Nicky Ryan - He’s Got Next Pt. 2
(Part 2 of a 2 part series)
For Part 1 of this series CLICK HERE
The Crown Prince: noun – The second most important position, second to the King, and is his designated successor.
If you are of the mindset that Gordon Ryan is “the King” of the jiu-jitsu world right now, then it is only fitting to identify the younger half of the brothers Ryan, “the crown prince”. And considering that Gordon may one day “vacate the throne” in pursuit of MMA greatness, Nicky is on the path and putting himself in a good position to continue to “run the kingdom” without missing a beat.
In the first part of our feature of Nicky Ryan, Nicky took some time out of his busy training regimen to show us his basic entry into the triangle as well as show us an X-Guard transition to inside Sankaku and heel hook and a pass to a Kimura. In this part, we will delve deeper into the Kimura grip and a couple other principles that are in Nicky’s arsenal of entanglements. Enjoy!
After scoring a pass, Nicky has the option of going for the kimura as explained in the last sequence. However, if for some reason Nicky doesn’t go for the kimura, he also is in a very good position to take the back of his opponent.
1. Having already passed Ethan’s guard, Nicky starts this transition from the point where he has control of Ethan’s top arm with a Kimura grip and has his knees cinched against Ethan’s body.
2a. To initiate the move, Nicky leans forward and pivots on his right knee…
2b. …to tuck the lower portion of his right leg…
2c. …up against Ethan’s back and sits down.
3a. Nicky will now throw his left leg…
3b. …over Ethan’s torso…
3c. …and scoop his right arm underneath Ethan’s head…
3d. …and fall to his left side.
4. From here, Nicky will execute a one on one grip to look for a strangle. Ethan will defend the strangle by grabbing the thumb area of Nicky’s right hand.
5a. Once Ethan attempts to defend, that’s when Nicky will push Ethan’s defending hand down and…
5b. …transfer it into a cross grip to his left hand and…
5c. …use his right hand to grip Ethan’s left wrist.
6a. With his new wrist control established, Nicky throws his right leg over Ethan’s shoulder and…
6b. …open up Ethan’s arm and trapping it with his leg.
6c. …open up Ethan’s arm and trapping it with his leg.
7a. With his left hand now freed from Ethan’s grip, Nicky again transfers wrist control to his freed up left hand…
7b. …and uses his right hand to trace his thumb along Ethan’s neck…
7c. …to secure a tight rear naked grip around Ethan’s neck to secure the tap.
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This is an option in a deep arsenal that Nicky has at his disposal from a trapped triangle position. This particular attack is of the “counter to the counter” variety where Nicky merely changes the angle of his attack to overcome Ethan’s counter and still nail the triangle submission.
1a. Nicky has Ethan in a trapped triangle position in an attempt to secure a triangle strangle as previously explained but…
1b. …hasn’t fed Ethan’s arm across his body to finish the submission attempt because Ethan has defended the initial attack by hooking his arm around Nicky’s leg.
2. Nicky recognizes Ethan’s counter and will begin to address it by underhooking his right arm under Ethan’s same side leg while using his left hand to grip the back of Ethan’s head.
3. From here, Nicky will unlock his ankles and invert his knee towards Ethan so that his feet are now facing upward.
4. Nicky can now relock his triangle, not worrying about being in the opposite position for an orthodox triangle submission.
5. Once Nicky has re-established his triangle position, he will now turn his knees inward toward Ethan and squeeze to complete the triangle strangle.
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Creating Triangle Opportunities
This submission goes deeper into the trap triangle position and presents yet another layer of threat to an opponent who has countered your initial triangle attempt.
1. Starting from the trapped triangle position, Nicky initiates this moves the same as the Arm Trap Triangle as explained previously to the point where he re-establishes his triangle leg positioning (Step 4 in the Arm Trap Triangle sequence).
2. From this position, Nicky assesses the situation and for whatever reason feels that the Arm Trap Triangle won’t be successful. Using his left hand, he will grip Ethan’s left tricep.
3a. From here Nicky raises his hips up and…
3b. … drives his knees towards the mat, making Ethan fall.
4a. Once Ethan begins to fall, Nicky will follow him down and continue to roll with him…
4b. …until he is in an upright sitting position while maintaining his triangle with his legs.
5. Nicky will now execute a Kimura grip on Ethan’s left arm and then…
5b. …unlocks his legs and posts his left foot on the mat.
6. From here, Nicky hips out towards his left to…
6b. …improve his angle to re-establish his triangle with his legs.
6c. Successfully completing a back triangle submission.
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