31/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #167



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 31/07/2008 - Advanced

Back to technique this session, returning to some open guard sweeps Jude has shown us before. They both begin from half-guard, after your opponent has stood up, then I think switch to what is called 'x-guard', but as I'm still not entirely sure what the hell that is, may be mislabelling the position.

Anyway, the first x-guard sweep starts with them standing up, while you have both of your legs wrapped around one of theirs, also using your same side hand to grab their gi trousers. With your other hand, grip their other sleeve. In order to make them step forward, brings your knees towards your chest and pull their sleeve forward.

Once they've stepped forward, switch your grip from their sleeve to behind their leg, wrapping your arm around the back of their knee, gripping just above that same knee round the other side. Your half-guard now switches to the 'x-guard' thingy, where your have one shin underneath their leg, the other foot braced by the side of their knee. If they are trying to drop their knee to your stomach, use your own knee to press them back.

To knock them over, pull your arm in so you can change your grip from their gi pants to their ankle, then use the combination of pushing on their knee and your hold on their other leg to put them on the ground. Don't come up using your hand: rely on the momentum instead, completing the motion by coming round to side control.

The next x-guard sweep was a bit more complicated, working from the same starting position. However, this time when you try to get them to step forward, they put their weight back and hold steady, so you can't hook that leg. Instead, you'll move right round to the side of the leg you've trapped with your own legs. Pull their arm between their legs, feeding the sleeve to your other hand, then hook the instep of one leg around their other thigh (taking care not to get your arm and leg tangled up, which I did a few times when drilling this). Your other leg is going to push on their knee again.

Having got into position, sit up and grab their collar, aiming to get a deep grip. You can now drop the leg you've got hooked, and instead concentrate on pushing their knee, pulling down on the gi with your collar grip at the same time. This should drag them to the floor: note that they can't easily break their fall, so be careful when drilling this (you basically end up landing on your shoulder).

Specific sparring was king of the hill guard passage, where again my main goal was to make myself stand up. I got defensive a few times, but was pleased to at least get to my feet during a couple of spars. I'm not getting any further than that at the mo, but it’s a start: next thing will be to drive my hips forward and develop good balance, so I can being to work a pass. At the moment, I tend to get swept fairly quickly and easily after I'm up, so its going to be a matter of persevering until I start to settle into the motion and get my base.

I spent a lot of free sparring in half-guard, particularly with Dean and Christy. For the first spar, my partner was Christina, and I tried to stand up: didn't really work, but again, something I just need to keep trying. As ever, soon ended up underneath, mostly in either side control or knee on belly. In the latter position, I'm tending to do a lot of waiting, trying to go to half guard by pushing on the knee, which isn't very effective. I've seen some escapes in the Ed Beneville books, and I remember Maurição showing us some a while back, so need to double-check those.

My main problem in half-guard at present is getting up my torso onto the same side as the leg I've trapped. I keep ending up in a diagonal posture, which is much less useful for sweeps, taking the back, recovering guard etc. I'm getting better with snatching half guard if I can see I'm about to be swept or passed, but I must be doing it in such a way that I end up with my torso in the wrong place. Working back around is proving difficult: I should probably be using my hips more, and bridging to make space.

I seem to remember getting some kind of sweep on Christy, but I think it was kinda sloppy, and right near the end I rolled her over with her leg (if I'm remembering correctly). That wasn't really planned, but I should keep in mind that their leg is vulnerable if its up close to my head.

I also rolled into Dean's guard a couple of times, but that didn't help me much as on each occasion he had a kimura mostly locked in when on top of my half-guard. The second time round I managed to get out of it by attempting to crush my shoulder down after I rolled, but I'm not sure if I escaped due to that, or he eased off: not sure on the correct technical escape for a kimura from guard.

Seemed to bruise up my knee today, which I think may have been exacerbated by the unpleasant humidity. London has been wet and hot today, which is a terrible combination. Hopefully will be a little cooler when I get back next week: got a friend's wedding to go to in Cambridge this weekend, which should be fun.

30/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #166



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 30/07/2008 - Advanced

The Fightworks Podcast has been shifting to more user-generated content recently, meaning that Caleb is asking the audience if they have any questions for upcoming guests. I emailed a few for the judo interview (subscribing in Google Reader is a good way to keep up to date with the content, or alternately getting on the mailing list). Caleb managed to fit them all in, which was a pleasant surprise: I thought maybe one or two would make it, so to hear all five was kinda cool.

No technique tonight, just sparring. We kicked off with throws to warm-up, then straight on to guard passage. I was trying to stand up in order to try and pass Tran's guard, but found it difficult to even get to that position. As has been happening frequently from this position, I tend to get pulled down and then have to defend, rather than getting my hands secure and rising up from that. It could be that I should be quicker in getting up, or worrying less about having a totally rock solid base first. Clearly I should be attempting something slightly different, as I'm finding myself in a predictable pattern of putting hands on hips, trying to raise up, then my posture is broken and I'm defending.

Underneath I didn't fare much better: Tran inevitably got my guard open, pushed a knee through and moved round. As he said afterwards, I need to think about how he is passing and what to do to stop the pass. First off, I have to come up with a way to block that knee and elbow, perhaps by coming up on one side, or working harder to break their posture. I was also looking to try and break Tran's grips, so I could armdrag and bring him in close, but not quite there yet: if I keep trying, will eventually improve.

Next was half-guard, for which my partner was Dean. He is a bit larger than me, but stays controlled, probably because he's fairly experienced (I think he mentioned about six years of training). I tried staying tight and seeing if I could move round, but wasn't able to free my trapped leg. I also attempted to remember the half guard passes we'd be shown by Maurição a while back: drew a blank on the upright passes, so will need to review those.

When we reversed I felt a bit more comfortable, aiming to get up on my side and either try for their back or the arm sweep. I think I can see improvements in getting to my side, particularly as before I was often just lying there squashed, which doesn't seem to happen quite so often. I need to use my legs more, and also shrimp a lot more, rather than thinking about over and underhooks so much (though they're still important). I managed to sweep once, but it was fairly sloppy on my partner. I almost recovered guard a few times too, but on each occasion Dean was able to bring his knees through, so I'm still missing some vital element, which I'll be sure to watch out for especially carefully when I'm next in that position.

Specific sparring from the back was against a much larger guy, but as he had hurt his shoulder, that meant he was basically only using one arm. Due to that, the spar wasn't quite as painful as I'd expected, with him spinning fairly easily into my guard when I was on his back, while when he had rear mount I stayed tight in defence. We also ended up back in mount or with him in my guard a few times, which I guess counts as an escape: better than being choked. I had one arm in place for a RNC for a while, but couldn't get the other one secure: if I got close, he was more than strong enough to simply wrench my arm away.

