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.

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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. :)

27/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #222



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 27/04/2009 - Beginner

Almost forgot to mention: there is a throwdown in Farnborough this Sunday, with a nominal £5 mat fee. So, if anybody fancies meeting up for a roll, now's your chance. Would be great to see people, if there's anyone reading this blog who can make it down to spar (or just drill: I normally spend a good chunk of throwdowns drilling stuff I've not had a chance to practice much in class). Full details on Jadon's Bullshido thread.

This will be my last week training at Kilburn, so I plan to train Monday and Wednesday (tomorrow I've got some work I need to get sorted). I'll be sad to leave, as its been a great few months continuing to learn from Jude. Hopefully I'll get back to London at some point in the future, but no idea when that will be, especially as my gf hates the idea of living in the capital (expensive, dangerous, commuting on the Tube is horrible, etc).

During guard passage, I was having a play with the triangle, thought my set-ups remain terrible and my execution sufficiently sloppy that I can never secure the submission. With my first training partner, a white belt called Ben, I had my legs up and crossed, but didn't underhook the leg, so he could happily stand up with me sitting by his head. Fortunately he's one of the more sensible white belts, so didn't Rampage-slam me, instead carefully kneeling back down.

Similarly with Rodrigo, I again couldn't lock the triangle properly. I got a bit further this time, having managed to get into position with my legs secured by his head and arm through, but still couldn't finish. Of course he's much bigger than me, but there was clearly something wrong with my mechanics given how easily he escaped.

Finally, I went with Rich, but was thinking too much about trying out the reverse De La Riva I'd wanted to attempt last lesson. What I should have been concentrating on instead was making sure I pushed his hips away with my legs as soon as my guard was open, as otherwise its a simple matter for him to pass.

Jude then went through the same underhook cross choke and triangle combination from last week, then moved on to a triangle from spider guard. From closed guard, you uncross your legs and put your feet on their hips. Grab their sleeves, then shrimp out to make enough space for your foot onto their same side bicep. The other foot stays on their hip.

You're now going to pull them in, kicking the foot on their bicep through to instead go over the back of their neck. You can now bring your other leg up for the triangle position, keeping their other arm by your chest and inside your leg.

That's what I should have been doing when sparring Rodrigo and Ben earlier, so its handy to see the set-up. I also think I may be too bunched up, meaning I'm already half-stacked, whereas I should be scooting back and swivelling for better leverage. I'm keen to improve submissions that use my legs rather than my arms, given that my arms are puny (not that my legs are much better, but still much stronger than my upper body).

In free sparring I ended up against Ben twice. The first time I spent most of it in an Americana, but fortunately for me, Ben was trying to apply it with one of his arms still under my head. I felt fairly safe, as he didn't have the leverage from there, but a good reminder to be more careful with my arm when I'm under half guard or side control. I made sure to tell him, so I doubt I'll get off that lightly if there's a next time. ;)

Our second spar was the other way round, where instead I was in top half-guard for much of the time. I was looking for the kimura, but couldn't get into position. I then saw a possible opportunity for that whizzer armbar I saw Saulo do on his DVD, but again I didn't quite get in the proper place. Still, as I often find myself with a whizzer in top half guard, its something I'd like to try again.

Same thing happened with Rich, with the difference that it happened right at the end of the spar. Previously, he'd got me into high mount yet again, and I'd also been under side control for a while. As he was passing I threw my legs up by his legs, but while I was able to triangle them, I don't think I had anything so soon let go. Like always, basics must remain the focus: I definitely need to follow my own advice on that in guard, making sure I'm using my legs a lot more to off-balance and break posture.

22/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #221



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 22/04/2009 - Beginner

There wasn't a lot of technique today, just the half-guard choke from yesterday. Sparring started with guard passage, where I had the interesting experience of rolling with somebody smaller than me, which doesn't happen often. As ever, I spent most of my time on the bottom in half guard, aiming to shrimp in order to recover full guard.

I'm trying to rely less on having my legs closed all the time, instead just hooking their outside leg and using that as a base to shrimp. Got back to full guard a few times that way, but as my partner wasn't locking my upper body, that was probably less difficult than it would normally be.

My next partner was a high level blue belt, who is always really helpful. This time, they gave me various tips based on what they've observed from rolling with me, which is awesome: I don't think anyone has done that for me before.

Main thing was to react to what they were doing, rather than have something in mind that I then constantly look to apply. Related to that, I need to use my legs a lot more when in guard, pulling them in, and also pushing them away once my guard is opened.

Finally for guard passage, I went with the teenager again, so this time I was the one giving advice. As with most people who are still fairly new, that was largely related to not leaving space when on top, using your hips and making sure that you trap the leg all the way through the knee pin pass. She was repeatedly easing the pressure midway through her passing, which meant my knee was free. Its something I do too: that's one of the great things about helping others, as it helps you realise your mistakes in turn.

Free sparring was up next, where I return to spar with the blue belt from earlier. That proved to be a continuation of guard passage, as they urged me to react to their positioning. For example, when they're crouched in front of you without good base, simply push them over with your legs and pop up to mount. I'm prone to staying on my back and waiting, rather than seizing opportunities like that.

Class finished with another spar with the teenager, after which I got a load of useful advice from the blue belt. I'd said I was having trouble with passing the spider guard, so they showed me three ways of passing, depending on what the leg is doing.

If its completely straight – a mistake – your hand circles underneath to break the grip, then you drive your hips into the leg and slide down to side control. If its bent, you again circle your arm to break the grip, then bring your same side knee into the back of their leg. Use that to press down and trap the limb, after which you can initiate your pass.

Finally, there was a reminder of Jude's pass, where you get both hands on the leg, yank up, then slide your knee into their ribs. Very helpful to have a reminder on all of those, so now I just need to make sure I remember to try them when I'm caught in spider guard.

21/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #220



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 21/04/2009 - Beginner

Opening technique tonight was a cross choke from half guard, when they're in the process of passing. You have a grip on their collar, but then they get past one of your legs. The choke is still an option, so switch to half guard, then put your other thumb under the back of their collar. Swivel to their knee, looping your arm over their head as you do now. Move back to the centre and squeeze for the submission.

I mentioned yesterday that I was having trouble getting into a good controlling position from guard. Luckily for me, that is exactly what followed: awesome!

Jude started by demonstrating how to remove their grip when they've grabbed your gi. There are numerous options, the simplest of which is to grab the end of their sleeve, fingers on top, then put your thumbs under their wrist. You could also use a pistol grip (grasping a handful of their gi in your fist). Either way, drive straight up to remove their hand.

Alternatively, you can figure-four their wrist, by putting one hand on top, then feeding your other hand underneath and grabbing your own wrist. Again, push up from here.

Two traditional ways to get rid of that grip are to hold your own collars and pull them apart (if they are grasping both your collars with one hand), or a more complicated process. That begins by grabbing their sleeve again with your opposite hand, then bringing your other arm underneath. Reach right through with that arm, aiming to prise off their grip that way.

Now that the arm is loose, Jude's next technique can come into play, a variation on the cross choke from guard. First of all, you need to get an overhook on their arm. As soon as you remove their grip, pull their arm down to your armpit and also bring your knees back (don't just rely on your arms to get them in close).

You can now bring your arm over theirs, then reach underneath and through to grab their far collar. With your free hand, grip the back of their collar, then bring your arm past their face. Bring the forearm against their throat, then complete the choke.

Best of all, you can follow this technique up with another, the triangle. If they realise what you're doing after your first grip, its likely they will defend by putting their free hand against the side of their face. While that blocks the cross-choke, the position of their arm means you can now push their elbow back, then bring your same side leg over their head.

