First Private with Misho

I had my first private lesson with Misho. It was as intense as I thought it was going to be, but he really helped. We focused on competition training, specifically triangles (which should be my goto move).

If someone gets a single leg, don’t just try to push your leg down. If I have a whizzer, keep it and grab my own leg with that arm. That pressure will be enough to make them let go.

We did 50 standard triangle setups. I don’t think I have ever done that many at one time, but need to start.

One great tip is that instead of pushing their head down, gable-grip the back of my own knee. It will tighten up the triangle much more than just pushing their head.

(with gable-grip)

A variation that I have hit before, but didn’t realize was the inside triangle. Instead of the choking leg going around, outside the arm, if there is space just push it up through inside the arm. This is effective during grip fighting or when they post their hand out.

Misho showed me the finer points of the flower sweep, and more effective ways to hit it. These techniques worked well in live rolling.

1. Hold same-side arm
2. Get ahold of pants
3. Break posture
4. Push opposite knee far up their armpit.

This was an interesting setup for an inside triangle. If I only can get a cross-grip, try to do a flower sweep to the opposite side. The opponent will post, which will give a huge opening for an inside triangle.

Really, this shows how versatile the inside triangle can be. Anytime I can get opponent to post from guard, there is an opening to throw up a triangle.