Sunday Competition Class and BJJ 1/27/2008

Competition class was different today. We didn't spar, as such. Instead, we drilled several techniques and then worked stations.

The one technique that really intrigues me is a stand-up technique to an armbar. I've never trained in Judo, but as far as I can tell, this starts from a typical Judo grip. I have a grip on his right collar with my left hand and behind his left elbow with my right. There's a lot of control from this grip. I'm going to armbar the arm I have control of, so I'll bring my left foot up and post it on his hip. Then I'm going to hop toward that foot a few times and then fall to that side, pushing on the hip. The momentum of the fall is going to allow me to swing my leg over for an armbar.

It's actually not as difficult as I think it sounds.

Instead of sparring, we had stations where you had 1 minute to escape two times. If you escaped one time, you did 5 burpees. If you didn't manage to escape at all, you did 10 burpees. Rick, all 270 lbs of him, was station 1. He was side control. Station 2 was Jeremy in mount. Station 3 was Bing from guard (we were trying to pass guard). Station 4 was take downs and the last station was Josh and back control. So, in between each round, you paid up however many burpees you owed and then moved to your next station.

The BJJ class was more work on transitioning to Knee on Belly or Mount. We worked on what I believe I've seen referred to as an Ole pass, where you control the knees and then swing them to the side as you step around into Knee on Belly. The pass to mount was a leapfrog pass from the same grips.

In sparring, I was picked to be out in the middle, which is cool because I got a lot more time to roll since I was out on the mats for the entire 30 minutes. Afterward, several people told me I was really putting out, which felt good... although I think they were more surprised that I didn't collapse from rolling for 30 minutes straight. :)

All in all, a great day.

Non-BJJ: Congratulations! It's a baby prawn!

Or at least, that's what it sort of looks like right now.

Just had the first ultrasound, and we're still REALLY early on. But there is definitely a heartbeat and everything is just as it should be right now.

We're right about 8 weeks now, so a long way to go.

How do I roll?

I'm still thinking a lot about how I roll, and what my game is. I still don't really know. I'm starting... just starting... to figure it out. It dawned on me today that I'm a plodding, methodical personality. While I can be prone to bouts of spontaneity, I prefer a more considered approach to just about everything in my life. It dawned on me that it's taking me so long to figure this out precisely because I'm a plodding, methodical person.

This week, we've been working a very fundamental skill: passing from side control to mount. Doing this correctly involves a tight control, good shoulder pressure, and if done correctly there should be very little my partner can do to stop me. I think of the movie, The Matrix and Agent Smith as he says, "Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability." If I do things correctly, I can pass into mount slowly, methodically and with the inevitability of a glacier.

That's how I like to roll. I like the moves where, if I do them correctly, I can do them slowly and my opponent is helpless to stop me.

I have always considered this lack of explosiveness to be something of a detriment, but tonight one of the newer guys told me he thought I was one of the more technical white belts. I was genuinely surprised, but it was a very nice compliment (whether true or not). It occurred to me that, while I'm far from technical, I want to be technical and really appreciate the skill that some of the upper belts possess. That's the goal and I'm content to work slowly toward that goal. I don't need to get something to work right away. I'll just keep trying it until I figure it out.

I had a good night sparring. I didn't make any real mistakes and got a lot of good work in. I rolled with a couple of really big dudes tonight, both of whom had over 80 lbs on me. I pulled guard on Todd and while I couldn't exactly budge him and didn't submit him, I played an active open guard, threatened several times with various chokes and stymied his attempts to pass. Rick passed my guard, but I kept him in side control for the entire match, kept my arms in, kept working and tried not to groan as he kneaded my innards like bread dough.

I also rolled with a few of the newer guys, one who has some no-gi experience (although I don't think it's a ton). Rolling with guys no-gi is a real stretch for me. I don't do a lot of no-gi training (as in, almost none) and really need to get moving on that. The lack of handles is a real challenge for me, as I generally work for grips right away. Still, I worked from the bottom and did okay, I think.

But more than anything, tonight, I had fun and tried to roll like a glacier: not fast, but inevitable.

Grappling with Disabilities

A story came up at class on Sunday in passing about a guy who was competing without arms and legs. Turns out that he's competing at a high level. His name is Kyle Maynard and while he has difficulty submitting, positionally, he's pretty darned good.

I admire his tenacity. Recently, Kyle Maynard applied to fight in a sanctioned MMA event and his application was denied.

My question is, what do you guys think? Should Kyle be allowed to compete in MMA? Below is a YouTube clip of Kyle at NAGA, another story from Bryant Gumble's show on HBO, and you can easily find lots of information on his story from Google.

Sunday Competition/BJJ Classes 1/20/2008

Yesterday was a long day, but Coach did some things that I haven't seen before with regards to the training. I liked the changes.

Competition class involves a tougher warm-up/conditioning routine that usually lasts about 45 minutes. Then we spar from standing, unless our partner's nursing an injury or something. I sparred with Sharkey first. I outweigh him by... oh, at least 30 lbs. But he's scrappy and always seems to get me at least once with a guillotine. I did work on being more aggressive on my takedowns, and managed to surprise him once, I think. In my second match, I was rolling with Jeff and a gi burn I had on my temple opened up. I was covered in blood from this tiny little scrape on my temple. After I got that cleaned up, I got pounded by Matt for 7 minutes.

In the regular BJJ class that followed, we did a lot more sparring. Instead of technique, Coach started running matches. One match must have gone for like 15 minutes. It ended for me when my partner, a really lanky guy, took my back. I was defending well for a while, but then he got a body lock really high... like up around my diaphragm. When he squeezed, all of the muscles in my back spasmed and my back popped a few times. It hurt, but after I could tell that it was nothing serious. Nobody wants to get hurt, and none of us want to injure our partners. I told him that he probably did me a favor... like when the old guy falls down the stairs and suddenly that crick in his back is fixed. Well, this was kind of like that.

Oh, in the meantime, the band aid that I'd put on my temple had come off, so picture me rolling with a 2 inch strip of white athletic tape on my temple... replacing it after each match because it keeps coming off.

Getting back to the changes Coach threw at us yesterday. The class typically consists of 30 minutes of warm-ups in which we will often do agility drills, conditioning drills and things like that. Armbar from guard, kimura, shrimping, triangles. These drills are not uncommon. Then, in most classes we'll do technique for 30 minutes and then spar for 30 minutes. Yesterday, it went 30 minutes of warm-ups, then sparring for 30 minutes, then more sparring for 15 minutes, and then when we were all nice and tired, we did technique drills. It was a nice change, and Coach told us that doing it this way would help us to maintain good technique even when we're tired. Lots of guys have tight technique when they're fresh, but then gas out and get loose and sloppy.

So, today, my back is a little tight, but not bad. My abs are screaming and I'm a little dehydrated. Overall, I'm much better off than I expected.

On specific techniques I'm working, I've been concentrating on the cross-choke from guard, specifically to get a deep grip and then instead of forcing or settling for a shallow grip with the other hand, reaching over my opponent's shoulder and driving my elbow down. I caught Lim yesterday with this. I adjusted my cross grip a few times to get it nice and deep, and worked it under his chin. Then kept my elbow in tight to his chest to help break his posture down. Worked out well.

I also worked a lot from half guard and am beginning to have some success from that position. I am concentrating on staying up on my side (easier said than done) and trying to pay attention to where my opponent's balance is and working with what he's giving me.

I Don't Know What to Say

Wanderlei Silva and Mark Coleman in what has to be the silliest commercial I've ever seen.

On the Set of Redbelt (the BJJ) Movie

A few months back, I mentioned a couple of movies I'm really looking forward to. I'm happy to see that both are moving forward. Matthew is polishing up Walking to the Cage, and I noticed that there's an interview with David Mamett, the director of Redbelt on YouTube.



Decorated writer/director, some big names in the sport, and one of my favorite movies is Serenity, where the star of Redbelt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, played a great villain. He's also been involved in many other quality projects.

This is in stark contrast to a movie that... let's just say I'm on the fence, called Never Back Down. It looks a little cheesy. One guy very aptly described it as Karate Kid meets the OC. There's another one on the horizon called Never Submit, written and directed by Don Dunn, best known for... well, not much. I'm sensing a theme. Looking at his resume, he was the producer of Jiminy Glick in Lalawood.

