02/08/2019 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Heidelberg 2019 | Greg Wood, skywalker pass

Class #1181
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Olympiastützpunkt Rhein-Neckar) Greg Wood, Heidelberg, Germany, 02/08/2019

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First class today, another cool passing option, which ties in really well with the earlier classes from Brad, Christian and Lilo. Greg calls it the Skywalker pass, I'd probably go with something like 'shin in stomach float', though that's clunky. ____________________________________ But yeah, versatile, and also ties into standard options like a knee cut if they block certain grips and movements. 😃 #BrazilianJiuJitsu #BJJ #bjjGlobetrotter #bjjGlobetrottersHeidelberg #bjjGlobetrottersCamp #bjjGlobetrotters @bjjglobetrotters #ArtemisBJJatGlobetrotterCamp #BJJGlobetrotterCampHeidelberg2019 #Heidelcamp

A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Aug 2, 2019 at 6:29am PDT

Passing. İn a fourth connected lesson, this time the pass contest was mainly the classic starting from knees position. Grab a collar tie, pelting your opposite foot (I think opposite?). They may or may not be gripping your arm: of they are, open up.that arm by raising the elbow. Shoot your non posting let into that gap. You want your shin over their stomach. Once that is in place, it's a simple push off your post, to 'float' into.onee on belly.

Note that this will depend on their knee position. İf is low enough, you can go.r8ght over the top. A bit higher, you might need to.gp.around the side a bit. (F their knee is too.high for all.that, you can probably push it to collapse the legs or a quick.bullfighter type motion.

Another option might be (e.g., from.closed guard, versus butterfly etc) conspire over in a quick knee cut. Opening closed guard into combat base presents that floating knee cut, as might butterfly, or when you've reacted to a counter to.your hip.bump. You might also be able.to.swiftly adjust directly into.the shin on stpmach float, depends on how flexible.and fluid you are.

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Pics and video of the "Skywalker Pass" class I taught in Heidelberg. Thanks to @soulcraftbjj for assisting, and thanks to volunteer, @paige_cato , for filming and snapping pics on my phone so I could share this! Thanks again to @bjjglobetrotters for inviting me to teach! Those who attended know they must message me if the pass starts to be successful for them, and that the royalty to me, when they hit the pass, is a low $0.01 per pass, payable next time I see them, in either currency, or vegan pancakes.

A post shared by Greg Wood (@pmabjj) on Aug 5, 2019 at 10:01pm PDT

I later had a go at teaching this myself, back home at Artemis BJJ:

29/07/2019 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Heidelberg 2019 | Brad Wolfson, step on thigh passing

Class #1171
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Olympiastützpunkt Rhein-Neckar) Brad Wolfson, Heidelberg, Germany, 29/07/2019

Step forward by one leg, then other foot on thigh. This looked like it could potentially be mean, but depends how much weight you put through. From there, you can drive hips forwards and drop into mount. Note that this is generally versus sitting guard, when they're countering a thrust into the back of their legs, Christian 'head over butt' style. İf you get caught on their leg because they've raised it, sprawl into a legweave.

That means, you cut your leg underneath and land heavy with your hips. Try to get your knee into their hip, with a leg booking theirs in order to drag it back and clear space. Switch hips to maintain pressure, also looking to cross face etc. An underhook on the other side is probably too high to start with, just hold their hip initially.

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A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Jul 29, 2019 at 11:08pm PDT

You can then crawl up into mount, moving your knees through. Another option, generally when their leg is a bit lower, would be to backstep. There is some scope as to where exactly you place your thigh stepping knee for this, but I was finding their same side hip was roughly my base point. You can also put your same side hand on the mat for base, then do a big back step to land into side control.

İ was less confident about stepping over into knee on belly, another option when their trailing leg isn't catching you too high. İt is sort of a knee cut motion..One to play with, though.

26/02/2019 - Tuesday daytime, leg drag

Class #1118
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 26/02/2019

I don't often use the leg drag and I haven't taught it for a while now. However, it is a popular pass, so I thought it was about time I taught it again. Like last time, the excellent videos Jason Scully has on The Grappler's Guide proved useful, along with the (also excellent) BJJ Library, where Saulo shows a slightly different version.

22/02/2019 - Friday blue belt + class, knee cut pass and follow ups

Class #1117
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 22/02/2019

Today I went through those follow ups Donal taught me, which I have been calling the 'leg squish pass'. You wriggle your hips around their knee if they get it in the way, then sprawl on their legs like a frog. Focus your weight through your hips, pressing into the middle of their thigh. You can then move behind them, either waiting for them to move you, or replacing your hip pressure with your hand and moving behind.



I also got in some training myself, continuing my regular drilling (this time with Kirsty, as either she or Josh have been popping in to drill with me at least once a week). Most useful take away this time was on bringing the legs back in Priit's open guard if they get behind you. Your legs reach back, but your butt stays on the ground. That means they can't stack you on your neck, as you take the weight on your legs, not your neck/shoulders. Very important distinction, I will keep drilling that.

21/02/2019 - Thursday daytime

Class #1116
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 21/02/2019



Just Rob today, so I did a private lesson on passing. I also had a chance to practice teaching what I wanted to show in the blue belt plus class, which is some knee cut/knee shield troubleshooting. That's all based on the awesome series of private lesson that Artemis BJJ co-founder taught me years ago, back before we set up the club.

