Okay, so I'm having this problem in submission grappling, and sometimes even MMA sparring. To avoid armbars, triangles, etc., guys will just bring their elbows really close to their body, put their face in or really close to my stomach, and I can't do anything. It's really annoying. Their arms are too close to open them up for armbars or arm drags, I can't bring them close enough for a sweep, and they usually anchor both elbows so I can't set up a triangle. What do you usually do? Should I just wait for him to sit up and do something? Or is there a flaw in this that I can exploit? If there's a way to do the latter, I'd prefer that. I hate having boring fights. MMA and Grappling, after all, are still spectator sports to a certain degree. I'm a big fan of MMA and grappling and even I'll admit it's really boring to just watch two guys lay on top of each other. So whenever there's a way to avoid that without exposing myself to danger too much, I prefer that. Thanks for any help.
What about baiting them? Who could resist trying to pass an open/lazy guard? When he goes for the pass, you can work him from there. Otherwise I'd imagine a guillotine or a series of sweep attempts should get him to open up.
Have you tried underhooking one of their legs and attacking with omoplatas and pendulum sweeps? This will also open them up for the armbars and triangles.
If their center is that close, I would try to roll them into the mount. To avoid the roll, they'll probably plant an arm.
I mentioned this in another thread. If they are basically laying & praying in your guard this will basically do 1 of 2 things for you: get their back, or make them stop. Grab both their wrists as if you were loading up for a triangle choke on both sides, now simply shift your hips out to one side (fast, hard) and push away with the two wrists you've grabbed. Now you're on his side, and basically almost to his back. Grab his lat, post one arm for balance and climb on. Beats the LnP every time.
Oh, option # 2. If their head is resting on/near your stomach, take both your hands and push their head away to your right or left side. For instance if you push to your left (from within your guard) they will often post out their arms, in this case leaving their LEFT arm wide open for a kimura.
Thanks guys, too bad I didn't get to read these before my grappling class tonight. Actually, we just covered something else that works well. We were working a lot off of the high guard, and I noticed that when he's doing the lay and pray, he can't really stop you from getting inside control, or double underhooks. Once you get those, you can start to work more.
I believe the best way to make a guy work is to get either butterfly guard or half butterfly guard. I love the elevator sweep from half butterfly guard to top position because you lock around his head and arm and that makes it difficult for him to punch, and you can either stand up or follow him once you get him off balance.
