Meerkatsu's Blog

MOVING THIS BLOG

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 10:58:00 +0000

This blog address will not longer be updated, I'm moving over to Wordpress which hosts the main Meerkatsu website - https://www.meerkatsu.com/blog/

All the contents previously posted here will remain so but for all new posts - the meerkatsu.com/blog/ - site will be where these are published. I won't be porting the old blogger posts to the Wordpress site, but I may republished updated versions of older articles on the new site.

Thanks for reading so far, look forward to more fresh content over on the new site.

Seymour

MY APPROACH TO BJJ INSTRUCTIONAL REVIEWS

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 08:59:00 +0000

The BJJ world is overflowing with a vast amount of BJJ instructionals. Reviews, like mine, can help people make the decision on whether a title is suitable for them or not.

Choosing Videos to Review
I no longer accept invitations to review instructionals. If I review something, it's because I chose it myself and I bought it myself. I sometimes use a discount code. The reason for this is because reviews take me a lot of time to study and write up. I don't want to waste time on content I'm not really interested in.

How I review the content
When I review a title, I will watch it in its entirety and then focus on a few stand out techniques or concepts to try in class. I don't have time or space to practice isolated drills, I'll just try them while sparring. If I fail in using the tech properly (which is more likely first time of trying) then I'll go back to review the content and try again next time. I'll do this until I feel I've sampled a decent proportion of the instructional. As you can imagine, this takes a long time to do.

Caveat
My perspective on how good or not a series of moves or the way they're taught is personal to me - I've been training since 2003 and I am a black belt. But I'm also old (in my fifties) and I'm small (135lbs). Whatever people might say about jiujitsu is the same for everyone, I can reliably state that being old and small is NOT THE SAME experience as being young and big. Hence, my reviews will be biased in that regard.

What my reviews offer for you
I hope you'll find my reviews useful and enjoyable to read. Some titles can be very expensive and, like most BJJ students I know, they don't stop at buying just one title - they tend to get addictive and you end up with hundreds of videos. So picking and choosing what title to buy would help if you had more info to go on.

Although my experience of the techniques is unique to me, I do try to write with a wider audience in mind. For example, I'll often state whether the content is suitable for a novice or if it suits someone with more experience.

History of BJJ Reviewing
When I began BJJ in 2003 there wasn't a lot of content around. A friend lent me VHS tapes of Gracies in Action, Craig Kukak's set and Cesar Gracie's set. As a complete noob though, I'm not sure how much they helped me as I continued to get smashed in class. I gave up on watching BJJ content until I reached my purple belt. At this rank I got a bit panicky and questioned my lack of technique diversity, so I invested my time trying to watch as much content as I could. Luckily, my purple belt days coincided with an explosion of BJJ content on Youtube and through DVDs. More recently, video on demand content has replaced DVD discs thanks to the likes of BJJ Fanatics, Digitsu, Budovideos and the many many specialist fighter websites eg RogerGracie, Ryan Hall, Marcelo Garcia, Artofjiujitsu etc etc.

Does watching BJJ instructional content improve your game?
Damn right it does! Video tutorials form an important part of the overall jiu-jitsu learning experience. How much of a role they play depends on your personal circumstances and your experience level. Videos, group class training, private lessons, seminars, open mat, competitions...all of these should form part of a healthy jiujitsu learning experience.

Where can I read more of your DVD reviews?
I have a list of all the tutorials I have ever reviewed here. I hope they help.

Instructional Review: Wim Deputter

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 16:10:00 +0000

Summary
Belgium black belt Wim Deputter might just be one of the best-kept secrets in the world of online jiujitsu tutorials. He has a highly impressive cv - 20 years of BJJ training, over 600 grappling and MMA matches more than 500 of which he has won. He puts together this wealth of experience plus his training in other disciplines (mainly wrestling) to offer a wide variety of novel concepts and methods for use in BJJ. This report takes a look a some of his best tutorial work...

Introduction
Wim Deputter is a Belgium BJJ black belt who teaches out of his academy Brasa Belgium. He is a frequent instructor at various BJJ Globetrotter events. I first heard of Wim thanks to studying a lot of content by Priit Mihkelson (see my mega review). Priit regularly gives credit to Wim as a major influence in several of his own tutorials and there is in fact quite a bit of familiar overlap between the two instructors: both are keen tutors of conceptualised BJJ information, both are keen to pick apart established jiujitsu habits, both are proponents of a defence-first style of sport BJJ.

If you enjoy Priit's work then you'll find Wim's videos to be a very useful accompaniment in your BJJ studies. Wim's work of course stands on its own very well, especially when you consider how much he has tested them in competition scenarios.

Where to watch Wim's work.

There are three main channels where you can watch Wim's tutorials - BJJ Fanatics (five titles), Wim's own YouTube channel and the Globetrotters In Action YouTube channel. Having studied all of Wim's content, you could catch most of what you need from Wim just by watching his free content alone, but the Fanatics titles help pull everything together into a neat package that is easy to refer to.

Full disclosure: I've never met Wim and I paid for the Fanatics videos myself. This report represents my own opinions.

THE MIRRORING PRINCIPLE
The Mirroring Principle (TMP) is Wim's catch-all concept that is used across all his BJJ Fanatics titles and many of his Youtube videos.

According to Wim's website:

“The Mirroring Principle is an algorithm that tells you how and when to move where in relationship to your opponent’s reaction. Counter pressure with pressure, rotation with rotation until your opponent over- or undercommits. Then transition to the next step. Continue this proces until you reach the end of the road and the goal of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Submission.”

In my opinion, that's a very complicated explanation for what is actually a very simple concept: from what I understand, TMP simply means that for every action (by your opponent) there is an appropriate reaction (from you) - and that's pretty much all it is. What that reaction will be will differ on the scenario.

TMP is nothing to do with reflections in mirrors (in spite of my title photo composite). TMP is a command telling you WHEN to do something, not HOW, ie mirroring your opponent's timing. The BJJ Globetrotters video below is a good example of Wim at his best. It is titled The Mirroring Principle so you would think it would be an introduction to Wim's system. Which it sort of is. But if you look beyond the title you'll see Wim throw out a ton of really useful information. I personally found his 'rock bottom' posture, controlled breathing, baby bridging segments to be really useful. Where TMP comes into play is to realise that if your opponent begins working a move on you, then you need to counter that with a movement yourself - very often those movements will come in small increments. You certainly don't use just any random movement, you still have to learn what to do.

BJJ FANATICS:
MIRRORING PRINCIPLE AND BABY BRIDGE

Although the title says it is a general introduction to TMP, as noted above, TMP isn't much more than a timing concept. This video is best used as a lesson on defence and escape - the Wim Deputter way!

Wim's concepts for defending and escaping tough positions are different from what most BJJ schools teach but his somewhat unorthodox methods work very well.

In this tutorial, Wim shows four major concepts: the outside shoulder escape (aka the baby bridge), the inside shoulder escape, getting to the knees and framing - all four of these concepts interconnect very neatly to form a fluid and robust system to escape most bottom positions. Practitioners of wrestling will see a lot of familiar movement patterns but to most BJJ students (like me) techniques such as the baby bridge and inside shoulder escape will seem odd at first. They're worth persisting with as I found all four concepts to be very useful during rolling.

In the video below Wim shows how his Babybridge and shoulder escapes work:

This whole set compliments very nicely with the Running Man & Baby Bridge tutorials by Priit Mihkelson. Priit calls the inside shoulder escape 'The Hawking' and although the principles taught by both instructors are more or less the same, it's very useful to have two slightly different perspectives.

Overall, a great set and although marketed as an introduction to The Mirroring Principle - it's better seen as an introduction to Wim Deputter's many novel jiujitsu defensive and escaping concepts.

BJJ FANATICS:
THE HIDDEN & ESSENTIAL MECHANICS OF PRESSURE PASSING

This tutorial is my favourite among Wim's Mirroring Principle series. The way he explains the postures and positions required to stack an opponent effectively is probably the best I've seen on this topic.

The first three volumes of this set are useful from a theoretical point of understanding but for me, where this set proved most useful was in Volume 4 where Wim shows how to pressure stack against the closed guard. I have been applying these methods constantly against my training pals and they were very effective. they are so good that my own training pals adopted them and now they use them against me!

Here is Wim teaching his stacking guard passing concepts at a BJJ Globetrotters camp - Part 1, Part 2, part 3 and Part 4. It's worth spending time working through these videos either on Youtube or via his Fanatics title because pressure passing is very slow and require meticulous attention to detail otherwise it can fall apart. In the past, I've tried stacking to pass the guard but eventually felt perhaps it wasn't for me as my success rate wasn't as good compared to, say, standing up to pass, or inserting my knee between their guard. But I have to thank Wim for his videos have helped re-instil confidence in the technique and now I use it all the time.

Also of great interest in Volume 4 is Wim's trademark triangle bait - he calls it the King's Gambit and you can see how successful he was in competition with it in this video here:-

I must admit it's a fun move to try and a testament to how solid the principles that underlie Wim's stacking ability are. Below Wim explains the King's Gambit in much more detail than in his BJJ Fanatics title:

Overall an excellent set by Wim and one of the best titles to cover pressure passing that I've so far studied.

BJJ FANATICS:
BACK DEFENSE AND BEING OFFENSIVE

In this title, Wim shows how to defend and escape when your back is taken mostly through using his Babybridge, Inside Shoulder and Fireman's Escape system. He also covers guard passing using related principles. All the techniques are framed by Wim's idea of offensive defence - the idea that you can defend and escape in a more proactively attacking way (as opposed to just escaping and hoping you can re-start from guard or neutral).

So escaping back position is an interesting topic. The vast majority of BJJ students, myself included, would view this as an awful position to be in and the main objective would be to survive, deny a submission and try as best to get the hell out of there.

But Wim's theories alter that perception. He views being caught in back control as no more vulnerable than being caught inside someone's closed guard, except of course you are rotated 180. With that thought in mind, he asserts that you can proceed to 'pass the guard' from back control and improve position - that's a radically far cry from the usual get-me-out-of-here approach. Wim provides a number of tools with which to make such an escape possible.

One of the main tools he teaches is inside shoulder escape and outside shoulder escape (aka babybridge). If you've watched his first Fanatics title (Intro to TMP) then a familiar pattern occurs when executing these moves. I personally found these chapters on disc 2 to be very effective - and it compliments perfectly with Priit's Hidden Posture title too. Both titles use the same principles for escapes, but offer slightly different details on doing so.

This small detail (trapping attacker's leg) makes a huge difference to how well you can escape from back control. With his leg jammed, his hips are also trapped and he can't pivot or move around you while you escape)

Demonstrating the inside shoulder escape from back control

Using the babybridge (or outside shoulder escape) - notice Wim is still cupping uke's lower leg (see photo above)

Tugging at the opponent's feet is surprisingly very effective to prevent meaningful attacks from the seatbelt grip back position.

So far, so good. Where things start to get interesting is when Wim covers the Fireman's Escape (insert your arm between uke's leg and your body - similar in position to the wrestler's Fireman's Carry). This approach gives you access to come up on top of your uke and, in theory, begin passing his guard. It's a very wrestling looking move and you'll need to open up a bit doing baby bridging and regular bridging for it to succeed and there are lots of things to be wary of, especially where you put your arms and hands, but it's certainly capable for a student of any level to do.

Screen snapshots showing 4 stages of Wim's 'Fireman's Escape' system. Note where he places his right arm. the system allows you to treat back control just as you would trying to pass guard.

Wim also calls the Fireman's Escape the Table-Turner technique. Here's a video summarising the concept:

The final volume in this four-part title is, I would suggest, fairly advanced - it uses the principle of the fireman's escape to bait your opponent to try and take your back, when they do so, what you actually are doing is setting up the Fireman's Escape, which as outlined above, is a guard passing manoeuvre. I haven't tried this in my own training so I will update the review when I see how well I can apply it.

BJJ FANATICS:

END GAME FINISHERS

End game finishers looks at ensuring your hard-won positional advantage is completed with a successful submission. Wim explains that he always teaches his students the submission first and then works backwards, which is an interesting reversal of the orthodox methods of teaching BJJ. The idea here is that with so many routes to the end-game scenario, it can get very complex especially for new students to try to remember them all. By teaching the end-game submission first, it arms the student with something tangible to practice and study. Then, little by little the student can unravel the myriad ways to get there.

It's all great information but for me, since I like playing closed guard, I found volume three the most interesting, with a couple of tasty techniques like the one below:

High closed guard - fist choke & armbar double threat. Very effective!

Another interesting segment is the chapter on The Problem with the Triangle. Here, Wim shows why the orthodox triangle might be vulnerable to guard passing - a reference to his own 'King's Gambit' move mentioned previously. He then goes on to show how he likes to use the triangle from guard and avoid such problems.

Overall this title is useful if, despite getting to good positions, you still have trouble finishing submissions. It's also useful if you like training from EBI overtime positions: the back control and the spider web.

BJJ FANATICS:

FUNDAMENTALS SELF DEFENSE

I have not bought or viewed anything from this title because (a) I have no interest in self defence BJJ and (b) defence is spelt incorrectly*. I'm mentioning it here because this title completes the set of five Mirroring Principle titles by Wim on BJJ Fanatics. Looking at the chapter listing I am sure it offers a lot of very sensible and real world advice from someone who knows what they're talking about.

BJJ FANATICS: THE KING'S GAMBIT

This is Wim's most recently released title and I'm still ploughing through it so this review will only be a snapshot.

This is potentially Wim's best work for an offensive game. The opening chapters cover nearly all the basic core postures and techniques that he has shown in the previous Mirroring Principle titles, with added updates on them too (for example he begins to call the inside shoulder escape The Hawkins, presumably to align with Priit's common use of the term 'Hawking'.).

You can definitely consider this title an advanced version of his Pressure Passing title. Wim goes into a lot more detail regarding his King's Gambit technique - which is essentially a bait for the opponent to execute a triangle from guard. Once the triangle is attempted, Wim's stacking and pressure passing principles come into play and the bottom person is made to suffer! that being said, given that he recaps and updates all of the basic postures and concepts from previous titles, if you only get one Wim Deputter title, this might be ideal for you

It's not all top game crusher techs, there's a final chapter on how to defeat The King's Gambit - wich shows Wim's personal method of using the triangle choke. In this scenario he not only shows how to avoid being stacked, he also shows how his legs act as a frame to then set up his triangle attack. The end result has Wim aligned completely transverse to the direction of his attacker (not too dissimilar to how Ryan Hall teaches the triangle, except Wim strongly warns against underhooking the opponent's leg.)

YOUTUBE HIGHLIGHTS

Wim produces a lot of free content on his own youtube channel. They're all very interesting and in addition to the ones I have mentioned above the multi-part series titled BJJ Longevity makes for very educational viewing.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Wim Deputter is one of the bright minds of BJJ conceptual content. He is adept at breaking apart established techniques, sourcing from other disciplines such as wrestling and MMA and seeing if he can improve on established habits and methods. The results are sometimes quite novel ideas that take a little time to get used to...old habits are hard to break!

Shrimping for example is a case in point. Wim doesn't think it's very useful - he shows why and then he shows much more effective systems - in this case inside and outside shoulder escaping. Another radical concept is to treat being in back control just like being caught in closed guard. There are loads of these less orthodox ideas - all accessible via his Youtube channel or explained in greater depth on his BJJ Fanatics titles and Globetrotter in Action seminars.

I see great value in a lot of his content and they've really helped me improve and advance my game - especially his back escape system and his pressure passing tips. I do have a few minor criticisms: his Mirroring Principle concept is at best a useful mental note but not exactly a ground breaking concept as the marketing might imply. Another small irritation is that on some of his BJJ Fanatics titles he and his demo partner appear not to be on the same wavelength when demonstrating techniques. Perhaps a bit of rehearsal or communication prior to filming each segment would help - all the moving and re-positioning needed between the pair is time wasting and visually irritating. Minor quibbles aside, I'm really surprised Wim Deputter isn't being raved about in BJJ forums as often and as admiringly as more famous instructors such as John Danaher. In my opinion, Wim's content is just as good and offers the genuine ability to make game-changing differences to ones jiu jitsu skillset.

Tiger Lotus - Fund Raising Tshirt and Hooded Top

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 16:10:00 +0000

My friends launched a new website - www.grapplersforlife.com - all profits from the sale of these items will be donated to The Samaritans and Papyrus UK.

The Tiger Lotus artwork I created is available in T-shirt and Hoodie form with a number of base colours to choose from as well as both mens and ladies fit.

The printing is done in the UK but the website ships international. The Chinese words at the base of the design come from an old proverb: “If you don’t enter a tiger’s cave, how can you catch a tiger?” 不入虎穴焉得虎子 The saying has the meaning of needing to face ones fear in order to achieve something, and not to have the expectation of gaining something without effort.

Thank you for your support.

Meerkatsu Brand: Octo-surfing Turtle Hoodie, Rose Kitsune T-shirt, Oni Strong T-shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 22:27:00 +0000

I released three new products through my store today. They are the Rose Kitsune T-shirt, Octo-Surfing Turtle Hoodie and the Oni Strong T-shirt.

Here are some more photos:-

ONI STRONG T-SHIRT
“Oni ni kanabou” is an old Japanese saying that translates as “Giving an iron club to an oni”. The meaning behind the phrase is such that by giving an already fearsome and strong demon a weapon, you making him doubly strong. It’s a message that is popularly used to convey strength and confidence – important to all fighters.

ROSE KITSUNE T-SHIRT
This hand-drawn illustration depicts a Japanese kitsune (human-fox demon) submitting a human – in some Japanese folk tales kitsune were shape-shifters who took the form of beautiful women and seduced men. The whole drawing framed within a thorny rose arch that was inspired by the art nouveau work of Alphonse Mucha.

OCTO-SURFING TURTLE
This illustration of a turtle happily hopping on board an angry octopus is the sequel to Meerkatsu’s best-selling shark-surfing turtle rashguard. Octopuses are often used to symbolise the multi-limbed flexible nature of many grapplers and the turtle is an actual positional name used in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

As of 7th December 2020 all three products are fully in stock and available only through www.meerkatsu.com

Meerkatsu Artwork for Gaidama USA

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 23:28:00 +0000

I was hired by US womens grappling brand Gaidama to illustrate their spats. The result is the Kitsune Warrior - available on pre-order here.

Meerkatsu Brand: Demon Mask IBJJF grappling shorts

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 18:30:00 +0000

I've just released a new product for my Meerkatsu store - the Demon Mask Grappling Shorts. These are designed in accordance to IBJJF nogi tournament uniform rules.

You can buy them here.

REVIEW: HALF GUARD KIMURA by DREW WEATHERHEAD (Because Jitsu)

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Sat, 27 Jun 2020 15:30:00 +0000

Summary
The reverse kimura grip from guard offers a very effective way to control, attack and reduce options for your opponent. While the grip concept in this half guard set is the same as Drew Weatherhead’s previous closed guard tutorial, using it from half guard offers a different set of opportunities – notably the ability to transition to better attacking positions such as back control.

Info:
Available at: www.reversekimura.com
Price: $79.99

INTRODUCTION
Following the success of his previous tutorial, BJJ black belt Drew Weatherhead turns his attention again to the Reverse Kimura – but this time working from the half guard.

From my personal experience using reverse kimura techniques (and indeed any techniques) from the half guard, this position has been a bit more successful compared to the same from closed guard. There is a better angle of attack from the half guard (albeit one-sided), and there is much more mobility and opportunity to transition to other positions from half. That’s not to suggest the closed guard version isn’t as good – it’s definitely a solid position to work techniques. It is just that I personally prefer to work attacking moves from the half guard than closed. If that’s also the case with your game, then this tutorial might suit you better.

CHAPTER LISTING

1. FUNDAMENTALS: dynamic tension and half guard basics
2. FUNDAMENTALS: what is and what isn’t half guard
3. FUNDAMENTALS: getting the grip
4. FUNDAMENTALS: Beating the punch pass
5. TRANSITIONAL OPTIONS
6. PROPER HALF: Peel over back take
7. PROPER HALF: arm-in guillotine
8. PROPER HALF: sit-up calf slicer
9. PROPER HALF: truck roll
10. PROPER HALF: modified John Wayne sweep
11. LOCKDOWN: Twister
12. LOCKDOWN: Stomp to half butterfly/elevate to saddle
13. KNEE SHIELD
14. HIP CLAMP: setting up
15. HIP CLAMP: roll-over armbar
16. HIP CLAMP: sit-up arm drag
17. EMPTY DOGFIGHT: to turtle/log-roll backtake
18. EMPTY DOGFIGHT: to leg staple/dope mount
19. EMPTY DOGFIGHT: to rolling rear triangle
20. EMPTY DOGFIGHT: to D’arce
21. EMPTY DOGFIGHT: to Peruvian necktie
22. EMPTY DOGFIGHT: to crucifix
23. LONG RANGE REVERSE KIMURA
24. CLOSING

PRODUCTION, VIDEO & USER NAVIGATION

Just as with Drew’s previous tutorial, this set offers a neat picture-in-picture viewpoint so you never miss an angle. Audio quality is excellent thanks to the lavalier mic that Drew uses. This title is only offered in digital form via the Reversekimura website, you cannot download individual chapters for later viewing. The website marks your viewing progress, making it easy to pick up where you last left off. Drew does a great job explaining the moves without over verbalising. Each chapter is around 3 to 4 minutes long – perfect for going back for quick reminder viewings.

TECHNIQUE DISCUSSION

This tutorial was released during COVID-19 lockdown. I haven’t been able to test any of these techniques out with a partner. My opinions here are based solely on my own experience using reverse kimura and my experience as a black belt in general…

The first question you may ask is – do I need to see the first Reverse Kimura (closed guard) tutorial before getting this half guard one? The short answer is no as Drew does cover the basics of reverse kimura in both sets. The longer answer is it depends on your experience level. If you are fairly new to BJJ (ie white and new blue) I’d suggest getting the closed guard set first. In that set Drew goes into more detail on how to set up and use the reverse kimura itself (regardless of the guard). Building up this skillset will serve you well when applying it in the half guard. That being said, it is probably ok for you to go straight to this half guard set but only if you already know half guard is a position that you are comfortable with.

Drew opens the teaching component of this set with a refresher on the actual reverse kimura grip. As I mentioned in my previous review, his open version of the grip was a real game changer for me. Previously I used to form a figure four grip to achieve the reverse kimura, which was rather limiting. Drew’s open grip version is much more versatile plus it relies less on strength and more on tracking your opponent's attempts to withdraw his arm. Drew also runs through the basics of the half guard itself – he cites 5 different forms (‘proper’ half guard, lockdown, half butterfly, knee shield and hip clamp). An alternative way to view these half guard variations is to see them as close-range, mid-range and long-range.

The key to making half guard an effective attacking position is to undertand that it allows the player to move to other (arguably much better) attacking positions. In this set, Drew spends much time focusing on transitioning from half guard to back control. Using the reverse kimura grip gives you the advantage of taking your opponent off his centre line and offering openings to take the back. I feel it's very similar to how a cross sleeve grip or a sleeve drag might also perform the same task, except with the reverse kimura you get a bit more control over the opponent's arm.

The peel-over back take, empty dogfight, sit up arm drag, the truck…these moves are all very effective at taking the back and follow on nicely from the reverse kimura grip.

Drew also shows a variety of submissions from the half guard where the reverse kimura grip really helps set up the attack – the Peruvian necktie in particular is a favourite of several members of my club so this one will definitely pique their interest.

One area Drew only touches upon is the knee shield half guard. He states that he uses it only for setting up the reverse kimura grip, but then switches to one of the other half guards. Me personally I prefer sticking with the knee shield for as long as I can and try to work something from there. The problem with that however is that being relatively far from my opponent means I’m less effective at maintaining the reverse kimura. In such cases, I’ll switch grips to collar and sleeve control and variations thereof. When I am back to full training, I'll be able to play with this position some more.

Other useful techniques that Drew showcases where the reverse kimura grip adds to the success of the move include getting to the Lockdown, the Twister and the Saddle. These aren’t positions I’ve spent much time playing with in the past. Perhaps I’ll give them a go now that I’ve studied this set and seen how they’re a bit more achievable if I use the reverse kimura grip set ups.

CONCLUSION

The half guard position in general offers advantages as well as disadvantages. From here you have a great angle of attack as well as being much more mobile compared to the closed guard. The main problem however is that you don’t get to control your opponent as much and there’s the added problem of your opponent bearing down on you and trying all sorts of things. Adding the reverse kimura grip is a handy tool as it nullifies your opponent’s ability to use his nearside arm against you. This then grants you a bit of space and time in order to move onto another position (or attack from within half).

The Reverse Kimura: Half Guard set offers a well taught set of movements based off a very easy to use gripping concept. I recommend this set to anyone, but perhaps would be of more use to those already happy using the half guard itself.

Trailer video:

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Meerkatsu art: Heavenly Vans

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 20:54:00 +0000

The current lockdown situation has given me time to embark on several art projects that I have long been thinking about. I last tried painting on canvas shoes back in 2013 so I figure it was a good time to try it again with something more ambitious.

They were great fun to create. To read more about how I did this, head on over to my Meerkatsu Art Blog here.

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BJJ Fairy Tales - images to print and colour at home

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 15:54:00 +0000

Further to my previous post on colouring in artwork sheets (see here) I have released 11 more images that you can print out and colour in. It's a small but perhaps useful way to kill a little time while in lockdown.

Most of the drawings below came from my colouring in book 'Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Story Book' which you can still buy on Blurb here.

Don't forget to post your completed colourings online and tag me @meerkatsu or #meerkatsu.
Have fun and continue to stay safe.

Click on each image then press right click 'open image in new tab' and you will be able to access the higher resolution version.

Custom gi artwork

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 14:09:00 +0000

The current COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown measures mean that I have a lot more time available to work on projects that I've previously thought about but have never had time to start. A painted BJJ gi was one of those ideas and I've managed to complete my homage fanart from the manga comic Akira, by Katsuhiro Otomo.

Here is a breakdown of how I painted onto the gi:

1. An old plain white gi (Scramble semi-custom)

2. Pebeo Setacolor opaque fabric paint

3. Used a soft pencil to sketch in the basic outline. The original manga art can be seen here.

4. I used some cheap old paintbrushes, the fabric paint dries quickly and is 'fixed' by ironing onto the back of the gi. The bumpy surface of the pearlweave fabric was a bit of a challenge at first, but rather than get upset over the lack of clean straight lines, I just accepted it was never going to be as clinical compared to painting onto paper or stretched canvas. I ended up quite liking the very rough and grungy textures.

5. To get clean lines on the text, I first traced the words onto tracing paper then cut it out. I then used Pritt Stick to glue the paper onto the gi fabric. It was easy to remove afterwards.

6. Used soft pencil to write the Japanese characters which roughly translate to the infamous Akira English language catchphrase: Good for Health, Bad for Education. I found the appropriate spelling thanks to this blog.

7. The only additional colour was the red katakana characters which spell AKIRA. The final stage is to heat FIX the paint by ironing onto the reverse side for a few minutes.

8. I haven't washed it yet, but I've used this fabric paint before and it's very durable so I'm confident it will stay.

I posted these photos on social media and Reddit and received a lot of great responses. It also seemed to have caught on with other BJJ artists as they too decided to paint their gis - see the photo below:

1.Vagabond artwork by @norih.art for her husband @rameezrk 2.Godzilla artwork by @supreme_leader_choke 3. Samurai artwork by @dominicwalsh76

Since the lockdown is going to last at least another month and more likely longer I have already begun preparing to paint on several other gis plus I have always wanted to create more painted canvas shoes. For me, staying busy with creative projects is a mentally healthy way to alleviate the tedium and frustration of not being able to train or go out much.

.

Scramble Semi-Custom Gi 2020 model - Meerkatsu patch set

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 13:07:00 +0000

I was hired by Scramble to produce a set of six artworks to be used as a set of gi patches. These patches can be bought as a set here, or chosen as a free addition when purchasing the 2020 model of their semi-custom kimono here (note there are two other colour gi models as well).

Each of these animal drawings relates to a theme common in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Here are some more photos...

Eyewear: Rec Specs Morpheus 2 by Liberty Sport

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 01:14:00 +0000

Summary
Protective eyewear with stylish looks and malleable frames reasonably functional for use drilling BJJ techniques but not for sparring.

Introduction
If like me you are short-sighted and train in a grappling or combat sport then options to see clearly while working out are in short supply. Contact lenses would be an obvious choice but not everyone can wear them (I've tried but my dry eyes won't take to them) and even contacts fall out if the eye socket receives an impact. Sports protective spectacles offer an alternative to contacts and whilst not the perfect solution there are at least a number of models one can choose from.

I previously wore Progear spectacles - read about my write-up here. Over the past 8 years I've worn those glasses to every BJJ class. It's important to state, I do not spar with these glasses on and I won't spar with the new Morpheus 2 glasses. I use these spectacles to see my coach when he teaches, I use them when drilling techniques and I use them when I myself am teaching class. These protective glasses are designed to withstand impact so I can just take them off, throw them to the side, embark on some rolling, then put them on again without fear someone will step on them and break them.

My old ProGear specs broke!

Time has not been kind to my eight year old Progear specs. The rubber guards that line the earpieces have fallen off and the rubber corner pieces that are found on the outer edges of the frame are coming away. Much of the paintwork has rubbed off and most worryingly, the corner of the frame that encases the lens has broken. You can see the crack in the photo above. Finally, the prescription is 8 years out of date so I figure it was a good time to replace these with a newer model.

Rec Specs Morpheus 2
I chose this brand and this model of spectacles mainly because I was impressed with how bendable there are. In the video below the person demonstrates by warping and bending the frames with quite a lot of force.

I also liked that it was reasonably free from rubber impact strips which look tatty on my old pair.

I bought my pair from www.sportsprescriptionglasses.co.uk for £168 which includes prescription lenses and shipping. That's much cheaper than what I paid for my old Progear glasses (which were ordered through a high street optometrist). The website is easy to use and gave me options to input my prescription details, choose frame size and frame colour as well as add any other notes about my needs.

Prescription lens orders normally take up to two weeks warn the website but I was immensely impressed that my order was dealt with immediately and completed within two days!

Morpheus 2 in action:
The main things I wanted to test on these glasses were:
1. Comfort and fit
2. Fogging
3. Ability to withstand accidental impact

As stated above, I don't roll wearing goggles. The reason is that for me, wearing goggles just gets in the way during the close contact nature of grappling and they get fogged up quickly. That being said, I notice there are models of spectacles offered by the website above that is designed for judo players. If you do want spectacles for rolling in, then you'll need the models which do not have rigid arms but have an elastic strap instead. Such close fitting models tend to also have more rubber on the inside of the frame which can absorb impact better then just a rubber nose bridge which is what I have on my model. Me personally I think you'll always find these to be awkward to wear during grappling. If you can find a pair to try on before buying then that would be ideal.

The Morpheus 2 needs to be worn with the elastic strap, which attaches to the ends of the earpieces. Without the strap, the glasses are just too loose to fit on my securely. It's not a major hassle though, the strap is adjustable and once I put them on my head, they feel no different to wearing my regular pair of glasses.

But there is one annoying flaw with the strap...

Can you see how the strap touches the back of my gi collar? I only have to hunch my shoulders a little bit and the strap catches onto the collar and tugs the frame on my face, moving it off the bridge of my nose. It's really annoying and I find I have to consciously not hunch my shoulders - hard to do.

Apart from the strap problem, the spectacles overall do the job of helping me see things clearly while drilling and teaching techniques. Unfortunately they're just too annoying to use while sparring so I simply take them off and throw them to the side. Being made of very robust material I don't mind if someone accidentally steps on them (see the bending video above).

Conclusion
Contact lenses aren't for everyone, nor is laser surgery and the risk of damaging everyday glasses is too high in a busy BJJ gym so a pair of sports goggles is a good choice. From my experience wearing the ProGear for 8 years and the Rec Specs for about two months, I'd say they're both decent goggles. I would conclude however that the ProGear is more comfortable to wear although it is noticeably heavier than the Rec Specs.

Animal BJJ Alphabet - images to print at home and colour

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 12:03:00 +0000

In 2017 I released a colouring-in book illustrated with my drawings of animals doing BJJ. You can still buy the book here.

If your or your kids are bored at home then try these ten pages from the book which you can print out and use as colouring in pages (click on the photo to access the full size drawing).

Feel free to share, print, publish in social media or use these images however you want as long as it's for personal use only.

Have fun!

Meerkatsu Brand: De la Riva Demons T-shirt and Let's Play Jiu Jitsu T-shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 22:43:00 +0000

I've just released two new T-shirt designs at my Meerkatsu store. you can buy them here.

Here are some more photos:

Review: Reverse Kimura System (closed guard series) by Drew Weatherhead

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 23:35:00 +0000

Summary
The Reverse Kimura is an instructional created by black belt Drew Weatherhead, owner of the very popular BJJ humor Instagram site Because_Jitsu. I personally use the reverse kimura quite a lot whenever I am playing half guard or closed guard but Drew’s tips have helped me convert what was once a bit of a stalling grip into something far more attack oriented.

Details
Available at: www.reversekimura.com
Free trial: Yes sign up to receive 3 free lessons from the set
Price: $79USD
Number of techniques: 36 chapters
Jump to chapter? Yes
Downloadable? No

Introduction
Drew Weatherhead is an interesting chap. He’s the creative genius behind Because_Jitsu the hilarious BJJ meme channel on social media. But he’s also a BJJ black belt and owner of his own academy in Alberta Canada. Judging from this instructional and his many free to view videos on Youtube, he’s a very good instructor too. So it was no surprise to see how much I enjoyed viewing and learning from this, his first instructional to buy, The Reverse Kimura From Closed Guard.

For me, the reverse kimura is a grip hold that I play with a lot, especially from half guard but also closed guard. I like it because it really messes with your opponent’s centre line, their posture and their ability to open up your guard. But what I haven’t really been doing is progressing from this grip towards hitting sweeps, back takes or submissions…until now that is.

In the opening fundamentals chapter, Drew explains how to hold the reverse kimura, surprisingly it's not exactly like the regular kimura.

Chapter listing and production notes
Welcome
Introduction
Fundamentals - Setting up the grip
Fundamentals - the one arm or cheater grip
Fundamentals - Trouble shooting the entry
Ranges of use - Middle range use
Ranges of use - Close range use
Ranges of use - Long range use
Common reactions - Stripping the cross wrist grip
Common reactions - Straightening the arm
Common reactions - Combat base
Common reactions - Pull back to the side
Common reactions - Try to stack you
Common reactions - Pull straight back
Common reactions - Force themselves to square up
Close range - Peel over to back take
Close range - Pull over back take
Close range - Hip bump
Close range - Flower roll
Close range - Scissor sweep
Close range - One arm kimura
Close range - Twister Wrister
Close range - Side arm triangle
Close range - loop choke
Close range - rolling bow and arrow choke
Middle range - box lock
Middle range - slicer
Middle range - omoplata
Mixed range - sumi gaeshi sweep
Mixed range - Mir lock
Long range - Roll over armbar
Long range - Triangle
Long range - Far side armbar
Long range - Baratoplata
Long range - Meat hook arm stretch
Long range - Carnie
Long range - Darc-o-tine
Final thoughts.

Audio quality is excellent. Drew uses a lavalier mic so his vocal instruction is caught very clearly while performing moves on camera. You do hear the odd muffle noise as the gi material rubs against the mic but it’s a minor observation. The visual is excellent too and I especially love the picture-in-picture box. Whenever Drew needs to show an aspect of the technique which falls out of view, the camera angle switches so the main picture shows what he is doing while the PIP part shows the other side. It’s all edited seamlessly and without interruption. Drew himself keeps the verbal delivery short and succinct – no lengthy monologues and over-explanations – just the right amount of delivery. I also really like how each chapter begins by showing the whole technique before he begins to break it down and explain things. This is the same format as David Avellan in his excellent Kimura Trap series. It means when you need to go back to stuff you’ve watched already, you don’t have to fast forward through 10 minutes of stuff just to get to the technique recap.

The 'Twister wrister' is a neat little surprise submission. Notice also the cool picture-in-picture inset.

Technique highlights
If you’re fairly new to BJJ then I think this instructional is perfect for you. It is just a way to grab and hold onto your opponent’s arm from the closed guard. There’s no big trick or hard to learn part to it. But the key tip that Drew showed in NOT connecting your hands together (ie as you would for a true kimura grip) was a very big help to me when I was testing out his techniques in sparring. Using the grip patterns he suggested helped me keep hold of the reverse kimura for longer and I was able to transition to subsequent positions with greater success.

This set is roughly divided into three phases of the reverse kimura – short range grip, middle range and long distance variants. Each ‘version’ of the reverse kimura offers its own advantages and disadvantages and to be fair, which variant you get to use will often be dictated by how your opponent reacts. For me, the middle range and longer range were more common in sparring that the tighter close range version.

I used the reverse kimura exclusively in every sparring round for a whole week (4 sessions). The initial grip was very easy to get – often my opponent wasn’t aware I was setting it up and when they did realise they found it hard to extract their arm (again, thanks to the tip in the opening chapter of this set). I observed that for most of my training partners, the grip led to a lot of activity where they were trying to extract their arm or find a way to prevent my subsequent technique. All this effort meant they were defending and not trying to escape.

The specific techniques I found that worked best for me during my week’s experiment were the basic back takes and the rolling armbar. The latter was a surprise to me because I don’t normally get this to work normally but I was able to hit it again and again, all thanks to the way Drew explained the grip and arm switch patterns involved.

The rolling armbar from the reverse kimura was a fun move that I used quite a lot.

Final thoughts
Sometimes simpler techniques (and the reverse kimura is very simple) might get overlooked by more advanced and trendy ones. But the reverse kimura is so solid and easy to use that’s it is well worth everyone adding to their arsenal. At the very least, it offers the user another grip to use when playing closed guard as opposed to the rather predictable collar and sleeve grip.

In this instructional Drew pretty much covers all the cool things you can do with it and all the likely reactions you’ll get from your opponent. I’m keen to see if he will add more to the website – perhaps reverse kimura from half guard and also similar related techniques such as the Great White Grip (from Kit Dale) or the two-on-one grip from butterfly guard (ala Marcelo Garcia) or even the wrestler’s Russian Tie. For now, at the very modest cost of $79USD, you’ll get an excellently taught instructional that is loaded with techniques you can use with success the very moment you try them next class.

.

Review: Techniqly (Tom Barlow, Masakazu Imanari, Tommi Pulkkanen, Tom Halpin)

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 16:50:00 +0000

I was given access to view BJJ instructional content on a newly launched website called Techniqly.
So far there are four choices:
Death by Arm Triangle by Tom Barlow,
Master of Leglocks by Masakazu Imanari,
Spaghetti DelaRiva by Tommi Pulkkanen,
X-Guard and Leglocks by Tom Halpin.
Each of the titles is offered for video on demand viewing only and priced at £29.99 - although the Imanari one is FREE to those who sign on to the Techniqly newsletter.

Use Tech15 at checkout for a 15% discount.

I pick out highlights from each of the above videos and compare Techniqly to other popular on demand BJJ instructional websites such as BJJ Fanatics, Digitsu and BudoVideos.

Techniqly Website
Overall the website is very clean and easy to navigate. Signing up was straightforward and so far, my inbox isn't cluttered with dozens of spam messages. Currently, there is a choice of just four instructionals but the Imanari one is free and is definitely worth viewing.

All the videos are available to view on demand, but you can't download them. This contrasts with BJJ Fanatics and Digitsu which does allow low-resolution copy for you to download yourself. Budovideos also annoyingly doesn't allow downloads. To be honest, it doesn't take much Google searching to discover easy ways to download VOD content to your computer or phone - a very useful feature because when watching while I am out and about I'm not always in places with decent reception. Having videos downloaded to my phone is, dare I say - a vital feature.

One final word on the navigation, the chapter breakdowns are very useful, I can click and skip straight to the part I want to view without needing to use the forward or rewind button. This facility is also shared with BJJ Fanatics and Digitsu but not Budovideos nor on Tom Barlow's original content from his website...more on that below:

Tom Barlow - Death by Arm Triangle
I've got a few of Tom's instructionals from his own website - TomBarlowOnline - and they've all been excellently taught and very useful for my own game. I've also attended some of his seminars and he's an excellent instructor. One annoying aspect to Tom's downloadable content is that he sends you a whole video and it's a pain to have to skip forward or back as there are no chapter markers. Death by Triangle, however, benefits from chapter markers so I hope he continues to produce new content using the Techniqly platform rather than his own.

Not surprisingly, with Death by Arm Triangle, Tom puts out another stellar instructional. He's such a good communicator and explains things really well without going overboard. Tom covers all the basic set-ups and entries plus a couple of common reactions one can expect from the opponent. For me, I don't use the arm triangle very much so it was refreshing for me to watch and be inspired by Tom's video to add it more into my game - especially now that I've watched Tom's helpful tips on how to sink in a truly effective arm triangle as opposed to just cranking the neck harder.

As an hour-long introduction to the arm triangle, there's more than enough content here to satisfy beginner and intermediate players and even more experienced folk can pick up tips thanks to Tom's extensive experience in competition. If this subject really fascinates you then I can also recommend Ryan Hall's Arm Triangles DVD which takes this topic and adds further layers of detail.

Master of Leglocks by Masakazu Imanari
Imanari is a legend on the combat fighting world and is particularly famed for his devastating leg attacks. In this video, Imanari runs through at rapid pace his favourite heel hook, toe hold and straight ankle techniques. Although he speaks in Japanese, the subtitles are ample enough information to understand what he is saying, mind you, he is not a man of many words, so you could even just skip reading the subtitles and learn by observing. The highlight for me is his eponymous 'Imanari Roll' which he demonstrates from the ground against a standing opponent.
Overall, it's very brief (running time just 15 minutes long) but since it's free (if you sign up) then you can't really complain.

Spaghetti DelaRiva by Tommi Pulkkanen
Since I am predominantly a gi person, I was looking forward to learning from Tommi's video the most and he doesn't disappoint! His instructional's central theme involves using the DLR to take the back. Thre are just 8 different techniques but spread out over 45 minutes, Tommi adds in a lot of detail and explanation so you really get a good sense of how to make them work successfully. The highlight for me is one of my favourite 'surprise' submissions - the Caio Terra footlock. I thought I knew how to do this technique but Tommi adds a few more snippets of information that was new to me and hopefully will help me get an even better success rate with it.

At this stage, it's worth giving a mention to the production quality. I really like how Techniqly uses a handheld camera operator. He gets to walk around, zoom in or out and pan around as and when needed. There are no fancy gimmicks or video effects, it all just works nicely. There isn't much to say in the way of lighting, it looks like it was all filmed in someone's BJJ club so the lighting is just whatever is there - unlike say Caio Terra's Modern Jiu Jitsu videos, which have crazy high-end lighting and production quality...Techniqly's basic lighting doesn't bother me, I can see what is needed to be seen. One huge positive that I like is the audio which is really well captured. I hadn't really thought audio quality was much of a big deal, as long as I could hear the instruction, but the Techniqly videos seem to capture it really well, it feels like you are having a private tutorial and the instructor isn't having to shout to get his voice across.

X-Guard and Leglocks by Tom Halpin.
Ireland's Tom Halpin serves up a very tight tutorial focusing on a single themed set-up: x-guard to saddle to leg attack. It's a popular and high percentage 'modern game' combo.
Tom begins the first portion of the set outlining the kneebar and heel-hook finishes that he favours. The main portion then looks at setting up these attacks by getting to the saddle position using x-guard as the entry point. The final portion of the set shows Tom's x-guard set-ups. In some ways the sequence Tom chooses is backwards to how most people teach - he shows the end finish first then works backwards. I've heard some instructors mention that they favour this method rather than a sequence in chronological order. The reason is that students like to know what their objective is first of all and then learn how to achieve that objective. It's an interesting take on teaching methodology that I might try myself (I'm usually the chronological sequence kinda guy).
Overall a great set taught really well by Tom, this would serve as a very good beginner's guide to the submission grappling non-IBJJF style of jiujitsu ruleset.

Final thoughts
Techniqly have made a great start with the launch of four very good instructionals - one of which is free. I'd personally like to have the option of downloadable content, ideally by downloadable by chapter like I can on the Digitsu platform. This might seem trivial to some, but to a London underground traveller like me, there are vast moments during the day where I have zero reception. And I only have time to watch content when I'm travelling, not when I'm home on my desktop. I'd also like some sort of app for my phone - like how Digitsu have an app, Grapplearts (although that's very clunky) or the very excellent Lapel Encyclopedia app, although I guess accessing the website on the mobile is acceptable at this stage.
Other than that, the platform shows great promise for the future as its inventory expands.

.

Artemis BJJ Grapplethon 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 22:33:00 +0000

*** UPDATE 15th March 2020 ***
The Phone case sale was a great success.
During the whole of February 2020 I offered to the public phone cases featuring Meerkatsu artworks. Each phone case sale yielded a profit margin of $13.50.
Total phone case sales = 48
Total funds raised from sales = $648 USD
Estimated payment in GBP (4th March rate = 0.78 pounds to one dollar) £505.74
Payment date will be 15th April. I will pay an advance of £350 from my own money and then pay the remainder on the 15th April.

Other stats:
Most sales by country: USA (22), UK (11), Germany (5), other countries all had one sale per territory including Brunei of all places, yay go team small nations.
Best selling design: shark surfing turtle (14), Kimura (6), toehold (5), Unicorns (5), Wristlock (4), all other designs 3 or less.

As of 15th March, the total funds raised by all the fundraisers of Artemis Grapplethon 2020 is £2,886.93
(See the JustGiving account page)

*********************

Original post...

Once a year I raise funds towards the Artemis BJJ Bristol Grapplethon fundraising event. This year the Grapplethon will be raising funds for the Refugee Women of Bristol. You can read more information about the event here.

Just like last year, I will be offering strictly limited edition artwork as phone case designs.
BUY THESE DESIGNS HERE. The campaign will end 7th March, which coincides with the beginning of the Grapplethon event.

Who are Fine Art America? Fine Art America (FAA) are US based but operate world wide (actually printing is outsourced to a company in your territory). They are probably the biggest print-on-demand company in the world.

What phone models? iPhones: 5c, 5, 5s, 6, 6Plus, 6s, 6sPlus, 7, 7Plus, 8, 8Plus, X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11Pro, 11ProMax, Samsung: Galaxy S4, S5, S6, S7, S8 Sorry other brand phones are not supported by FAA.

What’s the difference between slim and tough? Slim is a nice tight fit but I don't think it'll protect your phone as much as the toughened model when dropped on the floor. The tough model is thicker and bit more chunky. The printing quality appears the same on either version.

Why are they limited? These designs are among my artistic pride and joy. In the past these designs have appeared on rashguards, many of which have long sold out, so they’re rare. Some have also been available as limited edition prints for previous fundraisers. To ensure the exclusive appeal I’m limiting the sale to just one month (ends 7th March).

Why are they so expensive? I have put a £10GBP (approx $13USD) mark up on each phone case. Every penny of this will go towards charity. This does not include the shipping costs.

When will I get mine? Depends on your local set-up but I got mine in about 4 working days.

Can I get last year's designs? Yes, I've included last year's designs too.

Since you don't offer cases for my (Huawei, Pixel, Nokia, One2One, Sony, Motorola etc etc...) can you do stickers instead?
I won't offer stickers unfortunately. I can't justify asking for £25ish ($35ish) for a cheap sticker. This campaign is intended to raise funds for charity but also offer to you a mobile phone case that is a sturdy and robust limited edition product worth paying for.

Buy my limited edition phone case designs here!
The campaign closes 7th March so don't delay and help a good cause out at the same time!

Thank you everyone!

S.

.

Jason Passed My Guard: BJJ Comic Stories By Seymour Yang, Book Release

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 23:34:00 +0000

Jason Passed My Guard is a book of comic stories all written and illustrated by me. It is available now on the print-on-demand book publishing website Blurb here: https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/9756553-jason-passed-my-guard

The book is 96 pages and features 75 comic stories including several that are brand new and never seen before. The comics are all based on anecdotes and stories that most people in the BJJ community will have experienced, including myself. I hope these stories reflect the BJJ journey and raise a chuckle or two.

It costs £19 incl VAT (roughly $22) plus shipping. Blurb uses a local printer so make sure you have selected the Blurb website for your territory (see the flag at top right corner of website).

Please be aware, this book is printed on-demand, so printing and shipping takes about 7-11 business days. If you fancy ordering one in time for Christmas I suggest ordering one asap due to the time it takes to make.

All the comics were great fun to draw and put together as a book. I hope to carry on making BJJ comics so hopefully next year I'll be able to compile them into a sequel to the book above. For now, hope you enjoy the comics!

What people are saying...
I sent out advance copies of my book to a few friends, here's what they said:

Not So Squashed! - Hiring squash courts for BJJ

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 17:52:00 +0000

In the middle of July this year I was informed by the people running the Guide Hut where I run Borehamwood BJJ Club that they had given up their lease to the local council and that I could no longer hire the building for my BJJ club. I was given about 3 weeks notice. As you can imagine, it was incredibly annoying to have to relocate at such short notice - it is one of the drawbacks of hiring a facility on a short term basis that I have come to accept.

After a few days of discussions with my club members, one of my students suggested the sports centre where he works - NextGen Fitness in Potters Bar. Specifically, their squash courts, which he noted were ample in size and always available. In fact, the local Muay Thai club was already established in one of their squash courts so they were definitely open to the idea of us being there too.

I was still a little hesitant as I have never before seen nor trained BJJ within a squash court before. So I asked around to see if anyone else used squash courts. I was quite taken by surprise by how popular it was.

Clubs based in squash courts

When I posted a thread on the Facebook UK BJJ Underground group, lots of people got back to me to tell me of their experiences. Here are just a few examples:

Mandala Jiu Jitsu in Sydenham Leisure Centre, London have a squash court all to themselves which is fully matted wall to wall. You would never know from the picture!

Mandala Jiu Jitsu

British Army BJJ also have a permanently matted squash court. The only way you'd be able to tell is thanks to the tell tale diagonal perimeter line on the original squash court wall.

Photo by Mark Badham

Fifth Element Durham - also have a permanently matted squash court as their training facility. As with the ones above, adding photos and logos to the mats and walls gives it a real old school dojo vibe.

Photo: taken from the Fifth Element Facebook page

IBJJF Europeans - even the mighty IBJJF were happy to use a squash court as the warm up room while hosting the 2019 European Champtionships in Lisbon. Looks rather steamy!

Photo by Mike Lagarto Pescoço Coburn

Positive benefits

The first and most immediate benefit to considering a squash court is the ubiquitousness of the sport - pretty much every medium to large sized sports centre will have one or more squash courts for hire. The other major benefit is that they're very big - 9.7 metres by 6.4metres, which can easily host a class size of 20-30 students (assuming complete floor mat coverage).

Near constant availability is also bonus - unless the squash courts are already booked out by clubs, most courts are available at peak times for a modest hourly fee.
Along with hiring courts, students can also gain use of the leisure centre changing room and washroom facilities and other amenities.

Negative drawbacks

Mat storage is the main problem. Not all centres will happily agree to have their squash court permanently covered with mats. The other main problem is noise - squash courts tend to have high ceilings and the uppermost portion of the walls are open which causes a lot of echo and noise from other courts. The other main problem is without vertical mats to protect the walls, there is the potential to have people colliding with a hard wall surface.

Some other problems to note - dirt, the court is used by other people all the time and they're aren't always good at cleaning up after themselves. Another problem is that it can get very hot in the court with little to no ventiliation available.

So we decided to go for it!

For our club, the pros far outweighed the cons. I decided to relocate to the squash courts at NextGen and can say that we're very happy there. The close proximity to the walls is a potential danger but we have spare jigsaw mats to act as a barrier plus students not sparring are tasked with keeping an eye open and intervene if there are any likely collisions. The mat storage isn't a problem as the gym manager was happy for us to store the mats in a spare part of the gym. The temperature can get a little hot but there is air conditioning. The floors are easy to sweep before laying out mats and whilst it does get noisy we've just had to get used to it.

Here is a video of us sparring where you can hopefully see how a typical small BJJ club can operate within a squash court..

Meerkatsu visits David Onuma's North12 Martial Arts Academy, London

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 00:20:00 +0000

I've been friends with David Onuma ever since I joined Mill Hill BJJ over ten years ago. David is a highly accomplished BJJ black belt (3rd degree under Ricardo de la Riva) who has won numerous golds at major IBJJF tournaments.

I visited David for a private training session so I could pick his brain over a number of techniques I knew he was very adept at. I also wanted to see for myself his incredible full time training space - North 12 Martial Arts Academy in north Finchley, London. My photos don't do it justice, his venue is simply superb with no expense spared!

These tatami mats are super comfortable with a lot of spring, a joy to roll on.

North12 Academy entrance is on Friern Park Road, just off the High Street. It's actually a basement, but the main entrance is ground level and you can see the signs easily.

The academy teaches not only BJJ but a variety of other martial arts including kickboxing, Filipino Martial Arts and MMA.

The large matted area is complemented by an equally large chill out area and waiting room.

David's brand of martial arts is called CFS (Combined Fight Systems) so look out for CFS competitors at a tournament near you!

Here is a short clip of excerpts from David and I rolling - see how he effortlessly manhandles me and sends me reaching for grips that aren't there, hooks that never materialise and escapes that lead into traps...

David and I also have a short chat about being an older Masters category competitor and general fitness and health...

SWEET SPOTS AND DRAWING DOTS: JOHN B WILL SEMINAR AT LEICESTER SHOOTFIGHTERS

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 13:48:00 +0000

Prior to attending today's seminar I had already read a lot of great things about John Will and the way he teaches a seminar. Drawing from over three decades of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu experience together with an effervescent personality and abundant humour, this seminar was everything I expected it to be and so much more...

Background
Aussie born, 5th degree black belt John Bernard Will is often referred to as one of the 'Dirty Dozen' - the first 12 non-Brazilians to be awarded their BJJ black belts. John was awarded his in 1998 by Rigan Machado and is widely regarded as one of the pioneers in the very early days of BJJ in Australia. Fast forward to today and Australia has a number of highly regarded competitors and instructors - Lachlan Giles, Craig Jones, Kit Dale and Levi Jones-Leary.

You can read more about John and his experiences in the early days in an interview by Slideyfoot here. https://www.artemisbjj.com/johnwill1/

Efficient Time Management
John Will seminars are a little different to most others I have attended. He was keen to ensure we did not waste any time by dawdling around and missing out on drilling repetitions. Each technique was first demonstrated by John then when we paired up (we had to run quickly to get with our partners, again, not allowing us to waste time) John would proceed to instruct us on the same technique step by step. When we switched positions, he would instruct our partners step by step repeating the process.

The whole class also had to position ourselves in the same direction so John could quickly spot if any pair was out of step or making errors. This method of training meant we zipped through our drills in very quick time and having to dash from the place of observation to place of drilling meant we weren’t slacking at any stage.

John reasoned that if we had skipped two repetitions that session it may not mean much over the short term, but over the many months and years going forward - those missed repetitions would count against us compared to another person who repped the same technique much more, all other things being equal. It made logical sense and ensured we stuck diligently to the work required.

That being said and given the regimented structure of the training, John himself would sometimes (seemingly) go off on a tangent during his technique discussion - he would often recall an anecdote or story from his long career, but it would always lead back to the main technique or concept. I actually wondered if these deviations were an intentional ploy to keep our minds focused and engaged. Often John would instruct us to execute a technique and then promise to begin the seminar properly once we had completed the task. He mentioned this several times until I clicked on that these techniques WERE the seminar proper and he was just messing around, again a little ploy to keep us all engaged in a fun way.

Nogi Guard Passing
This seminar was split broadly into two segments - nogi guard passing and nogi head and arm attacks. The two segments segued together nicely for when uke denies our pass completion we could then attack with the head and arm submissions. (Side note, John sometimes also referred to gi versions of the technique).

The first guard passing drill was something John described as a very old school warm up that combined several styles of passing into one exercise - bottom player offers one of three leg heights for a guard and attacker must pass with the appropriate technique: knee slice against feet on the ground guard, bullfighter when faced with feet midway up in the air and finally stacking pass when faced with uke's high elevated feet as guard. It was a typically efficient way to drill simple guard passes. You can see it in the video below (unlike many other seminars I've been to, John is happy for us to film his technique and share it publicly):

The next set of exercises centred around the knee slice - I found this segment to be very useful for me as I often find I am unable to complete the knee slice thanks to bottom player capturing me in half guard. Instead of back-kicking as one would normally try to do to remove the top leg of your opponent, John showed how it was equally as effective to move our own bottoms backwards to perform the same task. The bonus of using our bottoms and hips was that it kept our hips tighter to our opponent, denying him space to escape our side mount after passing his guard (the back kick method tends to leave him escaping space).

John then described how he prefers to simplify complex transitions into easily manageable terms. For example with the knee slice/underhook/pass to side transition that we were drilling, John suggested simplifying the individual stages by viewing it as merely going from one 'sweet spot' to another.

We continued to be shown a variety of other guard passing drills, each accompanied by John’s astute observations and methodology. A favourite of mine was the drill where you sit on your opponent’s shin then execute strong lateral movement to pass (a position that I believe is called the Headquarters position – although John did not call it that himself).

Head and Arm 'Choke' Attacks
After guard passing John then moved onto head and arm attacks. John informed us that a successful head and arm 'choke' could be boiled down to just two important things: a mechanism to deny the opponent an escape and the second component was a mechanism to 'chop off' the opponent's head in the correct direction. Referring constantly to these two simple mechanical concepts, John then applied them to connect a wide variety of head and arm strangulations, including: front facing head and arm guillotine, darce choke, anaconda choke, arm in guillotine from both closed guard and then half guard, belly down head and arm choke. As such, it was a perfect example of finding a simple unifying concept that tied multiple techniques together.

In the video below you can see how he explains the concept as applied to the Darce choke:

We repeated all the drills in the same fashion as already described above. Performed in this manner, over the entire two hour seminar, we must have zipped through over 12 to 13 different techniques each one repped roughly 6 to 8 times hence making a total of some 100 reps. It was tiring work but also enriching as we felt fully engaged with each and every technique.

Thanks to Leicester Shootfighters for allowing me to join in

Q&A
The seminar closed with John answering questions from the attendees. I asked him for advice on training for older students like me and he offered a typically funny response (he trained like he was in denial of his age) while at the same time dispensing very useful advice (add strength and conditioning). Other topics answered included his views on drilling versus sparring (both vital in equal amounts in his opinion) and on the wider topic of how to keep focused and interested in something over a long time period (being naturally curious, rebellious and to sometimes question the status quo or even remembering what it was like to learn like a child learns.) One very nice analogy John used when talking about how to connect the disparate parts of a jiu jitsu sequence together used the metaphor of drawing a picture – a child might draw something using simple sparse lines and dots but an older person might draw the same thing starting with those same lines and dots but then using many more dots to fill in between until it becomes far more detailed - the nature of jiujitsu meant that starting a new technique required one to draw simple dots then as we progress, to fill in the details with ever increasing density and number of dots.

If you haven't already done so, it's worth following John on Facebook. He often writes interesting posts about BJJ and life in general.

Final thoughts
John Will seminars combine his rich knowledge and lengthy experience with great energy and endless enthusiasm. You’ll work hard but learn a huge amount. You’ll also laugh a lot as he’s a fantastic orator. More importantly the session gave me, as a coach, plenty of food for thought about how to convey information for my students. John's ability to assess, ruminate and disseminate complex movements into simplified component parts meant that they were easy to understand, practice and drill. I also liked the way he made us drill, first by demonstrating, then repeating the step by step instruction while partnered up. It meant we got several attempts to assimilate the information as opposed to listening, pairing up then forgetting major parts of what to do once drilling began.

John doesn't tend to be advertise his seminars here in the UK, you kind of have to know about them in advance. He focuses only on visiting the same academies each year and teaches a completely different set of techniques for each seminar so it’s worth going to several if you can. Regardless of your rank or experience I highly recommend attending his sessions, you will definitely walk away with a far greater understanding of this crazy pyjama game we call BJJ.

The full seminar John taught today can be viewed here as a Youtube playlist. Annoyingly I missed filming the drill where John first talked about accessing the sweet spot when passing open guard and also using your head to help create the underhook.

Current UK Tour: Total Dojo Milton Keynes, Leicester Shootfighters, Way of the Spiritual Warrior, Coventry, Function First Academy Lincolnshire, Marsden Martial Arts, Chesterfield, Wayne Stokes Cademy in Oldbury also seminars in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.

NB: Interesting side note – John is a keen doodler and prepares all his seminars with sketched out notes and text on his tablet. It means he has a simple quick glance notebook of sessions that he can adjust accordingly at a moment’s notice.

John Wills self penned seminar notes

Review: Half Guard Mastery by Oli Geddes

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Fri, 24 May 2019 07:52:00 +0000

Summary
Following the success of his Footlock Mastery tutorial set, British black belt Oli Geddes presents his second official release: half guard mastery. Oli’s tournament game has focused almost exclusively on the half guard (and more specifically, the underhook half guard) so this set brings together 13 years of competitive experience in using this position. Half guard mastery is offered as a complete system that teaches position, submissions, sweeps, counters, re-guards and less common variations. It contains techniques suitable for beginners and advanced students alike.

Information
Available as a digital download only at: https://halfguardmastery.com
Price: £29.99
(Photo of the DVD box above is only for marketing purposes)

Disclosures I have known Oli personally for over 10 years. He asked me to review an advance copy of this tutorial. I am not paid nor have any business-related dealings with this product or with Oli. The views expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Introduction
Oli Geddes is a second degree black belt under Roger Gracie. I have known Oli since around 2005 when he was studying at Imperial College (where I was teaching traditional jujitsu). Oli is one of the most prolific competitors from the UK and has competed at tournaments all over the world. In the vast majority of his matches he deploys the half guard.

Below you can see one video of Oli in action - he pulls half guard, acquires the underhook, isolates a leg and executes the dogbar.

Chapter Listing
00:00 Titles
00:12 Introduction
00:32 Defensive Structure - Knee Shield
02:24 Defensive Structure - Shoulder Control
04:38 Underhook Half Guard - Establishing the Underhook
06:34 Underhook Half Guard - Establishing the Knee Twist
08:17 Underhook Half Guard - Establishing the Pants Grip
09:33 Underhook Half Guard - Turning to Knees Sweep
11:25 Underhook Half Guard - Rollback Sweep
13:36 Underhook Half Guard - Defending the Knee Slice
17:10 Passing Following the Underhook Sweep
21:07 Underhook Half Guard - Combination Sweeps
23:03 Defending Flat Half - The Head Clinch
24:20 Defending Flat Half - The Lockdown
25:38 Defending Flat Half - Lockdown to Underhook
28:11 Defending Flat Half - Half-Butterfly to Underhook
30:05 Establishing Overhook Half - From Flat Half
32:44 Establishing Overhook Half - From Half-Butterfly
33:44 Establishing Overhook Half - From Knee Shield
35:55 Establishing Overhook Half - Countering the Leg Weave
38:44 Overhook Half - Stretch Through Omoplata
42:50 Omoplata Finish
45:47 Omoplata to Triangle
47:27 Establishing the Half-Octopus Guard
51:14 Half Octopus Guard - Hip Bump Sweep
52:59 Half Octopus Guard - Back Take
56:21 Half Octopus Guard - Leg Lace
58:47 Half Octopus Guard - Cross Face Counter
1:00:58 Kimura Attacks - Basic Finish
1:06:36 Kimura Attacks - Kimura to Straight Armbar
1:09:35 Kimura Attacks - Leg Curl Finish
1:12:05 Kimura Attacks - Leg Lace Finish
1:14:13 Kimura Attacks - The Roger Sweep
1:18:34.Establishing the Dogbar Position - From Underhook Half
1:21:27 The Dogbar - Sweep to Top Position Finish
1:23:23 Reverse Half Guard - Defending the Step Over
1:26:07 Reverse Half Guard - Butterfly Sweep
1:30:07 Reverse Half Guard - Octopus Guard Back Take
1:32:09 Loop Choke - From Knee Shield
1:36:10 Defending the Over / Under
1:38:05 Defending the Over / Under - The Bundle Sweep
1:40:40 Establishing Overhook Half - From Over / Under
1:42:06 Escapes to Half Guard - Leg Trap from Mount
1:45:30 Escapes to Half Guard - Technical Mount Recounter
1:47:52 Escapes to Half Guard - Pants Grip Replacement from Side Control
1:50:28 Escapes to Half Guard - Single Leg Escape from Side Control
1:53:22 Escapes to Half Guard - Back Mount Slide Escape
1:56:28 Credits

Highlights
Oli's set starts off with all the basics that you need to know on how to use the half guard correctly. It then moves onto basic sweeps and continues to advance on these techniques as the set progresses.

There's no need to watch the chapters in chronological order. I personally dipped in and out of chapters depending on whatever move I wanted to practice that week. But I think for beginners or white belts still trying to find their way through half guard, chapters 1-15 are required viewing. In fact, I highly recommend spending a lot of time digesting the flattened half guard section - most people still newish to half guard find they will get squashed and flattened by the top person, so knowing how to deal with this is essential.

Flattened bottom half guard - the bane of every half guard player's life. Oli dedicates 4 chapters on dealing with this annoying situation.

For more experienced grapplers, Oli's set offers more than enough content to keep us happy. The half octopus guard is a position that's useful to know when top player denies you the underhook and switches base. From the half octopus you can sweep or access back control and several other possibilities. Most important is the ability to maintain a rigid structure that stops the top person from flattening you and taking control.

I took a particular interest in Oli's kimura section. I like using the kimura grip as a hold and lock but usually only when I'm on top. From bottom half guard however the basic kimura attack is prone to the opponent denying the finish by hiding his arm or holding onto his belt. It subsequently becomes a battle of strength in fishing out the arm to finish the kimura. Oli answers this problem straight away with some excellent tips.

Half guard isn't one of the show-off positions in jiu-jitsu. It's a position where the bottom player usually has to endure a fair degree of heavy top pressure from their opponents. The confined nature of the guard also means there aren't too many highlight reel moments but the dogbar and the loop choke are both excellent show-off submissions you can use.

Referring to Oli's tournament clip above you can see how he sets up the dogbar from underhook half guard but his opponent rolls so Oli finishes from the top. Oli reckons he finds the dogbar the easiest way to get a kneebar. The beauty of the attack is that you can apply it from the bottom or the top if he rolls you over.

In the final segment Oli demonstrates escapes from various positions that lead towards the half guard. Stuck under mount? No problem step over hip escape to half guard. Stuck under side control? Let's get to half guard and take it from there...etc. Again, I found these sections very useful as I like to practice my escapes and in many cases, the half guard is the most immediate position of safety I can get to.

Production notes
Oli explains every technique with brevity and clarity. He repeats the technique up to three times and there are brief cut aways in viewing angle for parts that are unseen from the main viewpoint. Lighting and sound are good. It's a basic production set but more than adequate for learning tech. My only minor gripe is that it’s all filmed a little too close to the participants plus the alternative angle viewpoints are flashed up a little too quickly.

My pre-release copy was sent as one long continuous video which made chapter by chapter dissection a little awkward. I prefer the online Digitsu format where I can go straight to a single chapter alone, or play all - it's fiddly having to forward wind and rewind.

I don't think the retail version of this set will come in app form, unlikely given how costly and laborious it is to create a BJJ app - however it's worth again mentioning just how incredible the Keenan Cornelius Lapel Encyclopedia app is. In my opinion his app sets an incredibly high bar for online BJJ instructional learning. I need something portable and easy to navigate when I'm travelling to work.

Discussion and Conclusion
There’s no getting away from half guard. In my opinion it is a fundamental position every student must study and utilize. Even if you prefer to play top game, the half guard will be something you find yourself falling into. Oli’s half guard mastery set offers something for novice and experienced players alike. The opening chapters on position, set-up and sweeps is ideal for the newer student. The set will prove invaluable as the student advances in ability and becomes more comfortable using the half guard, especially the underhook half guard.

At two hours long this is Oli's longest instructional. It focuses entirely on Oli's number one tournament gameplan and is the culmination of 13 years of competitive experience. It covers a heck of a lot of ground and provides a thorough system for attack, defence and recovery. That being said there's no deep half guard for example, or any mention of how to pull half guard (which you see Oli do often in his tournament footage). There's more emphasis on the underhook half guard than there is longer range knee shield half guard techs (I prefer playing the latter). But there's more than enough here to keep everyone happy and is guaranteed to help us all achieve a better more successful half guard game.

.

Review: Lapel Encyclopedia, by Keenan Cornelius

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 19:45:00 +0000

Introduction
Although I'm a black belt I must confess I have never once played worm guard, nor any of the related lapel guards shown by Keenan Cornelius in his Lapel Encyclopedia. Plenty of my sparring partners do play it however and it’s an extremely annoying guard to be on the receiving end of. I figured it was high time I got down with the cool kids, after all if you can't beat them...join them! Here's how I got on...

Information
The Lapel Guard Encyclopedia (LE) is available as a physical DVD disc, online via the lapelguard.com website and in the handy form of an app for Android or Apple. The app is incredible - more about that later.

Cost:
As of 11th March 2019 LE is offered at: $244.99 digital (website + app) or $274.99 (DVD disc and online access). In British money, that translates to £192 and £211 respectively.
I have seen various discount codes knocking around so maybe hunt online.
Full disclosure - I was given online access by them for the purposes of this review.

What is the worm guard?
It is an open guard technique that utilises the lower portion of your opponent's gi lapel. When that lapel is fed underneath your elevated leg and exchanged to your other hand behind your opponent's other leg, it creates both a highly secure connection to your opponent AND prevents them from squaring up. This then sets them up for virtually unstoppable sweeps, access to the back and even some submissions.

Screengrab showing basic worm guarde leg and grip position

The actual worm guard itself is a single specific position. When some people say worm guard they may be referring to the other closely related guards that are taught on the DVD: ringworm guard, reverse de la worm guard and squid guard. Also included in the DVD is the Gubber guard which although reliant on the lapel, isn't what I consider to be part of the worm guard system. It is also worth noting that when people talk about 'lapel guard' it can refer to any one of a huge variety of other uses of the lapel. Confusingly, Keenan himself tries to explain the difference (in this early video) and suggests that worm guard is NOT a lapel guard.

This video below shows Keenan Cornelius in action against Tim Spriggs where you can see immediately how Keenan grabs the lapel and begins setting up his reverse de la worm guard which leads to a successful series of sweeps. What's compelling about this system is that Keenan has tested it against the highest level of opposition. By doing so he has refined and added it over the years to become a much more rounded than his first worm guard DVD (released in 2015 and also included in the online access of LE.)

Contents
The LE is expensive. But you get a huge amount of content for your money (seven hours). It's also being taught by the guy who invented it and who has used it incredibly well at the highest level of competition. Here is the rundown of chapters:

1-1 Introduction
1-2 Course Structure
1-3 Gripping Concepts
1-4 Intermediary Lapel Control
1-5 Avoiding Weak Foot Positioning and Using Lapel Lasso for Control
1-6 Finding Lapel Grips Everywhere
1-7 Finding Lapel Grips from More of Everywhere

2-1 Spider Hook Off Balance
2-2 Foot Under Off Balance
2-3 Forward Spider Push to X-Guard
2-4 Forward Spider Push to Crab Ride
2-5 Forward Spider Push to Single Leg X
2-6 Foot Under Off Balance to X-Guard
2-7 Foot Under Off Balance to Calf Slice
2-8 Foot Under Off Balance to 50/50
2-9 Foot Under Off Balance to Squid Guard
2-10 Belt Guard Control Gripping Belt Knot
2-11 Belt Guard Control Gripping Belt Length

3-1 Upside Down Spider Kill Technique
3-2 Overhead Leg Swing Recovery Movemen
3-3 Under Leg Swing Recovery Movement
3-4 Framing with Lapels
3-5 Avoid Using Your Foot as a Frame when Already Passed
3-6 Avoid Using Your Foot as a Frame when Already Passed Except in this Situation
3-7 Dealing with Strong Toreandos and Recovering Lapel Guard
3-8 Using Baby Hooks and The Pancake Philosoph
3-9 Using Lapels to Escape from Double Unders with Your Foot in the Collar
3-10 Overhook Wrench
3-11 Underhook Wrench
3-12 How to Escape when You’re Fully Stacked

4-1 Basic Worm Guard Entry
4-2 Entry from Single Leg X
4-3 Lapel Lasso Entry
4-4 Control Points, Balance, and Weaknesses
4-5 The Very First Worm Guard Sweep Ever
4-6 Worm Guard Scissor Sweep
4-7 Emergency Exiting the Worm Guard and Becoming a Wrestler
4-8 Deep De La Worm Back Take
4-9 Fancy Spinning Shit
4-10 Using Shin to Shin to Secure Knee Over Knee
4-11 Dealing with Spazzy Guys Who Do Ninja Rolls and Cartwheels

5-1 Ringworm Guard Introduction – Timestamp: 00:00
5-2 Knee Step Sweep – Timestamp: 03:43
5-3 Deep De La X Sweep – Timestamp: 08:43
5-4 Stand Up to Single Leg – Timestamp: 12:49
5-5 Elevation Sweep – Timestamp: 17:46
5-6 Double Under Lapel Wrench – Timestamp: 24:35
5-7 Double Under Judo Choke – Timestamp: 31:02
5-8 How to Worm Guard when Opponent Passes on Both Knees – Timestamp: 35:04
5-9 Lapel 2-on-1 Triangle – Timestamp: 39:06
5-10 Using Lapel Lasso to Deal with Opponent on Both Knees – Timestamp: 51:27
5-11 The Polish Worm Rider – Timestamp: 57:32
5-12 Just Another Polish Worm Rider Sweep – Timestamp: 01:04:43

6-1 Setting Up Reverse De La Worm
6-2 Reverse De La Worm Back Take
6-3 Reverse De La Worm Arm-bar
6-4 Shin to Shin to Force the Knees to the Mat
6-5 Reverse De La Worm with Same Side Lapel
6-6 Wormnado Sweep

7-1 Squid Guard Introduction
7-2 Squid Guard Double Ankle Pick
7-3 Squid Guard Double Leg
7-4 Squid Guard Inversion Sweep
7-5 Kind of the Same Inversion Sweep from a Different Angle
7-6 Squid Guard Omoplata
7-7 Squid Guard Reverse Lasso Sweep

8-1 Gubber Guard Introduction
8-2 More Gubber Guard
8-3 Gubber Guard Wormoplata
8-4 Gubber Guard Triangle
8-5 Gubber Guard Monoplata
8-6 Gubber Guard Flavio Canto Choke
8-7 Gubber Guard Cross Choke
8-8 Gubber Guard Flower Sweep

9-1 Wormhat Choke
9-2 Lapel Lasso Overhook Omoplata
9-3 Lapel Lasso Overhook Triangle
9-4 Lapel Lasso Overhook Baratoplata
9-5 Lapel Lasso Overhook Armbar

10. Deleted Scenes and bloopers
11. (Website only) Updated content - currently three additional techniques
12. (only on the app) Keenan's 2015 Worm Guard DVD

Watching via the website on my desktop is merely okay. I don't mind using it. But where the learning experience really shines is via the app. On my iPhone or my iPad the app is utterly brilliant! Super fast, instant access and very easy to navigate, honestly I'd much rather observe via the app than the website. The only minor niggle is that it often logs me out when I haven't used it for a day and I have to log back in. Fiddly but not a deal breaker.

Viewing via app offers the best experience in my opinion

Regardless of the platform, the LE is excellently produced. Video and audio is crystal clear. There are no fancy gimmicks or video effects, it's just Keenan talking and demoing with angle changes only when necessary. The whole package is taught with the complete worm-guard newbie in mind (ie people like me). Keenan himself is a good instructor, he seems to know what it is like for a complete newbie to learn something new and explains his techniques accordingly. There are also moments of humour scattered throughout which makes viewing more of a fun experience. The chapters progress to more advanced techniques and cover every possible scenario and likelihood - including how to deal with specific opponent reactions and recovering the guard. These how-to-deal with sections are important because the first few attempts of playing worm guard will inevitably lead to errors and bad positions until you get used to it.

Squid guard set-up

How I learned the basic worm guard in just five days
I don't get much time to drill techniques. Whenever I review an instructional, I watch a few chapters and then just try to remember what I can when sparring. Here are my personal notes on using worm guard from five sessions-worth of training...

Day 1. I briefly skimmed over about three chapters of the LE. I figure it was a good enough start so after class I asked my training partner Lou if I could drill some worm guard having never ever done it before. Feeding the lapel through as instructed by Keenan it was really weird not to have my worm foot placed on her hip (which I would normally do if I played sleeve based open guard say). Instead you have to let the leg sort of just hang there, suspended within the entangled gi lapel. It felt kid of vulnerable and not serving any push or pulling purpose. I then did the basic worm guard sweep clumsily but it seemed to work as advertised. Since this was not sparring, I just thought it was merely an okay technique. Drilled it a few more then when at home I skipped a bunch of chapters to go straight to the Worm Guard chapter and study it properly.

Day 2. Sparring with my team mate JLo I spotted that she much preferred to stand and pass which presented to me with a good opportunity to grab that lapel. Immediately I began to stick my foot into the wormhole but she spotted it quickly and prevented it - damn, I was too obvious. In the end, I didn't get the worm guard itself but I did manage to play lapel guard by sticking my foot into the crease of the lapel and moving around with it just like in spider guard. I was impressed at how effective it was to do this.

Day 3. Callum is a fast young blue belt who likes to use a bit of worm guard himself. I pull guard quickly and manage to extract the gi lapel. Spotting my intentions immediately, Callum postures far away from my legs but finds it hard to pass me as I continue gripping his lapel with both hands and fending him off with my feet. Gah, if only he would come close enough so I can get into worm guard! But again, just holding that gi lapel was effective.

My next roll was with a bigger white belt. I got to worm guard position fairly easily but he fell backwards before I could execute a proper sweep. I stood up still holding the lapel but my worm hold foot was trapped in all the tangled gi. I need to study the chapters on exit moves after completing the sweep.

Day 4. Having studied more chapters (mainly chapters 4,5 6) I asked one of my students if I could drill some of the techniques before class started: I drilled sweeps from worm guard, ringworm guard and reverse de la worm. I also tried the same techniques while holding his belt. Starting everything from a basic DLR guard seemed most natural to me. The whole concept is becoming more familiar and I'm liking how much control it offers once you have the guards set up tight.

Day 5. I went to the Grapplethon on Bristol where I rolled over a 6.5 hour period. I used almost every single roll to play with the lapel and try to use various worm guard techniques. I decided that the reverse dela worm guard (RDLWG) would be my main target as it seemed the most effective (Keenan says so himself) so I went to get into that position as much as I could. By now I have watched about a quarter of the content from the LE and also watched various videos on Youtube.

I found the worm guard sweeps were most effective against people my size or smaller since the grip portion of worm guard and RDLWG capably twisted their stance away from me (thus allowing me access sweeps or get back-control). Against heavier opponents, I did manage to get some sweeps, it was harder work though. Sometimes I lost the lapel grip when they postured upright such was their strength. I had to double grip the lapel to mitigate against that, which reduced my options.

The video above taken on my very first roll of the night shows me getting the ringworm guard grip and just using it to destablise my partner Lisa.

Many times during open guard portions of a roll, I felt really comfortable just putting my foot on the lapel (see video below) and experimenting with the tensions and angles it offered. I found lassoing the lapel with my leg was the best at maintaining a decent guard position before feeding the lapel to the other side. The best sweep I had most success with was by swinging my free leg behind them getting a sweep from momentum. Sometimes I managed to get a deep de la x-guard from the RDLWG but I couldn't always achieve this position since my legs aren't that long.

Several times I got a bit stuck and the main reason was because I did not get my own knee position high enough - you have to get your knee over and above the knee of your opponent in order to make most of the sweeps work properly. When I ignored my knee height and tried to sweep, I ended up entangled and unable to complete the move. Keenan covers this problem with several tips in Chapter

Rolling with the higher grades I noticed they easily spotted my attempt to set up the worm and tried to prevent me from getting there. Despite this, I was still able to achieve the worm guard position since just holding that lapel is and playing lasso was so effective.

The Grapplethon was a great opportunity to roll with as many different types of people of all sizes and really test the tiny bit of worm guard knowledge I picked up. I was really surprised how easy it was to use - at a basic level at least. Yet there's so much I haven't yet got round to studying - squid guard for example, or the Wormnado, or the Gubber Guard. Plus of course really studying the problem solving tips for when things go wrong. Those chapters I reckon will be key for me as I use it more and more.

Worm Guard in action.
Keenan Cornelius invented the system and many people out there use it successfully. Andris Brunovskis, Keenan's Atos team mate, uses it especially well. Check out the thrilling match below with Bill Cooper.

In the video at 8'07, you can see Andris first pulls out the gi lapel in preparation for a worm guard. In spite of Cooper's extremely low base (knowing what was to come?) Brunovskis still manages to feed the lapel through and exchange grip positions. Once the grip is secure, he executes a technical stand up which reverses Cooper to his back and awards him with sweep points. The grip is so strong that Andris can hold onto the dominant position for a fair while before Cooper (using some insane agility and clever thinking) finds his way out and attacks back. It's a small moment in an otherwise highly entertaining match.

There are so many more examples - just Youtube search any Keenan gi based match and you'll see him playing some variation of his worm guard series. Or to save time, here is a BJJ Scout compilation with handy labels and pointers:

Conclusion and final thoughts
I used to dismiss worm guard as one of those fancy pants techniques that went outside the norm and would be a passing fad. I’m happy to report that I was wrong. The lapel system taught by Keenan is based on rock solid fundamentals - the very same fundamentals that form the basis of regular open guard systems. The guards themselves (and subsequent sweeps) are not really that fancy or hard to do - the hardest part is getting into the positions.

I haven't even watched all the chapters yet honestly, I was really surprised how quickly I picked up the basics and was able to utilise them immediately. This happens to me only rarely. Most times when I learn something new, it takes me a long period of persistence to make work (and generally I give up long before then). Worm guard worked immediately. Okay, in most cases I'm using it against sparring partners who are not used to it (and therefore gave me plenty of time to set it up) and of course I haven't used it in competition. But I'm sold! As an addition to my usual repertoire of open guard techniques, I'm 100% adding it to my daily diet.

Some instructionals take a while to digest, especially ones heavy on concept (which I do enjoy btw). Other sets are ones where you watch one tech and are dying to bust out the move in the gym. Keenan's LE is definitely one of those watch it and try it asap sets. I highly recommend it. If I had a small criticism it would be the lack of defined chapters on how to defeat/escape/defend it, but then again there is a fair amount of this mentioned in the how-to-deal with problem solving sections.

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Artemis Grapplethon 2019 Final Report

noreply@blogger.com (Meerkatsu) — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 23:39:00 +0000

*** UPDATE 20-4-2019: ALL PROCEEDS ARE NOW FINALLY IN AND THE GRAND TOTAL RAISED STANDS AT £4803 **********

The annual 24 hour charity Grapplethon at Artemis BJJ in Bristol just ended today and I'm pleased to report the whole campaign raised a fantastic amount for WomanKind Bristol Women's Therapy Centre.

LocalGiving Fundraisers group page as of 10th March 2019

As you can see from the above screengrab, the fundraisers exceeded the target of £3,000. And there's more to come...here's how my phone case and fine art print sale went:

Meerkatsu limited edition art sale
As reported in my previous posts here and here, I put several pieces of artwork onto Fine Art America. The pieces were available for consumers to buy as art prints or phone cases. The campaign did extremely well and collectively raised $2,238 (roughly £1,700)

Screengrab from my FAA print and phone case sale as of 10 March 2019.

FAA won't pay me the proceeds until 15th April if I understand their terms correctly. So I have already donated £1,000 of my own money into the LocalGiving fundraiser's page in advance. The remaining amount (roughly £600) I'll be able to donate once I get paid from FAA. (UPDATE: now paid up).

So taking into account the money that is still to come in (there are also some cash donations not accounted for in the LocalGiving total) I'm fairly certain the final donation to WomanKind Bristol Women's Therapy Centre will be around £4,500.

Grappling for 24 hours
Not me! I only managed 6 hours before my ageing body caved in and I was forced to go home. But once I got home I checked in at 2am to the Grapplethon Instagram page and could see video footage of people still rolling, this managing to continue the annual cycle of always having at least one pair sparring on the mat for the duration of the 24 hours.

During the time I spent there I got to roll with lots of people, some familiar faces, others who are new to the Grapplethon. I also got to have my annual roll with Can Sonmez who is the founder of this event and without whom many local charities would not be receiving these hard-earned funds.

Photo by Wanderingmishap on Instagram

This event also marked the very last time Artemis BJJ will be at the MyGym location in Bristol. The building has been sold so Artemis BJJ has moved on and is now located at a new venue which I'll see at next year's Grapplethon.

Photo by Wanderingmishap on Instagram

More than just a good fundraising event, the Grapplethon offers something unique in our community. Wanderingmishap over on Instagram summed it up the best:

"My favorite thing about Grapplethon was that there were no barriers. People rolled with those with years more experience, stones more on weight, different beliefs, different genders and everyone had fun."

Photo by Tacerrob

Thank you to everyone who took part in the event and to everyone who purchased one of my fundraiser prints and phonecases. Big thank you also to Tatami Fightwear who printed the special edition t-shirts I designed and who have always supported us from day one.

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