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Friday, November 12, 2010

Hip Movement -- I Have To Commit!

I've been trying to get more hip movement going when I am on the bottom. So...I guess I could rephrase that as: I am trying to get more hip movement when I grapple. :) The main thing I struggle with is getting stuck half way through a move. Someone starts to pass or move, I hip the way I am supposed to go in order to either take their back or get a sweep, and then...nothing. I get stuck. And passed.

But I think I am beginning to see where my problem is.

We worked takedowns the other day (I am not switching topics. This applies the above quandary)and, at first, I had the same problems I always have. I was too tentative. But this time, I was actually getting to spar against a girl my size instead of a giant man beast. So, my confidence grew. I started committing when I shot in and had a lot more success.

Later, after class, I was complaining to Fabio about how frustrated I was because of something I MUST be doing wrong with my hipping. I was not getting sweeps. I was not taking the back. At best, I was able to defend my guard.

He said he did notice one thing I was doing at one particular point. I was trying to take this guy's back and I hipped out...but not enough. He said I hipped out once, a little bit, then tried to go. It didn't work. He said I needed to commit and really hip out.



I wasn't committing. It was the same problem I have when I do take downs. I do the technique a little bit. But a little bit isn't going to get the job done. I have to really go for it.

Which means I have to abandon my guard. Ooooooh....No me gusta.

You guys know about my love affair with guard. I can't seem to get myself to let go of it. Or, er, of the person inside of it. But I have to if I want to be successful! If I am going to sweep, I need to commit to the sweep, not kind of try the sweep while I'm still trying to keep guard at the same time. That doesn't work!

I just have to take the risks. Sure, sometimes it STILL won't work. And then I'll be stuck in some yucky bad place that I have to squirm out of. But it sure as heck isn't going to work if I don't commit to it.

3 comments:

Georgette said...

Our instructor demonstrates that principle regularly. He shows how escaping from side control will sometimes require you to shrimp all the way from one end of the academy to the other (maybe 40-50 feet).

The whole hip movement thing is fairly surprising. I thought I knew what it meant until the other day when I watched a friend set up an armbar. Say you're armbarring from guard and attacking their right arm-- I realized that "real" hip movement means moving MY right up all the way out from under them, not just moving my LEFT hip. I was shocked it took that much. And likewise with sweeps!

Deborah Clem said...

Yeah, echo what Georgette said. I was having the same hip issue when escaping from half guard and mount, until one of my instructors pointed out I was not maximizing the amount of power I can generate with a good burst.

The next time you do shrimping drills, concentrate on generating a strong short burst of power with your hips. Like G said, try to shrimp to the other side of the room.

And the commitment, I am soooo feeling you on this. You get stuck thinking, okay I see what I could do here, just not sure if I can, okay I'll try it, oh well, okay...here goes... oh wait, then you get swept or mounted or whatever.

As for your love affair with guard, try stringing together a series of submissions that start from the guard and force your opponent to give up their base. Spider guard to triangle, spider guard to sweep, etc, use the guard as your home base for your assault team.

Anonymous said...

I think this is one of those "basics" that is crazy hard, and even after you know the motion of the move, it still takes a long time to do properly and effectively. I still struggle (and will struggle for a long time) with this, as often I am smushed in side control :(