A map of my time on the mat tonight ...
Showing posts with label back control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back control. Show all posts
Thursday, October 06, 2022
Friday, March 21, 2014
TGIF Training: Counters to Rear Mount
(instruction)
Self-Defense/Standing:
Double Leg drill
Ground:
Armbar from mount
Scoot Counter to Rear Mount (no grips)
Bridge Escape from Rear Mount (grips)
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Training Day: Wednesday
Live Drilling: Scarf hold - escape specific / Back control - escape specific
Scale: 167.8
Post-Training HICT: 25 technical lifts / 50 hipscapes
Monday, March 17, 2014
Training Day: Monday
Live Drilling: Double leg / Armbar from Mount / Choke - Mount Bridge Escape - HipBump Sweep circuit / Armbar from Guard
Ground: Back Mount Escape (no grips) / Back Mount Escape (with grips)
Live Training: 5 minutes
Scale: 169.8
Friday, January 31, 2014
TGIF: Dawn Training
Ground:
Top control vs turtle / Top control vs turtle to spinsit to back / One arm choke from back control / Armbar from back control / Bow and Arrow choke
Live Training:
six minutes
Scale:
166.0
Friday, October 05, 2012
Training Day: Friday
bourgeois (verb) boor-zhwah
1. to use the inside leg to expose a turtled opponent to an initial hook as part of a back-taking technique in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappling:
Friday, September 21, 2012
Training Days: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri (2x)
Another good week of training in the books: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and twice on Friday. A part of me realizes that this training pace won't last forever. But given the circumstances, it's been a great way to spend the summer.
A lot of training in back control, which I think reflects an academy-wide effort to keep our training as modern as possible. And right now, nothing is more important in jiu-jitsu than developing good back control. It seems as if we've spent a month on different entries and set-ups - which is fine with me. I'm a big fan of focus when it comes to training and spending this much time working on such a specific - and critical - area has been a godsend. It doesn't hurt that back mount is one of the weakest parts of my game, either.
The interschool event is tomorrow. I'm going to try and get there early and get a good spot since all of the adult matches are going to be on the main mat. I'm not scheduled to help ref (thankfully), but if I can help out I'll do what I can to keep score or even just help them keep the brackets organized. We'll see.
As I tweeted the other day, I've changed up a few things in my sparring that has made life a whole lot easier. I've been trying to play a Marcelo Garcia-style sitting guard for about a year and a half and I'm pretty much ready to abandon the project. Although Marcelo and I have (relatively) similar body types, I don't think our bodies want to move in the same ways - or at least not as much as I've assumed in the past. I've been very reluctant to add core Marcelo Garcia moves to my game - the X-guard, the armdrag - and while I still want to look for ways to incorporate these moves, I'm thinking more and more there's a reason why my body just doesn't seem interested in playing along.
The good news is that I've been refocusing my game in many ways to resemble my Professor's game. Ironically, it was a minor injury to Professor Rodrigo that got me thinking about the way I have been going about things and what it would mean to make a major change at this point. Making key adjustments at critical junctures in your development is what allows for that development to take place and there was an interesting moment when it hit me as to what I need to do to get more out of my training. And what's funny is the way that "the answer" has been right in front of me all along.
It's only been a few days. But so far, so good.
A lot of training in back control, which I think reflects an academy-wide effort to keep our training as modern as possible. And right now, nothing is more important in jiu-jitsu than developing good back control. It seems as if we've spent a month on different entries and set-ups - which is fine with me. I'm a big fan of focus when it comes to training and spending this much time working on such a specific - and critical - area has been a godsend. It doesn't hurt that back mount is one of the weakest parts of my game, either.
The interschool event is tomorrow. I'm going to try and get there early and get a good spot since all of the adult matches are going to be on the main mat. I'm not scheduled to help ref (thankfully), but if I can help out I'll do what I can to keep score or even just help them keep the brackets organized. We'll see.
As I tweeted the other day, I've changed up a few things in my sparring that has made life a whole lot easier. I've been trying to play a Marcelo Garcia-style sitting guard for about a year and a half and I'm pretty much ready to abandon the project. Although Marcelo and I have (relatively) similar body types, I don't think our bodies want to move in the same ways - or at least not as much as I've assumed in the past. I've been very reluctant to add core Marcelo Garcia moves to my game - the X-guard, the armdrag - and while I still want to look for ways to incorporate these moves, I'm thinking more and more there's a reason why my body just doesn't seem interested in playing along.
