13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Sacrifice Throws

Class #660
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Gareth McNamara, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

I am not a fan of throws and even less a fan of drilling them. However, I was keen to train as much as possible in the one day I had: this was the only other gi class. Good for me anyway, as I should force myself to do takedowns more often. Gareth McNamara was a decent teacher, which made things less onerous. First up was a grip break into an arm drag. Use that to get behind them, still retaining control of the sleeve.

Grab their belt near their far hip, then do a sort of one-legged squat and stick your non-squatting leg behind them. You can then drop to the mat, rolling them over your leg. As you roll them over, yank on the belt grip and push on the sleeve grip, to prevent them turning away to try and escape. I kept getting my hand squashed underneath, a common problem from what I could gather. Then again, Conor didn't have any problems avoiding his hand getting trapped: perhaps I need to commit to it more, or create more momentum?

There is also an option for throwing off a clinch. Get an over-under grip (one arm underhooking, the other over the top of their arm). Push into them, then when they push back, drop and roll them over into side control. I don't think I was doing this technique correctly, as while I got Conor down and it felt smooth (thanks to that underhook), I ended in scarf hold. Still, got them on the ground in what seemed like a natural motion, so that's good. I think I was missing a trip or something?

The final one I remember (there were a lot of techniques, as McNamara teaches quickly) was a sumi gaeshi (I think?) from a single leg. They go for a single, you grab their belt by their lower back. Make sure their head on inside, then drop underneath them and flick your leg. They should ideally land next to you, vulnerable to an easy north-south transition. You can also stay close to them and roll backwards into mount, which is what Conor did.


I enjoyed the training at the camp, which runs for a lot longer than the one day I attended. There were classes almost all week. By Thursday, everybody else had already had a chance to meet, chat and get to know each other: it was lucky for me that I already knew Conor (among a few other people, but mostly black belts who were teaching, like Oli Geddes), or getting a partner for each session would have been a little more awkward.

Then again, I hadn't met Stacey before, who kindly partnered me in the first class. I'm not very good at grabbing training partners (one of the reasons I like pairing people up when I teach, saves any of that potential awkwardness for fellow timid introverts). I think to get the most out of the camp, I need to bring a team over and stay the whole week, so that's what I'm planning to do next year. There's still lots I'd like to see in Belgium, and I know my girlfriend is interested in places like Bruges.

I'll therefore make a longer trip of it in 2016, start off in Bruges with her, then go to Leuven for the camp, maybe with some more time in Brussels. It would be cool to visit Antwerp too, as IIRC there are some excellent art galleries there too, with Ghent and Oostende as alternative/additional options for the same reason. On this trip, Brussels was my next stop, for many, many hours of art galleries. I'll have the write up for that on here shortly. :)

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Knee Shield & Spider Half Guard

Class #659
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Bruno Matias, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

The next gi session was with another Brazilian black belt, Bruno Matias (presumably from Checkmat, going by his patches). He had called his session 'half spider guard', which sounded intriguing. He started off with something I could recognise, the knee shield back roll sweep. That's also known as the Shaolin sweep, I'm told.

I have trouble with it, as I always end up going off to the side, mainly because I'm worried about crunching either their neck or my neck. The other tricky part is getting their weight properly distributed on your legs, so that it isn't a strain to roll them over your head. One day it will feel smooth and easy, but not yet. ;)

For the next one, they have stepped up one of their legs. The hand on your lower leg side is going to reach in to the leg that is up, on your knee shield side. Bring your hand in front of the shin, then use that as an anchor point to help you swivel through. Grab their trouser leg as you swivel through. Continue swivelling until you pop out behind them, grabbing the other leg with your other hand.

Adjust your grips, in order to enable you to go into a back take. Also adjust your legs, so they are hooking inside. From here, you could try kicking out the back of their knees, like on the standard de la Riva back take I taught a while ago. However, I'd be worried about their ankles given they may be sat on them at this point, plus it feels like they have a strong base to resist that push from here. I preferred the other option Bruno showed, where you come up onto your knees and take the back that way.

The final technique was a complex armbar from spider guard, or rather, the half spider guard referenced in the class title. Start in knee shield, grab their sleeve on the same side as your knee shield. Push your foot into their hip to create some distance. Switch your grip on their sleeve to your other hand, then bring your non-knee shield side leg over the top of their trapped arm, threading your leg through underneath (maintain your grip on the arm).

Your free hand grips their same side trouser leg. Spin on your shoulders (keep your head off the ground), pulling firmly on the sleeve and trouser grips you established. That should set up your armbar, though you'll probably have to wriggle your hips forward. Your sleeve grips will give you some control, hopefully providing enough time to solidify the armbar position.


My last class of the day would be less intricate, but more painful, as it was the dreaded art of takedowns (well taught by a friendly Irishman, but I hate takedowns ;D ).

