Lessons

Lesson 21 – Mounted Triangle

Warmups

• Solo Drills
  • Any
• Partner Drills
  • Side Control Sit Through
  • Side Control Reverse Sit Through

Lesson

• Side Control Step Over to Mount
  1. Start inside control top, reverse sit through
  2. Drive off the mat to get your hips on top of uke’s chest
     • Turn your chest downwards to make it difficult for uke to bridge you over
  3. Slap uke’s knees in the opposite direction to your step over
  4. Step over uke’s body, getting your foot to their hip
  5. Turn your hips downwards and bring your knees to the ground to establish mount
• Mounted Triangle – Entry
  1. Continue from mount top
  2. Wedge your forearm under uke’s elbow and finger walk to move your arm up the mat
  3. Plant your hand on the mat and straighten your arm to overcome uke’s resistance
     • Alternate finger-walking and arm straightening to move uke’s elbow towards their head
  4. Hug onto uke’s head to secure their elbow, immobilising their arm
  5. Pin uke’s wrist to their chest and step over it, trapping their head and arm between your legs
• Mounted Triangle – Finishing Mechanics
  1. Continue from (open) mounted triangle
  2. Adjust your triangle so that uke’s neck is tightly connected to the crook of your knee
  3. Turn your hips so that your body faces the direction perpendicular to uke’s body
     • If you have done this correctly, uke’s shoulder should be outside of your triangle
  4. Lock your support leg over the shin of your strangle leg and squeeze to finish the strangle
• Mounted Triangle – Body Position
  1. Continue from (open) mounted triangle
  2. Hold your own ankle so that uke cannot escape while you move around
  3. Shift your body weight forwards and put your head on the mat
     • With your legs off the ground, all of the finishing mechanics adjustments will be easier
  4. Finish the triangle as above
     • Rolling and finishing from bottom is also fine, as long as the triangle is locked properly

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Lesson 22 – Side Control Escape to Turtle

Warmups

• Line Drills
  • Bridge
  • Sprawl
• Partner Drills
  • Side Control Forearm to Underhook
  • Side Control Bicep to Underhook

Lesson

• Turtle Single Leg – Side Control Escape
  1. Start in side control bottom
  2. Get to an underhook using either the forearm or bicep method
  3. Bridge towards uke and use the space to turn face-down
     • Bring your head to uke’s
  4. Move your underhook down to catch uke’s leg
  5. Switch your legs and come up to turtle position with a single leg grip
     • Realistically uke should remain on top of you and apply downwards pressure (chest to back)
• Turtle Single Leg – Sprawl Defence
  1. Continue from turtle single leg
  2. Uke should take an overhook grip and sprawl to apply downwards pressure
  3. Use either a hand post or an elbow post to keep your head off the mat
     • Do not lock your hands as this will stop you from posting properly
• Turtle Double Leg Takedown
  1. Continue from turtle single leg, uke sprawling with overhook
  2. Circle behind uke and get to an outside leg hook
  3. Keep circling and catch uke’s far side ankle
  4. Catch and pull uke’s knee to bring them down to the mat
     • If uke comes up to their elbow, use a rear wrist control to force them down
• Turtle Limp Arm Back Take
  1. Continue from turtle single leg with an outside leg hook, uke sprawling with overhook
  2. Uke should keep their far side leg off the mat to prevent the double leg takedown
  3. Put your hand out wide on the mat for base and lean your head towards it
  4. Use a ‘limp arm’ flicking motion to get your arm free from uke’s overhook
     • You will only be able to flick your arm forward if your knuckles are facing the mat
  5. Connect your chest to uke’s back and attack with either seatbelt or tight waist grips

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Lesson 23 – Open Guard vs Combat Base

Warmups

• Line Drills
  • Backwards Breakfall
  • Side Breakfall
  • Partner Drills
• Combat Base (positional flow roll)

