Classes 371-373...

Three classes in quick succession.

First up was a Gi Class in which we went through the transitions between different types of guard and we drilled moving through them. The hand initial hand grips began with a cross collar grip and same side sleeve control. The guards were:

Butterfly Guard to Half Guard to Full Closed Guard to Double Wrist Control in Open Guard to Butterfly Guard to De La Riva Guard to Single X Guard to X Guard.

We then played with a few techniques from these:

Butterfly Guard and Arm Drag to Back Take

Half Guard and Knee Shield Collapse to Back Take

Full Guard and Push Arm and Own Arm Under Leg Sweep

De La Riva Leg Kick Out Untrapped Leg Spin Under and Behind Grab Belt and Back Take

Sparring was mainly positional. I am asking to start in people's guards to encourage me to posture and pressure and break correctly. This is inspired by my failure to watch my Ps and Qs at the recent competition.

The MMA Class focused on drills to move on and off the cage wall. These were:

Turn opponent round on cage using under/over control and pulling overhook down to elevate undertook side and spin opponent.

Jab and overhand right combination to set up attack for single leg.

Defend single leg by framing back, stepping out and coming back with knee in face of opponent.

Defend single leg by guillotine.

Defend single leg by kimura and kimura sweep using leg on as hook to toss.

In the next gi class, we worked on moving from butterfly to half guard to full guard to half guard to butterfly. We used a cross collar and same side sleeve control to do this. 

Triangle from Guard:left hand has cross collar grip and right hand has wrist control; open guard and shrimp out to right foot on hip and bring left knee in for knee shield,; kick knee shield out and use knee to rest on arm of opponent; then kick the arm out and close triangle.

To Finish Triangle:If the opponent postures up, unhook triangle and swap foot position so feet hook under one another, then bring opponent back down and lock up triangle.

Tee Pee:If opponent hides choking arm, kick legs into loose guard and finger grip hands behind your own legs, then extend legs for tap.

If he hides arm, you can also switch triangle and attack his other arm for an armlock. 

If he defends by bringing his arm in, you can save his arm across and attack both arms. 

Sparring was fine. I gassed a little bit and I got tapped by the senior belts. I nearly hit a nice omoplata, though

Classes 369-370...

First up was a No Gi class. We worked on the following:

Ten-finger Choke from Arm and Collar Tie: Bring outside arm in, push head down and cover back of opponent's head with chest, cup hands together under neck of opponent, close blades of wrists around head of opponent to limit his escape opportunities, do arm curl to raise finger guillotine on neck of opponent, then push down chest. 

Guillotine From Arm and Collar Tie: Bring outside hand in, push head of opponent under your armpit, slide opposite arm under neck of opponent, connect hands and throw the other arm over shoulder of opponent. 

Hand in Guillotine From Arm and Collar Tie: Bring outside hand in, push head of opponent under your armpit, slide opposite arm under neck of opponent, connect hands and throw other arm over shoulder of opponent. If this does not work, swim arm under armpit of opponent, then sprawl and drop down, then attack for darce or anaconda choke. 

Side Control Escape: Frame on bottom and turn away from opponent, then Granby Roll back to secure guard. 

Guard Retention and Escape Drills: I was OK at guard retention, but I sucked at guard escape. 

The second class was a Gi class and we worked on the importance of securing the undertook to escape when on the bottom in side control. 

Side Control Underhook Escape and Knee Tap: When on bottom, use frame under neck of opponent to create space, insert neck hand to undertook, switch hips and come to knees, then knee tap for sweep. 

Side Control Underhook Escape and Roll Opponent: When on bottom, use frame under neck of opponent to create space, insert neck hand to undertook, walk hips away from line of opponent in scarf hold, join hands and rock opponent over. 

Competition Time...

Since taking redundancy, I've trained consistently hard at my new BJJ gym in Guildford. I've probably trained more consistently here in the last six months than at any other point in my martial arts life. It obviously helps that the pressures of work are not interfering, but it's just been an absolute blast to put the hours in. 

Most of the belts my level and above pretty comprehensively murder me at the gym, and several of the white belts are rapidly improving and catching me in submissions, too. But BJJ remains an utter joy. You can't have an ego doing it. You've just got to continue rolling and learning. I've also been doing No Gi for about six months, too, which is faster and has different handles to get to grips with. 

I've had such a good time here that I decided I'd compete again, so I entered the Brighton Open in the No Gi, Gi Absolutes and Gi categories. I had no idea what to expect in the No Gi, but I felt I had a decent chance in the Gi category if I was fighting in my age bracket. 

Up first was the No Gi. I fought a muscled opponent 15 years younger and quickly got full guard. I defended the position and tried a couple of attack and sweeps. I got an advantage point up and I scraped the win. There were only two of us the category so I got Gold. An unexpected win.

I then had a six-hour wait until I fought in the Absolutes in Gi. I again got full guard early and I tried a couple of sweeps and attacks. But after five minutes, the match was pointless so it went to a referee's decision. I lost this, but I was sort of happy enough. Even though I was exhausted.

I then had ten minutes until my Gi fight in my age category. I was feeling OK about this, but it didn't go to plan. I got the opponent in my guard, then I just made daft mistake after daft mistake. I'd been very disciplined in my previous fights, but I lost that mental discipline in this fight. I have no complaints about losing. He was better than me on the day. That was easy to see. I'm just annoyed I screwed up and I made life difficult for myself.

But competition is always tough. However, I had two good fight performances out of three. Next time out, my discipline and game plan will be getter and my gas tank will be better because I'll drop the Absolutes and just compete in two events. 

