26/04/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #307
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Kevin Webb, Birmingham, UK - 26/04/2010

Judging by my first fortnight, GB Brum is blessed with plenty of top notch instructors, and that's not even including the black belts. Brown belt Kevin Webb taught a brilliant class tonight, all focused on passing the half guard when they have a knee across your torso. I'm not sure it was quite z-guard, but then I'm still not entirely sure what the definition of z-guard is, so it might have been.

Anyway, for this bit of half guard passing, the situation was that they have their knee across. With the hand on that side, they're gripping your opposite collar, looking for a submission (e.g., a loop choke, something Oli G is fond of). Their other hand is gripping your same side sleeve.

The first thing you need to do is strip that grip off your collar. Keep your chest raised and forward, in good posture, or this will be hard. Your free hand takes a firm pistol grip on that sleeve, while the other one moves up to their gripping hand itself, grabbing onto the hand. This may well be a battle, as your opponent is not going to make it easy for you to get your hand up there: crawl up their arm, gradually moving your hand into position for the grip.

Once you have that double hold on their gripping hand, forcefully strip the grip by pushing away from your body while grasping their hand. Shove that hand to their chest, both hands on top, pinning it in place. This also means you can keep their back flat on the mat, and use that base to get to your feet. This should cause their knee to shift from your chest to either side of your knee.

Again, you want good posture, making certain you are driving forwards with the knee you have between their legs. Your other leg is stepped back for support, and your stance is relatively low (or at least, mine was, and Kev seemed to approve). The problem now is their remaining grip on your sleeve. The trick here is to take the slack out, by pulling your trapped wrist back towards your chest. Your other hand pistol grips their sleeve, and you then yank your trapped wrist back while simultaneously shoving your pistol grip across.

Now that your hands are free, you're going to press both hands on their knee (the one inside your legs, rather than on the outside) and drive it to the floor, moving backwards. Make some space for your trapped leg by wiggling it back and forth. As soon as you have space, in one motion, angle your knee diagonally backwards and slam it through, aiming to land on your butt cheek, rather than on your knee. If they manage to cling onto your foot, it shouldn't be too difficult to use your other foot to push your way free.

You should also find yourself basing out with a hand, over their body by their back. Make sure you don't end up putting that over their shoulder by their head, or they can take your back. Instead, you want it between their hip and their elbow. That way, you can move it up under their elbow and then use your upper body to push them to the mat, switching to a tight side control.

I really liked Kev's detailed, technical approach. Better yet, he frequently stopped the class to go over another point: every single time, he pre-empted the questions I wanted to ask. Like the other Kev I've trained under, Kevin Webb also made a point of asking the class beforehand what they wanted to work on, responding to a specific problem a purple belt was having, which turned into an excellent class. Perhaps there is something about instructors called Kevin that makes them particularly good at picking out details? ;p

Sparring was good too. I started with my drilling partner, Chris, where we maintained an enjoyably steady pace. I was looking to play around with half guard, and also see if I could establish spider guard grips (I've been looking to wrap my leg over and pull the sleeve around, for an especially tight hold). Of course, the best grip in the world doesn't help if you haven't got anywhere to go from there. Still, I am at least regularly moving into butterfly to start: good advice by Kintanon from last week.

Next was another blue belt called Peter, where again I tried to move straight to butterfly, but this time couldn't quite get it because he quickly stood up. Instead, I attempted to switch between spider guard and De La Riva. Neither was especially successful, although I did find that doggedly holding onto that spider guard on at least one sleeve helped me recover guard after he almost passed a few times.

With a white belt called Danny, I was in butterfly longer, but wasn't able to stay sitting up long enough. I need to drive forward with my forehead into their chest quicker. So instead, I took the opportunity to establish an overhook and grab his opposite collar. I was still in butterfly guard, so wanted to move to closed guard in order to work the choke from there. I got into the position I wanted, bringing the other arm over his head to try for the choke, but to no avail: something must have been off with my technique and/or positioning.

I attempted to switch to a triangle instead, shoulder walking backwards once I locked my ankles, but I didn't have sufficient head control. He stacked me, and before I could switch to some variation of an armbar, I somehow ended up in half guard. As I was already fairly crunched up underneath, deep half guard seemed like a sensible option, and I sort of got on top.

However, while I was clinging tightly as per Rob's lesson last week, that's as far as I got. Danny was pulling up on my head for a triangle, which didn't feel like too much of a risk, but I also couldn't seem to work out how to move around from there to side control. I had the same trouble during Rob's lesson, so that's definitely a technique I'd like to revisit. Still, I did at least feel relatively secure with my arms wrapped around that leg.

My last roll was with Nathan, a brown belt. I spent the majority of the roll fending off attack from either side control or knee on belly, which had also popped up in previous spars. Once again, I found myself falling into Saulo's 'running escape' survival position, with one leg over the other, knee up. Eventually, Nathan got me into mount, and with twisting arm control worked the submission.

He also had a good tip (which I think someone else mentioned recently too) about my bridging: I'm bumping up with my hips, but I'm not then using that space well enough. I need to really move those hips into the space, doing a better job of combining the bridge and the shrimp.

My girlfriend is down for the rest of this week into the bank holiday, so I'll only be training on Monday this week. Next week, given Monday will be taken for girlfriend time, that probably means I'll do the basic class on Tuesday followed by advanced on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to seeing what instructor pops up next, though I have to admit, I'd be perfectly content if Kev and Rob took all the lessons, judging by the high standard they've set so far.

24/04/2010 - Southend Throwdown

Evolution Gym, (Throwdown), Bullshido, Southend, UK - 24/04/2010

A London throwdown is still yet to happen, but venues are getting steadily closer. Last year there was a meet-up at Andy Roberts' gym in Farnborough. For 2010, a guy posting on Bullshido as Mr P set up an event at the Evolution Gym in Southend, a short walk from Chalkwell train station.

The venue itself is easily the best I've seen out of all the throwdowns I've been to. Not only is it spacious and clean, with a cheap attendance fee (£5 per person), but it has a cage and even a running camera. You can buy the film, very handily transferred to a USB drive, for a mere £3.50.

Transport was a bit of a pain, as trains keep being shit on weekends. I had a replacement bus in the morning getting into London, then another one part of the way to Chalkwell (the train from Fenchurch St got me as far as Pitsea). Still, despite those replacements, it is only around an hour to get to the Evolution Gym from London.

As ever with throwdowns, there were lots of people who were due to attend, but eventually either didn't show up or had to pull out at short notice. Still, there were nevertheless five of us: Ben (who posts as Asriel), me (slideyfoot), Aaron (Mr P, who organised it), Colin (Liffguard) and Dan, Aaron's friend. I arrived early, then had a chat with Dan after he turned up, until eventually Ben walked through the door, meaning we could have a flow roll to warm up.

I rolled with Colin after that, which went much the same as last time back in 2007. I think my defences have improved a bit, but it was still largely me stuck under knee on belly attempting to squirm free. I made sure to be active, and was looking to try Kev's escape, but instead found myself bridging and shrimping a lot, without managing to fully escape.

