Another great Fundamentals class today. I took the 10am kickboxing class and immediately followed it up with BJJ. We worked on closed guard techniques. We started with simple posturing from the top and hip control from the bottom. We then went on to taking advantage of their posturing by sweeping with their momentum.Next we worked on Kimura's from the closed guard, including ways to set up the Kimura, and finished the techniques portion of class with a sweep from the Kimura.
After 60 minutes of training, we rolled for another 30. I was an observant the last 2 rounds of rolling. I guess my cardio limit was at 135 minutes of constant training. None the less, I see progress in many areas (sweeps, posturing, bottom closed guard) and not so much progress in other areas ( hip control, shrimping, giving up my back). I have a much better understanding of the importance of rolling as well as studying. I use to watch as much video as I could consume, and wasn't making nay progress. Now I simply use videos to reinforce techniques I learned training. My rolling has helped me learn timing, pacing myself, and energy conservation. Not to mention the fact that it makes me more and more comfortable to find myself in compromising positions. I am no longer an easy tap in an armbar, nor am I finding myself getting setup for subs as much. I wish I could say I was on the winning end of more subs.
That will come with time. This is only my 9th class.
I think I will focus on strength and core exercises tomorrow and skip BJJ.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Bow and Arrow Chokes and neck burns- UGGH
Great class today. We worked on 2 variations of Bow and Arrow Chokes. The standard variation starts from an over under hook from the back with leg hooks in deep. With the over hook, get a deep collar grip. With the under hook, grab the same side leg. Lay back, pulling the collar and legs as you fall. Your leg that is on the same side as the choke hold should become unhooked and posted up at a right angle to prevent your opponent from rolling over it in defense.
In the 2nd variation, your opponent rolls over your leg. Keep your opposite foot engaged in your opponent, either over their leg or on their hip. As they roll, follow them, remaining on their back. Free your bottom leg and roll into their body to lock in the choke.
Mid way through class, I developed neck burns on my left side. Mainly because my sparing partner rarely reversed his grip. You would get neck burns too if you were on the short end of 20+ Bow and Arrow Chokes.
We rolled after training as usual. My first partner overpowered me most of the match and I found myself in 2 armlocks and a choke. Other than a couple of sweeps, I didn't get much accomplished. I did mush better against my 2nd opponent who was one of the most experienced in my belt classification. I wanted to focus on bottom guard so I pulled guard every time. He only managed to get out of my guard once. I managed 1 triangle choke but got blocked on all sweep attempts. My final opponent was a female Blue who did a great job of preventing me from pulling guard by getting really low. I locked in 2 Americana's but she managed to roll out both times.
In the 2nd variation, your opponent rolls over your leg. Keep your opposite foot engaged in your opponent, either over their leg or on their hip. As they roll, follow them, remaining on their back. Free your bottom leg and roll into their body to lock in the choke.
Mid way through class, I developed neck burns on my left side. Mainly because my sparing partner rarely reversed his grip. You would get neck burns too if you were on the short end of 20+ Bow and Arrow Chokes.
We rolled after training as usual. My first partner overpowered me most of the match and I found myself in 2 armlocks and a choke. Other than a couple of sweeps, I didn't get much accomplished. I did mush better against my 2nd opponent who was one of the most experienced in my belt classification. I wanted to focus on bottom guard so I pulled guard every time. He only managed to get out of my guard once. I managed 1 triangle choke but got blocked on all sweep attempts. My final opponent was a female Blue who did a great job of preventing me from pulling guard by getting really low. I locked in 2 Americana's but she managed to roll out both times.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The only advice I am qualified to give
The general consensus on the blog-a-forumsphere is that after learning 1 technique, you are a full fledged internet adviser on all that is Jiu Jitsu. I have only been at this 2 short months, and have only scratched the surface of this massive, lifelong chess game that is Jiu Jitsu. I am in no position to tell someone what they need to do to be successful. As soon as I seem to think I am getting too big for my britches, an 18 year old day 1 student with a wrestling background, becomes 1 camera phone short of a Youtube sensation with the number of submissions he got me into in 4 short minutes of rolling(true story). But there is 1 piece of advice I feel that I am qualified to give.
