30/06/2012 - Nic Gregoriades 'Big Class' at GB Bristol (Overhook & Windscreen Wiper Sweep)

Class #461
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Nic Gregoriades, Bristol, UK - 30/06/2012

Geeza regularly has events he calls a 'Big Class'. It is sort of like of seminar, in that Geeza brings someone in to teach, but within the normal parameters of a class, rather than the several hours you tend to get at a seminar. Either way, it's cool to get a different perspective. I don't make it out to many of them, as I'm normally busy at the weekend, but fortunately this Saturday I had time free.

Nic is somebody I met on my first day of jiu jitsu, back in 2006 when he was a brown belt. The last time I trained with him was during my last month at the Roger Gracie Academy HQ, in January 2009. Nic is an excellent teacher, so I was excited at the chance to be taught by him again. One of my main memories from when I was learning from him regularly is that he liked to throw in unusual warm-ups and cool-downs, like meditation. That hasn't changed in the three years since, as he had a whole bunch of drills I hadn't seen before.

The idea behind all of them was to open up the hips. I'm not sure I remembered it all properly, but the ones that stuck in my head were based around the 'shin box' position (handy term: it's what Nic calls the position where you have one leg bent in front of you, so that the sole of that foot touches the knee of your other leg, which is bent behind you). From there, move your knees up, so that you switch to being sat on the floor with both knees raised in front. Continue the motion, putting your knees on the mat in the other direction, returning to the shin box position but the opposite configuration. You can then bring your legs back to the starting position and repeat.

A slightly more difficult one (if you're inflexible: I'm lucky in that I seem to have always been relatively flexible, ever since I got into martial arts seriously in 1999) starts with one leg in front, as with the shin box, but the other leg goes straight backwards, on your toes. From there, swing the back leg around in a big circle, staying low throughout and not bending your leg. Keep the swing going until that leg is in front, pointing diagonally away from you. Curl that leg so it goes into a shin box, while the other leg goes straight backwards. You can then repeat, moving forward up the mat each time.

Techniques today were all based around the closed guard. Geeza mentioned that in his email about this class, which was another reason I was keen to attend. I'm a big believer in the basics, so the kind of instruction I most value includes variations and details on fundamental techniques I already know. That's exactly what I got from Nic's class, which was therefore awesome.

First, Nic had a little detail on breaking their posture. Generally, people will stagger their hands when in your guard, gripping your collars near your chest with a straight arm, while the other hangs back pressing into your hip. To collapse that straight arm can be a pain, but Nic taught us a reliable method.

Reach over with your same side arm, grabbing their opposite collar. Brace your elbow by the side of their elbow. Bring them forwards with your legs and collar grip as usual, but use your elbow to push into their elbow. As Nic described it, their elbow is the major hinge in that situation, so this should make it easy to bring them down into what Geeza calls the 'submission zone', wrapping up their head to keep them there.

That was followed by two techniques I've been failing to get in sparring for quite some time, which is why I was so pleased to see Nic teaching them. To begin, Nic demonstrated the two-on-one gripbreak, which I taught a while ago. The basic idea is to grab their opposite sleeve, then bring your other arm underneath theirs, in order to hold the wrist of your sleeve-gripping hand. You then shove upwards to break the grip. Nic added in a variation at that point: instead of going straight up, punch diagonally across with your sleeve-grip hand, in the direction your knuckles are pointing.

Another useful detail was getting to the armwrap, for an overhook guard sweep. After you've broken the grip and are pulling your sleeve grip behind your head, Nic suggested bringing the elbow of your wrist-grabbing arm up inside their arm. That helps avoid the confusion people often get into with this technique, as it makes a clear distinction. Yet another key detail Nic added was to reach up as far as you can with your overhooking arm, before reaching under their arm. You want their shoulder pressing into your Teres major first, which will give you maximum arm length for reaching under.

After you've reached under their arm to establish the overhook, grab their opposite collar (you could feed it with your other hand, if you can do so without losing control over their posture). Make sure you also pin the elbow of your gripping arm to your ribs, to clamp their arm in place. With your non-gripping hand, grasp the gi material by their shoulder, on the trapped-arm side. Wedge your wrist and forearm under their jaw. This is important, as you'll need it for the technique to work.

Having well and truly immobilised their upper body, you can now open your guard and turn your hip out towards the non-trapped arm side. Circle your leg on the non-trapped side around their knee in order to insert a butterfly hook. If you can't, then shrimp out until you can. Raise your jaw elbow up, to lift their head, then also elevate your butterfly hook. With your other leg, chop into their knee (like you would with a scissor sweep), rolling through into mount. Here's another old training partner of mine, Yas Wilson, showing a variation where you go the opposite way:



The next technique is something I was first shown by Ciaran at the Belfast Throwdown. He called it the 'windscreen wiper' sweep. I next saw it on Andre Anderson's closed guard DVD, where he called it the 'Rey Diogo sweep', after his instructor who used it extensively. John Will does something similar he dubs the 'bearhug ankle lift'. Nic's name for it was the 'Xande sweep', due to Xande having also used it regularly in competition.

Whatever the name (I think I'll stick with Ciaran's 'windscreen wiper sweep', as it's the most descriptive), it's a great sweep. I've been giving it a go since watching the Anderson DVD, but without much success. After having been shown the same technique by Nic, I think I've been having trouble because I've followed Anderson's preference on a particular detail, whereas the other option – which Nic showed in his demonstration - works better for me. Of course, Anderson shows both and says you should try both, but I've been wrongly fixated on just the one.

Start off by grabbing the same side wrist (Anderson prefers to grab the elbow and push in, while Will has yet another variation. The breadth of jiu jitsu, even within a single element of a single technique, is a beautiful thing). Angle your torso over to the opposite side, then grab either the outside of their knee or the lower part of their trousers. Nic noted that when you do this, an experienced opponent is going to know something is up. If they know this sweep, they'll post their other leg out to stop you.

Before they can do that, put your same side foot by that other leg, keeping it tight so there is no room for them to wriggle. This is the detail I wasn't doing, because Anderson prefers to put his foot on the hip, but having tried both with Nic, I think foot on the floor works better for me than foot on the hip. Next, kick your foot on the trouser-grip side up into their armpit, aiming to curve their body away as you do (Nic used the image of a sickle, Ciaran prefers a windscreen wiper). To finish, kick forward with that leg, lifting the trouser, then roll through into mount.

We finished up with two rounds of sparring, from the closed guard. I was able to get a few passes from the top, though they felt a bit sloppy. Still, I'm pleased I managed to switch from one side to the other a couple of times, as that is a habit I've been trying to develop. Underneath, I was looking to take the back, combining that with a flower sweep if it didn't work. I wasn't wholly successful. Still got the sweep, but again it was sloppy, based more on reaction than anything I could easily replicate.

I also attempted to move into a scissor sweep, but as so often when I try that, I basically just gave them an opportunity to start a pass. I was able to recover with a kimura from under half guard, but again that was opportunistic and sloppy. I should soon have lots more time to work on guard stuff, as I think the theme is passing for the next fortnight.

07/01/2009 - BJJ (Intermediate)

Class #208



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 07/01/2009 - Intermediate

The classes have now been split into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. White belts start with the Beginner class, then on getting their third stripe they can progress to Intermediate. Once they get their blue belt, they can only train in the Intermediate, until they get their third stripe on that new belt. Then they can move into Advanced, to which they're restricted once they get to purple.

That means that several of my favourite training partners are now, understandably, training in Advanced rather than the new Intermediate session, like Christina, Helen and Tran (the latter two who, as purple belts, couldn't train in Intermediate anyway). Still, plenty of good people left, like Paxton, Tanvir, Anne and Indra, all of whom were there today.

Paxton gave me several good tips on throws, which I think he heard from Bruno. On the seoi-nage, grip a lapel with your same side hand. Use your grip to pull across to put your partner off balance, then twist into them, bringing your free arm underneath theirs, then lifting them in the usual way (remembering to use your bicep to hold them and not your shoulder, or they may be able to choke you).

Also, on the tai-otoshi, make sure you really pull and push with your arms: I keep making the mistake of forgetting to use my arms sufficiently, which goes for various other techniques too. It will be good to get in some more judo, as that will help lots with the 'kuzushi' part of things, learning how to properly unbalance an opponent and enter into throws. Shall have to see how my schedule works out, once I find a new job.

Specific sparring from side control raised the familiar problem of being unable to clear their elbow. I was trying to get my other knee underneath to scoop their arm out of the way, but couldn't quite manage it. I switched to north-south instead, as its better than a stalemate, aiming for the reverse scarf hold transition Iain showed us in judo a while back. I was able to get my elbow into one of their armpits, but failed to remember how the rest of the technique went. Underneath, I was mostly just stuck under knee-on-belly for a while.

