Last night, we worked the handstand sweep. It took me a couple tries at first but I started to really get it down.
1. When opp stands up while in your guard, post with right hand (like a handstand DOH!) and wrap around their ankle with left hand
2. Push opp with your legs to the left while pulling their ankle towards you
3. Come up with them as they go down, taking the mount
A little extra pop with the 'handstand' hand is helpful. After drilling, we worked a counter.
1. Drive right knee into opp, while grabbing their belt
2. Reach under their leg and grab their right side lapel
3. Drive all your weight down and gain side control
I was able to work this sweep once while rolling with Brian. I've been working my half guard really well and I can tell that I have been frustrating bigger guys. I'm putting up a hell of a fight to pass my guard now! :)
Monday night was very constructive during open mat. We relearned the triangle choke during class beforehand. It's nice to work the basics again. I find that every time we go over "obvious" moves that I see different aspects which I once missed.
I rolled with a few blue belts. The first one significantly out weighed me (at least 60 pounds) but he let me work a little bit. I was usually on the bottom but I worked my half guard game a lot. He also showed me a sweep from half guard that I hope to use sometime. The next blue belt I worked with still out weighed me but decided to flow with me even more than the last one. We flowed from position to position and he let me work the arm triangle from the mount. I remembered everything (even hopping off to the side) except I didn't put my head to the ground. He reminded me of that. All in all, pretty good rolls.
During MMA, we did a lot of ground work. We went over a position called the Pyramid. I believe it's an Eddie Bravo thing. All you have to do is control an arm (wrapping around the outside) and open the guard. Throw one leg over so that it is around the back of the opp head. Bring your other knee up so that your legs are touching. You can get a triangle from here, gogoplata,or an omaplata. We played with it for a little while and it was pretty enlightening. I wanted to try some rubber guard things due to my flexibility but held back because I was never formally taught anything. I hope to work it in a little more now.
It's a little different on the video but same concepts.
We also did a cool little variation of the triangle choke called the tipee. Bascially, you have both legs straight up and crossed. You sit up and grab behind the legs while squeezing your knees together. It's a VERY affective blood choke.
July 29, 2009
July 24, 2009
Got my new gear!
Well, I had been saying how I was waiting for my new blue Gameness Pearl gi and my Combat Sports sparring gloves. I've received them both. I knew from my Gameness single weave that my new one would fit very well and it does. It has held up 2 days of training so far. Once thing I did notice, the knot on the end of the drawstring on the pants came undone which struck me as odd. I haven't had an issue with my other Gameness pants. The gloves are super comfortable but I haven't had a chance to spar with them yet.
On to Jiu Jitsu!
Wednesday and today were both spent passing half guard using a few different methods.
1. Gable grip, tripod up while drive your shoulder into opp face
2. Use free leg/foot to help get your knee past their grown
3. Switch your hips and drive your knee towards the mat
4. Enjoy side control
1. Gable grip, tripod up while drive your shoulder into opp face
2. Secure the opponents arm (same side that has you in half guard)
3. Switch your hips and drive your knee towards the mat
4. Enjoy scarf position
Next (the case that the first pass was too difficult)...
1. Gable grip, tripod up while drive your shoulder into opp face, secure the back of the gi
2. Rotate your hips out, away from your opp
3. Free your leg either by pushing with foot or pulling opp leg away
4. Hit side control
Now, from there, you can grab your foot (as long as you control the back of their gi) and put it over them to secure a tight mount. After we drilled these a few times, we did a live drill. Bottom was responsible for sweeping us and we were responsible for passing their half guard. I need to work on my weight placement when I'm doing the tripod. It took me a couple tries to get it but when I went against a yellow (who had to be 200 pounds AT LEAST) and I used my shoulder drive, I was actually able to pass his guard. I was quite proud of myself.
Thursday class was spent drilling every sweep we know and then grappling. I drilled my scissor sweep, the flower sweep, and the sit up/roll sweep from half guard. I have been able to pull off the scissor sweep during live grappling quite a bit. The flower sweep not so much. I had the sensei should be the sweep again so hopefully I can perfect that a little more. I was unsure about the half guard sweep so I will be waiting for them to teach us more sweeps from that position.
