Spiral Ride
Transition · Turtle
Chop the near arm, drive your weight into the corner where it was, walking toward their head, and spiral them flat to the mat.
How to do it
- From the side of the turtle, put your chest on the middle of their back, hips low, your weight on them.
- Chop their near arm at the elbow or wrist so the hand comes off the mat and they lose that post.
- Immediately drive your chest diagonally toward the corner where their near arm was, so your weight goes where they have lost the support.
- Keep circling toward their head while you drive, so their hips spiral down to the mat and they end flat on the belly.
- Once they are flat, set your hooks or go for the cement mixer before they rebuild onto hands and knees.
Key details
- Take away one post at a time: the arm first, then drive into that corner, where nothing holds your weight.
- Your weight goes diagonally, not straight down: straight down is exactly what their arms and knees are built to hold.
- Keep moving: a static ride gives them time to post the arm again and rebuild.
- The other hand goes deep between his legs to the inside of the thigh and pries it up, palm in: with the arm chopped and that leg lifted, he loses two posts at once.
Common mistakes
- Pushing straight down on the back. — They lock the arms and knees and take the weight. — Drive toward the corner where you took the arm.
- Hugging the waist and lying still. — With no pressure on a corner they stand up or roll through. — Keep chopping the arm and circling toward the head.
- Chest too high on the shoulders. — Their hips are free and they sit out from under you. — Chest on the middle of the back, hips low.
If they defend
- They sit out to the side. → Follow and take the back as they turn.
- They post the far arm to come back up. → Half nelson that arm side: cement mixer.
How to drill it
Partner in a tight turtle, you spiral ride to flat, 6 reps each side. Then 30-second rounds: they try to stand, you ride.
What comes next
Where it comes from