18/10/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Takedowns & Spider Guard Shoulder Variation

Class #599
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 18/10/2014

I have never been overly fond of takedowns, but as a few students have asked about bringing the fight to the ground from standing, I decided it's time I tried adding some to the warm-up. I want something that is broadly effective, easy to learn and relatively low impact (as the mats where I teach aren't especially thick, though there are some crash mats we can use for dedicated throwing practice).

Thinking back through the throws I've learned (quite a few over the years, and I guess I did technically train judo before I started BJJ, if only briefly), I thought that single and double legs would be best, especially as they also don't require a gi. I ran through the seoi-nage just to refresh my memory, but I think that's too high impact for the beginners I teach, especially as they haven't done much breakfalling yet.

The entry for both the takedowns I wanted to use is the same. Grab their collar and elbow, pulling that up and you drop down into a crouch and shoot forward. Wrap up both legs and drive through for the double leg, or alternatively, Roy Dean's version where you slot a leg through first and then drive. That means you end up passing smoothly at best and half guard at worst, but it's a bit more fiddly than simply blasting forwards.

The single leg starts the same, except you just wrap up the one leg. Pick it up and trap it between your legs. You can either 'run the pipe' by jamming your head into their same side hip and turning, or adjust to bring your hand under their leg while the other grabs around their other hip. From there you can bump them up and drop them. For beginners, I think running the pipe is better, as they don't need to worry about lifting wrong and hurting their back or something.

Another entry is to do an arm-drag, then dropping for the leg. That could be a better option, as firstly it means they don't need a gi and secondly the arm drag is useful generally rather than just as an entry. I'll try that on Monday and see how it goes. Randomly, I also had a play with flying triangles, as I'd been reading Dave Camarillo's old Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu to refresh my memory on takedowns. I'd forgotten he doesn't have any double or single legs in there, but I did get tempted by the flying triangle. Especially with my lovely new spats, which feature an awesome samurai triangle. ;)

A very helpful purple belt at the open mat suggested the arm drag to me, along with a great drill I want to try. This is for throws like the seoi-nage where you spin in to take people down. Step in and swivel as normal, then drop to throw. Instead of throwing, roll onto the floor. That means you are working pretty much the same motion as the throw, but without the difficulties of breakfalling, keeping your back safe, placing your partner as you throw, etc

That same purple belt also shared what he was currently working on, a spider guard variation that looks fairly similar to what Xande does on his DVD. The difference is that this one has you put a foot on the shoulder rather than the crook of the elbow, also pushing into the same side hip with your other foot. The hand grips are the same as Xande, pulling on the same side sleeve (that purple uses a pistol grip, which saves the fingers, but a typical pocket grip works too) as the hip-foot side, then cross gripping the collar.

Drilling that with Paul, I found that on the bottom it enables me to be much more proactive than my usual lasso spider guard: I'm definitely going to keep this in mind next time I teach my usual lesson on maintaining spider guard. Flowing into the push sweep felt more natural, plus the sweep just shoving with your legs from spider guard felt more powerful too. Triangles are also easier and it feels simpler to recover your shoulder push if they knock off your foot.

On top, I was finding that there are some disadvantages to be aware of, due to putting the foot on the shoulder. That leaves the arm on that side free, so I was able to repeatedly use that hand to push Paul's leg off my hip, having popped my hips back. To get the foot off my shoulder was slightly trickier (I brought my hand to my head in order to use the elbow to knock the foot away), but again once I had it clear the pass was right there. So, that's something I'll need to be aware of when using this guard: perhaps just a matter of switching between the shoulder and arm? I'll find out as I play with it more.

11/10/2011 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Spider Guard)

Class #424
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Donal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 11/10/2011

Some people may remember I mentioned I was working on a new BJJ history project, as an extension of my Jiu Jitsu Style magazine articles about team history. I've now taken that a step further, so I'm trying to organise the data (which still isn't anywhere near complete, so please drop me a line if you can help on dates, team lineage, further historical sources, etc) in a sort of 'BJJ teams family tree', here.

