BJJ as Self Defense

Clearly, there are better ways.  I ran across this video and I think that anyone who is SERIOUS (see, I was so serious, I risked pinky trauma by reaching over to the caps lock) about self defense should watch this video... TWICE!!!1!!1!111!

Sunday Class 02/24/08

Sundays are always great classes. We had lots of new guys in class today, which is always fun to see, and we reviewed the techniques from the week. As usual, lots of time to spar, both in class and after in open mat.

I was really glad to see Keoni back in class today. What a sight for sore eyes. He's a crazy dude and I'm glad to see that he's recovering very well from his knee surgery!

Instead of rehashing the techniques I outlined previously, I thought I'd go over the two techniques that the new guys were drilling in open mat: guard pass #1 and the basic scissor sweep.

Coach calls the following Guard Pass #1. It's a very basic knee slide guard pass, outlined below passing to my right side.

1. Open Guard.
   
2. Bring right knee up and establish position, good base.
   
3. Control opponent's left leg.
   
4. Drive right knee over opponent's thigh, keeping hook.
5. Stay low and control opponent's head with my right arm.
   
6. Step out with my left leg, turning hips so that my left leg plants firmly on the mat.
   
7. Move to side control.

1: Open guard. There are lots of ways to do this. We're taught first, if I'm passing to right, to move my right knee out (widening my base to that side). Then, bring my left knee in line with my opponent's tailbone, widening out my right knee a touch more. My elbows are in tight, and my hands are on the shelf of my opponent's ribcage, or if gi, I can grab my opponent's belt. From here, I can round out my back to break the guard. If this doesn't work, I can move my right hand back a bit to help control my opponent's hips, scoot back just a few inches and once again round out my back to break open the guard.
2: Once the guard is open, I'm going to bring my knee up inside my opponent's legs. This keeps him from closing his guard. I should have a good base from here... pretty neutral position, from which I need to 3: control one of my opponent's right leg. I need to do this so that he doesn't simply hook my leg to keep me from stepping out to pass. I can do this by underhooking that leg, or if I'm worried about the triangle choke (and it's gi), I can grab some fabric inside the knee and control the leg that way.
4: Once I've got good control of my opponent's right leg, I'm going to drive my right knee to the mat over my opponent's left thigh. I HAVE to keep the hook, or I'll end up caught in half guard, so I'll use the contour of my shin to keep pressure on that leg, and at the same time, 5: stay low and control my opponent's head.
6: Step out with my left leg, and then 7: Move to side control. There are a lot of ways to safely get to side control from here. One way is to release my opponent's left leg and use that hand to block the hip. Then bring my left leg to my opponent's knee and get good control. I prefer to maintain control of my opponent's left leg, and just focus on keeping my left knee in tight to my opponent's hip while I move into a good side mount.

And that's it. Guard Pass #1.

The other technique the new guys all drilled was a Basic Scissor Sweep, where I've got my opponent in my closed guard and I'm going to roll him to my right side.

1. Get a good cross lapel grip with my left hand.
2. Control opponent's left arm with my right (behind elbow, wrist control... doesn't matter).
3. Open guard, bringing my left knee inside and contouring my opponent's waist/ribs with my shin.
4. My right leg is up off the mat to keep my opponent from stepping over to pass. I tend to either plant my foot on my opponent's hip or keeping my heel behind his knee.
5. As I pull with my right arm and push with my left arm, I'm going to scissor my legs, driving my left knee across and kicking my right leg under.
6. Ride the train, next stop: Mount.

Both of these techniques are very fundamental, but good to have in the tool box. I use the scissor sweep all the time, as a way to set up other techniques even when the sweep doesn't work.

Sparring and open mat were really fun. I spent a few minutes working to pass Josh's guard. While I wasn't entirely successful, I managed to avoid being swept or submitted. I also rolled with Bing, who got me into some weird positions. In that match, as is usual when I roll with Bing, I am constantly defending. Tonight, I was working to pass guard, and ended up over-committing to the pass. I defended an armbar, tried to reset and when I did, ended up off to the side and trying to keep him off my back. Then I was defending the RNC... and then the armbar. It wasn't good, but I managed to hold out.