The focus on knee-on-chest tonight was therefore rather useful: I've never used it, as I've always felt way too unstable and easily moved. I feel much more comfortable in side control or in scarf control. Best of all, not only was Nick there to teach the correct positioning, we were also lucky to have a man present who is famous for his knee-on-chest, Maurição.

To transition from side control to knee-on-chest, you first need to clear their elbow. Use your knee to do this (the leg furthest from their head), then switch your hips back to trap their arm. Grab the collar behind their head with one hand, with the other should be pressed into their far hip, both hands attempting to push firmly towards the floor.

From there, push off with your arms and pop your knee onto their chest (Nick mentioned that while the position is often called knee-on-belly, knee-on-chest is more accurate, as pressure on the chest is a lot more effective than pressure on the belly). The knee should be pointing towards their far shoulder, keeping your toes off the floor to maximise the amount of weight on your partner. Your other leg should be stretched out, making sure that it isn't easy for them to grab it.

Keep your hips as low as possible, meaning you end up sitting on them, but with your bum off to the side of their body. To further add to their discomfort, the arm that is gripping their collar can be used to press into their face, making it difficult for them to turn their head.

At this point, Maurição stepped in with a great tip. Even if you can't clear their elbow, you can still transition to knee-on-chest. Bring the knee nearest their face right up to their head. Grip their collar and hip as before, and again push up and bring your knee to their chest. Though they have an elbow in the way, you will simply shove past it, bringing your knee outwards in a small arc as you do so. I'm always having trouble getting past that elbow, so this should be very useful for me.

To finish, Nick then showed us an armbar from knee-on-chest. Having got your knee in place, the natural reaction of your partner is often to push on that knee with their hand. It's painful, so shoving with the hand is the immediate response to get rid of all that pressure. However, this also frequently means that there will now be a gap by their elbow.

You can take advantage of this by feeding your hand through (on the inside). Wrap your hand around the back of their bicep and pull in tight with your arm. That should now mean you can squash their arm against your shoulder (I also wondered if a gooseneck wristlock might be an option at that point, given the angle of the wrist: Roy Dean shows a bunch on his DVD, though I don't remember them being from this position). Push down on their face and step your leg over their head.

Having trapped their arm, you can now spin all the way to the other side to go for an armbar. Nick noted that at this point, many people make the mistake of not spinning far enough, so lose the armbar. To prevent that, grab their trouser leg to help pull yourself round: you want to be facing the opposite wall, making a complete spin. Finally, drop back and go for the armbar, squeezing your knees together.

Technique was so in-depth today (always a good thing, in my opinion: the more detail on technique the better), sparring was cut a little shorter. As I normally only do two or three, that wasn't much of a concern for me, just meant less resting time. I started off with Tanvir, who has recently come back from a knee injury. I was looking to go for the hook sweep again, but still not properly bending my partners at the waist properly.

When I could see I was losing control of Tanvir's leg, I secured a De La Riva hook instead. That did indeed give me better control, but I then didn't know what to do with it: should take another look at sweeps from there. I made sure not to do the same thing on the other leg, as especially because I'm not as familiar with De La Riva as half-guard, I didn't want to do something random and exacerbate the knee problem.

With Indra, I was again looking for the hook sweep. Got a bit closer this time, but as against Tanvir, I wasn't getting the necessary bend. Indra was able to push with her knees and break my control, getting back to a sitting position. I tried going for an armbar instead, but as usual with my submission attempts, left way too much space so she spun out. I at least ended up with a sloppy side control rather than losing control altogether, but had time run out I imagine Indra could have escaped from that too.

In half-guard I was finding the lockdown useful again, in terms of preventing Indra from getting into a good position to pass. I aimed to push her leg back to disrupt her base, then try to shrimp to the other side, press on her other knee with my arm and hopefully make enough space to get a knee through for closed guard. Worked twice, I think, but I should be using my arms more and being careful not to end up flat on my back.

At the end of class, lots of gradings, which is in keeping with the various new belts I saw earlier that night. Jason is now a purple belt, and I saw a new brown belt too, so most likely others I missed. It was mainly stripes in the Intermediate class, with one new blue belt. Indra, Anne and I all got another stripe, which puts me on two. Always pleasant to get a promotion of any sort, but as its time based, I'm not sure what it will mean when I train somewhere else, as I will have to leave RGA at the end of January. Hopefully I can shift to one of the affiliates (such as Jude's new place in Kilburn), but that all depends on cost and how long I'm in London.

22/12/2008 - BJJ (Advanced), Evening

Class #206



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

I’d forgotten just how much Dutch painting the National Gallery displays, so that made for an enjoyable continuation of the Amsterdam trip. As ever picked up the audio guide, both touring round the various Vermeers, Rembrandts and Avercamps, along with revisiting old favourites of mine, like Hobbema’s ‘The Avenue at Middleharnis’. Rooms 16-17a, 21-29 and 31, in case anyone else wants to do the same (though I didn’t have quite enough time to really indulge in Room 29, which is dedicated to Peter Paul Rubens, or Anthony Van Dyck in Room 31. Belgium etc tends to be grouped together with the Netherlands, as at the time it was all the Low Countries, IIRC, before splitting over religious differences).

Back to BJJ for the evening class, where this time Nick G went over some fine details on the triangle from guard. He emphasised curling your toes back as well as your feet to tense up your calves (and thereby tighten your choke), pulling the head down, squeezing your knees together, and bringing your shoulders to your knees rather than raising your hips. That confused me a bit, as I thought raising the hips was an integral part of the triangle, but I think Nick’s point was that pushes them away and gives them a chance to posture up. Not entirely certain, however: maybe he’ll go through it on his blog in the future?

The other detail Nick added was countering the common defence to a triangle, where they grab your knee with both hands, drive it to the mat, then try to force open your legs using their bodyweight. If they attempt to grab your knee, grab it yourself with your other hand, then lay your same side hand on the mat. This is going to provide you with some traction, as you now need to switch your hips. By doing so, your training partner has lost that opportunity to escape, and is in a far worse position.

Guard passing with Adam was in my usual defensive mode, and got a bit circular. He kept going for either an armbar or cross-choke, and I kept shifting my knees to prevent him making sufficient space for the former, or bringing my arms over and pushing his away for the latter. What I should have done was try to stand up and pass. I was looking for a chance to try the Saulo guard break, but couldn’t settle into position: standing up would have been more productive.

Free sparring started with Roberto. I was keen to give Jude’s half-guard sweeps a try, so immediately pulled half-guard, but unfortunately forgot about getting onto my side. Roberto had me squashed underneath him, so I couldn’t grab his sleeve cuff. Also, that is a follow-up to when the first sweep doesn’t work, so I should have tried that one first. Instead, I lay there trying to work out what hand went where, then eventually worked back to full guard, not being able to establish position for the sweep, or indeed remember the technique properly.

Last spar was with Zaf, but as often happens (to my benefit), it was more Zaf offering me tips. First he commented that if I want to try the Saulo guard break, I need to twist my hips, so they’re facing diagonally rather than square on. That should make me it harder to sweep me. Secondly, if I’m in the mount and attempting to use my head as a third hand, I need to put my free hand and forehead on the same side. Previously, I’d been putting my head on the other side, which doesn’t sufficiently help with balance, meaning I still get reversed.

That wraps up this year of BJJ, unless I’m both near London later in the month and the Academy is actually open. Nice to see Adam get his blue belt at the end of the session: hadn’t realised that like me, he also has a Turkish background (or to be more specific, Turkish Cypriot in his case), which is always cool. Now I can sit back, eat lots of mince pies and generally be enormously unhealthy. Merry Christmas! :D

20/12/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #204



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 20/12/2008 - Advanced

Not having a job means more time for training! So, sparring class tonight, which I'll hopefully follow with doubling up on Monday. That will also give me the chance to either go take another look round the National Gallery, or perhaps check out the exhibition at the Royal Academy. I'm intending to do the afternoon class followed by the evening session, which leaves me a good chunk of time to indulge in some great art.

My first roll tonight was with Christina, where I was trying to remember to watch my trailing arm. Arm placement under side control came up again, with Christina advising to avoid putting the forearm under the neck (having just applied an Americana after I did so). Wedging the forearm underneath is my standard defensive position under side control, but clearly I'm not doing it right if I'm leaving that arm open. From what I remember of Kevin's advice from a while back, I think my problem is that I'm not tucking my elbow under their armpit, meaning it is more vulnerable to submission.

Tran offered similar advice when I asked him where he puts his arm under side control, also saying that you should it to make space then quickly slip the arm through, so you can turn to your knees. I hardly ever turn to my knees, as I'm far too used to staying on my back. That probably is part of the reason why I so frequently find myself struggling under knee-on-belly, against both Christina and Tran. I'm continuing to attempt to use my elbow to shrimp out, but need to come up more on my side.

Dominique was at the academy too tonight, so I was keen to get in a roll with her. I managed to sweep from under half guard, though as ever I’m not sure if weight difference had something to do with that. Whether or not it did, I still had trouble passing half-guard, again attempting the one where you swing your free leg over, but I don’t think I’m trapping their head sufficiently, or putting them flat enough on their back. I did eventually squeeze past, but mainly because Dom was already knackered from a tough spar with Christina.

The fourth spar was with Lubo, who I also haven’t seen for a fair while. He normally trains at Mill Hill, but several of the people from there were in attendance tonight. He repeatedly choked me out on top of half-guard, and also kept catching me with the exact same entry and sweep when we started from the knees. I’m crappy at guard passing closed guard, but even worse against open guard.

That was driven home in my final spar with Jude. I was pretty clueless in trying to get past his legs, especially when he also secured a grip on my sleeve. I spent the rest of the spar flung around by his legs, and then repeatedly put in various collar chokes. He was taking it easy, so gave me a chance to escape, but even when I laboriously worked my way free, I immediately got caught in another. Also, as with all my sparring today, I’m being too flat on my back when on the bottom.

Maurição announced that Jude would be leaving the main academy to head up the instruction at RGA’s new Kilburn location. Jude has taught me most often out of the many black belts at RGA, so it will be sad to see him go. Of course, I’ll be going myself next month: my hope is that I’ll have found a new job in the Midlands by February, but if not, I might look into training with an RGA affiliate.

Chatting to Dominique, Mill Hill might be a good option, as there is the possibility of paying per lesson rather than a monthly fee, which would be handy now that I have considerably less disposable income. Shall have to look into it if I’m still near London in two months.

After class, a bunch of us headed off to a meal organised by Christina at Bodean's, not too far from the academy. Good food and reasonable prices (along with awesome company, of course!), plus the service was really good. The manager kept coming up to check we were ok, and seemed both friendly and personable. Was also cool to see Oli D again, who now trains with Ben at the Farringdon class: he's one of the first people I met back when he used to train at RGA.

03/12/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #200



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 03/12/2008 - Advanced

I'm probably not going to get all that much BJJ in over December, as I'm off to Amsterdam next week (I had wanted to go a bit later, to coincide with a trip Christina said she was planning with a bunch of other people, but unfortunately next week is the only time both my gf and I can make), and my usual training days of Wednesday and Thursday are also where Christmas falls this year. Depends when the Academy is open too, but I'm guessing I'll make seven classes at most this month. We'll see: hopefully I'll make more, but that's already a best case scenario. Then again, December is always a lean month, like February, so can't be helped.

Class tonight kicked off with some side control sparring. I was able to stay on top of Indra, but found it difficult to deal with her arms pushing me away. My solution was to try and shift through to north-south, but I'm not sure how securely I was holding her. I also wasn't doing anything except maintaining my position, rather than moving through for a submission, or transitioning to mount. Being able to stay in control isn't a bad thing, but I need to be more pro-active, as it isn't enough: if I'm not able to submit or move to a more dominant position, then I'm simply delaying their escape and forcing a stalemate, rather than doing anything useful.

Underneath, I worked my way to half-guard, then eventually managed to recover full guard. Indra had my arm trapped, which meant I couldn't shift through to the other side properly, but once I got that arm free I was able to wriggle my legs into position. I'm still staying too flat under side control: I want to improve my bridge, such as with a tip I heard earlier about pushing at an angle rather than just straight up.

Nick's technique was based around your opponent trying to escape to their knees from under side control. He first showed two basic ways to recounter a side control escape: either get their shoulders flat to the mat, or cup the elbow on which they're posting and pull back with both hands. If they do manage to get to your knee, immediately sprawl the other leg back to make sure they can't grab it.

You are now in position to make a submission attempt, the clock choke. Sprawling with your legs, put your hips directly onto the back of their neck, and sink your weight down as much as possible, making it difficult for them to raise their head. Next, bring your arm over their back and grip their collar, opening it up. Be careful when you bring your arm through that you don't go too far underneath them: there is a risk that they could trap your elbow and try to roll you.

Once you've opened up the collar, you can feed it to your other hand, which you bring around their neck. Your grip shouldn't be too deep on the collar, as you want to bring that collar across their neck, using it as a blade to dig into their neck. Your other hand grabs their wrist, threading it around their arm.

Here is where the clock analogy comes in: your legs will form the hands, while their turtled body is the clock face. Step over with your top leg, slip your other leg underneath, then step over again, repeating the process until you get the tap. The choke is created by the weight of your body pressing their neck into that stretch of fabric you've brought across their throat. While you need to keep that taut, as with so many situations in BJJ, it is your body weight which effects the submission, not the strength of your arm pulling up on their collar.

An alternative is to transition, using a kimura grip on their arm. You're in the same sprawled position as before, but this time thread your arm around their to grab their wrist, then bring your other arm over their face and grab your own wrist. Pull up and trap their shoulder against your chest as tightly as possible, then fall back, rolling them towards you at the same time.

To complete the transition, shrimp away, switch your hips by sliding one leg under the other, then move your knee onto their stomach. From here, you have numerous options, such as going for an armbar, stepping over their head to go for a kimura, or possibly move through to mount, depending on their defence. I personally found the switch to getting a knee onto the stomach difficult: it felt as if I had to struggle to get onto my knee, leaving way too much space in the process. Clearly I have work to do on improving my balance, shrimping and shifting my hips.

Nick demonstrated once again that he is a forward thinking instructor, stopping the class to show a different grip one of the purple belts tried immediately after drilling that technique. Instead of going over their face, you can also go under their neck and grab your own wrist.

For free sparring my first partner was an experienced purple belt called Paul, though he clearly was going easy. At one point he was in my guard and not really resisting, so I had a vague attempt at a loop choke, but it felt a bit stupid to aggressively try and shove it on: after all, he was letting me have it. Next time I'm in that situation, I need to remember to try and do the submission as technically as I can, then see how they manage to block it, rather than just flail about in confusion, as I seem to do at the moment.

My second and last roll was with Tran, who squished me under his knee-on-belly. He had me that choke where you move around and submit them by twist the collars in the process (so sort of like the clock choke, though I'm assuming its got a different name). I was being too complacent in my defence, because I had an arm in between his, but I should have been thinking more about tucking my chin.

I also made a sloppy attempt at emulating something I'd seen on a clip of Saulo Ribeiro's highly regarded Jiu Jitsu Revolution, where you trap one leg from a kneeling position, but clearly need to watch it again. I merely ended up giving Tran a sweep repeatedly: I have to keep my weight on him and apply pressure. Still, clip looked useful (when its done right, which I very obviously wasn't), as I really struggle with my guard passing, so am keen to develop basics from that situation.

There were a lot of world-class black belts in the room, with one corner of the mats occupied by Braulio, Lagarto and Roger sparring each other. On top of that, Maurição is back in the country: I think he's only just arrived, as there were a load of suitcases in the entrance hall. Hopefully I'll get the chance to be taught by him again before he heads back to Brazil, as his classes are always interesting, due to his vast experience.

29/11/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #199



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 29/11/2008 - Advanced

I'd resigned myself to missing class today, as I didn't get the train I wanted from Amersham and had therefore assumed I wouldn't make it. However, the next train was earlier than I thought, so I managed to get down to the Academy with twenty minutes to spare (my habit of leaving lots of time for getting anywhere comes in really handy sometimes).

The Saturday class was fairly busy, with a bunch of my favourite sparring partners in attendance, so that was cool. Several people I haven't seen in a little while too, like Paxton and Bruno, who are both good to train with. There was no technique today, as on Saturdays it is all rolling after the warm-up. I started with Paxton, where I soon found myself in half-guard looking to either go for the sweep where you grab their opposite arm and roll them over their trapped leg, or full guard.

My problem was that I tended to be on the wrong side for that to work effectively, so spent most of my time trying to manoeuvre my upper body to the other side of their torso. I'm also still being too flat under side control: need to work harder on raising up a shoulder to prevent them crushing me down too easily. It might also be beneficial to put more pressure on their neck with my forearm, but I'm not overly fond of that kind of thing: seems 'dirty'.

Next up was Zahir, one of the white belts, though he's been here for a while now (I can remember rolling with him almost two years ago). As ever I was looking to escape from side control, got to half-guard, whereupon Zahir looked for a kimura. I didn't have much trouble keeping my arm straight and eventually reversing to get on top, but I definitely need to be careful of leaving my arm vulnerable: plenty of other people who could have capitalised on that quickly. I didn't have much time to do anything in top half guard, though I had a brief search for my own kimura. No luck there, as his arm was in a secure defensive position.

