Thumb War

6/4 - Valley

Scott & Gary went on a BJJ vacation just before I had to take time off for mono. I think they did 7 or 8 classes during the week and ended up with 3 pages of typed notes. Today they went over the back mount control and submissions that they learned.

Light warm-up, body felt good. Legs were a little sore from squats last night (first lifting session in almost a month). I was fine once we got going and had no problem with a couple of 2min rolls at the end.

1. Over/Under Hooks: Previously, we've been a shown a "lazy" over/under hook with the hands gripping each other around opponent's mid-chest. You can get better control by gripping your hands together closer to their armpit (underhook side), with your hands pressuring one shoulder and the elbow of the overhook pressuring the other shoulder. We played around with this a bit and it significantly reduces their ability to turn their upper body.

2. Kick Kneepit to Regain Hook: Assume opponent is starting to turn to their L side. To prevent them from getting their back on the mat, put your R foot in their R kneepit and kick it over so their hips are turned perpendicular to the mat. Ideally, their R leg will be pushed across their L. You can now put your R foot on the mat and use it to bridge you up and over as your momentum pushes them into a turtle position. Regain hook.

3. Suitcase Choke: Similar to above, but instead of regaining your hook, keep your over/under hooks and move into a seated mount. Feed collar to L hand and either put your L knee between your L arm and their head and cast with your L hand or pull their R pant leg toward you and cast with your L.

4. Arm-bar: Assuming over/under hooks and opponent is falling to underhook side, push their face away, scoot out and swing leg out and over their head.

5. Thumb War: This was an interesting defensive tactic for the person who is in back-mount. Instead of protecting your collar with palms facing an incoming hand, try to hook the space in between their thumb and forefinger with the same space on your hand. It's a pretty effective block if you can time it correctly. It's also pretty effective if they already have a grip on your lapel but haven't fed it high yet.

Quick rolls starting from back-mount. I eventually escaped but did much better when it was my turn to maintain. It wasn't a super intensive class, but I'm very happy with how my body feels.