Equipment Review - Mashuu 2.0 Spats (Strike Fightwear)

Short Review: The Mashuu spats from Strike Fightwear are a gloriously bright yellow, featuring a sublimated Meerkatsu design down the leg. There are anti-slip elasticated bands on the waist and the ankle cuffs, which personally I didn't find all that comfortable but are meant to prevent slippage. Be careful of the sizing: I went with Small, but it was much tighter than I expected (though in fairness I got used to it after a few months). I bought them from here for £15 on sale, but they will presumably be at least twice the price once (if?) they come back in stock.

Full Review: As I was so pleased with my beautiful Pony Club Grappling Gear 'Jessica' spats (reviewed here, with a potted history of grappling tights), I was keen to pick up some more. Somebody on reddit mentioned Strike Fightwear were having a sale, leading me to snap up a pair of Mashuu spats back in August.

The selling point for me is that the spats are bright yellow: I'm a big fan of colourful nogi equipment, in direct contrast to my preference for plain and simple gi design. The macaque design adorns almost the entire left leg, Mashuu covering the back of the leg as well. The right leg is plainer, staying yellow down the upper leg and past the knee, followed by a black section around the calf. That has 'SF//' in white text, finished with a kanji in a white circle at the very bottom. The same SF// design is repeated along the waistband, interspersed with the word 'Strike', in black text on yellow. Finally on the upper right leg, there is a monkey wearing a kabuto (samurai helmet) in front of crossed katana, with some more text below it and the Strike Fightwear logo. The monkey with the helmet was not designed by Meerkatsu: instead, it was modified from something he created earlier.

Strike Fightwear started in 2011 and has since become known for offering extremely cheap gis. Based in the UK, Strike FW have also often worked with designer Seymour 'Meerkatsu' Yang, who created their Red Dragon gi along with a range of nogi artwork. The macaque was one of Yang's early designs, featured on both a rash guard and grappling tights. Dubbing the macaque 'Mashuu' was a result of a Strike Fightwear naming contest, won by another UK blogger, Will Wayland. Apparently, it is a little-used Japanese forename. Doing a quick Google, there is a Lake Mashū in Japan as well.

There was no size chart on the website, which is a major problem, particularly if you're buying in a sale and don't want to risk the product selling out (otherwise I would have emailed them to check the size). I therefore decided to base my decision on the PCGG spats I already owned, given that they are a size Small and fit well (I normally wear 30 inch waist trousers, to give you a point of reference).

As it turned out, a PCGG 'Small' is much more generous than a Strike Fightwear 'Small': having since bought several other spats, it's become clear that there is no sizing consensus across different fightwear companies. Therefore while I can generally trust an A1 gi will fit me, I lack that certainty when it comes to spats. To any fightwear companies reading this, it would be really handy for the customer if you could make sure you stick in a spats size chart (preferably with full waist circumference numbers), if you don't already. ;)

So for me, the Mashuu 2.0 initially felt far too tight, especially the waistband. I struggled to pull that over my hips. Once it slid past my hip bones, I didn't feel discomfort (unless I pulled the waistband over my underwear and directly onto my skin), but the insufficient size was noticeable when I looked at my legs. The fabric on my legs was stretched out to such a degree that not only could I see the hair on my legs, strands actually poked through when I was cycling. I am assuming that this was purely down to the fact that the spats were too small for me, rather than the fabric itself being much thinner than that used for the PCGG spats.

There was another possibility to try, which was removing the thick rubber waistband. This also explained the ripping noises I had heard earlier: they were caused by the loosening of threads attaching that waistband to the spats. I cut the rest of it free, a simple process until I got to the heavily stitched main join between the band and the spats. That thin strip at the back was too entwined with the spats to remove all the threads, but I could still cut it off with some scissors.

This resulted in a much more comfortable fit, although of course that doesn't help the material straining on the legs. Having said that, I'm now used to them after four months of use, to the extent that my PCGG spats actually feel a bit loose. I have also since bought a pair of spats that feel even tighter, but I'm hoping that like the Mashuu spats, they will begin to feel looser after continued testing.

In terms of specific measurements, when the Mashuu grappling tights are lain flat on the floor unstretched, the waist is 10 inches (26cm) wide. From top to bottom they are 82cm long, while the ankle openings are 10cm wide. Needless to say, there is a lot of stretch: I wear 30 inch waist trousers and can wear these without discomfort, despite my initial concerns when I first tried them on. According to the inner label, the construction is 82% polyester and 18% spandex.

The anti-slip bands are supposed to stop the leggings from shifting up or down. I did not like the feel of the waistband, hence why I removed it, but that may have been down to tightness rather than the anti-slip ridges. I left the anti-slip strips on the ankle cuffs: they do a decent job of stopping the tights from riding up my legs, of particular use if you're rolling in spats and a rash guard for nogi.

I rarely train nogi myself, but always wear a pair of spats underneath my gi trousers. That's partly for warmth, as the venue where I currently train is quite cold, but I have also found the compression helps relieve the niggling groin injury I've had since last September (I've been to two different physiotherapists since then, so it's possible that's more psychological at this point). As with any pair of spats, the tightness takes some getting used to: I don't mind a really snug fit, but you will want to choose your size very carefully.

If you have no issues with a tight fit and are a similar size to me, then the Mashuu in Small should work, but a Medium is probably a better bet for the average person. It is a good idea to contact the supplier with your measurements, though even then you may not get the right size. Best of all would be asking any training partners who also wear spats, or checking reviews like this one to get an idea of the actual size. Should they come back in stock, the Mashuu 2.0 grappling tights can be bought here.

12/12/2013 - Teaching (Side Control Basic Maintenance)

Teaching #133
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 12/12/2013

The topic for tonight was maintaining side control. I kicked off with the conceptual framework John described to me in Texas, which I've mentioned before: the primary control points are the hips and the triangle of shoulders and head, secondary control is inside the knees and elbows, then finally tertiary control relates to the wrists and ankles. John goes into more detail over on this thread. I think it's helpful to have that framework at the start, as then the students can hopefully see how that principle filters through everything we'll be training today.

A particularly effective method of control is applying a cross face. If you're not familiar with the term, that means bringing your near side arm under their head: I like to reach right to their far armpit and anchor my arm there, either by cupping, or by getting a hold of the gi material. From that position, you can then drive your shoulder and/or arm into the side of their head or neck, aiming to get their head to turn away from you and/or generate some choking pressure to distract them.

If they can't turn their head back towards you due to the shoulder pressure, it will make it much harder for them to create space and escape. "The body follows the head" or "where the head goes, the body follows" is an old adage and a true one. This is what SBG call the 'shoulder of justice.' If you shift your shoulder from their face to their neck, that choking pressure can also open up opportunities to switch to mount or consider initiating a submission attempt. However, it does mean they can probably turn their head again, which improves their escape opportunities.

Next, it is a good idea to deal with their far arm. Reach under that far elbow with your arm, coming under the armpit. You have a couple of options here. Option one is linking your hands together with a gable grip and sucking them in towards you, providing a very tight side control. This is how Tran showed it to me several years ago. Option two is gripping around their shoulder, to bring their shoulder off the mat: this is something Dónal likes to do, which isn't surprising as I think I first saw that on a Braulio video. You can also use the elbow of your far arm to squeeze into their far hip. This latter option makes more sense if you're already grabbing by their armpit with your near arm.

You want to keep control over their far arm for two reasons: first, they can use it to defend, by getting it into your neck. Second, there are a number of attacks you can do from here. Final point I wanted to emphasise was chest position. Picture an imaginary line between the middle of their chest and also between yours. You want to bisect those lines: don't be too far over them, or they can easily roll you (if they DO try and roll you and it's working, put your far arm or your forehead out for base). Too far back, and it's easier for them to slip out and escape. Stay low, dropping your hips: don't leave them any space.

At this point, I wanted to note that there are a bunch of different things you can do with your legs. I used to prefer to bring both knees in tight, but more recently I've been sprawling the leg nearer the head back. Either way, you need to keep your hips low. If your knees are in tight, widen them if your hips are still high. With the sprawled back position, lowering your hips is easier. The lower the hips, the more weight on top of them, which therefore gives you better control. However, if you have both legs sprawled back, there is a chance they might be able to bring their knee inside: you need to block it somehow, which would commonly be with the hip nearest their legs, your hand or your knee. Play around and see which position you like, and also be ready to switch depending on your partner's movement.
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Teaching Notes: Next time, I need to remember to emphasise the placement of your chest, particularly not moving too far as that puts you at risk of being rolled. The other thing it would be mentioning is pushing off your toes. That's made a real difference to my guard passing and it also applies to side control. What brought that home to me was watching the students during the "spar without using your arms" section. In that situation, you need all the leverage you can get, so popping up on your toes provides some much needed balance and mobility.

