escape body triangles
The same thing, but shorter:
Bodoni alternate:
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back
Attacking from the back without collars
I posted a collection of videos when we worked on back attacks previously: https://halfguardlife.com/back-attacks/. We recently covered basic control and recovery: https://halfguardlife.com/back-control-drills/. Next, we’re looking at the hand fighting that leads to high percentage rear naked chokes.
Finishing position:
Hand fighting:
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Ezekiel strangle from the back
I like the attacks from turtle. I encourage everyone to try it on Travis:
In Galvao’s video above, he mentions using the Ezekiel against Eduardo Telles, who is known for his turtle guard. Here is video of that match:
Since I love bow and arrow chokes so much, I naturally enjoy moving into the “cross back” position that Danaher applies in his video. Putting your legs in position to trap an arm and also add leverage to the choke is powerful:
Travis Stevens goes cross-back earlier in order to establish the grip:
Just for fun, sauce distribution:
Ok, it’s not about the back, but I fell into a Youtube hole looking at Ezekiels and this is rad:
Ezekiel strangle from the back Read More »
X Guard Back Take
This is the version I was taught and the one we did in class 12/13. It involves grabbing the belt or hips and has the ride at the end:
This one has a little bit different arm work in ducking the head to the other side. I’d feel weird about the left elbow position where he’s not holding onto the left leg. I haven’t played with that variation though. He does have an answer for someone whose weight is too far forward and also adds another sweep into a leg drag:
This third video is the biggest departure from what we’ve covered so far. First, his entry into x guard starts with more of a single leg x position that waits for the top guy to make space for the two leg x guard. He doesn’t like the ride at all and prefers to grab the ankles right away rather than going for the belt. To me, there’s a tradeoff here. When the belt version works and your opponent goes for the ride, the end point is a pretty solid back control position. However, it may be the case that the success rate is somewhat lower. The ankle grabbing version might have fewer escapees from the x guard, but it seems like much more of a fight to get a solid back position. We can work on this sequence next time.
Butterfly Back take
Marcelo shows this move at the end of the first disc in his Butterfly series. It looks pretty slick and it seems like the grip should be even more effective with sleeves. If I find a clip teaching it, I’ll add that later.
Here we go:
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Bow and Arrow Part 2
I like this idea of skipping the back hooks and going directly into the bow and arrow choke. I often look for it when my opponent is on their side, as in Emily Kwok’s video that I linked on the previous bow and arrow post, but I’ve never thought to force it while their back was still on the mat.
I was looking for an example of performing the choke from back control where both players are on their side. It seems more common in my experience to be on the side, but many of the demonstrations show the attack from a seated, center position. I’m a bit puzzled by the following video from Lachlan Giles. As he’s demonstrating elbow and head position, he briefly falls onto his control arm side, with the choking arm on top. He shows first the consequence of losing the head position, but then shows a quick switch into the bow and arrow choke when the head position is maintained correctly. Following that, he demonstrates a bow and arrow sequence from the opposite side, with the choking arm on the mat side and describes that side as “easier.” Perhaps you notice, as I did, that this “easier” side requires several steps and requires some movement to free your bottom leg compared to the nearly instant transition from the traditional “weak” side. I understand the preference for ukes to escape on that side. It’s easier to win the head positioning and scrape them off your back. With the choking arm on the mat side, there’s more opportunity to reset the back position even if they beat the hooks. However, if the desired destination is a successful bow and arrow choke, it feels easier to me to use good head positioning and the leverage of my legs on the top arm choking side. It’s a simple turn on that side. If the bottom hook was any good, it’s already in position for the choke. Maybe at higher levels the head positioning is that much harder to win? Danaher’s bunch seems to like that side though.
What about the turtle? Get ’em with a bow and arrow there, too:
Bow and Arrow Part 2 Read More »
Back Control Drills
These three videos are similar, but each has some options or details that they emphasize that the others don’t.
In the first, watch the feet. I think this video emphasizes the feet better than the next two. Also, the third variation, the “re-roll” is not addressed in the others:
In the second video, he addresses the elbows. Control is not about pulling the hands of the seatbelt in, but rather closing the elbows. He’s also more deliberate about the leg positioning and roll direction:
This third video offers a less dramatic recovery. Rather than rolling entirely to the other side, scooting to recover the hooks. The leg curl at the beginning of the recovery is a neat detail. There’s a good reminder about not holding on to a crappy position as it slips away. You gotta move. The new leg position in the second part is cool too. Danaher ranked that leg position 2nd to the body triangle in his order of preferences. The body triangle isn’t always physically possible depending on your leg length and opponent’s gut. This leg position is more widely attainable.
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The Truck
Since we’re working on back positioning, here’s a path to the back. To Ryan Hall it’s a “rolling back attack” but 10th Planet folks would call this “The Truck“:
Here’s the same transition from Edgy Brah:
Bow and Arrow Choke
In the link below, Emily Kwok shows a bow and arrow choke starting from a mounted position. The grip concept is the same from the back and she shows it from there as well. I know I’ve worked harder than necessary to finish gi chokes because I didn’t grip the collar correctly. Don’t waste your great positioning with a lousy grip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS6ALx73epc
Lachlan Giles is always a good resource. This video covers both the Bow and Arrow Choke and the classic escape from the back:
I’ve often used a variation of this technique:
It feels like an escape, but it’s still death.
Bow and Arrow Choke Read More »
Gi strangles from the back
If you take nothing else away from this post, take this: when we’re doing jiu jitsu with gis on, prefer gi strangles to naked strangles. Collars are easier to get under the chin than arms are and using the collar permits you to apply more force from additional muscle groups to get the finish. In the video below, Danaher explains this principle and introduces the submissions that deserve your training attention:
It’s worth going through the entire video at least once, but if you want to revisit a specific part, here are the timestamps:
0:44 – Difference between strangles and chokes
5:26 – Gi Properties
9:30 – Utilizing entire body in Gi Strangles
13:31 – Turning Lapel in Rear Strangles
16:25 – Most High Percentage Gi Strangles (3 Most Important)
17:22 – Sliding Collar Strangle (Rear Strangles)
19:05 – Cross Collar Strangle
21:07 – Ezekial Strangle
24:17 – Review + Closing thoughts
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Back attacks
I’ve been working my way through Danaher’s “Back Attacks Enter the System” instructional. It contains a LOT of great detail, but it is expensive and quite lengthy to consume. I haven’t reviewed the following content yet, but I’m saving the link as a starting point for free resources.
It looks like this schoolofgrappling blog was started to be essentially the same concept as halfguardlife but it stalled out after a couple posts in early 2020. They clearly put more effort into writing content, so props for the attempt. In case they let the domain or hosting lapse, here are the links to Tom Halpin’s Back Attack Series on Youtube:
The series below is 2.0 of the same videos based on feedback from the first:
schoolofgrappling has a couple more posts about the back. If you want to study further, this post analyzing back attacks at ADCC might interest you:
Back escapes
In the sequence below, Lachlan uses a pretty standard back escape. It includes a solution for clearing pesky hooks. That’s a part that I’ve gotten stuck on and will have to practice.
Here’s Saulo explaining his escape:
Below, is a lengthy exploration of back escapes starting with a scoop out of the bottom. It’s nogi, but the positioning is interesting.
I’m going drop another link here at the bottom out of appreciation for a blog started in the same spirit as this one, but with more original commentary: