6.22.08 #64.5

Gi with Ferret

Sunday was one of those training sessions that is going to be a foundation to elevate my game to a new level. Ferret wanted to teach more offensive tonight, but I wanted to go back and work on some basics - guard pass and guard defense. Except instead of focusing on closed guard and butterfly guard, I wanted to focus on passing the guys with very loose, open guards who play in-between and make things for you to pass very different. While at the same time, work on my open guard and get my legs better, get my defense better. It is hard to have any notes after a class like this, because we spent the whole time drilling and going through the motions. It was one of the toughest classes I have been through because we did not stop from the second we started. When I got tired, I went to the ground and worked my defense after a few minutes back up and trying to pass again.

The biggest thing in playing against these loose guards is to get my hips in and head back. After that you ride your opponent's legs and hips to allow you to close the distance and take away the space. From there you have two passes, the first is the knee around pass. You have to be real light on your feet and really "feel" your opponent having his hooks in, then just kick your knee around and pass. The second pass was the knee through pass. Here, you smash your opponent with your hips and keep the pressure on him, then just collapse a leg into his forcing your knee to the ground for the pass.

Over the next few weeks don't expect any fancy moves or notes, because we are going to drill this and work more on getting better.