The good news is that I've been refocusing my game in many ways to resemble my Professor's game. Ironically, it was a minor injury to Professor Rodrigo that got me thinking about the way I have been going about things and what it would mean to make a major change at this point. Making key adjustments at critical junctures in your development is what allows for that development to take place and there was an interesting moment when it hit me as to what I need to do to get more out of my training. And what's funny is the way that "the answer" has been right in front of me all along.
It's only been a few days. But so far, so good.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Training Day: Monday
The fact that I've spent the past hour eyeballing Ryan Hall's Back Attacks DVD over on eBay at a nearly-too-sweet 30% discount tells you much, but not all, of my training on the first training day of the week.
To the good, Prof Carlos had us working on the standing guillotine off a double leg defense, the counter to the standing guillotine, and a variation of the running escape from side control. The latter was especially good for me, having struggled from this position in recent days against larger and/or stronger opponents. Ironically, I had spent Monday morning watching the volume of Saulo's classic DVD series that focuses on the crossbody position, specifically, chapter 13 which dealt with the running escape.
Live training gave me the opportunity to test out my side control escape on at least one occasion to positive effect. But my rear mount defense has really deteriorated over the past year and repairing it has become as critical as developing a Unified Field Theory of Guard Passing was a year ago. Hence, me, Ryan Hall, and the eyeballing over at eBay.
Some say bend at the waist to pin the leg, shuck the leg, wide step and hipscape in (Saulo). Others insist on getting your back to the mat as the prime directive (Marcelo). Still others advocate a theory of "relative hip height", insisting that the key is to avoid having the attacker's hips at the small of your back at all costs (Hall).
So obviously there are plenty of ways to escape the back mount. What I need to figure out, as I did for the guard and have begun to do in earnest with the guard pass, is the way of movement to escape that best fits the way my body is most likely to move - especially under duress - and to move that way for a while until it sticks.
More rear mount escapes/counters from Robson Moura and Kurt Osiander.
To the good, Prof Carlos had us working on the standing guillotine off a double leg defense, the counter to the standing guillotine, and a variation of the running escape from side control. The latter was especially good for me, having struggled from this position in recent days against larger and/or stronger opponents. Ironically, I had spent Monday morning watching the volume of Saulo's classic DVD series that focuses on the crossbody position, specifically, chapter 13 which dealt with the running escape.
Live training gave me the opportunity to test out my side control escape on at least one occasion to positive effect. But my rear mount defense has really deteriorated over the past year and repairing it has become as critical as developing a Unified Field Theory of Guard Passing was a year ago. Hence, me, Ryan Hall, and the eyeballing over at eBay.
Some say bend at the waist to pin the leg, shuck the leg, wide step and hipscape in (Saulo). Others insist on getting your back to the mat as the prime directive (Marcelo). Still others advocate a theory of "relative hip height", insisting that the key is to avoid having the attacker's hips at the small of your back at all costs (Hall).
So obviously there are plenty of ways to escape the back mount. What I need to figure out, as I did for the guard and have begun to do in earnest with the guard pass, is the way of movement to escape that best fits the way my body is most likely to move - especially under duress - and to move that way for a while until it sticks.
More rear mount escapes/counters from Robson Moura and Kurt Osiander.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Training Day: Saturday
Your final training day of the week should be a big deal and for me, this week, Saturday's session delivered on a number of accounts.
The cardio component was very good, a pair of two-minute rounds in the 360 drill against the turtle got things off to a good threshold testing start. We worked on taking the back from turtle, the controls at the nape of the neck and the far hip, the switch and open to provide "falling space" as you take the back - as opposed to trying to "roll" the guy into your rear mount ... Prof Carlos added a clock choke, as the guy tries to return to turtle after you've changed your grip to the collar. It was a nice reminder of how powerful the choke can be, and why it's worth keeping part of your regular set of options.
The specific and Live Training were excellent, with a couple of tough rolls with Dave, a blue belt I see on Saturdays usually, and Prof Abel, who earned the first degree on his black belt today. I'm working more DLR as part of the Leandro Lo sweep I've been trying out for the past week or two. Guys are fighting to keep me from inserting the lead single X leg by pinching their knee in, which I know sets up a DLR backtake for me.
More critically, I'm patching up my half-guard defense to the backstep pass, especially when I've already got a grip on the lapel. I'd been stymied here for the past month or so, and couldn't really get my technique clear. Simply by switching hands on the lapel grip, I'll be able to both go belly-down and then on top while keeping the guard passer from being able to turn in (their inside leg is kept up by my new lapel grip, now on my outside hand rather than my inside hand).
Even though it's sort of a junkyard dog position, I think I want to work it a lot more just to see if I can turn it into another effective "heads I win/tails you lose" situation like my Gordo/Twist Back half guard sweep combo. If I can pull half guard from standing with that lapel grip (as I did in my first brown belt competition against a very tough opponent), then even the worst case scenarios of the knee cross and backstep pass are a lot less to fear.