Tonight was another fantastic class by Donal: I'm really enjoying his teaching style, and again there was an almost permanent smile on my face the whole lesson. He came up with more cool warm-ups, too, including the great open guard drill from last time, where you move around your partner using only your legs without putting your feet on the floor. Last time I kept things simple, but this time I was happily spinning around on my shoulders into inverted guard. I think it's the same drill Abmar Barbosa shows on his DVD set (which looks hilarious sped up).

When I trained at RGA HQ, I was often early, so got to watch Felipe Souza teach the kids class (he is the best teacher of kids I've ever seen: the only guy who comes close is his student and Future Champions head teacher, Jamie Hussein). The biggest difference was that a large chunk of those kids classes was devoted to games, bringing in learning by stealth.

The reason I mention this is that I got the same vibe from some of the cool stuff Donal brought into his warm-up. For example, he split the room into two groups, at either end of the mat. He then told us to spider walk towards each other (so, you're on your hands and feet, but facing the ceiling), then try and 'high five' as many people as you can. One important difference: you have to high five with the soles of your feet. Great way to work on your agility, getting used to using your feet like hands and of course decent cardio too, not to mention fun. ;)

Randomly, I also found that a passing drilling dredged up a memory of an old kung fu drill I used to do in Zhuan Shu Kuan. From what I remember of the history, backed up by Rod's trip to China, ZSK is supposed to be based on 'long fist' kung fu, which I guess is where the lunging stances come from. The drill I'm thinking of was a sort of diagonal punching thing.

You lean forward on one leg, keeping the other straight behind you, then punch out at an angle. Switch to the other leg, then punch the other way. The BJJ application is that you're passing the guard, having grabbed one of their trouser legs. Side step towards their head and punch with that grip simultaneously, to move their leg out of the way. The ZSK stance seemed to fit. Strange, as that's not something I ever thought I'd use again. ;)

Technique was still spider guard, which makes me very happy, as I've been trying to work on that for a good while now. Donal started off with a sweep, from when they are still on their knees. Starting with your feet on their hips, grab both sleeves and put one foot on their bicep. Push with your foot while also pulling their other sleeve forwards, so that your hand holding their sleeve is right by your head.

That should knock them off balance, as their arm is dragged forward on one side, while on their other you're pushing it right up. Keep on pushing with that foot into their bicep (remembering to curl your toes for extra grip), manoeuvring it over your opposite shoulder. When they're totally off-balance, use your free leg to chop into their same side leg, while continuing to pull on their sleeve and pushing with your bicep leg. From there, you should be able to roll into mount, similar to a scissor sweep.

If they manage to resist that and stay on their knees, they are still going to be off-balance, leaning right forward. That means it is a great time to transition to a triangle. Simply pull them arm even more forward as you slide your leg off their bicep and into their neck. Lock your legs by their head, also trapping the arm, then move into the triangle as normal.

As in Big Mick's lesson and the GB Brum method, we were split into groups of 1-2-3 for specific sparring, from spider guard. Interestingly, Donal used that to teach another technique, as before we started, he recapped what he said earlier about going deep with your lasso, hooking the foot around their back. This was for when they stand up: swing your leg out to one side in order to then swing it back to wrap over their arm, establishing your lasso spider guard.

Passing, I wasn't getting all that far, partly because I wanted to give the person on the bottom a chance to work, but mainly because my open guard passing is awful. I was able to work on the principle Geeza taught a while back, however, which is to use their strongest grip (in this case, the lasso wrapped around my arm) as a 'hinge' for your pass. I just kept trying to move around that leg, while gripping the other leg with my hand.

Underneath was fun, as I had a chance to start throwing in the various other sweeps I've been practicing. My favoured tripod sweep to sickle combination fits in nicely with spider guard, when they stand up: the sickle seemed to work better, for some reason. As you've already got such a deep control on their arm, that also seemed to help with coming straight up and into a dominant position, which is one of the things I often flail at with a normal tripod or sickle sweep.

