04/02/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Rear Naked Choke

Teaching #272
Artemis BJJ (MyGym/Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 04/02/2015

The RNC is a fundamental technique to BJJ. Everybody with more than a few lessons under their belt knows that you're going to be looking for it, so they will immediately be trying to create barriers with their arms and hands. However, as this particular class has plenty of absolute beginners, I focused on the basic application before getting into the set-up.

So, to apply a rear naked choke (the reason for that name is that you aren't using the gi to complete the choke, hence 'naked'). Position the elbow of your choking arm 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.

Reaching past their shoulder, you are then going to grip the bicep of your free arm. This is to lock the choke in place. It will normally be difficult to grab your bicep straight off, as your opponent knows that's dangerous. You can instead secure your initial arm by gripping the back of their shoulder. Stephan Kesting has a useful video on RNC details, where he talks about holding the ridge of bone at the bottom of the shoulder blade, using what he calls a 'tiger palm'. From there, switch to gripping palm to palm over their shoulder, dropping the elbow of your back-arm down along their shoulder blade. That will further help to lock it in position: as Demian Maia demonstrates, you can even finish the choke from there. If not, you can then do what Kesting calls the 'creep', wriggling that elbow across their back to cinch up the choke.

When you have managed to grip your bicep, make sure both your elbows are in front of their shoulders. In other words, your armpits are resting on their shoulders. The elbow drops straight down. As Nathan 'Levo' Leverton emphasises, this now means that both your wrists are hidden, making it difficult for them to strip your grip. It also makes the choke tighter, as both of your arms are directly by their neck.

Bring the hand of that bicep arm to the back of their head: a commonly used version is to press the palm into their skull, but there are various options, coming down to personal preference. Using the back of your hand against their neck is arguably better, as that may slip in more securely than palm down. Also, palm down is easier for them to grab, if they try to peel your fingers off their skull. Either way, when you're locking in the choke, don't reach your hand forward over their shoulder. If you do, then they can armbar you using their shoulder as a fulcrum. Instead, slide it behind the head.

Bring your head next to theirs on the bicep gripping side, to further cut off any space. If for some reason after grabbing your bicep you can't get your other hand behind their head, grab your own skull, using that grip to finish from there. Staying close to their back, expand your chest and squeeze your elbows together.

A common problem is that people will also tend to tuck their chin. Some people advocate unpleasant methods to force your way through to the neck in that situation. For example, Stephan Kesting has a list here: the results of that kind of approach (though Kesting does make a point of saying he is not fond of pain-based options either) can be seen in this video of a brutal Baret Yoshida match. That is not how I want my jiu jitsu to look.

My goal is smooth, technical, leverage-based jiu jitsu, causing as little pain to the other person as possible. As Saulo says in my favourite BJJ quote:

"You have to think that your partner, the guy that you're training [with], has to be your best friend. So, you don't want to hurt him, you don't want to try to open his guard with your elbow, make him feel really pain, because jiu jitsu is not about pain. You have to find the right spot to save your energy"

I strongly feel it is best to avoid hurting your training partners, for four additional reasons:

• You're in class to learn, not to 'win' at all costs. Save the 'win' mentality for competition.
• If you're always hurting the people you spar, eventually nobody will want to train with you, making it rather hard to improve.
• Presuming you're in BJJ for the long-term, you're going to be spending a lot of time with your training partners. Therefore it would make sense to build a good relationship.
• Even if you don't care about your classmates, everybody has a different pain threshold. So, the efficacy of pain-reliant techniques will vary from person to person. The efficacy of leverage does not: that's based on physics, not how tough somebody is.

There is a less nasty option you could try for opening up their chin, from Andre Galvao. If they really shove their chin down, this may not work, but it is worth a go. Twist your hand so that your thumb is pointing down, then as you slide the arm to their neck, twist the thumb back up to lift their chin.

If I find I have no option except something brutish (e.g., crushing their chin until they tap from pain or lift their head), my preference is to instead transition to a different attack, like an ezequiel, a bow and arrow choke or an armbar (which I'll be covering in later lessons). In my opinion, if I get to the point where force and pain are the main routes to finishing a submission, then my set up was poorly executed.

You can also try tricking them into giving you access to the hold you want, a handy tip I saw on a John Will DVD. For example, when you try to get an arm around their neck, a common reaction on their part is to grab your arm and pull it down. If you respond by pulling up, they will normally pull down even harder. This means that if you time it right, you can suddenly switch direction and swing the arm they are pulling down across your body. This should sweep their arms out of the way for a moment (try to catch both of their arms when you do this). Make sure your other hand is ready and waiting near their shoulder, as you can then immediately bring that other arm across their suddenly undefended neck.

Even better, you can take their arm right out of commission. With one of your hands, grab their wrist. Shove it down towards their legs, then step over that arm with your same side leg. When you then re-establish your hook (or pin your heel to their ribs, or put your leg behind their back), they are left with only one arm to defend against both of yours. If they've grabbed your wrist, twist your palm outwards, shove it down and out, then again step over their arm with your leg. Make sure you maintain pressure, so they can't simply swim their arm free.

There is also the method I learned from Dónal. Grab their wrist with your armpit hand. Drop to the choking arm side, twisting your hips to increase the range of motion for your leg. Shove their arm down, then swing your leg over your armpit arm. Grip your own shin with the armpit hand, then using both your leg and arm, get your foot to their spine to trap their limb.
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Teaching Notes: I added in some more details about maintaining the back this time, then after running through the basics of applying the choke, I went through my usual pointers on the set up. I think they had a bit of trouble understanding the grabbing your foot method, but the other two are fairly straightforward. I need to emphasise how you're threading your leg through, rather than just squishing it on top of the arm. In other words, the leg swings around from the outside then hooks inside. It isn't an intuitive technique, judging by how classes normally respond, so I could probably break that down a bit more next time.

02/02/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Maintaining & Simple Back Take

Teaching #271
Artemis BJJ (MyGym/Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 02/02/2015

In half guard, your first concern is to stop them flattening you out and starting their pass. They are generally going to want to establish an underhook on their trapped leg side, using the other arm to control under your head. In many ways, it is a similar position to standard side control. That will enable them to crush you to the mat, then exert lots of shoulder pressure to kill your mobility. Many of the same attacks from side control can also be viable from here, like an americana.

Naturally, you don't want them to reach that dominant position. Your goal is to get up on your side, with your own underhook around their back, on your trapped leg side. That is one of the main fights you'll have in half guard, so it is essential that you get used to working for that underhook.

If you can get the underhook, that accomplishes two things. First, it prevents them crushing their chest into yours, which would help them flatten you out. Second, it means you can press into their armpit to help disrupt their base, as well as help you get up onto your side. You can use your knee knocking into their bum at the same time to help with this too, as that should bump them forward.

For your leg positioning, the standard half guard is to have the inside leg wrapped around with your foot on the outside. Your other leg triangles over your ankle. This provides you with what SBG refer to as a 'kickstand': that outside leg is useful for bridging and general leverage. It's harder for them to flatten you out if you can resist with that kickstand structure.

Another key detail is to block the arm with which they are trying to cross-face you. Almost a decade ago, Indrek Reiland put together an awesome video (made even more awesome by being free) about the fundamentals of half guard. The main principle I use from Reiland is what he calls the 'paw'.

