Back at it ... take two

So after taking two very necessary weeks off to heal (well, mostly because the gym closed for Xmas and New Years) I came back and got sick after one workout. Meh. My throat then started hurting AFTER I got better, so I felt like crap, then got better but had a sore throat. Meh. So back tonight, with everything feeling pretty much intact except my right ring finger. It's just a little sore, but it's been the exact same "little sore" for over two months now - it's not getting any better. So tomorrow morning I see a doctor in case there's some fluid trapped in there or something.

Enough of that crap, a cool technique has been stuck in my head today. I only have about 10 minutes before I need to shut down and head to the gym so it'll have to be a quick post.

So you've got your opponent in side control, but he's turned into you. Hmmm. Normally we try and flatten him out, or even push him until he's facing away from us. So aside from cramming your head into his shoulder area to flatten him out, what's available here? A pretty cool armbar it turns out.

Assume you've passed his legs by going to your left, which means in side control your left arm is the one around his neck. He's turning into you, meaning his left shoulder is up off the mat. No problem. While maintaining tight downward control and pressure on his torso like normal, move your right arm so that your right armpit is cupping his left shoulder. It's a strange move, because at this point you're kind of twisting at the waist and looking away from him. From there, slip both your hands down his left arm and hyper-extend it. If you've managed to keep proper pressure on his shoulder he won't be able to escape, or resist at all for that matter.

There are other details to this one, but I haven't been training or posting (stupid holidays always mess me up *shakes fist*) so I wanted to bang this out real quick. I'll re-visit this with more details soon.