3 weeks ago, my gym added a Foundations course to their BJJ schedule. I didn't find out about it until earlier this week, and today was my first class. During a typical "normal" class, we learn 2 or 3 techniques, that include a handful of variations. Those techniques will start in a certain position and will either be the result of a counter to an opponent's action, or a specific action I take that will eventually lead to a submission. It's a dance. Step 1, 2, 3, 4, submission. The foundations class, however, does not look at the the series of moves to complete the dance. Rather, it analyzes each move independently. It ensures that you know all of your options from a specific position. It helps you understand what your goals are.
During today's class, for example, we focused on side control. We discussed ways to hold the position, transition, defend, and sweep. Where in a previous normal class, we learned an armlock from side control, we didn't discuss getting to that position, holding it, and how to be successful at it. We merely learned that if we happen to magically appear in side control, and your opponent happens to reach for your wrist that is controlling his neck, you can do very specific movements, and maybe achieve a submission. While that is great for someone who has a few hundred hours of training under their belt, and would like to add just 1 more move to their arsenal, the new guy's find themselves at a huge disadvantage. Sure as a noob, your loving the fact that you just learned that cool new kimura, but if you factor in the % of opportunities that will present themselves to use that one move, and the use-it-or-lose-it rule that decreases our chances of executing it effectively as we let our muscle memory fade over time, you realize that you could have gotten more bang for your buck if you spent that time learning that new fan-geld trick, learning some fundamentals instead.
Every Fundamentals class will focus on a position, and not a technique. You will find yourself in someone's guard all the time. Understanding what your primary 3 roles are as well as what your opponent's primary roles are, will go a lot further than wishing your opponent does the one thing that will maybe allow you to try to put them in an americana. As a defender, you learn how not to lose that guard. How to position yourself in a way that limits your opponent's opportunities, and puts you in a position to become an aggressor. Fundamentals are the key to success for any new Jiu Jitsu student. Sure I still plan on attending regular classes (there is currently only 1 Fundamentals class offered), but I have every intention of attending Fundamentals, until my fundamentals become second nature. And I would advise every single other noob to do the same.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Armbars from the bottom
Today we worked on a cross collar choke from the bottom guard, cross collar armbar, and arm drag armbar.
Cross Collar Choke:
From bottom closed guard, get a deep collar grip with your opposite hand. Place your foot on the same side as your free hand and push off and rotate towards the opponent. Next grip their opposite shoulder with your free hand. Now lock in the choke, pull them tight to your chest. Note: remember to breath when going for the submission.
Cross Collar Armbar:
Same as above, but when going for the shoulder, your opponent reaches for your arm to prevent you from setting up the choke. Their extended arm is trapped between your legs, as you swing the same side leg over their head and lock in the armbar.
Arm Drag Armbar:
From bottom guard, your opponent had grabbed your gi. With both hands, grab their wrist and use a hip thrust to force their grip free. Guide their arm across your body. Release your grip of your hand that is now across your body and reach over their shoulder and grasp their gi near their armpit. Glide your arm over their head and use your elbow to force the head away. This creates space for yo to swing your leg over their head and lock in the armbar.
We sparred for 30 minutes. I pulled off my first butterfly sweep and several key lock sweeps (that I am getting very good at -Gracie Combatives disk 1). I also played pretty good defense from my back. I need to work on balancing offense and defense. From my back I only focus on defending and on top, I continuously look for subs, leaving my posture vulnerable and I end up getting swept.
I am happy that I did not get gassed for the very first time, as I am breathing much better and learning where opportunities exist to buy time. Overall it was another positive class.
Cross Collar Choke:
From bottom closed guard, get a deep collar grip with your opposite hand. Place your foot on the same side as your free hand and push off and rotate towards the opponent. Next grip their opposite shoulder with your free hand. Now lock in the choke, pull them tight to your chest. Note: remember to breath when going for the submission.
Cross Collar Armbar:
Same as above, but when going for the shoulder, your opponent reaches for your arm to prevent you from setting up the choke. Their extended arm is trapped between your legs, as you swing the same side leg over their head and lock in the armbar.
Arm Drag Armbar:
From bottom guard, your opponent had grabbed your gi. With both hands, grab their wrist and use a hip thrust to force their grip free. Guide their arm across your body. Release your grip of your hand that is now across your body and reach over their shoulder and grasp their gi near their armpit. Glide your arm over their head and use your elbow to force the head away. This creates space for yo to swing your leg over their head and lock in the armbar.
