Article - BJJ in the Olympics

Article #1, by Can Sönmez

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Update Aug 2012: A greatly expanded version of this article will be appearing in issue #10 of Jiu Jitsu Style magazine

::: Next Article >

29/10/2009 - BJJ

Class #256



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

27/10/2009 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #255



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

27/10/2009 - BJJ

Class #254



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

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

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

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

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

Update Oct 2010: The 10th Planet site has had another revamp, and the glossary is no longer on it, as far as I can tell.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Book Review - Passing the Guard (Ed Beneville & Tim Cartmell)

Short Review: Everything you could ever want to know about passing the guard is covered in this book. Opening the guard from standing or kneeling, dealing with grips, countering submissions, beating the lockdown, solo drills and of course a huge number of different passes are all included. As this is by Ed Beneville, that is all described in copious detail, well-illustrated by masses of clear photographs and helpful accompanying text.

Beneville's first volume is justly regarded as one of the best BJJ instructional books on the market, and with this second edition, it is now even better: available to buy here.

Full Review: Passing the Guard was originally written in 2001 and released a year later, to widespread acclaim. Top BJJ blogger Aesopian has referred to it as his "favourite BJJ book of all time", typical of the high praise Beneville's first publication received (another high profile BJJ blogger, Val Worthington, also has a connection to the book, in that she was involved in the editing process).

I was keen to get hold of this back when I initially started buying instructionals, but by that point, it had become a rare prize, with the accompanying inflated price tag. It was already a brilliant book when first released in 2002, when the authors Ed Beneville and Tim Cartmell were both still purple belts. They have each since received their black belt, so you can imagine just how much more information they are able to offer now.

Beneville began revising his modern classic some time ago: I've been eagerly waiting for the second edition. It finally hit the shelves earlier this year, expanded with new photography and the helpful flow-charts first seen in Strategic Guard (which in turn may well have taken its cue from Mastering the Rubber Guard). Like previous volumes, those flow-charts appear at the end of every chapter, concisely summarising the preceding contents and the various connections between each technique and situation.

The authors make the important note that "this book is not a substitute for training, nor for the feedback of someone who knows what he is talking about." This should always be kept in mind when reading or watching instructional material: your instructor is always the best person to talk to if you are having technical problems in class. Another essential point is that you shouldn't give up on techniques just because you can't immediately get them to work. As Beneville puts it, "all of the techniques in this book work, but none of them work when poorly executed."

For those who haven't read any of Beneville's books before (I review the other two here and here), he has developed an excellent format. Firstly, the photography is clear, with one guy always wearing a blue gi while the other wears white. This is a big help for the textual descriptions, as Beneville can just write 'blue' or 'white' to refer to each person, rather than confusing the issue by using their name (as Saulo does in his book), or something like "person on top".

Secondly, there are a number of simple symbols added to the pictures to show the direction of flow, emphasise details or show a tangential option. This is the same system as in the other two books, and is explained at the beginning of Passing the Guard. Each chapter also includes an insightful introduction, running through central principles, along with things like competition strategy.

As with every instructional BJJ book I've ever read, the first chapter is my favourite, which is unsurprising given I'm mainly interested in the absolute fundamentals. This is especially true of guard passing, because as I've mentioned many times in the blog, that is by far the weakest part of my game.

Chapter one is entitled basics (25 pages), at first emphasising two key factors, balance and sensitivity. Beneville moves on to posture and base, which interestingly appears to have a sequence of photographs from his competition history to illustrate a point. I'm not sure if Beneville is the first to include what is effectively competition footage in a book, but that has always been the mark of a good instructional video, so adding it to the book medium is an innovative step forward.

However, the opening chapter also brought up one of the few elements I dislike about Beneville's book series, which is the inclusion of what I would call 'dirty' moves. Beneville often puts forward somewhat disreputable techniques as a viable option, which in this case is the method of digging your elbow into your partner to open the guard. Even worse, he continues with a detailed exploration of the 'can-opener', a form of neck crank.

While both can undoubtedly be an effective method of beginning your pass, I don't feel comfortable hurting my training partners. I also don't want to rely on overcoming somebody's pain threshold. I much prefer Saulo Ribeiro's approach, where he talks about treating your training partners like they're "your best friend," always relying on smooth technique rather than crude pain compliance.

[Update: Tim Cartmell, the co-author, provides his reasoning for including those techniques here]

The next chapter is all about passing from the knees (76 pages). Beneville spends a lot of time going over the smash pass, with variations and counters, such as what to do if they try to stiff-arm you. That flows into coverage of the 'scissor guard', which is useful: at least in my experience, it's very common you'll find they manage to get a knee in as you're looking to pass, which is what this segment aims to overcome. Common passes like the double underhooks also crop up, along with some potential problems, like how to prevent your partner from rolling out into the turtle position.

Standing passes (52 pages) is less geared towards specific techniques, instead focusing on how to deal with what your opponent is attempting to accomplish. For example, while the previous chapter included sections like 'cross knee pass', 'scissors pass #4' and 'double underhooks pass', chapter three has subtitles like 'freeing the arms' and 'feet on the hips', along with plenty of detail on 'standing and opening'.

Presumably that is because if you're able to open the guard from standing, you may well transition into a pass from the knees. I prefer the approach in the third chapter, as it is probably a better mindset to react to a particular situation, rather than insist on going for a certain technique no matter what your partner is doing. In other words, taking what they give you.

Chapter four on defences and counters (48 pages) follows in a similar vein. When standing, the big worry is getting swept, whereas on your knees, you're in danger from submissions. Beneville and Cartmell run through defences to all the common attacks, like armbars, cross-chokes and triangles, as well as typical grips, like an overwrap on the arm or a hold on your gi trousers. Those standing sweeps are covered too, along with some further responses to particular situations, like the de la Riva hook.

This chapter also has a far higher proportion of pictures from the original edition of Passing the Guard, so presumably that also means it hasn't been altered as much as the previous segments. Like in earlier Beneville releases and in Saulo's book, possible mistakes are also described. That threw up some submissions that looked like fun: for example, the 'leg strangle', where you simply secure a collar grip, then throw your leg over your head and push.

Half guard (30 pages) again began with an excellent treatment of the basics, as is true for all the chapters in this book. For half guard, that is how to flatten your opponent on their back, which is naturally then followed by several passes. As in previous chapters, methods of dealing with what your partner is doing to prevent your technique pops up too.

The most interesting example of that is several pages on countering the lockdown. Beneville had earlier shown some familiarity with techniques popularised by 10th Planet JJ, which is clearly something he has been aware of for many years: the pictures for the first lockdown escape are from the original edition back in 2001.

That begins with the 'Indian death lock', which I've seen discussed before, and presumably isn't all that high percentage (Beneville mentions "this one is painful for both players, but it is worse for the guy on the bottom.") However, there are new methods for the second edition, which look less risky, with both early and late defences.

Beneville also includes submissions from the top, with chokes, armlocks and kneebars. Half guard is a position in which both participants have various attacks open to them, so it makes sense to include them in a book on guard passing. As Beneville notes on the chapter flowchart, "your chances of successfully applying one increase if your opponent is concerned with you passing his guard."

Less common is trying attacks from inside the guard (16 pages), as detailed in chapter six. Generally this isn't too effective, especially as your primary aim should be passing the guard, but there are several possible submissions. The ezekiel choke can work, or potentially a neck crank against butterfly guard. Again, that is normally illegal, not to mention dangerous. It's also a rather dick move to pull against training partners.

In his defence, Beneville does put up a big red warning on the same page (p235, if you would like to judge the legitimacy of the technique yourself), stating:

Be extra cautious with any submissions involving the spinal column! The potential for serious injury must be taken seriously. It is one thing to hyper extend an elbow and quite another to damage the spine!

If this was a book about self-defence, I could understand the inclusion of neck cranks. Yet that isn't the impression I get from the introduction, where Beneville says "the rules and strategies discussed throughout the book were written with Brazilian jiu jitsu sport competition in mind." Even if neck cranks are 'part of the art', I'd rather they hadn't been included here. I would hate to think white belts are reading that section in Passing the Guard, slipping over the warning, and then seriously injuring their classmates in sparring.

However, such attacks in the guard tend to be rare: the higher percentage option is to go for leglocks, which make up the majority of this segment. If you have the original edition of Passing the Guard, this chapter will probably look very familiar. Every technique, except for the toe hold at the end (which incidentally also gets a warning), uses pictures from the first release, so I assume it hasn't been significantly changed for 2009.

Along with neck cranks, this section also includes another example of Beneville's occasional tendency to cover especially dangerous techniques, triangle leg control. This is currently outlawed from BJJ competition. Presumably the reason Beneville shows a banned technique is because it was covered in the previous edition. As Beneville explains:

Since the first edition of this book was published, this version of the ankle lock has been banned from many BJJ competitions. This is considered reaping the outside of the knee and apparently that is too dangerous. You cannot wrap your outside leg over and across your opponent's leg from this position. This technique is effective, however, and it is part of the art.

Chapter seven also focuses on submissions, this time from the turtle position (44 pages). This reminded me of what I'd seen at the Roy Dean seminar, with lots of rolling attacks, in-depth discussion of the clock choke and details on the crucifix. Finally, Beneville closes the book with a brief chapter on solo drills (12 pages), designed to help you practice the sometimes difficult motions required for certain passes (e.g., head springs and modified cartwheels).

My reservations about neck cranks aside (a very small proportion of the book), I can see why Aesopian rates Passing the Guard: it is comprehensive, clear and concise, reaching the same high standard as all of Ed Beneville's publications. Everything you could want to know about passing the guard is covered, from breaking the guard to dealing with grips and submission attempts, along with the actual pass itself. If you manage to absorb everything in Beneville's three volume series, you will be incredibly effective at attacking and using the guard.

