Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 24/09/2014
Having covered a few options from the bottom of guard (so far, the triangle and the elevator sweep: there will be more fun with guard later), tonight we added in something for the person on top. Start by shoving their sleeve/wrist into their belt knot/belly button. With your other hand, push into their sternum, but be careful you aren't tempted to lean forward as a result. Keep your posture upright. Raise your knee on the same side as your sleeve/wrist gripping arm, stepping forward with that foot. Basing off your hands (again, don't lean forwards), stand up into a crouch, then stand right up, thrusting your hips forward. Pull up on their sleeve/wrist (if you've lost it, grab their collar, if they are wearing a gi). You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side, stepping back with your leg on the non-sleeve/wrist gripping side to help.
If you're having trouble getting that knee off, try bouncing your hips to open their ankles, like you were struggling to take off a tight pair of jeans. At the same time, splay your hand by the knee you want to shove (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, trap their lower leg with your same side shin by sliding it over, driving your knee into their same side hip. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift the foot of your non-sliding leg closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.
The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap under their head, looking to get your shoulder next to their jaw. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar/wrist) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I normally use. This also puts you in a powerful guard position, should you need to switch mid-pass if they resist your initial passing attempt.
To finish, swing your non-sliding leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your non-sliding leg foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back step leg, settling into side control.
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Teaching Notes: A little more complex in terms of technique tonight, but everybody picked it up really well. I went with both the standing break from guard into a leg pin pass, along with a kneeling guard break into a knee cut, to give people who had back issues an alternative. I'm a firm believer that BJJ is for everyone, it's just a matter of adapting BJJ to your body type into a game that works for you. :)
I could perhaps add in some more drills to make that easier. I put in the 'standing in guard' drill, which hopefully helped. I could potentially start adding the knee cut drill as well, like I do in the mixed classes, but will see if that confuses people in future classes (especially if they weren't in this one). Tonight also meant I could introduce side control: next week, I'm planning to do some escapes, shrimping back to guard. That will also mean I can start adding in side control drills in the warm-up too. Yay!
Also, it was really cool to have a purple belt visit today, who was in town for work. I've followed Rachael's blog for a few years: there are few things I enjoy than meeting up with fellow BJJ bloggers. Even better, both she and another experienced grappler stayed on after the women's class to also check out the mixed class. Brilliant! :D
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