Seminar: Roy Dean UK 2010

Seminar #4
Uplands School, (BJJ), Roy Dean, Poole, UK - 22/05/2010

Last year, the Roy Dean UK seminar was a relatively small affair, and I felt very lucky to be the only outsider present. I had the privilege of staying with Kirsty, Steve and Paul, getting to chat at considerable length to them and Roy on both nights, along with Rick and Glen, Roy's students. This year, things were a little different, as the seminar was over a single day and much busier, with a number of people popping down from outside the club.

That included not just one blogger, but three, as Seymour from Meerkatsu and Matt from Martial Farts/The Grappling Dummy were both down too (he lives in the area, so was able to benefit from classes with Roy earlier in the week). So, I still felt very lucky to be able to attend, but the secret is out: I'm sure these seminars are going to grow and grow over the next few years. The school itself is noticeably bigger, now with a number of blue belts. The turn-out was therefore larger too, with around thirty BJJers in attendance.

Things kicked off with a takedown, which was all leverage. Overhook their arm, pulling in your arm rather than reaching over the back. Step in front with your near leg and across, so that your foot is between their legs. Grab their far wrist with your opposite hand and drag it across. The leg you have between theirs swings back, straightened out, into their inner thigh.

At the same time, release the grip you have on their wrist and post on the floor: as you've broken their balance, they should be doing the same. Next, you put your foot back down, but position so your leg is braced behind their same side leg. Your posting hand now reaches for their ankle. Yank that up, while at the same time pressing with your leg to take them down.

From there, you can move into a straight footlock. Your arm wraps around, staying high, on their Achilles tendon. Drop back, putting your outside foot on their hip. Your other leg can stay underneath, or you can hook behind their knee (which means you can roll both ways, still staying competition legal). Also, be sure to squish your knees together.

Your other hand grabs your wrapping wrist and pulls it across, so their ankle is now nearer the crook of your elbow (but still on your forearm). Your other elbow points up into the air, at an acute diagonal angle. Roll your shoulder back on the side you've trapped their foot, look up, puff out your chest and arch your back. If you need more leverage, roll to your side, facing away from them. This gives you much more room to arch your back for the tap.

If you end up on the outside of their leg, you can also go for the knee bar. Swivel around to face their legs, stepping your inside foot through. Squat down and sit on their hips, then drop back in the direction of the leg (you don't cross over their body). Holding tight, squish your knees together, then arch your back for the submission.

Roy then did something different from last year, with a question and answer session. At first, people just asked for pointers on the technique he'd shown earlier, but when Roy specifically indicated the questions could be broader, more people piped up, including me. There were other technical queries, like Matt asking about engaging in the stand-up phase of a BJJ competition, along with non-technical musing, like somebody asking how often Roy trained early on (if you're interested, his first year was once a week, after which he was able to up it to twice, then upon moving to San Diego he could train three or four times).

Roy also talked about the massive importance of training partners, but he wasn't referring to drilling and sparring and class. He meant somebody who would train with you at home, which is a wonderful prospect, but can be tough to put into practice. Still, I do have a couple of mats at home, so it would be brilliant if I had a regular training partner to drill with at home. I continue to live in hope that my girlfriend will start to take an interest in BJJ...

My own question was about spider guard, specifically the problem I've been having recently getting to that strong control position with their sleeve around your thigh and your leg threaded through the arm. Roy emphasised the importance of getting the right angle, swinging your head to the other side, then raising your hips to reach that ideal grip.

After the first ten minute break (just about enough time to scribble all my notes, like last time: very handy part of Roy's seminar structure!), Roy moved on to maintaining side control. He used the orthodox gable grip under the head and arm, with knees in tight. He then suggested sprawling one leg back, dropping your hip so you can really press with your shoulder. That twists their upper body out of alignment, making it much tougher for them to initiate an escape.

There was then an interesting variation I hadn't seen before. With the arm you have over their far side, slide the hand palm up (I think, might have been knuckles up) under their back. If you can get this a little lower than the spot between their shoulder blades, you can then drive your weight into them, creating a strange sort of pressure-point on the spine. When it was being done to me, I had to raise up to relieve the pressure, which not only messes up bridging, but acts as a handy distraction benefitting the person on top, who can then launch attacks.

Frequently, the person underneath will push up into your neck, pushing you towards their legs (if they push towards your head, you can move your head past their elbow and work for an arm triangle). This gives you a shot at the Americana from side control. You're going to stick with a central jiu jitsu principle and flow with that motion, letting your upper body be moved backwards, but then switch your legs, basing and therefore putting your weight into them. You can now bring your hand to their wrist and switch your legs back the other way, using that momentum to press their arm to the floor, with your figure four grip established, where you can finish the submission.

From that same set up, you can move into a straight armbar from side control. As I'd expected, Roy then demonstrated the side control lockflow from last year (it is also taught on Purple Belt Requirements), shifting through the Americana, straight armbar and finally kimura. However, he also added in a nifty triangle finish, along with some points on the kimura from side control.

You've gone for an Americana, they straighten their arm, your slide into a straight armbar, and they then point their bent arm towards your legs. Clamp the arm to your chin, which also enables you to switch the other arm under, ready for a kimura. For better leverage, switch your base and face their legs. This will give you a greater range of motion.