That is a big 'if', however. There is a great deal to take in, so it's unlikely you'll improve from simply reading Passing the Guard from cover to cover. A book like Jiu Jitsu University is easily comprehensible, as the techniques are basic, explained slowly, from the perspective of an overview.

Beneville, on the other hand, leaves nothing out, so it can be an overwhelming experience reading his work. I have had his other two books for almost two years now, and barely scratched the surface of what they have to offer. To benefit, you'll need to invest considerable time and effort into a small number of techniques, attempting to use them in sparring over the course of weeks, months and years. Available to buy here.

22/10/2009 - BJJ

Class #253



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 22/10/2009

I was excited to come across this blog by Cane Prevost recently, as he is an instructor at Straight Blast Gym headquarters in Portland, Oregon. I really admire the teaching methodologies of Matt Thornton, so I was very much looking forward to seeing how Prevost would go on to explain the thinking in his blog: this isn't your average "I did this, then we did this, next week I'll try to do this" BJJ blog (which is effectively what I do), but a focused exploration of the ideological structures behind SBGi. Cool stuff!

No Tuesday classes for me this week, as I was visiting my girlfriend down in Bristol. However, I was able to get back in time for Thursday, though I'm still not planning to do the nogi, so that means just the hour long beginners class tonight. Kev was continuing to work guard, so again showed us a guard pass and then a sweep.

The guard break was interesting, as it worked off a similar principle to the one Victor Estima went over in meticulous detail during his Belfast seminar last year. Nevertheless, I've been struggling with it, so very useful to have another perspective from Kev,

You begin by grabbing both collars with one hand, your other hand pressing down firmly on their hip (Kev suggesting pressing down on top of the belt knot and moving it into position). Next, step up your foot by their other hip, so close that its effectively underneath that hip. To make it really tight, angle your knee inwards too. This should already be making them uncomfortable.

In a single motion, step up on the other leg and twist, resulting in a sort of horse stance. Hopefully this will pop open their ankles: if not and you've done it right, you should at least have loosened their hold considerably, so can just push on their knee to open the guard. From there, you're ready to pass with a knee slide or underhook.

The difficulty I've had with this method of opening the guard is keeping control of that hip, so the tip on pressing with the belt knot helped, as did feeling Kev demonstrate on me. Testing this during king of the hill sparring later, I also think I was leaning too far forward, so was getting my posture broken. You are supposed to be leaning forward slightly, as you maintain that one handed grip on both their collars, but not so much that your balance fails.

As ever, Kev then followed up with a technique from the other perspective, this time the basic ankle grab sweep. I rarely get this, as people are expecting it, but its always useful to go over the fundamentals. I clearly still need the reminder for the defence, which is to simply keep grasping their collar and drive your hips forward: I keep forgetting to put my hips into it.

Specific sparring with Callum gave me the chance to go through the guard pass a few times, but without being able to complete the motion. I did at least manage to stand up, but was unable to finish. I'm trying to make sure I don't give up on the technique and keep persisting, so I'll have to keep on getting to that standing position and see how I can incrementally get closer to opening the guard. Dealing with the collar grip is one problem, the other is my posture.

However, I'm using too much force to maintain my balance on top, rather than good base. I find that I pull on their gi with my arms, rather than drive forward with my hips. I definitely expended more energy than usual as a result, which means my balance needs a lot of work: I'm never going to last doing it that way, as I'm way too unfit. Must improve standing posture and use of the hips, as well as more pro-active responses to my partner off-balancing me.

Underneath, I was looking to stay tight, using the grip over the head and around the armpit Kev showed us a little while back. I was also looking for collar grips, but not really able to do anything with them. I may be focusing too much on looking for a choke, rather than keeping in mind sweeps too. Still, concentrating on how to keep their posture broken has been productive, and I think I'm getting better at remembering to use my legs to bring my partner in towards me.

King of the hill was a succession of standing up, failing to open the guard, then either flopping back down or getting swept. Nevertheless, it was good to work on that one technique, especially as it was something we'd just been shown. I was asking Kev lots of questions, so as before that was really helpful in refining some of the details (though of course theory is very different from practice: no matter how many questions I ask, the only way to finally get it is to try the technique over and over in sparring).

15/10/2009 - BJJ

Class #252



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 15/10/2009

Now it turns out I won't be teaching that seminar, as there was a whole one person booked. I guess Michael Donaghy isn't as popular as the organiser was hoping, which is a shame. I would have enjoyed both the teaching experience, and the chance to explore a poet I haven't read much in the past. Ah well: I still have another one to teach next month, for Sexual Health Week at Warwick Uni. Unlike Donaghy, that one is directly related to my interests, so looking forward to it.

For class tonight, I knew it was all about the guard this week. So, I sought out a few videos to try and refine what I know about guard passing. First up was a clip by Michael Jen, from one of his various instructionals. Lots of interesting points on opening the legs from the knees, such as turning your hands slightly outwards rather than completely straightening your arms, and also driving the ridge of your palm into their rib cage.

Jen also talks about humping your lower back to pop the ankles open, and emphasises the principle of never putting your head in front of your hands. To that end, when you're initially getting into position, you should first bring your knee out, rather than shove your knee into their butt.

That's because you may well have to raise up and move forward if you shove the knee in without first bringing the other knee out to the side. Your partner can then knock you off balance.

The second video featured Braulio, covering closed guard and passing. This time, I found the other side of the equation more interesting, as Braulio showed how you can keep shifting your hips square on to mess up their passing attempt.

He also had an interesting option for when they stand up: with a grip on their sleeve, you bring your hips to their other leg. Brace your same side arm against their other leg and pull them towards you. You've blocked both of their avenues for stepping to catch to balance, so they end up falling forwards.

All of that was immediately applicable to tonight's class. Kev showed us two basic ways to open the guard, both from standing and kneeling, then two passes from combat base.

The kneeling guard break began in the classic posture. Back straight, one hand gripping both collars, the other back by their hip. Slide one knee out to the side, then place the other knee right into their tailbone. You'll now pressure backwards with your arms until you can pop open the hips to open the guard, moving into combat base.

Alternately, you can use a standing guard break. This time, you have a hold of their sleeve and their hip. On the sleeve side, step your leg up: you have control of their arm, so can prevent them hooking your leg and going for a sweep. Stand up, keeping the other leg back so they can't hook that one (if they do, you may need to sit back down again). Finally, use your free arm to push their same side leg off your hip, then settle down into combat base.

If you want to pass over the leg closest to your raise knee, then Kev suggested using the leg pin I've seen a few times before. This is the one I've used most often in the past, although my guard passing is absolutely terrible, so I do it in a very sloppy fashion.

Should you instead want to pass over the leg opposite to your raised knee, you have another guard pass open to you (and incidentally, this is also something I've seen Michael Jen demonstrate, although he does it slightly differently). Begin by pinning that opposite leg with the shin of your raised leg, making sure you keep it trapped.

Use your arm on the other side to hook around their armpit, so that you can use your upper body to pin their torso, preventing them from taking your back. Your free leg will walk over, enabling you to then slide your knee through, bringing your hips to the floor. Readjust and switch into side control.

Kev is very approachable as an instructor, which combined with the comparatively small class size makes it easy to ask him questions. His response exemplifies the biggest weakness of tapes, which is that they can't correct errors and gear techniques to specific body types.

During specific sparring, I had been focusing on getting that grasp on the ribcage Jen talks about. However, I was attempting that against someone well over six foot, so unsurprisingly his legs were far too long for that to have any effect. As Kev said, what I needed to do was shift my grip further back, grabbing the top of the trousers, or even further up on the leg (Jen does mention this, but I'd forgotten that important detail).

Kev also spoke about how you want to make a really wide gap between your knees, rather than trying to shift back lots or even leaning forward to try and increase the leverage from your arms. You want to create an angle, rather than staying square on: if you stay square, its easy for your partner to break your posture.

Finally, Kev had some handy advice about trapping their arm underneath their back, which I've seen a few people do (and had done to me, which proved very effective). During sparring, I had no idea how to do this, so was trying to bait my partner into giving me both their arm and space by snatching at it after I stood up.

Kev's suggestion was much better and more effective. You have a grasp on their bicep and manoeuvre the arm down. Place your head next to it, using that as a wedge. To get their arm under their back, either raise up a leg to make some space underneath them and feed their sleeve to your other hand, or you can be more cunning.

If you raise your leg up, the person on the bottom is likely to try and hook it with their hand. As soon as they do that, sit back down, trapping their arm in the process. You can now shove your head against it, then proceed to bring it under their back.

That wasn't something I was going to be able to easily practice in nogi, due to the lack of sleeves. Indeed, I wasn't going to be able to practice most of the techniques I'm interested in due to that lack of grips, not to mention I was a little wary of the almost complete lack of other blue belts. So, I decided against the hour of nogi sparring tonight (such shameless wimping out would no doubt be frowned upon at Carlson's ;p), as I already had lots to think about after Kev's excellent advice.

13/10/2009 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #251



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 13/10/2009

If there is anyone reading this who happens to enjoy poetry and can get to Birmingham at the weekend, yours truly will be teaching a seminar. I was asked to discuss Michael Donaghy at the Birmingham Book Festival on the 17th, so in the unlikely event any of the BJJers out there reading this are interested, would be cool to see you there. Further details on their site.

Getting back to tonight's class, Kev continued with work from the guard. He started by drilling a combination attack. First you go for the armbar, letting them pull their arm free. Switch to an omoplata on the other arm, allowing them to posture up. Finally, open your legs and shift to a triangle. Change sides and repeat, then let your partner have a go.

The first technique was the omoplata from guard, which I've always found confusing. The way Kev showed it was from a triangle, but they've managed to hide the arm you've isolated, reaching around your leg towards their feet.

This gives you the perfect opportunity to go for an omoplata. Reaching over the arm which is reaching back, grasp their belt, locking your elbow in to prevent them escaping. Your leg is still around their arm and now locked in, so grip the shin with your free arm, then step out with your other leg. This will enable you to shift into position.

