Class 319…

A gi class and some work on scissor sweeps with an emphasis on grips and leaning back to create tension to stretch the opponent out. 

A couple of new details on this technique included: 

i) Securing sleeve and collar control then placing both feet on hips, then shrimp out to extend opponent and create tension. Then move left knee inside against opponent’s shoulder  an pushing knee into shoulder and pulling collar to cause discomfort. Opponent then pushes knee and you use this as a trigger to attack for the sweep. Also use non-griping hand to base out at end of sweep so you cannot be counter-swept. 

We then worked this into a set-up for a triangle. The only difference was moving the vertical knee left to the outside to attack the opponent’s hand gripping your gi. Apply pressure down, forcing opponent out move arm out so you can close the triangle.

Sparring was against lower belts so I played with butterfly hooks and omoplata attacks. I am now getting more confident about attacking for leg locks. 

On a side note, the very good wrestler there hit a couple of wrist locks during the pummelling and stand-up fighting drill we did at the opening of the class. I will steal those techniques. 

Things to remember: Shrimping and extending opponent out to create tension on scissor sweep; using scissor sweep position to attack for triangle.

Classes 317 & 318...

The first of two no-gi classes and a drill for takedowns. The sequence went like this: 

i) You shoot for a double-leg takedown. To do this, you face your opponent in front stance, ensure you can cross touch his shoulder to check you are in range, then drop your level in a crouched stance, drop forward on your front knee and hands grab around the back of the opponent’s legs. Head must be upright and tight to opponent’s body to avoid guillotine. The opponent backs away by pushing your head and sprawling. You both return to combat stance. 

ii) You then shoot for a single leg by aiming to grab the head of the opponent, which forces him to raise his posture, then moving to a 90-degree angle and underhooking his leg and dropping your stance. Your head is up and pinned to the opponent’s chest to avoid guillotines, and you trap his leg between your legs.

iii) You move to back control, then attack his other leg. 

The takehome from this is to keep yourself attached to the opponent to limit his space and movement options. Also inch in elbows to close space and lock around his body. 

We did some work on foot pummelling, too, which is a new concept. The idea is that an opponent who has his hooks inside your legs when he is on the floor and you are standing is in a better position to launch attacks to destabilise your base. The defence against this involved removing the hooks, then controlling the opponent’s knee, turn your foot so your feet are shoelace to shoelace with the opponent, then step inside and repeat on the other leg. We did drills to train this foot pummelling and the good news is that I am improving at keeping my hooks active when attacking.

We then did an achilles lock set-up from open guard with both opponents seated. The attacking man has his outside foot on hip and his inside foot tucked under the bum of the opponent and clamping the leg of the opponent. Your hands are securing the leg that is about to be attacked. The knee needs to be tight on the leg under attack. This secures the position. The attacking man shrimps backwards to ensure the opponent’s foot is extended, then he guillotines the Achilles by dropping onto his inside elbow, turning away and lifting his hands to cut into the ligament. 

The key note here was that the hands are attached to the body and everything acts as the attacking lever and not just the hands.

In open sparring, I got utterly smashed by pretty much everyone. One very good wrestler hit me with about three successive knee bars when I tried to use a sort of knee shield half guard. I did manage to roll for about two and a half hours, though. So my stamina is getting better. 

In the second no-gi class, we worked on a flow sequence that involved attacking and defending takedowns. This went like this: 

i) Start with opponent in back control with both hands around opponent’s waist and connecting with a gable grip. Opponent defends by slightly basing out to create distance and using both hands to push down and break gable grip to escape. He then turns to face the opponent. 

ii) Attacker moves in and secures front body lock with gable grip connecting hands behind opponent. Opponent defends by connecting his hands around the arms of the opponent and squeezing to force grip apart. 

iii) Attacker then shoots for a single leg and secures the leg of the opponent between his legs. The defending man moves the trapped leg onto the outside then pushes the opponent off using his head and breaks free. He returns to combat stance to face the opponent. 

iv) The attacker then ensures he is in touching distance by touching the opponent’s opposite shoulder with his hand, he then changes levels and drops forward on his front knee and grabs both the legs of the opponent. His head is firåmly attached to the inside ribs of the opponent to avoid a guillotine. The opponent defends by sprawling. 

v) The attacking man defends by going to turtle and the defending/sprawling man tries to take control at the side. The attacking/turtle man then granby rolls into guard.

vi) The man in guard then does a knee cut pass and the man who has guard tries to granby roll again, but an arm around the waist prevents this. The bottom knee is also inserted into the space created by the granby roll attempt. 

vii) The man in guard then secures a seatbelt and half guard to attack the back. The opponent is then stretched out and the other hook is inserted. Then it’s attack the neck for chokes. The choking hand is always on the bottom so when the defending man strips the top hand away, the other hand moves to choke. The choking sequence is arm choke, gable grip choke and rear naked choke.

Sparring was OK. I hit a few submissions on submissions on lower belts and tried to play with kimura, americanan and omoplata attacks. I am slightly better at attacking for leg locks and I even defended a couple, too 

Things to remember: foot pummelling drills, details on Achilles locks, hand place details on chokes.

Class 316...

An open mat session and a chance to do some light rolling, which was massively enjoyable. 

I'm still badly off the pace at no-gi, but I feel I'm making less stupid mistakes. I am also (badly) persevering with butterfly guard and I am having some success keeping my hooks active when attacking standing opponents.

I hit a couple of wrist locks when rolling from turtle and I nearly hit a triangle from an escape from side control. I am also remembering to use frames much more as well. 

It's not exactly getting better, but it getting a bit less worse.

