BROKEN BJJ

Last blog post

2009-12-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

When I originally started the blog it was just to document my training but ive not really used it as an effective tool. With this and the fact that I am starting a new job where I wont be able to spend all day sat at a desk doing nothing this is gunna be ma last blog on here.

I still keep a diary (on Word) off all my training sessions (i.e tips I receive, things ive learnt such as sweeps, submissions etc) which Im in the process of putting them on to Evernote and will then just update Evernote after every training session with what Ive learnt.

Hopefully, in many many many years to come, when I'm a 3 stripe white belt, Il come back to here and reminisce of my BJJ early days.

Its Chhhristmass

2009-10-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've done two blogs in two days and there both about Christmas and we are only in October! I hang my head in shame.

But, yesterday I got my main Christmas present off the old faithful mum and dad. Its a Koral Classic White Kimono/Gi. Unfortunately I don't get to wear it until Christmas but I did try it on and it fits like a glove

I ordered it from MMA fightwear and they were top notch! I placed the order on the 27th at 16:30 and received it the next day, which in my book is excellent service! It was £110, but they are now on sale for £99 (including the blue/black one which I think was listed £115). Bit gutted about that but I suppose shit happens and I'l defo be buying from MMA Fightwear again.

In terms of sizes, I'm about 5'10 - 5'11 and weight about 11stone. I like to see myself as the "athletic build" but in realty I'm the "skinny" build. I ordered the pre shrunk A2. The pants fit perfect in terms of length and waist and the Gi jacket is the same. It comes down to around my wrist and feels perfect. Ive obviously not rolled in it yet, but in terms of size/service I'm 100% completely satisfied.

Over the next couple of days I'm going to order one for myself for now, I'm most probably going to get an A2 Classico Blue Faixa Rua so I'l be posting on hear how that one fits.

BJJ Now till Christmas

2009-10-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks my mat time has been seriously lacking! Ive been away with work, having some tattoo work done and had dreaded man flu. Thanks to Leroy however I have been watching BJJ related stuff every day (Science of JiuJitsu, JiuJitsu Lifestyles, Renzo Gracie Legacy and others) but nothing quite hits the spot like actually being on the mat.

Yesterday was good to be back and the people that completed the intro course joined the main training session. It was a good time to see if I have actually improved because every now and again I have a training session and think I'm just the same as the very first time I stepped through the Factory BJJ doors. Rolling with the new people defiantly demonstrated to myself that I have improved 100times more than my first day which I was pleased with. Even against bigger (not the biggest I must add though) people I felt I could quite easily control them and decided where I wanted to be (I.e playing guard, on top, in side control, working a triangle/armbar etc).

Ive also decided to make a bit of a BJJ commitment to myself in an attempt to carry on improving and developing. I don't want to miss I session now until Christmas. When I say session, I'm excluding the day session because I work but I'm talking about Tuesday, Thursday and both Saturday sessions. Now I know I defo can't make Thu 12th November but other than that I don't want any excuses to miss a session. Even if I can' train, I'l go down and just watch.

Ive also got Mondays evening spare because my girlfriend works and I really want to do a session on Mondays. The only place I could find was an MMA club which I went down to a couple of weeks ago. They do submission wrestling on Mondays and I went down to check it out (and jumped in on there session). They all seemed pretty cool, and its not Gi BJJ which is what I really want to do more off, but I guess its better than nothing.

Off the Mat Pursuits

2009-10-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

Due to work commitments this past week has been seriously lacking in BJJ mat time. But.... I have been keeping up with some off the mat pursuits to stay in shape and hopefully go some way to improve my BJJ.

When I first started BJJ, I thought I was in reasonable shape, but like most new starters I rolled for about 30seconds and felt physically exhausted. As such I started to do a bit of off the mat pursuits to try and get in shape so I could roll more. Because I get so bored off doing the same thing, it firstly started off as just running on Mon/Wed. Then I threw in a swimming session on Wed instead of the run, then I got a bit fitter and started to add a Friday session. Before I knew it, I was doing running on Monday, BJJ Tuesday, Swimming Wed, BJJ Thursday, Cycling Friday, BJJ Saturday and rest day Sunday.

So.... Whilst at work I was searching the Internet and came across a sprint Triathlon that was being advertised near where I live that was 4 weeks away. Now if I plan anything, I normally needs months of preparation to even think about it. But believe it or not I kind of pulled some inspiration from the guys at BJJ. James Nardone had just come back from an amateur MMA contest with very little stand up/striking experience, I thought he was crazy for doing it with so little striking training. He went on to win the comp with 4 1st round submissions. Joe who I did the intro course had also entered a Gi comp and won his first match.

So I thought what the heck its time I jump head first in to something. I payed my 30quid, carried on with training and on Sunday finished my first Triathlon! It was a 1/2km swim, then a 600m run to the bike transition, 12km on the bike up some seriously steep hills, then a 6km off road run. I finished it on 2hr 17minutes. Considering my bike broke which I lost about 15mins sorting out I was pretty happy with the time. On the provisional results I came 107th, I wont tell you out of how many though haha.

Il be posting the pics on my facebook soon so feel free to check them out, cant wait to get back in to BJJ training and I hope my new found fitness (I use the word lightly) will have a positive factor on my BJJ.

Septembers Review

2009-09-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

Since Ive become a bit more busier at work Ive not managed to update my training as much. I'm starting to get a bit more comfortable with the techniques now so there's no reason to document each technique step by step, I can be a bit more general with them. This month we have been looking at the following:

Stand up:

Whizzer (I think thats right). Its something Ive got quite a lot of success out of, you overhook the persons arm and either take a tight grip on the Gi or put your hand on your own chest to keep it tight. You can then work your hip movement and sweep them from there using your legs/hips.

Scarf Hold attacks:
Arm triangle and shoulder lock - With the shoulder lock you want the persons arm as close to you as possible (ie the arm is not extended, it is bent and you are hooking your legs around it)

Inverted Scarf Hold attacks:
BreastStroke Choke and arm bar from north south.

Rolling Review - Rolling seems to be going good and Im beginning to catch a few submissions here and there. Was speaking with John after I rolled with him and he was giving me some tips on playing half guard. When playing half guard I usually go for the sweep that Cecil showed us, which I do get some good success with. However John was showing me some old school and plan b half guard sweeps so Im going to try and use these as well so I have more options when in 1/2 guard.

Personal Development - I have now finally started to catch some triangle chokes, and as that was one of my goals I was pretty happy with it. In terms of developing my own game, Ive identified 4 places that I need to work on.

Top Positions
Playing Side Control
Under Side Control
Taking the back/finishing from the back.

I think for the next coming weeks I'm going to work my side control, as in playing under side control. Il probably roll as normal but atleast one roll a session ask to play under some ones side control and start working my escapes.

Underhook from Guard and Applying Pressure

2009-09-15T04:59:00.001-07:00

The past week we have been looking at the Cecil Burch Seminar stuff and then a recap of some of the Scarf Hold control (Which I have been spelling incorrecty as "Scar Fold"! - Cheers John).

Doug was showing me some good control whilst in guard which was to get a underhook on the person in my guard and then push your legs onto there hips to try and flatten them out. Tried it a few times and it feels really good, was able to push them out and work a Oma Platta/Triangle and it also fits nicely in with my Hip Bump Sweep that I seem to have pretty gud success with.
If I can get the Hip Bump Sweep then I keep hold of the underhook and work a straight arm bar from there which also seem to worked nicely.

John (Art of Jits) was also showing me in mount to be patient if your working with the arm bar, as per all of my game I seem to rush to much. He was showing me when Im in mount, jst push there arms up and slowly make your way around. This fit nicely in with some tips from Doug - when you mount some one don't go straight for a submission, pressure them a bit by applying weight to them, then go for the submissions.

Rolling Review: I seem to have finally slowed things down whilst rolling, the underhooks in mount seem to be working great and I can control people alot more if I get the underhook in. Likewise with applying pressure, if I mount some one then I'm able to work Gi chokes etc if I just spend a bit of time just putting them under pressure with weight/top control.

In my quest to get fitter I have also enrolled for a Traiathlon which starts in 3 weeks, its 1/2Km swim, then 12Km bike ride then a 6Km run. My runnings note to bad, can do 5Km around 20mins so just going to concentrate on swimming and cycling and see if I can atleast finish the race.

Saturday 05th - Cecil Burch 1/2 Guard and 1/4 Guard

2009-09-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday I attended a Cecil Burch (Megaton Brown Belt) at Factory BJJ where he did some Gi 1/2 and 1/4 guard positions, although they could equally be used for no gi.

Fundamental positions:

1/2 Guard: When you have some one in 1/2 guard you want to make sure that both knees are pinching the persons leg together. Torse control is also important, you want to be in contact with there torso and looking for an underhook, the underhook and need to try and swim it around and grip the persons opposite shoulder.

1/2 Guard to Back: When you get control of the under hook with your other hand you want to be pushing yourself up towards the person and then you want to bring your knee that isnt "trapped" towards the back of the person and take there back. Its important to get the under hook in and keep your torso as close to theres as possible.

1/2 Guard Sweep: You need to be looking to take there back as per above but then you "dive" under the persons opposite side to your 1/2 guard and sweep them around. This sounds really basic and useless but I tried it and it seemed to have some good results. He also shown one were you push your hand under there legs and grip the persons toes (the leg which has the half guard trapped) and then bring the persons leg up and push in to them.

1/4 Guard: If they have almost past but you still have some of there leg still trapped (ie the calf) then you want to push your hand through and use your arm to tighten up the 1/4 guard. If for example I have there right leg trapped (my left side) then I want to use my right hand and push it through to create a move secure 1/4 guard.

All in all the seminar was great and I got alot out of it, especially the torso control and some one the taking the back. Cecil was a real cool guy and its always great when some one so high up and good talks about when he was a beginner and struggling to grasp the basics.

1st week back at training - Scard fold and pins

2009-09-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

After a nice 2 week holiday Ive bin back in to training this week. For some reason on the journey down I was really really nervous about coming back, I was shitting bricks that I was gunna forget everything (which in fairness isnt alot!) But... it wasnt to bad.

Warm ups - Did some normal warms up and then as part of the warm ups did some drills were we picked 2 sweeps from guard to drill 3 times. If we carry on doing this then I'm going to document it to see if Ive got some half decent sweeps/submissions to use from different positions. If not, then I know where to practise:

Sweeps from guard - I practised a hip bump sweep and a scissor sweep from my back and when the person was standing I practised 2 different variations of spider guard sweeps, one where u grip the back of the ankle and on the same side of the ankle grip push on the persons hips with your foot, then sweep the other foot. And then one where I had a grip of both sides of the ankle and pushed him down with my legs on his hips.

Gi pins: Tuesday Gi (Done by Doug, who normally does no gi) and we did some Judo inspired pins using the Gi. My top game is really really weak so Im defiantly going to be incorporating them into my game. The main want I wanted to use was when in side control, you control the persons leg with his belt/your arm. The leg nearest to you, you lift up and push it towards his other leg, you then get his belt and kind of hook/control his leg with your belt.

Thursday no Gi (Done by Adam, who normally does Gi) and we worked on some scarf fold. I thought it fitted in nicely with the Gi session as there both stuff you can use from side control. I already had a little bit of knowledge about scarf fold as I injured my arm from being in scarf fold (accidentally). An important aspect of it was keeping the leg that is under his arm at a 12Oclock position and then drag his head off the mat whilst applying pressure to his stomach (bum off the ground but not enough to get swept).

Scarf fold in to arm triangle - From scarf fold we worked an arm triangle which was awesome as I'd just watched Chris Leben put to sleep with one in an UFC match. From Scarf fold you want to get the person far away arm across his neck (normal triangle position) and then put your arms in a rear naked choke type position. You want to be sprawled out with one leg at 06 O'clock and at 09 Oclock and "smeer" his arm into the side of the neck. When I was doing it I found the trickiest thing was 1)getting the arm under there neck and 2) getting a deep enough "rear naked choke" position. I seemed to be hitting the spot when drilling though.

My review of my rolling: - I still need to slow things down, think I get a little eager when Im on the mat to try anything and everything that I almost know. Doug and James where showing my, when in guard, just relax, get a grip of them and then work that grip. Don't grip something, then grip something else, then grab an arm, then the neck. Jst relax and slow down!

Wednesday 19th - No more Gym

2009-08-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

Went to the Gym yesterday to do some pull ups, push ups, sits up etc and my motivation was absolutely zero. I use to be able to do 3 -4 Gym sessions a week whilst at Uni but since starting BJJ and getting the buzz of rolling, the gym just seems really really boring. So I think yesterday was my last Gym session in terms of actually going in to the main gym and doing a typical work out.

I was doing the workout and thinking if im really honest, I'm no longer enjoying doing it. Plus I think it will be very very minimal in terms of how it can improve my BJJ game. I'm still going to do other stuff, just not solo boring gym stuff.

After the work out (I call it a work out - it lasted 20mins, most of which was me watching the plasma screen) I hit the swimming pool (kind of inspired by this link http://www.ultimategrapplingmag.com/content/view/48/46/ plus I actually enjoy swimming!).

I did about 30 lenghts - butterfly stroke and it felt pretty good. It got the heartbeat going, my legs felt it and my arms felt like they'd done a nice work out. Sooo will defo now drop the gym sessions and add in the swimming sessions - possibly even 2 swimming sessions.

Tuesday 18th - Spider Guard in to Triangle

2009-08-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

We focused mainly on Spider Guard again for the Gi session, in particular defending it and going to a triangle from it.

For the setup - your playing Spider Guard and you twist your hips to try and secure an arm down on the floor with your leg. The leg that is up then comes under neath his arm pit which then creates the arm the you are isolating to pull over. From there you put your legs in to the triangle position and look at getting the persons arm across to finish the triangle.

In terms of passes, they seemed quite simple but effective. Most of the Spider Guard passes (as in your in Spider Guard not playing it) involve gripping the persons Gi (the front shin of the leg). You then need to get a arm loose by bringing the persons legs together and kind of "pealing" your Gi sleeve away from the persons grip. Then you can sit on the persons legs so youv kind of squashed him up with his head popping in to between his own legs.

In terms of rolling I got two rolls in, both which felt really good. I threaten with a couple of good arm bar attempts, took the persons back and generally felt quite good. I got tapped both times but it felt like a great session.

Big running improvement

2009-08-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

A few sessions ago Adam gave me some tips about stretching, mainly not to do it "cold" so I have changed when Im going to stretch. Instead of before a BJJ session Im going to do it warm after a gym work out (10minutes of the bike to get warmed up etc). So from now on Il be stretching Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

After last weeks bad running times I decided to download some new songs and get back to some improved running which I new i was capable off (last weeks excuse was I was full of a cold).

I did 2.75 miles (includes a massive hill) in 21.52 so I was very happy with that considering the week before I was around the 25 minutes mark. Need to consistently keep it around 22mins mark for the next few runs and then up the distance to 3 miles (including 2 massive hills)

Saturday 15th - Wrist control

2009-08-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

Could only manage 1 hours of training today as my girlfriend was leaving me to fend for myself and heading for sunny Spain for 2 weeks.

Did some rolling with John Allan and he really made me realised something that I lacked in the guard and that was wrist control. I started in guard and he must have passed it about 5 times in the space of about 3 mintues. Most times he was able to get my wrist controlled and I was working to try and "escape" from wrist control he was able to break my closed guard and open guard/pass. When I started in guard again and took wrist control I did much better and was able to start threating with Triangles, Omaplatas and Arm bars. After the role he kindly took 5 mintues out and gave me some feedback which is always great when people do that, especially respected senior guys.

John (Art of Jits John - http://artofjits.com/ ) also did some under hook guard passing drills with me and gave me some tips on doing an under hook guard pass:

*Keep it tight

*When you go in to the seatbelt really push your arms down to there stomach to put more pressure on them

*Sprawl out and hold them there, keeping it tight and putting the person under pressure.

*When you pass keep them "folded together"

*When your in side control push the leg nearset you over there own leg, and put your arm across there next and push there neck/head the opposite way.

I almost caught someone in a Triangle, the legs were over and locked in but they escaped. If I remember correctly I didnt create enough of an angle and didnt press the head down using there other arm. I'm not to unhappy witht that though because im getting closer so its all good!

Friday 14th Running

2009-08-17T08:20:00.001-07:00

Running times was up on my last run (excuse was my cold!)

Run time was 24 mintues and 15 seconds.

Wednesday and Thurdsay 13th August - 2on1 into Body Lock

2009-08-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - Loads of work to do so didnt do anything apart from a very small stretching session.

Thurday (No Gi) - We did some arm bar and traingle defending drills which felt good. My arm bars seem to be getting tighter, keeping my knees pinded together, feet dragging back in and popping ma hips up. My arm bar deference was ok, I get the arm bent back and under the persons leg but just need to work getting up off my back. Didnt get to much success applying or defending the traingle in the drills but I was drilling it with a top BJJ blue belt in James.

Working from the 2 on 1 arm drag, if some one is defending it by controlling your head and pushing there arm out then grab hold of there other elbow, push it into you and then create a kind of arm traingle/body lock.

Body Lock - When you take the body lock you want to be holding either the top of the body or the bottom of the body (not that middle). If your on there side and you want to take there back Doug was showing use how to kind of dance your way around (his words not mine). Also its important to keep your hips pinned up against theres. If you get the arm trainagle and you want to apply more pressure to it then you want to be sprawling out to keep the pressure high.

Monday 10th and Tueday 11th - Spider Guard

2009-08-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

Monday 10th - Severe Swine Flu/Possible Meningitis/maybe a bit of a cold meant I couldn't go to the gym. But I did a good solid stretch work out doing the stretches that I have already documented. Going to carry on doing them stretches for another two weeks then mix them up.

Tuesday sessions - great session. We worked some more spider guard and look at sweeping by holding on to the outside of there foot/heal and using the hips to sweep them. There was a couple of variations they looked around the push/pull aspects of the game that were covered in the intro course. The one I struggled with the most was getting the foot around the persons leg. I need to shrimp out more to the left (if Im attacking the left leg), then secure under the other persons leg on on his hip and shrimp back in.

Need to remember with Spider guard to keep one leg extended and then you'l be sweeping the opposite side. Use your leg to sweep the persons leg from under them. Also remember to keep your lower back of the mat.

We did some passing/sweep drills and the Spider Guard seemed to work really well for me so Im fo sure going to try and incorporate it in to my game.

Rolling went good, a few points that I need to remember.

1) I was working a cross lapel choke, but I didn't flair my elbows out enough and if I remember correctly I didn't tripod them up enough to fully get the choke in.

2) When I get the arm bar, just remember to keep it tight and make sure his thumb is pointing upwards.

Saturday 08th - Goal = Triangle

2009-08-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

Been mad busy this past few days so gunna try and keep these recaps short..

Saturdays Session was working some 1/2 guard.

1) When playing half guard, use one leg to hook on to theres and then use your knee to control there hips/stomach to avoid them passing.

2) In terms of sweeps we did some Old School Sweeps.

3) Then some Darren Currie 1/2 guard escape - i) you need to fight to pass the knee ii) then pivot and sit next to the person iii) then kind of knee pin then and get the foot free. Use the persons Gi to try and pin there arm down.