As you switch your base, bring a knee under their elbow. That enables you to step over their head, and if they try and roll into you (which especially powerful opponents may attempt), you can happily roll with that motion. Due to bring the leg over the head, you're set up for the triangle, and even better, you still have their arm in the kimura position. This leaves you with a beautiful double attack: either complete the triangle, go for the kimura, or use one to distract them from defending the other.

Roy then looked to apply some similar principles to top half guard. They have managed to swim through for an underhook over your back. Switch your base to face their legs, getting fairly low on their body, so that one side of your rib cage is lying along their belt line. This should effectively immobilise their hips.

You can now slip an arm under their elbow, while leaning back and then reaching with the other hand to grab their wrist. From there, you could go for an Americana from half guard, but Roy prefers to push right into the straight armbar from half guard. The aim is to point their arm off at a diagonal angle, towards their head but away from their side.

That concluded the second session, and again I used the Q and A to ask about another technical niggle I've encountered over the last few months. This time it was on escaping north-south, where I've been trying to wriggle out then kick over to take the back. Roy said that while that escape is ok, he prefers to first try and get his elbows into their hips (IIRC, arms clasped, but I might be remembering incorrectly). That helps him make enough room to spin out to guard.

If you miss that position and have to just grab their belt or gi (as in the Gustavo Machado escape), you can being the taking the back escape as I've been doing. However, rather than going right over to take the back, you could be a little less ambition and end up hanging off their side. That will normally tempt your opponent to try and drive forward to come on top. Once they do, you already have one side locked, so you can just grab their free knee, lift and sweep them. Either way, you're out from under north south.

Somebody else asked about escaping knee on belly, for which Roy had a few options. The first was a little reminiscent of Saulo's DVD, but instead of the elbow, Roy wrapped his inside hand around their knee (thereby involving the usual armbar problem). You could then bolster that with your outside hand, making sure to keep your elbow down and tight by your side.

Alternatively push with the outside hand, but again keeping that elbow really tight to your side, so there isn't any space from them to reach through and take the armbar. The last option looked a bit difficult, but from what I remember, you basically want to get the person on top to shove their weight forward. Once you've tempted them to do that, by shrimping away or something, grab the knee that isn't on your stomach and lift them over, rolling to the top position. This won't work unless they've already given you that forward momentum.

After that second break, the final technical series was based around chokes. Roy began with a cross choke from the guard, with some little details that make the submission much tighter. Instead of reaching in for a deep grip while on your back, post on your elbow and sit up (and importantly, you stay sitting up, possibly even opening your guard). You can now reach really, really deep, past the back of their neck. This means that your other hand doesn't need to be so far into their collar. Bring it underneath the first arm, grip the collar then squeeze for the choke, twisting from palm up to palm down and also curling your wrists towards you.

Alternatively, from that same deep grip, you can bring the other hand to the other shoulder, grasping a handful of gi. Use that to yank them over, which will make it easier for you to circle your elbow past and around their head, into the side of their neck. As before, squeeze for the choke, though this time it is palm up/palm down, as opposed to the previous palm up/palm up variation.

The third option is sneakier, and relies upon their reaction. As before, you sit up for that super-deep grip. They're wise to it, and duck their head under, so now you're holding their same side collar, without anything pressing into their neck. Your other hand will grab their other collar, thumb inside. The cunning part is dropping your leg on the palm up side, inviting them to pass your guard.

If they take the bait, immediately run your legs around, so that you're circling towards your thumb grip. Your elbows will be coming together as you do so. You also want to turn in the direction of their head, to keep them off balance. When the time is right, squeeze your grip, and land the baseball bat choke from underneath side control.

Roy also showed a standing version of the same thing. Again, you've got a deep grip and they've brought their head underneath. Get the grip with the other thumb into their other collar, then bring your leg out and drop to your bum, then your back. They'll probably roll over the top to stop you going for that choke. Quickly move to north-south, leg over their head, driving your head and shoulder into their belt line. From here, squeeze to finish the baseball bat choke.

The last two techniques of the seminar were two chokes from side control, or at least that's where they started. They push up, and you go with it, switching to knee-on-belly. Get your hand, palm up, into their near collar, good and deep, curling the arm around. If they push on your knee, let them, as this now enables you to bring your other arm over to establish the thumb in the collar grip. Complete the baseball bat choke by dropping that elbow and straightening your first arm, your weight staying tight to their shoulders.

Even if they block your second arm, you can still complete the choke. Drop to their near side, so that you are lying parallel, but make sure you are still close to their side. This means you have a much greater range of motion for straightening your first arm against their neck, which will get the submission regardless of their attempts to block the second arm.

That was the end of the technical portion of the seminar, which now moved into an open mat for an hour. I had intended to get in some drilling and sparring with guys like Seymour and Matt, but as it turned out, after scribbling my notes and taking some pictures, I only had time for one roll. That was with one of Matt's students, who I think had been doing either JKD or MMA for a while. He's also a bit beefier than me, though having said that, most people are!

Unusually, I spent most of the roll on top, looking to use shoulder pressure to pass: there was a lot of getting to half guard, almost passing, back into my guard, almost passing, and so on. I was able to slide through to mount a couple of times, though. I tried to shift forward with my weight into his head and then walk my hand up, trying to remember Nathan's lesson on the topic, but without much effect. Still, I was at least able to maintain the mount, which is always gratifying when it is against somebody bigger.

