Mount-ober: Session four

My last training session didn’t actually bring with it any specific lessons. Mostly, I just found that I was still making the same mistakes, although slightly less. It’s progress, but I won’t be fully satisfied until I’m not making those mistakes at all.

If you’re wondering what I’m going on about read this, this, and this to see the lessons I’ve picked up so far in my training focus on the mount.

In today’s blog I would simply like to make an observation, or two.

My focus is attacking from the mount position during sparring. I’ll lay out my current game plan and make note of the things that I find interesting.

From Head to Head the Arm Drag is what I’m looking for from standing/kneeling starts. From standing I would likely look for a single leg as my second option. From kneeling I usually look to (1) Arm Drag, (2) Pull Guard, or (3) Collar/Neck Drag. This is where those usually lead to:
Arm Drag to Back/Turtle Top/Guard Top
Pull Guard to Guard/Half Guard
Collar/Neck Drag to Turtle Top/Back

From Guard Top I look to pass the guard (obviously).

From Turtle Top I look to pull over and attack the Back.

From the Back I look to scoot around to Mount.

From Closed Guard I look to sweep into Mount (Scissors Sweep, Hip Bump Sweep), or scoot around onto the Back.

From Open Guard I look to sweep (Hooks Sweep, X Guard Sweep). Usually I end up either in Side Control or Guard Top.

From Half Guard I have been looking to get deep and scoot out the back door to the Back.

From Side Control I either look to switch base and Mount or transition to North/South.

From North/South I look to take the Back, or go to the other side into Side Control.

Now, that all looks pretty simple and straight forward. Here’s what I’ve observed from this game plan.

I have developed a Guard to Mount game.

I would say that I’m in one or the other 80% of the time, if not more. I believe a lot of this has to do with the previous month I spent working in Guard. It didn’t make me some amazing guard player, but it did get me very comfortable there. It also made me confident in my ability to get back to top once I am in guard. The previous month was spent on escapes, so I’m still rather confident getting out of trouble once I’m there.

When I do get to Mount I am not worried about getting rolled back into Guard. So, if I get a deep collar grip and have to give up the upa in order to get the other grip in, I’m happy to do that, and finish it from Guard. I’m comfortable and confident there.

In fact, in my last four sessions I have only finished once in Mount. All my other taps have come from a setup in Mount and a finish in Guard. Triangles, Armbars, Guillotines, and Cross Collar Chokes. All are set up in the Mount position initially. In order to lock them in I have been allowing the opponent to roll over into Guard. If they’re turning me, they’re not protecting their necks or arms.

If I don’t get the finish I let go and look to sweep back to Mount, or climb around to the Back.

Back to Mount. Mount attack. Finish in Guard OR restart.

This was not expected, but it has become welcome. It’s part of learning to embrace my natural game.

Mount-ober:Session two

Wednesday was my second session in October, where attacking in the mount is my focus. Here are some more lessons I’ve learned.

For lessons 1-2 click here

Lesson #3- 100% of the shots that you don’t take, won’t go in
I’ve quickly realised that I’m not willing to pull the trigger on submissions. For example, I got into mount and worked into a deep cross collar grip on my opponent. From there, I reached over to grab a palm-down grip on the other shoulder to put on the choke. However, I only went towards the shoulder at 30% pace. I was thinking, “Surely, he’s going to stop this”. Sure enough, he did. Would he have stopped it if I’d gone at full pace, with full determination? I don’t know. But I do know that he was able to easily stop the 30% attempt. I didn’t actually take the shot.

He brought an arm up to defend, so I grabbed the elbow, pushed it across into the underhook, moved my legs halfway into place and thought, “Surely, he’s going to stop this”. So, what happened? Well, my prophecy came true. He stopped it. Would he have stopped it if I’d gone at it 100%? I don’t know. I didn’t take the shot.

So, can a shot that’s never taken hit a target?

The answer is, no. It can’t. Because it never left the gun.

