27/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #174



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Oli Geddes, London, UK - 27/08/2008 - Advanced

On Monday, I finally put up a version of that BJJ history post I've mentioned over the past few months. I didn't realise I'd been playing with it quite as long as I have – since last May, apparently – so about time I stuck it on the blog, if only to stop me fiddling with it. Well, until I get my next history book, that is… :p

In other news, B Stuff Etc (of snowboarding action figure fame) has moved to a new url, myBJJblog.com (always good to get keywords into the URL ;p). Like Steve mentioned on his blog a while ago, the Google Reader thing is really handy for keeping up to date on the rest of the BJJers scribbling on the net, though it does mean you miss out on links etc sitting in the frame.

Gustavo had to rush off to deal with something unexpected, which meant Oli G was left in charge. That turned out to be good for me, as he ran a great class: I received lots of tips during drilling. Before we got to the fun stuff, guard passage gave me another chance to try and force myself to stand-up, which I sort of managed to do, but also as usual, either got dragged straight back down or swept. Eventually its all going to click, but I need to keep up that impetus and avoid my defensive comfort zone in guard.

We then switched so that the person on the mat went on top, so I got to play guard a little. Didn't get me too far, but made for a nice change from getting swept or submitted all the time. I could do with getting to open guard quicker, rather than bailing once they've almost passed anyway. I can't remember the last time I tried going for a sit-up sweep, which used to be my go-to move, but these days I find my partner always has too good a base. Must give that another try some time.

Switching to side control, I wasn't getting anywhere, but did much better once I found myself starting on the bottom. With Yuri, I had expect to get quickly smashed, as he's got a driving, aggressive style. However, he left enough space while trying to go for something that I could shrimp my way to half and then full guard. However, I did cramp my calf a little in the process, as I had to drag him into half-guard, reaching for his leg: my calf immediately complained by tensing up, but fortunately I found I could still shrimp for full guard. I could see that kind of cramp easily happening in a competition, so something to be keep in mind. That calf often seizes, which made me wonder if it might be exacerbated by my poor diet: I rarely eat enough before class.

I managed a similar escape with Herman (I had thought he'd still be on tour for a while, so was cool to see him in class: one of my best training partners), after which sparring changed to mount. Alex gave me a useful reminder about working your knees up from on top: if they get their elbow past, make sure you deal with that rather than blithely continuing to try and shove your knees forward. Get under their elbow with your hand, yank it up, then fill the gap with your knee.

As you'd expect from somebody as proficient with half-guard as Oli, he went with his favourite position when it came to technique. I constantly end up in half-guard, so that was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping he'd show us. He began with a sequence I think I've seen in Mastering the Rubber Guard, working from half-guard to a position Bravo – with his usual penchant for random made-up terminology - calls "the dogfight" (page 74). Useful to have a name, as otherwise I'd have to refer to it as "that position where you're next to the other person, both on your knees and one hand, with a grip over their back and holding the far hip".

Oli demonstrated two half guard sweeps, both starting in a typical half guard position. Grab the opposite arm to the leg you've trapped, bringing your other forearm firmly into their throat, holding them by the shoulder. Shrimp out towards the trapped leg, then swivel your throat arm underneath their armpit (Oli did a kicking motion to use his leg as a counterbalance to bring himself up, similar to what Roy Dean does to get to his knees from side control in Blue Belt Requirements, moving in close and gripping all the way around their back to their other hip.

You are now going to unwrap your ankles from their trapped leg, then step the outside leg over. This means you can then use that heel to hook their, aiming to drag it back to your bum. Having made that space, you can now bring your other leg underneath their raised knee, coming up on your side using your elbow. You're now in the aforementioned "dogfight".

Once we had that down, Oli moved onto the two sweeps themselves. The first option was to drive your head into their chest and pull their far knee towards you. This will enable you to knock them over, after which you can then swing your rear leg behind you and switch into side control. Looks like the one Bravo calls the "half and half variation" sweep on page 78 of MTRG, following on from the "half and half" (where he gable grips underneath their torso rather than grabbing the knee).

Update Oct 08: There's now a decent video of the half and half sweep up on YouTube, thanks to Alder Hampel.



If they push back into you, there is a second sweep (I'm guessing something like what Bravo calls "Plan B", on page 80), which uses their momentum against them. With the grip you have around their hip, pull them onto your own hip. Maintaining that hold, you're now going to quickly roll to your back, straightening out your other arm against their far knee. This will bring them over the top of you, where you can again adjust into side control.

Two points to note on that second one are firstly, make sure you still have a knee between their legs when in the dogfight position. If you're further out and don't have that control of the leg, the sweep won't function. Secondly, note that it isn't so much a push with your arm as a sort of brace. I don't think I quite got this part of the technique down, as I found Herman was landing heavily, hip-first, into my stomach. With a heavier partner, that could be painful, so I need to work on straightening the arm properly, which should hopefully prevent me winding myself.

