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. :)
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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. :)

01/11/2011 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Open Guard Pass)

Class #429
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Donal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 01/11/2011

The ADCC was only held recently, but on the 5th November, there is another big nogi event on the way: the No Gi Worlds. It doesn't tend to get as high level competitors as you find in the ADCC, but then again, it hasn't been around as long, so perhaps more of the elite will show up this time. If you want to check out some grappling action along with the fireworks outside your window, then there is a live stream from BudoVideos again, costing $10. You can buy access here.

I left my parents house at around 12:00, lugging my backpack along with me, walking the mile and a half to the station. Another hour into London, where again I had to run to make sure I didn't miss my megabus to Bristol. That was followed by a few more miles walking from the centre of town. As I pass Gracie Barra Bristol on my way home anyway and I was in time for class with a gi in my bag, I thought I might as well train.

Good thing too, as Donal was covering open guard passes, which is definitely my weakest area. Specifically, he was looking at passing spider guard, when they have a lasso on your arm. Donal's approach was to get them into a typical open guard first, then pass that: in other words, he gave us a general principle which can be applied to a number of different open guards, so handy stuff. For spider guard, you first want to grab the hand they're using to hold your sleeve (on the lassoed side), then pull it towards you. You should now be able to circle your trapped hand behind their leg to free it.

That puts you back into a more typical open guard. To attack, they normally need an angle, so put them flat on their back. Get a good grip on their gi trousers: either grab inside theiAIn free sparring, I was ok to go with controlled, smaller people, finishing off by having a fun roll with Mike. As he was keeping things light, I was able to play around with half guard control using just the one arm, gripping under the head and tightly grasping the material by the opposite shoulder. From there, I lifted my legs up to then cut the trapped leg through. At some point I end up on his back (I think I was losing the half guard, then tried to snatch that unusual 'half-back' type thing Dean Lister did at the ADCC), which unusually for me ended up with a body triangle.

I don't normally like to use that, as first of all my legs are short. Secondly, it makes me feel vulnerable, especially as there is a nasty footlock they can do to you if you're not careful. Thirdly, though less importantly for me personally, IIRC it doesn't net you any points in competition, as you need to have both hooks in. Still, worth trying out, especially as I'll probably end up teaching it during the back maintenance lesson in a month or two.

28/05/2010 - BJJ (Basic)

Class #314
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Chiu Kwong Man, Birmingham, UK - 28/05/2010

The gi class followed directly after, and somewhat bizarrely, I found myself being asked to take the warm-up. I was the only blue belt there, so I guess it goes by seniority, though unfortunately in my case, the colour doesn't really indicate anything other than time, as I'm pretty mediocre for a blue.

That mediocrity apparently extends to my warm-ups, as when it came to the backwards breakfall, I wasn't doing it right. Instead of dropping back and rolling over the shoulder, Chiu came back at that point to emphasise that you need to properly break the fall first. It shouldn't be a continuous roll: drop back and slap the mat with both hands, legs in the air, but not rolling all the way over.

I was also not much of an uke for Chiu, as he had to switch me for somebody else a few times during technique demonstration (that might have been because I was too short, but most likely because of my poorly executed open guard). Much easier when I can just stand, watch and take mental notes! ;)

Class tonight focused on something else I've been watching on Braulio videos, spider guard. However, it was passing the spider guard rather than using it, although the bottom person did have a chance to practice a bit in the course of drilling. Chiu built things up gradually, starting by them simply putting their knees up and feet in the air, holding your sleeve. You hold their knees and step back, putting their feet flat on the floor.

Next they were allowed to put their feet in your biceps while holding your sleeves, which makes things a little more difficult. This time, you pistol grip low on their trousers. Steadily step back with a good, low posture, until you can get you arms straighter, so they aren't creating a right angle by pushing into your bicep.

You can then twist inwards with those grips and press down, which should slide their feet off your arms. It is difficult for them to maintain much of a hold with their feet from their, as long as you step back: don't just try and twist inwards before stepping back, or it won't do any good. Similarly, this won't help you if they still have your arm bent.

Finally, the worst case scenario: they have managed to pull on one arm, pressing into the other arm with their foot to stretch you out. That straightens your arm, so that they can then yank your sleeve across their thigh, circling their leg around and threading it through your arm. This is exactly the position I've been looking to get from Braulio's video, so it was useful to have a chance to practice the right grip, when it was my turn to be on the bottom.

Ideally, you want to pre-empt them before they can secure that hold. Circle your hand around behind their leg, then make a knife hand pointing in the direction of their head. You could grip closer by their bum, but that is more at risk of being pulled back into their grasp, enabling them to re-establish the position they want.

If you get caught in that grip, similar principles from earlier still apply. Crouching low with good posture, move backwards. In what Chiu described as a coiling spring, that should give you the leverage to then immediately follow the step back by bringing your arm back too, then circling around as before.

Another option is to sneak your grips around to their calves, so you're underneath their legs. They probably won't let you do this, or at least not on both legs, so some stealth may be required. You can try straightening your arm as you circling round, to help you get the leverage, and again stepping back helps. You can also bring your knee to bear, pressing behind their leg to give you the space for the grip. Be careful though, as they may catch on and stop you.

Once you've got both grips in place, you can push your arms out, driving forwards so that their feet move towards their head. Drop down to their bum and stay tight, so they don't have any space to move back into guard. From here, you should be able to press forward and pass, or at least get them into turtle from where you can begin to attack.

Again, no sparring, though lots of people stay on afterwards for the open mat. Unfortunately, you need to be on a more expensive subscription programme to take part: I'm only on the standard £60 a month, rather than the £75 premium or £90 black belt options. Still, that's by choice, as I want to avoid the temptation to train more than twice a week, as my writing commitments would definitely suffer especially now I've also got a full-time job. ;)

My fingers will be sore tomorrow too, especially having been the uke for most of the class. As Chiu mentioned, he doesn't use spider guard much these days because it is so hard on the fingers, along with the knees. Something to keep in mind, especially as I am keen to keep training well into my old age, so want to avoid anything which ups the risk of chronic injuries.

22/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #221



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 22/04/2009 - Beginner

There wasn't a lot of technique today, just the half-guard choke from yesterday. Sparring started with guard passage, where I had the interesting experience of rolling with somebody smaller than me, which doesn't happen often. As ever, I spent most of my time on the bottom in half guard, aiming to shrimp in order to recover full guard.

I'm trying to rely less on having my legs closed all the time, instead just hooking their outside leg and using that as a base to shrimp. Got back to full guard a few times that way, but as my partner wasn't locking my upper body, that was probably less difficult than it would normally be.

My next partner was a high level blue belt, who is always really helpful. This time, they gave me various tips based on what they've observed from rolling with me, which is awesome: I don't think anyone has done that for me before.

Main thing was to react to what they were doing, rather than have something in mind that I then constantly look to apply. Related to that, I need to use my legs a lot more when in guard, pulling them in, and also pushing them away once my guard is opened.

Finally for guard passage, I went with the teenager again, so this time I was the one giving advice. As with most people who are still fairly new, that was largely related to not leaving space when on top, using your hips and making sure that you trap the leg all the way through the knee pin pass. She was repeatedly easing the pressure midway through her passing, which meant my knee was free. Its something I do too: that's one of the great things about helping others, as it helps you realise your mistakes in turn.

Free sparring was up next, where I return to spar with the blue belt from earlier. That proved to be a continuation of guard passage, as they urged me to react to their positioning. For example, when they're crouched in front of you without good base, simply push them over with your legs and pop up to mount. I'm prone to staying on my back and waiting, rather than seizing opportunities like that.

Class finished with another spar with the teenager, after which I got a load of useful advice from the blue belt. I'd said I was having trouble with passing the spider guard, so they showed me three ways of passing, depending on what the leg is doing.

If its completely straight – a mistake – your hand circles underneath to break the grip, then you drive your hips into the leg and slide down to side control. If its bent, you again circle your arm to break the grip, then bring your same side knee into the back of their leg. Use that to press down and trap the limb, after which you can initiate your pass.

Finally, there was a reminder of Jude's pass, where you get both hands on the leg, yank up, then slide your knee into their ribs. Very helpful to have a reminder on all of those, so now I just need to make sure I remember to try them when I'm caught in spider guard.

16/03/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

Class #211



Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 16/03/2009 - Beginner

As of this week, I'm finally getting back to regular training at a proper BJJ school. I haven't been on the mats for a while, so plenty of stuff to talk about since January.

To start with more mundane matters, I'm still job hunting (if anyone knows of anybody around Coventry or Birmingham who could use somebody with four years experience number-crunching in Excel, let me know), but on the writing side of things, its been a lot more positive. That is largely thanks to Dolph: I've been looking for a particular text for ages, which Dolph was able to resolve with one email. Very awesome. That kick-started my research, which had been languishing a bit recently, so I've been delving into the history and context of AIDS.

Most recently, Randy Shilts' And The Band Played On has been an excellent and informative read, though I'll of course need to check through lots of other sources before I can get a true picture of the period. US Government archives have been handy for corroborating some of what Shilts' mentions, like the shocking lack of official action on AIDS during the 1980s, both in terms of policy and budget, by the Reagan administration.

In terms of BJJ, there has been some big news this month. The Gracie Academy, where it all started, has now taken a step further than its already controversial Gracie Combatives program. Previously, you were able to test for a 'combatives blue belt' after completing the 36 lesson syllabus. That brought up the possibility of people with only a few months (or even weeks, with intensive courses) training being able to claim they were qualified to teach (whether or not they would make the distinction between Gracie Combatives and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was an especially important issue).

The Gracie Academy's argument was that a Gracie Combatives blue belt was not the same as a BJJ blue belt: Rener, Ryron and Rorion have been making an increasing distinction between self defence orientated Gracie jiu jitsu and the 'sport' jiu jitsu of other BJJ schools. The new Gracie University (also available on DVD) does a whole lot more. Not only is it now possible to get blue, purple, brown and even black belts in Gracie Combatives, but you can both learn and test for those belts through video submission.

Needless to say, that's been all over the net: EFN, NHBGear, Sherdog, The Underground etc. I go into more detail on my own opinion in the Bullshido thread, here. Note the similarity to the earlier debate about Gracie Combatives: Sherdog, NHBGear, Bullshido and EFN.

I'll be reviewing developments with interest: from what I can tell (e.g., there's a free sample showing the kimura), Rener and Ryron's level of instruction is excellent. Also, the Gracie Combatives DVD set itself is comparatively reasonably priced, at $119 for 13 DVDs and over 18 hours of instruction. By comparison, Saulo Ribeiro's excellent Jiu Jitsu Revolution commonly retails for around $150, getting you 6 DVDs and slightly less than 6 hours of instruction.

The controversial part, the online grading, is where the cost begins to add up. On top of the learning material ($144 for online or $119 for the aforementioned DVDs), to test costs $85, and there are then four stripes per level. Still, it does apparently stay at $85 for testing, judging by the response on the GU forum (which is in a pure question and answer format, rather than the normal bulletin board set-up). The big question is whether or not you can really evaluate somebody's jiu-jitsu purely through video, without having observed the student for a long period of training month in, month out.

As to the BJJ class I attended tonight (I'll type up a fuller review of the facilities, environment etc a bit later), techniques stayed fairly basic, as it is mostly white belts. That is one of the best things about this class: I'm really enjoying the chance to work my fundamentals. Jude starts that right from the drilling, with standing up in guard, side control escapes and cross choke from the guard.

In the technical section, the focus today was the armbar from guard, followed by armbar from standing guard and finally armbar defence. Jude clarified a point I've wondered about in the past, which is crossing your feet when doing an armbar.

If they're in your guard on still on their knees, crossing your feet will put weight down their spine. That is to your disadvantage, as it will naturally lean their body in the wrong direction. Instead, you want to keep your feet uncrossed, so you can push down behind their neck. This will keep them off-balance in the direction you want, breaking their posture.

However, once they've stood up, it doesn't matter if you keep your feet crossed or uncrossed. What is important is that you drive your heels down whether or not your feet are crossed, to keep their arm trapped and prevent them pulling up to make space.

There was also a slightly more advanced technique, but Jude still managed to keep it relatively straightforward. For a basic spider guard pass, first step to the side, past their straightened leg. At the same time, bring your hand on top of their other leg, then drive that arm diagonally across and down.

