24/06/2016 - Private with Kenny Polmans | Half Guard & Side Control | Gi Chokes & Gi Tail Attacks

Class #740 - Private #024
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Kenny Polmans, Leuven, Belgium, 24/06/2016

A video posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Jun 24, 2016 at 12:00pm PDT

My private lesson with David ‘Morcegao’ put me into a mindset of asking other black belts their prices. I liked the selection of techniques Polmans showed in his class, his teaching style suited me, plus he’s also close to my size and age. As if that wasn’t enough, his fees were incredibly reasonable too. :)

We got started immediately after his class on side control finished. I began by asking about the position we’d just done in the class, as I didn’t quite get it right. I have been playing with the breadcutter choke for a few years now, without a great deal of success. The problem I tend to have is that while I can get the grip behind the collar, I will generally then struggle to move into a submission.

Instead, I’ll get the initial grip, fail to get the second grip, then vacillate over switching to something else because I don’t want to lose position. I know three or four follow ups (i.e., these), but rarely go for them because they don’t feel tight enough.

Kenny had plenty of good advice. To begin, getting that initial grip can sometimes be tricky, as your arm gets stuck and you can’t reach far enough under their arm. Therefore you want to make enough space. With your cross facing arm, grip their far shoulder/gi material. Use that as an anchor point to lever them up with your arm. It’s then easy to reach through under their near arm, securing that near grip on the back of their collar.

Once you have that in, it’s important to wedge the knee nearest their hips underneath them slightly. That will prevent them putting their back flat, which would take away the space you need for the collar grip. Normally this point is where I have trouble getting my second grip in. In Kenny’s version, you already have it in place: rather than trying to insert your arm over their neck, you loop your arm around that far shoulder grip you secured earlier.

At this point, it’s similar to the Xande version I like, a blood choke, rather than the air choke David showed me in his private (because unlike me, David is of the Chris Paines nasty catch wrestling mindset ;D). That elbow of the shoulder arm drops down to the near side. When demonstrating, Kenny tapped his demonstration partner much earlier than that, so I’m not sure if that had some windpipe in it, or if it’s just that efficient. ;)

If they are blocking your shoulder grip by grabbing that arm, grab them back, gripping their tricep or elbow. Pull that across, so you can trap it underneath your chest. Once you’ve trapped it under your chest, bring your arm (the same one you just used to pull their arm across) under their head, like you were cross facing. You still have your original grip on the back of the collar. Grip on their shoulder, driving through them for the choke. If that doesn’t work, stretch out your leg nearest their head and drop your same side hip.

Shifting to the lapel, Kenny then went through his take on the gi tail baseball bat choke, something I first encountered on Roy Dean’s excellent Purple Belt Requirements. Pull out their far lapel, feeding that under their head to your cross facing hand. Secure the grip, then cut in your original hand, gripping on top of your other first, elbow angled in (aim to put it in the crook of your other elbow).

Put your knee on their belly to stop them escaping, then apply the choke. Your original arm stays fairly static, that’s mainly there as a wedge for pressure. If you need more leverage, you can try rotating around to a north south type position, putting your head on their chest.

You also have the armbar as an option from there. Move your original grip from under their head to pull up on their near arm. Step over their head, drop back and finish. If you have trouble with their turning into you, grip under their leg, securing their thigh.

Wrapping that far lapel over their arm works well too, especially as they’ll often try to block you feeding it by their neck. As a side note, keep your head turned towards their legs on top in side control when they are framing into your neck. That way, they can’t generate as much pressure into your throat with their forearm. Anyway, this is where the Americana comes in, same way I teach it (except that as before, Kenny likes to go to a low knee on belly for control).

I find that I try many of my favourite attacks in half guard in side control as well, so half guard gi tail attacks is what I asked about next. First thing Kenny pointed out was that you need to get the knee of your trapped leg out, in order to have the necessary mobility. He started with the gi tail ezequiel I like from there, along with the choke where you wrap the tail around, then cut in the elbow.

If they try to block your shoulder grip, as with the breadcutter, pull their arm across, cross-face and go for the pressure choke. This time, Kenny pulled on the sleeve and folded himself over the arm. Other than that, it was the same motion as before, just with your leg trapped in half guard. As ever with top half guard, you should also always keep in mind that the pass is an option too (he ran through his take on the hip switch pass as a result).

24/06/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Leuven 2016 | Side Control Attacks (Kenny Polmans)

Class #739
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Kenny Polmans, Leuven, Belgium, 24/06/2016

For his second class, Kenny focused on my favourite position, side control. As with his session on closed guard, he started off with the basics, keeping his instruction concise and clear. In order to move round from side control to north south, he suggested blocking the near hip, extending your leg nearest their head, then shifting towards the head.

However, he warned against getting greedy and trying to go straight to the head: that can mean your weight is off and you get rolled. Keep it steady, settling your weight down. Push their near arm out of the way (anybody experienced will make this a struggle, as that gives you a lot of control), shifting your leg forward then shuffling back to dislodge the elbow. You can now move into mount (grabbing your foot is an option here, though I always prefer driving the knee across, ideally into the armpit).

