03/01/2016 - Open Mat | Sao Paulo Pass & Lasso Spider Sweep

Class #687
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 03/01/2016

First training of 2016 at #ArtemisBJJ: thanks for the rolls, guys! #BJJ #BrazilianJiuJitsu #OpenMat #NewYear #SupportWomensBJJ

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 3, 2016 at 7:19am PST

Good open mat session today, with a decent turnout considering the time of year and horrible weather. There were a couple of things I wanted to work, firstly from the Margarida DVD, then secondly some techniques from the next issue of Jiu Jitsu Style, which I'd be proof reading. The Margarida technique was a pass: it looks like the same pass that has all sorts of names, but most commonly the Tozi pass or Sao Paulo pass (looks a bit like what Oli shows here for JJS, but not quite the same). Margarida didn't give it a name: it's just 'Passing the Closed Guard Part Three' on his DVD. Anyway, this was the first time I'd seen it explained in a way that made sense to me.

Put your hands on their biceps (underhooking could work too), then walk your legs back, staying on your toes. Margarida does a quick look back to see which foot they have on top of their closed guard lock, then switches his hips, so that one leg is under and forwards, his other leg is on top and back. Grab their bottom leg with your hand and push it down. Step your back leg over the top of their feet. Normally they will release their lock as you apply pressure: if they keep them crossed, you can submit them, much like from the back. After opening the leg by stepping over, continue to turn, putting your in top half guard.

The best bit of the DVD comes during his explanation for escaping the kimura. I'd had heard of the legendary 'jiu jitsu is like tight jeans' moment, but I didn't realise it was this DVD. The great thing about it is that while it's entertaining, it is also a very memorable way to explain an important BJJ principle (unlike the classic Mario Sperry unintentional comedy moments on his even more old school DVD. Funny, but not something I can apply to my jiu jitsu):



Next I wanted to try some spider guard sweeps, with a lasso. It's quite simple: bring your lasso foot to hook under their opposite armpit, while still holding the lasso. Put your other foot on the floor. Now just kick them over in the direction of your lasso for the sweep, which you can also turn into an armbar. If they block this by putting their knee up on the side you want to sweep, you can do a more complex armbar. I couldn't quite remember the details. Regardless, if you want to see this in details with a bunch of variations and lots of pics, pick up issue #030 of Jiu Jitsu Style, here (once it's released). ;)

I got in some good rolls too, where I was mostly trying to attack from side control as ever. I also got to play with open guard passing, as Matt wanted to work on his open guard. I'm still relying too much on squishing, rather than being more technical, changing angles, that kind of thing. Fortunately for me, a number of Artemis BJJ students want to work on their open guard, like Chris (who is the most senior student). Plenty of opportunity for me to practice. But this month, the focus is closed guard, so I'll be playing with that Margarida pass, as well as shoulder clamp stuff again. Should be fun. :D

10/05/2015 - Super Seminar with Leoni Munslow, Yas Wilson, Gret Zoeller & Vanessa English

Seminar #016
Gracie Barra Nottingham, Leoni Munslow, Yas Wilson, Gret Zoeller & Vanessa English, UK - 10/05/2015

The numbers of women competing in BJJ has been increasing, with some representatives from the UK achieving impressive results on the big stage. To help fund the not inconsiderable costs of competing at the IBJJF World Championships (27th-31st May 2015), four of those success stories decided to offer a seminar at Gracie Barra Nottingham, for a very reasonable £20.

Black belt Yas Wilson is someone I already know, having first trained with her in 2007 at RGA HQ. Yas, who is Roger Gracie's first female black belt, has a lot of accolades to her name, including a brown belt gold at the 2013 Worlds. That same year, Vanessa English won gold at purple belt, while Gret Zoeller was on the podium in her brown belt division too, winnning bronze. Leoni Munslow's trophy case is also well stocked, most recently featuring a silver at this year's European Championship as a brown belt along with a nogi Euros gold.

Beyond their great tournament results, all four are excellent teachers: Yas and Gret are both black belts now, while Leoni and Vanessa are brown belts. It was therefore cool to get a chance to learn from them, especially as Yas was the only one I had met and trained with before. I was also keen to encourage some of the students from my women's class to pop up too: although this was a co-ed seminar (I was one of about five men there, IIRC), it was a particularly good opportunity for female students to network and train with other women. Thanks to Laura very kindly offering to take us in her car, four of us from Artemis BJJ made the journey to Nottingham.

There have been women only open mats running across the UK for several years, with a strong presence in London (the Facebook group looks to be more current than the page), the South West and probably lots of others I'm not aware of (feel free to add a comment if you known of any others in the UK). The US has loads as well, often highlighted and supported by Fenom Kimonos. Hopefully the Super Seminar will become a regular event too, with future editions already planned for London and Manchester. I'm not sure where the main updates will be, but for the moment you could keep an eye on the Facebook event page (which also has lots of pictures from the seminar).

The Super Seminar had support from several BJJ companies, meaning the raffle was crammed with prizes. Tatami Fightwear (who I think also sponsor at least three of the instructors) is always ready to give back to the community, on this occasion providing gis and caps. Idee Pure sent some soaps along too, plus there was another stall selling various healthy looking stuff with all proceeds going to support the instructors.

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The four instructors split the teaching between them, each focusing on a different area, mainly guard. Leoni was the exception, drawing upon her judo background to go through some takedowns. The first one reminded me a bit of the Roy Dean style single leg off Blue Belt Requirements, where after you shoot in, you hook a leg behind theirs and drive through. That's probably my favourite takedown (though I say this as somebody who pretty much never does takedowns).

Leoni's version starts with the usual collar and elbow grip. Pull on one side to get them to step a foot towards you, then immediately hook that leg and drop, driving through to knock them over. My drilling partner, David, emphasised really hooking that leg: I was initially just putting my foot behind and driving, whereas it's more effective to wrap further, enabling you lock their lower leg between your foot and shin. That seemed to add a bit more leverage when you drive. You end in top half guard, ready to pass.

Next was a hip throw, to which Leoni added some handy details, like the importance of maintaining the sleeve grip. Keeping hold of that arm can lead right into an armbar, especially if as you execute the throw their arm goes under your armpit (if it doesn't, it's still easy enough to switch your grip to control the wrist as they hit the floor). It also means you can adjust how hard they land. Leoni also showed how you can make it more effective by swinging your leg back.

Switching to closed guard, Yas detailed two solid options off the two-on-one grip break. Start by grabbing their opposite sleeve, then bring your same side hand underneath. You're looking to grab your wrist, using the combined power of your two hands to punch up and break their hold on your gi. Maintaining your sleeve grip, stiff-arm it away from you to turn them slightly, then capitalise by using your other hand to grasp their armpit. Lock your elbow against their back, which combined with the armpit grip and stiff-arming the sleeve should twist their torso.

That puts you in a great position to take their back. Staying tight to their back, release your grip on their sleeve in order to post on your elbow (ideally transitioning to your hand for improved base). Swivel your body around to their back, putting your knee on the mat. As Yas said, often people will look to establish an initial back control hook here, aiming to put in both hooks as they rotate around to the back.

Instead, Yas suggests bringing your foot across their thigh, crossing the other foot on the other side of that thigh. Crossing your feet around their thigh makes for a secure hold, facilitating your roll into back control. While you want to avoid crossing your feet in between their legs (because they can footlock you from there), crossing by the thigh looks to be safe. It also makes for an easy transition into a body triangle, if you like that position.

In terms of the grip on the sleeve you're stiff-arming (i.e., straightening your arm to use skeletal rather than muscular strength), that's going to vary depending on your preference. I usually prefer the pistol grip (where you grab a load of gi in your fist, like you were holding a pistol), though it isn't as strong as the pocket grip (your thumb folds the sleeve over your fingers, creating the titular 'pocket'). The advantage of the pistol grip is that it's a lot less rough on the fingers than a pocket grip.

However, I was finding that when I stiff-armed the sleeve away, my hand got twisted into an awkward position using my pistol grip. So a pocket grip is probably preferable, unless you switch your hands in the initial two-on-one grip break configuration, then pass the sleeve to your other hand for the stiff-arm. That way you can get a comfortable grip, but it risks them freeing their sleeve during the grip change (and adds an extra step to the technique).

If they are wise to that back take, they may post on their leg as you try to move around, using their weight to prevent you swivelling to their back. Yas has an answer for that, full of armbar goodness. Put your foot into the hip of their raised leg. That gives you the leverage to push and turn your body. As you turn, you want to simultaneously move both your other leg and the arm you reached around their back. The leg is going to slide into their armpit, while the elbow of your reaching arm shaves closely past their head, in order to press against their neck.

You can then use your arm to help shove their head back as you bring your first leg over. From there you're perfectly placed for an armbar. Their arm is already controlled because of your initial sleeve grip (from that grip break), so just extend your hips and pull down on the wrist. I found it helpful to lift my hips for that swivel, though you have to be careful you don't leave them any space to wriggle free. Making sure the arm stays really close to the head as you shave it past is important. That ensures their head is tucked out of the way for when you want to bring your leg across.

Third in line was black belt Gret Zoeller, a veteran grappler with fourteen years experience, presenting half guard. She shared a technique she first learned in 2003, from the legendary half guard pioneer, Roberto 'Gordo' Correira. Before getting on to the details, she gave us some history on the half guard, as well as this particular sweep. It turns out Gret used to train with Ben Poppleton, a name I don't hear as much these days, but a significant figure in the early years of UK BJJ, especially in the North (he's since moved to teach in the rather sunnier setting of Tenerife).

Gordo had great success with this technique as a competitor. I refer to it as the toe grab sweep, but it's often called 'old school', thanks to Eddie Bravo. Gret covered two versions. They both started the same, blocking the cross face and circling your other arm around for the underhook. That was followed by reaching your cross-face block under their same side leg, in order to grab their ankle and pull it up. You can then bring your underhook arm under their bum, switching grips so the underhook hand grasps their foot.

The two version diverge at this point. In the first version, your free hand grips their knee, then you drive forward to go on top. In the second, you tweak out their non-gripped leg first, then drive through, the same way Jason Scully teaches it. My preference is the second, which has the further advantage that you can take their back if for some reason you can't knock them to their back. I also find it easier to disentangle my leg with the second option, but they're both effective.

Gret progressed into something she's been playing with recently (thanks to her evocative choice of metaphor, this one surely needs to be known as the Jane Fonda sweep ;D). The situation is that you're under half guard and they've squashed you flat. You can't get on your side, ruling out a lot of the main options from the bottom. Instead, you're going to pull out their gi lapel and pass it over their back, to your other hand. I'm not sure I'm remembering rightly, but I think you use that to make some space and shrimp out slightly. With your free hand, reach underneath until you can get your arm to their far knee, wrapping around the outside.

You will normally have a leg locked over the back of theirs: keep that in place, but the other leg is going to swing as part of the sweep. The motion for the sweep is where Fonda comes in. Sadly I couldn't find a clip of Ms Fonda demonstrating driving a big truck (though I did enjoy this awesomely '80s workout, complete with random singing), but basically imagine you are trying to turn a huge steering wheel. Pull with the gi lapel grip and lift with your leg grip, also swinging your free leg. This shouldn't take a huge amount of effort, so if you're straining you probably need to adjust something.

I was finding that when I asked my drilling partner to apply some pressure on top, I generally had to try twice, getting the sweep on the second attempt after creating some momentum with the first. I realised I was gripping incorrectly on the leg after Gret came over during drilling: rather than grasping the gi material, you can hook your arm around the leg instead. That's much easier, especially if the material around their knee isn't loose.

Vanessa closed the technique portion of the seminar with a sweep from spider guard. If you're in closed guard, to move them to open guard, grab both their sleeves then put your feet on their hips. Extend your legs, at which point they will normally stand (if they don't you've got options like the triangle here). Put one foot into their same side bicep, then loop your other leg around their arm in a lasso, reaching your toes to their shoulder blade.

You can then pull them in, switching your grip from the lasso to their same side collar. Swivel your body towards them, so you're facing your bicep-pushing foot. If they don't do anything at this point, contract by pulling them in, then kick out your bicep foot and roll them over (you'll probably find your knee goes across their stomach too). More likely, they will try to go to knee on belly as soon as you present your side to them. They aren't going to be able to settle because you're still pushing their arm away with your extended leg. So, you can still roll through, but make sure you grab their leg. Using that grip, you can go straight into the leg drag position, shoving their leg down.

The seminar closed with some rolling. I mostly took photos, as I didn't want to take away the opportunity for two women to roll with each other. However, I did get a chance to roll with Leoni once the numbers had thinned right out. That was cool, as Leoni is somebody I've known online for a number of years, but we haven't met in person until today. Best of luck to Leoni, Yas, Vanessa and Gret at the Worlds and I look forward to the next seminar! :D

18/10/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Takedowns & Spider Guard Shoulder Variation

Class #599
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 18/10/2014

I have never been overly fond of takedowns, but as a few students have asked about bringing the fight to the ground from standing, I decided it's time I tried adding some to the warm-up. I want something that is broadly effective, easy to learn and relatively low impact (as the mats where I teach aren't especially thick, though there are some crash mats we can use for dedicated throwing practice).

Thinking back through the throws I've learned (quite a few over the years, and I guess I did technically train judo before I started BJJ, if only briefly), I thought that single and double legs would be best, especially as they also don't require a gi. I ran through the seoi-nage just to refresh my memory, but I think that's too high impact for the beginners I teach, especially as they haven't done much breakfalling yet.

The entry for both the takedowns I wanted to use is the same. Grab their collar and elbow, pulling that up and you drop down into a crouch and shoot forward. Wrap up both legs and drive through for the double leg, or alternatively, Roy Dean's version where you slot a leg through first and then drive. That means you end up passing smoothly at best and half guard at worst, but it's a bit more fiddly than simply blasting forwards.

The single leg starts the same, except you just wrap up the one leg. Pick it up and trap it between your legs. You can either 'run the pipe' by jamming your head into their same side hip and turning, or adjust to bring your hand under their leg while the other grabs around their other hip. From there you can bump them up and drop them. For beginners, I think running the pipe is better, as they don't need to worry about lifting wrong and hurting their back or something.

Another entry is to do an arm-drag, then dropping for the leg. That could be a better option, as firstly it means they don't need a gi and secondly the arm drag is useful generally rather than just as an entry. I'll try that on Monday and see how it goes. Randomly, I also had a play with flying triangles, as I'd been reading Dave Camarillo's old Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu to refresh my memory on takedowns. I'd forgotten he doesn't have any double or single legs in there, but I did get tempted by the flying triangle. Especially with my lovely new spats, which feature an awesome samurai triangle. ;)

A very helpful purple belt at the open mat suggested the arm drag to me, along with a great drill I want to try. This is for throws like the seoi-nage where you spin in to take people down. Step in and swivel as normal, then drop to throw. Instead of throwing, roll onto the floor. That means you are working pretty much the same motion as the throw, but without the difficulties of breakfalling, keeping your back safe, placing your partner as you throw, etc

That same purple belt also shared what he was currently working on, a spider guard variation that looks fairly similar to what Xande does on his DVD. The difference is that this one has you put a foot on the shoulder rather than the crook of the elbow, also pushing into the same side hip with your other foot. The hand grips are the same as Xande, pulling on the same side sleeve (that purple uses a pistol grip, which saves the fingers, but a typical pocket grip works too) as the hip-foot side, then cross gripping the collar.

Drilling that with Paul, I found that on the bottom it enables me to be much more proactive than my usual lasso spider guard: I'm definitely going to keep this in mind next time I teach my usual lesson on maintaining spider guard. Flowing into the push sweep felt more natural, plus the sweep just shoving with your legs from spider guard felt more powerful too. Triangles are also easier and it feels simpler to recover your shoulder push if they knock off your foot.

On top, I was finding that there are some disadvantages to be aware of, due to putting the foot on the shoulder. That leaves the arm on that side free, so I was able to repeatedly use that hand to push Paul's leg off my hip, having popped my hips back. To get the foot off my shoulder was slightly trickier (I brought my hand to my head in order to use the elbow to knock the foot away), but again once I had it clear the pass was right there. So, that's something I'll need to be aware of when using this guard: perhaps just a matter of switching between the shoulder and arm? I'll find out as I play with it more.

02/04/2014 - Open Mat (Spider Guard Sweeps)

Class #554
Bristol Sports Centre, (Artemis BJJ), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 02/04/2014

It was a small class of all purple belts tonight, so we went with an open mat format rather than the class I was planning. That turned out to be useful for me: it's cool to have a chance to compare notes with Dónal every now and then. I'm very much looking forward to having regular open mats at the second location, once that starts up (shouldn't be long now).

Dónal was playing with various complex looking sweeps he's been watching in Keenan Cornelius' competition game recently. I took on the role of training dummy, such as trying to stay heavy and low as Dónal attempted to practice lifting my weight off the floor, using some kind of spider guard variation I didn't fully understand.

In my case, I wanted to practice the spider guard sweeps from Kev's private back in February. The main one I've been trying is getting the lasso grip, then when they stand up, hooking the foot of your lasso under their leg on the same side. Your other leg goes in front of their ankle, while you're also grabbing their collar with your free hand.

Since I learned that from Kev, I've got to the position a few times but had some trouble finishing it off. Dónal highlighted a little tweak, to do with my finishing turn into their leg. Previously, my ability to turn was hampered by my own elbow. Pulling my elbow underneath me immediately increased that turning range, making the sweep much easier.

I then also attempted the other sweeps where you get them to stand up by pushing into their arm. I was forgetting a few steps, whereupon Dónal suggested giving the most simple option another go. That's when you have the lasso on one side and your foot pushing into their arm on the other. Simply push up into the bicep arm while pulling on the lasso, steering them over until you can knock them onto the ground.

Again, Dónal has two small tweaks to help increase your range. First, push into their arm with the lower part of your foot, towards the heel rather than your toes. That seems to knock them more off balance. The second thing is to twist slightly, looking over your shoulder. For whatever reason, the sweep felt more fluid when I added in those two details. To untangle your lassoed leg, do a sort of knee slide to move into side control.

We did a bit of specific sparring, where I was being careful of Donal's foot, but sparring pretty much as normal. Dónal very quickly got me in a tight triangle, capitalising on my over-focus on staying back to stay safe as I was looking to pass. Normally I feel like I some space to escape, but this felt super tight, so I tapped straight away, there was nowhere to go.

I have been playing with the gi lapels a lot recently. Tonight I grabbed the jacket and used that as a sort of shield against his leg. Basically I was pissing around, but that's fun to do sometimes. It sort of helped, but I doubt there's much in it. ;)

Something else I need to be careful of is escaping omoplatas. I was almost caught in one and jumped through, but if it had been anyone but Dónal, I may have mashed up my shoulder. Next time I should play it more safe. I find it tough to do my usual running man escapes with Dónal, as he always feels super tight with his arms in that position. I think I did roll through at one point, but mainly because we were right near the wall.

28/02/2014 - Private with Kev (Running Escape & Lasso Spider Guard Sweeps)

Class #546 - Private #018
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 28/02/2013

This is a technique I've used many times, I've learned it from several instructors, I've studied DVDs, I've had private lessons on it before and I've taught lessons on it myself. However, I've never had a private lesson on the running escape with my black belt instructor, Kev Capel. I was therefore looking forward to the tweaks he could add, hopefully enabling me to finally break through some of my problems with that technique.

My biggest problem, a long-term issue I've mentioned frequently over the years on this blog, is that I stall in what Saulo calls the running escape 'survival posture'. I'm aware of the escape from there, having taught both Saulo's original turn to guard and hip swing in multiple lessons, but I am still failing to do it enough myself. Dónal's tips in my previous private lesson on the topic helped, where he recommend shoving with your elbow and arm to make space before the swing, but my technique remains inefficient and overly passive.

More practice is one obvious solution: since late last year I haven't been getting as much sparring time as I would like, though now that Artemis BJJ is up and running, I'm at least getting regular training again. That should improve further once we open up our second location in a month or two. In preparation for this lesson, I re-read my old notes and had a look at some more videos. Jason Scully has a quite different version on the Grapplers Guide, which has really expanded its video content since I reviewed it way back in 2008. Scully has one video on the running escape that particularly caught my attention, as it deals with the common situation that they have got their arm past your hip. This is something Jeff Rockwell covered during his lesson on the technique too, but Scully's variation is one I haven't seen before.

The main difference is how Scully uses his elbows against the person on top. He digs one into their armpit, so that the point of the elbow is poking out, the other elbow in a parallel position on the other side. With that elbow in place, Scully can pop free, pressuring them downwards, putting him in position to attack the turtle. That's an option I intend to play with in the future and mentioned briefly to Kev in this private, but more important is building on what I already know.

On that score, Kev provided me with some excellent tips. From the standard running escape survival position, Kev noted firstly that you must keep in mind it is a bad position to be in: from his perspective, that's actually where he wants you to be during his leg drag pass. Still, if you can prevent them securing a good grip with their arms and trapping your legs with their knee, you have a number of escapes from here.

That begins with the leg swing escape I normally do (and should be doing more often). Make some space by shoving them with your elbow, then push off your feet to fire your hips into them as well, swinging your legs through to establish guard. This is ideal for when their weight is high on your body. If their weight is low, then you won't have the space to get your hips up.

However, to get their weight lower on your body, it is likely that one of their legs will be in range for your next escape, empty half (among Eddie Bravo's least silly bits of terminology). In the running escape, I raise the knee of the leg I've stepped over. With that same leg, reach back and hook their leg: this should be especially easy to do if they are looking for that leg drag and therefore have their leg close to yours. Hook and pull it towards you, switching it to your bottom leg once it becomes feasible. You can then transition into butterfly guard and may even be able to go right into a sweep.

If that fails, it will probably mean they have moved up your body to avoid their leg getting trapped. To do so will hopefully leave enough space to return to the previous escape, swinging your legs and hips. Be ready to make that transition if the empty half moves out of reach. Yet another option is to go for their arm instead, which will be looking to get past your hip.

Grabbing the sleeve of that arm and stiff-arming it away from you is a surprisingly powerful control. This works when escaping the back too, as they will find it tough to maintain control if that arm is stuck out away from their body like that. You can use that grip as leverage to recover guard, or in a similar motion to the stiff arm escape I've discussed before, except it is on the far arm rather than the one near your head. Should they manage to bend their arm, you still have the option of Beneville's 'shin in elbow' trick from Strategic Guard. Pressing your knee into the crook of their trapped arm can act as another leverage point to walk your way back into guard.

A more unorthodox approach, which Kev has been taught by Roger in the past, is to wrap your arm around the outside of your leg. Doing this to both legs makes it more difficult that you'd expect for them to pass, as they are almost certainly going to put their arms in range to be gripped. Finally on side control, Kev uses a simple escape for when they are moving to north-south, so essentially it's a transitional side control escape. As soon as you feel them moving around and putting their arm by your hip, bridge and turn in the direction of your hip bracing arm.

This is from the usual side control bottom frame of an arm into the neck and the other by the hip. If they are moving towards your head, that arm into the hip ends up taking a bit of weight. Nevertheless, you shouldn't need to shove to get this turn. It feels very smooth when you practice it, turning and then slipping that hip bracing arm down and around their leg or back. You can then move directly into the usual side control escape to your knees, grabbing their far knee and moving into side control top yourself.

We finished off the private lesson with a couple of techniques from my favoured lasso spider guard, as I mentioned that's somewhere else I often stall. Although I'm aware of the basic sweep where you bait them to try and pass to the opposite side of the lasso and roll them over, I rarely land it. I tend to look for a tripod/sickle sweep combination when they stand up. However, if they are on their knees I don't have a go-to option: thanks to Kev, now I do.

Start off with the classic option of kicking your leg up into their non-lassoed bicep, looking to knock them over. To resist they will probably stand up. From here, if you're not going for that tripod/sickle combination, unwrap the lasso and put that foot on the floor between their legs. Kick the other leg up in their bicep and pull on both their arms, with the intention of making them take a big step forward. That should put their legs in range of your arms: wrap them both up tightly. Put one foot into their hip (or just use your calf on their thigh), the other pressing into their other leg.

From here you can knock them backwards like the double ankle sweep, then come up into a straight footlock (you already have your arm in position to attack their achilles tendon) or pass. I would most likely opt for the pass as I remain uncomfortable with leg locks (mainly because it seems too easy for the other person to injure themselves if they try to explode free in the wrong direction, plus it often seems to leave my foot in an equally vulnerable position), but I should probably get comfortable with at least the 'safer' options like a straight ankle lock. There is a bicep slicer from the lasso grip too, which makes me uncomfortable for the same reason, especially as it is mainly pain compliance.

Another sweep option from the lasso spider guard also involves tempting them to stand up, but this time you keep the lasso. I initially thought it looked complicated (as any long-time reader of this blog will know, I find anything complex off-putting), but the application is fairly simple. I never use x-guard (my own personal hang-up about only focusing on techniques that feel mechanically simple), but this version made sense. Put the foot of your lasso leg behind their same side knee, then bring your other leg in front of their ankle. From that position, you can roll them over and pass.

We did a brief spar at the end (there was some light specific sparring in side control to work on those escapes, which was useful). Just like the last time I sparred Kev, he totally dominated with his grips on my legs by grabbing near the ankles. I struggled to do anything from there (not that I was expecting to, given Kev is not just a black belt, but the 2014 European Champion in his division), so I need to remember to be more vigilant about breaking grips.

Next time I'll think a bit more carefully about timing the theme of the private lesson with the position of the month at Artemis BJJ. Guard attacks and the running escape were two of the big topics I wanted to cover, but now I can match up the private with whatever position is being covered in Bristol the rest of the month. I'll most likely head up again in April, when we'll be looking at the back at Artemis BJJ. I still want to do more work on back escapes, which will fit nicely (and follows on from the running escape, as if I mess up I'll often then need to escape the back).

06/03/2012 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Spider Guard Sweep)

Class #448
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 06/03/2012

As always with Dónal's lessons, he started off with some great drills. The first was to practice the leg-drag pass, starting with both their feet on your hips. Grab just above their knee with your same side hand, while the other cups under their heel. Drive in with your hip and press forward. Move back, while simultaneously pulling their leg across your body. I didn't realise until today that you drag that leg high: that means you can then trap it with your arm. If you then bring your other knee into their bottom leg, you've trapped both of them, so it should be a simple matter to move around to the other side.

The other drill was new, based off the knee-cut pass. You're stood in their open guard, with one leg in between theirs. Push their outside leg down, stepping your same side leg over. Cut the knee you have in the middle across in the same direction. However, instead of completing that motion, turn your hips to face the other way, so the knee in the middle slides over the other leg. Flare your knee, so that you end up sliding your knee over their lower leg. Then switch and repeat.

Main technique was a spider guard sweep, from the deep lasso grip. So, feet on their hips, swing out, then wrap your leg around their arm, getting your instep to their shoulder blade. Pull them in towards you, but just before you pull them in, your other leg is going to drop across their hips, so the foot is on the lasso side hip. With your free arm, hook behind their same side leg and roll them over, moving to side control, scarf hold or whatever you prefer.

There was another nice tip from Dónal, which was for getting your foot back into position if they break your spider guard grip (the orthodox one, rather than the lasso). Instead of trying to shove your foot to the inside of their arm, which they'll be tucking in tightly, attack the outside. Bring your foot near their armpit, wriggle your toes inside their, then push out into the crook of their elbow.

You could then go for a triangle by switching your grip from the bicep-pressing arm to their collar. Kick that leg through, then pull the elbow of their other arm towards you so you can also kick that leg through, ready to lock up the triangle.

I'd almost forgotten, but today marks my first year as a purple belt. Unfortunately, I've still not found the 'on' button, so I don't feel any better than when I was a blue belt. On the plus side, the teaching has been really useful, so I look forward to continue refining my lesson plans and digging deeper into the selection of techniques I've been working over the last few months. :)

11/10/2011 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Spider Guard)

Class #424
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Donal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 11/10/2011

Some people may remember I mentioned I was working on a new BJJ history project, as an extension of my Jiu Jitsu Style magazine articles about team history. I've now taken that a step further, so I'm trying to organise the data (which still isn't anywhere near complete, so please drop me a line if you can help on dates, team lineage, further historical sources, etc) in a sort of 'BJJ teams family tree', here.

Tonight was another fantastic class by Donal: I'm really enjoying his teaching style, and again there was an almost permanent smile on my face the whole lesson. He came up with more cool warm-ups, too, including the great open guard drill from last time, where you move around your partner using only your legs without putting your feet on the floor. Last time I kept things simple, but this time I was happily spinning around on my shoulders into inverted guard. I think it's the same drill Abmar Barbosa shows on his DVD set (which looks hilarious sped up).

When I trained at RGA HQ, I was often early, so got to watch Felipe Souza teach the kids class (he is the best teacher of kids I've ever seen: the only guy who comes close is his student and Future Champions head teacher, Jamie Hussein). The biggest difference was that a large chunk of those kids classes was devoted to games, bringing in learning by stealth.

The reason I mention this is that I got the same vibe from some of the cool stuff Donal brought into his warm-up. For example, he split the room into two groups, at either end of the mat. He then told us to spider walk towards each other (so, you're on your hands and feet, but facing the ceiling), then try and 'high five' as many people as you can. One important difference: you have to high five with the soles of your feet. Great way to work on your agility, getting used to using your feet like hands and of course decent cardio too, not to mention fun. ;)

Randomly, I also found that a passing drilling dredged up a memory of an old kung fu drill I used to do in Zhuan Shu Kuan. From what I remember of the history, backed up by Rod's trip to China, ZSK is supposed to be based on 'long fist' kung fu, which I guess is where the lunging stances come from. The drill I'm thinking of was a sort of diagonal punching thing.

You lean forward on one leg, keeping the other straight behind you, then punch out at an angle. Switch to the other leg, then punch the other way. The BJJ application is that you're passing the guard, having grabbed one of their trouser legs. Side step towards their head and punch with that grip simultaneously, to move their leg out of the way. The ZSK stance seemed to fit. Strange, as that's not something I ever thought I'd use again. ;)

Technique was still spider guard, which makes me very happy, as I've been trying to work on that for a good while now. Donal started off with a sweep, from when they are still on their knees. Starting with your feet on their hips, grab both sleeves and put one foot on their bicep. Push with your foot while also pulling their other sleeve forwards, so that your hand holding their sleeve is right by your head.

That should knock them off balance, as their arm is dragged forward on one side, while on their other you're pushing it right up. Keep on pushing with that foot into their bicep (remembering to curl your toes for extra grip), manoeuvring it over your opposite shoulder. When they're totally off-balance, use your free leg to chop into their same side leg, while continuing to pull on their sleeve and pushing with your bicep leg. From there, you should be able to roll into mount, similar to a scissor sweep.

If they manage to resist that and stay on their knees, they are still going to be off-balance, leaning right forward. That means it is a great time to transition to a triangle. Simply pull them arm even more forward as you slide your leg off their bicep and into their neck. Lock your legs by their head, also trapping the arm, then move into the triangle as normal.

As in Big Mick's lesson and the GB Brum method, we were split into groups of 1-2-3 for specific sparring, from spider guard. Interestingly, Donal used that to teach another technique, as before we started, he recapped what he said earlier about going deep with your lasso, hooking the foot around their back. This was for when they stand up: swing your leg out to one side in order to then swing it back to wrap over their arm, establishing your lasso spider guard.

Passing, I wasn't getting all that far, partly because I wanted to give the person on the bottom a chance to work, but mainly because my open guard passing is awful. I was able to work on the principle Geeza taught a while back, however, which is to use their strongest grip (in this case, the lasso wrapped around my arm) as a 'hinge' for your pass. I just kept trying to move around that leg, while gripping the other leg with my hand.

Underneath was fun, as I had a chance to start throwing in the various other sweeps I've been practicing. My favoured tripod sweep to sickle combination fits in nicely with spider guard, when they stand up: the sickle seemed to work better, for some reason. As you've already got such a deep control on their arm, that also seemed to help with coming straight up and into a dominant position, which is one of the things I often flail at with a normal tripod or sickle sweep.

Like last week, Donal also started free sparring with a round of flow rolling, though this time it was more jiu jitsu chess than what I'm used to (i.e., instead of just flowing through positions, you took it in turns with your partner). For free sparring proper, I had the usual relaxed roll with Luke. I was looking to go for an arm-wrap choke, but he was wise to that, so I couldn't bring the other elbow down across his chest while getting a grip on the collar.

I did somehow end up in mount later, where I aimed to use grapevines for control (or rather, Kev's tip on just crossing your feet underneath them), then working to either go for an ezequiel, scoop their elbow and walk my fingers up to loosen up an arm, or try and reach behind the head to grab the wrist for twisting arm control.

Having had a cool email exchange with a woman who recently started training BJJ in New Zealand, I'd been thinking about grapevines from mount earlier. She mentioned that in her class, someone had dissuaded her from using them, while her instructor went so far as to claim he could break her ankles if she put in grapevines. I've read elsewhere, somewhere on reddit, that grapevines are frowned upon in some schools.

I'm not sure why, as I use them all the time: it's something I taught earlier, in my maintaining mount lesson. Could be I've got a different definition of grapevines, or that I just haven't come across somebody who will punish me for putting in grapevines. Food for thought, though I take solace in the fact that top black belts like Demian Maia and Saulo Ribeiro both demonstrate grapevining on their instructional DVDs.

01/05/2011 - RGA Aylesbury Open Mat

Class #393
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Sahid Khamlichi, Aylesbury, UK - 01/05/2011

After the class on the Roger Gracie choke, Sahid continued into the 'skills and drills' part of the open mat. I may be teaching at some point in the future, so I'm paying particularly close attention to drills I might want to use for warm-ups and the like. I'm keen to avoid the "run around the room, do some sit-ups and press-ups," in favour of jiu jitsu specific movements and drills.

The skills and drills normally starts with four corner shrimping. Presuming the mat space is a square (or at least has corners), then you start in the bottom left corner, shrimping up the length of the mat as usual. When you get to the top left, you shrimp across. That's definitely the most difficult motion, so I'll give a quick explanation.

You're on your back with your legs bent and raised, knees fairly close together. Swing your knees in one direction, while twisting your torso in the other. That should bounce you sideways, so you can do that all the way along the mat. Using that to reach the top right corner, you shrimp forwards down the mat, then at the bottom right, shrimp sideways to the bottom left to start again.

Sahid then moved into mount based drills. The first is a drill for the armbar from mount. They lie on the floor, with both arms pointed straight up. You sit in mount, then post your hands on their chest, around one of their arms. On the isolated arm side, shift your knee to their head. Your other knee bumps behind their far arm, then curls around into a dog leg position, putting you in s-mount.

You can then swivel to bring your legs over, drop back while squeezing your knees and controlling the arm, then apply the submission (lightly, as this is only a drill). Disengage, shrimp your hips out so that you're facing them, then go back into mount and repeat on the other side.

The next drill was the same, except that this time, they've grabbed the outside of their other arm to stop you taking the submission. You still have your arm wrapped around one of theirs, as you were intending to drop back for an armbar. However, now hand of their free arm is grabbing the tricep of their trapped arm.

So, instead of dropping back, switch the arm you have hooked through. You can then slide your free hand in between the top of their arms, grabbing the tricep of their far arm. Shift from a dog leg position into a crouch, then twist to the other side, so that you now have a dog leg on the opposite side to where you started. From here, drop back for the armbar.

Finally, Sahid demonstrated a drill for escaping the mount, with different mechanics to the common elbow escape and upa. Bridge them forward, placing your hands on their hips and keeping your arms straight. The idea is to have them briefly suspended on your hands, so you can bring both knees between their legs. From there, you could go into butterfly guard.

However, you could also do what Sahid did next, which is shift into a footlock. Kick one of your legs straight, then bring your lower leg around the outside of theirs, pushing your foot into their same side hip. Knock them backwards, while wrapping around their ankle with your arms. The bony part of your forearm needs to be pressing into their Achilles tendon.

You want to end up turned on your side, your outside foot by their hip, squeezing your knees together. Your outside foot must not go past their hip, or you're liable to get disqualified (due to the potential dangerous pressure on their knee, depending on which way either of you turns to either apply a submission or try to escape). If you've got your arms in position on their tendon – easier said than done – lean back and squeeze for the submission.

After the skills and drills, it was open mat, meaning I could practice spider guard with one of the white belts. I began with the same techniques I worked at Factory BJJ earlier this week. We mainly concentrated on Adam's sweep, testing just how far they could move to side control and still get swept. Ideally you don't want to leave it too late, and you also have to be careful that they don't bring their free arm across your body and post it on the other side. That makes it hard to complete the sweep.

We played around with ways you might stop them doing that, which was fun but probably not very effective. Still, it seemed that if you could triangle their lassoed arm and keep them from getting it loose, you then had both your arms free. Grabbing their posting arm and under their leg enabled me to complete the sweep, though rather sloppily. I doubt that would work too often: as always, better to not get into that situation by applying the technique properly in the first place.

My training partner also had a suggestion for a spider guard sweep they wanted to work. This was handy for me, as the situation is that you've got your deep lasso grip and a foot into the other bicep, but they've raised their knee by your lasso, inside of their arm. Hook under that knee with your non-lassoing leg, also using your free arm to grab their same side sleeve.

Push that sleeve under their knee too, then knock them over in the direction of the non-lassoed side. I'm not sure if you're supposed to come up in mount or side control here, but I found it easiest to roll into top half guard, a bit like on Nick Brooks sweep from last year. Also like Nick's sweep, you can maintain your sleeve grip, pushing it straight to then attack their arm.

A final sweep from the same position involves bringing your lassoing foot to the opposite armpit, so that leg is across their chest. Your other foot is pressing into their same side bicep, which you've further trapped by holding that sleeve. Push your other foot high and towards the lassoed arm side, also lifting with the foot in the armpit.

From there, you can sort of roll into mount, although you're in a weird position as you end up sat on your leg, which is across their neck. Apparently that's from a Robson Moura DVD, though I'm not sure which one. Possibly cross-guard? Reminds me I need to watch the Moura stuff again, which I previously abandoned a few years ago as it looked too advanced for me.

We sparred from spider guard for a little while, to see if we could apply any of those techniques on each other before the grips were broken or somebody passed. We couldn't: so, more drilling required! ;)

My parents have continued the house moving process since Sunday, hence why it took me a while to get this post up: brief lull in all the packing and moving at the moment. I'll hopefully have a review polished off by either Friday or Saturday, although I've then got another house to get stuck into, in Bristol (not moving yet, as first the floors, roof and various other bits have to be sorted. My DIY is pants, so this should be interesting...)

25/04/2011 - Factory BJJ, Stockport

Class #390
Factory BJJ, (BJJ), Adam Adshead, Stockport, UK - 25/04/2011

On Sunday, my friend and I drove up to the Peak District, as thanks to that wedding all over the media, there is lots of holiday over the next week or two. Before we got to our bed and breakfast in Buxton, we stopped off at Sudbury Hall. My friend is a big fan of the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (as opposed to the relatively recent terrible film version). Sudbury was used for the interiors of Darcy's home, Pemberley, so it's all suitably grand. Handily, there is a pretty good breakdown for fellow Pride & Preggers fans over at austenonly.com.

On Monday, my friend headed off for a walk, while I caught the 10:30 train from Buxton to Stockport. It was around £8 and got me into Stockport at 11:12, where I then headed to Factory BJJ in Reddish. If I'd walked, my phone tells me it would have taken around 40 minutes, so it's doable. Fortunately I didn't have to try, as the brown belt who runs the gym, Adam, generously offered to give me a lift.

I first encountered Adam through his insightful blog, Conceptual BJJ. It hasn't been updated in a while and now simply redirects to the Factory BJJ website, though naturally you can still find it on the Internet Archive. Since then, I've been chatting to him over email for the last couple of years, particularly as he's not only a BJJer, but also used to be a music journo, another favourite topic of mine. Best of all, we're both '80s fans – hooray for Hall & Oates! ;)


Factory BJJ is part of the Combat Base family, the team started by Dirty Dozen member Chris Haueter (who was also instrumental in the foundation of the Straight Blast Gym, with Matt Thornton). Adam recently became a full time instructor, also moving into a fully matted unit with plenty of room. That means you can train day and night at the gym, including gi BJJ, judo, no gi and MMA (Matt '12 Gauge' Thorpe runs his program out of the same location). Full details over on the Factory BJJ website.

The gym itself looked great, particularly as I was there on a decent sunny day. The front has a massive door, which is rolled up, meaning there is airflow right through the gym. I'm not sure what it's like when it's snowing, but it would be cool to find out. Rolling right from the mats into the snow sounds like a Factory BJJ advert that needs to happen later this year. ;)

I especially like the way that it really lives up to the 'Factory BJJ' name. Outside, there is a fenced off area filled with large chunks of metal. Next door, you have a mechanic: Adam tells me that normally you'll hear the sound of drilling and clanging throughout class. Finally, there's a train line outside too, so you'll frequently see beefy freight trains whiz by, which I like to think are filled with coal or something else suitably industrial. :D

Adam was a very welcoming host, as was everyone else turning up for the gi drilling session today. It's basically an open mat, split into ten minute rounds on a timer. Drilling is encouraged, though you can just roll if you want to. That works out well for me, as I wanted to practice some attacks from spider guard. I've been passively staring at people while holding a lasso grip for some time now, so I'd really like to progress to actually threatening with something.

So, before I showed up I went through my backlog of notes, pulling out all the attacks from spider guard I've learned, then picked the ones I felt most comfortable trying out. First up was a sweep I was taught by Geeza back in November last year. I wasn't absolutely certain I'd got the notes right, but the main idea seemed to be pushing them with one of your feet into their bicep, swivelling to hook their other leg with your same side arm, then knocking them over.

Adam had some suggestions for something similar. In his spider guard sweep, you start off with the lasso grip I prefer. Your other foot goes on their hip, or you can put your shin across their stomach. This acts as bait, as you want them to try and pass to that side. As they do, grab their same side trouser leg with your free hand, then bring your lassoing leg's shin and foot down to the floor.

Pressing that shin into the crook of their elbow combined with lifting their trouser leg will knock them to the floor, where you can shift into mount or side control. Even if they do pass and move to side control, you can still press into their arm with your shin and sweep them. It's a solid controlling point.


When the first ten minutes was up, Adam had a whole bunch of stuff he wanted to work from the recent de la Riva seminar. This was all based off an open guard position, which starts with you gripping their collar with your same side hand (instead of the usual cross grip). Keep your elbow flared to stop them just squashing that arm down and breaking your grip.

Still on that side, put your foot on their hip, straightening the leg to keep them back. Your free leg swings out. I can't remember if you do anything with your hand at that point, but Adam should be able to remind me if he sees this. He followed up with three attacks, based on what they do.

The first option is to go for an armbar if they grab the knee of your free leg. Use your free hand to grip behind their elbow to both break their grip and pull their arm towards you. Clamp both your knees around that arm a little behind that elbow, then go for the submission.

If they try to grab the ankle or low on the trouser leg of your free leg, bring the knee over and down to the floor to break their grip. You can then kick through, putting the leg around their head to progress into a triangle.

Finally, if they aren't grabbing anything, you can attack with an omoplata. Again, not sure if I remembered this right, but I think you kick the free leg under the armpit, bringing them down to the mat with your control over their other side. Push their arm around your free leg and move into the omoplata.

There was an interesting tip here from de la Riva. When you have them belly down, you don't reach over their back with your near arm to help keep control and flatten them out. Instead, twist your torso and reach over with your far arm. That makes it tougher for them to roll out. Once you've scooted sideways to knock them flat on the floor, you can switch your arms back and go for the omoplata as normal.

This fit in nicely with what I wanted to drill next, during the next ten minute segment with somebody else. Another attack I'd read back in my notes was an omoplata from Jude he taught back in 2008. Beginning with the lasso grip, you want to get them off balance. You'll also need your foot in their other bicep: push into that, while lifting their arm with your lasso.

Once you've got them sufficiently off-balance, pull their elbow down your lassoed leg while kicking the leg through, which will put you in the omoplata position. You can then finish as before: I tried using the de la Riva option rather than the orthodox, which seemed to function well.

However, I was having trouble getting them off balance. I also struggled to then maintain enough control to switch my grips to the elbow and tricep: they were able to just pull their arm out. I played around with it a bit after some comments from Adam (who was walking round the class offering technical tips to people), where I found that kicking my lasso foot deeper helped. That gave me a bit more control, as I could press down onto the back.

It also made their arm curve more readily, so that the elbow was temptingly poking upwards ready to grab. Rather than releasing both grips, I just released the non-lassoed sleeve, then waited until I kicked the leg fully through and pressed them to the ground before removing my lasso sleeve grip.

As before, I could then twist over to reach around their far side with my far arm. Scooting sideways collapsed them face down onto the ground, where I could switch back to the other arm for control, then finish by leaning forward as if whispering in their ear. Make sure you don't forget the various other basic parts of the omoplata, like triangling your legs then bringing them out to the side as you put your opponent on the ground.

Adam had a further suggestion, which was trying the 'foot stomp' he'd seen Michael Langhi teach at another seminar. From what I remember, you have a standard spider guard with both feet in the biceps. Release one to put your foot on the floor, pushing off with that foot as you kick your remaining bicep foot over your head. That should force them to step forward, meaning they're more vulnerable to being swept overhead.

I vaguely had in mind a sweep I'd seen at the Carlson Jr seminar back in December, though he only showed it briefly as it was a recap of something he had shown in a previous seminar. I couldn't really work that out from my notes, so moved into a method for taking the back, as I had a much better memory of that one. However, I won't go into details, as I promised the Carlson guys that I wouldn't write up any of the seminar techniques on the blog (as they asked me not to).

To finish off, I did two rounds of sparring with two different blues, Jake and Leroy. Each roll followed a relatively similar pattern, as I spent lots of time in the running escape posture. I'm still trying to spin out more often and more forcefully, but I'm also still getting passed pretty soon afterwards much of the time. I could try hooking the foot, or just blocking: like I said before, definitely need to rewatch the Saulo video to see what he does.

I attempted some of the spider guard stuff I'd been working too, mainly the sweep Adam showed me at the start. However, I don't think I'm off-balancing them enough, or providing the necessary temptation with my baiting foot. Might have also been pre-empting, as they were still standing rather than dropping down as they passed.

All techniques I'll look to continue playing with on Wednesday, when I'll be checking out Liam 'The Part-Time Grappler' Wandi's class at the BJJ Labs in Manchester. Unless it's all specific sparring from mount or something, though that's always good to work too. ;)

Sadly there was no iPod player and speakers today at Factory BJJ, as instead we were relying on a tape deck and CD player. I played lots of Hall & Oates while typing up these notes on my way back to Buxton, meaning I still got my '80s fix. ;p


On Tuesday, my gf and I drove off (well, she drove: I've yet to bother getting my licence, which I really should now I'm 30...) towards Bakewell, home of the Bakewell Tart (well, Bakewell Pudding technically, but everyone knows it as Tart). Much more interesting was the nearby medieval stately home, Haddon Hall. Impressively, this doesn't look too worse for wear, despite being built way back in the 12th century. There are several later additions to the architecture, the latest being around 1600, IIRC. I'm not quite sure why I'm sticking my bum out like that. ;)

10/11/2010 - Gracie Barra Bristol

Class #358
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Nicolai 'Geeza' Holt, Bristol, UK - 11/10/2010

My gf was doing some work-related training, so that meant I had another opportunity to pop down to the class at Gracie Barra Bristol. I was heading over directly after getting off the Megabus from London, so had to work out where to go from the centre of town. Google Maps handily doesn't tell you which random road you take to get down from Colston Hall, so I managed to wander round in a circle a few times, before realising it was Zed Alley (like the Christmas Steps, this cuts through to the town centre).

I'd thought I would be late, running some of the way, but arrived at roughly the same time as Geeza, who has the keys to the club. Construction has begun since I was last there, which gives me a further indication of just how incredibly huge the new gym will be. There is still a reasonable chunk of car park left for your car, though I will probably be cycling or walking once I eventually move to Bristol (especially as I still haven't bothered learning how to drive, though I think I'm going to have to finally join the adult world in that respect once I move down here.)

After the warm-up, Geeza had us move directly into specific sparring, from guard. So, coupled with running to class and then running round the mats, I was definitely feeling warm! No bad thing, as the weather has been pretty cold recently, so you could feel the chill on your bare feet from the mats.

Geeza handily texts everybody before each class to say what he'll be teaching that night, so I already knew we'd be doing back escapes and spider guard sweeps. However, he began technique with a takedown, which is something Roger does as well. You start from the usual collar and sleeve grip, then take a step back to get them to step forward (this should be the leg on the same side as your collar grip).

Once they step, thread your same side leg into that space, putting your knee on the mat behind their leg. Drop down, hanging heavily off that collar you're still holding, then drive forward to knock them backwards. Don't follow them down, but try to maintain good posture (I was basing off their stomach). Apparently this is a good takedown for small guys like me, so something I might have to try (though I think I'll almost certainly just pull guard when I give competition another go).

