30/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Bridging Escape

Teaching #300
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 30/03/2015

The first rule of the back position is protect your neck. There are lots of ways of doing that, but my preference is the Saulo Ribeiro method. One hand is in your opposite collar, the other hand floats, ready to block their incoming grips. Don't reach too far with that arm or you'll leave space: keep it near your chest. Your elbows are inside their knees, ready to pop off their hooks if the opportunity presents itself.

Next, bring your knee up on their choking arm side (so, the arm that is reaching over your shoulder and trying to wrap your neck, rather than the arm coming under your armpit). Angle your knee inwards, to prevent them from rolling you back the other way: they will find it easy to choke you if they can roll you in the direction of their choking arm. In one quick motion, move your head forwards and simultaneously shove their head sideways (this is presuming they know what they are doing and have their head tight to yours for control). Look towards them, keeping your head and neck firm in order to stop them moving their head back into place.

Push off your leg and bridge back, aiming to get your shoulders and spine to the mat. If you aren't able to get your head past theirs, still push off your leg. Put your head on the mat and then grind it underneath their head. This isn't pleasant for either of you, but it is generally effective: preferably you can get your head past theirs in the gentler method above. If you can, clamp your arm that is nearest the mat to your side, aiming to trap their arm. To really immobilise them, see if you can use that same arm to grab their opposite sleeve/wrist, meaning you're using one arm to control both of theirs.

With your near arm, grab their trousers by their top leg (either by the knee or a bit lower). When you have the opportunity, switch to grip with the other hand. There are several options at this point. I like to either reach across their neck and grab the gi, or better, reach under their head, grip the far armpit then lock my shoulder into their head and shoulder. Either way, push off your free leg and turn to try and come on top. With your grip on the knee, stiff-arm so they can't lock their half-guard (if they do lock their half guard, this puts you in the opposite side half guard pass position, so proceed from there). Free your leg (pushing on their leg if you need to) and move into side control.
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Teaching Notes: I've been off sick for a week with bronchitis (Chris kindly covered Wednesday, while the women's class and Thursday ran as open mat), which has been frustrating. As much as I wanted to get back on the mats, I forced myself to be sensible and took it easy, sticking with just teaching. This is the escape I rely on, probably too much as I don't have many other reliable options. I think I could structure the teaching better on this, perhaps also putting in more detail about clearing the legs.

I suggested stiff-arming their leg with your opposite arm to start with, but perhaps going with the instinctual near arm and then switching is easier (though it does add an additional step). I'll try that next time, or at least mention it as an option. Like before, people were also having some trouble clearing the arms if it was a tight grip. I want to come up with a drill for that motion, so that's something to play with at open mat.

There are a few methods for popping their hook free. I mentioned the basic one of pushing with the arm, though I normally avoid that as it can leave you vulnerable. My preference is either a twist of the hips to pop it off, or pushing with the opposite foot. Both of those can be easier said than done, as somebody who has good back control is hard to shift. I'd really like to get in more practice at escaping the back, making my enforced absence doubly annoying. Then again, I can always get people to start on my back at open mat, something I should do more often.

23/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Scoop Escape

Teaching #299
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 23/03/2015

Tonight I went with an escape I haven't taught for a while, the 'scoop'. As with any escape, you need to stay tight. Keep your elbows in, using your hands to cover your neck. There are numerous schools of thought on just how to do that: clamping your hands to both sides of your neck (which I learned as the 'Shirley Temple' defence), crossing your hands over your neck, grabbing both your collars, and Saulo's method of just grabbing one collar, keeping the other hand free to block.

My preference is that last option, though you need to be careful that you don't reach too far with that free hand. If you do, then you may give them space to establish a firm grip or launch their attack. Keep the 'defensive zone' of the free arm small, with your elbow staying tight. Should they manage to get past your arms and being setting up a choke, you'll probably have to bail on that and simply grab their arm. The first priority when somebody takes your back is protecting your neck.

What Saulo calls the 'scoop' back escape starts with that hand positioning, one thumb in the opposite collar and the other hand defending. For this escape to work, you need to have prevented (or cleared) any grips they have below your arms. That then enables you 'scoop' your upper body down and your hips forwards, as low as you can. Next, kick out one of your legs to clear their hook (you may also need to nudge it with your elbow), then drop your other elbow down past their other leg and turn.

That's a little counter-intuitive: keep in mind you are not turning towards the hook you kicked free. You also need to be careful here that they can't re-establish their second hook: block it with your elbow and knee if they try. Once you've turned, stay heavy on their leg and move up into side control.

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Teaching Notes: The reason I haven't taught this one for a while is that I've rarely had much success with it myself. That's because I almost never find that the person who has taken your back isn't able to get some kind of grip below your arms. Even digging underneath an elbow is enough of a hold to stop that scooping motion.

Having said that, just because I don't have a lot of success with it, other people might, so I wanted to test that out tonight. I'm glad I did, as a few people did indeed seem to find it useful, though others had the same trouble as me. The key thing I need to work out to make this escape higher percentage is either preventing them getting a grip below the arms, or how to clear it once they do.

I'm thinking digging out their grip with your elbows could be one option, but that's going to depend on what grip they've got. Also, maybe trying this out in nogi would yield some other ideas? Saulo teaches this as an escape from turtle too, after you've turned to face up rather than down, so that's another area to look at. Finally, I think getting used to that motion where you drop the elbow and swivel is worth knowing. I'll keep playing with it.

21/03/2015 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat

Class #635
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 21/03/2015

I wasn't feeling a hundred percent today and as a result didn't warm up properly. So after a bit of drilling on the back, I somehow managed to tweak my neck and shoulder while trying to show a student the switch to deep half when escaping the back. Not too much to write as a result, because I had to sit out most of the open mat.

Before that I was at least able to run through the knee shield half guard pass, as some people hadn't seen it, along with some options for attacking the turtle. That reminded me the clock choke is a handy technique to teach, as it's both effective and relatively simple, particularly the version I prefer. That's the one that Kev showed me a few years back, which in turn was shown to him by Felipe Souza, 'backstopping' their head with your elbow for the choke.

Fundraising for the GrappleThon is getting towards £3,000, so hopefully we'll manage to pass that barrier before wrapping things up. Donations still very welcome, of course! :)

19/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Rear Naked Choke

Teaching #298
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 19/03/2015

The RNC is a fundamental technique to BJJ. Everybody with more than a few lessons under their belt knows that you're going to be looking for it, so they will immediately be trying to create barriers with their arms and hands. However, as this particular class has plenty of absolute beginners, I focused on the basic application before getting into the set-up.

