Classes 288, 289 & 290...

Three classes and some good stuff in all three.

First up was a seminar with Sidney Silva, who taught a basic butterfly sweep that then transitioned into a bridge and roll escape for the swept man, which then ended in a foot lock.

In the second and third classes, we continued to work on sweeps from the bottom in half guard with a high frame. 

My favourite one of these involved the opponent collapsing the frame of the man on the bottom, then the bottom man attacking for an omoplata. Failing that the right arm and leg of the opponent becomes trapped and your right foot hooks on the inside thigh of the opponent's left leg, then you drop back and use the hook to lift him up and sweep him to the side he has no base.

I am starting to experiment with butterfly guard a lot, but I often get lazy and forget to keep the hooks active. I cannot afford to do this. 

I did OK in sparring but I went far too hard for too long and exhausted myself. I need to get better at retaining my frame to fend off the opponent and helping to conserve my energy. 

Things to remember: Keep butterfly hooks active; focus on frame retention.

Private Class No.18...

Today something new as I'm toying with the idea of adding a few no-gi classes into my BJJ studies next year. So we started with some basic positional stuff.

Pummelling: In an ideal world, you are looking for double underhooks on a standing opponent. But this rarely happens, so you generally want head control and bicep control with the opponent's head sandwiched between your head and arm. In terms of movement, this means you can drive the opponent to the side and expose a leg for the single leg takedown. You are also looking to deny the opponent inside space.

Attacks: collar chokes are out but armbars, triangles and omoplatas are good to use. Leg locks and wristlocks are also a decent option if you can catch them quickly enough.

Butterfly guard: is a good option for no-gi because it transfers quite easily from gi to no-gi. You can use most of the same attacks from butterfly and also use the overhook guard. You must keep hooks active, though.

Things to remember: Deny opponent inside space when pummelling; keep hooks active in butterfly guard.

Classes 285, 286 & 287...

Three morning classes in quick succession, which all focused on attacking from, escaping from and sweeping from half guard.

The half guard escape involved the man on the top grabbing collar and pant control at the bottom knee, then hopping to his feet and knee slicing.

The sweep involved the man on the bottom grabbing the knee control hand and sweeping the opponent onto the side he can't base. 

The takehomes from this were:
Retain a strong frame and stay on one hip if you are on the bottom defending the position. 
Break down the opponent frame and get him on his back if you are trying to break guard and pass.

Sparring was OK and I'm pretty much doing what I should be doing.

Private Class No.17...

We worked on the following:

i) Wrist lock from standing collar grab.

ii) Butterfly sweep with emphasis on driving off base leg and kicking hook foot. Variation when they defend by tapping the knee.

iii) Butterfly arm drag with emphasis on attacking back and pulling opponent into you.

Another excellent class. I am adding some more basics to my game.

Classes 282, 283 & 284...

I've had a few weeks on holiday, then another week away from the mats because of work and other commitments. But I finally got back to rolling last week and, even though my body feels ruined, the rest of me feels great.

The opening class was an open mat and I got stuck straight into sparring. I also did some work on bufferfly guard and setting up a wristlock from an armdrag. I did a bit of no-gi, too. I intend to persevere with this, as wel.

Class No.2 focused on retaining and escaping full guard, which basically meant the man in guard retaining posture and breaking, then passing, and the man on the bottom collapsing his opponent's posture and sweeping or submitting the man in his guard.

My ability to retain full guard and attack from it is getting better and my go-to attacks of sleeve choke and wristlocks are OK. The overhook control position on one arm also works well. My guard breaking and passing is also OK, with my posture and hip pressure on the opponent improving, and the leg hug pass working a treat. 

I genuinely felt like I was making progress. The third class, however, was a slightly different story. 

We worked on retaining and attacking from half guard from the bottom, and escaping half guard from the top. We worked on two nifty techniques for this.
Escaping half guard from top: Pin opponent's bottom leg and secure wrist control; hop onto foot trapped in guard, then hop onto other leg; ankle slice past controlling leg; once out, drive forward and secure top position. 
Sweeping from half guard on bottom: when opponent on top grabs your leg, secure wrist control on holding hand, then secure wrist control on the other wrist; when opponent comes forward, sweep him to the side he has no base.

Specific drilling was a bit ropey in this position at first because I totally forgot the techniques we'd been taught. I think it tiredness. But I hit a few good sweeps when I got going and thought things through a bit more.

And it got a bit better when we moved to normal sparring, even though I very badly fatigued at the end. 

Things to remember: the sweep from half guard.

Classes 280 & 281..

Two morning classes on attacking for the back. Class one featured a couple of step-over techniques for moving onto an opponent's back when he is in turtle, and the second class featured an open guard pass from standing, which moves you into side control, then you drive the opponent over and insert hooks to attack the back. 

We then did some specific drilling and specific positional sparring. I did OK at the latter and am more mobile than I expected to be when it comes to attacking the back. 

I did OK in normal sparring and I feel like I'm making slow progress with working in wrist locks. I'm not always nailing these but I am starting to recognise the position and the treat of them is sometimes giving me additional time to escape bad positions. 

I am also endeavouring with butterfly guard and I am experimenting with a new wrist lock that starts off with an armdrag from butterfly guard. 

Things to remember: Attacking the back and the butterfly arm drag into wristlock.

Classes 278 & 279...

Today was an open mat session where I got comprehensively ruined by any fellow blue belt I sparred with. I caused problems for some of them at times, but I was outgunned on all fronts by younger, stronger, bigger and, more importantly, just better fighters. The key thing that they were all better at was fighting for a stronger position, securing that position, then attacking from there.

The following morning class focused on guard passing using the double unders pass. I like this pass and I use this and the hug pass a lot. The takehome points went something like this:

i) You are in the open guard of the opponent and you put both your hands under his thighs and connect your hands in front of you; pull the opponent's hips up off the floor and stack him and apply pressure by driving in with active toes; try to secure the armpits of the opponent's gi as you stack him; drive a knee into the side of the opponent you want to pass and use the knee to pin his arm to the floor; compress the opponent and move into side control.

Sparring was much better at this class and I held my own against some decent people. I am also using wrist locks a lot more and starting to see the possibilities of setting them up. I am still a long way from having them as an effective weapon, though.

Things to remember: Double unders and hug pass; keep the integrity of frame and structure; continue to drill side control escapes.

Classes 276 & 277…

A couple of morning classes. The first was on using a variation of the De La Riva guard to off-balance and sweep an opponent. This was then followed by defending and sweeping from the open guard and moving in to a variation of the De La Riva guard. The takehome from this was to use feet to always stay connected to your opponent. 

The second class involved the bottom man sweeping a standing opponent using a hook inside the opponent’s right leg, with your left arm securing the opponent’s right foot in place. The variations went some thing like this:

Sweep variation 1: You are on your back with the opponent standing up; you have right leg hooking the inside of the opponent’s right leg, with your left arm securing the opponent’s right foot in place; reach your right hand to secure his other leg; then climb up onto your right hip and use you left leg on his hip to kick him over and follow him up into surfer stance. Then pass.

Sweep variation 2: Inside hooking with other leg

Sweep variation 3: Scissor variation like Tomahawk sweep.

Sweep variation 4: Drive up onto hip and switch hands.

Specific sparring was not as awful as usual and I did OK. Damaged knees aside, I am generally doing OK.

In normal sparring, though, I am sticking to my simple old school principles and the leg hug pass is also starting to pay dividends. 

Things to remember: Stay connected when sweeping and drop weight and drop into surfer stance when defending.

Classes 274 & 275...

A couple of classes on single leg x guard sweeps. These went something like this:

Sweep 1: Left hand wraps around leg of standing opponent; left leg on nearest hip of opponent; other foot behind other leg of opponent to stretch and unbalance him; opponent removes single hook and comes to full mount; keep hold of leg; drop to side and drive opponent over; re-insert hook. 

Sweep 2: Left hand wraps around leg of standing opponent; left leg on nearest hip of opponent; other foot behind other leg of opponent to stretch and unbalance him; opponent removes single hook and back steps; keep hook active and off-balance opponent; bring other hand to opponent's shin; pinch knees and climb up, the turn onto face and drive forwards to take opponent down; block opponent coming up with arm inside knee; then do technical stand-up; pass and secure side control.

We did some specific drilling and I sucked as I currently have no foot or leg stability. I did some other basic drilling at the end of the class, though, and that was fun. It's still good to be training even if it's not going particularly well. 

Things to remember: two single leg x guard sweeps.

Classes 272 & 273...

The first class was largely a sparring class where I was exhausted and just collapsed as a fighter. It's the first time this has happened, but a lack of sleep and proper food took its toll and I got ruined. I just wasn't prepared physically and I was all over the place mentally.

The following class was much more productive and we were taught a basic guard escape and pass, then we went into specific sparring, where I did OK.

The guard break from closed guard went something like this: 
i) Posture up in the closed guard of the opponent and create a frame by pinning the opponent's gi collar his chest with your right hand and his right hip to the floor with your left hand. The heels of both palms drive down to pin the opponent. Keep the elbows in and locked.
ii) Right foot stands and you stand on your left foot, then open your hips and twist to your left to break the guard.
iii) Move to knee slide or double unders smash pass to pass out of guard. 

Sparring was more productive at this but it was a constant drill sparring so it was tiring. 

Things to remember: Drill basic guard break and pass.

Class 271...

Two smash attacks, one to escape butterfly and the other to escape knee shield. 

Pass from butterfly: opponent has butterfly hooks in, you open his gi and grab the lapels and use the gi to pin the opponent to the floor; you stand up and pinch you knees together while slightly basing your feet out; as you stand you pull the gripped gi and squeeze the knees to attack his butterfly hooks; pick a side and use the knee and arm of that side to drive his legs to one side; then drop into side control and continue to drive weight into the hip of the opponent; grab opponent's gi pants and push his top leg into his bottom leg; pass into side control. 

Pass from knee shield half guard: pin the opponent's knee, grab the collar of his gi and pull him in; stand up on the foot nearest the opponent's head, then ankle slice and push forward, push forward so you are past his hips; then drive back to put the opponent on his side. 

Sparring was OK and we worked on defending or attacking these two positions. I did OK from butterfly guard and hit a few sweeps. I also did well with the old school grab both the legs of the opponent and pressure pass. It's nice to back on the mats, even it is only once or twice a week at the moment. 

Things to remember: pin the opponent's legs and use the grab both legs technique.

Class 270...

I am back training after a four-week lay-off with no working feet. Grip fighting exercises while standing were followed by three options for passing while standing in the del la Riva guard. These went something like this:

i) Pressure opponent's leg on hip, grab under ankle, grab pants at ankle, step in, elevate leg, drive leg to side with a leg drag, drop into side control.

ii) Pressure opponent's leg, use cross grip hand on opponent's belt, grab ankle at pants with leg, step in to crush leg, hold position with hand and step back, turn trapped foot and step that out then step other leg out and drop into side control with crossed hands.

iii) Shin slice, grab pants inside, drop back to shin slice, and retain distance by pushing inside of knee away. Drop into side control.

I was woeful at specific sparring, but with two unsure feet and a compromised base this is not surprising.

Things to remember: do not lean too far forward when standing as it makes off-balancing easier.

Class 269...

Another gruelling class on single leg takedown set-ups from standing. The two techniques we played with went something like this:

I) You have a sleeve and collar grip on the opponent and he has the same grips on you. Confirm a grip on his collar grip with both hands so you are applying pressure on the wrist bone; move your posture towards the hand you are attacking; then snap the hand down as you explode up to create distance and break the grip; cross grip the opponent's collar and angle off; then shoot for the single leg with your head on the inside; take opponent down and pass his guard.

II) You have a sleeve and collar grip on the opponent and he has the same grips on you. Confirm a grip on his collar grip with both hands so you are applying pressure on the wrist bone; move your posture towards the hand you are attacking; then snap the hand down as you explode up to create distance and break the grip; keep hold of the wrist and immediately drop down to shoot for the single leg; connect trapped wrist and the single leg;  I drive forward to take opponent down and pass his guard.

I have a dodgy foot and I found this quite hard, but I am pretty shit at this anyway. I certainly didn't excel in the specific drilling. My guard passing and stand-up defence was OK at times, though.

Things to remember: drill the single leg.

Class 268…

A class on takedowns. The takehomes went something like this:

i) Single leg with one grip on opponent’s sleeve and one grip on opponent’s collar and him having the same grips on you, too. Variation No.1: move and drop to side of opponent at 90 degrees on the side you have the sleeve to affect the structure of his ability to stiff arm you; secure leg and lift it between your own legs and trap it; position head close to opponent’s leg; then drive in with head and keep turning to drop opponent to floor; pass his guard and secure side position.

ii) Single leg with one grip on opponent’s sleeve and one grip on opponent’s collar and him having the same grips on you, too. Variation No.2: move and drop to side of opponent at 90 degrees on the side you have the sleeve to affect the structure of his ability to stiff arm you; secure leg and lift it between your own legs and trap it; position head close to opponent’s leg; take outside leg and move inside; then drive in with head and keep turning to drop opponent to floor; pass his guard and secure side position.

iii) Single leg with one grip on opponent’s sleeve and one grip on opponent’s collar and him having the same grips on you, too. Variation No.3: move and drop to side of opponent at 90 degrees on the side you have the sleeve to affect the structure of his ability to stiff arm you; secure leg and lift it between your own legs and trap it; position head close to opponent’s leg; secure guillotine-style grip under leg then drive in with head and keep turning to drop opponent to floor; pass his guard and secure side position.

iv) Single leg with one grip on opponent’s sleeve and one grip on opponent’s collar and him having the same grips on you, too. Variation No.3: move and drop to side of opponent at 90 degrees on the side you have the sleeve to affect the structure of his ability to stiff arm you; secure leg and lift it between your own legs and trap it; position head close to opponent’s leg; move both legs outside the trapped foot; pick up opponent and dump him on floor; pass his guard and secure side position.

We also then worked on a double leg. This went something like this:

i) Double leg with one grip on opponent’s sleeve and one grip on opponent’s collar and him having the same grips on you, too. Pull the opponent’s arms down, his reaction is pull them up and you emphasise this movement to create space; then you drop down and secure grips around the back of his knees; on your toes, drive forward and take him down; pass his guard and secure side position.

We then did some specific takedown drilling, which I was pretty ropey at because I have no stability on one leg. I did hit a couple of nice sweeps, though. We then did a bit of sparring and I did OK. I tired much more quickly than usual, though. This was probably part-fatigue and part-exhausting class. 

Things to remember: Keep working on sweeps from half, full and butterfly guard.

Class 267...

A class using a sweep from spider half guard.
Sweep 1: opponent postures up on one leg in your half guard; you have sleeve control on both of his wrists; right leg is in elbow joint; stuff his right hand to prevent him basing; extend his left arm using spider guard leg; use other leg to hook his left leg; invert roll to collapse opponent over to his left and end up on top in quarter guard mount.

Sweep II: if you cannot sweep opponent one way; let go of right hand and grab his left foot; then drive forwards to topple him over on his right.

Sparring OK. Threatened wrist locks and chokes. Got tapped but felt more with it.

Class 266...

A class working on escaping the de la Riva guard when standing. 

De la Riva escape: turn trapped leg and knee outward; keep other leg at distance to prevent opponent grabbing it; control leg on hip with arms and leg drag it off to opposite side; base down and secure collar grip (arms x crossed); secure side control.

If opponent turtles from here, use the clock choke.

In sparring, I got tapped all over. But I am operating with injuries and other people are getting better. I'm also quite vulnerable as I'm trying to add butterfly guard to my game. There are still few other places I would want to be, though. 

Things to remember: de la Riva pass, clock choke mechanics.

Classes 264 & 265...

First up, a class about passing from on top in half guard. 

The takehome here was establish head control and exert shoulder pressure, and to ensure the opponent's bottom arm is controlled to prevent him from posturing up to attack. Also ensure his other arm is trapped by pinching it between your thigh and other arm.

The second class showed a sweep from the bottom: from double wrist control with butterfly hooks in, establish a foot wrap on the arm; use the other foot to post; bring the opponent in and use hook to kick opponent over. End in side control.

We then worked on using an opponent's lapel to trap the arm, then attacked by moving to mount and using ezekiels and step over triangles.

I did ok at sparring against a few decent blue belts and some good white belts. I was a bit second-best to everyone, but my survival mode kicked in most of the time.

It's good to hit two classes in a week for the first time in ages.

Private Class No.16...

A private class working on butterfly guard and the basic butterfly sweep. The techniques went something like this:

Basic butterfly sweep: right leg flat and hooking opponent's inside thigh; left leg up to give other attacking options; underhook right arm under opponent's shoulder and grab low at waist; clamp head looking left to opponent's chest; stuff his right arm into his chest so he cannot base out when swept; also place own left elbow behind left knee to help avoid rolling onto elbow instead of shoulder; move left under to switch hips as right hook lifts opponent and drop 90 degrees onto shoulder or ear; if opponent resists, keep driving and complete the kick; follow opponent over and secure mount or top quarter guard; then knee slide into side, secure head and block hips.

There are also options if the opponent secures an underhook first, which is to secure overhook then launch same attack from there.

The same thing can be applied from  half guard, but secure left leg underhook and tripod out on right.

We also played with guillotine and loop choke attack, and with the arm drag and collar drag. The latter involves a cross grip with one hand and slide out opposite leg; then pull opponent in and attack back.

Things to remember: underhook and hooks are always on opposite side of direction opponent is falling; triangle with elbow behind leg; fall onto shoulder as driving leg drives; hip switch and tripod.

Classes 262 & 263...

A class on escaping half guard from on top then securing side control. 

The key point involved using one arm to pin the opponent's chest to the mat so he can't move onto his hip, then using the other hand to grab his near arm at the elbow of the gi and driving it into the opponent's rib cage. 