By that, he means hooking your hand around their bicep, just above the elbow. You aren't gripping with your thumb: reach your hand all the way around, so that your wrist is on their bicep. This is just a block, to prevent them getting a cross-face. Reiland emphasises that preventing that cross-face is the main principle. Therefore, if you can feel they are about to remove your paw by swimming their arm around, bring your other hand through to replace your first paw with a second paw: this is what Reiland calls the 'double-paw' (as he says in the video, it's an approach he learned from SBG black belt John Frankl).

Similarly, if they manage to get their arm under your underhook, bring your arm over for a double-paw (this is also applicable from the start, if you're framing against their neck), then work to recover your underhook. Keep in mind with the double-paw that you need to make sure you don't leave space under your elbow. Otherwise, as Reiland demonstrates, they can they go for a brabo choke. Get the elbow of your top double-pawing arm to their nearest armpit, as that makes it easier to circle your arm around to their back.

From there, you have two primary options. First, try to take the back, by whacking your underhook into their armpit (flinging your arm straight up) and simultaneously scooting down their body. Pull your paw arm back towards you, so that you can base on that elbow, then base on the hand. That should give you the balance to reach around to their lat with what was your underhooking arm, as well as swinging your leg over their back too. Establishing a hook by digging the heel of that leg you just swung over inside their knee. Finally, get a seatbelt grip (one arm under their armpit, the other over their shoulder, locking your hands together) and roll towards your non-hooking foot.

If their base is too solid to go for the back, you can recover full guard instead, which we'll look at on Wednesday.
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Teaching Notes: I think I forgot to mention, but last week marked the year anniversary of Artemis BJJ, so that's pretty cool. Fittingly, one of the stalwarts I wasn't expecting to see again reappeared, as Rafal has moved back to Bristol. Very cool, he's both a good student and a decent training partner. :)

I've been playing with the structure of the maintaining half guard lesson for a while. When I first started teaching it a few years ago, I would show the maintaining, back take and guard recovery all in one lesson. I think that's too much for an hour, but fitting in two of those three works. Maintaining on its own isn't enough as that lacks context, but combined with a back take or guard recovery it works. If a lot of people from Monday also show up on Wednesday, it will be easy enough to switch to the guard recovery. If not, then I'll need to work out how to recap the previous lesson. Then again, the guard recovery is a different leg positioning, so that could work well (as it won't entirely repeat the maintaining from the last lesson).

I mentioned Braulio's alternative to the paw, as this month I'm reviewing his EstimaInAction site. On there, he puts his hand on his forehead rather than the Reiland 'paw'. That's kind of like a facepalm, which is a memorable way of describing it and gets a laugh (always really handy in a lesson, as atmosphere is important). I'm not sure people were using it though, but I'll be playing with it myself over this month.

That should be easier now, as from this Monday onwards, I've booked in an extra 30 minutes at the end of class, functioning as open mat time. That's good for the students that want more sparring, plus it's also good for me, in terms of both drilling and sparring. At the moment the main training time that's "for me" is during the Saturday open mat, though I tend to also help people out too.

Of course, I definitely learn from teaching too. So, I don't mind people asking me stuff at open mat - that's what I'm there for - as long as I get a chance to do some drilling and sparring. The more open mat time there is, the more opportunity I've got to do that. Even better will be when there are other instructors at the club, so I could potentially attend their lessons and be a student (e.g., like when Donal was still teaching for us).

In this inaugural Monday open mat, my drilling time was doing some opposite side passing with Rafal. That's one of the two half guard passes I use most often and I'll be teaching it later in the month too, possibly next week or the week after. The key details are cross facing and basing strongly with your foot. The cross-face for this pass needs to be especially firm: I hate 'dirty tactics' in jiu jitsu (like choking the face, elbows into thighs etc), so the cross-face is about as close as I come to that. I don't think it's unnecessarily 'mean' unless you're also driving your shoulder into their throat, but I don't do that as I don't find it as efficient for preventing their turn (though admittedly you can submit people with a shoulder into the throat, it's just not a very 'clean' submission).

The bit I'll add in for Wednesday is:

To recover the guard, you still want an underhook: if you need to make space, keep bumping until you can at least get your elbow by their armpit. You can then use that to pry up some space, circling your arm around for the underhook. Switch your leg positioning so that your 'kickstand' steps over their leg, hooking underneath their lower leg with your instep. Keep your legs tight, or they will pull their leg free.

You can effectively hold half guard with just the one leg that way, providing you with the opportunity to pull the other leg free for full guard. Curl towards their same side knee on your paw-arm side, until you can push it out with your elbow. Get the knee of your inside leg up past that knee, which will enable you to shove their knee back and free your leg. From there, swing both legs around their back and lock your ankles for closed guard. I like to also shift from a paw to an underhook around their arm, trapping it to my chest, but that isn't essential.

Interview - BlogChat #5: Georgette Oden on Rape Culture & Journalism

Following on from last week, Georgette moves into some more serious topics, related to the increasing role her blog has taken in addressing important social issues.

CAN: Has the online aspect of jiu jitsu been important as a support network, especially the large community of female BJJ bloggers?

GEORGETTE: I don’t really attribute a whole lot of extra support from people based on their gender. I think there are some women out there who are blithering idiots, just like there are men out there who are blithering idiots too. Fortunately there are also some really sharp, astute people as well, of all genders.

I’ve never really felt that being a woman in jiu jitsu makes me feel picked on or in need of any additional, special support. I tend to look at it more like that there are some jiu jitsu people who are more aware of social issues and how they affect the community, then there are people who just don’t care about social issues, they only want to put their head down and train. I gravitate more towards the socially aware group, the socially conscious and interested group.

CAN: The other big thing with your blog is that it’s shifted in content and tone over the years. It used to be a diary, then you added reviewing, but more recently that’s changed. It’s become more about broader social issues. When did that start happening?

GEORGETTE: I would say that really took off after the Team Lloyd Irvin scandal, when two of his students were accused of gang raping a third. I’ve always considered myself to be a journalist. Before I went to law school and during my studies, I worked as a photojournalist. As cheesy as it sounds, I do think that my blog is a form of media akin to journalism.

So, there was a time when I understood I couldn’t continue writing really personal feelings about training, competition, partners and educators, because I finally realised that there were a lot of people at my academy that did in fact read my blog. If I wrote something in a moment of frustration or sadness, it could strike somebody the wrong way and create a lot of friction in relationships that I didn’t feel was worth it.

So, I guess I started seeing my blog as a vehicle to potentially positively impact the community without hurting people’s feelings unnecessarily. A way of reaching a broader span of people, I guess.

CAN: Does that mean your blog has essentially become a news outlet?

GEORGETTE: Yeah, for me anyway. Especially when it’s Presidential election season. When Sarah Palin was out and about, she gave me so much material!

CAN: That’s true, you do often have non-jiu-jitsu material on your blog.

GEORGETTE: I just haven’t had as much time to blog, lately. My real job has gotten in the way of my fake job. But I love to write about cooking, politics, current events, all that kind of stuff as well. It used to be that I could get in an hour or half an hour of blogging every day, on my lunch break, in the evening or whatever. Now, I’m back to training as much as I used to and it’s hard.

CAN: Getting back to what you were saying earlier today about rape culture, you’ve really become a spokesperson within the BJJ community on that topic. Is that a role you welcome or one that has been thrust upon you?

GEORGETTE: I welcome it so long as I’m able to do or say things that are helpful for the community. I do feel like it has kinda been thrust on me, but I’m not unwilling. I think I offer a unique perspective because I’m an assault survivor and a crisis counsellor, as well as a prosecutor and a woman who trains jiu jitsu. So I think, at least based on some of the things I’ve been told, I’ve become a voice for other people who may feel the same way, but don’t have a soap box, a platform to stand on.

CAN: How much of an issue do you think it is within jiu jitsu specifically?

GEORGETTE: I’m sure that it’s representative in a typical proportion to the regular community. I don’t think there is anything about jiu jitsu that makes people more or less likely to be sexually assaulted, except possibly the fact that it is a community predominantly made of men and it does tend to reward a certain level of aggression, I think. There’s cliquishness too. A lot of people say that it’s important BJJ incorporates Brazilian culture and that this is part of a more ‘Brazilian’ attitude towards women. I don’t know enough about Brazilian culture to agree or disagree with that, but I don’t like the idea that Brazilian jiu jitsu ‘causes’ rape, or allows it in any greater proportion than regular society.

I don’t want that to be true. Even if it was, I don’t want that theory getting out and being publically acclaimed or confirmed. I want to think of jiu-jitsu as a safe place for everybody that trains in it, male or female, straight or queer. If we can’t police ourselves and make it a safe place, something needs to be changed. But I think it is the same as it probably is in any other community.

CAN: Do you think that there are any particular steps that can be taken to make it a safer environment?

GEORGETTE: I do. I think there is a lot of talk about creating ethics codes or policies, instituting background checks, things like that. Sadly, Brazilian jiu jitsu does not have a national governing body the way that some other sports do, which could institute a top-down policy. I think it needs to come from the bottom up. Individual students and teachers need to create policies, try them out, try different variations to see what works. Grass roots change, as trite a phrase as that may be, is nevertheless the way to go.

The IBJJF, sadly, is a political and financial organisation that operates for its own profit and its own benefit. I don’t think, from watching what they have done over the last year and a half, that they are strong enough or brave enough to make great change happen. So I think it is up to the individual academies, teams and leaders to step up and write policies, require things like background checks.

CAN: Is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers of this interview?

GEORGETTE: I would welcome anyone who has more questions about writing an anti-sex abuse, anti-misogyny, anti-misandry policy for their school. I would encourage them to contact me, because I’ve probably had similar questions. Together we can probably find out the answer.

Photos courtesy of Georgette Oden.

31/01/2015 - Win a GIMONO Gi | Open Mat | Unstoppable Sweep

Class #626
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 31/01/2015

With about five weeks left until we hit the mats to roll for Equality Now, we're getting close to a fundraising milestone. With another five pounds, we'll reach the £500 mark on our GrappleThon team total. Are there any readers who want to help us there? One step closer to the £4,000 target! Donate here and support the important work done by Equality Now. :D

In other exciting news, a new sponsor has stepped up to support the GrappleThon. GIMONO are a gi company from New Zealand, who use an innovative material in creating their martial arts equipment. It's made of merino wool and polyster, which sounds like a bizarre combination, but after almost three years of use, it's still my favourite gi (I reviewed the BJJ model back in 2012, just before my first trip out to the States). Now you have a chance to win one in your choice of colour, cut (they do several) and size. All you need to do is join the GrappleThon fundraising team and raise more money than anybody else (I'm excluding myself from the comp, of course ;D).

Good luck and let me know if you need any help: there is a full guide to setting up a fundraising page here, but I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. :)

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This Saturday featured one of the biggest turnouts we've had so far, coinciding with the brightest jiu jitsu trousers I've ever worn, having dyed some Fenom trousers Flamingo Pink a few days ago. I've clearly moved away from my previous "plain white gi only" stance, something that's been gradually breaking down ever since I brought back a blue The Green Gi jacket from Virginia last May. My nogi wardrobe was already pretty colourful, so thanks to Dylon, my gi wardrobe will eventually be just as fabulous. ;)

We had a visitor from London today, Bevan, which is always really cool. He's probably going to go train with Seymour at Mill Hill, as since his old gym closed down, I think that's the closest. It would great to get in some rolls with him, as that gave me a chance to practice all sorts of random techniques (e.g., pull his gi tail out over his back, switch hands by the neck, then do a sort of loop choke motion. Not sure that would normally work, but hey, fun!). I had a chance to show him a few techniques too, like some basic mount escapes and my favourite choke from side control (as he's only been training two months, there are of course still some gaps. I've been training for almost nine years now and have LOTS of gaps ;D).

I also got some drilling time with Tracey, whose armbars and triangles are really coming along. There's a noticeable solidity when she locks in that armbar now, which wasn't there before. I'm sure it won't be long until she's regularly hitting that technique in sparring: as a teacher, there's nothing better than watching your students improve. The growing number of women at Artemis BJJ (there are now four officially on the books, with several others popping in every now and then) is especially awesome. Just need to reach that critical mass, then hopefully I'll be getting close to the ambitious 50/50 gender split I'm aiming for.


There was a particularly cool, chilled out atmosphere today, something I always try to build. I honestly think that was at least partly down to my pink pants. They are so ridiculous that it immediately made it easier for everyone to be a bit more silly and relaxed, having fun with jiu jitsu rather than getting all serious and grr. Yay for fabulous Flamingo Pink! ;D

The main thing I wanted to drill was something called the 'unstoppable sweep', mentioned by Seymour over on his blog recently. He went to a Mike Fowler seminar, who is the guy known for this technique. If I understand it right, you get on your side in open guard, bringing your lower leg in front of the bottom of their shin. Your other leg goes just above their knee, when you also lock your feet together. Grab their same side sleeve with your lower arm and their same side collar with your upper arm.

You can then tweak their leg outwards by pulling with your lower leg on their shin and pushing with your other leg behind their knee. Maintain your grips and knee position, as this should hopefully put you directly into a knee cut with a deep collar grip, meaning you could also switch right into a choke. Great technique, judging by the drilling I did. Although I hardly ever go to de la Riva (I worry about my knees, as there was a Fightworks Podcast episode where a veteran BJJ medic commented on long-term knee damage from competitors that used a lot of DLR), I could see this potentially fitting in to my tripod/sickle sweep game.

Trying it in sparring, I wasn't finding myself in position for it, as the sweep appears to require them to be standing. However, I'll keep playing with it: could be there is a way to fit it into some kind of half guard game too, which would be handy as Feburary at Artemis BJJ is going to be half guard month. I'll also be testing out the new Estima InAction site, so hopefully Braulio has a load of cool half guard stuf on there. :)

Here's a video of Fowler's unstoppable sweep (which Seymour linked to):

29/01/2015 - Teaching | Butterfly Guard | Knee Forward Pass

Teaching #270
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 28/01/2015

This time, you haven't managed to flatten them out before passing: they are still upright and ready to sweep. Reach over their back and secure a grip under their opposite shoulder blade, leaning slightly to the opposite side. Post on that side with your hand, or grab their knee. Step up your leg on the same side as your reaching arm, tight to their leg, so that the inside of your knee is pressing into the outside of theirs. If it isn't tight, they'll be able to exploit that space, perhaps hooking and initiating a sweep.