Make sure you get that leg past their arm: if they still have their hand on your leg, they may be able to defend the submission. Once the leg is in place, bring your other leg up and lock (just cross your ankles: don't worry about triangling your legs yet). As soon as its secure, you can let go with your hands, then raise your hips. This will bring their arm up, making it easier to push it across their body.

Now you can get into position for the triangle. Grab the shin you have across their neck to hold them in place, then put your other foot on their hip. Swivel until you have the right angle to bring your free leg over your other shin, then lock on the triangle. Squeeze for the submission, pulling down on your shin if you need extra leverage.


Class is thirty minutes shorter on Tuesday, so there wasn't quite so much sparring. However, I did get in three free spars, the first and last with the same blue belt. I was mostly looking to play with reverse De La Riva, as I'd seen Saulo recommend it as a holding position in both his DVD and book. Didn't get as much of a chance to practice as I'd hoped, because my partner stayed low rather than standing up, but still helpful to work out the grips.

In between those two rolls, I had a relaxed spar with a teenager that was there: because I'm the smallest person in class, I offered to train with her. I tried to give some helpful tips, mainly on keeping her hips down when on top, and also walked her through the knee pin pass. Hopefully it was of some use to her: certainly of use to me, as I always relish the opportunity to practice teaching (not only would I love to teach BJJ some day, but its also a skill I'm looking to develop generally for my career options too).

20/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #219



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 20/04/2009 - Beginner

Tonight's class focused on takedowns: as most of the people training had little familiarity with bringing someone down to the mat, Jude introduced various drills to ingrain the concept of getting underneath. First it was basic wrestling, shooting in and going for the legs, then shuttle runs in groups of three, where the person in the middle did ten hip throws on each of their partners before swapping.

Rest of class was given over to sparring, beginning with guard passage. I started on my back, which isn't often the case, so that gave me a chance to try and work some attacks and sweeps. Emphasis on 'try': I keep letting myself get into the old passive mentality and wait for my partner to do something. That can be of some use with the blue belts, but with a white belt, they're liable to sit there straining.

Also, I'm not capitalising on what I'm being given by my partner. The first white belt I went with was pushing as hard as he could with his arms, leaning back at various points, then standing and leaning all the way forward. I'm sure I'm supposed to be able to use that, but I'm still bad at reacting to force.

When I try for the sit up sweep, the arms are there shoving me back. It is also probably that I'm not being proactive enough, and attempting something like putting my foot on their hip to swivel to a better attacking angle. Definitely need to open my guard more, rather than just lying there in closed guard waiting to see what happens. Kintanon had some ideas a while back, which I think I've also seen on Saulo's set, so will take another look at the attacks on there.

As ever, I'm also stalling a lot in half guard. Like with closed guard, I need to open up more, using one foot to lock their leg and then shrimping onto my side. Getting the diagonal half guard recovery back to full guard would be good too, but I've been struggling with that so far. Rich got it perfectly when I was watching him spar later on, which reminds me I should be going for it more.

That white belt eventually passed, meaning I was back on top with my next partner, John. For once, it was pretty straightforward, as he went for an armbar but left too much space. That meant I could just move around to the side, pressuring with my hips and shoulders to drive into side control. Rare I get that opportunity, but good to practice taking it when somebody presents it to me.

Finally for guard passage, I was with one of the big guys, about the same size as Rodrigo. Also like Rodrigo, he was careful not to use his considerable strength: always great to see a white belt who understands that its about technique, not power.

He was so big I could only just get my guard closed, so almost immediately went to open guard instead. Although Jude tried coaching me through proper spider guard control, I wasn't able to keep the white belt at bay, so they eventually passed. Again, I need to actually go for something from open guard, as I can't afford to be as passive as in closed guard. It becomes a far more dynamic position when your ankles aren't locked together.

First free spar was with John, where yet again I was in half-guard most of the time, occasionally recovering back to half-guard if he managed to get to side control or mount. Same points as earlier, which is that I need to be a bit more open and get onto my side, rather than using a lockdown to push their leg back, adjust to a more secure half-guard, they get a bit forward, lockdown, adjust...over and over again.

Last spar of the class was with Rich. He keeps catching me in Ezequiel chokes: I asked if I was doing something to make that easier, and Rich said I've been lifting my head when under mount. That gives him plenty of space to get an arm underneath to set up the choke.

So, obvious lesson there is to keep my head glued to the floor to leave no room for the cross face. I remembered to do that under side control, as per Saulo's advice on his DVD, but clearly forgot when it came to mount.

I'm also constantly finding myself under high mount with Rich, which is definitely not a good place to be. Its useful to work my escapes from there, but there must also be some mistake I'm making which enables him to keep getting there. I'll have to pay more attention next time, and defend more carefully from mount.

In the changing rooms after class, the aforementioned big guy gave me a nice compliment: he commented how Rodrigo had said I'm a good person to roll with, because I stay relaxed and don't use strength. That was great to hear, as being a person people want to spar is a major goal for me. Of course, I don't have the option of using strength anyway, but its still gratifying to hear that somebody finds me a useful training partner.

15/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #218



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 15/04/2009 - Beginner

The weather in Looe turned out to be pretty good, at least for the first three days. Lots of sunshine and no rain, though unfortunately that also meant it was busy. Swarming with chavs too, for some reason: I guess they like Cornwall. Despite that, Looe is a beautiful place, with a gorgeous harbour and plenty of pleasant walks around the area. There is also a Rail Ale Trail you can do, where you pop into various pubs near the train line to get your leaflet stamped, sampling real ale along the way. I'm not generally a big beer drinker (I prefer wine, and sherry if I can get it), but fun nonetheless.

While I was away, Oli G very helpfully annotated one of his videos: hopefully that's going to be the start of a trend. Best of all would be audio commentaries, but not sure how easy that is to do. Either way, here's the vid:



I'd been ill last Wednesday, so as I only got back to London this Wednesday, that meant I only made the one session. Class tonight kicked off with guard passing, both from the same standing break. First secure the usual grip on both their lapels with one hand, pressing the other into their hip, aiming to hinder their movement. Step up the knee opposite to the hand on the hip, then stand up, switching your double lapel grip to a single lapel you can yank up with you.

Next, reach back with the other hand, wedge it between your back and their crossed ankles, then twist forward to break their legs open. Jude covered two options from here: first, you can reach to grab their collar and press your forearm into their neck, keeping the other elbow back as you drive your hips forward, pushing their legs out of the way for side control. Second possibility is a stack pass, so once you've opened their guard, hook round their legs and clasp your hands, stack them and gradually walk round to side control.

Jude had a slight variation on that stack pass, which was to do with the position of your knees. Once you've got a hold around both their legs and pulled them towards you, go to one knee. As you pass, ram that knee into their side, bringing the other knee up as you do so. This keeps you tight, and also adds greater pressure, which should aid your transition to side control.

Finally, Jude showed a baseball bat choke from knee-on-belly. At least I think it was a baseball bat choke, going by the grip, but then I've never done that choke before. Anyway, starts as normal: hop up to knee-on-belly from side control, using a grip on their collar and hip then doing a push up.

From here, you want to get your far hand into their far collar, thumb on top and palm up. The other grabs their near collar, this time palm down: this is where the baseball bat reference comes in, as your hands are now in the same position as if you were grasping a bat.

Sprawl back from knee-on-belly, dropping the elbow of your far arm across their throat. Walk round towards north-south, which should cause the choke to tighten and result in a tap.

Guard passing was the same old story, where I went with a couple of white belts and relaxed, waiting for them to do something. Both of them were gripping as hard as they could, meaning that the first one still held on to a sleeve he'd managed to get under my leg as I passed to top half guard. Easy enough to just pause until they got tired, putting my weight onto their face.

While it was certainly restful, it didn't help me to secure side control. As ever, I left too much space when attempting to secure a kimura, and they managed to reverse and go into my guard. I had thought that bringing my knee to the head might help, but I must have left too little pressure on their hips.

