27/04/2011 - The BJJ Labs, Manchester

Class #391
BJJ Labs, (BJJ), Liam Wandi, Manchester, UK - 27/04/2011


Wednesday was mostly devoted to a few hours walking from Hayfield across the moors, starting from the car park of an out-of-use train station. You next head up something called the Snake Path, through moorlands, before going on the Sett Valley Trail to get back (it's Walk 17 in the Jarrold book, although we cheated and cut it short by following a stream back instead.)

Having trained at Factory BJJ earlier in the week, my next class was to be in Manchester. Annoyingly, there were some kind of road works on the way to Stockport to visit my friend's aunt, which meant I missed the train I wanted to catch to Manchester Piccadilly. I nabbed the 17:08 from Davenport instead, and just about made it to training on time. It takes about twenty minutes walking at a brisk "shit-I'm-going-to-be-late" pace.

This was the first time I've not only visited a fellow blogger, but been taught by one too. Liam runs the beginner classes at The BJJ Labs. That's where most of the SBG Manchester crew emigrated after Karl Tanswell went on an extended trip abroad. It's part of the Fighting Fit gym under BJJ brown belt Martyn Cahill, who also teaches a number of other styles under the same roof: there are a bunch of heavy bags hanging from the ceiling and a chain link fence, which gives away the multi-disciplinary nature of the gym.

Liam, in case you don't know, writes The Part-Time Grappler blog, which is stuffed with plenty of thoughtful theory (and now a whole gallery of me, which I found amusing). That carries over into his teaching style during the beginners class, where he put all the techniques into a solid conceptual framework. As with all the best BJJ classes, the warm-up was directly related to BJJ, so instead of lots of press-ups and sit-ups, there were numerous movements from Ginastica Natural, along with the kind of drills you might recognise from Jason Scully's video.

The lesson proper started with takedowns, which I often don't bother noting down, but I will this time because Liam taught a useful flowing sequence with, again, helpful concepts. For example, he spoke about forming a triangle with your feet, presuming you already have the usual collar and sleeve grip. Your partner is square on – the first two points of the triangle – while your leading foot is in the middle of theirs, slightly back – the third point of the triangle.

Once you have that triangular arrangement, you can step in and either hook your leading foot around the back of their same side leg, then drive through to bring them to the floor. Alternatively, you can put that leading foot behind their opposite heel, drive them backwards to take the weight off their foot, then scoop up the leg ready for a takedown.

Finally, you can also move around to their side (always the side on which you're not holding their collar), then drop down to both knees. You need to be close to their leg, simultaneously yanking downwards on their collar. Wrap that leg with your arm, then release your collar grip and reach for their far ankle. You can then drive forward and take them down, moving round to side control.

We then did what I dread most in BJJ, stand-up sparring. However, as it was white belts, I could mostly just stiff arm and step away. Not a good habit, especially as I'm overly passive anyway, but meh. I did try to move to the side and drop to my knees a few times (they have nice soft mats at Fighting Fit, which is a big help!), but I was admittedly glad when it was over.

Sensibly, the ground technique continued from there, discussing how to maintain side control. You start with an orthodox grip, one arm under their head and grabbing the far shoulder, while your other arm reaches over to their far side, underneath their far arm. Use your elbow to maintain some control of their far hip. Your knees are in tight, and you've also cleared their elbow (move slightly further towards their head to make sure they can't pull it back out).

If they try to shrimp out and insert their knee to recover guard, switch to scarf hold by kicking one leg straight by their head, the other knee raised for base. If they then bridge, you go back to side control. Alternatively, from scarf hold you can then reach around their trapped arm, then use your body weight to press that arm against their face.

Using that point as a fulcrum, sprawl your legs back and walk to their other side. Also keep a hold of their far arm, so they can't try any sort of escape. Once you've moved all the way round to the other side of their body, reinsert an arm under their head. This puts them in what Liam called a 'barbed wire' position, with their arms criss-crossed over their upper body and/or face. I've also seen it called the 'bow-tie', I think. There are various subs you can do from here, like turning to face the other way and applying a waki-gatame armbar.

Chatting to Liam afterwards, he spoke about how the beginners syllabus was built up. I had assumed it would have some kind of link back to the SBG teaching methodology (which is certainly there, especially the integral progressive resistance approach), but apparently The BJJ Labs has used the basic framework provided by Gracie Barra Fundamentals. Modifications occured for various reasons, such as the manner in which a takedown in the DVDs might end in side control, but then the next set of techniques would continue in mount. That doesn't make much sense, so instead Liam and the gang made the more logical progression of - for example - a takedown into side control, followed by attacks from side control.

Class finished up with a bit of light sparring. I was with my training partner, JP, a friendly tall Canadian (all the Canadians I've ever met seem to be tall). He had been asking lots of sensible questions throughout drilling, something I very much approve of, given that's exactly what I've been trying to do ever since I started. He took onboard everything that had been chatted about earlier, making sure to try and kill the near arm, switching back and forth from scarf hold and being certain to keep his weight pressed into me.

