Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 29/11/2008 - Advanced
I'd resigned myself to missing class today, as I didn't get the train I wanted from Amersham and had therefore assumed I wouldn't make it. However, the next train was earlier than I thought, so I managed to get down to the Academy with twenty minutes to spare (my habit of leaving lots of time for getting anywhere comes in really handy sometimes).
The Saturday class was fairly busy, with a bunch of my favourite sparring partners in attendance, so that was cool. Several people I haven't seen in a little while too, like Paxton and Bruno, who are both good to train with. There was no technique today, as on Saturdays it is all rolling after the warm-up. I started with Paxton, where I soon found myself in half-guard looking to either go for the sweep where you grab their opposite arm and roll them over their trapped leg, or full guard.
My problem was that I tended to be on the wrong side for that to work effectively, so spent most of my time trying to manoeuvre my upper body to the other side of their torso. I'm also still being too flat under side control: need to work harder on raising up a shoulder to prevent them crushing me down too easily. It might also be beneficial to put more pressure on their neck with my forearm, but I'm not overly fond of that kind of thing: seems 'dirty'.
Next up was Zahir, one of the white belts, though he's been here for a while now (I can remember rolling with him almost two years ago). As ever I was looking to escape from side control, got to half-guard, whereupon Zahir looked for a kimura. I didn't have much trouble keeping my arm straight and eventually reversing to get on top, but I definitely need to be careful of leaving my arm vulnerable: plenty of other people who could have capitalised on that quickly. I didn't have much time to do anything in top half guard, though I had a brief search for my own kimura. No luck there, as his arm was in a secure defensive position.
With Bruno, I'm always guaranteed a very relaxed sparring partner, though as a brown belt he doesn't need to expend much energy when rolling with a low blue belt like me. Again I was working in half-guard a lot, also trying to wriggle free from both side control and knee-on-belly. I kept in mind that I shouldn't turtle if at all possible, so successfully avoided giving up my back too easily.
Finally (the class on Saturday is only an hour long, like the class yesterday), I had a roll with Helen, with my own internal rule that I wasn't allowed to go for half-guard from open-guard, which is what happens frequently when we spar. That meant I instead found I was using my knees a lot more to push her away, aiming to wedge them into her hips, as well as spinning about trying to push on her hips. The rule didn't last once we got out of open guard, as I inevitably found myself in half-guard yet again. Next time, need to be better about my rule, or at least work harder for full guard. ;)
Of course, that's not to say that it is easy to get half-guard on Helen, as she's a purple belt, but she is a good ten kilograms lighter than me. I am normally under side control, knee-on-belly or half guard with her, interspersed by brief periods of open guard followed by half guard. This time, I was a lot more varied with my open guard, so avoiding the half-guard appeared to be a useful exercise.
Straight up to Leamington after that: I had wanted to go and have a drink with the ZSK guys, as there's a grading in St John's Wood, but the trains are messed up. Looking at the route, it would involve lots of buses, so that would mean I'd spent a while wandering around lost trying to work out where the hell I should be going. Didn't really have the time before my train to Leam, so had to pass. Will have to see if I can make it to the ZSK social tomorrow, but my girlfriend wants to go to a ceilidh at the same time.
[Update Apr 2010: As far as I can tell, Brute have unfortunately discontinued this product, so it is probably going to be tough to find]
The possibility of cauliflower ear has hovered in the back of my mind since I started BJJ, as I'd prefer to keep my ears as they are. I haven't had any major problems with my ears up until now, except for a brief period of general soreness on my right ear, which seems to have faded.
Nevertheless, that prompted me to buy some protection, for the same reason I use a gum shield: I'd much rather pre-empt injury rather than wait to get hurt before acting. For this particular injury risk, wrestlers are the most experienced, because cauliflower ear is common in that sport. I've even heard that in some countries it is viewed as a desirable goal. I for one don't wish to replace my ears with grotesquely twisted lumps, which meant I needed to invest in some head gear.
There are numerous brands of head gear (the term varies: I've also seen it referred to as a headguard, earguards, head protection etc), so as I'm not in the know when it comes to wrestling, I had a trawl through BJJ internet forums to see what people recommended. The name that kept cropping up was the Brute Shockwave (e.g., this EFN thread): as I could find it fairly cheap on eBay, I plumped for that.
The Brute Shockwave is lightweight, comfortable and at least so far, durable. I can still hear ok with the headgear on, as the material has small slits by the ears. I also didn't find it made any noticeable difference when somebody was trying to choke you, as I'd previously thought it might (except that people trying to crush your head when they can't finish the triangle is a bit less painful).
You do need to be careful if you have any cuts or scabs on your upper neck (such as if you were a bit careless shaving that morning), because that will chafe against the strap: I've got some kind of spot thing on my neck at the moment, so haven't worn my ear guard for the last few lessons. Men (and some women too, depending on how puberty went for you: contrary to popular belief, it isn't necessarily just men who have a protruding prominentia laryngea) will need to watch their larynx, as if you wear it too tight, that will also rub against the strap. Apart from that, it doesn't take long to get used to wearing headgear.
There are adjustable straps on the front and back of the head, as well as on the neck. I'd suggest experimenting to get an ideal fit, as you need a balance between choking yourself out with the strap and having it spin around your head due to being too loose. Leaving about two fingers between the strap and my neck seems to work for me, but then I have bony fingers. ;)
After a while, depending how much you train, sweat accumulates throughout the head guard and starts to stink. I had been told that it's even more pungent after washing, but putting it in at 30 degrees and then hanging it up to dry seems to work fine. I wouldn't advise spin-drying, though I haven't tried it myself, and you should also be careful of the velcro: try not to leave any exposed when you put it in the wash.
This is a fairly common product, so its available all over the place. If they're in stock, you can buy one here for $16.99 (or if you prefer a UK supplier, they're available here, but for £30). Personally, I bought mine from this guy's store on eBay. That worked out at around £20 (which included shipping to the UK, so reasonable), although as a small supplier I'd assume stock varies. More eBay options below:
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK – 28/11/2008 - No-Gi
I haven't been along to a nogi class in a while, and it proved to be an education. In terms of technique, as is often the case in nogi, it was all takedowns. The high crotch starts by grabbing their same side arm, then drop your leading knee between their legs, hooking your opposite arm around their knee. Your head should be on the outside and raise up, while you drive forward with your read leg.
You then step around to the outside with your rear leg, grabbing their leg with both your hands, then stand up, raising their leg between yours as you do so. From there, you can drive for the takedown, but we just did the set-up. Alternatively, you can shift to the double-leg once you've dropped and got an arm round their leg. Simply switch that hand to their other leg, bringing your free same side hand around the knee you just released, then drive forward with your legs and sideways with your head to bring them down.
The rest of the class was all sparring, and this is where I found myself in some interesting situations. That's because it wasn't the usual specific sparring from a particular position, but instead specific sparring with a particular submission. Things started with only guillotines and leglocks allowed, which sounded painful: as I've mentioned before, leglocks scare me, but for that reason I'd like to get as familiar as possible with the defence. Liam proceeded to guillotine and leglock me repeatedly, though I managed to prevent the leglocks later on by triangling my legs.
Roger was about to limit us to just guillotines next, but fortunately broadened it out a little to chokes with the arms. Not that I was much better off, as I could only think of two chokes I might have any chance of applying in nogi, which were the aforementioned guillotine and an arm triangle. My attempts at the guillotine were terrible, but I did manage to work my way into a vague arm triangle position on Roberto.
Unfortunately I don't think I was on the right side of his arm (assuming that matters? I'm not sure, but I'm guessing its better to be by their shoulder than by their hand), and I couldn't get his arm pressed into his neck anyway. I tried locking the choke, realised it clearly wasn't tight enough, then attempted to nudge his arm properly onto his neck with my shoulder, which didn't get anywhere.
Next spar sounded nightmarish, as it was specific leglock sparring. I have never attempted a leglock ever, and barely know the defences, but fortunately I was with Nick Brooks, who teaches at RGA Mill Hill. As he is an experienced brown belt, I knew I could rely on his control. Of course, that also meant I was getting footlocked and leglocked over and over again. My tendency to fall back into guard or go to half-guard was a real liability, and triangling my legs to stop kneebars didn't help: he simply footlocked me instead.
It definitely makes you approach sparring differently when you know leglocks are very much in the picture, although in my case that basically means even more cautious than usual (not that caution proved of any benefit, except perhaps that I could tap quicker ;p). I'm also turtling up too readily (in general, not just nogi), which is handy for practicing choke defence, but a bad habit I need to get rid of. As I'm small and people often go easy on me, I also get a false sense of security, so that means I need to be even more careful of giving up my back too quickly.
