Showing posts with label butterfly guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label butterfly guard. Show all posts
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Monday, January 27, 2014
The Most Difficult Move in Mixed Martial Arts
according to these guys is a simple 2-point jiu-jitsu reverse.
How Effective are BJJ Sweeps in MMA?
This month MMA Fight DB delves into the murky world of BJJ sweeps. Despite the long history of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in mixed martial arts, sweeps (as defined in BJJ) are rarely seen in MMA fights. This low rate contrasts to the comparatively high rate of other grappling techniques such as; takedowns and submissions, within mixed martial art competitions.
The statistics suggest that the efficiency of sweeps fairs poorly when compared to other techniques, and that alternatives to sweeps such as standing up should be more of a focus for many grappling practitioners.
And some conversation on the topic from the good folks over at Bloody Elbow:
Bloody Elbow Open Mat: Where are all the Sweeps?
T.P. Grant: I think Ben and Ian have really hit on the cause of it, and to me the root of this lays in both ground striking and MMA judging. Top position provides serious advantages in MMA, both allowing a fighter to strike with the aide of gravity, but also in that the judges will award them the round based purely on position 90% of the time. So, fighters who are on top seek to preserve their position by hunkering down in guard, or if they do try to advance as far as the half guard, and use the position to simply keep fighters down and avoid sweeps, rather that generate their own offense or seriously advance position.Short version: if you want to sweep your opponent in mixed martial arts, focus on half-guard and butterfly guard. But given the rule set, you're probably better off just getting to your feet.
That said, great stuff all around. Data ... it's got groove, it's got meaning.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Training Day: Saturday
A very hard training session today, conditioning-wise. I hadn't planned on getting the chance to train today, but when the opportunity popped up, I couldn't help but jump at the shot.
Led by Prof. Rodrigo, we started off with arm drags against a standing opponent, using the hip split to throw your legs to the outside and then "climbing" up the guy's arm and leg. I was finishing in a back drop/high crotch position most of the time, with my head on the outside. But I really liked using the hip split to both get the legs out of the way and to set up the "stand" that helps you come up to the top.
Getting back to your feet from the guard was the theme of today's training. We worked next on a butterfly sweep to what I used to call a Cobra guard stand up. I had some trouble getting enough space to adjust my leg back for the standup, so that's something I'll have to work on.
The last technique that we worked on was getting into X-guard from butterfly, using a deep underhook on the leg. This was a very nice one for me, and something I'll probably use when I get in the very inside.
We did several rounds of specific training, focusing on attacking with the butterfly guard for six minutes at a time while taking on fresh (or relatively fresh) passers. Good work here. And we finished up with some Live Training, me getting in 8-min rounds with Ron, Prof Rodrigo and Prof. Carlos.
With Saturday being my last training of the week, I got in my HICT (high intensity continuous training) with a five-minute session of technical lifts followed by a five-minute session of hipscape laps. Both were fairly brutal - my quarter-minute HRs were above 40 after both sets. But it's the kind of thing I can build up over time into something that will be very, very beneficial to my overall conditioning.
158.8 on the scale, post-train.
Led by Prof. Rodrigo, we started off with arm drags against a standing opponent, using the hip split to throw your legs to the outside and then "climbing" up the guy's arm and leg. I was finishing in a back drop/high crotch position most of the time, with my head on the outside. But I really liked using the hip split to both get the legs out of the way and to set up the "stand" that helps you come up to the top.
Getting back to your feet from the guard was the theme of today's training. We worked next on a butterfly sweep to what I used to call a Cobra guard stand up. I had some trouble getting enough space to adjust my leg back for the standup, so that's something I'll have to work on.
The last technique that we worked on was getting into X-guard from butterfly, using a deep underhook on the leg. This was a very nice one for me, and something I'll probably use when I get in the very inside.
We did several rounds of specific training, focusing on attacking with the butterfly guard for six minutes at a time while taking on fresh (or relatively fresh) passers. Good work here. And we finished up with some Live Training, me getting in 8-min rounds with Ron, Prof Rodrigo and Prof. Carlos.
With Saturday being my last training of the week, I got in my HICT (high intensity continuous training) with a five-minute session of technical lifts followed by a five-minute session of hipscape laps. Both were fairly brutal - my quarter-minute HRs were above 40 after both sets. But it's the kind of thing I can build up over time into something that will be very, very beneficial to my overall conditioning.
158.8 on the scale, post-train.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Training Day: Friday
Passing the butterfly guard was the theme of today's training. Struggled with the first version, pinching the knee and backstepping to side control, but did fairly well with the second version, where you allow the sweep to develop a little and then "step through/knee through" into a folding pass/leg drag like position where passing to the mount is a good option.
With the first version, the issue has to do with getting your ear on the near inside shoulder and not being too high up on the body (i.e., your chin above his head). Part of the trick has to do with the way you move the guy's body beneath you, spinning him around a bit with your grip on the belt. It's not fluid with me, at all, right now. Hopefully, I'll get to work on it some more this week.
The critical detail for the second version was that you want to drive forward to counter the sweeping direction of the hook sweep, not to the side. By stepping forward rather than to the side with your outside leg, and the driving your inside leg straight through with your knee tight against the guy's body, you have a much better chance of getting a high-quality outcome than trying to finesse a knee-cross pass once you've gotten too far away from him (i.e., lost "the connect.").
Some very good training with JM, Angus and Tom in the Live Training. I'm focusing too much on bread and butter stuff right now, which is probably a testament to the relatively modest training schedule I've put in for January (I'm on pace for a particularly low 10-11x training month, in part due to the snow closures last week). One of the things I'm looking forward to about picking up the training pace is being able to do more exploring of my favorite positions.
Part of not loathing the meia-guarda is learning how to appreciate it more by way of variations like the active deep half (not your granddaddy's deep half!), the X-guard and single X ... To the extent that I'm continuing to work on bread and butter guardwork like the gordo and Twist Back, I need to start working them from my southpaw side.
As far as the guard pass goes, right now I'm thinking that I need to play a much more deliberate range game. Tight? Force half guard and work the 3 Blind Mice. Open? Feitosa series. Middle game? Knee cross or Marcelo series. It's also going to be a major task to start working these options not just left and right, but in combination as well. I'm thinking that focusing on just these four situations: 3 Blind Mice, Feitosa series (3 passes), Knee Cross, and Marcelo series (3 passes) might make things that much easier. There will always be the Flat Pass ...
162.4 on the scale post-train. Another four pounds over the next four days would be just fine.
With the first version, the issue has to do with getting your ear on the near inside shoulder and not being too high up on the body (i.e., your chin above his head). Part of the trick has to do with the way you move the guy's body beneath you, spinning him around a bit with your grip on the belt. It's not fluid with me, at all, right now. Hopefully, I'll get to work on it some more this week.
The critical detail for the second version was that you want to drive forward to counter the sweeping direction of the hook sweep, not to the side. By stepping forward rather than to the side with your outside leg, and the driving your inside leg straight through with your knee tight against the guy's body, you have a much better chance of getting a high-quality outcome than trying to finesse a knee-cross pass once you've gotten too far away from him (i.e., lost "the connect.").
Some very good training with JM, Angus and Tom in the Live Training. I'm focusing too much on bread and butter stuff right now, which is probably a testament to the relatively modest training schedule I've put in for January (I'm on pace for a particularly low 10-11x training month, in part due to the snow closures last week). One of the things I'm looking forward to about picking up the training pace is being able to do more exploring of my favorite positions.
Part of not loathing the meia-guarda is learning how to appreciate it more by way of variations like the active deep half (not your granddaddy's deep half!), the X-guard and single X ... To the extent that I'm continuing to work on bread and butter guardwork like the gordo and Twist Back, I need to start working them from my southpaw side.
As far as the guard pass goes, right now I'm thinking that I need to play a much more deliberate range game. Tight? Force half guard and work the 3 Blind Mice. Open? Feitosa series. Middle game? Knee cross or Marcelo series. It's also going to be a major task to start working these options not just left and right, but in combination as well. I'm thinking that focusing on just these four situations: 3 Blind Mice, Feitosa series (3 passes), Knee Cross, and Marcelo series (3 passes) might make things that much easier. There will always be the Flat Pass ...
162.4 on the scale post-train. Another four pounds over the next four days would be just fine.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Training Day: Monday
A short, short session on the holiday ... They opened up the Bellevue academy for a couple of hours for open mat. There weren't as many folks training as I had hoped, but there were plenty of folks: Pat, Nate, Dan, Jake, Chris, Jei and Sonia, Chaim, Jesse ... who were there and ready to go.
I spent most of the time rolling with Jake and drilling with Chaim. Jake is a blue belt with a very good butterfly guard attack and, more to the point, excellent balance when attacked with hook sweeps. It was a huge challenge to try and get him off base, reminding me that I need to secure more points of control to deal with those who are able to keep themselves balanced even deep into the sweep.
I wasn't able to work the 2on1 game that I want to focus on for the balance of the year. But there was some good movement and improvisation from the deep half that I liked and will probably indicate the way forward in the whole menagerie of halfs, deep halfs, X-guards and single Xs.
Again, not as much training today as I would have hoped for - it's been a bit of a low volume week as summer winds down. But I'm looking to make up for it in the days leading up to my mini-vacation in Portland in a little over a week - including that great seminar with Profs Feitosa, Joca and Almeida on Saturday. Here's to a four-day work week!
I spent most of the time rolling with Jake and drilling with Chaim. Jake is a blue belt with a very good butterfly guard attack and, more to the point, excellent balance when attacked with hook sweeps. It was a huge challenge to try and get him off base, reminding me that I need to secure more points of control to deal with those who are able to keep themselves balanced even deep into the sweep.
I wasn't able to work the 2on1 game that I want to focus on for the balance of the year. But there was some good movement and improvisation from the deep half that I liked and will probably indicate the way forward in the whole menagerie of halfs, deep halfs, X-guards and single Xs.
Again, not as much training today as I would have hoped for - it's been a bit of a low volume week as summer winds down. But I'm looking to make up for it in the days leading up to my mini-vacation in Portland in a little over a week - including that great seminar with Profs Feitosa, Joca and Almeida on Saturday. Here's to a four-day work week!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Training Day: Saturday
"Some of the hardest training I've done in awhile" is probably the best way to describe training on Saturday. Arriving after they'd gotten started, I was paired with Prof Carlos to work butterfly guard drills and specific. And as has been the theme all week, Prof Rodrigo had turned things up to 11.
