22/08/2017 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Heidelberg 2017 | de la Riva sweeps (Lilo Asensi)

Class #883
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Olympiastützpunkt Rhein-Neckar) Lilo Asensi, Heidelberg, Germany, 22/08/2017

Lilo is one of Ana Yagues' training partners in Hamburg: both of them are cool Spanish black belts teaching in Germany. Lilo also taught a similar position as Ana did back at the Bournemouth Camp, focusing on de la Riva. I always make a beeline for classes taught by female black belts, as they are invariably smaller than the men teaching. That means they are closer to my body type, so their games tend to fit better for me. Lilo proved that to be true once again, especially as she was an excellent teacher. Even though her English is still developing, she got her points across clearly and memorably.

Beginning with the usual sweep where you pull their arm under their leg and then grab their shoulder to roll them over, Lilo continued to build. If they post with their arm to prevent the roll, grip their other arm and shift over, kicking up into a triangle. If they free both arms, you can go behind them, reach for their leg and kick into the back. If you can't reach that other leg when you move behind them, push into the back of the first leg, then grip their far leg and roll over (this is known as a 'baby bolo', apparently).

28/01/2017 - 4th Seminar with Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner & Tom Barlow

Seminar #023
Artemis BJJ, Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner & Tom Barlow, Bristol, UK - 28/01/2017

To celebrate the third year anniversary of Artemis BJJ, Chelsea and Tom were back for their fourth seminar. As always, it was excellent. The main reason I bring down black belts to teach seminars on the MYGYM Bristol mats is to expand my students' horizons. For my own game, I focus on a narrow range of techniques, specifically selected to avoid doing any damage to my body, as well as relying on the least amount of physical aptitude possible.

So, to have somebody like Chelsea down is perfect, given that as a prominent competitor in the black belt division she is well versed in the modern style. Who better to teach us about berimbolos than a teacher at the Mendes brothers' Art of Jiu Jitsu school? :)

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A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 28, 2017 at 4:45am PST

For this seminar, she ran through the berimbolo and de la Riva techniques. Exactly what I wanted from Chelsea, flashy stuff I don't use so much. :D

24/07/2016 - Seminar with Ana Yagües

Seminar #020
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Ana Yagües, Bristol, UK - 24/07/2016

I am always keen to get more women down to teach at Artemis BJJ, as well as bringing in black belts for seminars. Up until now we've had Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner teach us twice, which was cool. When I heard that Ana Yagües would be in the UK for a BJJ Globetrotter Camp, I jumped at the chance to bring her up to Bristol. Ana is somebody I've known online for a number of years, initially due to her blogs about BJJ and pregnancy. I was able to train with her at the Globetrotter camp, from which she made the journey on Sunday morning (thanks to David kindly offering a lift, meaning Ana didn't have to contend with the clunky and overpriced British train system ;D).

We've been looking at Ana's de la Riva x guard sweep all week, so she kicked off with that. It's always awesome to have the black belt perspective, as Ana added several details I'd been missing. The most important tweak was on lifting the hips to make that de la Riva hook really deep. I had been lifting them straight up, but to get maximum extension, you should twist inwards. That then means you can get your foot horizontal: a few people in training had only been managing to hook by the hip, which isn't far enough. With that tip, they should hopefully be able to secure a much deeper hook.

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jul 22, 2016 at 12:02am PDT

To achieve the same sweep when your partner goes to combat base, push on their leg to open up space. It's tough for them to avoid giving you enough space to sneak that hook through. Once you have that, then it isn't too hard to get the other foot underneath. That becomes a powerful sweeping platform, in either direction. I'm looking forward to trying this out some more in sparring, as I like the idea of an open guard that keeps my partner close and controlled, as well as relying principally on my legs rather than some kind of finger-mashing gi grip. ;)

Next up was the shin-to-shin guard, also commonly known as shin-on-shin. We went through a sweeping sequence that was similar to the series my instructor showed me at a private in February last year. Put your shin in front of their same side leg, wrapping behind their leg with your arm. Your other leg pushes on their knee. That will normally make them post their arm, or at least put the arm in range. Grab their sleeve, ideally passing their arm under their leg to your other hand. With your passing hand, grab high on the arm you just controlled, up near their shoulder. Pull down on that arm as you lift with your shin. It's much the same motion as the basic de la Riva sweep I was taught at GB Brum.

Another option is to instead grab their far ankle, rather than high on their arm. This is to block them from stepping to recover their base. You can then again lift with the shin and drive through for the sweep. Finally, if you can't get either arm, again like the de la Riva series from GB Brum, grab their belt or gi tail instead and pass that under their leg. Should they base out heavily on their arms when you go for the sweep, you can potentially switch to a single leg, or move to take their back.

The only downside I find with the shin-on-shin guard is that the eponymous body part gets rather sore after a while, especially as I'm a wimp ;D. So I was relieved when Ana then moved into some closed guard options, starting with an old favourite of mine, the overhook guard. I sometimes have trouble setting that up: Ana had a simple but effective solution. Just swim their hands out as you pull them in with your knees, to make them post on the mat. You can then secure the overhook (another option is off the two-on-one grip break where you pull it behind your head, which is the one I was originally shown back when I first learned this. Tougher to get, but I might show that during closed guard month).

There are lots of attacks you can do from here. Ana began with a triangle from the overhook. Press into their non-overhooked arm with your free hand, then use the space to slip your leg through. You may need to shrimp slightly in order to get your leg past the arm, especially if you are tall. Once you've brought your leg out from underneath that arm, swing it across into their neck. Control their head (e.g., by grabbing the shin of the leg you now have across the back of their neck), then step on their hip to swivel into triangle-locking pushing. You can now bring their arm across and finish the triangle.

If you aren't able to get your leg out for the triangle, you could instead go for a pressing armbar variation. Shrimp out and bring one leg up their back, your other knee clamping by their chest. You still have your arm wrapped around theirs due to your earlier grip. Move your hips out slightly to straighten their arm: their wrist should roughly be on your ribs. To finish, press down on their elbow with your arm and knee. Be careful, as this can come on fast and they also might find it hard to tap as both their arms are in awkward positions. If they twist their arm out to escape, you're set up for an omoplata.

Getting the pressing armbar (or a shoulder lock, depending on the person) can be tricky, so another option is to move instead to a gogoplata. Bring your leg on the overhooking side past their head, threading it around the overhooked arm, until you can hook underneath their chin. You will eventually need to bring your hand out of the overhook, but you're still controlling that arm with your leg. To complete the gogoplata, grab your toes/foot to make sure it's tight and extend your leg.

If you have trouble with that one, keep extending your leg until you can get right under their far armpit. From here, you might be able to get a submission by twisting your hips, or you could go for a wristlock. I think you twist your hips away from them, but I'll check (either from drilling at open mat, or if Ana gets a chance to read this. I did take video of everything, but cleverly deleted it by accident).