The technique Colin eventually tapped me with was interesting, and hopefully that will be covered on the video. He showed it to me afterwards, a kind of choke from knee-on-belly. He had a grip on my collar, then brought the other arm over my head, sliding his elbow back to my skull. From there he moved off knee on belly and sprawled back, using body weight to effect the choke.

We then did a load of drilling, all guard passing. I started with my preferred twisting guard break, getting a helpful tip on a guard pass from Colin. If they grab your collar, immediately grab that arm with your same side arm, then stand up (making sure to step up on the same side leg: otherwise, you're helping them to set up a submission).

That means you can now move into the usual pass where you have a grip on one sleeve pulled up high, pop their leg off your hip and slide your knee through. At this point you could switch your grip from their sleeve to under their leg, or alternatively, grab the gi material around their knee. This has the advantage of stopping them turning into you or bridging, and could also help shifting to mount later. To finish, swing your other leg over and sit next to them, settle into side control.

I also had a quick run through the Gracie Gift variations from Roy Dean's No Gi Essentials, before a brief spar with Dan. Upon getting to mount, it turned out he hadn't done much in the way of mount escapes before, so I paused to show him the basic trap and roll and then the elbow escape.

Due to that lack of experience with mount escapes, I assumed he must be quite new, so I could take it easy. However, he immediately pushed forward hard in the guard, grabbing hold of my head and moving into a sort of rear naked choke on the face. That isn't comfortable, but it isn't generally going to lead to a submission. I eventually popped out and tried moving to the back, also looking for mount.

Somehow I ended up under side control, where I was looking to recover guard by jamming my other leg through. Unfortunately, I must have done it too explosively, as my left leg completely cramped up, meaning I had to tap and stop. Same thing happened with Kev a little while ago: something I need to watch (or eat/drink better, to avoid cramp).

While this was going on, Ben was involved in a mammoth spar with Aaron, who is a big guy. After twenty-five minutes, Ben was unsurprisingly pretty tired, but as he isn't small himself (90kg or so), he could still manage a roll with me and take it fairly easy. I played some open guard, but again I'm not really sure what I'm aiming for most of the time (though at least here, I had a De La Riva sweep to try that Colin had shown earlier, where you scoot around behind and take their legs out, putting them in your back mount).

I was also putting the blocking the arm and shoulder principle into action, which is something Demian Maia talks about a lot in his DVD, in terms of preventing their pass. Roy Harris also delves into the topic on Roy Dean's first DVD, when he is talking about points of control from open guard. It definitely helped, though my grip slipped on a later attempt, meaning Ben could collapse my arms and move past.

We all went down the pub after that, with the usual long chat about forums, BJJ and MMA. I always enjoy that chance to socialise after throwdowns, and it is one of the big reasons I go. I'm not sure when the next UK TD will be, but this venue in Southend is definitely a good option for the future. Just a shame it is so difficult to get people to actually show up! ;)

There should be a lot of video footage on the way, so once that is all sorted, I'll be able to do a major update with all the sparring, and hopefully clips of the techniques Colin showed me too. My video editing skills are very limited, but playing around with MovieMaker should be sufficient.

21/04/2010 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #306
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Rob Stevens, Birmingham, UK - 21/04/2010

I should probably try and sync up my bus from campus better with the train to Acocks Green, as there are mainly two options from Leamington Train Station: either the 17:28 or the 17:58. I finish work at 16:30, but only managed to get to Leamington for 17:30. There must be an earlier bus than that, even given the rush hour. Still, early days, as I'm still working out the best route.

Once I got the train, it was relatively easy. Even though the 17:58 was slightly delayed, I still got to Solihull at 18:27, in time to catch the 18:30 on to Acocks Green. Of course, it is worth noting that any delays to the Leamington train should probably carry over to the connecting service at Solihull, because it is on the same line. At least that's what I'm hoping!

Either way, I got to Acocks Green at 18:39, where it was a less than five minute walk to Gracie Barra Birmingham (even though I initially went the wrong way: if you see a sign for 'The Avenue', turn around and go in the other direction. In other words, out the station and turn right). Keep going until you see Station Road (shouldn't take long), then walk down that until you see a gym peeping out from between two shops. You can see it directly on Google Maps street view, so shouldn't be any problems finding it.

Once I'd paid my £60 to the desk (though it is direct debit, you pay the first month in cash, but it doesn't have to be immediate), the lesson started in a similar way to Monday. Again, it was running round the room with variations (knees up, heel up, sprints, sideways etc), interspersed with press-ups and star jumps. That was followed by shrimping, and a few other exercises I haven't done much before, like shrimping forwards, or another one where you grab the bottom of your partner's trousers, they walk forward and stop, then you drag yourself along the floor to get level again.

However, it was mercifully shorter than Monday, and also finished with some stretching. Rob then got into the technique, starting with a single leg takedown. You feint to get them to rock back on their heel, then drop forwards onto your front knee (you're in a mirror stance to your opponent). Grab low on their leg, your head inside, shoulder on the outside, underneath their knee. Drive forward and put them on the mat.

There are clearly plenty of EFN users at GB Brum, as not only does instructor Rob post there, but I had one person ask me if I was slideyfoot, while another mentioned they posted as Tom H. Perhaps unsurprising, as it is a huge club, with an impressive number of higher belts rolling on the mat: I think there were about three brown belts tonight, which apparently isn't even that impressive by GB Brum standards. Christian was saying that some nights, there are considerably more, alongside a fair few black belts too.

The groundwork selection was right up my street, beginning with a mount escape. That went straight into deep half guard, which isn't something I've seen much before (I know Jeff Glover has a popular DVD series on the topic, but I'd generally viewed deep half guard as a bit too advanced for me up until now). I really liked Rob's clear, detailed style of instruction, going over the technique several times, emphasising major points and never rushing through his descriptions.

You are stuck under mount. If they aren't already leaning forward, bridge to make them base out forwards. Brace your forearm across their torso, so that your hand is holding their opposite hip. Your same side hand grabs their pant leg, or ankle if you can't reach it. Drop your same side leg to the floor, knee pointing towards that trouser you've grabbed. The other knee is up, pressing into their back.

Bump them forward with that knee, then immediately shove that trapped leg over the knee you have on the floor, snatching half guard and pinching your knees together. You don't want to stop there, as now you bring both hands to that hip you were holding. Push up and come underneath their leg, slipping slightly down it as well.

You want to end up in deep half guard. This means that your shoulder is underneath their leg, while your head is by their hip and belt, clamped to the leg. You have one arm wrapped under and over, holding by the knee, while the other hand stays in tight to your body, or you could possibly hide it under their leg. Either way, you want to make sure they can't attack it for an underhook, an americana or something like that.

From here, you can now go for a deep half guard sweep. Walk your feet towards them (so moving in the direction of your head). When the moment is right, pendulum your legs back the other way, aiming to roll on top of that leg. Make sure that you hold the leg very tight, with arms that should now be wrapped under the knee.

If you don't, you'll be leaving yourself open for a triangle: an experienced grappler will be looking to pry your arm free in order to attack. Be patient, then using good timing (such as when they've strained away trying to break your grip in vain), move into a pass. Keep in mind the principle of either both arms in or both arms out, and also make sure that leg is controlled before your release the grip with your arms.