One of the things that continues to confuse me is the long time it takes to get warmed up. Within the first half hour, I felt as if I was going to collapse. But 90 minutes later, as I'm finishing up sparring and heading over to the side mat to do some HICT work, I'm feeling pretty good - good enough to do another two sessions before finally packing it in for the day.
Today was mostly about moving. Training with both Profs, I spent a lot of time on the defensive and trying to keep from falling too far behind. To be sure, there's a lot of cardio involved. But there's also a lot of "efficiency-seeking", as well, trying to get maximum effect for minimum effort.
That said, I'm convinced that the off-mat conditioning is starting to pay off - so much so that I'm wondering if some pre-heating might do the trick to help me avoid that initial 30 minutes of dispiriting local muscle fatigue. I used to think that doing conditioning before training would only make me too tired to train. But there's got to be some sort of middle ground that will allow me to get off to a somewhat swifter start.
157.2 on the scale post-train, everything but the coat. A nice two-pound drop below last week's number.
One of the things that continues to confuse me is the long time it takes to get warmed up. Within the first half hour, I felt as if I was going to collapse. But 90 minutes later, as I'm finishing up sparring and heading over to the side mat to do some HICT work, I'm feeling pretty good - good enough to do another two sessions before finally packing it in for the day.
Today was mostly about moving. Training with both Profs, I spent a lot of time on the defensive and trying to keep from falling too far behind. To be sure, there's a lot of cardio involved. But there's also a lot of "efficiency-seeking", as well, trying to get maximum effect for minimum effort.
That said, I'm convinced that the off-mat conditioning is starting to pay off - so much so that I'm wondering if some pre-heating might do the trick to help me avoid that initial 30 minutes of dispiriting local muscle fatigue. I used to think that doing conditioning before training would only make me too tired to train. But there's got to be some sort of middle ground that will allow me to get off to a somewhat swifter start.
157.2 on the scale post-train, everything but the coat. A nice two-pound drop below last week's number.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Two Takeaways from the 29th
1. Most aggressive butterfly guard game I've ever dealt with - competition or training. Only Bryan comes anywhere close to putting on the pressure with butterfly hooks compared to my opponent on Saturday.
That is a great encouragement to include a more aggressive butterfly guard game in my own half guard/deep half menagerie. I've been adding bits here and there, but generally have been reluctant to really close the distance and attack. That will change.
2. In case of emergency, stick to the gameplan. Confronted with a really aggressive butterfly guard, I immediately started trying to pass the guard wholesale, instead of baiting the half guard as I'd planned so as to set up the Roger.
By far, that's my biggest source of discontent w/re2 my performance in what was essentially the absolute brown belt division of the Seattle Open. For the next five weeks, the Roger is pretty much all that anyone I train with is going to get.
That is a great encouragement to include a more aggressive butterfly guard game in my own half guard/deep half menagerie. I've been adding bits here and there, but generally have been reluctant to really close the distance and attack. That will change.
2. In case of emergency, stick to the gameplan. Confronted with a really aggressive butterfly guard, I immediately started trying to pass the guard wholesale, instead of baiting the half guard as I'd planned so as to set up the Roger.
By far, that's my biggest source of discontent w/re2 my performance in what was essentially the absolute brown belt division of the Seattle Open. For the next five weeks, the Roger is pretty much all that anyone I train with is going to get.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Deep. Butterfly. Halfguard.
Some great material from one of the best jiu jitsu bloggers on the Interwebs.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Training Day: Wednesday
I've started only training the Live Training sessions since Monday. I've been toying with this idea for some time, and circumstances are starting to make it possible for me to give this approach a try.
The idea is to spend more focused time on sparring, to not get distracted by the 3, 4 or 5 moves of the day that accompany every Fundamentals class. For years, I've had a hard time "getting to" what I wanted to work on when the time came for sparring or Live Training in large part because my mind was still buzzing with what I'd just learned minutes ago. Now, within a few minutes of arriving at the academy, I'm on the mat working on whatever I want to be working on. For now, that seems like a good plan.
And maybe a common one. Nobody tells you how you are supposed to train once you get your brown belt. But you can see what brown belts tend to do - and that is to pretty much spend most of their time in Live Training and those Advanced classes that allow them to develop their games at a largely self-directed pace.
So that's what I'm trying - at least in the run-up to the November Revolution. We'll see how it works.
I'm still focusing on guard work, specifically hook sweeps and 2 on 1 control of the arm. I haven't done any specific half guard to hooks guard transitions, but I'm trying to get more and more comfortable with closing the distance to attack with the hooks. Between that and the 2 on 1, I'm starting to see a few things that I like. There was even an armdrag threat I was able to pull off at one point. Not every day you are going to see that out of yours truly.
Back on the mat Friday and Saturday. It looks like the school will definitely be closed next week, so I'm considering my options about training in the last few days before the Seattle Open. Griff's provided a couple of worthwhile things to consider, options I should take up in the weeks and months to come even if I don't take advantage of them here in late September. Especially insofar as I'm spending more and more time in Live Training, getting some work in with new training partners is well worth keeping in mind.
No weight today; I forgot to get on the scale before I was pretty much dressed and ready to go. I'll get in a Friday weight - which will give me a good, one-week-out snapshot of where I stand.