You can now grip their straightened leg with one hand high, the other low by their inner thigh. Step the foot nearest their head next to their ribs. Yank their leg up, pushing your hips forward. Finally, drop into side control, replacing your blocking foot with a knee.

Sparring was guard passage, where as ever I wasn't too successful on top. However, I did at least manage to stand, which as I've been saying for ages, is a habit I need to get used to. Underneath I was a bit more active: the main thing I wanted to try was following up a handstand sweep with a star sweep. In short, the latter technique is swinging your leg around to the same side, roll to your knees, then pull up on their leg to drop them to the floor.

It sort of worked, but the problem I have is that I'm concerned about my training partner's knee when I do that. It looks as if I'm not careful, that could tweak their knee, so definitely need to watch it when practicing the star sweep. No point in doing a technique if its likely to cause injury.

Free sparring was as ever lots of escaping from side control and knee on belly. I keep forgetting to really bridge into them, like Saulo shows in his DVD set, so that's a habit I'm trying to build. Had a quick BJJ session with my gf last week, so hopefully we can make that a regular thing again. Only going through a quick warm-up at home, using techniques for drills, but still helpful to run through side control escape repeatedly.

My sister is away, so I'm probably not going to be able to make any other classes this week, as I need to be there to look after my niece (my brother-in-law came back early today, so I can get in some BJJ). Might try and do three lessons next week to make up for it, but depends on how quick my sister gets back from work.

06/11/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #192



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK – 06/11/2008 - Advanced

I was a bit sleepy today, as the trains fucked up last night so I got back home even later than usual. The Chiltern Line doesn't often break down, but an electrical failure meant I got home around midnight rather than around 22:30, which was a real pain.

Still, seemed to be just about awake for the lesson tonight, where Jude focused on spider guard (although he called it hook guard, so I presume its some kind of variation on spider guard?). The basic position is to shrimp from closed to open guard, then hook one around and under their arm, pushing in deep for the armpit, while the other leg presses on the bicep, each hand holding their same side sleeve.

From there, Jude first showed us how to get an omoplata. Having dug your leg right up under their armpit, lift that hook and push firmly with the other leg to lean your partner over to one side. Having unbalanced them sufficiently, let go of your sleeve grips: instead, you're going to apply your hands to the arm where your leg has a deep hook. Grab their tricep and elbow, then pull that arm towards you, pushing your leg through. This should automatically bend their arm around your leg, meaning you're set up to bring your leg over, triangling it with the other, then grabbing their side and raising up for the omoplata.

If they resist your attack by raising up their knee, on the side where you're pushing your leg straight into their arm rather than hooking, you can still get a sweep. Switch the hand that was gripping that sleeve to their other sleeve (so the one where you have your leg hooked). With your free hand, reach underneath and grab low on their trouser leg. Now in one motion, swivel around, bringing your leg up and over, rolling them past you, after which you can mount them.

I think we've done something similar before, but as with last time, I had trouble getting the mechanics, and also found it hard to spin smoothly. The defence against that sweep was a bit easier to understand, and again was a pass we'd done before, the "it's me!" pass. You're in the previous position, with your knee raised. Press that knee into their leg (which is trying to push straight into your arm), aiming to get it right over their knee, pinning their leg to the floor. On the same side, bring your hand around theirs and grip their sleeve.

Your other hand with also move to grip on that side, but on their trouser leg. This is the bit I found difficult, as I struggled to get that hold without losing balance: I found I had to strain to reach the leg. Once you have both those grips, stand and step back, then throw your hands apart still maintaining the grip. This should open them up completely, so you can simply move through into knee-on-belly.

To practice those moves, we began specific sparring with the same open guard position. I found it tough to pass Rodney's guard, due to the aforementioned problem of establishing that second grip. I kept on losing my base by overreaching, making it easy for Rodney to sweep me. So, what I need to do in that position is work on my balance and develop a more secure base, attempting to free my arms.