A video posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jul 24, 2016 at 7:13am PDT

The last technique of the day was reminiscent of what Chris Haueter taught in Leuven last month, with a cool additional detail. Pull out their gi tail, outside their arm. Yank it back across their arm, locking it in place by grabbing it with your opposite hand. Grip their sleeve with your same side hand, then use those two grips to bring their arm over your body. Slide your gi tail grip to the end of the gi lapel, wrapping your same side arm around their head (keep the elbow tight, so they can't wriggle their head free). Pass the end of the gi tail to that head-wrapping arm, securing it against their neck. Finally, use what is now your free hand to grasp their same side knee. Pull on the lapel and the knee to get a sort of bow and arrow choke: video above, if that's confusing. ;)

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jul 24, 2016 at 10:50am PDT

Thanks to everybody who came down to support the seminar, both from Artemis BJJ and from our friends at other clubs: it was cool to see Piotr again from Gloucester, who also brought his team mate Chris. Piotr was a major part of this year's GrappleThon, maintaining that big smile for most of the twenty-four hours. ;)

As always after Artemis BJJ seminars, we went to Pieminister for a delicious meal. If you'd like to come to the next seminar, keep an eye on the Artemis BJJ Facebook page: I'm intending to keep every seminar at £20 and they will also stay open to everybody. Hopefully see you at the next one. ;)

18/07/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Bournemouth 2016 | Deep de la Riva X Guard Sweep (Ana Yagües)

Class #756
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Phoenix MMA), Ana Yagües, Bournemouth, UK, 18/07/2016

This is the class I was most looking forward to, because Ana is somebody I've 'known' online for a number of years now. She's been writing a blog for a good while, with some especially interesting posts about pregnancy and BJJ (comparable to the material Meg wrote on her blog some time later).

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jul 22, 2016 at 12:02am PDT

In terms of the technique Ana covered today, it's similar to something Dónal taught five years ago, back when we were both still at GB Bristol. He did it a little differently, with variations in grip, as well as a slight tweak on the entry. I can't remember exactly how, though the notes are of some use. Of much more use is the video I took during Ana's class: one of the many awesome things about BJJ Globetrotter camps is that all (so far, at least) the instructors are happy for you to take video (as long as you don't try and sell it or put it up publically, of course). That means I can analyse it much better than re-reading my old notes. ;)

To begin, you want to get a super deep de la Riva hook. Starting from a double sleeve grip with both feet on the hips, shift towards the leg you want to de la Riva hook. Swing your same side leg around that for an initial de la Riva hook, releasing your same side sleeve grip in order to grab their heel. Pulling the heel towards you, so they can't easily move their foot. Watch out for them kicking it across your buttcheeks, like David showed in his passing class. You want to keep that heel jammed against your body.

Shift a bit more to the side and raise your hips, in order to extend that de la Riva hook all the way to the other thigh. This is what Dónal used to call the 'surfboard', due to the way you do a sort of plank with your lower body. When you've got your instep in place, solidly hooked around their thigh, bring your other foot lower on their leg, hooking the other side. Your feet should now be forming an x, hence the 'x guard' part of this technique. Squeeze your knees and pull them in.

At this point, you can switch from grabbing the heel back to the sleeve. Using your knees and those sleeve grips, steer them in the direction your lower foot is pointing, in order to knock them to the ground. Maintaining your sleeve grips, come up on your elbow, then step out what was your lower foot. You can then do a knee cut with what was the de la Riva hook to finish. That's the main part where I keep rewatching the videos, to try and work out which leg does what.

If they resist that, simply sweep them the other way. A knee cut is tricky from here, so instead, push their leg up with your intep (this will end up being on their leg when you hit the ground). Use that space and control to come up into a combat base, ready to pass their guard. Ana smoothly progressed into a version of the sweep when they're kneeling, as that applies against combat base. Push them back with your leg, in order to make space under the knee they have raised. You can then lock in your deep de la Riva x guard, progressing into that same sweep, finishing by you push their leg up with your instep.

Unlike the other classes, Ana then finished with some specific open guard sparring, where you aren't allowed to close your legs. I went with about three people I think, managing the sweep once on a white belt, but not having much luck with the two blues (they were bigger than me, but still). On top, I had a play with balance, to see if I could resist the sweep. I managed to recover my base with an elbow the first time, but it was precarious, meaning I got swept the second time. I don't often have to pass de la Riva, as it's almost all white belts at my gym. Getting that broad range of styles and experience is yet another massive advantage of going to BJJ Globetrotter camps. ;)

17/07/2014 - Artemis BJJ | de la Riva Guard | Sweep

Class #580
Artemis BJJ (Impact Gym), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK -17/07/2014

Dónal announced we were having flying lessons, which meant some flashy sweeps on the horizon. He started off with a drill to help work on our ability to balance somebody's weight on our legs. Feet on their hips, grabbing both sleeves, then lifting them up into the air, like you would with a small child.

That progressed to a de la Riva sweep. Starting from the de la Riva, you again lift them into the air, pulling on their sleeve. This time, you've only got one sleeve, as your other hand is grabbing the heel, in order to secure your de la Riva hook. They are probably going to pull back on the sleeve, whereupon you switch to grabbing high on their collar. Pull your arm right back, flaring the elbow, then lifting slightly with your legs, flip them over and roll into mount. Not a high percentage option, but fun if you can land it. :)

Today was, for the UK at least, hot. That was exacerbated by the gym itself: Impact gets really hot, as it's in an old warehouse with a glass roof. As a result, I was completely exhausted after training. Sparring wasn't especially intense and the warm-up wasn't too bad, it was just the heat and dehydration. I normally have a very passive style of rolling, but coupled with that exhaustion, I was about as active as a dead fish.

Rolling against someone who didn't have a gi, that took away my safety grips. I therefore spent the roll flopping around underneath without being able to get much control, until eventually I made a mistake when I somehow got on top and started to pass. I was going for a stack pass, but made the basic error of leaving an arm in without pulling the elbow back. That put me right in a triangle: as I tried to pop out, the armbar was right there. No gi is bad enough when I can move, but in the heat I was completely incapable of doing anything.

The other two rolls were against people with a gi, so I was able to clamp on to a collar and stall (I did get mount at one point, where again you can just lie on them without having to move all that much). I attempted to kick out their leg and sweep once or twice, either in an elevator or scissor style, but I'm forgetting to pull them up into me first. That was about the most attacking move I managed all day.

Despite guzzling a big bottle of water, I still felt destroyed at the end of class. Almost certainly the slowest cycle home I've ever done. If this is what I'm like after a mere British hot day, then clearly I shouldn't even consider training in Brazil! ;)

01/07/2014 - Artemis BJJ | de la Riva Guard | Omoplata & Threaded Arm Sweep

Class #577
Artemis BJJ (Impact Gym), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 01/07/2014

Having already covered closed and half, in July we're moving on to open guard at Artemis BJJ. Dónal started things off with de la Riva, as most of the students at Impact Gym now have a gi. Wearing a gi is not absolutely essential for de la Riva, but it certainly makes things easier. Dónal started with a few drills, first the one where you spin around their legs using only your legs, then practicing having at least three points of contact (e.g., hook behind the leg, push on the hip, grab a sleeve).