Bring the leg still on their back past their face, until you can sit up, sliding your other leg back. You are now sitting with their arm still trapped in your leg, unable to move because it is pressed against the floor and your legs are blocking escape routes.

You also want to get them flat on the floor, by switching your grip on their belt to instead clasp around their far side. Shift sideways in the other direction, until you've broken their balance and they are lying flat on the floor. To finish, simply lean forward, as if you were going to whisper in their ear, which should torque their shoulder.

Alternately, there is an omoplata sweep. This time, they've stood up in your guard, while you've got a grip on their opposite side sleeve. Move to wrap their leg as if you were attempting a hand stand sweep, switching the sleeve to your same side hand (which is wrapped around the bottom of their leg). Your guard stays closed.

Next you need to break their posture, so that they are leaning found. You can do this through a combination of pulling down on their collar, then if you need greater leverage, swinging your far leg around and pressing it down on their head. They should now be off balance.

Take that leg off the head and triangle their arm (though you don't need to lock it in). In a smooth motion, bring your legs away from their body, aiming to roll them over to the side. Continue the roll and sit up, so you are sat on their arm while they are on their back. You can now switch to side control.

There are some similar techniques covered on the Demian Maia DVD, though I'm not sure he does the exact same thing as Kev in the omoplata part of the set.

Kev then ran through two omoplata defences, early and late. If you react quickly enough before they've managed to lock on the omoplata, you can just roll over the shoulder of the other arm, making sure to get your head out of the way (I didn't the first time, and its not pleasant on the neck). Also, you need to immediately pull the arm they attacked towards you, or they could transition into an armbar.

The second option is for when you're caught. Before they can complete the submission, grab your trousers with your trapped arm. That should give you a moment to then turn into them. You end up stuck under mount, which is still a bad position, but it is better than being a few seconds away from tapping out (if you're looking at it from a competition perspective).

In sparring with Callum, I ended up in the reverse triangle as he was moving to side control a few times, and tried to be a bit more active in that position. It helped me sit up and go to a sort-of front headlock a couple of times, but that was only if I was quick and got there before he could settle into side mount.

I also attempted to lock in my favoured overhook in the guard, but he knew exactly what I was going for (in fact, we'd been chatting about it earlier). He managed to step through into half guard, making it rather less useful, though I had a try to see if I could still launch and attack from there. I need to make sure I don't forget about my legs when attempting to get that overhook, and also pull them in towards me: I think Callum was able to posture, which in turn made passing over my leg easier.

Finally I went with Joel, which was another slow, patient spar. I spent most of it in his guard (which is where we started: Kev again had everyone begin in a position, then free spar from there), defending against chokes and trying to maintain good posture. I also wanted to stand up, but couldn't avoid his deep collar grip. Maybe Passing the Guard will have some useful tips, though naturally the best thing is to prevent them getting that grip in the first place.

Thursday's sparring hour is going to be nogi again, so I may or may not attend. Kinda reminds me of what Simon Hayes said here, about forcing people to train nogi by not telling them in advance. I certainly don't think Kev is doing something similar (its just because there are a bunch of people competing in a nogi tournament soon), but made me think about how I'm perfectly happy to just stick with gi and let the nogi slide. Very much a hobbyist! ;)

13/10/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #250



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 13/10/2009

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday morning by a delivery of a book I ordered, Passing the Guard. I hadn't expected it to arrive for another month, seeing as I'd picked the slow option, so that was cool. Thanks to anyone who clicked through and bought something from one of my reviews, as I ordered the book entirely from a resulting gift card (took a while to build up enough, of course). So naturally, I'll be reviewing Passing the Guard shortly (various job interviews to attend and seminars to teach though, so might be on the backburner for a little while).

Unusually, Kev added in throws to the warm-up, like he does with the advanced class: could be he's moving towards the same kind of structure I remember from RGA HQ.

First technique of the day was the basic cross choke from guard. It was a useful reminder, as Kev emphasised how the choke comes from gripping with your palms facing up, then turning your hands, as opposed to flaring your elbows. I tried to really concentrate on keeping my elbows in, which definitely made a difference: its much tougher to defend if you can't simply lock and squeeze their elbows to relieve the pressure of the choke.

Kev followed that with another simple submission, the armbar from guard. However, he had an interesting variation on the grip. Grab their opposite sleeve, then secure their opposite collar with your other hand. That means you can use your collar arm to lock the arm you're already using a sleeve to control. This makes for a really strong grip, after which you proceed as normal. You could also potentially move into a choke, as you've already got the one hand in.

Next up was the defence to an armbar. Before going into the usual basic technique, Kev surprised me by stating a very simple, but rarely mentioned solution. The best way to escape the armbar is to tap. Its an obvious point, but doesn't occur to people because then they've 'lost'. However, in terms of training, it makes a lot more sense then straining away desperately when you're caught: as Kev says, you tap, then restart and try not to get stuck there again.