Next, Kenny began to set up the breadcutter choke. If they have their near arm in front of your legs, you can hook it with your arm, as you bring your knees back around into side control. I couldn’t quite see what was happening from the angle I had, but normally you then get underneath that arm with your hand, in order to reach back under for their collar. You can then grip their far collar with your other hand, swivelling your elbow back to lock in the breadcutter.

Just as I was thinking I couldn’t see the detail, Kenny psychically heard me and shifted his angle, meaning I could zoom in with my phone too. That meant I could see how Kenny pushes them up onto their side to secure his grip. He also secures the arm differently than I’ve been shown: rather than sneaking an arm under and staying sprawled, he does a quick motion with his legs to get the arm, knees staying in tight.

When you go for this choke, often they will be blocking. Just as often, you may find their gi lapels are loose. If not, it’s not normally too hard to pull them out yourself, though that does telegraph what you’re about to do. My training partners know how much I like choking people with a lapel, so get very wary once I start pulling out gi tails. ;D

For Kenny’s gi tail choke, grab their far lapel with your hand that’s nearest their legs, maintaining control of their head with your other arm. Punch it out to give yourself maximum gi tail to play with, then slide back and push it through the gap they usually create with their far arm (because that tends to be framing into your neck, head, or perhaps shoulder). You can go over the top too, like the attacks I enjoy from half guard. As Kenny said, they frequently pull their arm out if you do that, opening up the route you wanted in the first place.

From there, you can move into an Ezequiel choke using the lapel, which again connects back to that half guard sequence I’ve taught in the past. Keep it loose enough that you can insert your hand through. A big advantage of side control over the same attack from half guard is you can go to knee on belly, adding much more leverage. Look up, to engage the muscles of your whole body.

That was followed by another gi feed attack. This time, feed the gi collar over the arm, trapping their limb in the bent position. Bring your elbow underneath their elbow, then grab the gi tail with that hand (like the one I’ve taught from top half guard). Keep feeding it until you are gripping that gi tail close to their wrist, to lock their arm in tight. Put your knee on their stomach. Take the arm you have behind their head out, instead gripping their far wrist. Now just pull up their elbow as you push on the wrist for an Americana.

I didn't get a good angle on that last one, so couldn't see what was happening too well (thanks to Chris Paines, when I wrote this up in Madrid a few weeks later, I had access to his video from the other side), which also made me think I wanted more detail on everything. This was all stuff I like to use, so I decided to check with Kenny what he charged for private lessons. They were MUCH cheaper than I expected, meaning I immediately booked one there and there. Keep your eyes peeled for the class write-up, it will be the next post I upload on here. ;)

02/08/2015 - Open Mat | Breadcutter Armbar & Crucifix Shoulder Lock

Class #656
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 02/08/2015

Today I was keen to build in more training time for me, being more selfish. I had the five minute interval timer running, so I could grab people to work on stuff. I wanted to get in some reps on the breadcutter armbar and the crucifix shoulder lock, given both of those had slipped my mind in sparring when the opportunity was staring me in the face.

First, near side armbar off breadcutter (Xande has a great video for this on BJJ Library, as I was missing that when sparring Gareth at RGA Bucks. You've gone for the breadcutter, but can't get your second grip. Push down their far arm and pinch your elbow in tight on their trapped arm. Drive your knee nearest their legs into them, folding your leg behind their back like you would in technical mount. Bring your folded knee up and tight against their arm, swinging your other leg over their head. You can then lean back to finish, and/or lean towards their head to get your folded leg extended over them. That makes it tougher for them to escape, as opposed to the 'Japanese armbar' that gives them a chance to potentially turn.

Going for the position, I need to get that near side arm trapped. They don't always reach enough for me to lock it in initially, so I ended up trying to wriggle my hip through. I also need to be careful of putting my head/chest too far forward, especially if you haven't got a strong base with your other arm. That was highlighted when I got rolled over when sparring later.

Second, I drilled the shoulder lock from crucifix that Dave Jacobs showed me, as I didn't think of it on Friday when sparring Jim. Put the knee nearest their head slightly forward, making sure it is still controlling their arm. Turn to face their legs, grabbing their ankle to anchor yourself. Twist and swing the leg furthest from their head behind you, in a 'dog leg' motion, still hooking the arm. Do this movement gradually, as that shoulder lock can come on quickly, depending on their flexibility.

I didn't really get to spar this with much resistance, but felt good to drill it a bunch of times. I need to try that more often. If they block by grabbing leg, like Rafal did, I should hopefully be able to then move into a crucifix roll. At least, it worked with Rafal, but might not with somebody a lot bigger.

More open guard drilling with Chris, where we did some specific sparring on blocking the pass. I tried Jeff Rockwell's sit up escape as he passed, but need to be careful of giving too much space. There was too great a degree of turning away when I did it, meaning I presented my side. So, I should staying a bit tighter, can then wriggle back to guard. I also think I need to be facing him more: I'll double check Jeff's instructional.