I had a comparatively high mount, so looked to shift around into technical mount. Normally I try get my hand through to grab the collar, but it had disappeared from reach. So, I looked for the armbar instead. As often happens, that just resulted in him grabbing his hand, then managing to turn and get into my guard, then stack me.

I attempted to switch to a triangle, but without any luck. This happens almost every time I go for an armbar from mount, unless they're smaller than me, so definitely something I need to work on. Most likely I'm leaving too much space, failing to be sufficiently steady and controlled as I attempt to free the limb, or just not getting that arm tight and away from their grip properly.

When I was in his guard, I should have used something Colin showed me at the Southend Throwdown a few weeks ago. As soon as he grabbed my collar, I could have grabbed that sleeve and jumped up, ready to initiate a pass. I'm still not thinking too quickly when it comes to passing, and I remain hesitant to stand up, especially against somebody bigger.

I also found myself on top in side control, and again I should have capitalised on the situation. He wrapped both hands around my back, which opens up the possibility of moving to north south, then taking a kimura. However, I couldn't manage to strip his grip properly and secure the right position on the arm. I also got a bit fixated on stepping over for the triangle, which I think meant I ended up in guard again, but I can't remember.

It was only a one day event this year, and Roy was heading off the next morning. So, less of a chance to socialise unfortunately, but still, it was great to train with Roy again. His seminars are always packed with information, and I always come away with something useful. It was also cool to meet Matt from Martial Farts/The Grappling Dummy, and see Seymour again.

Steve's club is clearly going from strength to strength, and the affiliate in Basingstoke also looks set to grow, especially now that Kev got promoted. Poole is becoming a great place for BJJ, and then there's Matt in Bournemouth too. It will be interesting to see how the Roy Dean Academy in the UK expands in the future: things are certainly looking promising, and with Steve's guidance it has already become a popular place to train.

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Roy Dean Seminar: Day Two

Seminar #3
Uplands School, (BJJ), Roy Dean, Poole, UK - 26/07/2009

After a gentle warm-up, day two began with a great drill to improve your mobility in side control. Start in side control, then turn towards their legs, one hand under their head. Reach your other hand to hold their knees, then bring your leg over. Initially that just replaces the pressure on the knees previously provided by your hand, before dropping into mat, upon which you establish mount.

From mount, switch your hands under the head, then step all the way back and over with your leg, from the side you just left. After landing, scoot your hips back, move to side control. Then you repeat, by again facing the legs, this time transitioning in the other direction.

You can also add scarf hold to that sequence, pulling the arm to switch to scarf, holding your thigh with the hand under the head, before going to side control. That set up the next few techniques, as Roy went through a few scarf hold submissions.

The first was a straight armbar from scarf hold. Slide the arm you have trapped up your knee, making sure it is straight, before stepping your rear leg over to trap. Your other leg will be used for leverage, so you need to be certain you have their elbow placed correctly to hyperextend the joint.

Stretch your legs out slightly, lowering them towards the floor, and also drag them back a little. From there, you can put pressure on the arm with your top leg in order to get the submission.

If they manage to free their arm by bending it towards your head, you can now go for an americana with the legs (similar to the one on the Renzo/Kukuk DVD set). It is important you're quick with the other leg, stepping it over their bent arm immediately to trap it. That transition requires a bit of flexibility, so to make it easier, raise your hips before bringing the leg over.

To secure the position, triangle your legs, also pressing on their shoulder to stop it raising up. Scoot you hips back for a better angle, then lift your hips towards the arm in order to get the tap: keep in mind you're aiming for their arm to perform exactly the same motion as if you were doing a regular americana. Be careful with this, as it can come on fast (even before you've locked everything into place), especially if their shoulders are tight.

Roy then returned to the americana from side control. Roy began with the basic set up, noting that you shoulder insert your second hand by the elbow initially, before moving into position. Reason being, that means your hand has less distance to travel in order to secure the figure four grip.

You can also get the americana if your arm is under their head, though you'll need to be more patient. Lock the wrist with the hand you have under the head, then wait for the chance to bring that arm all the way around the other side. Your other hand should be ready and waiting to insert, so you can instantly lock the figure four, then finish the submission.

A useful technique followed, in reaction to your partner pushing on your neck, preventing you from settling into side control or properly attacking their arm. Or at least that's what they think: by shoving your neck up, they are actually leaving themselves open for an americana.

Go with the force, letting them push you back, then at the top of the arc, forcefully shift your entire bodyweight in the other direction, changing your hips. To help that motion, you should also switch leg over the other. This will help you slam their wrist down to the mat, after which you can complete the americana as usual.

A second option if their pushing into their neck from under side control is to go for an arm triangle. Deflect their arm past your head and towards theirs, clamping that arm to their neck using your head. Next, get your arm under their head on the other side, either just clasping your hands, or if you have room, grabbing your bicep and then using the hand of that arm to grip your head.

Either way, you normally need to be on the other side of their body to finish the submission. Hop your body over, then squeeze from that side for the submission.

Following a quick break, Roy continued into the second hour. We remained in side control and with the americana, but this time it was a beautiful flowing sequence between three submissions.

