The day was held at Lange’s MMA at North Manly. There were extremely wild storms in the Sydney region that day, and I was the only attendee that didn’t live on the Northern Beaches. As it was, I had to contend with multiple road closures and traffic jams going to and from the seminar, and finally arrived home after nearly three hours instead of the usual 50 minutes to a power blackout that went on for more than two days.
Most probably, those living elsewhere than the Northern Beaches who decided not to go made the smarter decision.
Though they missed out on a good seminar.
Worm Guard and Sweep
You are on your back, feet toward your opponent. He is moving in, looking to pass.
Sit up and grab his L lapel just above his belt with both hands. Pull the tail of the lapel out of his belt. Put your L foot on his R hip to control the distance. Loop your R foot under, then over and in front of his lapel and then hook your R foot behind it, very similar to if you had his L sleeve with your R hand and were setting up the lasso guard, but lassoing his L lapel instead of his L arm. Hide your R foot behind his L shoulder so he cannot get a hold of your ankle.
Pull him forward with the lasso and/or your L hand so he needs to step forward with his R leg. Grab his R ankle with your L hand and get your L leg behind his. You could go to a full de la Riva hook here but it probably isn’t necessary. and you will have to take it out temporarily to change grips later on.
You now want to pass the tail of his L lapel, with your R hand, behind his R leg and grip it with your L hand. Use the grip to push his R knee to your R so he cannot get his knee pointing out to his R and start working on a pass.
Then, change that grip to your R hand, so your L hand is free. (This is where you might need to take out the de la Riva hook).
Here you are in a very strong position. Post up on your L elbow, use your L leg to trip him and your R leg to push him onto his back, a bit like a scissor sweep.
Come up on your L knee and then stand up, so both his legs are between yours. You still keep that lapel grip! Use your R elbow to push his R knee back between your legs so you can effectively sit on the outside of his R knee. You could cross your feet here for extra control.
Now roll forward over your R shoulder, your legs controlling his and pulling them over the top of you. You are now lying behind him facing his back. Get some good upper body controls, e.g a seat belt, and start working to consolidate your back control and work for a submission.
Here, Anthony Lange demonstrates how to set up the worm guard and then sweep and go to the back.
Below, Anthony misses the worm guard on Ronnie but, by changing the lapel grip, still ends up in a pretty dominant position.
Here, Rafa and Gui Mendes demonstrate the same technique, with a variation in the second clip ending up in a pass to top side control instead of on the back.
Some guys will just grab the lapel and feed it behind their R leg and the opponent’s R leg without resorting to the leg lasso style setup.
While the setup (with the leg lasso) sounds complicated, I found it surprisingly easy to set up. As long as you keep that grip tight and keep pushing their R knee to your R, many people have little idea of what to do. There is no need to rush, either.
Passing and Countering the Worm Guard
Assuming they have grabbed your L lapel per the discussion above, you are still in the game provided they cannot get you to step forward on your R leg and wrap it up with their L leg. If you allow this to happen, you will almost certainly be swept.
I did not get a video of this, but one useful strategy for the passer would be to get a control on the guy’s L knee with your R hand and pin it to the floor. Keep your feet and hips well back and start walking around to your R (the lapel lasso makes passing to your L very difficult).
Try to swap the pin to the floor of his L knee from your R hand to your L as you move around. Look for a control on his neck (like a crossface) or collar with your R hand and sprawl your legs back to a side control on his L.
The worm grip on your L lapel was a big asset for him while you were standing, but once you are controlling his head and start attacking his neck, that grip becomes a major liability. He will need to let go the grip and bring his R hand up to defend your attacks. You have nullified his worm guard now.
There are way more sophisticated passes and counters than this, but we didn’t go through them. There’s one that Anthony got Matt (?) to show (once) where you basically dive and roll over the guy and free your leg, but I can’t find a clip of it.
Ashi Garami and Heel Hook Defence
All the standard Ashi Garami positions require the leg locker to isolate a leg and control the knee inside his own knee line (refer to John Danaher’s vids if you don’t know what I am referring to).
Your basic principles of avoiding heel hooks and other locks from these positions are:
- Always try to pummel your feet to the inside of his legs (hence a resurgence of the butterfly guard, and the frequency of positions like the vegan mount), which also gives you more attacking options
- Deny him control of your knee – Try to get your knee to the floor, usually by twisting (move from 50/50 to 80/20, turn knee down and “sprint out of the blocks”, etc.)
- Hide your heel by turning your hips and getting your heel under/behind his butt – use a “flying sidekick” position for the saddle / cross ashi, turn the other way for irimi, outside and inside ashi
- Hand fight to control one of his arms, preferably in a kimura or RNC type grip, so he cannot join his hands – applying a lock is more difficult with only one hand, though not impossible, plus some upper body control may make it more difficult to apply breaking force
- Using your secondary leg/foot (the one he is not controlling with his legs) to prise his wedges (usually his knees) apart and extricate your own knee
- Once free, strive to establish a dominant position yourself, or stand up and move your feet away completely. No second chances for him.
The videos below provide good explanations from Anthony Lange of how to employ such principles in useful techniques. I don’t feel extra words from me are necessary.
Apologies for the delay in producing these notes. Strange days.