I have found that even when training with people who are significantly larger than I, that I am doing very good at escaping bad positions and regaining some type of guard. I've always caught people trying to mount or switch sides with my legs aswell. I LOVEEE that I can see a specific improvement in my game. I am also very proud of my cardio and the amount of stamina that I have gained. It is a great ability to be able to use against people who are gased.
MMA
We worked a way to escape the clinch and did our normal stand up and ground sparring. I need to focus on my punching technique more. I find myself waiting for them to strike and just blocking so I need to work in some counter punches too.
Hopefully, Brittany starts MMA this week. I will feel a little more comfortable beating on the noobie!
On to Jiu Jitsu!
Wednesday and today were both spent passing half guard using a few different methods.
1. Gable grip, tripod up while drive your shoulder into opp face
2. Use free leg/foot to help get your knee past their grown
3. Switch your hips and drive your knee towards the mat
4. Enjoy side control
1. Gable grip, tripod up while drive your shoulder into opp face
2. Secure the opponents arm (same side that has you in half guard)
3. Switch your hips and drive your knee towards the mat
4. Enjoy scarf position
Next (the case that the first pass was too difficult)...
1. Gable grip, tripod up while drive your shoulder into opp face, secure the back of the gi
2. Rotate your hips out, away from your opp
3. Free your leg either by pushing with foot or pulling opp leg away
4. Hit side control
Now, from there, you can grab your foot (as long as you control the back of their gi) and put it over them to secure a tight mount. After we drilled these a few times, we did a live drill. Bottom was responsible for sweeping us and we were responsible for passing their half guard. I need to work on my weight placement when I'm doing the tripod. It took me a couple tries to get it but when I went against a yellow (who had to be 200 pounds AT LEAST) and I used my shoulder drive, I was actually able to pass his guard. I was quite proud of myself.
Thursday class was spent drilling every sweep we know and then grappling. I drilled my scissor sweep, the flower sweep, and the sit up/roll sweep from half guard. I have been able to pull off the scissor sweep during live grappling quite a bit. The flower sweep not so much. I had the sensei should be the sweep again so hopefully I can perfect that a little more. I was unsure about the half guard sweep so I will be waiting for them to teach us more sweeps from that position.
I have found that even when training with people who are significantly larger than I, that I am doing very good at escaping bad positions and regaining some type of guard. I've always caught people trying to mount or switch sides with my legs aswell. I LOVEEE that I can see a specific improvement in my game. I am also very proud of my cardio and the amount of stamina that I have gained. It is a great ability to be able to use against people who are gased.
MMA
We worked a way to escape the clinch and did our normal stand up and ground sparring. I need to focus on my punching technique more. I find myself waiting for them to strike and just blocking so I need to work in some counter punches too.
Hopefully, Brittany starts MMA this week. I will feel a little more comfortable beating on the noobie!
July 21, 2009
Aggression is my new best friend.
We worked a few different moves last night and finally strung them together. Starting from standing...
1. Take double underhooks and widen your base, sit and bring the opp into your guard
2. When opp goes for choke and stands to apply pressure, redirect arm across their body and gable grip behind their head
3. Open guard, sweep the knee and get a hook
4. Grab opp lat and gain back mount
That was really about it and now that I typed it out, it doesn't seem like we did much.
I was really happy with my rolling last night. I was able to work what we learned in class a couple times and I also worked the triangle choke from the mount that we learned Sunday. I rolled with sensei and he told me in order to get my next belt, I need to be more aggressive so I will definitely work on that! I'm looking for that next belt.
1. Take double underhooks and widen your base, sit and bring the opp into your guard
2. When opp goes for choke and stands to apply pressure, redirect arm across their body and gable grip behind their head
3. Open guard, sweep the knee and get a hook
4. Grab opp lat and gain back mount
That was really about it and now that I typed it out, it doesn't seem like we did much.