We sparred for 30 minutes. I pulled off my first butterfly sweep and several key lock sweeps (that I am getting very good at -Gracie Combatives disk 1). I also played pretty good defense from my back. I need to work on balancing offense and defense. From my back I only focus on defending and on top, I continuously look for subs, leaving my posture vulnerable and I end up getting swept.
I am happy that I did not get gassed for the very first time, as I am breathing much better and learning where opportunities exist to buy time. Overall it was another positive class.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Great class today
In today's class, we continued to build on the arm drags from Saturday. We started with 3 varitions of an arm drag to leg take-down and 1 counter to the arm drag take-down attempt. The last technique we covered was a continuation to the closed guard arm drag sweep from last class. We worked on 3 finishing moves for that sweep.
For the first variation of the take-down, you attempt the arm drag of their rear arm, but your opponent pulls away. You then drop down and grasp their front leg and squeeze their knee between your legs as you drive your head into their chest and turn your opponent 45 degrees towards you. When the take-down is complete, you should land in side control.
Variation #2: Same as above but when you drop down, you grab both legs at the knees and turn 45 degrees. Should land in side control.
Variation #3: Same as variation #2 but when you grab both legs you squeeze them together, pin their arm against their body with your head, and they fall straight back mounted by you.
Counter: As your opponent goes for the arm drag and places their head in your chest, you quickly push off of their shoulders and move your body so that their head is outside your body. With your opposite hand, reach over their back and grab their belt and your free hand hooks their knee. Sit down and your momentum will cause you to roll your opponent and you land in mount.
For the closed guard arm drag sweep, we discussed 2 submissions that can be performed instead of sweeping. For the first one, once we have their arm locked around their head, you make a weak attempt to trap their free arm. They react by pulling it back, giving you and opening to bring your leg over his shoulder for a triangle. Slide out your hips to gain leverage for a triangle.
For the second submission, your opponent tries to pull back to avoid the triangle. As they do, they leave their trapped arm vunlerable for an arm bar. Simply grasp their wrist with both hands, bring your leg over his head so that both legs are sepearted by the trapped arm. Squeeze your legs together, and lift your hips for the sub.
While sparring today, I had my most productive experience yet. I did an excellent job of conserving energy and executed several trap and roll sweeps. I focused on keeping my hooks in and trying to control my opponent's posture. While rolling with a new guy, I was able to assist him with his breathing and also demonstrated the trap and roll that I managed to execute against him at will.
I did run into issues when sparring with a purple. He appeared to seemlessly slide out of my guard (specifically the half guard) and then he would transition to a knee on the belly from side control. I couldnt seem to find a way to escape that knee and even tapped a couple of times because I could not breathe.
I am extremely excited by progress and hope to continue building on this experience. For now, I am going to focus on refining what I learned this week to make sure those techniques are engrained in my brain.
For the first variation of the take-down, you attempt the arm drag of their rear arm, but your opponent pulls away. You then drop down and grasp their front leg and squeeze their knee between your legs as you drive your head into their chest and turn your opponent 45 degrees towards you. When the take-down is complete, you should land in side control.
Variation #2: Same as above but when you drop down, you grab both legs at the knees and turn 45 degrees. Should land in side control.
Variation #3: Same as variation #2 but when you grab both legs you squeeze them together, pin their arm against their body with your head, and they fall straight back mounted by you.
Counter: As your opponent goes for the arm drag and places their head in your chest, you quickly push off of their shoulders and move your body so that their head is outside your body. With your opposite hand, reach over their back and grab their belt and your free hand hooks their knee. Sit down and your momentum will cause you to roll your opponent and you land in mount.
For the closed guard arm drag sweep, we discussed 2 submissions that can be performed instead of sweeping. For the first one, once we have their arm locked around their head, you make a weak attempt to trap their free arm. They react by pulling it back, giving you and opening to bring your leg over his shoulder for a triangle. Slide out your hips to gain leverage for a triangle.
For the second submission, your opponent tries to pull back to avoid the triangle. As they do, they leave their trapped arm vunlerable for an arm bar. Simply grasp their wrist with both hands, bring your leg over his head so that both legs are sepearted by the trapped arm. Squeeze your legs together, and lift your hips for the sub.
While sparring today, I had my most productive experience yet. I did an excellent job of conserving energy and executed several trap and roll sweeps. I focused on keeping my hooks in and trying to control my opponent's posture. While rolling with a new guy, I was able to assist him with his breathing and also demonstrated the trap and roll that I managed to execute against him at will.
