30/11/2013 - Private with Kev (Closed & Open Guard)

Class #538 - Private #017
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 30/11/2013

I've taken a private lesson with Kev before, three years ago. Since I started training at the Wycombe branch in 2009, RGA Bucks has remained a home base for me, even though I have moved to various bits of the country in the ensuing years. Kev is still the black belt overseeing my rank, which also hasn't changed since 2009.

I wasn't making it back as often as I'd like in 2012 and 2013, so I decided in October this year that I was going to get down to RGA Bucks more regularly. I can combine that with visiting my parents in Aylesbury for birthdays, which I try to set aside for family time. I've got two nieces with a third on the way, so in addition to the rest of my immediate family that makes for eight birthdays a year plus xmas. So, at worst that should average out to a trip to the RGA Bucks mats about every two months.

A long-distance instructor/student relationship isn't all that common in BJJ, but with regular contact I think it can work. For the first of what should be many private lessons over the next few years, Kev and I started off by talking about where I'm at in my jiu jitsu game, as well as how things went in sparring during the preceding lesson. As any reader of this blog will know, I am an inveterate self-analyser, so I've got a reasonable idea of my weak areas. That means it's extremely useful to run through them with a black belt (especially a black belt close to my size who also happens to be a very good teacher, like Kev).

The main problem I've always had is my passivity, which in large part is down to my personality. What I need to start doing more is 'pulling the trigger' on techniques, rather than getting stuck thinking about the ten different options from that position, or going for it but then backing off when it doesn't seem to be as immediately effective as I'd hoped. That old "if you think, you're late" Saulo quote is relevant, so although I'm wary of anything that implies thinking is ever negative, I do need to try and be more streamlined in my reactions.

Kev went through a number of principles and technical tweaks that would help me with that, focusing on one of the biggest gaps in my jiu jitsu: an effective offence from open guard. Most of the time, I use open guard to simply keep people at bay, but as I just stay defensive, it becomes a matter of when rather than if they pass. I can manage to tie people up in spider guard for a while, pushing against their hips, but rarely move into any sweeps or attacks.

Similar to how I worked with Donal on improving what I already know and use, the main attack from open guard remains the tripod to sickle sweep combination. Kev suggested that I should be approaching open guard from an upright starting position, basing behind with one arm. That's more mobile and also less vulnerable than lying on your back with your feet flailing at them. From that seated position, grab their collar with one arm.

If you do the collar grip, be aware that there is a potential attack they can do here, if you're not careful. By basing on the floor with an arm, they can jump up into a armbar on your outstretched arm. Kev noted that Dan Strauss is a big fan of that. If you see them base on the floor with an arm when you have the collar grip, be prepared (e.g., elbow back, shift the grip, go for your attack, etc).

Presuming you aren't getting flying armbarred, with that collar grip, you can do a collar drag and take the back. You can also use it to swing in for their ankle with your other hand. That sets you up for either an ankle pick (a bit like last month at RGA Bucks), or moving into the tripod sweep. Interestingly, Kev advocates the heel grip, not the trouser grip. This isn't loose though: pull that heel up onto your hip, which both puts them off balance and makes it harder for them to kick free.

Particularly if they are futher away, you also want to follow the Roy Harris advice (Kev pointed to Michael Langhi, who says the same thing) about always keeping your feet on your opponent: that could be hooking behind their knees or leg, pushing on the hip, the chest, the biceps or their shoulder. To counter a leg drag and certain other passes, push off their opposite shoulder with your foot.

If you mess up and they get further along, there are two options Kev noted. The first one is when they drop their weight onto you. Shove their hand towards your legs (to prevent them turning towards your head and securing a cross face), bringing your other arm around their hip. From there, you can roll them over.

The second one was something Kev said he's been having a lot of success with. He calls it the nappy grip, which is an odd name but makes perfect sense when you see it. I've been told that the same grip is used in a number of guards, such as what gets called 'lapel guard' (specifically the grip switch Keenan does here at 01:18 or so). Kev also mentioned it has been used by Bernardo Faria at the highest level (some people apparently refer to it as the 'Faria grip', which would make sense).

As there doesn't seem to be a widely used standard term, I think I'll use mawashi grip: that's the thing sumo wrestlers wear and should help me remember what it looks like. The position reminds me of the de la Riva sweep position I learned at Gracie Barra Birmingham back in 2010, where you feed their sleeve between their legs to your other hand, then knock them over. If you can't get their hand, you can use their belt or lapel, which is what Kev does for this grip.