19/02/2019 - Tuesday daytime

Class #1115
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 19/02/2019

17/02/2019 - Sunday open mat

Class #1114
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 17/02/2019

I fit in a roll with Erick, which was fun, starting with him on my back. I tried to lean forward Priit style, but ended up on my side. Eventually worked my way free, using the slow motion seoi-nage, but ended up inside guard instead of side control. From there I went to safety position, as Erick was doing a good job of controlling my posture, before working back to the standard posture. I attempted to grab his arm when he got my collar to stand and pass, which after a couple of false starts worked. Slow and steady to pass.

In the process he kinda got a half butterfly position, which I blocked due to an underhook and holding his leg. However, he did manage to work to the sweep, though I freed my leg. Before we could play too much in open guard, time ran out. Fun times! :D

Then, lots of drilling with Kirsty and Josh, which was cool. I'm trying to institute the regular drilling recommended by Mario, though it's taken a while to arrange a time we can all make. Went great today, really useful. I ran through some Priit and Mario drills with Kirsty to start, then we delved into the butterfly pass a bit (as Kenny mentioned I was leaving myself wide open to hooks). I later drilled that with Josh too, and I think the most effective grip seemed to be grabbing the opposite foot on both side, meaning both my arms are occupied. I can still balance on my head and shoulder to hop past.

Also, while the flip is flashier so I like it for drilling, doing a bland hop is more effective. You can then shuck past any attempts by them to bring their knee in through a combination of brushing it past with your hip, your shoulder, your knee and pulling on the foot grips you have.

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A post shared by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Feb 17, 2019 at 8:54am PST

I also drilled Priit's running escape > turtle > panda sequence with Kirsty, which was also really useful. We started off with light resistance, then started up it a little (though still well off sparring pace). I am slightly concerned about leaning forward too much with somebody bigger, though it seems I'm flexible enough to go relatively far. I'll keep testing. This is shaping up nicely, so it's a pattern I can repeat, with some tweaks.

I want to drill Priit's open guard properly, I still haven't gotten comfortable with anything past the basic first stage. As I'm going to a seminar with him on open guard, that should be very helpful. More drills for the running escape/turtle/panda would also be useful, so I'll have a think.

22/08/2017 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Heidelberg 2017 | Avoiding sweeps when passing (Priit Mihkelson)

Class #880
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Olympiastützpunkt Rhein-Neckar) Priit Mihkelson, Heidelberg, Germany, 22/08/2017

I struggled with Priit's classes in Leuven, finding it difficult to take in the concepts. Will open guard standing make more sense than half and turtle? Let's find out. :)

It turns out that the classes he taught in Heidelberg suited me much better. I felt a lot more comfortable with the class this time, as not only was I prepared for Priit's megalong lectures, the position was plenty familiar. The whole class was built around the tripod sweep, but in terms of countering it.

Your first option is what Priit calls the Elvis, turning your hip in. Second is the buttsprawl, a sort of modified reverse technical stand up, dropping to your butt with a leg stretched forward. I was a little concerned with the impact on my wrist, but the concept seems sound. Finally, if you've already been swept and want to beat them to the punch, you can bring your other leg over to spin, then run away to break their grips.

As ever with Priit, the concept can be quite simple with a limited set of mechanics: it then gets complex when you try it, learning the right application through a lot of drilling. So I'll need to get stuck in with these once I have some open mat drilling time back home.

27/07/2017 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Leuven 2017 | Defend Everything (Christian Graugart)

Class #862
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Christian Graugart, Leuven, Belgium, 27/07/2017

This was another classic Graugart conceputal lesson. He may well have taught it at one of the previous camps I've attended, but either way, loads of good stuff, made simple. Graugart called this 'defending everything', boiling that down to a few memorable phrases.

The first was 'head over butt', by which he means always keeping your head higher than your bum. Sounds simple, but a lot of people start sticking their bum in the air when passing. Indeed, some passes rely on it (like the half guard pressure pass). There aren't many 100% rules, but based on the examples he went through, it's a fairly good rule to keep in mind, particularly when passing.

If you get into a scramble, throw everything else out of the window and just get your hips higher than theirs. Graugart said this is what he goes for with younger, athletic opponents. Getting the hips higher might mean you can get ahead of their attributes, though timing and technique.

When you've almost been swept and are about to get passed, mounted or whatever. It's too late to get your hips higher than theirs. They need both your feet on the same side of your hip. So, you want to get at least one knee or foot behind your hip. If you have a free foot, get it behind you.

23/10/2016 - Private with Kev | Open/Closed Guard Maintenance

Class #775 - Private #026
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 23/10/2016

To mark my approaching ten year anniversary in BJJ, I thought I'd book another private with Kev. Open guard has continued to be the weakest area for me, so we focused on that. Kev started off by sharing a few guard retention drills he's found useful (both to practice and to teach). They're related to the series he taught a long while back, but I think this version encourages more hip rotation, which is useful.

You've established a basic open guard, feet on their hips. They grab your ankle and pull it across, the beginning of a leg drag. Turn your hips in order to bring your other leg across, then push off that to recover square on. Then they go a bit further, so you push into the knot of their belt, again recovering to guard. The reason you go for the knot is that too far in either direction could lead to footlocks, them dislodging your foot and passing, or the Estima footlock (there's still a risk of that, but it's less). As you swivel, you yank your other leg free by pulling your knee to your chest.

If they manage to get to the knee cut pass, there is a counter you can try (a little like the ones from Leuven). Ideally you want to get your knee shield in, that's the most powerful defence. If you've missed that, first grab their gi collar, your fist into their neck. It's important your palm is facing down, that makes it harder for them to knock that hand out of the way. Your other elbow goes behind, to give you enough base to scoot away and get your knee shield in, then recover guard.