A few weeks ago Adam was looking at goals that we should be setting ourselves. Mine was guard and cardio, after almost 8 weeks of training my cardio has defo improved and my guard has improved considerably compared to what it was. So Im obviously still going to be working these, but I have a new goal. I'm going on holiday in 2 weeks so I need to triangle some one by then.

A few triangle tips for myself.

1) Try and over hook an arm to secure it and then use that arm to create the Triangle (shrimp of the persons hips for the side of the secured arm and then apply the leg to the opposite arm.

2) John was showing me some arm drags to try and get the persons arm under control

3) When you get the triangle set in, pivot to the side that is opposite to his arm, use there legs for added momentum. You want to be looking down the persons ear to really get the triangle tight.

Triangle Escapes - Doug was showing my a triangle escape, instead of posturing up you create a good base on your knees and drive into the leg that is not hooked. Then swim the other arm up to create a side control pass in to side control. I got caught in a triangle on Tuesday 11th and escaped from this.

Friday 07th August

2009-08-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Fridays Training -

1 x 20 Marine Style Press Ups

1 x 15 Normal Press Ups

1 x 10 Hindu Style Press Ups

Various Sits Ups

8 x 25m lengths of swimming

Tried not to do too much on the Friday because it was my 5th day of training in a row, I was a little sore from training on the Thursday and I knew I had a 2 hours fundamentals session Saturday morning followed by 2 hours open mat.

Patience

2009-08-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

Last nights session was no Gi and we worked on some more take downs with Doug. It was an extension of the 2on1 arm drags that we have been working, in particular some counters. The main concept behind it was using your head and sticking it in to the persons neck area to control them, and then slipping the arm that is being "2on1'd" out. To counter you can grab the other persons elbow and bring it in to your body and switch so you have then got the 2on1. There is also some takedowns were you use your foot and in a kind of swinging fashion, you sweep the other persons foot resulting in you landing on top.
There was another counter to the 2on1 were you drag the elbow through, and the arm that is being 2on1'd you kind of swim up into the air and sweep them over your hips.

What did I take from the session -

1) I got some good tips. The first one was when in side control to block the persons hip with your arms. I use to do this by placing my hands on the persons hip but John shown me that you can do it with just putting your hand on the mat next to the persons hip and this works fine.

2) I always ask to start from guard to try and improve my guard, I go to closed guard but then once I have closed guard in for more than a couple of seconds, I feel the need to open it up and then get passed. Doug was saying just be patient. The person on top is the one that needs to be looking to pass so just wait for them to do something, Then once they've do something react to that.

Running Improvement

2009-08-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Will keep the running short and to the point (2.75 miles)....

New time: 23.52

Old time: 25.00

Improvement of 1.08 seconds. Happy with that, once I get the time down to about 23 minutes I'l up it to 3 miles.

The Art of War - "Defend before you attack"

2009-08-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

Felt like a great nights training yesterday, my cardio feels like its getting better, flexibility feels like its getting better, my guard is slowly getting better, I defiantly feel comfortable rolling now and I learnt an important survival tip courtesy of James.

It was, "before you attack you need to defend". So driving home I was thinking about it, got home and routed through my old Chinese manuscripts to find SunTzu's Art of War (picture included). And there it was, chapter 4: Tactical Disposition - "explains the important of defending existing positions until you can advance them". I eagerly read through the pages, and found the quote that sums it up.. "The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then wait for an opportunity of defeating the enemy".

So in other words, if some one is working a Gi choke on you, you've got to defend the neck before you can think about sweeping or getting your own submission. Don't sacrifice defending the neck to move your arms to try and get the sweep like I did, because the second you stop defending the neck, the choke will be on before you can sweep anyone. I should have defended the neck, got beyond the possibility of him chocking me out and then worked Sweeps/Submissions. Lesson Learnt!

On to the training session, a few weeks/a month ago Adam asked us to put a note on the wall showing what we want to improve. Mine was Guard and Cardio, so last nights session (Spider Guard) was perfect for me. We learnt the basics behind the Spider Guard and did a basic sweep from guard (Spider guard). I really liked the spider guard and I'm defiantly going to try and work it in over the next few weeks (and hopefully months/years/centuries etc). Doug shown me a little tip about shrimping out, when you shrimp out to get a food on the persons biceps, then just push the guys hips as far out as possible whilst keeping his hands close up to you, it really unbalances them and puts pressure on the bottom of there back. After that we did some guard/sweep drills which I love. Just can't wait for the next Gi session now (Saturday) to work some more Spider Guard.

Also did some rolling with another Blue Belt (http://invisiblegamebjj.blogspot.com/) and he worked on Sweeps with me for a bit, giving me some much appreciated tips When I do the Scissor Sweep I really need to drag the person on top down onto my shin (use a deep Gi choke type grip and drag them in). I was working between this and the Hip Bump Sweep which seems to be a good combination as one's kind off a pushing and ones kind of a pull technique. He was saying its was a good combintation because your working with the persons weight, not against it. (Ie if you pulling them down to get the scissor sweep and they are pulling back, then go with them and go for the Hip Bump Sweep (and visa versa)

Roll on Thursday now!

Monday - Official Gymday

2009-08-04T05:28:00.000-07:00

So Monday evening is now officially my Gym day, the girlfriend is in work, there's no BJJ and its the start of the week so I should be at my most motivated. I use to be pretty good in terms of core fitness, could do 60 arm/elbows in press ups in 2 minutes, 80 proper sits up in 2 minutes and about 10 proper pull ups (hands facing outwards). Yesterday wasn't quite that good....

1 x 20 elbows in press ups

1 x 15 "conventional" press ups

2 x 5 x Chin/Pull Ups (I cant really call them chin ups or pull ups, as the bar you hang from is kind of on an angle.

2 x 5 Dips

3 x 10 Lat Pulls Down

1 x 20 normal sit ups

1 x 20 feet tucked into the bum sit ups

1 x 15 feet elevated in the air and elbow come in to touch the knees sit ups

The sets/reps are mostly pretty low so I will be slowly building up to a much better work out. Seems like ages ago since I last rolled (was 2 days ago) so cant wait to get to BJJ tonight!

A battle of Wills

2009-08-03T06:47:00.000-07:00

Saturdays session (Gi and No Gi) was pretty good, I spent most of it on single leg take downs which is probably the first time Ive really done some takedowns. They felt pretty good, just need to get use to shooting my leg in towards there lead legs. Going to try and split it down into the following:

1) Shoot for the outside leg, you want your lead leg to go down and then hit the persons lead leg with your chest keeping a good steady posture. You want your head in the inside to protect against the guillotine and also to stop them from controlling your head movement and sprawling out.

