Class #858
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Chris Haueter, Leuven, Belgium, 26/07/2017
Unlike last year, there wasn't as much of a clear distinction in structure between the two classes. This one felt like again a fair chunk of lecture, followed by technique (though again, it was within time). Haueter talked about proper shrimping, before getting into some details on the scissor sweep.
When you uncross, keep your legs tight so they can't feel the difference. Close guard, not necessarily closed guard, as somebody at the camp dubbed it (possibly Priit?). Establish your grip, stiff arming with your shin leg side arm. Load their weight onto their knee, chop and come up.
An interesting detail was when they adjust and block. To knock them off that adjustment, sit right up into them, then quickly drop back and do it again. That disrupts their newly aligned base, meaning you can complete the sweep.
Showing posts with label scissor sweep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scissor sweep. Show all posts
26 July 2017
16 April 2016
16/04/2016 - Jamie Hughes Seminar
Seminar #019
Pedro Bessa BJJ, Jamie Hughes, Bristol, UK - 16/04/2016
At today's seminar, brown belt Jamie Hughes went through a few closed guard sequences he's found useful in competition. The first starts a with strong cross collar grip. Pull them in with your legs, then angle out. When they start to rise, establish a palm down grip on their collar, Get your elbow under chin and complete the choke.
If they block your second grip on that choke, whip your legs up and lock around them: you're looking for a 'diamond' clamp, setting up a triangle. It doesn't matter if they still have their hand in, that will simply fill up any space for choking. Slide your leg into position for the triangle, then to finish, bring your arm around your knee, gable gripping. Squeeze for the tap.
If they block the arm but have their arm further through, you can switch to an armbar. Push them away with your collar grip hand, then bring your legs up into the armbar position. Pull back toes to tense and add pressure. Alternatively, reach under their leg, rolling them into a mounted armbar.
Next sequence begins from the scissor sweep. You have that collar grip again. This time, drive your collar grip side knee up into their chest, pressing in tight. Your other leg drops by their same side leg, chopping them over into mount. You can finish the choke from there, or switch to another attack. Keep your sleeve grip and choke grip, pulling the sleeve across as you swivel into s mount for the armbar. That sleeve pull will raise their shoulder, making the s mount switch easier. It also gives you the option of technical mount.
If you can't knock them over with the scissor sweep, change to a push sweep. If you can't get that either, bring your pressing knee out and over the top of their arm, shove the arm back with the knee, then circle round their head to move into a triangle.
Switching it up, you can make as if you're going for the scissor sweep, but instead kick your cross grip side leg out and clamp around their back. Punch across with your collar grip, pull their arm across with the sleeve grip. Squeeze your knees for a weird choke. If this doesn't choke them, it will probably give you the arm for an armbar (with this one, Hughes said it was ok to cross your feet). If they pull their arm free, you're in the perfect position to move into an omoplata instead.
Third sequence goes from the two-on-one grip break. Hughes recommends a different version to what I'm used to. Rather than bringing an arm underneath, he puts both hands on top, gripping firmly: this is more powerful, in his opinion. Yank it up and pull across, switching your outside arm to a pistol grip. You're slightly off to the side behind them, almost at their back. Stay tight. Grip their belt, lock your elbow in. Switch your grip from the sleeve to their trouser leg.
Kick your leg up towards their opposite shoulder, aiming to knock their shoulder into your chest. Upa and punch up with your trouser grip to roll through into mount. Loads of options now, from armbars to back takes, chokes, kimura grip, all sorts. Tricky to get the right weight distribution initially. Alternatively, grip break and punch across as before, then shrimp a bit to go to the back. Bring your arm across their neck, lock your other hand on their back for the 'short choke'. For more leverage, thrust with your hips.
If you can't knock them over, crawl up and around their back, swivelling the leg as you post out your arm, moving onto the back. From here, you can hook the far arm with yours, by the crook of their elbow. Bring your leg past the head, swivelling your body through. You can then lock in a 'reverse armbar', or grab their trouser leg and lift it through, to move into a standard armbar from mount instead.
Pedro Bessa BJJ, Jamie Hughes, Bristol, UK - 16/04/2016
At today's seminar, brown belt Jamie Hughes went through a few closed guard sequences he's found useful in competition. The first starts a with strong cross collar grip. Pull them in with your legs, then angle out. When they start to rise, establish a palm down grip on their collar, Get your elbow under chin and complete the choke.
If they block your second grip on that choke, whip your legs up and lock around them: you're looking for a 'diamond' clamp, setting up a triangle. It doesn't matter if they still have their hand in, that will simply fill up any space for choking. Slide your leg into position for the triangle, then to finish, bring your arm around your knee, gable gripping. Squeeze for the tap.
If they block the arm but have their arm further through, you can switch to an armbar. Push them away with your collar grip hand, then bring your legs up into the armbar position. Pull back toes to tense and add pressure. Alternatively, reach under their leg, rolling them into a mounted armbar.
Next sequence begins from the scissor sweep. You have that collar grip again. This time, drive your collar grip side knee up into their chest, pressing in tight. Your other leg drops by their same side leg, chopping them over into mount. You can finish the choke from there, or switch to another attack. Keep your sleeve grip and choke grip, pulling the sleeve across as you swivel into s mount for the armbar. That sleeve pull will raise their shoulder, making the s mount switch easier. It also gives you the option of technical mount.
If you can't knock them over with the scissor sweep, change to a push sweep. If you can't get that either, bring your pressing knee out and over the top of their arm, shove the arm back with the knee, then circle round their head to move into a triangle.
Switching it up, you can make as if you're going for the scissor sweep, but instead kick your cross grip side leg out and clamp around their back. Punch across with your collar grip, pull their arm across with the sleeve grip. Squeeze your knees for a weird choke. If this doesn't choke them, it will probably give you the arm for an armbar (with this one, Hughes said it was ok to cross your feet). If they pull their arm free, you're in the perfect position to move into an omoplata instead.
Third sequence goes from the two-on-one grip break. Hughes recommends a different version to what I'm used to. Rather than bringing an arm underneath, he puts both hands on top, gripping firmly: this is more powerful, in his opinion. Yank it up and pull across, switching your outside arm to a pistol grip. You're slightly off to the side behind them, almost at their back. Stay tight. Grip their belt, lock your elbow in. Switch your grip from the sleeve to their trouser leg.
Kick your leg up towards their opposite shoulder, aiming to knock their shoulder into your chest. Upa and punch up with your trouser grip to roll through into mount. Loads of options now, from armbars to back takes, chokes, kimura grip, all sorts. Tricky to get the right weight distribution initially. Alternatively, grip break and punch across as before, then shrimp a bit to go to the back. Bring your arm across their neck, lock your other hand on their back for the 'short choke'. For more leverage, thrust with your hips.
If you can't knock them over, crawl up and around their back, swivelling the leg as you post out your arm, moving onto the back. From here, you can hook the far arm with yours, by the crook of their elbow. Bring your leg past the head, swivelling your body through. You can then lock in a 'reverse armbar', or grab their trouser leg and lift it through, to move into a standard armbar from mount instead.
22 November 2014
22/11/2014 - RGA Bucks | Closed Guard | Scissor & Combat Base Sweep
Class #604
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 22/11/2014
I'm liking the pattern that I've settled into now. On a family birthday, I head up to my parents place on a Friday. I do some training at RGA Bucks the following morning, after which my parents treat me to an art exhibition and a posh meal in London. On the actual birthday I'll get yet more tasty food and catch up with my sister and nieces, before heading back home to Bristol. Awesome.
The art in question this time was perfectly targeted to my taste, a National Gallery exhibition dubbed Rembrandt: The Late Works. As my father is a member (one of the first, as that scheme is quite new at the National Gallery, compared to the Tate and Royal Academy which have had memberships for a long time), it didn't matter that all the tickets were sold out, as members can just wander up and show their cards.
Like I've mentioned before, my favourite period of art is 1450-1700, especially Mannerism, the Northern Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age. Rembrandt is arguably the pre-eminent example of that third category. Even so, £16 is rather steep, given that despite my habit of staring at paintings a really long time and going through every single caption and audio commentary, I was still done in less than two hours. Fortunately I didn't pay anything, but worth keeping in mind if you're paying full price. Though it did work out well, as I only had just under two hours before the restaurant booking anyway.
Strangely, there are no descriptive captions in the exhibition space. Instead, those are all in the booklet you get given before you go in. For me that's positive, as firstly it maximises space for exhibits, secondly it means you end up with an informative memento of your visit. Hence why I'm armed with way more facts about the exhibition than I would normally: in total, there are 91 exhibits (5 of which are from The National Gallery itself) across seven small rooms. Of those 91, 33 are oil paintings, the rest are etchings and ink drawings.
The audio guide (£3.50) was a little sparse for my liking. It covers 24 of the exhibits (19 paintings and five of the etchings/drawings). Given that there were only 33 paintings in total, I felt there could have been more (although to be fair, some of the commentary did cover two paintings at one and multiple drawings, plus there were a few "click play to hear more" moments). It wasn't as good as the Turner audio guide from last time, as there was far too much pretentious waffling about Rembrandt's 'love of humanity'.
By contrast, the Turner guide talked about the nitty gritty of constructing the painting, so materials, technique, framing and so forth, with some historical context. The Rembrandt guide wasn't devoid of that, but I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the pontificating about the painting's meaning. Pointing out references and providing convention is useful, such as how Margaretha de Geer's confident pose and commanding gaze might relate to her sharp business sense and formidable personality, as she took over her husband's company after his death. Talking about 'feeling' is rather less helpful.
Any quibbles are forgotten when you're stood in front of the incredible paintings, which is of course why you bother going to the exhibition in the first place. Rembrandt is endlessly fascinating, achieving so much with just a few brushstrokes, innovating right up until his final painting. At first I was a bit disappointed that two-thirds of the exhibition was etchings and drawings, but here the audio guide became especially useful. It was enlightening to learn how Rembrandt had continued to fiddle with the original plate after he took prints from it. For example, when he got to fifty prints from one of them, there was quite a bit of wear to the plate. So he almost completely changed the scene before continuing to take prints.
There are a number of famous works in here too. Aside from the National Gallery masterpieces regular visits will already be familiar with, you get to see great works like 'The Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis' (loaned from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Sweden), 'The Jewish Bride' (from the Rijksmuseum) and 'The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Joan Deyman' (from the Amsterdam Museum, also recently discussed on a BBC Four documentary all about anatomy). So perhaps a bit overpriced, but if you've got the money and you're a Rembrandt fan, well worth checking out. It's on until January, IIRC.
________________________________________
Training at RGA Bucks focused on sweeps from guard, something I'm keen to improve. Kev teaches lots of technique on a Saturday (I don't know if that's a Saturday thing or if his classes are now normally like that), with three different options increasing in complexity. First off there's the basic scissor sweep. Start by getting a deep grip on their opposite collar, then with your other hand grab their same side elbow. Alternatively, you can grip their wrist and pin it to your chest.
Rener makes a clear distinction here, as he suggests grabbing the sleeve if they are pushing into your bicep, grabbing the wrist if they are pushing into your chest. Either way, your intention – and this is true for lots of sweeps and reversals – is to prevent their ability to post with that hand. That makes for a straightforward test for whether or not what you’re using is effective: can they put their hand on the mat and prevent the sweep?
