30/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Sliding Choke

Teaching #430
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 30/11/2015


For what I learned as the sliding choke, you'll have one arm slid under their armpit, the other coming over their shoulder. Reaching to their nearest collar with your armpit hand, open up their gi, then feed the material to your shoulder hand, getting a deep grip, thumb inside with the four fingers on top. Your armpit hand now goes to their other collar and holds it slightly lower down.

To finish the choke, bring the elbow of your shoulder hand back, so that you are curling around their neck. Your armpit hand pulls straight down. The aim of the armpit hand is to take the slack out of their collar, but also to prevent them from turning away to try and escape. To further help with that, make sure you also clamp the elbow of the armpit arm into their ribs. In many ways, the application is like the bow and arrow choke, with similar follow-up attacks available (e.g., armbar etc)

Both hands can twist outwards, following the same principle as a cross choke. Finally, to tighten the choke even more, lean back and drive forward with your hips as you twist your hands and cinch the choke. Also note that if they manage to bridge up and put you onto your back, it will be tough to land the submission. Braulio has an interesting tip, relating to the grip. He uses a thumb in grip, and notes that if you have all four fingers on top, that can limit your reach. To extend your range, you can instead just use two fingers, which enables you to curl your arm around further.

For more leverage, you can roll to the side your shoulder arm elbow is pointing towards. That means you can arch back much further, because you are no longer blocked by the floor. Before you roll, bring the elbow of your shoulder arm slightly back, as if you roll on top of it, you'll lock it in place and find it hard to get the leverage for the choke. If you can't get it tight enough, a good option is to bring your pulling down arm up behind their head, threading past their arm in the process. Keep driving your arm further and further behind their head to get the choke.

Like with the rear naked choke, you can also trap their arms to make things easier for you. Braulio has another nice tip, for when they're blocking your initial hand. If they are trying to grab your hand, then you might be able to counterattack by grabbing their hand and swinging it out. You can then trap it with your leg, tucking your leg behind their back to lock their arm in place. That means you can pretty much attack with impunity.
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Teaching Notes: Similar to bow and arrow, bringing the elbow back. I hadn't thought too much about the similarities until doing some more research on videos. With the arm you're pulling down, a good tip from Dave Meyer is to use that to also lock them in place, so they can't turn. You can also put your arm behind, which I find is much easier to apply than the standard version. I could just teach that one instead, I guess? Less confusing?

Great turn-out today: second biggest class we've ever had! Lots of women in class too, which is awesome. I'm pleased that we're now at the stage where it is rare to not have at least one woman in class, normally at least two. That's something I want to keep building. A 50/50 gender split remains the goal. :)

29/11/2015 - Open Mat | Still Injured

Class #683
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 29/11/2015

I'm still resting my neck, so I was just observing and directing today, mainly helping a new student. It's always useful to refresh how I introduce the basics to someone completely new. I tend to go with the classic mount escape, something with a long history as a 'first lesson' type option. Rorion used it back at the start of BJJ's international expansion. He tended to combine it with maintaining on top, which I'll do sometimes, but not always.

His reason, IIRC, was to show the power of BJJ. First you try and dazzle them with how you can escape easily even if they're much bigger, then you show them how you can hold them down just as easily. Or was it the other way round? Anyway, there's a cool story about it from Ed O'Neill talking about his first lesson.

In my case, I'm not looking to dazzle people, especially if it is somebody who has already signed up. I want to show them what's going to be most useful long term. Hence why escaping side control is another one I'll often show to absolute beginners in that situation. If it's an absolute beginner who hasn't signed up yet, I'll still tend to go with the trap and roll from under mount, as it's a powerful technique as well as being useful.

Not too flashy though: if I want to try and hook them, the rear naked choke can be a good one too. It also doesn't put you in as potentially off-putting a position as either mount or good (though arguably neither does side control). Combines nicely with the armbar from the back as well.

Hopefully my neck will be ok by next week: I'm planning to try and join in some kind of light drilling or something. Main annoying thing is that I've had to miss training up in Aylesbury this weekend, which isn't something I get to do all that often. But I forced myself to be sensible, as trying to train through it would just mean I'll be injured longer. :(

27/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Crucifix (Kneeling) Shoulder Lock

Teaching #429
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 27/11/2015

Tonight I shared a technique from the Dave Jacobs seminar I went to in 2014, from the kneeling crucifix (as Aesopian dubs it in Mastering the Crucifix). Secure the crucifix by driving your knee in from the side ride, flaring your knee out, then hooking their arm with your other heel. Drag their arm back and make sure it stays trapped between your legs.

Put the knee nearest their head slightly forward, still controlling their arm. Turn to face their legs, grabbing their ankle to anchor yourself in place, with your head in line with their bum. At this point you will need to switch your legs, so that you can get the leg further away from their head closer to their wrist. Twist your body and swing the leg furthest from their head backwards, still hooking the arm. Do this movement gradually, as that shoulder lock can come on quickly, depending on their flexibility.
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Teaching Notes: When I last taught this just over a year ago, it was as part of a month focused on the crucifix. We haven't done anywhere near as much from the turtle this time around, so I think people were finding it tougher than last time (though previously it was mostly people around the same level, IIRC). Before I teach this again, I'll make sure it's in the context of a series of lessons around the turtle and the crucifix specifically.

The initial entry caused some confusion as people were trying to slide their whole leg across, rather than just sliding the knee sideways. They also weren't always bringing the second leg all the way under the arm. I think that's because it wasn't in the context of going for the crucifix, but specifically for this shoulder lock, where you switch the legs anyway.

Another problematic part was getting the angle on the arm. There it looks like the issue was people weren't bringing their head around far enough. The head should be in line with their bum, while the other knee is by their head, not too far from the first knee. That should then put you in the right spot to get the leverage you need when you 'dog leg'.

Next time, it will make more sense to perhaps show this one after I've shown a crucifix entry with the choke. Then I could show the crucifix armbar, and if I get some more experienced people, maybe the reverse omoplata again too. But yeah, quite complex for beginners (though it can be done, worked ok last time when I had a whole month of it), so needs plenty of build up. ;)

25/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Maintaining & Switch to Mount

Teaching #428
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 25/11/2015

The back is a great position to be in. There are lots of submissions, your opponent can't easily see what you're doing, and you'll also get four points in competition (once you've got your hooks in). The first thing to note is a basic safety point, which is don't cross your feet. If you cross your feet, then all your partner has to do is cross their feet over yours and bridge, footlocking you. Instead, you want to be hooking your insteps inside their legs, or digging your heels in. The idea is to generate enough connection with your feet that when your partner rolls to one side, you will roll with them.

Second, you want to get a good grip with your arms. The harness grip (as always, various other names, like over-under and seatbelt) is a solid option for both gi and nogi. Begin by getting an arm under their same side armpit, so they can't slide down (as otherwise they can go for the scoop escape). If they have a gi, you can help secure the position by grabbing their opposite collar. The other arm comes over their shoulder.

If you can't grab a collar, then link your hands together, using that to lock yourself in place. You could also grab under both arms grabbing a collar, which is a excellent way to hold them in place. However, that means both your arms are occupied: for attacks, you have more options if you keep one arm free, to go over the shoulder.

Your arm by the shoulder is the one you'll be looking to shift into their neck and/or grabbing a collar, where you can start working for a choke. Stephan Kesting advises that rather than linking hands, you can grab your own arm, which in turn means you are blocking the best grip your opponent wants to get. As ever, play around and see what you prefer.

Third, keep your chest pressed against their upper back. To escape, they need to create space, so don't let them have any: stay glued to their upper back. You also don't want them to put you flat on your back, like in the bridge escape we saw last week, as then they can start moving their hips. If you drop back, make sure you've moved to the side. However, your ideal position is getting them face down.

Fourth, follow them with your hips, similar as when you're in their guard. If you keep moving your hips to square back up whenever they try and shift away, that again stops them creating space.

Finally, you want to keep your head locked to theirs, providing additional control. It also helps you to see what they're doing. Otherwise, their head would be blocking your line of sight. Place your head next to theirs on the armpit hand side, as that way you're controlling both sides of their skull.

I finished off with the simple way of recovering mount from the back. They've cleared one hook and managed to put their shoulders onto the mat. It will be tough to regain your back mount from here, especially if they've moved over your leg. As soon as you feel their bum move past your knee, bring your remaining hook over their body and clamp the heel to their far hip. Make sure it is providing you with enough control that they can't simply shrug you off. Pull out your elbow for base, then turn and slide through into mount, using your heel for leverage.
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Teaching Notes: I forgot to mention the option of locking your arms or grabbing the gi and pulling it under their armpits. Neither of those are much good for attacking, but they are handy to know for control, so good to throw in. I'll put those in next time.

Also, on the switch to mount, it's good to emphasise that you want to jam your heel into their far hip. A few people were trying to drive their knee down. That can work, but without jamming your heel in place, they might be able to slip their knee under and begin to escape.

In terms of a neck injury update, that's not looking good for the weekend, so unfortunately I may well have to delay my planned trip to my instructor's school in Aylesbury. With xmas, that means it will probably be February until I get another chance to drop in to RGA Bucks. But can't be helped, not much point if I'm injured and can't roll or drill properly.

25/11/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Maintaining Mount

Teaching #427
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 20/11/2015

There are two basic types of mount to choose from, which I call low and high. Once you've achieved mount, I find that low mount provides the most control. First off, you want to immobilise their hips, as their main method of making space is to bridge up forcefully.

Bring your feet right back, threading them around their legs to establish two hooks: this is known as a grapevine. Alternatively, you can also cross your feet underneath (or just near, depending on your flexibility and leg length) their bum, which has the advantage of making it much harder for them to push your hooks off. Your knees are ideally off the ground, to generate maximum pressure. How far off the ground they are depends on your dimensions: the key is getting loads of hip pressure. Another option, which I learned from Rob Stevens at Gracie Barra Birmingham, is to put the soles of your feet together and then bring your knees right off the floor.

Whichever option you're going for, thrust those hips into them. It's important to get into a position where you can thrust your hips down, rather than getting bunched up so your bum starts going into the air. Use your hands for base, where again you have a couple of options. Either have both arms out, or put one under the head (remember, you can always remove it for base if you're really getting thrown hard to that side) while the other goes out wide for base.

Try to grip the gi material by their opposite shoulder, or even better, by the opposite armpit. Keep your head on the basing arm side, loading up your weight there. If they're bridging hard, you can switch from side to side, lifting their head slightly and bringing your other arm under, meaning your remaining arm bases out to the other side.

To do the trap and roll/upa escape, they will need to get control of your arm. So, don't let them grab it and crush your arm to their side. Instead, swim your arm through, like Ryron and Rener demonstrate in the third slice of the third lesson in Gracie Combatives. Be sure to do it one at a time, or you may get both arms squashed to your sides.
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Teaching Notes: As often with the women's class, I added in more techniques because it tends to be smaller numbers. We also ran through the transition to high mount, as well as looking at armbars from mount. All fits together nicely. I briefly touched on the ezequiel choke, but given only one person had a gi, decided against showing that one. ;)

23/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Regaining Hooks

Teaching #426
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 23/11/2015

Tonight I wanted to go through a couple more tips on maintaining the back, focused on what to do if you lose your hooks. If you have lost one hook, you can retake the back like I taught earlier, which I re-emphasised again during the warm-up drills. Should it be that you have one hook in but can't establish the other, then Marcelo Garcia's 'hip extension' comes in useful.

When they are blocking your second hook, cross your free foot over your hooking foot. At first that might seem counter-intuitive, because crossing your feet on the back normally puts you at risk of a foot lock. However, if you only have one hook and cross your feet, they can't properly apply pressure against your ankle. Making sure you are aligned with the bottom of their spin, you can then thrust your hips forwards into them and pull back with your seat belt grip.

The result should be that your partner is bent around and stretched out, so that they can no longer connect their knee and elbow to block your foot. That's your chance to quickly insert your second hook, before they can recover their defensive position. When doing the hip extension, don't forget to keep control of their lower leg with your first hook. Otherwise they can just pop over and escape.

If you lose both hooks, as long as you maintain your seat belt you're still in control. Staying low, walking your feet around, until you are belly down, your legs pointing out directly opposite to their legs so that your bodies are in line. Walk your knees towards them, which should push them into an upright sitting position. From there, bring your hook over, or you could step on their thigh if necessary. You can then retake the back.

If they manage to dislodge your first attempt, you can just keep doing that walk around. However, you need to have the seatbelt: this demonstrates why having that seatbelt grip is more important than having the hooks. It is much harder to re-establish your seat belt if they dislodge your arms.
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Teaching Notes: I haven't had a clear split between my back maintenance lessons up until now, but this one felt like a potentially effective technique combination for the future. The hip thrust fits with the walk around, as both rely on having that seat belt grip in place. Next time, I'll emphasise that you should walk all the way around so your body is in line. Otherwise, you end up having to yank them a bit because you're more on their side (which can still work of course, but I think it's less efficient).

My neck is still unhappy, so I'm not sure it's going to be ready to resume normal training by the end of the week. I wasn't joining in sparring in order to give it more of a rest, which may have to be the case for the rest of this week too.

22/11/2015 - Open Mat | Same Old Neck Injury

Class #682
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 22/11/2015

Really good turnout for today's open mat, one of the biggest I've seen. There was more comp prep for Chris and Paul, as well as seeing Rich back on the mats for the first time in ages which was cool. I had a play with the usual sitting guard, but as ever I'm too focused on that ankle pick sweep and it's predictable. As I'm moving away from relying a lot on grips (purely because my fingers aren't up to it), I don't want the collar drag and loop choke to be my main other options, so I need to think of other options.

There's the tripod and sickle combination I like, though that isn't generally from a sitting position. I could also keep on trying with the koala guard, though there I've only really got the single leg, as the roll under so frequently just gives them the the knee cut pass. Next month is open guard, meaning I will hopefully get lots of practice. Some rewatching of Ryan Hall's awesome DVD would help too.

However, I cleverly managed to injure myself today (totally my fault). It's the same thing I've done before, in guard. I had my legs locked in tight and was getting stacked, but rather than get my arms into play, or simply let go, I rolled over my neck instead. Bad idea. That scrunches me up onto my shoulders, then leaves the area around my neck really sore for next few days.

At least I'm hoping it's only the next few days: I'm writing this on Wednesday and it's still fairly painful. I have been able to teach, which is good, but not spar, which is bad. Especially as I wanted to visit my instructor in Aylesbury at the weekend. We'll see how the neck is doing by Friday. Good (if painful!) reminder that I need to be careful when I'm getting scrunched up in guard. ;)

20/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Arm Grab Escape

Teaching #425
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 20/11/2015

This isn't as high percentage as the bridging back escape, but is another good option if you're able to get control of their arm. That's the difficult part. You want to establish two-on-one grips on the arm they have around your neck, then bring that over your head. Lock it to your shoulder by clamping your arm around it.

Move away from that arm with your legs, clearing their foot off your hip and walking over it. Once you have cleared that leg, grab their remaining leg, to prevent them swinging over into mount. Pushing off your feet, get your weight up onto them, pinning their back to the mat by loading your weight onto their chest. Walk your feet around to side control, then finish by turning towards their legs.

Be sure to turn towards their legs rather than away. If you go in the other direction, you're potentially risking losing the position altogether, as they may be able to retake your back.
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Teaching Notes: Every time back month comes around, I try to think of different escapes I can add in. The bridging back escape works well, but I always want to try and add a few others. The problem is that so far, I've not found anything that is anywhere near as high percentage. The scoop escape Saulo shows depends on you clearing their arms, which in practice I think is very difficult.

This one depends on clearing one of the arms. That's not quite as hard as clearing both, but it's still a tough one. For this to become a high percentage escape, I'd need to have a really reliable way of getting that arm over your head. Until (if?) I can manage that, I'm not sure I'll teach this one again, though I think it's good to try stuff out.

The next option I'm considering - though I won't be trying that until I'm more comfortable with the technique - is what Brandon Mullins calls a 'slow motion seio nage' on that DVD he did with Stephan Kesting. It's a position I find myself in frequently when escaping the back and looks like it could be really useful. I'll keep playing with it, then might give that a try as a lesson next time back month comes around.

18/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Bridging Escape

Teaching #424
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 18/11/2015

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: This remains the standard escape I do and teach. I have been trying for a while to add something else that is a useful escape from the back, but so far this is the only one I've found to be reliable (though adding in a turtle escape works, as I've done this month). I'll be trying another one later in the week, perhaps putting in that scoop escape again later.

A detail I think I'll start adding is trapping their leg by putting your foot close to their leg after you step over, to prevent them re-establishing their hook. I also talked about bringing your weight up onto them with this technique, as you don't always have the luxury of locking in a cross-face.

However, that did mean several people were turning to top half guard instead. Which is ok, but not as good as top side control: emphasising that walk around would be worthwhile. In sparring, I was finding that the Marcelo style single hook can mess up this escape, so that's something to keep in mind

18/11/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Americana from Mount

Teaching #423
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 18/11/2015

To begin the americana, grab their wrist with your opposite hand. Grasp their elbow with your other hand. Keeping both of your arms straight, lean diagonally forwards, using your weight to drive their arm to the ground (as per the picture, you can also follow Cindy Omatsu's example and use your head to add further leverage). The elbow of your wrist-gripping arm goes next to their head. Remove the grip you have on their elbow, then with your palm facing up, slip that hand underneath their elbow. As it slips under, turn your hand so the palm faces down.

With the hand you just slipped under, grab your other wrist. This means you now have a 'figure-four' on their arm, a solid grip. To complete the submission, keep your head down and lift their elbow, pushing their knuckles back in a straight line along the ground, like a paintbrush. You want to move their knuckles, rather than pulling their elbow down as well: that goes up (but only slightly), their knuckles go back. Also, keep the knuckles in contact with the mat.

You can also vary your angle, which will affect how far you have to push their knuckles. For example, Saulo Ribeiro teaches sucking the trapped arm in to their body, then lifting the elbow. His angle is such that he doesn't need to paint the hand back at all. It will also vary depending on the flexibility of your training partner's shoulder. Finally, you can try twisting your fists downwards, like you were revving a motorbike. That should further increase your leverage.

Finally, Rener has a helpful tip on securing your base when going for the americana. He likes to slip his opposite side leg underneath theirs, twisting his hips slightly in that direction. That's worth giving a try if you find it difficult to stabilise the position when you're trying to finish the submission.
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Teaching Notes: I forgot to mention about using the head to push down the arm, and I also don't generally get into the point about looping the arm around the head. Both worth throwing in next time. Also, as there was a new person in class, I ran through the upa escape too, which tends to be a good one to throw in for beginners.

17/11/2015 - Open Mat | Back Escapes

Class #681
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 17/11/2015

I spent most of the open mat today working through some back escapes with Tracey. As ever, it's always interesting doing that with Tracey, because she has some old injuries that require modification for certain techniques. With the standard back escape I do, that means you tend to find that their leg with press into your back at some point, along with a potential small impact on the back as you pop over their leg to get your shoulders to the mat. That impact was problematic, so we tried some workarounds.

There is the option of trying to turn within back control. It's lower percentage, but negates that impact on the back. This turn becomes an option if you're able to dislodge their arms, because you can then lean your upper body forward and create space. You could also try combining it with the arm grab, if you can get a solid grasp on their arm and pull it over your head.

Another good point Tracey mentioned is that you're attacking the back, you aren't always looking to drop them to one side or the other, which is where that standard escape becomes viable. It is the person defending who will tend to initiate that, dropping to the open side. Tracey therefore wondered if she could avoid that pressure on the back by staying in the middle. I look forward to hearing how her modifications go in sparring (with trusted partners, naturally). :)

Chris was there too, getting in plenty of sparring with Matt, along with Simon. Matt is becoming a part of the core daytime open mat group, along with Tracey, Simon, Chris and Mike. Ross and Milka are relatively regular too, as they work nearby, though I haven't seen them on a Tuesday in a while. Either way, it's cool that the daytime open mat is getting reasonable attendance. I'm hoping in future to do another daytime open mat on Thursdays, depending on if I can work that around my part-time office job.

16/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Turtle Escape

Teaching #422
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 16/11/2015

To escape the turtle position, your main options generally involve turning back to guard. If they leave enough space, you may be able to do a tight roll over your shoulder to swing your legs back into play. However, with a more experienced opponent, they will often be able to anticipate your roll and move around the side control.

Another option for when they are on your side starts by stepping your near side leg behind them. Cut your other knee in front, just past their knee. Block their other leg by grabbing it, then turn underneath. If they are smaller than you or the same size, you may be able to roll them right over and get side control. If not, then guard recovery should be possible, at the very least half guard.

Should they make the mistake of reaching deep with their arm, you have a simple method to get on top. Trap their elbow by bringing your same side arm back and wrapping it tight. Look away, kick back your same side leg and roll through, getting your weight up onto them. In wrestling, this is apparently called a 'Peterson roll'.
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Teaching Notes: I didn't go into detail on the Peterson roll, so I'll do that next time. I also mentioned the tip from Tom Barlow, where you hook your feet over/under theirs, though I need more time to play with that before I do a full class on it. I was a bit uncertain about the leg you step behind, as I'm not sure if that open you up for any attacks (like a rolling knee bar) or escapes. Seemed to work ok, but I'll keep testing.

15/11/2015 - Open Mat | Turtle

Class #680
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 15/11/2015

Having spent the week looking at turtle, I wanted to get in some more practice on turtle escapes. The main one I know is the simple one, rolling over your shoulder back into guard. There's also Donal's 'wing' escapes, which I could potentially show too. I'll see how it goes on Monday with that shoulder roll. As Kirsty and Steve had missed a few classes, I ran through what we'd been doing on turtle with them. Good spar with Tracey too, who continues to improve: great to see her son Matt back on the mats too, the youngest Artemis BJJ student. :)

We had time for some more comp prep for Paul as well, getting in a round with Steve. Hopefully Chris and Paul will be able to make it to the same open mat at some point, with enough other people in attendance that we can shark tank them properly (i.e., lots of short rounds, lots of different people, so they always are with a fresh opponent to test their stamina and ability to stay calm under pressure).

Also, as I don't think I'm mentioned it yet, we're doing a mini GrappleThon on the 12th December, to support the ROLLforROWWW event that Chantelle is organising over in the US. Full details here, everyone welcome! :D

13/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Clock Choke

Teaching #421
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 13/11/2015

Moving on to attacks, I went with the simplest one I know from turtle, the clock choke. I use an 'elbow wedge' variation I learned from my instructor Kev Capel (and he in turn learned it from Felipe Souza, who we both used to train with at RGA HQ).

From the side ride, move from grabbing their arm to reaching through for a grip on their far collar. If the grip isn't quite right on the far collar, this can end up being an air choke rather than a blood choke: avoid being too shallow on that grip. To enhance your hold, there is the option of reaching under their arm with your far arm and opening up the collar, then feeding it to your other hand. Be aware that there is a danger of them reaching back to trap your elbow if you do that.

Either way, once you have a deep grip, bring the arm that was by their far leg to the near side of their head. Use your elbow as a wedge against their skull, giving you a sort of 'backstop' to pull their collar through. Another potential reason it might turn into an air choke is the position of your wrist: if you're finding it's an air choke, try adjusting how much you bend your wrist.

Pressing that arm into their skull produces a fair bit of leverage in conjunction with your collar grip. Increase it by leaning back slightly, while walking your legs around towards their head. Make sure you maintain your weight on their shoulders, or you'll relieve the pressure: Saulo suggests keeping your ribs against their shoulder. This should eventually result in a choke.

Speaking of Saulo, his variation on BJJ Library doesn't bother with an elbow block. He simply leans heavily into the shoulder, locking off the choke by leaning his head across. His other hand is grabbing by their far hip. If he doesn't get it, he keeps walking around, turning them onto their side and circling his elbow over. The other arm goes behind to lock off the choke.
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Teaching Notes: Good point raised by Mike, about what to do if they block your grip. For that, they are going to have to raise their arm, so my response would be to try and go for the crucifix. I've taught that before, but I think it needs several lessons to really make sense. This month I don't plan to teach it in class (which doesn't stop people asking me during open mat of course), but I'll keep an eye on how people are sparring from turtle, in case it becomes clear that the crucifix could plug a glaring gap.

I had a play with escapes during specific sparring, focusing largely on the shoulder roll (we did a drill at the start of class, which I think I either first saw taught by Jeff Rockwell or maybe Donal). Ending up under side control is relatively common, if you just shoulder roll. I'm wary of grabbing legs and arms, as that feels vulnerable, but it would probably make guard more likely than bottom side control.

Chris asked if he could try out some stuff for warm-down earlier, so I passed that over to him tonight. Good stuff, exploring ways to stretch out the fingers (as everybody who does BJJ, at least in the gi, will have sore fingers), breathing and various other useful drills. Should be a regular thing: good for me, as it means I get to learn some new stuff from a different perspective. :)

11/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Turtle to the Back

Teaching #420
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/11/2015

A major subtype of the back is a position called the turtle, where you're on your elbows and knees. I wanted to cover some of the basics for maintaining the turtle, from the top person's perspective. A good starting point is a wrestling position I learned from Nathan Leverton, the side ride. You are alongside them, with your nearest knee next to theirs, your other leg out for base (but bent, as if it's straight, that hinders your ability to react to their movement). Your same side hand is grabbing their near arm, while your other hand is reaching inside their far hip.

Don't go too deep, just to the level of your wrist, also being careful to keep your elbow out of range: if they can grab your elbow, they can roll you over. To maximise your pressure, keep your head low. I'd also advise keeping your knee off the floor and leaning into them.

You can also move around directly behind them, legs in tight rather than sprawled back (that can work too, but it does potentially provide them with some space to exploit). In that position, put both hands inside their thighs, your knees pressing into their hips, staying on your toes and keeping your weight low. From there, you can switch to the side ride on either side. If they manage to start turning in either direction, always run behind them to their back. If you run towards their stomach as they turn, that can put you in their guard.

To regain the back with hooks in, insert your hand by their far hip, so the back of your hand is against their inner thigh. Drop back to the near side, using your hand as a preliminary hook. Roll them over with that, replacing your hand with your leg. To get in the other hook, you can use the Marcelo hip thrust I've shown before, hooking your legs as you simultaneously thrust into the bottom of their spine and pull back with your arms. That should give you lots of space to insert your second hook.
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Teaching Notes: I felt pretty good about this lesson. The one thing to emphasise next time is sitting back diagonally for the roll, as a number of people were just going sideways. Also worth noting that you can use the lapel to pull them over, though that's more risky due to the possibility of them gaining control of your arm.

11/11/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Half Guard Maintenance & Full Guard Recovery

Teaching #419
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/11/2015

In half guard, your first concern is to stop them flattening you out and starting their pass. They are generally going to want to establish an underhook on their trapped leg side, using the other arm to control under your head. In many ways, it is a similar position to standard side control. That will enable them to crush you to the mat, then exert lots of shoulder pressure to kill your mobility. Many of the same attacks from side control can also be viable from here, like an americana.

Naturally, you don't want them to reach that dominant position. Your goal is to get up on your side, with your own underhook around their back, on your trapped leg side. That is one of the main fights you'll have in half guard, so it is essential that you get used to working for that underhook.

If you can get the underhook, that accomplishes two things. First, it prevents them crushing their chest into yours, which would help them flatten you out. Second, it means you can press into their armpit to help disrupt their base, as well as help you get up onto your side. You can use your knee knocking into their bum at the same time to help with this too, as that should bump them forward.

For your leg positioning, the standard half guard is to have the inside leg wrapped around with your foot on the outside. Your other leg triangles over your ankle. This provides you with what SBG refer to as a 'kickstand': that outside leg is useful for bridging and general leverage. It's harder for them to flatten you out if you can resist with that kickstand structure.

After you've controlled a leg, got the underhook and onto your side, you want to block their arms. Almost a decade ago, Indrek Reiland put together an awesome video (made even more awesome by being free) about the fundamentals of half guard. The main principle I use from Reiland is what he calls the 'paw'.

By that, he means hooking your hand around their bicep, just above the elbow. You aren't gripping with your thumb: this is just a block, to prevent them getting a cross-face. Reiland emphasises that preventing that cross-face is the main principle. Therefore, if you can feel they are about to remove your paw by swimming their arm around, bring your underhooking hand through to replace your first paw with a second: this is what Reiland calls the 'double-paw' (as he says in the video, it's an approach he learned from SBG black belt John Frankl).

Similarly, if they manage to underhook your underhook, bring that arm over for a double-paw (this is also applicable from the start, if you're framing against their neck), then work to recover your underhook. Keep in mind with the double-paw that you need to make sure you don't leave space under your elbow. Otherwise, as Reiland demonstrates, they can they go for a brabo choke. Get the elbow of your top double-pawing arm to their nearest armpit, as that makes it easier to circle your arm around to their back.

If their base is too solid to go for the back, you can recover full guard instead. You still want the underhook: if you need to make space, keep bumping until you can at least get your elbow by their armpit. You can then use that to pry up some space, circling your arm around for the underhook. Switch your leg positioning so that your 'kickstand' steps over their leg, hooking underneath their lower leg with your instep. Keep your legs tight, or they will pull their leg free.

Curl towards their same side knee on your paw-arm side, until you can push it out with your elbow. Get the knee of your inside leg up past that knee, which will enable you to shove their knee back and free your leg. From there, swing both legs around their back and lock your ankles for closed guard. I like to also shift from a paw to an underhook around their arm, trapping it to my chest, but that isn't essential.
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Teaching Notes: This lesson feels pretty good at this point. Quite a few people were using a hand to push on the knee, which is a bit risky but valid as long as you avoid the underhook and protect your neck. As ever with the women's class, we went through several additional techniques, with a back take in there too.

The back take is a good thing to add to any class on basic maintaining half guard, I think. The recovery to full guard is fairly simple too, but a different leg position: for those who have been through the lessons on getting back to guard from under side control or mount will be able to pick it up quickly, as it finishes the same way.

10/11/2015 - Open Mat | Comp Prep for Chris

Class #679
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 10/11/2015

Chris inadvertently invented a new comp prep drill today. I asked if there was a way we could make North South harder for him to escape. He jokingly said "If there was another person on top." Which I thought was a great idea! Suffice to say, he found it much harder to escape the combined 130kg+ of Mike and I, rather than 70kg or so, especially as his opponent suddenly had four arms. Mwahaha. :D

We also did what's called a 'shark tank' on Chris, as he is keen to get used to higher intensity rolling in the run up to Hereford. The idea is that you have several people cycle in to spar, doing rounds of a few minutes (I set it to two and a half on the interval timer, might do shorter rounds next time, depending how many people are there). The person in the middle doesn't get a break: as soon as the bell goes, a new person jumps straight in. There were only three of us, meaning Mike and I took it in turns: still worked, but it will work even better with more people, as then the opponents are fresher.

Of course, Chris is in excellent shape (as of last week he's a qualified kettlebell instructor), meaning that the cardio wasn't much of a challenge for him. It's more about getting used to the intensity and regulating your own use of energy effectively, which he did really well. Both Paul and Chris have been working hard in their comp prep: Sunday should be good, as both are meant to be there. That means we can shark tank both of them, as well as doing the usual comp prep rounds.

09/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Trap the Arms & Single Arm Choke

Teaching #418
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 09/11/2015

If I'm trying for the RNC and 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 we've covered in other 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.

The best platform for attacking the back is trapping one of their arms. There are various ways to do that: today I'm running through my three favourites. First, you can try tricking them into giving you access to the hold you want, a handy tip I saw on a John Will DVD. 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, really committing to that escape attempt. 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 (generally this will be the wrist they have on top, for ease of pushing). 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.

To finish off with a submission, I added the single arm choke, also known as the short choke. Move your initial grip to their shoulder, digging under their chin to get your forearm tight into their neck. For the tap, the method I use is anchoring my hand on the shoulder, then driving my own shoulder into the back of their head as I expand my chest, as if I was trying to touch their other shoulder. Dónal's method is slightly different, as he brings the elbow of his choking arm back, so it is towards their same side shoulder, then squeezes his arm for the choke. They both work, but I prefer the former, as I find the latter can easily crush into the windpipe rather than the carotid arteries.
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Teaching Notes: I'm not sure the single arm choke is needed, as everybody seemed to stick with drilling the arm trap material. Still, it doesn't take long to teach as it's so simple: I'll check feedback and see what people think. I also haven't needed to show that simple grip break from Dónal where they grab your wrist, but I'll see if it comes up in future. Some more drills would be good too: perhaps one for escaping turtle, where you're sat alongside them, grab their knee, then roll in front to guard, then to the other knee.

I felt proud of the Artemis BJJ students today, as several of them almost got me in a choke (Milka was particularly close, with a tight bow and arrow grip), while others were immediately putting what I'd taught into practice. Really good to see: well done everyone! :D

08/11/2015 - Open Mat | Turtle Escapes

Class #678
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 08/11/2015

For Laura's last open mat, we ended up doing a fair bit of sparring, as well as getting in some good drilling too, finishing off with a super tasty meal. Perfect! That began with some comp prep sparring for Paul, with Simon and then a visiting purple belt (who as ever had lots of handy tips). Meanwhile, I was practicing turtle escapes, so I can decide which one to teach next week.

After reading my old notes and checking some videos from the Grappler's Guide, I think that the best option is probably the step behind and cut under. They are on the side of your turtle. Step your inside leg behind them, cutting the other knee into theirs (your knee slightly ahead of theirs, I think). Finally, bring your inside arm to their opposite hip. Turn through, which should mean you either manage to roll them over and end in side control (if they are your size of smaller), or recover guard.

Tom Barlow's tip from the Chelsea seminar was handy too, as well as simple: cross your feet over either of theirs. Again, that enables you to spin into guard. I did plenty of sparring with Laura after that, having a look at her technical mount escapes. I've also been playing with the triangle from the back, when you can get your leg under one arm and the other over their shoulder (similarly configuration to the seatbelt grip, in other words). I've only managed it on smaller training partners up until now, but it seems like a handy option to have up your sleeve.


After training, we indulged in one of life's great pleasures: pie. Specifically, Pieminister pie, which remains my favourite place to eat in Bristol. MYGYM is only a seven minute walk from the Stokes Croft original Pieminister restaurant: I've therefore decided that #ArmbarAndPie should become a regular thing! Expect lots more pie to be eaten post-training in the future. :D

06/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Bow & Arrow Choke

Teaching #417
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 06/11/2015

Tonight, it was time for the signature move at Artemis BJJ, the bow and arrow. 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 (you can drive with your shoulder too). 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: the armbar is right there from that position.
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Teaching Notes: I'm feeling confident about this lesson. The only thing I think I'd change is that next time, I'd like the bow and arrow to come after both lessons on the armbar and the arm push collar choke. It felt like a lot of technique with the variations in the sense there were four different finishes, but at the same time, they aren't overly complex. It would be best if everybody had a chance to see them in isolation first though.

I taught the armbar from the back the lesson before, which finishes in the same way as the armbar from mount last month. However, I don't think I've covered the arm push collar choke: that could combine well with a technical mount lesson, so I'll look to fit it in there next time, I think.

04/11/2015 - Teaching | The Back | Armbar

Teaching #416
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 04/11/2015

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've been combining this with the RNC as a beginner technique, which seems to work. It's worth emphasising that you should sit up first, as dropping back means they can stack you and position is lost. Getting your arm over is tough part. I find doing it early makes most sense, pushing off hip, but it is possible to try it later. Also, I mustn't forgett to mention squeezing knees, pull on wrist, basic stuff. The other question that always crops up with armbars is grip breaks. Normally the leg kick is enough, but if they grab their collar (as somebody did today), that's not so effective. The semi-circular swing is perhaps the best one to teach in that situation, and indeed the first grip break I learned anyway. ;)

04/11/2015 - Teaching | Women's Class | Half Guard Pressure Pass

Teaching #415
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 04/11/2015

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: Straightforward, but I wonder if this is the best one to go with, or if the hip switch is a better option? I would generally think this is the most simple pass, but perhaps the hip switch is less mechanically complex. I may give that one a try instead next time at this point in the cycle and see how it goes. Half guard month will be a good chance to test which pass is the highest percentage and most broadly applicable.

03/11/2015 - Open Mat | Turtle & Back

Class #677
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 03/11/2015

I went to another kettlebells class first, as there is now a daytime session. For my third bit of kettlebelling at Move Strong, David added in the one handed swing. Felt ok, though I reckon my arm was going a bit off-centre with the left-handed swing on the 16kg. I'm cautious, so always gravitate towards lighter weights if possible, though like David said, on the double handed swing, the extra weight on the 16kg seems to help get the form right. He got me to have a go with the 32kg in my second class last week, which was interesting: managed the swing and I didn't strain anything, but I don't think that's going to be my default for a very long time! ;)

At open mat, everybody wanted to practice back position, presumably because it is back month. I've got two back escapes in mind that I want to run through this month (the bridge and that arm over one), possibly something on turtle too. A couple of people were asking about turtle, so I reckon I need at least a couple of classes on that to introduce it, maybe a drill too. I could do a class on the basic tilt, then incorporate that as a drill, maybe with an escape too?

Specific sparring against the turtle, I was looking for the crucifix again, but I need to remember I can just do a basic tilt to the back too. I'm over-focusing on that crucifix. On escaping the back I've tried to add the arm over into my repertoire (seeing as my back escape repertoire is basically just one, that bridge). It worked a couple of times, though I was leaving too much space as I wriggled into position and my neck was too exposed.

I was tending to dig my hands underneath to then get into a lifting posture, which feels like I am leaving an elbow out, ripe for being grabbed. I'll have to test this on the more experienced grapplers too, as it feels like I'm leaving dangerous gaps. Plenty of opportunity to practice it this month. Also I need to watch out for the collar grips: I'm pretty sure Kirsty would have landed her bow and arrow choke on me yesterday if I hadn't been bigger.

It's also another good reminder to be careful that with escapes I'm not relying on a size advantage when sparring smaller people. Something I always have in mind, but hard to be sure. Getting put in submissions is probably a good test, as that shows you if you simply resist with brute force to avoid getting tapped or not.

02/11/2015 - Teaching | Back | Rear Naked Choke

Teaching #414
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 02/11/2015

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. I focused on the basic application before getting into the set-up, as that warrants a whole lesson of its own.

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 for them. 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 didn't cover the palm-to-palm walking your arm into position, which would be worth mentioning next time. I felt like there was a bit of a gap between getting the arm around their neck then locking in your other arm. Then again, it's counter-productive to overcomplicate techniques, so probably a good thing that I wasn't throwing in even more detail.

I went through the thumb under chin option to raise their chin, so will save the other two parts for a future lesson. I'm not sure yet whether it is good to have a separate lesson solely on trapping an arm. I think what I'll text out this time round is teaching two submissions on Monday and Wednesday, then use Friday as the trapping the arm class, to help apply those two submissions.

That naturally means it won't be as useful for people who only manage to make it down on Friday, but still at least gives them a way to clear a path for submissions. But meh, we'll see how that goes. In open mat afterwards, we did some comp prep for Paul, as Hereford is coming up in about a month now. At the moment, I think Chris and Paul are signed up, I assume along with Kirsty. I'll check again in class: haven't heard anything from Jim, but he might well be up for it too.

01/11/2015 - Open Mat | Annoying Knees

Class #676
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 01/11/2015

Today was a good opportunity to practice the evils of the knee in guard, both on top and on the bottom. Sam is especially good with both the knee cut and blocking with a knee shield, meaning he's the perfect person to test this out. On the bottom, I stuck with sitting guard, where I keep going for the ankle pick without much success. I'm not doing enough to set that up, plus I need some kind of connected follow-up. There is that roll under, but that's risky, especially when your opponent has a good knee cut.

De la Riva would be another possibility, as long as I can maintain that more upright position. I think that dropping to your back makes the knee cut much easier for them, so I've been trying for a good while now to make myself sit up when I'm on the bottom. Another difficulty I've made for myself is avoiding grips, as I don't like that it mashes up my fingers so much (given that my whole approach to BJJ is based around longevity. Constant finger pain doesn't fit with that!).

Looking at preventing the knee cut logically, I could try and get behind the knee, knocking them forward and scooting around (e.g., from a reverse de la Riva, or that belt grip Kev showed a while ago). That would mean I'd have to get enough of an angle that they can't just cut through. If I can immobilise that leg by either gripping tightly around the knee or foot (or I guess both), that could do it, but much easier said than done. Blocking it would be another possibility, using my own knee, or continuing to scoot backwards.

The annoying thing with the knee cut is that it seems my current efforts to stop it feel like stalemating. I manage to scoot back, the knee comes forwards again, I scoot back again. More practice: I want to get in more specific open guard passing so I can really work through all the kinks on that. Handily (I guess?) I also want to work on getting past the knee, as I was stuck there for much of a roll with Sam today as well.

I managed to knock him over this time by getting to closed guard, then dropping down to pinch knees between my legs when he stood up. I did a sloppy version of that sweep Dan showed a while ago at RGA Bucks (it became more of a fling to the side than a smooth roll to the top), then got stuck trying to pass the knee shield.

My go to is Jason Scully's staple pass, but I was getting stuck on an arm, I think. I also tried shoving the top knee down to then move the other way, but again felt like I was getting blocked by the arms. I had some success going for the gi choke from there, in an attempt to distract and move past the legs, but like Kev said it does make my balance vulnerable.

My game relies too much on crushing, somewhat foolishly given I'm not very big. Closed guard was where I felt best today, though I need to get my knees to their shoulder more efficiently, to prevent them standing up. Hopefully there will be lots more open mat time with Sam, so I can really delve into the open guard. He handily highlights the two areas that are trickiest about open guard: more specific sparring needed! :D