Sparring was fairly brief, so I don't think I had a round on top: the advanced class was waiting to go, although I wasn't able to join in, as I needed to head back to Davenport to join my gf. On my way back to the station I could take in slightly more of Manchester than the hurried previous journey, but still not a lot. Before today, I've only been to Manchester Airport, back when I used to live in Yarm. It would be good to check out the city properly some time: after all, one of my all-time favourite bands hails from here, The Smiths. :)

Our last walk, my favourite, was on Thursday (again from the Jarrold book: Walk 2). This time we were in the Castleton area, which again has amazing views, but it also has the bizarrely interesting ruins of the old A625. Apparently, back in the day this was a main route between Manchester and Sheffield, but because of the unstable ground, bits kept falling off. A particularly major landslide in 1977 caused serious damage: the road was finally closed to through traffic in 1979.


It felt a lot like walking through one of those apocalyptic landscapes from a dystopian sci fi film, like Planet of the Apes or Mad Max. The road was smashed up, yet the signs of civilisation could still be seen: a drain cover, a cat's eye, the lines up the middle. For some reason, I was fascinated. Not far from there was a historic site (dating to the 13th century, allegedly) with the awesome name of Odin Mine, though I wasn't able to walk too far inside before I started sinking into clay. Reminds me I'm looking forward to watching Thor. ;D

25/04/2011 - Factory BJJ, Stockport

Class #390
Factory BJJ, (BJJ), Adam Adshead, Stockport, UK - 25/04/2011

On Sunday, my friend and I drove up to the Peak District, as thanks to that wedding all over the media, there is lots of holiday over the next week or two. Before we got to our bed and breakfast in Buxton, we stopped off at Sudbury Hall. My friend is a big fan of the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (as opposed to the relatively recent terrible film version). Sudbury was used for the interiors of Darcy's home, Pemberley, so it's all suitably grand. Handily, there is a pretty good breakdown for fellow Pride & Preggers fans over at austenonly.com.

On Monday, my friend headed off for a walk, while I caught the 10:30 train from Buxton to Stockport. It was around £8 and got me into Stockport at 11:12, where I then headed to Factory BJJ in Reddish. If I'd walked, my phone tells me it would have taken around 40 minutes, so it's doable. Fortunately I didn't have to try, as the brown belt who runs the gym, Adam, generously offered to give me a lift.

I first encountered Adam through his insightful blog, Conceptual BJJ. It hasn't been updated in a while and now simply redirects to the Factory BJJ website, though naturally you can still find it on the Internet Archive. Since then, I've been chatting to him over email for the last couple of years, particularly as he's not only a BJJer, but also used to be a music journo, another favourite topic of mine. Best of all, we're both '80s fans – hooray for Hall & Oates! ;)


Factory BJJ is part of the Combat Base family, the team started by Dirty Dozen member Chris Haueter (who was also instrumental in the foundation of the Straight Blast Gym, with Matt Thornton). Adam recently became a full time instructor, also moving into a fully matted unit with plenty of room. That means you can train day and night at the gym, including gi BJJ, judo, no gi and MMA (Matt '12 Gauge' Thorpe runs his program out of the same location). Full details over on the Factory BJJ website.

The gym itself looked great, particularly as I was there on a decent sunny day. The front has a massive door, which is rolled up, meaning there is airflow right through the gym. I'm not sure what it's like when it's snowing, but it would be cool to find out. Rolling right from the mats into the snow sounds like a Factory BJJ advert that needs to happen later this year. ;)

I especially like the way that it really lives up to the 'Factory BJJ' name. Outside, there is a fenced off area filled with large chunks of metal. Next door, you have a mechanic: Adam tells me that normally you'll hear the sound of drilling and clanging throughout class. Finally, there's a train line outside too, so you'll frequently see beefy freight trains whiz by, which I like to think are filled with coal or something else suitably industrial. :D

Adam was a very welcoming host, as was everyone else turning up for the gi drilling session today. It's basically an open mat, split into ten minute rounds on a timer. Drilling is encouraged, though you can just roll if you want to. That works out well for me, as I wanted to practice some attacks from spider guard. I've been passively staring at people while holding a lasso grip for some time now, so I'd really like to progress to actually threatening with something.

So, before I showed up I went through my backlog of notes, pulling out all the attacks from spider guard I've learned, then picked the ones I felt most comfortable trying out. First up was a sweep I was taught by Geeza back in November last year. I wasn't absolutely certain I'd got the notes right, but the main idea seemed to be pushing them with one of your feet into their bicep, swivelling to hook their other leg with your same side arm, then knocking them over.

Adam had some suggestions for something similar. In his spider guard sweep, you start off with the lasso grip I prefer. Your other foot goes on their hip, or you can put your shin across their stomach. This acts as bait, as you want them to try and pass to that side. As they do, grab their same side trouser leg with your free hand, then bring your lassoing leg's shin and foot down to the floor.

Pressing that shin into the crook of their elbow combined with lifting their trouser leg will knock them to the floor, where you can shift into mount or side control. Even if they do pass and move to side control, you can still press into their arm with your shin and sweep them. It's a solid controlling point.


When the first ten minutes was up, Adam had a whole bunch of stuff he wanted to work from the recent de la Riva seminar. This was all based off an open guard position, which starts with you gripping their collar with your same side hand (instead of the usual cross grip). Keep your elbow flared to stop them just squashing that arm down and breaking your grip.

Still on that side, put your foot on their hip, straightening the leg to keep them back. Your free leg swings out. I can't remember if you do anything with your hand at that point, but Adam should be able to remind me if he sees this. He followed up with three attacks, based on what they do.

The first option is to go for an armbar if they grab the knee of your free leg. Use your free hand to grip behind their elbow to both break their grip and pull their arm towards you. Clamp both your knees around that arm a little behind that elbow, then go for the submission.

If they try to grab the ankle or low on the trouser leg of your free leg, bring the knee over and down to the floor to break their grip. You can then kick through, putting the leg around their head to progress into a triangle.

Finally, if they aren't grabbing anything, you can attack with an omoplata. Again, not sure if I remembered this right, but I think you kick the free leg under the armpit, bringing them down to the mat with your control over their other side. Push their arm around your free leg and move into the omoplata.

There was an interesting tip here from de la Riva. When you have them belly down, you don't reach over their back with your near arm to help keep control and flatten them out. Instead, twist your torso and reach over with your far arm. That makes it tougher for them to roll out. Once you've scooted sideways to knock them flat on the floor, you can switch your arms back and go for the omoplata as normal.

This fit in nicely with what I wanted to drill next, during the next ten minute segment with somebody else. Another attack I'd read back in my notes was an omoplata from Jude he taught back in 2008. Beginning with the lasso grip, you want to get them off balance. You'll also need your foot in their other bicep: push into that, while lifting their arm with your lasso.

Once you've got them sufficiently off-balance, pull their elbow down your lassoed leg while kicking the leg through, which will put you in the omoplata position. You can then finish as before: I tried using the de la Riva option rather than the orthodox, which seemed to function well.

However, I was having trouble getting them off balance. I also struggled to then maintain enough control to switch my grips to the elbow and tricep: they were able to just pull their arm out. I played around with it a bit after some comments from Adam (who was walking round the class offering technical tips to people), where I found that kicking my lasso foot deeper helped. That gave me a bit more control, as I could press down onto the back.

It also made their arm curve more readily, so that the elbow was temptingly poking upwards ready to grab. Rather than releasing both grips, I just released the non-lassoed sleeve, then waited until I kicked the leg fully through and pressed them to the ground before removing my lasso sleeve grip.

As before, I could then twist over to reach around their far side with my far arm. Scooting sideways collapsed them face down onto the ground, where I could switch back to the other arm for control, then finish by leaning forward as if whispering in their ear. Make sure you don't forget the various other basic parts of the omoplata, like triangling your legs then bringing them out to the side as you put your opponent on the ground.

Adam had a further suggestion, which was trying the 'foot stomp' he'd seen Michael Langhi teach at another seminar. From what I remember, you have a standard spider guard with both feet in the biceps. Release one to put your foot on the floor, pushing off with that foot as you kick your remaining bicep foot over your head. That should force them to step forward, meaning they're more vulnerable to being swept overhead.

I vaguely had in mind a sweep I'd seen at the Carlson Jr seminar back in December, though he only showed it briefly as it was a recap of something he had shown in a previous seminar. I couldn't really work that out from my notes, so moved into a method for taking the back, as I had a much better memory of that one. However, I won't go into details, as I promised the Carlson guys that I wouldn't write up any of the seminar techniques on the blog (as they asked me not to).

To finish off, I did two rounds of sparring with two different blues, Jake and Leroy. Each roll followed a relatively similar pattern, as I spent lots of time in the running escape posture. I'm still trying to spin out more often and more forcefully, but I'm also still getting passed pretty soon afterwards much of the time. I could try hooking the foot, or just blocking: like I said before, definitely need to rewatch the Saulo video to see what he does.

I attempted some of the spider guard stuff I'd been working too, mainly the sweep Adam showed me at the start. However, I don't think I'm off-balancing them enough, or providing the necessary temptation with my baiting foot. Might have also been pre-empting, as they were still standing rather than dropping down as they passed.

All techniques I'll look to continue playing with on Wednesday, when I'll be checking out Liam 'The Part-Time Grappler' Wandi's class at the BJJ Labs in Manchester. Unless it's all specific sparring from mount or something, though that's always good to work too. ;)

Sadly there was no iPod player and speakers today at Factory BJJ, as instead we were relying on a tape deck and CD player. I played lots of Hall & Oates while typing up these notes on my way back to Buxton, meaning I still got my '80s fix. ;p


On Tuesday, my gf and I drove off (well, she drove: I've yet to bother getting my licence, which I really should now I'm 30...) towards Bakewell, home of the Bakewell Tart (well, Bakewell Pudding technically, but everyone knows it as Tart). Much more interesting was the nearby medieval stately home, Haddon Hall. Impressively, this doesn't look too worse for wear, despite being built way back in the 12th century. There are several later additions to the architecture, the latest being around 1600, IIRC. I'm not quite sure why I'm sticking my bum out like that. ;)

22/04/2011 - Gracie Barra Bristol

Class #389
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Nicolai 'Geeza' Holt, Bristol, UK - 022/04/2011

I was at a friend's barbecue today, who just so happens to live right around the corner from Gracie Barra Bristol. My gf's new house is a few minutes away, and there is yet another friend who has bought a place nearby. Hopefully I'll be able to tempt some of them down, although "come roll with sweaty men" tends to be a difficult sell. But hey, I can hope.

An hour or two into the BBQ, I wandered off to Geeza's academy, where he went through some fairly complex techniques. The position for tonight was half guard, where they are on top and facing your legs. In order to sweep, you need to be careful of your leg position. It is tempting to triangle your legs, because that's the usual way of controlling from half guard.

However, if they're on top and facing your legs, then locking a triangle around their trapped leg will make it easier for them to pull the leg free. Instead, Geeza suggested putting your hooking hook on the outside of their trapped leg, with your knee pointing to the ceiling. Your other shin stays parallel to your first leg, again with the knee pointing straight up. Clamp those knees together for control. It should now be much harder for them to pull their leg free.

Next, your non-hooking foot is going to slip under their trapped heel. You also want to reach over their back and grab a lapel, pulling it out and wrapping it tight behind them. With your free hand, take a grip on their knee. Kick up with the foot behind their heel, while simultaneously pulling on their lapel and pushing their knee. This should spin them to their back, or at least onto their side, meaning you can come up and take side control.

Apparently last lesson, there was a simpler version, for when they are nearer your head. If that happens, you can simply reach over their head, lock your arms, pull them down towards you, then turn and come out on top. I think: Geeza briefly demonstrated it before going into tonight's techniques, so I'm quite possibly missing out some details. There was another one in that quick recap, but I can't remember it.

The last half guard sweep was from the same position as before, but this time they've also inserted their free shin in front of your thigh. That means the previous technique isn't going to work. I got a little confused about which leg goes where, but I think you started by using your inside hooking leg again. Grab their belt or the bottom of their trousers with one of your arms.

Either way, you then turn your body slightly towards the trapped side, with the aim of moving them slightly up and away. Reach under them and grab their lower trouser leg. Push that leg across, so that you can then bring your outside leg over both of their legs. Now all you have to do is come up on your elbow, then swivel around to the top position.

During specific sparring from that position, I didn't have much luck on top to start with: I just ended up getting my back taken. Underneath I got very confused about which leg was supposed to go where, so it wasn't long before I got passed. I had a bit better luck the third time round, on top: I established tight head control by grabbing onto the gi after wrapping my arm under their head.

That seemed to give me enough control to maintain base, then pick my moment to kick my leg free and pass. Then again, people are still going easy on me due to the lingering knee injury (mostly recovered now, but I'm trying not to push it too much).

In free sparring, I started with one of the larger teens, so we had a relatively light roll. I was playing around with various things, like the arm wrap from guard (failed to maintain enough control over the arm), spider guard attacks (didn't pull them forward and break their posture when going for the triangle) and twisting arm control (too loose a grip on the arm: should put my body into it to help trap it).

With one of the blue belts around my size, I obviously had to be more careful. I again tried the lasso spider guard control, but I'm focusing far too heavily on going for that triangle. That meant that because he put his knee in the way, I was basically just getting a grip then staring at him, uncertain of what to do next. I need to revise my options from there, as I know there are plenty of sweeps, but my mind went blank when trying to think of them.

I eventually did release and pop up for the triangle, but as before, I hadn't sufficiently broken down their posture. That meant they could easily just raise up and pass. So, back to the old running escape posture. I've been using that to stall far too often, so I made sure to complete the motion this time, pushing off my leg and swivelling back to guard.

However, I'm doing something wrong, as each time I spun, they just passed straight away. Either I need to block them by pressing into the shoulder and bicep and hip, or possibly something else Saulo does which I'm forgetting. I'll rewatch the video. Still, good to get into the habit of trying to escape rather than just lying there waiting.