Next up, we moved into the entry for various de la Riva attacks. You've got your de la Riva hook (wrapping around the outside of their leg, hooking inside with your instep), grabbing their trouser leg with your same side hand. Your other hand is going to grab their opposite arm (called a 'cross-grip'). The first drill was to practice grabbing their opposite arm as they reached forward to get a grip, then push into the knee of their non-hooked leg to disrupt their balance. Sit up at the same time.

From that position, you can go for an omoplata. Pull their gripped sleeve back, by bringing your own elbow back towards your head. That exposes their elbow. Push off their knee with your non-hooking foot, raising your hips. You can then release your de la Riva hook, swinging that leg just behind their elbow. Bend their arm around your leg as you bring them down to the mat. You can then process to the submission as normal, although Dónal kept things simple and just stuck with the entry.

He also added in a second technique, which is the first de la Riva sweep I learned back at Gracie Barra Birmingham. You're in a similar position as before, diverging when you get to the part when you push into their knee and sit up. Shove the arm you've gripped down and behind their hooked leg. If you use a pocket grip, pointing your knuckles at the floor, it should be harder for them to disengage. Release your grip on their trouser leg and put that hand behind their leg. They will probably try to pull up, whereupon you feed their sleeve to that hand waiting behind their leg.

You can now grab the back of their collar with your free hand. Pull down with that hand, while lifting slightly with your de la Riva hook. That should roll them over their shoulder, meaning you can switch to side control. You will probably end up in top half guard first, so don't release your grips until you've cleared their leg.

I didn't do any drilling, as it was odd numbers (including me), so I was mostly wandering around helping people out. A few people were doing some interesting variations, like backstepping into mount when they swept rather than turning to side control. As Dónal pointed out, the reason for that was when they sat up and brought their trouser-hand to grip around the back of the leg, their arm was going around their own leg rather than above it. That tangled up their arm in such a way that they couldn't easily swivel into top half guard/side control, presenting the backstep into mount instead.

There was some sparring at the end, where I was with a few beginners. In specifics, I was looking for the tripod/sickle sweep combination, but they kept going to combat base. I thought about trying Josh's tactic of knocking out the leg, but didn't manage to quite get in position: I think my grips were getting in the way of that particular technique. Another reminder I should get more comfortable with butterfly, perhaps better suited for that position. I'm still not great at attacking when they are crouching down with a knee up.

17/01/12 - Brown Belt Requirements Teaser & GB Bristol (DLR Back Take)

Class #442
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 17/01/2012

I'm among the fortunate group of people who received a pre-release teaser of Roy Dean's latest instructional, Brown Belt Requirements. So far, that just means the first DVD: judging by the outline I was sent, the set will be in four parts, with two DVDs of instruction, another with high quality versions of Dean's famous belt demonstrations (unsurprisingly the focus is on purple belts), then finally what looks to be a more artistic disc to finish off.

If you were a fan of 2009's Purple Belt Requirements, the new set looks like it will be following a comparable format. Again, the technical instruction is not in-depth, instead picking out details, almost always extending into combinations. There is coverage of the top and bottom game, generally finishing with a submission. You'll also get some insight into passing, but best of all, there is an extended discussion about pressure.

I'm looking forward to the full release, as there was a lot of content that would fit right into my game: I've been playing a lot more top game over the last few months, attempting to build up controlled pressure. That's exactly what Dean investigates, with his trademark smooth transitions. It's a DVD directed at senior belts, but not necessarily because of the techniques. I'm not talented or flashy, so to me, a lot of DVDs look cool, yet leave me thinking it's restricted to the latest Brazilian whizz-kid sensation, not me.

This DVD is advanced, but it didn't feel out of reach in the same way: to pull these moves off takes experience and timing rather than incredible athleticism. As in Purple Belt Requirements, the instruction is rapid, but there is more than enough detail if you've got the necessary mat time to recognise what's happening. Dean's selection is even more of an overview than Purple Belt Requirements, providing you with options and ideas rather than a carefully mapped out game plan.

It feels a bit like when you have a few higher belts on the mat before or after class, having a technical exchange. "Yeah, you could do that, but how about I go here?" "That looks good, but what about this?" I'm intrigued to see what else Dean is going to be sharing with the class, as he progresses to the undergraduate level of BJJ instructional.

__________________________________

Tonight's class was a de la Riva back take I've seen before, but with a few different details, as Dónal has his own way of doing things. You're in de la Riva, hooked around one leg and holding the bottom of their trousers with your same side hand. Your other foot is pushing into their other leg, while your free hand is looking to grab a sleeve. They aren't letting you get the far arm, so instead, you grab their near arm. Swivel off to the side, lift your hips up, then kick your hooking leg through, so you can curl your instep all the way around their far hip.

Swing your other leg over their arm, trapping their limb, getting your foot behind their leg. Shimmy your hips to get square behind them, or alternatively, using your hooking leg to twist their knee, so they are presenting you with their back. When you're behind them, switch your grip on their trousers to the other trouser leg, then switch your sleeve grip to the back of their belt. With both feet behind their knees, kick forward to drop them in front of you and take the back.

I did some drilling and focused light sparring with Mike before class again, which proved useful for sparring, as it meant I did a lot of passing butterfly guard. I was tending to secure a collar, lock my elbow inside my knee, then work to shove down their leg and step over, or crush down with my hips. I was doing something similar during class, when specific sparring de la Riva. I definitely prefer to force half guard in order to pass, which in the past I've worried is something I rely upon.

Still, it is better than having no passing option at all, which is how I frequently feel in open guard. If I can develop a method of getting to top half from most open guard positions, then that means I can move into a situation I understand how to pass. It would be better to be able to pass a greater variety of guards with confidence, of course, but I'll take what I can get.

Also as has been the case over the last few months, I was spending a lot of time in top half or side control. Partially that's because I've been avoiding anything that puts strain on my neck, but I would also assume that it's because at GB Bristol the instructor almost always pairs you up for sparring. That means I'm normally with people about my own size, so I don't get squished on the bottom as often (unless I'm with somebody much better than me, like Dónal).

Even though I can get to those dominant positions, I continue to fail to launch much of an attack from there. Again, need to think about combinations, rather than just going for an americana over and over again, or always looking for my step over triangle positions. From what I've seen, it could be that Brown Belt Requirements is coming along at just the right time, as it deals with the same kind of positions I've been reaching. Handy. :)

18/10/2011 - Gracie Barra Bristol (de la Riva)

Class #425
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Donal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 18/10/2011

Jiu Jitsu Style issue 5 is now out (you can get JJS through iTunes, in the US or in the UK, among other countries): if there are any students from Gracie Barra Bristol reading, those pictures from the photo shoot a while back are included (so, the one before Mick Wilson), with an exclusive Geeza interview! Lots of other great stuff in there too, from a variety of writers, not just me. ;)

My wrist was a little sore from DIY this week, but I decided to just wrap it up and train anyway: I've been to class plenty of times when one of my hands wasn't working right for some reason, and it isn't too difficult to avoid relying heavily on the injured limb. The focus for this class was still open guard, but moving on from last week's spider guard into the de la Riva. After his usual excellent series of drills, Donal talked through the basic position.