Sparring started with specific sparring from the mount, which was nice. I generally like to have a mixture between free and specific, as otherwise it can be difficult to work certain positions. The method wasn't quite king of the hill, but instead, everybody lined up and was counted off in groups of three. All the number ones would go on their backs, then after a while, all the number twos would do the same, finished with the threes.

I was a number one, so started on the bottom. To my surprise, I stayed there the whole time, which was a pleasant improvement on the kicking I got on Monday. I was generally just using the same leg drag to half guard, then shrimping to either get into closed guard or open guard. I didn't get a chance to use Rob's technique, but then that is going to take a while to add into my repertoire, not having used deep half guard before.

Of course, it tends to be easier to escape when specific sparring from mount rather than attack: things went much less well for me on top. I tried for my preferred low grapevine, but struggled to keep it: people were able to free their legs, dropping them flat, then quickly making space to escape. I did briefly manage to stop one guy bringing his long legs up and pulling me off mount, by staying low and scooting back to put him flat, but he managed it on the second attempt.

Free sparring followed, where I again had a roll with Christian. Unusually, this first one started from sparring, but both Christian and I were looking to pull guard: I dropped into half guard, then moved into open. Again, I wasn't able to initiate anything. If I had another private lesson, being proactive from open guard would probably be a good option, refining a few sweeps. We then moved through side control, knee on belly and at one point some kind of random reverse mount thing, during which time ran out. Entertaining stuff.

At one point, I was in Christian's guard, so was naturally keen to try out what I learned in Kev's private lesson on the twisting guard break. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite get into the position I wanted, as his guard was slightly open, and he had some control of my arms. I should have just gone for it and tried something, or perhaps attempted to step back immediately like Kev showed. Hopefully there will be some specific sparring from the guard at some point, which should provide some opportunity to practice.

Sparring got back to normal after that, starting from the knees. I took Kintanon's advice about being less lazy pulling guard, sliding forward straight into butterfly rather than just flopping backwards like on Monday. I was with a white belt, who stayed very tight, stopping me from getting the butterfly grips I wanted. I managed to catch an armbar as he stood up, but mainly due to surprise: he was waiting for it, but thought I'd take the other arm. I was pleased when I later moved into a triangle, saw I wasn't going to get it, and instead took the armbar from that position. That's a transition I need to do much more often.

Finally, I had a roll with Rob, who obviously had no issues controlling me. However, he was taking an instructor role, looking to see what I did in various positions. Very helpfully, he told me afterwards that I was making some mistakes with my elbows under side control, and then when class finished, gave me some excellent advice on exactly what he meant.

When somebody is on top of side control and they scoop up your far arm, you need to bump straight away and dig that elbow free. You can also use your leg and knee to help you, looking to brush their arm away, as if you're trying to connect your elbow to your hip. Like most people, I try to make sure I always keep the other arm by their hip, digging that elbow if they start to work it free, but I've never thought about digging the far arm too. Definitely something I want to keep in mind next time, which should be a big help to my defence.

Importantly, Rob finished with a warm-down, which I don't remember happening on Monday (perhaps the assumption there was that you'd do a stretch yourself). This time I took a shower at the gym, and they're pretty good: IIRC, you have a choice of about four, along a wall sharing a partition (rather than separate cubicles). It would be handy if there were some hooks to hang towels, but I may just have not noticed them.

I should be training again on Monday, but as my gf is up on the Tuesday, that may be it for next week. I'll see if I can make it for the 18:00 basics class too, but probably unlikely given the bus and train I need to catch first (unless I manage to get a lift with Alex again). Before that, there's a throwdown in Essex, this Saturday. Feel free to pop down, as the more the merrier! :D

19/04/2010 - First Class at Gracie Barra Birmingham - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #305
Gracie Barra Birmingham, (BJJ), Bruno Alves, Birmingham, UK - 19/04/2010

Before I go through the "changing school" thing, I just wanted to mention a new site that has popped up on a few forums, called BJJ Questions. It uses the StackExchange format, meaning that you can ask questions, then both comment and vote on the answers. The idea is that you can go there to solve, ask and comment upon questions with a definite answer: for example, "where can I train BJJ in London?", rather than some more subjective, like "what is your favourite gi?" Its a good idea, but its needs a large, informed user base to function properly. Hence why I'm linking it here, in the hope people will go check it out and get involved.

The move and job have gone ok so far, but of course it's only been a few days. I should note here that I haven't bothered getting the internet at home, as I'm going to be much busier now, so will be spending a lot less time online (probably healthy!). It has been a while since I've lived on my own, and I'm definitely missing my girlfriend. Hopefully she'll be able to find something in the area soon. If not, weekends are going to be very girlfriend-visiting dominated. ;)

Since January 2009, I have trained at five clubs, so I'm hoping that number six is going to be a bit longer term (as I've just signed up for the minimum twelve month contract, that would be financially convenient too!). I've been to the venue before, for throwdowns, but this is the first time I've seen the renovated downstairs gym. There are several programmes on offer, ranging from the £40 fundamentals (which is compulsory if you're new) through to the £90 unlimited (which appears to be the same as RGA, except that you also get to use the weights room, I think). As I need to make sure I've got time to work on my writing commitments, I went for the £60 standard, which allows two classes a week.

Unfortunately you have to sign up to a twelve month minimum contract, but then that is fairly normal in BJJ (Kev doesn't ask for it, but then his main job is working as a fireman rather than running a BJJ school). I would hope that I won't have any reason to leave the vicinity of Birmingham, but given the way the last year has been and the economy, it is a little worrying making that commitment. Still, worst thing that happens is I lose a bit of cash if I have to leave before twelve months: the trade-off in excellent training should be well worth it.

You also have to use the lockers in the changing room, as you aren't allowed to leave bags at the side. They sell padlocks at the counter, but you could also bring your own. I would suggest you don’t bring an enormous bag, as while the lockers are relatively big, there is a limit. I managed to fit in my backpack (which had a load of clothes and work stuff in it), my coat and my boots.

There are showers too, though I haven't tried those yet – I decided to shower at home, because I was getting a lift. However, as my shower is a bit pants, I'd rather use the ones at GB Brum. Just means I need to remember to bring my towel and shower gel.

GB Brum includes belt whippings as part of the promotion process (if you aren't already clear on my views regarding that particular tradition, I wrote an article about belt whipping a while ago). Alex, who kindly gave me a lift tonight (he posts on the EFN, so I sent him a PM), was on the receiving end after getting his blue during the beginners class. It is even meaner than the version at Nova Forca, as the newly promoted person has to stand in the same place while everybody takes a turn at smacking them on the back. At Nova Forca and other schools, there was the slightly mitigating factor of being able to run past. Here, everybody gets to take their time, carefully picking their shot.

The instructor tonight was Bruno (not sure of his last name, so if anyone reading this knows, stick up a comment), although this will probably be the last time I see him, as he's off to help Victor at Gracie Barra Mansfield. So, this may not be typical of GB Brum classes, but the warm-up was much, much longer than at RGA Wycombe. It had more in common with the marathon warm-ups at Nova Forca, although much of it was running around the room, with the usual side-step, knees up, heels up etc variations.