156.6 on the scale post-train. Almost an ideal number for the end of the week.
The cardio component was very good, a pair of two-minute rounds in the 360 drill against the turtle got things off to a good threshold testing start. We worked on taking the back from turtle, the controls at the nape of the neck and the far hip, the switch and open to provide "falling space" as you take the back - as opposed to trying to "roll" the guy into your rear mount ... Prof Carlos added a clock choke, as the guy tries to return to turtle after you've changed your grip to the collar. It was a nice reminder of how powerful the choke can be, and why it's worth keeping part of your regular set of options.
The specific and Live Training were excellent, with a couple of tough rolls with Dave, a blue belt I see on Saturdays usually, and Prof Abel, who earned the first degree on his black belt today. I'm working more DLR as part of the Leandro Lo sweep I've been trying out for the past week or two. Guys are fighting to keep me from inserting the lead single X leg by pinching their knee in, which I know sets up a DLR backtake for me.
More critically, I'm patching up my half-guard defense to the backstep pass, especially when I've already got a grip on the lapel. I'd been stymied here for the past month or so, and couldn't really get my technique clear. Simply by switching hands on the lapel grip, I'll be able to both go belly-down and then on top while keeping the guard passer from being able to turn in (their inside leg is kept up by my new lapel grip, now on my outside hand rather than my inside hand).
Even though it's sort of a junkyard dog position, I think I want to work it a lot more just to see if I can turn it into another effective "heads I win/tails you lose" situation like my Gordo/Twist Back half guard sweep combo. If I can pull half guard from standing with that lapel grip (as I did in my first brown belt competition against a very tough opponent), then even the worst case scenarios of the knee cross and backstep pass are a lot less to fear.
156.6 on the scale post-train. Almost an ideal number for the end of the week.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Judo Chop: Darren Uyenoyama
Behold the glorious Bloody Elbow "Judo Chop"!
This week's feature is of the great back control by Darren Uyenoyama in his winning fight against Kid Yamamoto.
Judo Chop: Darren Uyenoyama's Back Control and What Kid Yamamoto Did Wrong
This week's feature is of the great back control by Darren Uyenoyama in his winning fight against Kid Yamamoto.
Judo Chop: Darren Uyenoyama's Back Control and What Kid Yamamoto Did Wrong
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Training Day; Thursday
A quick run-down of Thursday night's training.
Low single off pummel drill
--Reminds me a little of the knee tap. Very nice addition to the basic pummel drill.
Over/under smash pass
--Focused on the entry, the overhooking arm and ankle grab still feels difficult and awkward.
Toquinho with palm facing grip on arm
--Loving this armbar attack from the back. Nice details in the switch to a palm facing grip and pushing the head as a way to control the arm and create space.
Worked guard/pass guard specific w/ Steve and Live Training with Julian. Didn't work the knee cross as I should have and need to maintain the focus of getting to the back.
Low single off pummel drill
--Reminds me a little of the knee tap. Very nice addition to the basic pummel drill.
Over/under smash pass
--Focused on the entry, the overhooking arm and ankle grab still feels difficult and awkward.
Toquinho with palm facing grip on arm
--Loving this armbar attack from the back. Nice details in the switch to a palm facing grip and pushing the head as a way to control the arm and create space.
Worked guard/pass guard specific w/ Steve and Live Training with Julian. Didn't work the knee cross as I should have and need to maintain the focus of getting to the back.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Great Transition from Back to Armbar from Toquinho
Not a fan of his leglock game, so much. But all the love in the universe for this transition.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Kimura Sweep to Back Control Variation
Unfortunately, I can't embed the video. But here is a nice variation on the traditional kimura sweep from half guard. I saw a version of this in GracieMag a few issues ago done by the Mendes brothers. But the move seemed to require more shoulder flexibility than I've got. This version may be less so.
Kimura Sweep to Back Control
Kimura Sweep to Back Control
Monday, December 20, 2010
Training Day: Monday
Single leg takedowns to start the week. The emphasis was on a couple of things: the penetration step/jab step right behind the guy's ankle and drop down on that same leg to knee. Prof. Carlos emphasized especially the collar drag - you actually beging the collar drag before you really attack the leg with the single. The guy tries to escape the drag by posturing up, which actually helps you come up with the leg into the takedown finish.
From the ground, the technique was the escape from rear mount with the choking hand in AND on the bad side. This is the "turn in" escape where you defend the choke at the wrist and, with elbows in control the triceps with a backhand type of grip. Keys here are turning to face your opponent and switching your legs/base. Drive your inside shoulder back into the guy and swim the hand that was controling the triceps underneath to control the body with an underhook.
Good Live Training with Bryan and Glenn. The main emphasis continues to be passing the guard from standing, even if I start to slip into more of a half guard situation. I'm starting to see a few things and feel a few things that I'm looking to develop in 2011, though I'm still not going to the "scoop" side of the "scoop/smash" pass nearly as often as I should. I find myself setting up the opportunity for scoop passes and then just sort of watching the moment pass. There's really only one critical danger - the triangle - and at least in this instance, knowing that danger goes a long way toward avoiding it.
165.0 on the scale post-train, everything but the coat. Heavy, but it is as close to the off-season as it gets right now with Christmas and the annual trip to the Sonoran desert at the other end of the week.
From the ground, the technique was the escape from rear mount with the choking hand in AND on the bad side. This is the "turn in" escape where you defend the choke at the wrist and, with elbows in control the triceps with a backhand type of grip. Keys here are turning to face your opponent and switching your legs/base. Drive your inside shoulder back into the guy and swim the hand that was controling the triceps underneath to control the body with an underhook.
Good Live Training with Bryan and Glenn. The main emphasis continues to be passing the guard from standing, even if I start to slip into more of a half guard situation. I'm starting to see a few things and feel a few things that I'm looking to develop in 2011, though I'm still not going to the "scoop" side of the "scoop/smash" pass nearly as often as I should. I find myself setting up the opportunity for scoop passes and then just sort of watching the moment pass. There's really only one critical danger - the triangle - and at least in this instance, knowing that danger goes a long way toward avoiding it.
165.0 on the scale post-train, everything but the coat. Heavy, but it is as close to the off-season as it gets right now with Christmas and the annual trip to the Sonoran desert at the other end of the week.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Training Day: Monday
More competition style training today: more "ginastica" like warmups (not entirely unlike my "matwork" to be honest), lots of drills (alt triangles from open guard, double legs, dealing with the pull closed guard, side control escape, etc.) as well as a little bit of specific before the Open Mat session.
Very nice to mix things up a bit. The reason for the season is the Revolution tournament at the end of the week. But I'm grateful for the change of pace in any event.
A couple of highlights include Prof Carlos' bullfight pass (I want to call it the "mosca" pass because of the fly-swatter-like hand gesture to get around the legs and quickly to the side, and my "back mount hips left" strategy for escaping rear mount. And though I couldn't find a partner in the time I had left, I did manage to drill the roll for the kimura sweep - and hopefully will get some opportunities to drill it live tomorrow night.
Nothing but fat, fat, fat on the scale: 166.2. Hopefully, I'm under 164 by the end of Tuesday's training and under 162 by the end of Wednesday's training. From there I feel pretty good about coasting lower on tiny calories and ice water all the way to Saturday morning.
Very nice to mix things up a bit. The reason for the season is the Revolution tournament at the end of the week. But I'm grateful for the change of pace in any event.
A couple of highlights include Prof Carlos' bullfight pass (I want to call it the "mosca" pass because of the fly-swatter-like hand gesture to get around the legs and quickly to the side, and my "back mount hips left" strategy for escaping rear mount. And though I couldn't find a partner in the time I had left, I did manage to drill the roll for the kimura sweep - and hopefully will get some opportunities to drill it live tomorrow night.
Nothing but fat, fat, fat on the scale: 166.2. Hopefully, I'm under 164 by the end of Tuesday's training and under 162 by the end of Wednesday's training. From there I feel pretty good about coasting lower on tiny calories and ice water all the way to Saturday morning.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Training Day: Wednesday
Good training today at midweek. We continue to work on attacks from rear mount, and added some guard recovery work from the turtle position for the guy on the bottom.
The turtle work in particular was helpful. From the front turtle position, you want to post on the knee and elbow on one side, then send the opposite leg out sideways to complete the base. Here was a key detail: you want to cross grip with your sideways leg and grab the opposite knee. If you grab the same side knee, then it is possible for the guy to escape your guard recovery by spinning around your grip, using your grip as a pivot, and end up re-taking your back.
From here, you want to send the bottom leg between the guy's legs to get the half guard hook in place. There is a full guard option, depending on spacing. but for me, the half guard option will almost always be the preferred one.
From the rear turtle, there was a detail that I had been missing before. When you are in turtle and the guy is attacking from the back, you reach back and grab the knee on one side, your turn side.
Here is the detail. The leg you are going to use to establish the half guard inside hook is not the first leg (not the same leg as the grip). That leg has to actually get out of the way so that as you turn, it is your second leg that slides in for the bottom hook. So the point is that it is the second leg, the trailing leg, that establishes the half guard.
