July 23rd, 2010 by jgatienza

Left to right: Dustin Denes, Rob Handshy, Gerard Atienza

Scenario: I am in my opponents half guard with my right leg wrapped up

• plant both hands on the mat
• get up on your feet
• clear my right knee pasth his thigh
• cut his right leg using your right knee and point and drive it towards my left heel, point your toes so that it slips past his legs
• with your left hand grab the back of his right tricep and get your hips down and sit thru with your right leg behind his right shoulder
• keep your head down so he can’t frame up and create space

Be prepared IF my opponent underhooks my arm when I put my hands to the mat and pop up on my feet:

• do a whizzer on his arm and grab his right side lapel
• cut his right leg using your right knee and point and drive it towards my left heel, point your toes so that it slips past his legs
• he will want to turn and get on his knees, stay on your toes and spin around his back
• he will be in the turtle position, you should end up after spinning on his right side
• your left foot will be on the mat behind his rear, your right knee will be on the mat, this is important because then your opponent will not be able to reach for it
• left elbow on the left side of his hip and try and get your right hand under his chin and grab his lapel

Mount armbar technique (2nd half of the private)

Scenario: you are in the mount position

• you have your feet grapevined or crossed (whatever you prefer) and your left hand is posted far above his head
• with your right arm, work it to his right arm and grab the back of his triceps
• pull it across your chest and apply pressure, your right foot comes to his gut with the toes pointing to the 2 o’clock  position, left leg lays parallel to his back
• apply the kimura grip on his arm
• swing your left leg and clear his head, try and swing it past his head
• squeeze the knees together, flatten him out by straightening your legs over his head and keeping it heavy
• suck him in if you have to to get your hips under his shoulder, do not give him any space to get his shoulder to the mat
• finish the armbar

Note: think of yourself as a tripod, if you only have 2 points it’s easy to bump and roll you

armbar, half guard escape, mount

May 19th, 2010 by jgatienza

Defending the choke when I’m on my side (for this example I’m on my left side):

• get your left hand deep behind your collar as deep as you can and make a tight fist. They cannot choke you with a fist
• your right hand can either be in the inside of your left hand holding your lapel OR you can hold your lapel right under your left fist leaving no space for your opponent to hold onto
• keep your elbows tight to your body
• bring your right leg up to your elbow
• try to slightly get on your knees to the left and then torque your body back to the right
• place your left hand on your opponents shoulder and your right hand on his hip
• shrimp out and create space to put your knee thru and put him into your guard. Keep shrimping until you have sufficient space.

If your opponent traps your right arm simply go out the backdoor.

Passing the open guard:

• you have your opponents foot between your legs
• with your right hand reach under his left leg and grab his belt
• with your right hand grab the gi material around his right knee and keep it between your knees
• keep your head turned on your left side
• make your opponent feel he has you in his half guard
• start stretching him out, keep his foot inches on your calf, he will be  uncomfortable  and move it, that’s when you pass his leg and finish in side control.

defence

January 15th, 2010 by jgatienza

If I’m starting off on my butt, my feet need to be on the ground or my back is on the ground with my feet in the air. I should never be flat on my back with my feet on the mat.

From standing:

• grab his gi on the left side with your right hand (you can grab his right sleeve if you want, not necessary).
• fall to your butt and pull him with your right hand closer to you
• your head should always be in the inside of his leg!
• wrap your left hand around his right leg and grab your lapel on the right side as deep as you can, you can use your right hand to help with this.
• post up on your right hand, shoot your right leg out behind you and drive forward
• your left foot helps trip your opponent
• finish strong in side control

Note: it’s very important to create angles

take down

December 22nd, 2009 by jgatienza

This is a private that I didn’t get a chance to write down until now.

Basically from the north south position what I learned is that it’s basically a holding position.

• I need to smash my opponents face to be able to turn them to their side.
• with my left hand I have an “underhook” and I’m grabbing my lapel
• I pop quickly and drop my left leg and lay it next to his back and step over with my right leg over his face
• crank his arm back quickly to startle your opponent and squeeze the knees for the armbar

If your opponent defends and grabs something like his gi to defend the armbar

• squeeze your knees tightly on both sides of his head
• establish your kimura grip on his arm
• break his grip by pulling forcefully to the right away from his gi
• and take his arm behind his back

An option that you can do is also to trap his arm and head in a triangle while you are trying to lock down the kimura. This is just another thing for him to think about.

November 20th, 2009 by jgatienza

Collar Choke

Scenario: starting from side control

• right hand goes on hip, left hand under his head
• go to north south position
• left hand work it under your opponents arm and grab his lapel (fingers inside)
• when your opponent reaches for your hand that is on his hip take it away and grab his lapel (thumb inside), pull up and bring your elbow down
• penguin feet, knees together and start walking counter clockwise
  right ear to his chest so that he can’t push you away

Kimura
Scenario: starting from side control

• if your opponents arm is on the right side of your head use your right arm and grap the left side of your lapel (if your opponents arm is on the left side use your left arm and grap your right lapel)
• step over his head and turn him onto his right side
• get your left knee down, right knee is over his right arm
  pinch your knees together
• work your left hand under your right arm
• let go with your right hand
• lock the kimura grip
• straighten the back
• pull the arm up and to his back and then down

If you are using your left hand to secure his arm follow the same steps as above. The only difference is you don’t have to work your hand under your right arm. You are just skipping that step and going straight to the kimura lock

collar choke, kimura, north south