The class is an hour and a half, so there was still time for a few techniques and then sparring. No specific sparring, but if I want that, I can always go to a basics class. Having said that, my membership only extends to two classes a week, and it is a bit of trek from Leamington on the train, I'll probably stick to the longer advanced classes on Monday, Wednesday or Saturday (Tuesday is nogi, while Thursday finishes too late). Then again, I could do a double on Monday, if I know I'll be busy the rest of the week (like if my girlfriend comes up to visit on a Tuesday for a few days). One of the advantages of a big club is the broad schedule.

After the warm-up, Bruno went through two options, both from the back. The opening choke from the back started just after you've passed their guard. If you pass, shoving their legs to one side, Bruno emphasised the importance of keeping your weight on them, driving through your hips. It is possible they may try to turn, leaving their back exposed.

To take advantage, slip your far foot under their body, in front of their leg, ready to establish a hook later on. Reach over to the opposite collar with your same side hand: if you try to grip on the same side collar as your hook, they'll be able to complete their escape, leaving you with nothing. Instead, your near side hand is going to stay around their ribs.

You can now roll them towards the near side, kicking up your free leg. This should roll them on top of you, so that they're facing the ceiling, meaning you can now put in both hooks with your feet. Keep on rolling, until they are facing towards a wall. Finish the choke by reaching under their arm with your free hand, threading it behind their head. You can now push with that, while pulling on that collar you're still gripping, which should result in a choke.

The second technique was also from their back, but this time, you're attacking the turtle position. You have one knee close to their side, the other leg out for base. Your weight is on them, to prevent them from rolling out into guard or some other escape. To being the attack, reach for their near side wrist with your same side hand. You'll use your other hand to maintain pressure on their hip.

I got a bit confused at this point, but if I remember correctly, you're then going step your near leg through to their head. Next, step all the way past their head with your other leg, swivelling so that the knee is pressed against their other side. You still have control of their arm due to that grip on the wrist: you're now going to use that to pull their arm up.

As you've swivelled, you should be in position for an armbar, with one leg over their head, the other pressed into their back. Keep that knee tight to stop them escaping, then drop back into an armbar.

Sparring started with Alex, who had little trouble controlling me. I played around with open guard for a while, trying to use my legs to keep him at bay, but he was able to drive his hips forward, keeping me under pressure until he eventually passed. That set the trend for the rest of lesson, which was back into my old pattern of defending side control until eventually getting caught in a choke or an armbar.

Same thing happened with a white belt, who was a little bigger than me, but I was being way too passive under side control. There appears to be a more aggressive style of sparring at GB Brum, although that could just be because my pool of rolling partners has been relatively limited up until now (either Howard or Callum, both technical blues, or relatively new white belts). As I'm not training doubles, that means I can push myself a little harder in sparring, rather than being lazy and conserving energy for the next lesson.

Last roll was with Christian, who posts as gawkrodger on EFN (Alex is on there too: it's always cool to meet people off the forums and/or bloggers). Again I was getting stuck under side control, and again found myself trying something I think I saw in Saulo's book, about getting into a 'survival' position. Having that knee and foot right over the other leg does feel safe to a certain degree, but not if you stay there too long, as I tend to do.

So, this is a good opportunity for me firstly to really think about how people are setting up their armbars and chokes from side control (I was pleased I could at least escape a baseball bat choke, as I often get caught with those). Secondly, and more importantly, I can work on being more proactive from under side control. Alternatively, I could try the much less likely option of getting to a top position when we start from the knees, which would lead to an opportunity for practicing guard passing.

Should be training again on Wednesday, where I'll have a chance to see what the train journey is like to GB Brum from Leamington, and how that will fit into my sleeping pattern for work (I got up at 06:50 on Tuesday, which should fit ok with a train getting back a little before 22:00, as I live round the corner from the station).

15/04/2010 - BJJ (Beginner) - Last Lesson at RGA Wycombe

Class #304
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 15/04/2010

To just briefly mention something entirely non-BJJ, that sexual health poetry seminar I mentioned last year is available for download, here. So, if you want to hear me babble about poems on AIDS, check it out. Apparently it's been there since January, but I only just got sent the link: the handouts can be found here. Also, I gave a paper at the International Symposium on Poetry & Medicine last weekend, so hopefully that will be available for download at some point too.
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I'm going to really miss training at RGA High Wycombe, as Kev is a brilliant instructor, quite possibly the best I've trained with (hence why I took a private before I left). His lessons are always carefully structured, he never fails to answer questions (I ask a lot of them!), and best of all, he is very approachable. I've realised more and more just how important a trait that is for an instructor: your students shouldn't be wary of calling you over for help.

Of course, it will also be awesome to go train with Braulio and the other teachers at Gracie Barra Birmingham, as from everything I've seen and heard, Braulio is a superb instructor himself. I've been impressed by the instructionals he has up on CageFilm (I'll do a review at some point in the future), so if that is any indication of his average class, I'm going to be very happy at Gracie Barra Birmingham.

My final class at RGA High Wycombe continued the knee-on-belly theme from Tuesday, starting by popping up to the position from side control, then taking the far armbar if they make the mistake of pushing on the top of your knee. Reach through the gap and under their elbow, then use that hold to pull them up on their side. Step over their head and swivel, then with a grip on their trouser leg (to stop them using the hitchhiker escape), slide down their arm and then drop back for an armbar.

Next was an escape, a little different from the one we did on Tuesday. This time, you put your far arm on the knot of their belt (or around their belly button if they aren't wearing one), while your near arm goes to their knee. This is to stop them following you when you proceed to the next step, shrimping away from them.

You may need to shrimp a few times, as you're looking to make enough space to bring your feet to their hips. You can spin straight to guard, but most likely you'll need to get a foot on their hip first and push, in order to get the leverage. To finish, grab their arms and pull them towards you, re-establishing closed guard, or simply stay in open guard.

It may have been my last lesson here, but it was the very first BJJ lesson for my training partner. That meant I could take a relaxed approach to specific sparring, trying to help show him what to do from under side control and on top (Kev asked me to go with the beginner, and also told me to take it easy). He seemed to pick things up quickly, as I've gone with new people before, and they've struggled to understand the concept of bridging and shrimping: he was definitely starting to get it.

He did even better on top. At first, like any beginner, he was leaving lots of space, so I could easily shrimp and replace my guard. However, after some advice on maintaining side control (I called Kev over to make sure I the new guy saw how to do it properly), it became a lot tougher. He was dropping his weight well by sprawling back, and also blocking my hip with his knee.

I'm not sure exactly when I'll be starting at GB Brum, as I only move into my new flat in Leamington on Saturday. Looking at the schedule, Monday will probably be my first time, after work.

15/04/2010 - BJJ (Private Lesson)

Class #303 - Private #001
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 15/04/2010

Private lessons are not something I've considered up until now. Previously, I always felt I got enough out of the group classes, as my game wasn't sufficiently advanced to get any benefit out of a whole hour one-to-one with an instructor. However, there are several areas in my BJJ that have sucked for a long time, so I'd really like to try and overcome those deficiencies. Now seemed like a good time to work on the biggest: opening and passing the guard. Each of those are large areas in themselves, so I wanted to focus on just opening the guard.

