21/06/2011 - BJJ at the Martial Arts & Poetry Seminar

Teaching #008
University of Warwick, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Coventry, UK - 21/06/2011

The third issue of Jiu Jitsu Style is now out: it's available all over the place, with print issues available from the main site as well as Budovideos, or digitally through iTunes. Most of the usual blogger crew have pieces in there: in case you're wondering what I contributed this round, I was responsible for two of the interviews, with Carlson Gracie Jr and UK standout Luke Costello, along with a history of Gracie Barra. There is a bunch of cool stuff in this issue, like Meg's article on families in BJJ (featuring Kev, Yas and Family Mat-ters, among others), J-Sho's detailed analysis of the 2011 Mundials (although the version I read, from a pre-release of the magazine a week or two ago, didn't go into depth on the women: see Jen Flannery's awesome site for a great review of the women's results) and an inspiring chat with cancer-survivor and Abu Dhabi World Pro champ, Lagarto (interviewed by Oli Geddes, himself a notable figure on the UK BJJ scene).

My class today was rather unusual, as I was teaching BJJ as part of a seminar combining poetry and martial arts. The MA in Creative Writing at the University of Warwick does lots of fun stuff like that: after my seminar, I was able to pop along to another seminar in the same series, this time on fractals. I'll just focus on the brief bit of BJJ teaching, but if you're lucky (depending on if you think the martial arts and poetry crossover sounds dubious or not), there may be video up later, as it was recorded. :D

I had to think carefully about what to teach beforehand. Normally, my main concerns would be things like the most useful techniques to help beginners, or the kind of class I would have liked to have as a white belt. However, this time I wasn't teaching BJJ beginners at a BJJ school. I was teaching Masters students who were studying creative writing, who for all I knew didn't care in the slightest about martial arts, or indeed sports in general.

BJJ also isn't something that comes naturally to most people. It involves a lot of close physical contact, in positions that can understandably make people a little uncomfortable at first. My initial thought was to go with a simple trap and roll from the mount, as I thought that out of all the possibilities, that was one of the least potentially awkward positions. Unfortunately, mats weren't available at the venue.

I'd anticipated that might be the case, so my back-up plan was to go with the rear naked choke. Arguably that is more intimidating than rolling out of the mount, but it does have the advantage that mats aren't so important, as both people can simply sit on their bums when drilling this technique. I had a few concerns, as some people might well be scared of the idea that someone is trying to choke them, and it can also be hard to incorporate resistance without mats. I couldn't do without resistance, as that was integral to the whole lesson.

When I got the physical part of the seminar, I could see a few people were already looking worried. I tried to calm them down as best as I could, saying that nobody had to do anything they weren't comfortable with, and they could practice on me if they would rather not have anybody choking them. I wasn't convincing enough, as two people left at that point (though I guess it might have been they had something else to go on to).

Still, I had around ten people who stayed and were willing to give it a try. We began with a brief warm-up, which I included for safety: I didn't want anyone to somehow pull a muscle or something. I thought it highly unlikely given we were just drilling a rear naked choke, but you never know. So, we went through some star-jumps, squats and sit ups, then did the usual stretching routine for the legs, arms, neck and back.

I explained that the rear naked choke was due to not gripping material, rather than people being nude (I know if the situation was reversed, I'd raise an eyebrow if some guy said "now we're going to do a naked choke" ;p). In terms of technical detail, to begin the choke, you can start from either a proper back/rear mount hooking inside their legs with your feet for control, or simply sitting behind them. Naturally you wouldn't do this in a normal BJJ class, but for the purposes of the seminar, it wasn't essential.

Bring one arm around their neck, so that the point of your elbow is under their chin. You don't want to leave any space, as the idea is to press into both sides of their neck. This will close off their carotid arteries and prevent the flow of blood to the brain. That is an efficient and safe way of subduing an opponent. At this point, I emphasised that you should immediately tap on your opponent when you feel that choke, again for safety (not that you're going to fall unconscious straight away, but that will eventually happen if you don't ask your partner to release the choke).

You are then going to grip the bicep of your free arm. This is to lock the choke in place. Bring the hand of that bicep arm to the back of their head: generally I'd recommend you press the palm into their skull, but there are various options, coming down to personal preference. Also bring your head next to theirs on the bicep gripping side, to further cut off any space.

Staying close to their back, expand your chest and squeeze your grip. This should block off the arteries, at which point your partner will tap. Make sure you haven't left any space, and also try to do it with control. There is no need to pull their head off, as one of the great things about techniques in BJJ is that they can be applied gradually.

Interestingly enough, it seemed that the women present were more willing to get involved than the men. Attendance was about even between the genders, but it was a woman who volunteered to help me demonstrate, and the women were the ones asking questions about improving their technique during drilling (e.g., they asked about other positions you might apply it from, meaning I could talk briefly about how you could flatten them on their front after they roll over under mount, a common application in early MMA).

The men, on the other hand, frequently stopped and started chatting, rather than continuously drilling for the allotted four minutes each. I'm not sure if that was because they were less comfortable with the contact, or they simply didn't like the sensation of getting choked (which would be understandable!).

That was also true during progressive resistance, which I introduced as trying to prevent your opponent applying the technique: pull on their arm, block their attack with your hands, try and turn around towards them and so on. Like in my regular classes, that was for three minutes each, starting off light, then encouraging them to up the resistance at the one and two minute marks.

The practical part of the seminar finished with a warm down stretch, again for safety, before we continued on with more poetry. As usual I left my email, along with further reading, which included the websites for two local BJJ clubs (Gracie Barra Birmingham and Combat Athletics, both of which I've trained at, so there are log posts here and here). I'll be very interested to hear if that has sparked an interest in BJJ or grappling in general among anybody who attended. Would be awesome if so, but then the aim was to present a different angle to their writing rather than proselytise for BJJ. Would nevertheless be cool if one of them started training. ;)

A Taste of LARP

As this weekend is one of the few where I’m both in Leamington and I don't have anybody visiting, I thought I’d take up an offer from one of the people I work with. Last time my Sunday was free, I headed down to a judo no-gi session, to get in some extra grappling. Yesterday, I was at Gracie Barra Birmingham for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Today, I went for something quite different, which at first appears to be the antithesis of ‘alive’ martial arts like BJJ and judo: Live Action Role Play (LARP).

I spent a large proportion of my waking hours before university buried in a variety of computer role-playing games (CRPGs). I have many happy memories of slaughtering goblins, throwing fireballs and building up high-level paladins in Amberstar, Ultima Underworld and Daggerfall, a few of my favourites. If I wasn’t swinging a pixellated sword, then I’d probably be completely engrossed in a fantasy novel, from authors like Piers Anthony, or a series like Dragonlance, Dark Sun or Forgotten Realms.

So, I’ve been strapping on a broadsword and sallying forth for loot and XP for some time: my initial RPG experience was when I first booted up the original Bard’s Tale on a Spectrum +3, back in the ‘80s. However, I’ve only ever quested by proxy. This time, there would be no digital intermediary. I’d be swinging that sword myself.

Before I could get whacking people, however, I needed to get some safety training. Clare, my colleague from work, kindly offered to run through the basics with me on Friday, along with her husband Ian. Contrary to what I had assumed, LARP is not a matter of rolling dice, or totting up variables to see if you managed to overcome someone’s defences. You simply hit them.

You don't use just any weapon, as LARP has specific equipment. They're carefully made, carbon fibre core foam swords (or mace, axe, dagger etc, but Clare and Ian’s impressive arsenal was heavy on swords). So in a sense, there is a martial arts element of sorts, though it is much, much lighter contact than judo or BJJ: you’re acting a role, rather than actually looking for the most effective method of belting somebody with a big piece of metal.

As this is not the Dog Brothers, the (relatively) light contact nature means there are several things to keep in mind. Perhaps the most important is that you can only slice, never stab. That’s because the carbon fibre core of weapons designed for LARP can potentially burst through the foam, if you press the tip into somebody or something (hence why you also can’t rest a LARP sword point-first into the ground). Having said that, there are a few that are ‘stab safe’, like Ian’s enormous axe, because the point protruding from the middle of the axe head is almost all soft foam, which depresses on impact.

The head and groin are out of bounds, though it’s taken as a given that accidents happen. As a general rule, you’re meant to pull your strikes, as you’re not looking to do any serious damage. The foam means you can still give them a good thump, but you don’t want to smack them so hard that it leaves a bruise. Of course, if somebody is wearing a full suit of metal plate armour, you can give it a lot more welly than if they’re wandering around half naked with only warpaint between them and your foam-padded fury.

