Training 2015/05/18 #020 -- Submission Academy -- Triangle Choke

I tried out a new academy yesterday. One of my friends has been training there for a little while because the schedule worked out better for him (daytime classes). It was great to drill and roll with an old friend.

We were working on triangles, which is great because I really don't have a triangle game. So, you have your partner in guard:

Classic Triangle Choke

1. Get grips. You really need those sleeve grips to make this work. Always get grips.
2. Put your foot on their hip. You're going to have to move. Open your guard, put your left foot on their hip.
3. Push and pull. Pull one sleeve out while you push the other hand -- your right hand -- into their belly. This action will be much easier with good grips and a good anchor for your foot. You should be rotating a bit. This trick is particularly important if you have short and/or undextrous legs.
4. Beat their arm. Bring your right leg around the stuffed arm and get a strong hook around their head. Remember to flex your feet.
5. Trap the head. Use your right arm to hold your opponents head. You need to keep a heavy leg to keep them from posturing. Get both hands behind their head or, even better, grab your right shin with your left hand. Keep everything really tight.
6. Swim under with your right hand. Think of setting up the pendulum sweep. You want to swim under to increase the angle and maintain position. The angle is important. With an angle, it will be hard for your opponent to stack you.
7. Squeeze your knees. You might be able to get the submission without actually triangling your legs. Bring your left knee up into the back of their shoulder and squeeze.
8. Complete the triangle. Kick your left leg up and close the triangle. Don't put yourself into a straight ankle lock! Cross at the shin, not on the foot.
9. Finish. Squeeze your knees together.
10. Adjust. You still might not get the tap. A few tips:
1. Extend your hips and get their arm across.
2. Pull down on their head.
3. Increase the angle.

Easy. Now just drill it a few thousand times!

We also reviewed some variations.

The Tepee

1. Set up the triangle. You've got your opponent between your legs but you screwed something up. They are posturing, you don't have the angle, etc.
2. Grab the head and pull. Basically, it's a can opener from bottom. Ideally, you get your arms around your own legs and pull down. I was drilling with Matt, who is a big guy, so this wasn't really an option.
3. Watch for the stack. The tepee is a good option when you get stacked.

Armbar Transition

1. Set up the triangle. Same thing. You've swum under, you've trapped the head, but you haven't yet crossed your ankles.
2. Trap the extended arm. You don't want to grab the arm so much as trap it against your chest. You can even grab the cloth of your gi.
3. Extend your hips. Extend and knock them over... slowly. There's no need to break someone's arm.
4. Put your leg across their face. On the way down, move your other leg (the one that was on their hip) across their face so they can't defend. If you don't cross, they will simply posture out.
5. Control the leg. There is no need to release the underhook on their leg. Keep it all the way through.
6. Apply the armbar. Make sure their thumb is pointed up and extend your hips for the tap. Keep everything tight. Their elbow has to be above your crotch for the submission to really work.

Keep drilling. Lots of reps, however, can be hard on the man-bits.

Training 2015/05/08 #019 -- Take downs

We are slowly getting back into the curriculum. We practiced a few different things: dealing with an aggressive attacker (i.e., the overhand right) and a much more mellow attack (the jab).

I don't think that we really added anything.