RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 09/02/2010
The Future Champions charity I mentioned a little while back was featured in last week's episode of the Fightworks Podcast. It was great to hear Jamie talk about his work with kids, and I'm hopeful this will lead to much broader exposure in the BJJ community. Like I said before, any and all help would be of enormous benefit (contact Future Champions here). It also isn't restricted to the UK: while it is currently UK based, I'm sure in the future branches could (and hopefully will) be established in the US, Australia, Canada etc. So, please lend a hand if you can!Class continued with the mount, delving into the obvious question when it comes to that armbar: how do you break their grip if they've locked their arms? Kev's solution is to first make sure you have the arm nearest their head looped through the crook of their elbow, grabbing your own gi to lock it in. Basing behind you with your other hand, lean backwards to put some strain on their grip.
When you think it's loose enough, slam your other hand across into a figure four, creating momentum by also swinging your body towards their head. Once their arm is free, immediately bring your body back into alignment, then apply the armbar. If you stay leaned over by their head, you're giving them an opening to escape, as they can walk around towards their hand, turning to get free.
If their arms are too deeply hidden, the second option if to pull their other arm in tightly towards you. Staying tight, move around to the other side, and attack that arm instead. I'm guessing there must have been more to it, but I think I missed some details as I found this one a bit tougher to practice, due to my wrist.
Sparring again wasn't normal for me, as this time I did two rounds of flow rolling with Howard. Flow rolling is something I first encountered at a Nic Gregoriades class, though reading that entry again, I realise I didn't do it quite right. Nic's version doesn't have any grips, whereas I was grabbing at the gi with my right hand. Still, the important part was no submissions and keep moving, not staying in any one position for more than a few seconds.
That worked well for my situation, and also gave me a chance to work my open guard. In particular, I was thinking of jnp's excellent 'ball' strategy, where you keep your knees in towards your chest to make it difficult for your partner to pass. I also hand in mind what I've been reading in Kid Peligro's Essential Guard, one of the numerous books I got for Christmas (which is naturally on my to-be-reviewed list). He shows how you can bring your leg across their chest to help push them away and get back to guard, before they can fully pass.
I also had a go at working my way free from north-south, then rolling backwards to try for the back, or recover guard. Of course, it wasn't anywhere near as tight as in a normal roll, but I found it helpful to practice the motion. I was also attempting to roll over my shoulder into guard, as Marcio once showed me, but still haven't quite got the motion down.
Like last week, I won't be training on Thursday again due to seeing my girlfriend, who is popping up for a visit. Probably just as well, as that gives my wrist another week to fully recover.
No comments:
Post a Comment