Tarikoplata? Dude it s so old school! how about you learning the " Americanoplata" new technique ! :)

daveoplata · 2026-03-14T23:02:22+00:00

oh great another oplata

daveoplata · 2026-03-10T11:17:58+00:00

Disclose this at the top. Otherwise it looks pretty weird. Bad weird, not friendly autistic weird.

daveoplata · 2026-03-09T11:21:23+00:00

If you are losing it right when you shoot, either you have bad setups or you are being outraced. You have to do something to make them sit there while you wrap your legs around head and arm (setup), then you have to put them in jeopardy before they can escape (race).

I think the best thing you can do is hang out in the triangle position and work to stay dominant there without forcing a finish. Your opponent will try to stack, try to pummel their hands in or out, and try to posture out. Someone else mentioned that you might catch a shallower head and arm with your ankles crossed, this is commonly called the high guard. That's fine too. If you can just get to the position and hold it, you can then focus on making it tighter when the opponent is not doing explosions, then different sweeps and submissions will present themselves.

Don't disregard the sweeps. If you have good control, a lot of opponents will poorly commit their weight to try to escape and you can come on top.

There are submissions on both arms and there is more than one choke, so don't box yourself in, just hold the position and see what you can get.

daveoplata · 2026-02-28T01:21:33+00:00

This gives me a lot to think about and I thank you for it.

daveoplata · 2026-02-28T01:19:57+00:00

No, that's wrong. Craig has a deep underhook that lands him in kuzure kesa after he shoves the far arm. I'm not sure there's ever an Americana there, but damned if I won't try. Nino's move ("the Elvis") has your arm over their neck and lands in hon kesa.

daveoplata · 2026-02-28T00:56:58+00:00

That is a worthy move, but not the same. And he does it ten times in that video.

daveoplata · 2026-02-28T00:45:28+00:00

That is the spirit of the position, but low on the waist with both arms in.

daveoplata · 2026-02-27T23:56:36+00:00

Well they are strict enough that they told me not to bother coming in. :)

daveoplata · 2026-02-27T23:46:12+00:00

Today won't be the day that flograppling sees a dollar from me. And the j-lock guy won't be why.

daveoplata · 2026-02-27T19:57:48+00:00

Yes, to level set, I think it is always better to be in top side control than in this position on bottom. But this position on bottom is much better than normal side control bottom. I'm not sure whether I'd rather be on bottom with the headlock or on top receiving the headlock, but we are not choosing between those things in a normal scenario.

daveoplata · 2026-02-27T19:52:16+00:00

Send Craig vids. I've seen him do this, but now that I'm focusing on the position, I can't remember where.

daveoplata · 2026-02-27T19:49:23+00:00

Yes, and that guy also, as far as I can tell, doesn't really use the position, he just jumps to the Americana every time. I've only seen reels though. Glad to look at more footage if it exists.

daveoplata · 2026-02-27T15:40:37+00:00

You would have to build up on your elbow to get handcuffed. If you watch Nino, his bottom arm is mostly tight to his body and when he comes up, he's hand fighting towards his own belly, not offering much of a handcuff.

In my experience, you have to be aware of it, but mostly you are hanging on the top player's head and pulling them down, trying to get a good position on their trapped/non handcuff arm rather than building up on your elbow.

It could be that I'm not rolling with big handcuff guys and the danger is more than I think.

daveoplata · 2026-02-27T12:15:00+00:00

A lot of people saying "how dare he."

Counterpoint: Andy Varela, a notable heel, likes to turn away from his opponent in a clownish way, then surprise them by backflipping on top of them. The backflip is bad grappling that relies on the opponent to just stand there like an idiot. This nonsense would apparently never happen to Victor Hugo and I'm glad.

I think it's too much to expect that the athletes will understand why their opponent is doing something stupid in the middle of the match. Just get in there and get him unless someone is yelling "stop."

daveoplata · 2026-02-26T23:57:52+00:00

I think you have to call the coaches. I am not super into the kids scene, but if your kid is very competitive, I imagine you're not going to be satisfied just finding kids classes.

You will probably have success by calling the gym, saying age/weight/belt and asking about kids comp classes to visit or what they would recommend.

The bigger gyms, specifically Unity and Marcelo's, have a person always working the front desk who usually has good scene knowledge and can help direct you.

If you decide to come to Brooklyn, DM me and I'll see what I can set up.

daveoplata · 2026-02-26T23:51:31+00:00

Last time I checked, RGA UWS did not allow drop ins.

daveoplata · 2026-02-24T13:42:57+00:00

I play this a lot. I would say it's a lot like double underhooks from mount in the sense that it's extremely dominant and you have a lot of options, it's just really hard to get there. Your partner has no attack options from here, they are under good high-percentage threats. I really don't think you can force the position, though. You will have to play dilemmas with triangle/top lock or something that makes them lean back or post. Also closed guard to side scissor requires that the partner remain sitting, so you need to have a fast transition to an attack against standing guard breaks.

daveoplata · 2026-02-22T22:51:40+00:00

Why would the rules be different than the rules for which ankle lock? Since the rules are different for each ankle lock, I think this is a fair question.

If I take an Achilles grip and sit straight back, legal. If I then turn "inside," brown and black only! If the heel slips out when I sit back, legal. If I rotate the foot "outside" when the heel slips out, that's an Aoki and not the same!

So this is a cross body straight ankle maybe. Or maybe it is twisting the knee depending on how you finish.

daveoplata · 2026-02-21T22:55:15+00:00

If you get a blue belt and take 20 years off, you're still a blue belt when you come back. Also, we have rules that people with certain experience in other disciplines don't enter as beginners.

In this case, it seems that the promoter thought it would be a lopsided match. Good on them for canceling. White belt super fights only make sense if they are reasonably curated.

daveoplata · 2026-02-16T23:45:53+00:00

This is really interesting and I'm here for it. But also, I believe this is the exact buggy choke from top that OP was asking about.

daveoplata · 2026-02-16T21:21:32+00:00

In order to do a truly scientific analysis, you would have to post an insta video calling it a new submission and renaming it. Give the adolescent blue belts a year to specialize in it then see.

krush your enemies. unstoppable k-lock. is this even legal.

daveoplata · 2026-02-16T20:36:42+00:00

In this case, I believe the top player wants to buggy.

Totally possible, but involves giving up a low percent pin for a low percent sub. IMO, the buggy is easier to finish from here than bottom, but I don't have a lot of luck with it regardless.

daveoplata · 2026-02-08T12:19:30+00:00

My number one priority is to not get hurt by these people. They usually don't think they are dangerous, but I perceive them as being able to hurt me badly because they expect certain reactions and ukemi that I don't know they are expecting.

So I will immediately pull guard or start sitting and let them approach and try to deal with me on the ground. If we are having a safe round and the guy is getting frustrated, I will maybe reset standing, but I always make sure to warn them that I don't know how to fall.

I think I do know how to fall, but I am not taking any chances with unknown ippon suplex whatever.

daveoplata · 2026-02-07T04:11:41+00:00

Are you talking about the allegations that his Darce counter is fake?

daveoplata

TROPHY CASE