The next step is to put your foot on their same side hip (or the floor, depending on your preference) and shrimp out slightly, to make space to insert your knee. Slide that knee over, once again to that same side, until your shin is across their stomach. Hook your instep around their other side. Another option is to angle your knee towards their shoulder, which can act as an entry into the triangle.
A key detail is to then raise your elbows towards your head, so that you're pulling them onto your shin. The aim is to load them onto your leg, which in turn means that their weight is no longer on their legs. Extending your torso back, rather than remaining curled up, may help that weight transfer.
This should make them lighter: drop your other leg to the mat, chopping underneath them as you bring your hooking leg over, rolling into mount. Ryron has two handy tips here. Firstly, use the heel of your hooking foot to swivel and clamp to their side, becoming a leverage point to assist your shift into mount. Secondly, bring the elbow of your sleeve gripping arm further backwards, to put your opponent even more off balance.
The sweep shouldn't require much strength, so if you're having to strain, you probably haven't pulled them forward enough first. You can also get this sweep if they raise a knee up, which is the classic way to teach it. Drop your same side knee towards their opposite hip, then continue the sweep as above. If you're finding that when you try and chop their leg they simply step over it, raise your chopping leg slightly. You might even try hooking behind their knee with it, as that will immobilise the leg, although it may also make it more difficult to get a smooth chopping motion.
If for some reason you're having trouble chopping out their leg, you can switch to a push sweep, which is very similar to the scissor sweep. Everything is the same, except that you don't chop the leg. Instead, move your head back in line with theirs, so your torso is square on, then slide what would have been your chopping leg backwards. You now have room to use the foot of that leg to push into the side of their knee. Tracing a semi-circle, you're then going to shove their knee straight back, which will knock them off balance, whereupon you can roll through to mount as before.
That was followed by the reverse scissor sweep, which I taught a class on a few years back. When you try to hit the scissor sweep, you may find that they shift their weight to block it, or try to grab your knee. Either way, that means you can then change to a reverse scissor sweep instead. Your shin is either across their stomach for the scissor sweep, or as Kev recommends, going higher and angling the knee up into their chest. You've also got a grip on the collar as well as their same side sleeve. Rather than pulling them onto you and chopping out their leg, switch your sleeve grip to their opposite sleeve, then yank it across their body. The elbow of your gripping arm can be used for base.
Next, release your collar grip arm and reach around to their opposite armpit, bringing them in tight. As when you're trying to take the back, you need to press your chest into the back of the arm you pulled across their body, so they can't pull it back out. On the same side as the arm you've trapped, put your back on the mat, which should enable you to fling them over in that direction with your braced leg (this should feel effortless: if you're straining, then adjust, as without good leverage you could hurt yourself) and move into side control. You should also end up in a great position to cross-face.
John Will uses a slight variation, on his Mastering Sweeps DVD (which I bought from him at his excellent seminar a few years ago). Rather than gripping the collar and sleeve, he advises gripping and then pushing your palms inwards, rather than leaving any slack. This makes it a bit easier to switch their arm to your other hand, as you already have a grip, rather than having to use your collar grabbing arm. Will comes up on one arm, then as he falls back to lift them, he switches the posting hand to instead reach through their arm. This is so he can end up reaching past their armpit into the collar.
Finally, Kev showed us a nifty option against combat base. Sit up, then reach your arm on the outside of their base, going under their raised leg. Feed their far collar/lapel to that reaching hand. That is enough to sweep them, but to make it easier, you're going to break their balance. If they are driving in towards you, pushing your inside foot to their same side hip/knee. To knock them forwards, kick that leg out, which is normally going to make them base on their far arm. You can now grab that arm and drive for the sweep. Put your inside knee to their hip, cutting their knee out of the way, then slide through to mount.
I had the pleasure of being smashed by a big purple in specific sparring, and that was with him being nice, waiting for me to react. It was from guard, where I am still weak: I need to keep looking for angles and pushing for some kind of offence. On top I was trying to keep my balance and failing. Each time I went for the kneeling break, he easily broke down my posture or simply sat up, whether or not I had an arm into the chest to try and keep him down.
He also got a really tight triangle, though strangely the choke wasn't on (he eventually rolled me into mount with it still in place, so we reset). I think it could be something silly, in that I'm just a bit small for his frame! My neck was a little sore: I'm still not sure on the best balance between staying safe, while also helping your partner by not tapping too early. Neck was ok later, so hopefully I judged that right.
Later on, I though about that again, as I overheard Kev giving a pep talk to a younger student. That teenager had gotten slightly injured earlier in class. Kev made the excellent point that sometimes you have to let stronger people have certain things. It's not worth the injury risk to strain against somebody way more powerful than you, so give it up, looking to make up any lost ground later. Something I always try to keep in mind, but well worth reminding yourself, especially if you're a smaller grappler (like me and indeed Kev, so he's speaking from long experience).
In free sparring I continued having issues from guard with my first partner, a strong white belt, again because I'm ending up too square on. I'm still failing to angle off in closed guard and I need to improve that Relson grip, so they can't just swing their head under and out. I have a clear goal from most positions now, but closed guard keeps getting stuck into a repetitive cycle of break posture, grip, they get posture back, break posture, grip, etc. Or they manage to pass. The gi tail grip over the back is another handy goal, so I should be trying that more, though again I'm not angling off properly when I do get it.
Update November 2014: Thanks to lots of drilling with Chris back in Bristol, I think I may have finally cracked it in regards to my guard approach. We'll see how that goes, but the drilling has been massively useful so far! :)
The next round went better, with a blue belt, as I finally managed to mount some offence (though only once it moved into open guard, my closed guard was equally stale). It's also the first time I can think of that Kev's mawashi grip worked well for me, resulting in a few sweeps. The difference was an extremely basic bit of advice Kev mentioned when I said how I'd had trouble getting much off the grip: sit up. I realised that I've been trying to do it with my back too near the ground. Sitting up made it much more effective.
I managed to land the north-south kimura and mount was working well for me too, landing a few cross-chokes. I'm teaching the cross-choke on Monday, so it was very helpful to hit it a few times in sparring, in terms of establishing what elements of the technique are important to get it to function (for me at least: one of the best things about teaching is that it forces you to think about doing a technique using a body other than yours). Of course, this was against less experienced people who aren't too much bigger than me, but still handy to practice.
It was also cool to meet another of my blog readers: if he's reading this, as you asked about the details for my club, it's called Artemis BJJ. I teach in two places. The main one is Bristol Sports Centre/MyGym in the centre of town, over in St Paul's just off Portland Square near Cabot Circus. I also run a class in Kingswood, on Thursday, with an open mat on Saturday. Everything is up on the website, here - hope to see you and/or your Bristol family on the mats some time! :D
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 22/11/2014
I'm liking the pattern that I've settled into now. On a family birthday, I head up to my parents place on a Friday. I do some training at RGA Bucks the following morning, after which my parents treat me to an art exhibition and a posh meal in London. On the actual birthday I'll get yet more tasty food and catch up with my sister and nieces, before heading back home to Bristol. Awesome.
The art in question this time was perfectly targeted to my taste, a National Gallery exhibition dubbed Rembrandt: The Late Works. As my father is a member (one of the first, as that scheme is quite new at the National Gallery, compared to the Tate and Royal Academy which have had memberships for a long time), it didn't matter that all the tickets were sold out, as members can just wander up and show their cards.
Strangely, there are no descriptive captions in the exhibition space. Instead, those are all in the booklet you get given before you go in. For me that's positive, as firstly it maximises space for exhibits, secondly it means you end up with an informative memento of your visit. Hence why I'm armed with way more facts about the exhibition than I would normally: in total, there are 91 exhibits (5 of which are from The National Gallery itself) across seven small rooms. Of those 91, 33 are oil paintings, the rest are etchings and ink drawings.
The audio guide (£3.50) was a little sparse for my liking. It covers 24 of the exhibits (19 paintings and five of the etchings/drawings). Given that there were only 33 paintings in total, I felt there could have been more (although to be fair, some of the commentary did cover two paintings at one and multiple drawings, plus there were a few "click play to hear more" moments). It wasn't as good as the Turner audio guide from last time, as there was far too much pretentious waffling about Rembrandt's 'love of humanity'.
By contrast, the Turner guide talked about the nitty gritty of constructing the painting, so materials, technique, framing and so forth, with some historical context. The Rembrandt guide wasn't devoid of that, but I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the pontificating about the painting's meaning. Pointing out references and providing convention is useful, such as how Margaretha de Geer's confident pose and commanding gaze might relate to her sharp business sense and formidable personality, as she took over her husband's company after his death. Talking about 'feeling' is rather less helpful.
There are a number of famous works in here too. Aside from the National Gallery masterpieces regular visits will already be familiar with, you get to see great works like 'The Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis' (loaned from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Sweden), 'The Jewish Bride' (from the Rijksmuseum) and 'The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Joan Deyman' (from the Amsterdam Museum, also recently discussed on a BBC Four documentary all about anatomy). So perhaps a bit overpriced, but if you've got the money and you're a Rembrandt fan, well worth checking out. It's on until January, IIRC.
________________________________________
Training at RGA Bucks focused on sweeps from guard, something I'm keen to improve. Kev teaches lots of technique on a Saturday (I don't know if that's a Saturday thing or if his classes are now normally like that), with three different options increasing in complexity. First off there's the basic scissor sweep. Start by getting a deep grip on their opposite collar, then with your other hand grab their same side elbow. Alternatively, you can grip their wrist and pin it to your chest.
Rener makes a clear distinction here, as he suggests grabbing the sleeve if they are pushing into your bicep, grabbing the wrist if they are pushing into your chest. Either way, your intention – and this is true for lots of sweeps and reversals – is to prevent their ability to post with that hand. That makes for a straightforward test for whether or not what you’re using is effective: can they put their hand on the mat and prevent the sweep?The next step is to put your foot on their same side hip (or the floor, depending on your preference) and shrimp out slightly, to make space to insert your knee. Slide that knee over, once again to that same side, until your shin is across their stomach. Hook your instep around their other side. Another option is to angle your knee towards their shoulder, which can act as an entry into the triangle.
A key detail is to then raise your elbows towards your head, so that you're pulling them onto your shin. The aim is to load them onto your leg, which in turn means that their weight is no longer on their legs. Extending your torso back, rather than remaining curled up, may help that weight transfer.
This should make them lighter: drop your other leg to the mat, chopping underneath them as you bring your hooking leg over, rolling into mount. Ryron has two handy tips here. Firstly, use the heel of your hooking foot to swivel and clamp to their side, becoming a leverage point to assist your shift into mount. Secondly, bring the elbow of your sleeve gripping arm further backwards, to put your opponent even more off balance.The sweep shouldn't require much strength, so if you're having to strain, you probably haven't pulled them forward enough first. You can also get this sweep if they raise a knee up, which is the classic way to teach it. Drop your same side knee towards their opposite hip, then continue the sweep as above. If you're finding that when you try and chop their leg they simply step over it, raise your chopping leg slightly. You might even try hooking behind their knee with it, as that will immobilise the leg, although it may also make it more difficult to get a smooth chopping motion.
If for some reason you're having trouble chopping out their leg, you can switch to a push sweep, which is very similar to the scissor sweep. Everything is the same, except that you don't chop the leg. Instead, move your head back in line with theirs, so your torso is square on, then slide what would have been your chopping leg backwards. You now have room to use the foot of that leg to push into the side of their knee. Tracing a semi-circle, you're then going to shove their knee straight back, which will knock them off balance, whereupon you can roll through to mount as before.
