16/04/2016 - Jamie Hughes Seminar

Seminar #019
Pedro Bessa BJJ, Jamie Hughes, Bristol, UK - 16/04/2016

A photo posted by Jamie Hughes (@jamiehughesbjj) on Apr 16, 2016 at 6:28am PDT

At today's seminar, brown belt Jamie Hughes went through a few closed guard sequences he's found useful in competition. The first starts a with strong cross collar grip. Pull them in with your legs, then angle out. When they start to rise, establish a palm down grip on their collar, Get your elbow under chin and complete the choke.

If they block your second grip on that choke, whip your legs up and lock around them: you're looking for a 'diamond' clamp, setting up a triangle. It doesn't matter if they still have their hand in, that will simply fill up any space for choking. Slide your leg into position for the triangle, then to finish, bring your arm around your knee, gable gripping. Squeeze for the tap.

If they block the arm but have their arm further through, you can switch to an armbar. Push them away with your collar grip hand, then bring your legs up into the armbar position. Pull back toes to tense and add pressure. Alternatively, reach under their leg, rolling them into a mounted armbar.

Next sequence begins from the scissor sweep. You have that collar grip again. This time, drive your collar grip side knee up into their chest, pressing in tight. Your other leg drops by their same side leg, chopping them over into mount. You can finish the choke from there, or switch to another attack. Keep your sleeve grip and choke grip, pulling the sleeve across as you swivel into s mount for the armbar. That sleeve pull will raise their shoulder, making the s mount switch easier. It also gives you the option of technical mount.

If you can't knock them over with the scissor sweep, change to a push sweep. If you can't get that either, bring your pressing knee out and over the top of their arm, shove the arm back with the knee, then circle round their head to move into a triangle.

A photo posted by Tom Showler (@tomlovestriangles) on Apr 16, 2016 at 5:36am PDT

Switching it up, you can make as if you're going for the scissor sweep, but instead kick your cross grip side leg out and clamp around their back. Punch across with your collar grip, pull their arm across with the sleeve grip. Squeeze your knees for a weird choke. If this doesn't choke them, it will probably give you the arm for an armbar (with this one, Hughes said it was ok to cross your feet). If they pull their arm free, you're in the perfect position to move into an omoplata instead.

Third sequence goes from the two-on-one grip break. Hughes recommends a different version to what I'm used to. Rather than bringing an arm underneath, he puts both hands on top, gripping firmly: this is more powerful, in his opinion. Yank it up and pull across, switching your outside arm to a pistol grip. You're slightly off to the side behind them, almost at their back. Stay tight. Grip their belt, lock your elbow in. Switch your grip from the sleeve to their trouser leg.

Kick your leg up towards their opposite shoulder, aiming to knock their shoulder into your chest. Upa and punch up with your trouser grip to roll through into mount. Loads of options now, from armbars to back takes, chokes, kimura grip, all sorts. Tricky to get the right weight distribution initially. Alternatively, grip break and punch across as before, then shrimp a bit to go to the back. Bring your arm across their neck, lock your other hand on their back for the 'short choke'. For more leverage, thrust with your hips.

A photo posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Apr 16, 2016 at 6:18am PDT

If you can't knock them over, crawl up and around their back, swivelling the leg as you post out your arm, moving onto the back. From here, you can hook the far arm with yours, by the crook of their elbow. Bring your leg past the head, swivelling your body through. You can then lock in a 'reverse armbar', or grab their trouser leg and lift it through, to move into a standard armbar from mount instead.

09/05/2011 - Gracie Barra Fundamentals

Class #394
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Nicolai 'Geeza' Holt, Bristol, UK - 09/05/2011

I've now started work on the house in Bristol, though we can't move in properly for a while, as there is still plenty of work to be done on the roof, the floors, the bricks and various other niggles. As I know absolutely nothing about DIY, it's been an interesting process. Fortunately, my gf's father knows plenty, so I've been following his lead. I managed to lift up a few of the boards myself, although I'm not sure if that was down to me or the vast array of specialised tools in my gf's father's shed.

Gracie Barra Bristol has now officially opened (which rather handily is right around the corner). That means the club is moving into the massive gym which has been built next to the small one Geeza started off with. This was my first time seeing the finished building: really impressive, very professional looking. It is without any doubt the best looking BJJ facility I've been in so far.

There were plenty of people present for the first day of Geeza's new timetable, which now offers classes every day except Saturday. The Gracie Barra curriculum is heavily featured: Monday's class is from Gracie Barra Fundamentals, lasting for an hour, followed immediately by Gracie Barra Advanced.

Geeza started things off with a bit of self defence, related to standing up in base. This is the same technique Kev has taught in the past up at RGA Bucks, again based off the GB Fundamentals syllabus. The scenario is that you've been pushed over, so you breakfall, then move into a defensive posture on the ground (same as when you're about to stand up in base). Basing off your hand and opposite foot, kick their front with your same side foot. Kick them again for distance, then stand up in base.

Next up was the scissor sweep, followed by the basic cross-choke from guard. Both of those gave me a chance to go into instructor mode, as I was drilling with a fairly new white belt. Geeza also added a useful detail on the cross choke, which is to grab two layers of cloth when you grip, rather than just holding around the collar.

He also made some points about breaking down their posture, if they are pushing their arms straight into your torso. Having established the first grip for the choke, you can press your elbow into the back of theirs, into order to bend their arm. At the same time, grab the cloth by their other elbow and pull: this should help bend that other arm. Finally, you'll also be bringing your knees to your chest, also at the same time.

There wasn't any sparring for the Fundamentals class, but then as I left, I noticed that the following Advanced class went straight into specific sparring from guard. At the end of class, I was on the receiving end of an extremely warm welcome from Geeza, who officially introduced me to the rest of the club (some of whom have met me before, as I've been popping down intermittently since last October). Geeza was rather flattering, so hopefully people won't be too disappointed with the reality when I teach the class on Thursday. ;)

I'll talk more about what I'm intending to teach in the post for Thursday, but obviously I've got lots to say on the topic: I like to plan things carefully, so we'll see how the lesson works out.

23/01/2011 - RGA Aylesbury (Beginner)

Class #374
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, UK - 23/01/2011

After worrying that my knee might have exploded last week, it appears to be recovering fairly quickly. There was a party in London the next day (hence fancy dress pics of me on Facebook, which is very typical for parties at that house: my gf has awesome friends), which involved a lot of limping around the capital and hobbling up and down stairs. Fortunately, my leg started to work again over the course of the week, although I'm still holding off on sparring or anything involving torsion on the leg.

Also, I only just realised my old training buddy Will has moved his excellent post on Portuguese terminology for BJJ to its own site, BJJ Phrases.com. Amy has that linked on her blog, which is where I saw it recently. Which amuses me, because I'm in regular email contact with Will: I somehow managed to miss it from the first hand source. Finally, speaking of blogs, Hannah put up a list of her top fifty here, which includes a bunch of familiar names.

Last time I showed up at an Aylesbury Sunday class, the whole three hours was open mat. However, things have changed since 2009, as now it is split into two sessions, and thirty minutes longer. The first is a normal beginner class, for an hour and a half. After that, there is another hour of drilling, before moving into the actual open mat.

I had been intending to do several hours of drilling on the overhook guard choke (or at least that's what I call it: arm wrap choke is another common name), because I never seem to be able to threaten with the submission even if I can secure the position. Fortunately for me, Kev was teaching chokes for the beginner lesson, so similar principles applied although the position was slightly different.

Kev began with the classic cross choke from guard. After getting a deep initial grip, a useful point to keep in mind is to swing your torso to the opposite direction in order to help establish the second grip. You can then square back up before sinking the submission.

That was followed by a standard variation, where after the first grip, your second hand grabs around the back of their gi. Maintaining your grip, you then swing that second arm to the side your first hand is grasping. Bring the elbow of the second arm tight to their chest, then complete the choke as normal.

Kev completed the technical section with a guard pass, knee sliding through to side control. However, that involved plenty of twisting and turning with the legs, so I decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to put that strain on my damaged knee. I could at least let Callum do the drill on me, although I couldn't offer up much resistance with my legs for him to work against.

As specific sparring was from guard, I decided against that too. Callum kindly stayed to drill with me, meaning that I got my chance to do some drilling on that overhook guard choke. There are a couple of options, one of which is easier to apply but less effective. That's the one I started with: I drilled the second during the open mat. Either way, first you have to get into the arm wrap/overhook.

They will probably be grabbing your gi somewhere between your chest and stomach. Grab their sleeve with one hand, then reach your other hand underneath to hold your own wrist, making a figure-four. Wrench up with your figure-four to break their grip (you could also try raising your hips then dropping them as you wrench to increase the leverage). Pull the sleeve behind your head, while simultaneously swimming through with the other arm, so that you end up overhooking their arm.

With the overhooking hand, reach through and grasp their opposite collar. Keep the elbow of your overhooking arm locked to your body, so they can't free their arm. This is a good controlling position, where you have a number of attacks: omoplata, armbar, triangle and the one I wanted to practice, a choke.

The application is similar to the variation of the cross choke we did earlier. Again, either grab the back of their gi, around their shoulder, or get your thumb into their collar. Then bring that arm to the other side of their head. Depending on your grip on their collar, you can bring your forearm into their throat. Pull on the gi with your overhook arm to cut off one artery, then press your forearm into the other side of their neck to block the other. As you have access to the throat, you can also try pressing into that, but it makes for a less efficient submission.

Matt Thornton demonstrates something similar in his 'A.P.E Guard' disc from Functional JKD 3 (which incidentally is a great set, so I should get round to reviewing it at some point). Even if that submission doesn't work, it should at least force them to defend. This is where you can go for a triangle, especially if as likely they use their other arm to block. That motion could give you the chance you need to bring your leg over and begin your triangle set up.

19/01/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #277



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 19/01/2010

Seymour over at Meerkatsu.com wrote a great piece on BJJ blogging. If for some unfathomable reason he isn't already in your RSS reader, check it out here. This was originally intended for a magazine, but that is currently on hold: hopefully it will resurface at some point, as I'd love to see more articles like this.

I also wanted to mention a new blog by an old training partner of mine, Ben. Check it out here: he trains over at the RGA affiliate in Farringdon, but used to train with me at RGA HQ. He's also the guy at least partially responsible for getting me to RGA in the first place, thanks to his encouragement on Bullshido.

There was a minor revelation tonight, which makes for an interesting reflection on the current state of jiu jitsu. I had thought that the thirty minutes extra in the beginner class was for working takedowns. However, this has now changed. Instead, each beginner class is now to begin with work on the Gracie Barra fundamentals (so I'm guessing like the DVD), which means some 'self defence' stuff. Apparently, this is being brought in across Gracie Barra (its been at other GB schools for a long time, but I guess not all of them). I sometimes forget that the Roger Gracie Academy network is technically part of that family: after all, Roger always competes for GB.

I'm not a fan of training 'self defence', as that tends to mean repetitive, compliant drills largely divorced from reality: this is exactly the kind of thing a focus on 'aliveness' is supposed to prevent. However, like Kev said, there are occasionally useful aspects, like working on hip mobility and the like. The drill today was to push your partner on the floor, who will then do a technical stand-up. Their free foot is used to press against the front leg (if the other person has a foot forward), with your arm raised as normal to block strikes. That was followed by stepping in to get a clinch, then a basic hip throw.

Getting back to the ground, this week Kev is sticking with the guard. He began with what is probably the most basic submission available from the guard, a cross choke. However, while its basic, that doesn't mean it is easy to get: everyone is expecting it, and lots of people don't apply properly anyway, including me.

I find that even in drilling, I struggle to turn my hands inwards properly, normally only managing a slight turn. That could be because I gripping too deep, I'm not using my legs enough to pull them in, or something else. Kev suggested that I concentrate on bringing my thumbs together, and watching Kev, I should also be bringing my hands down slightly as I secure the submission. This kind of thing is exactly why I'll always try to attend fundamentals/basics/beginners classes, no matter what belt I reach.

After that, Kev moved on to two techniques which are also quite familiar, but I hardly ever try in sparring these days. It used to be that the scissor sweep was a go-to move for me, but I've fallen out of the habit. Having secured a grip on their same side sleeve and collar, Kev demonstrated it from when they put one leg up in preparation to pass, whereupon you shrimp and drop your now raised leg across their stomach. Press in with your shin and hook round their side with your instep.

Your other leg drops to their same side leg, which should still be kneeling on the floor. You want to chop this leg, but it is important you don't go too low: otherwise, they can just step over that leg and pass. So, you want to be chopping slightly above the floor, possibly even hooking behind their leg.

To finish the sweep, you want to lift them forward and up onto your raised knee, which will disrupt their base. You can now simultaneously chop at their leg and move across with your hook, 'scissoring' your legs, then roll through into mount.

If they don't step up with a leg, Kev showed how you could instead go for the closely related push sweep. Shrimp out to make space to get that shin into their stomach, setting up the technique as before. However, instead of chopping out their leg, you're going to put your same side foot on the inside of their same side knee. Push that out and back, breaking their base, then roll them with your other leg into mount.

Kev also had a point to make about your knee position. If you have your knee lower, underneath their arm, that gives you great leverage for the sweep. On the downside, it also means your partner could potentially bring their weight down on your legs, then initiate a pass.

The alternative is to put your knee high, towards their chest or even shoulder. This isn't such good leverage, but it is a lot more secure. As Kev put it, if you're going to be in that position for a while, this is safer, because your partner will find it tougher to get their weight in place to crush your legs to the mat.

With sparring, usual story on top. I think I'm focusing a bit too much on keeping their torso down, which means that I'll end up standing with crappy posture, which is all too easy to break. I'm also relying far too much on my arms. Instead of grabbing and shoving with a weak part of my body, I should be driving with my hips, using my legs, and trying to put them under pressure with my weight. Easier said than done, of course, but something I want to keep in mind for next time.

I had a play with wrapping the gi around a white belt's arms, though I'm not sure there is any point to doing so on top. I was thinking I could perhaps isolate an arm, making it easier to pass on the that side, but didn't help me much. Still, fun to occasionally try something random.

I also wasn't really going anywhere from the bottom, though I did make a concerted effort to open up and try to attack. That generally just meant I got passed repeatedly, but its the only way to practice offence. I'd like to go for the arm more, especially as almost everyone staggers the arms, so it makes sense to work out how to attack it, and/or break the grip.

My legs come into it much more on the bottom, especially as I've been using them to knock people off-balance as they attempt to stand. That works, but it also uses lots of energy, so it would be better if I could shift into some kind of attack rather than just returning them to where they were before.

13/10/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #250



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 13/10/2009

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday morning by a delivery of a book I ordered, Passing the Guard. I hadn't expected it to arrive for another month, seeing as I'd picked the slow option, so that was cool. Thanks to anyone who clicked through and bought something from one of my reviews, as I ordered the book entirely from a resulting gift card (took a while to build up enough, of course). So naturally, I'll be reviewing Passing the Guard shortly (various job interviews to attend and seminars to teach though, so might be on the backburner for a little while).

Unusually, Kev added in throws to the warm-up, like he does with the advanced class: could be he's moving towards the same kind of structure I remember from RGA HQ.

First technique of the day was the basic cross choke from guard. It was a useful reminder, as Kev emphasised how the choke comes from gripping with your palms facing up, then turning your hands, as opposed to flaring your elbows. I tried to really concentrate on keeping my elbows in, which definitely made a difference: its much tougher to defend if you can't simply lock and squeeze their elbows to relieve the pressure of the choke.

Kev followed that with another simple submission, the armbar from guard. However, he had an interesting variation on the grip. Grab their opposite sleeve, then secure their opposite collar with your other hand. That means you can use your collar arm to lock the arm you're already using a sleeve to control. This makes for a really strong grip, after which you proceed as normal. You could also potentially move into a choke, as you've already got the one hand in.

Next up was the defence to an armbar. Before going into the usual basic technique, Kev surprised me by stating a very simple, but rarely mentioned solution. The best way to escape the armbar is to tap. Its an obvious point, but doesn't occur to people because then they've 'lost'. However, in terms of training, it makes a lot more sense then straining away desperately when you're caught: as Kev says, you tap, then restart and try not to get stuck there again.

Specific sparring was from guard, with our training partner. That meant it was the format I prefer, where first one of you is in guard for a round, then you switch and go for another five minutes. That tends to mean a lot more mat time than king of the hill (well, unless you're actually good, unlike me).

The main problem I had was that I keep shifting into tight controlling positions, but then fail to progress to an offensive set-up. For example, I'll pull them in close with my legs and control the head, but then struggle to get to a triangle and I can't get past the arm. In that situation, I need to make sure I take the risk and open up a little.

During king of the hill (I only sparred once), I stayed very patient in the guard, as I was with a white belt so they were trying all sorts of things (like an americana from their guard). Eventually I slipped into half guard, but as I tried to stabilise, I just got rolled. I'm not managing to get into a decent attacking position, which is possibly because I tend not to think about going from kind of distracting submission attempt. Might be good to threaten with a choke or something so they forget about their legs.

21/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #220



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 21/04/2009 - Beginner

Opening technique tonight was a cross choke from half guard, when they're in the process of passing. You have a grip on their collar, but then they get past one of your legs. The choke is still an option, so switch to half guard, then put your other thumb under the back of their collar. Swivel to their knee, looping your arm over their head as you do now. Move back to the centre and squeeze for the submission.

I mentioned yesterday that I was having trouble getting into a good controlling position from guard. Luckily for me, that is exactly what followed: awesome!

Jude started by demonstrating how to remove their grip when they've grabbed your gi. There are numerous options, the simplest of which is to grab the end of their sleeve, fingers on top, then put your thumbs under their wrist. You could also use a pistol grip (grasping a handful of their gi in your fist). Either way, drive straight up to remove their hand.

Alternatively, you can figure-four their wrist, by putting one hand on top, then feeding your other hand underneath and grabbing your own wrist. Again, push up from here.