Even so, as you are hitting people for real, and they’re trying to hit you back, there’s certainly skill involved. Basically, it’s a form of fencing, with carryover from numerous weapon styles (or at least the elements that enable you to both pull your strikes and chop rather than stab). As far as I can tell, the way to improve is to try hitting people, along with getting hit in return. Lots. So in a limited sense, it is ‘alive’ in the Matt Thornton usage of the term (see below video), though there are still plenty of rules and restrictions. Of course, LARP is not a martial art, so there is no stated intention of developing practical combat ability.



In a similar vein, I was surprised that it is possible to fire arrows at people in LARP. The bows look to be much the same as those you’d use for standard archery, though there is a limit of 30lbs to reduce the distance and power. The arrows, however, have a thick wad of foam on the end, both to lessen the force and prevent them getting into anybody’s eye socket.

I’ve got some idea of how to parry from fencing (though I was pretty useless at adjusting to block lower cuts to my legs), but even that brief bit of experience abandoned me when it came to the attack. I’ve only ever fenced with a foil, so slicing was new to me, as made very clear when I practiced with Clare and Ian (both experienced LARPers, who were smacking me at will).

Those restrictions can result in people effectively just tapping you on the shoulder, in order to get the hit. Ian emphasised on Friday that you should make attacks realistic (in role-play terms): some systems have a one strike per second rule, to help make sure people don't simply wiggle a sword along your arm in an effort to generate lots of 'damage' quickly.

Having said all that, during the actual event itself on Sunday, I didn't get involved in much combat. There are two groups to choose from, 'players' and 'monsters'. The 'player' is a created character, with personality, skills, equipment, and if all goes well, longevity. Monsters, on the other hand, are basically there to be killed, especially the kind that featured on Sunday. Zombies, shades and skeletons are have pretty limited hit points, and they don't move too fast either.

I went with the monster party, as that meant I didn't have to worry too much about roleplay. The kind of basic grunts I was playing is never going to last longer than one quest at most. It also meant, theoretically, I'd have more of a chance to practice with a variety of weapons. As it worked out, the two quests were fairly heavy on roleplay, and the bit of combat I did take part in ended rather quickly.

That was down to another part of LARP: magic. It turned out there was a spell (which in LARP generally means saying the name of the spell, with a few lines you make up in front of it, to create a brief verse) that instantly kills people, which I kept falling prey to. I think I only actually got off one swing.

Still, with all the roleplaying, it was entertaining to watch how the plot developed, especially as half the party in the first quest actively undermined the ostensible goal. For example, instead of killing a necromancer with a bunch of zombies, they sacrificed one of their party to him, then got his zombies to help them fight someone else.


As a 'monster', there was plenty of downtime, as we weren't 'in character': effectively, you're an extra. That meant I had the chance to socialise with my fellow undead, because I didn't have to be in character the whole time. So, when not being slaughtered by adventurers, I was chatting and getting to know people, which is always good fun.

It was also refreshing to see that it wasn't entirely male-dominated, with five women taking part. As with BJJ, the presence of women immediately improves the atmosphere, due to the instant reduction in testosterone. Not that the men weren't nice too: everybody was welcoming, friendly and ready to offer their help: the whole group felt very inclusive.

Something else I wasn't expecting (but it makes sense) was the sheer amount of planning that goes into each quest. The Ref (who both orchestrates and moderates the action) has a long chat with each group beforehand, laying out their place in the plot. I wasn't present at the players talk, but for us monsters, we had clearly stated roles, and a set of actions to follow. The Ref also has to keep running around telling the 'monsters' who and where they need to be ('statting' them), as encounters with the players can be frequent. As the pool of people playing monsters is limited, they have to be recycled. What looked especially difficult is the need to think on the fly if the 'players' don't react as expected, as happened today.

The system used at Warwick Uni is called Scarred Lands, thought up by students over the last six years or so. If you're interested in checking out the rules, they have a number of pdfs to read up on the website. From what I gather, it is seen as relatively straightforward, so ideal for beginners like me.

Should I happen to have another weekend free, I'll definitely look to give this another go. If nothing else, LARP always offers the chance to dress up (or indeed get made up: plenty of people with facepaint and make-up), one of the things I used to love doing back during my undergraduate years. I look forward to pulling on a suit of armour at some point in the future. :)

09/05/10 - Judo

Class #10
University of Warwick Judo, (Judo), Adam Jones, Coventry, UK - 09/05/2010

It initially looked as if today's session wouldn't happen, because due to this being the exam term, hardly anyone is keen to go train. That's either because they're buried in exams, or if not, they're getting drunk celebrating that fact. I do miss being an undergraduate sometimes. :)

Fortunately, there was a fellow older student up for grappling, who has messaged me a few times before on Facebook. Mike and I were shortly joined by another guy, who hasn't been to judo for a year or two, so was a bit surprised to see two blokes rolling no-gi. We kicked off with a bit of drilling: I'm a bit lost when it comes to no-gi, so I suggested going through the basic butterfly sweep.

There was time for a five minute roll with Mike no-gi (mainly me squirming around in open guard, then occasionally looking confused when in no-gi closed guard), before it turned into the judo session proper. I had originally thought I'd just be there for the hour of rolling and drilling, so it was a pleasant surprise to get in a class too, even if was judo rather than lovely ground-based BJJ. ;p

Adam, the black belt who took the session tonight, based class around a throw. I can't remember the name (harai something), but if he's reading this, he should be able to remind me. He started by going through the footwork in a solo drill. IIRC, step forward, raise your arms and twist (but still face ahead), thrust your hips forward, while blocking an imaginary leg with your other foot.

That then progressed to a two person drill, where you step to get the rhythm, then try and use that same solo drill to enact the throw. You have a grip on their sleeve, just above the elbow, while the other hand holds the and collar. The important thing here (which I kept fucking up) is to make sure you really lift up that sleeve arm. You want your partner to go up on their toes, so it is easier to take them down when you twist and block their foot.

More stepping followed, this time in a circle, as that is closer to the kind of situation you'd find in a live spar. Adam emphasised some handy tips, like sinking as you move in, in order to facilitate raising up again to really lift them up on their toes. To finish, Adam had a transitional drill, where after you take them down, you move into knee on belly, then drop back for an armbar.

If your opponent spins to their stomach, legs straight out, arms and head tucked in (common in judo, suicidal in BJJ), Adam had another trick. Sit on them, then simply reach behind and lift up their legs to establish your hooks. If you are having trouble digging out their neck for the choke, grab their same side shoulder. Bring your other elbow across to the same side, then drag it back into their head. That should expose their neck for the submission.

Sparring began with Mike. As we both just wanted to grapple, I immediately pulled guard. I was more comfortable this time, as we were wearing gis, but I still couldn't get that spider guard grip I wanted, with the hand up past my hip. I might try just yanking on the arm with both hands next time, but there must be a more technical way of establishing that deep spider guard grip.

I also had a go at moving into deep half guard, but instead just gave up my back, which definitely wasn't the plan. That meant the rest of the spar involved me trying to wriggle out of Mike's body triangle, without a whole lot of success. I did at least keep my neck safe, with the trusty 'Shirley Temple' defence, though that reminds me I should be crossing my hands, not having them on either side.

I then went with one of the green belts, Jenny. I didn't want to pull guard this time, as that would make me a rather crappy training partner for a judoka. When she took me down, I was able to move into a sweep and come up into side control, then move to north south and a somewhat sloppy kimura. I'm not sure if the takedown would have been enough to stop the spar under judo rules, although Adam did say we should keep going until a submission, even if the takedown was an ippon.

The next time I somehow ended up on top in half guard. I used the usual shoulder pressure pass, though again I think my technique was a bit crude. Moving into mount, I was looking to get my knees up into her armpits and go for an armbar. I did eventually swivel and drop, but again, poor technique. I also let go too early, though that's certainly preferable to letting go too late.

Next up was a brown belt, Carol, who unusually is much smaller than me. She got a bunch of smoothly executed throws, but each one involved turning her back to me, so I could establish hooks and go for a choke. Again I was a bit sloppy, and also looking to switch to an equally dodgy armbar.

I wasn't sure taking the back like that was ok in judo rules, so checked with Adam. I think the consensus was that it would be stupid in a judo tournament, and even then you would normally do it when they're on one knee. So, next time I'll avoid doing that, as I want to make sure the training is useful for my partner, not just me.

