14/12/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #369
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 14/12/2010

Fellow members of Bullshido have most likely been reading MrBadGuy's thread for a few years now, but I only just got round to checking it out. Entertaining stuff, and I imagine particularly amusing if you're from the Houston area. He writes about the various schools he's checked out, which would seem to be just about every school in the city, until eventually he was able to earn his purple belt in BJJ. Currently in two parts: part one runs through his time with Kuk Sool Won, a dodgy BJJ school (they do exist, though thankfully fairly rare) and a whole bunch of other random martial arts. Part two brings us up to the present: I'm guessing there will be a part three once that thread gets too huge. Particularly in that second thread, there is a lot of random stuff by other people to scroll through (mostly requests for updates), but you can always do Ctrl + F on "MrBadGuy" to skip past it.

In what has become something of a pattern, I wasn't able to make Thursday because I was in the wrong part of the country. That reminds me yet again that it is really cool Kev has a number of different payment options: per class, per month, or per block of classes. I'm on the third option, which works out perfectly for my geographically uncertain schedule. Kev normally closes down RGA Bucks for a couple of weeks around Christmas, so I should hopefully be able to get in a few sessions at Gracie Barra Bristol over the New Year, when I go visit my gf. She's still looking at a place to buy, so fingers crossed that works out and I can finally move down permanently in a couple of months.

Kev continued with the mount, but went in a completely different direction by combining an escape with a nifty sweep. To escape mount, turn to your side, using your lower elbow to push their leg back, the upper arm for defence. You're going to do a similar motion to the foot drag into half guard, but rather than trapping the leg completely, you just want to balance their foot on your lower leg. Use your other leg to lever that foot down, opening up a space by their knee.

Reach through that space with your upper arm, wrapping their leg, immediately swivelling as well as knocking them forwards with your legs. This will mean you can then go for a deep half guard sweep, which is the 'Homer Simpson' Kev showed a couple of months ago, from Jeff Glover's deep half DVD. Run your legs towards your head, then once you feel they're off-balance, roll back the other way to come on top. As I often get stuck there if anyone adds any resistance, Howard recommend I try to drive my head towards their chest, which facilitates the shift to half guard.

While walking round, Kev also showed Howard and I a deep half guard pass you can use if somebody puts you in that position. Grab their leg and walk around their head, swinging that leg over to the other side. At the same time, you need to work your trapped knee to the ground, meaning that you are then in a much stronger position, ready to attempt a knee slide pass.

For sparring, I was paired up with John, who is still carrying that knee injury: I'm small and tend to go light anyway, so I'm always more than happy to help people train around their injuries. Unusually, it wasn't free sparring tonight, but several rounds of specific, starting with mount again. Underneath was much the same as before, going a bit lighter than normal in order to avoid aggravating his knee injury.

On top, as earlier, I was looking to try feet in hips as well as the grapevine. Although I'm sure the injury had something to do with it, as that must have reduced his ability to bridge and general mobility, worked fairly well. I was able to climb high, and then pressure with my hips to try and open up an arm. That worked rather less well: although I can sometimes maintain the mount for a while, I still fail utterly to complete any attacks from there. MUCH prefer side control.

While I'm at least occasionally comfortable maintaining mount, I still struggle with back mount, which was the next position for specific sparring. Escaping was complicated by the injury, as I was worried I'd tweak his knee, but I could still practice fundamentals, like protecting my neck and Saulo's 'scoop' defence from Jiu Jitsu University. I very almost got caught with some kind of choke, which I wasn't paying enough attention to as I thought he only had the one collar. Dangerously complacent.

On his back, I continued to flail about ineffectually. However, again I was able to play around with some stuff I haven't tried in a while, like trapping his arm under my leg. That theoretically makes it easier to get the choke, as you then only have one arm to worry about, but I still couldn't get where I want. Interestingly, he kept on trying wristlocks as I attacked. That definitely make me more hesitant, so seems to be a good tactic.

The final round was from turtle, where again I was being cautious due to the knee. On top, most of the time I could at least get enough of a hook to move into top half guard, but I think that was directly because of the knee injury. He also tried a wristlock yet again, but this time from under side control, which surprised me. The dominant position meant I had enough leverage to wriggle free, but as before, it makes you a little more hesitant, so useful distraction. Possibly time to take another look at The Art of the Wristlock.

14/12/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #368
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 14/12/2010

For those of you who watched the Mark Bocek versus Dustin Hazelett fight at UFC 124 (if you haven't, skip this bit as there will be spoilers), it has inspired an interesting series of interconnected videos by an entirely disparate group of BJJ black belts, which is cool to see. That starts off with a Gracie Breakdown by Rener and Ryron, where they look at the fight from Bocek's perspective, here.

There was a fair bit of criticism on the web for the rubber guard (e.g., here, particularly as it seemed Bocek passed it pretty easily. So, 10th Planet head honcho Eddie Bravo put up this video in a thread on The Underground. Yet another black belt, Dave Jacobs, regularly posts on that forum, and seeing the video, decided that he'd put up this response. Exactly the kind of exchange that demonstrate how awesome the internet can be. :)

Class tonight started off with the clinch takedown as defence to a haymaker, from the Gracie Barra Fundamentals syllabus, which led into mount techniques. The first was a basic cross choke from mount, although instead of feeding the second hand under the first, you put your thumb in their opposite collar. Slide that arm around the head and under their jaw, after which you can complete the choke by bringing your elbows back and your head down.

Alternatively, you can move into a double-attack from mount. Set up the choke as before, but this time, they manage to block your second arm somehow. On your first arm side, bring your knee to their head. Your other knee slides up to their elbow on the far side to make space, after which you swing your lower leg towards their head, in a 'dog-leg' position. From there you can switch grips and go for the armbar, and depending on how they react, drop back and grab their near leg, or switch back to the choke (hence why it's known as a double attack).

Grabbing that near leg is important, as if you don't, they can thread their leg through and escape to their knees as you drop for the armbar. They may also have the option of the hitchhiker escape. If you grab the near leg, it is very difficult for them to turn, because in order to do so, they have to bring that leg underneath them first.

Kev finished off with a basic trap and roll escape from underneath, before moving on to specific sparring from mount. This served as a handy reminder that it makes a big difference if you don't stop at half guard: I can often snatch that leg, but progressing from there can be tough. I was looking to use the knee I had behind them to bump them forward, making space to recover full guard or escape. That did work, but I need to make sure I've got onto my side, rather than getting squished underneath them.

I also had a go at the escape Rob Stevens showed back at Gracie Barra Birmingham, where you put an arm across the stomach, using the other arm to simply lift their leg and trap it in half guard, aiming to move into deep half. However, I wasn't defending my neck properly in the process, so very nearly go stuck in an Ezequiel as a result. Asking Kev afterwards, he suggested turning on your side, wedging one arm into their stomach. Your other hand grips your own collar and pulls it tight: combined with shrugging your shoulders, this defends against chokes. The elbow of that same arm can be used to shove against their leg, in order to move into half guard.

On top, I was ending up in my preferred low mount with grapevines, but also trying to experiment with feet on hips too. As ever I was going for Ezequiels without much success, and also grabbed at the americana a few times: I was able to grab the hand with one hand under their head, but couldn't isolate that arm, ready to slide my arm over their head to go for the sub. I also failed to hold technical mount, though I did at least get there, which is a small improvement.

Crossing the feet underneath mount was handy too, and felt almost as if I was playing guard from on top of somebody, with the same principles of controlling with the legs. The problem there is that it's easy to get your foot squashed underneath them, so I tend to worry about my ankles if they happen to suddenly roll just right to mess it up. My partner also almost escaped by simply bringing their feet right through, which is one of the more frustrating escapes (as it feels like they shouldn't be able to do it, but somehow they get there anyway). I managed to avoid it by grabbing behind his collar, then patiently waiting to work backwards to flatten him back out, but it was close.

07/12/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #367
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 07/12/2010

Next up was the running escape itself, although rather than the one I keep trying, this was the version from Saulo's first DVD, where he doesn't take that break in the middle of the technique. When your partner has near side grips, to escape side control, you begin by bumping, then turning to your side and getting your hand past their shoulder. In one motion, step out with your bottom leg, then quickly turn and bring the other leg over the top, spinning to your knees.

Also, don't elbow your partner in the face. I pushed off the shoulder with my hand when drilling this, but smacked him hard in the jaw in the process (sorry Howard). Not clever, and doing that definitely isn't going to endear you to your training partners. Not to mention that watching Kev show it again, he doesn't actually push off the shoulder, but punches his arm straight through instead.

The risk with that technique, as I've always found whenever I've tried to turn, is that there is a chance your partner is going to take the back. Kev showed us how to do this next, using Marcelo Garcia as an example: this is one of Garcia's signature moves. The way Garcia does is to get a sort of harness grip with his arms – 'backpack', I think Kev called it – then gradually work them onto their side. Kev went for a simpler version, without that grip, but the principle is the same.

As soon as they start to turn away from you, slide your leg underneath them to establish your initial hook, then swing over to take the back. The problem here is that it is tempting to immediately try and swing over their body with the far hook, by which point they'll probably have turned too far and escaped already. I kept doing that in drilling: the key is to force yourself to establish that near hook first. Something to work on.

Sparring started from side control, but kept on going after that, so was free rather than specific. With Howard, I was yet again getting into that running escape position: as you can see in the picture on the right, it acts as a sort of stopping point, so you aren't swinging straight through this time. However, for me that seems to mean I passively curl up and wait. I was having difficulty progressing to the next stage, bridging forward off the lower leg and spinning to guard.

On the other hand, I was pleased that at one point, I was able to switch my hips up then roll over and face Howard square on, like Saulo shows in his second DVD series (Kev drilled the same movement last week). Not that it went as smoothly as I planned, because I seemed to end up in half guard, but still, that's the closest I've got to successfully executing the running escape. I also need to watch them getting body control with their arm: Saulo does show a sort of sit up and spin response to that, but I'm going to need more practice to get that right.

With Kev, it was as usual a good steady pace, where he let me work. Due to the way Kev goes light, I often find myself in open guard, which isn't common for me when sparring higher belts: with Howard, I think I spent almost the entire spar defending under side control, which is entirely typical. So although Kev's intention was to see what I'd do, I was basically just staring at him from open guard, switching grips with my arms and legs.

Kev mentioned afterwards that my sparring isn't too bad in terms of guard retention and hip movement, and I'm getting to the right positions. However, I'm not actually doing anything when I get there, so I need to attack more. This has been a long term problem, as I'm pretty much 100% defensive. I'm not sure if that is because I'm lazy and don't want to take risks, I'm not used to being in position to attack, or that I simply don't know what to do from there. Either way, it's a good reminder to make proper use of open guard, instead of just assuming I'm going to get passed at some point anyway.

I did try that reverse De La Riva sweep again, where you push into their knee with both your legs, but as I spun to hook the other leg, I lost the grip with my first hand. Kev suggested that I could try gripping differently, so that my hand wraps around the inside of their ankle and heel, rather than the usual hold around the outside. That could help twist their leg outwards and put them off-balance. At the same time, I'd want to be careful with that, as I don't want to tweak anyone's knee.

He also mentioned I could use sitting guard, which is handy as they taught a lot of that while I was at Gracie Barra Birmingham (it's De La Riva, but when you've sat up by their leg, pressing your foot into the other one). I find it difficult to keep the tension in that pressing leg, but it would combine well with the reverse De La Riva stuff I've been playing with. There is deep half guard too, though I still find that really confusing. Nevertheless, that could work well with the sitting guard sweep where you spin underneath.

07/12/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #366
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 07/12/2010

All about side control escapes tonight, which was ideal for me given I've been playing with the running escape. Kev started off with the basic escape to the knees, which I still hardly ever do. Howard gave me a handy tip on shrimping twice to thread the leg through more effectively: I frequently find I end up with crap posture when I try to go to knees, so just get flattened.

Kev's aim for this one wasn't to single leg and move to the top. If you have your head on one side and raise your leg on the other, you can slide your other leg in to replace butterfly guard. If you have your head and leg on the same side, you can make space by driving your elbow backwards against their arm, then kick your other leg through and spin to their back (a wrestler's sit-out).

On top, Kev demonstrated a method of maintaining side control, by switching to the other side when they try to escape. They're attempting to do that same escape, swimming their arm through. As soon as they do that, thread your arm under theirs (known as a whizzer), reaching through with your hand so you can push on the back of their head (no their neck, as that isn't so controlling a grip). Keeping your weight down, follow them round, moving to the other side. Even if they get to their knees, this hold is sufficiently strong that you should still be able to move around to the other side, rolling them onto their back.

Another more difficult option is to go against your instinct, and turn your bum towards them as they try that escape and you establish the whizzer, meaning, you end up sitting on them. From there, you can either bring your leg through past their head and look for the triangle, or possibly set up an armbar, due to the control you have on their arm. I felt vulnerable in terms of balance and it felt like I was leaving a lot of space, but then Kev does this to me all the time, so I guess it's a matter of practice to get the sensitivity and timing.

Sparring was of course specific from side control. As ever, I was giving the running escape a go again, but I am still finding that I end up just settling into the position and then struggling to move anywhere. I was generally not being too proactive under side control, going flat on my back too often.

I'm also still tending to do silly things like look for the armbar or triangle from under there, which is particularly foolish against other blues. I did get to half guard once, but I'm pretty sure Howard could have got back to side control if we'd kept going: I always find it tough to fully establish guard when escaping his side control.

On top, I was trying to drop my weight and go high on the shoulder, to see if I could sneak my way into that step-over triangle position. A couple of times, I noticed that I could slide into mount due to all the space, but that almost feels like cheating when doing specific side control sparring. That's because in the specific setting, if you spend a lot of time working high on their shoulder, they start to forget about the possibility of mount so you can sneak it in. I should be taking the opportunity to practice more control in side control and attacks.

Or at least that's how I felt, which was possibly a bit silly. Probably also affected by the fact I really don't like being in mount (which is definitely silly, as that is supposed to be a major dominant position, not a place to avoid!), as I'm far more comfortable attacking from side control. So on the other hand, good to practice getting to mount as well.

I also had a go at that control Kev showed by threading the arm, although I went too low, holding the neck rather than behind the head. That meant Howard could get to his knees and reverse, because my grip was too weak. Still, I like the concept, so I'm going to try and use it more often in future: just need to make sure I'm going higher, so controlling the head like a muay thai plum clinch, not the neck.

30/11/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #365
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 30/11/2010

I'm not sure I've posted these up before, but there is a series on YouTube called 'Ask A Black Belt'. The idea is pretty simple, as a guy just gets a bunch of black belts together, asks them all the same questions, then edits them together into clumps. The unnecessarily long intro is a bit annoying, but the content is excellent: lots of great answers from the various black belts, with some big names like Kurt Osiander and Dave Camarillo. Also, there is some random competition footage which doesn't seem necessarily related, and it was beginning to feel a bit tiresome...until this awesome move by Sean Roberts. Definitely want to try that next time I'm in half guard, though I'm guessing there is way more to it than simply rolling to the back.

Kev continued class with a couple of De La Riva passes. For the first one, turn your trapped knee outwards, which should either loosen their grip or pop it off completely. Put both hands on the trouser leg of the foot pushing into your hip, and drive that hip forward slightly. You can then bring it back while at the same time bringing that leg across your body. Switching your grips, push that leg down to the floor on your hooked leg side. Maintaining a grip on the bottom of their trousers and clamping it to the ground, move around behind them to settle into side control.

The second De La Riva pass begins by grabbing both their collars high on their chest, then driving the knee of your hook leg through to meet that hand. You want to get as much weight going through that knee as possible, so they're pinned to the floor. Take a big step forward with your other leg, while pushing their leg underneath it.

You can then move into a pass, with two options. Either you can underhook their far armpit, to help settle into a tight side control, or alternatively, you can slide that hand into their near collar. This means you're threatening a choke, and it also makes it more difficult for them to try and slip under the arm in an attempt to scupper the pass.

Sparring began with Callum, from inside the guard. Once again I was looking for that running escape, to see if I could get into a strong defensive position. I then somehow ended up in position to attempt a double underhooks pass, I think (unless that was from a different position). Either way, something went wrong, as I got stuck in a triangle. I tried to move into the escape Kev showed us, but my base had been knocked flat, so I couldn't get my knee across.

With my next partner, the same injured blue belt I rolled with last week, something similar happened, after a long stalemate in his guard (particularly as I had the excuse of his injury, I was being even more passive and defensive than usual). At some point he moved to side control, and I immediately went for the running escape. Like Drazen, he tried to take my back, but this time I was able to stay tight and block the hooks, spinning to try and drive through for top half guard or side control instead. Although I can't be sure that would have worked, as time ran out before I could secure anything.

I've got two more poetry seminars to teach on Thursday, so won't be back to RGA High Wycombe until Tuesday.

30/11/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #364
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 30/11/2010

I arrived back from Germany late last night, which made for a pleasant short trip, plus some very tasty food courtesy of my grandparent's Diamond Wedding Anniversary in Maastricht. Unfortunate that all the art galleries in Aachen appear to be closed on Mondays, but still, bunch of other stuff to see: write up here, if you're thinking of a trip there yourself.

If you're interested in winning some Scramble gear, check out the new competition Matt is running, in conjunction with a bunch of other sites. Also, I think I've mentioned the Robson online seminar already, but either way, they've now got a podcast up about it, here.

Kev started off with a cool open guard drill, building up through increasingly difficult positions. All of them had one person doing a basic bullfighter pass, stepping to your side, and then you readjust to recover guard. The first stage, they don't step particularly deep. So, you can bring your outside foot to the inside of their nearest leg, then use that to square back up in open guard. Make sure you hook with that foot, or they'll be able to easily step out and continue to pass. If you're got a hook secured, you'll follow them when they try to move.

The next stage, they've gone a bit deeper, so their foot is by your hip. Now, you will have to shrimp a bit before you can hook, pushing off their leg with your hands. You can then proceed as normal, again hooking and squaring up. If you're very flexible, you could try hooking without the shrimping motion, but it isn't advisable.

For the final stage, they've passed to knee on belly. This time, you hook around their knee with your near hand, then step the foot nearest their legs right over your own body. You're aiming to turn your hips, so that you end up with your bum in the air, both feet past your head. You then push off your feet and roll back into guard.

On an interesting terminological note, when I mentioned the similarity to Saulo's running escape, Kev said he'd also seen Jean Jacque Machado use the same escape, except that Machado called it the coffee grinder. Well, I found it interesting. ;p

The first full technique was the tripod sweep, which we've done a few times before (although I referred to it as a cross guard sweep last time). You can also see it on page 228 of Theory & Technique (though they use the term 'hook sweep' instead). In short, you have a cross-grip, grabbing their same side heel with your other hand. Push on that hip with your same side foot, while simultaneously hooking and pushing behind the other leg. Come up from there and slide past into side control, stepping over their leg with your other foot.

Kev moved on to another technique demonstrated in Theory & Technique, the sickle sweep (page 226): as I mention in the review, the organisation of that book is completely random, so these two basic techniques are in the brown belt section. They combine together very well, as Kev showed. You're going for the tripod sweep, but they angle themselves to the side, avoiding your hook and stepping that leg back. Rather than trying to wriggle into place to try again, you can instead switch the position of your feet.

So, you will remove the foot your had on their hip, replacing it with your hooking leg. The foot that was on their hip now goes behind their other foot. As before, you push on the hip and yank back with your hook, knocking them to the floor. The main difference is that when you come up to pass this time, your other knee will be up, so you'll need to make sure to shove their leg down and step over, enabling you to complete your knee slide.

The third option wasn't demonstrated, but said in passing, because some people were stepping too far during drilling. If your partner steps way back so they're very side on, then they've basically given you their back. You can now take their back, using the De La Riva technique I've seen previously.

Sparring was from open guard, and I started with Kev. On top, I wasn't able to do much, so tried to drive my hips forward and attempt to grab his leg with both hands, yanking it up and then sliding down to side control. Every time I tried that, he just turned to his knees. So, I'm definitely doing something wrong there, as he had loads of space.

Underneath, Kev advised that I need to break his grips, which is a relatively simple technique. Reach behind their grip with your arm, grabbing your own gi if you require additional leverage. Then kick out to strip the grip. However, don't do what I did, which was kicking out to the side: that cunningly gifts them a pass.

I also tried that spider guard grip again from Braulio, which I got, but as I was looking to move into the triangle attack, Kev had already circled his hand behind my leg and initiated his escape. Finally, I had a go at reverse De La Riva, but as Kev said when I asked him afterwards, I was forgetting the key detail of both grabbing the heel of their trapped leg and swivelling to hook the other hand behind their other leg. If you don't do that, they have all the time they need to push your knee to one side, because they're not under any threat.

23/11/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #363
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Sahid Khamlichi, High Wycombe, UK - 23/11/2010

Sahid continued with guard, this time from the top, beginning with a guard break. After you've got the initial double grip on the collar, use your other hand to block their attempts to grab your collar. If they reach for it, hold their sleeve and shove that into their hip. You can then lean over slightly in the other direction, then step up your sleeve-grip side knee. You've trapped their arm, so they can't slip their hand under to set up sweeps.

Lean back in the other direction and step up your other leg in order to stand. Immediately move that leg back, as their other hand is free to try and underhook it. Grab their trouser leg on that side, then step backwards with your leg, pivoting around the sleeve-grip side foot. As you move round in a circle, wiggle your hips. This is surprisingly effective at dislodging their locked feet, as that rattling motion is very uncomfortable on the ankles and instep.

Next, you can move into a guard pass from combat base. Sahid emphasised that you don't want to just sit there in combat base, but immediately drive your raised knee over their same side leg, pinning it. Put their other leg up on your shoulder reaching through for their opposite collar, crush their knee towards their face, then slip around to side control (so, the leg pin pass).

Interestingly, Sahid sat in combat base with both his knees pointing forward, rather than one forward the other to the side, with the back foot tucked behind. As he mentioned, that is probably part of the reason he developed a quick transition from combat base straight into a pass, rather than pausing in their guard (though either way, it's a good idea to begin passing as soon as possible).

Sparring wasn't as much about being squashed under side control as usual, so no more work on the running escape today. I still ended up there, naturally, where I need to be careful of my neck, especially quick people who are good at moving towards the back: there were a couple of times where I had to dislodge a grip I should have blocked earlier. At another point, I was able to lock in the triangle from under side control, and tried to focus on attacking their free arm: not much luck, however.

My next sparring partner had an injury to their leg, so we were going a bit lighter. I spent most of it on top in side control, looking to be slow and steady. He almost recovered half guard a couple of times, so I pushed the bottom leg with my foot to free myself before it was locked in (being careful to check his leg was ok in the process). I eventually moved through to the step-over triangle, but again couldn't isolate that arm like I wanted, this time from the opposite position.

Finally I rolled with Callum, where I had a chance to work spider guard. I had the grip I wanted on one arm, but then spent the rest of the spar trying to get a hold of the other arm. My intention was to go for Braulio's attack, where you push both feet into one arm, then open up and pull them into a triangle or armbar, but you need to get that second arm first. Still, I could at least keep the control, so that was something (although I continue to worry that spider guard may not be something I want to do long-term, given that at least one black belt has told me they don't use it anymore because it's knackered their fingers).

23/11/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #362
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Sahid Khamlichi, High Wycombe, UK - 23/11/2010

Sahid was taking class again tonight, and after starting off with a takedown, he moved on to the flower sweep. His set up was a little different to what I'm used to, and started off in closed guard. They have the typical grip, with one hand on your collars, the other back by your hip. Swim your arms through and back towards you to knock their arms off (easier said than done, depending on their grip), bringing them forwards with your knees. Reach around their back and clasp your hands together in a gable grip, locking them to your body.

Next, release the top hand (using the other to keep control of their head), then bring it out and under their arm, so that you can put it by their head. Reclasp your hands in a gable grip: Sahid recommended having the higher hand thumb down, for a stronger hold). Straighten your legs and move your hips out to the side (in the direction of your upper arm).

Relock your legs, then lean back slightly, nudging their arm with your shoulder. Your aim is to push their arm under their head or body. If they don't react, you can move to take their back. More likely, they will try to square back up, which is what you want. You've now got them locked against your torso, with their arm trapped underneath them. As before, release your gable grip, switching the upper arm to grab around their far armpit instead.

Your other arm either threads under their same side leg, or grabs the same side trouser leg, by the knee. Open your guard and kick through, so that the leg on the trouser grip side whacks into their armpit, while the other chops through. You can also lift with the arm gripping their trouser leg/under their leg, rolling through to mount.

If that all seems a bit complicated, you could also try the simpler version Callum mentioned. Grab their sleeve, then grab their knee on the other side. From here, kick through as before to get the flower sweep: you'll be using that grip on the sleeve to stop them posting out. However, it is of course more difficult to break their posture from here than in the previous variation, where you've already got them bent forwards and locked close to your torso.

Alternatively, you can use Sahid's set-up to go for an armbar. You being as above, until you get to the point where you're gripping their far armpit. Instead of going for the sweep, walk your legs up high, until you can bring a leg over their shoulder, on their trapped arm side. That means you're now in a position that looks a little like Eddie Bravo's pleasantly named 'crack head control', except that you aren't grabbing your own leg (p150 of Mastering the Rubber Guard). From here, you just push the head to get your leg from their shoulder to over their head, and go for the armbar. The flower sweep is still an option from here too.

In specific sparring, I as ever need to be more proactive in guard, particularly with chokes. I'm still using them as more of a threat, rather than following through. That's probably because I don't have any confidence in actually landing them, so something to work on: that should also make them a more effective distraction, so I can then look at attacking arms, securing overhooks or even trying Shawn Williams guard again (I had a go, but didn't isolate Callum's arm properly, so it wasn't doing a whole lot).

I also need to watch my arm when they stand up. I wanted to go for my favoured handstand sweep to star sweep combination, but that doesn't function properly if they've managed to grab your other arm. Callum doesn't grab the arm initially, instead standing up with a hand on the hip: he grips it as he stands, so something I need to pay more attention to next time.

When I was on top, I was trying to drive my hips forward when he went to open guard, and see if I could grab a leg and pull up. I'm still not standing when I should, but Callum tends to go to open guard anyway, so that forced me to get off my knees. I also got into the dreaded z-guard type thing, with that frustrating knee. I tried switching to pushing on the knee...but left an arm behind for Callum to kimura.

We also chatted some more about Callum's magazine and his plans: if you haven't already 'liked' the Facebook page for Jiu Jitsu Style, check it out here for the latest news. There's also an interview I did with him on the topic, for the FightWorks Podcast (text rather than audio).

18/11/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #361
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 18/11/2010

In exciting news, Roy Dean is going to be reworking his fantastic online book, The Uchideshi Experience (he's now taken it down, so if you haven't had a chance to read it, you'll have to wait for the new book). That's what first got me interested in his other work, so I'm really looking forward to this! He just mentioned it on his blog: should be very cool when done.

Also, if you haven't seen them yet, check out Oli G's videos for Black Eagle, here. Those are going to be part of an ongoing series of short instructional vids, which as far as I'm aware will feature Black Eagle sponsored fighters (they're one of the main companies putting money into BJJ here in the UK, along with Tatami and a few others).

Class tonight continued with side control. Kev started by going through the basic escape to your knees, where you then have two options. If you put your head on one side and your leg up on the other, that's a good set-up to sit back into butterfly guard, inserting your hook. Alternatively, if you have your head on the same side you step up your leg, grip the gi by their legs, then drive towards them while pulling their legs in the other direction. That should enable you to move through into side control.

Next up was a choke from side control. Start by reaching for their far collar with the hand your have under their head, then pull that in tight, so that your hand moves behind their head. Turn your hips slightly so you can sit on their near arm, which also gives you enough room to step your other leg over their head. Straighten the arm under their head, so that you're pressing firmly into their neck. The leg you have over the head moves backwards. This should eventually choke them, though it often turns into a crank, so you need to be careful.

Specific sparring was from side control. I was with Drazen, whose name I'd heard before: he's usually at Kev's Aylesbury location. The conversation would normally be along the lines of "I don't know how Drazen did that, his legs came from nowhere." I had the opportunity to experience that reputation first hand, as he smashed me during sparring. Underneath, I was able to hold off for a while, but it felt like it was simply a matter of time before he took my back. I was looking for Saulo's running man escape, but each time wasn't able to avoid leaving space for him to insert his hooks (asking him later, he mentioned that I was staying fairly tight, but not enough to stop him pulling me up to make his own space). That also reminds me, I know Saulo talks more about the running escape in his second DVD set, so I should give that a watch.

On top, I could only hold him down for a few seconds before I found myself on the bottom, in his guard, or indeed with my back taken yet again. The one thing that enabled me to stay in the dominant position for a little longer was moving into the step-over triangle I always look for. That gave me sufficient leverage to keep him from making much space, and also attack the far arm (I couldn't quite get into the figure-four). However, even that didn't last especially long, as he eventually managed to reverse me, with my legs still locked.

In the following hour of free sparring (though as ever I sat out plenty of times), things started with Drazen again, meaning I was in for another crushing. I think he may have been taking it a little easier, as I was able to work my guard a bit, but most of the roll was spent spinning madly in an attempt to avoid getting choke or my back taken. I was paying particular attention to block hooks with my elbows, which may or may not have helped. Either way, I was knackered after that, so it certainly proved to be a good cardio workout.

Having been beaten up quickly, I then had a chance to get beaten up slowly, by Kev's methodical transitions. Again, I was trying to stay tight and watch my elbows. However, I wasn't being sufficiently proactive when he moved into high mount. Asking him afterwards, he suggested that I should attempt to work back to normal mount. Though I could sit under high mount with my elbows in, if anybody was going harder, they wouldn't have had much trouble separating those elbows. So, in a very bad position, move back to a plain bad position first, then work to escape from there.

Finally, I had a roll with Dan, who I don't think I've rolled with since he got his blue belt. As ever, I was soon under side control, failing to stop his sit-up sweep (my base was clearly dodgy, as he blasted straight through my knees, folding me backwards). Particularly as I was tired, I relied on my defence, which very almost cost me as Dan went for the choke we'd just learned. He nearly landed it, but there was just enough space to get my arms in the way and slip my head free.