With Bruno, I'm always guaranteed a very relaxed sparring partner, though as a brown belt he doesn't need to expend much energy when rolling with a low blue belt like me. Again I was working in half-guard a lot, also trying to wriggle free from both side control and knee-on-belly. I kept in mind that I shouldn't turtle if at all possible, so successfully avoided giving up my back too easily.

Finally (the class on Saturday is only an hour long, like the class yesterday), I had a roll with Helen, with my own internal rule that I wasn't allowed to go for half-guard from open-guard, which is what happens frequently when we spar. That meant I instead found I was using my knees a lot more to push her away, aiming to wedge them into her hips, as well as spinning about trying to push on her hips. The rule didn't last once we got out of open guard, as I inevitably found myself in half-guard yet again. Next time, need to be better about my rule, or at least work harder for full guard. ;)

Of course, that's not to say that it is easy to get half-guard on Helen, as she's a purple belt, but she is a good ten kilograms lighter than me. I am normally under side control, knee-on-belly or half guard with her, interspersed by brief periods of open guard followed by half guard. This time, I was a lot more varied with my open guard, so avoiding the half-guard appeared to be a useful exercise.

Straight up to Leamington after that: I had wanted to go and have a drink with the ZSK guys, as there's a grading in St John's Wood, but the trains are messed up. Looking at the route, it would involve lots of buses, so that would mean I'd spent a while wandering around lost trying to work out where the hell I should be going. Didn't really have the time before my train to Leam, so had to pass. Will have to see if I can make it to the ZSK social tomorrow, but my girlfriend wants to go to a ceilidh at the same time.

26/11/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #196



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 26/11/2008 - Advanced

No judo this week, as I wanted to save myself for the extra BJJ training I was planning to get in, with four sessions rather than my normal two. I also didn't get to salsa, which wasn't intentional: something more important came up. Still, should be able to make it to the final class next week, where I might check if there is anywhere friendly I can go continue learning salsa in the university holidays.

The Fightworks Podcast is running its third BJJ Blog of the Year contest, with some pretty decent prizes. I can vouch for the Padilla & Sons gi, as I've been very happy with mine, and The Gracie Way is also an enjoyable read, if heavily biased: my review up here. I've heard lots of good things about the Renzo documentary too: should be able to review that in the not-too-distant future, as I pre-ordered it, so waiting for it to drop through my letterbox.

I would expect Aesopian to win again this year, though Val Worthington's blog looked competitive for much of the poll. I'm not sure where I'll vote this year: I went for Christina's blog last time, so may well vote for her again, though The Jiu-Jitsu Brotherhood is also deserving. Both of those are not only interesting to read, but they give helpful advice too, as well as being well-written.

I've also enjoyed Georgette's blog, BJJ Grrl and Chasing the Blue, with the recently launched Blogoplata like a great one for the future. Lots of other deserving blogs too, like Steve, Jadon, BJJ-Asia…I could go on. Voting hasn't started yet, though for some reason lots of readers from one particular blog stuffing the Fightworks page full of comments. Laudable enthusiasm, but a bit pointless as its only nominating at the moment: only need to post the link up once. ;)

Class tonight was based around mount, in particular the armbar from mount. Generally they're going to have their arms and hands tight, elbows down, so you first task is to make some space. There are various ways of doing that – Nick quickly ran through three – but the one that looked most useful to me was to wrap around their head and elbow, then twist, immediately shoving your knee into the gap that created. You then need to get up as high as you can: squeeze your feet and knees tight into their sides, then post on your hands and slide up (as Oli noted, I was tending to waddle my way up instead, which is not only lacking in grace, but leaves way too much space and time for your partner).

Once you've secured that high position, you need to get a good angle. Bring your knee close to their head (which knee depends on which arm they have on top: you want your knee on the same side), turning your body to face across their body. To be certain of a solid base, you then want to get your other foot to their head, although the important detail there is not the foot, but getting your thigh underneath their shoulder: that position is called 's-mount', I think. This should further 'tighten the screw', to use Nick's preferred metaphor.

Now you need to get their arm free. Hook underneath their wrist (not the crook of their elbow, as that simply makes things harder for you) then yank it free. Straight away, bring the arm really tight to your body. The next part is a variation on the usual technique, which Nick told us he's found has greatly aided him in finishing the submission: rather than bringing your foot over their head, slide your knee across their face instead. This has the major advantage of not raising your hips off them, which therefore keeps gravity on your side and gives them no space.

To finish, you don't even need to drop back, but can raise the arm from your seated position to get the armbar. You can fall back if you want in the orthodox manner, but Nick's version means that if you mess up, you're in a far less vulnerable position. If you fall back and don't get the arm, they're likely to spin through to your guard. If you don't fall back and stay upright, as per Nick's suggestion, you should be able to go back to mount and try something else.

Specific sparring from mount with Helen went predictably badly on top, where I couldn't keep my position very well, and even if I could, I wasn't able to do anything but maintain. Roger's advice about using your head as an extra hand is useful, so I've been trying to develop that: not quite there yet, but it is definitely helping. Nevertheless, I kept finding that Helen was able to get her knees through and push me back into her guard. To stop that, she advised that I should just step over her leg and twist to the side, aiming for an s-mount position.

Nick then lined us up against the wall and matched us up. Fortunately for my wimpy nature, I had a chance to rest, as I was in a three and it was winner stays on, sparring from mount again. When I did get into the fray, I wasn't able to stay on top for very long, though I did at least move into a vague triangle position from mount. However, it was way too loose, so my partner Roberto had little trouble spinning to guard. I doubt I would have been able to triangle from there, or switch to something else, but I it's still better than being swept to guard with nothing (though finishing from mount would obviously be preferable).

Underneath, I was far more comfortable, working for half-guard. My partner this time, whose name I didn't catch, was doggedly blocking my attempting to shrimp around the leg I'd triangled, but I eventually managed to push them off mount with my other knee. Sloppy on my part and rather spur-of-the-moment, so it wouldn't normally succeed, but perhaps something to keep in mind. Either way, a good lesson that I should be using all my limbs if possible.

I was even lazier than usual when it came to free sparring, only sparring once, with Tran. As always I soon found myself defending chokes from mount. I'm happy enough in that position, but need to work on protecting my neck properly if they are then able to take my back. I tried to roll Tran, and then get my back flat to the floor when he was trying to choke, but messed up, as he then switched to get a knee into my back and choke from there. Admittedly wearing a judo gi doesn't help when getting collar choked, as there is rather more cloth to get strangled with, but on the other hand, that's probably helpful in improving my defence: less room for error on my part.

As I was saying to Owen after class, I need to establish a new group of sparring partners. I've always been paranoid about injury, so tend to limit my rolling to people I feel I can trust. However, many of my favourite partners are no longer regular – Christina, Joanna, Indra, Tanvir and Herman all haven't been on the mats much in recent months (or at least not at the same time as me), which means I have to be less picky, until I can re-establish some trusted partners. My bare minimum of rolls should be two, and even that is rather low: three would be better.

I should be training four times this week, so that also meant I wasn't too bothered about the amount of sparring, but shall have to make certain of at least that meagre two tomorrow, preferably three.

20/11/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #195



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 20/11/2008 - Advanced

There's a new site by Stephan Kesting, specifically for beginners, with the straightforward name Beginning BJJ. I saw this mentioned by Aesopian, and it looks good so far: along with a newsletter, sent out every three days, you get a thirty-four page e-book, A Roadmap for BJJ, after signing up. At the moment, its all free, which I assume will remain the case.

You're also in luck if you're into comics, as a professional cartoonist from Seattle has put her skills to work in creating some stylish BJJ art: check out Ellen Forney's free wallpaper here. There's a whole load of other cool stuff available on her website, with various books by Ellen for sale, as well as free samples. Reminds me to take a look in the library for graphic novels again: last time, I delved into MAUS, which is right up there with The Sandman, Watchmen, Preacher and other classics (unsurprising, given its also rather rare amongst graphic novels in having won the author a Pulitzer Prize). That high status means its one of the very few comics available at my university library, but there might be more by now.

Couldn't train yesterday as my gf stayed round in Bucks for a conference in London today, meaning I popped down with her to High Wycombe in the evening rather than my usual afternoon train to Marylebone. However, that means I'll get extra training in next week to make up for it: if your partner doesn't share your hobby, then its good to set up compromises like that :D. At the same time, BJJ is probably number three on my list of priorities (my relationship and family being one and two), so I don't mind missing the occasional session if I have to.