The second white belt was a little faster, as this time I made some other mistake that resulted in them being able to sit right up and go for a single leg. Again, not controlling the hips properly: I should have just stood up to try and work the standing pass, rather than going into defensive mode.

Having said that, not expending much energy meant I wasn't too tired before free sparring, which was useful as I ended up doing four in a row. That isn't normally the case, as I'll almost always sit out a few, but I kept being asked by people I wanted to spar, so that resulted in only one rest. Very rare for a wimp like me! ;p

Started with one of the blue belts, where I had a play with spider guard, but wasn't able to control them all that well. They had a knee up, so I found it difficult to off-balance them. Or rather, more difficult than usual, as my spider guard is pretty bad. My main problem with it, I think, is that I don't normally have a clear aim, as I always forget the basic sweep from there.

I also spent plenty of time under knee-on-belly and side control, which along with bottom half-guard and under mount have constituted the majority of my sparring for the past couple of years. Saulo has some interesting ideas on escaping, which I've been trying to incorporate recently, but need plenty more work. Hip movement is something I want to improve, and also avoid ending up flat on my back, which I give up far too easily.

Ben, a white belt, was next. With him, it was almost entirely half-guard, using the lockdown to push his leg back, while trying to then open up slightly to shrimp and escape. I got back to closed guard a couple of times, but like my other escapes, I have to stop being so flat. Ben eventually got through to side control towards the end: I recovered half guard again, but really should be trying to go to my knees more often from under side control, especially as I'd already spent so long in half guard already.

Up next was J-Sho, somebody I think I've only done guard passage with before, so was pleased to get a chance to roll with him. Like me, he's a fellow internet BJJ geek, but unlike me, he can back that up with a high level of BJJ, given that he's an experienced purple belt. I again ran through the usual sequence of attempting to get to guard, fail, they pass to side control, then either I get into half guard or they go to knee on belly.

I presume he was taking it fairly easy, due to being way better than me. Also, if he hadn't been testing out some kind of submission that involves wrapping my gi around my arm, most likely I would have spent a lot more time under knee-on-belly. Instead, I was trying to gradually work my arm free and get back to half-guard, normally ending up under side control instead.

Finally, I was back with the earlier blue belt again, finding myself under knee-on-belly yet again. I tried to keep in mind the principle of getting my elbow to my knee when under side control to stop them getting the knee through. This helped, but they still got their knee through plenty of times, leaving me to squirm away trying to shrimp out. Saulo has some escapes for this I've been trying, but not drilled them enough yet: hopefully with more mat time I'll start to get the hang of it.

This month is unfortunately going to be my last at RGA Kilburn, as my sister is moving again at the start of May to Cobham. I've been looking around at alternatives, because Kilburn will be too far, and there appear to be three. Nova Forca is closest, at around 5.5 miles, but the timetable doesn't quite fit. I'd also very much like to stay with RGA, so I was pleased to see that contrary to what I'd thought at first, there was an affiliate not too far away.

RGA Wimbledon (which incidentally was the first club on fellow blogger Jadon’s BJJ Pilgrimage) is about 9.5 miles, so its worth the slightly longer journey to stay with the RGA family. There is also Andy Roberts' place in Farnborough, which would be cool as then I could train with Jadon, but that's more like 20 miles I think, so probably too far.

If anyone knows buses from Cobham to any of those, I'd be interested to hear what the best routes are: I'm currently going by trains, for which it looks like RGA Wimbledon would be a 10 minute walk to Cobham station, then 34 minutes to Raynes Park, and finally a 25 minute walk to Ray Stevens club. £69 unlimited sounds reasonable, as I could make three classes from Mon-Weds, same as I've been trying to do at Jude's in Kilburn.

Also, I should be doing a major overhaul of the BJJ map soon. Simon Hayes, who has been very helpful in providing information about the Carlson Gracie clubs, suggested I split it by county, as there are now so many schools. It’s a good idea, but will take a fair bit of work, particularly as I’ve always been really, really bad at geography. Fortunately for me, unlike at school, I now have Google Maps! ;)

07/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #217



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 07/04/2009 - Beginner

I was still feeling a bit sore from yesterday, after all that half-guarding, but fortunately Tuesdays are only an hour. Technique started the same as yesterday, with a half guard pass. Jude mentioned a useful additional tip when I asked, which was to push your body forward if you're having trouble getting the shoulder under their chin. That will result in pressure on their face, which will have a similar distracting result.

Also slightly different from yesterday was the option of passing to side control rather than mount. Before passing, bring your legs towards the side you want to reach. Once you've freed your leg by prying it loose, your knee should point off to the side: you then slip through into side control.

The cross choke from mount was the same as usual, with points like bringing your head down to the same side as your top arm. Jude also demonstrated two different grips for the second hand: either palm down with the thumb in their collar, then dropping the elbow across, or alternately knife-handing your way down their face to reach the collar. There was also a third, where you lift up their head, grip behind then loop your arm over into place, but Jude noted that required a fair bit of strength.

While sparring from mount I concentrated on maintaining my position, using my feet and knees to squeeze my way up their body. Normally I wrap my arm under their head and then cling on there, so I wanted to try a more upright posture this time, working my knees under their armpits.

I still couldn't get anything, as I wasn't able to dig my way past Rich's clamped arms. There was the option of shoving my gi in his face, which Rich suggested, but that is purely about causing your partner pain, with the coarse gi material acting as sandpaper. Not very pleasant, and not something I'm willing to do to a training partner. I'd much rather develop a 'clean' method of getting past the arms, rather than relying on their pain tolerance being low.

To that end, I tried Roger's technique, where you put your hand in front of the arms, then drive it through with your hip on the elbow. That sort of worked, though I generally either got swept, couldn't get a deep enough hold, or wasn't able to secure the second grip. Spent both rounds on top, as Rich has hurt his thigh.

Next was guard passage, with one of the white belts. I was looking for collar chokes, but I'm bad at setting them. Simply grabbing a collar and hoping is not too productive, so I'll need to think carefully about how I can work the submission. Same goes for triangle chokes, though I at least have some vague idea of how I want to enter into those (e.g., spider guard, like Renzo shows).

I'm also not getting my sweeps when they stand in my guard: relying too heavily on the handstand, which they're generally avoiding by basing forward. That should mean I can then pull their torso down for chokes and armbars, but again that would require some actual submission skills on my part. ;)

On their knees, I need to be more explosive with my sit-up sweep. Back as a white belt, that used to be my highest percentage attack, but only very rarely land it these days. I could try going for the elbow rather than the shoulder, like Saulo shows it (IIRC), or just greater commitment when driving for the reversal.

My first free spar was with a white belt named Fabio, who for once is closer to my size. That meant I had a lot more options, so tried a bunch of different attacks. Still mainly looking at cross-chokes and triangles, with a brief attempt at a guillotine. As ever I spent some of it in half-guard, almost taking his back but then somehow ending up underneath him with my head by his legs. My back control remains terrible: almost always find myself on the bottom in some ridiculous position, or just guard.

Finally, there was a much bigger white belt, Rodrigo. However, he didn't use his size advantage, instead trying to stay technical, which was good to see. Though he was going very light, I still wasn't able to do all that much. I had a go at a triangle and armbar from mount, but on both occasions left way too much space, so it was a simple matter for Rodrigo to escape.

I had intended to train on Wednesday, but writing this up Wednesday morning, I feel like crap. So, won't be training again until I get back from Cornwall, next Wednesday. Shame to not make my intended three a week, but if I tried tonight, I would feel much, much worse, even assuming I made it through the session pumped up on medication.