Two traditional ways to get rid of that grip are to hold your own collars and pull them apart (if they are grasping both your collars with one hand), or a more complicated process. That begins by grabbing their sleeve again with your opposite hand, then bringing your other arm underneath. Reach right through with that arm, aiming to prise off their grip that way.

Now that the arm is loose, Jude's next technique can come into play, a variation on the cross choke from guard. First of all, you need to get an overhook on their arm. As soon as you remove their grip, pull their arm down to your armpit and also bring your knees back (don't just rely on your arms to get them in close).

You can now bring your arm over theirs, then reach underneath and through to grab their far collar. With your free hand, grip the back of their collar, then bring your arm past their face. Bring the forearm against their throat, then complete the choke.

Best of all, you can follow this technique up with another, the triangle. If they realise what you're doing after your first grip, its likely they will defend by putting their free hand against the side of their face. While that blocks the cross-choke, the position of their arm means you can now push their elbow back, then bring your same side leg over their head.

Make sure you get that leg past their arm: if they still have their hand on your leg, they may be able to defend the submission. Once the leg is in place, bring your other leg up and lock (just cross your ankles: don't worry about triangling your legs yet). As soon as its secure, you can let go with your hands, then raise your hips. This will bring their arm up, making it easier to push it across their body.

Now you can get into position for the triangle. Grab the shin you have across their neck to hold them in place, then put your other foot on their hip. Swivel until you have the right angle to bring your free leg over your other shin, then lock on the triangle. Squeeze for the submission, pulling down on your shin if you need extra leverage.


Class is thirty minutes shorter on Tuesday, so there wasn't quite so much sparring. However, I did get in three free spars, the first and last with the same blue belt. I was mostly looking to play with reverse De La Riva, as I'd seen Saulo recommend it as a holding position in both his DVD and book. Didn't get as much of a chance to practice as I'd hoped, because my partner stayed low rather than standing up, but still helpful to work out the grips.

In between those two rolls, I had a relaxed spar with a teenager that was there: because I'm the smallest person in class, I offered to train with her. I tried to give some helpful tips, mainly on keeping her hips down when on top, and also walked her through the knee pin pass. Hopefully it was of some use to her: certainly of use to me, as I always relish the opportunity to practice teaching (not only would I love to teach BJJ some day, but its also a skill I'm looking to develop generally for my career options too).

07/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #169



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 07/08/2008 - Advanced

I got a pleasant PM from someone on Sherdog this morning, saying they'd found this blog useful, and in particular were wondering if I could send them a copy of the spreadsheet I use to track my attendance (the offline version is way more geeky, with a load more formulae, tabs and even graphs ;p). That means I've now got a template version, so if anyone else wants one, let me know.

My face was raw from yesterday, probably from defending chokes in free sparring, and it was going to get some more gi action tonight: Jude focused on chokes from the guard. As is often the case, he started with the fundamental position, then demonstrated variations depending on how your partner defends.

The initial cross choke from guard we worked on tonight started with you opening up your partner's lapels, pulling them out of their belt, keeping a firm grip on one with your same side hand. Bring them forwards with your legs, then keep them down by using your free arm to clamp over their back. The hand grasping their gi will now punch up and past their armpit, aiming to feed the end of the gi to your other hand.

Push off their hip and shrimp, bringing your free hand past their throat. Switch the gi back to that hand, so you now have secure control over their neck. The hand which is therefore now free again grabs the gi material by their shoulder, on the opposite side of their neck to your other hand, pressing both forearms into their throat. Squeeze for the choke.

Next the first cross choke variation. You've got them wrapped up, ready to bring your other hand through to finish off the choke. However, this time they've managed to get their hand in place on their face to block you. To counter that, push the elbow of that arm away from you and come up on your side slightly, while still holding the gi you've looped around their head. Your free arm is going to press on the back of their head (not directly on the back, but towards their ear), pushing their head a bit sideways. Pull on the gi with your gripping hand as you do so for the choke.

Finally, the last variation is a way of taking the back. Again, you're ready to choke, but this time instead of defending with a hand, they get their whole head to the other side of your head, preventing the choke. That presents you with two ways to take their back.

You could shrimp out, bringing the leg over, locking in the body triangle and then putting in your hooks, putting you on top of them, back mounted. Or you could reach for the far elbow, pull it up and back, twisting them towards you, which should enable you to spin them into rear mount, with both of your backs facing the floor.

I started on my back during king of the hill guard passage, which hasn't happened for a while. Lorenzo didn't have much trouble passing, but did put me in that quarter guard position I've been playing with recently since Rob T suggested it. I thought I could try Matt's sweep, but I think I went for the knee with the wrong arm. Against a guy as strong as Lorenzo, the technique needed to be perfect, which very clearly mine wasn't, but at least I've now given it a go. Something to improve next time I find myself in quarter-guard (which reminds me, must add that to the glossary - in short, like half guard, but you only have their foot).

With mount, I thought I'd attempt the same strategy that had worked well with Anthony a few lessons ago, but no such luck tonight. I was rolled pretty easily, and my balance was poor. I also wasn't attacking, which meant I was basically waiting to be swept. So, will need to think more carefully about how to be proactive when wrapping my legs around their's, trying to get my feet under their bum in mount.

Finally in side control, I felt more comfortable. I'm continuing to work on switching between side control and scarf hold, but keep forgetting that I should be using that transition to shift up towards their head, getting their arm out of the way and thereby making space to mount. I'm getting better and remembering to keep my head down and close to their's, which should help to make my scarf hold heavier.

Free sparring started with Christina, who as always drove through to knee-on-belly while I tried to escape. I again attempted to shift to quarter-guard, but couldn't get my feet into position. I tried reaching through with my arm to push on the ankle, but didn't do it carefully, so was asking to get armbarred rather than effecting any kind of productive escape.