Begin with the americana from side control, as before. They manage to straighten out the arm, which gives you the chance to switch into a straight armbar from side control. Maintaining the figure four, fluidly slide your grip up to their wrist, which will leave your other arm under their elbow. Make sure you're in the right place to leverage their joint, then curl your wrists (so, downward pressure with the top wrist, upward with the bottom wrist).

They escape yet again, this time by bending their arm downwards. You can now attempt a kimura, but you'll need to switch the arms in your figure-four first. To that end, glue their arm to your head by shoving up under their arm with your own, also applying downward pressure with your chin. Your other arm moves underneath, smoothly replacing the previous pressure from your first arm. From there, you can then move into position for the kimura.

To continue the sequence, they might straighten their arm again, so you shift into the straight armlock once more. If they straighten, the above description for the transition to a kimura applies equally to an americana.

Roy then added further details for the kimura from side control. To get the tap, you may need greater leverage. To get it, switch your hips so that you're facing their head. Shimmy back to put your weight right across their hips, with your back near their knees. Slightly raise your partner, providing you with an increased range of motion on their trapped arm. To make it secure, step over their head, then finish the submission.

Next up was a technique I found much more difficult, the transition to north-south. I may have remembered this incorrectly, but I think it starts by clamping their arm to their side. Move around until your knees are on either side of their head.

Get that clamping arm under their armpit, palm up, reaching across towards your chest to trap it. Use that to pull them up on their side, then come up a little on your toes, pressuring forward, while also driving your shoulder into them.

From there you can go for a kimura from north south. Progressing from the above position, bring knees towards their shoulders until you're basically sitting on their head. Put your shin across their free arm, then secure a figure four grip on the other arm. Move that arm across their body and down, then complete the submission.

If they grab their belt before you can finish the submission, use rhythm to break that grip. Push into them twice, as if you are really trying to free their arm, then yank hard in the other direction (aiming for the direction in which their fingers are weakest). That should free their arm, so you can get the tap as above.

You can also go for an armbar from north south. From the figure four position, instead of going for a kimura, hop up into a crouch above their head, then swivel into an armbar. Remember to keep your hips in close, so the armbar is tight.

Again, if they clasp their arms and you can't break the grip, all is not lost. In this position, you can go for a bicep slicer (I think, though Roy referred to it as a joint compression, so I could be using the wrong terminology).

You have a figure four, but they have clasped hands. Bring the leg nearest their knees over your own arms, then triangle it with your other leg. Before squeezing, release you upper grip, leaving one of your arms stuck through (it needs to be the forearm for this to work, not just your wrist).

Twist that forearm up, so your thumb is pointing to the ceiling, while squeezing with your triangled legs. This is very unpleasant, and should get your the tap. Be careful, as if they don't tap (which is possible if they're unfamiliar with the technique and think its just pain compliance), this could cause a nasty injury.

After another short break, in which I was again frantically scribbling notes, Roy moved on to guard passing. I put my glasses on for this, as I'm really keen to finally shore up that gaping hole in my game.

The first guard pass position had them lying on their back, feet pressed into your hips. Grip the gi material on the inside of both knees. Drive forward with your own hips, then when you have decided which side you want to pass, shift that side hip backwards.

Using the space and momentum of their leg (remember, that was pressing on your hip, so will still have some forward motion), slam that leg to the mat. Trap it with your shin, pull up on their arm, then slide through to scarf hold.

Alternately, when you have crushed their leg to the mat, immediately drop down on top of it, pinching with your knees (note that they'll probably try to trap a leg here, so trap their leg first, with the instep of your outside leg). You'll also need to quickly establish a grip on their upper body, under a head and an arm.

From here, wait until the time is right, then swing your inside leg out over your other leg, squishing into their leg with the knee of your outside leg. Switch your legs again, then move to side control, sliding in with the intention of clearing their elbow as you secure the position.

Roy progressed from that position to what he called a z-guard pass. This is when they have indeed wrapped one leg over yours, jamming it to the ground, while their other shin is across your stomach. That creates a pattern reminiscent of a 'Z', hence the name. To get some kind of control, you have a grip behind their gi collar, with the same side arm.

To free your trapped leg, drive the knee forward and in, towards your other leg. You are looking to get enough space to circle your upper leg under their leg, then come out over the top. Do not try and lift your knee over: that isn't the idea here, and is much tougher.

Once you've cleared their leg, pull on their same side arm with your free hand, then slide through, crushing the leg across your stomach with your hip, turning towards the sleeve grip. Keep constant pressure, once again getting to that position where your facing towards their head, your weight on their hips, slightly raising your own hips to maximise your pressure.

If they are not only pushing on your hips, but also holding both your sleeves, a different pass is called for. Start by grabbing one of their sleeves in return, then bring your other hand under both legs until you can grip their trouser cuff (this leg should be on the same side as the sleeve you've grabbed).

Before you can progress, you require tension from their legs: if they aren't pushing on your hips anymore, this won't work. Once they are, shove your hips straight back without moving your feet, then pull on both your sleeve grip and the trouser cuff hold (so again the "it's me" motion from the ankle pick earlier).

This should cause them to spin, leaving them wide open for knee-on-belly, but depending on how far they swivel, you may need to step to the side to get there. Maintain the hold on their sleeve, as that will mean you can move into an armbar. Roy explained a useful detail here, which is leaning forward with your head. That helps you when dropping down, as it stops your hips ending up too far back.