You start by establishing the de la Riva hook itself, wrapping your leg behind theirs, curling the toes of your foot around their inner thigh for control. Your same side hand grabs their trouser leg on that side: you can also grab the heel, but it is easier to kick the foot free (though I know black belts disagree on this, as I've been taught both as the 'right' way to grip). Your free foot pushes into their other knee to stretch them out.

You also want to grab their far sleeve. Simply reaching for it is too obvious, as they will then pull their arm back. To be more cunning about it, you can grab their arm as they reach to grip your pant leg, or indeed grab their sleeve after they've already grabbed your pant leg. If you then kick that leg forwards while maintaining the grip on the sleeve, you're left holding their arm while they have nothing.

From that basic position, Donal progressed to a sweep. He wasn't sure if this had a name, so I'm going to refer to it as the Donal sweep. You want to get your de la Riva hook right across their far hip. In order to do so, push off with your foot on their far knee and pull down on the sleeve you've grabbed. That should enable you to turn onto your shoulder, while also providing you with the base to kick your de la Riva hook straight: Donal described it as making your body into a sort of surf board. Wrap the hooking foot around their far hip.

Return your shoulder towards the mat, so that you can then put your remaining foot underneath the de la Riva hook. This results in a sort of x-guard, but using a deep de la Riva. Sit up towards their leg, then as you drop back, pull your knees towards your chest while also yanking their sleeve. This will knock them forwards and off balance. From there, you should be able to simply turn in the direction your bottom knee is pointing to knock them to the mat.

All the way through, you need to make sure you keep that same side grip on their trouser leg. This now comes into play as you look to pass. Maintaining that grip, you can either slide your knee through to cut over their shin and pass, or you can establish a cross face and move to pass from there. You might even find you can step around and go the other way, towards their back.

Donal also briefly covered some simple tips on passing the de la Riva. The main thing is that you can simply turn your knee outwards to pop their hook off your leg if they haven't got it deep. You can also try pushing down on their leg and kicking your foot free, if they aren't being careful to maintain a good grip.

We did three bits of sparring, starting off with just trying to maintain the position as they looked to pass, which stayed fairly light. That was mainly to get used to de la Riva. Next, it was the same 1-2-3 thing, where all the 1s go on their backs and stay there, then the 2s, then the 3s. On my back, I was pleased to get the Donal sweep, even if it was just the once. After that, I was generally just maintaining and wriggling.

While trying to pass, I had some success, if I was able to either knock off their de la Riva hook by pushing the heel or stepping back and shoving their other leg down, preferably both. However, I was also sometimes being too complacent and sitting down, trying to rely on base, which isn't sensible if they've still got those strong grips. I need to make sure I break the grips first, then move into the pass.

Finally, we did free sparring. I was vaguely looking for the de la Riva, but kept ending up in spider guard or simply wiggling my legs around instead. I had an interesting roll to finish, where I was looking to grab an arm from turtle and roll them over. I isolated the arm and turned, but although I got on top, I wasn't able to secure the position. They still had their arms locked around a leg, so reversed me right back.

I also need to be careful, because at one point during all my spinning and twisting, I had my leg in a very vulnerable position. If I hadn't luckily pulled it free just as they were driving forward, I could have easily busted up my knee. That serves as another important reminder that I can't just dangle my legs anywhere I want, as my knee is not made of steel. I need to stay tight and pay more attention to the safety of my leg.

05/10/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #348
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 05/10/2010

Great news for Scramble, which is now available over at Black Eagle. Matt has just released a very swish rash guard and grappling tights. If I actually trained no gi, that's definitely what I would be looking to wear. I'm still hoping he's going to release some combat trousers to go with the hoody I bought a while back. :)

Technique for the advanced class was taking the back from De La Riva, which I’ve seen a couple of times, like the variation on the Paraestra DVD. As Kev mentioned, it also got some exposure on the UK scene a while back when Michael Russell managed to pull it off during a great match at the Kent Open with Andy Roberts (around the 01:12 mark):



From De La Riva, especially when they’ve angled themselves more side-on, get your free leg over their arm, so that the foot is behind the same leg you’ve already hooked. Switch your hand from their sleeve to the back of their gi or belt (whichever you can grab: note that you can also use this to pull yourself around). Kick your initial hooking leg through, to get a hold of their far leg. Scoot round, using your hooks on their legs to get behind them. To finish, grab their belt with both hands and pull down, then flick your legs out. This should knock their legs from under them, leaving you in a perfect position to take their back.

Sparring with Howard again, we were still starting from guard, so I had another chance to work on passing. It went much the same as in the beginners class, but as this wasn’t specific sparring, that meant I could still play from guard and under side control (where I must have spent a good 80% of my sparring time over the course of my jiu jitsu, maybe more). On a more positive note, the option of going to my knees under side control is finally starting to sink in, as I’m finding that I don’t always look to get the knee in and recover guard these days.

Not that I ever manage to move into some kind of single leg from there, but I did manage to roll back into guard after going to my knees at one point, which made me happy. Still, I need to be wary of getting my back taken, keeping in mind Nathan’s advice about getting the elbow and knee in the way as you turn, so they can’t insert a hook. I’m also trying to make sure I don’t let people settle in side control, and set up my defences before they pass. I’ll have to look through those side control escapes by Braulio again, as that’s been helpful over the last few months.

Finally I went with Kev. As ever, he was taking it easy and giving me space, so I was looking to try and work my escapes, getting my knee in when I could, and also trying to keep my balance. I was attempting to work my way free from either side control or knee on belly a lot: I tried somewhat ballistically spinning out, but as I’m certain Kev could have prevented it or taken my back if he wanted to, I should try to do that more technically rather than explosively.

Another great thing about being back at Kev’s is that I feel comfortable enough to sit out a round of sparring to write up some notes. Very helpful, as otherwise I would find it difficult to keep all the techniques from both classes in my head, especially as I’m tending to type this up the next day.

I’ll be training again Thursday, although Kev is doing a night shift at work (he’s a fireman), so Sahid will be taking class. He’s a very good blue who keeps winning everything at tournaments, so I’m guessing purple can’t be that far off for him. I'm not sure whether I'll feel sufficiently energetic for the extra hour of sparring afterwards, as previously I've tended to skip it, but might try and force myself for this second stay in Bucks. After all, best way to get better. :)

05/10/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #347
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 05/10/2010

As I’ve returned to Buckinghamshire for at least a couple of months, while I look for work in Bristol (as my gf is now there permanently), I can again benefit from the excellent training at RGA Wycombe under Kev Capel. It was nice to see my old training partners, like Howard and Callum, were all still there, and of course chatting to Kev himself.

Basics class began, as it always does at RGA Wycombe, with a technique from GB Fundamentals. This time, it was the guillotine escape, when they’ve sunk it from their guard. Drive forward and come right up on your legs, so that you’re shoving your shoulder directly into their neck. With your same side hand, grab their wrist and free up some breathing room. Your other arm will loop under the other side. The pressure should enable you to loosen up their grip and pop your head free.

