself included, when the legs are attacked I try to recover them straight away. So by going for the legs makes your partner move and maybe open new possibilities of movement and attack.

Eyes closed grappling: develop feel. Most people had similar weights to their partner, mine was a 20kg deficit not in my favour. But it enabled me to think about my body, what i could and could not move, where I could or could not create gaps.

All against all grappling: fun chaos

I will end with a quote I saw on the internet recently.

People often quit because they are making slow progress. They fail to recognise that this is still progress.