Roy then demonstrated the Margarida pass. The situation this time is that they are sitting in front of you, while you have one leg between theirs. Secure a deep grip on their same side collar, pulling up with your other hand on their same side sleeve. From here, simply drive your knee into their sternum (don't go too high).

Drive forward through their guard, forcing their back to the mat. You now have two options: the obvious one is to move your foot to the side then drop into mount. However, they may well push on your knee to escape, which means you can slide through into their armpit pulling up on their sleeve, in the same way you did for many of the above techniques.

Finally, because you have that deep grip on their collar, you are set up for a choke, if you can drive them into mount. Grip the gi near the back of their shoulder on the other side with your free hand. You can then just drop the arm across their throat and squeeze for the choke.

At the end of class, Roy and Steve went into a corner, calling up students in order to evaluate them: lots of people got stripes, and there should be a bunch more UK Roy Dean blue belts after the next few trips out to Bend, Oregon. Due to those students waiting to hear their name, there wasn't quite so much sparring. I was scribbling notes again, but later had a roll with Kevin, an old friend of Steve's who is one of the Brits working towards a blue.

Finally worked through the triangle set up to land the submission, but it was pretty sloppy. The reason I was able to finish this time was scooting my hips back enough, maintaining head control, and making sure I didn't get stacked. Earlier I flailed unsuccessfully for the triangle to armbar combination as Kevin stood up, but didn't have anything like the leverage required.

A camera was almost constantly running over the two days, so I'm really looking forward to the footage. It will certainly help with going over that enormous mass of technique, which has taken around four hours or so to type up: good way to make two long train journeys less boring!).

That reminds me of how important it is, at least for me, to take notes. No way I would have remembered more than two or three techniques without some kind of record keeping.

As with a considerable proportion of what Roy Dean showed over the last three days, many of these techniques can be found on the new Purple Belt Requirements DVD, which is what I'll be typing up next. Hopefully have it done by Monday or Tuesday afternoon.

The past three days have been brilliant, so I hope to be at next year's seminar, when I'll also hopefully be able to congratulate some of the Brits I met on shiny new blue belts. It was a real pleasure getting to both train under and talk with the guys from Bend, so travelling out there myself is definitely something I'd like to do in the future. Thanks again to everyone for their hospitality, and the chance to train at this seminar!

[Pics included by kind permission of Paul Laver]

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Roy Dean Seminar: Day One

Seminar #2
Uplands School, (BJJ), Roy Dean, Poole, UK - 25/07/2009

Today is only the second time I've attended a BJJ seminar, the first having been with Victor Estima in Belfast. That day, Victor focused largely on one guard pass, adding details and getting in lots of drilling. Roy Dean has a very different style, running through a huge number of connected techniques. As he says, his goal is for the student to at least get one or two techniques that really fit into their game, so having that sheer number of techniques increases the likelihood of providing something specific for a diverse range of people.

This first day began with various single leg takedowns. Grip their same side collar and use your bodyweight to pull them down and off balance. Drop to your outside knee, moving around to the side of their same side leg, then hook that leg with your arm. Use your head to drive forward, getting to your feet, clamping their leg between your knees. Shove your shoulder on the inside of their leg while simultaneously stepping back, which should knock them to the ground.

Alternatively, once you are up with their leg between your knees, step back with your outside leg, dropping down so that you end up with a knee raised inside their guard. Still holding their collar (which you used to pull them down at the start), keep your elbow in, bring your knee across their leg and pass to the side, pulling up on their sleeve to settle into a controlling position.

Checking my notes, I've mentioned a heel hook here, so I must have meant from that position. You have one foot underneath their bum, the other over their leg. Scoot in closer towards them so that their leg bends, making it easier for you to wedge your hand and wrist under their heel. You can then twist that up for the submission.

Importantly, Roy mention that this technique was not for sparring, merely something for his students to be aware of. It is always essential for a safety warning whenever going over a very dangerous technique like a heel hook, particularly if you're teaching white belts.

Roy then demonstrated some 'what if' scenarios for the single leg takedown. Again, you're standing with their leg between yours, looking for the takedown. However, they have managed to circle their leg to the outside. You can still take them down: step in, sweep their standing leg, then in conjunction with your collar grip, drive them to the mat.

If they circle their leg to the inside, you need a different option. This time, you can move right into an Achilles lock. Bring your arm under their leg, pressing up in their Achilles tendon: your arm will be near their foot. Lift up the leg, then step forwards with your far leg. Block the foot of their standing leg with your near leg, driving in to take them to the mat.

After a short break, it was time for the second hour of the seminar. Roy began with a basic rear naked choke, in back mount with them sitting in front of you, feet hooking their inner thighs. Roy emphasised that it isn't just the arms that make this submission. You also need to shrug your shoulder, further cutting off any space around their neck.

Aside from the usual grip, where you hold your bicep, brining a hand around the back of their head, Roy also showed a variation using fists. As ever, you get the arm around the neck, so your elbow is under their chin. Grab their shoulder with the hand of that arm.

Put the elbow of your other arm on that same shoulder, then bring the fist of that arm around to the back of their head. Instead of pressing with your palm, you press with the back of your fist.

Next up was a sliding choke Again in back mount with them sitting in front of you, get one arm under their armpit. Open up the nearest lapel, then feed it to your other arm, which you bring over their other shoulder. This should be a tight grip, with your hand curled.

The other hand, which is still under their armpit, now grips their other lapel lower down. You can now lean back, pulling down with that hand while twisting the other for the choke. In other words, you effectively straighten your arms out to create the pressure.

To create even greater pressure, remove one of your hooks and put it across their stomach. The way I tried to remember which leg to use was that the sole of your foot should be pointing the same way as the knuckles of your lower hand. Lean in the direction of the knee of that leg you have across the stomach, again straightening out the arms for the choke.

You can make it tighter still after removing the hook and establishing the leg across the stomach. Release your lower grip. sliding that hand along their arm until you reach their elbow. That gives you the space to then reach behind their head, setting up the choke.

Before you sink it, make the submission super-tight by swivelling your legs around, so that you are able to bring your free leg over their shoulder, locking your feet together. This is a very stable position to get the choke, with little room for escape.

If for whatever reason you aren't able to get that choke on, switch to an armbar from the back. Keep swivelling your legs, push their head, then bring the leg over their head. You're now in perfect position for an armbar.

Staying with chokes, we shifted positions. Instead of back mount, Roy showed us how to attack the turtle. Establish one hook on the near side with your foot, also hooking the same side arm with your own, coming underneath their armpit. Your free hand will reach over their far shoulder, gripping their collar.

Roll over your shoulder towards the unhooked side, locking in the other hook as you turn, aiming to use momentum to drop them right into the crook of your elbow. You can now go for a rear naked choke.

You can go for an armbar from the turtle with a similar set-up, with the key difference that this time, you don't secure your second hook. Instead, you want to bring that leg all around, pushing their head, going straight into the armbar. If they try to turn towards you to escape the armbar, there is the option of a triangle too.

I would note here that you can get stuck under their arm as you attempt to move round for the armbar. If that happens, you can go for a choke instead.

Last one for the turtle was to get a hook, grip their collar, then grab under their thigh, on the far side. Roll over your shoulder again, but more perpendicular than before. You should hopefully end up with a collar to pull over the neck and a firm hold behind their knee, pulling their leg up. Pulling from this position will give you a bow and arrow choke.

The final technique for that second hour was from the previous position, a choke from rear mount with them sitting in front of you. For this particular technique, you don't put in either hook, but instead grip one collar, then using the mechanics of a technical stand-up, bring your legs back and pull your partner towards you. To finish, twist into the grip, using the pressure of your shoulder to complete the choke.

Hour number three focused on how to attack from the knees. This is handy for sparring in class, as BJJ sparring commonly starts from the knees: Roy provided some option. It is also applicable beyond that, such as if you end up in a scramble, with both of you suddenly facing each other on your knees.

Roy kicked off with a throw. Grabbing their collar and elbow in the usual way, put your opposite foot by their near knee, to a point that about half your foot is directly next to the knee. Using your grips, pull them over that knee and to the mat, then move directly into knee-on-belly.

Alternately, you can armbar from the knees. As before, you are holding the collar and elbow. You also have one knee up, by their opposite hip. The other knee is on the floor: keeping it flat on the floor, slide that leg over towards their knee. You can now swivel, and then put the foot of the raised knee leg into their armpit. The other leg goes over their head, after which you can complete the submission.

Another option is that you are on your knees, but they want to pull guard, so they are waiting with one knee up, the other leg flat on the floor, knee pointing to the side. Attacking the leg with the raised knee, grab their heel with your opposite hand. With your free hand, grip their same side sleeve.

Next, pull their heel back and yank their sleeve (or wrist, if it is nogi) out. This should spin them and expose their side, leaving you plenty of room to go straight into knee-on-belly. Roy later referred to this as an ankle pick, a term I've heard related to wrestling, but never really understood before now. Its also what Christina called the "it's me" position, which is how I'll always remember it.

From knee on belly, there is often the option of the armbar: that is again the case here, as you've still go hold of their sleeve. So as before, bring your leg over their head, then drop for the armbar, making sure you keep your knees pinched and don't land with your hips too far back.

Alternately, you can spin and catch the far armbar, if they try and push your knee off with their hand. Same technique as yesterday, reaching through the frame of their arm and swivelling into place for the armbar.

The technique portion drew to a close with numerous options from the armdrag. Starting position is and open guard, with your feet on their hips, but they are still on their knees. Hold their opposite sleeve (or wrist), then with your other hand, grab the knob of their elbow, gripping on the outside of their arm.

Pull with your arms and push with the feet, which gave Roy the opportunity to repeat a useful description of BJJ by his instructor, Roy Harris: BJJ is the art of pushing and pulling. Disengage your foot from the side where you aren't holding their arm, then shift the grip you have on their sleeve or wrist to high under the same arm.

You can now pull them past you onto their knees. That disengaged foot is perfectly placed to become a hook, while you will establish an over-under grip with your hands (i.e., where one arm goes under their armpit, the other over their shoulder, then grip together). Potentially you could spin right to their back and get the other hook in on the far side.

However, if you can't quite get that foot all the way over for a far hook, reach over with an arm to grasp their gi near their far lat muscle. With your other hand, reach under their same side arm and grip their wrist, pulling it inwards.

The hand you had on their lat will now move to block their same side hand, enabling you to roll them into back mount, where you can finish with a choke.

