27/01/2018 - Marcos Nardini BJJ Glasgow | Open Mat

Class #946
Marcos Nardini BJJ, Glasgow, Scotland - 27/01/2017

Another one writting up well after the event. This was during a visit to lovely Glasgow for a UKBJJA First Aid course, where I was once again hosted by the awesome Cristiana and Giles. We popped down to where they were training at the time afterwards, where I got in a few rolls with various people both at the club and from the course. That's where I first got to train properly with Callum and Paula, which is cool as they then popped down to the GrappleThon later in the year too.

A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Jan 28, 2018 at 10:04am PST

It's been a while since I last went to Glasgow, but I was making the trip up again this weekend for the UKBJJA First Aid Course at the Griphouse.

A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Jan 27, 2018 at 11:39pm PST

Glasgow may not be close to Bristol, but it is very cheap to get there on the Megabus. I paid about a tenner to go there and back. The major downside is the long journey time, but I'm inured to that at this point. I normally get at least some sleep on the bus and I think (hopefully) I'm getting better at sleeping on them. But yeah, you may not want to spend that long sat on a bus (the fact I'm short helps too, don't need much leg room to be comfortable ;D).

A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Jan 28, 2018 at 1:50pm PST

Shinobi Academy, Lagos, Portugal

Class #940
Shinobi Academy, Lagos, Portugal, Open Mat - 12/01/2018

I'm going through my draft posts at the moment (writing this in Nov 2018), it looks like there are a bunch I never finished writing up. So yeah, working my way through them now. There wasn't any actual teaching at this one, although there were some pointers from the excellent Jeff Knight about half guard, IIRC. Great place to train if you're on holiday in Lagos, I'll definitely go again if I find myself there in future. :D

A post shared by Shinobi Academy (@shinobiacademylagos) on Jan 14, 2018 at 10:24am PST

More vids training at Shinobi.

A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Jan 15, 2018 at 2:02am PST

03/10/2017 - Academy Jiu Jitsu (Open mat)

Class #905
Academy Jiu Jitsu, Open Mat, Melbourne, Australia - 03/10/2017

Rolling at open mat afterwards was cool. I had another roll with Scotty, the blue belt from earlier. This time, I went for the arms, attempting overhook and underhooks. I initially tried to get my standard shoulder clamp butterfly sweep, but was too flat and I didn't have tight enough shoulder control.

I then tried for an overhook to get Dan's reaching grip, but couldn't manage to secure the arm. Trying for shoulder clamp into pressing armbar, his base felt too solid, I couldn't get the angle I wanted. Dylan was awesome. All the higher belts kept to a nice relaxed pace, letting me work and try stuff. I was attempting to defend my back, using that slow seio have thing, but I think Dylan was taking it easy or I would not have gotten out.

The most useful tips were on shin-on-shin. Angle out slightly, not too much. Your knee is high, but you support it with your arm inside. Head is tight on the other side. Immediately roll under, reaching for the shin of the far leg. If you don't get that, bring what was your shin on shin leg inside their same side leg, then around into single leg x. Your other foot should be hooking their other leg, knees tight. Tilt for sweep, or get ready to move into full x guard.

After training, Erin took me to a delicious burger place where I had sliders. For some reason they don't do that much in the UK: they were excellent! It was super cool to catch up with Erin and see what a wonderful place she now trains at. Hopefully I'll get the chance to come back to Melbourne some time, and Australia in general. I'm still keen to visit Brisbane to catch up with some other Australian BJJ friends. For 2017, Academy Jiu Jitsu was definitely the highlight of my Australasian trip. :D

03/10/2017 - Academy Jiu Jitsu (Standing up in closed guard)

Class #904
Academy Jiu Jitsu, Dylan Hewitt, Melbourne, Australia - 03/10/2017

My ex-student Erin had told me all about her new school in Melbourne after she moved back home. A big part of my original reason for making the trip over to Australia was to see Erin and train at her new place. There was therefore quite a lot of expectation riding on what she'd said: as it turned out, those expectations were more than met.

Academy Jiu Jitsu is a lovely place to train, full of friendly people who immediately made me feel part of the family. In many ways it reminded me of training back home at Artemis BJJ, so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Academy Jiu Jitsu if you're looking for a chilled out training environment with a friendly vibe. The rolls were technical, everybody was welcoming, lots of laughter during class.

The teaching was high quality too. Dylan went through a standard closed guard break and pass, with lots of details. Sit on your heels, thrusting your hip. Use your forward hand to grasp both collars, twist: that's to keep them down. Other hand grabs their wrist, pressing that into their hip. Slight flare of your elbow in order to press in their hip, but be ready to clamp that back in as it's dangerous (omoplata etc).

To stand, lean over to the non-wrist grip side, then step your wrist grip side foot forward. Stand, letting go of collars and pulling up on sleeve. Dylan likes to switch grips, but down to preference. Squeeze your knees together, then push down on their knee. You can follow with your shin and move into various passes. One I hadn't thought about was windscreen wiping your feet across, then you can go into mount, side control etc.

In closed guard specific sparring, I was lazy and just waited. It's important to be wary of chokes, I was lucky in that i could push on elbows to prevent the chokes, but if he had gotten deeper, that would have been on. I liked the simple tip that if they grab your collar, grab their hand and use that as your grip to stand. Worked well for me.a few times, but just white belts and I was telegraphing it too much. Next up, open mat.

02/10/2017 - Absolute MMA St Kilda

Class #903
Absolute MMA St Kilda, Lachlan Giles, Melbourne, Australia - 02/10/2017

Lachlan started to class with a closed guard drill, where the idea was to try and stand up/control posture without your hands, then with. That's useful for making you focus on posture on top and the use of your legs on the bottom, so I may try that myself. Next up was a hip bump, then switching under the leg if they resist and rolling them to the other side. If that doesn't work either, overhook and push their hand to their chest, into triangle.

Rolling with Liv, I was leaving my neck too open again, must be careful. I think I only prevented her choke due to grabbing her wrist, so no technique on my part. I outweight her a fair bit, even though I'm small: if she'd been my size, that choke would probably have been on.

Next roll, I was super boring and just tried to frame to stop them passing. I think they got a bit bored, especially as they weren't going hard. I should engage more, but then I struggle enough with that in gi, let alone nogi. ;)

I was considering staying for the next class, but I had some things to arrange with a friend for tomorrow, so decided I should head back to get that sorted. It was awesome to finally meet Liv and exchange more than a few words with Hannah. Thanks very much to Liv for letting me train!

01/07/2017 - Turnham Green Grass'N'Grapple

Class #839
Grass'N'Grapple (Acton Green Common), London, UK - 01/07/2017

Ellie and Jai have been down to visit Artemis BJJ before, along with meeting me at the Bournemouth BJJ Globetrotter Camp last year. Since then, Ellie has been sending me regular invites to a cool open mat she started organising back in June, where she brings a load of jigsaw mats to a park in a van. She and friends then lay them out and get rolling, right there in the park. It's a cool idea (like the one I went to a few years back in Austin, Texas), but until now I haven't been able to go. However, this Saturday I was in London for the opening of Mike Cowling's school, meaning I had time to pop down to the Grass N Grapple too.

If you head to Turnham Green tube station, the park in question is right by the station. Turnham Green is one stop down from Hammersmith: normally you can get there all the way, but at the moment you have to change at Hammersmith because a line connection is down. Still, easy to reach from central London. I got there a bit early, so sat on a bench until I noticed Ellie and friends laying out the mats, which I when I wandered over to help out them set up.



I am lazy, therefore I spent a lot of it chatting. Socialising is a big part of BJJ for me, a vibe I have tried to build at my club, Artemis BJJ. It's the same vibe I enjoy at both the GrappleThons and the BJJ Globetrotter Camps. Excellently, the Grass N Grapple has almost managed to foster that atmosphere, making for some lovely chats in the sunshine. My Facebook friends list always balloons after a Globetrotter camp or a GrappleThon, the same was true after the Grass N Grapple. ;)



Still, I did eventually get onto the mat for some rolling. First that was with Ket, who is around my size, probably slightly smaller. I therefore made a point of not muscling anything (not that I have much muscle to add, but when someone is smaller, that's pointless as you won't learn anything). He has a tight game, putting me in plenty of positions I need to work on (like escaping the back). I need to get better at preventing them getting their arms in position for a choke, rather than defending after they've secured it. The 'grab their arms and pull' will kinda work when it's white belts, but you'll get choked against bigger people and higher belts.



Later I went with Antony, who is bigger, so I didn't need to worry about putting in more force. I spent most of this one on top, playing around with my usual love of side control and kimura grips. I am pretty sure he could have caught me in a few leglocks if he wasn't being nice. Next time, he now knows he doesn't need to hold back on those, as I need to work my leglock defence anyway. :D



I will definitely make it along again. Not only was it a great atmosphere with some cool people, the gi fashion was magnificent too. Jai is building up a beautiful line of tie dye gis, I very much approve. ;P

01/07/2017 - First Class at Origin BJJ Noak Hill with Mike Cowling

Class #838
Origin BJJ Noak Hill (Noak Hill Sports Complex), Mike Cowling, London, UK - 01/07/2017



Mike has been coming to the Bristol GrappleThons regularly for years, as well as organising his own in connection with one I did. When he invited me to pop down to the opening of his new school Origin BJJ Noak Hill, I was therefore keen to return the favour and support him. It involved getting up a 3am for a Megabus at 4am (which was then delayed an hour, but bleh, that's why they are so cheap), but I don't sleep anyway. ;)

It is worth noting that the Noak Hill Sports Complex is not on Google Maps yet. What you will find is Noak Hill Sports Ground, which is NOT the same place. Fortunately I was on my bike, so it was a six minute detour, rather than however long a walk that would have been. I therefore still made it in time to the sports centre. The room is through the double doors, past the cafe. Mike has some beautifully soft roll-out mats, they feel great quality. Nice and thick, so I'm fairly certain you could use them for judo too. There was space around the mats, meaning there is scope for the school to expand (as I'm sure it will, Mike is an excellent teacher).

As an Origin BJJ student, Mike likes old school jiu jitsu, with practicality being the most important element. He shared the first lesson he ever learned with us, focusing on mount escapes. Interestingly, Mike told me that he still regularly uses the trap and roll, which remains a high percentage escape for him even against other higher belts. I have almost entirely relied on the heel drag for years: it's rare I'll hit the trap and roll.

It may be a fundamental technique most people will learn early on in their jiu jitsu, but Mike's version had some details I hadn't seen before. From mount, bridge up and knock them with your knee. That will make them post on their arms. Unlike most methods I've seen, Mike then brings his elbow back, bringing it over their arm, then clamping in to control that arm, hand on the triceps. Push the bottom of your foot into their same side leg, angling out your knee (again, different from what I've seen before), then punch up with your other arm and roll through.

A post shared by Origin Bjj Noak Hill (@originbjjnoakhill) on Jul 2, 2017 at 9:46am PDT

My fingers were still a bit sore from all the gripping on Thursday when I sparred Sam. That swelling meant it hurt to do the trap and roll on that hand, but not a problem, I just stuck to the other side with my training partner (another Mike, who is another cool guy from Origin BJJ. With excellent beardage, must be those Turkish genes ;D).

The follow up was if they post out with a foot, so you do an elbow escape to recover your guard. Then there's the counter to the cross face. On this one, again Mike had an interesting variation. Rather than doing the 'comb your hair' type method to trap their arm, he grabs their shoulder and pulls (like Gustavo in his escapes instructional I'm reviewing at the moment, from MMA Leech). Mike then also recommends moving your body towards their head, to get underneath them. That makes the trap and roll much easier, a good tip I need to remember.

Mike then moved into talking about the choke. If you've been rolled over, control the head, then insert your first choke grip as they raise their head, go for the cross collar. If your hand gets blocked you can shift to an armbar. I got a little confused as to which hand, because as it turned out, it's your first choking grip your release. That didn't occur to me, as I normally use that to control their posture, but you can still control posture with your other hand and leg. Either way, that hand then pulls their arm across, moving into the armbar.

Good to see a decent turnout, I look forward to Mike's club growing over the next few years. Congrats on a great first class!

07/05/2017 - 1st Anniversary at Borehamwood BJJ

Class #819
Borehamwood BJJ (Maxwell Community Centre), Seymour Yang, London, UK - 07/05/2017

It was great to see @slideyfoot visit my club yesterday. As you can observe we're both rather keen on bright colourful rashguards! @slideyfoot runs the @artemisbjj academy in Bristol. If you are ever in the region I recommend popping in for a friendly roll.

A post shared by Seymour Yang (@meerkatsu) on May 8, 2017 at 1:36am PDT

Seymour Yang has been immensely important to the success of the GrappleThons, as well as an inspirational figure for me online, providing plenty of support and advice. I therefore like to support stuff he does if I can. One simple way to try and do that is travel down to his school in Borehamwood to show support in person. I last popped down to Seymour's club a year ago, for the first session at Borehamwood BJJ. He has changed venue since 2016, but it's relatively nearby to the previous location. I wanted to pop down for the 1st anniversary of the club, but I hadn't reckoned with the joys of Sunday transport in London. Blithely thinking there would be no problem (as I couldn't remember running into trouble last time), I just assumed trains from Great Missenden would be fine.

According to the website planner, there weren't any trains from Great Missenden, but you could apparently head down to Harrow-on-the-Hill via the Chiltern Line from Amersham, then bounce from the Metropolitan line to the Jubilee and finally Thameslink. The 08:39 morphed into a much slower train, throwing everything else out of whack. However, I can confirm that if you run, getting into Elstree & Borehamwood on the 10:15 from West Hampstead Thameslink is just enough time to make the start of the 10:45 class. I can also confirm that if you're 36 and crap at running, it's much better to make it in time for the 09:42 from that Thameslink and stroll in comfortably. ;)

Seymour footlocked me all over the place when we last sparred at this year's GrappleThon (and last year's, it's becoming a trend ;D), so he suggested running through some leglock material if I could make it down for the 7th May. That meant today was all about the straight ankle lock. First up, Seymour recommends that when wrapping your arm around their Achilles tendon, stick to the one arm. If you look to bolster that grip by making a figure four or grabbing with your other hand, it's likely that you'll slacken the pressure into their Achille. Instead, use the one arm to maintain the sharp 'blade' of your forearm, reaching up as if you want to grab your shoulder.

With your same side leg, put your heel on their same side hip. Your other leg tucks behind their knee, also squeezing your knees together. You're always looking to tilt in the direction of their knee (presuming you want to stick with IBJJF rules, which tends to be the most common, but certainly not the only ruleset). From there, tuck your elbow back on the gripping side, arching back as well and thrusting your hips if you need extra leverage.

You can also switch the foot across your body to your other arm, applying the same grip and trying the footlock from there. My training partner and I got a little confused at this point, as we kept turning in the other direction. You're staying with the same tilt: remember, the foot you're pushing into their hip is the side you stick with, even if you switch your footlock grip to the other side.

In terms of escaping, Seymour emphasised that your goal is to split the legs. Start by 'putting the boot on', driving your heel and pulling your toes back to give you time, then push their anchoring heel off you hip. Bring your bum over, then move forwards into mount. Alternatively, you could try pushing their top knee (so, not on the hip pushing side) with your free leg. That again splits the legs, enabling you to move forwards and into mount.

Naturally there is a counter to the counter. If they attempt to escape by pushing through with their leg, you can try to quickly switch sides, locking your arm around that pushing leg and scooting into a footlock on that side instead. This lends itself to a drill where you're repeatedly trying footlocks while your partner escapes over and over. Seymour's teaching style makes for a really nice atmosphere. He's a charismatic guy, so comes across as both confident and relaxed, cracking jokes while he runs through the techniques.

I have a whole bunch of injuries at the moment (mainly knee, fingers, tailbone and a tweaked neck), meaning I'm especially averse to sparring at the moment. Even so, when a black belt asks you, it's generally a good idea to say yes, in this case Steve (Seymour's class has a few higher belts who head down, which is cool, including Sandeep, a fellow student of Kev Capel). He took it very slow and easy as we did some specific sparring around those footlocks, working through the techniques. He spun to a belly down footlock at one point, which foxed me, but suggested the way to escape that was to try and move around behind.

Thanks very much to Seymour for letting me train again at his club today. Also, I'm impressed by how much the club has grown in just a year, very cool. Borehamwood BJJ currently has sessions twice a week, but with those ever increasing numbers, I'm sure he'll be expanding the schedule in future (though Seymour is of course a very busy man. Those rashguards don't just Meerkatsu themselves! ;D)

My club is One Year Old today, happy birthday Borehamwood BJJ!!!

A post shared by Seymour Yang (@meerkatsu) on May 7, 2017 at 4:56am PDT

07/05/2016 - First Class at Meerkatsu's Borehamwood BJJ

Class #719
Borehamwood BJJ (The Venue), Seymour Yang, London, UK - 01/05/2016

The mighty Meerkatsu has launched his own Brazilian jiu jitsu school, the straightforwardly named Borehamwood BJJ, in the eponymous part of London. Check out the website here.

Seymour has been a huge help with all the GrappleThons I've run, so I was keen to support his new venture. A few hours on the Megabus later, I was en route to Kentish Town up the Northern Line. From there, grab a Thameslink train to Elstree: your Oyster card is valid all the way.

A photo posted by @meerkatsu on May 3, 2016 at 12:16pm PDT

Head out the station, off to the right and onto the main high street. Keep walking until you get to Borehamwood BJJ's somewhat confusingly named base, The Venue (about 15 minutes on foot). It's a large, well appointed leisure centre, with excellent changing facilities, showers and everything else you would expect at a good sports centre.

Borehamwood BJJ is upstairs in Studio 1, past the treatment rooms. This is normally used for dance: it turns into a Brazilian jiu jitsu school by spreading jigsaw mats across the centre of the room. That provides a decent sized space for grappling. You could probably have up to ten people rolling, eight comfortably. There is plenty of room for more mats, should the classes grow larger.

I arrived just as Seymour was finishing off his kids class. The plan is to have a kids session (6 to 11 year olds) from 12:30 to 13:30, then adults straight after through until 15:00. For this free opening class, Seymour had a 30 minute split between them, which was handy as I could take the opportunity to have a chat.

Adults began at 14:00, focusing on the absolute basics. Seymour kicked off with some stretching and calisthenics, before the first of the fundamentals: technical stand up. That was followed by shrimping and bridging. You would think that after almost a decade of BJJ, I would have nothing left to learn about such basic moves. You would be wrong: even on the simplest techniques, you can always learn something, as everybody has different tweaks and ways of teaching.

A video posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on May 7, 2016 at 8:49am PDT

With the shrimp, I normally start on my back, pushing off both feet, a slight turn, then driving the hips back. I prefer Seymour's method of demonstrating, which I'm going to adopt as I think it is a better way to reach beginners. Start on your back, with one knee raised. Push off with that leg, dragging the other leg as you thrust out your hips, curving your body.

While it is possible to shrimp off both feet, Seymour's version is exactly the way you would do it to escape from under mount. I'll therefore be sticking that into the warm-up drills when I next teach shrimping mount escapes.

The second basic technique was bridging, where again Seymour used a variation I hadn't seen before. I split bridging drills into three: straight bridge (directly up and down), angled bridge (going up at an angle with your hips tilted) and turning bridge, where you rotate over your shoulder. Seymour did a modified straight bridge. After he drove up, he did a sharp twist with his shoulders, looking over his shoulder. The idea is to knock them off balance, almost like a punch.

Everybody had a chance to drill, followed by some specific sparring from mount. Class finished up by introducing the idea of guard, as Seymour and another black belt sparred for a minute. Seymour narrated at various points, an excellent idea to help the beginners understand what was going on.

First ever class at Borehamwood BJJ. Many thanks to everyone who attended, for some it was their very first dip into the jiujitsu waters. I was alao honoured to see some of my jiujitsu buddies travelling far to show their support. Osss!