It turned out there was only time for one round of free sparring, which naturally I sat out, having assumed there would be the usual five or six. However, the Friday nogi is only an hour, so that cuts down on sparring time. Saturday is the same, though that will provide me with the comfort of a gi: if we do choke specific sparring again, then I should be able to remember more than two options (I guess there is the anaconda too, but no way I'd remember all the steps).
Short Review: Aikido and BJJ aren't two arts you would normally put in the same sentence, but Roy Dean has done an admirable job of merging them together in this double DVD set. He introduces the basic wristlocks of aikido, then goes on to show possible applications on the ground. In addition, the second DVD covers lots of detail on armlocks and chokes, as well as continuing the theme of incorporating aikido principles into BJJ. Ideal for aikidoka moving into BJJ, as well as BJJers who enjoyed Blue Belt Requirements and are looking for some further submission details. Available to buy here or on iTunes.
Full Review: Aikido is not a style that has held much interest for me in the past. I tried it once several years ago, and was very put off by the extremely formal class I attended, where the instructor seemed more interested in impressing the students with the fact he'd been to Japan, rather than teaching them any practical skills. Wristlocks are something that, previously, I had associated with styles like aikido and compliant forms of Japanese Jiu Jitsu, and therefore something that I could do without.
I say previously. Since starting BJJ, I have been caught in several painful wristlocks: while it's fairly rare someone will attempt the submission during sparring, I now know from experience that it can be highly effective when done correctly. I've also seen my instructors incorporate wristlocks into other attacks, such as when setting up the armbar (e.g., during one of Roger's classes in 2007 and a nogi session with Felipe some months later.
Additional sources had provided me with further cause to re-evaluate my position on aikido and wristlocks, particularly given my lack of experience in the style. First there was Robert Twigger's engaging account in Angry White Pyjamas (despite the several cringeworthy passages displaying the author's own lack of martial arts knowledge), then more importantly, I found my way to Roy Dean's website.
As I've mentioned before, Dean is in the unusual position of holding black belts in judo, Brazilian jiu jitsu, traditional Japanese jiu jitsu and aikido, which means he has a unique perspective on martial arts. Better still, he has sufficient command of language to write eloquently on the topic, in both articles and blog posts.
This has now culminated in a new two DVD set, Art of the Wristlock, combining Dean's multifaceted martial arts experience into what is surely the first ever instructional DVD to fuse techniques and concepts from both BJJ and aikido.
The first DVD (68:58 minutes), is divided into six sections, beginning with On Jujutsu (14:55 minutes). This functions a little like the 'welcome' section from Blue Belt Requirements, in that it gives Dean a chance to lay out some theory. For The Art of the Wristlock, that means a discussion of aikido and jujutsu arts in general (Dean places BJJ in that spectrum, quite rightly, given its origins).
If you've read Dean's autobiographical notes on his website, collated in An Uchideshi Experience, then some of this will be familiar to you. In particular, Dean makes important points on aikido and 'the effectiveness gap': unlike many modern aikidoka, Morihei Ueshiba studied a 'hard' style first, not just the 'soft' style he later developed. The single biggest flaw with aikido - and many, many styles that have been lumped together under the acronym 'TMA' (traditional martial arts) - is a lack of resistance.
Dean tells aikidoka interested in efficacy that they should enter a full contact grappling environment – which permits many of the techniques they'll be familiar with, like wristlocks, armlocks, leglocks, chokes etc – and possibly fail. As he says, "failing is the only way that you really make progress." Coming from the average BJJ blue belt, this emphasis on rolling with fully resisting opponents might be shrugged off as 'sport' stylists criticising what they don't understand. Coming from Roy Dean, an aikido blackbelt, this is far more powerful, grounded in personal experience (he relates an illustrative anecdote).
The technical portion of the DVD starts with Basic 5 (13:03), helpfully split into sections (there is also an option to play all): Ikkyo (03:40), Nikyo (02:55), Sankyo (02:48), Yonkyo (02:25) and Gokyo (01:12). For each of these wristlocks, Dean demonstrates the full motion from a wide angle, so that you can watch the entry, the application and finally the submission.
That visual perspective is useful for watching the whole technique, but it does make it more difficult to get the intricacies of the actual grip on the wrist: ideally, the camera would have zoomed in at this point. However, as I'm guessing Dean is using a static camera on a tripod in a corner of his dojo for the filming (naturally I could be wrong, as that's entirely an assumption on my part), that may not have been workable.
As in his previous DVD, Dean provides lots of fine detail, showing how to deal with common reactions from your partner, along with several variations. Dean's broad martial arts experience is also put to good use, as with several of the wristlocks, he can demonstrate both an aikido interpretation and a traditional jujutsu version. Even better, Dean can also add his BJJ knowledge, such as an armlock on the end of ikkyo.
Shihonage (02:13, also called four corner throw) and Kotegaeshi (05:55, also known as a wrist turn), the next two sections, follow a similar pattern. Carefully detailed demonstrations reflect both a typical aikido approach, a Japanese jujitsu variation and then an armbar on the end.
Dean takes his kotoegaeshi a step further, following the classical version with modern applications, again based directly on his experience in competition. The overhead punch and telegraphed straight punch are compliant and not especially applicable outside of the controlled environment of a dojo. As Dean states, the timing has to be precise and you have to be reading their movements very clearly. Working kotoegaeshi off a clinch, on the other hand, is rather more useful. This brings the wristlock back into a more realistic environment, combining aikido with wrestling.
Taken together, these opening technical segments of the DVD introduce the fundamentals of aikido. The instructor seems to effortlessly spin his partner around and to the ground with elegance and economy. If you're a viewer like me, with a background in Brazilian jiu jitsu rather than a TMA, you're left with the question Dean raised earlier: what about a fully resisting opponent? Then from my perspective, how could I incorporate these techniques into my BJJ?
While the first question will have to wait until the Demonstrations segment, the answer to the second comes in the next section, Groundfighting (11:21), with numerous wristlock applications. Like my own instructors, Dean kicks off by showing a gokyo (gooseneck) off the armbar in order to either break the grip or submit them straight from the wristlock. That is followed by a gooseneck from both the triangle choke and then from sidemount, trapping their near arm with your leg. I often find myself rather limited on top in sidemount, so I'm looking forward to giving that one a try during rolling.
A wristlock can also be applied when going for the omoplata, this time the nikyo (which Dean also refers to as an s-lock). This isn't a situation I often find myself in, unlike choke defence: I'll be trying to escape a choke most lessons. So Dean's next technique, a sankyo shortly after they try to wrap their arm around your neck, might come in handy.
The only problem I'd have there is that you have to grab their fingers in the course of that technique. This isn't something I'd want to do in sparring, particularly as I seem to remember it's illegal to grip the fingers in BJJ anyway (though I could be wrong: either way, finger-grabbing is something I've always classed amongst the 'dirty' techniques, like digging your knuckles into their chin or rubbing your stubble on their face).
Sankyo pops up again in combination with the kimura, after which Dean shows gokyo against a sidemount escape. I was more interested in the actual escape itself (escapes from side control being one of my main focuses), where you lock out your arm and push into their far arm, shrimping out and coming on top. The danger is that your arm then becomes vulnerable to being trapped, and as Dean demonstrates, wristlocked.
Two options for kotegaeshi complete this section. First, you can use it to set up a scissor sweep, breaking their posture, then finish it after the sweep or move to an armbar. Secondly, you can use kotegaeshi from the knees: this is similar to the motion Dean showed from the clinch.
That's a lot of techniques to fit into just over eleven minutes. On the other hand, each wristlock has already been carefully detailed in the previous sections, meaning that the groundfighting segment functions as the last part of the progression. First Dean shows us how its done in aikido, flowing into the Japanese jujitsu variant, some further possible applications in a more realistic setting, until finally incorporating the technique into a BJJ environment.
Demonstrations features four sections which trace much the same path, along with two advertisements. Watching this sequence enables you to understand the traditional environment, then see how those same technique might be utilised in a competitive setting.
Aikido shodan (05:43) and Seibukan shodan (05:36) showcase formal gradings in aikido and Japanese jujutsu. They are both compliant but nevertheless skilful, reminding me of the beautiful ukemi you can develop through aikido. Both demonstrations are especially interesting if you've read An Uchideshi Experience, as they both feature Sensei Julio Toribio, of whom Dean speaks highly throughout his memoir. That also means that these are older videos, as can be seen in the reduced picture quality.
