29/10/2013 - Jamie at GB Bristol (Running Escape & Guard Recovery)

Class #533
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Jamie Horsman, Bristol, UK - 29/10/2013

Jamie (who received his well-deserved purple recently) taught the class tonight, teaching the running escape. Jamie began with the version Saulo teaches on Jiu Jitsu Revolution 1. They have near side grips. Bridge to make some initial space. Your aim is to create a gap so that you can turn on your side, getting your hand past their near shoulder: Jamie noted here that you only want to turn a certain amount, so not so far that they can start crushing their weight down onto you. Use that hand as a block, then step out with your bottom leg. Be careful you don't elbow your partner in the face as you do that, especially if you're pushing off their shoulder with your hand. That was followed by a slight variation, where rather than a big step out with the bottom leg, you 'scissored' them to enact the turn.

Jamie also covered the basic guard recovery, where you bridge, shrimp out, then insert your knee, shrimping again to establish guard. Geeza added in some useful details, as when he gets to that knee-in position, he uses it to shove their leg back. He can then bring his outside leg around to secure what he calls 'good' half guard (which he's mentioned before). In that position, you can retain control while also staying relatively mobile, which is much more difficult if you are instead holding half guard by wrapping inside their leg.

Sparring started with specific work from side control, before getting into free sparring. I had an enjoyable light roll with Tony, as he was injured: we played from guard. I wasn't able to do much about his base and he also prevented me from securing that deep Relson grip. Sweeping wasn't getting me too far either, as I wasn't combining techniques: I have a bad habit of going for a sweep, they post out, then I don't capitalise by transitioning to disrupting that arm.

I kept things light with Berry, who is also injured, looking to get on top. Attacking the turtle, I had a quick go for the Gerbi choke Kev taught on Sunday, but there was no way I was going to be able to feed that gi tail through. I'll keep having a play with it when I'm attacking turtle, as it's useful to have something other than the Felipe-style clock choke to go for (which is the main thing I currently attempt from turtle).

One of the white belts mentioned something interesting at the start of class, about how they've been having lots of success going for Ezequiels from side control. I only think of that submission from mount (and I guess I have to admit it is possible from inside somebody else's guard, but not something I use from there). I hadn't ever considered it as a side control attack, so that could be a fun variation to try.

20/10/2013 - Study Hall (Closed Guard Passing & Side Control Chokes)

Class #530
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 20/10/2013

Dónal wasn't able to make it to Hit Fit this week, so study hall was my only bit of training, aside from teaching on Tuesday. That only happens once a month though, so hopefully I'll be able to work something out so I'm at least getting in two classes rather than just the one.

I continued working on the closed guard, this time passing rather than from the bottom, trying to maintain my posture and practice grip breaks. I'm teaching them next week, so I'm still attempting to work out the best combination of techniques. I will probably put grip breaks and posture in the first section, then opening the guard from the knees. The question is whether to also add in a pass: I think what I'll do is show the guard break, then tell people they can drill that, or stick around for a passing option.

Practicing the grip breaks is useful, though I still feel with the two-handed sleeve grip break I'm not ending up with their sleeve in the optimum hand. Something I can keep playing with. The one-handed 'y' grip break doesn't work too well for me, but I'll continue playing with it anyway. I'm also not sure about the hierarchy of grip breaks: e.g., if they are holding both my collar and my sleeve, I am tending to break the collar grip first, but perhaps I should be dealing with the sleeve first.

Moving into the guard break, the kneeling option works fine in drilling, but in sparring I will often get knocked off balance or my grips get stripped. However, getting in reps is valuable: I don't want to get into the resistance part too early, as simply doing lots of reps is productive too. I feel fairly confident once I can get a grip around the head, but at the same time, I don't want to get sloppy about the legs and try to crush through.

With regards to the side control chokes, I'm continuing on with the options from that private a while ago. The breadcutter puts a lot of pressure on the neck, so I want to work on that being a blood choke, not a simple pain compliance type thing. Interestingly, it worked better as a choke when I was practicing on somebody bigger, but that might have just been a more careful application on my part.

I struggle with the second grip for the baseball bat choke, which was too shallow a number of times today. I also tried using their gi lapel for the first grip, then for both grips. It was more effective when I used it for both grips, acting as a anchor so I could squeeze into the neck with my forearms. Apparently I was easing off at one point, so I'll need to be careful I'm not letting off the pressure.

After that, I ended up doing a bunch of teaching, but that's cool as I enjoy practicing that too. It's useful to try and work through problems people are having and see if I can come up with something of use. Speaking of which, Geraldine told me that she managed to get the step-over triangle twice in nogi, which is awesome as that's what we were working on last week. :D

13/10/2013 - Study Hall (Closed Guard Posture Break & Side Control Chokes)

Class #529
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 13/10/2013

I'm continuing with drilling offence from closed guard, attempting to develop a series that starts with breaking their posture into the gi tail control. If that doesn't work, I want to add the windscreen wiper sweep. Should I be unable to break their posture and they lean back to resist, I can switch to a sit-up sweep.

I'm still not quite sure how best to put those all together, but it's been helpful playing with it for the last few weeks in an open mat environment. I plan to teach something on the topic next week too, which should give me some further ideas. The sit-up sweep has been by far my most successful sweep for as long as I can remember, but strangely I haven't taught it yet in the two and a half years I've been an instructor, so that will be fun. :)

With the gi tail grip, I'm still having some trouble keeping their posture broken. People were standing up when I was doing that, though I found I could still finish the choke (although that might just be because I was trying it against somebody less experienced). More reps required. Also, I need to make sure I'm getting plenty of gi material, rather than snatching at it. If I can't get that grip and they're posturing up, I should be going into the sit-up sweep as before.

Geraldine wanted to work on side control chokes, which was perfect as that's what I wanted to work on too. She saw a specific step over triangle set-up that she wanted to try, from Jay Pages (IIRC). From a sort-of scarf hold position, he grabs their arm, then shoves his bottom leg into that arm. As he is still pulling with his grip, that should wedge their arm in place. His other leg then steps over to trap their arm in place, meaning he can then transfer his grip to hold on with his other arm.

From there, he can now step over their head with the raised leg, moving into the triangle position as usual. Drilling this with Geraldine reminded me to be careful of the neck. Especially when you're drilling this repeatedly, you have to watch out you're not twisting their neck into awkward positions, such as when you're adjusting your legs to lock in the triangle. I also played around with the chokes from the private lesson, but need to rewatch the video.

06/10/2013 - Study Hall (Closed Guard Offence)

Class #527
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 08/09/2013

Dónal was in charge tonight, but unlike previous open mats, this was more regulated. Rather than just everybody heading off to do their own thing, Dónal ran us all through a series of drills first. This was in keeping with what he's been showing over at Hit Fit, practicing various backstep motions related to passing the guard (like in Black Belt Requirements).

I don't think I'm remembering these in order, but the first one might have been where you're passing the guard, but they turn into you. Push on their knee, then replace that with your leg on their thigh, backstepping to move to the other side. They repeat the motion and you move back to where you started, re-initiating the loop. Same thing we did in a private a while ago. Another one, you're stood up, one hand on their hip, other hand into their same side knee. Push the knee away while still holding the hip so they can't shrimp out, then collapse onto them for side control.

