Tuesday No-Gi

Tough warmup at yesterday’s class. Bingo ran warmups, so we did sprawls on the bags, then a circuit which included throwing medicine balls, doing hip-ups with a 4 lbs medicine ball between our knees, presses with a kettleball, climbing a rope, pushups and all sorts of other badness.

Technique was the D’arce from side control. Once again, this is a setup that I really like. Over time, I’ve learned a few things that have made it better for me, and last night was no exception. I picked up a good detail that will make it tighter. In the following description, I’m on top Side Control with my opponent’s head on my right side.

D’arce from Side Control:

1. Start from standard side control, with my left knee blocking his hip, controlling his head.
2. Bring my right knee up, isolating his left arm on top of my thigh. I might need to sit out into a scarf hold position, and then up into side control in order to do this. Getting this arm high on my thigh is critical to the choke.
3. I’m going to reach over his head with my right arm, back under his neck aiming for deep between my own legs,, thumb up and palm facing “out” or away from his feet. I want my bicep/armpit as tight against his neck as possible.
4. Next I’ll reach over with my left arm and start angling more toward a north/south orientation. I’ll secure a gable grip (or an “s” grip or whatever feels strong).
5. Here’s the detail I picked up: Once I’ve got a strong grip, scoot back an inch or two. This pushes his chin up a little so that when I do steps 6 and 7, it’s so tight that I really don’t have to put a lot of muscle into it at all. It’s a very tight choke.
6. Drop my hips all the way to the mat. I need to get them all the way down or that arm I isolated will sneak back inside and I’ll lose the submission.
7. And finish by bringing my head to the mat next to my left arm, moving my legs toward the north/south direction.

Sparring was alright. I’m really very new to no-gi, and so I don’t have as many tools in the tool box. I think I do alright re-establishing and maintaining guard, and can keep my opponent’s from passing, but I’m going to have to rethink sweeps and submissions a little, as the sweeps and subs that I really like tend to depend upon various grips. It’ll come. I’m glad I was able to get in, and need to do a lot more no-gi training.