All in all, tonight was handy for working my defence, and reminding me my cardio is crap. Not that I'm going to do anything about it, as I'm far too lazy to work cardio stuff outside of class. ;)

16/11/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #360
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Matt Burn, High Wycombe, UK - 16/11/2010

Those who read this blog at the main site rather than through Google Reader or Facebook may have noticed I've chopped up my header a bit. Hopefully (it looks ok in the browsers I checked, though personally I always use Firefox, so that's the best way to view the site), there is now a swish horizontal navigation menubar under the header, with menus that appear when you hover over the words. I followed the handy tutorial here, and will be playing around with it some more in the future, to see what happens. Let me know if the site now runs incredibly slow for you, or anything like that.

Matty kicked off the advanced class with a nifty choke from side control, using your gi lapel. You're in the classic side control position with an arm under the head. Open up your gi with your far hand: if possible, be sneaky and then hold the end of it your hand, so it is less obvious to your opponent. You can then have your hand by their far arm, where you're going to wait.

They will probably have their far arm into your throat. What you're waiting for is an opening to punch your hand inside that arm, then feed the gi lapel you were holding to your other hand, which is behind their hand. Get a firm grip: you may want to keep on feeding it further to make it even more secure. Cinch it tight to their neck, straightening the arm you have under their head.

Keeping your upper body low, walk your legs around towards their head, as if you were going to north south. At the same time, move your head towards their near hip: they will probably tap before you get there, but if not, keep going until you can put your head next to their hip. If the submission still isn't happening, make sure you're keeping your arm straight and pressed into their neck, so that your gi lapel digs into the other side of their neck.

Next, Matty went through a variation on the bow and arrow choke, off a grip break when attempting the kimura from north-south. As happens so often with the kimura from there, they've got a death grip on their belt, so you can't shift their arm despite having locked up the figure four. Changing tack, release the grip on your wrist and put your hand palm up.

With your other hand, grab the bottom of their gi and feed it to your first hand. Pull that in tight, bringing your hand back towards you arm and trapping their arm in the process. Get a grip on their collar with your free hand, then swivel to one side, bringing a leg over their shoulder and the other across their torso. From there, you can pull on the collar and push down with your legs to get the choke. Alternatively, you could try having your knee pressed into their head, but I find the leverage is better when you've got your legs over.

I was drilling in a three, so didn't actually get a chance to spar, because there was only time for two rounds (it was specific from side control again, so five minutes on top, five minutes on bottom). Not that I particularly minded, as it gave me a chance to scribble some notes down on my pad. Should be training against on Thursday, before heading up to Birmingham for the Christmas Market (my gf likes it, and it's always nice to get back in touch with one of my favourites things about being part-German: Aachener Printen. :D).

16/11/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #359
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Matt Burn, High Wycombe, UK - 16/11/2010

I recently updated the summary of my training history in martial arts, mainly expanding the last paragraph into a new section covering 2009 up until today. So, if for some reason you want to know what I've been doing for the last eleven years, that summary should tell you everything you want to know (in regards to martial arts, at least).

Kev couldn't make it tonight, so Matty took the class (unfortunately shorn of his excellent Movember biker moustache, as apparently you aren't allowed those side bits in the fire service). After going through a double leg, Matty moved on to side control, beginning with an armbar. You're in a solid side control position, and you've somehow managed to get their far arm by your head, on the side nearest their legs: this could be because they're trying to escape an Americana, or perhaps they've tried to swim through for the underhook, and you've managed to block it.

Grab their arm a little below their elbow, using the arm that is nearest their legs. Pull them up onto their side, and make sure that your inside knee goes right into the armpit on their near side: this is important for later control, as otherwise they will find it much easier to block with their arm. Your other leg is based out, similar to how you'd arrange your legs in knee on belly.

With your free hand, push their head down. Step that based out leg over, putting the foot by their back, towards their hips. You can now swivel around to that side, grabbing their trouser leg, then drop back for the armbar (alternatively, you could sit on their head and go for the kimura from north-south). Ideally you want to keep hold of their leg, pulling them in tight so they can't try for the hitchhiker escape. It is possible to finish the armbar with one hand, but you may end up needing both hands (in which case make sure your body is angled towards their legs rather than their head, to help prevent their escape).

Matty then covered off the basic escape from side control, bridging into them and shrimping back to guard. He also noted that you could try swinging your legs right through and try for an armbar, though more as a distraction than a submission. That's something Chiu showed at Gracie Barra Birmingham when I was there, as it's a favourite attack of Braulio's.

Sparring was from side control, and for once I tried to put into practice what we'd just learned. On top, I pulled in the arm and went for the kimura from north south, but couldn't hold the position because I couldn't get that knee into the armpit. I was also looking for my favoured triangle position on top, but again couldn't quite work my leg through in order to lock it up and start to attack the far arm.

Underneath, I was going for the usual basic escape Matty had run through earlier. I almost recovered to guard a few times, and remembered to try stiff-arming into the shoulder and bicep, but didn't shrimp enough, so Howard was able to drive back through. I threw up a few triangle attempts from the bottom too, but wasn't able to attack the arm too well (although I think that may have been where I got some of those near-miss guard recoveries).

09/11/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #357
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 09/11/2010

Kev asked everyone who was staying for the next class what they wanted to work on, and the general response was how to go from closed guard to open guard when somebody stands up. Kev suggested that moving to cross-guard was a good option, which is what you call the position where you are gripping their opposite sleeve, your same side foot on their hip, the other foot hooking behind their other leg.

In order to go from there to a cross guard sweep, use your free hand to grab their same side heel. Lock that to your hip, lifting their foot slightly off the floor. Push on their hip with your foot, while simultaneously pulling with your hook behind their other leg. If you're having trouble knocking them down, angle the direction of your push a little, in the direction you want them to fall.

Once you finally manage to get them down, you can use that hold on their sleeve to sit up, bringing your knee across their leg. You can now go straight into a knee slide pass, pulling up on their sleeve to hinder their defence. It's the same technique Kev taught at the start of this year, if you're looking for a longer explanation.

That was it for technique, though Kev did suggest that deadlifts might be a good option to help develop better base when standing up in guard (which I'm pretty pants at, hence why I asked). I'm too lazy and undisciplined for weights, but if it would be cool to get some kind of regular standing up in guard drill going with my gf.

We then moved into sparring, which was free sparring except that you had to start in guard, and you also had to pass standing rather than from the knee. I forced myself to stand up a few times and almost immediately got swept, but still, only way to get used to it (though I have been saying that for years now). It also meant that I ready to defend straight away, so was generally at least able to switch to guard rather than simply get passed after getting knocked to the mat.

With both Howard and Kev, who were the two people I sparred that class, I found myself in a position where they were going for my back, but didn't have both their hooks in yet. In both cases, I was able to grab on their arm, with the intention of pulling on that and driving into them with my shoulder to move into top half guard. That didn't go as planned, as it mainly seemed to just stall them from securing the back.

However, Kev did say that it was the right idea, so I guess I need to just keep working on that and improve my pressure and angle. It would also be worth keeping Saulo's escape in mind, where he scoops down and then slips to the side (though that seems more like a late defence, compared to the early escape using their arm).

