02/01/2017 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Standing Break & Leg Pin to Mount (Schreiner variation)

Teaching #615
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 02/01/2017

A video posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 3, 2017 at 9:46pm PST

The leg pin pass is one of the first I learned, but the way you need to swing back and sit confuses a lot of beginners, who try to slide through awkwardly. It's therefore useful to have an alternative from the leg pin, provided once again by Paul Schreiner's Precise Pressure Passing app on Digitsu.

It begins the same way as the leg pin pass I'm used to. As you open their closed guard, slide their leg down yours and bring your knee down with it, pinning their leg with your shin. Get the cross-face, but unlike the usual leg pin, also jam your head in and underhook their other arm, locking your hands.

Swing your non-pinning leg towards the other, then drive that knee over their free leg. You should now be pinning both their thighs. From here, you can slip into mount, or if they begin to turn, flick your foot to the opposite hip first and then go to mount.

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Teaching Notes: I opted to stick with the guard break I normally use, as I wasn't sure I had enough of the details for the one Schreiner does. He appears to be leaning forwards and looking down, meaning either he has a very different set of principles at work, or that's not the focus of the instructional and he's just getting to a passing position.

Anyway, in terms of the pass, I liked that this gave me another option from the leg pin. The key thing people were doing wrong is a general point rather than specific to this pass, which is leaving space when shoving that leg down. It should be acting as a ramp.

Also, pinning the leg with your shin in the middle of their upper thigh, again to take away any space: a few people were too far forward with their knee, or too far to one side. Similarly, people shouldn't be trying to get their other leg straight through as then they have no base. Instead, it needs to be out to the side for support.

22/01/2016 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Standing & Leg Pin Pass

Teaching #454
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 22/01/2016


For the standing guard break, start by shoving their sleeve/wrist into their belt knot/belly button. With your other hand, push into their sternum (as always, be aware this is just one option, there are many other ways of standing in the closed guard). Either way, be careful you aren't tempted to lean forward, or they can grab you and break your posture, preventing your stand. Keep your posture upright and head up.

Swing to your non-sleeve grabbing side, then raise your knee on the sleeve grabbing side, stepping forward with that foot. Once it is up, turn your leg into them, pressing into their hip. That should hopefully provide you with some base, meaning that as you step up the other leg, you can keep it further back, so you have a staggered stance. Standing up with your feet in line makes you very vulnerable to sweeps. You also want a slight bend in your leg, in what Jason Scully calls an 'athletic stance'. That helps your base and also aids mobility.

Chris looking strong #PassingTheGuard. Or indeed, looking #MoveStrong, @MoveBristol? ;) #BJJ #BrazilianJiuJitsu #ArtemisBJJ #ClosedGuard

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 23, 2016 at 5:13am PST

As you stand, pull up on their sleeve/wrist (if you've lost it, grab their collar, if they are wearing a gi). Make sure you keep your elbow inside their knee: that both makes it harder for them to pull their arm back, as well as protecting you from omoplata attacks and the like. You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side, stepping back with your leg on the non-sleeve/wrist gripping side to help.

If you're having trouble getting that knee off, try bouncing your hips to open their ankles, like you were struggling to take off a tight pair of jeans. At the same time, splay your hand by the knee you want to shove (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, you can move into the leg pin pass by trapping their lower leg with your same side shin by sliding it over, driving your knee into their same side hip. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift the foot of your non-sliding leg closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.

The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap under their head, looking to get your shoulder next to their jaw. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar/wrist) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I normally use. This also puts you in a powerful guard position, should you need to switch mid-pass if they resist your initial passing attempt.

To finish, swing your non-sliding leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your non-sliding leg foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back stepping leg, settling into side control.
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Teaching Notes: Small turnout today, which isn't all that unusual for Friday. Given it's a Friday, turnout varies probably the most. It was packed last week, for example. Hence why I tend to try and save the more complex stuff for Fridays, but that doesn't always work out when I've got a lot to fit in. Next time, I'll try to make sure that I'm showing standing passes on a Monday or Wednesday, to make sure as many people as possible are there. I don't stand all that often myself, because I'm lazy, but it's an important one to know. I've added it to the core drills, along with side control escapes and breaking posture in guard.

