I struggle with bigger, stronger opponents. Not just my muy frustrating black belt husband, but most any person on the mat who is larger and aggressive, and well, my guard is easily passed and I'm chillin' from bottom cross side (the place I affectionately call "my 'hood").
I spent a little time watching GB Prof. Ana Laura Cordeiro's highlight reel (found here) yesterday and beside the wicked Kanye West soundtrack, you see a wicked spider guard (and you really get a sense of it when you watch her finals match against Alliance's Gabi Garcia. Watch that awesome match here, if you're so inclined. Seriously. Read this, then go watch that.)
The point of that little mental side trip was to get to the point that when I was rolling with P today and doing everything wrong and getting frustrated, I thought back to Prof. Ana Laura's spider guard and found myself mimicking it to the best of my ability. And I really liked how it slowed down the bigger player's roll just a little bit. I felt a little, tiny bit more in control. And I accidental got a sweep when I pulled him too far over my head...of course, he landed me in a leg lock, but whatever, ya'll!! I got an accidental sweep!
So victory #1 was messing around and discovering the leverage to be found in spider guard and victory #2 was not crying like a big, fat cry baby. Good day!
Thought I'd share some spider guard resources I found around the interwebs:
Barra BJJ: Spider Guard with Caroline, Otavio, and Marcio
Spider Guard Concepts by Caio Terra
Attacks from Spider Guard by Ricardo Cavalcanti
Triangle Choke from Spider Guard with Michelle Nicolini
Happy training!
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