Using your upright knee, turn and push their knees in the opposite direction (if you're wondering what to do with your other arm, Saulo suggests basing on the floor with it). The idea here is to clamp their knees to the mat, pressuring through the side of their top knee. Ideally you want it right on the knee, rather than on the thigh or lower, though that would still be effective to a degree. Replace that pressure with your non-gripping hand, keeping the arm straight to use your skeletal structure rather than muscles. You can then pass to side control or possibly take their back, depending on their reaction.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: I included that Saulo lean, but I'm not sure how he uses that hand for base, if he's leaning away. I think I need to rewatch the video on BJJ Library. I was tending to put my hand on their other knee, rather than basing on the floor like Saulo does in his video.

I was pleased to get in a little bit of sparring again, where I practiced stiff arm guard some more, combining with tripod and sickle sweeps. I was able to knock them down, but I'm not coming up quickly enough afterwards or pinning the leg. That's something I'll try to focus on in sparring, but generally the stiff arm has been a big help and improved my retention quite a bit (at least with white and blues, so I guess that's not a true test yet).

It was cool to have Nacho there (also cool to FINALLY get in some sparring with him, though I think he was going easy because I'm still injured). When Steve asked about passing Nacho's inverted guard, I decided it was better to just ask Nacho. Sure enough, he was able to show what looks to be a good option: bring your forward knee into the back of their knee, then squash through for the pass. At least that's what it looked like, I was the one being demonstrated on so may not have seen it properly. I'll have to ask again on Saturday if he's there, or if Steve remembers it. :)

28/01/2015 - Teaching | Butterfly Guard | Shin Trap Pass

Teaching #269
Artemis BJJ (MyGym/Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 28/01/2015

We're moving on to passing butterfly this week: I therefore started with the butterfly pass I have been taught most often. I'm not sure of the name, but in the interests of being descriptive, I'll refer to it as the shin trap pass. I first learned this from Kev, a good few years ago now. Start by flattening them out: I'm sure there is a more refined way, but I just pummel for an underhook then drive my head into their chest. You aren't out of danger, as they can use their butterfly hooks to move you back and sit up again, but it gives you some time to work.

After you've driven them flat, wrap around the outside of their leg with your arm, so that their shin is in the crook of your elbow (I think the lower on their shin the better, in my experience). Secure that by gripping the top of their thigh, or their belt/gi if you can reach it. This should prevent them being able to lift your leg with their hook and it also means they can't try and re-hook under your leg as you move around for the pass.

On the side you've just blocked, kick your leg back to remove their hook. Re-insert that knee beside their other foot (so, their instep is next to the outside of your knee), meaning that you have both of your legs on their other shin. From here, there are quite a few different options: the two most basic I'm aware of are either sprawling back then walking around on your toes, or using your free hand to shove their knee down as you move to side control. It's worth experimenting to see which works best for you.
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Teaching Notes: I added in a 'heavy hips' drill, where you try to resist that basic 'double underhooks from butterfly and rock back' drill. I threw in a drill for the headstand flip pass too, as that tends to get some laughs at it being more acrobatic. Does work, but not as high percentage, at least in my experience. I think I also just show the shin trap pass with a sprawl next time, as that seems to be the most effective and easiest one to learn. It should also hopefully avoid people leaving much space, as that's a common problem with this pass.

28/01/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Technical Mount

Teaching #268
Artemis BJJ (MyGym/Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 28/01/2015

We went through some more details on mount at tonight's women's class. Sometimes, the person underneath your mount will turn to their front, although normally this will only happen when they're still inexperienced. With a few more classes under their belt, they will only turn as far as their side, prying out your knee with an elbow: as a result, it's called the elbow escape. Either way, the same technique applies to both: shifting to what's known as technical mount. Put your hands on either side of their head, using them as your base points. Putting your weight onto your hands, twist your body, sliding the knee nearest their back up towards their head. Your other heel clamps in tight to their hip. Sit back on the heel behind them, bringing your upper body close to their head.

If they continue turning to their front (if they've only recently started BJJ, for example, or some judoka have this habit too due to judo competition rules), use the foot your have by their hip to act as your first 'hook' for another position, back mount. Insert that hook, digging your heel into their inner thigh, or if possible, wrap your instep under their inner thigh for control. Your other foot will do the same (somebody more experienced will block that, but as we'll cover in another class, there are ways around their block). Next, establish a seat belt grip, where you have one arm over their shoulder, the other underneath their arm pit. Link your hands or grab your wrist: with the combination of your seat belt and your hooks, you can now 'ride' them whichever way they turn.

If they manage to knock off one of your hooks, you can make a simple adjustment to retake the mount. It will be tough to regain your back mount from here, especially if they've moved over your leg. As soon as you feel their hip move past your knee, bring your remaining hook over their body and clamp the heel to their far hip. Make sure it is providing you with enough control that they can't simply shrug you off. Pull out your elbow for base (as it will probably still be under their head, making it hard to complete this movement), then turn and slide through into mount, using your heel for leverage.

More experienced opponents will look to pry your knee away with an elbow, moving into the aforementioned elbow escape. If that happens, twist to one side and raise your knee. Pull their arm up with whatever you can grab (e.g., sleeve, wrist etc), then reinsert your knee. I've seen Rob S teach grabbing their sleeve with your opposite hand, while Mauricio likes to grab the elbow with their opposite hand and Felipe essentially shifts to technical mount for a moment.

Technical mount also enables you to take the back, with Galvao's method. Simply drop back from technical mount, rolling them over the knee you have near their head. Again, the foot you had by their hip becomes your first hook, so you just need to bring the second hook over. Cut your knee underneath them to help facilitate that back position.

The same kind of motion works as a method of retaking the back if you lose one hook, so it has some versatility. In the context of retaking the back, the time to use this is before they get their shoulders to the mat. They've managed to clear one of your hooks and started bringing their hips over. Before they can get their shoulders to the mat, press your chest into their shoulder and roll them onto their side, in the direction they were escaping. You'll probably need to balance on your shoulder and head to get into the right position.

As they have cleared one of your legs, you should be able to then slide that knee behind their head (you might need to post on an arm, but see if you can do it without releasing your seatbelt grip). Sit back and roll them over your knee, then re-establish your second hook. You can keep doing that from side to side as a drill.
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Teaching Notes: The students in class are a bit more experienced now, so as there weren't any brand new beginners, I went with a more standard technical mount. I didn't include everything in the above, as some of that is notes from the last time, but I'll leave that in there, as it would be useful to teach next time.

This time round, I stuck with the basic turn into technical mount, followed by the Galvao back take. Cutting the knee under is something I realised later when a few people were having trouble, so I'll add that into the demonstration next time. Clearly I don't realise I'm doing it when I go to the back from technical mount, but it's a useful detail that appeared to immediately help the students in the transition. Yay! :)

26/01/2015 - Teaching | Open Guard | Ankle Pick Sweep

Teaching #267
Artemis BJJ (MyGym/Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 26/01/2015

Tonight, I wanted to cover what Xande calls the get-up sweep, which I first learned from Kev as the ankle pick sweep. Though I prefer ankle pick sweep as a name, the good thing about Xande's term is that it emphasises how standing up is a central part of this sweep, rather than simply driving forwards and muscling them over.

