10/11/2009 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #260



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 10/11/2009

I was pleased to see my article on the No Gi Worlds live stream get plenty of hits over the past two days, presumably because people are looking for results. I also wanted to note that if you missed the stream, it is going to be replayed at some point this week. Initially, there was a guy from Budovideos on The Underground saying tonight, but the Nogi Live site itself currently reads "we will be rebroadcasting the finals in the coming days".

When I find out exactly when the replay is happening, I'll put it on Twitter (which is linked through to my Facebook updates, if I happen to know you on there). Speaking of Twitter, I've been playing with their new list feature to make a 'BJJnews' section on my Twitter page. I'm looking for people who actually put up BJJ specific news, rather than lots of pointless "@randomguido: UFC was awesome, bro!" type posts. Most pertinent account on the Nogi Live situation is the Budovideos Twitter page. I didn't see one for nogi.com, so if somebody knows they have one, tell me.

I wouldn't normally bother writing up the throwing section of the advanced class, as it's not something I tend to concentrate on very heavily, but tonight was interesting. Instead of just running through throws, Kev worked specifically on grip fighting. First, he went through four fundamental grips, and how to do them correctly (remember, he's got a black belt in judo as well as the brown belt in BJJ and MMA record), in a flowing sequence.

The most basic is the collar and elbow. One hand grips deep in the collar, the other grabs the cloth slightly above their elbow, tight. A variation on that is a high grip: you simply slide your collar gripping hand a bit further up. Next, Kev went to a cross-collar grip, which as you can probably guess is simply gripping the opposite collar rather than same side.

Finally, Kev went through the slightly more complex Russian grip. Release their elbow, instead grasping their opposite sleeve. Pull on that, aiming to move towards their back (bit like an armdrag), so you can bring your collar-gripping arm over their back, grabbing by their armpit. Done right, you should end up with their arm pulled across your body, while your other arm is over their back. This is perfect for breaking their posture down, forcing them to bend over.

I hate takedown sparring, as it tends to hurt (due to a combination of my crap breakfalling and occasional aggressive training partners). However, Kev had a magnificent solution that even a wimp like me could be happy with: you don't throw anyone, you just fight for grips. Much less painful than getting thrown repeatedly: busts up your fingers a bit, but I prefer that to the usual grazed elbows, sore back and dodgy knees.

Groundwork continued in mount, this time a somewhat unusual technique Kev mentioned he was working with Daniel Strauss. Instead of an armdrag from guard, this was an armdrag from mount. First, you slide your hand into the crook of their elbow, until you can grab around the other side. You also need to make sure you've threaded your arm over theirs, otherwise this won't work.

For base, you'll need to immediately post out with your arm and head on that side, or you're likely to get bridged. Yank that arm up and across, moving straight into a technical mount where you're also pressing your torso into that elbow. That stops them pulling their arm back out again. This is therefore potentially a risk if you're using Saulo's arm frame to defend mount, which I do regularly: so, be aware they can try to armdrag you if there's enough space by the crook of your elbow.

To finish, you're going to take their back. Similarly to Kev's high mount transition preceding the armbar from earlier, grab their other elbow with both hands. However, instead of using that to get your knee in for high mount, roll them into you and establish your hooks for back mount. You'll need to stay tight here, or they might spin into your guard, meaning that you've just rolled out of a dominant position for no reason.

From here, you can go into a triangle from back mount. The technique is similar to the one Pedro Carvalho demonstrated on his old tapes from 1996. Demian Maia also used it in Science of Jiu Jitsu, from 2007, on his 'Attacking the Back' DVD. Kev described it as an old technique, so perhaps it isn't used as much these days. No reason it shouldn't be, however, considering it's a brilliant way of controlling your opponent from the back.

Kev's version was probably closer to Carvalho's, as unlike Maia, Kev didn't say anything about cupping under the chin. Also like Carvalho, it makes for a great attacking position, with a whole bunch of submissions available once you've secured it. The basic idea is to step over one of their arms: it could be that they've reached down and tried to remove one of your hooks, or you could just shove their arm down yourself.

Either way, once you've got that leg over, cross your feet. While this is normally a cardinal sin in back mount which will get you footlocked, your feet should be too high for that in this particular position. Pull their arm across their neck and trap it in place, before stepping off their hip to shift up, until you can bring that leg across too, triangling it with your other leg. Make sure you step off their hip, and not the floor: the latter option may give them enough space to escape.

From here, tense your calves to make the choke tighter (bring the top of your foot backwards). You probably won't manage to submit them from here, so to add pressure, grab their leg with one hand, then basing your other hand behind you, raise up and simultaneously pull their leg towards you. This should bend them in half, adding much more power to the choke.

If that still doesn't work (I found I wasn't tapping to it, most likely because I'm weeny, so there isn't much neck to get your legs round), no problem. Their arm is seriously vulnerable. You can apply a wristlock (Roy Dean can help you with those), a keylock, a straight armbar, and many other options. You could also grab more of their leg, hauling it right back so you can go for a toehold. Do note that toeholds aren't allowed until brown belt, while you have to be at least a blue belt for wristlocks.

Specific sparring from the back went ok in terms of defence, as using Aisling Daly's handy advice on the 'Shirley Temple' method, I was able to protect my neck long enough to recover half guard (well, most of the time: Howard caught with me a bow and arrow choke first).

However, when it came to my turn, not much luck. As is so often the case, I wasn't able to stay on the back. I had a go at trying the tips from Lesson 4 of Gracie Combatives, about remounting, but not successfully. I think I was possibly doing it on the wrong side, as it felt like I had a long way to move in order to slide back into mount.

I'm off to Bristol to visit my girlfriend tomorrow (should be able to run through some more Gracie Combatives for her), so no training again this Thursday. I've already put up my article for this week, so next post should be next Tuesday.

10/11/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #259



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 10/11/2009

I've started putting the date on new additions to my blog index, which should make it easier for anyone who is looking to beef up their Google Reader list. I use the yyyy.mm.dd format for dates, as being a geek, I like to be able to easily put things in order (in this case, Z-A on the 'added' column, with a secondary A-Z sort on 'blog title'. I made a handy little macro that does that for me whenever I press Ctrl+Shift+S). Which is also part of the reason I love Excel. ;)

This week, Kev is focusing on the mount, so it's a shame I'm off to Bristol tomorrow. I would have liked to have made the beginner class on Thursday, as I'm hoping he's going to go through the ezequiel from mount at some point (been trying to land it for a while, and though Kev has already given me some great advice on that, it would be very helpful seeing him go through the submission step by step from a grapevined low mount).

The first technique was an armbar from mount. This was mostly the same as before, but getting into the technical mount was a little different. Unlike previously, Kev started in my preferred low mount, grapevining the legs.

From that stable position, you first want to shove their arm to the mat. Grab their wrist with either one or two hands, then drive it to the floor. Kev grips with the thumb, which he mentioned can also help your base (if you're shoving with both arms and they try to bridge you halfway through). As usual, it isn't about arm strength, but straightening your arms and letting bodyweight do the job for you. Bring your knee up to their armpit, repeat on the other side, moving into high mount.

The technique then continues the same as before, though I did have a chance to get some further details from Kev, specifically on getting past their arms when securing the collar grip. Back when I was training at RGA HQ, Roger Gracie ran a class on how to use your hip against your elbow to drive that hand through (making a knife hand for less friction), but I had been thinking you needed to keep on shoving it with your hip.

As Roger did a seminar at Kev's Aylesbury location recently, he was able to clarify: you only need to get the hand past their blocking arms using the hip. Once you've done that, you can shift back to just pulling on their lapel to drive your other hand into a deeper grip.

In addition, Kev had some further points on that technical mount to armbar transition. As you shift into what Kev calls the 'dog leg' position (your far leg is diagonally wrapped around their arm, foot by their head), you want to keep a hold on the far arm. The grip should be by their elbow, but the clever part is that you also want to prevent their other hand from locking up (e.g., if they grab their gi or something). While holding their elbow, you simultaneously want to wedge your forearm under their other wrist, prying it away from any gi or arm they could grab. That should make it easier to isolate when dropping back for the armbar.

Also, like I mentioned last time, Kev crosses his feet when doing an armbar from mount. Given that there was recently a Bullshido thread on exactly that topic, I wanted to ask about something I'd read, which is that you should only cross your feet if both arms are trapped. If they get one hand out, you switch back to uncrossed. Kev has a different suggestion: if they get the non-trapped hand out and move to escape, he tends to catch them in a triangle (if they're turning into him) or go for a belly-down armbar. So, his legs stay crossed.

Kev then showed how to escape the armbar from mount. You're in exactly the same position as above, where they're in technical mount and have now brought their leg over to go for the submission. You need to grab their leg, then switch your own legs in order to get to your knees. This is easier said than done, but if you manage it, you should be in their guard, ready to run through the usual armbar escape.

A really useful element I hadn't thought about before, which I need to add to my technique summary, is shifting backwards on this escape. That helps to kill their pressure, combined with driving your shoulder into their leg and crushing it towards the floor. It was much easier to free the arm if you move backwards slightly first.

Specific sparring from mount was similar to last time, as again I found I was more successful when using a low grapevined mount, rather than moving higher up. However, also like last time, I couldn't launch much of an attack from there. I tried to shift into a high mount, but generally Howard started to bridge at that point. I did normally manage to switch into a sloppy technical mount, but not very secure, so kept floppy back into a grapevined mount to prevent losing control entirely.

I also had a go at triangles from mount. As I already had an arm under the head, I thought I could use that to lift the head and quickly get my leg under. Wasn't too successful, as I think I was trying to bring my leg too great a distance, and it also felt like perhaps there were some other steps I was missing. Moving into a rolling triangle might work, like the one from side control last week, but mount is of course a somewhat different position.

Escaping I managed to get back to half guard repeatedly, which was good. I think the Saulo arm frame helped with that, because as soon as Howard tried to shift into technical mount, I was able to create enough space to get my knee through, spinning to half guard (or once, rather less successfully to the bottom of side control).

Article - No Gi Worlds 2009 Live Stream

Article #3, by Can Sönmez

[If you're looking for the No Gi Worlds 2009 results, click here. For future reference, this is where the IBJJF stores competition results]

Update: The replay has been confirmed on Twitter by Budovideos: 11am PST (7pm UK time) on Friday, November 13th. However, as per this post on The Underground, they're currently having technical problems. So, presumably it is going to be delayed: at present, you can just see the 'match of the day' on No Gi Live. While you wait, here is a cool post Hillary Williams put up about her experience at the competition

I had an article all ready to go for later this week, but after watching the No Gi Worlds live stream last night and this morning, I felt the need to put something out about that instead. It is potentially a historic moment in BJJ, but not because of the fights. While the action was exciting, with upsets, beautiful grappling technique and even high amplitude throws, it is the medium which may prove truly momentous.

BJJ is known for being an expensive sport. The monthly training fees are often huge, to buy a gi can take plenty of cash, DVDs are far from cheap, and private lessons tend to be an expensive treat. However, Nogi.com, Budovideos and a whole bunch of other sponsors have done something new with Nogi Live. They've released an event for free: no pay per view required, just an internet connection.

You can't complain about free, but as one of the organisers of the No-Gi Worlds live stream warned might be the case, in an earlier Fightworks Podcast interview, there were a number of technical problems from the beginning (which here in the UK was 19:00).

The live coverage stuttered along for the first hour and a half, stopping and starting repeatedly. As you can see from my Twitter feed, I almost gave up at several points. However, I'm glad I decided to give it another try later, as the commentary had kicked in by 20:30. At 21:14, the Nogi live video went down again, but stabilised around 21:22, after which I didn't have any major problems (well, except for my laptop crashing, but I can't blame the No Gi Worlds for that). By the time of the finals at 22:06, the streaming issues appear to have been solved.

There was also a sidebar which didn't seem to serve any purpose. The whole night, it simply read "Upcoming Competitor 1 vs Upcoming Competitor 2". I presume the idea was that this would update as the event progressed, but clearly that needs more work for next time. It would be a handy feature if they could get it up and running.

Initially, commentary was handled by Joanne Spracklen (not Spracklan: the caption was wrong) and Jeff Glover. If you're not sure who Spracklen is, she runs MMA Girls.net, an unusual qualification for BJJ commentary (though she sensibly left the technical side of things to Glover). Either way, they had a difficult job. The camera jumped around from match to match (there were many to choose from, with twelve mats going at once), often with two at the same time on a split screen, making it tough to keep track of competitors. Glover didn't appear to have any notes, so had to rely on his ability to recognise fighters from his personal knowledge of the BJJ scene.

I was particularly pleased by the amount of women's matches on show: in terms of gender equity, the stream was much, much better than I'd expected. Having said that, I did get annoyed at the prolonged drooling over two ring girls, especially when it interrupted fight footage. I strongly dislike the whole concept.

By 21:39, I was watching my third female bout, a trend which continued into the finals. Another four had been streamed by midnight, including the excellent match featuring Sophia McDermott (they appear to have had trouble spelling her name), a methodical Rickson Gracie brown belt. Canadian blogger and black belt Sheila Bird was also competing, in what eventually became an exciting match with Hillary Williams.

There was a notable shift in commentary style for the finals. Glover and Spracklen were chatty, cracking jokes and exchanging anecdotes. Shawn Williams and Sean Patrick Flanery modified the tone, focusing on in-depth technical analysis rather than banter. That is probably a reflection of their experience commentating on the 2008 Mundials.

I don't often bother watching competitions unless there is a good deal of commentary: for me, it doesn't just add to the viewing experience, it makes it worthwhile. Even two people stalling in guard becomes an intriguing battle of wills, if the commentators can provide relevant and interesting technical input (such as noting grips, pressures, angles etc). Getting background details on competitors is great too, fleshing out the athletic endeavours taking place on the screen.

A few hiccups occurred with that commentary, such as the awkward handover shortly after 10pm, which involved several minutes of dead air and paper shuffling. It then completely disappeared at around 00:30, after the finals, but presumably that was so Sean and Shawn could take a break, given that this was a live event.

Once the finals and ensuing discussion had finished, there was an extended period of bouts with no sound at all, from 02:17 until 02:55, after which the screen went black. I went to bed a bit after 3am, so not sure if and when the absolutes took place: something to look forward to when I wake up, I guess. ;p

Interestingly for a BJJ competition, it wasn't just BJJers. Renowned MMA champion and catch-wrestling proponent Josh Barnett made a triumphant appearance in the black belt division, despite holding no BJJ rank (for his explanation prior to the event, click here). Satisfyingly, there was an interview with him later on, at 1am, one of several (including Kron Gracie, somewhat randomly) to fill in the time before the absolutes. This was a fabulous idea, especially as the two Seans did a brilliant job with the questions. So, definitely something that should be repeated for the next event.

I'm hopeful there will be other free streams, which I guess will depend on how much attention the advertisers receive as a result. All in all, this turned out well, so if the connection issues can be ironed out, perhaps this could be the future of BJJ broadcasting.