Oh man.

Friday BJJ Class 1/18/2008

Awesome class on Friday. My brother has been training for a few months now, and was in the area for work. So, he drove down and was able to drop in for a class. It was interesting to talk with him about the similarities and differences in our two schools. He did great and it's clear that the BJJ is getting him in shape. He's proof that it's never too late to start training.

I'm continuing to work from half-guard as often as I can. One class, while sparring, I would work to half-guard, and then work to get the overhook, but as soon as I would get it, I'd be flattened out and get passed. I realized after class, trying to figure out why it wasn't working... at all... that I was overhooking the wrong arm. Well, THAT'S an important thing to screw up. Since then, working to control the correct arm has really helped. Another thing I'm working on is working in a sweep from there, as well. I don't want to add too many techniques at once, but I think that the lockflow combined with a sweep/reversal will get me started.

Sunday Competition Class and BJJ Class 1/13/2008

Today was a rough day. I doubled up at class for the second time, meaning I went to the 1 1/2 hour Competition class and then stayed for the 1 1/2 hour BJJ class that immediately follows. I really want to do this weekly, as it's a great workout and a lot of fun. Well, okay. It's a great workout, but grueling as hell with some fun parts.

You know. As I write this I'm wondering why I want to do it weekly. Must be the workout, because honestly, the fun parts aren't all that fun.

Of course, I'm kidding. The Competition class involves a much more intense workout, followed by about 45 minutes of sparring from standing. I don't do a lot of stand-up work, and really need to, so this is a whole new world for me.

In the BJJ class following, we worked on a guard pass. Sparring was fun. I got to spend some more time in the middle, which I actually really enjoy. The only really hard part is that I'm not as skilled as some of the other guys and so I feel a little guilty for not being able to push them as much as I'd like. What I really like about it is that it forces me to really work on stamina, and I get to roll a lot more than I would otherwise. Now I just need to get better, so I give my sparring partners a good match.

I did try to work my from half guard today, with mixed results. I'm going to keep starting from half guard as much as possible until I figure some of this stuff out. I gained some confidence from guard by pulling guard in sparring and starting every match there that I could. I'm going to do the same for half guard.

On another happy note, we had several promotions tonight and I was awarded a 3rd stripe for my white belt. Amy got her purple belt and Bill got the 4th stripe on his purple belt. From what Coach was saying, I'd be very surprised if Bill isn't awarded his Brown belt some time shortly after the Pan Ams in March. We're really lucky to have Bill at the school. He's a good guy to have around. Amy is also a great asset to the school. When rolling with Amy tonight, I had to remind her that she wasn't going to sweep me. I think I said, "You're trying to set me up for a sweep. {gasp} But you're not going to get it."

I think I failed to formally congratulate Tony on his promotion to Purple Belt, as well. He received his certificate today, making him all official-like.

Congrats to all of you!

Saturday Private Lesson 1/12/2008

Coach was offering privates at a discount in January, and since I'm going to be competing next month, and also since I've seen the benefit the privates have with Jeremy who is improving at an alarming rate, I thought I'd try one out. I'm very happy I did. I learned some things that I will begin working into my game right away. I also scheduled another private lesson for the week prior to the tournament. Hopefully, I'll have met with some success from the techniques I learned today and will tweak what's not working.

I have very little game from half guard, and was looking for some offensive techniques. Coach showed me a lockflow of four techniques, three of which begin with an overhook: a collar choke, a shoulder lock, a straight armlock and then a transition to an omoplata. The beauty of this is that I can react to what I'm being given. Rather than forcing one technique, I can actually control my opponent's movements and react to what he gives me.

The set up is to get a deep overhook in half guard.

I'll start with the Lapel Choke from Half Guard:

1. Start from solid half guard position.
2. Secure overhook gripping opponent's lapel (not necessarily really deep) with bottom arm.
   
3. Reach back and get a thumb in grip with top arm.
4. Swing top arm over.
5. Widen bottom elbow out for choke.

1: I'm starting from a solid half guard. So, I'm up on my side and I'm creating space by widening out my topside elbow into my opponent's neck to create space and keep him from driving into me and flattening me out. My other hand is on my opponent's hip. I noticed that my tendency is to try to control that arm. I'm not sure why, but there ya go. Coach said that it's not wrong, but there are advantages sometimes to posting on the hip.

2: These techniques work from an overhook. If I can get the overhook, great. If not, I can fish for a lazy underhook and many times my opponent will fish back in to keep me from getting the underhook and I can easily secure the overhook at that point. I'll anchor the overhook using either my own lapel or my opponent's. For this first technique, I'll use my opponent's lapel, so I'll reach around his arm, feeding his lapel to get a solid grip, locking his arm in tight.

3: With my other arm (the topside arm) I'll reach back and get a thumb-in grip behind my opponent's head. If my grip on his lapel is too deep and makes this difficult, I can reach across with that topside arm and work the choke that way.

4: Next, if I have the thumb-in grip behind his head, I need to swing my arm around his head to get into the cross collar position.

5: And finally, widen out my bottom side elbow to get the choke. It gets tight very quickly.

The Shoulder lock from Half Guard is for when my opponent tries to posture up to keep me from getting the choke:

1. Steps 1 and 2 same as above.
2. Focus on torquing the elbow into my body.
3. Bring a knee in for leverage, extend body for tap.

Very simple. From the overhook position, I'm working for that lapel choke, but my opponent is defending. In defending, he's exposing his arm. So, I will 2: focus on torquing that elbow in. I can gable grip for a little extra leverage, and then 3: bringing a knee up will allow me to extend my body a little bit more to tap guys with exceptionally flexible shoulders.

If he tries to drive in, I can work for a straight armlock:

1. Overhook as above, but slipping to my own lapel.
2. Bring outside knee over on top of my opponent's shoulder.
3. Gable grip above opponent's elbow.
4. Bring other knee up, pinch and work for submission.

Where the Shoulder Lock opens up when my opponent postures up, this one will be in situations where he tries to drive in somewhat. I will actually be moving away from his somewhat to get this submission. I'll 1: overhook as above, but this time instead of anchoring onto my opponent's lapel, I want some mobility, so I'll anchor on my own lapel. 2: Sliding out on his arm, I'll bring my outside knee down on top of his shoulder. 3: Gable grip, and 4: bring my other knee up for the submission. The key to getting the tap is to concentrate on my bottom elbow, which should be very tight to my side, and then concentrating on crunching into him.

While this would be cool to get, my opponent will often turn his arm to defend the armlock. If this happens, he's playing into an Omoplata:

1. Swing top leg over his head to mat.
2. Sit up.
3. Scoot hips out a little at time to bring opponent flat to mat.
4. Scoot hips back in, turning legs correctly.
5. Work over/under grips with head low.
   
6. Raise hips until he taps or starts crying.

This one's pretty straightforward.

So, this is what I'm working on right now. So, instead of working to pull guard, I'm going to be pulling half-guard in sparring and getting as much work on this as I can. I'm sure when I screw these up, that I'll be working a lot on my escapes from side control, too.

Tomorrow is Competition Class followed by BJJ.

Sunday 1/6/2007 and Tuesday 1/8/2007 BJJ

The last couple of classes have been really good. My elbows were tender after drilling the Kimura counters on Friday, but I made it throught the technique portion of Sunday's class. Tuesday, one of the purple belts, Thad worked with us on the basic technique for getting back to guard from under side control and I picked up a detail that really helps.

The technique was side control escape (to guard):

Good hand position, elbows in and protected.

1. Get into a strong defensive position, elbows in and making some space.
2. Bring feet up toward hips. Move them a few inches toward my opponent's head, in the direction to which my hips are going.
3. Pop out into a basic hip escape. This is an explosive move.
4. Bring knee in to create space and work to regain guard.

That's pretty much it. Very basic, but as Thad said, "You can't know it well enough."

So, in step 1, I want to avoid bringing the arm that's nearest my opponent's head behind his back. It really leaves that arm exposed and in a lot of danger. I want to keep my elbow inside, and the best position is forearm right in my opponent's throat with my hand cupping his shoulder (or if there's fabric there, that will help secure the grip, too). Widening this elbow out will make it very uncomfortable for him, and the more he drives into me, the more uncomfortable he makes it for himself.