However, he takes it a step further. You've pushed their belt or lapel past their leg, then fed that to your other hand, which is reaching around the outside. You're then going to switch grips around, bringing your first hand around the outside and re-gripping. This clamps the lapel or belt tightly around their leg and bum, hence the name. It's the same kind of grip as the Roy Dean/brabo/lapel from closed guard, taught to me by Donal a few months ago.

Once you have that grip, you can then grab their hip and sweep if they put their weight on you like the earlier technique. If they don't have their weight on you, it's possible to move around and sort of old school sweep them. It also makes it very hard for them to push the knee through for a knee slide. I found that last time I visited RGA Bucks in October, as Kev did it to me repeatedly. The defence is to do a crescent kick, TKD style, as soon as they get that belt grip (be careful you don't smack them in the face, though).

In this private lesson, we had a brief spar at the start and end to first work out some weak areas and then to shore them up: again, Kev used that mawashi/nappy grip to great effect. The same principle can work in side control, like Roy Dean shows, as well as when passing, especially passing butterfly guard. When there is any clearance under their back, pull their gi lapel under their body, then do the same outside switch grip.

Donal's closed guard grip functions well too, of course. Kev has a tweak on that closed guard option, as he grips the same way, but deeper, securing his final grip by the armpit, not the neck. That also leads into the final bit of this write-up, where again it is something I've already been working on for a while now (Kev's lesson kept perfectly addressing those questions I've been raising with myself over the last year or two, possibly longer).

The general principle is that if your open guard isn't that strong, then why open your closed guard in the first place? Another way of putting it (I'm not sure who first said this: might have been Carlson?) is that they should be have to struggle to open your closed guard, don't give it to them. Either way, I have wanted to improve my closed guard for a good while, having taken several privates with Donal for that purpose.

I have been playing with chokes and sweeps. Kev prefers to take the back, an area I have considered but not concentrated on to the same extent. Break the grip on their left side, as most people are weaker there. Drag the arm across, then stiff arm, making sure you stay on top of their wrist rather than letting your grip slip underneath. With your other arm, reach around to their hip or their armpit.

Ideally, you want to be able to rotate them into your back control, relying on leverage rather than force or lots of agile scrambling (again, this builds on something I have already covered with Donal). That combines nicely with what Kev calls the kimura sweep, essentially a variation on the sit up sweep.

When you break their grip and drag their arm across for the back take, they will most likely resist, trying to pull their arm away. At that point, switch to a sit-up sweep, but keep hold of their arm, rather than posting behind for base. Knock into their opposite hip, then pull your gripping hand back to your armpit.

This will mean they can't post, so there is no barrier to knocking them to the mat apart from the knees and posture. That could potentially also fit into the windscreen wiper sweep, unsurprising because Donal's private lesson on that technique combined it with another sit up sweep variation where you grab their sleeve.

All in all a very helpful private: I'm looking forward to trying to implement this into my jiu jitsu. I am not training as much as I would like at the moment, but that should hopefully resolve itself soon, meaning I'll finally be in a long-term position where I can train as much as I'd like in a conducive atmosphere . :)

30/11/2013 - RGA Aylesbury (Taking the Back & Chokes)

Class #537
RGA Aylesbury, (BJJ), Kev Capel, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK - 30/11/2013

I'm back in Aylesbury this weekend, part of my intention to get over there more regularly (ideally every couple of months on average across the year). Kev began by attacking the turtle, where he suggests you start off with a leg over their back. That makes it hard for them to roll back to guard over a shoulder, as you can follow them in either direction into side control or even the back.

Reach to grab a lapel (not too deep, or they will trap your arm and roll you), then pull them diagonally over their hip. Put in your hook as you do so, using the Marcelo hip extension if you need to open them up before inserting your second hook.

Having taken their back, go for the single arm short choke, something else Donal has covered in private lessons. They aren't going to let you have that easily and will block with both arms. Use your armpit hand to grab their wrist, shove it down, then bring your leg over the crook of their elbow. To secure that in place, hook your instep under their wrist.

They only have one hand left to defend their neck, but that can still be an annoyance. Switch your arms to try and wriggle it across their neck. They will almost certainly block that too by grabbing your arm. With your free hand, dig under their defending elbow, until you can reach inside and grab their wrist. Shove it down, keeping that for control. You can then finish your choke, either with a single arm, moving to a sliding choke, or a bow and arrow variation.

Do not be tempted to bring your leg over that arm too. That puts them into a deep half guard type position. They can use that to shrug off your legs and slip down out of your back control, meaning you lose a strong attacking position and possibly even puts them on top, if they react quickly. Never have both legs over.