That ended the third hour, leaving a final fourth hour for open mat. My first spar was with Gareth, the big white belt from Friday. I was more proactive this time, managing to get on top and into mount. I'm remembering to switch to s-mount when people try to roll me over, which is good, but can't finish the armbar from there. I had it in place, but wasn't able to prise Gareth's hands apart in order to properly extend the arm.

I also couldn't get the ezequiel from mount, which I tried a few times, but was probably holding it wrong, and I also don't think I created the right pressure by lifting an elbow. Attempting to finish it from guard after he rolled me was no more successful.

In guard, I continued to work for triangles, and continued to get stacked. I also always seem to have the wrong placement for the arm and leg when looking to switch, though that could just be another example of my failure to react immediately rather than pondering what to do next.

Roy interrupted us midway through, which was cool as I was looking forward to rolling with him. Sparring black belts is always awesome, particularly when they are able to carefully observe and break down your game like Roy. As usual, I was very defensive, protecting my neck, looking to go to half guard from side control and mount.

I'm still a bit flat, but Roy kindly said he thought my defence was pretty good, as I didn't leave him much space, kept my neck safe and showed signs of using my legs as well as arms. I mentioned that while I'm content with how my defence is progressing, my guard passing and submissions remain awful.

That led to what was perhaps the most useful thing I learned all weekend, a guard break. As any regular reader knows, I have been trying to get the damn closed guard open ever since I started, without a great deal of success. Previously I've been trying to tailbone break, but generally get swept or stuck. I've also been attempting to trap and arm, stand, then step forward to their trapped arm, pushing on their other leg. There too I'm still lacking key details, as they often manage to grab the foot I have back anyway.

Roy's suggestion was that I push up into their biceps with straight arms, taking them out of the equation. At the same time, bury your head into their stomach. That provides the stability to jump straight into a wide base with your legs. You then jump again, but this time in order to bring your knee into their tailbone. Sit down and use that knee to cut through their guard, opening the legs.

To pass, grab their collar and arm, dropping your raised knee to trap their leg with your shin. Bringing the elbow of your collar-gripping arm in, slide through, pulling up on their arm in order to secure a good side control or scarf hold. This is apparently on Purple Belt Requirements, Roy's new DVD. There was more guard passing in store on day two, which proved to be just as heavy on technique.
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That ended the seminar, but I was in for another surprise. Roy had two students with him, Glen and Rick, who you might recognise from their blue belt demonstrations up on Youtube. As well as acting as uke for Roy (along with Steve), Rick and Glen were in charge of filming the seminar and taking photos.

Update May 2011: Some of that footage has now been released on DVD, as part of The White Belt Bible. The section in question is a short documentary about the Roy Dean Academy trip to London, so also shows them going round the capital, Paul's private lesson, and earlier rolling from Roy before I got there. If you're wondering where yours truly pops up, there is about forty seconds of me from 08:02 onwards ;).]

Rick has an additional project in the works, which sounds fascinating: once its finished, it will be a BJJ documentary, with the central thread being Rick's progress towards his purple belt demonstration this year, alongside lots of interview and competition footage from around the world. I'm assuming the video will be incorporated into that, but perhaps it is meant to be stand-alone.

Either way, I was pleased to be asked to take part in that, with a quick interview about my training, the blog, how I got into BJJ and the like (naturally much, much longer than forty seconds, but I like the quote Rick took: makes me sound coherent instead of rambling ;p). I could talk about BJJ for days, so relished the opportunity to let loose with a stream of enthusiastic, but hopefully coherent babble.

Back at Steve, Kirsty and Paul's flat, I had a chance to look through Purple Belt Requirements with Steve. Looks brilliant, and very different from every other instructional DVD I've seen up until this point. Also useful to have a first viewing to get in mind some of the things I want to discuss when I come to review it in a few days.

Even better, I could ask Roy himself later that evening, as we all hit Bournemouth for some drinks. Talking with Roy and Rick (Glen stayed at home) was awesome, with lots of long conversations about BJJ, Roy's DVD, Rick's documentary, along with a whole load of other stuff.

Four hours of training followed by several more hours of talking with top BJJ black belts and their students: that's a day that is going to be tough to beat. :D

[Pics included by kind permission of Paul Laver]

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24/07/2009 - Roy Dean Class

Class #234



Uplands School, (BJJ), Roy Dean, Poole, UK - 24/07/2009

I was pleasantly surprised a while ago by an email asking if I'd be interested in attending a Roy Dean seminar, so of course jumped at the chance. £30 for two days with an instructor I very much admire was a great opportunity. I've been looking forward to this weekend of training for several months now.

Kirsty, Steve and Paul very generously allowed me to stay at their home, and proved to be excellent hosts, laying on food, and even washing and drying one of the two gis I'd brought. There was also a rather nice present waiting for me, which was an early release copy of Roy Dean's new DVD, Purple Belt Requirements. I will of course have a review up shortly. ;)

As I was there the day before the seminar, I was able to head down to a class Roy held at Uplands School. He didn't waste much time on the warm-up, using the armbar from guard as a way of getting the blood flowing. After that, it was straight into technique. A lot of technique.

Roy's theme tonight was countering submissions, ending up with a submission of your own. That kicked off with a counter to the armbar from guard. As you feel them moving into the armbar, get your forearm behind their leg. Press that hand down to the floor on the far side, then swing your arms through, thrusting your chest out to get past the legs into side control.