Article - BJJ Schools: Size Matters

Article #2, by Can Sönmez [FAQ Entry]

[This article is about the size of your school, rather than your training partner. If you're looking for advice on that, see here if you're small, or here if you're large]

Generically speaking, you can divide BJJ schools into two types, big and small. I began at the largest club in the UK, perhaps even the whole of Europe: the Roger Gracie Academy. There are several hundred students, with new white belts turning up every session, and a significant proportion disappearing soon after.

This is related to one of the disadvantages of a large school: with so many people, it can take a while to make social connections and feel a part of the team. However, in my experience this is not due to all the regulars forming a clique, but the rapid turnover of beginners. It's harder to invest time in somebody who you can't be certain will be there next week. Hence the tendency to wait until building relationships with newcomers.

In a large school, it's also difficult for the instructor to answer everybody's question. Even if there are several instructors present, there is only so much time to get round all the students. This conversely points to the major advantage of training at a big school: a broad range of experienced training partners of all shapes and sizes, who soon become integral to your development. That happens to an extent at every school, but especially if it has a lot of members.

In my case, I learned a great deal from Tran and Christina. Not only were they both much better than me, but also willing to answer all my never-ending questions on technique. As a result, much of what I try in sparring is directly influenced by them: what I refer to as the 'Tran side control escape' is something I use all the time.

At a small school, you don't get that same diversity of training partners, which is especially irksome if you're very small, rather large, or a woman. You have to make do with the same people most sessions, so you don't have the luxury of sticking to those around your size or skill level. The huge powerlifter known for neck cranks and injuring people, whose orbit you would have carefully avoided at a large school, suddenly becomes a regular opponent.

However, that also means there are less people competing for the instructor's opinion, meaning you can benefit from plenty of personal attention. Experienced training partners are a good thing, but easy access to an instructor is even better. I've really enjoyed taking full advantage of that where I am now, RGA High Wycombe.

Every lesson, I aim to put as many questions to Kev as possible (though naturally I don't want to get annoying, so I try to keep them sensible and concise). His brown belt knowledge has already been hugely helpful in the couple of months I've trained under him.

Having experienced both environments, I'm not certain I would pick one over the other given the choice. As with everything in life, there are both positive and negative elements to either option. However, I can say that I'm very happy where I am now: as long as there are people who can challenge you and help improve your game, you're at a good school, no matter the size.

03/11/09 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #258



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 03/11/2009

Kev has officially instituted thirty minutes on takedowns at the start of every advanced lesson on Thursdays. That's good news for people keen on competition or self-defence, less good for wimpy hobbyists like me who just want to play on the ground. Still, it's only half an hour, and probably useful to get in a little takedown training, even if I don't like it.

After the throws, Kev continued with side control, this time running through two submissions, one on top, the other underneath. For the rolling triangle from side control, you begin with your hands locked under their head and arm in the classic controlling position. First, you have to clear their near arm, either by switching your hips, or getting your hip to the floor and driving backwards against their arm.

Having got that arm out of the way, you can now shove their other wrist to their chest. Your near shin presses against their body. As you still have that arm wrapping their head, raise it. This gives you the space to step your other leg right over, slipping it under their head. Grab your ankle with the hand you already have under their head.

To finish, roll over your shoulder, which puts you in the guard with a leg locked over their head, one of their arms trapped. You're therefore perfectly set up for a triangle. Simply adjust your legs by pushing off their hip, then lock in the submission. You may also need to raise your hips to push their arm across before completion.

It is possible they will bridge into you before you execute your roll, as you don't have a strong base. However, that doesn't matter, because all that means is they've put themselves into a triangle.

The next attack was, unusually, an armbar from underneath side control. This again works off the arm gripping under your head. First, shrimp your hips out, then in one motion, swing your leg over their head, while your other knee must drive in to their chest. Due to that arm under your head, you're now in position to armbar. Squeeze your knees together, then raise your hips for the submission.

This isn't very high percentage, especially as your knee may get blocked by their other arm. Nevertheless, even if you don't land the armbar (most often because they yank their limb free), you should still be able to move to open guard. Either way, you're in a much better position than stuck under sidemount.

During sparring, I found that Christina's advice from her last lesson at RGA Kilburn finally started to sink in, in regards to using your legs in guard. I made a concerted effort to either use the instep to hook their leg or ribs, while also getting feet to their hips to maintain some kind of control, especially as they were trying to pass my open guard.

This is also something Roy Harris discusses during his seminar on the fundamentals of open guard, as featured in the Roy Dean DVD. Harris is known for making methodical lists, which he does here in sets of three: that's what came to mind tonight. Along with using my feet and instep, I was also trying to use my knees to press against their chest and shoulders. This seemed to work well in keeping them at bay, although on the other hand, I as usual had sat out one round while everyone else did the full three. So, fatigue no doubt comes into it as well.

03/11/09 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #257



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 03/11/2009

I finally finished writing up my trip to Turkey, if anyone's interested. I have thought about moving the travel stuff to a separate blog, given its got nothing to do with BJJ, but I don't think I do it regularly enough to warrant one. Still, there's a suitably silly video of me belly-dancing on there, so that might amuse regular readers. ;p

This week, Kev is focusing on side control, beginning with the two basic escapes, recovering guard and going to your knees. One point to note was that Kev recommended beginners put an arm by their partner's armpit rather than into their throat. This is less effective that driving your forearm into the throat, but it is also safer, as they won't be able to attack your arm as easily.

