20/10/2017 - Teaching | Mount | High Figure-Four

Teaching #712
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 20/10/2017

Today I looked at some attacks from high mount, where you've gotten up right by their head. The first option I like to try is fishing out an arm and doing an americana against the leg (though the distinction between americana and kimura gets a bit blurred). Your knees are by their ears, squeezing in tight, causing their arms to cross over their face. For this attack, you need to be able to thread your arm by their crook of their elbow.

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Oct 24, 2017 at 12:26am PDT

Grab their wrist with your other arm, using your initial arm to grip your own wrist (same configuration as if you were doing a kimura from north-south). Making sure your knees are squeezing in tight, bend their arm against your leg for the submission. Be sure to use the turn of your body, rather than purely your arms: you'll get more leverage that way.
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Teaching Notes: Key thing is getting the knees up really high, people always try the attack from too low. That means their partner will have too much space. In terms of balance, it is worth talking about using the forehead: a number of people said they fell forward. That's fine as long as you're confident about your forehead as a base point. If you already have their arm locked up, then their escape route out the back shouldn't be as high a risk.

I made a point of mentioning that they may not have anything left to tap with, something that needs to be mentioned every time, along with putting the submission on gradually. If people haven't already had information about getting the knees up high, that will slow this lesson down, so I should only teach it in a month where I've spent a good bit of time on getting under the elbows and moving up.

10/03/2017 - Teaching | Mount | Super High Mount Americana & Back Take

Teaching #642
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 10/03/2017

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Mar 13, 2017 at 5:27am PDT

Today I looked at some attacks from high mount, where you've gotten up right by their head. The first option I like to try is fishing out an arm and doing an americana against the leg (though the distinction between americana and kimura gets a bit blurred). Your knees are by their ears, squeezing in tight, causing their arms to cross over their face. For this attack, you need to be able to thread your arm by their crook of their elbow.

Grab their wrist with your other arm, using your initial arm to grip your own wrist (same configuration as if you were doing a kimura from north-south). Making sure your knees are squeezing in tight, bend their arm against your leg for the submission. Be sure to use the turn of your body, rather than purely your arms: you'll get more leverage that way.

If they have managed to hide their arm, swing your torso around so that your ribs are pressing against their forearm. That wedge means you can now walk sideways on your toes to roll them and take the back. You could go all the way until they end up flat on their belly, for what is arguably the most dominant position in BJJ, full back mount. However, if you do that, I'd recommend getting an arm under their neck before you fully roll them over, as it can be irritating to dig your hand in once they are completely flat (after all, there is a reason judoka treat that paradoxically as a defensive position, used to stall for a few seconds in competition so they get stood back up).

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on May 4, 2016 at 4:20am PDT

My preference is to instead walk them just far enough to get them up on their side. From there, I can then move into technical mount. That then provides lots of options, with chokes, armbars and a back take all available.
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Teaching Notes: I tend to call this an americana, but I'm wondering if kimura would be more accurate? Or maybe just figure-four. Either way, I could talk more about the specific grip, making sure people know which arm goes where (that's something I noticed when talking people through it on the following Tuesday at open mat). Also, the body position on the back take sometimes confuses people. I dispensed with the full rolling them over thing to just go with the gift wrap instead, as I think that's easier to understand. It's also always going to be available as long as you keep their arm jammed so they can't pull it back.

29/04/2016 - Teaching | Mount | Take the Back (Super High Mount) & Americana

Teaching #503
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 29/04/2016

A photo posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on May 4, 2016 at 4:20am PDT

Today I looked at some attacks from high mount, where you've gotten up right by their head. The first option I like to try is fishing out an arm and doing an americana against the leg (though the distinction between americana and kimura gets a bit blurred). Your knees are by their ears, squeezing in tight, causing their arms to cross over their face. For this attack, you need to be able to thread your arm by their crook of their elbow.

Grab their wrist with your other arm, using your initial arm to grip your own wrist (same configuration as if you were doing a kimura from north-south). Making sure your knees are squeezing in tight, bend their arm against your leg for the submission. Be sure to use the turn of your body, rather than purely your arms: you'll get more leverage that way.

