18/07/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Bournemouth 2016 | Foetal Side Control Escapes (Chiu Kwong Man)

Class #754
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Phoenix MMA), Chiu Kwong Man, Bournemouth, UK, 18/07/2016

I used to really enjoy Chiu's classes back when I trained at GB Brum in 2010, so it was cool to get to train under him again. Especially as today, he picked side control escapes from a position similar to the running escape: perfect. :)

Chiu called his class 'foetal side control escapes', which makes sense after you see the position he's talking about. First, he talked about getting two-on-one control on their far arm. From a no-gi perspective, you can grab their far arm with both your hands, without worrying too much about their arm near your head (in gi, it's a lot more dangerous, but he got onto that later).

After having us drill that with some light resistance, Chiu added in the legs. You've created space with your two on one grip, meaning you can bring in your knees (like the 'shin-in-elbow' trick Ed Beneville wrote about it his book, Strategic Guard). If they raise up, that gives you the space to spin back to guard: for drilling this particular technique, your partner needs to be helpful and stay low, stopping you turning in towards them. If you can't get the arm (e.g., they are trying to moving to north south), you can push on the head to stop them going where they want.

If you can get your knee in, lift that leg to make some space (pushing into their arm with your shin), until you can insert the other leg. If you can get your feet into the crook of their elbow, even better. At that point, it is difficult for them to prevent you making enough room to recover some kind of guard.

In a detail reminiscent of the running escape, you may want to make more space by shrimping your hips into them. You also want to make sure you are monitoring their leg with your inside arm (like your arm is stuck inside their knee), as otherwise they will probably try and get to knee on belly to then rip their arm free. Turning yourself towards them at that point is another good option, spinning into guard once they've given you that space.

A granby roll can work from there too, in the same way as it does from the running escape. However, also like the running escape, sometimes it is tough to get that rolling motion, which can also put pressure on your neck. Digging your feet into the floor and then shrimping towards them is therefore preferable in that situation.

The foetal defence feels like a guard from under side control. It has attacks too, such as switching into a reverse triangle. I was finding it felt natural to push on the back of their arm and spin out. For others, the triangle might feel like a smooth transition. You have the two on one grip, a foot into the crook of their elbow. Kick up with the foot in the elbow, the other leg going behind their arm. Your kicking foot shoots around the side of their neck, locking it with the other leg over your shin. Pull on their elbow and squeeze to finish.

Finally, there is the important question of how to avoid getting choked when trying this in the gi. If you're lazy, they can potentially sneak a hand under your head and secure a bow and arrow grip, or potentially loop their arm over for a breadcutter style choke. To prevent that, keep pressuring their arm by pulling your head back, following that arm if they try to bring it over the top of your head.

If possible, hide your collar under your armpit, which prevents them gripping it for a choke. Do not curl when you're in the gi, that gives them enough room for the choke. In terms of gripping, Chiu recommends grabbing the wrist, lifting the leg to get their elbow up. If you grip the gi and don't lift your leg, they may be able to rotate your arm down to put pressure on your grip.

10/09/2010 - BJJ (Basics)

Class #340
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK – 10/09/2010

Moving onto the gi class, Chiu added some more details to the toreador pass he’d been drilling as a warm-up for no-gi. With the addition of trousers to grip, Chiu advised to grip midway on the inside of the lower leg. Keeping a low stance, lean into that grip to squish their knees up by their chest.

Step diagonally across with your leg: this is the knee you’ll be putting into their stomach. The other foot goes out wide for base, and also so that they can’t hook your leg. You’ll also be pushing into their far leg with your grip, while pulling the near leg behind you. That will make it tough for them to try and bring their knees in to block your pass.

Should they try to hook your leg before you pass, shove that leg away from you, while swinging your other leg back. By pushing their leg, you’ve created a space: bring the leg you swung back to fill it, moving straight into knee on belly. Depending on the size of your partner, you’ll either knock them slightly out of the way, or potentially swivel them perpendicular.

The main technique was again butterfly guard, going through similar sweeps to no-gi. However, as with that pass, the gi provides helpful grips. Now rather than just hooking their lat, you can grab a handful of gi. Ideally, you want to shove their lapel with your free hand, feeding it around their back to your other hand. This makes for a really tight grip.