I kicked off free sparring with Herman, where we almost immediately ended up in half-guard. I tried the technique we'd just been shown, but Herman controlled me with his other arm. I think I need to get that forearm more forcefully into his neck, something I'm not used to doing as normally if I put an arm around there, I do it too loosely, so its get pushed to the side and leave me open for an arm triangle.

Instead, I went for a deep half-guard, and at one point I think managed to sweep Herman, but sloppily, through grabbing his leg and yanking it in the air. I also found myself in exactly the position we'd been shown how to escape a few lessons ago, where they're in top half guard with their back to you, but couldn't remember the technique. Will have to review that for next time.

Next up was Owen, who I haven't sparred in a while. I'd forgotten about his mighty open guard, but he was taking it fairly easy on me, so coached me through driving my hips forward. However, I found when I next tried to use that, while it definitely helped, I burned up energy quickly. Could be that I was trying to use force when I should have been relying on bodyweight instead. Either way, got swept before too long, but that gave an opportunity to try something I'd seen Roy Dean do on the Seminars: Year One. When your partner is going for a stack pass but hasn't yet locked their hands together around your legs, wiggle your legs forward, driving your thighs against their arms. This sort of worked, but ultimately just delayed the inevitable. I also need to be more controlled when I next try that, as I think I managed to knee Owen in the process: not clever.

Finally, I rolled again with Herman, where I tried to get into De La Riva and then switch for that tripod sweep Rosie went through at the last Warwick Uni BJJ meet-up. However, he was too far forward, and I wasn't able to push him back to get into position to switch to the tripod sweep (I think that's what its called anyway). I tried for an elevator sweep a few times doing, pulling him forward first, but his base was sufficient to resist. As time ran out, I looked for the right grip on his gi to get a choke, but could only get a hold on the back of the gi. Same thing happened with Owen: might be better if I get the deep grip on the collar first, though that's easier said than done.

Very cool to have a lesson detailing some of Oli's very effective half-guard stuff, drawing on Eddie Bravo (normally I avoid his stuff as too advanced, with the exception of the half guard section at the start of MTRG). I'll hopefully be training again tomorrow, but I have an irritatingly late meeting at work. Although if I don't make it on Thursday, not too much of a worry, as I should be able to get in an extra session next Saturday, because my gf is away. Even better would be if Andy Roberts has his Farnborough opening that weekend, but will have to wait and see: I'd assume its either going to be the first September weekend or the second.

Book Review - The Gracie Way (Kid Peligro)

There isn't much available in the bookshop on Brazilian jiu jitsu history, though the ability to read Portuguese will widen your options. For those of us who don't have that language at our disposal, Kid Peligro's The Gracie Way is the main text available that explores the background of BJJ, in particular the central figures of the Gracie family (hence why its a major source for my long BJJ history post). Though there are a few other lineages of BJJ – Oswaldo Fadda is one notable example – it is the Gracies who are undeniably the best known, most successful and most important. The Gracie Way covers the biography of several of its members.

The strength of the book is the glorious photography showcased throughout The Gracie Way. There are scenes from the archive of the original academy in Rio, pictures of the Gracies in competition and old newspaper clippings from the early years. This is accompanied by lots of historical detail and first hand sources, Kid Peligro getting quotes from his contacts in the sport, most notably the Gracies themselves. The history of BJJ is traced by speaking to some of its major contributors, like Helio and Rorion, with their memories of BJJ's growth: for Helio, its the origins of the sport in Brazil, while Rorion discusses the move to the US and the early days of the UFC.

This is where the controversial side of the book begins. The Gracie Way's biggest flaw is the heavy bias: you won't find objective criticism of the Gracie family here, as Kid Peligro is a close friend, and clearly has great respect for the many accomplishments of the Gracie brothers and their descendents. There is no mention, for example, of Rorion's litigation against his relatives, the focus remaining firmly on the Gracie's positive achievements.

Peligro's writing on Renzo, Royler and Royce is especially interesting if you enjoy MMA, as you get a different perspective on the first few UFCs in the 1990s and those famous Pride fights around the turn of the millennium. Carlos Gracie Jr also crops up, which means Peligro can talk about Gracie Barra, the Mundials and the CBJJ (Confederação Brasileira de Jiu-Jitsu)/IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation), a governing body set up by Carlinhos (a name by which Carlos Gracie Jr is often known).

Any author seeking to cover such a huge group of people – Helio and his brothers had many children – has to make choices about who to include, but that inevitably leads to questions about those the author chooses not to cover. For example, Relson, Ralph and Carley do not receive their own sections. Yet that can be forgiven, as there are always space limitations in these kind of projects. I hope that some day there may be further volumes of the biography, which could also cover more recent figures, such as Rener and Roger.