If they are lifting you up and about to land the butterfly sweep, on the side they are hooking and lifting, turn your hips in the exact same motion from the first drill. You can then backstep off their hook and end up going straight into side control. That's the same thing Roy Dean shows. The final option I can remember is where they are in butterfly guard, they have one knee raised. Bring your same side knee up and use it to push their knee down. Your opposite hand goes onto their knee, turning the hand so you can stiff-arm into the crook of their knee. That stiff arm stops them recovering their position, so you can pass to side control or maybe even get right to the back.

The class was then split into drilling and sparring, so I naturally wanted to drill. My focus today was closed guard, particularly breaking their posture. I wanted to get them in the gi tail series, but if they resist and pull back, follow them and hit the sit-up sweep. With the gi tail, I think I'm relaxing the pressure on them too much so they can raise up. I could perhaps have a higher guard to bring my legs into it. I'm also not getting the gi tail deep enough when I initially pull it free, which means I don't have enough to grip properly.

When I'm coming up for the sit-up sweep, I need to be aware of the angle to pull back on their elbow/tricep to knock out their posting arm. If I don't, then I am going against their strong point. Could be I'm not bringing my arm up properly as I go for the sweep, because I'm thinking too much about the follow up techniques.

I finished off by playing around with various techniques from the Roy Dean DVD I recently reviewed, along with some baseball bat choke stuff (which I couldn't remember very well, so I must take another look at my notes from the private lesson on that).

25/09/2013 - Dónal Private (Side Control Chokes)

Class #524 - Private #016
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 25/09/2013

This will probably be my last private with Dónal for a while, as I've covered the majority of what I wanted to work on for the next year or two. Today I was keen to add some more side control chokes to my game, along with refining the few I know. Dónal began with the breadcutter choke (I think that's what it's normally called), setting it up by moving towards north-south. They will often reach past your hip when you do that, which leaves a space for you reach under their arm and clamp it to your side.

Move back to side control, then with the hand of that clamping arm, grab behind their neck, gripping in the middle of the collar. Cinch that in. Bring your free arm back towards you, then use that to turn their head away from you. This is in order to expose the side of their neck. Grip their far collar with your free hand (this might require balancing on their chest, turned towards their head, which should also help keep them pinned to the mat), then put your forearm into the exposed side of their neck.

To finish, you need to create some pressure into their neck, in order to close off the artery. Turn towards their legs, in a sort of reverse scarf hold position, then use that base from your legs to lower yourself gradually into their neck, keeping your initial gi grip tight. Be careful, as this can come on quickly and it isn't very comfortable.

A similar option is the baseball bat choke, so called because your hands are in the same position as if they were gripping a bat (or a greatsword, if you want to picture something cooler. 'Greatsword choke' has a nice ring to it, or maybe 'dai-katana choke', for fellow Daggerfall fans. ;p). It's often done from knee on belly, as in the screencap from Roy Dean's Brown Belt Requirements, but I rarely use knee on belly. I much prefer side control, so Dónal showed me the application from there instead.

Again you want to grip the collar behind their neck, but this time you aren't going underneath their arm. Your other hand reaches over to the other side of their neck, gripping the collar just above your first hand: this is where that 'Greatsword grip' (that has a nice ring to it too! :D) comes in. A key detail Dónal adds here is that you then 'engage' your arms. By that, he means tense the muscles slightly, squeezing into their neck. This shouldn't be straining, but enough to create pressure.

From there, spin around to north-south, putting your head by their far hip. Your bum raises slightly for added pressure. Often, they will tap before you get all the way around, because you already started applying to submission as soon as you engaged your arms. It is possible to do this choke by squeezing at the end, but I prefer Dónal's method.

You can also use the gi tail to apply the baseball bat choke: the grip is the same as for the attacks from guard Dónal showed me last week. Yet another option is to do the technique in reverse, so you establish your second grip before the first, in order to overcome their defence. To work out the position you need, set up the baseball bat choke as normal, then before spinning around to finish, look at where you second hand is. Reset, but this time, put that second hand in place first. Switch to the other side, bringing the elbow of your second-grip arm across. Put in your first grip, engaging your arms, whereupon you finish as in the standard version.

The gi tail also comes in handy for a variation from Norbi. They are defending, so their arm is bent, protecting their neck. Wrap their gi lapel on the same side straight over their arm, feeding it to your hand under their head to lock it in place. You can potentially apply an americana from here by lifting their elbow: another tip on that submission is to control their wrist by bringing your chin to your chest, then bring your head to the mat to get their arm into an americana position. If you're not doing the americana, then you just wrap the arm up as above, but use that as an opportunity to establish your grips for the baseball bat choke.

We finished off with the step-over triangle, which is the one technique from today I already use frequently. I first learned it in a nogi class with Felipe Souza back in 2007, along with a few times since, like when Kev taught it in 2010. However, I rarely use the step-over triangle as a submission: normally I just use it for control, then attack the far arm. I have finished the choke occasionally, but most often that happens without a focused effort to get the submission: I just happen to be tighter on the neck than I thought while going for the arm, or the person I'm sparring is less experienced and taps before there is truly the threat of a choke.

Dónal's method had some similarities to the way Roy Dean teaches it on his latest release, Black Belt Requirements (review forthcoming). Like Roy, Dónal also sets it up from scarf hold, stepping over the head, then bringing that leg back to press firmly into their neck. Locking up the triangle, your other leg curls back, then you finish by reaching behind you and pulling their arm and squeezing. The way I've done it in the past was flatter, more like in the picture on the right of Yuki Ishikawa on yellow mats (being careful to lock on the ankle not the foot): it will be good to add Dónal/Roy Dean's method as another variation.

11/09/2013 - Private (Closed Guard Gi Tail Grip)

Class #523 - Private #015
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 11/09/2013

Quite often when I'm sparring and get to closed guard, I'll break down their posture, wrap my arm over their back...then just sit there without much happening. I have several sweeps I like to go for, mainly the windscreen wiper and the sit-up sweep, but I feel I should have a couple of other options to attempt from that position. That's therefore what I wanted to work on with Dónal today: as ever, he more than delivered! :)

Once you've broken down their posture and have wrapped them up, Dónal suggests going for a particular gi grip. If you can get it, that becomes a powerful platform for launching several attacks. To initially get the gi tail grip, put your thumb in their collar as low as you can with your same side hand, while still remaining above their belt.

Slide it down, then briefly remove your leg on that side in order to punch your collar-gripping hand outwards. You don't want to have your leg swung out for too long as that may give them an escape opportunity, so you might also find that you have to do it gradually. Yanking the gi out in one motion is preferable, as then they have less reaction time, but you may not always get that luxury.

Pull that gi lapel across their back, feeding it to your other hand. It should be possible to do this while still holding them down, so don't relieve the pressure on their back. Your other hand should grab the gi lapel with the palm facing towards you. Grip it tightly and pull down, so your forearm is tight against their neck. Bend your wrist towards you, also tilting it slightly towards their neck, so that little bony outcrop by your wrist (on the thumb side) presses into the carotid.

