11/03/2019 - Teaching | Back | Top Turtle Basics

Teaching #842
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/03/2019

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Apr 4, 2018 at 12:37am PDT

A major subtype of the back is a position called the turtle, where you're on your elbows and knees. I wanted to cover some of the basics for maintaining the turtle, from the top person's perspective. A good starting point is a wrestling position I learned from Nathan Leverton, the side ride. You are alongside them, with your nearest knee next to theirs, your other leg out for base (but bent, as if it's straight, that hinders your ability to react to their movement). Your same side hand is grabbing their near arm, while your other hand is reaching inside their far hip.

Don't go too deep, just to the level of your wrist, also being careful to keep your elbow out of range: if they can grab your elbow, they can roll you over. To maximise your pressure, keep your head low. I'd also advise keeping your knee off the floor and leaning into them.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Apr 5, 2018 at 12:54am PDT

You can also move around directly behind them, legs in tight rather than sprawled back (that can work too, but it does potentially provide them with some space to exploit). In that position, put both hands inside their thighs, your knees pressing into their hips, staying on your toes and keeping your weight low. From there, you can switch to the side ride on either side. If they manage to start turning in either direction, always run behind them to their back. If you run towards their stomach as they turn, that can put you in their guard.

To regain the back with hooks in, insert your hand by their far hip, so the back of your hand is against their inner thigh. Drop back to the near side, using your hand as a preliminary hook. Roll them over with that, replacing your hand with your leg. To get in the other hook, you can use the Marcelo hip thrust I've shown before, hooking your legs as you simultaneously thrust into the bottom of their spine and pull back with your arms. That should give you lots of space to insert your second hook.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Apr 9, 2018 at 12:36am PDT

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Teaching Notes: Bum down, base leg bent and slightly forwards. Stay low on them, as too far up and you could get rolled. I forgot to talk about the moving around keeping your head by their hip if they try and roll to guard, meaning you get side control. As part of that, I can talk about trying to go behind, as it's harder for them to follow you with their legs if you do that.

On the roll to the back, continue emphasising that it is a diagonal pull. Also, the elastic band type thing that I think Nathan Leverton mentioned, you're leaving that little gap to pull them into. I wasn't certain there would be enough in this lesson, but I think it works out ok in its current format after all.

16/03/2018 - Teaching | Back | Turtle Basics

Teaching #764
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 16/03/2018

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Apr 4, 2018 at 12:37am PDT

A major subtype of the back is a position called the turtle, where you're on your elbows and knees. I wanted to cover some of the basics for maintaining the turtle, from the top person's perspective. A good starting point is a wrestling position I learned from Nathan Leverton, the side ride. You are alongside them, with your nearest knee next to theirs, your other leg out for base (but bent, as if it's straight, that hinders your ability to react to their movement). Your same side hand is grabbing their near arm, while your other hand is reaching inside their far hip.

Don't go too deep, just to the level of your wrist, also being careful to keep your elbow out of range: if they can grab your elbow, they can roll you over. To maximise your pressure, keep your head low. I'd also advise keeping your knee off the floor and leaning into them.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Apr 5, 2018 at 12:54am PDT

You can also move around directly behind them, legs in tight rather than sprawled back (that can work too, but it does potentially provide them with some space to exploit). In that position, put both hands inside their thighs, your knees pressing into their hips, staying on your toes and keeping your weight low. From there, you can switch to the side ride on either side. If they manage to start turning in either direction, always run behind them to their back. If you run towards their stomach as they turn, that can put you in their guard.

To regain the back with hooks in, insert your hand by their far hip, so the back of your hand is against their inner thigh. Drop back to the near side, using your hand as a preliminary hook. Roll them over with that, replacing your hand with your leg. To get in the other hook, you can use the Marcelo hip thrust I've shown before, hooking your legs as you simultaneously thrust into the bottom of their spine and pull back with your arms. That should give you lots of space to insert your second hook.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Apr 9, 2018 at 12:36am PDT

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Teaching Notes: Don't lift your bum too high, keep emphasising that you pull to the corner not directly horizontal. Also, I could do with some basic defensive drill for the bottom of turtle. Perhaps the Priit sequence would be worth turning into a drill? I want to practice that more anyway. I could do it in stages, so turtle to active turtle, then the turn? Something to think about.

11/11/2016 - Teaching | Back | Maintaining Turtle & Back Take

Teaching #591
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/11/2016

A major subtype of the back is a position called the turtle, where you're on your elbows and knees. I wanted to cover some of the basics for maintaining the turtle, from the top person's perspective. A good starting point is a wrestling position I learned from Nathan Leverton, the side ride. You are alongside them, with your nearest knee next to theirs, your other leg out for base (but bent, as if it's straight, that hinders your ability to react to their movement). Your same side hand is grabbing their near arm, while your other hand is reaching inside their far hip.

Don't go too deep, just to the level of your wrist, also being careful to keep your elbow out of range: if they can grab your elbow, they can roll you over. To maximise your pressure, keep your head low. I'd also advise keeping your knee off the floor and leaning into them.

You can also move around directly behind them, legs in tight rather than sprawled back (that can work too, but it does potentially provide them with some space to exploit). In that position, put both hands inside their thighs, your knees pressing into their hips, staying on your toes and keeping your weight low. From there, you can switch to the side ride on either side. If they manage to start turning in either direction, always run behind them to their back. If you run towards their stomach as they turn, that can put you in their guard.

A video posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Nov 14, 2016 at 4:21am PST

To regain the back with hooks in, insert your hand by their far hip, so the back of your hand is against their inner thigh. Drop back to the near side, using your hand as a preliminary hook. Roll them over with that, replacing your hand with your leg. To get in the other hook, you can use the Marcelo hip thrust I've shown before, hooking your legs as you simultaneously thrust into the bottom of their spine and pull back with your arms. That should give you lots of space to insert your second hook.
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Teaching Notes: I could put in the Marcelo Garcia thing where you walk around behind to recover the back after you've lost hooks, but that might fit better in the maintaining the back lesson. Although it would fit here too, along with the hip thrust if you are struggling to get that second hook in. But generally, not much to change here, it's a fairly simple lesson. :)

11/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Turtle to the Back

Teaching #420
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/11/2015

A major subtype of the back is a position called the turtle, where you're on your elbows and knees. I wanted to cover some of the basics for maintaining the turtle, from the top person's perspective. A good starting point is a wrestling position I learned from Nathan Leverton, the side ride. You are alongside them, with your nearest knee next to theirs, your other leg out for base (but bent, as if it's straight, that hinders your ability to react to their movement). Your same side hand is grabbing their near arm, while your other hand is reaching inside their far hip.

Don't go too deep, just to the level of your wrist, also being careful to keep your elbow out of range: if they can grab your elbow, they can roll you over. To maximise your pressure, keep your head low. I'd also advise keeping your knee off the floor and leaning into them.

You can also move around directly behind them, legs in tight rather than sprawled back (that can work too, but it does potentially provide them with some space to exploit). In that position, put both hands inside their thighs, your knees pressing into their hips, staying on your toes and keeping your weight low. From there, you can switch to the side ride on either side. If they manage to start turning in either direction, always run behind them to their back. If you run towards their stomach as they turn, that can put you in their guard.

To regain the back with hooks in, insert your hand by their far hip, so the back of your hand is against their inner thigh. Drop back to the near side, using your hand as a preliminary hook. Roll them over with that, replacing your hand with your leg. To get in the other hook, you can use the Marcelo hip thrust I've shown before, hooking your legs as you simultaneously thrust into the bottom of their spine and pull back with your arms. That should give you lots of space to insert your second hook.
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Teaching Notes: I felt pretty good about this lesson. The one thing to emphasise next time is sitting back diagonally for the roll, as a number of people were just going sideways. Also worth noting that you can use the lapel to pull them over, though that's more risky due to the possibility of them gaining control of your arm.

01/09/2014 - Teaching | The Back | Maintaining Turtle (Top)

Teaching #190
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 01/09/2014

We have a new position this month, the turtle. To begin, I wanted to cover some of the basics for maintaining the turtle, from the top person's perspective. A good starting point is a wrestling position I learned from Nathan Leverton, the side ride. You are alongside them, with your nearest knee next to theirs, your other leg out for base (but bent, as if it's straight, that hinders your ability to react to their movement). Your same side hand is grabbing their near arm, while your other hand is reaching inside their far hip.

Don't go too deep, just to the level of your wrist, also being careful to keep your elbow out of range: if they can grab your elbow, they can roll you over. To maximise your pressure, keep your head low. I'd also advise keeping your knee off the floor and leaning into them.

You can also move around directly behind them, legs in tight rather than sprawled back (that can work too, but it does potentially provide them with some space to exploit). In that position, put both hands inside their thighs, your knees pressing into their hips, staying on your toes and keeping your weight low. From there, you can switch to the side ride on either side. If they manage to start turning in either direction, always run behind them to their back. If you run towards their stomach as they turn, that can put you in their guard.
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Teaching Notes: This is the first time I've taught a class on turtle, so I was looking forward to seeing what works and what doesn't. I think tonight went pretty well, though I can see a few bits I could possibly add in, such as the spiral ride for when they're trying to get up. For that, you basically just thrust your non-hip hand underneath them and past their head, while simultaneously running round. That is meant to flatten them back down, either returning them to turtle, giving your the back, or potentially putting you in side control. At the same time, I don't want to go overboard adding details, as it's important to maintain that balance between useful and comprehensible.

Next time I'll emphasise keeping weight on them and probably add in the spiral ride (although maybe just in drilling, if I see somebody is having trouble because their partner keeps rising up?). I could potentially broaden out the grips, as there are lots of alternatives besides grabbing the arm. However, that could easily lead me to over-complicate stuff. If I went with grabbing the wrist, that would fit in nicely with the crucifix stuff, so I might try that when I teach it next, with a view to teaching the crucifix later on.