You ever see those flow carts in Bravo's books where you start in a neutral position then progressively work to checkmate your opponent? Where do you start and what do you work towards in half guard?
I start with halfguard, and then i work to regain full guard, and if a sweep opens itself up in the meantime i take it.
I think (?) the progression goes... Neutral position Get underhook Hip out to that side Go under opposite leg trapping ankle Other arm around to hold ankle Pull near side leg with your legs as you pull trapped ankle on far side leg Sit up into his half guard
Getting the underhook and getting on your side should be done almost simultaneously. I don't often grab his ankle, because if I have proper posture and control then it isn't necessary. Sometimes I will use it, but not always. I also use it like tani-otoshi a lot.
Indrek Reiland's instructional is great for those struggling with the HG. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6822004334951860548
If you don't hold the ankle can't he just sort of sprawl/base out from the top? Hip down on you and neutralize? I love tani-otoshi from standing. How do you do it from half guard?
So he bases out... Then bump him and duck under to take his back! If he comes up vertical with you to prevent you from taking his back, drive him straight over like in tani otoshi (like the standard version in Koga demonstrates but with a waist or bodylock grip). I use my legs as well. I don't just have a lockdown, but I do the "pull the ankle to your butt motion (that my instructor Drew Yao demonstrates, but that's a different sweep - the guy with the shaved head is a younger Balto. Make fun of him!).
sprawling out on your half guard will create space for you to recover full guard, or play the game frodo is talking about.
Can I just dive under him and play various kinds of deep half guard if he postures up to prevent me from taking his back?
Another good idea is to constantly try and take your opponent's back once you get the underhook, this motion will force your opponent to base on his hand or have his weight shift forward (which means you can get further underneath). Also, try not to think of the half guard like the closed guard, where it's a very fine process of breaking down your opponent. While controlling your opponent's posture in half guard is important, you mainly accomplish this by "rocking" them, forcing them to base in various directions and open up various sweeps.
Gustavo Machado's instructional is good for 1/2 guard. Though, he could stand to have more angles and explain why he does certain things a little better.
Sure. If I can't get the sweep, I might switch to a variation of deep half guard. But I'd rather sweep right away, and most people don't prepare for it.
Wow, I haven't seen that tani-otoshi with both hands coming in front. I like Koga's better than the "traditional" though. I always thought it was done with more of a bear hug like here... http://www.judoinfo.com/images/animations/blue/taniotoshi.htm Do different schools call different throws by the same name? And I was mistaken earlier. I don't think I really do tani otoshi all that much. I think it's yoko otoshi that I like. http://judoinfo.com/images/animations/blue/yokootoshi.htm