That was followed by another basic technique, transitioning from side control to mount. Again, Kev kept it simple, with a big step rather than sliding the knee, or grabbing your foot and pulling it past their blocking knee.

In specific sparring, I'm still being far too flat on my back under side control, and end up waiting for them to make a move rather than forcefully bridging. Partly that's because I want to conserve energy, partly because I'm small, but mainly because I'm lazy. I need to stop relying on my partner making a mistake (e.g., stepping over to mount and allowing me to bridge into them for the Tran side control escape), and do something more proactive. First thing is to focus more on getting onto my side. As we'll presumably be doing more of this on Thursday, I should get plenty of opportunities to practice.

On top, I was able to play with the triangle position from side control again, as one of my partners was effectively giving me his head. I don't think he realised what I was doing, as there was no resistance to my attempts to hook my leg over and lock in the triangle position. I can never actually finish somebody with just that hold on top of side control, so tend to look for the arm.

However, he had his arms firmly locked, and I wasn't able to break them free: eventually, he reversed me into guard. Still, it proved to be a relatively stable controlling position for a while, but that was probably just because he wasn't used to being held like that.

With Joel, I ended up in half guard while under side control: we didn't stop at that point, so instead I was presented with the problem of when they face your legs. I found that I was trying to work my way to the position from last week, so I could hook the arms and try the sweep. However, that's more of a last resort than a position you actively put yourself in, because you're then flat on your back with your upper body controlled. I should instead have been looking at deep half guard or something, given I was near his legs, so that's something to keep in mind next time.

Article - BJJ in the Olympics

Article #1, by Can Sönmez

[My plan for these articles (I may not stick with that name – I'm envisioning them as more like a weekly column – but 'article' is a convenient categorisation), at least initially, is to see if I can come up with something interesting by running through topics from the FAQ, along with anything that grabs my attention from around the net (e.g., the whole Gracie University debate, which resulted in this).

I'm also going to try and restrain myself to around five hundred words, as I tend to ramble. As its the first one, I'll cheat my own arbitrarily imposed rule: this introduction doesn't count towards the word limit. ;p ]

Even before the announcement that the 2016 Olympic Games would be held in Rio de Janeiro, the idea of Brazilian jiu jitsu as an Olympic sport was a popular topic for discussion among the BJJ community. So, is there actually any possibility BJJ could make it to the Olympics?

To be blunt, its extremely unlikely. There have already been convincing arguments put forward as to why that is the case. J-Sho, perhaps the most reliable source on the internet for BJJ statistics, laid it out in depth on the MMA.tv thread. As per this link he provided, which details the 'Olympic Programme Commission Report To The 117th IOC Session', there are thirty-three criteria to meet before you can become an Olympic sport. BJJ falls down on quite a few of them. For example, here are five big ones:

• Television coverage
• Press coverage
• Gender equity
• Anti doping
• Universality

On top of that, there's the problem that places for new events are very limited: the IOC is trying to cut down their number, not increase them. BJJ would be competing against some of the most popular sports on the planet, while not even being officially recognised as a sport itself. Also, as J-Sho points out, further problems like domination by one country (Brazil would get a clean sweep in pretty much every weight category) and the similarity to judo are major stumbling blocks.

Ok, so BJJ has effectively no chance. Submission grappling is far better positioned, with support from FILA (and it doesn't have the name of a country in its moniker, which helps), but its still a long way behind golf and rugby. Considering the above, why is it that all over the BJJ online community, there are people starting threads and launching petitions? Are they just ignorant of the IOC rules? Perhaps to an extent, but I think it is indicative of something more than that.

BJJers want their sport to be popular, to be acknowledged by the mainstream. They want to be able to go down the pub and talk about the Mundials instead of last nights football game. In short, we want to be accepted, just like everyone else. Imagine what Olympic status could mean: sponsorship, grass roots support from national governments, a huge increase in public awareness...its a tempting prospect.

Then again, look at taekwondo, the perfect example of a martial art ground down by its own success. In the rush to attract students and maintain profit margins, TKD became heavily diluted, losing the all-important element of 'aliveness'. Judo has fared better, because competition and randori have remained integral, so maybe BJJ would be able to follow that model. Still, there are those who feel that adaptation to Olympic strictures has had a detrimental effect on Kano's creation, the most obvious change being a focus on high amplitude throws above all else.

However, BJJers should not despair, as they can content themselves with Caleb's hopes on the Fightworks Podcast. An Olympics in Rio means global attention on everything Brazilian, with journalists ransacking the city for material.

Brazilian jiu jitsu's Olympic dreams may be ill-founded, but the arte suave nevertheless has an excellent opportunity to feature as part of Brazil's cultural heritage. So, fingers crossed that we'll get to see some high quality BJJ documentaries aimed directly at the billions of people watching the Olympic coverage.

29/10/2009 - BJJ

Class #256



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 29/10/2009

Shereen, a female BJJer who I became aware of due to this thread, has just set up a training blog here. She isn't your average woman, at over 200lbs of muscle with many years of bodybuilding and powerlifting behind her. So, I'm very much looking forward to following her training, as for a female BJJer, she has a fairly unique combination of attributes.

