MMA and me; day 292

We worked on a couple of really cool moves on Thursday. The samurai roll, and the berimbolo. The roll is an odd mix of simple and complex. From inside your opponents half guard (on their right leg for the purposes of explaining) cross your feet underneath their right leg, to help control the roll. Swim your right arm to the mat on their right side, rolling over your shoulders, and as you do, extend your hips and kick your legs to lengthen out their body. As you finish your shoulder roll, uncross your feet, and throw your left leg around their left side to take their back. It was the first time I drilled the move, so I am still working on it, but it is a very nifty way to pass the half guard, and end up in a very dominant position. It has to be executed quickly, and it also is something that can be tacked on to the end of an old school sweep from half guard bottom, which actually can help with the momentum and make the roll even quicker.

The berimbolo can be done from many positions, but we worked on it from a sitting position, with a seated partner. With your left leg under their right leg, and your left foot on their left hip, reach under your left leg, to grab their right heel, or a hunk of their pant leg near their right heel. Tucking your head as close in to their right hip as you can, roll across your shoulders, bringing your right shin across their belt line, and kicking them over as you finish the sweep. Shift your hips to line up with their back, and grab their belt, a hunk of their jacket, or whatever you need to bring your chest up to their back, and sink your left hook in to secure the position. Like I said, it can be done from SO many positions, X Guard, De La Riva, half guard. The key is quickness, and momentum. Both of these moves are pretty new to me, so I am going to be working them a lot, so here is to more new stuff!

MMA and me; day 291

Tuesday we were back at our usual warm up, and then went right into our inverted guard drills. For our warm ups, I specifically focused on shoulder rolls, as they  provide an excellent work up to the inverted guard. For the drills, we stayed simple, just starting from the behind, straddling the right leg of a standing partner, reaching under the inside (right) leg with the inside (right) hand, and sliding the back of the hand to the outside of the leg being straddled. From there, you roll to your inside (right) shoulder, using your inside leg to get a hook on their right leg knee pit, as you bring your left leg over, and secure a hook under their left leg knee pit. At this point, you are upside down, on your shoulders, with your feet (boots on) in the knee pits of your opponents legs, with your right foot in their right knee pit, and left foot in left knee pit. From here, disengage your right foot, sweep it out and around while using your left foot as leverage, bring your right shoulder off the mat to roll over your left shoulder, and swing around to a seated position similar to how you started, except straddling their left leg. Now you can repeat this process in reverse, and go back and forth in front of your partner, or you can go around the world and turn the corner when you get to one side and continue around behind them. You really just want to make sure you keep your opponent in your guard, which is in between your legs, upside down or right side up. A few things to remember; as you are upside down, make sure to get both hooks in firmly, before you disengage and roll back to your behind. Also, as you turn the corner, it is very helpful to sweep the leg straight out, that you just pulled out of the knee pit, to help your momentum as you swing around to the back (or front) side. The more fluidly you can do this, the better.

A great class, followed up by another killer fighters training with Coach Jayce. Can't wait for tonight, and more of the same!

MMA and me; day 289 and 290

Quick word on last weeks classes before I head off to teach bjj. We've been working a lot on the inverted guard, and the X guard. When I first got into this sport, I thought they were a bit gimmicky, and way too situational. Now, with a bit of experience under my belt, I can now see them for what they are; progress. Just like in any sport, or in fact, life in general, these aspects of bjj are signs of growth, and some peoples brilliant innovations into an already beautiful martial art.I love that there are outside the box thinkers that see where advantages are to be taken, and are not afraid to leap at the opportunity to take a chance. Tomorrow I will go into more detail on these concepts, but I just wanted to briefly talk about how thankful I am to be able to work with great coaches and students, I am having a ball!!

MMA and me; day 288

So I have made a few discoveries in my first few months as an instructor. One, I really like teaching class, and I feel very blessed to be able to do something like this. Two, only coming to the gym for those classes (instructing) is NOT a sufficient method of staying in shape, with no other supplemental exercise. Three, and this one is more of a decision I made after number two became apparent, I will be coming in an extra day during the week, likely Wednesdays or Mondays, depending on what I got going on that week, and earlier on Tuesdays, or maybe hitting up AMMA and getting in some mat time with different partners, because that can only help me get better.