2) Hook the leg and bring it up.

3) Get an underhook on the leg and start elevating it up as well as placing your other arm around the persons waist and complete the take down.

That was pretty much it for Saturday in terms of drilling, just worked them all session and it felt pretty good. I only rolled twice and again it felt pretty good, didnt catch anyone but still felt like a good session.

Sunday - My day of rest.... but I still wanted to do atleast one thing BJJ related so Ive decided Im going to try and watch competition footage or instructional DVD's on a Sunday. I watched the finals of the 2008 Mundial (Heavy weight and open weight if I remember correctly) and learnt something that I think I need to put into my game.

Roger Gracie submitted some one on 09minutes and 59seconds with the cross lapel choke that Ive learnt so that was pretty cool. The commentary guys were saying when they roll with Roger and he gets mount, he puts you in such uncomfortable positions that you almost just give him the submission. Made me think about my own very loose and unpressurised mount Ive got. So If I get mount on some one next time, I want to really apply pressure to them, keep it tight and I'm going to go for that lapell choke. Another thing I picked up, and Adam touched on it with me, is the speed these guys go. Not in terms of there going at it fast, but how much time/commitment they put in to the submission. Roger Gracie for example got mount on 7 minutes, for the remaining 3 minutes he just stayed in mount and just worked that lapell choke. Now me, if I get mount, I spend 10-15 seconds trying to get the Cross Lapell Choke, if I'm not getting it then Im thinking "damm what can I work now". Ive got be patient, work at the submission, put the person under pressure until he makes a mistake or gives up. A battle of wills!

Slow it Down

2009-07-31T05:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was probably the first time since ive been training that I really wasnt motivated to go. I''d put some extra hours in at work, felt a bit sickly, was knackered and well basically just lazy. But...... I went and it was probably one of the best sessions Ive done in terms of rolling.

The drilling its self (No Gi) was a bit of a recap on the 2on1 arm control that Ive already documented. Just some important points to remember - keep the arm that you drag in tight and drive your weight in to their shoulder. Keep his hand tightly against your hips as well. We did a Darce choke as well which transitioned from the 2on1 arm control. When you have it you put the arm that you have the underhook grip around his throat and kind of wrap your hand around his throat/neck. You than sprawl out and apply weight until he drops. From there you kind of do a reverse RNC choke on them. I was watching James/John/Doug and Adam do it and when they do it they really sprawl out on to there toes, hips down and drive there weight into the choke so I want to work on this a bit more as well. Youv then gotta get your funky squeeze on the really get it tight. The arm that is under wants to be really deep so you get the choke from both sides of the neck and when you are applying weight up want to be leaning on him as if you are pressing up towards his chin.

Before the session John was showing me some more tips on the Triangle. When you get your legs over them, you want to create an angle, ideally by underhooking there leg and bringing your hips out. I drilled it out a few times with him and it felt pretty good - just need to catch some one in it now. James also gave me some tips about it, when rolling just keep an eye on there arms, if there going out then push one arm out and get the Triangle in.

On to rolling, I did a ten minutes session with Adam and it felt really good. I got in some half decent positions and defended the guard pass quite well. He said I still need to slow it down and just pace myself so Ive got 3 basic things I need to add to my game. Keep your hands of the mat, keep it tight and slow it down.

At the end of the session I caught some one in an arm bar that I was quite happy with. I took his back and was trying to get hooks in. As I was trying to get hooks in I could see the arm became available and switched to an arm bar and got the tap. He's awesome as well, and I know he'd own me all day if he was going at it proper, but I was glad I seen the opening and got the transition. I was also working my hip bump thats been paying of nicely. James was showing me a bit more of my hip bump, triangle/omaplate combination so I'm still trying to work that into my game.

Running

2009-07-30T04:33:00.001-07:00

Went out for a run last night, approx 2.75miles and a nice comfortable pace. I thought I'd be on my arse from it because I've not done any running for a while but it felt pretty good! Got in at 25minutes which is pretty crappy in terms of time but nothing to worry about (plus it includes 1 massive hill).
About 18 months ago I was doing 1.5miles in 10 minutes and 3 miles in just under 21 minutes (the 3 miles included 2 massive hills) so I know I can vastly improve them. I think my target is going to be about 3 miles in 22 minutes. Not to fast - Not to Slow.

Keep it Tight

2009-07-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

So I did a nice warm up / flexibility stretches yesterday before the main session (did the stretches I documented earlier)

I managed to speak with Adam yesterday about using your leg to pin the persons head down and it went something like this..

Me - "can I use my leg to pin a persons head down to stop them from posturing up"

Adam - "Yeah and if they moan their bitches. If there experienced guys and they moan, their even bigger bitches"

Basically he's happy with it, as long as I'm not slamming my leg in to there head to try and get a cheap tap/positional advantage.

On to the training session, we basically did a recap on the Gi chokes that I have document earlier in my blogs. I think Im getting the main fundamentals behind the chokes - its four fingers in on one hand and a thumb in grip with the other. You want to by flaring the elbows out and bringing your hands in as if you are hanging them. (Imaging a fish hook shape helps me visual it abit). For extra pressure you then want to be putting your weight onto the choke. Doug, who Ive now realised is just a complete master of inflicting pain, shown me a couple of little tips. 1) If your in full mount and got your four fingers deep in the collar of the person and can not get under there head to get another hand in. Then with the hand that you'v got the Gi grip, just apply pressure through your elbow in to the persons sternum, they'l posture up from which will get your access to underneath there head. 2) When you'v got the grips in you want to be twisting them as if your "ringing" out the Gi (like a wet towel). This really applies extra pressure and sinks the choke in really deep.

We also did the choke from the back position, again you get as deep a grip as possible on the persons Gi and drag it around and upwards (fish hook shape), then with the other hand you take his other side of the Gi and push it down (keeping it close to his body).

Onto rolling, for the first time I managed to go a full round (7 minutes) of rolling and not get tapped out, plus I got a tap as well. The arm bar that Doug/James shown me caught some one again - I'm really loving this one and it seems to be my most consistent submissions Ive do (wait a minute - I think Arm-Bars are the only subs Ive ever got!). I caught two people in a triangle but bad technique caused me to loose it. I'm also really struggling with getting comfortable in mount, I seem to be able to control/get better positions in side control. For some reason though when I pass guard I just automatically go into side control, knee pin and then slide in to mount to be reversed/swept.