Next week I'm off to the Peak District, which means I'll be able to go visit some fellow bloggers. First up is Adam from Conceptual BJJ, although he hasn't posted in a long while (in fact, the blog may be gone entirely now, I'll have to ask): he's a brown belt, in charge of Factory BJJ in Stockport. Then on Wednesday, I'll be heading over to Manchester to check out Liam the Part Time Grappler's class. Should be cool!

15/04/2011 - RGA Aylesbury

Class #388
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, UK - 15/04/2011

I'm slowly getting back to normal training, as I again did most of the warm-up, except for the breakfalls and shrimping: I'm still not sure my knee is up to that. Tonight we were still working side control, which seems to be something I can mostly do as normal, especially on top (though my favoured step-over triangle is out for the moment, as that could definitely put strain on the knee).

Yas was off competing in the Abu Dhabi Pro today, having won the UK trials: from what I heard at class (though Kev still needs to confirm it), Yas managed to submit a black belt in her first match, then lost to another black belt in her second match. Pretty damn good going, considering that second black belt was already a purple belt Mundials medallist back when Yas had just started training. Hopefully there will be some videos later.

Technique from side control was the counterpoint to Yas' class on Sunday, as this time it was all attacks. Kev began with a kimura from side control, or at least that starts in side control: you generally finish it in north-south. Start in the orthodox side control, with an arm under their head, the other scooping up their far arm.

Remove the arm that was under their head, instead threading it through their far arm. It is important that you go under their wrist: if you somehow manage to get their hand stuck in your armpit or something like that, you're going to struggle to get this technique to function. To secure your grip, feed your gi collar to the threaded hand, cinching it in tight so their arm is stuck.

Next, move around to north-south, sitting on their head. Their trapped arm should be clamped to your shoulder, so that you can pull them up onto their side. Also be sure to slide your knee over their free arm, to stop them being able to create any kind of space. Put your own free hand in place by their wrist, ready to grab it.

However, don't let go yet, or they may wriggle out. Instead, turn your head: this will push your shoulder forward, and therefore also pry their arm forward too. Your hand is already there waiting, so now you can grab their wrist and establish the figure four. Making sure that you keep that arm stuck to your body throughout, apply the kimura by pushing on their wrist and turning.

Alternatively, you can also bring the elbow of your non-clamping arm to their trapped arm side. Turn your body towards their head, then apply the kimura from that lower position. I like to stay upright while sitting on their head, but the second option is equally viable. As Kev said, it comes down to preference.

If you make a mistake while looking to apply the kimura from that upright position, or they simply defend well, you might find that they are able to grab their own belt or gi. This will make it tough to complete the submission. So instead, you can switch to an armbar.

Bring your knee up on their trapped arm side. This will enable you to put your whole body into it when you turn towards their other side, which should break their grip. Make sure you keep that figure four grip, as it is about to prove useful. If possible, you also want to try and slip your foot into the armpit of their free arm, which again is to make it more difficult to stop their escape attempt.

Pinch your knees together to control their arm, in what is sometimes called a 'Japanese armbar' position (I'm not sure why: something from Japan, I guess? Or maybe Pancrase? Leave a comment if you know.) You don't have both your legs over their body, which means that the hitchhiker escape is a possibility. It's called that because they lead with their thumb pointing the way out, turning their body and walking around.

However, because you have that figure-four grip, they can't do that anymore. If they try to turn away, you can just apply the kimura. In order to relieve the pressure, they'll have to turn back. You can then drop back, switching your grip to finish the armbar as normal.

Specific sparring was with one of my fellow purple belts and long-time RGA Bucks training partner, Howard. Feels like a good while since I last sparred him, so it was good to experience his steady pressure game again (which is also the game I attempt to use as well). That means that he is an ideal person to spar when you're injured, because his style is always controlled.

On top, I was looking to stay tight, keeping my movements gradual and small. I was paying close attention to grips, where to shift my hand, and also see if I could isolate the far arm. At the same time, I was hoping to distract him by pressuring my weight on his arm and head, so that I could try and sneak a knee through into mount while he was thinking about that. However, Howard wasn't about to fall for that, so it ended up being a slow, tactical roll. Just the kind of thing I enjoy. :)

Underneath, I was missing the full use of my other leg, so bridging wasn't quite so easy, and I also found my usual efforts to hook and leg into half-guard was a little hampered too. Still, it wouldn't have made all that much difference, as most of the time I slipped into the running escape posture yet again. I need to be more careful of their arm getting through: Saulo does show a way of sitting up and swivelling out of that, but I couldn't remember the exact details.

Instead, I was working on wedging my elbow to remove the arm. That sort of worked, as Howard shifted to knee on belly, where again I wanted to keep driving with the elbow to make space. I should have walked forward more, to knock his knee off my side. I also needed to pop up my hips and swing through, as in the open guard drill we did last week, but I was nervous about my leg.