A photo posted by @meerkatsu on May 7, 2016 at 8:23am PDT

As I expected given Seymour's popularity, there were plenty of higher belts in attendance, particularly friends from Seymor's own instructor's club, Mill Hill BJJ (head coach Nick Brooks himself was on hand to take pics, as he has a knee injury at the moment).

I look forward to seeing Borehamwood BJJ grow over the next few years. With Seymour's experienced and friendly guidance, I'm sure it will soon be a thriving hub for BJJ. :D

03/05/2014 - Fabio Novaes BJJ Open Mat

Class #566
Fabio Novaes BJJ, Open Mat, Lakeland, FL, USA - 03/05/2014

A photo posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on May 3, 2014 at 11:55am PDT

Today is my last full day in the US for 2014 as well as my last training on American soil for this year. It was really cool to finally train with an old Bullshido buddy of mine, Josh. Back when I was regularly updating my training log thread on there, Josh would often chime in with some good advice.

I was therefore excited at the prospect of rolling with him in person, as I knew he would have lots of pointers (on top of very generously driving me to and from the open mat, a three hour round trip, which was shortly after his mammoth 6hr+ drive down from Atlanta, GA!). He didn't disappoint, breaking down several issues I've been having. First up was a potential solution to my long-running issue with combat base: even better, it was simple.

You've broken their posture, but they have a knee raised. Bring your outside foot in front of their shin, hooking their ankle, then pull it to the open side. You can then knock their leg back, which combined with collar control could provide an immediate transition into an omoplata, moving into the triangle and armbar if you miss that.

Another thing Josh pointed out was that given I frequently go for a deep collar grip, I could start using a collar drag. I've seen that done, but always forget about it as an option: you simply shift slightly to the side and pull them into the space you vacated. If they resist, post your free hand behind you and push forwards to knock them backwards. If that doesn't work either, there's the possibility of a loop choke. Sounds like a good sequence for me to work on, fitting with my current game (though admittedly I don't have much of a game from guard).

With passing I'm focusing too much on driving forward, meaning I miss opportunities to circle around. That came up when I was putting in lots of pressure forward, while Josh had a sort of lasso grip on my right hand. At that point, I should have used my strong position to get that hand free and move around to an underhook pass. Also, if my knee cut is getting blocked, I should slide my hip into them, rather than continuing to shove forwards ineffectually.

On the sit-up sweep, I made a very sloppy attempt during sparring, prompting a useful reminder to bump with the hip rather than leading with the shoulder. Interestingly, under side control Josh recommends putting the foot on the knee: I have always preferred to keep the knee floating and I had thought that putting the foot on the knee made it more vulnerable to footlocks.

Quite to the contrary, Josh said it actually was easier to footlock when the leg is floating. He also noted that by having the foot on your knee, you can use the other leg to help wedge your knee underneath. Be sure to properly shrimp with a turn: I wasn't doing that properly today, sliding sideways, which doesn't bring any advantage. Basic point, but always get on your side! ;)

The usual issue of not attacking enough came up too: I've gotten comfortable maintaining mount, but I keep being to complacent and not moving on from that. Josh pointed out that when I get that high mount with their arms crossed over their face, the arm triangle is an option. Even if I don't get it, that could open up other attacks.

Sparring with Stephanie again was really cool too. She has a dodgy knee at the mo, so we were keeping things on the knees rather than any open guard against standing type stuff, which suits me fine. I got to have a good play with the crucifix entries and attacks I learned at the Dave Jacobs seminar a few weeks ago in Virginia, which was fun.

I managed the entry a few times, but couldn't get her arm straightened out walking my feet up it. She was also careful to tuck her chin to make that bow and arrow style grip difficult. I could perhaps have worked a sliding choke, because I might be able to get away with not going under the chin as much there, so I need to remember to attempt that next time.

There was loads of chatting with Josh and Stephanie too: all in all, a super cool way to round off my trip this year. I will definitely be back in the States, but it might be a coupe of years before I head out again. At the moment, my next priorities are Seattle, Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York (the only place in the US that would tempt my gf to give this country another try), followed by return trips to Virginia, Texas and Florida. :)

Update May 2014: Josh's write-up here.

01/05/2014 - Stephanie's Women's Class (Triangle Under Side Control)

Class #565
Fabio Novaes BJJ, Stephanie McClish, Lakeland, FL, USA - 01/05/2014

A photo posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on May 1, 2014 at 6:47pm PDT

Back to the awesomeness of Stephanie's women's class tonight, where this time we covered a technique I frequently use, the triangle from under side control. Stephanies uses it the same way I do, which is as an escape that very occasionally might turn into a submission.

The situation is that they are in side control, but have put and arm inside your leg (if they haven't put the arm inside, you can walk you legs up by their arm and get a similar position). Push their head towards your legs and swing one over the head, locking in a triangle position where you capture both their arm and their head.

Normally it will be hard to submit from here, but to try, slide your upper body underneath their torso (you may need to move their arm because it is often obstructing your route), lock your arms around them and thrust your hips. Usually they will posture up before you get that far, whereupon you can shrimp away and recover your guard.

In the half guard specific sparring at the start I again wasn't doing great on the passing or underneath, so I'm looking forward to half guard month at Artemis BJJ. Clearly my half guard needs a lot of work, as I'm not really doing anything from there. I flail at the scissor sweep and roll over from knee shield and occasionally go for deep half Homer Simpson, but that's about it. Ineed much more from the standard haf guard.

Getting to free sparring, just like last time, the women all had good pressure, turning my head and working the pass. I was again trying to go to deep half as well as try Kev's 'nappy grip' (or what I decided to dub the 'mawashi grip' because I think it sounds cooler :p), but not much success with either. I am at least remembering to regrip on the mawashi option.

29/04/2014 - Stephanie's Women's Class at Fabio Novaes BJJ

Class #564
Fabio Novaes BJJ, Stephanie McClish, Lakeland, FL, USA - 29/04/2014

My next stop after West Palm Beach was Lakeland, a few hours further north into Florida, where away from the beach it becomes rural. The reason I headed that way, as usual, was more cool bloggers, this time the McClish sisters. Allie picked me up from the train station in order to get me checked in at the AirBnB, then Stephanie drove me to Fabio Novaes Jiu Jitsu about an hour later.

I've followed both of their blogs for many years now, as well as reading both of them write about running a women's class. Allie started it off, a responsibility that has since passed to Stephanie. I already knew from seeing her at the Boca that she's a dedicated coach, so it was cool to experience one of her classes. Although it's a women's class, men have been invited along a number of times: I was one of two men there tonight.

Stephanie kicks off with a 'circuit training' style warm-up, with four stations in each corner of the mat. You start off with jumping jacks, then kimura sit ups (in other words, diagonal rather than square on with your knees), mountain climbers and finally using a Swiss ball to swivel onto your front then back again. I think it was two minutes every time, with two or three people at each station.

The topic for this month is half guard, as Stephanie noticed that some of her students were having issues with half guard at the Boca Open. To start off we did some specific sparring from half guard, keeping things fairly light. I was with the other guy in class, Patrick. Underneath, I did my terrified squirrl impression and clung on tightly to his leg, spending most of it in quarter-guard (so, clinging to the lower part of the leg). He basically had back control at the end, wriggling that second hook into place.

On top, I got swept a lot. I wasn't able to dig out any space for the underhook, reverting to that position where you are turned towards their legs. I could perhaps have used my head next to theirs for more control, clamping my elbow. Either way, Patrick was able to get underneath me every time and roll me over, so my base wasn't solid enough and my grips were poor. Good reminder that I should think more carefully about half guard passing! :)

Technique for tonight was a straight-forward half guard sweep. Assuming you don't have the underhook next, get up on your side and bring your top arm in front of their face, swivelling it to reach past their armpit. Use that to slide down towards their legs, reaching through their legs with your bottom arm. Link your hands together.

Stretch out their leg on that side with your own. Making sure you keep your inside leg over their calf (otherwise they can just step into mount), push off with your outside foot and roll them away from you, moving to the top position. Be careful of staying too close to their legs: if you leave your head and arm inside their legs, they can go for a triangle. Once you're on top, you should be able to move into side control, sliding past their leg.

The other option is almost exactly the same, except that you roll them the other way, over your body. This feels more natural, though like Patrick said, that could just be because of our jiu jitsu instincts. For somone who hasn't trained before, perhaps the other way would feel more intuitive. ;)

Class finished off with several rounds of sparring. I had a light roll with Stephanie, who is recovering from a knee injury. That prevents her from standing up to pass, which meant I wasn't going to the gi grips I've been playing with recently. At some point I got on top and tried for the spinning gi lapel choke, but I went for it too early, without having secured enough gi by her neck.

I had a few rolls with several of the other women in the class, who had good hip movement and plenty of energy. Maria pretty much had a rear naked choke locked on from a smooth transition, but I think her elbow wasn't quite by my chin, so I had enough space to squirm out.

Sparring with Patrick involved me getting choked. I was falling into the trap of going to the running escape then having my back taken. The first one was a rear naked choke (I think?), followed by a bow and arrow grip finished with his fre arm sliding behind my head. I remembered to pull on the elbow to escape one bow and arrow type attempt, but couldn't manage it the second time.

I also kept getting my arm trapped between his legs, I think because I was looking to go to deep half from mount. I need to keep in mind the primary rule for escaping the back: protect your neck! I'm getting complacent on that, which leads to being choked. ;)

I really liked the atmosphere at the women's class: everyone was very friendly and the rolls were at a good pace. As Artemis BJJ will soon be starting a womens class, I'm keen to glean any tips, especially given Stephanie's approach has been so successful. The number of women at the club has grown from 1 to over 20 since Allie and Stephanie started: if we can manage that at Artemis it would be awesome! :D

28/04/2014 - American Top Team West Palm Beach (Open Mat)

Class #563
American Top Team (BJJ), Open Mat, West Palm Beach, FL, USA - 28/04/2014

A photo posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Apr 28, 2014 at 11:33am PDT

One of my favourite bloggers for many years now has been the erudite Megan, who runs Tangled Triangle and Groundwork. She managed to arrange for us to head into the spacious ATT West Palm Beach gym and hit the mats for around 1.5hrs of rolling and drilling. We started off with some light rolling, where again I was playing with the gi lapel from guard, as it is so much easier on my fingers than spider guard. I was mostly just trying to maintain my guard, wriggling around to square back up: I think I am relying too much on flexibility sometimes with that, as my legs occasionally get into odd positions that probably aren't entirely safe.

I can't remember how exactly, but I later ended up on top, passing from half guard with the knee cut to then shift to side control and mount, my favourite progression from the top. In mount I was attempting to walk up into the armpits and trap the arms like always.

This time I did something different, deciding to feed my lapel to the arm I have under the head, then step off into side control to finish off the spinning gi lapel choke (I need to think of a name for that: I know there was a name for it on MGinAction that I mentioned last time I tauht this, so I'll look that up next time I'm on a laptop rather than my phone).

That's a transition I don't think about often, but it's worth considering. I'm not sure I'm comfortable giving up mount for side control, as it's lower down the positional hierarchy, but then again if I have a submission cinched in, it is perhaps a sensible exception. I went for the bow and arrow as well at some point, which I'm continuing to try and improve (for the possibly dubious reason that I kind of think I should due to calling my club 'Artemis BJJ'. ;D).

We then got into a load of drilling. Megan had mentioned she wanted to work on her mount control, so I shared what I do, especially thrusting the hips through and clamping the soles of your feet to their sides, as well as tucking your feet under their bum. I also mentioned the 'think of mount as guard except you're sat on them' idea, as I've found that a helpful concept to keep in mind.

A bit of specific sparring enabled me to add in some other possibilities, such as the way I tend to escape mount by digging under their knee with my elbow. If they turn to technical mount, I push their raised leg over and around my knee to get some leverage to squeeze through and escape.

It seemed that if Megan put her bum further back, sitting towards rather than her weight coming forwards, I had much less space. I'm not certain if that reduces control, but it felt tougher for me to escape. Switching swiftly to the back worked for Megan too, as then I didn't have time to start shoving my knee through.

I also shared the low mount escape Michel Verhoeven showed me at his seminar, where he does a series of short bumps to get his arm under, putting the hand by the opposite hip. He stiff arms into that hip and shoves, with the intention of opening up enough space to initiate an escape.

We also had a play with stuff from guard. I gave one of Mikal's sweeps a go, where he pushes their arm back then hooks it with the leg he has around their back, locking his instep by the crook of their elbow. He uses that to then roll them over. Megan suggested that it could be a nifty way to set up a triangle too, which felt very smooth when she did it.

23/04/2014 - University of Texas at Austin (Open Mat)

Class #562
University of Texas at Austin, (BJJ), Austin, TX, USA - 23/04/2014

Today I got to meet another cool blogger who I have 'known' online for a few years, who has moved back to Austin from Korea. John runs the I Love Leg Locks blog and he lives up to that name, so I spent a lot of our roll being very careful of my feet. I decided to flail at a leg lock at least once, as it seemed I really should given the name of John's blog: unsurprisingly, he tapped me not long after. ;)

John is a brown belt who now trains at the University of Texas at Austin (where he is also studying for a masters degree). That fortunately means he has access to one of the matted rooms there, so we could get in a bit of sparring and drilling. After a quick warm-up, we got in a good roll, at a fairly light pace.