06/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #216



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 06/04/2009 - Beginner

Tonight's class was perfect for me, as Jude went through several basic half guard techniques. I wasn't expecting to see that for a while, as Kilburn is mostly beginners, but nevertheless very useful stuff from my perspective.

Jude began with the fundamental half guard pass where you squeeze your knee through by trapping their leg. Start by getting one arm under their head and the other past their armpit, gable gripping your hands. Having secured that grip, drive your shoulder under their chin: this is essential, as the pass will be difficult without that heavy pressure.

Slide your free knee towards their other armpit, while coming up on the toes of your trapped foot. Once your free foot has enough space, bring it over their leg and push into their calf. At the same time, try to squeeze your trapped leg out of their half-guard, shoving your shoving under their chin the whole time.

I've always had trouble with this escape, but the way Jude showed this as really shoving that leg off of yours was helpful. Previously I thought the foot on the calf was more of a block, but I see now its a push. The combination of that push with the pull of your trapped leg is one of the important details I'd been missing.

Next, Jude demonstrated recovering guard from half-guard. That is something I've been trying to do for a while, so was especially pleased to see it broken down. You're underneath half guard, with your head on the opposite side to the leg you've trapped, with your forearm pressing into their throat.

Clamp down on their calf with your inside leg. Bring your other foot out slightly to bridge, then block their hip with your hand. Using space you've just created, bring your inside knee through and replace guard. In other words, this is exactly like recovering guard from mount, in terms of mechanics, in that the shrimp is all-important. As ever, its in the hips.

That then moved on to taking the back from half guard, using what I've seen referred to as 'deep half-guard'. You'll be shrimping again, same as before, but this time, you aren't aiming to recover guard. Instead, once you've made space with your bridge, swim the arm you have against their throat under their armpit instead, securing the underhook.

You can now knock them forward with that arm, aiming to slip down towards their leg, coming onto your side. Make sure your head is also free, on the same side as their trapped leg. To finish, link both arms behind their trapped knee and knock them forward again. That should kill their balance, leaving you to move to your knees, then take their back.

Sparring from half-guard I didn't have much success applying the technique, but then that's to be expected when everybody knows what you're going for. I'm still tending to stall in half-guard, but at least I now have some further options, which don't require me to get my head on the same side as their trapped leg. I'm getting too flattened out, and being too cautious about controlling them with just one leg (which would give me the option of bridging off the other).

On top, I'm leaving too much space and not getting my hips down enough. I'm also having trouble dealing with the arm in my throat: that is currently preventing me putting enough pressure with my shoulder into their throat. I repeatedly found that Rich opened up space with his forearm, then got to his side. From there it was a simple matter for him to either reach his knees or reverse me.

Guard passage also followed a typical pattern, though again, I do now have clearer goals thanks to Jude's help last week. Getting the knee up and hips forward is the first aim, then I need to establish better base when I stand. I also need to do a much better job of stripping their grips, or preventing them altogether. My posture must improve for that, as currently I'm being broken down too easily.

Underneath guard, I was trying cross-chokes and triangles, but without being sufficiently tight. With the triangle, I couldn't lock my legs properly, swiftly getting stacked and losing the position. I also had a quick go at a guillotine from half-guard top, in the hope that might help the pass, but again that didn't go anywhere. Not to mention my sparring partner, a relatively stocky white belt, was taking it easy anyway, as he was concerned about the size difference.

Full sparring with Rich led to yet more stalling in half-guard, and I'm also giving up mount way too easily. I need to get into a better defensive posture quicker, rather than looking to snatch half-guard, ending up flat and without many options if I miss it.

Finally, I was with another big white belt looking to try and avoid using his considerable weight advantage. This time I was quite happy to at least have half guard to keep some kind of control, and after a cycle of him making a few steps towards passing before I readjusted to regain a more solid half-guard, I managed to get on top. After passing to side control, I was looking to switch to half-guard and step over for an armbar, but time ran out. Doubtful I would have got anything anyway, but always fun to try.

I'm looking to get in three again this week, especially as I'll only have one evening free next week. We'll see how my body holds up, and if my sister has to work late on Tuesday or Wednesday.

01/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #215



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 01/04/2009 - Beginner

Mark has announced the Belfast Throwdown for this year, which should be awesome. I loved it the past two times, so I'd expect it to be just as good in 2009. Of course, getting made redundant last year and still job hunting does mean I have to be a little careful with things like holidays, but I'm sure I can at least make the short hop to Northern Ireland. Please post on the thread if you're interested in coming along too, particularly as we still need to set a date: everyone welcome! :D

My ear appears to have got bashed up either yesterday or the day before, but not cauliflower: the bit between the lope and my skull was cut (by the time I noticed it, there was a scab). This would therefore be the perfect time to wear my headgear, but I've cleverly left that in Coventry. So instead, I sported some zinc oxide tape around my lower ear.

Guard passage went pretty badly, as usual. I was almost past twice in a row against white belts, but on both occasions couldn't capitalise on a good position with sufficient pressure to get to side control. First I was on top of half guard, but then somehow gave up my back, then I had my partner's legs over their head and was trying to squeeze past, but managed to get reversed under side control. The only successful pass was with a blue belt who was going for an armbar, but even that was mainly because time was running out so he wasn't really pushing it.

Technique tonight, presumably because of a competition on Saturday, was how to correctly pull guard (the Kilburn branch of RGA is still very new, so the beginners haven't got to grips with takedowns yet. However, there is a wrestling class on Saturdays, so you'd hope the people seriously interested in competing will take advantage of that).

Having got a grip on their lapel and sleeve, start by putting your foot on their same side hip, keeping the leg straight. Drop to your back, swivelling as you go and keeping your leg rigid. This should knock them sideways, so that they essentially slip down a groove right into your guard, making it easy for you to wrap your legs into position.

That was followed by how to go straight into an armbar (as you already begin with a grip on their arm). This involves more swivelling: try to put your head by their leg. Finally, bring the other leg over their neck instead of around their torso. From there, raise your hips and go for the armbar.

Last technique was the clock choke again, then a variation, where you get the same choke off a kimura from side control. If when going for the kimura they manage to resist and go to their knees, follow them round. As you'll still have your arm inside, you're in perfect position to grab their lapel, open it out, then go for the clock choke as usual (feed lapel to other hand, use first hand to grab remaining lapel, shift hips onto their neck, head on floor, then walk round for the submission).

Sparring with Rich, I managed to get the Tran side control escape where you bridge as they go for mount, which is still working well for me. My escapes from the mounted triangle have been considerably less successful: I can never get my foot onto their arm in order to push my way free, though admittedly its a tough position to reverse.

A bigger blue belt called Alan was next. I again landed Tran's escape, but I think Alan was going light, due to that size difference. I was unable to extricate myself from his scarf hold or knee-on-belly, though with the latter, I did have a go at wrapping his foot and grabbing behind his gi. Didn't stop me getting choked.

I was chatting to Jude about how I didn't feel any need to compete, because I still have so much to work on just sparring in class. I mentioned how my guard passing in particular was terrible, so Jude, being the awesome instructor he is, offered to run through some tips after tonight's session ended. That also meant I could help out one of the white belts who is competing, acting as a training dummy so he could better prepare for a tournament this weekend.

The major point I've been missing, which should hopefully make a big different to my guard passing, is that I need to get my hips forward as soon as a I raise a leg. So far, I've been thinking about driving the hips once I've stood up (though I've not even been doing that well), which means that as I try to get to my feet, my posture has been poor, leaning forward too much.

Jude also showed a slightly different way of opening the guard from standing. Normally, I try to step back and push their leg to the mat, aiming to hold it in place with my arm before replacing that pressure with my leg, moving on to the leg pin pass.