There was an interesting change in passing approach from Chris. I had said that I wanted to work on a particular point where I get stuck with him, but he wasn't getting there because he isn't passing the same way. Previously, he was gripping the gi trousers and crushing in. Now, after we last drilled this and talked about his passing, it's become more fluid. He starts by grabbing the back of my gi like I suggested, but also the leg on the floor when in sitting guard. That is great for a leg drag, but then he does have to reach down to grab leg. I'm wondering if I could use that to pull him off balance, grab their sleeve first? Something to play with more.

I tried the stiff arm escape under side control in another spar, but struggled to get up, always the big difficulty with that technique. Again, Rockwell's book should be handy for that. I made a brief attempt to switch sides, like in the book, but I'm missing too many details. I'll aim to drill it some more at open mat over the course of next week. There was possibly a chance for what Rockwell calls the 'meerkat' position, which I held for a few seconds, but it soon turned into the dogfight position (an Eddie Bravo term this time), and he came on top.

There was the usual pattern of him passing, me trying to move away, chasing. I did eventually get him down with an ankle pick: still not being assertive enough from sitting guard, I have to move, go for sweeps. I'm too dependant on the ankle pick from there. Although I do have a bunch of other connected techniques from sitting guard (tripod/sickle, unstoppable sweep, collar drag etc), I'm not combining them well enough. Distance management feels like it is part of the problem, I'm not applying technique at the right range and the right time. I got tangled up thinking of the tripod/sickle, my legs weren't in place.

My last bit of sparring was some more open guard specifics, but unfortunately I moved my head forward just as he quickly leapt with his knee for a pass. I don't think it was anything serious, but I felt a little dizzy, so stopped immediately. As readers will know, if there is even a hint of injury I'll stop sparring. Cuts down my sparring time in the short time, but I would hope greatly increases it in the long term.

04/10/2014 - 1st Open Mat at PHNX FItness | Artemis BJJ | Breadcutter Choke

Class #597
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 04/10/2014


Today was the first open mat at PHNX Fitness (directions here: open mats will be every Saturday from 10:00-12:00), where we get a whole two hours to play with technique. As Chris had asked about the breadcutter choke I taught him a while back, I decided to have a play with that. I want to look at two variations, starting with the one I learned from Dónal, then an option I saw Saulo teach on BJJ Library.

Dónal's breadcutter choke is set up by moving towards north-south from side control. They will often reach past your hip when you do that, which leaves a space for you reach under their armpit and clamp it to your side, so that their arm is stuck between your side and your arm. Move back to side control, then with the hand of that clamping arm, grab behind their neck, gripping in the middle of the collar. Cinch that in.

Bring your free arm back towards you, then use that to turn their head away from you. This feels counter-intuitive, as you'd expect to drag that arm back and turn their head towards you. However, you want to expose the near side of their neck. So, bring your arm back, then drive it over their jawline, turning their head away. Grip their far collar with your free hand (this might require balancing on their chest, turned towards their head, which should also help keep them pinned to the mat), then put your forearm into the exposed side of their neck.

To finish, you need to create some pressure into their neck, in order to close off the artery. Turn towards their legs, in a sort of reverse scarf hold position, then use that base from your legs to lower yourself gradually into their neck, keeping your initial gi grip tight. Be careful, as this can come on quickly and it isn't very comfortable.

Saulo's version is a little different. In his breadcutter choke, he starts off by grabbing their far lapel with both of his hands. That means you can use one hand to pull their lapel, feeding your other hand deeper towards their neck. It also means you can push their lapel behind their armpit if they try to shrimp and turn towards you (if you aren't able to keep them flat here, they might be able to recover guard).

When you have that grip by their collar, put your arm into their neck, making sure it's on the side rather than over their windpipe. Reach your other hand to their near side elbow, pulling that elbow up towards their chest. If you can, reach even deeper and grab their shoulder, depending how much space you've got. You can then finish by leaning sideways and pressing into their neck, pulling on the arm. Saulo also mentioned a gentler option is to lean towards their far shoulder instead.

In sparring, working specifically on the breadcutter, I was finding that Chris was often able to turn towards me and get his knee in there, to recover guard. I think the problem was that I started off by getting my arm to the neck and gripping the collar, but I wasn't pushing the lapel into his armpit to keep him flat. Instead, I was hooking the elbow with my knee, as he was tending to flare that when turning.

I got into the step over triangle position as a result, but couldn't finish it. Still, at least that provided some control. I need to remember to be more upright on the triangle, driving the leg more into the neck. When I was underneath, I was staying tight and wriggling back to guard. I'm not doing the basic escape as much as I should, doing a powerful bridge.

After sparring, Chris and I reckoned that we need a follow-up to the choke that combines well. I think the answer could be going for their arm. When we were defending, that arm was starting to come loose. So, I could try attacking for americanas and the like when they defend the neck, after which I can switch back if they defend the americana. Something to play with.

Another purple belt who was there mentioned that he does that choke off a double-under pass, which is something worth keeping in mind. It's a bit meaner than I would like, but a potential attack that would combine nicely. The arm triangle is another submission I could try more from side control. I sort of had it in place in sparring, but lost the arm when I jumped all the way over to the other side. I should have tried finishing it from mount instead, which I'll try next time.