Tonight Kev continued with the half guard, but this time it was orthodox rather than lockdown. First up was a drill for demonstrating how to recover full guard from half guard. Step out your leg and shrimp out to the side of half guard, making space to wedge your knee into their chest. Use that pressure to straighten up your torso, free your other leg, then put your feet on their hips. You can now either go to full guard, or stick with open guard.

That was followed by passing the half guard, where as on Tuesday shoulder pressure was paramount. Begin by securing a grip under their head and arm, gable gripping your hands and driving your shoulder into the side of their face. The aim is to turn their head away from you.

Now that you've jammed their upper body to the mat, you can push off your toes and straighten your legs. This feels vulnerable because your hips are raised, but if you've got your shoulder in the right place, they won't be able to capitalise with a sweep. To finish, get your knee free and slide it to the mat for mount. If you can't quite pull out your foot, use your other foot to push their away.

If they manage to shove your head to the other side, it makes little difference. You'll simply trap their head there instead, by putting your head onto the mat, right next to their skull. Straighten your legs and raise your hips as before, but this time you'll slide your knee the other way, moving through into scarf hold instead of mount.

Being squished flat on your back is tough, but there is a solution. Kev showed us two related sweeps from half guard, dealing with exactly the situation he'd just demonstrated on top. You first need to overhook their arm on the same side as the leg you've trapped, reaching through to grab their collar (this can act as a handy grip, pulling it up to their armpit). You're also going to hook over the other arm with your own, reaching back towards your head. This may telegraph the sweep, so if you wish you can leave it for later.

Release your top leg from half guard, maintaining a good grasp with the remaining leg behind their knee. Switch the top leg to a butterfly hook and lift, also basing off the toes of your other foot. Bridge and drive diagonally to the side, lifting with your hook. Done right, this should put you straight into mount.

It is possible for the person being swept to widen their base, preventing your sweep with their knee. If that happens, simply step closer with your basing leg and push again. Eventually, they will go over, as you have much more leverage than they do.

Alternately, they might get their arm free from your hook and base out that way. If that happens, you can switch to butterfly guard, then bridge the other way. As you have their other arm locked up, you should be able to sweep to mount that way. Even if you can't, you're still in butterfly rather than half, and can normally recover full guard from here.

Specific sparring with Callum went similarly to previous times I've been in his half guard. He wasn't wearing a gi, which didn't help, but the central problem on top was that I still can't beat their underhook. I can get that whizzer, but fail to do anything much with it. This time, I tried harder to use that grip to try and wrestle them back down to the mat, but without much success.

Underneath, I also didn't get very far, and the same thing happened with Joel. I realised later that the very obvious problem was that I wasn't doing what Kev had just shown us. Instead, I was thinking too much about my foot position, although I did get a chance to play with the lockdown and work harder for the underhook. Still, even though I had double underhooks on Joel, I couldn't move his weight. He's a fair bit bigger, but my technique was of course the main problem.

On top with Joel, I did remember to use Kev's technique, trying to get that shoulder pressure. I could just about get the grip, but wasn't able to straighten up and get my legs free. What kept happening was that I'd raise my hips, but then Joel would get a lockdown and pull me back down again. Then again, that gave me the opportunity to practice releasing the lockdown, which went as per drilling: shift down to put pressure on the grip until you can circle your foot free, then hide your leg.

27/10/2009 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #255



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 27/10/2009

Yesterday marked three years since I first walked into a BJJ school for my introductory class. I've tried to avoid modifying that post since (in case people hadn't noticed, I'm constantly reworking my posts, especially reviews), though I couldn't resist adding a video and a picture some time during 2008. I have just stuck in a bunch of links, but other than that, I'll be restraining myself.

Anyway, three years ago, I was still actively involved in my previous martial art, Zhuan Shu Kuan. I'd barely done any grappling (but still tried to heel hook somebody in June 2006, apparently: totally don't remember that, so was very surprised to come across that post while reading through some old notes. I guess we were all idiot noobs at some point!) and had taken a long time to get interested in groundwork.

I was finally convinced after doing lots of reading at Bullshido, in particular the king of all internet threads and Ben, a guy who still posts there as Asriel (he trains at that Farringdon location I mentioned in the old post). Reading through some old PMs, I'd forgotten how he'd been an important factor in my decision to start at RGA, so I owe him some retrospective thanks. ;)

Since then, I've managed to keep training on a relatively consistent basis, though never especially frequent: at most, its four classes a week, normally more like two. More to my surprise, I've been steadily blogging every lesson ever since: I never expected writing a blog to be so enjoyable. Its brought many advantages since I began doing it seriously in September 2005, and has hugely enhanced my training experience.

If you haven't yet seen Leslie's new article up on BJJ Grrl, go check it out now. Aside from the great writing and advice, I enjoyed seeing the massive number of comments. One of the major advantages of blogging, which sites like BJJ Grrl exemplify, is the sense of community sharing your experiences can foster. BJJ is already known for the manner in which it builds close ties quickly, due to training, sweating and learning together over weeks, months and years. That same sensation extends to the online world: BJJ really brings people together. So, if you're reading this and haven't yet started your own blog, I hope BJJ Grrl inspires you to start!

