Deconstruction of a scissor sweep offensive flow

  • September 12, 2017

At a certain point, I realized that there was an innate connection between the scissor sweep and kneeshield half guard.

The whole cross collar and sleeve grip combination could be used interchangeably in both situations to unleash offense, and the only difference between the two was the position of the bottom leg.

Yeah, yeah I know.

That’s not a cool as a flying omoplata.

But hearken here.

There are so many different ways you can apply that knowledge to your benefit, and to demonstrate that, I’m going to deconstruct a sequence that depends on that reality.

Let’s start with the first attack.

In the gi, the traditional grips for the scissor sweep are of course, the cross collar and sleeve. Then you create just enough space to escape your hips and bring your top knee across the body.

Now you’re in the base of operations.

Then you have two conditions to achieve before the sweep will be possible.

First, you have to load his weight forward. The hips must separate from the heels, and ideally, his hips will come close to aligning vertically with his knees.

And second, you have to bring his knees as close together as possible.

Sometimes though, the guy won’t let you load his weight, or he’ll widen his base by spreading his knees further apart.

That’s where the kick out version of the sweep come into play. And once again, there are conditions to fulfill. You either have to force the leg (on the side you’re sweeping to) straight or stretch the knee out so far that the whole structure of his base crumbles to dust.

But you’ll also run into guys who either step that leg up or shift their weight away from you.

This is where I unleash the hip tilt on them by switching just the position of the bottom leg.

There’s a problem though.

One of the conditions for hitting this sweep is that I must have control of the other arm, and my grips are committed to the collar and sleeve. For that reason, their best defensive response is included in the calculations.

(You’ll still catch people by surprise sometimes.)

When that hand bases though (the most logical response), they’re in for a whole heap of pain. The loop choke awaits them. And it has no mercy at all.

My grip on the collar just has to slip down a wee bit, and my head has to be higher than theirs, and I have all the conditions I need to chop their head off like an executioner performing his duty.

Here’s where the offensive loop comes in.

If the choke fails, it’s generally because they were able to slip their head out towards the same side as your cross collar grip before you cinched their head in at your hip. That means that their weight shift back the other way. And all you need is the sleeve grip back to go back to kicking out the knee for the scissor sweep.

It’s all pretty simple.

Well, as long as you understand what has to happen for your thing (whatever it is) to work.

With that knowledge, you can internalize the offensive attack chains and know instantly when it’s time to give up on one attack in order to move to the next.

And if this exploration of offensive loops and attack chains is your cup of tea, study my deathlock system. It’s an endless flow of pain and misery once you master setting the initial grip right. And it’ll help add more teeth to your closed guard if you devote time to mastering it.

If, however, you just want to see something cool, it’s not for you.

In fact, unless you plan to actually submit people within closed guard, don’t check it out.

Otherwise, go here:

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Soul crushing shoulder pressure

  • September 11, 2017

Lemme tell you about the perils of soul crushing shoulder pressure.

Back when I was coming up, there was a black belt (and he’s still around) who was infamous for his ability to put people to sleep with shoulder pressure alone. And he wasn’t no big and brawny dude either. In fact, if you saw him on the streets, you’d probably wouldn’t think he was much of a threat.

But he had figured out how to exert maximum amounts of force on the chin with his shoulder.

‘Tis how he controlled and dominated bigger guys (including me).

When that shoulder drops on you in just the right way. It’s horrible. You can’t bridge. You can’t move. And sometimes, if they’re really good, the choke just starts creeping up on you.

It’s such a helpless feeling.

And yesterday, one of my students experienced its peril.

At the IBJJF Open in DC, he faced some stiff competition, and the guy passed him twice in the same exact way. He got to the head, latched on to the lat, and dropped the shoulder with vicious precision before long stepping to the pass.

When you run into that guy that has that pressure, it doesn’t matter how heavy he is either.

(Hell, there’s even some guys walking around at 125 that can make you feel like a mountain dropped on you.)

That pressure is definitely something that you can’t grin and bear.

Something has to be done about it.

Right away.

So next week, a new lesson will be added to the micro adjustments course that focuses entirely on what I do neutralize soul crushing shoulder pressure from many different situations.

There are some stupid simple answers to the problem.

Things that aren’t commonly taught because they’re not flashy. Nothing that would make you go oooh and ahhh (unless you’re a nerd about the game).

For now though, another lesson has been locked and loaded.

It’s a breakdown of the win conditions for executing the 50/50 ankle lock, and you can learn it now if you so wish.