I was really happy with my rolling last night. I was able to work what we learned in class a couple times and I also worked the triangle choke from the mount that we learned Sunday. I rolled with sensei and he told me in order to get my next belt, I need to be more aggressive so I will definitely work on that! I'm looking for that next belt.
July 20, 2009
Friday
We worked a few different gi chokes .
1. Grab the v of the gi
2. Bring it around the opp arm and switch grips
3. Grab the top of the gi on the other side for the choke
I can't remember what else we did! That's what I get for blogging so late.
Saturday
We did a lot of fancy things on Saturday again too. Thanks Scott. The first was getting the opp out of the turtle position. It's the same way to take the back as rolling them to their side but instead flipping over them and carrying them with you. The next thing was a shoulder lock from when the opp takes a failed shot on your leg. Scoot to the side with their arm in between your legs, chances are, opp will straighten it. Keep it, roll (opp should roll with you or it will hurt their arm), hold them down, and take the omaplata. We also did some weird calf lock. I don't really remember it so I will have to research it. I rolled afterwards and I tweaked my neck really bad.
Sunday
We worked a lot of drills from the mount during this class. All the escapes we know and all the submissions followed by some live drilling. We also learned the triangle choke from the mount and the "gangsta" lean. I had Brittany adjust my neck so that helped me a little bit.
Hopefully, I get the blue Gameness Pearl I ordered today. I need a clean gi for class tonight! I also ordered some new Combat sparring gloves (sale for $24.99!!!) so I will not longer be hurting my partners with padless gloves.
We worked a few different gi chokes .
1. Grab the v of the gi
2. Bring it around the opp arm and switch grips
3. Grab the top of the gi on the other side for the choke
I can't remember what else we did! That's what I get for blogging so late.
Saturday
We did a lot of fancy things on Saturday again too. Thanks Scott. The first was getting the opp out of the turtle position. It's the same way to take the back as rolling them to their side but instead flipping over them and carrying them with you. The next thing was a shoulder lock from when the opp takes a failed shot on your leg. Scoot to the side with their arm in between your legs, chances are, opp will straighten it. Keep it, roll (opp should roll with you or it will hurt their arm), hold them down, and take the omaplata. We also did some weird calf lock. I don't really remember it so I will have to research it. I rolled afterwards and I tweaked my neck really bad.
Sunday
We worked a lot of drills from the mount during this class. All the escapes we know and all the submissions followed by some live drilling. We also learned the triangle choke from the mount and the "gangsta" lean. I had Brittany adjust my neck so that helped me a little bit.
Hopefully, I get the blue Gameness Pearl I ordered today. I need a clean gi for class tonight! I also ordered some new Combat sparring gloves (sale for $24.99!!!) so I will not longer be hurting my partners with padless gloves.
July 16, 2009
More fancy armbars and some take downs
For Thursday evening, we worked a couple take downs for the beginning of class. We did a standard single leg and then we worked one from behind.
1. Grab opp waist
2. Drop down on one knee, sliding grips down to opp thighs
3. Slide your arm and head underneath their legs as you drive your knee towards their ankle
4. Grab and pull down the same leg that you are sweeping
5. Come up with their leg into side control, etc.
The next thing we did was another fancy arm bar. I wish I knew the name of it so I could post a video but I will try my best to describe it. Starting with your opp in turtle positon and your hooks in...
1. Drop one knee and leave the opposite hook in
2. Wrap around your opp arm from their shoulder in and wrap your other arm around the inside of their leg
3. Tuck your head and roll underneath your opponent, extending your free leg to aid in the flip
4. Bring your leg around their head as opp is flipped over so you can take the usual arm bar
I rolled afterwards with Brittany. She has me constantly defending, even if I'm on top. It makes it extremely difficult to try to work out of her guard. She always gets good grips on me so I need to work on evading those and bettering mine. She always pulls guard a lot in the beginning, which is what I'm used to. I tried to dominating and attempting to gain side mount but I was unsuccessful. She's fast and strong. I'm not even sure what I need to work on more in order to gain the upper hand on her. I need to lift more! I'm going to focus on gaining more control from now on. I find myself defending a lot because most of the people I roll with are bigger/stronger than me. I'll update after noon class today.
1. Grab opp waist
2. Drop down on one knee, sliding grips down to opp thighs
3. Slide your arm and head underneath their legs as you drive your knee towards their ankle
4. Grab and pull down the same leg that you are sweeping
5. Come up with their leg into side control, etc.
The next thing we did was another fancy arm bar. I wish I knew the name of it so I could post a video but I will try my best to describe it. Starting with your opp in turtle positon and your hooks in...
1. Drop one knee and leave the opposite hook in
2. Wrap around your opp arm from their shoulder in and wrap your other arm around the inside of their leg
3. Tuck your head and roll underneath your opponent, extending your free leg to aid in the flip
4. Bring your leg around their head as opp is flipped over so you can take the usual arm bar
I rolled afterwards with Brittany. She has me constantly defending, even if I'm on top. It makes it extremely difficult to try to work out of her guard. She always gets good grips on me so I need to work on evading those and bettering mine. She always pulls guard a lot in the beginning, which is what I'm used to. I tried to dominating and attempting to gain side mount but I was unsuccessful. She's fast and strong. I'm not even sure what I need to work on more in order to gain the upper hand on her. I need to lift more! I'm going to focus on gaining more control from now on. I find myself defending a lot because most of the people I roll with are bigger/stronger than me. I'll update after noon class today.
July 14, 2009
I wanted to update on my progress with the two things I decided to work on a couple weeks ago.
1. Passing Closed Guard
I started to work with Brittany on passing her closed guard since she has really strong legs and she helped me with the elbow drive method. I was trying to drive my elbows out more than down to hit that 'spot'. I've been remembering that and I've also been using the knee in the butt method more. For some odd reason, it didn't strike me that actually breaking the guard was important. I was trying to work the techniques without even separating the legs and strictly using my elbows (not even backing up). I can't understand why I missed that as it seems really obvious but I've got it down now.
2. Controlling in Mount
I haven't had much time to consciously work on riding out the mount in live situations. However, I went to a class that Dennis was instructing and we did a drill where we executed all of the submissions we new from mount. He also gave a tip about being able to stay in control when the person is bucking a lot. He said the head acts as a counter weight. When the person bucks, the head should go up and back. Very similar to bull riding.
I will continue to work both of these.
1. Passing Closed Guard
I started to work with Brittany on passing her closed guard since she has really strong legs and she helped me with the elbow drive method. I was trying to drive my elbows out more than down to hit that 'spot'. I've been remembering that and I've also been using the knee in the butt method more. For some odd reason, it didn't strike me that actually breaking the guard was important. I was trying to work the techniques without even separating the legs and strictly using my elbows (not even backing up). I can't understand why I missed that as it seems really obvious but I've got it down now.
2. Controlling in Mount
I haven't had much time to consciously work on riding out the mount in live situations. However, I went to a class that Dennis was instructing and we did a drill where we executed all of the submissions we new from mount. He also gave a tip about being able to stay in control when the person is bucking a lot. He said the head acts as a counter weight. When the person bucks, the head should go up and back. Very similar to bull riding.
I will continue to work both of these.
First half of training today finished!
Scott showed us a move called the 'Helicopter' armbar. If you've ever done it or seen a video, you know that it is a super flash move but it is reallllly cool! Would I ever pull it off? Probably not. However, if I am ever in this situation, I can use it. It feels good to learn a new way to incorporate a basic move. For those of you who have absolutely no clue as to what I am talking about...
After working this for a while, we worked a normal armbar from closed guard sweep. Been there, done that but I love working the basics.
Scott wanted us to roll after class so he could see technique and evaluate people towards belt promotions so I stayed. I rolled with him and he let me work any submission I wanted.
Back to class tonight at 6:45 and open mat following!
Oh, I also got another book in the mail today. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory and Technique by Renzo and Royler Gracie. I've only briefly looked through this one but I'm liking it more than my other book.
After working this for a while, we worked a normal armbar from closed guard sweep. Been there, done that but I love working the basics.
Scott wanted us to roll after class so he could see technique and evaluate people towards belt promotions so I stayed. I rolled with him and he let me work any submission I wanted.
Back to class tonight at 6:45 and open mat following!
Oh, I also got another book in the mail today. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory and Technique by Renzo and Royler Gracie. I've only briefly looked through this one but I'm liking it more than my other book.
July 13, 2009
Slacker!!!
I'm not a slacker when it comes to training or working out but I am a slacker when it comes to writing all the things down that I learn!
Let's see... picking up from my last post and the class I went to right after, the 9th during the day. We did a lot of drilling today and did not go over any new techniques. Actually, we barely even did a warm up. We just focused on rolling and flowing with each other for a while. Afterwards, we worked some basic escapes from under the mount.
On Friday, we definitely made up for the lack of warm up. We had to carry our partner across the gym a number of times (in a number of different ways) and it was freakin' exhausting. Joe taught us a couple basic collar chokes so we drilled that for a while. We also did a umpa/bridge drill to scissor sweep with our partners.
Saturday was no gi jiu jitsu and open mat. We worked a lot of open guard stuff and a couple chokes afterwards. I rolled with a blue belt and was able to submit him with my triangle choke but he really let me work it. It still felt good to finish though.
Sunday, we did a couple chokes and worked all the submissions we know from the mount.
I can't go to class today as I have work and traded it off so I could go to friday Jiu Jitsu and wrestling/take downs. I'm going tomorrow though, twice!!
Let's see... picking up from my last post and the class I went to right after, the 9th during the day. We did a lot of drilling today and did not go over any new techniques. Actually, we barely even did a warm up. We just focused on rolling and flowing with each other for a while. Afterwards, we worked some basic escapes from under the mount.
On Friday, we definitely made up for the lack of warm up. We had to carry our partner across the gym a number of times (in a number of different ways) and it was freakin' exhausting. Joe taught us a couple basic collar chokes so we drilled that for a while. We also did a umpa/bridge drill to scissor sweep with our partners.
Saturday was no gi jiu jitsu and open mat. We worked a lot of open guard stuff and a couple chokes afterwards. I rolled with a blue belt and was able to submit him with my triangle choke but he really let me work it. It still felt good to finish though.
Sunday, we did a couple chokes and worked all the submissions we know from the mount.
I can't go to class today as I have work and traded it off so I could go to friday Jiu Jitsu and wrestling/take downs. I'm going tomorrow though, twice!!
July 8, 2009
Passing the guard
Both the noon class and the evening class covered passing the guard. It was great because 1) I really need to work on this as it is one of my weak points 2) it was taught by two different instructors so not only did I learn a few different ways to do it, I learned vastly different techniques.
The first one was taught by Scott after we did some yoga to open our hips up. It began similar to the elbow drive but isn't of just pushing with our elbows, we posted one leg out and broke the guard by semi-standing.
1. Grab their belt, ready to drive the elbows down
2. Post out far from the opp on one leg, quickly switch the legs so the post is down and the other is up over opp knee
3. Keep toes hooked around opp calf while holding their leg down
4. Hook the opposite leg and push over to keep control as you slide the free leg through, gaining side control
We worked the same one for pretty much the entire class.
In the evening, we focused on the completely standing up break.
1. One hand on the belt, one controlling the sleeve
2. Stand and thrust forward to break open the guard
3. Grab the opp legs and throw them over to one side to gain side control
We also did closed guard to butterfly guard pass.
So you do the standing break, the opp switches to butterfly guard and you immediately sit down. Simply slide your right knee to their right leg and sprawl to pass their butterfly guard to side control.
Overall, it was a pretty constructive day for me. I didn't stay to roll afterwards though which I am feeling a little guilty about since I can't go to class today. However, I will be going to work out again.
I have been looking through Submission Grappling by Royler Gracie so hopefully that will aid me in passing the closed guard. I've also watched about 10 minutes of Demian Maia Science of BJJ.