That was then followed by another Kev trademark, teaching both sides of a position. He began with a basic guard pass from the knees. Classic grip to start, holding both their collars with one hand, a bit below their chest, the other hand on their hip. Bring your hip hand knee out, which should provide space to bring the other knee into their bum.

Both hands will now shift to their hips, acting as a brace for you to gradually shove your own hips back against their cross feet, until you can break open their guard. As soon as there is space, bring your knee up the middle for combat base, then step your other leg over. The raised knee will slide over diagonally in the same direction.

As you move through to pass, underhook their far armpit with your same side arm, using your free arm to pull up on their other sleeve. You also want to jam your head next to theirs, driving their head over to the other side, which will make it tough for them to turn. From there, you should be able to progress through to side control or scarf hold.

The difficulty I always have with the guard break, if I can even get to that position, is generating the right leverage with my arms and hips to break open their guard. If you are against somebody with long legs, which therefore makes it tougher, the key thing is to get your knee up the middle. Even if their legs are still closed, bring that knee up. When I asked Kev, he suggested the Roy Dean guard break I saw at that seminar last year.

For the flipside, Kev went through a De La Riva sweep. They are in combat base. First, you want to loop your same side leg behind the knee they have up - if they’re keeping their foot in tight and leaving no room, push them sideways with your leg, grab their heel and pull their foot out, to give yourself some room.

You want to get your leg right through, so that you can hook your foot around their ribs on the other side of their body. Your other foot will go to the knee they have on the floor. With your same side hand, grab their same side heel, while your other hand will grab their other sleeve.

Push into their knee on the floor with your foot and pull on their sleeve, aiming to stretch them out. Ideally, you want to put them in a position as if they were going for a breakfall over their shoulder. You can then tilt to the side to roll them over, coming on top. Slide your knee across diagonally and go for the pass, as before.

Specific sparring was from guard, and I was getting anywhere near passing Howard’s guard. I keep saying it, but definitely need to re-read my notes from Kev’s private lesson earlier this year. I was failing to deal with grips properly (just blocking them rather than removing them), and I also need to be careful I’m not leaning forward when I stand up, and as ever, absolutely have to drive those hips forward and put them under pressure.

Underneath didn’t go much better. I was trying stuff, but kept being to relaxed about letting them pass one leg, by which time I wasn’t able to do enough with my other one. I attempted to move into position for a triangle a number of times, and on about the fourth attempt, although Howard got his other arm back through, I was able to lock my feet and thought maybe there was some kind of omoplata option. Triangles are rare enough for me, but I still want to keep working that classic switch between triangles, omoplatas and armbars (on the extremely rare occasions I’m anywhere near the right position).

01/09/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #338
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Norby Nowak, Birmingham, UK – 01/09/2010

As at RGA Wycombe, I tried to scribble some notes down, as otherwise I’d probably struggle to remember the techniques from both sessions. At Wycombe, I felt particularly comfortable, so I’d happily just sit out some sparring to take notes. I’m not quite at that stage with GB Brum, so instead I did what I used to do at RGA HQ, which is write up notes during the warm-up for the second class (seeing as I’d already be pretty warm from doing the whole beginners class).

Speaking of the Roger Gracie Academy, a new affiliate is opening up soon, and they’re holding a seminar this Saturday at 12:00 to celebrate. Better yet, it’s going to be completely free and open to anyone. Unfortunately, although I will be in London, I’m at a training course (for home maintenance, randomly), so can’t attend. Still, sounds like it should be a good event: further details here.

As this is the last week of De La Riva, Norby went through some more complicated techniques, with legs in all sorts of complicated tangles. He began with something relatively simple, in order to introduce the first technique. You’re in De La Riva, but they point out the knee of the leg you’ve hooked, popping your foot free. So instead, you swing your leg around, then bring it back sharply, bumping their leg. Your foot comes around the front, to push on their hip: make sure you don’t bring it further across, or you’re in danger of getting disqualified (due to the potential danger to their knee.)

This sets you up for an x-guard sweep. From the previous position, either grip their foot on the hooked side, or wrap your hand behind their foot. Your other foot, which was pushing on the inside of their other leg, now hooks behind their knee. The first foot is going to go behind their leg, so that the foot is on the other leg. However, the knee remains behind the first leg: this is important, as otherwise they can just push it out of the way. Finally, your free hand is going to grab the bottom of their same side gi trousers.

After all of that intricate leg work, the sweep is nice and simple. You just extend their legs to knock them to the floor. From their, you can either stand up and initiate a pass, or go for a footlock. If understood correctly (I’m not big on footlocks, so I may well have missed details), the key there is to keep your forehead on the mat, with the blade of your forearm pressing into their Achilles. Keep shifting your upper body towards their other leg, arching your back in order to get the submission.

Another sweep without the spaghetti legs starts similarly, with a leg looped behind theirs, the foot on their hip. This time, you have your other foot on their other hip, still with a grip on the foot of the leg you’ve trapped. Simply raise your hips, pinch your knees on their trapped leg, and drive them to the mat with your knees and the pushing of your feet. Again, you can either stand for the pass or try for a footlock.

Specific sparring was De La Riva, so I was looking to pass in the same way as before, grabbing a leg and moving around. I also tried to concentrate on getting my hips to theirs, sprawling my legs and staying tight. That sometimes worked, but sometimes I also ended up leaving too much space, so it became more of a scramble to get their back, or with them on their side. Also, I need to remember to break their grips, instead of just trying to work with them still in place.

Underneath, I had a mixture of either getting passed easily, or some random sweeps where I didn’t really know what I was doing. That was quite fun, as I managed to knock a few people over, including somebody much bigger. However, as I wasn’t working off any technique, it felt more like a succession of random flukes than anything I could build upon. Still, sometimes I was at least trying to apply some of the principles of the techniques I’d been learning, so that’s a vague plus.

Free sparring was only one round, where I spent the first half trying to avoid getting my back taken, clinging on tightly to their arm while also keeping my elbow and knee tight, to stop them securing both hooks. Holding that arm eventually paid off, as I managed to drive through, flip them over and get to side control. That wouldn’t have worked on anybody much bigger, but fortunately they’re around the same size as me. I then moved on to my favourite attack position, the step over triangle.

After the restart, it was mostly squirming around under side control, looking to attack the arm, before finally getting a leg free and moving back into guard. I’m still too complacent under side control, and I ended up some unfamiliar positions, like really low right down by their legs. Not sure if that’s better or worse for me defensively.

Oh, and in case anyone missed it, I did an interview with multiple world champ Romulo Barral over the Bank Holiday weekend: part one is up now, and I’ll be putting up part two tomorrow. There will be five parts in total, spread out over the next month or so. This weekend, I won’t be on the internet at all, as I’m at that home maintenance course, randomly (which I’ll probably write up, but not on this blog: I’ve got a spare one I hardly ever use).

