25/02/2017 - RGA Bucks | Standing Guard Sweeps

Class #806
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Dan Lewis, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 25/02/2017

Dan took us on a trip down memory lane today, specifically the book Royler, Renzo and Danaher put out almost twenty years ago. That book was a warm-up for Danaher and Renzo's seminar Mastering Jujitsu, with a similar history section. It was called Jiu-Jitsu: Theory & Technique. The layout was haphazard, but including a sequence of three closely related techniques for when an opponent stands up in your closed guard: the ankle grab sweep, handstand and star sweep.

For the first one, as they stand up, if you've got a grip on their collar or head, maintain it in order to keep their posture bent forwards. At the moment you let go of that grip (if you have one) and they try to reach an upright position, grab behind their ankles (around the outside: if you grab around the inside, there's an injury risk).

Open your guard (when they stand, they are looking to open it and pass. It's better if when you open your guard, it's on your terms rather than theirs). Usually when I've seen this taught, the idea is to bring your knees together under their chest. You can also put your feet on their hips, depending on their height and how much leverage you need. Either way, drive those feet or knees into them. That should knock them over if they aren't prepared for the sweep. One advantage of the knees is you can keep squeezing your legs into their sides, which can help you use their momentum as they fall back (but be careful you don't get your feet under them too much, or you might hurt yourself as you hit the floor). Dan did it a little differently, as he focused instead on pushing with the back of your legs against their thighs.

After they've hit the mat, before they can react, come up on your hand and same side knee. Bring your hips forward on that same side. It's much easier if you move in a diagonal direction, rather than trying to go straight forward. Slide your knee on that side to the mat, keeping your hips low, also grabbing behind their head (or collar). From there, you could go to mount, s-mount, side control etc. It is an awkward position, so takes a bit of getting used to. I used a hip thrust drill during the warm-up to help: you can do a technical stand-up from here too if you find that easier, keeping hold of their leg and passing around to the side.

A good follow up to the double ankle grab sweep is another option that works off wrapping an ankle. This one is normally known as the 'handstand sweep', though invariably there are lots of other names for it. As your partner stands in your closed guard, keep your guard closed, wrapping an arm around their same side ankle. You're looking to get the crook of your elbow behind their ankle: for further control, you could try reaching through to grab your own collar. For power, range and balance, put your free hand on the floor, as if you were doing a handstand (hence the name).

To complete the sweep, you need to bring their knee out sideways. Their foot has to be immobilised for that, or they'll be able to adjust and maintain their balance. To turn their knee out, bring your hips sideways, pushing into the inside of their knee (don't go above the knee, you need to stay either next to it or underneath). Once you've pushed it far enough so their leg swivels, that should knock them to the floor. Dan's option was to bring the hip right onto the knee to push it from facing forwards to face sideways instead, which worked well (at least on one side, I had real trouble doing it on the other side). Your guard stays closed throughout, opening at the last moment to adjust into mount.

However, that still leaves them a hand with which they can post out and recover. To prevent that, you can cross-grip their sleeve. This is what Xande calls the 'muscle sweep', because their ankle is by your 'muscle' (i.e., bicep). The set up is the same as before, but this time, you don't use your free hand to push off the floor. Instead, you grab their opposite sleeve, thereby both preventing them from posting out, and also providing you with an easy way of pulling yourself up into mount.

The difficulty is the decreased leverage at your disposal. Now that you can't use that hand to push up, you instead have to really push into their knee. Make sure your grip around their leg is tight, pulling their foot right up to your shoulder. You will also use your grip on their sleeve, pulling their arm to help you. This is tougher to pull off than the handstand, but it makes the transition to the top much easier.

Dan finished with an old school final option, the star sweep. This is one I used to try all the time nine years or so ago, but have fallen out of the habit. From the handstand sweep, kick your leg so that you swivel around the leg you're hooking with your arm. Stay close, kneeling next to that leg, facing parallel, head low. Lean back to knock them to the ground. You need to be careful you aren't too explosive with this one, in order to avoid tweaking their knee. I was ending up too turned a few times, meaning that I ended up in a poor position once (if) they fell down.

The last one is an omoplata, from that handstand sweep position. You have the cross-grip on their sleeve, pass that to the hand you have around their leg. Grab their collar and pull them down with your now free hand. Turn your hips out and bring your leg over their head, like you're clamping for an armbar. Knock them down, then you can transition into an omoplata. Dan doesn't triangle his legs, as that can give them a footlock: instead, he just squeezes his knees together.

18/07/2015 - RGA Bucks | Closed Guard | Sweeps When They Stand

Class #653
RGA Bucks (BJJ), Dan Lewis, Aylesbury, UK - 18/07/2015

At RGA Bucks, the class goes through more techniques and with less drilling time: although I wouldn't teach that way myself, as a student and given I only get up to RGA Bucks every two months, it's perfect for me. It means there is lots of technique when I visit, plus I get plenty of sparring time to make sure I can roll with everybody I want to (priority is old training partners, along with people around my size).

Dan taught three options for when they stand in your closed guard, which fits in nicely with the month of closed guard at Artemis BJJ in June. Each one was predicated off a slightly different reaction by your partner. In the first scenario, after they've stood, they are trying to get their knees under your bum for a guard break (apparently a lot of people at RGA Bucks have been doing what Dan called the 'table top' position, because JT Torres taught it at a seminar recently).

First you want a cross grip on their sleeve. You might get that before they stand, but normally they will break the grip before beginning to rise up. Once you have that, you also want a collar grip. This is to stop them being able to sit back into that 'table top': if you're pulling down on their collar, you should be able to use their broken posture to keep them where you want.

Open your guard and slide down to their knees, reclosing around their legs. For the table top attempt their feet have to step in close together, setting you up for a sweep. Extend your legs, then lift slightly, turning them over to the side of the cross-gripped sleeve. Stay tight. Depending on where you land, you can either drive your knee forwards to secure mount, or squash them as you pass to side control.

Second option was the usual handstand sweep (like I taught last month), starting with the version where you grab their sleeve. As Dan noted, the sleeve grabbing one can be hard, as they can turn out their foot and resist. That's when you add the extra leverage from pushing off your hand into the handstand sweep.

The final technique was an omoplata. You've attempted the handstand sweep, but it isn't working. Instead, feed the cross grip over to the other hand, under the leg. Take time to establish that grip, pushing it in tight with both hands. Then grab their collar and pull down. Walk you leg up over their back, into the armpit. Don't try to immediately leap into the omoplata leg position, as they can potentially shrug that off and posture up.

To make it more gradual with greater control, bring your free leg over their head and push down at an angle, like you would to control their posture during an armbar. Bringing them down to the mat, maintaining your sleeve grip. Switch your grips, then the hand that was grabbing the leg grabs their belt. Push their arm around your leg, then you can disengage the sleeve grip, get up onto your elbow and switch the belt grip to their far hip. You can sweep from there too if you don't get the positioning, locking your legs and rolling through, making sure you lift your arm out of the way.

Sparring started off with Chris, my white belt drilling partner. It was cool to hear that he has been reading my blog for a while: always great to meet somebody who reads this blog! :D It was specifics from closed guard, meaning I was looking for underhooks to get into the collar clamp position I've been playing with since last month. I got the angle, pressing on his head, where we stayed for a while (he did a good job of staying patient, looking for an escape).

I went for the omoplata once I got my leg past his shoulder, but my body was a bit squished up preventing me from extending properly. I managed to turn it into a triangle by swinging around, a combination I don't normally get but should work on more. As I've gotten into this underhook thing, that should mean the omoplata becomes a much bigger part of my game.

On top, I was being a bit lazy, sticking with kneeling passes and seeing if I could get Jason Scully's sideways variation on the tailbone break, along with his 'eat the belt'. Couldn't get either, as Chris had decent control of my arm. I eventually got through with the normal kneeling break.

Then in free sparring, I went with Gareth, a purple from New Zealand who has been down to visit us at Artemis BJJ. He's a bit bigger than me, so I immediately looked to get on top and stay heavy. I wanted the breadcutter, moving to north south. I had the arm under, but getting the right positioning by the neck was causing me trouble. I should have remembered to push on the far arm and move into an armbar. Eventually I got rolled over, into the typical "getting squashed during pass attempt" position, same as what happens with Chris J back at Artemis BJJ. I need to work on 'walls' in open guard, maybe sit up more? Koala guard is another option, also breaking grips more actively.

There was a lot more motion with Stu (another purple, who runs RGA Milton Keynes with his partner Hayley, who is also cool: she wasn't feeling well and sat out of sparring, where I had a good chat with her to catch up), probably because he's smaller. He was going for my neck and back. I just about wriggled free, looking for knee cuts. I mostly tried for the kimura, but not securing it from good positions: e.g., I had it during his pass, under side control, when he was moving to my back, etc.

As he kept turning to turtle, I got into the crucifix, but forgot about getting the collar with an arm around the neck. We ended up in reverse mount, most unusual, then he was able to gradually catch me with a bow and arrow right at the end. I popped out of the first attempt, but then he got it tighter and I couldn't manage to get his elbow. Nicely done! :)

19/05/2014 - Artemis BJJ (Omoplata Sweep)

Class #570
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 19/05/2014

Today, Dónal focused on some options off an omoplata entry. To get us used to the motion, he started with a drill where you spin on your back, kicking up into their arm. It's important to keep as little of your back in contact with the floor as possible: Dónal described it as 'breakdancing turtles', balancing on the bottom of the shell rather than the side.

The techniques started with a standard omoplata. Grab their trouser leg with your same side hand, also securing their sleeve on that side with your opposite hand. Kick up into the gripped arm, pushing their arm around your leg to bend it. To fully knock them over, 'superman' their trouser leg, punching your grip backwards to flatten them out. From here, you can sit up, triangling your legs around their gripped sleeve, aiming to tweak their shoulder for the submission. If you miss the submission or simply prefer top position, you can also turn that into a sweep, rolling them over your body.

For a more advanced option, there is the lapeloplata, where you basically do the same thing, but with the lapel in play. Pull out their gi lapel, which may cause them to fling it back to get it out of your reach. That puts it where you want it, by their leg: if they don't, then you'll need to push it there yourself. Reach under their leg and grab the gi lapel, so that the gi lapel is now also over your own leg. You're going to treat that gi lapel like it was their arm, doing the same motion as before to sweep them. You can even go for the omoplata, releasing the grip to slide forward into position.

Sparring, I wasn't able to lock in the crucifix from turtle, as I don't think I had enough weight on their back. I shouldn't focus so much on the arms. Still, having that concept in mind meant I had a different perspective on controlling their arms. That meant I was in position to wrap up their arm and switch into the armbar, normally a technique I never go for. Although they were sitting up and escaping, due to the way I'd wrapped up the arm, I was able to roll them back over in position for the submission. Interesting side effect of trying to add the crucifix into my game.

08/04/2011 - De la Riva at Mill Hill

Class #385
RGA Mill Hill, (BJJ), Nick Brooks, Mill Hill, UK - 08/04/2011

I had intended to train in Bristol last week, but annoyingly I picked up some kind of virus. So, that ruled out BJJ, as I didn't want to pass that around the rest of the academy (it irritates me when people come in sniffling and coughing: if you know you're ill with something infectious, don't train!)

That meant I would have to wait until April to get back on the mats. For an upcoming issue of Jiu Jitsu Style, Nick Brooks generously arranged an interview with Ricardo de la Riva, who is visiting the UK for a couple of seminars. Even more generously, Nick also invited me down to train beforehand at the Mill Hill academy. Packing my dictaphone (or rather, my gf's dictaphone), I jumped on the train to London.

It has been almost three months since I hurt my knee, so I decided it was time to see if it could cope with a warm-up. The knee didn't complain during running round the room or shrimping, so it must be on the road to recovery. I'm still wary of sparring, but that's not a problem as long as I have sensible, considerate training partners.

Technique today was based around the flower sweep. Nick began with a straightforward method, beginning by grabbing both their sleeves. Release one of your grips and grab their same side trouser leg. Still on that side, kick your leg up into their armpit, aiming to break their posture and knock them diagonally forwards.

Continue pushing with your leg, pulling on their sleeve and lifting with that grip on their pant leg. That should enable you to roll through into mount. If they base out with a hand, you can take the opportunity to move into a triangle, bringing the leg on their basing side to curl around their head. Push them to the other side with that leg, then lock up the triangle.

You can also use different grips when you start. The orthodox version is to grab one sleeve (stopping their attempt to base out), then with your other hand, grab the opposite pant leg. However, you can also grab a sleeve, using your elbow and forearm to clamp down on their other wrist, trapping it in place (which again stops them using it to base out). On the same side as your grip, grab their pant leg, then proceed with the technique as before.

Finally, you can try a slightly different tactic from the same position. Establish your grips and go for the flower sweep. However, after you've kicked up into their armpit, you're going to swivel 180 degrees, then straighten that leg. At the same time, pull on their trouser leg straight backwards (rather than lifting up, as before).

This should flatten them out, so you end up alongside them, reaching over their body to immobilise their torso, ready to move into an omoplata. Normally, you would lean over to their opposite shoulder as if whispering in their ear to apply the submission. Nick showed a slightly different variation, where making sure your leg is over their shoulder, your head goes to their opposite hip instead. Twist your hips up for the shoulder lock.

Sparring was down to Nick, who like Kev pairs people up. As he knew about my knee, he started me off with a green belt. Children are useful if you've got an injury, as they're so light that it is unlikely they're going to power into some awkward movement that jars whatever joint you've hurt. It also meant I could stay very relaxed, leaving openings to see what he did, while also looking to concentrate purely on technique.

Next up was an entirely different prospect, the mighty Dan Strauss, fresh off his impressive victory at Submission 1000 (despite the fact that the tournament included several black and brown belts, purple belt Dan was able to win the whole thing). He took it easy on my knee, but given he is such a high level purple, that still meant he totally dominated me. I couldn't do anything except flop around defending.

No doubt if he'd been going full force, I would have spent the whole time tapping. However, as Dan was being nice, I mainly got a good work out due to all the spinning and twisting of my escape attempts. He also had some advice on escaping triangles, after he caught me with an americana from his guard.

I had been looking to create some kind of frame with my arm, as he had established a solid high mount and was in the process of locking in the triangle. I put my hand on my head as he rolled to guard in order to finish, hoping to wriggle my elbow back and slip my arm free. Instead, he simply twisted my arm to the side for a submission.

Dan suggested that instead, I should have grabbed his knee, driven it to the floor and then worked from there to get free. Alternatively, I could have tucked my chin to make some space, stand up, then use my knee to pry my head and arm free.

My training partner from the earlier drilling was next, Cho, a friendly white belt. Yet again, I went to the Xande open guard to avoid using my injured leg, which is mostly where we stayed (especially as, like everyone else, Cho was being careful of my left knee). Last up was a tall blue belt, who also stayed light. I got stuck in z-guard a few times, and was trying to push his knees together and to the mat. However, that mostly seemed to just present a chance for them to attack my neck, so I still need lots of work to get that pass right.

De la Riva was teaching a private at the time, before moving into a photoshoot with fellow blogger Meerkatsu, who trains at Mill Hill. It is always cool to meet internet friends in the real world: I've trained with Seymour a number of times now, but it's been a while. Once Seymour had finished off his camerawork, it was my turn to put that dictaphone to use.

Thanks to David Soares kindly acting as translator, I was able to have a forty minute chat with de la Riva (I checked on the capitalisation with the man himself, in case you've ever wondered how to write his surname). Our conversation should be popping up in Issue 3 of Jiu Jitsu Style, once I've typed it up and edited it down to the requisite length.

Clint was also there: I first met him last time I trained at Mill Hill. He is in the process of raising some money for charity, as part of the fight against cancer. Clint is planning to wear a bright pink gi, also sporting a fetching pink mohawk: if you'd like to sponsor him, check out his page.

