30/08/2012 - Teaching (Triangle Finish with Small Person Details)

Teaching #070
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 30/08/2012

At 5'7 and around 66kg, I'm fairly small. My legs are short. I've never been good at triangles. However, I don't blame that on the fact that I'm small: it is true that triangles are easier if you have long legs, but it does not mean that they can't be done if you're small. It simply means you have to be more accurate and make good use of angles.

In this lesson, I wanted to discuss the finish to a triangle from closed guard. At all times you want to have some kind of control over their head, most commonly grabbing it with one or both hands. If their head is free, they can posture up, which will make it much harder to apply the submission and help them begin to escape. Gripping higher on the head is preferable, like a thai clinch. If you hold by their neck, it isn't wrong, but they can generate more force when they pull up to resist your hold.

You also need to have your leg right across the back of their neck. If it is part way down their back, then you are no longer pressing into their neck: their body will get in the way. Similarly, your other leg does not want to be obstructed by their body. You therefore don't want to see their shoulder: try and get your leg past it. If they have a lot of shoulder inside your legs, that's a chance for them to drive forward and dig out some room to breathe.

Never lock over your toes. If your leg is locked on your toes, they have a chance to knock your leg off and you're also in danger of injuring your ankle. If you're shorter like me, you will most likely need to adjust to get your legs locked. To do that, the easiest method is to push off their hip with your locking leg foot. Be careful that you don't give them space to escape when you do that. Ryan Hall, whose DVD set on the triangle is probably the most thorough on the market, doesn't like to unlock his legs at all, but then he has long legs.

For shorter people, you can maintain control when opening your legs by squeezing the knee of your hip leg inwards while also grabbing your neck leg shin with your hand. If you want you could put your foot on the floor rather than their hip (if so, it is even more important to keep your leg tight to them), but that opens up even more space for them to pull their arm out.

Having locked the triangle, you now have two main options for completing the choke. The traditional way is to squeeze your abductors. At this point, you might also want to raise your hips and/or pull down on their head. Other little details that can help are pulling your toes back to tense your calves, meaning more pressure on their carotid arteries. Angling your locking leg outwards can also help increase that pressure, a nifty tip Mike Fowler demonstrates on How To Master the Triangle Choke for the Average Joe. That used to be sold here, but that was back when Fowler was still under TLI, a team you most definitely do not want to support given the horrible situation there.

The other main option, which again comes from Ryan Hall, is to instead use what he calls the 'stomp and curl' method. The reason for his preference is that this uses larger muscle groups than the abductor squeeze method. First, he attains a perpendicular angle, meaning he is looking at his opponent's ear rather than their face. From there, he can now kick forwards with his neck leg (the stomp) while pulling down with his locking leg (the curl).

That perpendicular angle is good for smaller people too, because it means it is harder for the opponent to stack you, because you aren't straight on. The easiest way to get the angle is hooking under their free arm then grabbing around your own knee. This also has the advantage of clamping you in place: should they try to square back up, you'll stay where you are as they move. There's a second benefit too in that they can no longer use that arm to create a frame by linking their hands, which they could otherwise use to press into your hips and make space.

You can also grab right under their body and link your hands, though it is unlikely you'll be able to get to that extreme position. Hooking under their leg is another option, but normally you won't have the space to do that. However, it is important to remember the leg grabbing option. That is the best way to stop yourself from being slammed when triangling, so should you want to use a triangle in a situation where slamming might take place, it would be very advisable to hook a leg. Otherwise, you might get Rampage slammed (see gif...).

Another point where Hall differs from most instructors is that he does not emphasise bringing their trapped arm across the body. The orthodox method is to lift up your hips, then pull their arm over. Hall repeatedly states that this isn't necessary, because you're choking them with their shoulder, not the lower part of their arm. He demonstrates how you can still choke them even if their arm is on the other side. Still, it isn't 'wrong' to bring the arm across, particularly if you are going for a choke where you're square-on, as per the traditional method. The point Hall makes is that you should never prioritise pulling the arm across rather than controlling the head.

I finished off the lesson with a couple of other small person variations for finishing the triangle. As I mentioned, often a smaller person will find themselves getting stacked, particularly if you are square on. However, as Renzo teaches, even with that style of triangle you can submit a larger opponent. The key is preventing them from driving into you and curling your body. Renzo's method is to brace his arms against his knee and shin. Should they continue to drive forward, all they are doing is extending themselves, which makes it easier for you to choke them.

BJ Penn teaches something similar, which he refers to as the 'triangle sprawl out'. This time, instead of straight-arming into your own leg, you're going to wriggle back, then come up on your elbows and finally your hands. From here, keep moving backwards until they are almost lying down in front of you, making sure your triangle lock around their head is still tight. To apply the submission, drive your legs down as your lean your upper body forwards.

Generating that habit of moving backwards to stop yourself being crunched up is a good habit in general for the triangle, whether or not you're going for the Renzo or BJ Penn finishes above. It is less of an issue if you have attained a perpendicular angle, but sometimes you might find you need to shoulder-walk back in order to get the space to create that angle.

28/08/2012 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Entering & Finishing the Triangle)

Class #466
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 28/08/2012

More work on the triangle tonight, beginning with entries. From guard, grab one of their collars with both hands, then pull them in with both your arms and your legs. As soon as their posture is broken, grip their armpit on that collar side with your opposite hand (so, you'll have a grip over their back). Shrimp out slightly, then you're going to get inside their arm, again on that collar side. If there is some space between their elbow and your side, insert your elbow and hook your hand around their bicep. If not, slide your hand under from the outside, then swim it inside to grab the bicep.

Next, wedge your knee behind, then scrape their arm over your knee, until you can bring your leg through: you want to end up with your knee fairly high. Take hold of their wrist, then swivel your leg around their arm, bringing that leg into their neck. You may need to shrimp out slightly more to help with that motion. Raise up your hips and push their arm across to the neck leg side, then lock that arm in place with your same side elbow.

Hold your shin with your free hand, which also means you push off their hip with your other leg. This will swivel your body round so that you're now looking at their ear. Lock the back of your other leg over the neck leg, pull your toes back and angle out the leg, then squeeze for the finish. Dónal doesn't like to pull on the neck, as this can cause strain: very understandable approach from somebody with long-standing neck issues and a good safety reminder in general. :)

In sparring, we started off with the 'jiu jitsu chess' flow roll. Each person is allowed two moves, then the other person has a go. Even more than a typical flow roll, this allows you to play with techniques you might not normally attempt, as it puts you into unusual positions. For example, I ended up doing a sweep from turtle into a kneebar, which I would never normally do in sparring. Also more messing about with inverted guard, armbars under side control and various techniques that generally aren't part of my game but fun to play with in drills like this.

