03 May 2016

03/05/2016 - Open Mat | Open Guard for Back Injuries

Class #718
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 03/05/2016

Today I ran through a game plan with a student. We focused on options from open guard, while also avoiding impact on the back (due to a long term injury). That ruled out sweeps: the goal was to be either under guard. Sitting guard was perhaps a little too complex, in terms of getting the body alignment right to prevent being pushed down and passed. I therefore instead talked about the simple 'feet on hips' open guard. By keeping the feet on the hips, coupled with a grip on either their sleeve or collar, you can generate a strong push/pull force that is handy for distance management.

It also means that you can pick your moment to pull them into closed guard, assuming you can prevent them moving into a pass (e.g., leg drag). This is something I've been trying to add to my own open guard, though I prefer sitting guard. While I've been looking at loop chokes and collar drags, simply returning to closed guard is more appealing, as then I can work on the shoulder clamp and attacks from there.

My wrist still isn't letting me spar properly, but I can do kettlebells. I worked on my two handed swing, keeping a narrower stance and getting my arms in to the elbows on the backswing. That latter part isn't there yet (I tend to just go to the wrists), but I'll keep working on it.

A video posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on

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