As ever I failed to do a whole lot from guard. Mainly I played around with grabbing the gi tail and sticking my foot in it, but I don't really know what to do with that position. I should probably have a look at some of the random stuff people do with 'lapel guard', though I suspect it is probably too complex for me. Could be fun to try though.

One thing I should have done is Kev's 'nappy grip' sweep as they go to knee cut. Iremembered to shove the gi tail under their leg, but didn't remember to then switch grips again. Also, as John metioned later, you will have trouble rolling them if they get their hip to the mat. At least I think that's what he said, meaning I need to get underneath them to complete the sweep.

Another tip John mentioned was on passing, especially useful because it built on something I already do. I try to stay low and tight with pretty much everything I do on top. When passing, John suggested I progress from that tight position to also using my head to finish the pass. Wriggle it down next to their head and use it as a sort of third arm. Sounds like a good plan, so I'm looking forwrd to giving that a go next time I'm struggling to pass (which is most of the time when I'm trying to pass).

My back escape remains too sloppy. I keep forgetting to implement what I learned from Dónal, so I think I'd benefit from lots of drilling on back esapes. When I get back to the UK, Artemis BJJ will have started its expanded schedule, including open mat time: I see copious back escape drills in my future.

Jesse was going to join us, but something important came up, meaning he didn't make it over until I was about to leave. Still, he did at least get to roll with John (who is a lot more beneficial to roll with than me: it would be interesting to take a class with him, as he's clearly a decent teacher).

22/04/2014 - Gracie Humaitá (Beginners Class)

Class #561
Gracie Humaitá, (BJJ), Paulo ‘Coelho’ Brandão, Austin, TX, USA - 22/04/2014

A photo posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Apr 24, 2014 at 5:45pm PDT

After being dropped off by my new friends from the Aces Jiu Jitsu Club session, I headed up to Georgette's office. The next destination was Gracie Humaita Austin, another beautiful facilitiy. I've read and seen so much of that academy through Georgette's blog that a lot of it felt familiar, especially the faces I saw later on during the sparring class. The focus tonight was on butterfly passing, which Paulo said was a signature move of his.

The first butterfly pass begins by sinking your base as low as possible. If they have both butterfly hooks rather than one ready to lift, you can box them in with your knees. Insert a knee behind their heel (if they have one leg raised, you want to put your knee by the other leg), then step out your other foot. Make sure you are stepping out rather than forward, to avoid giving them a chance to get underneath you and lift.

Using an underhook and driving with your head, spin their upper body to the ground. You aren't driving straight forward, you're steering them in a semi-circle. Basing on your head and the shoulder you have pressed into them (due to your underhook), pop your hips up. You can then knee cut across the leg where you put your knee earlier. If you need to, shove their leg to the mat with your hand.

I don't think I quite got the second variation. It starts the same, but this time they manage to initiate an underhook before you can complete your knee cut. With the arm they're trying to underhook, grasp their same side knee and clamp your elbow to your side. This is where I got a bit confused: move around (I think?), then as they try to shrimp away, cross face and complete the knee cut pass.

The main super-cool thing about tonight was finally training with Georgette. You can tell she'd be a good teacher as she's very focused on getting the technique right, regularly calling over the instructor to double-check the finer points. She also gave me a ton of useful advice as we were doing the technique, polishing specific movements, questioning grips and highlighting details. I'm keen to get in some rolling with her later this week.

I was less keen on getting in loads of rolling generally. So, I continued to be wimpy and sit out of the following hour of sparring, both because I'm lazy and I also don't want to injure myself this early in the trip. Not that I don't trust the control of the students there: I don't trust my own control, as I regularly hurt myself if I do any extensive sparring . ;)

22/04/2014 - Aces Jiu Jitsu Club

Class #560
Aces Jiu Jitsu Club, (BJJ), Austin, TX, USA - 22/04/2014

I trained with Mikal last time I was in Austin, back in 2012. At that time he was a purple belt at another club, occasionally teaching class and also regularly teaching kids. I had the chance to watch him teach kids during the previous trip and was impressed by his mixture of discipline (he has a military background) and humour. It was also obvious how much he cared about helping students progress.

Almost two years later and Mikal is a brown belt with his own club, launched in September of last year. Impressively, he already has a massive space with a hundred members, a wifi lounge and even a fully matted creche (there's a handy window for both baby and parents to see each other while training).

Like we do at Artemis BJJ, Mikal also has a theme for the month. For April that was leglocks, something I have avoided for most of my time in jiu jitsu. I have a vague idea of what a straight ankle lock is and I know to grab people and pull them in towards me as a defence if they grab my foot, but that's about it. Even more outside of my experience was he specific theme for this week: 50/50 guard.

Dónal would no doubt have been amused, as right before I left to fly out this year we were talking about my aversion to what might be called 'modern' jiu jitsu, for want of a better word. But meh, it's good to at least know how to avoid the position and escape it, even if I have no intention of getting into it myself.

First off was leglocks, with a drill switching between the straight ankle lock and the cross ankle lock. Presuming I understood it, the straght ankle lock involves putting their leg by your same side hip, bringing one arm under the achilles tendon, with the cutting part of your forearm (so, just below the wrist). Reach that hand to your chest, putting the other hand palm-down on top.

Mikal had a useful visual metaphor here, a hallmark of his teaching, likening it to a romantic gesture of holding your heart. That perfectly described the position. You'll also have your outside foot on their hip, the other under their other leg, squeezing your knee together. To finish, look up then thrust your hips slightly: Mikal calls this 'Megan Fox-ing', as she's known for looking over her shoulder and pouting.

The cross ankle lock is very similar, except that you pick up their ankle and pull it across your body, to your opposite hip. The rest of the technique is the same, wrapping up under the ankle, looking up and Megan Fox-ing.

Main technique for tonight was a 50/50 armbar, which was also a footlock escape. They have a straight ankle lock secured but not locked. Grab the elbow of the arm they have under your achilles. Pull that towards you and scoot forward, while also popping your hips around as if you were trying to take the back. Kick your trapped leg through, then triangle it with your other leg.

Next you want to pry their arm free. This has a bunch of options, but to keep it simple (the class was all white belts), reach inside and wriggle the arm out. With your opposite arm, grab on the side of the elbow (another image from Mikal here, saying it's where the joint would be if they were wearing plate armour), while your other hand reaches across to grab their opposite collar.

Pull them over and down towards your non-trapped leg, also yanking their arm in the other direction. Bring your non-trapped leg over their head, sliding your arm to their wrist. From here you can thrust up for the armbar, either using your hip as a leverage point or potentially your knee.

