I'm going to have to make this one pretty fast, because I still have some Numerical Methods homework to do, and an exam to study for. So yeah.
Anyway, today I rolled at the Gracie Academy, but because my elbow was hurting from Monday [see the two previous posts], I had to do it with just one arm. Of course I didn't submit anyone [though I did get pretty close on a few occasions], but since we were practicing guard passing, I figured I would pass some guards and defend some passes.
So after studying Alex last night, I had a couple things I wanted to try, which was that I would defend the guard passes by keeping their hips as far away from me as possible, and pass guards by blasting my hips into them and getting as close as possible, and the fact that I had only one arm made this so much easier.
It totally worked.
The fact that I had only one arm made me use my legs and my hips more. In fact, I passed primarily using my hips and shoulders; I barely used the functioning hand! The only thing I really did with it was post when I needed base, or use it to shrug a really annoying grip off of me or something. The rest I achieved through pressure and good footwork alone. It was awesome. I wonder how people felt having their guards passed one handed. So I see now that guards/guard passing is all in the hips.
When I played guard, though I got passed a couple times, I'm getting better. It's all about keeping my hips away, and keeping their hips away. Now all it is is the formality of grips, and how to fight for them. I got hook sweeps on a couple people [the only one handed sweep LOL], and my strategy to keep them away worked. In fact, it worked so well that some people tried so hard to pass I was actually able to invert and get a heel hook on them!
Also I tried some really funny escapes, which worked because I had to use my body a lot more than my arms and legs. Which was cool.
So I guess the moral of the story is that every curse is a blessing; by my arm being injured, that enabled me to watch Alex, which enabled me to roll focusing on my hips and their hips, which led to this HUGE epiphany that I had about rolling. And there's so much more for me to explore! I had felt stuck before, but now I feel like I have the answer. Kind of.
Another thing this led me to understand is "shoulder drives to the elbow," or as Jin calls it, "heavy elbow." I realized that the two were almost the same thing, but you move from your elbow, AS WELL AS from your wrist, and that way it activates more muscles and makes the body more coherent.
Imagine you're Kyle Maynard, who has no forearms, just a stub. That is how you should hit.
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