Playing open guard generally, Kev recommends getting a grip on their same side trouser leg first, as that tends to be the hard one to get. Shin-on-shin is the quickest guard to establish, making sure you keep your shin engaged. If you aren't actively pushing that into their shin, they can simply whip their leg around. Similarly, you need to keep your other leg pressed into their knee, constantly pressurising them.

Kev prefers sitting guard. Again, after you've wrapped your leg and arm around, keeping the pressure on their other leg with your free leg. If you don't, they'll squish you with their knee. From here, you can kick up to knock them past your head, or sweep your leg back to go into a single leg. There's de la Riva and x-guard entries from here too, but as neither of those are main guards for me, I can save those for a later date.

If they get strong sleeve grips, Kev suggested moving into spider guard to help reduce the power of those grips. He doesn't tend to sweep much with that (apart from the push on the floor one to knock them towards his head and then sweep), instead using it to set up closed guard.

From closed guard, there was another handy tip. The first thing Kev does is grab the meat of their hands by the thumb side, twisting both of their hands so they face upwards. That makes it really hard for them to get any kind of grips. Their reaction will indicate the next move. Kev likes to move an arm across and pull them in with the knees, to get that strong position where they are collapsed over their own arm.

That leads into what Nic Gregoriades randomly (but memorably) calls the 'chimp, chump, champ' series. The words don't entirely fit, but the idea here is that a 'chimp' won't react, so they just sit there in that position. Grabbing their lat, you can move into a back take. A 'chump' will make the mistake of putting up their leg on the non-trapped arm side. You can then hook that with your same side leg and sweep them. A 'champ' puts up their leg on the other side: that gives you the opportunity to move into an armbar.

My preference is the shoulder clamp grip, which Kev noted would be something to move into if they try to move their arms out to recover their hands. You can capitalise on their focus on their hands to pull them in and thread into a shoulder clamp.

Finally, in terms of passing open guard, there is another hand grip that's handy: you're also grabbing the meat of the hand, but the other side (i.e., under the little finger), forcing their palms down. As with the closed guard option, that makes it hard for them to establish grips. You can then step your same side leg behind their knee, moving around to a perpendicular angle.

Once you've got that angle and can drive your knee in behind theirs (into a sort of knee-led leg drag), you 'land the airplane', coming in low to lock up the pass. I think that was the last technique, hopefully I didn't forget anything on my way to the train. Before I left, Kev popped a fourth stripe on my purple belt, which is always nice.

18/07/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Bournemouth 2016 | Passing de la Riva (David 'Morcegao')

Class #755
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Phoenix MMA), David 'Morcegao' George, Bournemouth, UK, 18/07/2016

David is a de la Riva black belt, so for his first class at the UK BJJ Globetrotter camp, he decided to talk about passing his instructor's famous eponymous guard. To start with some basics, when they insert their de la Riva hook, lower your base to stop them elevating you. You then want to get rid of any grips they've got, whether that's on the foot (grab the hand and pull up), the sleeve (roll your wrist over the top) or wherever. To pop their original hook off, turn your foot out and point your knee.

If they have a grip on the trouser leg, you can still turn your foot, so it isn't as much of a problem. A grip on the heel stops that, as they can pull the heel in towards them. There is a weak direction, however, if you can kick forwards. When they are tight to you, kicking forwards is blocked by their body. It is still possible to kick past their bum, freeing your foot that way. Bring it to you a little first, then scrape the leg past their bum. A pass around their leg then presents itself.

Even if they have de la Riva, with a leg drag, you may be able to crush straight through their hook. You might also be able to pop their hook off by simply straightening your leg explosively, if turning your knee outwards isn't viable. Yet another option is to give up on the pass and attack their leg instead, with a calf crush.

IBJJF rules don't let you do anything fun with the leg until brown belt, but that's only one ruleset, so you don't have to restrict yourself to that (as long as your partners are ok with leglocks). Personally leg locks terrify me so I never use them, but they're very effective and important to know, as people will do them to you (especially if you're brown belt or above, of course).

They have a deep de la Riva hook. Push their hooking knee down, roll through, your shoulder diving underneath their other leg, then extend for the submission. I wasn't entirely successful getting this, but it's useful to know that's a danger with the deep de la Riva: perhaps keep hold of their sleeves to stop them getting their leg lock position?

24/06/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Leuven 2016 | Pressure Pass to Mount (Nathan Adamson)

Class #742
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Nathan Adamson, Leuven, Belgium, 24/06/2016

A video posted by Can (Jun) (@slideyfoot) on Jun 24, 2016 at 5:04pm PDT

Nathan believes in standing to open the guard, a good tip. As you step into the guard, he described it as that 'evolution of humans' pic in reverse, getting into a low crouch. Pressure you leg into them, generating so much pressure that they will want to push you away with a foot into your hip. Grab that foot, then twist backwards and yank the foot clear. Immediately twist back in, dropping onto them.

Your elbow on the leg yanking side is by their hip: this is important, to prevent them shrimping away before you can get a solid grip. You then drop to get in a solid cross face, locking your hands into what Xande calls the 'super hold'. Cross your feet, leaning heavily into your cross face.

Use that pressure to help you squeeze your knee across, so that you have knees either side of them. From there, slap your legs down into mount, not giving them a chance to make any space for an escape. As you move through into mount you can use your 'super hold' to lever their arm away.

This idea of always aiming for the mount was another key detail I took from this lesson, which definitely changes how you approach passing. I normally always think about side control, so this was a useful different perspective.