Kid Peligro detailed some of the difficulties in compiling such a book during his first Fightworks Podcast interview:

The Gracie family has been around forever, and they have so many fighters and so many different stories it was really hard to narrow down, to do research, and to finally decide who to write about...I tried to narrow down to the top ten, in my mind, that were the most important in the development of jiu-jitsu through the history.

I mean, there's other people that are well deserving to be there, but it was very emotional to try to do a book about people I admire a lot, some of them were my friends, some of them were not alive.

If you want to learn more about BJJ history, then you'll enjoy The Gracie Way, although admittedly you don't have many books to choose from. Kid Peligro presents a loving look at the Gracie family, letting them tell much of their own story, resulting in a wealth of anecdotes that gives the reader a window on this most famous of fighting dynasties. Available to buy here (for the US, click here or here).

21/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #173



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 21/08/2008 - Advanced

I had a light roll with Oli M (I think his surname starts with an M: anyway, the Oli who isn't the recently promoted purple belt with a penchant for Eddie Bravo stuff), which was a good way to pass some time before the lesson started. As ever I got there early, so when Oli suggested a bit of rolling, seemed like another good opportunity to work on relaxing. Flowed around through various positions, until I bowed out. Ten minutes, maybe? I can never go very long, even when its not full-on. Also had a chance to try the foot-in-armpit escape from a mounted triangle, though as we were going light, doesn't really count.

Tonight was all about the half-guard. Jude started with a choke from half-guard (top). You begin with one arm around their head, the other by their back, linking your hands in a gable grip (palm-to-palm), while they have an underhook. First, bring your top arm back, grab their lapel and pull out as much gi as you can. Drag that over to their head, feeding the fabric to the hand you have by their neck. You'll need to stay tight throughout: using your chin by their shoulder is one way of adding some extra control.

Next, slide your top arm underneath their underhook, then get that hand right past their head: Jude advised that you'll be far enough when you can see your own fingers. If you're having trouble pushing your hand through, then you can use your other arm to pull their head back, and/or move your knee further out towards their head. Once you're there, switch the gi you're holding to the hand you've worked through.

Maintaining a firm grip with the gi hand (their gi should be up by their armpit due to having been wrapped round, to which they'll also have the discomfort of their arm trapped tightly against your body), hold the back of their gi with your other hand. To finish, bring the forearm by that hand around and into their neck, then squeeze for the choke.

From the same position, you can also execute a half guard pass. Though you've established your grips, they manage to defend. So instead of the choke, your going to transfer your lower hand to their same side sleeve and pull up, while the elbow of your other arm will press into their chest. Use that pressure to get your knee free of their legs, slide it forwards, then switch your hips to move into side control.

Last technique was a brabo choke. This one is a little simpler, as it doesn't involve any gi wrapping, and is therefore also applicable to nogi. As before, they have an underhook. Reach through with your top arm as before, but this time you're just trying to get your hand as far through as possible, rather than straining the grab a lapel.

Instead, you're going to grasp around the crook of your other arm, the hand of which will then grip them by the shoulder. Squeeze, trying to bring your lower arm upwards, simultaneously pressing forward with your chest to complete the submission. If you're having trouble finishing, use the pressure to get your knee through, then step over them, moving into a sort of mount position. That should enable you to apply greater leverage.

Specific sparring was, naturally, from half guard. My partner was Paxton, who is good at getting his knee through when underneath, so I had a hard time stopping him escaping. I tried using additional pressure, getting a tight grip and then wrapping his legs with my own, but that seemed merely to delay the inevitable: the only thing I accomplished through that approach was using up more energy.

Underneath, I found I couldn't get my knee through. Paxton was blocking it effectively with his knee: not sure if I could have somehow made more space in the other direction, but I think that was blocked off by his shoulder. I also tried using my legs more offensively, trying to stay tight but releasing the half guard and pushing, which was unsurprisingly a little risky. Sort of worked at one point, as I was able to recover guard, but not reliable just yet.

Free sparring kicked off with a purple belt, Javid. He took it easy on me, taking the opportunity to give out some useful advice rather than simply crushing me. As with yesterday, good reminder on keeping the arms tight under side control, particularly when they're trying to choke you from the top: Javid said that as soon as someone grabs your collar, get your elbows in position to block the choke attempt. I can't think of many people who try to choke me from side control, so was handy to be put in that situation. He also mention going to your knees from underneath, which is still something I don't do anything like as often as I should. Too reliant on either recovering guard or snatching half-guard.

Finally, rolled with Paxton, where we ended up back in half-guard. I did eventually manage to get a sweep, lifting him over my head, but I think that might have happened because we were getting near another pair sparring, so Paxton may well have eased off in readiness to move out of the way.

Something else sparring brought up was that I really need to make better use of all of my limbs, rather than just arms or legs in isolation. I've mentioned that before, so was trying to keep the principle in mind tonight. In particular I should be making more use of my legs, pushing against my partner to make space for escapes, as well as in open guard.