Speaking of drills, I've been considering taking out the 'run round the room' stuff. It has the advantage of being immediately understandable to newbies, but I'd rather fill that with more specific jiu jitsu drills, like the rest of the warm up. I think the current side control and guard drills need to be there, possibly something from mount and the back too. Perhaps the technical mount to back control would be good, as that combines them. Could even throw in a back escape, but that would probably be overcomplicating things for a warm-up drill.

In terms of technique tonight, the people there were all experienced, so this wasn't too problematic. Emphasising that you need to step the leg back is important, keeping your elbow inside their knee when you pull up on the sleeve, etc. I'm still not sure about the importance of the leg pin, as ever. The solution would be to do it loads in sparring and see how it works. I've kept it this long because it's one of the first passes I was taught, but if nobody ever uses it, I should probably switch it for something higher percentage. Choice, choices. :)

12/08/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Standing Guard Break & Leg Pin

Teaching #371
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 12/08/2015

For the standing guard break, start by shoving their sleeve/wrist into their belt knot/belly button. With your other hand, push into their sternum (as always, be aware this is just one option, there are many other ways of standing in the closed guard). Either way, be careful you aren't tempted to lean forward, or they can grab you and break your posture, preventing your stand. Keep your posture upright and head up.

Swing to your non-sleeve grabbing side, then raise your knee on the sleeve grabbing side, stepping forward with that foot. Once it is up, turn your leg into them, pressing into their hip. That should hopefully provide you with some base, meaning that as you step up the other leg, you can keep it further back, so you have a staggered stance. Standing up with your feet in line makes you very vulnerable to sweeps. You also want a slight bend in your leg, in what Jason Scully calls an 'athletic stance'. That helps your base and also aids mobility.

As you stand, pull up on their sleeve/wrist (if you've lost it, grab their collar, if they are wearing a gi). Make sure you keep your elbow inside their knee: that both makes it harder for them to pull their arm back, as well as protecting you from omoplata attacks and the like. You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side, stepping back with your leg on the non-sleeve/wrist gripping side to help.

If you're having trouble getting that knee off, try bouncing your hips to open their ankles, like you were struggling to take off a tight pair of jeans. At the same time, splay your hand by the knee you want to shove (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, you can move into the leg pin pass by trapping their lower leg with your same side shin by sliding it over, driving your knee into their same side hip. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift the foot of your non-sliding leg closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.

The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap under their head, looking to get your shoulder next to their jaw. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar/wrist) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I normally use. This also puts you in a powerful guard position, should you need to switch mid-pass if they resist your initial passing attempt.

To finish, swing your non-sliding leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your non-sliding leg foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back stepping leg, settling into side control.
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Teaching Notes: Main thing I want to emphasise next time is posture. A common mistake (I've done this myself plenty of times) is to put too much weight through your forward arm as you stand, leaving your posture bent over and easy to break. Instead, it's better to push off your feet rather than their chest, but I can understand the instinct to push on the chest. I need to highlight that the reason you have the hand there is to stop them sitting up, not to help you stand.

I'm still not sure of the leg pin pass, but it does feel like the natural option off the standing break. Then again, do I feel that way because that's how I learned it? Anyway, I focused on the guard break part tonight, as there was a brand new person, so the leg pin wasn't as much of an issue. I feel like I could be smoother with the hip switch too, something to think about next time.

17/06/2015 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Standing Guard Break & Leg Pin

Teaching #340
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 17/06/2015

For the standing guard break, start by shoving their sleeve/wrist into their belt knot/belly button. With your other hand, push into their sternum (as always, be aware this is just one option, there are many other ways of standing in the closed guard). Either way, be careful you aren't tempted to lean forward, or they can grab you and break your posture, preventing your stand. Keep your posture upright and head up.

