[zefff]

Thats exactly what I do. I dont fight much from the knees. I'll go ontop if they give it to me but if we start struggling I will just give them the position I want to work from...if we start standing up its a whole other matter though!

[Wilhelm von Wankenstein]

bamboo: I'm really in no position to comment from a technical standpoint, but from a pedagoguy point of view, training from bad positions in which aggression gets you into more trouble is a good idea if you find yourself suffering from increased aggression. However, you might want to add an extra dimension of having your partner look out for you and warn you whenever you start struggling with too much aggression and not enough game plan. If necessary, have them tell you to take the time to stall in position and simply feel the breathing - both your own and theirs. Otherwise, if there's no one to stop you the moment you start making mistakes and draw your attention to them, you could wind up reinforcing the erroneous behavioural patterns and send yourself into a spiral. I find that slowing down to feel the breath helps me a lot, but that's just me

Two cents.

[bamboo]

Great two cents WVW.

Its an "intensity" problem, no problem standing just when it hits the ground. I'm also chaulking it up to the fact that the ground is my noob zone and I'm all tense.

[NeverMan]

I have the problem of "panic" sometimes when I am on the bottom (side control or mount) for too long. I just have the hardest time breathing and I start to freak out when I feel like I can't breath. It definitely effects my game for the worse, I start to just try and be "aggressive" and use strength instead of thinking about what I am doing and looking for escapes/sweeps.

good luck!

[Wilhelm von Wankenstein]

If tension and breathing are issues when fighting from the bottom, there are a couple drills you can try that might help with that. During your warmup, simply have your partner flop on top of you like a sack of potatoes, and then start synching your breathing with his. Partner on top leads, partner below follows. After a minute or so, switch positions so your partner can benefit too. Then, after maybe five or six minutes of this drill, have the top partner start messing with his breathing to see how it makes the bottom partner feel, then switch up again.

From this drill, you can flow into some common positions and again, just hold the position for thirty or so seconds and have both parties feel the breathing before moving on into the next one.


More two cents. Need to lighten my wallet

[zefff]

Neverman, your situation underneath depends really on what escapes you are being taught and how focused on the details you are. If you feel panic at times you need to really work on that position and under the stress caused by it until you are able to really relax and chill out in it because you know what causes the stress and how to limit or eradicate those causes. When you roll give them the position (side/full mount) straight away every time then work from there on just the one or maybe chain 2 techniques. Do that for whole sessions, day after day!! You need to be relaxed in the worst position while your throat, face, arms etc are being attacked and the best way to get that is to constantly be in that worst position IMHO.

In sparring, when I am pinned tightly (as a noob) I need to keep my mind on the core of the escape technique and what makes it work - rather than a gross explosion of force which is driven more by attributes than skill in technique (save that for competition or real self-defence situations). I focus on the initial movement that allows the second phase in the escape to flow, which gives me a greater chance of success.

So if I am mounted and under pressure; I remember the first thing to do to stop things getting worse, [1] to tuck elbows in to stop the high mount, [2] keep legs flat so he cant get hooks in. [3] When I am ready I bend my prefered leg, [4] bump my body (bridge) with my bent leg and rush two hands to his knee, push down hard (with maybe a lil' tug off the ground), [5] shrimp my hips away with all my might and bring the leg(s) through to recover (half)guard.

That is how I break down a simple escape. Can you see how if I didnt stop to think and execute step 1, I might encounter a problem later in step 4 as I waste loads of energy on a bridge that doesnt work well because his bodyweight isnt over my hips? When you waste vital energy and get nowhere or put your self in a worse situation than before is the road to panic.

peace

[NeverMan]

Yes, I was just sharing my experience and what I am trying to work through right now.

[zefff]

true...I guess we are all on the same road.

[bamboo]

My update:

I've been starting in bad positions and more importantly, I've rolled with me wife a few times this week. Grappling with her means I have to go softer and slower and use only clean technique.

It has made all the difference in the world in just one week. I pictured the guys a the dojo last night as my wife and rolled accordingly. Relaxed and not hurrying anything I took the passive role. I can't believe the difference!

Anyway, I'm keeping up the "start from a bad place" and rolling with the wife as it seems to have been a breakthrough experience for me.

Great stuff, can't wait to roll in the grove tonight then full contact on saturday at the club. mmmm...groundnpound..

[zefff]

Whatever floats your boat...Dunno bout you but when I roll with my wife I only use dirty techniques!