Worked specific with Bryan and some sparring with Clay, who is one tough white belt and is fast becoming one of my new favorite sparring partners among the guys coming up. He has some very good instincts against my half guard, for example, and it has been a challenge to try and keep one step ahead of him.
More tempo training tomorrow and then back on the mat Friday. I bummed out of my aerobic capacity workout - the 10th of the series - yesterday. Maybe I'll see if I can make it up next Saturday. With 8 Weeks Out a few weeks away and competition training starting this week (Monday and Tuesday nights at 7, Friday at 12:30 and Saturday at noon), I'm not going to kick myself for postponing a final 45-minute stint on the treadmill.
161.0 on the scale post-train.
The turtle work in particular was helpful. From the front turtle position, you want to post on the knee and elbow on one side, then send the opposite leg out sideways to complete the base. Here was a key detail: you want to cross grip with your sideways leg and grab the opposite knee. If you grab the same side knee, then it is possible for the guy to escape your guard recovery by spinning around your grip, using your grip as a pivot, and end up re-taking your back.
From here, you want to send the bottom leg between the guy's legs to get the half guard hook in place. There is a full guard option, depending on spacing. but for me, the half guard option will almost always be the preferred one.
From the rear turtle, there was a detail that I had been missing before. When you are in turtle and the guy is attacking from the back, you reach back and grab the knee on one side, your turn side.
Here is the detail. The leg you are going to use to establish the half guard inside hook is not the first leg (not the same leg as the grip). That leg has to actually get out of the way so that as you turn, it is your second leg that slides in for the bottom hook. So the point is that it is the second leg, the trailing leg, that establishes the half guard.
Worked specific with Bryan and some sparring with Clay, who is one tough white belt and is fast becoming one of my new favorite sparring partners among the guys coming up. He has some very good instincts against my half guard, for example, and it has been a challenge to try and keep one step ahead of him.
More tempo training tomorrow and then back on the mat Friday. I bummed out of my aerobic capacity workout - the 10th of the series - yesterday. Maybe I'll see if I can make it up next Saturday. With 8 Weeks Out a few weeks away and competition training starting this week (Monday and Tuesday nights at 7, Friday at 12:30 and Saturday at noon), I'm not going to kick myself for postponing a final 45-minute stint on the treadmill.
161.0 on the scale post-train.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Training Day: Monday
Good training today, though again the paradox of time continues as I arrive on the mat just as the warm-ups are getting underway. The Self-Defense moves were techniques against the around the neck choke from behind, with and without the choke-side leg stepped forward. This is basic choke-protect, squat, look-away, hip throw stuff, with the caveat with the leg being that you want to step out and around with the choke-side leg around his leg and then go back to parallel stance and then trip the guy backwards over your leg.
More work from the back as The Fundamental. I really like the rear mount work we've been doing for the past several classes and I can feel my confidence from that position increasing. Like I said, given my growing preference for chokes, mastering rear mount is a priority.
And so is escaping it. I spent far too much time fighting off a pretty persistent attack from a tough white belt, Clay, during the final sparring session. I've got to do a better job of pausing and executing my escapes instead of trying to deal with bad situations athletically. That's a mistake I've pretty much eliminated from my mount escape game. It's good to get more training improving that strategic aspect of my rear mount escape game.
I was having more trouble converting Turtle top to rear mount than I would have liked. There's clearly some major technical issue - my guess is that I'm not gluing my chest to his back when I make the sit back and spin move, so I end up trying to pull him with me instead. One nice thing, though, was that I got to see the detail that Rodrigo was showing with the pivot-knee side elbow to the mat. Maybe improving this detail will help with the sit & spin also.
162.4 on the scale post train. Rodrigo announced that we were going to start competition training Monday and Tuesday nights at 7 p.m., Fridays at 12:30 p.m. and Saturday at 12 noon. With the Revolution about 10-11 weeks out, it's getting to be about that time and I'm looking forward to what the competition training classes will be like. I'll be looking to get 2-3 of those sessions in a week, in addition to the competition training. This will require, among other things, getting some rest during the day so that I'm clocking 9 hours of sleep a day.
As Bryan joked, I don't have a lot of purple belt competitions left. The idea of significantly "improving" my record as a purple belt is out due to math, and I'm not even preoccupied with the idea of "going out with a bang" as a motivating factor for the July Revolution. More than anything, I want to finally feel fully "present" in a match, and a part of that (a large part) will be getting my conditioning to a level that it hasn't ever been at before.