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Jumping & Rolling Back Attacks

Class #658
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Robson Barbosa, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

After I'd had some lunch upstairs, it was time for the next session. This was headed up by the guy who gave Graugart his black belt, Robson Barbosa. Sticking with the theme from earlier, it was more back stuff. Very handily, my old training partner Conor appeared as I was waiting for it to start, meaning I had someone to drill with in all of today's gi classes. Cool to catch up with him too, as it's been a few years since we last saw each other, at a GrappleThon two years ago.


Robson claimed it would be a simple technique to start with, then proceeded to acrobatically leap onto the back. Fortunately this back take from turtle did turn out to be a bit easier than it looked. Facing their turtle (i.e., so you're both looking at each other, not behind them), push their head down, while also gripping their same side arm. Step your arm-side leg through diagonally, spinning to face away. You end up sat on their back. If you pause for a moment to balance, it makes it easier to insert a hook, but that isn't necessary for the next technique

You're on the back. Grip the lapels firmly under their armpits, gripping quite high. Launch yourself diagonally, rolling next to their shoulder. The idea is to flip them over as you roll: I've tried this before, I think after seeing it on a video? Either way, works OK, although you have to be careful you don't crunch your neck or your partner's neck. Aiming your head at the space next to their shoulder seemed to work for me.

The third and as it turned out final technique was completely different, though it linked up well with what Oli had taught. This time you're in de la Riva. Grab inside their knees, pushing their knees close together and squeezing your own knees. Roll over your inside shoulder, as with Oli's rolling back takes, pulling the hip round.

Barbosa's teaching style involved a few quick demonstrations then loads of drilling time. That worked well for me, as Conor is an excellent drilling partner. Like me, he's very keen to explore the detail of a technique. We found that for the DLR back take, it was key to firmly trap their non-DLR leg while you were rolling through, also making sure you weren't starting too low.

I think Chris Paines (who was there with lots of people from Fighting Fit) said he would be YouTubing some of the technique, so that should help refresh my memory. Cool to see him again too. Next class, some even more complicated guard options with Bruno Matias.

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Rolling Back Attacks

Class #657
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Oli Geddes, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

I went straight from the plane to the train, then walked from Leuven Train Station to the Sportoase. There was already a class going on when I entered, but as it was wrestling I wasn't too concerned about missing it. I had plenty of time to get checked in with Vara at the BJJ Globetrotter desk, then get changed.

The class I wanted was Oli Geddes' session on rolling back attacks. This was perhaps a bit fancy by my standards and it was nogi: I almost never take the gi off for BJJ. Nevertheless, there were some useful techniques from quarter guard and half guard, handy given that it is currently half guard month back home at Artemis BJJ.


Oli kicked off with a rolling back take against turtle. Turn to face their legs, with your knee nearest their head looking to jam inside the space between their knee and elbow. Your other knee is blocking their leg, to make it harder for them to reclaim guard. With the arm nearest their head, reach over and grab their ankle (at least that's what my training partner Stacey and I ended up doing).

Your other hand grabs inside their leg, gripping the ankle. Lift that ankle up and outwards, to make it easier to get your waiting leg inside (slipping it under first), hooking around their leg. Thrust your hips into them, then diving over to the far side, roll over the shoulder nearest their head (I think? I need to check that with more drilling). Get past their hip, swinging through to grab their arm and take their back.

If you get part way through the back take, but can't reach their arm or hip to complete the motion, wrap up their near leg with your arms instead. Your legs will still be clamping around their other leg. Pull on their leg with your arms, extending into their other leg for the submission. You can put one foot behind the other for extra leverage. Note that this submission is entirely down to their flexibility, so it has some limitations.

If you are going for the back, but can't get hold of anything, you can still triangle your legs around the leg you do have. Pull down on their toes for the calf crush. Wrapping their leg with your arm can add in extra pressure.

We then moved to a rolling back take from quarter guard, a common position as you're passing half guard or they are trying to escape mount. Turn away from the foot they've trapped, adjusting your knee position so it doesn't catch on their leg. Roll inside (I think inside? Again, I need to check that during drilling), then you're back into the same position as before. Similarly from half guard, you can do this after moving into the opposite side pass.

In that opposite side pass position, adjust your feet so their leg is still controlled, then turn with your shoulder to begin another back take. I'm not totally clear on how best to adjust your feet: I think you hook your instep over their leg to trap it? I've seen this technique before, but the same thing confused me, along with the turn. Oli's instruction definitely helped, I just need to drill this more. Generally rolling back attacks are a bit fancy for me, but it's useful to have some options against quarter guard.

You can do the same back take from deep half, where this time you'll need to push on their head to step your leg through. However, I'm not sure I entirely got the rest of the technique. Once again, needs more drilling, I'll grab some people at Artemis BJJ when I get home. Judging by the picture Vara put on Facebook (there are loads on the BJJ Globetrotter group, so I asked if I could use them in my posts), it's the shoulder on the same side as the trapped leg, diving over to the opposite side.

Next up, more back attacks with Robson Barbosa.

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters