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. ;)

21/06/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Leuven 2016 | Introductory Speech, Lapel Guard & Knee Cut Counter (Chris Haueter)

Class #730
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Chris Haueter, Leuven, Belgium, 21/06/2016

Chris Haueter is a name to conjure with, a member of the Dirty Dozen and legend of American BJJ. He has also become known for delivering long, entertaining speeches, thanks to a class that turned into a lecture at last year's Leuven BJJ Globetrotters Camp. I was therefore expecting he might give a repeat performance in his first class tonight, which indeed he did. The 2016 edition of the Chris Haueter Lecture Series has been uploaded to YouTube, virtually in full:



It was an engaging talk, though personally I'm more interested in specific technique. Clearly many others were ready to sit down and get a long talk, as even when he asked for questions, many of them were about street fights. There was some technique in there too, focusing around the guard.

Haueter's first point was the importance of hips, head and hands, the old school approach to grappling. If somebody is trying to punch you, it makes sense to control their hands, head and hips, as then they will have trouble whacking you. Controlling the head means they can't headbutt you, a tactic that used to win a lot of MMA/NHB fights back in the day (Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman were especially successful with it).

There were lots of other interesting tidbits that came up. He mentioned that while he used to be a strong believer that everything he did should work in both nogi and gi, he has changed his mind. When standing, he recommends staying on your toes (similar to how you should be on your toes when inside closed guard too).

He talked about four 'pressures' in the guard: chokes, joint lock, sweeps and standing up. The idea here was that the person on top has to hold you in guard, as otherwise you will move around that guard (e.g., stand up, move to the side etc). Haueter also likes to get their gi out of the belt as soon as he can, from standing.

That's where he got into his first 'proper' bit of technical demonstration, on a palm up, palm down choke in the closed guard. Grab their same side lapel and same side sleeve, aiming to lock that forearm against your stomach. 'Cast' the lapel slightly open, like you're casting a line when fishing. Insert your arm gripping hand into that collar you've opened up, as deep as you possibly can.

Your arm is extended, which Haueter uses to block any punches on that side. He then swings them to the other side, swinging his body underneath in the opposite direction, elbow into their sternum. Your free hand grabs the material by their opposite shoulder, then drop that elbow into their sternum too. Square back up and choke.

He also discussed lapel guard, much to my surprise. It was cool to see how somebody with a solidly old school mindset approaches a new school technique. Pull out both of their lapels, gripping inside their arms, while they are in your closed guard. Pull out as much as you can on one side, gripping that with both of your fists. Move that off onto their arm, which can lead into all sorts of chokes. You can try reaching an arm around their head, passing the gi tail to that hand and locking it off. Your other hand stays inside, under their chin. Drive that chin-hand up while pulling with your gi grip for the first choke.

Another option, bring their gi around their head instead of your arm, gripping the end with your same side fist. This time, you close off the choke by grabbing your gi-gripping wrist with your other hand to bar across their neck. Pull the gi and apply pressure with your arm to finish. It's even possible to simply wrap the gi all the way around the neck, getting the pressure from ratcheting your arm with a single hand gripping. You can also attack the arm, wrapping the gi tail over their upper arm, then pushing their wrist: the gi becomes the fulcrum for the joint lock. You can use that same gi grip to stop their arm posting, moving into a scissor sweep.

I got in a technical question myself, about the knee cut counter, my main focus for this camp. When you ask Chris Haueter a question, like some other old school instructors I've seen (e.g., Rickson), he will get you to show what you mean before answering. That meant I needed to put my phone down to head over and demonstrate. Fortunately for me, the very awesome Oscar picked up my phone and immediately started filming, so I have it all on my phone after all. Thanks again, Oscar! :)

First off, keep them constantly off balance. If they are leaning in towards you, attempt to lift them up, possibly even over your head (Haueter used a de la Riva hook to help with that). If they are leaning back, he keeps the pressure, holding the heel of the knee you want to cut, also with a firm grip on the other lapel. Should they manage to start that knee cut, make sure they can't push your opposite should flat, as that really stuffs your counters. If they pull up on your arm, even worse.

If they try to push you flat, drive your shoulder in hard. If they pull up on your arm, reach behind their knee cutting leg, lock in a strong quarter guard. As they pass, come up, scramble, wrestling to get back to a good position. You might end up back in guard, but that's still better than being passed. This would be far from the last time I asked about knee cut counters: by the end of the camp, I had done three private lessons on the same topic. ;)

30/03/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #213



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 30/03/2009 - Beginner

I had an interesting chat with Bryan Hogeveen this weekend, a name Fightworks Podcast listeners might recognise from his interview a while back. If you missed that episode, Bryan is an academic currently conducting a BJJ study, for which he's asking people to fill in a survey (one for women and one for men).

