GJ "Your only competition is yourself"

I started an hour early with Derrick and Jim, we worked three rounds of MMA timing and then two rounds of grappling with striking. Today for warm-up we switched it up with:

• 50 squats + 10 jumper squats
  
• 25 push-ups
  
• 1 min hand stands
  
• 1 min with fireman's carry with optional walking or squats
  
• 1 min bearhug pick-up
  
• 1 min wheel barrow hold with optional push-ups/walk/hop
  
• 1 min alternating leap frog figure eights
  
• 1 min bob and weave followed by lateral jump over partner
  
• 1 min sprawl under partner's hand, jump over kick

We started with defense work:

• Jab: Use the "catch", hand rotates forward and deflects at 45^o. More advanced alternatives are slipping and evading, either moving head to outside and forward of jab or circling away from partner's power side.
  
• Cross: Cover using advance while hiding behind glove and arm. Alternative for straighter shots is the parry angling body out of firing line using hand to redirect without reaching. Also out side slip.
  
• Using these defenses we worked against combinations of jab and cross (jab, double, triple, jab cross, double cross, jab double cross). If new partner could call out combination first.

It is easy to pick-up one shot but much more difficult to pick-up combinations. This tells us two things:

1. That single attacks are low percentage, combinations are high percentage.
   
2. Defense is simple when the attack is known, thus a one-dimensional game with tells can be defended at a much closer range than a multidimensional game.

Next we worked on checkmark footwork, having people circle away from their oncoming opponent. We then switched to tight offensive corkscrews. That is rather than using the quarter circle away from, we bob/weave to avoid the punch and then enter with a kali-esque triangle step, before pivoting 90^oquarter circling to the "t-bone" position. This put us in a great position for a posterior side or rear clinch, which is advantageous to prevent their striking and to set-up takedowns.
Next we worked on tying our street defense with Thai offense. From the offensive bailey walls transition to plum and from there we worked:

1. Deep knee, head knee (remember the deep knee travels parallel with the floor)
   
2. Curve knee, deep knee

From here the new folks were introduced to breakfalls by Paulo while those with experience in breakfalls started working on my Syllabus of Reaps, which (in my mind) basically covers the methods for reaping an opponent. There are three things to remember with reaps:

1. Preserve your partner's knee function, make sure your reap action works with their biomechanics in practice. Anywhere else blow through the knee like a scythe through barley.
   
2. These reaps can remain standing or be done dropping. Standing gives up less poor position if you fail, but is sometimes not as effective. Plus sometimes in combat sports like muay thai, the fighters must remain standing to throw. Dropping can increase efficacy and is a natural progression when trying to get to a groundwork position, e.g. wrestling or sport jiu-jitsu.
   
3. A "failed" reap sets up another reap (or throw), reap attempts and defense of reaps all change the balance dynamic of your opponent and therefore sets up another reap.

With these general concepts in mind, let's cover the technical specifics:

Inside Line Inside Reap (kouchi-gari, "Kodokan Judo" (Jigoro Kano) pg. 69 and see also Ricco Rodriguez do this move to great effect in the early Abu Dhabi submission wrestling tournaments)

With this move we describe a half circle with our lead foot between our partner's legs and around their lead leg. I like to use this with a dropping motion, having my foot tracing the half-circle as my knee drops to the floor. Alternatively "bite" or hold the leg with your crook formed by your knee and calf and dump off at the 45^o angles posteriorly to your partner. Use shoulder pressure to increase reap torque.

Inside Line Outside Reap (ouchi-gari, "Kodokan Judo" (Jigoro Kano) pg. 66)

Here we use the "bite" to lift the lead leg and (1) either turn and dump to the lifted side or (2) tilt toward the opposite side. For this throw as well I like the dropping version better, I like taking a half step, to bisect my partner's legs and then shooting my foot through and my knee to the floor in one smooth motion. The throw is a combination action between the trapped leg and your upper body levering them to the ground. Cupping the free leg with your hand helps as does moving your upper body to the reap side.

Outside Line Outside Reap (osoto-gari, "Kodokan Judo" (Jigoro Kano) pg. 64)

From staggered set-up (your foot on their midline) step off 45^o, breaking them at the waist, keeping hip-to-hip and shoulder-to-shoulder contact. Use either (1) "dippy bird" reap, leg extended to ceiling head toward floor, (2) Filipino-style dragging foot straight back across floor, or (3) block off both legs and trip over both. Paulo showed an interesting variation, using the lapel control hand to twist and "uppercut" your partner to give the proper set-up. This fits well with the original version of throw, using a straight arm to the head so that you could plant your opponent head-first (rather than to their back) in the floor.

Outside Line Inside Reap (kosoto-gari, "Kodokan Judo" (Jigoro Kano) pg. 68)

From a staggered set-up throw your rear leg around the outside of your opponent's lead leg, lift and use upper body pressure to push 45^o posteriorly over the reaped leg.