With the positions reversed, I didn't get especially far, as I felt as if I couldn't get enough leverage. I'm short and light, so that might have had something to do with it, but that probably also means I wasn't close enough. I need to get a more controlling hook with my leg, so I can use my limb to break my opponent's posture, moving them around by constant pressure on their arms.

Changing to side control, I had a lot of trouble getting any kind of control on top. There was about 14kg difference, which would account for some of that difficulty, but I also need to become more mobile. I think I've been improving in the switch between scarf hold and side control, but that's not enough. Going to north-south, reverse scarf hold, knee-on-belly etc are all transitions I'm currently lacking, so plenty of work to do there. I find that I can feel when I'm about to lose the position – sometimes just from being literally shoved up and off by my partner – but I'm not able to react and shift my base to maintain my top position. Something to think about.

Underneath, I was much happier, working escapes as usual. Rodney was fond of moving his legs around, presumably looking to step over my head, or possibly to get me thinking about one direction. That means that a quick shift in momentum could result in enough surprise to wrong foot me and result in getting mounted (which is exactly what happened the first time). I looked to get half guard as ever, though I need to be more versatile, trying escapes to my knees and the like.

On top in mount, I have no control at all, though Roger's basic tips yesterday on using the forehead in lieu of a hand was useful. Again, I felt more comfortable, still going for half guard, though also as before, I should try other things, such as different entries to half guard (e.g., hooking the other side of the instep, lifting, and inserting my legs that way) and combining it with more bridging.

I only sparred once today (not just the usual wimping out, as there was only time for two rounds tonight), with Junior, who is a huge purple belt, so took it very easy on me. I spent most of it looking perplexed in his guard, failing miserably to pass. Junior let me pop through into half-guard a couple of times, but I wasn't able to get my shoulder under his chin to enact Roger's half guard pass where you swing the free leg over.

Hopefully I'll get in some more drilling on Sunday with the Warwick Uni BJJ group (and/or Wednesday, as Lee has the activities room booked from 12:00-13:00 again: I must remember to ring up on Monday to make sure of getting the room for next Sunday), and also another session of Warwick Judo.

01/05/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #142



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Maurição Gomes, London, UK - 01/05/2008 - Advanced

The more I read by Roy Dean, the more I'm impressed. I already like his videos and blog, and now I've been enjoying his free online book, An Uchideshi Experience. Anyone who has read Angry White Pyjamas (my review of that here) will remember that an uchideshi is a live-in student. Dean's writing is a little later (1999) than Angry White Pyjamas, and also considerably more informed: unlike Robert Twigger, Dean was already an experienced martial artist. Even better, he had begun his training in BJJ, so brings a much more critical eye to traditional martial arts. He provides a balanced perspective on both their benefits and their flaws, with particular regard to aikido.

As I've mentioned before in this blog, I'm trying to pull together a long post on BJJ history (which will link back to the ones I've already done on the early UFCs). For that, I'm mainly drawing on Mastering Jujitsu and The Gracie Way, so things like An Uchideshi Experience - given the time of writing – are going to be very useful for broadening my sources. Look forward to getting to Dean's thoughts on the SEG era of the UFC, as in keeping with most non-Brazilians who began BJJ in the 1990s, he was inspired to take up the sport by Royce Gracie's MMA victories.

Tonight's class was, in contrast to yesterday, technique heavy. Maurição kind of did what he did yesterday, but this time with careful explanation and clearer goals for us to practice, as opposed to the more conceptual approach last lesson. The pattern was to first do a specific spar, then work a technique from that position, which proved a good structure.

Sparring from the mount with Herman, I was able to escape ok, especially doing my usual half guard, then shifting to full guard by pushing the leg away and slipping under. However, on top I was much less successful. I did at least get to try different things, attempting to secure my leg under his head to get into the mounted triangle position, where my intention was either to go for an armbar from there or finish the triangle. Unfortunately, I was leaving way too much space, so either got swept or Herman was able to escape.

Maurição then instructed us on maintaining mount. The scenario was that they have managed to get an elbow between your knee and their side. Get hold of their other elbow and drag it back, aiming to shove their arm across their own throat. With the same side knee, shift up towards their head, raising up slightly with your other leg (but keeping the foot tight to their side, leaving no space for them to try and underhook it). Also make sure your hips are on them, keeping the pressure.