This sweep works from several positions. It can be done from butterfly guard, so links up with the butterfly sweep from last week. I normally use it from what I call stiff-arm guard, but that position has lots of other names. E.g., cross-grip guard, sit-up guard etc. In position, you have a grip of their opposite collar, then your other hand is based behind you. Keep that hand where you can't see it. The only time it should be in view, according to Xande, is when you're going for a collar drag and moving around the outside.

To enter into the guard, grab their same side collar while putting your opposite foot on their opposite hip. Open up the collar and switch to your other hand (easy enough from butterfly or most open guards, but like I said, the sweep will work from butterfly too). If you're greedy and start off with the cross-grip, that may leave you vulnerable to getting passed, according to Xande.

If they are on their knees and then start to stand up (you can also do this if they're already standing, in combination with the tripod and sickle), the ankle pick sweep becomes available. Follow them up into a sort of combat base position, grab their leg, then use your collar grip to direct them to the mat as you pull back on their leg. You can hold the heel/ankle for an ankle pick type takedown (hence the sweep name, which Xande also calls the 'get up' sweep), or the material somewhere on their trouser leg (e.g., by their knee).

Xande emphasises that the leverage doesn't come from trying to muscle them to the ground. It comes from your action of standing up. So, concentrate on getting the grips and then getting up, rather than getting the grips and driving forward before you've stood up. Xande also notes that you want to be careful of your momentum, as it's easy to fall forwards if you aren't careful of posture (his analogy is that if you were running and suddenly came across a cliff, you'd lean back to avoid tumbling over the edge). Lean back slightly instead as you knock them down, getting into a secure guard passing posture, then do a knee cut. Your knee should already be forward and in place, making this straightforward.
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Teaching Notes: I put in a bunch of drills into the warm-up which hopefully helped, particularly the hip thrust and the knee cut. In terms of bits people tend to forget, the main thing is standing up as you do the sweep, rather than relying on arm strength. A few people also had difficulty getting up to their feet, so I suggested twisting their leg out and pushing off their toes. That seemed to help, so I'll mention it in the demonstration next time.

Interview - BlogChat #4: Georgette Oden Talks About BJJ & Blogging

Georgette is one of my favourite people. I've flown over to the USA twice so far to visit her and she has always been an incredible host (amazing cook, too: you haven't experienced Thanksgiving until you've had it at Georgette's house! ;D). She is also among the handful of bloggers I've been following consistently for around seven years at this point, blogging at Georgette's Jiu Jitsu World.

During my second visit to Texas last year, I made sure to get some interview time with Georgette. This first part of the interview talks about her background in martial arts and blogging in general, then next week we'll get a lot more serious and discuss the issue of rape culture (Update: Now up, here). That's an important topic, on which Georgette is eminently qualified to speak. But this week, you'll hear about her beginnings in the wonderful sport and art that is BJJ.

CAN: How did you get into jiu jitsu?

GEORGETTE: I have always enjoyed martial arts, and the only kind of exercise I‘ve ever been able to keep up with is something competitive and social. So, when I knew I was going to get married and I wanted to lose weight, for all the wedding pictures and what not, I decided I would take martial arts class.

I started taking a class in kajukenbo, which appealed to me because it was very social and very competitive. There is a lot of very alive sparring in it, but when we got to the portion of the curriculum that dealt with jiu jitsu, I was hooked. Pretty soon I realised that there were other things in kajukenbo that weren’t jiu jitsu. When we were done doing jiu jitsu for a while, I was forced to move on to punching and kicking things and people: I didn’t like that as much.

I waited until I got my first belt in kajukenbo, then I quit, because every minute spent doing kajukenbo was a minute not spent doing jiu jitsu.

CAN: I think I remember reading about that on your blog: you started it before you began jiu jitsu, didn’t you? So, what was the original purpose for the blog?

GEORGETTE: Just sharing with family, really. It was a way for family to see my garden, my house, stuff like that. Obviously wasn’t very well read, at all! [Laughs]

CAN: So, you started your blog around 2005/2006, then you got into jiu jitsu in 2008, moving on from kajukenbo. How did that impact the direction of your blog, as you began writing a bit more about jiu jitsu? It had a different purpose, I guess.

GEORGETTE: It did. At the beginning of my jiu jitsu blogging, I was writing about techniques that we did in class. It was the same as a lot of blogs, an online technique journal. The first jiu jitsu forum I ever participated in was on NHB Gear. There was a guy on there named ‘Too Old’, who I became friends with. He’s a lawyer and at the time was a blue or purple belt in San Francisco.

He told me my blog was the most boring thing he’d ever read and begged me to write more about the personal side of training, what it meant to me, my emotional reactions. I resisted for a month or two, then I started writing about the issues that came up for me training and started getting more readers. I got yelled at by my instructor for writing all of ‘our’ techniques down on the internet, so I had to take all of that stuff out. I figured, “Screw it, nobody cares about the techniques anyway.”

CAN: So, it became more of a blog about...

GEORGETTE: Like a diary.

CAN: Right, a diary. Was it particularly a diary thinking from your personal perspective as Georgette Oden, or a diary as in “Other women could be reading this, how can I be helping them get on”?

GEORGETTE: I never, especially for the first year or so, thought anybody would read it. Even after I started getting comments, I figured maybe one or two people would read it. I didn’t expect anyone at my academy to find out about it or care. So at the beginning, I was very free with my thoughts, my feelings, my expressions. It was just a reflection of me, not thinking what it did for the community or anything like that.

CAN: When did you start getting into reviewing? Was that early on, or did it take a while before you had enough clout?

GEORGETTE: I think for me, the reviewing came after I was getting sponsorship. I started getting sponsorships because I asked people for free stuff [Laughs]. I bought a rashguard, won a tournament, then took a picture of myself with a medal and the rashguard. I’d write to a company and say “Hey, by the way, I did well and I wore your product. You want to send me some more stuff?” And they did, so I did it again, with a coloured gi. People started coming up to me at tournaments asking where I got those coloured gis, I’d tell them and then get more sponsorships.

It then got to a point...I don’t even remember how I got asked to review the first thing. I think I just started reviewing things that I bought, then people started hitting me up to review other stuff.



CAN: Were you still a white belt at this point, or had you gotten to blue?

GEORGETTE: I got my blue really fast. I was sponsored as a white belt, but I got my blue after training four months. I was still a white belt, even if I had a blue belt around my waist, I was still a white belt! [Laughs]

CAN: That reminds me. One of the main things that impresses me about you is the sheer amount that you train. Did that start pretty early, that it became an obsession?

GEORGETTE: Oh yeah. If I couldn’t train every day, I was very frustrated.

CAN: I think you said this to me earlier, but have you always had some kind of activity that you get into really heavily?

GEORGETTE: Yes. I always have an obsession, that’s my trend.

CAN: How have you managed to get in that much training, in a very physical, difficult sport like jiu jitsu?

GEORGETTE: Hmm. I just don’t care if I’m injured. I sometimes say that if I had a superpower, it would be fast recovery and that’s true. I do recover very quickly. I’m also not keen on babying myself, so I don’t mind being tired and I don’t mind being sore. If I’m having fun doing it, I’m going to do it as much as I can. I have an addictive personality, I guess.