As I was getting changed, I could hear the instantly recognisable voice of one of the best training partners at RGA, Christina. Great to see her again, as it's been almost two months since she has been down to the same class as me.

She immediately reminded me of just how good a training partner she is by offering some tips on the tai otoshi, a throw I'm keen to improve given all the handy follow-ups Chris demonstrated at judo earlier this month. Main points are that I need to keep my upper body straight and get my hips closer to my partner: Christina used to do a fair bit of judo at the Budokwai, so is a handy person to ask.

We moved straight into specific sparring after the warm-up, where I went with Melissa. I found that on top, I was able to control her with scarf hold, but I couldn't really do a whole lot else with the position. I always attempt to trap their arm so I can do that step over triangle, then if that fails I try to wedge my knee in to push their arm past their head, switch back to side control and go for mount.

That's only two options, however, which is too limited if I'm struggling with both of them. I need to develop another submission from scarf, and also work harder on the transition to mount. Holding somebody is a useful first step (although I think I have a size advantage on Melissa), but I need to move past that and initiate some kind of offence.

Underneath, Nick urged me to bridge more and with greater force, also suggesting bridging twice in quick succession, which I haven't tried before. I'm used to biding my time and conserving energy, but that can easily lead to being totally passive and waiting, giving my partner all the time they want to work offence. Again, I need to be more proactive, and combine various escape attempts.

I also need to be careful of my neck, such as when I go to my knees to escape side control. I'm being too complacent about people going for chokes, relying on my defence to get me out. Melissa came close several times today, mainly trying guillotines and cross chokes, but I was either able to get an arm or leg in the way and make some space. Definitely not comfortable though, so requires greater vigilance on my part.

There was just the one technique today, but it was relatively complex, transitioning from side control to mount. Nick called it 'around the world', where starting in side control, you first scoop up their near elbow and then switch your base, driving your knee through to push that elbow out of the way and break their defence.

Next, bring your rear leg over their head, using your hip to force the arm you just knocked out of place onto their face and neck. This will put you in north-south. From here, put your hand on the side of their head (in the direction you're about to move), then bring what is now your rear leg all the way over again (meaning you've switched your base once more).

As you do so, use your arm to keep their arm trapped against their neck. This is important, as that means you can then dig your hand under their head, which sets you up for an arm triangle. You can finish the submission by grabbing your other bicep, then with the hand of the arm you just gripped, take hold of your own head and squeeze.

Alternately, keep going and transition to mount. You've got their arm uncomfortably shoved into their face (or neck, or perhaps chin, but either way its not pleasant), so now you have to make enough space to go to mount. Similarly to how you started, you're going to switch your base yet again, moving the knee of the leg closest to their hips underneath your other leg, which should knock their free hand out of place. The mount is now yours for the taking, putting you in a very controlling position with both their arms out of play.

Nick got us to spar from side control again, and this time my partner was Christina. I tried to concentrate on keeping my weight down, and then switching to north-south while maintaining the pressure. While doing that, I tried closing my eyes to see if that helped, also aiming to squirm my elbows into her armpits.

However, I didn't use my weight properly. Afterwards, Christina mentioned that I was just using my arms, with my hips too high and therefore not helping with weight distribution. Not being used to north-south, I'm still a little apprehensive about shoving my weight into somebody's face, which partly accounts for that, but I can always drop it more onto their shoulder. Either way, weight distribution remains key, and the hips the most important part of the solution.

Underneath, same story as usual, with Christina popping up to knee-on-belly. I was being cautious with my hands, trying again to implement Dominik's advice about using your elbows instead of your hands to push on the knee. This seemed to work better, and Christina noted that it was definitely an improved defensive strategy on my part (though naturally she still didn't have too much trouble passing).

My first partner in free sparring was again Melissa, and again I'm not being careful enough with chokes. Towards the end she was in open guard really pushing for a cross-choke, which I only held off by pressing my knees into her torso. Similarly I'd earlier resisted a guillotine by having an arm in to make a bit of breathing space. Not very reliable defence on my part: much better to develop better awareness and watch out for choke attempts before they're locked in.

Before that, I'd been spending a lot of time in side control and half guard, eventually reversing Melissa and getting into her guard. Once again, she was working for a choke, as I tried to posture up and go for a pass. Due to my horrendously bad guard passing, that just meant I ended up in open guard, leading to yet another choke attempt by Melissa.

Closing spar with Christina was very relaxed, turning into instruction, which was really handy. She gave me a whole load of good tips on open guard. First was to keep my knees off the floor and on either her upper legs or higher. I've been tending to hook knees, but if I do that, I shouldn't just sit there, but go for the sweep immediately.

Christina also advised that I should keep my legs pushing constantly, but not completely straight: there should still be some tension, or she can simply push them down and pass. Finally, once your partner is going low, use spider guard to push them away on their bicep, and/or getting a knee into their shoulder if they're really low and close.

Turns out that another of my old training partners has got involved with Kukla Pictures, though unfortunately he isn't able to train yet. Chris has been carrying injuries for a long time, but its cool to hear that he's been able to use his considerable artistic skills to help out with the film production. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the stuff Kukla comes up with, so will have to try and clear some time in my diary to make the events.

29/10/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #189



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 29/10/2008 - Advanced

Yet another offer from The Grapplers Guide, but this time its specific to referrals. If you sign up through my link (I'm slideyfoot on The Grapplers Guide, like everywhere else), you can get a lifetime membership for $50. Which is kinda cool. So again, if you were thinking about signing up but were put off by the price, that's one way of making it rather more affordable. ;)

Taught my second seminar on Thom Gunn and Peter Reading yesterday, having taught on the same course last year (also did a session on Lowell and Plath that time, but there was only enough funding for one this year), which seemed to go well. I was especially pleased to see the students discussing among themselves, without much prompting from me, which is the ideal situation. However, if I teach that seminar again next year, I think I'll change the first poem. At present, I'm basically using it to set up the comparison to the second poem, but it was much harder to get discussion going about the contents (because frankly its not that great a poem). Shall have to think up a replacement for next time, but the other three poems appeared to go down well, at least in terms of generating lots of debate.

To continue on a non-BJJ topic for another paragraph, I loved the last series of Last Man Standing on the BBC, so was eagerly looking forward to the next group of athletes heading off around the world to get beaten up in various bizarre but anthropologically interesting ways. So, most excited to see that the new series has now started (which I only realised because fellow fan Matt mentioned it on Martial Farts), and best of all, they've got a submission wrestler in the team this team (though personally I would have liked to have seen a Greco-Roman stylist, as they would have been an interesting match-up for the second episode's challenge), as well as a boxer. Last time, the only martial artsy guy was a kickboxer, who got injured in the only event where he looked like he was in with a good chance. Hopefully that doesn't happen this time, as I'm intrigued to see how American and English combat athletes do against the hardened tribes they'll be competing against. My favourite line from the show so far: "Its fun, you won't die," right after watching some Ethiopian fighters covered both in blood and some horrible scars.

Getting back to sweaty people rolling around on mats: tonight's class once again involved plenty of stand-up to start with, including randori. Fortunately for me, I was with Gary, who wanted to go light due to arm injuries. That meant I could just concentrate on shooting in, and he also showed me a grip break using the leg (basically, you just bring your knee up, then pull their grip onto it, simultaneously yanking your arm back and pressing your knee forward to break their hold).

That was followed up by sparring from rear mount, where your partner already has their hooks in and is sitting behind you. In terms of defence, I protected my neck ok, keeping my elbows and hands in tight, clamped to my chin, but was less adept at preventing armbars. Liam caught me in two, and would have had a third if time hadn't run out. That's a recurring problem with certain of my escapes, so I need to be more careful of my trailing arm.

In attack, I decided to pick on a specific detail I wanted to work. Normally when attacking the back I find that I have no control, so tonight I wanted to focus on putting my head close to theirs, but slightly lower. This seemed to function well in terms of maintaining a tight hold, although Liam did eventually escape: certainly better than normal, as my partner often immediately spins out of my weak rear mount.

Technique today was another choke from the back, but utilising a concept one of Nick's old instructors had shown him in regards to submissions. This was the principle of getting your spine ninety degrees to your opponents: it doesn't fit in every situation, but nevertheless applies to many, such as Americanas from side control, kimura from the guard, armbar from mount etc. Nick wanted to show us an application of this concept to chokes, starting in rear mount.

You begin with a deep grip on your partner's opposite collar, as far back as you can get it. Next, roll in the direction of the arm you're choking them with (where the elbow is pointing rather than the hand), which also applies as a general principle to chokes from the back. You then need to reach on the inside edge of your same side leg, getting a really firm grasp on the top of their trousers.