So what did I learn from it - well I've seen a quote circulating the Internet that goes something like this.... "Jujitsu is like sex, the tighter the better". So in terms of my rolling game, especially when I got in to mount, I'm defiantly not keeping it tight. I'm pretty loose, probably riding there hips rather than upper chest and just generally pretty sloppy. If I get mount, I need to get them knees pinned together and keep it tight with a good base, especially if Im working a Gi choke.

For the triangle, I struggle with people posturing up and then getting the arm over. So as I said last time, I need to hook onto that leg to avoid them posturing up and then get that arm tucked over the other side. In both as well I didnt really have any control over there posture so I need to make sure Im controlling there body, breaking there posture and getting them down. A guy I rolled with also shown me a Kirmura that I can use if I cant get the arm over so Im probably going to speak with Adam about doing it correctly (the Kirmura).

I rolled with a pretty big guy as well (about 14-15 stone) and felt pretty good, he tapped me once with a Kirmura but other than that I felt pretty good. I struggled to control him but I felt like I handled him 100 times better than if I would off rolled with him a few weeks ago.

So for now, just going to concentrate on keeping the hands of the mat and keeping things tight.

Rear Naked Choke

2009-07-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Saturday) was a pretty good session, I arrived at 10.00am to do 2 hours fundamentals class and then stayed for an hour for the free rolling (an hour free rolling was all my under conditioned battered body could take! The aim is to do the fundamentals and 2 hours free mat)

Fundamentals - we concentrated on the Flower Sweep and the Rear Naked Choke

Flower Sweep - so starting in closed guard you pull an arm to the opposite side of you, shift your hips slightly to the opposite side as if your crawling up the person and throw an arm around them to took it under there arm pit. With the other arm your took it under there leg for some extra leverage and to keep it tight, walk up the person and sweep them. I struggled with this sweep against bigger guys, but its a sweep that I can work with my Hip Bump, and one I can use from closed guard so I want to work on it until I can nail it.

Taking the back - If I can't get the Hip Bump or Flower Sweep, it also can open up for taking the persons back which we worked. If you go out too much to the side then keeping your body close to the person, you can use your legs and arms to kind of slip onto the persons back. If I remember correctly, the important things about the transition are keeping your body close to the person and using your arm which would be under the persons arm pit to generate some extra leverage to get you onto their back. We worked going in to the harness which was an under hook on one arm and an over hook on the other. From there into the RNC.

Rear Naked Choke - the arm that has the over hook is the arm that is going to go under the chin. You want the inside of your elbow (the joint that separates the form arm from the bicep) to took under the persons chin and then the under hook comes out and goes against the persons back. When I say goes against the persons back you want the elbow in the persons back and the form arm pushing against the back - with the hands clasped together applying pressure. We was drilling this out and this can be enough to finish the choke if you get it right. To make it tighter your want to drag your arm under the persons chin and really get it deep. Then the hand/arm that is under the chin makes a knife edge and your took it under the inside of the elbow of the other. The other arm than makes a knife edge and that goes behind the persons head. Then you pull up, pull backwards push forwards (I think it was that any way - its called the 3D finish). I was also watching some Eddie Bravo stuff and he said to also image there is a can in between the middle of your back. You want to keep it there by crushing it with in between your back - this gives it some extra squeeze.

Rolling wise felt really good, I was rolling with some big big guys and didn't feel to squashed which was a problem a few weeks ago, I guess its just getting use to people applying weight to you and knowing where to go if they do. I tapped some one with the arm bar that Doug/James shown me, set it up a few times, set up a triangle but he postured out of it. Next time will try and hook a leg to prevent this. I also took someones back and although I couldn't get the rear naked choke, I manage to isolate an arm and tapped him with an arm bar. He did give me a bit of advise after it, he said I was using to much energy to try and get the Rear Naked Choke. I need to work "position before submission" so going to try and get a better position next time before diving for the neck. I'm going to try and document what taps I got - just to try and monitor what I'm getting and what I need to work more on.

Other than that, it all felt really good. I'm not gassing out as much, I'm trying to work in my strategies when rolling and I'm getting some good feedback in terms of progressing. In case I forget I'm going run two things pass Adam. 1) The Flower Pass and 2) More of a general question. I was watching some Demian Maia You Tube stuff and I can't remember exactly what he was talking about in terms of submission (think it was the Omaplata), but basically he was saying when you are pushing on the head to move it away, you do not want to push on the bottom of the head/neck, you want to be pushing on the top of the head. Now when I was finishing the Arm Bar and I had a leg over the persons head, they were trying to sit back up so I put my leg on his head to push him back down and then kind of pinned his head down with my legs. Just want to check if this is within BJJ etiquette or is it something that is kind of a gentleman's agreement not to do. Or even if its totally the wrong thing to do, should I be forgetting about pinning the head and concentrating on pinning the knees together. Will find out soon!

Hot Coal

2009-07-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago I remember Adam saying set yourself a target to "improve just 1% per training session" That's a pretty small amount, but over the weeks, months and years they all add up. So what did I learn last night.... "I learnt to keep your feckin hands of the mat when in guard" From now on, the mat is a hot bed of coal, and my hands go no where near it.

I was rolling with Doug and Adam (both club coaches and purple belts) and they both tapped me out. Now I'm gunna guess (no not guess, I know) that both of them could tap me out when ever they wanted, however they wanted. But I gave them both a chance to punish me from resting my hand on the mat when in there guard and obviously they happily took it. Doug got me in some kind of arm lock and tapped me, and I did the same with Adam and he set up a triangle and finished me. From now on the hands don't rest on the mat. I need to get my elbow tucked in and my arms on the person, preferably the hips to try and break there guard. The training sessions that we did actually fits nicely into this, it was No-Gi and Doug went through some guard stuff.

Not sure what the technique was called but when you are in someones guard, your on your knees and you let your bum rest in between your legs, place your head on there stomach, arms to the side keeping a nice tight control and wait till you feel your opponent open his guard. Once the guard is open then posture up and his guard is broke.

From there you can use the Stack Pass - mental note for the Stack Pass - keep your elbows in, don't me sloppy or you will get triangled, go in to both arms together and push inwards with your elbows to get your arms under him. Then stack pass. Doug also showed us a nasty nasty guard pass - I swear I thought my groin was going to split in to two! You wait till they open guard and then with your weight and forearm/elbow you push down on his leg and go for the knee over whilst keeping control of the other side of your opponents body/leg. It kind of forces your opponent to go in to the splits and they give you the pass rather than having there groin wish boned.

Doug also showed me a slightly different way to do an Arm Bar from Side Control. It was similar to how James shown me last week, but with a few alterations.