The best thing about the whole day, though, was the level of support I got from my fellow team-mates. It was contagious and I certainly returned the favour when they were fighting. Everyone I saw fight from the gym tried their nuts off and there were notable successes and some impressive performances for quite a few people. But even the ones who didn't medal went out and tested themselves and they'll be better for it. 

A rising tide floats all ships. And improving standards and the greater fighting experience everyone gathered at this event will hopefully mean all our ships are on the move.

Classes 367-368...

A gi class working on the Single X position, where we worked on the Single X Sweep into a leg lock. This went something like this:

Single X Sweep into Leg Lock: drive under hips of standing opponent, with additional information on finishing the leg lock using the shotgun and allowing the opponent to part escape his foot to tighten the lock.

Defence in gi: grab collar of opponent, shove leg through and put boot on, escape trapped knee, come to mount, attack for triangle if possible

X Guard: kick out with foot on hip, bring outside leg onto other leg of opponent, drop other leg to bottom of leg of opponent, stretch opponent out and sweep, attack for leg lick, use hook to sweep opponent' over, then leg lock

Sparring OK. Wrist locks OK, hit a couple of triangles, trying to pass guard standing. 

A second class, this time with no gi. 

Ten-finger Choke from Arm and Collar Tie: bring outside arm in, push head down and cover back of opponent's head with chest, cup hands together under neck of opponent, close blades of wrists around head of opponent to limit his escape opportunitie, do arm curl to raise finger guillotine on neck of opponent, then push down chest.

Guillotine from Arm and Collar Tie: bring outside hand in, push head of opponent under your armpit, slide opposite arm under neck of opponent, connect hands and throw othe arm over shoulder of opponent.

Hand in Guillotine from Arm and Collar Tie: bring outside hand in, push head of opponent under your armpit, slide opposite arm under neck of opponent, connect hands and throw othe arm over shoulder of opponent. If this does not work,swim arm under armpit of opponent, then sprawl and drop down, then atrack for darce choke or anaconda choke.

Side Control Escape from Bottom: frame on bottom and turn away from opponent, then granby roll back to secure guard.

Guard retention and escape drills: I was OK at guard retention but I sucked at guard escape.

Classes 365-366...

Another two classes in quick succession, kicking off with a gi class. 

Recover Half Guard from Bottom Side: block hip with one hand, frame under neck with other, shrimp to side, insert knee, secure half guard, then shrimp other way to secure full guard. 

Recover Half Guard from Bottom Side: block hip with one hand, frame under neck with other, shrimp to side, insert knee then shrimp and insert other knee. 

Escape Bottom Side Control: create frame under neck of opponent, block hip, use arm under neck to secure underhook, switch hips and come to knees, drive opponent and use knee tap to topple him over.

Use underhook to swim under arm and push arm of opponent under throat, then apply head and arm choke

We then did an MMA class and worked on some stand-up grappling drills. 

Plum Clinch Basics: blades of arms driving into neck of opponent, hands clinched on top of head not on neck. 

Plum Clinch Escape No.1: lead leg side extend arm across face of opponent and secure shoulder, lock in frame to create space, shuck him off, deliver right cross. 

Plum Clinch Escape No.2: Opponent secures weak plum clinch, go inside his arms to secure inside control. 

Plum Clinch Escape No.3: 50/50 tie-up, bring outside hand inside, tighten overhook, pull overhook down and lift other arm of opponent up and spin into space of elevated to take back

Take Back from Wrestling Tie-up No.1: Clamp down on overhook, move hand under elbow of opponent, clamp down on overhook and push up elbow of other arm, spin round to take back. 

Guillotine from Wrestling Tie-up No.2: bring hand in, push head of opponent down, slide forearm under neck of opponent, connect other hand, and go high with clamping arm over shoulder of opponent. 

10-finger Choke from Wrestling Tie-up No.3: Push head of opponent down, put own chest on back of opponent's head, thumb tip to thumb tip under neck of opponent, close arms, action to choke is like a bicep curl and your chest pushes head of opponent down.

Take Back from Initial Grab by Opponent No.1: outside block to bat grabbing hand away, opposite hand comes inside same arm to pull it inside, then take back.

Take Back from Initial Grab by Opponent No.2: pat grabbing hand down, opposite hand comes inside same arm to pull it inside, then take back.

Classes 362-364...

Three classes in quick succession, kicking off with a gi class. 

We worked on strategies for getting out of an opponent's guard. The key take-home points here were:

Strip grip of opponent and stuff hand to one side.

Step up on leg on side of trapped arm. 

Push leg down to break guard of opponent.

Options then are:

Drop into combat base and use staple pass.

Stay standing, leg drag to side, move into side control.

Drop into combat base and use double unders pass.

Sparring was fine. I mainly rolled with white belts and played with half guard and knee shield.

Next up was an MMA class and we worked on short punch combinations, with a few roundhouse leg kicks to wreck the knee and thigh of an opponent. 

One combination we worked on involved to step out on jab, then deliver the right and the hook, then deliver roundhouse kick with the space created by the step-out.

We also did a couple of drills to secure free leg shots. These went something like this: 

Throw two punches and step back, opponent follows and you kick opponent as he moves.

Throw punches and step forward and push opponent back, he moves back and throw kick.

Finally, we did a No Gi class working on strategies for escaping half guard bottom.

Flattened in half guard, block knee, frame under neck, create space and get onto side, insert knee, then go into full guard or butterfly guard.

Transition drill between half guard bottom to butterfly sweep and butterfly to knee shield and back attack.

Sparring was OK. I am a bit off the pace.