When that then progressed to free sparring with Dónal, I was mainly concentrating on bracing my arms into his shoulders and hips to prevent him passing. When I had a chance to try and pass, I kept that experimental mindset from the chess drill and ended up pulling the tail of his gi tight against his leg, to see if that would help. It didn't particularly lead to anything, but meh, fun to test out the possibilities. I also briefly had a go at my favoured tripod sweep without much luck.

Next up was a white belt, where I attempted the triangle set-ups we'd learned, but I didn't control his posture properly. I was too loose when switching to the cross choke and then armbar, finally shifting into an omoplata, where I didn't control his back quick enough meaning he could roll out. Still, following him up that did at least mean I could then spin into side control and slide through to mount, which is where we spent the rest of the roll.

I was fiddling with an ezequiel choke, but failed to get it in smoothly. My hand was across, but I didn't think I could finish it without crudely digging into his windpipe, so let go and looked for something else. I should review my notes on the Roger choke at some point, as now that I seem to be getting better at maintaining mount (at least on people around my size), it's time I worked more on those fundamental attacks.

27/08/2012 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Basic Pendulum & Triangle)

Class #465
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Nicolai 'Geeza' Holt, Bristol, UK - 27/08/2012

Another big class this Monday, though a couple of people short of the biggest ever last week. Self defence was the technical stand-up, blocking their kicking leg (which is normally the one they have back) by putting your elbow to your knee, kicking into their other knee with your free leg. Last time we did this one I forgot which side to kick, which I may have done again this week: Geeza did mention that my partner was doing it wrong, but from what I could tell he seemed to be following the same drill as everyone else. Still, very possibly I could have missed something, as self defence training makes your eyes glaze over. ;p

Next up was the basic pendulum sweep. Grab both their sleeves, just behind the elbow: Geeza recommended gripping the seam to take out slack. They then try to stand up. As soon as they raise a knee, swivel towards that side and underhook that leg with your same side arm. Still on the same side, kick your leg up into their armpit to knock them over while lifting with your arm. As you come up, remember to curl the other leg back so you don't throw them onto it: otherwise, you'll get stuck while trying to shift into mount.

That was followed by the triangle from guard, which Geeza wants us to keep working for the next two weeks. That should prove interesting for me, as my triangles are rubbish: so, good opportunity for me to take another look at them, given it's something I hardly ever use. Given this was the first lesson of triangle fortnight, Geeza kept things very basic. They have one arm in and one arm out. Lock your feet and grab their head to break their posture (Geeza said that this is the only time he laces his fingers together, as he feels that's the strongest grip to use in this situation).

Swivel to their free arm side, adjusting your legs if you need to. To finish the choke, Geeza prefers the Ryan Hall method, where you're kicking into their neck using your quads, rather than squeezing your abductors together. Hall talks about this at length on his DVDs: his perspective is that you should be using the most powerful muscles in your legs, rather than comparatively weedy ones, which makes sense.

There wasn't any time for sparring, but then it is only an hour class, so that's not surprising as self defence etc takes up a good bit of time.

Video Review - Becoming A Giant Killer (Dan Faggella)

Warning: Dan Faggella has been repeatedly accused of shady business practices (e.g., here), such as hidden charges and resubscribing people who have specifically unsubscribed from his mailing lists. Think carefully before you sign up to any of his products.

Short Review: In this video, brown belt Dan Faggella shares his tournament strategy for fighting larger opponents. It isn't ideal for beginners, as that strategy involves lots of heel hooks and toe holds, but it should provide the smaller competitor with some useful ideas. Faggella's game relies upon mobility and speed, so if you prefer a pressure-based, patient approach, look elsewhere. Faggella told me that his instructional will be available here as a download for around $70, though that isn't yet finalised.

Full Review: Dan Faggella is currently a brown belt under Alexandre Soca. That automatically means the question of rank is sure to come up in any prospective buyer's mind. There have been a few instructionals I can think of when a brown belt has produced a notable contribution to the market (for example, Shoyoroll founder Vince Quitugua's Lost Techniques of the Half Guard), but it is comparatively rare. Faggella does appear to have a decent competitive record, which again demonstrates just how useful it is to have that straightforward method of bolstering credibility. Danaher is among a very select group of instructors who have no need of an impressive list of tournament victories to enhance their reputation

Since the early 2000s, the number of instructionals by top black belts has rapidly grown, so for a brown belt to break into that market, they have to either be incredibly good or come up with a unique angle. This particular video is aimed at the smaller grappler looking for an approach to dealing with larger opposition. I presume it is based on Faggella's website, MicroBJJ.com, which has a strong Lloyd Irvin marketing vibe (not to my personal taste, but it's become a widespread approach). [Update Aug 2013: Since the start of this year, there have been some very unpleasant revelations surrounding that team, here, further putting me off the already distasteful marketing approach]. Again, that remit is going to bring up another question for most potential customers: how does Faggella's video stack up to the Stephan Kesting and Emily Kwok release, How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent?

Kesting and Kwok are both well-established black belts: like Roy Dean, Kesting's reputation has been founded in large part on his high quality DVDs. Therefore I'm going to be mentioning that DVD more than once in the course of this review. It's especially pertinent, as Kesting is about to release a follow-up to that series, covering the same theme but this time enlisting black belt Brandon Mullins rather than Emily Kwok.

Faggella's chosen title, Becoming A Giant Killer, is certainly snappier than Kesting's, which is blandly descriptive. It is also about half the listed price, though at under two hours, Becoming A Giant Killer is much shorter than Kesting and Kwok's five-DVD set, which clocks in at over seven hours: the next series with Mullins is due to be ten hours, though I imagine the cost will therefore be higher.

Faggella helpfully provided me with a link to download his videos (from what he told me, this is also how he will sell them in future), which is certainly a lot more convenient than getting them posted, though I'm not sure if these are the final versions. At several points in the video, Faggella walks over to the camera to fiddle with equipment, chats to his cameraman and goes to check his notes. I would assume that this is therefore a pre-release version, but if not, then those unprofessional segments definitely need to be edited out.

There is also a lack of replays and rarely more than one angle. That's an unusual omission, as it has become fairly standard in instructionals. It can be redundant to repeatedly run through the move, but being able to see the technique from several perspectives is always useful. The position of a heel or a particular grip can often be obscured if the technique is demonstrated from a single angle. Blue Belt Requirements is the best example I've seen of how it should be done: for every technique, Roy Dean finished by running through the whole sequence from at least four different angles.

