I got tired of the verbosity of descriptions like “my right hand grips his right collar” so I use a notation of @ referring to my opponent, so “hand” is my hand and “@hand” is his hand. Rather than say left or right and reverse them for symmetry, I assign one side as number one and the other as two. (I see this won’t make sense without an example.) I use “||” for various options and “**” for “if this happens, do this.”

An example (from a Marcus Vinicius dvd) (hopefully the indentation comes through):

Arm and opposite leg (Flower Sweep) [MVTT3#6-8(4:06)]
-. Hand1 grips @sleeve1, hand2 grips @collar1.
-. Break any @grip on belt by gripping @sleeve1 with hand2, hand1 goes under
arm1 and grips wrist2. Pull to break @grip.
1. Control @arm1 with hand1 holding @elbow1 to chest, legs high.
|| Or failed at Gb arm-lock: grip @back with hand1 to block @arm1.
|| Or trap @arm1 and hold @hand1 by head2,
grip @wrist1 with hand1 behind @head.
|| Or trap @arm1 and grip ankle2 with hand1.
2. Hand2 goes between @legs to hold @leg2 at @knee-pit2, rotate body to side2.
** Hips are too far to side1, too hard to sweep:
take @back instead.
3. Leg1 swings down low at @side1; leg2 swings high over @ for sweep.
** @ braces with @leg1:
Hook foot1 under @ankle1, kick to move @foot back and away, finish.
** Sweep and @arm1 is trapped across @chest:
Use weight to keep it trapped, turn and fall back for straight armbar.

Mike. Yes, I’m a programmer. I think like this.