I also need to take an inventory of mistakes - and now, with 10+ weeks go is the best time. Chronic issues like passing the guard and taking the initiative standing as well as other issues like having the right fuel at the right time (no more competing on an empty stomach as I did earlier this year are things that are less likely to recur if I focus on them now.
The Gracie Barra Friendly is on May 22nd - two weeks after the Renzo seminar. That will be a pretty good opportunity to see where I'm at in a point-jiu jitsu sense with (hopefully) three, 4x training weeks at my back.
More work from the back as The Fundamental. I really like the rear mount work we've been doing for the past several classes and I can feel my confidence from that position increasing. Like I said, given my growing preference for chokes, mastering rear mount is a priority.
And so is escaping it. I spent far too much time fighting off a pretty persistent attack from a tough white belt, Clay, during the final sparring session. I've got to do a better job of pausing and executing my escapes instead of trying to deal with bad situations athletically. That's a mistake I've pretty much eliminated from my mount escape game. It's good to get more training improving that strategic aspect of my rear mount escape game.
I was having more trouble converting Turtle top to rear mount than I would have liked. There's clearly some major technical issue - my guess is that I'm not gluing my chest to his back when I make the sit back and spin move, so I end up trying to pull him with me instead. One nice thing, though, was that I got to see the detail that Rodrigo was showing with the pivot-knee side elbow to the mat. Maybe improving this detail will help with the sit & spin also.
162.4 on the scale post train. Rodrigo announced that we were going to start competition training Monday and Tuesday nights at 7 p.m., Fridays at 12:30 p.m. and Saturday at 12 noon. With the Revolution about 10-11 weeks out, it's getting to be about that time and I'm looking forward to what the competition training classes will be like. I'll be looking to get 2-3 of those sessions in a week, in addition to the competition training. This will require, among other things, getting some rest during the day so that I'm clocking 9 hours of sleep a day.
As Bryan joked, I don't have a lot of purple belt competitions left. The idea of significantly "improving" my record as a purple belt is out due to math, and I'm not even preoccupied with the idea of "going out with a bang" as a motivating factor for the July Revolution. More than anything, I want to finally feel fully "present" in a match, and a part of that (a large part) will be getting my conditioning to a level that it hasn't ever been at before.
I also need to take an inventory of mistakes - and now, with 10+ weeks go is the best time. Chronic issues like passing the guard and taking the initiative standing as well as other issues like having the right fuel at the right time (no more competing on an empty stomach as I did earlier this year are things that are less likely to recur if I focus on them now.
The Gracie Barra Friendly is on May 22nd - two weeks after the Renzo seminar. That will be a pretty good opportunity to see where I'm at in a point-jiu jitsu sense with (hopefully) three, 4x training weeks at my back.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Training Day: Tuesday
ATM has taken a beating over the past several weeks, prompted in part by more training (and competing) on Saturday than usual. With the holiday season kicking in, there's likely to be more training schedule re-arrangements. But as long as I keep my average up, I'll be happy.
I've averaged almost three and a half classes a week this year, and my training pace has increased every quarter (3.17/wk in Q1, 3.33/wk i Q2, 3.67/wk in Q3). My goal for 2009 has been to "feel" like a purple belt by the time the year was up and, despite my epic fail at assorted jiu jitsu scoring contests, I think that goal has been more or less met.
I think the breakthrough night for the year was the night a few days ago when I was able to hit tripod sweeps out of the cross guard and Simone sweeps out of the "smother" guard. That circuitry "shouldn't" have been there, but it was.
This is probably part of the secret to Rodrigo's exhortation "You've got to TRY." For me, a lot of jiu jitsu at this point boils down to the Jump Program, as I've said before.
And even if I'm not leaping back and forth between the tallest skyscrapers in the city, there are times when I feel more than nimble enough to make it across the rooftops of the average urban architecture in one piece.
Tuesday training began with a solid warmup - jumping jacks between squats, pushups between chokes and obliques - and the current leg pick/sprawl takedown drill. The instructional was about taking the back from mount. It's more very good work for me because I almost 99% of the time abandon the back for the mount. This had me going the other way.
The setup was the pinned guy turning sideways and pushing on the knee to escape the mount. From the top you want to do a sort of S-mount style dismount, but one key detail Rodrigo included was an intermedate step of going flat and long with your back leg as you make the switch and put the heel in the stomach to block the hips with the other leg.
I missed this detail during the drill. But I think that going flat helps you stay low behind the guy's back. One thing I noticed was that I tended to get up a little too high on the back because I was going straight from mount to S-mount. The problem with doing it this way seems to be that you make it harder to get your leg free when you go to take the back. Often your knee is pinned.