Faggella has also chosen to show the techniques purely nogi. For some people that's a bonus, but in my case, it always makes me wonder about collar chokes, especially with techniques that expose the neck by moving the hands lower down the body (such as on certain mount escapes). However, my preference is very heavily the gi, so that's not going to be an issue if you prefer to train without the jacket.

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The first video is a little over fifty-four minutes long. Faggella is an articulate instructor, often drawing upon his knowledge of kinesiology, a subject in which he holds a degree. He begins with a section on escapes, choosing the position which many will tell you is the toughest to escape: side control (slightly under nine minutes). He starts off by demonstrating an escape to half guard, in order to move into the dogfight (I have to admit, that's an example of Eddie Bravo coming up with helpful terminology) or deep half. I'd generally prefer to move back into closed guard, but as Faggella will make abundantly clear later, he is not a big fan of that position.

That's followed by what Faggella calls the 'lotus escape'. As soon as there is space, he brings in his knees to switch into guard. The last escape is dubbed an 'ejection', for when they have both arms over to the far side. The key appears to be pushing and wriggling, which looks a bit odd at first glance, but certainly worth a try for a smaller person. Speaking from experience, I know that it is easier for a small grappler to find the gaps when their opponent is much bigger.

Next up is roughly ten minutes on escaping the mount. Faggella likes to use a frame against their hips to shoulder walk out of high mount, which I've been shown by other instructors too. It's a legitimate option, but personally makes me a bit nervous due to exposing the neck: still, he's in good company, as Kwok shows it on her DVD too. Like Kwok, Faggella then demonstrates my own personal favourite way to get out of mount, the heel drag. It's by far my highest percentage escape.

I was a lot less keen on the following escape, as it's all about transitioning into a heel hook. To be fair, for nogi, that isn't quite as unusual as for gi, but I still can't help wanting to see big flashing red letters warning the viewer of the danger. Of course, not everybody finds the heel-hook's knee-exploding properties as frightening as I do: Roy Dean has long included that submission on his DVDs, even when the material is directed at beginners.

For the squeamish, Faggella also notes that the same position can be used to switch into a basic x-guard sweep, where you stand up while trapping their leg against your shoulder. The last mount escape is the 'ejection' method he discussed earlier in side control, so essentially it's an elbow escape.

Moving on from escapes, Faggella then spends a little under nine minutes on the guard, from the perspective of seeing guard as a platform for making space. Faggella evaluates what he calls 'movement potential' in order to assess preferred guards. His aim is to stay aggressive, mobile and active, which is the complete opposite of my game. His discussion turns out to be an introductory pre-amble, as this section is not so much about that active guard as what to do if you get stuck into a position where mobility is difficult.

The first technique relates to getting trapped in butterfly guard, then some details on bottom half guard: these are both fairly brief, at around two and a half minutes each. Finding himself in closed guard, Faggella aims to get back to open guard as soon as possible, bouncing his thighs against his opponent to achieve that transition.

Twelve minutes of guard passing comes up next, where again Faggella emphasises mobility and speed. I felt he was a bit too quick to discount the less dynamic methods of passing the guard. Faggella describes them as the 'steamroller' option, which isn't quite accurate. I would define it as using leverage and weight distribution to maximise the pressure, which is developed with experience rather than strength and size. It isn't necessarily a case of force against force.

Nevertheless, Faggella does of course have a point, which is that a quick, 'dancing' game can be a good strategy for a smaller person coming up against a much larger opponent. From a competitive perspective, this makes even more sense, as if you're an avid competitor, you're probably fit and agile enough to maintain that pace. I'm not fit or agile and I'm also not interested in competition: my goal is longevity, so a fast-paced approach doesn't make sense in my case. However, I don't think I'm the target audience for this instructional, so that isn't surprising.

Faggella is fond of the front headlock position, part of his route to the back. This is a running theme throughout the instructional. Rather than holding the typical dominant top positions like side control and mount, Faggella looks to get to the back as quickly as possible. His reasoning is that as a smaller person, you're liable to get thrown off the mount or side control, whereas the back is a more reliable option.

The leg drag pass is another example, which as Faggella mentions has been popularised by the successes of the Atos team in recent years. Rather than passing to side control, he moves directly to the back, even when it looks as if side control is there for the taking.

Although he apparently is not keen on the top position, Faggella does include another twelve minutes on maintaining side control and mount. He advises against the orthodox side control where you grip under their neck and armpit then link hands, dubbed the 'super-hold' by Xande on his set. Instead, Faggella prefers to grab the neck and drive in with his shoulder. Kwok does something comparable in her DVD, although in her case she has the gi collar to help increase the pressure.

He follows up with a transition to north-south, then some helpful hints on breaking the classic beginner death lock, where they clasp their hands behind your back. This is generally a bad idea from their point of view, because having both arms around the back when on the bottom of side control makes them vulnerable to submission. Nevertheless, it can be annoying when somebody particularly big and strong tries that grip. So, Faggella demonstrates how you can break their grip by hooking around an arm, bracing your other forearm by their neck, then driving your shoulder forwards.

There is another simple solution to a second common 'beefy beginner' reaction, this time when they try to bench press you off of side control. Go with the motion and move into knee on belly, which in Faggella's case is an opportunity to get that front headlock and spin to the back. He specifically advises against keylocks from side control, as he feels that requires too much strength.

Finally, he also shows how you can take the back from side control if they attempt to turn in either direction. Should they turn towards you, that front headlock comes in handy again, whereas if they turn away, cup the shoulder and hip, then look to shoot a leg under to take the back (e.g., if they're going for Saulo's running escape).

The second video (just over fifty-six minutes) kicks off with some strategies from the feet, beginning with a couple of single leg attacks. However, Faggella also notes that he frequently pulls guard too, though he insists that it is not a 'passive' guard. Instead, he looks to pull guard right into a submission or sweep, with leg locks acting as an especially useful entry. If he misses the leg lock, he can switch to x-guard and look for sweeps and taking the back.

At several points he refers to his own competition footage. It would have been a nice touch if rather than directing the viewer to YouTube he was able to insert the relevant bit of footage right into this video. That's something that was done to good effect way back in the day by Renzo Gracie and Craig Kukuk on their 1994 instructional, then more recently by Rener and Ryron on Gracie Combatives. Roy Dean does it as well, on No Gi Essentials.

Faggella continues with another eight minutes on top strategy. As before, he includes a lengthy disclaimer, including how he feels cross choke finishes from the mount for a smaller person are "ridiculously unlikely." After a few points on hooking the head and using your feet to maintain mount, he quickly switches to knee on belly. He then demonstrates yet another back take: it's a good strategy, working off the gift wrap from technical mount.