So, to apply a rear naked choke (the reason for that name is that you aren't using the gi to complete the choke, hence 'naked'). Position the elbow of your choking arm under their chin. You don't want to leave any space, as the idea is to press into both sides of their neck. This will close off their carotid arteries and prevent the flow of blood to the brain. That is an efficient and safe way of subduing an opponent.

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

When you have managed to grip your bicep, make sure both your elbows are in front of their shoulders. In other words, your armpits are resting on their shoulders. The elbow drops straight down. As Nathan 'Levo' Leverton emphasises, this now means that both your wrists are hidden, making it difficult for them to strip your grip. It also makes the choke tighter, as both of your arms are directly by their neck.

Bring the hand of that bicep arm to the back of their head: a commonly used version is to press the palm into their skull, but there are various options, coming down to personal preference. Using the back of your hand against their neck is arguably better, as that may slip in more securely than palm down. Also, palm down is easier for them to grab, if they try to peel your fingers off their skull. Either way, when you're locking in the choke, don't reach your hand forward over their shoulder. If you do, then they can armbar you using their shoulder as a fulcrum. Instead, slide it behind the head.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can also try tricking them into giving you access to the hold you want, a handy tip I saw on a John Will DVD. For example, when you try to get an arm around their neck, a common reaction on their part is to grab your arm and pull it down. If you respond by pulling up, they will normally pull down even harder. This means that if you time it right, you can suddenly switch direction and swing the arm they are pulling down across your body. This should sweep their arms out of the way for a moment (try to catch both of their arms when you do this). Make sure your other hand is ready and waiting near their shoulder, as you can then immediately bring that other arm across their suddenly undefended neck.

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

There is also the method I learned from Dónal. Grab their wrist with your armpit hand. Drop to the choking arm side, twisting your hips to increase the range of motion for your leg. Shove their arm down, then swing your leg over your armpit arm. Grip your own shin with the armpit hand, then using both your leg and arm, get your foot to their spine to trap their limb.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: I went with the pattern from yesterday, combining the basic RNC application followed by swinging the arm and the thumb chin-lift. As I have that extra bit of time on Thursdays, I added in the armbar from the back. I really want to come up with something more cunning for getting the arm and the leg over the head: there must be a swisher way of doing that.

Breaking the grip for the armbar, Steve surprised me by grabbing the material on my trouser leg. You can still kick that off, but it felt a bit more awkward. I assume it is a weaker grip, as it locks my leg to them, but interesting. Then when sparring, I started without grips from the back. Steve grabbed my hands this time, making it tough to set up any kind of attack (especially as he's a powerful guy). Of course, it does mean that he couldn't do anything either. Stalemating, so is it just a matter of patience to wait for them to move?

I want to practice escapes some more, work on the on where you pull the arm over the head. On trying to apply the armbar from the back myself, Steve was able to turn and stack me. So, I messed up somewhere along in terms of keeping him flat: probably I jumped into it too early with insufficient control. I should establish a better kimura grip, as well as more effective use of my legs. It would also be worth checking Ryan Hall's DVD next time, as he had a lot of good details for back attack (Chris and I drilled a bunch of them a while back).

18/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Rear Naked Choke

Teaching #297
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 18/03/2015

The RNC is a fundamental technique to BJJ. Everybody with more than a few lessons under their belt knows that you're going to be looking for it, so they will immediately be trying to create barriers with their arms and hands. However, as this particular class has plenty of absolute beginners, I focused on the basic application before getting into the set-up.

So, to apply a rear naked choke (the reason for that name is that you aren't using the gi to complete the choke, hence 'naked'). Position the elbow of your choking arm under their chin. You don't want to leave any space, as the idea is to press into both sides of their neck. This will close off their carotid arteries and prevent the flow of blood to the brain. That is an efficient and safe way of subduing an opponent.

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

When you have managed to grip your bicep, make sure both your elbows are in front of their shoulders. In other words, your armpits are resting on their shoulders. The elbow drops straight down. As Nathan 'Levo' Leverton emphasises, this now means that both your wrists are hidden, making it difficult for them to strip your grip. It also makes the choke tighter, as both of your arms are directly by their neck.

Bring the hand of that bicep arm to the back of their head: a commonly used version is to press the palm into their skull, but there are various options, coming down to personal preference. Using the back of your hand against their neck is arguably better, as that may slip in more securely than palm down. Also, palm down is easier for them to grab, if they try to peel your fingers off their skull. Either way, when you're locking in the choke, don't reach your hand forward over their shoulder. If you do, then they can armbar you using their shoulder as a fulcrum. Instead, slide it behind the head.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can also try tricking them into giving you access to the hold you want, a handy tip I saw on a John Will DVD. For example, when you try to get an arm around their neck, a common reaction on their part is to grab your arm and pull it down. If you respond by pulling up, they will normally pull down even harder. This means that if you time it right, you can suddenly switch direction and swing the arm they are pulling down across your body. This should sweep their arms out of the way for a moment (try to catch both of their arms when you do this). Make sure your other hand is ready and waiting near their shoulder, as you can then immediately bring that other arm across their suddenly undefended neck.

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

There is also the method I learned from Dónal. Grab their wrist with your armpit hand. Drop to the choking arm side, twisting your hips to increase the range of motion for your leg. Shove their arm down, then swing your leg over your armpit arm. Grip your own shin with the armpit hand, then using both your leg and arm, get your foot to their spine to trap their limb.
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Teaching Notes: I think the arm sweep and thumb rotate are good additional details to put in, so I will continue including those. I could potentially add the arm trap too, but I'm not certain it's essential yet. The basic stuff can be safely padded out with the first two at least. Some people were not getting their arm all the way around, which can result in more of an air choke, though it can still work (it's a question of efficiency, as well as being a good training partner).

People weren't entirely understanding the Kesting 'tiger palm' around the shoulder blade to then elbow-walk the arm into place. I could either drop that, or spend a bit more time on it: I'll have to see how it goes next time if I rejig my teaching plan.

18/03/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Butterfly Sweep

Teaching #296
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 18/03/2015

Marcelo Garcia has written that when passing butterfly guard, it's important to keep in mind that "unlike the closed guard or half guard, in the butterfly guard, your opponent is not trying to hold you in place." In my opinion, the ensuing dynamism and movement makes butterfly guard a more advanced position, which requires greater sensitivity and timing than closed or half guard.