Speaking of inspiration, I've been thinking about trying something new on this blog for a while now, and those musing articles by BJJ Grrl have motivated me to give it a go. Most of my posts are "we did this, then we did this, I did this in sparring, should have done this." That's really useful for me, but I doubt its especially exciting to read. I don't intend to ever stop doing that (because it definitely helps me focus my training), but I want to try writing something a little more thoughtful on BJJ in general. I'll put up the first of those later this week, and see how the experiment goes.

Getting back to the advanced class, Kev continued with working off (and against) the lockdown. He began by demonstrating a kimura from half guard, off the same passing sequence he'd shown in the beginners class. This time, once you've got the stage where you're grabbing their knee, they attempt to remove your grasp by gripping that same hand.

This is a mistake on their part, but first you need to secure good base. Switch your shin off their leg, instead putting the knee to their side and spreading your legs for balance. Next, remove the arm you were using to cross-face them for the shoulder pressure, instead bringing it under their arm. You can now release your grip on the knee and switch to securing a figure four hold on their arm.

Bring that arm to the ground, then base off your head. This will enable your to raise your hips and straighten your legs, so that you can walk your outside leg over their head, then use that leg to hook their neck. Finally, roll over your other shoulder, taking your partner with you (with that leg in place, you can add further leverage by pressing on their neck as you roll).

This puts you in a great position to finish the kimura. Even if they've grabbed their belt or gi, that hold you have with your leg combined with the figure four grip is really strong. You should be able to break their grip and apply the submission without too much trouble.

For the person on the bottom, Kev ran through a triangle from half guard, which reminded me a little of the techniques from Demian Maia's triangle DVD on Science of Jiu Jitsu. Start by stepping a leg out so you can shrimp to create some space. Get your outside knee into their chest, then lean your torso back, so you're more linear.

You also need to make sure they don't cross-face you, or this technique won't function too well. Use your near arm to 'paw' their bicep, preventing them bringing it to your head. When you've made space, you can shift your grip to their wrist, like Maia does in the picture on the right. You should now have enough space to bring your previously trapped leg through, bringing it all the way out and past their arm.

Immediately lock your ankles around them, after which you can proceed to get the triangle (usual steps of securing head control, clearing their arm, locking your legs in position then adjusting your angle). Don't get greedy and try to jump straight into a triangle as soon as your leg is clear: they're likely to posture up, meaning your legs will never get in place. Its better to lock your ankles first, so you have a strong controlling position, then finish the triangle.

This time my partner for specific sparring was Kev himself: one of the nice things about the advanced class, at least today, is that it was quite small, so I was able to ask Kev loads of questions (I always try to do that anyway, following my own advice on asking questions, but its obviously easier when there aren't many other people there).

I was unsurprisingly unable to pass his half guard, mainly because I couldn't find a way to flatten him out. He immediately got up on his side and secured an underhook, so while I could get a whizzer for some control, I struggled to swim my arm under for my own underhook. Again, this emphasises the massive importance of shoulder pressure: the one time I did manage to get my shoulder vaguely in place, I was far closer to passing than before (naturally still got swept, but it was less immediate).

Later, he had me in a kimura. I was able to manoeuvre myself into a position where I could resist, but it felt like I was mainly just bracing myself against the submission instead of using good technique. This is something I've been pondering recently, as it seems like I might be more productive simply tapping and restarting in those situations.

Kev's advice when I asked him if I should continue to strain or just restart was, firstly, that it depends on if you're safe from injury. If they aren't in the process of dislocating your shoulder, and you're with a controlled senior belt rather than a big, powerful beginner, you will have enough time to tap if you're definitely caught.

Secondly, Kev said that one of the marks of a senior belt is that when they get a good position – such as the kimura he had on me – they don't give it up, trying hard to finish. Similarly, a mark of a senior belt is that they're harder to submit. So, if you can get into a defensive posture that gives you some breathing room, that's good. You now have time to think, what do I need to do to escape from here?

Next time you're in that same position, you'll be able to draw on your experience and react quicker. Even if you didn't get out the first time, the more you're in that position and the more you understand what's happening, the better your chances of escape will be.

Free sparring was with Callum, where I kept ending up under side control. I played around with using the reverse triangle position to help me escape, and also tried out escapes from north south. That didn't work out too good, as Callum spun to an armbar, but it did teach me something about the benefits of instinctive reactions. I like to be able to pause and think, but that time, I knew he was going for the armbar. I also knew there was an escape I could do from here. The problem was, I thought about it rather than just did it, so was tapping before I could even attempt to get free.

At other times, I was trying lots of triangles from the guard. People are slipping out of these too easily, so I'm definitely doing something wrong. I get head control, but they still seem to be able to get through some gap I'm leaving with my legs. It could be I need to be tighter, raise my hips more, get better control of the arm, or simply improve my grasp on their head.

However, I'm glad that I'm at least finding myself approaching triangles more often at the moment: finishing would be nice, but its more important to work out the kinks in my technique for getting there.