All in all, a good class. The only down side is that I have a pretty bad gi burn on my right eye. That's going to be fun at work tomorrow.

Friday BJJ Class 02/22/08 Plus Open Mat

Something was in the water tonight because everyone was hyper and ready to roll.  We were waiting for class to start and Big Rick was trolling the waters, looking for someone (anyone) to get going.  Coach came out and 10 minutes before class starts, the two of them are sparring takedowns.  In the meantime, three other pairs of guys spontaneously start rolling around.  I took the opportunity to drill a couple of moves I need to work on with Jeremy.

It was hilarious.  Coach lines up the class at 5pm and half the class is panting and sweaty.  So, we did the logical thing: started warm-ups.  Of course. 

The techniques we covered were the same three move combination we worked on Wednesday: Americana to Straight Armlock to Kimura.

Instead of rehashing those techniques, I'll jot down one of the moves that Jeremy showed me from a top turtle position.  I mentioned a few days back that in the tournament I was able to get a rolling reversal a couple of times.  Instead of ending up with control of the arm, I ended up facing my opponent with an over/under grip.  I knew then that there were many chokes, but I just flat out didn't know them.  

The technique I'm going to work on is an Gator Roll/Anaconda choke.  Check out the video found on YouTube posted by trainfightwin.com.  This is a move more often done no-gi, because it's easier to slide the arm all the way through.  The added friction of the gi can actually get in the way.  Also, it's a little more difficult on really big guys, because you have to get the right grip.

One functional difference between what Jeremy showed me and the technique detailed above is that Jeremy recommended moving my hips/legs the opposite direction the instructor in the video showed.  He does mention that you can go either way in the video.  The only other difference is that Jeremy locked in the grips before he rolled.

Either way, it's something to work on so that hopefully I can begin to capitalize on my positional dominance following my reversal.

Sparring was great.  I felt strong and worked hard.  I got several matches in during sparring, had success passing guard, and against the big guys, worked my own guard game to keep from getting submitted.  Against Big Rick, I ended up under his side mount, but kept my arms in and avoided giving him the tricky chokes he was working.  We have several guys tuning up for the Pan Ams, and the next few weeks are going to be great, because as they ramp up their intensity, it will help us all get better.

Funny thing happened during open mat.  A few new students (a father and his son) were in the class.  They were really nice, and both eager to learn.  So, during open mat, they were ready to go.  They weren't quite sure what to be doing or working on and I heard the father say to his son, "Maybe we should work with one of the more experienced guys."  Then I noticed that he was pointedly looking at me.  '

In desperation, I looked around for a blue belt, and seeing no help, said, "Well, err...  what are you guys working on?  Are you drilling your guard pass?"

So, I showed them a very basic guard pass (Coach calls it Guard Pass #1).  Bing, a blue belt, came over to give a few pointers, as well.  It was fun, and I really got a kick out of their enthusiasm.  

Best advice I heard, though (and I can't remember if it was Bing or someone else who gave it): "It all starts to make sense after about three months, so no matter what, just stick out the first three months."  Good advice. 

Pictures from The Revolution BJJ Tourney

Lots of pictures from the tournament on February 9, 2008 can be found on the Liberty Events page.

Wednesday BJJ Class 2/20/08

The class was HUGE. There were easily over 25 people at class... so many that our usual jog around the mats was cut short. Too many people to work up any kind of sweat. So we did jumping jacks, pushups and crunches starting with 10 of each, working down to 1 and then back up to 5. Got the blood pumping, although the close proximity of my training partners made getting smacked or kicked a real possibility. Extreme Calisthenics. You heard it here first. We're going to make it even more fun next time by incorporating boxing gloves, so that when we do our jumping jacks, we're also sparring.
For the last several days we have drilled regaining bottom side control. Today, we switched positions and drilled a three move combination from side control: Americana to Straight Arm Lock to Kimura. As always, I picked up some details I had either forgotten or just completely missed out on in past classes.  