Your in Side Control chest to chest with one arm under your opponents head, you then isolate his opposite arm from where you are with an under hook grip. Once you have the under hook you pull your arm back to yourself and put all your wait through you elbow/forearm in to the persons ribs. This makes them shrimp out and roll towards you. From them a quick step over, secure a leg over his head/neck, squeeze the knees together, pop the hips, drag your feet into him to keep him nice and tight and finish the arm bar.

It's Friday today so going to give myself I little rest day, back to it tomorrow for 2 hours fundamentals and 2 hours free rolling.

And remember Dom (as Doug has been calling me) hands of the mat!!!!

"If variety is the spice of life, then call me a Jalfrezi!"

2009-07-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

So I can't be at BJJ everyday, so when I'm not doing BJJ I am going to try to do off the mat pursuits that will help with my game. I'm thinking cardio, flexibility exercises and general "gym" training.

Now as the my good friend Steven "Bobby Dazzler" Woolnough once said, "If variety is the spice of life, then call me a Jalfrezi." In other words plain, simple, not adventures, not challenging, not new and not evolving. No I'm all for no frills simple training, but when ever I have trained in the past I don't mix it up enough. Its running - just do 3 miles, gym - just do bench press and sit-ups... then after a few months I'm board, defiantly at a mental platue and give up far too easily. Soooooo, I'm going to try and mix things up as much as possible. Even if I'm doing flexibility stuff, I don't want to be doing the same flexibility stuff every time so I'l get a base flexibilty "program" going and try and add and drop as I go along.

Speaking of flexibility, that was my chosen 1 hour session of training last night. So equipped with my "Ultimate Flexibility - A Complete Guide to Stretching for Martial Arts" by Sang H.Kim and some Gymnastics Natural stuff that Adam has shown me I layed out my Pink Reebok mat and went at it!

Spent 5-10 mins getting warming up, ie jogging on the spot, star jumps, squats etc etc.

Then a few minutes just drilling out some Gymnastic Natural Stuff (Im going to explain this for myself, so it probably wont mean much to anybody).

1) Start of doing some back stretches (sitting on your feet, into a kind of Hindu press up and then push up)

2) Then in to some Side Control stretches

3) Finish of with some Guard/Combat Base Stretches

Once I did these then I tried to split the stretching down in to body parts, some exercises obviously transition over to different body parts so for example the Butterfly Stretch works both the legs, groin and the hips.

Legs:

1) V Stretch

2) Seated Toe Touch
3) Knee Pull

Hips:

1) Butterfly Stretch

2) Cross

3) Bridge and Roll

Back / Abs:
1) Bridge
2) Another Gymnastic Natural back exercise - you lie on your back and put your feet in the air closed together. You then lift the bottom of your back off the ground and very slowly lower it.

Ideally I want to be able to do 3 solid stretching sessions a week not including at BJJ (Unless I do them after the training session). The stretching I have been doing as well is crying out for some upper body stuff so I'l try and add in some shoulders, chest, arms, neck etc over the coming week.

Peace

Boxing combinations, Muay Thai combinations, Karate Kata's but no BJJ combo's.

2009-07-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

So I've never boxed, kick boxed or done Karate before but I always here people talking about boxing combinations, or how they do Katas in Karate or how they did a jab, right low kick, hook in Muay Thai. I've not really heard the same stuff said in terms of BJJ, now I know they will exsist, and I know it's probably a bit harder to plan a combo in BJJ than in boxing but given last nights session Ive got about 10 different techniques that Im trying to remember/practise and as soon as I get on the mat to roll they all go out of the window. I'm rolling and thinking right get mount, oh shit I've been swept, err go for a triangle, no not a triangle use the Gi choke you've just learnt, shit I'm being arm barred, tap tap tap.

So I was speaking with Adam last night and he gave me a bit of a combination of techniques to try out. I start from in mount and go for a hip bump reversal, if I get it great I'm in full mount. If they base out and defend it attack for the triangle, if they defend the Triangle then attack for the Omoplate. So as Adam put it, "Hip Bump, Triangle and Omoplata... Hip Bump, Triangle and Omoplata... Hip Bump, Triangle and Omoplata.

Given Ive got this combo to work with I've decided to try and get a bit of a combo plan working on other positions, so I going to try and work these..

From side control - Start using the knee pin more and attack for the Cross Lapel Choke or Baseball Bat Choke. If I don't get them try the arm bar from side attack that James shown me. So Cross Lapel Choke, Baseball bat choke, arm bar.... Cross Lapel Choke, Baseball bat choke, arm bar... Cross Lapel Choke, Baseball bat choke, arm bar.

When playing guard - as above (Hip Bump, Triangle and Omoplata... Hip Bump, Triangle and Omoplate)

Passing Guard - Try a Combat Base pass or Matador pass. Just try and work these two to try and perfect as best as I can. Been watching on line at some Matador pass and they really shoot there hips out when doing the pass. When I do it I was just using my arms to push there legs one way and the other - Ive got to really push with the hands one way and shoot the other, then do it the other way until I see an opening and pass.

From Mount - Get a high positioning and start isolating an arm to work an arm bar (that's where I got my first tap from so try and perfect this).

I know once I get a bit more experienced then I will be able to open up my game and start working things more. But for now I'm thinking drill and use the above as much as I can.

So Hip Bump, Triangle and Omoplata... Hip Bump, Triangle and Omoplata, Wax on Wax Off, Wax on Wax Off Wax on Wax Off

I caught my first big one!

2009-07-22T05:39:00.000-07:00

I know i'm sad but before I document anything about my training I gotta say that today I got my first BJJ tap - as in he tapped not me! I passed his guard using the combat base stuff that Adam shown on the intro course, applied a bit of a knee pin then transitioned in to full mount. The guy on the bottom was trying to work a GI choke and as he straighted up his arm to get a deep grip I sunk an arm bar in. Ok that probably sounds like it looked pretty good, I'm sure it probably didn't but hey he tapped and I went for it deliberately so hopefully its the first of many! Props to him though he did go on to then tap me out as well.

So I'v got quite a bit to put down on last nights training session which I will come back to later. For now this is what we covered in the session (Gi)

Cross Lapel Choke from side control - so go in with the first arm thumb first and get a nice grip of the Gi. Then using a kind of press up movement grab his belt and go in to a knee pin (knee behind the hand so it is not blocking your movement). From here kind of drag him up into a kind of half sit up position and your other hand comes under the grip and goes 4 things in to create the cross grip. Then posture outwards again in to a press up type position and lock the chock in - for extra pressure apply your weight to the neck/head area.

