My Gym's Closed, 30 min BJJ Home Workout

I woke up this morning, fully energized after a long day of NBA and Christmas movies on the TV yesterday. I desperately wanted to roll but my gym was closed. So I decided to do a 30 min core BJJ workout at home. Every one of these exercises directly relates to a Jiu Jitsu specific move. I did each exercise for 3 sets of 20 reps with about 20 seconds in between.

Exercises:
Hop Overs (cross your arms as if going for an armbar and hop over the invisible body underneath you)
Elbow Get Ups (think Kimura)
Triangles
Planks (20 sec per set with 10 sec break)
Hip Thrusts (superset)
      -Crunches
Closed Guard Situps
Double Leg Raises
Bicycles
Hindu Push Ups

Flying Armbar and Windmill Sweep

Today's class was an interesting one. We started with the Flying Armbar and then the Windmill Sweep in the event that the opponent has strong posture and prevents the armbar. We warmed up with 20 backwards falls, in which only 50% were applied correctly (thus my aching back). We drilled the Flying Armbar and Windmill for another 40, of which I was dropped twice (again with the back). I dTowards the end of the drilling, my partner suggested that I throw my hips back as I jumped, which allowed me to wrap my hips on and angle instead of perpendicular to my opponent. That seems to work better.

The last 20 minutes of class were spent sparing. There was no mercy for me today as my first sparing opponent was a blue, then a pro MMA purple, and then a female blue. I realized  that despite all the websites indicating that BJJ is the great equalizer for the weak, strength does play a huge factor. Against the purple, he pulled guard immediately  and figured I would tap on a quick triangle. I kept my head down and he wasn't able to get the lock. I then overpowered his wrist and held it flat on the mat. I locked in the Americana purely by strength but my inexperience caused me to roll the wrong was and he was able to take my back. My stamina is slowly improving, but I am still struggling with patience and energy conservation. 2 of my 3 sparring partners had to remind me to breath.

Being so new, I need to focus on defensive drills and sweeps rather than locks and subs. Since I busted my unhealed knee open for the 3rd consecutive class, I will take the holidays off from BJJ training to allow myself to heal and study more defensive moves. I did effectively utilize some wrist control and leg hooks that I picked up on the internet, so I would have to say that my self study dilemma may have worked itself out (i.e. Is it worth studying techniques on the internet?).

Flying Armbar
While standing, grab your opponent either at the elbow (preferred) or wrist. With your other hand, grab your opponents collar or the back of the neck. Jump up and lock your ankles above your opponents waist. It helps to thrown your hips out. Now toss the leg that is on the same side as the arm grip over your opponents head. This motion should take your opponent to the ground where the armbar can be locked in. In the event that your opponent has strong posture, apply an inside hook around your opponents leg using your other arm (the one that is not being used for the armbar). Now pull the knee toward you and your opponent will fall to the ground inside your guard. If you lose the armbar, proceed to the windmill sweep below.

Windmill Sweep
This sweep works well after a failed flying armbar attempt because you already have the required hook in place and possibly still have control of the opposite arm.
To perform the Windmill Sweep from the bottom full guard, control one of your opponents arms either via armdrag, elbow lock, or wrist control. Basically you just want to make sure that arm cannot be used to stop the sweep.  Swing your hips out towards that arm, creating space between your opponents leg and your other arm. Now apply an inside leg hook with your free arm. Now propel your opposite leg (the one that is on the same side as the arm control, towards your opponents leg to gain leverage, then quickly back down to the ground. As you are on the downward motion, pull the locked leg towards you. Your opponent will roll on his back and your momentum should allow you to follow for the mount.

Cross grip armbar from the full guard

I just received a copy of Greg Jackson's ground game (awesome book by the way) and the very first lesson was a cross grip armbar from full guard. I have only been at this BJJ thing for a few weeks, but I can't count the number of times this would have come in handy. It seems I am always on my arse these days:)

How it's done:
If you are in the closed guard, open the guard and grab your opponents triceps with your opposite hand.
Next reach across with your free hand, and place on the opposite shoulder of your opponent.
Use your opponents shoulder as leverage to pull your hips out, perpendicular to your opponent.
Now swing your legs over so that both are on the same side as your shoulder grip.
Lay back and lock in the armbar.

Anywho, here is a demo of the technique:

Solo workout day

I was not able to make it to class today so I decided to try a light home workout that uses BJJ specific movements to work on muscle memory, flexibility, and core strength.

I did 3 circuits of the following:
Triangles
Alternating elbow situps (as if performing a Kimura from the ground)
Armbar drill (sitting on knees, imagine being mounted. Quickly plant your hands into the invisible sternum and rotate for the armbar)
Hindo pushups
Knee to squats
Straight leg situps
Planks
Inverted situps

Next time I would also like to incorporate:
In and outs
Hip thrusts
Turkish get ups
Hip Heisting (found on youtube. Its back to front movement rotating heel to foot)
Sprawls
Hip escapes
Foot circles
Bridging (from your back, lift up, rotate on to elbows to all 4's. Then roll back on to the back)
Shrimping/Elbow escapes
Collar Choke situps

"Posture up. Posture up. Posture the &$#* up!"

Tonight I will be having nightmares of being suffocated by an anaconda in the Amazon rain forest, because I refused to "look up at the ceiling" while in his guard, I mean grasp.

Today's class was  relatively simple. At least from a technique standpoint. Half the class we worked on escaping the closed guard by standing up. Sounds easy right? And by all means, it was pretty easy. All we had to do for the first variation was to grasp the lapel and wrist, bring 1 knee up at a right angle, then the other, and stand up. Next release the hand that was on the lapel and pressure the knee open, it is not already open. The key to it all is posturing up before starting. I must have been told 20 times to look at the ceiling. But my natural instincts kept telling me to look at what I was doing. It wasn't until the last few minutes of practicing that it finally sank in. Better late than never.

Variation #2 was the exact same way, but without grabbing the lapel. It involves less effort, but also a little more arm strength from the arm grasping your opponent.

Today was the first time I sparred with a blue (2 in fact) as well as my first time sparing with a pro mma (one of the blues). I managed to lock in the kimura on him once but the bell rang before the tap. He also got me to tap from 3 armbars (seems to be a recurring theme) and 1 triangle. I fared a lot better during my last sparing session with a 2 stripe white. I managed a full guard sweep to a guillotine.

I ended up sitting out the last 15 minutes of sparring because I busted open my knee again. This time it severely stained my brand new white gi pants. I think this is going to be a trend because it keeps splitting open in a scar from reconstructive knee surgery 7 years ago. Note to self, wrap my knees every class.

Overall this was my best class yet. I am loving every minute of it.

Excellent BJJ stand up defense video

There are a ton of videos on passing guard, sweeps, and subs, but stand up defense in BJJ is rare. Most competitions start standing and award 2 points for the take down. Additionally, the person controlling the takedown, should end up in the dominant position on the ground. For street defense, the stand up defense is perhaps the most important aspect of survival. If your much bigger and faster mugger (or pissed off ex-drinking buddy) grabs or strikes you, and you cant get them to the ground, your 120 hours of BJJ training is useless. That's why I appreciate this video. Its shows over 20 techniques that work for both street and sport.

"Pissed off" would be the understatement of the year

I was extremely excited to dive into my Saturday BJJ class after feeling that I had made alot of progress in my last class. I arrived at 11:05 for my noon class and decided to warm up on the bike and watch 15 minutes of MMA sparing. At 11:45 I trotted up the stairs to the dojo, when I heard a welcoming voice. I could distinctly hear the our lead instructor, and 8th degree gracie black belt, providing guidance. It is extremely rare that he teaches the white belts, so my adrenalin stated pumping as the thought of learning from one of the best began to sink in. That was until I got to the top of the stairs, and saw the faces of all of the sweaty students who has been rolling now for almost 1 hour.

That's right, I showed up 1 hour late for the class. The weekday classes take place at noon however, the Saturday class starts at 11am. My brain freeze didn't unthaw until I saw everyone, including the sense, starting at me. Not only did I miss class. But I missed class, missed out on getting trained by one of the best, and embarrassed myself in front of the class and the sense. Super bummer.

So I went home and committed myself to learning at least 1 new move. From the Gracie Combatives disk 2, I worked on taking the back from the mount when your opponent starts to roll. I also learned when to do when you lose your hooks from the back. Both techniques work together and can be practiced alone.

Taking the back from mount:
If your opponent tries to roll, in order to escape the mount, they will bring one of their arms across their body, to gain leverage for the roll. Place the sole of your foot, that is on the side that their arm is reaching towards, on the ground. our leg should be at a right angle.
Next put your other knee behind their neck. As they roll, slide your legs under their thighs, using your arms to support your weight.
Once your on their back, slide down and do an over/under hook on their upper body.

Defense when losing the hook from the back:
If one of your hooks comes out when you have the back, bring the opposite leg across their body, pull your arm out from under them, and push yourself up to the mount.

These steps can be practiced alone, as demonstrated on the Gracie Combatives DVD.

Butterfly guard passes

So today's class focused on passing the Spider Guard as well as defending against the pass. The 2 primary techniques we worked on focused on transitioning to side control.

Butterfly Guard pass variation #1:
Drive your head int your opponents sternum, turning to face one side. Use your hands to control your opponents hips and keep your body pressed hard against their feet. On the same side that you are facing, push your knee as far forward as it can go and join your elbow to your knee. Now cartwheel up and over to the side opposite your face.

Butterfly Guard pass variation #2:

Your opponent is in the seated butterfly guard and is bear hugging you. You want to use your head to force them to the mat and also get your arms inside theirs. You then want to prop yourself up on your toes and drive their knees to their chest. You then force open their guard with your hands on one knee. This should cause the hook to release. If not, get your legs straighter and higher. Now swing both legs over your opponents side that has the released hook. You should now be in side control. 

It is pretty obvious by my explanation of variation 2, that I still do not fully understand it. I have also not found a video that covers this technique. The video below is the closest I can find. 

I still need to work on my stamina. I did better than my first class but was still gassed after 5 minutes of sparring. I also received my first 2 injuries. I have a bruised right bicep that I have no idea how I obtained, and a skinned knee from landing incorrectly on the cartwheel pass.

Day 1

So for my first day of class, I was nervous as heck, but that all went away when I was put into my first Kimura from the closed guard. After about 10 min of warmups, and 2 wardrobe malfunctions (aparently the pants don't tie in the front), I was ready to get started.

We worked on Armbars from the mount, Kimura from the closed guard, and 3 kimura defense techniques. The last 20 min of class was dedicated to sparing, so I figured I would be sitting that out. Boy was I wrong. master Jim told me the best way to learn is to get my butt kicked, so I was tossed into the mix.

I started out using all my muscles on the top guard, trying to prevent a roll. Having little knowledge of leverage and weight distribution, I was gassed after 90 seconds.

I throughly enjoyed my first class and look forward to my next one on Thursday. I have decided to keep a training log and will also work on a freemind (thanks Tangled Triangle). Those links can be found on the right.

Armbar from the Mount
Kimura from closed guard

Here goes nothing

So I am in my mid thirties and am just entering into the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I have always been affiliated with a gym or competitive sports, but lost my mojo after a series of basketball injuries that resulted in reconstructive surgeries on both knees. It didn't take long to realize that the gym was always a good supplement to basketball and baseball, but didn't work for me as a stand alone. I would find myself going to the gym consistently for a few months, then getting bored. I would try to kick start my enthusiasm by joining a different gym or trying a different routine, but in the end I would eventually stop going.

After much self reflection, I came to realize that my problem was that my progress was literally being measured in inches. My goals were to lose inches in certain places and gain inches in others. My benchmark was my former self.  I felt I was my own worse enemy. Gone were the days of  trying to improve my batting average or turnover to assist ratio. My knee surgeries and a rotator cuff injury, derailed my ability to do the activities that kept me in shape. It derailed those activities that made me want to go to the gym and get better. Not because I wanted washboard abs or wanted to star in a Calvin Klien commercial. But because I knew that putting the time in at the gym would  be an ends to a means. It would mean that I would have the stamina I need to play a 40 min game of basketball. It would give me the agility I needed to split 2 defenders and hit the center in the low post. I would give me the power I needed to hit a line drive into the gap.

I realized I needed to be competitive. I started looking into martial arts, boxing, muay thai, and kickboxing, but I was not sure which one I wanted to dive into. I discovered that one of the best MMA gyms in the south was in my neighborhood, and offered all of the classes I was interested in (except Judo) so I joined Knuckleup Fitness. I started with kickboxing fitness classes to get my stamina back. My shoulder could not handle 3 - 4 days per weeks on the heavy bag so I cut back to 1 day and started doing Brazillian Jui Jitsu the rest of the week. This blog will track my progress in the world of BJJ, act as a reference, as well as serve as a sounding board for new techniques learned.

Lets do this!!!!!