You can then either go for the armbar, or there was some kind of choke Maurição showed us. I don't think I quite understood it, but from what I can remember, you open up their collar with one hand, bring your other hand under their head, feed the collar through, grab their other collar and secure the choke. I'm pretty sure I got it wrong, though, as it didn't feel very tight.

We then moved on to sparring from half-guard. I went for submissions, mainly the kimura, but couldn't secure Herman's arm. I also tried switching to a straight armbar, but wasn't in position to apply enough leverage. Underneath, I was doing much the same thing as from under mount, using the half guard to try to recover full guard. I also attempted shifting to deep half guard (so up by Herman's legs), which again didn't yield much as I wasn't quite sure what to go for. At another point, I'm sure I was in position for some kind of sweep, with my legs under, but again, couldn't think how to finish.

The technique was two half guard passes. For the first one, you sit back on their leg. As they raise up their torso, you shove it down with one arm. With the other, press their knee to the floor (this will be the knee you were previously sitting on, so its already down by the ground). Having got control of that knee, bring your knee over, then keeping the pressure with your hips, slide through to side control.

Second method was for when you're closer to them. They'll most likely try to bring their arm to bear for the underhook, so control that and squash it into their body. Your free knee presses into their hip, blocking the movement of their leg. You then slip your trapped foot out and move to side control. I think: feels like I'm missing something there.

Our last bit of specific sparring was from open guard. With passing, I kinda swung my way past a few times, but not all that securely: had we been free sparring, I don't think Herman would have had too much trouble coming to his knees and getting up, or going to guard. I also got the sprawl pass again, but need to both control the legs better and improve what Brian called 'rock climbing' at the Oxford TD (i.e., pulling myself up his body into side control).

Underneath, I was trying spider guard, but as has been a recurring problem today, wasn't totally clear on what I was trying to achieve. I really need to review the sweeps from open and half guard, as I can normally get to some semblance of the position. Now I need to clarify my goals once I reach that point in the spar.

Maurição then showed how to pass the open guard. This is something I've seen Gustavo demonstrate, and it’s a technique I like (though haven't quite used it successfully yet, probably again due to problems with pressing my limited weight downwards). They have spider guard. You circle your arms underneath and grip behind their knees. Stack them up (by pushing their legs back), aiming to get their knees to their shoulders. Sit on the back of their thighs, thrusting your hips forward and keeping the pressure downwards. Then simultaneously slip to the side and thrust their legs out the way, sliding into side control.

Free sparring with Herman was quite fun, as I went for lots of submissions. I started with an attempted guillotine, but only had one arm in and couldn't secure it. I tried switching to a kimura but couldn't get the arm, and then as Herman came to his knees at one point, I even went for a brabo choke. I think I did it totally wrong, so definitely need to refresh my memory on that one: got the spinning to your back bit, but think my grip on the neck was incorrect.

I also tried for a triangle, as I worked to get my leg over Herman's arm while pulling the other one forward, but left too much space. I need to thrust my hips up more, and perhaps swivel round. I remembered to try for the armbar, but didn't have enough of a hold with my legs to stop Herman from pulling out. I really wanted to go for an omoplata too, but couldn't get the position to swing my leg over and wrap up the arm. Enjoyable, but repeatedly sloppy technique on my part.

My next free spar was quite different, as it was a great deal less mobile. I was with Andy, a white belt who had a bit of size on me. While underneath, he tried to crush my head into his side, which was random: I got my leg around his head and then used the pressure to gradually pry his arm off my head. I'm not sure if he could have got a submission out of that, but presumably was just trying stuff to see if it worked.

I eventually ended up under mount, but was able to sweep him when he went for a choke. However, he was dead keen to get that submission, so held on tightly to his grips as I rolled him into guard. I wrapped up his arms and postured up, so felt fairly confident I was safe. He gave it a good try, though, and definitely wasn't comfortable. That also made me think about what point do you tap on a choke: I didn't feel I was in danger, though it definitely wasn't a fun position to be in. I probably should have also been pressing his elbows in more, rather than just wrapping and posturing.

