A Lil' Open Mat Time

So today I get the call that Noel and Justin are doing some Pan Ams training and needed a test dummy...well maybe not in those words. I really have been trying to get to class early to give Justin a hand on working through some new stuff, but I just hadn't found the time. Today worked out perfect though. So I skipped on over the the ol' barn for a good open mat session.
One of the things we are trying to work on is their game plan from start to finish. It's always best to have some sort of a plan because it acts as a road map in most cases. Now no plan ever goes exactly like you want it to, but that's the whole point of it being a road map, when you get off coarse it gives you a way to get back on track. So me and Justin went over some of the finer points of a certain take down, and also discussed his strong position in his stand up and what throws seem to work best from there. Its all about chaining them together. If you have your opponent constantly defending he has no time to mount an offense.
After that we went on to some guard passing drill. You have 5 mins to pass the persons guard with one pass. If you manage to pass you just start over, but the hard part is the other person knows what pass you are going to do every time. This really helps tighten your passing because if you can pull it off on someone who knows its coming, you will surely hit it on someone who doesn't.
I think both Noel and Justin are going to do well at the Pan Ams and I am certainly excited to see them compete. Justin did very well at his last comp (The Freestyle Grappling Open) he took 3rd in Gi and 1st in No Gi.

Rolls Recap-
I only had a chance to roll with Justin because Noel is still fighting an injury that he needs to rest. I feel I did fairly well against Justin today, we always have some epic battles and it ends up being great training for both of us. One of the things I was having success with today was starting in closed guard and waiting for him to attempt to break it open by pressing down on my knee with one hand. When he was attempting to do this I would time it just right and stuff that hand down while swinging that leg out and up to his shoulder for the triangle. I was having a hard time finishing the triangle today and it seemed like both times he was able to back out of it enough so that it was around his ears and not his neck. This move will stop working on him once he corrects his posture and stops letting me pull him down into the triangle.
Another move that I was forced to use tonight since my triangles were failing was the switch off to the armbar from the triangle position. I was able to hit this once or twice and I found it was key to take one of my hands and hold under his armpit of the arm that was not across his body. This stops him from being able to back out of the triangle and also keeps my angle consistent. With my other arm I would trap his arm that is across his body to my chest and when the time was right I would swing my leg that's locking the triangle over his face for the armbar. This is one time I find crossing the feet is OK and that's because there doesn't seem like much to hook onto, just the top of his head and you don't want your leg slipping off.