Finally, for the other person, you can escape the turtle. Reverse engineering what you did earlier, don't let them get a leg over your back. Blcok that immediately by stepping your nearest leg next to theirs, hooking it ideally. Reach to grab their knee next to you, which will probably be raised. Avoid having your elbow high: instead, keep your arm in line with their leg. Shift your hip, spinning through to guard.

In terms of sparring, the tail-end of the warm-up was guard passage. On top, I wasn't having much luck except against white belts. Even there, I was being lazy and waiting for them to open their guard, then single stack passing around their side. The brown belts were sweeping me easily (I don't think I rolled with a purple at that point, but they would have no doubt swept me easily too).

On the few occasions I got underneath I had even less success, getting passed by everyone. Rolling with a blue, I couldn't get my deep collar grip established, eventually leading to him standing up than leg drag passing me. I need to consider ways to get the opening for the deep collar grip, because once I have it in properly it's a good control. Perhaps pull them in to get them to lean back and expose their neck? Or the opposite, hip bump so they come forward and bring the collar in range? Something to play with.

At the end, I got in a bunch of free sparring. I still can't get my deep grip: several people just moved their head around, which I think can be used to go for a funky baseball bat but it looks a bit flashy and has a sacrifice element to it I don't like. But worth trying, as that happened at least three or four times. Alternatively, I need to spend more time on getting a better grip, leaving less slack.

I sort of got the Akins hip shift sweep, but that was with a smaller partner. That put me in mount, where I used Donal's tips (via Roger Gracie) about getting in tight on mount. I moved up into the armpits and got their elbows in the air, then reached in past the arm to go for the back. That's where I messed up, as I wasn't tight enough to the shoulder with my chest, so ended up slipping off and putting myself in guard.

With a purple belt, I had to be wary of my feet, making sure I didn't put them past their hip where they could drop back for an achilles lock. I found myself on top half guard a few times: The control is not as good when I have my arm past their head, driving the elbow back, compared to a cross-face. However, there is a risk that they can escape as I try to switch from the first to the second, which I think happened during this roll once or twice.

I was looking for the kimura from there, but failed to isolate properly. When I did finally get an americana locked on, I no longer had strong enough positional control, as he was able to turn and escape. It was an enjoyable roll, as Stuart kept a steady, technical pace. I get the impression that he could have sped up and given me a much harder time. ;)

With another purple belt I was throwing up triangle attempts under side control. That's not a high percentage submission, but I get tempted to try it for control when their head is low and I have my legs around their far arm. It failed miserably the first time, but the second time helped me recover my guard.

On top with a bigger blue belt, I was practicing my side control maintenance again. It was a good reminder that I shouldn't get complacent about that: while I can hold a number of people my size or bigger white belts, if somebody more experienced and bigger is underneath, they can still roll me straight over (and I'm no doubt leaving some gaps for them to exploit there, so it's not purely a matter of strength).

I was pleased that earlier in the roll I managed to do a very slow back-step pass against de la Riva. I dropped my head to his hip then gradually shifted my weight back to stop him scooting underneath, until I could get an arm under the head and put myself into the familiar opposite side half guard passing position. Having said that, he was specifically working his guard as it's an area he doesn't go much, so somebody with a trickier de la Riva would probably have taken my back.

As always there was lots of sitting in the running escape not doing anything. That's something I've covered in a private with Donal, but as I end up there so frequently, it's important that I look at it with Kev too in a future private (in today's private, which was right after this lesson, we covered a different topic).

28/11/2013 - Hit Fit (Chokes from the Back)

Class #536
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 28/11/2013

Dharni's last lesson tonight, so it is sad to see her fly back to Kenya, but I'm sure she will be in Bristol again some time. :)

Chokes from the back tonight, beginning with the basic sliding choke. In back control, keep your knees in tight, don't splay them out. Clamp your seat belt grip on the chest, a grip where Donal does something a bit similar to Xande. He has one hand slightly curled into their sternum, the armpit hand over the top. Like Xande, this means you can swivel it straight under the chin for the choke.

Donal likes to open up the collar with the armpit hand, folding the lapel over itself, getting the choking hand thumb as deep as you can. Pull on the gi with the other hand to cinch it up if you need to tighten the hold. Reach your armpit hand lower down, then pull downwards with that one as you twist your choking wrist around.

That is often hard to get. Shifting to the one armed short choke is a good follow up, applied the same way as Donal discussed in our private while back. If you're having trouble, get their arm out of the way by pushing their wrist down with your armpit hand. That may be enough. If not, then try grabbing the meaty part of their hand with your fingers and twisting it outwards.

Drop towards you choking arm side, then bring your leg over their arm. Move the foot down their back to really lock that in place, while simultaneously sliding the single arm tight up into their neck for the choke.

