The seminar was held at Kyoshi George Adams’ dojo in Lakemba. There was a no gi session in the morning which I did not attend. The afternoon session was for gi. Darko Zaric was the only other Lange’s MMA person there, save for Simon Farnsworth and a fair number of his students. Henry Cho and Matt Klein were there from Rick Spain’s, also David and Jake Suker from Bargo. Probably not the greatest timing for Lange students as Kurt Heinrich’s wedding was on the same day, as was a big Wing Chun grading at Rick Spain’s.
I didn’t do a head count, but there were probably around 50 attendees. Had to watch out for flying bodies during some of the sweep drilling. It went for over two and a half hours – good value – and there was a LOT to remember.
Techniques
1. Standing. Grab his R sleeve with your L hand – Judo grip on the seam under the elbow – and his L collar with your L hand. If you get grips and he doesn’t, just use the collar to drag him down to the ground. If he gets grips, jump both of your feet on top of his, sit down and pull him into your closed guard.
2. Like 1 but spin on your back to an armbar. If you feel his weight pushing in roll him onto his back and complete the armbar there.
3. Like 1 for grips. Step off to your L and block his L hip with your R foot. Now pull guard and spin to armbar.
4. Same grips. R foot in his hip. Sit down to pull guard, let go his sleeve and grab his R ankle with your L hand. Reap his L leg with yours to reap sweep him, finishing in top half guard.
5. Closed guard. Holding his L sleeve and L collar as before. Open your guard by getting on your left hip and putting your L foot on his hip outside his R arm. Bring your R knee up so it is on his L shoulder between his chest and L arm, put your R foot on his L hip and square up again. Squeeze your knees together to control him. Pretty much whatever he tries with his L arm will give you an opportunity to move your head and body to the R, clamp down across his back with your R leg and put your L leg over his head for an armbar. The grip on his L collar allows you to keep him away and prevent the stack by pushing on his neck with your fist.
6. From closed guard, get a grip on his R sleeve and R (not L) collar. Get your L foot on his hip similar to before, but this time, move your hips out further to the R, stay on your L side and get your R foot in his L bicep. You want him to be twisted so his R shoulder is forward and L shoulder back – it is much easier for him to free his L arm if you let him square up.
7. From 6 – if his L arm drops low, slip your R foot off his arm and throw your R leg over his head for a triangle. Get the crook of your L knee over your shin, not over your foot.
8. If his L arm goes high from 6, move your head to the R and drive his L bicep over his head and to your L for a foot in bicep sweep. If you keep moving your head out to the R and reposition your legs as he falls, you can catch him in an armbar as he hits the floor.
9. Similar to 8, but instead of sweeping him use your R foot to pass his L arm to your L hook behind his back. Square back up to him. Set up a triangle by putting your R leg over his neck, or bring his R arm across to go to his back.
10. Your opponent is in your guard on his L knee with his R knee up. Grip both sleeves and put your R foot on his hip to block him coming forward for a knee through pass. Your L leg gets the outside hook on his R leg and hooks under your L ankle. He is pretty much stuck here. Now you can:
- sweep him to the left
- sweep him to the right
- lift him forward like a front sweep, then sweep him left or right – with an additional option for the helicopter armbar from here
11. He is standing with his R foot forward. Get the outside hook with your L leg and grab his R foot with your L hand for the DLR guard. Reach up and grab his belt with your R hand. Spin under him toward his back and sweep him backwards over you (?)
12. Get DLR guard as per 11 and grab the belt. Make sure your L DLR hook is deep, all the way over to his L hip. Get your R hook in behind his R knee and get around behind him. Pull on his belt, kick his feet forward and set up your back control and hooks.
13. From closed guard, you have his R sleeve with your L hand, punch it over to your R and grab it from underneath with your R hand. Get your L shin across his torso, and come up on your elbow to grab his belt or lat. Roll back and reverse basic sweep him to your L. Keep your R grip on his arm as you turn face down to side control, use your head to pin him as you consolidate your position.
14. From 13, if he moves his L knee out wide and sinks his base to counter the sweep, bring your R foot up to his L knee. Take your L knee out and pull him toward you and to your R as you kick his L knee away with your R foot. You already have your R hook in as he falls forward. Lift your hips then get your L hook in as you go to his back. If you don’t move your hips first, you won’t be able to climb on his back as easily.
15. Like 14, but rather than kick his L knee away, push off it with your R foot to get your hips up near his R elbow. Turn to your R and chase his elbow with your hips to get the armbar. It is better to chase the elbow with your hips than worry about getting your L leg over his face. You may turn face down or even further, onto your L side to finish the armbar.
16. You are head to head and have sprawled on him. Get your R arm around his neck and grip his R collar underneath him, palm down with four fingers in. Your R bicep stays on the back of his neck as you drive your head under his chest between his R arm and thigh, and grab his R thigh with your L arm. Come up on your L foot and use it to roll to your R, rolling him over his R shoulder and onto his back. You have your head on his stomach like a pillow. Move your hips closer to his and hook his R leg with your L to choke him.
17. From 16, if he lifts his L knee to stop the roll, come up on your other foot and roll forward over him to the same position.
18. From the sprawl, move to his R side and drive your L knee into the space between his R elbow and knee. Move to side/back. Grab his L collar with your L hand, but not so deep as to get rolled. Keep your weight well off to his R side for the same reason. Use your R fist and foot to extract his R arm and trap it in crucifix position. Use the collar to pull him back towards you and roll over your R shin until he is face up in the crucifix position. Turn on your L side. Get your R thumb in his L collar, but don’t just grab the collar – instead hold it open with the L hand, get your R thumb in and slide it toward his neck, getting it deep as possible before sinking the grip.
(there was a five minute drinks break where I scribbled notes frantically)
19. Opening the legs from closed guard – grab both collars with your L hand. Keep the grip and turn your hand face up. Your R hand grabs his belt or pants, with your R elbow directly on top of his thigh. As you move your knee into the centre and come up on the other foot, be mindful to shift your COG so that your head is over his shoulder rather than his face.
20. Standing guard pass. Grab his R sleeve with your L hand and pin it to his chest. Use your L fist below it to keep it in place. Your R hand grabs pants or belt as in 19. Stand up L foot first in good posture,keeping hold of the sleeve as you unlock his guard. When his legs open move back and keep your elbows on your thighs.
After this, everybody wrestled. JJM wrestled with two black belts, including Richard Sargeant,, a couple of kids, and a purple belt who put up some pretty good opposition, but JJM subbed them all.
It was great to in attendance with such a legend, and thanks for such detailed notes Andrew. This will help a lot.