If they have managed to hide their arm, swing your torso around so that your ribs are pressing against their forearm. That wedge means you can now walk sideways on your toes to roll them and take the back. You could go all the way until they end up flat on their belly, for what is arguably the most dominant position in BJJ, full back mount. However, if you do that, I'd recommend getting an arm under their neck before you fully roll them over, as it can be irritating to dig your hand in once they are completely flat (after all, there is a reason judoka treat that paradoxically as a defensive position, used to stall for a few seconds in competition so they get stood back up).

My preference is to instead walk them just far enough to get them up on their side. From there, I can then move into technical mount. That then provides lots of options, with chokes, armbars and a back take all available.
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Teaching Notes: The back take is very simple, so I think it combines well with that high mount americana. Next time the thing to emphasise is the specifics of the grip on the arm, along with using the turn of your torso to get the submission rather than just your arms. A few people were having trouble getting their ribs right into the arm. It would be worth highlighting making a 'shelf' of an arm, in order to wedge yourself against it. Ideally their elbow is worked up high, to create lots of 'shelf' to wedge into. :)

To repeat notes from last time (I didn't notice them, as they were under americana rather than back take: hence why I'm putting both labels in this time ;D), one thing I could have added was blocking attempts to slip out the back. I mentioned that it's a common escape attempt, but not too much on the defence. The main thing I do is just grab the back of their collar to anchor my mount, then wriggle back to flatten them out (as they normally start curling their legs over to push into your armpits).

I could also potentially bolster this lesson with more details on getting those elbows up really high. For example, talk about 'spider-walking' your hands up when you've hooked an elbow, as that can be handy. It's good to have a clear goal after getting to high mount, rather than just saying it's a great place to attack from. Evidence! :)

13/04/2016 - Teaching | Women's Class | Americana from Mount

Teaching #493
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 13/04/2016

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

Finally, Rener has a helpful tip on securing your base when going for the americana. He likes to slip his opposite side leg underneath theirs, twisting his hips slightly in that direction. That's worth giving a try if you find it difficult to stabilise the position when you're trying to finish the submission.
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Teaching Notes: I think I remembered everything this time. I added in the high mount americana, plus as we had some time and there were only two people, I could take a request. That turned out to be a reverse triangle, handily, given I'd been learning that a few days earlier at RGA Bucks. Fun technique, even if it isn't all that high percentage. ;)

18/11/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Americana from Mount

Teaching #423
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 18/11/2015

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

Finally, Rener has a helpful tip on securing your base when going for the americana. He likes to slip his opposite side leg underneath theirs, twisting his hips slightly in that direction. That's worth giving a try if you find it difficult to stabilise the position when you're trying to finish the submission.
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Teaching Notes: I forgot to mention about using the head to push down the arm, and I also don't generally get into the point about looping the arm around the head. Both worth throwing in next time. Also, as there was a new person in class, I ran through the upa escape too, which tends to be a good one to throw in for beginners.

24/06/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Americana from Mount

Teaching #343
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 24/06/2015

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

Finally, Rener has a helpful tip on securing your base when going for the americana. He likes to slip his opposite side leg underneath theirs, twisting his hips slightly in that direction. That's worth giving a try if you find it difficult to stabilise the position when you're trying to finish the submission.
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Teaching Notes: I always mention using the head to push down the arm, but nobody ever does it. Not that it's essential, but that indicates I should probably be demonstrating it rather than just mentioning you can use your forehead. I also didn't mention looping the arm around if you ended up holding under the head, but that didn't come up in sparring or resistance anyway. Worth putting in though. As the class wasn't too big, I had time to run through an armbar from guard too.

23/04/2015 - Teaching | Mount | High Americana

Teaching #315
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 23/04/2015

Today I looked at some attacks from high mount, where you've gotten up right by their head. The first option I like to try is fishing out an arm and doing an americana against the leg (though the distinction between americana and kimura gets a bit blurred). Your knees are by their ears, squeezing in tight, causing their arms to cross over their face. For this attack, you need to be able to thread your arm by their crook of their elbow.

