Take downs and chokes

Today I learned four different moves. Two moves are take downs, one move is knee on stomach, and one is paper cutter choke.

1.) The first take down is when the attacker and defender are standing. The take down happens when you are gripping the lapel and the arm of the defender, you put your foot on their hip across the joint of their leg and midsection on the same side as the side you grab their lapel. From here you break their posture by pulling them down slightly, and twisting your other foot so that you can "sit and corkscrew" down to the ground and bring your opponent down to full guard.

2.) The second take down is a trip. This is where the attacker and defender are standing, and the attacker has control of their lapel and arm. You draw your defender foward so that as he steps, you block his foot with your foot. At the same time, you want to twist your torso such that you force him down towards his blocked foot. Try not to over extend yourself or you could be rolled.

3.) The third technique we learned today is knee-on-stomach. From side control (presumably after the trip from 2) you need to grab and pin them down from the back of the collar with one hand and grab and pin them from the far side of their hip. While keeping your grip, you need to pop up so that your knee is on their stomach/solar plexus and your other leg is a 90 degree angle for support/balance. You can optionally pull upwards to create even more force and tire your opponent out even faster. Also you can optionally grab the close side leg instead of the hip. Be aware not to over extend or you can be rolled over.

4.) This technique is the paper cutter choke, where from knee-on stomach you can safely try this technique. If you are unable to complete this choke, you can always retreat to the plain knee on stomach. You take your hand and put it down down the opposite side of their collar (WAY deep into their collar, otherwise its not so much a choke as it will be a crush). You then grab the lapel on the other side of their neck. From here, the "paper cutter" arm thats in their collar comes down while the other arm pulls down. As you pull both arms, remember to tuck your head down towards the paper cutter elbow to apply even more pressure.

Today I also tried to participate a little in the open mat session. I watched a couple people drill/roll. I asked someone to let me try to practice a mount escape. It wasn't easy as he kept me close by grabbing my lapel and collar and sleeves. I learned that its important for arm control, to posture up, and that if I can't grab their lapel that grabbing their belt is okay too. I need to make sure that one knee is in their butt, and the other knee is out, and to try and shimmy up and down to break their guard. I need to also keep an arm in. Also, remember to push on their knee and not their thighs.