That was followed by the reverse scissor sweep, which I taught a class on a few years back. When you try to hit the scissor sweep, you may find that they shift their weight to block it, or try to grab your knee. Either way, that means you can then change to a reverse scissor sweep instead. Your shin is either across their stomach for the scissor sweep, or as Kev recommends, going higher and angling the knee up into their chest. You've also got a grip on the collar as well as their same side sleeve. Rather than pulling them onto you and chopping out their leg, switch your sleeve grip to their opposite sleeve, then yank it across their body. The elbow of your gripping arm can be used for base.Next, release your collar grip arm and reach around to their opposite armpit, bringing them in tight. As when you're trying to take the back, you need to press your chest into the back of the arm you pulled across their body, so they can't pull it back out. On the same side as the arm you've trapped, put your back on the mat, which should enable you to fling them over in that direction with your braced leg (this should feel effortless: if you're straining, then adjust, as without good leverage you could hurt yourself) and move into side control. You should also end up in a great position to cross-face.
John Will uses a slight variation, on his Mastering Sweeps DVD (which I bought from him at his excellent seminar a few years ago). Rather than gripping the collar and sleeve, he advises gripping and then pushing your palms inwards, rather than leaving any slack. This makes it a bit easier to switch their arm to your other hand, as you already have a grip, rather than having to use your collar grabbing arm. Will comes up on one arm, then as he falls back to lift them, he switches the posting hand to instead reach through their arm. This is so he can end up reaching past their armpit into the collar.
Finally, Kev showed us a nifty option against combat base. Sit up, then reach your arm on the outside of their base, going under their raised leg. Feed their far collar/lapel to that reaching hand. That is enough to sweep them, but to make it easier, you're going to break their balance. If they are driving in towards you, pushing your inside foot to their same side hip/knee. To knock them forwards, kick that leg out, which is normally going to make them base on their far arm. You can now grab that arm and drive for the sweep. Put your inside knee to their hip, cutting their knee out of the way, then slide through to mount.
I had the pleasure of being smashed by a big purple in specific sparring, and that was with him being nice, waiting for me to react. It was from guard, where I am still weak: I need to keep looking for angles and pushing for some kind of offence. On top I was trying to keep my balance and failing. Each time I went for the kneeling break, he easily broke down my posture or simply sat up, whether or not I had an arm into the chest to try and keep him down.
He also got a really tight triangle, though strangely the choke wasn't on (he eventually rolled me into mount with it still in place, so we reset). I think it could be something silly, in that I'm just a bit small for his frame! My neck was a little sore: I'm still not sure on the best balance between staying safe, while also helping your partner by not tapping too early. Neck was ok later, so hopefully I judged that right.
Later on, I though about that again, as I overheard Kev giving a pep talk to a younger student. That teenager had gotten slightly injured earlier in class. Kev made the excellent point that sometimes you have to let stronger people have certain things. It's not worth the injury risk to strain against somebody way more powerful than you, so give it up, looking to make up any lost ground later. Something I always try to keep in mind, but well worth reminding yourself, especially if you're a smaller grappler (like me and indeed Kev, so he's speaking from long experience).
In free sparring I continued having issues from guard with my first partner, a strong white belt, again because I'm ending up too square on. I'm still failing to angle off in closed guard and I need to improve that Relson grip, so they can't just swing their head under and out. I have a clear goal from most positions now, but closed guard keeps getting stuck into a repetitive cycle of break posture, grip, they get posture back, break posture, grip, etc. Or they manage to pass. The gi tail grip over the back is another handy goal, so I should be trying that more, though again I'm not angling off properly when I do get it.
Update November 2014: Thanks to lots of drilling with Chris back in Bristol, I think I may have finally cracked it in regards to my guard approach. We'll see how that goes, but the drilling has been massively useful so far! :)
The next round went better, with a blue belt, as I finally managed to mount some offence (though only once it moved into open guard, my closed guard was equally stale). It's also the first time I can think of that Kev's mawashi grip worked well for me, resulting in a few sweeps. The difference was an extremely basic bit of advice Kev mentioned when I said how I'd had trouble getting much off the grip: sit up. I realised that I've been trying to do it with my back too near the ground. Sitting up made it much more effective.
I managed to land the north-south kimura and mount was working well for me too, landing a few cross-chokes. I'm teaching the cross-choke on Monday, so it was very helpful to hit it a few times in sparring, in terms of establishing what elements of the technique are important to get it to function (for me at least: one of the best things about teaching is that it forces you to think about doing a technique using a body other than yours). Of course, this was against less experienced people who aren't too much bigger than me, but still handy to practice.
It was also cool to meet another of my blog readers: if he's reading this, as you asked about the details for my club, it's called Artemis BJJ. I teach in two places. The main one is Bristol Sports Centre/MyGym in the centre of town, over in St Paul's just off Portland Square near Cabot Circus. I also run a class in Kingswood, on Thursday, with an open mat on Saturday. Everything is up on the website, here - hope to see you and/or your Bristol family on the mats some time! :D
20 March 2012
20/03/2012 - Royce Gracie Scotland
Class #449
Royce Gracie Scotland, (BJJ), Scott McVeigh, Glasgow, UK - 20/03/2012
[To ignore my rambling and skip to the training, click here]
The art we practice is called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Its royal dynasty is unquestionably the Gracie family: though other names are also important, like Omori, Franca, Fadda and of course Maeda, not to mention the Machados (cousins to the Gracies), it is the progeny of Gastao Gracie Sr who have had the most visible impact on the sport. However, Gastao's father was not a Brazilian. He was a Scot, George Gracie, who lived about 20 miles north of Dumfries.
In 1826, George left the parish of Morton in Nithsdale (I'm still not sure if the specific village was Carronhill or Carronbridge) for Rio, returning in 1859 to the land of his birth in order to erect a memorial to his late father, James. This week I'm on holiday in the same area of Scotland: given my keen interest in jiu jitsu history, I knew I had to go see that tombstone. It's located in a small graveyard by a ruined church, Greenhead Cemetery. It was a bit of pain to find the exact location, so if you're planning to take a look too, save yourself some research by clicking here.
If you don't have a car (I was very fortunate that my friend was willing to drive), then from Dumfries, you can take the 436 bus to Thornhill, then walk for about thirty minutes up Manse Road until you reach the graveyard. The site is on Google Streetview, where you can see the large gravestone George established. There are also several pictures from Reyson Gracie's 2009 visit (written up here), which is what initially inspired my own mini-pilgrimage to the site [Update 2021: Looks like the site is down, sadly]. Finally, you can take a look here and here.
Looking at photos online is all well and good, but I wanted to be there in person, as well as get in some close-up pictures. I knew from what I'd read on the net that there was an inscription from George, though it was hard to make out. According to that Reyson article, it says "Erected by their son, George Gracie of Rio de Janeiro, 1859", which looks about right. At the top, it appears four of George's siblings died very young (I'm guessing that wouldn't have been unusual in the early 19th century, presumably from disease), but his father lived to 85, so that long lifespan may run in the family. Hopefully one day somebody will raise up the cash to restore the gravestone before the words are completely obscured.
Our base for this week in Scotland was Kirkcudbright. It's known as an artist's town, mainly because of its connection with the Glasgow Boys: I'll be talking more about them in tomorrow's post. Despite the spelling, the town's name is said "kir-COO-bree" (I didn't realise the emphasis was on the second syllable rather than the first until later), but then as I have a weird name myself – it's written 'Can' but pronounced 'Jun' – I can't really complain. ;)
Kirkcudbright is a good location for heading off on walks around the Galloway area, along with a few more unusual attractions, like the excellent Cream O'Galloway visitor centre (quite cheap too, at £6.50 for entry and a tour). That used to be just a farm, but since they diversified into making ice cream back in the '90s, it's grown into a farm tour, an ice cream making experience, an adventure playground and several acres of walks. They haven't stopped innovating, as the farm is about to embark on an interesting experiment with their dairy cows: the calves are going to be kept with their mothers for nine months, rather than separated.
Aside from a pleasant holiday, I'm mainly in Scotland for Jiu Jitsu Style magazine, to get material for the 'JJS on the Road' column. Scott McVeigh is one of the few black belts in Scotland, under the man many people still credit for their entrance into BJJ: Royce Gracie. I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott about the origins of Scottish BJJ, his time with the Gracie family and plans for the future (as ever, our chat should be appearing in JJS later this year), before putting on my gi to join in with training.
Like you'd expect from a Royce Gracie school, there was some self defence to begin with, throwing them after you're grabbed from behind. The main groundwork techniques were built around the scissor sweep, or rather, what happens if they block your scissor sweep. For example, there may be an arm in the way, meaning you can't bring your leg across their stomach properly.
Instead, that knee is going to go over their blocking arm: you can then push with your leg to break their hold on your gi, simultaneously pulling with your own grips on their sleeve and collar. As soon as you bypass their arm, circle the same leg up around their neck, then move into the triangle.
Another alternative is for when you're trying the sweep, but decide to switch to a sort of reverse scissor sweep. Your shin is across their stomach for the scissor sweep, with a grip on the collar as well as their same side sleeve. Rather than pulling them onto you and chopping out their leg, switch your sleeve grip to their opposite arm (so, that will be the arm next to the foot of the leg you have across their stomach) and yank it across their body.
Next, release their collar and instead reach around to their opposite armpit, bringing them in tight. As when you're trying to take the back, you need to press your chest into the back of the arm you pulled across their body, so they can't pull it back out. On the same side as the arm you've trapped, put your shoulder back on the mat, which should enable you to fling them over with your braced leg and move into side control.
If they sprawl, you can take their back. Though their sprawl will make it hard to get the above sweep, you can now just bring your free foot between their legs and swivel around to their back. Scott advised that I should be pressing with my heels rather than trying to curl my instep and toes for grip, as the latter could get hurt should they try and roll out.
During sparring, I stayed defensive as usual. I'm already passive when training, so when visiting other clubs, my passivity gets almost catatonic (unless my training partner is inexperienced or much smaller, in which case I try and flow through a few positions). Interestingly, one of my rolling partners went for a footlock, which doesn't happen all that often. I did the usual defence of sitting up and grabbing a collar, trying to sit through to mount. It's good to have that reminder, given that even under IBJJF rules, white belts can throw a straight ankle lock.
I really liked the atmosphere at Royce Gracie Scotland, which felt informal and friendly. That's a reflection of Scott's character, who in many ways reminds me of one of my own instructors, Kev at RGA Bucks. Both of them give a strong impression that their main concern is how to improve their students' BJJ, as opposed to how much money they can make.
Thanks again to Scott for welcoming me into his class: I wish him the best of luck with his plans for the future, and hopefully either I or another JJS contributor will be up to report on the upcoming Royce seminar in April. :)
Royce Gracie Scotland, (BJJ), Scott McVeigh, Glasgow, UK - 20/03/2012
[To ignore my rambling and skip to the training, click here]
In 1826, George left the parish of Morton in Nithsdale (I'm still not sure if the specific village was Carronhill or Carronbridge) for Rio, returning in 1859 to the land of his birth in order to erect a memorial to his late father, James. This week I'm on holiday in the same area of Scotland: given my keen interest in jiu jitsu history, I knew I had to go see that tombstone. It's located in a small graveyard by a ruined church, Greenhead Cemetery. It was a bit of pain to find the exact location, so if you're planning to take a look too, save yourself some research by clicking here.