As before, drive your shoulder into their near armpit as you also pull your arm in, chest close to the mat, putting them in an awkward position. Should they try for a whizzer, you simply raise your elbow. For the sweep this time, Chiu went through a technique similar to what I saw Kev demonstrate at RGA Wycombe a while back. Twisting as you drop back, lift them with your hook: your leg will be in a position that can only be describing as a dog urinating.

From there, you can bring your other leg through, then push off that foot. This will give you extra power to drive them to their back. If you want to go to mount, keep driving and follow through with your knee. If you prefer to go to side control, you do more of a flick with your hooking leg, then slide into scarf or side.

Worth noting here that you can do various things with your legs and feet. For example, you could push on their knee to collapse it to help your bring them over. That may be of a particular use if they’re using it to base and resist your sweep. IIRC, you can also try bringing the knee high, if you’re finding that you’re getting stuck on their legs as you move to the top (though I might be remembering that wrong: I didn’t have my notebook at the side, so may have missed some details over the course of the two lessons).

No sparring again, though it looked as if Chiu had a sort of specific spar to finish off, but it was already past eight, and I had a train connection to make later. So I rushed off for the train, got there with a minute to spare...but of course that just meant when I arrived, the train was cancelled anyway. Sod’s law. I guess that running at least helps a bit with fitness, but always annoying when you miss out on something for no good reason. Bleh.

Anyway, should be back for another double on Monday next week, then probably my last lesson at GB Brum the week after. I’m intending to move out at the end of the month, so training at GB Brum will most likely be the last thing I do before heading off.

10/09/2010 - BJJ (No Gi)

Class #339
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK – 10/09/2010

Dolph has put up an interview with a Muslim teammate of his, about his thoughts on training while fasting for Ramadan. Check it out here: I’m guessing that’s probably a first – I certainly can’t remember seeing anyone else ever cover that topic, and it makes for an interesting read.

The DIY course was useful, although I was a bit tired by the time I got there. Some friends kindly let my gf and I stay round, although they happened to be out at a party on Friday, so we only got back to the house around 2am (as I knew I’d have to get across London for 8am the next day, I wasn’t drinking, so randomly spent a good chunk of the night reading a great history of the Impressionists. Not exactly party animal behaviour, but hey).

Those same friends happen to be awesome cooks. If you’re into your food, then be sure to check out their blog, The Keston Kitchen. Loads of unusual recipes beautifully executed, and I can personally vouch for the results! Meal time is always a highlight when staying with the women of Keston. ;)

There were some interesting warm-up drills tonight, one of which took a bit of getting used to. The idea is that you’re on your back, keeping your legs off the floor. Twist your knees in the direction you want to move, then rock forwards and twist your upper body the other way. Keep repeating that to gradually bounce your hips down the mat. I just about got the motion, but it took me ages to get all the way down the mat.

I can’t remember where I first read it, or perhaps someone told me, but allegedly butterfly guard is good for small guys with short legs, like me. I’ve wanted to improve it for some time, which is also why I’ve been trying to pull butterfly guard whenever possible (not to mention it’s way better than my previous ‘flop back and wait’ tactic).

So, I was pleased that tonight focused on improving butterfly, with numerous top tips for maintaining butterfly guard and keeping your partner off-balance. Establish hooks under their legs, sitting up. You don’t want to be straight on, but instead move around slightly to the side. Hook your near arm around their back, reaching around to grip: this was a nogi class, so you can either go for their far lat, or under their far armpit. Keep your head on your gripping arm side, pressing into their head.

The essential detail Chiu emphasised here is to drive your shoulder into their near armpit, while also pulling inwards with your arm. It should now be very difficult for them to flatten you out on your back. To make it even harder, bring your chest close to the floor with your other elbow as base, in a sort of ‘spiderman’ pose. That means there is a line going from one arm across your back to the other.

You also need to maintain tension with your hooking feet, as otherwise they can try to just bring their legs around and pass. Even if it feels like they’re moving you to your back, you may well be able to shift your hips and switch your other arm around their back: don’t give up because it feels like you’re about to be flattened out.

