This guy...talk about living multiple lives in one....
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Keenan Says Don't be Afraid of Heel Hooks (or Berimbolos)
I'm always interested to listen to/hear other analyze some of the key leg locking positions from more than just a "here's a counter" or "here's a defense" standpoint. Keenan at least correctly identifies the current trend of people understanding value in controlling the top/secondary leg, in an effort to delay/prevent escape and then isolate and cripple the actual/target leg.
I'll get into some areas I think are problematic to rely on but perhaps specific to him and his length/frame et cetera they buy him the time necessary to escape, I also think the extension of the legs/sankaku the attacker is using here facilitates escape as well if you don't panic early on.
I'm not crazy about the base of palm push to the shin. I'd honestly prefer to C-grip/thumb post inside the crook of the knee to facilitate the motion he's describing to facilitate the escape.
I also find that intermediate leg lockers utilize the legs extending/trapping the far thigh/hamstring with their shoelaces inside sankaku position, but I've stopped using it in the past 6-12 months when competing. I also used to be obsessed with controlling the secondary leg, but have instead now also opted to control the target leg with different wedges in place (watch some of my recent matches and you'll see what I mean ;)
Despite some people assuming the heel hook(s) in my matches are textbook, the control with the legs and wedges in place actually aren't very textbook in the scope of what the majority of leg lockers these days are utilizing (namely: control second leg, fully triangle legs, and handfight to isolate the target leg. In watching my most recent matches, the times I was able to get to this position, guys are savvy enough these days to pommel the secondary leg inside the triangle/crook of the knee and escape, and while extending the secondary leg like the attacker does here is a solution/preventative measure to that, long term, extending them away actually facilitates the escape.
As for the toes curling thing, honest opinion, if Craig Jones was on his leg, the time he thinks that curling his toes will by may/may not get his knee clear of the control which will lead to the break. Keenan's foot looks pretty safe in the video because the drilling partner is clearly not Keenan's size, and were it someone Keenan's frame or bigger, I think the toes curling as a defense compared to the foot and toe position we drill and practice, is largely cosmetic.
Honest opinion(s).
I'll get into some areas I think are problematic to rely on but perhaps specific to him and his length/frame et cetera they buy him the time necessary to escape, I also think the extension of the legs/sankaku the attacker is using here facilitates escape as well if you don't panic early on.
I'm not crazy about the base of palm push to the shin. I'd honestly prefer to C-grip/thumb post inside the crook of the knee to facilitate the motion he's describing to facilitate the escape.
I also find that intermediate leg lockers utilize the legs extending/trapping the far thigh/hamstring with their shoelaces inside sankaku position, but I've stopped using it in the past 6-12 months when competing. I also used to be obsessed with controlling the secondary leg, but have instead now also opted to control the target leg with different wedges in place (watch some of my recent matches and you'll see what I mean ;)
Despite some people assuming the heel hook(s) in my matches are textbook, the control with the legs and wedges in place actually aren't very textbook in the scope of what the majority of leg lockers these days are utilizing (namely: control second leg, fully triangle legs, and handfight to isolate the target leg. In watching my most recent matches, the times I was able to get to this position, guys are savvy enough these days to pommel the secondary leg inside the triangle/crook of the knee and escape, and while extending the secondary leg like the attacker does here is a solution/preventative measure to that, long term, extending them away actually facilitates the escape.
As for the toes curling thing, honest opinion, if Craig Jones was on his leg, the time he thinks that curling his toes will by may/may not get his knee clear of the control which will lead to the break. Keenan's foot looks pretty safe in the video because the drilling partner is clearly not Keenan's size, and were it someone Keenan's frame or bigger, I think the toes curling as a defense compared to the foot and toe position we drill and practice, is largely cosmetic.
Honest opinion(s).
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
F2Win Jan 11th - Sacramento
Fingers crossed Akbari does better than that F2Win match he had with Vagner
2018 Submission Tally in Review/Crunching Numbers
I had 40 matches across various formats in 2018.
I did EBI format brackets, EBI format superfights, I did Grappling Industries 5 min all submission legal with points, and ADCC format. I grouped the submissions by proximity to one another with the first grouping being on the back or from a back attack transition, the outlier inverted triangle I hit coming out of inverting to avoid a guard pass, and then 10 leg locks across 4 types.
-----
Aggregate Submission Tally: 20
RNC - 3
back triangle armbar - 2
back triangle keylock
body triangle
kimura from back
3/4 armbar
inverted triangle
inside heel hooks - 3
outside heel hooks - 5
kneebar
toe hold
------
My submission rate regardless of format was 50%. Not bad, and given a number of brackets and events were outside my weight class, where my submission rate drops (and drops even more with short 5 min round times against heavier guys), I think despite looking for higher skill level events in 2019, I hope to achieve a higher submission rate.
