In using all the passing motions and the pressures from top game sections, you are still only trying to achieve a few things. First is to not fight your entire opponent at once. Angle off to the side, and separate their limbs to fight them only one at a time, we describe this as Zone Theory. Then fight through each zone step by step, one at a time. Complete the one your are working with currently before moving on to the next one. Don't try to skip over or jump ahead of any of them, and if you run into big trouble, then retreat back to the previous Zone and hold there to regroup -before you embark on advancing through the next one again.
Zone One
The Legs, The Hips, and The Angle
In this Zone we are attempting to gain these 3 things. We want to control the legs (if they are closed, then open them first- duh), and control them in front of us. We want to control the hips and limit their movement. We want to gain (or create to gain) an angle on our opponent to create limits. These things can happen in any order, but must all happen before we move on. So, sometimes by controlling the legs to get an angle, helps us gain control of the hips. In other situations, we need to gain the angle to get the legs in the first place, and only by getting the legs do we have a chance at the hips. And then, it could also be that we've been able to get the legs, and the hips, but the opponent is still centered and we have that barrier in our path, so we get the angle last to open a path to the next zone. I think you'll get the idea.....Zone Two
The Body and Alignment
From here, we are moving past the legs to look at the upper body. The first thing I consider when I approach this is the Alignment of the body itself. What does it look like? Is it straight, curved, shrimping? The body is strongest when it can be used as a single unit, with everything working together. By getting the angle on the legs and the hips, we have taken that out of the formula for a time. Once we move past this point, they suddenly have the ability to come back into play, so we must make sure that we can control the upper body alignment, so the legs don't add in extra strength that we can't adjust to. Entwined with this is how we are going to be attaching to the upper body. What grips are available, and where we can easily reach to. Once those options are considered we can move into this zone in two phases. Phase one- moving to the other side of the legs. Without letting go of our hips control or our angle, we move to just the other side of the legs, while keeping our weight and grips on our opponent. Heavy use of our weight through our hips can aid in this movement. Phase two- we are gripping and securing our attachment to the upper body, in an effort to control the alignment. And by control the alignment, I mean that you pick one and direct your opponent into this position. Observe the spine from the head to the hips, and keep it from being straight- as in break the angle of the head in relation to the spine, as well as the spine in relation to the hips. Also, keep the opponents back on the ground, keep them flat. This will make the spine manipulation easier. If you are stuffing your opponent to keep them curved, or balled, make sure you are over stuffing. There is an optimal curve line, or amount of crunch which your opponent is trying to get to. If they get there, add to it to make them uncomfortable stuffed- oh, and take their back. You don't want this in front of you, get behind it. Zone Three
The Arms Advancing, The Arms Retreating, and The Trenches & Obstacles
In this Zone, we are dealing with how your opponent is reacting and moving to your advancements. You have an attachment and are looking at control of the opponents alignment, and they don't like this. So they begin to use all of their weapons and movements in order to knock you off of them, or gain their own control and advance out of your position. The arms advancing is how I describe what your opponent is doing with their arms to stall you, slow you down, or stop your advance. It is usually the inside arm or elbow, often pushing. Whatever they are doing, they are presenting an active resistance with their limbs and you will have to navigate that. There are lots of way to do this, but make sure you don't sacrifice your alignment control to do it, after all that is why they are resisting like this in the first place. The next issue is the arms retreating, and by this I mean the arms are moving away from you, against you opponents body or into other close positions. This is an issue because it means that things are about to change, the opponent is getting ready to move into another position, and readying their arms for the next battle or position to help ensure that they will be in a better position than they are now. When the arms begin to move away from you, it is time to go after and chase the elbows. What this does is slow down the transition between the positions and movements, so you can prepare for the position to come as well, or even stop the transition from happening. While doing all of this we are encountering what I call the Trenches and Obstacles. These are the arms and elbows while they are framing and in neutral positions. When they are not actively pushing or retreating tight against the body, they are just presenting frames so that the opponent has some room to move and adjust and get their bodies back into play in the way they want. To get past these frames, it takes weight and patience. There is no trick, just slowly relax and rest on top of them while you look for a way around, or through them. Use your body shifting and movement to see your way through. You may have to move up, down, in or climb over to smash or pass the obstacles and get your weight settled against their body, instead of settled against their frames. Zone Four
Advanced Base Camp (ABC), Rest & Refuel
This Zone is where we must be diligent. You climbed a long way, and you are tired. It has been a tough battle through several Zones of conflict and you need to rest. Just hold on a little longer. One or two last pushes. This is the place where we are building our Advanced Base Camp or ABC position. I call it ABC because this is where the fundamentals of good positioning are crucial. There are several versions of a good Top Game position, and each has its own place. What all have in common is what we focus on with the ABC concept. Keep it simple. Build your defences and dig-in for the long haul. Make sure you have something blocking and monitoring the guard attempts. Also make sure you have the arms out of the way. Finally make sure you have your weight and position where you want it, keeping your opponent out of alignment. Once here, then you can settle into the position by relaxing. Let yourself become heavier. Keep a strong attachment and make your opponent uncomfortable. Bit by bit, begin to constrict and tighten your hold by improving your own alignment, frames, and position. The way you are attached to your opponent will make a huge difference, you want the attachments themselves to do most of the work for you. This is the way you can recover in preparation for the upcoming battle for the submission or fight ending. Zone Five
The Finish Line
The Finish Line. This is the final battle ground, and depending on your position and the ending you are attempting, each finishing fight will be different. One of the key areas that I have noticed in this battle is in the transition to the finish from the position. Stay close to your opponent. In this transition is where they usually have opportunity to escape and change things around. Because there are so many variation in these transitions to various different finishes and endings I am not going to go into particular details here. The only guidelines I have in general for going into the finishes is to pay attention to your control. Keep all the progress you have made thus far in isolating the limbs or gaining position for a choke. Work from your settled position as much as possible. These things will aid in facilitating your transitions to ending the fight.
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