The idea is to spend more focused time on sparring, to not get distracted by the 3, 4 or 5 moves of the day that accompany every Fundamentals class. For years, I've had a hard time "getting to" what I wanted to work on when the time came for sparring or Live Training in large part because my mind was still buzzing with what I'd just learned minutes ago. Now, within a few minutes of arriving at the academy, I'm on the mat working on whatever I want to be working on. For now, that seems like a good plan.
And maybe a common one. Nobody tells you how you are supposed to train once you get your brown belt. But you can see what brown belts tend to do - and that is to pretty much spend most of their time in Live Training and those Advanced classes that allow them to develop their games at a largely self-directed pace.
So that's what I'm trying - at least in the run-up to the November Revolution. We'll see how it works.
I'm still focusing on guard work, specifically hook sweeps and 2 on 1 control of the arm. I haven't done any specific half guard to hooks guard transitions, but I'm trying to get more and more comfortable with closing the distance to attack with the hooks. Between that and the 2 on 1, I'm starting to see a few things that I like. There was even an armdrag threat I was able to pull off at one point. Not every day you are going to see that out of yours truly.
Back on the mat Friday and Saturday. It looks like the school will definitely be closed next week, so I'm considering my options about training in the last few days before the Seattle Open. Griff's provided a couple of worthwhile things to consider, options I should take up in the weeks and months to come even if I don't take advantage of them here in late September. Especially insofar as I'm spending more and more time in Live Training, getting some work in with new training partners is well worth keeping in mind.
No weight today; I forgot to get on the scale before I was pretty much dressed and ready to go. I'll get in a Friday weight - which will give me a good, one-week-out snapshot of where I stand.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Notes on Shin Guard/Sitting Guard v.s Knee Cross
One issue I've been having when attacking with the shin guard from the sitting/Cobra guard is when guys cut the knee sharply in a Royler style pass. I remember the last time I rolled with Cindy no gi, she avoided my shin guard with a very sharp, almost sideways, knee cross.
The trick is to get more control of the knee. Enter the shin guard, but then move in close to really hug the knee. Your shin will be fully contracted against your thigh, but remember that the hook in this instance isn't so much a traditional butterfly hook (where you'd want your shin/lower leg further away from your thigh) and more a block to keep the guy's lower leg in place as you roll back into single X or the full X-guard.
The Jeff Glover Homer v.s. Standing sweep might be there, though you'd want to get rid of the hook and lock the lower leg instead.
The trick is to get more control of the knee. Enter the shin guard, but then move in close to really hug the knee. Your shin will be fully contracted against your thigh, but remember that the hook in this instance isn't so much a traditional butterfly hook (where you'd want your shin/lower leg further away from your thigh) and more a block to keep the guy's lower leg in place as you roll back into single X or the full X-guard.
The Jeff Glover Homer v.s. Standing sweep might be there, though you'd want to get rid of the hook and lock the lower leg instead.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Hook Guard: Take Out the Garbage Sweep
Before there was Aesopian, there was Abhaya.
This sweep is a variation off the armcross hook sweep that I want to integrate into my guard game, ASAP. Off the two-on-one (one of Marcelo's favorite attacks) to the armcross, close the distance and drop the hook. This variation covers the post counter to the basic sweep.
Update: Here's Marcelo Garcia doing the same sweep, no gi.
This sweep is a variation off the armcross hook sweep that I want to integrate into my guard game, ASAP. Off the two-on-one (one of Marcelo's favorite attacks) to the armcross, close the distance and drop the hook. This variation covers the post counter to the basic sweep.
Update: Here's Marcelo Garcia doing the same sweep, no gi.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Training Day: Monday
I was working with Alex during Live Training session. Afterwards, he was asking about a BJ Penn half guard pass. I asked Rodrigo to help us out, and he showed us three variations of attacking a sort of open half guard pass involving just the inside hook: the knee cross, the Mendes inside shoulder roll to the back (one of Rodrigo's specialties) and this new one, that had you turn your "trapped knee" back and away (from 12 or 1 o'clock to 4 or 5 o'clock). This allows you to collapse your weight and pancake the legs as the guy on the bottom's knee follows your turning knee.
From here, it is easier to go to the back than to take mount. But you can do both.
The actual pass I think Alex was looking for is this one, though. It is more of a butterfly guard pass than a real half guard pass. And the way to attack it has the sort of hip-switch that can really disable the butterfly guard.
There is also a step-by-step version of this pass in Saulo's Jiu Jitsu University on pages 257-258: 27-12 Transition to Mount Off Pass.
Good training today. I worked with JM mostly as we drilled mount escapes and strategies for taking the mount from regular crossbody (to the knee) and from watchdog (both with step over the legs and step through). 159.6 on the scale post-train. I was extremely gratified to see my counter to the step-over (leap-over) half guard pass, which is based on scooping the guy's near/inside leg and going belly down as if you were turning in for a side control escape.
I had the opportunity to do this counter the other day, but was too risk-averse to do it. Today, I had the Rodeo set-up before the leap-over and was determined not to give Rodeo its first fail in many moons. That scoop counter saved the day.
From here, it is easier to go to the back than to take mount. But you can do both.
The actual pass I think Alex was looking for is this one, though. It is more of a butterfly guard pass than a real half guard pass. And the way to attack it has the sort of hip-switch that can really disable the butterfly guard.
