12/11/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #193



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK – 12/11/2008 - Advanced

Tonight's class was again focused on escaping from when somebody is trying to take your back, but is still in front of you, pressing their chest down on your back. We covered two situations for escaping, first when they have their arms around your chest, the second when they're in a more cautious position with one over your shoulder, the other inside.

When you turtle up and your opponent wants to move to your back, the first thing they have to be careful of is that you don't wrap up on of their legs and drive through to side control. That means they'll sprawl back, to stop you getting a hold. Roger noted that if they go overboard with this and bring their legs too far away, you'll have space to simply return to guard. If they stay tighter, then they'll also normally try and secure some kind of grip on your torso.

If they circle your chest with both arms, that is a mistake on their part, according to Roger. To escape, first grab one of their arms with your opposite arm. You can now turn to that side, and they will not be able to post out because you've got their limb trapped. So, swivel over your shoulder moving your head up as you do so (I think), which should force them onto their back.

This means you now have your back on their chest. Walk your feet round towards their legs, then bring your free hand to the other side of their body, turning towards their hips and moving into side control. Don't turn towards their head, as this will potentially give them an opportunity to get to their knees.

The next escape is something I've seen called the wrestler's sit-out, presumably because it’s a common move in wrestling. This time, they don't circle your chest with both arms, being aware of the previous escape. Instead, they grip over your shoulder and then inside (I think: looked like the usual grip, though). To sit-out, first make some space by bringing your elbow up, aiming to clear their arm out of the way. Then bring your far leg through (so cross it in front of the other), 'sitting out' as far as you can. To help that motion, you should also raise your head, moving it backwards.

Continuing your momentum, immediately then swing your leg round and take their back. This is the part both I and Anne found more difficult: I kept finding that I was either going to my knees rather than doing it all in one, or not managing it all (when I tried to sit-out on my weak side). I think I've got the fundamental motion down ok one side to escape, so I just need to work on making that transition to the back properly.

We then sparred from that same position. Underneath, I sort of managed a sloppy wrestler's sit out, and also tried swivelling to my back at one point. Judo came in handy too, with that escape where you wrap their elbow and roll (which I realise was one of several techniques I'd forgotten to add to my last judo post, as we covered so much on Sunday). Only unfortunate part was that I had to cut it short, as due to limited space, almost crashed into somebody else nearby.

On top, I couldn't do much, except for a judo turnover at one point (grabbing an elbow with both hands and driving forward), but Anne mentioned she didn't think we were supposed to be doing that, so might have been a mistake on my part. I also had a vague go at the clock choke, but that just ended up being a loose grip on her collar without going anywhere, after which she escaped anyway.

My first free spar was also with Anne, where I spent much of it in guard, although partly that was because we had to keep on moving. Class was really busy tonight, so there were lots of flailing bodies to avoid. Later on, when we'd finally managed to find a bit of space, I was able to pass to half guard, then switched to mount. I wasn't able to hold it very well, but did manage to keep Anne on her side when she turned to escape.

I'd been thinking about that choke Nick showed us a while ago, so had been maintaining a grip on Anne's collar, but had earlier been stuck in half-guard. As she shifted to her side and I got my leg free, I saw my chance and moved into position. I got a knee by her head and up by her back, but didn't think I had a tight enough hold on Anne's collar: I also hadn't secured the fabric by her hip. I did get the tap, but it felt sloppy on my part, so I need to make sure I have all the grips in place next time.

That was followed by the usual roll with Tran, where I spent my time under half-guard and side control. I was able to ward off Tran's attempts to bring his leg over and go for a choke (he does that fairly often, so I was watching for it), but had more trouble when he almost got me in some kind of neck cranky thing. I wasn't sure how to get out, but as I could feel that I had enough room to get my legs up, I wrapped those around his head and pushed him away, which was enough to release his hold. Again, sloppy: it worked, but I'm sure there must be a better way of escaping.

Finished off by briefly sparring a purple belt named Lex, who's carrying a shoulder injury. This time, I spent the whole roll under half-guard considering how to avoid the choke that it looked like Lex might be trying, as he had a grip behind my head and on the collar. He was going easy, as he's a fair bit bigger, but I still wasn't sure what exactly to do in order to avoid getting stuck. Didn't really have time to find out, as firstly we kept bumping into the radiator, and secondly we'd started part-way through the round, so the beeper went off before anything developed.

My toe was ok tonight, though its still sore when I walk. Will have to keep being careful, as I could see it getting messed up if anyone yanked on it (e.g., I've noticed people sometimes grab and pull on the foot when I'm in half-guard, if they can reach it). Should be fine though, judging by tonight.