24/06/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Leuven 2016 | Open Mat

Class #743
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Open Mat, Leuven, Belgium, 24/06/2016

Today was the main day I wanted to get in some sparring, having started yesterday. I was planning to do a 'belt ladder' of sparring, working my way through the belts up from white belt. That didn't quite work out properly, but I did at least manage to begin with white belts. They were two strong German women (Carmen and Gina), decent defence and good grips. I was trying to see if I could do any of the stuff from the classes, but the difficulty with that is I haven't done the progressive resistance part yet on those techniques, just no resistance and full resistance. I'm therefore looking to teach as many of those techniques back home at Artemis BJJ as possible, along with getting in plenty of drilling. That should hopefully get them solidified in my head, as well as sharing what I've learned with the people who weren't able to make it to Leuven this time. ;)

I also had a roll with a purple belt, Daphne. She's much smaller than me, but agile and tenacious, lots of movement. It was tough to hold her in place just after I got the pass, though I could hold it once I got to side control. However, as much as I was trying not to use strength, I had a big weight advantage, so that was surely the major factor. I couldn't get the knee cut pass defences I was looking for (I also didn't manage it with Carmen and Gina).

Daphne was also having a play with footlocks, which is interesting to try and defence. I'm attempting to get more used to those being a part of the roll, in terms of defence (as I have zero intention of using them to attack, I'm far too scared of hurting somebody by accident). My final roll was with Scott, who did a much better job than me of not using strength. He is a lot larger than me, but it was all technique. It was also cool rolling with him because we'd had a long chat the day before at a meal, along with his wife (who is cool too, and a purple belt).

If you can't get the underhook, Scott recommended locking your whizzer above the elbow when in top half guard, so not towards the shoulder, towards the wrist instead. Pinch your knees to their hip, then stiff arm into the side of their head. That stuffs their back take.