My Latest Studies in Newaza

It has been a while since my last post.

Since my last post I have been exploring the Turtle Position and De La Riva Guard with a smattering of Butterfly and X-Guard.

Since my tendency has been to go to the turtle when things go awry and getting my lunch eaten there as a result I have been boning up on the basics from The Turtle Guard dvd by Josh Russell. I am becoming a little more effective here especially since I am transitioning a bit faster from here now by rolling rather the shell shocked sit and pray I had been playing at times. I have not gone beyond the basics as of yet but will at some point.

The other position I am using a lot is the De La Riva Guard as soon as I get paranoid about someone passing my guard. If anything my training partners usually react with a wtf and try to run away. Usually I go for a sweep or take the back. Nathan gave me some solid advice for this guard which was use the feet and minimize the hips and I have found this helps a great deal.

Nathan also suggested that I look up Marcio "Pe De Pano" Cruz on Youtube since we have similar builds (he is 6'4" 230lbs and I am 6'5" 215lbs). Man his guard is sick for a big man! A lot of what he does is reminiscent of Roleta in my mind.

Based on the following clips I had to go out and buy his instructional.