Specific sparring was from guard, with our training partner. That meant it was the format I prefer, where first one of you is in guard for a round, then you switch and go for another five minutes. That tends to mean a lot more mat time than king of the hill (well, unless you're actually good, unlike me).

The main problem I had was that I keep shifting into tight controlling positions, but then fail to progress to an offensive set-up. For example, I'll pull them in close with my legs and control the head, but then struggle to get to a triangle and I can't get past the arm. In that situation, I need to make sure I take the risk and open up a little.

During king of the hill (I only sparred once), I stayed very patient in the guard, as I was with a white belt so they were trying all sorts of things (like an americana from their guard). Eventually I slipped into half guard, but as I tried to stabilise, I just got rolled. I'm not managing to get into a decent attacking position, which is possibly because I tend not to think about going from kind of distracting submission attempt. Might be good to threaten with a choke or something so they forget about their legs.

08/10/2009 - BJJ (No-Gi)

Class #249



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 08/10/2009

I wouldn't normally treat the second hour on Thursdays as a separate lesson, because previously it has just been a load of extra sparring. However, tonight was different: tonight Kev used it for a no-gi class instead. Good thing I had a t-shirt with me, because I hadn't realised it wouldn't be the usual hour of rolling with the gi. Makes sense though, as there are a few people preparing for a no-gi competition.

Things started off by drilling the single leg, followed by takedown sparring. This is by far my least favourite part of a BJJ class, so I'm glad it doesn't happen often. As usual, I was incredibly defensive, but fortunately for me, sparring consisted of one person restricted to attack while the other could only defend (though I remained very tentative when it came to my turn to attack).

It was then time for full sparring, although starting from guard. I'm normally wary of white belts due to their tendency to lack control, but that is even more the case in no-gi. So, I made a bee-line for blue belts, starting with Howard, who is becoming my most regular training partner.

I started in guard, trying to stay tight and look for triangles from Rener and Ryron's Punch Block Series (as demonstrated on Gracie Combatives). However, I couldn't keep it sufficiently tight, especially as I was telegraphing my triangle attempts.

After that, I got stuck under mount, particularly technical mount. I'm not overly familiar with being under there, but I have been reading Jiu Jitsu University a lot recently. I vaguely remembered Saulo's advice on escaping technical mount, though I don't think I got into the right survival position. Still, managed to wedge my way out and slip my knee through, probably because it is easier to spin without a gi.

Next up was Kev, who as a brown belt has by far the best control in the room. Naturally I couldn't do a lot, but he let me work in guard, where I again attempted to stay tight, looking for that Gracie Combatives controlling posture and triangles. As he inevitably passed, I tried to switch to reverse de la Riva, without any success. Every time I spar Kev, I always get stuck under a version of side control where he is moving to scarf hold, which I find really tough to escape (at least it feels like something between side control and scarf hold: he doesn't normally have the arm, but does face towards my head up on his side a bit).

Sitting out the following round, I finished my sparring with Callum. He had been planning to sit out himself, but decided to go for one more. That fatigue is probably why I was able to maintain a top position, where I kept finding myself in a sloppy half guard. He was slipping free each time, but I had a hold round his head and then fought for the underhook. My knee was gradually being edged out, so the other main battle was wriggling that knee back through, so I could maintain better control.

Instead of further sparring or a warm-down, Kev managed to cram in some handy technique. He asked people what they have most trouble with, so I immediately said grips. Kev's suggestion led into an armbar from guard.

The grip starts by grabbing their same side wrist, pulling it across your body while simultaneously bringing them towards you with your legs. You should also use your opposite hand to grasp just above their elbow, near the tricep. That should mean you can then clamp the top of their arm under your own elbow, making for a secure hold on the arm.

To further increase your control, either grab around their head to keep them from posturing up, or reach around to grip their armpit. This sets you up for the armbar, particularly if they try to bring their head out. Push off their same side hip, swivel into position, then shove their head out of the way as you swing your leg over.

Kev finished things off with a nogi guard pass. This was basically the 'rape choke' option (again, an unfortunate name for a technique: there must be a better term that isn't so offensive) he showed us a while ago, where you press into their neck and stand up to get them to open their guard.

Alternately, you can push your hands into their biceps in order to stand. You then step on a bicep and straighten up, which should break their guard open. Of course, this won't work all that well if you're too short, so it will be most effective against those your own size or smaller.

08/10/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #248



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 08/10/2009

Kev continued with mount, started off by drilling mount to technical mount, which basically involved sliding your knee up their back while the other leg went up, foot tight to their side. You also put a hand behind you for base, which is something I haven't done in the past: it makes a lot of sense, as I feel a lot more stable. Kev also clarified that the knee goes to the top of their back. Previously I've tended to try to get to their head, which is probably because I got confused with an armbar set-up.

From there, Kev wanted to demonstrate an armbar from mount, starting in technical mount. Reach over and grab their elbow with both hands, pulling up. You're now going to switch back to mount, but this time you can go straight into high mount. The space is already there because you pulled on that elbow, which gets their arms out of the way of your knees.