I'll start from a good control position in Side Mount/Side Control, once again using the picture I borrowed last week.  The only difference being that the guy on the bottom will have his arm under my head, elbow in tight:

Americana from Side Control:

1. Bring left arm to trap head between knee and elbow.
2. Reach around with Right Arm and trap bicep.
3. Roll Right Shoulder forward until I have enough room to sneak my hand in and get the figure four grip.
4. I use my head if necessary to help me drive the arm flat to ground.
5. * Turn hands  to straighten out wrists, like the throttle of a motorcycle.  
6. Move opponent's elbow along a straight line parallel to his body (not letting his elbow come up off the ground... a common mistake).

If my opponent straightens out his arm, I'll transition to a Straight Armlock:

1. I'll keep my grips the same, but just move with his arm.
2. Roll arm and use the figure four grip to lever the arm back against the elbow joint.

And if my opponent manages to turn his arm the other way, move to a Kimura:

1. Get the figure four grip with opposite arms, controlling wrist with my right hand and snaking my left underneath.
2. Sit through toward my opponent's head.
3. Keeping my chest close to his chest (keeping him from sitting up), create pressure on the shoulder and elbow by turning my shoulders.   Coach put it in simplest terms.  Try and look over my right shoulder without turning my head.  This keeps my chest tight and creates the right kind of pressure on my opponent's joints.

Sparring was a little mild.  With so many people on the mats, I only got a couple of matches.  Fun, though.  I rolled with big Matt, and did well.   Felt strong.

Redbelt Trailer is out

The movie Redbelt is set to open on April 25, 2008. I've mentioned this movie a few times before, and I'm very optimistic. I've also been keeping up with the production through their blog. In my opinion, it's looks like a more thoughtful alternative to the other MMA movies being produced: Never Back Down, and Never Submit. Check out the trailer.

BJJ on Fight Quest this Friday

Fight Quest, a show on the Discovery Channel, follows two fighters who travel around getting their butts kicked in a variety of traditional martial arts styles. Doug Anderson is an amatuer, and Jimmy Smith has a professional record of 6-1. This Friday, they're in Brazil getting a lesson in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training with Rickson Gracie's club. I can't wait.

If you want to see how truly badass Rickson Gracie is, check out the documentary "Choke." It's an amazing story.

I'm even more interested after seeing this video.

This episode might be a little different than others in the Fight Quest series so far, because neither of our fighters are wholly unfamiliar with the style. Doug Anderson holds a blue belt, and Jimmy Smith is a purple belt. Anyone who's trained in BJJ for any length of time knows what that means in terms of skill and hours on the mat.

I'll definitely have the Tivo set this week!

Sunday BJJ 2/10/08

Sunday's class was good. I didn't go to the competition class. Instead, I took it easy and made it in for the regular BJJ class at 3:30.

Often after a competition Coach will go over something that he noticed a lot of people having problems with at the tournament. Usually, it's a fundamental. After the tournament last July, we reviewed clearing your leg from someone's half-guard. Today, we went over how to reestablish guard from under side mount. So, I'll do my best to outline this technique.

We broke it up into two drills, but for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to start from the worst case scenario, where I'm flat on my back. My opponent has me in side mount with both arms isolated. It looks exactly like this picture borrowed from 3peaksfitness.com (which hopefully they won't get mad about my using... but if you do, I'm happy to remove it). This sucks. Both of his knees are up tight to her body. He's got a strong gable grip, isolating her left arm on the topside of his head. This exposes that arm to keylocks or armbars. Her right arm is trapped high between his body and his leg. If he keeps his hips low and drives his shoulder into her jaw, she is definitely a very unhappy camper.

What she wants to do from this position is reestablish guard. To do that, she will need to get space, and to do THAT, she needs to get up on her right side, get her left arm UNDER his head so she can keep that arm safe and use her left elbow to help create space. Her right arm need to block his hip, and to do that, she needs to bring that elbow in and down, with her right hand cupping his hip. This is Stage 1, which returns her to a solid defensive posture from which she can regain guard, which is Stage 2.

So, the following is the outline of the techniques starting from the above picture:

Stage 1:

1. Bridge INTO my opponent while simultaneously
2. Bringing my right elbow inside with my hand cupping my opponent's hip.
3. At the same time, reaching with my left hand back driving my opponent's head back.
4. I should now be able to bring that arm back in and under his head. If he's really stubborn, I'll need to persuade him a little by grinding my elbow under his jawline.
   
5. I may still be flat on my back, but now I've got my elbows in tight and I'm ready for stage 2.

Stage 2:

1. Once again, I need to bridge INTO my opponent
2. while widening out my left elbow (this makes it very uncomfortable for my opponent to drive in, as the more he drives in, the more pressure on his own throat he's creating)
3. and this time, I'm going to hip escape/shrimp out,
   **DETAIL: I need to hip escape BEFORE my hips hit the mat. It's common for new guys to bridge up, then drop the hips back down to the mats and THEN try to hip escape. Doesn't do me any good to do that.
4. locking out my arms (not all the way straight, but strong)
5. bringing my right knee to my right elbow
6. then driving back to create space enough to bring the leg through for guard.

Sparring was fun, but I'm glad to be home resting tonight. Tomorrow's a big day at work, so I'm going to try and get a good night's sleep!

BJJ Matches 2 and 3

This was the toughest match for me, because this guy had such a strong closed guard. I outlined what I did well and what I didn't in a previous post.

Match 2

My third match was another grueling affair, but I feel like I did a better job of playing my game.

Match 3

After struggling with an older computer, YouTube and the Blogger video function, I finally ended up in Google Video, but can't find the code to embed the video. The links above should work, but if they don't, let me know.

Once again, my 12 year old son is the videographer, so there are times when I'm completely out of frame. Do not watch if you're prone to motion sickness. :)

Match 1

This was a good match. My opponent was a strong dude. I've never had anyone from under mount lift my leg up like he does, so at the end, I was sure to grapevine his legs to keep that from happening again.

Fair warning, though. My 12 year old son was my videographer, so it's difficult to watch! Think Paul Greengrass on a bad day.



Funny white belt story (I say "white belt" because I'm sure that a conversation like this wouldn't have happened between more experienced competitors).

Me: "You're Bruce? I think we're up next."
Him: "How long have you been training."
Me: "About a year. You?"
Him: "Since April. You cut much weight?"
Me: "Yeah. I walk around at about 200 lbs."
Him: "Really??? How heavy are you today?"
Me: "I don't know exactly. I was 195 this morning."

The look on his face was priceless. Anyone who knows me would've known I was bs'ing, but I guess my deadpan delivery is difficult for strangers to read. He's a nice guy, though, and very competitive.

BJJ Tournament Results

I went up to West Seattle today to compete in a BJJ tournament. The Revolution tournaments are a series put together by Jeff, one of the guys who trains at our gym (a purple belt and amateur MMA fighter). This tournament was much bigger than any I've previously been to.

The brackets were divided by weight and belt. I competed in the Welterweight division (170 to 184.9 lbs) as a white belt along with two other guys from my school, Mike and Jeremy. My division had the most competitors in it by far, with 24 (if my inner city educated math skills aren't letting me down). I had three matches and won all three, as did both Jeremy and Mike, which created a bit of a dilemma. Our instructor's philosophy is that there's nothing to be gained by competing against your teammates. The idea being that we compete to learn about what we're doing right and where we need to focus to shore up holes in our training. Jeremy insisted on taking 3rd place, as he was competing no-gi, so Mike and I did rock/paper/scissors for 1st and 2nd. I went paper and lost to scissors. I found out from my daughter afterward that you NEVER start with paper. If only I had known. :)

I feel like I did a lot of things really well, but there are some glaring holes in my game that I can see, too. This is especially true after watching the video of my matches. In the second match, I was able to set up and execute the sweep that I've been working on. I pulled it off twice in the match, but both times failed to control the arm. As a result, I got no points for the sweep because my opponent was able to roll to his knees.

