A new toy

I still need to type up my notes from the last seminar.  Some good ankle locks, counters, counter-counters, etc.  Carlos Machado's teaching style is fantastic - just an effortless deluge of knowledge.

During the seminar, William was adding some detail to a technique, and then, almost as a side note, made a quick mention about X-ing the arms as your opponent opens your guard and passes your legs.
You use your x-ed arms to block their inside thigh - you can even grab some gi there if you want.

This position is like magic.  I can get on my side, block their thigh, and then when the timing is right I can "levitate" them right back into half or full guard.  Matt has been doing this for years and it is really frustrating.  You've done all that work to get your pass going, and next thing you know you are back in his guard.
If your opponent tries to go north-south, they drag you along with them.

Sometimes putting them back in guard is simply lifting their leg up and capturing it again.
Oftentimes they'll fight you on this.  Instead of trying to muscle their leg up and pull them toward you, it is often easier to pull yourself towards them.  Also, the initial movement is not "pull their leg in towards mine", rather the initial movement is to pull their leg up over your head.  This gets you
underneath your opponent more where you can control their movement.  They worry more about getting swept and forget to protect their leg that you are controlling with your hands.  It makes recovering guard that much easier.

I can also turn my hips toward the floor.  This adds a good bit of power to the lifting motion
when recovering guard.

You can't get cross-faced and totally flattened out as your opponent passes - then it will be too late to block their leg and establish an in-between position.

Some slick guys will try to do a wrestling sit out, almost as if they are going to go to kozuri-gatame (scarf hold).  If they shoot their leg all the way through, this can be difficult to stop.

I'm starting to get comfortable in this "in-between" position - I don't mind hanging out there.  The key now is to explore other options.  Is there a sweep from here?  If I can broadcast and sell the fact that I am trying to put them back in guard, they will base their weight back away from me.  I wonder if I can use that to execute a sweep?  Perhaps if I go after their other leg as well.  There is a whole world of exploring to be done from this protective position - right now it is a bit defensive...have to play with it more to see what offensive options there are.

Manipulating the shoulder joint - any joint actually

The other day in class we were practicing finishing kimura's.
Typically someone defends by grabbing their own belt or gi, but they also curl their legs
up, as well as shrug their shoulder up.  By doing this, it engages their obliques, psoas, abdominal
and other muscles.  You can actually lift someone completely off the ground with the arm you are attacking and they can stay in a ball.
To defeat this kimura defense, the key is to manipulate the shoulder joint you are attacking.
Get them to stop shrugging and you can break the kimura free.
One way to do this is to back your body away, and then come in low with your chest pressing on
the top of their shoulder (don't let go of the figure 4 grip).  This will drive their "shrugging" shoulder down, which in turn causes them to disengage the supporting muscles, allowing you to finish the kimura.