So, I stuck with the most basic technique in butterfly, which is the classic butterfly sweep. There are three main grips to try. Two less common options are grabbing the neck, or grabbing the same side sleeve and collar (or neck and wrist in nogi): the latter can be useful if you want to transition to a choke in gi, or perhaps back to closed guard to go for a scissor or knee push sweep. On Carlos Machado's excellent Unstoppable DVD all about this sweep, he shows many more variations, but it is definitely a higher level instructional (so, I wouldn't recommend beginners pick it up). The orthodox method is to establish a deep underhook with your arm, reaching around their back and/or grabbing their belt.

Saulo Ribeiro emphasises that you must be close with the shoulder to generate sufficient leverage. Saulo also likes to put a hand out behind him for base (just like the cross-grip guard I've taught previously, along with the stiff arm guard I've been working on), which contrasts with others who prefer to grab the knee. It is worth experimenting with several options. One of the best parts about training in jiu jitsu is that it is so individual. There is rarely a single 'right' way to do any technique, which is also part of what makes jiu jitsu so complex.

If you've lifted them up but they aren't going over, try hopping towards your lifting leg with your other leg. That should eventually provide the leverage to knock them to the mat.

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Teaching Notes: Nothing to add, as I'm writing this several months later. I must have forgotten to do a write-up for this at the time, which is random. But meh, here it is now. ;)

16/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Armbar

Teaching #295
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 16/03/2015

Along with chokes, armbars are another good option from the back. You have the usual seatbelt grip, with one arm under their armpit, the other over their shoulder. Grasp their opposite wrist with your shoulder arm, then grab your own wrist with your armpit arm, locking on a figure four. Reach your foot on the armpit side over to the opposite hip, hooking around with your instep. Use that to swivel: you can also add in a swing with your other leg to help the rotation, much like with the bow and arrow choke.

You can also push off the floor if you prefer. As you turn, bring your shoulder arm over their head (this is often a fight, as they know they're in trouble once that is clear), then keeping their arm tight and your bum close to their shoulder, bring your leg over their head. Maintain a firm grip on the figure four throughout. It will also help you prevent them turning inwards, a common escape to the armbar.

Finally, adjust your position if necessary (e.g., scooting your hips in closer to their shoulder in order to prevent giving them any space), squeeze your knees then gradually drop back. Don't let go of the figure four until the last moment, moving up to the wrist. Raise your hips and pull down on the arm to finish. Make sure their thumb is pointing up (if it isn't, you can still finish the armbar, it's just a bit more awkward as you have to angle based on their elbow).

To add further control, you can put your leg higher on their head, making it more difficult for them to raise their head up. If they do manage to turn in towards you, you're in a good position to move straight into a triangle from guard. Quite often they will also link their hands together: there are many methods for breaking the grip, but one I like is simply kicking their grip apart (making sure you aren't giving up too much control in the process).
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Teaching Notes: I could try out different methods, as there are lots of ways of doing the armbar (e.g., Dónal showed me one a while back). I could also add in plenty of details, particularly on getting the arm over the head as well as the leg. As ever, I don't want to be excessive with the detail. I think it was a good idea to do the bow and arrow choke first, as that motion helped people with the swivel on the armbar: they can work nicely in combination too.

Grip breaks is another area where you could easily spend a whole series of lessons going through all the permutations, so I just kept it simple with the kick break. It would be worth looking into a few more when I get into armbars from mount next month, depending what selection of techniques I decide to go with over April.

Gi Review - BJJ Globetrotters Travel Gi

Short Review: In a fitting move, BJJ Globetrotters have released a 100% ripstop travel gi. In terms of its construction, it's comparable to the Gorilla Hitman, though not quite as light. In terms of design, the Globetrotter gi is very different. There is a huge patch on the jacket, printed birds on the inside, an embroidered plane on the top of the back and stylish 'BJJ Globetrotter' emblems on the arm and trousers.

The Globetrotter is also much pricier than the Gorilla: this is definitely not a budget gi. Its available to buy here, currently for the introductory price of $149 (full price is $179). Impressively, it does mention a life time guarantee and that it includes worldwide shipping, so if they stick to that, the price is at least partially justified. I don't think I've ever seen that much confidence before from a gi company.

Full Review: 'BJJ Globetrotter' has developed into a brand over the last few years, following a trajectory which as far as I'm aware is unique. That began with a blog, written by a Danish BJJ instructor who did a lot of travelling. Christian Graugart has been blogging for around as long as I have: the earliest of his sites I'm aware of is The Viking Experience, mainly an opportunity for him to share his love of photography. After several other photoblogs detailing his BJJ travels, Graugart's blogging evolved into the much more substantial Shogun HQ.

Graugart often talked about travelling on those blogs, specifically for BJJ. This all culminated in what is unquestionably his most famous blog, BJJ Globetrotter, later turned into a book (a free ebook version is apparently included when you buy this gi). It was an expansion of the BJJ travelling he'd done before, but this time on a far bigger scale, essentially 'matsurfing' around the world. This got a lot of attention, which Graugart was able to eventually direct into another extension of his original travel blogging: a new BJJ team.

Or rather, sort of a team: Graugart gave an illuminating interview on that topic in a recent BJJ Brick podcast (after you skip past the long intro by the hosts). A more accurate term, from what I've seen of it so far, would be a BJJ community rather than team. The links back to those early blogs can be seen in the Globetrotter team/community's focus on meeting up and training, with an inclusive and laid-back ethos. It's one that appeals to me, hence why I signed up my own club (you can sign up as an individual too), Artemis BJJ. Unlike every other affiliation, becoming a member of BJJ Globetrotters appears to involve almost zero obligation (beyond being welcoming to visitors).

The team runs regular camps, increasingly diverse and well attended. A number of the people who have attended my GrappleThons are frequent campers, like Chris Paines from Fighting Fit, as well as Jodie Bear. There are various other people I've met through BJJ who pop down too, like Braulio's first black belt, Chiu Kwong Man (who since I trained with him has founded an independent club, Team Renegade BJJ). I'll be going to the Belgium camp in August, as that gives me a good excuse to finally return to the land of my birth (and the land of many, many excellent art galleries ;D).

Given that travelling is such a big part of the team identity, releasing an official team gi in super light ripstop makes perfect sense. There's a massive patch on the front of the jacket, something normally found centrally on the back. Either way, speaking from first hand experience it is easy enough to remove, which also reduces the weight slightly. Removal leaves behind a number of needle sized holes, but after a month of rolling and multiple washes, I haven't noticed that cause any problems.