If they do manage to flatten you out, you can still go for a sweep. As soon as you start being moved flat, bring both arms around their back, clasping your hands, and bring them up high. You’re aiming to trap their arms: don’t allow them to bring their elbows back down by your hips.

Once you’ve got their arms up high and out of commission, you can work on their legs. Stretch them out, kicking one leg flat, then use your other hook to lift. You’re also going to use your grip on their upper body, twisting your arms to help drive them to the side. You don’t necessarily need both of their arms: you could also lock both of your arms around one of theirs, with an elbow into their throat, a handy leverage point for the sweep.

There wasn’t any sparring, but we did do some progressive resistance on maintaining butterfly guard. The person on top tried to flatten out their partner, while the person underneath just looked to hold their position, adjusting their hips, keeping their hooks in and securing that grip over the back.

27/08/2010 - BJJ (Basics)

Class #336
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK – 27/08/2010

Christian Graugart, the Danish brown belt who writes ShogunHQ, is planning an awesome training trip for Spring 2011: check out the preparations at BJJ Globetrotter. Should make for some excellent reading once he gets underway. For a travel-heavy blog that is both excellent and well underway, check out top BJJer Hillary Williams’ site. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but this is easily one of my favourite blogs: well-written, lots of relevant pics and an interesting angle (female world champ teaching seminars in Brazil, with plenty of anecdotes about the culture).

I plumped for the Friday class rather than Saturday, as I wanted to try and get a good chunk of work done tomorrow morning, hopefully on the way down to Bucks (nobody is home, so I’ll be catching buses and the like, so that will take around three hours total or so). Rather than sweeps, tonight it was working from the top.

Chiu showed a lot of technique tonight, so I’m not sure how much I’ve managed to remember (especially as I was the uke). Keeping that in mind, the first drill focused on getting good posture from the top. Basically, you don’t want them to move off to the side, where they could go for a sweep, try and take your back etc.

So, first thing you do when they establish their hook and put their other foot on your leg, ready to push, is pull up on the pushing foot’s heel (or gi trouser). Turn that same side hip towards them, stepping around, and turn out your other leg. Your base will be fairly wide, hips forward. At worst, this will put you square on, and at best, it could knock their hook free.

If you don’t manage that, as they’ve already sat up, wrapped an arm behind your knee, pushing on your other leg ready to sweep, you can use the next technique, a De La Riva pass. On the side they’ve hooked, grab the back of their gi collar. They’re probably going to be holding your other sleeve, so grab their sleeve in return.

Now do a big step back and around with your free leg, so you move around to their hooking side. You want to collapse your weight on them, keeping one leg back for base. Don’t go too far forward or they’ll roll you. Your free hand will thread through their legs and grab their bottom knee: it doesn’t matter if they maintain a grip on your sleeve. This will stop them turning towards you.

After that, things got more complicated, as Chiu moved into at least four different passes, based around their likely reaction, which is to lock their legs tight into half guard. IIRC, the basic pass was to get your far elbow up into their armpit, moving your hips back as far as you can. This means you’ll be putting a lot of weight on their head and upper body, blocking their view and also limiting their mobility.

That means you can concentrate on freeing your leg. Having squashed them with your upper body, you grab their knee with your free arm. Yank it towards you while pushing on their leg with your free foot. That should create some space to get your leg out, then move into side control. Exactly where you push will vary depending on how they’ve locked: possibly their top leg, their bottom leg, their knee etc. Chiu suggested experimenting.

There were several other options, like ‘skiing’ them to one side by pushing their arms to the floor, from where you could try and take the back. Alternatively, if they present the opportunity, you can step through and around to the other side. Chiu also grabbed at feet, and demonstrated how even if you aren’t allowed to kneebar, the same position can help you to pass. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite catch all the details, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to see some of those again in the coming weeks.

In specific sparring, I tried to put that into practice, with a modicum of success, though not especially smooth. I was pleased with a backstepping pass I got early on, but that was more of a lucky reflex action than a flowing technique. I found myself trying to push the leg down and circle around a few times which rarely works. Definitely need to keep on working what Chiu just showed us, though of course my sparring partner was prepared for what we’d been learning earlier.

It was good to practice half guard passing, as I’ve been slacking on that recently, probably because I’ve had quite a few smaller sparring partners. Chiu’s technique was useful, particularly his focus on getting your balance, through things like threading a hand through their legs, or putting an arm under their head and walking your hand through.

Underneath, I was looking to work the various sweeps we’ve been shown, but didn’t get too far. Generally, my arms were quickly grabbed and pushed away, making it difficult to get the grips I wanted. I played around with spinning underneath, which sort of worked at one point, as I kicked up and tried to go the other way. I say ‘sort of’, because I ended up in their guard. So, on top, but not quite the idea.

My sweeps largely failed due to my inability to get good grips with my hands. I need to work on breaking their grip, then quickly establishing my own and getting the sweeping motion going, rather than giving them a chance to settle their base. Connecting techniques would help with that, and I at least now have about four or five I can try. Judging by the last few weeks, I should also get plenty of time to drill them: hopefully we’ll do some drilling through various combinations.

24/07/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #326
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK – 24/07/2010

After about a month, I finally made it to another advanced class, as this weekend my gf isn’t around. She’s teaching a course next weekend, so I should be able to make a Saturday or Friday class, and I’ve got some time in lieu I can use to make classes in the two weeks after that. So, this should hopefully mark at least a month of normal training (which for me is twice a week). Should also give me time to polish off some reviews I’m doing for a periodical (nothing to do with BJJ, though: poetry).

That black eye didn’t happen either, which is good: instead, I’ve just got an angry red mark underneath the eye, which is presumably burst blood vessels or something. It looks unpleasant, but hasn’t caused me any pain up until now, so I’d hope that will just gradually fade. Having said that, the last time I had something similar, it took months and months to go away. Bleh.

Chiu kicked off with some work on breaking grips from standing. Interestingly, Dan from Warwick Judo (who I’ve met a few times now at various grapples at Warwick Uni) was there, and even more interestingly, Chiu drew on Dan’s judo experience to offer some more grip-breaking options. When I said hi to him later on, Dan mentioned he’s been practicing for his 1st Dan, which is cool: clearly he’s been working hard on his judo since I last saw him.

Chiu’s class followed up nicely on what Nathan taught earlier in the week, as after the stand-up, he went straight into attacks from scarf hold. There was a little more detail about getting to scarf hold, as usual from when they shove up into your neck. Chiu emphasised that you want to tuck your chin and use your shoulder, to strengthen the position of your neck. When they push up on your neck, take that opportunity to pull up on their near arm and switch your hips. From here, you can settle into a solid scarf hold, keeping your head low and a tight grasp on their arm.

Alternatively, you don’t have to settle into the classic scarf hold/kesa gatame, with one knee up and the other leg stretched out past their head. Instead, Chiu showed how after pulling up their arm, you switch your hips, but then immediately switch them again, bringing your knee right to their head. Your other leg goes straight back for balance, and it is essential that you clamp your arm in tight to trap their arm. An armbar from scarf hold is now within your grasp.

To further isolate their arm, you want to turn your knee towards their legs. Wrap your arm around your knee, still with the elbow in. The idea is that you don’t leave any space for them to pull their elbow free. This is going to depend on your opponent’s body type, as Chiu noted. With a big, powerful guy like Beton, who has thick, muscular arms, it is in a sense going to be easier to trap them, due their sheer girth (though naturally a strong person can generate more pulling force to free the arm).

A small, weedy person like me has scrawny arms, which means I find it easier to wriggle my arm free, due to the additional space. To prevent that arm slipping free, you simply drive your knee further forward and in, leaving no wiggle-room. Push on their head and step over (or as in Nathan’s version, push their face towards you), foot by their neck.

From here, if you’ve got their arm straightened out and their elbow in the right spot on your hip, you can bring your elbow back and thrust your hips forward for the tap. If it isn’t quite in the right spot, an alternative is to bring your head to the mat and knee down, then again thrust your hips forward and lengthen your body.

If that still isn’t working, other options remain available. There is Nathan’s pressing armbar from Tuesday, or you can drop back alongside them for an armbar. The key here is to stop them getting up by wrapping your arm around a leg. They may be able to raise their torso, and it feels as if they’re going to escape, but your weight and grip on the leg means they’re stuck. Lean back for the submission.