That being said, looking closer at where I finished matches also contains some info for consideration and reflection/rumination. Those who know me will probably remark things about my bottom game, flexibility, and putting things together off my back from bottom position, but half of all my submissions for 2018 came from either the back, or a transition off of the back (like the 3/4 armbar listed below). I had exactly one upper body submission off of my back for the entire year. The leg locks, many of which initiated from off of my back represent the other half of all my submissions. It's interesting to me that often a lot of where we get in training sometimes almost never shows up in competition. I actually very rarely hunt for back triangles anymore, opting instead to fight for the strangle from the back. I am interested to see if this manifests in my competitions forthcoming in 2019. For example: I almost never outside heel hook anyone in training, as most of the guys with whom I train simply know how to defend to quickly and too easily, and yet, I hit 5 out of my 20 total submissions this year, again, suggesting a still remaining disparity in leg lock technology/depth of knowledge between training within the Renzo association and training outside of it).
What this suggests?
I do half of my work finishing when I get to the back.
I do half of my work finishing when I get to leg entanglements. I'd be interested to go back and log how many leg entanglements I attempted vs finished as a trend across the year. I spent much less time focusing on leg attacks in the second half of the year, opting instead to prep for ADCC by focusing on handfighting, wrestling, and guard passing to secure the back.
It's interesting when you crunch date to see what it says rather than assume you know things based on generalized recall over the course of a year. I hit leg locks consistently throughout the year, despite likely not spending enough time drilling them in the lead up to events to keep them sharp (this cost me the match at ADCC trials).
I did EBI format brackets, EBI format superfights, I did Grappling Industries 5 min all submission legal with points, and ADCC format. I grouped the submissions by proximity to one another with the first grouping being on the back or from a back attack transition, the outlier inverted triangle I hit coming out of inverting to avoid a guard pass, and then 10 leg locks across 4 types.
-----
Aggregate Submission Tally: 20
RNC - 3
back triangle armbar - 2
back triangle keylock
body triangle
kimura from back
3/4 armbar
inverted triangle
inside heel hooks - 3
outside heel hooks - 5
kneebar
toe hold
------
My submission rate regardless of format was 50%. Not bad, and given a number of brackets and events were outside my weight class, where my submission rate drops (and drops even more with short 5 min round times against heavier guys), I think despite looking for higher skill level events in 2019, I hope to achieve a higher submission rate.
That being said, looking closer at where I finished matches also contains some info for consideration and reflection/rumination. Those who know me will probably remark things about my bottom game, flexibility, and putting things together off my back from bottom position, but half of all my submissions for 2018 came from either the back, or a transition off of the back (like the 3/4 armbar listed below). I had exactly one upper body submission off of my back for the entire year. The leg locks, many of which initiated from off of my back represent the other half of all my submissions. It's interesting to me that often a lot of where we get in training sometimes almost never shows up in competition. I actually very rarely hunt for back triangles anymore, opting instead to fight for the strangle from the back. I am interested to see if this manifests in my competitions forthcoming in 2019. For example: I almost never outside heel hook anyone in training, as most of the guys with whom I train simply know how to defend to quickly and too easily, and yet, I hit 5 out of my 20 total submissions this year, again, suggesting a still remaining disparity in leg lock technology/depth of knowledge between training within the Renzo association and training outside of it).
What this suggests?
I do half of my work finishing when I get to the back.
I do half of my work finishing when I get to leg entanglements. I'd be interested to go back and log how many leg entanglements I attempted vs finished as a trend across the year. I spent much less time focusing on leg attacks in the second half of the year, opting instead to prep for ADCC by focusing on handfighting, wrestling, and guard passing to secure the back.
It's interesting when you crunch date to see what it says rather than assume you know things based on generalized recall over the course of a year. I hit leg locks consistently throughout the year, despite likely not spending enough time drilling them in the lead up to events to keep them sharp (this cost me the match at ADCC trials).
BJJ Scout's BJJ Digest - Penn Reminisces starting at Ralph's, Keenan, Penn Learns Berimbolo, Shoulder of Justice...
The crossroads of things related to Ralph continues around and around, we'll see how it all shakes out. Happy Holidays to those who didn't find time to train, happy holidays to those who did. I managed to work a ton of holiday hours and still only miss a few sessions due to holidays hours a the gym(s) and traveling a bit. Big things slated for 2019.
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