If you don't have a car (I was very fortunate that my friend was willing to drive), then from Dumfries, you can take the 436 bus to Thornhill, then walk for about thirty minutes up Manse Road until you reach the graveyard. The site is on Google Streetview, where you can see the large gravestone George established. There are also several pictures from Reyson Gracie's 2009 visit (written up here), which is what initially inspired my own mini-pilgrimage to the site [Update 2021: Looks like the site is down, sadly]. Finally, you can take a look here and here.
Looking at photos online is all well and good, but I wanted to be there in person, as well as get in some close-up pictures. I knew from what I'd read on the net that there was an inscription from George, though it was hard to make out. According to that Reyson article, it says "Erected by their son, George Gracie of Rio de Janeiro, 1859", which looks about right. At the top, it appears four of George's siblings died very young (I'm guessing that wouldn't have been unusual in the early 19th century, presumably from disease), but his father lived to 85, so that long lifespan may run in the family. Hopefully one day somebody will raise up the cash to restore the gravestone before the words are completely obscured.
Our base for this week in Scotland was Kirkcudbright. It's known as an artist's town, mainly because of its connection with the Glasgow Boys: I'll be talking more about them in tomorrow's post. Despite the spelling, the town's name is said "kir-COO-bree" (I didn't realise the emphasis was on the second syllable rather than the first until later), but then as I have a weird name myself – it's written 'Can' but pronounced 'Jun' – I can't really complain. ;)
Aside from a pleasant holiday, I'm mainly in Scotland for Jiu Jitsu Style magazine, to get material for the 'JJS on the Road' column. Scott McVeigh is one of the few black belts in Scotland, under the man many people still credit for their entrance into BJJ: Royce Gracie. I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott about the origins of Scottish BJJ, his time with the Gracie family and plans for the future (as ever, our chat should be appearing in JJS later this year), before putting on my gi to join in with training.
Like you'd expect from a Royce Gracie school, there was some self defence to begin with, throwing them after you're grabbed from behind. The main groundwork techniques were built around the scissor sweep, or rather, what happens if they block your scissor sweep. For example, there may be an arm in the way, meaning you can't bring your leg across their stomach properly.
Instead, that knee is going to go over their blocking arm: you can then push with your leg to break their hold on your gi, simultaneously pulling with your own grips on their sleeve and collar. As soon as you bypass their arm, circle the same leg up around their neck, then move into the triangle.
Another alternative is for when you're trying the sweep, but decide to switch to a sort of reverse scissor sweep. Your shin is across their stomach for the scissor sweep, with a grip on the collar as well as their same side sleeve. Rather than pulling them onto you and chopping out their leg, switch your sleeve grip to their opposite arm (so, that will be the arm next to the foot of the leg you have across their stomach) and yank it across their body.
Next, release their collar and instead reach around to their opposite armpit, bringing them in tight. As when you're trying to take the back, you need to press your chest into the back of the arm you pulled across their body, so they can't pull it back out. On the same side as the arm you've trapped, put your shoulder back on the mat, which should enable you to fling them over with your braced leg and move into side control.
If they sprawl, you can take their back. Though their sprawl will make it hard to get the above sweep, you can now just bring your free foot between their legs and swivel around to their back. Scott advised that I should be pressing with my heels rather than trying to curl my instep and toes for grip, as the latter could get hurt should they try and roll out.
During sparring, I stayed defensive as usual. I'm already passive when training, so when visiting other clubs, my passivity gets almost catatonic (unless my training partner is inexperienced or much smaller, in which case I try and flow through a few positions). Interestingly, one of my rolling partners went for a footlock, which doesn't happen all that often. I did the usual defence of sitting up and grabbing a collar, trying to sit through to mount. It's good to have that reminder, given that even under IBJJF rules, white belts can throw a straight ankle lock.
I really liked the atmosphere at Royce Gracie Scotland, which felt informal and friendly. That's a reflection of Scott's character, who in many ways reminds me of one of my own instructors, Kev at RGA Bucks. Both of them give a strong impression that their main concern is how to improve their students' BJJ, as opposed to how much money they can make.
Thanks again to Scott for welcoming me into his class: I wish him the best of luck with his plans for the future, and hopefully either I or another JJS contributor will be up to report on the upcoming Royce seminar in April. :)
19 January 2010
19/01/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)
Class #277
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 19/01/2010
Seymour over at Meerkatsu.com wrote a great piece on BJJ blogging. If for some unfathomable reason he isn't already in your RSS reader, check it out here. This was originally intended for a magazine, but that is currently on hold: hopefully it will resurface at some point, as I'd love to see more articles like this.
I also wanted to mention a new blog by an old training partner of mine, Ben. Check it out here: he trains over at the RGA affiliate in Farringdon, but used to train with me at RGA HQ. He's also the guy at least partially responsible for getting me to RGA in the first place, thanks to his encouragement on Bullshido.
There was a minor revelation tonight, which makes for an interesting reflection on the current state of jiu jitsu. I had thought that the thirty minutes extra in the beginner class was for working takedowns. However, this has now changed. Instead, each beginner class is now to begin with work on the Gracie Barra fundamentals (so I'm guessing like the DVD), which means some 'self defence' stuff. Apparently, this is being brought in across Gracie Barra (its been at other GB schools for a long time, but I guess not all of them). I sometimes forget that the Roger Gracie Academy network is technically part of that family: after all, Roger always competes for GB.
I'm not a fan of training 'self defence', as that tends to mean repetitive, compliant drills largely divorced from reality: this is exactly the kind of thing a focus on 'aliveness' is supposed to prevent. However, like Kev said, there are occasionally useful aspects, like working on hip mobility and the like. The drill today was to push your partner on the floor, who will then do a technical stand-up. Their free foot is used to press against the front leg (if the other person has a foot forward), with your arm raised as normal to block strikes. That was followed by stepping in to get a clinch, then a basic hip throw.
Getting back to the ground, this week Kev is sticking with the guard. He began with what is probably the most basic submission available from the guard, a cross choke. However, while its basic, that doesn't mean it is easy to get: everyone is expecting it, and lots of people don't apply properly anyway, including me.
I find that even in drilling, I struggle to turn my hands inwards properly, normally only managing a slight turn. That could be because I gripping too deep, I'm not using my legs enough to pull them in, or something else. Kev suggested that I concentrate on bringing my thumbs together, and watching Kev, I should also be bringing my hands down slightly as I secure the submission. This kind of thing is exactly why I'll always try to attend fundamentals/basics/beginners classes, no matter what belt I reach.
After that, Kev moved on to two techniques which are also quite familiar, but I hardly ever try in sparring these days. It used to be that the scissor sweep was a go-to move for me, but I've fallen out of the habit. Having secured a grip on their same side sleeve and collar, Kev demonstrated it from when they put one leg up in preparation to pass, whereupon you shrimp and drop your now raised leg across their stomach. Press in with your shin and hook round their side with your instep.
Your other leg drops to their same side leg, which should still be kneeling on the floor. You want to chop this leg, but it is important you don't go too low: otherwise, they can just step over that leg and pass. So, you want to be chopping slightly above the floor, possibly even hooking behind their leg.
To finish the sweep, you want to lift them forward and up onto your raised knee, which will disrupt their base. You can now simultaneously chop at their leg and move across with your hook, 'scissoring' your legs, then roll through into mount.
If they don't step up with a leg, Kev showed how you could instead go for the closely related push sweep. Shrimp out to make space to get that shin into their stomach, setting up the technique as before. However, instead of chopping out their leg, you're going to put your same side foot on the inside of their same side knee. Push that out and back, breaking their base, then roll them with your other leg into mount.
Kev also had a point to make about your knee position. If you have your knee lower, underneath their arm, that gives you great leverage for the sweep. On the downside, it also means your partner could potentially bring their weight down on your legs, then initiate a pass.
The alternative is to put your knee high, towards their chest or even shoulder. This isn't such good leverage, but it is a lot more secure. As Kev put it, if you're going to be in that position for a while, this is safer, because your partner will find it tougher to get their weight in place to crush your legs to the mat.
With sparring, usual story on top. I think I'm focusing a bit too much on keeping their torso down, which means that I'll end up standing with crappy posture, which is all too easy to break. I'm also relying far too much on my arms. Instead of grabbing and shoving with a weak part of my body, I should be driving with my hips, using my legs, and trying to put them under pressure with my weight. Easier said than done, of course, but something I want to keep in mind for next time.
I had a play with wrapping the gi around a white belt's arms, though I'm not sure there is any point to doing so on top. I was thinking I could perhaps isolate an arm, making it easier to pass on the that side, but didn't help me much. Still, fun to occasionally try something random.
I also wasn't really going anywhere from the bottom, though I did make a concerted effort to open up and try to attack. That generally just meant I got passed repeatedly, but its the only way to practice offence. I'd like to go for the arm more, especially as almost everyone staggers the arms, so it makes sense to work out how to attack it, and/or break the grip.
My legs come into it much more on the bottom, especially as I've been using them to knock people off-balance as they attempt to stand. That works, but it also uses lots of energy, so it would be better if I could shift into some kind of attack rather than just returning them to where they were before.
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 19/01/2010
Seymour over at Meerkatsu.com wrote a great piece on BJJ blogging. If for some unfathomable reason he isn't already in your RSS reader, check it out here. This was originally intended for a magazine, but that is currently on hold: hopefully it will resurface at some point, as I'd love to see more articles like this.
I also wanted to mention a new blog by an old training partner of mine, Ben. Check it out here: he trains over at the RGA affiliate in Farringdon, but used to train with me at RGA HQ. He's also the guy at least partially responsible for getting me to RGA in the first place, thanks to his encouragement on Bullshido.
There was a minor revelation tonight, which makes for an interesting reflection on the current state of jiu jitsu. I had thought that the thirty minutes extra in the beginner class was for working takedowns. However, this has now changed. Instead, each beginner class is now to begin with work on the Gracie Barra fundamentals (so I'm guessing like the DVD), which means some 'self defence' stuff. Apparently, this is being brought in across Gracie Barra (its been at other GB schools for a long time, but I guess not all of them). I sometimes forget that the Roger Gracie Academy network is technically part of that family: after all, Roger always competes for GB.
I'm not a fan of training 'self defence', as that tends to mean repetitive, compliant drills largely divorced from reality: this is exactly the kind of thing a focus on 'aliveness' is supposed to prevent. However, like Kev said, there are occasionally useful aspects, like working on hip mobility and the like. The drill today was to push your partner on the floor, who will then do a technical stand-up. Their free foot is used to press against the front leg (if the other person has a foot forward), with your arm raised as normal to block strikes. That was followed by stepping in to get a clinch, then a basic hip throw.
Getting back to the ground, this week Kev is sticking with the guard. He began with what is probably the most basic submission available from the guard, a cross choke. However, while its basic, that doesn't mean it is easy to get: everyone is expecting it, and lots of people don't apply properly anyway, including me.
I find that even in drilling, I struggle to turn my hands inwards properly, normally only managing a slight turn. That could be because I gripping too deep, I'm not using my legs enough to pull them in, or something else. Kev suggested that I concentrate on bringing my thumbs together, and watching Kev, I should also be bringing my hands down slightly as I secure the submission. This kind of thing is exactly why I'll always try to attend fundamentals/basics/beginners classes, no matter what belt I reach.
