30/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | North/South Kimura

Teaching #224
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 30/10/2014

My highest percentage attack from north-south (although this starts from standard side control) is a kimura. From side control, you want to control their far arm. This is made easier if they aren't careful and let you bump their arm up onto your shoulder.

Whether they put it there or you do, the next step is to wrap your arm over theirs, aiming to get just under their elbow to kill mobility in the limb. Ideally, also pull them up by that arm, so they're rolled onto their side. To lock it in place, grab your own collar, or just somewhere on your gi if you can't reach far enough. You'll also want to use you head, clamping your skull against their forearm. Braulio advises following their arm with your head: e.g., if they try to fling it down to the mat or something like that. Don't let them work their arm past your head.

You're also going to move round to north-south, so again you may want to block their legs from running after you by putting a hand on the mat, near their bum (although it should be a bit harder for them to turn if you've locked up that arm). As you move around, you want to jam the knee nearest their hips into their armpit, sliding your lower leg under their arm as you move around. That makes it harder for them to escape. If you can't manage that, slide your knee over their free arm once you've got to north south. It is useful to maintain some kind of control on that free arm, as otherwise they can use it to try and create some space to escape.

You essentially end up sitting on their head, so in drilling, be aware that you don't want to crush your partner. You can take a bit of the weight off by transferring it to your knees: obviously in competition, that's less of a concern. As you sit up, make sure their elbow is glued to your chest.

The next important step is to establish a figure four on their trapped arm, which can be easier said than done. One simple method Kev showed me is to put your free hand in place, ready to grab their wrist. Next, turn your head away from their arm: this will push your shoulder forwards, which will then also knock their arm forwards, putting the wrist right into your waiting hand. It's then simple to complete the figure four grip.

To finish the kimura, simply turn back in the other direction, pushing their wrist towards the side their elbow is pointing . Alternatively, you can also bring the elbow of your non-clamping arm to their trapped arm side. Turn your body so you're facing their head, then apply the kimura from that lower position.

If you make a mistake while looking to apply the kimura from that upright position, or they simply defend well, you might find that they are able to grab their own belt or gi. This will make it tough to complete the submission. You can try pulling in the direction their knuckles are pointing, or Roy Dean's option of using rhythm to break that grip. Push their arm towards them twice, as if you are really trying to break their grip, then yank hard in the other direction (aiming for the direction in which their fingers are weakest). Lovato Jr suggests adjusting your grip so that you're holding the meat of their hand rather than their wrist. He then does two quick jerks to yank their hand free.

Should none of that work, you can instead switch to an armbar. Bring your knee up on their trapped arm side. This will enable you to put your whole body into it when you turn towards their other side, which should break their grip. Make sure you keep that figure four grip, as it is about to prove useful. If possible, you also want to try and slip your foot into the armpit of their free arm, which should help prevent their escape attempt.

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

However, because you have that figure-four grip, they can't use it anymore. If they try to turn away, you can just apply the kimura. In order to relieve the pressure, they'll have to turn back. You can then drop to the mat, switching your grip to finish the armbar as normal. Another option is to grab their leg, wrapping underneath it ideally. That will prevent them turning, because they need to swivel that leg down: they can't if your arm is in the way.
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Teaching Notes: I went through quite a lot today, mainly because of the complexity brought in by needing to break their grips quite often with this technique. Ideally you don't let them get a grip of course, but when sparring you're rarely in the ideal situation. Things get even more complex if you decide switch into a far side armbar, as then a whole load of other grip breaks come into play. I think it is useful to show that, but I'll probably restrict it to longer lessons. I've got a bit more time at PHNX, so there's scope to run through the grip breaks.

Lovato Jr shows how you can get your kimura from their standard 'arm into neck' defence, meaning it doesn't matter what side of your head their arm is on. You wrap up that arm, your elbow in front of their shoulder, then proceed pretty much as normal. He also likes to step his leg over while they are still flat, using that to push them up onto their side, rather than just pulling on the arm like I've been taught.

I showed that to Chris during drilling, as he's seen the technique before, but to keep things simple (especially as for one of the students, this was their second ever lesson), I stuck with the 'they reach beside your head' set-up. It's unlikely anyone experienced will do that and therefore depends on a fundamental mistake, but handy for teaching. In the future I'd like to be able to teach the more pro-active version from Lovator Jr, which doesn't depend on their mistake, but I'll need to play with it more myself.

29/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Transition to Mount

Teaching #223
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 29/10/2014

To transition from side control to mount, start by killing the near arm. When you're underneath, one of the worst things that can happen is they control your near arm. Now that you're on top, that is therefore exactly what you want. Start by digging your knee in to get it into the armpit: Saulo suggests faking a choke to get them to raise their arm. You want to slip your knee right under their arm, bringing your knees in close to their head.

Another thing to try is switching your hips into a scarf hold position to pry their elbow up, then switch back to a more orthodox side control to trap their arm. If you are having trouble, dragging your hip along the floor and into their elbow may enable you to scoop up their arm. However you mange it, getting the near elbow out of the way is key to this particular method of transitioning to mount. Once it's secure, you've got several methods for getting to the mount.

My preference is to use reverse scarf hold to go to mount. From tight side control, having killed the near arm, switch one arm to grip their far arm, putting your other hand by their near hip. Shift your hips right back towards their head, as far as you can. Your elbow will either be in their far armpit or wrapped underneath their far arm for control. This position means you're also blocking their view with your entire body. Lean into them, using your body weight to help maintain control.

That therefore stops them from seeing exactly what you're doing (note that when Saulo shows it on his DVD, he suggests you mess with them by slapping their legs, until you can pick your moment). When you've got up really high and are ready to go (at this point, they should almost be bridging to relieve the pressure), grab their knee to stop them snatching mount, then bring your leg across. Ideally, you'll pin their knee to the mat, squashing both their knees together.

If you're able to clamp their knees onto the near side, there is the possibility of inserting your foot behind their knees and switching through to mount. However, it generally isn't going to be easy to get them into that position, so I wouldn't rely on this, but still, if you can get it that's an easy route to mount. Second, you can grab your own foot and pull it across, or just squeeze it past your own arm, depending on your flexibility. This is useful when you have limited space, but personally I find it feels a little awkward, in that you might tangle yourself up in your own limbs.

Beginners will often try to simply swing their leg over, which is instinctive. However, while that can sometimes work, especially if you time it well, there are two main dangers. The first is that they will snatch half guard as your leg swings over, as it will normally be within range of their own legs. The second is even more dangerous. If they bridge into you midway through your swing, they can roll you onto your back and end up in your guard.

The safest option is to slide your knee across their belt line, then 'fishtail' (slapping the mat with the side of your lower leg) when your knee touches the mat. You can also grab their belt or cup their far hip to stop them shrimping midway through. I feel this is the best method, using steady pressure to get into place, rather than relying on explosive power, flexibility or luck.
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Teaching Notes: Fish-tailing is the bit people have the most trouble with. To help with that, I could try emphasising shoving your partners leg back with your knee first. Alternatively, there is the option of driving your knee diagonally into their armpit instead. It's a bit less stable, IMO, but it makes it tougher for them to snatch your leg in half guard.

Also, I'm letting multiple variations sneak back into my teaching. Next time, I need to stick with just one, even though it's really tempting to show a couple when I teach. For this lesson, it's killing the near arm that tempts me into two variations. The basic way is to drive your knee in, but that often doesn't work because they're staying really tight. So, the more effecitve - at least in my experience - option is Roger Gracie's method, dragging your hip along the floor under their elbow in a sort of scarf hold. I should just teach that one next time.

