29/07/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Guard | Passing Combinations vs Knee Shield

Class #583
Artemis BJJ (Impact Gym), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 29/07/2014

Dónal started off with a simplified knee cut, stepping between their legs, then driving your shin across diagonally, keeping your elbow in tight and hips close to theirs. The most common problem with that is you leave too much space, whereupon they manage to slip a knee in front of you. Knee shield can be a real pain to pass.

From a failed knee cut, the leg squash comes in handy. Grab the knee of the leg you're trying to slide across (Dónal prefers to cup under the knee, but you can also grab the trouser material: the problem is that may move and give them room to adjust enough to establish spider guard or something like that). Lift and move it across to the opposite side. To do that effectively, you'll need to turn your non-knee sliding foot so that the toes are pointing in the direction you want to move. Bend the knee and shift in that direction. Also, don't use your arm at the end, or you'll end up lying on it. Instead, as you move them across, rely more on your chest to move them over, meaning your arm is free to hook around the hip and block their shrimp.

As you slide across, you're going to break what is normally a cardinal rule of BJJ: putting your hands on the mat. This is for base, with one by their same side armpit, while your remaining hand posts on the other side. The intention is to end up sprawled on top of their legs. More specifically, your groin is by the back of their knees, ideally with the point of your hip pressing into the middle of their thigh. Although it feels counter-intuitive, don't go up on your toes. Sink your weight through your hips into their legs, with your own legs draped on either side.

Almost certainly they are going to move, especially if you're being mean and digging the point of your hip into the 'dead leg' point of their thigh. Once they do, backstep and pass around the other side. This feeds smoothly into mount, pulling their knees towards you and wrapping your leg behind their knees. If you like, you can also lock your legs as you wrap them, making the transition to mount particularly secure.

If you can't get that, there is the hip slide pass against knee shield (no idea if it has a name, as I just made that up). You have a grip on their collar. Put your elbow by their hip, using it as a means of driving your weight through them, as opposed to being a white belt and trying to dig into them with the elbow. Lean through and slide over their knee with your hip until you can slip through. To finish , shove their legs back with your hips, secure side control.

In specific sparring from open guard, I worked more on the knee cut rather than the bullfighter from last week, seeing as we'd just been practicing the knee cut. Fellow RGA Bucks purple belt Gareth was visiting, which was very cool. That also meant I had a higher calibre of training partner than normal, immediately demonstrated when unlike everybody else, he went to deep half. I tried holding that off by underhooking his arm to stop him from turning and rolling me over, then attempted to get into a position where I could exert some pressure, controlling the arm (again, to stop his turn). I need to review my deep half passes, as I only remember that first part about underhooking the arm: this is why it's useful to have purple belts there, they can put in stuff like that. ;)

I think I sort of passed at one point but then got reversed. I may be mixing together a few rolls though. With the next guy, I clamped his shin to his leg by wrapping it up, then simply swinging to other leg back to pass, but that wouldn't normally work. I'm sure once he's seen that a few times, that passing route will be gone. Underneath, I wanted to go into the cross-grip guard to practice the techniques I'm teaching this week, along as the ankle pick I taught yesterday. I couldn't get into position, or they put up the other knee. Thinking back, that should really be a good set-up for a scissor sweep: I tried it once, but sloppily and I don't think I pulled them into me enough with the collar grip to control their weight. I'll have another look at the version Kid Peligro shows in his book, supposedly a variation he learned from Rickson.

I hit the tripod at one point, but generally I'm not making a smooth enough transition to the sickle when that doesn't work. It's too telegraphed and too clunky, so more drilling required on that. While generally this week I felt that I've been better at conserving my energy in closed guard, I did have a roll where I fell into that enervating pattern of clamping down in closed guard. I eventually got the sit-up sweep, but that method of closed guard (grabbing them and pretty much trying to hold them down with an arm or two) is terrible for me. I don't have the strength, and even if I did, I'd burn out quickly. So, deep collar grip more often, timing, better sensitivity to their body movement.

Class finished up with a purple belt spar. I was looking to block the pass, where normally I could get back to half guard at worst. I sort of got the toe grab sweep, but I made a silly error of grabbing the toes after reaching under his legs, rather than over the butt and around the legs. Although I was able to come up and drive through, due to my poor grip, I got reversed straight away.

Loads of teaching for the next few months, as it will be just me teaching every class until 16th August (apart from this Thursday). Most exciting is that the women's class begins tomorrow! Yay! :D

24/06/2014 - Leg Squash Pass from Half Guard

Class #575
Artemis BJJ (Impact Gym), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 24/06/2014

Really well structured class tonight from Dónal, where the warm-up fed perfectly into drills and then the technique. One of Dónal's favourite warm-ups is the 'gorilla', where you post on your fists, squatting low in a crouch, then hop sideways pushing off your knuckles. He added in a variation on that, sliding through, along with the similar 'duck walk', where you're walking forwards in the same crouched position. That was followed by guard pass drilling, where Dónal made a point of telling everyone to crouch low as you passed: this improves your base, as if you rise up and try to drive into them, it is easier for them to shove their feet into your hips and lift you over their head. That's impossible if you're in a crouch.