Forgot my towel, which was annoying, as I don't like to delay my shower: hygiene is super-important when there are risks like staph, after all. Can shower when I get back to my sisters, but not pleasant feeling skanky on the train. Bleh.

20/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #172



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Gustavo Dos Santos Pires, London, UK - 20/08/2008 - Advanced

Big news at the weekend: Nick G got his black belt, so huge congratulations to him! Check out his blog over The Jiu-Jitsu Brotherhood, if you haven't already, where you'll see he combines excellent writing skills along with his high level BJJ.

First technique was a sweep from half guard, where they have their back to you. Grab their belt and the bottom of their gi trouser, then switch the legs you're using to hold half-guard. That means you can then push off that foot to shrimp out (towards the leg your hand is gripping), moving into position to then replace your closed guard, with them still facing away from you.

Put one hand on the back of their collar and another on their belt, pushing them downwards. Switch from belt to their arm, using that to swivel them into your rear mount. If they resist, you can change direction, following their momentum to roll into mount, as Oli demonstrated while he was doing the rounds.

Gustavo followed that with an open guard sweep. The position is that they are trying to pass your guard, having underhooked one of your legs, leaving one of your legs underneath their bum. With your same side arm, grab the inside of their leg, while your other arm grips their opposite sleeve.

Next, roll over your shoulder (again on the side you're holding their leg), bringing your free leg over the top and turning, until your head is now pointing towards them. Effectively, you're going to be in the same position as that end-of-class stretch where you bring both legs back past your head, leaving your bum in the air.

That means you can then use leverage to your advantage. Swing your body forward, lifting up their leg and pulling on their arm. Along with the power of your other leg underneath their bum, this should enable you to roll them over you, ending up on top, where you can readjust to side control.

Guard passage provided me with further opportunity to get used to standing up. I saw a useful looking video on the Gracie Barra Plymouth blog, which bears repeat viewing. The only thing I remember was the point on squeezing their butt cheeks together with your knees, but as ever ended up getting swept each time by Christina. Still, also as ever, good to work standing up.

A brown belt, Gerald, lost his partner to injury, so came to join us. He gave me some useful reminders on shrimping out away from your partner when in open guard. Handy to remember that when passing, you try to stay as tight as possible, whereas when escaping, its all about making as much space as your can.

In free sparring, I went with Christina both times. I continue to fail miserably at doing anything with the quarter-guard, so need to double-check Matt's video. Of course, hard to pull off something new against somebody way better than you, particularly when I don't quite understand the sweep. Nevertheless, fun to try.

Another useful reminder on being careful of my arms when under side control. I'm being far too lax with arm positioning: I need to stick to what Eddie Bravo calls the 'T-Rex' (despite his often ridiculous terminology, it can be efficient shorthand), keeping arms tight and elbows in. I've been getting excited about playing with that escape Nick G showed us, and combining it with other escapes, but shouldn't get ahead of myself. Also need to watch it if I'm trying to reach through in half guard or knee-on-belly, as that can often result in getting armbarred.

Short entry today, which might be partially because I'm not writing this on the train home as normal, but back at my sister's flat before heading off to bed. That does have the big advantage that I don't have to rush off after training this week, though it does mean I'm tempted to a tasty – but extremely unhealthy – cheeseburger at Victoria station. Mmm…

14/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #171



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Gustavo Dos Santos Pires, London, UK - 14/08/2008 - Advanced

My gf got funding for her MA at Warwick, so that should hopefully mean loads more training in the future for me. As she will need to get lots of work done, makes sense if I go and spend the first half on the day on campus. In terms of training, it will be way easier to make Warwick Uni BJJ sessions once we move closer, and I also plan to give judo another go (though I remain concerned about injury due to last time, so will be extra-careful).

Tonight's class featured lots of sparring, as often seems to be the case with Gustavo. Very unusually, we started off with full-on sparring, from our feet, so effectively like a competition. I'm always wary of throws, so I was looking to pull guard as soon as possible. My first partner was a rather keen blue belt, meaning that I was sitting in guard looking to see if I could nab his arm somehow. Eventually ended up in half-guard and swept him, but fell straight into a tight choke.

I don't think I tapped (unless it was reflex or something, as the choke was quite forceful), but either way looks like he thought I did, so eased off. Should have stayed on, but he seemed happy to leave, meaning I could then get swiftly passed by my next partner. Also reminds me to be careful of chokes from half-guard: not sure if the usual defence works as well, as I can't then base up so easily. Something to think about.

Gustavo then showed one of his seemingly endless repertoire of open guard sweeps. You have both their sleeves, they're on their knees. Bring one leg over an arm, then hook under the other arm. Sit up and straighten that same leg, pushing off with your other leg, sweeping them to one side.

If they resist, then immediately switch to the other side, driving forward with your legs and pulling on their arms, putting them on their back. Gustavo described it as an osoto-gari motion, as its effectively a throw from your knees. Judging from drilling with Tanvir, it relies a lot on momentum: swinging first one way, then the opposite. I think you also need to push on their arm with your knee, keeping their sleeve tight to reduce their ability to resist.