29/10/2014 - Teaching | Women's Class | Elbow Escape from Mount

Teaching #222
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 29/10/2014

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, getting a shoulder off the floor. Saulo notes that you should be doing this as early as possible: if they are working to mount from side control, set up your escape during the transition, rather than waiting for them to secure their mount. Work an elbow inside their knee and set up your frame, in order to push into the leg.

There are several ways of framing for that push. I personally like to keep defending my neck throughout, using my elbows to dig into their leg. That keeps my neck safe, but it does limit your range and reduce leverage: you'll need to curl in towards their leg to generate enough push. The other main option is to extend your arms further towards their hip, leaving your neck vulnerable but considerably beefing up your leverage. That frame is also handy for stopping them moving up higher in mount.

When I went to the seminar with the Dutch black belt under Rickson, Michel Verhoeven, he began by reaching across to their opposite hip with his hand, keeping his arm slightly bent. He then pushed on the hip: if they were higher up, he would form a frame with his arms and push. That second option is the one my fellow Artemis BJJ co-founder Dónal likes to teach, putting one arm across their hip (the hand is by one hip, the elbow by their other hip). For extra leverage, brace that first arm with your other hand, against your wrist. Stephan Kesting recommends keeping the hand of the hip-arm in a fist, to lock in the grip (so your second hand doesn't slide off as easily).

Whichever option you use, the idea is to make enough space from the combination of your shrimp and bridge to pull your leg through. As with side control escapes, don't just bridge and plop back down, it needs to combine with your shrimp. The leg you're trying to pull free should be flat: if it isn't, they will be able to trap it with their leg. Having that leg flat also makes it easier to pull out. You other foot will be on the floor with the knee raised, in order to provide the push for your shrimp.

After you're on your side, bump slightly, then pry their leg open with your elbow. Aim to pop your knee through between their legs initially. If you can pull the whole leg out in one, great, but don't be greedy. Getting that first knee through will mean you can then brace your leg 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 and hook under their leg with your instep, or put your free leg around their back (be sure to clamp down if you do that).

You now have the option of moving to half guard (especially if you've wrapped their leg, you're basically there already), open guard (e.g., butterfly) or continue working for full guard. As with escapes under side control, keep shrimping until you have the room to pull your leg free. Even if you can't wrap their leg, you can jam your outside leg tight to theirs, then use that for your base to shrimp.
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Teaching Notes: The women's class has so far had a looser structure than the mixed classes, with lots of discussion, going over other techniques as people ask and switching around partners. It feels very sociable, which is awesome as that's something I'm keen to build in all the classes. Naturally there's a balance, as you don't want people talking all the time, but I think that overall it's a very good thing. The number one thing is that training should be fun, not a chore. :)

In terms of the technique, I think everyone was getting it, though as ever there are always little details that could be tweaked. I could emphasise the combination between the upa and the elbow escape, as they fit together well. It will also be handy when I can show people my own personal favourite mount escape, the heel drag: I'll save that for the mixed class. There's the escape to butterfly too, but that's a bit less high percentage, I think.

Some people were having trouble making enough space to get their legs through, so I might need to emphasise bridging. I also didn't talk about pushing your opponent's leg up and over as you slide yours through, something that would probably help (but at the same time, I don't want to get into lots of variations, as that can get confusing). I don't personally use this escape all that much, as I tend to over-rely on the heel drag: this serves as a good reminder to try the elbow escape more in sparring. As next month is all mount, that will be a good opportunity to do so. :)

28/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Americana

Teaching #221
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 28/10/2014

I see the americana as the classic submission from side control: I'm fond of that technique, as it is one over which you can exert lots of control. However, it does have a reputation of being a technique that is mainly used by stronger people bullying a smaller opponent, so if I'm going to continue viewing it as a core basic submission, I need to keep refining my understanding to make sure it is functional whatever your size.

There are various set ups, but I decided to show how to go for the americana from that strong, orthodox side control position I've mentioned before. To start, you need to isolate their far arm. Often the set up is that they've pushed their forearm up towards you (which is why from an escape perspective, you don't want to be shoving up with your arm and trying to benchpress them). A simple Roger Gracie method is to trap their wrist with your chin, then drive their arm to the mat with your weight. Lift your shoulder slightly to then insert your hand on top of their wrist.

There are different arguments regarding gripping their wrist using your thumb or not. Some feel that having the thumb there provides better control, and that is the instinctive way of holding something. However, most BJJ instructors I've seen describe gripping for the americana advocate a thumbless grip, so that all of your fingers are over the other side of their arm.

That's the direction they want to escape, so that's where you want your strength. It also means you can really push down, rather than squashing your own thumb. Then there's the point Kev at RGA Bucks makes, which is that he feels the thumb can act as a lever for their escape.

Support your hand with your head if you're having trouble pushing their arm to the mat (Cindy Omatsu is showing it from mount in the picture, but same idea). Also be sure to keep their arm away from their body, so they can't grab their belt or gi. The aim is to put the arm at right angles. Another handy tip is to get your elbow into their neck. That means they can't turn towards you to relieve pressure on their shoulder and begin an escape. Finally, you also want to make sure that their elbow is stuck, keeping the arm you have underneath their arm tight so they can't slip their elbow free.

Finish by 'painting' the floor with their knuckles, moving their hand towards their legs, lifting their elbow off the floor. You may need to adjust the angle of their arm, depending on how flexible they are. Make sure you don't give them space by their shoulder, or they can relieve the pressure and perhaps begin an escape.

Saulo has a few extra details in the version on his instructional website, BJJ Library. If they are pushing up into his neck, Saulo moves his body forwards to move their arm away from their side. He then locks one arm under their elbow (again, to stop that elbow slipping free of your attack), grabbing their wrist with the other (this is easier to get if you time it for when they next try to shove into your neck. You can then drive it to the mat. Slide your elbow arm through, grab the wrist, then suck in their arm to tighten the angle, before completing the submission.

Yet another set-up option crops up if they are pushing you towards their legs. Go a little with their pressure into your neck, leaning away as if that escape attempt is working for them, then turn back towards them, driving their arm to the mat with your bodyweight, head and hand. You can increase the power by switching your legs as you move back, then switching again as your return your weight towards them. Alternatively, you can simply turn your body slightly as they push, with the intention to get enough space to go for their wrist, then push it to the ground, where you can finish as before.
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Teaching Notes: I'm still going with the Roger Gracie chin-clamp set-up, though my concern remains that this doesn't emphasise setting up the figure four properly. I'll see how it changes when I teach it the 'standard' way next time, maybe adding in the chin-clamp during drilling. Another thing to keep in mind is different levels of shoulder flexibility. One of the students tonight had very tight shoulders, so it took hardly any pressure to elicit a tap.

Also, considering the difference that angles make in getting the tap. For some people who are more flexible, adjusting that angle can make all the difference. I tend to show the orthodox right angle, but it's worth keeping in mind other angles. Though again, that might be something to mention during drilling. I have to be careful I don't fall into my old trap of over-explaining and going through loads of variations. Keep it simple, add details if needed during drilling.

27/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Gi Tail Choke

Teaching #220
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 27/10/2014

I first learned this choke at RGA Bucks from Matt Burn, back in 2010. It's become one of my main offensive options from side control since then, though I still don't have a good name for it. Gi tail choke will do for now, until I can come up with something better. It starts from the classic side control position, with an arm under the head.