My partner for side control was Radek, which turned out comparatively even (though as he's got a considerable bit of muscle on me, could well have been taking it easy). On top, I rather fortuitously found myself in reverse scarf hold (at least I think I was: my side was across his torso and face, with one of his arms around my back). It was fairly simple to shift back, then bring my leg through for mount. Definitely something to work on more, as I remain very limited from the top.

That was rare, however, as mostly I was getting rolled over, although I slightly improved my mobility from position to position as the spar went on. I'm still nowhere near mobile enough, however, and get to try and sit in secure side control, which almost always results in a gradual escape on the part of my opponent.

Underneath, the Tran side control escape worked several times. Radek had control of my legs, but must have left some room for my hips, as I was still able to bridge into him and roll into his guard. I think I also recovered my own guard at one point, but can't quite remember, along with snatching half guard, which tends to be my favourite escape.

I was pretty tired once we reached free sparring, so happily sat out waiting to see if anyone wanted to roll with a small guy. Two purple belts duly obliged, starting with Tomek. He kept it fairly light, given the usual weight difference, so I spent most of the spar trying to avoid getting triangled in the guard, then attempting to work my way free from side control.

Much the same happened against Bruno, though he threw on a leglock part of the way through. I'm very wary of lower body submissions (though I was more confident about escaping an earlier attempt from his guard), so tapped immediately, seeing that he had the position and I was off-balance, leaning back. That had the added bonus of him showing me an escape, which is to push their bum with your free leg.

Roger was in class, rolling with several of the students: I saw him go with both Zaf and Tomek, and no doubt a whole bunch of other people too. Always nice to see him on the mats. Nick taking the sessions has been another pleasant change: its great how RGA has so many top notch instructors to cycle between.

24/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #165



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 24/07/2008 - Advanced

Having already chatted earlier in the day over a brief bit of lunch, I met Johannes at Westbourne Park to show him the way. When we first got in, looked like it was going to be a small class, and there also weren't many of the people I'd normally chat to (e.g., Owen, Christina, Tran etc), and was therefore looking to introduce to Johannes. On the other hand, there were plenty of good browns and purples for him to roll with, which was cool.

Jude went through the same two half guard passes from last week, though I'm still not quite sure I'm getting them (partly that’s because I have an aversion to 'mean' techniques which essentially are based around making your partner really uncomfortable in order to achieve your goal, but mostly because I'm really bad at passing).

We then moved on to a half guard sweep. I think this is the one Christina has mentioned to me before, as it involves pulling their lapel through their own legs. First thing you need to do from half guard - which seems to be a central principle of the position - is to underhook around their back on the same side as the leg you've trapped, then come up onto your side.

Pull their lapel down and through their legs, then feed it to your other hand (I think still all on the trapped leg side, but might have misremembered) then bump them forward with your knee. Having knocked them off balance, use your firm grip on their leg to put them on their back and drive forwards. Cup their other knee and yank it back, using that to move through and secure side control.

Specific sparring was therefore from half-guard, where I got absolutely nowhere. I tried to settle into a position where I had a tight grip under their head and arm, but every time I was either swept or they recovered guard. Paxton, as before, immediately brought his leg through, slicing past my defences as if they were made of tissue paper. Weight distribution, especially maintaining good pressure, continues to be a major problem for me.

When it came to free sparring, I ended up going with Johannes twice (no bad thing, as its not like I get to roll with him often). His background as an instructor over in Sweden swiftly became apparent, as he approaches the roll looking to work your game, rather than simply crush you. He frequently urged me to get hooks in open guard, keep moving, go for submissions, and be more offensive. As he mentioned afterwards, he noticed that I'll get vaguely in position for a submission, but don't follow through. He also commented on how I wasn't being careful of his hooks when trying to pass, as a few times he had a hook but I kept driving forward anyway, so was asking to be reversed.

The next time I sparred, having sat out two rounds, was again with Johannes. This went pretty much the same way, as I spun around on the bottom trying to defend, while Johannes took it easy, trying to get me to go for something. He intentionally set me up for a sweep at one point, but I didn't see what he was intending, then gave me a triangle (though I was laughing, because he so obviously wasn't resisting at all ;p). He did mention that my submission defence wasn't bad, but it served as another reminder that my game is bereft of anything resembling an attack at the moment, something I really need to rectify.

Finally, I had a light roll with Jason, again mostly spinning around on the bottom, getting put in side control, then trying to snatch half guard after he went to knee-on-belly, which would normally result in going under side control again. As I'm small and Jason is coming back from a nasty knee injury, this kind of relaxed rolling works well for both of us: Jason gets to attempt new stuff that wouldn't work so well against more accomplished members of class, while I get to practice movement.

Paxton received his much-deserved blue belt at the end of class, which was great to see: nice guy who always works hard in class. He's got a good attitude (asks lots of questions) and has been improving rapidly since I first encountered him in the beginners class: I can fondly look back on the days when I could hold him off, because he's now surpassed me. Good defence and offence, so a useful example, as he isn't all that much bigger than me either.

I'm off to Lincolnshire to visit some friends this weekend, so won't be able to make the Tuesday, again. However, I'd most likely spend that on writing commitments, and will definitely be doing that the following week to make up for lost time. So, probably going to be just Wednesdays and Thursdays for the foreseeable future, but I'll hopefully be able to add in the odd Tuesday if I can get enough writing done in the morning. I'd have to catch a 14:00 train to make it to Tuesday training in time, which doesn't tend to give me as long as I need to sort out the writing commitments side of things.

23/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #164



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Nick Gregoriades, London, UK - 23/07/2008 - Advanced

I couldn't get to sleep last Sunday, so decided to get up and be productive. As I do rather strange things for fun, that resulted in my new BJJ Beginner FAQ. I'd appreciate any feedback (e.g., further good questions you think should be on there, broken links, informative threads/articles I could add in for further reading etc). Still adding things to it, but just about got in all the questions I wanted (last one I can think of is cross-training, for which I mainly use my Bullshido.txt file, especially my usual 'Welcome to Bullshido!' post with the stuff about 'if you're interested in striking/ if you're more interested in grappling').

Also didn't get to train yesterday, as my writing commitments has stepped up a gear (though I also got an extension, which is nice: the final deadline is now October 2010). That’s probably going to mean I'll be spending most of my Tuesdays writing, at least until I feel I've got on top of it and have a solid chunk of the word count ready. If only it was as easy to pump out academic prose as it is to write several thousand word essays on a BJJ blog…

Nick G took class today, who brings something different to the table as an instructor. He runs one of the top BJJ blogs on the net, The Jiu-Jitsu Brotherhood: the same thoughtful style is evident in his teaching. It felt very much like reading one of his posts when he began the drilling, as he discussed his theory that there are two main types of position in BJJ: set positions, like side control, guard etc, and the scramble, where neither person has settled into a controlling posture. As he mentioned, this is common in nogi, but not often the focus of a lesson when wearing the gi.

To help develop this ability to scramble, Nick had us do a drill where we were effectively sparring, but the whole point was to simply keep moving: no submissions and no grips. That meant I found myself rolling over to my back, swinging my legs over, spinning around underneath etc. I tend to be slow and steady in sparring, as I like to feel secure and then work from a comfortable position, so this was a useful exercise for me.

We then did the same thing again, but this time with the difference that one of us had their eyes closed. That meant I now had to feel for my partner so I could work out where they were going, not to mention the practical reason that class was stuffed so I didn't want to slam into anyone. The 'seeing' partner basically ended up shepherding their training partner away from walls and other grappling pairs.

Technique tonight was an armbar from the back. I can imagine Nick G doing a good instructional video, as his method of demonstration was tailor-made for recording: methodical and clear, with several repetitions. We started from the back, with hooks in, your arms underneath theirs, while they defend against the choke. Your same side hand slips through their armpit to grab their same side wrist. Bring your other arm over the top to grip their wrist, then switch your hands. Your first hand now grabs the wrist of your other arm, meaning you've secured a figure-four hold.

Drop slightly towards their legs, shrimping out your legs. You are now in position to execute what Nick called the 'stamp and clamp'. With your far leg, 'stamp' on their same side hip to stop them turning towards you (as they'll be aiming to get back in your guard). Then bring your other leg across their waist, hooking across their hip: this is the 'clamp'.

Your free leg goes over their head, pushing them back (make sure you're holding them firmly with this leg, squeezing your knees together), while you push their arm up towards their head then down in a semi-circle. That should enable you to straighten out the limb and secure the armbar.

Specific sparring, unsurprisingly, was from the back. As I've mentioned before, this is easily my worst position. I find it very difficult to maintain any kind of control over my opponent when I've got their back, particularly with my legs. Back mount is supposed to be an incredibly dominant position, so I'm clearly doing something very wrong: however, I was trying to put into practice some tips I'd read on the Grapplers Guide (e.g., keeping your head low). I need to watch the video on back control from their too, as I don't think I've done that yet.

While I lasted slightly longer than I have previously, both Liam and Christina gradually worked their way free, the normal process being that I lost a hook, they kept moving to the side, then spun into my guard. With Liam I had a vague attempt at going for the armbar we had learned in class, but didn't manage to secure the stamp and clamp – I also went for the wrong side initially, which messed me up further. Still, reminds me I absolutely have to go for techniques we've learned in class more often when sparring.

The skin on the top joint of my fingers is still giving me trouble, so I've been taping it up recently. However, the specific sparring had dislodged all my tape, so I popped back to the changing room to reapply before my first free spar, with Christina. She has been working her guard a lot at the moment, which gave me a chance to try and implement some of the principles I've been failing to use in passing. Most importantly, that is standing up and driving my hips forward: I tried that tonight, but generally just put me in position to get swept over Christina (though I did at least manage to snatch half-guard as I was being swept a few times).

I also found that Nick's flow drill from earlier had an impact on my escapes. I never normally try to get to my knees, but it felt natural to do so today after all the rolling over my back in the earlier drill. Could be a useful thing to try at home with my gf, as she sometimes complains about the pressure BJJ drilling puts on her muscles (e.g., when passing): not a problem with that flow drill.

Christina and I were a little delayed in starting, because I was taping up my fingers, so had an extended spar spilling over across the next round. I then went with Tran, although that ended up (much to my benefit) being a bit of instruction on the flower sweep. Tran does it a little differently than the Grapplers Guide video I've been watching.

Tran's variation begins when your opponent is doing the usual stiff arm thing against your hips (as I mentioned that's where I've been having trouble). Pull their head down, underhook one arm, bringing your other arm over the top. Grab your hands together palm to palm for a gable grip, keeping your opponent tight. You can then walk your legs up their back for a high guard.

Next, bring the arm that came over the top of the arm under their armpit, aiming to grab their opposite collar: you've now secured a firm overhook. With the same side foot, push off their same side hip to rotate (not shrimp, but literally bring your upper toward their opposite knee). You should get your other leg right up into their armpit.

Finally, grab their pant leg on your armpit leg side, then push your leg down while simultaneously lifting their leg up. If you've got the leverage right, you should be able to roll them straight into mount.

Zaf mentioned something which sounded very handy when he saw me taping up my finger. At first I thought he was joking, as he said I could do with some new skin. Turns out New Skin is actually a type of liquid plaster, so I'll be sure to look into it: could be more effective – as well as more convenient – than my roll of zinc oxide tape.

Tomorrow Johannes should be popping down to RGA, so look forward to training with him again. No doubt the higher belts will also relish the chance to roll with a tough Swedish purple (I'm more interested in just seeing him again, and whether I've improved much since we last met at the first Belfast Throwdown. Looking forward to it. :)

17/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #163



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 17/07/2008 - Advanced

I got back from my trip to Barmouth in Wales yesterday, which surprisingly did manage to squeeze out a few sunny days at the beach. Harlech Castle was cool, as that hit two of my biggest pleasures, fantasy and history, as to a lesser extent Powis Castle did later on. King Arthur's Labyrinth was rather cheesy, as it consisted of about five wax set pieces with a narrator booming out of some nearby speakers, but was at least in an atmospheric underground setting, built up out of an old slate mine.

That extended stay over on the Welsh coast meant that it was just one session this week. The main focus of tonight's lesson was passing half guard, emphasising the importance of getting the underhook and then gable gripping under your partner's head.

Jude's first half guard pass started by underhooking the arm opposite to their trapped leg, bringing your other arm underneath their head. Clasp your hands palm to palm, securing what is known as the gable grip. Once you've got that, crush your weight down, getting chest to chest, shoving your trapped leg side shoulder forcefully into their chin. This should make them very uncomfortable, and therefore enable you to use your free foot to push on their same side leg. Press straight down, and don't lean forward: if you need extra leverage, put extra pressure on their chin instead. Free your leg, then bring the knee through to either mount or side control.

The second half guard pass develops off the first. You've got into position and are crushing with your shoulder, pushing on their leg to try and free your trapped limb. To relieve the pressure, they bring their underhooked forearm in front of your face and push up. This could provide them with space to start working an escape, so to keep the pressure on, switch your head to the other side. Now press your skull into their skull, which both isolates their head movement and is also rather unpleasant. As with the shoulder pressure previously, you can use this pressure on their head to distract them sufficiently to free your leg. If you're having trouble getting your leg free, you can also kick out their bottom leg and slip through to side control.

Specific sparring from half guard was tough on top. I was with Paxton, who I always find a challenging sparring partner. I had real difficulty securing that underhook, meaning that Paxton would frequently be able to slide his knee through to full guard. Even when I did get the underhook, I still couldn't maintain enough pressure to stop Paxton recovering guard. As ever, need to work on keeping my weight down on my partner.