After that, Kev moved on to two techniques which are also quite familiar, but I hardly ever try in sparring these days. It used to be that the scissor sweep was a go-to move for me, but I've fallen out of the habit. Having secured a grip on their same side sleeve and collar, Kev demonstrated it from when they put one leg up in preparation to pass, whereupon you shrimp and drop your now raised leg across their stomach. Press in with your shin and hook round their side with your instep.
Your other leg drops to their same side leg, which should still be kneeling on the floor. You want to chop this leg, but it is important you don't go too low: otherwise, they can just step over that leg and pass. So, you want to be chopping slightly above the floor, possibly even hooking behind their leg.
To finish the sweep, you want to lift them forward and up onto your raised knee, which will disrupt their base. You can now simultaneously chop at their leg and move across with your hook, 'scissoring' your legs, then roll through into mount.
If they don't step up with a leg, Kev showed how you could instead go for the closely related push sweep. Shrimp out to make space to get that shin into their stomach, setting up the technique as before. However, instead of chopping out their leg, you're going to put your same side foot on the inside of their same side knee. Push that out and back, breaking their base, then roll them with your other leg into mount.
Kev also had a point to make about your knee position. If you have your knee lower, underneath their arm, that gives you great leverage for the sweep. On the downside, it also means your partner could potentially bring their weight down on your legs, then initiate a pass.
The alternative is to put your knee high, towards their chest or even shoulder. This isn't such good leverage, but it is a lot more secure. As Kev put it, if you're going to be in that position for a while, this is safer, because your partner will find it tougher to get their weight in place to crush your legs to the mat.
With sparring, usual story on top. I think I'm focusing a bit too much on keeping their torso down, which means that I'll end up standing with crappy posture, which is all too easy to break. I'm also relying far too much on my arms. Instead of grabbing and shoving with a weak part of my body, I should be driving with my hips, using my legs, and trying to put them under pressure with my weight. Easier said than done, of course, but something I want to keep in mind for next time.
I had a play with wrapping the gi around a white belt's arms, though I'm not sure there is any point to doing so on top. I was thinking I could perhaps isolate an arm, making it easier to pass on the that side, but didn't help me much. Still, fun to occasionally try something random.
I also wasn't really going anywhere from the bottom, though I did make a concerted effort to open up and try to attack. That generally just meant I got passed repeatedly, but its the only way to practice offence. I'd like to go for the arm more, especially as almost everyone staggers the arms, so it makes sense to work out how to attack it, and/or break the grip.
My legs come into it much more on the bottom, especially as I've been using them to knock people off-balance as they attempt to stand. That works, but it also uses lots of energy, so it would be better if I could shift into some kind of attack rather than just returning them to where they were before.
12 December 2007
12/12/2007 - BJJ (Beginners)
Class #109
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK - 12/12/2007 – Beginner
The Fightworks Podcast is going through the Best BJJ Blogs of the Year again (previous list here), but this time Caleb has stuck up a poll. You can vote here: looking through that group, I’d say Aesopian’s blog is still the obvious one deserving of the title, though personally I’m fond of Christina’s (fraquellibjj.blogspot.com) and Nick G’s (jiujitsubrotherhood.blogspot.com, soon to move to plain jiujitsubrotherhood.com). As I’ve only got the one vote, I went for Christina, but looks as though Aesopian should clinch it. Also cool to see a bunch of blogs I’ve not read before, so will have to give those a good look: plenty there to fill a train journey. ;)
Didn’t manage to train on Saturday after all: I was feeling a bit shitty in the morning, and traffic delayed us on the drive into London (as the whole family was coming to visit my sister and her baby, my mother decided to take the car). My niece is a lot more active now, and all that milk is starting to fill her out: amazing how much babies change in just a week. Will pop in on her yet again next Friday. :D
Tonight’s class (having also just visited my niece: they’re only babies once, so I reckon getting as much time with her as possible is probably wise, not to mention interesting) went over a number of techniques I’m fairly familiar with, but as always its great to go over fundamentals.
After a drill where you block a punch on your guard and go to a throw, Roger started with the scissor sweep, followed by the push sweep in case that fails. Useful tip I haven’t put into practice before is to lean back before trying to roll them into mount: that provides additional leverage, as far as I can tell.
Final variation on that technique was an armbar from guard, which I don’t think we’ve done before, but I recognised it from the Rowan Cunningham Abhaya vid. If the push sweep doesn’t work, put the leg you were previously using to push on their knee onto their hip instead. Straighten out your other leg, then proceed as normal with the armbar: bring that leg up and push them off balance, pushing off the other hip, then bringing your leg over their head to lock in the armbar.
That meant it was time for guard passage, working with my training partner Paxton (been a long while since I last had a class with him: good to see all those injuries have cleared up). I tried to go for a sit-up sweep a few times, but failed to commit, and I’m still not automatically going for the kimura if it messes up, a habit I need to drill into myself. Generally I ended up going to a sloppy open guard, a leg flailing about near Paxton’s head, until he pushed through. Particularly considering tonight’s class, I need to progress from just attempting the odd sweep to going through a chain if one fails, like scissor -> push sweep -> armbar.
Last technique of the class was a side control escape, something else I’m always happy to go over. This time it was the one where you come to your knees, which for this escape becomes functional when the person on top moves their arm to block your hips. Reach underneath their far armpit, swivel to your front, bring your knees up, grab their leg, driving with your head. Also raise whichever of your legs is on the same side as your head, pushing forward and lifting to drop them under your side control.
Sparring from side control followed the familiar pattern. On top, I was unable to hold my position, soon getting rolled over. My problem here, I think, is that I’m not switching around enough. As a small guy, I need to be more mobile on top, perhaps trying to move to knee on belly or something, so that the other person is kept on the defensive. Paxton did mention that when I got to certain positions, like scarf hold, it felt tight, but that’s not enough: just waiting there, I’m eventually going to get reversed.
Underneath I felt more confident, trying to go for that escape we went over recently, where you bridge and shrimp until you can slip your knee through to recover guard. I couldn’t quite get that, as Paxton’s side control was fairly tight, but I was eventually able to get half guard. From there, I attempted to move to a sweep, but had trouble getting into position. I thought it was then all over as Paxton seemed about to get an Americana, but I was able to keep my arm straight without too much effort. I didn’t realise at the time, but I think that was because I had the shoulder free, so was able to adjust in order to relieve the pressure.
Eventually I rolled Paxton into guard (at least I think that was side control sparring rather than the guard passage from earlier), though he had a fist firmly into my throat just before that. Had we continued, he may have got the submission, but then on top I would have had a much better base from which to resist. Probably would depend on whether or not I could posture up, instead of getting held down and therefore less able to resist.
Plan to train again tomorrow: I had thought about finally giving my Bullshido shorts a test run, but they’re still up in Birmingham. Maybe next week.
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK - 12/12/2007 – Beginner
The Fightworks Podcast is going through the Best BJJ Blogs of the Year again (previous list here), but this time Caleb has stuck up a poll. You can vote here: looking through that group, I’d say Aesopian’s blog is still the obvious one deserving of the title, though personally I’m fond of Christina’s (fraquellibjj.blogspot.com) and Nick G’s (jiujitsubrotherhood.blogspot.com, soon to move to plain jiujitsubrotherhood.com). As I’ve only got the one vote, I went for Christina, but looks as though Aesopian should clinch it. Also cool to see a bunch of blogs I’ve not read before, so will have to give those a good look: plenty there to fill a train journey. ;)
Didn’t manage to train on Saturday after all: I was feeling a bit shitty in the morning, and traffic delayed us on the drive into London (as the whole family was coming to visit my sister and her baby, my mother decided to take the car). My niece is a lot more active now, and all that milk is starting to fill her out: amazing how much babies change in just a week. Will pop in on her yet again next Friday. :D
Tonight’s class (having also just visited my niece: they’re only babies once, so I reckon getting as much time with her as possible is probably wise, not to mention interesting) went over a number of techniques I’m fairly familiar with, but as always its great to go over fundamentals.
After a drill where you block a punch on your guard and go to a throw, Roger started with the scissor sweep, followed by the push sweep in case that fails. Useful tip I haven’t put into practice before is to lean back before trying to roll them into mount: that provides additional leverage, as far as I can tell.
Final variation on that technique was an armbar from guard, which I don’t think we’ve done before, but I recognised it from the Rowan Cunningham Abhaya vid. If the push sweep doesn’t work, put the leg you were previously using to push on their knee onto their hip instead. Straighten out your other leg, then proceed as normal with the armbar: bring that leg up and push them off balance, pushing off the other hip, then bringing your leg over their head to lock in the armbar.
That meant it was time for guard passage, working with my training partner Paxton (been a long while since I last had a class with him: good to see all those injuries have cleared up). I tried to go for a sit-up sweep a few times, but failed to commit, and I’m still not automatically going for the kimura if it messes up, a habit I need to drill into myself. Generally I ended up going to a sloppy open guard, a leg flailing about near Paxton’s head, until he pushed through. Particularly considering tonight’s class, I need to progress from just attempting the odd sweep to going through a chain if one fails, like scissor -> push sweep -> armbar.
Last technique of the class was a side control escape, something else I’m always happy to go over. This time it was the one where you come to your knees, which for this escape becomes functional when the person on top moves their arm to block your hips. Reach underneath their far armpit, swivel to your front, bring your knees up, grab their leg, driving with your head. Also raise whichever of your legs is on the same side as your head, pushing forward and lifting to drop them under your side control.
Sparring from side control followed the familiar pattern. On top, I was unable to hold my position, soon getting rolled over. My problem here, I think, is that I’m not switching around enough. As a small guy, I need to be more mobile on top, perhaps trying to move to knee on belly or something, so that the other person is kept on the defensive. Paxton did mention that when I got to certain positions, like scarf hold, it felt tight, but that’s not enough: just waiting there, I’m eventually going to get reversed.
Underneath I felt more confident, trying to go for that escape we went over recently, where you bridge and shrimp until you can slip your knee through to recover guard. I couldn’t quite get that, as Paxton’s side control was fairly tight, but I was eventually able to get half guard. From there, I attempted to move to a sweep, but had trouble getting into position. I thought it was then all over as Paxton seemed about to get an Americana, but I was able to keep my arm straight without too much effort. I didn’t realise at the time, but I think that was because I had the shoulder free, so was able to adjust in order to relieve the pressure.
Eventually I rolled Paxton into guard (at least I think that was side control sparring rather than the guard passage from earlier), though he had a fist firmly into my throat just before that. Had we continued, he may have got the submission, but then on top I would have had a much better base from which to resist. Probably would depend on whether or not I could posture up, instead of getting held down and therefore less able to resist.
Plan to train again tomorrow: I had thought about finally giving my Bullshido shorts a test run, but they’re still up in Birmingham. Maybe next week.
07 December 2007
07/12/2007 - BJJ (Beginners)
Class #108
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK - 07/12/2007 – Beginners
I mentioned previously that the 07:30—08:30 mixed classes were being cancelled after November, but that’s now changed. There was a notice mentioning that they won’t be cancelled, at least not in the immediate future. Good news for all the crazy people that actually want to wake up and train that early. :p
This is my first beginners class since the Open Day, which in turn was my first since the middle of October: I’ve been spending most of my time getting smashed by blue belts, so today was a chance to get smashed by white belts instead. Ability-wise, I’m still way behind everybody in the advanced class, at the bottom of the three/four-stripe whites.