Specific sparring was guard passage, where I'm still not standing up: this particularly becomes a problem for me when I'm against bigger guys (i.e., almost everyone in the class), as I just get pulled down again when I start to stand. I need to overcome that, just get up and then gradually develop a better base. Instead, I was defending once again, and got my nose squished by Alex (who was going for a triangle, but due to my position wrenched the nose straight up instead), then armbarred by Justin (a variation where he had the arm wrapped up so my hand was by his back).

For free sparring my partner was Tanvir, who has recently received his blue belt, which is cool. Less cool is that he unfortunately broke his ribs a while back, so I was being extra careful to avoid that side. As it turned out, most of the spar was open guard anyway, so the ribs weren't a problem.

I tried to get into the De La Riva, so I could attempt the sweep from Sunday, but found it difficult to keep control long enough to wrap up Tanvir's legs. While I could keep an instep hooked, he was able to keep moving and stepping back, meaning I generally just had control of one leg and one arm.

He later got into my half-guard, where after some wiggling I was able to get on top. Again, I was looking to avoid placing my weight on my ribs, but I doubt it made much difference to my technique: if it did have an impact, that would have been more than mitigated by the care Tanvir himself was no doubt taking with his injury, which must have hampered certain movements.

The roll also reminded me that I haven't got a clue what to do with submissions. I found myself in a mounted triangle, but was left pondering what to do with the arm, eventually getting rolled over as I first tried to cinch the triangle from guard, then switched to an equally sloppy armbar attempt. Very unusual for me to be in position for a submission, and it really shows. At present I'm more than happy to keep working defence, but worth remembering that I will need to develop some kind of facility with submissions later on.

My next and final sparring partner was Joanna, where we both spun about through open, half and full guard, with occasional forays into side control. As with Tanvir, I couldn't control Joanna's leg sufficiently in open guard, normally just getting the one leg, so she could simply pass with the free limb. I also gave up my back, which is an extremely bad habit I do not want to develop: must go to my knees more, rather than always wanting to recover guard or half-guard.

I got cramp in my right leg in the midst of holding half-guard, which was annoying. Was just about to keep control by using my other leg to hook, but I could see that being a problem if I ever compete again. I don't get cramp too often, but does occasionally happen, almost always in that exact situation. Not sure if it was exacerbated by all the open guard with Tanvir, or if its just something that can happen towards to end of a long sparring class.

Shame that I'll miss out on the affiliate open day on Saturday, but I'll hopefully be busy house-hunting in Leamington, Kenilworth and Canley. Would be good to find accommodation soon, so that we can move in and I can at long last get into all the various sports on offer on campus. Judo of course, but I'd love to try out archery, and I haven't done any fencing since I was about twelve. Might even return to horse-riding, if there is the option, as I enjoyed the little bit I did back in the day (again, was pretty young when I did it on a regular basis: wonder if my helmet still fits…).

13/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #170



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 13/08/2008 - Advanced

Those of you who read about the Oxford Throwdown may remember Jadon: he has now started his own training blog, which you can check out here. Especially useful if you're thinking of training with Andy Roberts in Guildford (soon moving to a larger premises in Farnborough), a Roger Gracie brown belt, experienced competitor and Jadon's instructor.

Keeping on the topic of cool blogs, Matt from Martial Farts just posted up this great interview with Caleb, of Fightworks Podcast fame. Interesting stuff, such as his points on competition, and I like that he emphasised relaxing and shrimping as the two things every beginner should work on.

He has also put up a video of the quarter-guard technique he mentioned earlier, which I tried briefly in sparring, but need to watch a few more times. I don't think I'm using the right arm, grabbing the leg in the correct way, or getting that knock with the hip right. As there is now video to check, should hopefully be able to better visualise what I'm supposed to be doing.

For the technique tonight, Nick showed us an armbar from side control. Trying not to be too obvious about your intentions, keep their near hand under some kind of control. Your knee nearest their legs will then shift up slightly, staying tight, while you grip deep around their far arm, reaching under as much as you can.

Your leg nearest their head now steps out, while your leg folds against their side: the foot should be up toward their face. This, coupled with the tight grip on their far arm, will help prevent them turning out of the armbar. Bring your raised leg over their head, keeping the foot close to them. The other leg will also come out, scooping their arm with your knee as you do so (maintain control of that arm all the way through the technique), putting them in position for the armbar. Drop back for the submission.

Specific sparring was done twice, first before the technique with your partner, then king of the hill. Both times I did much the same thing, continuing to work on transitioning from side control to scarf hold and back again. I also attempted reverse scarf hold, where you are facing their knees, but still needs work. I was trying to keep my weight down and make space by moving backwards, but could not clear enough room to bring my knee through for mount. However, it was good to practice being mobile on top: seems to be improving, though at various points both Bruno and Joanna were able to escape because I left too much room.