Underneath, things were easier, as this time I was able to recover full guard (although with Paxton's level of success when our role's were reversed). Securing my own underhook and trying to duck under his arm were both useful in avoiding the passes we'd just been shown, although Paxton did at one point manage to use his head in a similarly effective fashion to what Jude had demonstrated. Good to be aware of that, as now I know to make sure to stop my partner getting their head into position.

On top in guard, I found myself in my seemingly inevitable defensive mode. I'm steadily trying to move towards standing up and driving my hips forward, but today I was finding it difficult to work into a solid base from which I could go to my feet. Frequently Paxton was dragging my arm to one side and then attempting chokes, so I had to defend that before I could think about standing up. Raising up my same side leg, as Tran had advised, worked well, but it was all defensive: I wasn't able to launch any kind of offence of my own.

Underneath, things went worse. I have said in the past that closed guard is my strongest position, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I'm finding that my partner will often stiff arm both my hips, meaning that I can't raise up, then gradually stand and walk through my open guard. I did at least manage to use my legs more, rather than straining away with my arms, and I also found myself shifting to a sort of butterfly guard at several points, with Waqi's gorillatine vaguely in mind. However, I wasn't able to secure it properly, so eventually got passed each time I tried it.

I also attempted to use my legs to bring Paxton down towards me, so I could think about the scissor sweep I've been wanting to work, but that didn't quite go according to plan. I did get Paxton's torso forward, but couldn't lock up his arm, so while I tried to switch to an elevator sweep, he stood up, then went through my open guard.

I think working the armdrag may pay dividends for me: a fellow small guy asked Kid Peligro about the guard on the Fightworks Podcast #125, where Peligro's advice was to armdrag and take the back. I'm terrible at back control, but using the armdrag to at least get my partner onto their side could be a useful tactic to try. I'll have to look into armdragging, and also review the Grapplers Guide videos on grips and back control.

Free sparring started with Christina (glad to see her back, as haven't trained with her in a few weeks), where we took it fairly easy, with Christina taking on an instructor role. She coached me through some guard passes, giving me advice on driving my hips forward and standing up as soon as possible in guard. From that spar, I think my posture needs improvement in guard too: I can defend against chokes ok, but that has meant I've been getting too comfortable with leaning forward in guard. Good posture involves a straight back and looking up, so I need to concentrate on achieving that positioning.

Finally, I had a roll with Bruno, a high level purple whose relaxed rolling style makes him a good sparring partner. He was taking it pretty light, which given the large skill discrepancy makes sense. I tried to put into practice what I'd learned from Christina (which also fits with an earlier discussion with Paxton from a while back), driving my hips forward, but not yet getting it quite right. Something I need to keep doggedly attempting until I start to make some improvements.

I was more comfortable defending underneath, as usual, particularly after I almost got flung straight into one of those flashy armbars where you get flipped up by your opponent's leg and dropped straight into position. I could see what was coming, so scampered round to escape, but goes to show the difference between a low level blue like me and a high level purple like Bruno: he can throw in playful stuff like that with impunity.

I'll be training again next week, but not sure whether or not I'll do the Tuesday. As I'd expected, there's some hefty writing commitments coming up, so it would be good to devote my Tuesday to that instead. Depends if Johannes makes it on both Tuesday and Thursday as he'd planned, or opts for just Thursday (RGA is a pricey place to drop in, after all, at £18 for a single session. If you've come from Renzo's, or somewhere with a similarly close connection to the Roger Gracie Academy, its normally cheaper, but Johannes is a Brasa guy).

Hopefully he does make it to at least one, as it would be cool to train with him again. Always nice to meet up with fellow Bullshido people. :)

09/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #162



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Gustavo Dos Santos Pires, London, UK - 09/07/2008 - Advanced

Useful tip from Joanna yesterday I forgot to mention: if you want to get someone to put their limb in a particular place, pull or push it in the opposite direction. If they resist, that means they are now directing their limb exactly where you initially wanted, so reverse your push or pull to get them in position. I've heard this before in reference to finishing a kimura, but worth repeating, particularly as its got a broader application than just that single technique.

Tonight's class was all sparring again. However, I preferred it this time round, as it wasn't king of the hill with the specific sparring, staying with your partner instead. I find this far more useful, as that way you definitely get a chance to work both the top and bottom position for the specific spar. When doing guard passage, I'll never get to work the bottom in king of the hill, because my passing is too crappy to get me through anybody's guard (unless they're really tired or something, like Gary yesterday).

My partner was Anthony again, who is proving to be a good person to both drill and spar with. Thing began from guard passage, and having had another chat with Paxton about just going for it by standing up and driving your hips, I tried that a few times. Didn't really get me anywhere, but I did at least try it out. Later on, I reverted to my usual patient defence, generally not achieving a whole lot, but I did pass at one point. I can't remember if that was from standing or after Anthony had gone for some kind of sweep, but I did knock him in the head as I went past: must be careful of my elbows if I'm trying to jump past quickly.

Underneath, I still really want to work the flower sweep, but couldn't work myself into position. I've been trying that grip break where you figure four their wrist and lift, which does work, but I haven't been able to follow that up with good control of their arm. So most of the time I was working open guard again, the main focus for me still sitting up. I think I managed that better today, and also kept Anthony away for a little while by using my legs more offensively, pulling on the back of his knees to break his posture. He generally got round in the end, but at least my open guard wasn't quite the damp tissue paper edifice it has been so often in the past.

Next up was half-guard. On top, I found it hard to maintain control, trying to lock my arms around Anthony's head and arm. Even if I was able to hold him down for a little while, I struggled to do anything proactive: he was able to sweep me several times, or work back to guard. I had a go and attacking the far arm a few times, but Anthony could see it coming a mile off: I should start looking into chokes rather than always going for a bent armlock or straight armbar.

Underneath I fared better, which tends to be the case as I spend such a large proportion of my free sparring in that position. I was pleased to get the arm sweep a couple of times, which I think was the same slightly overbalanced position I failed to capitalise on against Joanna yesterday. Reaching all the way over their back and grabbing the arm, then pulling that arm back across while bridging is a fairly simple motion, so its easy enough to attempt.

I also managed to work my way back to full guard once or twice, which is good as that's been a central goal for some time now. I kept in mind trying to bring their leg out to get them to raise their knee, as shown in Strategic Guard, and also the half butterfly game that I've seen various people talk about, like Aesopian. It was kinda sloppy, but it did seem to be enough to whisk my legs under and out back to full guard.

By this point, I was getting pretty tired. Side control was up next, where I clung on top. I could maintain that for a while, but again in a rather inactive fashion: I think Anthony realised he wasn't at much risk of being submitted or mounted. I tried to then get under his elbow and shift to scarf or something, but that merely gave Anthony the opportunity to escape.