The onset of November also means that sweaty men have been sitting on my face for the last four years. For some reason, I keep coming back for more. ;p

09/11/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #356
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 09/11/2010

I'm not sure if anyone takes any note of the names of my training partners, which I occasionally mention on this blog (especially if I've rolled with them a lot and they give me good advice, like Tran, Christina and more recently, Howard), but readers may remember Callum. He's one of the other blue belts I like to roll with at RGA Wycombe, as he is always a tough challenge: often in the guard, I'll find that one moment I'm looking to start a pass, then the next I find Callum has somehow climbed most of the way up my shoulder and is trying to sink an armbar. ;)

As well as slick submissions, Callum also has something even more impressive to his name: a new BJJ magazine. We've been discussing it in class and over email for a few months now, and I've been getting steadily more excited as things begin to come together. This week, the launch of Jiu Jitsu Style has been announced to the rest of the world, with a page on Facebook. The first issue is due to come out in February 2011: I'll no doubt be talking a whole lot more about it in the coming months, as will other people who have since got on board, like Seymour from Meerkatsu and Matt from The Grappling Dummy. Speaking of which, I recently did an interview with Callum for The FightWorks Podcast, which you can check out here if you're interested in Jiu Jitsu Style.

I've been off training as I came down with a cold last week, so didn't want to spread my germs around. I think I'm just about recovered now, so finally made it back to the mats tonight. If that went ok, I'd know I'm ok for the advanced class in Bristol tomorrow. Kev's focus for the beginners was the triangle choke from guard, going through two basic set-ups he has shown before.

The first triangle set-up was the most simple. Grab both their wrists with your same side hands, then push their rear hand into their torso, while clamping the other to your chest. You can then either bring your hips up in order to fling your leg over their shoulder, locking your feet by the top of their back. The important thing is to clear that hand you've shoved into them, so that you're ready to move into the triangle.

You can now bring them in with your legs, moving their outstretched arm across your body, Grab the leg you have across the back of their neck, swivel to face the direction your sole is pointing, then lock up the triangle and squeeze. Kev noted that you can also try pushing their trapped shoulder back a little, in order to get your legs more tightly on their carotoid arteries. Howard also had a handy tip for when you're getting stacked, which is to stiff-arm into your knee, which should help you shuffle backwards on your shoulders.

The second triangle set-up is a bit like a scissor sweep. You start by grabbing their opposite collar, but instead of bringing your shin across their stomach, bring that knee over their rear arm (presuming they have the standard grip in guard, with one arm forward grabbing your collars, the other back by your hip). You can then rotate that leg around and over their neck, swivelling into position for the triangle, finishing as before.

Next up was the flipside, an escape from the triangle. If you're just about to get caught, you want to reverse engineer your defence. To complete the triangle, they want to bring your arm across, so to prevent that, clasp your hands and clamp them to the leg on your free arm side. Maintain good posture to try and make some space (if their grip is still loose, this may even be enough to break it), bringing your knee on the trapped arm side next to your elbow. Turn that knee in towards them.

Having given yourself a strong frame, grab their leg with your trapped arm. You can then put your free hand behind you for base. Move your other knee to their hip, which will mean you can move around to their side slightly. Step your trapped side leg right over their body, foot by their hip. You can now posture up and remove their legs, after which you want to immediately pin their legs to the floor by pushing on their top knee with your hand.

From here, you can turn your knee towards their torso, stepping your other leg over their trapped knees. That sets you up to move into knee on belly. Alternatively, you can try switching your legs and 'surfing' them into mount. If they block that by shoving on your leg, you can go with the flow and slide into side control on the other side.

Specific sparring was from full guard. I wasn't getting too far with Howard, who was managing to eventually either pass or sweep me every time. I did manage to get to that same old half guard position a few times on top, but could never quite complete the pass. Afterwards, Howard suggested I could try using my head as a post, driving it next to his and using my skull to turn his head in the other direction. Something to try next time I'm on top in half guard.

26/10/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #354
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 26/10/2010

After getting back home from Bristol, I was pleasantly surprised to find a new package from Roy Dean. This time, it wasn’t a DVD, but a collection of his four music CDs: this is the ambient soundtrack you’ll hear on his instructionals. I’m a fan of people like Kid Loco (or at least his first album, ‘A Grand Love Story’), so that kind of trip hoppy stuff appeals to me. I’m not sure you could make a direct comparison, as there isn’t the dense layering and samples: it’s a cleaner sound, mostly piano, guitar and drums. I've been giving it a thorough listen over the last day or two.

My favourite is Roy’s second album, appropriately called Second Sound, with tracks like ‘Strings’, a bit reminiscent of Moby, ‘Distance’ and ‘Alleluiah’, probably the best of the bunch. I was less keen on the ‘harder’ fourth album, End of Days (the fact there is a track called ‘Reznor’ implies what the influence was this time), but there were still a number of highlights there, like ‘Laver Blue’ (which is also cool, because I know Paul from the excellent K3 Academy in Poole).

The smooth, stylish production of Roy Dean’s DVDs is reflected in his music, with a sophisticated sound that works beautifully as a background for rolling in class. You can buy the four CD set, Arc and Shadow, from Roy’s site, here (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

The blogger map has also been growing steadily, so if you’re a blogger who wants to be on there and isn’t yet, let me know. You can get in touch with me via email on this page. Georgette has also kindly agreed to help out as a collaborator, which brings the total up to six. :)
____________________________________________

Progressing from half guard, Kev focused on the deep half during the advanced class. That adds to the introduction I had to the position earlier from Rob Stevens at GB Brum, who is very good at using it. Rob taught a class on entries and sweeps from the deep half in April, followed by how to pass it with Kevin Webb in May.

Kev (Capel, not Webb ;p) began by showing us how to move into deep half guard from a z-guard/knee shield position (like half guard, but you have your outside knee pressing into their chest). This should make them drive forward, which gives you the momentum you need to reach through and spin under their trapped leg. A common mistake is to go for the other leg: you want the leg on the same side as your knee shield.

Once there, stretch out their leg, with one arm around the outside, the other holding inside, facing away from their body. Kev said that you didn’t need to worry about being super tight with your legs, as they will find it difficult to move that trapped leg due to the awkward position.

You can now go for what Jeff Glover calls the ‘Homer Simpson’ deep half guard sweep, from his DVD. With their leg still in between yours, walk along the floor towards their other leg until you feel their balance is gone (hence the name: you’re running in a circle while lying down). Pull their knee over to the side, then spin over the leg you’re holding. You need to keep their leg in between yours, otherwise you’ll be walking straight into a triangle. Depending on their position, you can spin under and work for the back, or spin over the top and pass.



Note that once you get on top, they can get their leg in the way. The triangle isn’t much of a risk if you’re sitting on their leg, but it can mess up the pass: I kept getting stuck there when I last drilled deep half at Rob Stevens’ class. To avoid ending up in a sticky situation, drive your head to their opposite hip (although watch your neck: I think I was pushing too much with my head and forgetting about the rest of my body, so it felt a little sore the day after. Then again, that might have been from pushing too much with it on the sweep). From there you can do the switch pass Kev showed earlier.

Kev finished up with an escape from mount which puts you into the deep half guard. The idea is to escape as if you’re going to half guard (e.g., like Rob’s version). However, rather than working from there, you’re going to wrap their lower leg, so that their ankle is resting on your bottom leg, with their foot dangling off to the side. That means you can press on that foot with your top leg, which will pry up their knee. Use that space to shoot your arm in, spin under and go to deep half.

There was just one round of sparring, again from half guard. I was with a tall blue belt I don’t think I’ve seen before, called Simon. On top, I essentially bored him into opening his half guard, staying low with my leg sprawled back, like I did with Howard earlier. However, Simon wasn’t using the knee shield in the same way, which made all the difference. Later, I was trying to attack the far arm to act as a distraction, but couldn’t quite sink that kimura. I’m getting closer, but need to make more effective use of my head as a third hand, also making better use of Roy Dean’s lockflow from the 2009 seminar.

