Class #617
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre/MyGym), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 22/12/2014
I started off practicing one of the free stretches from Sebastian Broche's YogaForBJJ. I like the first one for the hip flexor, but I'm not as sure about the other two. I had trouble getting them right today, though they felt good when I did them at home with the video in front of me. Might just need some more reviewing. Chris also had a good tip on the first one, about tilting your hips to increase the stretch.
We went with back control for today's session. Just like my drilling on the guard over the last weeks, I wanted to focus on techniques using the arms. Once again, Ryan Hall proved to be a good source, this time his Back Attacks DVD. The great thing about that DVD is that like The Defensive Guard, it's focused on maintaining rather than spectacular acrobatics or convoluted positions. We started off with the classic seat belt, clamping your chest to their upper back with your head in tight.
The two bits Hall adds in are firstly gripping the first of your choking arm. His reasoning is that they will tend to try and pull your arm free, meaning that your choking arm can slide straight up (the same reasoning as John Will, IIRC). Personally, I found grabbing over the first didn't result in a secure lock (so I'm probably doing it wrong). I prefer Xande's palm to palm grip. There again you can twist straight up into the choke, while retaining that grip that at least feels more secure.
I found Hall's second addition easier to apply and much more to my liking. To really jam them in place, use the shoulder of your choking arm (so, the arm that is over their shoulder) and press it to their ear. This should also end up pushing their head forwards, something Hall recommends are being an effective way to put them out of alignment and therefore making it harder for them to bring any strength to bear. It's kind of like a cross face from side control, but from the back.
This grip felt awesome. I had excellent control over Chris, twisting him around when he tried to move. However, I must have been too tight and squeezing excessively, as I could feel that tell-tale soreness in my bicep afterwards. That also happens to me when I try and wrap up the head in closed guard: it ends up being a strength thing rather than a technique thing. Considering I'm a weedy small person, that's a very bad idea. So, good reminder for me to relax into that grip. ;)
We also tried Hall's dive into back control right off the pass, as they try to turn away. You immediately reach in for the seat belt, dropping into a scarf hold type position with your feet for base. It felt strong again when I did it, but it felt even stronger when Chris did it to me. Rather than clamping his chest to my upper back, he was pressing into my shoulder like you would from technical mount.
It turned out that this is exactly what Hall showed in the next video clipped I'd chopped from the DVD. I think the chest into back is when you're right behind, chest into shoulder when they're more on their side, but I need to watch the DVD more thoroughly. Chris also pushing off his toes for extra leverage, again like you would in side control.
We finished off with a quick bit of the same open guard drilling we did before, to practice those arm shields from The Defensive Guard. Those elbow blocks enabled me to sit up and move back into open guard, despite what seemed solid passing grips from Chris, who had his arms around both of my upper legs. I am also continuing to like the ankle pick sweep, but I'm not getting the loop choke. I probably need to commit to it, go for it more often and also set it up with something. E.g., make them lean forward more, perhaps in combination with that ankle pick sweep I keep doing.
On top, I managed to pass, but I was notably more out of breath than usual afterwards, so I think I was scrambling a lot and using force. Passing is generally going to be more tiring than guard, but if my approach is too tiring, I'm not going to be able to sustain that for very long. The handy thing about drilling so much guard is that I therefore also get a bunch of practice with passing. That would probably be a good thing to drill in a while. It also happens that Hall has a DVD set for that as well, so we can keep the 50/50 instructionals theme going. ;)
Showing posts with label Defensive Guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Defensive Guard. Show all posts
22 December 2014
15 December 2014
15/12/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Arm Shields from Ryan Hall's 'The Defensive Guard'
Class #614
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre/MyGym), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 15/12/2014
Taking advantage of the Black Friday sale, I picked up Ryan Hall's new DVD set (one of several on World Martial Arts recently), The Defensive Guard. Judging by the trailer and description, it looked like it would fit in perfectly with my efforts since last November to improve my guard, in this case my open guard retention and ability to block passes.
Due to my old groin injury flaring up, that limits me, but fortunately Hall covers plenty of options that don't require putting a lot of strain through my groin. Specifically, he has a number of sections on the second DVD (I haven't watched the third one yet) where he details how to use your arms as a secondary line of defence. It makes more sense when combined with the leg stuff he covers earlier, but I wanted to focus on the arms. That way, I can still improve my guard despite not being able to use my legs properly at the moment.