Things kicked off with a brief point on reaching a safety position in the guard. If they pull you forward, bring your elbows to the inside of your knees, clamping both against their hips. This should kill their mobility, enabling you to recover your posture.

Kev then focused on three techniques for the private, which is good, as I was keen to go for depth rather than breadth. We started with the twisting guard break, something I've been trying to develop for a long time now. Kev provided a number of further details, as well as refining what I'd been doing in the past.

Begin by grabbing both collars with one hand, then twisting so your knuckles are pointing towards their head. Kev likes to have a finger in between the collars, something he was shown by Marc Walder. You should position your hand in the middle of their chest: this will prevent them from sitting up. If you hold lower than that, it is possible for them to curl around that hold. As a general principle, you also want your knees squeezed into their hips, to reduce their mobility.

Your other hand presses on their belt, on the hip. Either grasp the belt or simply push down on that area. Lean to that hip side, in order to help you step up your other foot, on the collar grabbing arm side. Put your foot right by their same side hip, turning the knee inwards to increase the pressure on their ankles.

As soon as that knee is up, it's essential that the elbow of the collar gripping arm locks to the inside. This is something I wasn't doing before, and it makes a big difference. Not only does this elbow and knee 'connect' (as Saulo might call it, and he does indeed do something comparable on his DVD) mean you have a strong frame, but it is also tougher for you partner to harvest that arm for attacks.

Come up on the other foot, twisting into a sort of horse stance. You'll necessarily be leaning forward, but this isn't a problem as long as you keep your back straight and head up. Bring your hip hand back to push on their knee in order to break the guard. This becomes easier if you maintain that pressure with your own knee, by turning it towards them.

As this was a private lesson, that gave me the chance to do plenty of troubleshooting with Kev. The part where I've been getting stuck in sparring is if they manage to establish a collar grip. Kev demonstrated how this doesn't mean you should stop: if they are grabbing with the same arm as your hip hand, simply keep going (as long as they don't have a deep grip: otherwise, you'll need to loosen it first, such as by pressing on their arm and posturing up).

If they grab your collar on the side of the arm you're using to grip both of their collars, then release your grip, bring your arm over theirs, re-establishing the hold. This means you can now use that arm to press down on theirs while posturing up, which should loosen their grip, enabling you to continue with the technique.

Something else I've been doing is keeping that collar gripping arm out straight to keep them on the floor. This tends to make it vulnerable to attack, so either they start a submission, or I think they're about to and sit back down. Locking the elbow to the knee really helps with that, as I'm no longer overbalancing forwards, or worrying about attacks on my arm.

Another common problem is that they'll grab your foot, or somehow try to hook inside. This doesn't matter so much in terms of opening the guard, but it does come into play with the pass. As he showed in a class late last year, Kev likes to grab their knee, step his leg inside on the collar grip side, while on the other, he pulls their leg back and takes a big step forward.

If they grab your foot, it is difficult to step inside. Instead, you want to circle around their leg on that side, grabbing it with both hands. You can now pull up, driving your hip forwards, then slide down and move into side control, using lots of pressure.

The next technique for opening the guard is something Kev simply referred to as 'Roger's technique', in the same way that the previous option is something he saw Carlinhos teach. It begins the same, with your knees squeezed into their hips and a double collar grab. However, this time you aren't just going to push on their belt by the hip. Instead, hold their same sleeve, then press that into their hip. You also want to tuck your elbow by their thigh.

Kev suggested you first make a 'pocket' with your thumb, then grab that with your fingers. You can put your thumb either on top or below: he often puts it on top, out of habit to make certain there is no chance a referee could complain about fingers inside of sleeve cuffs. In terms of the grip strength, it isn't that big a deal.

At this point, Kev warned against ever taking a cross-grip when in somebody's guard. I hadn't realised that was dangerous, and I realise now that having done it a few times, it was putting me in danger of getting submitted. Kev showed how that grip means you're basically giving them an armbar.

Having got that sleeve secured, stand up with the same side leg. If you step up with the opposite leg, they're liable to move into an omoplata, as Kev demonstrated. Once you're up, you can let go of your collar grip and stand up straight (maintaining that sleeve grip throughout). Gravity should be making their guard a lot tougher to retain. Finally, splay your hand (Kev said Roger called this 'making your hand big') and press the inside of their knee.

This will create tension on their ankles, and if that doesn't open the guard, you can also step back and push. Kev mentioned that he tends to stand square when doing this guard break. The only danger is the double ankle grab sweep, which they can't do as you have their sleeve. For any other attack, they'll have to open their guard, which is exactly what you want them to do. Once the guard is open, you can use a leg pin pass.

Sometimes an opponent will sit up with you, clinging onto the guard in midair, holding your collar. This isn't a major problem, as you just need to loosen that grip. Use the same tactic from earlier, bringing your collar grip arm over the top and press down.

Kev also gave some more general advice, about sticking with a technique. My passivity is of course a problem here, so I need to make sure that I push through when I try something. Not aggression of course (after all, I'm not keen on aggression), but conviction. Kev also said that you shouldn't get put off by thinking "oh, but what if they do this? Or this? Or maybe that?" Have faith in the technique.

The third technique was a pass, specifically for when they have pre-emptively opened their guard before you can. This can happen when standing, or with a knowledgeable opponent who can feel when you're about to open their guard. If that happens, Kev suggested I should immediately step backwards, holding their knee. At the same time, you want to shove their other knee to the floor and take a big step over the top of it.

You can then drop your hip into them, moving past that leg. You're still holding it with your hand, which should enable you to get your legs past before releasing. Your other hand will secure an underhook, sliding into side control. If you instead go to half guard, trapping their leg with yours, you can turn to face away from them, dropping your weight down next to them. Use your other knee as a wedge against theirs, freeing your first leg and passing.

If they underhook as you're moving around, drop your weight into them, scooting back to trap their wrist, then continue. Also, quite often when you try to step back and pass, they may well be able to get a shin across to block you: Callum does this all the time. I think it's what gets referred to as 'z-guard', due to the positioning looking a little like a 'z'. Collapse your weight onto that top knee, while your same side hand reaches over their back (not too high though).

You can now either gradually move through and continue the pass, or alternatively, go in the other direction. You'll use your outside leg to hook their bottom foot, holding it in place. Shift your body around their top knee and foot, then simply backstep to pass to their back.

Finally, at the end of the beginner lesson which followed (when I asked to quickly go through the three techniques from the private), Kev mentioned that your hand on the hip can come in handy if they open their guard. You can use it to push them down and prevent them from swivelling into an attack before you can initiate your pass.

So, main points I want to remember are connecting the elbow to the knee, moving back and stepping over their leg when they open, and following through on techniques.

We did lots of drilling, which was really helpful. I guess I could have asked to spar, but for the purposes of this private, I wanted to go into detail on opening the guard. If I ever did another private, it would be quite interesting to start off with a spar, then ask the instructor advice on fixing flaws. Then again, that could be a bit unfocused, so it seems to make more sense to come in with a clear idea of something you want to work on, as I did for this lesson.