Another thing I must watch more carefully is when they pull out my gi or theirs in order to set up a choke. I could sense Howard was trying something, but my defence was a bit awkward, as I was mostly just shoving my arms in the way and trying to wriggle free.

Free sparring was similar, as I went with Howard for a further two rounds. Again, I kept getting into that running escape position. I also attempted to go for Braulio's escape a few times, where they have both arms over the far side. I still can't get that arm locked out and their balance disrupted. Chatting to Howard about it afterwards, I think I need to break their posture down more, so that they are not only being driven towards my legs, but also towards the floor. That Braulio video is another one I want to re-watch.

Howard was looking to take my back a few times when I was in the running escape or side control, especially when he managed to get some kind of twisting arm control (I think: can be hard to tell when you're on the receiving end). I made sure to hop over his second hook before he could establish it, though I feel like I'm missing something there. My hop was mostly just delaying things, rather than getting me fully out of danger.

My last roll was a relaxed spar with Stuart, my training partner from last week. That gave me a chance to play around with guard a bit, some practice holding mount and the inevitable chunk of time escaping side control. It is reassuring to know that there are plenty of people at RGA Bucks that can be trusted not to make things worse when you're coming back from an injury.

On a random note, the purple from either my belt or Howard's was running, so got a bit smeared across the bottom of my trousers due to sweat. I threw my gi straight in the washing machine after training (normally I hang it up and let the sweat dry out a bit, putting it in the wash the next day), so hopefully that will be enough to get rid of any smudges. After all, I only wear white gis, definitely not semi-purple ones! ;)

In media news, the second issue of Jiu Jitsu Style magazine is due to be released on the 21st of April. You can either order a print issue through the site, or the digital version on iTunes. That means wherever you are in the world, you can get your copy of JJS. As ever, lots of great stuff in there (I've read an advance copy), with Seymour, Meg and I all contributing pieces again. Cover features are interviews with Kyra Gracie and the mighty Jude Samuel, who happens to be the guy who promoted me to blue belt a few years back. :D

10/04/2011 - RGA Aylesbury Open Mat

Class #387
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Yasmine Wilson, Aylesbury, UK - 10/04/2011

The videos Yas produced with Black Eagle have now been joined by a series of counters, demonstrated by Kev. You can see all of their videos here, on the main Black Eagle site. As she won the Abu Dhabi Pro UK Trials a little while ago, Yas will also be jetting off to the Middle East to compete at the main event next week. So, very best of luck to her!

After the beginners class was over, it was time for the open mat, starting with a bit over an hour of 'skills and drills' led by Yas. This was essentially the great open guard routine that Kev has gone through a couple of times, with an addition. The open guard drill starts with you on your back. They're standing in front of you, to one side of your knees. Reach your far foot over to the inside of their leg, using that to square yourself up.

Next, they stand a bit further forward, by your hip. That's now too far to comfortable bring your far leg in to hook, so instead, put both hands on their leg and shrimp out. You should now be able to establish a hook with the far leg as before. I stopped at this point, as my knee was complaining again.

I also managed to aggravate the mat burn on my shoulders, which I somehow managed to do during shrimping at Mill Hill. It's been a while since I've done shrimping drills due to the knee injury, but still weird: can't remember that happening before. Probably didn't help that I kept on going, but it's only mat burn (or I guess gi burn in this case, as it was the inside of the gi causing the actual abrasion).

Moving on, the scenario becomes that they've passed your guard and established knee on belly. This is a little like the escape Saulo shows as part of the running escape series, except that you're not in the running escape posture. Push off their knee, stretching your outside leg directly away from you. Swivel and twist, so that your hips are up in the air, then roll back towards them, in order to re-establish guard.

There were then an additions to the last time I did this sequence, as they now walk around you, side-stepping in a circle. You're still in guard, but sitting up: following them round. At some point, either stop and let them come to your side, or wait until you aren't spinning enough to catch up with them. Once they are standing by your side, falling in the other direction, then roll to face them square on.

The skills and drills finished with the same specific sparring I'm used to from the last time. It is all open guard, beginning by using just your legs: your hands are tucked into your belt. I didn't trust my knee enough for that, so just stayed in the top position, slowly walking around in a circle to give Stuart some resistance.

Next you can use one of your hands. I thought that would be ok for the knee, so joined in fully this time. Passing was interesting, as I could collapse into top half guard and move around. As they don't have a second hand to block, it is probably easier for the top person in this drill. While I don't have the second hand either, weight and gravity makes up for it.

Underneath was ok too, as I could move into either Xande open guard, or just spider guard with one leg, swivelling around to follow. Again, I couldn't go for any sweeps with just one leg, though I did find myself moving into a triangle again out of habit (no twinges this time, though, which was either due to loosening up, or I just didn't feel it).