Grapplers Quest (02:54) is quite different, and encapsulates what the DVD is attempting to accomplish: this is where Roy Dean examines aikido against a fully resisting opponent. The bout itself is short, but made immensely more interesting by the brief introduction from Roy Dean. He comments on the personal importance of this fight, from back in 2000, which was twofold. Not only was this Dean's first ever submission grappling victory, but it also demonstrates the use of a wristlock.
You can see the techniques from earlier in the DVD in action, but not by Roy Dean: it is his opponent who first goes for a wristlock then tries to flow into a second. It also emphasises the importance of ukemi, which is what helped Dean to win the match. As he has commented in the past, ukemi is perhaps the most beneficial aspect of aikido, directly applicable to BJJ's 'flow with the go' principle.
Self Defence (05:02) is like the summer seminar on Seminars: Year One or BJJ Combinations on Blue Belt Requirements, in that it’s a demonstration but the dialogue is covered over by a soundtrack. Both Dean and Rick Ellis are wearing gi pants and a Roy Dean Academy t-shirt, showing typical defences against somebody grabbing your wrist, how to fall correctly, kicking from the floor, getting back up and several submissions.
Jiai Aikido is a thirty second advert for an aikido dojo, presumably either a friend or old instructor of Dean's. Similarly, BJJ Blue is not a demonstration, but a trailer for Dean's previous DVD, Blue Belt Requirements.
The second DVD consists of three seminars at the same location, beginning with Yosokan Morning (30:54). This is clearly a traditional dojo, as can be seen from the very formal opening, with lots of bowing and Japanese terminology. As you can see from TJ's white belt, the footage is older than the rest of the DVD (it's later dated as October 2007), but the content works well as a follow-up to some of the submissions demonstrated in Blue Belt Requirements
Like the first DVD, Dean's seminar combines concepts from both aikido and BJJ. Generally, Dean uses an approach from aikido to then contrast with a longer section on a position in BJJ. The majority of the seminar focuses on basic armlocks and chokes, with references back to aikido throughout. As ever, the instruction is clear and detailed, though because it’s a recording of a seminar, you generally only get one or two angles. The submissions here stay relatively basic and easy to follow, so again it is ideal for beginners, or for those who want to develop the fundamentals of their technique.
That is followed, naturally enough, by Yosokan Afternoon (17:12). This time, the theme is transitioning to the ground. While generally the technical content is still solid fundamentals, Dean also includes submissions like the anaconda, building on attacks against the turtle position (mainly clock chokes, in this instance). Along the same lines, Dean shows an entry into the crucifix position, with several choke possibilities from there. The camera work also features greater complexity, with the perspective zooming in on Dean's demonstration, some slow motion replays and multiple angles.
Finally, Dean shares his Monterey Nogi seminar, which again is at the same dojo (possibly on the same day as well, as some of the faces look familiar, but I'm not certain: could just be they showed up to both). There are several cross-overs with the earlier seminars, such as a nogi version of the anaconda, which comes towards the end of the segment. Despite this seminar being nogi, there are still several students taking part while wearing a gi, which is strange. I guess they didn't have a chance to go back home to grab a t-shirt to change into or something, if it was on the same day.
Dean begins with various footlocks, which isn't surprising from a Roy Harris black belt (as Dean acknowledges). He even shows heel hooks, though importantly emphasises how dangerous this technique is, so should not be applied in sparring by anyone inexperienced. Personally I avoid leg and footlocks entirely, as I'm far too worried about injuring my training partners (and an injury from a footlock can be very serious, with years of recovery required for the knee), but it would be useful to know the defence. It is also sensible to develop the ability to see footlocks coming, so you know when you're caught. The biggest danger of a heel hook is that the damage is done before you feel any pain, so an awareness of the submission is therefore essential.
The seminar then moves into armlocks, the most useful part for me being a tip on how to finish an armbar when stacked. Dean introduces this variation as great for smaller people, so of course that applies to me: I can remember seeing a version of this video on Dean's website earlier in the year, where this part stood out for me. When you're stacked, you can't extend with your hips, so instead put a hand on the back of their thigh, spin, come out the other side and complete the armbar. It's around eighteen minutes in, if you want to see for yourself.
This DVD is ideal for the aikidoka who is thinking about starting BJJ, or has recently taken up grappling. It is also useful for people looking to improve their armlocks and chokes, as the seminars included on the second DVD cover those in detail. Then of course there are the titular wristlocks themselves, with some useful ideas on incorporating wristlocks into your grappling. As always with Roy Dean, it is well-presented, detailed and insightful. Available to buy here or on iTunes.
To finish, here's a trailer Dean put up on his YouTube page, along with various other examples from the DVD:
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK – 27/11/2008 - Advanced
Everything tonight started from the half-guard, but in a position where you have your knee into their hip or torso. The hand on the same side as that knee reaches across and gets a deep grip on their opposite collar, your other hand also attacking that side, grabbing their wrist. The knee-in half-guard is something Aesopian has done a series of videos about, but last time I tried to do it back in May, I had real trouble getting my knee into place. Roger's demonstration was quite technique-heavy, showing us about four different options to start with in the space of a few minutes, so I'm not sure I caught them all.
The first was a sweep from half-guard. Having secured the above position, if you notice they are off balance, you can shove them to the side with the knee you have pressed into them, kicking out with the leg, then pull on their wrist and push on their collar. Possibly easier said than done, as I found it difficult to get the momentum and leverage right.
Another option is to collar choke from half-guard. Bring them in, grab their other shoulder, then squeeze for the choke as usual, pressing your wrists up into their neck. You can also do a slightly more complex loop choke from half-guard, where this time, you raise the elbow of the arm with a deep grip on their collar. Slide your other hand over the back of their head, locking it into the crook of your other elbow (Roger noted at this point you don't want to go too far in, or they'll be able to pop their head free). To complete the choke, bring your elbow even higher while the other arm drops, then try and push their head down into your wrists for the submission.
Finally, you can go for a kimura from the half-guard, again in the usual fashion. Sit-up, bring your collar arm over the top, figure-four gripping on their wrist, drop back and twist for the submission. It is quite likely at this point that they'll defend by holding the fabric of their trouser leg, whereupon you can move into a sweep. Put the foot of your knee leg onto the mat, then push up and into their side. Buck them forward and also lift with the leg you have between their's.
The difficult bit is to then bring both your legs up, then past your head, rolling over the shoulder furthest from your kimura grip. Done right, this will put you on top of them, whereupon you can either try to move into mount by freeing your leg, or bring them up on their side, step over their head and complete the kimura. Again, I found it difficult to get the leverage and momentum to complete this move.
We then did a bit of sparring from that knee-in half-guard position, where I didn't get anywhere as I was with a big purple belt called Duncan (IIRC: I met him back when he was a blue, but don't think I've spoken to him since). He was taking it fairly easy, but I still couldn't do anything to pass his half-guard, or to prevent him passing mine. I should be using the knee more to push them away, and also initiate some kind of attack.
Free sparring kicked off with Helen, who noted that she was tending to go a little cautiously when I was trying to wrap her up in half-guard, as she's had knee problems in the past so didn't want to mess them up again. I tend to frequently end up in half-guard with her, so I should instead take the opportunity to try for the top position, or perhaps concentrate on working free of side control. My bridge and shrimp still isn't what it should be, so I can always do with more work on that technique.
I was determined to at least make two spars tonight, so had to look around for a new training partner. The guy who Helen rolled with looked relaxed and controlled, and also not too huge: he turned out to be a good choice. I'm not sure if Adam is normally that laid back, as he said he was just returning from an illness, but I liked the measured pace of the spar. I spent most of it either in side control or half guard, trying to bring my torso to the same side as the leg I'd trapped.
This is frequently a problem for me: I should probably be doing more with my hands to make space to get to the other side, or to recover full guard. I eventually managed the latter, and had a vague attempt at a loop choke, but Adam easily slipped his head away from my grasp. So instead, I switched to the cross choke where you have one grip, then grab behind their gi with your other hand, then bring it over their head and around their neck. Time ran out soon after, but I don't think I had it deep enough anyway. Could have been an opportunity to try that trick Owen did to me a while back, where he simply opened his guard and pushed my legs back (hooking the inside of my own legs), thereby killing my choke defence.
My first no-gi class for a while tomorrow, which will mark only the third time I've made it to a Friday no-gi this year. My foot got slightly bashed again in stand-up earlier in the class, so hopefully that isn't going to be sore tomorrow. I want to make both Friday and Saturday, as that will make up for making just one class last week, as well as the week of no training earlier in October. I think it's time I looked over Indrek's 'Functional Half Guard' instructional again too, as I'm still so often finding myself in half-guard trying to get back to full.
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 26/11/2008 - Advanced
No judo this week, as I wanted to save myself for the extra BJJ training I was planning to get in, with four sessions rather than my normal two. I also didn't get to salsa, which wasn't intentional: something more important came up. Still, should be able to make it to the final class next week, where I might check if there is anywhere friendly I can go continue learning salsa in the university holidays.
The Fightworks Podcast is running its third BJJ Blog of the Year contest, with some pretty decent prizes. I can vouch for the Padilla & Sons gi, as I've been very happy with mine, and The Gracie Way is also an enjoyable read, if heavily biased: my review up here. I've heard lots of good things about the Renzo documentary too: should be able to review that in the not-too-distant future, as I pre-ordered it, so waiting for it to drop through my letterbox.
I would expect Aesopian to win again this year, though Val Worthington's blog looked competitive for much of the poll. I'm not sure where I'll vote this year: I went for Christina's blog last time, so may well vote for her again, though The Jiu-Jitsu Brotherhood is also deserving. Both of those are not only interesting to read, but they give helpful advice too, as well as being well-written.
I've also enjoyed Georgette's blog, BJJ Grrl and Chasing the Blue, with the recently launched Blogoplata like a great one for the future. Lots of other deserving blogs too, like Steve, Jadon, BJJ-Asia…I could go on. Voting hasn't started yet, though for some reason lots of readers from one particular blog stuffing the Fightworks page full of comments. Laudable enthusiasm, but a bit pointless as its only nominating at the moment: only need to post the link up once. ;)
Class tonight was based around mount, in particular the armbar from mount. Generally they're going to have their arms and hands tight, elbows down, so you first task is to make some space. There are various ways of doing that – Nick quickly ran through three – but the one that looked most useful to me was to wrap around their head and elbow, then twist, immediately shoving your knee into the gap that created. You then need to get up as high as you can: squeeze your feet and knees tight into their sides, then post on your hands and slide up (as Oli noted, I was tending to waddle my way up instead, which is not only lacking in grace, but leaves way too much space and time for your partner).
Once you've secured that high position, you need to get a good angle. Bring your knee close to their head (which knee depends on which arm they have on top: you want your knee on the same side), turning your body to face across their body. To be certain of a solid base, you then want to get your other foot to their head, although the important detail there is not the foot, but getting your thigh underneath their shoulder: that position is called 's-mount', I think. This should further 'tighten the screw', to use Nick's preferred metaphor.
Now you need to get their arm free. Hook underneath their wrist (not the crook of their elbow, as that simply makes things harder for you) then yank it free. Straight away, bring the arm really tight to your body. The next part is a variation on the usual technique, which Nick told us he's found has greatly aided him in finishing the submission: rather than bringing your foot over their head, slide your knee across their face instead. This has the major advantage of not raising your hips off them, which therefore keeps gravity on your side and gives them no space.
To finish, you don't even need to drop back, but can raise the arm from your seated position to get the armbar. You can fall back if you want in the orthodox manner, but Nick's version means that if you mess up, you're in a far less vulnerable position. If you fall back and don't get the arm, they're likely to spin through to your guard. If you don't fall back and stay upright, as per Nick's suggestion, you should be able to go back to mount and try something else.
Specific sparring from mount with Helen went predictably badly on top, where I couldn't keep my position very well, and even if I could, I wasn't able to do anything but maintain. Roger's advice about using your head as an extra hand is useful, so I've been trying to develop that: not quite there yet, but it is definitely helping. Nevertheless, I kept finding that Helen was able to get her knees through and push me back into her guard. To stop that, she advised that I should just step over her leg and twist to the side, aiming for an s-mount position.
Nick then lined us up against the wall and matched us up. Fortunately for my wimpy nature, I had a chance to rest, as I was in a three and it was winner stays on, sparring from mount again. When I did get into the fray, I wasn't able to stay on top for very long, though I did at least move into a vague triangle position from mount. However, it was way too loose, so my partner Roberto had little trouble spinning to guard. I doubt I would have been able to triangle from there, or switch to something else, but I it's still better than being swept to guard with nothing (though finishing from mount would obviously be preferable).
Underneath, I was far more comfortable, working for half-guard. My partner this time, whose name I didn't catch, was doggedly blocking my attempting to shrimp around the leg I'd triangled, but I eventually managed to push them off mount with my other knee. Sloppy on my part and rather spur-of-the-moment, so it wouldn't normally succeed, but perhaps something to keep in mind. Either way, a good lesson that I should be using all my limbs if possible.
I was even lazier than usual when it came to free sparring, only sparring once, with Tran. As always I soon found myself defending chokes from mount. I'm happy enough in that position, but need to work on protecting my neck properly if they are then able to take my back. I tried to roll Tran, and then get my back flat to the floor when he was trying to choke, but messed up, as he then switched to get a knee into my back and choke from there. Admittedly wearing a judo gi doesn't help when getting collar choked, as there is rather more cloth to get strangled with, but on the other hand, that's probably helpful in improving my defence: less room for error on my part.
As I was saying to Owen after class, I need to establish a new group of sparring partners. I've always been paranoid about injury, so tend to limit my rolling to people I feel I can trust. However, many of my favourite partners are no longer regular – Christina, Joanna, Indra, Tanvir and Herman all haven't been on the mats much in recent months (or at least not at the same time as me), which means I have to be less picky, until I can re-establish some trusted partners. My bare minimum of rolls should be two, and even that is rather low: three would be better.
I should be training four times this week, so that also meant I wasn't too bothered about the amount of sparring, but shall have to make certain of at least that meagre two tomorrow, preferably three.
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK – 20/11/2008 - Advanced
There's a new site by Stephan Kesting, specifically for beginners, with the straightforward name Beginning BJJ. I saw this mentioned by Aesopian, and it looks good so far: along with a newsletter, sent out every three days, you get a thirty-four page e-book, A Roadmap for BJJ, after signing up. At the moment, its all free, which I assume will remain the case.
You're also in luck if you're into comics, as a professional cartoonist from Seattle has put her skills to work in creating some stylish BJJ art: check out Ellen Forney's free wallpaper here. There's a whole load of other cool stuff available on her website, with various books by Ellen for sale, as well as free samples. Reminds me to take a look in the library for graphic novels again: last time, I delved into MAUS, which is right up there with The Sandman, Watchmen, Preacher and other classics (unsurprising, given its also rather rare amongst graphic novels in having won the author a Pulitzer Prize). That high status means its one of the very few comics available at my university library, but there might be more by now.
Couldn't train yesterday as my gf stayed round in Bucks for a conference in London today, meaning I popped down with her to High Wycombe in the evening rather than my usual afternoon train to Marylebone. However, that means I'll get extra training in next week to make up for it: if your partner doesn't share your hobby, then its good to set up compromises like that :D. At the same time, BJJ is probably number three on my list of priorities (my relationship and family being one and two), so I don't mind missing the occasional session if I have to.
As I was getting changed, I could hear the instantly recognisable voice of one of the best training partners at RGA, Christina. Great to see her again, as it's been almost two months since she has been down to the same class as me.
She immediately reminded me of just how good a training partner she is by offering some tips on the tai otoshi, a throw I'm keen to improve given all the handy follow-ups Chris demonstrated at judo earlier this month. Main points are that I need to keep my upper body straight and get my hips closer to my partner: Christina used to do a fair bit of judo at the Budokwai, so is a handy person to ask.
We moved straight into specific sparring after the warm-up, where I went with Melissa. I found that on top, I was able to control her with scarf hold, but I couldn't really do a whole lot else with the position. I always attempt to trap their arm so I can do that step over triangle, then if that fails I try to wedge my knee in to push their arm past their head, switch back to side control and go for mount.
That's only two options, however, which is too limited if I'm struggling with both of them. I need to develop another submission from scarf, and also work harder on the transition to mount. Holding somebody is a useful first step (although I think I have a size advantage on Melissa), but I need to move past that and initiate some kind of offence.
Underneath, Nick urged me to bridge more and with greater force, also suggesting bridging twice in quick succession, which I haven't tried before. I'm used to biding my time and conserving energy, but that can easily lead to being totally passive and waiting, giving my partner all the time they want to work offence. Again, I need to be more proactive, and combine various escape attempts.
I also need to be careful of my neck, such as when I go to my knees to escape side control. I'm being too complacent about people going for chokes, relying on my defence to get me out. Melissa came close several times today, mainly trying guillotines and cross chokes, but I was either able to get an arm or leg in the way and make some space. Definitely not comfortable though, so requires greater vigilance on my part.