In specific sparring, I got more chance to work on my poor back attack and defence. I wasn't bridging properly or wriggling my shoulders to the mat when defending, leaving me stuck in the middle. I was looking to then switch to grabbing their leg, without trapping their arm under the armpit and reaching across to grab their sleeve with the same hand. I need to refresh my memory by looking at the private lesson video on back defence. Somebody more experienced would have probably got the choke, as I was merely blocking with my arm rather sloppily.

On the back, I was trying Rickson's thing of attacking with one arm and clearing their grips with the other. That sort of worked, but I was failing to get under the chin. I just kept switching side to side without getting it in place. What I should have done was use it to grab the gi and go for a bow and arrow: I eventually did do that, but he's less experienced and is also mainly a nogi guy, so not used to collar chokes.

With another partner, I started under side control and attempted the Rickson escape, but a bit sloppy. On top, I wasn't looking for the side control attacks I should have been: with my lack of training at the moment I don't feel I'm retaining information well enough, so I'm looking forward to my training schedule getting back to normal once everything is settled.

21/11/2013 - Live Movember Rollathon Stream Sat 23rd Nov at 7am PST (3pm GMT) & Roger Gracie Mount Techniques

Class #535
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 21/11/2013

The Movember Rollathon is finally upon us! Sofie from Gravity BJJ has set up a live stream so you can join in the action wherever you are in the world, here. It is due to start at 7am PST, which I think works out at around 3pm UK time (as IIRC, PST is 8 hours behind GMT). Don't forget to donate to the team too: if you've like to throw some spare change at my page supporting the Rollathon and follow the progress of my very silly moustache, that's all here. The Rollathon total (at the time of writing) currently stands at $720, so please bump it up further if you can! :D
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Tonight, Dónal wanted to share some of the techniques he'd recently picked up at a Roger Gracie seminar, appropriately on mount. If you're having trouble getting past their defence from mount, because they have crossed their arms over their neck, you can use a frame against their shoulders to bring your knees under their elbows. That will mean you can shove those knees into their armpits, seriously impacting their ability to escape your mount.

The first of three ways to do that is simply placing your hands by the mat directly in front of each shoulder, pressing your wrists against them. Secondly, you can put your elbows by their shoulders, which also means you can sink a bit lower and frees your hands to go on top of their head, helping to pull you up higher. Thirdly, try putting your hands directly on the front of their shoulders rather than on the mat, then lean forwards. You may need the additional leverage of your feet on their hips, but either way, from here you can attempt to pry their elbows up in order to get your knees underneath.

If you have an arm under their head and they start pushing on your knee, then depending on which side, you can either move to a submission or continue the process above. If they are pushing on the same side as your under-the-head arm, that means they only have one hand defending their neck. There should be enough space to reach your hand on that side through, curling it behind their wrist as an entry point, after which you can move into an ezequiel. If they are pushing on the other side, simply yank their arm up by the elbow and progress under the armpits as before.

Once you've got up into their armpits and their elbows are raised, you can move into either taking the back (my preference) or an armbar (which I generally don't like because I find the risk of losing position is too high, but then my armbars are crap so that's unsurprising ;D). Shove your hand past their opposite bicep, with your thumb on top, so making a sort of knife-hand.

Should you have trouble sliding it past, then with your free hand grab the elbow of the arm you're trying to control, pushing it across towards their other arm. This is counter-intuitive, but it does seem to create some space. Wedging your arm right through, you can now wrap their arm, using that to take the back or set up your armbar. Move into s-mount (which I last taught back in 2011), switching the arm you have threaded through theirs if necessary: i.e., rather than pushing your arm through from the inside, you reach around the outside and insert the other arm.

Doing that, you can then grab your own wrist, lean into their sternum and push off the other leg slightly. That will drive your weight through your bum into their chest. With your free hand, shove their elbow away from you, which should hopefully leave their remaining arm (which due to that switch you are already controlling) vulnerable to an armbar.

We then did some specific sparring from mount, where I had the pleasure of going with an experienced purple belt who was visiting the class. When I was on top, he immediately escaped the first time. I was much more careful after that, paying close attention to his arms, blocking them with my hips, shifting my body position to increase weight where necessary and also reaching deep under his back with my legs for control. I think he was using the same escape Michel Verhoeven taught at his seminar to defeat the kind of low mount I like, where you do a few small bumps and reach underneath to the opposite hip with your arm. As ever, I was only able to maintain, rather than initiate much offence.

Underneath, I relied upon the usual heel-drag, but also staying patient and waiting for my opportunity to exploit some space. The purple belt was going for more attacks than most people do, meaning I could sneak into the gaps as he did, but at the same time he was going pretty light. A few times I suspect he would have caught me before I escaped if he upped the pace, such as when he was moving into an americana and I spun through to his guard.