Finally, I went with Adam, who is a big, powerful guy. So big, in fact, that I had trouble closing my guard, forcing me to go to open guard. I could see him leaning back so wanted the sit up sweep, but I wasn't quick enough.

Again, I tried for butterfly and spider guard, but also as before, I had trouble getting the grips. Or indeed any grip, as Adam immediately broke any hold I tried to establish on his gi. I spent the latter part of the spar under my old friend side control, which meant I squirmed a lot trying to spin back to guard.

I should be back to GB Brum tomorrow, or possibly Tuesday for my first basics class. I'll see how I feel on Monday, bringing my gi to work with me either way.

02/12/2008 - Salsa

Class #7

Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Billy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 02/12/2008

Tonight we again went through the routine Billy has been building up for the latter part of this term. To recap: two mambos, cross-body lead, step back and swing the arm, man's turn switching arms, then back to two mambos. On the second mambo, slip your hands down so you change to a grip on both their hands instead of their hand and shoulder. Break (you both step back, then use the tension in your arms to swing back towards each other), spin them in towards you (still holding both their hands, bring your left hand across to your right), then on the five, six, seven count, move around in a semi-circle.

Next, spin them out to the side. Billy pointed here that once you get adept at salsa, you can do that in one motion, but for the moment, you should try and split it across the one, two, three count. A slight step out with your other foot, then nudging gently with your shoulder, bounce your partner into their spin. Bring them back in again (keeping your arm around hip level for ease), then pressing palm to palm, lean to the side: your partner will lean onto your other side.

Spin them out again, and then bring them back in. This is the first variation Billy made on the previous routine (or at least the one I'm used to: I wasn't there last week). As you spin them in, let go towards the end and guide them towards you with your arm. Continue their spinning motion, until you have a grip around their back with both hands. Make sure you can support their weight, then dip them, twisting to the side.

Come back up, so that they are now in front of you. Keep your hands on their hips, and do a basic mambo from their. Shift your arms back so that you're now holding their hands instead of their hips. Next, switch your grip, so that you are holding their opposite hand: also note your right hand should be above your left hand. I'm not quite sure how to get that grip switch, as there is supposed to be a flashy way of doing it (something about swinging your hand out and switching, but I wasn't able to follow the motion).

You can now do another nifty spin, which I had some problems with before I got it right. First, do another break as before, but this time with your hands in that diagonal hold. As you bring them in after the break, twirl them by pulling your left hand to the left. Then bring your right arm over their head, as they bring their left arm over yours. It's a little complex and easy to get entangled (I did repeatedly), but you should end up with an arm behind both your heads, holding a hand.

To finish, switch your right hand to grip their hand by their hip, release your other grips, spin them around to the left and do another dip. Move into a normal mambo, cross-body lead, step back and swing your arm, then finally push on their arm as you do an inward turn to complete the routine back in a mambo position. From here you can restart the whole thing (which is what I did with my girlfriend during the freestyle, to practice), or you finish with a bow or something instead of going back to the mambo hold.

As it was the last lesson of term, there were some christmas nibbles on hand, which was cool. Mince pies, like custard, are awesome hot or cold, and those little cocktail sausages are great too. Great way to see off salsa for this year, with a brief drink at Varsity afterwards. Now I just need to make sure I record myself and my gf practicing that routine in the kitchen so we don't forget!

18/11/2008 - Salsa

Class #6

Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Billy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 18/11/2008

In terms of technique, this was exactly the same as last week, which is great. My main difficulty with the class up until now has been the rapid sequence of moves, so I for one was more than happy to keep going over the previous lesson's content. Billy went at a steady pace, breaking it down step-by-step.

Things of note were turning your hand after the cross-body lead, so that when your partner steps out to the side, you aren't twisting their arm. Instead, swivel your hand, meaning you're gripping underneath rather than to the side. Also, when you're spinning out your partner, nudge them with your shoulder to add momentum (though obviously don't ram them: just use it to set up the spin).

The room was rather cramped, as pretty much everyone has now moved up from the beginners to post-beginner. However, that's now getting jammed, because there is no intermediate class to move onto next: intermediate has been replaced by a choreography class. In effect, that means there's a small beginner class, a small choreography class, and a huge post-beginner class. Hopefully those splits will be rejigged at some point, as it was difficult to dance properly with the space constraints, especially when spinning out your partner.

After class, a group of us headed out to Brazil Night at the union, in what used to be Grumpy John's, now punningly called Tempo. Unlike the last social at Latin Night, there was a good turn-out, though not too much of a chance to chat (especially as its quite loud in there). Before the dancing got underway, there were a whole bunch of demonstrations, kicking off with some kind of dance step: no idea what, as I couldn't see through the mass of students.

Didn't need to see for the next one, as that was the Drumming Society, and then finally the Capoeira group. This seems to have got much more organised compared to when I tried it out six years ago, when the instructor only had two years experience. Now, he's been replaced by (I assume) a professional teacher who knows his stuff (though I could only see the odd flailing limb passing overhead from my limited vantage point).

Clearly I'd also managed to get tipsy by that point, as I was happily babbling about BJJ to him in the toilet, where the capoeira people were getting ready. I'd overheard him mention something about jiu-jitsu, but I think he's more into the MMA side of things (though he knew who I meant when I said Braulio).

The music wasn't salsa, but was enough to get in some dancing practice with my girlfriend, spinning her around the floor. I still need to work out how to signal what step I'm trying to do, because at the moment I'm just putting pressure on her arms, side and shoulders to indicate the next technique. Not very efficient, so hopefully we'll eventually either be taught what the proper system is, or work out something functional.

17/11/2008 - Judo

Class #9

Warwick Judo (Judo), Iain Cunningham, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 17/11/2008

We had another meeting of the Warwick Uni BJJ group on Sunday, where I had a chance to go through the wrestler's sit out again, along with the variation where they wrap round your chest. Mads also demonstrated an option for when your partner is moving round to side control: not quite sure I understood it, but main principles seemed to be getting your body in the opposite direction.

You start from guard with them about to pass, where they have a grip on your same side leg. Grab that arm with your same side hand, then as they move around for side control, move your body away, so you sort of end up underneath north-south, but with a hold of their arm. With your other hand, grip their belt, bridge up with your legs and roll on top. I'm guessing timing is essential here, but looked interesting from what I saw (came about as Rosie has been having trouble with a specific position when she's sparring, and this was Mads' solution).

I didn't head to the judo straight after, as firstly my toe is still a bit dodgy from last week, and I also knew I was going to the Monday session the next day anyway. Session tonight was purely tachiwaza, so no groundwork whatsoever: on the one hand a shame, but on the other, throws are the reason I wanted to cross-train a bit of judo in the first place.

The initial two throws were apparently off the old dan grade syllabus, both attacking the foot. You have the usual collar and elbow grip with your hands on their jacket. Step in, twisting your palms up and raising your opponent by bringing your arms high. Unusually, your foot doesn’t make a sweeping motion, however, but more of a block. You're aiming to catch their foot as they step forward, putting the sole of your foot in the way against their instep, then pulling them over it using your jacket grips.

The second throw was similar, but slightly more complex. Again you're looking to step forward and pull up, then catch their foot with your sole, but this time it is more of a sweeping motion with the foot. As they step forward, you bring your sole onto their instep and swing your leg right over, twisting them down to the ground as you do so. Timing was more difficult on this one, and I'm not entirely sure I was doing it right: still put my partner on the ground, but a bit sloppy on my part.

I can't remember what they were called, but it was something with 'harai' in the name. Iain took the opportunity at this point to make a note on Japanese, in that anything with –arai in it means sweep. That could be harai, barai or garai, but they all mean the same thing: the first letter depends on the preceding word (if I understood Iain correctly).

Final throw was a counter to the o-goshi hip throw. They step in to pop you up on their hip. You maintain your grip on their collar, shifting the arm that was holding their elbow onto their belt. Raise up, then twist downward to plonk them on the floor. You can also use your knee, pushing it out, which will help if you find yourself with a larger partner.

In randori, I still need to relax and stop stiff-arming with a bent-over posture. I should also be more pro-active, but then that's always going to be a difficult habit to develop as I'm so used to (and happy) being passive from BJJ. What throws I did go for were sloppy, so need to make sure if I start a throw, I should follow through, committing to the technique.

11/11/2008 - Salsa

Class #5

Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Billy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 11/11/2008

Much easier to follow this week, probably due to the considerably increased class size (reading week presumably caused the drop-off last time). Numbers were almost even, though there were about three women that had to sit out and wait their turn.

Billy went through the basics again, but complicated things by adding in another step. For example, on the mambo we've been taught to go forward, raise the heel, step back, other foot back, raise again, then return. So, a count of one-two-three, five-six-seven. Billy added in the four and eight, so that it became tap, step forward, raise heel, step back, tap again, step back, raise and return. I'm assuming this is the difference Georgette mentioned to me a while ago about on1 and on2 salsa, but could be wrong.

The routine tonight built in a few funky spinny things, which I was pleased to actually be able to do this time round, as instruction was a bit more methodical. It was also nice to see one of the people I remember from my first beginner class, Camreen (Carmeen? Will have to double-check that), who has been off sick the last two times.

We start off with two mambos, as normal. You then go into a cross-body (step forward, then step around, making a gate with your arm for the woman to walk through), ending up side by side with arms outstretched. Step back on your left swinging the arm on one-two-three, then do a turn where you switch your gripping hand.

Straight from that, back into a mambo, but as you step back on five-six-seven, you bring your arms back so you're now holding both of each other's hands. You then both step back on your left, still holding hands, and using that grip, move close together.

That sets up the momentum to spin the woman. Bring your left arm across to swivel them in that direction, brining their back towards you, so they're now close to your body, slightly to the side. You both do a mambo back for one-two-three, then unwind their arms by swinging your right arm down: that will add some further momentum to help them spin out, sort of like they're a spinning top. With another motion of your arm, bringing it down and pulling back, return them to the starting position.

This time, however, you're going to put your palms together, then you step out to the side with your left and lean over. Finally, finish by unwinding them out in another spin.

Unlike last lesson, really felt like I learned something tonight: very cool to have a routine I can actually do now, even if its pretty straightforward. My gf and I did a bit of mamboing again at Top Banana on Monday (so entirely incongruous music), but should have a chance to dance to something a bit more suitable next week. Salsa is having a social at Brazil Night after the lesson on Tuesday, so that should be cool. There are supposed to be some capoeira people there too, so will be interesting to see if I randomly bump into any fellow BJJers in the process (particularly if there are a bunch of Brazilians around).

09/11/2008 - Judo

Class #8


Warwick Judo (Judo), Chris Page, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 09/11/2008

Had another Warwick Uni BJJ meet-up, although it was only an hour and things stayed basic as usual. I again went through bridge and shrimp escape from side control followed by a scissor sweep, then showing the push sweep variation. Still getting a good turnout, which is cool, although tonight a lot of the judoka were there mainly to work on their grading syllabus (which is fair enough, as not only is it technically judo's booked slot anyway which they're letting me use, but the grading is coming up soon).

Unlike last week I wasn't rushing off to go see a film, so stayed to do the judo session straight after. Tonight was pretty heavy on technique, so I didn't catch all of it. I tried to keep in mind a few in order to write them down later, particularly the techniques that looked applicable to my BJJ.

Chris started with some follow-up throws from tai-otoshi (where you stick your leg in front of their's and pull them over it) if your first attempt doesn't work out. If your partner is wise to the technique and steps over your leg, you have several options.

I can't remember all the names (one of them was called something like ko-uchi, but I don't know which), but the first one was to switch the leg you've stepped in front to behind their same side leg, reap it with your heel and drive forward, landing on top of them. This is possible because they've stepped around your foot, which leaves them open to getting either foot hooked and driven onto their backs. You can also hook around the same side leg and drive forward, also using your arm to pull up on the leg.

You can also hook the other leg, driving them forward again. Finally, you could switch to an uchimata, where you switch your grip from their collar to over their shoulder, then swing back the leg you have in between theirs and bring them to the floor.

We did a bit of nagewaza after that, which as far as I can tell is throwing without your partner resisting, and then into transitional sparring. So, like normal tachiwaza randori, but continuing to ground work for a short while. In both that and nagewaza, I'm still having trouble relaxing my body in order both to let my partner throw me when its compliant and help me attack when it isn't. Something to continue working on.

Newaza involved some more turnovers from the turtle. Chris showed quite a few, so I don't think I've remembered them all, but from what I remember they all started by grabbing their near wrist with the arm you have closest to their hand, bringing your arm on the inside of their's and then twisting it to grab the wrist. Pull them arm in and towards their legs.

Next, reach through their legs and grab hold of the bottom of the gi jacket, or possibly their belt. Now drop to your side and roll them over, switching quickly to move into north-south. You can also use your knee to help bump their over, lifting their lower leg, though I found I kept leaving more space when I did that, so need to transition faster.

Finally on that, you can also go for an armbar called waki-gatami. I was bit uncertain on this one, but it starts from the same grip. You make as if to try the turnover to get your partner to resist, then instead pull out their arm, leaning into them like you would in reverse scarf hold (but they're in a turtle position with you controlling their arm). Secure their limb with your elbow, keeping your weight down, then slowly lean back to hyperextend their elbow joint to get the tap.

Class finished with some newaza, which has now got to the point where people are allowed to choke and armlock. So, that made things a bit more interesting: I was able to lock on a RNC one of the brown belts, though I think he was probably going easy on me. I didn't feel I had particularly good control, as I only had one vague hook in, but proved enough for the sub. However, was sloppy on my part either way.

With one of the black belts, I had a play around in guard, seeing if I could get a triangle. I managed to get my legs in position, but it didn't feel tight enough for a choke. So instead, I was at long last able to transition to an armbar, turning belly down for the sub. This time there was a bit of a size difference, and again possible that the other guy was going easy, seeing as I had a white belt on.

Last roll was with a green belt (Sam, possibly? Not sure), where I was mostly sitting in guard. Time ran out before I had a chance to do anything, though interestingly seems to be moving more towards the BJJ set-up in class (i.e., not back to back all the time, but starting from the knees).

Kung Fu Panda is showing at the student cinema in about an hour, so will be cool to get a chance to watch that (especially for only £2), as I missed it when it was on general release. The student cinema is really handy for situations like that, although as I'm only up here part of the week, lots of films I'd like to watch but either can't get to at all (if they're on Wednesday or Thursday) or in time (if they're on Friday, which is a pain as I wanted to see Hellboy II, but there's no way I'll make it to uni for 21:30 coming up from Marylebone at 20:00).

04/11/2008 - Salsa

Class #4

Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Billy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 04/11/2008

Big day today, with the US elections going on: my perspective on that is pretty straightforward, in that as long as Sarah Palin and her horrific perspective on women's rights (i.e., seems that wants to remove as many as she can) isn't anywhere near the seat of power, I'm happy. Would have been nice to see a woman who isn't nuts in contention (like Hillary), but having a black president would also be a huge step forward, as everyone is very aware (should be some good BBC documentaries on the progress of civil rights and the like if Obama gets in, thinking selfishly for a moment). There was supposed to be an election party going on at the union tonight, so I was hoping to pop along to that afterwards.

As to class, I'm still struggling to adapt to Billy's rapid style of teaching. That was compounded today by an even greater gender imbalance, with more men than women (about seven extra). Of course, that's still nothing compared to what the women had to put up with in the beginners class, so it makes for a refreshing change on that score.

Main things I got out of tonight's class was to do with the arms. We went through both a single spin and a double spin, which was fairly easy from the male perspective: all we did was pretty much stand there with our arm in the air, but making sure not to grip our partner's hand firmly. Instead, it should be left loose, so the women can swivel both her hand and body.

Billy also showed us a way of coming out of the spins, a bit reminiscent of the 'comb the hair' thing Alyssa showed us a few lessons ago. IIRC, if you are gripping their opposite hand, raise it up and behind your head, dropping your own hand down your shoulder, while they slip their hand off the other side. That can be done in sequence, but seems to be mainly useful as another way to get your hands back into the normal stance (one raised holding their hand, the other on their shoulder blade).

Billy's class unfortunately ran over a bit, which meant I had less time to practice in the freestyle (which so far has always proved the most beneficial part of the session), but I did at least manage to run through what we did today and last week with my gf. I also had some tips from James, a more advanced student, who showed me the proper way to do the cross-body turn where you end up side-by-side rather than facing each other.

Previously, I'd been getting confused, because I'd been stepping my left over my right and moving to the side. What I should have been doing instead, to do what I think Alyssa called the Cuban something-or-other, was to simply step forward towards my partner, then step and turn, so I ended up perpendicular to her. That meant I could use my arm as a gate for her to step through, then just step on the spot while she aligned herself next to me.

