'Superhero Landing' posture inside guard

I have completely gotten out of the habit of posting up classes on here, as I've been using a spreadsheet since last year instead. Much more efficient! But I do want to keep using this blog to collate Instagram videos like in previous posts, especially as Instagram has gotten increasingly annoying about listing all the vids on a hashtag. ;)

First up, I wanted to save the vids I took of my classes on the 'superhero landing' posture inside guard. I labelled it as 'superhero pose' on the vids, as that's one syllable less: not sure which one I prefer yet. The former is more descriptive, the latter is quicker to say. Anyway, I learned it from Chris Paines at the Artemis BJJ München Camp 2023 (I'll most likely do more camps there, in which case you can book them here). It is a posture I can remember Priit showing at one of his mega long weekend seminars at Chris' gym a few years back. As it was Priit, I found the explanation confusing and it never really stuck, despite several hours of Priit lectures.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj)

Chris is an excellent Priit translator. In the space of about a minute, he was able to condense that down and make it very easy to understand. I've tried to continue that process, so I'm slapping a hopefully evocative name on it, with a few simple points to explain the mechanics. I called it superhero landing because it looks much like the pose you always see superheroes do when they hit the floor after flying in to stop the villain. Specifically, that's a three point landing (I guess technically four, but mainly three): hand, foot, knee. You can argue the foot of the knee leg makes it four points, but there isn't much weight on the foot back there.

That same position works surprisingly well inside guard, with a few tweaks. Imagine there is a stick running from the top of your head to your tailbone, that needs to stay in alignment. You also want to keep everything pointed forwards, particularly your knees. The hand on the ground breaks the usual rule of guard top that you don't put your hand on the mat. However, because of the positioning and alignment, you are putting all your weight through that arm, meaning it way less vulnerable to kimura and the like.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj)

The hand also doesn't have to be on the mat (I'll often base off my fist, that feels more comfortable). You can put that hand on their collar, or probably the best of all, on their arm pinning it to the mat. Another good option is getting that arm by their head, if you manage to move up their body enough. You can then effectively cross-face them by placing it tight enough to their head to drive their ear towards their shoulder, misaligning the spine.

Chris told us at the camp that he's had his gym do this and pretty much nothing else for about 2 years. That has resulted in everybody having to get much better at guard, because you have to work harder to break it down when somebody gets good at using this posture. I'm planning to incorporate this into my classes on passing, eventually I'll work it up into a seminar I can teach at camps. It combines well with how I already teach my passing intro, so I think there's plenty of scope to play with it more.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj)

28/09/2022 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Posture & grip breaks (top)

Teaching #Evening
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 28/09/2022



First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up, thrusting your hips a little forward. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Avoid them bending your arms, also trying to put your weight through one arm into their hip. It is important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively (though there are other methods, like Christian Graugart's 'samurai sword' grip, where both arms are near the chest). Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.



For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.



If they grab your collar, you can use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.

By contrast, you can also use their grips against them. If they grab your sleeve, adjust your hand to grab their sleeve too. You can then pull up on it and stand up, putting your leg forward on the trapped sleeve side. Similarly, if they grab your collar, you can use your same side hand to grab them back on their sleeve, then again stand up.


______________________
Teaching Notes: I tried a slightly different format this time, which I want to do again next time, but with more structure. There is too much detail in the current version, but most of it is important. A way to split it would be high energy output vs low energy output, which I think would have enough to them to make a separate lesson.

For high energy output, I can go through the gi grip breaks, meaning sleeve push/pull (mentioning the Gragugart "they grip, you grip back" thing), two hands to strip the collar grip and the leg grip break. It's important to mention that while this is risky because it leaves your posture vulnerable, if you do it quickly enough you can get away with it. Also, always establish a grip afterwards. Either you are pinning with one hand, or if you end up with a cross-grip, switch to grabbing with both hands so you can free up an arm to push down on their leg when you need it (the same side grip will be pulling up o the arm). More I could add here, possibly.

For low energy output, that's the re-establishing your arm over the top. If they break you fully down, safety position with head in arms. If they get your arm across, put up your same side leg to recover your arm (never the opposite side leg, or they will sweep you). I think there is more that I could add here, something to think about for the next time closed guard month comes up. These are the vids I have so far, so watch these before next time:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj)

24/02/2020 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Posture in guard (top)

Teaching #941
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 24/02/2020



First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up, thrusting your hips a little forward. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Avoid them bending your arms, also trying to put your weight through one arm into their hip. It is important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively (though there are other methods, like Christian Graugart's 'samurai sword' grip, where both arms are near the chest). Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.