Open up your gi with your far hand. In sparring, you'll sometimes find that your gi is already open, or you may need to be sneaky about it (e.g., from reverse scarf hold, so they can't see what you're doing with your gi). Punch that gi tail inside their arm, then feed the gi lapel to your other hand (that should still be under their head). Once you have the gi tail in place, get a firm grip: you may want to keep on feeding it further to make your grip even more secure.

Cinch it tight to their neck, straightening the arm you have under their head. Put your free hand on the floor by their same side hip, to stop them following you (always a good idea if you are transitioning to north-south). Keeping your upper body low, walk your legs around towards their head, as if you were going to north south. At the same time, move your head towards their near hip: they will probably tap before you get there, but if not, keep going until you can put your head next to their hip. If the submission still isn't happening, make sure you're keeping your arm straight and pressed into their neck, so that your gi lapel digs into the other side of their neck.
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Teaching Notes: I'm not sure whether to add in details about hiding the gi tail in your hand, though that is useful. The difficulty with teaching this technique is that although I know from experience it's a good submission, if people are expecting it, then it's clearly going to be much tougher to apply. So, that meant progressive resistance was more challenging than usual, as the person on the bottom focuses heavily on blocking that gi tail going by their neck.

So, I instead emphasised that students should be thinking about how they would progress from that submission attempt to something else, paying close attention to the reactions of their training partner. If they are blocking the choke, perhaps they are leaving themselves more vulnerable to a joint-lock, or they forget about defending against getting mounted. This lesson could then become a handy exercise in combining techniques and the important 'chess' element of BJJ, where you're thinking a few moves ahead.

Having said that, there are lots of beginners in the class: is it too early for them to attempt thinking several steps ahead, before they've got a solid grasp of the fundamental submissions? I'll see how it goes in future lessons and if any of the beginners start trying this attack. It might be one to leave to the longer lessons at PHNX Fitness, so I have the scope to fit in a follow-up technique. As ever, we'll see. :)

25/10/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | North South Escapes

Class #600
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 25/10/2014

Most of open mat this week was less focused for me than normal, although I did a bunch of drilling at the start. Tracey and I worked on the various techniques she'd been learning in the women's class, plus a bit of sparring. I then got in some rolls with a fellow purple belt, always cool. As ever I spent lots of it underneath side control and failing to do much from guard. I need to be careful of my arm in the running escape, as the third time round he got a swift armbar.

Passing I need to be careful too. On less experienced training partners, it isn't too difficult to pin an ankle or knee then move around, popping their foot off my hip either with an elbow or a sharp scoot backwards. Against a purple, that's rather less successful. I also need to watch my posture, as I had my head down a few times which almost lead to a loop choke (I was able to prevent it by pushing his elbow off, but only just).

On the plus side, I was pleased that I felt comfortable and secure once I got to the top of side control. Although that satisfaction evaporated when he mentioned he'd had some major shoulder and neck issues and was only recently getting back to full sparring. So yeah, that probably hampered his ability to escape side control just a little. ;)

The rest of the open mat was spent going through some north south escapes. This is a horrible position to escape, as it offers really great control for the person on top with minimal energy expenditure on their part. I'm a big fan of it myself: it's good for scooping up those kimuras too. I played with the basic escape first, where you swing your legs from side to side until you can either fling your legs right over and take their back (unlikely, but cool when you manage it), or swing right back into guard (safer).

There were several less orthodox escapes I'd seen over the years too, but never played with much. Kurt Osiander pops up their torso and loads them onto his knees. He secures his knees behind their arms, then manages to flip them right over. I wasn't able to do it in drilling, but I'm not sure it's one I'd want to get into anyway: I kept worrying I would end up piledriving my partner when playing with that escape. Still, worth working out the mechanics.

Something that felt a lot more viable was an escape where you push their head to the side, bring your arm against it while reaching over their back, while your other arm controls their same side arm. I'd be concerned about letting them get control of my elbows, but if I can avoid that, it looks like a decent principle for escaping. The last one involved getting your knees locked to your elbows, which works, but you have to get that in place before they secure north-secure. Normally I don't get that much time to transition into an escape posture. Worth keeping in mind anyway, as the knees are a handy barrier.

23/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Americana Lockflow

Teaching #219
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 23/10/2014

In a progression from the americana I taught yesterday, I moved on to what I call the Roy Dean lockflow, as he is the person who taught it to me during one of his seminars (it's also on his DVD, Purple Belt Requirements). If they start to slip their arm free from the americana, you don't want to simply go for the same thing again. It is of the utmost important that you combine techniques in BJJ, instead of viewing them in isolation. That goes for escapes as well as attacks. What I wanted to show was an example of that, using the americana as a starting point.

You also want to avoid meeting force with force if possible. So instead, as they slip out, go with it, letting them straighten it out. However, this sets you up for another attack, as you can get a pressing armbar from here. Slide your figure-four grip up their arm, so that you have one hand around their wrist, with one of your arms a little in front of their elbow. That means you've created a fulcrum, so you can press their wrist down to apply a jointlock.

Roy Harris, Dean's instructor, has a whole DVD on bent armlocks. For the transition to the straight/pressing armbar, he advises moving your weight forward, so your chest is over their elbow. Harris also puts his arm in the crook of his elbow, raising his other elbow off the ground to get the pressure. You may need to twist their wrist to get their thumb pointing up, in order to create the right leverage on their elbow.

Possibly they manage to slip out of that as well, meaning their arm begins to bend in the other direction. Don't worry, you can still keep attacking. Clamp their arm to your chin using your own arm, then switch your free arm underneath. Get your wrist by your head, ready to push their wrist to the mat. You can now apply the kimura, similar to the americana, but with their arm pointing in the opposite direction. If you need extra leverage, turn to your side and base out.

For even more leverage, step over their head and lift them slightly off the floor. Keep in mind that if they slip free of that, you can go back to the pressing armbar and americana: hence why this is a lockflow, because it should be continuously available as long as you maintain control of the far arm. There is also the option of pulling them up on their side and switching into a kimura from north south, depending on how solidly you have that arm controlled.

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Teaching Notes: As it was all blue belts tonight, I felt confident to go into the lockflow. That's a bit more tricky if it's all beginners, because learning the lockflow really needs everybody there to already be familiar with the americana and the kimura, ideally the straight armlock too. That's one sensible way to divide 'fundamental' techniques: they don't require pre-requisites. This lockflow does, so I'm not sure whether I'll use it if the class is mainly beginners. Unless of course I can fit in lessons on the americana and kimura first, but the attendance pattern of students is still erratic, so they don't all show up on the same days each week.

I'm still considering how to add in an interesting variation from Dean Lister from BJJ Library, though it might not be possible. On the straight armlock, he grabs the meat of the hand, points their thumb down, then simply pushes the arm towards their head.

Saulo also has a variation on the straight armlock, then he pulls it up onto his shoulder. He then combines it with the kimura, so that could fit into the lockflow too. I'd also like to work in a transition to or from a choke if possible. I'm sure there must be a way to fit that in, so it's something I'll keep playing with.

22/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Americana

Teaching #218
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 22/10/2014

I see the americana as the classic submission from side control: I'm fond of that technique, as it is one over which you can exert lots of control. However, it does have a reputation of being a technique that is mainly used by stronger people bullying a smaller opponent, so if I'm going to continue viewing it as a core basic submission, I need to keep refining my understanding to make sure it is functional whatever your size.