I'm not sure when and if I'll take another private. I enjoyed this one, and felt I got a lot of good tips from Kev, but not all instructors are as approachable. I tend to be quite introverted, so it can take me a while to feel comfortable with people, especially in a student/teacher environment. If I'm able to develop that kind of relationship with an instructor again, then private lessons might come into the picture, though that also depends on cash.

Meerkatsu Sighting (2): 13/04/10 - BJJ (Advanced)

Class #302
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 13/04/2010

As a way of both saying goodbye to Kev and celebrating getting that new job, I plan to take a private lesson with him on Thursday. It isn't something I've felt would benefit me before or something I could afford, but now seems like a good time to try out the format. I've been struggling to open and pass the guard for a long time now, so some specific focus on that should help. I'll also be keeping Dolph's tips on private lessons in mind (if anyone else has tips, or has stuck up a post about them I've forgotten, comment and let me know!).

Shifting to guard instead of knee-on-belly, Kev showed us a couple of options from what he called hook guard. This is the same position used by Yukinori Sasa in his 'Sasa sweep', where you have a leg threaded on their arm, while your other shin is across their stomach. There's also a sweep from there Tim Radcliffe showed me, back at Nova Força.

Kev's sweep starts from closed guard. You attempt a scissor sweep, but their base it too good and they block it. So instead, hold their sleeve, then wrap your leg around that same arm, pushing off their hip with your other foot in order to adjust your shin on their stomach (so that the knee is facing away from your wrapped leg). This should tempt them to try and pass, as it looks as if there is a clear route to side control.

If they don't take that bait, grab the fabric on the side of their knee pointing towards you. Bring the leg you have around their arm directly away from them, to the side. That should disrupt their balance: to further help them on their way, punch upwards with the grip your have on their trousers. Finally, that shin you have in their stomach will help, as it means they go into mid-air that much easier.

If they do try to pass, even better. That provides you with further momentum to complete the sweep. Even if they go all the way to side control, you have a lot of leverage with that leg around their arm, so it shouldn't be difficult to make enough space to re-establish guard.

Kev then showed a variation on that sweep, using a different grip. The position is the same, but instead of holding the fabric by their knee, you're going to reach through with your free arm to the outside of their other leg. Use that to rotate, and kick through with your wrapped leg. You're aiming to set yourself up for an omoplata, so the leg needs to be near their shoulder.

Triangle your legs and sit up, making sure you have pushed their arm into a ninety degree angle, trapped by your bottom leg. You also need to quickly get your near arm over their back, or they'll roll in an attempt to escape the omoplata. At this point, they are still too high, so you need to shift over to the side slightly, then pull them into that gap. This should flatten them out.

It is worth noting here that you don't need both legs to trap their arm: your bottom leg is the one doing the work. If you're especially tight, you could even get away with not holding the sleeve with your hand, but I'd feel I was in imminent danger of losing the submission if I did that. As you other leg can therefore be free, raise that knee, using your foot both for base and to move yourself to the side.

Once you've got them flattened out, lean forward as if you want to whisper in their ear. It is important you don't slam the omoplata on full force, as their shoulder is very vulnerable in this position.

In free sparring, Seymour showcased his effective use of small person jiu jitsu. In other words, he is quick and mobile, squirming and spinning out of my attacks and into his own. I looked to practice breaking posture from the guard, which I normally do by waiting for them to try and raise up or stand, then pull them forwards with my legs. Seymour mentioned afterwards that you can also grab the outside of both their elbows, then do the same thing (I normally go for the standard collar and elbow grip).

I should start trying those in conjunction, as the additional off-balancing should help set up submissions. It would have especially helped the Shawn Williams Guard I was looking to move into. The problem was, I couldn't get his arm in the right position: if I'd grabbed behind my leg at that point, it would have been a simple matter for him to pull his arm free.

My last roll was with one of the white belts. This was another opportunity to concentrate on being slow and steady, letting them use up energy, waiting for the right moment to transition. I eventually ended up in mount, but we somehow slid underneath a punch bag hanging from the ceiling, which probably didn't help his escapes (the bottom of the bag was almost directly above me). I should have called a stop at that point and moved, rather than trying to steadily manoeuvre him away from the bag.

To cap off a good night's training, I got a Gracie Mag from Kev. Like I mentioned last month, RGA High Wycombe is now a Gracie Mag Associate Club, which means anyone paying by standing order receives a copy each month. Again, it was really cool to finally meet Seymour: he's written up a report on his own Meerkatsu blog.

Meerkatsu Sighting: 13/04/10 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #301
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 13/04/2010

Seymour of Meerkatsu fame was down tonight, so it was cool to finally meet and train with him (I'll talk more about that in the advanced class post). I may not be able to go meet all the great bloggers in the US yet, but I can certainly meet some of the great bloggers we've got on this side of the Atlantic. :)

The self defence section left you in knee on belly, so Kev added an armbar from there. As this results in a 'Japanese armbar' (one foot over their head and the other tucked under their side, rather than the more secure both feet on the other side), Kev noted that you need to be careful of your angle. If you fall back towards their head, that helps them effect the hitchhiker escape and turn their way to freedom. If you instead fall towards their legs, that's much more difficult.

Kev began the lesson proper with a baseball bat choke from knee on belly. He started from a side control where you have both your arms over to the far side, controlling their arm. Switch into reverse scarf hold, so that your hip is backing into their nearside arm, while your other arm is over their face, making it hard for them to see what you're doing.

Make space by shifting your hips further towards their head, then slide your knee over, as if you're going to mount. Instead of mount, you want knee on belly, grabbing their leg and a thumb inside grip on the far collar (rather than under their head, as you want to set up this choke). Be certain your base leg has the knee raised, so you can both resist their attempts to bridge and follow their movements. You also need to watch that the leg isn't close enough for them to easily hook, which would restrict your ability to move with them.

You can now grip their near collar with your other hand, close to their head. Drop your other arm onto their neck. This sets you up for the choke. To finish, bring your elbows together and squeeze, driving your weight through your top arm (I think: I always get confused with the baseball choke). You might find it useful to slide your knee off them once you've begun the choke, so you can drop more of your weight onto them. You could even drop your hip, moving into a sprawled side control for maximum pressure.

In an example of Kev's excellent class structure, the escape from knee on belly followed. Pressing on their knee with your hand is a cardinal error, as that will tend to leave a gap for them to thread behind your elbow, pull you onto your side and move into a submission. However, it is possible to do something similar with your hand, as long as your elbow remains tight to your side, leaving no gap for them to hook.

Start by pressing your nearest hand into their hip and inner thigh, so your arm remains on the inside of their leg. Bridge, and use that bit of space to immediately slip the other hand underneath their knee. This creates a frame, and also relieves some of the pressure on your stomach. Again, it is essential you tuck your elbow in tight to their side when doing this.

You can now bump them with your knee, then immediately shrimp out. As in the shrimp-to-knees drill (also relevant last week), bring one leg underneath the other and go to your knees, maintaining that pressure on their hip until you can secure a hold of their lower leg. You can now drive your shoulder under their knee and pull their lower leg towards you, taking them down and coming up in open guard.