The technique continue the same principles. I've seen the leg squash pass a few times now, beginning with a private Dónal taught last year. That time it was in combination with a knee cut, whereas tonight Dónal was demonstrating it from half guard. Pop your trapped knee up and slide it over their leg slightly. Grab the knee of their other leg, cupping underneath. Lift and move it across to the opposite side. This is where the drilling from earlier comes in, using that sideways motion to bring their legs across.

Sprawl back on top of their legs. More specifically, your groin is by the back of their knees, ideally with the point of your hip pressing into the middle of their thigh. Although it feels counter-intuitive, don't go up on your toes. Sink your weight through your hips into their legs, with your own legs draped on either side. Almost certainly they are going to move, especially if you're being mean and digging the point of your hip into the 'dead leg' point of their thigh. Once they do, backstep and pass around the other side.

If they don't move, then you could bring your lower leg back to hold their legs in place as you backstep. That has the disadvantage of slightly easing off the pressure, so Dónal suggests simply swinging that backstepping leg up, which keeps the weight through the point of your hip.

Sparring was mostly with beginners, starting off with a brief bit of nogi (which I wouldn't normally do, but it was really hot, so as I had my spats on anyway, I just took my gi off and threw on a shirt). I put my gi back on for the next couple of rolls, working on top control and eventually moving in to an omoplata (though I don't think I would have got that on someone more experienced: he left his arm in as he was trying to escape from a previous position). Last roll was with a more experienced white belt. I tried the same two sweeps from the open mat, looking for the underhook. He immediately put in a whizzer, which was perfect as that meant I could try the whizzer counter roll.

However, he was wise to it, so released the whizzer. I attempted to switch to the toe grab, but couldn't quite get it in position. I think I then sloppily knocked him over somehow, ending up on his back to wriggle through the rear naked choke. I used the thing Rickson taught at his seminar last year, where you blocking their defending hand while pushing your choking arm through. Seemed to work well.

03/10/2013 - BJJ at Hit Fit with Dónal

Class #526
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 03/10/2013

It was much busier tonight, with a blue belt on the mat as well as the two purple belts (Dónal and I). Still, the vast majority were beginners, to the extent that most of them didn't have a gi yet (though I'm guess some of them may well have been training MMA and the like in the past).

Dónal began with a basic knee cut drill, where you put your leg in the middle of theirs, then cut it across their thigh. That was followed up by lifting under their knee if they blocked, turn to the other side, then push that leg across and flop down on top of it. In other words, this was another simplified version of a private Dónal has taught me before: it's very interesting to see how he strips it down, as that's a useful skill for teaching.

Next up was a basic butterfly sweep. Scoot in, hook one foot under their thigh, while your other foot is a bit off to the side. Bring your arm around their back and under their arm on the hooking side. With your free hand, grab their same side arm and pull it inwards (they will normally be gripping your trouser leg), then drop your shoulder sideways and kick up with your hook.

Sparring was from butterfly, where I'm particularly weak: I should really follow my own advice from a while back, when I last taught butterfly, but I invariably go for either spider or closed guard. I sucked on the bottom today, unable to do a whole lot even against beginners (many of whom weren't wearing a gi, which didn't help, but I wasn't getting far with those who were either). On the plus side, I'm continuing to experiment with the simple concept of pulling them towards you to get them to sit back, so you can sit-up sweep. I need to rebuild a functional guard game, so that will be one part of it (the sit-up sweep has always been my most successful sweep from guard).

I also got a reminder of the old elbow grind guard break, which hasn't happened to me in a long time. On the one hand it's crude, pure pain compliance and therefore low percentage. On the other hand, a beginner doesn't know any better than to grind their elbows into your thighs, so it's up to me to defend and neutralise it. Generally, you can just pull on their elbows, or I guess open the guard and go to something else, like spider. Although there's a little voice in the back of your head if you do that, shouting "No! Don't let them think elbow grinding works!" ;)

Passing went better, which is a complete turnaround from a few years back, when I saw myself as a bottom player (although again, there was a big experience gap). I went for the knee cut every time, then a single underhook stack pass if that wasn't working. Though I wasn't dealing with the blocking hand into the hip properly: should have brought my hips over to bend the wrist, or insert my knee by the elbow to bring their arm out of the way.

13/03/2013 - Private: Passing Details

Class #494 - Private #006
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 13/03/2013

Today's lesson was a little different from the others, as it was less clearly focused. This time round, we mostly just did some very light specific sparring on passing to work out some potentially useful additional details. That makes sense, as we've done a fair bit of work on passing already, so a kind of review is useful at this point.