Tonight’s session started off with the scissor sweep. Roger didn’t post on the hip, like I’ve seen before, instead putting the foot on the floor, using that to shrimp and get the shin across the stomach. Also, he gripped the same side arm and collar, rather than the collar opposite to the arm, which is what I’ve been doing. Alita was trying to sweep a little early, before she had my weight up on her leg, which reminded me just how important that step is (though her long legs possibly make this technique a little more awkward for her than a short guy like me).
After then reviewing the kimura from guard, we moved onto guard passage, though Roger put my training partner Alita (a tall girl I’ve not met before, who started in about September so is still pretty new, especially as her shifts at work mean it can be hard to make sessions) with Nick B: my partner was to be Yurek, who is always tough. I couldn’t get anywhere at all in his guard, which was crushingly tight from the off, though it did give me a chance to try that guard break from yesterday (and get caught in the same error, not defending my rear arm).
Underneath I was more comfortable, though still not able to do much beyond defend. I played with open guard as usual, trying for the sit-up and scissor occasionally, but to no avail. I also could have been more forceful in dropping down for a single-leg when he picked me up, but as it was I just kinda flopped towards the floor and got passed.
The following drill is why I still like to make the beginners occasionally: side control escape. Roger showed us the shrimp method for recovering guard, something for which I very much wanted a refresher. One forearm is against their neck, the other pressed by their hip, with your knee tight into their side. To shrimp, make sure you don’t drop that knee away from their side – leave it in place as you push off with the other leg in order to shift the hips. That means that as soon as you make any space (e.g., by bridging then shrimping), you’re already in position to slide that knee through. When you’ve managed to get the knee to the other side, shrimp and bring the other leg into position, recovering guard.
My final spar was from side control, against another person I’ve not met before, Stefan. As with almost everyone else, he was a fair bit bigger, so my woeful top game had no effect at all: I was thrown around from scarf, from side, and even mount at one point. I thought I’d passed, and got my legs in place for mount, but Stefan merely got up, leaving me hanging on in guard. I know I’m small, but my mount must be terrible if its that easy to shake me off! ;)
Underneath, as with guard, I was more comfortable. Stefan left sufficient space that I was able to get the knee through, and at first got to half guard. I was about to keep going, but Roger was watching and said that for this drill, you stop at half guard. In his scarf hold, I tried to bring my leg over to roll him by his head, but couldn’t quite get there: think I need to move my hips more first, and perhaps push more with my arms, forming a frame against his neck.
The second time I got the knee through, that was as far as I got. My knee was by his hip, my other leg flailing about near his other hip, but I couldn’t get the knee all the way through. Stefan was able to crush his weight down in such a way that I couldn’t move my hips to recover guard, leaving me in a sort of open guard.
At some point I must have ripped some skin off my finger near the nail, as I noticed there was some dried blood there after the session. I presume that was from when I had a tight grip on his gi, pressing my elbow into his neck. He tried to pull my hand off, but I was able to cling on: probably got the cut from the abrasive material of either my or his gi. Also serves as a good reminder to better hide my hand, like under his armpit or something (presuming that doesn’t isolate my elbow and open me up to other attacks).
Should be training again tomorrow, after going to see my niece again with the rest of the family. Then its off to Lorenzo and Christina’s xmas party, though I might not be able to stay that long, as I need to get back up to Brum that night to look after the guinea pig. Fast train from Euston should give me at least a couple of hours at the party.
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK - 07/12/2007 – Beginners
I mentioned previously that the 07:30—08:30 mixed classes were being cancelled after November, but that’s now changed. There was a notice mentioning that they won’t be cancelled, at least not in the immediate future. Good news for all the crazy people that actually want to wake up and train that early. :p
This is my first beginners class since the Open Day, which in turn was my first since the middle of October: I’ve been spending most of my time getting smashed by blue belts, so today was a chance to get smashed by white belts instead. Ability-wise, I’m still way behind everybody in the advanced class, at the bottom of the three/four-stripe whites.
Tonight’s session started off with the scissor sweep. Roger didn’t post on the hip, like I’ve seen before, instead putting the foot on the floor, using that to shrimp and get the shin across the stomach. Also, he gripped the same side arm and collar, rather than the collar opposite to the arm, which is what I’ve been doing. Alita was trying to sweep a little early, before she had my weight up on her leg, which reminded me just how important that step is (though her long legs possibly make this technique a little more awkward for her than a short guy like me).
After then reviewing the kimura from guard, we moved onto guard passage, though Roger put my training partner Alita (a tall girl I’ve not met before, who started in about September so is still pretty new, especially as her shifts at work mean it can be hard to make sessions) with Nick B: my partner was to be Yurek, who is always tough. I couldn’t get anywhere at all in his guard, which was crushingly tight from the off, though it did give me a chance to try that guard break from yesterday (and get caught in the same error, not defending my rear arm).
Underneath I was more comfortable, though still not able to do much beyond defend. I played with open guard as usual, trying for the sit-up and scissor occasionally, but to no avail. I also could have been more forceful in dropping down for a single-leg when he picked me up, but as it was I just kinda flopped towards the floor and got passed.
The following drill is why I still like to make the beginners occasionally: side control escape. Roger showed us the shrimp method for recovering guard, something for which I very much wanted a refresher. One forearm is against their neck, the other pressed by their hip, with your knee tight into their side. To shrimp, make sure you don’t drop that knee away from their side – leave it in place as you push off with the other leg in order to shift the hips. That means that as soon as you make any space (e.g., by bridging then shrimping), you’re already in position to slide that knee through. When you’ve managed to get the knee to the other side, shrimp and bring the other leg into position, recovering guard.
My final spar was from side control, against another person I’ve not met before, Stefan. As with almost everyone else, he was a fair bit bigger, so my woeful top game had no effect at all: I was thrown around from scarf, from side, and even mount at one point. I thought I’d passed, and got my legs in place for mount, but Stefan merely got up, leaving me hanging on in guard. I know I’m small, but my mount must be terrible if its that easy to shake me off! ;)
Underneath, as with guard, I was more comfortable. Stefan left sufficient space that I was able to get the knee through, and at first got to half guard. I was about to keep going, but Roger was watching and said that for this drill, you stop at half guard. In his scarf hold, I tried to bring my leg over to roll him by his head, but couldn’t quite get there: think I need to move my hips more first, and perhaps push more with my arms, forming a frame against his neck.
The second time I got the knee through, that was as far as I got. My knee was by his hip, my other leg flailing about near his other hip, but I couldn’t get the knee all the way through. Stefan was able to crush his weight down in such a way that I couldn’t move my hips to recover guard, leaving me in a sort of open guard.
At some point I must have ripped some skin off my finger near the nail, as I noticed there was some dried blood there after the session. I presume that was from when I had a tight grip on his gi, pressing my elbow into his neck. He tried to pull my hand off, but I was able to cling on: probably got the cut from the abrasive material of either my or his gi. Also serves as a good reminder to better hide my hand, like under his armpit or something (presuming that doesn’t isolate my elbow and open me up to other attacks).
Should be training again tomorrow, after going to see my niece again with the rest of the family. Then its off to Lorenzo and Christina’s xmas party, though I might not be able to stay that long, as I need to get back up to Brum that night to look after the guinea pig. Fast train from Euston should give me at least a couple of hours at the party.
12 September 2007
12/09/2007 - BJJ (Beginners)
Class #85
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 12/09/2007 – Beginners
As I missed last week due to a great trip in Devon (decided against Lake District, and turned out well: blazing hot in Devon, so even managed to get a decent tan), wanted to definitely make the Tuesday. However, I then got bogged down in writing commitments, meaning I needed all of Tuesday to make my way through some more Lowell. I’m also due to teach a whole bunch of seminars in the next couple of months, which is cool, but does require a fair bit of preparation. I’ve got one for work, another one somewhere else I should get paid for, and finally two academic seminars, which are my main concern. I've long wanted to teach at university, so I’m looking forward to the experience: hopefully will be able to learn a lot about the whole process, which up til now I’ve only seen as a student (well, unless you count teaching some ZSK classes, but that really isn’t the same).
Class tonight was my first session with Jude for ages, so that was cool as I always enjoy his highly detailed instruction. I partnered up with Yasmine this time round, which I haven’t done before, so that was also cool: I’ve chatted to her briefly at the Bristol Open, but not had a chance to drill or spar before this lesson.
Jude kicked off with a hip throw, doing it slightly differently with a step to the side before you lift them up onto your hip. Initially I got a bit confused as I’m used to doing the technique more straight on, but eventually got the hang of that extra motion. That lead into the usual armbar from mount, leaning in after the take down, hand for balance, leg over and drop back for the sub.
Next up, we went through one of my favourite techniques, the scissor sweep. I still need to concentrate on really pulling them forward, shrimping out more and then getting my opponent up onto my leg by drawing my elbows high, so it was good to get some drilling done. I also wasn’t getting my shin smoothly into their stomach when I switched to my left arm. Instead, I kind of ended up sweeping with just a knee pressed in, which is not a good habit to get into as I’m sure that would fuck up if I made the same mistake outside of drilling. Finally there was a reminder to come up on my elbow in order to shrimp out, which I don’t always remember to do.
Building on the preceding drill, Jude then moved on to armbar from mount using a choke attempt set up. Having got the scissor sweep, your hand stays in their collar. Move your knee up, lean your weight into them, other leg up and tight to their side, then bring the other knee over. Feed your free arm under theirs, and then drop back for the sub.
Jude gave a useful demonstration on how to break their grip if you’ve got a good hold but they’re defending by bringing their arms together. With your arms underneath, lean towards their head until you’ve effectively got one of their arms in an Americana-type position. That should be sufficiently uncomfortable that you can peel their arm free, then swing round and back to complete the armbar – the motion is therefore a semi-circle.
Sparring was Yasmine was interesting, as we were comparatively even: she’s a four stripe so has a bit more experience and skill than me, but I have about 8 or 9kg on her. We were doing guard passage, and from the bottom I managed to get a sit-up sweep once or twice, though I still need to go for that more often, as I’m too tentative, which gives them the opportunity to attack. I also tried for the single leg takedown after Yasmine stood up in my guard, but didn’t quite make it. I was almost there, as I had hold of her leg and was trying to move through to side control, but failed to push her into position, her sprawl proving effective. We ended up with her taking my back, I attempt to roll out, then we stopped as this was only specific sparring. Would have been interesting to continue at that stage, though that of course would defeat the object of specific sparring.
As has been true of my sparring for a while now, I eventually found myself in half-guard. I continue to get stuck underneath, with my legs wrapped round their right leg, but my body twisted by their left arm. Where I’d rather be is by the same side leg and arm, as that would give me a chance to go for underhooks and take their back. With Yasmine, I clung on for a while looking to see what I could do before eventually getting passed.
Yasmine was also good at preventing my initial grips: I normally immediately try to grab an arm and a collar, but she was frequently able to neutralise my attempt, meaning I only got one or the other, which isn’t a sufficiently strong position to go for my usual sweeps (or at least not with my limited understanding of methodology). I think she was basically just pulling her arm back before I could grab it a lot of the time, but would be good to spar her again and watch out for it. Should probably have asked her afterwards – I notice I haven’t been doing that as often as I need to, so must get back into the habit.