If they have a leg in, steps tight as before, with plenty of pressure. He can't pull the leg back now because it's behind his front leg. Nathan steers them by a collar and hip grip, bringing his leg behind their knee. Keeping those grips, he crushes over to the side (like he's doing a knee slide), jamming his head next to theirs. Grab their wrist to pin that arm, turning your hip in: use that turn to clear their leg out of the way. Your other leg (which was behind their knee) can now slide over, moving into mount.

If you're getting stuck, Nathan suggests backstepping around. That could potentially move straight into a back take.

22/06/2016 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Leuven 2016 | Leg Swivel Pass (David Morcegao)

Class #732
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), David Morcegao, Leuven, Belgium, 22/06/2016

For David's second class, he did an interesting 'leg swivel' motion to complete the pass. This was gradually built up from a drill. You start inside their open guard, where they have hooked both feet inside your knees, you're grasping their knees (though the drill was originally without the hands, to focus on that motion). Lift your leg high, cutting the knee in, then pivot. That should swivel your leg over their other shin, with the aim of ending up outside their other leg.

The hard part is stopping your leg getting caught on their foot as your twist it over, but with plenty of drilling, that should smooth those snags out. David addressed that point, emphasising that you need to get your leg high, then chop that knee down, making sure you twist your hips each time. That should give you the clearance you need. Good balance is also important, as David pointed out, meaning you would be able to do things like 'surf' over their legs if they try to knock you off.

Sometimes you won't be able to clear both legs, resulting in one leg still inside theirs. You have the options of knee cutting, or simply repeating your leg swivel to clear their other leg. X pass is another option as well. Pressing their knees down with your grips should help too, which David highlighted as he added the hands back into the drill. If they have a grip on the collar, break that off before continuing the pass. If they have one ankle, it isn't a big problem, but with two, you will need to kick one off first.

There are lots of passing options. David picked a cool one, the breakdance pass. That backstepping motion is one I've taught as a drill in the pass, from reverse knee on belly. You pivot around your knee, kicking your leg all the way over. That can lead into mount, or you continue the motion, swinging the other leg through into side control. There's also a chance you could flow into a submission, catching an arm or triangle (plus a few nastier, more catch wrestling style attacks, which I avoid because I prefer the buttercups and rainbows end of the forest, instead of the dark thorny part ;p).

04/10/2015 - Seminar with Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner

Seminar #017
Artemis BJJ, Chelsea Bainbridge-Donner, Bristol, UK - 04/10/2015

I have 'known' Chelsea for a number of years now online, having first encountered her on reddit when she was a brown belt living in Hong Kong. That led me to her awesome blog, when she was still posting as purplekettle. Most awesome of all is this post, entitled “Wow, you’re a lot shorter than I thought you were.” If you haven't read it before, go read it: I have read many, many BJJ blog posts over the last decade, and that remains right up there among my favourites.

Since then, Chelsea has gone on to become a top competitor out of initially ATOS HQ, before moving to the affiliated Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy, run by ATOS stand-outs Rafa and Gui Mendes. She has won a world title at brown belt (after which Andre Galvao promoted her to black belt on the podium, along with his wife Angelica), the Dream submission only tournament and so far this year, medalled at the Worlds and Pan Ams. What I didn't realise was how good she is at teaching, perhaps helped by her considerable academic background (among her many skills she speaks fluent Chinese, for example!).

I therefore jumped at the chance to book her for a seminar when she got in touch to say she would be in the UK. There was a good turnout from Artemis BJJ itself, along with some other local clubs from Bristol and Swindon popping down: thanks for the support! We should have some more seminars in January, hopefully as well as a women's BJJ workshop with Leoni. :)
_________________________

Chelsea's teaching was well structured and focused, exactly what I want out of a seminar. She began with a number of drills related to passing the guard, the theme of the seminar. That progressed into some bullfighter passing drills. First, the one I'm used to, where you grab the bottom of the trousers, move round and drop the shoulder. Then we did the variation where you push the legs out of the way, establishing knee on belly. Chelsea and Tom (Barlow, of Polaris fame: it was very cool to have him there too) helped me out during drilling, noting that I should be pushing the shins so they 'spring' back, making it easier to then shove them out of the way.

The central technique of the seminar, which began as a drill, was something I think I've seen Saulo do in the past on BJJ Library. Chelsea pointed out that in open guard, it seems people are overly keen to get stuck inside a guard, whereas they should be passing pre-entanglement.

For this open guard pass, put one hand on their hip, the other on their knee. As you move around, bum in the air and legs wide, shove their knee down. Continue to pass around, then slide your grip so you can push their knee back. Follow it back with your body, moving into a leg drag position, driving off your toes as you descend. If you get greedy and try to go directly into side control, you may find they can get their legs in the way.

Often, they will try to turn away into turtle, preventing the pass (especially in a competition where points are at stake). To stop that, drive into them as they turn, locking on a seat belt grip. Previously I have tended to gable grip my hands, but as Tom explained during drilling, grabbing the meat of your hand with your grip on top is stronger, bringing your elbows into your sides. Having secured your seatbelt, curl your leg in tight to their back, pulling them up onto your knee (effectively putting them in your lap).

You can then roll back over your knee, bringing your other leg over the top, securing back control. I'm a big fan of that back take, though I've tended to do it from either technical mount or as a back re-take: getting some more tweaks was brilliant. It also made me think I should emphasise getting on your elbow next time I teach that move, as that really helps your balance.