There are various set ups, but I decided to show how to go for the americana from that strong, orthodox side control position I've mentioned before. To start, you need to isolate their far arm. Often the set up is that they've pushed their forearm up towards you (which is why from an escape perspective, you don't want to be shoving up with your arm and trying to benchpress them). A simple Roger Gracie method is to trap their wrist with your chin, then drive their arm to the mat with your weight. Lift your shoulder slightly to then insert your hand on top of their wrist.

There are different arguments regarding gripping their wrist using your thumb or not. Some feel that having the thumb there provides better control, and that is the instinctive way of holding something. However, most BJJ instructors I've seen describe gripping for the americana advocate a thumbless grip, so that all of your fingers are over the other side of their arm.

That's the direction they want to escape, so that's where you want your strength. It also means you can really push down, rather than squashing your own thumb. Then there's the point Kev at RGA Bucks makes, which is that he feels the thumb can act as a lever for their escape.

Support your hand with your head if you're having trouble pushing their arm to the mat (Cindy Omatsu is showing it from mount in the picture, but same idea). Also be sure to keep their arm away from their body, so they can't grab their belt or gi. The aim is to put the arm at right angles. Another handy tip is to get your elbow into their neck. That means they can't turn towards you to relieve pressure on their shoulder and begin an escape. Finally, you also want to make sure that their elbow is stuck, keeping the arm you have underneath their arm tight so they can't slip their elbow free.

Finish by 'painting' the floor with their knuckles, moving their hand towards their legs, lifting their elbow off the floor. You may need to adjust the angle of their arm, depending on how flexible they are. Make sure you don't give them space by their shoulder, or they can relieve the pressure and perhaps begin an escape.

Saulo has a few extra details in the version on his instructional website, BJJ Library. If they are pushing up into his neck, Saulo moves his body forwards to move their arm away from their side. He then locks one arm under their elbow (again, to stop that elbow slipping free of your attack), grabbing their wrist with the other (this is easier to get if you time it for when they next try to shove into your neck. You can then drive it to the mat. Slide your elbow arm through, grab the wrist, then suck in their arm to tighten the angle, before completing the submission.

Yet another set-up option crops up if they are pushing you towards their legs. Go a little with their pressure into your neck, leaning away as if that escape attempt is working for them, then turn back towards them, driving their arm to the mat with your bodyweight, head and hand. You can increase the power by switching your legs as you move back, then switching again as your return your weight towards them. Alternatively, you can simply turn your body slightly as they push, with the intention to get enough space to go for their wrist, then push it to the ground, where you can finish as before.
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Teaching Notes: I'm still considering the best set-up. I think the Roger Gracie chin-clamp is good, as it's fairly common for the person underneath to push up into your neck. However, I'll keep looking in case I come across anything better. The only issue I've got with teaching the chin-clamp is that it depends on your partner making the mistake of pushing up. I'd prefer one that is more proactive than reactive, but we'll see how it goes. Tomorrow I'm going to play some more with that keylock position, either the Roy Dean lockflow if I get some blues, or a kimura if it is mainly beginners.

22/10/2014 - Teaching | Women's Class | Side Control to Mount

Teaching #217
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 22/10/2014

To transition from side control to mount, start by killing the near arm. When you're underneath, one of the worst things that can happen is they control your near arm. Now that you're on top, that is therefore exactly what you want. Start by digging your knee in to get it into the armpit: Saulo suggests faking a choke to get them to raise their arm. You want to slip your knee right under their arm, bringing your knees in close to their head.

Another thing to try is switching your hips into a scarf hold position to pry their elbow up, then switch back to a more orthodox side control to trap their arm. If you are having trouble, dragging your hip along the floor and into their elbow may enable you to scoop up their arm. However you mange it, getting the near elbow out of the way is key to this particular method of transitioning to mount. Once it's secure, you've got several methods for getting to the mount.

My preference is to use reverse scarf hold to go to mount. From tight side control, having killed the near arm, switch one arm to grip their far arm, putting your other hand by their near hip. Shift your hips right back towards their head, as far as you can. Your elbow will either be in their far armpit or wrapped underneath their far arm for control. This position means you're also blocking their view with your entire body. Lean into them, using your body weight to help maintain control.

That therefore stops them from seeing exactly what you're doing (note that when Saulo shows it on his DVD, he suggests you mess with them by slapping their legs, until you can pick your moment). When you've got up really high and are ready to go (at this point, they should almost be bridging to relieve the pressure), grab their knee to stop them snatching mount, then bring your leg across. Ideally, you'll pin their knee to the mat, squashing both their knees together.

If you're able to clamp their knees onto the near side, there is the possibility of inserting your foot behind their knees and switching through to mount. However, it generally isn't going to be easy to get them into that position, so I wouldn't rely on this, but still, if you can get it that's an easy route to mount. Second, you can grab your own foot and pull it across, or just squeeze it past your own arm, depending on your flexibility. This is useful when you have limited space, but personally I find it feels a little awkward, in that you might tangle yourself up in your own limbs.

Beginners will often try to simply swing their leg over, which is instinctive. However, while that can sometimes work, especially if you time it well, there are two main dangers. The first is that they will snatch half guard as your leg swings over, as it will normally be within range of their own legs. The second is even more dangerous. If they bridge into you midway through your swing, they can roll you onto your back and end up in your guard.

The safest option is to slide your knee across their belt line, then 'fishtail' (slapping the mat with the side of your lower leg) when your knee touches the mat. You can also grab their belt or cup their far hip to stop them shrimping midway through. I feel this is the best method, using steady pressure to get into place, rather than relying on explosive power, flexibility or luck.
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Teaching Notes: I don't think there is too much I'd want to add on this, except perhaps emphasising the value of shifting your hips towards their head once you've trapped the arm. Just like last week, I was impressed by how well the women were sparring and drilling today, loads of nice transitions and escapes. :)

I also added in a takedown, looking to gradually work those into the warm-up. I wanted something super-low impact, so I went with the osoto gari ('large outer reap' in Japanese: I couldn't remember the right name tonight, so just googled while writing this ;D). It's handy that a number of the women now have a gi (thanks to Geraldine!), as that provides grips for a gentle landing.

21/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Stiff Arm Escape

Teaching #216
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 21/10/2014

Another session on the stiff arm tonight. I know two main variations, of which I find Marcelo Garcia's elbow push (technically it's the triceps, but he calls it 'elbow push' on MGinAction) the higher percentage. He works from under a standard side control then brings their arm across. To do so, make some space by pressing into their neck and bridging if necessary, then sneaking your other hand under their armpit and onto your head.

Use your elbow to bump their arm over, bumping it up high on your head. As soon as their arm clears your head, immediately grab just above their elbow, pinching your hand around their triceps: you can support this with your other arm if necessary. Extend your arm so it is straight: this is absolutely key, keep it straight. Still holding their arm, swing your legs up, then as they come down, use that momentum to sit up. Bring your free arm backwards in order to base out on your elbow (if possible, extend that arm when you can, in order to post on your hand and create a stronger base). Continuing to push on their triceps, shrimp backwards into the space you've created, until you can recover guard.

Sometimes you'll be able to combine this with the other option, which is to keep pushing into their elbow or armpit until you can roll them over. Normally it's easier to shrimp out to guard, but sometimes their weight distribution means that pushing them over makes more sense.

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Teaching & Sparring Notes: Tonight I added in the two arms option, as well as bumping them arm high over your head. I noticed this during progressive resistance and sparring: if I put my elbow high, it seemed to be a good bit easier to bring their arm over my skull. In terms of blocking the escape, my highest rate of success was turning my near hip towards their head. However, I think that also makes you more vulnerable to the pushover variation, judging by when I was on the bottom and my training partner attempted the same counter. If you stay low with the head, that helps.

I found a few times that when I was having trouble escaping as they had that near hip in (so, the hip-to-hip side control I taught yesterday, sort of), I could manage to knock them over by pushing into an arm and also shoving their gi collar into their neck. Sitting up was then enough to bump them over, though I'm not sure that's a high percentage escape. I was also attempting to bridge more powerfully when escaping, going off two legs rather than my usual one, as well as knocking them up over my head.

In sparring, I kept in mind the advice about always holding on to the figure four grip if you get it. I initially locked it in from side control, moving to north south to look for the kimura. He turtled, I kept my grip and moved into a crucifix. As he rolled over of that and back to turtle, I was able to knock him over (still with the grip) and walk my legs back round to side control. From there, I drove the other knee in past the hips as he attempted to turn, put my leg around the head then slowly dropped back for the armbar (I had a vague triangle around the head from side control at some point too, which further helped with control).

Normally I'm not keen on armbars, but when it feels like I have a strong control all the way through, much better. This could possibly fit in when I teach the americana tomorrow, though it may be a little too advanced if there are lots of beginners. I'm still having a think about the best set-up to teach.

I added in the same takedown drills at the start of tonight. From now on, I plan to just do them on the Tuesday and Thursday at Kingswood, because the lesson is a bit longer. Takes too much time in the hour I've got at Bristol Sports Centre, I think.

20/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Maintaining (Hip to Hip)

Teaching #215
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 20/10/2014

Last week, I went through the orthodox method of holding side control, something I see as the basic, 'safe' method for beginners that will give them some control. Today, I wanted to emphasise mobility in side control as well as focused pressure, again drawing on John Palmer's excellent 'control point theory' that I talked about yesterday. Although it can be tempting to just seize up in side control, you have to keep moving. Otherwise, you aren't reacting to your opponent and they're eventually going to escape. The old "it's better to bend than to break" cliche comes to mind.

That transitional, mobile element to side control can be seen in Saulo's hip-to-hip side control, which he shows on Jiu Jitsu Revolution. He keeps his hip stuck right by theirs throughout. The only time he lets off the pressure is if he gets something better, like strong control on the far arm. As they move, turn and put your other hip to theirs, following them around with your legs sprawled back. Your elbow is across, blocking their other hip: however, be careful of pinching that in too forcefully, as that may help them initiate an escape where they roll you over the top.

Your weight should constantly be on them, because of that sprawl: don't touch the floor with your legs or knees. You can also reverse, which Saulo's brother Xande discusses in detail on his DVD set. Turn your hips in the other direction, so that you're now facing their legs. Control their far arm, also making sure to block their near hip to prevent their movement in that direction. As you turn, it's worth blocking their legs with your arms, as well as clamping your head to their hip.
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Teaching Notes: I added some takedown drills tonight, building off the double-leg trip Roy Dean teaches. I think that works well as a low-impact, easy to understand takedown. I've got a couple more in mind, then once those are embedded into class, I can start considering combinations. That's a while off though: also, I'll probably end up limiting takedowns to the Kingswood location, as those lessons are longer. Showing the takedown tonight took a good while, so next time I'll just put in some of the drills rather than going through the whole takedown.

18/10/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Takedowns & Spider Guard Shoulder Variation

Class #599
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 18/10/2014

I have never been overly fond of takedowns, but as a few students have asked about bringing the fight to the ground from standing, I decided it's time I tried adding some to the warm-up. I want something that is broadly effective, easy to learn and relatively low impact (as the mats where I teach aren't especially thick, though there are some crash mats we can use for dedicated throwing practice).

Thinking back through the throws I've learned (quite a few over the years, and I guess I did technically train judo before I started BJJ, if only briefly), I thought that single and double legs would be best, especially as they also don't require a gi. I ran through the seoi-nage just to refresh my memory, but I think that's too high impact for the beginners I teach, especially as they haven't done much breakfalling yet.

The entry for both the takedowns I wanted to use is the same. Grab their collar and elbow, pulling that up and you drop down into a crouch and shoot forward. Wrap up both legs and drive through for the double leg, or alternatively, Roy Dean's version where you slot a leg through first and then drive. That means you end up passing smoothly at best and half guard at worst, but it's a bit more fiddly than simply blasting forwards.

The single leg starts the same, except you just wrap up the one leg. Pick it up and trap it between your legs. You can either 'run the pipe' by jamming your head into their same side hip and turning, or adjust to bring your hand under their leg while the other grabs around their other hip. From there you can bump them up and drop them. For beginners, I think running the pipe is better, as they don't need to worry about lifting wrong and hurting their back or something.

Another entry is to do an arm-drag, then dropping for the leg. That could be a better option, as firstly it means they don't need a gi and secondly the arm drag is useful generally rather than just as an entry. I'll try that on Monday and see how it goes. Randomly, I also had a play with flying triangles, as I'd been reading Dave Camarillo's old Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu to refresh my memory on takedowns. I'd forgotten he doesn't have any double or single legs in there, but I did get tempted by the flying triangle. Especially with my lovely new spats, which feature an awesome samurai triangle. ;)

A very helpful purple belt at the open mat suggested the arm drag to me, along with a great drill I want to try. This is for throws like the seoi-nage where you spin in to take people down. Step in and swivel as normal, then drop to throw. Instead of throwing, roll onto the floor. That means you are working pretty much the same motion as the throw, but without the difficulties of breakfalling, keeping your back safe, placing your partner as you throw, etc

That same purple belt also shared what he was currently working on, a spider guard variation that looks fairly similar to what Xande does on his DVD. The difference is that this one has you put a foot on the shoulder rather than the crook of the elbow, also pushing into the same side hip with your other foot. The hand grips are the same as Xande, pulling on the same side sleeve (that purple uses a pistol grip, which saves the fingers, but a typical pocket grip works too) as the hip-foot side, then cross gripping the collar.

Drilling that with Paul, I found that on the bottom it enables me to be much more proactive than my usual lasso spider guard: I'm definitely going to keep this in mind next time I teach my usual lesson on maintaining spider guard. Flowing into the push sweep felt more natural, plus the sweep just shoving with your legs from spider guard felt more powerful too. Triangles are also easier and it feels simpler to recover your shoulder push if they knock off your foot.

On top, I was finding that there are some disadvantages to be aware of, due to putting the foot on the shoulder. That leaves the arm on that side free, so I was able to repeatedly use that hand to push Paul's leg off my hip, having popped my hips back. To get the foot off my shoulder was slightly trickier (I brought my hand to my head in order to use the elbow to knock the foot away), but again once I had it clear the pass was right there. So, that's something I'll need to be aware of when using this guard: perhaps just a matter of switching between the shoulder and arm? I'll find out as I play with it more.

16/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Escape to the Knees

Teaching #214
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 16/10/2014

Classes at our second venue continues to grow! It's called PHNX Fitness and is over in Kingswood, down Two Mile Hill Road. I've got a map up on the Artemis BJJ website, with lots of pictures I took at open mat a couple of weeks ago. Check it out if you're in the area, Tuesdays and Thursdays 20:00-21:15. :)

In the class last Wednesday at Bristol Sports Centre, I went through the basic guard recovery. The logical next step is the second basic escape, from much the same position. The difference is that you turn to your knees rather than look for guard. Roy Dean is a useful reference point, so I'll be drawing on his method from Blue Belt Requirements as usual.