It was clear that he didn't want to let go, and that I was going to be able to sit there and resist while he strained, so I advised him to try something else. However, by that point the time was about to run out. I didn't fancy another roll after that, so sat out the last round of sparring to get some water.

Next bit of training should hopefully be the inaugural meeting of the Warwick Uni BJJ group, which will give me the chance for loads of drilling. Will see how the organisation goes, but could be the start of something really handy.

25/01/2008 - BJJ (Beginners)

Class #116



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13/06/2007 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #61


Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 13/06/2007 – Advanced

I was in two minds about jumping straight into the advanced, as I hadn’t eaten since 13:30, but decided that as this effectively works out as a two hour class in total, might as well go for it. I’m glad I did, as it turned out to be a great first experience.

The drills were, unsurprisingly, more complicated. Jude focused on passing spider guard, especially fun as I’ve never come across spider guard before. Well, that’s not quite true: it turns out I have, as Owen has used it on me a lot, I just didn’t know what it was called. Spider guard, as far as I can tell, is a form of open guard in which the person on the bottom has their feet pressed right into the crooks of the top person’s arms, also holding onto their sleeves. In order to pass, the first technique is that Person A brings their arm round and underneath one of Person B’s legs, then pushes that downwards. Person A then walks around to the other side, swinging Person B’s leg out of the way and driving through into knee on belly. It will take me lots of time to work out the finer details, but that seems to be the general idea.

Jude followed up with a variation, if the bottom person’s legs prove difficult to get round. The pass begins as before, with Person A bringing one of their arms around and underneath Person B’s leg. This time, Person A moves to the same side and steps their right leg through, driving forward, ending up sitting on Person B’s leg. Person A frees one arm from Person B’s grip, going straight to underhook Person B’s near arm. Having secured that position, Person A then breaks the grip on their other arm, finally bringing their rear leg through and into side control.

The last technique Jude demonstrated was what happened if Person B managed to raise up before you could secure side control. The process is exactly like above, except that instead of bringing your rear leg through into side control, you bring it right round to the other side of Person B’s head, with them on their side. You’ve already got the underhook, so use that to pull them up, then switch your left arm through, grab the bicep of the right arm, hold their wrist, finishing with a kimura submission.

That meant it was time for ‘king of the hill’ sparring, from spider guard. As I expected, I didn’t get too far, but I did get lots of tips. Duncan, one of the blue belts, advised me that when standing, I should stay low. Alex, a brown belt, told me to try and push on the knees. Tomaz (if I got his name right) said I needed to be very careful if my partner gets a grip on my wrists – that gives them control. My aim at this point should be to recover a hold on their knees, as this returns control to me. Its going to be an interesting learning curve – will take me a fair while to learn everyone’s name and who is willing to help out babbling white belts like me, but seems to have started off well.

The same was true of full sparring, if that’s the best term to use. I haven’t gone from my knees and rolled without any specific end point (except submission) outside of throwdowns, and never in a gi, although I suppose to few pre-class rolls I’ve had with Owen count. Both the people I rolled with, Tran and Indra, are people I’ve spoken to before, and they were also both taking it fairly easy on me, which was good. From what I gathered, they were both looking to work their defence, which meant I could in turn work my offence and how to hold position. That showed me that I’m not too used to back mount, as I couldn’t quite work out how to get a choke going against Indra: possibly I should have cross-faced (if I’m understanding that term right) her in order to get both my arms through. It also gave me a chance to work from mount and side control, both of which are positions I’m keen to improve.

The advanced class is much bigger than the beginners, and Gary noted that this wasn’t even an especially busy class. Due to the numbers, not everyone was able to spar at the same time, which is cool by me as I got a chance to chat with Jude, Christina and Indra. That social opportunity is awesome, as it will give me a chance to try and get to know people, something which always makes sparring way more fun.

I think I’ll leave the no-gi until next week, as I haven’t got my rash guard with me, but in general I’m going to aim to try for three classes a week. That’s probably going to consist of beginner and advanced on Wednesday then the no-gi on Thursday, but I’ll see if I’ve got enough gas to go on after the no-gi. Same applies to the Wednesday – if I get especially knackered during the beginners, I might double up on the Thursday. We’ll see how my meagre fitness levels hold up!