To emphasise the importance of a strong seat belt grip, Chelsea then did some drilling on the back take portion of the technique, same as the drill I sometimes throw into our warm-ups at Artemis BJJ (although I've been combining it with mount, so switching to technical mount as they try to turn, then going for this back take). Chelsea and Tom both put that seat belt in really firmly, to the point where the arm is already almost choking you. That was made very clear, as she then had all of us take it in turns to experience what it feels like when she and Tom do it. Educational! ;)

You may find that rather than turn away, they will try and turn towards you. If that happens, sprawl back with your seatbelt grip in place, backstopping their elbow so they can't continue the turn. Walk around on your toes behind them, then pop up so you're crouched by their back. Either put your foot on their thigh or step it through, then take the back from there. Marcelo Garcia shows something similar in his book, on p100.

If Chelsea wants a partner for demonstrating a choke, hide

Chelsea showed a classic choke next. Open up their collar with your hand that's under their armpit, feeding it to your other hand. Having got a firm grip with that other hand, cinch it in, then push your armpit-hand behind their head. There are various ways you can add leverage to the position, ranging from crossing your legs to stepping on their arm. As you can see from Tom's expression in the picture, it isn't a whole lot of fun for your partner. ;)

When you initially attempt the pass, your partner might swing their leg over and wrap your arm with it, moving into a lasso spider guard (I liked how Chelsea had everybody drill that spider guard recovery at this point, to make sure everyone knew it). To pass spider guard from there, reach through and grab their other trouser leg with your lassoed arm, being sure to grip below their knee. With your other hand, grasp their collar.

Next is Chelsea's trademark control, driving her head right underneath their chin. Keep pushing with your head, something which they will definitely not enjoy, then walk back towards their legs. This is the same principle as with that pass from earlier, to make sure their legs are cleared out of the way. Which makes sense, as I can remember Chelsea's instructors, the Mendes brothers, highlighting the importance of walking back like that post-pass in a video a couple of years ago.

My drilling partner for this one, Nathan (the third black belt on the mats today), handily pointed out that I need to make sure I'm driving my shoulder into their leg to squish their knees towards the mat. I was being lax on that, which would make it easy for them to square back up and stop my pass. For a video of this pass, check out the interview Chelsea did on This Week In BJJ, here (she also shows the same pass from reverse de la Riva, as well as countering their invert).

If they flare out their knee on the lasso so it is difficult to drive all the way to under their chin, Chelsea showed how you can instead drive your head into their chest, proceeding pretty much as before apart from that. Except that this time, you move into knee on belly rather than passing all the way to side control. From knee on belly, if they push on your knee, you can reach through by the crook of their elbow, pull them up, then step around to drop into an armbar. Note that you need them to turn in towards you: this won't work if they are flat on their back, as you can't step over properly in that situation.

After all that excellent technique, Chelsea then fit in thirty minutes of sparring, quick three minute rounds. I am pretty sure this marks the only time I've ever sparred three black belts in a row (and the only time I've seen more black belts on the mat was my visit to Fabio Santos' school). Sparring with Chelsea, Tom and Nathan, I was mainly trying to use the stiff arm from guard. When that didn't work, I tried my follow-up of going into koala guard, but messed up each time. I did vaguely attempt a roll under sweep with Chelsea, but she had already passed regardless.

After getting passed, with all three of the black belts I was (not very successfully, as you'd expect) attempting to then block with Rockwell's sit-up escape frame. There was a lot of being crushed under mount, which seems to happen to me a lot with black belts (fair payback, as I was in mount on a white belt earlier in sparring. So, taste of my own medicine ;D). I very narrowly escaped Tom's bow and arrow type choke by pulling on his sleeve then elbow, also slipping free of the follow-up armbar by a whisker. No doubt he was going a lot lighter than normal as I'm a lower belt, but I was still pleased I managed to defend it. ;)

To finish, Chelsea did a question and answer session, a magnificent way of finishing a seminar. I asked about my main bugbear, back escapes. Chelsea recommended blocking their second hook coming in, then getting to the non-choking side and putting your back on the mat. She leapt right over when she did it, IIRC. Tom added in a nifty option when it came to turtle. If you can cross your ankles around their leg, then you've basically escaped turtle. However they move, you're either going to be able to spin free, invert, or recover your guard more conventionally. Therefore on top of turtle, be wary of them hooking your foot like that.

Of the seventeen seminars I've been to, I would put this and Dave Jacobs from last year at the top. If you get the chance to book Chelsea for a seminar, I highly recommend you do it. She said she should be back in the UK in January, so hopefully we'll be able to arrange another seminar then. I'm also hoping she'll be on the next Polaris event: there is such an incredible talent pool of black belt women that Polaris could easily fit in two female fights, if not more. :)

05/07/2014 - RGA Aylesbury (Knee Cut & Knee Shield Pass)

Class #578
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 05/07/2014

It's another family birthday, which means I'm returning not just to my family home, but to my jiu jitsu home as well, up in Aylesbury at RGA Bucks. Kev began with a very familiar drilling sequence: it's the same one I've been teaching for several years now, after Kev taught it to me earlier. That begins with them stepping to the level of your hip, then you recover your guard by shrimping and bringing your outside leg over to hook, pulling yourself square on to them.

The next step is to do a running escape type hip swing, although I normally do this from knee on belly; Kev did it from the same position as the previous technique. Useful variation to know, as then I don't have to explain what knee on belly is. Although if somebody doesn't know what knee on belly is, that could indicate they are too new to easily perform this drill. I'm still not sure if it counts as an advanced move or if it is suitable for beginners.