Sparring from side control with Howard, I concentrated on cross-face pressure with my shoulder on top. I was also still looking to steadily transition to north-south, keeping my hips low, sprawling back once I got to the shoulder. I was reminded to use that shoulder pressure by a a great article Leslie linked, mentioning top pressure for small people, among a whole bunch of other tips. I'd recommend people check it out if they haven't already (especially women: it's written by Krista Scott-Dixon from stumptuous.com, and directed at her fellow female grapplers). That reminded me of the importance of the shoulder, and also driving your weight diagonally through them, rather than just straight down.

With Seymour, a few times when I should have switched to knee on belly (like Kintanon explains here), I instead just ended up losing side control. I really, really need to get more comfortable with knee-on-belly, especially as a small guy. Again, I was looking to be slow and steady, moving to north south.

Seymour attempted an escape where he bridges and turns to face the floor: I think the size difference came into play a little here, as if he'd been bigger, that would have worked every time. However, even though I'm only a little bigger, that probably helped me drive him back down once or twice (though he still completed that escape at least once). I also really wanted the step-over triangle, but Seymour could see it coming and blocked it easily every time.

Underneath Howard, I was trying to keep in mind that bridging should be at an angle, not straight up. I also attempted that Gustavo Machado escape from north south a number of times, and did a better job of first getting one hook, but still not good enough: I slipped off and fell straight back under side control. Still, better than what has happened with Callum, where my back is wide open to being taken after attempting that escape.

Defending against Seymour's side control, I found that if he managed to pop my elbow away from his hip, hooking the foot helped hold him in place while I dug my elbow back into place. However, that feels like a bad habit, so I get the impression hooking that far foot isn't generally a good idea. Still, it did seem to help in that specific situation.

Seymour was doing a good job of killing my movement with a grip on my collar. His arm was pressed against my face, so it was difficult to shift in that direction. That meant I started considering some less orthodox escapes, which I also tried against Howard, especially what Ed Beneville calls the 'x-hands' in Strategic Guard. Didn't work, as I only half-remembered it, so I need to re-read that book (re-reading all the Beneville books
would probably be a good idea, as there is a ton of stuff in there I never think to try).

At the end of the lesson, I got a third stripe on my blue belt: always nice to get the applause and handshake. I presume Kev follows the same time-based pattern for stripes as at RGA HQ, which I think is at six month intervals for blue belts (which would be about right, as I started at RGA Wycombe in late September). It would be interesting to know how many places connect stripes directly to ability: it definitely varies.

Article - Competition & BJJ

Article #13, by Can Sönmez
[For the practical side of competition, such as when to compete, how to prepare, weight cutting, tournament listings etc, go here]

When Jigoro Kano was in the process of developing judo, competition was central to the fledgling style's success. By defeating all-comers, judo established itself as the premier martial art in Japan at the time. Brazilian jiu jitsu, an outgrowth of judo, followed in this tradition. Indeed, you could say that BJJ is the very epitome of competition as a means of expansion: it first came to attention due to the vale tudo exploits of the original Gracie brothers, most famously Hélio. Decades later, his son Rorion created a superlative marketing tool in the form of the UFC, which has led to BJJ's popularity today. MMA and BJJ continue to have a close relationship.

It is therefore unsurprising that competition has remained a staple of BJJ. In many clubs, tournament performance is a significant factor in promotion, which has the dual effect of objectively evaluating a student and simultaneously enhancing an academy's reputation. That has disadvantages, such as the 'sand bagging' phenomenon, but generally it is a positive part of jiu jitsu. There are even some schools where rank is purely predicated on competition record.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there is the Gracie University online training system, where the Gracie Academy in Torrance loudly denounces competition as unrealistic. Given their history, this is unsurprising, and at first it seems a logical argument.

However, numerous other styles have hidden behind the "self defence, not a sport" excuse, to their great detriment. By removing competition, a martial art stagnates, as techniques are no longer pressure tested. Instead of empirical data, students are left with their instructor's anecdotes, and training steadily degenerates into compliant drilling and dead movements.

Full contact competition sustains a martial art's vitality and efficacy: fortunately, BJJers generally treasure tournaments. Instructors will often list their personal competitive accomplishments on the school website, where it is treated as a selling point. A gleaming pile of trophies makes for effective advertising.

Yet this comes with its own problems: it can also mean that a black belt scalp is highly prized. As Dave Jacobs discussed on The Underground and NHBGear, higher belts can be put off competing as a result. Particularly when competing against lower ranks, it is arguable that a black belt running a school has nothing to gain, but everything to lose.

Due to the inclusion of a ranking system, competition has an added importance. It is seen as the litmus test, proving to both yourself and anyone who asks that you are indisputably worthy of your belt. For an instructor, it enables them to claim they can prepare others to enter the arena, because they can prove they know what it takes to succeed in that environment.

BJJ is unusual in the sporting world in that the most prestigious competitions, such as the Mundials and Europeans, are open to everyone, not just elite athletes. There is no qualification requirement beyond the often expensive entry fee, which means the only barriers to competition are cost and inclination.

Hobbyists like me can take solace in teachers such as John Danaher. He has never competed, but is nevertheless widely regarded as one of the best jiu jitsu instructors in the world. The paradox is that BJJ could not survive if everyone took the same approach as Danaher.

There is nothing wrong with not competing, but that luxury is only available because of the many who do compete. Without them, BJJ would become debased into yet another martial art with meaningless rank, populated by ten-year olds wearing black belts. Gaining rank in BJJ is currently a long road filled with sweat, years of mat time and tapping: I'd hate to see that change to rapid promotion, grading fees and kata.

BJJ Competition: Further Reading ^
[started 08/04/10, last update 29/10/2013]

-When to Compete: FAQ Entry
-Weight Cutting: Shama, Stephanie
-Preparation: Leslie, Georgette (1) (2), Shawn, Dev (1), (2), Nic Gregoriades
-Why Compete: Mark, Georgette, Dave, Liam (1) (2), Rafael Lovato, Steve, Seymour, Me, Calf of War, heavytraining, side control, DirtyRancher on JiuJiuBJJ.com ("I'm Afraid I'll Get Hurt" and "Should I Compete Later Due To [Reasons]?"), Tracy, Andrew 'Goatfury' Smith, BJJ Canvas, No Guts, No Glory?, Rob Taylor
-Where to Compete: iCompete.org (global), EFN (Europe, especially UK), bjj.ie (Ireland), JiuJitsuCalendar.com (USA)


~ Previous Article ::: Next Article ~

08/04/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #300
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Kev Capel, High Wycombe, UK - 08/04/2010

It took rather longer than I expected, but I've finally got a new job. It is up in the Midlands, so I'll be relocating to Leamington shortly. That naturally means I'll be looking to train at Gracie Barra Birmingham, which is where I originally intended to train back when I started BJJ in 2006.

I'll definitely miss training at RGA High Wycombe, as Kev has without any doubt been the most approachable instructor I've ever trained with, always ready to answer my questions (of which there are always a lot!), no matter how silly. Still, this wasn't my last lesson at Wycombe, as I still have to find a place in Leamington, and I also don't start work for a couple of weeks.