At long last, my gf and I managed to get in some drinks with the other dancers after class at the Varsity. Always great to socialise, though it’s a pity that there isn't going to be another social at Latin Night this weekend. Next event will be a trip to a salsa club in Coventry, I think, with another social at the upcoming Brazil Night. Not sure what that involves, but I wonder if there will be any BJJ people there? Kinda hard to tell, unless people randomly start shrimping across the dance-floor or something. :p

28/10/2008 - Salsa

Class #3

Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Billy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 28/10/2008

Headed to the salsa social last Friday, which was a nice way to get to know some of the people at the club. My dancing left rather a lot to be desired (mostly consisting of wiggling around on my own, then briefly stepping on someone's feet when they asked if I wanted to dance), but the socialising was fun. Looking forward to getting my gf along to the next Latin Night: she was already booked up last Friday, unfortunately.

Tonight we were moving up to the post-beginners class, which was a little daunting. By this point, we're meant to have mastered the cross-body turn, which I'm still not too sure about, and even less confident on the man's turn. However, once you’ve done two beginners, you're supposed to know enough for the post-beginners, so I was hoping we'd be ok.

This also meant that we were being taught by a professional instructor rather than a fellow student, which again meant it was a bit more intimidating. Billy has a very different teaching style to Alyssa: as he kept mentioning, he likes to push people, so went straight in with a number of complex techniques. For those of us who had only been to two lessons of salsa before, this was somewhat bewildering, and I spent much of the lesson deeply confused. Still, hopefully that less gradual style will mean that I learn faster, though I'll be floundering for a while before I can get my head back above water.

From what I remember, there were three main techniques that I think I just about understood, with the help of my gf during the freestyle (which so far has always proved to be the most useful part of the lesson). First off, a dip (Billy mentioned something about a 'calypso turn', I think, but not sure):

• Mambo as normal for the first two beats (so, step forward, lift your rear foot
• Instead of stepping back on the third beat, step out to the side. As you do so, raise your hand and your partner's hand up high. They should now be close to you.
• Holding your partner high on their back, carefully lower them and twist, keeping your arm raised.
• Lift your partner back up. I'm not quite sure how the fifth, sixth and seventh beats match up: maybe dip, twist and lift?

The next two I can recall both emerge from a half-completed cross-body turn:

• Cross your left foot over your right
• Turn to the left, stepping around with your right foot
• Step your feet back into line.

Your partner, meanwhile, ends up in line with you. That confused me a little, as I wasn't sure if you are turning on the cross-body, or just stepping to the side. Either way, once you're there, we learned two options. First one:

• Having done the cross-body on steps 1, 2 and 3, mambo back for 5, 6, 7.
• As you do so, turn towards your partner, placing your other arm on the crook of her elbow.
• For the next count, you're going to push your partner away by pressing on her arm, spinning around after you do so.

That's where I again got confused, as I wasn't sure how to do the spin. Was it like a normal man's turn, or some particular sequence of steps? The next option from the cross-body was a bit simpler, as it was indeed basically just a man's turn after the cross-body, switching hands, then mamboing back.

We were also shown some kind of hand changing thing, which I didn't understand at all. Something about swinging your hand up, then somehow going from there to grabbing opposite hands and doing a spinny thing. All looked very impressive when the instructor did it, but I had trouble working out how to do it myself.

No video this time, as I was having enough difficulty getting any kind of handle on what we'd just done. Couldn't really do it solo either: next time, if I finally work out what I'm supposed to be doing with all those dance steps, I'll see if I can set up the mobile to record both my gf and I. If not, meh: I'll just have to do without video.

We headed off to the Varsity again afterwards, but once again, nobody else showed up. That could be because the class ends really late, though we were in the pub until about half ten (it has WiFi, and we both needed to get some emailing stuff done). We didn't wait until the very end of the freestyle, so next time – if I want to get some Varsity socialising in – will have to do so to see if people fancy a drink afterwards.

26/10/08 - Judo

Class #7


Warwick Judo (Judo), Chris Page, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 26/10/2008

Heavier focus on throws today, covering off three. I think I mixed up names last time (which I'm guessing is likely to happen a lot in the course of my judo logging…), and should have said tai otoshi rather than uki goshi. We did both of those throws today, which made the difference clear.

Tai otoshi is the one Chris showed us last week (see here for JudoInfo animation), where you break their balance by pulling them up and forward, step in between their legs, move that foot across so its over both of their shins, then pull them over your leg.

Uki goshi, on the other hand, is more like the hip throw I'm used to from BJJ (o goshi). It means 'floating hip', apparently, which makes sense given the technique. Again, break their balance (the 'kuzushi' thing), pulling them down then up (if I understood Adam correctly), then step in, bring your arm under their armpit so you can grip their shoulder (though Chris mentioned some people prefer to grab the waist or the belt). You step your leg in the middle of theirs, then pop them up onto your hip, twisting to drop them in front of you (see animation on JudoInfo).

Finally, the ippon seoinage again (JudoInfo animation). This time, Adam emphasised that I should be on the balls of my feet, dip, then swivel in. Chris highlighted the importance of turning your head, which should put you in proper body alignment to best execute the throw.

Tachiwaza (stand-up) sparring went as usual, with me backing off and staying fairly stiff. I need to learn how to be more relaxed, and also how to set-up throws: as with BJJ, main mistake beginners make is that they are too tense. Being aware of the problem is a start, but doesn't solve it, so its something I'll have to focus on. I'm also very passive, again in keeping with my approach to BJJ, which doesn't really work in judo: have to be aggressive to get in those throws, so following through on a technique is something else I need to work on.

To finish, Chris went through some transitions between throwing and pinning, with combinations like the uki goshi straight into scarf hold. That did mean that we sparred with transitions in mind rather than the normal groundwork sparring, which was a shame, but better suited to judo competition rules. There is a grading and a competition coming up, so makes sense to get used to that environment. Personally, I don't care about grading or competing, but I'd assume most of the class do.

Noticed another BJJ guy at class tonight, from Denmark, who seemed interested in joining us for drilling on Sunday. I'm trying to make the Warwick Uni BJJ sessions regularly on a Sunday, as Glen suggested last week: if you've got a regular slot, people will be prepared and start making time for it, rather than the uncertainty of shifting times. Much easier for me to book it now too, as I'm both a Sports Fed member and live near to campus.

21/10/2008 - Salsa

Class #2
Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Alyssa Davison, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 14/10/2008

My inner thigh (I think?) was still sore from all the half-guard on Sunday, but that didn't seem to matter for dancing. For the first time in years, popped out to Top B with my gf on Monday, which was very bizarre as its now in the 'Temporary Events Structure' thing that looms over you on the way to the Sports Centre. As my gf aptly described it when we first went in earlier this term, it looks very much like a glorified wedding marquee, with a dance floor surrounded by chairs and tables. Still, cheap drinks (thanks to the £2 entrance: another big change from when I last went!), and got a chance to try some salsa steps. Basic, but hey: nice to see we can get the simple stuff working.

Back to class tonight, sticking with the beginners. Alyssa and Mark went through the usual, with the mambo, sidestep, lady's turn and cross-body, but added in two new steps. The instruction also seemed a bit more methodical, as I found it easier to understand the cross-body and man's turn (previously, I think I'd been doing additional steps after getting confused).

The first new step was nice and simple, called a flare, although I was tending to go through it too quickly, I think:

• Step out with your left foot, turning so you're now facing sideways
• Raise your right foot
• Step your left foot back to the starting position
• Step out with your right foot, so standing sideways again, but other direction
• Raise your left foot
• Step your right foot back to the starting position

To go through the cross-body again:

• Cross your left foot past your right
• Bring your right foot around, so you're now turning towards your left
• Complete the turn to your left by bringing your feet back into line. At this point, you'll be perpendicular to your partner, your arm forming a 'gate' for her to walk through
• Step back with your right
• Step across with your left
• Bring your right foot into line: you should now be facing the opposite direction to when you started

Also, remember to keep your arm on your partner: I kept letting go in the freestyle bit after class, but got the hint after repeating prodding by my gf. While I think the cross-body is therefore getting better, I'm still having trouble with the man's turn:

• Step your left forward and twist your left foot inwards, also turning your torso
• Continue the turn by angling your right foot and leg back
• Spin and return to the previous position
• Then mambo back as normal (step back, shift weight, bring feet back in line)

The part I find difficult is spinning around quickly enough to come back into the starting position, while still keeping in time. I was being too slow on the turn, so that's something I'll need to work on: perhaps getting some more slippy shoes, like Georgette recommended in her last email, would help me too.