Having secured that hold, remove your hook on the other side. Your partner will now probably try to escape using that sudden space, which you're going to use to choke them. Keep in mind that they must not get their back flat on the floor or turn into you, as that will make the choke very difficult. This is why you're holding on to their trousers, to keep them close to you.

The space will enable you to shrimp out, moving away from their back. Make sure you keep your chest pressed into their back, so they can't swivel towards you. Bring the knee closest to their head into position for base (so you can take the weight off your elbow), while raising your other leg so that the knee is against their back. This will mean you can now finish the choke by treating your opponent, in Nick's words, as a plank of wood you're trying to snap across your knee. Press with the knee and pull with the grip on their collar and on their trousers to get the submission.

My first free spar was with Nick, so given my vastly lesser ability, he coached me through a few techniques, such as the choke he'd just shown and an armbar, also giving out some useful tips. First was to make sure that your feet are never on the ground in open guard: instead press on their hips, secure grips etc. It was cool to try out one of the sweeps I had learned from Nick himself a while ago and get some advice (such as making sure I hook the back of the knee, not the ankle. The Theory and Technique book shows it the other way for the hook sweep, but Nick's version feels more secure). Second, the simple but important advice to never give up mount for side control, which I'm prone to doing as my mount is awful (not that my side control is much better, but it is at least slightly more secure).

That was followed up by a roll with Zahir, who I haven't seen in months, and finally Tran. As ever, Tran is an excellent training partner for working escapes, as he plays such a tight game. I spend the majority of my time rolling with Tran trying to work my elbows into his knees, pushing on his foot to try and lock in half-guard, then squirm my way free, avoiding chokes as I do so.

Should be training again tomorrow as usual, and then getting in another session of the Warwick Uni BJJ training group on Sunday. We've got the Activities Room (the main martial arts venue at the University of Warwick sports centre) booked again from 16:00-17:00, so if you're studying at Warwick, feel free to pop along. I won't be making judo straight after this time, as I wanted to go see a film with my gf and one of her old friends who is coming over for a visit. Might make it on Monday instead, but will see how I feel.

22/10/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #187



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 22/10/2008 - Advanced

Further work on attacking the turtle today, which again is going to be useful for judo (interestingly enough, Nick mentioned at the end of class that Roger has instituted the judo warm-up – throwing up and down the room – as a part of every class, presumably a consequence of his judo training with Ray Stevens). Before the technique, we did a quick bit of specific sparring from the back, without any grip on the other person. On the bottom, I was aiming to spin to half guard by turtling up tightly, then shuffling towards a leg, which sort of worked a couple of times. Alternately, I wanted to see if I could hook an arm, then roll them over me and move into side control: this didn't work at all, so clearly not got the technique down on that yet. Still, worth giving a go.

When attacking, I didn't progress too far, though I did successfully get the judo turnover Chris showed on Sunday, where you grab their far arm with both of yours, pull back and drive forward into side control. I failed miserably to get hooks in, generally either just struggling aimlessly, or getting turned onto my own back.

Both the techniques were chokes from the back, depending on what your partner did. I'm not sure I quite understood them, as the sequence seemed fairly complex, but they both started with them turtling facing towards you. For the first variation, they have tried to go for a single leg. To counter, you immediately sprawl (Nick mentioned the concept of base and 'power point', where the idea from your perspective in this situation is to keep them apart, their 'power point' being when they have your leg pulled in close to them).

On the side of the leg they're holding, slip your arm under their armpit and grip their far collar. Your other hand, palm-up, will go for a deep grip on the back of their collar, four fingers in, keeping your wrist straight. Your hands should be as close together as possible. Next, raise the knee of the leg they're trapped, switching your other knee to the floor for base. The aim here is to bring their arm up high, making it more difficult for them to defend against a choke.

Clearing that arm also opens up space. Your other leg will now move underneath them, while the raised leg goes over their back: in others words, you're basically pulling guard at this point, while maintaining your grips on the collars. Tighten your grip to secure the choke, or if you can't get it, because of the position you've put their arm into, you could go for an omoplata or a gogoplata (not that I've any idea how to do one of those: something about shoving your foot into their throat and grabbing it with your hand, but too advanced for me at the mo).

The next choke from the back is for when they don't grab your leg, turtling up really tight instead, elbows on hips to prevent you getting your hooks in. Move around behind your partner, then wrap your arm around an elbow, grabbing their same side shoulder with your other hand. Yank up on the shoulder, using the space to 'blade' your hand (to use Nick's terminology) through, then grab the far collar again.

Get your knee in tight to their leg (this is one of the parts where I got confused, as I wasn't certain which knee: I think it’s the one on the same side as the arm you just slipped through, but could very well be wrong on that). You'll now 'spin and sit', going onto one bumcheek and pulling your partner over with you (but NOT falling onto your back). The aim is to get them sitting in between your knees, putting in one hook as you do so.

They will now probably turn to their side and bring their knee and elbow together, to prevent you getting the other hook. To make space for the second hook, grip your hands together around their neck (Nick did something he called the 'saddle', which I think was gripping your wrist with your other hand). Then inhale and arch your back, which will bend your partner and create a gap. Drive your heel into their hip and shove it down past their leg, securing the second hook.

Finally, open up their collar, feed it to the other hand and eat (as Nick memorably put it: bite down with the hand, effectively). Pull across with one hand and down with the other for the choke.

I only sparred once tonight, with Anne. I made an attempt at the star sweep when she stood up, but didn't get into the right position: my legs and arms weren't in place in order for me to swing around her leg and pull it up by the ankle. I also tried to move into a high guard to go for a triangle (as she was in my guard and staying low), but again couldn't work through into position. Unsurprising, given how rarely I try submissions, but helpful to attempt.

I also ended up in half-guard a bunch of times, as is very common for me, though I had wanted to avoid it if possible as my leg was still sore. However, as I then spent the rest of the lesson chatting to Helen (who had got her nose bashed sparring Oli), my leg got a rest after all. As Helen is somebody who has recently been through the English Lit PhD process, I'm always keen to talk to her, as that's the subject I studied at uni too.

Will have to make sure I do a good bit of sparring tomorrow, though I'm still settling into my newly busy routine of judo, salsa and BJJ. It is nice to have other activities outside of BJJ, particularly ones I can share with my gf, though BJJ is always going to be the main bit of exercise for me. If I ever find myself living in London, then I'll aim to dedicate much more of my time to the mats, but at present, I'm happy with twice a week (which is convenient, seeing that's the maximum I can train at RGA during term-time ;p).

17/09/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #178



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 17/09/2008 - Advanced

I came down with some kind of illness last week, which annoyingly meant I didn't get any training in. On the other hand, that's the first week I've had off training since getting my blue belt in February, so could be worse. Shame though, as I was looking forward to trying out my new headguard (earguard? Still not sure what the proper term is: I've seen both, though the latter probably makes more sense as its for protecting the ears rather than the head).

On a random technical note, I noticed recently that this blog looks horrible in Internet Explorer. As it’s a generally crappy browser, I avoid IE, but I'm forced to use it at work (presumably they have to code in various blocks and the like to annoy people trying to read Bullshido, who instead get a Websense page because apparently Bullshido is 'violent'. Grr). If you have the choice, you should really be browsing with Firefox: way better, and the tables don't all get whacked out of place like in IE.

I love listening to podcasts, and had a new one to check out recently (or at least one episode: I don't think this particular podcast is generally focused on martial arts). Well-known internet poster and SAMBO instructor SamboSteve appeared on LA Talk Radio a little while ago. Check out the show here. He's one of a number of guests, who also discuss topics like MMA, competition and martial arts cinema.

Tonight Nick showed us two open guard sweeps, helpfully strung together off the same position. I think the first one is called the tripod sweep, but I'm not completely sure on that. You start from closed guard, immediately getting both your hands gripping one of their sleeves, bringing your elbows in tight. Then your partner stands up, while you stay clinging on: finding that they have a strong base you can't break down, you bail to open guard, still maintaining that two-on-one grip, immediately pressed a foot firmly into their hip. Combined with your sleeve grip, this should bend them in half, making it more difficult for them to prepare a pass.

Hook your other foot behind their same side knee, then switch your other hand to grip their free leg, by the heel. You can now complete the sweep by simultaneously pushing on their hip, pulling on their heel and yanking back on their knee. As they fall back, make sure you keep that hold on their sleeve, pulling it tight: this will stop them posting on that hand or elbow. You can also use it to bring yourself forward. To further aid passing through to mount or half-guard, bring your pushing leg back to trap their shin, then slide into position on top.