Underneath, I built on the drilling from Sunday, with the spinout side control escape and Nick's earlier technique where you roll them over your back. The spinout remains problematic, as I end up on my side, and wasn't able to drive through with my shoulder as with Rosie: I'm pretty sure that's just a matter of force, so very unreliable. I had the same sloppy approach to the other side control escape, coming up on my knees instead of toes. I did manage to get Joanna over, but didn't stay tight, and again I doubt it would have worked against anybody heavier or simply putting up more resistance: Joanna tends to stay fairly relaxed in sparring.

In free sparring, I again found myself in side control, open guard and half-guard most of the time, trying the same escapes again. I wanted to go for the De La Riva sweep Rosie had showed me, but couldn't get into position, getting passed instead. It does at least mean I've got some kind of specific goal when in open guard now, which was largely missing previously.

Zaf went to his back, as he normally does with me due to the huge strength discrepancy, putting me in lockdown. I wasn't totally certain how to neutralise that, so tried sitting back on his legs. Not especially successful, and found myself in a footlock, pushing on Zaf's bum to escape (like Bruno had shown me a while back).

Zaf also advised me on keeping control in guard, getting my legs up high and forcing my partner down. I'm always wary of anything that requires strength (because its not something I can ever rely on, being weedy), but its important to be able to strike a balance. Some force is required in situations like that, but as ever I want to stay relaxed and technical.

Surprisingly, the tape I had round my toes and foot to protect the mat burn I acquired on Sunday held out. I had purchased a bottle of that liquid plaster Zaf recommended earlier, but didn't need to use it. Judging by that, it would seem that while tape doesn't seem to last very long on the fingers, its ok for the toes. The same tape I'd wrapped around on Sunday was still going strong, despite having got wet from the shower. I'd expected it to come loose in sparring.

Should be in again tomorrow, where hopefully we'll work some side control escapes. Would be great to get a refresh on the one Nick showed us before, but will wait and see what happens. Might be good to have a basic open guard lesson too, or perhaps some work on passing half-guard. I was struggling to remember Maurição's tips when with Zaf, so something I need to read back in my blog.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

07/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #169



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 07/08/2008 - Advanced

I got a pleasant PM from someone on Sherdog this morning, saying they'd found this blog useful, and in particular were wondering if I could send them a copy of the spreadsheet I use to track my attendance (the offline version is way more geeky, with a load more formulae, tabs and even graphs ;p). That means I've now got a template version, so if anyone else wants one, let me know.

My face was raw from yesterday, probably from defending chokes in free sparring, and it was going to get some more gi action tonight: Jude focused on chokes from the guard. As is often the case, he started with the fundamental position, then demonstrated variations depending on how your partner defends.

The initial cross choke from guard we worked on tonight started with you opening up your partner's lapels, pulling them out of their belt, keeping a firm grip on one with your same side hand. Bring them forwards with your legs, then keep them down by using your free arm to clamp over their back. The hand grasping their gi will now punch up and past their armpit, aiming to feed the end of the gi to your other hand.

Push off their hip and shrimp, bringing your free hand past their throat. Switch the gi back to that hand, so you now have secure control over their neck. The hand which is therefore now free again grabs the gi material by their shoulder, on the opposite side of their neck to your other hand, pressing both forearms into their throat. Squeeze for the choke.

Next the first cross choke variation. You've got them wrapped up, ready to bring your other hand through to finish off the choke. However, this time they've managed to get their hand in place on their face to block you. To counter that, push the elbow of that arm away from you and come up on your side slightly, while still holding the gi you've looped around their head. Your free arm is going to press on the back of their head (not directly on the back, but towards their ear), pushing their head a bit sideways. Pull on the gi with your gripping hand as you do so for the choke.

Finally, the last variation is a way of taking the back. Again, you're ready to choke, but this time instead of defending with a hand, they get their whole head to the other side of your head, preventing the choke. That presents you with two ways to take their back.

You could shrimp out, bringing the leg over, locking in the body triangle and then putting in your hooks, putting you on top of them, back mounted. Or you could reach for the far elbow, pull it up and back, twisting them towards you, which should enable you to spin them into rear mount, with both of your backs facing the floor.

I started on my back during king of the hill guard passage, which hasn't happened for a while. Lorenzo didn't have much trouble passing, but did put me in that quarter guard position I've been playing with recently since Rob T suggested it. I thought I could try Matt's sweep, but I think I went for the knee with the wrong arm. Against a guy as strong as Lorenzo, the technique needed to be perfect, which very clearly mine wasn't, but at least I've now given it a go. Something to improve next time I find myself in quarter-guard (which reminds me, must add that to the glossary - in short, like half guard, but you only have their foot).

With mount, I thought I'd attempt the same strategy that had worked well with Anthony a few lessons ago, but no such luck tonight. I was rolled pretty easily, and my balance was poor. I also wasn't attacking, which meant I was basically waiting to be swept. So, will need to think more carefully about how to be proactive when wrapping my legs around their's, trying to get my feet under their bum in mount.