Like last week, Donal also started free sparring with a round of flow rolling, though this time it was more jiu jitsu chess than what I'm used to (i.e., instead of just flowing through positions, you took it in turns with your partner). For free sparring proper, I had the usual relaxed roll with Luke. I was looking to go for an arm-wrap choke, but he was wise to that, so I couldn't bring the other elbow down across his chest while getting a grip on the collar.

I did somehow end up in mount later, where I aimed to use grapevines for control (or rather, Kev's tip on just crossing your feet underneath them), then working to either go for an ezequiel, scoop their elbow and walk my fingers up to loosen up an arm, or try and reach behind the head to grab the wrist for twisting arm control.

Having had a cool email exchange with a woman who recently started training BJJ in New Zealand, I'd been thinking about grapevines from mount earlier. She mentioned that in her class, someone had dissuaded her from using them, while her instructor went so far as to claim he could break her ankles if she put in grapevines. I've read elsewhere, somewhere on reddit, that grapevines are frowned upon in some schools.

I'm not sure why, as I use them all the time: it's something I taught earlier, in my maintaining mount lesson. Could be I've got a different definition of grapevines, or that I just haven't come across somebody who will punish me for putting in grapevines. Food for thought, though I take solace in the fact that top black belts like Demian Maia and Saulo Ribeiro both demonstrate grapevining on their instructional DVDs.

09/12/2009 - Future Champions Training

Class #270

BJJ School, (BJJ), Felipe Souza, Battersea, UK - 09/12/2009

When Felipe taught at RGA, I was vaguely aware that he did some charitable work with children, teaching them BJJ. I also remember a guy coming to RGA with a group of kids through that charity: it seemed a worthwhile cause, and a cool way to use BJJ to give back to the community. It is something Felipe's instructor, Leão Teixeira, has been running in Brazil with great success for many years now. Hopefully it's a concept that can spread not just here to the UK, but to the US and beyond as well.

A couple of months ago, Seymour from Meerkatsu reminded me that there was now a UK branch of Teixeira's charity, as Seymour had done an interview with Felipe. It's called Future Champions UK, and following Seymour's link, I realised that this was not only a cause I could get behind, but I've currently got lots of spare time I could use to help them.

After various emails and phone calls with the person responsible for the administrative side of things, Farah, she decided that it would be helpful if I came down to meet her and the other people involved with Future Champions. She was also keen that I took a look at the work they do. Unfortunately Farah has been feeling a bit ill recently, but Felipe was available for a meeting, along with the main guy involved in teaching the kids, Jamie (that same guy I had seen back at RGA a few years ago).

That also meant I got the chance to train in the Wednesday mixed class at Felipe's club, the simply named Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School. I've never trained there before, so that made for an interesting experience, as well as being a great way to meet up with an old BJJ friend (Felipe was my first BJJ instructor).

Felipe's judo background is very clear, as after a typical warm-up of running round the room and shrimping, everybody did a hundred throws. I'm more used to doing about ten or twenty at most, so this was a heftier workout than normal.

In terms of technique, Felipe was brief and to the point. He began with a simple guard break, similar to the cross-grip and stand method, but with the same side arm. Secure a grip on both collars as usual, then grab their same side sleeve and pull that arm across.

Step your foot to the hip on that side, maintaining good upright posture, then stand. Let go of the collar grip as you do so, instead pulling up on the arm. Push their other leg off your hip with your other hand, ready to pass.

The next drilling section set the tone for the class. Felipe said that once you've opened the guard, you can use whatever passing method you want to move through into side control. Essentially, it was an opportunity to practice what you already know, refining technique rather than being taught something specific to practice.

A similar pattern followed when Felipe drilled spider guard. If you are the person on the bottom for the previous technique, you could grab their sleeve as they grab yours, then sit up to grab the other. Felipe then showed how from there you can adjust into spider guard, swimming your feet around to press on their bicep. You can also shift one or both feet to their hips, as well as hooking inside their leg (this is especially useful if they try to move to the side, as you're then attached to them and will automatically swivel to face them.