From that grip, there are a number of different attacks. The simplest is a choke, much like the palm up palm down choke, with some similarities to the submission from mount I went through with Berry on Sunday. Punch your grip away from your while also shifting your hips, with the intention of knocking your partner to one side, transferring them towards your non-gi gripping arm side. Ideally that will mean you're now looking at their ear on the non-gi grip side, so can use your free arm to grab the gi material by their shoulder. That arm becomes a brace, then you squeeze and twist with your gi grip for the choke.

If you can't get them across for whatever reason, there is the option of a triangle instead. Put your hand slightly above their same side elbow with your free hand, then shove that backwards, swinging your leg over the top. Make sure you get over their shoulder too, or they can make space to escape. A handy tip when you can't budge their arm from the ground is to pop up on your shoulders and turn: this should lighten their arm, meaning your can scoop under their elbow and pull it across.

From there you can lock up the triangle as normal, though you'll need to release your gi grip first. Having said that, the gi grip is handy for keeping their posture broken as you set up the triangle. It might be possible to get a tap just squeezing with your grip in place and legs locked, but it would be low percentage.

Finally, you can try and take the back. You've set up your position as before, but aren't able to bump them over for the choke or push the arm back for the triangle. You can instead switch your gi grip to pushing their arm across their body, clamping your chest to their shoulder to prevent them pulling that arm back out again. Your other arm reaches for their far armpit, meaning that you can then flip them into the back position.

It's also worth keeping in mind that people may well put their hand on the mat when you initially get that grip, opening up the possibility of getting an overhook. As their hand is on the mat, the classic sit-up series and kimura could be there too, but I would have thought it would be hard to switch from a grip grip into a diagonal sit up and figure four. Still, something to play with.

Also, that gi grip is similar to what Roy Dean demonstrates on Brown Belt Requirements. He starts off from side control, using it for various chokes, before rolling through and applying the same grip from the closed guard. I'm keen to improve my chokes from side control as well, so this could be a good option to investigate next week (especially as it would follow on nicely from today).

I'm off to Doc Martin Land next week, so won't be back training until the week after that. :)

08/09/2013 - Study Hall (Back Escapes)

Class #522
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 08/09/2013

Today's session started off with a brief bit of takedowns, as that's what the people I was partnered up with wanted to do. I took the opportunity to play with some of the Rickson techniques I learned at the Michel Verhoeven seminar recently (later that seminar was handy once again, when I was helping Berry with some cross-choke details). As Arnaud pushed in towards me, I couldn't stop him shoving me backwards down the mat. However, if I switched to pick up his leg, he said he couldn't stop his momentum as he overbalanced, enabling me to put him on his back. I still don't have any intention of competing, meaning takedown practice is rather redundant for me, but it's good to have something to work on when takedowns training is unavoidable.

I'm still not happy with my back escapes, so I'm returning to the same techniques as before (which I suspect is going to be a regular occurrence for a long time). Switching to deep half when they go to mount could do with a lot of improvement. Hooking the leg is something I need to time, as if I do it too soon, I lose my supporting leg and can get rolled to the other side. I therefore should get my back properly to the mat first. A few times, they ended up in mount anyway: I then escape from technical mount, but that's not really the idea.

Another area where I'm having trouble is working out when to move to grabbing their trouser leg. In the scenario where they try to mount, that's useful, as it gives me the possibility of doing what Xande does and recover guard. I'd prefer to get on top, but having somebody in my guard is much better than having them on my back.

I took a different route to the usual progressive resistance. Although that is very useful and I do it frequently, it isn't always as effective at pinning down the specific problem, because it can turn into pseudo-sparring. To further isolate the specific training, I broke the escape down step by step, asking my training partner what their reaction would be at each point. That obviously isn't realistic, but I did find it helpful to work out what to do at which point, as well as different tweaks and responses my partner might have.

For example, Berry liked to switch his arms when I turn away from the choking side, which results in recovering the choking side without having to roll them over (as I taught a while ago). To avoid that, I need better control over the arms, which was a general theme over the whole session.

I focused on clamping my elbow to my side, to trap the arm they had reaching under my armpit. I then looked to also control their other arm, by grabbing the sleeve with that same elbow-clamping arm. I haven't yet worked out the best configuration to lock that in place. At present, they may be able to simply free that arm then pull it out of range. Then again, perhaps that would open up the chance of stepping over it with my leg, trapping it that way? Could work as a nice combination.

Another advantage of gripping like that is I'm using one arm to control both of theirs, leaving one of my arms free. I can use that free arm to grab their leg and being my escape, then reach behind their head and grab their far armpit. That puts me in my preferred cross-facing position. It isn't always easy to get, so I also need a Plan B: perhaps dropping my elbow like Dónal, or somehow getting my weight up onto their chest, or indeed reaching across their neck (again like I've taught before).

I don't often train with Nick because he is so big (literally about twice the size of me), but he's also very technical. Going through the same step-by-step process with him, he had various advice on maintaining the back. If you want to put them back over to the other side, press your heel into their hip on that side (similar to what I learned in the private on bow and arrow chokes). When gripping under their armpit, getting the opposite collar grip is going to be the strongest.

Rather than going to mount when they push off one hook, you can also do a very simple flick under their leg with your remaining hook, then walk around to side control. This does depend on how much mobility you have with their armpit arm, though: if they've really clamped it, you won't be able to turn. Afterwards I realised that this is something I used to attempt, way back in the day, but I think I generally got stuck due to that armpit arm. Nice option to have, either way.

01/09/2013 - Study Hall (Breaking & Passing Closed Guard, Side Control)

Class #520
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 01/09/2013

I was intending to train on Thursday, but as my gf had a bad day at work, I stayed at home so we could go out for a meal (as I've said many times before, BJJ is great fun, but I think your loved ones should always be the priority :D). Today I was looking to get in more work on passing the guard, continuing with the kneeling break. I'll also normally use study hall to practice the techniques I teach, which next week is side control escapes. Fortunately for me, those two things are exactly what my training partner Geraldine wanted to work as well.

I started off with the same guard break, encountering the old problems: keeping that lead hand in place, then getting enough distance to pop the ankles open. It also brought up a common issue that crops up after you've opened the legs, as they will frequently get their knee in their way. This happened to Geraldine in a competition a while ago, IIRC, so I showed her my preferred options for passing the knee shield.

I continued kneeling guard breaks with Berry, whose approach to countering them provided useful pressure-testing. He likes to bounce his hips out the way, as well as trying to break your grip on the hip, rather than the forward arm by their chest. That makes it tough to create the necessary tension to open their ankles, because their hips are free. On the plus side, I can still maintain my posture, because I have the arm on the chest: that gives me the opportunity to reset.

Therefore a key aspect I want to improve is maximising the weight I can drive through their hips. I'll need to experiment with arms positions, grips and also where I'm putting my head. It's possible I'm leaning too far forward or back, so I will keep a closer eye on that next time, to see if it is reducing the efficacy of my hip control when attempting to open the guard.

Through some light resistance, we worked out that switching my arms to the other side can be effective, although that gets a bit tiring. Having said that, the person on the bottom has to work harder, so they will probably get tired before you do. Either way, I don't like getting into battles of attrition, because that comes down to stamina rather than technique. I'll keep trying it, along with working out the right point to switch from kneeling to standing.