There was quite a bit of sparring today. I started off with my drilling partner Christian, who tends to be quite energetic. When we roll, I often find myself struggling to catch up as he quickly moves through to side control. This time, however, I was able to keep him in closed guard for a while, looking to get that orthodox collar and elbow grip. I wasn’t able to do a whole lot with it, especially as Christian had little trouble circling his head free.

I also tried to get the overhook, but I wasn’t in a proper closed guard at the time: he soon wriggled free. I was pleased to later get the handstand sweep, but rather less pleased that I completely failed to follow up by driving my hips forward into mount. Instead, I managed to hopelessly lose a dominant position, ending up under side control.

For a while now, I’ve been attempting to straight arm into their armpit when they have both arms over, and finally it seemed to work, though I think I was a bit sloppy. That meant I could eventually reverse through into side control and mount (after narrowly avoiding getting pulled back into half guard). I had his arm over, but messed up the arm triangle attempt, as I didn’t have the arm at all in the right position by his neck. I should have squirmed around with my shoulder to adjust.

I had a couple of rolls with a friendly white belt called John, who has been training for about three months. He’s a fairly beefy guy, but showed good control. Of course, that also meant that there were points were he could have smashed his way into a dominant position, particularly when he had his arms wrapped around my legs, so probably could have stacked and passed.

I played around with triangle attempts, trying to use my legs against his arms as much as possible, but on the few occasions I got into position, I couldn’t stop John wedging his other arm in and shrugging free of my legs. I attempted a quick switch to an armbar, but didn’t have the arm sufficiently isolated or controlled, so ended up back in guard. I did at least remember to try and get some head control, but failed to shoulder-walk back properly, or keep his posture broken and head sufficiently trapped.

Still, I was happy to get a scissor sweep, as it’s been a while: John came up on one knee while I had a grip on the collar and arm, setting up the technique. Nevertheless, as with Christian, I’m not doing enough with that grip after securing it. With both of them, I was half-heartedly flailing at chokes, but nowhere near the correct position. I guess it can function as a distraction, but I need to sharpen those choke attacks so they’re a genuine threat.

Dan rolled with me too, who is an even bigger guy than Jon, but again was nice enough not to simply crush me. We generally moved between guard and half guard. At one point I thought I was about to get squished in scarf hold (exactly where you don’t want to be with a judoka), but Dan was keeping things relatively light and flowing.

Chiu was my last sparring partner: naturally there isn’t much I can do against someone of that high a skill level, so I just tried to keep my knees close to my chest, as per jnp’s ‘ ball technique’ I mentioned in my last entry. I presume Chiu was looking to see what I did in open guard, which unfortunately for me wasn’t much. I flapped at his gi to get some kind of grip, but couldn’t maintain a hold of his legs. So, I soon found myself getting surfed by knee-on-belly, side control, mount, half guard etc. Good way to get plenty of practice on my defence, attempting to stay tight and spin out of danger (though I think Chiu was taking it fairly easy, and intentionally left some space).

When he dropped into combat base, I found I didn’t really know what to do. Normally I try to scoot forward into butterfly from the knees, but that didn’t lead anywhere in this situation. Roger’s sweep popped into my head, where you lock around combat base and lean to one side, but for that you need closed guard first (IIRC). So instead I spent the concluding part of the roll floating over Chiu as he put me wherever he wanted with his hooks (normally under side control or mount), before time ran out.

I should be in again on Tuesday, then probably Saturday again. I could do Friday, but Saturday gives me an extra half an hour, as it’s advanced rather than basics.

28/05/2010 - BJJ (Basic)

Class #314
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK - 28/05/2010

The gi class followed directly after, and somewhat bizarrely, I found myself being asked to take the warm-up. I was the only blue belt there, so I guess it goes by seniority, though unfortunately in my case, the colour doesn't really indicate anything other than time, as I'm pretty mediocre for a blue.

That mediocrity apparently extends to my warm-ups, as when it came to the backwards breakfall, I wasn't doing it right. Instead of dropping back and rolling over the shoulder, Chiu came back at that point to emphasise that you need to properly break the fall first. It shouldn't be a continuous roll: drop back and slap the mat with both hands, legs in the air, but not rolling all the way over.