Class tonight was very similar to the one Sahid taught last week when Kev wasn't here. However, rather than show two attacks, Kev demonstrated both offence and defence. He started with a basic escape to the knees from side control. There were a couple of tweaks on how I normally try this in sparring, which are very welcome as I suck at going to the knees.

First, you need to make sure you don't end up flat, with your legs straight out behind you. Instead, as you swim through to turn to your knees, have one knee up by theirs already, with your opposite elbow by the floor. That provides you both with a frame to prevent them pressing you down, and it also means you only have to bring in one knee, rather than both at once.

Second, you don't have to expend so much energy with the takedown. Generally, I bring my outside leg up, my head on the same side pressing into them, then drive with my head and leg to push them down into side control. That isn't necessary: instead, you can just walk round towards their back. If they don't do anything, you can take their back, and if they do, you can normally just follow them and end in side control, or at least half guard.

I kept instinctually walking around to the head side, when I should have been moving in the opposite direction (it is much easier to pop into side control there, as otherwise you end up having to go all the way past their legs. That can work too, but it is adding unnecessary extra obstacles).

The next technique was, like Sahid showed, a kimura from side control. Kev's method was a little different, and also simpler. You have you arm hooked under their far arm, the other under their head, in a classic side control position. Wedge your head past their arm so that it is trapped against one side (the technique can still work if you don't or can't do this, but there is more danger of there arm slipping free), then pull up on that arm, so they're on their side.

With your other arm, push their head down and step over. You can either keep your knee raised, or put your knees on the floor, so long as your knees are pinched into them to maintain control. Finally, keeping control of their limb throughout, switch your arms, then establish a figure four grip, locking their elbow to your chest. You can then complete the kimura as normal.

Sparring with Callum from side control, I noticed he was frequently putting both arms on the near side. That kills the typical bridge and shrimp escape, as you can't bridge into them. However, it is perfect for what Saulo calls the 'running man', where you make some space by pressing on their shoulder, then spin away from them. That shoulder push should mean you outrun their attempt to take your back.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the space, so just ended up scooting around on my back. I did manage to avoid a number of submissions, but it felt very much like I was only just keeping ahead of the attacks. On the plus side, I did sort of manage Gustavo Machado's escape from north-south again, though also as before, Callum would have been able to take my back if this had been full sparring (though admittedly he was expecting me to try that, as I've been attempting it a lot when rolling with him).

On top, I didn't feel as secure as last time. My weight distribution might have been off, or Callum was simply sharper with getting his legs tucked in and making space. I had real trouble stopping him curling up and jamming his knees underneath me, which would normally indicate I wasn't keeping my weight down enough, or perhaps trying to transition into side control variations too quickly and sloppily.

I killed the near elbow at one point, but wasn't able to capitalise. I probably got too fixated on looking to push back to make space and mount, which is of course exactly what everyone is waiting for you to try. More offence on my part would have helped, as I think I was overly focused on transitions, without the helpful distraction of a submission attempt.

01/04/2010 - BJJ (Beginner)

Class #299
RGA High Wycombe, (BJJ), Sahid Khamlichi, High Wycombe, UK - 01/04/2010

Kev was away being a fireman, so one of his more experienced blue belts (who recently took gold at the British Open, IIRC), Sahid, took the class. Still, theme was the same as Tuesday, working on side control. I was looking forward to practicing my top game from side, as I'd been watching a Braulio Estima video recently (I'll review it at some point in the future) which talked about proper control from that position.

It seems that Braulio focuses heavily on controlling the elbows, which I realise is something I haven't been doing due to my preferred gable grip. While that feels tight, it doesn't give you any real purchase on their far arm. Much better to actively grab that arm, coming underneath the elbow. Sahid demonstrated exactly that grip while quickly going over the basic concepts of top side control.

He then moved on to two submissions, beginning with the kimura from north south, which starts from side control. Controlling that far arm, you want to pull it up, in order to get them on their side. Ideally, you'll have already cleared their near arm, but if not, take the opportunity to dig the knee closest to their hips into their armpit instead. The leg nearest their head will step over, so that you end up shifting into north south.

However, in this case you stay upright, as you're maintaining control of that far arm. Pin it to your chest, then establish a figure four grip. They may well try and grasp their belt or some gi material at this point, because they'll normally realise their arm is vulnerable and try to defend it. If they do, yank the arm in the direction their knuckles are facing: in the other direction, they're probably too strong. You can then complete the kimura as normal, twisting your body to rotate their arm and lock out the shoulder.

Alternatively, you may be able to step right through for an armbar. If you are able to get their arm trapped straight up against your body, rather than bent, then instead of stopping at north south, you can continue to the other side of them. From there, keeping tight on the arm, slide down so you don't leave any space, then drop back. Maintain control of the wrist, being careful that they can't turn their hand and try the hitchhiker escape (so called because you turn in the direction your thumb is pointing, then continue around to the side, due to the fact they only have one leg over your head, rather than the normal two).

Sparring from side control with Callum, I started on the bottom. I was still looking to spin and kick my legs up, looking to use them to hook an arm or head then push off and escape. This did work once, but I always wonder when I escape like that if I'm being complacent due to the set end goal of specific sparring, meaning that if that finish line wasn't there, I would actually end up in a bad position.

I also continued to play around with armbars from the bottom. Today was another handy reminder that even if you can secure the arm, you have to keep in mind that you're in an inferior position. So, holding onto that arm if they get their head free, as happened that roll, probably isn't a good idea. Instead, I should have used it as a controlling position to help my escape, not a potential submission. Also, must pinch my knees together to stop them slipping their head out, and make certain I can in fact use both legs: I'm not sure I had the second leg in the right position when I brought the first one over his head.

Escaping north-south proved more successful. I've been attempted to follow Gustavo Machado's escape off his DVD for some time now, but this is the first time I've got it to work when sparring a fellow blue. The process is to first grab their belt or low on their gi, protecting your arms, then wiggling your hips from side to side to make space. Once enough of your body is clear, you can swing up over their shoulder and take the back.

At least that's the theory. The first time, I flailed a bit around his shoulder, then fell off. The second time was better, as I did get my legs over, but I was way too far forward. So, if this hadn't been specific sparring, Callum could have just pushed me off and taken my back. Still, nice to get it sort of working, but I need to make more space to do it properly.

On top, I wanted to try out Braulio's transition from a tight underhook with your other arm controlling their far arm. If they push up on your neck, you move your underhook from under their head to under their far arm, establishing control on that arm before taking your other arm to their near hip. I wasn't reacting quickly enough for that to work, so could do with drilling it.

Again, north south proved more successful, this time from on top. I was concentrating on keeping my weight low and grabbing over his shoulders to reach for the armpits, to maintain control. I was also basically dropping my weight on his head, sprawling my legs back, hips low: I'm not sure that is a legitimate thing to do. Callum has about eight or ten kilos on me, so I was just happy to keep him under some kind of control, but it doesn't really fit with my goal of always staying technical. I did later shift to be more diagonal, on his shoulder, which is less mean. I'll be aiming to stick to that next time.

I'll be missing training yet again due to a visit down to Bristol, but should make it back in time for the Thursday session next week.