Anyways, yesterday was a great day in the gym, and in gi class we worked on a couple of sweeps from bottom half guard, the old school sweep, and what I can best describe as the narrow base sweep.

For both, it is important to establish a solid base, and most urgently, a same side as your half guard under hook. From flat on your back, reach across their body to frame up their face with your arm on the same side as your half guard. Doing so while shrimping towards that side, creates the space you need to pummel in for the under hook, while also posting up on your other arm and creating a solid post.  Now, if your opponent has a wide base, like most wrestlers do, you are presented with the opportunity to dive your arm that you are posted up on, deep under their far leg, and rolling them over your body. It is very necessary that you get your head deep in against their hip, or you run the risk of getting choked. As you roll them over you, kick your leg free of theirs (or you will be in their half guard and have to work to pass) under hook their head, C block their legs, and you are in side control, ready to go to work.

Sometimes, as you follow your under hook (as we are all taught to do) your opponent is forced to follow you around by walking their knees towards you, or risk letting you take their back. As they do so, you can take advantage of their knees being close together and drop your under hook from across their back, to their far ankle, and reach for their far knee with your post arm, while switching your hips to drive your shoulder into their ribs, and pulling in their far leg to drive them over onto their back. Again, make sure to kick your legs free of their legs, and towards their head, as to avoid landing in their half guard.

Great class, but I am feeling fat and doughy. Time to get that fire back.

MMA and me; day 286/287

So I only had one class last week, since we as a gym were really focusing on getting two of our fighters ready for their fights on Saturday. They both won in dominating fashion, ad a big congratulations to both Batman and Jeremie! On Tuesday, we worked our technique drills as usual, and then went to work on a new choke, the bow and arrow. From back control, with the usual over under grip, using your over hook, grab the far lapel, and release your under hook to post up behind you. Using the post, start to shrimp your hips away from the over hook, until you are almost completely out to the side. From here, roll back slightly, and kick your leg that is behind them, around and over their head, until the bottom of your hamstring is pressing against the side of their face. From here, you want to get a push pull action with your grip on their lapel, and your leg. If you keep them slightly elevated, you can get full pressure with your leg, while pulling with your grip, until they tap. If they flatten out completely on their back, you will have a harder time finishing the submission, so try to keep them in a semi reclined position while you work the push/pull.

Thursday was a lot of straight rolling, helping the fighters, and working with a couple new guys, but no official class. Can't wait for tonight, and I hope to see some new faces!

MMA and me; day 285

So I have been so excited about teaching, and focused on that aspect of being at the gym, that I have COMPLETELY neglected my blogging duties. Shame on me. The funny thing is, we haven't actually covered anything new in the few (several) classes since then. We have gone to a very, basic approach, and been drilling like crazy. Making your fundamentals solid, and drilling technique as much as you can, is what really makes a solid bjj practitioner. Drilling them over and over, to the point of frustration, makes them second nature in a competition. It has been said that when you perform a task 10,000 times, you are beginning to scratch the surface of understanding what that task really means. The first time I heard that, I thought I knew what it meant, but I now know that I have a long ways to go to truly comprehend it, ad I couldn't be more excited for that journey. I hope to see you in the gym tonight!

MMA and me; day 284

Day 2 of teaching is now in the books, and once again I focused on gi chokes. We covered the clock choke, and baseball choke again. A couple things worth mentioning about the grips on these two. For the clock choke, when I set my initial grip, and then set up the second, when I drag the elbow across their head, I like to twist my hand inwards, so my palm is almost facing away from me, and get four fingers inside the collar, as opposed to the traditional method of hooking inside the collar with the thumb. I mostly do this because I recently jammed my thumb pretty bad, and though a bit more difficult to get the four finger grip, it wasn't as painful. Secondly, with the baseball choke, with the near side hand, I sometimes like to invert the grip, so when I turn it back in to close the hands together in the "baseball grip", it turns the edge of the collar into the side of the neck, making it more uncomfortable for your opponent. Again, like the variation in the clock choke, it can make the set up slightly more difficult, but can also make it more effective, should you choose to go that route.

We also worked on a new choke, the loop choke. From side control, switch to low judo, keeping tight against their ribcage. Start to pull open your jacket, clearing it from your belt. If you want, open up their jacket as well, as it can help confuse your opponent, and disguise what you are doing. With your inside hand, grab the corner of the same side of your open jacket, making sure to leave a good healthy amount of it sticking out of your hand. Sliding back into side control. bring your now head side hand (still gripping the corner of your jacket) up and as far under your opponents neck as you can. Keeping the grip on your jacket, orbit your elbow around their head (this is where having a lot of gi to work with comes in handy), as far in front of their chin as you can, and then slide it across their chest to the near side of their neck. From here, drop your elbow to the ground, motorcycle grip the gi, and wait for them to tap. Like most of the gi chokes, the better you establish your grip, the more likely you will be able to maintain the hold with minimal exertion, and wear out your opponent. Gi chokes are pretty sweet!!

MMA and me; day 283

Wow, it has been a while. I took a break from writing, because I was focusing on training for my first MMA fight, and now that I have gotten that behind me, it's time to dive back into  what I really love, jiu jitsu! I taught my first class on Tuesday, and while it was a little intimidating, and a big step for me to take personally, it was a lot of fun!

I decided to start in an area that I find very interesting, but also need a lot of work on, and that is lapel chokes. I started with the clock choke, one of the first gi chokes I learned, and one of the most basic chokes. From a full mount, pull their jacket open with your right hand, and slide your left hand up their left lapel (on your right, for the cross grip) as deep as you can get it. Leaning across their body, drop your right elbow to the mat and drag it towards their head, pushing their head and neck into the cross grip you have established. Keeping the pressure on their head, sneak your right hand thumb inside their lapel on the opposite side of your cross grip (again, very deep behind their head) and bring your elbow off of the mat, over their face to tuck it under their chin. From here, you want flare your elbows out wide and drive them towards the mat, while at the same time, rounding your back, and dropping your head to the mat, as far above their head as you can, for the submission. To help get a little more pressure, you can roll your hands inwards, what we like to call the "motorcycle grip" As with most gi chokes, you don't have to strain to hard, and once you have it locked into place, don't adjust or fidget with it. Friction is your friend, and for the opponent in the choke, it does not feel good.

Next we drilled the baseball choke, another simple, but effective submission. From a knee on belly side control position, reach across with your leg side hand to cross grip their lapel with your palm up, four fingers in, and your knuckles against their collar bone. *note* this is simply a guide for where you hand should be positioned. With your head side hand, grip the other lapel palm down either with four fingers in, or thumb in. When you bring your hands together, they should look like they do when you grip a baseball bat. Traditionally, your head side hand will use the four fingers in the lapel grip, but I occasionally like the thumb in grip because when you turn the hand in to get the "baseball grip" it turns the lapel in as well, digging the edge into the neck, and creating a bit more pressure. It's not as secure, so it's not something to do every time. Once the grips have been secured, slide your knee to the mat, and "box car" your knees side by side, and tiptoe the knees around their head to a north south position, keeping heavy pressure on the grips, and on their chest. As you circle around, slide your head side elbow across their neck, and under their chin. From here, walk your hips out behind you, just a little bit, and flare the elbows out to drive them to the mat, and roll your fists inward for the submission.

Last, we worked on a choke from guard, the belt choke, which works on a lot of similar fundamentals as the guillotine choke. With your opponent in your guard, when they start to posture up, grab their right lapel with your left hand, and climb up it to get a deep cross grip with your right hand. From there, open your guard and shrimp your hips out to get onto your right hip, and reach across their back to grab their belt in the middle of their back, keeping the inside of your left arm tight against their neck. Once you have secured the belt, close your guard back up to begin working for the submission. With your right hand, pull the lapel across their neck, while using your hips and legs to twist their neck into the lapel. Your arm grabbing the belt isn't moving, but is rather being used as an anchor for the rest of your body to maneuver around. It takes some figuring out how to position your body correctly, don't lay flat backed on the mat, don't use your arms as the main pressure, but more legs ad hips, and you will get it no problem!

Well, I was nervous, but I got through my first class. I am very excited to be teaching something I love so much, and I am so thankful for my team, my gym, and my amazing coaches!