Next up is leg locks, the longest section so far, clocking in at fourteen minutes. For this Faggella puts on some gi trousers, presumably to make it easier to distinguish his limbs from his uke, which is a considerate touch. Faggella feels that there is a hierarchy for smaller grapplers using leg locks: he prefers heel hooks and toe holds to kneebars and achilles locks, because he feels that a larger opponent could power out of the latter two.

There is a bit too much sitting and talking at this point, but that's a trait common to quite a few instructionals, including one of my favourites, Saulo's Jiu Jitsu Revolution. It is also worth emphasising at this point that Becoming A Giant Killer would not be a good choice for beginners, given that emphasis on heel hooks and toe holds. Although you can use those in some nogi tournaments even as a beginner, I wouldn't recommend anybody get too heavily into leg locks until you've developed a reasonable level of control, something that only comes with time and experience.

To introduce his closing segments on submissions, Faggella yet again makes it clear that he does not like closed guard, whether or not he is sparring people his own size. Even so, he notes that you will regularly end up there, meaning it is important to have a decent understanding of the next steps. To attack from guard, Faggella advises that you avoid becoming scrunched up, using the example of an armbar from guard.

If you have your knee by your face, then it will be easier for them to stack you, making it tough to finish the submission. If instead you create some space by stretching them out, then even if they stack you, there should be enough leverage to complete your attack. Similarly with the triangle, it's important to generate distance, this time from walking your shoulders back, then angling off.

Faggella then discusses a central concept for submission, which is isolating a small area, such as the neck. This is something Kwok talks about too How To Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent. Faggella states that you should not rely upon any attack that involves holding down or immobilising a bigger opponent. Like Kwok, he shows the north-south choke, along with a guillotine. Both attacks isolate the neck, especially the former, where you're dropping your entire body weight back to get the choke.

There is some more advice against going for keylocks – Faggella suggests going for the back or a near side armbar instead – along with a couple of other submission options, like the near side guillotine from side control. He finishes off his instructional with an unusual attack he says is known as the 'honeymoon', perhaps so called because you're lying down alongside your partner.

If you are a smaller grappler interested in competition and also fairly athletic and agile, then this instructional will provide you with a game plan for entering the absolute division: you'll be able to buy it here. Faggella has apparently used these techniques successfully himself when competing against larger opponents, so it may be worth checking out his YouTube channel to see if it is the kind of game you'd like to incorporate into your own. It isn't the sort of approach I would take, but then I'm neither a competitor nor athletic.

Warning: Dan Faggella has been repeatedly accused of shady business practices (e.g., here), such as hidden charges and resubscribing people who have specifically unsubscribed from his mailing lists. Think carefully before you sign up to any of his products.

23/08/2012 - Teaching (Basic Back Escapes)

Teaching #069
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 23/08/2012

Before I start, I just wanted to congratulate two old training partners of mine, Yas Wilson and Sahid Khamlichi. Yas has been tearing up the female competition scene for the last couple of years, establishing herself as among the best women in the UK. She even fought at the ADCC last year. There's no question she's at the brown belt level. It's also really cool to see more higher ranked women in this country - we're up to two black belt women in the UK so far, IIRC, a group Yas will no doubt be joining in a year or two. :)

Sahid got his purple belt the same day I did. However, we are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum: he had been smashing people at every competition he entered and then went on to win yet more medals at his new belt shortly after receiving it, whereas as I felt (and still feel) like a mediocre blue belt. So, I'm not at all surprised to see that a little over a year after getting his purple, Sahid is now a Roger Gracie brown belt. Very well deserved! :D

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In the back position, your opponent is frequently going to begin by trying to attack your neck. Protecting your neck is therefore a priority. In order to choke you, they need to block off both sides of your neck. That will normally use either your gi (e.g., sliding choke), their gi (e.g., ezequiel choke), your arms (e.g., arm triangle) or their arms (e.g., rear naked choke). Therefore you have to be aware of all four of them: note their grips, if they're trying to pull their gi across, if they're attempting to thread an arm through yours, and most obviously, if they are attempting to drive their arm under your chin.

As with any escape, you need to stay tight. Keep your elbows in, using your hands to cover your neck. There are numerous schools of thought on just how to do that: clamping your hands to both sides of your neck (which I learned as the 'Shirley Temple' defence), crossing your hands over your neck, grabbing both your collars, and Saulo's method of just grabbing one collar, keeping the other hand free to block.

Saulo's back escape starts by putting a thumb inside your opposite collar, using your other hand to block their hands. You then do what Saulo calls a 'big scoop', shifting your upper body down and your hips forwards. Next, kick out one of your legs to clear their hook (you may also need to nudge it with your elbow), then drop your other elbow down past their other leg and turn. You need to be careful here that they can't re-establish their second hook: block it with your elbow and knee if they try.

If you're a bit late and they've already got an arm across your neck, fall towards the open side, as if you were reclining on a couch (if you fall the other way, you're helping them get the choke. You also want to turn your head towards their elbow to relieve pressure. Both Saulo and his brother Xande suggest that when you fall to the side, you want to be lying on their knee (Saulo suggests just below the knee), as that will stop them shifting to mount or re-establishing their back control. From there, Xande adds the detail of turning your hips to clear their hook.

Step your leg over, using that as a base to shrimp out. Grab their other trouser leg, to prevent them from moving through to mount as you try to escape. Keep shrimping in order to clear their leg, aiming to either re-establish guard, or continue to shift your hips back into their armpit until you can switch to side control. Make sure that you are still being careful of your neck, as that is always a danger from back mount. Saulo mentions that you could use your free arm to stop them sneaking their other arm around, though generally when escaping the back, he emphasises that it is your hands that do the defensive work rather than your arms.

23/08/2012 - Yoga

Class #003
Link House, (Yoga), Kate Rowland, Bristol, UK - 23/08/2012

Second session with Kate: a couple more people made it who weren't there last time. She was also able to fit more stuff in, as there was no long talk at the start. To start us off, Kate ran us through that same standing pose, bringing the toes in. Begin by lifting your toes off the floor, big toes down, then little toes, followed by the rest. It feels a little strange at first, as if your knees are twisted inwards, but you eventually get used to the sensation.

As before, we breathed in while we raised our arms up, then out as they came down, before reversing the process for the next drill. Kate progressed to another pose from last time, where you're doing a sort of light lunge, turning to face the wall with your arms out. Lean to your right, but staying 'long' rather than crunching up your side. Bend as far as you can, keeping your head in line, not bending forwards or backwards or to the side.

After that Kate brought in some new material, all related to balance. The first one was the 'tree', where you put one foot on your calf and balance (e.g., Ian Anderson without the flute). The yoga mat I was using belongs to my girlfriend and handily has a pattern, so I could help maintain my balance by starting intently at one of the blobs. That's an old trick I first learned back in ZSK, where we also often did balancing postures (I can't actually remember why we did them: strengthening the legs, I guess? It's been a long time...)