Free sparring started off with one of the white belts, where I was able to get on top with a rather sloppy sit-up sweep. I should be pulling back on their elbow quicker, as well as shifting into a kimura or some other attack if the sweep is blocked. Getting to mount, I again mostly just held it, unable to get the grips I wanted for the americana or the ezequiel. I should have moved up higher, then gone for it: I'm still too concerned about risking position.

Next up was a blue belt, where I stayed on the bottom with closed guard, repeatedly trying to set up that deep Relson grip choke. I got the grip, but grabbed the cloth by the shoulder. That's too obvious, so instead I should have reached underneath my arm and grabbed the far lapel, just like I taught it recently. I have a bad habit of not following my own BJJ advice. ;)

Hanging around a bit longer after the hour was up, I went with the same white belt from earlier, but this time took off my gi. It's cold at the Hit Fit gym, so I always wear both spats and a rash guard underneath. Rolling nogi levelled the playing field, as not only is my nogi crappy, I rely a lot on gi grips, plus the white belt has been doing MMA a while.

I ended up in guard for most of it, trying to control behind the head, looking for guillotines and the sit-up sweep again. At some point I think I might have gotten on top, but was not able to get anything going from there, especially as I can't go for an ezequiel in nogi. Eventually I got reversed, putting me in his guard. I am pretty much stuck when it comes to passing in nogi, as again I rely on having a grip on their collar to secure me in place.

Without that, I revert to the lazy and dangerous option of waiting for them to open their guard enough to slip an arm out and get a single underhook pass. The reason that's dangerous is because you're susceptible to get triangled or armbarred if you're not careful. It worked on this occasion, putting me in side control, but I think he got his guard back anyway.

Good to roll nogi occasionally, as it reminds me how much I depend on grips, though personally I don't really care. I've no interest in developing a game that works both in gi and nogi, because I find that means you lose a massive proportion of all the stuff that is fun in the gi: i.e., collar chokes, wrapping the gi up around various body parts and grips. So, I just need to develop a separate nogi game, which is going to take a while given how rarely I take off the gi. ;D

14/11/2013 - Typhoon Haiyan Fundraising & Teaching (Maintaining Low Mount)

Teaching #131
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 14/11/2013

Seymour 'Meerkatsu' Yang has come through yet again for charity, with the money from sales of this t-shirt going to help the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. It's a collaboration with another cool BJJ artist, Bong 'Gawakoto' Abad, in a lovely bright yellow. So, not only do you help a very worthy cause, you get an awesome shirt too! :D

Also, if you're near San Diego, you can head down to the Roll4Relief on the 1st December. Further north, the good people at Gracie Barra Edmonds are arranging a GrappleThon for that month too: check out more details on their Fundrazr page, here. I'll put the full details on GrappleThon.org when I have them, but this is what I've got on the Events page so far. :)
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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. Another option, which I learned from Rob Stevens at Gracie Barra Birmingham, is to put the soles of your feet together and then bring your knees right off the floor.

Whichever option you're going for, 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 (remember, you can always remove it for base if you're really getting thrown hard to that side) while the other goes out wide for base. Try to grip the gi material by their opposite shoulder, or even better, by the opposite armpit. 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.

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 and digging their elbows under your knees, so you'll be battling to keep those in place.

You therefore tend shift into high mount in order to initiate your attack. But as this is just a 1 hour class, I'll be covering that some other time. ;)
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: The two main problems I noticed were people not thrusting their hips through the floor and getting caught in a trap and roll, due to not putting their arm out for base. On that point, I think I need to emphasise how you should switch the arm you have under their head if you're getting shoved in the other direction. I remembered to mention putting your arm out for base, but did not make a point of the arm switch, so that's something I need to do next time.

I think the class structure worked ok, for an hour, although I could perhaps vary up the sparring. I went for the basic option of just having one person on top for five minutes, then the other, in the same pairs as people had been drilling, finishing with a couple of minutes flow-rolling. It is good to vary up training partners, which either 'king of the hill' or the parallel lines method does well, but I probably need more time than an hour to do that properly. As ever, feedback from anyone who was at the class is very much appreciated: do you guys prefer king of the hill (increased variety of training partners) or that focused one-on-one specific sparring (increased amount of sparring time, as there is no waiting in line, but no variety of partners)?