27/10/2009 - BJJ

Class #254



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 27/10/2009

It was an interesting class tonight, as Kev was teaching techniques I recognised from 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, specifically the first few pages of the half guard section in Mastering the Rubber Guard.

This was something of a coincidence, as I noticed earlier today that the people from the new 10th Planet JJ site were so impressed by my BJJ glossary they've decided to copy it for their own site. Hopefully they'll do me the courtesy of a link back to my original version.

There is a copyright notice on mine, but given that this is about the fourth or fifth time someone's copied my Brazilian jiu jitsu glossary without asking or acknowledgement, it clearly doesn't do much good. I did what I always do, which is send a polite email asking if, seeing as they've taken my BJJ glossary, could they please link back to the original.

Not sure if I had Eddie Bravo's email right, or that of his web guy, but we'll see if that sorts the problem. Bravo seems like a decent guy, so I wouldn't have thought he'd knowingly plagiarise somebody else (even though he gets accused of stealing from Nino Schembri and renaming it 10th Planet JJ and 'rubber guard', Bravo does always acknowledge his sources).

Anyway, on to the beginner class tonight: Kev kicked off by showing the proper application of the lockdown (pp54-55 in Mastering the Rubber Guard). Hook their leg as normal with your outside foot, then step your other leg over. However, instead of just locking your legs together, you're going to hook the foot of your second leg under their shin. From there, stretch your legs out to immobilise their limb.

The next step in 10th Planet JJ would be the 'Jaws of Life', which is basically shoving against their face to make space to get double underhooks. Kev instead incorporated this into the third step, the whip up (pp58-59 in Mastering the Rubber Guard). Once you've managed to make some space, get your hands to their hips. Maintaining your lockdown, bring your knees towards you while simultaneously pushing on their hips with your hands.

That should mean you have enough room and leverage to 'whip up' onto your side, securing an underhook. This is a much better position than flat on your back in half-guard, as now you have the option to go on the offensive. Still in keeping with Mastering the Rubber Guard, you can now move to what Eddie Bravo calls the 'old school' sweep (pp60-62).

However, Kev's version deviates from 10th Planet JJ at this point, and I have to say I prefer his variation. Rather than actually sweeping your opponent, you simply secure a dominant position and move round either to side control or their back, depending on how they react.

You being by reaching through with your free hand to grab their far ankle. This grip is key: don't let go until you've passed. Having got hold of their ankle. you now need to get out from half guard. Pull their leg back with your top foot, which should give you enough control to slide the other leg under, coming up to their back.

From here, you simply move around to side control. This is facilitated by the typical response of your opponent, which is to try and turn into you. As long as you keep hold of that foot, you should be able to keep walking your legs round and secure sidemount. If they choose not to turn into you, that means their back is right there for the taking: you just need to insert your hooks (you may also need to move their arm out of the way, but due to your underhook, you can just shrug it off with your shoulder).

Bravo's method is to instead grab the toes, pull, and drive through to initiate a pass. While there is nothing wrong with doing that, Kev's method uses a lot less energy, something that immediately makes a technique appeal to me.

As ever, Kev also showed the flipside, which is one of the things I love about his classes. In order to pass the lockdown, you first need to free your foot. You could use something like the infamous 'Indian death lock', as described in Passing in the Guard (p219), but that can seriously damage the knees of both you and your partner.

Fortunately, there are alternatives, two of which appear in the new second edition of Passing the Guard. Kev didn't go that route, instead using a simpler method to free the foot. First, you need to shift your weight back: you aim is to create enough pressure that you can circle your top foot free, then slide it underneath their leg to free yourself. It doesn't matter if you can't entirely get the foot under their leg, as long as your able to shove your knee up to their bum. You need to hide your leg so they can't re-establish their lockdown.

Now that your leg is no longer stretched out behind you, drive your shoulder into their chin, creating as much force as possible with your weight. It is essentially you maintain heavy pressure with your shoulder, as that will mean you can raise your lower body in order to bring your free leg through. You want to get the shin of that leg on top of their leg, so it can act as a wedge.

You need to be careful here, as you're vulnerable to an easy sweep if they just bridge into you. Therefore it is absolutely imperative that you make sure you grab their knee. That will make their bridge ineffective: if they try it, you can use your grip on the leg to make space and simply pull your leg free, switching to side control.

If they're sensible enough not to bridge once you're holding their knee, then you still need to free your leg. There are two options: firstly, you can use your shoulder pressure and blocking shin to make enough room to free the leg. Secondly, you can your grip on the knee to pull their legs towards you, again making space to yank your leg out.

In specific sparring, I found that the lockdown was almost totally ineffective against my training partner, Howard. He was able to simply shift down to my hips and immobilise me each time I tried it. I've read in the past that some people don't like the lockdown because it limits their hip mobility: I can now see exactly what they mean.

I had better luck with orthodox half guard, where I managed to recover full guard a couple of times. Passing was much less successful, as I had trouble getting Howard flat. He also kept grabbing my foot, which scuppered my passing. I asked Kev for his advice, and he said that you must get them flattened out: that's the best option on top of half guard. However, if they manage to get your foot, then try changing your angle to a different pass. He also suggested that I try the brabo off the whizzer (overhooking their arm), as I'll often get that position in sparring.