There was just the one technique today, but it was relatively complex, transitioning from side control to mount. Nick called it 'around the world', where starting in side control, you first scoop up their near elbow and then switch your base, driving your knee through to push that elbow out of the way and break their defence.
Next, bring your rear leg over their head, using your hip to force the arm you just knocked out of place onto their face and neck. This will put you in north-south. From here, put your hand on the side of their head (in the direction you're about to move), then bring what is now your rear leg all the way over again (meaning you've switched your base once more).
As you do so, use your arm to keep their arm trapped against their neck. This is important, as that means you can then dig your hand under their head, which sets you up for an arm triangle. You can finish the submission by grabbing your other bicep, then with the hand of the arm you just gripped, take hold of your own head and squeeze.
Alternately, keep going and transition to mount. You've got their arm uncomfortably shoved into their face (or neck, or perhaps chin, but either way its not pleasant), so now you have to make enough space to go to mount. Similarly to how you started, you're going to switch your base yet again, moving the knee of the leg closest to their hips underneath your other leg, which should knock their free hand out of place. The mount is now yours for the taking, putting you in a very controlling position with both their arms out of play.
Nick got us to spar from side control again, and this time my partner was Christina. I tried to concentrate on keeping my weight down, and then switching to north-south while maintaining the pressure. While doing that, I tried closing my eyes to see if that helped, also aiming to squirm my elbows into her armpits.
However, I didn't use my weight properly. Afterwards, Christina mentioned that I was just using my arms, with my hips too high and therefore not helping with weight distribution. Not being used to north-south, I'm still a little apprehensive about shoving my weight into somebody's face, which partly accounts for that, but I can always drop it more onto their shoulder. Either way, weight distribution remains key, and the hips the most important part of the solution.
Underneath, same story as usual, with Christina popping up to knee-on-belly. I was being cautious with my hands, trying again to implement Dominik's advice about using your elbows instead of your hands to push on the knee. This seemed to work better, and Christina noted that it was definitely an improved defensive strategy on my part (though naturally she still didn't have too much trouble passing).
My first partner in free sparring was again Melissa, and again I'm not being careful enough with chokes. Towards the end she was in open guard really pushing for a cross-choke, which I only held off by pressing my knees into her torso. Similarly I'd earlier resisted a guillotine by having an arm in to make a bit of breathing space. Not very reliable defence on my part: much better to develop better awareness and watch out for choke attempts before they're locked in.
Before that, I'd been spending a lot of time in side control and half guard, eventually reversing Melissa and getting into her guard. Once again, she was working for a choke, as I tried to posture up and go for a pass. Due to my horrendously bad guard passing, that just meant I ended up in open guard, leading to yet another choke attempt by Melissa.
Closing spar with Christina was very relaxed, turning into instruction, which was really handy. She gave me a whole load of good tips on open guard. First was to keep my knees off the floor and on either her upper legs or higher. I've been tending to hook knees, but if I do that, I shouldn't just sit there, but go for the sweep immediately.
Christina also advised that I should keep my legs pushing constantly, but not completely straight: there should still be some tension, or she can simply push them down and pass. Finally, once your partner is going low, use spider guard to push them away on their bicep, and/or getting a knee into their shoulder if they're really low and close.
Turns out that another of my old training partners has got involved with Kukla Pictures, though unfortunately he isn't able to train yet. Chris has been carrying injuries for a long time, but its cool to hear that he's been able to use his considerable artistic skills to help out with the film production. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the stuff Kukla comes up with, so will have to try and clear some time in my diary to make the events.
Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Billy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 18/11/2008
In terms of technique, this was exactly the same as last week, which is great. My main difficulty with the class up until now has been the rapid sequence of moves, so I for one was more than happy to keep going over the previous lesson's content. Billy went at a steady pace, breaking it down step-by-step.
Things of note were turning your hand after the cross-body lead, so that when your partner steps out to the side, you aren't twisting their arm. Instead, swivel your hand, meaning you're gripping underneath rather than to the side. Also, when you're spinning out your partner, nudge them with your shoulder to add momentum (though obviously don't ram them: just use it to set up the spin).
The room was rather cramped, as pretty much everyone has now moved up from the beginners to post-beginner. However, that's now getting jammed, because there is no intermediate class to move onto next: intermediate has been replaced by a choreography class. In effect, that means there's a small beginner class, a small choreography class, and a huge post-beginner class. Hopefully those splits will be rejigged at some point, as it was difficult to dance properly with the space constraints, especially when spinning out your partner.
After class, a group of us headed out to Brazil Night at the union, in what used to be Grumpy John's, now punningly called Tempo. Unlike the last social at Latin Night, there was a good turn-out, though not too much of a chance to chat (especially as its quite loud in there). Before the dancing got underway, there were a whole bunch of demonstrations, kicking off with some kind of dance step: no idea what, as I couldn't see through the mass of students.
Didn't need to see for the next one, as that was the Drumming Society, and then finally the Capoeira group. This seems to have got much more organised compared to when I tried it out six years ago, when the instructor only had two years experience. Now, he's been replaced by (I assume) a professional teacher who knows his stuff (though I could only see the odd flailing limb passing overhead from my limited vantage point).
Clearly I'd also managed to get tipsy by that point, as I was happily babbling about BJJ to him in the toilet, where the capoeira people were getting ready. I'd overheard him mention something about jiu-jitsu, but I think he's more into the MMA side of things (though he knew who I meant when I said Braulio).
The music wasn't salsa, but was enough to get in some dancing practice with my girlfriend, spinning her around the floor. I still need to work out how to signal what step I'm trying to do, because at the moment I'm just putting pressure on her arms, side and shoulders to indicate the next technique. Not very efficient, so hopefully we'll eventually either be taught what the proper system is, or work out something functional.
Warwick Judo (Judo), Iain Cunningham, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 17/11/2008
We had another meeting of the Warwick Uni BJJ group on Sunday, where I had a chance to go through the wrestler's sit out again, along with the variation where they wrap round your chest. Mads also demonstrated an option for when your partner is moving round to side control: not quite sure I understood it, but main principles seemed to be getting your body in the opposite direction.
You start from guard with them about to pass, where they have a grip on your same side leg. Grab that arm with your same side hand, then as they move around for side control, move your body away, so you sort of end up underneath north-south, but with a hold of their arm. With your other hand, grip their belt, bridge up with your legs and roll on top. I'm guessing timing is essential here, but looked interesting from what I saw (came about as Rosie has been having trouble with a specific position when she's sparring, and this was Mads' solution).
I didn't head to the judo straight after, as firstly my toe is still a bit dodgy from last week, and I also knew I was going to the Monday session the next day anyway. Session tonight was purely tachiwaza, so no groundwork whatsoever: on the one hand a shame, but on the other, throws are the reason I wanted to cross-train a bit of judo in the first place.
The initial two throws were apparently off the old dan grade syllabus, both attacking the foot. You have the usual collar and elbow grip with your hands on their jacket. Step in, twisting your palms up and raising your opponent by bringing your arms high. Unusually, your foot doesn’t make a sweeping motion, however, but more of a block. You're aiming to catch their foot as they step forward, putting the sole of your foot in the way against their instep, then pulling them over it using your jacket grips.
The second throw was similar, but slightly more complex. Again you're looking to step forward and pull up, then catch their foot with your sole, but this time it is more of a sweeping motion with the foot. As they step forward, you bring your sole onto their instep and swing your leg right over, twisting them down to the ground as you do so. Timing was more difficult on this one, and I'm not entirely sure I was doing it right: still put my partner on the ground, but a bit sloppy on my part.
I can't remember what they were called, but it was something with 'harai' in the name. Iain took the opportunity at this point to make a note on Japanese, in that anything with –arai in it means sweep. That could be harai, barai or garai, but they all mean the same thing: the first letter depends on the preceding word (if I understood Iain correctly).
Final throw was a counter to the o-goshi hip throw. They step in to pop you up on their hip. You maintain your grip on their collar, shifting the arm that was holding their elbow onto their belt. Raise up, then twist downward to plonk them on the floor. You can also use your knee, pushing it out, which will help if you find yourself with a larger partner.
In randori, I still need to relax and stop stiff-arming with a bent-over posture. I should also be more pro-active, but then that's always going to be a difficult habit to develop as I'm so used to (and happy) being passive from BJJ. What throws I did go for were sloppy, so need to make sure if I start a throw, I should follow through, committing to the technique.