Next was the 'awkward' pose, which Kate described as sitting in an invisible chair. It's a bit like a squat, but with your arms straight forward. The final pose was much tougher, as you didn't have you hands for balance. It's called the 'eagle pose', but strangely the 'wings' are not spread, which is what makes this harder. Hug yourself, keeping your elbows high. Bring your arms up, so that the backs of your hands touch each other. This is supposed to be like wings.

You then wrap one leg around the outside of the other, bending a little with your legs. Kate suggested we go near a wall for this in case we needed it for balance. We dutifully headed over, but as it turned out, everybody managed to avoid face-planting into the carpet. I think the next session may be the last, as Kate's teacher is coming up to observe (presumably she's getting marked on it, unless it is some kind of final practice run).

20/08/2012 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Back Escapes)

Class #464
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Nicolai 'Geeza' Holt, Bristol, UK - 20/08/2012

Due to an increase in my writing workload, it's been a few months since I last made it to a Monday or Friday class. Those have always been the busiest days: I'm not sure if that is because those are the longest established, or the ones advertised as 'Gracie Barra Fundamentals'. Either way, Geeza is clearly doing an incredible job of getting the word out, as tonight there were almost fifty people on the month. The number of children training at the club has increased so much that Geeza is able to offer a separate kid's class, which his son Oli is currently running (although I think he is off on a work placement or something soon, so Luke will be taking over. Which is cool, as Luke is a good teacher).

It was also good to see about five women on the mat too, although the upstairs changing room hasn't been designated as the women's changing room yet. Hopefully that will happen soon, as even two women is too many for the current small shower room allocated to Gracie Barra Bristol's female members. Perhaps in future there might even be enough for a separate women's class, which would be great, as that's a good way to help build up the numbers in a less intimidating environment (e.g., like the classes Chrissy used to run at her club in Virginia).

Geeza was busy, so passed the warm-up over to me. I've never run a warm-up with a class of almost fifty people, so that was an interesting experience. For a start, I couldn't just say "do breakfalls down the mat" as normal, because due to the numbers it wasn't as obvious when everybody had been: my classes tend to get between six and twelve people, so this was around five times as many students as I'm used to. ;)

It has been a long while since I've made it down on a Monday, so I'd almost forgotten that the fundamentals class always kicks off with some self defence. As I've mentioned many times before, that's by far my least favourite part of BJJ, because I find it neither interesting nor useful, given that self defence techniques are never tested against resistance in a sparring situation. Still, I should probably start to pay a bit more attention, as apparently some people do like learning it.

So, I'll try to start noting that part of the class down more often. Today, the self defence situation was that they've grabbed your neck from behind with both their hands. Reach across to grip the fleshy part of their opposite hand, then turn and twist. You're aiming to put them into a typical aikido style wristlock, pushing their palm towards their arm, bringing them to the ground: exactly the same thing as you would see in any TMA type class.

Once that was out of the way, we got onto the more useful material, continuing with the back position. Geeza covered a standard escape from the back, beginning with the simpler option, when they have only gripped your lapels rather than locked in the seatbelt (one arm over the shoulder, one arm under the armpit). Bridge, get your head over their shoulder, then wriggle your shoulders to the mat. Pop their hook off with your hand, step over with your leg, then grab their other leg with your nearest arm (pant leg or underhook behind their knee). From there, shrimp and move into side control.

If they do have the seatbelt grip, fall towards the open side, so their armpit arm. Again, try to wriggle your head to the mat followed by your shoulders: if your back is on the mat, it is impossible for them to occupy that space. Continue as before, grabbing their leg, shrimping, then turning towards them to establish side control.

There was also a simple escape from turtle, where you've gone for some kind of takedown but they've sprawled, so are now position in front of your turtle position. Grab for their opposite leg with your arm (otherwise they'll just spin to your back), also putting up your leg on the same side as that grabbing arm for base. You can then slide your other leg through and move into guard.

To finish off we did some king of the hill sparring from turtle, switching position if you were able to either escape or take the back. I have carefully avoided turtle for the last six months or so, as last time I went to turtle I messed up my neck. It's never been a strong position for me, but I can generally work my way back to guard. However, I'm terrible at attacking the turtle, as demonstrated by today's sparring.

I barely got anywhere, except with one person who was trying to spin to guard. That gave me the chance to move to the back and get my second hook using the Marcelo Garcia back extension. Aside from that sole success, I most tried to keep my weight on the side, but soon lost control as they re-established guard, or even worse, managed to somehow get on top as I fell off and ended up on my back.

Hopefully I'll now be able to get back into my old pattern of Monday, Tuesday then teach on Thursday. Once I've re-established that, I'll see if I can add in Friday or Wednesday, with the odd Saturday.

16/08/2012 - Teaching (Entering & Finishing the Rear Naked Choke)

Teaching #068
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 16/08/2012

The rear naked choke (so-called because you don't need to grab any cloth: the Portuguese term is the more flowery 'mata leão', which means 'lion killer') is a high percentage attack from the back, and perhaps the signature submission in jiu jitsu. One of the great things about chokes is that they are so efficient: while somebody might be able to muscle their way out of a locked in armbar, a choke will work on everybody, no matter how big.

First, keep in mind those five points on maintaining the back I've mentioned previously:

• Establish your hooks inside their thighs, making sure you don't cross your feet
• Bring one arm under their armpit, then the other over their shoulder
• Follow them with your hips, so they have no space to escape
• Press your chest into their upper back, for the same reason
• Jam your head next to their skull, for better control and visibility

In terms of its basic mechanics, the rear naked choke is relatively simple. Begin by bringing one arm around their neck, so that the point of your elbow is under their chin. You don't want to leave any space, as the idea is to press into both sides of their neck. This will close off their carotid arteries and prevent the flow of blood to the brain. That is an efficient and safe way of subduing an opponent.

Reaching past their shoulder, you are then going to grip the bicep of your free arm. This is to lock the choke in place. Should it be difficult to grab your bicep, you can secure your initial arm by gripping the back of their shoulder. Stephan Kesting has a useful video on RNC details, where he talks about holding the ridge of bone at the bottom of the shoulder blade, using what he calls a 'tiger palm'. From there, switch to gripping palm to palm over their shoulder, dropping the elbow of your back-arm down along their shoulder blade. That will further help to lock it in position: as Demian Maia demonstrates, you can even finish the choke from there. If not, you can then do what Kesting calls the 'creep', wriggling that elbow across their back to cinch up the choke.

