30/08/2015 - Open Mat | More Jeff Rockwell Sit-Up Escape

Class #662
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 30/08/2015

I seem to have done something to my ankle, so I didn't get all that involved today. My main bit of training came right at the end, with more material from Jeff Rockwell's sit-up escape instructional. Like an open mat earlier in the week, I'm focusing on a sequence he shows that starts from underneath side control. The escape begins with your usual frame, except that you are also blocking the cross-face, like Saulo advises. Bridge up into them to make some space, then get a collar tie (i.e., grab behind their head, hooking your hand around and pressing your elbow into their clavicle) with what was your cross-face blocking arm. Post on your other arm and sit up, then scoot away to recover guard.

They manage to shuck your collar tie off their head. Immediately push into the side of their head, swinging your hips and legs across like you would from a running escape. Wise to that as well, they come around the side of your leg. Finally, you counter that by stiff-arming into the back of their elbow, recovering to guard. Interestingly - and this was most likely down to the limited resistance during drilling - I kept finding myself in a pseudo omoplata position. Their arm often got trapped as I was swinging my legs through. Looking at the gi from Rockwell's instructional, his training partner lifts his elbow and brings his arm back to avoid that.

I'll add it into the drill: I'm still treating this as a drill rather than what I expect to happen in sparring. From what I read in the instructional, I am assuming this drill is intended to get you used to some of the common motions associated with the sit up escape system Rockwell has developed. I need to re-read/re-watch it from the start anyway, especially as I'm now moving into side control month. Perfect time to test it.

Another interesting technical point from today was Sam's use of the rolling back take I showed on Friday. He was finding that reaching back with his 'outer' arm and grabbing the bottom of their trouser leg 'locked' the technique in place. It also provided another leverage point to pull through, helping the back take.

28/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Rolling Back Take

Teaching #380
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 28/08/2015

I originally learned this a few years ago and had trouble understanding it, but since the session Oli Geddes taught at the 2015 BJJ Globetrotter Summer Camp, it's become clearer. I've therefore been trying it in half guard sparring, where it has functioned well as an option when your partner is clamping really tight and not giving you any openings. For this technique, all you need is enough base to quickly roll inside and go for the back. It can be launched from a variety of positions: tonight, I demonstrated it from quarter guard (where you've almost passed, but they've managed to latch onto your foot), but it also works from the opposite side pass position, deep half guard and turtle, among others.

In each position, the basic idea is the same. Turn away from your trapped leg (i.e., twist towards your free side), circling your foot so your shin is pressed against their top leg. Your shoulder on the trapped leg side will roll into that free side: you're turning inside your free hip. Lock your trapped leg around theirs as you roll, reaching for their far hip. Use that to pull yourself around to the back, establishing a seat belt grip.

As Oli covered in his lesson, if you don't get all the way around, keep your legs locked around their leg. You've got the option of grabbing their other thigh with your arms and extending their legs apart for a submission (though it's entirely dependent on their flexibility, so the efficacy will vary). If you can't get that other leg, apply a calf crush on the leg you've locked with your own legs (noting that's not legal in IBJJF competition for anyone under brown belt, but then the IBJJF is not all of BJJ, it's just one competition rule set). Simply pull down on their foot for the submission.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: I started off showing this from typical half guard, but I'm not sure I've got all the details down. It works ok against white belts who aren't familiar with the position, but when I then did it on one of the students who likes rolling back takes, it was rather less successful. Quarter guard went much better, though the same thing happened when I went to demonstrate the back take from quarter guard against a much bigger student: that took some yanking on the hip to get into position!

I like giving myself a teaching challenge at least a couple of times a month, but I think I'll put this one on the backburner for a while. I need to be more convinced firstly that I can apply it against everyone, and secondly that it's a suitably universal option.

With sparring from half guard, I'm continuing to keep it simple, looking to recover full guard, using the double paw to get myself into position. I've been looking for the kimura every now and then too, but that's something that needs a lot more work. On top, it's the usual pressure approach. Once we got to open mat, I drilled some more Jeff Rockwell technique, which I'm intending to make my focus on Sunday as well.

26/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Lapel Trap Choke (Ezequiel)

Teaching #379
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 26/08/2015

Continuing that sequence from top half guard I learned from Jason Scully's Grapplers Guide, I moved on to a choke. This technique directly follows on from what we learned on Monday, though it is possible to do it on its own too.

If you've gone for the lapel trap americana but they've freed their arm, immediately shoot your other hand underneath the lapel. Get that to the other side of their neck. Pull on the lapel with your cross facing hand, chopping into their neck with your lapel hand. You end up with a submission similar to an ezequiel.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: As you can see from the brief description, this technique is quite simple. There wasn't much to correct during drilling, though a few people who hadn't been there on Monday needed a few pointers on the grip. It would be good to cover some non-lapel dependent submissions from top half guard, but I like the lapel trap stuff. A kimura from the top is something I'll probably add in next time, but this time round, I'll finish off the month with a rolling back back.

Sparring Chris, I was just holding him off for the majority of the time, resetting to double paw whenever I could. He went for the lapel trap a few times, which I was able to defend by getting my elbow to my side and gradually unwinding my hand. As I'd just taught he then looked to go for the choke, but knowing that's what he'd do, I was ready to block and start shrimping free. I had a go at the kimura, not very successfully as he buried his arm. Eventually I recovered guard, still probably my preferred option in half guard.

I managed to get on top with Paul, the other blue belt there tonight, during free sparring. He was attempting to entangle me in spider guard. I think I would have been in trouble if he'd managed to off balance me, but I ended up in a stable position, from which it was a matter of patience to free my arm and lock in side control.

I can't remember how I got on top: must have been some kind of sweep, as I started in bottom half guard. Tripod sweep, maybe? In an ideal world, I'd be able to write these up straight after class, but I try to avoid that as having laptops/phones on late definitely affects my sleep. ;)

26/08/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Butterfly Sweep

Teaching #378
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 26/08/2015

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.

Whatever grip, drop to your shoulder on the sleeve grabbing arm, lifting as you drop. Switch your legs, bringing one under the other in order to establish scarf hold, heavy on your cross face. 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: Went fairly well. A few people got confused by feet positioning, having one slightly out in order to act as a post once you've dropped to your side. Also, people weren't lifting all that high, so perhaps relying too much on the arms as a sort of throw? Then again, still works, which is the main thing. Perhaps I'm not lifting as high as I think, because I haven't filmed myself doing this: it would be interesting to know.

24/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Lapel Trap Americana

Teaching #377
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 24/08/2015

From the top of half guard, there's a cool attack sequence I learned from Jason Scully's Grapplers Guide. Establish a strong cross face and solidify your base. When you're feeling secure, yank out their far lapel, getting as much material as you can. Pull that over their far arm, trapping their wrist to their shoulder. Feed the lapel to your cross-facing hand, gripping as near their wrist as you can. Use your head to press their arm to the floor.

From here, you can continue to twist on their lapel, going for the submission. If you need extra leverage, switch the lapel back to your other hand and continue rotating. If that's still not enough leverage, you can always transition into a standard americana. Your head control on their wrist should help you set up the typical grips on the wrist and finish the lock as normal. If you keep their wrist trapped with the lapel, you can do the normal americana, but with the added bonus that they can't unbend their arm due to the lapel.
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Teaching Notes: I think this technique isn't overly complicated, but today reminded me that's only if you're already familiar with the americana. Most of the problems I was helping people with during drilling related to a standard americana, not the lapel grips or anything like that. Which makes me wonder if it is worth going through the normal americana from a half guard position, as some didn't know it?

The main problem was the same as usual, with people focusing too much on lifting the elbow rather than pushing the knuckles back like a paintbrush. I will be going through it during side control month, as I almost always do for side control month, but then if somebody missed that because they start after it, potential issues. Then again, that's not going to be a huge number of people and I can always add a quick amerciana basics section for when I next teach them. Or even take the new people aside and show them an americana?

Either way, this should flow nicely into side control month next week, as you can do much the same thing with the lapel off my favoured gi tail choke, when they try to block the lapel with their arm.

23/08/2015 - Open Mat | Jeff Rockwell Sit-Up Escape System vs North South & Knee Cut

Class #661
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 23/08/2015

Great open mat today, which also marks the first week that every single class has been in double digit attendance. Yay! Fittingly, an old training partner popped back in today, with the excellent news that he's moved back to Bristol, so should be with us regularly soon.

My primary goal today was to work on some more material from Jeff Rockwell's instructional (having started that at the previous open mat), covering what he calls the sit-up escape. I prefer calling it the stiff arm, though the actions of sitting up and holding your arm straight are both important to it, so take your pick. The comprehensive system he's shared via Artechoke Media progresses what I used to think of as just a side control escape into a myriad of application.

Of those, the two I focused on today were escaping north south and a pass counter. For the north-south escape, you need to get your arms into their armpits. Bridge, making enough space to bring one arm across to the other side, resulting in both your arms braced behind one of theirs. With your inside arm (i.e., the one that your brought across), grab the gi material by their elbow and stiff arm it away, straightening your arm.

Put your other arm behind you, using that as base. Sit up (you'll probably need to swing your legs for the momentum), continuing to push and keeping your stiff arm straight. Swivel to face them and recover your guard. My training partner Paul did an interesting spin, which was cool. It seemed effective when we switched roles and he was escaping my north south (exactly why I always switch roles when drilling stuff at open mat, as it often brings a new perspective to the technique I hadn't considered), but I felt more comfortable with the standard move out to the side Rockwell shows.

The next option was a stiff arm counter to the knee cut. Right at the moment their foot slides off your leg, sit up and stiff arm into their shoulder. Swing your legs out of the way (towards their head), reversing them to enable you to establish side control. I wasn't swinging my legs enough, though I was still able to get the reversal.

Switching roles, I tried to break the technique: the main thing that hindered it was quickly changing my angle to perpendicular as soon as I passed, as well as not leaning towards the underhook. However, with the stiff arm in place, that still generally gave Paul enough space to recover guard. I was impressed with how effective it seemed to be: I'm wondering if there is a risk of getting armbarred, will test that next time.

In sparring, I was trying to start under north south, but we seemed to quickly end up with me under side control doing that, so I didn't have time to try the escape. Today emphasised how my A game is very much knee cut to side control to either gi choke or some kind of arm attack. I'm liking armbars much more than before now, though I still feel safer with the north-south kimura. I'm not doing an especially good job of breaking their grip on armbars, though I am getting better at switching from side to side.

My omoplata attempts in closed guard weren't working too well. I was missing the switch into an armbar or triangle, something I should work on a bit more. Adding the collar tie from Rockwell's system has been handy for my open guard, giving me a helpful block to their passing efforts. I also landed the crucifix armbar, which was cool: I haven't done that in a while. This time I remembered my crucifix grips properly, unlike when I was last at RGA Bucks and totally forgot about controlling the non-leg wrapped arm.

Attacks from half guard all next week, using the lapel. That's had a big impact on my half guard, having trialled the submission series out over this month. I tried the same lapel trap to americana into a choke today, but off side control. It works from there too, though I wasn't able to lock off the choke as he managed to defend the other side of his neck with his hand. Keeping the Terere triangle option when I have the arm wrapped would be good too, although that does mean I lose the position, so lower down the chain for me.

21/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Passing Lockdown

Teaching #376
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 21/08/2015

If you find that you keep getting stuck in the lockdown, don't worry: there is a simple method for working back to a standard half guard. First off, you can avoid the situation by making sure your lower leg is curled back. That will put it out of reach for the purposes of a lockdown. You can also just bring your foot close to their bum. If it is too late for that, grab their hips and shift downwards. Keep shifting backwards until you can circle your leg out of their lockdown, then move back up. Again, make sure your leg is curled out of reach, or they'll be able to put you right back in the lockdown. You can potentially pass after scooting down too, underhooking their leg and kicking free, but be careful, there is a triangle risk if you're not paying attention.

Alternatively, Ed Beneville includes this lockdown pass in Passing the Guard. Move down and put your head on their hip, trapped leg side. Move you free leg back, driving your hips down. Reach under their upper legs, then lock your arms together. When you've taken out all the slack in their lockdown, put your head on the other side. Shift your chest down, then kick back with your trapped leg (or simply straighten it, depending on how much purchase they still have on your leg). Pass from there by moving around, making sure to keep their hips locked to the mat, driving your shoulder into them.

Then there is Christian Graugart's option. When he's caught in the lockdown, he lifts his leg in the air, then puts the heel of his other leg against their bottom heel. That enables him to remove his trapped leg, quickly curling it back to avoid getting stuck in the lockdown again. Kurt Osiander and Xande Ribeiro both use a comparable tactic, lifting their heel towards their bum, then uncurling the leg.


Finally, here is yet another option, from Rener Gracie. That's the one I went with tonight. When you're caught in the lockdown, sprawl to take out the slack in their grip, then swing your trapped leg towards your other leg. Hook behind their nearest knee with the instep of your free foot. Press their knee to the mat. This should give you the room to bring your trapped leg towards the other side, then simply drive the trapped knee through, moving directly into a knee cut pass.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: There are many different ways to deal with the lockdown, so I had to think which one to show. My usual approach is to scoot down to their hips, hook inside their leg, then use the leverage of that hook combined with pressing my leg back to pop the lockdown open (I'm pretty sure I first saw that in a Stephan Kesting video, but I couldn't seem to find it when I looked). However, I decided that I'd go with Rener's technique, as that can be done while you still have a cross-face and underhook, so feels more secure.

Most people got it ok, although a few were confused by the lockdown itself, along with the mechanics of this pass. The John Will method helped, along with giving specific tips during drilling. By the end of class and the second John Will review, everybody had it down. Not that this necessarily translated to sparring. I made a point of asking Rafal, as he uses the lockdown a lot, but he didn't find a lot of people passing with it. Then again, he's also more experienced than most of the people in class, which would have an impact too. Admittedly, when I sparred Rafal I didn't use it either, I reverted back to my usual underhook the leg method. ;)

I was pleased to get the papercutter choke from side control in free sparring later, though I'm not sure how tight my grips were. Quite often people will let me get to north south, where that choke comes into play nicely. I want to keep on trying it, making sure I also shift into the follow-ups (near side armbar, north-south kimura and far side armbar). I also kept attempting the Jeff Rockwell collar tie guard recovery off a guard pass, something else I'm really keen to add into my game. I need to drill his north south escape too. After that, the big thing I still want to improve is back escapes.

19/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Hip Switch Pass

Teaching #375
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 19/08/2015


Start by flattening out your opponent, driving your free knee into their hip, then walking your trapped leg across. Apply a heavy cross-face: this is absolutely central to the technique. Without a solid cross face, they will be able to turn towards you, perhaps even getting a reversal.

Once you've got that cross-face firmly locked in, raise your hips slightly. This is in order to switch your hips, bringing your free knee up by their hip (sliding underneath your trapped leg). Using either the knee or your shin, wedge that against their lower leg leg. With your free arm, grasp their trouser leg and yank it towards you, in order to open up enough space to free your leg. Ideally you also want to keep your head low and turned towards their legs, to make it harder for them to push into your throat.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: This is something I first saw in Jiu Jitsu University years ago, but I hadn't considered it until I watched Xande's video of the same technique on BJJ Library. It's a simple technique that doesn't need much beyond a cross face. It's probably easier than the opposite side pass I teach (and use) more often, especially judging by how students did with it tonight. I think I'll be teaching this more frequently from now on, fitting well with the basic pressure pass.

In sparring I got in more specifics with Kirsty, both on top and on bottom, as well as a few others. This time when I went for that rolling back take I got stuck by her leg, lacking momentum and leverage. I could perhaps have switched to the banana split or calf slicer, but that would be somewhat unfair on a white belt (though I think the split is technically legal for white belts at most competitions? I should check that, particularly given one of the white belts at Artemis BJJ is quite fond of it).

I managed to get the lapel trap in place this time, first putting it over the arm. I didn't have that locked in as tightly as I wanted, so waited for her to slip her arm free, then switched to the cross choke option instead. Seemed to work well: I think I'll teach those two next week, to finish off half guard month.

I'm also continuing to play with deep half guard underneath, but it's still rather sloppy at this point. Immediately doing Braulio's 'facepalm' defence to the cross-face works pretty well: I must remember to include that when I show the basic half guard posture.

19/08/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Side Control Escape to Guard

Teaching #374
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 19/08/2015

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 than using your hand, as they can potentially still bring their body onto your hand and collapse it, especially if you're grabbing the gi (given 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).
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Teaching Notes: It doesn't generally take too long to go through this one in the women's class, so I'll often end up adding something else. This time round, I went with the turn to knees, which follows on from the same kind of position. One thing I noticed both students doing today was bringing their knee quite low, rather than into the stomach. You can still push off the knees, but I tend to find the stomach is more effective.

17/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Opposite Side Pass

Teaching #373
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 17/08/2015

I first learned this pass from Roger Gracie a few years ago, getting some further great details from Ed Beneville and Tim Cartmell's excellent book. Beneville and Cartmell refer to the position as 'inverted half guard', but I prefer Saulo's nomenclature from Jiu Jitsu University: he uses the term 'opposite side pass'.'Inverted' is mainly associated with being upside down in BJJ, so I'll stick with Saulo.

The orthodox method to pass the half guard is to get a similar 'super-hold' (as Xande calls it) as you would in side control, then use shoulder pressure to hold them in place as you bounce your leg free and slide through. That's what I taught earlier this month. With the opposite side pass, you're also trying to control their upper body. In Saulo's version of the pass, on p307 of his book, they already have an underhook. He therefore grips over the top of that underhooking arm, securing it by gripping the gi material by the small of their back.

Posting on his free hand, he then swings his free leg over, ending up sat next to them. He suggests grabbing their knee initially, then shifting to grabbing the far hip. If you prefer, you can grab the knee and maintain that grip, to prevent a counter they can try where they open their half guard then hook under your knee. They can then lift and drive through to the top position.

My personal preference is to start the pass by reaching under their head with the arm on the same side as your trapped leg. This may feel counter-intuitive, as normally that is the arm you would use to underhook, but that's because you're swinging over to the other side. This is effectively a cross-face on the opposite side, which you lock in fully once you're over to the other side, driving your shoulder into their cheek/jaw to prevent them turning their head towards you. It's also key that after swinging to the other side, you post firmly on your outside leg, angling the knee towards their body. This should stop them bridging into you and getting a reversal.

Finally, you need to extricate your trapped leg. The simplest approach is to push on their bottom leg with your free foot, extricating yourself from half guard and taking top side control. The problem with that is it reduces your base, so they might be able to capitalise and reverse you. Not to say it isn't possible, but it requires your cross-face to be really solid. A slightly safer option is to step the basing leg in front of their leg, using it as a wedge. That means it both blocks their movement but still provides you with base. Another possibility is pulling their leg towards you in order to help create the space to free yourself.

A slight variation on this pass comes from the Beneville book: if you can get this one, it's probably the tightest option. Before you swing over, open up their lapel on the free leg side. Pass the end of their gi to the hand you have under their head and feed it through. Push their head slightly towards the trapped leg side, then shove your head in the space you’ve created. You can use your head for base, along with your free hand if required.

After you've swung over, watch out for a counter they may try, which is to lift up your leg with their far foot, flipping you over. To re-counter that, immediately switch from holding the knee to hooking behind their knee with your arm. That should stop them lifting for the sweep. Alternatively, you can also do a big step over to the other side as they try to flip you to your back.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: Class went well. The usual points to emphasise are getting your hips right over, as opposed to balancing on them. Going through it John Will style in the middle and end of class helped, I think. It also made me think I want to give Xande's similar hip switch option a go on Wednesday.

I had fun sparring Kirsty during specifics, as she likes to hold a really tight half guard. That makes it harder to go for submissions, but easier to do the rolling back take. I may even teach that as an option towards the end of the month, when your partner is clamming shut and you can't fish any limbs or gi lapels for attacks.

13th to 16th August 2015, Belgium

I was born in Brussels, but I haven't been back since my parents moved to the UK when I was three months old (which is why I have a posh English accent: there isn't a drop of British blood in me, just Turkish and German with smatterings of Dutch and probably Greek). When I saw that there was a BJJ Globetrotters Camp in Belgium, I decided to finally make a return, especially as I love Flemish art. Somehow transmitted via the womb, perhaps? ;)

My arrival into Brussels Airport was free of problems, unless you count getting up at 3am for a 6am flight as a problem. There are regular flights from Bristol: I booked well in advance, costing about £70 return. There are cheaper options, like a 6 hour bus from London. I'm told that's only £35 return, but I prefer the speed and convenience of a plane (if less environmentally friendly).

Leuven

After my train from the airport arrived at Bruxelles Noord (Centrale station is fine for this too), it was straightforward to get a train to Leuven, which will be down in French as Louvain on the information boards. Tickets were €8.80 each way, taking about 17 minutes. Checking my Sygic SatNav, it was only a 24 minute walk from the station to the BJJ Globetrotter Summer Camp at the Sportoase, but my route was immediately made easier once I saw some guys carrying their gis. The Sportoase itself is pretty big, as is the cavernous matted room where the classes were taught, deep within the building. The heat hits you straight away: I was sweating immediately upon entering the GrappleCave.


I ended up doing four classes, starting with Oli Geddes' rolling back attacks. Next time, I'd like to stay for the full week and bring some Artemis BJJ students with me. Handy that I know where it is now and have experienced the process. I'd recommend bringing a very light gi. There's probably no need to book onto the meals (especially as there is open mat time during the booked eating slots).

As if to punish me for complaining about the temperature, a thunderstorm hit just as I was leaving for my CouchSurfing host's house. Fortunately I had checked the weather before I left, so knew to pack waterproofs. After an interesting chat with those hosts (they're building their own house, using straw bales as the main construction material), I fell asleep pretty quickly.

Brussels

Friday to Sunday was dedicated to Brussels. Fortuitously, the location of my next CouchSurfing host meant that I could travel via Etterbeek station, the district listed on my birth certificate. Indulging my narcissism, I took a few pictures, but it's basically just a suburb. Apparently a well known Belgian footballer is from there, so that's presumably the only famous thing a non-Belgian would know.

My host had to rush off to meet up with her mother in Paris, but still had enough time to give me loads of useful info about getting around Brussels. I already knew where I was heading: the museum district. Specifically, I wanted the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. The translation is Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, but it sounds much better in French (be careful you don't get it mixed up with BOZAR, the Palais des Beaux-Arts, as I did at first). My guidebook said it was split into three museums, but technically it's four (although the Musée d'Art moderne is just a handful of exhibits). In fact, there are six on the Musee ticket, but two of them are outside of the main building. Getting there meant navigating Brussels public transportation, a relatively straightforward affair.

Trams, trains, buses and the Metro in Brussels all connect. I started off on the 'pre-metro' line 7, heading towards Heysel, then changed at Petillon to the Metro line. Walk around the corner and down the heavily graffitied alley (you should see a big M sign) for the Metro station. There's a ticket machine if you need one, on the way to the Metro. It's €2.10 for an hour of continuous travel, or there are options for multiple trips, 24hrs etc.

For the centre of town, cross over the platform (you should be able to walk straight through the gates, I think. Regardless, you can use your ticket again if not) and get on the Metro towards Gare de L'Ouest (Weststation). Alternatively, you could continue past Petillon and instead switch at Montgomery station, moving to Metro line 1. Either way, get off at Gare Centrale. From there, exit through the main Bruxelles Centrale station, continuing on through the Galerie Ravenstein (built in the '50s). Head up the posh stairs just outside, then turn right and walk to the large square, where you should see the main art gallery in the corner. The museum address, if you want to plug it into your SatNav like I did, is number 3 on rue de la Regence.

There is the option of buying an €8 ticket for a single museum , or paying slightly more (€13) to get access to all of them. On my initial visit, I stuck with the Old Masters Museum (aka Musée d'Art ancien) on the top floor. Its audio guide (€4) is pretty good, full of both interpretive and contextual information, but annoyingly it doesn't come with headphones. There is what looks like a headphone port, but it was too small for my earphones. You therefore end up listening on a speaker, broadcasting to everybody else in the surrounding area. There is also a cloakroom with lockers, costing you exactly nothing (you do need either a €1 or €2 coin to operate the lock mechanism, but you get that back when you unlock it).



Staring intently at every single painting, listening to all the entries on the audio guide, took me three and a half hours. I loved every minute of it. Many of my favourite artists are represented, including Pieter Bruegel (both elder and younger, along with other members of the family), Hieronymous Bosch, Rogier van de Weyden and Petrus Christus. There's the famous painting of Marat by Jacques-Louis David and an assortment of David Teniers as well.

I'm familiar with a lot of the art here, especially Bruegel. The Brueghel family (Pieter, the patriarch of the family, decided to drop the H) is all over the gallery, as you'd expect given they are among Belgium's finest exports (although they wouldn't have called it Belgium in the sixteenth century: that country only came into being after the revolution of 1830).

If you've read my babbling about art before, you'll know my favourite period is quite narrow, from 1450-1750 or so, meaning that once the collection moved towards the 18th century, there were more surprises. For example, a painting of what looks like a female Hercules, sadly not covered by the audio guide. I forgot to take a picture of the caption, but I think this was either 17th or 18th century. It's housed in a section away from the main square of corridors that house most of the Old Masters: the highlight is probably Rubens.

I had a good chat with a fellow CouchSurfer who was staying with the same host when I got back. I had expected him to be Eastern European, given his name is Ivan, but it turned out he was from Northern Italy, which has a lot of German influence. Nice guy with lots of stories from his travels around Asia. He's finishing off seven months exploring that continent with a brief European tour, before heading home to the land of pasta.

On Saturday, it was time for more gallery action at the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts. This time, I wanted to check out the Fin-de-Siècle and Magritte sections (technically separate museums, but I got a €13 combined ticket and could therefore flit between all of them). The gallery opens an hour later on weekends, from 11:00-18:00, so I had an hour to kill before my second gallery visit on Saturday.


I slayed that hour with the help of Experience Brussels, just across the way from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts/Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts. It's a free interactive exhibit on the city, mentioned in my guide book (the unfairly maligned Rough Guide Snapshot: Brussels). It is relatively dry, full of population statistics and EU history, but I like dry. There are flashing lights and loads of video, if you need shiny things to keep you occupied. ;)

I was especially keen to dig into the demographics of Etterbeek, something the exhibit provided with not only a map, but a video tour of Etterbeek sights too. Contrary to what I thought, there are a few things to see there, such as the Art Noveau Couchiehuis, a museum, a church and even some kind of cool medieval festival. I'll try and head along to some of that next time I'm in Brussels.

Getting back to the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts, the Musée Fin-de-Siècle was an entirely different experience to the previous day (starting with a queue: on Friday I walked straight in). I knew almost none of the artists, whereas in the Old Masters section I got to see a lot of my long-standing favourites. The audio guide this time went for depth instead of breadth: there would often be long gaps between paintings, then it would go to town on those paintings (and photographs, a major part of this section of the museum) it did deign worthy of comment.

Jarringly, a video of something related would sometimes follow the audio portion of the commentary. That has the plus side of more content and benefitted from video, but on the downside you would sometimes need to sit and concentrate. That's because the pictures under discussion might be on the viewscreen rather than in the museum. With the first entry in the audio guide, it's a whole video to watch, featuring news footage from turn of the century Belgium.


Although I frequently wanted more information on certain paintings, like the massive depiction of a naked baby swarm or Circe with her magically piggified Greeks, I'd say this museum is not far off the quality of the Old Masters section (though that's still easily the best). While it's outside of my usual area of interest, I like art noveau, of which both artists and furniture were on display, reminiscent of the Kelvingrove in Glasgow. How this expansive art noveau collection came to the museum was interesting, detailed at length in the audio guide. There were also some artists I have enjoyed before (mainly at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris), like von Stuck and the Belgian Symbolist Jean Delville,

The Musee Magritte was less engrossing than I'd hoped: whereas I spent over three hours exploring the Fin-de-Siècle, I whizzed round Magritte in about an hour. I got tired of his pretentious posturing, along with the unpleasant memories of Lacan all that talk of signifiers brought up. It was essentially Dali but without the charisma. Magritte's frequent assertion that "oh, all this obviously very densely referential imagery doesn't mean anything, I just threw it together" was especially irritating.

That left me with two extra hours I hadn't expected, so I spent them at the Comic Strip Museum (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée). Your €10 journey starts with a history of comics, originating with hieroglyphics, the Bayeaux tapestry and illuminated manuscripts, through to Hokusai, Hogarth and eventually Little Nemo in Slumberland from the early 20th century. Lots of videos with examples are included throughout.

Next up is a thorough dissection of the comic artist's craft. This display breaks down the whole process, from the initial idea through to inking, colouring and publication. There are multiple examples of original sketches and notebooks (unfortunately all in French, but as these are Belgian artists that's to be expected), along with videos giving further details. You can watch a digital artwork for a comic book being drawn step by step, very interesting for me as I have the long term goal of learning how to scribble proper pictures on my phone.


Upstairs, the focus shifts to famous examples of the comic strip genre. I've never been a Tintin reader, which is the first character that springs to mind with Belgian comic art, but I do have fond memories of the Smurfs. Both had large displays, detailing their history as well as offering up sundry artefacts associated with each series. I didn't know that the Smurfs began life as essentially extras in somebody else's comic, before they gradually took over.

I also got to explore a character I had not encountered before, Thorgal. He seems to be in the vein of Conan with a similar sword and sorcery setting, albeit with a heavy Norse influence. There were Thorgal graphic novels in English and French available to read, which was enjoyable enough. I like that it's an ongoing narrative for the last 40 years, rather than a constant reboot as appears to be the case with many other long running comics.

When I got back to where I was staying, my CouchSurfing host had returned from Paris. I spent the rest of the evening with her and Ivan, then the next day she took us on a cool cycle tour of her city. The bikes can be rented inexpensively (though you need a credit or debit card, as they will charge you €150 if you break the bike, so want to have that security before you're allowed to take the bike) through an automated system. Compared to riding my teeny little Brompton it felt like riding an elephant, but I soon got the hang of it. Be aware that the many cobbled streets can make for a teeth-rattling experience.

I flew home to Bristol in the late afternoon, still eating the €2.80 loaf of sugared bread my CouchSurfing host had recommended from her local bakery (she had loads of great tips like that). I will definitely be back, as I'm keen to return for the 2016 BJJ Globetrotters Summer Camp. My plan is to head with my girlfriend to some other Belgian cities first, then meet up with Artemis BJJ students in Leuven for the camp: I want to stay for the whole thing next time. That should also give me a chance to wander round Etterbeek, hopefully learning more about that awesome Renaissance Fair type thing I saw at Experience Brussels.

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Sacrifice Throws

Class #660
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Gareth McNamara, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

I am not a fan of throws and even less a fan of drilling them. However, I was keen to train as much as possible in the one day I had: this was the only other gi class. Good for me anyway, as I should force myself to do takedowns more often. Gareth McNamara was a decent teacher, which made things less onerous. First up was a grip break into an arm drag. Use that to get behind them, still retaining control of the sleeve.

Grab their belt near their far hip, then do a sort of one-legged squat and stick your non-squatting leg behind them. You can then drop to the mat, rolling them over your leg. As you roll them over, yank on the belt grip and push on the sleeve grip, to prevent them turning away to try and escape. I kept getting my hand squashed underneath, a common problem from what I could gather. Then again, Conor didn't have any problems avoiding his hand getting trapped: perhaps I need to commit to it more, or create more momentum?

There is also an option for throwing off a clinch. Get an over-under grip (one arm underhooking, the other over the top of their arm). Push into them, then when they push back, drop and roll them over into side control. I don't think I was doing this technique correctly, as while I got Conor down and it felt smooth (thanks to that underhook), I ended in scarf hold. Still, got them on the ground in what seemed like a natural motion, so that's good. I think I was missing a trip or something?

The final one I remember (there were a lot of techniques, as McNamara teaches quickly) was a sumi gaeshi (I think?) from a single leg. They go for a single, you grab their belt by their lower back. Make sure their head on inside, then drop underneath them and flick your leg. They should ideally land next to you, vulnerable to an easy north-south transition. You can also stay close to them and roll backwards into mount, which is what Conor did.


I enjoyed the training at the camp, which runs for a lot longer than the one day I attended. There were classes almost all week. By Thursday, everybody else had already had a chance to meet, chat and get to know each other: it was lucky for me that I already knew Conor (among a few other people, but mostly black belts who were teaching, like Oli Geddes), or getting a partner for each session would have been a little more awkward.

Then again, I hadn't met Stacey before, who kindly partnered me in the first class. I'm not very good at grabbing training partners (one of the reasons I like pairing people up when I teach, saves any of that potential awkwardness for fellow timid introverts). I think to get the most out of the camp, I need to bring a team over and stay the whole week, so that's what I'm planning to do next year. There's still lots I'd like to see in Belgium, and I know my girlfriend is interested in places like Bruges.

I'll therefore make a longer trip of it in 2016, start off in Bruges with her, then go to Leuven for the camp, maybe with some more time in Brussels. It would be cool to visit Antwerp too, as IIRC there are some excellent art galleries there too, with Ghent and Oostende as alternative/additional options for the same reason. On this trip, Brussels was my next stop, for many, many hours of art galleries. I'll have the write up for that on here shortly. :)

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Knee Shield & Spider Half Guard

Class #659
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Bruno Matias, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

The next gi session was with another Brazilian black belt, Bruno Matias (presumably from Checkmat, going by his patches). He had called his session 'half spider guard', which sounded intriguing. He started off with something I could recognise, the knee shield back roll sweep. That's also known as the Shaolin sweep, I'm told.

I have trouble with it, as I always end up going off to the side, mainly because I'm worried about crunching either their neck or my neck. The other tricky part is getting their weight properly distributed on your legs, so that it isn't a strain to roll them over your head. One day it will feel smooth and easy, but not yet. ;)

For the next one, they have stepped up one of their legs. The hand on your lower leg side is going to reach in to the leg that is up, on your knee shield side. Bring your hand in front of the shin, then use that as an anchor point to help you swivel through. Grab their trouser leg as you swivel through. Continue swivelling until you pop out behind them, grabbing the other leg with your other hand.

Adjust your grips, in order to enable you to go into a back take. Also adjust your legs, so they are hooking inside. From here, you could try kicking out the back of their knees, like on the standard de la Riva back take I taught a while ago. However, I'd be worried about their ankles given they may be sat on them at this point, plus it feels like they have a strong base to resist that push from here. I preferred the other option Bruno showed, where you come up onto your knees and take the back that way.

The final technique was a complex armbar from spider guard, or rather, the half spider guard referenced in the class title. Start in knee shield, grab their sleeve on the same side as your knee shield. Push your foot into their hip to create some distance. Switch your grip on their sleeve to your other hand, then bring your non-knee shield side leg over the top of their trapped arm, threading your leg through underneath (maintain your grip on the arm).

Your free hand grips their same side trouser leg. Spin on your shoulders (keep your head off the ground), pulling firmly on the sleeve and trouser grips you established. That should set up your armbar, though you'll probably have to wriggle your hips forward. Your sleeve grips will give you some control, hopefully providing enough time to solidify the armbar position.


My last class of the day would be less intricate, but more painful, as it was the dreaded art of takedowns (well taught by a friendly Irishman, but I hate takedowns ;D ).

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Jumping & Rolling Back Attacks

Class #658
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Robson Barbosa, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

After I'd had some lunch upstairs, it was time for the next session. This was headed up by the guy who gave Graugart his black belt, Robson Barbosa. Sticking with the theme from earlier, it was more back stuff. Very handily, my old training partner Conor appeared as I was waiting for it to start, meaning I had someone to drill with in all of today's gi classes. Cool to catch up with him too, as it's been a few years since we last saw each other, at a GrappleThon two years ago.


Robson claimed it would be a simple technique to start with, then proceeded to acrobatically leap onto the back. Fortunately this back take from turtle did turn out to be a bit easier than it looked. Facing their turtle (i.e., so you're both looking at each other, not behind them), push their head down, while also gripping their same side arm. Step your arm-side leg through diagonally, spinning to face away. You end up sat on their back. If you pause for a moment to balance, it makes it easier to insert a hook, but that isn't necessary for the next technique

You're on the back. Grip the lapels firmly under their armpits, gripping quite high. Launch yourself diagonally, rolling next to their shoulder. The idea is to flip them over as you roll: I've tried this before, I think after seeing it on a video? Either way, works OK, although you have to be careful you don't crunch your neck or your partner's neck. Aiming your head at the space next to their shoulder seemed to work for me.

The third and as it turned out final technique was completely different, though it linked up well with what Oli had taught. This time you're in de la Riva. Grab inside their knees, pushing their knees close together and squeezing your own knees. Roll over your inside shoulder, as with Oli's rolling back takes, pulling the hip round.

Barbosa's teaching style involved a few quick demonstrations then loads of drilling time. That worked well for me, as Conor is an excellent drilling partner. Like me, he's very keen to explore the detail of a technique. We found that for the DLR back take, it was key to firmly trap their non-DLR leg while you were rolling through, also making sure you weren't starting too low.

I think Chris Paines (who was there with lots of people from Fighting Fit) said he would be YouTubing some of the technique, so that should help refresh my memory. Cool to see him again too. Next class, some even more complicated guard options with Bruno Matias.

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters

13/08/2015 - BJJ Globetrotter Camp | Rolling Back Attacks

Class #657
BJJ Globetrotter Camp (Sportoase Leuven), Oli Geddes, Leuven, Belgium, 13/08/2015

I went straight from the plane to the train, then walked from Leuven Train Station to the Sportoase. There was already a class going on when I entered, but as it was wrestling I wasn't too concerned about missing it. I had plenty of time to get checked in with Vara at the BJJ Globetrotter desk, then get changed.

The class I wanted was Oli Geddes' session on rolling back attacks. This was perhaps a bit fancy by my standards and it was nogi: I almost never take the gi off for BJJ. Nevertheless, there were some useful techniques from quarter guard and half guard, handy given that it is currently half guard month back home at Artemis BJJ.


Oli kicked off with a rolling back take against turtle. Turn to face their legs, with your knee nearest their head looking to jam inside the space between their knee and elbow. Your other knee is blocking their leg, to make it harder for them to reclaim guard. With the arm nearest their head, reach over and grab their ankle (at least that's what my training partner Stacey and I ended up doing).

Your other hand grabs inside their leg, gripping the ankle. Lift that ankle up and outwards, to make it easier to get your waiting leg inside (slipping it under first), hooking around their leg. Thrust your hips into them, then diving over to the far side, roll over the shoulder nearest their head (I think? I need to check that with more drilling). Get past their hip, swinging through to grab their arm and take their back.

If you get part way through the back take, but can't reach their arm or hip to complete the motion, wrap up their near leg with your arms instead. Your legs will still be clamping around their other leg. Pull on their leg with your arms, extending into their other leg for the submission. You can put one foot behind the other for extra leverage. Note that this submission is entirely down to their flexibility, so it has some limitations.

If you are going for the back, but can't get hold of anything, you can still triangle your legs around the leg you do have. Pull down on their toes for the calf crush. Wrapping their leg with your arm can add in extra pressure.

We then moved to a rolling back take from quarter guard, a common position as you're passing half guard or they are trying to escape mount. Turn away from the foot they've trapped, adjusting your knee position so it doesn't catch on their leg. Roll inside (I think inside? Again, I need to check that during drilling), then you're back into the same position as before. Similarly from half guard, you can do this after moving into the opposite side pass.

In that opposite side pass position, adjust your feet so their leg is still controlled, then turn with your shoulder to begin another back take. I'm not totally clear on how best to adjust your feet: I think you hook your instep over their leg to trap it? I've seen this technique before, but the same thing confused me, along with the turn. Oli's instruction definitely helped, I just need to drill this more. Generally rolling back attacks are a bit fancy for me, but it's useful to have some options against quarter guard.

You can do the same back take from deep half, where this time you'll need to push on their head to step your leg through. However, I'm not sure I entirely got the rest of the technique. Once again, needs more drilling, I'll grab some people at Artemis BJJ when I get home. Judging by the picture Vara put on Facebook (there are loads on the BJJ Globetrotter group, so I asked if I could use them in my posts), it's the shoulder on the same side as the trapped leg, diving over to the opposite side.

Next up, more back attacks with Robson Barbosa.

Pictures courtesy of Vara from BJJ Globetrotters

12/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Pressure Pass

Teaching #372
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 10/08/2015

On top of half guard, your opening goal is to get them flat on the mat: there are passes you can do while they are on their side, but generally speaking it is much easier if their back is pinned to the floor. A simple method, drawing on the Ribeiro brothers, is to drive your free knee into their hip, block their head with your same side arm, then step your trapped leg up and away from you. Having generated some space, drive the trapped knee forwards as your return it to the mat, which should also help you drive your opponent to the mat as well.

If you are able to get the cross-face and an underhook, there is now the option of generating lots of shoulder pressure. This is my favourite way to pass the half guard: both Saulo and his brother refer to this as the 'esgrima pass', but I call it the shoulder pressure pass in the interests of clarity. Cross-face their head (if you can't get the cross-face, you can also use your own head), so that they can't turn in that direction. Put your own head on the other side (or your arm, if you're already using your head to cross-face), locking their head into place: your shoulder and head work together to form a vice. Combined with your underhook, it should now become hard for them to move their upper body, because their head is stuck.

From here, come up on your feet so that all your weight is driving through your shoulder. Even if you're small, this should maximise your weight. I'm only 66kgs, but if I can get all of that weight against somebody's head, it becomes more significant. From there, bounce your trapped knee to wriggle it free (if you're having trouble and need additional leverage, rotate your free leg back to hook their leg with your instep). As soon as it is clear of their legs, twist in the direction of your cross-facing arm and put that knee on the mat. You can then kick their leg off your foot: some people prefer to kick the top leg, but I would generally go for the bottom leg. Turning your hips to the ceiling can also help if you're struggling to get that foot loose.
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Teaching Notes: I didn't notice anybody having major problems with this. Using your leg as a brace if they're really tight might come up later, when people have trouble freeing their leg from a death grip, but nobody seemed to have an issue today. Which is cool, nice contrast to the problems people had with deep half on Monday!

I'm off to Belgium, so won't be there on Friday and Sunday, but Chris is covering. So, the next few posts will be from the BJJ Globetrotter Summer Camp 2015. Should be fun: my plan is to see what it's like, then I could bring some students out there next time. Also means I finally get to return to Belgium. I was born there, but haven't been back since I was three months old.

12/08/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Standing Guard Break & Leg Pin

Teaching #371
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 12/08/2015

For the standing guard break, start by shoving their sleeve/wrist into their belt knot/belly button. With your other hand, push into their sternum (as always, be aware this is just one option, there are many other ways of standing in the closed guard). Either way, be careful you aren't tempted to lean forward, or they can grab you and break your posture, preventing your stand. Keep your posture upright and head up.

Swing to your non-sleeve grabbing side, then raise your knee on the sleeve grabbing side, stepping forward with that foot. Once it is up, turn your leg into them, pressing into their hip. That should hopefully provide you with some base, meaning that as you step up the other leg, you can keep it further back, so you have a staggered stance. Standing up with your feet in line makes you very vulnerable to sweeps. You also want a slight bend in your leg, in what Jason Scully calls an 'athletic stance'. That helps your base and also aids mobility.

As you stand, pull up on their sleeve/wrist (if you've lost it, grab their collar, if they are wearing a gi). Make sure you keep your elbow inside their knee: that both makes it harder for them to pull their arm back, as well as protecting you from omoplata attacks and the like. You then want to push their knee off your hip on the other side, stepping back with your leg on the non-sleeve/wrist gripping side to help.

If you're having trouble getting that knee off, try bouncing your hips to open their ankles, like you were struggling to take off a tight pair of jeans. At the same time, splay your hand by the knee you want to shove (Roger Gracie calls this 'making his hand big') in order to help push down. Immediately as their leg hits the mat, you can move into the leg pin pass by trapping their lower leg with your same side shin by sliding it over, driving your knee into their same side hip. Hook your instep around their leg near the crook of their knee. Also shift the foot of your non-sliding leg closer to your bum, so they can't hook it.

The hand which was pushing on the knee now goes to wrap under their head, looking to get your shoulder next to their jaw. I'd suggest switching the other hand (which was gripping on their sleeve/collar/wrist) to behind their leg to stop them bridging and rolling you during the pass attempt. You could also try blocking their near hip with that hand, though that isn't an option I normally use. This also puts you in a powerful guard position, should you need to switch mid-pass if they resist your initial passing attempt.

To finish, swing your non-sliding leg all the way over, so your back is pointing at their head, in a sort of reverse scarf hold: you're sat next to them, facing their legs, sole of your non-sliding leg foot on the floor. You should still have their leg trapped at this point with your hooking foot. Finally, switch your hips, sliding that hooking leg under the back stepping leg, settling into side control.
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Teaching Notes: Main thing I want to emphasise next time is posture. A common mistake (I've done this myself plenty of times) is to put too much weight through your forward arm as you stand, leaving your posture bent over and easy to break. Instead, it's better to push off your feet rather than their chest, but I can understand the instinct to push on the chest. I need to highlight that the reason you have the hand there is to stop them sitting up, not to help you stand.

I'm still not sure of the leg pin pass, but it does feel like the natural option off the standing break. Then again, do I feel that way because that's how I learned it? Anyway, I focused on the guard break part tonight, as there was a brand new person, so the leg pin wasn't as much of an issue. I feel like I could be smoother with the hip switch too, something to think about next time.

10/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Entry Into Deep Half

Teaching #370
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 10/08/2015


From half guard, get in as low as possible, curling in towards their leg like you do for the toe grab sweep. Sometimes they keep their foot out of range, which is when I like to try for a position called deep half guard. Shoot your non-underhook hand between their legs, reaching for their opposite bum cheek. The key thing here is to get your shoulder underneath, rather than trying to wrap their leg with your arm. You want to wriggle underneath as you swivel onto your back, your head on their thigh.

At the same time, drag their leg towards you, using the leg you have on top. Your aim is to get your entire body underneath their leg, accomplished by your swivelling motion. You may need to push off their hip with your other hand, to help that wriggle underneath them. Once you've swivelled, reach your first hand around the outside of their leg, gripping the inside of their knee. You other hand tucks underneath their leg, so they can't grab it.

Finally, your legs are trapping their one leg. Make sure at least one of your legs is hooked over the top, so they can't just remove their leg and pass. Your other leg could be locking your other, or some people prefer to hook under their opponent's leg, meaning they can lift.

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Teaching Notes: I had been intending to show the entry then progress to the Homer sweep, but almost everybody was having trouble getting the concept of swivelling underneath. That was compounded by the people on top not being familiar with the position either, so they were sometimes just falling over. Now, that would be great in sparring, as you'd have the sweep, but it makes it tough to drill deep half.

Next time, I'll leave this until later in the month, when people should hopefully be more familiar with balance in half guard and have played with the toe grab sweep a fair bit. I'll be emphasising scooting underneath, which leg you're reaching under and the possibility of using a push on their hip to help your wriggle. Tweaking the leg out like Jason Scully might make it easier too.

On the plus side, there were a few people who got it, including Milka. That made me happy, as she's still quite new, so my instruction can't have been totally unclear. ;)

07/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Toe Grab Sweep from Lockdown (Old School)

Teaching #369
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 07/08/2015


Another approach to half guard is the one touted in Eddie Bravo's Mastering the Rubber Guard. I tend to warn beginners off Bravo's 10th Planet system, because they often get over-excited and try to run before they can walk. Having said that, it is worth taking a look at the half guard techniques Bravo includes at the start of Mastering the Rubber Guard. This is based around what Bravo calls the 'lockdown', which as far as I'm aware is an old judo position (then again, old judoka would likely tell you that's true of everything in BJJ ;p). The two major problems with the lockdown are that it is often used to stall and it immobilises your hips.

However, it can be useful for disrupting an opponent's base. It also works as a last ditch effort to stop them crushing you when they've got you flat on your back. It is a little different to the standard half guard leg position. I tend to move into it from the guard recovery leg position. Step your outside leg over theirs. Next, bring your inside leg over your other foot (which will then hook around that inside leg), hooking underneath their shin. From there, you can stretch out their leg.

Bravo lays out a careful roadmap of where to go from the lockdown, detailing another method for getting up onto your side. He calls the first part the 'Jaws of Life', which is basically getting both your hands in front of their face, bracing them against the side of their head, near the temple. The idea is to create enough space to slide your arms past theirs, then establish a double underhook around their back. You can then do what Bravo calls a 'whip up'. Release your double underhook and switch to pressing your hands into their ribs. In one motion, bring your knees towards your chest and push with your hands. In the space that creates, immediately shift to your side and establish your underhook.

From here, you can do the toe grab sweep largely as before. Again, reach under their same side leg with your non-underhooking side hand, in order to grab their toes. The main difference with this version is that you keep your underhook in place all the way through, rather than switching your grip. Release your lockdown, bending their leg outwards with your top leg, so you can slide the bottom leg underneath. Drive through with your shoulder, pulling on their toes to break their balance. Swing your leg over theirs as you come on top, then establish side control.

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Teaching & Sparring Notes: People were more confused by the lockdown leg positioning than I expected, so I spent quite a bit of time helping people out during drilling (I did also include the John Will style review right after demonstrating too, as well as at the end of class). So, it might be worth introducing the lockdown first, then adding in the sweep later? Something to think about.

Jim mentioned a good point on walking the hand up on the side control to mount drill, so I'll add that in. It's only a drill, but that small detail is handy to know for when I get to teaching the full technique. I sometimes forget, as I don't normally use the knee to armpit variation, I prefer going from reverse scarf hold.

In sparring, I again wanted to try out those half guard gi chokes I saw on The Grapplers Guide. I got the position with one person but wasn't able to get it locked in tight enough, though it did make the pass easier. I also got rolled twice due to over-focusing on the choke rather than my balance (then again, it did at least take them a while to roll me). As I practice this more, I'll work out the best position to do it.

I guess flatten them out first, then work to get the lapel out and lock it in? They do need to be on their side to get the choke, but in the set-up flattening them out makes sense. Got a bunch of reps in during open mat, useful stuff.