I was also not much of an uke for Chiu, as he had to switch me for somebody else a few times during technique demonstration (that might have been because I was too short, but most likely because of my poorly executed open guard). Much easier when I can just stand, watch and take mental notes! ;)

Class tonight focused on something else I've been watching on Braulio videos, spider guard. However, it was passing the spider guard rather than using it, although the bottom person did have a chance to practice a bit in the course of drilling. Chiu built things up gradually, starting by them simply putting their knees up and feet in the air, holding your sleeve. You hold their knees and step back, putting their feet flat on the floor.

Next they were allowed to put their feet in your biceps while holding your sleeves, which makes things a little more difficult. This time, you pistol grip low on their trousers. Steadily step back with a good, low posture, until you can get you arms straighter, so they aren't creating a right angle by pushing into your bicep.

You can then twist inwards with those grips and press down, which should slide their feet off your arms. It is difficult for them to maintain much of a hold with their feet from their, as long as you step back: don't just try and twist inwards before stepping back, or it won't do any good. Similarly, this won't help you if they still have your arm bent.

Finally, the worst case scenario: they have managed to pull on one arm, pressing into the other arm with their foot to stretch you out. That straightens your arm, so that they can then yank your sleeve across their thigh, circling their leg around and threading it through your arm. This is exactly the position I've been looking to get from Braulio's video, so it was useful to have a chance to practice the right grip, when it was my turn to be on the bottom.

Ideally, you want to pre-empt them before they can secure that hold. Circle your hand around behind their leg, then make a knife hand pointing in the direction of their head. You could grip closer by their bum, but that is more at risk of being pulled back into their grasp, enabling them to re-establish the position they want.

If you get caught in that grip, similar principles from earlier still apply. Crouching low with good posture, move backwards. In what Chiu described as a coiling spring, that should give you the leverage to then immediately follow the step back by bringing your arm back too, then circling around as before.

Another option is to sneak your grips around to their calves, so you're underneath their legs. They probably won't let you do this, or at least not on both legs, so some stealth may be required. You can try straightening your arm as you circling round, to help you get the leverage, and again stepping back helps. You can also bring your knee to bear, pressing behind their leg to give you the space for the grip. Be careful though, as they may catch on and stop you.

Once you've got both grips in place, you can push your arms out, driving forwards so that their feet move towards their head. Drop down to their bum and stay tight, so they don't have any space to move back into guard. From here, you should be able to press forward and pass, or at least get them into turtle from where you can begin to attack.

Again, no sparring, though lots of people stay on afterwards for the open mat. Unfortunately, you need to be on a more expensive subscription programme to take part: I'm only on the standard £60 a month, rather than the £75 premium or £90 black belt options. Still, that's by choice, as I want to avoid the temptation to train more than twice a week, as my writing commitments would definitely suffer especially now I've also got a full-time job. ;)

My fingers will be sore tomorrow too, especially having been the uke for most of the class. As Chiu mentioned, he doesn't use spider guard much these days because it is so hard on the fingers, along with the knees. Something to keep in mind, especially as I am keen to keep training well into my old age, so want to avoid anything which ups the risk of chronic injuries.

28/05/2010 - BJJ (No Gi Basic)

Class #313
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK - 28/05/2010

I wasn't able to train last Wednesday because my train inexplicably didn't show up. So far, I've been heading to Solihull on the 17:58, then catching the 18:30 to Acocks Green. Normally what happens is that the 17:58 is delayed by a few minutes, which carries over to the Acocks Green train, so I'm guaranteed to catch it. However, last week, that didn't happen: I arrived at 18:33, and the train had already gone. Very annoying, as it meant I'd just wasted that return ticket and a good chunk of the evening.

Still, the Roy Dean seminar was at the weekend, so much less annoying than it could have been. To stop it happening again, I managed to shift my hours at work a few minutes earlier, which should hopefully mean I can make the earlier train, presuming I can make the bus ok.

There has also been yet another good post by top blogger Cane Prevost recently, where he proposes switching the terms 'basic' and 'advanced' technique to 'high percentage' and 'low percentage'. Sounds like a sensible suggestion, semantically speaking.