Interestingly, Geeza does the same thing as Roy Dean when teaching technique, in that he has everybody line up by the wall, rather than the usual huddle. That has the disadvantage of restricting your view, although that is easily counter-acted by showing the technique from several angles. It fits with the traditional flavour Geeza brings to his classes, bowing to a picture of Carlos etc at the beginning.

The next technique, rather handily given my struggles yesterday, was an escape from the back where you pull on their arm. You start from all fours (what Cane Prevost calls the quarter position: turtle would be another common term), where they have one hook in, and are also gripping around your neck with the same side arm, feeding their other hand under your armpit.

First, use your hand on the non-hooked side to grab the arm they have around your neck. With your other arm, base out forwards on your elbow. On your non-hooked side, you can also use your elbow to prevent them getting their foot in: you'll also need to step up your leg on that side. From here, start shrugging them off your back, which should cause them to slip off on the hooking side.

An important detail here is to make sure that on the hooked side, you keep your elbow outside their knee. Otherwise, they'll still be able to take your back. Once you've shrugged them off to the ground, pull on their arm and drive forwards. Either shove your head under their other arm, or over the top, depending on their grip on your neck. You can then settle into top half guard, cross-facing them.

The final technique was a sweep from spider guard. You've moved to spider guard, and they have stood up. One foot is pressed into their same side bicep, stretching it out, while also gripping their sleeve with your same side hand. Your other foot is going to hook around the front of their opposite knee. This feels a bit counter-intuitive, but the reason is to stop them moving around that side (they can't go the other way, because your foot into the bicep means you can just sweep them if they do). Hook your free hand around their same side foot, using that to swivel parallel to them, your hips close to their feet.

From here, break their posture by pulling their sleeve down and pushing out with your foot, until finally you can kick out over your outside shoulder. Again, this position feels slightly weird: if you're having trouble getting the leverage, try shrimping towards their legs, as you can then push out further. If they decide to try and pass from there, that just makes your sweep easier: they've now put themselves into exactly the position you want.

Sparring was run the same way as the sparring class, with everybody lined up around the mat. If you are on your knees, you're saying you want to spar, if not, then you want to sit out. Geeza paired people up, mainly going by size and experience, as far as I could tell. I had a chance to try Howard's tip on using the head when trying to pass from half guard, but I think I may have still had my hips too high.

I didn't try it again later, when in that position with Luke (which is exactly the place I constantly find myself with Howard). Next time, I need to just go for it, while keeping control of their hips so they can't simply shrimp away and go to their knees (which is what Luke did). Luke in particular was great to roll with, as he maintained a very steady pace, focusing on smooth transitions rather than crushing and smashing with strength.

During the line-up, one of the white belts wondered why BJJ didn't generally practice against multiple opponents, as is common in TMAs like karate. He dropped himself in it, as Geeza immediately responded that he should feel free to try, meaning that the rest of the class was treated to an entertaining display of two-on-one sparring. Even better, this led Geeza to make a speech after the round had finished, on the topic of sport and self defence: I particularly enjoyed that, as it fits closely to my own views on the subject.

Geeza emphasised that he teaches sport BJJ, but that 85% of those techniques are perfectly applicable to a real situation. He also stressed that competition and class are two different things, because in competition, you're both just looking for the win. In class, it's about learning, and there may be a whole multitude of reasons you find yourself on the mat that day. Finally, he made the sensible comment that when it comes to self defence and multiple attackers, basically you should get the hell out of there and run, which is invariably the best option in a 'real' fight.

I'm not sure when I'll make it down again, but hopefully in the not-too-distant future. It will be cool to see how far construction has come along next time I make it to Bristol training.

28/05/2009 - Nova Força

Class #226



Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 28/05/2009

As my gf is off to a hen night this week, that meant that I had some extra time spare this week, which I naturally used to get a bit more training. Today Ricardo's focus was on takedowns, which is by far my least favourite (albeit important, if you're big on competition) part of BJJ class, but fortunately doesn't happen too often.

I was flung around all over the place in takedown sparring, which reminded me how awful I am at stand-up grappling. I'm always passive when sparring, but when it comes to stand-up, I might as well be asleep. Also kept making the same mistake with one guy (who possibly had judo in his background, but then it doesn't take any skill to throw me), where I was looking to step around when he went for a throw to counter-attack. Failed miserably, as he could obviously see it coming, and simply adjusted to throw me with something else.

Techniques were also all takedowns, from the over-under clinch. Each one began by pushing down on the elbow, then dropping your bodyweight right down to break their posture. Your opposite knee goes to the floor, while your hand switches from their elbow to the back of their knee.

Having secured their leg, stand back up pulling it along with you, then use your same side heel to trip them. Immediately step one leg back as they hit the floor, as otherwise they may be able to go for a basic ankle-grab sweep.

If you're having trouble keeping hold of their leg after you've dropped down, then hook your same side foot around to help. Drive diagonally forwards, with your arm out in a Superman type position. The reason you want to do that is so your weight ends up in the right place: if you don't drive properly with the takedown, they may be able to roll you to mount, as your weight won't be in the right place to control them.

Finally, there was a variation where you've managed to go through all the steps and lift their leg off the floor, but they kick their leg free. If that happens, swivel in and hip throw them.

I had been planning to practice triangles again, working on things like head control, but I was sparring progressively senior belts (a purple, brown and black), so that wasn't viable. Instead, I concentrated on defence, trying to keep my elbows in, avoid the cross-face (especially under side control, as per Saulo's DVD) and connect my elbow and knee, again like Saulo shows. Seemed to help, though as before, my knee-on-belly escapes still need a lot of work.

As it was all higher belts, they went easy on me, which did give me a brief opportunity to try and implement some of things I wanted to improve on triangles. I attempted to secure head control, but I think I'm holding too low on the head: should be higher up, like a muay thai clinch, so that I have more leverage.

Brown-belt Tim also showed me a good sweep from spider guard. IIRC, you have your shin into their stomach, knee pointing out. You other leg wraps up their same side arm, simultaneously gripping their sleeve with your same side hand. The idea is to get them to try and pass to the open side. You can then grab their leg with your free hand, using that and your shin to roll on top.

I'm also attempting to be more mobile in open guard, rotating on my shoulders to try and recover guard. Still needs a lot of work, but those SBG drills along with the shoulder rolls Ricardo does in his warm-up have helped a lot. Ricardo himself exposed the weaknesses in my half-guard when I was sparring him, as he broke it open like it was tissue paper. Of course, he's far stronger than me, but I doubt he needed any of that muscle: I need to be less static when using half-guard, and get on my side faster.

Yet again there were belt whippings at the end of class, meaning that there's only been one class out of the four I've attended so far without communal flogging. Definitely something they're keen on at Nova Força, and it doesn't even require a promotion: if its your birthday (as was the case today for two unfortunates), you're in line for the gauntlet. Interesting thread on the topic I was reading recently on NHBGear, which turned out fairly similar to the EFN one from a while back.

While I was getting my bike ready to leave, one of the people there recognised me from my blog (which is always cool), and mentioned a club to add to my map. UK BJJ really has grown exponentially even in the short time I've been training, and that goes for Nova Força too: a purple there is now running a location in Haslemere.

06/11/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #192



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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