Since the time he founded ECU, JoJo has made it a point to pick a theme or technique for each month. JoJo believes that truly understanding a position or technique takes a significant amount of time. He decided to dedicate October to the half-guard.
The half-guard is not a glamour position, but sooner or later, everyone ends up there. Whether escaping the Mount, or missing a pass, everyone gets caught in half-guard.
In the basic classes students learned the cardinal rule of half-guard – DON’T LET YOUR OPPONENT FLATTEN YOU OUT! as well as basic sweeps and passes.
The advanced classes learned the nuances of the deep-half-guard, and advanced sweeps – DON’T LET YOUR OPPONENT FLATTEN YOU OUT! STILL APPLIES.
October has let me improve my half-guard tremendously, and now I look forward to what JoJo has planned for November.
Comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome.
PS: I still owe everybody two blogs soon. First, I need to release the official medal count from the October 30, 2010 Acom-Sports tournament - it was too big for me to remember off the top of my head. I’ve also been asked repeatedly about my tease about Rob G.’s philosophy of teaching. The teaching post will follow as soon as I feel can do it justice.
PPS: I plan on an interview with ECU's youngest student.
Out of interest, what do you mean when you say the half-guard isn't a glamour position? Unpopular? Not trendy? Functional?
ReplyDeleteI really like it when instructors structure an entire month around a particular position or set of closely related techniques. Gracie Barra Birmingham here in the UK does that, which is probably what I most enjoyed about training there earlier this year.
To me, it's not a glamour position because most BJJ players don't want to end up there. But we all do.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I've loved to sweep from half-guard ever since I tore my hamstring, I try to play half-guard as often as I can.
When I'm trying to pass, I love to force my opponents into half-guard, and working from there.
If you ever make it to the states Slidey, I hope you'll come to ECU. When I make it back to the UK, I look forward to training with you.
Cool - I look forward to training with you either way, then. :)
ReplyDeleteMy half guard is pretty pants top and bottom, but on the rare occasions when I pass, it is normally after forcing top half guard.