Finally, it was full sparring from open guard, so no restrictions on hands or feet. My passing, as usual, was terrible. Even without the excuse of a knee injury, I really, really suck at passing open guard. Stuart swept me over a few times with x-guard: I attempted to base out on my head and see if I could twist back into the top position, but that wasn't too successful. Probably would have been just as ineffective if I could use both legs properly, though it's kinda fun to try and breakdance your way out of a sweep. ;)

It was a rather small class today, probably due to the good weather. That's a rarity in England, so people tend to whip out their barbecues and/or head to the park. I don't get especially excited over sunshine, so it's not something I'd ever use as a reason to skip training (if I ever skip training, it is more normally things like my gf wanting to do something together, as she's always my top priority :D).

10/04/2011 - RGA Aylesbury

Class #386
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Yasmine Wilson, Aylesbury, UK - 10/04/2011

Kev was taking his son to a judo tournament today, so Yas took the class. Which was cool, as I haven't been taught by a woman before. Even better, she went through one of my favourite set of techniques, escaping side control. The first escape was the basic guard recovery. Bridge into them, insert your knee, then square up and slip your leg around them to re-establish guard.

I was also fortunate today in that I had a particularly helpful drilling partner, a recent blue belt called Stuart. He was just as keen as I was to work on the details: for the guard recovery, we were interested in the best posture to retain the guard as you square back up. The important point is to prevent them moving past your knee and re-establishing side control. I would normally put both hands on their shoulder (on the passing side) to prevent that.

However, as Yas showed, you can also grab their arm and pull them forward, so that their posture is broken. They also can't then push down on your knee to begin the pass. A third option that came up during drilling was to combine the two, grabbing their collar but making your hand into a fist, pushing your knuckles against their shoulder. With your other hand, you can grab their arm, again to stop them controlling your knee. That would also enable you to move into attacks from guard.

Speaking of attacks, Yas then showed how to go for an armbar from under side control. This was reminiscent of the Braulio technique, though leaning towards an escape rather than a full-on submission attempt. If they try to move into underhooking your far arm as you bridge and shrimp, you can try bringing your hips up and getting your leg over their head. That means you can then progress into an armbar attempt. Most likely they'll be able to get their arm free, but it is then a simple matter for you to adjust your leg position, transitioning to open guard.

Finally, Yas went through the escape to knees. This is something I still don't try often enough, and when I do, it isn't with enough conviction. Generally what happens is that I'll turn to my knees and grab their legs. However, they'll get one free, then I'll end up either turtled with them going for my back, or the usual running escape survival posture.

Yas suggested that if you lose your grip on one of their legs, you can simply switch your head to the side you're still controlling, then proceed to drive through that way instead. Stuart also mentioned that the wrestler's sit-out is another good option, especially if you already have something of a frame due to your head position.

Like on Friday, my knee seemed to last through the warm-up, although I decided against testing it for the breakfalls and shrimping. I hadn't rolled with Stuart before today, so I wasn't sure about his control, but decided to give it a go during the specific sparring from side control.

Turned out to be a good decision, as Stuart was careful not to jar my knee or yank on that leg. So, I was able to practice my control from the top, looking to switch my arms and move round to north-south, along with scarf hold. I had a brief go at the far arm, but as ever had trouble isolating it (though I'm remembering to use my head, which is something I want to improve: handy third limb once you have the technique down).

Underneath, I gave the head switch a try when turning to my knees. It worked, but Stuart was going pretty light, so I imagine he could have sprawled or otherwise scuppered the attempt if he wasn't watching out for the injured knee. I also got tempted to try for a triangle at one point: my knee soon let me know that wasn't a good idea, so I stopped after I felt a slight twinge (though given I'm very cautious by nature, hard to know if that was actually a twinge, or if I'm being a hypochondriac and imagining things).

I also did my usual running escape, and also tried another one I've been attempting intermittently for a while now, having seen a Braulio video on the topic. When they have both their arms over, the idea is to grab behind their elbow, lock out your arm, then sit up and roll them. I struggle to sit up, and also don't feel I ever have enough control over them.

However, trying it with Stuart, then asking afterwards, I think I've been missing something fundamental: they can just switch their other arm to block. So, I just need to grab that arm as well and pull it towards me, then go for the escape. Re-watching the video, I can see that Braulio doesn't grab Norbi's other arm, but seems to have it trapped underneath him, achieving the same result. He's also more into the armpit than the elbow, which I find more difficult to control.

Another side control escape I keep failing to get is one I first saw quite a while ago, the 'shin-in-elbow trick' from Strategic Guard (I've got a picture of it on the review). Looking at that scan, I think I was using the correct shin to start with, but thought I wasn't, so unnecessarily switched.

08/04/2011 - De la Riva at Mill Hill

Class #385
RGA Mill Hill, (BJJ), Nick Brooks, Mill Hill, UK - 08/04/2011

I had intended to train in Bristol last week, but annoyingly I picked up some kind of virus. So, that ruled out BJJ, as I didn't want to pass that around the rest of the academy (it irritates me when people come in sniffling and coughing: if you know you're ill with something infectious, don't train!)

