Fundamentals Ground: 100K attacks and switching sides

Maintaining side control is done by resting your weight on your partner with good balance, while you block their escape paths. Sometimes you block their escape routes by carefully placing your hand or knee by their hip, and sometimes you thwart their escape by re-positioning your body as they attempt to get out. Neither method involve trying to forcibly hold your partner down. Side control isn’t just about controlling your opponent, it is about allowing them to tire themselves out while you stay safe and slowly advance your position. If you are practicing this correctly, your partner will be exhausted afterwards while you will be relatively ready to go. Good submissions come from good control. In order to develop good submissions, develop good control. All three of the side control top submissions we are covering this week play off of each other. As your partner defends one, they invariably give you another. Another characteristic of good submissions is that they take remarkably little energy to finish. Spend the time in class to learn what specifically makes them work and you will find that they all take very little effort to complete.

Intermediate Stand up: Ipon seionage-walking

In order to execute this throw well you need your partner moving in to you. That is why we practice it with your partner walking towards you. You will need to get your hips underneath of your partner. Focus on that when performing the move. The hand positioning is secondary to the hip placement. It is a common error when learning this throw to exaggerate the role the hands play. Your arms simple carry momentum forward, (past you), and help you reference the position so that you can get your hips low enough. If you are your partner focus on the timing and being smooth you will find that the actual throw takes very little energy to complete.

Intermediate Ground: Half Guard Frame and Pummel

There are two basic ways that we practice escaping from side control; frame-hip out, and frame-pummel. Practice setting up a good frame that is backed up by proper posture. It is impossible to have a solid frame without your body supporting it correctly-focus on both, not just where you place your hands. The frame enables you to use your hips to either make space, or move to the pummel. Again focus on where professors Eastons hips move as he escapes. You will notice that the frame is merely supplementary to the hips. He is not using the strength of his arms to escape, he is using his hips. When you are on top, make sure that you are being a good partner. The goal is to help the bottom person develop solid escapes, not to show them how strong you are or how you can hold them down. Good partners slowly build resistance as each person gets better. Developing good side control escapes takes time. Make sure you get into class at least twice this week to get your time in!