Melhorar os Básicos

Ola!

I’m really sore from class on Saturday.  It wasn’t really that tough per say, but we did work a lot on little details.  My instructor and I got into a conversation about the basics and how we focus on them all the time (not that I have a problem with that, it was more of a philosophical discussion).

We got to talking about the basic techniques for passing the guard and how important it is to keep your posture, etc.  So I requested that we go over that as the main point of today’s class.

We started off with a standard standing technique where an attacker is swinging at you.  You back up a few times and then you close the distance by lunging forward, as you lunge you drop down and trap the one leg, put a triangle-like shape using your legs, push your hips forward and down he goes.

Then, we moved on to the basics of passing the guard.  Our instructor went over the proper position you’re supposed to be in, where you should have your hands and where you should have your weight.  I didn’t realize that while I had my one hand on the bicep (preventing a choke) I should have the other hand holding the opposite color at about the sternum.  You actually should pull it tight to remove any slack, that will help you control the guy on the bottom a lot easier than just using the hand on the bicep.

We also went over how we should maintain our forearm in contact with your opponent’s hip so as better to feel what he’s trying to do and better control him.  It’s that type of analytical detail that makes the difference between passing the guard or getting swept or even submitted.

It was great to work on that for literally an hour and 15 minutes.  Over and over again.  It was awesome.  Then, went into guard passing drills and then moved on to open mat.  I rolled with PB Steve who is back after his knee surgery and that was it.  By the time we were done everyone was gone so we cleaned up and left.

Surprisingly I’m really sore.  My hips are all tight from the soreness too, which is really helpful when you’re trying to get up from a chair.  No biggie.  I’m back training full-time so I’ll be back on the mats on Tuesday.

Chau e bom dia!