Developing Focus Blocks

CurriculumDeveloping Focus BlocksSystem-by-system focus blocks for delivering the developing curriculum — each block is 4–8 weeks, with session templates, drill prescriptions, and…

The developing curriculum does not work as a linear twelve-week programme. Its timeframe is 6–24 months, each system requires deep drilling before it becomes functional under pressure, and the systems themselves need to be integrated with each other as they are developed. This guide organises the curriculum into focused blocks — one system per block — with a recommended sequence and integration checkpoints between them.

How to use this guide: Work through one focus block at a time. Complete the block’s checkpoint before moving to the next. Return to earlier systems regularly — the kimura block is not “done” once you move to triangles; it is the foundation that the triangle block builds on. Revisiting is not remediation, it is consolidation.

BlockSystemDurationKey integration1Half Guard System4–6 weeksBack position (Stage 5)2Back Attack System4–6 weeksHalf guard back takes3Kimura System4–8 weeksBack take from kimura4Triangle System4–8 weeksKimura–triangle connection5X Guard and SLX (single leg X)4–6 weeksSLX–ashi garami link6Leg Entanglement Expansion4–6 weeksOutside ashi, 50/50, K-guard (a seated leg entanglement position)7Heel Hooks — gated4–6 weeksOnly after Block 6 checkpoint + tap assessment+Standing Game ExpansionOngoingDeveloped in parallel, not as a blockBlock 1 — Half Guard System

4–6 weeksPrerequisite: Stage 3 (guard bottom), Stage 5 (back position)Weeks 1–2

Z-guard (knee shield): The knee shield frame, sit-up sweep mechanics, entry to dogfight. Drill: sit-up sweep to dogfight, looped. 5-minute positional rounds from Z-guard.

Deep half guard: The position, Homer Simpson sweep, wrestling-up back take. Connect deep half to the dogfight — the same neutral position that Z-guard sweeps create. Drill: deep half to sweep to back take, continuous flow.

Integration: Live positional sparring from half guard bottom. Student must sweep or take the back — no stalling in the position. Begin introducing the kimura entry from Z-guard as a preview of Block 3.

Student sweeps from Z-guard and deep half against resisting partners and converts the dogfight to a back take or top position. Ready to begin Block 2.

4–6 weeksPrerequisite: Block 1 + Stage 5 (back position, both directions)Weeks 1–2

Back control maintenance: 60-second positional rounds from seatbelt. Partner works to escape. No submission attempts — maintenance only. Body triangle management introduced when seatbelt maintenance is reliable.

Full RNC finish mechanics: The choke mechanism, defending the chin, the arm trap when RNC is defended. Finish from static position first, then from live back control maintenance.

Back take entries: From turtle (gut wrench), from dogfight (Block 1 connection), from failed submission. Drill each entry to seatbelt, then into maintenance rounds. Integration: finish the full sequence — entry, maintenance, submission — against moderate resistance.