When I was trying to pass in previous lessons, I was having some trouble getting to the starting position, crouched low, grips on the leg and collar, pressuring forward. Lots of people were shoving back forcefully, though that did set me up nicely for the bullfighter pass instead (as Dónal mentioned, higher belts are unlikely to fall into that trap). I should also remember to twist my leg inwards to make it harder for them to push it back. Another key point I'm still forgetting is to grab their collar and pull their shoulders off the floor. This is absolutely essential, as it makes it much tougher for them to sweep you.

The first of many useful tips related to when they pull your arm forwards. If you simply pull back, it will probably be hard because they've got a strong grip. Instead, turn your hand so your little finger and elbow are pointing down. That gives you a far stronger structure, so it should now become a lot easier to pull your arm back.

If you can't get your arm as far back as you would like (e.g., if you want to get your hand back to push on their ankle), use your forearm instead. You can also trick them by manipulating the direction of their force, like you would when trying to clear the arm for a RNC. In the context of passing, you push forward to lift their foot up off your hip, they start pushing it down to counteract, whereupon you immediately switch and continue that push down.

You can then move into the strong passing position, shoving their leg under your thigh to put it out of commission. Similarly, when pushing their knee across your body you can use your forearm. This time it is a matter of efficiency. Pushing it with your hand is less powerful then using your whole forearm and twisting your body. That provides better leverage.

When you're doing the leg squash pass, grip their gi collar with your free hand, don't base it on the floor. Swing your leg up to keep the pressure on their thigh. That collar grip should be relatively low down on their lapel, because that means you can stop them turning away. Lock your elbow by their other hip: they are going to find it tough to turn from there. With the lapel grip, you can just reel them back in.

Yet another good tip relates to when they try for an underhook. They start to get their hand through for the underhook. Trap your elbow against their hip, pressing into their other hip with your own. This should lock the arm in place. Make sure you're manoeuvring them flat onto their back, bringing your chest forward, to stop them shrimping away.

Dónal had a little point on cross facing too. You can just bring your arm into the side of their face, lifting up your elbow. This will work even if you aren't putting your hand on the ground. I'm teaching a class on top side control in a couple of weeks, so will see if I can add that detail in.

Something else to keep in mind: don't focus too much on what you're used to if there is an easier option. The example that came up today was when they have that grip on your arm and sit up. I tried to force half guard as usual to pass from there. However, it uses less energy to just go for the knee cut as usual: when I did it after Dónal pointed this out, it felt like a very 'Dónal ' movement, fluid and natural. Cool!

06/03/2013 - Private: From Knee Cut to Leg Squash Pass

Class #491 - Private #005
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 06/03/2013

Back to the knee cut, starting off with a review of what we learned last time as usual. Due to the switch to a v-grip on the ankle, I kept forgetting to drive into the leg and grab the collar, as I was thinking too much about the ankle positioning. Remember that if you do go for pushing the ankle, Dónal advised that you don't want to push it too far across, as then it becomes geared towards one pass rather than leaving your options open. He therefore suggesting pushing it under the middle of the thigh.

The main point of today's lesson was to add in another pass I can switch to if the knee cut is blocked. I'm sure it has a name, but I'm going to call it the leg squash pass, for reasons which will become clear. You've gone for the knee cut and started to slide over their leg, but they've prevented you moving forwards, perhaps by framing with their arms.

Grab the knee of the leg you're trying to slide across (Dónal prefers to cup under the knee, but you can also grab the trouser material: the problem is that may move and give them room to adjust enough to establish spider guard or something like that). Lift and move it across to the opposite side. To do that effectively, you'll need to turn your non-knee sliding foot so that the toes are pointing in the direction you want to move. Bend the knee and shift in that direction.

As you slide across, you're going to break what is normally a cardinal rule of BJJ: putting your hands on the mat. This is for base, with one by their same side armpit, while your remaining hand posts on the other side. The intention is to end up sprawled on top of their legs. More specifically, your groin is by the back of their knees, ideally with the point of your hip pressing into the middle of their thigh. Although it feels counter-intuitive, don't go up on your toes. Sink your weight through your hips into their legs, with your own legs draped on either side.

Almost certainly they are going to move, especially if you're being mean and digging the point of your hip into the 'dead leg' point of their thigh. Once they do, backstep and pass around the other side. This feeds smoothly into mount, pulling their knees towards you and wrapping your leg behind their knees. If you like, you can also lock your legs as you wrap them, making the transition to mount particularly secure.

If they don't move, then you could bring your lower leg back to hold their legs in place as you backstep. That has the disadvantage of slightly easing off the pressure, so Dónal suggests simply swinging that backstepping leg up, which keeps the weight through the point of your hip.

You don't have to do that off a knee cut, of course, you can start with the leg squash. With the same grips as the knee cut, Dónal had a little detail in regards to the elbow of the arm you're using to grab their collar and pull their shoulders off the mat. Bring that elbow over their knee, so you're on the outside. This help you control it, meaning that you can slide across straight from there into the leg squash. As you're not going for the knee cut, you're doing this instead of lifting their knee up off the floor and pulling it across.

From there, I headed straight to Geeza's class.