11/05/2011 - GB Bristol No Gi

Class #396
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Nicolai 'Geeza' Holt, Bristol, UK - 11/05/2011

There are two classes on a Wednesday, each an hour long. This will probably be the first and only time I ever attend the no-gi (as I wanted to chat to Geeza about my lesson tomorrow): I rarely take the gi off for training, as I don't enjoy no-gi.

Almost everybody was in full Gracie Barra no-gi regalia, something which is currently included in Gracie Barra Bristol membership (along with a bunch of other stuff, which is pretty cool if you like to represent your club both inside and outside the school). Most people tend to wear Gracie Barra gis as well, although I don't think that's a requirement: as far as I'm aware, GB clubs in the UK don't tend to have any uniform restrictions.

Geeza brought in an innovative teaching method for no-gi, as he has a large TV set up on the wall, which can connect to his laptop. Geeza is a regular competitor, as demonstrated by the glass cabinet heaving with medals, championship belts and trophies. He also makes sure to video most of his matches, meaning that tonight he was able to not only teach us two techniques, but also show us footage of him using them in competition environment. If you'd like to see him in action, check out his submission-focused YouTube channel, which includes lots of other people doing their thing too.

The first of those techniques was what Geeza called the 'flying angel' sweep, which you might also know as an overhead sweep. The key to this is timing. They're in your guard, and you have control of both their wrists, with your feet pressed into their hips. You're waiting for them to bring their weight forward. As soon as they do, you need to pick the right moment to lift them up by their hips, pushing their hands between their legs, then rolling backwards over your shoulder.

Done right, this will result in you getting to mount. Done wrong, you'll get squashed, or you might end up dropping them to one side. I was generally doing the latter: this is one of those techniques that makes me nervous, as I don't feel like I have much control. That's a problem I have with no-gi in general, which is a large part of the reason I avoid training without the gi. On a safety note, if you're the one being swept, make sure you tuck your head and roll, or you'll get piledrived into the mat.

Geeza then demonstrated a method for taking the back, again running a video of him successfully applying the same technique in competition. This time, the situation is that they have just passed your guard, but they've left an arm loose. You go for a kimura as they pass. Presuming you're able to lock it on, they're either going to have to tap, or roll through in order to avoid wrecking their shoulder.

Maintain your figure four grip and scoot in towards them. You're looking to stay close, so that you end up on your knees near their head, also forcing them to sit up. Loop one arm over their head, still with the kimura grip, then shift them to one side in order to establish your first hook. Move them to the other to get the second, and you've taken their back.

It was then time for sparring, which meant I got to roll with Donal, a blue belt I know from Gracie Barra Birmingham: he's in Bristol studying for the next couple of years. He is also more than capable of kicking my arse, which he proceeded to do tonight. The only thing that saved me from repeated tapping was – and this is frequently the case – Saulo's running escape. As ever I'm still using it to stall too much, though I did try and roll through back to guard a few times.

Donal's guillotine is especially nifty, in which I was very nearly caught numerous times. I also narrowly escaped an armbar and a triangle, probably due to the slipperiness of no-gi rather than any technical expertise on my part. The closest I got to any kind of offence was a vague flailing attempt at deep half guard.

Geeza often does a mini-lecture at the end of class while we're stretching, this time on the topic of no-gi and gi training. He made a comparison that certainly rang true for me, which is that no-gi is pitting your body against somebody else's body. Gi is putting your mind against theirs, which Geeza said he prefers (worth noting here that many of those aforementioned medals he has won are in no-gi, so he's speaking from long experience).

My first session teaching is tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to. Naturally I've planned everything out in advance, with a few things I wanted to test out for the future (mainly in terms of drilling).

16/03/10 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #294
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 16/03/2010

Callum interviewed Thelmo Calmon, a Draculino black belt who recently held a seminar at the Aylesbury location, for the main RGA Bucks website. Good stuff: check it out on the news page.

Fundamentals tonight was again relevant beyond the 'self defence' remit, as it was a basic Guillotine defence, from guard. Grab the choking arm with four fingers, while also using your other arm to reach over their far shoulder. After that, stand up and drive your shoulder as much as your can into their chin and neck. This should relieve the pressure on your neck, enabling you to pop your head free. If you need some extra leverage, come back down to your knees once you've loosened their grip.

Getting back to the main class, Kev kicked off with a basic ankle grab sweep (noting that feet on hips works as well as knees into their stomach, but is a bit slower), followed by the overhead sweep. For that, you start by opening your guard and putting your feet on their hips, then pull their elbows out and towards you. That should help bring them onto your feet.

Take advantage by pulling their elbows even further past your head (Kev described it like "putting on a big hat"), after which you can lift them with your legs. If you've got the technique right, they shouldn't feel heavy, meaning you can now drop them over your shoulder. Follow them and roll backwards straight into mount. If you're the person getting dropped, remember to tuck your head in drilling, so you don't end up getting piledrived into the mat.

Sparring guard passage with Howard didn't really go anywhere, as I was quite defensive, just looking to block or break his grips. That's the biggest stumbling block for me at the moment, as I don't feel safe standing up until I can strip those grips, or preven them being established. He did eventually get past, but time ran out. As ever, I need to force myself to stand up, though I did try the twisting guard break again once or twice. Once I get some income, I definitely need to do a private lesson on guard passing.

At one point, I also had to defend against an armbar. Recently I've been tending to step over their head to try and get free, which has worked once or twice in the past. This time, it did stop me getting armbarred, but I wasn't able to move through to a top position, ending up on the bottom instead. I asked Kev if it was a bad habit, but he reassured me it was a legitimate technique. The only thing to watch out for is footlocks (at brown belt: illegal before then), but they would have to release their grip on your arm first.

Underneath, I looked for the Shawn Williams Guard again, this time making sure I remembered to clamp my elbow over their arm. However, my other foot still isn't tight enough, and asking Howard afterwards, I also need to threaten more on both sides. I did briefly think about swinging my legs through into an omoplata position, but reacted too slowly.

Next up was a white belt. On top, I was a little lazy, because he was opening his guard quite often. That meant I could just keep slipping my knee through to half guard, then using a gable grip and shoulder pressure, get my leg free and pass. Still, that did at least give me a chance to look at the holes in my technique, as I started getting complacent, so about the fifth time I tried it, he managed to sweep me from half guard. I need to make sure I'm not being sloppy about my base, keeping that free leg in a good position. I also have to keep my bodyweight into their neck, so they don't have any mobility in their upper body.

Underneath, I was able to break his posture and wrap my arms over to keep him in tight. I crept out to the back, keeping in mind what Kev taught earlier about pressing my chest into their shoulder. It took me a while to feel sufficiently secure to base out on my elbow and start to spin to the back, but as it was a white belt, I had enough time to practice. I was a bit sloppy in that I wasn't able to properly secure hooks, but there was enough control to lock on a RNC.

Still, I'm sure a more experienced opponent would have escaped back to guard, or shucked me off the back. I also totally burned out my arms by holding him in close most of the time. After that, he passed a few times, when I was playing around with various submission attempts. My cardio clearly remains terrible, as I was knackered: that also reminds me to make sure I'm not relying too much on my arms, instead leaving more of the work to my legs.