Jude noted the basic principle that a leg is always stronger than an arm, so instead of prising the leg free with an arm, he instead broke the guard with his knee. I'm not sure I quite got the details, but it involved bending your knee into their leg, so that you gradually broke the guard open, also leaving you in position where your knee was already on the mat over their leg (so again, set up for the leg pin pass).

John, a purple who wasn't training that night, prefers to either step back and push the leg off, or alternately, Mauricio's version where you put your knee right in their tailbone, then sit back down. If you get your knee in just the right spot, that will then force their guard open around your knee: their simply isn't enough space for them to keep a closed guard once your knee is wedged through.

John also emphasised getting a cross-grip on their arm, or in other words, grabbing their opposite sleeve. That means you can then put your leg forward on that side with impunity, as they'll have nothing to hook it with. John also said that after you've secured that hold, use your free arm to make certain they don't get any grip with their other arm.

All great advice, which should definitely make a different to my guard passing. Even at the most pessimistic level, it sure can't get any worse! ;)

As I was heading to the changing rooms, one of the regulars addressed me as slideyfoot, because he recognised me from the blog. Always cool when that happens (and if they're reading, the link for Passing the Guard is here: new revised edition which I'm very much looking forward to, having long wanted to get hold of the original due to the extremely high regard it appears to have generated).

31/03/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #214



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 31/03/2009 - Beginner

Fellow UK blogger Jadon announced a great idea for a trip: travelling to every BJJ club in the country (so if you're a club owner in the UK, would be cool if you could help him out). He's dubbing it 'The Great BJJ Pilgrimage', meaning you'll know what to look for if he ever releases a book.

It is something I'm sure most of us would love to do, including me. I'd head for the US rather than the UK: once I finally get myself a job and feel financially secure again, I'm planning to get some training in around California. The history of international BJJ starts there, so I'd enjoy taking a look at the Gracie Museum, then somewhere like Hollywood BJJ.

Admittedly, it also interests me because going by my blog stats, I get the most US hits from California, followed by New York and Texas, so would be especially cool to roll with anyone who reads this. It will only be brief (week or two), and certainly not going to be checking out every club. Maybe three or four at most, depending on how much sweaty man-rolling action my gf lets me get away with. ;p

I'm glad to see that my map is proving of use: once the Pilgrimage gets started, I'll stick in links on the map to Jadon's blog posts for each club. If I can work it out, would be nice to get some kind of 'follow Jadon' thing going: will have a play when he starts it.

Tonight's class followed on directly from yesterday. Jude kicked off with a turnover from turtle he showed the white belts yesterday (higher belts were told to drill something else, so I didn't have a chance to try it until today). Lapel choke again: arms straighten. You start on the side of their turtle, knee up behind and other knee in close to their near side, to stop them rolling out. Grab their gi lapel on the near side and yank it loose, then feed that through to your other hand. Make sure that as you do that, you don't reach your other hand in underneath their body: otherwise, they can overhook it and roll into a dominant position.

Once you've secured a grip on the gi, you'll now have a useful handle strapped across their waist. Grab their near-side elbow, then step your rear leg over to the far side. Roll them back towards the near side, get your hooks in, and move to rear mount. From here, rear naked choke.

After we'd gone through the lapel choke again, time for guard passage. I went with Rich, who is becoming a regular training partner (mainly because he's one of the few other blues at Kilburn, and therefore much less of an injury risk). Yet again I tried the star sweep off the handstand sweep, and yet again I got armbarred for my trouble. Still not staying tight enough, and I think I'm also rushing it, which means its sufficiently sloppy that my arm is left ripe for the bending.

On top, I'm continuing to force myself to stand up. Keep getting swept shortly afterwards, but then I'm never going to get it unless I work through that significant obstacle first. The problem is to do with my legs getting hooked, as is so often the difficulty with standing in guard. If I don't put my leg forward, its tough to stand up, but if I do, its easy to hook and initiate a sweep. Ideally I'd grab the sleeve on that side so I remove to risk of getting my leg hooked, but I've been finding it tough to secure the arm so far. Practice makes perfect, as ever.

Much the same thing with my next partner, another blue belt. I also still need to work on recovering closed guard from half guard, where the problem this time is getting a grip on the sleeve and opposite knee, then my foot under their trapped knee with the other foot pressing on their calf. I should also be mixing that up with some other options, like maybe the old school, along with my favoured functional half guard from Indrek Reiland.

In sparring with the same two partners, similar problems with half-guard, and I also need to watch for chokes from mount. I had thought Rich was going for a normal cross choke, which would mean when I rolled to guard, defending would be fairly straightforward: posture, squish elbows together, strip top arm away. However, it was actually an ezequiel, which meant that rolling to guard didn't help at all, as he already had it locked on.

Class is only an hour on Tuesdays and Thursday, so that wrapped up things for tonight. Should be training again on Wednesday: I plan to continue three times a week until I get my average back up to at least twice a week, as per my very geeky spreadsheet (the offline version is even geekier than the one I have up on Google Docs, which doesn't quite get to that level of detail).

30/03/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #213



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 30/03/2009 - Beginner

I had an interesting chat with Bryan Hogeveen this weekend, a name Fightworks Podcast listeners might recognise from his interview a while back. If you missed that episode, Bryan is an academic currently conducting a BJJ study, for which he's asking people to fill in a survey (one for women and one for men).

Bryan is also looking to interview those who are willing to give a bit more time. I love talking about BJJ, so I was happy to get the chance to babble at length (like I mentioned during the conversation, this is ideal for bloggers, who are always looking to share their thoughts about BJJ anyway). It doesn't matter if you're nowhere near Canada, where Bryan is based, as he'll phone you from his university. It sounds like a great project, so definitely deserving of your support: for further details, check out Bryan's blog.

On a different topic, it looks as if Eddie Bravo is gearing up to follow in the Gracie Academy's footsteps, with his own version of online training, complete with the ability to gain rank through video. It should make for a revealing comparison with the Gracie University: I'm particularly intrigued as to whether or not Bravo manages to avoid the criticism Gracie University has received (which I listed back here). I've long thought that the Gracie Academy and Bravo have a lot in common, given that they both rely on sometimes controversial marketing to maintain their reputation, rather than major current competitive success (as opposed to, say, Gracie Barra with Roger Gracie, Alliance with Cobrinha or Gracie Humaitá with Xande Ribeiro, to cite just a few examples from those powerhouse teams).

Also, just noticed as I was writing this that Oli G, the undisputed king of competing at every competition ever, has set up a swish looking new site to showcase his competition videos. Check it out here.

Jude focused on chokes for tonight's session. First the basic rear naked choke. Put your arm around their neck, pressing the bony part of your forearm into their throat. Grab the bicep of your other arm, making sure not to bring the bicep arm out straight (otherwise they could potentially grip your wrist and submit you, using their shoulder to bend your arm the wrong way). Finally, the hand of the bicep arm goes to the back of their head, then you squeeze their neck between your two arms.

The RNC was followed by a lapel choke. From rear mount, reach over their shoulder and grab deep in their collar. Your other hand comes under their armpit and grabs the other collar. To finish, straighten out your arms, pushing forward and thereby squeezing your partner's neck between their lapels.

Finally, Jude went through the clock choke. This is similar to the lapel choke, except that it is applied when your partner is turtled up, and the execution is with your bodyweight rather than pulling on the collars. Once you have the grip on their lapels, drop your weight onto their neck, staying tight. In order to secure your base, put your forehead to the floor on the other side, then slowly walk round, one leg at a time, starting with the bottom leg. Your legs are acting as the hands of a clock, hence the name.

In guard passage, I kept trying the Saulo guard break without much success: still not controlling the hips well enough, which I think continues to be my main problem in somebody else's guard. I also tried standing guard breaks, getting to my feet while holding their sleeve, but need more work on establishing base and being careful with my legs, avoiding sweeps.