The third match was another 0-0 match which I won in overtime with 3 points for passing guard. Frankly, I'm not sure why I wasn't awarded points at different times in the match, but it's all good. In this match, I was very tired. I was surprised at how gassed I became. I've heard many people talk about how it's different in competition, but feeling it firsthand is an eye opening experience. I felt like I maintained good position in this match. I passed guard, but he kept controlling my head. The first time he did this, early in the match, I was able to get a good grip on his lapel, and was content to work slowly, cinching it in. It's not visible on the tape, but definitely helped me, I think. During the brief break between the match and overtime, I got some timely advice from Coach Foster, and then Trevin told me to move my leg over his head and take his arm if he traps my head like that again. Sure enough, he did, so I moved to step over. Wisely (I guess) he let go of my head right away. Thanks, Trevin! Controlling his bottom leg was the key, I think, to keeping him from rolling, however briefly, to his knees, giving me 3 points for the win.

I learned a lot of things from this competition, both positive and negative:

1. I have a decent open guard game. It seemed to give my opponents some trouble. They had a lot of difficulty passing, and when they did, I was often able to get/keep a knee in to keep them from scoring points. In match two, I think it made all the difference. When he pulled guard, I was having trouble. I felt a lot more comfortable from the bottom.
   
2. My half guard game is still weak, but much, much better than it was even one month ago.
   
3. I'm very happy that I tried some new things. In match 1, the take down is one we just learned a few weeks ago. I did it in slow motion, which probably didn't help my chances of succeeding with it. But I did try it, and I'm happy about that.
   
4. The rolling reversal/sweep works very well for me, but I need to focus on control following the reversal. I set it up twice, but failed to get points, and more importantly, if I can do it and stay tight, I'll set up my kimura.
   
5. My armbar attempt from guard (in match 3) needs work. I need to concentrate on staying tight.
6. I move slow. I feel like in all three matches, I was moving in slow motion. This is neither good nor bad. It just is. I actually kind of like the sweeps where it looks like my opponent should easily be able to counter... but doesn't.
7. I really need to work on finishing. These wars of attrition are tiring! Better to finish fast, get the submission and rest.
   
8. I should also work on improving my cardio, just in case number 7 doesn't work out.
9. Positionally, I'm going to spend much more time working to counter a turtled up opponent.
   
10. And clearly, after match two, I need to spend some time working against a strong closed guard. Most of my teammates work an active, open guard game, which I'm comfortable against. In my second match, I had a terrible time cracking his guard open to set up a pass.

I'll work to post the videos tomorrow.

"The Revolution" 02.09.08

I haven't posted the details of the last few classes. I've been very busy, but have been training hard and have a lot of little things to talk about.

First, I'm very proud of my son... in general, but specifically because he decided to give class a shot and loves it. I knew he would, but wanted him to make the decision himself to either try it or not try it. He's been to three classes so far and has enjoyed himself tremendously. Today, Rick ran the kids class and put them through some side mount escapes. My daughter really worked hard today, and they're both doing great!

So, yet another gi to wash multiple times per week.

The second thing that I want to mention is the tournament I'm competing in on Saturday. Jeff, a purple belt at my school, runs a tournament several times per year, and they're top notch. Called "The Revolution," they have both gi and no-gi divisions and attract a lot of competitors, meaning everyone gets at least two matches, and if you win, you'll likely get more.

I don't compete very often, but want to go out and see where I'm at and what I need to work on. I'm a little nervous, but have been training hard. Win or lose, I'm in good shape and am really looking forward to Saturday.

And, finally, I really, really want a black Lucky Gi. I know it's probably overpriced, and I know I have 3 perfectly good BJJ Kimonos, but WOW! It's just cool.

So, if anyone out there for any reason wants to buy one of these for me, I wear an A3. (In case my wife wants to buy one for me). Honey? That's A3, and I want the black one!