6/19 - Downtown

I felt great today. Still a bit congested, but energy levels feel as good as they have in months. I hope it keeps up and I don't crash again next week. That would be very sad.

Today's class was submissions from side-control, which included a d'arce variation, collar choke, straight arm-bar then rolling into another straight arm-bar or crucifix. I lucked out and had a partner that does the first couple all the time.

Only had three rolls, but my technique was decent and my cardio was excellent. I'm almost back to lifting on a consistent schedule too. Very, very happy about this.

Set-up: Assume you have cross-face side-control on opponent's R side.

1. Cross-face to Trapped Arm: From cross-face, move R arm to under their L arm and sit on your R hip. L foot should be crossed over R leg and toes dug in on both feet. Push their L arm down just enough to slide your R knee over bicep to trap it to the mat. Step on their wrist with your L foot, then switch your knee from being above their arm to below their arm. Regain cross-face. Now your R shin is trapping their L foot to the mat, and you have cross-face side-control with your torso next to their head instead of next to their torso.

2. Gi choke (d'arce, collar): From #1, keep your low and use your R hand to loosen the bottom of their gi jacket on the  L side. Shake it out and pull it under their L arm, feeding it to your L hand (palm down). Slide your R arm across their torso and behind their neck. Feed the gi from your L hand back to your R (palm up).

• Complete the d'arce choke by pulling on their L sleeve or by pulling their L tricep into you as you step back with your L foot to create room. Cast your R hand and drop your shoulder onto their L arm.
• Complete the collar choke by using your L hand to get a grip on their gi fabric on the L side of their neck. I found this tricky to do b/c their gi was all twitterpated from being pulled behind their neck. It was too loose where I initially grabbed it, so I had to reach for a deeper grip (almost behind their shoulder).

3. Straight arm-bar: From #1, get their L hand between the R side of your neck and your shoulder. Hold it in place by doing the telephone thing with your R hand. Slide forward a bit and put your forehand on the mat. Slide L knee forward and then back, trapping their head between your hamstring and calf. If necessary, use your L hand to help pick up their head. Once the L leg is in place, use the shin to replace the trap that you have on their R arm so that you move your L leg without their R arm being free. Slide your R knee over their belly until your knee touches the mat and your foot is hooked on their side. From here, rotate their arm and straight-arm bar.

4. From #3 above, if you can't get the arm-bar, roll to your R hip and maintain your foot control. You should be able to attempt another straight arm-bar. If that doesn't work, tuck their arm into your hip pocket and go for the omoplata. When you roll to your hip, straighten both of your legs to keep tension on them. 

Rolled with Sol, Daniel, Ben and Grant. Had a good back and forth with Sol. Daniel is a new purple to our gym. He manhandled me pretty well. I tried to work open guard with Ben without much luck. Grant and I had a nice flow roll. I let him work, which was fun as he was trying X guard, spider guard. Overall very pleased.