Artemis BJJ (7 Easton Rd), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK – 03/08/2022
Quick Model:
- Wrap one leg behind theirs, placing your shin behind the knee of your outdoors leg
- Use that ‘kickstand’ to get in your aspect, blocking their crossface with both a ‘paw’ or facepalm
- Drive your elbow to their armpit, rotating your arm round their again
- Hearth that arm into their armpit and kick to scoot down, shucking their arm
- Come up in your elbow and knee, carry your leg over, then safe the again with a seatbelt grip
Full Model: In half guard, your first concern is to cease them flattening you out and beginning their move. They’re usually going to wish to set up an underhook on their trapped leg aspect, utilizing the opposite arm to regulate underneath your head. In some ways, it’s a comparable place to straightforward aspect management. That may allow them to crush you to the mat, then exert numerous shoulder strain to kill your mobility. Lots of the identical assaults from aspect management may also be viable from right here, like an americana.
Naturally, you do not need them to achieve that dominant place. Your purpose is to rise up in your aspect, with your individual underhook round their again, in your trapped leg aspect. That is without doubt one of the primary fights you will have in half guard, so it’s important that you just get used to working for that underhook.
If you will get the underhook, that accomplishes two issues. First, it prevents them crushing their chest into yours, which might assist them flatten you out. Second, it means you may press into their armpit to assist disrupt their base, in addition to enable you to rise up onto your aspect. You need to use your knee knocking into their bum on the identical time to assist with this too, as that ought to bump them ahead.
In your leg positioning, the usual half guard is to have the within leg wrapped round together with your foot on the surface. Your different leg triangles over your ankle. This gives you with what SBG discuss with as a ‘kickstand’: that outdoors leg is beneficial for bridging and basic leverage. It is more durable for them to flatten you out should you can resist with that kickstand construction.
After you have managed a leg, acquired the underhook and onto your aspect, you wish to block their arms. Virtually a decade in the past, Indrek Reiland put collectively an superior video (made much more superior by being free) concerning the fundamentals of half guard. The primary precept I take advantage of from Reiland is what he calls the ‘paw’.
By that, he means hooking your hand round their bicep, simply above the elbow. You are not gripping together with your thumb: that is only a block, to forestall them getting a cross-face. Reiland emphasises that stopping that cross-face is the principle precept. Due to this fact, should you can really feel they’re about to take away your paw by swimming their arm round, carry your underhooking hand via to interchange your first paw with a second: that is what Reiland calls the ‘double-paw’ (as he says within the video, it is an strategy he discovered from SBG black belt John Frankl).
Equally, in the event that they handle to underhook your underhook, carry that arm over for a double-paw (that is additionally relevant from the beginning, should you’re framing in opposition to their neck), then work to get well your underhook. Bear in mind with the double-paw that you must be sure to do not depart area underneath your elbow. In any other case, as Reiland demonstrates, they’ll they go for a brabo choke. Get the elbow of your prime double-pawing arm to their nearest armpit, as that makes it simpler to circle your arm round to their again.
To take the again, fireplace your underhooking arm up into their armpit. You are making an attempt to knock them forwards, whereas concurrently scooting your physique down in direction of their legs. At that time, pull your ‘paw’ arm again, as a way to base on that elbow, swiftly pushing up onto the hand. That ought to provide the stability to achieve round to their lat with what was your underhooking arm. For additional management, swing your leg over their again too. Set up a hook by digging your heel inside their knee. Lastly, get a seatbelt grip (one arm underneath their armpit, the opposite over their shoulder, locking your fingers collectively) and roll in direction of your non-hooking foot for normal again management.
To assist with the again take, it’s a good suggestion to tweak out their leg earlier than you swivel up. Your outdoors leg steps over and drags their leg out. This disrupts their base, making it a lot simpler to go to their again. It will probably additionally result in the simpler to regulate again place the place you’ve got introduced them right down to the mat, slightly than leaping onto their turtle (which feels inherently much less steady).
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Instructing Notes: Pretty proud of this in the meanwhile. I feel it’s of use mentioning you may generate further momentum with that kick, however that it’s not all the time essential. Additionally value noting that knee protect makes a giant distinction, however that we’ll cowl that in a future lesson because it’s necessary to be taught the fundamentals first.