Alyssa then moved on to a more advanced version of the man's turn, where you start doing things with your arms:

• Do a normal mambo first, but as you step back on the count of 4-5-6, bring your hands down and back, so you're holding both of your partner's hands
• Start the man's turn as normal, stepping your left foot forward and twisting inwards. However, this time you're also going to switch your left hand to their opposite hand at the same time
• As you turn by angling your right foot and leg back, switch to their other hand, feeding it through past your back.
• Complete the turn, and as you do so, switch hands again. This should mean that you're gripping with your left hand. Bring your right hand on top, offering it to your partner for them to grip

That's the first part. You'll now mambo back (to complete the man's turn sequence), then go for a lady's turn on the next sequence. So, mambo forward, then do a ladies turn as normal, but still holding those hands, raising them over your partner's head. Finally, to untwist your arms and get back to the normal one hand and one shoulder position, you 'comb their hair' (I think that's what Alyssa called it). Fairly simple:

• Mambo forward as normal, bringing your hands up and over their head
• As you go back, bring your hands back, letting go as you do so

Its going to take a while to get the hang of that, though my gf and I tried it a few times during the freestyle. Mark and Alyssa also gave us some advice, which was handy: Alyssa advised us to now move on to the post-beginner class, but I'll miss their instruction. Less intimidating being taught by fellow students, not to mention that you're supposed to be comfortable with the cross-body to do the post-beginner. I think I've just about go it, but don't want to be holding people up: more home practice required, I think!

Like last week, got a video on my mobile to try and remember the steps, though couldn't do the arm thing solo. I didn't bother trying to keep in time to the music, as I had enough trouble with the steps themselves (with which there is still plenty wrong, as you can see: somehow only turned halfway on the cross-body). That's my gf's voice at the end, wondering quite why I was wiggling towards her:



I'll get another chance to dance this Friday, as there is the first proper salsa social, at Latin Night. Things kick off in the airport (which people now just refer to as Rootes Social Bar, from what I've heard) at 21:00, then heading out to Tempo (what used to be Grumpy John's, basically, but cut in half due to the union rebuild) at 22:00. Unfortunately my gf can't make it, but should hopefully be a chance for me to get to broaden our social circle.

I recognised a few people from last week, Sarah and I think Carmeen (or Camreen? Will have to check that next time I see her, unless I totally mixing up names), along with a couple of others whose names I didn't catch. They should hopefully be in the post-beginner with my gf and I next week: not sure how many fellow noobies will be at the social on Friday, but its easy to socialise when there's alcohol. :D

We headed off to Varsity again after class, but Mark mentioned that while the two more advanced classes (post-beginner and intermediate) do normally go there afterwards, they often finish later than the beginners. So, most likely they were around tonight and last week, we just didn't recognise them. Should be a bit more sociable next week, when we'll be stumbling through the post-beginner class ourselves.

19/10/2008 - Judo

Class #6


Warwick Judo (Judo), Chris Page, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 19/10/2008

It was going to be a long day of grappling, starting off with another meeting of the Warwick Uni BJJ group. I got in a bit of further drilling on the hook and sickle sweep with Rosie, then a small amount of sparring, first with Rosie, then Josh. As ever, I stayed quite passive in sparring, though with Rosie tested out the step over triangle thing again. She was able to turn me with it so I went into guard, eventually got back into side control, triangled her arm and went for kimura. However, I think the weight difference was probably the deciding factor there, as she most likely would have been able to extricate her arm if we'd been closer in size.

The situation was reversed with Josh (a guy from Mill Hill who started at Warwick this year), who has about 20kg on me. I spent almost the whole time either in guard or half guard, moving back to half guard when under mount. I made a couple of attempts at a stack pass, but couldn't get round his legs. Each time, he was able to just scoot back and get to his knees. I need to drive with my hips, stack more, and generally apply greater downward pressure: the usual problem with weight distribution on my part.

Onto the judo: as far as I can tell from the Warwick Judo sites on the Student Union site and Facebook, there are three coaches who teach on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday (so only the first two concern me, as I train BJJ on Wednesdays). Tonight was my first chance to meet Chris, who I hadn't realised only started teaching at Warwick this term.

He's from the Coventry Judo club (which seems to have a very close connection to Warwick Judo): very approachable guy, so had a pleasant chat with him before and after training (he also mentioned he was keen to check out some BJJ, which is cool). He works as a PE and judo teacher, interestingly, as his school actively wanted somebody to train the students in judo as part of the curriculum. Also interesting is that he mentioned there are rugby clubs who basically require their juniors to learn judo before considering them. From what he said, sounds like grass roots judo has a bright future in this country.

The first throw was like the osoto gari (where you reap their leg), but this time, you plant your foot and push them over it. Osoto otoshi, I think? The next technique (uki goshi?) had some similarities, but this time, you step your foot right across the front of their feet. Dip slightly, then pull them over that outstretched leg, which should flip them onto their back. Chris started off teaching it from a kneeling position, to help up get the technique right, which was helpful.

Standing sparring was similar to last time, although it wasn't throw for throw. I was with a French guy who appeared to have done something before, as his throws were crisp and controlled (or at least they looked that way to me, but then I'm a beginner). Unfortunately, in the midst of throwing me all over the place, he suddenly dropped to the floor clutching his knee.

After getting him to a bench, he told me that he has some condition with his knee ligaments that means his kneecap is prone to suddenly slipping out of place. He's been to doctors and specialists, but nobody has been able to help him, so he just puts up with it. Poor guy: real shame, as that must put a major block on progressing his training. He wasn't the only one, as somebody else later busted their finger: both of them left, as they weren't able to continue.

That served to remind me that judo can be an injurious sport. So, when we then moved on to turnovers, I was a little apprehensive. Its an innocuous enough technique, but was how I got injured last time (which put me out of training for seven months). The basic variation is to grab their far elbow with both your hands, pulling towards you while pressing down with your chin on their back, then driving forward into side control.

We later did the specific version that messed me up the last time, which is where you grab their far elbow with one hand, then thread the other hand through their legs, grabbing either around their knee or the fabric of the gi trouser. Then as before, press down and drive through. Chris also showed us a basic hold down to follow on from that, which was to gable grip (palms together) under their arm and head from side control (though he didn't call it that, obviously, given this is judo: I'll have to work out the Japanese term)

Sparring from ground involved no armlocks or strangles again. I tried just turtling, so my partner could work technique, though as a result I tended to end up in guard anyway. Unsurprisingly, as it was all white belts, I got some confused looks: when not turtling, I was tending to hold them in either guard or half guard. However, Chris did say that an escape from side control was to step your leg over, meaning he was basically showing us how to snatch half guard. So, thought it worth doing in sparring, though I tried not to just cling on, as that's never fruitful (especially when your training partners aren't familiar with the position and therefore haven't been shown passes etc).

Of course, it was very different with Chris. He took it fairly easy, turtling to give me a chance to work the technique he'd shown earlier. I wasn't able to turn him, so he emphasised pressing down with my chin, which seemed to help.

When he moved through to scarf hold, I ended up on his back and in guard, but I got the impression he was perfectly aware of how to pass, but was in instructor mode, so easing off. After all, he was trained by Neil Adams, so certainly knows his stuff on the ground.

Not sure if I'll do the Monday session, as I'm likely to be bit sore after all that grappling. We'll see: its going to take me a while to settle into my new training pattern.

14/10/2008 - Salsa

Class #1
Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Alyssa Davison, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 14/10/2008

Bit of a change from the usual martial artsing, as tonight I went down with my girlfriend to the salsa dancing class here at Warwick Uni (seemed a fair exchange, as she was willing to go along to judo). If you couldn't give a flying armbar for anything non-BJJ and find it annoying having to scroll past the unrelated stuff, click the 'BJJ' category at the top of my blog (presuming you're reading this on the main blog – if not, go here). That will filter posts to just Brazilian jiu jitsu.

If you're still with me: took my gf and I a while to find where the Westwood Dance Studio was, given that despite both of us having spent years at Warwick, almost none of that has involved the Westwood campus. Eventually flagged down a passing cello case, the carrier of which said he was heading to the Music Centre (which apparently houses the Dance Studio). Turned out it didn't matter if we were slightly late, as things were still being set up.

There was a huge turn-out: so many that the instructors had to keep whistling in order to be heard above the loud murmuring horde of beginners. After a brief warm-up going through the basic steps (naturally most of us had no idea what they were, as the majority were new people), class was split in three: beginner, post-beginner and intermediate.