Swing to your non-sleeve grabbing side, then raise your knee on the sleeve grabbing side, stepping forward with that foot. Once it is up, turn your leg into them, pressing into their hip. That should hopefully provide you with some base, meaning that as you step up the other leg, you can keep it further back, so you have a staggered stance. Standing up with your feet in line makes you very vulnerable to sweeps. You also want a slight bend in your leg, in what Jason Scully calls an 'athletic stance'. That helps your base and also aids mobility.

As you stand, pull up on their sleeve/wrist (if you've lost it, grab their collar, if they are wearing a gi). Make sure you keep your elbow inside their knee: that both makes it harder for them to pull their arm back, as well as protecting you from omoplata attacks and the like. You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side, stepping back with your leg on the non-sleeve/wrist gripping side to help.

If you're having trouble getting that knee off, try bouncing your hips to open their ankles, like you were struggling to take off a tight pair of jeans. At the same time, splay your hand by the knee you want to shove (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, you can move into the leg pin pass by trapping their lower leg with your same side shin by sliding it over, driving your knee into their same side hip. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift the foot of your non-sliding leg closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.

The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap under their head, looking to get your shoulder next to their jaw. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar/wrist) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I normally use. This also puts you in a powerful guard position, should you need to switch mid-pass if they resist your initial passing attempt.

To finish, swing your non-sliding leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your non-sliding leg foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back stepping leg, settling into side control.
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Teaching Notes: Main thing I want to emphasise next time is posture. A common mistake (I've done this myself plenty of times) is to put too much weight through your forward arm as you stand, leaving your posture bent over and easy to break. Instead, it's better to push off your feet rather than their chest, but I can understand the instinct to push on the chest. I need to highlight that the reason you have the hand there is to stop them sitting up, not to help you stand.

I'm not convinced of the leg pin's utility, as I never use that pass myself. Would it be better to go with the knee cut or underhook pass instead? I might try that next time, though the leg pin does feel like a natural progression from pushing the leg down. Also, just because I don't use it doesn't mean a student might not find it fits well with their game. I'll think about it.

Also, cool that there was a purple belt popping down tonight: always great to have experienced grapplers on the mat! In sparring, I'm still looking to work on the shoulder clamp, but still not controlling the posture properly. It's too easy for them to free their arm, I think because I'm continuing to stay too square on, as well as not pressing in with the knife of my hand into the shoulder. Plenty more chances for me to keep working it though, as it's closed guard all this month. :)

On top, I was trying the Vini Aieta option again, where you sort of half stand up, leaning into them trying to connect your hips. It's an interested option, so I'll keep giving it a go. I only tried it on white belts so far: I imagine some interesting problems will arise when I attempt it on somebody more experienced. ;)

04/03/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Standing Guard Break & Leg Pin Pass

Teaching #288
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 04/03/2015

For the standing guard break, start by shoving their sleeve/wrist into their belt knot/belly button. With your other hand, push into their sternum, but be careful you aren't tempted to lean forward as a result. Keep your posture upright.

Raise your knee on the same side as your sleeve/wrist gripping arm, stepping forward with that foot. Basing off your hands (again, don't lean forwards), stand up into a crouch, then stand right up, thrusting your hips forward. Pull up on their sleeve/wrist (if you've lost it, grab their collar, if they are wearing a gi). You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side, stepping back with your leg on the non-sleeve/wrist gripping side to help.

If you're having trouble getting that knee off, try bouncing your hips to open their ankles, like you were struggling to take off a tight pair of jeans. At the same time, splay your hand by the knee you want to shove (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, move into the leg pin pass by trapping their lower leg with your same side shin by sliding it over, driving your knee into their same side hip. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift the foot of your non-sliding leg closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.

The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap under their head, looking to get your shoulder next to their jaw. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar/wrist) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I normally use. This also puts you in a powerful guard position, should you need to switch mid-pass if they resist your initial passing attempt.