We practiced that for a while with our partner offering resistance (Felipe stated it should be around fifty percent), without actually completing a pass. The idea was to let the person on the bottom work. This became more complex when Felipe said you could add in sweeps and submissions (but still no passes). It also reminded me how pretty much the only thing I know from spider guard is to hip up into a triangle, so that's what I did. When it came to my training partner's turn, he soon showed just how many things I could be trying, and should (at least one basic sweep, if nothing else).

My specific sparring from guard with training partner Antony didn't get very far. I was looking for the twisting guard break again, and this time didn't make the mistake of just shoving my arm out there for the double collar grip. Instead, I made certain to pin the hip first with my same side hand, pressing into the belt.

However, I wasn't able to get the stand and twist too well, partially because I think I need to review the technique. I tried both hips, but wasn't get the motion properly, and I also think my posture could be much better. I had more luck than normal with Kev's suggested follow up, which involves sitting on their arm as they try to hook your leg. While I almost managed to reach under their back a couple of times to grab that sleeve, I wasn't quite quick enough.

I also had a brief attempt at Roy Dean's guard break, where you press into their biceps, head into their stomach, then pop up, doing a second jump to get your knee into their tailbone. As ever, I struggle to make enough distance, because I'm already too far forward with my arms to get my knee in place. Again, posture issues, as well as where to grip.

Free sparring was with Eamonn, one of several brown belts present (there was also another black belt and a few purples). In keeping with most senior belts, he took on a coaching role for the spar, rather than just the opportunity to smash me. He had lots of handy tips both during and after the roll, three of which especially stuck in my head.

First, when they're trying to pass from half guard, you want to block their upper body somehow. I've been tending to put my arm over their head in an effort to keep them tight, but that merely leaves me wide open for shoulder pressure. Eamonn advised instead to get an arm into the throat, preventing them crushing down with their shoulder. Alternatively, an underhook on the side opposite the shoulder they want to drive through.

Second, I was getting my butterfly hook in on the leg in butterfly guard, but not doing anything with it. Eamonn talked me through a sweep, telling me to secure the other arm and then go for the technique. I'm tending to just sit there rather than do anything with the position, a part of my long-standing problem with being too passive overall.

Third, again a very old problem, is the way I tend to just flop under side control, mount, knee-on-belly etc, rather than being proactive in escaping as soon as there is space. I'm too comfortable with lying there and waiting, which isn't a good habit. Partially it is also my worry over expending energy, which is something I need to come to terms with: jiu jitsu unfortunately isn't magic, so it does require a bit of effort as well as leverage and technique.

Only downside was that I aggravated the slight leg injury I picked up yesterday, so probably won't make it to training at RGA High Wycombe tomorrow. Still, I may have missed that anyway, as my girlfriend is coming up for a visit.

____________________________

After the session, I headed down with Jamie and Antony to the kids class they teach as part of Future Champions. Jamie is an inspiring teacher: from chatting to him, I could see how much he loved his work, and the enthusiasm was infectious. The results have also been impressive. Kids with behavioural problems were apparently present, but I can't say that was reflected in the disciplined set of children I watched train a couple of hours ago. They responded quickly to instruction, and I was especially surprised at the control and care evident in their sparring: I can think of many adult white belts who are nowhere near as considerate to their training partners. It is amazing what participating in a disciplined, physical activity like BJJ can accomplish.

The training went beyond the physical, as there were question and answer sessions at several points in the class. As there had recently been a grading, much of this was related to the purpose of the belt system. As adults, it is all too easy to forget that they can be much more than a mere piece of cloth. At Future Champions, the belt represents success at school, good behaviour both on and off the mats, respect for your parents, teachers and fellow pupils, along with a symbol of just how hard you've trained. It was great to see the children come up with these answers unprompted, exemplifying the Respect, Discipline and Responsibility ethos of Future Champions.

I'm very much looking forward to getting more involved with Future Champions, and I hope that some of the people reading this are interested in helping too. At the moment, a temporary Future Champions UK site can be found here, but there will shortly be a revamped version hitting the internet. Still, you should be able to get a good idea of what the charity does from the current version, and there is also a contact page (which is how I initially got in touch with Farah).