When you have managed to grip your bicep, bring the hand of that bicep arm to the back of their head: a commonly used version is to press the palm into their skull, but there are various options, coming down to personal preference. Using the back of your hand against their neck is arguably better, as that may slip in more securely than palm down.

Also, palm down is easier for them to grab, if they try to peel your fingers off their skull. Either way, when you're locking in the choke, don't reach your hand forward over their shoulder. If you do, then they can armbar you using their shoulder as a fulcrum. Instead, slide it behind the head.

Bring your head next to theirs on the bicep gripping side, to further cut off any space. If for some reason after grabbing your bicep you can't get your other hand behind their head, grab your own skull, using that grip to finish from there. Staying close to their back, expand your chest and squeeze your elbows together.

Despite the simplicity, it can be difficult to get the RNC choke. Everybody with more than a few lessons under their belt knows that you're going to be looking for that choke, so they will immediately be trying to create barriers with their arms and hands. Hence why I started the technical portion of the session by having everybody drill the basic mechanics, then went into further details on the RNC.

In order to clear a route to the neck, there are numerous options. First, you can adjust your hand positioning to maximise your efficiency. If you have one arm under their armpit and the other over the shoulder, then it can be helpful to grip palm to palm or grab your own wrist, with your shoulder arm on top. That means that as soon as there is any gap between the neck and chest, you can immediately slide your arm into their neck.

You can also try tricking them into giving you access to the hold you want. For example, when you try to get an arm around their neck, a common reaction on their part is to grab your arm and pull it down. If you respond by pulling up, they will pull down even harder. This means that if you time it right, you can suddenly switch direction, shoving their arms down right when they're pulling, then bringing your other arm across their suddenly undefended neck.

Even better, you can take their arm right out of commission. With one of your hands, grab their wrist. Shove it down towards their legs, then step over that arm with your same side leg. When you then re-establish your hook (or pin your heel to their ribs, or put your leg behind their back), they are left with only one arm to defend against both of yours. If they've grabbed your wrist, twist your palm outwards, shove it down and out, then again step over their arm with your leg. Make sure you maintain pressure, so they can't simply swim their arm free.

You can also just hold their wrist momentarily with your hand, although that does mean you are still going one arm against one arm, rather than the preferable two arms against one. Then again, if you have already trapped their arm on the neck-arm side, then you can use your hand under their armpit to hold their remaining arm. That would mean you now have one arm with which to attack, while they have no limbs left to defend themselves.

Finally, there is the method I learned from Dónal. Grab their wrist with your armpit hand. Drop to the choking arm side, twisting your hips to increase the range of motion for your leg. Shove their arm down, then swing your leg over your armpit arm. Grip your own shin with the armpit hand, then using both your leg and arm, get your foot to their spine to trap their limb.

Another problem is that people will also tend to tuck their chin. Some people advocate unpleasant methods to force your way through to the neck in that situation. For example, Kesting has a list here: the results of that kind of approach (though Kesting does make a point of saying he is not fond of pain-based options either) can be seen in this video. That is not how I want my jiu jitsu to look.

My goal is smooth, technical, leverage-based jiu jitsu, causing as little pain to the other person as possible. As Saulo says in my favourite BJJ quote:

"You have to think that your partner, the guy that you're training [with], has to be your best friend. So, you don't want to hurt him, you don't want to try to open his guard with your elbow, make him feel really pain, because jiu jitsu is not about pain. You have to find the right spot to save your energy"

I strongly feel it is best to avoid hurting your training partners, for four additional reasons:

• You're in class to learn, not to 'win' at all costs. Save the 'win' mentality for competition.
• If you're always hurting the people you spar, eventually nobody will want to train with you, making it rather hard to improve.
• Presuming you're in BJJ for the long-term, you're going to be spending a lot of time with your training partners. Therefore it would make sense to build a good relationship.
• Even if you don't care about your classmates, everybody has a different pain threshold. So, the efficacy of pain-reliant techniques will vary from person to person. The efficacy of leverage does not: that's based on physics, not how tough somebody is.

There is a less nasty option you could try for opening up their chin, from Andre Galvao. If they really shove their chin down, this may not work, but it is worth a go. Twist your hand so that your thumb is pointing down, then as you slide the arm to their neck, twist the thumb back up to lift their chin.

If I find I have no option except something brutish (e.g., crushing their chin until they tap from pain or lift their head), my preference is to instead transition to a different attack, like an ezequiel, a bow and arrow choke or an armbar (which I'll be covering in later lessons). In my opinion, if I get to the point where force and pain are the main routes to finishing a submission, then my set up was poorly executed.

14/08/2012 - Gracie Barra Bristol (Trapping the Arm in Back Mount)

Class #463
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 14/08/2012

The writing workload has finally calmed down enough that I can get back to normal training, rather than just teaching. I'm looking to gradually get back to three or four times a week, preferably more, in time for my training trip to Texas in November. The GrappleThon in September should help with that too: if you haven't donated already, click on the widget to the left, or go here for the main GrappleThon team page on JustGiving. Even £1 helps! :D The following two weeks are all about the back. For this class, Dónal showed us a couple of details on how to trap their arm when you're on the back: that's helpful, because it then means you only have one of their arms to deal with, while both of yours are still free. I've seen a number of ways to do that, but Dónal's method was new to me. You will be trying to get a seat belt grip (so, one arm over their shoulder, the other by their armpit, then gripping your hands together, either palm to palm or holding your own wrist). They will normally have their crossed by their neck, in an effort to block your attacks. You should be able to get in at least one arm: over the shoulder tends to be easier. With your other hand, wedge it under their same side elbow, raising the little finger side. Wriggle that under until you have some purchase by the elbow, then lever their arm up. As soon as there is space, bring that hand inside their elbow, grabbing their wrist or forearm, your palm pointing away. Push their arm down, then fall towards your shoulder arm side.  Twist your hips slightly, towards your armpit arm side. That should give you slightly greater range of motion in your leg on that side, which you will now swing over their elbow. Swivel your armpit hand so the palm is facing in, then grab your own shin. Bring your leg through their arm, using your gripping hand to help, until you can get your foot to their spine. This should trap their arm securely, as long as you are above their elbow: otherwise, they might be able to wriggle free. From here, you should find it much easier to attack, as it is now two arms against one. If they are grabbing their gi or your arm, you'll need to break their grip before you can go for this technique. You are already holding their wrist with your armpit hand. However, you are having trouble pushing it down because they are grabbing their gi collar. To loosen that hold, wedge the wrist of your shoulder hand next to the knuckle of their little finger: the way I thought of it as like doing a heel hook, but with your wrist taking the place of the crook of your elbow, while the heel is that knuckle. Release your grip on their wrist with your armpit hand, so you can instead chop downwards directly into their wrist. As you chop down, also pull up with your shoulder hand. This should twist their wrist uncomfortably, until the leverage enables you to break their grip and enact the previous arm-trap technique. Even if it doesn't break their grip, you should find that by continuing to increase the pressure you will end up with your arm against their throat, ready to go for a choke (or at least, that's what Dónal did, when I asked what would happen if you couldn't break their grip and he demonstrated on me). If they are grabbing your wrist rather than their own gi, the technique is similar but you'll use a slightly different approach. Lock your hands palm to palm, then again twist their wrist by locking your hands together and levering them up. This is handy, as a very common defence is for them to grasp your shoulder hand to stop you securing position for a choke. It's been about two months since I did any free sparring, so it was good to get back into it tonight. Things kicked off with some specific sparring from the back, where I was practicing the Marcelo Garcia approach to maintaining the back, like I taught a while back. I got the hip extension a few times, until Tony got wise to it and managed to scrunch up.