My other arm should also be elbow in tight with my hand cupping my opponent's hip, to help create space. If I don't keep my elbow in, I'm in danger of my opponent sitting through to a Scarf Hold position really deep, as shown in the picture. With my elbow in, even if he does sit through, I can drive my elbow to the ground and maintain some distance and leverage.

Step 2 involves bring my feet up to my hips. Whenever I bridge, I'm going to get more leverage by bringing my feet closer to my butt. The detail I learned from Thad is that I can get even more pop on my bridge by bringing my feet a little toward the side to which I'm going to move my hips. It's a matter of a few inches, really, but it makes a huge difference.

Step 3: I'll lift my feet a few inches off the floor to give myself that much more oomph, and then bridge up and drive my hips as far away from my opponent as I can using a basic hip escape or shrimping technique, following with step 4, which is to immediately bring my knee inside the space created.

Sparring was pretty good both days. I got to roll with several people and I'm still working the reversal, going for it whenever I get the opportunity. I actually caught Bill, a purple belt, and he was really surprised. He was moving around from half guard into side control. I moved my hips out, controlled his wrist and belt and as he drove in, I used his momentum to roll him over. He was so surprised, he laughed and said in a really excited voice, "Dude! I was TOTALLY not expecting that from you!" Later on, he said to Josh just before we were going to spar, "Josh, don't take it easy with Steve. Little bastard just reversed me." Then Josh said, "Yeah. He's getting tough. Caught me in a tight armbar last week."

It made my day. I've said it before, but what I really like about BJJ in general and my school in particular is that there's as much pride in the success of our friends at the school as there is in our own success. I think Bill was as surprised and excited that I pulled that technique off as I was.

So, little steps here and there.

Wednesday 01/03 and Friday 01/05

Lots going on. I went to class on Wednesday looking forward to working out some of the kinks I picked up on Sunday. Before I talk about any of that, though, I want to be sure to mention that my daughter was promoted. She received the first stripe on her belt and is justifiably proud.

I've talked about the belt structure in BJJ before, at least for adults. Kids work a little differently. The kids have several colored belts in between White and Blue. For kids, there are four stripes on each belt, and the belt order is White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue. Promotions are handled the same way they're done for the adults, meaning there is no formalized testing and no schedule, per se, of when a student will be promoted. The other major difference is that the top level is a blue belt, which, based upon what I've read and heard, is not typically awarded to anyone under 16 years old. So, logically, as a dad, one of the first things I told my daughter is that she's not allowed to date until she's a Blue Belt. So, congratulations to my daughter for her first of what I hope are many promotions.

As a sidebar to the promotion, my son has decided after seeing how much fun my daughter is having that he might like to give it a go. He's asked a few times over a few days. We'll see in a few weeks if he's still interested, and if so I would be very proud to have both of them involved in this great sport. As we're driving along yesterday, my son said from the back seat, "Sooo... I'm still pretty excited about taking BJJ." Then, in a really bad impression of a Portuguese accent, "Hey! Zhoo Zhitsu!! Let's do it!" My daughter then gave him some very serious advice: "K, the one thing you need to know before you start. You'll be grappling with very... sweaty... people." Then she shuddered like Bart and Lisa when they were told they'd be buffing out their aunts' bunyuns.

I had a great time at class yesterday, although my elbows are a little sore. We worked on countering the basic Kimura from guard position. This is for when you're in someone's guard and either you get bumped forward and make the mistake of putting your hands on the ground next to your opponent, or if you're too loose and he's able to swim inside and push your hands out to the sides.

We actually learned two counters. The first is an "in time" counter for when he controls my wrist and I am able to react before he locks in the submission. The second was the "damn, this sucks" counter.

"In time" counter to Kimura from guard:

1. Post with free arm on opponent's hip or on floor.
2. Turn shoulders inside.
3. Bend arm to free up elbow.
4. Pull arm out in backstroke motion
5. Reset, arms/elbows in and good posture.
   

So, in the first situation, he's controlling my right wrist and is sitting up to reach over and secure the figure four grip. 1: As he does this, I'm going to be sure to maintain good posture. If he breaks down my posture, it's going to be bad for me. So, with good posture, I'm going to post with my left hand either on the mat or on his hip. Posting on his hip seems like the better choice when possible. The main thing is that I need to post on my other hand so that I can keep from having my posture broken down.