Underneath, I again attempted the combination of handstand sweep with star sweep. Swinging both legs to the same side works ok, but I'm not staying close enough to the leg. I need to knock them off balance by getting in tight to their thigh. At the moment, I'm leaving too much space, which is why last week I basically ended up under side control, while this week Rich caught me in a randomly positioned armbar.

Another thing I wanted to work today was replacing full guard from half guard. My aim was to grab their shoulder and leg, then get my same side leg under their knee, while the other foot trapped their calf. I'd then lift them up and drop them back into full guard. However, the problem was firstly getting that foot under their knee: can be awkward depending on how I've locked the half-guard. I'm also not getting a good grip on the arm, and when trying to grab onto the knee, my arm is too loose.

When sparring with one of the white belts, that meant I was sitting there working my way of an Americana from much of the spar. Fortunately for me, they didn't know how to finish it, but that's the only thing that meant I was able to avoid the submission. So much like last lesson, I was underneath a white belt in half-guard, though at least this time, I was working towards something specific.

It was good to see John there, who is a purple belt that weighs the same as me. I've sparred with him once before, back at RGA HQ: hopefully he'll be at Jude's regularly. He had lots of advice, such as trying Saulo's running escape under side control. I had thought that was only useful for when they had both arms on the near side of your body, but John mentioned that you could often direct their arm to where you wanted. Gave it a try in sparring and it worked ok, though obviously John was letting me have it (he took on an instructor role for everyone he sparred with: IIRC, though he's still a purple, he's been training for a looooong time).

Finished off class by buying myself one of the snazzy new RGA branded t-shirts. I've generally avoided buying stuff, given continuing lack of job, but as its almost my birthday, I thought I'd treat myself. :)

25/03/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #212



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 25/03/2009 - Beginner

Annoyingly came down with something last week, which meant I wasn't able to finally get into a regular pattern of BJJ as I'd hoped. 2009 in general has been pretty poor so far in terms of consistent grappling, but I'm aiming to train three times a week next month, so I get back to my preferred average of at least twice a week (yay for spreadsheets which make that easy to work out).

I read an excellent blog yesterday, called The Manly Odyssey. It is by a guy who trains with Pedro Bessa in Bristol, and in it he talks about a long trip he took through Asia. The reason this was so awesome is that he and his friend George did plenty of training on the way through, meaning this effectively becomes an improved version of The Last Wrestlers: no weird sexist theories about women, just lots of grappling and entertaining travel anecdotes.

Class tonight was on knee-on-belly, though things started with three rounds of guard passage. I started with one of the blue belts, and again tried to get into the habit of standing up to pass. Obviously didn't pass, but its getting more natural now to get onto my feet. Also spent lots of time in my usual passive position defending chokes, but hopefully I can gradually either steer into standing up, or somehow get better at passing on the knees (the latter is rather unlikely at the moment. Would be great to have a private lesson on it some time, so once I get a job, will probably try and do that).

With the white belts, things got more entertaining. As Jude's academy only opened this year, there are lots of absolute beginners. That meant I could work on my weaknesses, like submissions. I played around with the loop choke from Renzo's DVD a few times, where I think my problem is that I'm not getting enough gi material to pull across, and I'm also not managing to get it into the throat properly.

I also had a go at some of his triangle set-ups, which did get me in position, but then my foot kept cramping up when I tried to lock it in. Presumably a combination of bad technique and poor diet or something: I wasn't getting my shin sufficiently far back either. There was an opportunity to play with one of stranger options from Kukuk, which I think is a double armbar (starts by locking legs around their shoulders), but needless to say that didn't go anywhere.

Jude then demonstrated the kimura from knee on belly, which also brought up lots of useful tips on the position itself. First you need to get there: from side control, grab the back of their collar, your other hand on their hip. Press-up and drive your knee through, keeping the toes of that leg off the floor. You can now put pressure on your partner, by pulling up on their collar and their knee.

In order to give their stomach some relief, their natural reaction is to put their hands on your knee. As soon as they do that, push their hand to the floor and sprawl backwards. It is important here to keep your weight on them, so twist your hips and get into a diagonal position on their shoulder. Next, step the leg nearest their head over, bringing your foot to their face.

As my partner said, this is the essential part: concentrate on getting that heavy pressure, rather than focusing on the submission and thereby losing your positional control. Once you've got them trapped underneath you, apply the kimura by twisting their arm and slightly raising their body up.

If they manage to resist the kimura by grabbing onto their belt or gi, you can change your position to still land the submission. Maintaining your kimura grip, twist your body and pull them up, bringing your legs around their head as you do so. That will mean you are now sitting on their head with your feet crossed underneath it.

Now you're ready to break their grip. Keeping their arm tight to your chest, release the hold you have on your own wrist and instead grasp your own collar (you're still be controlling their arm with your forearm). To weaken their hold, turn their wrist clockwise, using the hand holding their wrist as well as brining your forearm up. With their wrist turned, they will only be able to hold on with a finger and thumb rather than their whole fist, meaning that you can now pull the arm free and push their wrist down and to the side for the tap.

Once we got to sparring, I was with a typically eager white belt. Almost the whole time, I was lying under half guard, where I so frequently end up. The recurring problem is that I tend to have my head on one side and my legs on the other. That limits my technique, as the only sweep I know (the basic 'pull their arm over' from here) requires your head to be on the same side as the trapped leg, as would taking their back. I'm still looking to recover guard from here as my first option, so need to review the technique for that.

It is a bit pointless just flopping around in their half guard, so I tried giving my partner mount. Almost immediately ended up back in half guard. Next time I find myself in that situation, I think I'll need to make a conscious effort to completely avoid using half guard, and instead focus on the bridge and roll from under mount, or wedge myself under side control so I can work escapes from there.

Next week should be three sessions, but that depends on if I manage to stay healthy. My niece has come down with conjunctivitis, which is contagious, so not sure if I'll be able to avoid it (trying to just wash my hands a lot, but I've read the bacteria is airborne, so that may not help much. But hey, at least I'll have really clean hands).

16/03/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #211



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 16/03/2009 - Beginner

As of this week, I'm finally getting back to regular training at a proper BJJ school. I haven't been on the mats for a while, so plenty of stuff to talk about since January.

To start with more mundane matters, I'm still job hunting (if anyone knows of anybody around Coventry or Birmingham who could use somebody with four years experience number-crunching in Excel, let me know), but on the writing side of things, its been a lot more positive. That is largely thanks to Dolph: I've been looking for a particular text for ages, which Dolph was able to resolve with one email. Very awesome. That kick-started my research, which had been languishing a bit recently, so I've been delving into the history and context of AIDS.

Most recently, Randy Shilts' And The Band Played On has been an excellent and informative read, though I'll of course need to check through lots of other sources before I can get a true picture of the period. US Government archives have been handy for corroborating some of what Shilts' mentions, like the shocking lack of official action on AIDS during the 1980s, both in terms of policy and budget, by the Reagan administration.

In terms of BJJ, there has been some big news this month. The Gracie Academy, where it all started, has now taken a step further than its already controversial Gracie Combatives program. Previously, you were able to test for a 'combatives blue belt' after completing the 36 lesson syllabus. That brought up the possibility of people with only a few months (or even weeks, with intensive courses) training being able to claim they were qualified to teach (whether or not they would make the distinction between Gracie Combatives and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was an especially important issue).

The Gracie Academy's argument was that a Gracie Combatives blue belt was not the same as a BJJ blue belt: Rener, Ryron and Rorion have been making an increasing distinction between self defence orientated Gracie jiu jitsu and the 'sport' jiu jitsu of other BJJ schools. The new Gracie University (also available on DVD) does a whole lot more. Not only is it now possible to get blue, purple, brown and even black belts in Gracie Combatives, but you can both learn and test for those belts through video submission.