This links into lesson 4

Lesson #4- Don’t be scared to jump… especially when you know how to land
I rolled with my coach last night. He let me pass his guard (he rewards proper technique. If you try to muscle through a pass he’ll shut you down and sweep you. If you use proper technique he’ll allow it, even though he knows full well how to stop it. It’s quite nice of him, really). I get into side control, switch base to face his legs, and pull his far knee towards me so that I can switch to mount.

Then I just froze. I sat there looking at his legs.

After a few seconds he says, “So… are you going to go to mount, or what?”

I froze because I was thinking, “He’s setting me up for something. He’s going to put me right back into guard if I try to go to mount”. But, let me think about it for a minute. I’m in side control without an underhook, and not a ton of control over the bigger, stronger, more technical, more experienced opponent. Would I actually rather stay there than attempt a switch to mount and maybe get caught in half-guard (which I have always been confident in passing)?

Risk vs Reward

If I stay in side control until I know I can get mount (when would I know that anyway?).

Risk = losing side control and ending up in full guard. Being swept would probably be the worst case scenario. Considering I’m pretty comfortable on the bottom, and confident in being able to sweep, I’d say this ins’t a huge risk. But, just staying there till mount presents itself would give me:
Reward = absolutely nothing, since I didn’t have a controlling side control anyway. I’m not attacking from there, so there’s no insentive.

Now, what if I’d just taken the chance and attempted mount?

Risk = getting caught in half-guard on the way through. I’ve always been confident in my ability to pass the half-guard. Esspecially if I get caught coming through from side control because I tend to be able to gain some kind of head/shoulder control in transition.

Reward = mount…

Risk vs Reward points (overwhelmingly) to attempting mount instead of just sitting there.

Finally, I’m comfortable on the bottom because of my last two months of work (escapes in August and guard in September). So, attacking on the top shouldn’t worry me at all. I should be attacking liberally when I’m up there.

My fear of jumping into transition and submission isn’t rational.

And that is the glory of being able to fight off your back. It frees your top game up to be fast, flowing, and attacking.

So, I will be doing a lot more of that for the rest of the month.

Mount-ober:Session one

October for me, in my BJJ life, is known as “Mount-ober”. Get it?

Anyway, Mount-ober is the month where I will be soley focused on obtaining mount, and finishing from there. So, my solo drills will revolve around escape paths to mount, mount transition movements, and balance while in mount. I’ll also have my normal strenth and flexibility training.

My visualisation training will mostly be around submissions from the mount position.

Rules are simple. In sparring I’m only allowed to finish from the mount position.

I just had my first training session with this focus. I’d like to share the lessons that I’ve already learned.

Mount-ober: Lesson #1- Patience

Mount is not a position you can force against any level of practitioner. Tonight I tried to force it. I obtained it twice. Once from a sweep from guard. The other time from a guard pass. Both were sloppy, forced, and took way too much strength (you know something takes too much strength when you either have to hold your breath and close your eyes, or grunt in a way that would embarass you in every convievable situation).

In the future I am going to deal with whatever is in front of me. If I’m in someone’s guard I will worry about passing the guard FIRST. If I’m in side control I will worry about that position before I try some wild transition into mount. I just can’t force mount.

I’m going to make a wild assumption that the next time I roll, with the attitude of using proper technique in order to patiently obtain mount I’m going to find it much easier to come by, and much more of a solid position once I get there.

My gameplan will be simple. I will plan all the best case scenarios, like using guard passes that can lead straight to mount, but if they don’t come, I won’t force. I will take what’s given to me, patiently waiting and working towards the mount position instead of acting like a two year old child that’s simply decided that he wants a blue hat and will do nothing else until that blue hat is resting securely on his head. I’ll earn my blue hat, thank you very much.

Which brings me to lesson #2

Mount-ober: Lesson #2- Establish

When I finally get that blue hat that I’ve worked so hard for, I’m going to ensure that it’s tight enough to not blow off before I start running around willy-nilly yelling about how amazing my wonderful blue hat is.

There was one time that I got to mount tonight only to get immediatly rolled off. Why? Because I jummped straight into a submission. I didn’t establish the position first.