Sparring with Geeza helped that further, as he was mainly looking to see if I would flop to my back. I was keen to work on my passing, attempting to return to either combat base or some kind of open guard passing posture whenever I got knocked off balance. Geeza noted that I was using lateral motion, but need to combine that with more forward motion. I was getting stuck on his leg a few times, trying to do a big step over the top, but not pushing forward enough.

Arm control is something important to keep in mind as well. I played around with trying to get them to give me an arm from the kneeling break, which I could then try and pin to their hip. Geeza stopped me at that point to share a handy controlling position. He says cross-grip the arm you want to pin to the hip, then put your other arm across the top, clamping the knuckles of your pinning hand against the wrist that's over the top.

When I was underneath with Berry, I attempted to create angles to slip around the strong pressure of their arms. I also played around with different grips to prevent them posturing back up, which helped slow that process, but didn't open much in the way of submission opportunities, taking the back or sweeping. Or rather, I didn't combine my guard offence well enough.

Finally, I also worked on side control with Geraldine, keeping in mind what I wanted to teach next week. On top, I was focusing on connection with hips and control of their far elbow if they turn away (at one point I failed to control that far elbow, enabling her to spin to turtle). When she turned towards me, I switched to a cross-face, both my normal method and the version Donal suggested, where you just bring the arm in place and turn the elbow upwards.

Underneath I looked to reverse engineer what I'd done on top. I want to break the hip connection, starting with a bridge to make space, then wedge a frame in place (in my case, that's generally getting an elbow to their hip). I managed to partially turn away a few times, but Geraldine did a good job of keeping me under control. The stiff arm escape worked once (Braulio's version, shoving into the armpit and rolling them over), which was cool as I normally mess that up. So, I'll emphasise bridging and frames next week when I'm teaching side control escapes again, as well as the importance of staying tight and remaining calm.

25/08/2013 - Study Hall (Breaking & Passing Closed Guard)

Class #519
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 25/08/2013

Fairly small turn-out today, but still enough for me to get in plenty of drilling on passing the closed guard with a couple of different training partners. The first thing I did was that grip break I saw on BJJ Library, which I think Dave has also put onto YouTube so everyone can see it. When they grab your sleeve, circle your hand underneath theirs. Spread your thumb and index finger, then jam the 'v' shape that creates by the bottom of their hand (just by the start of their palm). Being with your arm bent, then thrust it forward firmly to knock off their grip.

That seemed to work quite well, though sometimes I didn't thrust my hand forward firmly enough, meaning they still had their grip. I'm also not entirely sure I'm putting the 'v' of my hand in the optimum place to generate leverage. I'll keep playing with it, but I think I'm now confident enough that it's functional to add it to the 'preparing the pass' class I'll teach next week. I've taught it before, but will reduce the content a bit, so it becomes just pointers on posture and staying safe in somebody's closed guard, along with some grip breaks.

I then ran through the sequence from the closed guard break and pass private with Dónal earlier this week. It was useful to not just drill it with light resistance, but then also have them try to resist, until finally they did it on me. Especially with Jamie, that brought up several details for me to consider. Drilling with both Luke and Jamie, I felt relatively secure once I had opened the guard and got the cross-face (I just need to make sure I control the far elbow as I pass, so they can't turn away). The danger is mainly earlier on.

To initially get that tight grip on both collars makes it difficult to break their grips, because my hands are already engaged. However, if I have that arm in place near their chest, then their grips aren't as important, because it becomes much harder for them to break my posture. Wriggling back to get the guard open can be difficult, but when I've got it open, I need to kick my foot forward immediately and also watch out for their knee coming across (you can still pass if it does, but it means you need a different pass).

Controlling the hips is an area I've found hard whenever I've tried this pass in the past. The idea is that the hand you have pressing down into their hip helps on that front. Perhaps I just need to focus more on maximising my downwards pressure? That would still seem to leave the other hip open, which I could block with my knee, but I need my need for driving into the tailbone. Again, something to keep practicing in drilling.

With Jamie, he tends to open his guard when he senses you've got into a good guard breaking position. That's a good idea, as you always want to open your guard on your terms. It means I need to react before he does, but also be ready to switch to an open guard pass rather than closed. Jamie's preferred method is probably what I'd do: he aims to break open the closed guard, then immediately pop back and grab the knees, moving into a bullfighter style of pass.

Something else he mentioned, when showing me how he likes to do the break, is that rather than the collars he grabs the belt. The reason I don't normally go for the belt is that if it comes untied you're stuck, but it remains a handy grip when it is tied. That way I don't spend any time fiddling with collars: I'll be giving the belt grip a try too, rather than dismissing it out of hand like I was previously.

21/08/2013 - Private (Closed Guard Break & Leg Pin Pass)

Class #518 - Private #014
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 21/08/2013

I originally was considering doing some more work on closed guard sweeps for today's private lesson, but yesterday's sparring reminded me that my ability to open the closed guard remains really pants. I therefore went for that instead, getting in some basic closed guard breaks. I could have quite happily spent the entire lesson on just that, but as this was a dual private lesson, Liam naturally had some input too. Fortunately, he wanted to work on something closely related, which was passing after you had opened the guard.

The closed guard break from the knees is among the first techniques I ever learned, back in 2006, but I've been struggling with it ever since. Indeed, it was the topic of my first private lesson in 2010, so I've come full circle. The basic method starts by setting up your grips, grabbing both collars with one hand, by their chest, your other hand by their hip. Put your knee under the tailbone, then wriggle back until you can pop their ankles apart. Saulo's version, as per that picture, has the knee off to the side with the leg stretched out, using a sort of dip rather than relying on scooting back.

Dónal added in some small but important details (which he's taught before, but clearly I did not fully understand them). I think the main thing I've been missing is twisting up their collars so that there is no slack when you grip, along with jamming your palm or fist into their sternum to lock it in place. Normally what happens is that I find my arm gets stretched out and lose my posture: by securing it more firmly, that should be avoided. With your hand on the hip, measure it by bringing your elbow back to their knee, then grabbing the material that puts next to your hand.

From there, get your knee underneath their tailbone, meaning they are raised up onto your leg. Curve your back, then slowly wriggling backwards, with your other knee out to the side. In drilling, this was effective, but I suspect I'm going to run into problems when adding in more resistance. Still, both Dónal and Liam were commenting how this is their go-to guard break: I'm hopeful that after today I can finally get it working for me regularly. ;)

The main part of the lesson focused on then passing the closed guard, directly from that guard break: I refer to this one as the leg pin pass. This particular version is one I think I've also seen before, back in 2010 when I was at GB Birmingham, but I didn't understand all the details at the time.

Once you've split the ankles apart, use your elbow or hand to push their knee to the mat. Immediately kick your foot forward into the crook of their knee, then drive your knee to the mat next to their hip. That initial kick, combined with keeping your foot engaged, should twist their leg away from you in such a way that they will find it hard to adjust into a defensive posture.

Your other knee raises up, then pushes forward, so their other leg ends up on your hip. Push your hips in that direction, so that they can't lock their legs back together. Get a cross-face on the grounded leg side, while swimming your arm under their raised leg. From there, do a back-step so you're sat next to them, then drive forward into side control, pushing your knees under their legs so they can't sneak a knee through. You also may need to secure their far elbow, so they can't turn.