In relation to that, Christina gave me a useful reminder that I really need to be more careful of my arm. Had we been in a competition, she would have slapped it on several times, but because she's a good training partner, my joints were mercifully left intact. However, I need to keep the distinction in mind – I've often said you shouldn't treat class like a competition (an essential point many beginners miss, I feel), but its also important to remember that class is different from competition, so I shouldn't allow myself to get complacent about dangling my arm in dangerous positions.

Last roll was with a visiting Irish purple belt named John, who sought me out because we're the same size. He took it relatively easy, eventually ending up mounting me. I tried to elbow escape, as well as pushing on his foot to see if I could snatch half guard, but to no avail. I was also bridging a lot to knock his submissions attempts off-balance. That was working ok right up until he got set up for a mounted triangle. I wasn't quite sure how to get free, so had a go at curling my body in close and bringing my legs to his arms.

This might have worked better if I'd been going somewhere specific rather than just flailing hopefully looking for a grip. John then helpfully explained one option to start an escape, which is to grab an arm with your trapped arm, then bring your foot through utilising that grip. You can then push back and roll upright: although you will most likely still be in a triangle, its far preferable to be resisting against one from guard – where you have some kind of base – then against one from mount.

There's going to be an open day at the Roger Gracie Academy on 16th August, where all the affiliate schools (so places like the Vie Academy, Nick Brooks in Mill Hill, Andy Roberts in Guildford etc) will be popping down for a visit. Shame I can't make that, as its on a weekend, but I am planning to make Andy's opening seminar for his new venue in Farnborough. Should be early September.

14/02/2008 - BJJ (Beginners)

Class #119



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 14/02/2008 – Beginners

My flight from Sevilla got delayed, so although I'd been thinking about training last night, I arrived into the UK too late. I'll write up something about Spain later (it'll be the entry before this one, as I always fiddle the date in order to put it in the right place, so it doesn't always match the date I actually wrote it), but in short, I went to Jerez, Cádiz, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sevilla, drinking lots of sherry on the way. :D

Speaking of which, that diet of Pedro Ximénez and various combinations of cheese and meat probably wasn't too healthy, so yet again I wasn't feeling 100% tonight. Still, I wanted to at least make a beginner class: hopefully this isn't the start of a similar run of flu that ruined my January training. Does at least give me another kick up the arse to implement my eat-lots-of-soup plan to try and regain my apparently errant immune system.

The renovations at RGA are continuing apace. When I first noticed the building work some time ago, I thought they were replacing that room at the back with some mats, but I see instead that’s making space to move reception – its now in the entrance. The main mat area is being extended to where reception used to be. For a long time I had been under the impression that RGA might be moving premises, as that was mentioned in the changing rooms, but I'm told RGA is definitely staying put for a few more years. So, the extension of the mats makes a lot of sense, given the rapid growth rate in membership.

Another change is that the class schedule has finished. I don't think there are major shifts in time – chatting to Paxton, he mentioned that on Tuesday the advanced class is back to being 1.5hrs – but the one major difference is the no gi class. Or rather, major for me, as its now on Friday rather than Thursday, which means I won't be making many anymore. Will have to check the timetable to clarify.

Tonight's session focused on chokes from the guard. Jude started with the basic cross choke from guard. Feed one hand into their opposite collar, then slide your other hand underneath, gripping as deeply as you can. Twist your grip, pull them towards you whilst simultaneously raising up, then squeeze to finish the choke.

The two main things that I noted which I hadn't been doing enough before was pulling your opponent towards you once you have that first grip, then shifting your closed guard up their back and breaking their posture by bringing them forward with your knees.

A variation on the cross choke, if they've grabbed your gi with an arm, is to first grip the fabric by their wrist with your opposite arm. Bring your same side arm underneath, holding your other wrist (making a figure-four, as with kimuras, Americanas etc). Push up to release their grasp on your gi, then maintaining your own grip on their sleeve, pull that arm behind your head. At the same time, let go of the figure four and slide the same side arm underneath, until you can reach for the overhook on their arm. Drive right through with your same side hand and get a hold on their opposite lapel.

As their arm is under your armpit, you can't go for the usual cross choke, so instead Jude demonstrated three options. First, you can dig your thumb around the back of their gi and get it into their collar, then bring the arm to the same side as the overhook, sliding against their ear and trying to get under the chin. You can then secure the choke by pulling on both your grips.

Alternately to that grip, you could try to get your fingers in behind their collar and follow the same approach as above to complete the choke. Another option is to grab the back of their gi before bringing your arm around.

Jude then showed us some defences against the choke. Again, there were three variations. First, when they go for that initial grip, bring your opposite hand to your cheek before they can bring their other arm into play. You have to be careful, as there is an opportunity for them to push on your elbow and take your back. Second option is to block in the same way, but with your same side hand: this doesn't leave the elbow open. Assuming I haven't mixed those two up.

Finally, there was the option I'm most familiar with, as its what I've been using to block cross chokes. If they get both grips, bring your arms over the top of their and grab your own sleeves. At the same time, look up in order to prevent your opponent pressing into your neck. Bringing your elbows together and pressing down, while also sitting back on your heels and posturing up, will give your breathing space. Eventually, you should also be able to push their hands down your gi and break the grip.

I found that while I could hold off the choke, it became something of a stalemate. I need to remember to sit back on my heels and posture, as that should help facilitate breaking the grip: its good to have breathing space, but much better to completely remove their hold.

Sparring was initially very specific, in that we were just going for chokes or defending against them. I was with Amy again, and found that neither of us was able to secure a choke, as we could both defend successfully against the other. I'm sure that's partly because the drill was so specific and we both knew we didn't have to defend against anything else, but nevertheless, goes to show that the defence is effective.

Class ended with guard passage, where I was paired up with somebody I realised I'd encountered before on Facebook. I didn't recognise him until he mentioned his name was Brian, then made the connection with a guy who'd messaged me earlier about RGA – nice to meet him in person. On top, I was able to resist choke attempts and maintain my posture, but it was largely a stalemate. I eventually managed to slip my knee past when Brian loosened his guard (think he was going for a sweep, but not sure), but ended up in half guard. Eventually managed to free my other leg and go to side control, but found it fairly difficult: also, I don't think Brian was too familiar with the position, which obviously helps me pass.