Roy followed that with an additional option. Having blocked the leg with your forearm, you can push them to the side, grabbing their trousers or belt to help. The idea is to roll them into the turtle position.

Once there, you can attack with a sliding choke. Start by getting one arm under their same side armpit, grabbing the same side collar. Open it up, bringing your other arm over their same side shoulder. You can now feed that open collar to your second hand, securing a deep grip.

The other grips lower down, on the opposite lapel. To secure the choke, pull down on that lapel, while twisting the other hand and pulling back. Alternately, you can also executed a clock choke, from the same position. Instead of tightening with your hands, walk your legs gradually around past their head, dropping your head towards their neck. This will tighten the choke for you, until you get the tap.

Yet another option is to move into a crucifix, again starting from the turtle. As before, you've reached under their armpit, opened the same side collar and fed it to the other hand, which comes over the shoulder. Your free hand goes under their armpit again, but this time grabs the wrist, pulling it inwards.

This will break their posture. Making sure you have their other arm trapped between you legs, you can now roll over your shoulder in the direction of your grips. That puts your partner in a crucifix. From here, release the hold on the wrist, instead moving your arm out along their arm up to the crook of their elbow. Controlling their arm, bring your hand behind their head. You can now go for the submission, in conjunction with that grip on their collar you still have from earlier.

Roy then demonstrated an armbar from knee-on-belly, followed by a defence. Once you've secured knee on belly, often your opponent will push on the knee with their hand to relieve the pressure. That opens up an opportunity for a submission. Reach through the frame formed by their arm, gripping underneath, then post your other hand for base near their head.

You can then spin, bringing your leg over their head, continuing until your knee is pointing up beside their arm, on the side nearest their knees. You should also have you other leg over their throat, after which you can drop down and back for the armbar, keeping your knees pinched.

The counter to a knee-on-belly armbar is comparatively simple. First, you need to turn your hand so that your thumb is no longer pointing to the ceiling. This will give you a moment to escape, as they will either have to get your thumb back up, or shift into a position where they can still hyperextend your arm in a different direction.

Look towards their feet, also gripping their nearest leg. From here, kick your legs up and back, rolling over your shoulder. Now you can move into your own knee-on-belly, ready to launch an attack.

Finally, Roy progressed to footlocks, which fits with the pattern he sets in Blue Belt Requirements. First off was a straight footlock (I think an Achilles lock, but not sure on the correct terminology).

From standing, you step your foot across to the opposite bum cheek. Wrap an arm around their Achilles, pressing into the tendon with your wrist. Hold their knee with your other hand to keep their leg tight, then sit down. You other leg comes over the top, then in a sort of guillotine hold on the Achilles, drop back, squeeze and thrust your hips up for the tap. Alternately you can also roll to your side to get more leverage.

The footlock counter begins by getting their foot off your hip, also bringing your toes back on the trapped foot to tense the tendon, buying you a brief bit of time to escape. Having dislodged their foot from the hip, reach for their opposite knee, your free hand going back for balance. From there, you can move through to mount.

If they roll to the side for the footlock, you can use a similar strategy. Clearing their foot is still the essential detail, but this time that means bringing your body over the top, so you just bring your hips to the other side of the foot. Once again, you now move through to mount. Must have been a grip of some sort involved in there, but its been submerged in my mountain of notes (possibly that's where you move into knee on belly and armbar, so I may have got the order of class mixed up).

Sparring was done in long rounds, which I didn't realise at first. I started off with a big white belt called Gareth, where I basically stayed squashed underneath, looking to go to half guard. I made some vague attempts at a triangle, but I'm not getting sufficient head control, and also get immediately stacked, preventing me achieving the right position.

Next up was Kirsty, one of the small UK group who has travelled out to Bend in order to train at Roy's academy there. She was able to hold a solid side control, so again I found myself stuck underneath. I probably should have bumped more to make space for an escape, or at least get onto my side. However, as I knew I had to keep going for rather longer than I'm used to, I gave in the laziness and just waited.

I did eventually find myself with the opportunity to go for a triangle a couple of times, but on each occasion, Kirsty shrugged it off and moved right back into side control. Later I managed to move into her guard, where again I took the strategy of waiting for an opportunity.

That led to getting top half guard, though I think that was quite possibly a matter of boring my training partner into opening some space, which is a crappy tactic. As ever, I need to be more proactive.

Looking forward to the main seminar tomorrow, which is going to be intense: four hours of training, followed by another four the next day. My notebook is going to be rammed with technique: I was surprised by just how much Roy packed into the lesson. Pretty much every other lesson I've been to at other BJJ schools teaches no more than three or four techniques at most.

However, chatting to Roy afterwards, I can see why he takes this route instead. This is his first visit to the UK, brought out by Steve and the other UK residents who fly out to Bend in order to train. Therefore Roy wanted to get as much technique in as possible, making the most out of the brief time he has here with his British students.

After the class, we headed back to the flat for an extremely tasty barbecue (again, supplied by our generous hosts), while watching the entirety of UFC Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights. Of course, that title is a misnomer, given that there are several glaring omissions like Frank Shamrock, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

I also got to chat at length to Roy, his students, and the UK crew, which was really cool. Great food, great company, and a great seminar to forward to the next day.