Underneath, my legs were getting squashed to the side too much. I need to keep my legs active, knocking my partner’s posture forward, pushing into their armpits and sides. I also need to remember to use my legs in conjunction with my arms, which is a central principle of BJJ. I’m getting better at it, but there are numerous positions where I’m still letting that concept slip my mind.

26/10/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #353
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 26/10/2010

I didn’t make training last week, because I was off up north with my gf. Her best friend is getting married, which meant she had the dubious pleasure of spending many, many hours in Louth being fitted for a bridesmaid dress (apparently, here in the UK the correct term for best woman is indeed ‘chief bridesmaid’ rather than ‘Maid of Honour’, which I’m told is an American thing). On the way, we stopped off at Matlock in the Peak District, which not only had a lovely bed and breakfast at The Old Sunday School, but owners who could recommend the even more awesome pie night at The Thorn Tree pub (they have one every Wednesday). Very, very tasty, but also huge: next time, we’ll share a pie instead of tackling one each!

While there finally got to use our book of Peak District walks we bought years ago, heading off on the relatively short stroll from Birchover to Robin Hood’s Stride. On the way back, there was this brilliant place called Rowtor Rocks (there’s a turning near The Druid Inn), where the book tells me that some vicar in the 17th century decided to carve out passages, rooms and even armchairs from the rock. Lots of people trying to climb them, too: bouldering, I think it’s called?

The Ultimate Fighter also just stepped up a gear with a fantastic sixth episode. As ever, the careful editing is geared towards making you hate one team and love the other, but it nevertheless works. That has never been more true than in this episode, where it massively pays off. If you haven’t seen it already, try to avoid hearing the result and go check it out (decent grappling, GSP offering up lots of class, and even some words of wisdom from Camarillo). Should be available on either the TUF website or Sky Sports (which makes the annoying mistake of dubbing ‘UFC’ a sport rather than MMA), depending on where you live.

Class tonight began with a section from Gracie Barra Fundamentals, escaping scarf hold. This was specifically orthodox scarf hold rather than broken, meaning they are gripping under your head, rather than under your far armpit (which is tougher to escape). First you need to get the elbow of your trapped arm to the floor, after which your can bring your other hand over their head to create a frame, in combination with your now freed hand.

Shrimp out until you can bring your leg over their head: this may require several shrimping motions. Once your leg is in position, use that to roll them back. From here, you can either come up to side control, or look to attack their arm. The armbar Kev showed works by controlling their arm just above the crook of their elbow, giving you time to wrap your other arm over the top. Press down on their arm while raising your hips for the submission.

Getting into the class proper, this week is all going to be about half guard. Kev kicked off by running through the lockdown (like he did almost exactly a year ago today), but unlike last October, he didn’t then run through the full Eddie Bravo sequence, stopping after the ‘Jaws of Life’ and ‘whip up’. If you have Mastering the Rubber Guard, you can see the techniques from pages 54-59.

Instead, Kev finished with how to recover full guard from there, which I much prefer. You’re on your side with an underhook, so the first thing you want to do is block their arm from cross-facing: simply hook your hand over the wrist. Release your lockdown, using your outside leg as a base for your shrimp. Your inside leg will slip around the back of their knee, in order to maintain control (otherwise they can just move their leg over and pass).

Shrimp until you’re able to get that outside foot onto their same side hip. Push, then slide your other leg through to move back into full guard, or possibly butterfly guard. As you have that grip on their wrist, you could also try pushing that arm towards them, bringing your leg right through for a triangle.

If you’re on top, once you’ve released the lockdown (again, as Kev taught last year), you can move on to what Kev called the ‘switch pass’ from half guard. Reach over to bring your near arm to their far side and turn your body, so that you’re facing their legs. With your other hand, grab a firm hold of their knee: this is key to the technique. That grip will stop them bridging, and it will also enable you to quickly free your leg if they make a mistake.

Having got your arm over and secured the knee, wedge your free leg in front of their legs. Pull up on their knee with your grip until you can free your leg, then move into side control. Make sure you don’t let them get both arms around your knees, as otherwise they can reverse you. To avoid that, drive your hip back into their bottom arm, which will stop them linking their hands together.

Specific sparring was from half guard, and on top, I again struggled to get past Howard’s knee shield/z-guard. I could maintain control from the top, keeping my hips low and legs sprawled, but at best I’d manage a stalemate due to that knee. I tried grabbing his trouser leg, but didn’t have much luck squashing the knees together. As ever, something to work on.

Underneath, I was able to recover to butterfly a couple of times, but only for a moment: I swiftly got passed. I should go look over my notes on butterfly from GB Brum: one thing I definitely didn’t do and should have done is immediately try to secure an arm over the back and cinch the grip in tight. As I’ve got short, squat legs, butterfly remains something I’m keen to improve.

There were a few other times when I had a leg across his neck while the other was still by his legs, but again got easily passed. That’s another position I need to use more effectively: I need better head control, breaking of posture and using all my limbs rather than relying on the legs. I did manage some kind of sweep where I grabbed the arm, but as I’m not sure exactly how, that isn’t overly helpful. ;)

At the end of class, Kev called me up to receive a fourth stripe (also replacing the one that fell off) on my blue belt, which I wasn’t expecting: as ever, always nice to have the handshake and round of applause. I was just getting used to accidentally demoting myself to two stripes when one fell off at GB Brum, and hadn’t thought I'd get another stripe for several months. I guess the time at Birmingham counted, if RGA is still doing the ‘six months per stripe’ thing for blue belts?

Goes to show that there can be a massive gaping hole between four stripe blue and purple, as I don’t feel anywhere near that level yet (I can’t pass guard, can’t submit people, struggle to sweep, frequently hang out passively in side control...etc etc).

14/10/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #352
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Matty Burn, High Wycombe, UK - 14/10/2010

I’ve mentioned Leslie’s blogroll over on BJJ Grrl before, but I haven’t made a concerted effort to go through for a while. I copied it over to Excel recently and then compared it against my blog index (still need to update it, but should be at least 100 extra blogs): loads I was missing, so lots more for me to read. So far, I particularly like Kirsch’s Korner, Family Mat-ters and Gi Funk. Speaking of bloggers, perhaps some of them will want to put their details on the blogger map, for future blogger training meet-ups. Either way, thanks Leslie! :D

Also, back when I posted up my review of Cindy Omatsu’s DVDs, a number of people mentioned they’d had trouble getting hold of that set, which originally came out in 2005. So, they might be interested to hear it is apparently back in stock at Budovideos, currently for about $57. Apparently only two left at the moment, but I’ve no idea if that’s a marketing thing or not.

Speaking of Budovideos, they are also running a live stream for the No Gi Worlds on the 7th November. However, unlike in 2009, this time it is pay per view: you can buy tickets here. Although it’s only $10, so still pretty good value, it is nevertheless a shame they weren’t able to keep it free. I guess after their trial run last year (along with the Worlds and Pan Ams this year), the advertising fees weren’t enough to cover all the costs.

Kev was working another night shift, so class was headed up by Mat Burn (which remains an awesome name for a BJJ instructor: yes, he gets that along, but the novelty hasn’t quite worn off for me yet! ;p). Matty went through a basic push-through triangle, shoving their hand into their stomach before going through the technique as normal.

To finish up, there was the same guard break as Tuesday (although Matty prefers to pull up on the sleeve, rather than shoving it into their hip to start with), then a leg pin pass. Here again Matty used a slightly variation, as instead of reaching around their leg to grab the collar, he instead switching the grip on their sleeve, meaning that you’re holding onto their arm rather than shoving your forearm into their throat.