Tonight's class was no gi, not something I do very much, but it makes for an interesting change. I also got to meet someone I chatted to on the internet (Planet Jitsu, IIRC, though that might have been someone else) a while back, when he was looking for a place to train in Birmingham. So, cool to see that not only did he find his way to GB Brum, but he remembered me too. Similar thing happened with a guy in the changing rooms after class, who recognised me from the blog. :)

As so often seems to be the case with no gi classes, things started off by working on entries to takedowns. Chiu went through a few options for the arm drag, slightly reminiscent of how Roy Dean shows it on No Gi Essentials. Your partner puts their hand on their shoulder. Circle your hand around, cutting up into their arm, while your other hand reaches to grab behind their tricep. You'll then slide your first hand towards their wrist, pulling their arm down and across your body. Make sure that you drive forward and suck up any space by staying tight to them. If you don't, they'll be able to simply turn towards you and negate everything you just did.

Chiu then moved on to a more reactive technique, which more of an arm push than an arm drag. They have grabbing behind your head, looking to snap it down in order to break your posture. You inside hand presses on the shoulder of their gripping arm. Your other hand grips behind that arm's tricep, a little above the elbow.

Squat down, then bend forwards slightly and make a small dip with your the head. Simultaneously, push on that tricep, locking out your arm. This makes it difficult for them to turn back towards you, by which time you'll be aiming to move to their back. It is essential that you have the right grip on that tricep (so hopefully I've remembered it correctly!).

You are holding their tricep with your fingers on the outside, thumb inside. Your fist is vertical, with the thumb on top and little finger on the bottom. If you have your hand the other way round, they can easily dislodge their arm and turn to face you.

Shifting to the ground, Chiu reviewed a technique he apparently taught last week (I wasn't there), on escaping side control. The situation is that they have managed to get a tight control, with your arm around the other side of their head, and they've also cleared your near elbow. This is very dangerous if you're on the bottom, as your arm by their head is very vulnerable to attack.

So, to get that arm into a safer position, your near arm is going to punch through, so that you whack into their armpit with the inside of your arm. Use that space to bring your far arm under their head and into their neck. You'll also make a small bridge and shrimp towards them.

Once your arm is under their neck, try to get your hand into the side of their neck, then straighten your arm. If possible, you can also brace it with your other hand for extra support. Combined with your bridge and shrimp, that should give you enough space to bring your knee through and start to recover guard.

The last technique was an armbar from under side control. This looks like the same attack Braulio shows on one of his videos, so it was very handy to see it in person, in the same place if was filmed. Once you've made space under side control, bring the knee closest to their legs high, so that it slides past their armpit. It is important that you hook your foot around their tricep: this will form a barrier so they can't simply pull the arm free.

Your other leg goes over their head, making sure that you aren't leaving any space. The crook of your knee should be by their head, so that you can clamp your leg down. Essentially, your legs are pressing together as if you were trying to triangle them, but there is a person in the way. Aim to get your heel towards your foot.

Squeeze your knees together, and if you need some extra distraction, press the back of their other arm. You could potentially get a pressing armbar submission, but it is more likely that this will set you up for the normal armbar on the other arm.

There was no sparring, interestingly, but then this was a basics class, which is only an hour long. It is a shame I won't be able to attend next Friday (I'll be heading down to Bristol as usual), because Chiu said he was going to cover escaping side control when they switch their base. I've definitely had some trouble with that, so it would have been useful. Still, he did briefly show the basic idea, getting your elbows in, using that to create space for your shrimp and guard recovery. Then it was straight into the gi class.

08/05/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #309
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK - 08/05/2010

I don't normally have a weekend free, but it was handy I did today, as I wasn't able to go to training on Monday. My normal pattern is shaping up to be Monday and Wednesday advanced gi from 19:00-20:30, or failing that, either a beginner class from 19:30-20:30 on Tuesday or the advanced gi class on Saturday from 13:30-15:00.

Class was taught by Braulio's first black belt, Chiu Kwong Man. He's been present at a few of the other classes I've attended, but this is the first time I've had a chance to see how he runs a class. Like Rob, Chiu moves into stand-up after the warm-up, starting with some light resistance grip fighting. After that, we were supposed to practice an entry into a takedown for several minutes.