Before we got into technique Mikal and I had a flow roll, which largely consisted of me trying to avoid my feet getting entangled. He was going very light: otherwise he could have submitted me a number of times, such as the calf slicer he had at one point. We also filmed a quick technique video for his YouTube channel: I don't mind being on camera, but I declined the offer to also film myself teaching. That would need a lot more preparation on my part. ;)

Update Aug 2014: The video is now up, so you get to see some great techniques from Mikal, with lots of blinking and awkwardness from me. Hooray! ;)



Mikal also has an interesting variation on shrimping. Rather than pushing off a foot and pushing your hip out, Mikal steps his foot across, almost in a running escape type fashion. He then pushes off from that position for the shrimp. His reasoning is that this makes it harder for them to shove down on your knee to pass, because you're protecting one leg with the other.

After class we headed off to the park. Mikal's partner Marlana (who was responsible for the tasty meal we had back in 2012 and has since had a baby) recently came up with the cool idea of throwing some mats down on the grass to have a roll. It's a nifty advert, so I guess in future they'll have banners and the like to emphasise exactly why there are a bunch of people cuddling each other on some puzzle mats. ;)

That also meant I got to hang out and chat with some of the students, which was very cool. 'Mean' Marlene talked about her background in Mexico and aspirations as a fighter (she not only trains BJJ, but boxing and muay thai as well), while Lacey discused tattoos with me and her fantastic hair. Marlene and Dustin also very kindly drove me both to the park and to Georgette's office, in time for me to get a lift with her to the Gracie Humaita beginner's class.

18/04/2014 - Open Mat in Virginia Beach

Class #559
Olympus Fitness & Martial Arts, (BJJ), Virginia Beach, VA, USA - 18/04/2014

A photo posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Apr 18, 2014 at 12:11pm PDT

I have had a brilliant time in Virginia so far, thanks to both the awesome hospitality of my host Adrienne from The Green Gi and the fantastic group of people who have all come together this weekend. I knew two of them online before - Chrissy Linzy from US Grappling and Leslie from BJJ Grrl - but the others I hadn't interacted with much before. That changed as soon as I headed into Norfolk Airport, where they met me down by baggage claim, then we went out for a meal as a group. This would be the pattern over the next few days, along with fun bits of socialising like a game of Cards Against Humanity on Friday night.

I'd certainly heard of at least one of them before: Val Worthington. She's a black belt who has been active in BJJ for many years, both online and offline. I first encountered her through the BJJ Vision Quest blog she used to write, which I think she is now using as source material for a book (might be on something else entirely: either way, I'll definitely be buying it!). More recently she's known for her insightful articles on the Breaking Muscle website.

Val has also succeeded at the highest levels of competition, so I was very much looking forward to rolling with her. It entirely lived up to my expectations, as Val is a superb training partner. Although she could easily have spent the roll tapping me over and over again, she instead stayed light (but tight: any space I made instantly disappeared), waiting to see what I would do. There are very few people capable of perfectly adjusting to their training partner's level like that: the only ones that immediately spring to mind that I've rolled with are my instructor Kev Capel, Jeff Rockwell, my fellow Artemis BJJ co-founder Dónal and John 'jnp' Palmer. A rare and valuable skill.

In terms of rolling in general (over the hour, I was able to spar with most of the group), I'm still playing more spider guard than I would like, relying on those arthritis-tastic grips. I need to attempt simple feet on hips more, along with that Xande open guard I used to do. Then again, it's not a bad thing to occasionally play with it. I couldn't get the sweep Kev showed me when they're on their knees, though I did manage that simple one Dónal gave me some pointers about recently, where you're just steering them over to the side.

With the addition of turning my head to look over my shoulder and tucking my elbow, that gets a lot more leverage. I wasn't following up all that smoothly though: when I've knocked someone over with that, I need to close the distance more efficiently. I ended up yanking on the arm and using that to crawl to mount or side control.

My passing is also too repetitive: I always push through to half guard then try and knee cut. I need to vary that up more, adding in Dónal's leg squash pass, as well as moving from side to side. It does work, but then if I am against anybody good at blocking me from half guard and/or scuppering the knee cut, I'm stuck.

Under side contol, I'm tending to either over rely on the running escape or move into weird stuff, rather than solidifying the basic guard recovery and turn to knees. For example, I frequently go for the triangle under side control, which really shouldn't be a go to technique. Having said that, if I can get my legs in position, it does often lead to an escape. The problem is most people with experience won't let you push their head and get your legs in place.

The shin in elbow trick (from Beneville's Strategic Guard) is less low percentage: it's something I am getting more regularly now that I've been working on stiff arming their sleeve away from me in the running escape, like Kev showed me. I got an interesting taste of my own medicine on that front, because Adrienne made very effective use of the same principle when we rolled.

Just like her gi company, Adrienne's game is innovative. She uses a lot of gi grips, combined with good flexibility and agility. I managed to pass her guard and was looking to set up the gi tail choke, when Adrienne got a grip on my gi and stuck a leg inside. I didn't think too much of it, as I assumed I could eventually wriggle my hand around and use gradual leverage to free the sleeve.

Instead, I somehow found myself in a tight triangle: very cool attack on Adrienne's part, as I didn't see it coming and was pretty much caught. I was getting close to tapping, then Adrienne eased off slightly, as I think she thought it wasn't on. I walked over towards he head, then popped free after a slow wriggle.

Immediately after the roll, I realised my neck was sore. It's hard to know if I'm getting the balance between testing out my defence to see if there is a way out, or just being stubborn to the point of hurting myself. Seeing as my neck was sore, I would strongly suspect I was closer to the 'stubborn and stupid' end of the spectrum this time round. ;)

After one last roll with Leslie, I decided to stop at that point, in case I aggravated my neck. It wasn't too bad, but seeing as I've got lots more training to do on this trip, resting it made sense. I rolled with almost everybody, including Brian, who is much, much bigger than me. Despite that size difference, like Val he is good at adjusting his pace. I never felt like he was using strength or size: with some big guys, I don't feel safe and avoid engaging. With Brian, I felt totally comfortable: we rolled again right after the first time.

Tomorrow there is a Dave 'Rock' Jacobs seminar. That's perfect, as it means not only do I get to train with a top black belt, I can also continue to rest my neck as seminars are normally all technique with optional rolling at the end. I'm also looking forward to trying out a suggestion Leslie made: she uses the gi tail grip from guard for a choke, grabbing next to the initial hand with her other hand, then bringing her arm around their head to set up the choke. Sounds cool! :)

15/03/2014 - Legacy BJJ at Urban Kings

Class #550
Urban Kings, (Legacy BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 15/03/2014

I haven't had a whole Saturday morning and afternoon in London to myself for a good while, so I determined to make the most of it. I started off with an exhibition at the National Gallery that caught my eye (to ignore my babble about art and skip straight to training, click here), as it focused on the Northern Renaissance, specifically Germany. It wasn't as large as I had hoped - I had wrongly thought it would be some extensive examination, when it was in fact a tightly curated narrative - but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I especially liked the engraving of St Christopher by Albrecht Altdorfer, which I think is normally in the British Museum. I thought it looked surprisingly modern, almost like a piece of comic book art, rather than something from 16th century Germany.