I stayed with Dharni for sparring, as I was the closest to her in size: her mount has really improved, with good pressure from both her shoulder and her head. Naturally there is still a size gap, as well as experience, but I took the opportunity to try out some of the back take suggestions from the Rickson seminar. The seat belt grip from turtle where you then roll over them worked nicely, but that could well have been done to the size difference. I also tried the thing Rickson did with his legs from guard, in order to take the back, but I don't think I've got the pressure of the top leg quite sorted, or the chopping motion with the bottom one.

I'm keen to test out Rickson's side control escapes too, so was looking for a chance to drill them after class (Mark did open mat for an hour after class, though I just did the one roll with Dharni). Next time, I'll just ask whoever I'm sparring to go on top in side control so I can practice them, hopefully also getting an opportunity to simply drill it too. I think there is an open mat on Sundays, so that would work (although this Sunday I'm busy, should be able to make it next Sunday, I think).

07/11/2013 - Movember in Full Flow & BJJ with Dónal

Class #534
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Dónal Carmody, Bristol, UK - 07/11/2013

Straightforward class today on moving from side control to mount. Dónal was able to find yet another application for his favoured back step, this time as a starting position from side control. From there, grab your foot, pulling it towards you slightly (but not to the extent that you're twisting yourself up painfully), then shove it across to their far hip and establish mount. This should avoid them snatching half guard, as can happen when you swing your leg over. It also makes it easier the get past their blocking knee. Personally, I prefer sliding the knee over the belt line, but this option is totally legit as well.

Sparring was specific from mount, where on top I was looking to maintain position and scoop up an arm. As my partner wasn't wearing a gi (most of the students at Hit Fit have crossed over from the MMA class), that meant I didn't have any of my preferred choke options. I should have therefore switched to focus more on the arm, such as Verhoeven's tips on landing the americana.

I did go for an armbar at one point, which I almost never do, because I don't like the risk of losing position (exactly what happened). Still, it's good to practice that occasionally, even if it isn't among my favourite options. I think I got a RNC when they turned over later on, but then they have only been training BJJ for a month or maybe less: a few more months and I'll find that much harder to land. ;)

Underneath I went with my usual heel drag escape, trying to also give them a chance to work on position. It was useful for me too, as they were a good bit bigger, but I should have thrown in the Verhoeven variation on the elbow escape to mix things up. Then again, Dónal has been sticking to a theme in classes: if it is mount for the next few weeks, I'll have plenty of opportunity to work on my other mount escapes.

For the last minute or so, Dónal had us get our favourite mount position and then try to escape, before switching. On top I'm fairly confident about holding, especially if there is an experience gap. I was looking to try the escape to butterfly underneath, but ended up throwing them off almost bench press style: I think they were a bit high and overbalanced. Again, with more experience that won't happen (though with more experience, they will probably be attacking my collars a lot more, making the escape to butterfly increase in risk).

Movember is progressing nicely: if anyone wants to follow my Mo for some reason, I've been posting daily pictures on my Mo Space. If you want to throw some money at that page, it's all going towards the Gravity BJJ Movember Rollathon. ;D

03/11/2013 - Rickson Gracie Seminar

Seminar #014
Glasgow Club Bellahouston (BJJ), Rickson Gracie, Glasgow, UK - 03/11/2013

This November marks numerous anniversaries, with varying levels of significance. Perhaps the best known is that this month is the twentieth anniversary of the Ultimate Fighting Championship: UFC 1 was held on the 12th November 1993. A lesser known anniversary is that in the same month Royce stepped into the Octagon, BJJ was first taught in Europe, thanks to BJJ and MMA pioneer Remco Pardoel. He brought Romero 'Jacare' Cavalcanti to the Netherlands in November 1993, shortly before that first UFC and well before the vast majority of people in Europe had even heard of BJJ (which is why Remco remains high on my list of people I'd love to interview). Remco went on to fight Royce in UFC 2, followed by a spot at the first Mundials in 1996.

On a personal note, as of yesterday it is seven years since I took my first official class of Brazilian jiu jitsu, taught by Felipe Souza at the Roger Gracie Academy. November 2012 was the first time I flew to the United States. Today, I've got a new November anniversary to add to that list: November will now also mark when I trained with Rickson Gracie (shame about the picture quality: the guy who took it must have hit the wrong button on my phone).

When I previously went to Scotland, it was as part of a short holiday in Galloway: that involved an extended car journey spread across two days. A much quicker option is to fly, so I booked a £78 flight from Bristol. It meant for a long day, getting up at 05:30 and returning home at 23:40, but I thought it was worth it for the experience. I certainly wasn't the only one, as when I arrived at the sports centre, there were over a hundred people in attendance. That included several black belts, such as the UK trailblazer, Rick Young (who would also be a fascinating interviewee).