I always rip DVDs to mobile compatible mp4, then stick it on my phone. I could therefore show Chris exactly what I wanted to work on, having also chopped up the files I wanted (out of four hours and two DVDs, I cut it down to twenty minutes. It's a good set, but Hall's DVDs could most definitely be edited to a much shorter length ;D). I started off by practicing the shrimp the Ryan Hall way, which appears to basically be getting more on your side, connecting your elbow to your knee to form a shield and keeping space between your feet (he uses the analogy of boxing footwork, where you would never put your feet right next to eachother). That was followed by the technical standup, where Hall emphasises that your head should stay up all the way through.
Chris and I then gradually worked through a bunch of the video clips I'd pulled from the DVD. First there is the stiff arm concept from open guard (or more specifically, seated guard, like what Kev recommended to me in what's become an increasingly important private lesson), locking out not only your arm, but also aligning it with your supporting arm to create the strongest possible structure. Chris was finding that you could just knock their arm upwards to dislodge that grip, but I guess at that point, they are committing their arms to break the grip, so you can dive in for the tripod/sickle sweep combo etc.
If they slip past, Ryan Hall has an 'elbow block', where you are jamming your elbow into their clavicle. That's not to dig it in, but just to create another sort of stiff arm, this time with your upper arm. The same principle then applies, trying to align your skeletal structure. It's also essential that you expand your chest and push your bum out.
If they get past that, then you can grab the belt, or more broadly (as this applies outside of gi or when their belt is loose), put on a whizzer. Other than that, same again, aligning your skeletal structure to create a shield.
Chris found that both of those work best when they are passing low, like it's shown on the DVD, rather than if they are still stood up. In that case, you would presumably go to your primary layer of defence (feet and legs) rather than secondary (arms). As I can't use my legs properly at the mo due to injury, I'm focusing on the secondary layer of defence. :)
Ryan Hall also shows a cool cross-grip type thing where you grab their sleeve, then drive your knuckles into the top of their wrist. It's the same idea Dónal has shown me in a few private lessons (e.g., on the windscreen wiper sweep and knee cut pass). That makes for a really powerful grip that is tough to break, though you need to be careful drilling it. After a while, it tends to make a red mark on your partner's wrist! ;)
More Ryan Hall fun next time. I'll also continue working my way through The Defensive Guard: I haven't started the third DVD yet, where he ties all the fundamental stuff together into some techniques.
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre/MyGym), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 15/12/2014
Taking advantage of the Black Friday sale, I picked up Ryan Hall's new DVD set (one of several on World Martial Arts recently), The Defensive Guard. Judging by the trailer and description, it looked like it would fit in perfectly with my efforts since last November to improve my guard, in this case my open guard retention and ability to block passes.
Due to my old groin injury flaring up, that limits me, but fortunately Hall covers plenty of options that don't require putting a lot of strain through my groin. Specifically, he has a number of sections on the second DVD (I haven't watched the third one yet) where he details how to use your arms as a secondary line of defence. It makes more sense when combined with the leg stuff he covers earlier, but I wanted to focus on the arms. That way, I can still improve my guard despite not being able to use my legs properly at the moment.
I always rip DVDs to mobile compatible mp4, then stick it on my phone. I could therefore show Chris exactly what I wanted to work on, having also chopped up the files I wanted (out of four hours and two DVDs, I cut it down to twenty minutes. It's a good set, but Hall's DVDs could most definitely be edited to a much shorter length ;D). I started off by practicing the shrimp the Ryan Hall way, which appears to basically be getting more on your side, connecting your elbow to your knee to form a shield and keeping space between your feet (he uses the analogy of boxing footwork, where you would never put your feet right next to eachother). That was followed by the technical standup, where Hall emphasises that your head should stay up all the way through.
Chris and I then gradually worked through a bunch of the video clips I'd pulled from the DVD. First there is the stiff arm concept from open guard (or more specifically, seated guard, like what Kev recommended to me in what's become an increasingly important private lesson), locking out not only your arm, but also aligning it with your supporting arm to create the strongest possible structure. Chris was finding that you could just knock their arm upwards to dislodge that grip, but I guess at that point, they are committing their arms to break the grip, so you can dive in for the tripod/sickle sweep combo etc.
If they slip past, Ryan Hall has an 'elbow block', where you are jamming your elbow into their clavicle. That's not to dig it in, but just to create another sort of stiff arm, this time with your upper arm. The same principle then applies, trying to align your skeletal structure. It's also essential that you expand your chest and push your bum out. If they get past that, then you can grab the belt, or more broadly (as this applies outside of gi or when their belt is loose), put on a whizzer. Other than that, same again, aligning your skeletal structure to create a shield.