The strength of Strange Beauty was the excellent audio guide and clearly defined structure. There was nothing haphazard about the arrangement of works around the rooms: they were all there to tell the story of how German art first entered the National Gallery collection. That meant not only did you get to see some of those early additions, you also got the full context, with comparative paintings put alongside. For example, when discussing the low reputation of German painting back in early 19th century Britain, there is the useful counterpoint of the kind of painting that was admired, exemplified by Raphael.

Much of the exhibition is made up of paintings from the National Gallery's own collection, but I still felt I got my money's worth due to the insights from the audio guide. I pretty much never go round an art gallery these days without one. Some audio guides fall down on a lack of coverage, picking out the odd painting but leaving most untouched, but this one was relatively broad. It also often went beyond the pieces with the specific audio guide marker on them, giving you orders like "now turn to the painting on the left".

The big names at Strange Beauty are Holbein, Cranach and Dürer, along with a few others you may have heard of too, like Altdorfer. It's not all paintings. they are bolstered by miniatures, medals and even original documents discussing the purchases of some of the works. A ticket will set you back £7, while that audio guide is another £3 (I think, as I paid a tenner, but that might be the £1 Gift Aid). Looking around at reviews of the show, a number of them complained about paying to see works that would normally be available for free. Personally, I don't begrudge the fee: that lack of entrance fee to the main collection is a wonderful privilege.

It took me around an hour and a half to explore the exhibition fully, though I go quite slowly. Head right down the bottom of the Sainsbury Wing: Strange Beauty is in the basement all the way down the stairs, down from the cloakroom and main ticket desk a few floors up. Remember to buy your ticket from that desk before you descend into the depths of the gallery.

_______________________

Ever since Jude set up his new club, I have been meaning to pop down and check out the class. It has taken me so long to finally make the time that the club isn't really 'new': Legacy BJJ has moved location several times, with at least one person there who wasn't training when I last saw Jude but is now a purple belt. I guess five years is a pretty long time. ;)

The current home of Legacy BJJ is near Kings Cross Station at the swish Urban Kings gym. It's a classy venue, from the front desk through to the card-operated turnstiles, the extensive weight training facilities, boxing ring and a matted area. Even the bench by the lockers in the changing rooms is upholstered with plush padding all along its length. It therefore also isn't cheap, with a day rate of £20 (I've heard RGA is the same, but that's from quite a few years ago now). Bring a padlock with you for the locker: the showers have soap and shower gel in them, but you'll need your own towel.

I was mainly there because I wanted to catch up with Jude. He was one of my first instructors, along with Felipe, and he's also the guy who awarded me my blue belt back in 2008. Naturally I was hoping to get in some training as well, which on Saturday at Legacy BJJ is open mat. After the warm-up, Jude moved into a few drills, starting with the basic bullfighter pass, then a slightly more complex option. Interestingly, Jude split his demonstration between a technique for the advanced students then another for the beginners. For example, x-pass for the advanced student, for the beginner, just stand up in guard and push the leg down. This is something Ricardo da Silva also did when I was at Nova Forca: it's a sensible approach to mixed ability classes.

There was then some specific sparring from guard, with the person on top looking to pass and the person on the bottom trying to sweep or submit. My guard passing remains terrible, consisting mostly of stalling. I stayed on my toes, trying to keep my balance and looking for an opportunity. That means that it becomes a matter of waiting to be swept or submitted rather than initiating any kind of technique. It's a bad habit I still haven't shaken off, especially when I'm visiting another school.

Moving into the free sparring, I had the useful experience of getting beaten up by three higher level partners. First up was a brown belt, who proceeded to easily dismantle my guard, immediately passing. I'm not sure if it was a leg drag or a basic bullfighter pass, but either way my guard was completely useless. I'm being too passive as ever, so I should work more proactively to get some kind of grip with both my hands and feet. It happened three times, IIRC: on the third occasion I tried to get into what I hoped was the stronger position of Kev's sitting guard, but got passed exactly the same way.

The vast majority of my sparring time was spent in the running escape position. Both the brown belt and the purple belt I went with next treated it the same way Kev had warned in our last private: halfway to a leg-drag pass. I did manage to grab a sleeve and stiff arm, but couldn't convert that into some kind of escape. Their knee pressed firmly into my leg made making space difficult. I also attempted to hook the leg into the empty half Kev had demonstrated, but couldn't get any purchase. I was perhaps still too flat and not pushing off them to make some space, in the way Dónal advised back in his private on the same topic a while ago.

I swung my legs through a few times, though I can't remember who that was against, but not sufficiently to make any headway with guard recovery. I'd just bounce off their arm or side and end right back under side control in the running escape position. More commitment to the leg swing might help, along with making more space initially for the swing.

I ended up squashed under mount with the brown belt too, who gradually got tighter walking up into my armpits (I couldn't get my leg flat on the ground to attempt the heel drag: Saulo's escape where he bridges into their leg then pushes it to half guard could have been worth trying too), then switched to s-mount. I had expected him to drop back for the armbar, when I thought I might have a small chance to try and escape during the transition, but he simply pushed my arm outwards for an americana. It also makes me think I should be trying s-mount more myself, as I often have trouble finishing from mount.

Jude unsurprisingly made me feel like a white belt. He was taking it easy, waiting for me to do something, but I was unable to do a whole lot. Jude watched as I moved into a lasso spider guard, then totally failed to disrupt his base at all. I was trying to push into his non-lassoed arm to get him to stand-up, like Kev showed, but he didn't budge. Switching to the running escape at some later point, I was flopping around ineffectually as usual against higher belts. Jude gradually moved to take the back and then choked me, I think. So, our most recent roll probably wasn't much different to our last one back in 2009. ;)

Rolling finished with a purple belt who is also an MMA fighter. He stuck with a very relaxed pace and like Jude was waiting to see if I did anything. Again, much of the roll was spent with me in the running escape looking for an opening. It is always good to spar with people better than you, along with people at the same level and people who aren't as experienced. Given my current situation, most of my sparring partners are new, meaning it's especially useful visiting mature clubs like Jude's and Kev's.

I need to keep improving my woeful guard, creating better angles and being careful of grips (both in terms of breaking theirs and establishing my own). My passing still needs loads of work, where again angles might help: I tried sitting on the leg as per the Dónal private from a while back but my positioning was off. Pinning the legs with good grips would help too. Under mount, I'd like to incorporate that Saulo escape in there, as it looks like a good option when you've messed up and they've gotten high up into your armpits. Finally, back escapes and over-reliance on a stalling running escape. On the positive side of things, I was grabbing the sleeve, so taking my own advice of breaking down techniques into components, that's something I can hopefully build on. :)