Lesson

• Open Guard Single Leg – Wrestling Up
  1. Start in open guard with uke in combat base
  2. Take an outside overhook grip around uke’s shin
  3. Drive your head forwards into uke to move them backwards
     • You can post off the mat with one hand for base as you drive forwards
  4. Put your knees on the floor and sweep your own legs back to drive off the mat and stand up
     • Ensure that uke’s ankle stays between your legs
• Open Guard Single Leg – Takedown
  1. Continue from single leg, using a gable grip to hold uke’s leg
  2. Push your head into uke’s chest while pulling with your arms to keep the leg trapped
  3. Misdirect uke by circling and moving them in a forwards direction
  4. Apply chest pressure down onto their leg and move them backwards, taking them down to the mat
     • Keep your head on the inside of uke’s body, this helps avoid unsafe situations where your head gets pulled to the mat by uke and also reduces the risk of getting submitted (e.g by guillotine strangles)
• Open Guard Ankle Pick
  1. Start in open guard with uke in combat base
  2. Sweep your own legs back and post your hand onto the mat
     • This post will provide a counterforce for the ankle pick
  3. Catch uke’s ankle from the inside and pull it towards your hip
  4. Stand up while holding uke’s ankle
     • Your first step should shelf uke’s ankle on your own leg, making it hard for them to escape
  5. Lift uke’s ankle up high and sweep out their other leg to take them down
• Positional – Open Guard vs Combat Base – Pass / Sweep
  • Start in an open guard vs combat base situation. After a successful pass or sweep, reset to the original position (i.e. whoever started on top stays on top). 
  • Rounds should last 2 minutes.
  • Total duration: 8 minutes
    • START → 2’ Round
    • SWAP TOP/BOT → 2’ Round
    • FIND A DIFFERENT PARTNER → 2’ Round
    • SWAP TOP/BOT → 2’ Round

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Lesson 24 – Headquarters Passing

Warmups

• Line Drills
  • Any
• Partner Drills
  • Headquarters (positional flow roll)

Lesson

• Knee Cut Pass – Standard Method
  1. Start in headquarters
  2. Drive forward, bringing your head to uke’s chest and maintaining hip to hip contact
  3. Take an underhook grip on uke’s far side
  4. Get your knee to the mat on uke’s near side
     • Don’t put both knees on the mat, as you will lose hip to hip pressure
  5. Pivot to the side to pass to side control
     • If uke catches your ankle, use your other leg to kick out by pushing on uke’s knee
• Knee Cut Pass – Clearing a Knee Shield
  1. Start in headquarters
  2. Uke puts in a knee shield, stopping you from getting hip to hip contact or driving forward
  3. Grip uke’s knee and pull their legs to the centre, so that both of their knees are pointing upwards
  4. Connect your knee and elbow between uke’s legs
  5. Come back down to headquarters and finish the knee cut pass as before
     • Maintain your knee and elbow connected until you get to your underhook
• Smash Pass – Mount Finish
  1. Start in headquarters
  2. Grip uke’s knee and pull their legs to the other side
     • Ensure you are stapling uke’s leg to the mat, similar to the knee cut but on the other side
  3. Compress uke’s body with hip and chest pressure
  4. Establish the smash pass position by placing your knee on the mat between uke’s legs
     • Use the correct leg: it will be whichever leg is not already on top of uke’s thigh
  5. Place your knee in front of uke’s top leg, then slide both legs forwards into mount
• Smash Pass – Side Control Finish
  1. Continue from smash pass position
  2. Uke blocks your knee from moving forwards, stopping you from getting to mount
  3. Step behind the ankle of uke’s top leg
  4. Step behind uke’s bottom leg, ending with your shin on top of their thigh
  5. Grip behind uke’s top leg and move your head to the mat on the far side
  6. Maintain pressure to keep uke’s knees facing away as you pass to side control

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Lesson 25 – Turtle to Rear Naked Choke

Warmups

• Line Drills
• Partner Drills
  • Rear Mount – Four Point Control
  • Rear Mount – Diagonal Control