Meerkatsu Sighting (2): 13/04/10 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #302
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 13/04/2010

As a way of both saying goodbye to Kev and celebrating getting that new job, I plan to take a private lesson with him on Thursday. It isn't something I've felt would benefit me before or something I could afford, but now seems like a good time to try out the format. I've been struggling to open and pass the guard for a long time now, so some specific focus on that should help. I'll also be keeping Dolph's tips on private lessons in mind (if anyone else has tips, or has stuck up a post about them I've forgotten, comment and let me know!).

Shifting to guard instead of knee-on-belly, Kev showed us a couple of options from what he called hook guard. This is the same position used by Yukinori Sasa in his 'Sasa sweep', where you have a leg threaded on their arm, while your other shin is across their stomach. There's also a sweep from there Tim Radcliffe showed me, back at Nova Força.

Kev's sweep starts from closed guard. You attempt a scissor sweep, but their base it too good and they block it. So instead, hold their sleeve, then wrap your leg around that same arm, pushing off their hip with your other foot in order to adjust your shin on their stomach (so that the knee is facing away from your wrapped leg). This should tempt them to try and pass, as it looks as if there is a clear route to side control.

If they don't take that bait, grab the fabric on the side of their knee pointing towards you. Bring the leg you have around their arm directly away from them, to the side. That should disrupt their balance: to further help them on their way, punch upwards with the grip your have on their trousers. Finally, that shin you have in their stomach will help, as it means they go into mid-air that much easier.

If they do try to pass, even better. That provides you with further momentum to complete the sweep. Even if they go all the way to side control, you have a lot of leverage with that leg around their arm, so it shouldn't be difficult to make enough space to re-establish guard.

Kev then showed a variation on that sweep, using a different grip. The position is the same, but instead of holding the fabric by their knee, you're going to reach through with your free arm to the outside of their other leg. Use that to rotate, and kick through with your wrapped leg. You're aiming to set yourself up for an omoplata, so the leg needs to be near their shoulder.

Triangle your legs and sit up, making sure you have pushed their arm into a ninety degree angle, trapped by your bottom leg. You also need to quickly get your near arm over their back, or they'll roll in an attempt to escape the omoplata. At this point, they are still too high, so you need to shift over to the side slightly, then pull them into that gap. This should flatten them out.

It is worth noting here that you don't need both legs to trap their arm: your bottom leg is the one doing the work. If you're especially tight, you could even get away with not holding the sleeve with your hand, but I'd feel I was in imminent danger of losing the submission if I did that. As you other leg can therefore be free, raise that knee, using your foot both for base and to move yourself to the side.

Once you've got them flattened out, lean forward as if you want to whisper in their ear. It is important you don't slam the omoplata on full force, as their shoulder is very vulnerable in this position.

In free sparring, Seymour showcased his effective use of small person jiu jitsu. In other words, he is quick and mobile, squirming and spinning out of my attacks and into his own. I looked to practice breaking posture from the guard, which I normally do by waiting for them to try and raise up or stand, then pull them forwards with my legs. Seymour mentioned afterwards that you can also grab the outside of both their elbows, then do the same thing (I normally go for the standard collar and elbow grip).

I should start trying those in conjunction, as the additional off-balancing should help set up submissions. It would have especially helped the Shawn Williams Guard I was looking to move into. The problem was, I couldn't get his arm in the right position: if I'd grabbed behind my leg at that point, it would have been a simple matter for him to pull his arm free.

My last roll was with one of the white belts. This was another opportunity to concentrate on being slow and steady, letting them use up energy, waiting for the right moment to transition. I eventually ended up in mount, but we somehow slid underneath a punch bag hanging from the ceiling, which probably didn't help his escapes (the bottom of the bag was almost directly above me). I should have called a stop at that point and moved, rather than trying to steadily manoeuvre him away from the bag.

To cap off a good night's training, I got a Gracie Mag from Kev. Like I mentioned last month, RGA High Wycombe is now a Gracie Mag Associate Club, which means anyone paying by standing order receives a copy each month. Again, it was really cool to finally meet Seymour: he's written up a report on his own Meerkatsu blog.

19/01/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #278



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 19/01/2010

Last week, I watched an interesting BBC 4 documentary on women in MMA on iPlayer, linked from Rosi Sexton's blog. It makes for a revealing insight into what it takes to step up to the cage, with plenty of sacrifice and emotional hardship.

Still on the topic of women, my 'Treatment of Women In BJJ' article brought up a number of comments, which in turn led to this wonderfully academic follow-up by Meg.

As a random note of interest, I was recently updating my BJJ History Index, and by trying various spellings of BJJ on Google Books, I eventually came up with this 1972 piece on judo in Brazil. In there, it mentions that:

In a match with the Brazilian ju-jitsu champion George Gracio, in 1936, Naoichi used his judo techniques and won

Hélio's losses to Kimura and Santana are well known, but I haven't heard much about this one before (though Googling it, I see someone did actually mention Naoichi and his brother in one of the comments to my history post).

As to class tonight, Kev returned to what is clearly one of his favourites, Shawn Williams guard. I wasn't sure if it was quite the same thing last time, but given Kev started off in an identical position to Williams this time (with both arms on one side of the head), looks like Shawn Williams guard is the right term to use.

Like last time, Kev kicked off with the armbar to triangle combination. Pull their sleeve across and secure the armbar, then switch to a triangle if they pull their arm out. Alternately, you can drive your knee into their arm and work your way past, in order to go for the triangle.