Finally in side control, I felt more comfortable. I'm continuing to work on switching between side control and scarf hold, but keep forgetting that I should be using that transition to shift up towards their head, getting their arm out of the way and thereby making space to mount. I'm getting better and remembering to keep my head down and close to their's, which should help to make my scarf hold heavier.

Free sparring started with Christina, who as always drove through to knee-on-belly while I tried to escape. I again attempted to shift to quarter-guard, but couldn't get my feet into position. I tried reaching through with my arm to push on the ankle, but didn't do it carefully, so was asking to get armbarred rather than effecting any kind of productive escape.

In relation to that, Christina gave me a useful reminder that I really need to be more careful of my arm. Had we been in a competition, she would have slapped it on several times, but because she's a good training partner, my joints were mercifully left intact. However, I need to keep the distinction in mind – I've often said you shouldn't treat class like a competition (an essential point many beginners miss, I feel), but its also important to remember that class is different from competition, so I shouldn't allow myself to get complacent about dangling my arm in dangerous positions.

Last roll was with a visiting Irish purple belt named John, who sought me out because we're the same size. He took it relatively easy, eventually ending up mounting me. I tried to elbow escape, as well as pushing on his foot to see if I could snatch half guard, but to no avail. I was also bridging a lot to knock his submissions attempts off-balance. That was working ok right up until he got set up for a mounted triangle. I wasn't quite sure how to get free, so had a go at curling my body in close and bringing my legs to his arms.

This might have worked better if I'd been going somewhere specific rather than just flailing hopefully looking for a grip. John then helpfully explained one option to start an escape, which is to grab an arm with your trapped arm, then bring your foot through utilising that grip. You can then push back and roll upright: although you will most likely still be in a triangle, its far preferable to be resisting against one from guard – where you have some kind of base – then against one from mount.

There's going to be an open day at the Roger Gracie Academy on 16th August, where all the affiliate schools (so places like the Vie Academy, Nick Brooks in Mill Hill, Andy Roberts in Guildford etc) will be popping down for a visit. Shame I can't make that, as its on a weekend, but I am planning to make Andy's opening seminar for his new venue in Farnborough. Should be early September.

06/08/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #168



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 06/08/2008 - Advanced

Great news for people looking to train BJJ in Aylesbury: a new club, Roger Gracie Academy Aylesbury (RGAA), opened its doors last Sunday, headed up by Kev Capel (purple belt) and Yasmine Wilson (blue belt). Having trained with both of them at the Roger Gracie Academy, I'm sure that RGAA (note that the url is it as 'fightin-fit', not 'fighting fit', as the g is missed off) will be an awesome place to learn BJJ. I was chatting to Yas about it tonight, and she mentioned that they've already had a good turn-out since opening up last Sunday. This is the address:

Roger Gracie Academy Aylesbury (RGAA)
McLeod Academy,
7 Pembroke Road,
Stocklake, Aylesbury,
Bucks, HP20 1BD
kevcapel@hotmail.co.uk
07904810640 (Kev)

Aylesbury is relatively near where I live, so I'll have to see if I can drop in somehow: too far to make after work, but if for some reason I'm at home on a Friday or Sunday, wouldn't be overly difficult. I also see they've got a decent BJJ history up on the site, as well as details on UK BJJ history. That reminds me I should really finish up the one I've been compiling since last christmas – I've just about got all the sources I wanted now (RGAA provides another, handily), so it’s a matter of getting it into shape.

Another senior belt from RGA, Andy Roberts, is already running a club, but will soon be moving to new premises in Farnborough. Hopefully the open day will be on a weekend so I can make it: would be nice if I could go support my fellow RGA members. :D

Tonight's class was split between three instructors, though I'm putting this down as one for Nick, because he taught technique. Gustavo kicked off class with the warm-up, which as ever includes throws. I don't normally bother noting them down, but I liked the technique tonight, because there seemed to be little chance of accidentally tweaking your back through bad form.

I think Christina said it was called 'ippon' something, but basically, it’s a sort of trip where you throw them over your own leg. Grip their same side lapel, halfway down, while grabbing the fabric by their elbow with your other hand. Step in close to them and shove your elbow up into their armpit (on the lapel side, IIRC), twisting them off-balance. Swivel to bring your back against them, dragging down on the arm as you drive up with your other elbow into their armpit. Put your foot in front of them (on the trapped arm side), with your leg slightly bent. Finally, straighten up to put them onto your hip and bring your arms around, throwing them over your outstretched leg.

Main technique was taught by Nick G, and I was pleased to hear we would be doing side control escapes. With his trademark methodical, clear instruction, Nick broke the technique down, starting with a drill to get us used to the principal motion. Shrimp to one side as you would normally, but then bring one leg underneath the other and come up on your toes, so that you're now facing the floor with your bum in the air. This looks a bit like a drill I've seen called "threading the needle", but I don't think its quite the same thing.