There is also a step-by-step version of this pass in Saulo's Jiu Jitsu University on pages 257-258: 27-12 Transition to Mount Off Pass.
Good training today. I worked with JM mostly as we drilled mount escapes and strategies for taking the mount from regular crossbody (to the knee) and from watchdog (both with step over the legs and step through). 159.6 on the scale post-train. I was extremely gratified to see my counter to the step-over (leap-over) half guard pass, which is based on scooping the guy's near/inside leg and going belly down as if you were turning in for a side control escape.
I had the opportunity to do this counter the other day, but was too risk-averse to do it. Today, I had the Rodeo set-up before the leap-over and was determined not to give Rodeo its first fail in many moons. That scoop counter saved the day.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Training Day: Tuesday
Another hard training session this week as Rodrigo already has the competition pace established. We worked on takedowns after the basic warmup, more with the kara guruma. I noticed some of the folks who were doing this well, like Wellington, weren't going all the way down to the knee (the inside knee) when setting up the takedown. That was more or less how I was doing it, but there were instances when I felt I was not getting a good "circle" in the takedown, and was essentially just throwing the guy to the mat. Hopefully, I'll get to work on it some more. At least I know what I'm supposed to be doing.
On the mat, Rodrigo had us working with more x-guard - or half guard, as he called it. The first entry tonight was really nice, coming out of the hook sweep. Here, you are looking for the guy to sprawl out against your hook sweep. When he does this, attack the other leg with your underhook, and reposition your hips underneath him, pivoting your hook sweep hook back outward and away from you.
We also reviewed entering the X-guard from against a standing opponent. Here the move was essentially the same as Monday's - only with more emphasis on using the cross guard as the set-up.
Tatame wasn't too bad. Again, I'm focusing on standing to pass the guard and trying to steer the guard player into uncomfortable situations from which he just "gives" me the pass. Later, working with Lance, I focused on a "Mendes" like duckwalk guard passing style which helped me avoid sweeps - though I half-forgot exactly how I wanted to attack from this new posture. I'll be working more and more out of it as I keep up the whole Standing Guard Pass Campaign 2010.
I was 165 and change before training and 160 and change after. I'll probably do a little caloric restriction tomorrow to help speed things along on my training/conditioning OFF day. Hopefully, I'll be on the light side of 160 by the end of the week.
On the mat, Rodrigo had us working with more x-guard - or half guard, as he called it. The first entry tonight was really nice, coming out of the hook sweep. Here, you are looking for the guy to sprawl out against your hook sweep. When he does this, attack the other leg with your underhook, and reposition your hips underneath him, pivoting your hook sweep hook back outward and away from you.
We also reviewed entering the X-guard from against a standing opponent. Here the move was essentially the same as Monday's - only with more emphasis on using the cross guard as the set-up.
Tatame wasn't too bad. Again, I'm focusing on standing to pass the guard and trying to steer the guard player into uncomfortable situations from which he just "gives" me the pass. Later, working with Lance, I focused on a "Mendes" like duckwalk guard passing style which helped me avoid sweeps - though I half-forgot exactly how I wanted to attack from this new posture. I'll be working more and more out of it as I keep up the whole Standing Guard Pass Campaign 2010.
I was 165 and change before training and 160 and change after. I'll probably do a little caloric restriction tomorrow to help speed things along on my training/conditioning OFF day. Hopefully, I'll be on the light side of 160 by the end of the week.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Training Day: Monday
A good sized class tonight, as I try and put my ATM routine back on track. The new mats were in, both upstairs and down, so Rodrigo was able to split off the beginners for some basic work with Lindsey, while the rest of us stayed upstairs.
Rodrigo had us start off ferociously. We did seoinages at a really fast clip. going back and forth with the partner after about 20 reps. I was able to keep up in no small part due to the off-mat, home training I've been doing that has me working on those inside pivots at slower speeds.
The instruction was more work out of the butterfly/sitting/Cobra guard. All of the moves started with a same side collar grip and a same side knee grip.
The first move was the duck under, a repeat from last week. To this, Rodrigo added:
1. If the guy's knee goes up on the outside (the closed side, where the collar grip is and your knee is up), then you want to drive him to the side by pushing the collar across his body and pulling on the knee grip. As you do this, slide your Cobra leg straight behind you (as you do for the duck under, for example) to help get the leverage to come up and into the guy.
2. If the guy's knee goes up on the inside (the open side, where the knee grip is and your knee is down), then you want to transition to deep half guard. Do this by diving into the space created by his up leg. Slide your Cobra hooking leg through first, and then follow immediately with your collar grip hand. When you get the collar grip hand through, reach up and grab the hip or the belt. You can always transition to a proper, Jeff Glover style deep half later, or just go to the sweep, which will pretty much accomplish the same thing.
The sweep is essentially the Homer Simpson sweep without the walk forward set-up. You dive through, get your grips, roll out a bit to get control of his leg with your legs, then roll back - switching your grip to cup the knee and driving the shoulder into the guy's hip to keep him down.
Good stuff - and a nice reminder to start working in the deep half guard as well as the cross guard I've started to focus on more and more in training.
For the first time - maybe ever - I was too exhausted to finish the complete second class. I worked through the specific sparring with Juan: half guard/pass half guard, full guard/pass full guard, side control/escape side control. And was really struggling toward the end. When the specific ended and the regular sparring began, I crawled off the mat totally done. I felt a little embarrassed. But I was in no shape to get anything productive done.
I figure the culprit was a combination of insufficient calories (I had a salad and an apple all day), and the morning workout (manmakers), and the fact that I'm still on the dark side of 160. Hopefully, I'll have a better showing on that score tomorrow.
Rodrigo had us start off ferociously. We did seoinages at a really fast clip. going back and forth with the partner after about 20 reps. I was able to keep up in no small part due to the off-mat, home training I've been doing that has me working on those inside pivots at slower speeds.
The instruction was more work out of the butterfly/sitting/Cobra guard. All of the moves started with a same side collar grip and a same side knee grip.
The first move was the duck under, a repeat from last week. To this, Rodrigo added:
1. If the guy's knee goes up on the outside (the closed side, where the collar grip is and your knee is up), then you want to drive him to the side by pushing the collar across his body and pulling on the knee grip. As you do this, slide your Cobra leg straight behind you (as you do for the duck under, for example) to help get the leverage to come up and into the guy.
2. If the guy's knee goes up on the inside (the open side, where the knee grip is and your knee is down), then you want to transition to deep half guard. Do this by diving into the space created by his up leg. Slide your Cobra hooking leg through first, and then follow immediately with your collar grip hand. When you get the collar grip hand through, reach up and grab the hip or the belt. You can always transition to a proper, Jeff Glover style deep half later, or just go to the sweep, which will pretty much accomplish the same thing.
The sweep is essentially the Homer Simpson sweep without the walk forward set-up. You dive through, get your grips, roll out a bit to get control of his leg with your legs, then roll back - switching your grip to cup the knee and driving the shoulder into the guy's hip to keep him down.
Good stuff - and a nice reminder to start working in the deep half guard as well as the cross guard I've started to focus on more and more in training.
For the first time - maybe ever - I was too exhausted to finish the complete second class. I worked through the specific sparring with Juan: half guard/pass half guard, full guard/pass full guard, side control/escape side control. And was really struggling toward the end. When the specific ended and the regular sparring began, I crawled off the mat totally done. I felt a little embarrassed. But I was in no shape to get anything productive done.
I figure the culprit was a combination of insufficient calories (I had a salad and an apple all day), and the morning workout (manmakers), and the fact that I'm still on the dark side of 160. Hopefully, I'll have a better showing on that score tomorrow.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Training Day: Friday
Made it to the academy a little late, but managed to get in some good drilling and sparring before I had to make my mad dash out.
Rodrigo is continuing with the sitting guard/butterfly guard/Cobra guard sweeps and back-takes. On Friday, we alternated between two back-takes, the first was the counter to the collar grap where you break the grip and attack with the arm drag.
The second was a little new. Here, you had a same side collar grip (not too deep) and a grip on the pants at the knee on the other side. Generate momentum by pushing and pulling with your collar grip: you want to open up his arm on the other side, the side where you have the pants grip, so maybe pulling on the collar and pushing on the knee will encourage the guy to try and post with the arm on the knee grip side.
In any event, you want to duck under the arm on the knee grip side. As with the version from the other night (which, in retrospect, was a warm-up drill for this move), you want to use that intermediate "kickstand" move with your lower leg when you are knee down before you go to posture up after you duck under the arm.
It's a 1-2-3, and you want to make sure that you come down with your knee, the outer leg that does most of the work, behind the guy's back when you finish the #3 move. That contact will help make sure you've got him in position.
A pretty good time on the tatame. I'm continuing to focus on standing guard passing almost exclusively, and with some nice progress already. With regard to finishes, I was able to get the collar choke twice on Friday, which is a nice sign of continued effectiveness with another 2010 point of emphasis.
I think I've figured out to main things - one for standing to pass the guard and one for the collar choke - that might make both of these projects all the more worthwhile studies for this year. If I get the time, I'll expand on these ideas ina later post, especially what I'm learning about standing guard passes from watching Anderson Silva size up and demolish his opponents in the UFC.
Rodrigo is continuing with the sitting guard/butterfly guard/Cobra guard sweeps and back-takes. On Friday, we alternated between two back-takes, the first was the counter to the collar grap where you break the grip and attack with the arm drag.
The second was a little new. Here, you had a same side collar grip (not too deep) and a grip on the pants at the knee on the other side. Generate momentum by pushing and pulling with your collar grip: you want to open up his arm on the other side, the side where you have the pants grip, so maybe pulling on the collar and pushing on the knee will encourage the guy to try and post with the arm on the knee grip side.
In any event, you want to duck under the arm on the knee grip side. As with the version from the other night (which, in retrospect, was a warm-up drill for this move), you want to use that intermediate "kickstand" move with your lower leg when you are knee down before you go to posture up after you duck under the arm.
It's a 1-2-3, and you want to make sure that you come down with your knee, the outer leg that does most of the work, behind the guy's back when you finish the #3 move. That contact will help make sure you've got him in position.
A pretty good time on the tatame. I'm continuing to focus on standing guard passing almost exclusively, and with some nice progress already. With regard to finishes, I was able to get the collar choke twice on Friday, which is a nice sign of continued effectiveness with another 2010 point of emphasis.