The first one was taught by Scott after we did some yoga to open our hips up. It began similar to the elbow drive but isn't of just pushing with our elbows, we posted one leg out and broke the guard by semi-standing.
1. Grab their belt, ready to drive the elbows down
2. Post out far from the opp on one leg, quickly switch the legs so the post is down and the other is up over opp knee
3. Keep toes hooked around opp calf while holding their leg down
4. Hook the opposite leg and push over to keep control as you slide the free leg through, gaining side control
We worked the same one for pretty much the entire class.
In the evening, we focused on the completely standing up break.
1. One hand on the belt, one controlling the sleeve
2. Stand and thrust forward to break open the guard
3. Grab the opp legs and throw them over to one side to gain side control
We also did closed guard to butterfly guard pass.
So you do the standing break, the opp switches to butterfly guard and you immediately sit down. Simply slide your right knee to their right leg and sprawl to pass their butterfly guard to side control.
Overall, it was a pretty constructive day for me. I didn't stay to roll afterwards though which I am feeling a little guilty about since I can't go to class today. However, I will be going to work out again.
I have been looking through Submission Grappling by Royler Gracie so hopefully that will aid me in passing the closed guard. I've also watched about 10 minutes of Demian Maia Science of BJJ.
July 7, 2009
Catchy titles are overrated...
Last night, we broke down the arm bar again step by step from the mount. Ken says that he is seeing a lot of sloppy arms bars in open mat and he was really emphasizing getting it as tight as possible. We also went over a few escapes for the arm bar as well!
1. Remove the opponents leg
2. Pull elbow to ground and roll into the person
3. Point thumb down and move around to your knees
It was a pretty simple class but I really think getting the basics down is super important and I've heard for MANY people that the basics simply work. No flashy flying arm bar necessary.
During open mat I worked a sweep, pass or submit drill with Nicco and Kevin. Throughout open mat and MMA, I really worked the scissor sweep well. I was pretty proud when I pulled it off while a kid was punching me in the face. I also tried staying in mount longer than usual. I'm used to just getting bucked off so I need to work on that. I found myself in half guard a lot too so it would be nice to learn some submissions or sweeps from there.
In MMA, we worked some slipping again and added a takedown. It wasn't too tough to grasp but I'm always looking to improve my sparring which we always end up doing at some point.
This morning, I will be going to the gym to get cardio and lift some weights. Afterwards, I'm going to the noon class and the evening class later on.
1. Remove the opponents leg
2. Pull elbow to ground and roll into the person
3. Point thumb down and move around to your knees
It was a pretty simple class but I really think getting the basics down is super important and I've heard for MANY people that the basics simply work. No flashy flying arm bar necessary.
During open mat I worked a sweep, pass or submit drill with Nicco and Kevin. Throughout open mat and MMA, I really worked the scissor sweep well. I was pretty proud when I pulled it off while a kid was punching me in the face. I also tried staying in mount longer than usual. I'm used to just getting bucked off so I need to work on that. I found myself in half guard a lot too so it would be nice to learn some submissions or sweeps from there.
In MMA, we worked some slipping again and added a takedown. It wasn't too tough to grasp but I'm always looking to improve my sparring which we always end up doing at some point.
This morning, I will be going to the gym to get cardio and lift some weights. Afterwards, I'm going to the noon class and the evening class later on.
July 6, 2009
Weekends ruin me!!!
Friday night we worked half guard escapes and a submission. The cardio beforehand was really soft for Joe and I was really surprised by that. Anyways, to the half guard escape...
1. Take the opposite side of the gi and wrap it behind their arm (aids in controlling their upper body)
2. Overhand grip and pass to other hand
3. Push with newly free hand while dragging knee out
4. Post knee on ground, make foot skinny to slide it through
5. End in mount! :)
The choke we learned was pretty simple, front naked choke. Fun though. Wrestling was cancelled afterwards so I just rolled around with Brittany for a few minutes.
I was feeling really guilty about drinking this entire weekend so I ran for 30 minutes. Tonight I shall be going to BJJ, rolling at open mat, and doing MMA. I'll update tomorrow.
1. Take the opposite side of the gi and wrap it behind their arm (aids in controlling their upper body)
2. Overhand grip and pass to other hand
3. Push with newly free hand while dragging knee out
4. Post knee on ground, make foot skinny to slide it through
5. End in mount! :)
The choke we learned was pretty simple, front naked choke. Fun though. Wrestling was cancelled afterwards so I just rolled around with Brittany for a few minutes.
I was feeling really guilty about drinking this entire weekend so I ran for 30 minutes. Tonight I shall be going to BJJ, rolling at open mat, and doing MMA. I'll update tomorrow.
July 2, 2009
Noon ends too soon
Day time classes always seem to go very quickly.
We started off with some yoga and stretching. I enjoy yoga. Today we drilled the arm bar from mount. Scott teaches the day time classes so the moves we do are always very "flowy". We did the arm bar in the instance that our opponent is pressing up on our chest.
1. Post on their chest, snaking around their arm left arm
2. Put all your weight on their chest as you swing your left leg over their head
3. Pinch everything tight and go for the sub
The next variation:
1. Post on their chest, controlling their arm by their elbow
2. Scoot your left knee to their head so you are in the s-mount
3. Put your leg leg over their head and pinch for the sub
We started off with some yoga and stretching. I enjoy yoga. Today we drilled the arm bar from mount. Scott teaches the day time classes so the moves we do are always very "flowy". We did the arm bar in the instance that our opponent is pressing up on our chest.
1. Post on their chest, snaking around their arm left arm
2. Put all your weight on their chest as you swing your left leg over their head
3. Pinch everything tight and go for the sub
The next variation:
1. Post on their chest, controlling their arm by their elbow
2. Scoot your left knee to their head so you are in the s-mount
3. Put your leg leg over their head and pinch for the sub
Often he who does too much does too little
I wanted to make one more short post before I go to class outlining what my focus is this week. I will try to set a new focus at the start of every week. This week is almost over but my focus has been passing the closed guard and controlling more while in the mount position.
1. Passing Closed Guard
It is very tough for me to break the closed guard on anyone. I have a really tough time keeping balance while trying to the 'knee in the butt maneuver' and it has been really tough for me to dig in with my elbows. I have been told by a few people that it helps when they put your elbows right into that soft spot on top of the knee. I have worked that a little but not as much as I would like. My main focus when trying to pass the guard is the elbow drive and the knee in the butt.
2. Controlling in Mount
I find myself constantly getting bucked off my opponent when I gain mount. I have been trying to dig my feet into their sides/underneath my opponent more and it seems to be helping. I still find it very tough to control my opponent if they are significantly larger than me.
Since I am so new to Jiu Jitsu, there is obviously a TON of things that I need to work on. Through my reading and experiences talking to people, I have learned that it is important to pin point only a few things at a time. Hence the blog title.
1. Passing Closed Guard
It is very tough for me to break the closed guard on anyone. I have a really tough time keeping balance while trying to the 'knee in the butt maneuver' and it has been really tough for me to dig in with my elbows. I have been told by a few people that it helps when they put your elbows right into that soft spot on top of the knee. I have worked that a little but not as much as I would like. My main focus when trying to pass the guard is the elbow drive and the knee in the butt.
2. Controlling in Mount
I find myself constantly getting bucked off my opponent when I gain mount. I have been trying to dig my feet into their sides/underneath my opponent more and it seems to be helping. I still find it very tough to control my opponent if they are significantly larger than me.
Since I am so new to Jiu Jitsu, there is obviously a TON of things that I need to work on. Through my reading and experiences talking to people, I have learned that it is important to pin point only a few things at a time. Hence the blog title.
Where do I start?
That was the question of the day when I first started my training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I was feeling very overwhelmed and not quite sure what to do. I find that this is often the epic question whenever I start anything new, including this blog.
I began about a month and a half ago at a place called Tai-Kai Jiu Jitsu, which is a Relson Gracie Team Balance gym. I'm still a white belt as I write now (which was to be expected). I usually try to train at least five times a week. I go as often as my schedule allows. I'm also attending MMA classes and a wrestling class regularly. My gym does teach Thai and Boxing but unfortunately, they run at the same time BJJ does.
I'm not going to back track and try to explain everything that I have learned so far so I will jump right into what we learned last night.
Joe (purple belt) ran the class last night. After our conditioning and warm-ups, we went straight into learning the omaplata from the guard position. The set up was pretty similar to the arm bar we worked last week so it came pretty natural to me.
1. Control the bicep
2. Drop the left foot to the ground
3. Shrimp out, post right foot on opp hip
4. Pinch shoulder with knees
5. Throw leg/foot over opp head
6. Sit out and raise hips
After we all 'mastered' that, we strung together a collar choke, arm bar, and omaplata from the same position. Pretty fun stuff.
For the end of class, we did a pass or sweep drill. The higher belts started out on the mat and the lower belts proceeded to try to pass. I was swept more than I passed but I did manage to pass a green belt and a white belt, both of the men being significantly larger than I. I'm really not exceptionally 'speedy' but I managed to gain significant control of their legs and be patient enough to pass at the right moment instead of jumping right into it like I tend to do sometimes. I've also been trying to stack more often during drills and rolling. It has been working pretty well for me!
After that, open mat began.
I rolled with a newer girl who tends to gas herself out really quickly. I did my best to give her tips on some basic positioning and let her know that pacing herself is a really good idea. I worked on the cobra choke that a friend had showed me later that night because I find I only think of the arm bar and the kimura when I get mount.
I went to MMA after that and got my butt kicked a little but hey, it was fun. We worked on creating angles and just did some general sparring and clinch work. It was one of the kid's 18th birthday and we made a huge circle around him and took turns beating on him a little bit! It was playful and I can honestly say that I can't wait for my birthday to come up.
That's all for now. I'm off to the noon class.
I began about a month and a half ago at a place called Tai-Kai Jiu Jitsu, which is a Relson Gracie Team Balance gym. I'm still a white belt as I write now (which was to be expected). I usually try to train at least five times a week. I go as often as my schedule allows. I'm also attending MMA classes and a wrestling class regularly. My gym does teach Thai and Boxing but unfortunately, they run at the same time BJJ does.
I'm not going to back track and try to explain everything that I have learned so far so I will jump right into what we learned last night.
Joe (purple belt) ran the class last night. After our conditioning and warm-ups, we went straight into learning the omaplata from the guard position. The set up was pretty similar to the arm bar we worked last week so it came pretty natural to me.
1. Control the bicep
2. Drop the left foot to the ground
3. Shrimp out, post right foot on opp hip
4. Pinch shoulder with knees
5. Throw leg/foot over opp head
6. Sit out and raise hips
After we all 'mastered' that, we strung together a collar choke, arm bar, and omaplata from the same position. Pretty fun stuff.
For the end of class, we did a pass or sweep drill. The higher belts started out on the mat and the lower belts proceeded to try to pass. I was swept more than I passed but I did manage to pass a green belt and a white belt, both of the men being significantly larger than I. I'm really not exceptionally 'speedy' but I managed to gain significant control of their legs and be patient enough to pass at the right moment instead of jumping right into it like I tend to do sometimes. I've also been trying to stack more often during drills and rolling. It has been working pretty well for me!
After that, open mat began.
I rolled with a newer girl who tends to gas herself out really quickly. I did my best to give her tips on some basic positioning and let her know that pacing herself is a really good idea. I worked on the cobra choke that a friend had showed me later that night because I find I only think of the arm bar and the kimura when I get mount.
I went to MMA after that and got my butt kicked a little but hey, it was fun. We worked on creating angles and just did some general sparring and clinch work. It was one of the kid's 18th birthday and we made a huge circle around him and took turns beating on him a little bit! It was playful and I can honestly say that I can't wait for my birthday to come up.
That's all for now. I'm off to the noon class.
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