A Big Reset

Most people, when their back is taken, start fighting the hands and hoping. On Saturday morning I asked the room to do something that feels wrong. Go upside down.

They have to come with you

Someone on your back needs you the right way up. Invert with them still attached and they have to invert with you, and most of the time they will not. If they are not inverting, there is no back control. As soon as you invert, it is a big reset.

No resistance first

We started with no grips, no seat belt, nothing. Bring your legs in and hold your toes from the inside. If mobility is a problem, lean forward as far as you can. Fall to the side, either side, and make the same movement we warmed up with. The front foot moves towards the back, the back foot towards the front. Raise your hip and start removing the control, one hook at a time.

It is not finished if they chase

I am only done with the escape if they are not chasing me. Most of them will, with at least one hook, inverting along with you. Good. Stay there. Remove the hook, shoulder walk, get your hooks in with your feet inwards, and sit up. You started with your back taken and you have ended up behind them.

When they cross their feet

Crossing the feet on someone’s back feels safe. It is not. Step over their top ankle as you invert, not while you are sitting in the reset posture, where your arms are busy and they are fighting for a choke. Then triangle your own foot, with their ankle against your knee pit. Not ankle against ankle: you will not find a good lock, and it is very bad for your own hip and knee. Pinch the knees and take your hips forward, slowly. This is a joint, and your partner is the reason you get to train at all.

Half is enough

The seat belt changes things. They will not let you stay crunched in, and you will not get a full inversion. You do not need one. Half an inversion is just to kick-start things. If you were struggling and there was no momentum, that is your start. Stay sticky, turn your hip, shoulder walk.

If you came at nine

At nine we moved on to X-guard, which has nothing to do with the back until it does. Sometimes the get-up will not come, because your partner is taller or heavier and the kick does nothing. So you pass the foot over, hook, second hook, knees to the chest, kick, shoulder walk, hooks in. If you were there at eight, you knew exactly what was happening. If you came at nine, you only got this much. The two classes were one idea, and I would rather you saw both.