If that doesn't work, you can try another open guard sweep. You're in position, ready to pull/push/pull with your three limbs, but their base is too strong. That is the time to try a different tactic, removing your hold on their heel, so you can switch your grip on their sleeve to that hand. You're then going to swing the leg you had behind their knee all the way to their other foot, keeping it close to the floor: your aim is to chop their leg out from under them. At the same time, you're going to push with your other foot (which is still on their hip), while using your other hand to yank on their same side foot (note: don't fling that foot straight into your face, which is what I did the first time round. Hurts!)

We followed that up with sparring from open guard, a position I'm still struggling with. I think my big problem continues to be a lack of proactivity and clear goals. I'm much happier when I can settle, establish grips and limb positioning, like under side control. Open guard doesn't allow that, as you have to keep moving, which is difficult for a person of my temperament, who likes to slow things down, analyse and plan the next move.

Instead, I should be immediately establishing a grip (e.g., the two-on-one we were shown tonight), then working for a sweep, not allowing my partner to get a good base, constantly trying to break them down. My first goal should be to get that grip, then I can build on top of that. This would at least give me a sweep to aim for, so I'm going to try and approach open guard like that next time.

The same is true on top, as again I'm trying to settle into a position and think about my next move, while my partner keeps working and sweeps me. My guard passing is terrible in general, but its even worse from open guard: in closed guard, I can at least fall back into defensive mode, but that option is taken away in open guard.

Yasmine and Christina provided an interesting contrast, as while Christina stays really tight and applies lots of pressure, Yas is relatively, staying very mobile, shifting round quickly to exploit any openings. They both had no trouble passing my guard, whereas the same could not be said for me when the situation was reversed. I did manage to sweep Yas with an elevator (I think) at one point, hooking her leg and lifting it up while dragging her arm down and trapping the other leg, but it was rather lucky in that I happened to catch her off-balance, and there is also the weight discrepancy to consider.

Free sparring started with Herman, who has definitely gotten much tougher to roll with over the last few months. He felt a lot tighter, and I had more trouble escaping. I also couldn't suck him into my guard and work for the kimura, which is what I used to frequently do in previous spars. I did eventually get on top and try to pass half-guard, trying to use my shoulder and skull to limit his head movement, but wasn't able to get my leg free. However, I'm glad I have those technical tips from Bruno and Helen to aim for when in top half-guard.

Helen was up next, but like me she's just come back from an illness, so we kept things fairly light. That would probably explain why I was able to spin out of side control back to guard: normally the side control would be far too tight for that. Indeed, that proved to be the case later on, when I found that she trapped me securely between her elbows and knees, so that it was difficult for me to make enough space to escape.

I put the forearm positioning tips from Christina, Kev and Bruno to use, trying to keep my elbow out of danger by tucking it under their armpit, but still needs some work to reduce the vulnerability to kimuras and Americanas.

The class finished on both a good and bad note. Christina unfortunately got injured in her last roll, possibly dislocating her elbow due to getting her arm stuck behind her at an awkward angle. Hopefully she recovers soon: she seemed in less pain at the end of class, so will have to see how the injury responds to the usual RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate) method of recuperation.

The good news was that a much deserved blue belt was finally awarded. After over two years of training, Herman at long last got to move up from white belt, which was really great to see. His job involves extended periods of travel, which makes consistent training difficult, so cool that even with those obstacles, he has still managed to develop the skill to earn a blue belt.

My headguard felt ok rolling and drilling, though it does make your head a little hot, reduce hearing and you also have to watch how much you tighten the chin strap. I think it got loosened during rolling, but not entirely sure. Still, I was pretty happy with how comfortable it felt, as I didn't find myself desperate to fling it off. Once I've rolled with it for another month or two, I'll be able to stick up a review. I also need to stick some masking tape or something on it, as quite a few people have the same Brute Shockwave earguard: need to distinguish mine so I don't accidentally pick up somebody else's.

Roy Dean fans will be interested to hear that his next DVD, about wristlocks, is getting towards completion. He put up a post about the cover here: should be interesting, as I can't think of other DVDs which try to incorporate aikido into BJJ.

06/09/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #177



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 06/09/2008 - Advanced

I got a bit wet last night walking home from the station (about 50 minutes or: no lift, meaning I had to rely on my legs instead), so my shoes and bag hadn't quite dried out by this morning. I'm not sure if that was why my gi was also slightly damp: annoying, as I washed that back on Wednesday and hung it up, so should have been fine by now. On top of that, there was no food in the house: that had to wait until after my return journey to the station. Once I finally got there (fortunately it didn't rain this time round), I scoffed a less-than-extensive breakfast consisting of an apple and a banana. Few hours later, managed to grab a chicken baguette and a Nutrigrain bar.

All in all, not the best way to prepare for a load of BJJ sparring. No technique tonight, just rolling straight after the warm-up. Things kicked off for me with Tanvir, where I again worked towards what is becoming a favoured top position for me, the scarf hold. Nick G was watching, and mentioned afterwards that I was leaving my rear leg too far back, putting it at risk of being hooked by my partner's leg.

However, Tanvir wasn't aware of that escape, so I was able to push his arm down then step over his head to lock in a triangle (which I learned a while ago during a nogi class). I had intended to use that mainly as a distraction, working for an Americana, but didn't have Tanvir's arm in the right position. He managed to keep his elbow in towards his side, and I couldn't seem to work out how to put the arm into the required right-angle. That brings me to the obvious advantage of the step-over triangle position: if you can't get the arm, then you can always try squeezing for the submission instead.

At another point, I saw an opportunity to attempt the triangle from guard Jude showed on Thursday. I got the cross-grip and put my knee through, but I think the part I missed was properly stretching Tanvir out. While I managed to get my legs into place for the triangle, it wasn't at all tight, and my knee wasn't close to his head, leaving him some space. Probably should have raised my hips more too. I also couldn't transition to the armbar, so ended up switching back to closed guard before he escaped completely (a sequence that happens quite often on the rare occasions when I actually attempt a triangle).

Next I had a roll with Yas, where I spent most of my time trying to work out what to do with mount. I walked my knees up into her armpits, pushing on her head to get them as high as possible, but once there, couldn't do anything else. Being in a dominant position is very unnatural for me, as I spend the vast majority of my time attempting escapes. That means that I'm really, really bad at finishing from the top. I decided to just try something, lifting up Yas' head to see if I could slip my leg under and go for another triangle.

I left way too much space and didn't set it up at all properly, so Yas easily escape, slapping on a triangle of her own (a reverse triangle, I think). She didn't quite have it cinched in, so I could resist without too much discomfort, but at the same time I wasn't sure how best to escape. Mainly tried holding her leg and driving my weight forward, but that largely resulted in a stalemate rather than an escape.

After a nice long chat with Yas (stuff like commenting how small people like us often find it difficult from mount, how to get more women involved in BJJ, and the growing success of the club she runs with her partner Kev, the Roger Gracie Academy Aylesbury), I had a roll with Indra. Similarly to Yas, I again found myself in a top position, this time half-guard, and as before couldn't press through to pass. However, with the helpful tips I got from Helen and Bruno this week, I think I am at least understand the top half guard a bit better. Eventually ended up underneath Indra's mount, which is where time ran out.

My final sparring partner was Kev: that meant that everybody I rolled with today was around my size, which again goes to show the range of people at RGA. Definitely one of its biggest advantages, in my view. Kev took it easy on me, so I spent the roll either under side control, mount, scarf hold or his knee-on-belly. I feel ok under mount and side control, but have more trouble working out how to escape scarf hold and knee on belly. Fortunately I've been shown escapes for those positions before, so good reminder to go take another look back through the blog.

As the roll was light, we ended up carrying over in the next sparring session. Back in the changing room, I asked Kev about the positioning of the arm when trying to escape side control. This builds on Christina's advice to protect that arm better, as she kept putting me in Americanas, while Bruno suggested tucking the elbow into their armpit. Kev provided a useful approach to getting it there, starting by grabbing their near shoulder. Use that grip to then bring your elbow into position, keeping the arm as tight as possible while you do so. The grip gives you a base to work from, and also helps to protect against submissions: if they try to control your arm, that grip will assist resistance.

Back to normal again next week, hopefully, with Wednesday and Thursday. Having not eaten a whole lot today, I just enjoyed a lovely steak and kidney pie and a load of chips. Gotta love that English cuisine: pie is awesome. :D

03/09/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #175



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 03/09/2008 - Advanced

As I'd expected, that damn work meeting meant I wasn't able to make Thursday. Grr. I think I may need to get my ear checked out, though, as its been sore for a good long while now. I don't think its cauliflower ear, as it doesn't look swollen, but when things hang around for more than several weeks, I tend to think its worth seeking medical advice just for peace of mind. Of course, I'm in the UK, so our healthcare system is provided by the state rather than by emptying my wallet. ;)

On a more positive note, great interview with top female competitor Penny Thomas over at the Fightworks Podcast. She had some excellent advice for women looking to progress in the sport, as well as encouraging those already in BJJ who might be getting a bit frustrated at the lack of numbers on the competition scene. Also turns out she knew Nick G back in South Africa, which is kinda cool.