Quite often when you are in the middle of that pass, they will try to block your hip with their hand: I certainly do. However, that also means that their elbow is away from their side, which provides you with the opportunity to bring your same side arm (i.e., the one you would have used to cross-face) underneath their arm. Twist your arm so the palm is facing up, scooping under their arm to push it over their face.

Back-step as before, this time bringing your body around so that you're pressuring by their shoulder. Again be sure to also secure their far elbow to stop them turning. From this position, you may well be able to move straight into a gift-wrap and take the back. Alternatively, you may be able to feed their collar to your arm under their head and apply a variety of chokes.

11/08/2013 - Study Hall (Back Escapes & Maintaining)

Class #517
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 11/08/2013

Today I continued focusing on the back, still one of my main weak areas at the moment. Previously I would have said passing the guard was my biggest weak point, but I think the private lessons have helped a lot with that. I wouldn't say I'm confident passing yet, but I at least feel I have an idea where I want to go: previously, I'd end up staring blankly at somebody's open guard.

Having said that, since training at GB Bristol, I've also mainly been rolling with white and blue belts rather than purples and up, which is obviously a very different proposition. For a start, I rarely have people stick me in closed guard, which I should practice against more often. It would be good to get in more rolls with Dónal, as he's the closest to my size, along with the other two purple belts, Miles and Liam, plus high level blues like Tony. There is Geeza too, naturally, but although he's a black belt, he's so much bigger than me that I don't tend to get much of our rolls.

Interestingly, that need for partners with greater experience was mentioned by several of the higher level blue belts I drilled with today. Although there are definitely advantages to having lots of less experienced training partners - the biggest one is that you can test out techniques in which you lack confidence - they don't react the same way as somebody who has been training longer. The ideal situation is a relatively even spread of people who are less experienced, people at the same level and people who have been training longer than you. Hence why it is so useful to occasionally train at other schools, for both that broader range of experience and different games to what you're used to.

I'm teaching maintaining the back next week, so as I try to enable students to practice the techniques they learn in class when I teach, that means I'll also want to keep working on escaping the back. Rewatching a few of the back escape videos in my archive, I realised that the brief section Ryan Hall includes in his DVD on the back looks quite similar to what I learned from Dónal.

There is the same head to the mat process, followed by a switch to deep half when they try to mount. The two escapes I wanted to practice were Hall's take on using your foot to push the opposite hook free. Dónal did cover this in the private, but I don't think I remembered to cover it in the little review video we always do at the end of privates. So, study hall was a good opportunity to practice it.

The first back escape begins by getting your head to the mat, like Dónal demonstrated. You then push their hooking foot off with your opposite heel, immediately bringing your hips over. With that same heel, block the leg you just cleared out of the way. Keep shifting round, then either move to the top (if you're able to control their head in the way I like to), or take deep half and spin to the top.

Drilling that version with Luke (the bigger one: I drilled with both Lukes today ;D) yielded two pointers for improvement. Getting the shoulders to the mat is key: to get them there, I need a bit more explosion. It shouldn't take too much energy, just that extra twist to get myself out of range of most chokes. On that point, bow and arrow type chokes are dangerous, so I can never be complacent: Luke caught me in a very tight grip.

Secondly, something somebody mentioned in the changing room, which is pushing the head across. I have been getting lazy about that and been driving my own head across. If I instead make sure I am actually pushing their head across, that both gets my head in position, but it also puts my shoulders in the right place too.

Another variation Ryan Hall does when you end up on the 'wrong' side. Again, push their foot off with your opposite heel. Pop your hips over, then with that same heel, block the leg you just cleared out of the way. Next is a motion that Xande does on his DVD as well, reaching back with the non-choking side arm and grabbing around their head. From there, turn your hips towards their head, sliding your lower leg through, then securing some variation of side control.

This one was harder to get: I generally found it difficult to push off hooks, especially with Bigger Luke, as he had his feet solidly crossed off to the side (I did at one point try pushing them across to get that classic footlock, but to no avail). It's also important to turn the right way. If I try turning over the top, towards their legs, I will often get stuck.

Turning your hips towards their head instead is easier, but your head then becomes an important extra limb. I drove it up across Smaller Luke's chest (getting a worried squealing noise from the hair on the top of my head: better suited to those with shaved heads, I think). That maintains your control on their upper body.

I also practiced maintaining the back for Tuesday, working both the Marcelo tips and the stuff I was playing with on Friday (though using a single hook for back control is something Marcelo briefly talks about in his book). It seemed to function ok, although after doing it with more resistance I found my left hamstring felt slightly sore afterwards, which indicates I was using too much force on that side (interestingly, that was the free hook, not the one I had threaded through both legs).

Dónal's guard sweeps with the lapel were up next, mainly just getting in reps, before returning to more work on back escapes. I also got to drill lots of guard posture (which fits in nicely with what I said earlier about wanting to practice more against closed guard), because Smaller Luke wanted to practice his overhook guard. Initially that was with no resistance, then we upped it gradually. The big difference for me was going up on my toes, like Caio Terra advises. It isn't comfortable, but it massively increases your ability to drive, resist and adjust when in somebody's closed guard.

07/08/2013 - Dónal Private (Windscreen Wiper & Omoplata Sweep Variations)

Class #516 - Private #013
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 07/08/2013

I went on one of my irregular blog hunts recently, meaning I added a bunch of sites to my blog index. It again reminds me that the best way to connect with other blogs is to comment: I discovered four blogs I hadn't read before just by clicking through comments on Cynthia's adeptly written CAMAMYD blog.
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My closed guard has been languishing for some time. I haven't really managed to make it much of an attacking force, although Dónal's private on the windscreen wiper sweep has helped. I'd like to have two or three effective sweeps from closed guard that can put me where I want to be (so, mount or side control) without risking much loss of control. The windscreen wiper is good for that, as is Henry Akins' hip shift. I want to add a couple more: before this lesson, I had in mind either the scissor and push sweep combination, or the series from the sit-up sweep.

The scissor and push sweep are solid fundamentals, but that does involve opening your guard and creating some space. I could also consider the flower sweep, which seems a bit less open. Considering what grips I tend to get is important too, along with grips that aren't going to burn out my hands or be especially awkward to achieve. I like to get a hand deep in the collar, which can fit with the scissor and push, as well as lending itself to collar chokes (which I'd also like to get better at).

The sit-up sweep doesn't require too much opening, as you remain close to them throughout. It's also the sweep I probably have the most success with in sparring, although that's generally with white belts or early blues. I've also been wondering, from a teaching perspective, if I might fit with Akins' sweep, as the mechanics seemed to have a few similarities.

As it turned out, Dónal went with something a bit flashier than I would normally pick, but those all-important mechanics remained simple. He began with a tweak on the windscreen wiper, where instead of grabbing the gi trousers, he underhooked the leg with his arm. From there, he moved into an interesting sequence that involved securing the bottom of the gi by their leg.

This could fit in with things I've been playing with already. Quite often, I will start pulling out my partner's gi and wrapping it around their arm and/or head. This is generally random, but because I have a purple belt, people often assume I've got some cunning technique in mind (I almost never do: I'm a mediocre purple belt ;D), which results in them extending an arm or shifting their weight. That then hopefully gives me something else.