As I doubt very much I would ever be able to take anyone down, I thought I'd try something with applications on the ground too, an arm drag. I never remember to try these, so it was useful to have a play with it. I was initially just holding the sleeve, pulling it towards me, then grabbing and yanking past their armpit on the tricep, based on what I remembered from Roy Dean's best release to date, No Gi Essentials. Roy suggests that drilling the armdrag from standing is a good way to learn principles which also apply to the ground, hence why I wanted to try it.

As I'm not confident with the technique, I asked Chiu for some arm drag advice. He suggested that from standing, it was possible to do the arm drag like I had been, but unlikely my opponent would give me that grip. It would be more typical that they establish a grip on my lapel, up near my neck. In that situation, the arm drag makes more sense on the other arm: if they maintain their grip and you get to their back, that just makes it easier to choke them.

Groundwork began with a transition from side control to mount. You secure a tight side control, with your arm under their head, reaching to grip their far shoulder. Your other arm will be over to that far side, going under their arm. Clear their elbow on the near side, then pull them in tight towards your knee, by dragging on their far shoulder. This should force their head to face away from you, and because you also have their elbow, it will be tough for them to turn.

That hand you have under their far arm is now going to walk up past their head. You want to get their arm up high, until you can use your head to press that arm into their face. This should provide sufficient distraction for you to slide your knee through to get into mount. You can also press on their hip with the sole of your foot to stretch them out, securing a better position against their arm with your head.

I got a little confused during the arm triangle from side control which followed, but from what I understood, from that previous position you bring the hand that walked up under their head. Your head wriggles against their arm as you bring your shoulder down (in the direction of their legs), still staying tight. The reason for this is that their arm is currently too high to be part of a choke: you need to get it lower, by their neck.

Once you've got it against their neck, you can slide off mount to the other side. This is where I had problems, as what you're supposed to do is keep that hand under their head, palm on the floor. The choke comes from wriggling down and getting the shoulder back, then creating pressure as you sprawl next to them. I found that difficult, so definitely need more practice.

Alternatively, you can go for a standard arm triangle position, using the hand under their head to grab your other bicep. You can then get into a rear naked choke position, pressing the bicep arm on their head to create the necessary pressure. I've also been taught in the past that you can grab your own head with the bicep arm, but Chiu recommended the RNC choke style grip.

Sparring started with Pete, my training partner for today: he's one of several blue belts I'm getting to know over the course of the last few weeks. I was keen to practice spider guard, having seen an interesting instructional by Braulio, but unfortunately I couldn't get into the position I wanted after pulling butterfly guard. Instead, I ended up under side control yet again. I need to be less obsessive about getting that perfect grip, and remember the basic foot-in-bicep option.

However, because I had my leg around that arm, I thought I might be able to move into a triangle. I spent a good chunk of the roll trying to wiggle into the right place, but couldn't get the angle (unsurprising, given being under side control is not a great place to try submissions). I had the arm between my legs and his head was low, so the triangle was the preferable option, but I was also looking out for an armbar, without any luck.

Naturally I was trying to escape too: I think I need to re-emphasise my previous habit of using the 'ball', where you get your knees tight to your chest. Possibly because I wasn't using that enough, I felt as if it was easier to pass my guard today.

Next up was Chiu: its always cool to roll with black belts, as they are pretty much guaranteed to give you good advice afterwards. Obviously I was getting tapped all over the place, mainly by the very techniques Chiu had just taught. Generally, I need to watch my arms and neck, though I was remembering to fight for that elbow by the neck as well as the hip, like Rob suggested after I rolled with him.

Chiu also noted that I need to be careful where I put my feet. I could see he was manoeuvring me into footlocks, looking to slip my foot under his arm, and managed to pop free a few times by pushing on his other hip. However, he still got the hold he wanted anyway, on the other foot, so a handy reminder that I must be vigilant about footlocks. While I don't use them myself, I am keen to improve my defences for when other people try them.

I might be training again tomorrow at Warwick Uni, because Adam from the judo club mentioned on Facebook that they have a nogi groundwork session at 17:00. Hopefully that will all work out, as it sounded intriguing, as much as I'm not overly keen on no gi.