Grab their wrist with your other arm, using your initial arm to grip your own wrist (same configuration as if you were doing a kimura from north-south). Making sure your knees are squeezing in tight, bend their arm against your leg for the submission. Be sure to use the turn of your body, rather than purely your arms: you'll get more leverage that way.

If they have managed to hide their arm, swing your torso around so that your ribs are pressing against their forearm. That wedge means you can now walk sideways on your toes to roll them and take the back. You could go all the way until they end up flat on their belly, for what is arguably the most dominant position in BJJ, full back mount. However, if you do that, I'd recommend getting an arm under their neck before you fully roll them over, as it can be irritating to dig your hand in once they are completely flat (after all, there is a reason judoka treat that paradoxically as a defensive position, used to stall for a few seconds in competition so they get stood back up).

My preference is to instead walk them just far enough to get them up on their side. From there, I can then move into technical mount. That then provides lots of options, with chokes, armbars and a back take all available.
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Teaching Notes: I went with the americana against the legs followed by a back take this time, as that seems like a logical combination. If you can't get the americana because they've hidden their arms, the back take should be available. Next time round, unless there are loads of beginners, I think I'll focus a lot on technical mount over the month: I could go through chokes, armbars, back takes and indeed escaping technical mount, so lots of options. It would fit nicely with a month on the back either before or after.

One thing I could have added was blocking attempts to slip out the back. I mentioned that it's a common escape attempt (and what Chris did to me yesterday when I got really high), but not too much on the defence. The main thing I do is just grab the back of their collar to anchor my mount, then wriggle back to flatten them out (as they normally start curling their legs over to push into your armpits).

I could also potentially bolster this lesson with more details on getting those elbows up really high, but then I covered that in a separate lesson. I talked about 'spider-walking' your hands up when you've hooked an elbow, as that can be handy, but I'm not sure that's an area I want to go into depth on this one. Then again, I was thinking that my high mount maintenance lesson could perhaps do with a finish, like a back take. Still early days with this particular lesson, so I need to make sure I take a good look at these notes for next time. ;)

22/04/2015 - Teaching | Mount | Americana

Teaching #314
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 22/04/2015

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

I also went through the variation I like from super high-mount. If you keep going up, until you are right by their head, you can squeeze your knees by their arms. That should hopefully mean they have an arm completely stuck, poking out vulnerably from your legs. Simply put on a figure four and bend that arm against your leg for the submission. Be sure to use the turn of your body, rather than purely your arms: you'll get more leverage that way.
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Teaching Notes: Getting that arm in tight, might need to mention more. Also, I could talk about the under the head thing, locking that in then looping your arm around. That can happen quite often once people are looking for the americana, though it only came up today with one person (a cool visiting blue belt from SBG Penzance, Matt). But next time, I think I'll split this into two separate americana lessons: the basic one, with the orthodox application and potentially that under the head detail, then another class that covers the americana from super high mount into a back take. I'll test out the second lesson tomorrow, to start working out what to include.

People frequently raise their elbow too high when they begin with the americana. That's something I'd like to iron out in my teaching: it could be that's an instinctive thing that's always going to happen, or perhaps I'm not emphasising some element in my teaching. There are always at least a couple of people who try and apply it by sticking the elbow really high instead of the 'paintbrush' method with the knuckles. I'll see if I can change something up next time and then count how many people end up with the high elbow thing (though I guess it is possible to submit somebody that way, but not very efficient, at least in my experience so far).

14/01/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Americana from Mount

Teaching #260
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 14/01/2015

The americana is probably the simplest attack from mount you can do without a gi: the cross-collar choke is arguably as or more basic (in terms of the concept at least, the details can be complex), but that requires some kind of fabric to grip by the neck.

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

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Teaching Notes: The angle of the arm can be tricky with the americana, something that will also vary depending on shoulder flexibility. Still, everyone got it eventually, especially as they'd all seen it at least briefly in the course of previous lessons. I tend to find it fairly tough to land from mount, at least in the standard way. Moving into higher mount and then applying it might be worth showing, though my option - really high mount and americana-ing against your own leg - requires you to already be comfortable moving up into high mount and maintaining the position. So, maybe not as useful for beginners? I could always give it a go.

I decided to throw in that other basic attack I mentioned before, the cross choke from mount. People were having some difficulty getting deep enough and also securing an effective twist. I had a go at showing it from guard instead, to see if that helped present the concept more effectively. It did seem to have some effect. It also highlighted that a big part of the problem was that they were finding it hard to get their hands in position in mount. In the guard, that's easier because you don't have to contend with the floor. It also meant I could suggest lifting their shoulders off the mat when attacking the choke in mount.

26/11/2014 - Teaching | Mount | Americana

Teaching #240
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre/MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 26/11/2014

The americana is probably the simplest attack from mount you can do without a gi: the cross-collar choke is arguably as or more basic (in terms of the concept at least, the details can be complex), but that requires some kind of fabric to grip by the neck. Of course, the americana also works with a gi, it just doesn't depend on it.

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

I also went through the variation I like from super high-mount. If you keep going up, until you are right by their head, you can squeeze your knees by their arms. That should hopefully mean they have an arm completely stuck, poking out vulnerably from your legs. Simply put on a figure four and bend that arm against your leg for the submission. Be sure to use the turn of your body, rather than purely your arms: you'll get more leverage that way.

If they have managed to hide their arm, walk sideways on your toes to roll them and take the back. I tend to switch to technical mount for that, but you can also just walk sideways. They will end up flat on their belly, a position I find a bit irritating to manipulate, but it is still a dominant position (hence why it is so odd from a BJJ perspective that judoka go to there all the time, but that's due to judo competition rules limiting time on the ground. Judoka probably view guard pulling with equal disdain ;D).
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Teaching Notes: As ever, I'm not sure if I'm adding in too much detail, but it doesn't take much time to go through the super-high mount version. Mentioning ways to increase leverage by using a more acute angle was good to keep in reserve for drilling, though there wasn't anyone there with hyper flexible shoulders. I'll have to try hitting the americana more often in sparring, although I tend to just take the back from there (which I showed briefly during drilling tonight as well).

Tracey brought cake (in her excellent Doctor Who lunchbox). Very tasty as always, lemon drizzle, I think. After the women's class and mixed class had got done munching, it was mostly gone. Thanks Tracey! :D

06/08/2014 - Teaching | Women's Class | Americana From Mount

Teaching #176
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 06/08/2014

Following on from our successful first Artemis Bristol BJJ class for women, I moved on to another basic technique, this time an attack from mount. The americana is probably the simplest attack from mount you can do without a gi: the cross-collar choke is arguably as or more basic (in terms of the concept at least, the details can be complex), but that requires some kind of fabric to grip by the neck.

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

Mixed class on the butterfly sweep was up next.
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Teaching Notes: I spent a lot less time talking this time round, something I need to keep up. I was going to split the technique into two slices (to use Rener Gracie's terminology), as well as reducing drilling time from four minutes to two in order to fit that in. The second slice would have been looking at the most common response to a locked in americana. They will try to bridge free, possibly rolling over to secure their own mount. Rener has a useful suggestion on dealing with that escape attempt: he hooks his leg under theirs. This is the leg on the side you are not attacking, putting you into a diagonal configuration on top of them. You other knee moves out slightly for base and you drive your hips into them (like you would in low mount).

However, looking at how the class was getting on with the americana, I decided they could do with more time on that initial bit I taught. I'm thinking next time, I'll adjust the timings again. The first lesson last week was four minutes, but I think that was too long. This time it was two, but that was too short (though I did add on another bit of practicing for two minutes each, with a different partner). So I'll see how three minutes goes next week. It probably also depends on the technique: the trap and roll is perhaps more intuitive than the americana, so doesn't take as long to understand.

That ended up with quite a lot of sparring: as with last week, people were keen to jump into sparring, with lots of smiling and laughing. There were two people who wanted to watch a couple of rounds first, so after they had watched a couple, I took the opportunity to run through last week's technique with them. They had a go in the final round of sparring, which was cool to see.

Turn-out this week was a little less than last time, but not by much. Also, on the plus side four people returned from the previous class (and there were a few I knew already wouldn't be able to pop along this week, so that hopefully means even more returning next week :D).