Dónal's technique means that I can be rather less random with my gi wrapping. Start off by grabbing their gi, low, then pulling it towards you. A typical reaction is for them to pull that gi out of your hand, brushing it behind them because they think that will scupper whatever technique you have in mind. In fact, it puts the gi right where you want it, dangling near their leg. Alternatively, you can try pulling the gi over their arm with your opposite hand, feeding it to your other hand.

That's because either way, that other hand will be underhooking their leg. Use it to grab their trailing gi (whether they put it there or you did), creeping up the lapel to get it as tight by their leg as possible. Note that you want to keep your thumb pointing up, as otherwise you might find your arm getting uncomfortably squashed. For them, this can turn into comparable pressure to a calf slicer. That will make them lean forward. They'll also quite probably try and hug in tight and stay low. Again, this helps your sweep. If you've been able to actually wrap the gi over their arm as well as then underhooking the leg and grabbing, you can go for the windscreen wiper sweep again.

If they've pulled their arm free, you have the option of an omoplata sweep. The key motion for this private lesson is contained within that technique. Start by bridging up onto your shoulders, then swinging out your far leg. Keep the heel of your near leg stuck into their side (basic physics: you want the end of the lever, not the middle). As you spin, you also want to make sure your spine stays on the ground. Swivel perpendicular, then kick forward.

A full omoplata sweep involves rolling through so they pass over your body, whereupon you come up in a sort of side control, but you're sitting on their arm. I prefer the other position we ended up with, where you do a similar motion to knock them over, but come up into a sort of technical mount instead rather than rolling them over you.

Rather than kicking into their arm for the omoplata sweep, this option is based around blocking their knee, for which Dónal had two options, both starting from closed guard. They raise one knee to begin their pass. Pop your hips up onto the leg that is still kneeling and grab their same side sleeve. With your other hand, reach underneath your own back and grip the inside of their gi trousers, to maintain control of the knee on the floor.

As before, do the same omoplata sweep motion where you swing out your legs, keeping your spine on the mat rather than raising up on one side. That should knock them over. The other variation is for when they still have both knees on the ground. Pop your hips up onto their knee like the first variation, but rather than grabbing their knee, you're going to reach further, putting the back of your hand on the outside of the knee (you'll find it easier if you turn your body, facing the opposite side). Finish with the same swinging motion as before.

In both variations, the motion to knock them over leaves your hips pointing towards their arm, which potentially works well for dropping directly into an armbar. Personally, I'm not comfortable with that, as it feels more scrambly: I would rather sweep into a solid, controlling mount, then work from there. To do that you need to be turning your hips and curling a leg underneath as you come up. I also think I feel more comfortable with the first variation, as that twist makes me a little wary, but I'll test it out at study hall.

04/08/2013 - Study Hall (Back Escapes & Chokes)

Class #515
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 04/08/2013

Just like last week, I wanted to continue working on back escapes, especially as I'm teaching it on Tuesday. The main thing that came up at last week's study hall was preventing them from turning to mount. I rewatched my videos from those private lessons and re-read my notes, from which I gathered that while blocking the leg to stop them turning was a good option, often going to deep half is the best idea.

I practiced blocking their turn a few times, clamping more tightly than last time, so that I wasn't just hooking over their top leg but also hooking behind their lower leg. I then moved on to practicing the switch to deep half and sweeping. The Homer Simpson sweep from there is one option, but you could also try for the sweep I learned at the University of Jiu Jitsu in San Diego about a month ago, which relies more on lifting their leg up with your own.

I also wanted to practice chokes from my most recent private, particularly the bow and arrow choke. Initially I had a go practicing chokes with a white belt, who upon being told that he could resist during the drilling immediately clamped down. It is often good to train with beginners because they won't react in the way you expect: he basically just got a death grip on both of my wrists, which made for an interesting challenge.

I ended up trying to swim through and get an arm across the neck, then see if I could grab some collar. If I did get the collar, it wasn't generally a good enough grip to move into the bow and arrow. I also kept forgetting to hook their leg in to grab it and then use as a base point. That's also something I kept forgetting when I had a more technical bit of drilling practice with Berry.

Getting yourself upright is one of the harder parts of the bow and arrow, it seems. I tried pushing off the same side choking leg as I'd been shown in the private, but still struggled. However, I did find that you can try bringing the other arm behind the head to finish off the bow and arrow if you're struggling. I'm not sure that is a viable option, as it was just drilling, but something to play with.

I finished off by rolling with Geeza, who I don't often spar against. That's because he is so much bigger: as a general rule, much larger opponents are less beneficial for my learning, but for working defence, they're great. Of course, Geeza is also a black belt, so that helps a lot too. I asked if he could start on my back, which meant I got choked repeatedly, but it was a useful reminder that I should put myself in bad positions against skilled opposition more often.

Geeza had some advice for defending the multiple ways he choked me. He used a different method requiring a different defence each time, but the main thing I remembered was grabbing the elbow. I think for the bow and arrow he suggested grabbing their elbow with both hands and pulling it over your head. Again, something else for me to work on, alongside general back defence.

01/08/2013 - No Gi (Passing Quarter Guard)

Class #514
Gracie Barra Bristol, (No-Gi), Miles Pearson, Bristol, UK - 01/08/2013

The schedule for nogi has changed slightly, as classes are now 19:30-21:00 rather than 19:00-20:30. That works out quite nicely, as it means I can eat with my girlfriend rather than having to eat sandwiches on my own to make sure I'm leaving enough time between eating and training (I like to leave at least an hour, preferably two). Tonight we were continuing on top mount, but interestingly due to the position Miles picked, it combined elements of passing half guard as well, along with back control.

That's because both techniques were based around quarter guard, which is a common term for when they've trying to get half guard, but have only managed to trap your foot (as per the picture, although most often, you would be in more of a mount position with both knees on the mat: Saulo is most of the way through a half guard pass). This is BJJ, so I'm sure there are a bunch of other names for the same thing. It is something I first encountered as a new blue belt, back in August 2008, when Rob T mentioned it as a way to escape knee-on-belly.

The basic quarter guard pass (which you could argue is also part of maintaining mount), begins by reaching under the armpit on the same side as your trapped knee. Grab their same side shoulder, locking it in, then complete the immobilisation of their skull by clamping your head to the other side. This should stop them being able to turn. Raise up your legs (maintaining plenty of pressure on their upper body: you have the control points of their head and at least one shoulder, making it tough for them), then slide your trapped knee to the other side of their body. From here you should be able to slide free. If you need to create more space to extricate your trapped foot, use your free leg to kick their upper knee.

Miles followed up with a far more complicated and lower percentage response, where you end up taking the back. I would never use this in sparring, but as I very frequently use the heel drag escape from mount (which begins with quarter guard), it is good to know that the person on top might attempt this. After they put you in quarter guard, adjust your foot so you're hooking over their top foot with your shin. The idea is to keep it in place, as if they can uncross their legs, the back take will fail.

Next, turn your body towards their legs, away from your trapped side, pushing your free foot into the heel/ankle of your trapped foot. Do a static forward roll motion, bringing your arm between your legs (as much as you can do while sat astride somebody). Reach for their trailing leg and grab it, then extend your legs (watch out that you don't end up doing a calf slicer, unless you're trying this technique in a competition setting that allows slicers). Hopefully this will put you into a sort of banana split position, where you immediately wrap your arms around their nearest leg, still pushing on your own foot to get the rotation. From there, you're going to try and take their back by again adjusting to grab the neck.