CAN: Do you think your training would have been the same if you hadn’t had a blog and interacted so much? Has it had a big impact in terms of actually improving your jiu jitsu, helping you progress faster?

GEORGETTE: I would say that the way it has helped me has been much more of a ‘big picture’ help. Because I blog and I’m active in the scene on an internet level, I’ve reached a lot more people than I would just as an individual. I’ve met a lot of people, so that when I travel, I feel like I have an academy everywhere I go, they're like family. I think that has helped my jiu jitsu, but I don’t think blogging about the techniques any kind of help to me.

CAN: And I guess that is something you stopped doing fairly early on.

GEORGETTE: Yeah, it is. I know other people write technique blogs, it depends on how you learn. I just don’t have time. I take notes and I have little scraps of paper piled in a box in my office, but that’s as close as I get. I don’t digest it again, though I know that would probably improve my retention.

I think I’m an aural learner, as I need to hear someone describe in words what they’re doing. I very rarely remember the details of what it looked like. I can remember what it felt like, but unless I can put it in words, I can’t reverse engineer it the next time. If I have a question, I have to remember if they said, “The leg closest to the head, grab the top leg,” or whatever. I have to remember the words to be able to recreate the position.

Part Two is coming next week. In the mean time, why not check out the chat I had with another awesome blogger, BJJ Grrl?

24/01/2015 - Earn A Meerkatsu GrappleThon Shirt | Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Open Guard

Class #625
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 24/01/2015

Meerkatsu's GrappleThon shirt design is ready! The ONLY way to earn one of those is to set up a fundraising page on MyDonate for Equality Now and get in some donations (full details of how to do that here). All donations, no matter how small, would be very welcome: please help us reach our £4,000 target for charity! Any amount gratefully accepted, and it's all for a great cause. Head over to the MyDonate fundraising page to send your pennies (or dollars, yen, whatever, you can donate from anywhere in the world), here. :D

I'm especially excited about the prospect of someone over in the US setting up a simultaneous GrappleThon (like this). I've tried to get that going before but it unfortunately didn't happen. Still a goal of mine, so it would be super cool if anyone managed to run a GrappleThon for Equality Now at the same time as the Artemis BJJ GrappleThon here in Bristol. Keep in mind that if you do that, then as long as you set up a fundraising page and join the team, you're in with a chance of getting a shirt. ;)

Should you still be unclear on any of the details for the GrappleThon, everything you need to know can be found on the main event page, here.
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My return to sparring continues, as I risked free sparring with some of the bigger, stronger guys that pop along to open mat. That meant I got in both gi and nogi sparring, which is unusual for me. In the gi, I was using the stiff arm guard yet again. I think I'm still not pushing my chest out enough, though I feel like I'm starting to get the transition into my favoured tripod/sickle combination sweep. That worked for me a number of times, but I wasn't coming up to capitalise. Following my own advice, I need to concentrate on controlling that foot so they can't pre-empt me by coming up first. Using the sleeve or collar for additional momentum would help too. I'm hampered by my injury on that, but should still control the leg much more than I did today.

I ended up on the back a few times, having worked on crawling around from guard a few times unsuccessfully (thinking back to where I was before the injury, more side guard required). I always go for the seat belt as that's the most secure grip, but the old double lapel grip came in handy today, enabling me to retain control. At the same time, I need to be careful my position isn't too far forward as they try to fling me off their back when they're in turtle. My neck and face got smushed into the mat as he rolled through. I maintained control, but that could be risky for my neck (fortunately it was fine, I could tuck my head in, but I did scrape my face along the mats).

Speaking of the stiff arm guard, I used the stiff arm escape from side control a bunch of times too, but didn't maintain control properly there either. However, it did enable me to recover back to guard a number of times, so that's still handy. I am finding that one more and more useful, so will definitely try and teach that during side control month in May.

In nogi I was again using the stiff arm guard, in conjunction with some of my preferred nogi grips. I'm feeling a lot happier about nogi from guard than I used to, as now I go to the shoulder clamp. If I can get the head, that's fine too. Either option means I can combine it with the butterfly sweep, though I was perhaps too single-minded about the butterfly sweep. There's other stuff I could be trying from that position. Still, all in all an enjoyable re-entry into normal sparring for me. :)

22/01/2015 - Teaching | Open Guard | Butterfly Sweep

Teaching #266
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 22/01/2015

Marcelo Garcia has written that when passing butterfly guard, it's important to keep in mind that "unlike the closed guard or half guard, in the butterfly guard, your opponent is not trying to hold you in place." In my opinion, the ensuing dynamism and movement makes butterfly guard a more advanced position, which requires greater sensitivity and timing than closed or half guard.

So, I stuck with the most basic technique in butterfly, which is the classic butterfly sweep. There are three main grips to try. Two less common options are grabbing the neck, or grabbing the same side sleeve and collar (or neck and wrist in nogi): the latter can be useful if you want to transition to a choke in gi, or perhaps back to closed guard to go for a scissor or knee push sweep. On Carlos Machado's excellent Unstoppable DVD all about this sweep, he shows many more variations, but it is definitely a higher level instructional (so, I wouldn't recommend beginners pick it up). The orthodox method is to establish a deep underhook with your arm, reaching around their back and/or grabbing their belt.

Saulo Ribeiro emphasises that you must be close with the shoulder to generate sufficient leverage. Saulo also likes to put a hand out behind him for base (just like the cross-grip guard I've taught previously, along with the stiff arm guard I've been working on), which contrasts with others who prefer to grab the knee. It is worth experimenting with several options. One of the best parts about training in jiu jitsu is that it is so individual. There is rarely a single 'right' way to do any technique, which is also part of what makes jiu jitsu so complex.

If you've lifted them up but they aren't going over, try hopping towards your lifting leg with your other leg. That should eventually provide the leverage to knock them to the mat.

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Teaching Notes: I added in a couple of variations tonight, both of which I've taught before. The ankle pick is something I've previously shown from the cross grip/stiff arm guard, so possibly not as applicable (though it's easy enough to switch from butterfly to the stiff arm). Taking the back is more effective. On that, I'll emphasise bringing your foot to the outside next time - this is something I will probably teach again on Monday, before finishing off the month with a basic butterfly pass.

I was also able to get in some more sparring. I'm really pleased I'm getting in more sparring time, but I need to be careful I don't get overexcited and make my groin injury worse. Especially as the GrappleThon is in less than six weeks now: it would be annoying to not be able to take part in the rolling, to say the least!

My butterfly guard as ever needs a lot of improvement. I was generally switching into the related stiff arm guard, going for my ankle pick off that, or transitioning into the tripod/sickle combination (as Kev advised way back in that private lesson. I think I'll get another private on the same thing when I next pop up to RGA Bucks in February).

21/01/2015 - Teaching | Open Guard | Butterfly Sweep

Teaching #265
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 21/01/2015

Marcelo Garcia has written that when passing butterfly guard, it's important to keep in mind that "unlike the closed guard or half guard, in the butterfly guard, your opponent is not trying to hold you in place." In my opinion, the ensuing dynamism and movement makes butterfly guard a more advanced position, which requires greater sensitivity and timing than closed or half guard.