For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.



If they grab your collar, you can use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.

By contrast, you can also use their grips against them. If they grab your sleeve, adjust your hand to grab their sleeve too. You can then pull up on it and stand up, putting your leg forward on the trapped sleeve side. Similarly, if they grab your collar, you can use your same side hand to grab them back on their sleeve, then again stand up.


______________________
Teaching Notes: This lesson feels like it's a good summary now. Posture stuff, then into grip breaks. Sleeve grip break, then I go through the collar grip approaches: either neutralise by putting your arm over the top, break it off with both hands, or grab and stand. I can mention breaking a grip on your trousers too, but that's not as essential for beginners. I'll check the time when I next teach it, shouldn't be more than 5 minutes ideally. Though I guess this is important, so maybe 6 or 7 minutes is still ok? I'll see. :)

17/06/2019 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Posture in guard (top)

Teaching #881
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 17/06/2019

First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up, thrusting your hips a little forward. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Avoid them bending your arms, also trying to put your weight through one arm into their hip. It is important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively (though there are other methods, like Christian Graugart's 'samurai sword' grip, where both arms are near the chest). Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.



For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.



If they grab your collar, you can use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.

By contrast, you can also use their grips against them. If they grab your sleeve, adjust your hand to grab their sleeve too. You can then pull up on it and stand up, putting your leg forward on the trapped sleeve side. Similarly, if they grab your collar, you can use your same side hand to grab them back on their sleeve, then again stand up.
______________________
Teaching Notes: Nothing to add, this is feeling good as a class now. Emphasising that you should just stand up is useful. Also, "if they grip you, grip them back" is a handy general rule as well, I could answer a lot of questions during drilling with that. :)

07/01/2019 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Posture in guard (top)

Teaching #828
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 07/01/2019

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 23, 2018 at 12:03am PST

First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Don't let them bend your arms: keep at least one of them stiff into their hip. It is important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively (though there are other methods, like Christian Graugart's 'samurai sword' grip, where both arms are near the chest). Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.

For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 26, 2018 at 1:03am PST

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip any grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 27, 2018 at 1:13am PST

If they grab your collar, you can use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.
______________________
Teaching Notes: I should show my typical lazy grip break where I just adjust my grip, as that's probably more useful than the knee grip break I tend to show. Sit like a samurai seems like a good simile to get people sitting correctly. As ever, always emphasise the importance of looking up, keep your bum on your heels.

I didn't show a pass this time, I think that works better. There is a lot to get through, plus it's for the super basic fundamentals class, so people should be forewarned.

06/08/2018 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Posture in Guard

Teaching #794
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 06/08/2018

Saulo's version, as per that earlier picture, has the knee off to the side with the leg stretched out, using a sort of dip rather than relying on scooting back. As ever in jiu jitsu, there are numerous variations: you can reach your destination following a multitude of paths.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 23, 2018 at 12:03am PST

First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Don't let them bend your arms: keep at least one of them stiff into their hip. It is important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively (though there are other methods, like Christian Graugart's 'samurai sword' grip, where both arms are near the chest). Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.

For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 26, 2018 at 1:03am PST

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip any grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 27, 2018 at 1:13am PST

If they grab your collar, you can use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 21, 2016 at 1:01pm PST

______________________
Teaching Notes: Keep your head up, bum on your heels, pull up firmly on that sleeve/collar. Don't move your hips back when you've stood up as that creates space they can use for open guard. Just step back with your leg, then slide their leg down. Possibly I had too much detail, I want them to focus on the stand and break. It took nine minutes to demonstrate it all, which is too long. Shouldn't be longer than five minutes. ;)

19/02/2018 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Top Posture

Teaching #758
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 19/02/2018

Saulo's version, as per that earlier picture, has the knee off to the side with the leg stretched out, using a sort of dip rather than relying on scooting back. As ever in jiu jitsu, there are numerous variations: you can reach your destination following a multitude of paths.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 23, 2018 at 12:03am PST

First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Don't let them bend your arms: keep at least one of them stiff into their hip. It is important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively (though there are other methods, like Christian Graugart's 'samurai sword' grip, where both arms are near the chest). Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.

For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 26, 2018 at 1:03am PST

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip any grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Feb 27, 2018 at 1:13am PST

If they grab your collar, you can use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 21, 2016 at 1:01pm PST

_____________________

Teaching Notes: On the switch of your standard grips, where you bring an arm over the top, worth noting that you don't have to push, you can just posture up to loosen their grip. Don't lean back, that's important too: I said stuff about don't lean forward too much and also not too far back, but could make it clearer by showing a sit up sweep or whatever. Though I wouldn't want to overload the teaching, there is a quite a lot in there already.

Staying on the toes is important. Grabbing the collars and turning them over is handy, also not essential. With the grip breaks I don't always do them, but it's nice to have. That might be the thing to leave out, maybe try that next time and see how that affects the teaching run time. Ideally I don't want to be teaching for more than 5 minutes, including multiple angles etc.

20/01/2016 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Preparing the Pass

Teaching #453
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 20/01/2016

First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Don't let them bend your arms: keep at least one of them stiff into their hip. It is very important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively. Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jan 21, 2016 at 1:01pm PST

For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip any grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.

If they grab your collar, use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. If you remember the grip break from the maintaining closed guard lesson I taught a while back, this is a similar principle, but from the opposite position. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.

If they get a grip on your sleeve, then grab their sleeve with your free hand. To break the grip, yank your trapped hand back as your gripping hand drives forward. TrumpetDan has a good video on this, here. I don't generally recommend YouTube, but he is one of the better teachers on there. A simpler option is to circle your hand either inside or outside of their arm, then chop downwards to break the grip: there is a good explanation of that in Beneville's excellent Passing the Guard.

There is also a one-handed grip break you can try, which Xande shows on BJJ Library: he calls it the 'y grip break'. This has some similarities to circling your hand, but this time you circle it underneath their hand, shoving the 'v' between your thumb and index finger into the heel of their hand. Thrust your arm forward forcefully to free your sleeve. You might also be able to use your hand position to grab their wrist, putting you in control and negating their own grip.

Should they get a hold of the material by your knee, grab their gripping wrist with your same side arm and press it to the mat, then kick your trapped leg back. Ideally, as with the previous grip break, this will now give you control of their arm, which you can immediately use to initiate your pass.

_____________________

Teaching Notes: Previously I split this into two sections, which I may do again. It is possible to get through all the posture stuff and the grip breaks, but I feel like I might be straining attention spans a bit. So next time, quick demonstration, some drilling, another demonstration, more drilling, then progressive resistance. I also added in both standing and kneeling breaks as warm-ups, which hopefully helps people see the context. Sticking in a passing drill would be good too, like the knee cut that we do a fair bit already in the warm-ups.

15/06/2015 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Preparing the Pass

Teaching #338
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 15/06/2015

First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up. Curving your back slightly, arching it like a cat (so, convex rather than concave), can help too. Don't let them bend your arms: keep at least one of them stiff into their hip. It is very important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively. Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

Be aware that you don't want to extend that arm too far or they can break your posture: it's also likely that they will primarily be looking to dislodge your arm and gain control of it, so be ready to disengage and then quickly re-engage the grip. Having said that, there are numerous other ways of posturing up, so it's good to experiment.

For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull you around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip any grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.

If they grab your collar, use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. If you remember the grip break from the maintaining closed guard lesson I taught a while back, this is a similar principle, but from the opposite position. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip. Alternatively, you could try simply re-establishing your grips on their collar and hip over the top of their arms, meaning you can press your arms into theirs. That way, it's possible to use arm pressure to loosen their grips to the point they become less effective.

If they get a grip on your sleeve, then grab their sleeve with your free hand. To break the grip, yank your trapped hand back as your gripping hand drives forward. TrumpetDan has a good video on this, here. I don't generally recommend YouTube, but he is one of the better teachers on there. A simpler option is to circle your hand either inside or outside of their arm, then chop downwards to break the grip: there is a good explanation of that in Beneville's excellent Passing the Guard.

There is also a one-handed grip break you can try, which Xande showed recently: he calls it the 'y grip break'. This has some similarities to circling your hand, but this time you circle it underneath their hand, shoving the 'v' between your thumb and index finger into the heel of their hand. Thrust your arm forward forcefully to free your sleeve. You might also be able to use your hand position to grab their wrist, putting you in control and negating their own grip.