It begins in much the same way as the shrimp back to guard, again establishing that frame with your arms, knee into the side and bridging. I've got more extensive notes on that initial position in a previous write-up. Remember to keep in mind that they might try to attack the arm you have into their neck, and also to use your forearm to block the hip rather than your hand. There is an alternative side control frame that Saulo uses, where you block the cross-face with that arm instead, an equally valid approach.

After you bridge and shrimp this time, you're going to do something different with the arm you have into their neck. Rotate it under their armpit, then reach for their legs or around their back. Roy Dean then shifts out to the side, ending up crouched next to them (as in the picture).



From there, he reaches for the far knee and drives forward, moving to the top position. Another typical method leaves you square on, but I personally am not keen on that position as I find it is more awkward to crawl up into a strong base from there. However, again, it is a totally valid variation: experiment to see what works best for you.
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Teaching Notes (well ok, this is more like marketing notes ;D): Yay, Thursday classes are growing! I look forward to seeing more of you on the mats. The advantage of the Kingswood venue is that the mats are bigger and the classes are longer. So, pop on down, especially if you're already paying the unlimited rate. More classes, more fun! ;)

15/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Stiff Arm Escape

Teaching #213
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 15/10/2014

As I've got a number of people who pop down once a week (normally on a Monday), I'm trying to make sure they at least see one escape, one version of maintaining and one attack. That's dependent on who shows up each night, but this time round, I continued with escapes to save the maintaining classes for next week.

That meant a different escape option tonight, the stiff arm. I know two main variations, of which I find Marcelo Garcia's elbow push (technically it's the triceps, but he calls it 'elbow push' on MGinAction) the higher percentage. He works from under a standard side control then brings their arm across. To do so, make some space by pressing into their neck and bridging if necessary, then sneaking your other hand under their armpit and onto your head.

Use your elbow to bump their arm over. As soon as their arm clears your head, immediately grab just above their elbow, pinching your hand around their triceps. Extend your arm so it is straight: this is absolutely key, keep it straight. Still holding their arm, swing your legs straight up, then as they come down, use that momentum to sit up. Bring your free arm backwards in order to base out on your elbow (if possible, extend that arm when you can, in order to post on your hand and create a stronger base). Continuing to push on their triceps, shrimp backwards into the space you've created, until you can recover guard.

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Teaching Notes: The stiff arm is a bit less intuitive than the basic escapes, but everyone picked it up well. They also did something during progressive resistance that I think is worth including. When trying to get the arm past the arm, some people were using both arms to push. Similarly, when stiff arming the elbow away, a few people were starting with two arms there too. That seems like a valid way to add some additional support, so something I'll consider for next time.

It's also worth noting, as I did today, that pushing their arm over from a typical strong side control is probably not how it's going to happen in sparring. More likely, you seize the opportunity as they bring their arm past your head, like when they want to switch to attack your arm. I will have a think if I can imitate that in drilling, although on the other hand, if you know how to do it when they aren't giving you the opportunity, that should hopefully make it that much easier when they DO leave that chance.

I could have gone through the other option, but I think the elbow push was enough for today. However, as I'm likely to be teaching this again tomorrow in the Kingswood class, I might well run through the armpit push too. So, the armpit push version is something I first saw several years ago, which was on an old Braulio instructional, with Brian McLaughlin's video providing further details. You're under a standard side control, then they bring their arm over to the far side. Drive them towards their legs by pressing in that direction with the arm you have by their neck. This creates some room for you to get the other hand into their armpit. Straighten out your pushing arm, then try to immediately sit up in order to get onto your elbow then your hand. Keep pushing and sitting forward, until you can roll them over your hip. This shouldn't take much strength once you have them off-balance. Once that stiff arm is in place, the shrimping back to guard option is always there too, and probably more high percentage.

15/10/2014 - Teaching | Women's Class | Kneeling Break & Single Underhook Pass

Teaching #212
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 15/10/2014

There are three main ways of opening the guard. The most reliable is standing up, bringing gravity to bear on them, though this has the disadvantage of leaving you more vulnerable to sweeps. The most risky is baiting a submission to get them to open, as that obviously puts you in danger of getting caught if you're not careful. Finally, you can open the guard from the knees, which has the advantage of using less energy and leaving you with good base, but it does keep you in the 'submission zone'.

That last one is what I wanted to cover today. The basic method of opening from the knees starts by setting up your grips, grabbing both collars with one hand, by their chest, your other hand by their hip. Dónal has a handy tip about twisting up those two collars, rolling them over each other so that there is no slack when you grip, though that may sometimes be tough to secure.

Also try to jam your palm or fist into their sternum to lock it in place. Regarding your hand on the hip, measure your gripping position by bringing your elbow back to their knee. Once your elbow gets to their knee, grab whatever trouser material is then under your hand, pressing your weight through that hand into the mat to try and pin their hips.

From there, get your knee underneath their butt cheek, meaning they are slightly raised up onto your leg. Your other knee slides out to the side, so you're now making a right angle with your two knees. Still keeping your back curved, slowly wriggle backwards, shifting your sideways knee back and continuing to wriggle until you can pop open their ankles. As soon as you do, immediately shove their leg to the mat with your elbow and/or hand, then begin your pass.

Saulo's version, as per that earlier picture, has the knee off to the side with the leg stretched out, using a sort of dip rather than relying on scooting back. As ever in jiu jitsu, there are numerous variations: you can reach your destination following a multitude of paths.

The first guard pass many people learn is the single underhook, sometimes known as a smash pass (although confusingly, there is also a completely different pass you might see called the 'smash pass'. The joys of BJJ's non-standardised terminology). That combines well with the kneeling break. After you've opened their guard (this can also work off a failed armbar or triangle attempt on their part), you need to get one of your arms under their leg. Your other elbow – and this is absolutely key – must not slip in front of their other knee. If it does, then you're at risk of being triangled: they simply need to pull the arm forwards to move into a triangle set up, as your first arm is already out of the picture.

You don't want to leave that first arm under their leg, as unless you're much bigger, their leg is always going to be able to outpower your arm. Therefore you need to get their leg up onto your shoulder, either bumping it with your arm, or dropping down to put your shoulder in place. At that point, drive forward so that you're shoving their knee into their face. When you've got them stacked, reach your stacking-side arm around their leg and grab their collar. I tend to go four fingers in, but a thumb in grip sets you up for a simple (if somewhat crappy, so it's mainly for distraction) forearm choke (there is also the higher percentage breadcutter choke available here). You can try grabbing their opposite shoulder too, especially if they aren't wearing a gi.

Keep on driving forward, until they become so uncomfortable that they basically want you to pass. Don't lift your head to get past their legs. You are going to squash your body into them until you can slide by their legs, using constant forward pressure. At most, you might need to nudge their legs with your shoulder. To further enhance your stack, you can grab the back of their trousers, or alternatively put your knee there as a wedge. Remember to stay on your toes throughout: you want your weight on them, not the mat.
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Teaching Notes: I was very impressed with how the women did today. Of those in attendance, none had more than 8 classes under their belt, but when it came to sparring, they all looked fluid. Started in closed guard, they were passing to side control, taking mount, reversing, back to pass. I even saw them instinctively using butterfly guard, as well as rolling backwards into turtle to stop a guard pass. You should all be proud of yourselves, awesome stuff. :)

Seeing how well the class went, I don't think I'd change anything for next time. Although I was intending to use the John Will teaching method, but again forgot (except for the review at the end, as usual). Next time! ;)

14/10/2014 - Teaching | Side Control | Maintaining (Hip to Hip)

Teaching #211
Artemis BJJ, (PHNX Fitness Studios), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 14/10/2014

Yesterday, I went through the orthodox method of holding side control, something I see as the basic, 'safe' method for beginners that will give them some control. Today, I wanted to emphasise mobility in side control as well as focused pressure, again drawing on John Palmer's excellent 'control point theory' that I talked about yesterday. Although it can be tempting to just seize up in side control, you have to keep moving. Otherwise, you aren't reacting to your opponent and they're eventually going to escape. The old "it's better to bend than to break" cliche comes to mind.