Needless to say, that's been all over the net: EFN, NHBGear, Sherdog, The Underground etc. I go into more detail on my own opinion in the Bullshido thread, here. Note the similarity to the earlier debate about Gracie Combatives: Sherdog, NHBGear, Bullshido and EFN.

I'll be reviewing developments with interest: from what I can tell (e.g., there's a free sample showing the kimura), Rener and Ryron's level of instruction is excellent. Also, the Gracie Combatives DVD set itself is comparatively reasonably priced, at $119 for 13 DVDs and over 18 hours of instruction. By comparison, Saulo Ribeiro's excellent Jiu Jitsu Revolution commonly retails for around $150, getting you 6 DVDs and slightly less than 6 hours of instruction.

The controversial part, the online grading, is where the cost begins to add up. On top of the learning material ($144 for online or $119 for the aforementioned DVDs), to test costs $85, and there are then four stripes per level. Still, it does apparently stay at $85 for testing, judging by the response on the GU forum (which is in a pure question and answer format, rather than the normal bulletin board set-up). The big question is whether or not you can really evaluate somebody's jiu-jitsu purely through video, without having observed the student for a long period of training month in, month out.

As to the BJJ class I attended tonight (I'll type up a fuller review of the facilities, environment etc a bit later), techniques stayed fairly basic, as it is mostly white belts. That is one of the best things about this class: I'm really enjoying the chance to work my fundamentals. Jude starts that right from the drilling, with standing up in guard, side control escapes and cross choke from the guard.

In the technical section, the focus today was the armbar from guard, followed by armbar from standing guard and finally armbar defence. Jude clarified a point I've wondered about in the past, which is crossing your feet when doing an armbar.

If they're in your guard on still on their knees, crossing your feet will put weight down their spine. That is to your disadvantage, as it will naturally lean their body in the wrong direction. Instead, you want to keep your feet uncrossed, so you can push down behind their neck. This will keep them off-balance in the direction you want, breaking their posture.

However, once they've stood up, it doesn't matter if you keep your feet crossed or uncrossed. What is important is that you drive your heels down whether or not your feet are crossed, to keep their arm trapped and prevent them pulling up to make space.

There was also a slightly more advanced technique, but Jude still managed to keep it relatively straightforward. For a basic spider guard pass, first step to the side, past their straightened leg. At the same time, bring your hand on top of their other leg, then drive that arm diagonally across and down.

You can now grip their straightened leg with one hand high, the other low by their inner thigh. Step the foot nearest their head next to their ribs. Yank their leg up, pushing your hips forward. Finally, drop into side control, replacing your blocking foot with a knee.

Sparring was guard passage, where as ever I wasn't too successful on top. However, I did at least manage to stand, which as I've been saying for ages, is a habit I need to get used to. Underneath I was a bit more active: the main thing I wanted to try was following up a handstand sweep with a star sweep. In short, the latter technique is swinging your leg around to the same side, roll to your knees, then pull up on their leg to drop them to the floor.

It sort of worked, but the problem I have is that I'm concerned about my training partner's knee when I do that. It looks as if I'm not careful, that could tweak their knee, so definitely need to watch it when practicing the star sweep. No point in doing a technique if its likely to cause injury.

Free sparring was as ever lots of escaping from side control and knee on belly. I keep forgetting to really bridge into them, like Saulo shows in his DVD set, so that's a habit I'm trying to build. Had a quick BJJ session with my gf last week, so hopefully we can make that a regular thing again. Only going through a quick warm-up at home, using techniques for drills, but still helpful to run through side control escape repeatedly.

My sister is away, so I'm probably not going to be able to make any other classes this week, as I need to be there to look after my niece (my brother-in-law came back early today, so I can get in some BJJ). Might try and do three lessons next week to make up for it, but depends on how quick my sister gets back from work.

22/12/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #205



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK – 22/12/2008 - Advanced

Slightly strange start to the class, in that a bunch of us wandered outside in our gis to go move some mats. Mix up on where they were supposed to be by the workmen, possibly, but not entirely sure. I’ve not made it down to a Monday class before, but I’m guessing that isn’t normally the case. ;)

Main thing today was half guard sweeps. For both, you need to get up on your side: if they manage to put you flat on your back, you won’t be able to execute the sweep. Start by disengaging your half guard, pushing on their leg and then bringing your outside knee into their chest. To stop them pressing you out flat, you can also use your other leg, bringing the inside knee up to block their weight coming forward.

Get a high underhook, right up under their armpit, knocking them forward. With your other hand, open their gi, then feed the trailing fabric round to the underhooking hand. You can now force their head to the floor, which establishes the position for your sweep.

Swivel round toward their leg: this time, you do want to go flat on your back. Your inside leg comes up, rocking them forward. Using this momentum, you’re aiming to bring them over with your foot.

I found the technique rather complex and got confused, so I’m doubtful I remembered it correctly, particularly as this was the first of two classes. The second half guard sweep felt simpler. It starts off the same, but this time, they avoid your underhook, bringing their arm over yours. Take advantage and grab the sleeve cuff of that arm, pulling it down to the floor.

With your other arm, reach over their back and grab their belt, or a handful of gi material (if the belt has come loose). Shuffle back, then bring your outside foot in, establishing a hook (so, sort of half-butterfly guard). Your other leg stays between their legs: kick this through in order to generate the momentum to sweep them to your side, coming up into side control.

During guard passage, I started on my back, but was faced with one of the biggest people in the academy, Mike. Still, I found that I was able to briefly hold him off by using my knees after he stood up. Even though he eventually crushed through, it did make me think I should use my knees more often to block.

I was planning on doing the evening class later on, and also wanted to leave plenty of time for going round the National Gallery, so had intended to go shower before sparring. In the end, I decided to do one round, with Liam. That proved to be a good idea, as I managed to apply several sweeps. The Tran side control escape worked once again: that one is all about timing, though if your partner is especially quick moving from side control to mount, its going to be difficult to effect.

I think I also got some kind of random half-guard sweep, using hooks, and then later on, I grabbed onto a foot without having anything specific in mind. I can remember being shown a sweep a while back, along with what Eddie Bravo calls the ‘old school’, but the only part I remembered was holding the foot. Either way, it worked, but that’s not too helpful if I’m not sure why. Will have to check through the blog, and also have another look at the basic half-guard section of Mastering the Rubber Guard (which is the only section I’ve paid much attention to up until now).

On top, I was working to trap the knee when passing, after Liam opened his guard. I got through to half-guard once or twice, but found it tough to get around Liam’s legs. I need to put my weight down better, and also control their hips, as otherwise it’s a simple matter for my training partners to shift away as I try to pass.

18/12/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #203



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK – 18/12/2008 - Advanced

Some technical details on the osoto gari tonight, with a useful follow-up. Pull them in and up, step your foot across - not in the middle of their legs – then step your other foot behind, dipping slightly in preparation for the throw. If they anticipate and step their leg around to prevent the trip, you can now simply switch to step behind their other leg, moving your head to the other side of their's, then trip them that way. I had problems getting my left foot close enough that I could step over effectively, so that's something I need to think about next time.

Groundwork consisted of two butterfly guard passes. The first was relatively straight forward. Grab their gi and straighten your arm, making space: you don't want to be close, as that makes you vulnerable to a sweep at this point. With your other hand, grab their opposite gi pant leg and pull downwards. You're steadily attempting to isolate one side of their body, completing the act by raising your same side knee.

Press that knee into their side of their upper thigh, twisting into them and keeping your weight down. Your grip on the back of their gi should also help keep them squashed into the floor. Finally, bring your rear leg over, switching your base, and slide up into side control.