That same question sprang to mind with the new drill (or at least, new to me, as I can't remember having seen it before, though it's entirely possible I've seen it in an earlier Kev class). Again they have passed to the level of your hip. Bring your outside leg over, putting your shin on their near side thigh. That leg is going to stay in place for the rest of the drill.

With your nearest hand, reach to their far leg: you can either hook behind or grab the trouser leg. Raise your hips and swivel, using your shin on their thigh as the pivot point. Keep spinning until you return to a guard position in front of them. You'll probably need to pull yourself across a little with that gripping/hooking hand.

As is common to Kev's classes (and completely alien to mine), he added in a couple of takedowns. Like I've said before, Kev is not only a champion BJJ black belt, he's got a judo black belt as well. The takedown option he showed was directly in response to some typically dubious rule changes by the IBJJF (fortunately there are many other competition companies you can go to, though the IBJJF is influential). I haven't competed since 2007, so sometimes forget the impact that IBJJF rule changes can have.

The one pertinent to this technique is that now when you are being single legged and they have their head on the outsie, you apparently can no longer do the obvious counter, dropping back and rolling them over your head with your trapped leg (in judo, this is a 'sumi-gaeshi', I think). That means that when somebody tries to single leg you, they can feel a lot less in danger if they put their head on the outside than before.

Due to that rule, it means the takedown becomes easier. You start with a Russian grip (I think that's what it is called), where you are grabbing one of their arms with both of yours, a bit like you would in an armdrag. Your first hand is holding their wrist, the other is grabbing higher up and underneath their arm. When you get that grip, they will often pull their arm out.

Immediately drop and grab their leg instead, made vulnerable due to their sudden pulling back of their arm and accompanying shift in balance. Once you've grabbed it with both your arms, reach underneath their leg and grab some marterial, either their gi or their belt. Pull down on that like it was an old-style toilet chain and drop your hips, knocking them to the floor and putting you in a good guard passing position.

Alternatively, if they don't pull their arm away, dig your shoulder in behind theirs (getting the sweet spot isn't easy: it's roughly on the bottom of their shoulder blade on the side nearest to you, I think). Drop your hips and angle your body to knock them down, kicking their supporting leg away to make sure. I had some trouble getting the right angle: I think you're going a little forwards, but I'm not sure.

Moving on to the fun part with groundwork, Kev picked a couple of passes that relate to both half guard and open guard. The first was when they are in a sort of open half guard, with details on the knee cut that would also apply to a standard open guard. Grab their collar and follow it in with your body. You want to make sure you are not giving them any space to insert their knee under your arm as you do this. Also grip their knee and shove it to the mat, driving your own knee over their trapped shin.

On the other side, try to get an underhook: you may have to raise up slightly. The aim is to get your shoulder under theirs, so they can't pummel to get their own underhook. If the underhook isn't there, a good plan b is to drop the elbow of the collar-gripping arm and put your weight behind that. Use your head to push theirs out the way and with your free arm, pull up on their same-side elbow. This is better than pulling up on the sleeve, because if you grab the sleeve, their elbow is still potentially a risk (e.g., they can try to pop your knee off with their elbow, use it as a base point for shrimping, make space, etc). Slide through to finish the knee cut.

If they do get their knee in, you can try Kev's knee shield pass. Grab their collar and pull them in towards you, bringing your other arm around their lower back to block their hips. Step your leg up and sprawl back to pop your leg free (or do you step your leg up after? Can't quire remember). The lower part of the leg that was trapped now swings back (Kev refers to this as a windscreen wiper), pinning their leg to the mat.

From that position, Kev offered two ways to pass. My preference was the first, where you grab their trouser leg and shove it down to staple their legs in place. Shove down with your collar grip too, using those two grips as your base points to then walk around into north-south or side control, depending on how they react.

The other option is to reach through their legs diagonally, gripping the bottom leg to stop them recovering guard. Pull their legs out of your way and pass, without moving your hips too much in order to maintain the pressure.

My sparring today was all with larger blue belts, or at least blue belts bigger than me. I'm not sure how experienced they were, but their levels of intensity varied from fairly relaxed (I think because he was conscious of the size difference) to carefully measured bursts of speed (e.g., one of them tried shooting up their arm to grab mine when I was in mount and my arm came in range).

I was looking for the tripod/sickle sweep combo, as that's what I'm teaching next week. I sometimes have problems applying it because my arm or leg gets grabbed: I either need to consider how best to break those grips without giving them a pass (e.g., if I should do the hook behind and kick one or something else), or adjust to sweep them despite their grips, or indeed something else entirely.

I did eventually manage the tripod, but I need to get better at transitioning to the sickle. It isn't smooth enough on my part, as I'm pausing to think what foot goes where. I should try keeping in mind that whatever leg I've grabbed the heel/trouser, that's for pushing, the other is for pulling. I also need to be changing my body position for the sickle, swivelling my body.

My deep collar grip also keeps getting stuffed, normally because I can't get it in deep enough and/or they swivel their head around. I had the same problem last time I was sparring at RGA Bucks, so that's something to ask Kev and Donal about to see what solutions they try. I'm also continuing to play with the lapel guard type thing, although in my case it is more "grab the lapel and see what they do" rather than any kind of guard. Everything I've seen from lapel guard so far looks way too complicated, so I'll keep playing to see if I can find anything more mechanically simple and with fewer steps.

One thing along those lines is the mawashi grip, but I wasn't able to shove the lapel under their legs before they got deep in their pass. They did have a fairly tight gi, but still, I want to get better at using that grip, as Kev totally killed me with it a while ago. Very effective, judging by being on the receiving end.

