01-29-2024

Round length: 3 min Rest duration: 1 min Switch each round.


Top Player:

  • Position: On your knees with your partner's legs around your torso and their feet hooked behind you.
  • Objective: Break your partner's grips and control of your upper body in order to gain upright posture.
  • Constraints: Do not attempt to open or pass your partner's guard. Do not stand.
  • Win Condition: None

Bottom Player:

  • Position: On your back with your legs wrapped around your partner's torso with your feet hooked together behind them.
  • Objective: Create meaningful connection with your partner and use it to control their posture. Do not let them gain an upright posture.
  • Constraints: Do not sweep or submit your partner. Only fight for grips and posture.
  • Win Condition: None

Top Player:

  • Position: On your knees with your partner's legs around your torso and their feet hooked behind you.
  • Objective: Break your partner's grips and control of your upper body in order to gain upright posture and then work to a standing position.
  • Constraints: None
  • Win Condition: Successfully standing up.

Bottom Player:

  • Position: On your back with your legs wrapped around your partner's torso with your feet hooked behind them.
  • Objective: Create meaningful connection with your partner and use it to control their posture. Do not let them gain an upright posture or stand.
  • Constraints: Do not sweep or submit your partner. Only fight for grips and posture.
  • Win Condition: None

Reset if top player wins.


Top Player:

  • Position: On your knees with your partner's legs around your torso and their feet hooked behind you.
  • Objective: Break your partner's grips and control of your upper body in order to gain upright posture and work to open their feet.
  • Constraints: None
  • Win Condition: Successfully opening your partner's feet.

Bottom Player:

  • Position: On your back with your legs wrapped around your partner's torso with your feet hooked together behind them.
  • Objective: Create meaningful connection with your partner and use it to control their posture. Do not let them gain an upright posture, stand, or open your feet.
  • Constraints: Do not sweep or submit your partner. Only fight for grips and posture.
  • Win Condition: None

Reset if top player wins.


Attribution: This game was originally created by coach Greg Souders at Standard Jiu-Jitsu.

Top Player:

  • Position: Sitting on top of your partner straddling their torso.
  • Objective: Trap your partner's wrist to the floor either on the same side or the cross side of their head to expose the elbows. Once the elbows are exposed extend the elbows away from the centerline towards the head or in towards the centerline by any means neccessary
  • Constraints: No submissions – only wrist pinning allowed.
  • Win Condition: Partner's elbows are exposed and extended or contracted.

Bottom Player:

  • Position: On your back with your opponent straddling your torso.
  • Objective: Keep your hands pointed at your partner's hips, work to destabilize your partner, and bring your knees back in front.
  • Constraints: None
  • Win Condition: Knees are brought back in front of your partner.

Reset if either player wins.


Attribution: This game was originally created by coach Greg Souders at Standard Jiu-Jitsu.

Top Player:

  • Position: Sitting on top of your partner straddling their torso.
  • Objective: Trap your partner's wrist to the floor either on the same side or the cross side of their head to expose the elbows. Once the elbows are exposed extend the elbows away from the centerline towards the head or in towards the centerline by any means neccessary. Slide up and turn to face the shoulder line while trapping it between your knee and foot.
  • Constraints: No submissions – only wrist pinning allowed.
  • Win Condition: Partner's elbows are exposed and extended or contracted.

Bottom Player:

  • Position: On your back with your opponent straddling your torso.
  • Objective: Keep your hands pointed at your partner's hips, work to destabilize your partner, and bring your knees back in front.
  • Constraints: None
  • Win Condition: Knees are brought back in front of your partner.

Differential learning session ran completely on sand. This was involuntary as we did not have access to mats. We should consider making this a regular part of training. The new terrain and movement of sand injects a large amount of variability into the process and forces alternative solutions to familiar problems.

I suspect that controlling someone in a shifting environment like sand will translate well into increased ability to control a partner in a more stable setting.

The live round at the end was skipped due to time constraints that were nonnegotiable.