On top I got past her guard a few times, but I’m still relying too heavily on using a tailbone break, then either trying for a stack pass or a leg pin pass. The latter worked a few times, but Yasmine had a fairly good defence, so it took some struggling on my part. I think I might have not been isolating her hips sufficiently, and also not using my weight enough.
Switching people, I sought out one of my regular sparring partners, Nathan: he and Dominique are by far the two people I spend the most time rolling against (I roll a fair bit with Chris too as I often like to drill with him due to his excellent habit of correcting mistakes and giving pointers, though like I mentioned last time, need to spar him more often for that same reason).
Things were fairly similar as with Yasmine, though I had more luck under half-guard. This time, I went for a sort of rubber guard thing to maintain the position (i.e., I grabbed my leg: have yet to look into rubber guard properly, so that’s about as complex as mine gets). That proved useful, as that secure hold meant I could gradually work my knee through and recover full guard.
I also had a concerted go at an armbar from standing guard. I remembered to walk my legs up in order to break Nathan’s posture and pull him towards him, got a decent hold on his arm, but couldn’t break his grip. I was trying to think how what we’d just learned about armbar from mount might apply, but hanging upside down feels rather different to sitting on top of them, so ended up just pulling ineffectually. Still, Nathan said afterwards I was fairly close with it, so will have to work on that: could do with grabbing Oli or one of the other instructors to get some pointers.
Those two spars completely knackered me out, so I decided against the advanced class. I keep wimping out, but the excuses of lack of sleep (for some reason I had real trouble nodding off last night) and general crap health recently mean that I’m keen to just get through a month of training at least twice a week. Four may be too ambitious for my body at the moment.
Will be in again tomorrow, aiming for the no-gi and the beginners, but would be content with just the no-gi if I again find I’ve got nothing left for the second class. Also looking forward to trying out my new Padilla & Sons gi, which arrived recently: giving it a cold wash at the moment to shrink it. Once I've given it a good test run, I can stick all the details into a review (although it almost feels redundant considering how awesome the Smash Pass review was - after all, thats what convinced me to buy that gi in the first place).
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 12/09/2007 – Beginners
As I missed last week due to a great trip in Devon (decided against Lake District, and turned out well: blazing hot in Devon, so even managed to get a decent tan), wanted to definitely make the Tuesday. However, I then got bogged down in writing commitments, meaning I needed all of Tuesday to make my way through some more Lowell. I’m also due to teach a whole bunch of seminars in the next couple of months, which is cool, but does require a fair bit of preparation. I’ve got one for work, another one somewhere else I should get paid for, and finally two academic seminars, which are my main concern. I've long wanted to teach at university, so I’m looking forward to the experience: hopefully will be able to learn a lot about the whole process, which up til now I’ve only seen as a student (well, unless you count teaching some ZSK classes, but that really isn’t the same).
Class tonight was my first session with Jude for ages, so that was cool as I always enjoy his highly detailed instruction. I partnered up with Yasmine this time round, which I haven’t done before, so that was also cool: I’ve chatted to her briefly at the Bristol Open, but not had a chance to drill or spar before this lesson.
Jude kicked off with a hip throw, doing it slightly differently with a step to the side before you lift them up onto your hip. Initially I got a bit confused as I’m used to doing the technique more straight on, but eventually got the hang of that extra motion. That lead into the usual armbar from mount, leaning in after the take down, hand for balance, leg over and drop back for the sub.
Next up, we went through one of my favourite techniques, the scissor sweep. I still need to concentrate on really pulling them forward, shrimping out more and then getting my opponent up onto my leg by drawing my elbows high, so it was good to get some drilling done. I also wasn’t getting my shin smoothly into their stomach when I switched to my left arm. Instead, I kind of ended up sweeping with just a knee pressed in, which is not a good habit to get into as I’m sure that would fuck up if I made the same mistake outside of drilling. Finally there was a reminder to come up on my elbow in order to shrimp out, which I don’t always remember to do.
Building on the preceding drill, Jude then moved on to armbar from mount using a choke attempt set up. Having got the scissor sweep, your hand stays in their collar. Move your knee up, lean your weight into them, other leg up and tight to their side, then bring the other knee over. Feed your free arm under theirs, and then drop back for the sub.
Jude gave a useful demonstration on how to break their grip if you’ve got a good hold but they’re defending by bringing their arms together. With your arms underneath, lean towards their head until you’ve effectively got one of their arms in an Americana-type position. That should be sufficiently uncomfortable that you can peel their arm free, then swing round and back to complete the armbar – the motion is therefore a semi-circle.
Sparring was Yasmine was interesting, as we were comparatively even: she’s a four stripe so has a bit more experience and skill than me, but I have about 8 or 9kg on her. We were doing guard passage, and from the bottom I managed to get a sit-up sweep once or twice, though I still need to go for that more often, as I’m too tentative, which gives them the opportunity to attack. I also tried for the single leg takedown after Yasmine stood up in my guard, but didn’t quite make it. I was almost there, as I had hold of her leg and was trying to move through to side control, but failed to push her into position, her sprawl proving effective. We ended up with her taking my back, I attempt to roll out, then we stopped as this was only specific sparring. Would have been interesting to continue at that stage, though that of course would defeat the object of specific sparring.
As has been true of my sparring for a while now, I eventually found myself in half-guard. I continue to get stuck underneath, with my legs wrapped round their right leg, but my body twisted by their left arm. Where I’d rather be is by the same side leg and arm, as that would give me a chance to go for underhooks and take their back. With Yasmine, I clung on for a while looking to see what I could do before eventually getting passed.
Yasmine was also good at preventing my initial grips: I normally immediately try to grab an arm and a collar, but she was frequently able to neutralise my attempt, meaning I only got one or the other, which isn’t a sufficiently strong position to go for my usual sweeps (or at least not with my limited understanding of methodology). I think she was basically just pulling her arm back before I could grab it a lot of the time, but would be good to spar her again and watch out for it. Should probably have asked her afterwards – I notice I haven’t been doing that as often as I need to, so must get back into the habit.
On top I got past her guard a few times, but I’m still relying too heavily on using a tailbone break, then either trying for a stack pass or a leg pin pass. The latter worked a few times, but Yasmine had a fairly good defence, so it took some struggling on my part. I think I might have not been isolating her hips sufficiently, and also not using my weight enough.
Switching people, I sought out one of my regular sparring partners, Nathan: he and Dominique are by far the two people I spend the most time rolling against (I roll a fair bit with Chris too as I often like to drill with him due to his excellent habit of correcting mistakes and giving pointers, though like I mentioned last time, need to spar him more often for that same reason).
Things were fairly similar as with Yasmine, though I had more luck under half-guard. This time, I went for a sort of rubber guard thing to maintain the position (i.e., I grabbed my leg: have yet to look into rubber guard properly, so that’s about as complex as mine gets). That proved useful, as that secure hold meant I could gradually work my knee through and recover full guard.
I also had a concerted go at an armbar from standing guard. I remembered to walk my legs up in order to break Nathan’s posture and pull him towards him, got a decent hold on his arm, but couldn’t break his grip. I was trying to think how what we’d just learned about armbar from mount might apply, but hanging upside down feels rather different to sitting on top of them, so ended up just pulling ineffectually. Still, Nathan said afterwards I was fairly close with it, so will have to work on that: could do with grabbing Oli or one of the other instructors to get some pointers.
Those two spars completely knackered me out, so I decided against the advanced class. I keep wimping out, but the excuses of lack of sleep (for some reason I had real trouble nodding off last night) and general crap health recently mean that I’m keen to just get through a month of training at least twice a week. Four may be too ambitious for my body at the moment.
Will be in again tomorrow, aiming for the no-gi and the beginners, but would be content with just the no-gi if I again find I’ve got nothing left for the second class. Also looking forward to trying out my new Padilla & Sons gi, which arrived recently: giving it a cold wash at the moment to shrink it. Once I've given it a good test run, I can stick all the details into a review (although it almost feels redundant considering how awesome the Smash Pass review was - after all, thats what convinced me to buy that gi in the first place).
07 June 2007
07/06/2007 - BJJ
Class #59
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Felipe Souza, London, UK - 07/06/2007
Today’s session was huge – must have been at least thirty people, meaning that there was barely room to move. It did however mean that there were plenty of training partners my size, which made for a pleasant change. Also got to see a few guys I’ve not seen in a while, like Chris, who has actually managed to make Saturdays now. ;)
The warm-up was fairly intensive this time round, with lots of press-ups and the like, after which we got into drilling. Felipe started off with a collar choke from guard, following it up with a scissor sweep in case the choke attempt was blocked. You start by feeding one hand deep into their collar, aiming to get right behind their head, four fingers in and the thumb on top. Your other arm goes underneath, with the same grip. To finish, twist your hands so they are facing palm towards you, while at the same time pulling your opponent towards you. Yuvi, the guy I was working with, noted that I needed to bring my elbows closer together, which was a useful pointer – this is why I’ve no wish to abandon the beginners class any time soon, as I can always do with work on the fundamentals.
If they manage to block your second arm before you can bring it in to choke, you can move to a scissor sweep. Maintaining your grip in their collar, grab their elbow with your other hand, then perform the scissor sweep as normal. I wasn’t entirely certain whether its better to grip the wrist and pull it in tight to your chest, or go for the elbow. Normally I’d grab the wrist, but I think Felipe showed it with the elbow. Something I need to check.
Finally, Felipe also demonstrated an entirely different option from a failed scissor sweep, taking the back from guard. If they resist your scissor sweep, push them back with your shin and arm to make space. One knee should now be raised, with a hand on the floor: the position is exactly the same as the standard way to get up (knee up, leg out, arm above knee. Put hand on floor, step back and up). So, as with that basic move, your straight leg comes back and you raise up. At the same time, you grab their gi and swing their head to the floor, immediately rushing round to their back, getting both arms underneath and around their waist. I think I was initially grabbing too high – Oli demonstrated how you should stay further back, bringing your hips down to their feet.
As it was an enormous class, we unsurprisingly did ‘king of the hill’ sparring. Unusually, the class was split into three groups, one of them being under 65kg. As it happens, I’m about 64/65kg, so that’s perfect for me. This showed in that I found it much easier to maintain position than normal, though that was definitely helped by the fact there were a number of newish people in the group (except for Anne and Jon, but both of them were coming back after some time away).
For I think pretty much the first time ever, I stayed on for five rounds, which was very unusual for me, although guard is easily my most comfortable position. Rolling with new people meant I could work on relaxing, so I lay back and waited. As with yesterdays noobie roll, the new guys were clinging on and pushing with all their strength, also trying to get collar chokes from within my guard. However, while I felt quite dominant, I was making mistakes, mainly going for the scissor sweep. Ironically, I was missing out the same step I noticed Yuvi forgetting earlier, which was pulling your opponent in close to you to raise them off the ground. That meant that I kept going for a scissor, but finding myself stuck because their centre of gravity was low to the ground with a strong base.
I eventually got the scissor on the two recent joiners, after which it became a lot tougher. First up was Jonathan, against whom I ended up in half-guard. I tried to go for a sweep, having secured double-underhooks, but kept leaving his arm free, and I also don’t think I was shrimping out to the side far enough or raising up. That’s definitely another technique I need to revise. As I was struggling away with the sweep, Jon moved up to my chest, pressing his weight down. He almost got his foot free a few times, but I managed to hold on, readjusting my legs. I also had some coaching from Oli at this point, who urged me to push his knee in order to stabilise my half guard.