That still left a pretty massive group of beginners, but fortunately we did all (just about) fit into the 'Reinvention Centre' room (quite what the name refers to I don't know). After a quick introduction by Alyssa, who is both the president of Warwick Salsa and teacher for the beginners, the men were arranged in a big circle. Men are supposed to lead, so the steps are different depending on gender. I wonder how that works for gay couples? I'd guess they have to decide who is going to be the 'guy' and who is the 'girl', but would be interesting to know how many lesbian and gay salsa couples there are.

As I'd assume tends to be the case with dancing societies, there were significantly more women than men, so that meant that there was a queuing system in place for everyone to get a chance to dance. Well, by 'everyone' I mean the women: the blokes didn't have that problem. Hopefully the men won't drop off as the year progresses, or its going to be frustrating for the female dancers.

The first step was a mambo (is that capitalised?), which breaks down like this on a seven-beat rhythm (the fourth beat is a pause, if I understood correctly). This is from the male perspective, who always acts as the leader:

• Step forward on your left
• Lift your right heel and move your weight forward
• Bring your left foot back in line with your right
• Step back with your right
• Shift your weight back
• Bring your right foot back in line with your left

Once we'd gone through that and switched partners a few times (very regular, which made it nice and sociable), Alyssa added in sidestepping, which is the same as the mambo, just sideways. That was the simple part.

Things got more complicated with the turns. After the lady's turn (easy for the man, as we just stand there with our arm in the air, mamboing back while the woman spins), the blokes then had to do some work with the man's turn. I'm not quite sure I got this one down properly, but if I remember correctly:

• Step your left forward and twist your left foot inwards, also turning your torso
• Continue the turn by angling your right foot and leg back
• Spin and return to the previous position
• Then mambo back as normal (step back, shift weight, bring feet back in line)

The cross-body turn was even more confusing, particularly as I couldn't quite see the people demonstrating. However, I had a chance to practice it lots more later on, as there is an hour of 'freestyle' after class finishes, which proved very useful. The steps are:

• Cross your left foot past your right
• Bring your right foot around, so you're now turning towards your left
• Complete the turn to your left by bringing your feet back into line. At this point, you'll be perpendicular to your partner, your arm forming a 'gate' for her to walk through
• Step back with your right
• Step across with your left
• Bring your right foot into line: you should now be facing the opposite direction to when you started

It was a relief to get an hour to practice all that with my girlfriend, which helped a lot in getting the moves ingrained. It also meant I could get her to record my feet on my phone, in an effort to better remember the steps. If I manage to do that every session, the videos will also form a handy record of my progress, which should be fun to look back on. So, here's me after one lesson:



We were told that everyone would be meeting up at the Varsity bar for drinks at 21:00, so heading off for some boozing. Unfortunately, despite the enormous amount of dancers, only six of us actually showed up. I'm hoping next week there will be a better turnout, but it was nice to at least get to know those four others (Danni, Alex, Johnny and Matt). Looking forward to next week, where I should have more of a chance to apply Georgette's great advice, or possibly the week after when things get more advanced.

13/10/2008 - Judo

Class #5

Warwick Judo (Judo), Iain Cunningham, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 13/10/2008

Back to the Cryfield Sports Pavilion tonight, though this time my girlfriend agreed to come along. Very cool, and hopefully she'll find she likes the sport, but will take a while to see if it appeals to her. I lent her my Blitz judo gi, which fittingly enough is the one I bought from Warwick Judo back in 2005. I've recently bought a new judo gi, from Black Eagle, which was getting its first try tonight. It seems to have shrunk down ok (though the belt is still rather too long), after a half-hour stint in the spin-drier, but I'd also managed to stain a few chunks vaguely pink, due to the red hoody I was washing at the same time. Meh.

The session this Monday was only an hour, as on the second Monday of the month, there is another group who eat up the last thirty minutes of judo's allotted time. Things started off as before, with a bit of stretching followed by a load of breakfalling, after which the class was split into two. Those who had trained for a little while went with Iain, while newcomers (there were quite a few who popped in slightly later) were gathered up the other end of the mats by Adam.

My girlfriend and I joined that group, presumably because not only were we new, but none of the newcomers were wearing a gi. That was unfortunate for my gf in one respect, as people assumed she knew what she was doing: this was her first lesson, so most definitely the wrong impression on their part!

While I had done BJJ and a teeny amount of judo before, I made sure that my own partner didn't get the wrong idea, steering him towards Adam when he had technical questions. That was useful for me too, of course: for example, on the ippon seionage (the one where you punch up under their arm), Adam explained that the reason you grip using your arm rather than drive up with your shoulder is that the latter leaves you open for a choke.

There was also some handy instruction about the three steps to any judo throw, though I can only remember the one I've heard before, kuzushi (breaking balance, like where you step to their side whilst pushing their collar towards their head and pulling their arm down). The last one was execution, but can't remember what came in the middle. Again, will have to go have a look on JudoInfo.

I also found I'm still having trouble sweeping the leg properly on the osoto gari, which is something I've messed up ever since we did something similar way back in Zhuan Shu Kuan (I think for the black tag grading, which involved throws, but I never bothered going for: however, acted as partner for Paddy when he was practicing, which is how I ended up doing the throw). I need to make sure I'm whacking my leg into their calf muscle, keeping it straight and swinging straight through. At the moment, I'm tending to hook it instead, which kills the momentum and messes up the throw.

As I was in the absolute beginner group, there wasn't any randori this time, which was probably no bad thing, as that meant my girlfriend could ease into the class. She liked learning new techniques, with the three throws we were shown (the big hip throw, o goshi, the trip, osoto gari (which I keep thinking is tai otoshi, but that's something else), and that arm throw, ippon seionage), but hated breakfalling. Hopefully its something she'll be able to get used to so it becomes instinctual: we've got mats at home, so I can help her practice here, presuming she fancies making judo a regular thing.

Salsa tomorrow, which should be fun. I'm especially looking forward to the socialising, which unfortunately has been difficult at judo so far. Their socials all appear to be on the Wednesday, which is when I'm in London at BJJ, so can't make it. Hopefully they'll do a social on Saturday some time, but salsa shouldn't be a problem: they apparently go drinking straight after the session on Tuesday night. :D

06/10/2008 - Judo

Class #4

Warwick Judo (Judo), Iain Cunningham, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 06/10/2008

Before I get onto the judo, just wanted to mention that The Grapplers Guide (which I reviewed last week) is shifting its fee structure. It began with a $47 annual fee, then moved to a $9.95 per month, and is about to go to a $127 lifetime subscription. So, if you want to give it a trial for $9.95 rather than jumping straight in with the lifetime fee, sign up before the 10th October. IIRC, if you like the site you can then upgrade to a lifetime membership for $40. Pricey stuff, but if you're interested, take a look at my review for an idea of what you get for all that cash (I'll need to update that again when the fee structure changes).

I've had a rather busy week up until now, having moved house over the course of several days, with lots of box-unpacking to look forward to. I took two days off work so I could spend the whole week helping my girlfriend with settling in after we initially got our stuff over (those extra days have proved very handy, as she has been quite ill for the last few days), which meant that I didn't get in any BJJ.

However, now that I'm nearer to University, I can finally give the Warwick Judo club another try. My last attempt three years ago was cut short, as I got injured in my third lesson and wasn't able to train for roughly seven months afterwards. This time, I'm hoping that my grappling experience from RGA will help me stay safe: I wasn't going to be taking any chances!

Monday sessions are in the Cryfield Pavilion, which I haven't been to for a good six years: last occasion was a brief stint at ballroom dancing with my girlfriend when she was still an undergrad and during my MA. Changing rooms are off the far side, and randomly separated in numbered rooms, rather than one big area for changing. The actual lesson takes place upstairs.

Had a chance to chat to some people beforehand, like Adam (who I spoke to at the Sports Fair last week), a few fellow new people (although one of them, Graham, is a brown belt, so just new to that club rather than the sport), and Sophie, the sole female judoka there tonight. She mentioned that there are about five or six girls around, so hopefully there will be several training: my girlfriend said she'd come down when she's feeling better, so would be good to have some other women to help her ease into the sport.

The warm-up was fairly brief and light, loosening up the neck, breakfalling and some cartwheels, after which the instructor, Iain, moved into the first throw. Can't remember what its called, but it starts with the usual grip, with one hand holding the same side sleeve by the elbow, while the other hand holds the same side collar. Swivel in so your back is pressed against your partner, pulling their arm and collar over the same shoulder, pressing the elbow of the collar-grabbing hand up under their armpit. Squat, lift, then drop them over your shoulder.