01/09/2010 - BJJ (Basics)

Class #337
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Dave Iverson, Birmingham, UK – 01/09/2010

I had an appointment that ran over last night, so couldn’t make it to my usual Tuesday basics class. So instead, as I have a half-day today, I’ll be doubling up the Wednesday class. Most likely I’ll be doing that for the next few weeks too, doubling up on Monday classes. I’ll be leaving Leamington around the end of the month, after which I’ll be at home for a while (which means I can go back to training with Kev at RGA Wycombe, which should be cool). The eventual goal is to head to Bristol, where it seems the main choice for training is Pedro Bessa. No idea how long that will take though: might be as late as next year, but we’ll see. Bristol also has the advantage that Donal from GB Brum is there already, and apparently has mats at his place for rolling, which sounds awesome.

Anyway, class tonight was more on De La Riva, going back to the initial couple of sweeps we did back at the beginning of this round of classes. For the first technique (where you pull them over your leg with their lapel) Dave added in two useful details on the foot grip, where he said it depended on if they were gunning for passing with the knee out, or driving it in and across. If they go to turn it out, grab the heel. If they try to drive it across, grab their pant leg.

Dave then moved on to the second sweep, where you spin underneath them and loop their other leg, then roll to come out on top. It was that passing element once you’re on top that was especially good this time round, as Dave added in plenty of details. He was also very helpful when I called him over to check I was doing it properly, walking me through the technique a couple of times, as well as demonstrating it again himself.

As you come on top, make sure you’re sprawled on their leg, so they can’t move into a triangle. You have your same side arm wrapped under that squashed leg, while your free arm is hooked around their other leg. Your head position is also important: this is by that other leg, facing the floor rather than looking side ways, clamped tight.

To pass, punch the arm you have under their trapped leg towards them, twisting so you drive your shoulder into them, and also bring your back leg over in a big circle. There is no need to rush this, as you can use slow, steady pressure to pass. Ideally, you’ll be driving all your weight into your shoulder, which will focus the force into their stomach.

Unfortunately there wasn’t a chance to write up much in the way of notes, as there wasn’t any pause between the classes, as I’d hoped, or a chance to sit out the warm-up of the second one. Instead, I was scribbling a couple of things down while going to get my gumshield in the next class, or when we headed over to drink water. I’ll see what its like on Monday, but might have to continue splitting the two classes across the week if I’m not able to take any decent notes.

Then again, because we did so much drilling today in the basics, that really helped keep the details in my mind. In fact, that drilling was so extensive that it took up the rest of the lesson: there wasn’t any sparring in the basics today. So, if Monday is like that, shouldn’t be a problem.

24/08/2010 - BJJ (Basics)

Class #335
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Nathan Roberts, Birmingham, UK – 24/08/2010

For those who haven’t heard, Seymour from Meerkatsu.com and Liam from Part Time Grappler are jointly running a ‘design your own gi’ contest: full details here and here, on their respective blogs, along with a specific contest site. There have been lots of entries already: the prize is pretty nifty, as the winning design will become an actual gi, sent to the creator. Given that my own dream gi would basically just be plain white, light and fit properly, I’ve not yet found my artistic inspiration. ;)

My annual trip to Aberystwyth was great fun as usual, catching up with friends and barbecues in the rain. I also got a chance to test my Scramble hoody (I think 'slidey' still gets you 10% off: purple is sold out, but there are some green ones left) against the Welsh climate, which gives me an excuse to finally put up a different picture.

Class tonight was again De La Riva sweeps, revisiting the techniques we ran through last week. Nathan had some useful fine details to add this time round, particularly on the very first sweep he taught us a while back, where you grab their collar and pull them over.

First, Nathan talked about keeping up the pressure on their far leg. If you have your leg completely straight, then particularly with tall opponents, it is easier for them to step back and release the pressure, as you’re at the extent of your reach. However, this can still work if you are able to keep their posture broken using your grips.

Nathan suggested pulling their far arm towards you: that way, your leg is secure, because they no longer have a strong base, which in turn makes them much easier to sweep. You could also just yank them forward with your collar grip, which has the advantage of making it more difficult for them to raise their torso up and establish some kind of resistance.

Secondly, once you are about to try and take them over, you can use your foot by their near leg to help you. Instead of just having it flopping there on the floor, push off with your toes as you pull down on their collar and try to roll them. That will give you additional power, making it much harder for them to stay upright.

Specific sparring went badly for me last time, as I found it difficult to do anything much from the sitting up position against an opponent fully expecting my two attacks: I was either going to pull on their collar, or try to swing towards their far leg. This time, I had a few more sweeps to play with, most usefully the one from last week where you curl your legs around theirs, then drive forward, head inside, effectively taking them down with a single leg. I managed to land it, but very sloppy considering I forgot an essential detail, which is to grab their gi skirt or belt and pull it by their leg.

Nathan had done a drill at the start of the lesson where we put our legs in that position, wrapped around one of theirs, switching so that your front foot first pointed away from them, then behind them. That proved helpful, as I found the motion a little more fluid during sparring (though my attempt was still kinda sloppy). Having had my initial sweep blocked, I could switch to that driving single leg instead.

I ran into some problems when people started grabbing my leg, my arm and my collar, as that made it rather more difficult to complete the technique. I could still get it against a few people, but especially if they were bigger, those grips were tough to shift. Fortunately the teaching on De La Riva is likely to go on for some time, so hopefully some of those problems will be addressed in future lessons.

Against another sparring partner, I managed to move into the spinning under sweep, though my opponent was a fair bit smaller than me. Still, it was nice to link the sweeps together, even if my transition needs a lot of work.

My passing was, as ever, poor. At the moment, I’m mainly just stepping my leg back and then trying to collapse onto them, which often results in a scrappy scramble. I imagine at some point there is going to be some coverage of passing De La Riva, which should help with that.

If my parents are back from their holiday by the end of the week, I’ll be looking to head home for the Bank Holiday weekend (as my gf is away in Belfast). That means that I will aim to train in the Friday basics class, so I can either head down late on the Friday, or early on Saturday.

18/08/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #334
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Norby Nowak, Birmingham, UK – 18/08/2010

Yep, more De La Riva sweeps tonight. We began by reviewing the options from last week. All of them begin by holding both sleeves, then establishing the De La Riva hook (wrapping your same leg behind their knee, hooking their inner thigh with your instep). Grab their heel, then push on their far leg and simultaneously sit up. Move your same side hand from their heel to wrap behind their knee, then transfer the other sleeve to that hand behind the knee.

From here, the first sweep is to grab their far collar with your free hand, still pushing with your leg on their leg, then pull them down and out, rolling on top. From here, maintaining your grips, pass the guard. Note that even should they try and block your hips with their hands, your can roll over the top, twisting your body.

The second sweep starts the same, but this time, when you switch their sleeve to your knee hand, they push down with their free hand to release the grip. You switch your grip to that hand instead, then swivelling through, reach for their far leg with your arm (wrapping around the outside), then roll them in the direction they’re facing to coming up on top.

The third sweep was one we hadn’t covered before. This time, they manage to free both of their hands. As this is gi, you still have the option of grabbing their belt and pulling it tight with the hand your have behind their knee (or if their gi has a long skirt, like the judogi I wear, you can grab that instead).