Chris found that both of those work best when they are passing low, like it's shown on the DVD, rather than if they are still stood up. In that case, you would presumably go to your primary layer of defence (feet and legs) rather than secondary (arms). As I can't use my legs properly at the mo due to injury, I'm focusing on the secondary layer of defence. :)
Ryan Hall also shows a cool cross-grip type thing where you grab their sleeve, then drive your knuckles into the top of their wrist. It's the same idea Dónal has shown me in a few private lessons (e.g., on the windscreen wiper sweep and knee cut pass). That makes for a really powerful grip that is tough to break, though you need to be careful drilling it. After a while, it tends to make a red mark on your partner's wrist! ;)
More Ryan Hall fun next time. I'll also continue working my way through The Defensive Guard: I haven't started the third DVD yet, where he ties all the fundamental stuff together into some techniques.
12 December 2014
12/12/2014 - Artemis BJJ at Bristol Metropolitan Academy Sports & Activities Fair
Class #612
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Metropolitan Academy), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 12/12/2014
A few weeks ago, I got an email inviting me to the Sports & Activities Fair at Bristol Metropolitan School, not far from me down the cycle path. As I think it's important for Artemis BJJ to be a part of the community, I was happy to pop along today and do a demonstration for the students. Very fortunately for me, Chris was also happy to help out, so I had a demonstration partner. Cheers Chris! :)
We started off basically just doing what we normally do when we meet up for training, troubleshooting some technique. My goal was to see if I could play half guard around my injury. I can wrap one leg from the outside with my good leg, but that's not enough to hold a decent half guard. Tweaking their leg outwards helps, but to maintain the position I need to engage the other leg, which currently hurts.
So, I'm not sure half guard is the way to go, though I'll keep experimenting. I had a brief play with a knee shield to see if that helped. What I want to find is a position where I don't have to use the bits of my left leg that aren't working properly at the moment. Failing that, I can at least drill something that doesn't need my left leg to practice. The DVD I bought on Black Friday should hopefully help with that, Ryan Hall's new The Defensive Guard. I haven't had a chance to watch it properly yet, so will check it out in more depth over the weekend.
Chris wanted to keep practicing back escapes, which works well as I want to improve my back control. Although at the moment, that's another position that my injury makes difficult, so I can't offer up as much resistance as I'd like. Hopefully it's still useful, but there again I could do with isolating some position where I can hold it more firmly.
A few of the pupils were up for giving BJJ a try, though they weren't too keen on the mount. Understandable, as if you're a teenage boy, you're not going to be all that thrilled by the prospect of getting into physically close positions with your friends. They were much happier with throws: I went through a couple of those, as that felt like the safest thing. Normally my standard first class is either mount escapes or the RNC. However, I decided it probably wasn't a good idea to have adolescents running around trying to choke each other. ;)
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Metropolitan Academy), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 12/12/2014
A few weeks ago, I got an email inviting me to the Sports & Activities Fair at Bristol Metropolitan School, not far from me down the cycle path. As I think it's important for Artemis BJJ to be a part of the community, I was happy to pop along today and do a demonstration for the students. Very fortunately for me, Chris was also happy to help out, so I had a demonstration partner. Cheers Chris! :)We started off basically just doing what we normally do when we meet up for training, troubleshooting some technique. My goal was to see if I could play half guard around my injury. I can wrap one leg from the outside with my good leg, but that's not enough to hold a decent half guard. Tweaking their leg outwards helps, but to maintain the position I need to engage the other leg, which currently hurts.
So, I'm not sure half guard is the way to go, though I'll keep experimenting. I had a brief play with a knee shield to see if that helped. What I want to find is a position where I don't have to use the bits of my left leg that aren't working properly at the moment. Failing that, I can at least drill something that doesn't need my left leg to practice. The DVD I bought on Black Friday should hopefully help with that, Ryan Hall's new The Defensive Guard. I haven't had a chance to watch it properly yet, so will check it out in more depth over the weekend.
Chris wanted to keep practicing back escapes, which works well as I want to improve my back control. Although at the moment, that's another position that my injury makes difficult, so I can't offer up as much resistance as I'd like. Hopefully it's still useful, but there again I could do with isolating some position where I can hold it more firmly.
A few of the pupils were up for giving BJJ a try, though they weren't too keen on the mount. Understandable, as if you're a teenage boy, you're not going to be all that thrilled by the prospect of getting into physically close positions with your friends. They were much happier with throws: I went through a couple of those, as that felt like the safest thing. Normally my standard first class is either mount escapes or the RNC. However, I decided it probably wasn't a good idea to have adolescents running around trying to choke each other. ;)
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