Iain followed up that throw by dropping into north south: basically plop onto their chest, scooping your elbows under their arms and pulling in close to restrict their movement. You can also switch to reverse scarf hold, by bringing one arm under theirs and gripping behind the neck, shifting your hips to the other side of their head, then stepping through with your rear leg. Pull up their other arm, then settle into the pin.

He also demonstrated how to hold standard scarf hold, then showed us an escape from scarf hold. This is a little similar to what I've seen in BJJ, where you try and isolate the floating rib, but with the far more straightforward approach of grabbing their belt with both hands, around the side. Move your legs in close to their body, then bridge up and back, aiming to drive their head into the floor. Roll over your own shoulders, bringing them over the top of you, ending up in scarf hold yourself.

To prevent your partner escaping your scarf hold that easily, use the variation Dan showed me a while back, where you grab your own leg. Remember to actually grip the fabric of your trousers, not just hold your leg like I was doing. Apparently this is called 'pillow scarf hold' or something like in Japanese: began with M? Meh: I can always have a good read through JudoInfo to get the terminology down.

I may be mixing up the order here, but either before or after that we went through two trips - osoto-gari, I think? Again you have that collar and sleeve grip, but this time step out with your outside leg, so that you can then swing your other leg through, reap their leg, and drive them to the floor by pulling the elbow and pushing the shoulder. Points to note are to stay close, knocking them with your shoulder, keeping your hip tight.

Iain then demonstrated the 'minor' version of that, which I think he said was kosoto-gari, but may have misheard. Instead of stepping out with your outside leg, you step in, then sweep your other leg sideways and back, knocking out their other leg. You also push on the shoulder differently: rather than holding and dragging across, push the collar right over their shoulder and drive them forward to the floor.

That meant it was now time for randori, starting with standing. It was great being a white belt again, as all the seniors were told to go lightly on us beginners. The sparring was also fairly restrained (at least with the senior belts: as usual, over-enthusiastic white belts were a different story), with the instructor telling us to stay light, going throw for throw. Again proved the maxim that its best to stick with the higher belts, as they don't go nuts, carefully placing you on the floor rather than attempting to slam you through the mats.

As ever, I stayed passive, which was even easier than normal due to the throw-for-throw thing. I think we did about four rounds of three minutes, with a line-up where you stepped one to the right in order to train with a different person each time (I prefer picking my training partners, like at RGA, as that means I can avoid people who are injury risks, but meh).

Having covered stand-up, it was time for another few rounds of randori, this time on the ground. Naturally I was a lot more comfortable there, though there were two major differences to what I'm used to from BJJ: you start back to back rather than facing each other, and no strangles or armlocks allowed against beginners.

Of course, I'm still more interested in escapes than submissions anyway, so that restriction suited me fine: it meant I spent most of the sparring holding to other person either in guard or half-guard. The seniors were taking it easy, which made for very relaxed sparring: they also didn't mind if I popped up on their back, but then given the lack of submissions, that was a bit of a pointless place to be. So, next time I'll aim to get in side control or mount, or underneath to work escapes.

I was vaguely looking to work some sweeps, as I was in guard, but didn't really get anywhere. Also found it interesting to spar with people who weren't going for the usual techniques: in BJJ, they'd be standing up and driving their hips forward, whereas the beginners here were obviously unfamiliar with the ground, so haven't yet got a clear goal when rolling.

The sparring wasn't all back to back, as the very last roll was done with one knee up, so sort of like combat base. That made it even easier for me to go straight to half-guard, by which point I was trying to work back to full guard rather than go round to my partner's back. Will definitely try to have a better plan of action next session: should be interesting to see how (if?) escapes differ when you're in a judo class.

Iain finished up with a warm-down, stretching, then a quick bit of exercise (press-ups, sit-ups and – more randomly – skipping with our belts). Having taken off our belts, it seemed that the done thing was to take off your jacket too. I couldn't help thinking when everyone was stretching and thrusting their chests out that it must have looked very silly to the lone female there, as a bunch of half-naked blokes stood around posing. ;)

Always good to warm-down though, which is a plus point for any class: especially important as you get older, though that isn't much of a concern for university classes. I could have stayed on for another hour of fitness, but wanted to get back to my girlfriend, who was lying ill in bed (seems to be improving though, so hopefully we'll be able to walk onto campus tomorrow to check out the second day of the Societies Fair).

10/08/2008 - Warwick Uni BJJ (Drilling)

Warwick Uni BJJ Training Group, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 10/08/2008

I haven't been able to make all of the University of Warwick BJJ training sessions, so this was the third meeting of the Warwick Uni BJJ group for me. As I've said before, it isn't a formal class, as none of us are experienced enough to teach: its just a bunch of people getting together for drilling. I wouldn't normally stick it in its own entry, but scribbling this down now its getting kinda long, so I didn't want to shove it at the top of my next RGA post.

I finally got to meet Rosie today, who trains at GB Brum, and also did lots of drilling on side control escapes and a De La Riva sweep. Started off with the basic escape where you bridge, shrimp, bring your knee in and recover guard, then moved on to the 'spinout' Roy Dean demonstrates on Blue Belt Requirements.

I've only seen this on that video, so that means my understanding remains suspect. So, keeping that in mind: the spinout side control escape starts the same way as the basic bridge and shrimp. If you can't quite get your knee through, then as Roy Dean explains on his DVD, you can try changing directions. Slide the hand that was by their hip under their body, and grab their far hip. Bring your knees towards their knees, then fling them back in the other direction. At the same time, you'll be using that momentum to swivel right round underneath them, also pushing off with the hand on their far hip, ending up in open guard.

As always, I combined several drills together, as I think the best way to drill is where both people get to work. So, that meant I started with a guard pass to side control, after which the other person recovered guard, so you passed it again. After that, we did Roy Dean's spinout escape, which puts you in open guard, so perfect for adding the De La Riva sweep Rosie wanted to work on.

The spinout works fine in drilling, as everything does, but once you start adding resistance, it becomes very difficult. I've attempted it a few times in sparring at RGA, and yet to get anywhere with the technique. However, both Rosie and I found that while we couldn't complete the spin because the space was cut off, the escape still opened up options.

For me, the momentum of swinging the legs off-balanced the person on top sufficiently that I could drive through with my legs and shoulder to roll on top: that may have been down to the weight difference, though, as I've got 9kg on Rosie. When Rosie was on the bottom trying out the escape, she didn't roll me over, but was able to pop out the side. I found that her head slipped out of my grasp after she attempted the spinout, even though she couldn't complete the motion when I cut off the space.

I also noticed she often uses her arms for pushing out to escape to guard. I've been avoiding using my arms when escaping side control, as I'm wary both of armbars and of trying to use pure strength to shove people off (I'm small, so in addition to wanting to concentrate on my jiu jitsu technique, I don't have the muscle to fall back on anyway). Perhaps I've been avoiding them too much, however, as it might help when trying to make space to recover guard. Something to think about when I next spar.

The De La Riva sweep looked familiar, but looking through my blog, I don't think I've done it before. From the De La Riva position (same side leg around the outside of their leg, instep hooking their other hip), you push their leg back with your free foot, pressing just above the knee. This should put them a little off balance, setting up switching your pushing foot to behind their ankle, while you De La Riva leg goes to their same side hip. Simultaneously push on their hip and drag on their ankle: as they fall back, use your grip on their sleeve to pull yourself up, moving through to side control.

As we were doing that sweep off the spinout, that meant you end up already with a grip on their arm. However, it’s the wrong arm for the De La Riva sweep, so you have to switch. I was trying to come up with a way of doing that, mainly by relying on the initial push on their knee to off-balance, but not entirely reliable, especially if your training partner knows what you're trying to do. Grabbing the collar first and then switching was another option, but then you still have to release to grab the sleeve (if you don't have the sleeve, they can post to stop their fall).

Aidi and Rosie got in some sparring towards the end of the two hours, whereas I did a bit more drilling with Dan. Not as measured as before, because we mainly just went through some drills Dan wanted to do on armbars. I also showed Dan some options to complete the armbar from mount, with the proviso that I'm total poo at submissions. Hence why I don't teach a Brazilian jiu jitsu class: just a matter of exchanging training tips.

We finished off by going through that side control escape Nick showed me last week. It’s a little strange, so I wanted to take the opportunity to drill it some more. I still don't quite have that roll to my other shoulder down, and I also need to watch where I land, as I was ending up rather too high.

No idea when I'll make the next one, as I can only ever do these drilling meets when my gf is away: I get limited time with her as it is, so normally spend my weekends with her. Hopefully won't be too long before I pop down to a University of Warwick BJJ meet-up again, as its really handy having that extended period to just drill technique.