Things to do: work on butterfly guard and side control attacks; revise attacks from overlooks full guard as I am securing the position but not getting the finishes.

Class 315...

A return to gi this week and a class on single and double leg takedown and killing the butterfly hooks. 

We kicked off with some single and double leg takedown drills, which then chained together. 

We then did some work on killing butterfly hooks: push opponent attacking with butterfly hooks back, shuffle forward to trap opponent's feet, go low and spread his legs, then gable grip around the legs to lock them in place, apply pressure to pin his movement, kick leg up and step hips back and go stomach up, then bring leg and hip back with stomach down, move into side control, secure position.

Other butterfly kill set-up, push opponent back, move in, grab around knee, then reach around other leg to grab ankle and ruin his hooks, then step out pass as before.

Sparring was OK. I did OK against white belts and secured a couple of good positions and scissor sweeps. I also got ruined by a young, long, slick blue belt. It wasn't a great return but I wasn't out of my depth either.

Things to remember: butterfly kick out to guillotine works, overhook guard works but more offence from it is needed.

Classes 313-314...

Another two no-gi sessions and four hours well spent getting to grips with new and sort-of-new stuff.

In the opening class, we spent time learning the dark arts of leg locks and heel hooks. We worked on several techniques and entries and these included:

Heel hook entries from single x: from takedown, grip foot under armpit, same side leg hooks under top knee of opponent, pinch knees together so bottom knee is under opponent's knee and apply pressure, roll onto heel hook side, swim arm out and clamp on heel, gable gårip and attach hands to chest, stretch out and turn into opponent.

To defend, hold onto top knee to close distance, put boot on, pass over opponent's bottom leg and attack for top position.

Other entries: guard opening, knee slide, move back catch other leg with hands and drop back to heel hook attack positions, same side leg underhooks leg of opponent.

Straight foot lock from single x.

In the second class, we did some work on takedowns and a defence-attack chain. These went something like this:

Single leg takedown: step back leg into position so you are 90 degrees from opponent when you underhook the leg, pull leg tight to chest using gable grip and close elbows to shut down space, head tight in to avoid guillotine. 

Single leg defence: move trapped leg to outside of opponent's leg, push off with your hands on head of opponent, then release leg. 

Counter to leg defence: before trapped leg disappears, attack back and gable grip hands around opponent, head on opposite side, close down all space, ensure low leg is inbetween opponent's leg and you have a solid base. 

Defence against counter: create frame with hands and push down against gable grip to break lock and escape. 

Sweep from back attack to counter: keep hold of gable grip, then base outside leg outside and place inside leg close to opponent's leg, push him forward so he pushes back, then use that momentum to trip him and take him to side control.

From there, step over and pass his leg under you arm, then go to knee slice and secure head and arm control, then pass to mount and set up armbar. 

Sparring felt better in both sessions. I am still a long way off the pace and I am getting ruined by the better people there. But I am slowly getting better at defending and understanding positions and holding guard when I can find it. It will all take a while, though. I'm better with a gi because I've done more in a gi, but I will eventually learn to control an opponent without gi handles. 

Things to remember: attach hands to body, create a unit, then attack. 

Class 312...

Today was my second open mat no gi class and I felt a little bit more up to speed. The pace seemed a little less daunting and I was better at keeping my hooks active when people were trying to pass my guard.

I'd also worked on a couple of triangle defences, which sort of worked. The first was a stack and spin defence, which involved posturing up and putting my trapped arm on the opposite side of my opponent's head, then putting my knee in and spinning to mangle his posture and break his legs apart. The other involve getting control of a wrist and placing a foot in the armpit, then stretching out to break the leg lock.

I also tried a triangle from a bad hip bump sweep. This involved attacking from guard for a hip bump sweep without securing the arm, allowing the opponent to defend his base with that arm, then keeping the pressure on his arm and bringing the leg through for a leg triangle.

It was a decent class and I felt I had some success in least holding position in my overlook closed guard. My attempts at butterfly guard are still pretty poor, though, and there's still plenty of work to do before I even reach a basic level of competence at no-gi.

Things to remember: Work on butterfly, defending leg locks and triangle defence. 

Classes 310 & 311...

Today saw a new start at a new gym after leaving work in London last year. It's also a chance to change a few things up, so I'm doing just that. I'm aware I don't hit enough armbars, omoplatas or triangles, I want to work on my speed and stamina, and I want to be less reliant on gi grips. So I've decided to try no-gi for a while.

I also want to get some competency at this as I'm terrible at it.

Class one was an open mat and a chance to roll with everyone and get a feel for the place. The gym I've joined has a lot of footlock specialists, so I got footlocked lots, particularly as I have no gi to grab hold of to keep in close proximity to my opponent and defend myself.

I also fell victim to a couple of d'arce chokes, too.

Attacking from guard was also tough as there is less friction with no gi, so it was tough to clamp down on people, control them and hold them before working for a position.

There is so much to learn for even basic competency at this.

Next up was a beginners class, which led into an advanced class, and the format was pretty much the same structure as a gi class, with running around, roll falls, shrimps, press-ups, etc.

We then did some drilling of armbars and the hip bump sweep, plus a a granby roll from turtle into guard or triangle. I've never really got the latter before so learning this was a win! We then did a spinning armbar drill from a weak kimura attack and some single x guard stuff, leading to a sweep.

The advanced class was all straight rounds rolling and I got murdered and tapped to more leg locks, chokes, back attacks and triangles. It's all very fast and dynamic, with constant movement and attack.

I am awful at this. But I always am when I start anything new. I'll do some research and get a handle on grips and handles, then work out frames and escapes. It will get worse before it gets better.

Things to remember: everything must be active; use granby roll to escape and attack from position and submissions.