Bryan is also looking to interview those who are willing to give a bit more time. I love talking about BJJ, so I was happy to get the chance to babble at length (like I mentioned during the conversation, this is ideal for bloggers, who are always looking to share their thoughts about BJJ anyway). It doesn't matter if you're nowhere near Canada, where Bryan is based, as he'll phone you from his university. It sounds like a great project, so definitely deserving of your support: for further details, check out Bryan's blog.

On a different topic, it looks as if Eddie Bravo is gearing up to follow in the Gracie Academy's footsteps, with his own version of online training, complete with the ability to gain rank through video. It should make for a revealing comparison with the Gracie University: I'm particularly intrigued as to whether or not Bravo manages to avoid the criticism Gracie University has received (which I listed back here). I've long thought that the Gracie Academy and Bravo have a lot in common, given that they both rely on sometimes controversial marketing to maintain their reputation, rather than major current competitive success (as opposed to, say, Gracie Barra with Roger Gracie, Alliance with Cobrinha or Gracie Humaitá with Xande Ribeiro, to cite just a few examples from those powerhouse teams).

Also, just noticed as I was writing this that Oli G, the undisputed king of competing at every competition ever, has set up a swish looking new site to showcase his competition videos. Check it out here.

Jude focused on chokes for tonight's session. First the basic rear naked choke. Put your arm around their neck, pressing the bony part of your forearm into their throat. Grab the bicep of your other arm, making sure not to bring the bicep arm out straight (otherwise they could potentially grip your wrist and submit you, using their shoulder to bend your arm the wrong way). Finally, the hand of the bicep arm goes to the back of their head, then you squeeze their neck between your two arms.

The RNC was followed by a lapel choke. From rear mount, reach over their shoulder and grab deep in their collar. Your other hand comes under their armpit and grabs the other collar. To finish, straighten out your arms, pushing forward and thereby squeezing your partner's neck between their lapels.

Finally, Jude went through the clock choke. This is similar to the lapel choke, except that it is applied when your partner is turtled up, and the execution is with your bodyweight rather than pulling on the collars. Once you have the grip on their lapels, drop your weight onto their neck, staying tight. In order to secure your base, put your forehead to the floor on the other side, then slowly walk round, one leg at a time, starting with the bottom leg. Your legs are acting as the hands of a clock, hence the name.

In guard passage, I kept trying the Saulo guard break without much success: still not controlling the hips well enough, which I think continues to be my main problem in somebody else's guard. I also tried standing guard breaks, getting to my feet while holding their sleeve, but need more work on establishing base and being careful with my legs, avoiding sweeps.

Underneath, I again attempted the combination of handstand sweep with star sweep. Swinging both legs to the same side works ok, but I'm not staying close enough to the leg. I need to knock them off balance by getting in tight to their thigh. At the moment, I'm leaving too much space, which is why last week I basically ended up under side control, while this week Rich caught me in a randomly positioned armbar.

Another thing I wanted to work today was replacing full guard from half guard. My aim was to grab their shoulder and leg, then get my same side leg under their knee, while the other foot trapped their calf. I'd then lift them up and drop them back into full guard. However, the problem was firstly getting that foot under their knee: can be awkward depending on how I've locked the half-guard. I'm also not getting a good grip on the arm, and when trying to grab onto the knee, my arm is too loose.

When sparring with one of the white belts, that meant I was sitting there working my way of an Americana from much of the spar. Fortunately for me, they didn't know how to finish it, but that's the only thing that meant I was able to avoid the submission. So much like last lesson, I was underneath a white belt in half-guard, though at least this time, I was working towards something specific.

It was good to see John there, who is a purple belt that weighs the same as me. I've sparred with him once before, back at RGA HQ: hopefully he'll be at Jude's regularly. He had lots of advice, such as trying Saulo's running escape under side control. I had thought that was only useful for when they had both arms on the near side of your body, but John mentioned that you could often direct their arm to where you wanted. Gave it a try in sparring and it worked ok, though obviously John was letting me have it (he took on an instructor role for everyone he sparred with: IIRC, though he's still a purple, he's been training for a looooong time).

Finished off class by buying myself one of the snazzy new RGA branded t-shirts. I've generally avoided buying stuff, given continuing lack of job, but as its almost my birthday, I thought I'd treat myself. :)