For a truly super-light gi, adding large patches is arguably counter-productive due to the additional weight, but on the other hand it adds to the funky design vibe Graugart and now his team have built up over the years (I can remember some impressive patches in his repertoire, cut out from t-shirts). I've got increasingly into that mode myself, after eight years of only wearing plain white gis with no patches: as you can see from my gi wardrobe, things have changed. So, whereas I previously would have said the Globetrotter travel gi is far too bling for me, now I like those touches (apart from the large patch).

In terms of colour scheme, the travel gi I was sent is in grey. There's a contrasting orange, yellow and red in the logos and patches, as well as white int he drawstring, side vents and belt loops. Presumably inspired by the blinged out Kauai gi he wore on his famous trip, Graugart has added a multitude of little details to the Globetrotters travel gi. Even before you get to the gi, there is BJJ Globetrotters merchandise in the packet, like a keyring, bottle opener and stickers.

On the gi itself, there is a stylised plane embroidered on the upper back. Perhaps the most attractive feature is a fancy wave pattern flowing along the rear hem, picked up in the design on the cuff and hem tape (importantly, this isn't abrasive, as can be the case with some other gis). Another cool touch is a printed flock of birds on the inner jacket. The BJJ Globetrotters logo appears in several places, with a nifty patch on the upper trousers plus embroidered versions on the arms and lower on the trousers.

Needless to say, this gi would make an IBJJF gi checker's brain explode, but then it's intended for travel, not the formal atmosphere of IBJJF competitions. In terms of weight, according to my weighing scales the Gorilla (which is an A2 Gorilla, so the A1 is presumably even lighter) is still the champion of travel gis at a mere 900g, not including a belt. The A1 BJJ Globetrotter is 1.2kg, the same weight as my other travel gis, which are an A1 adidas Response and a size 3 Gimono in BJJ cut, which is roughly equivalent to an A1.

Unlike the Response and Gimono, the Globetrotter has armpit reinforcements, adding slightly to the weight, but then the Gorilla has them too. There is also reinforcement on the side vents, along with the standard extra fabric from the knees down to the shin. You might think that the printed birds on the inside would fade after multiple washes, but so far they are holding up (though that's only after a month of washing).


If you've been on my Instagram recently, you may have noticed my Globetrotter travel gi is no longer grey. I wanted a more interesting colour, so turned it an International Women's Day shade of purple (incidentally, you can still donate to the International Women's Day GrappleThon, supporting the wonderful charity Equality Now). To achieve that, I started by putting the gi in a 60 degree celsius cycle on my washing machine with a pack of Dylon pre-dye to remove its current colour. That results in a sort of khaki shade, which I could then dye purple. The Dylon Intense Violet dye in another 40 celsius cycle did the trick. Of course, that much heat did shrink the gi a bit, but fortunately (for my tastes) it started off a little baggy.

Originally, the wingspan was 156cm, the shoulder to hem length was 75.5cm and the trousers were a lanky 97cm. That shrinks down a bit after the recommended 30 degree celsius washes, but if you prefer a tight fit like me, it's worth considering a hotter wash. After a month of washing at 30 and 40 degrees, followed by the aforementioned 60 degree wash, the measurements are now 75cm shoulder to hem, 150cm cuff to cuff and a trouser length of 92cm.

The gi is available to buy here, currently for the introductory price of $149. That will rise to a hefty $179, almost double what I paid for my Gorilla Hitman (though it incudes worldwide shipping and a lifetime guarantee). However, it is still less than the $190 a Kauai will set you back. If I'm right in thinking that Graugart took some inspiration for this gi from the Kauai, then selling for a similar price is understandable, if still expensive.

14/03/2015 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat

Class #634
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 14/03/2015

Mostly all sparring today. I got in some good long rolls with Zoe and Laura, where I can feel the difference in their games from a couple of months ago, especially Zoe and her passing. With Laura we were working on her side control, where I think the main thing that could help her is establishing a firmer frame underneath (mainly a matter of angle, so the top person can't easily bend your arm and get chest-to-chest pressure).

There is also the question of how to stop top person pushing your knee out of the way, something I kept doing. Taking the hand out of commission is the first obvious step, though it is still possible to wriggle around using your hip to push the knee away. Perhaps squaring up more on the bottom, getting on your side? I'll have to have a play, getting somebody to do it to me repeatedly when I'm on the bottom and see if I can come up with anything useful.

It was great to see Zoe and Antonis down at the open mat, especially after they did a long stint at last weekend's GrappleThon. Hopefully the PHNX Fitness location will continue to grow! :D

12/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Bow & Arrow Choke

Teaching #294
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 12/03/2015

This week, I decided to focus on the bow and arrow from the back. Starting from standard back control with a seat-bet grip, you open up their collar with the hand you have under their armpit. Fold it over (a handy tip from James '300' Foster), then grip it with the hand you have over their shoulder. Don't grip too high, or you'll lack the range to finish the choke.

Next you want to get hold of their non-choking side leg. If you're having trouble grabbing it, Dónal suggests using your same side heel to dig in by their knee, curling your leg back. That should bring their trouser leg in range for you to grab with your free hand, establishing a good anchor point. You then want to swivel your body, in order to get your leg-grabbing side foot to the outside of their other thigh.

I tend to push off their non-grabbed leg side thigh with my same side foot, to help me move my other foot over. Once you've got that foot locked in place, you want to keep it there to block them from trying to turn into an escape. Along with your initial grip on their leg, that hook with your foot gives you better leverage to move into the main choking position.

To get there, swing out your non-hooking leg. You want to end up with your opponent's head on the thigh of that leg you just swung out. Tuck the elbow of your choking arm back by your hip, as pulling on the elbow is one of the main escapes. To finish, pull your hand down, pressing your forearm into their head. If that doesn't work, you can try increasing the range by gripping with less fingers (though this does make your grip weaker). Putting a leg over their shoulder and then crossing your feet can give you more leverage, as you can then thrust your hips up into the choke.

If that still isn't getting the choke, try bringing the hand that was gripping their leg behind their head, driving it through to push their head forward as you lock in the choke. For even more leverage, you can bring it under their arm. That then sets you up for yet another follow-up submission, moving your leg over their head to switch into an armbar.
________________

Teaching Notes: Another interesting point for me to consider popped up today, which is generating leverage by leaning back. I prefer staying tight, not giving them space, but it's a valid way of finishing the choke. I guess that also fits well with the armbar. I still want to bring in Dónal's grip break at some point.

11/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Bow & Arrow Choke

Teaching #293
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/03/2015

This week, I decided to focus on the bow and arrow from the back. Starting from standard back control with a seat-bet grip, you open up their collar with the hand you have under their armpit. Fold it over (a handy tip from James '300' Foster), then grip it with the hand you have over their shoulder. Don't grip too high, or you'll lack the range to finish the choke.