I'm repeatedly going for the crucifix when they turtle, since that Dave Jacobs seminar. I started walking back to knock them over, but their base was too good, so they ended up almost just sitting up with me on their back. Squirming around a bit, I got a more orthodox back control instead, but wasn't able to finish, despite having an arm around the neck. Earlier on he was able to pull my arm over his head in one of the classic escape. I'm not sure exactly what grip I had, but pulling up on their gi and anchoring with my elbow seemed to at least hold me in place, which is better than losing the back (advancing to some kind of submission would be better, of course).

I continue to rely far, far too much on wrapping up with my left arm in closed guard. I can tell when I'm doing that, as my arm gets sore and I use way more energy. I need to come up with a better approach to closed guard when I've got someone big and powerful, as holding them down that way is not effective in the long term. Pulling their gi over their back could be one option, or simply be more proactive on sweeps rather than waiting for the perfect position. I managed to do that in a later roll, where again I had someone bigger wrapped up, but transitioned into the windscreen wiper sweep. I think I keep not swivelling my body enough on that, but must have been in the right spot this time as it felt like a smooth roll into mount.

However, once in mount I wasn't finishing. I was able to walk up into their armpits and hold them there, but not much else. I remembered to look for the switch into technical mount attacking for the bow and arrow choke, but couldn't get the handful of gi I needed to launch into that. So, more work required on what to do when I'm struggling to get their arms past horizontal in mount. I guess I could have looked more for the back by walking them over, or that tip Dónal had on moving your whole body around to the other side of their arm then squaring back up to trap it.

Sparring with Kev, I got stuck under his favoured kimura attack from north-south and side control. I went for the wriggling escape under north-south where you then try and swing your legs back over, which almost worked, but I couldn't quite establish the hook. Kev had two points to make on that: first, it's worth going for, though I could also be looking for half guard rather than all the way to the back. Second, although it does take more energy, you should consider whether you want to try for three escapes at 20% effort, or one attempt at a more effective escape at 60% effort. Seemed like a reasonable argument to keep in mind. :)

14/04/2014 - Grip Break When They Block Your Back Choke

Class #558
Bristol Sports Centre, (Artemis BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 14/04/2014

I was still pretty sore from the GrappleThon yesterday, particularly my left arm. My own fault entirely, as I rely way too much on cross-facing, along with overwrapping from the guard and just generally grabbing the gi and yanking it a lot. It indicates I'm probably using too much force with that arm, which is ironic given how focused I am on technique. ;)

Well worth the pain, because we've managed to raise over £5,000 for the wonderful local charity Kinergy! Naturally you're more than welcome to keep pushing that total even higher, if you want to help an extremely deserving cause. It meant I didn't do any sparring today, though I was still able to join in with the drilling, as well as set the timer for sparring etc.

Dónal started off with a de la Riva pass drill. Squat, grab their collar and pull them in towards you (to get their shoulders off the ground, which makes it harder for them to sweep you). Shove the foot that is on your hip straight down, pushing near the ankle, then swing your leg up. Step on their leg, shoving it underneath the leg you raised to stick them in place. You'd keep going from there, naturally, but that's where we stopped for the drill.

The main technique was Dónal's grip break to attack the back: he has showed it to me before, in a private lesson a while ago. Remember to put it on slowly, being careful of wrist lock pressure. The situation is that they have grabbing your choking arm with both of their arms. Slide your non-choking hand out, then put it on top of their wrist, palm up (like you're holding a tray).

Use your choking hand to grasp your non-choking arm (you'll probably only manage a couple of fingers, but that is enough). Bend your non-choking hand backwards, at the same time twisting your choking hand in the same direction, still holding on. This should be uncomfortable on their wrist: pushing downwards will help too.

To finish extricating your arm, wriggle your non-choking wrist sideways into their arm, which should pop their hand out of the way. As soon as you knock it free, unclasp your hands and grab the meat part of their hand with your non-choking hand. From there you could push it down and step your leg over to trap it, or simply hold it in place with your hand. You may also be able to twist your choking arm straight into their neck, as they will often get distracted by what you're doing to their wrist.

Right at the end, Dónal quickly showed an entry into deep half from standard half: Roli wanted to know, as I guess he's working his deep half. Dive your inside arm to their opposite bum cheek and swivel underneath the leg. From there, you can go for the Homer sweep or maybe the Waiter, but the Homer sweep seems the simplest option for deep half. Simple is good! ;)

27/01/2014 - First Class at Artemis BJJ!

Class #541
Bristol Sports Centre, (Artemis BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 27/01/2014

Hooray! After several months of planning, Artemis BJJ has officially opened (I've got all the social media up and running now, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), with our first location at Bristol Sports Centre in central Bristol (for details on how to find us, check the Locations page on the Artemis BJJ website). Very exciting! There was a pretty good turnout, including purple, blue and white belts. I was particularly pleased that there were three women training as well, so I very much hope that's something we can build on: my goal is a 50/50 gender split. Ambitious, but something to aim for. I'll be starting my regular teaching slot on Wednesday at the same time (19:30-20:30), so I hope to see some of you there! :D
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Dónal and I have decided that we're going to stick with one position for a month, as that's something we both really loved about Gracie Barra Birmingham (which incidentally is where I first met Dónal). For this opening month, that's going to be side control. Today's lesson focused on maintaining side control, following Dónal's regular format of several connected drills.