So, I stuck with the most basic technique in butterfly, which is the classic butterfly sweep. There are three main grips to try. Two less common options are grabbing the neck, or grabbing the same side sleeve and collar (or neck and wrist in nogi): the latter can be useful if you want to transition to a choke in gi, or perhaps back to closed guard to go for a scissor or knee push sweep. On Carlos Machado's excellent Unstoppable DVD all about this sweep, he shows many more variations, but it is definitely a higher level instructional (so, I wouldn't recommend beginners pick it up). The orthodox method is to establish a deep underhook with your arm, reaching around their back and/or grabbing their belt.

Saulo Ribeiro emphasises that you must be close with the shoulder to generate sufficient leverage. Saulo also likes to put a hand out behind him for base (just like the cross-grip guard I've taught previously, along with the stiff arm guard I've been working on), which contrasts with others who prefer to grab the knee. It is worth experimenting with several options. One of the best parts about training in jiu jitsu is that it is so individual. There is rarely a single 'right' way to do any technique, which is also part of what makes jiu jitsu so complex.

If you've lifted them up but they aren't going over, try hopping towards your lifting leg with your other leg. That should eventually provide the leverage to knock them to the mat.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: There are lots of variations to the butterfly sweep, but I stuck with the basic one. I'm curious to try Rodrigo Pagani's 'goose neck' version, where he is hooking with both feet, driving his head into the chest and also gripping around both their arms with his hands. That's where the 'goose neck' comes in, using that kind of grip to both push down on their arms for control, while also lifting with your elbows to prevent them establishing a grip or getting their hand to the floor. Maybe on Thursday? I'll see who shows up.

In terms of teaching, I'm fairly comfortable with the basics of the butterfly sweep, at least when it comes to showing a simple application. I don't use butterfly guard much myself, but it fits in with that stiff arm approach I've been using a lot recently. Many of the same techniques apply, such as ankle pick sweeps and loop chokes. You could do a collar grab if you were gripping the collar, but for that deep underhook version, a back take makes more sense. That would fit in nicely with a progression to half guard next month, but I'll probably finish this month with some butterfly passes.

Worth emphasising the slight move backwards to start, in order to get their bum off their heels. Other than that, I wouldn't change too much about the class. I guess I could have thrown in the John Will method again in the middle, as it was another big class, as I forgot to use it again. I was pleased to get in a bit of sparring for the first time in ages, beginning with some 'king of the hill' specific sparring. Although that ended up just being one round with a guy who has done various martial arts and had an interesting approach. He immediately stood up and moved to the back, locking on a rear naked choke. Effective!

The only problem was the common issue where they end up choking your face, teeth and jaw rather than your neck. It's uncomfortable, but it's not something I normally tap to unless it's someone really strong and I'm in danger of really hurting my face. If he's able to adjust that and move to the neck, he'll have an excellent submission option, as he was very quick to get to the position. So I don't want to discourage people from trying the RNC, just note that it's going to be both more efficient and effective if they focus on getting the neck rather than the face. ;)

I also had two free spars, with the two women who regularly pop along to the Wednesday mixed class (yay, women's class success!). As I'm still getting back from my injury, that's perfect: they're the lightest people in class, so much less strain on my injured leg. It's also cool to see that they're developing that 'jiu jitsu sensitivity', like Tracey. They have an understanding of where their bodies should be, what they should be grabbing, where to move etc. I'm looking forward to seeing how they grow over the next few months: sparring them is going to get increasingly difficult (in a good way)! Zoe already has an awesome cross-face. :D

21/01/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Maintaining Low Mount

Teaching #264
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 21/01/2015

There are two basic types of mount to choose from, which I call low and high. Once you've achieved mount, I find that low mount provides the most control. First off, you want to immobilise their hips, as their main method of making space is to bridge up forcefully.

Bring your feet right back, threading them around their legs to establish two hooks: this is known as a grapevine. Alternatively, you can also cross your feet underneath, which has the advantage of making it much harder for them to push your hooks off. Your knees are ideally off the ground, to generate maximum pressure. How far off the ground they are depends on your dimensions: the key is getting loads of hip pressure. Another option, which I learned from Rob Stevens at Gracie Barra Birmingham, is to put the soles of your feet together and then bring your knees right off the floor.

Whichever option you're going for, thrust those hips into them, using your hands for base, where again you have a couple of options. Either have both arms out, or put one under the head (remember, you can always remove it for base if you're really getting thrown hard to that side) while the other goes out wide for base. Try to grip the gi material by their opposite shoulder, or even better, by the opposite armpit. Keep your head on the basing arm side, loading up your weight there. If they're bridging hard, you can switch from side to side.

To do the trap and roll/upa escape we learned a fortnight ago, they will need to get control of your arm. So, don't let them grab it and crush your arm to their side. Instead, swim it through, like Ryron and Rener demonstrate in the third slice of the third lesson in Gracie Combatives. Be sure to do it one at a time, or you may get both arms squashed to your sides.
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Teaching Notes: Small class today, so I ended up spending more time teaching the triangle from guard, as one of the students requested it after we'd run through the low mount. Lots of details on that triangle, like making the space between the legs smaller, the usual points on angling off, the kick and clamp, etc. So, depending on who shows up to the triangle lesson I have planned in a few weeks, I may modify the content. Perhaps make it more of a triangle to armbar to omoplata class? Various things I could do.

19/01/2015 - Teaching | Open Guard | Knee Cut

Teaching #263
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 19/01/2015

With the knee cut pass, the basic idea is to step between their legs in open guard, with one leg on the outside. Of course, most people aren't going to just let you cut across their leg, so you'll need to get into a solid position to do it. A while back, Dónal showed me a good option for this, which he in turn learned from his instructor.

First off, you want to get a good grip on their legs, to limit their mobility: grabbing the material by their knees tends to be a good option. Next, you want a grip on their collar. If you simply reach for it, you're asking to get triangled. So, being careful to keep your elbows inside their legs, drive your leg forwards into theirs. Keep driving forward until you can safely grip high on their same side collar, pulling them back towards you as much as possible. You want to curl their body, so their shoulders are off the ground. This makes it much harder for them to sweep you.

Drop into a relatively low crouch, legs apart for base. They will probably have a foot on your hip at this point: if they do, your grip will be on the trouser material by their shin. Turn your leg inwards slightly, pressing into their foot. With the grip you have on their trousers, shove their leg down, swinging your own leg backwards, then stepping over their leg. The grip you have on their trousers is important here: you're going to roll your knuckles down so that they are pressing into the shin, straightening your arm. This provides a firm control.

Next, you're going to cut across their thigh (still on the leg you just stuffed with your grip), using your opposite knee. As you do, also be sure to yank them towards that side with your collar grip, again to prevent sweeps. Drop in low, trying to secure an underhook, also keeping your head in tight. To get the underhook, put your elbow on their side, then circle your arm around, rather than diving straight for the underhook. You can also just maintain your grip on their collar.

Either way, it is essential that you have your elbow inside. You don't want them to either be able to bring their arm inside for an underhook, or insert their knee in front of you. If they can manage the knee or the underhook, the pass isn't impossible, but it makes it a lot more difficult to finish.