Sparring started off with specific from quarter guard, king of the hill, split into group. Staying on top, I found that in that position you need to immediately go for something as they have already initiated your escape. If you delay, they'll probably get at least to half guard. I therefore went straight to underhook the shoulder, or if I couldn't get that, gripping their head and/or armpit. I generally managed that, though a few times I found myself in half guard.

Underneath, I could normally finish the heel drag, as that is my favourite escape. Once or twice I ended up just opening space, but could then use the butterfly type escapes I taught last week to complete my exit from underneath them. The most complex situation was when Luke attempted the rolling back take we had just learned, but fortunately for me he didn't have control of my legs. That meant I could swivel through and end up in his guard (helped by the fact he is much bigger than me, so inevitably leaves space I can exploit, particularly in nogi).

I'm still watching the Essential Grips clip from No Gi Essentials before each nogi class, which has therefore been my focus when it came to free sparring. Previously I found it really difficult to get the wrist and elbow grip Dean advocates as everything was so sweaty, but tonight it was perhaps a bit cooler as I managed it a few times. I didn't do a whole lot with it, but just getting the grip was an improvement from before, as I could then push into their hips with my feet.

The knee cut worked a few times, helped by the slipperiness. I wasn't doing a whole lot with submissions, though I randomly ended up in a vague head and arm choke type position. Very sloppy though: the first tap was just from their arm being pressed into their mouth, so that wasn't anything to rely upon. I was in the middle of trying to set something up when that happened, so hadn't even realised they were in that position.

I also again landed the Henry Akins sweep, this time without them putting their knee in my tailbone. I'm liking the mechanics of it, so plan to keep on testing it whenever I'm in closed guard, gi or nogi.

28/07/2013 - Study Hall (Back Escapes)

Class #513
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 28/07/2013

Back escapes have been a weak area for me for a long time, which is why I did two private lessons on them a while ago. However, I haven't been implementing one of the key points from those privates: I'm still clamming up and jamming my hands to my neck. Drilling should hopefully wean me off that habit, so I wanted to purely concentrate on back escape for today's study hall, with increasing levels of resistance.

The version I want to get good at is a tweaked bridging back escape. I've also begun incorporating that into my teaching of the back escape. My training partner today was Geraldine, who as ever proved to be very helpful in highlighting a few issues with my technique. We started off just drilling it light so I could get some reps in: initially I forgot to angle my knee to prevent them rolling, but remembered that later.

As we started upping the resistance in later rounds, the main problem that came to light wasn't my excessively defensive grip by my neck. Instead, it was preventing them bringing the leg over to take mount. I tried hooking the leg, but that either meant I lost my brace against being rolled the other way or it didn't seem to make much difference (meaning I'm clearly doing it wrong). Pinching my knees fare a little better but wasn't entirely reliable either. I briefly attempted shifting to deep half, but just got stuck under mount.

I'm pleased I've now got some well-defined areas I can keep practicing. Next time, I'll isolate the mount defence part, then build up the resistance on that. Back escapes could easily keep me busy for the foreseeable future, though I also want to make sure I'm drilling techniques that I'm due to teach the following week, along with whatever I've learned from the most recent private lesson.

I was also able to get in a bit of sparring at the end, starting with Dónal. He was going light, or I would have just been mercilessly crushed, but it was nevertheless a useful exercise in attempting to retain guard and transitioning between positions. We briefly ended up in 50/50, which I know for a fact was Dónal being playful: he knows I hate all the flashy stuff like that. ;)

My rolling finished up with Geraldine, where I looked to practice the ezequiel series from mount (although I didn't get to the ezequiel part, moving directly into the tight americana against the leg). I hopefully wasn't putting on too much pressure, but then as I know she's preparing for a competition in a couple of weeks, should be ok. She's more than capable of holding her own, of course: it's difficult to pin her down as she has good hip movement and escapes.

That injury I've had since September is STILL not entirely gone away, but I'm not sure whether it is paranoia on my part. I very much hope it's just me being paranoid, rather than a gradual slide into the same strain I had before. Bleh. To end on a positive note, these study hall classes continue to be a really cool addition to the schedule. Attendance was great today as well: it was good to everyone supporting the Sunday sessions. :)

24/07/2013 - Dónal Private (Bit of Mount, Maintaining & Chokes from the Back)

Class #512 - Private #012
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 24/07/2013

I started off by asking about mount escapes, in case Dónal had any tweaks to add. I'm relatively clear on what I need to do when escaping mount, but I'm always looking to add more details or just different perspectives. Dónal had two suggestions: firstly, bump them with your knee to lighten their legs for the heel drag (a useful tip in general, which I think I initially heard in the context of half guard). There was a quick point from on top, where Dónal mentioned that to stop them getting on their side for the heel drag, Norby likes to put his body next to their head.

Secondly, if you're making a frame against their hips, turn your hand so it is palm towards the mat rather than pointing back towards you. Kesting recently had a video on that as well, where he suggests making a fist rather than open hand, in order to make it harder for them to knock your hand off and break the frame.

That didn't take very long, so for the rest of the hour we focused on the back. To being Dónal offered some suggestions for maintaining the back. They will be looking to escape by turning away from your choking arm, getting onto their side. To prevent them slipping free, tighten your hamstring by their choking arm side leg. You don't have to sit there tensing, as you're just looking to block them whenever you feel that leg try to move. If they are unable to bring that leg into action, then they'll struggle to both slide across and also use their foot to push off your heel.

If you can't get your seatbelt grip, dig your hand under their elbow on the non-choking side and pry it up, until you can slip that hand through. From here, you will often find they try to grab your choking hand. An effective way to break that hold is to put your non-choking hand on top of their same side forearm, palm up. Reach your choking hand to grasp your non-choking arm (you'll probably only manage a couple of fingers, but that is enough).

Bend your non-choking hand backwards, at the same time twisting your choking hand in the same direction, still holding on. This should be uncomfortable on their wrist. To finish extricating your arm, wriggle your non-choking wrist sideways into their arm, which should pop their hand out of the way. As soon as you knock it free, unclasp your hands and grab the meat part of their hand with your non-choking hand. From there you could push it down and step your leg over to trap it, or simply hold it in place with your hand.

You can now move into some attacks. Your first option is the short choke from last week, which you can do either grabbing onto their shoulder or holding the gi, then driving your shoulder into their head. Alternatively, there is Dónal's option, where the elbow is on their shoulder and you squeeze your arm together for the choke. A stronger option is the classic bow and arrow from the back. If you're still on your side, you need to get them upright: push on their choking side leg with your same side foot, shoving it forwards to bring them up off their side.

Don't make your initial grip on their collar too tight, or you'll lack the range to finish the choke. If they're got a GB gi on, you're gripping at roughly the 'G' from the ugly Gracie Barra patch along the jacket. Next you want to get hold of their non-choking side leg. With your same side heel, dig that by their knee and curl your leg back. That should bring their trouser leg in range for you to grab with your free hand, establishing a good anchor point.