I'm looking forward to working this one tomorrow or Friday. For me, I'm noticing that the most important thing to remember is the footwork. Going long and flat makes sense as I think about it, because if the guy on the bottom goes to his side, going long and flat behind him will allow you to stay chest to back. But I wouldn't mind seeing it done properly one more time to make sure I'm remembering correctly.
Good to see Bruce back on the mat. It felt as if I hadn't seen him in months. Fairly small class tonight, but at least two new guys. It seems like there are a lot of new guys stopping by these days. It's strange to think of being one of those folks myself, a little over four years ago. As much as I knew that I really wanted to study jiu jitsu, I don't think I ever really had a sense of myself two, three, four years down the line - though I know that I assumed that everyone who started with me - Mario, Big Mike, Jeff, Arnell, just to name a few - would always be training.
A little heavy on the scale post training at about 159.6 or so. If the limit is 154 or below, day-of for the tournament on December 13th, then there is a good likelihood that I'll be competing at the heavier level 155-170, anyway. Getting down to 154 for a night-before weigh-in is one thing. A day-of sub-154 number - on a Sunday no less - is something else entirely.
I've averaged almost three and a half classes a week this year, and my training pace has increased every quarter (3.17/wk in Q1, 3.33/wk i Q2, 3.67/wk in Q3). My goal for 2009 has been to "feel" like a purple belt by the time the year was up and, despite my epic fail at assorted jiu jitsu scoring contests, I think that goal has been more or less met.
I think the breakthrough night for the year was the night a few days ago when I was able to hit tripod sweeps out of the cross guard and Simone sweeps out of the "smother" guard. That circuitry "shouldn't" have been there, but it was.
This is probably part of the secret to Rodrigo's exhortation "You've got to TRY." For me, a lot of jiu jitsu at this point boils down to the Jump Program, as I've said before.
And even if I'm not leaping back and forth between the tallest skyscrapers in the city, there are times when I feel more than nimble enough to make it across the rooftops of the average urban architecture in one piece.
Tuesday training began with a solid warmup - jumping jacks between squats, pushups between chokes and obliques - and the current leg pick/sprawl takedown drill. The instructional was about taking the back from mount. It's more very good work for me because I almost 99% of the time abandon the back for the mount. This had me going the other way.
The setup was the pinned guy turning sideways and pushing on the knee to escape the mount. From the top you want to do a sort of S-mount style dismount, but one key detail Rodrigo included was an intermedate step of going flat and long with your back leg as you make the switch and put the heel in the stomach to block the hips with the other leg.
I missed this detail during the drill. But I think that going flat helps you stay low behind the guy's back. One thing I noticed was that I tended to get up a little too high on the back because I was going straight from mount to S-mount. The problem with doing it this way seems to be that you make it harder to get your leg free when you go to take the back. Often your knee is pinned.
I'm looking forward to working this one tomorrow or Friday. For me, I'm noticing that the most important thing to remember is the footwork. Going long and flat makes sense as I think about it, because if the guy on the bottom goes to his side, going long and flat behind him will allow you to stay chest to back. But I wouldn't mind seeing it done properly one more time to make sure I'm remembering correctly.
Good to see Bruce back on the mat. It felt as if I hadn't seen him in months. Fairly small class tonight, but at least two new guys. It seems like there are a lot of new guys stopping by these days. It's strange to think of being one of those folks myself, a little over four years ago. As much as I knew that I really wanted to study jiu jitsu, I don't think I ever really had a sense of myself two, three, four years down the line - though I know that I assumed that everyone who started with me - Mario, Big Mike, Jeff, Arnell, just to name a few - would always be training.
A little heavy on the scale post training at about 159.6 or so. If the limit is 154 or below, day-of for the tournament on December 13th, then there is a good likelihood that I'll be competing at the heavier level 155-170, anyway. Getting down to 154 for a night-before weigh-in is one thing. A day-of sub-154 number - on a Sunday no less - is something else entirely.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
DEFCON 1: Escaping the Rear Mount
My ability to avoid being choked from rear mount has morphed into an inability to escape rear mount.
Here's a blog post that includes a clip of Gustavo Machado showing a few different ways for dealing with rear mount.
I've gotten into a bad habit of not sticking with technical strategies against rear mount, and instead have been essentially flailing away. Defending, sure. But wasting a lot of energy and not getting anywhere. I'm not taking guard passing from the top of the August Book. But making my counters to the rear mount automatic will be a very, very close second.
Here's a blog post that includes a clip of Gustavo Machado showing a few different ways for dealing with rear mount.
I've gotten into a bad habit of not sticking with technical strategies against rear mount, and instead have been essentially flailing away. Defending, sure. But wasting a lot of energy and not getting anywhere. I'm not taking guard passing from the top of the August Book. But making my counters to the rear mount automatic will be a very, very close second.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday Training
Managed to make it for the early class on Friday. The instruction part had us doing double underhook guard passes where you get the get to back roll. Some of the key details were:
1. Dive with both hands between the legs and up around the thighs. Make sure to keep low, so that your grip is tight.
2. With your rolling hand, reach under and grab the top of the pants. With your attacking arm (usually your right), make sure you grab high up on the collar by the neck. It should almost be a forearm choke/throat pressure.
3. Keep the knee on your rolling hand side up. This will help you get the leverage to roll the guy over.
4. As you get the roll, move to the back by clamping your attacking arm over the waist/hip, sliding your rolling side leg (usually left) wide in a circle backwards, and sliding the other leg, knee-first, into the guy's side to check his hip from the other direction.
We spent a lot of time on this move, enough to help it really sink in. We ended the instructional with a counter to half guard for the guy on the bottom getting his guard passed. The trick with the counter is to circle your inside arm back to block the guy from moving to your back. Extend your inside leg back also and sit on your outside leg. Assuming that he is still moving forward to take your back, he should fall right into your half guard (or guard), with you having a nice deep underhook and pretty good position to attack the outside and inside "corners."
Tatame wasn't bad. I rolled four times straight for a good 20-25 minutes of sparring. I got caught in a guillotine, but didn't panic and managed to get out of it with good technique (protect the neck, reach over the shoulder with the free arm, shoulder of justice plus pike up plus look up, switch your hips and back out toward crossbody ...) and managed to get a bow and arrow choke for the first time in months. I especially like how I fed the collar during the bow and arrow choke, a detail that Rodrigo has been emphasizing.
A nice week. I managed to get in four sessions after all and even though I'm likely to fall short of my planned minimum for March (12 sessions) by one, if you add back in the five classes I missed when I was out sick, then I'd've made my 16 session monthly goal, no problem.
I'm trying to hone in on a few things to focus on this next week. I'm definitely at a place where it makes a lot more sense to emphasize skill development over conditioning - especially given how much conditioning is already built into Rodrigo's classes. I was 153.4 on the scale after Friday's training - an incredible number and one that has me thinking about trying to make featherweight (149) for the Subleague event in early May. Subleague weigh-ins are day of event, so it will have to be a very real, hydrated, fed 149. But I increasingly think that, if I can do it, that's what I should do.
1. Dive with both hands between the legs and up around the thighs. Make sure to keep low, so that your grip is tight.
2. With your rolling hand, reach under and grab the top of the pants. With your attacking arm (usually your right), make sure you grab high up on the collar by the neck. It should almost be a forearm choke/throat pressure.
3. Keep the knee on your rolling hand side up. This will help you get the leverage to roll the guy over.
4. As you get the roll, move to the back by clamping your attacking arm over the waist/hip, sliding your rolling side leg (usually left) wide in a circle backwards, and sliding the other leg, knee-first, into the guy's side to check his hip from the other direction.
We spent a lot of time on this move, enough to help it really sink in. We ended the instructional with a counter to half guard for the guy on the bottom getting his guard passed. The trick with the counter is to circle your inside arm back to block the guy from moving to your back. Extend your inside leg back also and sit on your outside leg. Assuming that he is still moving forward to take your back, he should fall right into your half guard (or guard), with you having a nice deep underhook and pretty good position to attack the outside and inside "corners."
Tatame wasn't bad. I rolled four times straight for a good 20-25 minutes of sparring. I got caught in a guillotine, but didn't panic and managed to get out of it with good technique (protect the neck, reach over the shoulder with the free arm, shoulder of justice plus pike up plus look up, switch your hips and back out toward crossbody ...) and managed to get a bow and arrow choke for the first time in months. I especially like how I fed the collar during the bow and arrow choke, a detail that Rodrigo has been emphasizing.
A nice week. I managed to get in four sessions after all and even though I'm likely to fall short of my planned minimum for March (12 sessions) by one, if you add back in the five classes I missed when I was out sick, then I'd've made my 16 session monthly goal, no problem.
I'm trying to hone in on a few things to focus on this next week. I'm definitely at a place where it makes a lot more sense to emphasize skill development over conditioning - especially given how much conditioning is already built into Rodrigo's classes. I was 153.4 on the scale after Friday's training - an incredible number and one that has me thinking about trying to make featherweight (149) for the Subleague event in early May. Subleague weigh-ins are day of event, so it will have to be a very real, hydrated, fed 149. But I increasingly think that, if I can do it, that's what I should do.
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