Lesson

• Turtle to Rear Mount – Hip Breakdown
  1. Start in turtle, behind uke with their hips between your knees
  2. Take a tight waist grip around uke’s body
  3. Use your knee to block uke’s leg on the side opposite to your grip
  4. Pull uke’s body over their blocked knee
  5. Bring your own knee out from under uke and continue pulling to break them down to a hip
     • Bring your knee out at the right time so that uke isn’t pulled on top of you
• Turtle to Rear Mount – Hook Entry
  1. Continue from turtle, uke broken down to a hip
  2. Uke comes up to their elbow in an effort to stay up and not get pinned
  3. Take a seatbelt grip and knees slide into the gap between uke’s knee and elbow
     • Diagonal control: your underhook should go on uke’s top arm (opposite the knee slide)
  4. Place your top side hook in and use it to pull uke to the mat, falling onto the underhook side
  5. Place your second hook in to secure rear mount
     • Diagonal control: this second hook is the more important one
• Rear Naked Strangle – Straitjacket
  1. Continue from rear mount, fallen to the underhook side
  2. Using your underhook hand, take a cross grip on uke’s top arm
     • If uke uses their bottom arm to defend, use your other arm to cross grip that arm as well
  3. Take out your top hook and use it to trap uke’s arm by crossing your ankles on top of it
  4. Use your strangle hand to grab uke’s lat and pull them to the other side
     • Come up to an elbow to build momentum and make the movement easier
  5. Restore your original seatbelt grip
• Rear Naked Strangle – Finishing Mechanics
  1. Continue from rear mount, fallen to the strangle side with uke’s arm trapped
  2. Slide your strangle arm under uke’s neck so that your elbow lines up with their chin
  3. Slide your arms into a figure four grip (strangle hand on the bicep, support hand on the shoulder)
     •  Don’t bring your support hand too far forward or hold the top of uke’s head, they will be able to reach your hand and defend
  4. Put your chin on top of your wrist and pressure forwards with your head to lock in the grip
  5. Bring the elbow of your strangle arm over uke’s shoulder to finish the strangle
     • Don’t let your figure four grip come loose as you perform this step, your elbow should move but your wrist should not

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Lesson 26 – Turtle Escapes

Warmups

• Line Drills
  • Granby Roll
• Partner Drills
  • Turtle – Sit Back Escape
  • Turtle – Inside Hip Position

Lesson

• Makikomi – Turtle Reversal
  1. Start in turtle, uke using a tight waist grip and inside hip position
  2. Trap the wrist of uke’s tight waist arm
     • Don’t try to grip uke’s hand or trap over their elbow, simply put your wrist on top of their to lock their arm around your ribcage
  3. Turn your hips out to the corner of uke’s trapped arm
  4. Extend your leg and drop your hip to the mat, rolling uke over
  5. Come up to a ‘reverse sit through’ variation of side control
• Makikomi – Step Over to Mount
  1. Continue from side control, reverse sit through
  2. Bring your far side elbow up to uke’s armpit
  3. Shift your weight forward so that your hips are off the mat
  4. Slap uke’s knees in the opposite direction to your step over
  5. Step over uke’s body and establish mount
• Seatbelt Grip vs Makikomi
  1. Start in turtle, using a seatbelt grip and inside hip position
     • Uke is now the person on bottom
  2. Uke attempts a makikomi reversal
  3. As uke rolls, throw your leg to their far side and keep their body between your knees
     • Use your seatbelt grip to maintain chest to back connection
  4. Insert symmetrical hooks to establish rear mount
• Inside Leg Escape
  1. Start in turtle, uke using a seatbelt grip and inside hip position
     • Uke is now the person on top
  2. Turn your body to uke’s strangle side, bringing your head next to uke’s knee
  3. As uke’s knee moves downwards on the other side, step over their leg
  4. Slide your knee under uke’s hips and roll uke over
  5. Take your near side elbow to the mat in front of uke’s body
  6. As uke comes up to top position, keep them between your knees to recover guard position

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Lesson 27 – Open Guard Hook Sweep

Warmups

• Line Drills
  • Granby Roll
• Partner Drills
  • Butterfly Hook Sweep – Grip and Go