You can now finish with an armbar, using the same technique as last time. The next technique was also a repeat of what we did on Tuesday, escaping mount by using the heel drag. Always good to get more drilling on those essential basics, so its cool Kev is making sure those are thoroughly covered.

In specific sparring, I'm still trying to do low mount with grapevines. I can maintain it, but not attack, so today I was keen to really push for a submission set up. In low mount, the only one I know is an ezequiel (not that I've ever landed one). I still can't get that hand onto their neck, as my training partners know exactly what I'm attempting to do.

Afterwards, I asked Kev his advice on getting the ezequiel. He advised hiding what you were doing by shoving your head next to theirs. That way, you can have the ezequiel all set-up, without giving them any warning, then quickly get into position after moving your head out of the way.

I also wanted to keep trying to shift to technical mount. I need to incorporate that basing hand, and make my slide sufficiently smooth that I don't leave space for them to block my foot. While low mount has been working well for me, I need to make sure I don't limit myself to that just because its comfortable. So, I tried to utilise high mount too, which is much tougher to maintain: I still haven't got a good grasp of how to 'ride' my opponent's bridging, or switch to technical mount. and need to avoid always using low mount, get better at riding out high mount. Still, I was again close to taking the back at one point, but fell off back to guard.

With Callum, I tried to put Kev's suggestion into practice, but still too obvious. Looking for those submissions made my low mount a bit sloppier, as I didn't react quickly enough when he trapped an arm and bridged. Still, that did at least give me an opportunity to ask Kev another question, this time about what to do if they block your foot when you try technical mount.

His response was that you then should switch to a pass: trying to regain mount is likely to get you swept due to the possibility of elevator hooks and the like. Something I'll have to work on, as that is almost what happened with my next sparring partner, Tom. I was blocked, looked to pass instead, but just got knocked back into guard.

06/10/2009 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #247



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 06/10/2009

Advanced class began with throws as usual, this time moving from an outside trip to an inside trip (ko-uchi gari into o-uchi gari, I think, or possibly the other way round). Kev then added on a version where you wrap your leg around their's on the inside trip, then underhook an arm and drive forwards at a forty-five degree angle, locking them to the floor with your shoulder pressure into their sternum.

Ground technique (the fun stuff: throws remain something I feel I have to get through rather than enjoy) continued to focus on mount. As this was the advanced class, it was a combination attack, going from collar choke to armbar, which fits in nicely with Roy Dean's philosophy of using attacks as a 'probe' on Purple Belt Requirements.

The collar choke isn't what you're looking for, but you still need to go for it properly, or you won't get the resistance you're looking for. Start with a deep grip, then slide your other hand around to grab their shoulder (as much as possible, avoid letting your head pass the centre line of their head as you do this). Apply the choke at this point, but don't drop your head to the floor in the normal: keep your torso slightly raised.

That should get a reaction, as they try to defend the choke. You can now slide into s-mount, then release the grip on their shoulder to wrap their arm instead, completing the armbar as normal. You have the added bonus of potentially getting a choke too, if it turns out that you don't merely cause a reaction, but a tap.

Next Kev showed us an armbar escape Nick G had taught a while ago. You're in a bad position, with the arm about to be trapped, but not quite locked in yet. You'll need enough freedom to point both your arms towards your legs. Bring the foot closest to their head out and up towards it, then bridge firmly in that direction.

Keep going until you're sitting on them, facing their legs. It should be relatively easy to extract your arm now, if they're still holding it: you'll know if you were too late at this point, as they'll likely switch to a belly down armbar. Finally, you want to switch into normal mount (unless you're happy with reverse mount, which is a viable position. I can remember Stephan Kesting talking about it in one of his newsletters a while ago).

To do that, bring one leg under the other, spinning into mount: alternately, you might end up in side control. It looks pretty cool when done right (Kev does this to me all the time whenever I spar him, looking like he isn't expending any effort as he floats from position to position), but also appears a bit complex. I'm doubtful I have the coordination yet to get this outside of drilling, but then that's the first step: introduce, isolate, integrate.

Specific sparring from mount followed as before, and also was with Howard again. I did much the same thing, with the Saulo frame and a few overly strength-based escapes from underneath, then grapevining as much as I could on top. Positional control is getting better, but my mount offence is non-existent. I need to work out how to move into chokes when grapevining, or alternately transition more smoothly into s-mount than I'm currently managing.

Full sparring was next, but starting with somebody in mount. I was with Rob, who I knew was liable to choke me repeatedly. I tried to stay tight and defensive, ending up in a another position from Jiu Jitsu University, the running escape. However, I stayed there way too long, unsure of what to do next, as Rob progressively tightened his choke, eventually bringing all his limbs to bear on my neck. My neck lost.

At another point, I found myself in Rob's guard, slipping out of a triangle. I tried to immediately switch to a double underhooks pass, reaching for the opposite collar, but as usual couldn't maintain the pressure, ending up back in guard. I think I need to drive my hips more, as I always leave way too much space. This keeps happening when I go for the double underhooks, so clearly there is a fundamental flaw with my technique.