So, if you think you could lend a hand, please drop them a line! :D

25/01/2008 - BJJ (Beginners)

Class #116



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Gustavo Dos Santos Pires & Luciano Cristovam, London, UK - 25/01/2008 – Beginner

Exciting news for any fellow history fans: Isabelle Pafford, who did the awesome Ancient Mediterranean lectures last term is returning with a series on the Roman Empire. Reason that excites me is because when I emailed her at the end of last term to ask if she'd be webcasting the course the following year, it sounded as if History 4a wasn't happening again in 2008. So I'm thrilled to see 'Roman Empire' pop up on the Berkeley webcast list - more than adequate substitute! :D

As has been the case all this month, I'm just going to beginners this week. I'm still feeling a bit hot in the head and slightly achy at work, so will continue taking it easy in class, making sure I hydrate.

Gustavo and Luciano were taking class again tonight, starting off with a throw I've not seen before. Starting from the arm and collar grip, the hand that’s grabbing the collar moves under their armpit and grabs the gi fabric. The other arm lifts up their elbow and pulls them in, as you step your left leg back. This should put them up on their toes, whereupon you sweep their leg by swinging your foot, finally bringing them over your hip (at least I think you use your hip somewhere in the motion, but got a little confused, as one of my training partners was almost exclusively using his hip. At first Luciano nodded approvingly, but then told him to use his leg – presumably the guy was either throwing slightly differently before, or his hip wasn't quite so noticeable).

We followed that up with lots of work from the spider guard (where you have your feet pressed into their biceps, grabbing both their sleeves with both your hands). First, passing the spider guard, which begins by gripping the bottom of their gi trousers. Bring your hands together and downwards to get their legs close to each other, then step backwards and put their feet on the floor. As they sit up, push their legs to one side, step round and go into knee on belly (so if you stepped round with your left, you'd put your right knee into their stomach). Having asked, you apparently don't need to break their grip on your gi first.

If they manage to stop you from pulling their feet to the floor, there's a variation to pass the spider guard. Instead of gripping the bottom of their gi trousers with your hands on top, move underneath their legs and grip the fabric at the bottom of their gi trousers there. Again, bring their legs together, but this time move forward and push out your hips, shoving their legs towards their head. That leaves their bottom and the back of their upper legs for you to sit on: drop your weight on there, then slip into side control, wrapping up their head and their legs with your arms.

Finally for technique, Gustavo showed us (through Luciano's translation, as before) how to maintain spider guard. If they try to pass, straighten out one leg into their biceps, while blocking their other leg with your shin (low on their leg, with your foot ready to hook). For example, when they step to your left, you'll block that leg with your left shin and foot, shoving your right leg straight into their biceps.

At first, I wasn't quite sure how that worked: am I supposed to hook round their leg with my blocking foot? Should I be coming in close? Luciano then explained that the important point here was the straightened leg with the foot pressing into the biceps. That sets you up for several sweeps – he quickly showed me a variation to make the point, though I didn't quite catch exactly what he did, but I ended up on the floor (I think from my weight being forward, meaning he could carry my motion through behind him by using his foot). Another guy then asked what would happen if he just stepped over the blocking foot - he also ended up on the floor for his troubles. So, stepping over their foot can also set the bottom person up for a sweep.

Sparring turned out to be brief. We went from spider guard, and were expressly told not to move into closed guard. My natural instinct is to move to half guard and then work back to closed guard, playing with open guard along the way, so this felt a little weird. I was with a rather enthusiastic noob, who at some point brought his weight down on my arm as he passed. My arm must have been in an awkward position at the time, as I felt a sharp twinge somewhere in my upper arm (or possibly shoulder). Last time I injured my left shoulder, I was out for seven months, so taking no chances I sat out the rest of sparring. Whether or not it was serious, I didn't want to take the chance of making things worse.

Hopefully I'll be ok to train another beginner class tomorrow (and this time my excuse won't be illness, but the train I need to catch soon after). However, as both Zaf and Christina urged, I really must get back to the advanced class! If that lingering illness hasn't gone by then, I may have to take some more time off to make certain. I'll soon be on holiday in Spain anyway, which will mean I miss at least a week of training either way.