Underneath, I felt very immobile. I should have been bridging and trying some escapes, but I simply didn't have the energy. I did attempt to go for Roy Dean's spin-out, off his Blue Belt Requirements DVD, but that just ended up putting me under north-south. I need to time that better, and combine it with some other escapes to be effective. I also looked for Tran's bridging into them escape, but Anthony had his timing down, so had no trouble quickly bringing his foot over and securing mount before I could react and bridge.

Despite my body's protestations that it would much prefer to go and flop by the wall, there was still yet another position to work: mount. I was dreading this one, as its always been one of my biggest weak points. However, it seems that being so knackered actually worked in my favour, as I was looking for a way to basically lie on top of my opponent without having to expend too much energy. I grapevined Anthony's legs, with one arm under his head, adjusting my feet as he tried to unlock the hold. I also switched to crossing my ankles underneath his bum a few times, having read (I think on the Grapplers Guide) about how that is a good way of taking their hips out of the equation. Seemed to work, so instead of being my worst area, today it was a strong one for me today. Then again, I don't often get to try mount against someone my own size, and no doubt Anthony was getting fatigued by that point too.

Underneath I felt ok too: much better than under side control. I attempted the escape, again from Roy Dean, where you wait for them to grab under your head, then wrap up their arm by grabbing your own and bridging. As usual, I wasn't able to complete the technique, as Anthony immediately slipped his arm back out when I tried to trap it.

More successful was my favoured step-over heel drag. I haven't been using that as much as I once did, but put it into practice a lot today. I was pleased to get the full motion shown by Roy Dean, where you step over, drag, go to a half guard position, then shrimp to the other side and free your leg for full guard. Finally, I was defending a lot of chokes with my knuckles again, blocking Anthony's questing fist with my own, literally pushing it out of the way at one point.

Fortunately we stopped there to go to free sparring, so I collapsed against the wall to catch my breath. I sat out the first one, and was quite tempted to keep sitting there, but Tran called me out, so as he is among my best training partners I dragged myself over to spar. I tried working on top and attacking his guard, getting my knee in the middle, also attempting to base off my head into Tran's body (or was that with Anthony? Think it was Tran) but ended up getting swept after a short wait.

Underneath, the main thing I remember is trying to escape an arm triangle. I was able to resist from guard and half guard, adjusting to relieve the pressure, but once Tran worked through to side control, I had nothing to resist with. I could see him going for it earlier, as he had knocked my arm with my head. I struggled for a bit trying to slip my forearm back into a safer position braced into his neck, but couldn't stop Tran getting it set up for an arm triangle: pretty much a lost cause after that point, though I tried defending anyway to see if shifting my base and hips had any effect.

I was completely drained after that, and also had several chunks of skin dangling from my fingers, so sat out the rest of sparring. Abrasive gi on exposed flesh did not sound like a good idea, though its not like I need much of an excuse to take a break when knackered. ;)

One of my friends from Bullshido, Johannes, might be popping over from Sweden in a few weeks, which would be very cool. Depends on being free at the same time, of course, but look forward to rolling with him again if he makes it. He was a solid blue when I last saw him a year ago, and recently got his purple. Most importantly for me, however, is that he's the guy I have to thank for the step-over heel drag: I saw him doing it at the first Belfast TD, and have been using it ever since.

Off to Wales tomorrow, so won't be training again until Thursday. At the end of class, I got my first stripe on my blue belt, which was a pleasant send-off: I'm definitely feeling more comfortable with the belt now. My lack of submissions is still a major flaw, but my top game appears to be slowly improving. Returning to sweeps is my current goal, especially the flower, and then trying to build on that, as well as continuing to try working the scarf hold. Getting better escapes is always going to be important for me, but I'm especially keen to develop the facility to recover full guard from half-guard. One or two basic sweeps from there would also be useful, but I'd prefer to recover guard than sweep, as the former would provide me with a more solid fundamental base.

08/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #161



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Gustavo Dos Santos Pires, London, UK - 08/07/2008 - Advanced

I'm only going to get in two this week, as I'll be heading off to Wales off Friday, which means I can't make Thursday. I'm getting back late on Wednesday the following week, so that will be a mere one class: then again, I've make six in the previous two weeks, so still keeps up an average of at least two.

Having said that, I do keep finding myself sitting on the sidelines. Guard passage today I did three, but then got my elbow tweaked, sitting out the rest. Still, better than sitting them all out, which is what I did one class last week. Same story as usual in that I stayed defensive, but I've been finding (as ever) Tran's advice useful, stepping up with my same side leg if an arm gets trapped. I'm also bringing my legs back if my partner tries to grab my knee for a sweep, although I'm not sure if that's a good idea every time, as I wonder if it weakens my base.

Thankfully it wasn't a pure sparring class, which I thought at first it might become (guard passage lasted a long time). Techniques today were ideal, as recently I've been wanting to revisit the flower sweep, which I've never really worked out. Gustavo showed us both a sweep and an armbar from a similar starting position, so that gives me some more options to go for.

The omoplata sweep, if that's an accurate description, begins with a grip on your partner's opposite sleeve. Bring your other arm underneath their same side leg, wrapping behind the knee (like you would for a flower sweep). Feed the sleeve you're holding to the hand that is now by their leg, then kick your own same side leg out past their shoulder as if going for an omoplata.

Triangle your other leg other that, trapping their arm, and roll them forwards. Follow through the roll, coming out on top, then switch your legs so that you're in side control. You could also transition to scarf hold from here.

If when you are kicking out your leg for the omoplata, they grab your other leg, you can change to an armbar. Grip the elbow of the arm they're using to push on your leg and knock it across your body. Swivel and bring your leg over their head, trap their arm (either under your armpit, or hold their wrist: I found that trying to use the armpit tended to leave their arm bent). Raise your hips and finish off the armbar, or if they're resisting, you can use your hold under their leg to roll them into side control and get the submission from there.

The guard passage may have taken longer than I realised, or possibly the free sparring was in extended rounds, but either way, only got a single spar in today. I need to get into a pattern of always sparring the first round, rather than sitting it out and doing the second. That way, I should get at least two spars even when, like today, they only do three (normally its five or six rounds).

I went with Joanna, which always involves me spinning about in open guard, after which she either passes or I lock in half guard. I'm at the point now that, at least with people close to my own size, I'm relatively confident that I can get into half-guard from under mount, and defend myself in side control. That means that its time I took more risks from guard, and I'd like to be more offensive from half guard.

However, before I get all excited by half guard sweep craziness, most important is that I continue working to re-establish full guard, particularly as I want to develop my flower sweep. I frequently found tonight that in half guard Joanna's weight was heavily to one side, but couldn't work out how to use that to my advantage. With Dean in guard passage, I had also found myself in half guard, getting to deep half guard, but uncertain where to go from there.

