This was a really interesting and fun match. No stalling, reversals, movement and a finish. I posted this on reddit about a year ago, but I thought why not turn it into a blog post. I hope you enjoy the match as much as I did.
At the start Dante pulls guard and tries to do a little guard work, but isn't going too hard.
0:45 - Dante switches from Reverse De la Riva guard to butterfly half guard and Gary under hooks the butterfly hook which is strange.
0:53 - Gary uses the under hook to do an Imanari roll and attack Dante's legs. This was very surprising, but from that position you can't split the legs easily and Gary couldn't get control when both legs were together.
1:06 - Dante frees his right leg and Gary attacks the left, but he doesn't have the knee line or good position. Dante uses this to invert, puts his right leg over Gary's midsection and goes into a berimbolo .
1:12 - Dante gets to the crab ride and has his hands wrapped around Gary, but seems hesitant to work his way up his back. Gary starts working to break Dante's grip and frees himself.
2:15 - Dante is on top and Gary hits this really cool trip from his back, but doesn't come up. It was like a sitting deashi barai. I'm guessing this is something to make people think and get them to sit down instead of a move that is meant to actually score.
2:55 - Gary gives up double underhooks standing, but Dante doesn't take advantage of it and just stands there. I'm guessing he was worried about the kani basami, but his indecision allowed Gary to hit a beautiful harai goshi.
3:25 - Gary goes for a sloppy outside ashi entry and Dante goes to the crabride to counter him and try to take his back. Gary leg pummels and escapes.
4:05 - Dante attempts an overhead sweep and Gary offers no resistance and tries to catch Dante in a bad position when he hits the ground. Dante does a good job defending and Gary goes for an over under pass. This is a fake and Gary glues his chest to Dante's leg and then inserts his right leg into cross ashi/4-11/the saddle. Dante made a small mistake and actually helped Gary by pushing his leg into place. He quickly realized and then turns to escape while pointing his toes to hide his heel.
5:20 - Dante is on top looking for a kneecut pass, but doesn't seem to be pushing too hard. Gary is framing his arm and he can't do much. Dante give up on it which allows Gary to insert his left leg and get the inside position. From here Gary grabs Dante's wrists and starts pulling him all around and lifting him with his butterfly hooks to off balance him. Dante is trying to balance , but can't really do so because he has his arms controlled and went into a squat instead of sitting down to pass. Once he's off balance Gary switches to ashi garami(single leg X),reaps the leg and as Dante rolls quickly goes for the inside heel hook which ends the match.
Overall its a great match and I think it shows how using a variety of attacks and positions can confuse your opponent and get you the finish. Gary's unorthodox tactics let him attack Dante and set the pace. Sometimes the real value in something like a good heel hook game is the fact that it can make people freeze or play in a way they usually wouldn't.
> Gary switches to ashi garami(single leg X),reaps the leg and as Dante rolls quickly goes for the inside heel hook which ends the match.
ReplyDeleteIt's an outside heel hook. From single leg X, you're doing an outside heel hook. He'd need to pass the leg across the body for it to be an outside heel hook.