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK – 13/11/2008 - Advanced
Training is likely to be a bit abnormal over the next couple of weeks, as next week, my gf is going to be popping down on the train with me (she has a conference thingy to go to in London), so no training Wednesday. However, the week after she's visiting friends, which should mean I could potentially get in four sessions. That would be handy as we're off on holiday in December, which naturally will cause me to miss a load more sessions (plus December tends to be a lean month anyway, due to RGA closing in over xmas). As long as it all works out to an at least twice a week average, I'm happy.
In case people have already seen this on BJJ forums (I saw it on EFN, where J-Sho posted a link, there is apparently going to be compulsory BJJ at schools in Abu Dhabi: story here. There has long been a strong association between Abu Dhabi and BJJ, due to the ruling family's interest in the sport: its interesting to see what happens when BJJ is coupled with large amounts of cash and executive power.
Tonight Jude went through a defence against the stack pass, which turned out to be quite complicated. You start by pushing off their hips with your feet, so they can't continue stacking you and getting your hips off the floor. Grab their same side sleeve, then hook the inside of their leg with your same side foot. Having stabilised your position, grip their collar with your opposite hand and sit-up.
With your same side hand, take hold of their belt, with your palm facing downwards. Push their head down to the floor, then switch grips again, so that you're now holding the belt with the other hand, palm facing up. This means that you can use that grasp to bring your elbow into play, stopping them from raising up.
That will help with your next motion, which is to bring your same side leg under the belt-gripping arm and over their head. To finish, drive your hips forward and post on your free hand slightly (I think), spinning to their back. I found this final part rather awkward, especially struggling to keep my weight on my partner: as ever, maintaining pressure remains a problem.
Jude then followed this up with a clock choke. Having spun to their back, bring your feet back so that you can press as much weight down on them as possible (I kept instinctively going to my knees, which relieves the pressure and therefore messes up the technique). Circle your right arm over their shoulder and grab their far collar, then bring the other arm underneath, holding the opposite collar. Post your forehead on the mat, and then shuffle your feet past their head to get the submission.
Specific sparring from guard reminded me just how terrible my guard passing is: if I ever take a private lesson, that will have to be the focus. I'm trying to stand up, but as we haven't done guard passage for a little while, think I've regressed a bit on that front, returning to the defensive mode that simply delays the inevitable submission or sweep.
Free sparring began with an old training partner, Dominique, who was down for a rare visit to RGA. Very nice to see her on the mats again, as she's the first person I ever rolled with at RGA, and remained a great person to train with throughout her time at the club (she does her BJJ at the affiliate in Mill Hill these days). She's got noticeably quicker since I last rolled with her: I found it tough to get into any kind of controlling position with my open guard.
That's also due to my ongoing problem of not being proactive enough in open guard, which is a position you can't really sit and wait. I kept Nick's advice about always having your feet off the floor and on your opponent in mind, but think I should be bending my partner's over more (by pushing into their hip and pulling on their sleeve or collar), so they're too off-balance to attack.
I then went with Helen, where I was trying to apply the tips I'd learned about escaping knee on belly, but think I still left my arm dangling too much. I also almost got caught in a footlock, and I'm not sure if I escaped (keeping my foot flat on the floor then pushing on Helen with my other foot to free the first), or if Helen just let go. Either way, must stay aware of footlock defences, even if I'm not keen on using them myself (too injurious, so I'd be too worried about causing somebody long-term damage).
Finished up by rolling with Dominique again, this time having a chance to further practice my half-guard. My main goal was to shift around the leg I'd trapped to secure the grip, so concentrated on getting my hips over. That's obviously easier when your partner is lighter than you, although I was trying not to get into situation where I was clearly just using force rather than technique.
Similarly under side control, I didn't want to try and just fling Dominique over me, as that would be purely a matter of size advantage. While its possible I might get it (I used to go for that as a white belt, IIRC, digging my elbow in and lifting her straight over me), its pretty pointless as that mainly relies on muscle, which in my case is in very short supply. Silly to practice something that only works on a very small group of people, so I wanted to focus on technical bridge and shrimp escapes instead, looking for the half-guard.
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK – 12/11/2008 - Advanced
Tonight's class was again focused on escaping from when somebody is trying to take your back, but is still in front of you, pressing their chest down on your back. We covered two situations for escaping, first when they have their arms around your chest, the second when they're in a more cautious position with one over your shoulder, the other inside.
When you turtle up and your opponent wants to move to your back, the first thing they have to be careful of is that you don't wrap up on of their legs and drive through to side control. That means they'll sprawl back, to stop you getting a hold. Roger noted that if they go overboard with this and bring their legs too far away, you'll have space to simply return to guard. If they stay tighter, then they'll also normally try and secure some kind of grip on your torso.
If they circle your chest with both arms, that is a mistake on their part, according to Roger. To escape, first grab one of their arms with your opposite arm. You can now turn to that side, and they will not be able to post out because you've got their limb trapped. So, swivel over your shoulder moving your head up as you do so (I think), which should force them onto their back.
This means you now have your back on their chest. Walk your feet round towards their legs, then bring your free hand to the other side of their body, turning towards their hips and moving into side control. Don't turn towards their head, as this will potentially give them an opportunity to get to their knees.
The next escape is something I've seen called the wrestler's sit-out, presumably because it’s a common move in wrestling. This time, they don't circle your chest with both arms, being aware of the previous escape. Instead, they grip over your shoulder and then inside (I think: looked like the usual grip, though). To sit-out, first make some space by bringing your elbow up, aiming to clear their arm out of the way. Then bring your far leg through (so cross it in front of the other), 'sitting out' as far as you can. To help that motion, you should also raise your head, moving it backwards.
Continuing your momentum, immediately then swing your leg round and take their back. This is the part both I and Anne found more difficult: I kept finding that I was either going to my knees rather than doing it all in one, or not managing it all (when I tried to sit-out on my weak side). I think I've got the fundamental motion down ok one side to escape, so I just need to work on making that transition to the back properly.
We then sparred from that same position. Underneath, I sort of managed a sloppy wrestler's sit out, and also tried swivelling to my back at one point. Judo came in handy too, with that escape where you wrap their elbow and roll (which I realise was one of several techniques I'd forgotten to add to my last judo post, as we covered so much on Sunday). Only unfortunate part was that I had to cut it short, as due to limited space, almost crashed into somebody else nearby.
On top, I couldn't do much, except for a judo turnover at one point (grabbing an elbow with both hands and driving forward), but Anne mentioned she didn't think we were supposed to be doing that, so might have been a mistake on my part. I also had a vague go at the clock choke, but that just ended up being a loose grip on her collar without going anywhere, after which she escaped anyway.
My first free spar was also with Anne, where I spent much of it in guard, although partly that was because we had to keep on moving. Class was really busy tonight, so there were lots of flailing bodies to avoid. Later on, when we'd finally managed to find a bit of space, I was able to pass to half guard, then switched to mount. I wasn't able to hold it very well, but did manage to keep Anne on her side when she turned to escape.
I'd been thinking about that choke Nick showed us a while ago, so had been maintaining a grip on Anne's collar, but had earlier been stuck in half-guard. As she shifted to her side and I got my leg free, I saw my chance and moved into position. I got a knee by her head and up by her back, but didn't think I had a tight enough hold on Anne's collar: I also hadn't secured the fabric by her hip. I did get the tap, but it felt sloppy on my part, so I need to make sure I have all the grips in place next time.
That was followed by the usual roll with Tran, where I spent my time under half-guard and side control. I was able to ward off Tran's attempts to bring his leg over and go for a choke (he does that fairly often, so I was watching for it), but had more trouble when he almost got me in some kind of neck cranky thing. I wasn't sure how to get out, but as I could feel that I had enough room to get my legs up, I wrapped those around his head and pushed him away, which was enough to release his hold. Again, sloppy: it worked, but I'm sure there must be a better way of escaping.
Finished off by briefly sparring a purple belt named Lex, who's carrying a shoulder injury. This time, I spent the whole roll under half-guard considering how to avoid the choke that it looked like Lex might be trying, as he had a grip behind my head and on the collar. He was going easy, as he's a fair bit bigger, but I still wasn't sure what exactly to do in order to avoid getting stuck. Didn't really have time to find out, as firstly we kept bumping into the radiator, and secondly we'd started part-way through the round, so the beeper went off before anything developed.
My toe was ok tonight, though its still sore when I walk. Will have to keep being careful, as I could see it getting messed up if anyone yanked on it (e.g., I've noticed people sometimes grab and pull on the foot when I'm in half-guard, if they can reach it). Should be fine though, judging by tonight.
