30/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #166



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 30/07/2008 - Advanced

The Fightworks Podcast has been shifting to more user-generated content recently, meaning that Caleb is asking the audience if they have any questions for upcoming guests. I emailed a few for the judo interview (subscribing in Google Reader is a good way to keep up to date with the content, or alternately getting on the mailing list). Caleb managed to fit them all in, which was a pleasant surprise: I thought maybe one or two would make it, so to hear all five was kinda cool.

No technique tonight, just sparring. We kicked off with throws to warm-up, then straight on to guard passage. I was trying to stand up in order to try and pass Tran's guard, but found it difficult to even get to that position. As has been happening frequently from this position, I tend to get pulled down and then have to defend, rather than getting my hands secure and rising up from that. It could be that I should be quicker in getting up, or worrying less about having a totally rock solid base first. Clearly I should be attempting something slightly different, as I'm finding myself in a predictable pattern of putting hands on hips, trying to raise up, then my posture is broken and I'm defending.

Underneath I didn't fare much better: Tran inevitably got my guard open, pushed a knee through and moved round. As he said afterwards, I need to think about how he is passing and what to do to stop the pass. First off, I have to come up with a way to block that knee and elbow, perhaps by coming up on one side, or working harder to break their posture. I was also looking to try and break Tran's grips, so I could armdrag and bring him in close, but not quite there yet: if I keep trying, will eventually improve.

Next was half-guard, for which my partner was Dean. He is a bit larger than me, but stays controlled, probably because he's fairly experienced (I think he mentioned about six years of training). I tried staying tight and seeing if I could move round, but wasn't able to free my trapped leg. I also attempted to remember the half guard passes we'd be shown by Maurição a while back: drew a blank on the upright passes, so will need to review those.

When we reversed I felt a bit more comfortable, aiming to get up on my side and either try for their back or the arm sweep. I think I can see improvements in getting to my side, particularly as before I was often just lying there squashed, which doesn't seem to happen quite so often. I need to use my legs more, and also shrimp a lot more, rather than thinking about over and underhooks so much (though they're still important). I managed to sweep once, but it was fairly sloppy on my partner. I almost recovered guard a few times too, but on each occasion Dean was able to bring his knees through, so I'm still missing some vital element, which I'll be sure to watch out for especially carefully when I'm next in that position.

Specific sparring from the back was against a much larger guy, but as he had hurt his shoulder, that meant he was basically only using one arm. Due to that, the spar wasn't quite as painful as I'd expected, with him spinning fairly easily into my guard when I was on his back, while when he had rear mount I stayed tight in defence. We also ended up back in mount or with him in my guard a few times, which I guess counts as an escape: better than being choked. I had one arm in place for a RNC for a while, but couldn't get the other one secure: if I got close, he was more than strong enough to simply wrench my arm away.

My partner for side control was Radek, which turned out comparatively even (though as he's got a considerable bit of muscle on me, could well have been taking it easy). On top, I rather fortuitously found myself in reverse scarf hold (at least I think I was: my side was across his torso and face, with one of his arms around my back). It was fairly simple to shift back, then bring my leg through for mount. Definitely something to work on more, as I remain very limited from the top.

That was rare, however, as mostly I was getting rolled over, although I slightly improved my mobility from position to position as the spar went on. I'm still nowhere near mobile enough, however, and get to try and sit in secure side control, which almost always results in a gradual escape on the part of my opponent.

Underneath, the Tran side control escape worked several times. Radek had control of my legs, but must have left some room for my hips, as I was still able to bridge into him and roll into his guard. I think I also recovered my own guard at one point, but can't quite remember, along with snatching half guard, which tends to be my favourite escape.

I was pretty tired once we reached free sparring, so happily sat out waiting to see if anyone wanted to roll with a small guy. Two purple belts duly obliged, starting with Tomek. He kept it fairly light, given the usual weight difference, so I spent most of the spar trying to avoid getting triangled in the guard, then attempting to work my way free from side control.

Much the same happened against Bruno, though he threw on a leglock part of the way through. I'm very wary of lower body submissions (though I was more confident about escaping an earlier attempt from his guard), so tapped immediately, seeing that he had the position and I was off-balance, leaning back. That had the added bonus of him showing me an escape, which is to push their bum with your free leg.

Roger was in class, rolling with several of the students: I saw him go with both Zaf and Tomek, and no doubt a whole bunch of other people too. Always nice to see him on the mats. Nick taking the sessions has been another pleasant change: its great how RGA has so many top notch instructors to cycle between.