I also found that I liked Kev's method for adjusting the angle on a triangle. Kev gets his leg over their neck, then secures that by gripping his shin with his hand. He can then open his legs and swivel around their head, which is made easier by the added mobility of that position. That's especially handy given small guys like me tend to get stacked a lot: I had thought my major error was not scooting back enough, but rotating for the angle may well help too.

Kev then moved on to an omoplata from the Shawn Williams Guard. This is perhaps the most logical attack from the position, as you already have their arm locked up with your leg raise. Bring the leg in front of their face, shifting the arm with which you were previously gripping their collar to their belt.

Your other hand needs to clamp their arm around your leg, so they can't pull it out to escape the submission. You can now sit up, triangling your legs over the arm, shifting out to the side in order to knock them flat onto the floor. To finish, lean forward, as if you're going to whisper in their ear.

Kev also suggested yanking their near leg backwards in order to knock them flat. I can't remember if you have to release the grip on their arm first: I presume you do, which would mean it has to be firmly trapped by your legs. Kev also ran through a number of 'what if' situations, such as moving into a footlock if they try to roll through, or moving into an omoplata sweep, but I think I'd need to see them again to describe it properly (he did about four, IIRC).

Sparring was all about escapes for me, except when I sparred with a white belt. Howard spent most of our roll trying to cinch in some kind of choke involving my own gi, but I was able to wedge a hand in the way. I wasn't sure if that would be enough, as I've been choked through my hand before, but this time it proved sufficient. I was able to eventually slip free, making enough space to clear my head, but it was close. Trying to get some kind of purchase on his legs helped too, as once I got to half guard he wasn't able to move around to tighten the choke.

Similarly with Callum, he had a loop choke, I think. I thought he had the submission several times, but quickly spinning seemed to be enough to stop it completely closing off the sides of my neck, although I had to do it several times before I could work free. I also tried to shift into butterfly guard, as Callum has a habit of clamping down in guard leaving no space. However, he also has a habit of passing soon after I try to go to butterfly: something to work on, especially moving him back and then sitting up.

13/10/2009 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #251



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 13/10/2009

If there is anyone reading this who happens to enjoy poetry and can get to Birmingham at the weekend, yours truly will be teaching a seminar. I was asked to discuss Michael Donaghy at the Birmingham Book Festival on the 17th, so in the unlikely event any of the BJJers out there reading this are interested, would be cool to see you there. Further details on their site.

Getting back to tonight's class, Kev continued with work from the guard. He started by drilling a combination attack. First you go for the armbar, letting them pull their arm free. Switch to an omoplata on the other arm, allowing them to posture up. Finally, open your legs and shift to a triangle. Change sides and repeat, then let your partner have a go.

The first technique was the omoplata from guard, which I've always found confusing. The way Kev showed it was from a triangle, but they've managed to hide the arm you've isolated, reaching around your leg towards their feet.

This gives you the perfect opportunity to go for an omoplata. Reaching over the arm which is reaching back, grasp their belt, locking your elbow in to prevent them escaping. Your leg is still around their arm and now locked in, so grip the shin with your free arm, then step out with your other leg. This will enable you to shift into position.

Bring the leg still on their back past their face, until you can sit up, sliding your other leg back. You are now sitting with their arm still trapped in your leg, unable to move because it is pressed against the floor and your legs are blocking escape routes.

You also want to get them flat on the floor, by switching your grip on their belt to instead clasp around their far side. Shift sideways in the other direction, until you've broken their balance and they are lying flat on the floor. To finish, simply lean forward, as if you were going to whisper in their ear, which should torque their shoulder.

Alternately, there is an omoplata sweep. This time, they've stood up in your guard, while you've got a grip on their opposite side sleeve. Move to wrap their leg as if you were attempting a hand stand sweep, switching the sleeve to your same side hand (which is wrapped around the bottom of their leg). Your guard stays closed.

Next you need to break their posture, so that they are leaning found. You can do this through a combination of pulling down on their collar, then if you need greater leverage, swinging your far leg around and pressing it down on their head. They should now be off balance.

Take that leg off the head and triangle their arm (though you don't need to lock it in). In a smooth motion, bring your legs away from their body, aiming to roll them over to the side. Continue the roll and sit up, so you are sat on their arm while they are on their back. You can now switch to side control.

There are some similar techniques covered on the Demian Maia DVD, though I'm not sure he does the exact same thing as Kev in the omoplata part of the set.

Kev then ran through two omoplata defences, early and late. If you react quickly enough before they've managed to lock on the omoplata, you can just roll over the shoulder of the other arm, making sure to get your head out of the way (I didn't the first time, and its not pleasant on the neck). Also, you need to immediately pull the arm they attacked towards you, or they could transition into an armbar.

The second option is for when you're caught. Before they can complete the submission, grab your trousers with your trapped arm. That should give you a moment to then turn into them. You end up stuck under mount, which is still a bad position, but it is better than being a few seconds away from tapping out (if you're looking at it from a competition perspective).

In sparring with Callum, I ended up in the reverse triangle as he was moving to side control a few times, and tried to be a bit more active in that position. It helped me sit up and go to a sort-of front headlock a couple of times, but that was only if I was quick and got there before he could settle into side mount.