Next you want to get hold of their non-choking side leg. If you're having trouble grabbing it, Dónal suggests using your same side heel to dig in by their knee, curling your leg back. That should bring their trouser leg in range for you to grab with your free hand, establishing a good anchor point. You then want to swivel your body, in order to get your leg-grabbing side foot to the outside of their other thigh.

I tend to push off their non-grabbed leg side thigh with my same side foot, to help me move my other foot over. Once you've got that foot locked in place, you want to keep it there to block them from trying to turn into an escape. Along with your initial grip on their leg, that hook with your foot gives you better leverage to move into the main choking position.

To get there, swing out your non-hooking leg. You want to end up with your opponent's head on the thigh of that leg you just swung out. Tuck the elbow of your choking arm back by your hip, as pulling on the elbow is one of the main escapes. To finish, pull your hand down, pressing your forearm into their head. If that doesn't work, you can try increasing the range by gripping with less fingers (though this does make your grip weaker). Putting a leg over their shoulder and then crossing your feet can give you more leverage, as you can then thrust your hips up into the choke.

If that still isn't getting the choke, try bringing the hand that was gripping their leg behind their head, driving it through to push their head forward as you lock in the choke. For even more leverage, you can bring it under their arm. That then sets you up for yet another follow-up submission, moving your leg over their head to switch into an armbar.
_____________________

Teaching Notes: I decided tonight that pulling on the leg is a better option to teach than what I normally do, which is stepping on the thigh and switching my foot across. I'd also like to bring in Dónal's grip break at some point, but it hasn't been necessary just yet.

11/03/2015 - Teaching | Side Control | Guard Recovery

Teaching #292
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/03/2015

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. 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, 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.

Alternatively, 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.

To get your knee out from under them, you'll be looking to shrimp in the direction you want your leg to go. If you can get a foot on the mat, that will provide you with the base to shrimp. Sometimes there isn't space, in which case you can push off the shin you have pressed into their stomach/hip. Keep shrimping under you can get your legs free and back to closed guard (or open guard, like butterfly, if you prefer).
_____________________

Teaching Notes: It was a focused lesson tonight due to small numbers. Also, somebody raised the question of how to escape reverse scarf hold. My approach is to wedge an elbow under and then put in the knee, but I have to admit it isn't a position I find myself under often. I'll have to have a look around at BJJ Library or something like that, see what some of the other common ideas are.

11/03/2015 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Open Guard

Class #633
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 11/03/2015

Drilling with Chris, he wanted to go through some guard retention stuff. That worked well for me, as then I could work on my open guard, running through what I did at the Kev private recently. I'm still not too clear on the shin-to-shin guard, but that should improve the more I get to practice with it (the main thing at the moment is that I don't seem to end up in positions conducive to it at present, thought that could just as easily be an inability on my part to apply the guard to a sufficient breadth of situations). Chris had a nice wrestling type grip when he tried the second shin-to-shin sweep, switching to grab around the outside of their leg and threading it through. That helped control during the pass.

The single leg x guard is continuing to confuse me. Initially lifting that leg, it felt really heavy at first, though just from the lift that knocked Chris over a number of times. I changed to pushing out the other leg to help lighten the forward leg, which made a difference. I could also try that entry the visiting purple belt from the open mat has shown me before, from spider guard IIRC. I need to remember to hook my foot around their hip, in terms of my leg which is above their knee. To get the sweep, it was easier when I was attacking their left leg, I found I could raise my hips and turn over without it feeling so awkward. Not going too high and too tight with my leg under their knee was beneficial to the sweep too, it seemed.

Switching from collar to the back of the head before I switch to grabbing the shin might be worth practicing as well. Otherwise, it means there is a moment where I don't have any kind of grip on them with my hands. Finally, Dónal's grip-break from the back, raising the wrist of my top hand. That's something I should practice much more, as it is all on the back this month.

09/03/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Bow & Arrow Choke

Teaching #291
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 09/03/2015

This week, I decided to focus on the bow and arrow from the back. Starting from standard back control with a seat-bet grip, you open up their collar with the hand you have under their armpit. Fold it over (a handy tip from James '300' Foster), then grip it with the hand you have over their shoulder. Don't grip too high, or you'll lack the range to finish the choke.

Next you want to get hold of their non-choking side leg. If you're having trouble grabbing it, Dónal suggests using your same side heel to dig in by their knee, curling your leg back. That should bring their trouser leg in range for you to grab with your free hand, establishing a good anchor point. You then want to swivel your body, in order to get your leg-grabbing side foot to the outside of their other thigh.

I tend to push off their non-grabbed leg side thigh with my same side foot, to help me move my other foot over. Once you've got that foot locked in place, you want to keep it there to block them from trying to turn into an escape. Along with your initial grip on their leg, that hook with your foot gives you better leverage to move into the main choking position.

To get there, swing out your non-hooking leg. You want to end up with your opponent's head on the thigh of that leg you just swung out. Tuck the elbow of your choking arm back by your hip, as pulling on the elbow is one of the main escapes. To finish, pull your hand down, pressing your forearm into their head. If that doesn't work, you can try increasing the range by gripping with less fingers (though this does make your grip weaker). Putting a leg over their shoulder and then crossing your feet can give you more leverage, as you can then thrust your hips up into the choke.

If that still isn't getting the choke, try bringing the hand that was gripping their leg behind their head, driving it through to push their head forward as you lock in the choke. For even more leverage, you can bring it under their arm. That then sets you up for yet another follow-up submission, moving your leg over their head to switch into an armbar.
_____________________

Teaching Notes: I've said it before, but as the club is Artemis BJJ, I tend to think that the bow and arrow should be our signature choke. Couple of things that came up during this first lesson are firstly the importance of not gripping too high, or it can become an air choke due to the forearm.

People were also having some trouble with that swing sometimes, especially if size difference makes it hard to hook the instep around the outside of their leg. It's important to grab the leg, makes a big difference to that swing. On the other hand, it is possible to do it when hooking the arm instead.

I really like that tip from Foster BJJ, makes me wonder if it would apply to some other chokes. I'll have to have a play with it some more.

