>At Rick Spain’s Academy.
Using the Shell
Hands on hairline, not too high. Elbows must be in so he can’t get an underhook.
Run at him until forearms contact chest. He should grab instinctively. Wing one elbow up and duckunder to get his back.
Drill – get his back, push him away, run at him again IMMEDIATELY. Do not wait for him to get set for his “turn”. The idea is to drill a mindset of unrelenting attack without giving him the opportunity to get set. Add punches (from him) and crash in using the Shell.
Low double leg takedown – rather than put your weight on the knee of your penetration step, put it on him. Rather than do the lift and turn the corner, step around his leg on that side with the back leg, take your toes to the pentrating knee, and lay your shin on the ground for an outside trip. Much less stress on you and your knees – only downside is you end up in guard or half guard.
Practice this from the shell – T-Rex arms, elbows in. Keep the shell until you are in position to set grips and head position without getting punched or kneed.
Practice low double, high double, low single, high single both from wrestling stance, and from the Shell.
Omoplata
Portuguese, means “shoulder bone”.
Start from “perfect storm”, i.e. the ideal position to perform the technique. In this case that woud be him in your guard, overhooking your R thigh lightly with his L arm, the other arm on the floor behind your right leg, outside his guard. Pop up on your shoulders, turn ninety degrees and come down on your R butt cheek so you are turned toward him, legs out to your L (“hula hula legs”).
This is the “perfect storm”. What we then need to look for is signs from where we can get to the perfect position. There are usually more signs than the actual thing being pointed to. In our case, the sign is an OVERHOOK.
From hooks in guard, swim for the underhook. If you get it, Shft your hips away, overhook his other arm and hook sweep him.
If he beats your underhook (with his R arm), pinch his R wrist in your L armpit, grab his R tricep with your L hand, put your feet on his thighs and push away, stretching his arm. He should find it very hard to pull his arm out. For extra security, push your L knee into his arm, pushing him off centre.
So if you win the underhook war, sweep. If he wins, secure the overhook and set up the omoplata. Either way, you have options.
This is “win on heads, win on tails.” See in what other areas of jiu jitsu or life this might apply.
Hunting the Overhook Drill
You start with the overhook from guard and apply the omoplata. He looks to the outside and rolls forward onto his back, then comes to his knees to re-engage. Get the overhook on his other arm, and omoplata on the other side. He rolls out … rinse and repeat.
Keeping the Overhook Drill
You start with the overhook on his L arm from guard and apply the omoplata. He rolls out as before, but this time keep hold of his elbow as he comes over with your leg and R hand (keeping his forearm trapped with yours as well. Exchange grips on his elbow from R to L. Reach over his R hip with your R hand and post. Rotate your body counterclockwise as you cross over him in a sitting position, using his arm to turn him onto his stomach, finishing in the omoplata position, his L arm still trapped, him face down. He rolls out again, you repeat the spin. Rinse/repeat.
Omoplata From Mount
You have mount on him. his hands are up protecting his neck. Slide your R hand under his L forearm and onto the floor until your elbow is on the ground. Slide your elbow back along the ground dragging his L arm into an overhook. Step up on your R foot, with the foot near the neck and the knee angle greater than 90 degrees, so that if he rolls you to that side your foot will not get caught and ankle perhaps damaged. Pull up on his arm to turn him on his R side so that you are in a “reverse sidemount”. Sit on him so that you can also bring up your left foot and post on it. “Slide” over to your L, posting on your L hand, keeping the overhook on his L arm with your R, turning your legs out to the L, rolling him onto his stomach so you end up in omoplata on his L arm.
When practising, give him time to bend his arm for safety.
He could roll out, you get mount, and go again.
Instead, he stays flat on his stomach, lie back, still controlling his elbow with your L hand, Reach over his L leg with your R hand to grab his L pants cuff. Extend your legs, pinching them together still for control of his arm. As he starts to get to his knees, roll onto your stomach, pulling his legs and body over you, sweeping him onto his stomach. Sprawl flat to keep his arm pinned, then quickly pop up to your knees to get posture and turn, throw your L leg over to the mount. Rinse and repeat.
Omoplata from Side Control – counter to underhook escape
You have side control on his R; he gets the underhook with his L arm and begins to wing up and turn onto his side. Overhook his L arm with your R and step over with your L to reverse side mount as for “Omoplata from Mount”. Make sure knee angle is greater than 90 degrees for same reason. From here you can go the same omoplata as above, but you can also spin counterclockwise and sit down on his left side, so you are starting to apply the omoplata while he is still on his back – allow him time to sit up and move forward so you don’t damage his shoulder. He can roll out of the omoplata as before … this time just let him roll and get him in side control on his L side. move 180 degrees so you are back to the starting position. Rinse and repeat.
Both should stay RELAXED during these drills. The idea is to develop smooth movement, which is hard if one of you is tense.
Omoplata progression John filmed in 2017: