Spider Guard

4/8 - Downtown

Sooo...the night before, I had a couple of beers and stayed up later than I should. I was feeling it in class today, as I was not getting the technique. Not since the class on the X guard have I had such a sense of "duhhh". I finally started picking up what James was throwing down, but it took a lot of reps. He took pity on me at one point and drilled with me b/c I was so helpless.

Had good rolls today. Stuck with my "no subs from guard" plan...submissions only. Starting work DLR (to absolutely no avail) and some spider guard (a little more success).

Technique

Set-up: You have opponent in spider guard and their knees are flat on the floor

1. Turn your L side, then put your R foot in their L bicep. Straighten your leg to the L, as if you were going to dump them that way. Let your R knee fall to the floor (but keep your foot on their hip). Pull their R arm between your legs. Step up on their L bicep and hip, and either put their R arm in your L hip pocket for the omoplata or bring your R leg up and across the back of their neck for the triangle.

Set-up: Closed guard

2. Get a cross grip on their L sleeve with your L hand. R hand grips the inside of their L knee. Straighten your R leg behind them, and swing your L leg around, dumping them on their back with their arm trapped between your legs. You should be basically sitting on their chest. You can attempt arm-bar from there, or move into side-control.

NOTE: If they stop you midway through and you are unable to dump them on their back, leaving you turtled, immediately roll forward again for the omoplata. Do NOT hang out in that turtled space.

3. Reverse Scissor Sweep: Cross grip their L sleeve with your L hand, reach across their back with your R hand and grab their R lat, R knee across their chest. Pull them into you, grab one of their legs and dump them over to the R side.

Rolls

Rolled with Sarah (2), Kevin, Julio, Antone. Very technical rolls with Sarah. Tried to work DLR sweeps but she was having none of it. Managed to work top game in one of the rolls, other roll was more of a stalemate. Had a good roll with Kevin, worked hard to avoid submissions and did well against his heavier weight. Tried to work guard with Julio, but he was stuffing it pretty well. I forget about how fast he can move. He was on top most of the time, but did let me work guard now and again. Had a really good roll with Antone...I've really been looking forward to them (which is not really new). They are very technical, and he works positions that no one else does, so its fun to play with. I don't think he got a sub on me today, although I'm pretty sure he was trying new things instead of his usual bread and butter. Fun to roll with him b/c most of the time I don't have the foggiest idea what he's even doing... I'm just doing my best to defend.