08/03/2015 - International Women's Day GrappleThon for Equality Now

You will sometimes hear people say things like "Oh, we don't need feminism any more, everything is ok now." Unfortunately that's very much not the case. You may have heard the terrifying statistic that estimates one in three women globally will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime. Specifically, that comes from the UNIFEM publication Not A Minute More: End Violence Against Women, powerfully summarised on page six:

One in three. That stark figure sums up the crisis confronting women throughout the world. Of three young girls sitting in a classroom, learning to read and write, one will suffer violence directed at her simply because she is female. Of three women sitting in a market, selling their crops, one will be attacked — most likely by her intimate partner — and hurt so severely she may no longer be able to provide for her family. Throughout the world, this violence will be repeated: globally, one in three women will be raped, beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Violence against women has become as much a pandemic as HIV/AIDS or malaria. But it is still generally downplayed by the public at large and by policy-makers who fail to create and fund programmes to eradicate it.

Speaking a few days ago, the head of UN Women stated that no country has yet achieved gender equality. We're still waiting for governments to keep their promises on that front. Back in 1995, 189 countries pledged to end laws discriminating based on gender. Yet twenty years later, those laws still exist, as Equality Now's 'Beijing 20' campaign highlights. Fortunately, thanks to charities like Equality Now, there is hope for the future. When I started doing GrappleThons back in 2012, I already knew that Equality Now was the charity I wanted to support. I've had a direct debit with them for around a decade at this point, as I believe their work is incredibly important.

I couldn't do the GrappleThon for them in 2012, as they were not yet on an online fundraising platform. However, by 2015, Equality Now had started using MyDonate. Fortuitously, this year it happened that International Women's Day (8th March) fell on a Sunday. Hence why I decided the time was finally right, getting things started in January. Once I've decided on a charity, my next few tasks are picking a date (this year that was easy), finding a venue and getting the ever-popular fundraising t-shirts sorted.

Just like every year, the awesome Seymour 'Meerkatsu' Yang and the wonderful people at Tatami Fightwear immediately pledged their support, providing the t-shirt design and printing. The main venue for Artemis BJJ, MyGym Bristol, also agreed straight-away to let us hold the event on their giant mat space. We're also lucky to have a new company join as a sponsor this year, Gimono from New Zealand. They contacted me to offer a fantastic gi to whoever raises the most money, in the winner's choice of cut, colour and size. Thanks to all of the GrappleThon sponsors for your incredible support! :D

In terms of pre-event press, Martial Arts Illustrated put a story on their site, the wonderful SportsWatch site covered us again, as did Bristol Women's Voice. A personal highlight was getting invited last month by veteran combat sports broadcaster Eddie Goldman to talk about the GrappleThon on his show, 'No Holds Barred'.



On the 7th March, I got up at 9am to head to the Artemis BJJ open mat as usual, for pre-GrappleThon rolling and drilling between 10:00-12:00. Heading home for a shower and packing my bags (gi rainbow!), I arrived at MyGym shortly before 2pm, ready for the action. There was an especially good turn out this year: it seems every time we increase the space, the numbers go up to fill it, which is brilliant! There were over ten different teams from around the country, ranging from London to Aberystwyth, Chesterfield and Stone, among others. Many of them were returning from last year's event, like Horizon BJJ and Origin BJJ (headed up by 2013 GrappleThon 24hr Crew member, Mike Cowling), with plenty of new faces too.

We had our first contingent from Fightworx a bit further South West, including one of the top fundraisers, Jade. Bristol Uni BJJ was represented too, as were several other local teams, which was cool to see. I enjoyed meeting Andy, a fellow student under Kev Capel, who came down from Oxfordshire to take part before heading back up for a seminar with Kev. I also got to catch up about a previous instructor of mine, Jude Samuel (who gave me my blue), as Hiren from Legacy BJJ returned for what I think is his third GrappleThon now.

Chris Paines, probably the most impressive grappler this year in terms of stamina, kept on going at high intensity for pretty much the whole event. He brought down a team from Fighting Fit in Stone, including another stalwart of the event, Anya. There were lots of other women present too, some who had been before, like Paula (who has been a constant presence at the Bristol GrappleThons) and Anne.

Anne leads the mighty Birkett Crew from Westcoast BJJ in Wales, who were always ready to step in and keep the GrappleThon rolling on. Med, Adam, Kris, Katja and Jamie, along with Anne, were a key part of this year's event, as was Westcoast BJJ last year. I saw them in Congleton last year too, naturally featuring the indefatigable Kris. Read their write-up over on the Westcoast BJJ site, here.

Congleton is also where I first met Chris P. He topped this year off with an especially tough roll towards the end with a certain visiting black belt from Miami. That was not just any black belt, but William Abreu, who has a grappling resume including world titles in BJJ and a high-level background in NCAA wrestling. He very kindly took time out of his UK seminar tour to join us on Sunday morning, full of great advice and tips for his lucky training partners.

Lots of Artemis BJJ students came down too, such as Simon, Steve W, Antonis and Chris J. The women were also well represented, with Tracey and Zoe heading down. Most exciting for the other attendees, Tracey brought along her famous cake, keeping our stomachs very happy through the late hours. Stefan was there too, not only grappling but getting in lots of video footage. I've been working my way through it, so plan to have something edited together in the near future.

I also got to meet up with some old training partners, like Berry and Steve H. As with previous years, Steve was on hand to help set up the live stream. After we battled with it for an hour and a half, it eventually whirred into life (should still be viewable, here), but only managed just under three hours before collapsing. As a result, I got a number of comments on Facebook congratulating us on how many people were still going at 3am. I had to sheepishly inform them that the footage they were watching was not from 3am: it was from 3pm the previous day. ;)

Around midday on Sunday, a photographer from the Bristol Post randomly appeared, a little after Laura headed down straight from a hen party to take part. She and Paula were featured in the Post on Monday, with some excellent posing skills (the online version of the story is here). We also got visited by Nicola from SportsWatch: she's a good friend of Artemis BJJ, having tried out a class herself.

Thanks to everyone for coming down and making this event a success, with special thanks to the brilliant efforts of all the fundraisers. At the time of writing, the grand total is at £2,616. I'm hoping we can make it to at least £3,000, so please keep those donations coming in! :)

Class #632
Artemis BJJ (MyGym), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 08/03/2015

Given that 2015 marks the fifth GrappleThon I've rolled at, my plan of action is fairly well defined at this point. The most important thing is to pace yourself and pick your training partners very carefully. I therefore don't even start sparring until around 11pm, stepping in when I can see people are getting tired and the numbers are low. Interestingly, this time the sparring numbers didn't drop significantly until around 4am. We were then grappling in long shifts (around thirty to forty minutes) until 10am, when people both started to wake up and return to the mats from around Bristol.