However, Jon successfully trapped my arm in a figure-four grip, which at first didn’t worry me until I remember I was in half rather than full guard. I thought he’d be able to finish the submission off, but either he didn’t has as good a hold as I’d thought, or I was blocking it with my head. Either way, I freed my arm and then finally got the half-guard sweep I’d been looking for, albeit rather sloppily.
Finally I rolled with Anne, and as she was able to stand up in my guard, I decided I’d try to play open guard (after failing to get the flower sweep, which continues to elude me: yet another technique that requires serious revision on my part). My aim was to get my feet into her hips and lift her over, or failing that try for an elevator, or perhaps an armbar. What happened instead was that I got a leg stuck by her head, which she had little trouble passing into side mount.
I’d already rolled with Anne earlier in the session, as we were one of the initial two pairs to spar. Like many people in the advanced class, or at least going by Owen, she had a decent open guard, and at one point I thought she was going to scissor sweep me using my arms as leverage. I managed to retain my balance, and after some struggling got double underhooks on her legs, pulling her in tight, grabbing a shoulder and passing through to side control. This pass seems to have been working fairly well for me from open guard, but it does seem to need a bit of luck at the moment. I still don’t feel entirely confident in that position, but at least I now have some options, unlike the first time I encountered open guard against Owen.
Good session on the scissor sweep, which for once I then used extensively in sparring. Can’t really claim that’s me being a sensible student and applying what we drilled to rolling though, as I tend to go for the scissor anyway. My normal next step of moving to a push sweep wasn’t too successful today, and I also had no luck with the kimura, even though the opportunity did seem to present itself a few times. I’d like to have gone for the sit-up sweep, but as usual couldn’t overcome that hesitation – an arm pressing down on me compounded that problem. Finally, I need to work on removing grips: that would make going for sweeps much easier, as I’d be able to break through blocking arms, or at least have the option.
Should be training again next week, same two classes as usual. Possibly get in a class of ZSK, but not sure yet. Until then, got a stag party to go to, having managed to get my girlfriend invited, which was extremely satisfying. Striking a blow against sexism, one stag party at a time!
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Felipe Souza, London, UK - 07/06/2007
Today’s session was huge – must have been at least thirty people, meaning that there was barely room to move. It did however mean that there were plenty of training partners my size, which made for a pleasant change. Also got to see a few guys I’ve not seen in a while, like Chris, who has actually managed to make Saturdays now. ;)
The warm-up was fairly intensive this time round, with lots of press-ups and the like, after which we got into drilling. Felipe started off with a collar choke from guard, following it up with a scissor sweep in case the choke attempt was blocked. You start by feeding one hand deep into their collar, aiming to get right behind their head, four fingers in and the thumb on top. Your other arm goes underneath, with the same grip. To finish, twist your hands so they are facing palm towards you, while at the same time pulling your opponent towards you. Yuvi, the guy I was working with, noted that I needed to bring my elbows closer together, which was a useful pointer – this is why I’ve no wish to abandon the beginners class any time soon, as I can always do with work on the fundamentals.
If they manage to block your second arm before you can bring it in to choke, you can move to a scissor sweep. Maintaining your grip in their collar, grab their elbow with your other hand, then perform the scissor sweep as normal. I wasn’t entirely certain whether its better to grip the wrist and pull it in tight to your chest, or go for the elbow. Normally I’d grab the wrist, but I think Felipe showed it with the elbow. Something I need to check.
Finally, Felipe also demonstrated an entirely different option from a failed scissor sweep, taking the back from guard. If they resist your scissor sweep, push them back with your shin and arm to make space. One knee should now be raised, with a hand on the floor: the position is exactly the same as the standard way to get up (knee up, leg out, arm above knee. Put hand on floor, step back and up). So, as with that basic move, your straight leg comes back and you raise up. At the same time, you grab their gi and swing their head to the floor, immediately rushing round to their back, getting both arms underneath and around their waist. I think I was initially grabbing too high – Oli demonstrated how you should stay further back, bringing your hips down to their feet.
As it was an enormous class, we unsurprisingly did ‘king of the hill’ sparring. Unusually, the class was split into three groups, one of them being under 65kg. As it happens, I’m about 64/65kg, so that’s perfect for me. This showed in that I found it much easier to maintain position than normal, though that was definitely helped by the fact there were a number of newish people in the group (except for Anne and Jon, but both of them were coming back after some time away).
For I think pretty much the first time ever, I stayed on for five rounds, which was very unusual for me, although guard is easily my most comfortable position. Rolling with new people meant I could work on relaxing, so I lay back and waited. As with yesterdays noobie roll, the new guys were clinging on and pushing with all their strength, also trying to get collar chokes from within my guard. However, while I felt quite dominant, I was making mistakes, mainly going for the scissor sweep. Ironically, I was missing out the same step I noticed Yuvi forgetting earlier, which was pulling your opponent in close to you to raise them off the ground. That meant that I kept going for a scissor, but finding myself stuck because their centre of gravity was low to the ground with a strong base.
I eventually got the scissor on the two recent joiners, after which it became a lot tougher. First up was Jonathan, against whom I ended up in half-guard. I tried to go for a sweep, having secured double-underhooks, but kept leaving his arm free, and I also don’t think I was shrimping out to the side far enough or raising up. That’s definitely another technique I need to revise. As I was struggling away with the sweep, Jon moved up to my chest, pressing his weight down. He almost got his foot free a few times, but I managed to hold on, readjusting my legs. I also had some coaching from Oli at this point, who urged me to push his knee in order to stabilise my half guard.
However, Jon successfully trapped my arm in a figure-four grip, which at first didn’t worry me until I remember I was in half rather than full guard. I thought he’d be able to finish the submission off, but either he didn’t has as good a hold as I’d thought, or I was blocking it with my head. Either way, I freed my arm and then finally got the half-guard sweep I’d been looking for, albeit rather sloppily.
Finally I rolled with Anne, and as she was able to stand up in my guard, I decided I’d try to play open guard (after failing to get the flower sweep, which continues to elude me: yet another technique that requires serious revision on my part). My aim was to get my feet into her hips and lift her over, or failing that try for an elevator, or perhaps an armbar. What happened instead was that I got a leg stuck by her head, which she had little trouble passing into side mount.
I’d already rolled with Anne earlier in the session, as we were one of the initial two pairs to spar. Like many people in the advanced class, or at least going by Owen, she had a decent open guard, and at one point I thought she was going to scissor sweep me using my arms as leverage. I managed to retain my balance, and after some struggling got double underhooks on her legs, pulling her in tight, grabbing a shoulder and passing through to side control. This pass seems to have been working fairly well for me from open guard, but it does seem to need a bit of luck at the moment. I still don’t feel entirely confident in that position, but at least I now have some options, unlike the first time I encountered open guard against Owen.
Good session on the scissor sweep, which for once I then used extensively in sparring. Can’t really claim that’s me being a sensible student and applying what we drilled to rolling though, as I tend to go for the scissor anyway. My normal next step of moving to a push sweep wasn’t too successful today, and I also had no luck with the kimura, even though the opportunity did seem to present itself a few times. I’d like to have gone for the sit-up sweep, but as usual couldn’t overcome that hesitation – an arm pressing down on me compounded that problem. Finally, I need to work on removing grips: that would make going for sweeps much easier, as I’d be able to break through blocking arms, or at least have the option.
Should be training again next week, same two classes as usual. Possibly get in a class of ZSK, but not sure yet. Until then, got a stag party to go to, having managed to get my girlfriend invited, which was extremely satisfying. Striking a blow against sexism, one stag party at a time!
28 February 2007
28/02/2007 - BJJ
Class #33
I was going to go to a Ted Hughes seminar today, but as I had to miss ZSK yet again this week, decided against it so I could get some extra training in. Now that my shoulder seems healed up, I’ve been able to do padwork with my gf again, which I’m very pleased about. Also finally bought myself some flip-flops for wearing at BJJ – could have gone with my gf’s ones, but the pink floral design is too camp even for me! So, good ol Primark had some for a quid.
Today Jude moved back to guard work, having spent most of the recent lessons focusing on mount. For the first time at RGA, I got to see the scissor sweep demonstrated as well as the sit-up sweep, both of which I’ve been checking out on the internet for some time now. Unfortunately, I was in a three, which meant I didn’t get to drill as much as I’d like. On the other hand, Jude came over and talked us through the techniques, which was brilliant – always very handy to have the instructor watch while you drill.
Jude began with another sweep I’m keen to drill, the sit-up sweep. Person B bumps Person A forward to get them to put their hands on the floor, then rises up and brings an arm behind the opposite arm of Person A, coming high on the shoulder. Person B tucks that arm close in to their stomach, pushing on Person A’s elbow. Person B then twists up and to the side, using their other arm for balance (Jude emphasised that to get the necessary space, you had to come up on your hand as opposed to your elbow). Finally, Person B brings the opposite leg to the arm they’re gripping all the way across, ending up in mount. Here’s the vid of Rowan Cunningham demonstrating, which I’ve been trying to work in class for the past few months.
This was followed by the kimura from guard, which was especially useful as it functions as a Plan B if the sit-up sweep fails. Getting to the same sit-up sweep position as before, Person B finds that Person A has too good a base. So instead of struggling to knock Person A over, Person B grabs the wrist of the arm they’re isolating, gripping their own wrist with their other arm (which is already in position due to the attempted sweep). Person B drops back (having raised up for the sweep) then moves the arm away from their body (so Person A can’t cling on to a gi or a leg), clamping their leg across Person A’s back. Making sure they first bring the arm over their knee, Person B then pushes on Person A’s wrist, using Person A’s elbow as a pivot, resulting in the submission.
Jude then demonstrated the scissor sweep. Having looked at this sweep in detail on the net, I’ve seen a couple of different approaches, but one thing has been consistent – in their tutorials, Aesopian, Rowan Cunningham and Don Daly all wait for Person A to go up on one knee. It would appear that this isn’t absolutely necessary, as Jude went straight for the sweep. Person B grabs the opposite collar and sleeve of Person A, then rises up on their elbow to shrimp out to the other side. This provides the space to pull Person A towards them and get a shin into Person A’s stomach, hooking the foot round; Person B’s other leg drops down. Finally, Person B simultaneously pushes on the collar and pulls on the sleeve, while also pushing against Person A’s stomach and chopping with their other leg. This ‘scissors’ Person A’s base and spins them to the ground, where Person B moves into mount.
Passing was more successful. Mainly, I seem to be getting passes either when I’m escaping an armbar or when I manage to work my arms back sufficiently to go for double underhooks. This is exactly what I did with Paul (IIRC his name correctly), though I ended up using the shin to trap his leg instead. At first I stopped because I’d inadvertently stuck my elbow into his groin (not much use to me if I’m only passing due to pain rather than technique), but got the same pass when we restarted from our previous position. I could still do with switching my base quicker and keeping in tighter.
Against a big guy called Marvin (although not sure I caught that name right), I did the same pass, but I think he was fairly new. Jude was telling me to clamp down the leg, as Marvin kept going to open guard (either intentionally or through inexperience) – making sure my partner isn’t able to close their guard after opening it is something I need to work on. Through strength Marvin was able to effectively throw me over as I was passing, but I managed to scramble and ended up facing him with both of us on our knees. So, passed, but a little sloppy.
As my gf is in
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