Might be worth dipping into Eddie Bravo's simpler half-guard section at the start of Mastering the Rubber Guard (I'm continuing to ignore the rest of it as too advanced for me at present), and I should also review what is written about it in Strategic Guard. Then there's Indrek Reiland's instructional (which is my main source for recovering guard at present), and possibly something on the Grapplers Guide, of which I've recently become a premium member. That's the main reason I've been looking at the flower sweep again, as Jason Scully has a great instructional video on there: will have a look to see if he's got any half guard stuff too. I've had a thorough look through the gi section, but not checked nogi yet.

Anyway, getting back to the spar with Joanna: I was also getting on top quite often, but unable to maintain the position. I had scarf hold for a little while, getting into my preferred position where I grip under the head and clasp my own thigh, but I wasn't putting my weight down enough or keeping my head low. Joanna was slipping out of my side control quite easily, and I also couldn't hold rear mount on her either. Those attacks against the turtle Gustavo showed last week were pretty cool, so I need to review those again. Found myself in position to use them a few times, but blanked on the application.

Should be back again tomorrow, where I'll see if I can get a chance to work the flower sweep. If not, then I'll be trying to escape to guard, or possibly further develop my scarf hold. I had a few tries at moving to reverse scarf hold, but couldn't secure it: something to look at in more detail.

In unrelated geek news, I was happily playing with HTML and Java today, and was pleased to finally work out how to make a drop-down menu with links (top left of my blog, Review Index). Been trying to do that for ages, and finally found an easy to use tutorial today, here. Woo!

Book Review - The Guard (Ed Beneville & Joe Moreira)

This is the second instructional book I added to my library, getting it as a christmas present in 2007. I had heard glowing reviews of Ed Beneville on the net, so wanted to get his highly acclaimed Passing the Guard (written with Tim Cartmell), but that was no longer available when I was looking around for books to add to my wish list. The Guard was still in stock, but only from second hand book websites: Beneville's books always seem to sell out fairly quickly. Fortunately for me, there is going to be an updated version of Passing the Guard at some point this year, and I think The Guard will also be revamped later on.

As this is an earlier book, The Guard is slightly less high quality than the glossy Strategic Guard, and doesn't feature the condensed technique charts at the end of each section. Nevertheless, The Guard remains an excellent discussion of techniques from the guard position, geared more towards offence than the largely defensive Strategic Guard.

It also contains the same well constructed flow of illustration, accompanying each picture with concise textual description. Key points of leverage and motion are often circled on the colour photographs, which is helpful for emphasising the positioning of your hands and feet - a beginner unsure of what to look for might otherwise miss those important details. Techniques are shown from multiple angles, and where space allows, simultaneously run across the page: this can be as many as three different perspectives on the full sequence.

I wrote earlier that Mastering Jujitsu is the first book I would recommend to a beginner: The Guard is probably the second. Unlike Mastering Jujitsu, this is a full-on instructional volume, without the extended historical and theoretical sections of Renzo's release. However, like Mastering Jujitsu, Beneville's book caters to beginners, as exemplified by the opening exercises demonstrating the correct usage of shrimping. That entails both forwards and backwards, driving off one leg or two, as well as progressing to related leg drills against a wall (handy for open guard). The drills are not shown in isolation, as Beneville includes further illustration detailing their application. Aptly, this chapter is called 'Fundamentals', and is perfect for somebody new to the sport, or functions as a thorough reminder for those at a more advanced level.

The starting point for Strategic Guard can be found in chapter two, 'Guard Pass Counters', but the rest of the volume is largely concerned with offence. Beneville includes sections on chokes and armbars, as well as how to attack certain positions, like when your opponent is stalling in your guard. The Guard tends to build through a position, such as moving from a kimura to a hip bump, followed by options if your partner defends the sweep.

This approach culminates in the chapter 'Flowing Attack', where Beneville goes through several well-known combinations, such as triangle to armbar, on to omoplata if your opponent defends both of those, then back to armbar and finally returning to a triangle, putting you back in the starting position. This is a significant difference to the principles and strategy led Mastering Jujitsu, as numerous techniques within The Guard rely on specific positions and reactions from your partner.

As with Mastering Jujitsu, this is a book that will benefit every BJJ beginner. Once you have been training for a few months and have read Mastering Jujitsu, this volume will provide an effective supplement to what you've learned in class. The solo drills at the start, promoting good fundamentals, are especially useful: these solid basics will continue to serve you well as you progress through BJJ. Available for purchase here.

Update April 2009: The new and expanded edition is being released this month. Even more exciting, Beneville's first book Passing the Guard is also being reissued with new material. Really looking forward to that, as I've heard nothing but awesome about it.

Book Review - Mastering Jujitsu (Renzo Gracie & John Danaher)

Mastering Jujitsu (available here, or here in the US) was written by Renzo Gracie and John Danaher, and I would assume that the latter's academic background in philosophy is the main reason the text is unusually eloquent for a martial arts book. Both men are well qualified for the task of writing a martial arts instructional book, as both hold high ranks in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Renzo Gracie is a legendary figure in the sport, having also competed many times in mixed martial arts. John Danaher is one of Gracie's black belts, and a well-regarded instructor in his own right, teaching out of Renzo's New York academy.

Their book begins with a modified version of the introduction to Renzo's previous book, Theory and Technique. This opening segment contains a brief outline of the sport, discussing the origins of jujitsu (the breadth of this investigation is probably one of the reasons the title is 'Mastering Jujitsu' rather than 'Mastering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu'), also musing on the most plausible historical explanation for the development of martial arts in general. There is an extended section on Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo, and in particular his groundbreaking innovations in training methodology. That theme of what Matt Thornton has called 'aliveness' (see his blog for more details on the concept) continues throughout the book, convincingly arguing the benefits of non-compliant training in a sport setting.

I've been careful with purchasing any supplemental material for my BJJ training: I'm conscious of not wanting to get ahead of myself. After a few months of BJJ, Mastering Jujitsu was perfect for me, providing good holiday reading for a long holiday I took to the Caribbean. Rather than trying to cover as many techniques as possible, Danaher and Gracie approach a small selection of fundamental tactics and strategies, detailing the principles through a text-heavy approach (there are a few black and white photos for each technique, but the description relies largely upon words). This follows on smoothly from the academically inflected historical summary, that same tone examining the basic techniques of mixed martial arts.

Due to this theoretically based perspective, I think Mastering Jujitsu works well as an introduction to the sport, doing a magnificent job of explaining the main principles and history. Its always a great pleasure to learn more about something you enjoy - I listen to podcasts for the same reason. I find that personalising a sport through the acquisition of background knowledge acts as wonderful motivation, which is exactly the function Mastering Jujitsu has served for me.

Danaher and Gracie do not only discuss the recognisable ground positions of Brazilian jiu jitsu, but also look at striking, as well as takedowns, footwork etc: again, this goes some way towards explaining the use of 'jujitsu' rather than 'Brazilian jiu jitsu' in the book's title. Mastering Jujitsu features a brief section on 'jujitsu for self defence' at the end, as well as discussion of competition and common issues in training, like conditioning and injuries. There are even case studies for each of the technical sections: for example, Royce Gracie is discussed in relation to winning from the guard position, or Randy Couture when looking at effective use of the clinch. The choice of fighters for the case studies is of course affected by the publication date, which was back in 2003.

If you've just started Brazilian jiu jitsu, or are thinking of taking it up, then this is the first book I would recommend you purchase. Instructional books and DVDs should be used as supplemental material by a student already training under a competent instructor: it would be inadvisable to attempt to purely learn Brazilian jiu jitsu from a book. It is also a good idea to avoid getting buried in books and DVDs as soon as you start BJJ, as at that stage, your time is better spent concentrating on class and getting used to the grappling environment by regular sparring.

Therefore, most books are best left until later on in your training. Mastering Jujitsu is one of the very few I would have no qualms about recommending to beginners, as it provides an excellent introduction to the sport in general, rather than a long list of specific techniques. Available for purchase here (for the US, click here).

03/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #160



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Gustavo Dos Santos Pires, London, UK - 03/07/2008 - Advanced

Still no Christina, meaning I've not had a chance to go with my regular training partner all week. Most unusual, though on the plus side that does mean I get the chance to drill with some new people (though I'm not yet used to being proactive in grabbing a training partner, as I'm used to Christina being there, which removes the need to look for somebody).

Unlike yesterday, lots of technique tonight, and particularly useful as it was from one of my weakest positions, attacking the turtle. Like Jude's spider guard session, everything tonight began from the same grip. Your partner is turtled up, while you are on their side, one arm underneath their armpit, the other over the top of their arm (on the near side, I think). You then secure that position by clasping palm to palm.

The first technique was a choke from rear mount. Bring your far knee into the gap between their elbow and knee, digging it past if you need to. Your near leg hooks their foot, after which you then roll them onto you and get your hooks. Having reached rear mount, you're ready to apply a rear naked choke, as your arms are already in position due to your over-under grip.

If they block your far knee, you can instead try to wedge in your near knee. This results in a rather more complex reverse omoplata from rear mount (at least I think it is). With your far leg, pry out their near arm, then switch your legs and triangle their isolated limb.

Put your arm on the near side of their face, then roll over your far shoulder. Keep your arm by their face, as you'll be using that to keep them down once they land on their back. To complete the submission. raise up and forward until they tap from the shoulder lock.

Finally, you'll be trying something different again if they are able to block both your knees from shoving through. Change your arm grip, so that you feed their near collar to your near hand, grabbing their far sleeve with the same side arm. Bring your far knee close to their body, stepping over with your near leg. Roll them in the direction you just stepped over, then get your legs really high. Ideally, you want your same side leg on top of the arm which you're holding by the sleeve. That will enable you to significantly increase the force of your choke: squeeze to finish.

We then got the chance to do some specific sparring from that position, the person on top having the grip with the arms already. I was with Anthony, who I haven't rolled with in over a year (mainly because he's been in the US for much of that). Underneath, I tried to stay tight, keeping my arms in to block chokes, and seeing if I could grab his leg and spin to half guard. That worked once, but mostly I was clamming up until he eventually got to the back or side control. He also caught me in some kind of loop choke thingy, which I couldn't spin away from quickly enough to avoid.

On top, I felt a lot more mobile than I thought I would. That grip is very secure, much like the Tran side control. In fact, its so similar that several times as I felt myself losing the rear mount, I was able to jump my legs through and end up in side control rather than Anthony escaping. I wasn't able to get any kind of submission attempt, but I did find I could cling on fairly effectively due to the solidity of the hold around my partner's neck.

However, as soon as the spar finished, my body told me in no uncertain terms that my technique had been considerably less successful than I'd thought. My right bicep completely gave up on me, so either I was relying on my arms too much again, or that jump to side control twisted my arms in some awkward fashion I didn't notice until afterwards.

Either way, there was no way I was sparring after that. Initially I hoped I could just rest a bit and the arm would feel fine, but it stayed really sore for the rest of the class. Frustrating, but there was a lot really useful technique tonight, so only a minor irritation. Also meant I could have a long chat with a guy from New Zealand, Ryan, who was watching the advanced class having just had his intro. The diversity in RGA's membership is one of its biggest plus points, though you'd expect that from a club based in a city as cosmopolitan as London.

My arm should hopefully be ok again by next week, and serves as yet another reminder to remember I have these things called legs I should be using rather than just the arms.

02/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #159



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Gustavo Dos Santos Pires, London, UK - 02/07/2008 - Advanced

I'm currently planning a trip to the US, though its all very vague at the moment. Ideally I'd go next September, but that might be delayed until the year after. I definitely want to get to LA, as I have a friend there, but might also pop over to Indiana, due again to knowing people in the area. I'm thinking of doing San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, which would give me plenty of training options: so far, I like the look of Hollywood BJJ in LA, and there's plenty of BJJ to choose from in San Diego (where the beach should be enough to occupy my gf). If we also went to Indiana, then I'd be flying into Chicago, where again there's plenty of good clubs. From what I've seen in Indiana, looks to be mostly under Caique, so will have to see if I can get there from where our friends are in that state. Any advice from Americans reading this would be welcome. :D

No technique today, unfortunately, although class did start with a couple of cool drills. As you might have already gathered from previous entries in this blog, I'm very fond of the progressive resistance ethos made famous by Matt Thornton, and tonight Gustavo kind of put that into effect, at least at the start of the lesson.

Instead of normal guard passage, the person on top could only stall. That made for an interesting experience, as I knew I didn't even have to bother trying standing up or passing, I could simply concentrate on spreading my knees for a good base, then aiming to press my elbows towards them for defence. I also kept in mind Tran's advice about bringing up the same side knee if your partner isolates an arm, which helped me to recover my posture.

That also made for a pleasant experience underneath, as I knew my partner wasn't going to pass. So instead, I could happily try for various submissions and sweeps: it was like having an invincible guard. Paxton was sufficiently tight that I struggled to get anything much, but I did find that once again when I'm trying the flower sweep, I'm thinking too much about sideways and not enough about up. Next time, I'll try to bring my leg to my opposite shoulder rather than past my hip, and see if that helps the motion. Despite having played around with the flower sweep pretty much since I've started, I've yet to get the hang of it.

The focus then changed to purely trying to stand up and break open your partner's guard. This really emphasised the importance of driving your hips forward. Paxton was good at doing that, and I found it very difficult to stop him simply shoving my legs out of the way, much like when I spar with Christina (who wasn't there, hence why I was drilling with Paxton instead). I did manage a sort of elevator sweep at one point, but that's the only thing I got from the bottom.

On top, I couldn't get anywhere: when I did finally manage to get into position to drive my hips forward, I think I must have overbalanced with my torso, as I then found myself flying over Paxton's head and under his mount. As ever, my guard passage really, really sucks, partially because I'm too complacent, so will often just sit there defending as my partner tries to choke me. They inevitably get either a sweep or armbar from that position.