To finish, swing your non-sliding leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your non-sliding leg foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back step leg, settling into side control.
________________

Teaching Notes: I think next time, I might show the single underhook pass instead, as some people found the leg pin a bit tricky to pick up. The main area they had trouble was swinging the leg back and then adjusting into side control, as it is a little counter-intuitive. The single underhook combines nicely, as once you've trapped their leg with your shin, if you also underhook their other leg you can either the leg pin pass in one direction or the single underhook in the other. Yay for combinations! :D

24/09/2014 - Teaching | Women's Class | Standing Guard Break & Leg Pin Pass

Teaching #200
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 24/09/2014

Having covered a few options from the bottom of guard (so far, the triangle and the elevator sweep: there will be more fun with guard later), tonight we added in something for the person on top. Start by shoving their sleeve/wrist into their belt knot/belly button. With your other hand, push into their sternum, but be careful you aren't tempted to lean forward as a result. Keep your posture upright.

Raise your knee on the same side as your sleeve/wrist gripping arm, stepping forward with that foot. Basing off your hands (again, don't lean forwards), stand up into a crouch, then stand right up, thrusting your hips forward. Pull up on their sleeve/wrist (if you've lost it, grab their collar, if they are wearing a gi). You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side, stepping back with your leg on the non-sleeve/wrist gripping side to help.

If you're having trouble getting that knee off, try bouncing your hips to open their ankles, like you were struggling to take off a tight pair of jeans. At the same time, splay your hand by the knee you want to shove (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, trap their lower leg with your same side shin by sliding it over, driving your knee into their same side hip. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift the foot of your non-sliding leg closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.

The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap under their head, looking to get your shoulder next to their jaw. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar/wrist) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I normally use. This also puts you in a powerful guard position, should you need to switch mid-pass if they resist your initial passing attempt.

To finish, swing your non-sliding leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your non-sliding leg foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back step leg, settling into side control.
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Teaching Notes: A little more complex in terms of technique tonight, but everybody picked it up really well. I went with both the standing break from guard into a leg pin pass, along with a kneeling guard break into a knee cut, to give people who had back issues an alternative. I'm a firm believer that BJJ is for everyone, it's just a matter of adapting BJJ to your body type into a game that works for you. :)

I could perhaps add in some more drills to make that easier. I put in the 'standing in guard' drill, which hopefully helped. I could potentially start adding the knee cut drill as well, like I do in the mixed classes, but will see if that confuses people in future classes (especially if they weren't in this one). Tonight also meant I could introduce side control: next week, I'm planning to do some escapes, shrimping back to guard. That will also mean I can start adding in side control drills in the warm-up too. Yay!

Also, it was really cool to have a purple belt visit today, who was in town for work. I've followed Rachael's blog for a few years: there are few things I enjoy than meeting up with fellow BJJ bloggers. Even better, both she and another experienced grappler stayed on after the women's class to also check out the mixed class. Brilliant! :D

27/05/2014 - Teaching (Leg Pin Pass)

Teaching #157
Artemis BJJ (Longwell Green), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 20/05/2014

To simplify things, I'm assuming for this class that you've managed to break their guard open. To help people with that for sparring (as some might not have seen a guard break before), we did a drill at the start where you shove their sleeve into their belt knot/belly button, then stand. Pull up on their sleeve (if you've lost it, grab their collar). You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side. Don't dig in with your elbow, as pain compliance is not only unpleasant for your training partners, it is unreliable due to varying pain thresholds.

Instead, try bouncing your hip to open their ankles. At the same time, splay your hand by their knee (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, trap their lower leg with your shin by sliding it over. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift your other foot closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.

The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap up their head, or you could try grasping their collar. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I use.

To finish, swing your back leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back step leg, settling into side control.

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Teaching Notes: A lot of people are arriving late at the moment, so perhaps the class time is a bit of an early start at 7pm. Class itself went ok, the drills fitting a bit better than last time. I did add in the monkey climb, as there were enough people of a similar size. There are still lots of people turning up without a gi, complicating matters: I ended up just lending my gi jacket at one point. Hopefully that will change as people get more interested in jiu jitsu and buy a gi (especially as I sell them pretty cheap at £25, or we should have something set up through Tatami soon for cheap new gis too).