Should they get a hold of the material by your knee, grab their gripping wrist with your same side arm and press it to the mat, then kick your trapped leg back. Ideally, as with the previous grip break, this will now give you control of their arm, which you can immediately use to initiate your pass.

_____________________

Teaching Notes: I split the drilling into two sections of two minutes, as while this class is quite basic and doesn't take long to get your head around, there's quite a lot to get through. So, starting with posture, everyone got that down ok. Then I did some grip breaks, which again nobody had problems with. If I had put them together, like I've done in the past, I think people would have forgotten bits and pieces.

Ideally I'd be able to put those into some kind of drill, so people who weren't there today get to see it. On the other hand, it isn't a prerequisite for the passing we're doing later this week, it just helps to know. Also, Monday is now downstairs on the big mats: yay!

21/05/2014 - Teaching (Preparing the Pass)

Teaching #156
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 20/05/2014

First thing I wanted to cover was posture. Stay upright, with your head up. Curving your back slightly can help too. Don't let them bend your arms: keep at least one of them stiff into their hip. It is very important to control their hips, as they need to angle off to attack effectively. Your other hand is ready to push them down if they attempt to raise their torso towards you, or more typically, gripping both collars and keeping their back on the mat.

A key detail is to come up on your toes. This will feel uncomfortable at first, but it provides you with much better base than having your insteps flat on the floor. With your toes up, you can resist their attempts to pull your around. It also enables you to drive forward and improves your mobility.

Another way they'll be looking to disrupt your base is to angle their hips away. To prevent that, you can simply follow them, making sure you keep squaring back up so they don't have that attacking angle anymore. You could also try caging their hips by squeezing your knees together, but that can result in a less stable base.

In order to attack, they are going to want to disrupt your base and break your posture down. The first way they'll probably do that is to establish a strong grip, on your sleeve and collar. You don't want that, so try to strip any grips before beginning your pass. Not to say that it's impossible to pass if they've got grips, but you'll find it easier if they don't.

If they grab your collar, use both of your hands to grab either side of that sleeve or wrist. Push it forcefully away from you, while simultaneously leaning back slightly. If you remember the grip break from the maintaining closed guard lesson I taught a while back, this is a similar principle, but from the opposite position. Another option is to put both your hands on their gripping arm, trapping it to their torso. Posture up forcefully to break the grip.

Should they get a hold of the material by your knee, grab their gripping wrist with your same side arm and press it to the mat, then kick your trapped leg back. Ideally, as with the previous grip break, this will now give you control of their arm, which you can immediately use to initiate your pass.

_____________________

Teaching Notes: Again, I've simplified this lesson, so there's quite a bit I didn't mention. I'll copy and paste it in here, just so I've got it in case I want to add it back in next time, as well as keeping it in mind when I'm wandering around during drilling:

Another option is to grab their belt instead, but be warned that can come undone, automatically removing your grip. Whichever one you use, if possible, jam your collar gripping hand just under their sternum, to wedge it in place. You can either use the heel of your hand or possibly a fist, depending on how you're gripping their gi.

For a strong base, widen your knees, sitting on your heels. Alternatively, you could try squeezing your knees to their hips to stop them moving, but that will result in a less sturdy base. Make sure you do not put your elbows on the outside of their legs: keep them inside, or they can start kicking up into your armpit for triangles, armbars, flower sweeps etc.

If they get a grip on your sleeve, then grab their sleeve with your free hand. To break the grip, yank your trapped hand back as your gripping hand drives forward. TrumpetDan has a good video on this, here. I don't generally recommend YouTube, but he is one of the better teachers on there. A simpler option is to circle your hand either inside or outside of their arm, then chop downwards to break the grip: there is a good explanation of that in Beneville's excellent Passing the Guard.

There is also a one-handed grip break you can try, which Xande showed recently: he calls it the 'y grip break'. This has some similarities to circling your hand, but this time you circle it underneath their hand, shoving the 'v' between your thumb and index finger into the heel of their hand. Thrust your arm forward forcefully to free your sleeve. You might also be able to use your hand position to grab their wrist, putting you in control and negating their own grip.

It was very handy to have Dónal there, to help with the new people who might have gotten confused. The brand new people are useful themselves, as that helps me see which drills are more complex than I think. If an absolute beginner struggles with it, that's a sign it could be overly complicated. Not that I would expect every drill to be so easy that everybody can pick it up immediately, but as Gumby put it in his Groundwork BJJ interview recently, a 'basic' move shouldn't have any pre-requisites.