Update June 2015: Here's a video I cobbled together on MovieMaker, mainly built from the oodles of footage Stefan captured:



I got in a number of rolls with Simon, along with several of my other students, like Zoe. I also jumped in for a long flow roll with Mike, where we were mostly just exchanging position with some light resistance, neither of us seriously going for submissions. I went for the unstoppable sweep a few times and landed it once or twice, but then this was going light. We also got into some bizarre entanglements, both trying to wrap the gi in random ways and hooking limbs. That's one of the most fun things about flow rolling, you do stuff you never normally do and get creative.

Rolling with Anne was fun too, another long spar. She has good defence, staying tight and not giving me much, except for that one position where she had one leg up and I kept knocking her over. Thinking about it afterwards, I'm wondering if moving into a low crouch would be more stable? But then I've never been great with combat base, so probably the wrong person to judge.

It was great to see the MyGym mats full of people all working together for a good cause. It was especially cool that so many people mentioned that they had learned a lot from rolling with lots of new training partners. We were also very fortunate to have Lisa in attendance, donating her massage skills: there was almost immediately a queue waiting to take advantage. I'm already looking forward to the next GrappleThon: I'm planning to get something sorted probably for April/May 2016. Hope to see you all there again! :D

07/03/2015 - Artemis BJJ | Pre-GrappleThon Open Mat | Back Escapes

Class #631
Artemis BJJ (PHNX Fitness), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 07/03/2015

To kick off a long day of grappling, I headed to the weekly Artemis BJJ open mat. Small turn-out - as most people were saving themselves for the GrappleThon - but I still got in some drilling. I mainly wanted to practice escaping the back, so did my usual escape a few times. I then had a play with a different escape I don't use often, as a purple belt visitor suggested it.

For that one, you get control of their arm and pull it over to the side. From there, the purple belt likes to do a rolling back take. That's a little complex for me, but fun to try out. From what I remember, you hook their same side leg, roll over your shoulder, then get a grip on their back to pull yourself into position. I do rely way too much on the one back escape, so it would be a good idea to develop a few other options.

I played around a bit with open guard too, mainly practicing what I learned from Kev in the recent private. Plenty more time to practice that at the GrappleThon! ;)

Website Review - EstimaInAction (Braulio Estima)

Short Review: In an interesting move, the MGinAction platform has been applied to another high level black belt, this time Braulio Estima. It therefore has the same features as MGinAction, giving you full access to the jiu jitsu of an elite competitor. As with MGinAction, that means you have a range of learning options, such as 'drilling', 'discussion' and 'in action'. The same variety of playback options are present too, including 'mirror image', several speeds and full-screen.

A minor downside is that due to the Gracie Barra uniform rules (listen to Aesopian's balanced podcast on the topic for more information on that), instructor and uke are often wearing the same colour and even the exact same gear, making it harder to distinguish limbs. Also, as with MGinAction, the database is built from class footage, so there are rarely multiple angles. In keeping with its parent site, membership will currently set you back $25, here.

Full Review: This the first time I've seen an instructional model from one BJJ website being applied wholesale to another, which speaks to the success of the MGinAction platform. It would also appear to be administrated and organised by the same team (or at least, part of the same team), given that the person who asked me to do this review did so from an @mginaction.com address. I'm not sure how much collaboration there is between the two sites or what the business arrangement was, but there is no difference in the technology, as far as I can tell.

The main two points of contrast are firstly that EstimaInAction is much newer than Marcelo Garcia's site, meaning it is smaller. Having said that, it is growing fast. At the time of writing, EstimaInAction has roughly 2000 videos in its database: just as with MGinAction, a significant proportion of those are 'in action' clips, rather than full instructional videos. To be specific, as of the 1st March 2015, there were 1960 videos in total, of which 433 were instructional videos (split between 32 'fundamental' and 401 'advanced'), along with 1334 'in action', 182 'sparring', 9 'drills' and 2 'discussion' (for more on what those labels mean, see my MGinAction review). Comparing that to what it looked like on the 2nd February gives you an idea of how the site tends to grow. Back then, there were 30 fundamentals and 348 advanced instructional videos, along with 1194 in action and 162 sparring. The drills and discussion videos haven't changed, 9 and 2 respectively.

The second major difference is that rather than Marcelo Garcia, Braulio Estima guides the viewer through his jiu jitsu game. Right now, it will indeed be Braulio rather than somebody from his teaching staff. All of the videos I watched over the last five weeks have featured Braulio, in contrast to my review of MGinAction. That could indicate that Braulio will continue to lead all the videos, but I would assume it is more likely that as the site expands, other instructors will begin to pop up. That's just an assumption on my part though: it would be interesting to know if MGinAction also began with 100% Marcelo, to build interest in the site.

A third possible difference - though as I haven't looked at MGinAction since 2012, this may no longer be the case - is that EstimaInAction reflects the fact that Braulio's game includes a lot more gi specific material and 'modern' (for want of a better word) guardwork compared to Marcelo Garcia. The complexity of open guard is well represented, ranging from koala guard to galaxy guard. I have little idea what either of those refers to, though I could guess, but regardless it shows you just how much breadth the site can offer. The granularity of the categorisation, as with MGinAction, is considerable.

I should note that I have trained at Braulio's school myself (though quite a few years ago now), so can attest to the excellent instruction available from both the champ himself as well as people not called Braulio Estima. Dónal, the co-founder of my own school, Artemis BJJ, is another Gracie Barra Birmingham product and it's where I first met him. He has had plenty of influence on my game. A lot of the people I remember from 2010 appear in the 2015 video content (generally a belt or two up), though the school itself has changed location since I used to commute over from Leamington Spa.

Incidentally, this is also the first time I've seen an online instructional site from the UK. Hopefully there will be more, given that we're blessed with a number of very high level black belts in this country (along with Braulio, Roger Gracie and his father Mauricio Gomes are arguably the most obvious examples).

February at Artemis BJJ was all about half guard, so that was my focus while testing EstimaInAction. Braulio's approach had an instant impact, as his basic half guard (referred to on the site as 'closed half guard') uses something Braulio calls an arm shield. Rather than the 'paw' method I've used in the past (and it turned out Braulio uses it too, in later videos), you put your hand on your forehead. That creates a tight frame, perfect for diving in low to go for the toe grab sweep and entries into deep half guard.

I was pleased with the results, keeping me safe from cross-facing in the specific sparring sections of class. Even techniques I wouldn't normally adopt had an effect. For example, despite initially thinking it was too complex and awkward for me, I found myself using Braulio's method for the waiter sweep several times during the GrappleThon, demonstrating that the video was sufficiently well taught and clearly explained that it seeped into my game without me realising.

