Attacks to the Back

30.12.16 Continuing from our previous lesson on clinch and ground from the back, tonight we looked at single-hook back-mount, the arm-bar and the fireman’s carry throw. The first two came off the way the shoulder throw was being used as a tactic in the previous lesson i.e. as a reaction/counter to someone placing their weight to far up the top end of the turtle position when attacking with the seatbelt hold. The third technique was offered as a tightly timed counter to the first two attacks. The specific warm-up began with quadruped shoulder rotations, dynamic prayer stretches, Indian press-ups, Indian press-up/squat thrust combinations and Indian squats. Then we moved onto rolls and break-falls from different directions. We increased the intensity and looked at improving form throughout these exercises. We are working in a small space, but even so were able to incorporate some timed rolls to improve overall coordination and awareness throughout these floor exercises. Then we drilled various attack movements on the turtle and turtle reactions. This is a dynamic drill exercise designed to increase fluidity in attack and defence. It served as good mental and physical preparation for the planned techniques. Beginning in the turtle position, we looked at an alternative tactic to the full back-mount. In this instance the fighter has been able secure one hook, but the second one is being well-defended. We covered threatening the second hook only to then go for the choke. In order for this to work the fighter needs have his weight evenly distributed diagonally across the opponent’s back. If there is not sufficient weight on the side without the hook the fighter is in danger of slipping to the hooked side and being crushed in half-guard. In order to do this he has to assume a type of half-guard from the back position and to lean over to the far side, where he goes for the choke. The timing of the choke needs to coincide with the opponent focusing on defending against the hook. We then looked at sending the fighter’s free leg over to the hooking side and securing the opponent’s arm to set up for an arm-bar. In this instance, it is advised to capture the arm first in a Kimura hold. This is a good alternative if the opponent is not only fending off the hook, but has tucked deep to defend the choke.

Looking at the situation from the turtle position I covered the fireman’s carry throw. We drilled this technique first as a conditioning exercise. Then we brought it into the turtle position and finally from clinch, feeding it in from an arm-drag. The fireman’s carry transcends most forms of grappling sports and several traditional martial arts. Kano Jigoro famously borrowed the move from wrestling and introduced it to the ju jutsu he was studying in order to throw the one student he could not unbalance. It has remained a mainstay of judo ever since. Japanese Karate and its many derivatives often feature this technique in kata, but modern times have seen it interpreted as an eccentric block!