That transitional, mobile element to side control can be seen in Saulo's hip-to-hip side control, which he shows on Jiu Jitsu Revolution. He keeps his hip stuck right by theirs throughout. The only time he lets off the pressure is if he gets something better, like strong control on the far arm. As they move, turn and put your other hip to theirs, following them around with your legs sprawled back. Your elbow is across, blocking their other hip: however, be careful of pinching that in too forcefully, as that may help them initiate an escape where they roll you over the top.

Your weight should constantly be on them, because of that sprawl: don't touch the floor with your legs or knees. You can also reverse, which Saulo's brother Xande discusses in detail on his DVD set. Turn your hips in the other direction, so that you're now facing their legs. Control their far arm, also making sure to block their near hip to prevent their movement in that direction. As you turn, it's worth blocking their legs with your arms, as well as clamping your head to their hip.
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Teaching Notes: I have a bit longer to play with at our Kingswood location, so I sort of taught one and a half techniques, running briefly through the orthodox side control I taught yesterday. My intention was to flow through the lessons, starting with a warm-up including lots of side control mobility drills, then some work on orthodox side control, a bit of progressive resistance, followed by some longer discussion of hip-to-hip side control.

I then moved into specific sparring from side control, but without using the arms: I especially like using that sparring drill for this hip-to-hip control, as I think it emphasises that hip connection. To finish, some more side control specific sparring (with the arms back in), then free sparring starting from side control. Hopefully helps ingrain some of those concepts. :)

We also found the time to get our ninja on, which is always good. Or at least, we tried to: not entirely successful... ;p

Video Review - Ninja Turtle ('Grappling for MMA' Super Seminar with Nathan Leverton)

Short Review: Veteran UK grappling instructor Nathan Leverton covers the basics of attacking the turtle in the course of this 69 minute video. The context is grappling for MMA, so that includes strikes, but most of the material remains relevant to pure grapplers as well. As this is seminar footage, the production quality is not as high as purpose-built instructionals, though it does include elements like zooming in on details. If you struggle against the turtle, then this will provide you with a useful game plan. Available to buy here for £9.99.

Full Review: Nathan 'Levo' Leverton has been making instructional videos for a long time. Back when he was first teaching people how to grapple on video, that meant VHS tapes. From his TotalGrappling.com website, Levo sold acclaimed grappling material over ten years ago. In that time, VHS has been consigned to charity shops and attics. DVDs are not quite at that stage just yet, but there is a growing shift to online material. In the BJJ world, sites like MGinAction and BJJ Library are becoming the norm, with innovations like Mastering the Crucifix showing another possible format.

While this sadly isn't a review of LevoInAction.com (though that's a site I'd be interested in seeing), he does have some material available to download. As part of the annual 'Super Seminar' event (which took place in May of this year, at Masters Martial Arts in Loughton, Essex), Leverton taught a session on Grappling for MMA, opting for a catchier title of 'Ninja Turtle'. In total, your ten pounds gets you an hour and nine minutes of grappling instruction, edited directly from the seminar footage.

That means that the quality is not as high as you would find on an instructional filmed in a studio with multiple angles, slow motion and the like. It also often means there isn't that clear distinction between Leverton and his uke, because the uke is just somebody pulled from the people attending. For many of the techniques, both Leverton and the guy he's demonstrating on are wearing black. You also generally just see it from one angle.

Having said that, it isn't a major problem, especially as I know from first-hand experience that Levo teaches a fantastic seminar: he's a detailed and very capable instructor. The camera also tends to zoom in when greater detail is required. I did not come across more than one or two instances when the relevant limbs weren't clearly in view, and even when they weren't it was easy enough to work out what was happening. The footage kicks off with the organiser introducing Leverton (while Bob Breen stands in the background: pretty cool, as although I've never trained with him, he's a legend on the UK martial arts scene and the man who first taught my old training partner Howard how to grapple, IIRC). Nathan then gives his own introduction, before getting into the first technique (at this point, roughly four minutes into the video).

As you would expect with a seminar about the turtle, Leverton starts by showing how to maintain the top position (the whole video is about attacking: there is no coverage of escapes or defence). This part of the video looked fairly familiar, as he taught the side ride at the LSG seminar I attended last year. Interestingly, Leverton's version differs a little from how Aesopian does it on Mastering the Crucifix, in terms of knee positioning. Aesopian (at least in some of the gifs) raises his knee a little, putting it into their thigh and leaning into them. In this video, Leverton has that knee on the floor, directly next to their knee.

When I taught a class on maintaining the position myself last month, I had the knee off the floor. However, I was heavily drawing on what I'd learned from Levo: as the theme at Artemis BJJ was turtle all of September, it was the perfect opportunity to test what I'd gained from both the video I'm reviewing here and Aesopian's instructional. Using your hands as hooks is a particularly useful concept: I've been using it ever since I learned the technique from Levo at that Leverage Submission Grappling seminar.

Leverton spends about two minutes teaching this position, then there is another minute and a half or so of drilling. As an instructor, I liked that the camera didn't immediately cut away when it got to drilling. Instead, the camera followed Leverton around the room as he answered questions and made technical connections (on most of the other techniques in this video, it cuts straight to the next technique). It was also interesting that he uses the John Will teaching method: in other words, having everyone face the same way. That makes it easier to quickly scan the room to see where people might be making mistakes. I've been using that for reviewing technique at the end of class, but recently I've brought it in earlier to see if that helps technical retention.

Leverton notes that he likes to grab the wrist from the side ride, which he says is due to seeing Nick Diaz versus GSP in an MMA fight. That leads into the major difference in this video to a jiu jitsu instructional: as it is geared towards MMA, strikes are covered as well. Leverton spends about three minutes discussing how to punch your opponent from the side ride, though there is still material here relevant to BJJ. For example, right before he gets into hitting his uke, he adds a useful little detail on keeping your basing leg bent. If you have it straight, that limits your mobility.

That's followed by some pointers on weight distribution. If you're at the front, you'll be maintaining the position differently than if you're at the back. Misjudge it and you can find yourself getting lifted into the air, straight into an inferior position. Your posture when right behind them - which Levo says has occasionally been dubbed 'prison jitsu', tongue firmly in cheek - does look odd at first. I'm used to it due to the LSG seminar, but previously I would have thought sprawling out and turning your hip was the way to go. Staying tight provides a different kind of control, with no gaps they can exploit.

Rather than sprawling, Leverton has his knees tight around them, squeezing into their hips. This is the same way Dónal (co-founder of Artemis BJJ) does it as well, so I guess that his instructor Braulio Estima (or possibly Norbi) teach that method too. After a couple of minutes on that, Leverton emphasises how shallow the hand 'hooks' are reaching inside their thighs, in order to prevent your opponent from wrapping your elbow and rolling you over. He then progresses to the spiral ride, a wrestling technique (in keeping with Leverton's approach to the back, much of it is informed by wrestling, from what I can gather after his LSG seminar).