Lesson

• Butterfly Hook Sweep – The Role of Each Leg (solo drill)
  1. Start in a seated open guard with staggered legs
  2. Fall onto your side so that one shoulder touches the mat
     • Do not prop yourself up on an elbow, your weight should be on your shoulder
  3. Plant the toes of your bottom leg close to your hips and begin pushing up off the mat
     • The knee of your bottom leg should be facing down into the mat
  4. Your upper leg can now extend in the direction of the sweep
     • Note that most of the sweep’s power comes from the bottom leg
• Butterfly Hook Sweep – Grip and Direction
  1. Start in butterfly guard
  2. Trap one of uke’s arms by using an over-under grip
     • Grip uke’s tricep and pinch their wrist with your elbow to prevent them from touching the mat
  3. Fall onto your side to begin the sweep, lifting uke’s hips high above their head
  4. Continue the sweep in the direction of the upper corner, not straight back or sideways
     • Don’t look at your grips or your legs: point your eyes where you want uke to land on the mat, this will naturally align your body into a good sweeping position
• Butterfly Hook Sweep – Hopping to Finish
  1. Continue from butterfly hook sweep
  2. Uke bases out wide into a tripod, planting their toes on the mat to stop the sweep
  3. Plant the toes of your bottom leg close to your hips and begin pushing up off the mat
     • The knee of your bottom leg should be facing down into the mat
  4. Use a hopping motion with your bottom leg to follow through and overcome uke’s base
     • Use a series of small hops (not one big jump) to move towards uke’s planted foot
• Butterfly Hook Sweep – Ankle Block
  1. Continue from butterfly hook sweep
  2. Uke bases out wide into a tripod, planting their toes on the mat to stop the sweep
  3. Put the sole of your foot in front of uke’s ankle
     • To maximise grip and leverage, contour your foot (like a hand) around uke’s ankle
  4. Lift with your upper leg to unweight uke’s planted leg
  5. Use your ankle block to cut away uke’s unweighted leg and finish the sweep

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Lesson 28 – Open Guard Guillotine

Warmups

• Line Drills
  • Bridge
  • Backwards Roll
• Partner Drills
  • Seated Snapdown – Front Headlock
  • Seated Snapdown – Leg Assist

Lesson

• High Elbow Guillotine
  1. Start in a seated open guard
  2. Snap uke’s head down to catch a front headlock
  3. Bring your wrist as high as possible around uke’s neck
     • Turn your body side-on so that you have the angle and space to do this
  4. Lock your hands and fall onto your side, with the elbow of your second arm as high as possible
     • Turn your body so that your head touches the opposite shoulder, letting your elbow rise
  5. Throw your leg over uke’s back and force their chin to their chest to finish the strangle
• Low Elbow Guillotine
  1. Continue from seated front headlock
  2. Uke stops you from getting a high elbow by reaching over your arm
  3. Bend your wrist and use it to wrap around uke’s neck as much as possible
     1. Ensure your thumb is covering uke’s carotid artery
  4. Fall onto your side, maintaining contact around uke’s neck
  5. Lock a closed guard over uke’s hip and force their chin to their chest to finish the strangle
• Low Elbow Guillotine Escape
  1. Continue from low elbow guillotine (uke is now the person on bottom)
  2. Take pressure off the strangle by coming up to a tripod and putting weight onto your shoulder
  3. Reach over uke’s shoulder opposite to the guillotine
  4. Use your free arm to open uke’s closed guard and hop over their knees to side control
     • Ensure you move away from the guillotine arm and not towards it
• High Elbow Guillotine Escape
  1. Continue from high elbow guillotine
  2. Take pressure off the strangle by rolling to the direction of the guillotine arm
     • Uke should follow the movement to get to mount
  3. Put your hands on uke’s hips and bridge off the mat to off-balance uke
  4. As uke bases out, use the space created to pommel your legs into guard position
     • If uke does not base out, roll through and perform the low elbow guillotine escape
• Bonus (show, don’t drill)
  • After escaping the guillotine and getting to side control, you can transition to a kimura grip if uke refuses to let go of your head