Helpfully when an EstimaInAction video is part of a series, links to the other parts are included in the description at the bottom. Those follow-ups are not always what you might expect, though. The first video I watched was on basic half guard principles, blocking the cross face. It was part one of two, so I expected the second part to be something similarly fundamental. However, part two was in fact a transition into a kneebar, something I'd class as advanced (especially as Braulio mentions this is a dangerous technique that requires control, due to torque on the leg).

That is quite common, but in fairness these videos are under the 'advanced' label. Another example started off with an ankle grab sweep, which switches into that aforementioned waiter sweep from deep half, finishing with a kneebar during part two. Although it didn't always fit with my game, I still like that there was frequently a connected series of videos rather than just one. It's essential to have options if your first attempt doesn't work as you'd hoped. This sequential arrangement is my favourite aspect of the site, I think.

Techniques are often combined, but generally not to the extent that I remember from MGinAction. That is probably due to the way the techniques are split out into parts. When I was testing MGinAction in late 2012, it was all in the one video, leading to mammoth titles like 'Single Leg Takedown, Sit Out vs Sprawl, Whip-Under Sweep from Half Guard, Ankle Pick Sweep from Half Guard'. Several years down the line, it could well be that MGinAction has chopped those up into manageable chunks.

Having said that, there are still some monster video titles on EstimaInAction, even when the videos are split into multiple parts. For example, 'X Pass, Step Around and Backstep Pass & Shin Shield Pass vs Butterfly Guard, Side Control to Back Control — Passing Butterfly Guard Seminar, Part 3/14'. Terminology is another problem, with titles like 'Folding Pass Bait from De La Riva Guard, DLR to Anaconda Guard and Sucuri Sweep, Shin-in Sweep.' I have no idea what a 'Sucuri Sweep' is and I'm not too sure on 'folding pass' either. Of course, that's also a general BJJ problem and therefore impacts all the instructional sites I've tested, including my favourite, BJJ Library.

The same helpful video controls from MGinAction have been carried over to EstimaInAction, with zoom, mirror and several slow motion settings. Less helpfully, both Braulio and his partner often wear the same colour gi or the same rash guard and shorts. This makes it harder to distinguish limb from limb, especially with complex techniques that involve a lot of arm and leg entanglement. As Braulio teaches under the Gracie Barra banner and (AFAIK) implements the full GB rules (although the sparring videos feature at least one non-GB gi), putting severe restrictions on what equipment you can wear. That means that Braulio and his partner sometimes wear not just similar colours, but indistinguishable gear.

I can understand why that has to be the case, given that Braulio is a leading light of Gracie Barra. EstimaInAction also prominently has an "Endorsed by Gracie Barra" logo down the bottom right, so I'm sure GB HQ would be unimpressed if Gracie Barra gear was not on display. There is at least one example of what may be Gracie Barra's strangest rule, which states that even when training nogi you have to wear your belt. However, I only saw that in a single video out of the many I watched, so perhaps that rule has since been sensibly set aside for the purposes of practicality.

The search facility on the right of the screen gives you the option of looking for videos that are gi, nogi or either. It also has an 'opponent' section, where you can choose both belt level and weight: this presumably only applies to the sparring videos. The total number of videos is not yet at the level of MGinAction, so often your search won't return any results. For example, looking at my own purple belt featherweight category, nothing came up. However, black belt featherweight returned 31 in action videos and 3 sparring. The description handily told me the name of the gentleman in the sparring video I watched, Ronnie Mann.

Black belt heavyweight again resulted in 3 (all with the same unnamed opponent, this time), including a 'specific training' example where Braulio worked on side control. Mostly the title just says 'gi training' or 'no gi training'. Unfortunately there is not currently a categorisation for positional sparring, but perhaps that will be added in future. I for one would find it useful to be able to look at, for example, all the specific sparring videos from the back. Adding narration would be especially cool, but that's a tall order considering the number of videos involved.

If the opponent is well-known, they are generally mentioned in the title. Like everyone else, the person I immediately looked for upon discovering this section was Roger Gracie, who I know does train regularly with Braulio. Typing his name into the search box brings up two sparring videos with the legend (at his academy rather than GB Brum), but sadly there is no sound. That's a shame, as they do stop and discuss technique at certain points. I assume they speak to each other in their native Portuguese, but I'd still be interested to hear it, as naturally would anybody who - unlike me - is fluent in the language.

When looking at any video, you will also get 'research suggestions' to the right (there is a 'my research suggestions' link at the top too), which as far as I can tell develops based on the videos you watch. For example, when I did a search for 'tripod sweep' and clicking on an 'in action' tripod sweep from spider guard video, the database also pointed me towards 'foot on the biceps from spider guard', 'sleeve and collar grip from spider guard' and 'Setup_Angled leg lift from spider guard'.

I can click on the 'in action' or instructional selections, or 'view all'. Next to 'in action', I can also 'load to queue'. That means a new window pops up (I can move it around the screen if I want, go to full screen or close it), where all of the short 'in action' videos run one after the other. There's a similar section for 'related material' underneath the research suggestions box. There's a 'MyPage' section as well, where you can organise your favourite EstimaInAction videos into customisable folders for later viewing.

It felt like the difference between 'fundamental' and 'advanced' was clearer on EstimaInAction than MGinAction, at least judging by the videos I watched. Unfortunately (if understandably) there is no option to download the videos, so you have to have an active internet connection: to date, the only instructional site I've seen that offers an inbuilt download option is the Grapplers Guide, much to Jason Scully's credit.

If you like MGinAction, then I'm sure you'll also be happy with EstimaInAction. It's a good move for the MGinAction team, as Braulio's style is quite different to Garcia's, with a lot more gi-specific material for a start (unlike Marcelo, Braulio clearly does not subscribe to the view that his entire game has to be applicable in both gi and nogi). That means the proven MGinAction model can now cater to a broader range of BJJ interests.

So, the plus points of MGinAction pretty much all apply to EstimaInAction, which given the impressive technology are significant. Even though it is comparatively new, the database is still fairly big and expanding rapidly. The 'in action' facility is a great way to get deeper into a technique you're interested in learning, though it is not as useful as MGinAction yet, because frequently a technique you can see in action does not have a corresponding instructional video.

As with any instructional site, you need to decide if you have the time, money and inclination to sign up to a monthly subscription. The main pre-requisites for the site to be of any use are a consistent internet connection and a computer with sufficient specs to run the videos (they worked fine on my laptop from 2008, indicating the site doesn't need a particularly swish computer to work), which most people have. More importantly, you need a willingness to do some serious research into technique, which rather less people possess. For those who do, EstimaInAction will richly reward your attention. You can sign up here, setting you back $25 a month.