That meant I would have to wait until April to get back on the mats. For an upcoming issue of Jiu Jitsu Style, Nick Brooks generously arranged an interview with Ricardo de la Riva, who is visiting the UK for a couple of seminars. Even more generously, Nick also invited me down to train beforehand at the Mill Hill academy. Packing my dictaphone (or rather, my gf's dictaphone), I jumped on the train to London.

It has been almost three months since I hurt my knee, so I decided it was time to see if it could cope with a warm-up. The knee didn't complain during running round the room or shrimping, so it must be on the road to recovery. I'm still wary of sparring, but that's not a problem as long as I have sensible, considerate training partners.

Technique today was based around the flower sweep. Nick began with a straightforward method, beginning by grabbing both their sleeves. Release one of your grips and grab their same side trouser leg. Still on that side, kick your leg up into their armpit, aiming to break their posture and knock them diagonally forwards.

Continue pushing with your leg, pulling on their sleeve and lifting with that grip on their pant leg. That should enable you to roll through into mount. If they base out with a hand, you can take the opportunity to move into a triangle, bringing the leg on their basing side to curl around their head. Push them to the other side with that leg, then lock up the triangle.

You can also use different grips when you start. The orthodox version is to grab one sleeve (stopping their attempt to base out), then with your other hand, grab the opposite pant leg. However, you can also grab a sleeve, using your elbow and forearm to clamp down on their other wrist, trapping it in place (which again stops them using it to base out). On the same side as your grip, grab their pant leg, then proceed with the technique as before.

Finally, you can try a slightly different tactic from the same position. Establish your grips and go for the flower sweep. However, after you've kicked up into their armpit, you're going to swivel 180 degrees, then straighten that leg. At the same time, pull on their trouser leg straight backwards (rather than lifting up, as before).

This should flatten them out, so you end up alongside them, reaching over their body to immobilise their torso, ready to move into an omoplata. Normally, you would lean over to their opposite shoulder as if whispering in their ear to apply the submission. Nick showed a slightly different variation, where making sure your leg is over their shoulder, your head goes to their opposite hip instead. Twist your hips up for the shoulder lock.

Sparring was down to Nick, who like Kev pairs people up. As he knew about my knee, he started me off with a green belt. Children are useful if you've got an injury, as they're so light that it is unlikely they're going to power into some awkward movement that jars whatever joint you've hurt. It also meant I could stay very relaxed, leaving openings to see what he did, while also looking to concentrate purely on technique.

Next up was an entirely different prospect, the mighty Dan Strauss, fresh off his impressive victory at Submission 1000 (despite the fact that the tournament included several black and brown belts, purple belt Dan was able to win the whole thing). He took it easy on my knee, but given he is such a high level purple, that still meant he totally dominated me. I couldn't do anything except flop around defending.

No doubt if he'd been going full force, I would have spent the whole time tapping. However, as Dan was being nice, I mainly got a good work out due to all the spinning and twisting of my escape attempts. He also had some advice on escaping triangles, after he caught me with an americana from his guard.

I had been looking to create some kind of frame with my arm, as he had established a solid high mount and was in the process of locking in the triangle. I put my hand on my head as he rolled to guard in order to finish, hoping to wriggle my elbow back and slip my arm free. Instead, he simply twisted my arm to the side for a submission.

Dan suggested that instead, I should have grabbed his knee, driven it to the floor and then worked from there to get free. Alternatively, I could have tucked my chin to make some space, stand up, then use my knee to pry my head and arm free.

My training partner from the earlier drilling was next, Cho, a friendly white belt. Yet again, I went to the Xande open guard to avoid using my injured leg, which is mostly where we stayed (especially as, like everyone else, Cho was being careful of my left knee). Last up was a tall blue belt, who also stayed light. I got stuck in z-guard a few times, and was trying to push his knees together and to the mat. However, that mostly seemed to just present a chance for them to attack my neck, so I still need lots of work to get that pass right.

De la Riva was teaching a private at the time, before moving into a photoshoot with fellow blogger Meerkatsu, who trains at Mill Hill. It is always cool to meet internet friends in the real world: I've trained with Seymour a number of times now, but it's been a while. Once Seymour had finished off his camerawork, it was my turn to put that dictaphone to use.

Thanks to David Soares kindly acting as translator, I was able to have a forty minute chat with de la Riva (I checked on the capitalisation with the man himself, in case you've ever wondered how to write his surname). Our conversation should be popping up in Issue 3 of Jiu Jitsu Style, once I've typed it up and edited it down to the requisite length.

Clint was also there: I first met him last time I trained at Mill Hill. He is in the process of raising some money for charity, as part of the fight against cancer. Clint is planning to wear a bright pink gi, also sporting a fetching pink mohawk: if you'd like to sponsor him, check out his page.