I also attempted to lock in my favoured overhook in the guard, but he knew exactly what I was going for (in fact, we'd been chatting about it earlier). He managed to step through into half guard, making it rather less useful, though I had a try to see if I could still launch and attack from there. I need to make sure I don't forget about my legs when attempting to get that overhook, and also pull them in towards me: I think Callum was able to posture, which in turn made passing over my leg easier.

Finally I went with Joel, which was another slow, patient spar. I spent most of it in his guard (which is where we started: Kev again had everyone begin in a position, then free spar from there), defending against chokes and trying to maintain good posture. I also wanted to stand up, but couldn't avoid his deep collar grip. Maybe Passing the Guard will have some useful tips, though naturally the best thing is to prevent them getting that grip in the first place.

Thursday's sparring hour is going to be nogi again, so I may or may not attend. Kinda reminds me of what Simon Hayes said here, about forcing people to train nogi by not telling them in advance. I certainly don't think Kev is doing something similar (its just because there are a bunch of people competing in a nogi tournament soon), but made me think about how I'm perfectly happy to just stick with gi and let the nogi slide. Very much a hobbyist! ;)

18/10/2007 - BJJ (No-Gi)

Class #96



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Felipe Souza, London, UK - 18/10/2007 – No-Gi

To start with medical matters, finally had that mole (or rather, ‘tag’: think I’ve been using ‘mole’ incorrectly) removed yesterday. Straightforward process, beginning with an anaesthetic injection, which did sting a bit but nothing too unbearable. The doctor then used a hot wire to literally burn the tag off my back: I could hear the sizzle as it sliced through, but fortunately the anaesthetic did its job. The wound seems to have healed up ok – doctor said my painkiller would wear off in three hours, so should take some paracetemol, as I’ve basically got a burn mark on my back. Despite its many problems, still good to know that the NHS is capable of providing really simple procedures like mole/tag removal for free and without a long wait. Giving that wound time to heal was why I didn't train yesterday.

My left elbow has also been giving me trouble for a while, but I think that’s probably due to my seating position when typing. KPMG has occupational people that should be able to give me some advice on that kind of thing, so I’ll give them a try when I’m next in the office.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, work presentation last week went fine. The food at the conference centre was also much better than last year, which provided something tasty to look forward to. That same conference has been held in the UK for the past three years, so hopefully next time we’ll get the chance to go to the US. Getting in some BJJ, or maybe even a US throwdown, would be awesome.

Onto training: my regular training partner Chris wasn’t there, which was a shame, so I ended up with a guy I’ve never trained with before. I didn’t catch his name, but he was a fairly muscular looking bloke. Proved to have some useful tips later on.

We started with a single leg takedown from the clinch. Step back with your left, then when they’re put their leg out as they’re pulled towards you, wrap your right leg around that leg, also grabbing their other leg with your same side hand. Drive forward, throwing your free leg out to land in half guard.

If that didn’t work, another single leg option was to step sideways inside their legs, then drop your leading knee to the ground, also wrapping that over their leg (which is behind instead of in front as with the previous example). Again grabbing their other leg, lift it and drive forward, but this time you end up in their closed guard.

Felipe followed that with demonstrating three techniques off an omoplata from the guard. You start with a tight guard, one arm wrapped firmly around their’s, your other arm securing their head. Move the arm round their head to their free arm, then push off their same side hip with your leg, aiming to push the knee past the arm you just grabbed. Keep tight: I repeatedly made the mistake of scooting out, which merely gives your opponent the space to pass.

Having got your knee past, keep pushing off the hip (maintaining your grip on their other arm), until you can bring your other leg over their shoulder and past their near side cheek. That then means your can triangle your legs to secure the grip, then getting a good hold around their back to keep the lock on, shift to the side away from them to flatten your opponent out. To finish, having moved your legs round, move your hips forward until they tap.

If they roll before you can get the omoplata, one option is to grab a leg as they come over, jam your knee past, then wrap up their foot (high by the ankle, or your leverage will be weak) with the back of your arm. Making sure their knee is higher than yours, press for the kneebar.

Finally, you can grab their foot instead as they come over, get a figure four grip and twist for the sub. If they kick your grip away with their other foot, you can still move through into scarf hold or side control.

Class then moved straight into free sparring. I looked around for someone lighter, but ended up with my partner from drilling. As expected, I got good and smashed, mostly sitting under side control or mount. I learned once again that I need to be careful when leaning in or I’m asking to get guillotined. I’m also having a bit of trouble escaping the knee on belly. Everyone who’s done it to me so far has followed up with the same technique, an armbar attempt (just like Colin did back at Birmingham 2). Normally I can defend by just moving round quickly to stop them stepping over, but didn’t work this time.

My next spar was one of my more usual opponents, Christina. She’s stronger and a little bigger than me, but always helpful to roll with because she maintains control, so doesn’t crank anything. Again, I pulled half guard (meant to go for full, but keep ending up with half), struggled for a bit, then found myself under side. I escaped a few times back to half guard, which Christina passed back to side control. That pretty much covers the whole roll: half guard, side control, half guard, side control, along with repeated attempts by Christina to get my arm.

She gave me a useful tip about being under side control, which was that it’s a good idea to touch your elbow and knee together, forming a barrier and making space for your escape. Though I didn’t quite get this against my third and final sparring partner, Joanna, it was a useful to have that to go for. As with Christina, I again ended up shifting from half guard to side control, also spending some time under mount. I began the spar in open guard, so that’s something I need to work: in particular, automatically framing my arms against their armpit and side to prepare for recovering guard.