The next pass was rather more complex. This time, grab their sleeve with your same side hand, moving your elbow in close to their body. Your other hand with thread under their leg, grabbing their opposite knee, pushing it to the floor. On the same side, bring your head next to theirs and press into their face with your skull. That should make it difficult for them to initiate an escape.

Get your knee in between their legs, bringing it up tight. Your other knee is going to replace the elbow of the same side arm which is gripping their sleeve: pull up on the sleeve and slide the knee into place. This should enable you to then bring your other leg through, moving straight into mount.

I found it difficult to maintain a firm grasp on the knee, and I also need to press my weight down more, as ever. Christina also noted that arching your back can help to add pressure, as demonstrated by a nearby purple belt.

Guard passage was split by belt, perhaps indicative of things to come with the new system of three class levels rather than just two. I started with a fellow blue belt, and to my surprise, my defensive approach actually paid off for once. I simply waited, readjusting my base and blocking his choke attempts, also shifting my knees to prevent him from sweeping or getting into an armbar position. This went on for quite some time, and eventually he left me enough space to slip through into half-guard, until I could squirm my leg free for mount.

However, I think he must have been quite tired by this point, as he'd been sparring for a while, whereas this was my first roll. It is also possible he was used to taking advantage of more aggressive training partners, so rather than my technique being better today, he just wasn't capitalising as most people swiftly do when I try to stay defensive.

Similarly Gary looked kinda tired, and as he is a big guy, went easy on me. I was looking for the omoplata again, seeing as I was squashed in guard anyway, but to no avail. I also tried to keep in mind the advice yesterday about controlling the head, but Gary has more than enough power to make that a difficult proposition. He eventually gave up from fatigue, as far as I can tell, as I definitely didn't have any kind of submission going.

I kicked off free sparring with Christina, and as ever soon found myself under side control, then knee-on-belly, then she caught an arm as I flailed around trying to curl up defensively. This happens all the time: I really, really need to watch that trailing arm, and develop better defence against knee on belly.

Next was Adam, one of the white belts, which was fairly even. I went to half-guard, concentrating on recovering full guard as usual. I need to work harder to get up on my side, as I keep ending on flat on my back, which is a bad place to be. I did eventually get to closed guard, and then later to mount due to Adam overbalancing (I think that was after we'd gone back to half-guard, but can't quite remember).

My ability to hold mount is poor, so after looking for an armbar and then trying to step up for the triangle, I was rolled back into guard. Mount remains a weak position for me, though I'm trying to implement Roger's handy tip about using your head as a third hand, which almost helped me get the back, but not quite.

Finally, I finished up rolling with Christina again, where much the same thing as before happened. Must keep those elbows in tight, and work on getting to my knees rather than always looking for half-guard. I very pointlessly locked on half-guard while Christina was attacking my arm: the half-guard did absolutely nothing to stop her locking in the armbar, so I should have been aiming to turn to my knees instead.

Chatting to Bruno afterwards, he mentioned that there is apparently going to be a class in Oxford, along with the numerous other RGA locations opening up around London. As I won't have a job to go to after tomorrow, and its christmas so my girlfriend is away, I can make Saturday training. I'm also hoping to double up on Monday, which will mean I make my goal of at least eight classes a month.

Tonight also marks the last time I'll be writing up a class on this particular laptop. It’s a KPMG laptop, so will be returning to the office for good tomorrow. I should be able to borrow a relative's computer afterwards, but I'm looking to buy a new laptop as soon as possible (talking to Christina made me think about Macs, which I've never used before. The reliability and lack of viruses is very tempting, but I'd be worried about compatibility. I have lots of random programs I like to use, like Amiga emulators, DOSBox, Mediaplayer Classic and CDisplay: not sure if any of those work on a Mac, but will have to look into it). It will feel very strange not to have a laptop of my own after heavily relying on them for the past four years.

13/11/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #194



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK – 13/11/2008 - Advanced

Training is likely to be a bit abnormal over the next couple of weeks, as next week, my gf is going to be popping down on the train with me (she has a conference thingy to go to in London), so no training Wednesday. However, the week after she's visiting friends, which should mean I could potentially get in four sessions. That would be handy as we're off on holiday in December, which naturally will cause me to miss a load more sessions (plus December tends to be a lean month anyway, due to RGA closing in over xmas). As long as it all works out to an at least twice a week average, I'm happy.

In case people have already seen this on BJJ forums (I saw it on EFN, where J-Sho posted a link, there is apparently going to be compulsory BJJ at schools in Abu Dhabi: story here. There has long been a strong association between Abu Dhabi and BJJ, due to the ruling family's interest in the sport: its interesting to see what happens when BJJ is coupled with large amounts of cash and executive power.

Tonight Jude went through a defence against the stack pass, which turned out to be quite complicated. You start by pushing off their hips with your feet, so they can't continue stacking you and getting your hips off the floor. Grab their same side sleeve, then hook the inside of their leg with your same side foot. Having stabilised your position, grip their collar with your opposite hand and sit-up.

With your same side hand, take hold of their belt, with your palm facing downwards. Push their head down to the floor, then switch grips again, so that you're now holding the belt with the other hand, palm facing up. This means that you can use that grasp to bring your elbow into play, stopping them from raising up.

That will help with your next motion, which is to bring your same side leg under the belt-gripping arm and over their head. To finish, drive your hips forward and post on your free hand slightly (I think), spinning to their back. I found this final part rather awkward, especially struggling to keep my weight on my partner: as ever, maintaining pressure remains a problem.

Jude then followed this up with a clock choke. Having spun to their back, bring your feet back so that you can press as much weight down on them as possible (I kept instinctively going to my knees, which relieves the pressure and therefore messes up the technique). Circle your right arm over their shoulder and grab their far collar, then bring the other arm underneath, holding the opposite collar. Post your forehead on the mat, and then shuffle your feet past their head to get the submission.

Specific sparring from guard reminded me just how terrible my guard passing is: if I ever take a private lesson, that will have to be the focus. I'm trying to stand up, but as we haven't done guard passage for a little while, think I've regressed a bit on that front, returning to the defensive mode that simply delays the inevitable submission or sweep.

Free sparring began with an old training partner, Dominique, who was down for a rare visit to RGA. Very nice to see her on the mats again, as she's the first person I ever rolled with at RGA, and remained a great person to train with throughout her time at the club (she does her BJJ at the affiliate in Mill Hill these days). She's got noticeably quicker since I last rolled with her: I found it tough to get into any kind of controlling position with my open guard.

That's also due to my ongoing problem of not being proactive enough in open guard, which is a position you can't really sit and wait. I kept Nick's advice about always having your feet off the floor and on your opponent in mind, but think I should be bending my partner's over more (by pushing into their hip and pulling on their sleeve or collar), so they're too off-balance to attack.

I then went with Helen, where I was trying to apply the tips I'd learned about escaping knee on belly, but think I still left my arm dangling too much. I also almost got caught in a footlock, and I'm not sure if I escaped (keeping my foot flat on the floor then pushing on Helen with my other foot to free the first), or if Helen just let go. Either way, must stay aware of footlock defences, even if I'm not keen on using them myself (too injurious, so I'd be too worried about causing somebody long-term damage).

Finished up by rolling with Dominique again, this time having a chance to further practice my half-guard. My main goal was to shift around the leg I'd trapped to secure the grip, so concentrated on getting my hips over. That's obviously easier when your partner is lighter than you, although I was trying not to get into situation where I was clearly just using force rather than technique.

Similarly under side control, I didn't want to try and just fling Dominique over me, as that would be purely a matter of size advantage. While its possible I might get it (I used to go for that as a white belt, IIRC, digging my elbow in and lifting her straight over me), its pretty pointless as that mainly relies on muscle, which in my case is in very short supply. Silly to practice something that only works on a very small group of people, so I wanted to focus on technical bridge and shrimp escapes instead, looking for the half-guard.