Getting back to tonight's class: after the warm-up, Nick immediately moved into guard passage. I was with Christina, and started off with an attempt at the Saulo Ribeiro pass (right click and save link) UpaLumpa linked on Bullshido. While I didn't have much luck on that first try, the instruction looks good from that sample video, so will hopefully pick up the DVD set its from at some point. I then fell into the familiar pattern of defensive posture, blocking her chokes and trying to keep my base. She locked on a collar choke, but I was able to get my arms around hers, push the elbows together and posture up to ease off the pressure.

Underneath, I wanted to work my open guard. Its still really weak, but the more I do it, the better it will get. I aimed for De La Riva and trying to use all my limbs, getting at least three control points on my partner's arms and legs. Christina passed without too much trouble, but I'm hopeful there's been some small improvements on my part. A clearer focus would help, so I need to pick some solid basic sweeps, then aim for those.

Technique started with a takedown, moving from a double leg to a single leg. You've dropped and driven for the double, but they step back their leg. That makes the double difficult, but the single is still an option. Step your same side leg around their forward leg, wrapping it behind. Now shove your hips into them, knocking them to the floor. You don't need to use your arms for this: its all in that hip motion.

Next Nick showed us one of his favourite open guard passes. First, grab their gi pants at the knees, your arms inside, bringing your elbows in tight. Step back with one leg and pull their knees towards you, aiming to end up with your other leg between their legs. This should also cause them to sit up, which is where you want them to be.

Drop your outside shoulder towards their chest, swinging the foot you have inside their legs over your other leg. Make sure that this lands flat on the floor, to provide you with a point to post off should you need it. Also, as you drive into their chest, make sure you do not let go of their gi pants with your hands.

Finally, you can now switch your legs again, moving to side control. Remember to keep your head towards their knees: if you're not careful, they may be able to bring their arm up, cross-face you and roll you over.

That then led to open guard sparring. This meant that I continued in much the same vein as before, trying to secure hooks with the De La Riva and generally attempting to get some kind of control by pushing on the hips and gripping the sleeves.

When passing, I found it much more difficult, and ended up basically flopping onto their legs with both Tran and Christina. This was in an effort to keep my weight down, but just led to getting swept in both instances. Tran did so by getting a shin across my stomach, wrapping an arm under my leg and then rolling me to one side (he showed me the counter, which is to simply grab that knee by your stomach and pull it onto their other knee, making them vulnerable to a pass).

I stayed with Tran for free sparring, initially trying for that half-guard sweep Oli showed us last week. I had my arms in position, but couldn't make space to shrimp out and move to the dogfight. I also found it hard to keep the leg trapped properly, meaning that it wasn't secure enough that I could switch my legs and pull the heel back.

Instead, I found myself under Tran's mount, which happens all the time. I tried moving back to half-guard, but couldn't quite manage it, Tran taking the opportunity to move into knee on belly. From there he took my back, meaning that I spent the rest of the spar trying to defend the choke. Think I just about managed it, but wasn't able to triangle the leg and move to top half-guard, which was my intended goal.

Bruno took it easy on me, noting that I'm going to my back too readily, and also giving me some useful advice on crushing down when in top half-guard. I should be using my shoulder to press my partner's face in the other direction, also really pushing down with hips and chest. To free the trapped leg, I need to step up, making it harder for them to keep their ankles locked, then gradually work my way out and slide through.

Unusually for me, I didn't take a break, so my third spar in a row was with Christina, where I struggled helplessly as she calmly switched from side control to knee-on-belly. Again, I really, really have to keep my arms and elbows tight, as I continue to leave my arm far too vulnerable. Numerous times when in knee-on-belly, Christina could easily have dropped back for the submission, but didn't want to risk yanking the elbow (as due to the position, the armbar would have been very tight). Similarly under side control, my arm was asking for the kimura, so I need to take a good look at my posture.

Sparring tonight reminded me how it is all too easy to get demoralised in BJJ: this is a tough sport, and it takes a long time to get anywhere. Even when you feel you're progressing, it’s a matter of peaks and troughs: some of those troughs seem to stretch far off into the distance.

That means its important that you don't allow yourself the luxury of wallowing in self-pity. As with anything, the only way to improve is to pick yourself up, try to work out what you did wrong, then try again. I always try to take away at least one positive from class, be that some helpful advice, a great new technique, or just something to work on. If all else fails, then I can at the very least be happy that BJJ gives me a great work-out. ;)

Should be training again tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to get in the Saturday as well, to make up for only making one session last week.

13/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #170



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 13/08/2008 - Advanced

Those of you who read about the Oxford Throwdown may remember Jadon: he has now started his own training blog, which you can check out here. Especially useful if you're thinking of training with Andy Roberts in Guildford (soon moving to a larger premises in Farnborough), a Roger Gracie brown belt, experienced competitor and Jadon's instructor.

Keeping on the topic of cool blogs, Matt from Martial Farts just posted up this great interview with Caleb, of Fightworks Podcast fame. Interesting stuff, such as his points on competition, and I like that he emphasised relaxing and shrimping as the two things every beginner should work on.

He has also put up a video of the quarter-guard technique he mentioned earlier, which I tried briefly in sparring, but need to watch a few more times. I don't think I'm using the right arm, grabbing the leg in the correct way, or getting that knock with the hip right. As there is now video to check, should hopefully be able to better visualise what I'm supposed to be doing.

For the technique tonight, Nick showed us an armbar from side control. Trying not to be too obvious about your intentions, keep their near hand under some kind of control. Your knee nearest their legs will then shift up slightly, staying tight, while you grip deep around their far arm, reaching under as much as you can.

Your leg nearest their head now steps out, while your leg folds against their side: the foot should be up toward their face. This, coupled with the tight grip on their far arm, will help prevent them turning out of the armbar. Bring your raised leg over their head, keeping the foot close to them. The other leg will also come out, scooping their arm with your knee as you do so (maintain control of that arm all the way through the technique), putting them in position for the armbar. Drop back for the submission.

Specific sparring was done twice, first before the technique with your partner, then king of the hill. Both times I did much the same thing, continuing to work on transitioning from side control to scarf hold and back again. I also attempted reverse scarf hold, where you are facing their knees, but still needs work. I was trying to keep my weight down and make space by moving backwards, but could not clear enough room to bring my knee through for mount. However, it was good to practice being mobile on top: seems to be improving, though at various points both Bruno and Joanna were able to escape because I left too much room.

Underneath, I built on the drilling from Sunday, with the spinout side control escape and Nick's earlier technique where you roll them over your back. The spinout remains problematic, as I end up on my side, and wasn't able to drive through with my shoulder as with Rosie: I'm pretty sure that's just a matter of force, so very unreliable. I had the same sloppy approach to the other side control escape, coming up on my knees instead of toes. I did manage to get Joanna over, but didn't stay tight, and again I doubt it would have worked against anybody heavier or simply putting up more resistance: Joanna tends to stay fairly relaxed in sparring.

In free sparring, I again found myself in side control, open guard and half-guard most of the time, trying the same escapes again. I wanted to go for the De La Riva sweep Rosie had showed me, but couldn't get into position, getting passed instead. It does at least mean I've got some kind of specific goal when in open guard now, which was largely missing previously.

Zaf went to his back, as he normally does with me due to the huge strength discrepancy, putting me in lockdown. I wasn't totally certain how to neutralise that, so tried sitting back on his legs. Not especially successful, and found myself in a footlock, pushing on Zaf's bum to escape (like Bruno had shown me a while back).

Zaf also advised me on keeping control in guard, getting my legs up high and forcing my partner down. I'm always wary of anything that requires strength (because its not something I can ever rely on, being weedy), but its important to be able to strike a balance. Some force is required in situations like that, but as ever I want to stay relaxed and technical.

Surprisingly, the tape I had round my toes and foot to protect the mat burn I acquired on Sunday held out. I had purchased a bottle of that liquid plaster Zaf recommended earlier, but didn't need to use it. Judging by that, it would seem that while tape doesn't seem to last very long on the fingers, its ok for the toes. The same tape I'd wrapped around on Sunday was still going strong, despite having got wet from the shower. I'd expected it to come loose in sparring.

Should be in again tomorrow, where hopefully we'll work some side control escapes. Would be great to get a refresh on the one Nick showed us before, but will wait and see what happens. Might be good to have a basic open guard lesson too, or perhaps some work on passing half-guard. I was struggling to remember Maurição's tips when with Zaf, so something I need to read back in my blog.