isn't it sort of a quarter nelson type position he was using
I watched the fights with some training buddies of mine - one was a wrestling coach who mentioned "it's something along the lines of a crucifix". Basically because of Lesnar's arm size, he could easily torque the neck, "shoulder of justice", and grab the far side underhook / bicep with ease, which seemed to be a "perfect" hold for him in top half guard MMA: flattens the opponent, turns their head away so they're unable to recover full guard, and immobilizes the far arm in a way that he had a free arm to rain strikes down with Mir being unable to defend.
Was hoping other half-guard enthusiasts have found variations to this type of hold
I learned a really sweet back take from the Robson Moura instructional. You start in top half guard, say with your right leg trapped in the half-guard, you have the far side underhook.
You go to underhook with your left arm, for double unders but instead pin his right wrist.
Keep your chest on chest pressure as you circle your right underhook out and put your hand on his right knee.
Now look left and shoulder roll over your right shoulder, triangling your legs.
push your legs to the ground, which will slip him over, then hip escape and pull him on top of you and take the back. (hard to explain, but it is very sweet)
I learned a really sweet back take from the Robson Moura instructional. You start in top half guard, say with your right leg trapped in the half-guard, you have the far side underhook.
You go to underhook with your left arm, for double unders but instead pin his right wrist.
Keep your chest on chest pressure as you circle your right underhook out and put your hand on his right knee.
Now look left and shoulder roll over your right shoulder, triangling your legs.
push your legs to the ground, which will slip him over, then hip escape and pull him on top of you and take the back. (hard to explain, but it is very sweet)
Ah yes, I've used the infamous "twister roll" variation of the technique (lockdown employed rather than triangling of legs). Also, I believe the Mendes bros came up with a similar variant to yours above (used for when they counter the knee bar from top half guard).
Here is what I believe codemonkey was referring to:
Here is the Mendes Bros. version:
Here is the Twister Roll (they took the Bravo version down, here's the TFW version):
^^ Is that first one legit? It looks awesome, but I have my doubts that the bottom man would come along for the ride. Also, it seems like half guard player could just take your back unless you do it vert quickly. Seems too risky.
If it does indeed work on a resisting opponent, it seems like a good bail out plan if the bottom man arm drags you and attempts to take the back
Last edited by armtriangle; 07-15-2009 at 05:01 PM.
the third one doesn't work for me (the video), but the first one is the one i was talking about, and to armtriangle, yes it works, try it and drill it, he doesn't have a choice about coming for the ride... it can cause a scramble, if you don't hip escape and control him towards the end after the roll. That second video from the mendes brothers is friggin awesome, same concept, but from the other side (reverse half-guard), i gotta try that.
codemonkey, in regards to the brock lesnar crucifix / half nelson / neck crank position before, Kesting has a great video breaking down the various ways Brock dominated Mir from top half guard here:
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the third one doesn't work for me (the video), but the first one is the one i was talking about, and to armtriangle, yes it works, try it and drill it, he doesn't have a choice about coming for the ride... it can cause a scramble, if you don't hip escape and control him towards the end after the roll. That second video from the mendes brothers is friggin awesome, same concept, but from the other side (reverse half-guard), i gotta try that.
The Mendes brothers one is the one I have found quite a bit of success with. The issue I see with the first one (I've played around with it a decent amount as well) is that if the guy on bottom is a step ahead of you, all he has to do is scoot his hips out when you start rolling and he will end up on your back instead. Obviously it works, but you just have to be aware of the possibilities.