You are now going to switch the position of your legs, so that the one closest to their leg wraps around, your foot pointing backwards. This will be on the side they’re facing, Your other leg also curls back, so that your knee is touching your other foot. In other words, it is the same position as a common stretch for your legs. Finally, grab the gi material by their far knee with your other hand.

Maintaining both grips, drive forward into their leg, making sure your head is on the inside of their hip (so, like a single leg takedown). Due to your grip on their far knee, they can’t just step back. Once they fall, lock out your arm to stop them moving that leg. From here, you should be able to easily pass, as one leg is immobilised by their belt, the other by your hand.

The next sweep follows on from that. Should you find your leg position, you can try it with your legs wrapped around the other way (so, your foot with be touching your knee, but behind them). You probably won’t have enough leverage, but this does put you in position for a similar sweep to before, where you swivel to your back, then roll them over in the direction their facing, using your grip on their knee to help.

They have both their hands free, so may well try to base out. That isn’t a problem: all you do is kick your legs up to disrupt their balance, then roll in the other direction (i.e, the direction opposite to the way they’re facing), pulling that far knee away from you as you do so, in the direction it is pointing. From here, you should be able to pass as before.

I felt my wrist was sufficiently rested to try specific sparring today, although that didn’t go too well. I either got passed very quickly, or ended up fighting from half-guard. I managed to sweep a couple of white belts, but in a fairly sloppy fashion. Passing didn’t work too well, as while I was circling my leg back and around then trying to pass, I’m missing some details, as I was often still struggling to pass their knee. I also got caught by a lovely sweep from one of those same white belts, who got a grip on the back of my gi and rolled me right over.

There was a large French contingent visiting today, which made for an interesting change: most of the people I sparred were from that group (several brown and purple belts, plus a couple of whites). However, during free sparring, I ended up with two regular GB Brum members. First was a big blue belt I’ve rolled with before, who tends to take things fairly easy, so I thought that would be a good idea given my wrist.

The second was a white belt I haven’t sparred before, where the pace was also relatively relaxed. He must be fairly new, as I kept getting into position for a triangle. Having said that, I failed to finish any of them, as often happens. While I could lock my legs, I was normally either too stacked, or couldn’t slide my legs into a proper triangle: presumably I wasn’t scooting back enough, or creating a sufficiently decent angle.

I had a go at switching to an armbar a few times, but he immediately got a secure grip by clasping his hands. I’ve got some idea of how to break that from mount, but was at a bit of a loss from guard. Something to work on, though I’m not normally going to get the time to sit there and ponder like today, as the pace wasn’t too quick.

I’m off to Wales tomorrow, but should be training again on Tuesday, as normal.

17/08/2010 - BJJ (Basics)

Class #333
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Nathan Roberts, Birmingham, UK – 17/08/2010

Class began with some unusual drills tonight, starting with a sort of ‘musical belts’: when Nathan said ‘go’, everyone had to rush to grab one of the belts in the middle of the room, of which there weren’t enough for everyone. Whoever was too slow was left doing burpees in the middle. I’ve never had the quickest reactions for that kind of thing, so naturally I found myself sweating rather than with a belt in hand.

The next drill still used the belts, but this time, we shoved them in the back of our own belts, to form a ‘tail’. The idea this time was to face your partner, and pull their tail free. First, you weren’t allowed to use any grips, which then came back in during the second round. Again, I was pretty terrible at this: my stand-up is crap, so I frequently found myself without a tail.

My left wrist was twinging a bit, but seemed to be holding up ok. That would be tested later, as the technique was again a De La Riva sweep (which I presume will be the case for long while, given the couple of months that were spent on side control and mount. The set-up was the same as before, starting with a grip on each of their sleeves and your feet in their hips. Swing one leg out, then swivelling your body, wrap it around their same side leg, hooking their inner thigh with your instep.

Once you’ve got that secure, let go of their same side sleeve and grab their heel, or alternatively low on their trouser leg (but not inside the cuff, as you’ll bust your fingers. It’s also illegal in competition, IIRC). With your free leg, push just above the knee of their other leg, while simultaneously rising to a sitting position, wrapping the arm that was on their heel around the back of their knee, feeding the sleeve you were holding with the other hand to the one now by their knee. You want to hug that knee in tight while also push straight out with the other leg: this will disrupt their posture.

Nathan stressed the importance of keeping that pressure on their leg, as if you leave any slack, they can step back and pass. It is also key to hug that knee while pushing the other leg, to immobilise them. Your other leg is on the floor, but ready to come up and pinch in towards them if they somehow get free of your arm.

Having broken their posture, you’re ready to sweep. Your pushing leg goes to the floor, while you drop your back towards the mat, spinning towards their far leg, reaching with your free arm. You are aiming to grip around the outside of their far leg: continue to maintain a tight hold on both their knee and their sleeve with the other arm.

Continue the momentum of your spin, trying to knock them over, yanking with the arm on the trapped knee. It will help if you keep their trapped knee tight to your chest: if that knee ends up on your stomach or armpit, they’ll be able to base, meaning you’ve basically just set them up for knee-on-belly.

Should they still base out even if you’ve done everything right (possible if they’re bigger than you), use the legs you have around their knee to disrupt their base and complete your roll. Either way, once you come up on top, you should be in a great position to pass the guard.

As ever, this works much better in drilling than against resistance. Specific sparring started with you already sat up, with an arm around the knee and your foot in place, pushing on their far leg. From here, you were supposed to try one of the sweeps we’d been learning over the past couple of weeks.

I failed miserably. Every time, my partner had no trouble at all either sitting down and passing, or getting my leg out of the way sitting on me. I was struggling to keep up decent pressure on their far leg, and also couldn’t seem to hold a secure grip on their knee. Of course, it is more difficult when your partner knows exactly what you’re about to do, but nevertheless, I clearly have a long way to go with De La Riva. On top, it was less difficult, as again, knowing what was coming generally meant you could recover your base and slide to the side for a pass (although I did still get swept once).

My first partner for free sparring was George, who is a couple of kilos lighter, but very strong for his size. However, he did leave a few gaps in side control, meaning I could slip in a knee, and I was normally able to snatch at half guard. I was also looking to wedge a knee or foot in the way whenever possible (though I need to be careful, as sometimes those extended grabs at half guard depend at least partially on flexible, which has resulted in a sore inner thigh a few times in the past).

The last spar was a chance to practice my half guard passing, as this time my partner was the one snatching at half guard, but I didn’t take the opportunity as much as I should have. I kept just putting my knee on the floor to try and slide into mount, or flop and look to see if I could slowly wriggle my leg free. I need to go review the half guard passes I’ve learned in the past, as I wasn’t being very technical.

Should be training again tomorrow, as I’ve got some more time in lieu to use from work. Then on Thursday I’m off to my annual Aberystwyth trip, which is something I always look forward to: it tends to be wet and rainy, but I love the landscape. Wales is definitely somewhere I’d like to live in the future, if the chance ever pops up (though my dream homes are still New Zealand or Canada: really enjoyed the time I’ve spent in both those countries. Spain would be cool too, if I ever get a handle on the language).