I think I've figured out to main things - one for standing to pass the guard and one for the collar choke - that might make both of these projects all the more worthwhile studies for this year. If I get the time, I'll expand on these ideas ina later post, especially what I'm learning about standing guard passes from watching Anderson Silva size up and demolish his opponents in the UFC.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Butterfly Guard Pass from Bill the Grill
Here's a nifty, butterfly guard pass for when the guy goes to sit up and push against you/stiff-arm with one arm.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Training Day: Saturday
I am always amazed at how much jiu jitsu is lurking in the half hour or so after class or open mat ends. Sometime after one o'clock on Saturday, I found myself in the company of black and brown belts going over technique - including a pair of attacks from side control (armlock and back take) and a pair half guard passes involving trapping the guy's leg triangle by grabbing a foot and doing a shoulder roll, both of which lead to back takes.
Saturday training was a pretty full course - even Sauleh stopped by to train with some of the higher belts. By the end of the day, we had at least four black belts on the mat and two or three brown.
We worked on our standup/sprawl drill, then some work freeing our butterfly guard from a guard passer who was trapping the hips and pinning the hooks. Rodrigo has been emphasizing some of these jiu jitu strategies for dealing with aggressive and strong opponents, and it's nice to see how some of the basic movements - extending the hooks, backstepping with the underhook - are perfectly capable of dealing with the typical "wrestler" style opponent.
Jeff and Gina stopped by to award Rodrigo the trophy for both the Gi and Overall titles for the November 2009 Revolution event. Both Rodrigo and Jeff said some pretty positive things about teamwork and teambuilding that were nice to hear - it was a sizeable class, somewhere around 26 folks, and a lot of them either relatively new or visitors, and I appreciated them getting to hear a little a bit about what our jiu jitsu community is all about.
Got in some tatame after a big group picture with the twin trophies. I rolled with a blue belt from the new Gracie Barra Buckley academy who at least twice took advantage of my bad balance to reverse me out of side control. It felt very much like the kind of barrel roll out of north/south that I've done in the past and was a good reminder to make sure I've got my base in place.
Old School continues to work from half guard. I'm doing a better and better job of really forcing the other guy to make a decision about that sweep before making my counter. I'm still not working in the Slingshot, which is a big problem because now is the perfect time to be trying everything I wanted to add to my game: slingshot guard, cross guard, butterfly guard, Roger Gracie from Mount (RGFM), Rap Star guard ...
I've give myself half a point for the nine-count slingshot armdrag Deep Practice maneuvers I drilled slo-mo before class started. Anything to get even the most initial circuitry in place. I know that the slingshot armdrag and sweep will be big winners if I can ever get them into place. It's funny that compared to the tripod and "Simone" sweeps I was able to hit out of the blue earlier this week, the work out of the slingshot guard has been that much more slow in coming.
A nice day on the mat. 154.6 on the scale post-training. I felt a little more fatigued than I would have liked. But that might have been owing mostly to the apple I had for breakfast. A little more fuel might have given me another 10 minutes of sparring.
That said, the post-training session was great. Two new ways to not only pass the half guard but to take the back from the half guard pass. Rodrigo said that some of these moves he was picking up were from the Mendes brothers - the ones who unleashed the feared 50/50 guard on the world. It was fun to feel as if I were a part of the laboratory - a jiu jitsu extension officeworker in Seattle - helping build the art one experiment at a time.
Thanksgiving schedule at GB Seattle: Open mat on Thursday 10 am - 12 noon. No training Friday. Open mat on Saturday 11 am - 1 pm. I'm angling for a MTRF week next week. And if I'm lucky, a MTWR week leading into Thanksgiving to keep my 4x/week training pace.
Saturday training was a pretty full course - even Sauleh stopped by to train with some of the higher belts. By the end of the day, we had at least four black belts on the mat and two or three brown.
We worked on our standup/sprawl drill, then some work freeing our butterfly guard from a guard passer who was trapping the hips and pinning the hooks. Rodrigo has been emphasizing some of these jiu jitu strategies for dealing with aggressive and strong opponents, and it's nice to see how some of the basic movements - extending the hooks, backstepping with the underhook - are perfectly capable of dealing with the typical "wrestler" style opponent.
Jeff and Gina stopped by to award Rodrigo the trophy for both the Gi and Overall titles for the November 2009 Revolution event. Both Rodrigo and Jeff said some pretty positive things about teamwork and teambuilding that were nice to hear - it was a sizeable class, somewhere around 26 folks, and a lot of them either relatively new or visitors, and I appreciated them getting to hear a little a bit about what our jiu jitsu community is all about.
Got in some tatame after a big group picture with the twin trophies. I rolled with a blue belt from the new Gracie Barra Buckley academy who at least twice took advantage of my bad balance to reverse me out of side control. It felt very much like the kind of barrel roll out of north/south that I've done in the past and was a good reminder to make sure I've got my base in place.
Old School continues to work from half guard. I'm doing a better and better job of really forcing the other guy to make a decision about that sweep before making my counter. I'm still not working in the Slingshot, which is a big problem because now is the perfect time to be trying everything I wanted to add to my game: slingshot guard, cross guard, butterfly guard, Roger Gracie from Mount (RGFM), Rap Star guard ...