Warwick Salsa (Salsa), Billy, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 11/11/2008
Much easier to follow this week, probably due to the considerably increased class size (reading week presumably caused the drop-off last time). Numbers were almost even, though there were about three women that had to sit out and wait their turn.
Billy went through the basics again, but complicated things by adding in another step. For example, on the mambo we've been taught to go forward, raise the heel, step back, other foot back, raise again, then return. So, a count of one-two-three, five-six-seven. Billy added in the four and eight, so that it became tap, step forward, raise heel, step back, tap again, step back, raise and return. I'm assuming this is the difference Georgette mentioned to me a while ago about on1 and on2 salsa, but could be wrong.
The routine tonight built in a few funky spinny things, which I was pleased to actually be able to do this time round, as instruction was a bit more methodical. It was also nice to see one of the people I remember from my first beginner class, Camreen (Carmeen? Will have to double-check that), who has been off sick the last two times.
We start off with two mambos, as normal. You then go into a cross-body (step forward, then step around, making a gate with your arm for the woman to walk through), ending up side by side with arms outstretched. Step back on your left swinging the arm on one-two-three, then do a turn where you switch your gripping hand.
Straight from that, back into a mambo, but as you step back on five-six-seven, you bring your arms back so you're now holding both of each other's hands. You then both step back on your left, still holding hands, and using that grip, move close together.
That sets up the momentum to spin the woman. Bring your left arm across to swivel them in that direction, brining their back towards you, so they're now close to your body, slightly to the side. You both do a mambo back for one-two-three, then unwind their arms by swinging your right arm down: that will add some further momentum to help them spin out, sort of like they're a spinning top. With another motion of your arm, bringing it down and pulling back, return them to the starting position.
This time, however, you're going to put your palms together, then you step out to the side with your left and lean over. Finally, finish by unwinding them out in another spin.
Unlike last lesson, really felt like I learned something tonight: very cool to have a routine I can actually do now, even if its pretty straightforward. My gf and I did a bit of mamboing again at Top Banana on Monday (so entirely incongruous music), but should have a chance to dance to something a bit more suitable next week. Salsa is having a social at Brazil Night after the lesson on Tuesday, so that should be cool. There are supposed to be some capoeira people there too, so will be interesting to see if I randomly bump into any fellow BJJers in the process (particularly if there are a bunch of Brazilians around).
Warwick Judo (Judo), Chris Page, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK - 09/11/2008
Had another Warwick Uni BJJ meet-up, although it was only an hour and things stayed basic as usual. I again went through bridge and shrimp escape from side control followed by a scissor sweep, then showing the push sweep variation. Still getting a good turnout, which is cool, although tonight a lot of the judoka were there mainly to work on their grading syllabus (which is fair enough, as not only is it technically judo's booked slot anyway which they're letting me use, but the grading is coming up soon).
Unlike last week I wasn't rushing off to go see a film, so stayed to do the judo session straight after. Tonight was pretty heavy on technique, so I didn't catch all of it. I tried to keep in mind a few in order to write them down later, particularly the techniques that looked applicable to my BJJ.
Chris started with some follow-up throws from tai-otoshi (where you stick your leg in front of their's and pull them over it) if your first attempt doesn't work out. If your partner is wise to the technique and steps over your leg, you have several options.
I can't remember all the names (one of them was called something like ko-uchi, but I don't know which), but the first one was to switch the leg you've stepped in front to behind their same side leg, reap it with your heel and drive forward, landing on top of them. This is possible because they've stepped around your foot, which leaves them open to getting either foot hooked and driven onto their backs. You can also hook around the same side leg and drive forward, also using your arm to pull up on the leg.
You can also hook the other leg, driving them forward again. Finally, you could switch to an uchimata, where you switch your grip from their collar to over their shoulder, then swing back the leg you have in between theirs and bring them to the floor.
We did a bit of nagewaza after that, which as far as I can tell is throwing without your partner resisting, and then into transitional sparring. So, like normal tachiwaza randori, but continuing to ground work for a short while. In both that and nagewaza, I'm still having trouble relaxing my body in order both to let my partner throw me when its compliant and help me attack when it isn't. Something to continue working on.
Newaza involved some more turnovers from the turtle. Chris showed quite a few, so I don't think I've remembered them all, but from what I remember they all started by grabbing their near wrist with the arm you have closest to their hand, bringing your arm on the inside of their's and then twisting it to grab the wrist. Pull them arm in and towards their legs.
Next, reach through their legs and grab hold of the bottom of the gi jacket, or possibly their belt. Now drop to your side and roll them over, switching quickly to move into north-south. You can also use your knee to help bump their over, lifting their lower leg, though I found I kept leaving more space when I did that, so need to transition faster.
Finally on that, you can also go for an armbar called waki-gatami. I was bit uncertain on this one, but it starts from the same grip. You make as if to try the turnover to get your partner to resist, then instead pull out their arm, leaning into them like you would in reverse scarf hold (but they're in a turtle position with you controlling their arm). Secure their limb with your elbow, keeping your weight down, then slowly lean back to hyperextend their elbow joint to get the tap.
Class finished with some newaza, which has now got to the point where people are allowed to choke and armlock. So, that made things a bit more interesting: I was able to lock on a RNC one of the brown belts, though I think he was probably going easy on me. I didn't feel I had particularly good control, as I only had one vague hook in, but proved enough for the sub. However, was sloppy on my part either way.
With one of the black belts, I had a play around in guard, seeing if I could get a triangle. I managed to get my legs in position, but it didn't feel tight enough for a choke. So instead, I was at long last able to transition to an armbar, turning belly down for the sub. This time there was a bit of a size difference, and again possible that the other guy was going easy, seeing as I had a white belt on.
Last roll was with a green belt (Sam, possibly? Not sure), where I was mostly sitting in guard. Time ran out before I had a chance to do anything, though interestingly seems to be moving more towards the BJJ set-up in class (i.e., not back to back all the time, but starting from the knees).
Kung Fu Panda is showing at the student cinema in about an hour, so will be cool to get a chance to watch that (especially for only £2), as I missed it when it was on general release. The student cinema is really handy for situations like that, although as I'm only up here part of the week, lots of films I'd like to watch but either can't get to at all (if they're on Wednesday or Thursday) or in time (if they're on Friday, which is a pain as I wanted to see Hellboy II, but there's no way I'll make it to uni for 21:30 coming up from Marylebone at 20:00).
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK – 06/11/2008 - Advanced
I was a bit sleepy today, as the trains fucked up last night so I got back home even later than usual. The Chiltern Line doesn't often break down, but an electrical failure meant I got home around midnight rather than around 22:30, which was a real pain.
Still, seemed to be just about awake for the lesson tonight, where Jude focused on spider guard (although he called it hook guard, so I presume its some kind of variation on spider guard?). The basic position is to shrimp from closed to open guard, then hook one around and under their arm, pushing in deep for the armpit, while the other leg presses on the bicep, each hand holding their same side sleeve.
From there, Jude first showed us how to get an omoplata. Having dug your leg right up under their armpit, lift that hook and push firmly with the other leg to lean your partner over to one side. Having unbalanced them sufficiently, let go of your sleeve grips: instead, you're going to apply your hands to the arm where your leg has a deep hook. Grab their tricep and elbow, then pull that arm towards you, pushing your leg through. This should automatically bend their arm around your leg, meaning you're set up to bring your leg over, triangling it with the other, then grabbing their side and raising up for the omoplata.
If they resist your attack by raising up their knee, on the side where you're pushing your leg straight into their arm rather than hooking, you can still get a sweep. Switch the hand that was gripping that sleeve to their other sleeve (so the one where you have your leg hooked). With your free hand, reach underneath and grab low on their trouser leg. Now in one motion, swivel around, bringing your leg up and over, rolling them past you, after which you can mount them.
I think we've done something similar before, but as with last time, I had trouble getting the mechanics, and also found it hard to spin smoothly. The defence against that sweep was a bit easier to understand, and again was a pass we'd done before, the "it's me!" pass. You're in the previous position, with your knee raised. Press that knee into their leg (which is trying to push straight into your arm), aiming to get it right over their knee, pinning their leg to the floor. On the same side, bring your hand around theirs and grip their sleeve.
Your other hand with also move to grip on that side, but on their trouser leg. This is the bit I found difficult, as I struggled to get that hold without losing balance: I found I had to strain to reach the leg. Once you have both those grips, stand and step back, then throw your hands apart still maintaining the grip. This should open them up completely, so you can simply move through into knee-on-belly.
