Practicing Grappling Transitions

Last night I taught an off-curriculum Jiu-jitsu class in which I taught grappling submissions, specifically arm bar, triangle and omoplata from the guard position. When I do teach grappling or submissions, I always teach them in sets along with defenses against each move so that students can learn transitions. I'll explain.

First, I taught the basic arm bar from guard, similar to the way it is taught in the following video:



Then I taught a defense against the arm bar called "The Telephone":



I followed up by teaching the triangle from guard:



After which, I showed how some people defend against the triangle by tucking their arm back behind them. I therefore demonstrated how to do the omoplata in answer to this. (*Note: The following video only shows the omoplata from guard, not as a transition from a failed triangle.)



Once my students had practiced all these moves, I had them pair up and try them live. Rather than free-rolling, I told one to take guard position, from which they were to attempt any of the three submissions I taught. The person defending from the guard position was instructed to defend against the submission attempts, trying to pass and end in side control, but not trying to do any submissions him or herself. Once either a submission or side control was achieved, the pair would start over, switching positions.

Rather than simply doing free grappling where anything is allowed, this method allows students to specifically practice the moves learned in class in a live context.