Baseball Bat Choke AKA Adam's Baguette Sandwich choke - So again from side control get a thumb in grip (the grip goes just under his head like in the natural curve of his neck) then with the other arm get a 4 fingers in grip that kind of goes next to your other hand (as if you were holding a baseball bat... or a baguette sandwich) . From here you want to squeeze your elbows together and swing from sidecontrol to a northsouth position and place your head where your body was. Then "tripod up" and sink the choke in.

Mental note - I know the choke is a blood choke - and when I had the choke in I could feel one arm was in correctly but one arm was more pushing against his chin so when rolling I would not get the tap/submission, however I was still squeezing for the choke despite knowing it was not in correctly - just wasting muscle energy. I needed to kind of just let my arm sink into the choke and make sure I pass the chin and applying the choke to the side of the neck. Kind of reminds me of the famous Bruce Lee quote

"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within your stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapless, like water. If you put water in to a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water by friend.

We drilled this out and I'm going to try and drill it some more at home. I do not have a training partner but I'm just going to do it on my Gi to try and get use to the grip and where my hands should be - not ideal but I figure something rather than nothing is better.

During the drills James shown me an arm bar from side control. When I'm in side control I go chest to chest and go for an under/over hook type control (I use the term control loosly). James was showing me another way where he kind of turns his body and then starts to attack the arm on the opposite side of where you are. He locks the arm under his own (using a underhook I think) and then quickly transitions from one side control to the opposite - you have then got control of the arm and can set up a nice arm bar.

Adam also shown me a hip bump reversal from mount that I can use. I'm in guard and I would do a sit up and with my right arm grip his opposite sides (his right) arm pit. From there I then just use some weight and a kind of hip "bump" to role in to full mount. I think I have seen Roy Dean do the same reversal on his "Blue belt requirements" DVD that I'm using. I will need to watch it again but I think when he does it, he does the same but uses his left arm to keep the persons right knee flush to the ground. Can't remember that exactly so I'll keep to Adam's way and maybe once Ive got use to that have a look at the DVD again and mix things up.

Cheers

Why?

2009-07-21T05:03:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update for myself about the blogs. I am going to try and document my training to try and develop my own BJJ game. I train at Factory BJJ in Stockport and have been training for 4 weeks now. The post below is a bit of an introduction to my time at the club and what I have learnt so far. Will try and keep it updates everyday with short recaps.

Cheers

The Start!

2009-07-21T04:58:00.000-07:00

So this is the start of my BJJ training (I have copied this from the Factory BJJ Forum where I submitted a kind of introduction/Testimonial of the club). ...

I will start from the beginning;About 12 months ago through watching MMA/UFC events I wanted to get involved in BJJ so spent months searching for a place to train. I wasn’t really interested in training in MMA, I wanted to do BJJ. After looking at various places I got in contact with Adam one of the club coachs and he invited me down to give it a go.I was made to feel very welcome, the atmosphere was great, the teaching was great, the people were great, but….. I felt like a real turd! Other than watching MMA I didn’t know anything about grappling. After doing some drills we got on to rolling and other than a Gi choke that we learnt I knew absolutely nothing. I don’t know who I rolled with (I apologies if it was you) but I just kind of hugged him, legs wrapped around him, arms wrapped around him and just kind of squeezed. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time, but driving home I was thinking “man these guys pay good money to role with decent people and the person I rolled with got me trying to hump his leg in to submission.” Despite this everyone was still really welcoming and I stuck it out for a couple more sessions but work issues, the above issues etc etc put an end to my training.

Months later Adam emailed me about the introduction course so I thought great and decided to give it a go. Adam (the Factoy BJJ club coach) and James (BJJ Blue Belt) introduced themselves and there were about 6 new starters so it was good to start with people at your own level. Adam and James were great, very welcoming, funny guys, technical and gave a good introduction to what we would be covering over the coming 5 sessions. Over 2 weeks, 4 sessions plus 1 recap session we learnt the following:

Guard – How to play open guard, how to use your legs and arms to defend / control someone passing your guard. A reversal from full mount, recovering from full mount back into full guard, a Scissor Sweep from guard in to full mount / side control and finally an Arm Bar from guard.Passing guard:

How to pass guard from Combat Base in to side control, a Double Under Hook guard pass and a Matador pass. (I have just been watching the 2008 World BJJ Championship and Samuel Braga a five times World BJJ champion worked the Matador Pass in the Black Belt Super Featherweight Finals. He secured the pass and won through advantage due to the pass so hey if it is good enough for a World Champ it’s good enough for me.)

Top control: How to control a person from side control, where to place your weight whilst in side control. How to transition from side control to North South position, where to apply weight in relation to North South position and getting a submission from North South. (I think the submission was the Darce choke, well it wasn’t but with my limited knowledge it kind of looked like a Darce / Arm triangle choke)

Escapes: Escaping arm bars, escaping back control and we touched on controlling some one when you take their back. Probably the most important session that I did on the introduction course, and probably the session I got the most out of because its what I use in rolling the most.

Recap: A chance to put it all together and to actually role knowing that you have got at least some knowledge of most of the positions that you will be put in. Adam and James were also on hand to throw in some tips / advice which was great. Was a real buzz doing live rolling and suprising how good it is cardio wise.

Once the introduction course was completed then it was on to the normal training sessions, again the atmosphere was really good. Everyone seems really down to earth, all funny, easy to talk to, knowledgeable, approachable, but best of all they all tooled the hell out of me and you could tell they weren’t even trying! I don’t want to lure any one in to thinking I know what I’m doing, because I don’t know my arse from my elbow, but in two weeks I have learnt 2on1 arm control, a Russian 2on1 arm control, using shoulder shrugs and arm/hip/leg movements to escape being controlled in the clinch, a transition from 2on1 arm control to a Darce choke, the fundamentals of an Omaplate, escapes from an Omaplate, setting up and finishing the Triangle Choke, shrimping from Side Control back to Full Guard and various Gi chokes.

From there I also completed a fundemntal class on a Saturday which was top draw. It’s the second one I’ve done but you spend a good 1-2 hours just looking at one aspect of the game (i.e last Saturday we spent 2 hours just looking at the Omaplata). Adam really strips it down and builds it back up so you get a real close look at how to apply it correctly with lots of tweaks/tips. You can then carry on training in the open mat session and test out what you have learnt. Everyone I rolled with on the open mat session was great, they offered me advice and critique at the end of each role and really went out of there way to try and develop my own beginners game.So all in all, It’s a great place, I’ve been swept about 100 times, tapped out about 150 times, gassed out about 200 times and tapped my girl friend out with an arm bar from mount once. Happy times!