I'm still not 100% after that flu from last week, meaning I again decided to sit out of sparring. Next week I'll hopefully be fully back to normal: I can't remember the last time an illness has lingered on this long. But meh, it's winter so I guess not that surprising. ;)

05/12/2013 - Teaching (Basic Side Control Guard Recovery)

Teaching #132
Hit Fit, (BJJ), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 05/12/2013

I started by focusing on hand and arm positioning. First thing to note is that they will want to kill your near arm. This is bad for you, because it means you can't stop them shifting up towards your head. From there, they can make as much space as they want and pass to mount.

So, you need to get your arm inside, the forearm pressing against their hip: this is a bit more reliable that grabbing the gi material, as they can potentially still bring their body onto your hand and collapse it due to the loose material. The forearm into the hip will help block their movement, and initiate your attempts to create some space. It should also help you block them moving to north south, as if you clamp your arm by their side, your body will move with them if they try to switch position.

One thing to note is that having your forearm by their hip like that does leave you more open to the cross-face. So, you could potentially block inside their cross-facing arm instead, which will prevent their shoulder pressure. This is the Saulo method from his book, which has advantages, but personally I prefer to block the hip.

With your other hand, grab the gi material by their shoulder, close to their neck, then pull down. Twist that arm up into their neck, keeping the elbow in: you need to be tight here, as otherwise they will go for a figure four on that arm. Once you've got the forearm into their neck, they can't press down into you, as they'll essentially be choking themselves. Note that this is a block: you don't want to start pushing and reaching, as that may leave you vulnerable. Reach too far and they can shove your arm to one side and set up an arm triangle.

Next I moved on to the legs. Your legs have two main purposes here: first, blocking your opponent getting to mount. Raise your near knee and drive it into their side. The idea is to wedge them between your knee and the arm you have by their hip. Personally, I like to keep my knee floating, glued to their side.

That makes it easier to slip my knee under as soon as they give me any space, which is something I learned from Roger. Many people prefer to cross their foot over their knee, which is something I used to do in the past as well. However, as this long Sherdog thread discusses, that can leave you open to a footlock, and also limit your mobility. Then again, you can see it used at the highest levels, like here at the Mundials.

The second use for your legs is bridging. Marcelo Garcia has a handy tip for this (although the escape he is doing there is slightly different), related to increasing the power of your bridge. To do that, bring your heels right to your bum, then push up on your toes. That increases your range of motion, so you can really drive into them.

Make sure you turn into them as you bridge, rather than just straight up. This will help the next part, which is to shrimp out as you come back down. That's why you've created space in the first place: if you simply plopped back down, then you've wasted the opportunity. I like to base with the leg I've pushed into their stomach, putting my foot between their legs. You can also shrimp with your outside leg, ideally hooking their outside leg. I put the outside leg over their back, but it's down to preference, flexibility and leg length relative to your partner.

As soon as you shrimp out, slip the knee pressing into their side underneath. Note you aren't trying to lift them with your arms. Instead, you want to push off them, moving your body away rather than pushing theirs higher up. Once your knee is through, you need to be careful they don't immediately pass by pushing down and moving around that knee, ruining all your hard work. To prevent that, you can control their arm with your hip-bracing arm as you escape, like Roy Dean demonstrates in Blue Belt Requirements. That will also stop them pushing down on your knee, as their arm is trapped. It is worth trying both and seeing which you prefer, or which one the situation demands.

Alternatively, keep your hand by their shoulder. Straighten it, then add further support by bracing your other hand into their bicep (same side as the blocked shoulder). Your new frame should create a barrier to their pass, giving you enough time to recover your guard, or even move into a submission.
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Teaching Notes: I didn't comment on the importance of stopping them getting past your near arm, which I normally discuss: I just mentioned about blocking them moving to north-south. I also didn't talk about turning towards them as you bridge. Both are worth noting, so I must remember to include those details next time.

However, I did add in some different elements. Firstly, I went into a bit more detail than usual about shrimping, due to what I was observing from students during drilling. That seemed helpful, so I'll be keeping that in place for next time. I also included the side control drills I enjoy throwing in, where you spar from side control without your arms, then with just one of the partners having use of their hands and arms, until finally you move into 'normal' side control sparring.

I'll have to remember to ask about the sensor on the gate next time, as while it lets cars out, it seems a bit more suspicious of bikes. ;)