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Lesson 29 – Rear Takedowns

• Warmups
  • Solo Drills
    • Backwards Break Fall
    • Side Break Fall
  • Partner Drills
    • Standard Arm Drag
    • Ankle Block Arm Drag
• Lesson
  • Knee Block Breakdown
    1. Start in a standing rear body lock
    2. Step in front of uke’s legs so that your knee blocks their knee
    3. Push uke’s upper body forwards to get their hands on the mat
    4. Step further around to uke’s side and pull their hips to the mat
    5. Take uke’s back by throwing hooks in and establishing a seat belt grip
  • Ankle Pick Takedown
    1. Start in a standing rear body lock
    2. Uke separates your hands
    3. Lower your level and drop to a knee
    4. Reach for uke’s far side ankle, with your other hand holding uke’s hip
    5. Drive forward through uke’s hip while holding their ankle in place to finish the takedown
  • Tani-Otoshi – Safety
    1. Start in a standing rear body lock
    2. Stand just behind the line of uke’s feet
       • For safety, it is important that you don’t initiate the takedown from in front of uke
    3. Extend one of your legs (heel on the mat) and drop your hips to the mat to take uke down
       • Ensure your bodyweight moves to the empty space on the mat and not towards uke’s legs
  • Tani-Otoshi – Technique Detail
    1. Start in a standing rear body lock
    2. Move your head to the side of uke’s body, so that your ear is just behind their shoulder / lat muscle
       • This step makes it so that uke doesn’t land on top of you after the takedown
    3. Stand just behind the line of uke’s feet
    4. Extend one of your legs (heel on the mat) and drop your hips to the mat to take uke down
    5. Establish side control by switching your legs

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Lesson 30 – Knee Shield Passing

• Warmups
  • Solo Drills
    • Any
  • Partner Drills
    • Forcing Half Guard
    • Knee Shield vs Headquarters
• Lesson
  • Weave Pass
    1. Start in headquarters, with uke using a knee shield
    2. Use a collar tie to anchor onto uke and limit their pushing power
    3. Wedge uke’s hips in place by weaving your arm behind uke’s top leg and in front of their bottom leg
    4. Slide your knee past uke’s half guard to free your legs
       • Ensure your knee is sliding below uke’s knee, where they have no ability to push back
    5. Circle in front of uke’s knee shield, then circle back towards their hips to pass to side control
       • Ensure you circle with a series of short steps, with your hips and knees off the floor so that uke cannot re-guard or push you off-balance
  • Knee Cut Pass
    1. Start in headquarters, with uke using a knee shield
    2. Grip uke’s bottom knee and pull their legs to the centre, so that both knees are pointing upwards
    3. Connect your knee and elbow between uke’s legs
    4. Come back down to headquarters and get your knee to the mat on uke’s near side
       • Don’t put both knees on the mat, as you will lose hip to hip pressure
    5. Pivot to the side to pass to side control
  • Lunge Pass
    1. Start in half guard, with uke using a knee shield (unable to get inside knee up to headquarters)
    2. Pinch uke’s lower leg between your knees
    3. Straighten uke’s lower leg by using a lunging movement
       • Ensure you drill this with moderate resistance, uke should be trying to keep their leg bent
    4. Pommel the shin of your inside leg over uke’s straightened leg
    5. Use the knee of your outside leg to push uke’s legs away and pass to side control
• Positional – (not sure if there will be time, may only get through the techniques)
  • Knee Shield vs Headquarters – Pass / Sweep
    • Start in a knee shield vs headquarters situation. After a successful pass or sweep, reset to the original position (i.e. whoever started on top stays on top). 
    • Rounds should last 2 minutes.
    • Total duration: 8 minutes
      • START → 2’ Round
      • SWAP TOP/BOT → 2’ Round
      • FIND A DIFFERENT PARTNER → 2’ Round
      • SWAP TOP/BOT → 2’ Round

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