Here’s the link:

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Levels to this cross choke game

  • September 4, 2017

Following up from yesterday:

I’ve had the opportunity now to test out the double palm down cross choke, and it works. Yes, yes indeed, it does. In fact, it took almost no strength at all. Just wrist action and they were heading off towards lala land.

This changes a lot.

And that’s no exaggeration.

Being able to switch the configuration of the grip while still achieving the same outcome adds more unpredictability to the attack. And once you add an understanding the rules of head position to the mix, it’s like a unstoppable force almost.

And that’s especially true from the closed guard.

Feeding the first grip palm down not only makes posture control easier, but now you can actually attack with the choke from both angles as well. Before, that wasn’t an option. I had to feed the second grip palm up. That meant that my head had to be on the same side as my first grip.

But now, it doesn’t matter where my head is because the second grip can switch to fit the occasion.

Use it, and you will crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.

Now in the other news.

An update is currently being uploaded to the micro adjustment course. It’s the fifteenth lesson, and that’s an important number.

There will only be fifteen lessons in the course at any one time. From this point on, anytime I do an update, I’ll also delete the oldest lesson.

Just a heads up.

Anyway.

In this update is a ridiculously simple way to slaughter the elbow escape from mount. It’s something that frustrate people to the depths of their souls. And I’ve been using it for many years to keep the top position as I slowly slide in the ezekiel choke.

Check it out here:

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The pressure grip that transformed into a choke

  • September 3, 2017

Recently, I’ve been watching a lot of Rafael Lovato matches.

And I noticed something curious.

When he gets to quarter mount, his very next step is to drive in a cross collar grip with the palm. He then uses his forearm to drive into the chin, making his opponents look away from his trapped leg.

That force often opens up the pass right into mount.

And that’s not all.

Once in mount, he does something completely unorthodox.

He goes for the cross choke, but it’s not any old normal one. He doesn’t switch his first grip at all, nor does he feed the second grip in with the palm up.

Instead, he loops around and slices his elbow down against the other side of his opponent’s neck (’tis a really good way to make sure that second grip is tight) and then grabs the back of the collar with his palm down.

That means that he executes the cross collar choke from mount with both palms down.

Now that might not seem that extraordinary to you.

But it is to me.

And I’ll tell you why.

One of the biggest challenges with getting basic attacks to work on seasoned opponents lies in how effectively you conceal the threat. If they see it coming a mile away, they will stop everything and slaughter it in its infancy without the slightest bit of remorse.

There one moment, gone the next.

Opportunity lost.

On the other hand though, changing the execution of the choke conceals the threat. And not only is that first grip powerful in the sense that it can be used to inflict discomfort and distraction but it’s also not an early sign of the cross choke threat.

Unless the opponents knows that you have many levels to your attack, they won’t see it coming.

And it’ll be too late to stop it.

Play with it and see if it works.

And for more little micro adjustments head here:

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A quick peek at one of my stolen goods

  • August 28, 2017

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

One of the principles I live by is that any and every thing that works on me on the mat is subject to outright and blatant theft, and I have absolutely no reservations about it either. If it works on me, I steal it.

And oh boy, have I looted some great stuff over the years.

In fact, one particular piece of loot comes to mind at the moment.

Back in my purple belt days, Tim Spriggs (a straight up beast passer) started to give me trouble in the room. Whenever we got to half guard, he would establish a high collar grip on the same side as his trapped leg, so if I was playing on my right side with his right leg trapped, his right hand would always grab my left side collar.

He used that grip to control the inside space, and it absolutely slaughtered most of my offense in its infancy.

It was a really frustrating time for me.

I tried all kinds of different ways to deal with it, and none of them worked at all. Hell, more than once, whole rolls went by with us just fighting in that position. The best I could do was prevent the pass.

All my offense was dead.

And you know what?

I stole that grip.

There’s no shame in my game either. It was robbery in broad daylight. Hell, I’m proud of it too.

Since then, that grip has served me well.

Pinning that far shoulder to the mat does more than prevent offense. It also opens up a ridiculous strong knee cut, and I’ve used it to run roughshod through half from the top countless times.

The key, though, is to make sure that you control their bottom arm. The wrist must be pinned to the mat or the elbow must be lifted off the ground. That kills their ability to rotate, making the pass stupid easy.

On the other side of the coin though, I now have several answers for it when people try it on me.

And at least one of them can be found in the higher institute of half gyard learning along with many other tips and tricks.

Find out more here:

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