The rest of the class was spent sparring, beginning with guard passage. I decided to give my arm a bit of rest, and caught up with Gary. I didn't realise the whole time would be guard passage, as normally there would be at least one technique, but not today.

That meant I was ready to do at least three rolls in the free sparring, going with Tran, Joanna and Jason. As normal I soon found myself in half-guard with Tran, from which he steadily worked for an armbar (having got a kimura fairly quickly). He isolated the arm and was dropping back to finish, but I managed to wrap my arms around his leg. I'd assumed that it would only temporarily hold him off, but the grip proved solid enough that I could brace against his leg. I was trying to swivel and get on top, but couldn't seem to switch my hips, possibly because Tran was controlling me with his legs. Time ran out, though I'm sure Tran would have eventually secured that armbar.

I also fell into a familiar pattern with Joanna, who always slices straight through my open guard. Again, I managed to snatch half guard, though once under side control, I misjudged the Tran escape and ended under mount. However, that was ok as I could then do the step-over heel drag to get back to half-guard. At some point I ended up on top in half-guard, but that became a stalemate again. Like with Indra yesterday, I was trying to get my knee under Joanna's arm to work for a better position. I really need to develop some more options, as I almost find myself going for that when either in half-guard or side control. Trying to kimura the far arm is one possibility, but I'd rather have some further positional techniques: something for me to look into.

Finally, I had a light roll with Jason, who was resting his injured knee. Due to that, he stayed in half-guard, where I again did much the same thing as I'd done against Joanna. I took the opportunity to try and adjust my position when I felt myself getting swept, so that I landed in half-guard rather than them mounting or putting me in side control. Useful habit to get into, even if Jason was going easy.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a more typical lesson with a good bit of technique: the spider guard stuff from Jude was good yesterday, so that's something for me to try and put into practice next time I'm working open guard.

01/07/2008 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #158



Roger Gracie Academy (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 01/07/2008 - Advanced

My arms felt much better after a rest, so hopefully I won't mess them up again from too much emphasis on my upper body. Tonight's class was all from spider guard, going through a number of submission options.

First, Jude showed us the armbar from spider guard. You begin in typical spider guard, both legs into your partner's biceps, one leg straightened out, the other bent. At the same time, your partner has a hold of your gi trousers with each hand, while you are holding both of their sleeves. First, you need to remove their grip on your bent leg. Pull up with your grip on their sleeve, and at the same time kick out with your leg: this should break their hold. Immediately pull them forward with your sleeve grip, bringing their arm around to the opposite side of your head, still gripping firmly.

Having secured that grip, bring your now free leg over their head to set up for the armbar. You can now switch your grip from behind their head to their wrist. Twist to get your other leg into position, then raise your hips for the submission. If they resist, knock them over and finish from side control.

Next, we were shown the triangle from spider guard. Set up is the same as for the armbar, but this time, once you have their arm behind your head, put your same side foot on their hip. Use that to shrimp out, then move your straightened leg from their biceps to go over the back of their neck. Lock that ankle behind your other leg's knee, then squeeze for the triangle. Due to your previous grip, their arm is already across your body.

Finally, Jude demonstrated the omoplata from spider guard. This was slightly different, as there was no arm behind the head. After freeing your bent leg, you drive your thigh into the back of their arm, pushing on their sleeve. The aim here is to bend their arm around your leg in a right angle. Once you've got them in position, bring your leg over that arm and past their face, still maintaining your grip on their other sleeve.

Pull that other sleeve up to your bum, then you can raise up and switch your other grip to their belt (or the back of their gi). Pull yourself in tight, shuffling forward if necessary: that will knock them down and make the finish easier. Your other leg will now be splayed behind you. Bring the foot of the leg you brought over their arm and press it towards your other knee. From there, push your hips forward, back straight, to get the submission.

Technique was followed by guard passage, which recently has moved away from the line-up system to instead be a matter of first come, first serve. That tends to mean I'll wait until either someone my size is free, or somebody I'm fairly certain isn't going to be an injury risk. However, as I'm quite lazy, that can mean I'm pondering for a while: still, I got in three specific spars.

All of them were a bit bigger and stronger than me, so I ended up defending, bringing my elbows to my knees. This held off Radek for a short while, but he eventually manoeuvred me into position for an armbar (which he didn't crank – we both knew he had it, so I tapped as soon as he got the position).

Justin was similar, in that I wiggled around for a little while, making adjustments with my knees and sprawling to avoid his sweep attempts. I was in the midst of defending an armbar, when I found myself underneath his back: he spun and finished in side control. Random, but effective.

Finally, I went with a guy in a Renzo Gracie gi, who I think might have been called Damian, but I'm not sure. I found myself presented with an opportunity to sprawl back and wrap up his legs, but as ever when I try that pass, it feels like my neck is vulnerable. Sure enough, though I passed his legs and moved to side control, he had some kind of grip on my collars. I then found myself flying over the top of him, while being simultaneously choked out. Not quite sure what he did, but a useful reminder to watch my neck when trying the sprawl pass.

Two of my favourite sparring partners were available for free rolling at then end of class, Joanna and Indra. Joanna has a fluid style, which tends to result in rapid changes of position when I spar with her (especially as she stays relaxed). We went through half-guard and open guard as ever, where again I need to sit-up rather than lying on my back, which is just asking to be passed.

At one point I got the handstand sweep (very nice to have a closed guard option when they stand up), but couldn't secure mount. However, I was able to spin over onto her back and get a body triangle, but she slipped down away from my arms, meaning I ended back in guard. I also had a chance to put into practice the principle of straightening out an arm into their thigh, with the intention of getting a knee through from half-guard to reclose full guard. Sort of worked at points, but not something I'm doing as automatically as I should.

My second and last spar was with Indra. She went to her back, so I spent a while trying to pass, as she came up on her side and tried to drive through to guard. Eventually I slapped on a sloppy scarf hold, but couldn't get much further than that. I was trying to pry out her arm, so I could then trap it with my leg and go for some sort of submission. Failing that, I wanted to come in under her knee, switch my base and secure a solid side control. However, every time I went to switch, I could feel her leg creeping up to snatch half-guard, meaning I bailed back to scarf hold.

So, not hugely eventful until I somehow found myself on Indra's back. I almost fell off, but because I'd been looking for a kimura, my hold on the arm kept me behind her and on top. I then tried to go for a belly down armbar, but Indra had no trouble protecting her arm, after which time ran out. I continue to suck at doing anything from the back, but practice makes perfect. The body triangle seems to be one interesting option, but I think my big problem is not knowing what to do with my arms to get a choke or armlock.

Then again, my main concern is still escapes, particularly from side control, and recovering full guard from half guard. That's progressing slowly, with the end goal being a solid defence from which I can take risks with my offence. Still a while off at this point, though.