Switch your non-choking side foot to hook around their far hip. That acts as a useful leverage point to swing your other leg out (you want to end up upright, rather than falling to one side). Your aim is to drop them into a space between your legs, rather than having them resting on your lap. Bring your choking elbow back to hide it near your hip. If you don't, they have a chance to reach back and pull on your elbow to try and escape. At this point, you will also probably need to release a few fingers, leaving you with two or three fingers. It ends up looking quite different to the version Roy Dean shows in the picture on the right, as Dónal doesn't extend his body like that or use the same grips.

That increases your range, but note that they will most likely attempt to grasp that hand and yank on it to remove your control. Two fingers gives more range, but feels weak on that situation: drilling, I felt more comfortable with three, especially if you imagine you're with a muscle-headed white belt looking to rip your hand off.

21/07/2013 - Study Hall (Mount Escapes)

Class #511
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Study Hall, Bristol, UK - 21/07/2013

Today I wanted to drill mount, mainly escapes but a bit of top as well (from the private earlier this week, though I didn't do much of that). That's because I'm teaching mount escapes next week, so wanted to have a play with the techniques to see if I could refine any details. I started off with the bump and frame to butterfly, a relatively basic technique. This isn't an option I often go for, but I do regularly use some of the principles, as per the drilling for some variations later on.

First of all you need to get their hips in range. It was difficult to land this escape if they're still upright, although in that case you would probably go for something else. Knock them forward with a bump and biffing them with your knee. As soon as they're horizontal, frame your arms into their hips and do a powerful bridge (heels as close to your bum as possible, pushing high, on your toes). Stiff arm into both their hips to keep them in the air long enough to bring both your knees through.

You can then kick forward with both legs, using the momentum to also sit up. This should put you directly into butterfly guard, where you can immediately sweep them. If they are still upright, you can sort of still do it sloppily by jamming as much of your knees as you can into the space you create. It ends up being one or one and a half knees, knocking them off to the side at best. Still, that can work too, and will almost certainly be better than staying stuck under mount.

Working on that same principle, I then wanted to do some drilling for technical mount escapes too. I think this particular technique is something I ended up doing naturally a while back, but I've also been taught it by Kev several years ago. The basic idea is wedging something under the leg that they've stepped over. I started off by grabbing it with both arms, shoving the leg forwards as I brought my knee into the space, then using that as a butterfly hook to knock them off.

You need to be careful that first they don't strip your grips (it is much harder to do with just one hand, but not impossible): keeping your elbows tight can help with that, but you also have to be aware of chokes. Secondly, be careful of them immediately passing as you try and knock them off with the butterfly hook. Thirdly, they may be able to scupper your escape completely if they grab lower on the leg you're trying to use to insert your knee before you get started.

Even if you only manage to get a bit of your knee under their leg, you might be able to switch into a sort of x-guard type thing by swinging the other leg around the outside to push on their hip. It looks like just the kind of position Mike would like, so quite possible he's studied something on the topic over at MGinAction: I'll have to ask him next time I see him.

If you get stuck, you could combine it with Saulo's technical mount escape. This isn't something I've tried much, as it feels risky, but I'm going to start drilling it more often as an alternative. Saulo stiff arms with one arm, the other staying back to help defend the neck. Having bent their leg outwards, he then simply sits up at an angle. I find that I end up in a vulnerable position inside their guard if I'm not careful of my pushing arm, as that can put you on your side asking to get your back taken. The principle works though, so just needs more drilling on my part to get used to it.

18/07/2013 - No Gi (Side Control to Mount)

Class #510
Gracie Barra Bristol, (No-Gi), Miles Pearson, Bristol, UK - 18/07/2013

There was an impressive turn-out for the nogi class tonight, with thirteen hardy souls braving the heat. The ridiculous temperatures (for the UK) have continued, with upwards of 30 degree Celsius. Miles was covering some basic transitions from side control to mount, beginning with the Gracie Barra Fundamentals syllabus method. Get a secure gable grip and cross-face as normal, bringing your knees in tight. You're then going to try and slip under the near arm with your knee. The GB Fundamentals version involves turning your knees towards their legs, then shifting back to dig under their elbow with the outside of your nearest knee.

You're then going to walk your far hand up past their head, creeping up the mat with your fingers until their arm is squished by their face. If you can, put your head next to it as well for additional control and the potential of switching to a head and arm triangle. Having dealt with the near arm, you should be able to get your hips high up by their head. That gives you loads of room to slide your knee over. To go to mount, drive that knee up into their far armpit, to avoid giving them a chance to snatch half guard.

The second version starts the same, except this time you switch your hips towards their head to get that near arm. The idea is to scoop it up with your hip, grabbing their far shoulder and pulling yourself up their body if necessary. You then twist them up like before, but instead of driving your knee into the armpit, drive it to their hip and push back. That should give you the space to 'fishtail' (turning your body and slapping your lower leg to the mat), after which you immediately bring your leg into their armpit for control.

My main goal for sparring was continuing to work on my nogi grips, following my own advice to focus on small components of techniques. I had another watch of the 'Essential Grips' section from Roy Dean's excellent No Gi Essentials (Black Belt Requirements is coming soon: I'm looking forward to reviewing it!). He shows the same shoulder grip I've seen from Levo and the Carlos Machado butterfly sweep DVD, which I still have trouble landing. It feels like something that needs to be set-up, as a second option based on their attempt to escape something else, rather than a grip I should be going for initially.

I also tried Dean's suggested wrist and elbow control, but had real trouble getting any kind of purchase on their arm. The humidity certainly didn't help with that, but Dean repeatedly stated how good a grip it was, so I don't plan to give up on it just yet. The most successful grip for me tonight was the armpits. That was generally from reaching around their back and hooking my hand into the far armpit, but I managed to somehow anchor myself on Mike's armpit to avoid getting swept and instead take mount at one point (though I'm pretty sure he swept me later, as Mike's x-guard is tough to stop ;D).

Once in mount I wanted to try Dónal's ezequiel series from yesterday. The ezequiel isn't really workable in nogi (though I have heard of people using it: I guess they have weird arms?), but the tight, high-mount americana remains viable, as does the back take. I started with the americana, which Mike avoided because I couldn't get him squashed enough. I transitioned to the back take, grabbing the wrist (only just though, as Mike was wise to it and defending), but nothing came of it.

I went for the same back take with Roli, attempting to switch into the short choke from Dónal's series. I probably over-focused on it, as the rear naked choke was likely there too. I briefly went to Kesting's palm-to-palm grip to secure my arm behind the back, but wasn't able to maintain the back long enough. I squeezed briefly, but I don't think there was anything there so didn't push it (like I was saying on reddit recently, I subscribe to Cane Prevost's 70% approach). On the plus side, I landed the Akins sweep, which is fun: so, that therefore works in nogi too (although I didn't pull him forward first, which makes the sweep easier). :)

There was also a load of specific sparring from side control earlier, where I was trying for the running escape, but wasn't able to get their arms out of the way to move into position. I was able to lock on a triangle from under side control, but not tight enough and I also failed to isolate the other arm for an attack. On top, I did the usual maintaining, while hunting for the same Roy Dean lockflow. I tried it on Mike, but wasn't able to clamp his arm sufficiently when switching through the three attacks. I think I also need to prepare the ground better, putting my hand in place to move directly into the submission, as well as more use of my head to control the arm. That kind of tightness is much harder in nogi, but that difficulty also means it is a great way to refine your control.