This is useful if they try to raise up. Reach for their shoulder, while lifting up into their hip with your other hand. That enables you to run around and knock them back to the mat. The force you're creating spirals them down, hence the name. You're pushing the hip up and the shoulder down. Four minutes later, Leverton adds in some more punches, plus a brief recap of some of what he's taught up to this point (in total another two and half minutes or so).

Next up is a little over three minutes on a useful principle: stay behind your opponent if you can. Again, this is something Dónal likes too, teaching a similar drill last month. If they turn to one side, you run away from their legs to stay behind them. Any time you feel them rolling to one side, you're always looking to move away from their legs. If you run towards their legs, that gives them an easy route to recover their guard.

Leverton then covers something a bit nastier, the three quarter nelson, a grip around their neck. Typically for nastier grappling techniques, this is from catch-wrestling, a style memorably referred to by its (currently) most high profile practitioner Josh Barnett as 'the violent art'. That's exactly why I shy away from catch-wrestling techniques: they're often about pain compliance, adding in elbow grinds, neck cranks and the like wherever possible.

Of course, just because I don't want to hurt my training partners doesn't mean that doing so isn't effective (and I have to admit that a few techniques I do regularly use are sometimes seen as 'nastier', like heavy cross-facing and various chokes from side control). Leverton first shows how the three quarter nelson can be used to drive a stronger opponent back down to the mat, circling around on your toes after you've established the grip.

The nastiness comes in from the considerable strain this can put on the neck. That's also true of the d'arce choke Leverton adds at the end a few minutes later. He points out that distinction between catch wrestling and BJJ when he compares two black belts who he's had the chance to roll with a few times. Ryan Hall was disappointed when Leverton told him that the d'arce choke he'd just landed was verging towards a neck crank.

Roli Delgado by contrast was pleased: in his opinion, if you tap, that's what counts. I would fall firmly on Ryan Hall's side there, but Delgado has a point. It's also worth keeping in mind that this is a grappling seminar geared towards MMA. Illustrating that point, Leverton suggests punching them if they try to lift their head up, in an effort to avoid your application of the quarter nelson. When you're used to getting entangled in the Goridan Knot of jiu jitsu, it's easy to forget that in an MMA context, a punch to the face can often cut through all that complexity.

In regards to the d'arce choke (around five minutes of instruction), Levo advises that you don't whack it on fully to start with. Begin with about 80% pressure, then gradually increase until they tap. If you begin at 100%, you've got nowhere to go. Your arms will tire faster and you may have to loosen up. That can give them the impression that they can tough it out and escape. If you never loosen up, then psychologically they are only ever feeling a growing pressure so are more likely to tap. This tactical interjection is typical of Leverton's instructional style, with many other examples throughout the video.

There are several great little tweaks here, such as the 'halfway' option if you're facing somebody who has a strong neck. After you've got your choking arm in position by the neck, reaching deep, post your other arm on the floor directly behind their neck. Grab that wrist, creating a solid bar to lock your grip in place, ready to adjust into a d'arce.

Leverton has an additional four minutes of details to share, such as a tip for those who think their arms are too short. Finally on the d'arce, he covers a variation for another four minutes, the sit through d'arce. Rather than getting them on their side and attacking, you sit-through in front of them, finish the d'arce underneath them. The motion is a little like the step you do for a clock choke, but you then swivel underneath their head rather than keeping your weight on their shoulders.

Forty three minutes into Ninja Turtle is the technique I most wanted to see when Leverton sent me this for review: the crucifix. As I had recently reviewed Matt 'Aesopian' Kirtley's Mastering the Crucifix and was about to embark on a month of teaching the turtle, I knew that I wanted to make the crucifix a big part of it. Leverton's take was therefore handy when I came to teach my first class on the crucifix last month, especially as I needed both gi and nogi versions (as a number of students didn't have a gi yet).

Before he gets to the crucifix, Leverton has a quick note on trapping their leg under your shin, as this stops them rolling back to guard. If they try and swing through anyway, you're in a good spot to move into a leg drag and back step to pass. For the crucifix, you want to drive your knee in behind their arm, then flare the knee out to help secure their limb. Leverton's side ride means you're already grasping their bicep, making it simple to pull that arm out in order to trap it between your legs.

Normally, they will curl their arm back at this point, according to Levo. If they don't, then there is a simple keylock you can do by sitting back on their shoulder and pulling up on their wrist (this is also one of those rare points where it is a bit hard to see exactly what's going on, because Leverton and his uke are both in black).

Should they try to trap your elbow and roll you over - a common escape from the turtle when somebody reaches too far under with their arm - that puts you into the face-up crucifix you wanted in the first place. This is what Aesopian sees as the standard crucifix. Leverton maintains the position slightly differently, as can be seen when he's discussing what to do if they are slipping down.

On Mastering the Crucifix and I think also the Dave Jacobs seminar, the response is to scoot underneath their head. That results in the back of their head resting your chest. Leverton pulls them up onto him much more and turns his knees away. He then also very briefly comments that there are two submissions you can apply, a north-south choke and a kimura (literally a couple of seconds, putting his arm in the relevant configuration). I've not seen either of those attacks from the crucifix taught before (unsurprising, as I've only had a few lessons on it, along with the seminar and Aesopian book), so it would be interesting to explore those submissions in greater depth.

The next three minutes are on the single arm choke, informing (along with Aesopian's version) the class I taught on that technique in September. Leverton includes a principle I've found repeatedly applicable since first seeing it on an Andre Galvao instructional, about getting under the chin of somebody stubbornly using it to defend against your choke. Rather than some brutal jaw destroying option (I'm looking at you, catch wrestling ;D), you just need to get your thumb underneath their chin. Galvao does it from the standard back control, pointing his thumb down, then swivelling the thumb up as he slides the choking hand towards the head.

Leverton does much the same thing from the crucifix (and looks really happy about it too, judging by the screenshot). He contextualises this detail by showing how it's tough to get your forearm under the chin, because that's a large slab of your body. A thumb is much smaller, capable of wriggling into the gap and prying the chin away from that vulnerable neck. If they bridge into you, he additionally demonstrates how you can now insert your hooks, finishing the choke from standard back control.

That's followed by five minutes on what to do if they turn and begin to escape the crucifix. The MMA solution is to punch them in the face, then if you lose control of their arm, you can turn and lock in a guillotine from guard. Another five minutes or so looks into another technique I remember from the LSG seminar, this time tilting them from turtle into a standard back control. There's a good principle espoused again here, explaining how they might be strong on the horizontal and vertical lines of their defensive turtle 'box', but they are not able to resist so well on the corners.

The seminar closes with a few minutes on bringing all those techniques together, before another couple of minutes on MMA strategy. As Leverton puts it, "Wrestle the jits guys, jits the wrestlers." If they are wrestlers with a solid base, wrap around them with your arms for a choke, or your legs to get your hooks. If they are jiu jitsu players who want to sit to guard, grind their face into the mat and dominate them with positional control.

If you have trouble attacking the turtle, then Leverton's Ninja Turtle will provide you with some useful tools, taught by an excellent instructor. He shows you how to position yourself on top, maintain your dominance, strike from there (if you're interested in the MMA context), launch a variety of attacks and also how to achieve the standard back control. He doesn't show you what to do defensively, so you'll need to look elsewhere for that.

The value for money is not bad at £10 for slightly over an hour of instruction. If I compare it to my favourite no gi instructional, Roy Dean's No Gi Essentials, that costs around £28 and is roughly twice as long as Leverton's video (although there are quite a few trailers and artistic videos on Dean's DVD). Having said that, if you're not interested in striking, it does cut down the amount of useful material on Ninja Turtle. Available to buy (as a download) from here.