When you've pinned their leg with your shin, you can switch your grip from their leg to their arm (or even better, just below their elbow) and pull up. To further establish control, you could try shoving your head next to theirs, like in the picture on the right. To finish, you'll slide through over their thigh. To secure your position, walk your hips back before you settle (there is a good Mendes brothers video on this), getting your hips underneath them to shove their legs out of the way. That's when you can then solidify your side control.
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Teaching Notes: I went with the push into their ankle for this pass, using the 'v' of your finger and thumb, rather than the knuckle-down grip. As ever, the stuff to emphasise is blocking their knee coming through and maintaining pressure. This should be handy for when I come to teach half guard next month, as I can cover knee shield passes then.

A people were having trouble going diagonally, I think because I mentioned about driving forward with the knee to get a grip. That meant some people were driving that knee all the way into the stomach or further, making it harder to cut across. Probably not something that would happen much outside of drilling, but worth keeping in mind: I don't want to over-emphasise driving the knee in, if it is affecting the knee cut finish (having said that, it's of course not a bad thing to get that knee deep, it just lends itself to a different pass).

There are still a few people who don't have a gi, meaning that grip is not going to be as useful for them. I saw Saulo doing a grip around the hip instead on BJJ Library, so that might be an option. I need to have a play with it myself, as I like that collar grip, but the hip grip looks interesting. Also a good way to give your fingers a rest, as techniques like the 'pin the legs' bullfighter pass variation can be hard on your grips.

17/01/2015 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Open Guard

Class #624
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 17/01/2015

Quiet open mat this week, where I mainly got in a good bit of sparring with Tracey. She's the perfect sparring partner for me right now, as it doesn't exacerbate my injury. She's also improving rapidly, so I'm having to work a lot harder to pass and to maintain control on top. I was concentrating on gripping less, so while I still used the stiff arm guard, I wasn't grabbing any gi. That works ok if they aren't too tall, but I can't reach high enough if they're bigger (in that instance, I need to grab a collar and pull them down to my level, ideally).

With passing I was also trying to avoid grabbing the gi trousers. Instead, I tried gripping the ankles and pushing them in, then shoving their knee out of the way with my own. That kind of worked, although it might have just been down to the size and experience difference. I'll have a more thorough look through my notes for passes that don't rely so much on grips. Possibly the Monday class? I'll still teach one with grips, as I haven't gone through the knee slice yet, but if I get a chance to spar I'll try something different. Possibilities. :)

15/01/2015 - Teaching | Open Guard | Bullfighter Pass (Drive Forward Variation)

Teaching #262
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 15/01/2015

Tonight, the focus was driving forwards into them with the bullfighter pass, after you've established your grips inside their knees. That should generate a reaction, as they will kick back. Direct that kick to your side as you step around. Saulo likes to open out their far leg while pulling their near leg across his body. That motion should swivel them in place for an easy pass. Even simpler, as you drive in and they react, fire their legs out to the side as you step around.

Alternatively, if they don't react, you can still pass after having driven their knees towards their chest. Thrust one leg forward, then step back, pulling the other leg with you. Drive that leg into the mat with a straight arm and your body weight, then pass around on that side.

To finish the pass there are two main options. Either you can drop your shoulder into their hip, falling forward like in Monday's version. If the position you're in doesn't lend itself to that, then simply moving into knee on belly may make more sense. Experiment with both: it will depend on the configuration of your body once you pass their legs.

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Teaching & Sparring Notes: As it was a small class, we played with various other bits of technique from open guard, such as the tripod and sickle sweep combination. On the sickle sweep, it was more painful than usual, because my drilling partner pressed their whole forearm into my foot as they did a technical stand-up. However, that's not exactly wrong, it just hurts more. Either way, interesting, as I've not seen someone do it that way before. ;)

I still can't spar properly due to that groin injury, which was frustrating, but at least I'm able to spar to a limited extent. I went with the stiff arm from open guard again. Their response was to try and step inside my legs: that helped them close the distance, but if I was less reticent about driving forward for some kind of takedown, it could be risky. That's especially true if they step inside my leg, as then I can hook behind and move into a trip.

At one point he moved around to the back and got a nice choke, finishing off by pushing with the leg. Also, I can definitely feel grip strain in my hand afterwards, so I'm holding on too hard still, exacerbated by the whole week featuring a lot of heavy gripping. In free sparring, I returned to the "hold a kimura no matter what" approach once more. I was tempted to let go after he effectively got my back and I thought he might be able to sneak an arm round for the choke, but forced myself to hold on to it (on reflection, I guess it wouldn't have been that easy for him to finish the choke with one arm, though still possible). I eventually wriggled out and managed to get the submission from underneath side control.

I was holding the kimura with a thumb grip: that started to hurt as the kimura got twisted into all sorts of positions, so there's a clear example of advantages to a thumbless grip. Insisting on that grip meant some strain through the bicep a few times too, though not as much as the general grip fatigue from passing and stiff arming. I need to figure out some less grip intensive options to try when I want to give my fingers a rest. Butterfly is the obvious option if they're low enough in open guard, but I don't have much outside of heavy gripping styles for longer range open guard and passing.

14/01/2015 - Teaching | Open Guard | Bullfighter Pass (Pin the Legs Variation)

Teaching #261
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 14/01/2015

To pass the open guard, it is advisable to grip on the inside of both their knees for control (though not everyone would agree on that: others suggest gripping lower on the trousers by their shin, knuckles facing forward, or even at the bottom of the trousers). The main danger is that they will try to loop their leg over your arm, which you can mitigate by gripping a little lower than the knee. If their legs are raised, twist your elbows in, so that your forearms are parallel to their lower legs. Be sure to keep your elbows inside their knees: if they do manage to loop an arm, you may need to release and then regrip back inside their knee.

That means you can then start to move their legs in several directions. There are many variations of the bullfighter pass (also called the toreador, toreana, toreada, toreando and matador, among other names. Google tells me the Portuguese for bullfighter is in fact 'toureiro'), but I think the simplest is to step back when you have that grip, so that the soles of their feet press into the floor. Straighten your arms and lean through them, so that all your weight is punching downwards towards the mat.

The aim is to prevent them being able to move their legs, so that you can now walk around before they are able to recover. As soon as you get past their knees, drop your leading shoulder into their hip, falling forward. Maintain at least one grip on their leg, as otherwise they may be able to start to recover by getting a leg in the way. Your next priority is to block their hips, so release one grip in order to bring an elbow around their far hip. Drive your near knee into their near hip, then move up into side control.

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Teaching Notes: Not too much to add on this one as I've taught it quite a lot and it's also one I use all the time. People tend to be wary of dropping straight through with their shoulder, putting a knee down first. That can be a difficult habit to break, especially if you are trying to reduce the impact on your partner (a good impulse in that it's less painful for your partner, but I think this technique can be done with control, so was emphasising that people shouldn't go to their knees before dropping the shoulder).

I forgot to use the John Will teaching method earlier in the class, which I had meant to because it was another big turn-out. Next time: I'll eventually do that as a matter of course, rather than having to remind myself. Also, this pass isn't kind to your fingers, so I'm wondering if there are ways I could mitigate that strain on the joints. Perhaps shorter rounds for drilling? May just be unavoidable, but I'll have a think.

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.