Thanks to Scott McVeigh, the organiser of the seminar who had very kindly given me a heads up before he released the date to the public, I was able to speak briefly with Rickson before the seminar started (that interview can be found in issue #18 of Jiu Jitsu Style Magazine, available here). I met Scott last year and he has stayed in touch, inviting me to multiple seminars since then. I was pleased I could finally take him up on the suggestion today. At £95 it is the most expensive seminar I've attended to date, but you have to expect that with a name as big as Rickson.

The man himself warmed up on a Swiss ball in the centre of the mats, exhaling forcefully in what I assume was a specific breathing exercise. At various points he stopped, stood up, then walked over to shake hands with a section of the group, making a point of greeting everybody on the mats. His three hour seminar began with the technique he'd been practicing in full view up until he officially kicked things off: how to breathe.

Probably the most famous scene in the seminal documentary Choke is when Rickson demonstrates his impressive diaphragm and breathing control. We were treated to a live performance, as Rickson pulled off his shirt so he could emphasise the correct way to breathe. His main point was that you should use the whole of the lungs, rather than just the narrow opening at the top. Most of us do the latter, breathing with our chest. Rickson advises using the diaphragm instead.

To practice, lie down on your back, with a hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. When you breathe, your chest should not move, just your diaphragm. Also key is exhaling when you're tired, rather than desperately gasping for breath. Rickson said that you need to expel what he called "bad breath", in order to leave room for "good breath," as if you were a bottle of dirty water that needs to be emptied before it can be refilled with clean liquid.

Just like Michel Verhoeven's seminar a little while ago, Rickson then covered how to create a 'connection' with your opponent from the standing position. It isn't enough to have base: you also need to generate that connection. This was definitely the most 'invisible' part of the invisible jiu jitsu shown today, a number of people struggling to apply it as a result. The idea is that when the other person pulls or pushes, you stay put due to this connection. It's based around your hip and leg posture, as far as I could tell, sinking your hips and sticking your bum out slightly, keeping your legs apart on the top right and bottom left corner of a square. However, I say that as somebody who struggled with this one too.

Adding to that was the same connection from a different position, where your arms are wrapped around their waist. This again was difficult to understand, but the 'connection' this time seemed to involve driving the point of your shoulder into their side, rather than relying on your arms. Finally, there was yet another stand-up connection, when you're trying to move in for a takedown. Rickson went through an exercise where you're grabbing their collar, pushing into their chest, then mirroring them with your feet as they move.

It was much easier to understand the two side control escapes Rickson taught us next. Both are mechanically quite simple, functional against the orthodox side control position where they have one arm under your head, the other by your far arm (as per that picture of Xande). Instead of the usual frame against their neck, your arm clamps on top of theirs, reaching for your legs. This is your point of connection.

Swing your legs up and then across, towards their hips. That should generate the momentum to turn so you're facing them, freeing your shoulder and pulling yourself onto your side. Use your outside foot for base as you shrimp back, where you can then either turn to your knees or look to recover guard. Maintain that connection of your outside foot to the floor, dragging your other leg out as you slide backwards.

A video posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Oct 1, 2016 at 4:25am PDT

The second option is for countering the cross-face. If they are driving hard into your face with their shoulder, the first escape variation will be difficult. So instead, you're going to move the arm that would be normally be against their hip (in an orthodox side control defensive frame). Reach underneath them, towards your same side hip. Using the shoulder of that arm, bump them with some quick bridging motions.

You're looking to knock them over your head, giving you the space to then swivel free past their arm, potentially even getting some control of their arm in the process. As ever in jiu jitsu techniques work best in combination: when they relax their cross-face to deal with this second escape attempt, it's the perfect time to switch back to the first variation.

Rickson followed up with some drilling of the side control top position, emphasising that you should aim to cross the line of their sternum with your own. He had us drill that without using our arms (I saw something comparable in Andre Galvao's book, which I turned into a drill I often teach in my own classes).



The topic moved on to the armbar from guard. Once you have control of their arm, rather than climbing for the armbar gradually, stepping off the hip, Rickson advocates jumping your legs up onto their shoulders right away. He feels that the slower approach, where you push off their hip to get your legs up there, gives your opponent time to stack and escape. I wasn't sure where you were basing for Rickson's shortcut, but when drilling it felt like I was pushing off my own shoulders as I flung my legs to wrap up high on their body.

The advantage of this method is that once you have the arm and spring to that position, they don't have much of a chance to resist: it's like you've skipped a step of the armbar set-up. You aren't scrunched up at any point, because you've gone straight to that stretched out position. Once you've got your legs by their shoulders, keeping your knees tightly clamped and calves gripping their back, you just have to bring your leg over their head to lock it in. Similarly, Rickson advised that if they stand, you need to become adept at walking your legs up their back, 'biting' in as you move, until you reach the shoulders and can again lock in that armbar.