To practice those moves, we began specific sparring with the same open guard position. I found it tough to pass Rodney's guard, due to the aforementioned problem of establishing that second grip. I kept on losing my base by overreaching, making it easy for Rodney to sweep me. So, what I need to do in that position is work on my balance and develop a more secure base, attempting to free my arms.
With the positions reversed, I didn't get especially far, as I felt as if I couldn't get enough leverage. I'm short and light, so that might have had something to do with it, but that probably also means I wasn't close enough. I need to get a more controlling hook with my leg, so I can use my limb to break my opponent's posture, moving them around by constant pressure on their arms.
Changing to side control, I had a lot of trouble getting any kind of control on top. There was about 14kg difference, which would account for some of that difficulty, but I also need to become more mobile. I think I've been improving in the switch between scarf hold and side control, but that's not enough. Going to north-south, reverse scarf hold, knee-on-belly etc are all transitions I'm currently lacking, so plenty of work to do there. I find that I can feel when I'm about to lose the position – sometimes just from being literally shoved up and off by my partner – but I'm not able to react and shift my base to maintain my top position. Something to think about.
Underneath, I was much happier, working escapes as usual. Rodney was fond of moving his legs around, presumably looking to step over my head, or possibly to get me thinking about one direction. That means that a quick shift in momentum could result in enough surprise to wrong foot me and result in getting mounted (which is exactly what happened the first time). I looked to get half guard as ever, though I need to be more versatile, trying escapes to my knees and the like.
On top in mount, I have no control at all, though Roger's basic tips yesterday on using the forehead in lieu of a hand was useful. Again, I felt more comfortable, still going for half guard, though also as before, I should try other things, such as different entries to half guard (e.g., hooking the other side of the instep, lifting, and inserting my legs that way) and combining it with more bridging.
I only sparred once today (not just the usual wimping out, as there was only time for two rounds tonight), with Junior, who is a huge purple belt, so took it very easy on me. I spent most of it looking perplexed in his guard, failing miserably to pass. Junior let me pop through into half-guard a couple of times, but I wasn't able to get my shoulder under his chin to enact Roger's half guard pass where you swing the free leg over.
Hopefully I'll get in some more drilling on Sunday with the Warwick Uni BJJ group (and/or Wednesday, as Lee has the activities room booked from 12:00-13:00 again: I must remember to ring up on Monday to make sure of getting the room for next Sunday), and also another session of Warwick Judo.
Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Roger Gracie, London, UK – 05/11/2008 - Advanced
Like millions of other people, I was pleased to wake up to the news that the US has finally emerged from the Bush years. Its also great that there is now a black man in charge of the country, although I have to admit I would much rather that it had been Hillary ushering in the first ever female presidency. Still, as that was no longer a possibility after the nomination battle, can't really complain.
Didn't make it to judo this week, but I have been along to two grappling meet-ups since my last session of BJJ, both through the Warwick Uni BJJ group. First one was last Sunday, which got a great turn-out thanks to Adam publicising the session to the judo club here on campus. We split into two groups, with Adam going through some chokes and armlocks, while I continued my usual focus on drilling basic escapes. I also added in sweeps (as I think drilling side control escapes to scissor sweep then back to side control escape to start over is really handy), which reminded me of the importance of using the power of your legs as well as arms to get your opponent off balance.
Also drilled some more open guard sweeps with Rosie, working the star sweep off of a failed handstand sweep (basically, maintaining your grip on their leg from the handstand, swing both your legs over to that side, come up facing away from your partner, then pull their ankle forward to knock them over). I'm not certain how effective it might be in sparring, but it does provide a helpful follow-up from the handstand. Injuries are something to be aware of, though, as Rosie noticed there was some potential of twisting your partner's knee if you weren't careful as you yank their ankle up.
Finished off by reminding myself of Nick's choke from the back, which was good to review, then a quick spar with Rosie. Having that two hours can be very productive, so it’s a shame that I wasn't able to book it for two hours again next Sunday: hopefully should still be able to use the judo slot from 17:00-18:00, as they don't actually do anything in that hour, normally (its supposed to be for a women's only class, which would be great, but apparently there isn't enough interest, last time I asked).
I also had another chance to do some drilling earlier today, as there's a gentleman named Lee who has been getting together some people for a bit of groundwork. From what I could tell, none of them had done BJJ before, with their experience being largely limited to traditional jiu jitsu. However, there was another guy who came along, Jack, who is quite the opposite, in that he actually has more experience than I do, having trained MMA for a few years and spent the last year teaching a class (with the qualifications to back it up, from what he said, along with at least one pro-MMA victory).
That meant that I went through my favoured basic side control bridge-and-shrimp escape followed by a scissor sweep (though I didn't demonstrate the grip on the collar too well: reviewing Roy Dean's Blue Belt Requirements DVD, I realise I should have emphasised that its up high on the collar, which sets you up for chokes), while Jack demonstrated some basic takedowns (the high crotch, if I'm using the right terminology on that one). Josh has got together the thirty names he needs to put forward a proposal to the Sports Fed to set up a BJJ club, so I'm hopeful that's going to produce something. The main concern is cost, so we'll see if there is anyone from Braulio's willing to teach at student prices. If not, some kind of submission grappling/MMA club with Jack at the helm might be a good alternative: we could use training fees to set up University of Warwick BJJ seminars with people like the aforementioned Braulio.
Getting back to tonight's class, there was a pleasing focus on basics. Roger showed us some fine details on chokes from mount, focusing on how to work your way past a tightly defensive opponent keeping their arms close. If they are grabbing their collar and you're finding it difficult to get a hand to their collar, you can use your hips to shove your arm past their defences.
First, grab the collar, then brace the elbow of that same arm against your hip. Shuffle your knees forward, using your hip to drive your arm and hand deeper into their collar. Remember to form your hand into a wedge, so that it can 'cut' through their blocking hands and arms.
Once you've got that deep grip, your partner is almost certainly going to try and bridge and roll to end up in your guard. To prevent that, you can use your free hand to base slightly above their head, and also use your forehead to post on the floor in lieu of your arm.
This means that when they bridge, this may result in them swivelling underneath you rather than rolling into your guard. Therefore you have the option of either trying to take their back, or alternately, swivelling yourself to go for an armbar. I got a little confused at this point as to direction, but the idea is to turn, then step over their head and trap their arm, letting go of the choke and securing their limb instead.
The second tip on getting the choke from mount related to a slightly different defence, where instead of grasping their collar, your partner has their hands close to their face, elbows in tight. This time, you can simply pull up on their hand, then use the space to slip one of your hands through to grab a collar. Again, use your free hand and forehead to post on the floor if they try to bridge.
To finish, drive your other hand (as before, forming a wedge with your fingers) between their head and other hand, reaching to get four fingers into their collar. From there you can now complete the choke, but keeping in mind that it is your wrists, rather than your arms, that enact the submission. Roger pointed to the significance of turning your wrists so your palms were facing away from your partner, then bending your wrists up to increase the pressure.
[Update May 2011: This video is from a few years later, but illustrates a similar variation on the technique. Make sure to press 'CC' at the bottom so that it turns red, as this enables subtitles. I've been taught another variation here, at the RGA Bucks affiliate in 2011]
Sparring started with Tran, who as ever stayed very tight. I tried to bridge and shrimp to make space, which was a good thing to practice, though it didn't lead to an escape. I need to work on combining the basic bridge and shrimp with other escapes: I tend to be a bit too singular and focus on just one rather than the other options it might flow into. I also need to watch that my partner doesn't get a knee into my back when defending the choke, which is how Tran submitted me today. I was being too complacent as he only had one hand in, but then that's all you need if you can use your knee for leverage.
Next up was Anne, where I spent most of my time in a triangle attempt by her, but I had both hands inside, so could make a frame and resist. I was trying to shuffle my shoulders forward to get back into a more secure position, but couldn't manage to make the space. I did eventually get both my arms free to go for a stack pass, but didn't raise Anne up onto my knees, so she had little trouble resisting.
Finally I rolled with Melissa again, this time finding myself mainly on the bottom rather than the previous scarf hold. My main aim was to push back her leg and get my knee through to recover guard, which I managed a couple of times, but need to set up better. I'm not too keen on doing sweeps from here, except the very simple arm sweep (as per Indrek's 'Functional Half Guard' instructional), though I should review some of the ones I've been shown (I generally find them too complex, so prefer to stick with solid, simple basics like recovering full guard).
I think its time I started thinking about chokes more, so want to take a good look at that section in The Guard. Of course, for that to be useful, I need to be better at getting back to full guard, which fits in with my long-standing half-guard goals.