04/01/2007 - BJJ

Class #18



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Luciano Cristovam, London, UK – 04/01/2007

When I arrived, I was rather surprised to see the advanced class still getting changed. For a moment I thought the class times might have changed or something, but turns out the power only came back on 10 minutes before I got there, having been off since 16:30. This meant that the advanced class and the beginners class were running side by side for about 40mins with a few belts down the middle to divide the groups. A little cramped, to say the least, but we mainly did warm-ups, so wasn’t too bad.

Luciano ran class again, which pleased me because it meant I should have another chance to drill the omoplata. He began with the ‘self-defence’ thing again, which I’m not too keen on, but moved swiftly on to the kimura. I’ve done this before in MMA, but quite some time ago, and the set-up this time was much better. Person B grabs Person A’s right wrist with their left hand, sitting up and bringing their right hand thumb-first round the back of Person A’s right arm. Person B then grabs their own left wrist with their right hand, using the leverage this creates (i.e., the right arm wrapped round isolates Person A’s joint) to push Person’s arm with their left hand. Person B continues pushing with their left hand, also using their leg to further drive Person A downwards, until Person A taps.

As I’d hoped, Luciano then demonstrated the omoplata again. This time, however, it was much simpler (though perhaps the previous lesson helped, despite my inability to remember the set-up properly). If the kimura failed, Person A managing to straighten out his arm, Person B brings their right leg out under Person A’s head. Person B then moves their left leg over the top of Person A’s right arm, the foot near Person A’s head, using their right leg to secure a triangle on the arm. Keeping Person A’s right arm bent round the leg, Person B sits up and grabs hold of Person A’s far side (the left, in this case). Person B then tries to improve their position by pulling Person A out to the right, aiming to drive Person A’s shoulder down and eventually flatten them out. This makes it easier to thrust the hips forward at a forty-five degree angle in the direction of Person A, until they tap from the pain in their shoulder.

Unlike last session, I was able to at least drill the technique, though I still had some trouble getting the right angle with my hips for the tap. Oli G came over to give me further advice: as I’d been going the wrong way, his correction certainly helped!

Sparring was as usual passing and sweeping, though I didn’t have too much success. I was up against Paul, who I think is an Aussie (had a Gracie Barra Sydney gi on, IIRC), and has plenty more experience than normal for a beginner. If I understood him correctly, he’s been going off and on to BJJ for years, just never consistently enough to progress up the ranks. Still, it was clearly sufficient to deal with my mediocre efforts. I couldn’t get anything on him, as he had no problem blocking my attempts to scissor and sit-up sweep. I probably should have tried to go for the flower sweep too, and as I keep finding myself in a position where I have one leg between theirs as they’re rising up, learning the elevator (which frankly I’ve only heard of due to Jeff Blatnick commentating on the early UFCs) might be useful too. I did at least resist his pass for a while, though I think he may have been going easy on me.

That was confirmed when we changed positions. I was struggling yet again with the tailbone pass, so Paul advised me to drive my elbows into his inner thighs. I think I’ve been gripping too high for the pass, up on the lower part of the gi jacket when I should be going for the top of the trousers close to the hips: that should help with leverage. I wasn’t able to get my knee through like I did yesterday against Herman (turns out Herman trains every day, which would explain his improvement, but tends to have long gaps), as Paul’s closed guard was too tight. Standing up I’m still entirely ineffectual, generally ending back down on my knees.

This was followed by an ego boost against Basil, though the specific sparring was now from side control rather than guard. I had little trouble switching to guard when underneath, and similarly found it fairly straightforward to move into mount when on top - he left plenty of space, unsurprising considering he's never been in side control before. In hindsight, I probably should have gone for something else, like an Americana, as I don’t think I really learned too much simply passing and getting into guard (would that still be pulling guard, if I’m shifting into it from under side control?) against somebody new to the position.

On the other hand, it did give me a chance to teach, as Basil had only been to four classes whereas this was my twentieth. It also confirms what I think one of the quality BJJ posters on Bullshido (NSLightsOut, jnp, Yrkoon9 etc) said about it being in your interest to help out the less experienced as much as possible, as this results in better training partners for you. Having advised Basil to put his knee into my side when he’s underneath, I did indeed find it more difficult to mount and therefore got more out of the roll. A low-level but nonetheless quantifiable example.

Tonight was the first time I’d worn my gum shield when rolling, having been inspired by a chat to Daniel about him getting whacked in the teeth a few lessons back. Needless to say, he now wears a gum shield every spar. Basil noticed there was a bit of blood in my gum shield, which often happens as my teeth are crappy. Turns out the guy is a dentist, who then proceeded to give me a lecture about flossing, once we'd finished and were in the changing rooms. Fair enough, though, as I’m far too lazy with that kind of thing – you only get one set of teeth, after all.

I asked Luciano about prices for the Carlinhos seminar, but he didn’t know. Oli G, on the other hand, said he’d heard it was £15 for RGA students, though £25 was more likely. Should be training next Wednesday as normal, with the first ZSK session of 2007 on Tuesday. There is supposed to be a ‘taster session’ on Sunday, which I suggested a few months back, but don’t think I’ll be needed to attend. Could be that BJJ is already improving my fitness, as I spent five minutes sprinting from Edgware Road to Marylebone, just managing to catch my train back to Amersham. Being a wimp, normally I’d get a stitch.