I did run into issues when sparring with a purple. He appeared to seemlessly slide out of my guard (specifically the half guard) and then he would transition to a knee on the belly from side control. I couldnt seem to find a way to escape that knee and even tapped a couple of times because I could not breathe.
I am extremely excited by progress and hope to continue building on this experience. For now, I am going to focus on refining what I learned this week to make sure those techniques are engrained in my brain.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Special Delivery
When I came home from rolling, I had a delivery waiting for me. I ordered a new belt (one that I can actually double wrap), a better fitting mouth piece, a cup, and ankle wraps.
Can't wait til tomorrow's class.
In the mean time, my noob arse is studying more full and open guard techniques since I spend soooo much time in those positions.
Can't wait til tomorrow's class.
In the mean time, my noob arse is studying more full and open guard techniques since I spend soooo much time in those positions.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
What a drag
In class today we worked primarily on 2 types of arm drag sweeps and 4 variations of am arm drag take-down. I personally worked on my breathing and energy conservation. I didn't get gassed until the end of my 4th sparring session. The 4 take-downs all started with grasping the same side wrist and locking the back of the elbow with the other hand. It took me 8 or 9 tries to realize that I was not supposed to pull the opponent to me. Instead, I was supposed to step in, in order to maintain balance.
Take-down 1: Grasp the wrist with the same side hand (grabbing the forward hand of the opponent). Grasp the back of their elbow with your opposite hand and step into the opponent. As you go for the take-down, put your head int their side, under the grasped arm, and drive forward (football tackle) as you release the wrist grab and go for their ankle. Main control of their arm with the other hand. You should end up in side control or half guard.
Take-down 2: Same as variation #1 except you hook their leg and sit down.
Take-down 3: Same as variation #1 except you drop straight down, maintaining their arm until you get to the floor. Now in one motion, transition from the wrist grab, to locking their leg and arm, then drive forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elQUepOQ4Gc
Take-down 4: Same as variation #3 but grasp both legs during the transition.
Butterfly arm drag sweep: Your ankles are locked inside your opponent's thighs.Your opponent is grasping your gi and you have a grasp of their wrist. Switch your grasp to your opposite hand and take the same side hand and place it under their arm, as close to your hand as possible. Perform a hip thrust while simultaneously pulling their arm free and pulling your outside leg outside their body. Guide their free arm over your shoulder and lock your outside arm around their neck. Do not release their arm as it is extended over your shoulder. Next transition their arm to your hand over their shoulder and pull tight to your shoulder. With your free inside hand, grab inside their thigh and swing both legs over to the opposite side like a helicopter. If you don't get the sweep, your probably did not pull their arm into your shoulder.You will end up mounted.
Closed guard arm drag sweep: The opponent's posted on your chest or grasping your gi. Grasp their wrist with the opposite arm and with your same side arm, grasp the same side elbow and hip thrust to release their hold while pulling their arm across your body. Shrimp your hips out (you can push off their hips with your outside leg). Now reach over their back and lock your wrists for over under control. If your opponent goes flat you can get their back.
While sparring, I wanted to work on my closed guard game, so I tried to pull guard most of the time. I did well as long as my guard was closed. The minute I opened for a sweep or shrimp out, my opponent would pass. I managed to pull off a few good sweeps from my back (which I am proud of) but did not have the technique to seal the deal. Overall this was my favorite and most productive session.
Take-down 1: Grasp the wrist with the same side hand (grabbing the forward hand of the opponent). Grasp the back of their elbow with your opposite hand and step into the opponent. As you go for the take-down, put your head int their side, under the grasped arm, and drive forward (football tackle) as you release the wrist grab and go for their ankle. Main control of their arm with the other hand. You should end up in side control or half guard.
The take-down is similar to this but not exactly.
Take-down 2: Same as variation #1 except you hook their leg and sit down.
Take-down 3: Same as variation #1 except you drop straight down, maintaining their arm until you get to the floor. Now in one motion, transition from the wrist grab, to locking their leg and arm, then drive forward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elQUepOQ4Gc
Take-down 4: Same as variation #3 but grasp both legs during the transition.