Update August 2016: I've since had a chance to teach this myself, having learned a slightly different variation from another BJJ legend, Chris Haueter.

Sticking with offence from the guard, Rickson transitioned into taking the back, where the scenario is that you've already knocked them to the side and the route to their back is available. As with his perspective on the armbar, Rickson feels that the typical crawling around the back involves too much effort. He instead prefers to wrap one arm around the back, securing you in place pressed against their shoulder.

The difference comes with the legs. He locks those low on their back, then stretches his limbs out. You can use the lower leg (which will be across their stomach) to chop into their far knee, a bit like a scissor sweep. That should hopefully put them on their belly, making it easier for you to shimmy round and establish the back position.

Rickson then took a leaf out of Marcelo Garcia's Advanced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, in that he also highlighted the importance of the seat belt grip when taking the back. Just like Marcelo, Rickson showed how if you have that seatbelt, you can maintain the back even without having your hooks in place. If your opponent is in the turtle, apply the seat belt. Be sure to lock it into their chest, not their head: with the latter, they can pop their head free.

From there, you can leap over and roll them into place, ready to insert your hooks. You can also do what Marcelo demonstrates, crawling behind them to force a seated position, where again you have a good opportunity to insert your hooks. You can then follow up with Rickson's suggested submission, the rear naked choke.

Rickson's concept here reminded me a bit of Saulo's defence. Saulo likes the have one thumb in the opposite collar, while his other hand stays mobile, blocking any attacks. Rickson does something similar with his offence. He works his choking hand in, digging past the jawline, then uses his other hand in an almost defensive way, stripping their grips and preventing them from blocking his choking arm. Once it is in place, he can finish the choke. As Demian Maia shows, you can complete the choke without getting your second arm behind their head, or even with just the one arm.

There weren't any breaks, meaning I don't think I quite caught the final two techniques. I concentrated on getting the earlier material in my head, as that interested me more. Nevertheless, from what I remember there was a discussion of vale tudo guard, something which Rickson feels has been increasingly lacking in modern MMA. This revolves around getting your shin across their stomach to control the distance, whacking into their side with your other heel.

The three hours finished up with a guillotine Rickson apparently learned from Kron. It's cool that his jiu jitsu is still evolving after all this time, though I have to admit I did not get good notes on this one. From what I can recall, it was applied with the palm down rather than up, but I may well be misremembering.

Rickson's teaching style doesn't spend too long going through the details. He'll run through the techniques a couple of times, then have everyone drill it for a few minutes before moving on. Although it did not feel like he was spending much time on explaining, his words were efficient, as aside from the vale tudo guard and guillotine, I didn't have any trouble recollecting the key points Rickson had made.

He also encouraged everybody to ask questions, both in drilling and immediately after he finished demonstrating. Generally he would answer questions by inviting the person who asked to drill it with him in front of everyone else, making sure they understood. Rickson did not stick with one uke either, rotating regularly by randomly picking people standing nearby. The pattern tended to be having them try their typical approach, he would show his variation, then he would get them to attempt it again, correcting as necessary.

Rickson is obviously well practiced at being a celebrity. He signed books and then posed for pictures with anyone who asked, resulting in a large huddle around him with people waving their phones (myself included). There was plenty of Rickson merchandise for sale, mainly t-shirts, gi patches, tank tops and baseball caps, emblazoned with the old Rickson Gracie Association logo. I think there were a few gis on offer too (though I'm not sure if they were the classic Mizuno gis I've heard used to be a staple at Rickson's schools).

In the weeks leading up to November, I had arranged to speak at greater length with Rickson after the seminar, for the JJS interview. Unfortunately that didn't work out: I guess Rickson was busy or simply tired (he had sounded under the weather), as he went straight back to the hotel instead. I think he will be over again next year, though I'm not sure when. Heading over to the Netherlands and training with Michel Verhoeven would be a great option as well: comparing the two seminars, I feel confident that you would not be disappointed if you went to Verhoeven's class hoping to learn Rickson's jiu jitsu.

The full picture is massive, given how many people there were, so to explain who is in this small section I chopped out: Rickson is obviously the guy wearing the red and black belt, on the front row. To the right of him is Scott McVeigh, the Royce Gracie black belt who organised the seminar. To the left of Rickson is Rick Young, the first British man (I think) to ever train in BJJ. Going up from Rick to the top of the pic, there's me with my unruly hair and carefully exposed RGA Bucks logo. ;)