I also had another play with the reverse triangle, seeing as Rob's head was low. Last time I made the mistake of focusing too much on the choke, forgetting about the position. So this time, I tried to look for the arm and kimura opportunities, but wasn't able to isolate it properly. I also could probably have tightened the triangle, which would have helped as a distraction.

On top, things went a lot better. I again used the grapevine, managing to maintain that mount position, but not able to launch any attacks. I'm also trying to switch grapevines like Rener does on Gracie Combatives, though its a habit I'm not quite used to yet (still helped). The low swim also proved useful again, preventing my arms from getting trapped too easily. Of course, I'd just sat out the previous round, so was coming in fairly fresh, which makes a difference.

06/10/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #246



RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 06/10/2009

While reading one of my favourite blogs, BJJ Grrl, I noticed that Leslie from BJJ Grrl has found a whole load of blogs I've never seen before, which is cool: BJJ Kids, GrappleThink, Dev's Blog, Cabbage BJJ, Neil vs BJJ and Goatfury (though I've obviously heard of Andrew Smith, as he's fairly active on forums and runs US Grappling). I've added all those to the Index: if there are any bloggers reading this who aren't on there, let me know by posting up a link to your blog in the comments, and I'll add you on there. The more the merrier!

I didn't make it to class last Thursday, as I wanted to spend more time with my gf. As we're again in the annoying situation of having to live apart, BJJ might suffer a little due to visits, but I should normally be able to get in two nights a week at RGA Wycombe. Hopefully one of us will find a job soon, so that we can live somewhere permanently. Birmingham remains the preferred option (which would also mean training under Braulio at GB Brum, a very tempting prospect), but we'll see what happens.

Anyway, Kev's theme for tonight was the mount. We started with some basic points on getting to a high mount, with two options. First, wedge your arm in by their elbow, walk your hand up the floor towards their head to make space, then fill that space with your knee: repeat for each side until you get their arms right over their face.

The second option is to grab their sleeve and pull up, lifting your leg, then turning your knee back down to suck up any room by their arm. Both of these options were intended to set up the armbar we were shown next.

Its a pretty basic armbar from mount, as once you've got that high mount position with their arms over their face (Kev mentioned this is sometimes called the 'bow tie', due to the way the arms are squished over your face), you can then select the arm they have on top.

Slide your same side knee to their head, while the opposite leg will first raise (still keeping the foot tight to their side), then move to trap their arm. You want to have your foot near the shoulder, so the leg is diagonally across the arm.

Finally, slide your same side knee over their head and drop back for the armbar, making sure that you use the momentum of that drop to get the arm, maintaining a close hold. You don't want to fall back and then try to pull the arm down, as you'll no longer have much weight behind that pull.

There was one interesting difference from the way I've normally been shown this, which is that Kev advocates crossing your feet for the armbar from mount. The reason is that he feels its tighter, and prevents them escaping by just pushing a leg off their head. However, in guard you should always keep the feet uncrossed, in order to press down with your legs.

Next, Kev went through my favourite mount escape, the heel drag, which I first learned from Johannes at the inaugural Belfast throwdown. Keeping your elbows tight to stop them sliding forward to high mount, get up on your side. Use a slight bridge into them and your elbow to push their leg back. Step your leg over both your other leg and their leg, so that you can then use your heel to drag their foot over your other leg.

You can then either go to half guard, which is what I normally end up doing, or keep on shrimping and get to full guard or open guard. That is where I'd like to be, but generally I can't make enough space. Roy Dean does an excellent demonstration of this in the mount escapes section of Blue Belt Requirements.

Specific from mount was interesting. Underneath, I'm trying to work on Saulo's survival position from Jiu Jitsu University, especially making a frame against their hips with your arms. This has proven effective, though I think it also makes it tempting to try and explode with your arms. At least it did for me, meaning that I was escaping sometimes, but purely because I shoved hard with my arms, rather than smooth technique. Not very useful.

On top, I was far more successful than I've been in the past. Specifically, I seem to be able to hold the position, but not launch any offence. I'm continuing to grapevine the legs and switch arms under the head, along with the low swim: like I said last week, this is largely thanks to the Gracie Combatives sessions I've been doing for my girlfriend. She's definitely getting the hang of it, and going through Rener and Ryron's lessons appears to be rubbing off on me.

I was able to maintain mount for a while against the two blue belts I rolled with, and steadily improved at switching to s-mount looking for attacks. I wasn't getting anything in the way of attacks from mount itself, except for some hopeless ezequiel attempts: collar chokes are something I should also be trying, but I get too paranoid about losing my base.

I also felt I was progressively getting closer to taking the back. Switching to s-mount and staying tight eventually led to the opportunity. However, it also quite often meant I got caught by their leg under mine as I tried to switch, giving them the leverage and space to slip free. I secured both hooks during the last roll, but my bodyweight was too far forward, so I was easily shrugged off into guard. Still, taking the back from mount is where my girlfriend is currently up to on Gracie Combatives, so maybe that will help! ;)