I've give myself half a point for the nine-count slingshot armdrag Deep Practice maneuvers I drilled slo-mo before class started. Anything to get even the most initial circuitry in place. I know that the slingshot armdrag and sweep will be big winners if I can ever get them into place. It's funny that compared to the tripod and "Simone" sweeps I was able to hit out of the blue earlier this week, the work out of the slingshot guard has been that much more slow in coming.
A nice day on the mat. 154.6 on the scale post-training. I felt a little more fatigued than I would have liked. But that might have been owing mostly to the apple I had for breakfast. A little more fuel might have given me another 10 minutes of sparring.
That said, the post-training session was great. Two new ways to not only pass the half guard but to take the back from the half guard pass. Rodrigo said that some of these moves he was picking up were from the Mendes brothers - the ones who unleashed the feared 50/50 guard on the world. It was fun to feel as if I were a part of the laboratory - a jiu jitsu extension officeworker in Seattle - helping build the art one experiment at a time.
Thanksgiving schedule at GB Seattle: Open mat on Thursday 10 am - 12 noon. No training Friday. Open mat on Saturday 11 am - 1 pm. I'm angling for a MTRF week next week. And if I'm lucky, a MTWR week leading into Thanksgiving to keep my 4x/week training pace.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Training Day: Friday
Managed to make it to training today after taking Thursday off. I figure that my regular schedule will be MTRF, with TWFS being the occasional alternative (like this week). The idea is to train two days in a row twice a week, with a one-day off and a two-day off period separating them. I'm not entirely sure how the off-mat conditioning will fit around all of this. But insofar as the point of any off-mat conditioning is to support my on-mat training, I'm not too worried.
Today after the warmup we began again with the same standup training we've been doing this week, emphasizing on sprawling and knee/ankle picks. I'm focusing on closing the distance and blocking the shot. I figure this will make it easier to get the grips I want - something I failed to do at the tournament. I'm also trying to get practice in changing levels, which is key to both blocking and attacking.
Most of the instructional was on taking the back and avoiding the back take. We actually spent quite a bit of time working on this, which was nice. We went from just trying to take the back (or end up in side control if the person refused to give you his back) to taking the back and attacking with the choke. I had far more success with a clock choke than I would have liked - call me (Wallid) Ishmael - but the training was good - especially for someone like me who tends to avoid taking the back in favor of side control or mount.
Tatame was good. It was pretty impossible to repeat my guard performance from Wednesday, but it was good to get a chance to attack a little with the cross guard. I need to remember to drop the hip leg to the floor and underhook that same leg, turning over more on my side in that direction and putting my off leg in the armpit when the guy goes to move toward the strong grip side.
Another thing I need to remember is from the guard passing end of things. I'm doing an incrementally better job at standing in the guard, dropping to the combat squat, then standing and opening the guard. From here, I'm trying to work the one-on-one and then the Saulo. But it is very slow going. One thing is that if I can't get the leg down easily, there is always the underhook pass that Rodrigo was drilling us on for weeks a little while ago. It's the perfect compliment so I need to be on the lookout for it.
I also don't want to get too far away from the butterfly guard work that Rodrigo had us drilling earlier in the week. My Marcelo sweep - retitled the Simone sweep - is based on breaking guy's posture. If guy's start to react to that by posturing extra tall, then switching to the butterfly guard/sitting guard is a great counter. Surprise and aggression are important in making the transition - there's nothing mysterious about a hook sweep from the butterfly guard. So I need to practice taking the initiative when the opportunity for the transition appears.
Today after the warmup we began again with the same standup training we've been doing this week, emphasizing on sprawling and knee/ankle picks. I'm focusing on closing the distance and blocking the shot. I figure this will make it easier to get the grips I want - something I failed to do at the tournament. I'm also trying to get practice in changing levels, which is key to both blocking and attacking.
Most of the instructional was on taking the back and avoiding the back take. We actually spent quite a bit of time working on this, which was nice. We went from just trying to take the back (or end up in side control if the person refused to give you his back) to taking the back and attacking with the choke. I had far more success with a clock choke than I would have liked - call me (Wallid) Ishmael - but the training was good - especially for someone like me who tends to avoid taking the back in favor of side control or mount.
Tatame was good. It was pretty impossible to repeat my guard performance from Wednesday, but it was good to get a chance to attack a little with the cross guard. I need to remember to drop the hip leg to the floor and underhook that same leg, turning over more on my side in that direction and putting my off leg in the armpit when the guy goes to move toward the strong grip side.
Another thing I need to remember is from the guard passing end of things. I'm doing an incrementally better job at standing in the guard, dropping to the combat squat, then standing and opening the guard. From here, I'm trying to work the one-on-one and then the Saulo. But it is very slow going. One thing is that if I can't get the leg down easily, there is always the underhook pass that Rodrigo was drilling us on for weeks a little while ago. It's the perfect compliment so I need to be on the lookout for it.
I also don't want to get too far away from the butterfly guard work that Rodrigo had us drilling earlier in the week. My Marcelo sweep - retitled the Simone sweep - is based on breaking guy's posture. If guy's start to react to that by posturing extra tall, then switching to the butterfly guard/sitting guard is a great counter. Surprise and aggression are important in making the transition - there's nothing mysterious about a hook sweep from the butterfly guard. So I need to practice taking the initiative when the opportunity for the transition appears.
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