Adults: Tripod Passing
Warm-up
Handfighting Head Position
Player A
Player B
Win Condition(s)
We’re just going to be handfighting, but we’re looking for head positioning. So, that means our head is inside, with our eyes facing our partner, and their head is facing away. If you get to one of these positions, hold it for 5 seconds, and then let go and continue handfighting.
Back to the Mat
Player A
On top, trying to get the bottom player’s back to the mat. Use angles and movement to get them down.
Player B
Trying to stay up for as long as possible. Make sure you address grips.
Win Condition(s)
If the top player gets the bottom player to their back, that’s a win; switch top and bottom.
Knee Line Control
Player A
Start on top, with knees past the feet, and aim to control the knee line. You are not allowed to pass. You are looking for control.
Player B
On the bottom, on the back, trying to bring knees to chest and get feet back in between.
Win Condition(s)
If the bottom person gets feet back in between, that’s a win. Switch top and bottom. There is no win for the top player.
Main Class
Tripod Passing
Today, we’re going to work on our tripod pass. This is one of those passing positions, where you can exhaust your opponent and make them carry your weight. And that should be your objective for almost all passing, especially pressure passing. We want them to carry all of our weight, as much as possible.
Once we have our opponent on their back, we’re going to step inside. And this is not a lazy step in. If we’re lazy, we allow our opponent to get set up. Instead, we’re bringing our knee past their knee line. From here, we’re going to enter into a low tripod passing position. What does that mean? That means our hips are going to be low, pressuring our opponents’ hooks/legs, and our shoulders are going to be high.
We’re going to use our hands, thumbs up, under the armpits, to pin the shoulders. This is going to allow us to enter in deeper, because it allows us to control the space. Now, if they loosely grab a collar, we do have to address that. The threat of a loop choke is about the only credible threat we have to worry about.
From this position, whichever leg we have in the middle, that same side arm is going to get an underhook. However, we’re not getting an underhook like we would on the feet. We’re basing, palm down, with our underhook tight to their arm.
Now is when we’re going to transition from low tripod to high tripod, meaning our head and shoulders are going to come down, but our hips are going to go up.
Our head is going to come down, right against the chest, and it’s going to come under their chin. Ideally, not required, but ideally, we’d like to get their head facing either up or towards our underhook. And let’s pause here.
Finishing the Pass
To finish this pass, we have several options, but our upper body is set. So, all of our options for finishing involve our lower body.
Option number one is to elevate our hips, and continue to move forward. Once we have the upper body position, we’re going to walk our hips forward, and bring our head from under the head, to the mat, resting the top of our head on the mat. From here, it’s quite easy to take our free hand and push on their hip and go over.
Option number two is the foot pummel. Much like option number one, we come forward, and once we’re at the top of their knee, we use our foot as a pummel and hook on their butterfly hook ankle, to come over the top.
Option number three is the basic option, but it’s still solid, because the option is to move laterally toward the butterfly hook and bring the knee in for a knee cut.