2: Next thing I'm going to do is turn into him and take away his leverage. Continuing to post up on the left arm, I'm going to turn my shoulders so that he doesn't have the angle necessary to either break down my posture or crank the keylock.

3: I actually WANT to bend my arm, but I want to do it in such a way as to free up my elbow. If I do this correctly, I'll actually be creating space to free up my arm.

4: This is an explosive step. I should have space now to yank my arm out. If I can't get it out in one explosive move, a series of rapid, short pulls works very well. I need to continue all the way around in a backstroke type of motion. This will help me to reset. I can't just yank the arm out and then give up my back, which is what will happen if I don't sit back and reset.

5: I should be able to reset and regain a somewhat neutral position so that I can begin working to pass.

The "Oh Crap" counter goes like this:

1. Step up with same side leg.
2. Cup inside of that knee with trapped arm.
3. Sit down, trapping hand in my own leg.
4. From here, post up with other hand to regain posture.
5. When ready, continue with Step 2 from "in time" counter.

1: The key to step one is not to panic and try to reach back with the trapped arm. Chances are you won't make it. Bring the leg up to the arm rather than the arm to the leg. So, step nice and close.

2: This is where some people stop. They'll grab fabric or just reach deep behind their legs. You won't always have fabric to grab. In no-gi, you can't grab fabric, and what would happen if you're on the beaches of Brazil and you're fighting for your life while wearing a Speedo? It could happen! So, reach back deep and cup inside that knee.

3: Then sit down using your own bodyweight to help you defend the keylock. If I don't sit down, I might be able to defend for a while, but a knowledgeable opponent will be able to pry it loose and tear up my elbow or shoulder. I don't want that. So, I'm going to sit.

4: From the above position, I am relatively safe. At worst, we're in a stalemate and he'll eventually let go to work on something else. But if I want to control the match, I'll use my other arm to post up and regain good posture.

5: Once I have good posture, I should be able to continue with the "in time" counter.

I'm still working on putting together a game plan. It's a very simple concept, but I'm having a really hard time with it. I think I might be making it more complicated than it needs to be.

In sparring yesterday, I rolled with Crusher (a brown belt), Josh (blue belt) and Bill (Purple Belt). I got around guard a few times, had a few successful sweeps that I was really happy with. Rolling with Crusher, I managed to work a sweep technique that I really like. That was about it for that match. I pulled guard, worked initially to get an overhook and when he decided he'd had enough of that he pinned worked back and pinned my legs to move around guard. I controlled his arm, grabbed his belt and used his momentum to sweep him over. It wasn't an unqualified success, though. I didn't stay tight to him and retain control, so he continued to roll with the sweep and I had to abandon the position and move back to guard. I know he was going light.

I surprised Josh with a sweep at one point, too. Josh likes to stand up to pass guard. He's got several good techniques that he uses. So, I pulled guard and when he stood up I made sure to control his wrists and then waited to see which way he was going to go. I keep a foot on his hip and when he made his move, I was able to pick his other foot out and roll him over.

It was a good class, overall.

Game Plans

Sunday, I went to my first competition class since before I screwed up my back. Wow... fun, but a little brutal.

The competition class is 1 1/2 hours long and includes a much more intense warm-up/workout followed by sparring takedowns and sparring from standing up.

I was tired following that class, but stuck around for the regular BJJ class as well.

What I really took away from the day, other than very sore legs and arms, was the importance of putting together a game plan. Jeremy showed me his game plan and we talked about how it really helps. Basically, the game plan is a list of the different positions and the techniques to be attempted from there, in some kind of succession that makes sense. So, for example, I might list the side control position. The techniques I have been working on with some success are the keylock, a straight arm lock and a head/arm triangle. The value of putting them together into a game plan is that I can begin working them in succession every single time I roll. Mapping out each position, I can begin to take control of the match, rather than reacting to my opponent.

Thanks for the votes!

The Fightworks Podcast Best BJJ Blogs of 2007 voting is over and three terrific blogs had the lion's share of the votes.

I want to thank everyone who voted for me. I look forward continuing to train in this great sport and sharing what I learn (as naive as it might be at times).