Using the handles on the opponent to twist and secure his body in this way makes it easier to escape the trapped leg then slip into side control. 

If the opponent posture up, you can swap hands and go deep on his gi collar with your arm along his chest, then grab the back of his shoulder and sink down for a choke. 

I wasn't too clever at specific positional sparring today, but I did OK in normal sparring. I set up a nice choke and a nice wrist lock and I escaped a full mount and a turtle position. 

Things to remember: Arm across chest to set up choke.

Classes 260 & 261...

Two classes working on some half guard passes from on top in side control. 

Half guard on top to side control: pinch knees to keep opponent's trapped leg and secure head control by grabbing opponent's shoulder; pass opponent's lapel to head control hand; drive in with shoulder pressure and move base so knees face opponent; use shin of bottom leg and hand driving knee to break half guard; escape leg and move into side control.

Tripod version of this: underhook; head on opposite side of opponent's head; leg out to form base; grip break; shuck leg out to point where knee can place on floor; then use other leg to kick top leg of half guard away; move into side.

We also did some specific drilling in positional escapes. There weren't supposed to be any submissions, but I managed to get kneed in the balls and choked unconscious by an over-enthusiastic opponent. 

In the second class, we worked on the same techniques but more emphasis was put on shoulder pressure, and using your free arm to isolate the opponent's blocking arm, then turning it into an attack.

In sparring I did OK and defended well against a decent purple belt. I'm also persevering using wristlocks to annoy better opponents. It's sort of working a bit, too.

Things to remember: active toes and shoulder pressure when op top in half guard.

Class 259...

We did more work on the armbar from side control. The takehome from this was to pinch knees together to trap the arm as you squat up for the kimura. I also hit a wrist lock from this position, too. 

We then did some specific sparring from side mount, then we did line drilling with one-minute rounds and I hit a pretty cool wristlock during transition from a sweep. 

I'm also trying out other wristlocks, including one from guard and gift wrap.

Classes 257 & 258...

A couple of early morning classes working on armbars from the top in side control. The techniques went something like this:

Armbar from on top in side control: right hand grabs opponent's gi at collar to pin his back to the floor; left hand secures bicep of arm that is furthest away; base out using other hand and move onto toes and pull bicep up, then swivel 180 degrees so left leg goes over head of opponent and goes under his rib cage on other side; then drop back and apply armbar. 

Armbar from on top in side control: right hand grabs the opponent's gi at collar to pin his back to floor; left hand secures bicep of arm that is furthest away; move onto toes and pull bicep up, then swivel 180 degrees so left leg goes over head of opponent and goes under his rib cage on other side; if opponent defends by using hand on hip, then grab own gi collar to secure opponent's arm; base up on feet and other arm then lock arms together, and sit up and apply armbar from seated position. 

Sparring was OK. It was my first time back for a while and I rolled with white belts and wasn't spectacular, but I escaped a couple of tricky positions and threatened some submissions. I then rolled with with a bigger and stronger blue belt, and I used wrist locks to threaten attacks and used them to move into better positions. 

The second class featured a couple of chokes from side mount. These involved passing the gi collar of the opponent under his neck, then swapping the gi from one hand to the other and then choking the opponent out. 

It's good to be on the mats.

Classes 254, 255 & 256...

An Xmas break, carnage at work, then a week in New York... so the first three classes back have been tough as my body gets re-acclimatised to groundfighting and its various demands. 

The first class focused on guard retention from the quarter guard. The takehome from this was to keep the opponent's foot pinched and not allow him to escape and take your back. I was awful at the specific training to drill this.

The second class was all about takedown defence from single leg takedowns. We worked on two, which went like this:. 

Single leg takedown defence 1: leg is trapped inside opponent's legs; the nearest hand grabs the opponent's belt at the back; the furthest hand secures the opponent's furthest hand; the trapped leg points forward; the free leg points forward to align hips; pull the opponent in and fall back and take the opponent with you; continue momentum and follow him over until you end up on top.

Single leg takedown defence 2: leg is trapped inside opponent's legs; move the trapped leg to far outside of the opponent's legs; the nearest hand falls back to base on floor; the furthest hand secures the collar of the opponent's gi; the untrapped leg kicks over head of opponent as hand on collar collapses him as triangle lock is secured.

The third class involved working on two single leg takedown variations. These were: 
First: head down and drive into the trapped leg between your legs, then drive down with hand gripping gi and drive into  inside of opponent's thigh  
Second: head down and move trapped leg between leg to outside then drive down and round to take opponent down.

Things to remember: The throw to defend the single leg is excellent.