11/08/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #332
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Norby Nowak, Birmingham, UK – 11/08/2010

There was more De La Riva action tonight, beginning with the same sweep Nathan taught yesterday. I felt it more on my wrist today, so had to make sure I was sweeping the other side to avoid too much strain. A key point I hadn’t been doing enough last time was keeping the leg straight all the way through, rather than straightening as you pull them other. That means their posture remains broken, making it easier to roll them to the mat. Also, I found myself ending up in a better position for some reason, as I didn’t have to clear the leg in the same way.

The second De La Riva sweep was a little different. This time, once you get to the point where you’re sitting up and switching their sleeve to your arm under their leg, they use their other hand to push down, then yank their trapped arm free. In response, you grab the sleeve of that other hand instead, which sets up you for a different sweep.

Having secured that grip, swivel towards their other leg and reach through with your free arm, so that you’re gripping around their inner thigh. Your legs will now be on either side of the first leg you attacked, meaning you can now lock them together, clamping your knees tight. Continue the spin to knock them over, so that you end up on top.

There isn’t much they can do to block you except swing one leg over. You can pass under the leg, shoving through with your shoulder, as if you were executing a single underhook pass. Alternatively, go in the other direction, twisting so that you legs touch the floor and you’re facing the ceiling. This clears their leg by spinning over the top of it.

One thing to note is that you maintain that grip on their sleeve throughout. That means that if you use the usual grip, where you make a pocket of their sleeve with your thumb and hook it round your fingers, it can be painful as you spin and roll with the sweep. A pistol grip is much kinder on your fingers, but less secure.

That also meant I was feeling the strain in my wrist even more with the second sweep. Either side involved some tension on both wrists, so I had to be careful. It also showed me that it hadn’t sufficiently recovered to risk in sparring. So, I sat out of specific De La Riva rolling, instead watching how people swept and passed. Bradley was particularly instructive, as his passing functioned by swinging his leg backwards, looking to step through, with smooth technique. I tend to try and stay close and crush forward, but watching other people try that, Bradley’s approach appeared to be far more successful.

When it came to free sparring, I could guard my wrist more carefully, so did a few rolls with people I felt I could trust not to slam into my injury. That automatically meant they were going light, but it was still a useful exercise, as like yesterday I had to rely on my legs to try and control my partner. I was also even more conscious of keeping my knees close to my chest to stop them passing, and attempted to keep in mind the option of rolling backwards over my shoulder to recover guard (though that didn’t work too well).

In open guard, that was ok, and I also found I could still work to try and escape from side control with just the one arm too, as long as I pre-emptively made enough space with my knee. However, when I ended up on top in half guard, it was much tougher without the use of both arms, as normally I’d lock them around the head and armpit and use shoulder pressure to try and pass. Still, that did mean I was more relaxed, jumping over to see if I could dislodge my leg by moving to the other side (though again, that wasn’t particularly successful).

I also had a good long chat with Christian, who had some interesting info about the new central location for Gracie Barra Birmingham. Apparently, it’s huge, on two floors, with the top floor featuring a mat triple the size of the one at Stevie B’s (which isn’t exactly small). There’s also going to be a cage, and various martial arts on offer, like muay thai, wrestling and MMA besides the core of BJJ. It will also be right by Five Ways station, which is very handy.

Hopefully my wrist has now been sufficiently rested, although given that I have to do a lot of typing both for my job and writing commitments after work, I’m never going to be able to avoid using it completely. So, we’ll see if it’s any better by next Tuesday.

10/08/2010 - BJJ (Basics)

Class #331
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Nathan Roberts, Birmingham, UK – 10/08/2010

I’ve been chatting to Andrew (an old friend of mine who now lives in Birmingham) about BJJ for a while, and tonight he decided to pop along and give it a try. I haven’t seen him in a while, so it was nice to both introduce a friend to the sport, as well as just having a chat.

His first class would prove to be a little challenging for a beginner, as it was based around the De La Riva guard. Nathan built up to the main technique gradually, beginning with some movement drills to get people more familiar with using their legs to control an opponent. Shrimping forwards down the mat was followed by grabbing both of your partner’s sleeves, putting both feet on their hips, then pulling them forward. The idea was to gauge their weight, then balance them on your feet, using leverage rather than strength.

Another good exercise was kneeling next to your partner, then dipping your shoulder and rolling over their leg, swinging your own legs. Using your legs to push against their sides, you roll to the other side and come back to your knees, without using your hands.

Finally, Nathan had a handy drill where you lie on the mat, while your partner stands in front of your feet. You then hook your feet behind their legs, keeping your feet tense. They will step backwards slowly, while you will use those hooks to pull yourself along with them.

This fed right into the technique, which was a De La Riva sweep. Before the technique itself, Nathan went through a method for moving into De La Riva. You are holding both of their sleeves, with your feet on their hips. Being by swinging one leg out and around the back of their knee, hooking your foot around their inner thigh. You should swivel towards their leg while doing so, meaning that your hips are no longer square to theirs.

You can now release the grip on their same side sleeve, dropping that hand to the ankle of their trapped leg (or the pant leg, depending on your preference). Your other foot will slide down their leg, just above the knee, and push. This should force them to step back, and disrupt their balance.

Sit up, then drop your hooking foot to the floor, transferring the control to your same side arm, which will wrap around their leg. Feed their other sleeve to the hand you now have behind their leg. That leaves the other hand free to grab their same side collar.

That sets up the sweep. Still pushing on their knee with your foot, pull downwards and up past your head on their gi, rolling towards the collar-grip side. This isn’t a strength move, but about leverage and momentum. Keep rolling until you’re on top of them, maintain steady pressure. Maintain your collar grip, which will now slip further behind their head. Move around towards their head, past their leg, settling into side control.

Watch out for their arm: if you’re not careful and their limb is free, they can use that to push off your side and spin away. So, you want to both block their hip with your hand, and also keep your weight down, driving a shoulder into their face to keep the pressure on them.

As my left wrist is still quite sore from getting whacked last Tuesday, I was glad that sparring was almost entirely with small people. That meant I could rest my left hand, which also meant open guard became more of a challenge, as I couldn’t secure a proper grip on their left sleeve.

I was mainly trying to practice open guard, using my legs, and also still working on jnp’s ball technique. With the one bigger partner, I ended up in closed guard most of the time instead, where I definitely missed having the use of my left hand for grips, but fortunately I think he was taking it a little easier than normal, as I mentioned my left wrist was knackered.

Sparring tomorrow may be a tougher proposition, as I won’t be able to keep the pace light and steady in the same way. So I may have to either skip sparring, or hope that there are a few people there I can trust to take it easy, so I don’t make my wrist any worse (not that it’s terrible, but

Strangely enough, I saw another face I knew in the changing rooms after class, Brad, who I met back when I spent a month at Combat Athletics in Canley. He’s been training regularly for a while now at GB Brum, though I think he mostly sticks to the no-gi sessions, which is why I haven’t seen him around before now.

Should be training again tomorrow, as I’m able to get off work thirty minutes earlier, which gives me time to make the right bus to get my train connection. Hopefully Andrew will enjoy the Foundation class on Saturday (should be a bit less steep a learning curve than De La Riva!)