Underneath, I went for an armbar a few times, as Brian seemed to be shifting his weight to one side and presenting me with his arm. However, as soon as I got into position, he was able to immediately get ready to escape, so I switched back to guard. I also tried the sit-up sweep a few times and switching to a kimura when that didn't work, but wasn't able to isolate his arm. I think there is a sweep which involves a kimura grip, but couldn't remember it. Also, Brian was able to keep his weight forward, so I had trouble setting up a sweep. When in that situation, I need to concentrate on shrimping out to make space for the sweep attempt and breaking their posture, rather than just clinging on to the arm.

Class finished up with a few people getting stripes, including Paxton, which was cool: he's been waiting for that third stripe for some time now. Jude then pulled a blue belt from inside his gi, and called my name, which was a bit of a surprise. On the one hand, it’s a proud moment for me, as this is what every white belt is waiting for. Its also particularly pleasing to get it from Jude, as he is the only black belt who has rolled with me, so presumably has the best understanding of my current level. On the other hand, that belt feels pretty heavy: I've still got a great deal I need to work on, especially my top game, and I now no longer have the protection of a white belt (not to mention I now can't attend the beginners classes). Sparring in the advanced class is probably about to become a whole lot more painful!

Then again, that does at least give me the chance to put into practice my oft-repeated assertion that training is about learning, not winning and losing, so all that matters is improving technique. We'll see how my ego handles being tapped by a white belt (and there are plenty of white belts at RGA I think are significantly better than I am). Hopefully I won't succumb to pride, as its something I've been determined to ignore ever since I started (not to mention I'm not magically better than yesterday just because my belt colour has changed), but I'm now in a situation where its finally going to be tested.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, my gf and I had our romantic meal a couple of days ago in Spain. I'm not quite forgetful enough to blithely train through Valentines Day: tend to do something during the week rather than the specific date. ;)

18/10/2007 - BJJ (Beginners)

Class #97



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Felipe Souza, London, UK - 18/10/2007 – Beginners

Having had my usual three spars and finishing with a rest, I felt ok for the beginners. I noticed there was a new girl in class: any reduction in the machismo level is always excellent news (though having said that, RGA has a very good atmosphere, perhaps because its got a fairly high number of women training). Turns out she was Chet’s cousin and Tamvin’s sister, which is kinda cool: nice to see more of the family getting into the BJJ.

It was only Navreet’s third lesson, so that gave me a chance to try and act as teacher. Attempting to demonstrate a technique to someone else is a good way of thinking more carefully about it yourself, and considering October is teaching month for me anyway with all those seminars, I can do with the practice.

Things kicked off with passing the guard. Felipe started with the one where you grab both collars with one hand, the other low, with elbow in. Put your knee into their tailbone then push backwards to open up the guard (stepping back with the other leg), slip a hand under, stack them then move round for the pass. That was followed up by the other option, which is to put your knee up – this will either give you the required space to move your arm in, or sufficient leverage to push their leg down and break the guard.

Important points to note are keeping your elbows in tight: with elbows out, you become much easier to sweep and/or pull down. Usual points about using your weight effectively and solidly securing the collar also worth going over again.

Next were a few basic submissions, starting with the collar choke. Get a deep grip on their opposite collar, palm up with thumb gripping outside and fingers in, then get the same grip with your other arm, slipping it under the first. Pull them in, twisting your hands so the thumbs come towards you, while at the same time sitting up to increase the pressure.

A variation if you couldn’t quite get that second grip was to come over and grab the shoulder instead. Not sure I understood it properly, though: as far as I could tell, it was just grab shoulder and use that to press the forearm into their neck, but I think I may well have misinterpreted. Will have to ask about that one.

Finally, if they push your bicep down to prevent you getting your second grip, swivel the trapped arm inside theirs, free it and grab their wrist, pinning their hand to the floor. Release the grip on the shoulder, then go for the kimura from guard.

I kicked off sparring with Navreet, and as this was only her third class and she’d seen a guard pass for the first time that day, I wasn’t going too hard (especially as she’s quite a bit smaller than me). Its really pointless imposing yourself on new people, and probably very off-putting for them – I’d much rather go easier at first, which would then hopefully result in a better training partner down the line. Not that I completely stopped resisting, and I did go for a sweep a couple of times when on the bottom.

I was surprised to get some passes against Chet, as I’ve really been struggling on top in guard recently in both the beginners and advanced. Then again, it was mainly when he was going for something that meant he gave me enough space to get double underhooks. That tailbone pass remains the only one I’m having any success with, on the rare occasion I’m able to pass: absolutely must put more work into the standing pass. I did try it a few times today, but to little effect.

Underneath, I found Chet a lot tougher. I managed to get a decent scissor sweep at one point, but again I think that was because Chet was moving his weight forward. I repeatedly tried to do that sweep Grant showed me, but I’m clearly still missing some important details, as Chet didn’t budge.

Generally, I think underneath I need to pull people in tight, using my legs, rather than just sitting there with a collar and sleeve grip. I also want to concentrate harder on my sit-up sweep. There was a private lesson before the no-gi Roger was taking, in which he went through the sit-up: that reminded me I’m not raising my hips anywhere near enough. I tend to just shove with my leg, which unsurprisingly doesn’t get me too far.

I finished up sparring with Yuvi, where it largely ended up in stalemate (IIRC). On top I had great trouble loosening his guard, although I did get double underhooks once. Underneath, I tried a bunch of sweeps, but again didn’t pull him in close like I should. That meant my attempt at an elevator went nowhere, though I had a firm hook, and my sit-up sweep was especially poor. I ended up pitting my weedy calf against all of Yuvi’s weight and muscle. My calf lost: almost immediately after the shoddy sweep effort, my muscle completely cramped up, so that it felt like a small rodent was stuck inside my leg. I had to stop sparring at that point, and spent the rest of the day limping, entirely due to my own crappy technique. Hence why a lift from Chet was especially appreciated! :D

03/10/2007 - BJJ (Beginners)

Class #92



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK - 03/10/2007 – Beginner

Someone from Gracie Barra Calgary bumped into my blog earlier this week, presumably while Googling BJJ terms, as my glossary has appeared on their site. Cool. :D

However, that does remind me to ask that if anyone notices I’m talking rubbish anywhere in the glossary, please stick up a comment correcting me. The instructor over at GB Calgary mentioned that he’s cast an eye over it and it seems ok (very helpful to have someone of that level check for errors), but as I intermittently update that glossary, I’m always grateful for constructive advice. I’m merely a white belt, after all!

I wasn’t able to train last Thursday as I’d intended, because the trains messed up yet again. Not only did they screw my journey back on the Wednesday, but when I arrived at Farringdon on the Thursday ready to go train, I was greeted by a sign telling me there was no Hammersmith & City line service. What was especially annoying was that I hadn’t had any warning – if this had been a strike, then it would have been announced in advance. However, because this was apparently due to concerns over ‘safety issues’, the line shut down rather more suddenly. On the other hand, I should have checked for disruption before leaving anyway, so will have to remember to do that next time.

Like I said, this October is largely devoted to teaching (Excel and academic stuff), so training is going to suffer. Normally, I would have come down late tonight, if at all, so I could fit in some more work, but as my gf is visiting her parents this weekend, I can spend the Saturday getting my seminars prepared instead. That’s especially handy, because that gave me the hope I could make four sessions this week, which would make up for potentially missing BJJ entirely next week due to a conference my department is attending and at which I’ll be presenting.

Anyway, on to the training: tonight we kicked off with the osoto-gari trip as is fairly common, this time Roger showing us a set up in which you aimed to sweep the leg with your foot first. When they step back to stop you doing that, you then keep your sweeping foot in the same place, step forward, then swing the other leg forward for the osoto-gari. If they don’t move their foot, you can continue with the foot sweep.

Next up, Roger showed us some useful things to do in closed guard. First of all, he demonstrated that the best position you could be in on the bottom was with your opponent pulled in tight. In order to get them there, bump them forward with your hips and wrap up their head. Alternately, you can lift up with your legs until you can break their posture. Once you’ve got them down close, they have to somehow push themselves back up. Generally, that’s going to involve pushing on your chest, meaning that you can grab their arm. As they then try to raise up by basing off your chest, you can swing into an armbar.

Another option is once you’ve got them in tight, slip one of your hands deep into their opposite collar. Bring your other hand around the back of their gi, getting a thumb in. As they raise up this time, bring that other hand around their head and across their throat, setting you up for the cross choke. I found I had some trouble with the thumb grip, as first of all I found it difficult to dig that thumb in, then secondly when I had it, the grip was often loose. I think a way to rectify this would be get that thumb in deep as soon as you’ve pulled them in tight: that becomes easier if they have a particularly stiff gi, meaning it would stand away from their neck if you pull their head down.

Roger followed this up with some work from side control. To begin with, he ran through the kimura from side control, which Jude apparently taught earlier in the week. From side control, you need to get their far arm by your head, trapped against your shoulder (which I guess you’d either do by grabbing, or when they try and get their forearm into your throat). Keeping one hand by their near hip, move round to their head until you’re in north-south (i.e., facing their knees). Pull them onto their side, bringing a knee up tight against their back, also shifting your grip on their arm to a figure four (not sure if that step comes earlier?). If they grab onto their gi, tug in the direction your elbow is pointing behind you, then pull them arm back into position, where you can apply the sub.

If they manage to get a firm hold by wrapping their hands together, preventing your kimura, you can instead go for an armbar. Bring the knee that is against their back in tight, dropping back into the armbar position with your other knee over their neck. Switch an arm under their wrist, then lean towards their head in order to loosen their grip. Finally, complete the semi-circle by moving back into position, dropping back for the sub.

Sparring I wasn’t managing to get anywhere in particular. I started off with Nathan in closed guard. On top, I persevered with my usual tailbone break, which did eventually loosen his guard, but I was constantly leaving too much space to close in and move to side control. Like Chris, Nathan simply went to his knees. I had a stack pass secured at one point, but couldn’t close in tight enough to stop Nathan again escaping to his knees.

In my guard, I had a quick go at the sit-up sweep, where I yet again forgot to try the kimura from guard after it failed. MUST remember to attempt that sub! As has been happening repeatedly for the past two months or so, I ended up moving between open and half guard, but Nathan was simply too mobile for me to stop him passing. I need to move my hips more, and faster, as well as get those legs into position to prevent the pass. I still don’t want to get into a situation where I’m expending lots of energy and straining away in a macho battle of pride, but I should at least be using my small size to get up a bit of speed.

I had a similar spar with Seon, this time from side control. On top, I went to scarf hold a few times as I could feel him escaping, but couldn’t keep him down, and also couldn’t stop him getting his legs over and rolling me into his side control. Underneath, I managed to get to half guard, but then kinda sat there while he attempted chokes and then eventually passed. Oli was telling me to move my hips out and shrimp more, which is good advice: I should focus on doing that when in half guard. I tried moving to rubber guard to help get the knee through, as worked a while back, but this time to no success.

So, key things are the old problem of closing the distance so that I’m not leaving them space to escape, and to capitalise on my small size and speed. I have to move my hips more, and I also need to come into sparring with a clear idea of how I’m going to shrimp and escape from half guard, rather than just clinging on pointlessly.

I felt absolutely terrible after sparring, but I’d set out from Birmingham determined to make two classes. I was all ready to go, sitting by the mat writing down my notes so I could get on to the advanced, but continued to feel crap. So yet again, I left before the advanced, repeating my Wednesday pattern of coming in all keen then failing miserably to make two classes. I think I’m just going to have to accept the fact that fitness or willpower is going to let me down every time I want to double up on Wednesdays, so instead I should skip the beginners and only do the advanced. Otherwise I’m going to continue this pattern of one or two beginner classes along with no-gi each week, whereas I should be making two advanced and one beginner. Not that I don’t get my arse kicked enough by the other white belts (as happened today), but the more comprehensive arse-kicking I’ll receive from advanced should hopefully result in greater improvement. So: no more ambitious attempts to double up on Wednesdays until I feel a shitload fitter!

Something else I should start doing is make a sandwich for the train on the way down. Nathan suggested, as I told him I was wimping out for the millionth time, that I should probably eat more, and he’s absolutely right: clearly the two cereal bars I munch on the Chiltern Line aren’t enough to fuel my weedy frame. To finish on a somewhat random note, I went to the doctors today for the introductory health check, and apparently I'm 5'8. Always thought I was 5'7 - maybe I'm just under? Either way: meh.

07/06/2007 - BJJ

Class #59


Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Felipe Souza, London, UK - 07/06/2007

Today’s session was huge – must have been at least thirty people, meaning that there was barely room to move. It did however mean that there were plenty of training partners my size, which made for a pleasant change. Also got to see a few guys I’ve not seen in a while, like Chris, who has actually managed to make Saturdays now. ;)

The warm-up was fairly intensive this time round, with lots of press-ups and the like, after which we got into drilling. Felipe started off with a collar choke from guard, following it up with a scissor sweep in case the choke attempt was blocked. You start by feeding one hand deep into their collar, aiming to get right behind their head, four fingers in and the thumb on top. Your other arm goes underneath, with the same grip. To finish, twist your hands so they are facing palm towards you, while at the same time pulling your opponent towards you. Yuvi, the guy I was working with, noted that I needed to bring my elbows closer together, which was a useful pointer – this is why I’ve no wish to abandon the beginners class any time soon, as I can always do with work on the fundamentals.

If they manage to block your second arm before you can bring it in to choke, you can move to a scissor sweep. Maintaining your grip in their collar, grab their elbow with your other hand, then perform the scissor sweep as normal. I wasn’t entirely certain whether its better to grip the wrist and pull it in tight to your chest, or go for the elbow. Normally I’d grab the wrist, but I think Felipe showed it with the elbow. Something I need to check.

Finally, Felipe also demonstrated an entirely different option from a failed scissor sweep, taking the back from guard. If they resist your scissor sweep, push them back with your shin and arm to make space. One knee should now be raised, with a hand on the floor: the position is exactly the same as the standard way to get up (knee up, leg out, arm above knee. Put hand on floor, step back and up). So, as with that basic move, your straight leg comes back and you raise up. At the same time, you grab their gi and swing their head to the floor, immediately rushing round to their back, getting both arms underneath and around their waist. I think I was initially grabbing too high – Oli demonstrated how you should stay further back, bringing your hips down to their feet.

As it was an enormous class, we unsurprisingly did ‘king of the hill’ sparring. Unusually, the class was split into three groups, one of them being under 65kg. As it happens, I’m about 64/65kg, so that’s perfect for me. This showed in that I found it much easier to maintain position than normal, though that was definitely helped by the fact there were a number of newish people in the group (except for Anne and Jon, but both of them were coming back after some time away).

For I think pretty much the first time ever, I stayed on for five rounds, which was very unusual for me, although guard is easily my most comfortable position. Rolling with new people meant I could work on relaxing, so I lay back and waited. As with yesterdays noobie roll, the new guys were clinging on and pushing with all their strength, also trying to get collar chokes from within my guard. However, while I felt quite dominant, I was making mistakes, mainly going for the scissor sweep. Ironically, I was missing out the same step I noticed Yuvi forgetting earlier, which was pulling your opponent in close to you to raise them off the ground. That meant that I kept going for a scissor, but finding myself stuck because their centre of gravity was low to the ground with a strong base.

I eventually got the scissor on the two recent joiners, after which it became a lot tougher. First up was Jonathan, against whom I ended up in half-guard. I tried to go for a sweep, having secured double-underhooks, but kept leaving his arm free, and I also don’t think I was shrimping out to the side far enough or raising up. That’s definitely another technique I need to revise. As I was struggling away with the sweep, Jon moved up to my chest, pressing his weight down. He almost got his foot free a few times, but I managed to hold on, readjusting my legs. I also had some coaching from Oli at this point, who urged me to push his knee in order to stabilise my half guard.

However, Jon successfully trapped my arm in a figure-four grip, which at first didn’t worry me until I remember I was in half rather than full guard. I thought he’d be able to finish the submission off, but either he didn’t has as good a hold as I’d thought, or I was blocking it with my head. Either way, I freed my arm and then finally got the half-guard sweep I’d been looking for, albeit rather sloppily.

Finally I rolled with Anne, and as she was able to stand up in my guard, I decided I’d try to play open guard (after failing to get the flower sweep, which continues to elude me: yet another technique that requires serious revision on my part). My aim was to get my feet into her hips and lift her over, or failing that try for an elevator, or perhaps an armbar. What happened instead was that I got a leg stuck by her head, which she had little trouble passing into side mount.

I’d already rolled with Anne earlier in the session, as we were one of the initial two pairs to spar. Like many people in the advanced class, or at least going by Owen, she had a decent open guard, and at one point I thought she was going to scissor sweep me using my arms as leverage. I managed to retain my balance, and after some struggling got double underhooks on her legs, pulling her in tight, grabbing a shoulder and passing through to side control. This pass seems to have been working fairly well for me from open guard, but it does seem to need a bit of luck at the moment. I still don’t feel entirely confident in that position, but at least I now have some options, unlike the first time I encountered open guard against Owen.

Good session on the scissor sweep, which for once I then used extensively in sparring. Can’t really claim that’s me being a sensible student and applying what we drilled to rolling though, as I tend to go for the scissor anyway. My normal next step of moving to a push sweep wasn’t too successful today, and I also had no luck with the kimura, even though the opportunity did seem to present itself a few times. I’d like to have gone for the sit-up sweep, but as usual couldn’t overcome that hesitation – an arm pressing down on me compounded that problem. Finally, I need to work on removing grips: that would make going for sweeps much easier, as I’d be able to break through blocking arms, or at least have the option.

Should be training again next week, same two classes as usual. Possibly get in a class of ZSK, but not sure yet. Until then, got a stag party to go to, having managed to get my girlfriend invited, which was extremely satisfying. Striking a blow against sexism, one stag party at a time!