Slidey's Training Log

07/07/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Class #232

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Tim Radcliffe, Epsom, UK - 07/07/2009

At long last, I'll be heading to Turkey with my gf in a couple of months. I've been meaning to take her there since we started going out eight years ago, so very much overdue. Also given me the sufficient kick up the arse I need to finally try and brush up my rather terrible Turkish. Only downside is that the people I cycled past probably thought I was nuts, as I was loudly repeating Turkish from my language podcast on the way to and from training.

Tim went through two sweeps today, both of which I've seen before, but still can't perform very well. The first standing sweep begins when they stand in your guard and try to open your legs. Grab their sleeves, slip down their body and open your guard. Once you get to their knees, squash them together with your legs, locking your feet. This needs to be quick, as normally they'll put one leg back to begin passing, which prevents you trying this technique.

Using your sleeve grips, push their arms down and as far back as you can. This should put them off balance. You can now crunch your legs towards you and roll over one shoulder (as in the typical breakfalling drill). Keep pulling on the arms to end up in mount, aiming to end up near their hips.

I had some trouble getting this right. Locking the legs is straightforward, but I found pushing the arms back in combination with crunching your knees in and rolling over awkward. Aside from my general ineptitude, I also don't like techniques where I feel I lack control, which is the case with this one: momentum is a big part of it.

On top of that, when I rolled back, I was ending up too far forward in mount, which in sparring would provide my partner with the option to escape out the back. That was because I wasn't controlling the arms properly, or pushing on the sleeves as I rolled.

The next standing sweep is a variation on one of my favourites, the handstand sweep. This time when they stand up in your closed guard, you keep your legs locked around their waist. Grab a sleeve, then underhook their opposite foot with your arm. Drop your hips to their knees and twist: if their knees are closed, use your hips to dig your way between them.

Drive your hip against the knee of their trapped leg to knock them to the floor. Come up on top using the grip on their sleeve, with your legs in a hurdling position (i.e., one bent with the foot pointing back, the other straight, pointing diagonally away from their body). You're now well placed to shift into a strong mount.

Simon had a tip on the grip here, demonstrating what he feels is the most powerful method. First, get your thumb under the sleeve. Twist that up, wrapping your fingers around the top, continuing to twist. You should end up with a pocket of gi material held by your four fingers, thumb gripping outside.

In free sparring I started with Tim, quickly getting into the usual thing pattern of escaping side control to guard repeatedly. As before, I was concentrating on staying on my side, shrimping, and also trying to get my forearm to my thigh in order to block knee on belly. Need to be quicker with that, and also keep in mind the option of going to knees from under side control.

After briefly rolling with a beginner, which resulted in me showing them how to escape side control (which surprisingly they don't appear to have seen yet), I went with Simon. He's always really good for tips, though he tends to go at a harder pace than the other senior belts I've rolled with at Nova Força.

First thing was that I need to press forward when in someone's guard or I'll simply get knocked over backwards. That's especially true when starting from knees for sparring, as I'll tend to be passive and wait to see what they'll do.

Secondly, to defend the baseball bat choke (Simon said this was applicable to chokes in general too), I should press the elbow of their choking arm outwards, defending my neck with my other hand. As they need to close their elbows for the choke, that will give me room to turn towards them and shrimp out.

Finally, to escape mount I need to be proactive with my elbows. Rather than just staying tight and defensive, I have to really push on their legs and shrimp. Simon exposed the weakness in my defence by repeatedly moving into a mounted triangle, which is something that's happened before with other people too. So, more activity on my part under mount!

30/06/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Class #231

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Tim Radcliffe, Epsom, UK - 30/06/2009

I've had a few weeks off due to a bunch of job interviews (none of which came to anything, unfortunately: just have to keep plugging away, like the massive horde of other people applying for the same jobs...), so good to get back on the mats. Ricardo is in Brazil at the moment, so instead class was taken by his top student, brown belt Tim (who incidentally won yet another MMA fight recently).

Tim kicked off with a gi choke. Start by pulling one side of their gi out of their belt (if its already loose, so much the better), then feed it around their back to your other hand. Shift your torso to that side, then change hands. This frees up your first hand to grip whatever material you can on the back of their gi, still on the same side (if you try to grip on the other side, your partner is likely to see it coming and defend). Finally, bring that arm over their head whilst maintaining your grip, then bring your wrists up for the choke.

Next, Tim demonstrated a basic loop choke. Grab their opposite collar, with a deep grip. Break their posture by pulling that collar towards you, while also pushing their head down and to the side with your other hand. Next, slide that other hand across the back of their head and under your own elbow, hooking with the back of your hand. Finally, raise the elbow of your collar-gripping arm for the submission.

Rowan Cunningham, who puts out the best free BJJ videos on the net (unfortunately not the most famous, as the Abhaya vids aren't heavily publicised or flashy), has a typically excellent demonstration up on YouTube, where he calls it an 'encircled collar choke'. I first saw this choke when Aesopian put up the Abhaya vids, probably on Bullshido somewhere:

Tim mentioned as he was walking around that you need to be quick with this, so its something to spring on your opponent if you have a collar grip but see they aren't defending their neck. Even if you don't get the choke, you're likely to still manage a sweep, as in order to avoid getting submitted they'll probably have to roll out. You can simply follow them and end up in mount.

Sparring today put me mostly under side control, which is good as I always like to try and improve my escapes from there. As per Saulo's advice (both in his book and DVD), I was concentrating on keeping my head stuck to the floor to prevent the cross-face, while also blocking their arm with my hand.

While I did ok getting that far into Saulo's 'survival position', I was rather less successful getting onto my side. I also wasn't preventing the knee on belly too well, as usual, but I think I managed to use my elbow and knee as a barrier slightly better than last time. The difficulty is getting them properly locked together, with forearm to upper leg, rather than just touching elbow to knee.

From knee-on-belly, I also couldn't avoid Mark's choke, so must have done Simon's defence wrong. I know you're suppose to swim your arms in and turn towards them, but forgot which arm went where.

With one of the white belts, I managed to get to my knees from side control, but couldn't then trap an arm in order to roll them. I was thinking about the wrestler's sit-out too, but didn't feel I had the space to get free: as their arm was ready to look for chokes, my neck felt exposed. In retrospect, I probably should have been less hesitant and just gone for something, as eventually I tried to spin to guard as they left some space, which merely landed me back under side control.

My last spar was against somebody fairly new, so I had a chance to play around with triangles. I'm still missing lots of important details, like proper head control, so even as a noobie they were able to slip out, but it was nice to confirm the 'trigger' position Ryan Hall talks about. Whenever somebody is trying to open your guard by driving their elbow into your thigh, you can open your guard and cause them to lean to one side. This leaves your partner vulnerable to the triangle, as you can now fling your leg over that arm and to their neck, locking your other leg in place.

11/06/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:29:00 +0000

Class #230

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 11/06/2009

Gf is away again this weekend, which therefore meant extra training. Class started with takedown sparring, like last time I made it to a Thursday: could mean that day is the session for throws. As usual I was terrible, staying super-passive and basically waiting to be slammed to the mat.

I definitely need to get in some more judo if I am to have any hope of being more than a throwing dummy, but at the same time judo is still a frighteningly injurious prospect. No big deal I guess, given that I don't really care about competing, but would be good to develop a least a couple of takedowns and entries.

Technique tonight was on the triangle from the guard, good and basic. Ricardo was just showing how to get your legs in place rather than finishing the submission, from the classic set up of double wrist control. Push one arm back and immediately bring your hips up, whacking the same side leg to their neck, aiming to curl it round so you can lock your shin under the back of your other knee.

At the same time, you pull on the other arm and bring it across their body, ready to lock on the triangle. The next step would be to adjust your legs to eliminate any space, then raise your hips and pull down on their head for the submission.

A simple technique like that was ideal, as the friend I brought along tonight had never done any grappling before. He had some familiarity with the throws, but rolling around on the ground was completely new to him.

That made for a fun roll during free sparring, though of course I was mainly trying to be helpful, seeing as it was his first time. He's a bit bigger than me, but there are so many things to learn that BJJers take for granted. For example, staying upright on your knees in the guard: I've noticed that often when I roll with somebody who hasn't grappled that they'll fall on their side, as they're understandably unfamiliar with the principles of basic posture.

With everyone else, I was under either side control or knee on belly. Clearly I'm doing something very wrong which is constantly giving the knee on belly to my partners when I'm under side control. I've been trying to concentrate on getting to my side, but I also need to think about blocking the knee on belly. I could try being tighter, such as the old standard foot on the knee to reduce space, as well as bridge more often and more explosively.

I also managed to bust up my toe from a sweep, as one of my training partners caught a toe as they rolled me over. Later on my leg completely cramped up, as I was trying to recover guard. I was spinning on my back, reaching for their leg with my foot, but I couldn't get any purchase. That meant I was scrabbling with the end of my foot, which merely resulted in the aforementioned cramp.

Last week Simon was advising me to turn into the choke from knee-on-belly in order to escape, which I tried to do tonight. Helped, but he still caught me with something else. Still a good principle to keep in mind, as part of the general concept of getting to your side when underneath.

Simon then provided some tips on escaping the baseball bat choke from knee-on-belly, but I'm not sure I've managed to remember them properly. I think the idea is to bring one arm through, bent at right angles, then use the other arm to push while turning into them. You can also try and get your knee in to make further space.

My friend enjoyed the class, especially the fitness side of things, so hopefully he'll be able to pop back at some point (though he's pretty busy the rest of the summer, so might well be a good while). Also rather nice to get a lift there and back: no late night cycling this week, which was a very refreshing change!

09/06/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Class #229

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 09/06/2009

I was fortunate today in that I worked exclusively with the higher belts Tim, Theo and Simon, which always means loads of great advice (especially in a welcoming, friendly class like Nova Força), which I've added to the descriptions below.

Both techniques tonight were from butterfly guard, starting with what Ricardo referred to as a basic butterfly sweep. From butterfly guard, underhook with one arm and reach around the back (grabbing the belt if they're wearing a gi), while the other hand grabs their same side arm, closing tight with the elbow to keep them close. From there, you want to shift slightly towards the underhook side.

To get the sweep, the foot you have under their thigh on the underhook side is going to serve as the leverage point to roll them over. However, you can't lift them with just your leg: instead, you want to put your whole body into the motion. To do that, drop back, then kick your other leg out straight. That will provide you with a much stronger position to move your partner (Ricardo noted that you don't have to kick out the leg, but he finds it helps to do so).

As you roll over on top, you want to make sure your shin moves to trap their leg on the underhook side, ready to initiate the pass. You also need to move your underhooking hand up to grab the back of their collar instead, or you'll end up trapping your own arm. Bringing your head down next to their shoulder will help your base, meaning you should end up with a lot of pressure on your partner. Finally, pull up on their arm, then slide through into scarf hold.

If they manage to base out with their leg before you can complete the roll, it is still possible to sweep them, by going to x-guard. As soon as they post their leg, swivel your body towards that limb, using your arm to trap their foot against your head. Put your legs into the x-guard position (one foot under their thigh, the other foot on their hip, pressing with the top of your instep).

Next, you want to get the foot you've trapped off the floor, by pushing with your own feet on their leg. As soon as you feel their foot lose purchase on the ground, switch the hook you have under their thigh to their knee. Push to get them off-balance, then do a technical stand-up to get back to your feet, still holding their leg. Their base is now completely broken, so it should be a simple matter to take out their leg for the sweep.

Specific sparring was from the sweep position, where the person in butterfly already has the underhook and the arm trapped. My butterfly guard passing is just as terrible as all my other passing, so I didn't get far: I tried wibbling around to get my balance, which without fail resulted in a sweep. I also thought I'd try moving a leg out and then back in to try and clear their hook, but that didn't work any better. Clearly need to review butterfly passes: my passing in general, as always, has a very long way to go.

Just two free spars today, or more specifically, two and a half. I started with Simon, trying to keep in mind Tim's advice about getting to my side when underneath. I tried defending against a choke from knee on belly by getting my hands in the way, but that wasn't enough to prevent the submission. Simon advice that instead of relying on using my hands as a barrier, I should turn into the choke, which fits in with the general advice on getting to my side.

He was followed by Tim, where we started towards the end of one round then continued into the next. I spent pretty much the whole time trying to escape side control, again concentrating on getting to my side. That meant I was always looking to recover guard or half guard, wriggling a knee through to begin the recovery.

However, that is not the only option for escaping side control: I'm still tending to completely forget about going to my knees. Tim suggested I should be attempting that more often, which is also something Jude has advised in the past. Being on top is an alien world for me, so going to my knees and driving forward hardly ever even enters my mind: something I need to rectify.

My friend should be popping down to class on Thursday, which will mean not only do I get to introduce someone to BJJ, but I can also get a lift (as he's nearby in Oxshott). Will be interesting to see what he thinks of the sport, particularly how it differs to the Kuk Sool Won he's used to.

02/06/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Class #228

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 02/06/2009

Class was absolutely packed, with a tough warm-up from Simon. There were also three women present, which was good to see. The two new joiners haven't bought a gi yet, but I presume they plan to stay, as they've been to most of the classes I've attended so far.

Technique tonight was the guillotine, which while basic is nevertheless a fundamental move I certainly haven't got down yet. The scenario presented was that you've got head control and they posture up. You follow them and go for a sit-up sweep, which they attempt to counter by pulling your arm and driving their weight forward.

In response, immediately scoot your hips back and bring one arm under their neck, reaching to clasp your other hand. Twist to side on which you've trapped their head, then I think move slightly up (though I keep getting that wrong: either way, you need to get the bone of your forearm pressed against their neck).

If they bring their legs up to resist, shrimp to the opposite side you've trapped their head. At the same time, use your legs to chop low on one side and high on the other: in other words, comparable to a flower sweep, taking them over diagonally. Continue holding the guillotine, which will mean they either tap as you roll them over, or if not, you'll still end up in mount. Ricardo mentioned that in gi competition, you'd have to release the sub at that point (presumably because its potentially a neck crank, but I'm guessing there).

As the class was so huge, free sparring was split into two groups, with one sitting on the side. Rounds were only two minutes, so got through lots of sparring partners. However, that short space of time also meant that they generally followed the same pattern: I'd pull guard from the knees, but so badly that I'd instantly get passed to side control.

From there, I tried to stay on my side, but not all that successfully. My partner would then either transition to knee on belly, where I'd keep trying to shrimp away, or move to scarf hold. I need to review scarf hold escapes, as I'm definitely out of practice.

I was also trying keep my arms tight to my neck to defend against chokes, and my head close to the floor to avoid the cross face. Along with scarf hold, my north-south escape needs work too: I can't remember the last time I was held in north-south, as people don't seem to bother all that often. I aimed to wriggle out with the intention of then seeing if I could swing up onto their back, but didn't get that far. Instead, managed to follow their legs and recover half-guard, as I think they were trying to move round for a choke or something at the same time.

The only spar that broke that pattern was with Lindsey, where I had another chance to keep working the triangle. As before, I need to deal with the arms, getting one in and one out in order to initiate the triangle. I was looking for an underhook too, but struggled to open up her arms sufficiently. Using my hips more might help, perhaps bridging up to make some space.

My left arm was still a bit sore from the previous week, so it will be good to give it a rest until next Tuesday. I'm also hoping to get that friend along to class I mentioned a while back, depending on if he's busy or not. He's in Oxshott, so getting a lift sounds handy too, as that saves me the cycle ride.

30/05/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:43:00 +0000

Class #227

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 30/05/2009

I noticed when I first checked out the Nova Força site that Ricardo has written a book (under the 'our manual' link on the left), along with the guy who owned the club's previous location at Sleeping Storm. Didn't give it much thought, but looking through the excerpt yesterday, it appears to have an interesting take on BJJ history. As I'm always looking for more sources for my history of BJJ post, may well pick this up. I meant to ask about it in training (in case Ricardo had some in stock and sold them cheaper than Amazon), so will try to remember next time. Not that there's a rush, but would be a nice thing to buy before I leave (which at the latest will be August).

Technique today was based around the half butterfly position, which I've only heard of because of that thing Aesopian wrote about it a while back. Very helpfully, Ricardo taught in such a way that both partners are working, rather than just acting as a training dummy for the other, because he showed how to get to the half butterfly as well as how to pass.

Ricardo started with the transition from half guard to half butterfly, where your partner has an underhook. Bring your arm over and grab their belt, then making sure your other hook stays tight, step out your same side leg and shrimp. That should give you enough room to move your hips backs under and putting your free foot under their leg (coming inside their leg, not outside).

For the pass, bring your head to other side, gripping their opposite collar. You then drop your bodyweight out to the side, twisting your hip slightly outwards. That should help negate their hooking foot, meaning you can now put your own foot on top of their leg. Push to free your trapped leg, then keeping your hips down, pull up on their arm and you move through to scarf hold.

Next, Ricardo showed a half butterfly sweep. This time you've got an underhook on them rather than an overhook, which puts you in a far stronger position. Grab their other arm and pull it under their body, while simultaneously lifting them up and over with your hooking foot.

If you're the one on top, in order to pass, you need to time it so that as soon as your leg leaves the floor, you immediately twist your hips to the side. This needs to be in one motion: Ricardo noted I was shimmying my hips the other way first, which is both unnecessary and means you miss the window of opportunity. Quickly put your weight onto them, leaning back towards their legs.

Don't pause there, as they could still shrimp out and try to take your back: to prevent that, you need to use your elbow to dig into their armpit, establishing an underhook. From there, switch your hips and go to side control.

Ricardo is really good about walking round and correcting technique: he's given me useful pointers every time I've been so far (which I've added to the technical descriptions). He went a step beyond that today, and managed to give me pointers on a technique from a previous lesson, which was awesome. That's because he saw my blog, and noticed I'd written up the technique on the butterfly sweep from a short while ago incorrectly. I left out a important part where you push on their arm, rather than simply holding the gi, so will go change that now (hopefully I can find the right bit).

Specific sparring from that the half butterfly position, I was able to get a sweep on a white belt, though I think it was from being generally squirmy rather than the specific sweep we learned today. I later managed to pass the same guy twisting my hips when on top, but not on anyone else. Still too static on top of half guard, so as with all my passing (which is terrible from every guard variation), needs lots of work.

Free sparring started off with Tony, who I haven't rolled with before. Apparently he has a reputation for being a bit uncontrolled: either way, stayed pretty relaxed with me, as I looked for triangles again, trying to get head control. I was also, as before, attempting to rotate on my shoulders and use my legs to keep them away in open guard.

