23/06/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Leuven 2016 | North South Choke (Robson Barbosa)

Class #736
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Robson Barbosa, Leuven, Belgium, 23/06/2016

I remember Robson and Bruno's classes from last year as being rather acrobatic, but as this one was side control attacks, I was intrigued. That's my most comfortable position, therefore some acrobatics would (hopefully!) be less confusing. As it turned out, Robson did indeed manage to come up with something that looked cool and flashy, but fortunately I had seen something vaguely similar before.

He began by switching around to the other side, hooking their arm as you spin around. That leads into a way of moving into technical mount, bringing your knee in close to their head, stepping your other foot through. Another option is to move into a north south choke. Pin their arm with your hand, your other arm going under their head. Switch to north south, still pinning that arm. Your other hand then releases that hand, linking with your other hand to apply the choke as you slide your weight back.

I find this one is tough to get, as there seems to be a lot of finesse in getting your body in just the right spot to close off the choke. It is also difficult to demonstrate, because it's hard to see the pressure unless the instructor is transparent. As ever I struggled to get the position, but at least now I have a video I can refer back to. :)

Robson finished off with a helicopter armbar, a suitably flashy finale. Not something I'll be trying in sparring any time soon, but again, handy to have a video. It's fun to bring that one out if you want to show something impressive and have a small person handy to demonstrate it with. :D

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Jumping & Rolling Back Attacks

Class #658
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Robson Barbosa, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

After I'd had some lunch upstairs, it was time for the next session. This was headed up by the guy who gave Graugart his black belt, Robson Barbosa. Sticking with the theme from earlier, it was more back stuff. Very handily, my old training partner Conor appeared as I was waiting for it to start, meaning I had someone to drill with in all of today's gi classes. Cool to catch up with him too, as it's been a few years since we last saw each other, at a GrappleThon two years ago.


Robson claimed it would be a simple technique to start with, then proceeded to acrobatically leap onto the back. Fortunately this back take from turtle did turn out to be a bit easier than it looked. Facing their turtle (i.e., so you're both looking at each other, not behind them), push their head down, while also gripping their same side arm. Step your arm-side leg through diagonally, spinning to face away. You end up sat on their back. If you pause for a moment to balance, it makes it easier to insert a hook, but that isn't necessary for the next technique

You're on the back. Grip the lapels firmly under their armpits, gripping quite high. Launch yourself diagonally, rolling next to their shoulder. The idea is to flip them over as you roll: I've tried this before, I think after seeing it on a video? Either way, works OK, although you have to be careful you don't crunch your neck or your partner's neck. Aiming your head at the space next to their shoulder seemed to work for me.

The third and as it turned out final technique was completely different, though it linked up well with what Oli had taught. This time you're in de la Riva. Grab inside their knees, pushing their knees close together and squeezing your own knees. Roll over your inside shoulder, as with Oli's rolling back takes, pulling the hip round.

Barbosa's teaching style involved a few quick demonstrations then loads of drilling time. That worked well for me, as Conor is an excellent drilling partner. Like me, he's very keen to explore the detail of a technique. We found that for the DLR back take, it was key to firmly trap their non-DLR leg while you were rolling through, also making sure you weren't starting too low.

I think Chris Paines (who was there with lots of people from Fighting Fit) said he would be YouTubing some of the technique, so that should help refresh my memory. Cool to see him again too. Next class, some even more complicated guard options with Bruno Matias.

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters