Seminar #024
Artemis BJJ, Neil Owen, Bristol, UK - 19/03/2017
Neil began with some simple drills for entering spider guard, starting with feet on the hips. Grab the sleeves, then put your feet into the biceps. The feet should always be doing a different job, one pulling while the other pushes. He also included moving to the knees, back to the hips, then lift them up. A nice, fluid drill to work on getting comfortable with open guard. Neil emphasised curling your foot around their bicep, like you're trying to grab it with a foot-hand. The same is true for the hip: curl your foot around the hip bone.
From there, get used to rotating. This was like the tips Chelsea gave in her seminar (I still need to write up her fourth one, from January), rotating to face the arm, with your outside foot extending straight as the inside leg curls in. To create pressure into the arm, push through with your heel, like you're putting a boot on (similar motion to the footlock defence). There is flexion in the foot too, for controlling the biceps.
Neil progressed to the concept of protecting your week side. By that he means the side where they can move around and pass. If you have a leg on the weak side that you can extend straight, that bolsters your defence. You want to spin so that your weak side is on the outside, your strong side is by them. They can pass around the inside, but they will get swept if you have your legs in place.
If they open your guard, they are passing. If you open your guard, then you're playing open guard. This is an important distinction. Neil demonstrated this idea by going into more detail about what he calls classic guard, getting there from as they try to open your closed guard. He prefers to grip under with his fingers on the collar grip, so thumb on top. Opposite leg on the floor and shrimp, then put your other foot on their hip. He has four points of contact: knee (into their chest), foot (on their hip), hand (on their collar) and other hand (on their same side sleeve).
If they stand, hide your outside foot. Should they grip it, you have their arm in range, which is what you wanted. Your weak side here is the outside, so the foot on that side swivels into the bicep and extends, while pulling down with the collar grip. For classic guard, he doesn't like to keep the foot in their bicep, it is too easy to weave the hand in. He prefers to keep his foot on the shoulder blade, that is much harder for them to weave their hand around.
When you have extended your legs into them all the way, it is hard for them to step around, but they might be able to go back to come off your feet. When they do that and break the connection, you could be in trouble. Therefore keep a little bit of a bend in your leg, as opposed to completely straightening them. The slight bend makes it easier for you to keep that connection between the soles of your feet and their hips/shoulder etc (your collar grip you're using to pull them in will help a lot here, leading into things later).
In terms of passing, should they have four points of contact, you need to remove some in order to pass. For example, controlling their legs, then moving your hips back in order to remove the feet. For the guard player, when you feel yourself losing those points of contact, sit up and press your collar grip into them. Move to the outside with your hips. If they move inside, your arm is strong, but if they move behind, you don't have much resistance. You therefore need to keep moving away to make sure they stay within that area you are strong. Any time there is a pause, strip the grip they have on your knee, meaning you can return to your previous position.
For stripping a grip, think about pushing the wrist over, rather than grabbing their sleeve and yanking. It's the same idea as when you're trying to remove a hook from a loop. Also keep in mind that when you are moving your hips away, they will occasionally try and drive forward. You therefore don't want to simply spin in a circle. If they manage to beat your legs and start dropping in, you can use your sleeve grip to keep pushing their arm away, same as the last time Neil taught us open guard.
When drilling, remember that with more resistance, there will be less space for you. That means the person on top needs to move in close, not giving unrealistic amounts of space. If you lose your grip, frame against their arm, moving your hips back until you can recover a guard. This should be pre-emptive, before they get in close to your hips. Your trigger to shrimp should not be when they have passed the knees and are dropping their weight into your hip/stomach. You need to do it earlier, just as they are starting to pass your knees.
Moving on to a different position, Neil talked about the turtle. He began with a drill where you are in turtle, then you post your outside arm and leg. Roll under yourself into that space, as if you're doing a really tight breakfall on the spot. You want to make a wide circle with your leg. You're reaching for your own butt cheek.
This can be applied to the previous material too. They have passed and are starting to press in. Roll away, swinging your legs through to recover guard. Your body shape is key, to avoid getting put flat. If you do that and they end up in a front headlock, you can do the wrestler's sit-out. Neil's version was a little different, hooking the leg with an arm and then firing out under the armpit.
Yet another option you could try is underhooking when the pressure comes in off the pass. However, that's a risky one, as it is when that pressure is there. Ideally you want to use one of the other options, before the pressure is applied.
The last part of the seminar was from what Neil calls classic guard. Again, you have a collar and sleeve grip, along with a foot into their shoulder (not their biceps). Your other foot is into their hip. Push with the hip foot, dragging their sleeve into your hip. Rotate your hip knee around, to move into an omoplata as you bend their arm around your leg. A typical follow-up is to square up, sit up, then get their shoulder on the ground. That isn't easy, especially if they are bigger than you.
Neil prefers to turn his knees away instead, pressing it to the ground. That makes it tough for them to bring their shoulder off the ground, as well as scuppering their ability to roll through. From there, wiggle your hips out and go to apply the omoplata. Be careful with the omoplata, it's a lot of control on the shoulder. Disentangle yourself with care, their arm and shoulder are very vulnerable. It is not like a choke, where you can just relieve the pressure and you are finished. You have to actively remove yourself from the submission.
Another option is a collar drag, switching your hips and dragging them into the space you've just cleared. Neil prefers to go to side control from there, rather than trying to jump onto the back. Be careful with this one, as it is difficult to hit this technique in sparring without smacking their face into the floor. With drilling, it's best for the person passing to let go of the legs, in order to land safely,.
Showing posts with label omoplata from open guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label omoplata from open guard. Show all posts
19 March 2017
01 July 2014
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.
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.
04 September 2008
04/09/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)
Class #176
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 04/09/2008 - Advanced
I was a bit down earlier today, but BJJ totally lifted my mood. It’s a great sport for taking your mind off stresses in daily life, meaning you can concentrate on the finer points of a side control escape or guard pass instead. I also had an interesting chat with Helen, an English Lit PhD, which further cheered me up.
At lunchtime today I decided to buy myself a headguard (or earguard, whatever the common term is), plumping for the Brute Shockwave, as it was recommended on EFN. I considered buying it from the US, but postage meant it would still be around £30, which is what it would cost from a UK supplier. In the end, I went with good ol eBay, where it was more like £20. Will be interested to see what its like to roll with one of those on.
Jude started off with a triangle from guard I think I've seen before, but always good to get a reminder. First, cross-grip their sleeve, then on that same side, grab their knee with your free hand. Place your same side foot on their hip and shrimp out, making enough space to get your other knee through (making sure you go inside their arm, not outside: otherwise they could gain control of your leg).
Press your knee into their chest to make some more space, then push them right back with your foot (I wasn't sure if you push on the chest, shoulder or arm: I think the arm, but will have to check the last time I wrote this technique up). Pull on their cross-gripped sleeve at the same time to stretch them out, then raise your hips. This should put you in position to lock in a triangle, bringing one leg behind their neck, then locking your other leg over your ankle, squeezing and pulling on the head if necessary.
We were then shown an open guard sweep, for when they're trying to pass under your leg. They have a shoulder into your leg, with their knee up and ready to press into your other leg. Cross-grip their sleeve, grab the gi pants of the leg with the raised knee, and bring the leg they're pushing with their shoulder to the other side of their head.
Now push with the leg on their shoulder, while also pushing with the leg by their knee, pulling on their gi trouser and finally using the cross grip to knock them over. Move to their side, lifting their leg so you don't crush your own foot, then turn towards their legs to secure side control. Make sure you do not turn in the other direction, as otherwise your partner will be able to take your back.
Last technique was a sort of omoplata from open guard, but I don't think I understood it properly. It starts from that same position, where they're trying to pass under your leg. Instead of putting them on their back, you knock them to the side so that they end up on all fours. This is the first part that confused me: I'm not sure if you're suppose to yank your cross-grip to off-balance them in one direction, or use your legs.
Looking around at what other people were doing, there was definitely a point where you raised up just before knocking them over, but I'm not sure how that fit in. Anyway, once you have them on all fours, bring your leg over their arm and triangle your legs, in the omoplata position. This was the other confusing part: it wasn't a normal omoplata, but one where you locked a leg under their armpit and turned the other way. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get hold of Jude to try and clarify, so hopefully the technique will be demonstrated again at some point.
During guard passage, I got in my first spar with the female purple belt I mentioned earlier, Helen: as has been the case with every woman I've rolled and/or drilled with up until now, she turned out to be another great training partner. She's both a fair bit smaller than me and was going relatively light, so I was eventually able to get to half-guard after sitting defensively in her guard for a while. I tried to implement the tips Bruno mentioned yesterday about crushing down your upper body, then raising the knee of your trapped leg, but still had trouble getting through.
Helen took pity on me after a while, and advised that I should be moving my hips towards her head. That would help to slowly loosen her legs, meaning I could pull my leg free. Thanks to that bit of excellent advice, I did finally manage to get to side control later on: definitely a good tip to keep in mind.
Free sparring kicked off with Joanna, who is currently suffering from tonsillitis. That meant she didn't want to go too hard, which is always absolutely fine with me. Worked my open guard as usual, taking the opportunity to try and stay mobile. I also attempted to get to that half guard position Oli showed us last week, but couldn't get my legs set-up. Putting the arms in place is straightforward enough, so it’s the legs I need to work on.
Next I got to spar twice with Helen. Having already given me that tip on half guard, I got some further advice on finishing sweeps. We spent most of the spar, again, in open guard and half-guard, where I was generally just trying to wrap up her legs with mine, then attempting to break her posture and knock her to one side. Managed it towards the end, though in a rather sloppy and unplanned way, but didn't capitalise, so she had little trouble escaping.
Her advice was to make sure I drive my hips forwards as soon as I sweep somebody. That way I can keep the pressure and push through to side control or mount, rather than just watching them escape. It’s a problem I've had before, such as when I finally manage to open somebody's guard, ease off for a moment and lose the chance to try and pass. Same goes for sweeps, so another good tip.
Finally, had another light roll with Bruno, who is quickly becoming one of my favourite people to spar. He always eases off and lets me work, then gives helpful advice at the end. Yesterday it was about half guard, whereas today he had some thoughts on side control. As I'd been poor on escapes with Christina yesterday, I asked him a very basic question on arm position underneath. I've been sticking my arm into my partner's throat when underneath, but the point I've been missing – as explained by Bruno – is that I need to tuck my elbow under their armpit. This means that I can drive the forearm into the neck without being so vulnerable to a kimura.
Should be training on Saturday, which will also give me a chance to catch up with my sister and niece, which is always nice. She keeps on putting up loads of videos of the baby on Facebook: well on course to becoming the most filmed baby ever, though I have to admit, the videos are all very cute. I don't want children myself, so handy that I have a sister who plans to have loads. Big plus when you know you can give back the baby and leave, not having to deal with the sleepless nights, vomit down your front, constant worries etc.
Well ok, she has thrown up on me before. Lesson there is when you’re bouncing a baby to stop them crying (which generally works great: they seem to like the motion), don't shift them from shoulder to shoulder. The results are messy. :p
I've got a bunch of reviews I'd like to get done, so hopefully the house-hunting etc will be sorted soon to give me some more time. In particular I wanted to put up some thoughts on The Grapplers Guide after my first three months, though I don't think I'll be able to give a full and fair review until a year (as things like responses to video requests and the like can take a while to get sorted).
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 04/09/2008 - Advanced
I was a bit down earlier today, but BJJ totally lifted my mood. It’s a great sport for taking your mind off stresses in daily life, meaning you can concentrate on the finer points of a side control escape or guard pass instead. I also had an interesting chat with Helen, an English Lit PhD, which further cheered me up.
At lunchtime today I decided to buy myself a headguard (or earguard, whatever the common term is), plumping for the Brute Shockwave, as it was recommended on EFN. I considered buying it from the US, but postage meant it would still be around £30, which is what it would cost from a UK supplier. In the end, I went with good ol eBay, where it was more like £20. Will be interested to see what its like to roll with one of those on.
Jude started off with a triangle from guard I think I've seen before, but always good to get a reminder. First, cross-grip their sleeve, then on that same side, grab their knee with your free hand. Place your same side foot on their hip and shrimp out, making enough space to get your other knee through (making sure you go inside their arm, not outside: otherwise they could gain control of your leg).
Press your knee into their chest to make some more space, then push them right back with your foot (I wasn't sure if you push on the chest, shoulder or arm: I think the arm, but will have to check the last time I wrote this technique up). Pull on their cross-gripped sleeve at the same time to stretch them out, then raise your hips. This should put you in position to lock in a triangle, bringing one leg behind their neck, then locking your other leg over your ankle, squeezing and pulling on the head if necessary.
We were then shown an open guard sweep, for when they're trying to pass under your leg. They have a shoulder into your leg, with their knee up and ready to press into your other leg. Cross-grip their sleeve, grab the gi pants of the leg with the raised knee, and bring the leg they're pushing with their shoulder to the other side of their head.
Now push with the leg on their shoulder, while also pushing with the leg by their knee, pulling on their gi trouser and finally using the cross grip to knock them over. Move to their side, lifting their leg so you don't crush your own foot, then turn towards their legs to secure side control. Make sure you do not turn in the other direction, as otherwise your partner will be able to take your back.
Last technique was a sort of omoplata from open guard, but I don't think I understood it properly. It starts from that same position, where they're trying to pass under your leg. Instead of putting them on their back, you knock them to the side so that they end up on all fours. This is the first part that confused me: I'm not sure if you're suppose to yank your cross-grip to off-balance them in one direction, or use your legs.
Looking around at what other people were doing, there was definitely a point where you raised up just before knocking them over, but I'm not sure how that fit in. Anyway, once you have them on all fours, bring your leg over their arm and triangle your legs, in the omoplata position. This was the other confusing part: it wasn't a normal omoplata, but one where you locked a leg under their armpit and turned the other way. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get hold of Jude to try and clarify, so hopefully the technique will be demonstrated again at some point.
During guard passage, I got in my first spar with the female purple belt I mentioned earlier, Helen: as has been the case with every woman I've rolled and/or drilled with up until now, she turned out to be another great training partner. She's both a fair bit smaller than me and was going relatively light, so I was eventually able to get to half-guard after sitting defensively in her guard for a while. I tried to implement the tips Bruno mentioned yesterday about crushing down your upper body, then raising the knee of your trapped leg, but still had trouble getting through.
Helen took pity on me after a while, and advised that I should be moving my hips towards her head. That would help to slowly loosen her legs, meaning I could pull my leg free. Thanks to that bit of excellent advice, I did finally manage to get to side control later on: definitely a good tip to keep in mind.
Free sparring kicked off with Joanna, who is currently suffering from tonsillitis. That meant she didn't want to go too hard, which is always absolutely fine with me. Worked my open guard as usual, taking the opportunity to try and stay mobile. I also attempted to get to that half guard position Oli showed us last week, but couldn't get my legs set-up. Putting the arms in place is straightforward enough, so it’s the legs I need to work on.
Next I got to spar twice with Helen. Having already given me that tip on half guard, I got some further advice on finishing sweeps. We spent most of the spar, again, in open guard and half-guard, where I was generally just trying to wrap up her legs with mine, then attempting to break her posture and knock her to one side. Managed it towards the end, though in a rather sloppy and unplanned way, but didn't capitalise, so she had little trouble escaping.
Her advice was to make sure I drive my hips forwards as soon as I sweep somebody. That way I can keep the pressure and push through to side control or mount, rather than just watching them escape. It’s a problem I've had before, such as when I finally manage to open somebody's guard, ease off for a moment and lose the chance to try and pass. Same goes for sweeps, so another good tip.
Finally, had another light roll with Bruno, who is quickly becoming one of my favourite people to spar. He always eases off and lets me work, then gives helpful advice at the end. Yesterday it was about half guard, whereas today he had some thoughts on side control. As I'd been poor on escapes with Christina yesterday, I asked him a very basic question on arm position underneath. I've been sticking my arm into my partner's throat when underneath, but the point I've been missing – as explained by Bruno – is that I need to tuck my elbow under their armpit. This means that I can drive the forearm into the neck without being so vulnerable to a kimura.
Should be training on Saturday, which will also give me a chance to catch up with my sister and niece, which is always nice. She keeps on putting up loads of videos of the baby on Facebook: well on course to becoming the most filmed baby ever, though I have to admit, the videos are all very cute. I don't want children myself, so handy that I have a sister who plans to have loads. Big plus when you know you can give back the baby and leave, not having to deal with the sleepless nights, vomit down your front, constant worries etc.
Well ok, she has thrown up on me before. Lesson there is when you’re bouncing a baby to stop them crying (which generally works great: they seem to like the motion), don't shift them from shoulder to shoulder. The results are messy. :p
I've got a bunch of reviews I'd like to get done, so hopefully the house-hunting etc will be sorted soon to give me some more time. In particular I wanted to put up some thoughts on The Grapplers Guide after my first three months, though I don't think I'll be able to give a full and fair review until a year (as things like responses to video requests and the like can take a while to get sorted).
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