I think the problem I then had was the separation between my chest and his upper back, caused by the way he was able to loosen my seat belt grip. That meant I couldn't get much control over his upper body, which you need in order to effectively stretch them out to re-insert your second hook.

I also found that while I was fairly happy underhook his leg with my own when he rolled to the armpit arm side to move him back the other way, it was more difficult if Tony successfully got his shoulder side leg out. I probably should have switched more quickly to either technical or full mount as the leg started to slip, rather than being overly focused on the leg lift tactic (which obviously doesn't work if they aren't bridging to put you on your back).

Free sparring started off with Mike, I looked to get into a passing position to start off with. He went straight for his preferred single-leg x-guard, which I attempted to counter by staying low and grabbing his collar to keep my balance. From there I worked on sprawling my legs back and trying to slide over his knee to move into top half guard, underhooking his far arm and then controlling his head first with my elbow, then a cross-face once I had enough base. I felt like I was in danger of being swept a few times (my slight weight advantage probably helped keep me on top), so I need to be careful of giving them too much space for their legs and knees to get underneath.

I finished off with a larger white belt, where as usual when the person is bigger, I stayed very defensive, switching between the running escape posture under side control then into spider guard variations if I could get out of there. I focused on making sure my legs were always pushing on hips, shoulders, arms or chest and my hands were grabbing either collar, arm or trouser leg. I think it was Christina who first advised me that you should always be grabbing something, rather than having an arm or leg uselessly flopping around in mid-air: either way, it's useful advice.

I still need to improve my ability to go to the back from guard. I felt like I was in position, having reached over to secure their lat, but struggled to get the rotation to move over the top. Something to work on: perhaps using my other hand to post? Or work harder to arm-drag, which is a technique I'd really like to incorporate properly into my guard game. At the moment, my guard remains super-defensive, so I'm not taking enough advantage of options like moving to the back.

09/08/2012 - Teaching (Basic Mount Escapes)

Teaching #067
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 09/08/2012

Tonight, it was time to again cover the two simplest methods of escaping the mount. Like last time, there were a few drills I wanted to include, beginning with shrimping in pairs (one person standing by the others armpits, bottom person shrimps back to guard).

The first basic escape is the trap and roll. A typical starting point would be when they try to establish their first grip on your collar for a choke. That provides you with a chance to trap their arm. The usual grip would be to grab their wrist with your opposite hand, then their elbow with your other hand. There are various other possibilities, like wrapping the arm, but the essential thing is to stop their ability to post their hand for base. You could bump to knock them forward, meaning they will normally catch themselves by putting a hand on the mat. You can then bring your linked arms over that extended arm, bending their elbow and trapping the arm.

You also need to trap their leg on that same side. Otherwise, they will be able to use that for base as you attempt to roll them. In order to prevent that, step your same side foot over their lower leg, hooking it in tightly. This means they are now like a chair with two of its legs missing. A common problem is that you're having trouble trapping their foot, because it is too high up. If that happens, try to use your elbow (or even your hand, if you need more reach, but that could leave your neck vulnerable) to shove their knee backwards, until their lower leg is in range.

To finish, you're going to bridge towards that trapped side. As with the side control escape, get your heels close to your bum first for maximum leverage. Bridge up and over your shoulder, turning into their guard. Make sure that you're bridging over your shoulder and turning to your knees, not simply rolling over to your side. If you don't raise your hips properly, you may merely give up your back. Also remember to posture up once you are in their guard, as otherwise you might find you put yourself right into a submission.

You can still trap and and roll if they bring an arm under your head: simply reach back as if you were combing your hair to trap their arm, then progress as before. Finally, you might find you need to remove their legs from being threaded in between yours (known as 'grapevining'). To clear them, bring one of your feet back to your bum, then push off their hook on that leg with your other foot. Another method, which Rener uses, is to just circle your leg around, though that depends on how well they're using their grapevine.

The trap and roll escape does work, but on its own may not be enough against an experienced opponent. Personally, I prefer the elbow escape, which relies more on shrimping than bridging. As a rule of thumb, if you're underneath, you don't want to be flat on your back. So, start your elbow escape by turning to your side and working your elbows inside their knee. Keep defending your neck throughout, so that your elbows form a frame. Create some space by bridging. You can then use your frame to help you shrimp into the space you just created, pushing against their leg.

The idea is to make enough space to pull your leg through: don't just bridge and plop back down. That leg will need to be flat, the other raised, or it will be hard to pull it free. After you're on your side, you can simply bump slightly, then simultaneously shove their knee with your elbow while sliding your flat leg underneath.

Aim to pop your knee through initially. If you can pull the whole leg out in one, great, but don't be greedy. Getting that knee through will mean you can then brace it against their thigh, aiding your second shrimp to free your other leg.

Once one of your legs is fully out, you can then use it to wrap around one of theirs. Getting half guard may be a possibility here, but generally I'd recommend you keep working towards full guard. To do that, continue shrimping and framing until both legs are free. Another option is to put the leg around their back.

You can also use a frame against their hips, one arm across, the other bracing against that wrist, elbow in tight. That's also handy for stopping them moving up higher in mount. However, be extra careful with your neck if you do that: as your arms are down by their hips, that could leave you vulnerable to chokes.

As with any technique, try to combine your escapes rather than obsessing over just one. Also, don't give them your head: that's what the person on top wants for control. Connected to that, make sure you always defend your neck and keep your elbows tight. I'm a small guy, so this is what I tend to do most classes: stay really tight, elbows in, knees curled up, not leaving anything loose for them to attack, or space for them to wedge their hands through.