The actual side control escape starts from a typical position, in which your partner has one arm under your head, the other under your far arm. For this technique to function, you want their arm past your head. To get it there, grab the gi by their opposite shoulder, then with your free arm grip the material near their elbow. Bridge up and thrust, dragging their arm over your head.

Keep that motion going, pushing their arm down towards their knees, aiming to get it between their legs. You can now execute the drill from earlier, shrimping, then bringing one leg under the other, rising up on your toes with your bum in the air (or in this case, pressing into your opponent).

As you've still got that grip on the arm, which they can't use to post because you've got it by their knees, you can now roll over your shoulder, bringing them with you. Be careful to come up on your elbow as you do this, rather than putting all the pressure on your neck: that hurts, as I discovered when drilling. As you roll them, you'll need to twist in mid-air to land on top in side control.

The next side control escape builds on that technique. You've got to the point where you've done the shrimp and step-through, raising them up ready to roll them. However, this time they're wise to it, and step round past your head. Let go of their arm, and instead hook around their leg, making sure your head is directly between their legs.

Your free arm is going to act as a lever – Nick described it as a 'robotic arm', pressing your body up, also using your lower back. That will lift your partner into the air, completely destroying their base. Drop them off to one side, holding their legs, then use that grip to twist them onto their back, driving through with your shoulder and ending in side control.

I wanted to keep trying to stand up during guard passage, but found that both the guys I was sparring were too strong for that to be effective. Or rather, they were sufficiently strong that I was extra-wary of getting up, a mental barrier I still need to overcome. Its so much more comfortable to just settle into base and defend, but that always ends up with the inevitable sweep.

Specific sparring from side control went better. My partner was Rohit, who hasn't been back to class for a few months, meaning he was rusty. That meant that he was tending to lean forward too much on top, so I was able to roll him over: wouldn't happen normally, but it can take a while to get back into the flow of things.

On top, I mainly tried to hold him down in scarf hold, which sort of worked, but I had some trouble breaking his grips on my legs. I should have secured his arm properly before shifting to scarf hold, though I managed to get back to side control (rather sloppy though, as I was leaving too much space).

In free sparring, I was a little better about standing up in guard, as Christina went to her back. She still swept me, but at least I worked getting to my feet a little. I also had a play with open guard again, trying to establish some grips, but I'm not active enough: need to review some of the many sweeps we've been shown from there. I got into a weird position with my legs, wrapping them around her legs, but to no meaningful effect (though it did show me I haven't lost all my flexibility from when I did stand-up back at Warwick Uni ZSK).

Following Rob T's advice after my last post, when Christina went to her favoured knee-on-belly this time, I grabbed her ankle and moved to quarter-guard (which from what Rob said is where you sort of have a half-guard, but only around their foot). Getting into that position seemed relatively straightforward (pull their ankle in, bring your leg over, lock your ankles around their foot), but the hard bit is going to be working back to full half-guard from there. Also as Rob mentioned, its not a secure place to be, as they are almost past your guard.

Finally, yet another weird position happened later on, I think from my attempts to use quarter-guard to escape knee-on-belly. I was reaching for the other leg with my arms, trying to pull myself through and pop out the back, while Christina was looking for the armbar. I did get behind her, but she was still holding me with her legs. Random: eventually think I either ended back in her guard, but can't quite remember.

My last spar was with the aforementioned Yas, having chatted about the new Roger Gracie Academy Aylesbury (RGAA) BJJ club in Aylesbury she's running with Kevin. I couldn't pass her guard, though I was trying to drive my knee through, shifting between pushing on that and sprawling back, looking to either get my legs under her knees for a stack pass, or pushing both knees to one side and spinning round the back.

Neither worked, and I fell into half-guard. I'm still ending up on the wrong side: I want to have my torso on the same side as the trapped leg, which should be viable because I'm often grabbing half-guard as they try to pass, so have a small window to position myself. I had a go at the arm sweep, also pulling Yas' gi around her head, without being quite sure what to do with it.

I did finally get back to guard, but then somehow found myself with Yas going for my back and looking for the choke. Vaguely remembering a video, I grabbed for an arm, as I assumed she had one wrapped around me, and eventually secured a grip. I then attempted to use that to roll her over and land in scarf or something, but totally couldn't recall the technique. After the spar, I realised I was thinking of the wrestler's sit-out, so should have been attempting that motion instead. Something to remember for next time.

Roger had been rolling with students during free sparring, and now took the warm-down. I like that he emphasised the importance of stretching to avoid injury: I've trained in a number of places (outside of BJJ) that don't include a warm-down, which I feel is a serious omission.

Should be training again tomorrow, then I'll be looking to get in another meet-up of the Warwick Uni BJJ training group on Sunday. I have the weekend free, so should be good: also want to finally finish up my BJJ history post.