03/01/2007 - BJJ

Class #17



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Luciano Cristovam, London, UK – 03/01/2007

The black belts were all still on holiday, apparently, which meant Luciano (a purple belt) took both the beginner and advanced classes, helped by Oli G as usual. I’d found him helpful when he assisted at previous lessons, so knew he’d be a good substitute for Felipe and Jude. I think his surname is Cristovam, though I've also seen a Luciano Cristocam when googling 'Luciano' and 'Roger Gracie Academy' - as vam gets more hits than cam, I'm assuming the latter is a typo. Then again, Oli G can tell me for certain.

Mungkorn Dam had PMed me earlier mentioning he was keen to try out the armless triangle, having come across the move in a book recently. Fortunately for us, there was no kids class today, meaning the mats were free for drilling. As Person A underhooks both legs in an attempt to pass the guard, Person B brings their left leg up behind Person A’s head. Instead of trapping an arm and bringing the other leg over, Person B wedges their own left arm into Person A’s throat, gripping their own left leg to secure the hold (I can’t remember if the grip is on top of the leg or underneath: will have to check a video or wait for MD to respond). Person B then brings their other leg across into the usual triangle position, squeezing for the choke.

After drilling some throws and a ‘self defence’ thing (when grabbed from behind, circle round the arm, pushing against the elbow, gripping your own hand and twisting up for a standing Americana), the first technique we worked in the actual class was the flower sweep, which I’d somehow managed to forget over Christmas. Luciano followed Felipe’s method rather than Jude’s, isolating an arm rather than grabbing behind the head. One thing I need to remember is that you underhook the opposite leg to the arm you’re isolating – kept getting that mixed up, meaning the sweep doesn’t work as your training partner can still base out with their arm.

Having had sufficient trouble with a technique I’d covered before, Luciano then sprung something rather more complex on us: the omoplata. I’ve seen the term used repeatedly on Bullshido without ever knowing what it was beyond some kind of shoulder lock, so it was good to finally drill it.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t even get the technique right when drilling with no resistance, which is probably why I’m having difficulty remembering exactly how the omoplata is supposed to work. I think this is a different set-up, but here’s how Rowan Cunningham shows it in one of the Abhaya videos. My main problem was pulling the arm through properly, as I kept ending up in a position where I’d triangled the arm, but it wasn’t bent backwards as shown in that video. Looking round the rest of the room, I could see I wasn’t alone: Luciano stopped us drilling to repeat his demonstration of the technique twice, the first time I can remember that happening. Here's another set-up, this time from open guard, by Cindy Omatsu:



Then it was time for specific sparring, as usual Person A trying to pass and Person B trying to sweep. I was with Herman again, but things didn’t go quite as easily as last time. He had a much more solid posture, my attempts to scissor sweep falling flat. With hindsight, I can see that my problem was a failure to move from sweep to sweep like I did previously, instead getting into a stalemate, going for the same technique rather than pressuring with several different manoeuvres. I should have been able to try the sit-up sweep, as Herman was often sitting back in my guard, but as before I forgot to go up on my elbow. That meant that Herman had no problem readjusting when I went to isolate one side, as it took me so long to get there. I did eventually sweep Herman, due to him putting too much weight forward (I think as has happened before in sparring, I basically rolled him with my knee), but it took almost the entire first spar.

Sparring in general proved useful in helping my passing. I managed to remember Marcio’s advice on getting the knee in between my partner’s legs, but that was about as far as my memory went. Nevertheless, it did enable me to break Herman’s guard (or he opened it), meaning that I was standing up gripping his trouser legs. As I tried to pass by switching my base, I didn’t defend properly, meaning Herman got my back.

Seeing my noob mistake, Luciano gave me the very useful tip to keep my elbows tight and inside Herman’s legs – I had left too much space, which meant Herman could get his foot to my bicep and generally hamper my movement. I did better on the second attempt, effectively driving straight through Herman’s guard with my knee and into side control, though no doubt fatigue on Herman’s part was a major factor.

Finally, I rolled with Basil, for whom this was his third lesson. If he had any more experience, I’m pretty sure he would have taken my back. Basil was keeping a tight grip on both my lapels, but had opened his guard sufficiently that I was able to get round his leg. Again, if he wasn’t so new, I imagine he would have capitalised on the fact he was still gripping my lapels while I was trying to pass. However, I was able to push round his leg to almost get side control, ending up in the familiar situation where my training partner is on their side trying to move back into guard. Luciano was watching, and shouted out the blindingly obvious next move: mount him. Simple, but I was so busy concentrating on getting side control I didn’t consider the much easier option of throwing my leg over until Luciano’s observation.

I still need to be quicker, and must remember to keep flowing from technique to technique rather than getting into a stalemate of failing at one move repeatedly. If I mess up the scissor, I should go for an armbar, possibly move on to flower sweep or try a sit-up sweep depending on the position. Also need to keep my elbows in tight when I’ve got the trouser legs, and be more careful of my back when attempting to pass by switching my base. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to test this out tomorrow, but we’ll see if it ends up being more guard passing and sweeping.

Chatting to Michael and Oli on the train, they confirmed the stripes are based on time rather than ability, which would make sense. If that’s the case, then I need to be careful if and when I get my third stripe and can move up to the advanced class, as it wouldn’t be an indication of my skill level. They also commented that there may be an intermediate class consisting of third/fourth stripe whites and blues in the future, which would tally with what Oli G said to me a while back.