Before you can get to side control, you'll normally need to pass the guard. Therefore the first drill was the classic bullfighter pass motion. Push their knees to the side as you swing your leg back, then step that same leg through to their side, moving into knee on belly.

Progressing to side control, in the next drill they turn towards you after you've passed. Put the hand you have nearest their legs by their near side hip, with your fingers pointing towards them. That's going to be one basing point. With your other hand, push their head towards you, simultaneously stepping your other leg over their head, keeping your weight on them. Squeeze your stepping knee in towards them for further control. As you spin to the other side, bring the elbow of your head-pushing arm inside what was their near hip and is now the far hip. You can also wedge your knee by their upper back, to help hold them in place. Move back into normal side control, then the process starts again.

But what if they manage to make some space and get their knee inside, sliding their shin across your stomach? The next drill had the answer. Grab around their back, then backstep so your hips are pointing towards their legs. This also neatly moves you around their knee, blocking them from recovering their position. Grip their ankle with your hand, then shove outwards: another classic Dónal simile cropped up here, as he described the motion being like 'giving someone a bunch of flowers'. You can then re-establish side control.

Moving into sparring, we did a quick bit of specific sparring where your goal is to get to mount if you're on top or escape if you're on the bottom. I was training with somebody new to the sport, but he had already realised that he could effectively pin my legs in place by grabbing the bottom of my trouser leg and shoving that to the mat. Due to being at the end of the lever, it's a good control: I was able to flip him backwards by hooking his leg, but still, cool that he was catching on to concepts at this early stage. Hopefully he'll become a regular. :)

The class finished off with free sparring. My first roll was with a blue belt, where I finally managed to remember Kev's suggestion of breaking their grip to go for an armdrag from closed guard, then pull that same arm back to my armpit if they resisted and switch to a sit-up sweep/hip bump. From mount, I initially found myself in my usual predicament of being able to hold the position but not progress. Then I realised that shifting into technical mount opened up the possibility of a bow and arrow choke.

That's something I don't try often enough. I'm keen to get better at that choke, firstly because it fits perfectly with the Artemis theme and secondly because my instructor Kev is really good at it (indeed, it helped him win gold at the Europeans this last weekend). I book regular private lessons with Kev, so the bow and arrow will certainly be featuring in one of them. ;)

Finished up with another blue belt, where I was looking for the tripod but that wasn't working too well given he was kneeling and doing a good job of breaking my grips. I need to think more carefully about dealing with that kind of position in open guard, with sweeps that work well against combat base and its variations.

I'll be teaching our next class, at the same time and place on Wednesday (check our Locations page to see exactly where we are). Hopefully I'll see some of you there! ;)

23/01/2014 - Hit Fit (Open Guard Passing)

Class #540
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 23/01/2014

I'm excited to announce that next week will be the first class at Artemis BJJ, the new club Dónal and I have set up! We haven't done a big launch yet, but the website is up and running, along with the usual social media stuff (so far, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram). I'm still digging through the various bits of bureaucracy involved in setting it up, but I'm looking forward to finally getting back into a regular pattern of training. First week will be free regardless, but we'll probably have a longer free period to kick things off. So, would be cool to see you on the mats at the Bristol Sports Centre on Monday at 19:30. :D
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Dónal started with a simple knee cut drill, where they are on their back in open guard. Step between their legs with one of your own, then cut across to the opposite side, over their thigh. Slide your hip through, keeping your hip tight for pressure, ideally also underhooking their far arm. That was followed by a connected drill, where you're in the same scenario but this time they push into the leg you're trying to cut across. Swing your leg back, then step it through to their side, moving into knee on belly.

Dónal rounded off that section with the butterfly pass he likes to teach. You're facing them, both of you kneeling with one knee raised. Reach over their back and secure a grip under their opposite shoulder. Using your raised knee, push their knees in the opposite direction. The idea here is to clamp their knees to the mat, pressuring through the side of their top knee. Replace that pressure with your hand, keeping the arm straight to use your skeletal structure rather than muscles. You can then pass to side control or possibly take their back, depending on their reaction.

Finally, there was a very basic butterfly sweep from the same position. As soon as they go to grab the knee you have on the floor, control their elbow or sleeve and push their arm across your body. Hooking under their raised leg with your same side instep, then lift as your drop your shoulder on the other side to the mat. This should flip them over, whereupon you can establish side control.

Specific sparring was from on your knees, with the goal of either passing, sweeping or submitting. I was impressed with how quickly my training partner, Estee, picked up the fundamentals of grappling. She was already doing a good job of keeping me away with her feet (just like I'd taught her last week, with good hip movement. Seems to be a natural, so it will be cool to see how she progresses, especially as this is only her second class!

I also had a roll with Mark, where I was pleased to manage a tripod sweep, but weirdly while he was still on his knees. I didn't expect it to work too well from that position, so I'll keep trying it. It's been really helpful having that focus from my previous private lesson with Kev, though I still keep forgetting to try the arm drag attempt to sit up sweep. I've also found considerable utility in the basic open guard position Kev suggested, where I'm sat up, one hand behind for base and the other gripping deep in their collar.

In the open mat hour after class, I was able to fit in a long roll with Gary. I'm not having any luck with the mawashi grip. I did a bit of drilling, but couldn't seem to get any benefit, so that's something to keep experimenting with. I was mainly keeping him at bay by pushing on his hips with my feet, but with very limited success on sweeps. I did eventually get to mount, where I could hold the position, but wasn't able to progress to any kind of submission. I need to keep working on walking my knees up high, as well as threatening the ezequiel when I'm lower down.