05/08/2015 - Teaching | Half Guard | Toe Grab Sweep

Teaching #368
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 05/08/2015


I call it the toe grab sweep, like Indrek Reiland does in his classic 'Functional Half Guard' video. Eddie Bravo's name for it - 'old school' - is common too, but his version is slightly less effective in my opinion, though it is similar (I'll be teaching that one later). I prefer the way Jason Scully teaches it, over on the Grapplers Guide. I've also been taught it in the past, back when I was training at RGA High Wycombe with Kev.

So, the Scully version begins from the basic half guard position I taught earlier, where you're on your side using the kickstand leg positioning, with an underhook. Use your underhook to bump yourself down closer to their legs, curling your head into towards their far knee. With your non-underhooking arm, reach for their far toes. Grab them and then shove their heel into their thigh. Make sure you are grabbing their toes: if you grip their ankle or higher, they will find it easier to kick their leg back and scupper your sweep.


Bring your underhook arm down past their bum, then switch the toe grab grip from your non-underhook hand to your underhook hand. Bring your non-underhook elbow and then hand out for base, also turning to slide out your inside leg. Your outside leg tweaks their lower leg to further disrupt their base, then drive with your head and shoulder to move on top. Keep hold of the toes until you're past to side control. If they stay on their hands and knees, you can also just take their back instead.

Keep in mind that it is possible to get this sweep with various leg configurations. I find it easiest from the kickstand, as I think that provides the best base for getting on your side, but it's certainly not the only option.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: Along with the basic maintenance class, this is the one I'm most familiar teaching from half guard, so it went fairly smoothly. The main things to emphasise are reaching your same side arm under their leg to grab the toes, getting low enough to reach in the first place (so, curling towards the knee with your body), along with keeping hold of their toes until you've moved around to side control.

In sparring, I wanted to play with the four gi lapel attacks I saw on The Grapplers Guide. I started off with two tonight, the gi wrap americana and lapel cross choke. However, I didn't get a chance to use them, as I was mostly underneath looking for deep half. That needs work too, so it was also helpful to practice. I ended up on the 'wrong' side at one point, but still got a sweep: I'm not sure if that is a credible technique, or if it was just a result of a white belt losing their balance. But meh, I'll keep on exploring deep half and see what happens. :)

05/08/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Triangle from Guard

Teaching #367
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 05/08/2015

There are lots of ways to set up the triangle, which is one of the fundamental submissions in BJJ. The name comes from the 'triangle' shape you form with your legs, capturing their neck and one arm inside that structure. The basic process is:

1. Get their head and one of their arms inside your legs
2. Put your ankle behind your knee to 'lock' the triangle
3. Squeeze your legs into their carotid arteries on either side of their neck.

Of course, there is much more detail to a successful triangle than that, which I'll break down in the rest of this post.

For the first stage (entry), the simplest option is probably to grab both their wrists (or you could try their forearms) with your same side hands. Push their arm into their stomach, while clamping the other to your chest. You can then bring your hips up in order to fling your leg (on the same side as the arm you've pushed back) over their shoulder, locking your feet by the top of their back. Your thigh presses into their neck. The important thing is to clear that hand and arm you've shoved into their stomach, so that you're ready to move into the triangle.

If you can drive your knee into the inside of the arm you want to clear, that can work too: in Gracie Combatives, Rener pushes into their bicep/crook of their elbow with his knee, grabs the wrist, then kicks over to get into position. Alternatively, he also shows how you can circle your leg around the arm to get your leg past. There are many other entries and not just from guard: the triangle is possible from pretty much every other position in BJJ too, whether that's the back, mount or side control.

Once you've got their head and arm trapped between your legs, it's also helpful to move their arm across your body, though not essential. You can still choke them without that arm across, it just tends to be more difficult. Triangle expert Ryan Hall repeatedly states that it isn't necessary, because you're choking them by pressing their shoulder into their neck, not the lower part of their arm (remember, to choke you are pressing into both carotid arteries on either side of the neck. With the triangle, on one side their shoulder blocks the artery, the other is blocked by your leg).

He demonstrates how you can still choke them even if their arm is on the other side. Still, it isn't 'wrong' to bring the arm across, particularly if you are going for a choke where you're square-on, as per the traditional triangle method. The point Hall makes is that you should never prioritise pulling the arm across rather than controlling the head.

That's because controlling the head is absolutely key. Ideally, you want to pull their head into your belly button rather than your chest, to really break down their posture. If they are able to lift their head up, they can regain an upright posture. So, be sure you have some kind of control over their posture before you attempt the triangle. If they are sat fully upright with strong posture, you're going to struggle to get a triangle from there: a different technique would be advisable.

Once you have their posture broken down and their head and arm between your legs, you want to lock that in place. When locking your legs in this second stage (locking), you can sometimes move straight into a locked triangle. If not, especially if you have shorter legs like me, stick with a secure 'diamond' leg formation rather than a sloppy half-locked triangle. From there, pull on your shin to bring your ankle behind your knee, swivelling off at an angle if necessary. Be sure you don't lock over your toes: it must be your ankle. If your leg is locked on your toes, they have a chance to knock your leg off them. More importantly, if you press down while locked over you toes, you're in danger of injuring your ankle.

You might well find you need to adjust to get your legs locked. Opening your guard to do that is easier, which will enable you to push off their hip with your locking leg foot. However, be careful that you don't give them space to escape when you open. You can maintain control by grabbing the leg you have over the back of their head, meaning that you are replacing the control your leg provided with equivalent control from your arm. Ryan Hall doesn't like to unlock his legs at all, but then he has long legs.

You also need to have your neck leg right across the back of their neck, rather than angling down their back. If it is part way down their back, you are no longer pressing into their neck: their body will get in the way of your choke. Similarly, your locking leg does not want to be obstructed by their shoulder. You therefore don't want to see their shoulder once the triangle is locked in: try and get your leg past it, or simply push their trapped shoulder back a little, in order to get your legs more tightly on their carotid arteries. If they have a lot of shoulder inside your legs, that's a chance for them to drive forward and dig out some room to breathe.

Having locked the triangle, you now have two main options for the third stage (finishing). The traditional way to complete the choke is to squeeze your abductors (i.e., the muscles of your inner thighs) into their neck. At this point, you might also want to raise your hips and/or pull down on their head for some extra pressure. Other little details that can help are pulling your toes back to tense your calves, meaning more pressure on their carotid arteries. Angling your locking leg outwards can also help increase that pressure, a nifty tip from Mike Fowler.

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

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

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

You may find you keep getting stacked, particularly if you are square on. However, as Renzo Gracie teaches, even with that style of triangle you can submit a larger opponent. The key is preventing them from driving into you and curling your body. Renzo's method is to brace his arms against his knee and shin, something I was first shown by my old training partner, Howard. Should they continue to drive forward, all they are doing is extending themselves, which makes it easier for you to choke them.

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

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

Finally, keep in mind that the triangle combines very well with the armbar. You will often find that when somebody is defending an armbar, they focus so much on freeing their arm that they when they yank it free, they forget their other arm is still inside your legs. That's the perfect time to swing your leg to the other side of their head and lock up a triangle. Even better, you can still attack the elbow joint from within the triangle, applying choking pressure while also going for the armlock.
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Teaching Notes: The main problem people had today was kicking the leg up high enough. I'll emphasise lifting the hips next time, pushing off their other hip with your foot if you need extra power. As ever,the importance of head control is worth heavily emphasising, as people do sometimes over-focus on the trapped arm and forget about the head.