Next was someone known as Tubes (easy to remember, as its written on his belt), who also went light. With him I was mostly trying to escape side control and knee on belly, spending a few brief spots in guard. Definitely need to time my bridging better, not to mention bridge more in general: I'm tending to wait for them to move and then shrimping, which is dangerously passive under knee-on-belly.

Rolled with Mark after that, where I finally managed to get some semblance of a standing pass going. He was grabbing one of my arms in guard, so I grabbed his and then stood up, stepping my foot forward on that side. However, he came up with me, which I'm not used to (as I normally I just get swept), so while I did open his guard, slammed my knee into the mat.

Kinda jarring, so went floppy for a little while to try and relieve the pain. After that, again looking for triangles, rotating on shoulders and using my legs. Playing around with reverse triangles under side control continues to be fun, but I'm not getting anywhere the right position.

I also need to be careful I don't knee people in the face, as a lot of those techniques require flinging your legs around. That's less of a problem if they're standing, where I attempted to go to reverse De La Riva as per Saulo's DVD. I'm feeling slightly more stable there than before, but very early stages, so landing a sweep off it will take loads more practice.

Continuing on the theme of sweeps, I had a go at getting into position for the spider guard technique Tim showed me a couple of days ago. I don't yet have the timing or the set-up, but I quite often find myself with a shin in their stomach and one leg wrapped around their arm, so I'll continue to work on it.

My final spar was with the aforementioned Tim, by which point I was completely knackered, but that doesn't matter so much with higher belts. As there is such a skill gap between a brown and a blue belt, that means sparring with them is normally relaxed. Main thing Tim said afterwards was a basic but essential part of escapes: I'm being too flat, when I should be fighting to get on my side.

He also showed an interesting option for escaping knee on belly, as it contravenes the cardinal rule about not pushing their knee with your hand. You have to be quick, but IIRC (and I think I'm missing a lot of details here, but better to have some notes down rather than forget it completely), push, shrimp then go for a single leg. If they go for the usual armbar by bringing their arm through, pummel your hand back into position to stop them spinning for a submission.

Class is two hours on Saturday, so that covers off a decent weak of training, by my standards at least. My left arm is complaining about it (the cycling probably doesn't help either, especially as I have to keep tensing it when bumping over potholes in the semi-dark), but should be recovered by Tuesday.

28/05/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Class #226

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 28/05/2009

As my gf is off to a hen night this week, that meant that I had some extra time spare this week, which I naturally used to get a bit more training. Today Ricardo's focus was on takedowns, which is by far my least favourite (albeit important, if you're big on competition) part of BJJ class, but fortunately doesn't happen too often.

I was flung around all over the place in takedown sparring, which reminded me how awful I am at stand-up grappling. I'm always passive when sparring, but when it comes to stand-up, I might as well be asleep. Also kept making the same mistake with one guy (who possibly had judo in his background, but then it doesn't take any skill to throw me), where I was looking to step around when he went for a throw to counter-attack. Failed miserably, as he could obviously see it coming, and simply adjusted to throw me with something else.

Techniques were also all takedowns, from the over-under clinch. Each one began by pushing down on the elbow, then dropping your bodyweight right down to break their posture. Your opposite knee goes to the floor, while your hand switches from their elbow to the back of their knee.

Having secured their leg, stand back up pulling it along with you, then use your same side heel to trip them. Immediately step one leg back as they hit the floor, as otherwise they may be able to go for a basic ankle-grab sweep.

If you're having trouble keeping hold of their leg after you've dropped down, then hook your same side foot around to help. Drive diagonally forwards, with your arm out in a Superman type position. The reason you want to do that is so your weight ends up in the right place: if you don't drive properly with the takedown, they may be able to roll you to mount, as your weight won't be in the right place to control them.

Finally, there was a variation where you've managed to go through all the steps and lift their leg off the floor, but they kick their leg free. If that happens, swivel in and hip throw them.

I had been planning to practice triangles again, working on things like head control, but I was sparring progressively senior belts (a purple, brown and black), so that wasn't viable. Instead, I concentrated on defence, trying to keep my elbows in, avoid the cross-face (especially under side control, as per Saulo's DVD) and connect my elbow and knee, again like Saulo shows. Seemed to help, though as before, my knee-on-belly escapes still need a lot of work.

As it was all higher belts, they went easy on me, which did give me a brief opportunity to try and implement some of things I wanted to improve on triangles. I attempted to secure head control, but I think I'm holding too low on the head: should be higher up, like a muay thai clinch, so that I have more leverage.

Brown-belt Tim also showed me a good sweep from spider guard. IIRC, you have your shin into their stomach, knee pointing out. You other leg wraps up their same side arm, simultaneously gripping their sleeve with your same side hand. The idea is to get them to try and pass to the open side. You can then grab their leg with your free hand, using that and your shin to roll on top.

I'm also attempting to be more mobile in open guard, rotating on my shoulders to try and recover guard. Still needs a lot of work, but those SBG drills along with the shoulder rolls Ricardo does in his warm-up have helped a lot. Ricardo himself exposed the weaknesses in my half-guard when I was sparring him, as he broke it open like it was tissue paper. Of course, he's far stronger than me, but I doubt he needed any of that muscle: I need to be less static when using half-guard, and get on my side faster.

Yet again there were belt whippings at the end of class, meaning that there's only been one class out of the four I've attended so far without communal flogging. Definitely something they're keen on at Nova Força, and it doesn't even require a promotion: if its your birthday (as was the case today for two unfortunates), you're in line for the gauntlet. Interesting thread on the topic I was reading recently on NHBGear, which turned out fairly similar to the EFN one from a while back.

While I was getting my bike ready to leave, one of the people there recognised me from my blog (which is always cool), and mentioned a club to add to my map. UK BJJ really has grown exponentially even in the short time I've been training, and that goes for Nova Força too: a purple there is now running a location in Haslemere.

26/05/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Class #225

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 26/05/2009

Ricardo ran a tough warm-up today, or at least it was for me: reminiscent of the lessons Jude used to run back at RGA. Class also started earlier, as the mats were already down by the time I cycled in at 08:20, but finished the same time as usual.

First technique was an armbar from the back. You have one hook in, with your other leg based out behind you. The hand on the same side as the hook reaches through their armpit to their collar, while your other hand grips their other elbow. Note that you're not directly on their back, as they could easily roll you off, but instead slightly to the side (useful tip from brown belt Tim, who was really helpful throughout the technical part of class).

On the side where you're hooking, bring out your arm to base. The aim is to get them to try and grab that arm (which is why you're holding the other elbow: if they reach with the opposite arm, it messes up the technique). You can now push down their head, then swing your rear leg up, putting the shin on the back of their head.

Next, swivel under their outstretched arm, simultaneously scooping with your free arm, trapping it in the crook of your elbow (make sure their arm is twisted as you do so, until their thumb points directly away from your body). Also keep turning the rest of your body, so that the leg which was on their head goes right under their arm, knee up. You should now have their arm squished between both your knees, at the same time controlling it with both of your arms. That puts you in perfect position to secure the armbar.

In the likely event that they try to roll forward to escape the technique, stay where you are. You can still finish from the same position, using your shin across their neck to keep them from sitting up.

Ricardo followed that with a sweep, which I think I've seen on an old Fabio Gurgel video. Begin by breaking their grip: Tim demonstrated how to do this properly. Both your hands are on top, bunching up the gi material, then you yank their arm up and towards your head.

You can now pull the arm past their body and immediately bring your own arm over their back, then spin on top. You'll still have one foot by their hip, which you turn towards the floor as you move to their back.

Your free leg steps out, also basing with your arm for balance, while your other arm grips their same side elbow. To finish the sweep, push off with your free leg and pull their elbow in, rolling them into a variation of mount.

After some takedown sparring, where I fumbled as usual effectively waiting to be thrown, my first free spar was with Lindsey. Like last week, I was looking for triangles, but couldn't quite secure the right control. I'm able to get my legs up and crossed, pulling their body in, but then they normally slip their arm free and posture up.

There were no rests today, so straight into the next spar, with a brown belt (Jared, I think?) This time I spent the whole spar trying to escape, mainly from knee-on-belly. I was able to squirm free on a few occasions, but I need to shrimp more, and also bring my knee to my elbow to stop them simply replacing the position. Eventually got caught in an armbar at the end, but presumably he was going easy, so could have secured something else earlier on.

Third spar was with a big, aggressive white belt, exactly the kind of person I tended to avoid at RGA. Its good to experience that kind of roll once in a while, though its not something I enjoy. After repeatedly posting on my face (legitimate technique, but again, not something I'm used to), he was able to lock on an Americana from side control. I worked my way free by turning towards the arm, but later he was able to lock it on again.

This time I was able to get on top in his guard, so I thought that would give me leverage to escape. I was wrong: he cranked it from his guard. I assume that you should be able to prevent that when you're on top, but I didn't want to risk my shoulder. In fact, probably should have tapped earlier, so we could restart and I could work some other position.

I also had the dubious pleasure of being stuffed into his armpit, where he was trying to smother my face. Getting my head squeezed wasn't pleasant, but I still had enough room to breathe. Not exactly sure what he was going for, but probably needed to adjust something to secure the submission (maybe get his arm under my chin).

Finally, I rolled with Mark, who like last week was looking for chokes: another useful reminder to be more careful about protecting my neck! For my part, I was still looking for triangles, but as with Lindsey, couldn't stop them slipping out. It was a little more varied than just from guard this time, as I was also playing with the reverse triangle from under side control, as well as sort of jumping into a sloppy triangle from open guard.

I think the problem was that I failed to control the head, so their posture wasn't properly broken. I should have been pressing down on the back of the head, then adjusting my legs from there to get into position. I also need to review my defences to the Americana, as I don't think I'm doing that right either.

19/05/2009 - Nova Força

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Class #224

Nova Força Epsom (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 19/05/2009

I was looking around the net to see first if 'Nova Forca' has a wiggly bit on the c, and secondly what it means. While 'nova' is 'new', apparently both 'forca' and 'força' can be translated in a variety of ways. 'Forca' can be 'gallows', 'fork' or 'trap', whereas 'força' means 'strength', 'force', or even 'hang in there' (at least according to somebody on Yahoo Answers, which like anything user-generated isn't always reliable).

Cycled in this time, leaving myself loads of time in case I got lost. Naturally I did get lost once or twice, but still only took about an hour or so. Next time, I should be able to do it around 30 or 40 minutes, now that I've got an idea of the route. Best of all, its free...or at least it is when you don't manage to lose your back light because you didn't fix it on properly, so it gets shaken lose by all the potholes (visibility is a bit pants at night, due to lack of lampposts). Grr.

Tonight Ricardo concentrated on butterfly guard sweeps, or at least he did for the blue belts and up: the white belts were shown a basic pass instead. For the first sweep, grab the back of their belt, then with your same side arm, grip the sleeve of their far elbow, ready to push. Shrimp out slightly then immediately move in close to them.

Next, lift them with your leg while simultaneously pushing their elbow into their body. Don't try to go to mount from here, though its tempting: instead, roll over your shoulder and fling your leg all the way over to plop down next to them. Make sure that you keep a foot on their knee as you do so, then use your hand to hold their far knee. That puts you in a perfect position to easily switch to side control.

A variation is to overhook their arm instead of using a belt grip. You then proceed as before, except that this time, you need to be especially careful to get your head onto their chest. If you don't, they can simply roll to get back on top after you bring them over.

Due to the well-attended class, there wasn't all that much space for free sparring (no specific sparring tonight), so it was done in shifts. That works out great for me, as it means a guaranteed rest between each spar.

I started off with the sole female member of the club, Lindsey, who wasn't there last week. Stayed fairly relaxed, looking for the overhook grip, along with triangles, but couldn't finish anything. That meant I basically stayed in a tight open guard the entire time, except for a failed attempted at a choke from the back. I can never finish from there, so that's something I need to work on (though its rare I'll be able to get to an attacking position like that).

That was followed by a purple belt, Simon, who gave me a good kicking. I was staying passive in his guard as usual, while he was very attacking. It was only a short round, but nevertheless, didn't take long for him to secure an armbar.

Next up was Rob, a bigger white belt. As always, I pulled guard, then stayed mostly under side control or half guard, working my defence. He went to take my back towards the end, with time running out as I started to return to half guard by triangling his legs.

Finally, I went with Jack, another bigger blue belt who like me has been training 2.5 years. He may have been taking it easy on me because of the size difference, but felt fairly even. Always hard to tell in a class setting, which is one of the main reasons its difficult to use sparring in class as a measure of progress: if you want a clear indication of your ability level, you have to go and compete.

I managed to get Jack into a tight open guard a few times, again trying for triangles, but I wasn't able to get his other arm through. I also made a crappy guillotine attempt, which did at least lead to an overhook grip, holding his collar. My second effort at the triangle fared no better than the first, for the same reason: will have to revise how best to get the arm from that position.

There might have been an opportunity to switch to an armbar instead, as I had the arm secured, but I had no idea how to get there. The omoplata also looked like a possibility due to that overhook, but I failed to get that either. Probably needed to have their arm pushed back for that, and also better hip mobility to set up the attack.

Eventually ending up rolling on top, then as I stood up in his guard, he went for armbar. I think I had too much space for him to finish it properly, but on the other hand, could just be he was going easy on me and didn't want to crank (Christina has certainly done that plenty of times in the past). Either way, I was able to get my arms free to go for a stack pass, but couldn't finish it. I tried getting his hips off the floor, but found it tough to control his legs properly. Perhaps I need to grip higher, and no doubt I'm not putting enough pressure down with my weight either.

I'm hoping to get an old university friend of mine down to class next week, who I met up with last week because he's in the area. Haven't seen him for about seven years, but we used to train together at Zhuan Shu Kuan. He's still training, but now its in Kuk Sool Won, of pink fans and made-up-lineage Gary Goodridge fame. If he gives the BJJ a go, I'll try that out too: will be fun to relive the acrobatic jumpy-kickiness of my uni days.

12/05/2009 - Nova Forca

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #223

Nova Forca (BJJ), Ricardo Da Silva, Epsom, UK - 12/05/2009

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make another class at Kilburn like I intended, which also meant I wasn't able to say goodbye properly. I sent Jude an email, but that obviously isn't quite the same, so hopefully I'll be able to drop in again before I move away from London for good. Fingers crossed I can somehow manage to find a job in the next few months, as then I could do a private with Jude, which would be a great way to leave the capital.

My sister has now moved to Cobham in Surrey, so naturally I'm there too to keep on helping out by looking after my niece. I had been intending to head to another RGA affiliate in Wimbledon, but that's a three month minimum contract and a little far from Cobham. On top of the cost being beyond my means at present (especially with transport), even if I can't find a job, I'll still only be here until August. So, that didn't seem like a viable option.

Fortunately for me, there is another possibility, and its much closer to Cobham: Nova Forca in Epsom. Getting there by train proved to be awkward, as you have to bounce around different lines. From the station its about ten minutes or so to walk: the class takes place in a Scouts hall, next to a church. I arrived way too early as usual, getting in at 19:30. Class was supposed to start at 20:15, so I figured I could pop in, sort out payment, maybe chat a bit.

Turns out there was already some kind of Scouts thing going on when I went in the door, and asking one of the adults there, they said BJJ started at 20:30, not 20:15. I'm not sure if that's a regular thing, but I guess I can always email Ricardo to double-check. People started congregating outside around 20:30, and judging by one guy's Tapout shirt, I was pretty certain this must be the place.

Ricardo charges £10 a lesson, then there is a £25 membership (which he mentioned is payable after your third class). There are also two monthly options, £75 for three classes a week and £65 for twice. Classes are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. That means I can only do once a week at the moment, as I'm in Cobham up until Thursday each week, spending Thursday night until Sunday with my gf in Coventry.

The warm-up brought in a few things I hadn't done before, like shrimping then immediately going to all fours. There was also a drill where you roll over your shoulders, which took me a moment to get: Ricardo walked over and gave me some pointers, realising I clearly hadn't done the exercise before. It is a bit like the one I was trying to do at the Farnborough throwdown, so I relish the chance to improve the technique (presuming this is a regular part of the warm-up).

Tonight's class was all about half guard sweeps, put together into a flowing sequence. All of them began by getting an underhook on your partner, after which they immediately overhooked that arm (or to use the wrestling term, a whizzer). Shrimp out to the underhook side and come up on your elbow.

At this point, they will normally drive their weight into you in order to maintain control. That provides you with the leverage to drop underneath them and push on their far knee, rolling over into top half-guard.

Ricardo followed up with a variation on the same sweep. This time, you use your hooking leg to tweak their foot out to the underhook side, disrupting their balance. That should help when you try to bring them over, as they'll already be leaning in that direction because of the pressure you're putting on their leg.

Finally, once you've got the underhook and they've established a whizzer, you can shrimp all the way out, coming up onto your knees, still trapping their leg. This puts you in what Eddie Bravo calls the "dogfight" position. From here, again drop under their body to grab their far knee, then roll into top half guard. If you've got Mastering the Rubber Guard, this is basically the same as Plan B on page eighty. Its also something Oli taught back at RGA last year.

Like RGA, the class pattern was warm-up, technique, specific sparring then free sparring. As you'd expect, specific sparring today was from half guard, where the person on the bottom already has an underhook. Therefore I was starting from the ideal position to have a go at Saulo's whizzer armbar from Jiu Jitsu Revolution, though I didn't get too far with it. Its easy enough to get the whizzer, but I found securing some kind of base from that position rather more difficult. So, that looks like the first aspect of the technique I need to work on.

In free sparring, I was soon asked by a brown belt named Tim if I wanted to roll. As I'm a random blue belt they've never seen before, I guess the higher belts wanted to get an idea of my level. I imagine they were distinctly unimpressed, as I'm a pretty mediocre blue, but good for me, as I haven't sparred with anyone that senior for a while now (except for Jude, of course).

Tim took it easy on me, while I as ever alternated between either flopping around on the bottom or passively wondering what to do in their guard. Managed to force myself to stand up once, where I immediately got knocked down again. Like I've been saying for ages, just need to get into the habit of standing to initiate a pass, instead of just staring at the legs from kneeling.

In the midst of googling for Nova Forca the next day, Tim cropped up again: turns out he is an MMA fighter, with a blog here. Always cool to spar with high-level BJJers, as they tend to stay very controlled, along with often offering useful advice.

Much the same thing happened with Ricardo himself. Again, he was being relaxed, waiting for me to do something, catching me in various chokes along the way. Unfortunately, one of the white belts ran over his foot while we were rolling: space is a bit limited, as its appears to be a popular class with plenty of people in attendance.

Finally, I went with my drilling partner, Mark. He's been training about four years and used to do judo, but more importantly, he is around my size (probably a few kg lighter, as he competes in the under 64kg category. That's where I fought for my one and only fight back in August 2007, but I was foolishly about five or six kilos below my natural weight). The roll was reminiscent of sparring with Jadon at the Farnborough Throwdown, as I was repeatedly defending against collar chokes from mount and knee-on-belly. Clearly I'm doing something wrong: possibly I'm lifting my head off the floor too much, going by what Rich said a few weeks ago. I'm also not defending my neck well enough, and I'm being far too passive about escaping knee-on-belly, which is getting me in trouble.

Also like Farnborough, there aren't any showers at the Nova Forca venue. On the other hand, as I'm planning to cycle from now on, I'll be sweaty by the time I get back to Cobham anyway. While I always prefer to immediately shower after training, due to my paranoia about MRSA and the like, delaying by an hour or so isn't too bad.

Class finished with two guys getting promoted, and as per the tradition at Nova Forca, everyone lined up and whipped them. Except for me, as belt whipping is not something I'm comfortable with just yet: we never did it at RGA. Also, it would feel a bit unfair after only having trained there the one lesson.

Should be down again next Tuesday, once I've sorted out the bike route. Class finished a good forty minutes later than I'd been expecting (I left the building about 22:35), so definitely don't want to rely on trains, as they're infrequent at best. Its been a long time since I've cycled any kind of distance, so we'll see how my legs hold up. Either way, I'll be nice and warm by the time I arrive!

Book Review - Jiu-Jitsu University (Saulo Ribeiro)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Sat, 09 May 2009 10:52:00 +0000

Short Review: The first two chapters are ideal for beginners, with Saulo helpfully breaking down defence into survival and escapes. He methodically details how to work your way free, as well as common misconceptions. Coverage of guard fundamentals is also good, with simple sweeps and submissions again described alongside typical problems. Large, well-spaced pictures provide clear instruction, further aided by the demonstrators wearing a blue and a white gi respectively.

The considerable array of different guard variations is a little overwhelming, especially in the huge chapter on passing the guard, but the material is nevertheless good, in particular the simpler opening section detailing the basics with concise and helpful description.

I was very pleased to see the approach Saulo took in his final chapter on submissions, where he emphasises essential concepts like tapping before injury, treating class as learning not 'winning' or 'losing' and accepting that you will eventually find yourself tapping to lower belts. The submissions themselves are all straightforward, accompanied by Saulo's trademark clarity of explanation.

Its an excellent book, which will be of benefit to anyone looking to improve their BJJ. I wouldn't recommend it as the first book you buy, as it would be easy to get bogged down by the sheer amount of technique on display, but its definitely an instructional you should have in your library. Available to buy here, (and for the US, here).

Full Review: This book has been getting rave reviews on the internet even before it was officially released. As many of the people writing were particularly enthusiastic about its applicability to beginners, I was very keen to take a look, finally picking it earlier this month.

Saulo's teaching style is perfect for a book: as can be seen on Jiu Jitsu Revolution, he loves to talk. That tendency towards extended discussion translates well to the written medium, where has a chance to really go into detail. It is also a little clearer, as the words are filtered through Kevin Howell and the rest of the editing team, so Saulo's trademark Brazilian English has been cleaned up for grammar.

In the introduction, Saulo has lots of points to make, with sensible comments about controlling the ego. I don't agree with him that the journey from white to blue is the most important, but then I can only judge that as a blue myself. I would have thought that blue to purple is far more momentous, though its difficult to make any absolute statements about rank in a style which lacks any kind of standardised promotion system.

The organisation unfortunately follows in the footsteps of Renzo and Royler's Theory and Technique, with sections divided by belt level. Fortunately Saulo isn't quite so haphazard as the earlier work, particular in the well organised white and blue belt chapters. While using belt ranks as a basis for structure makes little sense in a sport as non-standardised as BJJ, it doesn't significantly detract from the book's usefulness.

Saulo states that the focus of a white belt should be survival. Its not about technique or even getting the escapes right at this point, but simply getting into a solid defensive position. As he will do throughout the book, Saulo also shows what not to do, which is immensely useful but unfortunately absent from many books and DVDs. Ed Beneville does a good job of it in his earlier work, which is perhaps where Saulo got the idea from.

The manner in which Jiu-Jitsu University spaces out the full-colour pictures is another point in its favour. Beneville's work is fantastic, but can sometimes feel a little cramped due to how much he squeezes onto each page. On the other hand, Saulo's book is rather large as a result: there are benefits to either approach.

In those pictures, Saulo also makes certain that one person is wearing a blue gi while the other wears white. This is a small but essential detail missed by books like Theory and Technique: the colour distinction makes equating the text to the illustration far easier for the reader.

Getting to side control survival on page thirty-five, the links to the Jiu Jitsu Revolution DVD are clear, a frequent occurrence in the book. Saulo runs through the survival position, then explores what he calls common misconceptions. Interestingly, some of these contradict other instructors, such as the outside underhook on page forty-one. This is exactly how Gustavo Machado escapes side control on his Great Escapes DVD.

Saulo calls it "a more advanced misconception," because "if you break this move down it makes sense." The problem, according to Saulo, is if you attempt to get into this position but forget to block the cross-face. As the pictures demonstrate, that could lead to getting caught in a kimura.

Page fifty marks the next section, escapes, which Saulo attributes to the blue belt level. I very much like that on the facing page he has a picture of female athletes: hardly any instructionals acknowledge that there are in fact women who practice BJJ as well as men, which is a problem. Hopefully small steps like the one Saulo takes here (and much larger steps, like his strong support of female athletes in his San Diego school) will help tackled the male bias.

As Saulo puts it, "the escape always stems from your ability to survive." I like the way that he breaks down defence into these two parts, beginning with the posture, then the technique. I also like the use of multiple angles: like Beneville, Saulo generally shows two angles for each technique, such as escaping the back on page fifty three (which is exactly the same as Jiu Jitsu Revolution).

When it comes to escaping the mount, you would expect to see the upa as a central part of instruction. However, Saulo chooses not to include it, instead taking time over the elbow escape. He explains:

I do not focus as much on the Upa because it is very hard to use in high-level competition. That is not to say that it doesn't work. What I am proposing is that the elbow escape is more efficient

I'm not sure I entirely agree, but then I'm not a high-level competitor, just a mediocre blue belt. I would have liked to have seen detailed coverage of the upa too, but along with the above reasoning, it may have also be a matter of space.

To take another positive, Saulo includes drills for specific sections, helping posture and movement. For example, Saulo shows a solo drill for both recovering guard from side control and also going to your knees. This is an excellent idea, especially for an instructional volume you're probably going to be reading at home. Rather than having to wait until class to put what you've read into practice, material like this gives you something to practice in your living room.

As well as positional escapes, Saulo also looks into submissions, covering armbars, triangles and guillotines. While this is generally of a similarly high level as everything else up to this point, I did have two questions when reading the material. First, Saulo dismissed grabbing the knee and driving it to the mat as an effective tactic to escape the triangle; I had always thought it was one of the fundamentals ways to get free. I can see his reasoning, however, built on the fact that legs are stronger than arms.

Second, and more glaring, is that he includes footlocks and the kimura from half-guard, but not the far more common kimura from full guard. On top of that, there is no mention of the Americana or the cross-choke, which you're also bound to encounter regularly during sparring, from both a defensive and offensive perspective.

Those minor points aside, the opening two chapters of the book are excellent, with a wealth of superb material for beginners. This is definitely something all white and blue belts could benefit from, and the focus on defence rather than offence is also excellent.

The guard, which Saulo decides to use as his theme for the purple belt, receives close attention in the next chapter. He states that he emphasises teaching open over closed guard, because the latter

gives you the sensation that you are safe. So insecure people usually maintain the Closed Guard at all costs, thinking, "Why take the risk of being passed?" Well, life is about taking risks. You have to jump for higher goals rather than just staying safe. While you feel this false sense of security, you are not progressing.

That makes a certain amount of sense, as just clinging on to closed guard with all your strength gets dull fast. I think you need to be comfortable with closed before open guard, but then Saulo doesn't appear to be disagreeing. As he says, "the Closed Guard is certainly effective," but the problem is "it gives you a limited world in which to work." With any kind of submission or sweep, you are almost always going to have to open your guard at some point during the attempt.

Saulo moves through several options involving over and underhooks, along with taking the back, which I hadn't expected to encounter at the start of the section. Saulo gets back to basics after the initial few pages, with scissor sweeps, basic armbars and cross-chokes...then goes to a Brabo choke. Again, that seems a little out of place in the opening section, but it is immediately followed by a basic triangle, sit-up sweep and flower sweep.

If your partner stands up in your guard, there are numerous sweeps available, which Saulo discusses next. These are all solid fundamental techniques, like the handstand sweep, which combines well with the star sweep. I was paying particular attention here, as I'm always going for that (so far without success). The misconceptions part was therefore especially handy, where Saulo warns against forgetting to control your opponent, bulldozing forward and stalling.

The comparison to Beneville is strong after that, as Saulo covers off various ways to defend against specific guard passages, reminiscent of Beneville's Strategic Guard. Having been relatively basic up until that point, the book suddenly erupts into a bewildering array of guards: butterfly, spider, cross-grip, De La Riva, sit-up, reverse De La Riva and half-guard. The majority of the positions follow a similar pattern: notes on posture, possibly with a solo drill, followed by a sweep, then finishing with common misconceptions.

At times that can make the section on guard feel like an overview, so it might have worked better if perhaps the book had been split into several volumes, with this first release looking purely at the basics. On the other hand, Saulo has tried to be comprehensive, and does a fairly good job of not getting too complicated. His concentration on sweeps rather than submissions is a definite plus point (they aren't completely absent, but its rare), particularly when catering to beginners.

I also liked the snippets of historical detail. For example, the section on De La Riva explains how Ricardo De La Riva developed many of the sweeps and attacks for this position, beginning in 1981. Saulo also often refers to contemporary stars of competition, like Roger Gracie, Rafael Lovato Jr and his own brother, Xande. Lovato gets a little box entitled 'case study', but strangely, he is apparently number three, with Helio providing number one. Unless I've misread, there doesn't appear to be a second case study in-between the two.

On page one hundred and seventy nine, Saulo comes up with a revealing description of the half guard:

The Half Guard is a great guard for people who are neither flexible nor athletic. It is not a purely offensive guard. The best kind of guard is one that combines submission attempts with escapes, survival, and sweeps. This is where you really want to be. The Half Guard does not have many high-percentage submissions, and it is mostly for reversing or sometimes stalling. However, it is a guard that is necessary, and I believe you need every type of guard position to cover all possible situations.

That isn't what you'd call a glowing recommendation: in short, this quote seems to be saying that if you're inflexible and unathletic, half guard is a necessary evil that can help you stall. I have to admit that this is a pretty accurate depiction of how I tend to use half guard, so I was pleased to see Saulo follow up with a method of recovering full guard. As ever, he also goes into detail on what not to do, before moving on to deep half guard and taking the back.

Guard passing is grouped under brown belt. Like the previous chapter it also includes lots of different types of guard, but here Saulo goes into a little more depth, especially on open, butterfly and half guard. This chapter also includes the best part of the previous purple belt section, which is the coverage of fundamentals in the opening few pages.

For guard passing, basic means passing from the knees, again just like Jiu Jitsu Revolution. Saulo discusses how to prevent your opponent establishing grips, then how to remove them if they manage to get past your defences. A wonderful quote from the DVD, where Saulo talks of treating your training partner as your best friend, is echoed on page one hundred and ninety-eight. Saulo advises:

do not make the mistake of trying to use your elbows to hurt your partner. This does not cause him to open his guard: it only gets him mad! Remember, you are not here to hurt your partner. Instead, use technical jiu-jitsu and preserve them

A few pages later, Saulo revisits Rorion's infamous 'Gracie Gift', first seen on Gracie Jiu Jitsu Basics. Saulo acknowledges that "some think this move is too antiquated to be useful and others complain that this technique is a sure-fire way to get triangle choked." However, he argues that "if done correctly, your opponent will be unable to prevent the opening or triangle-choke you."

The key element is not putting their leg up on your shoulder, as Rorion demonstrates. Instead, Saulo underhooks with his hand on top of his knee. It still looks a little risky, but certainly safer than Rorion's suicidal version, where the Gracie patriarch never even mentioned the possibility of getting triangled.

Passing from standing receives an equally detailed explanation from Saulo, with more drills, pointers, variations and examples of mistakes. That same treatment goes for open, butterfly and half guard, with briefer segments on X-guard, De La Riva, inverted guard, spider guard and reverse De La Riva.

The section on guard passing is massive, spanning one hundred and thirty-three pages, by far the largest in the book. It is followed by a 'black belt' chapter of less than fifty pages, covering submissions. Saulo's ethos here is excellent, starting with the organisation: submissions are left right until the end of the book, having first established the defensive tactics of escapes and sweeps.

In addition, Saulo's introduction to this chapter is perfectly in keeping with what I firmly believe is the right approach to BJJ, as espoused in the brilliant thread by NSLightOut on training, stagnation and tapping. Saulo reiterates those points:

I think jiu-jitsu is the only martial art where you must continually accept defeat. [...] Although it is very difficult, you really need to let it go and understand that this is something that will happen frequently. [...]

I always have been a competitive person, but I have also had to check my ego. I have had to remind myself that I am at the academy to learn and not to compete. The time to compete always comes, and the academy is rarely the place for this.

Similarly, he emphasises the importance of not getting caught up in an imagined hierarchy when training, though his comparison is a little strange:

Tapping is a difficult concept to wrap your mind around, especially if it is an upper belt tapping to a lower belt. To these students, I say set your souls free. I believe that jiu-jitsu is a samurai art. So as a samurai, your job is to pass your knowledge to the lower belts. [...]

When I train, I tap to lower belts from time to time. Everyone does. The important part is bringing your students with you, not fighting them to keep your superiority. If you do not help them, you will never create the image of yourself in your students.

Samurai are not the historical figures which spring to my mind when thinking of people without ego looking to help their juniors, but then I'm no military historian. It is an important message either way, as is Saulo's next point that "it is better to tap many times, train hard, and have a safe learning experience than not to tap once and suffer injury and time away from the mats." Eminently sensible, and essential advice for everyone involved in BJJ.

The submissions themselves are simple and functional, all either chokes or arm attacks from one of three positions, mount, rear mount or side control. The only exception is a straight ankle lock right at the end, shown from within someone else's guard. That isn't something I would expect to be included in a book aimed at beginners, but Saulo does preface his demonstration with the advice to "not utilize this move in lieu of learning proper guard-passing skills," one of the pitfalls of focusing on leg attacks.

Jiu Jitsu University is a polished piece of work, giving the BJJ student everything they need to know to progress in the sport (though you could argue takedowns aren't present, that part of grappling is - and has always been – far better explained by judo and wrestling instructionals). This is without a doubt worthy of inclusion in your grappling library.

For the absolute beginner, I would still recommend Mastering Jujitsu as your first purchase, as the enormous number of techniques in Jiu Jitsu University could be a little much for somebody new to take in. If I was suggesting order of purchase, this would probably come in at number three, after Mastering Jujitsu and Ed Beneville's The Guard, along with at least several months of mat time. Available to buy here, (and for the US, here). Alternately, there are the eBay options below:

03/05/2009 - Farnborough Throwdown

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Farnborough Throwdown, Bullshido, Andy Roberts Academy, 03/05/2009

The first UK throwdown of the year is the closest I've seen so far to a London venue, which would probably result in the biggest turnout as there are so many people training there. Or at least that's the theory: increasingly attendance has been small, and its also increasingly been almost all BJJers. This time round, Mark and I both made the trip, as did Alan (the only non-BJJer, who was also at Oxford last year). That was it in terms of people willing to actually travel, as like Belfast, the rest of the numbers were made up by locals who train at the venue anyway.

Not that I mind, as I'm there to grapple. It would be nice to see more faces from Bullshido, though we did lose a few to a BJJ competition on the same day. I was looking forward to rolling with Mark and Jadon again, as its always interesting getting feedback from people you only spar once or twice a year. The throwdown also gave me a chance to take a look at the Andy Roberts Academy for the first time: great venue with plenty of mats, once I found it after calling Jadon (its up an alleyway, so I totally didn't notice it initially). The only negative is the current lack of showers (which I assume will be rectified at some point in the future).

Before the sparring started, there was a drill I wanted to try out, having seen it on one of Matt Thornton's Straight Blast Gym clips. The idea is to spin back into guard as somebody tries to pass, first gradually building up the movements you need to master. That begins by swinging one foot right over to the other side, then doing the opposite. Next, you try and swing that foot further, coming up on your shoulders, using your upper back to spin. Finally, you swing the foot right over, spin around on your back and shoulders, then return to the previous position.

On the clip, this was done with partners, but as that's going to be rare, I wanted to work on the alternative, which is doing it against a wall. After swinging my legs over and back a few times, I decided to first ask Mark if he'd seen the drill before, as he's been training at SBG Dublin. Watching him do it made me realise the importance of the shoulder, so I eventually managed to get a full spin in going in one direction, but not the other. Something to practice at home.

My first roll was with Alan, after showing him the basics of shrimping and bridging, then how to combine the two for a fundamental side control escape. As he isn't a grappler, he also unsurprisingly hadn't brought a gi with him. That meant I didn't have my usual grips to play with: its been a good while since I've done any nogi, and I'd forgotten how limited I feel once I take off the gi.

Next up was Mark, where we maintained a relaxed pace. Largely that was because Mark was looking to work his defence, but unfortunately I'm one of the worst sparring partners for that, because I'm so passive. So, lots of staring at him without doing much when in his guard, though I did try to stand once or twice. Mark was wearing a gi and shorts, meaning I didn't have any trousers to grab, but my guard passage is sufficiently terrible that I don't think it made a whole lot of difference.

In my guard, I'm continuing to try and look for triangle set-ups, but its very early days. The clips I've seen of Ryan Hall have been useful, so I'm looking forward to getting hold of his updated triangle instructional, whenever he releases that. Anything that uses the legs is good, as are chokes, because that should hopefully involve less need for strength.

I also played a bit with reverse De La Riva again, which worked better this time, but I still couldn't initiate the sweep. I was looking for the far leg to hook, but I think I need to break their posture better first, forcing them to step forward. Again, I'm not using my legs enough to put my partner under pressure, and I'm also being a bit too relaxed under side control. On the plus side, Tran's side control escape (where you simply bridge into them as they bring their leg over to mount) continues to work well for me.

The last part of the roll was all choke defence, as Mark took my back. I used the 'Shirley Temple' defence Ais showed me last year, where you clamp your hands to either side of your jaw and neck. I was also trying to get into Saulo's 'survival position', where you scoot down low, but couldn't clear Mark's hooks. After he shifted to a body triangle, I was looking to footlock him (as Christina did that to me every time I went for a body triangle), without really remembering how to do it.

Afterwards when I asked Mark for feedback, the exact same response as when I first sparred him in 2007: movement and defence is ok, but need more aggression. Sitting up in guard was a more specific point, as I'm tending to lie back when I should be up and attacking. I always used to go for sit-up sweeps, so that could be a useful technique to revisit, especially with the various options that branch off from there, like the kimura and guillotine (or indeed a triangle, as Ryan Hall demonstrates).

On top, I have to put them under pressure, so rather than just vaguely holding the legs and hanging back, I should drive my hips forward. Also, on the body triangle, it turns out that what I was doing was actually akin to going for a heel hook, so will have to avoid doing that in future. I seem to remember when Christina did it to me, the pressure was different and far less dangerous, so will have to look into the proper defence.

Finally, I went with Jadon. Remembering last time and also going by his blog, I expected him to push the pace a bit, so wanted to save that for last. It started off with repeated collar choke attempts by Jadon after he moved through to mount, which I only narrowly escaped. My defence was technically pretty poor: on one of his attacks in particular, it was purely grabbing the arm and pulling, so that would never work against anyone bigger, not to mention in competition you'd soon get knackered.

After that, it was my turn to try some offence, but strangely from under side control. For some reason, it was relatively straightforward to bring my legs up for a reverse triangle (I think? Triangle in a weird position, anyway), but I wasn't able to finish, despite locking it on several times in a row. I also tried attack the arm (as it was twisted so the back of the elbow was facing up) by pressing on the elbow, but again couldn't find the right spot.

Then finally there was also the kimura to go for from there, but I wasn't able to stop Jadon grabbing his belt. Rolling on top in that position didn't help much, though I guess in a competition environment it would at least get some points (though I give up position so easily, I'd think I'd always be way behind on points in a competition environment).

From chatting afterwards, it turns out that what I should have done is grabbed Jadon's far sleeve and pull it towards me. That would have then put his shoulder in place to squash against his neck, meaning I could finish the triangle. So will have to keep that in mind for next time, though I'm assuming its normally rare to get into silly position like a reverse triangle anyway. Still, fun to play with the submission.

Alan and Mark did some striking training, though I didn't see much of it, and James, one of Andy Roberts' blue belts, popped along later. Mark and Jadon sparred with just about everybody, though as ever I was lazy and just went with a paltry three. Sid completed the group, yet another BJJer from Andy Roberts, who also started posting on Bullshido recently: the only non Bullshido person there was James.

Mark didn't have his memory card with him, unfortunately, so no video, but I did take a few pictures on my phone, which I've spread throughout this post. Next throwdown should be in Belfast at Queens again, so hopefully I can make that: as ever, all depends on finances.

27/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #222

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 27/04/2009 - Beginner

Almost forgot to mention: there is a throwdown in Farnborough this Sunday, with a nominal £5 mat fee. So, if anybody fancies meeting up for a roll, now's your chance. Would be great to see people, if there's anyone reading this blog who can make it down to spar (or just drill: I normally spend a good chunk of throwdowns drilling stuff I've not had a chance to practice much in class). Full details on Jadon's Bullshido thread.

This will be my last week training at Kilburn, so I plan to train Monday and Wednesday (tomorrow I've got some academic work I need to get sorted). I'll be sad to leave, as its been a great few months continuing to learn from Jude. Hopefully I'll get back to London at some point in the future, but no idea when that will be, especially as my gf hates the idea of living in the capital (expensive, dangerous, commuting on the Tube is horrible, etc).

During guard passage, I was having a play with the triangle, thought my set-ups remain terrible and my execution sufficiently sloppy that I can never secure the submission. With my first training partner, a white belt called Ben, I had my legs up and crossed, but didn't underhook the leg, so he could happily stand up with me sitting by his head. Fortunately he's one of the more sensible white belts, so didn't Rampage-slam me, instead carefully kneeling back down.

Similarly with Rodrigo, I again couldn't lock the triangle properly. I got a bit further this time, having managed to get into position with my legs secured by his head and arm through, but still couldn't finish. Of course he's much bigger than me, but there was clearly something wrong with my mechanics given how easily he escaped.

Finally, I went with Rich, but was thinking too much about trying out the reverse De La Riva I'd wanted to attempt last lesson. What I should have been concentrating on instead was making sure I pushed his hips away with my legs as soon as my guard was open, as otherwise its a simple matter for him to pass.

Jude then went through the same underhook cross choke and triangle combination from last week, then moved on to a triangle from spider guard. From closed guard, you uncross your legs and put your feet on their hips. Grab their sleeves, then shrimp out to make enough space for your foot onto their same side bicep. The other foot stays on their hip.

You're now going to pull them in, kicking the foot on their bicep through to instead go over the back of their neck. You can now bring your other leg up for the triangle position, keeping their other arm by your chest and inside your leg.

That's what I should have been doing when sparring Rodrigo and Ben earlier, so its handy to see the set-up. I also think I may be too bunched up, meaning I'm already half-stacked, whereas I should be scooting back and swivelling for better leverage. I'm keen to improve submissions that use my legs rather than my arms, given that my arms are puny (not that my legs are much better, but still much stronger than my upper body).

In free sparring I ended up against Ben twice. The first time I spent most of it in an Americana, but fortunately for me, Ben was trying to apply it with one of his arms still under my head. I felt fairly safe, as he didn't have the leverage from there, but a good reminder to be more careful with my arm when I'm under half guard or side control. I made sure to tell him, so I doubt I'll get off that lightly if there's a next time. ;)

Our second spar was the other way round, where instead I was in top half-guard for much of the time. I was looking for the kimura, but couldn't get into position. I then saw a possible opportunity for that whizzer armbar I saw Saulo do on his DVD, but again I didn't quite get in the proper place. Still, as I often find myself with a whizzer in top half guard, its something I'd like to try again.

Same thing happened with Rich, with the difference that it happened right at the end of the spar. Previously, he'd got me into high mount yet again, and I'd also been under side control for a while. As he was passing I threw my legs up by his legs, but while I was able to triangle them, I don't think I had anything so soon let go. Like always, basics must remain the focus: I definitely need to follow my own advice on that in guard, making sure I'm using my legs a lot more to off-balance and break posture.

DVD Review - Jiu Jitsu Revolution (Saulo Ribeiro)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:54:00 +0000

Short review: Saulo Ribeiro's instructional set is rightly acknowledged as one of the best available. This is because Saulo is meticulous in his detail, taking a concept-heavy approach to all the major positions in BJJ. Multiple angles and methodical progression mean these DVDs are perfect for refining your understanding of the sport, with an entire game laid out over the course of six hours.

However, I would not recommend this as your first purchase (I'd continue to suggest Roy Dean for the absolute beginner). There is an implicit assumption throughout the set that you already understand the fundamentals: what Saulo presents are modifications, improvements and alternatives to those basics. Therefore I'd suggest that this works best for those who have recently got their blue belt, or are fast approaching that level. Jiu Jitsu Revolution is available here.

Now for the long review (and as I've been waiting to review this for a while, its really long):

Saulo Ribeiro, a black belt under Royler Gracie, has a very impressive pedigree in BJJ. He has won the Mundials six times and the ADCC twice. On top of that, Saulo's teaching expertise was instrumental in enabling his brother Xande to rack up even more titles. Together they currently run the very successful University of Jiu Jitsu in San Diego.

Jiu Jitsu Revolution, Saulo's first instructional, was released in 2004, later followed by Freestyle Revolution, a no gi instructional, in 2005, with Jiu Jitsu Revolution 2 coming out during 2006.

Saulo prefaces Jiu Jitsu Revolution with a ten minute solo discussion, ranging from his opinions on other tape series, his reasons for making one himself, and a long list of acknowledgement to family, instructors and training partners. This sets the tone for his instructional style: Saulo loves to talk. He provides the complete opposite of the concise, no frills teaching epitomised by people like Pedro Carvalho. There is a certain similarity to the long explanations of Cesar Gracie and extensive detail of Rorion Gracie, taking his time over the techniques rather than speeding through like Carvalho or Renzo.

Roy Dean also makes for a good comparison with Saulo's teaching style. Both black belts add a philosophical slant to their interpretation of jiu jitsu, exemplified by the rather high ideals Saulo attributes to his instructional set:

I think that now is time for me to give back what jiu jitsu gave to my life. I think that's a good contribution that I'm doing to the martial arts, to the jiu jitsu, and I think that make me a better man. Not just as a fighter, as a teacher: as a person. I want to be remembered by the people not for the champ that I am, not for the medals that I get, the Abu Dhabi that I won, I wanna be remembered as a guy that really help people.

As the above quote reveals, a major difference is that Saulo lacks Roy Dean's grasp of English, but you soon get used to Saulo's idiosyncratic vocabulary and grammar. He is especially fond of throwing in "aspects" and "concepts," which points to the attempt Saulo makes to approach BJJ with principles on top of technique.

The Mount (slightly over an hour) begins with yet more discussion, about "aspects" and "concepts" in the mount. Saulo emphasises the importance of the mount, a position which demonstrates your superiority, of which there are several variations. Handily, a number pops up in the corner of the screen, which is used to clearly break up each sequence.

Saulo's first mount variation is to grapevine their legs, basing your arms by their head, hips right on top of theirs. Saulo comments that he recommends this option "when you just want time." In other words, this is where you can catch your breath in competition, though Saulo states there aren't that many attacks from this position (although as he explains in the next section, the Ezequiel is one of those few submissions).

A second mount variation is to get your knees up into their armpits, marking section three of the DVD. Saulo advises you don't try to wrap an arm behind their head, as you are higher up on their body, meaning their hips are free to bridge (or as Saulo puts it, bump, another word he'll use throughout the series). He says you should keep your weight back, careful to avoid their efforts to bridge, although it is possible for flexible people to hook you with their legs and pull you down if you're not careful.

Saulo provides a useful tip in the fourth section, on securing the collar choke. If they're defending, you can simply grip the lapel lower down and open it there. I had always assumed you had to get past their arms first, but Saulo's method –at least against that particular grip - shows how you can break through their defences by using their gi against them. Saulo insists that they can only defend either the neck or the collar, not both at the same time.

Once you've got a hold on their collar, you can switch to seated mount (which Saulo calls 'technical mount'), then combine an armlock with a choke. Saulo demonstrates how you can try the choke, then attack for the arm if they try to defend, and in turn go back to the choke if they block that attack as well. As with much of this set, the purpose is to use what your opponent gives you, rather than forcing any particular position or submission.

Another point that crops up repeatedly is not gripping too deep. Saulo generally recommends a grip higher up, as he is keen to avoiding getting "locked" into his partner's body. He also invests plenty of time into teaching the viewer how to maintain a position, rather than just lots of techniques.

On this DVD, that covers both maintaining the basic mount and the seated mount. For the former, Saulo states that the secret is to lift your hips when the person underneath you attempts to bridge. Effectively, that looks rather like riding a horse, and prevent your partner from disrupting your base. I would assume that your timing has to be good, however, and that you also need to be careful about leaving too much space.

By section nine, Saulo is ready to show the other side of the position: escapes. Across the six DVDs, the instruction on escapes tends to be shorter, with a focus on a few fundamental principles that apply to multiple situations. In the case of mount, as with much of BJJ, it is all about the hips. Saulo advises that you want to stop the person on top moving, which can be achieved by creating a frame with your arms to block their hips. From there, execute the usual elbow escape.

Another important part of Saulo's escapes is avoiding the cross-face. You need to keep your head pressed against the floor, so they can't get an arm underneath. If they do manage to get past and lock the head, look to the 'open' side, then block their hips and elbow escape as before.

Something more unusual crops up at the end. Having spent the previous sections basically showing multiple applications of the elbow escape, Saulo finishes with a completely different option. If they aren't giving you the resistance you need to frame against their knee and make space, you need an alternative. This turns out, surprisingly, to be a sit-up sweep.

Saulo doesn't call it that, but it certainly looks like the same motion. You pop up onto your elbow, lock their knee, then roll to guard. I would never have thought to try the technique in that situation, but Saulo claims it can work, as long as you get the timing right.

The Cross Body (around an hour) follows, with a similar division between maintaining the position, attacks and then escapes from the bottom. Again, Saulo draws attention to controlling your opponent's body without expending lots of energy, and he also repeats the central importance of the hips. As he says so often in this instructional set, you need to "connect" your hips to their hips.

Having achieved the control, Saulo moves on to a choke. This gives him another opportunity to emphasise that you shouldn't be hurting your partner, so there is no need to really smash your arm into their throat. Instead, focus on leverage and motion, sliding round to effect the choke.

After a variation that demonstrates how to overcome a blocking arm, Saulo adds what he refers to as one of his favourite chokes. This time, you use your legs to get the power for the choke, stepping over their head once you have a hold on their collar. This reminded of something Tran called the 'exposé' choke, which he learned from Nic G. Probably the same thing, as he's definitely caught me in the past. I thought I was safe because it was just a single grip on the collar, until he stepped over and I was suddenly tapping.

While the submissions all looked useful, as do the details on transitioning to mount, I was far more interested in escaping side control. That's been my focus in BJJ for most of the time I've been training, so I'm always keen to see the different approaches in instructionals.

Saulo begins with positioning: he states that you should not put your arm under their armpit, as then it is too easy to block you. Also, in direct contrast to Demian Maia, Saulo advises against putting the arm against their head: Maia uses this as the basis of several escapes in his popular Science of Jiu Jitsu series. Again, Saulo shows how he feels this is a dangerous option, locking you in place.

As with the DVD on the mount, Saulo also highlights the need to stop them getting an arm under your head. This means that his arm position is slightly modified from how I've seen it in class. His forearm is into their neck with the other elbow inside their knee as usual, but the hand is not on the hip. Instead, that's holding their arm, stopping them from getting the cross-face. This is a little reminiscent of Indrek Reiland's use of the 'paw' from half-guard, with the same purpose.

Once you're into position, you need to use your hips: as Saulo says, they are "the strongest leverage that you have" so you should take advantage. Everyone knows to bridge, but Saulo shows how you need to bridge into them, not just up, which is an important detail. This helps with shrimping out, as you're already moving onto your side.

That then leads to another essential detail, which is yet another "connect". This time it isn't hip against hip, but elbow to your knee, to create a barrier to their knee. Saulo goes so far as to say that "no matter what happen, the perfect thing is the connect. As soon as I connect, I got it."

The escape in section thirteen is a little unorthodox, but I've already found it of use a few times in training. That is because Saulo goes against the idea that you should never turn away from your partner when escaping side control. However, if they have both their arms on the near side of your body, turning away from them can be an effective strategy.

Normally, the reason you don't turn away from your opponent is because it means you expose your back, but Saulo shows how you can get a step ahead. His secret is to push on their shoulder and get an arm between their chest: that way, you're able to make enough space to swing your leg right over and come to your knees before they can get to your back.

Like many other instructionals, Saulo includes knee-on-belly as an aspect of side control, showing two escapes. The first is when their knee isn't deep, so you can bring your near elbow around (as Saulo comments earlier, never put your hand on their knee or you're asking to get submitted), shift onto your side and shrimp out to escape. The second is against a more secure knee-on-belly: this time, you bridge up to get your arm under their foot and grab the back of their gi. Once you've got that hold, you can again shrimp, but this time knock them to the ground.

As I often get squished under knee-on-belly, I've been trying that second one repeatedly. So far, I haven't had much success, but I think what I'm missing is firstly the bridge to get a good deep grip, and secondly I'm not shrimping enough. Its been useful to have something to go for nonetheless, so hopefully with more mat time things will start to click.

The third DVD is about the Back Position (slightly under an hour). Continuing Saulo's established pattern, he first details common mistakes. For taking the back, Saulo states these are attempting to control the arm, pulling the belt, controlling both elbows, the collars etc, because that misses the issue. The first concern, as ever, should be to "connect my hips". Not too far forward as they can then drop you over their shoulder, or too far back, as they can spin to guard.

He continues to show how once you've got the hips in place, you don't want to grab with both hands, and especially not deep: otherwise, they can lock your arm and roll you into side control. Instead, Saulo recommends a shallower grip on the opposite collar, then pull that up tight. He progresses through to showing how to establish hooks, roll them to rear mount and get in position for a choke.

The way in which Saulo breaks down how to take the back (and importantly, how to stay there) is brilliant. His slow, concept-heavy style of explanation makes for a perfect fit, showing you step-by-step how to get into position, the pitfalls to avoid, and how to finish (e.g., chokes and omoplatas), along with variations depending on their reaction. As with all of the techniques on the DVD, Saulo uses multiple angles and pauses to clarify particular details, such as raising up his partner so you can see the grip on the collar.

His discussion of escaping from back mount occupies less of the disc, covering just three of the twelve sections, but it is nevertheless equally methodical and carefully explained. Readers of Jiu Jitsu University will recognise both the 'survival position' and eventual escape Saulo demonstrates here.

He begins, as before, by detailing common mistakes. That includes three of the more common escapes, all of which Saulo briefly demonstrates: putting your weight onto them and bridging; pulling their foot up and placing your weight on them; grabbing their arm, stepping over, spinning then completing the escape. Saulo is blunt in his appraisal:

I would say, that is a waste of time. Because, in fact, every time I put my weight on him, I'm not having the control of my body: he's controlling my body.

Saulo also makes a point of ridiculing the bizarre raised arm defence shown several years earlier on Gracie Jiu Jitsu Advanced, though he doesn't mention any names. Slightly mitigating that criticism, Saulo goes on to say that those escapes might have worked back in the 1990s, when knowledge of BJJ was both not so widespread and less refined (at least according to Saulo, from what I can gather from his comments). Today, which for this DVD was 2004, the level has shot up, largely due to the increasing development of elite competition.

Rather than focusing on getting your weight backed onto your opponent, Saulo's alternative is to drop down and lock their body onto yours. He states you do not lift your hips, instead 'scooting' into the survival position from his later book, Jiu Jitsu University. From here, you can kick out your trapped leg to remove the hook, then shrimp towards the opening and spin to face your partner.

After covering how to defend when turtled, Saulo moves on to a late defence from rear mount. This time, they've managed to get one arm around your neck. Rather than focusing on grabbing the arm, Saulo instead shows you how to drop to your side, then make space to return to the previous survival position and escape. Its notably different from the defence I'm used to (which is to clamp my hands by my chin, like Ais showed me), so will have to give that a try in sparring.

The Guard (just over an hour) begins with sweeps. Saulo's first piece of advice is that if they put their knee in the middle, its fairly easy to sweep them, though he notes "the sweep always in the momentum", so requires initial resistance from them. He moves on to what looks like the windscreen wiper sweep Ciaran showed me back at the first Belfast TD, before explaining a technique I almost always try at least once in sparring: the handstand sweep.

Saulo shows how that sweep is not about pushing up: instead, you want to drop slightly, then drive your hips sideways into their knee, using leverage rather than force. As Saulo puts it, you "don't want to be strongest, but the smartest." To get into position, wiggle back on your shoulders, which is something I've never thought about, so will have to try that next time.

After adding in the classic follow-up, a star sweep, Saulo progresses to butterfly guard sweeps: contrary to what you might expect, there are few submissions on this particular DVD. I hardly ever use butterfly guard myself, but the way Saulo has referred to it as ideal for shorter people makes me wonder if I should be attempting it more often. The sweeps here are the usual fundamentals, where you come in close, then drop to the side to roll on top.

Open guard, however, is a place I'll often find myself, which is unsurprising given how central a position it is to BJJ. Saulo's preferred grip is to hook on the opposite leg, bringing the same side leg and hand around the outside. He comments how this is an excellent controlling hold, which again gives you an opportunity to rest: that certainly appeals to me. I assumed it had a specific name, so checking Stephan Kesting's guard glossary, I see its called the reverse De la Riva.

From there, Saulo explains a sweep where the idea is to get them to step forward. One option is to grab their same side lapel and pull them forward, or if they resist, lift your legs to force them to step. You can then push with your legs to knock them down, or as Kesting mentions, switch to things like x-guard.

Another option Saulo discusses is going for the omoplata from open guard. This time, it looks more like a variant of spider guard: cross grip, foot into their same side armpit, with your hand hooked around their same side leg. From here, you can kick your other leg right up towards their arm for the omoplata.

If they try to put their leg behind to roll you, there is an unusual attack to combined with the omoplata. This looked reminiscent of Cesar Gracie's leg lock, as Saulo also hooks their leg behind him. Alternately, Saulo walks you through both a sweep and an armbar if your omoplata is blocked. As with all his techniques, Saulo shows multiple angles, generally adjusting as and when there is a particular detail he wants to emphasise.

The Half Guard (a little under an hour) was another point of interest for me, as like escaping side control, half guard is a place I frequently find myself during sparring. Like most of the other DVDs (with the exception of The Guard and Passing the Guard, which fit together), Saulo covers tactics from both on top and underneath the position.

Before passing half-guard, Saulo states you have to get them flat on their back. His method is very simple: circle round towards the trapped knee side. Once you've got your opponent onto their back, trap them there by getting your chest onto theirs. You can now secure an underhook, put your head on the ground, a hand on their knee, then lift your hips to pop your knee through.

Another common position is facing the knees. Saulo advises that you don't go too high when trying this half-guard, as otherwise you're liable to get swept. As before, you need to block their hips, keeping in mind Saulo's mantra of "connect." Once you've settled, you can then drive back against their arm, in a similar fashion to when you're looking to go from side control to mount.

Interestingly, Saulo makes a point here that contrasts with what I've seen before. When pushing their leg to free your own, it is not the top leg that should concern you, but the bottom. This is because they are unable to exert as much power with that lower leg, so its easier for you to manipulate. As soon as you've made some space, trap that leg with your knee.

Having demonstrated some passes, Saulo adds in a few submissions. Instead of going for a kimura, as you might expect from this position, he instead attacks with an armlock off a figure-four grip. The kimura from here, according to Saulo, is likely to get you swept, as you don't have the angle to apply it properly.

A simple looking armbar follows later on: this time, you're just using your weight on their arm and pulling up on their wrist. Saulo takes this opportunity to talk about how he has used this particular submission successfully in high-level competition, a method of proving the efficacy of his techniques that occurs repeatedly throughout this set.

I have found myself with a whizzer (if you don't know what that is, see the picture on the left) when in top half guard a few times, but never been able to capitalise. Saulo demonstrates one method I could use, which takes advantage of the whizzer to armbar the person on the bottom. Importantly, he shows this from both angles, which makes the technique much clearer.

Saulo then has a handy section reviewing all the passes and submissions he's just done, showing how you can fit them together. Its a shame he doesn't do this on all the DVDs, as its a great refresher and 'big picture' moment.

Now that he's worked through the top of half guard, Saulo moves on to the bottom, which I was particularly looking forward to watching. As you would expect given his advice for the top, on the bottom you need to make sure you're never flat on your back: get onto your side instead. You also need to work hard to avoid the cross-face, as that severely restricts your movements.

Like Indrek Reiland, Saulo uses one hand for blocking their arm, with a similar 'paw' concept (though he doesn't call it that). Saulo then does something in common with another internet legend, Aesopian, by putting his knee across the hip. If they manage to break your legs open, shift that knee up to their chest.

The next section is impressive, as Saulo very methodically breaks down exactly how you move to deep half guard, then finish by coming up on your elbow to execute the sweep. Lots of explanation, numerous angles and frequent emphasis on details make this a real highlight, exemplifying how an instructor should go about demonstrating a technique on DVD.

Saulo finishes off half-guard by showing a similar escape when the person on top is facing your legs, before moving onto the final DVD in the set, Passing the Guard (a couple of minutes under an hour). This opens by stating the two broad groups of passing, which is either standing or on the ground.

Saulo emphasises that as legs are stronger than arms, you never want to be matching your arm strength against their leg muscles. That will expend a great deal of energy without much purpose, so instead, you need to get in close.

He demonstrates how to approach and block one side, avoiding omoplatas and the like (as he showed earlier in the guard section). Saulo uses his leg to press into the back of their same side knee, bolstering that barrier with his same side elbow.

Basic theory follows, with how to stand up. Saulo doesn't just use the cross-grip, but instead drags their arm right over to trap it under his other elbow. This makes sense, as then he is able to control their arm while still keeping his own arm free. He also repeated something Jude said to me a while ago about passing, which is to make sure you don't lean forward when you're standing up: you're easy to pull back down in that position.

However, Saulo does not drive his hips as I was expecting. He prefers to lean to the side, then stand up at a diagonal. Once you've got to your feet, you can then switch your same side hand to grab that sleeve, preventing their attempts to hook your foot and go for sweeps. Finally, turn your body and disengage their leg in order to open the guard.

After numerous further tips on posture, grips and how to react to their attacks, Saulo progresses to opening their guard on the ground. This is the first clip I saw of the DVD, and the quote he produces here is what generated my interest in the DVD as a whole:

A lot of people give up about trying to open the guard on the ground because they have got so many problems and spend so much energy here on the ground. You have to think that your partner, the guy that you're training [with], has to be your best friend.

So, you don't want to hurt him, you don't want to try to open his guard with your elbow, make him feel really pain, because jiu jitsu is not about pain. You have to find the right spot to save your energy and be able to open the guard.

I really like the three main parts of that: your training partners are your friends, jiu jitsu is not about pain and always save your energy. Its an excellent philosophy for BJJ, which fits very much with how I've tried to approach my learning.

The guard break itself it not one I've yet been successful with, but I take heart from what Saulo says about "a lot of people give up," so I'll continue to persevere. It is similar to what I've called the 'tailbone break' at various points in this blog, in that you use your knee by their bum, then create distance by stepping back.

The essential differences in Saulo's version are that his knee is by the side rather than the middle of the bum, and he steps back and twists, in one motion. Rather than then shoving their leg off his hip, he moves around and dips, using his body instead of arm strength.

Passing on the ground again involves blocking one side. Once in place, Saulo uses his head to post, weighing down their legs. You can then swing your leg behind in order to pass, with a comparable principle to the leg pin. As always, maintaining pressure is essential, aiming to trap their hips through the combination of your bodyweight and your posted head.

Butterfly and open guard are also tackled, as is attacking the turtle, which was a little unusual. I would have thought that would crop up in the section on the back: as it is instead on this DVD, its possible that Saulo is treating the turtle as a sort of guard. Then again, it may just be an organisational choice for this particular instructional set.

After five years, Saulo's first set is still one of the best available, largely because he builds up the instruction through a series of concepts, like "connect the hips", "save your energy" and "your partner has to be your best friend." Saulo talks incessantly, pointing out details, explaining how they fit into a bigger picture and frequently emphasising how these techniques have helped him perform successfully at the highest levels of competition. Like Rorion Gracie, Saulo is incredibly thorough, spending a long time explicating a comparatively small number of techniques (an average of around ten or twelve per DVD).

However, I would not recommend this as your first purchase (I'd continue to suggest Roy Dean for the absolute beginner). To get the most out of these DVDs, you need to already understand the fundamentals. This is because everything in Saulo's set is built upon those basics, so if you haven't yet come to terms with the fundamentals, these DVDs will be much less useful. Therefore I'd suggest that the set works best for those who have recently got their blue belt, or are fast approaching that level.

Another good reason to delay until later in your training is the cost. Unlike the relatively inexpensive Blue Belt Requirements, Jiu Jitsu Revolution 1 normally retails for around $130, sometimes even more. It is certainly worth the cash, but wait until you've had enough mat time to really appreciate what Saulo has to offer. It is available to buy here, or as usual there is always eBay:

22/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #221

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 22/04/2009 - Beginner

There wasn't a lot of technique today, just the half-guard choke from yesterday. Sparring started with guard passage, where I had the interesting experience of rolling with somebody smaller than me, which doesn't happen often. As ever, I spent most of my time on the bottom in half guard, aiming to shrimp in order to recover full guard.

I'm trying to rely less on having my legs closed all the time, instead just hooking their outside leg and using that as a base to shrimp. Got back to full guard a few times that way, but as my partner wasn't locking my upper body, that was probably less difficult than it would normally be.

My next partner was a high level blue belt, who is always really helpful. This time, they gave me various tips based on what they've observed from rolling with me, which is awesome: I don't think anyone has done that for me before.

Main thing was to react to what they were doing, rather than have something in mind that I then constantly look to apply. Related to that, I need to use my legs a lot more when in guard, pulling them in, and also pushing them away once my guard is opened.

Finally for guard passage, I went with the teenager again, so this time I was the one giving advice. As with most people who are still fairly new, that was largely related to not leaving space when on top, using your hips and making sure that you trap the leg all the way through the knee pin pass. She was repeatedly easing the pressure midway through her passing, which meant my knee was free. Its something I do too: that's one of the great things about helping others, as it helps you realise your mistakes in turn.

Free sparring was up next, where I return to spar with the blue belt from earlier. That proved to be a continuation of guard passage, as they urged me to react to their positioning. For example, when they're crouched in front of you without good base, simply push them over with your legs and pop up to mount. I'm prone to staying on my back and waiting, rather than seizing opportunities like that.

Class finished with another spar with the teenager, after which I got a load of useful advice from the blue belt. I'd said I was having trouble with passing the spider guard, so they showed me three ways of passing, depending on what the leg is doing.

If its completely straight – a mistake – your hand circles underneath to break the grip, then you drive your hips into the leg and slide down to side control. If its bent, you again circle your arm to break the grip, then bring your same side knee into the back of their leg. Use that to press down and trap the limb, after which you can initiate your pass.

Finally, there was a reminder of Jude's pass, where you get both hands on the leg, yank up, then slide your knee into their ribs. Very helpful to have a reminder on all of those, so now I just need to make sure I remember to try them when I'm caught in spider guard.

21/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #220

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 21/04/2009 - Beginner

Opening technique tonight was a cross choke from half guard, when they're in the process of passing. You have a grip on their collar, but then they get past one of your legs. The choke is still an option, so switch to half guard, then put your other thumb under the back of their collar. Swivel to their knee, looping your arm over their head as you do now. Move back to the centre and squeeze for the submission.

I mentioned yesterday that I was having trouble getting into a good controlling position from guard. Luckily for me, that is exactly what followed: awesome!

Jude started by demonstrating how to remove their grip when they've grabbed your gi. There are numerous options, the simplest of which is to grab the end of their sleeve, fingers on top, then put your thumbs under their wrist. You could also use a pistol grip (grasping a handful of their gi in your fist). Either way, drive straight up to remove their hand.

Alternatively, you can figure-four their wrist, by putting one hand on top, then feeding your other hand underneath and grabbing your own wrist. Again, push up from here.

Two traditional ways to get rid of that grip are to hold your own collars and pull them apart (if they are grasping both your collars with one hand), or a more complicated process. That begins by grabbing their sleeve again with your opposite hand, then bringing your other arm underneath. Reach right through with that arm, aiming to prise off their grip that way.

Now that the arm is loose, Jude's next technique can come into play, a variation on the cross choke from guard. First of all, you need to get an overhook on their arm. As soon as you remove their grip, pull their arm down to your armpit and also bring your knees back (don't just rely on your arms to get them in close).

You can now bring your arm over theirs, then reach underneath and through to grab their far collar. With your free hand, grip the back of their collar, then bring your arm past their face. Bring the forearm against their throat, then complete the choke.

Best of all, you can follow this technique up with another, the triangle. If they realise what you're doing after your first grip, its likely they will defend by putting their free hand against the side of their face. While that blocks the cross-choke, the position of their arm means you can now push their elbow back, then bring your same side leg over their head.

Make sure you get that leg past their arm: if they still have their hand on your leg, they may be able to defend the submission. Once the leg is in place, bring your other leg up and lock (just cross your ankles: don't worry about triangling your legs yet). As soon as its secure, you can let go with your hands, then raise your hips. This will bring their arm up, making it easier to push it across their body.

Now you can get into position for the triangle. Grab the shin you have across their neck to hold them in place, then put your other foot on their hip. Swivel until you have the right angle to bring your free leg over your other shin, then lock on the triangle. Squeeze for the submission, pulling down on your shin if you need extra leverage.

Class is thirty minutes shorter on Tuesday, so there wasn't quite so much sparring. However, I did get in three free spars, the first and last with the same blue belt. I was mostly looking to play with reverse De La Riva, as I'd seen Saulo recommend it as a holding position in both his DVD and book. Didn't get as much of a chance to practice as I'd hoped, because my partner stayed low rather than standing up, but still helpful to work out the grips.

In between those two rolls, I had a relaxed spar with a teenager that was there: because I'm the smallest person in class, I offered to train with her. I tried to give some helpful tips, mainly on keeping her hips down when on top, and also walked her through the knee pin pass. Hopefully it was of some use to her: certainly of use to me, as I always relish the opportunity to practice teaching (not only would I love to teach BJJ some day, but its also a skill I'm looking to develop for my academic career too).

20/04/2009 - BJJ (RGA Kilburn)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #219

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 20/04/2009 - Beginner

Tonight's class focused on takedowns: as most of the people training had little familiarity with bringing someone down to the mat, Jude introduced various drills to ingrain the concept of getting underneath. First it was basic wrestling, shooting in and going for the legs, then shuttle runs in groups of three, where the person in the middle did ten hip throws on each of their partners before swapping.

Rest of class was given over to sparring, beginning with guard passage. I started on my back, which isn't often the case, so that gave me a chance to try and work some attacks and sweeps. Emphasis on 'try': I keep letting myself get into the old passive mentality and wait for my partner to do something. That can be of some use with the blue belts, but with a white belt, they're liable to sit there straining.

Also, I'm not capitalising on what I'm being given by my partner. The first white belt I went with was pushing as hard as he could with his arms, leaning back at various points, then standing and leaning all the way forward. I'm sure I'm supposed to be able to use that, but I'm still bad at reacting to force.

When I try for the sit up sweep, the arms are there shoving me back. It is also probably that I'm not being proactive enough, and attempting something like putting my foot on their hip to swivel to a better attacking angle. Definitely need to open my guard more, rather than just lying there in closed guard waiting to see what happens. Kintanon had some ideas a while back, which I think I've also seen on Saulo's set, so will take another look at the attacks on there.

As ever, I'm also stalling a lot in half guard. Like with closed guard, I need to open up more, using one foot to lock their leg and then shrimping onto my side. Getting the diagonal half guard recovery back to full guard would be good too, but I've been struggling with that so far. Rich got it perfectly when I was watching him spar later on, which reminds me I should be going for it more.

That white belt eventually passed, meaning I was back on top with my next partner, John. For once, it was pretty straightforward, as he went for an armbar but left too much space. That meant I could just move around to the side, pressuring with my hips and shoulders to drive into side control. Rare I get that opportunity, but good to practice taking it when somebody presents it to me.

Finally for guard passage, I was with one of the big guys, about the same size as Rodrigo. Also like Rodrigo, he was careful not to use his considerable strength: always great to see a white belt who understands that its about technique, not power.

He was so big I could only just get my guard closed, so almost immediately went to open guard instead. Although Jude tried coaching me through proper spider guard control, I wasn't able to keep the white belt at bay, so they eventually passed. Again, I need to actually go for something from open guard, as I can't afford to be as passive as in closed guard. It becomes a far more dynamic position when your ankles aren't locked together.

First free spar was with John, where yet again I was in half-guard most of the time, occasionally recovering back to half-guard if he managed to get to side control or mount. Same points as earlier, which is that I need to be a bit more open and get onto my side, rather than using a lockdown to push their leg back, adjust to a more secure half-guard, they get a bit forward, lockdown, adjust...over and over again.

Last spar of the class was with Rich. He keeps catching me in Ezequiel chokes: I asked if I was doing something to make that easier, and Rich said I've been lifting my head when under mount. That gives him plenty of space to get an arm underneath to set up the choke.

So, obvious lesson there is to keep my head glued to the floor to leave no room for the cross face. I remembered to do that under side control, as per Saulo's advice on his DVD, but clearly forgot when it came to mount.

I'm also constantly finding myself under high mount with Rich, which is definitely not a good place to be. Its useful to work my escapes from there, but there must also be some mistake I'm making which enables him to keep getting there. I'll have to pay more attention next time, and defend more carefully from mount.

In the changing rooms after class, the aforementioned big guy gave me a nice compliment: he commented how Rodrigo had said I'm a good person to roll with, because I stay relaxed and don't use strength. That was great to hear, as being a person people want to spar is a major goal for me. Of course, I don't have the option of using strength anyway, but its still gratifying to hear that somebody finds me a useful training partner.

15/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #218

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 15/04/2009 - Beginner

The weather in Looe turned out to be pretty good, at least for the first three days. Lots of sunshine and no rain, though unfortunately that also meant it was busy. Swarming with chavs too, for some reason: I guess they like Cornwall. Despite that, Looe is a beautiful place, with a gorgeous harbour and plenty of pleasant walks around the area. There is also a Rail Ale Trail you can do, where you pop into various pubs near the train line to get your leaflet stamped, sampling real ale along the way. I'm not generally a big beer drinker (I prefer wine, and sherry if I can get it), but fun nonetheless.

While I was away, Oli G very helpfully annotated one of his videos: hopefully that's going to be the start of a trend. Best of all would be audio commentaries, but not sure how easy that is to do. Either way, here's the vid:

I'd been ill last Wednesday, so as I only got back to London this Wednesday, that meant I only made the one session. Class tonight kicked off with guard passing, both from the same standing break. First secure the usual grip on both their lapels with one hand, pressing the other into their hip, aiming to hinder their movement. Step up the knee opposite to the hand on the hip, then stand up, switching your double lapel grip to a single lapel you can yank up with you.

Next, reach back with the other hand, wedge it between your back and their crossed ankles, then twist forward to break their legs open. Jude covered two options from here: first, you can reach to grab their collar and press your forearm into their neck, keeping the other elbow back as you drive your hips forward, pushing their legs out of the way for side control. Second possibility is a stack pass, so once you've opened their guard, hook round their legs and clasp your hands, stack them and gradually walk round to side control.

Jude had a slight variation on that stack pass, which was to do with the position of your knees. Once you've got a hold around both their legs and pulled them towards you, go to one knee. As you pass, ram that knee into their side, bringing the other knee up as you do so. This keeps you tight, and also adds greater pressure, which should aid your transition to side control.

Finally, Jude showed a baseball bat choke from knee-on-belly. At least I think it was a baseball bat choke, going by the grip, but then I've never done that choke before. Anyway, starts as normal: hop up to knee-on-belly from side control, using a grip on their collar and hip then doing a push up.

From here, you want to get your far hand into their far collar, thumb on top and palm up. The other grabs their near collar, this time palm down: this is where the baseball bat reference comes in, as your hands are now in the same position as if you were grasping a bat.

Sprawl back from knee-on-belly, dropping the elbow of your far arm across their throat. Walk round towards north-south, which should cause the choke to tighten and result in a tap.

Guard passing was the same old story, where I went with a couple of white belts and relaxed, waiting for them to do something. Both of them were gripping as hard as they could, meaning that the first one still held on to a sleeve he'd managed to get under my leg as I passed to top half guard. Easy enough to just pause until they got tired, putting my weight onto their face.

While it was certainly restful, it didn't help me to secure side control. As ever, I left too much space when attempting to secure a kimura, and they managed to reverse and go into my guard. I had thought that bringing my knee to the head might help, but I must have left too little pressure on their hips.

The second white belt was a little faster, as this time I made some other mistake that resulted in them being able to sit right up and go for a single leg. Again, not controlling the hips properly: I should have just stood up to try and work the standing pass, rather than going into defensive mode.

Having said that, not expending much energy meant I wasn't too tired before free sparring, which was useful as I ended up doing four in a row. That isn't normally the case, as I'll almost always sit out a few, but I kept being asked by people I wanted to spar, so that resulted in only one rest. Very rare for a wimp like me! ;p

Started with one of the blue belts, where I had a play with spider guard, but wasn't able to control them all that well. They had a knee up, so I found it difficult to off-balance them. Or rather, more difficult than usual, as my spider guard is pretty bad. My main problem with it, I think, is that I don't normally have a clear aim, as I always forget the basic sweep from there.

I also spent plenty of time under knee-on-belly and side control, which along with bottom half-guard and under mount have constituted the majority of my sparring for the past couple of years. Saulo has some interesting ideas on escaping, which I've been trying to incorporate recently, but need plenty more work. Hip movement is something I want to improve, and also avoid ending up flat on my back, which I give up far too easily.

Ben, a white belt, was next. With him, it was almost entirely half-guard, using the lockdown to push his leg back, while trying to then open up slightly to shrimp and escape. I got back to closed guard a couple of times, but like my other escapes, I have to stop being so flat. Ben eventually got through to side control towards the end: I recovered half guard again, but really should be trying to go to my knees more often from under side control, especially as I'd already spent so long in half guard already.

Up next was J-Sho, somebody I think I've only done guard passage with before, so was pleased to get a chance to roll with him. Like me, he's a fellow internet BJJ geek, but unlike me, he can back that up with a high level of BJJ, given that he's an experienced purple belt. I again ran through the usual sequence of attempting to get to guard, fail, they pass to side control, then either I get into half guard or they go to knee on belly.

I presume he was taking it fairly easy, due to being way better than me. Also, if he hadn't been testing out some kind of submission that involves wrapping my gi around my arm, most likely I would have spent a lot more time under knee-on-belly. Instead, I was trying to gradually work my arm free and get back to half-guard, normally ending up under side control instead.

Finally, I was back with the earlier blue belt again, finding myself under knee-on-belly yet again. I tried to keep in mind the principle of getting my elbow to my knee when under side control to stop them getting the knee through. This helped, but they still got their knee through plenty of times, leaving me to squirm away trying to shrimp out. Saulo has some escapes for this I've been trying, but not drilled them enough yet: hopefully with more mat time I'll start to get the hang of it.

This month is unfortunately going to be my last at RGA Kilburn, as my sister is moving again at the start of May to Cobham. I've been looking around at alternatives, because Kilburn will be too far, and there appear to be three. Nova Forca is closest, at around 5.5 miles, but the timetable doesn't quite fit. I'd also very much like to stay with RGA, so I was pleased to see that contrary to what I'd thought at first, there was an affiliate not too far away.

RGA Wimbledon (which incidentally was the first club on fellow blogger Jadon’s BJJ Pilgrimage) is about 9.5 miles, so its worth the slightly longer journey to stay with the RGA family. There is also Andy Roberts' place in Farnborough, which would be cool as then I could train with Jadon, but that's more like 20 miles I think, so probably too far.

If anyone knows buses from Cobham to any of those, I'd be interested to hear what the best routes are: I'm currently going by trains, for which it looks like RGA Wimbledon would be a 10 minute walk to Cobham station, then 34 minutes to Raynes Park, and finally a 25 minute walk to Ray Stevens club. £69 unlimited sounds reasonable, as I could make three classes from Mon-Weds, same as I've been trying to do at Jude's in Kilburn.

Also, I should be doing a major overhaul of the BJJ map soon. Simon Hayes, who has been very helpful in providing information about the Carlson Gracie clubs, suggested I split it by county, as there are now so many schools. It’s a good idea, but will take a fair bit of work, particularly as I’ve always been really, really bad at geography. Fortunately for me, unlike at school, I now have Google Maps! ;)

DVD Review - Cesar Gracie Instructional

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Short review: Cesar Gracie has a wonderfully detailed style, taking the time to introduce important concepts and fine details as he breaks down each technique, showing it multiple times and from several angles. This series focuses heavily on offence, with some expertly constructed sequences of attacks. Even more than Pedro Carvalho, Cesar manages to flow through combinations in a sensible and highly functional fashion.

This series is an ideal follow-up to Roy Dean's Blue Belt Requirements. Once you've mastered the fundamental escapes on Dean's DVD, Cesar's thorough and methodical approach to attacks will help round out your game. Once again, as with all the older sets I've been reviewing, age means this is cheap: available to buy here.

On to the full review:

Cesar Gracie is an interesting case for several reasons. For a start, he was the first member of the Gracie family to release a BJJ instructional with perfect English, having moved to the US as a child (though he returned to Brazil for several years before settling in the US permanently). Like Roger Gracie, he decided to take his mother's name: as Cesar explains in this interview, "In Brazil it's common to also use your mothers maiden name. My parents were separated shortly after I was born and I was raised exclusively by the Gracie side of my family so it was also natural for me to only go by the Gracie name."

He would later produce notable fighters like the Diaz brothers, Nick and Nathan, both successful in the MMA arena (their records are 18-7-0 and 10-3-0 respectively). David Terrell, who appears with Cesar in the instructional videos, also went on to develop a decent record of 6-2-0. Then there is the well-known fighter Jake Shields, whose record is an impressive 22-4-1. Having already amassed a solid pedigree as a coach, Cesar decided to step up himself at the age of 40, losing to the far more experienced Frank Shamrock in 2006. It would have been a historic event either way, as the bout marked the first ever sanctioned MMA fight in California.

Judging by the adverts in Black Belt, Cesar's original tape series was released around 1999. There were nine tapes, split into Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, consisting of three roughly forty minute videos in each series.

Basics Volume 1 (just over forty-one minutes) begins with the usual BJJ approach to takedowns, working from the clinch. As ever, while Cesar does a reasonable job of this, I'd recommend that you look to styles like judo, wrestling and SAMBO if you want to bring your opponent to the ground: they are all much better at it than BJJ.

Far more interesting is the extended discussion on how to stand up in somebody's guard, in order to pass. Cesar spends a good twelve minutes going over important details about posture, grips and foot placement: this is excellent, and very useful for anyone looking to improve their passing. Cesar is methodical, tackling the position from multiple angles, providing comprehensive coverage of exactly how you should get to your feet to start your pass.

He then follows up with opening the guard, for which he recommends picking your opponent straight up. I'm small, so I was a little dubious on that, but Cesar does carefully go through how to take their weight, using your hips, and finally getting their legs open so you can move through to side control.

If that proves difficult, he also demonstrates how to pry their leg off your hip with your elbow. The multiple angles come in handy here, as it enables the viewer to see just what Cesar is doing with his elbow, as well as his overall body positioning.

To finish up on that first tape, he reviews passing once again, with some additional points for discussion and more work on grips. Finally, Cesar adds in a modified version of the Gracie Gift, though naturally he doesn't refer to it that way. Significantly, he does refer to the triangle danger, which is absolutely essential when teaching this pass. He also shows you how to avoid the triangle, by bringing your elbow back: a simple detail, but one Rorion missed eight years earlier.

The second tape (slightly under thirty-seven minutes) starts from the very basics, as Cesar explains just what is meant by 'the guard'. That enables him to lead into his next point, which is that if you feel very comfortable in the bottom position, pulling guard is a straightforward way of getting there. Strangely, he shows this from the knees rather than standing, but perhaps that is because he is thinking of the typical situation in class. Still, I think it would have made more sense to show this from standing, or alternately show both options.

For beginners, the next sequence is really good, covering pretty much all the techniques that would spring to my mind as most essential for a guard. Cesar kicks off with attacks, with his trademark detailed instruction on the cross-choke, kimura, armbar and triangle, then four basic sweeps: the scissor and elevator from the knees, followed by the double ankle grab and overhead when they stand up.

Cesar has lots of useful tips, including set-ups for the various submissions, as well as a conceptual approach throughout. He will frequently start description of a technique with a discussion, such as when he talks about the need for an endgame with sweeps (i.e., you need to make sure you get on top after you sweep, rather than knocking them down only for them to recover their previous position). There are also specific points on fine details, like gripping the lapels on the overhead sweep (because this means you can keep them suspended when getting your legs into position, unlike the alternate grip on the elbows).

Having run through the guard, tape number three (around thirty seven minutes) covers side control and mount, with knee-on-belly and scarf hold included as aspects of the first. Cesar also takes the opportunity to iterate a central maxim of BJJ, 'position before submission'. He puts it like this:

It doesn't matter how many good moves you know to apply if you can't control your opponent. Your goal is total body control: when I'm across the side, I want to keep my opponent from getting out of there. That gives me time to find an attack. If I can't do that, I'm never going to get an attack, because they're going to be moving.

After establishing the theory, he then explores some basic attacks and transitions, beginning with the Americana and moving on to scarf hold. He also shows the same step-over armbar from scarf that cropped up in the Renzo/Kukuk DVD, but with more detail and clearer instruction.

'Position before submission' guides the content of this tape. Along with showing you how to maintain side control and shift to scarf hold, Cesar also demonstrates transitioning to north-south and knee-on-belly. I especially liked how he linked scarf hold, north-south and side control together, pointing out that you need the ability to stay mobile so that you can keep control of your opponent. To complete a basic top game, Cesar also explains a few methods of getting to mount, such as the knee-slide.

His submissions are also well-described, with coverage of armbars and cross-chokes in addition to the earlier Americana (which he returns to at the end to provide even more detail). However, Cesar's method of showing the spinning armbar from mount suffers from the common defect of assuming your opponent is completely clueless and will push their arms straight up. This is unlikely in a BJJ class outside of total beginners, but then as these first three tapes are aimed at that demographic, can't complain too much.

The way that Cesar fits everything together is superb. Frequently one technique will follow from another due to Cesar covering alternate reactions from your opponent (e.g., they're blocking you with their legs as you try to mount, so slide your knee through rather than attempt to shove their legs down and bring your leg over), and also explaining how certain positions can crop up. For example, he shows how north-south might occur when passing, as they'll be chasing you with their legs: this is one of the reasons its important to master the pin.

At the beginning of Intermediate Volume 1 (thirty-eight minutes), Cesar takes off the gi to add in a self-defence element to the series. Like the Basics tapes, Intermediate starts with takedowns: the difference this time is that Cesar and his drilling partner are throwing strikes, so the clinchwork involves ducking and weaving around punches and kicks.

Like the first basics tape, Cesar then moves on to guard passing. He breaks down how to set up the stack pass, showing how to avoid getting stuck in their half guard by using your knees and elbows to block their feet from your hips. Interestingly, he also shows a pass where you simply push down their knees and thrust straight through to mount. I was a little dubious, as it seems overly simplistic and therefore difficult to get in sparring, but always good to have more options.

The bull-fighter pass is also covered, both into side control and through to knee-on-belly. Already by this point, Cesar has provided the most comprehensive instruction on passing the guard available at the time, building on the excellent theoretical discussion from the first tape.

He finishes with a version "from the street," which in other words is using strikes to pass. This fits with what Mario Sperry showed a couple of years earlier on Vale Tudo 1, and like Sperry, Cesar also demonstrates striking for the guard. Also in keeping with Sperry, this segment is all no-gi: Cesar finishes off with the can-opener and basic pass, but again with the inclusion of punches.

Intermediate Volume 2 (a little over forty-three minutes) returns to the guard, this time working a handy sequence of attacks from overhooking one arm. He begins with a collar choke, using the overhook and a leg over the top to help with the pressure. That smoothly transitions into an armbar, pressing on the overhooked arm, and can also shift into a triangle. Cesar shows a kimura too, but that basically involves disengaging, so not quite in the same flow. Finally, if you're having trouble with the collar choke, Cesar demonstrates how you can overhook both arms, then switch your choke to the other side.

He then follows this up with yet another beautifully put-together combination, this time the classic armbar to triangle then back to armbar. Whenever I've tried to go for this, I pretty much always get stacked, so Cesar's 'eggshell' concept sounded useful. If I understood correctly, what that refers to is raising your hips and rolling onto your shoulders.

Unusually, Cesar states that while its a bad idea to cross your feet when attempting the usual armbar, if you're going from a triangle, its acceptable. Unfortunately he doesn't explain why: the reason you don't normally cross your feet is so that you can stay heavy on their head by keeping your feet down. I'm not sure why that wouldn't be the case for an armbar off a triangle.

Next Cesar runs through the flower sweep. He explains it a little differently than I've seen before, in that he emphasises throwing both legs towards your destination, then chopping with the bottom leg. I haven't looked at it like that before, as I've always seen it as getting the first leg right up into their armpit, then chopping once you've broken the posture down. This gives me another perspective, which could be handy.

After a few more sweeps, Cesar is back to the 'self-defence' striking. He demonstrates defensive posture, and also how to use kicks from off your back to help you return to standing. As ever, self defence is not something I'm interested in, though the instruction here looks equally solid as the rest of the series.

Intermediate Volume 3 (forty-two minutes) takes the side control and mount work from the basics tape a step further. Once again, Cesar fills his teaching with lots of logically connected submission sequences, beginning with a kimura where you move to north-south, and can then potentially end with an armbar instead.

Cesar's scarf hold sequence is a bit longer. That begins with an Americana with the legs, much the same as Renzo shows it, except that Cesar grips around the head rather than the far armpit. He also adds in an armbar you can try if they manage to straighten out their arm, an arm triangle if they try to frame out, and finally a more unorthodox crank if they try to hook you with their leg. As Cesar notes, that last technique could land you in a crucifix, so it depends a lot on perfect timing.

From the mount, Cesar demonstrates how to switch between cross chokes and armbars, doubling up your attacks. Parts of this looked similar to what Roger showed us a while ago, such as going for an armbar from seated mount, then changing to a choke if you can't secure it. That sequence gets even better when Cesar goes into fine detail on finishing the armbar, either loosening the arm, changing to a choke, or attacking the opposite arm in a continuous cycle.

Advanced Volume 1 (thirty nine minutes) returns to passing the guard, but slightly more complicated (as you'd expect from the tape title). The first few passes are all from the same position, where you've tried to go for a stack pass, but they've attempted to swim their leg over your arm. The idea is to trap their shin against your stomach before they can create a hook on your arm or thigh, then work one of five passing techniques.

Cesar moves on to further bull-fighter passes, building on what he previously demonstrated, then shows a variation for no-gi. After a knee slide, which I've also seen on the Mario Sperry set, Cesar covers the guillotine for no-gi: attacking from standing and guard, then how to defend if the situation is reversed.

Advanced Volume 2 (just over forty minutes) explores more guard attacks, beginning with the omoplata. Some might question whether that is an advanced move, but personally I've always found it tough to get, so would be happy separating it out from basics like armbars and cross-chokes.

Cesar presents it as an option if your opponent is being especially tight and stalling your other attacks. If you can't secure a submission with your arms, then using your legs is a good alternative. He goes on to show several follow-ups, with a wristlock finish, a transition to the triangle and how to use the omoplata in the midst of defending against a pass.

This fits in well with Cesar's earlier tapes on moving from the armbar to the triangle. In terms of organisation, it would have been helpful to have that sequence all on the one tape: generally I prefer instructionals to be arranged by position rather than belt or difficulty level.

After exploring the omoplata, Cesar adds in armdrags, bicep slicers and a fairly straightforward sweep from spider guard (although your foot is on their shoulder rather than the crook of their elbow, which would be the normal position for spider guard). As usual, Cesar is adept at filling in the gaps and answering "what if" situations, showing how you can also use the bicep slicer to set up a sweep. Best of all, if they resist the sweep, you still have the option of the original submission.

Strangely, Cesar then leaps from guard attacks to various positional escapes. I'm not sure why he waited until the penultimate video in a nine tape series to deal with something so important to BJJ. It would have made more sense to have a specific tape on positional escapes, rather than the few he includes here.

Having said that, the techniques themselves are all taught in Cesar's trademark style, heavy on detail. He begins with the basic principles of defending under mount, such as getting your elbows into their knees, then demonstrates the escape to butterfly guard by lifting their hips. That is a fairly basic escape: if he was going to demonstrate that, he might as well have shown the more reliable upa and elbow escape too.

Cesar also shows shrimping to half guard, but not from the heel drag I'm used to. Instead, he again lifts up his partner by the hips to make space for the hip movement. That looked a little more risky than the orthodox method, but then I've never tried it, so perhaps its safer than I'm assuming.

The heel drag comes next, though again it isn't the method I'm familiar with. Cesar first puts his partner into quarter guard, then uses that to open enough space to get back to full guard. I prefer how Roy Dean shows it on Blue Belt Requirements: indeed, I'd generally recommend that if you're looking for escapes, you pick that up rather than Cesar's set. He is much better on offence, as far as I can tell, so complements Roy Dean well.

Still, the side control escapes were interesting. The first one involves hooking with your near leg, then sweeping them by grabbing their other leg with your arm. I'd always thought it was a bit pointless to hook with the near leg, so this could be a handy option. Cesar follows that up with two ways of getting a submission directly from under side control, a triangle and then a collar choke. It looked as though you'd need good flexibility to get your leg straight over their head from that position, but again, could be a fun alternative to add to my usual strategy from under side control.

The final tape, Advanced Volume 3 (forty three minutes), continues with mount and side control submissions. Cesar looks into high mount, trapping his partner's arms above his face, then provides some tips about how to maintain posture and isolate the arm. As ever, there is also a follow-up, where if you're struggling to get the arm (I always find it difficult), Cesar demonstrates another two ways of breaking their grip.

From side control, Cesar runs through a choke where you step over their head after grabbing the collar. Tran has done this to me in the past, which he called the 'exposé' choke, learned from Nic G. Looks handy, if you're able to step over without getting reversed: I frequently find it hard to keep my weight pressed into my training partner when trying to shift position.

Cesar finishes up the submissions on this tape with two options from what is effectively 'knee-on-face', an armbar and a choke. There is plenty of detail on setting up the choke from knee-on-belly, showing how to manipulate your opponent into giving you the submission. From what I understood, you're trying to get them to turn towards you, using grips, pressure with your knee, and switching from side to side.

The instructional closes with a return to no-gi and striking. Cesar covers how to strike from mount, side control and knee-on-belly, rounding off his previous segments. Again, I think it would have made more sense to combine the various no-gi/self-defence portions onto a single tape, rather than spreading them across three.

As I keep finding myself saying, this DVD makes for an excellent follow-up to Blue Belt Requirements. Roy Dean provides you with the fundamental defences, while Cesar Gracie adds in a broad range of attacks, laid out in effective sequences from a variety of positions. Cesar also shares Dean's focus on concepts, providing lots of theoretical discussion as well as practical content.

The no-gi parts are less interesting from my perspective, but then I train almost entirely in the gi, so that's unsurprising. Cesar certainly knows his stuff when it comes to combining grappling and striking, given that he has trained numerous successful MMA fighters, so if that's your thing, you may well get something out of it. However, I'd imagine there are much better MMA-specific sets out there.

Also as with all the older instructionals I've been reviewing, Cesar Gracie's DVD is cheap. Available to buy here, or you could try the eBay options below:

07/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #217

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 07/04/2009 - Beginner

I was still feeling a bit sore from yesterday, after all that half-guarding, but fortunately Tuesdays are only an hour. Technique started the same as yesterday, with a half guard pass. Jude mentioned a useful additional tip when I asked, which was to push your body forward if you're having trouble getting the shoulder under their chin. That will result in pressure on their face, which will have a similar distracting result.

Also slightly different from yesterday was the option of passing to side control rather than mount. Before passing, bring your legs towards the side you want to reach. Once you've freed your leg by prying it loose, your knee should point off to the side: you then slip through into side control.

The cross choke from mount was the same as usual, with points like bringing your head down to the same side as your top arm. Jude also demonstrated two different grips for the second hand: either palm down with the thumb in their collar, then dropping the elbow across, or alternately knife-handing your way down their face to reach the collar. There was also a third, where you lift up their head, grip behind then loop your arm over into place, but Jude noted that required a fair bit of strength.

While sparring from mount I concentrated on maintaining my position, using my feet and knees to squeeze my way up their body. Normally I wrap my arm under their head and then cling on there, so I wanted to try a more upright posture this time, working my knees under their armpits.

I still couldn't get anything, as I wasn't able to dig my way past Rich's clamped arms. There was the option of shoving my gi in his face, which Rich suggested, but that is purely about causing your partner pain, with the coarse gi material acting as sandpaper. Not very pleasant, and not something I'm willing to do to a training partner. I'd much rather develop a 'clean' method of getting past the arms, rather than relying on their pain tolerance being low.

To that end, I tried Roger's technique, where you put your hand in front of the arms, then drive it through with your hip on the elbow. That sort of worked, though I generally either got swept, couldn't get a deep enough hold, or wasn't able to secure the second grip. Spent both rounds on top, as Rich has hurt his thigh.

Next was guard passage, with one of the white belts. I was looking for collar chokes, but I'm bad at setting them. Simply grabbing a collar and hoping is not too productive, so I'll need to think carefully about how I can work the submission. Same goes for triangle chokes, though I at least have some vague idea of how I want to enter into those (e.g., spider guard, like Renzo shows).

I'm also not getting my sweeps when they stand in my guard: relying too heavily on the handstand, which they're generally avoiding by basing forward. That should mean I can then pull their torso down for chokes and armbars, but again that would require some actual submission skills on my part. ;)

On their knees, I need to be more explosive with my sit-up sweep. Back as a white belt, that used to be my highest percentage attack, but only very rarely land it these days. I could try going for the elbow rather than the shoulder, like Saulo shows it (IIRC), or just greater commitment when driving for the reversal.

My first free spar was with a white belt named Fabio, who for once is closer to my size. That meant I had a lot more options, so tried a bunch of different attacks. Still mainly looking at cross-chokes and triangles, with a brief attempt at a guillotine. As ever I spent some of it in half-guard, almost taking his back but then somehow ending up underneath him with my head by his legs. My back control remains terrible: almost always find myself on the bottom in some ridiculous position, or just guard.

Finally, there was a much bigger white belt, Rodrigo. However, he didn't use his size advantage, instead trying to stay technical, which was good to see. Though he was going very light, I still wasn't able to do all that much. I had a go at a triangle and armbar from mount, but on both occasions left way too much space, so it was a simple matter for Rodrigo to escape.

I had intended to train on Wednesday, but writing this up Wednesday morning, I feel like crap. So, won't be training again until I get back from Cornwall, next Wednesday. Shame to not make my intended three a week, but if I tried tonight, I would feel much, much worse, even assuming I made it through the session pumped up on medication.

06/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #216

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 06/04/2009 - Beginner

Tonight's class was perfect for me, as Jude went through several basic half guard techniques. I wasn't expecting to see that for a while, as Kilburn is mostly beginners, but nevertheless very useful stuff from my perspective.

Jude began with the fundamental half guard pass where you squeeze your knee through by trapping their leg. Start by getting one arm under their head and the other past their armpit, gable gripping your hands. Having secured that grip, drive your shoulder under their chin: this is essential, as the pass will be difficult without that heavy pressure.

Slide your free knee towards their other armpit, while coming up on the toes of your trapped foot. Once your free foot has enough space, bring it over their leg and push into their calf. At the same time, try to squeeze your trapped leg out of their half-guard, shoving your shoving under their chin the whole time.

I've always had trouble with this escape, but the way Jude showed this as really shoving that leg off of yours was helpful. Previously I thought the foot on the calf was more of a block, but I see now its a push. The combination of that push with the pull of your trapped leg is one of the important details I'd been missing.

Next, Jude demonstrated recovering guard from half-guard. That is something I've been trying to do for a while, so was especially pleased to see it broken down. You're underneath half guard, with your head on the opposite side to the leg you've trapped, with your forearm pressing into their throat.

Clamp down on their calf with your inside leg. Bring your other foot out slightly to bridge, then block their hip with your hand. Using space you've just created, bring your inside knee through and replace guard. In other words, this is exactly like recovering guard from mount, in terms of mechanics, in that the shrimp is all-important. As ever, its in the hips.

That then moved on to taking the back from half guard, using what I've seen referred to as 'deep half-guard'. You'll be shrimping again, same as before, but this time, you aren't aiming to recover guard. Instead, once you've made space with your bridge, swim the arm you have against their throat under their armpit instead, securing the underhook.

You can now knock them forward with that arm, aiming to slip down towards their leg, coming onto your side. Make sure your head is also free, on the same side as their trapped leg. To finish, link both arms behind their trapped knee and knock them forward again. That should kill their balance, leaving you to move to your knees, then take their back.

Sparring from half-guard I didn't have much success applying the technique, but then that's to be expected when everybody knows what you're going for. I'm still tending to stall in half-guard, but at least I now have some further options, which don't require me to get my head on the same side as their trapped leg. I'm getting too flattened out, and being too cautious about controlling them with just one leg (which would give me the option of bridging off the other).

On top, I'm leaving too much space and not getting my hips down enough. I'm also having trouble dealing with the arm in my throat: that is currently preventing me putting enough pressure with my shoulder into their throat. I repeatedly found that Rich opened up space with his forearm, then got to his side. From there it was a simple matter for him to either reach his knees or reverse me.

Guard passage also followed a typical pattern, though again, I do now have clearer goals thanks to Jude's help last week. Getting the knee up and hips forward is the first aim, then I need to establish better base when I stand. I also need to do a much better job of stripping their grips, or preventing them altogether. My posture must improve for that, as currently I'm being broken down too easily.

Underneath guard, I was trying cross-chokes and triangles, but without being sufficiently tight. With the triangle, I couldn't lock my legs properly, swiftly getting stacked and losing the position. I also had a quick go at a guillotine from half-guard top, in the hope that might help the pass, but again that didn't go anywhere. Not to mention my sparring partner, a relatively stocky white belt, was taking it easy anyway, as he was concerned about the size difference.

Full sparring with Rich led to yet more stalling in half-guard, and I'm also giving up mount way too easily. I need to get into a better defensive posture quicker, rather than looking to snatch half-guard, ending up flat and without many options if I miss it.

Finally, I was with another big white belt looking to try and avoid using his considerable weight advantage. This time I was quite happy to at least have half guard to keep some kind of control, and after a cycle of him making a few steps towards passing before I readjusted to regain a more solid half-guard, I managed to get on top. After passing to side control, I was looking to switch to half-guard and step over for an armbar, but time ran out. Doubtful I would have got anything anyway, but always fun to try.

I'm looking to get in three again this week, especially as I'll only have one evening free next week. We'll see how my body holds up, and if my sister has to work late on Tuesday or Wednesday.

DVD Review - Pedro Carvalho Series 1

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:28:00 +0000

As usual, this will be long, so I'll start with a short summary. Like the Renzo/Kukuk tapes, Pedro Carvalho's set has stood up fairly well to the test of time. There is a self defence focus throughout: this can get a little silly, such as the gun defences on the second tape.

However, Carvalho packs lots of detail into his fast-paced but eminently practical instruction. The way in which he connects techniques into extended sequences is especially good. Best of all, like most of these older instructionals, Carvalho's set is cheap – available here.

Now for the full review:

Pedro Carvalho was one of the early Brazilian jiu jitsu instructors to release an instructional video tape series, around the time of Rorion's Gracie Jiu Jitsu Intermediate in 1996. Carvalho would follow his first series with a second and a third, all still available on DVD. Carvalho's name crops in old reviews, generally to the denigration of his contemporary competition.

Bill Lewis is especially fond of them: he says in his review of Gracie Jiu Jitsu Advanced that the leglock tape is "a pale rehash of Pedro Carvalho." However, according to the internet rumour mill, 'Bill Lewis' was merely a pseudonym for Paul Viele, who just so happened to own the company selling the Carvalho tapes, World Martial Arts (e.g., several threads on NHBGear, like this, this and this.) If true, then that very significantly reduces the value of the Lewis reviews.

As Carvalho says in a 1999 interview in The New Full Contact, he began training under Silvio Behring around 1985, later also training with Carlson, then finally receiving his black belt from Anibal Braga. In 1997, he came to the United States, opening a school in Rancho Cucamonga, initially to further his consulting work with the LAPD. Interestingly, although Bill Lewis was so impressed by the leglock tape, Carvalho notes that "leg locks are not my speciality." He points to an article he wrote on the topic, which he stated had given the media the idea he was some kind of expert on lower body submissions.

Carvalho's approach begins unlike any of the other instructionals to that point, as he opens by breaking down what he states are the three different types of BJJ: self-defence, vale tudo and tournament. This is laid out on the first tape, Tournament Jiu Jitsu (around twenty-nine minutes), where Carvalho runs the viewer through the rules, how to score points, length of matches per belt level and so on.

That also sets the structure of this opening tape: Carvalho will tell you a takedown is worth two points, then shows two techniques which will land you in the top position from standing. An example from tournament footage closes the segment, with the same pattern following for the mount (four points), back mount (four points), passing the guard (three points), sweep (two points) and knee on chest (two points). Or at least that was the case in 1996: as I've competed a whole once, I wouldn't know if there have been major changes since then or not.

Having explained the regulations and point scoring, Carvalho moves on to submissions, noting how this will immediately win you the match no matter how many points you may be down. To illustrate submissions, he shows a quick cross-choke from mount, then finishes up the tape with a hefty chunk of tournament footage, both BJJ and less regulated NHB challenge matches. It is a shame this lacks even the brief commentary included on the Renzo/Kukuk instructional, but nevertheless enjoyable to see some old fights from (presumably) the 1980s and 1990s.

As Carvalho is gearing this towards absolute beginners, he shows you what each position looks like. Today, I would assume that thanks to widespread exposure through the increasingly popular UFC, a good portion of new BJJ students will already have some idea of the fundamental positions. In 1996, that was not so certain.

It is also interesting that Carvalho calls it knee on chest rather than knee on belly, which is a point Maurição emphasises in his instruction. Pressing into the sternum is considerably more debilitating than the stomach, as Maurição is only too happy to demonstrate (in the world of BJJ, there are few places less fun than underneath Maurição's knee on chest).

The second tape, Advanced Street and Tournament Takedowns (around thirty-four minutes), is by far the weakest, as can often the case with early BJJ instructionals. Carvalho runs through the usual basics, like a technical stand up, but then shifts into self defence territory. The stiff BJJ kick to the leg is very similar to Craig Kukuk's display a couple of years earlier, though Carvalho appears to possess greater familiarity with the position.

After that, the tape rapidly approaches the ridiculous. Bear-hugs, pulling the hair and takedowns from the clinch are all to be expected from a BJJ tape with a self defence focus, but gun defence is most definitely taking things several steps too far. If you've read Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Self Defence Techniques by Royce and Charles Gracie, you'll recognise the tactics Carvalho employs here. As ever, I would strongly recommend that you look to wrestling and judo for your takedown knowledge, rather than a tape like this.

Tape number three, Advanced Mount Fighting, gets the series back on track. The title is a little misleading, as it actually begins from side control. The self-defence element lingers on, with Carvalho demonstrating both kneeing and headbutting your opponent from that position, after which he moves on to a typical armbar from side control. Progression is sensible from that point, with armbars moving to shoulder locks, switching to north-south (which Carvalho calls "rear cross-side"), knee-on-chest chokes and armbars, until finally showing the transition to mount. Carvalho finishes there, throwing punches and elbows.

Technical instruction is quick, and the camera also doesn't zoom in or switch angles when it would have been useful to do so, such as on a choke from north-south. Due to the camera being on the same side the whole time, it is difficult to see how Carvalho is gripping his training partner. In later tapes in this series – such as the volume on footlocks - there is the occasional zoom, but its sporadic.

Interestingly, on the armbar from mount, Carvalho insists that the leg over their neck should be flat, not bent like I've normally seen it. The reason for this, he says, is that if you have your knee up, that gives your opponent space to escape. However, that presumably means you aren't able to keep your heel tight to their head, which I'd always thought was an essential part of the armbar. That is how I've been shown it in class, although admittedly I'm crap at armbars, so might have missed some details.

From the next tape onwards, Carvalho comes into his own. The technical flow becomes especially good, with multiple variations and plenty of details along the way. After a further example of self defence, where Carvalho suggests smacking them in the groin if they're blocking your rear naked choke attempt, he shows six beautifully connected (and rather more technical) submissions, completing the cycle with a rear triangle.

The best part of Carvalho's teaching style is also made clear, which is his frequent use of three very important words: "the reason why." In all too many instructionals, some technical quirk will be emphasised without any explanation as to why it is so important. Not with Carvalho: almost every time, he'll immediately follow up with "and the reason why is."

For example, on tape four, Advanced Mount Fighting 2 (around thirty-three minutes), Carvalho states that when applying the Americana from mount, you need to keep your fingers and thumb on top. Carvalho explains that this is "because the only way for the guy to escape is that way, so you're better off with five fingers outside", as he pushes his partner's arm away from his body.

Instruction is still quick: on that fourth instalment, Carvalho takes the viewer through twenty different techniques and variations in just over half an hour. Nevertheless, it doesn't feel rushed, due both to the way in which he connects everything together, provides numerous important details and always stops to explain any potentially confusing point.

Advanced Guard Fighting (just over thirty-seven minutes) kicks off with an impressively basic point: when in the guard, you need to cross your legs. The use of 'advanced' to describe most of the tapes in this series is not entirely accurate: beginner to intermediate would probably be a better term. Again plenty of solid technique in here, with cross-chokes, armbars and kimuras, along with combinations like an armbar off a choke.

Unfortunately the kimura from guard provides one of the rare occasions where Carvalho doesn't say "the reason why," simply telling you to keep five fingers on the outside. In Rener and Ryron's instruction on the Gracie University, they instead have the thumb gripping on the other side of the wrist. When I queried that grip on the forum, the response was "During the final twist of the shoulder, you will be pushing his wrist towards his head, and if there is no thumb wrapping his wrist you have much less push potential." Though they do also mention you should try both, that contradicts various other instructors I've heard (such as Roy Dean) who advocate the thumbless grip.

Various reasons for that, the main one being that it gives your hand greater mobility to slide up and down the arm, shifting leverage as required. I would also have thought that contrary to what the Gracie University said, it is the thumbless grip which gives you greater push potential. As Roy Dean put it on NHBGear, "The power is in pressing the palm foreward on his wrist to maintain control, not in pinching your thumb and fingers tightly together." Up for debate, I guess (like here on Sherdog).

That's a very minor point, however, as the tape is otherwise excellent, in keeping with the previous two. Again there is good progression, such as when Carvalho explains control in open guard. He starts by pushing a foot into their bicep. If they grab onto your trousers, bring your leg over the top and hook the armpit. If they attempt to underhook the leg, hook under their thigh to kill their leverage. These kind of sequences crop up throughout the series, and mean that despite its age its still well worth picking up this set.

Carvalho also makes a simple statement which is nonetheless significant in the context of previous instructionals: he refers to the Gracie Gift as "the wrong way" to pass, because it will get you triangled, then goes on to explain exactly why. Given that neither Rorion or Renzo saw fit to mention this essential problem, it is a major point in Carvalho's favour that he produced the earliest instructional to bring up what is a fundamental maxim of guard passing: always have both arms in or out.

Sweeps, Reversals and Escapes (slightly over thirty-three minutes) makes up the sixth tape. It turns out that title covers a wide variety of techniques, some of which you wouldn't immediately associate with the three terms. For example, several linked variations on breaking your opponent's grip if they attempt to resist an armbar from mount. This ranges from pushing on their bicep with your foot to putting your leg on top of their clasped hands and then pressing down by putting your other leg on your ankle, like a triangle.

Carvalho's half guard escapes caught my interest, as that is something I've been thinking about recently. That is because he shows it from the diagonal position, which is where I frequently get caught. Carvalho also notes this is something he commonly gets asked about by students, which is why he shows four different variations.

They all work from similar grips: hold their shoulder with your same side hand, while the other hand grips the gi fabric on their same side knee. You stomp down on their calf with one foot to hold them in place, then get a butterfly hook with the same side leg. From here, you can lift them back into your closed guard (Carvalho mentions this is even easier if they have wrapped their arm behind your head). You also can sweep them to mount, or you can take their back.

The seventh tape, Advanced Sweeps, Reversals and Escape Part 2 (just under thirty minutes) focuses on simple sweeps. The basic elevator and scissor start things off, after which Carvalho shows some of the fundamental sweeps if they stand up, like the double ankle grab and knees pressing into the stomach. Carvalho also uses the De La Riva hook, though he doesn't call it that: all good, solid techniques.

Footlocks (a little under twenty eight minutes) completes the tape series. Bill Lewis holds this up as an example of just how superior Carvalho's tapes were to Rorion's contemporary releases. Essentially, Lewis believes that Rorion's attempt at teaching leglocks was merely a poor imitation of this eight tape in Carvalho's instructional.

It is soon clear that whether or not Rorion actually copied him, Carvalho is considerably more comfortable with the material. There are plenty of fine details, right down to the specific angle you should be pointing your foot, where to grip on their leg etc. There is also noticeably greater use of the zoom in this tape: I'm not sure why Carvalho waited until the end of the series to make full use of his camera, as the benefit to the viewer is obvious.

Carvalho makes the important point about just how dangerous leg locks can be, noting that they are banned in competition and that you need to be very careful with your training partner. Of course, he has also been referring to broken arms and punching people in the face all the way through, so that self-defence perspective means he is certainly not averse to snapping the legs too.

Two basic but still worthwhile points are also covered. First there is the reason why you never cross your feet when taking the back, because you'll give your partner an easy footlock. Second, and one I've seen less, is the vulnerable position you put yourself into if you're resting one leg on the knee of the other. That is quite a common thing to do from under side control: when I was taught escapes from side control, this was always treated as the basic defensive posture.

However, it can also get you leglocked, as Carvalho demonstrates (though he does it from knee on stomach rather than side control). There was a thread discussing the problems with putting a foot on your knee on Sherdog, around the time I was watching the videos, which meant I paid more attention than normal. I'll often have my leg up like that, so its good to be aware of the potential risks

Though having said that, I also like to bait mount by putting both legs down, then bridge into my partner when they try to bring their leg over, putting me in their guard instead. This is what I refer to as the 'Tran escape', as he's the guy who showed it to me. Tran always has good advice, which is one of the things I miss about training at the main Roger Gracie Academy.

Like Rorion, Carvalho also shows the defence to footlocks, which was better presented than the same technique on Gracie Jiu Jitsu Advanced. On the other hand, Carvalho only goes through one and doesn't spend all that long, leaving it until the end of the tape. Still, looks like he covered all the main points, like removing their foot from your hip, kicking your leg straight, grabbing their gi and moving forward.

Carvalho's teaching style isn't for everyone, as he tends to go quite quickly, and he also maintains a self-defence outlook through most of the tapes on this series. However, he manages to condense plenty of detail into his concise instruction, with numerous well-connected sequences, especially tapes four to seven. He is also the only instructor pre-1997 that I've seen so far that points out the obvious dangers of the Gracie Gift, long overdue.

As with the Renzo/Kukuk set, this series stands up well despite its age. The second tape gets a little silly with gun defence, but apart from that, you can't go wrong with Carvalho if you're looking for practical techniques taught simply and quickly. Also like most of these older instructionals, this is cheap – available here, or you could try the eBay options below:

01/04/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Class #215

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 01/04/2009 - Beginner

Mark has announced the Belfast Throwdown for this year, which should be awesome. I loved it the past two times, so I'd expect it to be just as good in 2009. Of course, getting made redundant last year and still job hunting does mean I have to be a little careful with things like holidays, but I'm sure I can at least make the short hop to Northern Ireland. Please post on the thread if you're interested in coming along too, particularly as we still need to set a date: everyone welcome! :D

My ear appears to have got bashed up either yesterday or the day before, but not cauliflower: the bit between the lope and my skull was cut (by the time I noticed it, there was a scab). This would therefore be the perfect time to wear my headgear, but I've cleverly left that in Coventry. So instead, I sported some zinc oxide tape around my lower ear.

Guard passage went pretty badly, as usual. I was almost past twice in a row against white belts, but on both occasions couldn't capitalise on a good position with sufficient pressure to get to side control. First I was on top of half guard, but then somehow gave up my back, then I had my partner's legs over their head and was trying to squeeze past, but managed to get reversed under side control. The only successful pass was with a blue belt who was going for an armbar, but even that was mainly because time was running out so he wasn't really pushing it.

Technique tonight, presumably because of a competition on Saturday, was how to correctly pull guard (the Kilburn branch of RGA is still very new, so the beginners haven't got to grips with takedowns yet. However, there is a wrestling class on Saturdays, so you'd hope the people seriously interested in competing will take advantage of that).

Having got a grip on their lapel and sleeve, start by putting your foot on their same side hip, keeping the leg straight. Drop to your back, swivelling as you go and keeping your leg rigid. This should knock them sideways, so that they essentially slip down a groove right into your guard, making it easy for you to wrap your legs into position.

That was followed by how to go straight into an armbar (as you already begin with a grip on their arm). This involves more swivelling: try to put your head by their leg. Finally, bring the other leg over their neck instead of around their torso. From there, raise your hips and go for the armbar.

Last technique was the clock choke again, then a variation, where you get the same choke off a kimura from side control. If when going for the kimura they manage to resist and go to their knees, follow them round. As you'll still have your arm inside, you're in perfect position to grab their lapel, open it out, then go for the clock choke as usual (feed lapel to other hand, use first hand to grab remaining lapel, shift hips onto their neck, head on floor, then walk round for the submission).

Sparring with Rich, I managed to get the Tran side control escape where you bridge as they go for mount, which is still working well for me. My escapes from the mounted triangle have been considerably less successful: I can never get my foot onto their arm in order to push my way free, though admittedly its a tough position to reverse.

A bigger blue belt called Alan was next. I again landed Tran's escape, but I think Alan was going light, due to that size difference. I was unable to extricate myself from his scarf hold or knee-on-belly, though with the latter, I did have a go at wrapping his foot and grabbing behind his gi. Didn't stop me getting choked.

I was chatting to Jude about how I didn't feel any need to compete, because I still have so much to work on just sparring in class. I mentioned how my guard passing in particular was terrible, so Jude, being the awesome instructor he is, offered to run through some tips after tonight's session ended. That also meant I could help out one of the white belts who is competing, acting as a training dummy so he could better prepare for a tournament this weekend.

The major point I've been missing, which should hopefully make a big different to my guard passing, is that I need to get my hips forward as soon as a I raise a leg. So far, I've been thinking about driving the hips once I've stood up (though I've not even been doing that well), which means that as I try to get to my feet, my posture has been poor, leaning forward too much.

Jude also showed a slightly different way of opening the guard from standing. Normally, I try to step back and push their leg to the mat, aiming to hold it in place with my arm before replacing that pressure with my leg, moving on to the leg pin pass.

Jude noted the basic principle that a leg is always stronger than an arm, so instead of prising the leg free with an arm, he instead broke the guard with his knee. I'm not sure I quite got the details, but it involved bending your knee into their leg, so that you gradually broke the guard open, also leaving you in position where your knee was already on the mat over their leg (so again, set up for the leg pin pass).

John, a purple who wasn't training that night, prefers to either step back and push the leg off, or alternately, Mauricio's version where you put your knee right in their tailbone, then sit back down. If you get your knee in just the right spot, that will then force their guard open around your knee: their simply isn't enough space for them to keep a closed guard once your knee is wedged through.

John also emphasised getting a cross-grip on their arm, or in other words, grabbing their opposite sleeve. That means you can then put your leg forward on that side with impunity, as they'll have nothing to hook it with. John also said that after you've secured that hold, use your free arm to make certain they don't get any grip with their other arm.

All great advice, which should definitely make a different to my guard passing. Even at the most pessimistic level, it sure can't get any worse! ;)

As I was heading to the changing rooms, one of the regulars addressed me as slideyfoot, because he recognised me from the blog. Always cool when that happens (and if they're reading, the link for Passing the Guard is here: new revised edition which I'm very much looking forward to, having long wanted to get hold of the original due to the extremely high regard it appears to have generated).

31/03/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Class #214

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 31/03/2009 - Beginner

Fellow UK blogger Jadon announced a great idea for a trip: travelling to every BJJ club in the country (so if you're a club owner in the UK, would be cool if you could help him out). He's dubbing it 'The Great BJJ Pilgrimage', meaning you'll know what to look for if he ever releases a book.

It is something I'm sure most of us would love to do, including me. I'd head for the US rather than the UK: once I finally get myself a job and feel financially secure again, I'm planning to get some training in around California. The history of international BJJ starts there, so I'd enjoy taking a look at the Gracie Museum, then somewhere like Hollywood BJJ.

Admittedly, it also interests me because going by my blog stats, I get the most US hits from California, followed by New York and Texas, so would be especially cool to roll with anyone who reads this. It will only be brief (week or two), and certainly not going to be checking out every club. Maybe three or four at most, depending on how much sweaty man-rolling action my gf lets me get away with. ;p

I'm glad to see that my map is proving of use: once the Pilgrimage gets started, I'll stick in links on the map to Jadon's blog posts for each club. If I can work it out, would be nice to get some kind of 'follow Jadon' thing going: will have a play when he starts it.

Tonight's class followed on directly from yesterday. Jude kicked off with a turnover from turtle he showed the white belts yesterday (higher belts were told to drill something else, so I didn't have a chance to try it until today). Lapel choke again: arms straighten. You start on the side of their turtle, knee up behind and other knee in close to their near side, to stop them rolling out. Grab their gi lapel on the near side and yank it loose, then feed that through to your other hand. Make sure that as you do that, you don't reach your other hand in underneath their body: otherwise, they can overhook it and roll into a dominant position.

Once you've secured a grip on the gi, you'll now have a useful handle strapped across their waist. Grab their near-side elbow, then step your rear leg over to the far side. Roll them back towards the near side, get your hooks in, and move to rear mount. From here, rear naked choke.

After we'd gone through the lapel choke again, time for guard passage. I went with Rich, who is becoming a regular training partner (mainly because he's one of the few other blues at Kilburn, and therefore much less of an injury risk). Yet again I tried the star sweep off the handstand sweep, and yet again I got armbarred for my trouble. Still not staying tight enough, and I think I'm also rushing it, which means its sufficiently sloppy that my arm is left ripe for the bending.

On top, I'm continuing to force myself to stand up. Keep getting swept shortly afterwards, but then I'm never going to get it unless I work through that significant obstacle first. The problem is to do with my legs getting hooked, as is so often the difficulty with standing in guard. If I don't put my leg forward, its tough to stand up, but if I do, its easy to hook and initiate a sweep. Ideally I'd grab the sleeve on that side so I remove to risk of getting my leg hooked, but I've been finding it tough to secure the arm so far. Practice makes perfect, as ever.

Much the same thing with my next partner, another blue belt. I also still need to work on recovering closed guard from half guard, where the problem this time is getting a grip on the sleeve and opposite knee, then my foot under their trapped knee with the other foot pressing on their calf. I should also be mixing that up with some other options, like maybe the old school, along with my favoured functional half guard from Indrek Reiland.

In sparring with the same two partners, similar problems with half-guard, and I also need to watch for chokes from mount. I had thought Rich was going for a normal cross choke, which would mean when I rolled to guard, defending would be fairly straightforward: posture, squish elbows together, strip top arm away. However, it was actually an ezequiel, which meant that rolling to guard didn't help at all, as he already had it locked on.

Class is only an hour on Tuesdays and Thursday, so that wrapped up things for tonight. Should be training again on Wednesday: I plan to continue three times a week until I get my average back up to at least twice a week, as per my very geeky spreadsheet (the offline version is even geekier than the one I have up on Google Docs, which doesn't quite get to that level of detail).

30/03/2009 - BJJ (Beginner)

noreply@blogger.com (slideyfoot) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Class #213

Roger Gracie Academy Kilburn (BJJ), Jude Samuel, London, UK - 30/03/2009 - Beginner

I had an interesting chat with Bryan Hogeveen this weekend, a name Fightworks Podcast listeners might recognise from his interview a while back. If you missed that episode, Bryan is an academic currently conducting a BJJ study, for which he's asking people to fill in a survey (one for women and one for men).

Bryan is also looking to interview those who are willing to give a bit more time. I love talking about BJJ, so I was happy to get the chance to babble at length (like I mentioned during the conversation, this is ideal for bloggers, who are always looking to share their thoughts about BJJ anyway). It doesn't matter if you're nowhere near Canada, where Bryan is based, as he'll phone you from his university. It sounds like a great project, so definitely deserving of your support: for further details, check out Bryan's blog.

On a different topic, it looks as if Eddie Bravo is gearing up to follow in the Gracie Academy's footsteps, with his own version of online training, complete with the ability to gain rank through video. It should make for a revealing comparison with the Gracie University: I'm particularly intrigued as to whether or not Bravo manages to avoid the criticism Gracie University has received (which I listed back here). I've long thought that the Gracie Academy and Bravo have a lot in common, given that they both rely on sometimes controversial marketing to maintain their reputation, rather than major current competitive success (as opposed to, say, Gracie Barra with Roger Gracie, Alliance with Cobrinha or Gracie Humaitá with Xande Ribeiro, to cite just a few examples from those powerhouse teams).

Also, just noticed as I was writing this that Oli G, the undisputed king of competing at every competition ever, has set up a swish looking new site to showcase his competition videos. Check it out here.

Jude focused on chokes for tonight's session. First the basic rear naked choke. Put your arm around their neck, pressing the bony part of your forearm into their throat. Grab the bicep of your other arm, making sure not to bring the bicep arm out straight (otherwise they could potentially grip your wrist and submit you, using their shoulder to bend your arm the wrong way). Finally, the hand of the bicep arm goes to the back of their head, then you squeeze their neck between your two arms.

The RNC was followed by a lapel choke. From rear mount, reach over their shoulder and grab deep in their collar. Your other hand comes under their armpit and grabs the other collar. To finish, straighten out your arms, pushing forward and thereby squeezing your partner's neck between their lapels.

Finally, Jude went through the clock choke. This is similar to the lapel choke, except that it is applied when your partner is turtled up, and the execution is with your bodyweight rather than pulling on the collars. Once you have the grip on their lapels, drop your weight onto their neck, staying tight. In order to secure your base, put your forehead to the floor on the other side, then slowly walk round, one leg at a time, starting with the bottom leg. Your legs are acting as the hands of a clock, hence the name.

In guard passage, I kept trying the Saulo guard break without much success: still not controlling the hips well enough, which I think continues to be my main problem in somebody else's guard. I also tried standing guard breaks, getting to my feet while holding their sleeve, but need more work on establishing base and being careful with my legs, avoiding sweeps.

Underneath, I again attempted the combination of handstand sweep with star sweep. Swinging both legs to the same side works ok, but I'm not staying close enough to the leg. I need to knock them off balance by getting in tight to their thigh. At the moment, I'm leaving too much space, which is why last week I basically ended up under side control, while this week Rich caught me in a randomly positioned armbar.

Another thing I wanted to work today was replacing full guard from half guard. My aim was to grab their shoulder and leg, then get my same side leg under their knee, while the other foot trapped their calf. I'd then lift them up and drop them back into full guard. However, the problem was firstly getting that foot under their knee: can be awkward depending on how I've locked the half-guard. I'm also not getting a good grip on the arm, and when trying to grab onto the knee, my arm is too loose.

When sparring with one of the white belts, that meant I was sitting there working my way of an Americana from much of the spar. Fortunately for me, they didn't know how to finish it, but that's the only thing that meant I was able to avoid the submission. So much like last lesson, I was underneath a white belt in half-guard, though at least this time, I was working towards something specific.

It was good to see John there, who is a purple belt that weighs the same as me. I've sparred with him once before, back at RGA HQ: hopefully he'll be at Jude's regularly. He had lots of advice, such as trying Saulo's running escape under side control. I had thought that was only useful for when they had both arms on the near side of your body, but John mentioned that you could often direct their arm to where you wanted. Gave it a try in sparring and it worked ok, though obviously John was letting me have it (he took on an instructor role for everyone he sparred with: IIRC, though he's still a purple, he's been training for a looooong time).

Finished off class by buying myself one of the snazzy new RGA branded t-shirts. I've generally avoided buying stuff, given continuing lack of job, but as its almost my birthday, I thought I'd treat myself. :)