Butterfly arm drag sweep: Your ankles are locked inside your opponent's thighs.Your opponent is grasping your gi and you have a grasp of their wrist. Switch your grasp to your opposite hand and take the same side hand and place it under their arm, as close to your hand as possible. Perform a hip thrust while simultaneously pulling their arm free and pulling your outside leg outside their body. Guide their free arm over your shoulder and lock your outside arm around their neck. Do not release their arm as it is extended over your shoulder. Next transition their arm to your hand over their shoulder and pull tight to your shoulder. With your free inside hand, grab inside their thigh and swing both legs over to the opposite side like a helicopter. If you don't get the sweep, your probably did not pull their arm into your shoulder.You will end up mounted.
Closed guard arm drag sweep: The opponent's posted on your chest or grasping your gi. Grasp their wrist with the opposite arm and with your same side arm, grasp the same side elbow and hip thrust to release their hold while pulling their arm across your body. Shrimp your hips out (you can push off their hips with your outside leg). Now reach over their back and lock your wrists for over under control. If your opponent goes flat you can get their back.
Kinda like this but you grasp the elbow:
While sparring, I wanted to work on my closed guard game, so I tried to pull guard most of the time. I did well as long as my guard was closed. The minute I opened for a sweep or shrimp out, my opponent would pass. I managed to pull off a few good sweeps from my back (which I am proud of) but did not have the technique to seal the deal. Overall this was my favorite and most productive session.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Ready to roll again- kinda
Though the scab on my right knee has not completely healed, and I am not looking forward to a 3rd straight bloody GI, I don't think I can hold out any longer. I will probably wrap my knee tightly and head to the 11am class tomorrow. In my 2 week long BJJ absence, I have still managed 7 workouts ranging from Kickboxing, yoga, and at home functional BJJ workouts (see previous post).
I welcome any advise to prevent continuously breaking open my knee where my surgical scar is. The skin is so thin that I fear I will beak it open every class. Luckily pretreating the GI and then washing in warm water, take out the blood stains but I would imagine some shrinkage will eventually occur. I only intended to ever wash my GIs in cold water.
In my absence, I have also taken up an interest in street jiu jitsu. My club mainly focuses on sport BJJ, but I would like to learn more defensive techniques that can translate to the street. To the chagrin of many traditionalists, I have began watching the Gracie Combatives series. I have read a ton of hate posts regarding this series, focusing on the at home, blue belt earning, no rolling aspects of the DVD. I however, am not trying to earn an internet blue belt. I am merely interested in the street applications of BJJ. I have competed the first 10 lessons, and will surely post my review of the series once I have completed all 36.
I welcome any advise to prevent continuously breaking open my knee where my surgical scar is. The skin is so thin that I fear I will beak it open every class. Luckily pretreating the GI and then washing in warm water, take out the blood stains but I would imagine some shrinkage will eventually occur. I only intended to ever wash my GIs in cold water.
In my absence, I have also taken up an interest in street jiu jitsu. My club mainly focuses on sport BJJ, but I would like to learn more defensive techniques that can translate to the street. To the chagrin of many traditionalists, I have began watching the Gracie Combatives series. I have read a ton of hate posts regarding this series, focusing on the at home, blue belt earning, no rolling aspects of the DVD. I however, am not trying to earn an internet blue belt. I am merely interested in the street applications of BJJ. I have competed the first 10 lessons, and will surely post my review of the series once I have completed all 36.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Best MMA Jiu Jitsu list
Best overall- Demian Maia (honerable mention: Ricardo Almeida/Rolando Souza)
Takedown- Ben Henderson
Leg lock- Rousimar Palhares
Armbar- Ronda Rousey(Judo)/Paulo Filho
Triangle Choke- Nate Diaz
Rear Naked- BJ Penn/Jason MacDonald
Rubber Guard- Dustin Hazelett
Arm Triangle- Thales Leites
Passing Guard-Nate Diaz
Sub defense- Anderson Silva
Neck Crank- Shinya Aoki
Takedown- Ben Henderson
Leg lock- Rousimar Palhares
Armbar- Ronda Rousey(Judo)/Paulo Filho
Triangle Choke- Nate Diaz
Rear Naked- BJ Penn/Jason MacDonald
Rubber Guard- Dustin Hazelett
Arm Triangle- Thales Leites
Passing Guard-Nate Diaz
Sub defense- Anderson Silva
Neck Crank- Shinya Aoki
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