I have finally emerged from the hole I've been stuck in for the last month or two beavering away on writing. So, I should at least be able to get back into a more normal routine of at least two classes a week, hopefully three or four. It felt good to do a little bit of sparring at the end of class today, so I'm looking forward to getting back into it properly. :)

08/08/2012 - Yoga

Class #002
Link House, (Yoga), Kate Rowland, Bristol, UK - 08/08/2012

The first time I tried out yoga was at university. I spent most of the class struggling to contain my laughter, as people kept snoring. Still, yoga has long been closely related to BJJ, with luminaries like Rickson Gracie a big proponent. Hence why I was interested in taking up my boss's offer to help her out with her yoga teaching qualification. She wanted to get a chance to practice instructing, so needed some students. In return, we get some free yoga classes, which seems like a pretty good deal. :)

This initial session was set to kick off early in the morning, so I'd still end up with a 9-5 work day (I normally arrive somewhere between 08:30-08:50, so getting in more like 08:10 to do some yoga wasn't difficult). Kate started off with some background about yoga and its purpose. I hadn't realised there are apparently eight aspects of yoga, of which the physical side is only one, but it's understandably the most popular.

We started off by standing square on, with arms by our sides, then breathing in lifted those arms up so the hands me, finally breathing out while bringing the hands down the front of the body meeting just above your groin. That was followed by the 'warrior' pose, where you're doign a slight lunge with your arms in the air. Your feet are a bit further apart for the second 'warrior' pose, where it felt more militaristic: this time, you have one arm straight out, the other back, as if you were throwing a spear.

Next one, your leg is a bit forward, then you twist, one arm out to the side, the other down. I can point the arm straight up without any problems, but that sideways position surprisingly was much harder to do, as my shoulder was quite tight in that direction. I also kept not having my head in alignment with my spine: as in jiu jitsu, Kate walked over to adjust my head to the right point. I'm very used to people grabbing bits of me and moving them, as well as doing it myself when teaching jiu jitsu. However, from what Kate said occasionally people in yoga classes are a little more taken aback by that physical contact, which I guess is understandable.

The following pose was similar, as again you twist, but this time your arms in line, which I found easier: no tightness in my shoulder for that position. Finally, we went on all fours, with our toes on the floor rather than insteps. Put your bum in the air to create a triangle, then try to bring your heels towards the ground.

Class finished off by lying on your back, completing the session with some fairly secular meditation. I was strongly reminded me of the anxiety and sleep tapes I've heard, where the person leading the meditation, running through each part of your body and urging you to 'feel' its connection with the floor. This can come off sounding quite silly, but Kate has a good voice for it: deep, authoritative and calm.

I'll be popping along to a few more, though I doubt I'd ever do much yoga long term. Still, something very worth considering if you have problems with flexibility, and also seems like it would be good for mental equilibrium too, if you need to destress.

02/08/2012 - Teaching (Fundamental Mount Maintenance)

Teaching #066
Gracie Barra Bristol, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 02/08/2012

The GrappleThon has almost hit the £300 mark! That is largely thanks to a new member of the team, who has been working behind the scenes: Seymour 'Meerkatsu' Yang. He very kindly produced an awesome design for the event, which BJJ and MMA apparel company Tatami Fightwear have generously put onto a number of t-shirts. For more details on the GrappleThon, check out our team fundraising page here: you currently have a choice of ten lovely grapplers awaiting your donation, which will go to Meningitis UK. Please spare whatever you can for a great cause. You'll also be able to watch us via a live stream when the event takes place on the 22nd September. :D

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There are two basic types of mount to choose from, which I'll call low and high. Once you've achieved mount, I find that low mount provides the most control. First off, you want to immobilise their hips, as their main method of making space is to bridge up forcefully.

Bring your feet right back, threading them around their legs to establish two hooks: this is known as a grapevine. Alternatively, you can also cross your feet underneath, which has the advantage of making it much harder for them to push your hooks off. Your knees are ideally off the ground, to generate maximum pressure. How far off the ground they are depends on your dimensions: the key is getting loads of hip pressure.

Thrust those hips into them, using your hands for base, where again you have a couple of options. Either have both arms out, or put one under the head while the other goes out wide for base. Keep your head on the basing arm side, loading up your weight there. If they're bridging hard, you can switch from side to side.

A basic escape is to trap an arm, bridge and roll. So, don't let them grab your arm and crush it to their side. Instead, swim it through, like Ryron and Rener demonstrate in the third slice of the third lesson in Gracie Combatives. Be sure to do it one at a time, or you may get both arms squashed to your sides.

You can also turn to what’s called technical mount if they roll to either side. I didn’t go into too much detail on that, as that’s a whole other lesson in itself (which I last taught in conjunction with s-mount), but it is worth pointing it out as an option at this stage. I included the basic drill where you turn from side to side in the warm-up.

The drawback to the low mount is that there aren't many submissions from there: the ezequiel is one of the few high percentage attacks. In terms of their defence, they are mostly going to be trying to unhook your feet, so you'll be battling to keep those in place.

To attack, you're better off climbing further up, into high mount. Again, you need to worry about their hips. To control them, put your feet by their bum, tucking your toes underneath: Roger Gracie points this out as of particular importance. In what you might call 'middle' mount where you're still over their hips, Saulo suggests that you 'ride' their bridges, like you were on a horse. Lean back, then as they bridge, lift up: you’re aiming to move with their hips, rather than just leaving a big space. So, this takes a good understanding of timing.

He also recommends against leaning forward, as he feels that gives them more space and leverage to escape. Hence why he leans back instead. Experiment, seeing how holding the head works for you versus leaning back. I think Saulo’s method requires more experience, and personally I feel unstable there, but as ever, I want to offer students choice whenever possible.

The danger of leaning back is when you're facing somebody with flexibility and/or long limbs. They might be able reach their legs over to kick into your armpits, either sliding out through your legs or pushing your over. You must control their hips with your feet, to prevent them from bending their body. Swimming the arms through might help you out here, this time against their legs, depending on how they attack. If they do get their feet in place, I generally grab on the back of their collar, stay really low, then attempt to gradually work my hips back to flatten them out: that worked for me last time it happened.

Another option is to move off their hips, shifting into an even higher mount. Gradually walk your knees into their armpits (pulling on the top of their head may help) being careful of the elbows. If they start to work an elbow into your thigh, twist to one side and raise that knee. Pull their arm up with whatever you can grab, then reinsert your knee.

A final thing I wanted to mention, from Demian Maia, is that you can also use the cross-face. If they turn on their side to get their elbow back in, you can use the cross face to bring their head out of alignment: moving them with their head is easier than trying to move their shoulders or arms or whatever. Also, the body follows the head, so they are going to have trouble bridging or turning if you've got a solid cross face.