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View Full Version : IOUF in the Guard!



Robert V
03-12-2005, 08:44 PM
Recently, there has been a lot of drama surrounding Eddie Bravo. Both from the "Catch" scene and traditional GJJ practioners. However, the drama is not something that interest me. Eddie's willingness to expand the "status Quo" ground game and use innovations to present tactical options in the guard impresses me. I expressed my admiration to him recently and told him although I do not concentrate much on the ground game anymore, for my training now is focus more on the clinch, I still appreciate his innovations.

He expressed to me that the guard is a version of the clinch, but horizontally. This is something Scott Sonnon has said many times. IOUF is my favorite child of Mr. Sonnon‘s. I’ve spent a lot of time researching and practicing the concepts. Yes, concepts. What people truly seem to miss sometimes is that the content of IOUF is made up of “tactical concepts” with technical examples. In the heat of battle, memorized techniques will most likely fail you, yet a conceptual understanding of combat is your greatest friend in the heat of battle.

Why do we have one set of concepts and tactics on our feet and another on our backs? An efficient combative concept transcends position or styles. This was strongly demonstrated in “Softwork”.

In the guard, you still have your “locking arm and power transfer”. Controlling his Joint Mass Center precedes any sweep. You still have mobile and driving legs. The same clinch work you use on your feet can be done on your back: Arm drag, underhook, over-under, two on one, muay thai neck vice, duck-under, body lock…..

Open up your mind and see how your tools apply in all positions. Develop one true and efficient tactical concept and exercise it in all situations. Check out Somatic Engineering of Combat and IOUF.

Scott Sonnon
03-12-2005, 09:17 PM
Awesome.

Eddie Bravo's rubber guard is tight. Prefer the spider for mobility, but the effectiveness of the rubber strategy is undeniable. He's a pioneer.

Chuck Kechter
03-13-2005, 10:03 AM
Good stuff Robert!

I went to the Pancrase Submission Wrestling Tournament in Broomfield yeaterday. It surprised me how many submission wins came from the rubber guard. . . Saw a few spiders, a couple of butterflys (wich were quickly closed down) and lots of the omnipresent closed guard.

Best submission tournament I've seen yet. . .