Position over Submission

That doesn’t just apply to where you go for submissions. It also applies to when you go for submissions.

I’m light compared to most of the guys I roll with. Therefore, I’m not hard to bump off when I’m on top. That means, I have to have balance, and movement when I’m in mount. I can’t just lock myself into a guy.

For example: When I go for a cross lapel choke I have to post out the leg on the side of my attacking arm. That way, they can’t just grab the arm, trap the foot, and roll me over. In order to do that I first have to get to a place in the mount where I can comfortably post out that leg and reach in that hand. The position has to be well established if I’m to do this. If I go too early with the arm, I get rolled. If I go too early with the leg I give away double underhooks on the legs, which leads to a simple reversal, and complete loss of the position.

So, establishment of the position that I’ve so patiently earned comes before the submission attempt.

In the same way that the two year old kid really should tighten that treasured blue hat on his head before he runs across the bridge. Many a tears would be avoided.

 

Visualisation

I have had the flu for a week, so haven’t been able to do any physical training. However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t done any training.

I am a decently strong believer in visualisation. There are two main kinds that I use in my training.

Visualising a technique in the same way that I would drill it. Drilling creates the muscle memory, and shouldn’t be overlooked (which it is by the VAST majority of BJJ practitioners). Visualisation creates mental memory. You see, when I can’t drill something live, like when I’m on the train, at work, in the bathroom, on the plane, in the car, in bed, etc, etc, I just drill it in my mind. I go through the steps. I think about it so that it becomes something natural.

Then, when I get to live drilling it’s not about trying to remember. I can let my muscles do some work, feel the technique, and create the muscle memory. I don’t have to stop every step and think, “Alright… what’s the next step?” It’s already all in my head. As I drill, and feel the technique I can adjust my mental picture to work with what I’m feeling.

This leads me to my second kind of visualisation.

Because I don’t have to think about a technique while rolling, and I have drilled it enough to not have to worry about the feel, I can start thinking in depth about it.

If you study the games of the best BJJ practitioners in the world you will see that they have extremely deep games based on basic moves.

Marcelo Garcia is a great example. He has a dominant hooks sweep from butterfly guard.

Hooks sweep from Butterfly Guard is a great example of this depth concept. If you study his game you’ll realise that he’s taken one of the most basic sweeps in jiu-jitsu and turned it into a powerhouse. Here’s why:

Every technique has a counter. But, the glory of BJJ is that every counter has a counter. When you know a technique so well that you don’t have to put any thought into it you can start to see how people are countering the move. When you can recognise the counter, you can develop a way to counter the counter.

Garcia’s hook sweep from butterfly guard has an entire series of counters to counters. If you block by posting low with the leg he has a counter to that. If you block by posting high with the leg he has a counter. If you block by posting the arm, he counters that. If you block with posture, he counters. If you block with weight, he counters. He also has developed ways to force you into the posture needed to get the hook sweep. It’s amazing

It’s an example of one of the most basic moves in BJJ being turned into an unstoppable method of sweeping.

Watch the 2010 World Champs. Garcia wins the middleweight division with a hook sweep from butterfly. He’s produced books, and DVDs, and a web site laying out his ENTIRE game, and this basic move still can’t be stopped. Why? Because, he has given it depth.

Roger Gracie has the most devastating cross collar choke from mount in the world. Basic submission turned into a powerhouse through strategic thinking. He’s added depth.

So, in my study of the scissors sweep I have spent my sick week visualising variations, counters to counters, and set-ups from any position. I have focused on the depth of the move. The next time I roll I am going to try my set-up from being pinned in side control. I am going to try my counter to the common counters I’ve experienced. I am going to work on what I do when they won’t give me the grips I want. What I do when they’re postured well. What I do when they counter a counter. This will all be noted mentally, and visualised some more.

All of this has come from visualisation training. Just taking the time to think in depth about a move. I go from seeing a basic sweep from one position, with one set of grips, and one posture, into seeing an entire game plan.

It becomes this immense web of strategy and movement all based on one of the most basic techniques in BJJ.

This is possible because of time invested in visualisation.