Specific sparring was from guard, with one of my favourite training partners, Howard. My efforts at the twisting guard break and Colin’s pass weren’t particularly successful, but as Howard is a blue, he was much more likely to open his guard and attack than the white belts I was sparring on Tuesday. That meant I had a couple of opportunities to try and pass: I secured the double underhooks, but failed to get past. I think the problem there is that I’m not driving forward enough, and I should also pull their legs towards me to help stack them, as that gets their hips in the air.

Pushing their leg down and doing a big step over it, as per Kev’s private lesson, is starting to become more instinctive. That means I’m finding myself moving to half guard quicker than before, but with blue belts, they’re normally able to get that knee in the way (in what I think is called z-guard). The knee was frequently in the way, as Howard went for the scissor sweep a number of times: I’m sure there is some kind of pass where you shove that knee down and walk round, so something for me to work on.

Underneath, I wasn’t doing enough with half guard, and I still tend to end up on the wrong side with my upper body: I need to fight harder to get that underhook on the same side as the leg I’ve trapped. At one point in full guard, I found myself with a loose armbar, but wasn’t able to readjust or switch to anything. Looking for the triangle is becoming more natural, but I don’t yet feel confident switching to an omoplata or armbar, which is another thing I want to improve.

Things weren't too dissimilar when we moved on to the extra hour of free sparring (or half hour, in this case, as we were inadvertently running on Brazilian time). This time there was no stopping, so I was able to try and take the back after Howard got to his knees from my half guard pass attempt. I got in one hook, but totally failed to get the other one secure (Howard was able to easily just push it off his hip).

I had a relatively relaxed roll with a white belt after that, where I was sitting in the overhook from guard looking to do something. Eventually, I was able to pop my leg over the free arm, but had a brain freeze and somehow managed to try and fling the wrong leg behind the head, which was incredibly stupid of me. Clearly I was getting a bit too comfortable with that overhook, as I forgot I had it. D’oh.

Sparring finished up with Matty, where again I had a chance to do that step over the leg and go for half guard. I thought I was going to get flung straight off, but managed to keep my base, using a grip around the head and armpit and keeping a leg back. Or at least I did the first two times: third attempt, I found myself under side control, and then suddenly mount. I must have been lazy with getting my knee up, which is a fundamental error. Although I later managed to roll back to get on top in guard, Matty immediately reversed me: I need to make sure I settle my base when I sweep, or the momentum could work against me, like it did here.

I won’t be training again until 26th of this month, on Tuesday, as I’ll be down in Bristol with my girlfriend (along with a few other places: we’re visiting friends up in Lancashire, as my gf is the head bridesmaid for their wedding – or whatever the name for that is – so she has a dress fitting). Although it would be nice to check out Gracie Barra Bristol, I don’t think I’ll have a chance this time round, as classes start at 7pm on weekdays. My gf might be a little annoyed if I absconded to go get sat on by sweaty men. ;)

Tomorrow, I'll be putting up another piece from Chrissy on the women's jiu jitsu program she's been running. I'll also look to get something posted on here during the week off training. I'm most of the way through doing a book review, or I might be able to whip up some kind of article.

12/10/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #351
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 12/10/2010

If you’re a fellow BJJ blogger, I recently set up a map for those of us looking to meet up and train, here. This isn’t a club directory, it’s a blogger directory, listed by their club. I’m keen to bring the online community onto the mats, so drop me an email and I’ll add you to the mat. Various other bloggers said they may be able to help, so they’re up on the map as collaborators (Leslie from BJJ Grrl, Chrissy from clinzy, Meg from MegJitsu and Liam from Part Time Grappler). :)

Speaking of bloggers, I hadn’t realised until recently that regular FightWorks Podcast correspondent, Christian Simamora, has been running his own blog since August. Check it out here. Also reminds me to update my blog list.

On a somewhat unrelated point, there’s a great sequence of videos filmed at Eddie Bravo’s gym here, which like TUF wouldn’t normally grab my attention. However, the difference with these is that you get to see what it looks like when Bravo teaches a typical class, rather than just an interview with the same old questions. Instruction is interspersed with both conversation and sparring.

Also nice to see Alex Reid asking the questions later on, as he doesn’t come out of the usual BJJ background, so presumably hasn’t spent lots of time on forums with constant Eddie Bravo threads filling up the screen. You also get to see Oli Geddes (meaning the videos must have been from a good while back, as I remember Oli posting about his roll with Bravo a couple of years ago).

I was also excited earlier today when I found out that a new branch of RGA has just opened up in Bristol, right near the area where my gf and I are intending to move in a few months (once we find somewhere). Gracie Barra Bristol (which despite the name is still part of the RGA network) is run by a four stripe brown belt under Roger, Nicolai ‘Geeza’ Holt. That’s a name I’d previously heard due to his excellent YouTube channel.

I had thought I’d have to switch to a different team once I moved to Bristol, so this is great news (not that I wouldn’t get good training at other clubs, of course, but it’s definitely preferable to stick with the family, so to speak). Check out the website here, and the map entry here: from what I gather, Nicolai isn’t currently charging anything for training, which is pretty awesome.

There wasn’t going to be any technique tonight, just specific sparring. Things started off with back mount, where I was terrible both attacking and defending. Must re-read that ‘survival’ section in Saulo’s book): although I was able to protect my neck, I didn’t make any real progress towards escaping, aside from one point where I turned back to half guard (can’t remember how, though). I was trying to slip down and pop over the leg, but I think even the one time I managed that, I ended up underneath side control. When it came to my turn to attack I got to full mount a few times, but wasn’t getting anywhere with submissions: I’d go for the arm, trying to get that double grip, they would slip out the side and then I’d try and switch the mount. Of course, my partner was fairly small, possibly even smaller than me, and a white belt. With someone more experienced, I most likely would have just lost back mount and ended in a scramble. Next up was full mount, with the same partner. He was quite energetic, so kept attacking for ezequiels, although it ended up being more of a face crush as he didn’t have the neck. Uncomfortable, but unlikely to get a tap (unless they happen to be especially powerful). Underneath, unusually for me, I was mainly having success with the bridge and roll rather than my preferred shrimp to half guard, but again that was probably due to size. On top in mount, I was looking stay slow and steady, working from the grapevine. I’m still not having much luck with the ezequiel (again, need to check Saulo), though I was able to get some attacks on the arm (although he tapped very early, so I’m not sure I quite had the lock right). I’ve been trying to improve my transitions to technical mount, but I still need to be tighter with the leg that’s over, and also work harder on bringing the second hand into play, as well as that initial collar grip.

The penultimate round was side control, where underneath I need to be careful when I roll out of choke attempts. I almost put myself right into a bow and arrow: the white belt I was with didn’t have their legs crossed, which is the main reason I could get out that way. I had a brief go at bringing my shin into the crook of their elbow, but I think I may have been using the wrong leg. I also wanted to sit up and stiff arm into their armpit, and got closer than I have before, but still not backing my hips out enough.

On top, I was pleased that my transitions seemed to be going better, for once. I was able to switch to north-south as I felt my control slipping, sitting on their head (although once or twice I was leaving too much room still, so they were able to work their way free: must pay attention to their elbows). That meant I could attack the arms, and eventually secured a kimura. However, I need to make the grips more instinctive, as I had to pause and think a couple of times about which arm went where, which gives them time to grab some material (though from that position it is easier than normal to break their hold).

After a round out writing notes, things finished up with guard. I was knackered by this point, despite the rest (my cardio remains awful), so took the easy option on top and brought my elbows inside my knees. I was still looking to react if they opened their guard to attack, but mostly stayed defensive.

Underneath, I got the overhook and collar grip, but couldn’t do much with it. I was thinking about the omoplata, then moving towards the triangle, but failed to clear the arm: I was telegraphing it, so need to think about switching to something else from there, or use the choke as a distraction.